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A Rhetorical Schema

Basically, “don’t judge a book by its cover”.

It is true that many people will pick up a book, and if the cover or illustration on the front does not catch their attention, that book will go right back on the shelf. Although it may seem very important to have an eye catching book cover, this really has no indication of what the content is inside.

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Creative Writers and Daydreaming

“The creative writer does the same as the child at play. He creates a world of fantasy which he takes very seriously--that is, which he invests with large amounts of emotion"

I really enjoyed this comparison in the reading. It made me think back to when I was a young child, and would organize all my toys and stuffed animals for a tea party in the same exact way each and every time. If one thing was out of place or someone was to tamper with it I would throw an absolute fit. I took my tea parties very seriously. I think that is definitely the mind of a creative writer right there. I would create my own world, and rearrange them in a specific way that pleased me., just as though a writer would do with his work. Like Freud says, my best-loved and most intense occupation is with his play or games, and this is the first trace of imagination.

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Medusa

I have to agree with most everyone else’s opinions on this one; The Laugh of he Medusa left me a little pissed off. Although I am a woman myself, and I do stand for the idea of feminism, Cixous took it a little too far for me. The only thing I saw relating to monsters in this reading was the fact that Medusa herself was one, but everything else focused directly on feminism and how woman apparently need to reclaim their bodies and sexualities through writing. I do agree that sometimes woman are subjected in stories, but I would never phrase it as though were are “nobody”. I think Cixious is just a little too sensitive for my opinion.

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Click-Clack the Rattlebag

From the beginning of this story this little boy was terrifying to me just based off his language and intelligence. No normal young child has that much going on in their brain, so I knew there had to be something fishy about him. I was hoping the end would clarify more about this little boy for me, but it just left me feeling a lot more curious towards him. All I know is this kid is up to know good for sure; basically a Click-Clack himself!

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Letter to My Daughter

I was able to really feel myself connected to the section of Home in Letter to My Daughter. As a soon to be senior in college, I find myself daily reflecting back to things from my childhood more than ever before. The future and becoming an adult also scares the shit out of me, so the term “growing old” gave me almost a sense of comfort. No matter how grown up you may have to act, it is always important to keep that inner child inside of you. Acting like a serious adult all the time can get real boring, so bringing back all the things you loved as a kid, and acting foolish once in awhile can really feel like something special now a days. Never lose touch of all those memories!

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Fear of Change

In The Lottery, the villagers are firmly embedded in their old traditions and feel very threatened by even the thought of change.

“Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.”

The box itself seems to be falling apart, and they have no good reason for wanting to keep it. The villagers continue to take pride in it, aside from it’s awful appearance, simply because they are afraid of change. They greatly fear that one change will just lead to several others, and it will only go downhill from there. This was something I felt myself relating to a lot. The fear of change, to me, is the fear of he unknown, which is not a secure feeling. It is only normal to feel as if nothing good will come from it, especially if their is no need for the change in the first place. If it’s not broke (even though it may seem to be to everyone else besides you) don’t fix it!

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Making Connections

After reading Woman in Cabin 10, and enjoying it as much as I did, it is going to be tricky for me not to compare our other readings to it. As soon as I began reading City Of Glass, my mind couldn’t help but trail right back to Lo. The main character’s situation in City of Glass, Daniel Quinn, reminded me a lot of Lo’s experiences. Both being writers, both receiving and witnessing strange phenomenon's, and both taking on the role of somewhat of a detective to solve the mystery that has fell in front of them. Due to their actions, they both end up being the main subject in the events and almost trapped in the case, unable to walk away from the mystery.

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Mystery Solved!?

Many people may disagree and have found that the ending of The Women in Cabin 10 had left them somewhat unsatisfied by not clearly stating the conclusions, but I thought it couldn’t have ended any better way! It took a very unexpected turn, with the ending results turning out to be something my mind had never even predicted. The bad guy is dead, Lo grows as an individual and conquers all her fears, and we are left to THINK Carrie has successfully survived. Lo and Judah will move to New York together and have a fresh new start; everyone is happy. Couldn’t think of a better way to end a horror-filled mystery!

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Eager Reader

The Woman in Cabin 10 has me really excited. Excited to finally find a book that I look forward to my time with it daily. It’s almost upsetting every time I am forced to put it down and focus my attention elsewhere. This book has my mind asking so many different questions. I wonder if Lo is just a delusional drunk, or is she actually really onto something here. It is hard to decide whether to believe her all the time or not. Either way, I feel very sorry for her. Another thing that always leaves me wondering are the emails and messages. Why aren't Lo and Judah receiving each other’s emails? Is this just another result of Lo’s delusional drunkness? Or the result of some other outside strange phenomenon? Can’t wait to find out!

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What I felt very strongly about in this book is the fact that nobody is good nor bad. In the beginning, humans are portrayed as the monsters. Obviously, me being a human myself, I do not believe this to be completely true. I've always believed that every person must have both some good and bad within them, despite which one they actually portray most. This texts proves my beliefs to be true. Even those who are perceived to be monstrous can really have a hidden heart of gold.

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I was extremely excited to find out that this story was narrated by a talking cow, and one as witty and cultured as Elsie. Reading this story, I can’t help but relate it back to my childhood days of reading and watching Charlotte’s Web, and Babe the adventurous pig! When a story is told by someone or something aside from the ordinary, such as a cow, spider, or pig, it brings a whole new perspective into play. Looking at certain situations and scenarios from a nonhuman point of view, and then analyzing human actions in a way that I don’t normally see, can become an awfully interesting way of looking at things. Human beings can be quite the monsters! 

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After reading "So Much Water So Close To Home", I've never been left more confused. Definitely one of the more mind boggling things I've read in my life. There are so many questions lingering in my head that have been left unanswered. Is the woman a victim of rape or abuse? Is her husband guilty of something? Who has been arrested for the murder? What is her son dean's actual purpose in this story? Looking forward to pick apart this text together in class today and hearing everyone else's observations.

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Last class we split up into teams to help easier interpret the seven different theories of monster theory. When reading this on my own, I was completely lost and thought to myself “I will never be able to distinguish what all of this means”. I was pleasantly surprised, and even almost impressed with myself that when we came together with other classmates, the reading came a lot easier to me. Once again, this is another thing that just makes me proud about this class. We are able to bring together our strengths and weaknesses to make sense out of almost anything.

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LIT Bonding, Literally!

Walking away from class Tuesday I felt a type of feeling that no other class leaves me with. During the trust activity, there was a sense of warmth in the room. It was nice to hear how proud everyone is of how far we have come as a class, even with the great deal of time we have unfortunately had taken from us. After basically being left to distinguish and disinfect Phantom on our own, we can still manage to come together and all contribute in a successful discussion. It is so nice to have a class that can be so open with one another, and have people’s strong points support what others in the class may lack. I did not think to come into this class with the amount of comfort that I have, with a particular subject that I have never really been familiar with. Each and everyone one of us brings something different and unique to the table. :)

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Whose Love Story Is It?

Before I ever even read or knew anything about The Phantom of the Opera, my impression was always just a love story between a woman and a phantom. Once I began to read and become more familiar with the story, I still was just focused on the romance between these two characters. Not until it was brought to discussion in class did I ever think consider there to be another romance in the novel. Is it a love story between Christine and the ghost? Christine and Raoul? The ghost and the opera house? It’s hard to really decipher now who this romantic novel is aiming towards, and it almost even makes it more intriguing.

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I think that there is a very fine line between a lover being devoted, and just straight up being a stalker. Raoul is completely infatuated with Christine. Ever since they were young he has been longing to be with her. He follows her along in her life and attends all her shows, which many may say that this is a cute and adorable gesture. The way I look at it is almost a little bit creepy. I think the book wants to make it come off in the sense that Raoul is just showing his love for her, but no one really acknowledges how stalker-ish his behavior actually is. This aspect in the story is definitely very overlooked.

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So far along, The Phantom of the Opera has me very pleasantly surprised. I expected to be utterly lost and confused when I found out that this was a novel we were going to be working with this semester. This has not been the case at all. I found myself becoming extremely into the story line, and continuously reading without struggle to find out more and more mysterious events that involve the “O.G”. Maybe it’s the murder mystery type feel that has me so interested, but I did not expect myself to be this interested in such a book that has the reputation of being so outdated.

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