HeatherMourick

Portfolio 3

2009-12-01T21:19:28Z

This is Portfolio 3 for EL266. This highlights my work for the last portion of the semester.

These are merely four of the responses that I posted during the last third of the semester. The Wizard of Oz has yet to be discussed in class, but even without comparing it to the movie, there will be a lot to discuss and there are already comments on my post. I struggled with Booker T. Washington and the readings were discussed highly in class. My peers also helped me out by commenting on Washington as well as W.E.B. DuBois. Their comments enabled me to better understand why we had to read that set of essays. Kevin Scott wrote an essay interpreting Tom in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This essay sparked discussion on-line and in class. David Smiths essay also sparked a lot of conversation on my blog. I believe these four entries best exemplify my work for the last portion of the semester. They cover a small portion of the readings required of us, and they also go into depth and created discussion amongst my peers.

Of these four, three were posted in a very timely fashion, giving my classmates ample time to respond to my entry: The Wizard of Oz, Booker T. Washington and David Smiths essay "Huck, Jim, and American Racial Discourse".

Interaction - Here are comments that I left on classmates blogs. These are not all the comments, but those that seemed to contribute to a discussion online or in class.

Jessica on Foster

Meagan on Mallioux and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Jeremy on H.N. Smiths ''Introduction to AHF"

Xenoblogging and Wildcard - I never thought I would post more than what was required of me. For me, blogging is pretty new. While I had a blog way back in middle school, I would say this is a little more complex, especially since people can Google search me and find my blog! This class as matured my writing style even more, as it is very important that I know what I am posting and who can see it. As a future educator, this process has shown me how a blog can work in certain settings, regardless of how hesitant the students are at partaking in this new media. Here are a couple entries that were not required, but that I enjoyed creating.

A trip to Northern New York and Canada

My creative project

Turkey Day!

2009-12-01T20:23:53Z

For the wonderful (almost) week I had off, Matt and I were able to go back to my home town for Thanksgiving. Since I practically live on the St. Lawrence, we also decided it would be a great time to use our new passports and drive to Canada for a day! If you thought airports were difficult, try getting into Canada for a day when the first three questions are as follows: Where do you live? (PA) Where are you going? (Ottawa) and How long are you staying? (the afternoon)... followed by "That's a long drive to be up for just a day..." Needless to say they did a background check on us since nothing about our passports matches where we live or how we're crossing the border in NY at that...

So, I thought I would share a few pictures of NY, without snow surprisingly, from our mini vacation.

here is the bay in good old Northern New York, right on the St. Lawrence river. Everything water beyond the dock is obviously the wonderful river I grew up on, and the land across the way is Canada! So yes, I saw Canada practically every day growing up.

This is a part of the Rideau Canal up in Ottawa. Matt really wanted to see this, so we walked pretty much everywhere from the parking garage, this was one of the sights... and yes, there is a big boat at the far end.

I thought this was a cool statue, thus, a picture!

We are pretty sure this is one of the Parliament buildings... there were three really big buildings in a little semi-circle, and this one had the best lighting. It was kind of weird knowing we could tour the Parliament buildings, but you have to pull teeth to get into the Capitol here...

This is glorious Black Lake, my house is quite literally on a hill, over looking this. During the summer there are a ton of people on the camps along the lake as well as out boating and fishing here! I think it's the most gorgeous in the fall though, when the trees change colors and reflect off the lake.

Matt said I couldn't take this picture without a scale... he's 5'10".... My sister and I got those trees a LONG time ago, and they would have been up to about his knees and about as wide as him too! Obviously they are significantly bigger now, and amazingly still in my back yard. There used to be sumacs behind them, but the parents cleared that out to make room for the trees to grow! They are blue spruces and also absolutely gorgeous when in full bloom. I really hope to see them there 20 years from now!

So those are just a few of the pictures from our trip. It was freezing in Canada, but we are planning on going back sometime in the next couple years! Hope you enjoyed a small peek at the little town I'm from. :)

Silver Slippers

2009-11-26T16:37:09Z

First, I was highly disappointed that the slippers were silver and not red - but I guess I will just have to deal with that. :) I thought it was interesting that Dorothy says "There is no place like home" (Ch4, p42) so early in the story. This was the only time I saw her say this and I was very surprised that that was it. It seemed too early for the story as I remember it, but within the text it seemed to work out just fine.

Chapter nine was a little strange to me as the scarecrow is not supposed to be very smart yet. Here he creates a plan to get the lion out of the poppy field, which would suggest he really is smart. It seemed interesting that the reader knows he is really already smart, but the scarecrow doesn't think he is yet.

The wizard's forms stood out to me as well. The floating head, the beautiful lady, the scary beast and the fireball for Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin woodman, and the lion (respectively) brought out the importance of having what they wanted, or even not having what they wanted. The lion thought to walk in and scare the wizard but ended up frightened by him instead, since he was a huge fireball. If the tin man had had a heart, it would have beat fiercely at the sight of such a scary beast. The scarecrow did not know how to approach the wizard because she was too beautiful, making him more speechless than usual, and Dorothy saw something that reminded her of home, a human head.

I thought that how each saw the wizard magnified their desire to have what they did not. While each one shows the reader that they really already have what they want, each character strives even more so obtain what they desire after seeing the wizard in multiple forms.

I could go into color analysis, but that could go in far too many directions - blue in munchkinland, gold in the west, green in the emerald city, the china town, Glinda being red, white and blue - It could make for a very interesting discussion in class.

Follow the yellow brick road..

Creative Project

2009-11-20T01:24:19Z

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

2009-11-09T01:20:29Z

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

2009-11-06T18:13:03Z

"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

2009-11-06T18:01:27Z

"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

2009-11-02T13:48:30Z

"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?

2009-11-01T14:22:29Z

"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

2009-10-30T02:10:52Z

"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

2009-10-30T01:44:28Z

"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

2009-10-27T02:10:53Z

"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

2009-10-25T02:49:30Z

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.

Books smarts vs. street smarts

2009-10-24T17:11:43Z

Was anyone else completely intrigued by chapter 35, in its entirety? Entitled "Escaping properly - Dark Schemes - Discrimination in Stealing - A Deep Hole" (276) I was thoroughly amused by the arguments between Tom and Huck. Tom has all these books and figures he relies on to make a proper escape plan while Huck tries to convince him "confound it, it's foolish, Tom" (280). Tom has all these book-like ideas, that are far from practical, although they are very worthy of writing down. It's great to see how Huck is actually smarter when it comes to freeing slaves than Tom is, even though we find out Tom was just playing. This really felt like a build up to not liking Tom because I was already frustrated with him from his outlandish ideas. Learning later that he was just playing and Jim had been free all along I was almost angry with his character. Chapter 35 just made me smile. :)

One strange thing I also noticed was on page 283 "Tom said it wasn't enough." Throughout Huck's book we've seen him use "warn't." This is the only time I saw him use "wasn't," so I'm not really sure if it happens at all in the rest of the book, but it stood out to me especially because it was used while Tom and Huck were still debating how to free Jim.

Back to American Lit. Outline

Poetry Slam

2009-10-20T18:28:35Z

Last week we read poetry aloud - which for the record - I thought was pretty sweet. Everyone has such a different view on things! I actually hope I get my health back to hear the last of them as they really challenge the way we think!

Here is the synopsis of the comments given to me:

I read "The last night that she lived" by Emily Dickinson

- soft spoken

- it sounded as if I would "break into tears"

- sad tone - also intimate, gentle, and like reading a suicide letter

- comfortable pace

- consistent

- good eye contact

- there were a couple that mentioned work emphasis, like "italicized" the way it was read you could almost see the word

I had a good time with this poem, it was very easy for me to feel it and understand it. For anyone not in the class who happens to stumble upon this, here is a copy of the poem:

The last night that she lived,

It was a common night,

Except the dying; this to us

Made nature different.

We noticed smallest things, --

Things overlooked before,

By this great light upon our minds

Italicized, as 'i were.

That others could exist

While she must finish quite,

A Jealousy for her arose

So nearly infinite.

We waited while she passed;

It was a narrow time,

Too jostled were our souls to speak,

At length the notice came.

She mentioned, and forgot;

Then lightly as a reed

Bent to the water, shivered scarce,

Consented, and was dead.

And we, we placed the hair,

And drew the head erect;

And then an awful leisure was,

Our faith to regulate.