Final Blog Entry: Reflective Paper

         After looking over the syllabus' listed objectives for the students in English 102, from analyzing the relationship between literary genre and meaning to examining logical fallacies, I believe I met the objectives listed and much more. I not only expanded my knowledge on fallacies and how they are used in mass media but also developed skills that will benefit me in the future with various tasks. Because of the copious imformation I gained from English 102, I would definately say I am glad I took this class.
         Due to the consistant bloggings and the numerous papers that are required for this class, I quickly leanred the skill of managing my own time. I frequently experience technical problems with my computer and printer at home, making last minute blog posts and papers even more stressful and challenging. By managing my time wisely, by spending a few hours in the public library and the TLC Lab at the school campus, I successfully finished all my blog posts and papers well before the deadlines and without any uncessary stress.
         Furthermore, the pieces of literature I read in this class, namely The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman and Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck, slightly changed my view points on the treatment of women in society and also how woman project themselves due to society's standards. I previously held a narrow viewpoint regarding how woman were treated in society, believing that all women were degrated and looked down upon in the past. However, after reading The Yellow Wallpaper, and seeing how caring and gentle John was towards his wife even though society held a different, diminishing attitude towards women, my view of the treatment of women changed to a brighter and more positive regard. Also, after reading Chrysanthemums, my solid perspective that most women projected themselves in accordance with society weakened. Elisa projected herself as a strong, capable woman and fought off society's standard weak steriotypical woman during that time period. Elisa, in my eyes, knows she is a woman and therefore the "weaker" gender, but confronts her femininity in order to set herself on equal footing with males. I am thankful that these stories were the readings chosen for English 102, because these two short stories reshaped my view points on femininity and social expectations in the past.
         I enjoyed the experiences and new view points that Ive developed in English 102. I hope to keep in touch with all my classmates that I have met and also wish everyone the best of luck in reaching their desired future goals! Happy holidays! :)

Brina Koohbanani

Blog #11: "Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible."

Blog #11: Chapter 2 of Ivan Ilych opens with the narrative comment that "Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible." What does this mean?

This brief commentary from the author is describing how terribly original Ivan's life is lead. Ivan solely focuses on obtaining social power, wealth, and prestige; all being shallow and meaningless values in life. Ivan does not realize the true values in life that deal with relationships with others, love, trust and family. Because Ivan lives such a shallow life, Ivan's life is terrible, and aslo original, because everyone strives to become a little bit wealthy throughout their lives.

Blog #10: "The Tempest" obviously works in the realm of fantasy--magic, spirits, unlikely coincidences. Would you therefore describe it as a lighthearted, escapist work? Or is it a "serious" drama?

I view "The Tempest" as lighthearted, escapist work more than a serious drama. I view the drama in this light because of the atmosphere created by the play. Figments of our imagination such as faries and magic make the work appear to be less sophisticated because of these elements in the drama. These make the play look childish, innocent, and even naive. Plus, the drama itself focuses on the basic morals that humans learn when we are young, and also contributes to the play's overall innocence.

I view "serious" dramas as those that place new perspectives on human thinking. These plays most likely address issues in a new light, allowing the readers to argue against the basic teachings that society has taught about certain subjects. Many of these dramas describe situations that are typically not accepted in modern day society as well!

Blog #9: "A Doll's House" - What themes from this story have we encountered before? How would you compare the way these themes are treated in this play to the way they are treated in short stories or in poems?

What themes from this story have we encountered before? How would you compare the way these themes are treated in this play to the way they are treated in short stories or in poems?

There are a number of themes from "A Doll's House" that we have encountered before in pervious readings. The theme of masculinity or male dominance is present in both "A Doll's House" and "The Yellow Wallpaper." John, Emily's husband, believes to know what is best for Emily and controls her every activity. John is alike to Trovald, who controlled his own wife as if she was his own play doll.

The theme of womanly independence is present in both "A Doll's House" and "Chrysanthemums." In "Chrysanthemums," Elisa is a strong, independent woman who has a hard exterior, never showing any passionate emotions. In "A Doll's House," Nora gains her own independence at the end of the play, when she finally realizes how she appears in her husbands eyes, and leaves the household. 

& There are several more motiffs that run throughout many of the stories we have read in this class!

Blog #8: "Oedipus" - Is Oedipus really a tragic figure? Why or why not?

According to Aristotle's definition of a tragic figure, Oedipus accurately falls into the category of a tragic hero or figure.

- Oedipus is the main character in "Oedipus," a tragic play.

- Oedipus is noble: He gorges his own eyes out in punishment to himself once he realizes that he killed his father and married his mother.

- Oedipus is caring: He loves his family and is devistated for his daughters and son's newly discovered social rankings.

- Oedipus is a good man, but has a tragic flaw: his fate!

Blog #7: Discussing dramatic form

What problems did you encounter in translating a message to dramatic form? How did you overcome them?

One problem I encountered is rereading a line over several times before finding out the meaning of the line! Since the lines in the drama "Everyman" are not written in today's typical language, that people speak today, the words in the drama require more effort to decode. Personally, I looked up a quick summary of the work before reading the play in order to give myself a mantal image or guide lines that I would expect the play to follow. With these guidelines I was able to decode the meaning of many words and sentences much quicker, allowing me to read the drama in a reasonable time frame.

Also, the plays that everyone performed in class were so funny. :) There are several problems that we had to face in order to make our message as clear as possible in our play.
We had to make sure that everyone was aware of the different characters, so when we were performing we had to address the different characters with their names, so the audience will understand. However, in written drama, there's no need to state the names of every character!

Blog #6: How did your views of your poem change as you researched and wrote your paper? How did your views of poetry in general change?

The poem I chose for my research paper is "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath. Primarily, I thought that all aspects of the poem connected to the main theme of the poem, but after rereading the poem over and over and over again, I noticed many more connections between literary devices and the theme of the work as a whole. By writing this paper, I became even more knowledgeable about my poem, and this is great, because I was able to produce a great paper, but, on the other hand, I had to revise my essay so many times because I came up with better ideas!
In general, my viewpoint on poetry changed slightly. I've known that poetry contains several different interpretations and connections that weve throughout pieces of poetry. This project just reopened my eyes to how true that statement is.