Hutchinson's Bloggerosa

I would say the most important thing I have learned from this class is how literature is interpreted.  The story, " A Rose for Emily" tells of the once grandiose house that is now an eyesore.  I would have never looked at this house as a symbol of the Old South and how it had faded even down to the color of the house that is not as "pure white" as it once was.  To me, that symbolism is fascinating.

I chose to compare Imani's blog post and I agree with her that many women in modern times now have the opportunity to go to school, work and better themselves.  Staying at home, if they choose to do so, doesnt make them less of a woman but it is good that women in the modern era have the option.  For the male version of the blog, I chose Zachary Reid's post.  Zachary brings up a good point that grandparents now play a major role in helping to raise children due to the fact that more women are entering the workplace and arent staying home to be housewives.

The modern woman of today compared to Nora in the story, "A Doll's House" isn't really that different.  There are many families where the woman of the family doesn't have a job outside the home and the man is the money maker of the household.  There are some families where the husband prefers the wife doesnt work and there are families where the wife is expected to work.  I think Nora likes the idea of not having to work but she knows how to make money when the family needs it. That happens in modern families also.

The best plot in a movie has to be Jurassic Park.  As a lover of dinosaurs, I think this movie is amazing, timeless and still awesome over 20 years after its release date.  To see dinosaurs alive and moving rather than in bone form in a museum, Jurassic Park gives life and personality to the dinosaurs and the chance to see them in person.  Aside from the major setback that results in loss of life for some and total devastation for others, Jurassic Park was still a monumental idea that made for an awesome movie.

My favorite television show is Friends.  The setting of the show bounces between a coffee shop and an apartment.  The settings of the show are important to the story lines because they remain relatively simple and show a sense of community between the friends.  Whether it is the apartment or the coffee shop, both locations are where the plot of the show starts and ends. 

In E.E. Cumming's "next to of course god america i", irony is present in the author's description of the soldiers as "happy dead".  It is only my opinion but I feel that soldiers willingly die for their cause but to say they are happy to do it, goes beyond my realm of understanding and willingness to accept.  The same type of irony is present in the song, "There is a light that never goes out" by The Smiths.  One lines says, "if a double decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side, is such a heavenly way to die."  Again, as sweet as it would be to die with your loved one, a human being would never, in my opinion, look forward to or be okay with dying in such a horrific way even if the love of their life was doing it with them. 

Both the song "Every Rose has It's Thorn" and the short story, "A Rose for Emily" have symbolism in them.  In the song, the rose is something good and the thorn is the something bad that most seemingly perfect things have.  Nothing is perfect and as the lyrics say, "Every rose has it's thorn, just like every night has its dawn. Just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song, every rose has it's thorn."  In the story "A Rose for Emily", the dilapidated house is symbolic of the fading and dying, old South.  "It was a big squarish frame house that had once been white...".  The house no longer being the high statured house that it once was is symbolic of how the South isn't the same South as it was in years prior.

A flower that doesn't bloom until you are finished looking at it, is what poetry is to me.  Once it has bloomed, I may either like or dislike the finished product.

A metaphor of my life right now could be "whirlwind of emotions".  I have a son who will be a senior in high school next year who will more than likely move away to go to college, I have a son who just joined the Navy who will be leaving January 9th and I have a special needs son with behavioral issues who just came to live with my husband and I full time.  All of these things happening right now have my emotions going in every direction. Never Eat Shredded Wheat, Some coming, some going, All off to their own retreat.

Images can mean different things to different people because we all have different life experiences.  For example, somebody who has traveled the world will have a broader range of imagery than someone who has only read of or seen pictures of different places and different things.  There is more left to the imagination if all you have is a description of something.  Having just returned from a Hawaiian vacation, the poem Windsurfing  has a very vivid image to me because windsurfers were always in the water showing off their skill.  The line, "It rides upon the wrinkled hide..." accurately describes the way the windsurfer seems to just float above and ride on the waves.  

My laundry literally feels like it never ends.  I think that my family is made up of super-heros who change their outfits multiple times a day.  I am the superhero whose only power is to wash and dry the clothing, not fold and put them away-that is my kryptonite.

The Poem, Latin Night at the Pawn Shop, by Martin Espada uses a couple of mythological elements.  The poem uses the phrase, "apparition of a salsa band".  An apparition is a ghost or a ghostlike image of something.  Espada describes the instruments for sale in a pawn shop as the apparitions of a salsa band because they aren't being used and they have been put away to die.  Espada also uses the line, "all with price tags dangling like the city morgue ticket on a dead man's toe".  This further shows to the reader that the author compares the instruments in the store to a salsa band that has seen it's last day.  The mythological element that is present is the archetype of death.

Mythological elements that may be present in my life... *The Number 1018.  Lots of weird stuff going on here.  I see the number 1018 all the time and I mean all the time.  Always have.  If i open a book, page 1018, see an address, its 1018.  I was born at 10:18  in the morning and my best friend was born October 18th.  There are so many occurrences of this number in my life that I joke about when I go to heaven, I'm going to ask God what the deal was with that.  I predict He is going to tell me that it wasn't anything at all and He was just jacking with me.

I would love nothing more than to one day, than to be the type of woman that is described in the following verses.   Proverbs 31:10-31  The Bible- The message translation Hymn to a Good Wife 10-31  A good woman is hard to find,      and worth far more than diamonds. Her husband trusts her without reserve,      and never has reason to regret it. Never spiteful, she treats him generously      all her life long. She shops around for the best yarns and cottons,      and enjoys knitting and sewing. She’s like a trading ship that sails to faraway places      and brings back exotic surprises. She’s up before dawn, preparing breakfast      for her family and organizing her day. She looks over a field and buys it,      then, with money she’s put aside, plants a garden. First thing in the morning, she dresses for work,   ...

When the stars burn down and the earth wears out And we stand before the throne With the witnesses who have gone before We will rise and all applaud Singing blessing and honor, glory and power Forever to our God The words in bold are lyrics from a song by Gospel artists, Phillips, Craig and Dean.  The name of the song is When the Stars Burn Down.  Everytime I hear that line in the song it stirs up many emotions in me and gives me a sense of peace and excitement at the same time.  It is a song that touches me.

The current them of my life is get in there and get it done.  I have tried college more times than I want to admit.  Life has gotten in the way in the past and I have dropped school only to pick it up again, years later.  I have always wanted to be a teacher for my "real job". I love the idea of grading papers, using red pen, using a chalkboard, taking attendance, having a desk-things that I acted out a child. Along with being a teacher, I also wanted to be an astronaut, a paleontologist, and a marine biologist. Could I have done those things?  Yes.  I could have done all of those things if I would have TRIED.  Here it is, 2017 and I find myself in the classroom again.  I am looking forward to graduating and starting my "real job" as a teacher and fulfilling my dream. 

I would say that the current "theme" of the United States is Proceed with Caution.  I support our President, I support our troops, I stand during the national anthem and I pray for the division in the country be healed.  I believe that America is in place it has never been before and it is scary at times.

I like Rhaeven's response to people asking if her piercings hurt. "Did that hurt?" My inner response is always "Of course getting poked by a needle would hurt!" Whenever I see someone with a piercing somewhere besides their earlobe, I ask myself, not the person, the same thing.  When I was 22 years old (long time ago), I pierced my belly button.  When I called to schedule the appointment I asked the lady, "Does it hurt?"  Her reply was, "nah."  She lied to me.  I have my ears pierced and if they closed up I would be chicken to pierce them again.  Thank God my mom did it when I was a toddler!   http://rhaeven.blogspot.com/2017/09/post-9-what-symbolizes-you.html https://engl1101gary.blogspot.com/ I'm not able to put this quote in my post for some reason but anyway, this blog by Gary reminds me of my husband.  Raised by a very militant father, my husband was always told that people with facial are often viewed as not trustworthy. Up u...

One item that I wear often is a cross necklace adorned with various shades of blue sapphires.  The cross symbol has always meant a lot to me because it represents my Christian faith.  Even though the cross isn't the only facet or symbol of Christianity, it is the one that is most prevalent when it comes to jewelry.  I like what the cross stands for, what it facilitated and what came after it served its purpose.

https://english110127tdeason.blogspot.com/ https://zacharyreid94.blogspot.com/ Both Zachary and Tiffany had different viewpoints on the setting of the story Geese and both show different perspectives.  Zachary's was one that I had never thought of but one that makes good sense.  I like it.  Tiffany had a less complex idea but that too was good.  Interesting to see how many viewpoints and perspectives can come from one story.

In the short story, Geese, the setting is important because it reflects the state that the characters in the story are in.  The small apartment offers no amenities other than space to inhabit, same as Japan.  The characters are foreigners and their value to the people of Japan is minute.  Eventually money runs out, visas expire, jobs end, food supply dwindles and the once exciting opportunity that Japan was, becomes a wasteland that forces retreat.  The setting is dark, depressing and less than hopeful.

Karen Van Der Zee's short story, A Secret Sorrow is not a reflection of the life she has lived.  Van Der Zee, an author, wrote many erotic stories in addition to A Secret Sorrow.  From what her biography reads, Karen's life has been eclectic.  Traveling to foreign lands, marrying the love of her life, children, and of course, writing is what Karen's life has consisted of.  The stories that she writes may be of a life that she has no experience with, but instead, one that her imagination created for her readers, to reach them on their level.  Not too sure about erotic reads, but a story about a woman dealing with insecurities is a story many women could relate to. http://www.karenvanderzee.com/biography/

There is one event that I feel will play on in my mind and affect the rest of my life.  It was my "shaper."  In 2003, my husband and the father to my two boys was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of 24.  I was 22.  Through God's grace and mercy, my boys and I were able to make it through the tough time, just us three and now we are in a good spot in life. We have scars and no they wont go away but we don't have the wounds anymore.  God healed those.

I am still waiting to receive my textbook from the Pony Express.  Having said that, I can tell what I think of Faulkner's style of "plotting" from what I read in A Rose for Emily.  Faulkner uses a method that engages the reader without taking them on a chronological ride though Emily's life. Staring with her death to ending with her death, Emily is portrayed through a series of events that paint a picture of her and how the town sees her.  This story proves that to have a great piece of literature, the ingredient of chronological timetables isn't always necessary and can, in fact, make for a remarkable story that enthralling the readers. http://www.public.coe.edu/~theller/essays/rose.html

After reading some of the stories in class so far, I have to say that none of the plots really compare to the plot of my life. My life, like most individual's, starts with my birth in 1980. I was a young parent, a young wife, a young widow, and now I am a young parent (to have kids in college), a newlywed (5 years), an older sophomore in college and when I graduate I will be considered older for starting a new career. I have had ups and downs in life but they have shaped me into who I am today. I like to think that if I were to sit down and put it on paper and bind it, my life would make for a best selling book!

When asked what my favorite movie is, a myriad of different titles come to my mind.  Much like my taste in music, my taste for particular genres of movies is broad.  My mood, current financial situtation, how my kids are behaving, good hair day vs bad hair day, and my love life all play a small role in what kind of movie I want to watch.  I have a pretty swell husband so I will gladly watch a romance movie anytime.  The Notebook, based on the Nicholas Sparks novel, tops my list as one of my favorite movies.  If you have yet to see this movie, I highly recommend watching it because it is a movie that reaches the audience of both men and women.  The movie tells the story of young lovers who drift apart but reconnect later in life.  The female character Ally, played by Rachel McAdams, is a strong-willed, vibrant woman.  Her love interest Noah, played by Ryan Gosling, is also a strong-willed character who knows what and who he wants in life.  Aft...

My name is Jennifer Hutchinson and I am a mother to three great boys ages 12, 16 and 18.  Originally from Illinois, I have lived in the Macon area for ten years and have grown accustomed to the Southern way of living- I have "drank the sweet tea," if you will. Georgia now feels like home to me and I have accepted the fact that a cart is a buggy, pop is soda, cornbread isn't sweet, macaroni and cheese is a vegetable and let's not forget, Go Dawgs!   When I'm not at school, I enjoy spending time with my family on the lake, thrifting, going out to eat and running.  My ultimate goal is to be a high school English teacher and I am very excited to achieve that goal in the next couple of years.