Thursday, February 27, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Reflection on Blogging
Since my first blog, I've had six months to improve my blogging skills. As I look back, I can definitely say that I have, in fact, improved. When I look back at my earlier blogs, I noticed that I did quite a lot of summarizing, even if the prompt didn't call for the whole summary. The blogs were also rather long, but I don't think they were very well written and they felt kind of forced, in a way. Since then, I haven't been summarizing as much, just summarizing what I need to in order to write about the prompt. My blogs are also shorter now, but the writing is better and more "full" than it was before. Also, I've started writing what I really think, so they don't feel as forced to me now. Now, I feel like I'm able to write more casually and put in my ideas, rather than just forcing some artificial ideas out into the writing.
So far this year, my favorite blog has been Dreams With Sharp Teeth: 12/12/13. This blog has been my favorite because I really enjoyed writing it. The prompt was to choose a favorite character and a least favorite character, so I really liked being able to write about the characters I had stronger opinions on. I also really liked writing the blog because of the favorite character I chose: a dog named Ahbhu. The death of Ahbhu was something I was really able to relate to, so it was pretty nice being able to write about a character I related to.
So far this year, my favorite blog has been Dreams With Sharp Teeth: 12/12/13. This blog has been my favorite because I really enjoyed writing it. The prompt was to choose a favorite character and a least favorite character, so I really liked being able to write about the characters I had stronger opinions on. I also really liked writing the blog because of the favorite character I chose: a dog named Ahbhu. The death of Ahbhu was something I was really able to relate to, so it was pretty nice being able to write about a character I related to.Wednesday, February 19, 2014
"Lost" (Found poetry)
The Poem:
Have a conversation with her
It wouldn't have hurt.
Those words had significance.
She sat alone in her car on a dark road.
He needed to talk to her,
things to tell her that had scared her the whole first day.
She looked like she'd felt aching,
something like that.
She searched her mind for the healing words she wanted to much to say.
In this poem, I thought of it as a man looking for a woman who had run away, or left unexpectedly at night. The woman had been told something that frightened her, so to get away from it, she left. I drew a dark scene over the poem because the man was looking for her at night along a road, since "She sat alone in her car on a dark road". When it's dark, it's hard to see the colors differentiate from each other, so that's what I tried to make my drawing look like.
"Be Brave" (Spine poetry)
Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls
The City of Ember
Neverwhere
The World Without Us
Nothing That Meets The Eye
The Road
Life
I put these titles together to show things that can be explored in life, and that's why I started the poem with Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls. For the 'exploring' part, I didn't really mean to go and really explore it the way people would explore new lands, I meant to explore it in the way that you learn about things or experience them. The book titles had things to explore that may seem very small and maybe unimportant (like Nothing That Meets The Eye), but I think it makes it all the better to learn about it, because it is still interesting. The titles was "Be Brave" because sometimes, you need bravery to go and explore these no things, but the bravery let's us explore new things in life.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Two Voice Poem- Dreams With Sharp Teeth
It’s all going backwards.
What is?
They’re all coming back, Kate.
Who’s coming back?
All of them.
Michael, who is them?
All the birds come home to roost...
It scares me.
Why?
Because it’s really happening.
What’s really happening?
They’re all coming back, Kate!
Explain it to me...
Michael, I don’t understand.
Of course you don’t.
Have you slept?
No, I’m afraid.
You’re making yourself go crazy.
Paranoia...?
Kate, everyone is coming back...
You mean...everyone?
The ones I loved and the ones I knew.
How do you know?
I knew you were coming next.
How?
Because it’s all going backwards...
You were the third I loved...
And who was after me?
Gretchen. It’s going backwards. She came back.
And then me.
Yes. And I’m scared.
So, the one you loved before me is next...
And that was...
Marcie was before you.
So Marcie is next?
Yes.
Why don’t you just stop it?
I would if I could! Think, Kate!
About what?
Who was before Marcie?
Michael...She can’t.
But she will.
Do you think Cindy will come?
Is Cindy still locked up in the House?
Yes, but I know she’ll come back.
You can’t be sure of that.
But I know everyone is coming back! She will come!
Michael, you haven’t been sleeping...
You don’t believe me.
Michael, I just don’t...
No! You’re just part of it!
But if Cindy comes...
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Dreams With Sharp Teeth
Week of 2/13
**Are the characters realistic (do they seem like they could be real people)? Why or why not?
Pages Read: 878-908 (Short Stories: : "In The Fourth Year Of The War" and "Alive And Well And On A Friendless Voyage")
Sometimes when I read a book, I find myself thinking, "No one could be that conceited." or "No one can be that annoying." And I think these thoughts often come with good reason. In books, sometimes the characters may seem unrealistic for whatever reason-- or reasons. Some of these characters are way too optimistic, way too pessimistic, too annoying or too strict. A lot of the things that make the characters seem unrealistic are when the author takes one emotion or aspect of a person and they make that emotion/aspect too bold or they make it disappear completely. If an author makes a character seem too perfect, to me, the character seems more forced and artificial, in a way. In Ellison's book, the characters pretty much always seem realistic. Even when the characters are fantasy based, like sorcerers, goblins, or other beasts, they always have personalities that are believable
"In The Fourth Year Of The War" is about a guy (who is never named) who is having a battle (or war) with a voice in his head. Jerry Olander was the name of the voice inside the guy's head, but Jerry was more like a person than a voice. He could control the guy's movements a bit and he would have conversations with the guy, such as conversations telling the guy to kill certain people. What made the guy in this story realistic was the fact that he had his problems, but he didn't dwell on them. Most people will have a problem and try to forget about it, and that's what the guy did. The story was written in his perspective, so his thoughts and reasoning are another thing that made him seem realistic. When Jerry Olander ordered the guy to kill for the first time in the four years Jerry had been in this guy's head, a lot of the guy's reasoning on why he shouldn't kill the man was based on the fact that the man he was ordered to kill was his own uncle. Ellison made part of the guy's back story and this back story also made the guy seem like a believable person. His back sotry was filled with problems, as it was also filled with joy, much like a real person.
In "Alive And Well And On A Friendless Voyage", the reader meets another character that is realistic. His name is Moth, and he really seems like a real person. The whole story is Moth walking through the lounge of a ship and talking to people about the bad things he has done and the problems he has faced. Moth was realistic because he had these problems and terrible things he had done, but he wasn't able to get over them. In "In The Fourth Year Of The War", the main character was a guy what was able to get over his problems. In "Alive And Well And On A Friendless Voyage", the main character was a man that was not able to get over his problems. Really, both of these aspects of people are common, I guess you could say. You may meet people that cannot get over their problems. You may find people that can get over their problems, so Moth became a realistic character because he had a real human aspect to him: he wasn't able to get over his problems. There were also other characters in this story that were realistic, the people that Moth was speaking to on the ship. He would walk through the ship's lounge and stop at almost every table in the lounge and talk to the person/people sitting there. These characters were different, some were supportive of Moth, some were angry at him, and some were silent. They reminded me of different types of people a person can meet throughout their life, as all the people Moth were talking to had different personalities and opinions on how Moth had lived his life. This story in particular seemed to be full of realistic characters, and it really made the story more interesting. If the characters had been rather unrealistic, I don't think the story would have been very interesting, and maybe that goes for most other stories, too.
**Are the characters realistic (do they seem like they could be real people)? Why or why not?
Pages Read: 878-908 (Short Stories: : "In The Fourth Year Of The War" and "Alive And Well And On A Friendless Voyage")
Sometimes when I read a book, I find myself thinking, "No one could be that conceited." or "No one can be that annoying." And I think these thoughts often come with good reason. In books, sometimes the characters may seem unrealistic for whatever reason-- or reasons. Some of these characters are way too optimistic, way too pessimistic, too annoying or too strict. A lot of the things that make the characters seem unrealistic are when the author takes one emotion or aspect of a person and they make that emotion/aspect too bold or they make it disappear completely. If an author makes a character seem too perfect, to me, the character seems more forced and artificial, in a way. In Ellison's book, the characters pretty much always seem realistic. Even when the characters are fantasy based, like sorcerers, goblins, or other beasts, they always have personalities that are believable
"In The Fourth Year Of The War" is about a guy (who is never named) who is having a battle (or war) with a voice in his head. Jerry Olander was the name of the voice inside the guy's head, but Jerry was more like a person than a voice. He could control the guy's movements a bit and he would have conversations with the guy, such as conversations telling the guy to kill certain people. What made the guy in this story realistic was the fact that he had his problems, but he didn't dwell on them. Most people will have a problem and try to forget about it, and that's what the guy did. The story was written in his perspective, so his thoughts and reasoning are another thing that made him seem realistic. When Jerry Olander ordered the guy to kill for the first time in the four years Jerry had been in this guy's head, a lot of the guy's reasoning on why he shouldn't kill the man was based on the fact that the man he was ordered to kill was his own uncle. Ellison made part of the guy's back story and this back story also made the guy seem like a believable person. His back sotry was filled with problems, as it was also filled with joy, much like a real person.In "Alive And Well And On A Friendless Voyage", the reader meets another character that is realistic. His name is Moth, and he really seems like a real person. The whole story is Moth walking through the lounge of a ship and talking to people about the bad things he has done and the problems he has faced. Moth was realistic because he had these problems and terrible things he had done, but he wasn't able to get over them. In "In The Fourth Year Of The War", the main character was a guy what was able to get over his problems. In "Alive And Well And On A Friendless Voyage", the main character was a man that was not able to get over his problems. Really, both of these aspects of people are common, I guess you could say. You may meet people that cannot get over their problems. You may find people that can get over their problems, so Moth became a realistic character because he had a real human aspect to him: he wasn't able to get over his problems. There were also other characters in this story that were realistic, the people that Moth was speaking to on the ship. He would walk through the ship's lounge and stop at almost every table in the lounge and talk to the person/people sitting there. These characters were different, some were supportive of Moth, some were angry at him, and some were silent. They reminded me of different types of people a person can meet throughout their life, as all the people Moth were talking to had different personalities and opinions on how Moth had lived his life. This story in particular seemed to be full of realistic characters, and it really made the story more interesting. If the characters had been rather unrealistic, I don't think the story would have been very interesting, and maybe that goes for most other stories, too.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Dreams With Sharp Teeth
Week of 1/27
**Draw a picture for what you just read.
Pages Read: 833-878 (Short Stories: : "Django" and "Count The Clock That Tells The Time")
"Count The Clock That Tells The Time" is a story about wasting time, or rather, wasted time and where it goes. The main character, Ian Ross, has been a time waster for 35 years of his life. He was 37 years old when the story stars. He did the same things everyday, and he lived, but he had never really lived in the way we're meant to. One day, he randomly thought, "Where does the time go?". From there, he realized he had wasted his whole life doing nothing and not living, so he decided to carry out one of his dreams: to live in Scotland and to live there. He wanted Scotland to be the place he actually did something. He spends two years in Scotland when the story begins with him once again asking, "Where does the time go?". As he sits on a hill looking at a lake, he realizes he had wasted his time again. Before he has time to do anything, the world around him begins to vanish. There is no more light, because the sun has gone. The ground beneath him vanished, too, but he didn't fall.
Soon, he's surrounded by nothing. He's left all alone standing in a world of darkness until he's approached by an old woman. She tells him this is a place filled with people all looking for a way out, and that he ought to keep walking so he may find the exit himself. Taking the advice, he walks and finds a man who can explain his theory as to where they are and why. Basically, he thought that unused time is not wasted in places where nothing ever happens. It doesn't just stay there, it goes to their little dark world. The guy said wasted time could be measured in units called 'chronons', which he made up for his theory. All those chronons sort of built up around a person that was wasting time, until so many had built up that the universe pulled the person into the dark world because the universe would recycle that wasted time. As he continues his walk, he meets a woman named Catherine. They decide to walk together and look for an exit, but they soon fall in love along the way. The new couple begins to set goals. They would set a goal to walk this amount of distance in a day, or they would play a some sort of game. They were enjoying their moments together and they were no longer wasting their time walking, as they was no exit. Since they were no longer 'wasted time', they could no longer be kept in the world for wasted time. They had to go. Over time, they begin to notice the other fading, bit by bit, everyday. One day, they fade completely. I drew my picture based on their last time together, where "they touched, there in that vast limbo of wasted time, for the last time," . For that, I drew two hands reaching towards each other, as if for one last touch or to hold on. Of course, I drew the background behind the hands as a dark place to match the story's description.
**Draw a picture for what you just read.
Pages Read: 833-878 (Short Stories: : "Django" and "Count The Clock That Tells The Time")
"Count The Clock That Tells The Time" is a story about wasting time, or rather, wasted time and where it goes. The main character, Ian Ross, has been a time waster for 35 years of his life. He was 37 years old when the story stars. He did the same things everyday, and he lived, but he had never really lived in the way we're meant to. One day, he randomly thought, "Where does the time go?". From there, he realized he had wasted his whole life doing nothing and not living, so he decided to carry out one of his dreams: to live in Scotland and to live there. He wanted Scotland to be the place he actually did something. He spends two years in Scotland when the story begins with him once again asking, "Where does the time go?". As he sits on a hill looking at a lake, he realizes he had wasted his time again. Before he has time to do anything, the world around him begins to vanish. There is no more light, because the sun has gone. The ground beneath him vanished, too, but he didn't fall.
Soon, he's surrounded by nothing. He's left all alone standing in a world of darkness until he's approached by an old woman. She tells him this is a place filled with people all looking for a way out, and that he ought to keep walking so he may find the exit himself. Taking the advice, he walks and finds a man who can explain his theory as to where they are and why. Basically, he thought that unused time is not wasted in places where nothing ever happens. It doesn't just stay there, it goes to their little dark world. The guy said wasted time could be measured in units called 'chronons', which he made up for his theory. All those chronons sort of built up around a person that was wasting time, until so many had built up that the universe pulled the person into the dark world because the universe would recycle that wasted time. As he continues his walk, he meets a woman named Catherine. They decide to walk together and look for an exit, but they soon fall in love along the way. The new couple begins to set goals. They would set a goal to walk this amount of distance in a day, or they would play a some sort of game. They were enjoying their moments together and they were no longer wasting their time walking, as they was no exit. Since they were no longer 'wasted time', they could no longer be kept in the world for wasted time. They had to go. Over time, they begin to notice the other fading, bit by bit, everyday. One day, they fade completely. I drew my picture based on their last time together, where "they touched, there in that vast limbo of wasted time, for the last time," . For that, I drew two hands reaching towards each other, as if for one last touch or to hold on. Of course, I drew the background behind the hands as a dark place to match the story's description.
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