Self Eval

I believe that the texts that had the most relevance to me were American Born Chinese and Blankets. Both were enjoyable both visually and with their stories. In both texts I wanted to continue to read and find out where the story would take me. The impact that the literature that we read in this class has had on me is that all of our books had an important story to tell. I think that is very important when it comes to reading and discussing books, there isn't a point to read a book that isn't trying to make one.
I've been reading comics and graphic novels, mostly mangas, since I was about 12 so I am a fan. One of my classes back in highschool also experimented with non-traditional texts and the use of them with literature. Well I have read graphic novels like V for Vendetta and Watchmen I didn't really know about some of the other more serious stories out there and this class helped me to see them.
I am an art minor and I have been studying it for quite some time so I feel I was able to interpret pictures and the visual parts of theses stories fairly well before I came to this class. I don't think that anything that we did in this class made it stronger, but that could just be me. The hardest piece of literature for me to get through was The Bluest Eyes mainly because of its content and the writing style it was in. I worked through it by just plowing through it and using sparknotes to be honest. I didn't really have any assumptions about non-traditional text being used in a class, I've had it before in highschool.

AMSND

Ahh! It's good to be posting again! It has been far too long. I did enjoy this telling of a different story. I could follow it and it was intriguing but the plot was ether not there or very hard to find. You couldn't tell from what we got, what the true meaning of the story was. He brings the characters for who the play is made after and he makes them sit and watch it without knowing what they are in for. It's very interesting the way he plays with this, and the Dream Lord. The performers are the company of Shakesphere, well up until Puck joins the group. The ones that watch are Titania, The Dream Lord, Peaseblossom, a few trolls, Puck, and Theseus. He brought the world of the fantasy realm into the real word, or the world as we know it. It was very clevar and it was very intersting to see how they reacted to the play. The troll, Peaseblossom, and goat-headed nymph interaction was funny cute and cleaver. Shakespeare's personal life was shown in the play with his 'son' actually being in the play. He has the same name as the boy in the play who is taken by Titania. The panels that I thought were the most interesting were on page 85 of the story. They show the real Puck going away into the dark. Visually this was the most interesting I believe.

Intro to Faith

If faith is forced on a child, taking them to Church every week, making them read the Bible, or sending them to religious school without giving them a choice, they will grow up rejecting that religion. I found in my research that there are many people who grew up with parents forcing religion down their throats don’t want to be a part of the religion now that they have a choice to be or not. I grew up in a very Catholic family and every week we went to Church. My mom sent me to Bible School and Bible Study during the summer. As I started to get older I found that going to Church twice a week for Bible School and Church was a burden and that I would much rather be at home. I could recite for anyone the Our Father, Hail Mary, Gloria, Nicene Creed, and about fifty Church songs. With all this knowledge stuffed in my head from about sixteen years of Church-going I feel like it is just taking up space at this point. I started to make excuses to got go to Church, even volunteering at our local Petsmart with my neighbor to clean cat’s cages. Right before I was confirmed I told my mom that I didn’t believe in God anymore. She didn’t freak out but she did still make me get Confirmed, I did it for her but I found it to be very hypocritical. Ever since my mom has only really made me go on Christmas and Easter, though she still goes every week. I believe that if my mother hadn’t made me go to Church

This first quote I found on a University’s website on how to raise children~

“Sometimes—because we truly want what’s best for our kids—we begin to demand that a child or teen go to church or participate in church activities. Often these demands seem to alienate children even further from religious activity.” –A report out of Brigham Young University

The second quote is from a blog at radicalleft.net. The writer grew up Christian and was conformed to hate it soon after his 16^th birthday.

“Think sex and drugs destroy America?
Try naive chastity. Oh, and "Purity Balls"
You should probably fall to your knees right
this minute and thank a merciful
and lubricious and happily polymorphous sex God
that you don't know what they are

At some point the daughter stands up,
her pale arms wrapped around her daddy,
and reads aloud a formal pledge that she will
remain forever pure and virginal and sex-free
until she is handed over, by her dad
(who is actually called the "high priest" of the home),
like some sort of sad hymenic gift,
to her husband, who will receive her like
the sanitized and overprotected and
libidinously inept servant she so very much is
Praise!” –Max Blunt

This isn’t something that has started just recently. This passage is a blog of a former altar boy who discusses why he is no longer with the faith.

http://www.norcalblogs.com/outsidebox/2007/07/on_growing_up_catholic.html

Here is a fun video of a radical Christan woman who also is one of 'God's Warrior's'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjl54v1irbs

Close read of a poem

Now poetry is one of the things I find the hardest to review, so here we go. Commings:

The whole poem is in one line with no breaks, meaning no breaths. It seems as if it is being said by some drunk and rambling about something to his empty glass. He speaks of America in almost a sarcastic way but seems patriotic about it. He talks of the heroic happy dead being rushed to the slaughter. He may be talking about solders being rushed away to war. In the end he asks should the voice of Liberty be mute because of this? I think he's talking about how the people don't have a true say in what goes on in this case.

Part of my project, I just wanted to get it down so I have it on here, enjoy!

Evolution

I sit feet dangling with bows in my hair,
my best skirt and pink blouse on.
He is everywhere for me.
The tomato and cucumber told me so.
Everyday he is all around me and I feel him there.

There are 23 panels above my bowl cut hair.
Someone's voice calls me back to the front of the class.
A disruption to my day is all this is
and I begin to doodle on the desk.
Now twice a week I am aware of his presence.

A bribe, out to lunch a a trip downtown
gets me into the car.
My eyes grow heavy with the weight of the
early morning when I get a sharp elbow to the side.
To to get on my knees for nothing but my mother's smile.

The time is long passed when my eyes open
to the white roof of my room.
The car is gone and I am completely alone.
Now I feel like I know who I am,
nothing is there and it won't be forever.

MAUS

1. A specific theme or idea or question that propelled you through the text.
I had two questions that I focused on well reading the text. One, What is this story going to teach me about the Holocaust that I don't already know? Two, Why did the author chose animals in the place of people?

2. A specific Panel or set of panels that support this theme/idea/question
Well one of the things I didn't know about the Holocaust was how the richer Jewish people could use their influence and money to delay going to a internment camp. I also learned that many people used their family connections to stay as free as they could be for as long as they could get. This is shown on page 92 when they went to a registration for their passports to work or not. They went to a table where their cousin was working and he stamped their passports with a good stamp, as sown in the last panel on the page.
I found that Spiegelman's idea of using animals instead of people was a cleaver one. This made it much easier to determine race and religion of the characters by just looking at them. On page 66 you can see that Vladek puts on a pig mask to seem to be a Pole. in the second pannel on the page. This shows perhaps how easy it was for the Jewish people to do th is. You can clearly see the string and the differece between his skin and the mask.

So maybe I'm not on the right page but I want to work on the theme of 'Corruption'. I will focus on American Born Chinese and Blankets for our readings in class. I think I'm going to do a multi -media project. I'll pull from outside sources such as V for Vendetta and other Graphic novels that deal with this theme. Maybe I should go with the idea of temptation. I think that would fit with everything better.

Respect my Authority!

My close reading on Blankets will be on the last three panels of page 80. Craig is at winter bible camp and he is seen reading the Bible. A boy in the bunk below him sees what he is doing and starts to make fun of him for it. In the second panel Craig lies and says he was only organizing his things and not actually reading the Bible. The third panel shows him putting his bible away and asking for God's forgiveness. I find these panels very interesting because in the Bible God always said to stand up for what you believe in and Craig doesn't do this, he pretends to hate it there as much as the rest of the group does to fit in better or avoid humiliation.  In the first panel the boy who is making fun of Craig looks very dopy and dumb well Craig just looks annoyed. In the second one they have more of the same expression. The third panel shows Craig's shame with the dark lines down his face.

Craig's relationship with his father is the most interesting to me. It reminds me of my relationship with my father, though maybe not to that extreme. There is a level of fear that plays an important role between them. I believe this fear calms down in the middle of the book however because Craig doesn't seem to be so afraid to ask if he could stay with his girlfriend for a few weeks. 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

This story always intrigued me as a child and when I read the names of the mice I knew who they were and what she was talking about instantaneously. But why was this story chosen? She needed a project and so she chose a story from the Bible but the writer's choice is much deeper than that. The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendnego is a story about three brothers who work for a King. The boys are good hardworking men of God. They worship him above all and never give into temptation. Then one day the King asks them to bow down and worship a golden idol. They refuse and are punished by being thrown in the furnace, but they do not burn. A bright light emerges from the furnace and there can be seen four figures, the three boys and another figure. This figure is seen as Jesus Christ. This story is referenced to show Jeannette's own struggle with her sexuality. She refuses to give into the 'idol' of heterosexuality.

• What do you believe? (or, perhaps like Morpheus in the Matrix, we might ask, "What is it that you choose to believe?" Will you take the red pill or the blue pill?)
• I believe that as a population humans are dumb. We have devolved so much from our natural state that most of us can't stand a clear open space. In general I believe a lot of things to be true but I also am open to new ideas. I don't believe in a higher power but I am curious as to how it all started.
  

• What or who has shaped your system of belief?
• Working in this world and observing people for both art and writing classes. I've noticed little things like how people hold their hands to big things like the way people look when they lie. 
  

• Think of a time when your belief system was challenged. How did you respond?
• I did have a point where someone tried to convince me that God was real and that he was in my heart, they even tried to say a prayer for me and make me feel him but nothing happened I told her I was sorry and she said it was alright and that some day I would know the love of God. Maybe one day.
  

• Consider "belief" in Oranges are Not the Only Fruit. What beliefs are firmly upheld? What beliefs are challenged or change? What self-revelations or "awakenings" occur in Winterson's modern-day Bildungsroman? Use quotes from the text as support.
• When Jeanette was born then adopted in the book it was like the birth of Christ, and she much so followed his story thought the book. She is however gay and that conflicts with everything that she believes in and she struggles with this idea.
  

• How are Jeanette's changing beliefs demonstrated symbolically or through foreshadowing within the pages of the novel?
• The orange is an important part of the story and it seems to represent the stereotypical human. Heterosexual, normal. Her mother gives them to her in her times of need but when Melanie tries to give her one she refuses it.

• What struggles still exist for Jeanette, even after she has "accepted" herself?
• Her mother and friends wont talk to her and become repulsed by her when she is at the funeral. She keeps herself alone most of the time.
  

"What common conversation/theme is shared in each of the texts we have read in this unit? How do you respond to these themes as a reader? What passages or ideas were most relevant or powerful for you? Which were the most difficult for you? Explain your answers."

The common theme of all of the passages that we have read are becoming proud of who/what you are. In American Born Chinese both the monkey king and Jin learn how to accept who they are and that they are at their best when they are just being their selves. In The Bluest Eyes Pecola ends up going crazy and thinking that she has her beautiful eyes. From page 145 to page 150 in American Born Chinese the Monkey King learns that after five hundred years of being stuck under a pile of rocks he could have gotten out anytime he wanted if he just went back to being a monkey. On page 221 Jin finally understands everything that has been happening to him and learns to be just himself. This is the part of the story that brought all three parts together. In the Bluest Eye Morrison shows that when a person is determined and has a single mind set they can be pushed to the break as Pecola was.

Personally I believe that a person should be happy with who they are, and if they aren't they should change themselves to be happy. Even with this they should understand that they were made as they are for a reason, be it millions of years of evolution or some God type figure. They can accept themselves for who they are. But there are many people who aren't happy with themselves and they aren't doing anything to change it or they have a distorted view of the world. These people need to change to be happy. Both stories were good, I enjoyed the Graphic Novel more than the novel but that was a personal preference.

I believe that the passage that was the most relevant to me was from American Born Chinese. The section on Wong Lai-Tsao touched me the most. He wasn't a traditional monk in any sense but he did have a kind heart and helped the villagers. It reminded me of some Greek stories on the lesson of humility. He is rewarded for his kindness.

I didn't understand why Pecola's father needed to rape her twice. I know he was in the wrong mind set but it's his daughter for Christ sake.

Sorry it's late. I don't use the internet much outside of class.

Close Reading

This page is showing who Tze-Yo-Tzuh really is. He is the creator of the world and all that is, was, and will be. He proves how powerful he is by telling how he is everywhere. In the heavens and in the underworld. The pictures are very smoth in colors and Tze-Yo-Tzuh is depiceted as an old man with a cane showing how he is like an old shepard, guiding people and animals. There is humor in these panels as Tze-Yo-Tzuh whipes his hand of the Monkey King's leavings.

Our first grahic novel

I am a manga/comic book master of sorts so this is not my first time around a graphic novel. My first impression of this novel was a good one, the lines were clean and the characters were interesting to look at. I enjoyed the story of the Monkey king the most I think. He is cute but strong. The Asian mythology that was thrown is is nice too. I like the story of Jin Wang. I cant personally identify with his feelings yet but I can see where he's coming from. I don't like how the other kids treat him but I also don't like the way he treats his 'Best friend'.

The pannels I liked the best were on page 81. I liked the images and expresions of the character but I also like the message. The Monkey King is trying so despreately to deny that he is somthing different, when the man who created him is telling him that he was ment to be. He created a moneky to be a moneky, not to try and be anything else, yet the Monkey King refuses to accept it.

In Class response

I believe that in literature race, class, and gender are important to discuss because it can change the meaning or purpose of the piece all together. If someone is writing about racism and they write it from the point of view of the white man harassing the African American then the piece has a completely different meaning then if it was written from the point of view of the African American. Its also good to talk about class when discussing a piece with many different classes and how they interact to and around each other.
You can do anything with a strong mind. Imagination is a strong part of reading. You can see what's going on in your mind, wonder what's going to happen, and even determine what is actually going on between the lines. This is why you should always go into reading a piece with an open mind and a blank slate.
We can, however, intertwine literature with examples from popular culture to show us the true meaning behind the piece. It can also bring humor into the piece by breaking the fourth wall from a fantasy world into our own.

I believe both Peggy McIntosh and bell hook are both bringing light on racism and sexism. Perhaps we should stop looking at the differences between people and analyzing these differences and the world could be one sooner. Yes it is good to have culture and to have these differences but when they are shoved in our faces they just make us want to make them bad. I love exploring other cultures and other ways of life. I like seeing things from others perspectives and how others think. I believe if we could all do this then the world would be a better place. Arguments could be more solvable, hate could vanish, and people would be able to understand one another without much effort.

Learning in differnt ways.

Well Multimodality, multisemiotics, and multilieracie are all ways to learn. More specifically ways to learn about literature. Multisemiotic is the ability to absorb everyday life and literature trough the five senses. Multisemiotics can describe multiple meanings that are offed by these modes, and they have multiple understanding that we may be able to create from these modes. Multilieracies is when people understand these modes and apply them to life and show them in everyday life.

It's very clear that McCloud uses multimodality in his book Understanding Comics. He uses linguistics and a form of audio when he combines the words with his pictures. Using words that are sounds, onomatopoeias, can create what is almost like audio within a person's head.

Comic books, don't talk to me about no stinking comic books

To me, literature is anything written that can be read. From pictures to words, from meaningless objects to detailed photos, they all have meaning and they all can be enjoyed.
OH gosh I've been reading graphic novels, manga, and comics since I was like 2. I mean all children's books really are just comics, one pannel per page. The first manga I read was Reyearth when I was 14. I was hooked after the first two pages and read the whole first series in one day. From then on I loved series like Chobits, Tokyo Mew Mew, Coyboy Beboop, and many more. My love of comics didn't come till later but you can bet it came. I collect Teen Titans comics, though I have fallen behind since school started, and read as many as I can steel from my friends. Those include Batman(LOVE HIM!) The Hulk, Cat Woman, and others. I enjoy graphic novles as well. My favorite being V for Vendetta. I have also read Watchmen, and Lord of the Rings in GN form.
McCloud's book is interesting, I don't find it hard to understand or read but I know my way around a comic book page. Most of the stuff he talks about I already understand so it's not that much of a strethch for me.

Romeo and Juliet the manga

I chose the tittle page of the Romeo and Juliet Manga.This image is full of horizontal line, meaning stability but the lines at the bottom of the page are slightly diagonal bringing tension to the piece. The background of this piece is light at the top sowing a flowing freedom well the bottom of the piece shows darkness, meaning a doom or evil looming. The foreground of the piece is very smooth and rounded. This shows a security and happiness. The characters located in the bottom half are showing their stability and groundedness. The characters are touching showing a relationship, in this case a good one. They are both happy confirming their good relationship. The image is set in downtown Tokyo, a bustling city with many different people in it.
The story behind this picture is not hard to guess, it's the story of anger, strife, and above all love.

POEitry in motion

There are so many good poems out there it is hard for me to pick just one to share. I think I am going to give the gift of Mr. Poe.

Ladies and Gentlemen, for your consideration.....
The Raven

A Melting Pot

What is an American?
Humm hard question to answer, I would say that being an American is a state of mind. You don't have to be born here, you don't have to have lived here for long, and you don't have to speak our language. Some people don't have to pay taxes, some people don't have to have jobs. Most people don't contribute to the society, and less people care about our environment. So what is an American? I think that we have defined an American as anyone who wants to be and is living in the United States or has lived here at some point. Many people outside of our country who have lived here for a short time claim to be Americans. Is there a setline that is drawn? And if so, can some people be wrong in assuming that they are Americans depending on this line? I think that everyone has their own idea on what a true American is. Some people think that you have to be born here and have lived here for all your life. Yet some people believe that if they move here they are automatically an American. I don't have a set idea on what an American is, to be honest I don't care who is or isn't an American. I wouldn't judge people if they were or weren't so why does it matter?

Sorry wanted to put some pics on here! Hope you like them!

Humm, what type of interpretation is my favorite...?

I would have to say that Psychoanalytic theory seems to be the most interesting to me. Anything to do with the way people think about things and why they do interests me. There are so many ways that you can you can study the psychoanalytic theory that they must be categorized under three sub-applications. The application is to study the application of literature on the mind, or studying what some pieces do to the reader's subconscious. The second application is studying systematized set of theories about human behavior, and the third is the effects of literature on illness. There are twenty two different orientations of psychoanalytic theory. The orientations break this theory down much further so that one can study a single little bit of the human mind on literature. They are as follows, Topographic theory, Structural theory, Ego psychology, conflict theory, object relations theory, self psychology, Jacques Lacan/Lacanian psychoanalysis, Interpersonal psychoanalysis, Relational psychoanalysis, Intersubjective psychoanalysis, Topographic theory, Structural Theory, Ego psychology, Conflict Theory, Object relations theory, Self psychology, Jacques Lacan|Lacanian psychoanalysis, Interpersonal psychoanalysis, Relational psychoanalysis, Intersubjective psychoanalysis, and Modern psychoanalysis. I think that the most interesting is topographic theory, more a study of the Pre-conscious and Unconscious. I also like the conflict theory, studying how the mind takes in and understands conflicts and how it shields itself from the harshness. One that is also interesting to me is intersubjective theory, a study of how relationship effect the minds of people and also if they apply those relationships in their life. All of this makes me want to actually get out there and study people reading and see what they are really thinking when reading my favorite fight scene and how it is making them really feel. This would also be very helpful if I could use this on someone who was reading my work. I could see if a part is too emotionally crippling or not powerful enough. All this must be studied under the purest conditions so that nothing else could factor into the results. With these results we can learn so much about people’s minds on books and we can use that to make books more interesting to the reader.

First day on the job

Well I'm sitting in class frustrated with this mac...thing that's in front of me. I can't help but think this class is going to be a good thing. Good Choice!! I can't wait till I get my books later today and I will probably end up shuffling through them later today, after my K-ra-tee class that is. Oh I can't wait for that. I crack my knuckles and look around before I set to work on my first post. It must be meaningful, it must be great. Then it hits me... I have no idea what to write. Wait! Me have nothing to write?!? Well that's a first I think. So I suppose I'll ramble on about something useless for a bit then I'll get to a point...but that point is harder to get to then I originally thought. Humm maybe I should say a bit about myself. Oh that's good, I'll go with that!!
Hi! I'm Becky Dziadzio, that's Ja-Joe (I know it's confusing but it's Polish, as am I). I'm a Polish Italian and am forced by Polish tradition to wed a full blooded Polish, and by Polish tradition I mean my loopy grandfather, and by bound I mean encouraged. Anyways I am from Wixom Michigan, that's near Novi, that's near Detroit. I'm in the burbs of the big D yo. *I clear my thought* Sorry I'm really not gangster I just come off that way sometimes. I like to read and write, but I also love music and art. Photography is my favorite so you'll end up seeing a lot of my work on here. Sorry about that. I tend to pick up on things quickly...except names, so I'm sorry if I don't remember yours even if I know it I will forget it at some point. Well that's about all that I can think of. Oh I'm kind bad at spelling so if I do make a mistake just let me know or just ignore it. Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you soon!!