Upon hearing about the changes that will happen with the next interdisciplinary essay exam, I felt a bit more at ease. With the first exam, it seemed like everybody struggled with the guidelines and understanding what our expectations were. The new guidelines make it seem more concise and possibly line up with the types of essays that are normally utilized in exams that I have taken in the past. However, I am still feeling slightly unsure of exactly what the final product should be like but with further review in class, I am hoping to get a better grasp. One thing that I am worried about is whether I will be able to make the differentiations between the Medieval and Renaissance periods in class. As stated in class, it seems like many of the time periods have started to blend into each other since we have covered many of them in this semester so far. With the last exam, each of the cultures were unique from each other and were much easier to differentiate. I am beginning to look over and organize the materials in order to prepare for the essays. Also, instead of just organizing the materials and blocking out the essays, I will also write the essays ahead of time. By doing so, I think that I will get a better idea of whether my essays fulfill all of the guidelines. As for the themes within these cultures and time periods, it seems like the ideas of honor, courtly love, devotion, and chivalry are the main ones for Medieval and Renaissance. Even though Islam has many differences than the Medieval and Renaissance time periods, I will have to see which time periods I feel the most comfortable and knowledgeable about. Last week in class, we were reviewing the reading materials that we have covered so far and at that point, I realized that I have been having trouble with remembering all of the names, writers, characters, story lines, and values attached to each one. Not only is it just memorizing, but it is also comprehension and being able to apply it to themes. Within the next few days, I will make study guides for each of the stories we have read so that it will be easier to narrow down the time periods and pick two to write about for the interdisciplinary essay exam.
Word Count: 396
