JoshuaWilks

Portfolio 2 - Blogging my ideals

2009-04-29T18:35:42Z

The blogging has certainly been a good experience this semester. It is time consuming and tedious, but I found that it really did spark conversation in class that was helpful. Since we had to blog I feel that everyone came to class with something insightful to share. It kind of forced my to prepare myself for class every week. This was helpful because in a once a week night class there is always the tendency to put everything off and not think about the class at all until the night before.

Blogging has also shown me exactly what I did all semester and hopefully it will be helpful in studying for the final!

Overall I would say that I have provided some detailed blogs that have been thought provoking. I did not just do it to get it done, I really took advantage of the Internet to share my ideas.

Timeliness:

Crucified

Symbolism Embolism

What is going on

Blindness and Obscurity

Sexy Symbols

Smoking Reefer cigarettes.

Who were you talking to on the phone? Me.

Academic Article Boring Article

A copy of a copy of a copy

Dancing With the stars

Almost all of my blogs were posted on thursday or friday (or on monday with the poem selections that weren't due until monday) The only exceptions were one on invisible man and one on foster. I guess I just dropped the ball that time. Overall I would say that I kept up with the blogging on time.

Coverage:

What is going on

Who were you talking to on the phone? Me.

Crucified

Smoking Reefer cigarettes.

seeing and believing.

Norton and Ellison

A copy of a copy of a copy

Symbolism Embolism

For the most part all of my blogs concentrated on a specific quote and I expanded on what I thought of it. Usually this expansion related to the work as a whole or some personal opinion.

Depth:

Crucified

Who were you talking to on the phone? Me.

Dancing With the stars

Symbolism Embolism

These are my entries where I think I put some extra time and effort into blogging. The ideas that I gave may not be that impressive but I feel that I spent some time and thought on them.

Interaction:

What is going on

seeing and believing.

Symbolism Embolism

I didnt really get that much peer feedback on my blogs, this might be because I posted my entries later in the day so they were lower on the list, or maybe my entries werent clever enough for others to comment on. Regardless I still generated some good comments on my blogs. Most notably on What is going on where I had 7 comments and good conversation going. I think that I generated more physical conversations in class by referring to specific blogs than i did on the actual blogs themselves. Again I think this probably had to do with this being the first class that I had to blog in, as well as the workload of having to read so much and comment.

Discussion:

Rosalind Blair - Free Will VS Determinism

Chelsie Bitner - seX, sEX, SEX

Alicia Campbell - This Concept has Staying Power - Unfortunately

Again I feel that I provided more valuable insights to people's ideas in class but there were still blogs that I feel I helped get the conversation moving and provided some good questions/answers on my peers blogs. I think I did better on this, this time around.

Course Page!

Crucified

2009-04-24T16:41:13Z

"Felix: I dont know why everybody's being so fucking stupid!" (Miller 100).

I find this quote particularly ironic because Felix seems to be the one in this scene who is being stubborn. The whole idea about crucifying "charley" seems to have its pros and cons. Yet Felix is only seeing the Money that would come to the government from advertising. He is not seeing the other side that maybe people would not take to kindly to the second murder of Jesus. But "charley" actually wants to be crucified for the people much like Jesus knew he HAD to be crucified to forgive the sins of all people, yet "Charley" chooses not too. Why is that?

The whole idea that Felix isnt sure about all stems (obviously...) from materialism which is something quite different than the society during biblical times. Im not sure that the primary focus during the time of Jesus was on wealth and materialism as miller seems show is the focus in the play. Right after Felix makes this statement Stanley goes on to talk about the property values and all the merchandise that would follow if the crucification actually happened. I think that perhaps "Charley" saw that society was too wrapped up in money and wealth instead of focusing on living life and being righteous and just to each other. Since the people didnt really need the hero, they need the materialistic things that would follow the death of the "hero," he chose not to come down.

However there is another side to the argument. One could probably argue that wealth and more specifically the power associated with it played a major factor in the biblical crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus knew what was going to happen and he knew that it had to happen. I think he eve told Judas that he must betray him? Im not really that up to speed on my sunday school knowledge so if anyone has another opinion on this that wold be great. Why do you think that "Charley" decide not to come down in the end? And how does that relate to the biblical crucifixion of Jesus?

Back to course page.

Who were you talking to on the phone? Me.

2009-04-17T03:35:01Z

"Me. it was me. I'm down in the Monroe Street Parking Garage, no clothes, fifteen degrees below zero. God I hope the car starts." p 449

Contrasting this scene with the one that we see from "our henry" (as ill call him) is really interesting. Obviously this scene is a huge foreshadowing of what happens later in the book but when I read it the first time i had no idea how serious it was. I thought they were going to save him, or at least he wouldn't be out there that long.

I personally think that It is weird how he time travelled like that because up to this point he has never been in that serious of danger as a result. He had trouble with the law, and fights but he never was in tha kind of danger. He even would time travel away before the cops could ever actually book him and when he was younger he time traveled just a little bit to save his own life in the car. I just found it intriguing that this particular time travel was so devastating to him. I seemed like it was out of no where. (Not really counting the cage in the library...)

I didnt actually say anything particularly clever about the story, but I just found this interesting. I mean it kind of made me mad... Why are you doing this to my favorite character... I mean the book wouldnt have been the same, but still...

This is more of a personal reaction to the story, but it is something that i pondered. Are there any interesting things that came to your mind about the story or things that happened that sparked some emotion? (like everything from this page on...)

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL267/2009/04/niffenegger_the_time-travelers/

Sexy Symbols

2009-04-17T03:20:56Z

I had a teacher in high school who told us that symbols in books could always relate sex. This is a little unorthodox probably for a high school teacher but he was rather unorthodox. While this certainly got a rise out of the general populace of the classroom, but we found that in general it was true. Basically we broke down stories like red riding hood and talked about how they related to sex. The wolf eating them, the red on her cape, ect. Essentially this chapter just reminded me of that.

The part that i really found interesting was the reference to the quest for the holy grail. Again we see the typical insertion of "this symbol means this" that anyone can argue with, but it certainly the viewpoint has merit. I never thought of the quest for the holy grail in these terms. The lance, the grail, a pure knightly man, i mean really. This is what we have been saying in class with regards to Foster pretty much all semester. We see what he is saying, its pretty obvious, yet we cant quite place our finger on it with out his help, and we also cant help but argue with his opinions.

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL267/2009/04/foster_ch_15-17/

Norton and Ellison

2009-04-06T14:41:18Z

"Later, when the protagonist promises to read Emerson, Norton describes his own sense of subjection to an abiding "destiny" or "fate," which for him seems always connected in some way to Emerson's philosophical legacy: "Very good. Self-reliance is a most worthy virtue. I shall look forward with the greatest of interest to learning your contribution to my fate" (Ellison 1981, 108)." (82)

This part is ironic and the article really helped me to notice it. The fact that the narrators life is shaped by Norton in a negative way and Norton wants to make his mark with the Narrator (not specifically). The fact is the Narrator ends up contributing to his fate in a way that is very different from what Norton expects or intends. Norton makes very specific references to Emerson and Norton is the reason that the Narrator is expelled from the college. Essentially the connection with Emerson is supposed to be a negative one. This is something that I never really noticed before yet it is important to note because of the Narrators change in character throughout the novel.

seeing and believing

2009-04-06T14:28:59Z

"With this, i thought, I should be seen even in a snowstorm -- only they'd think i was someone else." (Ellison 484)

This is when the narrator goes into the hat store after being mistaken for Rinehart. He is mistaken for him by a women who mentions that he didnt have his hat on. It is interesting that our invisible narrator is trying to be seen now, but as someone else entirely. He can be seen, but only as a different person. On the next page (485) he says "they see the hat, not me." Basically the hat, which is very large and obvious, makes him invisible as himself. Even in the bar he is called pops or poppa-stopper, something that never happened when he was just him. WHat other things could the hat signify for our invisible narrator?

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL267/2009/04/ellison_the_invisible_man_1/

Smoking reefer cigarettes.

2009-03-30T18:07:47Z

"I havent smoked a reefer since, however; not becasue they're illegal, but because to see around corners is enough (that is not unusual when you are invisible)" (Ellison 13).

I decided to talk about this particular quote because I found it very interesting. (Isnt that why we look at specific quotes?) That the narrator describes how he felt when he was under the influence of this substance and how he liked it but it was too much, is specifically what I found interesting.

In being invisible the narrator is used to seeing things that others miss. He conveys the idea that he is particularly clever and observant throughout the prologue, and i think that this is what the reader is supposed to get. When smoking reefer he got the sense that he could hear around corners as well. He could really hear what Louis Armstrong was saying, but he lost motivation to care like he normally would.

The narrator says the drug destroys ones perception of time and as such it influences the ability to act, something that the narrator believes very strongly in. The prologue sets up a very interesting character who is mature and intelligent then we move to the first chapter start to see where he came from and why he can understand himself so well.

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL267/2009/03/ellison_the_invisible_man/

A copy of a copy of a copy

2009-03-23T19:42:21Z

"Are riding to work in rows, as if recently brainwashed." (204)

I chose to look at the poem by Plath entitled Insomniac. While reading this poem I was reminded of a novel that was made into a rather popular movie called fight club. While the movie fight club has the charming Brad Pitt and Edward Norton it retains a lot of the message behind the book. There is a scene that is in the book and in the movie where we see the main character have this problem with insomnia.

The thing is that this insomnia gives rise to a plan that is essentially the revolution of the proletariat. The character that has insomnia sees the world for what it truly is and tries to fix it.

As I read the poem I saw these parallels where the insomniac can almost see things more clearly when they are the ones who are kind of going crazy.

The pills of all the colors and drugs that dont work leading up to the lines of people with trivial repetitions.

Then finally the ending quote which almost summarizes the idea in fight club.

Dancing with the stars

2009-03-23T19:29:30Z

I think this poem is quite obviously about child abuse and not about a small boy dancing with his father. While this seems fairly obvious I might try and back up my claim from the text.

First "The whiskey on your breath" this shows that the father was drunk and everyone knows the story of a drunken father coming home and slapping his family around.

This whole stanza, talking about a small boy, hanging on like death, and waltzing not being easy tells a story. This is when the boy is young and has a sense of innocence which makes things worse. He hangs on like death might mean that he wishes for death because he is beat so bad, or that he feels like death. The waltzing is almost in a plural sense here so we might assume that it isnt a once in a while thing.

Battered on one knuckle might suggest that the father is angry and punches things.

Things breaking in the kitchen and mother being upset could signify the mother not really being able to do anything about it.

Finally taking the time on his head and his hands being cracked with dirt could mean that the father is a strong working man and he is beating his son.

Then again could the poem just be about a boy and his father dancing when he is drunk - being merry and accidently knocking things off in the kitchen - the dad lightly taps the boy on the head for rhythm and moves a little too rough in his drunken state and scratches his sons ear?

Symbolism Embolism

2009-03-23T19:11:11Z

Is that a Symbol? (Foster 97).

Since re-reading this chapter I again am inclined to share my opinions about the topic of symbolism. It seems that many people go into a work looking for very specific symbols and they have to mean a certain thing. However I think it is important to do what foster says and ask yourself what does it mean to me?

Although the author might include specific symbols in a work that are supposed to hold a particular meaning but if the reader doesnt get those meanings then it doesnt matter. What matters at that point is what the reader did get out of the work. If an apple is in a work and supposed to represent the fruit from eden - but a person who grew up around an apple orchard will probably see a different meaning first, something personal that others may not get.

That is the beauty to literature. While there are some right answers there are probably just as many answers that are right to the person who is reading the literature.

Academic Article = Boring Article?

2009-03-23T18:58:20Z

If this is article is typical of all academic articles then i would be forced to conclude that all academic articles are boring. I know this is a very short sighted view point but i mean come on. It seems that this article has a very specific audience and one must have extensive knowledge of the "dust bowl" era, the bible, and of course The grapes of Wrath. This fact coupled with the dry language makes for a difficult read. Enough about my opinion on how terrible the article was.

I think that some interesting points are raised in the beginning and i cant help but relate it to fosters chapter 18 about baptisms with water.

I liked the point that was raised about the family wanting water in the beginning then when they are traveling the water is something that slows them down. This is an interesting contrast and I think that it is something that is key to the plot of the story. If the family could have had the rain where and when they needed it then they would have never had to leave their homes. This is a testament to how powerful nature is compared to man.

I think the thesis is relating the american myth of the garden with the myth of the frontier (the beginning of the second paragraph)

Blindness and obscurity.

2009-03-07T21:47:37Z

"There are lots of things that happen when a writer introduces a blind character into a story and even more in a play." Foster 202.

The reason why i chose this quote is because it seems kind of obscure. In all the stories that I have read Im not suer I can come up with many in which there is a blind character. Sure we have the story of oedipus but really how many stories have blind characters?

Of course things happen when we see a blind character (no pun intended...) but isnt that obvious? We see people in real life with handicaps and it doesnt really mean anything just like the idea with the scars that foster presents. But how exciting would a story with a blind person be if the writer didnt present it in a meaningful way?

I feel like im on repeat with the idea that foster provides interesting points and some of them are rather clever - in the sense that i wouldnt have thought about that if someone hadnt said it - but it is kind obvious that things are there for a reason.

what is going on?

2009-03-07T21:26:09Z

"Dinosaur: It's cold." (Wilder 132).

I would say that this quote pretty much sums up the first act of the play. Thus far it reminds me of something along the lines of Alice and Wonderland. I mean what is going on? I had no specific expectations coming into this play, but I really had no idea it was going to be like this. Going to see this play would certainly be very entertaining, especially if it were in 1942 when it first opened.

I have to wonder what the people who first saw this play thought about it.

Everything is pretty wild and crazy, with characters going in and out of character, animals talking the ice age. Seriously, what kind of drugs does it take to write something like this?

Im not sure how the rest of the play is going to be, but for this first act all I can think about is why?

Portfolio 1 - My blogging

2009-03-01T20:18:54Z

This is my portfolio of blogs for EL 267. When we first started blogging I wasn't really into it but i see now that it is an easy way to communicate with the other students in the class. It works especially well in a night class where we only meet once a week.

At first my entries weren't that clever or insightful but as I got into the blogging and got used to it i started to have some more depth and even generated some pretty good discussion.

Timeliness

These are all my blog entries that I have done, they were all posted online on or before their due dates. I'm pretty cool like that.

Crime and punishment

What a setting

Will winter Ever end?

A lot of testosterone

Real Life vs Literature

Not quite who I thought he was

Life and Apples

Depth

On these entries I feel that I really got into the blog and put some time and thought in. Some of the ideas were clever and others not so much, but I put more time into these for sure.

What a setting

Will winter Ever end?

Not quite who I thought he was

Love and money

Crime and punishment

Interaction

It was hard for me to really interact with my peers and get involved in the blog conversations. But I did have a few blogs that generated some good conversation with the other students. On the love and money blog i didn't actually reply to the comments that were up because they were more statements that agreed with my blog rather than insightful questions, but it still got a lot of attention from my peers.

Im no meteorologist

Love and money

Discussion

Again it was hard for me to really get used to the idea of commenting insightful things to get conversation rolling on other peoples blogs, but as the semester progressed I definitely got better.

Alicia Campbell - Flipping the bird

Julianne Banda - offstage importance

Coverage

These tended to be my first couple of entries where I was still getting used to the idea of blogging. I didnt say anything particularly insightful or clever I just kind of got it done.

Its just a Story...

Rich with Gold

A lot of testosterone

Life and Apples

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL267/2009/03/portfolio_1/

Crime and Punishment?

2009-02-26T18:51:59Z

"Yeah, but the kids was hungry. It's Stealin'. though." (Steinbeck 237).

Chapter 19 talks about the people who started on the land with what seemed like good intentions then grew into "the man" that keeps everybody down. Beside all of this the talk about industrialization Steinbeck raises a relatively common moral question: If you are starving is it ok to steal food? He goes into several examples of people do bad things and dont get in trouble but the poor man who steals to survive goes down.

He shows us the example of a man who went and got some random people to work on some land, payed them with whisky and food, while he made money. (or the land owners throughout the whole book)

Then about people who bribe the government to look the other way, or people who commit fraud, all these people do bad things and get away with it but someone who is trying to survive and feed his family gets in trouble.

Steinbeck shows that he understands why it happens( when he has the people agree that it is bad) and he also shows that no one does anything about it even though it is wrong.

I think another part of this chapter that is important to the idea of painting the "upper class" as bad was in the end when a child gets sick and dies, all the people were able to find a little money, from the little they had, to help his family to bury him. THis shows how even though the poor have nothing they are so kind hearted and good they will give what little they have to help.

Maybe if they didnt they would be rich.