Female Characters and Female Writers

In the portrayal of male and female characters, does it matter if the writer is a man or a woman? Give specific examples from the books we have read this semester. [The Bean Trees and Ethan Frome are the only ones written by women: Barbara Kingsolver and Edith Wharton].

Whether the author is a man or a woman definitely affects the books and the portrayal of characters. This is because both men and women have a different view of each other. Since men don't fully understand what it's like to be a woman, and vice-versa, they can only make guesses over what they've seen, or refer to the common stereotypical outlines. Nonetheless, some authors are able to portray both sexes perfectly. Kingsolver, in her book The Bean Trees, portrays both the stereotypical sides of men and women, but also counters them with an opposite character. Lou Ann, for example, was the well-known feminine character that was weak and powerless. Taylor, on the other hand, was the independent character that could take care of herself. For men, Kingsolver placed stubborn and self-absorbed traits into Lou Ann's husband, and then portrayed a man's sensitive and caring traits through Estevan.

Love Letter to Mattie

Write a love letter from Ethan Frome to Mattie Silver. Use one quote from the book. Use as many specific details from the story as you can.

My dear Mattie,
I've found myself writing and re-writing, hoping to perfectly form all these restless thoughts of you into words so that you would understand. I never would've imagined myself this much in love with you. Since the day we met, you've left a beautiful image with me. When I hear your name, the image forms in my mind, and I see paradise--I see you. Do you remember that night we were alone? "[I] had put [my] arm about [you], and [you] had not resisted." And from this I realized, my love was being returned.
But how can someone so lovely bring so much passion into my soul, yet stir up so much pain in my heart at the same time? It kills me, dearest, that I am already married. It kills me, that my wife is your cousin. I don't love her. However, love is not quite the situation anymore. I'm stuck between desire and morality. Tell me, what can we do? I can't stand living without my Mattie. We're destined to be apart no matter how strong our love, and I guess there really is nothing left to do. Promise me, that even when we are thousands of miles apart, I will always stay embedded into your heart. The angelic image of you, my dear, will be carved into my soul with detail.

Sincerely and forever yours,
Ethan Frome

Hey Teacher, Leave Those Kids Alone

What kind of education do you think is best? Can you get the best type of education in a public school?

I think the best education is one that opens up minds to different perspectives, not just a single-sided aspect. It's the type of education that makes the student realize something they've never realized before, or see something they've never seen. It should cause them to question things, themselves, and others. Most importantly, it should change lives. It really is possible to get this education in public school. It depends on the teacher, as well as the student. Many teachers are the usual boring, "I'm just doing this because its my job" kind of people, who just merely throw facts at you. The ones worth remembering are the ones that are truly committed to teaching, the ones that leave permanent imprints in your thoughts and soul. And it is possible to find them.

Civil Disobedience

What is civil disobedience? Have you ever done it? Can it change society?

Civil disobedience is the defiance towards the laws or insistence of a government that does not include physical violence. Although I have never tried or experience anything close to this, I do believe that it can change society. There are times when submission may not be the correct road to take, especially when it is for something you don't believe in. Society should be where the majority work together to keep harmony as well as a well-blended community with diverse beliefs and lifestyles. If one individual's beliefs are rejected, then he or she has the right to speak up, and fight for it. I feel that civil disobedience, when occurring for the right reason, can only positively affect society.

Preparation for Thoreau/Emerson Keynote

Find 10 facts about either Thoreau or Emerson. (The author depends on your side of the room). Post the facts on your blog with the author and website where you got the information. Read a post of another student in the class about the author you didn't do. Copy and paste 10 facts on your blog about the other author.

Thoreau:
1) He was born in 1817.
2) He "was a complex man of many talents who worked hard to shape his craft and his life, seeing little difference between them".
3) He went to school at Harvard, which his brother John Thoreau helped pay for by teaching school.
4) He was inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson's book, Nature.
5) The death of his brother John in 1842 traumatized him.
6) In 1845, he built his cabin on land that was owned by Emerson, and worked on writing his first book.
7) After his book was published, only few people purchased it.
8) "He found greater joy in his daily life than most people ever would."
9) In 1862, fourty-four year old Thoreau died of tuberculosis.
10) His last words were said to be "Moose" and "Indian."
-Taken from: http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/thoreau/

Emerson:
1)He was born in 1803 and died in 1882.
2)He was the leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early 19th century.
3)He abandoned the catholic church after the death of his first wife, Ellen.
4)He was the Class Poet of his graduating class at Harvard University.
5)He wrote Nature, in which he expressed his belief that the imagination of man is shaped by nature.
6)The things he said had a strong effect on those of the Protestant and Catholic religions, and people thought him to be an atheist.
7)When his first son died in 1842, he wrote of his grief in the poem "Threnody".
8)He was fond of Walt Whitman's poetry.
9)He met with Abraham Lincoln to discuss the emancipation of slaves. 10)He delivered Henry David Thoreau's eulogy.
-Taken from Tesla Gibby's blog. :)

Fahrenheit 451 Podcast

Think about the work your group did on the podcast.
1. What did you learn about using Garageband?
2. What did you learn about Fahrenheit 451?
3. What did you learn about working with others?
Think about the groups that presented on Thursday and Friday.
1. What's one thing that you really admired in a podcast?
2. How could the podcasts be improved the next time we do this
assignment?

1) After this project, I learned how to use Garageband in general, since I had never really tried it before. I learned to record, cut and edit, and add effects to my recordings.
2) Fahrenheit 451 made me realize how vulnerable all humans can be to corruption. Fear can easily manipulate anyone into doing what they've never imagined doing.
3) I've learned that it takes a lot of cooperation to work with more than just one other person. You've got to listen to others' ideas, and be willing to accept them or reject them, and expect the same thing with your ideas.
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1) I definitely admired the quality of the podcasts that we listened to on Thursday and Friday. The voices were very clear, and the sound effects brought life to them. Everyone did a great job. :)
2) I think after this project, everyone will have a better understanding of how Garageband works, and will just improve over time.

Reflection

What do you think of the class so far? What have you learned this semester? What would you like to learn more about? How can we use technology more in the classroom? How do you feel you're doing in the class? What can I do to help you more? What can you do to improve?

I think this class is moving along well, and I'm really enjoying it. The class is fun, not only because of the people in it but because of all that we've been doing, including expressing our thoughts on individual blogs. So far, I've learned to find in-depth messages under all the descriptions and imagery in the books we have read, which makes me realize that I'm now able to look at things in totally different ways. I want to learn about literature in general; how to write such lovely poems, stories, etc. We can use technology in the classroom in many ways to make our projects more interesting, like our current podcast assignment. I feel like I haven't quite done my best in this class yet. I've been slacking off on many things, and I know no one can help me stop but myself. I will definitely try to cut off on procastination, and put all effort into my work.

Creative Commons

Read the packet of information on Podcasting Resources and Copyright Information. Answer these questions:
1. What's a good technique to use when interviewing a guest?
2. Who controls the royalty collection for music catalogs?
3. What are the different licenses an artist can choose in Creative Commons?

1) To prevent bad quality in the final podcast, some good techniques would be to speak at a conversational volume, and re-record your questions over the original if it didn't turn out correctly. Special effects as well as background music can be added to make it more enjoyable.
2) The royalty collection for music catalogs are controlled by two main bodies: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI).
3) In Creative Commons, there are four types of licenses: Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivative Works, and Share Alike.

Interview with Bradbury

Read the first section of the interview with Ray Bradbury. Based on his answers to the questions, what kind of a person do you think Bradbury was?

Seeing from his speech in the interview, I think Bradbury was a very intelligent man. He seems to have been respectable, with a carefree mind full of great imagination. In his answers, I find nothing that could make me think he was anywhere close to being arrogant, but more of just average-- someone you can sit down and talk to and laugh with for hours. His words and thoughts clearly show his creativity as well as love for writing.

Science Fiction Story - Brainstorm

Write a basic outline for what your story could be about. Type or write a rough draft of your story for tomorrow.

*Takes place in the year 2012.

-People are corrupt by thoughts of the end of the world

-Weather conditions around the world are changing.

-Scientists work together to find reasons & resolutions, but its too late.

-Cute little aliens come to save Earth! :)

Adapting Books into Movies

Can you think of a movie adaptation that was better than the book? Is the movie version of Fahrenheit 451 better than the book? Give specific examples to support your opinion.

I actually have never seen a movie that was any better than the original book itself, and Fahrenheit 451 is definitely not an exception. Although movies usually are capable of giving more imagery and visual messages to the audience, the movie Fahrenheit 451 couldn't quite pull this off. After a while, the movie wasn't so appealing anymore. The movie was acceptable until later on when many parts of the original story were changed, for example, when Clarisse fled from the firemen and actually stayed alive. In my opinion, the book was much more interesting as Bradbury portrayed the story in a corrupt and dark setting, something that the movie could not do. :)

A Day in the Life of a Teenager

Read the handout on Ray Bradbury's style. Write a mini-story with the theme "A Day in the Life of a Teenager" in Bradbury's style. Use as many literary devices as you can. You may even use some of Bradbury's lines from the handout.

Life was hard. It had always been hard. She laid upon her bed, staring mindlessly at the bumpy ceiling above her. She thought of the night sky, deep and pitch-black like a thick blanket pulled across the city. Like the agonized nightfall, she felt miserable now. No, not just today. She'd been miserable for a while. She closed her eyes and felt a sense of loneliness wash over her as the darkness filled in. Slowly words, images, sounds of her childish dreams and wishes all rushed into her ears, deafening her from the outside world that she truly wished to be removed from. Forever. As these images cracked from the corners inwards and became mere shards of disappointment, she opened her eyes once again and found herself still stranded in the same place. What was she planning to do with her life? And if she was to find that answer, who would be there to guide her through to her destination? And who in this world, she thought deeply, was worth her trust and love? Every morning she would walk out the front door asking herself these questions, hoping that would be the day to be answered. She would come to school with the reckless thoughts in mind, and as she desperately scanned the face of each person she passed through the hallways, of each person she greeted, she would only find partial replies. Coming home she would realize there were too many faces in her surroundings to browse, and it was much more impossible to survey their bottomless hearts. And so there she was, upon her bed, letting the daily images of their faces reappear in her brain beside her disarrayed concerns. Impossible, she repeated to herself. Impossible.

Utopia or Dystopia?

Do you believe the future will be better or worse than the present? How do movies and books usually portray the future? What will the future be like?

In movies and books, the future is often depicted as a whole new age full of amazing technology, such as hovercrafts, time machines, and talking robots that run errands. As people expand their knowledge and understanding of the world, more advanced inventions are created to fit their needs. However, this does not mean that things will turn out to be the best for us in the upcoming future. The more technology invented, the less active people become. There are chances that we will realize our limits as we move along, but seeing that most humans are greedy, the limits may not make a difference at all. The new inventions would make our lives easier, and would place more money into our pockets but at the same time can ruin our bodies as well as our environment. I can imagine anything being possible in the future-- maybe people travelling in flying cars underneath a polluted sky. All good things have a bad side, all ideas have flaws.

The Road to Greatness

Francis Bacon wrote, "All rising to great place is by a winding staire." What do you think he meant by this? You might think of the different paths we take in life. You might also consider what are the important things in your life. When you are old and gray, what will you remember about your life?

I think through this quote, Bacon wanted to describe each person's experiences and achievements, as well as the twists and turns in life. In reality, each individual takes a step further as each day advances. As you gain experience, you take another step up upon the stairs, and as it winds around, you may encounter repetitive situations that will just help you gain more knowledge. Like the stairs, you may be facing different directions as you move on, winding yourself around and around before you reach your destination at the top. Sometimes life takes you here and there in circles instead of easily letting you go straight upwards, but how pointless would it be if it didn't? This is what creates an educated mind trained by experience and filled with memories, which shapes you into a better person. When I am old and gray, I will probably find the struggles that I went through, and the people who were there with me through these hardships to be most memorable.