Light at the End of The Tunnel for Literature

As I wrote on my previous blog for Advanced Comp. the end of the semester is nearing and I am getting very excited! We have one essay and our group Web page left! The web page has been quite an enjoyable experience. It really was not as tough and hairy as I expected. I actually enjoyed doing it and it did not take me much time at all. This class overall has been very enjoyable and I have learned so much about literature and my writing. By taking this class with Dr. Hochenauer it has also given me some ideas for teaching techniques when I start my own career.

End of the Semester

Hello again!

We are coming to the end of the semester and we are getting so close to Christmas! (YAY) I understood last week as a no post week due to the short week, so I hope I did not misunderstand that note. The only think left in the class is our Research paper, and I am terribly nervous about it. I probably would not be so nervous if I would just start on it. Ten pages sounds so scary to me because I have never written such an in depth paper. BUT, I know I can do it, I just need to get started. After I get my thesis and a few sources going it will fly by! Ok, enough about class work! The season is finally here. The malls are full of Holiday shoppers and everywhere you go there are people hanging lights on their house. I love this time of year, but I haven't put a tree up, or any lights outside for that matter. Honestly, all I can think of it having to take it all down! Lazy. . .I know. Any who, I need to finish up this weeks course work!

Be Thankful!

As we draw near Thanksgiving it is really a time to slow down our busy lifestyles and realize what is truly important. To me, the most important thing is family and friends. I have very few true friends and I am thankful for that. It is very hard to find a true friend, and very few come along in a lifetime. I am very close with my family and I am so thankful to have the relationships that I do with them.

Earlier this week UCO lost a student to a terrible car accident. Although I didn't know her, it has really impacted me and the way I look at things. We all think it couldn't happen to us, but you just never know when your time is up. Not only did she loser her life, but her husband lost his wife, and her four children lost their mother. To add to the tragedy her ten year old daughter was in the car with her, but did not suffer any physical injuries. I can't imagine having to witness the death of my mother. It is truly heartbreaking to think of their last moments together. Things like this really makes us realize that we need to slow down and take a look around. I am so fortunate to have a family that loves and supports each other they way we do.

I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving holiday and I hope everyone can spend it with the ones they love.

The Goblin Market

Christina's Rossetti's "The Goblin Market," was a very intriguing poem to me. This poem captures the idea of women empowerment by the two sisters coming together for each other. The poem is about evil Goblins that are always trying to get the girls to eat their poisonous but delicious fresh fruit. Laura gives in and eats some of the fruit and because of this she falls ill almost to the point of death. Lizzie is very strong minded and knows what will happen to her if she gives in. This poem really reminds me of the Biblical story of Adam and Eve. The best part of the poem is when Lizzie does what she has to help her sister. She faces evil and over comes her own fears to help Laura.

Say Over Again...

Most of us have felt that heart wrenching pain of a break up, or felt that pain of a doomed relationship. There is no other feeling like a broken heart. Elizabeth Browning's, "Say Over Again," was able to capture these feelings all over again. In this poem, she writes,

Say over again, and yet once over again,
That thou dost love me. Though the word repeated
Should seem 'a cuckoo song,' as thou dost treat it,
Remember, never to the hill or plain,
Valley and wood, without her cuckoo-strain
Comes the fresh Spring in all her green completed.
Belovèd, I, amid the darkness greeted
By a doubtful spirit-voice, in that doubt's pain,
Cry, 'Speak once more---thou lovest!' Who can fear
Too many stars, though each in heaven shall roll,
Too many flowers, though each shall crown the year?
Say thou dost love me, love me, love me---toll
The silver iterance!---only minding, Dear,
To love me also in silence with thy soul.

I think Browning is writing about a relationship at the end of its rope. I think she is holding on to something that she knows is done but doesn't want to admit it to herself. I don't think the speaker is asking for too much, you aren't asking too much when you love someone. I enjoyed this poem quite a bit because I think it is something we can all relate to in life.

Cleaning, Cooking, and Drinking Beer

Isn't it funny how male/female stereotypes still exist in our society. Sure, I know there are several men who believe women aren't or shouldn't be equal, but have you realized just how many stereotypes are in our media? In my advanced composition class we were asked to take a different look at advertisements. Since I have done so, I have really realized just how the media tries to play to a certain audience. It is frustrating. Have you ever noticed that beer commercials usually show men drinking and having a good time while a woman works? Have you noticed how sometimes men are the only ones who can drive a truck? On the other hand, cleaning supplies, raising a child, and cooking are all things that only women do. Do you think it is accurate that the woman's place in society should still be the homemaker that cleans, cooks, takes care of the kids, and has no time to sit around, have a beer, and watch a football game? I know it's not a typical thought of women sitting around watching football drinking beer, but it isn't THAT unusual.

A BIG Misunderstanding!

Ah Frankenstein! When I was a child I was afraid of monsters and Frankenstein was one of them that I feared! I would be in a dark place with a large giant chasing me. I couldn't get his square head out of my mind and that screw that stuck out of his neck...oh my! I would run and run and...then I would wake up. This is just a dream or image some of us have of Frankenstein; however, what ever gave us this image? I don't remember seeing movies with a scary Frankenstein when I was a child but over the years we have began to misunderstand him more and more. This image is nothing more than another stereotype created about a man that doesn't appear "nice." I am thankful for the opportunity to be able to study this because it is proof of our ignorance and there is much more to Frankenstein than many of us knew about.