March 22nd

In both stories, "Araby" and "Eveline" written by James Joyce you can clearly see his interests, commonalities in thinking and his religous side coming out.

He displayes his interests in love in both stories. In Araby we can clearly see that he is fasinated with Mangan's sister."Every morning I lay on the floor in the front parlor watchning he door"(187). "When she came out on the doorstep my heart leaped"(187). "Her image accompanied me even in places the most hostile to romance"(187).  In Eveline,  the same is clearly shown but towards a boy she had met, Frank. "Frank was very kind, manly,  open-hearted"(192). "First of all it had been an excitement for her to have a fellow and then she had begun to like him."(192). Both show of  Joyce's emotional side being brought out.

Joyce's commonalities in thinking can be shown when both characters thought processing leads them to be in front of a window contemplating. "Their cries reached me weakened and indistinct and,  leaning my forhead against the cool glass....I may have stood there for an hour,  seeing nothing but the brown-clad figure cast by my imagination..."(189). Eveline in the same way find herself staring out the window. "She sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue. Her head was leaned against the window curtains and in her nostrils was the odour of dusty cretonne. She was tired" (191). Showing in both stories that Joyce's way of contemplating was always found next to a
window.

Finally in both stories we can see Joyce's religous side coming out with the mention of priests and God. wether he believed in God or not we know, we do know that he does have some religous aspect in his life. " The Former tenant of our house, a priest, had died in the back drawing room" (187). Eveline in the same way mentions a priest. "And yet during all those years she had never found out the name of the priest whose yellowing photograph hung on the wall above the broken harmonium beside the coloured print of the promises made to Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque." (191). Along with the priest Joyce's shows belief in God. "She felt her cheek pale and cold and, out of maze of distress, she prayed to God to direct her,  to show her what was her duty."(193). Joyce demonstrates a good use of his religous aspect in both stories.

March 8th

Dead Man's Path by Chinua Achebe

1. Chinua Achebe's "Dead Man's Path" is a story about the importance of keeping traditions alive.
        

  1. Traditions keep us linked with our past

                        1. ""The Path" said the teacher apologetically, "appears to be very important to them. Although its is hardly used, it connects the village shrine with their place of burial"".(270)
                        2. " Our dead relatives depart by it and our ancestors visit us by it".(270)
         

 2. Keeping traditions alive unifies a village.

                        1. "This path was here before you were born and before your father was born the whole life of this village depends on it".(270)

                        2. The village then called on a diviner to find favor with the ancestors,

  3. One mans goal changes a village.
                        1. Mr. Obi's goal to modernize the school turned into the downfall of the school and the village.
                        2. "Tribal-war situation developing between the school and the village, arising in part from the misguided zeal of the new headmaster".(271)
 

A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Connor

1. Good versus evil can be clearly seen in a Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Connor.

   1.One wrong doing can bring ones evil side out.
                         1. Accused of murdering his father,  The Misfit was sent to the penitentiary.
                         2. "I found out the crime don't matter. You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later you're going to forget what it was you done and just be punished for it".(266)

    2. Fix your mistake before its too late.
                         1. When the grandmother insists on going to see the old house,  she remembers it is in Tennessee and not Georgia and doesn't tell anyone.
                         2. "We've had an ACCIDENT"(263)

   3. When somoene turns evil they have no care in the world.                     
                         1. The Misfit has no feelings towards murdering the family.
                         2. "Take her off and rhrow her where you thown the others".(268)

March 1st

Showering and being clean is essential to everyone. Most types of soap tend to leave behind residue on your skin and dry your skin out. Dove Deep Moisture Nourishing Body Wash is of the opposite. It is known for hydrating your skin and leaving it looking healthier. Although, a touch of lotion is recommended to further hydrate your skin. My roomates and I all use Dove Deep Moisture Nourishing Body Wash and love it. It is fairly cheap and you can buy at your local Walmart or Drug Store. In addition, I enjoy almost all the products made by Dove. They work exactly how they advertise and never disappoint.

February 22nd

Brave the movie

As Queen Elinor is fighting the other bear that has been under a curse, Mor'du, who is actually a prince.  Merida shouts out
"Stop,  dont kill him!"
With this everyone is surprised even Prince Mor'du. Merida feels as though the reason for his anger is because he forgot who he is and if they can undo the spell for her mother and the prince then he would remember.

Merida places the tapestry over Queen Elinor and the prince and with this the spell is broken. The Queen, her triplets and the prince are returned back to themselves. Merida rushes to her mothers side and hugs her tightly and says
"I'm sorry mom,  I love you"
" I love you to Merida"

The prince standing in shock that he is a human again walks up to Merida and taps her on her shoulder.
"Why did you save me? your mother could have easily killed me"
"I saved you because everyone deserves second chances"
With a smerk left on both their faces the people of the castle, the prince and Merida and her family head for home.

As the castle is celebrating Merida and Prince Mor'du take a liking in each other very quickly; Queen Elinor and King Fergus take notice of this and smile,  for they know that a marriage is in the Future for Merida.

February 15th

She Walks in Beauty

by George Gordon, Lord Byron

 

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

 

 

 

    She               beauty, like     night

  cloudless       and starry 

    all that’s best         and bright

     in                       her eyes;

                                     tender light

         heaven                day           . 

One       the more, one ray             ,

Had                                             grace

      waves    every raven tress,

     softly          o’er her face;

            thoughts serenely sweet express,

        pure,                          dwelling-place.

       on        cheek, and o’er       brow,

     soft,    calm,      eloquent,

     smiles       win, the               glow,

                             goodness spent,

                 peace with all           ,

    heart            love    innocent!

 

 

February 8th

Dont Bite What You Can't Chew.

Wasps come , wasps go,
They fly high and fly low.
It sees a target, and then it knows,
In full throttle it goes.
We hear a screech we hear a gasp,
Then a yell " ohh my ass!".
Latching on with all its might,
The little wasp tries to fight.
It stiffens it trembles,
And shudders too late,
It falls to the ground to meet its fate.

"Dont Bite What You Can't Chew"  has a rhyme scheme of aabbccddeff, which gives the sing song effect of a poem,  making it fun and easy to read. The poem is about a wasp and once they sting you they die. But looking closer into the poem you may be able to see the deeper meaning that if you do wrong onto someone, that there will be consequences for your actions.

February 1st

            In Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "We Real Cool" the tone is arrogant and depressing. This is amplified throughout the poem as the speakers express how "cool" they are by different means and then dying.

            The first line in which the poem starts out in is stating that the speakers are cool, then the following lines suggest how this is so. The speakers say that they dropped out of school, didnt do very much with their lives but hang around. They got invovled in playing pool and got drunk. This poem is arrogant because they believed they were to cool for everything; to finish school and make something of their lives but instead they chose to take the easy road and become nothing. The poem takes a depressing turn closer to the end when it says "We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon." my reasoning for this is because it shows that they are glorifying sin , getting drunk contineously, and realizing that they are going to die. After reading the poem you can connected the title to the poem very easily by saying they were arrogant for thinking all of the things they did made them cool.

January 25th

Music and Dancing

She was a girl who loved to dance all day.
He was a boy who played guitar for fun.
Twirling through the bright New York Streets in May,
Catching a glimpse of her against the sun.

Along the beach she did continue on
Following her underneath the sunset,
As she is quietly humming a song
Seeing her name on her bookbag - Rosette.

Turning around, a smile on her face
He catches her eye, his heart did stop,
Her heart skipped a beat and began to race
Moving towards her his guitar he dropped.

Reaching out and drawing her by her wrist
Their lips gently met in a long sweet kiss.



My peom is about two people from interconnected worlds finding love in one another. In order to dance you need music,  he was the music she was looking for, and she was dance in his song. I believe that form did have a greater impact on my poetic creativity then in any other poem I have made so far,   because the rhyming scheme "abab cdcd efef gg" and the iambic pentameter make you create your peom a certain way. By having a rhyming scheme, I usually think of a upbeat peom, that makes you bounce as you go along. Nevertheless I am very pleased with my output.

January 18th

 

A New Beginning 

Winter stars dim out;
Bright light over horizon,
what shall we do now?
 
Johnny

There once was a boy named Johnny
Who thought he was quiet funny
Until one day
He was blown off the Bay
Oh that silly boy named Johnny.
 
The first poem I wrote is a Haiku; Haiku's are a Japenese invented type of poetry.In a haiku there is a nature element,  for my peom, "A New Beginning" my element is Winter. I chose winter because we are currently in the winter season and I felt it was very appropiate. My poem is talking about not just moving on to the next day but symblolizes after a certain time of accomplishing something in your life, you move on and try something new.

The second poem I wrote is a Limerick peom, which has a rhyme scheme (aa bb a). I prefer this type of poetry to the haiku because the rhyming aspect of it is more like a dance,  it will usually put the reader in an upbeat and positive mood. The title of my peom is called "Johnny" it was actually inspired to me by my friend Jonathan who lives in Limerick, Ireland. This poem is not as serious as my previous peom but is ment to make you smile.

January 11th

As a Christian I have many Christian related songs on my playlist. When looking for a song for my next blog, I found one that I really liked and I listened to the words and it got me questioning who the composer was, it turns out that it is written by Christian composer Matthew West. The song I have chosen is called “Family Tree” and when understanding the lyrics it really gets you thinking about the direction of your life.

 The Song “Family Tree” is depicting that no matter what situation you were born into that if you have faith in God he will direct your path into a better future. The reason I say God is because it says in the song “Cause your my child, your my chosen”, even though you may think it’s the child’s familiar relation it won’t be because Matthew West writes “Are you gonna be like your father was and his father was” eliminating that it could  not be any family member, but only the Heavenly Father.

If you would like to have a listen to the song here is a link. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1dfe8esH2Y

 

 

 

January 9th

McMahan has many different and effective approaches for interpreting literature in the text “Appendix: Critical Approaches for Interpreting Literature”. Of these the most appealing to me is reader response. It appealed to me the most because I like hearing different interpretations of a common piece. It gives you a various outlooks on the same idea and broadens your understanding.



In the poem “The Lamb” written by William Blake, he is asking the lamb if he knows who created him and gave him his characteristics. William Blake is referring to Humanity as being the lamb, and the one who created us is God. In the Christian community, Jesus is called the Lamb of God. In the poem the author writes “for he calls himself a Lamb”. He shortly tells of the birth of Christ and how he came to earth as a little child.