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.

Outside reading for July 6, 2009

d

In class reading

Reading Assigned for the week of June 29, 2009f

d

Outside reading for June 29, 2009

Reading Assigned for the Week of June 22, 2009

a

Outside Reading for the week of June 22, 2009

Outside Reading for the week of June 15, 2009

I watched my favorite movie of all time today. The shawshank redemption is one of the greatest examples of American cinema. I have seen the movie more times then I can count. The narration by Morgan Freeman is flawless. He weaves a wonderful and enchanting tale from begining to the end of the film . My favorite character is Andy Dufrane. He reminds me of the kind of person I would like to become. My favorite line is the one where Morgan Freedman charachter describes Andy. He describes him in the following lines.
"I could see why some of the boys took him for snobby. He had a quiet way about him, a walk and a talk that just wasn't normal around here. He strolled, like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world, like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place. Yeah, I think it would be fair to say... I liked Andy from the start."
The story is filled with wonderful moments. My favorite is when the warden discovers that his rieg over the prision is over along with his life. Here is a quote from that paticular scene.
"I'd like to think that the last thing that went through his head, other than that bullet, was to wonder how the hell Andy Dufresne ever got the best of him."
The movie has only one drawback. It has not romance plot. Which is ok with me since it is a prision movie. I would reccomend this film to anyone. The tale is timeless/

Reading Assigned for the Week of June 15, 2009

Catskin

Catskin was by my favorite story for the week. I loved the story for its out of this world weirdness. The author weaves a story from threads made from fantasy, fairy tale, and a pinch of horror. The characters come alive off the page. They seem more real to me because even if there circumstances are far from normal they still make the same mistakes we all do. Some of the most notable mistakes of the story was made by her two eldest surviving children. They make the decision to head to north against the advice of their dieing mother. They do eventually come back to the house. I will leave it up to you to decide if they learned from their mistakes. The other aspects of the story that stood out was all the symbolism. The story pro bally has a hundred plus hidden in little places everywhere. The ants were my favorite symbol in the story. I enjoyed how they carried time of the witch and the witch Lack. The time that in which they carry is the time lost because their lives were cut short. The story was also extremely vulgar and increased as it progressed. The following is the plot explocation for the story.
The exposition was the events that occurred before the witch died.
The rising action was the events that happened between the witchs death and the death of the witch Lack.
The climax was the death of the witch Lack.
Falling action was the events that took place all the way up to the resolution.
The resolution was a short paragraph wrapping up the events of the story.

Outside Reading for the week of June 08, 2009

I have chosen the poem "The Road Not Taken". This poem written by Robert Frost is one of the greatest examples of poetry put down on paper. I recommend you to read this poem and do so soon. In fact I want you to read it now. I will wait here for you to return. I suggest you to check Google. It can also be found in the poetry section of the textbook. Have you read it? There are two meanings placed in this poem. The first is the literal meaning. It is quite simply a narration of a man telling a story about a single chapter in his life. The chapter focuses on a simple choice on which path to go down. The paths before him are of identical value. He chooses the one less traveled on. He travels down the the path less traveled for a day. He then remarks how the path will not bring back again. He laments that he will look on this decision with he made with a hint of regret. The poem then ends with my favorite line.
"And that has made all the difference" (Frost)
The figurative meaning of the poem is how some choices in our life can change it permanently and often can not be repeated. It also brings up a good point. We often look back and wonder what might have been. What small choices brought us here. How do these choices effect us? What are your thoughts on this poem?

Reading Assigned for the Week of June 08, 2009

The reading for the class for this week was introduction to story. This section of reading is found within the textbook assigned to the class. I found many of the elements in which i already was familiar with k to have subtle nuances. I also found a few that I was not aware of. A major item I will consider is the overall theme for the story in which I am reading. I understand how the theme of story could come from a large list of things. I will look for them carefully when i read the short stories provided to me this weekend. I learned about the various parts of a plot. I learned that some stories may have all of them or just a few. The order of standard plot is exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. A great example of this is plays of the immortal bard William Shakespeare. His plays are typically divided into five acts which evenly correspond to the parts of plot. I will also look for characterization of the characters in the stories. I will ask the following questions. What archetype does character follow? Is this a major or minor character. Is it integral to the plot? Is the character flat or dynamic? Does this character display several sets of personality traits when faced with different situations or a single set? Is the character static or dynamic? Does the character evolve as the story unfolds.