Reflection of Course

This semester has been really tough for me to stay focused and keep up with the assignments for this course. With work becoming more and more demanding, I have found that my grades have started to drop. I also have moved twice this semester. Therefore, I have had my internet cut off for more than a week two times this semester. Thus making it hard to complete an online course. 
However, that being said, I feel that my writing skills have improved slightly. I have started to try to look deeper into the meaning of the text, or the point that the author is trying to make when reading material. I still have problems just mainly summarizing for most of my essays, but that is something I hope to correct in time. 
I was very split on the readings for this semester. I feel that I related to some, while others I had no interest in at all. I really disliked the writing style of "Up in the Air". I could not relate to it at all and found myself confused most of the time. However, I really enjoyed "Winter's Bone". I connected with Ree's character and what she was having to go through. She was put through so much and still made it through to the end. 
I do not know how I have met the learning outcomes. I know in some areas I definitely have come short. I could use work on number 10. interpret and analyze texts. Like previously mentioned, I feel that even when I try to analyze a text that I still end up just summarizing what happened.
I feel that since my biggest challenge has been being able to focus and stay on time with my assignments, maybe I could look into getting a different job. It has been a difficult decision on my part. I feel that being so young and having a good job within the State Government that maybe I should try to keep this position. However, I feel that if I want to become a nurse a quickly as possible and get my career going that I will need to make school my main focus. I am just not sure how to make that transition. Any suggestions?

Tentative Thesis

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Tentative Thesis

        After reading Up in the Air by Walter Kirn, and then watching the movie that was later directed by Jason Reitman I saw many difference between the two. The book seemed to portray Ryan Bingham, the main character, as a lonely, dull and isolated individual. He spent his time in hotels and airports. In the movie, Ryan is surrounded by people, mainly women. He is portrayed as someone you could relate or even feel sorry for. I feel that this change could be related to the fact that the movie was made later, after the reputation of a businessman changed after the economy went down. 

Response to "Up in the Air"

http://www.entertainmentwallpaper.com/download/10018836/

After reading up to this point in Up in the Air by Walter Kirn, I feel I would of not chosen it for myself to read. I find the author's writing style to be confusing and all over the place. Especially in the beginning, I felt it hard to focus and understand who he was speaking to or what he was trying to say. The main character Ryan Bingham was a 35-year old Career Transition Counselor. He travels constantly and lives in airports and hotels. He calls it Airworld. The story goes into Ryan's life of flights, relationships, or lack there of, and what his hopes and dreams are. Ryan Bingham wants to work with Mythtech, therefore, he is trying to reach a million frequent flyer miles before he changes companies. I really hope I can get into the rest of the book. So far I have learnt that there are many types of writing styles and not everyone will enjoy each one. 

Up in the Air was turned into a major motion picture. To learn more click here!

Mid-Term Check In

April 1, 2012

Dear Mrs. Cline,


Over the first half of the semester, I have had many challenges. Working a full-time job that requires a lot of training and knowledge, and is primarily spent looking at a computer screen, is hard for someone who is also taking most of their classes online as well. I feel like my biggest challenge has been completing my assignments in a timely manner. By the end of my day, my brain is completely fried. I try to relax and let my eyes rest during the week. With that being said, it leaves the weekend to complete all the homework. This can become overwhelming when trying to complete normal weekly errands such as groceries. 


When thinking over how hard it has been to stay focused this semester, it has made me start to reevaluate my priorities. I am considering finding a job that would allow me to take more classes on campus. I have my first class this semester on campus and I find it is much easier for me to stay focused and become more involved in my classwork. I think that my studies need to come first and that this will be a very important step!


Some of my biggest successes have been getting involved and connected with this semesters books so far. I really enjoyed Winter's Bone. I really connected with Ree's story and all the pressure she was under to take care of everyone. She always has to be the responsible one and never gets to relax and be her age. I am also really starting to enjoy Up In The Air as well. I can't wait watch the movie to compare them. 


Literary Analysis have been definitely a different type of writing for me. I am used to doing more of a summary of different texts. Analysis is more of the meaning behind the story. It is about going a little deeper than just scratching the surface. 


My goal for the next semester is to be able to focus more and to improve my grade for the semester. I definitely intend to completed an extra credit assignment. I also feel that if I can improved my focus that I will improve my overall score in everything I do. I also hope to improve my writing of literary analysis. :]


Thank you for all of your help! I look forward to the rest of the semester!


Sincerely,


Kristen Grimmett

Essay Draft 1

Kristen Grimmett

March 25, 2012

English 102

Ms. Cline

Literary Analysis of Daniel Woodrell's “Winter’s Bone”

In “Winter’s Bone”, Daniel Woodrell tells a story of a difficult time for a young girl in a run-down country town. She is faced with many hardships while trying to take care of her family and provide them with a home to live in, all without the help of her father. Woodrell describes his characters with raw depictions of how people think and behave in the Ozark Mountains. Ree Dolly has grown up in the harsh and corrupt poverty of the Ozarks and learns many things about the Dolly clan as she travels through this journey. Woodrell uses this raw and compelling writing style to depict how one must raise up and be strong to overcome hardships in life. By telling Ree’s story, he encourages readers to step up and do better and become more than those before you.

Ree Dolly, the lead character, is a strong willed and strong minded young girl who has the responsibility of taking care of her sick mother and two baby brothers, Sonny and Harold. She is stubborn and makes her own decisions, a true country girl. She can shoot a gut and fight like a man. Her father Jessup, out on bond and known for cooking crystal meth or “crank”, has left her, once again, to deal with taking care of a sick mother and two young boys.. They live in an old run-down home out in the country, far from real civilization.  Ree is faced with the huge burden, after finding out that her father has put the home and everything they own up for his bail. If he doesn't show up for his court date, Ree, her mother and her young brothers will be forced to evict the home.

Once Ree learns of this, she takes it upon herself to find her father, dead or alive. She goes through many hardships through the first half of the book, and everything keeps getting more difficult as the chapters go on. After multiple attempts, Ree still has not found her father. However, something weird is being whispered around. Ree now feels that her father is dead. With all these horrible things happening, she doesn't even have time to feel the true emotions. For she is, once again, being held responsible. She must prove her father's death to keep the home for her and her family. Now Ree has gotten in over her head as she heads to the most feared man around, Thump Milton, for answers. Upon arriving to Thump Milton’s home, she is told to leave and not come back. She waits outside. Little did she know more trouble was heading her way.

 In the end, Ree is jumped by a few of the sisters in the area. She was hurt very bad, she probably would have died, if it weren’t for her uncle. Uncle Teardrop was a crank addicted, loud mouthed, rugged man. He came in to save Ree’s life. Ree stays at home healing for a while. Eventually the same sisters that jumped Ree and beat her til the brink of death, showed up at Ree’s doorstep. They told her they were taking her to her father’s body. Jessup had been murdered and strapped to an engine block and sunk in the lake a fair distance away. The sisters then helped Ree cut off her own fathers hand to take as evidence. Ree could use them to prove that her father was in fact dead, and therefore could not possibly show up for his court date, allowing Ree and her family to keep their home. In the end, they receive a lump sum of money that was coming to Jessup. It is at this time that Ree makes the decision to stay behind and take care of her family; instead of leaving and never returning, as she had previously wanted so passionately before.

Ree has always wanted best for her brothers Sonny and Harold. “Ree’s grand hope was that these boys would not be dead to wonder by age twelve, dulled to life, empty of kindness, boiling with mean.”(1) She wanted the boys to do better than what had been around them their whole lives. The Dolly clan was not known for graduating with honors, doing good deeds or running for Mayor. They were criminals and secretive. Woodrell described a society that had the idea or kill or be killed. They did not believe in asking questions or talking to anyone about anything. Ree had a tough time dealing with her own father saying things he shouldn’t have. “What I really, really can’t stand… is… is how I feel so shamed… for Dad. Snitchin’ just goes against everything.” (2) Woodrell shows in this passage, that even with her father being murdered, Ree is still upset with her father for telling the truth of what was going on in the corrupt drug dealing clan. He wanted to show how tough and rugged the Ozarks were.

Woodrell also does an outstanding job presenting the scenery of the Ozark country. Although most have never been there, after reading this story, you will be able to have a realistic visual of how harsh the surroundings were. “Keening blue wind was bringing weather back into the sky, dark clouds gathering at the edge of sight, carrying frosty wet for later.” (3) The winter brought cold and despair to Ree’s already troubled life.

“Crank”, or crystal meth, was the drug that seemed to drive Ree’s town. If people weren’t doing it they were selling it, or both. Uncle Teardrop on more than one occasion is described running wild while on this dangerous drug. He even puts Ree, himself and Office Baskin in danger when he is high and gets pulled over. “Ree watched Teardrop’s hand close around the riffle and she felt somehow instantly all sweaty on her insides…Sounds like signed laughter burst from Teardrop, and he jerked the riffle onto his lap, curled his trigger finger.” (4) Luckily, Teardrop drove away before things got worse.

Woodrell uses meth as the drug that destroys this town to show how it is taking over communities across Rural-America. In another novel involving meth, Methland by Nick Reding, in the small town of Oelwein, Iowa, a farm crisis has ruined the towns economy and created a huge loss in work and jobs. Due to being so readily easy to make, crystal meth becomes a huge business for all. The town is going farther and farther down, when the town doctor, mayor and prosecutor step up to fight back. (5) There are many similarities in the two books. Both have good people being corrupted by the harsh and life changing, for the worse, drug meth. This story is not fictional. These authors are telling stories that are truly happening across America.

The author's writing style was rough and explicit. Although a little bold in word choice, I feel the Woodrell did a great job describing his characters. It was true and raw. Each character has a past and it was explained. Woodrell wrote in such a way, as to make me feel as though I was living this depressing reality. It was an emotional roller coaster and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Works Cited

(1) Winter’s Bone, Daniel Woodrell, 2006, Page 8.

(2) Winter’s Bone, Daniel Woodrell, 2006, Page 149.

(3) Winter’s Bone, Daniel Woodrell, 2006,

(4) Winter’s Bone, Daniel Woodrell, 2006, 173.

(5)  http://www.methlandbook.com/, Nick Reding, 2011.

Response of Daniel Woodrell's "Winter's Bone"

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After reading up to page 130 in Winter's Bone, I feel a have a good understanding of the style of the book. Ree Dolly, the lead character, is a strong willed and strong minded young girl who has the responsibility of taking care of her sick mother and two baby brothers. She is stubborn and makes her own decisions, a true country girl. Her father Jessup, out on bond and known for cooking crystal meth, has left her once again to deal with all the grown up issues. They live in an old run-down home out in the country, far from real civilization.  Ree is now left with the huge burden, after finding out that her father has put the home and everything they own up for his bail. If he doesn't show up for his court date, Ree, her mother and her young brothers will be forced to evict the home. Once Ree learns of this, she takes it upon herself to find her father, dead or alive. She goes through many hardships through the first half of the book, and everything keeps getting more difficult as the chapters go on. After multiple attempts, Ree still has not found her father. However, something weird is being whispered around. Ree now feels that her father is dead. With all these horrible things happening, she doesn't even have time to feel the true emotions. For she is once again being held responsible and must prove her father's death to keep the home for her and her family. Now Ree has gotten in over her head as she heads to the most feared man around, Thump Milton, for answers.

The author's writing style was rough and explicit. Although a little bold in word choice, I feel the Woodrell did a great job describing his characters. It was true and raw. Each character had a past and it was explained. I have really enjoyed reading the book so far and can't wait to see what happens next. 

Winter's Bone has now been made into a major motion picture. Click here to learn more!

Essay 2, Initial Draft

Kristen Grimmett

English 102

Mrs. Cline

February 26, 2012

Literary Analysis

The short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street” by Herman Melville is a story of a lawyer and his employees. The lawyer, an unnamed character, owns his own law firm and hires scriveners to prepare his legal important documents. The introduction includes the lawyer describing his employees: Turkey, Nippers and Ginger-Nuts. The plot starts when additional help is hired in the name of Bartleby. Bartleby becomes the main character, or focus, for the rest of the piece. Through insubordination and frequent disregard for the lawyer’s instructions, Bartleby persists in doing only what he “prefers” to do. He continues to refuse to obey the orders of the lawyer of the work that needed done, until in the end, when Bartleby produces no work at all. The climax of the story is when Bartleby is presented with an ultimatum that he must either conform to the lawyer’s wishes or leave the place of employment. When he decides not to leave, the lawyer quits the office and moves to another location. Bartleby ends up being sent to the Tombs, a prison.

During the introduction the lawyer gives a very detailed description of his employees. Turkey was described as an older gentleman who works hard and is a much needed member of the lawyer’s team. He has a shorter temper during the afternoons but is a great worker in the morning. Nippers is a younger individual who, although with less experience, is also an important member of the team. Nippers is always adjusted the height of his desk and works best in the afternoon.  They both have characteristics described as being an annoyance to the lawyer during the day of work. However, since they trade off their annoying habits mid-day, they equal themselves out. I believe that Melville did this to show the reader that you have to take the good with the bad.  The third employee that the lawyer describes is Ginger-Nut, who gets his nickname by being the person to bring the delicious cakes ginger-nuts. He is a very young boy that runs errands for the lawyer and helps him out as needed.

The point that the author is trying to make is that Bartleby was being a passive rebel. He refused to do the work; however, he did so in such a way that the author felt sympathy and could do nothing to correct Bartleby. The lawyer gave Bartleby plenty of opportunities to change and to make better decisions. He even offered the reformists the funds to do something different. The lawyer has no fault in this matter. He did everything he could to help the poor man.  

Summary vs. Analysis

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Summary vs. Analysis

A summary of a piece of writing is a brief description of what happened or what the author was writing about. A good summary will include the thesis and the main supporting details from the text. It is a condensed version of a piece of literature, normally no more than a paragraph. However, some can be a little longer, and can become a basic retailing of the story. Summaries do not go any deeper than the surface of the text. 

That is when an analysis comes into play. An analysis looks for the deeper meaning of the piece and tries to grasp a better understanding of what the author is saying. A summary has to happen first to be able to complete an analysis. This is because you have to have a good understanding of the story to try to analyze the authors point of view. Sometimes analysis can  be trying to portray the true meaning or can become an argument of the author's thesis.

To learn more, click on Summary vs Analysis

"A Modest Proposal" - Jonathan Swift

http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/swift/

Week Two: Reflection of Essay

1) What is the problem that Swift identified in his society? What does he want to do about it?

The problem that Swift identifies in his society is that there are a large number of young, poor children that are causing hardships and becoming burdens to their mothers and therefore make there mothers become criminals to try to support there children. He also states that some of these young lost people end up leaving their homeland.  Swift proposes that at the age of 1 a child should then be sold and eaten. 

2) Is his suggestion serious? If not, what is the purpose? What is he making fun of?

I do not feel that Swift's suggestion was serious. He would have to be quite mad to truely feel  that way. I believe however, the his purpose was to cause a shock. I believe he was making fun of the English and the Irish saying that to fix there problem they would eat their babies.

3) Is his solution logical? What kind of evidence does he give his position?

Swift tries to present his solution logically. However, I feel it can only sound so rational when the topic is eating babies. He talks of the benefits that would come from it. He mentions how it would take away the burden from the mothers to provide and support such large families. He even goes into the details of how good the "quality" of the meat is that comes from these young children. 




Overall it was an interesting read. However, I do not agree with his solution. 

To learn more about Jonathan Swift, click below!


Jonathan Swift

Good Readers and Good Writers

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After reading Vladimir Nabokov's "Good Readers and Good Writers" I came to agree with some of what he said. Nabokov believes a good reader should "notice and fondle details" of the piece. I completely agree. You can not have a true understanding of what you are reading if you are not noticing key factors and details of the writing.

There are many characteristics that would make up a good reader. For one, a good reader must be able to comprehend the material he/she is reading. Therefore, they must pick out an appropriate level of reading material. Also a good reader will utilize the tools provided such as diagrams, pictures and graphs. They will use this to better understand the material.

I would consider myself a decent reader. Although I might not be a fast reader, I try to really "listen" to what the author is trying to say in the writing. 

Hope you guys enjoy! I had just gotten home from the gym and tanning, so I look a little rough! Sorry! haha.