Last Blog!

I think the part of my writing that has improved since the beginning of the semester is that I am better able to come up with an arguement and argue my opinion better than I was at the beginning.  This improvement will help me throughout the rest of college.  I found the proposal and the gists to be helpful.  They were somewhat easy to write, yet they got your brain thinking and strategizing about what you final paper would be.  I believe the final paper was the easiest to complete once I got an actual arguement because it was easy to show how Mephistophilis was changing throughout Dr. Faustus.  I also understood this play better than any of the other pieces of literature we read all semester.  The lessons I found to be most beneficial were the grammar ones especially the commas, semicolons, and colons.  These made me better understand how and where they are to be used.  I do feel more prepared to write college-level papers because I believe my grammar has improved along with being able to come up with an arguement and defend it.

April 1st Poetry

I think the song "If I Were a Boy" and the Poem "Sexism" kind of relate to each other.  They talk about how opposite men and women are.  The song shows how if women were men for a day they would act differently because they know how they want to be treated.  Men have a little bit of an idea how women want to be treated, yet they don't know exactly because they have never had that experience.  In the poem it shows how even if a woman knows her husband is cheating, the best moments in her life are when he comes home to her because she is no longer alone, yet a man's best moments are when he leaves his mistresses house because he doesn't have the problems and stress that come along with being in a committed relationship or marriage.  He got his pleasure, yet he doesn't have to deal with the drama.

"The Flea"

My interpretation of this poem is that the flea represents a baby.  I believe that the first stanza is about the woman denying the the narrator sex, yet once the commit the sin of premarital sex they conceive a baby.  When it talks about the two bloods being mingled, I protrayed that as them having sexual intercourse and the baby being conceived through the combination of their "blood".  After they commit this sin, they do not feel any guilt or shame, they would rather celebrate.  From the second stanza, it seems as if the couple is unmarried and the parents do not agree with their relationship or with them having a baby.  Between the second and third stanzas, I find that the couple is contemplating committing suicide and taking the innocent child's life too.  Because of the sin, they feel like they will forever be ridden with the guilt of what they did and the child is just an obvious reminder of it.

Poetry

Poetry was not a big part of my English classes in high school, actually I don't remember ever doing poetry.  I do though remember having to write simple poems in elementary school.  I also believe that we learned about some of the different types of poems.  We also learned somewhat about the different parts that make up a poem, but it was a very simple lesson since we were in elementary school.  I don't really have a favorite poet or poem because I don't read poetry unless it is for a class.  A poem is a short work of literature that is highly artistic, they also sometimes rhyme or have some structure to them.

Magic

I found our discussion on how Faustus used his magic throughout the play interesting.  He never actually used it for his original purpose, instead he used it to play tricks on the characters throughout the play.  I believe he used his magic in this way because he was afraid of what the consequences would be if he actually brought back the people, but he also could not let his gift go to waste, so he used it to play jokes hoping that he would not have to deal with the consequences of using magic and if he did they would be less.  The magic also shows how childish and less human like Faustus is becoming throughout the play.  You would expect a child to use magic to play pranks, not a grown man.  Without the use of magic by Marlowe, I do not believe the point that Faustus was becoming childish and almost becoming the joke of the play would have come across as strong, or even at all.  Faustus's use of magic was the main thing that pointed out how he was becoming less of a person.

Comical Relief

The part from the play and from our class discussion that really stood out to me was the scene with Wagner and the Clown.  At first I was like most of the class and did not quite understand why this scene was in the play.  I was a little confused by it and just thought that it was a pointless scene just thrown into the play.  Through the class discussion, I realized why this scene is in the play.  This scene was put into the play not only to lighten the mood, but also to show the reader how ridiculous Faustus's requests really are.  Without our class discussion, I might not have ever realized why this scene is in the play.  This scene gives the reader a little break from the seriousness of the play, and it also helps the reader to gain insight into what is happening in the play.

Mephistophilis

The one part from the reading that really sticks out to me is the character Mephistophilis.  He sticks out to me because he is a complex character.  At times he seems like he is a good devil (if that is even possible), yet he is still a devil and servant to Lucifer.  Sometimes I wonder if he regrets his decision to go against God.  This character works to achieve this effect by being perceived one way, yet acting another.  The reader expects him to act like a normal devil and try to persuade Faustus to go against God and come to hell, yet it seems like he is doing the opposite and warning Faustus about what happens in hell and how even when you are not technically in hell, you are still in a hellish state.  It will be interesting to see how Mephistophilis changes throughout the play.  Will he keep warning Faustus about what hell is like or will he change his mind and encourage Faustus to come to hell?

Hierarchy of Knowledge

I believe back in the renaissance time period their hierarchy of knowledge was based off of what they believed and knew.  Their ultimate goal was to get to God, which happended through religion or in Faustus's case magic equaled God. 
My hierarchy of knowledge is based off of what I find to be the most important.  For Faustus scholarship was the least important, but for me scholarship would be at the top of my hierarchy because without out scholarship you cannot achieve anything else.  If you do not learn and teach others there cannot be medicine or law.
Hierarchy of Knowledge is based on the time period and what is important to society during that time period.  For many today scholarship is more important than religion, but in the Renaissance period it was the complete opposite.  How people decide what their hierarchy of knowledge is, is based of their own person beliefs and what the technology of the time period is.

Semester so Far

Overall I think the semester is going ok.  I feel like the blogs are beneficial because they start to get you thinking about the story and what was really happening in it.  I also like the grammar guides and feel like they help a lot.  They are way better than searching through your paper looking for mistakes.  The grammar guides help you to realize why things should be this way and not that way.  The gists I'm kind of neutral on.  I feel like some of them help me and others really don't.  Some of the stories that we have read I had a really hard time trying to come up with a topic for the gist, but other stories such as the gist over "The White Heron" helped to give me a possible topic for my second paper.  The only thing I really don't like this semester is peer review.  I find it not to be much help, but I really don't know how it could be fixed.  I also really like our class discussions because it gives you other people's perspectives on the story that you may not have thought of yourself.  I believe the class discussions help the open your eyes to other people's opinions and perspectives on the stories instead of being super narrow-minded and believing your perspective was the right and only one.

"The Little Mermaid"

The setting plays a large part in the short story "The Little Mermaid."  The author's description of not only the people, but the place they lived, gives the reader a very vivid picture of their home looked like and what the places they visited looked like.  "Many a night this quiet, thoughtful little mermaid would stand by the open window, looking up through the dark blue waters where the fishes swam,"  this quote evokes the emotion of peace and calm.  I can image myself when I was little standing at the window at night looking out at the stars.  Also when the author is describing the sea witch's home you get the eary feeling because of the description he uses when he describes the trees and the turbulets that the little mermaid had to swim against to see the sea witch.  Without setting, this would be a very dull story where the reader would not be able to place themselves within it or evoke the emotion of the story.  The best part of this story was being able to put yourself into the story and image you were living it

"The Little Mermaid" is told in third person limited omniscient.  I believe the author choose this point of view because it was not necessary for the reader to be able to see into the other sisters' thoughts or feelings like it was for the little mermaid.  By using third person limited omniscient the reader is still able to see what the little mermaid is feeling and what she is thinking.  I think it would be neat to read this story if it would have been written in first person from the little mermaid.  But if the reader would have choosen a different point of view this would be a very different story than it is now.  There is always a reason why the author chooses which point of view to use over another.

Learning in College

After reading the article I agree with most of the article there were a couple points I disagree with.  I agree with the fact that colleges are not pushing their students hard enough.  Last semester was really easy for me, most of the classes I took, including anatomy and physiology were review from what I did in high school.  While some of my classes this semester are a little more challenging, some are just like high school.  My college bound teacher in high school really prepared me for your class.  We would have tests over books that were graded completely on how you contributed to the discussion.  If it wouldn't have been for him, I would probably be more hesitant to talk in class.  I also believe that students are not learning as much in college as they could is because they cheat their way through.  Some people have the philosphy why learn, when you can cheat and get a better grade.  When you are in a lecture hall with over 200 students and only teacher, there is no way that the teacher is able to monitor what every person is doing at every single second.  The part of the article that I disagree with is that students learn better when they study and read alone.  While in some sense this is true.  I do a majority of my studying for anatomy by myself, but it also helps to review with girls on my floor, because if you don't understand something they are able to explain it to you.  By quizzing each other you are both learning, you also give each other little tips on how to remember things.  You cannot completely blame the professors for students not learning in college.  Students get out of college what they put into it.  If they really want to learn the material and do well in their future, they will put in the time to learn it and succeed.

Compare and Contrast

The plot and characters in the two short stories "Bartleby, the Scrivener" and  "The Birthmark" are very similar, yet have their differences.  As each stories progresses the characters try and change another character to fit what they want.  We also have motivated characters in both stories.  Each character has a point to contribute to the story, there were no characters that were just thrown into the stories that you sit and think, why is this character in the story.  While "Bartleby, the Scrivener" uses the plot structure of exposition, and "The Birthmark" uses chronological, the stories are set up very similar.  They both are set up to tell you the things that happened in order instead of flashing back to what has happened in the past.  One difference in the plot is that I believe "Bartleby, the Scrivener" could have been written in another plot structure, but "The Birthmark" could not have without ruining the story.  Some differences in the characters between the two stories are that the characters in "Bartleby, the Scrivener" are plausible, the stuff the characters did could have actually happened, while the characters in "The Birthmark" were not very plausible.  Another thing that "Bartleby, the Scrivener" had that "The Birthmark" did not was that it had a foil character.

By comparing the two stories we can learn how different plot structures work with stories and why they work.  The two stories would have been very different if the authors would have choosen different structures.  A theme we can learn from comparing these two stories is that you should not judge people.  "Bartleby, the Scrivener" teaches us not to judge people before we know them and "The Birthmark" teaches us not to judge people for their outside appearance.  By comparing these two stories we can learn about different characters, plot structures, and themes.  Comparing stories helps you to understand why something works for one story, but not for another.

Class Discussion

I really like today's class discussion.  I thought I had which girl was black and which girl was white figured out, but today's discussion made me realize that there really was no way to determine which of the girl's was white and which was black.  My assumptions were based off of what I had been taught about race.  I also like our discussion on "White Privilege" because many of the things we talked about you don't think about, but when you actually stop and think they are true.  Many things in life are based off of what color our skin is, which it should not be.  Racism is something that many of us don't think about much, but it still exists.  These were two of my favorite short stories I have ever read.

Twitter Article

One thing that we really need to take from this article is that you cannot believe everything you read online because there is a chance that it is not really who you think it is.  Also is it possible to know if the person is real or not?  "Twitter allows parody accounts as long as they are labeled as such."  While this is a requirement how do we know that everybody who makes a parody account actually follows this rule.  We can't be sure.  People need to remember what they post online is now open to the public.  While it is not right that people create fake facebooks or twitters for people it happens.  People need to be careful what they post.  The overall message from this article is not believe everything you read because on sites such as twitter and facebook it is easy for people to create fake accounts and tell the world anything they want about the person they are pretending to be.

What I found useful and not useful

In the first paper we wrote I found it sort of difficult to come up with a topic to write about.  I liked when we did the circle with the main theme in the center and then did all the branches off of it.  This class activity helped me to start thinking about topics.  I also found the meeting with you helpful because I could ask questions about your comments instead of having to try and infer what I thought you meant.  I also really liked the outline because it made writing the paper very simple.  The one thing that I did not find helpful was the peer review.  I felt like I did not get much feedback from the group besides yeah your topic is good.  In general, I'm not a fan of peer review because I don't think you ever get very good feedback.

Metamorphosis

I believe Gregor's death symbolized the setting free of the family.  After his death they were able to leave the house without having to worry about what Gregor might do, or what might happen if they all leave.  "Then all three of them left the apartment together, something they hadn't done for months, and took the trolley out to the country on the edge of town" (Kafka 52).  If Gregor had never passed away the family would still be living in fear of him, yet taking care of him because he is still their son and they have hope that he will soon return back to his old self.

Works Cited

Stillman, Peter G. "Warnings, Alternatives, and Action:  The Totalistic Dystopias of the Twentient Century in We, Brave New World, and Nineteen Eighty-Four."  Topic:  the Washington and Jefferson College Review 56 (2010):  33-47.  Humanities International Complete. Web. 30 Jan. 2011

Amey, Michael D. "Living Under the Bell Jar: Surveillance and Resistance in Yevgeny Zamyatin's We."  Critical Survey 17.1 (2005): 22-39. Humanities International Complete. Web. 1 Feb. 2011.

Zamyatin, Yevgeny. We. Trans. Natasha Randall. New York: Modern Library, 2006. Print.

Dystopia

The topic I plan to write my paper on is the Dystopia that is occuring in the One State.  I choose this topic because my original topic I could not find much research on and this themes comes up repeatedly throughout the book.  I find it interesting how the people are trying to create this perfect utopia, but instead are creating a dystopia.  In most of the books that I have read, this happens.  No matter how hard people to try to create the perfect world, it is impossible to do.  If the dystopia was not a theme, this book would be very boring and there may not have even been a WE.

The Ending

I found the ending of WE interesting.  It ended a lot different than I thought it would.  I figured in the end with D-503 being free and with I-330 or O-90.  Instead he had the Operation and returned to being a "machine" of the One State.  He also turned in I-330 as being part of the group trying to destroy happiness.  I believe that D-503 wanted to be a good citizen all along and that he was just dreaming about corruption.  Without the structure of the One State, I feel as if D-503 will fall apart.  I still am left wondering what happened to O-90 in the end.  Did she actually escape or was she caught and D-503 just thinks that she got away?  This ending kind of left it up to the reader to decide the final outcomes for some of the characters. 

State of the Union Address

   One of President Obama's main points from the address was about the jobless rate and how he hopes to improve it.  He talked about how tax cuts are being extended in hopes to improve the economy.  He also wants to eliminate tax payer money that is given to oil companies.  I agree with his ideas to extend tax cuts and eliminating money given to oil companies.
    He also talked about how important education is, since in the near future many jobs will require more education than just a high school degree.  He believes that education needs to start in the home, parents need to do more to encourage their kids to get good grades.  I really like his idea about Race to the Top.  If the government pushes school to come up with better education plans, the student benefits.  The better the kids are educated the better jobs that they will be able to fight for.
   President Obama addressed the issue of illegal immigration, but I wish he would have went a little more into how he plans to address the issue.  I agree that the US should try and keep foreign students who come for a college degree here in the US after they graduate.  These people could greatly improve our labratories and we maybe able to improve our research even more.
  The main point that President Obama kept stressing throughout the address was how he is going to trying to improve the economy and create more jobs.  He has many good ideas, but if they will really work or not, we will have to wait and see.

One State: The Hardest Part

The part of living in the One State which would be hardest for me is not having family around.  To me, family means a lot.  They are the ones who support me and are always there for me.  After college, I want to get married and start a family of my own.  I could never imagine having a child and have it be taken away from me.  I would have a hard time not being able to see it grow up and achieve all its milestones.  Also, if my child was taken away from me I would always wonder what they look like and if maybe it was them that I just passed on the street.  Without my family I know I would not be the person I am today. 

Biographical Strategies

I believe Yevgeny Zamatin based We off of what was happening in his life.  You could somewhat compare him to D-503.  While they both had different jobs, their jobs both focused a lot with numbers.  D-503 was a mathmatician, while Zamatin was an engineer.  You could also compare One State to what was happening in Russia during the early 1920's.  One State is the perfect utopia where no one is different and Russia was "entering into a singlular Bolshevik utopian rigor mortis" (Zamatin, xi).  The One State is what Russia was aiming for.  Without these events happening in Zamatin's life this story may have been different or maybe not have even been written.

Relating Elements of Fiction to We

1. Style- The style of writing is very descriptive.  While we are never able to get a clear picture of the characters, we can get a sense of what One State is like and how the people act.  He describes all the people as shapes to take away their individuality.

2. Tone- D-503's tone towards the people is that they are all the same.  Everybody wants to be the perfect citizen who never breaks any rules.  He also describes One State as the perfect place where no rules are ever broken.

3. Irony-  One ironic part of this story is that D-503 keeps telling us that he hates I-330 and can't stand her, but he keeps meeting up with her and ends up having sex with her.

4. Plot- The plot of this story starts with D-503 being the perfect citizen who only has feelings for O-90, and as the story progresses we see him start to become more rebellious and have "feelings" for I-330.

5. Characterizations-  The characters we have met so far are D-503: the main character and narrator, O-90: "D-503's girlfriend", and I-330: who makes D-503 rebell against the One State

6. Setting- We is set in the future in a place known as One State where there is no individuality or problems

7. Point of View- first person point of view. ex:  "As I write this, I feel something; my cheeks are burning." 
The narrarator is a big part of this story and uses the words I, my, mine, etc. 

8. Symbol-  I-330 symbolizes the rebellion that D-503 has inside him, but is not willing to show 

9. Theme- I believe the theme of this story is that no matter how hard a community tries to achieve the perfect community, there will always be that one person who is willing to go against the community.  In this case th rebellious person is I-330.

Who I Am!

My name is Alyssa Pfeifle.  I am a freshman majoring in Health Science and Psychology and planning on going onto grad school for physical therapy.  I am the oldest of three girls.  I am from Brandon, SD.  In high school, I was a football manager, cheerleader and on a club dance team; I was also in National Honor Society and Senior Leadership Team.  In my spare time, I volunteer with the Sioux Falls Miracle League as a ball buddy for my cousin and also volunteer in the NICU rocking babies.