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May 3, 2006
Closing Portfolio
Portfolio 3 -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)This collection was definitely easier to put together than last time because I knew what to keep in mind as I blogged (It hasn’t escaped me that I can now use the word “blog” in a sentence, which was definitely untrue prior to this term). As a final note to this semester, I would really like to thank my classmates, Paul Crossman and Megan Ritter, who are unbelievably poised and intelligent despite being so young, as well as all those in the Tues./Thurs. section for their thought-provoking work. I kept hoping that one of you would be a celebrity guest blogger on Wednesday night, but it wasn’t to be! Finally, thanks to Dr. Jerz for his motivation, his obvious belief that literature enriches life, and for demonstrating how even a very small class cannot fully explore the layers to many of the works he selected. I definitely feel like I got my money’s worth, and even though it was a tremendous amount of work, I would recommend his class to others. I did not place any of my blogs in multiple categories, even though some overlap. That said, here’s my Portfolio:
1.Coverage: I submitted a blog on each of the readings:
A).A Love/Hate Relationship - Can't you just taste the frustration?
B). Langston Hughes: I never heard of Hughes before this class, but I'm already an admirer!
C). Another blog to pay homage to Mr. Hughes
D). Roberts Chapter 8 - Figures of Speech - how boring life would be without them!
E). Opening thought on Good Country People.
F). Sometimes, you just need to know what others think. I needed answers on the whole hitchhiker scene from The Life You Save May Be Your Own.
G). My paper #1. I thought that I was a decent writer before this class, but in hindisght, I didn't know squat. I LOVE William Carlos Williams, but even so, this paper in no way wrote itself like my second paper did.
H). Roberts Chapter 12 - no comments, but that's OK.
2.Depth:
A). My Presentation Talking Points blog not only helped me sort out some ideas on my own paper, but hopefully provided my classmates with a reminder or what a conparison/contrast essay is all about and refreshed their memory on Literary Expressionism and Rice's The Adding Machine.
B). Expanding on my coverage blog on the same work, "Flannery O'Connor starring in the role of Mrs. Freeman" sparked some good blogging.
C). An extended blog on Mrs. Cope from A Circle in the Fire and her proclaimed thankfulness.
D). Inspired by Lisa'a blog, I kept my ideas about Mr. Shiftlet going.
E). MY FAVORITE DEPTH BLOG, even though nobody commented (Thomson's The Great Gatsby and the Sims.
3.Interaction:
A). List of Readings/Associated Topic blog where I reviewed the entire syllabus in an effort to remind my classmates what topics we covered in conjunction with what works. Chris and Melissa both thanked me.
B.) Matt Hampton's "A Late Encounter with Blogging": I gleefully discovered that Jen's paper was similar to mine-I respect her abilities immensely, and always enjoy Matt's blogs.
C). And last but not least: I started an expansive blog thread on A Temple of the Holy Ghostby comparing the girl to Bevel, and ended up with a great little discussion, which hopefully helped my classmates as mush as it helped me.
4.Discussions:
A). "Mommy" : After some give and take with Matt, as well as the classroom exercise about how I would write my auotbiography, I learned to not be so judgmental.
B). Forgive O Lord: I received 3 very thoughtful comments on my blog with the same name as the succinct, sharp Frost poem.
C). I'm so glad that the collection ended with The Displaced Person and Good Country People because by the time that I blogged on The Artificial Nigger, I was dying for something new, as some of my classmates apparently were as well.
D)." Who is the Most Careless?" elicited some thoughtful comments from at least 4 others.
5.Timeliness:As stated above, none of my blogs were submitted late. Blogs that led to class discussions were:
A). My comment on Paul's "Politics of the 60's finally has a Point" (By the way, I don't think that the 60's were "a joke", they just didn't seem that relevant for an 80's kid heavily into English Mama Boy and Big-Hair bands! (Yes, Sting was not always a solo artist).
B). Southern Hospitality, where I took a discussion from the Tues/Thurs section and applied it to Mommy in The Color of Water, not just Flannery O'Connor.
C). No less than 4 classmates weighed in on Ruby from A stroke of Good Firtune, proof that my blog was timely (As was my final comment).
6. Xenoblogging:
A). Comment Primo:Too bad Onilee dropped the class, she was an asset, and I enjoyed helping her through the readings, as much as her questions helped me. Kudos to Jen DiFulvio for her blog on Good Country People. Thanks to Chris for incorporating the Bble into McBride's The Color of Water.
B). Comment Grande: Matt is my blogging hero-he wonders where I find the time, but he's the one churning out the supreme blogs. Hats off, Mr. Hampton!
C). Comment Informative: The Comment Informative: Expanding on Chris's questions regarding free will and my newly learned concept of felix culpa - also a hats off to Paul.
Also, I discussed David Hume in light of O'Connor in reply to Lisa'a blog. Finally, I evoked a prior version of myself in reply to Melissa's blog.
D). The Link Gracious: Myrtle: Terra's little insight helped!
7. Wildcard:Maybe it was the stress of the last week of classes or maybe I was just tired of hearing that the chances of finding a job in Western PA are exactly slim and none, but I significantly unloaded on this recent NEA article. Blogging is a lot cheaper than therapy!
Posted by BrendaChristeleit at May 3, 2006 8:38 PM