The soloist 7-12

As I started reading the next couple of chapters, the book seems to get deeper. Lopez is trying to make a deeper connection with Nathaniel. Lopez even goes as far as spending the night wit Nathaniel and experience how it feels so live out on the street. Lopez is not caring about his columns no more, but to help out a friend and update the people that are concerned or contributed interest in Nathaniel’s story and for the ones that gave him instruments.

Who does he write to? Who does he write for?

Lopez writes to people that can see the bigger picture on things and not just what’s in front of them. Lopez wants readers to see Nathaniel’s gift and not just the raggedy person living on the street with a mental disorder. Lopez digs deep into Nathaniel’s life. He cares about this man to a high degree because if he didn’t he wouldn’t help him as much as did after his column was published. By helping Nathaniel to me Lopez gets a feel of self fulfillment. I believe this because Lopez feels good about himself after he does things for Nathaniel. He really feels good after he gives him an opportunity to sit in the Disney Hall and watch the orchestra play. He knows this will make Nathaniel happy so he will be to because he knows he is doing a good deed.

What makes him so interested in the lives of strangers? How do journalists (Lopez) decide how deeply to pry into the lives of those they write about? How do they choose their subjects?

I wouldn’t necessarily say Lopez is very interested in the lives of all strangers, but it seems as though Nathaniel was an exception. Even when Lopez tried to think of another story to right his column on, he always found himself back on the story of Nathaniel Ayers. Nathaniel wasn’t just an ordinary man. He had talents hidden behind his baggage, and this made Lopez want to go even deeper and find out things because every piece of information that was revealed to him about Nathaniel was deeper and more interesting which made Lopez want to be apart of his life beyond the story for the column. So to me Lopez doesn’t choose his subject on who can make a good story, but who story can capture the readers and make them feel for the subject and would make them want to help the subject just as much as him.

The soloist 1-6

The opening of the book really makes you want to continue to read. You can tell Lopez is a very caring person. He seems really eager to find out about Nathaniel's life even without his news column in mind. I say this because he gets in contact with several people from Nathaniel's past to find out more information about it him. The way Nathaniel gets details about Nathaniel's life to unfold really contributes to the book. It helps you know the foundation on which Nathaniel's life is rooted from such as telling about his mom and dad and getting information from his sister. I really like the fact that even though Nathaniel suffers from schizophrenia, his sanity comes from within his music. You can tell because he will do anything just to play his instrument. He is also much calmer and more focused when playing music. I believe Lopez is trying to give the world a reality check and show them that people with mental disorders can have the same talents as everyone else, so never be quick to judge a person. Nathaniel really is a smart man and you truly can see that if you set aside his mental disorder and the fact that he's homeless. He has the ability to play music by memory which shows talent. He can remember names of people he went to school with over years ago and numbers that he haven't dialed in forever. He also knows the names of several musicians and several buildings. I believe Lopez so far is trying to open the minds up of the readers and show that people with mental problems are still capable of doing regular things.

Death of a Salesman

Death of a salesman was a very interesting book. I enjoyed the fact that Willy had some type of mental disorder. I just wonder why it wasn't dealt with. His family was a typical family with problems. He was having affairs on his wife. It was ashame because he would give his mistress things he wouldn't even give his wife. He ended up getting caught with the mistress by his own son. Willy really wasn't living his life right. He was on the wrong track. He wanted his sons to be so much like him and become successful in the business, but that wasn't what they wanted. This kind of hit them hard because they wanted to please their father but they wanted to do something of their choice. Willy wasn't really happy with himself so he set these goal for his children that they didn't want to live up to. It was kind of sad. So in the story Biff decided to ake his on path in follow his dreams. This was hard for him to even say to his father but it was good that he did. It showed a sense of strength.

blOgGer.!

Has blogging been valuable to me? That’s a good question.  Personally, I just see blogger as the website I’m posting my work on.  It changes nothing in my opinion.  It’s the exact thing as just typing my piece of writing out on word and printing it out.  It does not change the way I think. Sometimes I may need ideas from other people’s papers, but if we didn’t use blogger I would just ask them instead of reading theirs. Most of the time, I only read one blog of somebody else’s to comment for a grade but to me that’s not really interacting especially because the person hardly responds to your comment.  It wouldn’t matter to me if we continued doing this kind of work.  Using blogger is completely different from what we had in other English Classes. I believe it’s different, but not in a bad way I guess.  If we continue using blogger I would prefer to have more free writes and pieces that are more enjoyable. A suggestion I have is telling us specifically what we are being graded on.  At times I get confused on what I am doing right and wrong in my writing. Sometimes I think my writing is really good and I come out with a grade that is below what I thought I would receive. It would be better Mr. Fiorini if you would go into more detail in the comment you leave with our grade and why you gave it. Even though putting are grade up might be a bad idea, I would prefer a e-mail or something to give me more incite on my paper. I don’t think blogging changed the community within my class or the other class. Like I said in the beginning, to me it’s really no interaction or anything, we only may read another persons blog because we have to and not because we choose to. Sorry if my response wasn’t as positive as others but I’m just being truthful.

 

The Great Gatsby!*

“My idea is always to reach my generation. The wise writer...writes for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward.”
“Self-interview,” New York Tribune (May 7, 1920).

        This quote to me basically is saying that F. Scott Fitzgerald writes to readers of his generation, the ones below him, and the ones that have yet to come. In my opinion The Great Gatsby indeed reached out to my generation.

        The Great Gatsby was a great book. It definitely kept my interest throughout the entire book. I loved the plot of the story. This book as a whole engaged us in as a readers and only left us out on parts to only fill us in at the end. Unlike any other stories we read this year, The Great Gatsby was filled with excitement, from affairs, love, lies, riches, parties, to murder.

        The only thing I really didn’t enjoy about The Great Gatsby was the ending. I didn’t like how Tom snitched because he didn’t like Gatsby and told Wilson that Gatsby was the owner of the yellow car that killed Myrtle. I would have also liked to see Gatsby alive at the end. I was hoping that him and Daisy would forget about Tom and do their own thing, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. I also thought that it was rude of Daisy to not call or even acknowledge the fact that Gatsby was dead for somebody that supposedly loved Gatsby. I would have also liked to see Nick and Ms. Baker together, but after all, all stories don’t end in happily ever after.

The Great Gatsby

“Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone just remember that all the people in the worlds haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” (Page 1)

Nick is the person talking. He is telling us readers what his father told him about how you shouldn’t judge people because they may not have everything you have or you don’t know what conditions their living in. This quote really stuck out to me not only because it was one of the first things I read but it’s a statement that is true to all of us.

“Tom’s got some woman in New York. She might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time.” (Page 15)

In this quote Miss Baker is telling Nick about Tom’s mistress. To me this quote stuck out because I like drama filled books. From reading this you can already tell that there is going to be trouble especially because it’s known to a lot of people. This quote really made me want to keep reading.

I’m really enjoying what I’m reading so far. The Great Gatsby really seem like it will be a great book. I enjoy the narration from Nick. To me it’s kind of funny because in some instances it just seems like Nick is just there for no reason. I also don’t understand why Daisy is still with Tom if he’s cheating. Obviously she’s a fool, well she stated, “the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

William Carlos Williams

William Carlos Williams was born in Rutherford, New Jersey in 1883. Williams was a poet who poems shined in the 1920’s through the 1940’s. William started out as a poet in the Imagist movement. Later on Williams started to write about poetry based around real life situations. His style of poetry was very influential. He became a mentor to many other young poets. In the poetry I have read you can very well tell that he likes to write about real life situations.

“To A Poor Old Woman”

munching a plum on

the street a paper bag

of them in her hand

They taste good to her

They taste good

to her. They taste

good to her

You can see it by

the way she gives herself

to the one half

sucked out in her hand

Comforted

a solace of ripe plums

seeming to fill the air

They taste good to her

The above poem is the poem I chose in class. The repetition in this poem added to the experience in reading this poem. When reading the repeated lines it helped me paint a picture of an old lady really tearing up some plums because she was hungry. This poem is very real because in real life today you see homeless devouring food when they receive it and really getting into it.

“This is Just to Say”

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

The above poem is my second poem I looked up from my poet. 

I enjoyed reading this poem especially because it was about plums

 once again. To me the tone is sort of humorous. Well when I got 

finished reading this I laughed. I thought of my own household 

because we always voluntarily eat each others food because we can’t resist.

            From reading several of William Carlos Williams’s poetry, his pieces of writings 

does show Americanism. The way his writings are structured and his literary devices

 he uses makes them American.

kate chopin

1.Kate Chopin Writings do not compare to those of the American Romanticism. She doesn’t really touch on nature and the beauty of it or unrealistic things. She focuses on reality. Just like in both of her writings she talks about real life issues.

2.Kate writes on topics that deal with women. In both “Lilacs” and “A Pair of Silk Stockings” she talk about women and their issues. Mrs. Sommers had problems with oppression. She was a poor woman that found $15 dollars and was originally suppose to spend it on her kids but ended up wining and dining herself. Adrienne lives a dual life and basically had an identity issue.

3.Kate is writing to all women and girls that can relate to some of the real world issues today.

4. To me as a reader, Kate writings are very interesting. I enjoy reading her writings because they are feminist pieces and are realistic.

5. Honestly, the fact that A Pair of Silk Stockings was the shortest passage to read is why I picked Kate Chopin.

“How good was the touch of the raw silk to her flesh! She felt like lying back in the cushioned chair and revealing for awhile in the luxury of it.”
I liked this quote from the passage “lilacs.” This is really the way women think. She admired the way she felt because she felt good. I know when I try on clothes I also like to just sit and look at myself in the mirror for a long time.

Does writing have the power to enact social change?

Writing does have the power to enact social change depending upon what the writing actually is.  A lot of writings tend to change the way people go about their lives especially if it’s on topics that the reader can relate to. Words are highly powerful.

The Bible for example is a big book of writings that indeed enacts social change. The bible changes the way Christians go about their everyday lives and the way they interact with other people. Christians see the Bible as something they hold close to them. Regardless of being a sinner or not, at the end of the day they will shift their life around the Bible and do according to what’s said to be right and wrong in it.

King spoke out in several of his speeches. It may not have enacted social change at the time but in the long run it has.  It made people think about their just and unjust ways of abiding by the law.  It made others have the same way of thinking in which others tended to help carry out the same message with other powerful words. 

After looking through the poems on the website the poem “Speak Out,” really stood out to me especially with this topic. Words bring change and speaking out can make a difference. When no one speaks out nothing can get accomplished.  With a lot that’s going on in the world today can be stopped by many people choose not to speak up. Speaking up can only help for the better. 

With words, there can be change. Writing does have the power to enact social change whether it is good or bad. Words play on mental mindsets which causes change to occur. Words have the power to change anything.

Price of A Chid

I Have Grown

I have grown.
I changed my name letting all my fears go.
Never want to revisit the past.
It would only entangle up bad thoughts.
To leave your youngest, your heart, your soul;
Disturbed, the heart starts to shatter and loose control.
Yet strength and faith is your only escape key.
Freedom is what I’m looking to hold.
With determination and assistance it’s only at the end of this road.
Time will heal the wounds.
Been waiting this all my life
My time has come and I’ve made my mark.
I know it’s hard but its time for a new start.
Mission accomplished and I’m free at last.
I must now share the experience with someone coming from my same class.