My Blog

Final Thought Entry

Jenna — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:09:30 +0000

After looking back at my first thought entry, I realized that a lot of my advice to my younger siblings would be the same. However, I would add a little bit to what I had to say. One of the most important things that I would tell my sister or brother is something that I discovered recently: use the drafting/revising process to your advantage. Up until this point I was always one of those people that who sat down, wrote a paper, and was done. It wasn’t that I didn’t care about editing or revising, it’s just that I took enough time the first time that I always felt I couldn’t do any better. After deciding to utilize the extra credit option, I realized how useful revising a piece can really be. So one HUGE suggestion that I would give is to utilize the writing center and what it has to offer. Read your piece out loud, write a section and come back to it later to see if you still like it, work with sections that could be improved, etc. Also, make sure to actually read the books that are assigned in class. Luckily I am one of the people that always does read the book, but for those that are not, it can be a challenge. I learned this after peer editing people’s papers. It is so obvious who read spark notes or watched the movie instead of actually reading the book. Another no no, is falling behind. Once you’re behind on a chapter or on an assignment, it’s really hard to catch up. So stay on task, devote enough time to english each day, and utilize the revising process!

Poster Expectations

Jenna — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:14:11 +0000

On a promotional poster I would expect to see a picture that represents what the play is going to be about because it will draw me in right away. After that I would expect to see who is starring in the play and when it is. Then I can immediately know if I’m able to go. Another option is to include a phone number that I can call for more details. The poster should be colorful and attractive to the eye so that it will make a person walking by want to stop and find out more details.

For my poster, I could use a pen, some ink splotches, and a piece of paper because it would represent the journal that the main character writes in every day. The background could be a sky or some clouds because that would represent God, which is who the journal is directed at.

Thought Entry 18

Jenna — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:27:31 +0000

For sequence 4, I am going to do a play review on group 1′s play. If i had to pick a color to represent this play, I would probably choose blue. I would choose blue because at the beginning of the play, the drunk dad creates a sad/depressed mood for the rest of the family. Generally, i associate blue with sadness so I think that a dark blue color would really portray that. Then, throughout the play, I think that the shade of blue would begin to get lighter. It would get lighter for 2 reasons. The 1st reason is that the main character is always turning towards God which reminds me of lighter blue because of the sky and my vehicle association with God is the sky. Also, because as the play progresses, the girl begins to be more comfortable with herself and really starts to see the light at the end of the tunnel. When blue is represented in a lighter shade, it makes me thinking of happier things such as a nice day, a baby boy being born, and swimming pools. I think that I could really work with this color scheme throughout my project by using it as a background color or even to portray the somber to light-hearted mood. No matter how I use it, I think that it could really add to the depth and creativity of my project.

Life Takes Visa- In class Activity

Jenna — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:42:37 +0000

Explicit metaphor: Life is a store

Tenor: Life

Vehicle: store

Associative Realm: malls, shopping centers

Vehicle Association:money, clothing, toys, shopping, bags, purchase, expensive, inexpensive, guilty pleasure, addiction

Meanings Highlighted:Stores provide pleasure, Stores make life pleasurable, Visa makes life pleasurable

Meanings masked: life is about having money, money makes it easier to enjoy life, Visa makes life easier, Visa leads to shopping addictions

The idea that life is a store is dangerous because it provides people with unrealistic expectations. Life is a store makes people believe that the world revolves around money and that by dropping a few dollars you can have whatever you want. It also kind of makes me think that they’re suggesting that anything is for sale including people, places, and things. In reality, life is not a store, but this idea can be very dangerous. It can lead to obsessive addictions.

Metaphors

Jenna — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:43:34 +0000

Explicit Metaphor- She is a bird

Tenor- Person (she)

Vehicle- bird

Associative realm- nest, tree

Vehicle associations- fly, blue, loud, sky, feathers, pet, wings, big bird, cardinal, colorful, tropical, nest

Meanings highlighted- the girl soars like a bird, the girl and the bird have the ability to get away

Meanings masked- The girl is as lost as the bird, the bird and the girl cannot find a permanent home, they are afraid to stay in one place

1. Consider the significance of the associations

2. consider effectiveness of the metaphor

• would another metaphor work better?

The associations help to understand the song a lot better and show why the girl is like a bird. The metaphor in this song is not that hard to spot, but it helps a lot to think about it in terms of significance and associations. Just like the bird, the girl feels like she has no home and always feels the need to get away. Unlike the bird, the girl feels lost, while a bird just flies away because that’s its nature. I think the metaphor is effective, but I also think that they could have expanded on it. The only part of the song that talks about the metaphor is in the chorus where it says, “I’m like a bird. I’ll only fly away, I don’t know where my home is, I don’t know where my soul is.” From this set of lyrics it is very obvious where the metaphor is and what it is implying. In the future, I should probably work with a song that is a little harder and not as direct, but for a beginner, I think that this is a great song to use.

Thought Entry 17

Jenna — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:29:57 +0000

I’m like a bird, I’ll only fly away
I don’t know where my soul is, I don’t know where my home is
(and baby all I need for you to know is)
I’m like a bird, I’ll only fly away
I don’t know where my soul is , I don’t know where my home is
All I need for you to know is

In the song I’m Like a Bird, by Nelly Furtado, the metaphor is in the title. She is comparing herself to a bird by saying that she only wants to fly away and she doesn’t know where her home is. Basically, she’s in a relationship and the guy loves her so much but she’s afraid so “she flies away” aka runs away from the relationship.
And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind:
Never fading with the sunset
When the rain set in.
And your footsteps will always fall here,
Along England’s greenest hills;
Your candle’s burned out long before
Your legend ever will.

Elton John’s “candle in the wind” is comparing a girl’s life to a candle in the wind. Because like a candle that never fades, the girl was always full of energy and lived her life to its fullest each and every minute. The implied metaphor is that she is a an angel or a bird

Thought Entry 16

Jenna — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:30:34 +0000

I am a piece of chocolate:

-Sweet

-tough exterior, but soft deep down

-makes people happy

-just like the dove wrapper says, “chocolate will always love you back”, so will I

-smoooooth

-perfect when you need a quick pick-me-up

Thought Entry 15

Jenna — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:13:09 +0000

In the most recent group that performed their play (group 3 i believe) I felt that they had a really strong concept. The idea of having a child trying to cope with a recent divorce is a great idea to run with. However, I felt that the play wasn’t developed well enough to get the full concept communicated. For example, at the beginning of the play they had an ex-boyfriend walk by and the girl made a brief comment about how she couldn’t relate well to boys. If they had developed this idea more by creating a longer scene between the boy and the girl then the audience would have been able to better understand how and why she couldn’t communicate with men/relationships. I thought that the actors did a good job at playing their roles but at the end of the play I was still wondering about all the minor details. Basically I was left trying to put the pieces together because each scene did not have enough detail. I thought it was great how they had the friend bring in another friend who had experience with divorce and with that scene I felt the emotion and I was able to understand their point but the rest of the play didn’t really seem to have a point. All I got from it was 2 girls at a mall, then one girl talks to another about divorce, and the girl ends up calling her dad. The end. From start to finish it was a great concept with fabulous ideas but in between there were several pieces missing.

Thought Entry 14

Jenna — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:21:45 +0000

We met on Tuesday night and I think a lot of what we’re supposed to do for this thought entry was covered. We made a rough timeline of what we want to cover throughout the play and in different scenes. We decided that because the character is socially awkward and doesn’t really know how to express himself that we might have him write in a journal. Then after each “incidence” of another relationship going bad or someone picking on him he could reflect in his journal and the audience would be able to hear his thoughts. We also decided that the main character would have recurring nightmares. These nightmares will be present all his life and we haven’t decided yet if they will go away when he finds a companion or if they will continue to get worse. An example of a journal entry might be something like this:

Dear Journal,

Today was my first day of class. Clearly I was an outcast, but the minute someone actually tried talking to me, I couldn’t talk back. Is there something wrong with me? Maybe I really am weird..

This way, the audience will see that even the character himself thinks he’s a social outcast and because he can’t talk to his family, this is the only way that he can truly get his feelings across.

Another possible scenario might be at school: On the first day of class everyone is grouping together and trying to make friends. The main character clearly doesn’t make any effort because he just doesn’t know how but on the next few days of school when the cliques are starting to be formed, the main character truly does get set as an outcast when it is clear to the other students that he is the only one without friends. This will follow him all his life until he finally works up the courage to ask a girl to the school dance. The girl turns him down, and this spirals him into even more depression.

There are tons of possible scenarios that we can make with this character, and these are just a few.

Thouught Entry 13

Jenna — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:13:45 +0000

I think that a great topic for our play would be: fitting in. In both Elephant Man and Autobiography of a Face, fitting in is a key idea that is focused on throughout the book. For example, in Elephant Man, all his life no one accepted him, not even his mom. He was put in freak shows and could never quite figure out how to “be normal” in the crowd. For example, on page 9 Merrick states that, “at home they chased us. Out of London. Police. Someone complained. They beat me.” This shows that he was never able to fit in and it was so bad that it came to the point where the police had to beat him and chase him out of the country because they thought he was some kind of monster just because of what he looked like. Then for the first time in his life, he feels as though he belongs when Treves comes to “adopt him”. On page 24 Treves asks, “You are happy here, are you not, John?” to which Merrick replies, “yes”. Fitting in can go both ways and in The Elephant Man, both are demonstrated (fitting in and not fitting in). Then in Autobiography of a Face, Lucy faced years of being made fun of and not being accepted by her classmates just because they saw her as ugly and weird because of what her cancer did to her. On page 90, Lucy says, “The only time I was ever myself was on Fridays. There was no way to escape the pain.” Not only did others see Lucy as an outcast, but she saw herself as one. For years on end, she dealt with people making fun of her and rubbing it in that she would never get a boyfriend. When she finally began to accept herself a little bit by wearing form fitting clothing, she expressed herself in the wrong way because people saw her as a slut. From these numerous examples, I think we could definitely work with fitting in as a topic. We could create a character who struggles with not fitting in and feeling unwanted due to braces, acne, glasses, etc. We could make the character a young child because as children we all experience an “awkward stage” and it would be a great way to relate it to childhood acceptance. We could have children make fun of her, and have her going home crying to her mother, but have her mother do nothing about it. We could find an activity that she really enjoys such as the horses that Lucy loved and make that her only escape. I think that we could really work with this and it could be developed a lot more to relate back to both books we read.