English year in retrospect

This year in English I learned much more about how to apply literature into a contempory perspective on sociological issues than I had in previous years.  This years English class was a mix of traditional English and sociology.  We explored new concepts and frames of interpretation such as reading through a feminist lens, a socioeconomic lens or a phycological lens.  Reading through these frames of interpretation made novels such as A Streetcar Named Desire and Wuthering Heights more meaningful and relevant to me.  It was much easier to undestand characters and themes when you think about the messenges the author was trying to communicate.  Although it was only a half year course, it felt like I took a half of a year in english and another half of a year in sociology.