Friday, April 26, 2013

We Real Cool

"We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks is one of the poems we read in class this semester. This poem appears to target teenagers who are making wrong choices in life. As it been seen and statistically proven that teens in the new millennium drop out school and experiment with drugs. They are influenced by peers and thinks this is apparently "real cool". Even though this poem is short, it relate a message that is easily to interpret.In class, Professor Sweeney showed the youtube link to this poem where Brooks recites it. Her tone and rhythm to this piece of work was unique. I overall enjoyed reading the poem and the watching the short performance of it.

Poetry is Floetry?

Poetry is always something I enjoyed reading. Poetry has distinctive style and rhythm, it can express a spectrum of emotions which the reader can relate to. Its has it defined beauty that is capturing to ones ears. Def Jams Poetry, a television show produced by Russell Simmons, was of great interest to me,  poets would recite their piece of writing. Some poems consisted of love, violence, and political issues but all appeared to be very stimulating to the mind. Seeing the poet gestures, and hearing the poet tone of voice always emphasized the importance of the message they were conveying.

Harlem

Harlem is a very short poem written by Langston Hughes during his life time of 1902-1967. After reading this poem I realized that there wasn't any connection to Harlem. I was under the asumption that the poem would refer to the music and cultural aspectS of Harlem however, It revealed the total opposite. The poem refers to dreams being deferred. In conclusion, what I interpet from this poem is that if you dont put any actions into the things you dream of or desire in life your dream will not come.


" What happens to a dream deferred?


Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode? "

By Langston Hughes




Wednesday, April 24, 2013

How To Become A Writer

This semester in my English class How To Become A Writer was one of many pieces we read. The main character of the story is a writer who struggles with writing. I myself can relate to the character of this story. I  also find myself struggling to get words and my thought onto paper. I've been exposed to articles that explains how to become a better writer however, when I try to apply the techniques I always seem to fail. I notice that my ideas tend to flow better when I'm under pressure and meeting a deadline. My writing has improved since I've been in college however, I still have a long way before I actually can say I feel confident enough in my writing.

The Yellow Wallpaper

In the short story the Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, a woman is suffering from what seems to be Postpartum psychosis.Her controlling husband locks her into the bedroom where she begins to see images within the wallpaper. The narrator does an extremely good job at creating the disturbing images of the wallpaper.  I enjoyed reading this story but it was almost painful to read because I felt like at one point in my life I almost fell into postpartum depression.


Sunday, April 21, 2013

A Glimpse at Ancient Egypt


I've always been interested in the Ancient Egyptian culture. My visit to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts I observed many pieces of art from this period. I wanted to learn a little more about the scribes,writing and the God Osiris.The scribes of Ancient Egypt were the men who were educated in various scripts and were responsible for most of the written communication in Egypt. The scribes used brushes and a palette of pigment to write. Thoth was the god of wisdom and learning. He was also scribe of the gods, and recorded the judgments of the hearts of men in the underworld.

In The Resurrection of Osiris, 975-950 B.C., Egyptian Dynasty 22 we first notice him laying back on sand mummified with a black erect phallus. Then there’s what seems to be the observance of Osiris by the god Anubis and the hidden god Ra, within the eye and scarab beetles. There seems to be a process taking place where the serpents and beetles advance and become a little larger until they reach what appears to be Isis, Osiris’ sister-wife. She then gives him new life and Osiris is resurrected as the god of the dead, which sounds bad, but he was considered by the Egyptians to be the same god that gave new life.

A Good Man is Hard to Find

In the short story A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Conner there's a criminal on the lose by the name of  "The Misfit". The Grandmother reads of the article in the paper and tries to persuade her son(Bailey) to re-consider the family from taking this weekend getaway however,that doesn't happen and they head off on the road-trip. While her son is driving the Grandmother talks continuously, becoming very annoying.She then informs her grand-kids of a house with secret passages she visited as a child. The kids becomes curious and wants to visit the house. When her directions lead them down a dirt road is when she realizes that the house she was referring to is in Tennessee not in Florida. While heading down the dirt road the car flips over ending up in a ditch.Shortly afterwards an on coming car is seen and the grandmother flags it down. Three men all armed, and one identified as the "Misfit" appears. The whole family is murdered by the Misfit and his two accomplices.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The Glass Menagerie



We are currently watching The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams in class this week however we are still responsible for reading the material as well. In my reading, I felt that the play was well written and easy to follow along with. This play tells of a family trapped in destructive patterns. After being abandoned by her husband, Amanda Wingfield, a woman of the great depression, has become trapped between worlds of illusion and reality. Amanda wanting what's best for her children seems incapable of providing it for them. Tom, tired of only watching adventure at the movies,working at the warehouse is determined to break away from his authoritarian mother. Laura may not be the glamorous doll her mothers wants, but she a sweet girl and when confronted with Jim, a visitor whom Laura had a high school crush on, there is the chance that she will finally claim her life as her own however, not before long Jim reveals that he is engage to be married and can no longer be Laura gentleman caller.This play demonstrates the importance of love and it represents a memory of not only family but also of loss.





Sunday, February 3, 2013

Hills Like Elephants

In the short story Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway there is a young girl named Jigs and an American Man. Among a few drinks they are having a discussion. A discussion I felt that didn't reveal to much. Jig is portrayed as a young girl in the story however, the American "Man" is not therefore signaling to the reader he may be much older than Jig. After discussing this short story in class it was later revealed that the Jig was to have an abortion.The story doesn't say weather the actually procedure took place or not. While they are sitting waiting for the train Jig looks into the sky and notices clouds that look like white elephants.I think the white elephants are a significant for a child to be born.The American man tries to persuades Jig that life can still be happy after an abortion which basically states that he does want the child however, he tries to have some compassion reassuring Jig if she doesn't want to then she doesn't have to.

I think Hemmingway captured the essense of the dilema in making a hard decision that would effect the remainder of your life. Although I did not appreciate this mans selfish attempt to explain a horrendus procedure as they "letting a little air in" the story was compelling lest the open end.

Monday, January 28, 2013

The Cask of Amontillado

        The Cask of Amontillado was a ravenous read. From the beginning you could feel the emotions of a man fed up with being someone’s jest all the time. For me the story reinforces the saying “watch what you say and do to people” because you never know how they will respond. The Lord of The Montressors lured his victim to his unforeseen death employing the use of Fortunatos’ addiction to alcohol and pride. It was quite a ruse to exact revenge. Although I think he took it too far I wonder what exactly Fortunato did to deserve such a devious punishment.  Being buried half alive, I can only imagine how the horror stricken drunkard felt when he realized that he wasn’t going to be able to sample the Cask of Amontillado and this was not some game, that he would only be swallowed by death in its place. Subtlety, the Lord of The Montressors gave him opportunities to save his own life, but counted on Fortunato greed and pride to keep himself onward to his final destination. The catacombs filled with bones was and eerie foreshadowing of the final event. And till the end, Fortunato continued to humor himself with the Scotsman performance and associations. It was a thrilling short story; I wasn’t aware how good a short story could be. I recommend this read for others to indulge themselves in a perfect murder plot of those times.