Reflection on the Course

Dear Ms. Cline:

I can honestly say that English 102 has well prepared me for my future. The skills I have gained from the class will forever assist me in the future. I have corrected and understood more clearly how to cite my work and analyze. For my next classes I believe the things that I have learned in the course will help in my next level of classes. I know further along the way my next classes are going to consist of me write a research paper and maybe even analyze a text. Another thing I have learned was how to better structure my essays so that readers can have a better understanding when reading them. The readings in the class have affected me because some were hard to understand but when I did get the concept or an idea of what I thought about the readings, I felt it made me better of a reader and thinker to write what I thought of the readings. In this course i tried to have a different outlook on the things I read. One thing I tried to achieve in this class was to have a better aspect on the readings, and I believe I have accomplished that.

One of the essays that I have written called Frankenstein. Frankenstein is also a story people already know, heard, or had seen before. When I had a chance to actually read the story for myself I felt I had a different outlook on the book. Many people that I have known to have read this all have the same thing to say about it but I actually thought my aspect about the theme was unique and different. I believe that I have accomplished some of the learning outcomes in the class. My essays I have applied a good tone and voice to my thesis statements. One thing that was challenging but I feel as though I have accomplished also is analyzing a text. I have a better understanding on how to analyze a passage. Analyzing was something I was already taught but I feel I have a better understanding of how to do it better now.

My writing has changed because I have a better structured way of writing. When writing my paragraphs and sentences I feel as though I have gone up a level. My writing has improved more into college level writing. When writing my analyzation of a poem I felt as though I was being challenged to write a critical analyzation of no other. I found my essay the field of Skulls to be very well thought out. Yes, it was a challenge because I didn't have enough time to get the amount of help that I wanted but I believe my essay came out pretty well. When trying to figure out a poem there are so many inferences someone can make about it but I thought my idea was pretty impressive. In the beginning one of my biggest challenges were finding and accepting the different between analyzing and summarizing. I found the concepts of both and now I know how to better separate the two for a better understanding.

Thank you for taking the time and effort to better help and improve my writing habits for the future.

Sincerely,

 

Amber Watkins

Critiquing a Critique

Image Source: http://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/hotdiggedydemon/zombie-spongebob

To view the history timeline of Zombies Click Here !

Zombies !

          In the article "American Zombie Gothic", the author Kyle William Bishop discuss the zombie and other horror films and the historical eras it occurred. In this article the author organized when these films were written and the historical compassion that it had. Some of these films were created to reflect what happened around that time. Over time the word zombie definition has changed in many ways, it went from victim of voodoo magic or hypnosis, a dead corpse said to have been controlled through witch craft, or a dull slow witted person. The zombie is basically created by Americans and is the best monster comparing it to most monsters like ghosts, vampires, etc. The word zombie has been a attachment to the American culture. The films evolving around zombies has been around for 70 years, and has developed into something better each year. Over time zombies seem to change more into vampires when the movie Night of the living Dead was created by Romero. They had more aspects of what vampires did and same demeanor but did not dress like the vampires. This movie also protested against the war. By making this movie it made people view and understand about the killing and the violence to hurt others. The zombie cinema is represented to the social consequences. The youth took a new interest in zombies and started on the video game Doom, which showed zombie like marine soldiers. The first zombie like game to be created came out in 1996 named Resident Evil. This is just showing how much the character zombies have taken part in our lives in the American culture. The Zombie craze has also been adopted as a alternative life style. This is only because the movie Zombie Survival Guide, which teaches people like a hand book on how to survive when encountering a zombie. In the movie 28 days later they are comparing the disease AIDS to the way zombies react when trying to give their infection to a unharmed human. The zombies that are infected go around spreading the virus, kind of similar to AIDS. All of these zombie movies have some relevance and background behind the making. These zombie movies are very popular in our time and very relevant. Zombie movies might not be a precise occurrence in the modern society but it  is more of a corrupt one, with no social value.

Draft of Final Project

Amber Watkins

Ms. Cline

ENG 102

3 Nov 2011

American Dream

Many people have their own outlook about the American dream, and they portray it in many ways. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald generates a corrupt and immoral American dream in some of his writings. In the beginning the story, The Great Gatsby promotes a perfect and ideal American dream in a couple places in the book, but behind closed doors it doesn’t end up as perfect as it may seem. In the book The Great Gatsby he relates the book to his life. Another book that Fitzgerald relates his life to is This Side of Paradise. In both stories one similar theme is love, and how to pursue or get that American dream. The theme that reoccurred in these stories is the American dream can be deceiving. There were also different inferences that can be made while reading both books. First inference I had made was these were both based on relationships, trust, and loss of love. I have chosen to base the theme on both books about the American dream, and the chase for satisfaction. Fitzgerald, in reality, tried to create him this American dream, which didn’t really work out. In many ways life satisfaction dealt with morals and values. Many people have their set morals they live by, and some are based off of religion. The American dream isn't so perfect if women and men do not obey the things they believe in and morals. The American dream can be signified in many ways good or bad, satisfying and unsatisfying. In the story This Side of Paradise had similar occurrences in themes like in the book The Great Gatsby.

In the book The Great Gatsby the main character Nick Carraway lived across the way from Jay Gatsby. It was no coincidence that Gatsby lived across the way from Nick. Jay only lived close to try to get to Nick's cousin Daisy Buchanan. When reading this, readers may think oh, just another love story. And yes, this is just another love story. Nick says, "I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited - they went there"(41). He was trying to grasp the attention of Nick to have a the conversation with Daisy over for tea to reminisce about the past. This caused a problem in Daisy's perfect American dream. Daisy being married, having a child, and being very wealthy, would be at risk if having to file for divorce. Daisy isn’t the only one in this state of mind. Before Daisy could even have an affair her husband was already doing the same. Daisy's husband Tom Buchanan has been having an affair for a while now. He was just chasing his satisfaction. He desired to be with women other that Daisy, but nowhere in his mind was he planning to leave her, so he just wanted his satisfaction. Fitzgerald had done this to create the corrupt American dream. Even though it would've been ok to just divorce each other, in some religions they do not find that to be right. So the better way to live is to live unhappy in the situation that person is in, but appeal to others that they are in that right, perfect, dream life.

The American dream can be a different meaning to every individual. The American dream can be having the perfect family, a big house, and white picket fence with a red door. Or another dream is to just have freedom and be wealthy. As many people can have many different inferences about how they feel the American dream should be, In the article “F. Scott Fitzgerald's evolving American dream: The ‘pursuit of happiness’ in Gatsby, Tender Is the Night, and The Last Tycoon,” the author John Callahan states, “At the end of his life, came to embrace the sense that life is essentially a cheat and its conditions are those of defeat, and that the redeeming things are not `happiness and pleasure' but the deeper satisfactions that come out of struggle.” People will do anything to reach what satisfies them. People will cheat, lie, and essentially be unhappy, just to have that idealized American dream. The article also says, “Fitzgerald embodied in his tissues and nervous system the fluid polarities of American experience: success and failure, illusion and disillusion, dream and nightmare” (Callahan). When someone goes through the American dream experience they are going to witness some encounters through the process of them reaching it, whether it’s good or bad, and also happiness. That person would maintain that lifestyle just to get by.

The similar theme is portrayed in the book This Side of Paradise. In this book the main character is Amory Blaine who falls in love with a woman named Rosalind Connage. These two both fell in love with each other; But Rosalind chooses not to be with Amory because he was poor. This relates to exactly what happen in the book The Great Gatsby. In one of the events in the Great Gatsby, Daisy states how she didn’t marry Gatsby because rich girls don’t marry poor boys. However, in the story This Side of Paradise, Rosalind married a wealthier man because Amory didn’t have as much money. This is amusing because referring to earlier on in the story Amory's mother had done the same thing with his father. This frequent similarity shows that the author has some repetition in his writing. His mother had only married his father because he had more money than the other boyfriends she had. This shows that the American dream doesn’t necessarily have to involve love and happiness. It just involves the knowledge of security, and by security means the security of money. Back in the day people only married to know that they would have a secure life style and won’t have to worry about any future finances.

Both of these stories related well to Fitzgerald’s life. The characters alone in both stories had their own similarities. Both Gatsby and Amory went to the army, which signified bravery, and intention to better their future. In both stories they fell in love with women they couldn’t seem to obtain. The women in both stories were similar because they both were powerful over the men, Gatsby, and Amory. Powerful in the decision being made, and money wise too. In the book This Side of Paradise the mother of Rosalind says, “There are several bachelor friends of your father’s that I want you to meet tonight— youngish men” (175). Rosalind basically set her up with men, instead of wanting her to be with someone she desired to be with. In some ways in both stories the women family members or friends had something to do with influencing them to marry the wealthy. These characters Gatsby and Amory both tried to make a second appearance after the reappearance when war was over. These characters fell in love with women that they couldn’t really be with. In the book The Great Gatsby, Nick notions, "A phrase began to beat in my ears with a sort of heady excitement: 'There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired'"(81). I thought this was pretty cleaver and it pertained to exactly what these men were doing in the stories, pursing women and it goes back into the American dream. The repetition of these stories is that they all revolve around the 1920’s. I believe this was a very emotions distress in Fitzgerald life, being in love but not having that satisfaction of having that person in his life to be happy with. This goes along with the result of the American dream. They avoid happiness and love the security of their own future.

I found Fitzgerald’s themes and character generalizations came up again and again and it’s something his writings don’t change from. The American dream is something people are not happy with, but can live with. I believe that in Fitzgerald life he had an event like this that he couldn’t let go. I find that the similarity in these characters has a huge amount of significance. I believe he has made these stories alike because of the points in his life. The same issue with both of the females in the story occurred because the author Fitzgerald really did fall in love, but couldn’t spend his life with her in the end. The American dream is based on the chase of satisfaction. Fitzgerald observed people in this lifestyle, but he wanted different. Fitzgerald wanted the real love and happiness, and not just to settle. These women are both just satisfying there needs for the future, the picture perfect life, wellness, and stability.

Annotated Bibliography

Callahan, John. "F. Scott Fitzgerald's Evolving American Dream: The "Pursuit of Happiness" in Gatsby, Tender is the Night, and the Last Tycoon." Twentieth Century Literature 42.3 (1996): 374-95. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 6 Nov. 2011.

In this source the author goes over all three books by F. Scott Fitzgerald. One of the main books that i am focusing on is The Great Gatsby. But i thought this article would be helpful because the authors perception is based around all three books. The author gives general ideas on what the author, Fitzgerald, was generalizing on in all of his books. I will use this in my paper to support my thesis and in some paragraphs to support main topics as well. I am unsure how i would incorporate this into my thesis now but i do believe this is a good article to refer to when i am working on my essay. 

 

Fitzgerald, Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925. Print.

I have chosen to use this source because it kind of relates to his life. This book reiterates what he went through when he was in love, in reality. Not everything in his book The Great Gatsby is what happend in real life but i would say it gets similar. I believe that this would help my thesis also and support my essay. The theme in the book will also help my essay in supporting it as well.  

 

Fitzgerald, Scott. This Side of Paradise. Westminster: Ballantine Books, 2005. Ebrary. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.

I chose to write about this book because i feel he relates it to his life like he does in The great Gatsby. When he wrote the the Great Gatsby i believe there were many similarities. This book The side of paradise will help me support my thesis and be good evidence in my writing. There are many parts of the story where the author has used related themes in both books. This is a good resource for my paper so when i talk about the theme it will calaborate as well.