HW for 4/22

1. This poem occurs during a war and seems to imply that the Americans can face death better due to them leaving their genes behind so they will somehow be reborn. In addition the Iraqis fear that about the Americans as their army and their people will continue to grow even when the soldiers are overseas or are dying. The dead soldier talks about the sperm and about how the Americans left their legacy behind them.

2. The Iraqis were fighting a losing battle against a far superior opponent not just in terms of numbers but in training and technology. The Iraqis were constantly losing much more troops than the Americans and due to the large number of birth defects, their numbers were not growing anywhere near necessary to keep pace. The Americans on the other hand had a cheap easy way to increase their manpower that was almost completely safe. This led to a severe jealousy by the Iraqis.

3. A journalist works very hard to show the truth. His entire job is to let the facts be known. For a poet, their job is to embelish. They're supposed to cover the truth up for the soldiers and make the war seem much more glorious than it truly is.

Lion- A large meat eating cat known for its furry mane. Called 'King of the Jungle' by some. Not dangerous to humans except on rare occasions and when it is provoked. Generally travels in groups called prides.

Lioness- Female lion. Lacks the furry mane the male has. Also it is the actual hunter for its pride.

The story She Unnames Them did not come across to me the way the author wanted it to. Everything was left too vague to adequately get what the author is trying to say.

Comments for 4/17

She Unnames Them

This story was kind of weird. Is about someone unaming animals or something like that. The person takes away the generic names for a species like 'cats' or 'dogs' but lets them keep their personal names. Its never very clear who the man and the woman are. The man is Adam and so the woman would probably be Eve, however they named the animals and this woman is unnaming them so its very odd and is kind of hard to understand.

A Cold Coming

I had not clue what was going on is this poem. Its about a dead Iraqi soldier who was talking to someone before he was burned to death. The Iraqi soldier was talking about sperm or something like that. Apparently the Americans froze their sperm frozen so in case they died their wives could be introvertalized and they could have children after they died. This apparently scared the Iraqis. Very strange poem.

Journey of the Magi

This poem is about the journey of the Magi to the birthplace of baby Jesus. The poem is however told pasttense as one of the Magi is remembering it when he is old. The Magi also mentions having seen Jesus' death on the cross and how important both events were to him.

Comments for 4/10

Siren Song!

Greek mythology has always interested me and this poem is definately an interesting read. The song is about the mythical sirens who lure men to their deaths by tricking them into crashing their ships against the rocks of their island. This paticular poem is told from one of the Siren's points of view and involves her tricking the audience for it into crashing by pretending the song is a cry for help and since its a well known fact (read: cliche) that men can't resist a beautiful woman, the audience will have fallen into her trap. Just as she planned.

Ulysses

This story is about the famed Ulysess (star and hero of the famous epic The Odyssey). In this story he is old and recounts the many adventures of his life. In order to return home to his loyal wife and son he went through many hardships that would easily have made a lesser man lose his mind. However his son is very different from him and he finds that as he grows closer to death he wants to go one last adventure. He wants to be famed for one more thing. Simply put he can't bear the thought of sitting at home peacefully and would prefer to go on another life or death adventure. Really this poem is rather sad in that, Ulysses worked incredibly hard to return home to his family and yet when he gets there, he wants to go back on another adventure.

Annontated Bibliography - SWA 8, 9

Annotated Bibliography

Holt: Elements of Literature. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 5 Apr. 2008. http://eolit.hrw.com/hlla/authorbios/index2.jsp?author=10timobrien.
This article is a small biography of the author of “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien. O’Brien was drafted into the Vietnam War and served in it for 3 years where he saw heavy combat as an infantryman. After he got home from the war, O’Brien wrote several stories about war. I can use this article in my paper to s how O’Brien’s real life experiences helped him write this story and that the events that take place in it are the gritty reality of the harsh war.

Jones, Joy. "I Will Never Forget." Officer Review Magazine 47.6 (Jan. 2008): 12-12. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Thomas Cooper Library, Lexington, SC. 5 Apr. 2008. https://pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&db=aph&AN=28320644&site=ehost-live.

This article details the story of a young sergeant in the army who was good friends with another soldier who the sergeant finds out after he goes home had been killed in action. The article shows how the sergeant never forgets about the soldier and even thirty years later contacts his next of kin to give them photos he had of the soldier. The article is important in that it shows how the war affected the soldiers’ bonds with each other.

Roszak, Theodore, et al. "Where Were You During the Summer of Love?" Chronicle of Higher Education 53.44 (06 July 2007): B6-B9. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Thomas Cooper Library, Lexington, SC. 5 Apr. 2008. https://pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&db=aph&AN=25847210&site=ehost-live.
This article illustrates several points of view during the infamous Summer of Love. Many of these people are influenced by the Vietnam War. Some fought in the war and some fought against the war. I can use this article to detail how the Vietnam War affected the lives of different people and show that the war itself was very influential not only to the Vietnamese people, but to the American people.

Thomas, Evan, et al. "What These Eyes Have Seen. (Cover story)." Newsweek 151.6 (11 Feb. 2008): 24-32. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Thomas Cooper Library, Lexington, SC. 5 Apr. 2008. https://pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&db=aph&AN=28833419&site=ehost-live.

This article provides a narrative of what possible future president John McCain went through in the Vietnam War. This article details his capture, torture, and eventual release at the hands of the Vietcong. This article is important to my paper due to its explicit details of what prisoners of war went through in the war as well as how the experience shaped McCain into the possible Leader of the Free World he has become today.
www.ibiblio.org. 1989. AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY, Center of Military History. 7 April 2008. http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/history/marshall/military/vietnam/short.history/chap_28.txt.This article is a summary of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. It discusses everything from the beginning of the conflict which reached back to World War II to the end of the war and beyond. I can use this article in my paper to show not only what happened, but the results of the war as well as the final casualty figures suffered by the American forces and the Vietnamese forces.

Topic Proposal - SWA 10

Topic Proposal

The work I have chosen is "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. I chose to write about this topic because war is fascinating not merely in the violent sense but in the psychological way it affects the soldiers. Wars themselves are always interesting and the Vietnam War was one of the worst wars America ever fought. The war is significant not only because its the closest America has ever come to losing a war, but because it was the first war to have television coverage and therefore was scrutinable by the public eye. The war itself was horrorfest that had no winners, only survivors. In that way, the theme of the story is simply that the war may seem like a glorious experience but in fact its a hellish nightmare where only the lucky really escape from. I need to find more information not only about the war itself, but how it affected the survivors and how the war was treated by the media.

Thesis: The Vietnam War was a hellish time period where the men went over to fight were slowly driven mad by the horrors they witnessed.

SWA 7

Both the play “Trifles” and the short story “A Jury of Her Peers” were enjoyable reads. However the play version was easier to discern what the characters/actors were doing in the scene and about the setting of the scene in general. The short story however made it easier to see what was being said and to what was happening. The play seems too scattered, with the reader having to pause in the middle of the speaker’s lines to discern what they’re doing while in the short story, you can read what they’re saying without having to pause and thus making it easier to follow what’s going on in the play. In terms of historical or cultural analysis, the play is easier to use in that respect. The way the women were treated by the men, along with the other items shown by the play, it can be discerned that the story takes place early in the 1900s or late 1800s. The play form is very helpful in discovering the historical and cultural aspect due to its descriptions of not only the scene, but the descriptions of the individual items in the house. With all of the info provided once can make a much more accurate analysis than one could by reading the short story which lacks the detailed summary of the house and its occupants.

The story that I picked is The Things They Carried.

The historical setting is Vietnam during the war. The cultural background is about an American soldier's experiences in the Vietnam War. I am not too familiar with the war in Vietnam. The setting in which the story takes place, the places in the story, and the fact that the war is in Vietnam are the important cultural and historical clues in the story. These clues reveal when and where the story occurs and allow the readers to understand the context in which the events are happening. I would like to find out more about not only the Vietnam War in general, but about the casualty figures. Also I'd like to look more at the culture of the Vietnemese people themselves in general not only during the war but possibly before and after the war as well.

Comments for 3/27

The theme for "No Name Woman" is probably culture. The woman is raped and gets pregnant as a result. However because of the culture of the Chinese she ends up killing herself out of the 'shame' she brings upon her family by getting pregnant with a man who isn't her husband. In the end her culture is responisble for her suicide and for the death of her newborn.

Similar to "No Name Woman", "Becky is about culture, but is more about finding your 'place' in a paticular culture. The story takes place in the 20s and was in a time of racial difficulty. Blacks and whites were not considered close so for someone of both races, it was very difficult to find your 'place' in a society.

Comments for 3/25

The story "How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie" by Junot Diaz is a guide about what a Dominican guy should do on his date based on what race the girl is and what the result of the date will be. The story itself is full of ethnic stereotypes. The narrator's home life is less than preferable and apparently he lives in a rather poor neighborhood.

The story "No Name Woman" by Maxine Hong Kingston is a story that reflects some Chinese culture. A woman is raped repeatedly, gets pregnant, and is then murdered by a mob of villagers sent after her by the very man who raped her. The story is very disturbing and I noticed that the final paragraph seems to reference the original Chinese legend that inspired the Ring movies.

The poem "America" by Claude McKay seems to imply that Claude has had horrible experiences in this country but still loves it all the same. He seems to personify America as a woman and notes many problems that America is facing or will face in the future. In his other poem "If We Must Die" he describes the way that he wants him and his fellows to die, not slaugtered like hogs but dying nobly in battle against overwhelming odds. Basically Claude states he would rather die on his feet than on his knees.

Freewrite

War- battles, peace, death, explosions, pain, flames, gunfire, bombs, planes, tanks, soldiers, enemy, very loud, terror, destruction, bullets

Gunner- gun, bullets, shells, loud firing, bullet holes, dead people, blood

Attack- assault, defend, protect, kill, charge, forward, victorious, gunfire, advance, yells

World War II- Holocaust, Hitler, Nazis, Pearl Harbor, atom bomb, Truman, death, Stalin

The research I found about ball turrets does help me visualize the poem better and helps me to understand a little of what the doomed ball turret gunner was going through than before I researched what a ball turret was.

The author's message is difficult to detect even with the research, however it probably is along the lines of War is a very hellish time, and is full of very dark events. This is probably due to his inability to get in a plane because he failed to qualify and was instead forced to work as a a radio tower operator.

Comments 3/20

"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" by Randall Jarrell

The short poem is really rather sad and brutal. The freezing man inside the bomber is killed by enemy fighters and anti-aircraft guns after just waking up from a dream about his moter and then washed out of his turret with a hose. Shocking stuff.

“The Holocaust Party” by Robin Hemley

The Holocaust was one of the worst moments in human history. No one really wants to think about everything that happened, but to simply forget about it would be even more horrible. Its like a car crash. It terrifies people out of their minds, yet they still want to learn more about it.

Comments for 3/18

The Soldier

This poem is about a soldier going off to the battlefield while being more than a little ignorant about what he really was going to experience. The soldier talks about easily doing things that many have struggled to do.

Anthem for Doomed Youth

This poem is about the young men who died as they were slaughtered by artillary guns. The young men never stood a chance against the weapons but charged on anyway knowing that they were certainly doomed against the overwhelming firepower their enemy possessed.

Glory of Women

I did not understand this poem too well. It obviously had to do with death, but it seems to refer to the dead soldiers and not to women at all.

Concerns for Essay #2

I am concerned with the closing of the essay. I feel that I may not have concluded it well enough and possibly need to add more to the ending of the paper. I also feel that I may need to add more to body itself describing the features and meaning of the cell phone.

Warmup

The message of my poster is that we need to conserve gas and energy due to the rising prices and the fact that using gas causes smog which is detrimental to the environment. One way to conserve gas is to carpool to work or school rather than driving separately. I chose this issue because rising gas prices are a major topic lately. I kept the poster only one color due to lack of materials and used pictures as that would send the message without forcing people to read too much. I was limited in my poster design to lack of drawing talent and a lack of materials. I would have probably added in more color and drawn another picture if those limits hadn't been there.

SWA 5

Topic Proposal

The object I have chosen as my text for Essay #2 is my cell phone. The cell phone's main purpose is to allow the owner of the device to be able to communicate verbally with their friends and loved ones no matter where they are. So if someone is somewhere where a regular phone is unavailable to use they could just use their cell phone to talk to the person in question who they wish to talk to. The cell phone also allows the user to text someone as opposed to calling them regularly and in addition to that they can also download games, ring tones, screen savers, and also access the Internet to check sports scores or look up the latest news. Other functions of the device include the ability for sites like Facebook to communicate with you automatically if anything happens that you'd want to know about. The cell phone is silver and is worn and beaten from the many times its been dropped, kicked, or otherwise physically assaulted. However it still works perfectly which is a testament to its strong construction. It is a flip phone which means it can be flipped close to protect the buttons and the screen from any damage. Its buttons are lit so they can be seen in the dark. The cell phone however requires you to sign up with a network to use and if a problem does occur, you generally are in trouble as the help line is inadequate to say the least. The cell phone is marketed toward teenagers and anyone with a job that demands the employee not be in an office for 12 hours. Generally the cell phone is advertised for everyone although the primary consumers are young adults and businessmen. The cell phone is proof that the world is becoming more technologically inclined and is relying less and less on more archaic methods like mail.

Thesis Statement:

This paper will demonstrate that the cell phone is integrel to the growing world of business as well as being important in the lives of young adults and that its continued and varied use signifies the world's adaptation to a newer age where technology is more relied upon and that its users are not wealthy but more socially inclined than those without a cell phone.

Warmup

I disagree with Keedy, because a poor visual representation of something can affect how the viewers perceive whatever it is the ad is trying to 'sell'. People are influenced by what they see and if something is half-done in a crappy way, fewer people are going to care about it or support it. For example the Truth commercials for smoking are very effective in stating the facts about smoking and if I smoked, I would definately consider quitting.

Comments for 2/28

The article "First Things First Manifest 2000" seems angry at how graphic designers are viewed as only being capable of making advertisements for superficial products like cigarettes or beer. The author would like to shift focus away from advertisements and use their skills for something much better. Ironically their view of 'better' is making movies and the like, but its clear they want to do more with their skills than use photoshop on a Nike shoe and put the words 'Just Do It' on the picture.

Comments for 2/26

The article Car Culture describes how celebrities with 'new money' are more likely to buy the big, gaudy, and completely impractical Hummers while those with 'old money' are more apt to purchase the smaller, subdued, and economical Prius. However despite the so called 'new money' wanting to own the Hummers, on important events they leave them at home. The author then mentions that Hummers are becoming less and less popular (possibly due to their abysmal gas milage while gas prices are getting ungodly high) and that sales have fallen in six straight months. I found this article amusing in that what is seen as 'the vehicle' for anyone with money is losing its popularity to a hybrid car.

Freewrite

I am a PC fan. I have used a PC all my life and have never used a MAC before.
The design is a very sleek look and has a modern feel to it.
The software is very easy to use and allows you to do whatever it is you need to do.
MACs have the better ad campaign because their comercials are more memorable.

Freewrite

One of my old friends used to quote that 'Scarface' line "Say hello to my little friend!" every chance he could. He remembers the line apparently because it is rather iconic, coming in the final scene of that movie. The line itself is really just trashtalk so I guess it would mean he likes to trashtalk. I know that he loved that movie because he watched it almost 3 times a month so that's why he remembered it.

Comments for 2/12

Writing Assignment #1

1. "Ducks on a Pond" by Mark Sibley-Jones

2. I believe the main arguement of the text is that the past can't be forgotten but you can move on from it and live your life happily.

3. p. 259 halfway down the page: "I couldn't shake the image of his careening off the curb, the sight of the car swerving. I'd dreamed too many times as a child of the accident at the mill. I wondered how my father, so graceful and surefooted, had managed to fall toward the spinner. He'd have been chewed to bits if not for Mixson. Neither Dad nor Mama told me the full story, but talk circulated in the mill village. Sometimes I'd wake up in a sweat, thinking I was hearing the puncture of the eyeball and the grinding of bone in the teeth of the machine, only to race into the next room and find Mom sewing on her Singer."

4. The section where Mixson is almost run over is important, in that, while Mixson shrugs the near death experience off and goes on his way, Baxter and Carl are shaken and berate Mixson for not being careful. Carl even guides Mixson across the street showing that he's worried one of the cars might run him over despite all of them being stopped. Mixson is clearly happy to just keep moving forward while Carl and Baxter are more worried about keeping him completely safe from harm.

5. No significant rhyme, rhythm, or alliteration.

6. It contributes in that it shows that people shouldn't worry so much and that they should keep moving forward in life rather than trying to spot every danger.

Thesis: Life is to be enjoyed and experienced, and worrying about every little thing and staying focused on the past will not get you anywhere.

Writing Assignment #2

The short story "Ducks on a Pond" by Mark Sibley-Jones is a story about a grandfather and his grandson's trip to the park. However underneath all that is something far deeper. Life is to be enjoyed and experienced, and worrying about every little thing and staying focused on the past will not get you anywhere. The reader must look at how Mixson and Baxter go about their day at the park and pay attention to how different their reactions to certain things are. This story is all about moving forward in life and not letting your past drag you down.

Sonny Blues

Sonny Blues is a rather sad story about the relationship a man has with his brother. Sonny is a musician, he plays piano, who gets addicted to heroin. Prior to that, the brothers had a falling out and the narrator lost contact with Sonny until he saw a story in the newspaper about his brother being arrested for selling drugs. After Sonny gets out of therapy, the narrator accompanies Sonny to a club where he watches him play. After the performance, the narrator buys his brother a drink which seems to signify that they are going to reconnect.

Lost in the Funhouse

The story was rather dull and it seemed to just lose itself in all of its text. I really couldn't grasp any messages other than you can become lost in life. It was all very confusing and it really seemed like the narrator was literally just saying everything that came to his mind.

Videotape

This story was very dark and kind of disturbing as well. The story involves a man getting killed while a little girl watches and records it on camera. The tape is then watched by other people who hold a fasination with death. The message I got from this story was that people are subtely attracted to the disturbing and the morose.

Freewrite

When I was walking to class, I was dead on my feet and completely exhausted. I guess a dingy gray would describe my mood the best if tired can be given a color. Throw in a bit of blue and you'd have the best color for how I feel.

Comments for 1/31

Hills Like White Elephants
9. The couple has decided to go along with what the man wants and have the abortion. The woman though still has misgivings and obviously wants to have the baby despite the man's objections, but she is going through with the abortion anyway. It's also highly probable that they might break up after the abortion due to the clear differences of opinion they have on wanting children.

Girl
5. The Primary Speaker believes women should be prim, proper, and not be or act like a slut. The Primary Speaker is of the opinion that women should always be in the kitchen and has a very low opinion of any woman who gets her hands dirty or does things she considers 'boy things'. Basically she believes in the housewife occupation for women and thinks the men should earn the bread money while the women support them.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
2. The narrator of the story fits a profile simply because his skin is dark. The police officer is pointing out that a dark skinned man driving around at night is suspicious due to the supposed higher crime rates for 'dark skinned people'. The narrator interprets the comment to mean that he isn't white in a white neighborhood and is therefore suspicous and a probable criminal.

Comments for 1/29

The first version of Esenin's "Golden Grove" is the better version in my opinion. It seems deeper than the the second one. Both versions have the same meaning, however the first translation is much better than the second one.

Hills Like White Elephants: This was a strange passage. I had to read it through about 4 times before I realized they were talking about the girl getting an abortion. Its clear that the girl is nervous about giving up the baby and that guy definately didn't want it.

Girl: This passage seems to refer to a woman telling her daughter how to live life. The mother is very prim in her belief about the way a woman should act. Meanwhile the girl clearly is confused about all of these things getting pushed on her so fast.

Freewrite

Heart- life, heartbeat, blood, cardiovascular, red, pulse.

Desert- sand, dehydration, sun, more sand, heat, sweat, sunburn, cactus, hot, mirage, vulture, death.

Universe- galaxy, space, planets, stars, big, black, huge, everything, infinite, emptyness, lost.

Shepherd- guide, lead, protect, save, guardian, gather, tend.

Warmup

1. Close Reading is reading and then rereading the material you are presented.
2. Pastoral- A genre describing farm life. [relating to the farming or grazing of sheep or cattle or (of a literary, artistic, or musical work) portraying country life, especially in an idealized form. Oxford]
Mistress- A female master. [a woman in a position of authority, control, or ownership; a woman skilled in a particular subject or activity; a woman (other than a wife) having a sexual relationship with a married man; chiefly Brit. a female schoolteacher. Oxford]
Nymph- A mythological creature. [a mythological spirit of nature imagined as a beautiful maiden; literary a beautiful young woman; an immature form of an insect such as a dragonfly. Oxford]

Comments for 1/24

Practice 6-D
In the short story Black Elvis, the titular character is called shockingly enough Black Elvis. This character's name is metaphorical in that he, like the real Elvis, plays the guitar. Oh yeah and he's black. The theme of the story seems to be that life is full of regrets and that everyone dies eventually.

Practice 6-E
The term grandmother means your father's or mother's mother to me.

The Flea
I find it oddly hilarious that sex is being compared to flea bites.

In the Desert and A Man Said to the Universe
I honestly do not know which of these poems confuses me more.

Comments for 1/22 (Not late at all)

1) Books, magazines, newspapers, and poems are examples of texts.
4) Genres are a loose set of criteria for a category of composition.
12) Context is the text in which a word or passage appears and which helps ascertain its meaning.
16) The choice of a single point of view.
17) The perspective from which a narrative is related.

First Post

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