FINALE

I have decided for my final blog post to write about my posts on Chickamauga, The Passing Of Grandison, and my post on W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington. My post on Chickamauga I responded to the story talking about how the first thing that came to my mind when I read about the sight of all the soldiers was a zombie apocalypse. In my analysis of the Passing Of Grandison I explored the irony within the short story. Last but not least my post about Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois analyzed the different styles of Black pride and styles against racism.

http://aj-s278blog.blogspot.com/2012/02/grandison-and-his-irony.html
http://aj-s278blog.blogspot.com/2012/02/private-history-and-chickamauga.html
http://aj-s278blog.blogspot.com/2012/02/webbed-booker-t.html

I decided to respond to these three posts because of the content involved within each of them. I was really engaged with the readings that were tied to each of these postings and really felt like I had a connection with each one, especially The Passing of Grandison. Decker and I got a pretty good kick out of my connection with the Chickamauga story too. If you have seen Zombieland or The Walking Dead or even 28 Days Later then you know what I'm talking about. I can't believe nobody else even thought of that connection of soldiers injured and running at a little boy then my thought process was, RUN LITTLE BOY they are gonna eat you I found the whole story funny when I thought of it in that context. Then I went back and read it in a serious manner and realized its a super sad story. Eh oh well I had more fun the first time I read it anyways. As for this course and its impact on me and my views of literature, I have to say I have more motivation to read the things that I have an interest in. I still have little to zero motivation to read a book about slave chartering or anything along the lines of that but a book on World War II or a book on pottery! I'm sold! I don't know what it is specifically about slave embargo or troubles of slaves and minorities but I just plain don't like it. It does NOT grab my attention at all. Well we all know my weaknesses are just plain flat and simply reading the story and quizzes. The one thing that I have a major strength in is the analyzing of a piece. I don't know whether it's my artistic mind or what but I tend to get some meaning out of something and have evidence to back it up even if it is definitely not what is meant by the writer or commonly seen by others. For instance with my tie into the movie Remember The Titans. It was a perfect fit to our discussion story with a few differences. Well I think that because of my participation in class and my ability to contribute to the classroom discussion I deserve a B not a B- or a B+ just a B. I'm being honest because if I wasn't I would say I deserve an A I'm the golden child BLAH BLAH BLAH. I'm not though. Reason being why I say a B and not an A is because I missed a few blog posts and quite frankly my quiz scores weren't to great half the time. But because of what I brought to class mentally and discussion wise I deserve a B.

Response to Crying

The quote that I posted about last Thursday was about the formless magic that Oedipa is faced with. I stated that she uses this magic to seduce others into doing what she wants them to do. After going back and rereading the quote and my initial response to the quote I have to retract my opinion about Oedipa. She is NOT malicious and manipulative but she does use certain aspects of her sexual appeal to her advantage. Throughout her investigation this happens. I do NOT agree with it and think that she should be going about it in a different manner. That is what I think is "manipulative" about her. I am excited to see where this story progresses and am also excited to see if she learns something about herself or the people around her and whether or not it will be beneficial or if it will be detrimental.

Discussion Response

I have decided to respond directly to Scott's comments on my post and discussion. What better way to get an A right? haha. As for resentment that is shown among the characters within the movie and Baldwin's essay there is alot. The tie among this topic is the fact that the team, as well as Baldwin himself, are hated and treated poorly because they are not the societal norm or favorite. This generates a bad repoure for the outlook of the members of the team and Baldwin's father when he tries to predict his future. In both cases they shrug the views of others off their shoulders and continue to truck along perservering their goals. Eventually they gain the respect that they are ultimitaly looking for and get past the hard times of hatred and disgust. Honestly I only see one difference between Remember The Titans and Baldwin's essay. That is that the team doesn't even get the notion to lash out at the "haters" but Baldwin does. This ties me into thoughts about the black panther society and its influences.
Baldwin's father was trying to teach him how to live life among the discrimination. He did an ok job at it in my opinion but lost his son's respect in the process. A different approach would have been to let him experience these different types of racism first hand as a child so that when he grew up he would not have been bombarded with so many things at once. Baldwin's fathers motivation to be the father he was was to best prepare his son for the future and they way that he acted although it was, relationship wise, destructive it was also constructive and did eventually prepare him for the mindset that he had to take to endure the hatred that was at the table.

DESCRIPTION

Description, description, description. Baldwin used so much descriptive detail in the 3 part story "Notes of a Native Son". My favorite aspect of this story is the fact that Baldwin used so much history so well and within the historical timeline. He incorporated it so well without even putting to much focus on it keeping your attention on the story. My favorite incorporation of historical evidence is his small tid bit of "Jim-Crow Laws":

"I knew about jim-crow but I had never experienced it. I went to the counter, waiting for a hamburger and coffee; it was always and extraordinarily  long time before anything was set before me; but it was not until the fourth visit that I learned that, in fact, nothing had ever been set before me: I had simply picked something up."

This description make my mind go crazy along with all of the other historically descriptive moments, which in this it's chock full. When I was going through reading the story one of the things I couldn't help but think about was a movie that was made when I was a kid. Probably the best football movie I have ever seen. Remember the Titans. Students involved in the first biracial football team try to compete against all white schools not only jumping over the hurdles of racism and hatred being throw at them but also trying to overcome the hatred amidst themselves to work together as a team. This movie ties in so well with this story because there are the riots as well as hatred of races within communities, such as the white woman coming over to the black families house. I am excited to talk about this and see if anyone else brings this movie up in class. If no body does I will have to by the end of the talk.

Deckers Poem

This poem is great. When you transition from being children not knowing what they are saying or doing into becoming adults that have a conscience and heart behind whatever it is that the person is saying. Whether it's feeling of hatred, envy or even good responses, as an adult you understand how to portray those feelings through speech and words. Trial by error is how we learn these things within our society along with growing and learning from the people we look up to most. This leans towards why racism has and still is around. What you may not have meant to imply is that the best way to learn how to make art with a medium like clay is trial by error. Hence why I responded to this post haha. CLAY. I am wondering if this is what you meant by incorporating clay in the poem or if the words incorporation was to make it more child related.

Response to Kassie

Kassie's post talked about The Invisible Man and her reactions to it. My initial thoughts on it was that this story is about white men and their inherent ability to enjoy fighting and its possibilities. I thought that it was about the "battle royal" as Kassie says but there is also a hidden meaning behind the need to be "above the crowd". Being on top of the world was a huge thing back in the days of racism towards African Americans. I saw it as if the white men of the  time wanted to control the black population they also had major aggression issues and I think that is what this story was written to explain why men tend to strive towards being on top and using sport or aggression to become self satisfied. Over all I thought that the story did pretty well in describing the derivative point of most mens' strive to have competition and to be on top of the world. 

Berryman

Berryman's poems is the literature from this week that really connected with me. I liked that he connected with the Greek Iliad bringing up Achilles. One thing about that allusion that I am having a hard time understanding is the fact that when he alludes to Achilles he does not capitalize him. I'm not sure if that is out of disrespect for Achilles or that he just did not feel necessary to bring him up other that for a small thought behind his name. This poem really connects with me because of the repetitive parts concerning boredom. When he writes about the boredom among literature he hooked me as a reader. Just like in listening to a speech no matter how good it is I lose interest within about two pages of reading in. Berryman made me realize that literature is an acquired taste and takes time to get interest within something.