I enrolled in this class because it fit my schedule and was a WX ( writing and culture) class. I am a Biology major was made taking an English writing class for the first time since freshman year an interesting transition. I have always loved to read and with my mother being a librarian something I do a lot. On the other hand, I have never been a huge fan of writing. I write without a lot of fluff and sometimes with not enough development of my ideas. Going into the class I did not have a very deep understanding of the India’s history. I could find it on a map, knew that it was many Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist, and knew that the British used to control it but that was about the extent. The main thing I enjoyed about this class was seeing the different viewpoints on the Indian culture. Even if the writers were English, they recognized the diverse and amazing landscape the history of this area had created. Kipling, who was fearlessly imperialist, described the landscape of India as if he was talking about a dream, with vivid descriptions of people and landscapes. Within Forster’s “A Passage to India”, the author gives the natives a voice and, in many respects, a native is the protagonist. I would never have thought two men who were very proud of the imperial might of Britain would also be so enamored by this area to go against the normal dialog about the native peoples. Most of the other pieces we read focused on how the natives needed to be “civilized” and how child like they acted. These two authors created native characters of depth and intellect working outside or along with the British system. I am glad that this side of the colonial viewpoint was discussed and was much more interesting than anything I have learned in history classes. I am much more interested in this part of history especially the Indian subcontinent then I was before this class and I hope to take more classes like this in the future.