blog evaluation

My favorite blog assignment was the one that we did about having our own say.  My least favorite was creating the voki, I kept having probems with it and I had to redo it a few times.  I was not a fan of blogging.  I always forgot about it.  I don't really like keeping an online journal.  I would rather do a project or write a paper than write in a blog every week.  I will probably shut down my blog account after the semester is over because Facebook can serve the same purpose and there are more viewers, or friends, on Facebook.  I don't remember titles well so I'll describe my top three.  1. The Yellow Wallpaper? The one about irony and the crazy lady who had to stay in the room.  2. the one about the man who was almost killed by the Spaniards two or three times, I liked the action in it.  and a 3rd would probably be the one about the jumping frog. I would recommend, though, that the incoming juniors still do the blogging.  I personally think some of them would love it.  It can be a hassle and it is hard to remember, but I think they could use the experience.

Songs in the Great Gatsby

1.  “In the music-room Gatsby turned on a solitary lamp beside the piano. He lit Daisy's cigarette from a trembling match, and sat down with her on a couch far across the room, where there was no light save what the gleaming floor bounced in from the hall. 
When Klipspringer had played THE LOVE NEST. he turned around on the bench and searched unhappily for Gatsby in the gloom.”

2.  “Don't talk so much, old sport," commanded Gatsby. "Play!"
"IN THE MORNING, IN THE EVENING, AIN'T WE GOT FUN——"
Outside the wind was loud and there was a faint flow of thunder along the Sound. All the lights were going on in West Egg now; the electric trains, men-carrying, were plunging home through the rain from New York. It was the hour of a profound human change, and excitement was generating on the air..."”

3.  "Good night, Nick," said Daisy.
Her glance left me and sought the lighted top of the steps, where THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, a neat, sad little waltz of that year, was drifting out the open
door.

4.  “"Nobody's in," she said. "Mr. Wolfshiem's gone to Chicago."
The first part of this was obviously untrue, for someone had begun to whistle "THE ROSERY," tunelessly, inside.”
 

Love walked alone.
The rocks cut her tender feet,
And the brambles tore her fair limbs.
There came a companion to her,
But, alas, he was no help,
For his name was heart's pain

I'm not sure if I like this poem or not.  I like the style of it and that it gives an emotion physical attributes.  I like that it shows the physical side of an emotion.  I don't like the tone of the poem, though.  It is kind of depressing.  I think it is completly true, but reading it is kind of sad.  No one wants to think of pain and heartache, but this poem forces you to.  It says that love was basically beaten and abused and the only one she has is her hearts pain. 

Mark Twain Quote

"A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval." 
I like this quote because i think it is talking about self respect and confidence.  If you don't believe in yourself, then no one else will either.  People can tell when you feel uncomfortable.  It usually makes the people around you feel uncomfortable as well.  I think this means that in order to gain and earn respect from other people you must first accept and respect yourself. 

Stories of the quest for civil rights

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2009/01/18/1_MESSAGE_ART_01-18-09_E1_NDCHD49.html

This article can definately relate to things from King's speeches and Malcom X's opinions.  It is about little movements and attemps that people made before.  Many people tried getting away with sitting in White seats on busses, but Rosa Parks was the one who made a movement out of it and got publicity and credit for it.  Many people wrote letters and gave speeches before King and X did.  King and X just grabbed a bigger audience and got more publicity for it.  I think a lot of people just think that these three people were the whole movement.  They were the only ones who stood up and fought.  These three may have gotten more credit than others but they were certainly not the only ones.  There were thousands of others who were doing the same things. 

A walk through Harlem

It was really interesting to see Harlem in Sadie and Bessie's time.  When I read "Having Our Say" I could kind of picture certain things, like the shops and stores around their home and the dentist office.  It was really cool to see an actual remake of it.  One of the things I remember particularly were all of the churches.  I remember Bessie and Sadie saying that there were a few churches but I did not realized how many there really were and how close together they all were.

expressions in art

  I think this picture can represent Bessie and Sadie fighting the rebby boys.  The men in the picture are fighting them, but the white men are fighting back. It doesn't show what the white men did to cause this but even something little could have caused an outburst.  The rebby boys were constantly doing little things just to show Saadie and Bessie that they didn't belong.  It is cruel and completly unfair.  The men in this picture and Sadie and Bessie all got treated harshly because of their skin color.  They were discriminated and abused.  It is not fair at all.  Sadie and Bessie overcame the rebby boys by proving them wrong and never giving up.  The men in this picture look like they may have successfully killed some of the white men and their owners.
(Juneteenth.com)

having my say

There are alot of things I feel strongly about.  Everyone has an opinion on everything.  There is no such thing as not having an opinion.  One thing that I have a strong opinion about is abortion.  I think it is wrong.  It is the equivilent of murder.  There are always other options like adoption, or even keeping the baby, killing the baby shouldn't even be an option.  Once the baby is conceived, it has a heartbeat.  That makes killing it the same as murdering it.  I don't know who could even think to do it.  If the baby is a mistake, then that's your own fault.  Sometimes you just have to live with the consequences.  You don't even have to keep the baby.  There are so many other options that should come before abortion.  Most people that are pro-abortion, believe there are exceptions.  Saying abortion is okay, is like saying murder is okay.  It's not.

Does Whitman connect to you?

I think I can relate to this poem because the child that the poem is about keeps changing as he gets older.  Everyone changes with age.  His routine changes because he is getting older.  I can relate because as i get older and grow up, there are things in my life that i do differently and that i change.  There are always parts that will always be there and will never change, though.  The boy in the poem is going through is life and showing how things change.  I think this poem can relate to everyone.  Everyone changes everyday, and we have to adjust and include the new changes in our lifestyles all the time.

Emily Dickinson's Garden of Poetry

A bird came down the walk:
He did not know I saw;
He bit an angle-worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.

He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all abroad, --
They looked like frightened beads, I thought;
He stirred his velvet head
He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all abroad, --
They looked like frightened beads, I thought;
He stirred his velvet head
Like one in danger; cautious,
I offered him a crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home
Than oars divide the ocean,
Too silver for a seam,
Or butterflies, off banks of noon,
Leap, plashless, as they swim.

(http://www.online-literature.com/dickinson/poems-series-2/98/)

This poem is about a kind of animal that you could probably find in your own yard.  At first i thought it was about a squirrel, but when i reread it, I realized it can't be a squirrel becuase squirrels do not have feathers. I think she is saying that even though the animal could be scary and dangerous, she is still trying to give it a chance and befriend it.  Don't judge a book by its cover. 

transcendental writers

I prefer the transcendental writers.  I like them more because they focus more on nature and they seem to be more positive.  The anti-transcendental writers, on the other hand, may be more realistic, but the transcendental writers are more uplifting.  When I read something, or think about something, I would prefer to know that the truth can be found and there are answers, rather than giving up becuase "the truth cannot be found."  The anti-transcendental writers are more negative because they say that people and nature aren't always good and that the truth can't always be found.  Sometimes it's just better to think that people and nature are good, and the truth can be found.  The transcendental writers also write from personal experience or include their feelings.  Most of their writings include deep thought and even advice.  Transcendental is more about everything agreeing with each other and getting along.  There are always solutions and answers to problems.  It is also a lot calmer.  These are all reasons why I highly prefer the transcendental writers to the anti-transcendental writers.