Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

For my second beyond-class assignment I bought the children's animated musical Frozen on Itunes. I thought that it would make a great piece to watch because we have explored poetry, screenplays, and short stories. However, we haven't explored a musical. What a choice it was! Frozen is a spectacular picture that could entertain people of all ages! It's the story of an energized optimist named Anna who grows up in a castle with her sister Elsa and is forbidden to interact with her. The sisters were separated after Elsa's mysterious ability to freeze things pricks Anna's innocent mind. After being treated by trolls, the girls parents separated the two to keep Elsa from striking her little sister in the heart; which would kill her unless saved by an act of true love.

Sadly, after the parents were killed in a shipwreck, the castle doors were closed until Elsa became of age to rule the kingdom. When the gates were opened, Anna, fearless and excited, rushes to her sister to introduce her to new beau Hans who has just proposed. Furious, Elsa loses control of her powers and freezes the land. As a result, Elsa flees with the whole town after her. Frozen is about the journey that Anna takes to find not only her sister, but also herself. It was a miraculous film that I would recommend to any and everyone. I think, more so now, that musicals and animations, as such, should be included in the Intro to Lit classes. They were all based off of literature such as Grimm's Fairty Tales anyway. 

Spring Break

Over Spring Break '14, I decided that I would build on my paper about The Glass Menagerie. I developed some ideas about how fantasy and abandonment were prominent themes throughout the play and how they pertain to the three main characters: Amanda, Laura, and Tom Wingfield. After I worked on my draft for a couple of days, I tried to recuperate.  I've been really sick for the past couple of weeks. I was in the hospital over the break due to dehydration and flu symptoms. It was the worst. I'm still taking the medication that was prescribed to me over the course of this week and haven't been able to go to work or fully pay attention in class. Last night I had a fever again and tried to get some rest. I'm hoping that this illness will subside and that the weather will become less snowy and a lot more sunny. Over the break, the weather was really nice and I couldn't even enjoy it because of my being ill. But now that I'm back in Petersburg, the weather has been awful. It doesn't feel much like spring at all. Hopefully that will change soon. 

3/6/2014

Today we had class and we talked about The Glass Menagerie yet again. We are supposed to figure out what it is that we want to right about. I want to try to tackle the theme of fantasy throughout the play which correlates with Sweeney's idea of escape. I think if I intertwine them, I can make the connection between abandonment and fantasy. Most importantly, I can talk about the impact that the Wingfield father's absence pushed each family member into their own fantasies. So far I have written up some idea about both Amanda and Laura:

Amanda Wingfield, the mother of both the narrator and the protagonist, continuously withdraws from reality.She believes that her son is to have a stealthy job to sustain their family since her husband is deceased and she lives vicariously through her daughter Laura while trying to find a well of gentleman caller to take care of the Wingfields.

Laura Wingfield, the daughter of Amanda, constantly shys away from excellence or any sense of normalcy. She attempts to go to business school and drops out unbeknownst to her mother. Wingfield also fantasizes through her 'glass menagerie', specifically from her glass unicorn which is broken by her childhood crush who also breaks her hopes of being with him when he reveals that he is already affianced. 

I think that this is a pretty good place to start. And tonight I hope to analyze the character/narrator Tom as well. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

Hills Like White Elephants

I adored Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants. The short story is of an American man sitting alongside a young woman at a bar awaiting a train to come into the station. The man, assertive and very masculine, asserts his thoughts of the woman getting an operation. Reluctant, the woman asks for a beer and relentlessly tries to assure that their relationship will remain the same after this unspecified operation. In fact, she suggests that the two of them can have more than what they already have in their relationship despite her low self esteem and his need for her to go through with the operation. Although the American supports her, it is clear that his intentions are far different than what the woman is craving. It's almost as if he is sure in his mind that he loves her; however, this operation is the right for her to take. At this time, I can relate heavily to this story. Just a few nights ago,  my partner and I decided to work towards our relationship which had been on the rocks for nearly a month out of the three that we spent together: a clear sign of failure. Nonetheless, it was one of those quick relationships where the individuals far so hard and so fast that they lose all of the essential steps to creating a sustaining relationship. With that being said, I believe that our story relates to Hemingway's because, like the young woman, I was adoment that things could remain the same, if not improve. My partner, however, was just looking for reassurance that he could actually move on from the relationship. Interestingly enough, I believe that this story is a strong life lesson to anyone no matter which side they are on: the young woman or the American. No matter what relationship you involve yourself in, believe in your self worth and others self worth as well. That way, when the two of you reach a cross road, you can approach it confidently further easing your communication and possible eliminating the issues that will ensue. 

Tonto and the Wallpaper

In class last Thursday we went over the short stories The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie and The Yellow Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. First, the discussed The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven which was about a man and his struggle with being of minority. In detail, he describes the hardships that he endured feeling oppressed by "the white man". Essentially, he fights with himself and his Native American heritage. The fistfight in heaven alludes to the main character quarreling between living the life of a Caucasian male (the lone ranger) and a Native American male (Tonto-the rangers side kick). After speaking about that, we went on to talk about The Yellow Wallpaper which was a macabre story about a woman locked away in a room hysterical after after having her child. The interesting about this story is that one cannot define who is actually crazy, the wife or her husband (a doctor respected by society). What is clear though, is that the doctor continues to have affairs while his wife is locked away and that he babies his wife into thinking that she is more sick than she may actually be. Having read this story before, I have heard variations of who indeed suffered from insanity or manipulation. To this day, I think that the husband is abusing his wife and trying to protect his name by locking her away. However, it is not clear what the writer Gliman's intentions were. Nonetheless, class last Thursday was very thought provoking. 

The Lone Ranger

For class this week, we were assigned to read Sherman Alexie's short story entitled The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Although the title confused me due to my lack of knowledge on who Tonto is, I quickly began to grasp the notion that the speaker saw himself as an outcast, lonely and separate from the majority of society. After realizing that Tonto is a fictional Indian character who serves as the sidekick to the Lone Ranger, I understood the struggles that the character faced. There was the white graveyard shift cashier at 7-11 who was suspicious of his late night Creamsicle craving, the white girlfriend who viewed him as an untrustworthy drunk, and the white son of a BIA chief who was challenging his Native American basketball skills in front of his entire tribe. Interestingly, the distaste shared between these three different opponents serve as the objects of purpose in the story. They all symbolize how the character wishes for something that just isn't within his reach: feeling like the majority. His minority puts him in a different position in society and he takes note of that quite often, explaining how this does in fact make him feel like the Lone Ranger's sidekick. It challenged me to think, in a perfect realm such as heaven, which would I choose? Would I choose to continue living my life as a person of minority. Or would I take the alluring approach and opt to become a person of majority?

Syllabus Week

For the first two classes we had this semester, we introduced ourselves and got a chance to memorize everyone's names. Mr. Sweeney introduced himself as well as his class contract and told us that it was our chance to decide our fate within the class. Assuming everyone would want an A or B grade, each class member would have to fulfill a number of the things listed on his criteria. Following the contract, we went on to read the first story entitled "How to Become a Better Writer" by Lorrie Moore. Strange and confusing, I found the piece to be bizarre and unappealing. However, after discussing it in class I can understanding why we started off the semester by reading it. The speaker struggled including plot in their writing which is something all writers may come across at a certain point in their lives. Although it was not clear to me how the speaker was going to address the issue, it most certainly made me think about my writing and the importance of the plot within all of my stories. Another interesting thing that was point out in the class was how the speaker talked in second person; which is something that you will not catch very often. This challenged me to think about perspectives in my writing.