April 2007 Archives

Card, Ender's Game Finish -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

"I sold my brother," Valentine said, "and they paid me for it."
"That's a bit melodramatic, isn't it Valentine?"

In chapter nine, when Valentine writes to Ender convincing him that he is not like Peter, I was kind of confused. At first I expected Ender to be angry that Valentine had betrayed him but in conclusion he finds that he loves her and always will? Maybe I got this all wrong but I really was getting the wrong idea from the whole note thing. I mean if Valentine betrayed Ender why does he find himself conquering the game?

Card, Ender's Game Ch 1-6 -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

"With Ender, we have to strike a delicate balance. Isolate him enough that he remains creative--otherwise he'll adopt the system here and we'll lose him. At the same time, we need to make sure her keeps a strong ability to lead."

I picked this quote from Ender's Game, because I thought it was very interesting how they concluded that isolation would encourage creativity. When I think about creativity and the ability to be able to think outside of the box, I never think being IN the box is the way of enforcing these creative juices. When I think of the great creative minds, I usually think about how they were NOT sheltered and were so worldly; musicians, artists, and writers were not shoved into a box to find creativity but they were let lose to explore. I don't know, I just found this very odd throughout the novel it just keeps picking at me more and more.

Blogging Checkpoint -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

Coverage:
Shakespeare, King Lear Acts 1, 2
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/04/name_of_pure_evil.html

Shakespeare, King Lear Acts 3-5
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/04/sweet_yet_tart.html

Zunder, "Shakespeare and the End of Feudalism..."
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/04/ding_ding_dingi_think_i_have_t.html

Kennedy, "Shakespeare's King Lear"
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/04/the_jolly_green_giant.html

Zunder, "Shakespeare and the End of Feudalism..." -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

"Lear's betrayal of feudal values involves a critique not only of the traditional aristocracy but also of the contemporary monarchy: of James I."

I first blogged on the other article, and I must say my point was right on the dot! After completing this article it just further proved my point that history has a huge part in all literature whether we realize it or not. To think that King Lear was all about the fall of Feudalism, it really is a mind blowing thought, and with the evidence that Zunder provides it is totally valid. Both articles were very thought provoking and just go to show how imporant symbolism in a literary work can really be. !

Kennedy, "Shakespare's King Lear" -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

"The Green Man, his head crowned with leaves, weeds, or flowers, is one of the most incontestably pre-Christian images in British history."

After reading this article, I was completely shocked, but interested at the same time. I would have never thought of the Green Man, mainly because I have never heard of this reference in my entire life! I have also read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and I was shocked that we would not have learned the background of the importance of this Green Man to the British history. I feel like I am growing to think about the symbolism in stories more now that I am in college, but I feel like I struggle to think about the OLDER meanings of symbols such as these pagan references. I know that I have never heard of the Green Man, but I am beginning to realize how important history can be while reading literature.

Shakespeare, King Lear Acts 3-5 -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

Edgar:
"The weight of this sad time we must obey,
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most; we that are young
Shall never see so much nor live so long."

Shakespeare was one of my first experiences of reading that didn't end "happily ever after". I have to admit that when I read for pleasure I like it when the ending has closure and the good guys win. But when it comes to the ending of this play, we are left with a bittersweet taste so to say. In theory it is happily ever after, but it can't be after almost all the good guys die...could it? When I read it the first time last year, I didn't really catch onto this element of the play, but really it is interesting how Shakespeare doesn't end it completely. I have actually grown to love this element in writing because it leave more up to the readers mind. How boring would this be if King Lear and all his buddies just conquered the bad guys with no problem? There would literally be almost NO point to the play at all!

Shakespeare, King Lear Acts 1,2 -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

Albany: "I cannot be so partial, Goneril,
To the great love I bear you--
Goneril: Pray you, content.--What, Oswald, ho!--
You, sir, more knave than Fool, after your master."

I picked these quotes out of King Lear, because I wanted to point out how UGLY and EVIL the name Goneril sounds. After reading only the first two act in this Shakespeare play, it is clear that Goneril is one of the antagonist and the most foul of them all. I have completed the whole play, and have many points that I am dying to make, but don't want to ruin it for all the other readers. I feel that Shakespeare's choice in names is always very interesting. Cordelia is such a pure name in comparison to Goneril and Regan! While reading the two eldest daughters names I just feel like the sounds let you into the personality. Cordelia, true and pure hearted- Goneril, evil and liar. I don't know maybe it's just me but I think Billy (Shakespeare) did these things on purpose!

Portfolio 2 -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

This is my second blog portfolio in the English program at Seton Hill University. This portfolio includes reading, discussion, and comments that I have made in class and online through the webblogs. Although I am getting used to blogging regularly, I still find it easy to fall behind. My experience thus far at school, really has improved my time management skills and I feel this class and our online agenda's have helped largely in my improvement and continue to push me to work to my fullest.

1. Coverage (contains all the agenda's I have completed since the previous blog portfolio):
"Short Story: 10 Tips": I wrote about how important getting to know your character is in developing a story.
href="http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/really_get_to_know_them.html">http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/really_get_to_know_them.html

Poetry Selections: I connected the simplicity of the short poem to the movie Funny Face.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/funny_face.html

"Poems: Short but Effective": For this assignment I talked about how complex such small poems really are.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/hook_in_my_eye.html

Hamilton, Essential Literary Terms (198-225): In this blog I reflect on falling behind and how the information would have helped me in class.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/04/wowi_wish_i_would_have_known.html

"Poetry is for the Ear": I talk about how I struggle with punctuation in poems and my pausing problems.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/chronic_pauser_please_no_appla.html

Lemire (skim Ch 2-7): I talk about me new interest in trade magazines and owning a bookstore in two different blogs.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/trade_it_up.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/bookstore.html

Hamilton, Essential Literary Terms (226-246): I talked about how I never fully understood couplets until I read this section.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/03/once_againwho_knew.html

Truss, Eats, Shoots and Leaves: I talk about the HUGE difference a little apostrophe can make.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/03/mmm_mmm_good_food.html

Truss, Eats, Shoots and Leaves: I talked about how I wasn't offended at Truss's comments even though I may make mistakes she considered stupid.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/03/anyone_else_feel_this_way.html

Truss, Eats, Shoots and Leaves: I refer to the difference between England punctuation and American Punctuation.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/03/this_makes_more_sense.html

O'Connor, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own": I talk about how Mackenzie helped me see the Christ figure within a character.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/04/i_never_think_of_this_stuff.html

O'Connor, "A Stroke of Good Fortune": I blogged about the difference in O'Connor's stories and how I didn't prefer this story.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/04/lame.html

Desmond, "Flannery O'Connor's Misfit and the Mystery of Evil": I refer to the mean characters and the reason O'Connor uses them in her short stories.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/03/no_pleasure_but_meanness.html

O'Connor (Choose One of Three): I compare the same "Big Yellow Taxi" to the short story "Circle in the Fire".
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/03/they_paved_paradise_circle_in.html

O'Connor, "Good Country People": I wrote about the foreshadowing of the boy stealing Joy's leg in blank verse.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/04/childish_foreshadowing.html

O'Connor, "The Displaced Person": I wrote about cultures and how "displaced" people sometimes work harder.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/04/cultures.html

2. Depth (the blogs I felt were my best and most interesting):
href="http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/really_get_to_know_them.html">http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/really_get_to_know_them.html

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/03/mmm_mmm_good_food.html

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/03/they_paved_paradise_circle_in.html

3. Interaction (blogs that helped other students and discussion):
Maggie Jones (Short Story Top Tips)
ttp://blogs.setonhill.edu/MargaretJones/2007/02/digging_deep.html

Derek Tickle (Truss, Eats, Shoots and Leaves)
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/DerekTickle/2007/03/do_you_punctuate_text_messages_1.html

Jenna Miller (Truss, Eats, Shoots and Leaves)
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/JennaMiller/2007/03/possessive_people.html

4. Discussion (interaction with my peers that helped support and challenge my blogs):
href="http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/really_get_to_know_them.html">http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/really_get_to_know_them.html

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/hook_in_my_eye.html

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/chronic_pauser_please_no_appla.html

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/03/this_makes_more_sense.html

5. Timeliness (more often my ealier blogs, but they were posted early and let to discussion):
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/funny_face.html

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/hook_in_my_eye.html

http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/02/chronic_pauser_please_no_appla.html

6. Xenoblogging (things I did to help others with blogging):
Comment Primo:
Bethany Bouchard
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyBouchard/2007/02/tiny_tots.html

Chera Pupi
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/CheraPupi/2007/03/the_enemy_of_gr.html

Maggie Jones
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MargaretJones/2007/04/blank_verse_yikes.html

7. Wildcard (the one I want you to see!)
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/BethanyMerryman/2007/03/this_makes_more_sense.html

I picked this blog as my wildcard, because I felt it showed a lot of growth. I took a quote and reflected and upon being questioned by a peer, Lorin, I responded with an answer to her question and stood up for my ideas. It isn't really the deepest thing I have written, but I think it shows my growth in the blogosphere and my attempt at helping a fellow student with the material.

O'Connor, ''A Stroke of Good Fortune'' -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

"She sat on the step, clutching the banister spoke while the breath came back into her a thimbleful at a time and the stairs stopped seesawing."

Since I did this a little out of order, I was rather uninterested with this story in comparison to some of O'Connor's other stories. I felt it was not as hidden or shocking as her other works. I prefered her other stories to this one for sure.

O'Connor, ''The Life You Save May Be Your Own'' -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

"The body, lady, is like a house: it don't go anywhere; but the spirit, lady, is like a automobile: always on the move, always..."

After reading Mackenzie's blog, I realized how much Mr. Shiftlet resembled Christ. As I have been reading O'Connor's short stories, I have tried to look into the deeper meaning but I always seem to miss large hints such as the ones that Mackenzie did find when she read the story. I found it very interesting how this had an affect on the story when I thought about it afterwards. Although I am not sure if I total understand why O'Connor does it this way, there are so many things pointing striaght to the Christ explanation. As always I find it very interesting how people find different things in storeis and I glad that Mackenzie was able to point these things out to me through her blog.

Hamilton, Essential Literary Terms (198-225) -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

"Metrical Feets: iambic, anapestic, trochaic, and dactylic."

I won't pretend like I did this on time, because it is obvious that I missed this blog and assignment. I just have to kick myself when I go through all these pages. If I would have read this more closely, I know I would have been more successful on my exam we had regarding meter and poetry. Shame on me and trust me LESSON LEARNED!! Falling behind on blogs is never good in the long run, and I will keep this in mind for the rest of the semester and in the future when I have blog assignments.

O'Connor, "The Displaced Person" -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

" 'You reckon he can drive a tractor when he don't know English?' she asked. 'I don't think she's going to get her money's worth out of them. That boy can talk but he looks delicate. The one can work can't talk and the one can talk can't work. She ain't any better off than if she had more niggers.' "

I picked this quote out of the story, because I thought it was interesting how the Shortley's thought these "displaced" people were useless just because they didn't know the English language. Discrimination is not just in the south when it comes to immigration either. Even today we see that people don't want immigration in our country. I personally have a friend who came from Serbia to America and although she knows how to speak English, her parents struggled a great deal to learn our language. I feel that in many cases, like my friend's case, the "displaced" people work harder to prove themselves and are just plain happy to be in America the land of the free. In many cases they are just thankful they were given the freedom so many of us take for granted.

O'Connor, "Good Country People" -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

"His breath was clear and sweet like a child's and the kisses were sticky like a child's"

The boy is not as nice as country folks.
O'Connor fooled me with the boy who lied.
Every morning the girl eats two yolks.
If I were Joy Than I would want to cry.

I noticed "child" was used a lot through out,
the story describing the evil boy.
I think it was to foreshadow about,
the boy who had to steal the leg of Joy.