HeatherMourick

Creative Project

By HMourick on November 19, 2009 8:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After deciding I could not break into dance, or song, I ended up doing something visual - big surprise seeing as how my books could be rainbows!

This started with the idea that everything we talked about involved death on some level, either with the main character(s) or some minor character(s) in the stories.

Since I have yet to read one story, The Wizard of Oz, I decided to make Dorothy, how I remember her from the movie, the center of the master piece. I then added the next most memorable work for me, which was the Scarlet Letter, initially I had only the A, it eventually progressed to include the cottage and the rosebush. I then added the Raven, and the river from AHF. The tribute to Emily Dickinson was kind of an afterthought

After coloring those in and erasing all unnecessary lines, I stared at the picture and said "I'll come back to this." I ended up finishing it the next night by adding Jim, John Henry, the ribbon, the mask, the cottage and rosebush, Walden's Pond, the flag, the yellow wallpaper, and as a final thought, Foster.

I believe that covers everything on there, if I missed anything it is because anything after that point was a quick add on.

The words are themes from everything we read, not implying it is the only option, but one of the many that stuck with me throughout the semester.

Here is the first picture I took, after I realized I should be documenting this for the sake of a blog!

Here is picture 2

and finally, here is the last picture, with the support backing - making it a little thicker and more durable. This was the final product that I was able to present in class.

http://www.jerz.setonhill.edu/EL266/2009

Confusion on Tall Tales

By HMourick on November 8, 2009 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

John Henry is very much a tall-tale. The story is based on one or more real men, and it is a very extravagant tale.

I don't really see the story as a social commentary... people tell stories all the time. I don't really see it as something standing against society.

I don't think it's too simplistic to say it's about both technology and race. While I don't see the basis of the story being about race, I can easily see the technology aspect since it is talking about different methods of building.

This is very much like the DuBois readings for me... I may be the only person who had not heard of John Henry until reading this; regardless it is yet another thing I do not fully understand.

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL266/2009/11/traditional_joh/#comments

Lost

By HMourick on November 6, 2009 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

"First, it is the duty of black men to judge the South discriminatingly" (3,22).

"Ever-recurring query of the ages, Is not life more than meat, and the body more than raiment" (6,11).

Alright, so W.E.B.DuBois makes almost no sense to me at all. I found these selections to be extremely hard to understand. So hard in fact, that I really just selected to lines that caught my eye. It was very difficult for me to put myself into the time these were written, making it extremely difficult for me to understand what was really being talked about. I can only hope that while reading others blogs, some light will be shed on what I could, or should, have gotten out of these.

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL266/2009/11/du_bois_the_sou/#comments

Whistle While You Work

By HMourick on November 6, 2009 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Any one who is willing to work ten hours a day at the brick-yard... in order that he or she may have the privilege of studying academic branches for two hours in the evening, has enough bottom to warrant being further educated" (13,3).

I kind of wish that this still held true today. Look at how many people have to work a full time job or multiple part time jobs to be able to even afford paying loans to go to school. It says something about a persons character if they are willing to work 8-10 hours a day and attend a night class. This is as true now as it was when Washington said it. People in general underestimate the importance of those willing to work. Society has so few jobs yet so many people that don't belong in the job they are at! There are more people willing to work and who enjoy what they do than there are places that will accept them - both in school and the work force. It's extremely frustrating to watch someone skate by while watching another person work their hardest - the latter is the one that has their heart in it. Perhaps we should consider some of what Washington had to say and apply it to the now.

"few things, if any, are capable of making one so blind and narrow as race prejudice" (14,20). I found this passage from the next chapter very realistic. Think about it... I am sure there is at least one culture you think less of. Think about it, African Americans, Asians, a European culture of some sort (Spanish, French, Italian), Latin Americans. Even taking the word "race" out of the quote would still make it true. Let's instead insert "culture."

Washington seemed ahead of his time. Or maybe it's just that things he said still hold so true. It's extremely difficult to move past things that are engrained into our heritage. One cannot help but look down on at least one other. Every race has it, every person has it, and every culture has it. It's realyl kind of sad that human nature pushes us to find something inferior in order to make ourselves feel better.

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL266/2009/11/washington_addr/#comments

Everyone has their own World

By HMourick on November 2, 2009 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

"Put simply, Tom is a bad boy" (188). Why is this the first time we've seen this statement? Honestly, all these essays that have talked about Huck being the bad boy made so little sense to me, and I've already posted on that. Reading Kevin Scott talk about how Tom is the bad boy just makes more sense. He continues to provide examples of why we see Tom in this light. "Tom transforms, through play, the reality he finds into the romance he prefers" (190). What a way to look at Tom's outlandish ideas! I didn't really consider anything past, he's just being a kid, until I came across this passage. Tom makes it is goal to have an adventure, to create his own reality. This contributes to his bad boy image because he will do whatever is necessary to have an adventure, include tormenting others (like Jim and Becky).

His "rejection of the town's bad faith" (191) allows him to be the "rebel and thorn in the side of social order while actually being its representative" (191). Tom's creating his own world represents society's attempts to create a world they prefer. Tom just happens to get away with his fantasies because he is merely a boy! Society cannot escape into their preferred world because then it would become a reality. Tom rejects the society he has been raised in and substitutes his own. While in his play world, he often "authors it" (191), meaning he makes it how he wants it and no one can stop him or change his mind. Tom has "youthful versions of the bad faith mechanisms adults use in his community every day" (192). Tom knows that adults will manipulate situations to their advantage, even if it is a small change. To him, a small change is just as significant as a large change, so why not go all out? This is what really allows Tom to live life the way he wants to, the way all the authorities do it (the books he has read).

We have discussed and argued how Huck sees Tom. "Huck may doubt Tom's veracity... he admires Tom's style, his courage, his competence, and the internal consistency of his world... made Tom the picture of social success" (193). There it is, the middle ground for the sides of the argument many of us have taken. Huck sees Tom as a "picture of social success," this does not mean that he looks up to him. In fact, one could argue that that is the reason Huck rejects Tom as a role model.

Friends or Foes?

By HMourick on November 1, 2009 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

"Huck, by contrast, is equally rich, but he has apologized to Jim earlier in the novel. And this is the point of Huck's final remark rejecting the prospect of civilization... it is to become like Tom Sawyer" (368).

Those from my group on Wednesday might recall my argument about Huck's morality and how he doesn't think Tom is more moral than he himself is... I think I agree with David Smith. Huck sees Tom as the product of the society he does not want to become a part of. This is why he is going to "light out for the Territory ahead of the rest" (320).

I honestly did not even consider that Tom symbolized everything Huck didn't want to be, but it is interesting to view their relationship with that in mind.

While Smith made many points on race - which I considered quoting many of them - I thought that this little mention of Tom and Huck and their relationship with society was worth noting.

Recess is Important

By HMourick on October 29, 2009 9:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

"So play, Dear Reader, play" (281).

Something I've said all semester - why read a book if you don't enjoy it? Other than assigned readings for classes, which are sometimes enjoyable, why read it? Of course, reading new things expands your mind and your ability to analyze different things, but ultimately, if you do not enjoy yourself, but the book down. Reading should be fun, not forced.

I'm glad Foster does realize this; and it really is important to remember that everything up to this point has been merely suggestion. I know I am at fault for being unhappy with Foster, and not understanding what he's suggesting, but I also remember that they are all just suggestions and opinions. All reading is opinion based, it all depends on the reader.

I plan on reading the way I always have, but who knows, perhaps I will notice things I never thought of before, whether I want to or not.

Walk a Mile in Someone Else's Shoes

By HMourick on October 29, 2009 8:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

"don't read only from your own fixed position" (228). This chapter was most excellent of Foster, if you ask me. Obviously, you cannot read all books from your own view in the year 20__. If the book was written in 1850, and it describes something that is supposed to be the early 1800s, there are a lot of things to consider while reading. It is very challenging to try to take on a different perspective while reading. Foster has presented us with many ways to read and interpret books, so I kind of found it odd that this is one of the final chapters and he's now mentioning that we should be aware of the time-frame and culture we are reading about. I suppose he might have saved it because it is one of the most obvious suggestions he could make, but I do like this one.

This can be easily applied to AHF as well. We (as a class) had so many issues with dialect, simply because it was unusual. Well, it wasn't unusual for the time, nor was it odd for Twain to appropriately use the language. Sometimes it's really hard, but vital, to take a step back and appreciate the work.

"the sign carries with it a customary meaning, but that doesn't guarantee it will deliver that received meaning" (239).

Alright - really? There is not a lot to expand on this because I am genuinely tired of looking for hidden meaning and then learning that there may not even be another meaning. Really... this is just irritating.

Heartache and Pollution

By HMourick on October 26, 2009 9:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

"Daisy has suffered from figurative bad air" (220) and "faithlessness, selfishness, cruelty" (212).

These are just two quotes from Foster on "It's Never Just Heart Disease... and Rarely Just Illness," Chapters 23 and 24. Ultimately, I never thought about disease as a metaphor. I either understand it's intention without really trying, or I don't see a metaphor there.

I already read another blog before posting this, and she posted "can't I just get sick?!" Really, that's what I feel here too. I understand that we're exposing ourself to new methods of analysis, but this one has me guessing. I really don't think much of health, and honestly, I probably won't even after reading this.

Humor and Edge

By HMourick on October 24, 2009 9:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mailloux put into words what I could not, "Tom Sawyer's mind is indelibly marked by the romantic adventure stories he admires and them self-consciously imitates throughout the story" (43). I finally felt like I was seeing what I thought! Then he makes the statement about Huck being "intimidated by Tom's superior knowledge" (43) and I was little upset. I never really thought Huck was intimidated, he just didn't know any better - according to Tom. I think if Huck was intimidated, he wouldn't have offered more than one suggestion, ever. It seems more like Huck is confused and discouraged rather than intimidated.

This entire section of reading was really informative though. Learning the story received "high praise for its realism and humor" (47) was kind of redundant, but also reinforcing. It's always reassuring to see something that is lingering in the back of your mind said elsewhere.

Huck is a very realistic character, everyone can relate to some aspect of him, if not his entire character, because he is so universal. Mailloux makes it a point to highlight the positive effects of the book being considered a "bad-boy" book, which also highlights all the attributes of Huck that the reader has already come to know and love.