Special Entry #2 - "Becky"

This story was mainly about a woman names Becky who was a white woman who had two Negro sons. It first started with her having one negro son. Everyone in the town was wondering who had given it to her because she wouldn’t say. The white people were calling her a ‘insane white shameless wench’ and the black folk said it was a ‘low down nigger with no self-respect’. So they were through with her and everyone casted her out of the town having nothing to do with her. But a person named Lonnie Deacon went out under cover in the night to build a cabin for her between the railroad in the road. There were trains, fords, horse and mule drawn buggies that passed the house every day. But no one ever saw her. Some thought that she was dead. People started to throw out papers with prayers on them and food as they passed the house. Before long, she had another baby. Those two boys grew up and unlike their mother; they went into town and drifted from job to job. But they were a rough bunch of boys. “They’d beat and cut a man who meant nothing at all in mentioning that they lived along the road.” So no one even dared to ask if their mother was still alive. One time they shot up two men and left town saying “Godam the white folks; godam the niggers”. On Sunday, a congregation was coming home and were about to pass Becky’s house. Before the bend, the horses stopped. It seemed as if everybody had fear of that house. “We were just about to pass…Pines shout to Jesus!..The ground trembled as a ghost train rumbled by. The chimney fell into the cabin.” Barlow threw his Bible on the pile of bricks that lay upon the floor. They got away and when they reached town, the people came to get the true word of it…”Becky was the white woman who had two Negro sons. She’s dead; they’d be gone away. The pines whisper to Jesus. The Bible flaps its leaves with an aimless rustle on her mound.”
As you may agree, all texts should be interpreted. There can be many interpretations that can come out of something even when the author only intended there to be only one main interpretation. This text needs to be interpreted because if you were like me, you could read this twice maybe three times and still not get a clear interpretation. Especially with the phrase, “the pines whisper to Jesus”. A question that I will try to uncover is ‘what did the author intend for us to learn out of this text’?
This story deals a lot with racism. The whole town cast a woman out of their town because she had two black children. This story must have taken place while there were still slaves in America or sometime around then. This story might be saying something like ‘there is no good that can come out of racism.’ God never intended for there to be anger among different races. As you can see it pretty much destroyed this woman’s life.
One very interesting point was about the building of the cabin. In the second paragraph it said that the white and black folks built her cabin. While in the third paragraph it said that Lonnie Deacon stole out at night and built the cabin. At first I was confused on who built the cabin. I later realized that it they both built her cabin. Let me explain. The white and black folks built her cabin in an indirect way. They built it by rejecting her and making her an outcast, calling her a crazy wench. They were setting up the cabin being built. So they didn’t literally build it, they created it.
It also says that the people “prayed secretly to God who’d put His cross upon her and cast her out.” They wanted her to be cast out of the city. They didn’t accept her. But I think some still wanted to help her, but they didn’t want anybody to know that they felt that way. It kind of reminds me of first grade thinking. No one was brave enough to step out and help so they secretly prayed to God so no one would think wrong of them. They prayed that God would put His cross upon her meaning that God would protect her and keep her safe and save her.
Soon, it seemed like it became a ghost story because everyone thought she was dead and that she might haunt them and they had fear. In the text it says that she ‘might be a hant’. I wondered what hant meant so I looked it up and from what I found out it’s a person who haunts people. So the people had a fear that she might haunt them. And get this; they still didn’t know if she was dead or alive. This sets this up to be a decent moral. They rejected her and made her an outcast. I’m not going to say her life was miserable but the story sets it up that way, but it was their fault that she’s living that kind of lifestyle. Now they are taunted by their thoughts and dreams about her, still not knowing if she’s dead or alive. I think everyone can learn from this story in a different way. When we talked about this story in our small group, we each thought differently on the topic.

Symbolism

Probably the best sentence I can relate to in this reading is when it says, "One of the most frustrating experiences many people have (like me) with complex literary works and films arises from the sense that one thing means something else, yet that 'something else' can hardly be identified, captured, or named." When I read something I can pick up on some symbolism, but I know there's something else there sometimes. But it seems like I just can't get a hold of it and explain it. That is why I think talking and discussing it with a group or class like we always do is a great thing because one person might be able to pick that one thing up. And if no body can pick that one thing up, people can give their thoughts which might lead another person to pick up on something else, which in turn could pick that one thing up as a group effort. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like that happens every time in class.
I also like when the writer said, "Writers don't want symbols to obscure meaning. They want to use symbols to reach new meaning." I thought about it and I think I came to realize that if every author and writer only used signs and symbols that are already obvious and meant to point out one specific thing or plot, of course there would be a great point to it, but we wouldn't really have to think and therefore wouldn't really learn in a way. But if you use symbols, like in 'Waiting for Godot', there could be multitudes of meanings that the author had never even thought about. We could have sat all day in class and talked about the different meanings in 'Waiting for Godot'. Anyways I hope I made sense, and now I realize that symbolism is really important and good.

Professor Corrigan's Lecture and Movie

I liked Mr. Corrigan's lecture today. It correlated with watching the movie of 'Waiting for Godot' as well. He said some things that struck my thinking cap. He said something like 'there is no one way to interpret a text or play'. There can be mutliple meanings even though the writer only had one in mind, or in Beckett's case, none! I'm sure he had something in mind, he just won't share. He makes us think, which I like. So everyone has a different opinion on what the text or play should mean. God gave us all a different and unique mind. It was clearly obvious in Tuesday's class because there were interpretations coming from everywhere. I couldn't keep up. Mr. Corrigan also said, "Various interpretations help us become a better person/christian." I just liked that so I threw it in here.
One thing I couldn't really get by just reading the book is the attitudes the characters were displaying. This is where the movie came in and helped. For example, I didn't realize how much Pozzo was a jerk to Lucky. Which by the way, Lucky's name is pretty humerous because in his case, he is totally not lucky. While I was reading, Pozzo would say "stool" and "basket" etc... I had no idea what he was talking about. But when I watched the movie it all came out and it all made sense to me. I finally got some of the humerous jokes that they said that I didn't get out of just reading it. This is another example of how you can experience literature..through movies! Corrigan also talked about that if there is no stage direction or cues on whether its a sad mood or happy or someone being sarcastic, it's basically up to the reader or watcher to decide what's going on. Which is what I was doing with Pozzo.

Waiting for Godot: Discussion

In class, we talked about the themes to 'waiting for godot', and I was completely surprised by how many themes there are! We could have kept going on and on all day it seemed like. I wish I could say everyone one of them but there were so many I forgot! It's funny, a book about nothing can mean everything. I'm glad we had a class discussion because if we didn't, I would have read that book and been so confused on what it meant. That is a very helpful tool when trying to understand literature, to discuss. Because if your like me, my mind can only wrap around only a few ideas, but when you put multiple minds together, it opened my mind up so much. Especially when we didn't have much time to read it. This book almost needs to be read multiple times to understand something it seems like. One of the themes that caught me was about being married. And when he said that Estragon looked like estrogen, it made me laugh because not only was it funny, but I was thinking the same thing. There was a part in there where Estragon and Vlamdimir tried to depart from eachothers lives but Estragon kept coming back and Vladimir said it was because Estragon needed him to live and survive if I recall correctly.
The other theme that struck me was about religion. I couldn't tell if Beckett was trying to support christianity or degrade it saying that it was pointless. The reason I say he supported it was because I think it was Scott in class saying that the tree was like the cross. And Estragon and Vladimir were waiting for Godot to come, or you could say waiting for God. He then talked about the child that came and some stuff that he said and he related it to the bible. But the reason why I say he didn't support christianity is because when they were waiting for Godot, or God if you want to interpret it that way, Beckett might wanted to have expressed his thoughts on christianity saying their lives were basically pointless and they weren't getting anywhere in life and they were wasting their time waiting on believing he was coming, making him an atheist. But I doubt that's the case and I hope that's not the case so I'm sticking with the first point!

Waiting for Godot: Act I

For me, this text was kind of difficult for me to read. I don't know why. I mean the text was clear on what the people were doing but some of the lines in there didn't make any sense. And the meaning of some of the things are sometimes hazy in my little mind. Another thing I have a problem with is what kind of mood they are in. When it comes to them being angry at each other, it's pretty obvious. But this is a tragicomedy, and the part I have a problem with is the comedy part. I can't tell if they are serious or they're just using sarcasm or whatever. I can usually pick up stuff like that, but in this it's kind of hard. Maybe I get it but it's just not funny to me or it's way over my head because the wording is a little wierder than I'm used to. I'm not saying I didn't pick up anything funny. There was one part where Estragon, which I just typed as estrogen (Ha! Maybe that's a hilarious hidden mystery...) had an idea to hang themselves because of their complete boredom waiting on Godot. That must be extreme boredom. But then it goes on and explains what happens when a person in hung. And the thought of when the people pull up the dead who got hung, when all the people in the croud start shrieking...I pictured that happening and it was just funny.
A question I have right now is this...who is Godot? I started thinking about it and now I'm questioning my question. I wonder if I should be asking 'what' is Godot? So I started thinking critically on this, something of which I hardly ever do, and I wondered if Godot was maybe an idea or something. They could be waiting for something in their future or something that's not real. Maybe I thought over-critically on this one! I guess I'll find out when I get through reading this.

Dr. Horrible

O my! Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog was absolutely hilarious! It was genius. OK it might not have been that funny, but it was pretty stinkin funny. I loved how it was so serious and so funny at the time. I want to say it took me on an emotional rollercoaster. It makes me excited to read the Waiting for Godet. I read the first 10 pages of it though and it's kind of hard to read. If there was in kind of humor in those pages, I didn't catch them at all. But maybe class discussion will help me with that. But back to the sing along blog. Some of the scenes were really funny and serious. Like when Dr. Horrible actually turned evil and he went to the room where all the evil people had their meetings and what not. It was probably the most serious part of the movie and you were like, "No Dr. Horrible! Don't go!". But anyways at the head of the table they were sitting at was a horse! Not a person, but a horse. To me that was really funny. And also when Dr. Hammer was about to save the girl from being hit by a car. And to save her, he throws her to the side where a bunch of trash bags are. And there was so much more stuff that relates to seriousness and humorous at the same time but I can't think of them right now. I'd have to watch it over again. Which I will probably do. Tragicomedy's like this are probably my favorite to watch. I like watching intense movies and one with a great story line, but if you add humor to it, I think it makes it so much better! Probably because I love laughing. It's one of my hobbies. I also heard that laughing can help headaches. But I have no idea if that's true or not. I'd like to believe its true. But anyways! Ya! Can't wait for Waiting for Godet!

Lake Bonny Visit

I went to Lake Bonny Park for this assignment, and I stayed there for at least 50 minutes. It might have been a little more because I actually went there twice. It was pretty cool. Literally and figuratively. I went there towards the evening at like 5 to 6 and it was pretty cold outside. I love sitting out in the nature and just pondering upon whatever. It is so peaceful. And when I do this it's like I see God every time through nature. Hopefully you know what I mean by that. Especially when you see the stars and everything. It's awesome! So I was gonna write a poem, but I figured out that I'm not very good at writing and the only poetic line I could think of is, "the sun rained down onto the sparkling glass lake." I couldn't do much more than that sadly. Sitting down in one place for 20 minutes was very interesting. I had a squirl come up to me about three feet away. And I saw him jump up and wiggle his tail at the same time. Quite impressive. And I watched a bunch of ants take carry away food back to their home nest or whatever it's called. It made me think of Luke 12:24. It says, "Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!" If you haven't already noticed, I have loved reading and learning about nature in class. And I loved the poems by Mary Oliver. They are really good and I can understand them! Just some of my favorite quotes from them are...

-"I know a lot of fancy words. I tear them from my heart and my tongue. Then I pray."
-She just got done relaxing in nature basically and she said, "Then I go back to town, to my own house, my own life, which has now become brighter and simpler."
-"Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness....It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.
-Talking about praying.."It doesn't have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones; just pay attention, then patch a few words together and don't try to make them elaborate, this isn't a contest but the doorway into thanks." So pretty much the whole poem!

Class Talk

The conversation we had in today's class was very interesting. It made me think a lot. There were a lot of things but what mainly hit me most was looking at the little things I guess you would say. Professor Corrigan took a picture of a mushroom, actually two of them. And he talked on them and he was saying how we are so 'awed' by the big and obvious things that are to awe about. Like huge mountains peaked with snow and a beautiful blue lake with forests all around it. Or maybe the worlds hugest waterfall or even space. That is something that when anyone see's it, their thinking to themselves how nature is so beautiful and that God has done an amazing job...if their christians of course. But Professor Corrigan made a point that the little things that people do not often 'awe' about, like those two little mushrooms, are quite amazing! We should be able to appreciate everything in this world because God created it. I want to say more about this subject but I can't seem to find the words, but that is the main point about it. In the poem 'Messenger' by Mary Oliver, it was talking about her work, "which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished". And I think she was talking about standing still anywhere! No matter where your at, just take a break and be astonished by what the Lord has done. That's what I'm going to try when I go to the park, well not only the park, but you know what I mean. Appreciating everything!
This is a little off topic, but I also read the poem 'The Uses of Sorrow'. It is a very intersting poem even though it's only 23 words long. It says, "Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness...it took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift." I'm kind of confuses, I understand what she's trying to say, but when I try to think of a situation or when I try to put this practically, I can't really understand it. I might sound confusing but if anyone could leave a comment on what they think about the poem would be awesome! I would much appreciate it!

State of the Planet

The me first of all say that the movie 'Planet Earth' is amazing! From the one part that I saw. But I'm definitely gonna go buy that soon. I have a few questions about 'State of the Planet'. One of them my friend John brought up. It say's, "It will also tell her that the air- it's likely to say "the troposphere" -has trapped emissions from millions of cars..." He wondered why the troposphere had quotes around it. When someone usually say's something sarcastic or wants to point something out they use quotes, but I can't tell what the author is meaning here. It also say's, "Poetry should be able to comprehend the earth." I wish I could explain what I'm thinking but I don't think I can. I think what it's saying is that when writing or reading poetry, you should be able to realize and appreciate the world. The earth should be apart of poetry maybe. Something very interesting I learned by reading this is that scientist can take a gene from a jellyfish (in this case luminescence which emits a green glow) and put it in a mice embryo and when their born, the mice will have this gene and when their put under a fluorescent light, the mouse's main organs, including skin, emit a green glow! I thought that was really cool. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/01/0111_020111genmice.html. That is the website I went to if you want to know more.
Even though the author started talking about evolution a little, this one part I found quite amusing. He was talking about a single cell, being reproduced and becoming more evolved. "From there to eyes, ears, wings, hands, tongues, armadillos, piano tuners, military interrogation" Ha! Those are two random things...piano tuners and military interrogation. I don't know why but I thought that was funny.
But overall this was one of the more interesting poems I think. Probably because I could understand it more for one, but I also learned to appreciate the earth a little more, not that I haven't in the past. But just to think about what all God has created! It's awesome!

Becky

Becky was the story that we read last week using Lectio Divina. Sorry for those who have never read the story :) But I'm going on anyways. This story made absolute no sense when I first started reading it, but by the 3rd time, I actually got some stuff out of it. First of all, Becky was a white woman with two black children. Nobody knew who gave it to her. And I'm not going to be using the words that are in this story, but just know that their thoughts of her were on the lowest level pretty much. White folks thought she was a "wench" and black folks thought it was a black man with no self respect and thought she was a crazy woman. "White folks and black folks built her cabin". I don't think this meant in a literal sense, even though it did eventually happen later on, but they built it in a sense that they were setting her up to become rejected and an outcast. So they were setting up the cabin being built if that makes sense. Maybe that's wrong, I don't know. Going on. They also "prayed secretly to God who'd put His cross upon her and cast her out." I think what that's saying is they wanted to cast her out, but they still prayed that God would protect her. But they didn't want anyone knowing they were praying that so they prayed secretly I guess?? Maybe? It goes on that nobody wanted to be know for helping her build the cabin but Lonnie Deacon eventually built her the cabin out by the railroad tracks. People dropped off food and letters of prayer while they were on the train and people would occasionally drop some food off. Then after a while, they thought she died. Her boys grew up and went to town to get jobs. And one time someone metioned that they lived along the road, and they killed him! I guess they thought it was payback for outcasting their mother. Then the story ended with the chimney falling on the cabin, which definitely would have killed her. That's it. What is up with these stories with no happy endings. I guess what the author is saying is don't outcast somebody or else you will be taunted by your thoughts on her, no matter if she was dead or alive. That would be a pretty serious moral. So I'm not sure if that's it or not. But if you have any ideas on it...please...go on and share!

An Enemy of the People

So I went to the play on Saturday night. It was pretty good. What they we're saying was kind of confusing though, it's like I had to pay attention to every single sentence that they were saying. Some times I had no idea what was going on, but I kept as much of my focus that I had and I got through it. It had a good point to it. It was between telling the truth and doing the wrong thing. The town's water supply had been infected with something and it was between basically fixing it and not fixing it. The reason why the mayor and everybody in the town didn't want to fix it is because it would have cost too much and they wanted their town to grow, and spreading it in the news that the town has infected water wouldn't really get new people into their town. But there was this one fellow who thought that he should tell the truth. And he was the only one in the town who thought so. And the whole town basically wanted to kill him! No body thought he was right and no body believed in what he was saying about how the water supply being infected. And he said something to the people one time that made the crowd shut up. He was talking about why no body believed him and it came to the point where he said something about Jesus and how no body believed in him. They were basically doing the same thing to him as people did to Jesus. I thought it was pretty stinkin halarious. But that was totally the most powerful line in the story in my opinion. I would quote it but of course I wouldn't remember it. The ending of the play however I wasn't too fond of. It left me hangin so bad! People we're throwing bricks and everything at his house, I mean it was scary! I was scared at least. And his family talked about coming to America to start a new life and just get out of that town cause they could get killed! Then boom! It just ended. I was like...for real...that just happened! I guess it was a pretty nifty thing to do though because it allows you to make up the rest of the story. Their fate lies within your imagination! Which makes the story all the more better!

I am using my first pass :(

Little Jack: The Story

Jack, born in raised in Hoboken, NY, was raised with the hobos in New York. After he was born, his father left him and his mother. And his mother, as hard as it is to say, just couldn't take care of him, so she just left him in an alley in New York. Bob, a homeless man, was loving enough to take care of him at least for a little while to give him some hope and to show him the love of Christ. Now he was 9 and he was always looking for excitement. Entertaining people everywhere on the streets with his humor was what he did for his childhood. There was always a smile on his face and a bible in hand. No matter what the circumstance was, Jack could turn it around and enlighten the mood.

He was average height for his age and was pretty well built. He was one of those kids who didn't have to work out to have a well defined body. The blondness of his hair glistened in the sun and his skin was darker than usual because of standing in the sun all day all week.

New York was his home. It's where he felt comfortable. He loved performing and making people laugh as they walked to and from their stressful jobs. He felt as if he were really making a difference in people's lives. And he was!
Except for one man. This man lived off of 21st street and he was a grumpy man who was about in his 40's. This man, named Tom, thought that Jack was just one annoying little kid. So he finally was fed up with it and on a Sunday night, there was trouble. Tom lured him into a dark alley and beat him up and broke his feelings down. Jack was hurt physically and mentally. Tom said things to him that are not worth repeating, but one thing he said was, "Don't ever try to cheer me or anyone else up again! People are just getting annoyed with you! If you do it again, I will beat your brains out!" That really got in Jacks head a messed with it and he thought about it. He came to realize that he didn't want to get beat up again, so he stopped doing what he was doing.
Now a year had passed and the people of New York wondered where Jack had went. He was sitting in a corner one day eating a corn dog when a man realized who he was. He went over to him and started conversing with him and finally asked, "Where have you been all this time?" So Jack explained everything to him. Well this stranger really cared about him and he spent a lot of time with him going to and from his workplace. He tried to get him motivated again. And little by little, it was working without even realizing it.
Then when the stranger was on his way to work, he didn't see Jack where he had normally been. He wondered where he was. Later down the street though he heard some laughter and just thought, maybe, it was Jack. Sure enough, there he was doing what he had been doing for years and making a difference in other peoples lives. He had been revived! He now had the courage to stand up for what he believed in and not care what other people would think or do to him. So Jack took a risk he was willing to take.
While Jack was doing his act, he saw Tom in the corner of his eye, just watching him, waiting for him to finish his act so he could be him up again for what he was doing. But Jack didn't care. So Jack had an idea, he started speaking about love. And every once in a while, he would shift his eyes over towards Tom and start speaking to him. Tom still seemed very angry and in threatening stance. But as he continued, his stance became more and more relaxed and seemed comfortable. Jack knew something in him was changing. So he continued to be funny and preach just like always and he had a confidence like no one else. Soon he cracked a joke and saw Tom smirk. He saw Tom smirk! For those of you who haven't realized yet, Tom was never the one to smirk. He was always serious and acted like he owned the streets. And yet Jack made him smile a little bit! What he was doing was turning Tom's heart. Jack gave a nod to Tom, and Tom started to gain a smile and nodded at Jack. Tom turned and walked away.

The Catcher In The Rye #2

So I finally figured out what the deal was with the title "The Catcher In The Rye". It's actually in a poem by Robert Burns called 'Comin Thro' The Rye'. And I thought it would be interesting to let yall read it..so here it is...(the word 'draigl't' I looked up and they say it means drag, and a petticoatie is something that is worn with a dress or something)

Comin Thro' The Rye
O, Jenny's a' weet, poor body,
Jenny's seldom dry:
She draigl't a' her petticoatie,
Comin thro' the rye!

Comin thro' the rye, poor body,
Comin thro' the rye,
She draigl't a' her petticoatie,
Comin thro' the rye!

Gin a body meet a body (or can a person meet a person)
Comin thro' the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need a body cry?

Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the glen,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need the warl' ken? (or without even knowing)

Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the grain;
Gin a body kiss a body,
The thing's a body's ain

Holden, the main character, is talking to his little sister and she asks Holden what he wants to do in his life. He replies, “If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye.” Holden says that he imagines a gigantic field of rye on a cliff full of children playing. He wants to stand at the edge of the cliff and catch the children when they come too close to falling off—to be “the catcher in the rye. I didn't understand what Holden meant by this so I looked it up and this is what it said...
"The rye field is a symbol of childhood—the rye is so high that the children cannot see over it, just as children are unable to see beyond the borders of their childhood. Standing on the precipice that separates the rye field of childhood from the cliff of adulthood, Holden wants to protect childhood innocence from the fall into disillusionment that necessarily accompanies adulthood. Trapped between states, with his innocence in jeopardy, Holden wants to be a “catcher in the rye,” a savior of the innocence missing in the world around him, a world that has let him fall over the cliff into adulthood alone."

The Catcher In The Rye

First of all this book doesn't have an index for the chapters or it doesn't have a summary on the back or anything. So you pretty much have no idea what's about to happen, which is a really great idea! It keeps you on your toes. All it has is the copyright stuff that's needed or whatever, "To my mother", and then it just starts. And it starts out with the coolest sentence I believe I've ever heard. It say's, "If you really want to hear about it..." For some reason I think that's the coolest line! It sets the story up like whatever is going on, it is not good or not how he's wanting it to go. This is true.
Holden's life so far is not the best life one would dream of. He had a lousy childhood and nice parents, but they were very touchy and emotional as he stated. The story is taking place at around the time he's getting kicked out of school. Pency that is. It's like a private school and suppose to have great kids in the school, but not so true. This book has a lot of cussing and swearing in it. So you have to get past that in order to read it. And by the way, Holden is a very rebellious kid. As he was talking to one of his teachers, he said he was failing 4 out of the 5 classes he was taking! That's pretty bad. His parents haven't known about him getting kicked out of school yet, and he doesn't plan on telling them until he gets home, which isn't too much longer because it's almost christmas break.
Meanwhile I don't have the slightest clue on what this book is about yet. I can only take a guess. Right before he left school, he got into a fight with his roomate about a girl. Holden actually cared about the girl. He used to play checkers with the girl and she always kept her kings on the back row whenever she got kings. And his roomate didn't really care about anything but sex. And his roomate went on a date with her and it doesn't say anything that he didn't do anything with her but Holden just assumed he did. So they got in a fight and he said something funny. He said, "I told him he didn't care if a girl kept all her kings on the back row". I just thought that was kinda funny.
And that is how far I've got into the book. So I will let you know how good it is when I finish it!

Life With Eddy

This is my animation I made about a stick figure named Eddy. I got bored one day and just started messin around and it eventually led into this story. As for character like we have been talking about, there isn't much of that. Sorry, I didn't have that much spare time and I'm not that good. But there is a little plot and moral. What Eddy is trying to do is get to the city of Nineveh, where Jonah spoke to the people after he got spit out by the big fish. It is his "trip to Nineveh!" It starts out all good by getting in his plane and having a nice ride, but unwillingly he gets thrown way off course and the trip wasn't as pleasant as he thought it would be. He got swallowed by a big fish with big problems (and if you didn't catch it, there is a sign that say's, "jonah was here" :) But even through all these disasters, he still made it to his destination. So the mini moral is that even though life will throw you twist and turns, if you are persistent and trust in God, you can do it!!! Also, how we learned about morals in class, we also learned that there doesn't have to necessarily be a moral. I guess you could take this for instance. It's more of the character of Eddy, how he doesn't stop no matter what. So that could be the case as well.

Ethics

Ok so I have tried reading over this alot, but I still kinda don't get it. The main question in this poem is "If there were a fire in a museum which would you save, a Rembrandt painting or an old woman who hadn't many years left anyhow?" The teacher asked this question to the kids in her class every year and every year they had a different answer. By the way I looked up Rembrandt. At first I thought it was a word, but I learned it was a guys name! Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was his full name. He was a pianter and etcher. Anyways it goes on and I think that the little girl who was once in the class, is now an old lady and she is standing in front of a painting in a museum. And she is explaining how beautiful this painting is. She is explaining how it is "darker than autumn, darker even than winter - the browns of the earth". Then she goes on to her answer. She say's, "I know now that woman and painiting and season are almost one and all beyond saving by children." I'm kinda confused on what she means by this. I think what she is saying is that it is beyond a childs capability to figure out who to save either one. I am pretty sure that's 100% wrong but when I read it thats all that I can understand! It's like she puts the painting on the same level as the old woman...life! If anyone has an understanding of this...please let me know! I am soo confused! But anyways going to the museum was really cool. It made me appreciate art a little more cause I was never a huge art fan. The kids art section was the best though. But the huge picture with the guys all around doing random things, I don't know what that was about, but that was probably my most favorite.

Little Jack

Jack, born in raised in Hoboken, NY, was raised with the hobos in New York. After he was born, his father left him and his mother. And his mother, as hard as it is to say, just couldn't take care of him, so she just left him in an alley in New York. Bob, a homeless man, was loving enough to take care of him at least for a little while to give him some hope and to show him the love of Christ. Now he was 9 and he was always looking for excitement. Entertaining people everywhere on the streets with his humor was what he did for his childhood. There was always a smile on his face and a bible in hand. No matter what the circumstance was, Jack could turn it around and enlighten the mood.

He was average height for his age and was pretty well built. He was one of those kids who didn't have to work out to have a well defined body. The blondness of his hair glistened in the sun and his skin was darker than usual because of standing in the sun all day all week.

New York was his home. It's where he felt comfortable. He loved performing and making people laugh as they walked to and from their stressful jobs. He felt as if he were really making a difference in people's lives. And he was!

Character

To be honest, before reading this lesson I had already learned lots about character. But there were a few things that I thought were intersting, so I'm going to share those thoughts with you today. Presenting the character is one thing I never really thought about much. The author uses the word characterization, the technique of creating a sense of character. In the story "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay", Chabon uses a characterization that is 'invisible'. What he means by invisible is that the author doesn't tell us whether they are mean or nice, it's up to us to read and figure out or interpret the character.He lets the characters present their character by using words and actions and whatever else from the charaters. But the author also gives us visual clues to help make their character. For example their clothes, posture, facial expressions, physical size, age, etc... And from that we take our own personal experiences and thoughts and that adds to the making of that character we are reading about. I thought that was intersting. But one thing I didn't understand and question is that the author said, "Our fascination with stories is stongly rooted in our everyday desire to know people, to understand the motives that underlie action or to grasp the feelings that show in words and gestures." First of all, I didn't realize I had an everyday desire to know people. Of course sometimes I wonder what people are thinking, like right now! But I don't really desire it either. And secondly, I honestly don't see how that relates to my fascination with stories.

Random Topic!

So this semester I am taking anatomy and physiology class. For those of you who don't know what that is, it deals with how the body is structured an how everything works. At the beginning of the class I was really excited about it because I love learning about that kind of stuff. But little did I realize how much I would see God in that class. I had no idea that the body is as technical as it is. It's literally insane! And to think that some people think that we were created from a few particles in space or whatever is just way insaner...if that's a word. I was learning about protein synthesis. This is how it works...I think. It starts with DNA being inside the nucleus of a cell. Then that DNA gets split by an enzyme called helicase which forms it into mRNA. The mRNA then goes through the nuclear pores of the nucleus and attaches to a ribosome, which is a thingy you don't really need to know about. Then a separate thing called tRNA comes into play. They have codons. The mRNA have anticodons..I think. And its kinda like a magnet...opposite attracts. So they attach to eachother. Meanwhile! The tRNA also have things called amino acids on them, and when the codons and anticodons come together, the tRNA drops off the amino acid. And this process keeps going until there is one little protien. Hopefully I explained that all right. Anyways, just hearing all of this is amazing! God is really awesome and to create something like that is just mind boggleing. I don't really know of what else to say to this other than that God is soooo so great!

Sonny's Blues

To be honest, this story was kinda confusing. Throughout the story it talks about Sonny and how he is addicted to drugs and his love for music. Then at the end of the story, Sonny plays a show and his brother reminisces upon life. To me I see no connection between whats going on here. I don't really see a moral other than to not do drugs because they are bad for you and they can totally mess up your life. This story though has made me realize what some people go through in life. Some people really have it hard. In the story it talked about how Sonny and Isabel's mother had got into a fight and in the sentence after it said, "The silence of the next few days must have been louder than the sound of all the music ever played since time began." I liked how in the middle of the story the narrators words were gripping to me when he was comparing the silence of the next few days being "louder than in the beginning of time". It also talks about how Sonny just let loose when he got on stage and started playing. It was like he showed who his true self and who he really was in music. His brother never appreciated music like his brother, and maybe it was just me, but it seemed like the narrator finally started to come to understand music and his brother and why he loved music so much. So the comprehension of this story wasn't clear in its entirety but overall it was still pretty interesting.

Joel Painting

This is my one of a kind masterpiece. Possibly the best painting I have ever done in my life (so don't make fun). I know...doesn't it look so real? You're probably thinking what's going on here. So I guess I will tell you. I tried painting a visual as to what it would look like when Joel was prophesying it. This is what Joel says..."Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near. A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness as the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people; there has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generation. A fire consumes before them and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; and like war horses, so they run. With a noise as of chariots they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, like a mighty people arranged for battle." So down in the bottom left where the red blob is, those are the flames behind them and as you can see the people are running like horses on the top of a mountain. You'll see a few black dots near the people...those are suppose to be locust like Joel talked about in Chapter 1. The sky is suppose to be thick darkness as the dawn is spread over the mountains. It was kind of hard to portray that, but I did my best. This assignment was really fun. And not only was it fun, but I learned. If we didn't paint what we thought about, I would probably forget some of the things I read in Joel. But now it's like this painting is stuck to my brain forever! So in the future, if someone mentions the name of Joel, my lovely painting, which will probably be on my fridge, comes to mind.
One thing to add. I went to my daddys office to scan it into the computer and it was laying on a desk next to a lady who had grandchildren. And my daddy walked in and asked the lady if her grandchild drew that for her! I was like..for real dad! That's my beautiful masterpiece.

Yet Another Post On The Shack

I am really enjoying this book by Paul Young. I love some of the things he puts in there. For example, God the Father was speaking to Mack (the main character). By the way, if you don't know what happened to Mack but you still want to read the book, just skip down a few lines cause I'm gonna tell what happens. Mack's daughter died at this shack place, and he received a letter in the mail from God telling him to go there. Well it turns out obviously he goes there, and this book is just about his/your relationship with God. Anyways, moving on. And God says, "Mack, I am what some would say 'holy, and wholly other than you.' The problem is that many folks try to grasp some sense of who I am by taking the best version of themselves, projecting that to the nth degree, factoring in all the goodness they can perceive, which often isn't much, and then calling that God. And while it may seem like a noble effort, the truth is that it falls pitifully short of who I really am. I'm not merely the best version of you that you can think of. I am far more than that, above and beyond all that you can ask or think." When I read that, I was like...wow! Because it's so true. Our minds can't even possibly come close to understanding God. So if you ever get a chance to read this book, you totally should, cause it's crazy cool! Especially if you want to get a closer relationship with God because this book basically is about how God just wants to spend time with you. And try to use Lectio devina on this and look up some bible verses on God's love. It's crazy to think about!

The Book of Joel

Today was a very interesting day. I realized that speaking out loud helps you a lot with understanding the text instead of just reading it. Which is only one of the ways you can experience literature. This class is making me realize that there are endless possibilities with what you can do with literature. And sometimes you can just get creative with it. Anyways, when I read in my head I would just breeze through it and if I didn't understand something, it's almost as if I had just skipped over it. I was just reading the words but not actually comprehending the words. Kinda weird I guess but none the less true. I actually sometimes have to read it two or three times to actually understand what I'm reading. Actually with poems I think I have to read it about a million times just to understand one line, but I guess that's the point of poetry...to make you think a lot about something. But reading out loud somehow made me think about everything and made me understand just about everything. I guess I can't just read it, I have to interact with it. Maybe not everything but more than I did while reading quietly to myself. So today I learned something! Thank you Mr. Corrigan.
Probably my most favorite lines from Joel is when it says, "Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and relenting of evil." I stopped for about 5 minutes on that verse just to really let it sink. And that upon being in nature and looking at what God has made equals awesome experience! And even though it was getting really hot and almost to the point of being miserable outside, it was still amazing.

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd

To be honest, I didn't completely understand this whole poem. It was kinda confusing in most parts, I didn't know what the author was trying to say or anything. But I did catch a few phrases that got my attention. It said, "I saw battle-corpses, myriads of them, and the white skeletons of young men, I saw them, I saw the debris and debris of all the slain soldiers of the war, But I say they were not as was thought, they themselves were fully at rest, they suffer'd not, the living remain'd and suffer'd, the mother suffer'd, and the wife and the child and the musing comrade suffer'd, and the armies that remain'd suffer'd." I would agree with what he said about "they suffer'd not" only if every person he talked about went to heaven. But who knows. If some went to hell, I'm sure they'd be suffering a whole bunch. But in heaven they would of course be rejoicing! But anyways I would like to point about what he said about all of the family, or the living, was suffering. I don't really have much to say about this except that it's true. This poem kinda made me sad. And going to the cemetery was pretty intense too. And now that I'm thinking about it, just seeing all of those tombstones made me think about how short of a time we have here on earth. It made me value my life and I don't want to waste it. And I also thought about that WHEN I'm in heaven, I wouldn't want my family to be depressed that I'm gone. And I'm sure that when someone I know dies, they'll be thinking the same thing. So I'm not saying I'll be rejoicing when they die or anything, it just made me realize some things I guess.

The Shack

During our discussion time in the cafeteria, I brought the book 'The Shack' by Paul Young. One thing stuck out at me already while reading it. It was a tale centered on a princess, the only child left to her aging father. "The chief loved his daughter dearly and carefully picked out a husband for her, a young warrior chief of the Clatsop tribe, whom he knew she loved. The two tribes came together to celebrate the days of the wedding feast, but fefore it could begin, a terrible sickness began to spread among the men, killing many.

The medicine man among them spoke of how his own father, when aged and near death, had foretold of a terrible sickness that would kill their men, an illness that could be stopped only if a pure and innocent daughter of a chief would willingly give up her life for her people. In order to fulfill the prophecy, she must climb to the cliff above the Big River and jump off it.

A dozen young women were brought before the council. But they could not ask for such a precious sacrifice, especially for a legend they weren't sure was true.

But the disease continued to spread among the men and eventually the young warrior chief fell ill with the sickness. The princess who loved him knew in her heart that something had to be done, and after cooling his fever and kissing him softly on the forehead, she slipped away.

It took her all night and day to reach the place spokin of in the legend. After praying, she fulfilled the prophesy by jumping without hesitation to her death on the rocks below.

Back at the villages the next morning, those who had been sick arose well and strong. There was great joy and celebration until the young warrior realized that his beloved bride was missing."

She saved many people. While reading this, I put myself in the young warriors position. You should try it too. Think of someone you love very much! Anybody! Go through the story again and just think of that person. Now think of them loving you so so so much, and because of love, they willingly gave up their life to save YOU! Well that's what Jesus did! But so much more! Some of yall are probably like 'duh!', but for me, hearing it in this perspective helped me a little more in realizing God's love for me. So I will leave you with this...'For God loved the world (YOU!) in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

Class Discussion

For those of you who paid attention in class, I was asked what I thought about the discussion we were having. And I answered 'truthfully I have no idea what's going on right now'. I was really confused. I couldn't pick up what the other students we're picking up. But in spite of me having no idea what was going on, I did pick up a few things that I'd like to talk about. We were talking about darkness. Not literally darkness but more so on the spiritual side. So I'd like to share this verse with you. It is 1 John 1:5-6. It say's that God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. If we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. But if we walk in the light as He Himself, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. This next thing I mention might be a little off topic, but this is what was going through my mind. I picked up the meaning of darkness as being a struggle as well. We all go through struggles in life. In this devotional I read a while back, it was talking about Christians struggling. It talked about how we can be a witnessing tool while we go through a trial. It says, "Your lost friends, neighbors and loved ones see Christ in you more clearly when you go through a trial with a song in your heart. When they see that, they think, 'If my Christian friend can face that great trial and still have joy and peace, there must be something to this thing called Christianity. I wish I had what they have. So even in the middle of your trial, just remember to keep God first and to rejoice in Him!

A Work of Artifice

So I decided make a song for my blog assignment obviously. When I read it, it didn't sound like a very happy poem, so I decided to try and make it happy with my music :) Like I said, I TRIED! This is a poem by Marge Piercy in 1982. Also about the reading about themes. I really liked about what it said about how searching only for a theme or moral can make you avoid the literary experience. 'If we neatly summarize a story's message, we may miss out on a range of complex emotions that the story could inspire.' This poem is a good example of that. I never really thought about this so I just had to point it out. Also, if you can't understand what I'm saying, here is the poem to read along:

A Work of Artifice
The bonsai tree
in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning.
But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high.
Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,
It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak;
how lucky, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in.
With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch.

The Things They Carried

I liked this story. It was interesting because I like reading about wars and war stories that people had. Even though this story was fiction, I can totally see it as being a real situation. Nothing in this story would make you say, "Oh this couldn't happen". And the problems that they carried were very real and it related to me as well. Although I couldn't really seem to find the moral of this story, I found something I liked...it could be the moral, but I'm not sure. Throughout the story it talks about Lieutenant Jimmy Cross having a deep love for his girl whose name is Martha. She also has feelings for Jimmy, but Jimmy is unsure to whether or not she loves him as much as he loves her. At the same time Lieutenant Cross is in Vietnam in command of a squad of men and has a major responsibility. But he cannot stop thinking about this girl Martha. Whether it be occasionally during a battle, or consuming his mind while they marched or had rest. Soon, Lieutenant Cross had two casualties in his squad. And all he could blame was himself because his mind wasn't completely on their objective and what he needed to be doing as a lieutenant, like protecting his soldiers. His mind was on this girl. So at the end of the story he resolves his situation by burning all of the letters she had sent him and focusing all of his attention on leading his men. "Cross reminded himself that his obligation was not to be loved but to lead. He would dispense with love; it was not now a factor." I cannot say I agree or disagree with this idea because I see a need for both. First of all, I don't see how anyone can completely forget about something that consumed your mind that much...but anyways. In a situation like his, you really need to have your complete focus on what you are suppose to be doing, especially if it means life or death for not only your own, but for other people as well. That is hugely important. But I also see a need for reflecting on other things that give you peace. For example, a man named Kiowa was apart of Cross's squad. He was going through the same things as Cross. Although he was under Cross, he still had a great responsibility. But Kiowa slept with the New Testament under his head. Kiowa found peace with God by focusing on Him. If we focus on anything or anybody, it should be God because He is the One who will give us the strength and peace in whatever we're doing.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

The main thing that I got from this story is that everyone in this story has a different opinion on what love actually is. For example, Terri's ex-husband used to beat her up and while he was doing so he would be saying that he loved her (wow that must have been painful). I don't know why he would be doing this and none of the four that were at the table knew why he did this either. He obviously had some problems. Mel -Terri's current husband- did not call that love but Terri did for some reason. She said that he loved her in his own way (and what way would that be?). Mel of course had a different view of love. Throughout the story he said that he loved Terri. But on some occasions Mel did not act in love towards Terri. For example Mel said to Terri, "Just shut up for once in your life". No matter if he was kidding or not, that was not an act of kindness and shouldn't be said to anyone (this is what drinking alcoholic beverages could do to folks). In 1 Corinthians 13:4 it talks about what love is. That verse talks about love being kind.
He also talks about him praying that Marjorie gets stung to death by a swarm of bees (she was allergic to bees) because he had to support her and her boyfriend financially. But there is one thing I did like what he said one time. He said, "What do any of us really know about love? It seems to me we're just beginners at love." Do any of us really know love? I think love goes much deeper than a physical attraction to a certain somebody and how you have butterflies in your stomach. And I agree with what he says about us being beginners at love. I feel that God is the only One who loves perfectly. Love is patient, kind, does not envy, is not boastful or conceited, does not act improperly (beatings), is not selfish, not provoked, does not keep a record of wrongs, it finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things (till the end). Believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love NEVER ends. The Bible also say's, "love covers a multitude of sins", in other words how much of the love of God will you allow to cover the offenses of another person that has wronged you.

What Literature Means To Me

My earliest memories of literature starts way back when I was a young feller. Back when gas prices were just under $2 and drugs were hard to come by (just kidding...I wouldn't know). My mama and I used to read those Dr. Suess books over and over again. I couldn't get enough of those books. One might say I was an addict. And I'm am not ashamed to say that I still have some of those books in my closet. But those days were soon lost. When I started gaining knowledge and wisdom, and turning into a real strong man, reading some of those more bigger books looked uninteresting. I know hate is a harsh word, but I'm gonna use it anyway...I hated reading. I'm not gonna lie. I started the habit of picking up a book, thinking I was gonna read it, then drop it halfway through. But a miraculous miracle happened to me. God like changed my thinking about reading. I soon started to like it again. But not to the point where I can read a book within a day like some crazy people. My body can't handle it. Anyways my latest discovery of literature (other than the Bible) was probably Promotion by Rick Renner. I was forced to read it but it's not as bad as it sounds.
As for the most significant texts I have read. I'd have to go with the Bible on this one. I think everyone can agree to that...well with the exception of non-Christians probably. Although I did hear about a Hebrew Bible teacher who was an atheist one time. No joke. Isn't that the most hilarious thing you've ever heard. I cracked up for days on that one. Not only was he a 'atheist' Bible teacher, but Hebrew! That's just impressive.
Even though I'm not the hugest fan of literature, I do understand how important it is. God uses literature to spread the Word of God throughout the world and teaches us by it. I'm not sure what it would be like without the Bible, but thank God we have it! Can I get an Amen!? And not only the Bible but other books and stories teaches us morals and knowledge that makes and molds us into who we are today.
-My name is Kevin Sumner and I approve this message.