MichellePolly

    There is so much meaning behind it, and we all know that makes for a great story.  The more meaning and background and sincerity shown in a story, the more you are able to relate to the readers and grab their attention and reel them in and lock them there.  This book is capable of doing so.

     Now, everyone's stories seem a little mixed up, not sure what to think about the guy in the beginning, but the meaning behind it makes it not matter.  The meaning, that, some stories says this and others say that, whether he's black or white, short or tall, fat or thin, dead or alive, he is a legend.  He is remembered and aways will be, he is loved, he is praised, he is thought about, he is a good guy. 

     The stories may be different, but there isnt one that talks badly about Mr. John Henry.  In every story, or song, told or sang, the description is what is off, other than that he was a great man.  A hard worker.

      Years later they even have a festival for him.  Incredible.  He's known as a hero.

BUT...I dont think I like J. too much.  Not tooooo sure why, but I'm thinking I don't like him.

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL237/2009/11/whitehead_prologue_part_one/

     Hughes' Theme for English B was incredibly deep, and heart felt, and meaningful.  The meaning behind it however may be different for other people, but I think one of the reasons I felt so stringly about it is because I am a writer, and I can experience something like this, I thought about it, and thought about what I think when I write.  Or even when I get an assignment.  And after a long time of thinking about all those thoughts over the years, never once have I felt so stronly about the assignment or the person who assigned it, nor did any assingment ever bring up this long thing about the history and lives and such of people.  The race, the religion, the number of family members, the this the that.  I never really think about anything but the assignment, but he, "the twenty-two, colored, born in Winstom Salem man" thought deep, and far back and long and hard about it and its inspiring.

     I'm not sure in what way I mean, but it is something that can affect people.  It affected me by reading this and I really enjoyed it and I will probably pay more attention to or think more about things when I get an assingment.  For all I know it will spark my creativity, and off I'll go.  But never, could i ever feel the...struggle? pain? sorrow? or happiness? joyfulness? of this man. I could never experience what he has experienced, but I sure enjoyed his aspect of it and his ability to write, or not write, because of it. 

     You wonder.  What is this man feeling?  What did Hughes intend for him to feel when writing this?  Did I take this the way Highes wanted me to?  Or did this story alone spark our imagination enough to think up what we thought?  Was that the point?  It's kind of like a mind, hypnotist.  We don't know what they want us to do or know or think, but once we've thought it, we can't take it back and so we are forced to wonder, are we right about it.   Well maybe that's the point.  You're supposed to think.  And I know I'm getting way off topic, but like I said, it sparked my imagination and creativity, I was inspired, and just couldnt stop writing! ;)

Read for yourself...and see what happens! :)

     Traveling everyone, something I want to do badly.  Reading this made me want to explore even more.  There's not muc to say about this poem, I like it, it's well written and meaningful.  Going around the world seeing so many wonderful things, still knowing there's even more out there to see.

     "Travell'd the realms of gold, many goodly states and kingdoms seen, western islands." Just reading about it makes you feel like you're there its great!

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL237/2009/10/keats_on_first_looking/

     Wow, this sonnet is quite difficult to understand.  It takes everything you have to even make it through a line without messing up.  A lot of "s" and "w".  But after going back, and back and back again and again and again, I think I got that thinking back on the past, thinking about the death of friends and crying about it "then can I drown an eye", cry?  "My precious friends hid in death's dateless night". Death of friends. After thinking back which I don't do often, I remember the good times with those friends and the sorrows end.? "Which I new pay, as if not paid before.  But if the while I think on thee (dear friend) All losses are restored and sorrows end." Maybe! I tried! :)

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL237/2009/10/shakespearesonnet_30/

    I know we didnt have to blog about this assignment but I found things interesting enough to share.

    First of all I really thought this assignment was interesting.  I learned so much, but I went into it the wrong way I think.  I started out thinking I would learn more about my reading, other people's thoughts and theories.  But I wasnt even close.  I chose Trifles, mostly because I did want to learn more about it.  As I dug deeper and deeper I got further and further away from my original starting point.

    Before I knew it I was off the subject of literature and onto reading all about psych, and child development and stuff.  After only 4 searches...that little amount and it changed taht dramatically.  It was crazy.

Read all about the assignment!

   Heres the chapter I've been waiting for.  We all know how important it is to have setting in our stories but to write about setting is even more significant. 

    As mentioned in this chapter, setting in literature is extremely crucial.  Picture a movie, completely done in a white room.  Thats it, a room, no color, no props, nothing.  Do you think you would understand as much, or even want to understand when you werent interested.  The setting helps grab and hold you.  The setting gives us every detail we need to understand the understanding of the story, if that makes sense.

    In this chapter, it also mentions how some settings may be symbolic.  Like I mentioned, it is crucial in almost every story to know and understand what exactly is going on.  Which means you need to know where the characters are, what the characters are doing, what is around them, etc.  There is jsut so much we couldnt do without when it comes to the setting of any story.

 http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL237/2009/10/roberts_ch_6/

    We all know how awful and terrifying the "red death" was.  It was a time that no one forgot.  It was just as tragic as many wars if you ask me.  Fighting with an awful illness is as bad as anything you would have to go through in the war.  With that, you can understand how truly horrible this plague was.

    Poe has an incredible way of portraying this, how serious the red death was.  He took something incredible terrifying and deranged and made it this work, something incredible and amazing.  In every story, we look for something to pull us in.  Something that will make us WANT to keep reading.  Poe is able to pull that off from the beginning.  Danger and terror as well as trouble and mishap is what reels people in.  When there is so much going on you cant help but wonder what could possibly happen next.

    Poe keeps you wondering and curious.  Youre on the edge of your seat trying to find an answer to everything.  Its a great story.  Any story that can grab you and pull you in and manage to somehow keep you there is absolutely a great story.

    This is the second or third time I have read this, and surprisingly enough, I get caught and pulled in every single time.  It's like I never read it before.  A story that can do that must be good. 

    Although this is a tragic story, behind the tragic and horror there is meaning.  Like any story there is background info that means a lot more to people that were there and experienced it, or people that know people that went through something like this.  It's a great story.  Tragic, but knowledgeable.

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL237/2009/10/poe_the_masque_of_the_red_deat/

     Imagery is a very important part of writing, it always has been.  Without imagery you are unable to express and show many things that allow you to tell the whole story which is a big part of any story.  Very important.  But along with the importance of having imagery, knowing how to write it is jsut as important. 

    As Roberts mentions, the importance of detail is crucial in every story as well.  The more detail, the better the story.  Compare a sentence like the dog ran across the road as opposed to the little black puppy ran right into the street, anything could have happened.  With more detail, not only do you let the reader more inside the story, but you are also able to give more to the story.  Detail is very important!

    Now, I must admit, the part about the types of imagery was interesting because i didnt know all that much about imagery, just that it was crucial to a story, but I wasn't too sure about how many different types there were, or at least couldnt remember if I did know.  So that section of this chapter was fun to read.

    This was a very important chapter, but also one of the easiest.  To me, I think imagery is not necessarily an easy thing to put into your work, but it's something you never forget to add, so it's a little bit easier to learn and understand, as well as put into action.

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL237/2009/10/roberts_ch8/

     SO, I think this is a really good story.  It is fun to read and interesting, and you definately find yourself getting sucked into the story.  It was good that the story wasnt only about the Holocaust, or it may be tedious, but Vladek tells about his life with his not so beautiful (haha) wife, and how things happened between them while all of this other stuff is going on.  It was really interesting. 

     One thing I would like to point out is the Author's timing on introducing Vladek's number on his arm.  It couldnt have been better.  The author works really well with what picture goes where and when and why and I was really impressed with a lot of the things the author did to make the book even better.

     I think the beginning part with Artie and the skating, was a little overboard, but I suppose it was worth it to find a way to start the story.  I think it helped us to see sooner that Vladek went through a lot and it obviously is still affecting him.  Vladek seems very sensitive and or cranky.  The littlest things really upset him and got him mad, like when Artie interupted his story because he was talking about Lucia not Anna.  And why is she sometimes Anna and sometimes Anja? Is it because of the accent?  Thats my only guess. lol

     What animal are the German's supposed to be?? We've got mice and pigs, but what were the germans? And WHY?

     The author I thought also did a very good job with the speech/language of each character.  The father talks like my grandmother, almost, shes a little bit better.  And Artie, well, he's still out of date, but it fits him to the time period.  And why is Mala hated so much and treated like crap by Vladek? UGH!

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL237/2009/10/spiegelman_maus_ch_1-4/