The Play.

On Friday night I went to the play on campus. At first I was reluctant and not sure as to what the play was about, and as I entered into the room all I saw were girls with bright colored clothes and make up that caught my eye. Little did I know the play would have nothing to do with the girls and what I was thinking it would have been about. I was unaware of what it would be like, and then it started. When the main character came out and it came to my attention that he was sick I was interested as to how the story would turn out. During the beginning I was unaware as to the girl dancers in the background but then I became aware that they were just mocking andmaking fun of everyhting that was going on play. I found it comical but at the same time very sad and grieving. The man was dying and there was so much going on that he was unaware about. His wife was just concerned about when he was going to pass and how much money she was going to be getting. This relates in a lot of ways to all the stories we have been reading in class that deal with love and death. Because that is pretty much all we have been reading in class. It has taught me a lot of how people are in real life. Even though we live in our Christian world where it is not always perfect, we still are unaware of what goes on in the world where people are just like the wife was in this play. People really are that way. This play made me sad for the man, but for a lot of other reasons. The daughter was being forced into something she did not want and the entire time the girls behind were mocking everythinng. It is as if they knew everything but no one else did. It kind of put a twist on things and made me laugh a lot during the entire thing. I enjoyed the play because of how comical and sad it was at the same time. It brought literature to life and let some of the stories and poems we have read in class come alive through action.

Guide to commenting.

Well.. since this was a un-promted blog and last class all we pretty much talked about was the guide to blogging I figured I would give my insight over the whole thing. After much review of the guide to blogging I have seen that blogging is a little bit more than I have seen it this entire time. Blogging is not just writing, just like literature is not just words. You can take blogging to a whole other form, with pictures, videos, and artwork. Throughout this class I have taken my blogs as just my thoughts... but it is more than that. You should be taking your thoughts and as you write them you should engage with the text and take meaning from all of it. My thoughts can turn something into something that can I can re read and then interpret later. Now that I am looking back at my blogs I see that I have grown with my blogs and have gone deeper in meaning each time that I have blogged. Each one is quite different, although they do not have a big range of difference they are different. Some are major insights and some just my thoughts written out. The re reading of Guide to Blogging has opened my eyes on how to make my guides to come better and to use my resources and thoughts to produce more meaningful and engaging blogs.

Blogging.

Blogging is definitely changed my perspective on literature just through these last few weeks. I have found through the blogging we have done in class that it has helped me to engage more in the literature that we read. It has taken me deep inside myself, and the literature and come out with new discoveries. In the prompts we are given for our blogs we are required to dig deep into the text and come out with meanings we never knew before were there. We not only have to find meaning we have to be able to back up what we say and have support with our interpretations. Outside of the blogging we have engaged within literature through field trips and activities. We then build on the things we do in class and wrap it up within our blog. Our blog is where we can put all our thoughts out there and how exactly we feel about everything that we are reading in class. However most of the things we have read in class have been pretty depressing in each of the texts you can pull something out in which you can expand upon. With all of this it has helped me to see literature in a whole different perspective. I don’t just read and not dig deep within a text now. I see now that there are many different ways to engage in or relate to a piece of literature even if it is depressing. The more I relate it to my life or see it in a different perspective (like reading other people from the class’ blogs) I have a better understanding of the text. Reading others blogs helps me to see something that I had not seen before and it takes me back to the text to reevaluate how I read it and did not get that out of it. This class has completely changed my reading and understanding of literature and I like the fact that it has.

Cemetery Field Trip.

Picture Proof.

This week with the cemetery field trip, and when I first had heard about it I did not find it all that weird. In a way I did, because going to a cemetery where I do not know the people buried there seemed quite odd to me. I don't find it odd to ponder or better yet read at a cemetery, because I have done it since I was able to drive. Okay, not daily, I don't want to sound weird or anything, but my Papa died when I was just ten and as soon as I was able to drive as much as I could in my busy lifestyle I would go by the cemetery where he was laid to rest and I read or I talk or I've written in my journal. It's kind of hard for me to admit that, because some people really don't understand how therapeutic it is for me, and how peaceful it feels for me to go there and sort of feel my Papa's spirit as if he is there with me. It took me awhile to actually admit to my parents where I was going randomly, and when they heard they looked at my in a weird way.. but I guess everyone is different. I guess it is just a way for me to feel some sort of connection with him even if he is passed away.

A cemetery is a very quite and peaceful place. It's so hard to even imagine how many people are buried under the ground you are walking over. I try not to walk over the graves because I feel that is disrespectful. I just sat by a tree and pondered for the time about life, and death. I then began reading the assigned reading and it kind of hit me hard. It is sad. I felt a different type of connection. It is as if I realized life is for the living.. but death is for the dead. Which seems pretty self explanatory, but as I sat there it's like I thought about how many people's graves probably don't get a visit from time to time. Or a flower for condolence placed by it... and then I began to think about life after death. It seemed as though for the first time in forever I actually was at a silent place where my thoughts could come to me one by one. It was kind of interesting to say the least. It was as if I saw a cemetery in a whole new light. Not as even though I didn't know anyone, that I found it creepy. I felt sadness, concern, and love for the deceased. I felt a lot of emotions, but I can say that I learned a lot from this experience.

The Traveling Onion

When first reading the traveling onion I wrote this...

My interpretation of this poem is at first I found it weird that a person would actually write about an onion. The word choice was very unique and as the poem continued I found that the onion had a deeper meaning to the author than I have ever even known or felt about an onion.

When asked to then pick a line from the poem this is the line I chose...

" For the sake of others, disappear.."

I was confused as to who was disappearing, was it the onion.. the person eating the onion.. the author or who?

After speaking with my partner we came to the conclusion that this poem did in fact have a higher meaning than we saw at first read.

I then wrote again that I saw now that those who used onions for a worship object was very important unlike what it was to me. You could pull apart the pieces of this poem just as you can pull a part the pieces of the onion and have it be different pieces that shape your life. You can pull the pieces and cut them up and pull them apart but they are still pieces in your life.

I enjoyed reading this poem in class, with all the different discussions and parts to it. I believe that this helped me better understand the poem. I love poetry but a lot of the times it is hard for me to understand exactly what the author is saying. Getting everyone else's opinions and reading aloud the poem multiple times, and then having the concluding activity made me di sect the poem which I had never done before. It helped me look at it in a totally different way, and help me understand its meaning.

Joel.

I always feel that when you read a piece of literature aloud it always seem to hit you differently than when you read it silently. I also enjoy the fact of hearing other people read it, it helps me to understand it more than I did before. Hearing another person's voice is always different than your own, and will hit you differently than your own voice did. Instead of us sitting at our desks and reading aloud I liked the different atmosphere even if it was just on the floor of the room. Going outside would have been such a different feeling. Whether we would have read to one another or just spoke out loud to what was around us. I feel that scripture in any way can touch us in so many different ways, and sometimes we forget to get ourselves out of our comfort zone and dive in deeper into scripture. I believe the more people read themselves and the more they read with other scripture the better they become at understand it. The more engaged they will become, and they will have a deeper appreciation for it. I find this true when I do Bible study alone there is a different feeling than when I have people with me. When I am alone it is a time for me and God to have a one on one conversation. When I am in a small group I feel that you feed off one another and the discussion can turn into something that you had never even thought of before. Taking scripture and putting it into a different kind of setting and tone can help us understand it and to really fully appreciate it for everything that it is worth. I enjoyed reading aloud scripture with the class, I liked the feeling of the spirit I thought entered the room. It was amazing.

Joel and Left Behind.

When reading the entire passage of Joel I think back to the time when The Left Behind series was huge, and that is what I read. In the passage of Joel it talks about the return of Christ, and who of his people will be ready to be judged on that day. It also explains ways to be prepared for that coming day. I just flashback to that time when all I read was the Left Behind series, and just being frightened. Not necessarily for myself but for those who will be indeed left behind. In the text, and these books the place it describes after Christ has come is not one I would want to stick around for. Terror is the first thing that comes to mind, and loneliness.

I remember in the left behind series when people were just disappearing out of no where. In planes, in cars, or just in their rooms. It seems so surreal but at the same time eye opening. Think about where you will be when Christ returns. Will you be ready? Or will you need more time? This seems so real to me, and something that I may not think about day to day. I mean I pray, and read my scriptures, but I am I really at that relationship point with Christ. Am I walking with Christ, or am I falling behind. I need to remember that I shouldn't just choose day to day when I will walk in the light of Christ, because I do not know when he will be returning to this Earth. I need to be prepared and to daily seek his guidance in everything that I do. Joel just made me look into my own life, and see where I really stand as far as my walk with Christ... I could be completely off base, but that is what I gather from the section I read of Joel.

The Things They Carried.

I sympathize with Lieutenant Jimmy Cross at the beginning of the selection because of his love for Martha. The way the author describes the Lieutenant just thinking of her lips upon the envelope and knowing they were there. Just brought chills to my body. Imagine being away at war, and that is your joy your utter happiness to receive a letter from the woman you love. War, I think is taken so lightly. I believe that from day to day it does not cross peoples minds that even today we are at war. At this time someone's brother, or father, or grandfather is dying so that inevitably we can live. Just because the war is not happening in our backyards, we cannot be naive. So when this selection states how happy the Lieutenant was every time he received something from Martha is touched my heart. And how hard it must be for her to have the man she loves off to war. I cannot even fathom such a selfless act soldiers do for us everyday.

This text is quite interesting in that it gets you thinking about all the supplies, tools, and stuff the soldiers carried. What do you think you would carry? What has significance to you. To some it was a picture, to others something to protect themselves. But what do these items turn into once you are gone. Like in the selection, when a man passed away from being shot, a jacket he carried was the exact jacket used to wrap him up so the other men could carry him. Do you think that would change what you carried. Would you carry something else? Did those men even think about what they carried? To everyone something they carried was different, and each had a significance to one another. I find this story touching and I think to myself... would I ever fight in war even though I am a girl. Or what would I carry around with me taking into regard there is a lot of walking involved. Such an interesting thought...