Final Blog

I think it is important for us to study literature because there are so many different kinds of literature. There are also so many different writers, and a lot of them have different writing styles. There are stories about pretty much everything. We have to study literature because it is a general education class at most colleges. I think the reason for this is because colleges want students to learn about different writers and their writing styles which in some cases helps us learn about different cultures. We learned about a lot of different writers and time periods and cultures when we did the literary salons. We also learned how the time period and what was going on in the world affected what authors wrote about. I think this class was a valuable experience for me because I learned a lot and some of the things we did were interesting and fun. Some of the things we did also pushed me out of my comfort zone, which can sometimes be a good thing.
In this class, I have experienced many different places and times through all the reading I have done. In my Novel, Watchers by Dean Koontz, I experienced what it would be like to have a dog that is almost as smart as a human. In my other novel, Twilight Eyes by Dean Koontz, I experienced what it would be like to be a seventeen-year-old who is running from the cops and ends up joining a carnival and traveling with the carnival when they move. Through the Literary Salons, I experienced what it would have been like to be a young adult in the 1980s. We also experienced the 1920s, 1960s, and some other time periods too. We also experienced new things with our cultural opportunities by going to a play, watching a movie we hadn't seen before about an author, and by going to a concert.
In this class, we have experimented with many different things. We had to write flash fiction. The exercise we did right before we actually wrote our story was interesting, but not really helpful. I thought my story was ok, but I think it would have been better if it was longer and had more specific details, but flash fiction isn't supposed to be long or detailed. We also experimented with writing poems. Some of the poetry workshops were fun. We got to experience different kinds of poetry. We also experimented with the ten-minute plays. We didn't have to write any plays, which was a good thing, but we did have to get up and act them out in front of the class which was something new for a lot of the students.
In this class, we did a lot of expanding too. We read short stories and then had mini-book clubs. In the mini-book clubs we expanded our understanding of the short stories by asking and answering questions and listening to others comments about the stories. Some of those short stories were really different. They covered many different topics and writing styles. We expanded on the poetry workshops by doing the poetry slam. The poetry slam was fun to watch, but I really did not like reading my poem. We also expanded our experiences by writing about them in our blogs. We wrote about the reading we did for class and "reading" that we did outside of class this included our cultural opportunities. We also wrote reflections on the mini-book club, the ten-minute plays, Star Wars, and a poem.
Overall, I really enjoyed this class and thought it was a valuable experience. There was a ton of reading. I expected there to be some reading, but not as much as there was. Sometimes trying to make sure I got all the reading done was overwhelming especially since I was taking another class this summer and working too. All the people in our class seemed really nice, and I think I am going to miss them. I think the ten-minute plays were probably my favorite activity from the class. One last thing, don't write on the walls with chalk. The security guards don't like it.

Wild at Heart by Gloriana

Wild at Heart is a country song by Gloriana. It is their only song that I know. It came on the radio today when I was on my home from class so I decided to write my blog about it. I am actually listening to it right now too. I am not really sure why, but I really like it. I think it might be a combination of the music and the lyrics. The music is upbeat, and I like that. The music kind of makes me want to get up and dance. The song is about young people that are "running loose and wild." They are young and think they are in love. They are carefree and willing to do just about anything. I would say it is kind of a romantic song. I like a lot of love songs. I asked my mom why she thought I liked this song. She said she thought it was because I am shy, but I want to be wild, but not wild in a bad way. Wild in a romantic sweep me off my feet kind of way. Romantic things like laying under the stars and kissing in the rain. I think I agree with what my mom said. I do want to fall in love someday, and do romantic things with that person that I am in love with. I am shy and reserved and not always open to new things. Sometimes I wish I was more wild and carefree.
I really like music. I listen to it all the time. I listen to all different kinds of music. I like rock, country, and metal better than other kinds of music. I don't think I really have a favorite band or artist. There are too many good bands and singers to choose just one as my favorite.

Textual Reading

I have done a lot of textual reading this week. I read two chapters in my geology book. I am really glad those are the last two chapters I have to read in that book. The two chapters weren't bad. They were just long and kind of boring. The first one was about tectonic plates and the second one was about mountain building. I do not really care how the continents got to where they are today or how the mountains were formed. I guess it is kind of interesting, but I think they go into too much detail explaining it. I do not plan on being a geologist so I don't think I need to know all of the very specific details. What makes it worse is we are quizzed on what we read. We can use our books on the quiz, but it is really hard to tell what stuff the teacher is going to ask, and I do not think we are given enough time to take the quizzes.
I finished by novel, Watchers by Dean Koontz. The ending was really good. I am not going to tell you how it ended. My blog from last week gives a pretty good summary of the book, although it does leave out some really interesting stuff.
I have started reading another book by Dean Koontz. The title of it is Twilight Eyes. I have only read the first five chapters, but it is pretty good so far. It is not like the other two Dean Koontz books where the chapters have different sections and the different sections are about different people. This book has chapters and the chapters have titles, and it is just one story. It does not switch back and forth between characters. It is about a seventeen-year-old boy who calls himself Slim MacKenzie. That is not his real name. He has changed his name many times because he is running from the cops. He is wanted for murder. He killed his uncle with an ax. The story takes place at a carnival. On his first night there, he kills a man. He claims that the people that he kills are goblins.
The last thing I want to write about in this blog is the readings we have done for the literary salons. Most of the readings and presentations have been really interesting. There was one that had some pages that were really hard to read because they didn't copy very well. There was another one that I had a hard time reading part of because the print was really really small. Most of the poems that were included in the readings were good, but some of them were hard to understand. I liked the readings that had short stories because I liked being able to read the whole story. I think that makes it easy to understand what is going on.

Cultural Opportunity: Concert

For the concert cultural opportunity, I went to a concert at the fair tonight. Three bands performed at the concert. They were Trapt, Mindset Evolution, and a band from Chicago that I cannot remember the name of. I had never heard of the band from Chicago before and I did not know any of their songs, but I thought they did a pretty good job. Mindset Evolution is a local band. I have seen them perform before. I thought they did a really good job tonight. I do not really know any of their songs either, but I have heard a few of them before. They also sang Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. They did a really good job with it. I really liked it. They had someone dress in the kind of clothing that Michael Jackson would have worn, and he danced while they played the song. I think out of the three bands, Mindset Evolution had the best performance. They were jumping up and down and dancing the entire time they were performing. They had a lot of energy and really looked like they were having fun. Sometimes I wish I had as much energy as they did tonight. All three of the bands seemed like they were really happy to be there. Trapt was the headliner. They played longer than the other two bands. I only know a few of Trapt's songs, and I really like all of them that I know. They played all of the ones that I know at the concert tonight which was good because I prefer to listen to them play songs that I already know. They did a really good job performing too. I enjoyed listening to the songs that I did not already know too, but I liked the ones that I knew better.
Here are some things about the crowd of people that were at the concert. There were a lot of people that were kind of rude. They were pushing and shoving their way through the crowd and running into people. I have been to concerts before and the people are always like that so that did not bother me, but I thought I would mention it anyways. I also don't understand why people that are at least six inches taller than me always fill the need to stand right in front of me. That did kind of annoy me because every time I would move so that I could see the person in front of me would move too. There was one girl wearing a really really short dress and shoes with about a four-inch heel. I do not know why anyone would wear that to a rock concert, and especially one that is outside where you are standing on gravel the entire time. There were two different people that brought a baby with them to the concert. One of the babies looked like she might have been about three years old and the other one did not look like she was even two. I have no clue why anyone would bring children that young to a rock concert where the music is really loud. I do not think that is a very smart thing to do. One girl was standing about ten feet away from the speakers with the baby. Are you trying to blow out the child's eardrums?

Watchers

For my novel, I have been reading Watchers by Dean Koontz. I have already posted one blog about it. In my first blog Ms. Stephanie comment had a few questions in it so I am going to answer them first. Yes, I would say that Watchers is a horror story. The only other book I have by Dean Koontz is The Bad Place, and it was really weird but it was good too. The reason why I think Watchers is so hard to put down is because of the way it is written. There are different sections in each chapter and the different sections switch back and forth between different characters. It makes you want to know more, and to find out more you have to keep reading. Everything is described really well. All the descriptions make it really easy for you see what is going on. It helps you visualize the characters and situations.
I have not finished reading the book yet, but I am almost there. I have about one hundred pages left. In my last blog I told you that one of the main characters was Travis Cornell. He finds a dog in the canyon that he was visiting. Something was chasing the dog. So Travis took the dog home with him. After a few days of watching the dog, Travis realized that he was really smart. So Travis named the dog Einstein. Einstein can do many things that normal dogs cannot do, like opening the refrigerator and turning on the water hose. One day Travis and Einstein go to the park. At the park they met Nora Devon, who is being stalked by her TV repair man Art Streck. Nora and Travis start dating and eventually get married. Travis and Nora figure out a way to communicate with Einstein and they teach him how to read. Einstein tells them where he came from and how he was created. He also tells them about the thing that was chasing him in the woods. They call the thing The Outsider. The thing that was chasing him that day is still searching for him. It wants to kill him because it hates him. The Outsider has been killing people along his path to find the dog. The National Security Agency is searching for the dog and The Outsider. So far The Outsider has not gotten to the dog, but it came really close. It was in Travis's house when Einstein, Nora, and Travis got back from their honeymoon, but they scared it away and then left the house permanently.
I left some stuff out of my summary above because I think you should read the book and find out all the details for yourself. So far I think this book has been really good. I have really enjoyed reading it. I hope the ending is good too.

Cultural Opportunity - Movie

For my movie, I choose to watch Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The reason why I choose this film was mainly because it was the only one that I could find at the video store. I had never seen any of the movies on the list before and had only heard of a few of them so it did not really matter which one I watched.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is based on a 1971 novel by Hunter S. Thompson. It starts with a flashback of a protest or march about the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. That last for a couple of minutes then it goes to the main characters driving down a desert road in a red convertible. The main characters are a journalist named Raoul Duke (played by Johnny Depp) and his lawyer Dr. Gonzo (played by Benicio Del Toro). Raoul Duke is sent to Las Vegas to write a story for a magazine about the Mint 400 motorcycle race. They pack the car and leave for Las Vegas. They take a suitcase full of many different kinds of drugs with them. They also have many different kinds of alcohol with them. They are searching for the American Dream. While they were driving, they picked up a hitchhiker. That they scare so much that he jumps out of the car and runs away. They get to Las Vegas and go to the motor cycle race, but they do not watch the whole thing. They go to the theater and get in for free, but are kicked out a few minutes later. They also went to the casino circus. They trash the hotel room and run up the room service bill. Then leave without paying the bill. Raoul is on his way back home when he gets pulled over by the cops. The cop lets him go, but tells him to go to the rest station up the street and take a long nap. He calls Dr. Gonzo and ends up going back to Las Vegas where he checks into a different hotel. At this new hotel, the cops are having a Convention for Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. So basically Raoul and Dr. Gonzo are high and drunk throughout the entire movie. They hallucinate, trash hotel rooms, run from the police, make people mad, and wreck cars.
I did not really like this movie. It was kind of boring. There were a few times when I thought I was going to fall asleep watching it. It was a two-hour long movie, and for the majority of the movie nothing happened, except for two people getting high. They wake up in the mornings with the hotel room trashed, and they do not remember anything that happened the night before. For a movie that includes all the things I mention above you would think that it would be more exciting, but it really wasn't.

Intro to Poetry

I did not like reading the Introduction to Poetry. It was way too long. It took me a really like time to read it, and I did not think it was ever going to end. There were a lot of vocabulary words. Some of them were good words for us to know, but I think some of them should have been left out. I do not think that it needed to go into as much detail as it did with some things. For example, I think they could have left out most of the stuff about meter and the different marks that are used to denote unstressed and unstressed syllables. I thought the part about the figurative language was good. I liked how the book described what each of the types of figurative language was and then gave examples to help you understand it. By the time I was finished reading this section I had about eight pages of notes. It is probably a good thing that we did not have a quiz over this section because even though I took notes I probably would not have been able to find what I needed to answer the questions.
I liked reading the poems out loud in class. I think that was a good way to cover the poems without making us sit there and read them all to ourselves. It was hard to for me to pick a poem to read in front of the class. Especially since we were supposed to pick a poem that we had not read before. Another reason why picking a poem was hard was because I wanted to pick a poem that I understood. I also had to find a poem that did not have any words that I did not know how to pronounce. I ended up picking "Tell All the Truth, but Tell it Slant" by Emily Dickinson.

Extra Poetry Blog

For this blog, I am going to reflect on the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. It is on page 563 in our book. The reason that I choose to reflect on this poem is because it is one of my favorite poems. I think it could be considered a narrative poem because it tells a story about a person who is walking in the woods and has to decide which path to take. The poem has visual imagery in it. It describes the woods, the roads, and the traveler. There were end rhymes in this poem. An end rhyme is a rhyme that occurs are the end of lines. There was a rhyme scheme and pattern. Each stanza abaab rhyme pattern. I do not think there was any figurative language in this poem. There were not any similes, metaphors, or onomatopeias. I think the reason why I like this poem so much is because I it was easy to understand. There were not any words that I did not know. There did not seem to be any hidden meaning or message. I did not have to sit here and think about what it was supposed to mean. I am not a big fan of poetry because most of the time when I read a poem it doesn't make any sense, and I think to myself why can't they just say what they mean. This poem and a few others that I have read are not like that. Another poem I really like is "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost and pretty much anything by Edgar Allan Poe.

Star Wars Response

I have never seen any of the Star Wars movies before, and have never really been interested in them. I am still not really interested in seeing the rest of them. It was not a bad movie. It was just hard to follow. With that being said, I am going to attempt to answer the response questions.
In Westerns, the characters are usually cowboys or bounty hunters. In Westerns, there seems to be a lot of searching for people and shooting. In Star Wars, there was a lot of shooting, however they were not using normal guns. They were shooting with laser guns. In Star Wars, Luke, Obi-Wan, and the other people that are with them are searching for the Empire's Death Star so that they can destroy it. They also have to search for Princess Leia because they know she is there and needs their help but they do not know where she is at. Both Star Wars and Westerns have high adventure and epic tales set in grand landscapes.
I think the movie is so popular because there is a lot of action and drama in it. I think people like movies that involve action and drama because it keeps them entertained. I think people watch movies because it lets them relax and keeps them entertained. No one wants to sit down and watch something that they think is boring.
I am not really sure what the theme of Stars Wars was. There was a lot of good guy vs. bad guy stuff so I guess I would say that is the theme. Luke and Obi-Wan and the rest of their group were fighting against Darth Vader and his group. Years ago, Darth Vader killed Luke's father. Luke destroyed the Death Star which the bad guys were going to use to blow up planets. Han Solo stayed and helped Luke, but the only reason he stayed was because he was promised money.
I would say that the lightsaber is a traditional symbol in the movie. It is a weapon that the Jedi-Knight uses. Luke's father used to use the lightsaber, and he wanted Luke to have it. Throughout the movie it is used to help defeat the bad guys.
Luke is the main character. He is the protagonist or hero. He is very important to the plot of the movie. He is pretty much the one that saves Princess Leia and destroys the Death Star. He does have help doing these things, but most of the credit is given to him. I think his motivation changes throughout the movie. His motivation for going with Obi-Wan in the first place was because he wanted to do what his dad did and his uncle did not want him to do it. So I think he was kind of rebelling against his uncle. I think his motivation for rescuing Princess Leia was she needed help, and I think maybe he might have liked her.

My Novel

For my novel, I am reading Watchers by Dean Koontz. I have not finished it yet. Actually I am probably only about a forth of the way through it. So far it has been really good. The main character is a man named Travis. It starts off with him going to Santiago Canyon. He used to go there when he was a kid, but he has not been in many years. At the beginning he is depressed and lonely and he feels that his life has been pointless. While he is at the canyon, he runs into a dog. Something chases him and the dog, and he ends up taking the dog home with him. That's all I am going to tell you about the plot because I do not want to ruin the book for anyone who has not read it.
So far I have really enjoyed reading this book. As soon as I started reading it I was interested in it and did not want to stop reading it. Most of the time, when I read a book it takes me a little while to get into it, but Watchers wasn't like that.
If you have ever read a Dean Koontz book you probably know that they way that he writes is a little bit different. In this book, each chapter has different sections. The sections are numbered. Each section focuses on a different character and their story, and at first the different characters and their stories do not seem to be connected. Throughout the book, the stories are all eventually connected. I like the way that Dean Koontz writes, but the first time that you read one of his books you might get confused because it switches back and forth between characters and stories so often.

Cultural Opportunity - Play: Rumors

Last night I went to Corn Stock Theatre and watched a play called Rumors. I had never been to Corn Stock Theatre before and did not know what to expect. The Corn Stock Theatre is outside under a big tent. There are chairs set up in a semi-circle around the stage. It was nice. The bad thing about the play being outside was that it was hot and then one time the wind blew really hard and the lights that were hanging at the top of the tent shook. It did not look very safe, but nothing fell so apparently it was safe enough. The majority of the people there to see the play were fifty years old or older, but there were some younger people there too.
I liked the play. The setting was a house in New York at present time. Four couples go to their friends' tenth anniversary party. When the first couple gets there, they realize that something is not right. The other couples start arriving a little while later, and some of them realize right away that something is wrong. So throughout the play there is a lot of arguing and yelling and at a lot of rumors get started or spread. By the end of the play all the characters are drunk and cops end up at the party.
The actors and actresses all did a great job. The costumes and hair and make-up all looked really good. The set looked really nice, and the sound and lighting was good.
Our cultural opportunity sheet says we are supposed to provide analysis. I don't really think there was anything to analysis. I think the moral behind the play might be that people shouldn't start or spread rumors because a lot of the time they aren't true and people end up getting hurt or angry.
I thought the play was good. It was really funny. I would recommend it to anyone that still needs to find a play to go to for their cultural opportunity or anyone that just wants something to do. However, I would not recommend that you take young children with you because there is quite a bit of cussing and there is a gun fired during the play. You don't actually see the gun, but you hear it.

Last Group of Short Stories

I did my mini book club on "A Rose for Emily." I thought the story was good, but Emily definitely had some problems. I do not know why anyone would want to keep a dead body in their house. I thought my mini book club went really well. Everyone did a good job participating and answering the questions that I came up with.
The other stories we had to read were good too. "Roman Fever" was a little hard to follow at some points. At first, I could not figure out who was married to Delphin and who was married to Horace. "Gryphon" was funny. I think the substitute teacher was a little crazy. I liked that the kids asked her questions, and told her that six times eleven was not sixty-eight. "The Girl With the Blackened Eye" was sad. I thought it was well written, but it was hard to read. I liked "Irish Girl." I liked that it was set in a more present time. The end of the story was sad. I did not really like "A & P." Nothing really exciting ever happened. It was pretty much just three girls walking around a store in their swimming suits. I thought "Woman Hollering Creek" was boring. I could not get into it. "Mother Savage" was good, but I do not know why the mother killed the four men that were staying with her. They were nice to her and did things for her. I know she was upset that her son got killed in the war, but the four men at her house didn't kill him.

T.V. Show: Scrubs

For my out of class reading for this week, I decided to watch two episodes of Scrubs. Scrubs is one of my favorite shows. For anyone who has never seen Scrubs before, it takes place in a hospital and the main characters are all doctors, surgeons, interns, or nurses. I think the show is more about the main characters and their lives than it is about the patients and their problems although these are included. I would say that the main characters are JD, Turk, Carla, Elliot, Dr. Cox, Jordan, Dr. Kelso, and Jordan. I would say that JD is the narrator of the show. It seems like most of the show is told from his point-of-view.
In the first episode that I watched of this assignment Turk and Carla were fighting and Carla moved out and stayed at Elliot's apartment for a little while. While Carla was staying with Elliot, they talked about the past. In the end Carla and Turk made up and Carla moved back in with Turk. In this episode there seemed to be a lot of flashbacks. Dr. Cox likes to give advice, but in this episode Dr. Kelso gave the advice. He said "Nothing in this world that is worth having comes easy." I think that is good advice.
In the second episode, Carla is having issues with trusting Turk. In this episode, Jack (Dr. Cox and Jordan's baby) has to get stitches on his forehead because he fell off the jungle gym at the park. The janitor is mean to everyone, but in this episode he targets Jordan and Dr. Cox. He follows Dr. Cox around and takes pictures of him letting the baby do things that Jordan would not like. Then he follows Jordan around taking pictures of her letting people hold and hug the baby, and Dr. Cox does not like this.
In the show in general, there is a lot of smiling, laughing, crying, advice giving, and sarcasm. The characters use a lot of facial expressions and hand gestures. There is a lot of joke telling and high-fiving.

First 13 Short Stories

The first thirteen short stories we had to read for class were interesting. I liked "Last Requests." I thought it was easy to read, and it was interesting to see what different people wanted to eat for their last meal. "Nipple Jesus" was different, but I kind of liked it too. I am not sure how I would feel if I saw a picture of Jesus made out of breast, but I probably would not like it. "Party Down at the Square" was sad, but there was a lot of action in it and I liked that. I really liked "Orientation." It was entertaining, and I think that it is probably really like that in a lot of offices. "Interpreter of Maladies" was good, but I think it was a little too long. I did not like "In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried." I had no clue what the story was about when I read it the first time. Talking about it in the mini book club helped me understand it a little better, but I still did not like the story. I thought "The Best of Betty" was funny. It was really easy for me to read. I did not like "I Know What I'm Doing About all the Attention I've Been Getting." Pretty much all the story talked about was the narrator getting dressed. What was the purpose of the story? I also did not like "Hills Like White Elephants." The whole story was two people sitting at a table drinking and talking about abortion. "The Lady with the Pet Dog" was good, but I think it was to long too. I think the author could have left out some of the very specific details and it wouldn't have changed the story too much. I thought "Everyday Use" was good, but in some places it was difficult to follow along with. "People Like That are the Only People Here" was a really sad story. No one should have to go through pain like that especially babies. I did not like the way it ended. I wanted to know if the baby was ok or if the cancer came back. I also wanted to know what happened to the other kids that were in the story. "Catskin" was weird. It wasn't bad. It was just really weird.
I liked going to the mini book clubs. I thought most of the facilitators did a really good job leading their book clubs. I thought the mini book clubs were good because they let us talk about the different ideas we all had about the stories, and some of the mini books helped me understand some of the stories better.

Out of class reading

For my out of class reading for this week, I read chapter one in my introduction to geology text book. I found the first chapter interesting. It talked about the history of geology, scientific methods, the Earth, and rocks. The chapter has pictures and charts that I thought were really helpful. The pictures and charts also made it more interesting because they gave you something to look at that went along with what was being said in each section of the chapter. The charts gave additional information that was not in the actual reading, and the pictures had captions explaining what the picture was. By reading this chapter I learned some things that I did not know before. For example, I learned more about the theory of plate tectonics and the rock cycle. There was one part of the chapter that I really did not like reading. It was about the Big Bang Theory. I think the reason why I did not like reading this section was because I do not believe that the world was created that way. There was something else in the chapter that I am not sure if I agree with. It says that the Earth is about fourteen billion years old. I do not know. It might be that old, but that does not really seem like a reasonable number to me. There are little grey boxes throughout the chapter with the question "Did you know?" above them. Inside the boxes there are interesting facts. I liked that these boxes were included in the chapter.

Reading p. 7-25

When I first started reading this section, I thought I was going to enjoy reading it. I really liked how it started, but as I continued to read I started to get bored. There were too many vocabulary words and too many names of authors and their stories. I think it was good that these things were included, but I think it would have been just as good if some of them had been left out or if they had been spread out a little bit more than they were. I liked how the author included pieces of the story "Reunion" by John Cheever to help explain some of the different vocabulary words. I think this helped me understand the meanings of the words better, and it made this section of the book more interesting. I learned a lot from reading these pages. While I have heard most of the words before and already knew what they meant, there were a few new vocabulary words in the reading. It took me a long time to read this section because there was a lot of information in it, and I was not sure which things were really important and which things were not. I liked that this section explained what plot, setting, theme, and point of view are. These are all words that most of us have heard before and probably already knew what they meant, but I think it was a good thing to review before we actually start reading stories. I know first and third person points of view are the most commonly used, but what is second person point of view and why isn't it used very often?