English 145 Blog

Dostoyevsky: Notes From the Underground Dostoyevsky  Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born in 1821 He was 1 of 6 children in his family.  His father was a doctor. Was sent to a military academy in 1837 after his mom died.  Married his wife in 1957 after falling in love with her. She was already married but her husband died.  During the lowest point in his life, Dostoyevsky wrote notes from the Underground in 1864.  Notes from the Underground The speaker starts off as describing himself to be sick, spiteful, and very unpleasant. His liver is not healthy and even though he says he respects doctors he won't get treated.  The "Underground man" is what he calls himself.  The only reason he really kept his job is so he could eat, not because it gave him any type of satisfaction. One part that stood out to me was when the author said, "'why, you'll be finding enjoyment in a toothache next!" you cry out with a laugh. "well, what of it?...

My progress this semester has good. I am still keeping up with all my classes which is surprising to me because usually around this time I would find myself falling behind or find myself missing assignments. This class hasn't been a struggle but it also hasn't been a breeze. I have found myself missing some assignments but thanks to the extra credit I can still make most of those points up. I'm a really busy person this semester, this is probably the most stressful semester I have had. I am taking 4 classes at 13 units and I have two jobs. If you would have told me at 16 that I would somehow be balancing all this I would have laughed at you. I have been enjoying this class and the readings. Even though it was more reading than I had initially expected, I've been doing good with it. After Spring Break I know it's going to be pretty hard to get back into the swing of things. This year I am going to try and keep up with my work throughout spring break. I used to tr...

Closed Reading- Ghalib I chose Ghalib because I understood these poems more. It may be because they are shorter, but I felt more connected and understanding with these poems. Now go and live in a place  I believe the speaker/narrator of this poem was in pain or depressed and they are isolating themselves from the world. It's like they are telling themselves that no body wants to be around them and if they die, they die and no one will really care. "If you die, no on to mourn you there" My other thought was that they felt they were a burden and leaving to live somewhere by themselves will be better all around, Be Merciful and Send to me It seems the speaker is begging for his lover back. "I'm not some moment that has passed and can't come back again." (Ghalib 592) This line really stood out to me because I can relate to this poem. I think the speaker is realizing that he messed up and is trying to get his partner back but she isn't having it....

Ghalib | Now go and live in a place "If you fall ill, no one to nurse you there- and if you die, no one to mourn you there" (Ghalib 591) The theme for this poem seems to be pain or depression. We can see the clear hurt in his words. He wants to isolate himself from the world. And then saying that if he dies, oh well. Be merciful and send for me A poem about getting a partner back? In this poem is seems the narrator is trying to get someone back. "we two shall be one again." (Ghalib 592) It was essential  I see another reoccurring 'sad' theme. This poem just makes you feel sad. "As you depart you say, "we'll meet once more on Dooms day" How great-that doom will have it's day one more day." (Ghalib 597) This stanza stood out to me because doom is still there, it hasn't left. My Tongue begs for the power of speech This poem seemed personal. Like it was a conversation between God and the speaker. "Your gift to us...

Warning: Extremely Cute Cat Pics on this blog post Growth Mindset Challenge #9 Growth Mindset Cats: Pinterest . Learn how to use Pinterest to explore the growth mindset cats and choose your favorites. (You don't need a Pinterest account for this assignment... but you might decide you want to use Pinterest yourself after you give this a try: it's a fun tool!) Even though I am allergic to Cats, I have decided to do this challenge for motivational purposes. I took way too much time scrolling through Pintrest looking at Cat pictures. The ones I chose are the ones that are going to give me the most motivation. I want to be able to look back at this blog post when I feel I just can't do it anymore. We know the good things in like don't come easy but don't let that stop you! You are your biggest obstacle. Once you get yourself a positive and healthy mindset the world could be your Oyster!

Topic Brainstorm, Week 8 | You’ve been appointed the student member of a college committee to revise the core curriculum. The committee has decided to require that all students enrolled at LMC must take this course, and you have been asked to nominate 4 to 5 fiction selections (from the selections we have read this semester) that will be required reading for the course. You are, in other words, creating the anthology.   -I think this prompt would be fun for me because it gives me the chances to focus on more than just one or two pieces. It will also give me the chance to go into further details with the readings that I will chose to create my very own anthology. This will project will probably take me the longest since I do have to look at more pieces but since I read them all already it should be easy for me to decide which ones I will choose.  Choose a reading. In your project, consider the following: What does this work reflect about its historical, social, p...

Reading and Writing Reading is one of my favorite things to do. I can sit and read for hours if I wanted too. The readings in this class so far have all been pretty entertaining. I'm not a huge fan of poems so getting through those can be difficult. My favorite reading so far has either been Tartuffe. Even though this was a longer reading it had a lot of entertainment, which is a plus for me because it makes me a lot more interested in the book. Another reasoning it was my favorite is because there was a lot of drama. I tend to be more drawn to stories that keep can keep me guessing what is going to happen. I don't like anything too predictable. I believe the reading notes do help me. When I am writing my project work or weekly analysis I go back to look at them. I am satisfied with my project. I wouldn't say I'm super 100% proud of it but I am happy. I think I could have worked a little harder looking back and will make sure I do just that on our next project. I th...

Emily Dickinson I've decided to do a close reading on Emily Dickinson's poems. I chose this because these poems interested me the most. When I first start off with reading Poem 216, I wasn't too sure what to think. I didn't understand the poem enough to know what the author meant by it. The more I read the more I starting thinking about the quote, "Safe in their alabaster chambers - untouched by morning and untouched by noon."(Dickinson 482) I have a feeling since the main theme of her poems was death that it was involved in this. I think the author was going in the direction of almost being born again. Her old self is "safe in their alabaster chambers" and a new version of herself is arising. Poem 303 "The Soul selects her own Society- Then - Shuts the door-" (Dickinson 483) I think the author using the word "soul" because it holds a lot of power. It gives you a sense of independence from the women in the poem, almost like s...

Percy Bysshe Shelley  Shelley comes from a wealthy family. His father was a part of the Parliament. He was also an advocate of vegetarianism, free love, anarchism, Irish nationalism, and atheism. (395) "Shelley is famous for his resistance and rebellion, he is also a poet capable of remarkable formal control." (397) England in 1819 I'm guessing from this poem England was not everyone's favorite place in 1819.   "A people starved and stabbed in th' untilled field." (399) People were starving and people were getting stabbed. I think the author is trying to help us understand what things were like back in this day.  Ode to the West Wind This one interested me because I have never read anything like it. It was odd to me that the speaker had a almost a desire for the "west winds" to power over them like it does with the clouds, tress, air, etc. This is because he wants to be driven by something that has a lot of power, whi...

Emily Dickinson Dickinson is one of the most famous American Poets. She was born in 1830. Dickinson started writing seriously in 1850's. "Her works are noteworthy, first of all, for their brevity and compassion, throwing readers immediately into the thick of the poem, eschewing any preparation." (481) Poem 303 "The soul selects her own society - then shuts the door-" (483)  Does this have to do with isolating yourself from people, or society itself? This is how I pictured it. Did she not like the society she 'picked' so she closes herself off from it all together? Poem 449 "I died for Beauty - but was scarce" (485) This poem was very interesting to me because I think the author is trying to compare dying for beauty vs. dying for the truth. "And I- for Truth - Themself are one - We Brethen, are," he said-" (485) The man is saying they are basically friends or even family because the way they died are similar. Poem ...

Week 7 Oh joy only 10 weeks left! Taking stock of where I am in not only this class but all my other classes has been helpful. With two jobs and 15 units life can be hectic. I try my best to stay on top of everything but sometimes I just don't have enough time to complete everything. The extra credit in this class is very helpful and useful. I like it because I know if I for some reason miss an assignment I can make up for it by doing the extra credit. This week I have been trying my hardest to finish all my assignments. Unfortunately I wasn't able to do this. My goals for next week is too try and be caught up with everything and try to stay caught up. If I do not procrastinate and do my work whenever I have time I should be fine.

Dessalines Liberty or Death The French had control over most of the Caribbean and had close to 500,000 slaves.  The Island produces things such as, coffee, sugar, cotton and tobacco. The slaves, who took up most of the population, rebelled against leadership.  Toussaint joins the French Republic and defeats the British and the Spanish around 1801, abolished slavery and named himself governor for life. (36.) Napoleon captures Toussaint and forces him into Exile, he died less than a year later.  Jean-Jacques Desslines takes over the revolution and declares a new nation, he called it Haiti.  Quotes  " Yes, we have rendered to these true cannibals war for war, crime for crime, outrage for outrage; Yes, I have saved my country, I have avenged America.” (37) "the air we breathe is not suited to his gross organs, it is the pure air of liberty, august and triumphant." (37) "Maintain that precious concord, that happy harmony amongst yourselves"it is ...

Editing Challenge 1  Answering the Question with a clear, Debatable Thesis I chose this one because looking back at my project I don't have a defined thesis. I know I could change things by looking back at the initial prompt.  Paragraph Development Again, going back to the thesis, I feel like it can be stronger and each paragraph can be stronger once I define my true thesis.  Make a point, Don't summarize I chose this one because I see I did summarize probably more than I needed too. I know I should assume that my reader will know the plot of the story. 

Andres Bello "Known as "the artistic liberator" of Spanish America, Andres Bellow rote at a moment when Latin American nations were throwing off the yoke of colonial rule." (388) Ode to Troipcal Agriculture As soon as I read this title I had a feeling it was going to have to do with nature, farming, fruit, the rain forest, or something along those lines. Bello describes land, dirt, Earth very different then I have seen before. It made me notice how important the things he was talking about was too me. He talked about it with such passion. Since he gave the land a sense of emotion we can tell what it is feeling. As a reader this changed my perspective on how we treat our earth. The author did this so us readers would get a look at how the Earth would act if it were human. Bello focuses on calling out the people who changed for the worse. He says people care more about materialistic things and money then about the land that is giving them so many things to live ...

Barbauld  Anna Laetitia Barbauld was a sophisticated women poet whose work was widely known in the United States and England (326). To a Little Invisible Being Who Is Expected Soon to Become Visible "Considers the mysterious existence of the unborn child, a being, the poem speculates, that has sense but no object to sense and a mind but no thoughts to fill it." (326).       This is a poem about being excited to give birth. Even though this being is a gender less and                nameless, the mother still is so excited for this baby.  "To grasp at all the worlds in almighty wrought!" (327)         This quote stood out to me because it makes me believe the poem is about a good upbringing.             No matter what the gender of this baby is, or the name, the race, religion, or class they will have         great opportunities and chanc...