Jamie Parker

Cline, Laura

April 10, 2011

               The topic I am choosing to write about will be the historical context around Shakespeare's time. I am confused on a lot of the customs of the time as well as the old English style of speaking of his play, “A Mid Summer Night’s Dream.” If there is not much information on Shakespeare himself, researching his era will help me understand the text that much more to see where he is coming from.  I plan to look into why the story was written in Greece, why Shakespeare chose the Greek mythology that he chose, along with the customs of the era.   Also how well known the Greek mythology was at that time—because right now it makes no sense for a writer to go on about mythology in a world with no faith in lighting gods, or sea kings with tridents.
               Learning about Shakespeare's location could also be helpful if the information is known as to where he lived while writing this particular piece.  Finding this information out will also give me a little insight into why Shakespeare was the way he was, probably writing things that were rebellious an maybe even offensive to the people of his time.  This could also show his views on the society he lived in, wanting it to change, helping me recognize certain changes from his society to his fiction that he wished could have been part of his everyday life.   Along with his everyday life, the speaking styles of his time could be helpful to research more on.  Other than researching certain words as I’ve been reading the play, perhaps there are certain facts in history that would help me understand why Shakespeare is putting a subject into his play (as an example).
               Learning all if these things about the context of the time Shakespeare's play "a Mid Summer Night's Dream" was written, including researching some of the old English style if writing, I think, will help me dive into this text and help me understand it.

http://shakespeare.about.com/od/historicalcontext/a/Renaissance.htm

Cover Letter...Kind of

James Parker

March 27, 2011

Cline, Laura

ENG 102

Dear Laura Cline,

This first half of the semester has been extremely difficult for me as writer as well as a student who tries to stay motivated. My biggest challenge in this class has been trying to stay motivated with my writing. On top of working and relationships with people, I have cheated myself in putting time into my work, therefore making it less enjoyable to turn in work. Some of the material, because of the online style, has also been much harder to focus on and relate to, seeing as I am the type of student who needs someone in front of me talking so I can communicate easier.

The readings have been detailed enough to give me a taste of what war is like, which has changed my perspective on the wars our troops are fighting. Seeing different styles of writing on the same subject has been helpful to me, and the similar feelings and stories among writers make their stories hold truth, simply because a lot of the feelings match up. Analyzing these pieces has been different than other types of writing I've done in that it makes you write longer papers on more specific details, with less summary style writing.

With the second half of the semester quickly approaching, I intend to continue looking for motivation and time to work on my writing. Hopefully now I can turn in my papers and feel like I am letting my full-grown teen ager go off to college instead of sending a four-year-old.

Sincerely,

Jamie Parker

Sean Huze Blog

Jamie Parker
March 13, 2011
Cline, Laura
ENG 102
Sandstorm Response
Sandstorm, as a whole, was simply OK to me. The play format already started the story out with a negative feeling, so my biased hate for reading plays did not help (reading plays reminds me of acting out parts of Shakespeare in high school classes). Another downer was that the profanity of the play made me feel as though the author ran out of creative adjectives—or simply didn’t want to try using any. Cussing was one of the things my grandfather said was a lesson learned in war, but (after being critiqued in writing my entire life) I expect something more unique in a piece of writing.
The lack of emotion (besides the last scene) was very hard to relate to. The story’s graphic details, swearing, and straight forwardness, were realistic but distant. A perfect example was with the soldier who tripped over a foot and started wandering around all dazed. It would have been cool to somehow include some details that were less raw to include people who hadn’t been to war before. Other than just relating to the story I also wanted to be able to relate to, and understand, what the soldiers were going through thinking back to my family members who have served in the military.
Overall it was realistic which was good, and was another resource to try and understand war with. Having different characters had potential to be entertaining, but wound up annoying, leaving me a lot of time to try and figure out who was talking. It was difficult to stay focused, making the reading last much longer than it should, due to the play style format. I did not hate the play, it was just very frustrating for me to get into and read.
For the image:

Website for Sean Huze:
http://www.seanhuze.com/stageplays/the-sand-storm

I posted a power point to blackboard but here's the info. from it.

Jamie Parker

I had a hard time putting this book down because of all of the times O’Brien repeatedly says things like “This is totally true.”
O’Brien’s style of writing made me sink into the story and feel like Sanders lied right to me when he admitted to O’Brien that he fibbed a little.

I liked the story and enjoyed the going back and forth between truth and what you think the truth is.
The details were impressive but not over-kill. I got a good picture of what was going on and wasn’t distracted or bored.

1. Most war stories can be looked at as a love story (as O’Brien wanted this one to be). I agree with the idea that a man jumping on a grenade for his friends is truly a love story.
2. The truth in a story is only what you take in, and believe to be true. The truth is also skewed by the trauma around you—especially in war.

This story made me think of my grandfather, who I respect a great deal. I imagined what it was like for him to be in war, and it made me think back to the times he would tell me war stories. My grandfather rarely told war stories, but when he did, I always listened intently. Now this story has me thinking that the stories, that were truth to my grandfather, became truth to me because I took them in.

http://www.audiobooksonline.com/media/The-Things-They-Carried-Tim-Obrien-unabridged-compact-discs-Recorded-Books.jpg

Poetry

Jamie Parker
2/13/11
Laura Cline
ENG 102
Poetry, Again
Irritation beyond comprehension usually occurs when poetry meets the simple path of Jamie Parker. Thankfully I (am he) came across one poem that, in my opinion, made sense. The poem Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting created in me a spark of hope that I could one day appreciate poetry and, with a stroke of luck, understand it. I am kidding, but sometimes it feels as though I cannot understand a poem no matter how many times I read it, so when I read this poem I fell in love with the short and decently obvious meaning. The combination of the title and the first line—“I tell her I love her like not killing”—lets the reader know that the poem is about someone writing a love letter (Line 1, Powers). After getting the basic subject of the poem I feel like I picked up on smaller details where the writer showed that the soldier writing the letter, and the private with him, was starting to feel as though the war was nothing more than “just us making pieces of metal pass through each other,” (Lines 13, Powers).
The second poem I read brought up the familiar frustration that has come with so many poem readings. The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window was a poem that left me, possibly because I missed something, hanging. The entire time I expected this woman to commit suicide and I surprisingly wanted to her to die rather than be left with the question of what happened. The last line, “or as she climbs back up to claim herself again,” was unique, though, and it was nice to see a poet writing outside the boundaries of the common thought of finishing the story (Line 66, Harjo).
The biggest connection I had with these poems was that they brought me joy to see something different. I have not enjoyed poems in the past, so to see a writer tell a long story through a small amount of words, and to find that the unknown actually leaves room for creativity, was enjoyable, eventually.
Work Cited
Harjo, Joy. “The Woman Hanging From the Thirteenth Floor Window.” Poetry Foundation.2006.11 Feb.2011.Web.
Powers, Kevin C. “Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting.” Poetry Foundation. 11 Feb. 2011. Web.

Parker, James

1/28/2011

English 102

Good Readers and Writers

Nabokov thinks a great reader is defined by his or her ability to stay a little "aloof" while discovering, and passionetly enjoying, the magic, story, and lesson behind a "masterpiece." Generally this takes more than one read, and Nabakov states that a good reader will not merely read a book, but reread it. The first read is more of an informational read, according to Nabokov, in which the reader is familiarized with the world the writer is trying to create. He goes on to write that when rereading a book one's mind can start to appreciate all the artistic characteristics it holds. "The mind, the brain, the top of the tingling spine, is, or should be, the only instrument used upon a book," Nabokov writes in this short story "Good Readers and Good Writers" to show that a good writer dives in with their mind, looking for more than reorganized thoughts.
I agree with Nabokov's definition to a point for, alas, it is very long and to agree with a definition such as this I might be lying in small areas. For the most part, his thoughts are easy for me to agree with because I love music and love to write music, so when speaking of a reader as someone who will basically appreciate the fullness of someone's work, I think of someone appreciating a song I've written. On the other hand, I think that a good reader also needs to have the ability to recognize a good writer, and when not to waste their time rereading. I would consider myself a good reader in that I tend to figure out if I will enjoy a story quickly, saving myself time. This does leave a possibility of losing the flare of the begining of a good piece, but I have found that if I enjoy a good book I will reread it and have time to enjoy the beginning, the second time around. I would consider myself a bad reader for the simple fact that I read slow. I wish that I could skip over lines that don't make sense to me the first time, and enjoy the rest of a story or essay, but I cannot. So Nabokov and I do share the conclusion that I am a decent reader and writer, not a good one (but I'm working on it!).