Week 17 Analysis: Close Reading - Don't You Wonder, Sometimes?

This is an excerpt from "Don't You Wonder, Sometimes?" by Tracy Smith

Bowie is among us. Right here
In the same way "god" can be among us. Bowie's vibe is felt all around

In New York City. In a baseball cap
In the same style he wore his baseball cap

And expensive jeans. Ducking into
And in his general style

A deli. Flashing all those teeth
He was always happy, friendly, smiling, like an average person
At the doorman on his way back up.

Or he’s hailing a taxi on Lafayette
Smith is listing things that normal people do, humanizing Bowie

As the sky clouds over at dusk.
again, an average day; an average man

He’s in no rush. Doesn’t feel
The way you’d think he feels.

He doesn't feel entitled or more important than anyone else as you would assume a super star would.
Doesn’t strut or gloat. Tells jokes.
He isn't above everyone else, he just wants to be with everyone else; telling jokes is a way to make personal connections 

Works Cited

Smith, Tracy K. “Don't You Wonder, Sometimes? by Tracy K. Smith.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/55520/dont-you-wonder-sometimes.

Week 17 Reading Notes Part B: The Salve Trade

First, I read the title as "The SLAVE Trade' - it is SALVE... if I hadn't decided to listen to the audio of the poem, I would have continued to read it as slave trade and never known anything different. So what does "salve trade" mean??
 I am still confused. I don't like the stereotypical assumption that it is supposed to be "slave trade", especially since I am not sure of the meaning of the poem. 

I do get the lines:

"the big fat women and the heliocopters they bring

helicopter moms who can't separate themselves from the kids. They hover over their children to ensure they are safe - but extreme. 

with them to watch them and their kids. whole long-

ass sheets of improper names. we refused to act right

stereotypically, there are many African-American names that are spelled seemingly incorrect or extravagantly.  

at the hospital and I was right with ’em. at the wrong time"  (Moten). 

Week 16: Taking Stock

Man, this week was tough! I have began to write and re-write my final project so many times!! Each time, something extra random has come in my way. This week, I have been working so hard on a new job application -- this I CANNOT turn in late or the opportunity is GONE! So in my taking stock this week, I added my job application to the list of "Must Do's" and I have finally completed it! Wish me luck!

As far as class work, I have spent extra time reading assignments, reading my classmates analysis, reading notes, and project submissions. I have made a solid attempt to leave meaningful comments on each assignment I have read.

We have one week left, and I know exactly what I need to do and how to keep on top of it! I am ready!



Cheers!!

Week 16 Extra Reading Notes: The Rememberer

The Rememberer by Aimee Bender

Annie - speaker / narrator
Ben - Annie's lover

The story begins a month into transformations. Ben is a sea turtle. Annie believes he is traveling through evolution.

The day before the transformations began, Sam was "sad about the world" (Bender 3).

Annie spoke about how they used to talking about sadness and question the concepts of being smart or too smart.

On Ben's last night, he slept outside, under the moon.

At first sight of Ben as an ape, Annie was not afraid. She believed it was only temporary.

Throughout each transition, Annie never called for help. Perhaps after he made it past the ape phase no one would believe her.

She feeds Ben, now a salamander, honey because Ben loved honey.

This was it though, a month in to Ben's transformations, Annie's limit was the salamander. She no longer believed he would be coming back.

Week 16 Analysis: Close Reading of “The Rememberer”

"Even before I saw the eyes notice how she says "the eyes" and not "his eyes", I knew it was him but she continues and says she knew it was "him" the speaker is creating a separation of the ape or and the person she knows to be her lover . And once we were face to face, he gave me his same sad look and I hugged those enormous shoulders I found it interesting that although she referred to "the eyes" as if they did not represent her lover, but in this sentence, she states she recognized him through the look on the ape's face, "same sad face" . I didn't even really care, then, not at first; I didn't panic and call 911. I think the speaker is intrigued at this point. She is in a place where she doesn't quite believe it is real.  I sat with him outside and smoothed the fur on the back of his hand. Instead of freaking out, she is comforting him. When he reached for me, I said No, loudly, and he seemed to understand and pulled back. I have limits here I don't think reality hit until he reached out to touch her. This is where she drew the line, she wanted to have control. " (Bender 4).

"I review my memories and make sure they're still intact because if he's not here, then it is my job to remember" (Bender 4). I really liked this quote. It is a quote relevant to when you lose a loved one. When we lose someone we love, no new memories of that person can be made. It then becomes our job, as survivors, to keep that person alive through sharing their memories and therefore, it is our job to remember. While her lover did not die in death, he was no longer human and no longer a person the speaker could share her life with. 

Bender, Aimee. The Rememberer.

Week 16 Reading Notes: Part B - "Don't You Wonder, Sometimes?"

I found this poem so intriguing that I had to research if it was written in honor of David Bowie passing, however, I found it was actually written nearly 5 years before he passed. 

The third stanza / verse personified David Bowie as an average person, same as you or me:

"Bowie is among us. Right here

In New York City. In a baseball cap

And expensive jeans. Ducking into

A deli. Flashing all those teeth

At the doorman on his way back up.

Or he’s hailing a taxi on Lafayette

As the sky clouds over at dusk.

He’s in no rush. Doesn’t feel

The way you’d think he feels.

Doesn’t strut or gloat. Tells jokes."

I have now spent almost an hour reading about David Bowie! I unintentionally made a full Wikipedia trail, haha!


Works Cited

Smith, Tracy K. “Don't You Wonder, Sometimes? by Tracy K. Smith.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/55520/dont-you-wonder-sometimes.

Week 15: Wikipedia Trail - From The Big Sleep to Penny Dreadful

Stop 1: The Big Sleep
Stop 2: Hardboiled
Stop 3: Pulp Magazine
Stop 4: Penny Dreadful

I chose to begin my Wikipedia Trail by simply searching the title I am writing my final paper on. Most of what I read was information I knew from reading the book, however there was more background on the author, Raymond Chandler. Chandler would often use stories he had previously published and re-write them together to create a new story.  Chandler wrote "The Big Sleep" from his two previously published storyes, "Killer in the Rain" and "The Curtain".

The term "hardboiled" is , according to Wikipidia, "is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective stories)". Detective Marlowe from the story "The Big Sleep" would be considered hardboiled. I thought hardboiled was such a random term to be used so I had to follow the link to check it out.

Pulp magazines, according to Wikipedia,  "were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the 1950s". "The pulps gave rise to the term pulp fiction in reference to run-of-the-mill, low-quality literature."  Pulp is referring to the type of paper used to print the magazines. I grew up watching the film Pulp Fiction  and had no idea the term came from a type of fiction magazine.
 
A Penny Dreadful  would be considered a "cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The term typically referred to a story published in weekly parts, each costing one penny. I was drawn to read about this term because I have followed a show named Penny Dreadful and I now feel as though I have a much better understanding of the show itself.

This was a fun Trail to follow!

Week 15: Take Stock

I wish I had taken stock earlier on in the semester. This process of deliberately going back through the announcements, syllabus, and grades really have helped me keep on top of what is due and how many more points I need to achieve the grade I am pursuing. With this in mind, I have completed the backup of my Blogger account and I have confirmed that I have completed all of my intended assignments for this week -- and that I have takes each applicable quiz.

Until next week!

Cheers!!

Week 15: Weekly Review - SO CLOSE!!!

Here we are! I have survived Week 15! I honestly wasn't 100% sure if I would make it or not, but I am thrilled to see that I have!

Here's a little snapshot of whats going on in my world: My husband decided that he has not traveled enough so far this year and needs to visit a minimum of so many cities before the mid-year review. So, lucky me, he has decided to make May his insane month of travel! This means he will be gone Monday - Friday all month long. This past week was pretty hard, but I am more concerned with this coming week. I have multiple evening meetings this week which means I will need to pick up my kids and deliver them to the babysitter then rush back to the meeting...!!!  Oh, and I have 2 quizzes, 3 reports and our class' reading notes, analysis and final project to get done! Someone please pray for me!

On a positive note, this past weekend was Mother's Day so I spent Saturday with my in-laws and today with my super sweet family who have fed me nothing but bread, chocolates and flowers all weekend! Also, next week will be the 12 month anniversary of my 30th birthday! AND, on May 28th, my family will be welcoming our first four-legged member, a super sweet border collie the kids have named Ziggy P. "P" stands for "Patch". My son wanted to name him patch, but he was out voted by everyone else so we compromised :) May really is the craziest month, isn't it!?

I do find it interesting how when this semester began, this class was definitely the most intimidating class, however, I have finally found a comfortable jive with this course work and this is finally the class I most look forward to working on every week.

2 weeks to go!

Cheers!

Week 15 Extra Reading: The Mother of All Questions

I am so happy I decided to read this piece. I noted so many quotes because it felt like so much of it was written directly at me; partially because I once felt the way the author is negatively reacting to and now since having children of my own, I am able to see from a different perspective and have formed a parallel mindset to the author. 

One comment that really stuck out and a common thought I have had and my husband and I have joked about , "ideal it was to be a divorced parent...". God knows I love my children, but man it would be so nice to have a weekend OFF! We joke all the time that we would be so much happier together if we were divorced!

I think my favorite quote is, "life can take flower - and wither- all around us". To me, this is saying that beauty and happiness can be temporary or a simple facade that will eventually fade away unless it is genuine. 

Another quote that I once struggled understanding how it could be false is the concept that "motherhood as a key to feminine identity in part from the belief that children are the best way to fulfill your capacity to love." For me, I tapped in to a whole new level of love the moment I found out I was pregnant. Then, the moment my daughter was born, it literally felt as if my heart could explode. I don't know how else I (speaking for ME only, not anyone or everyone in general) could have tapped into this level of love that I have received from my children, but I am certain people could find this love in many other ways. 

This is a very good read for anyone to take time to reflect. 


Works Cited

Solnit, Rebecca, et al. “[Easy Chair] | The Mother of All Questions, by Rebecca Solnit.” Harper's Magazine, 14 Sept. 2015, harpers.org/archive/2015/10/the-mother-of-all-questions/.

Week 15 Analysis: "The Last Night of the World

This story felt so strange to me. Everyone, or at least all adults, have been told through a dream that this night would be the last of the world. Yet, everyone had so simply accepted it. There was no extreme behaviors. It was not even being reported on the news. I feel like we panic at the unknown. In this story, everyone has been given the same information. Initially, when the information is seemingly just their own, the characters are distant, “'looking at their desks or their hands or out windows.'”. Once they begin to share their thoughts and determine they have all had the same dream, a calm comes over them. There is no more uncertainty, there is only acceptance. 

I do like how the husband and wife choose to keep a normal evening routine and fall asleep holding hands, but i still feel an awkward emptiness with the girls in their own rooms down the hall from them. I would need to be holding their hands, but again, there was the eerie calm and quietness in the house. If they wanted a normal routine, then perhaps it felt natural to keep the girls in their own room. 

I could tell you for almost certain, this would not be my reaction to the end of the world. 



Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. “A Classic Ray Bradbury Esquire Story.” Esquire, Esquire, 9 Oct. 2017, www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a14340/ray-bradbury-last-night-of-the-world-0251/.

Week 15 Reading Notes: Cathedral

"Cathedral" caught my attention mostly because of the recent Good Friday fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris which this story does actually mention. 

There are multiple layers of feelings and emotions within this writing. It is written in first person, narrated by a married man who seems to be jealous of a blind man his wife has been friends with for many, many years. He has it set in his mind that he does not like this man, but by the end of the story, you begin to see him opening up to the blind man as he first tries to describe a cathedral to the blind man and eventually attempts to draw a cathedral. 

Week 15 Reading Notes: Last Night of the World

"What would you do if you knew this was the last night of the world?"... "She turned the handle of the silver coffeepot toward him..."

This is a dialogue between a man and a woman. - man posing the question to the woman.

Turns out everyone has had the same dream. The world is going to end. But no one is reacting. It just is and everyone has accepted it.

But what the heck... I want to know what happens?!

I would be spending my last night with my kids and husband snuggled in my bed. I felt empty reading how they knew it would be the last night, but they left their children in their own beds and debated shutting the door.

a little eerie.

Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. “A Classic Ray Bradbury Esquire Story.” Esquire, Esquire, 9 Oct. 2017,        www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a14340/ray-bradbury-last-night-of-the-world-0251/.

Week 14 Project Action Plan: Love Reflected in "The Big Sleep" and "In the Land of the Free"

In realizing my final project had to include the text I chose to read, I have decided on the following project and choose the subject of love.

Then choose two selections and discuss how that subject is discussed in those selections. Use literary devices to help frame your discussion. 

The two selections I have chosen are "The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler and "In the Land of the Free" by Edith Maud Eaton (Sui Sin Far).

Each of these to texts express the extent a mother, father, or even a sister would go for their child or sibling. 

Raymond Chandler uses a great deal of imagery within his writing. Every scene is very well described, you feel as if you have warped right into the scene. Lae Choo, mother in the story by Edith Eaton, finds herself in a paradox when her toddler is taken from her by the United States government and not returned for 10 months. 

"The Big Sleep" is written in the first person with the main character, Private Investigator Marlowe, narrating. "In the Land of the Free" is written in the third person. 

The plot of "The Big Sleep" involves a father hiring a private investigator to dig into the reason behind why the old man is being blackmailed. This father asks PI Marlowe for help instead of going to the police because a part of him knows both of his daughters are likely involved and may be in trouble. While the ending implies that the father did not know his daughters involvement in the blackmail, however, I think he did to an extent. The other side of the story is that of the older sister, Vivian, covering for her younger sister, Carmon. Vivian went to great lengths to ensure her sister would not get caught and eventually makes a deal with Marlowe to take her far away and hopefully get her some help. 

The plot of "In the Land of the Free" involves a Chinese family who has been established in San Francisco for many years. The wife, Lae Choo, had gone back to China to care (hospice) for  elderly parents. While in China, she gave birth to her son. Soon after, the parents passed from their illnesses and Lae Choo joins her husband, Hom Hing, on a journey back to San Francisco. Because they did not have papers proving the child was theirs, the government took the child and told them it would only be until the following day when they government could provide permission to them to bring the child over. This moment of having her child taken from her was a moment of intense agony which was exacerbated when the child was not returned the following day as promised, nor the day after or the day after that. The story continues for 10 months until the mother is reunited with her child. All of this effort and when the two are finally together again, the child does not recognize her and instead hides his head and cries for her to "Go 'way, go 'way!"

I think I can pull similarities between the two stories to make a solid final project. 

Please share any thoughts or ideas with me!!!

Many thanks!
Amanda

Week 14 Analysis: Close Reading on "The Big Sleep"

"What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell. Me, I was part of the nastiness now. Far more a part of it than Rusty Regan was. But the old man didn't have to be. He could lie quiet in his canopied bed, with his bloodless hands folded on the sheet, waiting. His heard was a brief uncertain murmur. His thoughts were as gray as ashes. And in a little while he too, like Rusty Regan, would be sleeping the big sleep" (230-231).

Finally the title of the story is tied in!

Who cares where you are left once your dead? Its not like the person could be more or less comfortable, right? "The Big Sleep" = Death. There is nothing where your thoughts once were.

Marlow's involvement has now made him just as responsible for all of the deaths on the story as the one's he had personally caused. By knowing who the real killer and not reporting it, he was just as guilty. BUT he did not feel the General needed to know these things. It would only hurt the old man. After all, he would (much sooner than later) be dead too.

Week 14 Reading Notes: Part B

Wait, what?? Carmen killed Geiger? Carmen has "fits" like mental health breakdowns where she goes on violent tangents. Vivian was in on the cover up. The butler knew. And now Marlow will be in on the cover up as he instructs Vivian to take Carmen as far away as possible and that their old man will never know.
I am still confused on what happened to Regan. I will need to read the last couple chapters over again to pick up some details I must have missed... this is what happens when you fall asleep reading :)

Week 14 Reading Notes: Part A

I have made it towards the end of the book!

Marlow has just found out that the Missing Persons Bureau actually had been working on Regan's case and that they have put together that Regan and Eddie Mars' wife, Mona, ran off together. She was not even living with Mars prior to Regan's disappearance.

Marlow also finds out that Vivian is frequently betting, losing, and taking Eddie Mars' money... Marlow tracks Vivian down at a club where she puts "all in". The table does not have enough to cover for the house so they have to call Eddie Mars over to match her bet... Vivian wins and is ready to leave. Marlow waits outside for her and lucky he did because he was able to catch a mugger who tries to lift her winnings. Turns out Marlow even knows the kid and tells him to get out of there. Marlow is suspicious Mars sent the kid to get his money back. … Marlow winds up in the car with Vivian (since her date / escort / whatever is drunk and past out). They share a long and intense kiss before Marlow stops her and gets back to the main point... he drops Vivian off at home and goes home himself -- awkwardly to find Carmen naked and in his bed. Carmen's character is so childish -- it doesn't seem like she knows how to be serious. Marlow tried everything to get her to put her clothes back on. He promises her a drink once she gets dressed and eventually he threatens to throw her out of his apartment naked if she isn't dressed.

The next day, Marlow is contacted by a Harry Jones who states he has information... "his" information was actually Agnes' information.

In chapter 26, Harry Jones is confronted by one of Mars' guys wanting to know why Jones has been tailing Marlow. unconvinced it has nothing to do with Mars, the guy threatens to shoot him unless he tells him where Agnes is. Jones eventually says that he will take him to her and gives him the address. The guy got what he wanted and poisoned him anyway.