The Final Monday..

Class Reflection

1. I feel as if I've grown a lot throughout the course of this class. I feel as if my anxiety towards writing has decreased. Before I was hesitant on where to get started when I had several different options to discuss in my writing. Sure my writing still has a lot of flaws but I feel as if I am more capable to pin point a concept and focus my attention on that specifically. I will always have the problem I think to much. I always feel as if I have so much I want to say in papers and I don't know how to express all the concepts that are important for me to conceptualize.
2. I feel like the text in which I struggled with the most were the ones I enjoyed most. Everyone does hate poetry but I feel like when it's our task to sit and pull apart a small poem and try to figure out the meaning of what each line brings to the table puts a different perspective on literature. It allows you to honestly criticize the authors work and think out side the box on the common meanings of what people see at first glance at some poems. The other thing I struggled with yet some how enjoyed was Shakespeare. The text is written in what seems like jibberish anyways but when we are asked to go through and grab a concept that we enjoyed in the text and pick it apart it made me think. It allowed me to relate to the characters and grasp the true meaning of his mysterious words. The last thing I at first struggled with still ends up being my favorite were the graphic novels. There was something so complicated about reading the McCloud story, it was all too much information for me it in fact made me never want to read a graphic novel. But when we read American Born Chinese I was captivated. I finished in approximately 20 minutes. It was as if I couldn't stop reading it. I feel like when students can related to a story more, it's easier for them to engage in reading it. I hated reading The Bluest Eye, and I barely read any of it and I know Toni Morrison is a legend, it just wasn't for me. I appreciate the diversity of a graphic novel it gave a spin to having to wake up at 8am and talk about born pieces.
3. I feel like when it came to literature I never really characterized it as just a novel, with a cover and a back that was bound and sold to me at Barnes and Noble. But it was a lot of different things. It seems that now I am familiar with more types of literature that I would of never read on my own that I would consider reading again. When it came time to read Shakespeare, I remember being in the Shakespeare section at Barnes and Noble and I saw that there were several graphic novels that were done by the No Fear company that told the story of MacBeth, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. I believe, and I was telling my sister about how I liked graphic novels and she should considering reading one. Of course she looked at me, as all of us looked at you the first day. But I would honestly read another one if I had the choice. I think people just need to find their signature concepts they enjoy reading about. I personally enjoy reading about romance, because I suck apparently at finding it in my life. But that's a concept I enjoy. But no matter what type of genre of literature it is I will always be able to find a story about classic romance, I just need to look in the right place.
4. I personally hate speaking in front of people I don't know. But that's what this class was all about, and there were plenty of times that I had really good concepts I wanted to bring forth and it wasn't unless you called me out that I really expressed them to the class. I just feel like all we did was talk, that we were getting up at 8am and sometimes the last thing I wanted to do was talk. Occasionally I found myself struggling to get engaged because I felt like we had talked about all of this before, that we were scrounging for topics because some of the literature was repetitive. When you have early morning classes and we are driving to class in the morning sometimes when it still pitch black and we all want to go back to bed, there needs to be some spice, we can't just talk all the time. I loved the day we watched the movie. It gave a relaxing feeling. I think there needs to be more creativity, more spice, more flare. I mean maybe students can have an option of bringing in their own piece of literature that gives a sense of the same topics that relate to class. Or have students create there own panel in a comic after reading McCloud to see what the learned. And maybe all the research papers should be multi modal. I think it gave me an easier time because it was more fun to put everything i was feeling into the paper. I could pick pieces I enjoyed. I think there's a lot you can do with the class. It's just at 8am we can't always just talk because you lost us some days, especially on days with repetitive topics.
5. I think all around I am better prepared to critically analyze literature. I think the best part about this class was I was introduced to different types of literature. Many of which I enjoyed reading. I think this class gave a variety of readings that allowed me to think outside the norm and really read. Which I tend to not do, I'm in the middle of like 20 books right now... But over all I enjoy the way I think about literature now.

Classic Mistake!

In Gaiman's Dream Country, I feel as if i am left more confused that I ever was before. I feel as if Gaiman absolutely distracts and destroys the classical. For me the story leaves a sense of confusion upon me. These is a lot of mystery amongst the pages and a lot of side conversations that I can't grasp there relationship to everything else. There are bits and pieces of caption taken directly from a midsummer night's dream but this story forms around that. I personally did not reflect well upon this story. I believe it to be imaginative and I'm sure intriguing for some. But for me the story written by Shakespeare is one that can't be mangled. Shakespeare though confusing all the time wrote about something more than what this story can portray. There is a sense of beauty, light tragedy and romantic confusion in Shakespeare's a midsummer night's dream, and in Dream Country, there is a darkness, a confusion, a comedic tragedy. I don't like it one bit. Sometimes stories beginnings and ends and in betweens are to be left unsaid. The author intended for the mind to have freedom with no boundaries to limit the ability for the mind to explore. Which in a sense is what Gaiman is doing in this text. For me I, my mind goes in a different direction.

My Conference

Monday November 24 @ 11:40 - 11:50

My love, my life, my soul!

Demetrius and Helena

I dont know if im the only one but a while back there was a film released called Get Over It. This was a story about a guy who dates a girl for a long time and he tries to win her back but shes dating someone else and the girl who helps him in his attempts to win back his girlfriend falls inlove with him.. Meanwhile they are all cast member of the school play which happens to be a Midsummer's Night Dream. Funny how this works out. In tune, this is exactly like the relationship between Demetrius and Helena. Love is blind sometimes and you cant see the real truth behind things. People are willing to go to extreme measures to prove things to the one they love. In this scene there is confession of whose love is strong for Helena, Demetrius or Lysander, and the two are willing to fight to prove whom is the strong man for love.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMY4_zD27XY


Act 3 Scene 2
Lysander: Stay gentle Helena. Hear my excuse. My love, my life, my soul, fair Helena!
Helena: Oh, excellent!
Hermia: [to Lysander] Sweet, do not scorn her so.
Demetrius: If she cannot entreat, I can compel.
Lysander: Thou canst compel no more than she entreat. Thy threats have no more strength than her weak prayers. - Helen, I love thee. By my life, I do. I swear by that which I will lose for thee. To prove him false that says I love thee not.
Demetrius: [to Helena] I say I love thee more than he can do.
Lysander: If thou say so, withdraw and prove it too.

PS. We should probably watch Get Over It in class... its hilarious. People would probably relate to Shakespeare's "A Mid-Summer's Nights Dream" more after seeing this.

Best Thesis Ever!

Listen, I've got nothing...

I'll get back to you when it comes to me... it will be amazing...

... i'm planning taking a multimodal approach to a concept... i'd love to explore shakespeare but...we'll see...

In Class Persepolis vs Poetrty

With a current war going on in the middle east that the United States is actively fighting in we as Americans have to deal with many people that we know going over to Iraq and fighting for a cause. Whether or not we believe in this cause does no need to be justified. Yet we all are experiencing the same thing by having someone we care about go to war.

I personally was not involved in the war, until i began seeing a boy who was in the ROTC at Purdue when I attended. For the two years I was there we dated, though it was not a war I personally believed in and though I am not going to ever sign up to fight it he had, and it was something I had to learn to love. Though we are no longer together and he infuriates me, he is still going to have to go over and fight and I care about his safety regardless.

We are all associated to the war one way or another but how does this tie into the stories we've been reading and the poetry we've been discussing. Well in Persepolis we see a families struggle to fight in a battle that no one wants to be a part of they are fighting for a cause against the revolution. Marjane had a grandfather who was constantly imprisoned for his involvement and the mother and father protested. Marjane's father consistently put himself in danger photographing the horrific events in which occurred in her young life. Though her family knew it was dangerous and they shouldn't be fighting the cause they knew it was the right thing to do because no one should have to suffer.

Persepolis closely ties into the poetry we were reading, Yehuda Amarachi who wrote Memorial Day for the War Dead wrote "in all three languages hebrew, arabic, and death." This shows that there is a consistency around the world. Whether you were fighting a civil war, a world war or a war on terrorism. Death is the same no matter where you go, people will always die for their country and die for what the believe in. In a sense its an act of selflessness to put yourself directly in the line of danger for the common well being of others, whether people recognize this or not. It seems as if people take for granted the beauty of having the choice to fight in a war. But all people are effected by the things that are going on. And all people lose people they love.

We not only battle in actual wars but at times we as people are at war with ourselves. We fight against addiction, we fight against "the man", we fight against cancer. But most of all we consistently fight for our lives, and for some its easy, or a game. But for others life is precious, and its valuable and sacred. We take for granted all that is given to us each day, not intentionally but we are at war with ourselves most days, just to get by.

Poems

I'm happy to switch things up and have some poetry to respond on. I think that the poetry allows you to think differently about the story..

Blankets...

First, taking a look at page 11 this is the first place where you see the mention of blankets. You see the illustration of the little brother Phil tugging on his older brother saying "Hey, you're HOGGING all the blankets." In childish fun the boys play around in bed and Phil pushing Craig off the bed and they are too loud and their dad comes up to punish them for the noisiness. The blanket here is a sign of innocence for the two boys and it protects them from the shelter of their father. 

Second, skipping ahead you see the next reference of blankets on page 69 you see the boys once again laying in bed this time the blanket isn't wanted by Craig. He proclaims "'GET THAT BLANKET AWAY FROM ME." In this panel the boys are struggling to sleep in the hot summer heat. In the next panel you see Phil take the blanket and throw it off the bed once again on the floor. This symbolizes the idea of entrapment that Craig can not escape what is intended for him and he is suffocating. There is another panel shortly after when the boys are freezing in the winter weather, on page 73. In this panel you see the boys freezing cold in bed because the heat won't work in the house. Craig exclaims "Our top blanket is frozen to the wall." Phil responds "DON'T BREAK IT!" This scene allows you to see the children as vulnerable, that something is so precious to them as a blanket. The blanket symbolizes a bond, a protection, a security for the boys. It  is cherished and it is a love they both share.

As the boys grow up and lose their childhood innocence you see a third reference to a blanket. On pages 183 and 184, Craig receives a different kind of blanket. Raina is his first love, and she made him a quilt, this is a patchwork piece of all that reminds her of him. For Craig this not only symbolizes a new chapter in his life one with real love but also it brings back the feelings he had with the blanket shared with Phil. The blanket from Raina represented a warmth, compassion, love and security. 

This story of the blankets Craig had is similar to the story of Oranges Aren't the Only Fruit. This is also a struggle for the little girl Jeanette to find herself, they both struggled with different issues but both just want to be loved. There is also a struggle with their inner demons to find themselves through their passions. Their religion is important and they both love God but the only difference is Jeanette sinned in the eyes of religion but still wants a relationship with God whereas Craig, has a relationship with God and is struggling with the misfortunes he was dealt. The stories have similar struggles but both just want to be loved.

How and Why...

. . . . . .
As you enter the story you come across an italics passage right before Autumn. For me, I look at this passage as setting a scene for what is to come in the story and in the fall. There are a lot of hidden passages.. When you take a look closer you see.... "It we planted the seeds, and said the right words over them, they would blossom, and everything would be right." When i read this passage I think of it not in the sense of marigolds as the author begins talking about the growth in the fall but also in the sense of the struggle the family is going through. This quote allows you to look at the idea of having a child and influencing it in life to grow up. This passage allows you to closer look at the family struggle of acceptance, at the end of the passage you hear of crops not growing and the loss of a child. This leads you into the story and sets a ton for the inner fight the characters will have to over come. But as the italics passage is summed up you see the words how and why not in italics this allows you to see where the story is taking its path...

In Class

Thesis!

As Emerson speaks on individuality and integrity you have to wonder, has Americans become too consumed with their own egos to realized we've lost our originality, that everyone wants to be someone else?

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P.S. It's early.

Assignment for Today!

Lately what I feel we've been talking about in class and throughout all our reading is the ideas of stereotypes in America and the feeling of not wanting to be who you are for something you cant help. In American Born Chinese you have three stories, two of which there is a monkey and a boy both who don't like who they are. The monkey doesn't want to be a monkey anymore so he wears shoes, and the boy doesn't want to be Chinese anymore so he becomes an all American boy, but they're all brought together in some sort of twisted fate that links the boy and the monkey together through a stereotype of Chinese people. The boy sees the horrible things people interpret when they think of the stereotypes of the Chinese and the boy realizes that it isn't so bad anymore to be Chinese and that it can hurt people when you disown them for their race.
This all ties closely into other readings we've encountered, the poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson allows you to see that not wanting to be yourself and is inevitable going to destroy you that there is no point in being something you are not because it won't make you happy in the end. Why don't people want to be who they are... because someone has hurt their feelings made fun of their skin color, their weight or their looks. In general no one likes to be made fun of and many stereotypes and plain ignorance ties all of these together. In the dove commercial we see a betrayal of the fashion industry to distort the image of a woman to make her
"more" beautiful, and people look at her with envy that she is a beautiful woman but in real life she isn't a woman at all shes created. This all leads back to the concepts that bell hooks brought forth about the media effect the youth of America, that young people today are controlled by the idea of pop culture. That the media and the industry executives are manipulating the system and filling minds with racism and stereotypes. What kind of world are we living in, that an industry wants us to fall into the stereotypes because it makes more money. But in the end the only ones getting hurt are all of the young people absorbing this nonsense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTzY-o-Y4y8

To be great is to be misunderstood.

"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse..." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is a close comparison of the the story of the monkey king and the little boy Jin, in the book "American Born Chinese" by Gene Luen Yang. The story of the monkey not wanting to be monkey but be a god and the little boy who is out casted by being a chinese boy. This quote allows you to take a look inside the beauty of being who you are and not being something else because when you lose the true you, a part of you is lost in the crowd. You can't be ashamed of what is attended for you because you will never lose what is truly intended for you, it just may take some time to realize the beauty of being yourself.

American Born Chinese...

When asked to read this text I yet again was discouraged because I figured I couldn't really get into the Scott McCloud book - Understanding Comics. But this story was captivating for my mind. When I first began to read the story I started with the story of the monkey king, I was so interested i skipped over to the next Monkey King chapter and read that. Then I went back and read the story of the little boy moving to a new school and how hard it was for him to adapt. It was a sad story because of course the "american" children were mean to him because he looked different. So as I skipped ahead and read all of the little boys stories I realized just who the next chapter was. So I read the final of the three chapters and read the whole book in less than an hour. I feel as if this story is one that can capture the mind and hold on to it because in a sense it was an old chinese proverb, and there was more than meaning behind it...

My favorite set of panels in the story were those of the little boy, Jin I feel like for me he was the whole essence of the story, his journey was realizing that someone is always looking out for you and you should cherish your true friendships and not abandon them but grow from them. The little boy also was selfish and wanted to forget who he was he didn't want to be chinese american but just american, this was his journey of the soul searching and recognition of all that is true to knowing who you are as as person... When Jin was young and his mother would take him to the chinese herbalist and he would sit in his chair and play with his transformer toy he was in a sense foreshadowing to what he later wanted to become. Yet when you read these panels you see the herbalist wife she in a sense puts the idea of trading your soul for your inner most desires. This doesn't appeal to the little boy just yet. I think this story also allows "American" children to take a different perspective of what it is like to grow up "different" children lose their innocence occasionally and the story with Jin proves just that, and a good friend will always have your back.

This book really was a graphic novel, in a sense you could picture yourself in the story with the monkey king, feeling the frustration of being left out for something you cant help. When he was excluded from the dinner party for "not wearing shoes" when really it was just the fact he was a monkey you could feel the frustration when he attacked the bouncer, the animation in his face allowed to you take a look inside his inner emotions and relate to the frustrations we've all felt when being made fun of. The colors in this story we attention grabbing and allowed you to stay attentive and keep you interested in the story. In a way it played with your mind as if the color was a feeling. There were also changes of night and day in the story and you could see the change. In the end it was the color for me that I think kept me wanting more. I wanted to know what happened to everyone and it was an interesting twist, all i can say is by the end of the story i was left wanting more and more. 

Making a dollar...

When I began to watch the video last night there was another video by bell hooks that caught my eye. This was piece she did about patriarchy and madonna.  In this interview bell talked about how madonna uses her body and her sexuality to make money, and that despite her sexual exploitation of herself not following her moral beliefs she did it anyway to get ahead in the business. When looking closely into the movie business and the music industry you see people saying certain things, acting certain ways as a portrayal of all the things pop culture asks of them despite it going against their own personal views, just to make a dollar. There is a lot of pressure no a days on pop culture to create the newest most effective product for consumer. Yet many times african americans are falling into stereotypes and women are exploiting themselves sexual just to get ahead in the game. What has the industry become, but are we all just as guilty for listening and watching along? By seeing the music and entertainment industry act in such outlandish ways we are in a sense doing the exact same behavior and it is diminishing our moral values and instilling non traditional views in young minds.

American Gothic

My American Gothic...

When looking into the meaning of American Gothic through Bang's Insights we see many bold statements that you would never interpret by just looking at the a picture in one glance. These insights give a better understanding of what this picture really means...

• The upper half of the picture is a place of freedom, happiness and triumph. Yet when looking at this picture there is the top of a home the roof has distinct diagonal lines this implies the idea of tension. and the peek points toward the sky. The upper half represents a more spirtitual aspect of a picture and this seems as if there is anger in the air.
• The background of this picture is represented by a pale blue sky, lighted backgrounds allow the viewer to feel safer.
• The Viewer tends to feel more scared looking at pointed shapes or object so by the center of the picture holding a pitch fork it gives off a sense of fear, that he is claiming his place in the picture and he will not back down.
• This picture has pale colors it feels as if there is a sense of saddness in the air, that the inner turmoil of these people is all around them, yet the lighter sky perhaps mean there are better days to come.
• The man is the center of this picture his eyes are cast at you giving a sense of a strong leader where as the woman is looking at him for guidence as if she will follow him as he leads her.
• The people in this picture seem very stiff yet their bodies are completely verticle this gives the eye a more exciting appeal. This also means that the picture is rebeling the earths gravity and are reaching for the heavens.
• Perhaps this picture is misinterpretated.. Maybe theres a more spiritual interpretation
  

What is a "real" book?

I personally have never really enjoyed comics, I always thought comics at a young age were uninteresting and something boys did. I was by no means reading any other sort of book. Yet when evaluating the comic book I ignored it all together...

What makes a real book? A book is anything you want it to be, bound together or tattered and torn part, our generation was use to books just being biographies, non-fiction and fiction. Yet times are changing. When the movie Sin City was released it brought to live a whole new form of filming, people were ecstatic about this new imaging and creative brought to film. Yet it was inspired by a graphic novel. Many other books as well in the genre of graphic novel are being brought to life through film. This is broadening our generation and allowing us to use our creative minds to better interpret stories.

Graphic novels are the new up and coming way of reading and learning… Or so I hear. So whether or not you are use to comics, or necessarily think of a graphic novel as a comic, this is a better way of using the multi-s to interpret the way you see, hear and experience literature. Despite the fact that Shakespeare may be rolling in his grave because literature has lost its beauty and passion. Times are changing and this is what is captivating the minds of our generation.

Multi This and Multi That...

When reading this article I found that the way the author describes multimodality, multisemiotics and multiliteracies in a practical way. He was able to take what the truths behind our everyday thinking process was and apply it to learning and experiencing things in life. No matter what it is that we are looking at for instance the basic reading of this article you are using all three of these techniques to better interpret and understand the point behind it. The beauty of the mind is it has the ability to break down and reconstruct ideas and thoughts and even our feelings on certain situations.

I find that I enjoy the evaluation of miltimodality, multisemiotics and multiliteracies because I one day want to become a teacher and I personally am a hands on reader and this theory is everything that is essential to teaching young minds. It is hard for teachers to get students to grasp what a topic is and have it really stick with them. Yet this theory allows the student to think "outside the box." Everyone thinks differently and feels differently about everything. 'i may run over a cat with my car, and I would cry. But perhaps someone who is a big jerk, and may be allergic to cats, is happy that there is one less cat for them to sneeze at.

No matter what the situation the beauty of it all is that the interpretation of any situation is based on the person that is experiencing it. Yet the multi-s is a good way to characterize the importance of the thinking process, that we all use in our every day experiences.

September 8, 2008 In Class Writing Assignment..

What Is An America?
It's hard to put into words just what an American is. When I think to myself, I am an American, I think of the safety and security of my future and independence, I see myself working hard next to all of my fellow Americans. Striving to become something great to better not only my future but the future of others. It's being proud and honorable. What is an American? More like what isn't an American. We are fortunate enough to live in a place where we have the right to chose our own path and speak our minds and think for ourselves. An American is a honor, a duty and most of all a privilege.

When analyzing the articles of Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman you see to different tales about the meaning of what it’s like to be an American. In a sense when reading Walt Whitman you see the pride in diversity and the ability to do what you love and be proud of what you're accomplishing. That everyone has their own story to tell and it's up to you to want to listen to the "song" people are singing.

Yet when reading the Langston Hughes poem you see a sadder side of being an American. You see the struggle of not fitting in to the "normal" standard of being an "American." The meaning of this poem is right in the title. The word too, mean also implies that the author is also an American no matter what the color of your skin. Though many people forget the beauty that we are all created different, the poems share a sense of pride in diversity. Though, Walt Whitman expresses the difference in the working world and between men and women. Langston Hughes brings forth the diversity in every one of us.

The beauty of being an American is that we don’t have to be like each other, that we have the power to think for ourselves and become the best person that we strive to me. Being an American is whatever you want it to be. I want to be.

Theory Analysis

The two theories I chose to discuss were socialist and feminist. First, by analyzing the theory of socialist you see the critical analysis of the struggle of people through social interactions. There is a constant struggle for social equality and throughout history we've seen the battle for social justice. By expressing interest in the socialist theory you can see the evaluation of how social change is a constant battle for society whether it is now or the nineteenth century. The socialist approach to theory is an important part of our everyday life. The socialist approach also ties into the next theory, of feminism. The feminism theory approaches how women have been an important factor in developing social change in the twentieth century. Women were looked down upon for many years and now as the times are changing and women are developing a status in the years leading to this point. Women are becoming a more dominant influence in society. The socialist and feminist theories are a beneficial way to analyze the personal problems people struggle with daily.