Blog 16: The End

I don’t have any lingering questions about things that were covered in class, because of the amount of detail covered in each portion of the class curriculum. I wish we could’ve spent more time discussing the early 1900′s or the Vietnam War, because those are actually interesting topics rather than reading two books with either of them having an actual ending where something is accomplished. Throughout this spring semester in ENG 112, I have learned a lot of useful information about dialogue between texts and intertextuality. I don’t think I have ever analyzed texts so explicitly in any other class. The amount of knowledge gained through analyzing these texts will better prepare me for future situations in college and in jobs. It’s always helpful to be able to look at situations and texts from all different aspects to problem solve and decipher what could happen. I would like to thank Ms. Angie Weaver for mentoring me in the ways to dissect text.

Blog 15: Metaphor Paper

Throughout history, the terms metaphor and politics seemingly go hand in hand. Metaphors are continuously being used in all aspects of politics such as legislation, elections, etc. When thinking of politics, it’s hard not to think of Democrats and Republicans. These parties have helped shape, organize, and model what the U.S. government, economy, and lifestyle is today. Even with something so important such as political parties we see metaphors. Since the mid to late 1800’s, a donkey depicts the Democratic Party, while an elephant has depicts the Republican Party. These are two interesting characters to use for representation of a political party because of the many other choices of animals. The metaphor presented by each party has a considerable effect in how people interpret the party. The essence of this metaphorical analysis is to show how the connotations of each symbol have changed over time and how these symbols relate to each of the parties today.

Blog 14:Metaphor

“How to Build a Better Democrat” by Joe Klein uses the metaphor, the U.S. is a virus. The tenor of this metaphor is the United States while the vehicle is a virus. When you first look at the tenor, you associate power and effectiveness in regards to handling foreign policy. Klein looks at foreign policy in a different light. He uses the metaphor that Foreign policy is simply infected by viruses, consequently meaning itself is also a virus. Other associations with the U.S. in regards to foreign policy include productivity, efficiency, and success in foreign policy affairs. The metaphor hides many of the positive aspects of U.S. foreign policy, by comparing it to a virus. It is highlighting the U.S. as a type of infection and there is a need to rather, be a vaccine. Some other characteristics the metaphor is highlighting are the negative impacts of reaching too far into situations of foreign policy. The metaphor still highlights the U.S. as being powerful, but this power is shown in a negative light by a powerful tool of infection that causes only more harm to the host(foreign policy). The effect of this metaphor is the increased opinion that the U.S. needs to learn how to heal foreign policy rather than change it so much. There is a need for change but you can’t go around looking to hammer out every little problem.

Blog 13:Peer Review 2

I felt this second peer review session was much more informative and useful in locating errors in my paper. I specifically liked having the hard copy in front of me, becuase I was able to stay focused and not get lost in what the person was reading. I also think that this paper was easier for me to understand and write than the narrative assignment. I think this understanding also carries over to others in the class which allows for more effective comments and suggestions related to each specific paper. For my next draft I will be adding more quotations in order to produce a more concise, clear question and thesis. I always enjoy peer review, because the opinons of others can really be useful in filling in gaps that are unclear throughout the paper. Sometimes sentences make sense to me, becuase I know the overall purpose of the paper, but in reality these sentences could be confusing and irrelevant. Overall, peer review is a great way to have students give positive and negative feedback to other students in order to produce a more refined complete paper.

Hypothesis

Maybe what happened is John made a terrible mistake. Maybe he had a flashback to Vietnam. There were so many horrible events that took place during the war. These events coupled with John’s childhood could have affected John’s ability to see things clearly. John had many difficult times in his life: the loss of his father, the war, the election. His thought process may have been controlled automatically. Maybe he wasn’t able to control his emotions and actions anymore. Kathy watched John fill up the tea kettle, not once, but twice. She watched him pour the boiling water over the beautiful plants. Kathy saw someone else, not her husband. This could not have been the man she married. She kept hearing the phrase, “Kill Jesus.” Maybe she was startled by his actions. She walked back down the hallway and snuck into bed. She pulled the sheets snug and hoped it would all be different tomorrow. 

John wandered around that night, distraught and emotionless. There were flashbacks to the smell of the jungle, the smell of war. He had seen so many men and women die. Then there was PFC Weatherby. Somehow, things were remembered. John was exposed, there were no walls of secrecy or magic anymore. John walked down the hall to the bedroom and sat with the boiling tea kettle at the side of the bed. He stared at Kathy’s body, the tan of her neck, her lips. He remember how happy they used to be. Then something snapped, he remembered, “Kill Jesus.” Kathy opened her eyes, startling John. He thought to himself he couldn’t know she knew these terrible events of the evening. He couldn’t live with the shame. He took the scolding water and poured it on Kathy. The screams were deafening, but he thought who was there to know. He grabbed her and took her down to the lake. He walked into the water waist deep and held her under. He thought, “Kill Jesus.” After a few minutes Kathy lay lifeless. Maybe John hid her body in the lake, maybe he took her to the dense forests to dispose of her. John remembered his past, he thought about the mirror he could hide behind. He would forget these terrible things he had done that night in the lake of the woods. He came to his senses standing waist deep in the lake water, maybe he had gone there to wash his hands of this terrible crime. Kathy was gone, and John was once again lost in his emotions. Maybe he had let his past experiences bring about too much anger. Whatever may have happened, we will never know, but John Wade will always be a troubled man with a vanished wife.

Blog 11: Dialogue/Intertextuality

In the Lake of the Woods and Ragtime share many intertextual elements, one being the theme of love and acceptance. In each of the novels, there are characters that need to be loved. Mothers Younger Brother and John Wade both go to certain extremes to feel loved. They both stalk their lovers and try to place themselves in a world they want, not a world that happens around them. They both have a need to control situations and every aspect of their lives. John used magic and charm as a way of controlling situations in both the war and his personal life with Kathy. Mothers Younger Brother uses his authority in the family business and his self independence to go on his own and live a certain lifestyle. He was a simple man who left the family for long periods of time to stay with Evelyn. Both of these men have secrets, John Wade being a man compulsive for love. He has a everlasting need to be shown actions and gestures of love. Mothers Younger Brother is secretive throughout his whole life and there isn’t very much insight into his personal feelings. Brother has an increasing interest with explosives and ends up helping Coalhouse in making explosives for his attacks. Both men use violence or forms of inflicting pain to gain some sense of satisfaction. John Wade, although not proven guilty of Kathy’s disappearance, enjoyed killing the plants and saying “Kill Jesus.” Mother’s Younger Brother enjoyed showing loyalty to Coalhouse and helping him in his quest to give Will Conklin what he “deserved.” Overall, both characters have a need for love and acceptance and when they feel betrayed or unloved, they do “out of character” things in order to gain satisfaction.

Blog 10: Peer Review

I thought the peer review process went pretty good overall. The next time I could improve by having a better understanding of all the different possibilities of theses for the text. I felt that I couldn’t really give that much helpful advice to other students. For my next draft I plan on being more organized in my paper. I felt this was a reasonably difficult paper to write, because of the corresponding storylines and how each of the characters are tied into each other. I plan to give myself a longer head start so I can write a more complete paper for the first draft instead of having to make a lot of major changes for the final draft. Overall, the peer review process is very helpful in finding many problems throughout my paper that I may not have noticed. Getting the opinions of others is very important to writing a complete and problem free report.

Blog 9: Overall View of Ragtime

Now that I have finished reading “Ragtime”, there are many thoughts and observations that I can express. I did not really enjoy the ending of the book, no not because this great book came to and end, but the fact that everyone seemed to come together, no real narrator was established, and it ends with a sentence about Harry K. Thaw, who hasn’t appeared in the book since the beginning part. Everyone either dies or go on to live their life harmoniously. The ending helped me interpret the overall theme of the book as change, because everyone seems to take on a different path in the ending. For example, Mother marries Tateh, who Evelyn Nesbit wanted to marry, but she became unattractive and had fallen into “obscurity.” I also didn’t like how the last chapter dealt a lot with a trip of J.P. Morgan who just ended up dying anyways. I don’t really understand the connection or meeting of Morgan and Ford. I feel like they didn’t really have any contribution to the story except for historical figures who played a major role in the changing of America. The overall text to me highlighted an important turning point in American history just before the start of WWII. All of the characters throughout the story encounter a change in their life, even if that change is prospered by the change of a corresponding character. I felt like I was waiting for something exciting to happen throughout the story, but it never really did. The book was more or less the accounts of all these people’s lives. Since the book gave these descriptions of all these different people’s lives it made me think that it really is trying to hammer home a theme rather than create just a fictional story where there is a plot, a climax, and an end. “Ragtime” incorporated both fictional and non-fictional characters which gave the book some reality in my mind.

Blog 8: Dialogue and Writing Style

The dialogue and writing style throughout these four chapters allowed me to gain a perspective on how a lot of the characters actually feel. Throughout the story I have found it hard to decipher what some of the interactions between characters actually means. In chapter 31 Father has an uplift to his spirit after attending the ball game with his son. This ball game has almost rejuvenated Father because throughout the game he reflected on his life and turned much of the game into metaphors for his life. The dialogue between the boy and Father brought Father to his senses and realized he shouldn’t leave his wife alone, and he shouldn’t feel exiled. Father then takes on more of a commanding role instead of just being a spectator. Coalhouse on the other hand has went from a ‘nice’ man to someone full of anger and distaste. Younger Brother’s accounts of Coalhouse allow the reader to see how Coalhouse, along with Mother’s Younger Brother are outlaws and want revenge on the police. Younger Brother and Coalhouse become partners in crime which shows the reader how they have used the negative events that have happened in their to turn their personalities almost completely around. The end of Chapter 32 leaves the reader hanging on the edge wondering what terrible things two people, who used to be good at heart, will do.

Reading Rhetorically

I chose to analyze the section where Evelyn first meets Tateh and the little girl. The style throughout this section of text is nearly uniform throughout. Doctorow uses short choppy sentences to describe how the characters are feeling and the appearance. Doctorow tends to use longer sentences when listing more important details of the characters, though. An example is “He wore a threadbare coat. One sleeve was torn. He wore a soft cap and a collar with a tie. He stood on the sidewalk in front of a display cart of framed silhouette portraits pinned to a black velvet curtain. He was a silhouette artist.” The short choppy sentences make each detail stand out in its own way and the longer sentences give  a more broad view, that usually includes a description of the setting. The sentences are declarative and simple for the most part. The use of words that were actually used in the early 1900′s makes the reader put more focus into understanding what he/she is reading. The style of this writing can be tied into the purpose of this section, because Doctorow is trying to inform the reader about the life of Tateh and the little girl which was mentioned previously in the reading. He uses Evelyn almost as a medium to bring Tateh and the little girl back into the story-line. It is almost used as an introduction to show how Evelyn Nesbit is related to the middle class and isn’t always about all the money. I personally liked this section of the book particularly well because it started to bring things together and it became easier for me to follow along without  being confused.