Once again, it's time for another Portfolio!  In this folder, I think that I continued the good work that I did the first third of the semester.  I've been working really hard to make sure everything is done on time and done well.  I think that my timeliness is notable because it shows my dedication to blogging and Literary Criticism in general.  As soon as I come out of class on Thursday night I usually start working on reading and blogging for the next week.  Most of my blogs are posted several days early and not one has been late.  I'm really proud of the work I've done and now wish to show off a little.

   What I've learned from blogging and this class in general is that time needs to be budgeted.  All of my blog entries are not really long.  Frankly, they don't have to be.  Some things strike an individual so hard that she must write a lot and sometimes that individual may not have a lot to say.  Blogging has also helped me understand some concepts better.  The conversation that Greta, Ellen, and I have on my blog The Terrible Terribleness That Exists Within A Terrible Criticism really helped me to start to wrap my head around post-structuralism.  I suggest anyone reading this check that out.

Coverage

• If "Life is a Dream," Why Do I Bother? is a blog entry that creates intertextual ties with Hamlet and Calderon's play.

• Prospero and Basilio: Shakespeare and de la Barca is not one of my favorite entries, however, I'm including it in order to prove that I did it.

• Freud Never Ceases to Make Me Blush is just a simple entry that I wrote in place of picking a term from Hamilton.

• What Good Is Literature? addresses the lecture I attended given by Azar Nafisi.  I learned a lot from her.  She was very good, and I would recommend anyone go see her.

• Intertextuality, Nafisi, and Pound creates an intertextual relationship between Nafisi, Ezra Pound, and Walt Whitman.

• ...And The Point Was? is just me having an epiphany about historical criticism.

• Diptych? Sounds Like an Insult to Me. is a simple Hamilton-esque entry.  I just wanted to prove that I did it.

• Whoodle point? is another simple Hamilton entry that I wanted to prove I did.

• He's de Man! discusses de Man's article in Keesey's book.  It is a thoughtful entry and questions if sarcasm is illocutionary or not. 

Depth

• The Reason For a Mimetic Criticism is an in depth analysis of Paris's critical essay.  I think that it was pretty well done and deserved to be examined in greater depth.  Also, I did my presentation on this article making it all the more important to provide an in-depth blog about it.
• One Stop Shopping at Sears? is a shorter blog entry (especially for the depth section).  I think that I was effective in pointing out a recurring structure in "Life is a Dream."
• The Sexism in Pirates of the Caribbean refutes Donovan's claims (and proves them) with my favorite movie.  I dissect the main characters showing that female characters aren't the only aesthetic ones.
• This One's For You Dr. J is an entry (who said that Pirates can't be analyzed at all?) that shows my abilities to look within a series of movies and determine what makes it work, why Captain Jack Sparrow is so amusing.  It is interesting that out of the four main characters (Sparrow, Swann, Turner, Norrington) only two are actually static characters.  I worked hard on this one.  If you are interested in the Pirates movies, I suggest you check it out.
• Transcending Transcendentalism is actually a "Hamilton entry" in which I did not use Hamilton at all.  I linked to various sites and even tore apart the word in order to understand it better.  I linked graciously to the web.
• In Breast Feeding, I took a look at the scene in Benito Cereno where Delano notices a woman breast feeding a baby on the ship.  I point out the psychological aspects of it, that Delano only sees what he wants to see.

Blog Carnival Entry

• Blog Carnival #2- An Abundance of Katherines is the kick-off blog for this carnival.  I was the one who kicked this one off.  Katie will be wrapping it up.  We are doing it on the book we read in Young Adult Literature An Abundance of Katherines.
• An Abundance of Water. A Psychoanalytic Reading. is my entry for this carnival.  I use psychoanalysis/mimetic criticism for this entry.  (It's kind of my thing.)  I reflected on the book An Abundance of Katherines.  The main character has a lot of issues with self-esteem.  This could also go in my depth section but I'm not putting it there because there are enough entries there. 

Interaction

• If “Realistic” Fiction Exists, How Can There Be Minor Characters? is Greta's blog that questions Paris's article.  I answered the questions she posed to help her to understand better. I actually commented on each person's entry about this Paris's article because I thought that I could help my peers understand better this way. 
• Real Life vs. Eternal World is Derek's blog that questions what I think of psychological criticism.  I answer him with a pretty interesting comment about Bruce Wayne. 
• A Little Different, but Still Valuable is Erica's blog.  On it I explain that every character, no matter how "out there" they might seem, has some shred of humanity in them.  I continue to use my favorite examples: superheros.
• We Should Be Reading Critically Always, Not Just to Find Sexism is Greta's blog about Donovan's article.  I related Donovan's article to Paris's article.   

Discussion

• The Early Bird Gets the Worm (Hopefully) is a blog where I started a discussion with my peers about mimesis.  I continually went back to check it and make sure the conversation was still going.
• The Terrible Terribleness That Exists Within A Terrible Criticism questions the value of post-structural criticism.  I posed a few questions for my peers that sparked a good conversation.  It is also a good show of effort for my peers, Greta and Ellen, who explained the concept to me.
• What? He Was Supposed to Be Funny! OOH!!! praises the performance of the actors in Seton Hill's production of "Life is a Dream."  Three of my coursemates and one fellow blogger (who happened to play Clarin in the production) commented on this blog.
• Mom! He's Touching Me Again! is an entry that is concerned with historical criticism.  Greta wrote a long and thoughtful comment on it which I think is noteworthy and should definately be checked out.
• Eagleton's Description of Post-Structuralism=qewreyriypgibberishadsfgjkhmb started a pretty good conversation between my peers and I (namely Katie and Greta).  They were able to de-fog post-structuralism for me a little.
• I DO NOT LIKE IT SAM I AM! started a good conversation.  They helped to clarify things a little for me.  Actually, to be honest, they set me straight.  I was wrong, but I'm not going to sulk about it, I'm glad I was wrong.  Post-structuralism isn't too bad actually.

Timeliness

• As mentioned above, all of my entries are timely.  That's that me guarantee!  Here's just one example of my timeliness though. The Power of Literature

Xenoblogging

• The Reason For a Mimetic Criticism is, as I mentioned before (in the depth section) an in depth analysis of Paris's critical essay. In it I also link graciously to three blogs of my peers.  Two of these blogs are Greta's and one is Derek's.  I highly suggest checking out these entries because they are very insightful.
• There is no category for this entry to fit into, however, it is most similar to the "link gracious" except I do not link to my peers, I link to the web.  Without much further ado, here is Transcending Transcendentalism. 
• If “Realistic” Fiction Exists, How Can There Be Minor Characters? is Greta's blog that questions Paris's article.  I left a long and thoughtful comment, taking my time to inform her about Paris's article because I know a lot about it.  (comment informative/grande)

Wildcard

• My Outline for the Presentation of "The Uses of Psychology" is an extra entry that I did to help my peers understand the article I was going to present in class, Paris's "The Uses of Psychology."  It is my outline that I used to present off of in class.  I thought that my peers might want to look at it before I presented if they happened to be struggling or if they wanted to examine it when I was done.