Final Blog

Throughout this semester in English 210 I have learned many things.  With the ability to make our own decisions as to page length and number of sources I feel as though my writing has become more individualized, which helped me challenge myself to higher standards.  I feel that the grammar guides were the most helpful tool to educate me in areas I did not formally know.  The most helpful strategies for me were the lessons involving quotations, titles, appositives, and comma usage.  After implementing these particular grammar guide lessons I can see improvements of my writing overall.  With the use of a proper academic title, proper word choice, and brackets showing changes made within quotes I could see a more well-rounded, professional looking paper as the semester advanced.  The paper that was the easiest for me would have to have been the second paper of the semester.  It allowed us to analyze and interpret various aspects of a short story of choice by creating a research based argument.  I enjoyed this paper the most because it gave me the ability to choose which story, and which aspects within that story, to delve deeper and state my side of criticism.  It is much harder to create a paper when there are many limitations and requirements to follow because it also restricts the amount of topics that can be argued.  Throughout this semester I believe I've overcome a giant obstacle in the path to creating college-level papers.  The most beneficial lesson that contributed to the broadening of my knowledge on college writing would definitely have to be the grammar guide lesson pertaining to proper comma usage.  In the past I would normally place a comma anywhere that seemed to fit.  After being educated on the many instances and rules of comma usage I feel that the flow of my paper has improved immensely, resulting in various improvements of writing a college-level paper.

Poetry Packet

The songs and poems included in the poetry packet were about the difference between guys and girls.  Beyonce's song "If I Were a Boy" tells a story of how guys don't care about girls and take them for granted.  The two short poems have similar meanings. One tells about how a girl is naive and stupid for always forgiving the man and how the man is just using her for sex.  The little kid's poem tells how little girls and boys differ, by saying that girls are sweet and boys are always getting into things.  The John Michael Montgomery song "Sold" kind of contradicts this argument because it is about a guy that falls in love at first sight and how he would do anything to "make you mine all mine."  It just shows the differences between the way men and women think and act.

"The Flea"

This poem is kind of weird and confusing, but all poems seem to be that way. What I get from the poem is that a flea drank the blood of both lovers.  The man is frustrated that the two cannot be together because their parents don't approve.  The girl wants to kill the flea because its just a nasty insect but the boy likes that their blood is together, like marriage.  The girl kills the flea and the boy feels betrayed.

Poetry

Poetry is a form of art that lets individuals present themselves or something else in a rhythmic way.  I've studied poetry for a couple classes in high school but haven't gone really in depth about analyzing the meanings or how to find meanings in a simpler way.  Poetry is sort of hard to comprehend and often takes more time to delve deeper into what the author may have been trying to say.  One of my favorite poets that most people would probably stay away from is Edgar Allen Poe because many people think his poetry is confusing.  I just like the way he makes poetry and the repetition he tends to use.

Dr. Faustus (moment that stuck out)

The one moment that stuck out to me after ending the book was the fact that it ended to abruptly.  When the 24 years was up and he was expecting the Devils to come take him away at midnight, I was completely confused because one minute he was making grapes for the Duke and Duchess and the next he is being convinced by an old man to repent for his life.  The last two scenes seemed to come rather fast so the readers weren't able to see all of the magic he had performed.  The question I was stuck with was how could he go 24 years without the fear of losing his soul to Lucifer, but when there is only a matter of hours left he then decides to repent?  Sins should be forgiven but you also must honestly feel as though you did wrong, not when it finally comes back to bite you.

Dr. Faustus - class discussion

I feel that the most interesting part of the class discussion on Monday was about the many times that someone or something tried to convince Dr. Faustus to not perform black magic.  In every single scene from one to six, there was some form of hindrance being in the way of Faustus learning and performing black magic.  As repentance sets in, there seems to be no stopping Faustus on his journey to evil.  He manages to prepare an agreement for the Devil even though his blood congeals.  It seems as though Faustus's mindset of the issue of black magic resulted from an extreme wrong doing placed upon him previously in his lifetime.  He must feel betrayed somehow by the church or his religion since he could not refrain from continuing on his excursion of the dark side.

Dr. Faustus - Scene 5

The fifth scene of the play Dr. Faustus is quite simple.  Faustus is discussing the agreement of black magic with Mephistophilis.  Faustus listens to his good angel and evil angel's thoughts about the idea and ends up agreeing with the evil angel.  For Faustus to be able to learn magic and have Mephistophilis be his servant, he was required to write an agreement with his own blood to give his soul to the Devil.  After the agreement is made and finalized, Faustus orders Mephistophilis to find him a wife.  Upon returning with a Devil dressed as a woman, Mephistophilis convinces Faustus to marry her.  This scene ends with Dr. Faustus receiving a book of everything you could imagine, including spells and incantations that "may raise up spirits."

Dr. Faustus - Scene 1

So far in class we have only read the soliloquy and scene 1 of the play Dr. Faustus.  As of now I'm not really sure what to think of this play.  I just don't enjoy reading plays, especially those written in the fifteenth century, because its much harder to understand what's going on.  I'm extremely skeptical of the outcome of this play because I can't understand the meaning without the class discussions; however, I am curious as to what happens with Dr. Faustus's journey to learn black magic.  It sounds interesting, especially since the play is set during the fifteenth century and what society thought of black magic in those days.  I think it's interesting that he chose to pursue is true dream of black magic after considering logic, medicine, law, and divinity.  I feel that the action in the play will soon pick up and the play overall will become more suspenseful.

Evaluation

I feel like this semester has gone by fairly fast, most likely because I've been so busy with school work.  I feel like the the amount of reading we have done thus far is impressive, especially when considering everything else we have accomplished.  We have been able to learn many grammar lessons that have been extremely helpful.  The ones that I learned the most with were probably the apostrophes and titles.  I didn't realize how much detail was involved in each of those.  I feel like after this class I will have improved my writing skills immensely along with reading by the amount I am required to do each night.

"The Little Mermaid"

"The Little Mermaid" was written in third person objective narration and gives a better understanding of the details of the story rather than just the feelings of the little mermaid herself.  Had Andersen chosen a different type of narration, such as first person from the little mermaid's point of view, the scope of the story would be on a much narrower perspective. The elements that would prove more relevant would be the major characters because we would be allowed to observe the exact emotions the little mermaid was feeling when going through her heartbreak.  With the third person objective narration chosen by the author, we show more concern toward the setting and plot which makes a better impact of the storyline overall.  The setting of the story changes between two very different environments.  She goes from a life of luxury underwater to a struggling, torturous year on land by going from one palace to the next.  Andersen's choice of setting shows irony in that fact that someone with such authority by living in two marvelous palaces still could not manage to escape the miserable feeling of mystery and loneliness.

"Bartleby, the Scrivener" and "The Birthmark"

The plot structure shown in both of these short stories is in media res meaning starting in the middle.  When looking at other possibilities for plot structure, flashback would not be as exciting for "The Birthmark."  In "The Birthmark" Aylmer's wife Georgiana dies in the end, and by using flashbacks the story wouldn't have the same impact and wouldn't be as dramatic at the choice of using in media res.  I feel that in "Bartleby, the Scrivener" flashback would have been an option because it would give the readers insight from Bartleby's perspective and give a better explanation for his actions.  In "The Birthmark" Aylmer was very motivated to remove his wife's birthmark and stayed that way throughout the story giving him consistency throughout.  Since Aylmer remained the same throughout the story and didn't undergo any change of mind whatsoever, he is definitely portrayed as a static character.  When we look at Bartleby, he was not motivated or plausible because when he was asked to perform a task by his boss he would respond that he "preferred not to" for no apparent reason.  However, Bartleby was very consistent with these actions because he never changed his response, making him a static character as well.  By comparing these two short stories we can see that a character can be static (unchanging) throughout the storyline and still have many differences, such as motivation, plausibility, and consistency.  Even thought a character fits a character trait, they can also possess many other traits as well.  For example, even though we first saw Bartleby as a static character because he was stuck with his thought of "preferring not to," but we can also see that he is a flat character as well.  Relating to the plot structure of a story, we can see that the author makes the choice to choose in media res for the layout of the story, but there can be other ways to present the storyline in a dramatic way as well.  For example, in "Bartleby, the Scrivener" the author could have chosen to use the flashback method to give a better understanding of why Bartleby acts the way he does.  Some may also say that the flashback method could have been a good way to go with "The Birthmark" by saying that the storyline could have been showing the process to how Georgiana lost her life.  By comparing and contrasting these two short stories, I was able to dig a little deeper into the making and choices of the text.  It shows that each person may have an opinion of what the story is presenting and how it should be presented.

Class Discussion (Black/White)

The class discussion got pretty in depth on Wednesday about racism and stereotypes.  I feel that stereotyping is a huge part of the world today and I don't agree with it.  Everyone will have their beliefs about there own race along with other races.  In class everyone seemed to be saying that Native Americans are seen as alcoholics and white people aren't really seen in that way.  I feel like this was because since there are so many Caucasian people, when you come across a group of drunk white people it doesn't seem to relate to that many people; but when you see a group of Native Americans drunk, people relate it to their race because the lower number of people representing their race in this area.  I realize that is worded in a confusing way, but I'm not sure how to explain what I'm trying to say.  For example, if there were a group of ten drunk white people and group a ten drunk Native Americans, statistically by percentage of the actual number of people in that race it feel like there are more drunk Indians as compared to white people.  I'm sure this is one of the ways some people see it, but I honestly don't think that way at all.  I have come across several great white, black, and Indian people and several not so good white, black, and Indian people.  Stereotyping is overrated and equalization between race and gender are gone and done with so we should do away with all racism or sexism in society.  Everyone is a person and deserves the same rights, advantages, and opportunities.  It's time for people to grow up and embrace the differences in individuals, whether it be personality, gender, or race.

Student Don't Learn Much in College

This article pertaining to college students and the amount of knowledge they receive throughout their four years of college is actually more relevant than I thought at first sight.  It stated that after the sophomore level, 45% of students reported showing no significant improvement; after four years, only 36% did not demonstrate significant improvement.  I believe this is a correct assumption because through the first two years of college, students are completing general education classes, some of which are not anywhere related to their chosen field of study.  I believe the percentage of students that didn't show improvement reduced by 9% during the third and fourth years of college because they were then admitted to classes related to their major of choice and they were actually enjoying, or at least were concerned about, these courses.  One issue presented in this article is when Julia Rheinecker states "I love the environment, don't get me wrong. I just haven't found myself pushing as much as I expected" (Gorski 1).  This is exactly how I felt as a freshman in college.  I felt high school was much more challenging than my first semester in the college environment.  My freshman year I attended Dana College and was also active on the varsity golf team.  Going in, I assumed I would be extremely busy.  I expected to be behind and struggling to keep up during golf season since I would be missing so much class, but it was actually the complete opposite.  I had all of the free-time in the world and when I hit my sophomore year I had to change everything.  I was unprepared for the heavy workload and didn't know how to manage at first.  I feel that incoming freshmen should be eased into the transition, but to an extent.  They need to get the experience of a busy lifestyle so they will know how to better manage their time and better their future.  Another important issue mentioned in this article relates to the quote by Lindsay McCluskey saying "...more classes are being taught by teaching assistants and in some cases undergraduate students" (Gorski 2).  I feel like this is an issue that needs to be tended to.  I'm not saying that all student teachers are bad because I have had student teachers that know the subject matter very well and should receive the opportunity to teach those classes; but I have also had some student teachers in classes that I knew the material just as well as they did.  I would recommend that the student teachers should have class agenda and notes approved before they are allowed to educate students at the college level.  I'm not sure what specifications they must meet before getting the opportunity, but I feel that some student teachers are not up to those standards.

Fake Twitter Accounts

This article mainly stated that fake Twitter accounts were not as fatal as some may think.  It showed Mr. VandeHei's comment toward the account under his name.  He made it into a joke and suggested that it could be his co-founder John F. Harris pulling a prank on him.  Another person, Mr. Mackowiak, viewed his fake page as funny as well and even made a comment relating to Brad Pitt.  It was said that in order to create a phony account on Twitter it must be labeled as a parody account.  I feel that as long as the account is labeled as a fake account then freedom of speech should protect their right to do so.  It is not any different than Mad TV and Saturday Night Live dressing as a celebrity or politician and making fun of them by performing a skit.

First Paper

This first paper I feel went well.  I liked that I was able to go off of the first gist I wrote and elaborate more on that topic.  However, I didn't like that as we continued to make revisions we started other stories.  It was hard trying to focus on making the final product of this paper while constantly reading and writing in addition.

The Metamorphosis

This short story is very confusing to comprehend the meaning of after one reading.  I understand the fact that he was the sole supporter of the family and the pressure got too extreme to handle anymore, but why did they choose a bug to represent the change? After meeting with our groups in class on Wednesday, one of my classmates gave me a better understanding of the meaning behind everything.  He told me that when they analyzed this story in high school they came to the conclusion that Gregor had a mental breakdown and his change was to a mentally handicapped person.  This makes more sense to me because he could no longer take care of himself, he couldnt communicate well, and they couldn't leave him alone.  I definitely think is was necessary to reread this story again to catch the points that didn't jump out during the first time reading.  After understanding what to look for from the analysis of a classmate there were many things that made this meaning much more clear.

Sources

Lee, Dwight R. "Happiness and Liberty." The Intercollegiate Review 42.2 (2007): 41-48. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Janaury 2011.

Dennis, Bretton J., and Rafeeq O. McGiveron. "Zamyatin's WE." Explicator 58.4 (2000): 211-213. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 January 2011.

Zamyatin, Yevgeny. We. New York: The Random House Publishing Group. Print.

*I couldn't figure out how to do the hanging indent on here, otherwise I would have.

Topic

The topic I chose for my paper on "WE" is the relationship between freedom and happiness.  I chose this topic because I think this is a very important part of human life.  I believe one reason why Communism is a bad form of government is because individual freedoms are taken away, resulting in unhappiness.  Freedom allows people to be happy.  They link together very well in this novel and I feel like I could make an good argument.

"WE" Final Thought

As I finished the novel "WE," I didn't really know what to think.  Throughout the novel I began to feel more and more that I-330 was not fully committed to D-503, but now I know that she was.  By that I mean she wasn't committed to him as a lover, but as a tool to the operation.  She needed him the whole time strictly because he was the Builder of the Integral.  D-503 couldn't see this at all, until he met with the Benefactor.  The Benefactor stated that they chose him only because he was the Builder of the Integral and wanted him to give up the names.  The Benefactor even said that he knew D-503 would eventually end up giving these names.  At the time D-503 would not even consider giving up the person whom he "loved" and her followers.  It seemed like after the visit to her bedroom and seeing the pink slips with not only his name on them, he realized that the Benefactor was right about the whole situation.  I believe the reason why he decided to go to the Bureau of Guardians and confess everything was because he felt the Benefactor was, in fact, the wise, powerful person that he would never accept.  He was right about D-503 being chosen for that sole reason and right, once again, by stating that he would return with names.  Through realizing that he was being used instead of actually finding love, D-503 changed his mindset completely.  Not that I completely agree with his actions, but he seemed to enjoy the sight of I-330 and the others under the effects of the Bell Jar.  He no longer believed in love or happiness and allowed the Benefactor and the guardians to once again control his, now soulless, life.

State of the Union Address

This is the first State of the Union Address that I have ever watched.  I usually don't like to watch these type of things because they are boring and I don't pay much attention to politics.  It lasted about an hour and talked mainly about the economy.  Barack Obama told us how the recession was coming to an end.  He praised the change and discussed how innovation would continue to lead to a better economy.  He related the United States today to Sputnik, by saying that through research and development we could see our "Sputnik moment."  He proposed that Congress take the billions of tax payers' dollars from the oil companies and use it otherwise.  He discussed that by 2035 there would be other forms of energy representing about 80% of the energy needed.  The next point he touched on was related to education and announced the plan called "Race to the Top."  It's a plan that will replace "No Child Left Behind" and is formed by an idea from one of the 50 states.  Obama also said that teachers should be treated with high amounts of respect by rewarding good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones.  He wants to crack down on illegal immigration, rebuild more roads and bridges, and integrate the whole country into the digital era.  There has been agreements made with other countries, like South Korea, to add more American jobs and continue to regulate these achievements.  When he brought up health care he said that he knows there are flaws that need fixed.  He asked for ideas as to how to lower costs or making the care better.  These were just some of the many topics discussed during the State of the Union Address 2011.  I still believe, after watching my first State of the Union, that this was boring to watch.  I liked listening to the information being presented, but the pauses for applause started to get to me.  Without the applause I believe this hour long speech could have been cut down by quite a bit of time.  If there was a way to listen to just the main points by leaving out Congress' reactions I think I would have actually enjoyed it.

The Worst Part...

In the novel "WE" there are many things that I would hate if I were a citizen of One State.  I know I wouldn't want to have the strict hours or being watched all the time, but the worst part would definitely be the loss of freedom.  I am a very independent person and many times I need time for myself.  I like to do things at the spur  of the moment and be spontaneous and without my freedom I wouldn't be able to do that either.  The people of One State only have two hours to themselves and they have to ask permission for everything they choose to do.  I wouldn't want to run around wondering at all times if I were doing something wrong and if I were going to be punished.  I have a feeling that I would be more like I-330 and D-503 and rebel against the evil force, the Benefactor.  I believe that Communism consists of no appealing factors and revolves around the lack of freedom, that is why it is hard to convince the entire population to change their ways and allow such behavior.

Criticism and "WE"

I would like to apply the feminist criticism to the novel "WE" because I can name a few male-dominated areas of the book.  The book is told through the view of a male character so that is a leading factor that contributes to my choice of feminist criticism.  From what I read, I feel like One State is being run my predominantly males.  The ladies in the story do not have many opportunities to show their female power.  The only thing they can control is who they request to have sex with, but yet they still have to ask the powerful male figures for permission before doing so.  Another aspect that contributes is the fact that O doesn't really have much of a say in her relationship with D-503.  She could file for a pink slip if she wanted to be with him, but in the end he has more power than she does and his word stands.  As a last resort she writes him a letter notifying him that she will no longer come around.

Elements of Fiction

Style:  The author arranges some of his sentences in a weird manner, such as when a sentence is broken with a colon.  He also uses the ellipsis (e.i. ...) frequently as well.

Tone:  The tone of the author in the story, D-503, is mostly depressing.  He hates the way things are in One State and would do anything to have everything change.

Irony:  One example of irony in Record Ten on page 51.  D-503 is speaking of I-330 and states "One thing become clear to me: I hate her, hate her, hate her!"  He thinks this to himself when in reality he doesn't hate her at all but wants to have sex with her.

Plot:  The main points during the storyline are mainly the everyday routine of D-503 and how much he struggles with the urge to have sex.

Characterization:  D-503 is described in great detail on page 53. "I am him: black eyebrows that look like they've been struck through with a straight line; and a vertical wrinkle between them, like a scar (I don't know if it was there before or not).  Steely gray eyes encircled by the shadows of a sleepless night; and behind this steel..."

Setting:  This novel takes place in a place called One State.  It is a communist like country that has extremely strict laws and is ruled by a leader known as the Benefactor.  Everything seems to be arranged for them and I picture One State to be technologically advanced and city-like.

Point of View:  The narrator of this novel is D-503 and is shown through his point of view.  He talks of his experiences and even shows his thoughts to himself through narration.

Symbol:  One symbol I see throughout the novel is the numbers each person is called.  This is important because it shows how each person is seen more as a replaceable number rather than an individual.

Theme:  Since starting this story, I can see that the theme is that communism takes away freedom.  It may exaggerate the meaning of communism, but overall it is portrayed to the reader that people will lose there freedom and be forced to work for their leader, or be punished.

About Me...

My name is Cassie Stukenholtz and I am a sophmore at The University of South Dakota.  I transferred in from Dana College in Blair, Nebraska since it closed down over the summer.  Golf is by far my favorite sport and while at Dana College I was able to compete on the golf team.  My favorite subject is definitely math.  My life goal is to graduate with a degree in finance and then take the classes necessary to become a flight attendant.  I would really like to travel and as a flight attendant I would be able to fly at a reduced price and make that dream happen.  Once I am done visiting all of the places I want to see, I will then settle down with my finance degree and work as a financial manager or work my way up the banking chain to eventually be the president.  I have worked in a bank in my hometown for a year now and feel the experience has definitely helped.  This is about all I can think of to describe me and what I intend to do with my life.  I hope it gives you a better understanding of me as a person.

Cassie