Final Blog

Christopher Baird
I have been asked to take time and reflect on what I have learned this semester. This was a pleasurable assignment given that I enjoyed myself so much. I was surrounded by warm and caring people. The things I learned in this class will remain part of me for the rest of my life. I would like to start with the begging of the semester. I would have to admit I was nervous meeting a new professor and getting adjusted to the summer schedule. I quickly put my anxieties aside the moment the class started on day one.
The first area we studied was short stories. I simply found it be hilarious that Miss Scott had chosen a method of choosing the stories we were going to read by random. I can see how picking some of your favorite stories for a class like this can be rather difficult. I generally have not read short stories in the past. I tend to stick to the novels and my main source of reading material. I learned that this was a error. I learned that the stories may be short they still have the ability to impact us. The two short stories I enjoyed the most was Mother Savage and Orientation. The stories were so radically different. Mother Savage about cold blooded murder in an attempt to atone for her husband's and sons deaths. I enjoyed orientation. It was so far off the wall. It showed how complex a simple office can be. I loved the unofficial information that was given about each employee. That they all acted professionally for the most part and had some small shortcomings that needed to be adjusted for.
The next thing we did was poetry. This section was filled with insight and inspiration. I had not read a poem in years, and enjoyed it immensely. I loved hearing the chose the class picked. I myself chose the poem Nothing Gold Can Stay. The poem was about the short period of youth and how it should be cherished. Youth is a funny thing in this regard. The next thing we did was 10 minute plays. This plays ranged from the creepy to the bazaar. I think the story about the serial killer and the kittens haunted me the most. The idea of a monster existing praying on the innocent like that causes my blood to boil.
The next thing we did was learn about literary moments. The small portions of time that works contained a new theme or writing style. I also learned to expand the area of genres that I have grown accustomed to read. The examples of literature that have seen varied so much. I was exposed to a hundred years and more of writing movements. My favorite was probably the stories contained within the New Journalism packet. I would like to say my fellow class members did a excellent time picking material that reflected their period. Some of the choices surprised me. I did not realize that material from one movement could be so varied.
I think for the most part the greatest thing I learned was a new found appreciation for the written word. I think somewhere along the way life just caused me to look over this source of enjoyment. I learned that a piece of work often is a great indicator of the times in which the period was written. The boot movements showed culture was loosening up to eventually become the drug filled days of the 60's.
In conclusion, I like to say that I enjoyed my self immensely. I enjoyed hearing and seeing what my fellow classmates thought to be important. I love reading the blogs . There were a few that I will remember for quite some time.

Cultural Opportunities #2

The Musical I watched was The king and I. It was the 1956 film adaptation. I enjoyed it immensely the song and dance numbers were excellent. The amount of dedication to do one scene in the film is breathtaking. The film portrays the life of a English women tutoring the children of a wealthy King Mongkut. It deals with the trials of a women learning to adapt to her current situation and the Kings learning of English custom. The dialogue was on a award winning level. It was sharp and with and did not hold back any punches. The scene in which Anna explains the bible is probably my favorite. The reactions of both characters sparring over of ideology and theology was very interesting. The movie was recognized in the time of its release. It was awarded with five Oscars and nominated for four more. It was truly a shame that the Actress playing Anna did not receive the best actress award. Her part was the most memorable of the film. I love the interactions between the King and Anna it was priceless. The other minor things I loved about the movie was the son of Anna. He was so cute.

Cultural Opportunities #1

Cultural Opportunities #1

I watched the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for our cultural opportunity. I have to say the film left a impression on me. I enjoyed it far more then i thought i would. Iwent int the movie thinking it would be a boring movie on a author I was not aware of. I found out I could not be farther from the truth. The movie is based on the two real life trips Hunter S. Thompson made to Las Vegas with a lawyer friend of his. The movie blurs the line between what is real and what is the product of heavy use of drugs and alchohol. There are several scenes in the movie that almost made me stop watching. The lizard scene in the movie will be forever burned into my mind. I dont think anything will erase the horror that I saw on the screen. I did notice some very thoughtful comments made during the film. I found the life of the author to be on the extreme. I myself would not engage in such acts. It might have been he indulged in thgis before to enhance his creativity. I say to anyone who brings up this point that this is unacceptable. Any true tallented work should be hard fought for. i do however have to concede that some of the greatest works of art and litature were done due to the influence of narcotics.

Outside reading for July 20, 2009

This week for my outside source I watched the movie Wall-E. It is a pixar movie. I loved it. I enjoy almost all movies that are done by Pixar. They have a record for making the best animated movies in recent years. If you dont know Wall-E is very unique it contains almost no spoken dialouge. It is almost unheard of a movie caters to a kid audience to do this. It was also done in a simliar fashion in another of my favorite movies Castaway. It helped the audience to be part of the story. This is very chalenging to do well. The key is to keep the audience engaged while weaving a good story. Wall-E does this and more. The movie is about a robot left to clean up earth from accumulated polution. This story takes place 200 years after Wall-E began the task. The story continues when Wall-E meets EVE a robot sent to retrieve evence of plant growth. This is a sign the earth is recoverying. The movie continues and gets wild and crazy from there. The visuals are out of this world spetaculiar. The dance scene between Wall-E and EVE is breathtaking. It is an example of great film making. It was easy my favorite moment in the film. The film showed a great romance between the two. The movie showed care in developing their relationship

In class reading for July 20, 2009

I read all the stories given in the packets. They were on a wide varity of material. I have to say i nejoyed doing the research for my packet the most . I love reading othe interesting stories on the authors. Henry David thaurough struck me as a man of extremnes. He was a learned man who had a streak of of a wild man. I imagine him reading Plato and wrestling a bear in the same day. I also enjoyed reading how the authors were all friends or colleagues. This seemed like a common theme is a lot of movements we heard about. I enjoyed hearing all the presentaetions. In each one i lewarned a few things i was not aware of. I was surprised how history is reflected in the movement. It is often the case that the movement predicted the next set of social norms.

Outside reading for July 13, 2009

This week I watched the lord of the rings trilogy. This is a great example of an adaptation. This material is honored while some changes are put in to keep it fresh. I watched all three films this week. I even took a look at the animated classic The Hobbits. It was also a great adaptation. I enoyed tha animation for how terrible it was. It had its own charm. My favorite character for the entire lord of the rings trilogy is Sam. I feel he best represent a role model that i look forward to seeing in any story. Tolkien wrote many letters citing Sam as the chief hero of the story. He said he made sam to be in honor of the bat men in World Ward I.

In class reading for July 16, 2009

Today, was the poetry slam. I had a great time. Ileaned a lot about my fellow class members. I was really touched by the poems. I do realise some people put a little of themeselves into the poems. That has made all the difference. I enjoyed righting for the assignment. I feel like i kind of let the class down with my short poem. I wanted to make the biggest impact with the fewest words possible.