Semester So Far

I like a lot of the activities we have done in class.  I like when we get into smaller groups and discuss because I think more people feel more comfortable talking in a smaller groups than rather an entire class.  I'm used to last semester in English when people talked much more so it makes me more quiet lol. I definately like the grammar guides better than sentence level corrections.  Sentence level corrections were dumb.  I really like how we have a free choice to read certain stories.  I was really excited to read "The Little Mermaid"! I think a lot of people will choose to write their next paper on the free choice short story because we had a chance to read about what we were interested in.  I also really liked when we got into groups who had written on the same topic and sat down and discussed our paper.  One thing to improve on is something you can't really fix lol. I wish people were more critical when peer reviewing.  Some people see it as mean thing to do, but I like it because criticism is what helps improve your paper.

Setting and Point of View in: "The Little Mermaid"

Setting: The setting takes places at first in the ocean and around her father's castle.  Then when she turns into a human it is at the prince's castle.  Another part of the setting is at the witch's house where she makes the potion for the little mermaid to turn into a human.

Point of View: The point of view is in third person limited ominiscient.  The narrator really only lets us in on the thoughts of the little mermaid.  We know certain characiteristics about the grandmother,prince, father, sisters, etc. But, we don't know what those characteristcs are thinking.  The reader only knows the little mermaid's feelings.

"Bartleby, the Scrivener" and "The Birthmark"

I thought both short stories had many similarities.  Both stories were in chronological structure.  This makes sense because in Bartleby you learn why he isn't doing any of the tasks the lawyer asks him to.  In "The Birthmark", it wouldn't make sense to start out with the scientist's wife dying, there would be no point to the story since the climax of the story was already given.  In contrast, everything in "The Birthmark" was pretty black and white.  Once the story ended, there wasn't any questions as to why something happened.  But in "Bartleby, the Scrivener", it doesn't flat out state whether Bartleby died or not.  What I learned from both of the stories is that they both ended dramatically.  Bartleby ends up in jail because he won't leave the workplace even though he doesn't even work there anymore.  In "The Birthmark", the wife ends up dying because her husband trys to make her perfect.  Bartleby never really had a great life in the first place, but once he got to the Tomb there wasn't any hope for him.  So I think both short stories had a dark ending.

In Class Talk

I thought the racism talk was really important today.  I do think it is very pathetic how there is no diversity at South Dakota but, at the same time who would want to go to school in South Dakota anyways :) I think if my dad wouldn't have moved to Atlanta I would not have understood such different culture structures that I see in Atlanta compared to Omaha.  But I do think that every race is racist because I have met many black people that were racist towards white people. I do not blame them though since how cruel some people are towards them.  But, whites have way more dominance over the world and whites have not experienced not even half of the torture other races have experienced.  I also think that people are very rude towards mentally challenged people.  It is very sad to call someone dumb when they physically were born that way and have no way of changing it.  I think that could almost be compared as another part of racism.  Obviously they were born that way for a reason, and to judge someone for that is horrible.  I just think the world just keeps getting worse.  People just care about themselves and money, rather than caring for one another.

Students Not Learning in College Extra Credit

I think some students don't learn and others do.  People who don't apply themselves aren't going to learn and it is their responsibility to do the work.  But I don't think it is necessary to raise the graduation credits. I do hate taking gen. ed's. I think it is really a waste of time because I don't find many of the classes interesting at all and it makes me feel like I'm still in high school sometimes.  I think the biggest problem is for some people it takes a while for them to realize they are there to learn and find what they're going to do the rest of their life, rather than party all of the time.  People just need to learn to balance their social life with their school life.  I think that is the biggest reason why students aren't learning.  Another reason why I don't think students aren't learning is because a lot of people don't know what they want to do, and when people don't know what they want to do they have no motivation to do well in certain classes.

Twitter

The whole concept that people make false accounts of people would really bother me if it did happen.  But, that is something you have to deal with when you are a celebrity.  Also, can't people get sued for a false account if they are making false assumptions about someone? It is peoples responsibilities to get their information from a reliable source.  Being a celebrity, they should expect these things to happen because people go loco over celebrities.  As for just "oridnary"( I realize celebrities are people, but they don't get treated like the rest of us)people, I think people should definately get sued for false accounts because people will automatically assume it is true.  As for celebrities, you know half of the things you hear will be false and celebrities have more of a way to prove it is false than others do.

First Paper

I thought the first paper wasn't that difficult to write.  The most issues I have is my thesis statement because many times I write my paper and it doesn't go with my thesis statement.  I do like the peer review where we got together and talked about our idas for our paper, but I don't like the peer review when you read the papers and check for grammar and such.  I think that you can check for grammar on your own time.  I'd rather have criticism on my argument. 

The Metamorphosis

I thought this short story was weird and interesting.  If I were to write a paper I would compare it to mentally challenged children.  I think sometimes parents don't share enough love with challenged children and that is the one quality they are looking for, to feel accepted.  They also don't get enough attention.  I think this is exactly how Gregor feels and how he feels like he can't contribute to the family anymore, that is no different than a mentally challenged child.  In some cases, that child knows they are a nusiance to the family.  I enjoyed reading this shorty story but also found it creepy that he was a bug.  But, I think Kafka did that on purpose to prove how different Gregor was from his family.

Works Cited

Amey, Michael D. "Living Under the Bell Jar: Surveillance and Resistance in Yevgeny Zamyatin's We." 17.1 (2005):22-39. MLA International Biography.Web. 29 Jan. 2011

Dennis, Bretton J. "Zamyatin's We."58.4 (2000): 211-3. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Jan. 2011.

Zamyatin, Yevgeny. We. New York: The Modern Library, 2006. Print.