Blog Post 11

     I really enjoyed the essay Crumbling Expectations. This whole essay is a great way to share what is going on in the family without actually saying or explaining what is going on. I find this kind of writing very interesting and I wish I was better and writing things this way. For instance he is talking about a book and a resort but really he is talking about his family and how they are falling apart. I enjoy the part where he talks about the books that he read as a child, but he didn't understand them at the time, but they were his friends. I can relate to that when I was younger I always read books or watched movies that I thought made sense to me and the time but really they didn't until I read them later as an adult or heard others talking about them.
     In the beginning there is a sentence that says "The resort owner tries everything to save his resort, while neglecting his marriage (and having an affair in the barn loft) and destroying old social/business relationships (and his relationships with his aging regulars)." This sentence stands out to me because when someone is trying so hard to do their work or own a business it is very difficult to do things in the home and keep relationships together. There comes a point where they have to choose if they care more about work or more about keeping a family together.
     As the story goes on it is written in one large paragraph which I think is interesting because it is not just focused on one memory it is focused on what seems to be a childhood or a few years of memories. I think that the story is trying to tell people that they need to remember about family because then it says his dad had cancer. Well his dad needed people to be there for him when he had cancer and when one thing goes crumbling down it seems like everything else around you does too. You need to keep your head up and in the end things will work out the way they are suppose to.

Blog Post 10

     I really liked the story by Annie Dillard. There are many good points to her story and it makes you want to keep reading. It really kept me interested and I could relate to a lot of the things. She talks about fear and memories. You try to remember everything you learned from your parents, and try to teach your children all the things you remembered. One part that really stood out to me was on page 97. "We teach out children one thing only, as we were taught: to wake up. We teach our children to look alive there, to join by words and activities the life of human culture on the planet's crust. As adults we are almost all adept at waking up..." I really like this whole passage.
     This whole section introduces the fact that makes you think what is the point in living. You have to grow up and find things that make you want to get out of bed, and that make you want to live for each day. You have to remember that even when you plan something it never works out just how you planned it. As humans we have to adapt to the culture that is around us. As time passes and things get older and new things come we all have to adapt, and that is the only thing that you can teach your children.
     Both of the essays made me think about the human race, and what people are put here to do. They told a story that had an underlying meaning, the outcome can be determined however you take it. It made me think about my parents, and all the memories I had about being scared and what I did about it. I also remembered what teachers had taught me. It all has made me the person I am today and everyone has a story to tell, that means something.

Blog Post 9

     Reading the second part of Maps To Anywhere was very interesting and I did enjoy this particular book of essays, so they call them. There was one section that really caught my eye called "Saturday". For some reason this caught my attention because it was a lot of questions more then writing. "Can mother muster enough thrust to leave the earth in a sudden leap? Does father need words of encouragement, a rabbits foot, a running start? Will they rise above our suburb at dusk and see it studded with lights?" This is how the beginning of this small section starts. 

     It made me think maybe he is talking about his parents going to heaven, or maybe them going to a better place. The title called Saturday really doesn't fit with what he is trying to say here which is interesting. The last sentence says "Spying their children aglow on earth with a meager heat, do flying parents cry like geese." Cry like geese is a weird comparison, I think if the author is talking about death he should use nice words and use comparisons that people find happy because everyone likes to think heaven is a good place, and that everyone is happy up there. It make it seem less scary fort those down here. Maybe he wasn't even talking about death but that is what I got from this part, especially from all the questions that are unanswered. 

     There were many other parts I liked about this book, all the stories were very interesting. It wasn't certain you could tell what time of his life it was, or even who exactly was in every story. I liked the overall message of the story the whole family thing was nice. I would have liked to see a better ending, but it did give a good message and I think it was well thought out and put together. 

Blog Post 8

     Starting off with reading the first page of the book it gets you interested because it starts with a phone conversation. It is a great lead to make me want to continue reading to see why or who is calling the character. They begin to talk about names which is kind of funny but it makes the main character remember things about his name, and about other peoples names. He says "my own name was problematic" he starts remembering times where he thought his own mother couldn't remember what his name was, she remember all her other children's names but not his and he would always call him in last. Does this have anything to do with what his childhood was like? Maybe he thought he was neglected and thought his mother liked his brothers and sisters better then she liked him.
     After the name thing fades away it just starts off into another story, so far I think it is a little confusing because you don't really know anything about what the book is going to be about, but maybe thats why the title is "Maps To Anywhere" because it is going to be all over the place. There may be just a bunch of little stories in one big story, and it can go anywhere and tell a story about anything.
     There are different titles for the different stories in this one big story. I read the "Heralds" which refers to religion, and "The Miracle Chicken" which was very interesting and it made me wonder about the whole story. Each little part in the book I think is a little clip of someones real life. It makes you want to know what the next story is going to be but you don't really have an idea of the persons whole life or who the people are in the story. They don't really have any description of people there is only description of things that have happened. It is kind of like a friend telling you each of theses stories about there life. I don't really know what to think so far, I would like to keep reading so hopefully I get a better understanding of why the book was made and what it is trying to say.

Blog Post 7

     I started looking at the short essays that we are going to be working on next unit. I really like these because they are a little bit more in depth about one particular thing or object. I read the essay called Lenses which was really interesting. I think that Lenses reflects on someones life. They talk about when you look through different lenses.
     This story made me reflect on what it is like for everyone in the world and how you get used to a certain routine and everyone just does what is normal to them. The first line of the essay says "You get used to looking through lenses" this is the line that got me intrigued into reading this essay. It means that each person does what they can to get through the day and they get used to a certain way of living. This essay also makes you reminisce on the sight you take for granted.
     I think that the essays are going to be better then the short stories because of the fact they are more in detail and have a purpose to serve. I like the way everything is wording and they have a different way of writing. It is different then anything we have looked at, but mostly it is trying to tell an actual story that people can relate to.

Blog Post 6

     I read the story called "The Fifth Story" out of fiction packet 3 it is the last story. I really enjoyed reading this because there could be so many meanings that it brings out. Is the women really talking about kill cockroaches. She could be talking about anything, she could be crazy. She just did not want cockroaches in her apartment, but they were coming from the bottom units apartments. It was interesting that all her her stories in one big story were basically the same thing, someone telling her how to kill the cockroaches.
     The little stories start off with "I was complaining about cockroaches. A women heard me complain. She gave me the recipe for killing them." When the women does kill the cockroaches with this recipe she some how gets satisfaction and each story goes on a little long then the one before. When it finally gets to the fifth story it only starts off with the beginning part. I think maybe you can just imagine what is suppose to happen after that, because it could just keep going on and on.
     Overall I think this lady wanted to keep killing the cockroaches and wake up each morning and see them dead. But there had to be another meaning and not only it be the cockroaches. Maybe she had some sort of mental disorder or maybe she wanted to kill other things. I really am having a hard time trying to figure out what this story is suppose to be about. I would like to assume that it is just about cockroaches so we don't think she is harming other people or things. I think she is actually harming more things then just cockroaches, who would want to wake up to a whole kitchen full of them and then describe what each of them look like and it just seems as if she gets some sort of happiness from them.

Blog Post 5

     This fiction packet was my favorite out of the 3 packets. I think I really liked this one because it was combined with short and long stories. All the stories we have read so far really do make you think about the real meaning or about the underlying meaning. The best story in this packet I think is "What mother told us" I really like this story for many reasons but mostly because it makes me remember my childhood.
     The author says "we did not hear it when our mother said that word: don't" This line is really funny to me because all little children cannot hear that word. No one likes to admit it but it is the truth even adults don't like to be told what to do. It is the worst for children though because when you say that word then automatically you want to go and do that thing. It is interesting that someone would write a story about this topic. It is so simple and it makes you think if there is something else the author is trying to say. Maybe the author wants to reminisce on childhood memories or maybe they are trying to say something about their mother.
     Most stories the topic seems obvious but in most cases it really isn't. The author is doing the right thing by coming up with underlying meanings. The other story that was short and interesting was "The death of the right fielder" is there another meaning from this story. The story ends weird and you would think it is about a man that died but is the author trying to say something about baseball. I am not very good at coming up with the real meanings to stories. I enjoy reading all of them but I really do like reading novels better then reading these shorter stories.

Blog Post 4

     While reading the two fiction packets it was easy to see the difference between them and to decide what kind of short stories I like to read. I think I really liked the first fiction packet better because the stories were shorter and let you have more of an imagination. Some of the stories really let you make up the endings, such as the mystery stories. These were short and gave some sort of of an idea of what the writer wanted us to know. I like piecing together stories rather then it just being down to the point. 

     The format is obviously different the longer short stories give you more information. For instance in the first story it gives you a little extra information on the findings of his research to make it more clear. In shorter stories they would not include this or even have a story about this. Then again the first story in this packet I am not to fond of and I don't really like the set up or how it is described. I think it is more of information more then a story and I like more imagination or relating to real life events rather then experiments. 

     I do like the story called "Point and Line" I like the beginning of this story, the set up, and the language. I think it gives great descriptions. The first line that says "I occupy the comfortable chair in your office and you stare at me" It does not say anything about being in therapy or in a therapist's office but the description allows you to believe that is where the character is. It makes me want to keep reading because of the lead to the story. You want to know why the character is there and what they need to talk about and why she isn't talking. Overall I like poetry better then short stories but all in all they do relate in some senses by the language, description, and meanings. 

Blog Post 3 (Poem)

Poetry Exercise 2 

There were many loud noises that day. That day being October 11, 2001, one month after the terrorist attack, one month after my grandparent’s 50^th wedding anniversary, and few weeks before Halloween, and the month Michigan starts to turn cold. Every day is like a surprise you go to sleep predicting what tomorrow will bring but you never really know if you will even wake up tomorrow. When tomorrow does come you realize the sky is blue and the grass is green and you could meet your lover maybe named Ken. Then Ken and you travel down the path reminiscing on each other’s life trying to get to know one another starting from the beginning. As you say your goodbyes for the day and go your separate ways. You yet again think about tomorrow you think about wearing your Calvin Klein jeans and buying a tree frog for Ken. Before going to sleep you realize you have only scratched the surface of getting to know Ken and maybe you shouldn’t by him that frog or maybe you won’t even wake up tomorrow. 

Blog Post 2

     The book Fluorescence is very intriguing and makes me want to read more. I like the way the book is set up with the different formats and wording. I like the fact that it does not rhyme and you can interpret the text however you would like. My interpretation of the book is that things are going very badly for someone and they have considered suicide and bombing. I don't really understand why there are sections such as the one, two, three, and four. It makes the book seem spread out and like it needs to be sectioned off for separate stories or parts of someones life.
     During class my group was assigned section four. I thought it was interesting reading this part because the writing actually writes in the beginning of this section some awful things and have literally listed a bunch of examples. "There is a point of no return" quoted on the bottom of page 38. I think that this is the truth to all bad things. Once something goes bad is there a point of no return is life compared to for instance spoiled milk when it goes bad it only gets worse. Or should we look at it as if when it goes bad then it can only get better. There is not really an answer to that question. Everyone does something different with there life and it shows in everyones personality.
     There are different parts in the book where they could be talking or having a conversation with someone. Why doesn't the author let anyone help them or talk them down from this crazy state. Is the person really depressed or are they just complaining or dreaming. I think that this person is actually depressed and needs help and it is hard to understand why no one is helping them. Overall this book could be interpreted many ways and that is the reason I like it. I think the ending will reveal if the person is going to carry on with killing themselves or killing other people or if they come to there senses and get help. The later "chapters" have titles so maybe that has something to do it how it will be different then the beginning.

Blog Post 1

     There were many intriguing poems included in the poetry packet last week. Personally poetry is one of my favorite types of literature. While reading all the poems included in this packet it really got me thinking about different topics or subjects that I want to write about in the future. While working as a group trying to dissect different types of sonnets I found a very interesting poem by Ted Berrigan, roman numeral XV.
     This poem caught my eye really because of something that our group decided about the poem. We discussed that maybe this could be talking about a murder. Even with all the words and meanings jumbled up and at a first glance seems to not make any sense.  They repeat the word "dead" a lot and the last line of the poem says "Today what is in it is sixteen ripped pictures does not point to William Carlos Williams." I am aware that William Carlos Williams is a famous poet (one of my favorites)  but it talks about other famous people such as Marilyn Monroe. Maybe they are using code names for real people or people that resemble them. I found this poem interesting because of the content in whole. I appreciate everything in it and put it together to be a murder by someone and then trying to uncover evidence.
     I particularly chose to write about one sonnet that clearly is confusing and does not rhyme. I do also like all of Shakespeare's sonnets and am familiar with a lot of them (which could be the reason they did not catch my eye) I have taken a close look at a lot of his poems in the past. I personally love all of them and love the rhyme scheme it makes everything flow together nicely. Overall all the poems are very interesting and I love trying to find the meanings behind them. I look forward to reading more poems and looking at different types and poets.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Brooke and I am currently a junior and Eastern Michigan. I am studying criminology hoping to become a probation officer. I live in an apartment with my three friends across from Eastern's campus. I also have two jobs working at a martial arts place as an assistant program director and at Bob Evans as a waitress. I was born in Ohio and moved to Saline Michigan when I was seven years old. My parents currently are still living in Saline which encouraged me to attend EMU so I could still be close to family. I love vacations I would have to say my favorite vacation so far was going to Mall of America in Minnesota. This was due to that shopping is my favorite hobby to do in my free time. Overall I hope to be done with school soon and living in my own house and having a steady job.