Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Essay #2

In class today, we are watching The Glass Menagerie. We are at the part where Laura is going to have a gentleman caller arranged by her bother Tom who is practically forced by his mother Amanda to find the proper suitor for his kid sister. Little does Laura know that her special caller is the same young man named Jim O' Connor: the person who she was infatuated throughout her time in high school. Reluctant once her mother mentions his name, Laura panics and states that she doesn't want to come to dinner any longer due to fear and her shy exterior. Once the gentleman caller makes it to dinner, Laura faints right on the spot. He brings her dandelion wine and dances with her while connecting with her about her lack of confidence or 'inferiority complex. He, flirting with her, leads her on to believe that she ought to be shown affection. Leaning in to kiss her, the infatuation can be read across Laura's face. However, instantly afterwards, the caller regrets it. The poor girl was finally given some hope, to know that love truly exists. And it's all because her Mr. Nice Guy is affianced. The sickest tragedy. Of course, Laura's mother walks in after Laura hears the news without a clue about Connor's engagement. The entire scene is just gut wrenching. It definitely made the class and great one. 

Monday, February 24, 2014

William's "The Glass Menagerie"

Hey guys,
So last week we had Sweeney's class we didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We reviewed our papers, yet again. And following that exercise, we watched some of Tennessee William's "The Glass Menagerie". I found revising our papers quite monotonous. I say this only because my group, this time, was ill-prepared and I and one other girl were the only two out of the four of us who had our papers completed. There was little to critique which made the peer review process a tad more difficult. I didn't receive any feedback on my paper and was disappointed because the last time that I had gotten a substantial amount of things to change in my paper. Nevertheless, we continued as a class to watch William's "The Glass Menagerie" which is about a mother attempting to live vicariously through her undoubtedly shy daughter. Although we only watched approximately 15-20 minutes of it, I found the play to be somewhat intriguing and I am interested in seeing how the play will end. I think that it's very different to watch a piece of written work in comparison to reading it. There is always something new to pick up on or different perspectives to consider. Sadly, I was sick last Thursday so I missed some of the play. However, my goal is to get a copy of it to catch up.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Character Analysis

This week in class, we have been going over our character analysis papers. The assignment was to find a character that we have previously read about from Sweeney's Lit Reader book and talk about our relation to said character through textual evidence. In my group, it was me and two other girls. We each read our papers to one another and then continued to give our own personal critiques on each others works. I found this exercise less challenging for me because I am a writing tutor. However, I cautiously looked for feedback from the people in my group because I love being able to improve on anything that I write. I take it very seriously. With that being said, I noted everything that they commented and went back and made those changes after class. Next class, Sweeney mentioned that we will be doing the same thing again which I find extremely important because I may pick up on things in my writing that I and my partners had not initially notice. 
It would be nice if, next class, we could switch groups just to get a feel for how other people are constructing their papers and to also hear feedback from different perspectives. However, I did enjoy my time with the group that I had on Tuesday and learned some really unique and interesting things about both girls. If I had to pick one thing that I truly enjoy about Sweeney's class, it would be the freedom that he gives us to speak our minds and meet others we may have never met if it weren't for his class. 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

LGBT-GSA Beyond Class Experience

This week I completed my first beyond the class assignment. The previous week, I had received an email from Mrs. Martinez about the lgbt gay-straight alliance here at Richard Bland College. Reluctant, I went Tuesday afternoon. There were just two other girls and myself; which was different for me. It was odd because when I was in high school I began the very first gay-straight alliance in the history of my school and although there weren't a lot of participants, there most certainly was a variety. However, at the meeting Mrs. Martinez held the four of us discussed goals for the organizations and any ideas we may have for the future. There were suggestions about t-shirts and campus wide campaigns which sounds exciting to me. The other girls and I decided that I would help getting the word out on campus while they took more control of the group goals and fliers. All in all, I'm glad I went to experience something different than my everyday routine. Essentially, that is what college is for: to challenge ourselves and push ourselves beyond the limits we once had whether it be through educational or extracurricular activities. The lgbt gay-straight alliance meeting proved to be a worth while extracurricular activity that I may continue to be involved in while I spend my time here at Richard Bland.