Assignment #10

After going through this class, I can easily see how my writing has grown after going through this class.  I now am very aware of the tone I am using in my writing, and am very particular about the connotation words.  Although I did enjoy the class and all of the writing in it, I do not think that I will continue my blog.  Blogging is not truly one of my interests, so I don't think that I will continue it.  The pro's of blogging are that you can openly express yourself, kind of like a journal.  The negatives of it are if it is able to be viewed by the public, you can be scrutinized for what you are writing.

Assignment #9

Truthfully, I do not understand the poem, mainly because I have never seen the show Pop-eye, so I don't get the references to it.  I think this hinders my understanding of the poem, and I wish that I knew all that he was referencing to.  All that I know about Pop-eye is that spinach makes him strong, and that's not very much to go off of.  So I don't think that I have enough information to make an educated opinion on the poem. My favorite line would have to be "But you can't do that--he hasn't even finished his spinach," because it is the only line that I really understand the reference.

Assignment #8

Hurricane Sandy - Sonnet

Last week in October struck a hurricane,
Power lines, tall trees and old houses fell,
Of the New Jersey Coast it was its bane,
Countless people without a place to dwell,
Towns and cities swept away in a flood
Desolating all that stood in its path,
This storm surely spilled its fair share of blood,
Upon everyone it took out its wrath,
Homes and lives in ruin, dreams torn apart,
Certainly will rebuild and recover,
Laying the foundation for a fresh start,
Sandy’s aftermath will never hover,
A state forsaken, and utterly wrecked,
Our pride and resolve it did not affect.

By Matthew Perino

Assignment #7

When I think of the Vietnam war, it makes me think of an unjustified and pointless war, in which we had no place being in.  America continuously tries to oppress democracy upon people, and we have no place in doing that.  We spent millions of dollars, and thousands of people's lives in an attempt to win a war that was not winnable.  America should not have gotten involved in Vietnam, it caused no good.  Many young men's lives were completely ruined by war injuries resulting in the loss of limbs, or terrible post-traumatic stress disorder.  The wars today in Iraq and Afghanistan are similar to me because they are also pointless wars, in which we have no place fighting.  We are fighting a war to "protect our freedom," but our freedom is not at jeopardy.  We started a war that we shouldn't have, and it's terrible, only resulting in the loss of many innocent people's lives.  There are a lot of striking similarities between the two wars, both are unjustified, and we shouldn't be there.

Assignment #6

I do not think that we can break from our cultural heritage, because it defines us.  Although some people may revolt against their heritage, eventually everyone comes to terms with it, and accepts who they are.  Our cultural heritage defines who we are, and dictates our life.  "Society" keeps us in line by not allowing cultures which go against the popular culture to flourish, but rather by oppressing them.  For instance, in America, most people are Christian, and people who are not of Christian faith are oppressed against, especially Muslims.  Muslims are pressured by popular culture to not espouse their faith openly because it is scrutinized by many people.  I don't think that anyone truly breaks free from their cultural heritage.  People may try to break free, but everyone's culture that they are born into is what they are defined by.  It isn't possible to revolt against yourself, so even if you don't like or agree with your cultural heritage, it is what molded you.  There is an inherent danger in going against societal norms, and that is scrutiny from the popular culture.  By going against the everyday, there are many people who's lifestyle you are going against, and people don't like that.  The benefits of it are you can express yourself freely, and be who you want to be, and show who you are.

Assignment #5

Honestly, I would also condemn the both of them, as their peers did.  Obviously, I do not agree with their choices, and do not understand as to how it could come to that.  Boyle did not do a good job of convincing me that in their situation, it could come to that.  I don't understand how a couple could just deny their pregnancy and ignore it, to me that is utterly ridiculous.  If they didn't want the baby, or didn't want anyone to know about it, they could have simply of gotten an abortion.  It doesn't make any sense as to why she was saying that she couldn't get one done, and that was the end of the conversation.  To me that is inane, and ridiculous.  I think that was a plot hole in Boyle's adaptation of this story, because to me that just didn't make any sense.  Boyle didn't convince me that this could happen in real life at all, to me it just seemed completely insane.  I don't think that I would want to be able to understand such behavior, because to me there is no explanation, and I like to think that makes me a humane and sympathetic person, because there is absolutely no explanation for what they did, it is sick.

Assignment #4

I found that our peer review day was very helpful.  My colleagues insight on my essay enabled me to see things from a different point of view.  Not only were they helpful in finding all of my grammatical mistakes, they also helped my alter my tone of the essay, which was invaluable. After peer review, my essay did not need as much work as I thought it would have.  Normally, after I write the rough draft of my essay, it still needs a lot of work that I need to do, which takes quite a bit of time.  But, after peer review, my essay was ready to be a final draft.  Peer review is now an essential component in my essay writing.