Blog 16: Final Reflection

What I can take from this class is learning that English itself can cover more fun, and interesting topics instead of just basic reading and writing. The supernatural theme wasn't as fun as i thought it would be but it was very interesting and different. The assignments we had to complete involved ourselves into the supernatural world. I usually don't watch shows or movies that deals with ghosts or demons of anything of that sort. And also the Hero's Quest that we learned about can also help us evaluate movies when at home or at the movie theater. After this class, and learning how to evaluate and take what we need to complete assignments, i think i might watch one or two supernatural shows. The show on channel eleven called "Supernatural" looks a little interesting.

What i also learned from this course is that supernatural can maybe make this world a better place. Although it would maybe alter the time, as well other things, i think its worth it. For example, if we were to live in Terry Pratchett's "Thief of Time" novel, we would be able to freeze time or move so fast that people on the earth wouldn't be able to see us. Maybe its me but that sounds like more then fun. And from reading that book i have realized how important time is and what the world would be like if we had the power to adjust it to our liking. What I'm going to take from this course is knowing that English is one of the most broad and interesting courses you can ever take. There's so much that it covers, and knowing how to analyze and evaluate makes English more fun.

Blog 15: Final Draft

Sir Terence David John Pratchett was born on April 28th, in Buckinghamshire, England. He was very good with grammar because of his ample time spent at the public library. His interests as a kid were astronomy, and British and American science fiction. He was also a journalist and a press officer in his early life.The genre that best describes his books would have to be animated or comic fantasy. His first "Disc world" novel was published in 1983. Disc world was a world that Pratchett invented himself. A world where any and everything was possible. And in "Thief of Time" he goes way beyond extraordinary with the use of time. Being that one of his interests was astronomy, I understand the book "Thief of Time" a little more. In this world, the time they live in is very inaccurate, but of the essence. Until somebody attempts to change that.

Jeremy Clockson, a clockmaker, understood time like nobody else. He completely understood what makes clocks tick. Jeremy was an orphan and adopted by the Guild Clock makers since a few days old. He was never good with people, communicating or keeping a conversation so he devoted all his time to clock-making. In this "Disc world", or time frame, it is said that orphans are born with a trade, a future, and a name. He felt as if he was just a boring person just made to fix and create clocks. He is also said to be insane, and is obligated to take medication every day, which he has never done. Obsessed with time, he often set his clocks for a certain time and wakes up a minute before the alarm to make sure it was accurate. He read books on how to be a more interesting person. Trying to keep conversation with other people was very difficult being that he could only relate to clocks. One day, a woman by the name of Lady LeJean asks him to do the unthinkable. She asked him to build a clock with the most accurate time. Because of his like for her, he considers doing it but tells her that it is impossible. She then hands him a book, "Grim Fairy Tales" which has a story of the first attempt to build a glass clock. The glass clock was built to capture time, holding it almost between the past, present, and the future. The first attempt to build one failed because of a non-glass spring that broke under strain. To build a clock with perfect time in this world means to stop the time in which they live in. With the help of an Igor, named Igor, Jeremy begins his master plan. They get along quite well, despite Igor's replacement of the letter "S" with "TH". Jeremy finally gets to know someone for the first time, or something. They might have gotten along so well because of Igor's strict code. They are to never contradict or complain to their masters, never make personal remarks, and never ask questions.

There is somehow something very strange that Jeremy doesn't notice about Lady LeJean. Igor tells Jeremy that he notices she has no feet. Sort of like a ghost. Jeremy disagrees. She belongs to the Auditors, which were some type of group of ghosts that can read through people's minds. They are people from a different time frame that had the power to create humans. The auditors created Lady LeJean maybe to lure Jeremy into creating the clock that no human has ever created(or created and worked). But they created her human, which means she starts to feel and see things that humans see on a every day basis. Like eating, sleeping, blushing, and sense. As the days went by, she found herself becoming more and more human. Feelings started to develop She did abnormal things to try and feed herself by swallowing nutrients out of the air. The auditors believed that doing anything human related would make them turn into a human being. So they avoided almost everything that Lady LeJean did since her creation. They were also able to cut into a time frame that nobody else could see or exist in. Except a monk named Master Lu-Tze and his apprentice named Lobsang. They are on their way from another time frame and planet. Master Lu-Tze is an old short bald monk, full of wisdom, logic, and speed. Lobsang is their to earn higher in rank or improve his skills to one day become a monk. Little did he know the adventure he goes on is to try and save their world. As Lady LeJean remained in a human body, she also realized that what she was doing was wrong. Making Jeremy build that clock will change the world forever. That is why the Auditors no longer wanted her to remain in a human form. "Be a duck for too long and a duck you'll stay. A bright duck, maybe, with some odd memories, but still a duck.(Pg 250)"

Jeremy and his assistant finally get the clock together with solid pieces of glass and crystal. It requires the power of lightning to start working, or to freeze time. He set the clock for one o'clock and watched as the lightning powered it up. Mr Soak, the dairyman experiences the effects of the clocks ability when the air got low and the water became solid. Then to make sure this was true he held a bottle above the floor and watched it float above the ground. The clock has somewhat affected gravity and maybe the mass of their time. Master Lu-Tze and Lobsang Ludd apparently too late. On their way to Jeremy's time, they meet up with a woman named Susan Helit. She happens to be the granddaughter of Death. Susan understands what will happen to the world if the time remains as it is. While Master Lu-Tze, of eight hundred years of age, decides to rest, Susan and Lobsang team up to fix the problem. They find themselves in an art gallery, where, the Auditors seem to sense their presence. Susan picks up a sword and Lobsang uses his fighting techniques to fight a couple of them off. The Auditors can also be defeated by performing human activities. Lady LeJean helps Susan and Lobsang by pushing a piece of chocolate down one of the Auditors throat. Anything humans enjoy, Auditors cannot withstand. And eating which determines whether we live or not, kills Auditors within seconds. After the encounter with the Auditors, Lady LeJean takes them to where Jeremy is. Lobsang realizes that when he speaks, Jeremy's lips moves too. And Susan then explains that they are twin brothers, and when close enough, can feel each others pain. Jeremy is unconscious from the fight earlier, but, when Lobsang speaks, Jeremy's lips try to form the words that he says. When Lobsang reaches in and touches Jeremy's hand with his fingertip, he disappears, turning into silvers of blue light. I think by Lobsang touching his twin brother, they both form together into one spirit. The spirit followed Susan around as she and Lady LeJean travel to a store to purchase large amounts of chocolate. After, they meet up with Death, War, Famine, Pestilence, and Chaos(Mr. Soak). There were many Auditors now, to defend the clock. Susan and her friends were outnumbered. The sky was now a fire, everything changed, the appearance of their world was no more "normal". With the clock working and time stopped, they were in a hell that the Auditors lived for.

Master Lu-Tze creates a decoy and Susan escapes the surrounding of the auditors. She then rushes towards the clock shop with the spirit of Jeremy running besides her. Susan believed that she could reach the clock by believing in herself and in Jeremy. The auditors were just an illusion that they believed were real so they became more and more real, or human. As Susan got closer and closer to the clock, the fire in the sky started to vanish. The Hero's Quest is the quest of Susan, Lobsang, Lu-Tze, Jeremy, Myria(Unity) LeJean and friends. The quest for them was to stop the clock that had frozen time for good. Jeremy built that clock only to prove he was a genius. But after he realized what he had done it was too late. Lobsang and Lu-Tze, as well as everybody else came from a different time frame to team up and destroy the clock, returning time to its original state. After Lobsang enters a different time frame to meet his parents, he returns back to the clock and stops it by grasping the pendulum. After stopping the clock, Lobsang, Lu-Tze, Susan and LeJean return to the time where Lobsang and Lu-Tze had been living. Now that the clock Jeremy had built was destroyed, they now had to fix the clocks in their time to get it ticking again. With their clock ticking, time frames were back to normal. Master Lu-Tze was a sweeper in disguise, and I think the book that Jeremy read from Lady LeJean was true. Just in a different time frame. In the book it said that the glass clock broke due to a spring or some type of mechanism. But what I really think happened is Master Lu-Tze and a few of his friends traveled through time to destroy it like they did the second time. There's always somebody in the world that's going to try the unthinkable. And when they do, Master Lu-Tze should be there, and if not him then somebody he is training to be like him.

In conclusion, Jeremy turns out to be a little of a good guy and a bad guy. When he discovers what he has done, with the power and strength of Lobsang(his brother), they both destroy the clock and save their world. Terry Pratchett uses time to show us that when you can re-arrange time, anything is possible. He used Master Lu-Tze as a dojo master and a sweeper to hide what he does so the world never knows. Time can and should be used efficiently, and in this book shows what can happen if time were to be a human or an weapon x in the wrong hands.

Blog 12

For my presentation, I will be using a book from Terry Pratchett. I am not so sure on which book to be exact but I do have "The Wee Free Men" in mind. I chose Terry Pratchett after listening to Mr. Smith explain in more detail about his history. I am a little into a little humor, and Pratchett deals with comedy. I can tell the Hero's Quest comes in because in The Wee Free Men a character loses her brother and goes on a "quest" to get him back. I will have to read the literary theory a little more to understand and choose an efficient way of explaining the story. And last but not least, choose a good book.

Blog 10: Reflection

After learning about the monomyth and watching Spirited Away, I've learned that in movies the journeys that characters go on can determine the whole movie. Sometimes they might be the hero or can turn out to be the villain. What I really found interesting is the obstacles they face and how they overcome them. This English class has really helped me to analyze and understand the adventure movies in a easy way. Although Spirited Away was an animated movie, the quest that the little girl went on became very interesting. I have also noticed in adventure movies with kids, they're sometimes on a quest to save someone really important to them like their parents or a close friend. These series of activities has showed me how to understand a persons quest more vividly and what to expect on a journey.

Blog 9: Hero's Quest

The Forsaken is a horror film that was released April 27, 2001. It was directed and written by J.S Cardone. The reason why i chose this film is because of the supernatural theme, and this movie deals with vampires. It is about a guy who travels cross country to his sister's wedding and runs into a gang of vampires lead by one of the forsaken. The forsaken are a group of French warriors who made a deal with a demon to live forever. There were nine warriors, eight transformed into vampires and the last one used as a sacrifice to seal the agreement. Out of the eight vampires, four are dead and the other four are on different parts of the earth. One of the four happens to be the one Sean runs in to. This part of the movie makes it much more interesting because it shows that the film has some type of history to it.

Along the way he runs into a man who turns out to be a hunter and asks to accompany him on his trip(the departure section of the hero's journey). Sean agrees and they both continue their journey. On their way, they run into a girl who has been bitten by one of the vampires. They include her into one of their bloodbaths in which Kit(the forsaken) bites her and then leaves her and tells one of his minions to dispose of her. But luckily, the vampire lets her live. The bite turns into an infection and causes her to have flashbacks of what they did to her. The hunter keeps her alive by injecting her with a drug that keeps her unconscious.

One important symbol of this movie would have to be the sun. As we all know vampires cannot withstand the light of the sun. In The Forsaken, the vampires find a guy with a few loose screws in his head to help them travel during the day. They stay in the trunk to avoid contact with the sun and direct the driver to their destination. Another important symbol in this movie would be a bite from the vampires. We know that in most movies once you are bitten by a vampire, you're either dead or will later become one of them. In the forsaken, Sean gets bitten by one of the vampires and fears he is going to die. But his hunter friend gives him some medication that slows down the growth of the infection. Another symbol would have to be the way they have to kill the Kit. The hunter tells Sean that the only way to get rid of him is for him to be slain on hallowed ground. Meaning a church, or somewhere that is holy or sacred.

The Hero's Quest takes place when Sean decides he wants to help the hunter kill the Kit and his friends. He could have simply dropped off the hunter and continue his trip but once he starts developing feelings for the infected female, he has a sudden change of heart. This part would also be the initiation section of the film, Sean realizing that he is putting his life on the line to help save the lives of more people. After that, Sean decides they are done running and wants to fight back. When they stop at a motel over night, they see Kit pull up and kill the landlord. That was a sign for Sean or the hunter to go over and either kill their day driver or one of the vampires. He does so the next morning, opening the trunk and killing one of the forsaken minions by exposing her to the sun.

Sean becomes a monomyth because towards the end of the movie he is bitten. And that causes him to see flashbacks also. What the infection also does is weaken him, indicating that he could be transforming soon. The medication the hunter gives him starts to wear off but Sean fights it. He is a mythical hero because the infection makes him partially a vampire and partially human. And he is a hero for completely forgetting about his sister and joins forces with the hunter to fight the vampires.

On their last encounter, the forsaken and his last minion find them in an house owned by an old lady. Right next to a gas station, the house they trap them at happens to be built on top of an old Spanish graveyard. Thus, the house is on hallow ground and a green light for slaying Kit. Sean takes out his minion, by shooting her with the old lady's shotgun leaving Kit all alone. Sean pins him down with his car, then shoots him, revealing a beam of sunlight, then shooting him again when he tries to escape the sun. As he starts to combust, Sean and the gang run out of the house leaving the forsaken to ignite the gas and blow up the house with him in it.

The last section of the monomyth, which was the return was really different in this movie. After they defeat the vampire, Sean, the hunter and the girl receive medical attention. They all are cured except the hunter. Sean goes back on the road, but not where he was originally going, but to find the hunter. They both discover that he has not been able to receive any medical attention because the forsaken vampire that bit him is somewhere in the United States. Sean sees the hunter hitchhiking like when they first met and picks him up. They both head out to Denver seeking the forsaken vampire that bit him.

Works Cited

1)http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&q=define%3Amonomyth&btnG=Search

2)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forsaken_%28film%29

3)http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&q=define%3Ahallowed&btnG=Search

Blog 8

The symbols in the song "War" by Bob Marley are; war(1), race(3), nation(2), color(2), human rights(3), peace(4), morality(4), fight(7), victory(7), and good over evil(8). The meaning of war in this song is the war that African Americans face everyday of their lives. Bob Marley used race in this song to state that every one should see each race as one instead of individuals. I totally agree with him because once we see that we are all one the fight or "war" can finally be over. Nation is used to describe ones wealth. He uses it in his song to state that we should not be categorized by the amount of money we make. Color, one of my favorite symbols, is included in his song to describe the difference that people find and use against each other. Some people don't like to talk to or associate with certain people because of their skin color. And some people often look down on others due to their skin difference. Human rights and race are kind of related to one another in this song. The rights we all have as humans are often taken away or challenged by corrupted people. For example, a law was passed in Arizona that requires state and local police to find out if Hispanics are in the country illegally. And also, people will get fined for hiring undocumented day laborers. So that leaves a lot of people without jobs to support their family. And it also forces Hispanics to relocate from Arizona and try their luck somewhere else. Peace is another word for equality. With peace and equality we can all live in a world where nobody feels better then some one else. Morality also falls in the same category of good over evil. With the right morality, we can base our ideas on the good and better things in life rather then the negative, unequal and unfair rules and regulations. And last but not least fight and victory is like a cause and effect but is very important. In the song war, Bob Marley states that we will continue to fight meaning that we will fight the war for peace, equality, and human rights. And he, as well as myself, believe that we are close to victory. The victory he wants is not money, or power, but respect and acknowledgment. For white people to see us as white(the same), for Europeans or Russians or Dominicans to see us as the same. We are only different in minor aspects like skin color, eye color, hair color, and culture.

Blog 6: Essay 3

"War" by Bob Marley
Until the philosophy which hold one race
Superior and another inferior
Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned
Everywhere is war, me say war

That until there are no longer first class
And second class citizens of any nation
Until the color of a man's skin
Is of no more significance than the color of his eyes
Me say war

That until the basic human rights are equally
Guaranteed to all, without regard to race
Dis a war

That until that day
The dream of lasting peace, world citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion
To be pursued, but never attained
Now everywhere is war, war

And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes
that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique,
South Africa sub-human bondage
Have been toppled, utterly destroyed
Well, everywhere is war, me say war

War in the east, war in the west
War up north, war down south
War, war, rumors of war

And until that day, the African continent
Will not know peace, we Africans will fight
We find it necessary and we know we shall win
As we are confident in the victory

Of good over evil, good over evil, good over evil
Good over evil, good over evil, good over evil

Robert Nesta Marley was born February 6, 1945 and died May 11, 1981(Wikipedia). He lived in St. Ann, Jamaica and later moved to Trench town to search for work. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for The Wailers, and Bob Marley and the Wailers. Songs like "War", "Jamming", and "No Woman No Cry" were a few famous songs he put together himself as well as with the Wailers(Wikipedia). Bob was also known for spreading Jamaican music and the Rastafarian movement worldwide.

The song "War" has eight stanzas and a two-line stanza. It is very narrow and is in the center of the page. All together it consists of thirty two lines.

"War" talks about the fight for equality. "Until the color of a man's skin Is of no more significance than the color of his eyes(stanza 3)." In those lines he is saying if when we can see a man's skin color as unimportant, then we will be able to move forward and become equal. That until the basic human rights are equally Guaranteed to all, without regard to race, Dis is war (stanza 4). This stanza is clearly saying that people that cannot look beyond race or skin color, we will always be at war with each other. Until that day, lasting peace is like a dream, rule of international morality will remain an illusion that we want to come true but never will (stanza 5). While the unhappy regimes hold our brothers captive in Mozambique we will always be at war. Until they are toppled, or destroyed, we are at war with one another (stanza 6). War is everywhere. War up north, war down south. Rumors of war are spreading which can get other countries involved (stanza 7). Bob Marley says until that day, Africa will never see or know the meaning of peace. Which means we will always fight and we find it necessary. And us Africans are sure that we will win because we are confident in the victory of good over evil (stanza 8).

Throughout the song, there are a few symbols. The symbols in this song seem to be war; color of a man's skin; (line 10), Africans; (stanza 7), human rights; (stanza 3), peace; (stanza 4), and good over evil (stanza 8).

The name of the song is war which is a little self explanatory. Throughout the song he talks about all of the things that keeps this earth and the people from equality and peace. "Color of a man's skin" which could be black, white, brown or yellow should not matter to us as people. "Africans" where black people originated from. By him mentioning Africans, we know that he is talking about the suffering they have faced for decades. "Human rights" or the universal rights we all have as humans is talked about because we don't all have equal rights. "Peace" which is happiness, or relaxation is what he is fighting for. Peace is like an illusion that we wish the world would embrace and enforce. And "good over evil" is a saying that many Jamaicans believe in. It means that no matter how bad things are looking, we always have faith and always know that good defeats evil anytime.

The tone in this song is built around the word "war." Although the name of the song is war, it is repeated in each stanza. That indicates that the word war is very important to the rest of the song. The way the writer uses the word indicates that it can be international, personal, or both. The tone of the writer in this song would have to be faithful, hopeful, courageous, and confident. The way he feels about the war that is going on is tragic. And according to the song, "We Africans will fight (stanza 7) shows that the writer is of an African descent and believes in peace and harmony. And with that said, he is willing to fight and will not restrain from helping his brothers and sisters as well as the earth find it.

Connotation is a subjective cultural or emotional coloration in addition to the explicit or denotative meaning of any specific word or phrase(Wikipedia.org). Which means connotation is what a word or phrase is trying to imply or what is the certain meaning behind the word. According to linguistics, denotation is the specific dictionary definition of a word. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, war is a period of armed conflict between nations, states, or parties. The connotation meaning of war could be isolation being that when people are at war, everybody has their own isolated territory from their enemies. The meaning of war can mean anything from conflict, struggle, or attack.

"War" is a song about the conflicts that people (African American) went through and still face today. The title is self explanatory but in the song we see how war manage to stay alive amongst them. By reading this song you can see that the writer believes in human rights and does not discriminate against race, or color of skin. It also shows that the government has a part in the war we face. There is war throughout the world but the writer points out that African Americans deal with a more harsh war that they encounter all the time. This song is also about having faith and confidence in ourselves. Even though we face war every day, it is up to us to overcome each battle until the real war has begun. In the last stanza we see that the writer shows that he has patience, which is one important tactic in defeating an opponent. The writer is patient because he believes in good over evil, where we are the good, and the war is the evil trying to split the world into pieces.

Works Cited

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marley
2. http://www.thirdfield.com/html/lyrics/war.html
3. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connotation
4. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denotation_(semiotics)

Blog 5 (Rough Draft)

Robert Nesta Marley was born February 6, 1945 and died May 11, 1981. He lived in St. Ann, Jamaica and later moved to Trench town to search for work. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for The Wailers, and Bob Marley and the Wailers. Songs like "War", "Jamming", and "No Woman No Cry" were a few famous songs he put together himself as well as with the Wailers. Bob was also known for spreading Jamaican music and the Rastafarian movement worldwide.

The song "War" has eight stanzas and a two-line stanza. It is very narrow and is in the center of the page. I don't think there is any rhyme scheme in this song.

"War" talks about the fight for equality. "Until the color of a man's skin Is of no more significance than the color of his eyes(stanza 3)." In those lines he is saying if when we can see a man's skin color as unimportant, then we will be able to move forward and become equal. That until the basic human rights are equally Guaranteed to all, without regard to race, Dis is war (stanza 4). This stanza is clearly saying that people that cannot look beyond race or skin color, we will always be at war with each other. Until that day, lasting peace is like a dream, rule of international morality will remain an illusion that we want to come true but never will (stanza 5). While the unhappy regimes hold our brothers captive in Mozambique we will always be at war. Until they are toppled, or destroyed, we are at war with one another (stanza 6). War is everywhere. War up north, war down south. Rumors of war are spreading which can get other countries involved (stanza 7). Bob Marley says until that day, Africa will never see or know the meaning of peace. Which means we will always fight and we find it necessary. And us Africans are sure that we will win because we are confident in the victory of good over evil (stanza 8).

The symbols in this song seem to be war; color of a man's skin; (line 10), Africans; (stanza 7), human rights; (stanza 3), peace; (stanza 4), and good over evil (stanza 8). The name of the song is war which is a little self explanatory. Throughout the song he talks about all of the things that keeps this earth and the people from equality and peace. "Color of a man's skin" which could be black, white, brown or yellow should not matter to us as people. "Africans" where black people originated from. By him mentioning Africans, we know that he is talking about the suffering they have faced for decades. "Human rights" or the universal rights we all have as humans is talked about because we don't all have equal rights. "Peace" which is happiness, or relaxation is what he is fighting for. Peace is like an illusion that we wish the world would embrace and enforce. And "good over evil" is a saying that many Jamaicans believe in. It means that no matter how bad things are looking, we always have faith and always know that good defeats evil anytime.

The tone in this song is built around the word "war." Although the name of the song is war, it is repeated in each stanza. That indicates that the word war is very important to the rest of the song. The way the writer uses the word indicates that it can be international, personal, or both. The tone of the writer in this song would have to be faithful, hopeful, courageous, and confident. The way he feels about the war that is going on is tragic. And according to the song, "We Africans will fight (stanza 7) shows that the writer is of an African descent and believes in peace and harmony. And with that said, he is willing to fight and will not restrain from helping his brothers and sisters as well as the earth find it.

"War" is a song about the conflicts that people (African American) went through and still face today. The title is self explanatory but in the song we see how war manage to stay alive amongst them. By reading this song you can see that the writer believes in human rights and does not discriminate against race, or color of skin. It also shows that the government has a part in the war we face. There is war throughout the world but the writer points out that African Americans deal with a more harsh war that they encounter all the time. This song is also about having faith and confidence in ourselves. Even though we face war every day, it is up to us to overcome each battle until the real war has begun. In the last stanza we see that the writer shows that he has patience, which is one important tactic in defeating an opponent. The writer is patient because he believes in good over evil, where we are the good, and the war is the evil trying to split the world into pieces.

Works Cited

http://www.thirdfield.com/html/lyrics/war.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9CG2iE2vxU
http://www.rastafarispeaks.com/Selassie/

Blog 5: Essay 3 (Preview)

The assignment is asking for us to chose another poem or use our previous poem to incorporate all that we have learned in this class so far. This shouldn't be hard at all since we discussed almost everything the assignment is asking for. But what I don't understand is a little bit of the poetic form, and the motif and archetype. For the poetic form i might need a little help with the rhyme scheme, rhythm, and meter. Although we have learned about motif's and archetypes in class, I am still a little confused about the two. If I get the understanding of these then I should be able to complete this assignment. I'm not so sure what I want to write about. If i can't find anything I guess I can always use my previous poem.

Blog 4

English has always been easy for me. This semester I'm learning to read between the lines and better understand literature. I also learned that literature can also be fun instead of long and boring. Thanks to Mr. Smith, I am becoming more comfortable with reading and writing. The supernatural theme is very interesting to me because you can read and learn a lot about the "non visible universe." Research is very important to literature because you may have to read long descriptions and some information can be irrelevant. I'm not so familiar with web tools yet, but customizing and editing can bring some life to your blog. The class is cool so far, but what I am still wondering is am I an A+ student yet?

Blog 3 (Tone & Symbolism)

Sappho was an ancient greek poetess, born on the island of Lesbos. She was born between 630 and 612 BC, and died around 570 BC. She was exiled from the island of Lesbos to Sicily between 604 and 694 BC. Her name is the origin of the name sapphic which was applied to female homosexuality beginning in the 19th century. The reason why i chose this poem is because this poem was written a very long time ago and the fact that she was a lesbian poet caught my attention.

My definition of tone is the way you say something. If someone is speaking in an argumentative tone, that means their angry or looking for an argument. Tone can have a certain pitch or level to figure out how the person is feeling. When there is a specific type of tone you can feel it. Even through reading. In this poem the tone is very happy and delightful. The poet feels satisfied that she has that person in her life.

With symbolism you can refer to objects, people, or places to represent something else. It can be something that represents itself but means something else. In this poem she says "paler I turn than grass is." Sappho uses the pale color of grass to explain how she physically feels.

In conclusion I think Sappho is explaining in her poem is that you can be a very happy person when you have that special someone in your life. Sometimes you might feel empty when the person is not there or you cannot seem to find them. Sappho, to me, is describing a type of relationship. And when this relationship ends, she feels as if the world has come to an end. The person she is with is like a god in her eyes. In the third stanza she says "underneath my skin the tenuous flame suffuses." I think that line means that the flame is spreading and taking over her body. She can no longer hold it off. To me Sappho is portraying a relationship that goes from good to bad very quickly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sappho
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:tone&ei=onCnS52BIYrWM7nfoYwI&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title&ved=0CAgQkAE
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3Asymbolism

Blog 2

For this blog i decided to go with a mythology poem. The reason why i chose it because poems of Greek mythology is confusing to understand but at the same time i find it interesting. I used the website http://www.spiffy-entertainment.com/mythpoetry.html to find this poem. I think the author of this poem is defining god in her terms. She also talks about either a sickness or coming close to her death.

[Like the very gods in my sight is he]
by Sappho of Lesbos
translated by Richmond Lattimore

Like the very gods in my sight is he who
sits where he can look in your eyes, who listens
close to you, to hear the soft voice, its sweetness
murmur in love and

laughter, all for him. But it breaks my spirit;
underneath my breast all the heart is shaken.
Let me only glance where you are, the voice dies,
I can say nothing,

but my lips are stricken to silence, underneath
my skin the tenuous flame suffuses;
nothing shows in front of my eyes, my ears are
muted in thunder.

And the sweat breaks running upon me, fever
shakes my body, paler I turn than grass is;
I can feel that I have been changed, I feel that
death has come near me.

http://www.spiffy-entertainment.com/mythpoetry.html

Blog 1

Name: Sharod
Age:19
Hometown: Brooklyn
Major: Veterinary Technician
Hobbies: Dancing, playing instruments, and writing music