LAST BLOG POST!!!

I think the way I cite has most definitely improved since the beginning--now anyways. I think the strategie that works best for me is when I find my research question, answer it, make my thesis, make an outline and go from there. When I have everything layed out it makes the writing alot easier.  I think the paper that was the easiest to write was the last one because I got alot of help from you on ways to improve it.  Out of the lessons, I think the most beneficial one was the "how to find sources" because last semester she showed us one way that gave us 4 different databases and also didn't show us how to use the "GO" button to get articles.  I definitely feel more prepared to write college-lever papers!! Thanks Lindsey. :)

Poetry Packet

Something that all of the poems/songs had in common was that they were all sexist in one way or another.  In Beyonce Knowles song "If I were a Boy" she was saying how if she was a boy then she would care and know how to love a girl and she would try to make her girl happy and then saying how her guy does none of that and takes her for granted--then she blames it on the fact that he is a boy.  In the second song "Sold" by John Montgomery he is telling a story about how he was at an auction and saw a "hot" girl there and knew that he wanted to get with her and wanted her to be his.  Towards the end he says that they ended up making love and they still laugh about how they met to this day. I'm not exactly sure where that relationship ended up going but from the context it sounds like they just had sex and then stayed being friends.  Then the "Sexism" poem by David Lehman is self-explanatory. He explains the happiest moment in a woman's life to be when she stays up waiting for her drunken husband and even though he has most likely screwed up, she is just happy that she has someone to sleep with. Then the guy's happiest moment is after a one night stand getting to drive away in the night. The last poem which is a children's rhyme even is sexist by saying that girls are all goody goody and that boys are just trouble and dirty.

"The flea" Interpretation

I think "The Flea" by John Donne is about a just married man and woman who get pregnant and have a baby--"And in this flea our two bloods mingled be. . . And pampered swells with one blood made of two. . . Where we almost, nay more than married are"(4,8,11). Then he kills his wife, child, then self--"Though use make you apt to kill me, Let not to that, self-murderer added be, And sacrilege, three sins in killing three"(16-18)Then he thinks it over more and says how the baby is innocent and hasn't done anything wrong--"Wherein could this flea guilty be, Except in that drop which it sucked from thee?"(21-22) Then explains that killing the baby is what made him want to kill himself--"Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee" (27).

The end of Dr. Faustus

In the end of the story I'm not really sure I can say that Pride killed him.  It was just the fact that he kept wanting more and more knowledge which I suppose could be a pride thing but it was just the fact that he signed his life away.  It also ended up screwing him over because he ended up doing nothing with his new found powers. I'm not really sure what to think about this book yet--I think because I was waiting for some crazy twist at the end and nothing happened haha.

acts 6-10

I'm not really sure what to talk about when it comes to the acts we had to read because i had a hard time understanding it but I thought it was ironic that when Lucifer brought in the 7 deadly sins, the first one that reveals itself is pride.  It could be like foreshadowing if what I think is going to happen happens, that when Faustus becomes all powerful, he will fail because he becomes too prideful.

Act 5 of Faustus

In the beginning Faustus is struggling to either go to God or to keep going in magic and then the good and evil angels come in and try to persuade him. He ends up leaning toward the black magic because if he does so he figures that God can not hurt him. He cuts his arm to bleed and write a will to Lucifer saying that after he dies he is his, also that Mephastopilis is now his servant.  Faustus tries telling Meph that he doesn't believe that Hell isn't real and Meph. argues that he is living proof. Then Faustus asks for a wife and Meph kind of laughs in his face then brings him a devil dressed as a woman and explains that marriage is practically a joke and that Faustus can have any woman he desires whenever in his bed every night. Then Meph gives Faustus all the books he needs to conjure up all of his magic he wants.

Dr. Faustus Interpretation

In the end of scene one Faustus, Valdes, and Cornelius are talking about all of the things they are going to do once Faustus becomes all powerful with his magic.  I'm not really sure what is going to happen in this book. I think that maybe Faustus will begin to get really cocky with the magic he learns and ends up dying over something really stupid...not sure what...but that is what I am guessing! Haha

Reflection on Class

I have had a tough time with this class, not because it is the worst class ever but because I have a few other classes that are giving me the same amount of homework if not more and that in all makes this semester Hell.  I have actually enjoyed how the class has been going.  For any grades that I am not proud of like on quizes and Gists is my own fault.  I like doing the Gists because it gives me ideas on what to write about for our bigger papers.  Overall I approve of how the class is going -I'M JUST TOO BUSY!!! :)

The Little Mermaid

I think the point of view of The Little Mermaid is third-person omniscient. I know it is third person because it is not from any one persons point of view and I think that it is omniscient because although most of it is following the little mermaid you still know what is going on with other characters. 
The setting of this story is in both the ocean and on land. For the time I think it was back in the late 1800s because they talk about kings and queens and also about seeing many farms and carriages. 

--Being a giant Little Mermain fan :) I was a little sad about the ending...THE LITTLE MERMAID SHOULDN'T DIE! Haha but definitely a good story.

Discussion on Group

I enjoyed what we did last Friday because not only did I have my opinion but I got to understand how others felt about the story and what they got out of it.  I liked the whole group questions thing except I had extra people in my group and 2 people that did like all of the talking...didn't leave me much room to say anything.

Discussion from Wed.

During our racist discussion on Wednesday I actually felt uncomfortable.  I know that there are people out there that are racist towards african americans, mexicans, indians and more and I think it's sad and pathetic.  I seriously think its kind of a sign of weakness like what kind of problems do you have with yourself to make you downgrade someone just by the color of their skin? I can be honest and say that I have never felt differently about anyone just because they're not as ghostly white as me. Anyone from any background can do what I do as good as me or better and I am sure as hell happy that I feel that way.

Twitter and College

What I got out of the Twitter article was that there are people out there mocking "important" people and it's giving them a check on their ego. From what I followed they all thought it was funny but I hope they can take it a little more seriously and maybe think before they say or do something stupid. People that well known shouldn't be so easily mocked.

The college article kind of upset me because I saw people going to possibly more prestigious schools that were doing less work than me!  My first semester to me now that I look back wasn't too bad although I kept busy but that is probably because this semester is hell.  I'm either in class, studying, eating, showering, or sleeping. I have practically no life and I've already had a nervous breakdown this semester! but I suppose that probably meants that USD is better than those other colleges because I'm getting my moneys worth. Also I liked how they mentioned all of the big classes and how the professor is more concerned with their research than actually teaching the class.  I've had big and small classes but whatever the size my professors have always been focused on the class and cared about us as students.

First Paper Experience

I thought that this paper went pretty well. The only thing I think could have used help was having more time during peer review.  I liked the way you do peer review than last semesters but we just needed a little more time.  One of my favorite things about writing papers for you is how there is no length requirement.  In the past I spent so much time focusing on having enough words that it was hard to really get what I felt out because I was so distracted.  With everything else going on it is nice to have one less thing to worry about.

The Metamorphesis

After reading this book a second time I still feel like it was pointless.  I feel like I understand the symbolism...maybe...but I could be totally wrong as well and that makes me dislike it even more.  I'm going to stand by my opinion and say that he went crazy and the reason his family didn't take care of him is because they weren't sure about psychological problems so they were embarassed by it.

Works Cited

Giunti, Matthe. "Forrest Gump: Ignorance is bliss." Christian Century 113.17 (1996): 547-549. EBSCOhost. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.

Parsons, Paul. "Information Overload." New Scientist 205.2743 (2010): 38-39. EBSCOhost. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.

Zamyatin, Yevgeny. We. New York: Modern Library, 2006. Print.

Paper topic

I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to write about yet but I'm thinking about going along the lines of maybe Ignorance = Happiness. One of the main issues of the book was having the problem with obtaining happiness.  Lindsey had us free write about what creates pure happiness and ignorance is what popped into my head.  People who know the least about what is going on in the world have less worries than the people who do.  The people who only worry about their looks and their money are the happiest - not that that is a good thing but the people who actually care about what is going on around them are less happy, it may not be by a lot but they are still less happy.  So I think I will write about how Ignorance is Bliss.  D-503 shows it very well.  In the beginning when he IS ignorant and has no cares in the world he just goes on doing the same thing everyday and is happy.  Then as 1-330 starts showing him that there is more to the world than just a schedule his happiness starts to go away. 

Finished Story

I finished the book and I didn't really like the ending.  With everything that was happening, the launch of the Integral, and all of the hecticness of everything I was hoping for a more exciting ending.  Also I figured since they blew up the bubble that they were pretty much living in that D-503 would be even more wanting to get out of there. I think in the end he was too scared of having all of that freedom and decided not to go along with it, he just didn't really admit it that way.

Worst Rule of WE

It's really hard for me to pick just one of the horrific rules in this story but if I must pick one I would have to say that the "ciphers" not being able to be in a relationship and get married would be the worst.  It would be so hard, at least today, to have constant alone time with someone else and not be able to act on their feelings.  If they begin to like or love the person they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.  I personally want to get married and start a family and it would be really hard to have those restrictions. 

Reader-Response Strategies

When I began reading "We" (Forward and Introduction), I got really bored and figured that it would be alot like 1984.  Once getting into the story and figuring out the setting and who the people were it started getting easier to read.  I felt kind of out of place though because when he was talking about us, the readers, as the ancients I felt as if I wasn't supposed to be reading it, almost like the story was meant for the future readers of their time.  I also found it difficult to get through at first because of all of the long words that arn't normally used, but as it went on I got better at using my context clues to figure out what they mean.  I like how throughout the story there is a constant reference to mathmatical terms.  It helps remind you how far ahead of time the story is meant to be in and it just kind of works since D-503 is a mathmatician.  I also enjoy how the main problem is that he has fallen in love/lust and that he's going crazy over it.  It helps keep kids interested although the reading may be slightly difficult at times.

Comparing Lit to WE

Style- Zamyatin used more of a diary type style to help us more relate to D-503. It makes us feel as if were actually there or see exactly what he is thinking.  A specific way he portrays this is when D-503 writes what he's thinking and then stops the sentence short as if that thought stopped and he went on to the next.

Tone- I think the tones of this book are proud, satisfied, happy, then later on confused and hate.

Irony- It's ironic how much confidence D-503 has in the one state and how happy he is about how everything has changed but now that I-330 has came into the picture he kind of starts questioning it but he tries as hard as he can not to - he doesn't want to question the one state.

Plot- I think the plot of the story is that a perfect world was finally created but turns out as people allow themselves to actually think outside of the rules, maybe it isn't so perfect, maybe a perfect world isn't achievable.

Characterization- I guess since the story is written in diary form it's easier to relate to and make real but I have a hard time doing so.  As I read this I almost feel as if they are robots and kind of feel like their not real.

Setting- It's set in the way future and they live in the One State.  They have set times for everything and everybody. Everybody wakes up, eats, works, has a private hour, goes to bed, all at the same time.  All of the people are de-humanized by being given letters and numbers instead of a name.  Most worship the "benefactor" - their God. 

Point of View- Book is set in first person point of view.

Symbol- I-330's sharp teeth represents being evil.
              O is round meaning possibly overweight and jolly
             Satin helps represent suduction

Theme- I think the theme of this story is that there really is no such thing as peace on earth. No matter what you try to do, strict laws and rules like in WE and in 1984 doesn't work because there will always be people that won't give up their free speech, there's now where we have a decent amount of rules but there's still alot of violence, and we learned in the past that no rules gets us absolutely no where as well.

All about Me

I was born in Mitchell, SD then moved to Sioux Falls when I was 1.  When I was 5 my little brother Joe was born. When I was in 5th grade we moved to Brandon. I played basketball, volleyball, and track and then in 7th grade I became a cheerleader. I was a competition cheerleader all four years of highschool along with cheering for wrestling junior year. We won the state competition my sophomore year and got to do our routine in the Dome during halftime of the state football game. It was one of the funnest days of my life! I am now a freshman here at USD and am going to get my degree in psychology.  I'm hoping to get my PhD and start my own private practice but also start a family along the way. :)