Presentations

Listening to people talk about what they have taken away from this class depicts what this socio-literary class has taught everyone. We have really interacted on a deeper level and now we see by these presentations that we all have enjoyed this classes ups and downs.

The book that changed my life.

I never blogged on this but to be quite honest it would have to be Retellings. It sounds corny and not original but reading James Joyce has really touched me like no other piece of writing has. I will surely be reading Ulysses on my free time this summer as well as finishing The Brothers Karamazov. This book would not have done much for me though without the inspiration of the teacher. Reading the words of Araby became a mix of a dream state of mind with conscious simple thoughts passing through. I have lived with my anxiety and wandering mind my entire life and to see my mind slow down and simply appreciate the one task of painting a mental image of James Joyce's story was inspirational.

Final Thoughts

The class in conjunction with taking psychology 100 this semester was a treat to say in the least. Both taught me things my parents (who I believe taught me the most important things in my life) never did get a chance to really explain. I have been discussing with my roommate about how people who step out into the real world after high school really do not get to live a full human life. Everybody has such strong potential. But without a well-rounded education, they truly are a one sided blade. I prefer to be the swiss army knife in this world. I want to know as much as possible about human interaction so I can take my passion for designing and building products and be able to communicate my ideas with others. This class was a very unique tool to add to my toolbox of ideas and thoughts. It gave me a lot to think about and build off of. As well as an insight into the more pure beautiful things in life. This may be the first time I have walked away from an english class feeling better about myself than I did before. And we all know that a more confident person, is a stronger person, and a better person. Thanks classmates and I won't hesitate to say hi if I notice anybody on campus =)

forgot to turn in my paper whoopsies...

John Willis
Professor Sexson
Intro. to Literature 110
22 April 2010
Life is Simply a Tulip
People these days all too often fall into the trap of suburban boredom. They know not what to do with their spare time nor how to characterize their beliefs and views. I come from an Irish heritage and as you may know, we Irish are known for being stubborn and very logical minded. The Boondock Saints film could best describe my lifestyle and mentality. The last few years I have spent quite a bit of time in a state of meditation, you could say. Constantly arguing with my mind and myself trying to decide who I truly am. Life for a man in his early twenties is surely fast, changing, and hard to keep up with. Living in the real world, being treated as an individual adult with responsibilities, truly leaves curiosity on the brain. Dissecting who I really am psychologically has been one of my greatest unanswered questions in my short, still new lifetime. Literature class with my kooky witty professor in college surely eased my mind in many a way. I was a dull, logic based, creative thinker; now I am all but square with my eyes wide open to stories teaching me about the path I will follow in life.
The thought of literature solving my paradox of who I really am never crossed my mind even for a blink. I honestly could count the number of books I have truly read, and comprehended, in my lifetime on my fingers. Then Professor quoted in class “How do we know what we think until we see what we say?”, and it hit me as I copied those very words into my notebook. Why had it taken all these years of English class for a teacher to say these words to me? Writing down your thoughts and ideas clearly connects your visual conscious mind with you subconscious. The Professor then had my attention for the remainder of the semester. Even as I am writing this story on who I will become, I am learning so much about myself while subconsciously communicating this jumbled pile of words to the audience.
Reading short stories this semester, without my anxiety of getting schoolwork done, was another rude awakening. Actually dedicating my full attention to any piece of literature is not something I had accomplished before this semester of mental growth at school. Reading the words of James Joyce’s “Araby” truly captivated my mind with how much “depth” his words portray. I could see the more depth a story was given, through words, the more your imagination worked to create the inner work of art and memory for that reading. The poem “Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock” could be summed up as the doorway into our thoughts. As I read the poem for the first time, and every time since then, I find myself in an utter state of calm, quiet, peace of mind. Something I am definitely not associated with. My mind always finds a way to stay busy. It is always working as long as I am conscious and clear of any poisons that intoxicate the body. The poem finishes off with what I call “the dreaded awakening from a good dream”; “Drunk and asleep in his boots, Catches tigers In red weather (Stevens, 877).” The poem seems to make no conscious sense as I read it but because the words seem to flow calmly as if it were a brook, suddenly I visualize a sailor drunk and sleeping outside, then I snap out of the trans once I read the words “Catching tigers In red weather(Stevens, 877).” When I first awaken from any dream I always immediately recall the last image in my head because that image woke me up. “Catching tigers In red weather” is just such an image.
Reading tragic stories and plays such as “The Lady with the Pet Dog” and “Antigone”, I began to embrace my emotional feelings as being merely human. Yes tragedy is funny, the definition of tragedy refers to the depiction of human suffering for the pleasure of an audience. But tragedy also tells a true story about the power of feelings and social dilemma’s we, as humans, encounter everyday. Love is such a powerful emotion that can overcome and suppress all other problems in one’s current life . Reading “Antigone” teaches you about fierce love and harsh intensified human emotion. In my mind I saw Antigone yelling at her sister in the first scene with Creon. Finishing the play we realize our youthful years are our passionate years. Everyday is an up or down day and until we realize we are all doomed to fail, we do not comprehend the world we live in. Before society accepts us an individual, we must first prove to society that we accept ourselves. Tragic literature captivates the naïve mind and defines whether things are worth fighting for or letting go of.
“To be or not to be- (Shakespeare, 1259)”, when read in context, is much deeper than just Shakespearean words. Although the statement could be argued to be just a simple sentence, I believe all of Shakespeare’s work seems to reflect perfection in detail. When “the prof” announced the powerful sentence fragment in class my opinions on Shakespeare became even clearer. “To exist, or not to exist (Shakespeare, 1259).” Yes, Shakespeare explained these words in the rest of the soliloquy but I could not follow in depth. Stories are all retellings, the only non-retold stories are the ones inspired by your inner fire. Through the emotions of rage and pain new stories are made and discovered. If you use your mind to make rational decisions and write a story, then you have only retold. However, if you rely on purely writing your thoughts while in a sense of irrational behavior, your mind will spit ideas out that you may have never thought about or seen before. Upon understanding this process of writing and storytelling, I have applied it to my everyday scenarios, I have found the most humanistic way of life to live.
Taking apart a young mans view of the world, an elder will say “You have no concept for what lies ahead” and children will preach “Your life has too much stuff going on”. I say my life is that of the ocean, wave after wave like day after day. The tide swells in and out similar to the moods brought about by young hormones. The only logic I have found to work well in life is Carpe Diem. Seizing this day is the only true importance to being a human. Making every moment count because it could be a moment that changes you forever. Walking into class, the professor babbling on some random topic, I find myself mentally pushing to engage. Not only because this class could be another part of the college experience to bend my mind, but bend it in a way to straighten my thoughts and ideas.




Works Cited

Chekhov, Anton. “The Lady with the Pet Dog.” Retellings: A Thematic Literature
Analogy. Ed. M. B. Clarke and A. G. Clarke. New York: McGraw-Hill, 20004.
437-448.
Joyce, James. “Araby.” Retellings: A Thematic Literature Anaology. Ed. M. B. Clarke
and A. G. Clarke. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004. 547-550.
Oates, Joyce Carol. “The Lady with the Pet Dog.” Retellings: A Thematic Literature
Analogy. Ed. M. B. Clarke and A. G. Clarke. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
449-460.
Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.” Retellings: A Thematic
Literature Analogy. Ed. M. B. Clarke and A. G. Clarke. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2004. 1215-1317.
Sophocles. “Antigone.” Retellings: A Thematic Literature Anthology. Ed. M. B. Clarke
and A. G. Clarke. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004. 1006-1043.
Stevens, Wallace. “Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock.” Retellings: A Thematic Literature
Analogy. Ed. M. B. Clarke and A. G. Clarke. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
876-877.

Debates...

The debate was upsetting, plain and simple. The argument stayed so far away from topic that honestly I had no opinion on the original statement at the end. And to be frank, it could have been quite an interesting argument if it had not been mainly one "boy" talking. That is why debates have mediators to control the unruly participants. Otherwise the idea of the presentation was fantastic. I thought it was very cool at first and had serious potential.

Note to Tim: The smartest most intellectual people in the world are not stubborn, listen and appreciate the opinions of others, and do not YELL at someone while they are trying to prove a point. Overpowering smothering of peoples thoughts is disgusting so take a look at yourself next time you are in a debate at home or in school.

Thesis Statement

I was a dull, logic based, creative thinker, now I am all but square with my eyes being opened to what stories in the past can teach me about my mistakes and the path I will follow in life.


Notes:
Tragedy... And the tragic sense of life. I feel I have found the a more beautiful realistic sense of life.
I was a dull, logic based human. I found this simple way of life to work. I am now a true human. Truly utilizing all the tools endowed physically to me for the first time. My mind has been bent,   but bent in a way it is now straight.
Literature quotes, texts.

The most tragic day

The lowest abyss I have gone had to go along with growing up living amongst the two wisest people in my life to date, my parents. My rational mind had yet to be fully developed and fighting against the simple logic of my mother psychologically shaped my youth mind. The ripe age of 17 causes many problems for men and women in their own separate ways. I was flooded with testosterone and other hormones clotting a clear decision making skill set. I would get lost in my thoughts for hours. I had suffered from depression in middle school being fat and having acne. As well as the harassment of my southern "y'all" accent, as having recently moved from Houston to New Hampshire. Thank god these hormones were not as raging as they were by this time in my life. Anyway, my story continues with a fight over something that honestly, does not mean a bit of difference today, a typical mother/son fight. My thoughts raced as to why I was constrained, why could I not be free and run wild. The irony of the fact is I was not free or able to run wild because honestly my mind had not yet accommodated these new wild drugs running through my body, made by my body. I had set out, determined to feel free. Ran out the door without my parents knowing and wearing a t-shirt and pajamas, being it was past my bedtime. Behold it was late November, the first snow had just started to fall upon my aching, inflamed face. The temperature dropped but these new found chemicals allowed me to produce rage and fire within that no snow could stop suddenly. I trekked on thinking, wondering, do lone wolves often feel these pains as cubs? The night carried on, as did i. it felt as if minutes had passed and I was wearing down. Falling off my high strength energy and slipping into a dark deep state of mind I do not wish to find again. A field I had never seen before looked peaceful on the full moon night (New Hampshire being full of nothing but woods). I went and laid in the field, looking up into the snowfall, wondering if this was the final spot. Emptiness, when it takes over, makes the mind loose consciousness of purpose and meaning to life. Soon enough I drift to sleep.

Suddenly I am awoken by a man passing by on the road wondering what I was in the field. My sudden realization and having slept off my horrid feelings taught me a lot of who i was and who i will always be. I was taken home and the police came and investigated and I explained. I had been gone four hours in 30 degree weather and was found six miles from home. I certainly had taken the path less traveled on this one.

I am a person who knows fear, loss, power and above all, passion. Passion it the true beauty behind each and every person. It is horrid that I had to come this close to death to realize what passion I possessed and the right way to use it. Humans are organisms, and like all organisms, do not evolve and develop without a positive passion for themselves.

Some of the most important quotes in my life today:

"You are strong, you are passionate, you stay positive and you will never lose in life" - MOM

"You can not appreciate great success without great loss" - unknown

I live my life now mostly by carpe diem. I look at everyday, every loss, every win, as being an important part of being human. This class has been a huge inspiration to me and even though my logic mind can be stubborn, I find it so pleasant to walk into class everyday and learn my problems, and my successes, are merely the same exact feelings man had since the beginning of known writings. Life truly is a retelling of past lives with a spin on it.

Let your passion and fire guide you, even if it can take you places you never wanted to find... You will become a stronger person and a happier one in the end.