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.

Final Proposal

Image Source: http://cilawarncke.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/writers-letters-f-scott-fitzgerald/
To read a brief life on F. Scott Fitzgerald Click here.


          I have chosen to write something from option one. I chose this option because i thought it would be more easier to find something that is already on the list instead of going to find something about monsters  in option two. Even though there was a very good list to choose from, i believe i made a good decision. The primary text i chose to read about is the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald called The Great Gatsby. I choose this author because his name sound familiar. What i am hoping to accomplish is a good understanding and a creative outlook on the book. I plan to search the data bases on the school library website to see if i can find any good secondary sources. Another place i will search is google. One of my key search terms will be The Great Gatsby article reviews, and see what good evidence and support i can use in my essay.

Mid-Term Check in

Dear Ms. Cline

My progress in this class has been progressing. My biggest challenge in the class has been getting use to doing this all online. Im use to my English classes being in class courses, so i did think that this was going to effect me because i wouldn't really understand what i would be doing. Another thing that took some getting use to was the blogging. I know in the society today a lot of people use the Internet to communicate with others like social networking and other things but i found theblogging confusing at first. As any other social networking sites that i do use i had to go and explore and mess around with the different tools on there to understand how to post things and how to understand certain thing on the website. I wouldn't say that i dislike blogging i just know after this class i will not be blogging anymore because it is still somewhat confusing, and challenging for me. The readings in the class has took an affect on me because it was hard to understand. Since the class in not class room based there isn't really open discussions about the readings to understand it so students have to go and re-read or find help on their own.

 

I would say literary analysis isn't really any different from what i have been writing in college. In my previous classes my instructors would have students do exerciseson how to analyze a book. I wouldn't say that i am good at doing literary analysis but i would say i have touched base on knowing the concept of doing so. One thing that i would like to improve on is doing better on literary analysis in different novels and passages. As a writer i am still in the process of getting better. Other writtingthat i have done for this class i have done in other class like summarizing. I found summarizing to be easy because i was use to doing that all the time in high school also.

 

Even-though i found taking an online class can be very challenging i believe that i can pull though with a good learning experience. My goals for the second half of the session is to be more ahead of my work. Another would be going to see a tutor more often to get help with my eassy and other work in the course. One thing i will work harder on in the second session is my peer editing on my essays. If i get more people to read my essays they should come together better. I figure if this class were more class room based i would do better on my essays because i can understand what i am doing wrong right then and there, other than going on my own time because i seem to be busy. I need to set times where i meet with tutors and my instructor. I understand now that in order to succeed in the next session i will have to do better on my time management. 

 

 

Draft Essay 3

Amber Watkins

Ms. Cline

ENG 102

11 Oct 2011

Frankenstein

Everyone gets lonely at times. Throughout the book Frankenstein is a gift to have in one’s life. I believe this book is based on companionship and basically being selfish. In the beginning of the book any reader can understand that Frankenstein was looking for someone to travel by his side. Later on in the story another event occurred where the Monster wanted to have a companion because life does get lonely no matter what or who you are. While reading the story I gave the monster a lot of pity because all of his actions he had committed to was only inspire of Frankenstein not creating him a friend. Although anyone who reads this story would have a different view about the book. As i read the book i believe that Frankenstein is a very selfish person in many ways, in many ways it had to do with having a companioning, and I come to the understanding that it can be compared to feminism in a way. Frankenstein was selfish about the way he handled things in life and with family. I feel as though Frankenstein handled things wrong in life and should’ve had better reasons for his actions.

Frankenstein longed for a companion to travel on his long journeys with. I would say that friendship is the key theme in the story. When Frankenstein set off to travel on his long voyage he longs for someone to cherish the moment with him, and this showed he didn’t like to be alone. "I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavor to sustain me in dejection (p.10)." When I first read this I assumed that maybe Frankenstein just doesn’t like to be alone and he is most family oriented, and he might just miss family. When i took the time to look into the statement and I realized that he was just being selfish and arrogant. He only wanted someone to travel along with him so he can be arrogant and boast on his success in the travel. Frankenstein wanted someone to stand and watch him bask in glory which would make someone jealous. Being alone can cause someone to do unbearable things because that person may feel that they have no meaning in life. "Urged by this view, I refused, and I did right in refusing, to create a companion for the first creature (p.206)." I believe that this was a selfish act, and that Frankenstein was wrong for not giving the creature a companion. All of the times Frankenstein was lonely and longing for a friend, he couldn’t understand the monsters pain and create him one. Another occasion occurred when I thought of Frankenstein being self-seeking is when he went home. "Ah! I wish you had come three months ago, and then you would have found us all joyous and delighted (49-50)." Any of the times Frankenstein could’ve came home to visit he only came to the funeral of his brother’s death, when everyone was morning over the loss. I found this to be very selfish of him and he didn’t even stay long to morn with the family.

            When reading this book I didn’t know Frankenstein was as selfish until i put all of the pieces together. Another selfish act that Frankenstein had committed was the reasons for creating the monster. He only created the monster just because he wanted to prove to everyone that he could, but once it was created he abandon it. This also shows a great force of feminism shown throughout the story also. In the article, "the women of Frankenstein" by William Veeder he discuss how the weakness in Frankenstein favored the women. "After admitting that women are no more immune than men to weakness, she insists self-justifyingly that women are less weak (271)." This means that not only are women weak but mean can be as weak as the women. Most people find women weak in the society; I just find that this just shows men can be as weak as women at times. When I read this it opened my mind about a lot of things that I have viewed about Frankenstein. When women are lonely they long for a friend or someone to be with, and like making other people jealous about what they have and consume. I thought Frankenstein compared to these entire description. Frankenstein is egotistical in many ways and I consider that him being with someone to share his time with is only to boast about his success, and is an act of making people envy him. I believe that Frankenstein cared about no one but himself. When he was on a voyage he wanted someone to be with him, when he created the creature he only did it to tell people he could, and when the creature needed him most he abounded him and would create something that he wanted dearly.

I believe that the purpose of Mary Shelly writing this book, "Frankenstein" was to just meaninglessly say that everyone gets lonely at times. Although this was only written for a contest she was entering. I also believe that she created this book so she can show that anything can get lonely to. Like humans, animals, and anyone of that matter can throw temper tantrums after a while. In the article "On Frankenstein" by Percy Bysshe she states, "It was impossible that he should not have received among men that treatment which led to the consequences of his social nature (186)." The consequence that Frankenstein gave the creature was not creating a companion. I believe he gave the creature this consequence because the creation itself was beyond belief. Creating something similar to this creation would only cause him to disown another one of his creations. I believe that the creature was just trying to fit in with everyone else and be human, but by his looks he saw that couldn’t be so. During this consequence the monster rebelled in a way that caused Frankenstein to lose loved ones. The creature killed some of the people close to Frankenstein because he wouldn’t create him someone to be with. This caused the death of close friends, and family.

            During the story I had self-pity for the creature. All he wanted was someone to talk to and someone to treat him like he was everyone else. Frankenstein to be selfish towards the monster and not help him only made the creature rebel in a hateful matter. The creature committed to murdering anyone who was close to Frankenstein out of spite because he wouldn’t create anyone for him to share his life with. The hidden selfish act they people probably didn’t recognize was that the creature Frankenstein has created was never even given a proper name. I compared this as getting a adopted daughter and not calling her by her name, and a name is what signifies a human being as a person. A name not only just gives an identity; it also fits into that person’s personality, and gives others perspective about one another. So I can understand why the creature would so what he has done. When Frankenstein set off to kill the creature I thought of it as sad and self-centered. I recognized that he only wanted to kill the creature in revenge from killing his loved ones. Frankenstein was seeking revenge. I found this to be ironic because I thought the creature was just revenging himself towards Frankenstein because he was making him suffer by being alone. I would say in both situations that the friend was revenge in the enemy.

            Although I really enjoyed this book I believe I probably had that same perspective as many people. Some of the articles I have chosen to add didn’t just justify on him being selfish but they helped in many ways to give examples to show his selfishness. I tried to compare him and Frankenstein to more on the feminist side not only because a woman wrote it but I believe to state that not all women are lonely criers. I believe based on all of the emotions that went on that it was mostly based on the value of friendship and acceptance. Being the monster that the creature was he felt alone. There was no one to talk to him and communicate with him because of the way he was created. I believe if Frankenstein had created him someone to be with he could have avoided the whole situation with his lost loved ones and the self-centered state of mind that he was in.