Technology

In this class I have had a chance to use technology. I use the same technology daily for my job and it has not been a challenge, but fun.

Online learning is the only way I have been able to continue my education and I'm thankful for it. I plan to start taking some classes in person when I transfer to NAU, but for now this is it for me and I love it.

I think having an online English class is great. I find the feedback to be very specific about my work and I think that's a good thing. When we are asked to read other student's work and make comments, being able to type the comments out makes them more meaningful because we have to really think about what we are saying and how to say it.

I think having a blog to say what I thought or felt about the assignments was the most beneficial in class. This was where I could say what I thought about a reading or an assignment and it was my space to say it.

I also liked using Glogster and will use that again. I thought it was a good way to show creativity and not just write something. It gave work more meaning and allowed me to show my creativity and say more with pictures, color, and art, not just words.

I think the use of technology was great in this class and I'm thankful for it!

Final Presentation

Final presentation here:

Final Presentation

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Reflection On the Course

As I write this and have the chance to reflect on the course I think about the challenges I faced, what I enjoyed the most, and what I look forward to using.

First, I felt the course gave me an opportunity to write in a different perspective. Instead of doing research and proving a case or argument, I had to use my own thoughts, feelings, and insights to reach a conclusion. I learned that some literature is not for me and I also got to read a classic, Frankenstein, that I probably would have never taken the time to read. I found that piece to be challenging but I did enjoy it, just not in the romantic way that I think most of my classmates did.

The learning outcomes I think fit my results the best are; using an organizational strategy, identifying and evaluating multiple meanings and perspective, interpreting and analyzing text. I was able to do this in the poetry reading and really dissecting what I read and what forms of language were used. For Frankenstein, I was able to organize and create a strategy to tackle the assignment, and the final assignment that I chose on Zombies, I was able to tie it all in together.

My biggest challenges in the class were the writing assignments and not filling them up with too much summary. Also, I found it difficult when after working hard on an assignment I had a fellow classmate tell me I was basically wrong in my interpretation. It was hard to let go, especially after reading their work, but I overcame and decided they were having a hard enough go of it and not to respond.

This class has helped me to take more time and reflect on my reading and ask myself more questions when I am sitting down to analyze and then write.

Overall, I enjoyed the class and getting to keep up a blog. The extra credit was an excellent addition as well and when I watched a modern adaptation of Frankenstein it gave a whole new perspective on it that I enjoyed much more than just reading the book.

Thanks for a great semester!

Critiquing a Critique

“American Zombie Gothic” poses some interesting thoughts. Analyzing reasons for zombies in our current day and age and why they are chosen as the scary character in a movie, book, or publication is a good one. It also makes one wonder- could a zombie take over really happen and if so, how?

Reading “American Zombie Gothic” had me anticipating at each page turn- what would the number be for movies that have zombies in them since 2000? I didn’t get my answer in this piece so I decided to check for myself.

According to HubPages.com, “well over 400 movies between 2000 and 2010 could have been considered a zombie movie” (Huppages.com). That’s a saturation of walking dead on our minds in just ten short years. This solidifies Bishop’s theory that there has been a “clear resurgence in the popularity of the zombie monster since 2002” (Bishop, pg. 17). Zombies are more popular, people are intrigued with them and their scariness, but why? Do they really think it could happen- zombies take over?

Imagine my surprise when I typed this question into Google and came up with an article “5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen.” People are thinking about it, it’s on their minds, and some have gone far enough to try and prove it. In this online piece the 5 reasons are: brain parasites, neurotoxins, real rage virus, neurogenesis, and nanobots. It goes into an in-depth discussion of what each is and how it can result in a zombie apocalypse. Just someone’s wild imagination or does this oversaturation in the media about zombies have some merit? As the online piece says, “we don’t want to create a panic here. All we’re saying is that on an actual day on the actual calendar in the future, runaway microscopic nanobots will end civilization by flooding the planet with the cannabilistic undead. Science has proven it” (Cracked.com).

In the meantime, just keep watching, reading, or viewing those zombie pieces to prepare yourself and learn when to run away, take your meds, or pull out your weapon. As Bishop says, “zombie cinema is not merely a reflection of modern society, but…has lasting social value” (Bishop, pg. 36). It’s not going away, it’s here to stay and may become real. But will you be prepared?

Cannibals

Heather Baskins
Cline
English 102
November 4, 2011

Cannibals

Flesh eating, bloodthirsty animals- is that what defines a cannibal? According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, cannibalism is “ritualistic eating of human flesh by humans” (Encyclopedia Britannica, pg. 326). Cannibals are not animals at all but rather humans hunting or feasting on humans. A scary thought indeed, which makes cannibals or the ritual of cannibalism a desired characteristic for a monster. What can cannibals or the act portray for a character? Desperation in society, a new form of law and order with a terrifying end result.

The first example of a cannibal being used to create desperation and a new form of order for a group of people is in the book The Cannibals. The Cannibals focuses on two young men being held as prisoners on a boat for a crime that neither of them committed. The main character Tom Tin is in a unique situation, his father is the captain of the boat but he cannot let his own son go free because of the other shipmates and their desire to keep Tom a prisoner until they reach land and he heads to trial. He and his father hatch a plan to let Tom and his friend leave the ship in the middle of the night in the small rescue boat attached to the side. Tom and his friend have done their research and know the small islands around them that they can escape to. But, Tom’s father knows, cannibals await them on these islands:
“Then there’s the cannibals, and they’re worse than the headhunters. They live here and, here,” he said, jabbing at the islands on the chart. “here and here, and maybe here as well. You can’t tell by looking if they’re cannibals or not. Each man you meet, you’ll wonder: will he help you on your way or put you in a stew?” There had been no cannibals in Midgley’s book. Even the word put fear inside me (The Cannibals, pg. 12).
Tom was in a desperate situation, stay as a prisoner and head to a legal fate that was not his or head to an island with cannibals lurking that he may not be able to identify. Using a cannibal as a threat in this case created a sense of fear and doom for Tom, his friend and his father. The hope of being set free to live on an island and escape, but then to find out he could lose it all to man eating enemies- cannibals created a desperate situation that was inescapable and worse than being found guilty for something he did not do.

Continuing in The Cannibals, the threat of reaching the island and meeting up with cannibals took over the remainder of the book. The giant crocodiles, crashing waves and poor weather were not met with as much fear and intimidation as the threat of cannibals lurking to eat them at any turn. It can be deduced, law and order was not in tact or just for Tom when he would approach land with his father, but the law of cannibalism was another form on his island of escape, just in a more terrifying way. Would you rather sit in a jail for a crime you have not committed or be eaten by your own kind? Katherine Biber reflected on the same such belief when she wrote in the Sydney Law Review, “So cannibalism produced law, just as law…produced a cannibalism that had hitherto not been there" (Sydney Law Review, pg. 624).

Another example of cannibals being used as a form of desperation and law and order is in the book The Enemy. The Enemy focuses on a group of children ages 16 and younger who are trying to survive the effects of their parents and all people being turned into zombie cannibals. With no explanation of how it has happened to them, the children are left alone and fighting for their lives in a brutal and disgusting world with filth, garbage, a constant hunt for food, and the threat of cannibal “grown-ups” lurking at every turn. The mere thought of children being left to fend for themselves creates a sense of desperation, fear, and lack of order. Using cannibals to enforce the fact that order has completely been abandoned solidifies this. As the children noted, “A parent might have grounded you, a teacher might have kept you in after school, and the police might have arrested you, but none of them would have tried to eat you, like the grown-ups who wandered the streets these days” (The Enemy, pg. 40). The children in the book recognized the need for law and order and without it in a normal fashion it was being forced upon them in a brutal and deathly way by their own kind, “grown-ups.” Phillip Ardagh of The Guardian recognized this point in his review of the book when he said, “We are left with the possibility that, even in a post-apocalyptic world, humans- whether boys or girls- are their own worst enemies” (The Guardian). The most terrifying thing that could happen to a child would be for their parents or guardians to be taken from them- all of them, with no help for food, clothing, shelter and protection. Naturally, some children would be more rebellious, who will take care of the victims of the bullies? Without order from adults, where will they be? Enter the fear of “grown-ups” in a deadly cannibalistic manner setting their own version of law and order for the children- fight for your life.

A third example of cannibalism as a final act of desperation and law and order is from The Bible. Cannibalism was used as a threat of punishment to the Israelites if they failed to be obedient, creating a new form of law and order but also a terrifying punishment. The Israelites were told what would happen if they disobeyed:
53-And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee. 57- And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in they gates (The Holy Bible, pg. 161-162)
Using the threat of cannibalism as a form of punishment is a fearful and disgusting one. To tell a group of people if they do not do something they will be forced to eat their own children is a form of law and order based on fear. They would need to obey all that they had been commanded to do within a structured law and order, or suffer the consequences of being disobedient, and creating a detestable law that caused death, destruction and cannibalism. This passage of the Bible shows how horrendous of an act cannibalism is and could be consider something that is at the last straw and would be considered desperate. An online source words it this way, “The close association of cannibalism with the final stages of judgment from God also identifies it as the loathsome and evil thing it is” (Gotquestions.org).

Cannibals as characters can be used to portray desperation and a new form of law and order. As noted in the texts, The Enemy and The Cannibals, characters were in fear of cannibals causing desperation and also their new form of order- one ending with them being the meal. As The Bible stated in Deuteronomy, cannibalism was used as a threat of punishment for a group of people. Ruling by fear and causing the Israelites to obey the rules, or be forced into cannibalism and eating their own children was disgusting and created a fear based law and order that would bring the people to their own destruction at their own mouths. Cannibals may dine on human flesh but they cause fear, desperation, and a threat of law and order that no one wants to be ruled by.

Works Cited
Ardagh, Phillip. The Enemy by Charlie Higson. The Guardian. October 3, 2009.
Web. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/oct/03/the-enemy-charlie-higson-review

Biber, Katherine. Cannibals and Colonialism. Sydney Law Review. Vol. 27, 2005.
Web. http://sydney.edu.au/law/slr/slr27_4/Biber.pdf

Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.
Chicago, IL, USA: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2006. p 326.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/yavapai/Doc?id=10270935&ppg=339

GotQuestions.org. Web. November 2, 2011.
http://www.gotquestions.org/cannibalism-Bible.html

Higson, Charlie. The Enemy. Hyperion. New York. 2009. Print. (iPad version was
used for research in this essay).

Lawrence, Iain. The Cannibals. Laurel-Leafe. New York. 2005. Print. (iPad version
was used for research in this essay).

The Holy Bible. American Bible Society. D. Fanshaw. 1840. Google Books.
http://books.google.com/books?id=JAMVAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22American+Bible+Society%22&hl=en&ei=Xhq0TuXiKbH8iQK3qdBc&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CFQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Deuteronomy%2028&f=false

Annotated Bibliography

Higson, Charlie. The Enemy. Hyperion. New York. 2009.

In this source, the author tells the story of children being the only healthy survivors when a disease attacks anyone older than 16 and parents turn into zombie cannibals. The book gives a terrifying and detailed description of what the zombie parents do to children, how they rip them apart and eat them, torture them and scare them to death. This source is a thriller and gives me a good description of what zombie cannibals would be like as well as the type of fear and destruction they cause.

Lawrence, Iain. The Cannibals. Laurel-Leafe. New York. 2005.

In this source, the author tells the tale of two young boys being accused of a crime they did not commit. They are forced to leave a ship they are on in order to avoid being charged in court. The only problem- the islands they escape to are filled with cannibals. The threat of the cannibals in the story is not as graphic as my previous source, but it gives me an idea of what the fear created in the characters. I was able to contrast between the character facing a daunting unfair legal system or the fear of being eaten by cannibals.

The Holy Bible. American Bible Society. D. Fanshaw. 1840. Google Books.

In this source, I was able to research the history of cannibals in the Bible. This helped me to see that the threat of cannibalism was used for punishment, and to instill a new form of discipline that no one would want to handle. The Bible is a difficult book for me to read, it provided me with what I feel is a story to compliment the rest of my research about cannibals. I don’t believe that the section I chose to read about was necessarily something that actually happened, but it was so fitting to everything else I was writing about that it was a perfect fit.

Final Project

For my Final Project I have chosen to work with option #2. When I read both choices I just really felt I need something more modern day that I can write about and maybe even throw a movie in with it to work with.

I have chosen to focus on Cannibals. Not my first choice, but I thought this is a stretch and I should keep pushing the limits of my comfort zone. So far the text portion has been the most difficult to pin down. Finding a piece of literature that is not too childish- for teenagers to read and not too scary that it’s going to give me nightmares.

Ms. Cline suggested The Road for the text portion, but I have read that and it was so depressing that I just can’t get into it and I felt the cannibal portion was pretty small to be able to focus on. So, I have chosen The Enemy by Charlie Higson. Right now I’m about 100+ pages into it and it’s about kids surviving parents turning against them into cannibals. I’ll also use from the library The Cannibals by Iain Lawrence

I think I may add the 1976 movie Cannibal Holocaust to view as well and hopefully that will provide me with enough content to write about.

I plan to use the YC Library, but also use the link that was provided with the assignment listing some books and movies to reference. It’s going to be a difficult one, but I’ll do my best.

I hope to accomplish writing about cannibals and showing that this particular monster can be used to portray different emotions, fears, and symbols in life. I have my work cut out for me.

Image credit Amazon.

Cannibal Holocaust Movie

Mid-Term Check In

Heather Baskins
Cline
English 102
October 19, 2011

Ms. Cline,

Consider this my mid-term check in letter. It’s been an interesting ride so far. I have so far been able to complete all of my Yavapai College education online and been happy with the results and the quality of education I am receiving.

This class has proven to be a challenge for me in a couple of different areas. First, reading poetry. Poetry has never been one of my favorite types of reading but I believe you have to experience new things in order to learn. It was a challenge to look at the poetry and try to decipher the real meaning without doing any research on the author, the subject or the time period. It took me out of my comfort zone and I had to depend upon my own imagination and ideas. It’s been difficult but I am beginning to enjoy it.

The second challenge was Frankenstein. I’ll admit- I am not the biggest fan of that book. It was hard to get into and then I just felt it was difficult to read at times. Call me too realistic I guess, but I didn’t fall for the dramatic, timeless appeal of it all. But, that’s what makes people different. I got through the reading and actually enjoyed the summaries at the end of the book and reading what others thought and were able to critique in it.

Literary analysis is a different form of writing than I have done to date at Yavapai College. I’m finding I have a thought to write but then figuring out how to make it all make sense with sources is what I spend the most time getting out and straight on paper for people to understand.

My goals for the second half of the semester are to continue with the blog posting, reading more of a variety of my class-mates posts and comments, and really figuring out how to make my Final Project make sense without too much summary.

It’s going to be an interesting remainder of the semester, but I am up for the challenge! Thanks for the feedback each week.

Sincerely,
Heather Baskins

Frankenstein in Context

Here is my essay copied and pasted below. Glad that's done!


Heather Baskins
Cline
English 102
October 13, 2011

Frankenstein in Context

Frankenstein is a story of two similar beings- one human and one a monster. Frankenstein focuses on the main character, Victor Frankenstein, and his unfathomable loss but his extraordinary creation of a monster that he fears yet resembles at the same time. Through this monster, Victor creates a being that carries out his revenge, but it ends up being used on Victor.
Victor Frankenstein is portrayed by the author Mary Shelley, as a victim of loss and heartbreak from the beginning of this story. When he opens himself up and tells his story he begins with the loss of his own mother. He described his feelings by saying, “I need not describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by that most irreparable evil, the void that presents itself to the soul, and the despair that is exhibited on the countenance” (Shelley, Frankenstein, pg. 25.). Victor has such a sense of grief and loss that he says it is “irreparable evil,” letting the reader know that he has no sympathy for death or grief and considers them an enemy. This evil can cause a person or creature to do things that cannot be predicted, as George Levine stated in his summary, “Evil is a deadly and fascinating mystery originating in men’s minds as an inexplicable but inescapable aspect of human goodness” (Levine, Frankenstein and the Tradition of Realism, pg. 208). Because Victor feels such loss and pain it could lead him to find a way to release his anger towards this evil which will then seek revenge against him.

Victor’s creation of a monster is an outlet for his revenge. When Victor first creates his monster he is pleased with the beauty but then his feelings of fear and the ugliness within got the best of him:
“The different accidents of life are not so changeable, as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life in an inanimate body. For this I deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley, Frankenstein, pg. 34.)
From the beginning of the monster’s creation, he was cursed, treated as an outcast and not wanted by anyone. Knight’s Quarterly says of Frankenstein’s creation of him, “he heaps on him all sorts of abuse and contumely for his ugliness, which was directly his work, and for his crimes to which his neglect gave rise” (Anonymous, Knight’s Quarterly, pg. 199). Victor creates this monster and instead of destroying and preventing the death of his loved ones, he allows the creature to roam free on his own to figure the world out alone. Victor lives in fear of the creature and knows he has power but does not stop him. This lack of response shows Victor is willing to let this creature roam free and carry out his plans, are they his plans or Victor’s thoughts being put into action?

Victor ends up alone because of the evil actions his monster has achieved. Victor’s creation learns how to speak, read, and be clever and conniving. He uses his skills to seek revenge on his own creator, killing those closest to him. Victor will not
create a partner for his monster, and the monster will not let Victor live in wedded happiness with his partner. Victor knows Elizabeth his beloved will not survive, but he does nothing to stop it because he and the monster are destined to be alone- with only each other. Victor in fact cried out in the cemetery when visiting the graves of his brother, William, his beloved Elizabeth and his Father, “I swear to pursue the daemon, who caused this misery until he or I shall perish in mortal conflict” (Shelley, Frankenstein, pg. 140). The pursuit of the monster continues for Victor and it seems this is what both beings are living for. As George Levine says in his summary, “they increasingly resemble and depend upon each other so that by the end Frankenstein pursues his own monster, their positions reversed, and the monster plants clues to keep Frankenstein in pursuit” (Levine, Frankenstein and the Tradition of Realism, pg. 209). Victor continues on his solo journey in pursuit and not knowing what the outcome will be.

Victor and the monster continue in their pursuit, but the end is disenchanting. Victor continues in pursuit of the monster, follows his clues, and risks his life to find him. In the end Victor dies in a peaceful fashion, “he pressed my hand feebly, and his eyes closed for ever, while the irradiation of a gentle smile passed away from his lips” (Shelley, Frankenstein, pg. 152). He died without capturing, killing, or stopping his monster. His monster pays him one last visit on the ship when he has taken his final breath and knows that his days are numbered as well and he has no reason to live:
“But soon,” he cried, with sad and solemn enthusiasm, “I shall die, and what I now feel be no longer felt. Soon these burning miseries will be extinct. I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly, and exult in the agony of the torturing flames. The light o that conflagration will fade away; my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds. My spirit will sleep in peace; or if it thinks, it will not surely think thus. Farewell.”’
The monster has no further reason to live and Victor could not keep up the chase. The end result is anticlimactic and readers are left feeling disappointed and left with no real purpose to the story. As Hugh Reginald Haweis said in his summary:
“The general conception of a creature created non-natural by the appliance of art and science, and impelled into crime after crime simply by a despairing contest with a world into which he should never have been introduced at all, is certainly powerful; but the tale of horror is unrelieved by any real poetical justice, and the moral threat- if there is any- is vague and indeterminate” (Haweis, Introduction to the Routledge World Library Edition, pg. 200).
Victor and the monster never met to battle or accomplish a purpose in the end or even throughout their journey. Ultimately, Victor died from his pursuit and the monster gave up living, one can assume, because of the lack of pursuit.

To end with, Frankenstein is a story of two similar beings- one human and one a monster. Victor and the monster both suffered loss and sought revenge for the evil they faced. Victor’s creation of the monster can be perceived as his own outlet for revenge- against others and ultimately turning on himself. Victor ends up alone because of the monsters’ actions and pursuing his own creation. The end result is disenchanting, Victor dies from his efforts to chase and catch his own creation, and his creation in the end gives up because of Victor’s absence. Victor was surrounded by people who loved and cared for him, but he seemed to thrive and feel the most emotion only when he was abandoned and left alone. The monster on the other hand was so in need of companionship that he was willing to kill for it. Victor and the monster were one in the same- what one lacked the other had but still could not be complete in the end. They were two similar beings- one human and one a monster.



Works Cited
Anonymous. Knight’s Quarterly. 1824. Print.
Hawes, Hugh Reginald. Introduction to the Routledge World Library Edition.
1886. Print.
Levine, George. Frankenstein and the Tradition of Realism. 1973. Print.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. Print.

Summary of a Critical Response

Introduction to the Routledge World Library Edition 1886, Hugh Reginald Haweis, pg. 200-201

I chose to analyze the above summary by Mr. Haweis on pg. 200-201. Mr. Haweis wrote his article in 1886 no doubt in London. Mr. Haweis critically examined the writing and the effect of this piece of work on the literary world. Mr. Haweis examined Mrs. Shelley's ability to write and her imagination. Mr. Haweis examines the skip in details from when the "nameless demon stalks forth and is shunned by his terrified creator, what becomes of him, how he develops, why he is let go free, is not sufficiently clear," and makes his case about the lack of explanation in parts of the story. He continues to dissect the lack of detail when it comes to the anatomy in the creation of the demon but that the "exquisite descriptions" will keep the reader intrigued to the end.

I agree with the response Mr. Haweis had of the story. I too felt a lack of detail and real purpose when it came to the creation of the demon. I was left to piece it together on my own and leave my imagination to believe that a creature could be created like this, so hideous and gross, and just be left to roam. I also agree with Mr. Haweis when he said in his final paragraph that the book contains, "deep insight into the natural workings of the human heart." I found myself feeling sorry for the demon created alone to wander the earth, but at the same time wishing it would just be put to death to stop causing harm.

I think this is a very brief response to use to summarize "Frankenstein," but I can certainly refer to it in my third essay, it will not be the meatier response that I can turn to.

Image courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hugh_Reginald_Haweis.png
Link to pieces written by Hawies: http://www.harpers.org/subjects/HRHaweis

Writing and Revision

Revising or just improving grammar mistakes- what do I do? For this particular assignment- our second Essay I am choosing to revise what I wrote. If I only changed the revisions in the grammar I wouldn't be making the most of the corrections and advice that I received.

Usually when I have to write something, which is typically a press release, I have at least one more person read it. I am hoping when I ask someone to read it that they proof not just the grammar but the writing itself. I need to know that what I think makes sense, actually does.

Once when I asked someone to read a press release I had written they handed it back to me and told me it didn't make sense. They said, "read it out loud and you'll see why." Which is what I did and realized I was writing it so fast when I was thinking that I had skipped words and it didn't come out right. Now I try to do that and slow down the process making sure that it all makes sense.

In Essay #2, sure I have some grammar issues but one main part I need to revise is my opening paragraph. It does not have a sentence that really grabs the reader at the start. Because of this I am going to revise it.

Another thing my Essay #2 needs in the revision is for me to focus on how the language ties in with the purpose of the poem. As one reader of my Essay #2 said- in the end you did all the work to define the language used and they were left feeling, "so what," and that can't be.

Revising can be hard, but if I want this essay to be better, it needs to be revised. This link to a Quick Five Step Guide to Revising and Editing was a useful one to help in my process: http://beabetterwriternow.com/2009/05/quick-five-step-guide-to-revising-and-editing/.

Close Reading of a Passage

I chose to focus on the following passage from page 25:

“She died calmly; and her countenance expressed affection even in death. I need not describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by that most irreparable evil, the void that presents itself to the soul, and the despair that is exhibited on the countenance. It is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she, whom we saw every day, and whose very existence appeared a part of our own, can have departed for ever- that the brightness of a beloved eye can have been extinguished, and the sound of a voice so familiar, and dear to the ear, can be hushed, never more to be heard. (Shelley, pg. 25)”

I chose this passage because of the emotion that was portrayed in it for the loss of the stranger. The stranger lost his mother and describes the grief that he and his family suffered. I feel this loss of the powerful female guidance of his mother left a lasting impact on the stranger and is evident in the story as it continues.

By saying that “her countenance expressed affection even in death,” the stranger shows that his mother was the one who gave him affection and that love and support that he needed so dearly. His father gave him monetary things and educational direction but not the affection that only a mother can provide.

The stranger also realizes in this passage that his mother is not the last one that he will lose. When he says “the sound of a voice so familiar, and dear to the ear, can be hushed, never more to be heard,” he says it with familiarity and perhaps the loss of his mother was just the beginning of who he would be grieving for and missing.

He also shows the power of persuasion and what the mind is capable of tricking itself into when he says, “it is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she, whom we saw every day… can have departed for ever.” I think this gives us a glimpse of what his mind and anyone’s mind is able to be tricked into believing, seeing, thinking or feeling.

http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/Unscripted/archives/2008/11/04/did-mary-shelley-write-frankenstein

Essay 2- Rough Draft

Here is my rough draft copied and pasted below. This obviously is not in the double spaced format but it shows you what I wrote. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!


Heather Baskins
Cline
English 102
September 14, 2011

The Language of ‘Windigo’

‘Windigo’ is a poem by Louise Erdrich. The language of the poem leads a reader on a journey of mystery, fear, wonderment, and in the end relief. By analyzing the language used in ‘Windigo’ the following forms of language are identified; personification, connotation, simile, and descriptive language.

To begin with, the poem opens with the main character that is a monster or creature of sorts, speaking to a child. He says, “You knew I was coming for you, little one, when the kettle jumped in the fire (Windigo, first line, first verse).” The author uses language to describe the kettle jumping into the fire. Giving this human characteristic to a kettle, which is an object, is a form of personification in language terms. The author was giving a human trait to an object that cannot jump or move by itself. By using personification the author helps the reader to be placed in the story and visualize that action immediately in the poem.

A further example of personification in ‘Windigo’ is in the fourth verse where the author states, “from the bushes we passed, until they stood, naked (Windigo, third and fourth line, fourth verse).” By describing the bushes as naked the author personifies them, and the reader is able to picture what a naked or bare hush would resemble. Once again the author helps the reader create a mental picture while reading the poem and place himself or herself directly in the story or description.

The next form of language the author uses in ‘Windigo’ is connotation. Connotation, easily defined is when a word is read; the reader automatically defines or relates it to a term or another reference. An example could be the word toddler; a reader automatically thinks small child, almost infant, bobbling along walking or running, young child. In ‘Windigo’ the author uses connotation in the second verse, “Mother scolded the food warm and smooth in the pot and called you to eat (Windigo, second line, second verse).” Placing the word mother and scolded together is a form of connotation. A mother is usually likened to the same qualities or traits in a mental image- nurturing, caregiver, domestic, even disciplinarian or a scolder could be used. This example of connotation helps the reader to picture a mother hard at work insisting the food cook and almost disciplining it in a way to cook and be ready for her family to eat.

Another form of language used in ‘Windigo’ is simile. Simile is when an author compares two things using the word ‘like’ or ‘as’ in the descriptive. In ‘Windigo’ this is done in the fourth verse, “Naked, spread like the cleaned spines of fish (Windigo, fourth line, fourth verse).” When something is naked and spread or bear boned it could be compared to the spines of fish. When fish bones are clean and bare of anything it’s an excellent way to describe what the author is trying to say, that the bushes while the creature is running with the child in its arms were bare and naked with not a leaf left on them. Using simile was a way to once again place the reader in the story and create a mental image and relate to the situation being described.

The final form of language used in ‘Windigo’ is descriptive language. This is the form with the most examples to share from the poem and the most successful for placing a reader in the poem or story. The first example from the first verse, “towels flapped on the hooks, and the dog crept off, groaning” helps the reader picture a breeze or wind causing the towels to flap and possibly carrying the creature’s scent along with it to make him creep away groaning (Windigo, third and fourth line, first verse). A reader can see the towels flapping in their mind and hear that familiar sound of a dog groaning out of fear or possessiveness from an intruder or stranger. At the start, this descriptive text places the reader in the poem and creates a mental image that is identifiable and easy to connect with.

A further example of descriptive language in ‘Windigo’ is in the third verse, “Copper burned in the raw wood. You saw me drag toward you (Windigo, second and third line, third verse).” Picturing a copper pot burning or scorching on a fire is easy to see in the mind’s eye and the author creates this image with the descriptive text. Also, having a monster or creature “drag” towards the child is an easy mental image. This aids the reader in picturing this creature on the ground, laying down and coming slowly in a dragging position towards the child. This descriptive text leads the reader to begin questioning what is this creature, where did it come from and what does it want?

A final example of the descriptive language in ‘Windigo’ from the fourth verse is, “Steam rolled from my wintry arms (Windigo, second line, fourth verse).” A reader can picture what steam looks like coming off of a hot furry body in cold temperatures. This descriptive language leads the reader to create more of the mental image of what this hairy or furry creature is as it crawled and picked up the child in his hot steamy arms.

In conclusion, the language forms of personification, connotation, simile and descriptive language are used in the poem ‘Windigo.’ The author succeeded in describing an object with human traits, using a term with another word that was easily relatable, compared two words using the word ‘like’ and describes ordinary things in a way that conjured a clear mental image. The author used these language forms in a way that assisted the reader in forming a relatable image in their mind to further the progression of the poem and wonder about the identity of the creature and his surroundings.

Works Cited
Windigo. Erdrich, Louis. 9/11 Internet:
http://poetry365.tumblr.com/post/692283573/windigo-louise-erdrich

Response to a Poem

I chose to analyze the poem Windigo by Louise Erdrich. Poetry is not something I consider a strong suit of mine for reading. I admit I had to read it two times to figure out who was speaking and if it was a monster or a person. I believe it could be a hairy, furry wild person, a mountain man of sorts.

I appreciated the descriptive words used by the voice of the creature. “Towels flapped on the hooks, and the dog crept off” makes me picture a strong breeze coming in and the towels moving, and it had enough of a strange or difference in the breeze to scare the dog (Windigo, first verse, third line). It could have been the scent of the creature coming towards the dog and making it feel it had best go and hide.

When the creature approaches the house the child must know who it is because food was ready and the child was being called to eat, but instead it didn’t go. The creature urged the child to “hide and lie still (Windigo, second verse, fifth line).

The creature takes a child from its home but has no intention of harming it. It only wants to keep it for the night. For companionship or warmth? It made me wonder what the relationship was, and if it’s a person turned wild that lives in wilderness. What happened to make them run, and why does the child not flee? Does the creature resemble an animal more to not scream and run away?

This poem, once I read it a couple of times, let me use my imagination and with the descriptive words and phrases it made it easy for me to create a mental picture in my head of the backyard, the weather conditions, and even of the creature. I still wonder though, who is this creature?

Windigo. 9/11. Erdrich, Louise. Blackboard Poetry link.
Photo- Courtesy of Paul Emmel. http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/2905/Louise_Erdrich/index.aspx

Summary & Analysis

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Heather

Good Readers & Good Writers

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Nabokov was an interesting man and one with a great story to tell. I found this link to be very interesting and made me curious to learn more about him.

Nabokov thinks a good reader is one with imagination, memory, a dictionary and artistic sense. Having imagination allows the reader to place themselves in the story and follow the actions. Having memory allows them to pull the details from the story as it flows. A dictionary may be needed to define terms that are new, different, or unheard of. An artistic sense allows a reader to identify with different aspects and situations in a story.

I agree with Nabokov and his four requirements of a reader. I find I use all of the same things, and I will admit that now that I have an iPad I have a dictionary much more at the ready than I did before when I used old fashioned books with those things called pages. I actually find that to be helpful now that I am using that feature to expand my vocabulary as well.

I believe I am a good reader and have the characteristics I find important to be a part of that definition 'good reader.' I think I have a keen imagination, a sense of adventure, a desire to be put in a story, a good memory, a very open mind, and a temperament that allows me to be patient with a story and keep up with the flow.

I find reading to be essential in my life. I look forward to the time in the day when I get to sit and read, even if it's the newspaper. I crave a good story and love to share reading with my son, my parents, anyone who enjoys the same art as I do- reading.

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