Blog 9


One of the short stories i found most interesting was suspended by Joy Harjo. It reads from his perspective as a child who grew watching his father care for his car and learning about the sensation of music especially jazz music he describes sounds from the trumpet. He or she uses alot of description about their life and whats going on. Its almost read like a poem. The author goes on to talk about other experiences with music they've had like listening to the jukebox and trips with there dad.

An interesting comment the author made later in the story was "The music made a startling bridge between the strange and familiar" This point hit home for me. This is something I've always believed in. No matter what the social or race gap is music is one common ground that everyone can touch on. Of course everyone doesn't like the same style of music, but its something people can still get together and agree on. Its influences people in a certain way nothing else can.

Towards the end he talks about how at this moment in his child hood he had discovered jazz music and how it is a way to speak beyond ordinary language. i thought this was a very strong point too. Music has the biggest impression on people. Music can almost be used as a way to control people. By speaking beyond ordinary language i think he is referring to how to interact and how they come together. That the music is intertwining people as if it was a language of its own. As i stated in the 2nd paragraph music has a means connect people. People who could be on complete opposites ides of the spectrum still have that common ground in music.

                                                                       Blog 8

While i was making my portfolio i found myself looking back over my old work and the way it read came off similar to my current work. It still sounded like poetry after a couple of examples of readings we did in class i begin to figure out the real difference between the two. Though they are still quite similar neither are as long as a novel they can both introduce themes and character, and both leave you searching for more.

I think in both readings you have to really pay attention to detail and dialogue. As they usually don't give as much detail as a story so it allows you to use your imagination and fill in the blanks. Poems are written as more dramatic. They are draw emotion out of there reader. Poems have a tendency to use rhymes instead of details and usually follow a rhythm scheme. Majority of poems are written as verses, stanzas, and sonics.

Short stories introduce few characters and usually create a mood. Short stories can be as long as a paragraph and written in complete thoughts and sentences. These are usually fiction based. Short story's contain characterization, a plot, mood, and setting. An interesting thing about short stories is that they can be told in the third person. The writer could also be a character in the story.

Blog 7

One of the chapters i found interesting upon finishing writing down the bones was the chapter Fighting Tofu. I like the description she used how fighting tofu would be pointless because of the components.She compared this to her writing saying that the will to write and the will to not constantly bicker but this is okay let them. The fighting between these to is unavoidable she says but the important thing is that while that argument is happening that you pick yourself up and grab your notebook as she puts it.

She goes on to say majority of people don't find the time to do things they need much like the author with her writing, so most will get discouraged, angry, frustrated, and want to just give up. The author gives several tricks and strategy's to stop herself from feeling this way and motivates her to get her writing done. One of the tips she gave that i think most of us do our selves without even knowing it is give herself a little reward after she has finished.

I think the tips she gave in the chapter can be used in much more then just writing. For example the author mentions in one of her tips that once a week she will wake up in the morning and before doing anything else she would write as much as she could. I had a problem with working-out it was something i always like to do and recently hadn't found the time to do it in a few months so i started doing my workouts at home in the morning when i wake up and at night right before bed. I feel its important to always remember not to get upset or discouraged with yourself for not completing all your tasks rather help keep your self on track make it easier for yourself.

Blog 6

 After reading "the girl with the blackened eye." I took it as a story as a young woman sharing the gruesome memory's of her life and past. That she may not have spoken about or let her mind process. So she finally getting free from it by writing it down and sharing it with her audience. I think as she goes on the worse part has come after this tragedy.

I would imagine in every victims progress the after math has to be worse then the actual encounter. It may take months, even years for your mind to come to ease with past events and not to mention the memories probably are as consistent. I would bet some victims have these memories up until there dying day. The after math comes worse because most victims take themselves out of the situation and try to escape in there own minds. As she mentioned in the story "You are there, and not there."

She mentioned numerous times how she was "forcible abduction" Which i found interesting because we are discussing this exact topic in another class of mine. We've discussed how victims deal with these traumas and there steps to recovery and how most never return to there original state or return completely to normal. It sounds like these past events have effected this woman to the day of her writing these. It effects her family for she feels she can not tell anybody of her story and does her best not to mention the past.