During Spring Break, think of one person, place, or thing you encounter that relates to any of the texts, characters, plots, settings, themes, metaphors, etc. which we have read so far this term. Describe your experience and it’s textual connection using vivid detail.
If you write two separate entries to this posting you will receive x-tra credit points equaling a “second” journal entry.
One literary work that we covered that reminded me of my own personal experience was “Araby” by James Joyce. I found this piece very interesting because it brought back a lot of memories. I thought it was very amusing. The experience that it reminded me of was my first crush. My first crush happened when I was in elementary school in Queens, Ridgewood. The school was P.S. 88. I had a crush on a boy in my class. I used to look at him all the time even when the teacher was talking, just like the boy in the story. Before I entered in to the classroom I used to think about him and the palms of my hand started to get sweaty. The first time I ever talked to him was when he had asked me for a pencil sharpener. I could not even stop smiling for the rest of the day because I was so happy he had talked to me. In elementary school we were not allowed to chew gum so I used to carry mints with me so I asked him if he wanted one. From then on everyday he would ask me for one and I made sure I always had for him. Other then that I never talked to him. With all of our experiences we learn how to interact with one another and how to deal with our emotions. This was my first experience with a crush.=p
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite poems that we had read in English 200 was “When the Towers Fell” by Galway Kinnell. I really liked this poem because it brought me back in to time that same day when 9 11 happened. I was too young to understand what was going on. But I could never forget everyone’s reaction; like my teachers and my parents. It was a normal day just like any other, then all of a sudden my teacher gets a call and her face drops. Slowly by slowly a class of 30 students quickly became a class of 12. When school ended I went home and my parents were watching the news. My mom hugged me so tight. As I watched the news with my parents I saw the towers fall. I remember thinking to myself how and why did this happen. So many lives were lost that day. This was a tragedy that no one will ever forget. When I think about it and talk about it with others I get goose bumps to this day. This should make us realize as human beings that people die every day because of natural disasters, among other reasons like famine and such we should be against each other because it will be the end of us.
ReplyDelete“Blog Entry #12A”
ReplyDeleteOver the course of the break, I tried to think of a story that applied to my everyday life. As time went along, I felt that I personally identified the most with The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien.
The Things They Carried is a story about soldiers during the Vietnam War and what they carried with them. Some soldiers would have items ranging from personal pictures to personal mementos that may not be worth much to someone else, but to them this little thing could mean the world to them (i.e. Lieutenant Cross’s pebble in his breast pocket). Yet despite all of the different items they carried, one of the symbolic items that they carried with them were ghosts. Personally, that line struck me as eerie. However, as you read the story, it starts to make more sense over time.
Anyway, here is where the story applies to my personal life. As I was going to my dad’s girlfriend’s house in Huntington, I thought about the things that I was carrying. I also wondered based on what I brought along with me, what I would identify myself as. I brought along some homework, my flashdrive, my I-pod, some books, papers to write on, pencils and pens to write with, a water bottle, and a couple days’ worth of clothes. Now to many people, these sound like something that the typical student would carry with them, only because the word ‘homework’ surfaces. However, I could have thought of another way to word it, like ‘assignment’ or ‘chore’ or even ‘pain in the ass’. Yet I chose the word ‘homework’. Why? What possessed me to think to associate my obligatory assignments with a universal term for work?
Then, it hits me. It reminded me of the scene when O’Brien talks about the different weapons they carried. Depending on the mission, each soldier was required to carry a weapon that could be anything from a grenade launcher to a pistol. Each soldier carries a different, obligatory, weapon. These weapons identify them based on what their strengths and weaknesses are. That, I believe, is what generally determines which weapon you would most likely be using in combat. Just like I have ‘homework’ to fill out this blog entry is just like Lieutenant Cross is required to carry a pistol.
On a personal note, I hope that everyone will or has enjoyed themselves over the break. If you had or have time to take a personal day in between your assignments, make sure that it is as long as physically possible. Do it as long as you can whenever you can (no dirty thoughts, dudes). Have a wonderful break, and I look forward to seeing you all when we get back.
“Blog Entry #12B”
ReplyDeleteOver the course of the break, I tried to think of something that applied to my everyday life. As time went along, I realized that Hills Like White Elephants relates to one of my favorite shows, Two and a Half Men. Even though this is probably the worst thing I could possibly think of, I thought that it would be the most hilarious to ponder.
Hills Like White Elephants is a story about a couple facing a tough decision. Based on the context of the story, the couple (a.k.a. the man) seems to think that an abortion is the best choice for the two of them to continue living the lives that they clearly are not ready to give up. The reason why I feel this is because the both of them are at the bar, drinking fairly heavy liquor and alcohol. Not to mention that they are having a smoke at the bar, which is obviously dangerous considering the fact that a baby could potentially be coming into the world. Although the woman seems to have already determined her decision independent from the man, the man feels the need to explain to her just why this is so important for the both of them. He even implies that life will be better, and that their relationship will be stronger than ever.
So now, the obvious question surfaces up: how in the world could I have possibly compared this story to a show intentionally based on Charlie Sheen, a womanizer? Well, for those of you who have not watched the show, Sheen plays Charlie Harper (ha ha), a man with intimacy issues going back to childhood. These intimacy issues occur because Harper wants to avoid a painful confrontation with women at all costs because he is afraid of getting hurt. Now, while the man may or may not be on the same level as sitcom Charlie, the way they assure the significant other is the same. Both try to be smooth talkers; both try to use ‘reasonable’ logic; but most importantly, both talk with a sense of urgency in order to put negativity behind them.
The episode that I saw was one of my personal favorites, when Charlie, engaged to Chelsea (his fiancee), tries to talk her out of getting a breast reduction surgery. Basically, he felt that this was not in her best interests (a.k.a. his own) and that it would be for their best interest if she did not get the surgery. Ultimately, she did not get the surgery, but either way this decision was made on her own.
On a personal note, I hope that everyone will or has enjoyed themselves over the break. If you had or have time to take a personal day in between your assignments, make sure that it is as long as physically possible. Do it as long as you can whenever you can (no dirty thoughts, dudes). Have a wonderful break, and I look forward to seeing you all when we get back.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBlog 1
ReplyDeleteThe most recent poem that we read in class that I liked the most was "Great Day", by Kirt Vonnegut. The reason I enjoyed this piece is because its packed with action, the way Captain Poritsky spoke and acted was hilarious. In this piece "The Army of the World", led by Captain Poritsky, has a mission to go back in the past and take part in a war which occured decades ago in order to achieve honor and glory. The ironic thing is that they live in an era;2037, in which the world is at peace yet Poritsky wants to stir in a war long gone. Poritsky however dies before being involved in the action, and the main character, Great Day, ends up blind and appears as a symbol of freedom. Similarly I feel like the theme of this poem relates to my personal experience with an ex-girlfriend with whome I now constantly have contact with. We never had an offical separation and now we see each other regularly. When ever we talk its often about the past, how things wont ever be like back then. We try hard to fix the friendship/relationship but it seems our journey back into fantasy hardly ever make a difference for the reason why we pursue it. At times it feels like we're just supposed to be friends, but then some kind of mixed-emotions arise and we end up having a conflict. The ironic thing though is that I have a current girlfriend which she knows of, which makes her feel weird and a little uneasy but she doesn't mind playing along, as she says. This also makes me feel uneased because I feel like I'm stuck in two different time zones - one with ex and the other with the current. The connection between my experience and "Great Day" is that for one, I've moved on a long time ago with my current girlfriend but my ex feels like there's still a chance for things to be like it was in the past. Just the same as when Poritsky wanted to return to the past for the pleasure of death and honor, she wants us to re-live the past and become lovers all over again. This leaves me in suspense because who knows where this could head. For all I know my current girlfriend reminds me of year 2037 in the poem; peace and harmony, whereas my ex seem to be the symbol of war like the 1918 (war era) in the poem. Secondly, when I'm with her, even though guilt floods my mind, I must admit at the same time I feel free and open. Similarly, Great Day expressed himself freely and his presence in the past caused him blindness. Third and finally, Poritsky's quest back to the past brought conflict and tragedy in the end. He felt he had more bravery than Great Day by going furhter into the time portal but immediately as he crossed the line he was killed. This relates just the same as when my ex and I went on a date. We went out to the movies and the night turned out quite well. We conversated on the Brooklyn bridge about her father's death, and how it affected her life. Later that night I took her home and we sat in a pitch-black, dark room and chilled. I felt like I was Great Day in that sense, playing a heroic act of bringing her home safely, being temporarily blinded, then receiving some fair share of love and hospitality. Ever since then it's been nothing but confusion, mixed-feelings, and constant conversations.
Blog 2
ReplyDeleteAnother text that we encountered in this class that I can truly say I loved and enjoyed was "The Man in a Case", by Wendy Wasserstein. I enjoyed reading this piece so much that I felt I had to write the part two to it. what I loved the most was the relationship between the two main characters; Varinka and Byelinkov. Two love birds they appear to be. Varinka played the role of a pro-dynamic, free-minded character who would let herself be free and happy. Byelinkov on the other hand was a constricted, humorous, self-absorbed guy who gave others the impression he was all perfect inside and out. His self indulgent character however led to his disgraceful fall, as he attempted to ride the bike he argued that Varinka never should ride again. After embarrassing himself, he felt he no longer had the guts to face Varinka any longer and so he sent her off on the bike. An analysis throughout the piece can show that even though he embarrassed himself in front of her he still feels a burst of love for her as he threads his note he made of her in his garden the same evening. But in contrary instead of disposing the remains he carefully place them in an envelop. Even though my experience and scenario doesn't quite well resembles the situation they experience I feel there are some connections. Well - I remember one day I was on my way to school, it was raining very heavy and the wind was blowing hard. My girlfriend and I had just came from my building when we spotted the bus, I took the lead and began to chase the bus. As I was about to near the bus I felt the breeze lifted me up as I ran in mudd and slid. Down I went and the bus drove off. I felt terrible as I was coated in mud and my girlfriend stood there and laughed a little, then helped me up. I felt bad because I wanted to be the hero who caught the bus but instead I ended up on the floor like Byelinkov, shamed and embarrassed. What made it worse was that later that day I found out school wasn't in progress. I felt as if I was walking in Byelinkov's shoes: "The fraction of improvement isn't worth the damage caused by the disruption". The only thing I got from my haste was an aching body, dirty clothes and humiliation.
Blog 1
ReplyDeleteDuring the break I meet a women who related to the story of “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. The reason her story reminded me of “Hills like White Elephants” is the topic of abortion. The women and the story are similar being that they both deal with a pure human being that can not make a choice for themselves but in her story it is different. The women I meet was going through with her pregnancy until one morning she woke up and realized that her baby has not been moving. As for the couple in “Hills like White Elephants” they were struggling with the decision whether or not to go through with the abortion. The reason why I remember “Hills like White Elephants” was because there are people in the world when they unexpectedly or decide to bring a child in this world they accept the fact its another special human being coming in to this new world. The women I meet wanted to keep her baby but unfortunately there were complications with her pregnancy and she was unable to keep it. As for the couple in Hemingway story who had a young women was indecisive of whether to keep or not keep the baby. Also, an American man who wanted to continue to live his freedom and take the easy way out with an abortion. The American man repetitively explained to the girl that the process was “natural” and “simple” when in all reality this is a life threaten decision and also can affect the young girl psychologically for the rest of her life. As the American man repeats him self to make it clear of the process. I feel that it is unethical for them to want to have an abortion because the American man wants to keep living the life of traveling and not settle down. If there was a health risk or something of that nature abortion may be an option but either way I feel that this unethical especially for the reason the American man wants the abortion. This is upsetting because you have women like the women I meet who had went through 6-7 months of pregnancy and had to deliver a dead fetus. This is not something that she wanted to experience of giving life to another human being even though she was young. Unfortunately she could not have the experience of motherhood.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteblog 2
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite poem’s we read this semester is “When The Towers Fell” Galaway Kinnell. He gives great detail of the tragedy of September 11,2001. Kinnell paints a vivid picture of what it was like in that moment of a to terrorist attack being in New York City. This poem brings the emotion of sadness. The event that reminded me of this story is the decision of whether to transfer Pace University. The school is located so in a close distance of the Twin Towers.For a moment I had a flashback of the attack of the fear I felt living in New York.The images of the Twin Towers falling were sad but, also a feeling of defeat. The simple fact that the terrorist were able to go through and complete their goal of destroying the Twin Towers makes me feel unsafe as citizen of the U.S.A. After re-reading the poem I realized this country has come a long way with security and the unity of American citizens. The choice of transferring to this school would allow me to get over the fear of being in lower Manhattan. I will be able to face the fear and see ground zero for myself instead of going through pictures and Youtube videos. Kinnell did a great job in explaining the event of September 11,2001 for his audience. It helped others who may not understand the event realize what happened and feel some type of emotion of the lives that were taken away on this day.
Blog 1:
ReplyDeleteIn one of the poems named “When the Towers Fell” by Galway Kinnell brought back memories. That day I was suppose to get a surgery. I got up that day at six in the morning, My aunt, uncle and my mom we all went to Long Island to Stony Brook Hospital. We got there like around nine in the morning. When we got there they got me ready for surgery, I waited for like and hour. The television was open then the news showed the towers falling. I saw people running around in terror. Then the doctor came and said the surgery was canceled. I got ready and we were going back to Queens. When we got in the car, we saw everyone rushing back home. It took us about eight hours to get back to Queens. During those eight hours of a car ride, we were listening to the radio. In every station there was the sound of people worrying. When we got to Manhattan, we saw people walking on streets like there were walking home. I was scared there was a lot of cops everywhere. The traffic was a lot every twenty minutes we moved an inch. When we got home we open the television we were all listening to the news.
Blog 2 :
ReplyDeleteIn the story “Araby” by James Joyce the main character remind me of my friend Erika. This happened in the first year of high school, she has a crush on this guy; he was the type of guy that kept his cool, yet still good on his school work. Erika used to look at him in class we had with him she wouldn’t even blink sometimes. Once she found out his locker number she brought him a small gift and put it in his locker. She got him his favorite CD “Green Day”. She left him a note; I don’t remember what she exactly wrote. But I remember he was shocked, he knew it was someone in our friends group. One day he came up and asked me “if it was me?“ “ I told him it wasn’t me, but it was someone I know that liked him” Then in English class he started writing poems about his unknown stalker. In English class we had to get into groups because we had a project due he paired Erika and him together she was so happy she thought she was dreaming. After the project presentation was over, she gave him a thank you gift with another small note. Then he knew it was her, he told her also that he like her but didn’t know how to open up to her. They have been going out since 9th grade.
Blog 1:
ReplyDeleteI believe everyone can relate to the short story, “Araby” by James Joyce, due to it being about innocence and a crush. Growing up I have become more observant of my surroundings and friends even though many don’t realize it, which is the beauty of it. But I have this friend who is basically a sucker when it comes to girls. He has very little experience and confidence when it comes to girls, which relates to the narrator. Similar to my friend, the narrator’s crush leads him to feel the “butterflies in stomach” effect and being shy. This creates a sense of immaturity along with a probable effect of be insecure because he is acting like a child and not going after what he wants and working for it. The narrator and Mangan’s sister talk very little, but she is always on his mind. Then one morning, she asks if he plans to go to Araby, even though she has plans of her own. The narrator tells her that he would bring her back something, which leads him to a state of eagerness and to not focus in school. The distraction this crush has on the narrator demonstrates how far this simple crush has gone.
There are a lot of couples out there that have very distinctive personalities. They do not share many similar characteristics but they make each other very happy. That being said, I must say that I can relate my relationship to Varinka and Byelinkov. In the play “The Man in a Case” by Wendy Wasserstein, there were a few details that reminded me of my relationship with my boyfriend. I found it interesting that men play a certain part in a relationship, although the years may go by. Personally, I am more of an outgoing person, and I do not care much of what people think. I do things because I want to please myself not others. One thing that I have in common with Varinka is that I go with the flow; I do not make plans very often because it is accessible to each in my opinion. In contrast, my boyfriend is more like Byelinkov. He loves planning and sticking to the plan. He does not like change very much. He has grown up doing things a certain way, and that is the way it should be in his eyes. In between the lines, of the screenplay the reader acknowledges that Varinka is not so educated than Byelinkov. In fact, my boyfriend and I also have the same issue. My boyfriend is more knowledgeable than me. Although we are very different, my boyfriend and I are perfect for each other, due to the fact that we balance our personalities.
ReplyDeleteLife may bring very difficult decisions that need to be made. Many of them consist of a life changing result. But the good thing is that the life changing outcome lies on the hands of the person that makes the decision. In “Hills like a White Elephant” there is a couple discussion a very important issue. They have a decision to make that may either change their life completely or it might not. The reader gets the vibe that they are both coming to the conclusion that an abortion is the best thing to do. While the man is set on the decision the women is double guessing her self. A few years back, when my sister first got pregnant she also found herself battling through the same situation. She was still in college and had her whole life ahead. Making a decision was crucial, and it was a decision that just like the characters in the story had to decide. It was defiantly a decision that would change her life forever. In this case, my sisters boyfriend wanted her to keep the pregnancy while my sister was undeceive. She thought about everything, and how life would change for her. But at the end she decided to have her bundle of joy. “Hills like a White Elephant” by Ernest Hemingway is a story that many people can relate to. It is a decision that must be made when a pregnancy is not planned. My sister is a great example to show that many females are very undeceive with the decision when it’s at hand.
ReplyDeleteBlog 2:
ReplyDeleteA personal connection I made is with the poem, “When the Towers Fell” by Galway Kinnell. Kinnell is a spectator of the disaster which September 11th was. He describes the horrific scene that lead to “a ghostly whiteness” in New York and in people’s minds (Kinnell l.32). On that day I was in the fourth grade and the news didn’t really affect me because I didn’t know what was going on at my age. My mom is a bus driver and was stuck in Manhattan since the cops blocked the entrance and exit of the bridge. I remember going home and there was the TV had been knocked off and the smoke surrounded the air. When I found out what had really happened, I was surprised but yet thankful. I was surprised to know the damage and deaths that had occurred, and thankful for the fact that nothing happened to any of my friends and relatives. Looking back at what happened, I still get thankful and more surprised because I don’t think as kids you realize the value of life and how quick it can be taken away from you when you least expect it.
We read so many stories over the semester and one of the stories reminded me of my own personal life and another one taught me life lesson. In “Araby”, by James Joyce reminded me of my first love. In the story there was lot imagery and one of the imagery that narrator used to describe his felling by not being with her, and that reminded me of my first love. The narrator said, “My eyes were full of tears (I could not tell why) and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my bosom” (Joyce 207). When the narrator used the words tears and flood, it kind of reminded me when I was in my room crying over a girl who broke my heart and she was my first love. This story takes me to back of my middle school days. In life everybody have crush at some point of their life and your first love never comes true, it has always sad ending like in the “Araby.” As the narrator in “Araby”, fails to bring a gift for Mangan's sister and he realized his love will never come true and that is when he started to understand about himself and about life in general. The narrator realized he was dreaming, and that dream did not come to reality, but same time life goes on which means, you have to move forward. After my heart is broken by my first girl, I realized life goes on and so you have to move on too and that is the lesson I learned from my experience and so did the narrator.
ReplyDeleteThe second stories is the poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley called “Ozymandias.” In the poem “Ozymandias”, the speaker talks about a person that was once so powerful and looked upon, such as the “King of Kings” but now is nothing but a joke (line 10). Now, the same statue, which he had made for himself because he thought he was so superior but now it destroyed. The statue symbolizes the King as might powerful, but now the statue is broken into pieces which means, now he is nobody even though he once considered himself so mighty and powerful. That is shows the king just a human being which means, the king eventually will die like everything else in this world. After reading the “Ozymandias”, I realize it does not matter how much money or power I have, it will make no difference because either money or power it is not going with me in my graveyard. Shelly’s poem opens my eye, and made me realize that if I have power or money, I should use them to help poor people and make the society better. In the end it is not about how powerful you are but it is all about giving back as much as you can to the community, and eventually it will help you to make it to the paradise. This is the massage that I learned from this poem, and this poem made me realize what life is all about.
In the story "Araby" the young boy had strong feelings towards a girl; a crush. When i was younger i too experienced my first crush. It was when i was 5 years old and I lived in long island, the girl I had a crush on was my next door neighbor, her name was Melissa. Me and Melissa use to always hangout at my house and play super Nintendo and my mom cooked us lunch and what not. But one day being the “playa playa” that I am I went for a kiss and I MADE CONTACT! But then she ran home crying. She went to tell her mother on me. Then her mother told my mother and I got in trouble. Melissa ended up never coming back to my house or playing with me ever again. From what I remember, she did however come to my birthday party. The point of this experience was to teach me that you win some and you lose some. Not everyone that you engulf with kisses will accept them. One has to learn from their past experiences to better their lives. Similar to the young boy in “Araby” my first crush failed miserably, however I did manage to move on to the next one (ha-ha) ;D.
ReplyDelete"Hills like White Elephants" by Hemingway can be related to a situation I encountered with a friend of mine and her boyfriend."Hills like White Elephants" deals with this couple who is being indecisive of whether or not they should terminate the young woman's pregnancy. This situation was similar to my friend's problem back in high school. She was a junior and her pregnancy was very unexpected and surprising and she was very scared and felt alone. She and her boyfriend were on different pages on their situation because she does not believe in abortions but he didn't care about her opinion and just wanted to get rid of the problem. Her situation was closely related to the couple in "Hills like White Elephant" because the boyfriend in the story seem persuasive about the idea of getting an abortion but, the young lady was unsure of what to do and figured that whatever made her boyfriend happy, that is what she will go along with. The same thing my friend felt because she was afraid her boyfriend would be unhappy and leave her she went aganist her beliefs and went through the procedure knowingly that she wouldn't be happy with the choice she made she just wanted to move forward and made sure her boyfriend stayed satisfied.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn the play ”Riders to the Sea” by J. M. Synge. There is an old lady who has begun to isolate herself due to the son’s recent passing. I feel that I can compare certain things in my life to this. From what I can remember I was always optimistic and happy and excited about stuff, but then came a point in my life where things just weren’t going my way and so I became pessimistic. I went from being eager and always looking on the bright side to being aware that things can and do go wrong. Just as Murphy’s Law states “Anything that could go wrong will go wrong”. I wasn’t like depressed and stuff but I knew that things won’t always go in your favor. I saw things in a more realistic manor. The old lady in the play went through so much hard ache that she couldn’t stand it anymore and her way of escaping the pain was to distance herself from the community. She was looking for a way out and she found it. However this isn’t always the best way to deal with things, yes I became sort of pessimistic but I make sure to see the bright side in things and to not always be negative about things.
ReplyDeleteBlog 2
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the story by Kinnell "When the Tower's Fell". Everything that Kinnell described in "When the Towers Fell" in vivid details bought back some horrid memories about what happened that day on 9/11. I remembered everything I was doing clearly and how many emotions that were building up inside me. I remembered sitting in my 4th grade classroom listening to my teacher read aloud from one of our books that we had chosen to read that day. Then our principal walked in and whispered something in my teacher's ear and the class got quiet and her face expression was horrified and surprised. She delivered us the bad news and the first question that popped up in my head was where is my mom? My mom use to travel back and forth to Manhattan and I was so worried and terrified especially,that day she took awhile to pick me up from school and so many unwanted thoughts surrounded my head. When I saw her walked into that school gate I never felt so happy in my life and as soon as I saw her she explained to me what happened with the twin towers and how many lives were taken by ignorant terrorists.When i read "When the Towers Fell" I imagined so many people suffering before they died and it saddened me how many lives were lost. And I remembered how shocked I was that my neighbor died in those buildings trying his hardest to help others because he was a firefighter. I felt sick to my stomach that such nice, caring man life was taking away in such a dreadful tragedy, and that day he wasn't even suppose to go in for work because it was his day off. Reading Kinnell's story reminded me of New York City crying because it felt like almost everyone lost someone special because of how many lives were destroyed and taken away.
One of the poems that i thought was really interesting was Kinnel’s When the Towers Fell. everything i think back about that very day i can remember everything that happened and where i was and what i was doing. High school had just started and I was about 2 weeks into my first semester. During class I started hearing other student’s named being called over the PTA system saying that their parents are here to pick them up. I had no idea what was going on till one of the teacher’s said a plane crashed into the Twin Towers. I could not believe until I saw it on T.V. As I was walking home I remember looking up into the sky and seeing three F-18 fighter jets flying over my neighborhood in Queens. I was not there in Manhattan nor do I know anyone at that time that was. Reading Kinnel’s poem gave me a better perspective on what was going on.
ReplyDeleteblog 2
ReplyDeleteAnother poem i thought about during spring break was English B. I thought this poem was a great way to just freely talk about yourself and also to let others know a little bit about your life. I was thinking about how everyone puts so much time and effort to go to college and once you finish all that hard work its so difficult to get a job. People are looking for those who have experience and dont really want to hire you if you dont have it. Giving up 4 years of your life to go to college and loosing out on 4 years of income plus valuable working experience...is it worth it?
I Think it is. I've had a great college experience and im definitly going to miss it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy experience over spring break relates to the story "The Things They Carried". In this story, a group of soldiers fighting in the Vietnam war. While staying in Vietnam, these men carried around weapons and personal items from home. They carried around weapons for protection and to make themselves feel more secure and safe from danger. The men carried around personal items such as weed, condoms, a panty hose, a bible, pictures, and letters. These items were the only things that they had that reminded them of home. They reminded them of what they things and people that they left behind which makes them carry a heavy load internally.
ReplyDeleteOn Thursday, I had to work with my assigned group members for a project in my Cultural Diversity 101 class. Like the characters in the story, we were on a mission. A mission of completing this project after weeks and weeks of canceling our get-together-and do this-project-day. Our main goal now, is just to make sure that we won our battle by getting a good grade. Just like the characters in "The Things They Carried", my group and I carried along things that we would need for that day. We all brought our cell phones. I'm glad we all brought our cell phones. We met up by my neighborhood train station because we planned to do our project there. We spent the majority of our time staying outside which we didn't really have a problem with considering that Thursday was a beautiful, breezy, sunny day. One of my other group mates ended up arriving late and had it not been for our cell phones, it would have caused a lot of confusion and frustration which of course would probably create some tension when we all finally got together. One of my groups mates carried two cameras. We needed these cameras to make a video for our project. Coincidently, one of the cameras ended up dying. It was really a good thing that she brought the other camera. She also brought her friend along who helped record the video and brought along humor that seemed to lighten up the day even more. (Perhaps her friend shouldn't be counted an item). If it weren't for him, we would have had some difficulty recording the video. Because we didn't plan out our project before we met up on Thursday, we ended up going to the library in my neighborhood to charge one of the cameras and we started to plan out how we would do this skit. As a matter of fact, we even started recording in the library. We ended up including this guy in some parts of our video. He kept doing random things and saying comments that had us dying with laughter. We left the library and walked to the park where the rest of our video was made. We did a lot of walking around like the characters in the story. On our way to the park we began to think of more ideas and by the time we got to the park, we had everything planned out and it was smooth sailing from there.
When thinking about my experience and the story, I think about this one moral that they both share in common and the moral is that big things come in small packages. The items in both my experience and the story demonstrates this point clearly. They may be just regular everyday items but when you think about the sentimental values an item holds or the main purpose of its use and how it has contributed to experiences in your life, you begin to think twice and realize that even the littlest of things impact your experiences in life in some type of way. Just like with items, people tend to have the same effect. Like I said previously, my group member's friend was really helpful and entertaining. If he never came along, I don't think my group would have had so much fun doing this project. I never thought that doing this project would have turned out so fun.
BLOG 2
ReplyDeleteMy other experience involved my friend. His story relates more to the story "Butterflies". On Friday, my friend texted me. As we were texting, I asked him how he was doing and he told me that he was doing bad and that he was having a bad week. I asked him why and he explained to me that he and his mother had constantly been fighting about religion. To be specific, they were arguing about Christianity. They obviously have different views on it. His mother is strictly Christian. Him on the other hand, is the opposite. From what he told me, he either doesn't really believe in God anymore or he is losing faith in God due to some circumstances in his life. He basically told me that his father is dying and that he has been praying to God for a long time for him to heal and not die. The more he prayed, the more that he saw that his father's health was regressing. He just started to lose faith in God because he felt as that if God does exist, then his father would not be dying. I can't really choose sides between them because I understand both perspectives. I do believe in God and I do attend church so I understand where the mother is coming from. However, I also understand where he is coming from too because at times I have found myself losing faith in God. My friend also told me that he feels that his opinion is his opinion and her opinion is her opinion so she has no right trying to prove him right or wrong. And I agree with this. You can't change any one's opinion. Only people can change their own opinion and you really can't blame people for having the opinions that they have because they have experienced things that have influenced them to have certain views on things. In "Butterflies", this is demonstrated. In the story, we are introduced to the different point of views on butterflies. One point of view from the teacher who believes that butterflies are beautiful and harmless creatures. The other point of view was from the little girl in the story who made the story about killing butterflies. She felt this way because her grandparents grow cabbages and butterflies lay their eggs on plants like cabbages. They rely on the cabbages to keep their household up and running and to have food be placed on the table. The teacher does not seem to know much about the little girl's family and their lifestyle. Like my friend and his mother, the teacher and the student did not really understand each other's perspectives. Like the teacher, the mother did not try to understand where my friend was coming from or why he felt the way he felt.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a short story of a sickly woman and her husband, who is also her physician. Because the husband feels that she will recover faster in a place of solidarity, the couple moves to an isolated mansion on the outskirts of the city. In the mansion there are many rooms, but the husband picks an old nursery on the upper floor for his wife. In this room the bed is nailed down to the floor, the windows are barred and the walls have rings and things in them. He claims that this room is the biggest and best room for his wife, but at first his wife did not like the room. She feels that there is something strange and odd about the room, especially towards the yellow wallpaper. As she laid in bed all day, the wife’s eerie feeling towards the wallpaper becomes an obsession. Throughout their stay in the mansion, the wife’s condition worsens instead of getting better. This short story reminds me of one of my aunts. My dad sister, who lives in Irving Texas, was happily married and had everything. She was beautiful, had a good education and had money. Unfortunately her husband used her for all she had. She was pregnant like three times and he made her abort all three. He left her and took all her money and everything she owned. After that my aunt became mentally ill. At first she was put in a nursing home, but she wasn’t getting better. Then my dad took her in, but she gave him a hard time and he couldn’t handle her. Currently she is staying with one of my other aunts, her elder sister. The aunt was a nurse before so she knows how to handle her sister. My aunt’s sickness is like a roller coaster ride. One minute she seems normal and good, and then she goes back down to acting not normal. Over the spring break I went to visit my dad. I also went to see my aunt, and this time she looks really good and healthy. I hope when I go back in June she stays the same and continue to get better.
ReplyDeleteOne of the works of literature that I can relate to is "when the towers fell" by Galwel Kindell. Anyone who is an american can relate to this poem and remember the panic and nervousness they may have felt on that day. When the twin towers were hit I was in my 4th grade teacher Mrs. Braggs class were working on our english projects. I remember all of a sudden every ones parents started to pick them up and everyone in class didn't understand why they were just all excited to be going home early. When my mom came and got me she explained to me what was going on. I didn't really understand what a terrorist attack was but from the looks of everything that was going on it was bad. When we got to my grandmothers house I was told that two of my aunts could be in danger, one of my aunts worked across the street from the second building and my other aunt worked on the hundredth floor of the first building. That's when everything in the house got serious everyone was quiet no one made a sound you could sense all the worry in the room everyone began calling my aunts one by one to see if they could get in contact with them nothing. Hours later we received new that they were both ok . The way Kindell described the anticipation in the poem couldn't have been more correct, watching the news to see people jumping out of hundred story windows with the hopes that maybe for just that day they could fly or float softly to the ground with at eighty-five percent chance that they may die which most of them did. The way the clouds of smoke engulfed the streets of the city the sad crying faces of those who lost someone close to them I will never forget 9/11. And reading Kindell's poem brought back the memory and gave me the chills.
ReplyDeleteThe short story "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway I know may relate to a lot of young teenage girls, this story does not relate to me personally but it relates to my cousin. I remember when my cousin was sixteen years old and she found out that she was expecting. The way she reacted was as if the whole world stopped moving and her like life was about to be over. I felt so bad for her because she knew she couldn't keep the baby although she may have really wanted to. When she gave the news to her boyfriend he reacted in the same manner that the boy did in the story, he acted as if this baby wasn't associate with a big decision that may effect her for the rest of her life. Although they did end up getting an abortion my cousin was so distance from everyone for weeks I could see the pain in her eyes every time. Her boyfriend said he would support any decision she made but that wasn't the case. When she felt as though she wanted to keep it and would just except the consequences of the situation he was ready to leave her in a heart beat. I may not personally relate to this stop but I know the toll that predicament takes on some ones like.
ReplyDeleteJournal Entry 12 - #1
ReplyDeleteOver the course of the break, I tried to think of any literary form that we did in class that would applied to my everyday life. One literary work that I thought applied to my life was the poem "When The Towers Fell" by Galway Kinnell. It shows how a day might start out like any other, but at the end it's something completely different. Kinnell paints a vivid picture of what it was like in that moment of attack being in New York City, the same City we live in today, the City we call home.The poem speaks of many different relationships between lovers, friends, strangers, families and such etc, and heroes who died in 9/11. Even if we are wondering, what were we doing exactly at the time of 9/11. I remember when reading it, I felt sad and wanted to cry. It felt like it was happening all over again, This poems shows that anything could happen at any moment, just like the days of spring break..it begins all beautiful and then you can expect the unexpected. Over the course of spring break, I experienced some emotional trauma, some family troubles if you must say, this I did not see coming, nevertheless this caused me to make a decision that I thought I would never have to do. But, I was thankful enough to have my parents with me and my big brother, because at the end of the day - family is what you have.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe story “Hills Like White Elephants” bears a connection with an experience my cousin Ace went through with his own girlfriend. In “Hills Like White Elephant” there is a couple who are faced with a dilemma and they appear to be on opposite ends. The boyfriend of the story wishes for his girlfriend to go through with an operation. The girlfriend however, is not sure as to what she should do or wants because she wants to make him happy but she still does not want to proceed with the operation. At the end of the story she comes to a decision but we are only capable of inferring what her decision was in the end.
ReplyDeleteThe connection “Hills Like White Elephants” bears with my cousin is that his girlfriend, who was 17 at the time, was pregnant but not with his child. The girl wanted to keep the baby but he did not want her to if he was going to continue to be with her. He was willing to help her pay for the abortion since she did not want her parents to know about the pregnancy. He finally convinced her that it would be too hard for her to take care of a child by herself since her parents would have most likely have kicked her out of the house and she was only a high school student.
Trying to figure out how the stories read for class relate to me on a personal level is a bit of a challenge as most, if none at all, of the characters or their situations are very relatable. Perhaps one of the few exceptions would be When The Towers Fell by Galaway Kinnell. The attack on the World Trade Center is something that people will never forget. Being just a fourth grader when it happened, I can still remember that day very clearly. The teachers were very nervous and distracted, some much more than others, always outside the classroom discussing something. Every time a student asked what was wrong, they would tell us that everything was fine. It was not until I had gotten home that I realized what happened. Becoming overwhelmed with terror, I panicked and dialed my mother who worked in the city. Knowing she worked near the Empire State Building, which was not close to the World Trade Center, I still could not help feeling frightened. I did not get an answer, but my grandmother who lived with us reassured me that she was alright because she called earlier. I watched the news with them until my mother got home which wasn't until eight or nine PM since she had to walk over the bridge and take a cab from there. I'll never forget that day.
ReplyDeleteOne piece of text we have read that i can really relate to and connect to would be "Araby" by "James Joyce".Who can't relate to this story as every human being experiences the efeects of their first crush. Personally when i was in the 5th grade i experienced my first crush of which until now i still have a bit of that atrraction left in me. I would just spend entire days just looking at her imagining how it could have been if we were together and imagining a way in which i would tell her how i truly felt about her. But of course there's a reason why theyre called crushes as i kept my feeling to myself as she fell into the arms of another boy my friend. No one ever forgets their first crush and i didnt either.
ReplyDeleteMentioned before in the previous blog entry, the stories and characters are not particularly relatable on a personal level. The stories that are freshest in my mind are the few that have been given to read over the past several weeks. The most interesting of them was “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, but I do not feel I can relate to either of the characters or what they are going through. However, oddly enough, the setting is what I had that most connection to in the most indirect ways. I was seeing something related to Spain wherever I turned. This past week I Googled tons of Spanish magazine websites looking for a leak of their latest issue, and (tried) talking with a few people using Google Translator. I got the highest score I've ever gotten in a game on its only map with Spain as the location. I saw a food show about a strange custom they do in Spain where they drink wine in a weird way, and eat rabbits, and burnt grass. Coincidentally, this all happened over Spring Break.
ReplyDeleteMy experience is not completely parallel to the short story “Hills Like White Elephants” but it does touch the topic of abortion. In my sophomore year of high school I had an acquaintance named Jessica* we were either around 15 or 16. One day for some reason she shocked me when she had something to tell me about her personal life. I was shocked because it wasn’t like we were the best of friends. She told me that she was pregnant and she didn’t know what to do. She kept asking me for advice as if I was experienced in this part of life haha. But I was glad she could confide in me as a friend. She asked if I could help her find abortion clinics and I was okay with helping her so she can get her life back on track. After she had the abortion she told me all the details. And she eventually told her mom who was extremely disappointed but she was content with her decision. This situation reminded me of the characters in Hills like White Elephants because Jessica and the characters were so unsure of what to do.
ReplyDeleteWhile When The Tower’s Fell definitely wasn’t one of my favorite poems we read I feel like I kind of had an experience before the break. On April 10th, Michael Muhney; one of my favorite actors from this soap opera I watch called the The Young and the Restless was going to have a meet and greet. I just HAD to go because I like him and his character a lot & he recognized me from online and I had a lot of fun haha. Anyway the meeting location was in Battery Park, and I met a girl there while we were waiting for him to arrive. After Michael left the girl and me went to go get lunch. We ended up by Ground Zero and I don’t know but a lot of feelings came over me. I was kind of scared and anxious. I never had been to that part of Manhattan before it happened or after. So it was my first time ever seeing the site. It was just like "Wow of all that happened near this area". But it was a good experience for me to finally open my eyes to see what I’ve been missing.
ReplyDeleteAnother piece of text that i can personally connect with is "When The Towers Fell" by Gallaway Kinnell. This story tells of the narrator's experience of the day the Twin Towers fell and mostly all New Yorkers can relate to this event. I found out about the Twin towers when i was in school when i was 8 yrs old the teachers where talkin quietly and one classmate overheard them talking about it but because of my young age i didnt really undrstand the magnitude of the situation until i grew older and learned to understand the meaning of the towers falling. That day will forever no matter where i go will stay on my mind.
ReplyDeleteWhile on my way to home, I thought about the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and noticed that it somewhat relates with my experience during middle school. In the story, the author was stuck in a room, and through watching the strange yellow wallpaper every night, the author started to imagine a women crawling behind the patterns. This gave me a flash back of my similar imagination of an old woman in a story that was told by our matrons. The story was about an old lady who lived in a haunted house, and she would sit in front of a candle, hiding her face, waiting for someone. And according to the matrons, no one has ever seen her face or has dared to see it. Though our dorm was two buildings away from the haunted house, unfortunately I had a window side bed therefore I could see that house straight from my window every night! When I tried to sleep, the story would dwell in my mind, and different images of her face would pop into my mind. That was the day I regretted watching horror movies.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I noticed that like the speaker in the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, who came across two choices and the choice he took made the difference, I too came across two choices and my choice made the difference. One unfortunate day, my close friend got involved in a verbal fight with some senior hosteller girls. So the senior girls came to me and told me not to talk to her. I was in a big trouble, because I had to choose whether to obey my seniors or stand by my close friend. I decided to stand by my friend and said sorry to my seniors. They were furious, so they decided to punish us. Our punishment was that after dinner we were to stand in the porch of the haunted house for ten minutes. For a few minutes we stood there trembling, but after that we ended up laughing watching each other’s scared faces. Because of this incident and my choice our friendship got stronger. Even though we are far, till this day we are still very close. This made all the difference.
ReplyDeleteIn both short stories “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, and “Araby” by James Joyce, two main characters both crush with a girl and did some immature actions to show their love. Jimmy Cross carried the girl’s pictures and all the letters she wrote. And the narrator in “Araby” follows the girl every morning. This part of the story reminded me my classmate’s first crush. It was happened during third grade. The boy sits next to me crush on my friend. Just like the boy in “Araby”, he follows her. After the dismissal of the morning classes, we have to go home to eat lunch, and then come back for the afternoon classes. When my friend and I were on the way home, the boy and his friends were flower after us. Once there was somebody comes to take photo for the ID card, few days later, I saw the boy holding my friend’s id photo and tried to hide it in his schoolbag. That time, we were innocent about the feeling of love. The only thing the boy can think was to bother the girl so that she can put more attention on him.
ReplyDeleteAnother short story I can relate to is the “Butterflies”. The setting of this story takes place in a small town or countryside, where people can grow their own source of food. When I was a child, I live in the same environment as the narrator. That time, my parents were out for work, and I live with my great parents. My grandfather owns few fields that he can grow crops. In our backyard, he grew vegetables we eat, and some fruit trees. After harvest all the crops, the field is all empty. My friend and I would sometimes fly kite there, and sometimes running in the field to feel the wind. Compare the life in cities; I think it is more comfortable to live in a small town. We sleep early and wake up early. Every morning, I can smell the fresh air and that can make me stay in good mood all day long.
ReplyDeleteFrom reading the story Hills like White Elephants, I then thought about one of my friends that dealt with a similar problem. Throughout the story, the main points were that the couple who are at a train station are drinking and talking about a situation that could involve another human being. Having this said, the reader can come to the conclusion that an abortion is being spoken about. Meanwhile, after reading this I thought about a friend of mine that had the same exact problem but did not know what to do. She was 16 at the time and was not ready for such a commitment. However, the guy she was with was someone that she loved and cared for. It was whatever he wanted which made it very hard for her because he wanted whatever she wanted. A few days past and she then made up her mind and decided to do something she thought she would never regret. She decided to get an abortion. Now as of today, she feels that she made the wrong choice. This can be related to the story in many ways. One of them being that the girl in this story wanted what the guy wanted. In other words it was his choice to make. After reading this, I felt that this could be a story that many people could relate to.
ReplyDeleteOne of the texts in this unit that I felt connected to a past experience of mine was "Araby". In the story, the boy feels confused about his feelings for his friend's sister and is unsure of the cause of his infatuation with the girl as he knows very little about her. It reminded me of when I was thirteen and had not the first crush of my life as the boy has, but definitely the strongest feelings I had felt up to that point, probably the only crush that entered the realm of what I thought was love. The girl was a member of the Art club that I was a participant in just for my freshman year of high school. Unlike the boy, I was actually friends with this girl and had meaningful conversations, not idle banter about going to a bazaar. The similarity would be that I never really expressed my feelings to her, though I probably was more contained in my affection than the boy in "Araby" since the boy "prays" and basically worships Mangan's sister.
ReplyDeletethis is Sarah Alemy i forgot my log in information...... sorry
ReplyDeleteA literary work that reminded me of my own personal experience is The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. I made a personal connection with this story because it seems as if everything I come across in my life comes with another route. Its like I’m always at a fork in the road. When I make one decision, I always wonder about the other choice I could’ve made and then from there, my imagination runs wild. For example, I’ll sit and think about the other decision and what could’ve happened from there and why I didn’t make that decision and how it could’ve possibly affected my life and so on. In my family, everyone is in the medical field and that is what expected of me. The medical field represents the road that everyone travels in my family. That is not what I want to do, therefore, I am taking “the road less traveled by” as Frost said in his poem. Sometimes I sit and think about what things would be like if I take the medical path, and I “sigh” about not going through with it.
One poem that i found quite interesting that we read was "ozymandias". It reminded me of the story in the Bible of Sodom and Gomorrah where te people were told not to look back at the old land once they were leaving. One woman that was with her husband by the name of Lot looked back as she was leaving and she turned into a pillar of salt. I chose this biblical story because in the poem, a statue was made for a previous king and despite whatever happened the statue broke into pieces. It just goes to show that nothing remains for a while.
ReplyDeleteOne piece of literature that relates to an experience that i had over the spring break was "When The Towers Fell," by Kinnell. I traveled to Canada and finally saw the beauty that is Niagara Falls. To me Niagara Falls, despite being connected to the U.S and Canada, is a symbol that represents the strength of Ontario. And after seeing them i couldnt help but think about the Twin Towers. The setting and plot of "When The Towers Fell," created a connection in my mind between the falls and the short story. And as a New Yorker i know what it feels like to lose a landmark. "The plane screamed low down lower Fifth Avenue," (Kinnell). Kinnell's descriptions of the planes running through the city serves as a vivid portrayal, of what i can only imagined happened. And if one could imagine something to that affect happening to Niagara Falls it would be devasting to the people that live there. Especially since most of the activites centered around the falls, making it a source of commerce. The destruction of Niagara Falls by terrorism could only be described as something only possible in one's mind. However before 9/11 most people never truly thought the Twin Towers could be reduced to rubble within minutes.
ReplyDeleteAnother work that mirrors a significant event that occurred during my spring break is Joyce's "Araby." The story's protagonist has a crush on the older sister of his friend. He becomes obsessed with her and makes it his mission to purchase the perfect gift from the bazaar. However when he fails to find that gift he becomes despondent and his entire disposition becomes similar to a creature's."Gazing up into the darkness i saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity." Not to reveal too much of my personal life i am currently involved in a relationship crisis. However, i feel as though my relationship's status is well beyond the nonexistent stage the protagonist's is. However the theme of love, whether returned or not, is similar to my experience. And i feel that the description of the boy can describe how i feel at certain moments. "... and my eyes burned with anguish and anger." A correlation between one's experiences and the ones located on the pages show how relateable author's intend for the books to be, in some cases.
ReplyDelete