T H E . B L O G . C O R N E R |
Reading and writing has always been part of my life and they also have become something very important to me. When reading new material I get to have a new learning experience, and it's exciting like an adventure I can enjoy. Same with writing. When stepping into English 112 on the first day of school, I felt excited to continue my journey in the reading and writing adventures, which is obtaining new knowledge in the creative writing world. I knew there will be challenges on the way and tasks that have to be done, but learning the new skills will help me further in the future while I am attending college to become a Radiologist.
The English course in college is a little harder than taking an English class in high school, even if I had AP English. You learn the basics of English in high school, but in college English, there is so much more to learn, especially new skills that I didn't even know about. For example, we recently learned about the upside down triangle that help me with the introduction, the body that help me with understanding how to form a claim, gather evidence, and connect to position, and lastly, the conclusion that appeals to the audience and revisit the thesis. In the classroom I was able to build a better understanding on how to properly write essays. I can now find the main idea, also including finding the three ideas that help support the main idea, and to underline or circle the two details that support the ideas from the main idea. This strategy is perfect for the research paper that was assigned for a project. Also using this technique helped me write my research topic "Music Therapy for Depression" which was an essay I had to write for psychology. Other great learning experiences that I thought that was interesting, was how we were doing the blogs. Each blog taught me how to be more of a creative writer and I understand more of myself. It makes me feel that I can create something that someone can enjoy and that makes me happy. I want people to go on my blog and see how I enjoyed each every one of them, especially the poem one we did for “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Which was my favorite story. Each learning skill that I have obtained in this course will help me to further improve my reading skills, writing skills, and especially for the college environment. Each step in college is more difficult the higher you go. Now when I read text from a book for a specific class, I can break down the main point and that helps me to understand the text better. I can say taking this course is worth it; your skills improve. There will be tough times in this course, especially with writing the essays because you need to understand what you need to give the reader like the argumentative one I am doing now. However, if you do things early and finish them, you won't be stressed out with the assignments; do the work and you will pass. Overall, I had a great learning experience and I'm glad I had a great professor to teach me on this journey to become better at writing.
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In this blog post I will write my reflection on “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Conner and talk about how I felt about reading the short story, the character the Misfit and the blog post assignment we had to do for it which was found poetry.
When we were introduce to the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’Conner, I thought it was one of the most interesting stories that we read in our short story collection. The reason why I think it’s the most interesting story we read in class because I had lots of fun reading the story and it felt like I was on an adventure with the family that went to their doom sadly. I just love how they formed the whole story, specially towards the end. My favorite character in the story was the Misfit. The Misfit was an interesting villain (maybe anti-hero? Nah.) in the story. He to me feels like the only character that made the story. Yeah we had the grandmother who was another interesting character and had a big part in the story but the Misfit was the main show. He may have showed up towards the ending of the story but when he came in he caught the audience. Well me maybe? He just has that big important feeling. Like he stole the show. In the short story he had really great dialogue and I thought the author did a really good job at it. One of my favorite dialogue parts in the story is where the Misfit says “Jesus shown everything off balance. Jesus was the only one that ever raised the dead, and he shouldn’t have done it”. To me I feel like he is saying that he was put down once and when “Jesus” restricted the dead he brought him back. Which wasn’t a good thing, because he will start being the Misfit again. Causing havoc to others. Blog post number seven is where we had to do three poems of found poetry. Found poetry is when you take words, phrases, and maybe other whole passages from other sources and reframe them as poetry. This was on the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. I think this was a great way to express my creative writing on found poetry because this was actually the first time I actually did this. It was a fun activity and it was fun forming free form excerpting and remixing. Out of all the poems that I created I would say my favorite poem I worked on was “Jesus Brought Mr. Misfit Back from the Dead”. In this story I wanted to use the found poetry and create a poem on where how the Misfit became the Misfit. I thought that would be a good approach. I wanted to also include how “Jesus” is the one who help the Misfit becomes the Misfit again. Since he told us how if it wasn’t for him, maybe the Misfit won’t be here. We could say he was destined to be the Misfit. For the research project we had to write an argumentative essay on a topic we choose from, from the movie “Where to Invade Next” by Michael Moore. The topic I decided to write about is the topic on how the American school system should follow the French example on proper nutrition for the school lunches that are provided to them. I decided to talk on the topics on the nutrition and how nutrition should be taught in school so the kids in America know good quality foods.
For the first formal assignment that we had to do in class is we were given four topics to choose from. I decided to work on a non-fan-fiction narrative where we can express a more detailed story for our fan-fiction narrative. The story that I decided to do a non-fan-fiction narrative is on Redeployment, where Price is a marine who came home and now lives a normal non-violent life. In the end of the story we were to change it up to does he kill his dog Vicar or not.
Annotated Bibliography [Categories: Where to Invade Next, Research Paper]Source oneMicheal Moore, "Where to Invade Next", December 23, 2015 In the documentary "Where to Invade Next", Michael Moore is a filmmaker who directs a wonderful perspective on how other countries work with a better system than America. The way America is portrayed in this film is that America does not offer the best care for their people, while in Europe they do. I choose to talk about is how in America they don't provide the best value of a school lunches which leads to the kids not receiving the proper nutrients than the kids in France. France provides way better quality food and the food is way healthier. In America, I feel that the value on food isn't the best like it is in in France. When watching "Where to Invade Next" there was a scene in the movie where Micheal Moore went to a school in France and saw how the kids were being treated to better food than how he remembers back home in America. I want to touch base with this topic because it's important for kids to receive better quality food so they can grow more healthier and it teaches them not to go for the sugar first, they rather enjoy a vegetable instead. source twoMichelle Obama: Remarks by the First Lady at the School Nutrition Association Conference - March 1, 2010, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/print.php?pid=120719. Source three“What French Kids Eat For School Lunch Puts American Lunches To Shame.” Collective Evolution, 1 Oct. 2014, www.collective-evolution.com/2014/10/01/whatfrench-kids-eat-for-school-lunch-puts-american-lunches-to-shame/. Source Four"Fixing School Food." Natural Life, no. 154, Nov/Dec2013, p. 25. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mfm&AN=91812393&site=eh ost-live. Source five Harrell, Heather. "Children Need Sufficient Time to Eat School Lunch." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 107, no. 2, Feb. 2017, p. 198. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303584. Source sixKhadaroo, Stacy Teicher. "Obesity in America: Schools on the Front Line of the Fight." Christian Science Monitor, 27 June 2012. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=77370815&site=ehost-live. In my previous blog I provided a summary on "Where to Invade Next". The documentary is a nonfiction documentary which is directed and produced by Michael Moore. Michael goes to different countries and plays as the “invader”. He travels to Italy, France, Finland, Slovenia, Germany, Portugal, Norway, Tunisia and Iceland and learns how their systems are way better than the American systems. Topic #1Topic: American Education Question: Should America provided free college education for their students like in Europe? Argument: In America they should provide free education for their students because American students may not have the finances to attend school and it’s better to have a free education for American students so they can more interest in going to school than staying home and not getting an education. Everyone deserves a education! topic #2Topic: School Lunches Questions: Should American schools provide better nutrition meals for their students? Argument: The American schools should have better school meals for their students because it’s important to have a proper nutrition diet when it comes time to having lunch. If having better lunches in school the students will be more healthier and they can see a better view point on foods they choose to eat. Gain better eating habits. Topic #3Topic: Vacation Pad Days
Question: Should America have pay vacation days like in Italy? Argument: In the American companies they should allow individuals to have pay vacation days so they don’t have to worry about not having money for their bills and feel like the company cares about them. The workers should be stress free and enjoy their vacation knowing that they are getting paid when they are on their vacation time. In the documentary "Where to Invade Next", Michael Moore is a filmmaker who directs a wonderful perspective on how other countries work with a better system than America. The way America is portrayed in this film is that America does not offer the best care for their people, while in Europe they do. In this documentary Michael goes as an “invader” to different countries like Italy, France, Finland, Slovenia, Germany, Portugal, Norway, Tunisia and Iceland and learns from them. If he likes an ideal that he learns from his mission he sticks a flag on the ground and conquers that ideal. Once he does conquer that ideal he has learned he states that he will bring it to America so they can use that ideal to make America better in their system. When Moore talks to the people he meets and discusses a topic with them like health-care, the education, paid vacation days, nutrition diet he builds a better America. America was known as the country everyone wanted to go to but hearing facts about how other countries are why move here? America does not fully care about their people, if they do where? Moore gives us that idea throughout the documentary. Picture shows how American and France taxes are quiet different and where money goes to. On America's side those are fees, like the healthcare and college. While in France healthcare is free and education. A few great invading take ideals that Moore learn from the people is when he went to Italy, Finland, Iceland, and France. In Italy we are introduce to a couple who Moore meets with and what he found out is that in Italy they go on vacation for a good few weeks and they get paid while on vacation. Even on sick days. They don’t need to worry about not having money in the bank. If they were in America their paid vacation days will be rare, depending who they are. They may have one vacation week of paid days, if lucky, but not a few weeks. Companies in America don’t give that out. If we go further in Moore’s invading adventure he goes to France where we find out that the French believe in good dieting. In the elementary schools in France, Moore finds out that the schools boards have meetings every month with school dietitians to discuss healthy food choices for the children who attend the school. The kids eat really well and drink water with their meals. In American the children don’t have those health diets and receive greasy pizza for lunch, which isn’t healthy at all. In Moore’s trip to Finland he finds out how amazing the schools are there. In Finland it is known to have the best education system ever and the kids succeed more for not having too much homework. They believe that school is to find happiness and not to be a stressful place. They deserve to have their life with fun and learning should be fun. Lastly another great country that Moore went to was Iceland where woman run the show. Men do too, but woman do a fantastic job at it in Iceland. The women in the country want the best for their country where families matter. In overall, Moore ends the documentary with a overview on his main ideal that America should take these ideals and use them. If using these ideals it can make America better.
---When hopping off the train Price looked up at the sky and notice that the sky was getting more gloom since he left Cherry Point and the winds were picking up. Price knew this was going to be one heck of a trip. The command center told him to come here to investigate the village mysterious lady. The village is called Charlotte which is known to be very mysterious with weird sightings. The village harbors normal to not so normal people. It also has a dark tower located near an eerie forest, which is known to be dangerous place and the funny part is that a woman is known to live in the tower. From what the tales say, the woman is obsessed with the color yellow. “And I have to go meet this mysterious woman.” Price sighed. Looking over by the train post he sees a sign that says “TRY RED SAMMY’S FAMOUS BARBECUE! NONE LIKE FAMOUS RED SAMMY’S! THE FAT BOY WITH THE HAPPY LAUGH. A VETERAN! RED SAMMY’S YOUR MAN!" "Hmm. Maybe I can go there after I get situated." Price took out a journal from his bag. Price remembered in the journal that our mysterious woman wrote a journal titled “The Yellow-Wallpaper” which she wrote about seeing another woman in the wallpaper. Turning to the page it read “The front pattern does move and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it! Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over.” “She defiantly found out the hard way.” Price told himself. “Just another person I need to add in my crazy list.” “I think it went over there!” Price looked over to where the voice was coming from and saw an old woman with a young child. It seemed that whatever they were looking for they found it and the child, the little girl, was in the bushes tugging on the mysterious object. From what could be seen from this distance it seemed that her hands were turning red from the pulling. Her pink dress was getting dirty from the mud and her curly blond hair which featured a cute pink ribbon was getting in her face due to the harsh winds. The little girl remind him a time he was in the war and he remember seeing a beautiful Iraqi kid, maybe seven or eight years old, who was bare footed with a pretty white dress on. And the next minute her white dress becomes a red dress due to her cries holding a dear family member or friend who died. War isn’t fun. It hurts innocent people and Price couldn’t bare it. It was like killing those poor dogs. When he went back home he remember seeing Vicar his sweet old best friend sick and he couldn’t even bare to hurt him or take him to the vet to put him down. Price starts to shake and feel little bit nauseous. “Grandmother it’s still stuck but think I almost got it!” the little girl shouted. “Good girl, maybe we can go over to The Tower once you get the hat. Sammy always has tasty barbecue sandwiches.” The grandmother said. Price looked up and stop feeling anxious. Price giggled a bit because he thought that grandmother had a soft voice for some reason, but she was pretty loud and he heard her. “Awesome!” the girl said with a smile. Sigh. "I guess I could help them." Price said. Price puts the journal back in his bag. Price was about to walk over towards the two and suddenly he felt someone grab his arm. Looking over to his left he notices that he wasn’t alone in this weird village. “Don’t tell me the command center set you here too.” “My. My. It seems that me being here is bothersome.” The mysterious voice said. Greg Coils known as the Misfit is known to be ruthless and sadistic with his work. I remember back in my days in the Marines everyone would speak of him and tell me how he would even torture old ladies. It was said that he didn't have the best relationship with either grandmother and he just started to developed a weird hatred towards them. I remember my own grandmother would say "Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is a loose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people." She really didn't want to go anywhere after that. But I did find him quiet interesting before the command center decided to use his talents for good. Reminds me of the Suicide Squad movie. The Misfit let go his arm and Price turned to him. Price looked at the Misfit and notice that his eyes were looking at the old woman and the young girl. He straightens his coat and fixes his black hat. If you really look deeply at him, The Misfit face is really pale and if you look really close at him, you can swear that his eyes glow red. “I’ll go and help those nice people.” The Misfit grinned. “Price you just stand here and let me do it.” Price gave him a cold stone look. “I think it’s best if I do it.” The Misfit tilted his head and looked at Price with his eyes staring deep at him. “Nome. You can trust me.” Price wasn’t dumb and wasn’t scared. “I don’t trust you with anyone, especially with old woman.” The Misfit shook his head. “Price. Price. Those stories are just tales. I thought you trusted me?” “Nope. Not in the least.” Price said. The Misfit just kept on grinning. Looking over Price’s shoulder The Misfit notice that they are gone and decided to let Price win this one. Since there’s no need to continue, he is going to have fun with those two. “It’s okay Price. I understand. You can go instead. Since I trust you.” Price looked at the Misfit and wondered why he gave up so quickly. He looked over to where he first saw the two and noticed that the old woman and the young girl were gone. Where did they go? Price looks around and does not see them. When Price turned back to the Misfit, he noticed he went missing too. This is bad, really bad. He is going to find those two, I just know it. Ding dong. Ding dong. Ding dong. Price looks where the village clock is and sees how rusted it is. 6:00 in the afternoon it reads. Price realizes that he needs to get to the tower, but he is worried about the old woman and the young girl. “WHY IS ALL TIMES DOES THE MISFIT HAVE TO SHOW UP NOW!” Price yells, running towards where he believes the Misfit will go. --- Price found himself near the eerie forest which the cursed tower should be near. He looks around and sees no tower and no Misfit. Price tries to think where the Misfit would be. In the corner of his eye he sees something by the trees. Was that a pale woman with long dark hair? Suddenly he hears someone screaming. Price starts running. His sixth sense starts to kick in. Back in the marines he development a good sixth sense on where people might be. It just what the job came with. Running towards the direction he heard the screaming he starts to see the grandmother with her grandchild pointing at the Misfit. Price freezes. He can’t move. He feels like something is stopping him from moving. Suddenly long fingers cover his eyes. And they start to whisper in his ear, “I'll tell you why - privately I've seen her! I can see her out of every one of my windows! The woman is her”, suddenly everything goes dark. The Misfit knew that Price was there and was glad that his assistant stopped him just in time so he can have fun killing this grandmother. “You’re the Misfit!” said the grandmother falling to the ground. “Grandmother!” said her grandchild. “Yes’m.” The Misfit said smiling slightly. Please to be known even if it’s been a long time since someone has seen his face and be alive to see it. The grandmother looked at her grandchild and told her to go. But her grandchild said no she won’t leave her. “GO NOW!” the grandmother shouted. The girl started to cry and start saying “I love you, I love you” over and over again. The girl whispered “sorry” to her grandmother and ran fast as she could. The Misfit decided to let her go since she won’t tell a soul and Price should be happy. “I know you’re a good man” the grandmother said desperately. “Nome, I ain’t a good man. I was a different breed of dog from my brothers and sisters, my daddy said.” said the Misfit. “Pray, pray” the grandmother began, “pray, pray . . .” He looked up and held her attention by a steady stare. “I never was a bad boy. But somewhere along the line I done something wrong and got sent to the penitentiary. I was buried alive. It was a head doctor at the penitentiary, said what I had done was kill my daddy, but, I known that for a lie.” “If you would pray,” the old lady said, “Jesus will help you.” “I don’t want no hep,” he said. Walking towards the old lady the Misfit kneels down and faces the grandmother. “I’m doing all right by myself. Jesus shown everything off balance. Jesus was the only One that ever raised the dead.” And he shouldn’t have done it.” “Maybe He didn’t raise the dead” the grandmother said. The grandmother notices The Misfit eyes are glowing red. “I wasn’t there so I can’t say he didn’t. If I had of been there I would of known. I wouldn’t be like I am now. Cursed." She saw the man's face twisted close to her own and she became obsessed with his eyes. She reached out and touched him on the face. The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest. Then he put his gun down on the ground and took off his hat and began to clean it. When the Misfit was done cleaning his hat he puts it back on. He decided to go and visit dear Price and hope his assistant did not hurt him too much. Tipping his hat he grinned and vanishes in thin air. --- Price wakes up to a smell of a bad odor. He tries to look around the room and notices the yellow wallpaper. This is the tower! The mysterious person dragged him into the tower. He remembers in the journal that the woman would talk about the patterns and how she believed the yellow wallpaper would have a yellow odor. He tries to get up but feels weak and he can’t move. His legs feel so numb. He feels his life is escaping him. “You’re awake.” Price knows that voice out of nowhere. The Misfit. Trying to lift his body the best he could he looks towards the direction of the voice. “You jerk! What did you do to that old woman?!” Price was trying his best not to cough; the smell of the wallpaper was getting to his throat. “No need to worry, about her. She is gone. Oh. And before you asked, yes I did let the little girl go. I thought that would make you happy at least.” He smiles. “You can't be hurting innocent people, we can’t do that! That's not how this works Misfit. We are supposed to be better than the old days. It can't be like how it was back then.” Price was happy that the Misfit didn’t go after the girl at least. All he could remember of her is her lovely dear smile. “Price during the years since you left the marines you have become too soft. Why can't you become your old self? I miss the old Price, the marine who would take down anyone without hesitation and kill them. Even take down old ladies.” He giggles. “Stop talking. I changed for the best. For my family. For Vicar. That’s not me anymore. I can’t go back to my old ways, not after I …” “What Price? Not after you hurt Cheryl.” “Be quite!” Price shouted somehow gaining his strength back. “I could help you. Help you become your old self. You and me can conquer this dumb world and become invincible.” The Misfit snaps his fingers and suddenly a woman appears out of nowhere. She looks directly at me. When looking at her you can see that she has long black wavy hair that covers her face. She is wearing a yellow torn dress which looks like a old vintage wedding dress. She is not standing on two, she is on all fours. Price hears her nails scratching the floor. She suddenly starts to move quickly towards Price. Creeping just the same in the journal. She gets to him quickly and grabs his face tightly. Her mouth begins to open and light is shinning down her throat. Price can’t get the woman off of him! This mysterious woman everyone knows as the crazy lady is a demon! Trying to shake her off she gets his mouth to pry open and the light from her mouth goes into his. Price than goes still and once the mysterious lady was done Price hits the floor and collapses. Clapping his hands the Misfit says “Great job my dear Charlotte! I knew you would be perfect for this job!" Looking over towards her boss Charlotte smiles and says “One soul please.” The endIn the end the soul she wanted was the old woman's soul for payment for turning Price back to his old self. :D Quick Note: At the end of the story you find out that the mysterious woman's name is the same as the villages name. Plot twist. XD
Red Sammy's towerErasure // Pg. 140-141 The Tower was a unique place that the family went to and I wanted to describe the location and include the advertising that was on the build boards. RED SAM! FAMOUS RED SAMMY BARBACUE! The Tower is, Part Stucco, Part wood filling station, and Dance Hall. A Fat man named, Red Sammy Butts ran it. Sam’s wife took orders. The Tower has, signs stuck here and there on buildings, miles up and down highway, saying, TRY RED SAMMY’S FAMOUS BARBACUE! NONE LIKE FAMOUS RED SAMMY’S! THE FAT BOY WITH THE HAPPY LAUGH. A VETERAN! RED SAMMY’S YOUR MAN! In the Tower, was a long dark room counter at one end, tables at the other, and dancing space in the middle. Inside, The machine playing “The Tennessee Waltz”. Jesus brought Mr. Misfit back from the DeadFree-form Excerpting and Remixing // Pg. 147-152 Meeting the Misfit was one of my favorite parts in the short story and I love his dialogue. So I try remixing the dialogue and took other parts of the story where the grandmother was talking to the Misfit. I focus more on the Misfit than the grandmother because the Misfit is one of the most interesting characters in the short story. “You’re the Misfit!” “Yes’m.” Smiling slightly. Please to be known. “I know you’re a good man” she said desperately. “Nome, I ain’t a good man.” “I was a different breed of dog from my brothers and sisters, my daddy said.” “Pray, pray” the grandmother began, “pray, pray . . .” “I never was a bad boy.” “But somewhere along the line I done something wrong and got sent to the penitentiary.” “I was buried alive.” He looked up and held her attention by a steady stare. “It was a head doctor at the penitentiary, said what I had done was kill my daddy, but, I known that for a lie.” “If you would pray,” the old lady said, “Jesus will help you.” “I don’t want no hep,” he said. “I’m doing all right by myself.” “Jesus shown everything off balance.” “Jesus was the only One that ever raised the dead.” “And he shouldn’t have done it.” “Maybe He didn’t raise the dead” the old woman mumbled. Not knowing what she was saying and feeling dizzy. “I wasn’t there so I can’t say he didn’t.” “If I had of been there I would of known." "I wouldn’t be like I am now.” the accidentCento // Pg. 143-146 In this poem I wanted to focus on the dirt road that they had the accident on. So I made it build up to that point on beginning to end. “A dirt road” Bailey groaned.
They turned onto the dirt road. The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust. The dirt road was hilly and there were sudden washes in it. And sharp curves on dangerous embankments. All at one they would be on a hill, looking down over the blue tops of trees. The next minute, they would be in a red depression with the dust-coated trees looking down on them. “This place had better turn up in a minute,” Baily said, “or I’m going to turn around.” “It’s not much farther.” The grandmother said. A horrible thought came to her. The thought was so embarrassing that she turned red in the face and her feet jumped up, upsetting her valise in the corner. The instant the valise moved, the newspaper top she had over the basket under it rose. The cat, sprang into Bailey’s shoulder. The children were thrown to the floor. Their mother, clutching the baby, was thrown out the door onto the ground. The old lady was thrown into the front seat. As the children saw they could move their arms and legs, They scrambled out of the car, shouting, “We’ve had an ACCIDENT!” in a frenzy of delight. |
Angela ParashosThis blog is used to explore course readings and gain more knowledge in literature. Archives
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