So far this summer I have still not been able to really sit down and enjoy any of my books in my personal connection. My summer has been filled with me reading textbooks and moving around from house to house. Maybe I will finally have a chance to crack open a personal book this weekend when I am on the bus for 12 hours. So I guess that means I am going to be writing about a reading issue that I find important.
Well, after sitting here and thinking about it I can't really think of a reading issue that is on my mind so I will talk about the book I started reading. For the past couple of years I have slowly been reading thru the book: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. Its not that I am a slow reader its just that I forget about this book and come back to it on days when I want to read something intriguing.
One of the chapters entitled Dangerous Beauty talks about Yellowstone National Park and the history behind it. Well in this chapter the author tells us a story about some park employees. Late one night, three young summer employees engaged in illicit activity known as "hot potting"-swimming or basking in warm pools. The author continues to tell you the story and in the end you find out that these particular employees were not smart about it and ended up dieing one night while not being safe. When I read this story I thought it was funny and sad at the same time, and if not for this sentence I probably would have skipped over the story and kept reading the rest of the book. I also found this sentence interesting because I have been to Yellowstone many times and I didn't realize that some of the pools in Yellowstone are cool enough to swim in, I mean obviously they cant announce it but I did find it interesting. I think that might be why after reading this sentence I was interested in reading the rest of the story maybe in hopes of a few laughs.
I will hopefully finish this book and a few other personal books this summer when I have some time to sit down in do it. Can't wait to keep reading.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
"The Lottery" Quote Response
"Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box they still remembered to use stones" When I finally got to the end of this story and I realized what the lottery signified I was shocked. This particular sentence is the sentence that I read and realized what the lottery was about and what it meant. The words that stuck out to me and made me horrified and feel bad for the woman was they still remembered to use stones because at this point I realized that the stones symbolized the fact that the woman was about to be stoned to death.
I think that this sentence is important to the story because without it you wouldn't understand the meaning of the lottery. Throughout the story they talk about how all the families gather and pick slips of paper and how the little boys collect stones and stack them, but if this sentence wasn't present we wouldn't know why the little boys were collecting the stones. This sentence in a way shows us the meaning of the lottery and the horrible end that is about to come to the one unfortunate person of the town.
I guess the thing that interests me the most about the story and this sentence in general is why this community is still killing people. My biggest question about this story and this sentence is that shouldn't they kill the whole family instead of just one person if they are killing people? Also is the reason they stone the person to death a sign of there sympathy? or the fact they want it to last a long time and be painful for the person? Also my other question is what is the point of the lottery? Is it to control the number in the population?
Maybe what the author was getting at is that the theme and symbolism of this story is that the woman who eventually gets stoned in the beginning shows up late to the lottery and her family just happens to get chosen to see which one of them will die and then it just happens to be her slip that has the black dot on it. In a way this could be luck or it could be the authors way of showing us how we need to keep an eye on this character.
I think that this sentence is important to the story because without it you wouldn't understand the meaning of the lottery. Throughout the story they talk about how all the families gather and pick slips of paper and how the little boys collect stones and stack them, but if this sentence wasn't present we wouldn't know why the little boys were collecting the stones. This sentence in a way shows us the meaning of the lottery and the horrible end that is about to come to the one unfortunate person of the town.
I guess the thing that interests me the most about the story and this sentence in general is why this community is still killing people. My biggest question about this story and this sentence is that shouldn't they kill the whole family instead of just one person if they are killing people? Also is the reason they stone the person to death a sign of there sympathy? or the fact they want it to last a long time and be painful for the person? Also my other question is what is the point of the lottery? Is it to control the number in the population?
Maybe what the author was getting at is that the theme and symbolism of this story is that the woman who eventually gets stoned in the beginning shows up late to the lottery and her family just happens to get chosen to see which one of them will die and then it just happens to be her slip that has the black dot on it. In a way this could be luck or it could be the authors way of showing us how we need to keep an eye on this character.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Freestyle Blog
This summer so far has been busy and I haven't really been able to snuggle down and read any books, even though I do plan on reading a lot of books this summer so for this post I decided that I would talk about a reading issue that is close to my heart.
There is a reading issue that is close to my heart that I know we don't talk about in class, and that is getting kids just starting out in school to read books. The reason this interests me is because I have a nephew who is going to be in 1st grade next year and I know that all this year my family has struggled to get him to pick up a book and read or at least look at the pictures and make up a story. I have been home for a few weeks now and I see reasons why in this day an age that is hard for him. I have noticed that TV is a big distraction for him, and to him reading is boring instead of watching TV where the characters talk and are already made up.
I guess my biggest question about this reading issue is how can my grandparents figure out a way so that my nephew will want to read instead of watch so much TV. I mean I've watched him and many other kids his age not be that entertained by books but more by TV. One idea I thought of was maybe instead of paperback books that I am so fond of and maybe using a kindle. I mean unlike a paperback it has a computer like screen that might seem more interesting to such a young kid.
I see this issue occurring all over the US and the world in general. I mean it isn't like I have been all over the world but I'm sure that there is this issue all over the world. I guess my recommendation is that we as a nation and world need to find ways that we can engage kids in a way that is as interesting as TV.
There is a reading issue that is close to my heart that I know we don't talk about in class, and that is getting kids just starting out in school to read books. The reason this interests me is because I have a nephew who is going to be in 1st grade next year and I know that all this year my family has struggled to get him to pick up a book and read or at least look at the pictures and make up a story. I have been home for a few weeks now and I see reasons why in this day an age that is hard for him. I have noticed that TV is a big distraction for him, and to him reading is boring instead of watching TV where the characters talk and are already made up.
I guess my biggest question about this reading issue is how can my grandparents figure out a way so that my nephew will want to read instead of watch so much TV. I mean I've watched him and many other kids his age not be that entertained by books but more by TV. One idea I thought of was maybe instead of paperback books that I am so fond of and maybe using a kindle. I mean unlike a paperback it has a computer like screen that might seem more interesting to such a young kid.
I see this issue occurring all over the US and the world in general. I mean it isn't like I have been all over the world but I'm sure that there is this issue all over the world. I guess my recommendation is that we as a nation and world need to find ways that we can engage kids in a way that is as interesting as TV.
Quote Response
"When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant- a combined gardener and cook- had seen in at least ten years.....she had vanquished their fathers thirty years before about the smell. That was two years after her father's death and a short time after her sweetheart- the one we believed would marry her- had deserted her. " (Faulkner, 30-31)
When we were assigned the two chapters to read this week I found that I enjoyed reading the second chapter more. I felt like the story about A Rose For Emily was better the Updike so I picked it for this assignment. As you can see I picked two sentences, one from one page and another one from another page. I feel like these two sentences connect with each other to help you get a better understanding of who Emily the main character was.
When I looked at these two sentences I saw two words that popped out to me the most, which were the words fallen monument. I think it is strange to think that the townspeople saw Miss Emily as a fallen monument when throughout the story all they tell you is how she would never leave her house, with no one ever seeing her so how can she be a monument?
I think that both of these sentences are important to the story even if they are in different places, because they show us the how Miss Emily came off to the people around her. It shows us how they see her as a shut in and shut off from everyone. The first sentence describes why they went to the funeral after she was dead and the second one describes why the people around her think she acted the way she did, because of certain events like her boyfriend leaving and her father dieing.
I guess what interests me about these sentences and this story in general is the fact that you can see how people leap to conclusions about people without getting to actual know them. I also like this passage because in a way I feel like I can relate to this story. The reason being is that you always read stories and there is always some type of judgement. Another thing that there is always going to be judgement and sometimes I wish that stories wouldn't have as much in it.
I guess what I am saying is that this story was easy for me to relate to because I have always been judged in my life and I feel like even in writing and stories you cant escape the judgement of others.
When we were assigned the two chapters to read this week I found that I enjoyed reading the second chapter more. I felt like the story about A Rose For Emily was better the Updike so I picked it for this assignment. As you can see I picked two sentences, one from one page and another one from another page. I feel like these two sentences connect with each other to help you get a better understanding of who Emily the main character was.
When I looked at these two sentences I saw two words that popped out to me the most, which were the words fallen monument. I think it is strange to think that the townspeople saw Miss Emily as a fallen monument when throughout the story all they tell you is how she would never leave her house, with no one ever seeing her so how can she be a monument?
I think that both of these sentences are important to the story even if they are in different places, because they show us the how Miss Emily came off to the people around her. It shows us how they see her as a shut in and shut off from everyone. The first sentence describes why they went to the funeral after she was dead and the second one describes why the people around her think she acted the way she did, because of certain events like her boyfriend leaving and her father dieing.
I guess what interests me about these sentences and this story in general is the fact that you can see how people leap to conclusions about people without getting to actual know them. I also like this passage because in a way I feel like I can relate to this story. The reason being is that you always read stories and there is always some type of judgement. Another thing that there is always going to be judgement and sometimes I wish that stories wouldn't have as much in it.
I guess what I am saying is that this story was easy for me to relate to because I have always been judged in my life and I feel like even in writing and stories you cant escape the judgement of others.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Autobiography
My Name is MacKenzie Oliver. I am a sophomore at Eastern Oregon University this year. You can call me MacKenzie or I go back Kenzie. I have two majors currently Psychology and Theatre. My hobbies include motorcycle riding with my grandparents, playing water polo, swimming, and hiking with my family/friends. I haven't lived in Oregon all my life. I was born in Rochester, NY and moved here when I was 10 to live with my grandparents.
The story of my reading life is simple to me yet complex to others. I have gone thru a lot of things in my short life and I used reading as my outlet. When I was younger there was alot of fighting and arguing in my house so to get away from it I would run to my room and read the books my teachers in school had given me. My favorite memory from my past that involves reading was back when I was in 4th grade. I wasn't able to go home right after school and since I was shy my teacher would let me stay behind in her room after school and read. She would even stay until 7 or 8 o'clock at night if I was really into a story, because she knew I felt safe. As the year progressed, as I finished my school work she would let me go to the reading corner to read when I finished work. Thanks to that teacher I'm know my love for reading is so great because of that experience. I have had a college reading level since elementary school and I am proud of that. Currently, I enjoy reading true life stories from an authors childhood, but more specifically tragic ones. I enjoy reading these stories not only because they touch my heart and take me to a place I cant always go, but because when I read these stories they always make me think of two things. One is when I'm sad and I read these I realize my life is not as bad as their life is or was, and two it makes me strive to be a better person and one day help people similar to the ones in the story.
When I asked people what kind of books they liked to read and why I got some interesting answers. Two people told me they like to read science fantasy. When asked why they responded completely different. One told me it was because he liked the way the genre was written, because to him science fiction books are always a good story just waiting for him to read. The other told me it was because she liked to escape reality and be in her own world for a little bit. This woman also told me that she likes to read action adventures, because when she sits down to read them she gets pulled into the story and can't seem to stop reading. I then asked a close family friend what they liked to read and why, and was told my favorite type of book to read is a murder mystery. Slightly perplexed by this I asked her why she would want to read something so closely related with murder and death. In response she told me these books help her think, because she likes to try and figure out who committed the murder before she is told by the author. If she is right it makes her feel like she really is a detective and it makes her want to read more just like it.
All of these people like reading because it makes them think and escape reality, yet I like to read books that are closely related to reality, because I don't want to escape it I want to live it over and over again. They are all similar to me though because they all share the love for being able to sit down and read a good book for a while and just escape the drama that your everyday life throws at you. I also feel that by making the connection that I read for different reasons then them shows you that everyone is different and has gone thru different things, which in turn makes reading important in different ways then your own.
The story of my reading life is simple to me yet complex to others. I have gone thru a lot of things in my short life and I used reading as my outlet. When I was younger there was alot of fighting and arguing in my house so to get away from it I would run to my room and read the books my teachers in school had given me. My favorite memory from my past that involves reading was back when I was in 4th grade. I wasn't able to go home right after school and since I was shy my teacher would let me stay behind in her room after school and read. She would even stay until 7 or 8 o'clock at night if I was really into a story, because she knew I felt safe. As the year progressed, as I finished my school work she would let me go to the reading corner to read when I finished work. Thanks to that teacher I'm know my love for reading is so great because of that experience. I have had a college reading level since elementary school and I am proud of that. Currently, I enjoy reading true life stories from an authors childhood, but more specifically tragic ones. I enjoy reading these stories not only because they touch my heart and take me to a place I cant always go, but because when I read these stories they always make me think of two things. One is when I'm sad and I read these I realize my life is not as bad as their life is or was, and two it makes me strive to be a better person and one day help people similar to the ones in the story.
When I asked people what kind of books they liked to read and why I got some interesting answers. Two people told me they like to read science fantasy. When asked why they responded completely different. One told me it was because he liked the way the genre was written, because to him science fiction books are always a good story just waiting for him to read. The other told me it was because she liked to escape reality and be in her own world for a little bit. This woman also told me that she likes to read action adventures, because when she sits down to read them she gets pulled into the story and can't seem to stop reading. I then asked a close family friend what they liked to read and why, and was told my favorite type of book to read is a murder mystery. Slightly perplexed by this I asked her why she would want to read something so closely related with murder and death. In response she told me these books help her think, because she likes to try and figure out who committed the murder before she is told by the author. If she is right it makes her feel like she really is a detective and it makes her want to read more just like it.
All of these people like reading because it makes them think and escape reality, yet I like to read books that are closely related to reality, because I don't want to escape it I want to live it over and over again. They are all similar to me though because they all share the love for being able to sit down and read a good book for a while and just escape the drama that your everyday life throws at you. I also feel that by making the connection that I read for different reasons then them shows you that everyone is different and has gone thru different things, which in turn makes reading important in different ways then your own.
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