Ok Class, get a laptop...

Today’s class seemed to go by really fast. Maybe it’s because we were working on figuring out some stuff in Google and Dashboard. We basically spent the entire class period on the laptops with Ms. Frailly instructing us in uploading our drafts to Google Docs and also adding our classmates blog url to our individual blog space. I thought that is was kinda cool to see the diversity in our class by just reading the names of the url’s of each person’s blog. We are indeed a very diverse group! This method of blogging and posting our papers seems to be sooooo much easier that CompClass, which is what I had to use for my online stuff for ENG 111. We spent several 2-hour class periods in CompClass last semester, just to dissipate some of the confusion. That was always chaotic to me, because we weren’t always insured sufficient class time to work on the papers like we desperately needed. But, Ms. Frailly was able to pull us through.
For once in my life, I was not the one who needed a mass load of help. When I got home from work on Monday, I logged into Google and played around for a little to figure out the site and to get familiar with it, also. I was able to upload my first draft and post a few blogs, all by myself. Frankly, I was proud of myself, mostly because I am typically not that great with computers or the internet. It made me feel good to help out some of the people beside me in class today, because it is usually the other way around. In conclusion, although it didn’t seem like we did a lot in class today, we spent time working with the necessities, which was of utmost importance.

Monday's Class 1/26/09

Today in class, we talked about our papers some, looked over Liz’s paper and separated into groups. I thought that Liz’s paper was really quite good to just be a draft. We also discussed “A Rose for Emily” to not only grasp a deeper insight for all of us, but to add a more faceted format to Liz’s efforts. Of course, there was room for improvement but since her paper was only in stage 1, that was only to be expected. We also took a look at some examples of previous papers of the same sort. One of the examples Ms. Frailly handed out happened to be on “The Yellow Wallpaper”, which is what I am writing my paper on. So it was really beneficial for me to see a final product of what my paper should be in perspective to.

When we separated into groups, Tyler, Cameron and I ‘formed’ a group. We discussed some of the short stories that we have read so far, the extremity of their weirdness of boredom, and gave our thoughts on the story that each person was writing their essay on. We also filled out reader responses, those are always helpful to me. I always like to have another persons perspective and thoughts on the paper that I am writing, and just about anything else I do. I am a big fan of constructive criticism. Overall, I think that we made a great use of our time today in class. We focused on helping Liz and each other get on the right part in this hard journey of the literary essay. As far as I am concerned, the hardest part for me when writing this essay is getting focused and staying focused. Once I have my mind set and have eliminated nearly all of my distractions, I am good to go (for the most part).

Thoughts on The Lame Shall Enter First

When Flannery O’Connor wrote “The Lame Shall Enter First” she constructed a challenging and thoughtful story full of hypocrisy, tragedy and reality. I have never read a story quite like this one in my life. It almost angered me the way Sheppard was so hypocritical and self-righteous but couldn’t even see it. He instead was so convinced of how unselfish and sacrificial he was. It really bothered me how he thought that he could reach out to another boy, when it seemed that he was not even trying to pursue a decent relationship with his own son. From my perspective, Rufus seemed to have more wisdom and common sense than Sheppard did. And it appeared to me that Sheppard hardly ever hosted the right motives for his actions.

What shocked me the most about this story was the way O’Connor ended it. I didn’t think that Sheppard would ever see how much his own son was starving for his fathers’ attention, but when he finally came to his senses, it was tragically and unfortunately too late. The ending by far, threw me for a loop and mad me sad to think that Sheppard never really believed in Norton but instead put all of his time and interest into someone (like Rufus) who really didn’t seem to appreciate it.

My Draft Process

When I first started trying to decide which story to write my first paper on, I had no idea how hard it would be to write this paper. I thought that the papers I had to write last semester in English 111 were hard. This one is incredibly challenging. I am writing my paper on the short story ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, so I decided kick this writing process off to a ‘good’ start by reading the story a few more times, so I could become familiar with it. After this, I tried to brainstorm and develop a thesis statement and some main points that I wanted to include in my paper. It seemed as though I was continually running into roadblocks and little things that were getting in my way and slowing down my momentum. They say the easiest way to do something that you don’t want to do is to just jump in and get started. I am not exactly sure that particular strategy works with this writing project. I tried it, but to little avail.
This paper is also being very discouraging to me, because I wanted to just in and have the draft finished before the weekend. Well here I am, it’s Saturday, and I am in my room stumped with little to no progress. I want to hurry and be through with this step so I can finish my other homework, but that is just not working out for me. The only thing I can do is just keep working on it, regardless if I want to or not, and give it all that I have left.

The Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper is a strange and unusual short story, one that is unlike anything that I have ever read before. When I first started reading it, the story seemed to be dry and kind of hard to follow. As I continued to read, much to my surprise, the story compelled me and I found it to be very intriguing. Something in the story that bothered me was the insensitivity and the lack of true concern that John (the husband) had to his wife (the narrator). It appeared that the only time he ever tried to help or showed any concern for his mentally sick wife was when it was convenient for him. Instead of moving to this summer house for the wife’s health and healing, the end result was that her condition was actually worse. John saw a room with fresh air and a serene atmosphere; she saw a prison with an unmovable bed, barred up windows and disturbing wallpaper. I believe that the wife want to get out of the house and socialize so bad that it eventually added to her insanity. And when John promised to have people over and to go visit some relatives, it was like he was dangling that hope just out of her reach and torturing her with it.
Probably the most disturbing and bizarre part of the story was the ending. The wife appeared to be getting better, but, perhaps due to the wallpaper that John refused to take down, her mental condition worsened. At first, I didn’t understand the final paragraph, but after I read those last few lines again and discussed it in class, I came to the (rough) conclusion that the wife had starred at the wallpaper so much that it came alive in her mind. By tearing the wallpaper off the wall, she was ‘releasing’ all of the other women (like herself) that had been held captive in these same four walls. She may have done this to symbolically free herself. She may even have torn the wallpaper off the walls to prove a point to her uncaring husband.

The Elephant in the Village of the Blind

The Elephant in the Village of the Blind, in my opinion, is a catchy and unlikely short story that provokes one to think about how people who have many similarities can have completely different perspectives and opinions when it comes to something that is unknown and new in their lives. I found it very interesting how each villager described the elephant to be something totally opposite than how the person right next to them described it. Each person was touching various parts of the elephant and voicing their opinion of what this strange creature was. Not only does the point of the story apply to literature and the literary world-the different views each individual has concerning a story, but I think that is could also be seen in the real world around us.
Another thing in this story that stood out to me was how the elders of the community (who were supposed to the wisest- began to argue about exactly what this unknown object was and how four young women solved the problem by listening to everyone’s opinion. This also made me think about how the older people in our society are indeed wiser, but they also tend to be closed-minded. It seems to me that the young women may not have been educated but were willing to think outside the ‘tub’ and discover that this elephant wasn’t a huge leathery tub, but instead a massive ox-like creature.