In the Mirror of Art: A Reflection on a Semester of Mad Science

Before I took this class on Mad Science in the Mirror of Art, I did not feel like I was a part of an academic community. The papers I wrote in high school were always treated by my teachers as checkpoints; they were merely a way of ensuring that my writing skills would pass a standardized test. It wasn’t until I took this class that I realized my writing could contribute to more than just my GPA. However, in order to be worthwhile contributions, my discoveries need to be thoroughly explored and effectively communicated. In my efforts to do so, I have grown as a researcher, writer, and thinker.

The research I have done in this class has taught me the importance of fully understanding a source before incorporating it into my own work. I learned this the hard way after responding to C.S. Lewis’s Abolition of Man. Blinded by my own beliefs, I said the Tao was a manmade construct, which was the exact opposite of Lewis’s claim. Throughout the semester, however, I tried to interpret works as the author had intended, paying close attention to their main claim. My growth as a researcher culminated in my analysis of Josef Pieper’s On Love for my second paper. I was painstakingly meticulous in my efforts to completely comprehend Pieper’s arguments. Although I had issues incorporating this analysis into my discussion of The Children of Men, the peer workshop taught me where I went wrong and how I could better incorporate the novel. Through my work in this class, I learned how to interpret and incorporate the works I research.

The constant revision process of this class has helped me grow as a writer. Giving and receiving feedback through the peer workshops has taught me that the most important thing in writing is to make my main claim clear and compelling. The Grounds for Argument webpage described how to make a claim compelling, and the multiple in-class discussions of each other’s work, especially that on Joshua’s paper on Moral Math, illustrated why a fully developed main claim is so important.

Most importantly, my work analyzing literature in this class has helped me grow as a thinker. At the start of the semester, I did not feel comfortable tackling in-depth existential questions. Instead, I focused specifically on certain symbols in the novel, like the color green in Heart of a Dog. With every class discussion, though, I felt more at ease addressing the difficult questions brought up by the novels. By the time I wrote my two major papers, the first on the meaning of life and the second on the meaning of love, I felt capable discussing the major themes of the course.

This class has taught me that I can contribute to an academic community, and my work in this class has helped me grow as a researcher, writer, and thinker. I learned to explore the larger themes of mad science, and now have the tools to communicate my discoveries.