Extra Credit Blog

Over this course i feel my reading comprehensions skills have grown and my deeper analysis of what im reading has improve as well. This has come from my fellow colleagues giving there opinions on passages we've looked over in class. Having group and full class discussions about certain writings was very beneficial to hear opinions from different perspectives.

Writing my book was a bit of a struggle at first the biggest problem was just coming up with a solid idea. I had to many things i wanted to try and couldn't really stick to just one idea. The next issue came with picking my work. Which pieces did i want to include? Which writings best fit with what i was trying to display in the book? It was a lot of fun to put together but also some work your writing changes when you know it will be viewed by others.

Through my book i wanted to encourage people to start reading more or perhaps to write there own story. Its very important to have these skills not only have them but keep them from getting rusty. Some people don't like to read or write especially teens, When actually there is no escaping it we do a form of reading and writing everyday language is all around us. Illiterate people are doomed to fail.

I decided to put some tips in my book on how to improve there own writing. I felt this would encourage others to start writing themselves some people just need the right push. I felt when i first came to the class i was one of these people I hated to read especially poetry it was much to confusing now its alot easier to understand and alot more fun to read because of it. My writing has improved and now i even do it on my own time.

Blog 10

In house of the future the author recalls the event of his brother dying and how it takes a toll on him and his family. What i like about the story is that he seems to be writing from the perspective of a few people not just his opinion about whats going on. The author describes the mood and certain setting of the house mentioning how theirs always a light filling each room even in the dusk of night. One thing i didn't like was he never fully explained his brothers condition this could be at the time he was young and didn't know or maybe just didn't wanna talk about it.

You can capture an idea of the rest of the family from his descriptions. He mentions his mother became quite a heavy smoker and how his father had lost his natural light. To me by natural light i think he meant his emotional support. So you could argue the house of the future is an escape for him to leave the bad times he;s enduring right now in his life and that maybe in the future things will turn out better. Either way it seems like an escape for him from whats really going on.

What i found interesting was the way he describes the house a couple of bedrooms and 2 baths he mentions. The story was written in the 1960's about 15 years after World War 2 during this time a lot of families lived together parents and husband or bride of child in single homes or apartment complex. The 1960 is where we see an introduction to mass structures of housing built for multiple people. The house he describes is very ahead of its time for the period in history.

                                                                              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.

Blog 5

        There was a story in the packet I read and I also discussed with my group on Tuesday called Morning news. For those of you who haven't read it, the story is about an elderly man who gets disturbing news about his death rendering close. So he spends some time thinking about how he would spend his last month, week, 24 hours. At first he comes up with these ideas how he should take a trip to Paris have a last meal. In the end he desires to purchase a giant TV. "Biggest in the whole god damn store" to be exact. I think this is an example of how our society is today and the world we live in.

       I've decided to talk about this part of the story because its something we discussed in our group. Which most of them agreed they would probably do the same and spend on themselves. Which doesn't sound like a bad idea why not splurge?  I decided to think a little deeper about this. This may be looking too deep into the story but i feel like buying any valuables for yourself as your dying is not smart. I feel like today were so consumed with purchasing things and trying to out due everybody. We forget what its all about.

      Maybe the television was for his wife's entertainment after his passing, but why not donate or do something with your money and time that will outlast you. The TV will mean nothing to him and will say nothing about what kind of person he was after he has passed. This story kinda spoke louder to me then the rest because I've thought about this from time to time, how do you prepare yourself for death?  And what do those without religion believe would happen next. He addresses this in the story and almost sounds like he second guessed his own belief and may have considered the more religious route. I would imagine the torture of not knowing or even having any idea of what could happen next would be far worse then the actual death itself, But after all the thinking i do on the subject one thing is non changing. I want to do or create something that will last longer then i will.