The assignment for this blog post was to read the three pieces of reading and construct their identities from what we read. Also, how we feel they perceive themselves to be. These are only what i think and what i feel their identity is like.
"It's Hard Enough Being Me" by Anna Lisa Raya
I found her to obviously be a latina collegian. I found her to be repressed and unidentifyable especially by people in the United States and elsewhere because sometimes she looked asian and sometimes she looked white with her green eyes and pale skin. I think she was unidentifyable to both the world and herself. She seemed to doubt herself, like if she felt she was mexican she would doubt that and think she was Puerto Rican because she went to visit her grandmother. She seemed to allow things to get to her liek name calling and what people would think of her because she couldnt speak spanish. She was very defensive of herself because she thought she had to be, although she didnt physically fight or say things back, she felt the need to defend herself because she didnt know what she was and what to defend about herself. From my point of view she is Mexican American and i think it was hard for her to identify with this. She didnt know whether she was a minority or majority because she grew up thinking she was a majority and now being a college student she realized that she is a minority. Although she started off being timid i think toward the end she was satisfied with being who she was and content with being "latina".
"Two Kinds" by Amy Tan
Let me first start by saying i enjoyed Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club and i think she is a very talented writer. I was also familiar with this story as well.
First off she is an Asian American and came to the US with her mother but to me seemed to be more "americanized" than her parents. She was very respectful of her mother because that's what she had inhibited from living in China. She seemed very ambitious but not goal driven ambition, she seemed to want the time to come to make her mother angry and not do what she says. She wanted to impress her mother and allowed her mother to use her as sort of an experiment that she could test on. Her mother wanted her to be a pianist, Shirley Temple, and even remember things quickly and in depth. Her mother pushed her to be a genius(something she was not) and she felt like she could not please her mother. I think this was true, her mother had very high hopes for her and she did not seem to impress her mother one bit. She was very easily adapted to the things her mother would do, sort of a chameleon. She did what she was told and nothing more and nothing less. They also seemed to be poor because it seemed as though they couldnt afford alot(hints: second hand piano). I found her to be a disappointment and lazy because like with the pianist she manuevered around his ailments so she didnt have to work hard. If she messed up a key, she didn't even try to fix it. She looks at herself as ugly and sad, but i found her to be strong after her "prodigy" in the mirror. She had longed to be loved by her mom and to make her mom proud but after realizing she couldnt, she began to be herself and make herself happy and became a stronger person.
"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
In the beginning the author seemed to state some of the obvious identity traits. She was obviously overweight or atleast "chubby". Also with the slang and the way she spoke, she is African American as well. I think she is a bit masculine because she killed the bull calf and things like this just dont seem to be too feminine. From this same scenario, i found her to be very country because a city person would not have to kill anything themselves to eat. She is very independent and doesnt depend on a man to do things for her in her household. Also, the very obvious she is a mother, the mother of Dee and Maggie. I think she is middle aged and doesnt seem too appealing to her daughters because they dont really introduce her to their friends or anybody else. She seemed very passive and allowed them to do pretty much whatever they wanted (like Dee changing her name or getting married). Her personality seemed to be very observant and soft, she didnt say much except when spoken to, she did not bicker or fight with them. She did not seem very confident nor did it seem that she felt pretty.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
David Sedaris:Identity Construction..
The assignment was to read Go Carolina and The Learning Curve by David Sedaris and construct his identity from what we read.
Although this seemed to be an easy assignment, I found that it was not. It is hard to read something that somebody wrote and find key identity traits. Most people like me need to know the person or at least have one face to face interaction to tell what a person's identity is or may be. I will make an attempt to do this and this is only what I infer from reading this.
First off, in reading "Go Carolina", this is where I made most of my notes on his identity. I think it was easier to find what his identity was like while he was a child and interacted more amongst others. From this story I found that he is obviously a child with a very distinguished lisp. I also find him being intelligent at a young age because even though he had a lisp, he also used quite intelligent words and words that "normal" children probably wouldn't use because they don't know the words yet. I also found him to be kind of troubled because of his lisp, he was very insecure and sensitive about his speech impediment and about his "speech therapy". He was also sensitive to what people in class or other kids would think or say. He seemed to me like a chameleon; he wanted to blend in and be like everybody else. He wanted to be very conspicuous and did not want to be made fun of and did not want people to know of his impending speech therapies at 2:30. He seemed very confidential about a lot of things like his baking, or fantasies, and about his speech sessions. In other words, he was the "odd ball", he seemed to stand out greatly in class and even in North Carolina because he wasn't a sports fanatic like the others. He just seemed to tell people what they wanted to hear, like a pushover. Mr. Sedaris also did not seem so "well off", I mean not poor just not so well off especially when explaining how his Christmas would go.
In "The Learning Curve", I found him to be very feminine. While he was a homosexual, he was the feminine one's with the girl voice and feminine qualities. He is very timid and seems to avoid the arising confrontations with students and anybody else who came along. I think he really died for acceptance among everybody;young or old. He was very analytical, he analyzing everything and everybody. He did not take chances or go beyond what was expected. The characteristics he lacked as a teacher he covered up. The things he lacked as a man he also covered up. He stayed the same from child to adult.
In conclusion, his identity from my point of view is:
>white, caucasian male
>insecure, sensitive and troubled
>homosexual and feminine
>need for validation
>dry humored
>intelligent, confidential
>odd
>maybe a geek
Although this seemed to be an easy assignment, I found that it was not. It is hard to read something that somebody wrote and find key identity traits. Most people like me need to know the person or at least have one face to face interaction to tell what a person's identity is or may be. I will make an attempt to do this and this is only what I infer from reading this.
First off, in reading "Go Carolina", this is where I made most of my notes on his identity. I think it was easier to find what his identity was like while he was a child and interacted more amongst others. From this story I found that he is obviously a child with a very distinguished lisp. I also find him being intelligent at a young age because even though he had a lisp, he also used quite intelligent words and words that "normal" children probably wouldn't use because they don't know the words yet. I also found him to be kind of troubled because of his lisp, he was very insecure and sensitive about his speech impediment and about his "speech therapy". He was also sensitive to what people in class or other kids would think or say. He seemed to me like a chameleon; he wanted to blend in and be like everybody else. He wanted to be very conspicuous and did not want to be made fun of and did not want people to know of his impending speech therapies at 2:30. He seemed very confidential about a lot of things like his baking, or fantasies, and about his speech sessions. In other words, he was the "odd ball", he seemed to stand out greatly in class and even in North Carolina because he wasn't a sports fanatic like the others. He just seemed to tell people what they wanted to hear, like a pushover. Mr. Sedaris also did not seem so "well off", I mean not poor just not so well off especially when explaining how his Christmas would go.
In "The Learning Curve", I found him to be very feminine. While he was a homosexual, he was the feminine one's with the girl voice and feminine qualities. He is very timid and seems to avoid the arising confrontations with students and anybody else who came along. I think he really died for acceptance among everybody;young or old. He was very analytical, he analyzing everything and everybody. He did not take chances or go beyond what was expected. The characteristics he lacked as a teacher he covered up. The things he lacked as a man he also covered up. He stayed the same from child to adult.
In conclusion, his identity from my point of view is:
>white, caucasian male
>insecure, sensitive and troubled
>homosexual and feminine
>need for validation
>dry humored
>intelligent, confidential
>odd
>maybe a geek
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Reader Response: Modern Love Pieces:: He Forgot to Call? Oh, No Big Deal by Sari Botton and Someone to Watch Over Me(on google map) by Theodora Stites
He Forgot to Call? Oh, No Big Deal
I actually enjoy reading these modern love pieces because i find them a bit more up to date and interesting. This woman had kind of a shakey experience with men and i feel like it started at a young age seeing her mother and father's marriage. She explained that her father was careless and didnt show her mother much attention, but after her mom started to act the same way, her father seemed to want the mother and begged and pleaded for her not to leave. After seeing a better reaction to neglecting men and showing them no attention, she began to use this method. She had bad relationships after bad relationships and after her father sees this he gives her kind of a "Rule Book". The book has many different rules like not calling men, men pay the bill, dont call back, be the first to hang up which all seem a little petty and immature to me. She starts to see therapist who indeed like any other sane person is trying to alter the way she views the do's and dont's of relationships and i think hearing from him that he does not like a women who plays hard to get and does the things that she thinks is right, she tries a different approach with men. A new but yet better and probably better resulting approach. After dropping the rules from the rule book, she takes risks and actually meets a guy offline and approaches him in person, things that she would not normally do, her love life and relationship with this man looks up. She gets married and has been for a couple years.
After reading this, it reminds me of the movie "Two Can Play that Game" with Vivica A. Fox and Morris Chestnut and after breaking, she tries to win him back with rules and after it is all said and done he does not come back. She then realizes she cant control her man with rules and after dropping them, they get back together. I think this is true, i really dont think mean like an easy women but i dont think they want a mini Mike Tyson woman either who goes overboard to make a statement. I found her rules to be petty like i said and immature.
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Someone to Watch Over Me (on Google Map)
In this story, the lady prefers virtual intimacy. She connects with people socially in online communties and thinks this is an easier approach to dating and finding friends. Most people do think that virtual relationships are easier because one you can pretend to be whatever and whoever you want and you dont have to deal with the bad things that come along with relationships like cheating, neglect because of appearance change, that person never knows because the relationship is maintained through a cyberspace. As she explains relationships aren't any easier online because some people liek herself tend to act the same although given a different identity because they are so used to being who they are.
This has become very popular in modern s0ciety with myspace, facebook, blogger, xanga and other networking websites, people find it easier to connect with others and stay connected with old friends while finding new ones. She said that she had profiles on almost every single networking website and i find this amazing because i have a myspace and i can barely keep up with that, i find it hard to give a lot of time to websites that aren't a necessity especially being a college student. I do not have a facebook because i find it harder to connect with and harder to make and that is why she aw'd we when explained all the online profiles she has with pratically all the networking and dating sites. When I am 24, i would not want to be solely involved just online and in cyberspace, i would not want to find a strange person off the internet. I find this wierd but other people find comfort in this because they donot have to reveal their true selves, or their true appearances.
I actually enjoy reading these modern love pieces because i find them a bit more up to date and interesting. This woman had kind of a shakey experience with men and i feel like it started at a young age seeing her mother and father's marriage. She explained that her father was careless and didnt show her mother much attention, but after her mom started to act the same way, her father seemed to want the mother and begged and pleaded for her not to leave. After seeing a better reaction to neglecting men and showing them no attention, she began to use this method. She had bad relationships after bad relationships and after her father sees this he gives her kind of a "Rule Book". The book has many different rules like not calling men, men pay the bill, dont call back, be the first to hang up which all seem a little petty and immature to me. She starts to see therapist who indeed like any other sane person is trying to alter the way she views the do's and dont's of relationships and i think hearing from him that he does not like a women who plays hard to get and does the things that she thinks is right, she tries a different approach with men. A new but yet better and probably better resulting approach. After dropping the rules from the rule book, she takes risks and actually meets a guy offline and approaches him in person, things that she would not normally do, her love life and relationship with this man looks up. She gets married and has been for a couple years.
After reading this, it reminds me of the movie "Two Can Play that Game" with Vivica A. Fox and Morris Chestnut and after breaking, she tries to win him back with rules and after it is all said and done he does not come back. She then realizes she cant control her man with rules and after dropping them, they get back together. I think this is true, i really dont think mean like an easy women but i dont think they want a mini Mike Tyson woman either who goes overboard to make a statement. I found her rules to be petty like i said and immature.
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Someone to Watch Over Me (on Google Map)
In this story, the lady prefers virtual intimacy. She connects with people socially in online communties and thinks this is an easier approach to dating and finding friends. Most people do think that virtual relationships are easier because one you can pretend to be whatever and whoever you want and you dont have to deal with the bad things that come along with relationships like cheating, neglect because of appearance change, that person never knows because the relationship is maintained through a cyberspace. As she explains relationships aren't any easier online because some people liek herself tend to act the same although given a different identity because they are so used to being who they are.
This has become very popular in modern s0ciety with myspace, facebook, blogger, xanga and other networking websites, people find it easier to connect with others and stay connected with old friends while finding new ones. She said that she had profiles on almost every single networking website and i find this amazing because i have a myspace and i can barely keep up with that, i find it hard to give a lot of time to websites that aren't a necessity especially being a college student. I do not have a facebook because i find it harder to connect with and harder to make and that is why she aw'd we when explained all the online profiles she has with pratically all the networking and dating sites. When I am 24, i would not want to be solely involved just online and in cyberspace, i would not want to find a strange person off the internet. I find this wierd but other people find comfort in this because they donot have to reveal their true selves, or their true appearances.
Reader's Response: Love In Place by Nikki Giovanni, Sonnet 29 and Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare
Since Nikki Giovanni is still alive and while, i am only inferring and reiterating what i think the meaning of this piece is. These statements are factual and based solely upon my own interpretations of the work.
I was assigned this piece for a prior assignment and i have to say that i found Nikki Giovanni's biographies and works very interesting. In this writing, she describes a sort of "Love in place" as in a stay still position not going anywhere and not changing. She says "i know i must have fallen in love once beause i quit biting my cuticles and my hair is gray". In a way i think she is signifying that she has maybe changed her appearance as if to stay in love by not biting her cuticles and nails. She is keeping her appearance the same and allowing natural changes like gray hair to show, showing a deeper appreciation of love. She also says she appreciates love songs more then before and probably because being in love you find the meaning and feeling that connects most with you behind the words of the singer. While she is looking at old photographs, she is younger, happier and slimmer but even though time has changed and altered her appearance, she is still committed to the love they have. She acknowledges and has kept the love she has in place, still and showing that she is not going anywhere kind of like an unconditional love.
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Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare
While reading this piece, i have the feeling of him giving a description or explaining how he is in his own eyes. I think he/she is desiring to be more like the men he sees. I do not feel that he/she thinks the best of themselves. I think they want to be wealthy or find the things that the friends possess. I am only making and attempt to infer the thoughts of this piece because i only understand it a little bit. Shakespeare's work is very in depth and deep rooted and it is hard for me to grasp the concept of Sonnet 29. He does not seem too content with himself and kind of wants to change his state in life, like he says "with kings".
Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare
In this piece he seems to be explaining what true love is. In line 3 he says" which alters when it alteration finds". Kind of like if change is happening to a loved one, the other person he/she is in love with will still stay in love with the person no matter how many alterations occur. Love will basically not change even if the appearance of the other half is changed or the attitude of the other is changed. Love will stay the same if and only if it is true love. He says love is an ever-fixed mark and like Nikki Giovanni, he is saying love stays the same in one place and with one heart. Love does not move or leave if it is true love, it stays the same and in the place it came to. If love has come to you, it will stay with you and love will make no changes or movements. It will not shift or mold, it stays the same in a fixed(meaning still) place. He says "Love's not times fool", meaning that love is not going to change with time. It does not alter with hours and weeks, it stays the same over time and over aging love will still be the same and not change itself. He says that love "bears it out even to the end of doom(judgement day). This saying reminds me of "till death do us part", love will stick with you until the end of time, death, growing, etc.
I love how at the end Shakespeare challenges everyone by saying"If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved". He is saying if anything i have said is wrong, then i nor no other man has ever been in love. I think that many people still do want somebody to love them through the aging, bad and good times but in modern times it seems harder and harder to find and this is disturbing for me.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Readers Response: MODERN LOVE; Take me as I am, Whoever I am by Terri Cheney and Maturity Was Just Too Messy for Me by Peter Levine
In the MODERN LOVE reading, this story seems to be about a bipolar woman is trying to find love or wants to be in love but can not find the person she really is and therefore can not be truly happy in love because she feels that you should be able to tell the person who you are and what you are about and she just does not know who she is as a person. She was being put into crazy situations that she felt like she could not subdue or fix because she was two people. She had up and down times and she felt that this was the reason she could not find love. I liked this story because it seems to show how knowing yourself can help somebody get to know you much more easily. It also makes you feel better about yourself and makes you want to feel vulnerable and let somebody else love you. No matter what kind of person you are thought to be( bipolar, crazy, wierd, mentally ill), that you do have feelings to and are entitled to feeling loved by somebody.
In Maturity Was Just Too Messy for Me, this young man comes on to an older lady and they ultimately begin dating. It is usually many young mens fantasies to date an older woman, so I understood why he was so excited about dating this older woman. She is a little stand-off ish at first and declines anything more than just being friends and as young men do, he insisted upon it. He found that although she was older, she had extra baggage that he did not want to carry. She had kids, an ex husband and would attempt to drink her pain away. When she got so drunk that she could not even walk, he called a quits to that relationship which was probably the best decision he could have made. This shows that age is nothing but a number, but the level of maturity can usually become an issue if two people are not at the same level. This woman had a law degree and still got so drunk to the point where she could not stand and let alone walk down a stone walkway. Men may want to fullfill certain fantasies, but i think all men want a young lady to be seen in public and not a drunk or belligerent female. It was good that they are still friends and she can offer him insight and give him advice and he can give her advice on her kids. The friendship will probably go further than trying to be in a relationship with someone so much older but far less mature.
In Maturity Was Just Too Messy for Me, this young man comes on to an older lady and they ultimately begin dating. It is usually many young mens fantasies to date an older woman, so I understood why he was so excited about dating this older woman. She is a little stand-off ish at first and declines anything more than just being friends and as young men do, he insisted upon it. He found that although she was older, she had extra baggage that he did not want to carry. She had kids, an ex husband and would attempt to drink her pain away. When she got so drunk that she could not even walk, he called a quits to that relationship which was probably the best decision he could have made. This shows that age is nothing but a number, but the level of maturity can usually become an issue if two people are not at the same level. This woman had a law degree and still got so drunk to the point where she could not stand and let alone walk down a stone walkway. Men may want to fullfill certain fantasies, but i think all men want a young lady to be seen in public and not a drunk or belligerent female. It was good that they are still friends and she can offer him insight and give him advice and he can give her advice on her kids. The friendship will probably go further than trying to be in a relationship with someone so much older but far less mature.
Reader's Response: "Cat in the Rain" by Ernest Hemingway(textbook pg687); "A Rose for Emily" by Faulkner(textbook pg 700)
In this blog, we are to analyze and summarize our readings from our textbook Literature for Compostition.
In Ernest Hemingway's "Cat in the Rain", I found myself bored and confused. The story seems to be about an American girl and her husband stopping at a hotel on a rainy night. While the American girl is looking out her window she spots a kitty and she wants to go down and get it. The husband seemingly does not budge to save the kitty and upon her going down to get it, she is stopped by the maid who seems baffled why she would be going down to get a cat from the rain. These people( maid and hotel-keeper) seem to be treating this lady as if she is royalty and this shows me that she seems to have money and it seems to be a nice hotel and not just some rundown place. After finding that the cat is gone, she returns to her room but she seems very spoiled because she is complaining about the things she likes and dislikes. She wanted a cat really bad and at the end the maid brings the cat up to the American lady, but it ends so abruptly that I do not understand what her reaction was and what her husbands reaction was to the cat being bought up to her. I would have predicted a better ending than that! To me this story seems a little pointless and I can not seem to analyze this story to my best ability.
In Faulkner's, "A Rose for Emily", and this is only my inferences and my own interpretations, I feel that Emily was something like the joke of the town and many people did not understand her. They said she stunk, that she was crazy and many other characteristics that led me to believe she was not very liked among the community. She seems to be wierd and would stay in her home for some time. My mind keeps wanting to compare her to Emily Dickinson's story and how she kept to herself and did not really mingle amongst other people, that is the kind of vibe I am getting from this story but not just because they have the same name but because of their tendecies to do awkward and odd things. She did not want anyone in her home and when people did come she stood at the door and talked to them. It seems like while people had their thoughts about her, the community still seemed to care and love her as if she was normal but still was incapable of being sane as if she was crazy. I find their caring to be wierd because they seem to think she was crazy but felt bad for her when her father passed. They also seemed to feel bad that she was lonely with just a negro by her side. In the room, was a man who had been there for obviously a long time and yet from the indentation on the pillow and her gray her, she had been laying with him, sleeping there apparently. This shows that Emily was capable of loving somebody. I was also confused by this reading and it took me a couple reads to actually understand it all.
In Ernest Hemingway's "Cat in the Rain", I found myself bored and confused. The story seems to be about an American girl and her husband stopping at a hotel on a rainy night. While the American girl is looking out her window she spots a kitty and she wants to go down and get it. The husband seemingly does not budge to save the kitty and upon her going down to get it, she is stopped by the maid who seems baffled why she would be going down to get a cat from the rain. These people( maid and hotel-keeper) seem to be treating this lady as if she is royalty and this shows me that she seems to have money and it seems to be a nice hotel and not just some rundown place. After finding that the cat is gone, she returns to her room but she seems very spoiled because she is complaining about the things she likes and dislikes. She wanted a cat really bad and at the end the maid brings the cat up to the American lady, but it ends so abruptly that I do not understand what her reaction was and what her husbands reaction was to the cat being bought up to her. I would have predicted a better ending than that! To me this story seems a little pointless and I can not seem to analyze this story to my best ability.
In Faulkner's, "A Rose for Emily", and this is only my inferences and my own interpretations, I feel that Emily was something like the joke of the town and many people did not understand her. They said she stunk, that she was crazy and many other characteristics that led me to believe she was not very liked among the community. She seems to be wierd and would stay in her home for some time. My mind keeps wanting to compare her to Emily Dickinson's story and how she kept to herself and did not really mingle amongst other people, that is the kind of vibe I am getting from this story but not just because they have the same name but because of their tendecies to do awkward and odd things. She did not want anyone in her home and when people did come she stood at the door and talked to them. It seems like while people had their thoughts about her, the community still seemed to care and love her as if she was normal but still was incapable of being sane as if she was crazy. I find their caring to be wierd because they seem to think she was crazy but felt bad for her when her father passed. They also seemed to feel bad that she was lonely with just a negro by her side. In the room, was a man who had been there for obviously a long time and yet from the indentation on the pillow and her gray her, she had been laying with him, sleeping there apparently. This shows that Emily was capable of loving somebody. I was also confused by this reading and it took me a couple reads to actually understand it all.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Specialty Post #4...Rational for Nikki Giovanni Answers..
The rational for question 1 appeared on Wikipedia.org, Nikki was quoted in saying "she has never felt anything like the love for her son"(when he was born). That is what i based my answer off of because i think it shows the value of her family and not of a spouse. Question 2 i got the rational from our text book Literature for Composition(page 751). In her poem Love in Place, Nikki explains that she doesn't remember falling in love and so that is why i gave the answer of her not being able to recall because it's like how can you recall and event that never took place in your life. For question 3, it came from the biography on her website nikkigiovanni.com. She says "my focus is on individuality,specifically, on the power one has to make a difference in oneself", and I felt like she thinks marriage or being endulgent in love strips a person from their individuality and self-thought.
For question4, this came from the book also in her poem Love in Place. In lines 5-9, she says" I know i must have fallen in love once because i quit biting my cuitcles and my hair is gray and that must indicate something and i all of a sudden had a deeper appreciation for Billie Holiday and Billy Strayhorn so if it wasnt love i dont what it was". From that i inferred that she is basically saying when you switch up your daily routines, signs of stress(like gray hair), and appreciate love songs, you must be in love and making alterations to fit that love. Question 5, came directly from a quote in her peom"Nikki Rosa". I watched the video of her reading this poem and it is about the relationship between love and wealth, she is reflecting on how much love she was surrounded by as a child, despite her poverty. Despite her poverty, she was always happy because she was loved. I inferred that maybe if society put more love in the air instead of violence and death and filth, people would be much happier and not so dark.
Although, i do not have much rational for question 6, i basically made an assumption because of how she explains the unconditional love for her son, which is ultimately tied to the rational for question 1. For question 7, that came from a direct quote of hers about her overcoming her cancer. Question 9 cam from wikipedia.org, she says "marriage is an institution that is inhospitable to women and would never play a role in her life".
Works Cited:::
{1}Barnet, Sylvan, William Burto, and William E. Cain. Literature for Composition. 8th ed. Pearson and Longman, 2007. 751-752.
{2}"Nikki Giovanni Biography." Nikki Giovanni.Com. 2003. 25 Feb. 2008.
{3}"Nikki Giovanni." Wikipedia. 25 Feb. 2008.
{4}Nikki Rosa. Perf. Nikki Giovanni. 2003. Nikki Giovanni. 26 Feb. 2008.
For question4, this came from the book also in her poem Love in Place. In lines 5-9, she says" I know i must have fallen in love once because i quit biting my cuitcles and my hair is gray and that must indicate something and i all of a sudden had a deeper appreciation for Billie Holiday and Billy Strayhorn so if it wasnt love i dont what it was". From that i inferred that she is basically saying when you switch up your daily routines, signs of stress(like gray hair), and appreciate love songs, you must be in love and making alterations to fit that love. Question 5, came directly from a quote in her peom"Nikki Rosa". I watched the video of her reading this poem and it is about the relationship between love and wealth, she is reflecting on how much love she was surrounded by as a child, despite her poverty. Despite her poverty, she was always happy because she was loved. I inferred that maybe if society put more love in the air instead of violence and death and filth, people would be much happier and not so dark.
Although, i do not have much rational for question 6, i basically made an assumption because of how she explains the unconditional love for her son, which is ultimately tied to the rational for question 1. For question 7, that came from a direct quote of hers about her overcoming her cancer. Question 9 cam from wikipedia.org, she says "marriage is an institution that is inhospitable to women and would never play a role in her life".
Works Cited:::
{1}Barnet, Sylvan, William Burto, and William E. Cain. Literature for Composition. 8th ed. Pearson and Longman, 2007. 751-752.
{2}"Nikki Giovanni Biography." Nikki Giovanni.Com. 2003. 25 Feb. 2008
{3}"Nikki Giovanni." Wikipedia. 25 Feb. 2008
{4}Nikki Rosa. Perf. Nikki Giovanni. 2003. Nikki Giovanni. 26 Feb. 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
The Love Interview:Nikki Giovanni
The assignment was to interview Nikki Giovanni, these answers are inferred from my own perspective from her works, poems, and books and are not fully accurate.
Ms. Interviewer: O.k first question, what does the term "love" mean to you?
-- Well the term love does not mean to just be married and have a relationship with somebody because i think marriage is inhospitable to women but love is something like a bond, something that can't be broken or taken away. Like the love for my son that i have, that will never be broken or taken away.
Ms.Interviewer: Great. what are some of the positive things about being in love?
--To be perfectly honest, i dont think i have ever been in loveand i dont think that i can explain the feelings of being in love and I have been in love once MAYBE but i can not recall.
Ms.Interviewer: What are some of the negative things?
--I think in a sense of individuality and i think a women should be able to be alone and still be happy and i think love makes a human being more vulnerable and dependent on another person. I think that marriage is like i said before inhospitable to women and we should be able to be individuals and life should not be based on marriage.
Ms.Interviewer: How do you know when you are in love?
--When you follow a routine everyday and then you find that when you meet somebody new and everything you are use to doing is altered i think you are in love and your mind and body are consumed in being in love.
Ms.Interviewer: How important is love to life and/or society?
--Honestly, i dont think that love is important to society except that growing up i was much loved and i think being loved as a child shapes the kind of person you will be as an adult no matter the circumstances(poverty, abuse, etc.).
Ms.Interviewer: If you've never been in love, why do you write poems based on love?
--Just because I have never given my heart to a man does not mean i haven't been in love, I felt unconditional love when i held my son and when i was younger my parents would do anything for me and thats the kind of love i show my child. I love my students whom I have been teaching at Virginia tech since 1987. Society has made love to be just between couples; love can be with mothers, daughters, friends, etc.
Ms.Interviewer: Do you think a near death experience made you love life and cherish it more?
--No, heck no, if it takes a near-death experience for you to appreciate life, you're wasting somebody's time.
Ms.Interviewer:Do you feel lonely because you do not have a husband or other half to complete you?
--No, the key to life is independence. Women do not need men to complete them, women can do more alone then they can do with a man or some "other half", you only have the power to make a difference in yourself.
Ms.Interviewer: So, do you think you will ever marry?
--It'll be somewhat of a miracle, not to say i do not believe in love, but it{marriage} would never play a role in my life. I have accomplished a lot in my lifetime and I do not want to be held back.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Specialty Post #2- Our Song and Image....((AMY WINEHOUSE in the HOUSE))
They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no' Yes I've been bad but when I come back you'll know know know I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine He's tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go go go I'd rather be at home with ray I ain't got seventy days Cuz there's nothing There's nothing you can teach me That I can't learn from mr hathaway I didn't get a lot in class But I know it don't come in a shot glass They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no' Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine He's tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go go go The man said 'why do you think you here' I said 'I got no idea' 'I'm gonna, I'm gonna lose my baby So I always keep a bottle near' He said 'I just think your depressed, This me "Yeah, baby, and the rest" They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no' Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know... I don't never wanna drink again I just ooooh I just need a friend I'm not gonna spend ten weeks Have everyone think I'm on the mend It's not just my pride It's just til these tears have dried They tried to make me go to rehab, but I said 'no no no'Yes I've been black, but when I come back you'll know know knowI ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fineThey tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go go go
Above are the lyrics of Amy Winehouses' song "Rehab". The song is basically about her and not wanting to attend rehab because basically she's going to lose her baby. It talks of depression and drug use, but in the midst of her realization she still does not want to attend rehab. This song was the first song that came to mind when the assignment was explained in class because she is singing about her personal depressions and whats making her want to sing this song and share it to the world. The song also has a slow and mello tone with a hint of blues and jazz to it. I think that since blues music was used to exert frustration, sadness and depression, thats what Amy Winehouse did in this song also.
The image I chose was of the Promises Celebrity Rehab center in Malibu. I found this picture under google and the reason I chose it because when I think of rehab, I usually think of a gloomy, dark place. The Promises Center is very clean and happy looking. It makes one think hmm " why wouldn't Amy want to go there?" I think that inevitably people who say no to rehab are usually in fear of what they see in the media, but this center seems a little more inviting and I think with the song and image together a different story can be told.
BRAINSTORM:
NEW IDEAS:
- Maybe if Amy would have examined this center more closely she would have chosen it.
- Since I read her biography, I think it would have been nice for Amy to escape to some sunshine and happiness.
So far that is all I can really think of!!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
WHOA READING POST #3((Emily Dickinson Poems))pg.580-586
In this reading, we explore the writings of Emily Dickinson. While some may find her writings to be disturbing, there is truly an intelligience behind them. In reading the poetry in depth I made an attempt to understand what Emily Dickinson was like and see what was inside her head. I think the most amazing part of reading these poems is that if in fact her sister did not betray her and broke her promise, we would not be able to view Emily's poems.
In the first poem" I Heard a Fly Buzz-when I died-", it makes it easier to envision what death is like. The desolate silence she portrays in the poem and stillness in the air is so easy to imagine. In lines 9-11, she says" I willed my keepsakes-signed away..what portion of me be Assignable". This quote makes me think of a will because it basically assigns to whom and to where you want your possessions and keepsakes to go. In most of the poems, she speaks of death but also she is in touch with her religious side too. Like in "These are the days when Birds come back", she makes references to sacraments and in "Papa Above!", I think she is in reference to Jesus and in the last poem she makes references to Cathedrals.
Her poems not only provide a feeling to death, it also gets in tune with the religious side of things. Her poems aren't really necessarily as sad as you expect death to be, I find them like sort of an explanation or story. I think it is amazing how she has written the poem as though dying is a day to day activity. I think these poems are anthologized to inevitably show the life behind death. To give feelings to what, in most cases, is associated with no feeling.
In the first poem" I Heard a Fly Buzz-when I died-", it makes it easier to envision what death is like. The desolate silence she portrays in the poem and stillness in the air is so easy to imagine. In lines 9-11, she says" I willed my keepsakes-signed away..what portion of me be Assignable". This quote makes me think of a will because it basically assigns to whom and to where you want your possessions and keepsakes to go. In most of the poems, she speaks of death but also she is in touch with her religious side too. Like in "These are the days when Birds come back", she makes references to sacraments and in "Papa Above!", I think she is in reference to Jesus and in the last poem she makes references to Cathedrals.
Her poems not only provide a feeling to death, it also gets in tune with the religious side of things. Her poems aren't really necessarily as sad as you expect death to be, I find them like sort of an explanation or story. I think it is amazing how she has written the poem as though dying is a day to day activity. I think these poems are anthologized to inevitably show the life behind death. To give feelings to what, in most cases, is associated with no feeling.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Reading Post #2 Pgs- 603-610((Word and Image))
Okay, so this reading was interesting because I did not know this style of poetry existed. Since, I am a visual learner, I gravitated toward this style immediately because of the pictures used to match the poetic words in these poems. In the different writing pieces, the authors of the poems and of the pictures weren't the same and I noticed that while reading.
For the first poem by Jane Flanders, I think the words just explain and put more empasis to the images in the pictures. While describing what we see, the poem also makes you want to visualize what this bed is like and the picture just seems to add more umph to the words. I think that if this picture wasn't here it would be hard to visualize such a descriptive bed.
In the poem by William Carlos Williams, I think this poem just adds more importance to this number. Seeing the number 5 in this painting made me think of how the simplest objects can really begin to mean something when they are focused on more in depth. I find it wierd that somebody would see this passing on a truck and decide to take a piece of paper out and draw it, but that is the beauty of artists, they find the importance in such simplistic items.
While Edwin Romanzo Elmer's "Morning Picture" painting is quite disturbing and scary, I think that this does enlighten the words in the poem. I think again it is easy to visualize her parents sitting in the dark. This would otherwise seem wierd and odd for me to try to visualize. This poem adds life to the picture, it makes me think of these people as actual human beings with feelings and emotions. I think the poem had a lot of emotion behind it. Although it was wierd to me at first, I think the picture and poem together add beauty to this poem that otherwise I would not be able to find just reading it without the imagery behind it.
I feel that the use of images and poetry together is a beautiful combination because it adds life and visuals to something that would otherwise bore me. With the pictures here it is easier for me to understand and read the poem.
For the first poem by Jane Flanders, I think the words just explain and put more empasis to the images in the pictures. While describing what we see, the poem also makes you want to visualize what this bed is like and the picture just seems to add more umph to the words. I think that if this picture wasn't here it would be hard to visualize such a descriptive bed.
In the poem by William Carlos Williams, I think this poem just adds more importance to this number. Seeing the number 5 in this painting made me think of how the simplest objects can really begin to mean something when they are focused on more in depth. I find it wierd that somebody would see this passing on a truck and decide to take a piece of paper out and draw it, but that is the beauty of artists, they find the importance in such simplistic items.
While Edwin Romanzo Elmer's "Morning Picture" painting is quite disturbing and scary, I think that this does enlighten the words in the poem. I think again it is easy to visualize her parents sitting in the dark. This would otherwise seem wierd and odd for me to try to visualize. This poem adds life to the picture, it makes me think of these people as actual human beings with feelings and emotions. I think the poem had a lot of emotion behind it. Although it was wierd to me at first, I think the picture and poem together add beauty to this poem that otherwise I would not be able to find just reading it without the imagery behind it.
I feel that the use of images and poetry together is a beautiful combination because it adds life and visuals to something that would otherwise bore me. With the pictures here it is easier for me to understand and read the poem.
Specialty Post#1..YaY
Finally my specialty post is here...
I took my quote from pg. 592(Langston Hughes)
He said" The blues can be real sad, else real mad, else real glad, and funny, too, all the same time. I ought to know. Me, I growed up with blues. I heard so many blues when I was a child until my shadow is blue".
I think that he is trying to imply that one the blues has all different kinds of meanings. The blues can be sad, glad and even funny. I also think that as many other African Americans back then, he felt like blues was a normal way of life because he had seen it so much as a child. The blues way of singing was enstilled in him as a child because he heard so much of it. This quote is worth anthologizing because I think that much of what we do as adults is because of what we learned as children. I think this quote is a good way of putting the phrase "Like mother, like daughter" or vice versa. The things we see our parents do is what we will most likely do when we are adults.
I took my quote from pg. 592(Langston Hughes)
He said" The blues can be real sad, else real mad, else real glad, and funny, too, all the same time. I ought to know. Me, I growed up with blues. I heard so many blues when I was a child until my shadow is blue".
I think that he is trying to imply that one the blues has all different kinds of meanings. The blues can be sad, glad and even funny. I also think that as many other African Americans back then, he felt like blues was a normal way of life because he had seen it so much as a child. The blues way of singing was enstilled in him as a child because he heard so much of it. This quote is worth anthologizing because I think that much of what we do as adults is because of what we learned as children. I think this quote is a good way of putting the phrase "Like mother, like daughter" or vice versa. The things we see our parents do is what we will most likely do when we are adults.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Reading: America Sings the Blues
Okay, at first I was wondering why in the world are we reading this? After I realized what it was about I definitely began to engage more and become interested. I liked reading this because I enjoy poetry and I did like 5 projects about Langston Hughes in Elementary and Middle School. It basically talked about blues music and how slaves use to sing these songs to make them "feel better". I guess it made them escape reality for a little. Blues also influenced several genre's of music such as rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and gospel.
Although I read all of the poems, there were only a couple that made me actually think and want to reread. Bessie Smith's poem reminded me of a new age R&B song. The second to last line of the poem made me think like that, it was "Take me back baby, try me one more time". It seems like she is begging him and I don't think this is a "feel better" song. As I read Robert Johnson's poem, I began to think of his as a prayer, he said the Lord's name and it seemed like he was trying to tell more of a story from the time he woke up in the morning until whenever he wrote that poem.
Now I got interested when Paul Lawrence Dunbar's poems came up because he is by far one of my biggest poetic influences. His poem seems more like a blues poem that a slave would sing because he used the language and also words and actions that they could relate to. His use of broken English may throw some people off, but I could understand. In line 1 he says, "standing at de winder", although some people in the new age would not understand this, I bet slaves and blacks in his time did. I liked the short biographies above their poems and I saw that Paul was the only African American in his high school class and I think this was an amazing accomplishment for him. In W.H Auden's poem, I did not feel the sense of "feel better", it would have made me sadder to hear it. In Line 6 of his poem, he says " Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead". This makes me think of death, but in the reading it does say that blues was used to express death sometimes and I guess this did fit the category.
This Johnny Cash poem that he performed for Folsom State Prison was actually on CMT a couple of days ago and I think he related to the prisoners. I also think it was a good thing to see that white people could also sing blues too because it seemed to usually be associated with the slaves and with blacks. In his poem he says "not to play with guns" and similar phrases and I think that is brave to sing such a song in front of prisoners.
Although I read all of the poems, there were only a couple that made me actually think and want to reread. Bessie Smith's poem reminded me of a new age R&B song. The second to last line of the poem made me think like that, it was "Take me back baby, try me one more time". It seems like she is begging him and I don't think this is a "feel better" song. As I read Robert Johnson's poem, I began to think of his as a prayer, he said the Lord's name and it seemed like he was trying to tell more of a story from the time he woke up in the morning until whenever he wrote that poem.
Now I got interested when Paul Lawrence Dunbar's poems came up because he is by far one of my biggest poetic influences. His poem seems more like a blues poem that a slave would sing because he used the language and also words and actions that they could relate to. His use of broken English may throw some people off, but I could understand. In line 1 he says, "standing at de winder", although some people in the new age would not understand this, I bet slaves and blacks in his time did. I liked the short biographies above their poems and I saw that Paul was the only African American in his high school class and I think this was an amazing accomplishment for him. In W.H Auden's poem, I did not feel the sense of "feel better", it would have made me sadder to hear it. In Line 6 of his poem, he says " Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead". This makes me think of death, but in the reading it does say that blues was used to express death sometimes and I guess this did fit the category.
This Johnny Cash poem that he performed for Folsom State Prison was actually on CMT a couple of days ago and I think he related to the prisoners. I also think it was a good thing to see that white people could also sing blues too because it seemed to usually be associated with the slaves and with blacks. In his poem he says "not to play with guns" and similar phrases and I think that is brave to sing such a song in front of prisoners.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Me Me Me
Hello everybody my name is Tiffany Fossett. I am a student at Northern Virginia Community College. I am going to major in Business Management and Communications. I also work at the campus in the Office of Student Activities. I plan the events here on campus and reserve rooms, sounds boring but not really it involves alot of networking and I LOVE NETWORKING :). I plan to transfer after one year to North Carolina A&T. I have one brother who attends Virginia Tech and he enjoys it. I was in Mrs. Speigels English 111 course and so i decided to attend her English 112 because she is an exceptional teacher. *DUH* My expectations for this course are to simply have fun, but learn a lot. I do enjoy English and I think this course is one of my stronger courses. Also, I would like to "become a better writer" and be able to write on the college level. This blog can help me to get ideas and explore new networking options such as blogs. Hopefully, I'll pass and move on and have better writing skills to transfer with.
My goals for the blog are to give other students ideas on certain assignments. This blog can add to my classroom points and give me a better chance of passing. I think blogs should flow and be a little spontaneous. I want my blog to capture the audiences attention, but I also want them to get something out of my writings.
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