Jovan 'JoJo' Wellington

I don’t believe fairy tales are for children because the princess is always portrayed as being the most beautiful girl. She is only desired because of her physical attributes. She almost never possesses any brains to go with her beauty so she is always in danger needing a handsome man to come to her rescue. In 2024 I am teaching my daughters that beauty isn’t everything. You have to be smart and make decent decisions. Don’t wait on a man to come save you. “Fairy tales, which are still read by millions of American children, say it pays to be pretty,” Grauerholz says. “It’s important to understand the messages our children receive about traditional gender roles, especially during a time when women are encouraged to be independent and rely on their brains rather than beauty. (Liz Grauerholz, Experts say fairy tales not so happy ever after).It pays to be pretty is the part that stood out to me because that phrase is teaching children that beauty is all they need for success. I don’t like that narrative because pretty will really only get you so far. The feminine beauty ideal-the socially constructed notion that physical attractiveness is one of women’s most important assets, and something all women should strive to achieve and maintain. (The Pervasiveness and Persistence of the Feminine Beauty Ideal in Children’s Fairy Tales, Lori Baker-Sperry, Liz Grauerholz). This stuck out to me because again it is teaching women that they should rely on beauty and that it’s a necessity. It also reminds me of the short story that we read The necklace by ” by Guy De Maupassant because the wife was very much concerned with her appearances.  

The title ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ had me thinking I was going to read a story about a woman trying to find a man. Not realizing that “man” refers to a person or people in general. There was also some indication that the grandmother was a witch (and her cat) which I don’t think I would have gotten from the story at all. The grandmother was most definitely not a hero in this story. She was a master manipulator and extremely selfish. I was a little confused when she touched the Misfit on his shoulder saying that he was one of her children. She had spent the entire time trying to convince him that he was indeed good people. There was a battle of good and evil in this story and I believe that evil may have prevailed. I’m not sure how religious or spiritual the grandmother was. I think she was jus trying to talk herself out of being killed.

I don’t have much experience with poetry. I mean I have read some poems from time to time but never took the time to break them down to fully understand them. Poetry is something that must be read piece by piece and break it down the same way, just as we have been doing in class. However, I’m not sure this makes it easier for me to process and understand. Even though I don’t read much poetry, I do have a favorite poem. It is actually a spoken word type of poem. Ain’t That Bad by Maya Angelou resonated with me and was easy to understand and interpret. To me it is a celebration of blackness, black culture, black identity, black language, black experience. Dancin’ the funky chicken Eatin’ ribs and tips Diggin’ all the latest sounds And drinkin’ gin in sips. Puttin’ down that do-rag Tighten’ up my ‘fro Wrappin’ up in Blackness Don’t I shine and glow? Now ain’t they bad? An ain’t they Black? An ain’t they Black? An’ ain’t they Bad? An ain’t they bad? An’ ain’t they Black? An’ ain’t they fine? Oedipus the King will take some time for me to process, but I don’t think it will be as challenging as it seems. I just have to read it multiple times.  

I would just like to add that I appreciate the exposure that Miss Moore is giving the children in her community. It’s an exposure that they more than likely would not have with out her.

After reading ‘The Lesson’ by Toni Cade Bambara I can see how a writer would focus on economic disparity, lack of equal opportunity, racial inequity, and other broad social issues. However, what caught my attention the most was the relationship between Miss Moore and Sylvia. I would title my essay ‘The Relationship’ Miss Moore saw something in Sylvia that she didn’t see in the other children. Sylvia was smart and wise. We get to see this when Ms. Moore trusts Sylvia with the $5 for the cab ride. Sylvia seems to have a strong dislike for Miss Moore, and I believe it’s because Miss Moore actually challenges Sylvia when asking her questions and giving her responsibility. At the end of the story, Ms. Moore asks “Well, what did you think of F.A.O. Shcwarz?”, and was pleasantly surprised when Sugar responds. I guess because she didn’t expect a response from Sugar but from Sylvia instead. Which leads to Miss Moore looking directly at Sylvia when asking ‘Anybody else learn anything today?’ She really wanted Sylvia to engage because she knew Sylvia was in fact paying attention and had an opinion.

My understanding of the prewriting  assignment is that we are to evaluate a sample essay and determine whether the writer followed the instructions to create a good essay. First, we are instructed to read “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez as well as “Overview of ‘The Most Handsome Drowned Man'” by Dean Rader.  Next, we are to review a couple of PowerPoints, one on Thesis Statements and the other on “How to Insert Quotations into a Literary Essay”. The purpose of this is to teach us how to build the body of our essays. Next we are instructed to watch a format illustration video and review a MLA Citation guide to teach us proper MLA formatting and citations. After we have followed these steps carefully we are to ready to read directions for a sample essay as well as read the sample essay. Upon reading, we should be able to understand Thesis statements, insertion of quotations, proper MLA formatting and citations and determine if the sample essay has been written properly as well as write our own essays following the same guidelines going forward.

For Activity 10 we were instructed to evaluate a sample essay. I think the purpose of this assignment is to see if we understand what a thesis statement is,  how to properly write one, and  to see if we understand the components of a good essay. I also believe that it is setting an example of what the professor expects of us during this course. We will also get an understanding of how to generate a work cited page. We are basically understanding structure, learning different styles and tones, checking and improving what we write, noticing common errors, and gaining inspiration. All of this will allow for us to be better writers.