Korrin Kovacevic

Hello, everyone! To those of you who are usuals to my blog, welcome back! To those of you who are new to my blog for my American Literature class, welcome!  We have been asked to complete another portfolio activity comprised of the blogs post portfolio 1.  I am pleased to say that I feel I am learning and growing both in this class and with my blogging.  Akin to the first portfolio, our blogs will be placed in categories that seem most appropriate for the blog; these categories include depth, interaction, discussion, timeliness, and coverage.  Hopefully you enjoy my second portfolio, and I encourage anyone and everyone to leave a comment

DEPTH: As in the first portfolio, this depth category is focused on blogs that demonstrate more of a critcal reading element, sparked our interest, that we posed question about, or one that may have been inspired by a class discussion.  The first blog I will discuss is one that exhibited my analytical skills.  This blog deals with Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  I blogged about a passage which foreshadowed the brightness of Francie’s future.  I also commented on the fact that, based on the passage and other supportive evidence, Neeley was most likely to follow the path of his parents and not rise above an impoverished life.  The second blog up for discussion is one of my more recent blogs.  I analyzed Beneath and Walter in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun.  From the characters’ body language and also dialogue, I deduced that Walter’s insults demonstrated his own insecurites.  On top of that, I included why Lorraine Hansberry chose to incorporate these characters and have them act the way that they do.  In my blog that featured Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, I argued that the grandmother was not as ladylike as she claimed to be.  As I did in the Hansberry blogs, I addressed why O’Connor made the grandmother so contradictory.  In my most recent blog, from Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, I had many questions, while I also addressed particular parts of the text, and pointed out the author’s intentions. In this blog that covered the academic article dealing with futurism in The Hairy Ape, I related the article to Machinal, as well.  The next blog dealt with a chapter in Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor. The chapter touched based upon symbolism in scars, which I related to Francie’s scar from the incident with the intruder.

INTERACTION: This section pertains to ideas that were provoked by classmates’ ideas or blogs.  In a “Agree to Disagree” activity, Jalen, Shannon, and I debated how we felt about Aunt Sissy in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Jalen and Shannon sided with each other, arguing that Sissy is a good person deep down.  In another “Agree to Disagree” activity, our group argued about the scene in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn dealing with the way Katie handled a particular situation.  After reading her comment, Katelynn seemed to side with me.

DISCUSSION: Obviously, this area centers on discussion and the willinging to participate and engage in them. Referring back to the first “agree to disagree” excerpt from the”discussion” category, I was very judgmental with my claim that Sissy is not a good person. After reflecting on this activity and also class discussions, I commented on Shannon’s blog explaining my change of heart.  Another blog that could fall under this group would be another blog that deals with Sissy (I think I may be.. umm.. OBSESSED?!) Natalie commented, expressing her shock of Sissy’s actions.  This blog also deals with reflecting back on class discussions, and also points out the valuable lessons crafted in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

TIMELINESS: Blogs that are classified in this part are merely ones that display that they were posted in a timely fashion, basically, they were posted early and not at 11:09 (one minute before class starts.)

COVERAGE: As sad and lonely as it sounds, these blogs just don’t fit in anywhere else.  They fall under the “coverage” category to demonstrate that we indeed completed the blogging assignment.  I am proud to say that I have completed every blogging assignment