Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Wordly Wise: Lesson 7

1. "Robert Enke's life story should make us pause before we castigate." -The Sport Blog by Amy Lawrence 
It is a shame the way that people have castigated Robert Enke before hearing his side of the story. 


2. "Using colloquial speech should also be used depending on the audience that is reading a newspaper or magazine article." -WritingHood
Colloquial speech should not be used in formal circumstances such as in a formal speech or essay. 


3. What do you think those who survive you will write as your epitaph? -Christian Blessings, wdednh
The one time that I went to a grave yard, I thought it was interesting to see all of the epitaphs written by family members. 


4. "...The exodus took place 12 hours before the storm arrived." -theplacewithnoname.com
The exodus had an affect on Baton Rouge because our population was greatly increased as a result. 
5. "Unsure of the religion or naitonality of the deceased, the authorities decided to inter the body in a neutral burial." -wiki answers
Neutral interment sites are often used when burying victims of war over seas. 
6. Cuts and lacerations are common. -firstaid.webmd
Although lacerations are common, they can be painful. 
7. "Let's vote ourselves unlimited largesse!" -Cuba Journal 
it would not be smart of Cuba to freely hand out largesse because money would quickly run out. 
8. "The National Obituary Archive powered by Arrangeonline.com is the world's largest repository of obituaries and death notices." -arrangeonline.com
There are thousands of obituaries submitted every year, so it must be hard to keep a national record of them all. 
9. "...And suggest a possibly omnivorous diet." -Troodon, Wikipedia
The troodon is thought to be an omnivorous dinorsaur because of the shape of his teeth. 
10. "Attacks to the governor's new policy permeated the newspaper article." -wiki answers
The governor's policy permeated through the local news because the law was so controversial. 
11. "He will also eliminate the practice of extreme rendition where we out source our torture to other countries." -polifact.com 
Obama wants to stop the rendition of torture because he does not beleive in the death penalty. 
12. "Its initiators called it a Conservative Resurgence while its detractors have labeled it a Fundamentalist Takeover." -wikipedia, "The southern baptist convention conservative resurgence"
the southern baptists started a convention and those who were in favor of it, viewed it as a resurgence of the conservative baptists of the south. 
13. "Stereotypes also evolve out of fear of persons form minority groups." -remember.org
There are many stereotypes for different groups of people and some of them are can be hurtful. 
14. "The university of hawaii is still trying to get caught up on payments including stipends, scholarships..." -therepublic.com jennifer sinco kelleher
The university is struggling financially because they are having to catch up on simple dues and stipends which should be part of the budget. 
15. "Subservient people always agree to offers made to them and get into awkward situations." -extrememoo.blogspot.com 
Subservient people are often too giving of themselves which causes them to become unhappy sometimes. 

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Their Eyes Were Watching God: Good Claim or Bad?

""Their Eyes Were Watching God" is written in such a style that it relates more to the period of William Faulkner than Modernism." TEWWG is a very modernistic piece because it involves many of the traits of Modernism within the novel such as the break down of society and a negative outlook such as the ones involved in her marriage.

""Their Eyes Were Watching God"is a novel centered around the life of Janie who struggles with finding happiness and what it truly means to love someone."Janie struggles throughout the novel because she is taught by Nanny to basically settle for a man if he has money and will support her. These values cause Janie to have a false sense of happiness and she does not truly understand what it is like to be happy until she finally has freedom from all of her abusive relationships and she is able to do as she wants and control her own life.

""Their Eyes Were Watching God" is an example of the feminist movement." This novel draws attention to the issues that women have because during the time of modernism women were just starting to be recognized. Abusive relationships take place all the time and often not enough attention is brought to them and women are not owed the respect or given the freedom that they deserve.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Journal Week #7

     I got to take a trip to New Orleans this weekend as well because the girls' soccer state championship was on Saturday. I was looking forward to this because one of my best friends and a few of my other friends are on the team. After my parents, Elizabeth, and I made the drive down we were a little late so I was anxious to see the girls play. Right as we walked up Sacred Heart, the opposing team, scored. That was a bummer in addition to the cold and windy weather. Unfortunately the girls did not win, but second place is still great. After the loss my family and another went and ate at the new Superior Seafood restaurant and it was some of the best food I have had in a while! Even though the girls did not win it was still a fun day.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Journal Week #6

     I have been waiting for Mardi Gras all year because it is always fun. This year was my first time to go to New Orleans. I went on Sunday, today, and met some of my friends there and we went to the parade Thoth. It was a cool parade and there were a lot of good floats. On every float the people riding it wore masks and elaborate costumes, which made each float interesting because they were all different but still similar. My favorite group that was in the parade was this group of men who wore eighty's work out clothes and all danced down the street while throwing dabloons and other items like that; they were funny to watch and they also interacted with the crowd too. I had fun because two of the french exchange students were with us and it was their first Mardi Gras ever, so it was fun seeing their reaction to it all. They did not know that Mardi Gras was such a big deal here in Louisiana. It was a long, but great day.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Journal Week #5

The week started off as an emotional one with the death of Ty's dad. Monday night was the visitation and Tuesday morning the funeral and burial was held in Denham Speings and Walker. Since I am friends with Ty I decided to show my support in his time of loss. The funeral was really sad and different from other funerals that I have been to because the pastor read letters that his kids wrote about him. They also played the song "Temporary Home" by Carrie Underwood which makes me cry because its lyrics are so strong. After the funeral, we drove a while to their property in walker where the burial took place. Because he was a Marine veteran from the Vietnam War, there were Marines there who conducted the ceremony and played "Taps". It was an emotional day because of the reality that sets in when you realize how fast life could possibly change.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Letter to Mrs. Gillman

Dear Mrs. Gillman
            In your piece entitled, “Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper,” I see that you begin to explain your reasoning behind your thoughts presented in the short story.  A Boston physician stated that, “It was enough to drive anyone mad to read it.” I agree with his statement because I think that there are many details and components throughout the short story that are unnecessary. There is also a good amount of repetition; you state how much your husband cares about you too frequently and you clearly make your point about not liking the wallpaper and the patterns that inhabits it. However, I do think that you successfully can prevent some one from becoming insane the way that you did. I can see how your story could possibly guide one away from insanity through your actions. Your story shows that it is important for people living with your condition to see that it is important to have interaction and changes of scenery to prevent one from going mad.
Sincerely,
Grayson Mann

Prequel to "The Yellow Wallpaper"

     One day as I took my daily walk to enjoy the warm sunlight and fresh air, I began to become swept away with my own thoughts. As I pondered to myself, I realized that I could not have been happier about living the rest of my life with my dear John but things have been slightly different lately. We had just celebrated his graduation from medical school which was an exciting moment for the both of us because he is now free to open his own private practice, which he did. "Things could not get any better between us," I thought to myself as I walked. However, this thought of mine reversed and things between us began to go down hill for a short period of time. He was suffering from exhaustion because of his new job and I hated to see him this way. Things improved quickly and we were back to our normal, loving selves in no time. 


     A few weeks had gone by and everything was quite fine. John, being a physician, makes me nervous because he has such a big responsibility placed on him. I also do not like to be left alone for long periods of time; loneliness comes with being the wife of a physician I guess. When I would be left alone, I would attempt to find different activities of my fancy. I realized that I enjoyed to write because it allowed me to be freed of my thoughts when I had no one else to speak to. Another one of my new favorite activities was sitting outside among the flowers and sunlight. Because I was always alone, I began to rely only on myself and was left to get lost in my own head. When he was gone I would also be so worried about my loving husband that I would have minor "panic attacks" as John called them once he found out by the nanny he hired to help me with our baby while he was away. 

     John finally returned home after his long hours of the day and saw me sitting on the chair that we both love, just staring at nothing. He asked me, "Honey, are you okay? You seem to be acting a little different lately and I am worried about you." He would not hear me when I said I was fine, so he took me to the doctor and when I was told for the second time that there was nothing wrong with me he stopped questioning me. My nervous state of mind only increased which caused my activities to be numbered and my thoughts endless. My nervousness was now bypassed by John because he was convinced nothing was technically wrong although he knew that I was different. He suggested that we go away for a few months  in order to clear our heads. I could not be happier about our new beginning there. 

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Journal Entry Week 4

This weekend a number of events happened that caused it to be one of the strangest in a long time. To start off the weekend, Friday night, our friend's dad passed away after being sick in the hospital for a few months now. That was very difficult for me and my other friends. Two of my other friends and I had a conversation after school and we realized that we must appreciate what is truly important in our lives because everything could change in a minute. If that wasn't enough of a reality check, also on Friday evening, one of my old friends who is my age was shot twice and is now paralyzed from the waist down. This was the second shooting of people our age that has occurred in the last couple months. Lately it seems that things are getting worse and worse and bad news won't stop coming. Hopefully things around Baton Rouge and the community will improve soon.