My initial thoughts going into this final Capstone seminar were conflicted. I was excited to participate in a more interactive and discussion oriented style of learning but was anxious about the content of the course. Victorian era literature is a genre that has come up often during my four and a bit years at Ryerson, to mixed reception. Oftentimes I found the genre to be interesting as the time period offers a unique perspective and voice in literature. Other times however, I find it can be a little indulgent and bland.

One thing I found interesting during my preliminary research on the texts we'll be reading this semester is that Pamela Colman Smith, the author/illustrator of Annancy Stories, illustrated the Rider-Waite tarot cards, of which I had a deck when I was a kid. It made me think about how I never really think of iconic imagery like that as being the product of an individual artist, though I guess obviously it'd necessarily have to be.

As someone who prefers written work over visual work, I'll admit that I am intrigued to see how this class will expand my perspective on the illustrative aspect of Victorian texts. I don't normally focus on visual images in relation to reading or understanding literature, so this class is going to challenge me in a new way. Knowing that the texts we will be studying were geared towards adults is also intriguing to me, as I commonly associate illustrated books with a child audience.

As an English major, I expect myself to know a great deal about the Victorian era. However, the reality is, I do not know anywhere near as much as I'd like to admit I do. Therefore, this course intrigues me as I know I will be working closely with both texts and visuals of the Victorian period during this semester.

After this first class, I am excited to get into these texts and analyze the relationship between the words and illustrations. I don't have a lot of experience with analyzing images, so I am a little bit anxious about doing so, but I think it will be fun! I admit that while I have read A Christmas Carol numerous times, I have never payed much attention to the illustrations while reading, usually just glossing over them quickly and moving on.