Interpretation

The piece of literature that we have read in this class that I wanted to interpret was the story This Blessed House by Jhumpa Lahiri. The story included two main characters, they were Sanjeev and Twinkle. They are both Hindus and they have just moved into their new home. Upon moving into their new home they find some things that are left in the home from the people who were previously living at this place. As they find the things they discover that they are items that represent the beliefs of Christianity. Sanjeev immediately acts like he wants the items that they find to be thrown out so people that visit do not question their faith in Hinduism when they come into their home and see these iconic things representing Christianity. However, after each thing they discover Twinkle somehow finds a way to reason with Sanjeev so that they do not end up throwing out any of the items found. Sanjeev starts to get more concerned, because they are about to have some people over to help bring in their new home and he does not want the Christian items sitting around the house to be looked at and thought about. He continues to try to convince Twinkle to get rid of the items, but Twinkle is very good at getting what she wants so Sanjeev does not get anywhere with those attempts. Then the time comes where the people come over to visit their new home and Twinkle shows them the whole house and the items that they have found so far in their stay. Through the visit Sanjeev and Twinkle realize they have not really given the attic a good look so the people go on up with Twinkle while Sanjeev stays around downstairs feeling a little embarrassed. Twinkle takes them up to the attic and to their surprise they end up finding a big head that resembles Jesus Christ. There is some laughter and jokes going on and Sanjeev realizes that they probably found some other thing relating to Christianity. They come on down from the attic and Twinkle hands off the Jesus head to Sanjeev. She says that she will move it out of site tomorrow and into her study room, but Sanjeev realizes this is just another battle he is going to lose to Twinkle. He knows that she will somehow make him leave the head on the mantle of their fireplace for everyone to see that comes to visit their home in the future. He continues to keep those thoughts in his head and agrees to follow her to find a place to put the Jesus head and that is where the story ends.

The first time I just read through the story and just thought it was a well put together story and they put good description into it by describing the items really well. In reading it again I think the story was more meant for thoughts and questions concerning the end of the story. I know after reading it again I was concerned at what was going to happen with the Jesus head and where exactly they were going to place the item, and if Sanjeev was going to start to express his anger with Twinkle or just keep to himself fearing that he might hurt her feelings. Also, what was the view like from the people that came to visit their home? Did they believe that they found the items and were leaving them around as a joke? Or did they think that Sanjeev and Twinkle were struggling with their Hindu faith and thinking of converting to Christianity? The main theme I get from this story is that Sanjeev is really concerned with his image; however he is married to Twinkle who could care less about what people say or think about her, she will do whatever pleases her. Twinkle thinks it is really fun finding all the Christian items and enjoys showing the people what she found in her new home. This story just makes me realize that I would rather want to be more like Twinkle, because she is not concerned about her self image. We as Christians should not care what the world thinks about us, but what God thinks about us and we should act like him to the fullest. However, we all struggle with that from time to time and we may get to the point where we do not want to tell people that we are a Christian, because we may be scared of what they will think of us. I know I can get in those situations where I act like Sanjeev and I wish I acted the opposite and was more proud of my belief in Christianity in those situations. This story just brought up a lot more thoughts and questions for me when I read through this story a second time. The end of the story just shows how good girls can be at manipulating guys, due to the fact that Twinkle changes the subject so quickly in the end of the story. She goes to give Sanjeev the Jesus head and says she will move it tomorrow, and then quickly states that her feet are hurting her and we should go down to the living room. I think that move by Twinkle kind of eased the tension and also made it easier for her to convince Sanjeev to move the Jesus head down into the living room. The story is mainly on the idea of self image and manipulation. I thought the story was a good thing to read, but I think reading it over again gave me a more sense of what was going on and what I wanted to find out.

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings was a somewhat strange kind of story written by Gabriel Marquez. For a good amount of the story I thought the author was trying to refer to some other being, but using the word angel as a description. However, as I kept reading into the story the author was really describing an angel that has had a tough time as of late and was trying to recover and build his strength back up. The people that had found him did not really treat him too well and pretty much kept him locked up and charged money for other people to view the angel. The people just went on to ridicule the angel saying that he was a fake and an impostor and they punished him, because of what they believed. I think what happened in this story definitely does happen in real life. There may be someone that is different from the rest of the crowd and some people do not like the way that is so they either pick on the person or they try to exclude them from everyone else. When we grow up and go through school and other things there are certain groups, like the athlete group, the party group, and the nerd group to name a few. For example, some athlete may have trouble in school and does not make good grades and he or she makes excuses why he or she does not have good grades. Then they see a person who is smart and does well in school and they get jealous of how that person is different and they go on to pick on them until they get what they want, which may be better grades. The people in the civilization saw the angel as a different person or being so they attacked and brought down the angel to make them feel better. The story did have a good ending, because the angel was able to build up enough strength to fly off onto the horizon.

The Boys Next Door

The Boys Next Door was a creative play written by Tom Griffin. The other day in class we went outside in our small groups and read some sections from Act one. Our group had a lot of fun with the whole experience and each of us put in the effort to act out the scenes to the fullest. However, I think I got the same I did from doing that experience outside than when I read the first act by myself. Plays are an easier thing for me to comprehend and relate with than something like a poem, where that can bring up more questions than answers.

There were some parts in the play where I thought it was pretty comical and parts in the play where I felt bad for the characters in the play. I really enjoyed the part where they thought they had a rat in the house and they killed it and still thought that it was a rat. I could see people that are not mentally challenged dealing with that situation the same way, so I thought it was pretty funny. Therefore, the neighbors could never figure out what happened to the hamster that they lost, because the boys next door did not realize they had killed a hamster and not a rat. I felt bad for what ended up happening to Barry near the end of the play. He was talking so highly of his father throughout the play and then when he got to see him for that short time it became an awkward and scary moment for Barry.

This play reminded me of when I used to be a camp counselor and one of the kids in my group was mentally challenged. His name was Frankie and he loved sponge bob and video games. Whenever I felt like a situation could get bad I would sometimes just pull Frankie aside and talk to him about sponge bob or some video game. Barry's father did not take the time to figure out what Barry was interested in so he would just send him chocolate. That just goes to show that his father did not show any care toward Barry and did not give much time for them to enhance their relationship with each other. That part of the play really stuck out to me and just left me with a thought that we need to show care to everyone no matter if they have a handicap or not.

Museum

I went to the Polk Museum of Art for at least 40 minutes. I decided to go on Sunday and it was not too busy at all. I made sure to look and examine all the different parts of the museum and some parts really stuck out to me. I really enjoyed looking at all the different types of human figures that were made by the Columbians, Aztecs, Peruvians, and so on. I think my favorite human figure one was a figure made by the Columbians, the design just caught my attention and I thought it was interesting and cool. I also read the two poems again when I was in one part of the museum, but I did not notice anymore of an appreciation for the poems when I first read them. There was also the paintings part of the museum exhibit. After gazing over all of the paintings I really enjoyed this oil pastel painting of these robots. It looked like there was a robot that was still working and there was another one that was either getting put together or being taken apart due to a malfunction. I just thought it was so amazing that someone could do that with just oil pastel. My favorite overall piece in the whole museum was the marlin fish that was put together with parts of pepsi cans and bottles, and also parts of red bull cans. For the scales of the fish they used the can opener things and the fins were put together with cut pieces of pepsi and red bull cans. They also ended up using bottle caps for the bottom of the piece I believe to illustrate the water it was jumping out of. The art was definitely trying to show that we need to make sure we do a better job of recycling, because other animals like the marlin fish are getting the raw end of it and getting killed for our laziness and lack of thought.

Peek of Curiosity

The people show their curiosity
Peeking through the wall to get a look
Of all the work set about in this place
They are not sure if there is an on off switch
Or why a marlin chose to be here
All they know is that they are up for anything
They would like to see what it is like
For things that are outside of this place
But at the same time they are fine where they are
Because they receive visitors everyday
And each day they come this brings life to them
Then they realize
That the visitors are more curious about them
Then they are curious about the visitors
They were made to bring up ideas and thoughts
They were made to tell a story
One day they wish they were more than that
But they still sit there for the same reason
All they can do now is peek through the wall
And hope that someday they can fully come to life

Reading for Transformation

The literary excerpt written by Francis McAloon was a somewhat interesting piece or reading. He went on to discuss how if we take the time to read and reflect on a poem or some type of poetry, we can use that information from that poetry to transform our being. He also went on to talk about that he used the tactics of Lectio Divina to get certain ideas or thoughts out of the poetry. When we did the Lectio Divina experience in class I did not really care for the whole experience, because I did not really get anything from doing the exercise. I am sure this exercise works for a lot of people such as Francis McAloon, but I did not get anything from this type of learning. McAloon also showed how poetry can offer three different things. One was that poetry offers us words that give voice to the unspoken thoughts. Another thing was that poetry offers us worlds of possibility, or in other words it lets us explore. And a third thing was that the wonders of poetry allow us to get a deeper self awareness. I kind of agree with the whole idea that McAloon has that poetry can cause a transformation if you take time to appreciate and learn from it. In the Lake Bonny Park experience I do not think I transformed so much from writing the poem from that experience, but I think I kind of transformed through that experience in that I have a greater appreciation for nature then I did before. I think there are a lot of things other than poetry that can help transform us as we grow throughout our lives. When I grew up and played sports I had many highs and lows that taught me a lot. Those lows or mistakes taught me how to handle it right when that situation comes about again, and the highs taught me that if I focus and stick at it I can stay at that level. Therefore, I agree that poetry can transform people, and there are many other things that can transform people.

Poem Experience

This past poem experience really had a good impression on me for the whole nature subject. The main topic of the past few weeks has been how we can appreciate nature and all the pieces of literature we have read lately have been things on nature. Nowadays, we get caught up in all our worries or other hobbies and quickly forget how beautiful the nature is and we take it for granted. Back home I live on a harbor and it leads out to the bay, and I know I do not always appreciate it like I really should and I usually take it for granted. The other day when I went out to Lake Bonny Park it was so beautiful and nice out it was just the perfect kind of weather, I could not have wished for better weather than that. In those times where I realize how nice the weather is and how nice nature is, is where I thank God for being so thoughtful for supplying all these things to us for our pleasure while we are on Earth. So, after I experienced this little project I plan to challenge myself to go out more in some kind of nature like area and sit down and enjoy what God gave us, sit still, and just listen around for whatever sounds come about. I am not sure if I will write a poem like I did in this experience, but I will try and take time out of my schedule and plan a time for relaxation and appreciation of nature. I just felt like I learned a bunch on how to appreciate nature without doing the writing of the poem, and I just do not think I have the skill to write well written poems. Therefore, I did learn a good amount from this experience, but I do not think I learned to write a poem any better.

Lake Bonny Park Poem

I went to Lake Bonny Park on this Tuesday afternoon and I spent at least 40 minutes at the park. I decided to sit around the baseball fields and sit and listen to everything going on around me for 20 minutes. I heard some little kids playing around in the playground and I heard some other people talking. I also listened to the wind blowing through and listened to the birds chirping to each other. I thought it was very interesting just sitting around and listening and watching everything that was going on around me at Lake Bonny Park. I chose to sit around the baseball field because I loved playing baseball when I was growing up and it is still my favorite sport to play when I get the chance to play. So I decided to choose a part of the park that I would enjoy and that was the part of the park I chose. Since I was sitting and relaxing around the baseball fields I think it helped me flow with more ideas on what to write about in my poem. Looking out on the baseball fields reminded me of the past I have had in baseball and how I enjoyed it so much. It also got me back in the mood to play baseball again, so I guess I was happy and kind of sad at the same point. So my poem reflected the ideas of my love for baseball and also how beautiful it was outside at that time of the day. It just felt like one of those perfect days where it was not too hot because there was a little breeze that kept me in that warm and comfortable mood. Also, there were also no clouds in the sky so that is also why I thought it was perfect out.

The following is my poem:

It just always feels right
Sitting here feeling the wind blow
Looking out on the diamond
Where the sun glistens off the green grass
The pine trees are assembled in perfect rows
Like they are all at a church service
Swaying back and forth with the wind
Beyond the outfield fence
The dirt on the infield takes a ride from the wind
Much like a surfer rides a wave
I am always happy when I get the chance
To play on a baseball diamond
It reminds me of all the experience I have had
Playing one of the games I enjoy most
The weather resembles my happiness inside
With the sun shedding its light everywhere
And there are no clouds in the sky
There is a slight breeze to make it just fine
The birds are chirping in harmony
And all this makes me realize
That today is a perfect day

Mary Oliver Poems

All of the poems written by Mary Oliver were very interesting and understandable unlike most poems. My favorite poem in the collection was the Walking Home from Oak Head poem. The poem was just very descriptive and understandable and made me think of being back home in the winter time. Not all people can relate to this poem like I can, because people grow up in climates like Florida and never get the chance to see snow unless they choose to go north to experience that kind of weather. I think that it is a lot easier to understand a poem or piece of literature when you can relate with what they are talking about in their piece of writing. The poem written by Robert Hass was a well written poem and I understood parts of the poem, but I could not really relate too much with the poem because I do not appreciate science as much as this person does. He was also trying to prove ways why we should consider the idea that evolution is why we are here and I cannot relate with that idea. The poems written by Mary Oliver did not bring up those kinds of thoughts or ideas that I did not agree with so that could be another reason I liked her poems a lot more. I also think that poems should be more understandable. It feels like every poem someone writes they try their hardest to make it like some type of puzzle where you have to figure out what the solution of the puzzle is and what they are trying to discuss. I would have a greater appreciation for poems if they were more understandable like these Mary Oliver poems. I like to read things that I will be able to decipher what they are discussing and also things that I can also relate with, and these poems do that for me.

State of the Planet

The State of the Planet written by Robert Hass was a very interesting poem describing the many wonderful aspects of our planet Earth. The planet just has so many things that are put together to help make the planet an atmosphere that we can live and survive in. It just further shows that there is no possible way any kind of evolution has occurred or any big bang that occurred millions of years ago. I think he also illustrates that we are not as appreciative of our planet as we should be, due to the way pollution has increased throughout the years, but we are also now trying to change that in our new products. All of the descriptions he lays out through the whole poem makes me realize more and more that there is no possible way that this all came together by accident, and God thought this all through and that is what makes Him so amazing. I thought that when the author kept referring to Venus in the poem I think that he was just talking about the Earth in other ways just using a different name. I began to get very confused of where the author was discussing the thoughts of Lucretius and also talking about chlorofluorocarbons. I just realized at that part in the poem I got very lost and reread it a few times, but still did not really get something out of that section. There are so many things that I never think about that make this planet the way it is, and this poem shows me what some of those things are. Some of this stuff I have learned about in science classes before but I just end up forgetting these things over time, and this poem reestablishes those ideas and things I have learned in the past.

This Blessed House

This Blessed House written by Jhumpa Lahiri was basically a story discussing on how a Hindu couple handled all the Christian iconic items left around in their newly bought house. The story was more of a character driven story than a plot driven story, because they focused more on the way the characters acted than with what went on during the whole story. I thought the author did an excellent job describing all of the items found by the Hindu couple. I think that if I decided to close my eyes and let someone else read me the story I would have been able to picture everything well just like the author was planning to accomplish.

I probably would have acted the way Sanjeev and would have not liked all those religious items around my house if it was not the religion I believed in. Whenever I buy a house for me and my future family I do not want to find Mormon items laying around in my house. I also do not want my wife persuading me to leave the things around the house for other people to see whenever they come to my house. I want to have things around my house that represent me and my family not things that do not represent our beliefs. Sanjeev got himself caught up in a tough position because he really did not want the things sitting around for display in his house, but his wife kept convincing him to leave them alone and she would move them later. However, that was Twinkle’s way of persuading Sanjeev to keep the Christian items around and she did a good job of persuading. Girls are very good at convincing guys to do things guys do not want to do, and this story is a good example of that thought.

Arctic Search

The arctic could be a tough place to live if you are a lion. It could also be a tough environment to live in if you are a dog. However, Karl is not one of those animals that cannot survive in the arctic. Karl is an animal that fully enjoys living in this type of arctic and chilly environment. Karl is a huge polar bear and he and his family love the arctic with a passion. Karl has a wife and three kids. His wife’s name is Brittany and his kids’ names are Mike, Rachel, and Peter. Rachel is the oldest of the three kids, Mike is the second oldest or middle child, and Peter is the little one of the family. Brittany is known as being a nurse to all the other animals in their area, taking care of all the animals when they get sick or get hurt. Karl helps the other animals construct shelters for each other. He has a high knowledge in constructing structures, so he uses his knowledge in aiding the other animals just like his wife Brittany does with her nurse like capabilities. That is how the two polar bears met, because of their caring attitudes and being concerned with other animals than themselves. Karl and Brittany have been married for twenty great years and their kids have been more than a blessing to them. Mike is getting close to becoming an adult and move out in which he would begin the search for future wife. Rachel is still going through the search process for her future husband, and Peter is still going through the learning phase of his young life.

So on one beautiful morning Karl goes on out to help some caribou construct their new home. Rachel and Mike also end up going out to enjoy the day and look for their future mate. Brittany is left at home with a relaxing day with Peter. The day is so relaxing that Brittany falls asleep and she thinks Peter falls asleep too. Later that day Karl arrives back home after a somewhat short work day and awakens Brittany as he got back. Karl is curious where Peter is so he asks Brittany, “Hey honey do you know where Peter is?”

Brittany responds “I think he is still asleep in his bed.”

Karl goes on in the room to look and answers “No he is not in his bed, he must be somewhere else in the house.”

So Karl and Brittany go throughout the house looking in all the rooms and they come to realize Peter is not in the house. Now at this time fear begins to strike their minds because they both know Peter is not at the stage of his life where he should be going out in to the arctic on his own. Brittany starts to get a little upset and asks Karl “Do you have any idea where Peter might have gone? It is all my fault I should have not been sleeping.” Brittany starts to cry.

Karl responds strongly, “No it is not your fault at all, I will do whatever it takes to find Peter do not worry.”

Karl is now very determined and packs a couple of things to take with him and then gives a goodbye kiss to Brittany and heads out of the house. Karl begins his journey and heads north towards the glacier zone. As he is heading there he is hoping that he does not find his son dead in the frozen water. He begins to pray a little in his head on the way over to the glacier zone, hoping that God will protect his son and also give him direction on where his son may have gone to. He then arrives to the glacier zone and looks around for his son, but he instead discovers a small group of penguins. He walks up to them and asks them, “Excuse me, my son has gone missing have you seen any smaller polar bears lately?”

One of the penguins approaches him, his name is Richard, he replies, “I do believe I have seen another polar bear earlier in the day. I am not sure if it was your son, but he was heading towards the walrus beach zone.”

Karl then thanks Richard for the advice and goes on over to the walrus beach zone. It takes Karl a little while to reach the beach zone but he gets there and does not see his son. However, there are a lot of walruses around so he asks one of the first walruses that come up to him, “Hey, have you seen any other polar bears come through this area?”

The walrus hints at him “Go ask the huge walrus over there” he points over at the other end of the beach zone “His name is Nathan.”

Karl responds by going over to the other side of the beach zone where Nathan the big walrus is at. Nathan on the outside looks very tough and intimidating with his big features. Karl is a little bigger though so Nathan does not scare Karl and Nathan becomes very concerned of what Karl may want. Nathan says “I do not see many polar bears come through here, may I help you?”

Karl responds “Yes, I was wondering if you have seen a smaller polar bear come through here today?”

Nathan replies “Yes, there was one not too long ago” and he pointed to the caves, “He headed over that way, he may still be there.”
Karl quickly thanks Nathan for the advice and frantically heads on up to the caves. As he arrives at the caves he hears some growling nearby. There is a big pack of wolves around some animal and he goes on to realize they are slowly surrounding his son. Karl is filled with anger towards the wolves and takes them on all by himself. One by one he takes out each wolf with a swiping punch from his huge bear paws. Minutes later the wolves are done fighting and most of them are running away, and at that time Karl goes to welcome his son Peter back into his arms. Peter is so happy that his family found him and Karl carries Peter in his arms all the way back home. By the time they arrive back home Rachel and Mike have realized what had happened to Peter and they all welcome him back with lots of love. They go on to tell Peter that this a huge lesson learned early on and they conclude the day by having a welcome home party for Peter.

Character

Most of the time when we decide to hang out with someone we usually do that because we like their character. Throughout reading this chapter on character I realized that there are a lot of things to consider when describing a character. I know I never catch myself thinking of all these things they listed about character in the chapter. Character can come out and express itself either through verbal gestures or non verbal gestures. However, sometimes may judge too quickly on the non verbal gestures someone is giving and think that the person’s character is not right where it should be. And the same can be considered when you ask someone to describe some other person to you.

For example, in the Madam Descartes poem it is someone describing the character of this lady. The person goes very in depth with the description of the lady’s character however the description made me feel like I never want to hang out with a lady like that ever. I thought the description was very well done of the person, and I used that description to figure if I would like to be friends with that person, and I realized that I probably would not. Technically, I would rather try to hang out with a person to find out what their character may be like and make a decision then, than asking a friend to describe their character to me and make a decision on whether or not to hang out with them. I hope that I grew up right where people look at the way I act throughout life and think that I have a good and well defined character. I would probably enjoy it more if people came up to me and wanted to know about me more because of my character, instead of asking how tall I am and if I play basketball. Today a lot of people use stereotypes to define someone’s character, and most of the time there is a lot more to know about someone’s character before you go make a decision on what you think they are like.

Sonnys Blues

Sonnys Blues was a pretty long story, but at the same time it was a good story and very influential to me. The story showed how two brothers could be so different and grow so far apart throughout all the years. I did not like how the brother made a promise to his mother that he would stay close with Sonny, and then break that promise when she died. The part that got to me the most was the part where the mother told her son about what happened to his father’s uncle. The mother also said that her husband could never get on with life after that incident, because he felt like he killed his own brother. As the story went on it looked like the same kind of thing was going to happen a generation later. In my family I have two siblings, a brother and a sister.

After reading this story I never want to get to the point where I am avoiding my brother or sister in the future. I always want to keep a good relationship with each of them throughout my life, I want to support them through all the good and all the bad. Me and my brother are five years apart and I am the older one, so this story spoke to me pretty strongly. When we were younger me and my brother always had those fights here and there, but it never resulted in us completely ignoring each other. I plan to keep that strong relationship with him going on and also with my sister. I think if I ever got to the point where I was ignoring my brother and sister and something really bad happened to them, I do not think I would be able to live with myself for being that stupid and not sorting things out with them. Therefore, this story was very influential, I really liked it, and this story serves as a reminder of what I plan not to do in my future relationship with my brother and sister.

Guide to Blogging

The blogging project is meant to extend our discussion of what we read for class and what we end up doing through a class. The blog is our reflection of what we are reading in class or what we are discussing in class, and how those readings or thoughts relate to us and our lives. The blogging helps me rethink what I may have just read or what we did in our last class, and that helps me remember things we have done or things we have read. Some of the blogs I have just let my thoughts flow and type what I might be thinking of at that moment. However, some I have had to think a little harder and try to find better things to say, because the flowing thoughts technique does not always work for me.

Most things I have read in the past I would probably just read it over once and think about what it was trying to say over reading it just once. The blogging project has helped me focus more on what I am reading and sometimes I may have to read it more than once to get the message of the reading. The poems lately have been the more complex readings for me, just because I cannot comprehend what they are trying to say the first time and I will have to read it over at least two to three times. Those extra times I spend rereading the passages the more memorable it becomes to me, and for the most part I remember most of the things we have read during the semester. The blogging has definitely made me remember most of the readings we have had, and if I just read each reading once and did not have to do a blog I probably would not remember what I have read for this class.

Lilacs

The first time I read through this poem written by Walt Whitman, I had no idea what the author was trying to convey through this poem. However, in the last class we got together in our groups, and we talked on what lines we liked and what lines we were confused on. That discussion helped me understand the poem a little more along with the discussion we had before we split up into groups. Professor Corrigan discussed the history and structure involved with this poem and that really got me started on somewhat understanding the poem. The poem was related with the memorial of President Lincoln, and also described the pain and suffering that went on for those who lost friends and family due to war.

Obviously, if I tried to read it by myself and think what the poem meant I would not have thought the poem would be talking about all that. Some types of literature do not come out clear for us right away. Sometimes we have to either re-read the passage again, or just try and discuss it with someone else that may know what the meaning of it is. I learned the most about this poem throughout all the discussion we had on the poem. There are other people that think more in depth and creatively, so discussion can help bring out ideas from those people and together we can figure what the message of the poem is. I definitely thought that the poem about the onions was a lot easier to decipher than this poem that we just read about the lilacs. Maybe Walt Whitman is a more complex writer than the person who wrote the poem on the onions. Maybe the poem made more sense to me, because it talked about some type of food when Whitman’s was about flowers and other things.

Cemetary

I went to the cemetary with andrew, andy, and heather and we stayed there for atleast 40 minutes. I did not bring a camera with me to take a picture of me at the cemetary, but I have three witnesses that saw I was there.

Onions

The poem written by Naomi Shihab Nye was a very interesting poem written on the topic of onions. The first time I read through the poem I thought it was just a real descriptive poem showing how the onion is treated during its use. When we went through the poem a second time, and we had to pick some lines that we questioned is where I really started to get a different sense of the poem. The second time through I started to think that the poem had to do with a lot more than just onions. However, I still did not know what the author was trying to relate to, so it was good to read through it over a third time. The third time I started to believe that the author was relating onions to the things or people in life that do not get enough credit for what comes from them.

There are a lot of people in the world who do not receive credit for what they do, because either they pass off the credit to other people or people do not realize them enough to give them any credit. This is the main thought I ended up getting from reading this poem, and no matter what there are going to be onions wherever you go. There are going to be people that can be related to steak that absorb all the credit for the success happening, and the onions will be there doing the behind the scenes work that keeps the success going. I think that most of the time the onion people are just too shy where they would be scared to speak up and try to take some credit, so they just let it go and keep working hard. I think this poem does a good job in trying to make us realize the hard working people that no matter what will never get the credit they deserve.

Joel

For our last class we went out and found some place outside where it was silent and reread the Book of Joel out loud. The first time I read the Book of Joel I did not get as much as I did when I went outside and read it aloud to the lake and myself. Sometimes when I read things I like to listen to some music while I do that, and some times I get a lot out of what I read when I listen to music. However, when I read the Book of Joel and listened to music at the same time I did not really get too much out of it. So I guess some readings are meant to be read in silence, and some other readings can be read with distractions and still be appreciated well.

I think that our generation has gotten so accustomed to multi tasking all the time, so we figure as long as we are reading we mine as well listen to some music on the side. In cases like this we do not always appreciate a reading for what it is worth, because we are multi tasking and getting distracted. Therefore, I thought the class exercise was good in showing me that sometimes we have to push aside distractions for a little time in the day, and try and appreciate something that we choose to read. Technology has also done a good job of creating more distractions in our life. It is so easy for us to say that we are going to put aside time in the day to read something meaningful, but we are easily distracted with our computers, phones, I pods, and so on. But, I will plan to get some time each day away from distractions, and try and read something meaningful and appreciate it at the same time.

Book of Joel

After reading the Book of Joel, I just kept realizing how much God was talking about His judgment that is going to come down in the future. If I read this everyday I think I would probably have more of a fear for God, but certain times I realize that I do not have a fear like I should and I do something I will regret later on. So the main topic I got out of this reading was God’s judgment, and how we better be prepared for whenever Christ returns, because God’s judgment will be very strong. They also go into depth on what the last days could be like. They make it seem like the last days are going to be very brutal, and that we should never want to be apart of these last days. This reading is definitely one of those readings that brings up a lot more questions than answers.

For example, are these last days going to feel worse than hell itself? Will we ever receive a warning that the last days are approaching us? I do not think these questions can be answered until the last days come. God does not want us to know these answers, because He would rather have us prepared for Him than worrying about all these questions about the last days. We will never figure out when the last days are coming up. They have attempted to guess when the last days are going to occur and they have failed in it each time. We can just hope that we keep our relationship strong with God, and do all the good we can in His name. Then when we reach those last days He will look at us with a big smile and say “Welcome my child”. At least, that is what I picture God saying to me whenever my life comes to an end on Earth.

The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried was a story written by Tim O’Brien, describing the emotional and physical things the soldiers carried. The soldier that received the most attention in the story was First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Cross was only twenty two years old and was very in love with a girl back in New Jersey, her name was Martha. As the war was going on and Cross’ group was traveling along he would keep getting caught up with all these thoughts of Martha. Those thoughts would leave him totally distracted and make him feel like he was back in New Jersey. However, he was not and some of his troops were killed in those few days. That was probably the wake up call for Cross that he needed to leave his thoughts of Martha behind, move forward and focus himself and his team.

I think in life we all get a little distracted maybe not the same way as Cross did, but something or someone distracts us. In those situations we can become very vulnerable to the world around us and that is not a good position to be in. Jimmy Cross was distracted and was very vulnerable to getting shot down by the enemy, we could get ourselves distracted and get tempted to do something that we will regret. In our relationship with God we have periods in time where we can get a little sidetracked, and at that point the devil is trying to tempt you to sin. Reading this story just made me think that I have to be more aware of things when I get caught up in thoughts, class work, or life. Lately, I have realized that thoughts and class work have been getting the best of me, and I have not spent the time to just focus and plan out what I need to get done.

A Grief Observed

C.S. Lewis does a great job showing all his thoughts going through the mourning of his wife that was lost to cancer. It just goes to show you how depressing it can be for someone when they lose someone they love. I have lost two of my cousins in the past 6 years to leukemia and the other died in a car accident. I was somewhat close with each of them, but I was not close to the point where we knew a ton about each other. I could not imagine what people go through when they lose their husband or wife to cancer. This death that happened in C.S. Lewis’ life pretty much ruined the rest of his life, because he did not get over it and he chose that he did not want to get over it. He believed that it would be disrespectful to H if he tried to move on and get on with his life.

My dad told me that his brother or my uncle married a woman and then in the first few years of their marriage she received cancer and died. My uncle probably mourned for a while, but he ended up going on with life, married again, and now has three children. I never asked my uncle on how he made it through that tough time in his life, but I bet most of it had to do with his relationship with God. I think that if you try and go through a tough time in your life without God, you will probably end up losing yourself and lose your focus in life. I hope that I never have to go through anything like this in my lifetime, but if I do I know that I must rely on God for help otherwise I will lose myself in anger or sadness like C.S. Lewis.

Cafe Dialogue

The past class session we were supposed to bring a piece of literature and talk about it and how it affected you. What I did not realize was that it was supposed to be a book based on fiction and I did not follow the directions. However, our group discussed each of our books and it quickly lead into other topics, and it produced good dialogue. Dialogue for the most part is very productive and it helps a lot in order to gain knowledge from others. Some people learn a lot through listening to people talk, and dialogue helps accomplish that. I consider myself more of a visual learner more than anything, but then I also like to talk things over with someone if I do not know how to do something.

The discussion in our group on Monday went from discussing the books we chose to bring to talking about what happened to Haiti. We all seemed to have an agreement that what happened in Haiti was not God’s judgment on Haiti, but maybe God just showing us that He is still here and He is very powerful. I think that sometimes God will use things like hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters in order to remind everyone that there is a God, or maybe He has a plan to work through that situation. I think that everything happens for a reason and I believe God has a plan to work through Haiti and this may be the way where He starts His action. There may be people that disagree with the thoughts I have on Haiti, but I still believe God has a reason for all this that has happened. I pray that Haiti recovers from the destruction quickly and I also hope God works through Haiti as well.

Post Three

The story Happy Endings was a short story I recently read written by Margaret Atwood. The story was very straight forward and right to the point. The author provided many realistic scenarios that happen throughout some peoples’ lives, and it makes you hope your life does not turn out like any of those scenarios. Throughout life we all watch these movies and read some books that show these fair tale like stories, and we get consumed with living that certain way when for the most part it usually does not go that way. So when you read this story it helps you realize that these stories are a whole lot more realistic, than the movies or books illustrate all the time. I do not think I have run into any stories that the author listed here, but I have heard of some many weird or trouble some stories from friends in the past.

Stories like these bring you back to the real world and give you a more realistic understanding of what people go through in their lives. If more people are more exposed to reality it helps them give them more knowledge on what and what not to do when a certain situation that may pop up. I know I have learned from mistakes I have made in the past and mistakes I have seen from my friends and family. Sometimes people want to isolate themselves so much from reality that whenever they get out of that bubble they have created, they do not handle the situation correctly and usually fold under pressure. I also know that when I may get myself into a situation that I may have never been in before, I realize that God can help me through it if I fully trust in Him. In the past I have been caught where I think I will not need God and I can figure it out myself, but I get proven wrong again and again.

Post Two

This story showed some of the many things people talk about when they talk about love. These two couples were in a somewhat kind of drunken mode, so they would start talking about love and then go off on a tangent. Most of the focus in the story was put on the couple of Mel and Terri. Both Mel and Terri are now in their second marriage, and because of that they have a more negative view on love. The other couple of Laura and Nick have been married shortly and they view love very positively. Mainly the story features Mel and Terri arguing on what love really is and what is not love. People can definitely get the wrong impression of love if they go through a relationship like Terri did. Love is not about beating your wife, and after enough beatings some women like Terri actually believe that may be an act of love, and that is ridiculous. Love is being emotionally and physically attracted to someone, beating someone is associated with hate, not love. There are probably a lot of people out in the world like Terri that believe getting treated harshly by their husband or wife is some type of love they are showing them, but they are totally wrong. Corinthians 13:4 states that “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” Notice that the verse did not state love is about treating someone harshly or saying bad things to them. I thought the story did a good job showing some of the views on love that people get from their lives and experience with love.

Post One

My earliest memories of literature go back to when my mom read me those Berenstein Bear books before I would go to sleep. Another book I really remember is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I remember that one a lot because my name is Alex and the book pretty much made me feel a lot better when it was read to me. I also loved trains when I was little so pretty much any story that had to do something with a train would get my attention. As I have gotten older I have lost an appreciation for reading different books, and I mainly just read when I am required to for the most part. The last book I read with an appreciation was the latest Tony Dungy book and that really taught me some things. I love sports so i will read the Sports Illustrated magazines and the sports section of a newspaper, because it appeals to me. The most significant literary text I have probably read is the Bible. No matter what you are going through if you take time to read some of the Bible you will usually get something out of it, and apply it to your life. Some literature is there for you to learn concepts and ideas, and some literature is just there for you to look over and reflect on it. For example, in poems you usually read through it and you reflect on the words selected in the poem and try to figure out what the author was trying to convey through the poem. In the Bible you read through trying to find answers and more knowledge, so you can make better decisions in your life and go down the correct path that God has provided you. So, literature has a lot of different meanings.