Imbedding Links

You can make your blog more interesting by imbedding a link to other sights or bloggs.

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Online learning

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I really appreciated being able to take online classes this semester. Taking online classes can meant the difference between being able to work your normal hours at work and still be able to see your family and having to miss work and hours spent in class that you would normally spend with your family. With an online class everyone has equal voice, in a classroom setting possibly one or two people can hog the floor and the teachers attention. With an online class every one has equal access to the teacher as well for questions and help. In class classes might be helpful for some people who need someone to organize their time for them.  

The benefits of taking an English class online can be varied. First of all you have easier access to all the information you will need, everything you need for assignments and all the links you might use to research your work can be found right in one spot, on the blackboard. Second if you arrange your time correctly you can insure that your schooling is not taking up your entire life and keeping you from the other important things you must take care of. Online classes are an easy way to fit schooling into your life now.Taking English online might be a bit more challenging than a classroom because you need to figure out how to navigate the sight and the Internet to be able to complete the majority of your assignments.

I enjoyed using technology in this class. It is a great thing to learn. I think I appreciate being able to set up and maintain a blog the most of all the things I learned. I feel that I will probably continue to blog after this class is done. It is an interesting way to keep track of different things transpiring in your private and professional life. There are many things we learned to implement to keep our blogs interesting and to keep us interested. I appreciate being able to implant videos and photos on my blog. I also like knowing how to add photos making them legal and adding links. All of these are great tools to have on hand and will be made use of in the future.

 

Objectives, Books and other things

In English 102 I have learned to Blog. I think blogging can be a very important skill to know. I plan on using Blogging in the future to remember things that happened and things I want to keep track of in life and more importantly in the workplace. I am happy that I learned to add photos and links to make my blog more interesting. I really appreciated having others read my blog and add questions and comments. Some people added ideas and I thought that was a great aspect of the blogging part of class.

I found the readings to be frustrating. They mostly are just not what I usually read and I read quite avidly. I’m not sure what I wanted from them, maybe more classic novels. On the other hand maybe that would be of less interest for a greater percent of the class. Maybe some part of me feels the loss of just enjoying a piece of work when it must be read and reread and analyzed and taken apart.

I am not sure according to the comments on the last paper that I really have accomplished reaching the learning outcomes for this class. I did however make good progression towards writing much more focused statements, acquiring skills for organization, selecting details, evaluating written information, and evaluating and analyzing writing. I enjoyed reading other students writings and trying to critique them and give them positive input that might help them in writing their paper. I also enjoyed knowing where everyone was at in the class and how they felt about the different aspects of the class including the readings and the blogging.


Analyzing book and movies was a new aspect that helped me broaden my abilities. Usually I read a book and see the movie and my friends and I pick apart what the differences were and what we liked or disliked about the both of them. This was great because it created a stage for really focusing on the why of the differences and basing a claim for why as opposed to just summarizing.

I feel my writing process has changed because this class has caused me to slow down and think about what I’m writing and really analyze what the reader is going to feel or think when the read my writings. I also work a crazy amount and I have learned to write a great deal of my papers in my head throughout the day and then commit them to paper when I have a moment. This is new to me as I haven’t in the past thought much about what I would write until I sat down to write it.

The greatest challenges in the class were learning all the technology for this class in particular and what it takes in general to take online classes. This was overcome but jumping in and just doing it. I appreciated all of Laura’s tutorials on line they were an amazing help to me. I also found the Yavapai college online tutorials to be helpful. I was very grateful for all the help from the online tutors as well. I felt they were very positive and helped me with great input for my papers.

Up in the Air, comparison Draft 1

Carli Crowley

English 102

Laura Cline

                                                      “Up in the Air”

      The author creates an interesting lifestyle relationships for Ryan in his book “Up in the Air”. Ryan seems to have the fairly typical relationship of men lost in their relationships with women. He loves his mom, lying to her about where he’s at so as not to worry her. He worries about his ex wife and wonders what went wrong. He cares for his little sister wanting to save here and help her out in life. He gets that his older sister is the glue that holds his family, but he doesn’t let her boss him around. Ryan in the movies seems to have more the standard Hollywood portrayal relationship with women.

      In the book Ryan had an ex wife. He didn’t seem particularly regretful about the end of their relationship. Some of his thoughts on the relationship do point to how he felt confused by it. He still cares for her and asks about her. He seems happy for her that she got what she wanted and was able to have her home and children. He feels like the fault was his and her current husband is genetically superior to him. The movie has Ryan completely without an ex wife, never having been married. The movie portrays Ryan as selfish and completely without desire to ever be married or have children. Ryan is portrayed this way to prepare you for the big Hollywood fall for Alex.

      Alex of the book is fairly portrayed by Alex of the movie. The only exception to this portrayal being her end game and motives. Ryan of the book likes Alex for who she is he appreciates her and her place in his life. He doesn’t ask for more or lead her on to believe there is more to their relationship than there actually is. She of all people in his life probably understands him best. Ryan doesn’t believe in love or marriage in the movie but of course he ends up falling for Alex and breaking “Airworld” code by going to her home. He falls in “love”. In order for there to be a movie you have to believe in love, and it will eventually catch you. You have to believe this because that is the Hollywood way.

      Julie is Ryan’s little sister. In the book he loves Julie very much. Ryan and Julie have a fairly good relationship. He talks about her being born and how everyone wanted to adore her and how he was always adored by her. Ryan is always in his mind there for Julie. When she freaks out Ryan is the one to take her off on an adventure. He is sensitive about what she will enjoy; take for instance the continental buffet in the gold club member’s lounge. He also understands that she is passive and realizes that his arguing with the airline front desk assistant clearly makes her extremely uncomfortable.  In the movie his older sister says “You are never here for her or us, you are practically dead to us as a family” (Reitman). This is needed to portray Ryan as an uncaring, selfish, person who has no love or desire for anyone other than himself. In this way it prepares you for the world hardened, selfish mans big fall in love.

      In the book Kara is the older sister. She gets the exact same introduction in both the movie and the book, “She is the glue that holds the family together” (Reitman, Kirn 208). In the movie Ryan respects her and admires her and her family and husband. He doesn’t want to choose for himself her solid grounded way of life, but he sees it for what it is and values it for what it offers the individual. Ryan is used to her trying to take the older sister tone of voice with him and tries to boss him around. He loves her and respects her, but he refuses to let her boss him around or influence him to do the things that he doesn’t want to do. She is unable to manipulate him. His relationship with Kara of the movie is fairly underdeveloped in the movie. Kara is a small character that doesn’t do much for the plot of the movie. Unlike the Kara of the book who holds him grounded to his family, the Kara of the movie is insignificant in light of the romance that is starting to develop around Alex and Ryan.

      Ryan has a fairly typical relationship with his mom. He answers the phone when she calls. He calls her sometimes, when he feels he should. He feels she is a little overbearing and in some ways he feels uncomfortable with her new relationship with his step dad. He lies to her about where he goes and exactly what it is that he does. In Ryan’s mind he does this for her own good because he knows she worries about him so much already. If she knew all the ins and outs of his life and the work he did she would just worry even more. Ryan’s mom in the movie is non-existent. The reason she doesn’t really exist in the movie other than a few lines about her racism and relationship, is because you can’t have a loving mother and son relationship when you are trying to develop your character as a man hardened by the world. A man who doesn’t believe in love or committed relationship isn’t the same person saddened by the loss of his father and his mother moving on to a new relationship.

Who is Natalie? Natalie is not in the book. She is a character completely created by the makers of the movie. This character is added to the movie to show a contrast in Ryan. He is the older wizened, hardened road warrior. She is he younger innocent, love stricken woman. She was introduced to be everything Ryan in the movie doesn’t believe in. She is the one who shows him just what he has in Alex. She is the one that really helps Ryan change his ways and realize that you love or you are nothing. Ryan’s relationship with Natalie is somewhat similar to his relationship with Julie in the book. He takes her under his wing. He is somewhat flabbergasted by her naiveté but doesn’t really judge her for it. He takes the route of showing her where she is wrong and letting her see for herself what the world and their work is like. In the end he does the ultimate of good deeds and insures she gets the job she wants in California by contacting her soon to be boss and highly recommending her. Natalie is the one that shows Ryan that life is nothing if you don’t have love and someone to share it with. If Ryan Bingham of the book were to have a Natalie in the book with him he would probably offer to take her out to dinner. He would spend some time talking to her and then probably offer to sleep with her. Whether they did or not he would then go on flying around and not be too concerned with the outcome. She would be another person he met and knew on the level he set for himself.

      Ryan Bingham of the book “Up in the Air” has an interesting relationship with the woman around him. He loves his mother and sisters and has a developed past with them. He knows where he stands in his family and he feels comfortable in the way he has built up the relationships of those in his family into his adult years. He knows that in times of struggle or depression that he can count on his family to be there for him. They in turn realize that he is there for them as well. When something befalls either party they know they can call each other for support. They know they will have a place to land in times of trouble. The Ryan Bingham of the movie has a very undeveloped relationship with the women around him. Because the movie is mostly based on his and Alex’s relationship and something of Nicole’s influence on him there is very little room to delve very deeply into any other relationships he may have formed. In the Hollywood version you have to believe in love and experience it to experience life. In the book version Ryan believes in life itself. The Ryan of the, movie was lost when he found Alex wasn’t his true love and she had been living a front. Ryan of the book says “ I may have met my soul mate tonight although I know not which one she was”(Kirn 310). The book and the movie differ in their goals in Ryan’s life the movie centered on a love story with Alex and the book centered on Ryan his way of life and the women who influenced him.

Up in the Air. Dir. Jason Reitman. Perf. George Clooney, Vera Farmiga,and Anna Kendrick.
     Paramount, 2009. Film.
Kirn Walter. Up in the Air. New York: Doubleday, 2001. Print.

Thesis "Up in the air"

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                            The author creates an interesting contrast in Ryan. Ryan lives in a world where he feels compelled to interact with the women around him. He has a different relationship with all of the women in his life. He lies to his mother and his older sister about where he is at. He lies because he feels they desire solidity and this is the only way he knows how to give it to them. He worries throughout the book about his ex wife and the ending of their relationship. He sleeps with airline attendatnts and other women he ends up traveling with. Throughout this all though he doesn't lie to these women about his intentions. Ryan seems like a typical man in dealing with women. He trys to placate his mother and is willing to take advantage of what is offered to him.

Airborne

The plane dipped as it hit another group of clouds the lightning and the rain were all around. Most of the passengers gripped their armrests in white faced fear. The lights flickered in the cabin and one could hear breaths caught all around. The captain came on over the speakers "please remain calm everyone we are just encountering a small storm and will be passing through it shortly. Our landing time still remains the same and we should be landing in about an hour. It is a cool 62 degrees in Denver and lightly raining”. The plane bounced again and the old people across the aisle looked each other in the face and held hands with their hands that weren’t death gripped on the chairs. People with children held them tightly and the four year old towards the front started to cry.

People feared for their lives no matter what the pilot said, no matter how comforting the air stewards tried to be, fear was in the air. The plane jolted around and an overhead compartment flew open luggage spilled from above barely missing the nervous gentleman clutching his traveling pillow close.

The plane finally began to descend the turbulence became worse, the luggage that had fallen from above slid back and forth in the aisle. People seemed on the verge of terror. No one cried out it seemed as if the screams were locked in the back of their throats. The plane made one final jolt and the wheels came out and the brakes screamed and the plane touched the ground. Everyone thrown back against their seats, looks of terror on their face, slowly changing to looks of relief as the plane painfully ground to a halt in front of the terminal. Passengers looked around at each other as if thankful to be alive. The seatbelt light turned off and the steward's voice came over the air. "Welcome to Denver, we hope you enjoyed your flight, thank you for choosing us, have a great day"!

Letter to the editor.

Professor Cline,

My biggest challenge of this class so far has been how inadequate I feel at writing papers. It is hard to be motivated about assignments when you are pretty sure your writing sucks! I really struggled with all of the technology required in the beginning just to get started in the class. With that in mind I got a little behind in the beggining and I am proud that I have been able to bring my grade up to a B during the first part of the course.
Honestly I love to read and when I have the time I read a great deal. The main way that the readings for the class have effected me have been to irritate me in reading something that I have no interest in whatsoever when I have a pile of books beside my bed that I would really love to have the time to delve into.
I have enjoyed literary analysis very much. I enjoy being able to look into a writing and find the meaning of it. Sometimes I struggle with the idea that any writing could have a muliple of meanings. In reality no one really knows what the author was expressing without a written expression from the author about the text. I think it could be taken in many ways depending on the reader and I find it uncomfortable expressing the authors intent with out really knowing it.
I would really like to write a paper I could be proud of in this next part of the semester. I am going to work on that. I do feel that the content of my papers are sometimes detracted from due to trying to meet the page length goals. I would like to impove my overall readability and flow of my papers. Although I think I have good ideas for my papers I like to think outside the box and not go for the status quo, maybe going for a bit more standard would help me write better papers. I would love to slide my grade up towards an A but would be proud if I could finish with a good strong B.
I really appreciate your feedback on my papers and writing. I also appreciate that you have taken my papers for what they are and tryed to help me improve on them. I acknowledge that although I don't write great essays I can assess that mine aren't very good.

Sincerely,

Carli Crowley

Carli Crowley

Professor Cline

English 102

25 March 2012

                                                                  Bree and Gail

      Weather it is the never far off idea in men’s minds of two women making out or Ree and Gail are truly so close as sisters that sleeping beside each other naked, swimming naked and rubbing each other’s shoulders is a common everyday occurrence. The relationship between Gail and Ree is an underlying current throughout Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone. The reader is drawn to wonder where Woodrell is going with this theme. Is Ree and Gail’s relationship typical of children of the Ozarks? Is it grown of children of methamphetamine using parents? Is it a special bond, something born of a lifelong friendship?

Woodrell starts off Ree and Gail’s relationship with a great deal of Sweet Peas and hugging and shoulder rubs. The bond between the two is obvious by the level of comfort Bree finds with Gail that she lacks with everyone else. In their first encounter of the book Gail picks cockleburs from Ree’s hair. These are pretty standard best friend actions. After Gail’s husband refuses to let her use the car she throws herself on the bed in frustration and Ree gives her a foot and calf massage. Woodrell then moves onto the scene where Ree decides to play with Gail’s hair. “Ree leaned to pick at her hair, pinched between the long riddled locks, brushed strands back with her fingertips, lowered her face and inhaled the smell ( Woodrell 36 ). She starts off picking at imaginary cockleburs in her friend’s hair but then leans in to smell Gail’s hair. This is an act that her friend Gail seems uncomfortable with. “Gail said in a low voice, “what you doin?” “ (Woodrell 36 ). Ree says pick sticky burrs; you have a mess of sticky burrs. Gail responds by saying “no I don’t. She pushed Ree’s hands away put did not raise her eyes” (Woodrell 36 ). She then tells Ree she has to go, pleading tiredness and the need of a nap. It is obvious that she is slightly uncomfortable with the actions of Ree.

Interestingly enough there is very little said about the underlying theme and relationship of the two, Ree and Gail, anywhere on the internet. Very few people seem to see or want to talk about the other theme in Woodrell’s book, the relationship of Ree and Gail. Maybe even more importantly no one wants to acknowledge this dynamic of the book. It is important to note that the makers of the film did not even want to add this aspect in to their movie. Did they believe they wouldn’t have the box office hit if they explored this unconventional relationship between the two girls? This to most of the world is an odd little bit of weirdness Wodrell wrote into his book. No one seems to know what to think of it, so it is best ignored. Actually a few did. Macabre Republic says “ her intimate quasi-lesbian relationship with her best friend Gail” (Macabre ). Macabre labels the relationship as quasi-lesbian, and later on in her article goes on to say “the solace she seeks in Gail’s arms only underscores the lack of acceptable make figures in Ree’s life ( Macabre ) So Macabre believes this relationship between Gail and Ree is a result of the lack of responsible worthy male figures in Ree’s life. It is as though the fact that Ree and Gail have this interesting relationship is a direct correlation between her lack of acceptable male figures in her life and the availability of Gail and her friendship.

      One of Woodrell’s greatest defining moments of Gail and Ree’s relationship is Ree’s flashback to their younger years when the two of them were experimenting with kissing and making out. He goes into fairly graphic detail. “and Gail acting the man roughed up her breasts with grabs and pinches, kissed her neck, murmuring and Ree said, “Just like that! I want it to be just like that!” ( Woodrell 87 ) and “there came three seasons of giggling and practice, puckering readily anytime they were alone, each being the man and the woman, each on top and bottom, pushing for it with grunts and receiving it with sighs ( Woodrell 87).  Interestingly enough the entire time Ree was imagining kissing a man so much so that “ Ree found herself sucking on the wiggling tongue of a man in her mind, sucking that plunging tongue of the man in her mind until she tasted morning coffee and cigars ( Woodrell 87 ).

      After Ellen on the other hand obviously feels the relationship to definitely lesbian “ I mean the author references a time when they were younger and experimented sure but that’s not just it. Even before the reader finds this out I thought perhaps there was something going on here that was unspoken in just the way the girls interact and how touchy feely they are. Also, Ree who is an extremely guarded character just opens up to Gail completely. There are also references to sleeping together …… naked” (After Ellen ). Gail gets sent back to Ree’s house late at night because her husband thinks she has come home too late. She obviously comes with no other clothes as he met her at the door took the baby to his parents and sent her out. Her boots are muddy and her clothes are most likely dirty, she drops them in a pile on the floor. Once again she seems nervous, not quite at the comfort level Ree is with the way their relationship was before. “She fidgeted on bare feet and rubbed at the skin of her shoulders and arms, looking down at the bed. Ree held the quilts pulled wide, patted the sheet “ ( Woodrell 101 ). It is as if Woodrell would like to portray Ree as this young girl who still lives in this world where they were best friends, a world where they were so touchy feely and slept together naked and all of this felt so normal. Gail on the other hand has had a baby and is now married and is starting to feel awkward in their closeness.

      It is plain to see that the author is striving for us to see that there is defiantly something in the way that Ree thinks about Gail. “ any evening spent with Gail was like one of the yearning stories from her sleep was happening awake. Sharing the simple parts of life with someone who stood tall in her feelings “ ( Woodrell 100 ). Gail is the only person who has ever been a friend to Ree it’s quite possible that Gail is the only person who has ever loved Ree. In return it is probable that Gail is the only person Ree has ever truly loved as well. She has her family but they are more of a responsibility to her than anything else. She never truly had a mom or dad that loved her and put her first in their life, she has had to be the one to look after them. Ree seems to only find comfort from her crazy world in her music and her friendship with Gail. “ Ree’s feeling could stray from now and drift to so many special spots of time in her senses when listening to that voice, the perfect slight lisp, the wet tone, that soothing hill fold drawl” ( Woodrell 82 ). The only happy moments in her life where she was free to be alive unfettered by the stresses and demands of her crazy family life seem to center around the moments she and Gail have spent together. It is no wonder that she clings to Gail so desperately, that is the only happiness and peace she has experienced in her life.

       In the final portrayal of the girls relationship Gail takes Ree to a spring with a pond of freezing water to help heal her body of all the bruises and pain inflicted upon her by the hateful women. They climb naked into the pool together in the freezing water. After Ellen believes this to be a completely lesbian part of the book the part that really shows you where Woodrell is headed with his thoughts. “But then after some time of living with Ree, Gail takes Ree swimming/wading in a spring…. Naked and when Gail says she has to return to her husband Ree responds with “you didn’t like it? You gonna tell me you didn’t like it?” “ To which Gail says “I liked it, but not enough”. This is pretty clear right? “ ( After Ellen ). The intent of the author is unclear. Is Ree asking about skinny dipping, living together, or just the freedom of being away from an over bearing husband? It is clear that Ree really loves Gail and would be happy if they could be together more. She has Gail and her wellbeing in mind, when it comes to the point of having to sale off the families coveted wooded land she says “If I’ve got to sell these woods Sweet Pea, I’d want it to be to youin and yours” ( Woodrell 161 ).

                                                      Works Cited

Woodrell, Daniel.  Winter’s Bone.  New York: Little Brown and Company 2006. Print.

Nazare, Joe. Book Vs Film Winter’s Bone. Macabre Republic. Web. 03 Mar. 2012.

UP. Anyone read Winter’s Bone. After Ellen. Web. 03 Mar. 2012

Chino, I mean Methland

Methland is the writing of Nick Reding. In this book Nick goes into detail about the ravages of meth or crank on small town America. Nick is making the point that meth is a wide spread epidemic in America and most people don't even know about it. He details his life exposure to meth and how he came to realize what a problem it has been here. One of the most important things about Nicks work is how much detail he goes into letting you know exactly where meth came from, who invented it, what it was used for and what it does to and how it affects the body. (More info on the ravages of Meth) The story is written about a man in a small town in Oelwein, Idaho. It could be anywhere really. The author writes a story about this mans life, all the while he is educating the reader on this horrific reality.

IMAGE FROM:
I believe that Methland and the interview that accompanies it will be a great resource for writing about Winter's Bone. It will be important because a great deal of the context of Winter's Bone is relating to the world of meth. If you know nothing about it, it helps make the understanding where it came from and why it has become such a huge problem here in the United States. Methland could be the resourse used for giving some kind of explanation for why this drug is so addicting. The book will give help in understanding why peoples lives are being ruined and yet they will take their ruined lives and continue to use meth. Methland will be a useful guide in giving background on the drug that runs and ruins the lives of the characters in a Winter's Bone.


          Nick Reding. Methland: The Death and Life of An American Small Town. New York: Bloomsbury, 2009. 

Winters Cold

In winters cold I walk alone
The search that drives me forward
Gray skys above and clouds blow on
The creak, the crack of crunching snow

My heart is cold and so alone
I stand, myself a woman child
Sent to take on the world so unprepared
My guts and grit they hold me strong

I search alone on cold dark nights
My panic pushes me onward
The fear, the craze , the unknown
I move forward, I don't know where else to go

Questions asked, to cold dark hearts
The pain and blood, the fear
Can't see, can't move, can't hear
The blood and pain are all around me

I pull myself up, I stand alone
Look the fear, and pain, and anger in the eye
I cry, teardrops bring me relief, yet more pain
I won't give up, I won't give in, I won't be like them

Cold and dark, can's see, winding road
A forest far from home
A cold dark pond covered in ice
My downfall is my saving grace

Bartleby Draft Essay

I prefer not to.

“At present I would prefer not to be a little reasonable” (Melville par 110). Oh that we could all say this when needed at our jobs and in the workplace. Bartleby had a point and a reasonable one at that. Bartleby is the hero of Melville’s story in his refusal to participate in a workplace that represents the sad, dreary atmosphere of a bureaucratic, industrialized society. In the pure essence of his being Bartleby refuses to participate in life in general the way those around him expect him to. 

Our society places a great deal of clout on being cheerfully industrious. Melville says “I should have been quite delighted with his application, had he been cheerfully industrious” (Melville par 18). But no he wasn’t “he wrote on silently, palely, mechanically” (Melville par 18). Bartleby is not nice or sweet, he doesn’t conform to societies expectations of what makes a person a good person. Melville even says later on “he means no mischief, it is plain he intends no insolence” (Melville par 53). Yet he lacks a cheerful institution and therefore he is unacceptable in his labors.

Bartleby also refuses to look and interact in a way that is approved by others. He is lean and long and white and gaunt, Melville even goes so far as to call him cadaverous. He is oblivious to everyone around him and doesn’t really care what people say about him. Ginger nut says “I think sir, he’s a little luny,” (Melville par 47). He is respectful and slow and mild in his speech. Yet, again Melville says “the passiveness of Bartleby sometimes irritates me” (Melville par 53). So although his is meek and mild, respectful in his speech and mannerisms Bartleby is not acceptable  because he doesn’t behave as others. 

“I prefer not to” (Melville par 81). He does what he prefers to and that is to copy. He is good at what he does and works very hard at it. “His steadiness his freedom from all dissipation, his incessant industry, his great stillness, his unalterableness of demeanor under all circumstances” (Melville par 84). At some point Bartleby decides he doesn’t’ want to copy anymore, maybe it’s the strain on his eyes maybe her just decides he prefers not to. He refuses to answer questions, he refuses to leave, and in the end he refuses to eat and continue on in this life. Up until the very end he does only what he prefers to.

What is expected of us as humans to be productive and acceptable in our society? Bartleby doesn’t succumb to the opinions of others. He carries on in his own mild and cadaverous way unnoticing and uncaring of his boss’s and coworker’s disapproval. He refuses to adhere to society’s standards of being cheerful all the time. Bartleby refuses to do what he prefers not to do. He stands by his choices up until the very end. When asked by Melville he gives us the question we should all ask ourselves “Do you not see the reason for yourself” ( Melville par 130).

Bartleby

"At present I would prefer not to be a little reasonable," was his mildly cadaverous reply.

I chose this passage because I love it! I can relate to this. It is something I would love to say every day! I believe this sentence is so important and holds so much meaning for this story because it is the essence of Bartleby. This is the life he has chosen, only to do what he prefers and when pressed to not even have to be a little reasonable.

It is a choice we make every day to do what is reasonable. On some level society decides what is reasonable for us. Is it truly reasonable to set at a desk for 12 - 14 hours a day copying papers for someone else? I can see how it would seem to me to be more reasonable for myself to desire to stare out the window and daydream of being somewhere else or someone else.

Yes in the end he does refuse to eat and lets his body weaken to the point of passing away.  Isn't that what he preferred to do? He chose what he wanted to do, he chose not to eat and he chose to pass into the next life. That is what he preferred to do.

Maybe he decided he would like that a great deal better that working for minimum wage or less for the rest of his life copying boring papers for someone else.

Maybe he read this.

 As far as the language in this sentence, I question "his mildly cadaverous reply" the story tells us he himself was cadaverous, was his reply cadaverous or just mild?

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Summary Vs. Annalysis

The way I see it!  Analysis vs. summary.

When I analyze a book or an article, I go through and see what it is that the author is trying to say to me. I read and reread looking to see what the point is?  Am I getting the point and or is something other than the purpose of the author coming to me. I enjoy analyzing. I appreciate being able to pick apart each part of a reading and see does the author know what he/she is talking about? Is the author credible? Do I agree with what the author is presenting? Do I understand where the author is going and to who this might be agreeable to?

A summary on the other hand is telling you exactly what the material is about. It gives you the complete abbreviation of what the actual material would be telling you if you read it yourself. A summary is without emotion because it leaves you no room to have an opinion. It is just the facts of what the author is trying to tell you.

One of my favorite books right now is A New Earth; I find it a bit of a difficult read. But, if I were to analyze it I would tell you all the things that I things Mr. Tolle is trying to get across. I would also tell you if I felt like he was reaching his audience with what I thought he was trying to say, and if this was the time to say it. Is the world ready for this now?

If I were to give you a summary of A New Earth, I would tell just what the book was all about. I would try to give you a feel for what you would be reading if you were to read the book yourself.  I would do that now but I’m not sure I’m there yet. :)

Just in case you want to check into it.

Image from: http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/philosophyreligion/fr/aNewEarth.htm

Is it truly a Modest Proposal?

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The problems Swift identifies in his society are the poor, the young leaving the country to fight for a dethroned king, the starving of thousands, abortions, murdering of bastard children, lack of jobs, lack of money exchange, the greed of landlords, the oppression of religion, lack of earned goodwill by squires from tenants, Dublin’s extreme lack of morals, non-existent  care for the elderly, the unlawful taking of corn and cattle, lack of money flow, domestic violence, neglect of children, over population and cheating shop keepers. He wants to set up a system to sale and eat children. I don’t think Dr. Swift is actually serious about eating small children, I do think he is very serious about the problems he sees in his country and the complacency of his fellow man. I think he does a great job of mocking everyone involved in the situation with even a bit of mockery towards himself. I do think he is thinking of this very logically. He has contemplated what he can say to cause such a shock in those around him that they will realize that they are on a path leading to more atrocities because of lack of concern. He completely outlines exactly the mess his country is in, giving evidence that although his proposal is at first shocking, people should have been shocked into reacting long before it had to come to writing this.

I found some of his explanations a bit distracting from the point though, one being 9lbs is rather big for a new born. The average birth weight being 7lbs. In a society where starvation and begging were prevalent the average birth rate to poor malnutritioned women likely having other children would be closer to 5 lbs.

My last comment is Why, why why does it have to be the “American” friend who has experience in eating children?

Introductory Video