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I also just uploaded a picture for my little icon thing as to put off actually starting my documented essay. Haha, good thing I did it before the last post of the semester! Oh wait......

"Absolute PowerPoint" Review

Well, what can I say? I didn't really agree with anything Ian Parker said in his article about PowerPoint.  I feel like he goes on and on with some insignificant drivel about how much he thinks PowerPoint is taking over the world, or something.  There is a lot of facts and historical information (which is a little boring for my taste, but still provides good information); however, I feel like he includes all of it just to establish some ethos so that we might believe his argument.  He goes from historical information to saying that PowerPoint is imposing to more historical information to calling it immature...It's like an ethos/absurdity sandwich, and that, in my opinion, would taste really bad.

What is he beef with PowerPoint? Seriously? I think that PowerPoint is one of the most innovative tools that is available for businesses, teachers, and students alike.  It's clear, easy, and handsome when presented.  I, being the visual learner that I am, prefer it to almost anything else.  There are times when a presenter or teacher will do nothing but read straight from a slide show, and I find that to be most irritating, but it would be the same as if they were reading from note cards or a paper.  When a teacher uses a PowerPoint as a tool for lecturing and note taking, I love it.  It's an easy way for me, the visualizer, to see what I'm learning as I'm listening to what I'm learning. 

I'll give him this: he's an excellent writer.  I especially enjoyed this tidbit about the AutoContent Wizard function: "But Microsoft took the idea and kept the name- a rare example of a product named in outright mockery of its target customers" (Parker 5).  I laughed a bit at that.  But, while I'm on the subject, I have never even heard of, let alone used, this AutoContent Wizard that he seemed to hate especially.  Has anybody ever used it?  Maybe I'll go investigate...

Overall, it is well-written and factual, but ended up really annoying me.

"Know It All" Review

Confession time: I love Wikipedia.  I don't know what it is in particular that makes me love it so much, but I love it.  The design is so simple and uniform for every article.  The site is extremely easy to search through and read.  The writing of the articles is, for the most part, very clear.  Now, I might be a little bias because I have actually written a sentence for one the articles (go to the Beatnik article, and find the sentence "In the animated television series, Doug, Doug's older sister, Judy Funnie, is characterized as a beatnik." That was me.  It has an embedded link and everything), so I find that particularly exciting.  But on a serious note, I truly find Wikipedia to be an excellent source for material. 

Now we all know that it may not be an entirely reliable source for academia (CERTAINLY not something you would want to cite in any paper or presentation), but I turned to it just today to learn more about a new band I've been listening to because some of the band's biggest and most dedicated fans update the Wikipedia page, so they tell me what I want to know.

One thing that I love about the site, that the article mentions, is just how reliable the information is even considering that anybody can be its author. "Wikipedia is an online community devoted [...] to a higher good."  However, "it is also no more immune to humane nature than any other utopian project" (Schiff).  This is why it can never be completed accepted among the masses.  Because anyone and everyone can update or edit the articles, there is a difficulty in the regulation.  It's hard to know what is actually truth and what is the brain child of some forty-something couch potato (probably still living with his mom) who thinks he knows everything there is to know about Black Sabbath.

But to me, Wikipedia will always be my number one go-to site for quick searches to end disputes or finally settle my brain about where Liam Neeson was born.  In the end,"Wikipedia offers endless opportunites for self-expression.  It is the love child of reading groups and chat room, a second home for anyone who has written an Amazon review" (Schiff).

Pygmalion #2

I really enjoyed the first half of this play, but the second half just didn't "flow" as well, to me.  It seemed like there were times where the plot was moving so fast and then others where it dragged on and on.  For instance, the plot moved incredibly fast after Eliza and Higgins had the slippers fight.  She left, and suddenly she and Freddy were madly in love.  She then, somehow, got settled into Mrs. Higgins house.  When I read it, I had to go back to make sure I didn't miss anything because it just came out of nowhere. It just seemed a little too fast paced.  And then other times in the play, there were arguments and discussions that went on for nearly entire acts.  Now, I know that this could have been due to the inability to have fluid set changes (as we discussed in class last time), but it was so easy to get lost in a mess of words.

Even through all of these issues, I did quite enjoy the play overall.  Especially the end.  I liked seeing the dynamics of Higgins' character in the last fight between him and Eliza.  She finally got to speak up to him, and I think it shocked him; this showed us, if only briefly, a side of him that we had never seen previously.  And even though he seems to show this different side, he still speaks in that way that we love so much. "I shall miss you Eliza [...] I have learnt something from your idiotic notions: I confess that humbly and gratefully.  And I have grown accustomed to your voice and appearance. I like them, rather" (Shaw 100).

Pygmalion #1

So far, I am really enjoying this play! Bernard Shaw has created characters that are interesting enough to keep me interested, but they also seem like some "everyday" kind of people that come from different walks of life.  Well, everyday kind of people that take in other people to teach them how to act upper class.  However, the framework of this play is one that we see in many other pieces of literature and even in some recent popular culture adaptations such as "She's All That" and even in an episode of Family Guy.  Obviously, it is a storyline that is easily accepted by audiences everywhere. 

What I find the most interesting about the play so far is the role of dialect.  Not necessarily language, but the hundreds of different English dialects.  More specifically, I find the roles and associations of these dialects interesting.  For example, Eliza cannot even have a job much higher than a flower girl on the street because of the way she speaks.  The only way she can even dream of moving up in the world is by learning how to speak "properly."  This was hard for me to understand because in America it is not like that at all.  The only connection I could make is that sometimes Americans assume people with a southern accent are dumb or that people with a northern accent are mean (among other, more ridiculous assumptions).  I was talking to my friend from England, and she said that it's still the same!  That you can assume so many things about people just because of the way they speak.  It blew my mind.  But I also think it's really interesting, and I love that they whole play is based around such a concept.

"To His Coy Mistress" Review

As I was reading "To His Coy Mistress" I could not help but smile.  It seemed like such a romantic poem.  I know I seem like such a giddy girl (and this is a great first impression for my new blog group, haha), but it is a really beautiful poem.  I loved when he describes how he would study each part of her body for thousands of years.  

"An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart."

It was such a charming way for him to tell the woman how much he adores her, that he would do nothing else but study and take in her body for decades.  

While some men, and even some women, might say that all he is seeking is sex, I have to disagree.  Although the poem is clearly sexual, I believe that it is so much more than a physical attraction.  The speaker is obviously quite in love with this woman.  It is easy to see in his diction and tone.  He has no intention of tricking her or using his words to have his way.  He simply wants to spend the rest of eternity in her arms.  

Besides the theme of love, there is also a clearly present idea of time and running out of time.  He isn't worried about dying, per say.  He is worried that he will not have enough time with his love.  So while there are more than one theme presented in this poem, everything links back to the over-arching idea of pure love.  Mark Strand says, "Love, the act of love, the pleasure it seeks might offer the illusion of sidestepping the inevitable" (Strand xx).  The speaker believes that the love he and his coy mistress could share could help them live the rest of their short lives.   

Isn't sappy love so wonderful? :)

"Feminist Criticism" Review

I can honestly say that I enjoyed this criticism the most of the three that we have read.  I believe it is because it was the easily relate-able to the text itself (not to mention, I do love any "powerful women" ideals :) ).  While the Marxist and Cultural criticisms were interesting and made some valid points, this Feminist criticism actually allowed me connect its ideas to the very plot of Wuthering Heights and explained some of Catherine's reasoning in the novel.

Most of the essay describes Catherine's power domineering over the men in her life throughout Wuthering Heights.  She ultimately escapes Hindley's harsh rule, marries a wealthy man who loves her more than anything, and drives Heathcliff mad with ideas of what might have been.  She is, clearly, a very headstrong woman who gets what she wants.  However, Lyn Pykett argues, it is this power that drives her to her death.  Pykett talks about how Catherine holds such power over the men in her life, but how she must "ultimately submit to the legal control of her father, her brother, and subsequently her husband" (Pykett 472), and then Pykett goes on to say, "Caught uneasily between these conflicting subject positions, Catherine is ultimately broken by the pressures of the contradictions" (Pykett 473).  It is because Catherine is so much of a controlling character, that she simply cannot stand the pressures of her feminine role. 

It is definitely interesting to focus on Catherine as a female character.  She has so much power behind her that she certainly makes for a compelling character within the novel.   I enjoyed reading Pykett's ideas about how Catherine's being a woman affected the story line and themes of Wuthering Heights.  The plot would have unfolded most contrastingly had Catherine been a male.

"Marxist Criticism" Review

I know that this post is supposed to be about the Maxist Criticism, but I just wanted to take a moment to express my appreciation for the Cultural Documents and Illustrations.  It was most helpful to be able to gain a deeper understanding of the time in which Wuthering Heights was written.  It was definitely interesting to see some photographs and paintings of what Wuthering Heights and the moors may have looked like so that we can have a mental image to go with the story.  It was also fascinating (in a depressing sort of way) to see the illustrations from the Irish Potato Famine to see where Heathcliff may have come from.

But as far as the Marxist essay, I found that the following quote was quite true: "Wuthering Heights fastens thematically on a near-absolute antagonism between [romance and realism] but achieves, structurally and stylistically, an astonishing unity between them" (Eagleton 396).  It not only important that Emily Bronte has running themes of romance and realism in Wuthering Heights, but it is also important that she stylistically allows both to exist in the novel as opposites and in unity.

The realist aspect of Wuthering Heights is seen in the everyday lives of the characters within in.  There is nothing really extraordinary about the lives that they live, and Bronte simply depicted a plot that is, for the most part, very realistic.  The romantic aspect of the novel, obviously, comes from the failed (for the lack of a better word) romance between Heathcliff and Catherine.  Their relationship, alone, depicts the gothic romance genre that Wuthering Heights is considered.  While these two theme may be quite different, Bronte, as Eagleton suggests, allows both to effectively exist in the story, whether working together or as two separate ideas. 

Wuthering Heights #2

I finally finished this wonderful book, and it was significantly better than I had originally anticipated.  My knowledge of the book had consisted of a testimonies from a handful of whiny high school students who had no idea how to read (let alone understand and then interpret) Bronte's style.  All they could tell me was that there were "like a billion" Catherines and incest galore.  Needless to say, I had mixed feelings when I heard we were going to read it.  All of this to say, it was an absolute delight to read, and I am so glad that I read it.  Onwards to actual interpretations :)

This was the first novel I have actually read that is legitimately classified as "gothic fiction."  It was definitely not what I was expecting.  There can be romance. There can be horror.  But, certainly, you cannot effectively (being the key word) mix the two!  Needless to say, I have been proved very wrong.  Bronte takes this genre and makes it into to something quite entertaining.  From the very beginning, she introduces the paranormal when Cathy haunts Lockwood at Wuthering Heights as a child ghost.  After that, she expands the dark, "romantic" story of Cathy and Heathcliff.  Their love is never able to truly prosper, only intensifying the gothic quality of the novel.  Throughout the story, Heathcliff grows more bitter and caustic trying to selfishly obtain everything he can.  Thus becoming the "tyrant" of this gothic fiction.

We are again faced with paranormal activity near the end of the book when Heathcliff seems to be loosing his mind and talking to ghosts.  "He began to pace the room, muttering terrible things to himself [...] conscience had turned his heart to an earthly hell" (Bronte 278). 

There is overwhelming evidence of gothic fiction adorning this story.  Bronte certainly succeeded in creating a chilling, unethical love story.

Wuthering Heights

So far, I am quite enjoying my time reading Wuthering Heights.  It's beautiful, intellectual, and emotional.  All those wonderful things that girls love!  Emily Bronte is a brilliant author.  She brings forth emotions in me that I am finding difficult to put into words.  She also raises intricate questions that I don't suppose I'll ever know the answers to.  Am I supposed to feel bad for Heathcliff, or am I supposed to see him as a bad influence on Cathy?  Do I think that Edgar Linton is a better match for Cathy?  It is no doubt that he is a better influence, but does she really, truly love him?  If she does not truly love him, then isn't she wasting both Edgar's and her time?  These, and so many more, are the questions I will attempt to answer with further reading and analyzing.  

Now, I'm just going to point out a couple passages that I have really enjoyed and that have some notion as to the meaning of the story.

Lockwood says, "A sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself" (Bronte 45).  For one reason or another, I found this statement quite odd.  The more I read into the story, the more I realized that Lockwood may not have actually believed that.  Why else would he constantly pester Nelly to be in his company and tell him the story?  Though he may have thought that he wanted to be by himself, he soon finds that solidarity just becomes loneliness.  Perhaps that is what Heathcliff (in Nelly's story, before Cathy married Edgar) came to find.  He may have abandoned Cathy to find company in himself, but he realized that it was not what he wanted at all.

Another line that stood out to me was when Nelly said, "and it ended when circumstances caused each to feel that the one's interest was not the chief consideration in the other's thoughts" (Bronte 96).  This was foreshadowing (quite blatantly, however) of what was about to happen between Edgar and Catherine.  They were living such a quaint and content life together, and there was only one thing that could truly turn them against each other-- Heathcliff.  It was interesting to see how obvious the course of the story became.  I found that quite tactical on Bronte's part.

"Politics and the English Language" Review

I found George Orwell's article "Politics and the English Language" to be interesting, accurate, and often humorous.  The overall idea of the article was appealing to me because I am always looking for new ways to improve my writing.  I thought all of his rule, while somewhat strict, were great ideas on improving writing.  I especially enjoyed the rule where he stated, "Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent" (Orwell 9).  The other riles I had heard already, but I had never thought about this particular rule before.  I found it to be quite akin to my taste in writing.  I've never been a fan of "fancy foreign words" when a simple English word was sufficient. 

Another part of the article I found interesting was when Orwell said, "modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images [...] It consists in gumming together long strips of words which have already been said by someone else [...]" (Orwell 5).  When I read this, I sat back and thought about some of the implications this kind of writing has on me as a reader.  I cam to this conclusion: when a writer writes as Orwell says most do nowadays, I am less inclined to read and comprehend the meaning.  When it's a slough of over-used phrases and a mess of pretentious words, I tend to skim over the text.  

I guess the importance of good writing boils down (I thought I might be ironic and use a horrible, over-used phrase) to more than just great diction or syntax.  Truly great writing has to be though provoking while not being too wordy.  It has to be written well while not being over-done.  Most importantly, great writing has to be the author's original thoughts and phrases, or it will just be lost in an accumulation of works too similar to it.

A History of Reading

A History of Reading is an amazing book.  I find myself completely engrossed in Alberto Manguel's every word.  Everything from his diction to his anecdotes is so wonderfully written, and I have enjoyed reading his writing very much so far.  There are a couple of quotes that have really stood out to me at this point. 

The first quote that I enjoyed very much was, "'Go out and live!' my mother would say when she saw me reading, as if my silent activity contradicted her sense of what it meant to be alive" (Manguel 21).  This quote appeals to me because it describes my childhood.  When I was young, I would have preferred to sit inside and read about a person's adventures than to have my own.  Reading made me, like Manguel, feel alive and still does to this day.  I enjoy being able to connect to Manguel on such a level that only a love of reading can allow me to make.

Another part of the book that really struck me was when Manguel was discussing how some of the idioms we use today still relate to listening rather than reading them.  I found it very interesting when he pointed out that we still say things like, "That doesn't sound right," when we mean, "It isn't well written" (Manguel 47).  Words have the ability to be one thing and mean another.  I love that we can use some words to describe something quite opposite of what the word actually means.  It's quite the intriguing paradox.

"Twilight of the Books" Review

I really enjoyed reading Caleb Cain's article. I found it interesting, well-written, and the topic very intriguing. All of the examples he used to support his claims formed ethos and thus allowed me to believe, and even agree with, what he was saying.

One of my favorite parts of the article was when he discussed the experiment with the literate and illiterate peasants. I found the study itself interesting and the results even more interesting. The direct quote from one of the peasants was funny, and the differing responses were fascinating to see.

The part of the article that shocked me the most was the correlation between age and reading levels. I was surprised to read that elementary school students' reading levels were on the rise while high school students' reading levels were declining. The impact media is having on kids' reading levels may be somewhat differing, but overall the effects are negative.  Cain did say that controlling the amount of time kids spend watching television can have positive effects, so I will agree that watching television (with the amount of time depending on the age) can be helpful.

Overall, I found this article very insightful, and I learned a lot.

Introduction

Hello everyone! This is pretty exciting. I've never had a blog before. Hopefully it won't be too hard to get used to. I look forward to reading everyone's posts.

My name, if you haven't seen by now, is Savannah Sumsky. I am a sophomore at Kennesaw State, and my major is Secondary English Education. So far, I have loved all of my classes here and can't wait to get further into my major. I live on campus in the 1000 building, and it is absolutely amazing.

I really love music; I was in my high school's drumline and would still do it if KSU had a marching band. Thankfully my boyfriend, Andy, is really involved in the music program here, so I get to go to all the concerts. I also love reading, doing puzzles, watching movies, playing video games, and just hanging out. 

I'm excited for this class and this semester! I can't wait to meet all of you :)