Just Eight Short Weeks

While taking Mrs. Laura Cline's English 102 summer course I was not expecting to learn all that I did.  I felt that I had a grasp on what was considered modern technology until this recent summer.  Blogging was something that I heard about but never attempted to do, my web cam is something that came with my computer but was never used.  What an eyeopener I had in store for me with this class.  Technology was a crucial portion of this class and without the ability to utilize and learn this I probably would of failed.  I feel that the style of teaching was very beneficial to me because now I have the knowledge to use this information towards future courses.  This English class is the last required one for my degree, but I do like to write poetry so I might take a creative writing class in the future.  Now I can create blog pages, xtranormal movies, and all other creative ways to express my feelings and work.  English is a part of everyone's career no matter what the road may lead to because the task of conversation or the need to write is always used regardless of occupation.
The required readings for this course were pleasantly enjoyable just for the pure fact of them not being 500 page text style.  The poetry of witness was extraordinary and very interesting. This collection of readings allowed us as students/readers to associate our personal life to those that were written by various authors.  I now look at poetry differently because of Mrs. Cline's teaching which should how to read between the lines.  We read a variety of poems through the collection of poetry of witness as well as an analysis of how to break apart poems to better understand.  Poetry has always been appealing to me but to read someone else work and be able to relate it to personal issues.  While reading "Immigrants In Our Own Land" written by Jimmy Baca I decided to choose this poem to relate to because I have some family relations to the incarceration issues that Baca addressed.  Also I found this poem very interesting because it was not until half way through that I discovered what the poem was truly revealing, the life of an inmate.   
Learning will be something that will always continue to grow.  The outcomes that were outlined in the syllabus were simply stated and the expectations were clear.  I feel that I personally have met what was requested by our instructor and the outcomes were accomplished.  I respect that Mrs. Cline responded quickly to e-mails and gave feedback on all assignments.  I believe that I have met the learning requirements by embracing the necessity of modern technology such as blogging and doing an entire course on-line.
Writtng has always been some what of a challenge for me because I just write what I feel and what I think and some times do not worry about the grammatical issues that are very prudent for success.  Prior to this course I wrote what was the bare minimum and wrote things in my own interpretation, which is okay but was difficult for others to understand.  Poetry was always a hot spot for me because I like the way it flowed, but now I have a better ability to write it because of the materials given during this course.
At the beginning of this course I was not to sure if I would stay afloat, not because of what was requested but the way it needed to be submitted.  I was very nervous doing the introduction and filming myself and it actually took several attempts to get the light right and to have my two kids stay quite while I filmed.  It finally got to the point of spending 3 hours to record a simple 2-3 minute film.  I was not happy with one so I would re-record, this happened to many times, but I accomplished what needed to be done.  I have never seen blogger let alone create my own prior to this course and was very intimidated by the whole situation.  Obliviously I was able to overcome my fear of the unknown and move forward.  Adding links was something that I had to review the first few weeks of this course because just as I thought I grasped the concept when it came time to place my knowledge into action I failed.  Just as the little engine that could I did not give up and tried, tried again.
This was my very first summer course and I must admit it was pleasant.  It is great to know that I was able to do what takes a whole semester to accomplish in just eight short weeks :).  This is just the beginning of the road to my education and feel confident that what I learned over summer break will help me in many other classes because now I am a little more savvy on the technical aspect of college.

Bibliography

Works Cited

Frost, Adam. ": O'Brien, Tim, 1946-." Literature Online biography. Web. 14 Jul 2011. <http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2003&xri:pqil:res_ver=0.2&r es_id=xri:lion-us&rft_id=xri:lion:rec:ref:3979>.

In this article that I discovered through the Yavapai College Library catalog under proquest I found it to be useful for my essay because it is more of a background of who Tim O’Brien is.  I felt that this would benefit my paper because it will allow me to see what his life was growing up.  This aspect of Tim will give me the opportunity to see what inspired him to write the way he did.  It will also guide me as a reader to decipher his underlying message in his literature.

O'Brien, Tim. Contemporary Literature.  Interview by Martin Naparsteck. Vol. 32, No. 1, spring, 1991. 1-11. Print. 15 Jul 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1208335>.

This was a completely different approach to this research. I felt instead of going with the basic written summary or literature analysis of Tim’s work an interview would be much more personable.  Anyone can sit down and write pages upon pages of why they think authors write what they do or who they fell gave them the inspiration to become writers, but to get an actual copy of an interview is much more understanding.  Of course the interview was done in the Spring of 1991 shortly after the publishing of his book so the information is not as current as it could be but it is a different approach on a piece of literature.

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. 2009. New York New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. 37-58. Print.

Of course this text is going to be included because it is the primary source for this essay J

"The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 305. Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2011. 248-322. Literature Criticism Online. Gale. Yavapai College. 14 July 2011.

A criticism is always a good way to look at an essay.  This allows us the readers to see another person’s viewpoint.  This article was very long but went into depth about a variety of aspects relating to Tim O’Brien and his reasoning for writing about war.  I feel that this source will give me a variety of angles to approach my essay on.  To critic an essay or a story you need to be very open minded as well as diverse in a variety of ways, so to have a person pick apart the who, what here, why and how of Tim it will let me pick at what they believe which in turn will give a different light of what is being written.

Image found @ http://www.americanhits.org/websites/Ali/30draft.htm

 “My conscience told me to run, but some irrational and powerful force was resisting, like a weight pushing me toward the war.  What it came down to, stupidly, was a sense of shame” (52 Obrien).
While reading this short story I chose this quote because it is an appropriate emotion that many people experienced when they received their draft to fight in the war.  It is sad to think that the young men back during the Vietnam war had no choice of going, it was something that needed to be done for their country.  Tim was a young man that worked day to day in a slaughter house.  The only blood that was shed was that of the pigs he washed.  He was not a solider nor did he believe that this war that was taking place benefited anyone.  As a youth he protested the idea of war at school and wrote papers to editors.  Being drafted was not part of his plan so when receiving that dreadful notice the idea to flee was brilliant, but was it.  He followed through with the idea of leaving and crossing into Canada but rested at the border in a lodge.  This is the part of the story that made me appreciate the quote because his mind told him that fleeing was the best way to go about things, but pride played a role.  Tim did not want to let down the people he loved and disrespect his country.  Since he had that resistance that is what made him not leave into Canada and stick out the draft that was requested among him.  Emotions are very important in this collection of stories because this compilation contains war stories.  No matter what type of person you are the war effects people daily weather it be personal or someone they know it will hit home eventually. 

The website below discusses more about the draft during Vietnam War
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/deploymentsconflicts/l/bldrafthistory.htm

The Similarites of Two viewpoints

Picture Came from this website http://www.centrum.org/writing/2009/07/memorys-vault.html
Mr. Sam Hamill clearly states what poetry can mean without the rhythm and mumble jumble that readers think a poems needs in order to be a master piece.  I feel he is accurate when saying that writing is a form of human communication but i must say that this is just one minor form of communication.  To me emotions and the ability to express them even if it is not just on paper is a huge part of communicating.  Hamill made a great impression to me when he said "A true poet, someone once said, is often faced with the difficult task of telling people what they already know and do not want to hear"(Hamill 547).  This is very true to most poetry but not all.  Poems are not always a negative way of expression although most seem to have that demeanor about them.  I think some of the best poetry is those about real people and real events.  Stating peoples names and giving them a character is a hard part of any written work but as Hamill says this allows the reader to establish a relationship with the character of the poem or piece of written work.  I believe too that "Knowledge is the loss of innocence"(Hamill 550).  To those who know everything innocence is a bliss and the unknown is not very fun.  Most people would like to shelter their loved ones from harm and almost put blinders on them to protect them from the harsh worlds truth, but that does not allow individual growth.  The truth is scary at times but is also amazing.  We need not to hide from the world but learn from what it delivers.  Hamill did a great job to allow his readers to better understand what poetry can mean and how to decipher the unknown that is being written.

This is the poetry foundation website where you can view a variety of poetry http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

Carolyn Forche looked more on the realm of poetry in forms of political and personal.  Politics in general are a very touchy subject so to write about them seems pretty brave.  I appreciate how Carolyn uses the word prejudice when relating to poetry, because if a person does not have an open mind when reading someone else work it makes it difficult to understand.  Social aspects of poetry is an angle that i never really though that much about but when reading Poetry of witness it allowed me to see that if a person is very involved with the social aspect of life a poem may be hard to interpret or even understand.  Poetry can be very blunt and even seem forceful if the author has that tone, but then again it is up to the reader how s/he wants to hear it.  I respect how the author Carolyn has accumulated poetry for over a decade and approached her publisher to print this collection of work.  This is a great way to view the world through other peoples eyes.  It is almost as though you are tela-ported to that area and place in time if the author gives details, tone, place etc.  She is a very strong author and her word choice is amazing.  The thought of what she created and allowed any reader to have access to is great.  The experiences that are caught on paper is a moment that can be shared for eternity.  An English professor once told my wife write for you, not because it is an assignment or something you have to do, but to allow those in the future to hold a piece of you locked in time forever.  Writing is a talent but anyone can do it.  It is not all about grammar and structure (although this is very important) but the experience you are sharing
I feel that the ideas that both of these authors shared have just laid a new path of the writing process.  It relates very closely with the poems that were read and written about last week because they too experienced moments that inspired them to write about which i have now decided that most poetry is that of a witness.

The Emotions of Words

While reading the poetry of witness collection there were many things wondering throughout my mind while trying to interpret the meanings for people to write such creative words. One of the pieces that i was able to connect the most with was entitled "Immigrants in Our Own Land" written by Jimmy Baca. It starts out with a positive first line which i believed is what grabbed me right away We are born with dreams in our hearts, (Line 1 Baca) At first when reading this poem i thought it was in regards to maybe a Concentration camp due to the lines stating we are given overalls like mechanics wear. We are given shots and doctors ask questions(Line 5 & 6 Baca) .  It goes on further to discuss the new land that they live in. It was not until the second grouping that it became clear this was no concentration camp this was prison. The dead give away was the segregation of race. This poem has accurately described the harsh world of incarceration. i myself have not been incarcerated, but have heard many stories from my family members of what it is like. This poem depicts what the life of a person living in a rough neighborhood may experience by saying 

• We came here to get away from false promises, from dictators in our neighborhoods, who wore blue suits and broke our doors down when they wanted, arrested us when they felt like, swinging clubs and shooting guns as they pleased (Line 33-37 Baca). 

This is a clear depiction of the ghetto and a day to day experience that people who lived in this area witnessed. The closure of the poem is as well a very accurate description of what happens if you are released and how the person who entered that gate many moons ago is not the same when they depart.  

• Some will make it out of here with hate in their eyes, but so very few make it out of here as human as they came in, they leave wondering what good they are now as they look at their hands so long away from their tools, as they look at themselves, so long gone from their  families, so long gone from life itself, so many things have changed (Line65-70 Baca).

Here is a link from Wikipedia that gives a generalization of incarceration and the statistics that are involved



The second poem that was touching to me was "Compendium of Lost Objects" by Nicole Cooley. This poem was a clear vision of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina that left many people without a place to call home. It was emotional to read because it discussed what was felt from the heart right away. The starting line is Not the butterfly wing, the semiprecious stones, the shard of mirror (Line 1 & 2 Cooley).  I interrupted that the author was not concerned about the materialistic items in life but the memories that were now washed away by water and winds. The visualization that was given was excellent. I was able to close my eyes and see what the author was describing just by the power of words. Katerina was something that did not effect my family on a personal level, but the trauma that it caused was enough to make anyone feel that the people who suffered were family. The line that states ...a kitchen clock stopped at the time the hurricane hit (Line 20 Cooley). allowed me to create a picture in my mind of a family sitting around the table eating lunch unaware of what was coming, then to have their belongings and memories swept away without a moments notice. This poem touched me because if something were to happen to myself or loved one words would never be able to be put on paper for others to read because my heart would not be able to tell the story of what happened. This author was amazing at depicting the tragedy of this hurricane and i commend them on their ability to express so simple the event that occurred.
Image of Katrinas devastation found @ http://evanstextbook.wikispaces.com/Hurricane+Katrina

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