cannon85's blog

At first I found this poem odd and a little confusing. Then I tried to look at each portion and analyze it. Eventually I found the most interesting part was the end. In the end the poem is left very much to interpretation. The narrator mentions a mirror in the next to last line which makes me think that he sees some part of himself in the AIDS victim. It leaves open whether the narrator in the AIDS victim as a part of humanity or as a gay man. The difference being that seeing part of himself in the AIDS victim as part of humanity would indicate that the AIDS epidemic is huge and affects

This story did an excellent job making a statement about the justice system that I have felt for a long time. I am avidly against the death penalty. For me personally, I find it morally wrong to murder someone because they murdered someone else. Many religious people justify the death penalty with quotes from the bible such as "an eye for an eye" but the bible also says that "thou shalt not kill." In my personal opinion the death penalty is killing someone and therefore, it is still morally and religiously wrong. As an avid opposer to the death penalty in any circumstance it was very easy for me to see the author's point about not using the death penalty on individuals such as Jon that appear to be rehabilitated.

Signing up for this course I expected to read a couple American classics such as The Great Gatsby and write a couple essays on them. That's what I wanted. Then, I went to the book store to purchase the necessary classics only to find there were none. A little confused and skeptical I went to class and found that there were really no novels to purchase. Still a little bewildered I completed my first assignment, a playlist for a major american author. My american author was Bette Davis. Yes, Bette Davis. You see our professor thinks literature is more than just poems, novels and words on pages. To me this was great. Someone finally recognizing music, movies and the internet in a classroom was wonderful. But I still found myself thinking this was a little different and the professor was a little peculiar. So, I remained skeptical about how this class would turn out. To my surprise, it has turned out wonderfully. We have done everything from creating playlists, to writing essays, to creating collages on the computer, to doing our very own podcast. Learning to use technology to examine and discuss literature in interactive and creative ways has been tremendously fun even if it has been frustrating at points.

This poem intrigued me because it portrayed a criminal, who was obviously very violent, as heroic. The poem's portrayal of the criminal as a hero is so strong that one begins to feel sorry for him. The poem definitely succeeds in showing him as the great hope of the other criminals and how their hope is crushed when he is no longer violent. The thing that stands out about this is that it seems to me that the loss of his identity, even though it was not an identity many of us would want, causes the reader to experience a sort of sadness at the tragic loss. I think this shows just how important having an identity and being known for something is to American society.

I really enjoyed this story because of three main things. First, the description of the girls is so rich that it captivates the reader just as much as it does the narrator. Reading the description the narrator gives of the girls one becomes engrossed in their presence and what they are in the store for. It seems that they are too great and too powerful to be such a drab little store. This brings me to a topic that was brought up during our podcast discussions. (Our podcast was about gender issues in American society.) These girls are in the store wearing the minimum amount of clothing that a person could get away with without being arrested and they, particularly the queenie, feel very comfortable in their bodies and with what they are wearing, even the big girl seems okay with what she is wearing.

This profile briefly describes Bette Davis' rise from a child from a broken family to a struggling theater actress. The last paragraph goes into how she finally reached Hollywood. Once she reached Hollywood she started to work on the accomplishments listed in the first paragraph, the ones that made her name known throughout the nation.

Geek on my Space

Airhead on My Space

Jock on My Space

Jock
The design of the page has Shaq, who is his favorite athlete, as the background. There are also two video clips of Shaq on the page. There is music on the page in spanish which seems to be out of sync with the rest of his page and personality.

This profile briefly describes Bette Davis' rise from a child from a broken family to a struggling theater actress. The last paragraph goes into how she finally reached Hollywood. Once she reached Hollywood she started to work on the accomplishments listed in the first paragraph, the ones that made her name known throughout the nation.

Bette Davis was among the nation’s most famous actresses of cinema’s Golden Age. She is remembered most for the talent, dedication, vigor and passion she brought to the screen with every movie. Because her appearances were often overshadowed by those of other leading ladies of the time, Davis’ rise to fame is the largest indicator of her talent. Many of her movies are still considered classics and her name is often recognized worldwide. Through the course of her career Bette brought to life the stories of 87 movies, 14 television feature films and many theatrical performances. Among her most famous works are Of Human Bondage, Jezebel and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Having been nominated for 10 Oscars and several Emmys and receiving the nickname of the “First Lady of the American Screen” it was fitting that Davis was the first woman to serve as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was the first female to be honored by the American Film Institute with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Bette Davis is, even today, regarded as one of the best actresses to have ever graced the screen. Below is the playlist I believe she would have chosen to tell the story of her life.