Final Blog

English education has a lot to offer me for my future. There is always a need for teachers in every community. That sort of need makes me feel of importance. But specifically in English I know my job is important. I am the educator that is going to prepare these students for writing for the rest of their lives. From that point on they are going to have to have good skills in speaking properly for job interviews. Also when communicating to important persons my students must be able to do so with all the correct spelling and punctuation. Also if my students pursue the college path I must prep them for future college essays, and/or communicating with professors. Aside from just writing my students will be challenged to interpret novels and poems. This will encourage them to look at things from a different aspect. That tool is useful when socializing for business or just reading for pleasure. I have taken away many thoughts and ideas from this class. I have learned how to take books that I or my students may not particularly enjoy and make them understandable and interesting. I learned that being given freedom to voice my opinion and take constructive criticism from fellow classmates and use it to my advantage. As I continue down the road of English education I plan to take away a little bit of each teaching strategies that better aided me in my understanding of literature. I will see what methods are effective by testing them on myself for the next two years of school I have ahead. From this point on my learning revolves around not only me but my future students. Of course I would love to walk away with a few novels or poems that I enjoy and was eager to learn about. However, I know there are challenges ahead and uninteresting novels to come. Hopefully as I prepare myself as a future teacher, I can take things as I go and remember as much about teaching as I can while I am young and somewhat on the same level as my future students.

Film Study

If I were to present a movie to a film studies class my selection would be Forrest Gump. Due to drug content and language the students would most likely need to be at a high school level or older. This film is full of history. It follows Forrest through many years including scenes such as America at war, our struggles with racism, celebrity figures political and in entertainment, Watergate, and his experience as a college football player and shrimp boat captain. The true historical moments in this movie show students what it was really like during that time period. It also gives you a more simplistic view point on what is going on. Forrest is a very simple man and gives you a blunt explanation for what is occurring around him. The story moves all around the country so it is not limited to one community. Not to mention the music is great! There are so many different directions a teacher can go in when studying Forrest Gump. It was first a novel, which can be made into a comparison from the film. This movie won numerous awards and is well loved by all. Forrest Gump would be a great film to study in a classroom.

Geography III

Poetry is a wonderful way for authors to express themselves. It allows one to write about their feeling but still be vague enough to hide what it is that is troubling them. But this at times can make poetry hard to interpret. Without knowing detail on this author and about their past it is hard to identify what it is they are talking about in the poems. I enjoy reading a poem and taking it for exactly what it is. Enjoying it and taking away the beauty in its structure and wording. Sometimes tearing them apart to find out what the author is talking about ruins the poem for me. I like interpreting a poem in the way I relate to it myself (such as how does this object relate to a problem I am facing, rather than what this object meant to the author). As for reading Elizabeth Bishop specifically, I did enjoy her poetry. I did not like interpreting it for her hidden meanings; I like the structure in which she wrote her poems and the word usage. Her poems do not use difficult vocabulary; they are simple and easy to read. Easy to read does not however mean easy to understand. Bishop entitled this book “Geography III” .When I think of Geography I think of the study of the earth, what is on the surface, the people in it and their cultures. I took the title as the study of her life, the people in it, and their impact on her. This book is like a map, a picture of part of her life.

Glengarry Glen Ross

This book displays of group of power hungry, strong men. They seem to have northern characteristics. Everyone has a strong personality and they clash, also they curs a lot, and can be very rude and pushy. Not only is there a sense of dominance over women but over each other as well. This seems to be their view toward anyone but themselves. Although I do think the absence of women and the way they spoke down of women was apparent, I don’t think it’s any different than the way they spoke about men. The men in the office were in constant competition and were yelling and screaming at each other all the time. The language use did not bother me, I think it better described how nonprofessional they were around each other. Also it sets the high stress mood of the play and showed just how disrespectful they were. The only woman that stood out to me in this play was Ms Lingk because she so firmly had her husband understanding that their purchase was her decision. He knew that no matter what this salesman pitched at him he had to get done what his wife wanted. She seemed to be the only one to have control over her husband. But other than Ms Lingk I think their attitude was the same to every person. They were just as rude and disrespectful as men as they were to women.

King Lear

I do not particularly like Shakespeare because of his use of language and I feel like I am studying his works rather than reading and enjoying them. Although I did not take this meaning out of the play originally after readings Kahn’s point of view I can agree. King Lear obviously wants to be shown affection. His desire for his daughters to flatter him with how much they love him makes this apparent. They are bribed by being rewarded with a share of his kingdom for how much they love him. Lear knows that Cordelia cares for him the most but her refusal to partake in the competition angers him. It is not that he doesn’t know she loves him the most it is the fact that she will not tell him what he wants to hear. This seems to show a feminine side to Lear. A side that needs to be loved and shown affection. But yet also shows a childish side. His response to Cordelia’s answer and the actions he takes are very childish. He pouts and is enraged. Although he does show masculine qualities as well. When he is displeased with Cordelia he stands firm in his punishment towards her. He tries to hold back his emotion and disappointment, except in anger. At the conclusion of the play Lear realizes how foolish and childish he was.

Persepolis

I enjoyed this book because it kept me wanting to read it. There was alot going on throughout the story which kept it interesting. I liked reading a graphis novel, it was a first for me. The movie was good as well. The color scenes versus the black and white scenes were a very interesting way to set a mood. As for Marji's father saying "politics and sentiment dont mix" I agree with him to a certain extent. Sentiment should not play a role in politics, however you are affected by politics so politics play a role in sentiment. Her grandmother seems to feel that integrity and self worth are of great importance. She wants her grand daughter to always take the high road and keep her head held high. I think her grandmother holds the most important lesson and therefore has the best relationship with her. As the story progresses we see the changes Marji undergoes as she grows up and matures. The war really affects her mood, attitude, and emotion. Being forced to move from home to a new country and new culture was shocking. It was hard for her to make friends and for a while she kind of lost who she was and where she came from. But returning home and regaining her confidence and motivation shows that she did not lose who she was completely. She just needed a reminder of how strong she is. This story also shows how important family is for support and as role models, her parents love and support for her return home, and her grandmothers constant life lessons. Family, knowing where you come from, and having motivation to be everything you can are lessons you can take away from this short yet fullfilling read!

Moviegoer

When first introduced to Binx in this novel it easy to judge he is a strange character. He is inconsistent in maintaining relationships. His aunt believes he cut himself short in the means of an education and occupation. He is unsure about his religious standings. Binx is racist and judgmental to people. Binx also goes to see movies frequently as a way to sort of escape from reality. He can better relate to and find joy out of a film rather than his own life. His Aunt Emily is probably the most influencial character in his life. He receives a letter to go and see her. On his way there “the idea of a search occurs to” him (13). “The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life. To become aware of the possibility of the search is to be onto something” (13). This search I believe entails him finding his religion, his romance, and his place and attitude toward the new south. Binx’s mother was catholic therefore he is catholic. Although he is a practicing catholic he still questions his standings with god. At the end of this novel this seems to be the only unanswered question. At the end of the novel readers are taken to a scene at a church and Binx sees a black man. He respectfully wonders what line of work this man succeeds in and also his relationship with god. Binx sees him as an equal. Throughout the entire novel it is evident that one person Binx truly cares about with his whole heart is Kate. He watches out for her and constantly tries to reassure her happiness. It was not until later on in the novel Binx pursues the relationship readers knew all along was the right fit for them both. Binx marrying Kate another answer to his search. Although Binx is a complex character I believe he starts to solve his “search” as the novel concludes.