Maureenh0427's Blog

blog 15

maureenh0427 — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:17:25 +0000

If I were to sit down and talk with an incoming freshman I would tell them a lot of things to help them throughout their freshman year. I would first tell them not to procrastinate. If you get your work done before hand you have more time to go into your teacher and you have a better chance of getting a better grade.

I would also make sure I would keep a planner. It is important to stay organized and make sure that you get all your work turned in on time. Highschool teachers are a lot more lenient about due dates, but college teachers will be a lot less forgiving. You will have a lot of major assignments and lots of things going on, so it is important to keep your work and events on a calendar. I would tell the freshman that there is going to be lots of critical thinking and to make sure they are ready for that, because that is very different from high school also. And dont be scared to ask for help! Teachers can be very helpful and it is really important to get to know some of your teachers and go into office hours.

blog 14

maureenh0427 — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 01:44:56 +0000

The first sample paper has a really good idea. I like how they used the image of the raised fist as the symbol throughout the text. I think that Satrapi uses this image a lot and it has a lot of meaning behind it. I also really like how she uses the symbols to compare it to Western society and how the images relate to us. I think she could have analyzed the pictures a little more and thought about why the author might have used that symbol. Also why is it more effective that she is with a group in some, and some images are by herself. The author did a good job at analyzing the face, because that is a very powerful thing in a graphic novel, but I was hoping that she would go more in-depth with other aspect of the panels, like the contrast ?

The second paper also has a really good idea and theme that is the basis of the paper. I also noticed this theme throughout the story, and I think it is something that Satapi used to make characters stand out more. I think her ideas are a little choppy, and she doesn’t have the best organization. It would be helpful if she gave us a layout of what the author was going to discuss, because it leaves the reader unsure about what is coming next. I think she did a really good job at analyzing each part because she goes into a lot of detail. I also like her conclusion and she sums up her thesis very well.

blog 13

maureenh0427 — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 01:25:27 +0000

In my first panel I have a phone, and the words Twitter Revolution. I think that this first image is important because it sums up how the twitter revolution came to be. People were sending in video messages and taking pictures of the large revolts going on. This was the only way they could make known to the world what was going on, so it is a very important symbol.

In my next panel I have a large crowd of people that fill the street. On the top I have the words that narrate my panel,”UNSURE of the outcome”. These are an important narration because it tells us what is going on. The crowds look in chaos and are roaming franticly. On the bottom the narration says,”there is no turning back”. This also shows us the hysteria that these people are in. I tried using some of the techniques that we had discussed such as contrast. The phone is drawn in all white, with a black screen that shows the importance and draws our eyes directly to the phone. Also this panel is bigger than the other one which also draws our attention to it, and we focus on the name TWITTER REVOLUTION.

blog 12

maureenh0427 — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:13:46 +0000

I think that the image of the veil was chosen to be the cover of the book because it is what the whole book in centered around. This image is symbolic for the book because of the revolution that happened in Iran and the changes that even children has to face. The story has the main character of a young child who is forced to wear this veil, and confused as to why.

I think that it is important to start this story with the chapter of the veil because it gives us a little intro into the main character. We are able to see the changes that she had to make and her revelation to become a prophet. We also get to see her parents and how they are involved in the revolution.

In the first frame we see the main character with the veil on with a very blank expression, a year after the revolution took place. In the next frame we see all her other classmates with the same veils on all with looks of almost embarrassment and sadness. These two frames help us to look more into the perspective of this children and what they had to go through. It makes us have empathy and want to know more about how these children feel.

Blog 11

maureenh0427 — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:04:57 +0000

I think that Spiegelman used this story in graphic novel form to display more emotions. It gives us another outlook on this story, and we are able to get way more out of it by seeing the story laid out in comic form. I also think it is very helpful to see the jews, and germans displayed as different animals. This is a different approach that makes us think more about the differences during the time and how greatly they were discriminated against. This is also something that we would not get out of a regular novel. It is a very effective way to look at this story and it gives us the anticipation of what is to come next. The title “Mouse Trap” also plays to the comic idea, better than a novel would because the Jews are the hiding and running from the germans trying not to get caught. It is a very creative idea, and I was very interested in it. If it was in another format it would have not been as appealing, and I would have not gotten as much out of it.

I think that Art is the narrator instead of the dad because it helps us view the story from another persons eyes. We are able to think from the sons perspective, as he is trying to find out more about his mother. We discover that the dad burned all the journals, leaving the son empty with no memory of his mother. He calls his dad a murder for destroying the past, ultimately leaving the son empty handed.

Blog 10

maureenh0427 — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:14:18 +0000

This song is called “What would I want Sky”.

What would I want… Sky!

Is everything alright?
You feeling lonely?
You feeling homely?
You’re not the only
Is everything alright?
You feeling moany?
you feeling stoney?
You’re not the only
Do you get up up up?
I stop and go above me
Too bad they can’t help me
Here in the right way
Do I get up up up?
I stop and look around me
Green, where the color should be
What is the right way?
Old glasses clinking and a new board is blinking
and I -
I should be floating but I’m weighted by thinking
That I got on the river
Really can’t make it change
And the sky got filled up too fast
and the taxi man’s saying, “You betta
give him your money;
stop daydreaming, dude!”
When the point of horizon is hiding from you
What would you want�sky?

Are you taking it lightly?
Lost in the flurries
You start to worry
You will be buried
Taking it lightly
and so I hurry
I start to worry
Here come them flurries

Do you get up up up?
I stop and go above me
Too bad they can’t help me
What is the right way?
Do I get up up up?
I stop and look around me
Green, where the color should be
What is the right way?
Old glasses clinking and a new board is blinking
and I -
I should be floating but I’m weighted by thinking
That I got on the river
Really can’t make it change
And the sky got filled up too fast
and the taxi man’s saying, “You betta
give him your money;
stop daydreaming, dude!”
When the point of horizon is hiding from you
What would you want�sky?

What would I want�sky!

The part in the song that enhances the text perfectly was,”I should be floating but I’m weighted by thinking”. I think this has to do with the book and the movie because he thinks he should be a free spirit, and do whatever he wants. But he is weighted down by thoughts in society and the rules that involve it. He hates taking direction, and that is why he flees to a place where he can be alone and be himself with no responsibility and authority.

Another part in the song, “That I got on the river Really can’t make it change” has to do with the book and movie also. He tries to make a change in his life, and attempts to cross the river. He never gets across the river, and ends up dying but I think he still got a lot out of his experiences but was never able to make that life change because he ended up dying. This song really resembles “Into the Wild”.

Blog 8

maureenh0427 — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:29:14 +0000

When reading the article “Civil Disobedience” it is clear that there is many connections to the story of Alex in Into the Wild. While reading, you can tell that Alex has a strong opinion about the government and how he does not approve of it. Alex at a certain point in the story is asked about if he has a hunting license and he responds by saying, “hell no, how I feed myself is none of the government’s business”. He also goes as far as saying, “Fuck their stupid rules”. Thoreau is similar is civil disobedience as he talks about the governments rules and how if we do not agree with them we should not have to follow them. They both has strong opinions about the government that are very similar when they show their hate towards it.

in-class Blog 9

maureenh0427 — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:30:24 +0000

I think that the style that Krakauer uses in Into the Wild is very effective. I love how he uses all of the description to make a point. You can tell that he really wanted investigate the life for Alex to make an interesting story. I really like how they start the book, then go right into his death, and then back track and go into the details of his adventures. I think this is effective because we are able to analyze his travels more clearly and think about why he did what he did.

Also Krakauer uses interviews throughout the book. I think that he was trying to give us a more personal outlook on Alex’s life. We are able to see how he affected people around him, which gives us a better understanding on why Alex did the things he did. This way we are not as judgemental and we see more of Alex’s personality that we might have not been able to see before.

I also really like the letters throughout the book. This gives us another personal aspect into Alex’s life because they are his actual words. This is very helpful to get more insight into Alex’s mind. It helps us to understand how he went about his travels and shows us the ways in which he judges society and life around him. Krakauer does a great job at organizes the book so we can understand Alex clearly.

Circle Game:Dew Breaker

maureenh0427 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:28:57 +0000

Danticant uses the theme of silence in parent and child relationships to cover up the past and the haunting lives in Haiti. This theme runs throughout the book and helps us take a closer look at the struggles that went on in their former lives. I think that Danticant uses silence as a means of protection from their children. They want to cover up the bad things that have happened in their lives and have moved to America to find a new beginning.

I am going to discuss a few brief sections in the novel where I saw silence to be most prevalent. First, I am going to talk about The Book of Miracles. I think this small section is important because of the main role the killer, Constant, plays in the story. The daughter is so upset and the man ruins her church experience. I think that Danticant put the story in the book to make us take a closer look at the husbands role. We get some insight into what is to come, and what we will eventually come to discover as the dew breaker. The daughter also talks about how she views the “unexplained” as always something that has to do with Haiti in her parents former life. This is important because it shows how much the parents are actually hiding a lot from their daughter. It makes us wonder why they are so concerned about their past, and what they did that was so horrible.

The next section that I am going to analyze is Dany in the Night-talkers. Dany has this valuable information that he wants to tell his Aunt so bad, but fears of what to say. He eventually tells her while he is sleep talking, and decides he will tell her in the morning but the Aunt dies. I really liked this part because it shows the unspoken. Dany wants to share this revelation but doesn’t have to chance to display his emotions. I think Danticant put this portion of the text in the novel to emphasis the emotional struggle that people in Haiti have been involved in. Dany dealt with his parents dying and moving away to the United States just to get away from his parents killer, but it still is haunting his brain many years later.

In the same story I think that Danticant uses Claude as a means to show the truth. Claude has this revelation about how he killed his father, and Dany is envious at how he can tell his story out loud. Also I thought it was ironic because Dany and Claude were the only ones who could speak english which breaks the silence barrier, just so Claude could get his story out. This portion of the text is important because it makes us wonder why would Danticant put Claude in the story? I think it shows the importance of family, and his hometown. He still returns to Haiti after killing his father and is openly welcomed back into the community. Danticant shows that even though these people have suffered, they are still united as one and have been through it together.

Blog 6

maureenh0427 — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:03:18 +0000

I thought the section in the story the ‘The Bridal Seamstress’ about the women having her clients call her mother was extremely important. Beatrice tells Aline in the interview that she makes the women call her mother. She says this is out of respect for her and her age. Aline then proceeds to ask if she had been married. Beatrice gets extremely offended and says that she should not ask women of her age that question, making it really obvious that she is not married. Beatrice also says the reason she has them call her mother is because she never wants to me asked that question.

I think that this helps me understand the passage more, and where Beatrice is coming from. It makes me think more about the reason she makes these dresses, and why she becomes extremely connected to these women and the dresses because she spends so much time with them. She is emotionally affected by this question, and it makes you wonder more about her past, and especially the men in her life. It also connects to later on in the story about the man who has been following her, and the struggles she has endured throughout her life.

Edited to add:

From what our group discussed we decided this chapter gives us a better insight to how Haiti really was. These images and this man still haunts her today, and she is dealing with her emotions. It gives us a better insight into this character and we are able to see her not just as a quirky women, but have sympathy for her and understand her more.