It feels like home, looks like it too. Its quiet, its small, its secluded. Its absolutely
perfect and I love it. Its my getaway from the city, my home away from home. The fields;
the deer and turkey in the fields all keep me calm and remind me of how my home in
North Carolina was, quiet and peaceful and just beautiful. It may be quiet but that’s how I
like it. The town is small too and there isn’t much to do but I’m fine with that.
-I was inspired to write this description of a place because the place i am talking about really does remind me of home, from how it is so secluded and not much going on, to the open spaces and fields. Cows in one field, horses in another and even some sheeps and chickens. At the back or even in the middle of them you may be able to spot a buck or doe or a few of them together and it is a beautiful sight; nature.
It is like my getaway from the city, my getaway from the noise and busy-ness of everything. Its peaceful and serene and i also get to hang out with people i havent seen in months. That in itself is an awesome reunion along with catching up with nature.
-This piece takes place in Worcester, NY or rather the town within the town of Worcester called Decatur, its as small and country-fied as it sounds.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Blog post #5
Responding to a Personal Memoir
Sharon Solwitz, "Abracadabra"
Summary of Memoir:
This was about the author losing one of her sons to cancer, it showed her struggle and times when she remembered how he was feeling and thinking. It also talked about him and his twin brother and how they acted towards each other. It was also as if through the memoir she was giving herself advice as to how to continue on with her life and maybe even with the story because it was so hard for her. Though she had good memories of him, she also had to deal with the ones of when he was very sick but still had a positive attitude about his life.
"My mind is sludge; undifferentiated. No feelings, thoughts. No images even, of friends, family. I'm sorry, Seth, my other son. Remaining son. Twin, untwinned. Now his face comes, fleshy (he fattened up while Jesse shrank). It means nothing to me." pg. 673
-This part in the memoir was really touching to me because it seemed like she was figuring out how she was supposed to feel but wasnt sure, and she was sorry for her son that lost his brother. Shes confused and just all mixed up, thats how hard it has hit her and she just doesnt know how to take it.
"He and Seth walking together slong the sidewalk, bumping into each other, not as a dominance game but as an unconscious joining, a return to their junction in utero. In a room they'd gravitate toward each other till they were leaning on one another, a proximity that most other pairs would have found irksome. As if, for nourishment, the bodies needed physical contact." pg. 674
-This is the author remembering how close her 2 sons were, as if they were joined at the hip and would always be close. I get that it would probably be that way if he didnt pass and she is thinking of that too.
she is showing how hard it is on her other son too because of how close they were. They were unlike any other pair of twins who probably wouldnt like to always be so close all the time like they were.
"It's not Jesse lost, it's me, lost without him. I was one of four, the one female in the family photo, my hand on a boy's shouder, beside Barry behind boy number two. Four seats filled at the restaurant four-top. A carful: two in front, two in back. Four playing Cranium, hearts. We never got to bridge.
Three is stable, but barely." pg. 676
-The author is remembering when it was 4 people and not 3, she is lost without her son not the other way around and its hurting her most of all. this is very touching because shes remembering how it use to be, with all four of them together and happy. By her saying that three is stable, but barely, she is refering to how tough it will be to be "normal" again without her son.
Even though her memoir is sad, it shows her true self, it shows her vulnerability and i like how she put herself out like that. it shows she isnt scared to take risks even with something so very personal and heartbreaking.
Sharon Solwitz, "Abracadabra"
Summary of Memoir:
This was about the author losing one of her sons to cancer, it showed her struggle and times when she remembered how he was feeling and thinking. It also talked about him and his twin brother and how they acted towards each other. It was also as if through the memoir she was giving herself advice as to how to continue on with her life and maybe even with the story because it was so hard for her. Though she had good memories of him, she also had to deal with the ones of when he was very sick but still had a positive attitude about his life.
"My mind is sludge; undifferentiated. No feelings, thoughts. No images even, of friends, family. I'm sorry, Seth, my other son. Remaining son. Twin, untwinned. Now his face comes, fleshy (he fattened up while Jesse shrank). It means nothing to me." pg. 673
-This part in the memoir was really touching to me because it seemed like she was figuring out how she was supposed to feel but wasnt sure, and she was sorry for her son that lost his brother. Shes confused and just all mixed up, thats how hard it has hit her and she just doesnt know how to take it.
"He and Seth walking together slong the sidewalk, bumping into each other, not as a dominance game but as an unconscious joining, a return to their junction in utero. In a room they'd gravitate toward each other till they were leaning on one another, a proximity that most other pairs would have found irksome. As if, for nourishment, the bodies needed physical contact." pg. 674
-This is the author remembering how close her 2 sons were, as if they were joined at the hip and would always be close. I get that it would probably be that way if he didnt pass and she is thinking of that too.
she is showing how hard it is on her other son too because of how close they were. They were unlike any other pair of twins who probably wouldnt like to always be so close all the time like they were.
"It's not Jesse lost, it's me, lost without him. I was one of four, the one female in the family photo, my hand on a boy's shouder, beside Barry behind boy number two. Four seats filled at the restaurant four-top. A carful: two in front, two in back. Four playing Cranium, hearts. We never got to bridge.
Three is stable, but barely." pg. 676
-The author is remembering when it was 4 people and not 3, she is lost without her son not the other way around and its hurting her most of all. this is very touching because shes remembering how it use to be, with all four of them together and happy. By her saying that three is stable, but barely, she is refering to how tough it will be to be "normal" again without her son.
Even though her memoir is sad, it shows her true self, it shows her vulnerability and i like how she put herself out like that. it shows she isnt scared to take risks even with something so very personal and heartbreaking.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Blog post #3
(Part of my vignette)
When I got home from the last day of school there was a big U-Haul truck in our
yard with all our stuff in it, and that’s when it hit me that we were really moving. I guess I
just blocked that fact until then. My mom and a few of her friends were taking out the last
few things from the house and then she had to go to the airport to pick up her boyfriend
so I had to stay home with my little sister until she got back and that took about 2 or 3
hours. I walked through every room in a kind of sorrowful way because I knew I would
miss the house I grew up in.
I wanted to write about this because it was a big turning point in my life and something i knew i would never forget. I chose this paragraph because it makes me remember that day and how it really did hit me that i was actually moving from my home town. The piece as a whole is centered around me moving from North Carolina to New York which is indeed a very big move because i was coming from a very small town to a huge city that i only saw on tv and was depicted as gritty and tough.
For my final portfolio i am thinking of adding a few other things about before i moved to NY and how i was feeling about it, but i dont want to put too much detail.
When I got home from the last day of school there was a big U-Haul truck in our
yard with all our stuff in it, and that’s when it hit me that we were really moving. I guess I
just blocked that fact until then. My mom and a few of her friends were taking out the last
few things from the house and then she had to go to the airport to pick up her boyfriend
so I had to stay home with my little sister until she got back and that took about 2 or 3
hours. I walked through every room in a kind of sorrowful way because I knew I would
miss the house I grew up in.
I wanted to write about this because it was a big turning point in my life and something i knew i would never forget. I chose this paragraph because it makes me remember that day and how it really did hit me that i was actually moving from my home town. The piece as a whole is centered around me moving from North Carolina to New York which is indeed a very big move because i was coming from a very small town to a huge city that i only saw on tv and was depicted as gritty and tough.
For my final portfolio i am thinking of adding a few other things about before i moved to NY and how i was feeling about it, but i dont want to put too much detail.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Blog assignment #2: Reading Description
Response to Annie Dillard's Total Eclipse (in the book Creating Nonfiction)
-"I lay in bed and looked at the painting on the hotel room wall. It was a print of a detailed and lifelike painting of a smiling clown's head, made out of vegetables. It was a painting of the sort which you do not intend to look at, and which, alas, you never forget." pg. 284
-"Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him, or as flying in an airplane does to falling out of an airplane. Although the one experience precedes the other, it in no way prepares you for it." pg. 286
-"There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world. We were the world's dead people rotating and orbiting around and around, embedded in the planet's crust, while the earth rolled down." pg. 288
I chose these quotes because they are very descriptive, the author uses alot of detail and shows, through her writing, how she was feeling or what she was feeling as the event was unfolding, which was her experiencing a total eclipse.
I chose the first quote because it was very interesting to me how she remembered a random painting from a hotel, but the words she uses makes you want to believe her. It kind of is like when you go somewhere for the first time and see something out of the ordinary, you are most likely going to remember it whether it was strange or not, in her case it was a painting of a clown made out of vegetables.
The next quote i chose (from page 286) was also interesting to me because the author used similes to get a better understanding of what she was trying to tell the reader. She was saying that a partial eclipse isnt the same as a total eclipse and there are differences like when you are in an airplane versus when you are falling out of one, it is a completely different experience and i just liked how she used that to tell the reader what she was experiencing.
The last quote i chose was very descriptive and i liked how the author made it so the reader could visualize those things happening and i just thought it was a very good piece of imagery.
-"I lay in bed and looked at the painting on the hotel room wall. It was a print of a detailed and lifelike painting of a smiling clown's head, made out of vegetables. It was a painting of the sort which you do not intend to look at, and which, alas, you never forget." pg. 284
-"Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him, or as flying in an airplane does to falling out of an airplane. Although the one experience precedes the other, it in no way prepares you for it." pg. 286
-"There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world. We were the world's dead people rotating and orbiting around and around, embedded in the planet's crust, while the earth rolled down." pg. 288
I chose these quotes because they are very descriptive, the author uses alot of detail and shows, through her writing, how she was feeling or what she was feeling as the event was unfolding, which was her experiencing a total eclipse.
I chose the first quote because it was very interesting to me how she remembered a random painting from a hotel, but the words she uses makes you want to believe her. It kind of is like when you go somewhere for the first time and see something out of the ordinary, you are most likely going to remember it whether it was strange or not, in her case it was a painting of a clown made out of vegetables.
The next quote i chose (from page 286) was also interesting to me because the author used similes to get a better understanding of what she was trying to tell the reader. She was saying that a partial eclipse isnt the same as a total eclipse and there are differences like when you are in an airplane versus when you are falling out of one, it is a completely different experience and i just liked how she used that to tell the reader what she was experiencing.
The last quote i chose was very descriptive and i liked how the author made it so the reader could visualize those things happening and i just thought it was a very good piece of imagery.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Blog post #1
Hi im Serena Small and this is my blog for my english class eng 274, to introduce myself ill start off with saying im originally from north carolina where ive lived since i was a baby and i moved here just 4 years ago, yeah big change but i got use to it and now i love it. This is the first big city ive been to so it did take some time getting used to. I remember when i first moved here and started going to school i was so scared of taking the subway and that i was going to get lost but fortunately i already made a few friends and they helped me get around. Another thing about me is that im an outdoorsy type of person and i love sports, the main one being baseball and i also like to shoot archery and go hunting with my stepdad. Its an amazing experience and ive loved it ever since he brought me into it. I love archery too even though its frustrating at times but i just keep on doing it because i love it so much. We go hunting upstate and i love it up there, even though theres not much to do where we go but i like it anyways and i call my friends up there my redneck buddies =] Some more about me is that i use to really love writing when i was younger and i use to always make up stories but now not so much, i have to get back into that of course..and i love reading all kinds of books.
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