Final Reflective Post

So, as we’re coming to the end of the year, we’ve been given a reflective blog post to post. I’m going to mainly talk about my most popular posts... the reason that they’re so popular, though kind of confuses me. My most viewed posts are just random (and I mean RANDOM) things that I have written, usually late at night when ideas (and sometimes things) are kind of spewing from my brain. Although, hell, they haven’t even  been viewed that much.

This is a paragraph from my most popular post of all time: “Sandwiches and the Nature of the Exsistence” which was made to just be a fictional telling of how the Universe was made.

“This is about the time scientist say the big bang happens. It was indeed a big bang. A big bang of oven-roasted turkey, sourdough bread, and mayonnaise. The bread bits became asteroids, the turkey became stars, and the mayonnaise became planets. They diversified into all the elements you know of today. They formed EVERYTHING. Of course, this was a very big and very, very dense sandwich.”

I mean, how is THAT my most popular post? It’s so random! It does delight me, however that it IS my most popular post, because it makes me want to write even more things like it. Especially because my second most viewed post is something of similar origins and is in fact a continuation of “Sandwiches and the Nature of Existence.”  The name of this next post is “The Plaaaaaaarghs” which isn’t actually a real word! I think the most sensical thing in the post is

“In THE UNIVERSE, there are exactly 96,028,681,190 galaxies. Each of these galaxies has a central being called a "Plaaaaaaargh" that generates immense gravity fields. Every once in a while they get in fights with each other and start throwing solar systems.”

which is also just random and made up science. I know that when I was writing these I was channeling my inner Terry-Pratchett-fan, maybe even a little Monty Python-esk humor. This group and author are my biggest influences when it comes to my writing, but I am still far away from being a master at it.

So a question of mine remains: What can I do to improve my writing even more? I do really want to improve, but my writing all seems to be on the same level. Then there’s the writer’s block, which comes often and hard, often making me feel immobile and useless until someone gives me an idea. Sandwiches and the Nature of Existence was actually one of these writer’s block posts, until I finally forced the word “Sandwiches” out of a friend while frantically yelling “WHAT DO I WRITE ABOUT, WHAT DO I WRITE ABOUT???” In fact, that’s what’s going on right now, I have extreme writer’s block, (THANKS BRAIN.)

As I look through my reflective post from the middle of the year, I find myself writing about the exact same things as then. Not much has changed, eh? This really surprises me, because I had not expected that I would basically be backtracking through earlier thoughts.
 

Another thing that surprised me is my readership... it’s mostly the U.S. (no big surprise there) but I’ve got a few from all sorts of countries too. twelve from Russia, seven from Slovenia, three from Germany and three from Denmark... and that’s just the top of the list. What’s more, less than half of the people looking at my site are leaving immediately... and the average time on the site is about seven minutes. Is this good news? No idea. But surely, at least this means someone must approve, and that’s my biggest concern about my writing. I know that I should just go with what makes me happy and not care about what other people think (or so my elders always say. Well. Most of them,) but most of the time I end up looking back and thinking “wow, this writing kind of... sucks! Did I really write THAT?” (I think I might have self confidence issues) so the extra assurance is well appreciated.  
 

Heck, now that I look back at this post now, it seems I’m rambling a lot. Sorry about that... but I hope you’ve enjoyed this little insight into my mind. I don’t understand how Mr. Sutherland thinks this is “giving a gift to ourselves.” I must suck at gift-giving. I guess it’s the thought that counts.

Wanderlust

          I came to a conclusion today, in my thoughts during what could probably be called "independent work-time" in fourth period. While everyone chattered away, I thought about a multitude of things (punctuated by just a tiny bit of conversation with Meriam) and my mind kept drifting to one thing... why do I have this permanent frown on my face? It's not as if I'm uncomfortable, and to others it may look that I'm depressed (sorry people, that's just my blank thinking face.) I'm not depressed, but I am... disappointed. I'm bored with what is available to me in this world right now. I've struck the wanderlust chord in my mind. I need travel. Around the world, see the sites, meet new people, have an adventure. 

          Of course, while picking up one of my mother's books, (it was in the bathroom, but she never reads it anyways,) this idea of travel has buried itself even deeper into my mind. The book "You Can't Get There from Here: A Year on the Fringes of a Shrinking World" by Gayle Forman, is actually a great read and I recommend it to you all. But this isn't a book review. Now the question is, how do I cure this wanderlust? This would be an easy answer "Just travel!" if perhaps... I was over eighteen. I'm stuck, constricted by the world's age requirements. It all seems such an awfully long time to wait... and I don't like it one bit. So my options are really only... wait. That's about it. Great.

"Equal Rites" review draft

  Note: this post is a rough draft for class, so in no way, shape, or form is this post finished, completed, accomplished, perfect, ready, done, or over-the-hill.

I am writing about number 8: Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.

     Lately I have been reading a book by Terry Pratchett (my favorite author!) called "Equal Rites." It is a Fiction novel, and the book is about the adventures of Eskarina Smith, (whose name is referred to as Esk for most of the book,) a girl who has mistakenly inherited a late wizard's power. The problem with her getting these wizard powers is that, well... she's a girl. In the world of Discworld, there are NO wizards who are women. Just as there are no men who are witches. Discworld, if you didn’t already know, is a flat, disc-shaped world on the backs of four elephants who are in turn on top of the great, huge, MASSIVE sea turtle A’tuin, forever swimming through space and orbited by one moon and one sun.  In this post I am going to be talking about the relationship between Granny Weatherwax and Esk, as well as going into detail about the two of them (separately.)
    So, first we shall start off with Esmeralda ‘Granny’ Weatherwax. Granny is a recurring character in Pratchett’s books. Granny Weatherwax is a respected and dignified witch from the Kingdom of Lancre. She lives in and tends to the village of “Bad Ass” (I am not kidding, that IS the name of the village) She is not your ordinary witch. Granny prefers to get by using herbs and “Headology” more than actual spells. Headology is sort of like Psychology, only with more guile, deceit, and messing with people’s heads. By no means, however, is she a bad person. Quite the opposite, actually, she just uses her Headology so that people will actually listen to what she tells them to do. Granny will never, ever admit to being wrong, but people don’t really argue that much about it with her. I expect they’re all too frightened to.

    Secondly, I will talk (and you will read) about Eskarina Smith. Esk is about eight years old, and as previously said, has inherited the powers of the late Drum Billet, a wizard, as well as his staff. The staff is interesting enough in itself, as it seems to have a consciousness of it’s own. The staff protects Esk in her travels. Esk was born in the village of Bad Ass, and Granny Weatherwax was actually her midwife. Esk is adventurous, curious and stubborn.

Vignette Review

   In this post, I'll be talking about Meriam, Susan, and Mercedes' vignette projects. Each puts a Unique spin on the project that I really liked. 

   In Meriam's post, she creates a whole new world. The reason why others didn't do this is that Mr.Sutherland strongly discouraged it, and to follow the "write what you know" rule. Oh course, Meriam went ahead and did it anyway. And it worked. I'll be honest, there were parts in the vignettes that made me cry. The thing that made her story about Clover a wonderful piece of writing is how much raw emotion and gritty detail she puts into it. In one part she says:

" Her eyes pierced my heart with a thousand arrows. Why would she smile at me if she didn’t like me? I looked at the nurse bewildered. I expected her to say, oh wrong car."

This ends up setting up the whole story, as the foster parent, Matilda, (or as Clover calls her "Witch")  and her husband ("Troll") are the antagonists in the story. 

   Mercedes' vignettes are written in an interesting style. Some of them seem to be vignettes inside of vignettes,  especially the vignette called "Then." The differences inside of the vignettes are spacial, in part she's in Santa Cruz, whereas in other sections she's in Alameda. Her writing has a lot of symbolism for dreams and sleep, which seem like they show up whenever she's scared and needs to cope with anything.

   Susan's writing for the vignette project involved a lot of symbolism. One of the most  prevalent symbols is Bees, which as she stated herself, were a symbol of fear. I think however, that it's not just fear that the bees symbolize, but getting over fear, and not letting it block your path. 

"The bee ignored my presence, fluttering from one tiny flower to the next. I sat forward to see it better, and it was then that I saw just how fuzzy the bee was.
    It was adorable, this furry little thing."

 Earlier on in the vignette it said just how terrified of bees she was. But when you get in for a closer look, you see there's really nothing to be scared about.

Cisneros and Gender Inequality

In Sandra Cisneros’ book, “The House on Mango Street,” she ends up shedding some light on her views on the differences between the way Boys and Girls are raised. It is quite obvious that she believes they are raised differently, (there is plenty of evidence for that,) but the question we have to ask is “does Cisneros think that they SHOULD be raised differently.” If asked that question, I would have to say no, that Sandra Cisneros thinks that Boys and Girls should not be raised differently (a view I agree with.)
    A prime example in the book is a girl named Alicia, a girl whose mother has died and inherited the family chores. She is described in the vignette: “Alicia Who Sees Mice” which starts on page 31 “Alicia, whose mama died, is sorry there is no one older to rise and make the lunchbox tortillas. Alicia, who inherited her mama’s rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the first time at the university.” Since Alicia’s mother died, she has had to take care of the her family since she is the oldest girl. Not only does she do all of this, she is going to university as well. Why does this duty get put on Alicia instead of, say, the father? Because Alicia is a girl, and in society they are raised to be the mothers.
    In another part of the book, Esperanza talks about Sally. “...and she married him in another state where it’s legal to get married before eighth grade. She has her husband and her house now, her pillowcases and her plates. She says she is in love, but I think she did it to escape.” If Sally was married before she was in eighth grade, then what happens to the rest of the girls? How could any society say that marrying that early was okay, accept one who raises their girls differently from their boys?
    Sandra Cisneros’ book shows that she thinks that Girls and Boys should not be raised differently. The obvious displays of gender inequality in the book say it all.

Esperanza

“The House on Mango Street” is a novel by Sandra Cisneros telling the tale of Esperanza, a Latino girl growing up in Chicago’s Latino section. I believe that Esperanza will go back to Mango Street. She will go back and help them. She will go back and “rescue” them from the place that she felt trapped and oppressed in. Esperanza would not be able to leave them there. She needs to fulfill herself before she can do that though.
    On page number 5, Esperanza says “I knew then that I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn’t it. The house on Mango Street isn’t it.” Here, in the very beginning of the book, Esperanza sets out her goal for everyone to see. She wants a house. Her own house, though, not just any house, as you can tell from how she describes the one on Mango Street. This goal ends up being one of the only tangible things she can hold on to throughout the story.

The very last page, 110, in “The House on Mango Street,” Esperanza says “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones who I left behind. For the ones who cannot out.” Esperanza knows that she can’t leave her family and friends behind, with out any trace of her. She wants to be able to help them. She can not help the people of Mango Street while she is still in Mango Street, so she has to leave. She must help herself before she can be of any use to others.

As said before, Esperanza wants to help herself and her family and friends. One of her main goals is to leave Mango Street, and she has to fulfill that goal first. If she does not, then how could she focus on other people? How could ANYONE focus on other people when they have something as big as that hanging on their mind?

The Symbolism of Rats/Mice in "The House on Mango Street"

     "The House on Mango Street" is a novel by Sandra Cisneros following Esperanza, a girl growing up in a Latino part of Chicago. In "The House on Mango Street," a certain symbol has popped up multiple times. This symbol would be rats and mice. After looking through the book, I have come to the conclusion that rats and mice symbolize misjudgments.

     he first mention of rats in "The House on Mango Street" is on page 12, where Cathy the "Queen of Cats" is telling Esperanza about the neighborhood and says "Two girls raggedy as rats live across the street. You don;t want to know them." This sticks with the theme of misjudgments because Cathy told Esperanza something that Esperanza would later disprove (as Rachel and Lucy end up being Esperanza's best friends. Cathy's misjudgment is disregarded later in the story though.

     Another mention of mice is on page 95, when the children are in a garden. "Things had a way of disappearing in the garden, as if the garden itself ate them, or, as if with its old-man memory, it put them away and forgot about them. Nenny found a dollar and a dead mouse between two rocks in the stone wall where the morning glories climbed..." Here, Nenny finds one of the rodents in question in a garden full of mystery. The once frightening garden turns into a place full of wonder, again proving the misjudgment aspect of this symbol.

     Both of these point to the nature of rats and mice in Sandra Cisneros' "The House on Mango Street." when rats and mice are brought into play in the book, so is a sense of mystery, or misjudgments. Symbols are a big part of Cisneros' writing in this book, and she pulls it off quite well.