Monday, April 28, 2014
Research Paper Ideas
As I said in my previous blog, I plan on doing my research
paper on diabetes. This was something that I briefly hit during my TED talk, so
I would be able to go into more detail and expand on this. I would look at the
causes of it, different types, the current treatments, and the research that is
being done to find new cures and treatments. Diabetes is a disease that is very
prevalent around the area that we live in, so I could talk about those effects
as well. I plan on doing my paper from a narrative along with an informative
voice. Since I will be doing my paper on a topic that can be complicated and
not many people know about, I will be sure to go into detail and also explain
the smaller things. Some of the people that I have thought about interviewing were
either one of my parents, Jill Breyen, Kristen Klinefelter, and Paul Craft.
Both of my parents work in the health care field, and both have a background
with it. Jill and Kristen are both close family friends of ours, and they are
both dietitians. Jill works in Red Lake which has an extremely high rate of
diabetes. She works with it and sees it every single day. Paul is my God
Father. He has been affected by diabetes for many years now. He would be a
person that I feel comfortable with talking about it and he would also be able
to give me a lot of information.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Heart of Darkness Thesis
For my Heart of Darkness essay I plan on writing about how Africa was once an innocent and pure place until it was corrupted by the evil of the European man. The Europeans brought the evil to Africa. I plan on talking about why Conrad chose to use Africa as the setting of his book and how this may have helped portray this idea.
Some quotes I am looking at using are
"I've seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire." (Conrad, 82) This quote to me seems to say that a person, not a place has brought the evil to Africa.This is why Conrad chose to use the devil in this part of the text. I could also look at how he use many cases of comparing Marlow or Kurtz to a Buddha or God.
"...for he judged it necessary to inform me he feared neither God nor devil, let alone any mere man." (Conrad, 98) Here, Conrad is portraying Kurtz as a God, and a figure that everyone should fear. This helps to portray him as holding a great deal of power.
"...seemed to lead into the hear of an immense darkness." (Conrad, 164" As I interpreted this quote I feel as if Conrad is trying to say that imperialism has done its job and has left Africa as an 'immense darkness' just as it should. I think this quote would fit in nicely towards the end of my essay.
Any suggestions would be wonderful!
A topic that I am looking at doing for my research paper is the topic of diabetes. I somewhat looked at this for my TED talk, so I could go into more detail and expand on it. I would look at the causes of it, different types, the current treatments, and the research that is being done to find new cures and treatments. Diabetes is a disease that is very prevalent around the area that we live in, so I could talk about those effects as well.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Throughout the book Heart of Darkness, we see one group holding power over another looking through a postcolonial lens. The white men throughout the story remain dominant and powerful over the black men. The way that Conrad words the text and the way he uses imagery and symbolism helps portray these power roles. “I’ve seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire; but, by all the stars! these were strong, lusty, red-eyed devils, that swayed and drove men- men, I tell you.” (Conrad, 82) In the previous quote, Conrad refers to the slaves as ‘the devil’. Along with this, he uses the color red as a symbol. Red is a color commonly associated with bad or evil. By using this color throughout the text it helps Conrad to portray the slaves as weak and savages. He uses the words ‘greed’ and ‘violence’ to describe them. These words make them seem like animals, hungry for anything they can get ahold of and ready to attack. As Conrad portrays the slaves as animals, it helps to show that the white men are superior and hold power. The white men own and treat the slaves as animals. The slaves are taught to fear the white men, hence why the slaves seem so violent. This portrayal of the slaves as aggressive animals helps the reader to see that the white men hold dominance throughout the story and that everyone should fear them.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Throughout the short stories Rufus at the Door, Winning Sarah Spooner, and Agatha McGee and the St.Isidore Seven, Jon Hassler uses symbolism to portrayed how the charters take on different traits to hold power. He uses this portrayal to show how characters may succeeded and fail. Throughout Rufus at the Door, Rufus's mother takes on the typical role of a female and fails. In Winning Sarah Spooner and Agatha McGee and the St.Isidore Seven both woman take on feminine traits along with Masculine traits to portray and hold power throughout the story.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
RUFUS AT THE DOOR
The short story Rufus at the Door clearly
has social classes laid out. The people of the town are part of the
middle class. The inmates of the insane asylum are portrayed as part of
the lower class, even though they all came from family of middle class
citizens. Focusing on the character of Rufus, the audience perceives him
as part of the lower class because of his lower mental ability and his
inability to take care of himself. Rufus is put into a social class
solely on only these qualities. When the social classes are looked at
based on emotion and happiness, the situation of story are reversed.
Throughout the story the voice of the boy is always pointing out how
Rufus is constantly smiling. “...his hands clasped behind him, his eyes
directed at a point slightly above the passing people, his face locked
in its customary grin.” (Hassler, 24) Throughout the quote above,
Hassler uses imagery to help describe the scene he is picturing. He
clearly explains an image of what Rufus looks like. Rufus is loved very
much by his mother, he is happy, and he always has a grin on his face
because of this sense of love. He has a sense of pure happiness that no
one else in the town has. Looking at the social classes from a view of
emotion, we can see that Rufus has risen above the rest of the town and
become part of the upper class. As soon as Rufus’s mother passes away,
we see Rufus fall back down in the social class, and once again become
part of the lower class because his happiness from love no longer
exists. The story helps show the power that society’s idea of upper,
middle, and lower class has.
To revise this paper, I changed around some of the ways that I worded things in order to make it easier for the reader to understand. I also went back and analyzed more in depth on the quote I used. Overall, I did not change the main format and layout of this piece. I chose to use this piece of writing for my blog because out of all the stories we read, this one seemed to click the best. It kept me interested and didn't lose my attention. After the first page, I already had an idea of what I wanted to write about because the social classes were clearly laid out to me. I could tell that Rufus was going to be portrayed on the lower class from the start.
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