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I have to admit that I was unable to shake my habit of being a procrastinator. Currently my life is in a state of turmoil, so for the time being my schoolwork has taken a spot on the backburner and I apologize for that. I did enjoy this class very much but I am glad the semester has ended. I really need the summer to recuperate.

This class has engaged me in reading different than anything I've encountered before. I think analyzing the stories were my favorite part, as well as reading the analogies the rest of you came up with. I love finding out the way other people look at things in contrast to how I look at them, and clearly we were able to do that time and time again over the course of the semester. I wish you all well in your schoolwork and life in general, thanks for keeping me interested. :)

my favorite childhood poem.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Short Stories

I have always believed I was not a fan of short stories. I always thought I craved more detail and longer story lines. After taking this class I have realized short stories can be more enjoyable than I originally thought. I think a lot of why I liked them more now than before is when I have only a limited amount of time I can get a whole story read and sometimes more than one. When we were assigned to read longer stories I had to spend more time (obviously) and sometimes the gaps in reading one chapter to the next had me forgetting information. I may even have to go buy a book of short stories for fun. :)

Inspiration

So as I reflect on all the things we've read during this class, I find myself wondering what some of the authors were inspired by. They say "write what you know," which has me a little fearful. Does that mean that James Baldwin was a man who could only get "excited" when he thought about hurting black people? I mean, when I really stop and think about it I get grossed out, because that could mean that this guy was some creep and his work is being read by countless people. Odds are the guy isn't actually like that, but if he isn't why did he write this story? He isn't the only author who wrote about a touchy or uncomfortable subject. Do all of these authors have darker backgrounds than I had originally thought? I just assumed they are all normal, decent people when in reality they could be bad people.

Calixta

For some reason lately I have been thinking about Calixta and her affair. I can't help but think about when we all were expressing our views on if her affair was acceptable or not. I think just because her husband didn't know and his wife didn't know doesn't mean their affair isn't going to come back to bite them in the bottom. Why do they think their one affair won't stick with them? True, right after it happened they may have felt some sort of release and happiness, but do they not think that the desire will creep back into their minds sometime again? Temptation isn't something that you give into once then never fall victim to again. I just think they made the decision on a whim thinking everything would go back to normal afterward.

Heritage and Wooded Legs

As I read "Everyday Use" I was expecting for the eldest daughter, Dee, to end up leaving with the two quilts she came home to attain from her mother. Her own mother believed Dee had grown accustomed to never hearing no as a response to any request she made, and it surprised me that her mother chose this time to stand up to Dee. People who think the world should be given to them are so obnoxious, and it was nice for her mother, however late she started, to begin telling Dee that she couldn't always get what she wanted. How dare Dee come into her mother's house telling her mother and sister, Maggie, that they needed to get with the times and change. Maybe they didn't want to change, and why should they? If their life was going how they wanted it to and wasn't hurting anybody else, they should do just what they wanted to do. Dee is a spoiled hypocrite and could benefit from learning some manners.

As for Joy, who is another spoiled cry-baby, she could benefit from a major attitude adjustment. I realize she was living at home with her mother (even though Joy was in her early thirties) because of her failing health and that she wasn't able to work, but she was a lazy, stuck-up, unpleasant lady. I am still uncertain as to why she was so blatantly rude to the people in her life. I thought when she was duped into "giving" her leg away that she deserved it. Maybe if she would have stopped thinking she was better than and smarter than just about everybody then she would have been able to see that Manley was interested in something other than her. I'm curious about how she so easily believed that he loved her, when she was described as basically an unattractive woman and he was a young good-looking man. I know looks aren't everything, but since all the two really did was look at each other before Manley declared his love for her you'd think she would know he didn't actually love her. That just proves she wrongly believes she is smarter than most others; she fell for the "I love you" trick after about a day of knowing the guy.

Great Gatsby

When I was a junior in high school we were assigned to read this book for our English class. I found it dry and unimpressive. Though I read it completely, I failed to really absorb anything from it. I did not think about why characters did or said what they did or said; I did not think about the connections they had with one another. I simply read the book, did the homework, and that was that.

I spoke to a friend who had the same class with me in high school. She, too, said she found the book boring. She wondered why it got the reputation it has and why it got as much attention as it did. Another friend from that class completely forgot we had read the book. This second friend said, "Was that the one Boo Radley was in?"
Anyway, I didn't find anything inapropriate in the book and I honestly don't see why it shouldn't be allowed in the school's curriculum. 
I would allow my high school aged child to read this book. First of all, no one can shield their child from everything and to try to do so is (in my opinion) wrong. This is a work of Literature, and I feel it is important for people, children included, to learn about different eras.

This Class

I can't believe this class is already halfway over. Last week I was reading and re-reading a poem. I was trying to figure out what the author was trying to say, or at least trying to decide what the poem meant to me. I started to wonder, "Why can't I get a job analyzing poetry?" Which led me to think of jobs I could have that are at least somewhat like analyzing poetry. The best choice I've come up with is some sort of editing, but that is more of correcting than analyzing. Point is, it got me thinking about what career I am going to have and I know for sure it is going to be something to do with words, writing, and communicating. This class has been very interesting for me; I have enjoyed studying the way authors from a different time period wrote. As I've said before, I also enjoy reading the interpretations of other studends and comparing their interpretations to my own. I am looking forward to the rest of this course, I hope to be able to put more effort into my work since one of my other classes ended.

Red Badge of Courage

So, as my title suggests, this blog is about the Red Badge of Courage. I am going to first say, I strongly disliked the main character of this story. I myself am in the National Guard, and thinking of having "soldiers" like this in our military both frightens and angers me. For those of you who aren't sure what the National Guard is, let me try to enlighten you. It is true that we help out around the state when there is a flood, riot, or some occurance we might be able to assist with. That is NOT, however, all we are good for. When we raise our right hand and decide to serve our country, we are then shipped to BCT (basic combat training) with soldiers who are Army reservists and full time Army. We all are trained exaclty the same, but when we finish our training (five months straight for us miliary police) we go to our respective units. For me, that means one weekend a month, two weeks a year. The regular army (people who go to a duty station and work basically a 9-5 job or whichever shift they're put on) are either stateside or sent to a duty station in Germany or some country. Also, some get deployed to fight in the war. The Army reserves AND National Guard get sent home, but can and DO go to war (for a year or more just like the regular army.)

Okay, that was a little off the literary subject, but I wanted to try to explain the difference and similarities the National Guard has with regular Army. Point is, a soldier is a soldier. This "soldier" who wanted so desperately to serve his country ended up being a coward and a raving lunatic. Maybe he wasn't raving, but he was surely crazy. This is they type of guy you don't want fighting on your side; he is the guy who gets others killed because he doesn't have his head in the game and is only looking out for himself. Throughout this story I was so engrossed in my own dislike of the main character that I'm sure I missed a lot of what was going on in the story. I am surprised the author hadn't seen battle before he wrote this, because what he wrote seemed to be from that of someone with experience. Overall I was not a fan of this story. It was able to hold my attention because I have an interest in military stories and because the main character was so irritating to me, but my dislike for him also ruined my ability to truly enjoy what I read.

Characters

I've decided to discuss some of the characters that have been managed to remain in my memory over the last few weeks. I haven't found any characters I have connected with, yet, but some have certainly been interesting.
     The character I have found myself thinking about most is Calixta, from "At the 'Cadian Ball." I am not sure what it is that draws me to her, because I mainly only remember her for her adultery, and I am curious as to what it is about her that fascinates me. Perhaps Kate Chopin, the creator of this character, did such a good job of making Calixta special that she not only interested the men and women of the story but also the people who read about her? Calixta strikes me as the type of woman who would steal the attention of everyone in her presence, so maybe I just admire her for it.
    Another character I remember well wasn't named, but I find myself drawn to him as well. The poem entitled "The Road Not Traveled" has probably been my favorite, so the character has stuck with me almost as much as Calixta has. Again, I don't know why I like this poem so much or what it is I am drawn to. The nameless person (I imagine it's a man) decides to choose one of two paths, and he later reflects on how happy he is with his decision. I have a strange way about deciding things; sometimes I analyze situations for weeks or months before I can make a decision, other times I decide on a whim. I think I admire this character for his thoughtfulness; I hope to be more responsible with all my choices in the way he appears to be.

   One character I did NOT like is the speaker from "the mother." I did enjoy the poem, but the person speaking irked me. The fact that she had multiple abortions yet almost mourned the children she aborted had me confused and irritated. Obviously the subject of abortion is a touchy one, but when a person uses abortions as their form of birth control I lose respect for them. Then this woman goes on to say how she loved her babies, her "pulps." Lady, if you loved them you wouldn't have done what you did so many times. There could have been circumstances that made her feel it was her only option, but in most cases abortion isn't the only option. Okay, I will step down from my soap box because I can ramble on if I don't cut myself off.

Procrastination & Poetry

First of all, I am going to admit I am a procrastinator. I do not do it purposely. I hate that I do it and I always tell myself that I will NO LONGER procrastinate, then I turn around and my midterm blog is about due and I realize I have yet, AGAIN, procrastinated.

Anyway. . . This blog will be about poetry, since it is what our latest blog is covering.
I was a little unhappy when I read that we would be doing this poetry blog, because I never really enjoyed poetry. I take that back, when I was little I enjoyed Ronald Dahl (or whatever his name is) but that can hardly compare to the poetry we read in these grown up classes. Nevertheless, I was not at all looking forward to this pod. I started with the TWO Dance poems and the one dance picture and I found myself growing interested in what was written. I started analyzing what the author was saying, and I learned that it wasn't just a bunch of words thrown together to be printed and sold. The more I read and analyzed the more interesting the poems became. I have learned to understand some of the things these authors were saying. What is even better is when I read all of your reviews of what the poetry means to you all and how you interpret them differently. It is amazing how much clearer these poems are to me after I put time into reading and re-reading them.

I also always thought since I don't really enjoy short stories that I wouldn't enjoy poetry. I am the sort of person who makes a one minute story last at least five minutes. I tend to realize I give WAY too much of a backstory before I get to the single sentence of information I need to convey. To make this long explanation short, I like details, and I figured these short poems wouldn't be enough to hold my attention. I was WRONG and boy am I glad. I've even begun reading poetry to my two-year-old. She seems to be enjoying it, even if she doesn't understand all that much of what I'm reading to her. I certainly never imagined I'd be enjoying this pod as much as I have.

Literate Lindsey's first post.

Alright, so first of all, I created my blog late. It was supposed to be done by Sunday. I thought, "Hey, I'll get it done at work. I always have extra time!" Of course, things usually don't go exactly as planned, and the beginning of my blog certainly didn't go as I had planned. Normally I would have started it ahead of time, but somehow I got a virus on my home computer. Since it is in the shop, I planned to get it done at the last minute, at work. Unfortunately, a 17-year-old smashed his finger on a weight machine and I completely forgot about all my homework. Long story short (too late, right?) I'm sitting at my mother's house starting it now, two days after I was supposed to submit it.

I've never blogged before, so this should be interesting. Last week I read about half of Huck Finn. I thought I hadn't read it, but once I got to chapter three or four I started to remember things. Mrs. Siemens, you were right about us having a different outlook on these stories than when we read them in high school. I'm guessing that in high school I couldn't have cared less about Huck Finn, but this time I actually paid attention to what was written. I found it so interesting, which surprises me. It surprises me becuse if I find it interesting now, why didn't I pay attention to it or find it interesting in school? I look forward to reading more stories from the "ladies" this week.