The Handmaid's Tale

While reading the “The Handmaid’s Tale”, there were some parts of the book that I did not understand very well. I actually thought that the book was very confusing. It seemed like it kept jumping back and forth between the past and the present. That is why for long essay number 2, im either going to write about totalitarian thought control or the biography on Margaret Atwood. The reason why I would write about totalitarian thought control is because if I did more research about that political system, maybe it would help me understand the story better. If I choose to write more about the biography of the author Margaret Atwood, it would be to learn more about herself as an individual and possibly see how she has as a person, effect her writing. Such as why would she write about such things in her stories, were there any childhood experiences that causes her to write about the things that she does write about? I feel as if I learn more about her, then possibly it would help me understand her story more clearly. I feel like whichever one of these topics that I choose to write about, it will help me understand the  story better. 

LINK: http://www.margaretatwood.ca/

Letter

March 25, 2011

Dear Laura Cline, 

I have always enjoyed all english classes that I have taken, and I also enjoy this English 102 class. I feel that I enjoy english classes so much because I like to read and write. Of course I have had some challenges so far this semester. One of the biggest challenges of this class this semester is finding the time to write the essays that are due. With all of the other classes im taking, I feel like im struggling to find the time to write the essays, but I do get them done and submit them on time. Another struggle that im having in the class is writing the papers about a specific topic. I find that I write papers better when I get to choose the topic, such as it was in English 101. When I have to write on a specific topic, I get stuck on what to write about and its harder to make the paper length requirements. 

So far we have read The Sandstorm and The Things They Carried in this class. I felt that both of these stories were very touching. When reading both, at times it made you feel like you were actually there. 

Im not very fond of writing literary analysis papers. This is probably one of the types of papers that I seem to struggle with the most. Im not sure if I just don’t understand it or what it is, but I can’t seem to write them correctly. I feel that literary analysis papers are very confusing to me to write and when I read them. So far the papers I have written in my different english classes have been papers that I have gotten to choose the topic on, which I feel is a lot easier and I feel like when you get to choose the paper topic that your paper will be more effective because its actually something that you want to write about. 

My goals for the rest of this semester in English 102, is to try to focus and understand literary analysis better and how to become a better writer when it comes to writing essays with a specific topic. When I normally write papers/essays, I just keep writing without stopping, but when I have been writing about literary analysis or a specific topic, I keep stopping because I get stuck on my writing and am not sure on what to write about next. My trying to concentrate more on this specific struggle, I hope to improve it by the end of this semester.

Sincerely, 

Katie

Sean Huze "The Sandstorm"

I didn’t like Sean Huze’s play “The Sandstorm” very much. Im not sure why I didn’t like it, but I think its because I didn’t fully understand the play. I think that Sean Huze is a good author/play writer, such as how he showed great emotion in his writing. He wrote about how the soldiers felt when they were forced to kill a child or a person, he also wrote how the soldiers are forced to do things. I felt the play being a very gloomy, sad, and depressing play. The play seemed to include little scenes about a different person, such as the first person they started talking about was about a little boy that got killed, then they went to talking about a family that got burned up in flames. I think that if the play would have just focused on one specific person or family, that it would have been less confusing, and a better play. Of course, I haven’t seen this play in person, possibly if I would ever have the chance to see this play in person, my opinion about the play would be different and maybe I would understand it more. I thought the play was too depressing for my liking, but it does show you how realistic it is to be deployed into a war, and what the soldiers are forced to do. 

Link for image:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIDtszXddGx4HYTg8Y024UyGDBB5FEo64N5oOUiU4bCOGKa9rMtqdfHbBqc0w9PbUAOc8L9K4dcG4ALiTOHJdq2FQp8ziyN0wjaZgEp8FWSzWglwApkeBYEGOhEKFbzmNDOfLgWhyphenhyphensvFkj/s660/chinnok-in-sandstorm-1.jpg

Link for Website: 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1011341/

The Rainy River

On the Rainy River was a story that was inside of Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried. White reading On the Rainy River, I felt as if it was a true and honest writing of how the young boy felt and all that had been happening. The boy was 21 years old who was working in a meat packing plant. When he came home one day he had a letter for him that was telling him that he was chosen to be drafted in to fight in a war. He didn’t have a choice and it wasn’t what he wanted to do. He took a long few weeks to think about his options and what he could do, but he chose to run off to Canada where they couldn’t make him go fight in the war. He left one evening after work and didn’t tell anyone. On his way to Canada, he stopped at this lodge near the border of Canada, where he met an older man. The older man that he met helped him make up his mind on what is the right decision to do. This was such a heart-

 felt story and while reading it, it made you feel like you were actually there. 

  

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/3962435084_f4d9d25d6b.jpg

http://ronaldarichardson.com/core/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/vietnam-soldiers-4.gif

http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-obrien-tim.asp

Compendium of Last Objects & Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting

Kevin C. Powers

Nicole Cooley

The felt like the poem Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting by Kevin C Powers was a very meaningful poem. While I was reading the poem from start to end, I could feel the meaning that it was trying to communicate. I felt like this poem was about a soldier that was fighting in a war, who wrote a love letter to the one he loved. It seemed as when the one he loved opened the letter, she could smell the burned powder. This poem reacted towards me the most because I felt as if I could relate to it. Like I said above, the poem seems to be about a soldier writing a letter to the one he loved. I didn’t receive a letter from a soldier, but I have in the past went through cards and letters that I   have received from my dad before he passed away and can remember the specific scent on the cards and letters, such as the one he loved could smell the burned powder on the letter. 

The other poem that I reacted to the most was the one called Compendium of Lost Objects by Nicole Cooley. When reading this poem, I felt like it was confusing until I read the end when it said the hurricane hit. Once I read that line, I understood the entire poem. The poem was talking about how everything used to be before the hurricane hit the little town. I felt that the poet went into great detail on describing how everything looked and seemed after the hurricane. I feel that the reason why this poem reacted to me was because it made me think of when I first moved from the little town that I grew up in. It made me feel like everything around me was being destroyed. 

I thought that both of these poems were very meaningful, and that the poets took time and thought into writing them. 

Pictures URL:http://www.poetryfoundation.org/images/poets/KevinPowers.jpg

http://asunews.asu.edu/files/imagecache/story_main_image//files/images/nicole_cooley_small.jpg

WEBSITE:http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/

Sam Hamill- "Necessity to Speak"

February 2, 2011

While reading what Sam Hamill wrote, there were things that I agreed with and there were also things that I disagreed with. Sam Hamill did mention how writing is a form of human communication. I absolutely agree with this! I feel that when we write, we are expressing our own individual emotion. If anyone has ever researched history about certain authors, you can find out which authors write their novels on personal experience from the past. By the authors that write from experiences in the past, they are expressing their emotion through writing novels. Not only do I notice that when reading books you can tell that authors include personal experiences, but when I write little stories or essays, I also base them on my own personal experience. Sam Hamill also mentioned how poetry can be embarrassing for some people. I also agree with this. I find poetry to be something that an individual comes up with. When reading the poems, I felt as if i could tell what the author was trying to communicate through the poem. 

Sam Hamill also stated that every individual should speak up. I feel like this is a great way to inform people about consequences. If others don’t always speak up then not everyone will know what is right or wrong. When others speak up to others, they could be giving them positive and negative feed back in ways that it can help an individual. 

One thing that Sam Hamill mentioned in his writing that I partially agree with and partially don’t agree with was when he started talking about violence. He made it sound like when individuals see violence happen in their own home or surroundings that that individual will carry that with them where ever they go. I agree with this to a point. I have heard and seen people who were treated with violence at a younger age, grow up to where they treat everyone with violence. But, I have also seen people who have been treated with violence when they were younger, but realized that it was not right and rarely showed violence towards others. All in all, I feel that Sam Hamill had stated many good ideas in his writing with well reasonings to back up his ideas. 

Website I got the image above from :https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVpN5rgj3b2c5w_onjhujNctr2CdkTlRAxIJuCsfv-LEYJpUvpVvX3Qmr0b6_9dAzx3AynBTsJTl8OwfnvTqsDDEo_9y9yZGchjKMHG-W3j7AlJvlkRRx0DSzzO9tKpsm-zb1_0pghl8l/s1600/sam_hamill.jpg

About Sam Hamill: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/733

Good Readers and Good Writers

January 26, 2011

While reading the section about good readers and good writers by Nabokov, he mentioned a lot of good reasons on what makes a good reader. One of the first main reasons is that a good reader should notice all of the details of the material that the individual is reading. Nabokov also states to never start reading a book with a general idea of what the book is going to be about, so always be open minded when choosing or reading a book. While the reader is reading the writings, the reader should use their imagination and use their imagination very vividly. This includes to vision in your head the scenery, the voices, and anything that is taking place in the reading. I feel that I do agree with Nabokov opinion on what makes a good reader. Not only did he list what he thought makes a good reader, but he also gave examples of how each one makes a good reader. 

I believe some similar thoughts of what Nabokov thought. I strongly believe that in order to be a good reader, that you have to be open minded about what you are reading. For example, say that a book that you have to read for a class doesn’t sound to  interesting to you, well you should always be open minded about the book and try to pick out little things that might make you enjoy the book more. I think that I am a good reader because I enjoy reading. Not only do I enjoy reading, but when I am reading I sometimes seem to get so into the books that I can imagine myself actually being in the book itself. I can imagine everything that is going on in the reading perfectly in my mind. 

Here is a link of where I read Good Readers and Good Writers:

https://lbblackboard.yc.edu/@@/513541A537BD4DECDF07EBC8F3F7A707/courses/1/201110ENG102PRE132/content/_633470_1/goodreaders.pdf

I got the photo above from this website:

http://thirdpipe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/pile-of-books.jpg