Zora Neal Hurston’s romance novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God follows the journey of Janie Mae Crawford in her search for true love.
Janie’s journey to find true love leads her through multiple marriages with happy, sad, and emotionless times in each. Her journey starts at the age of 17 when Janie’s grandmother marries her out to the middle-aged Logan Killicks who owns 60-acres of land. Janie is forced to stay at home and do field work all day. She does not love him and quickly leaves the marriage to run off with Jody Starks. She soon marries Mr. Starks, but after twenty years of routine life she realizes she does not love him. He dies after twenty years of a loveless marriage. One year after his death she meets Tea Cake. For the first time in her life she is experiencing the joy and excitement of true love.
Changes began to occur in Janie as she went from marriage to marriage. At first she was rebellious but still obeyed, but by the time the second marriage was settled she was obedient to her husband at all times. When Tea Cake came around she was filled with excitement and love that came through mutual respect. In her search she becomes independent and content with being alone after Tea Cake died. Her search is over; she has experienced the greatness of true love.
The love Janie searches for throughout the book is not one gained through marriage and based on obedience. The love she longed for was based on mutual respect and trust that can only be gained through a deep connection between two people.
Love transpires when it is least expected to appear. The search for love can be short or long, but at some point in life, good timing or bad timing, love comes knocking on everyone’s door.
Grade: 8
Monday, January 14, 2008
Essay 1- Ordinary People
Judith Guest’s moving novel, Ordinary People illustrates the devastation resulting from the loss of a loved one. Conrad Jarrett demonstrates the difficulties associated with death.
Conrad and his older brother, Buck, were very close. They would do everything together; a boating trip was not unusual to either of them. When a large storm came a flipped the boat over both fought hard for their lives, and Buck lost his fight. This devastating accident of Buck’s passing causes Conrad to become depressed and blame himself for surviving.
This depression causes Conrad to take a razor blade and slice both arteries in his forearms in an attempt to commit suicide. His parent’s find him and call an ambulance. He survives and is sent to spend a year in a psychological ward. When Conrad is released from the hospital, he goes back to school a different person. His experience caused him to become antisocial and reserved. The death of his one and only brother affects Conrad in ways that cannot be predicted.
Conrad’s struggle to gain beck what he has emotionally lost is one of self-allowance. He must learn how to allow himself to feel emotion in order to forgive himself for the suicide he attempted and for the drowning of his brother he had no control over. His difficulties show how hard it is to endure such a sudden loss of someone close.
Guest uses Conrad as a way to express the pain and suffering one goes through during emotional times. The loss of someone close can be hard, but with endurance and strength the moment will pass.
Grade: 8.5
Conrad and his older brother, Buck, were very close. They would do everything together; a boating trip was not unusual to either of them. When a large storm came a flipped the boat over both fought hard for their lives, and Buck lost his fight. This devastating accident of Buck’s passing causes Conrad to become depressed and blame himself for surviving.
This depression causes Conrad to take a razor blade and slice both arteries in his forearms in an attempt to commit suicide. His parent’s find him and call an ambulance. He survives and is sent to spend a year in a psychological ward. When Conrad is released from the hospital, he goes back to school a different person. His experience caused him to become antisocial and reserved. The death of his one and only brother affects Conrad in ways that cannot be predicted.
Conrad’s struggle to gain beck what he has emotionally lost is one of self-allowance. He must learn how to allow himself to feel emotion in order to forgive himself for the suicide he attempted and for the drowning of his brother he had no control over. His difficulties show how hard it is to endure such a sudden loss of someone close.
Guest uses Conrad as a way to express the pain and suffering one goes through during emotional times. The loss of someone close can be hard, but with endurance and strength the moment will pass.
Grade: 8.5
Prompt 2- Their Eyes Were Watching God
The search for something great such as fame, fortune, and love, among others, can lead a person through a great journey. Chose a novel in which a character, in search for greatness and is led on a long journey and how it relates to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Prompt 1- Ordinary People
The death of a close friend or family member may have devistating affects to the people who experienced the loss. Chose a novel in which a death of a close friend or family member occurs. Then, write an essay describing the affect it has on a character and how it relates to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Survey
I Do enjoy using blogs in the class, but sometimes the blogs need to be posted at home and my computer at home is slow an it is very difficult for me to post my responses.
I do not use blogs for any other classes.
I like that when he is not here we can use the blog to communicate, but I do not like the time frame we get when a post is due.
The blog is fairly easy to use now, but in the beginning I had difficulties.
I don't wish any of my other classes would use blogs because I mainly have math and science classes, so it would be difficult to do a blog.
I do have Internet access at home,but we have dial up so it is very slow and very difficult to post my responses.
I usually write them at home even though it is difficult because we don't normally get class time to post.
I learn better by doing handwritten assignments.
I do not have another blog, myspace, or facebook.
I do not use blogs for any other classes.
I like that when he is not here we can use the blog to communicate, but I do not like the time frame we get when a post is due.
The blog is fairly easy to use now, but in the beginning I had difficulties.
I don't wish any of my other classes would use blogs because I mainly have math and science classes, so it would be difficult to do a blog.
I do have Internet access at home,but we have dial up so it is very slow and very difficult to post my responses.
I usually write them at home even though it is difficult because we don't normally get class time to post.
I learn better by doing handwritten assignments.
I do not have another blog, myspace, or facebook.
Dead Poets Society
(I missed the first day of the movie so my response will not be 100% accurate) My rating is a 7.
The movie was not completely clear, to me whethere or not conformily was a good thing ar if individuality was a good thing. It did touch on both subjects and did convince me that many people in a persons life will have an influence on them, but the person needs to differentiate betwwen the good advice and the bad.
In the movie we were introduced to many different poets. Also, when "Captin" takes the student and tells him that everyone can write poetry and hads him stand up in the front of the class and verbally write a poem, convinced me that we all can write and understand poetry.
I would show this movie in future classes, because it gives a break to the ordinary work and we still are learning the same themes and topics that we would if we did the normal work we do everyday.
The movie was not completely clear, to me whethere or not conformily was a good thing ar if individuality was a good thing. It did touch on both subjects and did convince me that many people in a persons life will have an influence on them, but the person needs to differentiate betwwen the good advice and the bad.
In the movie we were introduced to many different poets. Also, when "Captin" takes the student and tells him that everyone can write poetry and hads him stand up in the front of the class and verbally write a poem, convinced me that we all can write and understand poetry.
I would show this movie in future classes, because it gives a break to the ordinary work and we still are learning the same themes and topics that we would if we did the normal work we do everyday.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Poetry Prompt 1
Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel, Brave New World depicts the result of the past in the present. John the Savage exemplifies how the past can affect the present.
John the Savage was raised differently than the children in the brave new world. He was brought up on an Indian Reservation in New Mexico. This Reservation was filthy and the people there wore rages, had science, history, and families, and were without technology. Those children raised in the brave new world had technology, no family, history, or science, and they would buy new clothes when they were ripped. John the Savage is different from others because he was naturally born. On the other hand, both of his parents were genetically engineered, therefore, genetically he is normal, but he has a mother and a father.
John's beliefs were formed through him being brought up on the Reservation. John the Savage attempts to get away from the Indian Reservation to go see the brave new world and to meet his father for the first time. While John is in the brave new world, he realizes the differences between the Reservation he was raised on and this new, technological based society. John does not understand the customs and actions of the people in this society. He isolates himself and eventually commits suicide because he can not fit in. His beliefs do not match those of this community. His beliefs were formed when he was a child back on the Reservation and can not be changed.
John's isolation and suicide, resulting from his past, signify the difficulties of changing customs and actions once one has become accustom to certain ways of life. While being raised in a community where all were naturally born, John the Savage was taught the differences between right and wrong according to that society, but the differences between right and wrong are not the same for every society. Promiscuity exemplifies the difference in morals between the two societies. The brave new world encourages this while the Reservation looks down upon it. A person can not change who they are through moving. Once an identity has been established, it can not be changed.
John the Savage's past affects who he is today. It is likely, if he had been raised in the brave new world, he would have been different. His beliefs and morals learned from his past make up who he is today.
John the Savage was raised differently than the children in the brave new world. He was brought up on an Indian Reservation in New Mexico. This Reservation was filthy and the people there wore rages, had science, history, and families, and were without technology. Those children raised in the brave new world had technology, no family, history, or science, and they would buy new clothes when they were ripped. John the Savage is different from others because he was naturally born. On the other hand, both of his parents were genetically engineered, therefore, genetically he is normal, but he has a mother and a father.
John's beliefs were formed through him being brought up on the Reservation. John the Savage attempts to get away from the Indian Reservation to go see the brave new world and to meet his father for the first time. While John is in the brave new world, he realizes the differences between the Reservation he was raised on and this new, technological based society. John does not understand the customs and actions of the people in this society. He isolates himself and eventually commits suicide because he can not fit in. His beliefs do not match those of this community. His beliefs were formed when he was a child back on the Reservation and can not be changed.
John's isolation and suicide, resulting from his past, signify the difficulties of changing customs and actions once one has become accustom to certain ways of life. While being raised in a community where all were naturally born, John the Savage was taught the differences between right and wrong according to that society, but the differences between right and wrong are not the same for every society. Promiscuity exemplifies the difference in morals between the two societies. The brave new world encourages this while the Reservation looks down upon it. A person can not change who they are through moving. Once an identity has been established, it can not be changed.
John the Savage's past affects who he is today. It is likely, if he had been raised in the brave new world, he would have been different. His beliefs and morals learned from his past make up who he is today.
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