October 2009 Archives
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/
The editorial I found was called "Messages of life -- and death" Seeing how the health care debate is a huge issue right now I thought this article seemed appropriate. But I have to be honest, what drew me to this article was the quote smacked in the middle of it all italic and fancy that said:
"If you're very old, we're not going to give you all that technology and all those drugs for the last couple years of your life to keep you maybe going for another couple of weeks."
WHO SAYS THAT? Seriously. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it, so I had to blog about it. Saying this is putting a strain on many people, I mean, how couldn’t it? Knowing that when you get old, people may give up on you just because you will die eventually? Well guess what, everyone will die eventually. How can anyone think they have the right to choose whether or not someone lives or dies?
The article basically discusses a former Harvard professor talking to a university about health care and the misinterpreted messages people throw out there. Because of the recent health care debate, people have been worried about what may happen if certain decisions are made. This can especially affect the elderly, but is extremely significant to everyone, of all ages. Without health care, many bad things can happen, and after hearing something like this, you are pretty much given proof.
The quote mentioned above came about when Reich, the former Harvard professor, who is also former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, spoke to the students, he told them that the statement above is what a candidate for president of the United States would say, if he was honest, if they asked about the health reform.
Reich then gave a speech, playing the role of a “straight talking presidential candidate”. And he really did give it to them straight. He told them he would give the young people all the help they needed to stop them from getting sick and to heal them when they are sick. But that if this were to happen the young people would have to pay more money, and as for the old people, we will just let them die. It makes you really think, once the decision is made, nothing else can be done, so we have to do something about it right now.
This was a very important, very significant, personal story that absolutely affects everyone, and when you are hearing the truth, it makes you open your eyes to the truth and it really makes you want to do something about it.
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL237/2009/10/editorial_1/
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.
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.
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.
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/
Coverage:
This blog is about the story Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), it talks about the women always being portrayed as the women that cant fend for themselves. The little prinsess in distress, its all steroetypical.
This blog is about a chapter in Roberts about writing about problems. I found this chapter to be very interesting, and helpful in more ways than one. When first reading it I didnt think I would need to know any of it, but I was definately proved wrong.
Desert places or snowy forests?
This blog is about the poem Desert Places, by Robert Frost. I found a lot out about this poem, just by my own close reading, something I dont usually find, but I was lucky enough to get a lot from this particular poem.
This blog is about the book we were assigned to read, The Quick and The Dead, my opinion about this book is pretty clear, but what I didnt really share too much of is how attention grabbing it was, but I'm still not sure it's my kind of book. It happens.
Umm, I think you know! TWILIGHT of course!! ;)
WOOO HOOO!! I love getting to write about Twilight, and this blog is about our assigned book review we had to write for a recent book we read, and with Twilight being the BEST and most recent book I was willing to write about and knew i would have enough information for a book review. I really enjoyed this assignment, I had never had to written a book review before, but it was really eye opening and exciting!
Depth:
My opinion and thoughts of the book The Quick and The Dead, a little strange but kept me wondering, which makes for a good book.
My book review on Twilight! The interesting things I found as well as the helpful site for creating this book review, because I had no idea how to even start it because I have never had to write one before.
Interaction and Discussion:
A few people agreed with me about this book being a little out there. But still some that defended it!
Timeliness:
Wildcard:
When you can talk about your own opinion, you can get a lot out! :)
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL237/2009/10/portfolio_2/
Ok, you know what book I wrote about. It was a perfect chance to get my feelings out about this wonderful WONDERFUL piece of work! :) Twilight of course! The book review I used was this one!
I really enjoyed this assignment. I've never had to write a book review before so of course I didnt know what it consisted of, but I was pleased to see that it wasnt as formal as I thought it would be. The link to the page of how to write a book review was extrememly helpful, so thank you Dr. Jerz.
This was a good assignment that I'm sure will benefit me in some way in the future, it wasn't difficult, but it wasn't an really easy task. It was very helpful, and anytime I get to write about Twilight I'm a happy camper!
The audience for a book review is a potenial reader. You want to be catchy and let them know the truth about the book.
The book reviewer I found knows the book extremely well!
The book review differs from a sparknotes summary because in a book review you get the opinion of someone who has read the book and may or may not be able to convince you of what they think of the book. You may disagree and can go off to find another book review that says the opposite. The spark notes just tell you what the book is about. Sometimes you can get a summary of each chapter. But a book review gets more in depth and has a lot more detail and is a lot more broad. It talks about more and lets you know more than sparknotes. They have different purposes as well. However, both can be very helpful!
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL237/2009/10/ex_4_review/#comments
Ummm...what do you want me to say????
Ok, well I will start by saying, this book just isnt for me. THE END....
Ok for real, the first page and a half is a little weird. I'm not sure what it was talking about, nor what a hare and it's nose moisture has to do with the quick and the dead. However, I do like the last question on the page "Which would you prefer to have your life compared to, wind or dust?" Its an interesting question, although Im not sure what the wind and the dust represent, or if they are supposed to represent anything. But this question did make me wonder and I think if I had to choose, I would want to have my life compared to wind. I dont know, Im not sure. I think wind. But I think, rather than comparing I think the question would be better as "Which would you prefer to live your life as". This has nothing to do with anything so lets move on.
The first paragraph of the book sounds like a play on words for a suicide note. Maybe thats just my negative look on things, maybe its because I was watching a suicide story on tv while I was reading it and it was fresh in my head.
I think little Alice here has the WRONG job. She should not be around kids. Or anyone for that matter. She should be watched closely at all times. What is with not being able to talk about compost early in the morning? I mean come one. People can talk about compost allllllllllllll day! And jelly bags are my new favorite article of clothing. No doubt.
Now, through these chapters I was trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with this Alice girl. She is just weird. But some of the things she was talking about was kind of genius, she is smart, and intelligent, yet dumb and stupid. The more I read, the wiser she became. When she was with Corvus talking about her family, she actually seemed human.
I'm not too sure what is going on in this book, but I don't like it, its almost as bad as Annie Dillard. Dont get me started with that woman!
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL237/2009/10/williams_the_quick_and_the_dea/
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