Today was the last day of class. Well… we’ll have to go back on Monday, but today was officially the last day of English 1302. On monday we’ll only take the final, and that’s it! I can’t believe that it’s already been 5 months since the class started. This semester has been so rushed, but I enjoyed it very much. Mrs. Wood is a very awesome teacher, I will definitely recommend her to all of my friends. Seriously, she made the class fun, and not extremely hard, like other English teachers do. I really can’t believe that the semester is over already. It seems like just yesterday when we first started the Poetry unit. That unit was probably the most boring of all, but I liked that the essay only had to be 2 pages long. The Drama unit was probably my favorite one, just because I liked the plays we read, except Othello. The Fiction unit was also fun, but the essay… let’s just say it wasn’t as easy as the other two, I hope to get a good grade on it, even though I turned it in late. Overall, I have to say, I think the class was very enjoyable, the people, the teacher, the pace, and the way Mrs. Wood taught. She is passionate about writing and her job, I think all the teachers in San Jacinto College should enjoy teaching what they teach.
I decided to write my essay over “Sonny’s Blues” because it is a very good fiction story in my opinion. I lie the story because it deals with something very sad, and sometimes bad things are part of life. In the story, Sonny is a teenager with a lot of personal problems, but his brother is willing to help him throughout. Even though Sonny’s older brother already has problems of his own, he still helps his brother because he cares, and he promised his mother to take care of him before she died. I think this story will be the one I will choose to write my essay over. Not only is it very interesting, but it is also a sad story with a happy ending.
I decided to write about the theme of captivity vs. escape presented in The Glass Menagerie and A Doll’s House. The plays are very relatable to anyone because they are modern plays. Both, have the theme of family problems, which I think, every family has. Since both plays contain the theme of captivity vs. escape, it should be fairly easy to write a three page essay over it. There are many other things to write the essay about, but I think that captivity vs. escape will be good for me since I’m not a very good writer. I have to admit, I really like both plays a lot. They are very easy to understand, unlike Shakespeare. Also, like I mentioned before, they are relatable to anyone since everyone has had family problems. Out of both plays, I like The Glass Menagerie the most probably because it was the first one I read and it was the one I “went over” the most. A doll’s House is also good, but her problems are different from teenager problems, so it was harder for me to relate to Nora’s character.
I enjoyed reading “The Glass Menagerie” because it is a modern play, so it is easier for me to relate to it. The plot of this play centers on family problems, and how each family member “deals” with that problem. Laura, the daughter, is “forced” to go to secretary school so she can be successful and have a bright future. Sadly, Laura doesn’t like going to secretary school, so she skips it and walks around town doing nothing. Tom, the son, is also “forced” to work a job he is very dissatisfied with. Amanda, the mother, is coping with the loss of her husband, and is very emotional because the family’s social status is degrading. Eventually Amanda and Tom find out that Laura is skipping school, so they decide to set her on a date with Jim (the gentlemen caller), but what Tom and Amanda don’t know is that Jim is engaged already to another girl. So in the end, they find out and apologize to Jim. I really liked this play because, like I said, it’s modern, and many of these “family problems” are problems that families go through everyday.
Oops.. I did not know we were supposed to make a post every week. Alright, let’s pretend that I made this post on Oct. 5 2009.
Today we watched the movie “O” to kinda refresh our memories about Othello, and what we knew about it. I really enjoyed the movie, mainly because I had not seen it before so to me it was a “new” movie, the acting was great as well. When I first read “Othello” the play, I was in high school, and my teacher made all of us play a character, so it was really uncomfortable speaking in front of the class, and my acting ability is not something to be proud of. Other than that, it was pretty fun because we also had props to act with. After we finished reading the play, we also watched a movie, but it was very boring… so back on topic… I liked this film mainly because it was in a language I could understand, and because everything was more modern. I was also waiting for the end just because I wanted to see how Desdemona died in this one… Odie just strangles her, but in the play, Othello smothers her with a pillow.
This week we are discussing Othello in class. It is a very interesting play, especially because at the time it took place… things were extremely different than today. Since I read this play when I was in high school, I kinda knew what it was about, but I had forgotten alot of the important parts in the play. One of the reasons why I had a hard time reading the play is because it is very difficult to understand Shakespeare’s language, but it doesn’t mean that I did not like the play. I thought it is a great play giving the message that jelousy can lead people to do something crazy, like killing your wife. Shakespeare’s plays always involve someone dying, which I think is why people like reading his plays, they are very dramatic. What I did not understand is why would he trust his “friend” more than his own wife? Desdemona was loyal and faithful.
I chose the poem titled “Bilingual/Bilingüe” by Rhina Espaillat. I decided to pick this poem because it reminds me of myself, and my family. The poem is about how the girl’s parents want for her and her brothers and sisters to speak only spanish in their house. It is also about heritage, and how we can never forget about our roots, and where we came from. I relate to the poem because in my house, we only speak spanish, because my mom does not speak english. So, we can only speak spanish in our house, I also relate to this poem because sometimes I too forget about my heritage. It is difficult to speak two languages, especially because words in english can mean something totally different in spanish, and vise versa. There is a connection between me and the poem, that is why I decided to pick this poem.
I think that I will choose “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes. The poem makes sense to me, I think that it is about racism, but I am not very sure. It talks about a black man who is trying to write a paper, or essay, for his English class. The main character in the poem says that since he is colored, he is treated differently, or he feels different from the rest. Since he is the only colored man in his class, he feels left out. When I first read this poem, it caught my attention very quickly, I liked how the author of this poem started the poem, it felt like I was the main character in the poem, the author uses dialogue to bring the instructor to life. I really enjoyed the poem, and I think that this will be the one I will write my essay over, but I’m not completely sure about it, I still have to find the actual meaning of this poem.
http://poemhunter.blogspot.com/2009/07/at-last-we-killed-roaches.html
I decided to pick this poem because it is short and not too complex, so it is not to difficult to understand what the poem is talking about. The main topic, or theme of this poem is about killing roaches, just like the title states. This poem is about a boy/girl and his/her mother killing a big amount of roaches. We can infer that there’s a lot of roaches because the poet says that the roaches are falling on their shoulders, and hair. Even though the poet doesn’t actually say that the roaches have blood, we can infer it because the main character of the poem says that they are covered in red. This poem caught my attention beacuse I personally hate roaches, and writing about something you don’t like makes it more interesting. The fact that roaches aren’t liked by many people makes this poem appealing to alot of people. Towards the end of the poem the main character feels guilty and satrts having nightmares and seeing blood, murder. I relate to this because when I do something bad, I start feeling guilty about it, but eventually I tend to forget about it.
About Me:
My name is Raul Rodriguez. I’m 17 years old, and currently enrolled at San Jacinto College. Hmm… where to start? well… I graduated early, other than that my life is not amazing, hehe but I don’t complain. High School… my first and only year in High School was my sophomore year and it was awesome. I had the chance of making new friends and became more talkitive. But I have other plans for myself. I want to make something out of myself, and prove to myself, and others that I am capable of achieving what I want. I hear the professors in this college talking about their success stories and I aspire to have one aswell.
