My Thoughts on the BYU English Symposium

I had the opportunity to attend two panels during the English Symposium, one about the Book of Mormon and the second about Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart."

To begin, the presentations about the Book of Mormon provided some great insights that I hadn't manged to see before in my own readings. My favorite presentation was one that talked about cycles in the Book of Mormon, the most prominent being the one that people go through in order to repent. The cycle that he discussed was broken down as follows: Unrighteousness, desire for change, action, then faith and healing. He backed this claim up with a number of notable examples, my favorite being the story of Alma the Younger, who went through this exact process before he was called to be a prophet of God. Another presentation focused on the symbolism of light and dark in the Book of Mormon, and I thought they pulled a lot of great examples and were able to clearly explain what they could mean symbolically, such as the light of Christ, the mist of darkness, and the thick darkness that overcame the Nephites shortly before the second coming of Christ.

The second presentation about Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" helped me gain a lot of great insights into the book and helped to enhance my understanding of it. My favorite presentation was one where the speaker discussed the symbolism of the tortoise, and how while many critics think that it is a symbol for Okonkwo, she interpreted that it was a symbol for white men. She had some good evidence and the presentations in general were well thought out. Another paper discussed whether it was a good idea to introduce music from one culture into another and I found that interesting as well, and I generally agreed with the speaker's points. Overall, the presentations were well prepared and it was a good experience to hear literature discussed on a higher level where these types of symbols are broken down and analyzed.