Hmmm...

For this blog I decided to blog about my work I have done recently. When I first started in this class I was worried about all the writing assignments and the poetry and blahh blahhh. I didn’t really want to take this class either; I was pretty upset now that I think about it. The only reason I was upset is because I hate writing classes, I mean I have written thing before obviously, but with poetry and stories I liked to do those just for fun and would NEVER show anyone. So you can only imagine the fear I through had to share my stories and poetry. I was nervous and scared; I mean I only wrote things in private because I’m not a great writer at all.  The people actually surprised me though they were nice and gave feedback. The people in my group never once said this sucks or you should drop the class like I thought they would say. They would give constructive criticism and make me feel a little bit better about writing.

This brings me to the class and why I’m now happy I took it, I learned a lot. I learned how to be more comfortable with my writing, and its okay if you have a bad piece someone will help ya out. I also learned more about poetry, like everyone gets their own message from it. Which is okay just because you got one thing out of it doesn’t mean you’re necessarily wrong, I mean there could be multiple meanings in the poem. In class we read some interesting books that I liked a lot. To name one Blood Dazzler, I loved this one in particular. I think it’s because there is so much heart and actual experience in each poem. The poetry in the book is so unique and has its own story. Another book I was fond of is To After That, I think I liked this one because it was interesting, and I just didn’t mind reading it. Now to bring up the entire essay packet collection we have, I like them as well. I know some of them are little parts of books and I wish I could read the entire thing. Some of the writing in them was weird and I didn’t like em but others I just loved.

Overall I am really happy I took this class, it has inspired me to write more. I’m not sure if I’m ready to share my writing with other people just yet, I’ll probably stick to family and friends. I’m just happy I can improve my hobby of occasionally picking up a pencil and just writing (also learned that) don’t think too much about what you want to write, just write. I enjoyed the class and am happy I could learn more about writing styles and such.

Essay packet two...

So I want to talk about the fine art of sighing... This one was interesting to me because it was simple. I guess it was surprising because most of the things we have been reading in class or for class are so confusing and odd and you have to try and find the hidden message. You can only imagine how thrilled I was when this reading came so easy; I guess you can say easy for me. It made me happy haha. In class when you told us to pick from the three on the board I knew right away I wanted to talk about this particular essay, just because it was easy for me to talk about.

Anyways to cut to the chase I’m just going to start talking more about it. I liked how the essay made me think of sighing, because you know I’ve never really thought about people sighing and if I had I would automatically jump to the person being upset.  While reading this it actually opened my eyes to a sigh is more than just a deep breath it is an emotion almost. It can mean happy, sad, pissed off, and annoyed, relief, death… It can mean anything. There really isn’t a word or a way to describe a sigh; everyone does them for their own reasons. I started to pay attention to people and see if they notice that they sign and they don’t. It’s funny to me how people including myself sigh without really realizing it. I loved how the author called sighs meaningful, because if you think about it they are.

The “hidden” message I found in this is everyone is connected somehow through sighs. An example is the author says “it’s a reflex and a Legacy (meaning you inherited it, and so did everyone else), this SOULful SPECIES of breathing”.  I capitalized soul and species because the author gave sighing identity like it is its own person or everyone does it. Also the reason I think the author is trying to say we are all connected is because he goes on and talks about people all over the world like a guy in Milwaukee, and Judge in Munich. I just really liked and appreciated the message and how it got me thinking.

Sunday- essay

The essay packet we received last week was pretty interesting. There was one that stuck out to me, being the hummingbird essay. Well since we have to write about another one I started to try and find one other then total Eclipse. So i came across one that I could kind of relate to so I guess that's the one I will discuss.

Sunday By Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
I liked this because in the beginning it says "white people couldn't cook;everybody knew that." I found this to be somewhat funny because my Grandpa is 100 percent Indian and he is always going on and on about how food white people cook is bland. Although he doesn't have much room to talk because he can't cook either. Anyways I also found that funny because my dad and I love to cook, and my dad is one of the best cooks I know. He and I are always in the kitchen trying out new sauces to marinate meat in, or just experimenting with new recipes. My dad has always been big on a healthy meal, and cooking everything just right, and no eating on the run. SO when that was brought up in the story I really enjoyed that.


Another reason I liked this essay is because of the images I got. When he would talk about the secrets of the Coleman family he would say the fatback, or a couple of ham hocks and a long simmering time. I could picture all of it. Maybe its because I love to cook and I do it so often so I just know exactly what he is describing. I liked this essay because it reminded me of home, and had a story I could follow and enjoy. Even though the story made me hungry and miss home I loved it because it made me think of my dad and out bound to the kitchen and together!

Essay packet one

While reading the essay packet there was a few of them I liked but I would say the one that stuck out the most to me would be Mute Dancers: How to Watch a Hummingbird. When I first started to read it I thought it would be a dumb piece of writing on a hummingbird and what they do, or how they do things. Turns out it was a piece of writing all about hummingbirds, but I have never been so interested in a hummingbird in all my life. It was the way she would describe and compare each thing a hummingbird does to something else, in great detail.

For example when she says, “Like a small fury of iridescence, a hummingbird spends the day at high speed, darting and swiveling among thousands of nectar-rich blossoms”. She made that sentence so I don’t know loaded in words which made it more interesting. She could have just said hummingbird’s hummingbirds fly fast going to each flower for nectar, instead she gave it a little oomph to make it come to life, so you as the reader can picture it. Also she compares the hummingbird to a cat, saying they drink the nectar like a cat would milk but faster. I enjoyed the way she kept my attention, but I also like how I learned so much about a hummingbird without being bored.

Ackerman describes these tiny little creatures as if they are the most interesting thing on earth. She makes them out to be an engine almost, like the birds’ heart beats 36 times a minute while sleeping and then in the morning has to get it to 500 beats. That’s kind of like a car engine, when it’s not in use (sleeping) the engine obviously isn’t working hard, but when it’s time to go somewhere and you start it up the engine starts working fast.  Ackerman said hummingbirds usually die in their sleep because they go from 36 beats to 500, this would be extremely difficult for anyone to do. That goes back to the car engine as well, if the car is older or just is having problems starting it is hard to get the engine going and eventually the engine dies.

Another thing I enjoyed about this reading is the stories Ackerman told about her friend being on “their” property, or her walking in the rain forest.  It gave to piece that personal touch it needed instead of just all facts laid out on a piece of paper.

Fahrenheit 451

So recently I started reading this book called Fahrenheit 451. I wasn’t sure if I would like it but I actually started to enjoy it. This book is by the same author who wrote 1984 which I actually hated the only reason I read it is because it was for one of my classes. SO you can only imagine why I thought I would hate this book but so far it isn’t bad. I haven’t gotten too far but this is what I’ve read so far.

Guy Montag (main character) is a fireman who burns books in a kind of advanced American city. In Montag’s world, firemen start fires rather than putting them out which you know is pretty weird. The people in this society do not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have personal or meaningful type of conversations.  What the do is drive very fast, watch excessive amounts of television on wall-size sets, and listen to the radio with head phones attached to their ears. I found this to be pretty interesting considering that is kind of what is happening in the world right now. When I walk to class I see so many people with their head phones attached to their ears blaring music.  

Now this part of the book I just read  today. Montag meet a kind seventeen-year-old girl named Clarisse McClellan. Clarisse was always asking him these really intense questions about his life and with these questions and her unusual love of people and nature Montag realized he lives a very boring, empty life. Over the next few days Montag experiences a series of disturbing events. First, his wife Mildred, attempts suicide by taking a bottle of sleeping pills. Then, when he responds to an alarm that an old woman has a stash of hidden literature, the woman shocks him by choosing to be burned alive along with her books. That’s as far as I have gotten in the book and honestly I can’t wait to read more!

After after that

To after that- this book is really very interesting because it is a story in a story. Goldberg starts off by talking about a book that failed and then goes off into another story, and it honestly got pretty confusing. I didn’t like the book at first but then I started to get into it. I think the reason behind that is I stated to look past all the, is this that, and I wish I would have done this, or I wish my book hadn’t failed and it did because of this. Instead of focusing on that I started to focus on the amazing detail in the book.  For example on page 14 she talking about the fruit stands on the sides of the road, “to buy them, you had to make clown of the body, using your hands and feet to indicate shapes and color”, or “I transverse the concrete city with both hands”. That’s when I really started to enjoy the book.

When I received the assignment to take sentences or statements from Goldberg’s book I wasn’t sure how well it would go over. So I started looking in the book and came across some interesting things and started to write and work with the sentences I found. The writing came pretty easy and I was starting to get into my writing. Then I hit a writer’s wall or block whatever you call it. For some reason I couldn’t write anymore, it was like all my thoughts had vanished. I was a little upset but I eventually started to write again about an hour or so later. 

I know I hate writing and reading so I haven’t been getting into many class discussions or into the reading and writing. So I figure why not try to get into everything. To be honest I’m starting to enjoy this class the more I get into the work. I feel like the books aren’t as bad as they could be, and I try and suck it up when it comes to assignments. I just wish I was better at the whole writing thing, but I feel like I’m starting to get better which is a good thing!