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"

photo

                            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