Class reflection #3- Dramatic irony vs. Verbal irony

    In "The Cask of Amontillado", I learned that there are two different types of irony and we distinguished between the two.  The examples provided for each helped me better understand the difference between the two.  Dramatic irony is when the reader perceives something that a character does not.  An example of this would be when Fortunado is descending down the catacombs, he's ironcially descending towards his death too.  We also said that anytime there is a costume or a dark staircase or when Montressor says 'long live your life" and "R.I.P".  Verbal irony means that the character says one thing but means something different.  One example of this is when Fortunado says "The cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough." (Poe 4).  Another example is when Montressor says how he drinks to Fortunado's long life.  The characters says one thing but we all know that he actually means the exact opposite.  I was never able to decipher between these two types of irony before this class.  Infact, I never even knew there were two kinds of irony to begin with!

Class reflection # 2- The class overall

      I will be completely honest, when I signed up for English 102 I had never even imagined that there would be this much work in a 100 level communications course.  This is probably because of the way my English 101 class was lectured.  In that class, we never had any homework assignment besides the four essays that we were to complete over the course of the semester.  My professor was very laid back and lenient and never really assigned firm due dates for any of those essays either.  Our class was mostly discussions on various topics and we would get side tracked a lot.  Everyone in the class was familular with each other since we also did group work at times.  I actually went into 101 as a first semester freshmen with the attitude I should have had going into this class. Guess I should have switched those two perceptions! I wouldn't say that my original attitude effected my performance in any way since English has always been one of my strong points and I naturally always try to excel at any task handed on to me.  I would say that out of all 5 of my classes, this was probably one of the classes I had to dedicate the most time to throughout the semester.  I thought we would read a few novels and that would be it.  But i'm glad that I was wrong about that part.  Throughout my education, teachers would always just throw such dull, uninteresting books at students and expect them to enjoy it.  I was never a fan and i'm glad that that wasn't the case this time.  The works of literature on the syllabus were usually pretty interesting for the most part and caught my attention right away.  I loved the stories with bizarre twists and exciting endings such as "The Cask of Amontillado", "Oedipus the King", and "The Lottery".  I also felt that the selection of poetry was enjoyable and actually helped me begin to like poetry.  The number of plays we were assigned to read was reasonable and i'm very glad that u removed the third essay from your syllabus because with everything else we had going on, I feel that it would have been a bit excessive to also have that on our plates as well.  I never took a class in which critical notes were only emphasized orally, but i'm glad that I was able to experience that since I know that will be extremely useful to me in the coming years in my college experience.  I did enjoy putting together my final blog portfolio but not so much the weekly posts.  Overall, I am happy I took this class because I learned many new things that I never knew before and was also able to develop new skills and techniques and improve on ones I already had.  This class has helped me prepare for the rest of the journey ahead and I will never underestimate a class again.

Class Reflection #1- Langston Hughes

         I remember looking through my syllabus the first day we received it and seeing that we were going to be assigned  poetry by Langston Hughes, I was actually really excited! I have always enjoyed his work ever since junior high school.  Throughout junior high and high school, I was required to recite a poem out loud every year infront my english class by memory for 'poetry out loud', from 6-12th grade.  And out of any poem that I ever picked to recite, "A Dream Deffered" was definitely my favorite one.  It was quite easy to grasp and I admired its simplicity and rhyme.  It was also fun to recite.  Poetry was never my strong point, I would dread every NY regents or final that required me to analyze a poem and answer questions on it.  But Hughes's work aloud me to see a whole other side of poetry that I never really was able to appreciate before.  And when we learned in class about how he was a social activist for equality, it only made me appreciate his work even more.  Many writers write their poetry about their lives and daily experiences but none stand out to me like Langstons'.  He was not only a writer, but a presenter of history trying to fight for justice for his people and eliminate the corruption and hate towards the black community.  What he discussed in his poetry was the time period of extreme racism and discrimination that he faced in his everyday life.  I find the time period he lived through to be extremely fascinating.  When we learned about how Hughes's dad had a strong dislike for his own people, I found that to be very shocking and shameful.  It was also sort of ironic since his son (Langston) had so much pride for who he was and was the total opposite.  Hughes consistently stood up for blacks and celebrated the legacy of his people throughout many of the pieces of literature we read by him this semester.  These works include but are not limited to"I,too", "Theme for English B", and "The Negro Speaks of Rivers".  Reading these helped me better understand Langston Hughes and what he stood for and made me even more interested in his work.  I love how every poem we read by him conveys a message and teaches you about this critical time period in history which is why they catch my attention. To me, Langston Hughes is not just a novelist, but also a hero.  He helped fight for a better America and I think if he were still alive, he would be very pleased with how far this country has gone since then considering our President is ufcourse black.  I believe that without his help we wouldn't be where we are today,  he contributed to making these reformations possible and I truly admire him.

Fast Facts on the life of Langston Hughes

         Two of the best timelines on Hughes's life to provide you with a great  background on him

                               http://www.kansasheritage.org/crossingboundaries/pagex6e3.html 

                                       http://www.shmoop.com/langston-hughes/timeline.html

                                         

•    A brief biography on Langston:  http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83

                                               

                     

An excerpt from Hughes's Poem "Cultural Exchange"

                                                        "Dreams and nightmares!
                                                          Nightmares, dreams, oh!
                                                         Dreaming that the Negroes
                                                        Of the South have taken over--
                                                        Voted all the Dixiecrats
                                                        Right out of power--

                                                     Comes the COLORED HOUR:
                                                     Martin Luther King is Governor of Georgia,
                                                     Dr. Rufus Clement his Chief Adviser,
                                                     A. Philip Randolph the High Grand Worthy.
                                                    In white pillared mansions
                                                    Sitting on their wide verandas,
                                                   Wealthy Negroes have white servants,
                                               White sharecroppers work the black plantations,
                                            And colored children have white mammies:" (36-50)

 Hughes is just once again demonstrating the pride he has for his people.  Throughout many of his poems (like this one), he constantly addressed racism and stressed social equality.  He also honored the legacy of black heritage.  In this poem,  Martin Luther King and Dr. Clement are perfect examples of this. 

Hughes- A Social Activist/ Poet

 
"I swear to the Lord, I still can't see, why Democracy means, everybody but me."

-Langston Hughes

Quotes by Langston Hughes

                                                           

"Beauty for some provides escape, who gain a happiness in eyeing the gorgeous buttocks of the ape or Autumn sunsets exquisitely dying."
-Langston Hughes (Brainyquote.com 1)

"Hold fast to your dreams, for without them life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly."
-Langston Hughes  (Brainyquote.com 1) 

"Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it."
-Langston Hughes  (Brainyquote.com 1) 

"I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go."
-Langston Hughes  (Brainyquote.com 1) 

"I will not take "but" for an answer."

-Langston Hughes  (Brainyquote.com 1) 

"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby."

-Langston Hughes  (Brainyquote.com 1) 

"Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you."
-Langston Hughes  (Brainyquote.com 1)

"Negroes - Sweet and docile, Meek, humble, and kind: Beware the day - They change their mind."
-Langston Hughes  (Brainyquote.com 1)



"When peoples care for you and cry for you, they can straighten out your soul."
-Langston Hughes  (Brainyquote.com 1) 

"An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose."
-Langston Hughes  (Brainyquote.com 1) 

Langston Hughe's Theme for English B

Poetry Essay- "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" & "Theme For English B"

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cLJQCaMQD-X2egOf3wCiVUmpshz5jqwLk6NPhw8MuvA/edit

Blog Assignment #10- A Doll's House Option #1

      In “A Doll’s House” by Ibsen, the Helmers constantly make a conscious effort to portray their life as perfect and worry free.  They consistently tried very hard to disguise their suffering and harsh reality.  Torvald especially was ashamed, and felt that disclosing the truth would tarnish his manhood and his pride.  He only discusses his struggles and faces reality behind closed doors.  The Helmers show various instances of hiding in the play,  one example of this, was Nora’s over spending.   Nora becomes very caught up with the holiday season since every Christmas they had to economize. She dreams of a lavish lifestyle so much so that she’s almost living in her own fantasy land spending money that her family doesn’t actually have and buying things she can’t afford, all to create the illusion of wealth and financial stability.   When her friend Mrs. Linde visits and asks how shes been all these years, she begins by telling her about her husbands promotion and disgusises all their struggles. Her husband warns her of her foolish spending habits and reminds her that he still has yet to be promoted.   He also ironically warns her about borrowing money when he says “There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt” (Ibsen 3).  But we later discover that Nora had done just that to pay for their trip to Italy which is another example of hiding.  Torvald had always thought that the money for the trip had come from Nora’s father but in reality it came from one of his fellow co-workers.  Nora revealed the details of the loan to Mrs. Linde, but didn’t tell her who the source of the money was.  She kept the name secret and asked Mrs. Linde to keep the whole situation secret from Torvald.  When Krogstad threatned to blackmail Nora, she was caught in her web of lies and deceit.  Krogstad who gave Nora the loan was also keeping the secret until Trovald fired him.  Which then revealed that Krogstad and  Mrs. Linde were old time lovers and Trovald finds out about his wife’s loan.  The play’s storyline revolves around lies, secrets, denial, and revelations.