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Darriel Morris

ENG 223 - Haiku

Dr. Laing

Legacy Essay

July 21, 2020

My Legacy

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the incoming English 223 haiku class! My

class may be the same or a bit different than yours as it was during the Covid-19 pandemic and

extremely fast paced, being an online 4-week class. Nevertheless, it is my pleasure to share a bit

of my knowledge that has been gained and some advice that can surely assist in navigating

towards your success of this class. The entirety of this course can be a wonderful, insightful

experience, but it will require engaging the course objectives, staying organized and being

proactive.

During the length of English 223, there will be many different assignments that give you

the ability to master each course outcome, specifically with the biographical sketch. Writing your

research essay is a time to dig into the past and look at many different resources which will assist

in the objective of conducting literary research. There are many different sources that you can

use to aid your research journey such as, Google Scholar and the CSN library. While searching

into the information of Kobayshi Issa, his history and effect on haiku, I was also able to gain a

deeper understanding of haiku in its various historical contexts. The westernized version of haiku

that we know today is typically in a robust 5-7-5 format, but Issa is one of the masters that
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challenged this concept and broke off into less common forms. There are many different ways to

haiku than what I thought and that further intrigued my interest for this beautiful, tiny art.

Our midterm project on “racial inequality” was one of the most enjoyable but most

challenging assignments. The pitfall was the pandemic making communication and access to one

another difficult. However, I am ecstatic about the way we were able to convey the message and

talk about the fight for equality. There are not many times where you are given such a platform,

so it was important to do it carefully and thoughtfully. It would be wise to begin working on your

project as early as possible, because there are many parts to completing it and some can easily be

missed. It is also helpful to assign a team leader who collects and organizes the different portions

onto your website.

All of the assignments are given to you for a purpose and to engage each course outcome,

but it may be overwhelming at times. Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective

People” will be a large theme and his point of “be proactive” is something to keep in mind

during the semester. Try your best to stay organized and complete your work in advance to avoid

stress or submitting subpar work. This is something I tried to focus on and fell short at times

because of overload from other classes. If I did the class over, I would write each assignment’s

due date and time in a calendar at the beginning of the course. Canvas supplies this but having

everything separate from other classes in an order that seems the most sensible to me, would

have been beneficial.

Your journey of the world and history of haiku will take place while navigating through

each assignment. I urge you to allow yourself to fully immerse in each task and find your own

appreciation for this delicate art. If you need help, do not hesitate to reach out to Dr. Laing with

any questions you have because she wants to see us all prosper. While the length of this class
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will require you to actively engage each objective, be proactive and organized, it can and will

turn out to be a delightful learning experience.