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March 29, 2006
Be thankful!
O'Connor, ''A Circle in the Fire'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
"'All I got is four abscess teeth,' she remarked.
'Well, Be thankful you don't have five,' Mrs. Cope snapped and threw back a lump of grass."
I chose this quote from O'COnnor's "A Circle of Fire" because I love the character of Mrs. Cope. She 100% reminds me of my mother. Anytime I would be down about something or feeling sorry for myself, she woul always make some type of remark about how things could be worse or about people who were worse off. It annoyed me so much, when I was younger...but, now I realize that when I am down or feeling sorry about myself, I always think about how it can be worse or people I know who are worse off...and I dont feel that sorry for myself anymore and I am annoyed because my mother rubbed off on me...hehe...But Mrs. Cope handles everything like it could be worse and she is thankful for everything that she has, not sorry for what she doesnt. That's a good lesson in life.
Posted by TerraStumpf at 11:37 AM | Comments (3)
March 27, 2006
Appendix A
Roberts, Appendix A -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
"Critics using the psychoanalytic approach treat literature somewhat like information about patients in therapy."
The pscyhological/psychoanalytic approach is the approach that I cn most relate to myself. Being a psychology major, I really understand what Roberts is decribing about this approach. The approach deals with questioning about the past, present and future and how they all connect, like a therapist would do in a session. It also looks closley at life experiences of not only a described character in the literature but also of the author who wrote the piece. The authors life, past, present and future, could have a major impact on the type and topic of the literature.
Posted by TerraStumpf at 7:29 PM | Comments (1)
The Artificial Nigger
O'Connor, ''The Artificial Nigger'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
"Mr. Head awakened to discover that the room wasfilled with moonlight.He sat up and stared at the floor boards- the color of silver- and then at the tickig on his pillow, which might have been brocade, and after a second, he saw half of the moon five feet away n his shaving mirror, paused as if it were waiting for his permission to enter."
I have not yet read this whole reading, but I loved how O'Conner started this story with so much detail. It paints the perfect picture for me in my mind and I see what this scene with Mr. Head awakening from his sleep looks like through his eyes. I am looking forward to seeing if O'Connor continues describing the scenes and characers in this story as detailed as the beginning!
Posted by TerraStumpf at 7:11 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2006
Temple of the Holy Ghost
O'Connor, '''A Temple of the Holy Ghost'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
"I've seen them around is all, " she said. (85).
This line comes from the child after susan and joanne question how well she knows wendell and cory. In the child's mind she says to herself (the entire paragraph before this line) that they had fought in the world war together and she saved them 5 times from japanese suicide bombers...I enjoyed this entire story but I really dont understand why a little girl would think this? Was she being sly and trying to think about how much more intelligent she was than the two girls or was it all her great imagination? Then why doesnt she share it with the two girls...possibly because they would think her remarks were childish because they obviously are not true.
"It spit them out of its mouth," she said, "Six of them."
This little girl is smart and sly but I also like how O'Connor shows that she does not know everything unlike how her character acts. The child acts so grown up and she tricks the girls into telling her about the fair freak which is sly but when she has to dish out her story you see that even though she has not seen a rabbit give birth, she does not know how it happens either. Obviously neither do twiddle de and twiddle dum because they except her answer. This little part was comical!
Posted by TerraStumpf at 12:45 PM | Comments (3)
March 19, 2006
Some People's Good Fortune is another's Bad Luck!
O'Connor, ''A Stroke of Good Fortune'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
I love the title of this Story, because it is so appropriate. Babies are normally considered as Good Fortune or Bundles of Joy...Well...Ruby thinks otherwise!
Out of all of the O'Connor tales so far this is my favorite. I laughed the entire time I read it! "Well, he had about as much get as a floor mop...And him turned out to have no more charge than a dish rag." Poor Rufus! Haha...I mean the poor man is getting blamed for pushin his mother more into her grave all the long being compared to cleaning utensils!
"I don't need no doctor," Ruby muttered. "I can take care of myself. I haven't done bad at it all this time." Honestly, Does Ruby seriously consider herself that much better than everyone...Even a Doctor? This lady cracks me up. She does not need a doctor, but she has no idea why she is "sick," but just by the symptoms that were being described in the story even before she spoke with her friend...I am saying to myself, "She is not sick, She is pregnant!" Obviously she is not that much smarter than the average Joe if she does not even figure that one out. I could give her some credit and blame it on her denial, but truthfully, can you really deny something so very obvious? And if you are doing so then that is a sign of stupidity!
Posted by TerraStumpf at 9:48 PM | Comments (2)
Roberts, Chapter 18
Roberts, Ch 18 -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
(Note: This blog is being submitted late due to medical reasons, I would still appreciate any feedback that anyone would like to post! Thanks.)
"For Such assignments, it is helpful to know the types of research essays you might find most congenial. Here are some possibilities."
Then after this quote it lists five different types of essays that could be used for a research essay. I found this to e very helpful because the different ideas give you a better idea on how exactly to go about writing your research essay and what different ways you could do so. It took the way I was thinking about hte research essay "out of the box" and explored different ways of writing it rather than just about an author.
Posted by TerraStumpf at 7:41 PM | Comments (0)
Demonstartive Essay
Demonstrative Research Essay -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
(Note: This blog is being submitted late because of medical reasons, I would still appreciate any feedback that anyone would like to contribute toward it. Thanks.)
"The film does not explore the 'greatness' of the hero, however, but rather exposes him as a misquided, unhappy person who tries to buy love and manipulate reality. All aspects of this picture-characterization, structure, and technique- are focused on this goal."
This essay in Roberts provides a good example to follow when writing our 2nd paper. I like how the author states his central idea and thesis in a very detailed and specific manner. The rest of the essay then follows up on supporting his main idea. The essay is constructed in an excellent organized structure and each paragraph begins with a topic sentence that ties the paragraph into the paper while highlighting the whole purpose of the work. This is going to be a good help during my journey of writing paper 2!
Posted by TerraStumpf at 7:28 PM | Comments (0)
March 15, 2006
The Life you Save may be Your Own
O'Connor, ''The Life You Save May Be Your Own'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
"He offered the old woman a piece but she only raised her upper lip to indicate she had no teeth."
This quote reminded me so much of when I was little and my grandmother would not have her dentures in when we came over. I remember seeing her gums when she talked and being sort of scared about the fact of her missing teeth when I was younger.
I am interested to see what people are going to talk about from this short story in class because I was not quite sure what the point of the story was...It just kind of ended?
I think that Mr. Shiftlet and Lucynell were a good couple matched because they both had their handicaps and both seemed to make eachother happy, but then after he married her he seemed to become sad? Hopefully tomorrows class will bring about some answers or at least some ideas that I am not coming up with!
Posted by TerraStumpf at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
March 13, 2006
The River
O'Connor, ''The River'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
"His name was Harry Ashfield and he had never thought at any time before of changing it. 'Bevel,' he said."
When Harry decideds to tell Mrs. Connin that his name is Bevel like the preachers, I think this is the first time we get to see that Harry is not happy being Harry Ashfield. He had not tried to chagne his name before but when he hears that the preachers name is Bevel and how much of a big deal Mrs. Connin makes about this great and wonderful preacher, Harry realizes that he wants to be recognized as great and wonderful also. So why not call himself Bevel after someone else who is great? The little boy thought this a good idea to get the attention on Mrs. Connin and to feel great for once himself.
Also in this quote, it shows that the boys last name is Ashfield. I found this appropriate and ironic because in the story it talks about the cigarette ash trays and how Harry dumps them on the floor of his home. His mother obviously has major problems with alcohol and smoking. Ashfield is his last name and his home is a Field of Ashes.
Not particurally on the topic of just O'connor's "The River," but a question after reading both of O'connor's first stories in his book....Are they all this depressing?
Posted by TerraStumpf at 1:59 PM | Comments (1)
No good men in this story.
O'Connor, ''A Good Man Is Hard to Find'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
"'Jesus!' the old lady cried. 'You've got good blood! I know you wouldn't shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray!Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady. I'll give ou all the money I've got!'"
I chose this quote from the grandmother because right after she hears three more shots assuming to be at her daughter in law and two other grandchildren she begins to beg for her life. It was surprising to me that she is still begging for her life to be pardonned when she has lost everyone else that was in it. I would think that her being the oldest of them all and only having the five of them in her life who are now dead and no longer in her life, that she would really have no reason to beg for her own life. I believe if I were in her situation, I would fell as if I had nothing else to live for.
Although, Maybe in her dillusion, she thought that her family was not killed and the gun shots did not actually harm them and thats why she was begging for her life.
I also found this quote sort of funny because obviously the old lady is not thinking while she is begging. She pleads for her life and in return she will give him all of her money. Whether she lived or died, I am pretty sure that the Misfit was taking her money anyways!
She had to have been in complete denial of what was going on and of what was going to happen to herself. I can not imagine being in that situation, and I bet the family in the story thought it was a fat chance that they would end up in that situation. Goes to show, you never know.
Posted by TerraStumpf at 1:31 PM | Comments (1)
March 1, 2006
Help!
Ex 1-4 Basic Research Skills -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
I am not sure what this is asking for! I looked for an hour on the internet on ebscohost and reeves online library catalog for references that I could use in my pro-con paper. I can not seem to find anything...My paper is on FSF's Bernice Bobs Her Hair...Is there something partiular I should be looking for or somewhere particlar I should be looking?
Posted by TerraStumpf at 6:30 PM | Comments (2)