Southern Literature

2006-04-26T15:55:00.000-07:00

The Poem I decided to blog about is Cherrylog road. It seemed as if we were in a junk yard with the main character. I felt very drawn in by this poem and the language made me feel as if I were there. He made the cars seem real by describing the colors of the cars and how they looked with rust on them. I feel that Dickey writes a lot about sexual experiences. Again, in this poem, he talks about the encounters that he has with his girlfriend in the junk yard. He made me feel that he cared for her a lot and the moments they shared together were something special to him.

2006-04-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

I think everyone did a great job on the presentations. I learned a lot from all of them. I really like the paintings in Cassy and Tina’s presentation. I found it really interesting how he used such cheap materials and they are such famous and beautiful paintings.
I was really interesting in the music presentation that Kevin ad Julie did. I learned a lot about the different kinds. I have to agree that there are many wanna-be cowboys and cowgirls and that it is becoming more popular but it isn’t sounding like the older style at anymore at all. It has more of a pop sound to it. This is just my opinion. I enjoyed learning about creole and cajun style food. I liked how they were compared. I love that kind of food and love to cook so thanks for teaching me something new! I thought that Kevin and Diane did a great job at analying the color purple. I love that movie and it was a very unique way to do a presentation.

2006-04-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

I was little lost with O’connor’s way of setting “A Good Man is Hard to Find” I found it kind of confusing and dark. Why was the mother more on the outside of the story? I felt a little dissatisfied with this story. I did however find it different and unique from the other stories that we have read already.

2006-03-29T10:05:00.000-08:00

Usually I don’t like to read the book and watch the movie version. When I read something, I like to be able to picture things in my mind, the way I see it. I do like this movie though. I have noticed that the movie shows more feeling than the book. I can’t get that much feeling from stage directions as I do in film. I guess a movie is sometimes better because you can see the facial expressions and gestures just as they are meant to be. The film was definitely censored a bit from the screenplay. For instance, there is no reference to the four letter word or to homosexuality. When thinking about the actors and how they portray the characters, I think that Stanley is a very sexual and physical character. He seems to always be sweaty and have a tight t-shirt on that shows off his body. When he takes his shirt off in front of Blanche, I think this was maybe the director’s way of setting up some sexual tension between the two. Like we discussed in class, the director may have done this to lessen the harshness of the rape later on. As for Blanche, I thought she was much more dramatic in the book than she is on screen. That might be just my opinion. I liked how she touches her face when she is being flirty and looks down when she’s nervous. I do like this movie and I think that the actors all do a great part; however I do still like to JUST watch the movie or JUST read the book

2006-03-22T16:40:00.000-08:00

I have read this once before and I like it even more this time around! I can almost relate to the relationship between Blanche and Stella. My sister is younger than I am but is definitely Blanche. She fishes for compliments and criticizes others looks and their sense of style all the time. It is only to make herself feel better… like Blanche. Blanche criticizes Stella a great deal but does show a real concern for her younger sister when Stanley shows his bad side. I really like how Blanche fishes for compliments from Stanley and he won’t give her any. I found this humorous. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it is nice to be complimented every now and then but she strives off of compliments and needs to be told how great she looks by everyone she comes into contact with. I think its funny that Stella gives into her just to shut her up.

2006-03-15T14:12:00.000-08:00

As I started reading Their Eyes Were Watching God, I realized that I was going to like this book. I enjoyed her passage that we read the other day and felt that she was positive and was a fun author.
In this story, the first theme that I saw was womanhood and self identity. She wanted to marry for love and affection and not protection like nanny wanted her too. I think that Nanny meant well when she wanted her to marry Logan. She wanted her grand daughter to have a better life than she did or even that her daughter had. Nanny tells Janie “’Taint Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection!” All nanny wants for her is to be something that she could never be.
Another theme I picked up on was gender roles and the role of a wife. When she marries killicks, he wants her out helping him with the fire wood and manure…She doesn’t want to be bothered with that. She wants to be loved and cared for. So far, many changes have happened in the book for Janie. They all push her to find herself and help her figure out what she wants out of life.

2006-03-01T14:53:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed reading porter. It was a nice change from Faulkner, I was getting tired hearing about hunting and these negative interracial relationships and such, I was getting lost in it all. The relationship between Miss Sopia and Nannie, although it was a relationship between a black woman and white woman, They seemed to have a wonderful friendship and a special bond. Something I can relate to. I also though that Miranda was rather cute. She is somewhat of a tomboy and doesn’t care about getting all dirty playing outside with her brother. She also liked to go hunting with her brother. This wasn’t something that little girls did back then. She also shows a girly side too… When she puts on the ring that she found in the old grave, she wants to go back to the house, take a bath and look pretty. This reminds me of myself as a small girl.

2006-02-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I am not a fan of Faulkner and this book. I am happy that it is almost over. I have a hard time reading deeper into the story. Once we go over the stories in class, I seem to have a better understanding of what is going on. By the time I read the bear, I realized I had to read deeper and ask myself questions as I went along. As I read the Bear, I realized that Boon has feelings and is not the immature drunk that he is seen to be. He is connected to Lion on an emotional level and can relate to the dog on some level. He takes responsibility for the dog but cannot take responsibility for anything else. It shows that he is not as rough and brave as the rest of the world. I think that Lion fills an emotional need in Boon. I almost felt bad for him considering that he only had a dog to show his feelings to and not another human. I felt bad for Boon when the Lion dies. He no longer has anything to watch over and take care of.

2006-02-22T09:57:00.000-08:00