Before English 250, I had never experienced writing blogs. The new technique of publishing, posting, and commenting on what I had read, never occurred to me to be a helpful tactic, but I was wrong. Over the past ten weeks, I have learned to analyze how I feel about a certain story, essay, play, etc.
As I started out, I was horrible at analyzing what I thought about certain things we read. I would have to say that my worst blog assignment was the very first one. Back in January, we had to pick out certain definitions that pertained to poems we read. My first blog was very short, I remember it taking me about five minutes to write, and it wasn’t well thought out. I just thought it was something to get easy points with, so I was going to just write whatever.
As time went on, I definitely got better at analyzing assignments. There was one blog assignment that I was particularly proud of and that was when I wrote about Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” It was my second posting, but I put a lot of thought into this one assignment. I talked about my own feelings about his lyrics, and brought some of my own history with the Vietnam War into this assignment. The feedback I received from my classmates amazed me. They were all very kind to what I had to say about the lyrics.
Sometimes, I was afraid to state what I thought, for the fear of being wrong, but I realized that my blog was called; “My Analysis” and these were my thoughts. When you write on your own blog, you can’t be wrong. Some people in our class went off the deep-end with some statements, but most of the time, you’re not going to be wrong. I mean your take of the story is going to be different than anyone else, because they are your own feelings.
Other blogs that I posted weren’t bad, but weren’t great. I remember writing about “Fiesta 1980”, and it was an ‘okay’ blog assignment. I only posted a blog assignment on the story, because it was the only one I liked that week. Some parts were funny, but the story just kind of made me upset about Yunior and his family. I just remember that I didn’t put much thought into that assignment at all.
Another assignment that I didn’t do so well on was the “Dead Man Laughing” essay. I really disliked that essay, so I didn’t have much to offer to the blog. I remember criticizing the whole entire essay. Looking back, that was wrong of me. No paper or assignment can be well written, unless you look at it from both sides. “There are always two sides to every story.” I should have found something that I liked in the essay. I think I was just too wrapped up in how Zadie Smith thought that death was funny, but looking back, that’s how she dealt with her father’s death.
After reading other people’s blog assignments, and re-reading the essay, I now know that.
I have also learned that blogs help you learn about your classmates and your teacher. The way people write, helped me ‘read’ what kind of person they were. People that wrote long tiresome blogs were very intellectual people. People that wrote funny quotes and told funny stories within the blogs were comedic people. Also, pictures were helpful. I will never forget the time I was caught looking at the black paint on the bottom of Professor Rouzie’s feet, wondering if it was frostbite, playing it off as though I thought it were paint!
Now that I have been analyzing publications for ten weeks, I have a new understanding for the blog assignments. I understand that it is a tool, used to help further my knowledge. The comments that people wrote were used to encourage me and help me do better on the next assignment. Looking back, I am glad that we used blogs in class.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Global Warming!
I watched a couple of the Global Warming videos. I watched the Blue man one and the little green blob song. The Blue Man video was using global warming as a metaphor, it was a plane. They used some humor, but it was serious at the same time. The video was made for people that new some things about global warming and it made global warming interesting.
The second video I watched was the littlt green blob's song. It was really funny. But the real point wasn't funny. I thought that he was being the type of person just to sweep global warming under the rug. He didn't want to talk about it with his friends. And he knew that it wouldn't affect him, because it's going to come after he dies.
The two videos were both funny and entertaining to watch.
The second video I watched was the littlt green blob's song. It was really funny. But the real point wasn't funny. I thought that he was being the type of person just to sweep global warming under the rug. He didn't want to talk about it with his friends. And he knew that it wouldn't affect him, because it's going to come after he dies.
The two videos were both funny and entertaining to watch.
How to Talk to Your Mother (Notes)
In this story, there is an experimental strategy. The story is written in reverse chronolgical order. I thought that this was a neat idea, because she looks at her life from where she is now, and write something that was important for most of the years in reverse order. As you read the story, you see that she was pregnant, and is like I am pregnant, what should I do? Then you learn that she has had three abortions and is not married. She was like in her 40s at the beginning of the story, and ended the story with no kids, and no husband. I liked that the story was written like this, because you can't guess what is going to come next, you're wondering oh my gosh what is she going to say next.
You also heard the way that her mother had talked to her as she was growing up, "That's no way to talk to your mother," is a phrase heard throughout the story. You can tell that it was written right after her mother's death, and that she and her mother were kind of close. Her mother lived with her, and she took care of her mother. I thought the ending was good, when she went back to her mother's womb.
You also heard the way that her mother had talked to her as she was growing up, "That's no way to talk to your mother," is a phrase heard throughout the story. You can tell that it was written right after her mother's death, and that she and her mother were kind of close. Her mother lived with her, and she took care of her mother. I thought the ending was good, when she went back to her mother's womb.
Catastrophe Blog
After reading Catastrophe and watching the video, I noticed that there were many differences among the two pieces. The first thing I noticed was that there was no match in the video when he asked for light, as there was in the play. The assistant had a simple flashlight that she brought out. Second, I noticed that the assistant never seemed irratible in the video like she was in the play. And then at the end in the video, there was no audience applauding, it was just the assistant. These are just a few things I noticed after comparing the video and the play write.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Draft
This is only part of my essay, I had a lot of trouble posting this one, so please just bare with what I have, I couldn't post all of my essay.
Amber Mayle
English 250
Albert Rouzie
10 March 2009
“Girl” and “Boys”
The story "Girl" relates to a mother telling her daughter how to act a certain way in public, while the story "Boys" is about two twin boys raising havoc in their home. Boys and girls are separated by some physical traits and some physiological traits as well, but society puts stereotypical strain on boys and girls. Although the short stories evolved from two different authors, they are both products of stereotypes past down from generation to generation.
Growing up, hearing "Boys will be boys," and "You should act like a young lady," were always familiar to hear. In the short story "Girl," we see a mother, or some form of influence telling a young girl how to act in public, so she doesn’t look like a whore or slut. On the other hand, is the story "Boys" that get away with everything because they are boys.
Jamaica Kincaid is the author of "Girl," so she is going to write from a woman's perspective of what is expected from her. She writes on how to live like a woman, talk like a woman, and be a woman. She explains how to do the laundry, what to wear, what to ay, and how to act, so that people won't judge this girl as a slut. She even goes as far as to tell the girl how to get rid of an unwanted child.
I think that the mother or other influence is just another mimic of her generation. She is passing down, what was passed to her from other women. She gave the girl the recipe for abortion, because she didn't want her to have a child out of wedlock, making her the gossip of the town. She told her how to dress, so people wouldn't whisper about how she dressed.
I think that she states, “On Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming," for a reason. Slut in this story is not to be related to the 'slut' that we know today as being a tramp or promiscuous, but I think that it means a slovenly or dirty woman. I think deep down, every girl wants to be rebellious to the norm factor. The popular phrase, “Well- behaved women rarely make history," is how I see this young lady's view. She just wants to be her own person, without the weight of what other's think on her shoulders.
Amber Mayle
English 250
Albert Rouzie
10 March 2009
“Girl” and “Boys”
The story "Girl" relates to a mother telling her daughter how to act a certain way in public, while the story "Boys" is about two twin boys raising havoc in their home. Boys and girls are separated by some physical traits and some physiological traits as well, but society puts stereotypical strain on boys and girls. Although the short stories evolved from two different authors, they are both products of stereotypes past down from generation to generation.
Growing up, hearing "Boys will be boys," and "You should act like a young lady," were always familiar to hear. In the short story "Girl," we see a mother, or some form of influence telling a young girl how to act in public, so she doesn’t look like a whore or slut. On the other hand, is the story "Boys" that get away with everything because they are boys.
Jamaica Kincaid is the author of "Girl," so she is going to write from a woman's perspective of what is expected from her. She writes on how to live like a woman, talk like a woman, and be a woman. She explains how to do the laundry, what to wear, what to ay, and how to act, so that people won't judge this girl as a slut. She even goes as far as to tell the girl how to get rid of an unwanted child.
I think that the mother or other influence is just another mimic of her generation. She is passing down, what was passed to her from other women. She gave the girl the recipe for abortion, because she didn't want her to have a child out of wedlock, making her the gossip of the town. She told her how to dress, so people wouldn't whisper about how she dressed.
I think that she states, “On Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming," for a reason. Slut in this story is not to be related to the 'slut' that we know today as being a tramp or promiscuous, but I think that it means a slovenly or dirty woman. I think deep down, every girl wants to be rebellious to the norm factor. The popular phrase, “Well- behaved women rarely make history," is how I see this young lady's view. She just wants to be her own person, without the weight of what other's think on her shoulders.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Essay topic
For my essay, I would like to compare "Girl" and "Boys". I want to compare the gender roles of each story. What is expected by being male or female. How each gender is responsible for their actions and how people in the stories reacted to their actions. It is very vague, but I'm working on a complete thesis!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Dead Man Laughing
I really didn't like this essay. I hated how it related to death and the narrator thought that death was funny. I hated that he put his father's ashes in a tupperware container! REALLY...WHO DOES THAT!? i thought that it was immoral and gross. I felt that he didn't have any respect for his father after i read that. I realize that a lot of people make fun of death so they feel better about it, but the essay went too far.
I also had a hard time following the essay, I'm still not sure what it's really about. I didn't feel that it had good transitions or that it flowed very easily. I thought that the story was bland and boring.
Also, stand up comedy isn't one of my favorite subjects or things to watch on TV, so a lot of people, I had no idea who he was talking about. I thought that the essay just rambled on about his deceased father, and there was really no moral to this story, but that in the end, he finally got some common sense and put his father's ashes into a vase, like normal people do!
I also had a hard time following the essay, I'm still not sure what it's really about. I didn't feel that it had good transitions or that it flowed very easily. I thought that the story was bland and boring.
Also, stand up comedy isn't one of my favorite subjects or things to watch on TV, so a lot of people, I had no idea who he was talking about. I thought that the essay just rambled on about his deceased father, and there was really no moral to this story, but that in the end, he finally got some common sense and put his father's ashes into a vase, like normal people do!
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