The final post on: The Lazarus Project

(I accidentally blogged on a reading for next week, I'll use that as next week's blog and go ahead and do the following blog for Friday's credit. Sorry for accidentally skipping ahead.)

The Lazarus Project has been a relatively good read, especially better than what I was expecting. I'm not into reading as much as I probably should be, so I tend to dread assignments that require a reading thats more then 50 pages! Anyways, for the last section of the book, I'm going to blog on the section from 241 to 245. It starts off with a gruesome depiction of Mr. Mandelbaum being destroyed and beaten. He is slowly torn apart, begging for mercy and recieving none. After presuming him dead, the story continues to display more disgust of these people who are hurting them. They ransacked Mr. Mandelbaum's story and evenutally made their way into his house. Every member of the family was scared and in shock, while the narrator kept thinking to herself that there is no way they could enter their home, for it was her home and did not belong to anyone else. Boy was she mistaken! The pogroms even knew their names when knocking down the door to perform more destruction. I thought this was disturbing just as the narrator did, how in the world would they care to know anyone's names that they were about to harm? And if they did know them by name, why would they be harming them in the first place? The swine attempted to rape the woman holding Lazarus, and this caused Lazarus to lash out and attempt to save her. He was then hurt badly and sounded as if he had been thrown around so bad that he was dead. By the end of the story, the narrator and Roza were the only ones left, apparent from the movement. Roza did not speak and she just peered out the window, emotionless.

I decided to blog on this piece because I feel like it captures more the disgusting treatment that the pograms felt necessary. I feel for these people who obviously did nothing wrong but were shamelessly hurt. It's odd to think that such pain could be inflicted on a person and the one doing this, the pogram in this case, feels no remorse. It's unreal to think that a person could live with even hurting a child like they did Lazarus in this section. This all relates back to the entire theme of the story and the end plot of Lazarus being unlawfully shot many times for false accusations. The assumptions people make on behalf of their own well-being is absurd!

"Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice"

This piece is a touching piece with two aspects that I'd like to focus on in my blog. Firstly, I'd like to visit the issue with the current girlfiend and the narrator. The narrator seems to be in a pretty serious relationship with Linda, however he is keeping this love from his parents and definitely hiding it from his father. Linda even specifically asks the narrator if he has told his father of past exes and he doesn't even respond, meaning that he probably did. I think that if I was Linda, I would be extremely uncomfortable with knowing that the father is coming to visit and he is not being told about me. I was also interested in how Linda dealt with her frustration and sadness with the narrator when he wouldn't tell his father about their relationship. She kissed him on the forehead and didn't want to leave the argument without showing some sort of affection. I have to say I admire this because if I'm ever in a heated arguement or disagreement I tend to let my negative emotions take over and wouldn't be able to show affection. Secondly, I'd like to talk about the narrators attempt at writing a important literature piece for some upcoming deadline. He is stuck for a majority of the story until the dad and him begin to talk and he gets the idea to write a "Ethnic Story." This first story was seen by his dad one morning, and was read without the narrators consent. The dad doesn't approve because it has some "mistakes." The narrator and his father end up talking, drinking, and explaining past experiences so that a better version can be written. That night another version was written and again picked up unexpectedly by the father. The father took the story on a walk and was not back in time for the narrator to turn it in to meet the deadline. This was disappointing to me, the reader, because I was happy that the dad and son were able to rekindle some sort of bond in the talking and sharing the night before. The father took the story to a person on the street and had it burned to ashes....enough said. I don't agree with the father for doing this, but I can see his perspective because he wanted his stories to be kept between him and his son only. As he said previously, no one else would find importance in the stories that were told. They would clap for the reading, and then forget it immeadiately. The title of this piece is truly depicted in each section as the days pass by and the father's visit continues.

The Lazarus Project

This story is shaping up to be an interesting attempt at the American Dream. The story is told in two seperate narratives in either present times or past times. Lazarus was a ninteteen year old who came to Chicago in hopes of achieving the hopeful american dream. His dream was cut short when George Shippy shot him, accusing him of being an anarchist. This was an unfortunate turn of events for Lazarus. George Shippy accused him of such unreal things because he was a Jew, and during this time period being of that descent was discriminated against. I wanted to write about this because I don't see the purpose in anyone killing someone strictly due to their religous affliliation. I am a firm believer of the idea that everyone is equal. In all honesty, I was definitely not raised to believe that everyone was equal. My mom and grandmother are strong believers in their race is the dominant race. They were not fans of the huge immigration movements that came to America and certainly were not a fan of the current president. Its thoughts of others such as these that make my belief in how strongly I disagree become relevant. This story is a great example of how Jewish people should not be discriminated against. The plot line is so unfortunate for this young man, he simple wanted to come to America and pursue a dream of being happy, healthy, and  of great wealth. This is sad that it was cut short by a police officer who seemed to think he was in danger just because the other gentlemen was not of his same religous descent.

Orbiting by Bharati Mukherjee

After attending class on Monday and hearing about her first work that we were supposed to read, it helped with better understanding this second reading. The plot surrounds itself around the narrators family coming to her home for Thanksgiving dinner. The family is not only being hosted by her, but is also meeting her new love. The narrator Renata is Italian American and her new boyfriend is Afganhi. This is the start of the true plot and meaning behind the story. Multiculturism is not only difficult to accept but it is also out of the norm for most. When I am bringing home a boy to meet the parents, I honestly do not know how they would accept me bringing home someone of a different race. In high school I was friendly with someone of the different race and I was immeadiately warned that I need not take it farther than a simple friendship. To me, this is very frustrating and I do feel for Renata. I feel now-a-days it is much more common for my generation of peers to have different views on Multiculturalism than our generation of parents. Anyways this entire story brings together in reality Bharati's true views on what being an American really is. Her dad first brings over the turkey and then continues to tell her that she needs to grow up. Points out that she doesn't have the right funiture and is simply not mature enough for her age. He thinks she needs to fit into what he believes and does not regard that she is still young. In the story Rindy says "All over the country, I tell myself, women are towing new lovers home to meet their families." This quote shows that she is comparing herself to women across America and sees this act as no big deal. She doesn't divide that everyone is with different races or any division at all. Ro apparently comes from a "macho culture" and likes to see Rindy be hit on by poor lonely men and then come sweep her away. This also shows a difference in culture.

Glengarry Glen Ross

The first half of the play was strictly focused on the robbery that occured. The second act and half of the book is focused on looking into the robbery. The whole play is really focused on men arguing and making sales for the better of the company. The arguing and anger that is present is really intense though and I don't exactly enjoy reading it. I feel like Roma is just looking for fights and doesn't care to get along with anyone in his office. One quote I felt that had a lot of importance to the play was said by Roma, "I swear it's not a world of men it's not a world of men, Machine it's a world of clock watchers, bureaucrats, officeholders what it is, it's a fucked up world there's no adventure to it. (Pause.) Dying breed. Yes it is. (Pause.) We are the members of a dying breed." This quote means that the "men" of the play are a dying breed because no one is doing meaningful things like those salesmen. He feels that the people in high positions aren't doing anything especially when he refers to clockwatchers and and officeholders in the same sentence. 

The Same River Twice

During our last class, we didn't have much time to discuss this book by Chris Offutt. It didn't take me long to see exactly what I would write about. It's funny to say but by reading this book, my biology class and english class are finally overlapping!! It's great to know that I can finally apply knowledge from one to benefit from the other. Chris is a man struggling to find his true purpose in life I feel like. He is always looking for more and seems to have high hopes and dreams that are so important to him that he can't even settle with his wife on having a baby. Fortunately Chris decides that he will agree to take part in babymaking, and even so, they still cannot get pregnant. They go to the doctor and physically they both check out as capable adults who can produce offspring. This is where my bio comes in! Just yesterday we have been learning about the female and male reproductive system. We learned certain techniques that would even give parents a better chance of making a girl or a boy if they wished to choose. That being said, none of these tips are always the case but sometimes it helps. Chris mentions that he was going to start wearing loose boxers, and we learned yesterday that it would more likely lead to having a son! After I read on, we will have to see what sex the baby will be, if they do end up having one! Also,  he talked about how when the testes are cold and hot, it makes a difference in sperm. This is true- we learned that the sperm like to live in a colder temperature environment as opposed to the rest of the body. That means that if Chris had been wearing tight boxers, they would be sitting in a much too warm environment to produce enough or healthy sperm. There are obviously many factors which the two adults attempting conception should take into consideration but I thought this was very interesting being as I had just learned about it yesterday! Now to find out if they can conceive and what sex this baby will be...

Guest Blogger: Maria Condatore

America is all I've ever known, but that is soon to change.
I love this place and the opportunities it provides
But I want to experience other places, and I will next spring.

Emergency by Denis Johnson

Wow that was a weird short story... After reading that story, I was confused and amazed by what some pills can do to a person's thoughts! The story was told in first person, and the first person was not trustworthy due to their use of drugs and misconceptions that they had the reader believe. As untrustworthy as all the characters seemed, they were working in healthcare- which is an extremely scary thought! It seems as though the whole health care system in this Catholic Hospital is flawed, with employees taking pills from the cabinets and treating patients improperly. Georgie was supposed to be simply prepping Terrence Wilson, but he instead just took the hunter's knife from his eye and acted as if his actions would have no repercussions. The procedure was a VERY serious one, and I know this and I'm not even a doctor!!! What is even more ironic is that the doctor responded to Georgies actions with "Where did you get that?" and nothing else. The unordinary actions of the doctor, nurse, orderly, and Georgie were questionable and confusing. After the two main characters left the hospital, they seemed to be driving around pointlessly and experiencing hallucinations- graphic hallucinations. These hallucinations including wintery weather in a summer season as described by the narrator, rabbit encounters, and driving thousands of miles but probably only driving in circles pointlessly. The explanation of their travels to the final character we met, Hardee, also confused me. Georgie seemed to be all-knowing of the weird events that occured and Hardee didn't really question any of the things they said. Hardee seems to just randomly show up on the side of the road, and the narrator just happened to know who it was, so that was weird. To sum up this reading it was creepy, confusing, and I wasn't exactly impressed. The confusement was summed up in the last line when Georgie answered the question of what he does for a living with "I save lives." The fact that he pulled that knife from a victims head with no hesitation was weird, but he did save his life. The fact that he killed the mother rabbit but saved the babies does also prove that he saves lives. However despite all of these reasons, they all have hesistations to why this was a bad idea for him to perform any of that. Georgie might actually save lives and be more practical if he wasn't always drugged up, or surrounded by people who were drugged up.

Blog #8 Crying of Lot 49- Final Chapter

This final chapter of the book centers around explaining the history of the Tristero system. This is explained through a discussion done by Mr. Bortz of The Courier’s Tragedy. The history aspect of this chapter definitely lost my attention; I don’t see intriguing information that could possibly come from learning about the fight for power and money between the brothers. The Tristero system seems to depict a certain form that Oepida could take when gaining control of her new inherited company. Oepida went to Mr. Bortz for answers; simply to understand why Tristero was brought up with The Courier’s Travelers.  I feel as though this chapter discusses a bunch of things that make no sense and do not help Oepida find out what she wants to know. The chapter shows frustration with her quest to find answers because once I was done reading, I still had no idea what was going on. The level of unclarity that Oepida must feel is probably just as bad as mine at this point! The final section and final chapter of this book does end with some answers, but does also end in a cliffhanger. We find out that Peirce owned the bookstore where she bought A Couriers Tragedy and this leads her to see that Tristero’s mystery is related to Peirces estate in some way or another. As Oepida is depressed, Genghis continues to research and find information. He lets Oepida know that Peirces stamps will be auctioned off at Lot 49, and she goes there to see who will buy them- yet that was unfortunately left out of the last chapter! I am curious to know who would buy the stamps and what this persons relationship is to Peirce and Oepida. I wonder if Oepida wishes that her life was back to normal, or never got to this point, where it was a wild goose chase to find out more about Peirces Estate instead of living her own life with her husband. I question if she was ever truly in love with her current husband, and she used this journey as a way to separate herself from him.

The Crying of Lot 49: Chapters 1

     Being totally honest, I haven't actually read a true academically assigned novel since high school. I took English at the University of Tampa last year and we strictly read short stories and excerpts. Needless to say, I was not exactly looking forward to the time commitment that this reading was going to entail. However, I can say that after reading the first chapter there is enough action to hopefully keep my attention for the length of the novel.
     In the first chapter, we meet the main characters: Oepida, Pierce (deceased), Mucho Maas, Dr. Hilarius, and Roseman. Oepida is a woman who finds herself in a predicament when her ex-boyfriend leaves her entitled to his company when he passes; this woman, mind you, is married to her current husband Mucho Maas now. She is confused and not certain of how to do anything with the "messy" company that she was left with and she doesn't believe that her husband will be of much help in figuring it out. Then we find out that Dr. Hilarius (ironic name after hearing what he what he asks of her) calls to ask her to participate in an experiment involving LSD- kind of weird and thankfully she declines his offer. Though maybe if she did participate it would make the story a bit more intriguing!
     Since we are discussing chapter one, paragraph one, in class tomorrow I thought I would discuss it a little also. As I described earlier, Oepida found out she was the inheritor of the Pierce estate. When she heard the news, she was under the influence and many thoughts ran through her mind. She thought of a place in Mexico, a Mazatlan door slamming and waking many birds and in the same thought talked of a sunrise at Cornell University that no one could see. She wondered about Pierce, her dead ex boyfriend, and these thoughts made her believe she herself was sick and troubled. I was a little confused at some of her contradicting thoughts, but at the same time she was under the influence of alcohol so weird thoughts aren't exactly unheard of at moments like that.

"A Supermarket in California"

This poem by Allen Ginsberg had definite differences to the last poem we read by him, called “Howl,” both in length and in delivery. Though different in many aspects, this poem did not read in happy tones, just as “Howl” did not. The poem gave off a very negative connotation surrounding around a couple of men, Walt Whitman and Garcia Lorca. After doing a little bit of research, I learned they were both homosexual poets just like Ginsberg so I saw more meaning to the poem. After researching I found meaning in the lines stating, “I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys.” This line points out the homosexuality of Walt Whitman and it’s odd that after the narrator points out the other “normal” families, he can just as easily find Walt Whitman portraying homosexual actions. I have to be honest, I didn’t enjoy this poem at all because I didn’t immediately pick up on the homosexuality and after I learned that I found it even more weird. This poem just adds to my dislike of Allen Ginsberg; I don’t find comfort, joy, or pleasure when reading his poetry and I find myself more disgusted after reading it. I feel as thought that is his pure intention though, to disgust and make his readers feel uncomfortable. As for vocab in this reading, I didn’t think it was a difficult piece to understand at a pure basic level and didn’t see the need to look up definitions. As basic as the wording of the poetry was however, it was definitely a difficult one for me to find a deeper meaning or any meaning at all!

The Glass Menagerie

This play is about a seemingly dysfunctional family consisting of a mother and two children. The mother, Amanda, has high hopes, dreams, and wishes for both of her children. Accordingly, she also has very high expectations. Her husband left her and that leaves Tom in the position as the head of the household. I feel as though this is a set up for disaster from day one because they do not have a "normal" life without a father. Though I am the only child in my family, my mom has been divorced since I was only three months old. Since I didn't have a brother, I have always been held at the highest expectations to succeed and help my mom with literally everything, and this includes things that women don't typically do- especially as a nineteen year old. I see my situation relating to that of Tom's because he is held responsible for things the mother would need from a companion and male. On the other hand, I can also relate to Laura because the mother is so bent on finding her a mate. My mother has always laid great importance on me finding the perfect man to complete my life so that I am better off then she is now, but the pressure is just too much. I am so happy with my current boyfriend, and yes she approves, but it is pretty recent. The pressure that she places on my relationship is unreal and definitely not fair. If I was Laura I would feel uncomfortable with my mother looking for my future mate. I don't see too far into this play as far as the importance of "The Glass Menagerie" but I feel as though it has something to do with the music, disasters within the family, and the glass animal figurines. I'm sure as I read more it will become more clear and will also make more sense as I try to understand at a more analytic level.

Blog #3 "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid

Let me start off by saying I was thoroughly relieved at the site of a short story as apposed to a poem! I can understand the short stories a tad bit easier then the confusing, multi-meaning poetry that we had to blog about last week. When reading “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid for the first time, I felt really sorry for the daughter who was being talked down to the entire time. I obviously do not see why the daughter is being called a slut on multiple occasions; the first time being “on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming.” Not only did this bother me as a daughter myself, it also bothered me that any mother would find it reasonable to accuse one’s own daughter of such. A daughter most likely has traits that resemble that of their mother so she is practically accusing herself of the same faults. I thought this short reading was very demanding and strict of the parent to say to the child, and it was certainly handing out a lot of rules for just a young girl. I am assuming the girl is only in grade school because the writer states, “don’t’ sing benna in Sunday school;” which means she has to be young enough to still attend that. Benna, according to an online dictionary, is a genre of Antiguan and Barbudan music and is a calypso-like genre, characterized by scandalous gossip and a call-and-response format. Knowing that, benna is yet another term that is not endearing or motherly.The assertions, directions, and suggestions that the mother informs her daughter of are mostly going to be useful at some point in here future but the constant repetition about her being or becoming a slut really throws me off. The voice in this poem leads me to believe that the speaker is not friendly nor very emotionally attached to her offspring because she is so forceful and not exactly nice. The relationship is depicted a little differently at the end when the mother switches to talking about love and failure. She says, “this is how to bully a man; this is how a man bullies you; this is how to love a man; and if this doesn't work there are other ways, and if they don't work don't feel too bad about giving up; this is how to spit up in the air if you feel like it, and this is how to move quick so that it doesn't fall on you.” These lines all show me that the mother must not totally and honestly believe in love or acting like a completely socially acceptable woman either, as much as she acts like she is perfect and all-knowing of appropriate behavior in the earlier lines. I enjoyed this short story and by comparing it to my own relationship with my mother, I realized just how good I have it!  My mom definitely does not talk to me like that, and teaches me in a very different manner than this mother decided to teach her daughter. It makes me realize how I should probably parent, at least a little bit, like my mom!

Blog #2- Wednesday January 19

“In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

Petals on a wet, black bough.

Ezra Pounds “In a Station of the Metro” is just a short poem so I will use that as one of my quotes this week. This poem, though short, is thought-provoking and required me to do a little research of my own. I found the definitions of both apparition, meaning a ghostly appearing figure, and bough, meaning a tree branch. After applying these definitions I sense fear and discomfort in Ezra Pounds emotions when speaking of this experience. The simple fact of seeing a ghostly figure among the crowd in a metro station would be nothing short of discomforting. To be honest, I have difficulty understanding the second line in reference to the first, but I can still piece together very uncomfortable feelings.

The second reading for this Wednesday is “Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year” by Raymond Carver. This poem is rather depressing and a sad view of this boys father as a 22 year old. I feel that the author is comparing himself now to his 22 year old father. The second line, “I study my father’s embarrassed young man’s fan;” leads me to believe that he is not impressed by his fathers actions. As I read farther down into the poem, it says “Father, I love you, yet how can I say thank you, I who can’t hold my liquor either.” This line made the entire poem much clearer, showing the similarities and shortcomings of both the father and the son. I can certainly see this same situation happening in father son relationships today because alcohol is a problem in our society.

Letter of Introduction (Week 1)

     I am a sophomore transfer student at Clemson this year, so all of my previous writing experiences are from other schools than Clemson. In high school, I remember reading novels and doing maybe one unit on poetry, but that about sums it up. I was always in advanced math and reading classes, but the work never seemed to be in depth when it came to analyzing pieces of literature. I enjoyed reading novels because the stories were long, and I was able to understand the jist of things after completing the reading. I recall doing the poetry unit and hating it; the many readings and interpretations that arose from one simple poem was both confusing and frustrating for me. However sad it might be, I do not have one particular author or poet that I prefer or loathe. I did like reading The Scarlett Letter and remember it, so that is a start. 
     As much as I complain about the analyzing and interpreting of literature, I love to write and express my own thoughts. In grade school, I wrote a short story that was entered into a contest and won runners’ up recognition. In high school, I had a ninth grade teacher who I not only feared, but did not like at all the first month of class. I was sure I was going to fail the class or need to be switched out immediately. I stuck it out, and managed to learn the most this year than any other in my high school English career. I owe it all to my teacher, who made it a priority to read every story, a couple times, to understand it completely. This leadership, I feel, is very necessary to literature at an advanced level. At my previous university, I took two English classes which centered on analyzing and writing papers about questionable articles. Last semester at Clemson I was enrolled in a speech communication class. As for formal writing, the speeches, short stories, and essays are what I have done for school work. Informally, I am definitely involved with the online language because of instant messaging and I also write my fair share of love notes. My boyfriend attends Virginia Tech so I will sometimes spend time writing nice notes to send him because everyone loves getting mail! I am strong believer that the instant messaging and email world do have an affect on one's writing in the formal setting. Because most online writing is done informally, people are apt to use short abbreviations and not spend as much time correcting mispellings, etc. As guilty as I am, I will still use both email and instant messaging often but I would like to make an attempt to correct my shortcomings when I do use these techniques of communication.
     Finally, I am enrolled in this class as my literature course requirement for my major. As it is necessary for my degree, I feel like it is very important to my overall knowledge as a human being as well. The analytical aspect of this class will be challenging for me but it will be beneficial to learn and understand famous pieces of literature from the time period in which I live. I am a Nutrition major here at Clemson and I plan on graduating in 2013. This class is one of the many obstacles I have to overcome before I graduate with my degree. This will be my first real literature course and I’m both nervous and interested to see what the semester holds for me.




My Time At Clemson
Transferring may not be fun,
But coming to Clemson was worthwhile.
When all is said and done,
I'll be happy and graduating with style.


Courses are challenging but required,
and this Nutrition major is certainly hard
I plan to graduate and never get fired,
Excelling in my career and never turning into lard!


So far I've attended more than one football game,
and joined a sorority full of amazing girls.
Though my studies have taught me how to stay tame,
and my sisters taught me how to dance and do twirls!


Only a few more years left before I'm done,
and I can't say I'm excited to leave.
I'll be out in the real world and in the sun,
But not without English to percieve!