Note to the reader: this essay is something of an experiment. I am well aware of the standard guidelines within which a student must present and argue ideas and the implications of non-compliance. However, if I have learned anything in this course, it is that genres and forms are continually under scrutiny, shaped and modified, discarded and exchanged, for reasons of effectiveness, veracity, adherence to ideology, or in reaction to otherwise unforeseen forces. Think of it as just such a reaction; more precisely, it is my only resource. When I decided to write this essay, I had a clear goal. My task was to critically approach the materials covered in this semester and, where possible, reflect, compare, contrast and analyze these theories with respect to the writings studied during the first semester. This has been known since the beginning of the academic year and is something that has been on my mind during lectures, seminars and tutorials, as well as when reading the academic essays assigned for the course. Fueled by the confidence resulting from the successes of the first semester, I felt that I simply had to wait for some theory or concept to emerge that piqued my interest, something I could sink my teeth into: this did not happen. So, instead of writing a masterpiece on postcolonialism, or a scathing deconstruction of psychoanalysis, I must opt ​​for a generic overview and commentary on the ideas I have learned, to at least show that the objectives of the course have been achieved (even if some of my l argument appears spurious and unfounded). Our first sojourn is in the realm of reader response theory. The general idea of ​​reader response criticism is not new and dates back to Aristotle's Poetics. Literature is supposed to generate catharsis, for example a tragic... half a sheet of paper... a case, I am now armed with a litany of methods, points of view and arguments that I can bring into a text, and not just extract more meaning and essence, but be able to better understand how the text stands in relation to other texts and ideas. Furthermore, I had a fire lit inside me, a burning curiosity to find out more about the theories and ideologies that, due to my mismanagement and difficulties, I was unable to grasp firmly. I realize now, at (literally) zero hour, that there could have been much more effort on my part, and the resulting work that was ultimately produced is seriously sub-par. I would be interested in discussing rectification options, not necessarily for the sake of this course – which, in comparison, is not that important – but to seek academic avenues to further study postcolonial and postmodern concepts and philosophies.