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.