Fall Semester Reflection

Do you read your colleagues’ work online? How often? What is it like to read their work? How does being able to see everyone’s work online at any given time change the way you do your work?
I do read my colleagues' work online. By reading their work, I help understand the material better. Since I am able to see everyone's work online, it makes my work extremely better. For example, if a person has ten more posts than me, then I will add more posts that are relevant to the material. Or not.

How has the publicly and always visible course blog made this course different from one without a blog? How would the course change if the course blog disappeared tomorrow?
I believe this course is more college-related than any other class I've ever had. Since we are becoming aware of the technology we have, we are given more opportunities.  Also, if I didn't understand something in class, I look at Dr. Preston's blog. If the course blog disappeared tomorrow, I honestly have no idea what I would do! I wouldn't know how to live up to what we are required to do because the blog has became a neccessary and valuable resource.

Has publishing your work for the public to see changed your approach to completing an assignment? How so? How would your feelings about the course change if you couldn’t publish your work that way?
Since my work has became public, I expect to do a better job on it than I would on paper. I believe that people who don't know you, might not get what you are trying to say, so you must make it very comprehensive, and detailed. I think I would still feel like another student if I didn't have my blog. Also, I like saying, "Yeah, it's on my blog."

Has your experience of the physical classroom changed because of the open & online aspects? Where does your learning actually happen?
My learning actually happen on the internet and with my classmates. By using a resource we were all unknown to, it creates a bond when you have people going through the confusion. Collaboration is the way to succeed in the real world, we're just getting a step ahead on things.
 

You were described in the Macarthur Foundation/DML interview as “a pioneer”-- how do you describe the experience on the edge to people who haven’t been there (friends and family)?
It's been a rocky experience. Very stressful, yet inspiring. This class has helped me shape my habits into college material. I am thinking in different ways, and I am learning differently as well. We are becoming the future, one blog post at a time.

How do they respond when you describe the brave new world in which you’re working?
They respond as you'd expect, shocked. They end up talking about the old days, where the textbook was the only information you had. Also, how students only do things for a point, or a grade. However, students should be doing it for self-benefit for the future.

What do their responses mean to you? What effect(s) (if any) do they have on you?
Their responses reveal how we are going through a whole new way or learning. We are changing the future, and opportunities for others. Therefore, we are becoming the creators.

Literature Analysis

1. Lord of The Flies reveals the typical stuggle between one's morals, and how far someone is willing to go in order to survive. During a war, there was a plane full of boys, who are to fight in the war, and was shot down on an island. Instead of being in despair because of the crash, the boys are filled with joy because they feel this is the time they can have their freedom and independence. Ralph and Piggy are twelve years old, become the organizers of a mini tribe. The boys declared someone a leader, and told each individual what they have to do, in order to survive. The boys have created a place on their own land, with their own rules. At first, they were excited for having an island all to themselves. However, the struggle of food, and keeping warm become reality. The boys have become into a stae of fear, and they do not how they will survive. They are constantly doing whatever it takes to achieve the neccessities. Insanity overcomes the boys, and began to blame one another for the lack of food, and warmth. Each boy becomes into a monster, and are against one another. As the boys try to kill one another.. They are rescued by a British naval officer.

2. The major theme of this novel is the loss of innocene and how a person will go to survive. Since the boys were forced to fight in a war and become men, they had to say goodbye to their childhoods. When a child is robbed of their childhood, they have to grow up before they are ready.This causes insanity, and the boys go against each other. Each boy is willing to do whatever it takes, in order to survive. Fear and betrayal was among the boys. They were destined to fall into temptation of blaming one another.

3.William Golding's tone was very dark. He described the boys as violent, and insane. I felt very creeped out when the author described the boy's behavior toward one another. Golding creates a lot of suspense and unpredictability.

"There was something dark...fumbling along....The creature was a party of boys, marching approximately in...two parallel lines...." pg. 18

4. Golding's literary elements and techniques create suspense and help the audience feel the character's desperation to survive. He uses imagery, metaphors, foreshadowing and symbolism in order to establish his theme across the whole novel.

Imagery: "Ralph sat on a fallen trunk, his left side to the sun. On his right were most of the choir; on his left the larger boys who had not known each other before...before him small children squatted in the grass." Chapter 2, pg. 30

Metaphor: "The candle-buds opened their wide white flowers....Their scent spilled out into the air and took possession of the island." pg. 52

Symbolism: "Then, amid the roar of bees in the afternoon sunlight, Simon found for [the littluns] the fruit they could not reach...[and] passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands." pg. 51

"The hunters' thoughts were crowded with memories...of the knowledge... that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink." pg 64

CHARACTERIZATION
1 & 2. The author doesn't change his diction/syntax with different characters because the boys are more represented as a group, yet they fight individualy. The characterization among the characters is all the same.

"Jack was tall, thin, and bony...his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was...freckled, and ugly without silliness."  pg. 19

"Piggy, for all his ludicrous body, had brains. Ralph was a specialist in thought now, and could recognize thought in another." pg. 71

"Piggy was...so full of pride in his contribution to the good of society, that he helped to fetch wood."  pg. 118

3. There is no protagonists because it's a group of boys. However, each character is round because they are different in the beginning as they are in the end.

"You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are what they are?" pg. 130

"Fear can't hurt you any more than a dream. There aren't any beasts to be afraid of on this island....Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies!" pg. 75

4. I do not believe I have met any of these characters in real life. However, I do believe I have met the characters, who they were in the beginning because they were average, young kids. They have silly nicknames for one another, and they are adventurous.

"I don't care what [you] call me so long as...[it's not] what they used to call me in school...They used to call me Piggy!" pg. 11

Literature Analysis

1. The Tortilla Curtain, by T.C. Boyle is a novel about a man named Candido Rincon and his wife, America, who entered the United States illegally, to achieve the American Dream in California.  However, California life is not treating them so well because they have no home, so they must camp out at a national park. Another couple, Delaney and Kyra live in a gated community. The two couple's met when Delaney hit Candido (accidently.) The two couple's had great influence over one another. However, Candido is feeling shameful because he is unable to get a job and because of an injury he has. His wife is pregnant, and is unable to provide for her. Even America is able to get a job. Delaney’s family has a few problems with the struggle of criminals and illegal aliens. While Candido causes a huge forest fire, America is given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Socorro. The couple is forced to hide in the Delaney's shack where America confesses how she was raped, which might have caused their child to be blind. Delaney is extremely angry and runs towards the shack to attack the couple, however, a landslide hits the shack. The couple survives, but their baby died from drowning in the river. In the end, Candido saves Delaney from drowning, even though the discrimination and racisim he has against the couple.

2. The theme of this novel is racisim and discrimination. Candido is constantly judged and hated against because he is an illegal alien. His wife, America is raped because of her race. The novel proves how good people are good people. They do not have to be white. It is shown when Candido saves Delaney, although Delaney hates Candido because he is a foreigner.

Pg. 101 “Do you realize what you’re saying? Immigrants are the lifeblood of this country—we’re a nation of immigrants—and neither of us would be standing here today if it wasn’t.”
Pg. 127 “She felt a surge of hope: the worst of it was behind them now.”

3. The author’s tone for this novel is very serious and sad. Boyle is a realistic author describing the world because illegal aliens are shut out against. (Not always) He provides a story that can be related to and looked up on.

Pg. 10 “He tried to picture the man’s life—the cramped room, the bag of second-rate oranges on the streetcorner…and the cold mashed beans dug out of the forty-nine-cent can.”

Pg. 16 “His whole life was a headache, his whole stinking worthless pinche vida.”

Pg. 332 “All he cared about was this Mexican, the man who’d invaded his life like some unshakable parasite, like a disease”

4. Boyle had a variety of literary elements and techniqutes to express the message he wanted to send to his audience. He uses diction, symbols, foreshadowing, allegories, and such. Boyle is into detail throughout the novel. The diction/syntax he uses is comprehensive and causes the audience to feel what the characters are going through.

Imagery: “Everywhere he turned he saw those red-flecked eyes, the rictus of the mouth, the rotten teeth and incongruous shock of gray in the heavy black brush of the mustache- they infested his dreams, cut through his waking hours like a window on another reality.”

Diction:“The wind screamed. It screamed for blood, for sacrifice, for Tenksgeevee, and the flames answered it.”

Symbolism: “No education, no resources, and no skills—all they’ve got to offer is a strong back”

Allegory: “And Candido, despite his exhaustion, despite everything, began dragging the big balky sheet of plastic up through the unyielding brush, and as the branches tore at him and his fingers stiffened and the helicopters swooped overhead, he thought of Christ with his cross and his crown of thorns and wondered who had it worse.”

Simile: “All he wanted was work, and this was his fate, this was his stinking pinche luck, a violated wife and a blind baby and a crazy white man with a gun, and even that wasn’t enough to satisfy an insatiable God: no they’ll all had to drown like rats in a bargain.”

CHARACTERIZATION:

1. The author uses indirect and direct characterization so the audience can understand the character's feelings.

Pg. 185 “I agree that everybody’s got a right to work and have a decent standard if living, but there’s just so many of them, they’ve overwhelmed us, the schools, welfare, the prisons and now the streets…”

Pg. 272 “So she sat there, as miserable as she’d ever been in her life, and closed her mind down till the world went from a movie screen to a peephole, and still she wanted to close the peephole too.”

Pg. 352 “Delaney was drawn so much closer to that cold black working heart of the world than he’d ever dreamed possible”

2. The author's diction/syntax changes as it goes character to character. It is based on individuals.

Pg. 29 “She wanted. Of course she wanted… A house, a yard, maybe a TV and a car too”

Pg. 127 “She felt a surge of hope: the worst of it was behind them now.”

3. The protagonist never changes from the beginning to end. Candido is still the same nice, genuine person he is. The antagonist, Delaney changes throughout the novel because he realizes that just because Candido is Mexican, doesn't make him a bad person. In fact, he's a hero.

4. I felt I have the characters before because the novel is so realistic about racisim and discrimination towards Mexicans. Also, in the town I live in, we have illegal aliens.

Pg. 200 “He was a criminal for daring to want it, daring to risk everything for the basic human necessities, and nor even those were to be denied him.”

Literature Analysis

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.

"No Exit" is a book that consists of four characters. However, only three are placed in this room, which is supposed to be Hell. Of course, the characters believe the stereotypes of Hell. They expect to tortured by a numerous of objects/machines. Yet, Hell is a normal room, but has no exit. The room has sofa's and lights. One of the characters, Inez asks what the characters have done to have gone to Hell. Estelle and Garcin deny they have done anything wrong. Throughout the book, the characters admit to what they have done and have realized why they were brought there. Also, they have realized that Hell is not itself, but the people you are with. Garcin has tried to leave the room, but there is no exit. The characters are stuck and must remain in Hell for eternity.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid  cliches.The theme of this book is to notice that the choices you make are the one's you must hold on to forever. There is no escape. Also, do not stereotype. Hell is not what the characters seem because it is much more than that. You are with people who have the same mindset as you. They most likely believe they have done nothing wrong, yet they have done the most vile sins.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include 3 excerpts that illustrate your point.
The author tone is suppose to help the audience correctly interpret life, and the choice we are dealt with. The author constantly mentions how there is no exit. The tone is overall didactic.

“There were days when you peered into yourself, into the secret places of your heart, and what you saw there made you faint with horror. And then, next day, you didn't know what to make of it,you couldn't interpret the horror you had glimpsed the day before. Yes, you know what evil costs.” 

4. Describe 5 literary techniques/elements you observed that strengthened your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone. Include 3 excerpts that will help your reader understand each one.
Metaphor: “I'm going to smile, and my smile will sink down into your pupils, and heaven knows what it will become.”
Symbolism: The vase at the end represents how your life can be easily broken, yet easily stored, but one crack can cause your life to end immediately.
Allusions: the book relates to art and music.
Allegory:"GARCIN: What's this?
VALET: Can't you see? An ordinary paper-knife.
GARCIN: Are there books here?
VALET: No.
GARCIN: Then what's the use of this?"Imagery:"A man's drowning, choking, sinking by inches, till only his eyes are just above water."

 

CHARACTERIZATION

1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

"You see, I'm fond of teasing, it's a second nature with me-- and I'm used to teasing myself. Plaguing myself, if you prefer; I don't tease nicely."

"I feel so queer. Don't you ever get taken that way? When I can't see myself I begin to wonder if I really and truly exist. I pat myself just to make sure, but it doesn't help much.” 

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?

Throughout the whole book, the diction and syntax for each character remains the same. Although, the characters have different personalities, they are still common.
 

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.

There are no protagonist characters because they are all the same since they have done unforgiveable things to belong in Hell. They're no characters that change so they are all flat.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.

I don't believe I've met any of the characters because they are so mean, and so inconsiderate. However, I do believe I've met people close to them. The world is filled with many people who are mean, and don't believe they do anything wrong.

No Exit Notes

NOTES on No Exit by Sartre

• 1900's
• Existentialism : philosophical and cultural movement which holds that the starting point of philosophical thinking must be the experiences of the individual
• Jean Paul Sartre : French writer
• 4 characters :

Valet
Garcin
Estelle
Inez

• Entire play takes place in a drawing room.
• "Hell is other people" --- Imagine being in a room with your two most hated people
• Garcin enters with Valet into a room with Second Empire Furniture
• Garcin is not fond of the furniture yet fond of that fact.
• Garcin asks if all rooms are the same
• Valet ask "How could they be? We cater for all sorts..."
• Valet has a temper about his residence
• Garcin talks about how the talk of this place was different from where he lives
• Garcin has a great sense of humor...he even calls the racks and pincers "the instruments of torture"
• ("Think about the place you have chosen as your hell. Does it look ordinary and bourgeois,like Sartre's drawing room, or is it equipped with literal instruments of torture likeDante's Inferno? Can the mind be in hell in a beautiful place? Is there a way to find peacein a hellish physical environment? Enter Sartre's space more fully and imagine how itwould feel to live there endlessly, night and day") --- I appreciate this thought process.
• Valet gets irritated that everyone relates this residence with torture and Garcin tells him to calm himself
• Garcin is apparently caught in a bad situation. No bed, mirrors,toothbrush, etc..
• ("Could hell be described as too much of anything without a break? Are variety,moderation and balance instruments we use to keep us from boiling in any inferno of excess,' whether it be cheesecake or ravenous sex?") --- appreciation for thought
• No windows only floors and rooms
• Garcin asks if its day, Valet knows not what he means
• Garcin then ask if he has days off...Valet says yes but he only visits his uncle on the 3rd floor
• ("How does Sartre create a sense of place through dialogue? Can you imagine what it feelslike to stay awake all the time with the lights on with no hope of leaving a specific place?How does GARCIN react to this hell? How could you twist your daily activities aroundso that everyday habits become hell? Is there a pattern of circumstances that reinforcesthe experience of hell?")
• Garcin is locked in this room
• Paper knife with no books?
• Valet leaves to attend his other guests
• Garcin tries to ring the bell, scream, shout, but no one hears him
• Finally Valet and Inez enter
• Inez is a woman who is to share a room with Garcin
• Valet tells her to ask Garcin about the room since they had such a detailed talk
• Inez asks about Florence
• Garcin hasn't an idea
• Inez believes Garcin is the torturer and they separated her and Florence as such.
• Garcin says no and goes on to talk her
• Inez is unmarried
• She says those who torture looked frightened
• She then asks if he has ever gone outside
• Estelle and Valet enter
• Estelle is now to be in the room as well
• Estelle rants about the room
• Inez makes note that Garcin is not the torturer
• Estelle Rigault*
• Joseph Garcin*
• Inez Serrano*
• THEY ARE DEAD! *got it.
• In hell! Yet they talk about the living to be "down there"?
• Inez died a week ago
• Estelle died yesterday from pneumonia, from Paris
• Garcin ...12 shots in the chest, month ago, from Rio
• They all wonder why they were put together in this one room
• They can still see the living from where they are
• They all wonder why they are in hell
• Non of them have done anything terrible enough to deserve this
• They figured out they are all evil in one way or another
• And then they realized that there is really no physical pain
• That they (the devil) put them in the same room to torture one another since they are all so different
• That is how they will live for eternity
• No mirrors in hell?
• Inez acted as Estelle's mirror, but mirrors sometimes lie
• Inez is attracted to Estelle she puts her's and Garcin's acts on blast
• Garcin=unfaithful to his loving wife
• Inez=killed a man (3)
• Estelle= A man killed himself over her and killed her child
• Inez wants Estelle, Estelle wants Garcin, Garcin wants Inez
• Estelle gives herself to Garcin but not her trust
• Garcin didn't want to fight in the war so he tried to run to Mexico
• Garcins wife is dead
• Time goes by very slow in hell compared to on earth
• Garcin asks Estelle to let him love her forever
• Estelle say yes but then Inez butts in and makes him realize she would love any guy down here
• Garcin tries to escape
• "One always dies too soon-- or too late. And yet one's whole life is complete at that moment, with a line drawn neatly under it, ready for the summing up. You are-- your life,and nothing else"
• Inez keeps pushing, Estelle tries to kill Inez.
• Yet they are all already dead!
  
  
  I must give kudos to Ashlie, http://apfeiferrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/
  My notes didn't compare to hers! They are very comprehensive. Helped me understand No Exit perfectly.

Thinking Outside the Box

In Allegory of the Cave, Plato describes, metaphorically, how we are limited. Also, our eyes deceive us by not allowing us to distinguish from real or fake. My remix sonnet below, explains the purpose of Plato's allegory. When a few prisoners go outside the cave, and see the extraordinary things, they rush back into the cabe. The prisoners tell the people in the cave their acknowledgments, however, the prisoners do not believe them; they believe they are foolish. All in all, we must take have goals, and we must be able to have the light (knowledge) welcome us. In No Exit by Sartre, the characters are in Hell, which there is no escape. This is to prove that once you make certain situations, you are set for life. The characters are the ones who make each other, and hell itself. At the end of No Exit, there is a vase which represents how life can be broken so easily (in my opinion.)