Heather H

This semester in class I feel my most successfull assignment was a essay I wrote in which my letter grade was 85%. I feel as though I captured the instructions properly and was very organized in the assignment. I included mostly correct formatting and all that was asked and my grammer was correct. In general I feel I could have done better on my exams and essays. I tend to struggle on essays as I second guess myself and should have always went with the first answer I thought was correct. I learned the hard way time and time again until eventually having a few decent exams. I learned this semester the importance of keeeping balance and not giving up. There were times I felt as if I would never get through class or get my work done. I learned more about formatting although I am having some issues with my files and uploading. I am still learning to correct that before going into my next set of classes. I have learned to keep trying and going even when I think I will fail. I am grateful that I have done so. Things are not always perfect and can be acheivable.

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 13o challenges idealized portrayals of love, favoring honesty over exaggerated praise. Similarly, Raymonnd Carver’s stories, such as those in “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”, strip relationships down to their raw and realistic elements. Both writers reject romantic illusions. Shakespeare describes his plainly, “if hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head”. While Carver writes, “It ought to make us feel ashamed when we talk like we know what we’re talking about when we talk about love”. I admire this sonnet because it values sincerity over superficial beauty. Shakespeare’s speaker loves his mistress despite her flaws or perhaps because of them. Reminding us that true affection doesn’t need poetic exaggeration. This honest approach resonates with Carver’s worldview, where love is messy, grounded, and uncertain. Both artists suggest that love, in it’s most authentic form, is not about perfection but about acceptance and depth.

“Sex and Violence in Fairy Tales” editorial by David Isaacs, Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health. I found this article informative on how it explores traditional fairy tales that often contain certain elements of sexualand violent themes. Isaacs notes notes that nese narratives while seemingly innocent, can reflect fantasies related to sexuality , aggression, guilt and family dynamics. Stories highlighted included included ” Little Red Riding Hood” and “Bluebeard” have included descriptive child abuse and violece, predating modern awareness of these issues. Isaascs awareness and emphasive on the importance for the pediatricians amd caregivers is to recognize the significance that these underlying themes may influence childrens influence and their perceptions and emotional development. Good and Bad beyond Belief: Teaching Gender Lessons through Fairy Tales and Feminist Theory” by Jerilyn Fisher and Ellen S. Silber Fisher and and Silber analyze how classical fairy fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White and Rapunzel convey gendered messages that reinforce patriarchal norms. They argue that these stories often depict young women in passive roles, awaiting to be rescued by male figures, while portraying female antaganoists. such as stephmothers and withces. as embodiments of evil. The author can influence children’s perceptions of gender roles and relationships. Even incoporating or advocating for feminist theory into the teaching of these theorys. The approach aims to foster critical thinking and promote discussions about gender, poer, and societal norms in educational settings. I believe that Fairy Tales can convey a unrealistic ideal of what gender roles are and to be expected of. What feminism is and what heroicinism is. Over the centuries many times have change and womens right have change. Even princess books create a fantasy of one day a little girl finding her princess and growing up to be beautiful and being rescued. And in turn we have […]

I believe in the freedom of speech and I also believe that we still live in a world where hatred exists. Context is the difference between hate speech and writing. Fundamentally utilizing certain language can be informative and even in certain times “educate” and “teach” those reading the literature or perhaps watching the movie. History is important to know and should not be censored. Through history, there is a great opportunity to create change in those who may hold ignorant opinion and hatred if they learn the truth, suffering and what has truly taken place in our not so distant past. We cannot pretend it did not happen, we must do something about it. We cannot create change by censoring, be create change by awareness. Unfortunately the United States has made some decisions to try and censor other events from the books because it does not look good. However we must be accountable so we can be better, better now and better in the future.

In the last two weeks of reading poetry I have learned to look into what the author of the poem is conveying instead of my own interpretation. Although I feel poetry is an art in itself and there is room for your own interpretation and meaning, I have learned to feel and comprehend what the writer intends. Through looking up words I do not understand and reading the poem correctly. I always saw how poems were writtten so differntly and we learned how to read them despite the formatting. That was something a bit new to me instead of reading line by line, reading until the end of the sentence. The poetry especially shakespeare prepared me for Oedpius the king. Sonnet poems such as “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (Sonnet 18)  Helped me prepare for the more the reading and the language to come. “Thou art more lovely and more temperate: rough winds do not shake the darling buds of May,” (Shakespeare) “You may see them with one another like birds swift on the wing, quicker than fire I mastered speeding away to the coast of the gods.” (oedpius the king) Reading poetry helped by familiarizing myself in preperation for more similes and much more reading.

I have learned through the process of writing the first essay that I have much room for improvement. I think that while writing the essay I’m following the outline, however it appears that my opening, body and conclusion may not be strong or clear enough leaving the reader confused. Perhaps I even complicated the last assignment when trying to articulate the essay into my words yet act like the professor and review the sample student essay. I think in the future it may be less confusing for myself writing on a topic directly following an outline and I may come across more clear. I also think my time management skills mixed with study and tutoring need attention or perhaps trying a different study approach. I do like the poetry as it is similar to art and captures my attention span. Ultimately I have learned that going back to college and being the oldest student in all your classes and struglling is not the easiest thing to do all the time and yet it is the neccessary thing to do as to survive and prosper in life.

After reading “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, I would title my essay “School-Blocked”. The children who had moved from the south to the north seemed to be left unattended by the other adults in their life and ran free in the streets of New York. A neighborhood women whom had went to college herself, “Miss Moore”, found it her due diligence to spread her knowledge to school these children on the block they grew up and played. In my essay I would write about how “Miss Moore”, reached them, as at first the children were weary of paying attention to her and were very opinionated of who she way. They made comments “This lady moved on our block with nappy hair and proper speech and no makeup”. (Toni Bambara 1). With her persistence the she was able find a way to engage the children. One of those ways included enticing them into a car with five dollars after teaching or schooling them about money. This sets their journey to the store where they see a large price tag for $1000 on a toy sailboat and even learn about a paper weight. I found the paper weight discussion interesting as it leads to another discussion as the children compare dynamics of their lives and only one of them has a desk. I would also highlight their nervousness to walk into the store and yet their excitement prior to entering while window shopping. My essay would be about reaching the youth of the street, simple acts and the big lessons learned through the teachings of Miss Moore.

The assignment of activity ten for week one requires no actual writing at this time. I will be preparing myself for the actual upcoming writing assignment of essay 1 only after having completed the multi-layered steps in activity ten which I will describe. First I will read “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” by Gabriel Marquez. Second I will read “Overview of ‘The Most Handsome Drowned Man” by Dean Rader. Aslo in addition I will read the supporting writing guide material. I will learn how to write a strong thesis statement. Where and how to insert qoutations into a literary essay. I will watch the video on why formatting matters in activity 7 and the MLA Citations guide in activity 8. These steps will prepare me to act as the Professor and evaluate a student sample literary essay. This will prepare me for a successful part 2 when it is time to actually write. This will complete week 1 activity 10 at this time.