A panoptic analysis

panoptic \pan-OP-tik\, adjective:

1. permitting the viewing of all parts or elements: a panoptic stain used in microscopy; a panoptic aerial photograph of an enemy missile base.
2. considering all parts or elements; all inclusive: a panoptic criticism of modern poetry.

Let's go with definition number two today.  I am currently in a writing intensive class that I love a lot.  Mostly because of the professor, she makes absolutely everything enjoyable.  

The thing is, last semester I took a writing class where the teacher was nice and all, she brought us cookies on Halloween, but our class discussions made me lose faith in English class.  It was kind of a problem, because English has always been my favorite class, and the discussions about literature just seemed super pointless.  I really didn't realize it until I took American Literature this semester, but THAT class took a panoptic view of the WRONG things in the book.  We analyzed the wrong words, discussed boring things that didn't give significance to the book, and it made me dislike a lot of the books we read.

This class, however, is on historical writings instead of modern literature, so it's much easier to examine how certain writings made an impact on society and examine styles over time.

It's too hard to do that kind of thing in a class called "Living Writers".