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.

Cutural Heritage and Drinking 9/25/12

Beginning thousands of years ago, drinking alcohol was a time of socialization. Drinking occurs in various different religions. The drinking in these religions I feel is light. I feel as though religious and cultural drinking could never be serious. A religion could begin someone's addiction to alcohol but cannot involve drinking various amounts of alcohol.

In my opinion most religions are against drinking. They believe that drinking more than a certain amount of drinks is sinful. I know in the Christian religion they believe in drinking wine for Communion but not more then a sip or two. I do not feel in general that serious drinking can be caused by someone's culture or heritage. I do not believe that one cultural is more easily addicted to alcohol then the other.

Although I do not believe that someone's religion or culture can cause serious drinking habits I do believe that it is part of he or she's heritage. I believe that being an alcoholic can be inherited through generations. For example, if a mother is an alcoholic I feel as though the vunerability to alcohol is passed down to her children. I feel as though it makes it easy for the children to also become addicted to alcohol. If no one in the family has an addiciton to alcohol, then the descendants or that family will have a less likely chance of getting addicted to alcohol.

Everyday Use 9/20/12

I chose "Everyday Use" to talk about because I felt that I could understand Dee's point of view the most out of all three stories. She reminds me of myself in a way. My sister is a hair dresser and so she never went away to college or anything like that. She never got the experience to be out on her own. Maggie seems similar to my sister. My mother seems the same way. She has never lived out of New Jersey and only moved forty minutes from where she grew up to start her family. I feel as though they always have the same routines that they go about and the same beliefs that they always had.

Going to college made me feel as though I was experiencing life on my own, going out and experiencing other cultures. I feel like Dee when she went out and meet a guy and learned about his culture and religion. Here I am at Stockton, seeing people from all walks of life, learning about subjects I have never learned before. When I go back home I feel changed, enlightened. When Dee comes home I believe she feels the same way. She feels like she gained something from being away from home. One might call this a sense of rebellion but I see it as an educational experience.

Dee still held unto that quilt. Yes, maybe Dee was going to hang up the quilt but that is only because she was proud of it. She felt as though everyone should pass by and observe the quilt's family history. I still embrace the values I was born and raised with. I am still respectful but now that I am out of my own I am growing. Dee grew in "Everyday Use." She held unto the quilt while still growing. I take the values I was taught as a child and bring them with me as I grow and experience new things.

"The Man in the Well"

September 13, 2012

When focusing on the order of the sentences for "The Man in the Well," I tried to consider what I personally considered the theme to be. The main theme seemed to be that these children did not really understand that their actions affected others. The closest of the ten statements to my idea of the theme was number two. Number two states, "Children may have difficulty sharing the perspective of another person." This statement expresses that the children in the story did not see that in the man's perspective their actions could have been a big impact on his life. The next statement I chose was number three. Statement three says, " Even in their later years, people may have trouble forgiving themselves for bad things they did when they were young." This shows that when the children were dealing with the issue of the man that they did not feel bad about leaving him in the well at the time. Later in their lives though, these children regretted their decision to leave the man in the well.

 

The next statement I chose was number four. This statement claims, "Within groups, people may engage in conduct that is wilder, stranger, or more uncivilized than their usual behavior when alone." This is very true for the children in the story. They did not feel as bad for the man in the well because they were all working together to bring him food. They also worked together in not helping the man out of the well which made it somehow better in their minds. The next statement I chose was number seven. This statement explains that "When dealing with an adult, even a helpless one, children may have in their minds images of parental authority that affect how they treat the person." For example, maybe one of the child's parents emotionally scared them and thats why they would not help the man in the well.  

 

The fifth statement I chose in order of the themes was number eight. This statement says, "Children may fail to understand when an adult is in danger." This is true seeing as the children do not ask for help but just assume that the man can handle himself. Nextly, I chose statement ten that says, "The psychological reality of children and the adults is a deep well within themselves they cannot see into." For examples, the children may think that they are doing the right thing by not letting the stranger out of the well. Later in their lives though, these children will consider this decision a mistake. Statement nine is next. This statement explains that, " Children are capable of conspiring with one another against the adult world." This means that alone one child is helpless but in numbers, children can do whatever they put their mind to. Children are stronger in numbers.

 

The next statement I put was number one which claims, " We should be mmore compassionate toward people who are trapped." Being trapped puts people in not only a weaker place but also a more defeated and weak state of mind. Next I put statement five which says, "People project their fears or suspicions onto others, even those who do not actually pose a threat to them." I believe that because the children could not see the man in the well that that was part of the reason they did not find him help. He could have been dangerous for all they knew. This also ties into the last statement I put which claims, " People need to see one another's faces if they are to trust one another." This applies in life today even. If you meet someone on the internet you are less likely to trust them then if you meet them in person.

 

All in all, I truly think that the theme of the story is that children do not understand the consequences of their actions. Everyone has their effect on the world and I think that all the statements listed can somehow relate back to that. I wished that the man in the well would have been saved but I could not save him it had to be the children's doing.

 

By: Rebecca Belliveau                                                                          September 13, 2012

What I Hope to Accomplish

For the past few months I have thought about all the hopes and dreams I had when I came to Stockton. I knew that I wanted to get involved in as many clubs as I could. In addition I knew that I was going to focus on getting A's and B's in my classes. These are the typical goals that one has when arriving to college yet I also thought of some other goals. I wanted to make some very good friends and most of all I wanted to have fun. I wanted to have fun getting involved, friends and with my major. I wanted to begin to enjoy what I was going to be for the rest of my life.