For this blog post I'm going to talk about a story in essay packet 2 - Living Close to the Knives. I think this essay did an excellent job of explaining what it is like to be a homosexual, more specifically a homosexual with HIV/AIDS. The narrator of the story gives the audience some insight in to what emotions are involved with feeling like an outsider and not fitting in with societies norm. The following passage gives a glimpse into how the narrator feels "Ever since my teenage years, I've experienced the sensation of seeing myself from miles above the earth, as if from the clouds. I see the tiny human form of myself from overhead either sitting or moving through this clockwork of civilization." This passage explained how the narrator felt, since a young age, as if he is not being himself. This was one of the first clues that the narrator and the man in the hospital were partners.
I think the little breaks with facts about whales were random thoughts by the narrator as he was seeing his partner falling apart from AIDS. seeing his partner struggle to survive made him think of a sharply contrasted situation of a healthy, powerful animal and the feats they can attain. I hope that makes sense.
The most shocking part of the story was the lengths AIDS victims go in attempting to cure the disease. One part from the story explains how vaccines, developed from human feces and typhoid shots that have side effects of extremely high fevers, are administered to hopeful AIDS victims. Maybe it's a monetary issue? Basketball legend Magic Johnson was HIV positive 20 years ago and he seems to be healthy today.
The end of this essay gives you a feeling of how many people hate, simply because of the differences in people. The narrator refers to a quote by a politician he read in a newspaper "To solve the problem of AIDS just shoot the queers..." He also remembered reading a quote from another government official saying "What you want is a little place; an island where you can isolate these people so they can bang each other up with this AIDS virus..."
I don't know if this essay is fiction or non-fiction, but i do know that there are people around the world that chose to hate people based on any possible reason they can find. This story brings up two controversial issues that humans continue to face in the 21st century, from the eyes of the gay community and the many people infected with AIDS.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Blog Response #11
For this blog response, I'm going to talk about the three essays we talked about in class on Tuesday The Fine Art of Sighing, Crumbling Expectations, and Essay on the Sublimation of Dying. All of these essays are similar in the sense that they all talk about grieving someone that is dying or already dead. Although, The Fine Art of Sighing does not talk about grieving, sighing can be connected with grieving because sighing is a emphasized release of air, which is kind of what you are trying to do when grieving over someone - let go and release, never forgetting about them but letting them go.
The Fine Art of Sighing used an interesting way of showing that we are all connected - through sighs. The author could have used many other things to show we are connected like the desire to reproduce or the hunger for nourishment, but he used sighing, I though that was a creative take on the connection between all of us humans. I also thought Cooper did an excellent job of describing what a sigh is creatively and creating an image of what a sigh is.
Crumbling Expectations did an excellent job of telling a story about a man that came up short in many different aspects. The father cheated on his wife, ruined his business relationships, and lost his resort. This story reminds me of To After That how it is a story withing another story. The main narrator is explaining about a novel his father had written about a resort owner who's resort fell into Lake Michigan. Like a student said in class, there is a parallel drawn between the fathers body falling apart from cancer and the story about a man whose life is falling apart.
The last essay that I'm going to talk about is a tough one to fully understand. The way it is formatted and the style in which it is written is unusual. I thought that it was formatted in fragments (synthesis I, synthesis II, etc.) to show the transformation from life to death. Synthesis means combining two or more things together, so I thought that it also added to my theory, when someone dies it can seem like the line between life and death is paper thin. The author talks a great deal about language and text, what she should revise in her text. This also reminded me of the writing style of To After That.
To me, all of these essays seemed connected by the fact that they are dealing with the release of something or someone and the fact that they are an essay talking about writing another essay.
The Fine Art of Sighing used an interesting way of showing that we are all connected - through sighs. The author could have used many other things to show we are connected like the desire to reproduce or the hunger for nourishment, but he used sighing, I though that was a creative take on the connection between all of us humans. I also thought Cooper did an excellent job of describing what a sigh is creatively and creating an image of what a sigh is.
Crumbling Expectations did an excellent job of telling a story about a man that came up short in many different aspects. The father cheated on his wife, ruined his business relationships, and lost his resort. This story reminds me of To After That how it is a story withing another story. The main narrator is explaining about a novel his father had written about a resort owner who's resort fell into Lake Michigan. Like a student said in class, there is a parallel drawn between the fathers body falling apart from cancer and the story about a man whose life is falling apart.
The last essay that I'm going to talk about is a tough one to fully understand. The way it is formatted and the style in which it is written is unusual. I thought that it was formatted in fragments (synthesis I, synthesis II, etc.) to show the transformation from life to death. Synthesis means combining two or more things together, so I thought that it also added to my theory, when someone dies it can seem like the line between life and death is paper thin. The author talks a great deal about language and text, what she should revise in her text. This also reminded me of the writing style of To After That.
To me, all of these essays seemed connected by the fact that they are dealing with the release of something or someone and the fact that they are an essay talking about writing another essay.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Blog Response #10
First, I would like to talk about a short story called The Fine Art of Sighing. The first paragraph did such an excellent job of putting into words and describing someone sighing. For example, in the story it says "a kettle hisses. A balloon deflates. Your shoulders fall like two ripe pears." The way the author described a sigh in that passage was creative and unconventional. I also connected with this story with ease because it talks about the persons mother starring out of the kitchen window sighing. I can picture my mom doing the same exact thing. It's funny because I always tell my mom she sighs too much, and that makes her sigh. I guess having three boys is something to sigh about.
The other story that I want to talk about is Things To Do Today. The form of the story is very unusual for a short story. It is set up in a way to look like a list, hence the title. Each of the numbers are very abstract in meaning. For example, here are a couple of numbers from the list: 1. thaw the wounded, 26. make the beautiful go to work, and 70. control the urge to farm. Every single number on the list seems to be random. However, there must be a meaning to all of these being in a list. In terms of language, there is various repetition of action verbs like motivate, force, grope, nudge, practice, etc. I hope we go over this short story in class because I really can't find a meaning behind this list.
The last short story that I would like to talk about is the one we already talked about in class - Total Eclipse. I liked this story because seeing an eclipse in person would a magical thing, like seeing the Northern Lights at the poles. My favorite part of the story was when the author described the eclipse as it happened. "the sky's blue was deepening, but there was no darkness. The sun was a wide crescent, like a segment of tangerine." My favorite part about reading a story is the ability to visualize what the author is vividly describing.
The other story that I want to talk about is Things To Do Today. The form of the story is very unusual for a short story. It is set up in a way to look like a list, hence the title. Each of the numbers are very abstract in meaning. For example, here are a couple of numbers from the list: 1. thaw the wounded, 26. make the beautiful go to work, and 70. control the urge to farm. Every single number on the list seems to be random. However, there must be a meaning to all of these being in a list. In terms of language, there is various repetition of action verbs like motivate, force, grope, nudge, practice, etc. I hope we go over this short story in class because I really can't find a meaning behind this list.
The last short story that I would like to talk about is the one we already talked about in class - Total Eclipse. I liked this story because seeing an eclipse in person would a magical thing, like seeing the Northern Lights at the poles. My favorite part of the story was when the author described the eclipse as it happened. "the sky's blue was deepening, but there was no darkness. The sun was a wide crescent, like a segment of tangerine." My favorite part about reading a story is the ability to visualize what the author is vividly describing.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Blog Response #9
The first essay I read was Sunday. I liked this essay because it reminded me of the holidays with my family, eating large meals until we were full beyond belief. It made me laugh in the essay when it said "white people can't cook, they don't know nothin' about seasoning." This reminded me of my mom's cooking because when she cooks her food can be pretty bland (she'd kill me if she heard me say this). I know a lot of African American families cherish their Sunday dinners and this essay told about the Coleman family's Sunday dinner. The descriptive nature of this essay shows in the last paragraph when it talks about what they eat during Sunday's dinner.
I also read Mint Snowball which is closely related to the first essay I read, Sunday. The two are closely related in meaning because they both have a sense of remembrance. Both are about a memory of family traditions relating to recipe(s) that warm the heart. The following passage shows this: "the mint snowball tasted like winter. she closed her eyes to see the Swiss village my great-grandfather's parents came from. snow frosting the roofs roofs." Nothing brings back childhood memories like eating a familiar meal with your family. These two stories reminded me of the movie Ratatouille because at the end of the movie, the food critic eats a dish made by the rat that tastes just like his favorite recipe made by his mom.
The third essay I read was Mute Dancers: How to Watch a Hummingbird. I'm going to Eastern to pursue my passion in life - wildlife, so I really enjoyed this essay. The last paragraph is awesome when it says "Hummingbirds are iridescent for the same reason soap bubbles are. each feather contains tiny air bubbles at different angles, and that makes blazing colors seem to swarm and leap." This passage is excellent at creating a vivid image of the rainbow of colors on hummingbird feathers that act as a prism when hit by sunlight, like a soap bubble.
I enjoy reading the essays because they are more straight-forward than poems and fictional stories. You don't have to look super far into the material to get the meaning or message of the essays.
I also read Mint Snowball which is closely related to the first essay I read, Sunday. The two are closely related in meaning because they both have a sense of remembrance. Both are about a memory of family traditions relating to recipe(s) that warm the heart. The following passage shows this: "the mint snowball tasted like winter. she closed her eyes to see the Swiss village my great-grandfather's parents came from. snow frosting the roofs roofs." Nothing brings back childhood memories like eating a familiar meal with your family. These two stories reminded me of the movie Ratatouille because at the end of the movie, the food critic eats a dish made by the rat that tastes just like his favorite recipe made by his mom.
The third essay I read was Mute Dancers: How to Watch a Hummingbird. I'm going to Eastern to pursue my passion in life - wildlife, so I really enjoyed this essay. The last paragraph is awesome when it says "Hummingbirds are iridescent for the same reason soap bubbles are. each feather contains tiny air bubbles at different angles, and that makes blazing colors seem to swarm and leap." This passage is excellent at creating a vivid image of the rainbow of colors on hummingbird feathers that act as a prism when hit by sunlight, like a soap bubble.
I enjoy reading the essays because they are more straight-forward than poems and fictional stories. You don't have to look super far into the material to get the meaning or message of the essays.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Blog Response #8
For this weeks blog response I would like to talk about a couple of the stories in fiction packet #3. The first story I read was The Singing Fish. My first thought after reading this story was that it was a child's imagination running wild. The simplicity of the sentence structure made me believe it was a child's work. During the in class discussion some of the other students thought that it was primitive and caveman like, which makes sense because unique way it is written. For example, "Says me is who, brother says to this. Oh yeah, I say. But who said so to you?" The way the sentences flow seems backwards, so i can see why some of the students see the story as the point of view of primitive cavemen who didn't even know the meaning of grammar. I also noticed that there is a great deal of repetition of words. Time and time again it goes back to the brothers, the girl, mud, the moon, and so on. This reaffirms the thought that I have about the story being in the POV of a child. Children tend to go in circles especially when telling a story. That's just what I got out of The Singing Fish.
I also read The Falling Girl which I though was interesting. I think that the meaning behind the story is that Marta is rushing through her life (the falling symbolizes this) without slowing down to enjoy it. When she first starts falling the sun is setting and she is still falling when it becomes dark. I think this symbolizes time going by as she rushes through life. I really liked the descriptive nature in the beginning of the second paragraph. The part I liked most is "from that airy height the girl saw the streets and the masses of buildings writhing in the long spasm of sunset, and at the point where the white of the houses ended, the blue of the sea began." The creates a vivid image in my mind about a skyline contrasting the dark blue of the sea. There were other women falling as well which I really did not understand what that meant. Towards the end of the story it says "at these low floors only falling old women pass by. you can see beautiful girls from the hundred-and-fiftieth floor up. those apartments don't cost so much for nothing." I guess this could symbolize that the older women are more humble and the prettier women have their heads in the sky.
The last story that I read was Death to the Right Fielder. This story intrigued me because it describes the outfielders as "outsiders" and "onlookers". The infielders "demand communication". I think the position of the players symbolizes the classification of personalities of people. Towards the end of the second paragraph is says "people could pretty much be divided between infielders and outfielders."
I also read The Falling Girl which I though was interesting. I think that the meaning behind the story is that Marta is rushing through her life (the falling symbolizes this) without slowing down to enjoy it. When she first starts falling the sun is setting and she is still falling when it becomes dark. I think this symbolizes time going by as she rushes through life. I really liked the descriptive nature in the beginning of the second paragraph. The part I liked most is "from that airy height the girl saw the streets and the masses of buildings writhing in the long spasm of sunset, and at the point where the white of the houses ended, the blue of the sea began." The creates a vivid image in my mind about a skyline contrasting the dark blue of the sea. There were other women falling as well which I really did not understand what that meant. Towards the end of the story it says "at these low floors only falling old women pass by. you can see beautiful girls from the hundred-and-fiftieth floor up. those apartments don't cost so much for nothing." I guess this could symbolize that the older women are more humble and the prettier women have their heads in the sky.
The last story that I read was Death to the Right Fielder. This story intrigued me because it describes the outfielders as "outsiders" and "onlookers". The infielders "demand communication". I think the position of the players symbolizes the classification of personalities of people. Towards the end of the second paragraph is says "people could pretty much be divided between infielders and outfielders."
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Blog response #7
For this weeks blog response I would like to finish talking about To After That. I finished reading it and by the end of the story I was exhausted. I felt like I had just read a story within a story within another story. It was very confusing to me why the author wrote the book that way. But after listening to you talk about metafiction in class it started to make sense a little bit more. Gladman's book is like nothing I have read before. It is literally a story about a writer writing another story. To be honest, it was tough to get through the whole thing because it seems to be lacking a plot. I guess if I was a writer myself I would enjoy this more because I would be able to relate to the process of writing a story and what it takes to write one. I'm sure it is an exhausting experience to put that much emotion and dedication into your work. It's just that I don't really understand this style of writing.
Gladman's writing seems to be affected most by the location where she is writing (concrete city, the park, and the flat city she moved to) and the personal relationships with the people she is involved with during the time of the writing. These two factors play a big role in any type of career whether it's being an author or any other profession.
Lastly, I would like to talk about the Goldman section "one plus one equals a Mercedes Benz". I really liked this reading because Goldman is explaining that when writing, think outside the box. When I write about myself I tend to keep saying "I do this" and "I am this", which is informative but boring and dull. Instead, Goldman says to write about who you really are. For example: "I am the heat of the sun, the whisper of the fleeting wind, the pigments of yellow, orange, and red of seasons change." I really took a great deal out of this reading.
- Jeff Loos
Crtw 201
Gladman's writing seems to be affected most by the location where she is writing (concrete city, the park, and the flat city she moved to) and the personal relationships with the people she is involved with during the time of the writing. These two factors play a big role in any type of career whether it's being an author or any other profession.
Lastly, I would like to talk about the Goldman section "one plus one equals a Mercedes Benz". I really liked this reading because Goldman is explaining that when writing, think outside the box. When I write about myself I tend to keep saying "I do this" and "I am this", which is informative but boring and dull. Instead, Goldman says to write about who you really are. For example: "I am the heat of the sun, the whisper of the fleeting wind, the pigments of yellow, orange, and red of seasons change." I really took a great deal out of this reading.
- Jeff Loos
Crtw 201
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Blog Response #6: To After That
The story To After That is about a author in the process of writing a novella entitled After That. Goldman explains the writing processes she used during the construction of the novella and the places (concrete city, parks, etc.) she wrote in. Sometimes she would be inspired to continue the process of writing her novella in odd places and at odd times; she explains that it was all part of her adventure of writing the story.
To After That is written in first person and is informal. This book has aspects of humor, emotion, and adventure. Throughout To After That, Goldman writes about her writing mechanics and revision/editing of the unfinished story. I also noticed that Goldman connects her writing processes with real life. The story TAT seems very personal as she speaks about relationships and internal thoughts. On a personal note, Goldman to have a sense of anti-technology with the disgust of cell phones.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this story because it gave me a sense of the creative writing process and what it takes to complete a story, beginning to end.
To After That is written in first person and is informal. This book has aspects of humor, emotion, and adventure. Throughout To After That, Goldman writes about her writing mechanics and revision/editing of the unfinished story. I also noticed that Goldman connects her writing processes with real life. The story TAT seems very personal as she speaks about relationships and internal thoughts. On a personal note, Goldman to have a sense of anti-technology with the disgust of cell phones.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this story because it gave me a sense of the creative writing process and what it takes to complete a story, beginning to end.
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