Suspensive Sentence

4:43am and the glow of Facebook meekly rested on her frazzled stare which made her look like an anime cartoon and gave her all the personality and voice without a word needing to be spoken, while meds that needed to be taken laid at her waist and the warmth of her laptop crept through the gift of a hand-sewn quilt which did justice to only her fair thighs; if someone walked in 2F3 there could be a mistaken illusion of warmth filtering throughout Jade's "crack-den" of a suite
exploded with: clothing, toiletries scattered under a mirror that laid semi-diagonally against the face of collages on the wall that reminded her of past endeavors and current friends, florescent dorm room lights which were never used but when it was, was covered by a green pashmina so the ugly glow would never surface, plastic orange pumpkin Halloween lights with creepy carved faces that streamed the frame of her bed paralleled with a stream of white Christmas lights across her windowsill which were catered by handcrafted flowers made of recycled egg carton boxes, while the latter to her bed was unseen because the ground was cocooned in clothing - yet it was still visible that her floor was marked up with an assortment of markers - little notes from her friends that rose up to a refrigerator housed with hummus, Baileys and some left over vanilla pudding - but all she could do is stare at her guitar which she rarely used but when she did the Sirens song could reel you in at instant and still she sat there, anxious, bored, cold and heady, her thoughts were the only company she desired; so she slowly grabbed her meds, snipped them in quickly and with a heavy"uuuugggggggghhhhhhh" and then a quick smile that held all the secrets in the world, she began to type.

Stranger in the Village

Bladwin Perfectly combines the periodic style with paratactic progression very well, clearly exerting his control and understanding of his assertions. The connections he forms from the very beginning of the reading set the reader up to think about religion in this small Swizz village and it's effect on his stay there. Always listing the things that the village did not have was a great to way explain that outlets to experience and diversity were not apparent. He sets up the reader, if no one knew who Baldwin was we wouldn't understand why he felt estranged. We know that he is from America where these appliances or banks, movies theaters are much more prevalent. He moves to show that with lack of diversity , the people of the village have a one track mind. For example on page 160 he writes about how the Swiss in the village believed that "black men come from Africa..."
He moves back to connect religion to the Africa Natives and how the Swizz "buy" them for the purpose of converting them. There is an association with darker skin being associated with the devil or evil but if the Africa Natives convert to Catholicism - the very religion that criticizes the Africans, they will be saved.
Bladwin also shows the reader the humor in the ignorance when on page 161 he states: The bistro owners wife beamed with a pleasure far more genuine than my own and seemed to feel that I might now breathe more easily concerning the souls of at least six of my kinsmen."
Before he writes about his rage he justifies why he should or would be anger, when informs us with background information about his father and his believes. This makes it clear that he has moved away from those beliefs and has controlled his rage through understanding it, making him more progressive and show us that he is willing to move away from instilled or past beliefs.
Baldwin perfectly structures this essay, and layers it three fold with icing on top.

kipps and belsey

This reading of Kipps and Belsey did not interest me in slightest. The emotion of the characters was unapparent and very disconnected. Perhaps it was the intention of author the write in this manner but it read as very confusing. I'm going to give a few examples of what I liked and disliked about this passage.

On page 5. in one of the emails Jerome seems very disconnected when writing to his family. A certain level of misunderstanding of his families issues is also very apparent when he states " I hope you can see from everything I've written that your feud, or whatever it is, is a complete waste of time." He then moves to assert his moral views, " Most of the cruelty in the world is just misplaced energy." He doesn't try to give a suggestion as to how his family should fix there issues, but just simply states that he is above it.

The form used in the email on page 4: "(a) passing wind (b) shouting (c) analysing the 'phoney metaphysics' of prayer (d) singing loudly (e) laughing," doesn't seem very personal. It seems more of a formal way to write. Keeping in mind that Jerome is writing to his father, shows again the disconnect, and it would have made much more sense to just use a list instead of solely singling out each category that way. It seems that the author was just showing that she can use this form, but it primarily doesn't fix and it makes no sense for it to be there. Also, the smileys used on page 5. seem very out of place as well and doesn't flow into the sentence at all. If humor was trying to be conveyed it came off very fake. Making the son seem very passive-aggressive.

The Smith doesn't set up a good visual for what the family looks like! I didn't know until half way through the reading that the family was Black. Everything she describes is surface, implying the reader should try and discover their meaning of the situation. Although, she does a great job of contrasting the family in South Africa and the boys family through his nonchalant description of them.

Smith show's that there is an underlying issue between the husband and wife when he ignores a statement she asserts to him:
"Howard frowned. 'That's your contribution'
'Howard - there's an egg on the stove, I don't know who put it on, but the water's evaporated already - smells nasty. Switch it off, please.'
'That's your contribution?"
This also implies that the wife's only contribution to the house or husband to to provide him with food and living, and nothing more, with how the dialogue was structured.

Zadie Smith is trying to divulged into the psychology of the characters, by showing us the formality, in which, the characters are moving to assert their deep rooted issues, through dialogue that is formal and disconnected, and doing so poorly created a description that is unclear.

Goodbye To All That Presentation

The “Goodbye To All That” reading made me think of what New York is and what it's not and how outsiders can get the wrong perception of what lies beneath the surface of the city. The presenters did a great job of giving the class background information on the author and when the work was completed, as well as raising discussion about the author and her place once she arrived in New York.

In the beginning of the reading there was almost an anxiety to relate to the reader. It is clear that Joan was unsure of her self when she first arrived in New York. It was observed that the city was a place for the rich, poor, and young. To her it was a place where anything could happen but slowly this image of New York, in her eyes, faded.

I wonder how much judgment she is allowed to place on New York becoming mundane. I asked myself, what is her racial background? Class? Where in New York did she mostly live? Where did she go for entertainment? What were the things she spent her time and money on?

On page 4, she writes about these expensive perfumes that with the swipe of a credit card was forgotten, and how she hung out in bars such as Grand Central Bars and spent her time on Madison Avenue.

Joan had no sense of direction and it seems to me that she didn’t experience the grime of New York. Why did she go to New York? For work or to have fun? Who were the type that kept her company?

A comment in the class that stuck with me was “ Joan creates the tourist world of what she expected New York to be.”

Having grown up in New York for 19 years I find that there is a different perspective than from someone who moved to New York. I find that New York is about the experience, which is always constantly relative, and it is up to the individual living in it to decide how they perceive New York and what they have to offer it. Yes, New York is viewed as a lonely city but the matter of loneliness is relative as well. Subjectivity speaking, if one is comfortable with themselves then spending time alone can be the most pleasing experience. But if you are scattered and not stable, mental, emotionally, financially, then in this city you’re bound to loose site of yourself and what you want. Hence why she found herself crying in taxi cabs, Chinese food restaurants, etc. Those times of solitude could be viewed as precious moments for self-reflection, yet she chose the safe route in marriage.

The matter of timelessness was also raised in class. Didion uses decades in order to describe her time in New York, which I don’t think justifies each year of her stay by grouping it all into one experience as she remembers it. I would have been more beneficial if she went more in-depth and wrote about why she felt the way she did, the experiences that caused them, and people that influenced her.

The Bell Jar Presentation

The presentation of the Bell jar contained great observation of the reading. Plath's voice was clearly highlighted in that she was writing from observation and perception of her environment. This leaves her opinion to be just because it is solely based on her personal experience.
Plath's use of sounding out words by spelling them out how they sound serves great purpose to show how the character has power over her words. On page 113 she says "Root Wan Twenny Ate" turning her train stop into a name less meaningful.

The presenters also did a great job in highlighting Plath's feminist ideals and how she asserted them through her character. Dodo was used as a means to show what life meant to women in the suburbs and how was a victim to herself and environment. Even though she had an education, taking care of her children is what she seemed most happy with.

Plath uses:
Fragmentary sentences and paragraphs to layout her mental state.
The paragraphs make it work for compressed time
She uses a lot of descriptive verbs
Tone - Dark - Painting a picture of morbid mind
Listing of objects - showing the reader the mundane in her listing

Questions I asked:
What do you think Plath is saying about women, and how does she work in her views through her style and structure?

The Rocking Horse Winner

It is clear that all of the pressure and conflict that derives in D.H. Laurence's "The Rocking Horse Winner" is set to be the mother's fault. From the very beginning we learn that the mother is very unlucky and always has been and at the end of the story she is viewed as the reason for her sons death. When her son states,
'I never told you, mother, that if I can ride my horse, and get there, then I'm absolutely sure - oh absolutely! Mother, did I ever tell you? I am lucky!'
'No, you never did,' said the mother.'
But the boy died in the night'
The mother's neglect in the fact that she never told her son that he was lucky and never believed in him is one of the main causes for why the son went on a rampage in order to become lucky and make money for the family. The boys mother never satisfied his hunger for love.

Lawrence also has a very particular use of style by using the dialog to reveal the characters. The story is not about what happens - Lawrence tell us - but about how it happens. Making his style metaphorical.

Lawrence shows us by only bringing the father in the story twice, and it is very significant that at the end the first appearance of the father is a drinking one. Maybe the absence of his presence shows that he doesn't want to around the unlucky mother as well. He she's her addiction to satisfaction through money and knows that it is the only way he can truly satisfy her. Perhaps he keeps away from her because sexual satisfaction doesn't do the job.

Lastly, Lawrence gives the effort to show the mother has talent when she tries to go out to use her sketching skills. But once she finds out that someone is already ahead of her she doubts herself and fails at sketching. She believes that since she is lower than someone in skill and income, luck isn't on her-side but someone else. It's also very ridiculous of her because she had just started and then gave up just as quickly.

Orwell

The message that I've received from George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" is about how to state an argument where the reader can decide for themselves which point is more to their liking instead of the points being forced upon them because of the writers choice of words. He makes it clear where he stands on the politics of the English language while keeping the reader aware of what he disagrees with. Instead of just stating his argument he cleverly uses where he sees modern English is heading and what it's doing to the American mind to juxtapose his views. By carefully choosing how we use our words we can avoid a foolish, vague and seemly justified tone. The less forced an argument can be. Our words are wordless until we give them meaning. How we word ourselves determines how the reader or listener perceives our argument. Orwell states that a passive voice should be used where the active could also be inserted. What Orwell is saying to me is to don't deprive the reader of the option to choose, if your argument is substantial stating what the other side claims to offer is fine. In order to do this writers must use their words to create their own meaning instead of using a figure of speech that has already been used. Once this is done, words are not controlling the writer or speaker but vice- verse. Perhaps in order for a better understanding of a view point the other must be acknowledged and by doing this internal and external extremities of conflict can be avoided.