When reading "Crumbling Expectations," I thought that the essay was very interesting. I enjoyed of course the reference to Michigan because it is a beautiful state. I also liked the relationship between him and his father and him and his grandmother. I was interested because it seemed to me that he valued what the both of them said. I also thought that he talked a lot about how his dads father passed away and how his fathers grandfather passed away. I thought that him talking about the relationships between his father and his father and grandfather made a reference to the relationship between him and his father.
I enjoyed this essay because there was so much to get out of this. I liked the end where he says, "I didn't realize a book is itself an embrace. I quote back to my father now words he has written but never wrote." I thought that was interesting and another way to point back to him and his fathers relationship because he is telling us that even though his father is gone, he embraces his words that the son has written and used in the story. I really enjoy the closeness and I can feel the emotion in the essay.
I really like this and I feel like it has helped me decide on what to write about in my essay. I feel a lot more confident in the essay and it is exciting that I know what I am going to write about.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Essay Packet 2
When I read "The Fine Art of Sighing", I felt the emotions in the story and I really enjoyed the use of sounds and symbols. I could see the imaging in this story and it almost felt like a movie. I felt that even though it was short, it left an impact on the reader and it did on me.
I liked how when the child said he would "tiptoe across the linoleum and make my lunch without making a sound." I found myself looking at that sentence and just picturing the child. When everyone is sleeping at my house and I am doing something I will tiptoe and try to not wake anyone up. I also liked the emotion of the parents sighs and how the mothers' sighs were filled with sadness but the fathers' sighs were filled with simplicity and the child would do both because he is so used to the different sighs. I have a tendency to shake my leg and sometimes i dont realize that I am doing that and his friend had to tell him and he finally picks up on it.
I enjoyed the complexity and simplicity of the story. It was easy to read as well as emotional. I feel like some of the stories get not only better but more emotional and in depth.
I liked how when the child said he would "tiptoe across the linoleum and make my lunch without making a sound." I found myself looking at that sentence and just picturing the child. When everyone is sleeping at my house and I am doing something I will tiptoe and try to not wake anyone up. I also liked the emotion of the parents sighs and how the mothers' sighs were filled with sadness but the fathers' sighs were filled with simplicity and the child would do both because he is so used to the different sighs. I have a tendency to shake my leg and sometimes i dont realize that I am doing that and his friend had to tell him and he finally picks up on it.
I enjoyed the complexity and simplicity of the story. It was easy to read as well as emotional. I feel like some of the stories get not only better but more emotional and in depth.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Essay Packet 1
There is one story in the Essay Packet 1 that I enjoyed. I really like "Sunday." There were a lot of different things that I can talk about in this story. I thought it was funny yet a little bit of it is true. The different sense of humor that is in this story made me laugh and it reminded me of the movie "The Help." The maids in that movie would always cook and they were fabulous at it.
I found it funny that the first line in the essay was "why people couldn't cook." This made me laugh because the title did not really explain what the story was going to be about but the first line explained it all. I also liked how they had to have the fat in the recipe because that would make it even better. I have family down south and we always put fatback in our green beans or other things like greens to make it better. I also liked how they said how white people want to eat food with flavor but when they cook it has not flavor.
I definitley could relate to this story and reading this story just wants me to watch the help while eating fried chicken. I think is the best one that was assigned yet. The essay packet I felt was a little boring so I enjoyed this story very much.
I found it funny that the first line in the essay was "why people couldn't cook." This made me laugh because the title did not really explain what the story was going to be about but the first line explained it all. I also liked how they had to have the fat in the recipe because that would make it even better. I have family down south and we always put fatback in our green beans or other things like greens to make it better. I also liked how they said how white people want to eat food with flavor but when they cook it has not flavor.
I definitley could relate to this story and reading this story just wants me to watch the help while eating fried chicken. I think is the best one that was assigned yet. The essay packet I felt was a little boring so I enjoyed this story very much.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Maps to anywhere
The first thing I am going to talk about is the story "Leaving." There are many ways to take this but one that I feel stands out for me is hunger and poverty. I feel like the parents are strong but that child is weak and maybe that child has a disability. When people see someone with a disability they automatically think that their chances to get married and obtain a regular job are slim to none. This story is very short but has a lot of meaning.
"Spontaneous Combustion" is very interesting to me. I find it very realistic. When I was in elementary, I remember being in one of the simulated fire houses and it scared me. I think every child gets scared when they hear the word fire and a hero is exactyl what a fireman is. A close family friend that is a firefighter is my hero. I think the courage to be a fireman is extremely strong and I am so happy to say my hero is a fireman. The situation of being in a fire is something that haunts a child and this story shows the flames engulfing their pjs and them going into heaven. That is what I got from this.
The "End of Manners" is the last story I am going to talk about it. The first paragraph was very interesting. I think the best part of the essay is when it says: "When she jumps, polka dots drop like rain". I think this was interesting because of the movie like image it creates. I can envision someone in their polka dot dress jumping off a building and polka dots all over.
"Spontaneous Combustion" is very interesting to me. I find it very realistic. When I was in elementary, I remember being in one of the simulated fire houses and it scared me. I think every child gets scared when they hear the word fire and a hero is exactyl what a fireman is. A close family friend that is a firefighter is my hero. I think the courage to be a fireman is extremely strong and I am so happy to say my hero is a fireman. The situation of being in a fire is something that haunts a child and this story shows the flames engulfing their pjs and them going into heaven. That is what I got from this.
The "End of Manners" is the last story I am going to talk about it. The first paragraph was very interesting. I think the best part of the essay is when it says: "When she jumps, polka dots drop like rain". I think this was interesting because of the movie like image it creates. I can envision someone in their polka dot dress jumping off a building and polka dots all over.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Maps to anywhere
While reading maps to anywhere, I looked at the titles and how I thought they might correlate with the story and how they correlated wit h the stories. One of the stories that I was confused with the title was "On the Air". I also looked at "The Biggest, Most Beautiful Balcony in the World. This is what I will be explaining in the next paragraphs. I found these stories interesting because they did not really seem like essays to me. I felt that I was in a conversation with the people writing these stories.
When I first saw the title "On the Air" I thought of being on the radio or on television, and I also thought about flying a plane. The different places that are being talked about in this story feels like someone is in a plane. It goes from eing very happy and marvelous to places that are not as beautiful. I feel that the plane is crashing and the pilot is crying.
When I read "The Biggest, Most Beautiful Balcony in the World", I felt that it was going to be all about fairytales and I was wrong. At first I thought that it was going in the direction of a storylike fairytale and when it started talking about the sad balcony my thought process changed. It ended with a good thought about Juliet.
The stories are not what I thought it would be. They had a twist to them that I was not ready for but I like that twist.
When I first saw the title "On the Air" I thought of being on the radio or on television, and I also thought about flying a plane. The different places that are being talked about in this story feels like someone is in a plane. It goes from eing very happy and marvelous to places that are not as beautiful. I feel that the plane is crashing and the pilot is crying.
When I read "The Biggest, Most Beautiful Balcony in the World", I felt that it was going to be all about fairytales and I was wrong. At first I thought that it was going in the direction of a storylike fairytale and when it started talking about the sad balcony my thought process changed. It ended with a good thought about Juliet.
The stories are not what I thought it would be. They had a twist to them that I was not ready for but I like that twist.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Goldberg
The stories in the Goldberg reading are very moving. The first few sentences in the first two stories are what caught my eye when reading them. I feel that the first few sentences of a short story are the most important because of the message they are trying to tell you. I am going to be talking about the story "Use Lonliness". This story made more of an impact than the other stories did. Lonliness is always something I think most people are afraid of and this story is a perfect way of understanding lonliness.
"Use of Lonliness" made an impact of me because of the language and how it was very strong. The one sentence that stood out to me was "No I don't get used to it. I take a cold shower every morning and every morning it shocks me, but I continue to stand in the shower. Lonliness always has a bite, but learn to stand up in it and not be tossed away." I have always been afraid of being lonely and even though we al want to be happy and with someone, it does not always happen the way we want. We have to perservere through what life gives us and it will help us in the long run.
The short stories have come to be my favorite because there are a lot more meaning than the poems. I thought the poems did not show enough of who the author is where the short stories are very personable. I am sad to be leaving short stories but I am sure the essays will be just as fun!
"Use of Lonliness" made an impact of me because of the language and how it was very strong. The one sentence that stood out to me was "No I don't get used to it. I take a cold shower every morning and every morning it shocks me, but I continue to stand in the shower. Lonliness always has a bite, but learn to stand up in it and not be tossed away." I have always been afraid of being lonely and even though we al want to be happy and with someone, it does not always happen the way we want. We have to perservere through what life gives us and it will help us in the long run.
The short stories have come to be my favorite because there are a lot more meaning than the poems. I thought the poems did not show enough of who the author is where the short stories are very personable. I am sad to be leaving short stories but I am sure the essays will be just as fun!
Monday, February 25, 2013
Short Stories
Fiction packet one was my favorite packet taht we have read. I thought that these stories were very interesting. "Survivors" was my favorite story of the packet. I also enjoyed the "Mystery Stories". There are so many unanswered questions and that is why I like them so much. I get really interested in the stories that ask questions and I just want to keep reading them. I always think about the diffferent reasons the author left the ending so open.
The first story of the packet was very interesting. I had to read it over again to figure out what it was trying to tell me. I enjoyed how there were mny little hints and there was not anything that was thrown out there. I had to look deeply at the words and the meaning of each word. I also enjoyed how it just seemed like it was his thoughts and how he would think of one thing and that would lead into another thing and that would lead into another thing. I was interested in that. An example of this would be; "...the surivor- he knew this from her letters... they all- father, mother, two older brothers- would disapprove..." Then it goes into how the family would disapprove of the house they lived in. At the end of the story, I really wanted the other person to die first because I could see how horrible it would be for him and living with his lovers family but then living without the bird and being all alone. No one ever wants to be alone.
I also enjoyed the mystery stories and the meaning and questioning that it leaves you doing at the end. "The Red Coats" was my favorite. I think that these stories can be taken however you want to take them. I relate this story to a show that I love watching every week. A red coat is a big part of this show and everytime I read this story I always think of that show and that show only when I look at this. I also liked strawberries because it starts off as super glamorous and exciting and fun and then it says; "I am afraid I will have to pay for their dinners when they come back." The mood goes from happy to afraid of the bill and disappointment.
This is my favorite thing that we have read about this semester so far. I like the short stories because it keeps my attention and not being accessive.
The first story of the packet was very interesting. I had to read it over again to figure out what it was trying to tell me. I enjoyed how there were mny little hints and there was not anything that was thrown out there. I had to look deeply at the words and the meaning of each word. I also enjoyed how it just seemed like it was his thoughts and how he would think of one thing and that would lead into another thing and that would lead into another thing. I was interested in that. An example of this would be; "...the surivor- he knew this from her letters... they all- father, mother, two older brothers- would disapprove..." Then it goes into how the family would disapprove of the house they lived in. At the end of the story, I really wanted the other person to die first because I could see how horrible it would be for him and living with his lovers family but then living without the bird and being all alone. No one ever wants to be alone.
I also enjoyed the mystery stories and the meaning and questioning that it leaves you doing at the end. "The Red Coats" was my favorite. I think that these stories can be taken however you want to take them. I relate this story to a show that I love watching every week. A red coat is a big part of this show and everytime I read this story I always think of that show and that show only when I look at this. I also liked strawberries because it starts off as super glamorous and exciting and fun and then it says; "I am afraid I will have to pay for their dinners when they come back." The mood goes from happy to afraid of the bill and disappointment.
This is my favorite thing that we have read about this semester so far. I like the short stories because it keeps my attention and not being accessive.
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