Blog # 10-11/26/12

Throughout this course I have found it interesting that through the stories we read and the paper I submitted to Criterion that I have become a better writer. I feel that reading each story and discussing it helped me learn different ways of writing that I may not have known before. In high school I was a very good writer but after coming into this class I am realizing that there is always room for improvement. Criterion has showed me that after much trial and error that a paper is never quite perfect. I also learned that I can always improve my papers even after you grade them.

I do not think that I will use this blog in the future yet I throughly enjoy the concept of blogging. On the plus side it is a way to express your thoughts. On the negative side, blogging exposes all on the emotions, thoughts, and situtations in your life that you might not want to share with everyone on the blogging website.

Blog # 9- 11/8/12

I felt as though if someone read Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape that they would have to have watched Popeye before. There was definitely a lot of repetition of the words spinach, thunder, apartment and country. From what I gathered about the story it was showing how good America was as a country. I think that Ashbery mixed cartoon characters with the technical form of the poem so that if people watched Popeye that they could also love America. The poem also uses the word spinach a lot to exemplify that in America you can eat whatever food you want whenever you want. Ashbery wanted people to appreciate all the luxuries of America that other, third world countries do not have.

Halloween is Here- 11/4/12

Rebecca Belliveau

Sonnet

Halloween is Here

 

A  First the leaves on the trees will change their tone,
B Then all the pumpkins begin to appear.
A  Next all the monsters are starting to moan,
B These are the signs that Halloween is near.

 

C  Pumpkins are becoming jack o lanterns.
D Colorful leaves are falling from the trees.
C Cold breezes are beginning to return;
D People are eating candy like Reese’s.

 

E  People in costumes are actors on stage;
F They walk the town and are lost in the night.
E Looking for candy no matter their age,
F Dreading the morning that will bring the light.

 

G This is the time for everyone to fear.
G These are the signs that Halloween is here.

Blog 7- 10-26-12

When it comes to the war in Vietnam I am quite torn. I feel as though democracy is the best form of government and I feel as though I love America for having that form of government. I do not however, agree with the United States getting in other countries business. Just because our government is a democracy does not mean that every country has to have that form of government. It is the countries' choice as to what form of government they wish to have. I do not believe in having a Communist government but that is for each country to decide.

I completely agree with the war in Afghanistan because it is for American citizens own protection. I do not, however agree with the amount of years we were in Iraq. I do not think that we had to be in Iraq for ten years. Even after the 9/11 terrorist attacks I believe that we should have gone to Iraq but not for ten years. I do not think that the Vietnam War is similar to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because the wars now actually involved the United States. These two wars are our problem while the Vietnam War had nothing to do with us.

10-14-12 Cultural Heritage

I think that when attempting to break cultural heritage that you are pretty much torn. Part of you wants to pass on what your family believes in while part of you realizes that the world changes every day. I think that some holiday traditions should always stay the same. Like sipping hot cocoa and eating candy on Halloween. I feel as though society does not put us in line as much as it used to. Back in the 1940's, when "The Lottery," was written all the women were housewives and all the men when to work every day. It was inappopriate to curse or saying anything that expressed your feelings, especially if you were a child. Women were to always act happy even if most of the time they were not.

In today's society I feel we are not as restrained. I feel as though everyone is different in our modern society and most of the time, we embrace that. The only time I would say that those who are different are frowned upon is in high school. High school will forever be a place of judgement. People in our modern society broke free of being the same by simply doing what they love. Some people love dressing in their own personal taste of clothing. Everyone nowadays also embraces their different interests such as sports, art, singing, and much more. I think that the worst thing that could happen if you act different then other people is that you will be judged. The benefit is that you will feel like yourself and other people might love that too.

Blog # 5 - 10/8/12

If I was friends with either China or Jeremy I would be very dissapointed in their decision. The story did not persuade me to see things from another perspective. The story actually made me more and more angry as it went on. There is no explanation for that kind of behavior. I think that it is disturbing that they would even consider throwing a baby in the trash can. I do not understand why China did not just either get an abortion to begin with or put the baby up for adoption when it was born.

China and Jeremy started off so close in the beginnign of the story. They seemed like they were cute, highschool sweethearts. When China got pregnant it all went downhill. The way they handled the situation was immature and disturbing. Toward the end of the story they are testifying against each other. Its strange how they go from this cute love to turning on each other. There were so many other options for them when dealing with this pregnancy. I do not know how anyone could just put a baby into a trash can.

Peer Review, Essay #1 - 10/1/2012

When my peer's were reviewing my essay they actually helped to reinforce my own essay's arguments. Yes, they did correct various grammatical errors, and sentence strucuture errors. These corrections can only help to enhance my paper's main point even further. The first first page of my essay was badly marked up. The second page however, had less marks then the first page. The third page, had barely any marks. My essay seemed to have less and less errors as it went on. In addition to fixing the errors on the first and second page though, I also have to shorten my essay to 750 words. I believe right now it is around 1,000 words or maybe even more.

It was also nice to edit other peer's essays. When I read each person's essay to myself and I realize that he or she made a mistake, I also realize that maybe I made a mistake similiar to his or hers. All it took was to read something again to yourself in order to realize your mistakes. I really enjoyed the peer reviewing of the essays. I hope that we can do them again when we do other essays. Yes I need to do a lot of work on my essay but correcting these mistakes can only enhance my essay's viewpoint more.