Course Reflection

The readings and research I conducted this semester helped develop my appreciation for the ethical issues surrounding human-animal relations. My writing and fieldwork has also helped me further understand some of the natural challenges present between humans and animals. Prior to taking this course I showed basically no interest in the subject matter covered in this class. However, after reading and analyzing some of the essays in this class my perspective has changed. By reading Ralph Acampora's essay "Zoos and Eyes: Contesting Captivity and Seeking Successor Practices", I now comprehend the idea that animals in zoos are often over exposed and used for entertainment rather than education. I was able to further grasp this concept by actually going to the zoo and observing details about each animal's appearance and actions, as well as the people and environment surrounding the animal.

Another essay that really made me explore an everyday ordinary topic into more depth was Jonathan Safran Foer's book Eating Animals. Foer looks past the food that we see everyday in the store or on the kitchen table. He discusses the problems associated with animal food products, and how they relate to the context of a larger world. Before reading Foer's book, I was oblivious to how animals at farms are treated, and how my diet plays such an important role in the status of the environment. Now, I am aware of the ways how we obtain food from animals, and how that eating meat contributes more to global warming than all of transportation combined. By reading these informative texts, I have become more aware of things that we normally do not recognize.

I have acquired several new writing skills from reading and research throughout this semester. The most important thing I think I learned would be how to properly identify and distinguish scholarly sources. By going to the library sessions I was able to learn the process to quickly find sources, and effectively evaluate them as either popular of scholarly on academic search premier. Another key thing I learned while taking this course was how to introduce a counter argument in an essay. By providing a counter argument the essay becomes more persuasive because it displays that the writer has analyzed his/her thesis from all angles. Overall, I learned multiple new writing skills that I feel allow me to construct a more powerful and concrete essay.