The Metamorphosis

In the beginning of Conjure Woman and Other Tales by Charles W. Chesnutt, I hated the way Julius acted and I thought this was going to be a book were John is going to be tricked by Julius, Annie would die, and no one would be happy. But as I kept reading my perspective started to change. For the first few stories Julius, I believed, was out to just get what he wanted. He benefited from a lot of thing on the vineyard and even benefited from John buying a donkey. Ironically after he told him not to because he didn't know where it could of come from. But when you get to the end of the Sis' Becky's Pickaninny you see a side of Julius not yet seen. He gave Annie he precocious rabbits foot. He and Annie, from that point, had a certain unspoken bond. Even if at first i thought the rabbit foot meant he was messing with her at first. The friendship grew and John could even see it. He didn't care though that Julius's stories were probably fake, his stories seemed to depress and bore Annie. But when Annie listened to Julius' stories however it made her happy and healthy. Julius gave her an escape from her everyday life.That escape gave Annie the chance to regain some mystery in the world after probably being bombarded with science and facts while being sick.  Julius has changed from a man that looked out for just himself, to a man that cares for others and tries to help them even if it means missing a big opportunity. Julius has made a friends with John and Annie. The friends that can change a man that only looked out for himself, to a man who would gladly do things for others even if it meant a lose for him.

Gallery walk

During the gallery walk I explained that I wanted people to understand what Pop Art is and what the meaning behind it was. I also wanted them to understand that Pop Art isn't just about humor, there is a meaning behind it. It explains something from the peoples views. Only a few people came and talked to me, but I learned a lot about alcohol consumption and reckless teen driving from the people I was standing next to. When I walked around I listened to the woman with the chicken explain how she thinks animals are mistreated, which I do agree with. Overall the gallery walk was fairly interesting and a good learning experience, but was a bit to crowded.

Gallery Walk

The Gallery walk was definitely a positive experience for me, in a slightly negative way. It was beneficial for me to see my progress, or lack there of, and just the act of talking about my project helped me clarify what I was doing. Also it was very interesting to listen to others ideas, and learn a little about what they are interested in.

Fall Symposium Reflection

On thursday, night and I attended the Fall Symposium, and I stayed there for the first section which included three speakers in room 206. Each give their own speech about their research on a certain book, the one thing that was similar between them was in how they describe characters or subjects as symbol to something and what it meant. Example was a speaker name Victoria, who used a woman and her life’s as a comparison to Germany downfall after World War 2 and how she laid in the states it’s in. The overall experience of the the whole thing was very enjoyable and would recommend other to take a look because the people go very in-depth about their research.  

Gallery Walk Reflection

During the gallery walk, I got to explain my project multiple times. I thought it was helpful because I was hearing myself explain what I'm going to prove and how my paper will go. I was able to clarify what my subject was going to be on. Some people asked questions that I knew the answers to so that made me feel good about my research. I also got a few helpful tips on expanding my research to different perspectives. I am pretty confident on my paper now and how I will put everything together.

Fall Symposium Reflection Extra Credit

At the symposium, the key note speaker spoke about Connected Learning which is basically a new form of learning. The main ways of learning in that sense were, making, hacking and playing. Making meaning, making new things, hacking meaning, tinkering with what is already made, and I did not quite get what playing meant. Then he talked about literacy gaps between generations which made me think of the article we read in the beginning of the semester "Why can't Johnny Never Ever Read". Then at the first session, Mark Smith, Derek Swain and Athena Murphy all presented their papers and ideas on what's in Mark Twain's Pudd'n. Smith opened up the presentations by talking about how the reader and the author have "shared responsibility" in making the meaning of a book. He then continued to explain why liking the book Pudd'nhead Wilson makes you a terrible person because in order to like that book, you must lose all morals. Then Swain spoke about speech acts and how they can give and strip away power from person to person. Finally, Murphy spoke about the comedic aspects of Pudd'nhead Wilson and the book Native Georgian. She began by explaining and analyzing tall tales then showing how Twain and the author of Native Georgian use them differently.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens Session Reflection

Off the bat I'll confess that I don't really get what Dr. Kittle was talking about, walking fifteen minutes into his lecture might have something to do with that, something about hacking and gaming English? Anyways, I didn't need to be in the loop to be able to understand that he knows how to speak about a subject, I got most  of it by the end. And I'm a fan of any Dr. who uses memes.
Moving On! I really enjoyed Prof. Smith's piece on the moral decay of Wilson as he gained status, I feel like that sort of thing happens in the real world all the time although maybe not as Twainish. White people sold because they had a 16th black in them?! I've never read the book, and I might have wanted to, but now that I know the ending....eh oh well. Its a shame. The guy can make a mean graph though.
Professor's Swains section was entertaining in the he hit all the key points about how people go about acting when they want to incorporate power and urgency in their speech. Maybe its that I enjoy historical references but his focus on the part of the book that brought them up made me happy.
As for Prof Murphy's section, the topic was defintely exclusively different from the other two, humor found in older works has always elluded me to an extent so I'm sorry if I couldn't see all of the humor that was touched on. (Although hehe...cut a dog in half.) Tall tales however have always been one of my favorite forms of humor(lying too?) its an exaggeration so large that you have to play along with it just to get out of the situation in one piece. Its also a very good negotiation tactic, I'm told. (High ball low ball anyone? )

Gallery walk

The gallery walk was very helpful with hearing my ideas and where im going with this project spoken out loud. Having to talk to people about what i am writing about will help me with my project. If i can't convey what I am trying to write about speaking it, I probably won't be able to convey what I want to say writing it down. Overall, it was a very helpful exercise in flushing out ideas and seeing what people responded to.

Gallery Walk

I'm very happy we did this. Even though I really didn't git much questions. I enjoyed the process. The Gallery walk helped me formulate my topic and even the way I should structure the paper. Like going in depth in the terminology in anime. It also helped me remember some of the things that are common knowledge to me is not always common knowledge to others. I enjoyed this activity a lot. Plus it was nice to see what others had chosen for there topics as well.