Digital Books

After reading "Books and Other Fetish Objects" by James Gleick it was easy to see both sides of the argument. On one hand I really love having hard copies of books and being able to actually flip pages and use bookmarks. Reaching into my bag and pulling out a physical book as opposed to a Nook or a Kindle is really nice and in a way comforting for me, but as Gleick mentioned briefly books have a sentimental value with some people and I'm definitely one of those people. On the other hand though, when it comes to doing work for school it is so much more convenient to be able to look at things online and read primary sources on the internet instead of having to drive to the library and hoping that the book will be there. Unfortunately the same reason that digitized books appealing also makes it unappealing. For example, my younger sister is nine and hates books. That reason alone is why I think a digitized form of reading could be good for her, but at the same time I worry that it will inhibit her and other kids like her from really enjoying reading as much as people my age do. Not to say that it will be impossible, because people who love to read will read whether it be from a physical book or an ereader but it's just weird to potentially see traditional reading become as phased out as much as it seems to be happening. The article did a good job at showing how valuable traditional reading still is, but it also put into perspective that just because a book or article is online doesn't mean it's less valuable, it's just different.

Know It All

This article was definitely an interesting read. Ever since I found out about Wikipedia (I wanna say in the 6th grade since that's when I had to start writing things other than book reports), it has helped me in almost every paper I've had to write. Unfortunately most of my teachers have been very anti Wikipedia, saying "be careful don't trust everything you read on there because anybody can edit it and it could be all wrong". Despite this, I've always used it and I've never failed a paper or was told it was full of wrong information so I have a hard time believing that Wiki is as horrible as teachers say. Yes, it condenses the research process and I think that's the main reason teachers are against it but it's also the reason the site is so helpful. With Wikipedia you get to see the whole span of a topic from beginning to end, and in between you can find all (well most) of the main points regarding that subject so it's been a great starting place for me in regards to starting a paper. I can only imagine it will become more inclusive in the future, and hopefully the people who still doubt Wikipedia will begin to see it in a more positive light.

Pygmalion Acts 3 & 4

Despite the time that Higgins and Pickering begin to spend with Eliza during their experiment the two still seem to treat her like she's barely a person. It's suprising because originally I had thought that there would be some sort of epiphany on one (or possibliy both) of their parts and they would learn that language is not as important as they had originally believed. However, it seems like the opposite ends up happening during these two acts. They continue to speak about her like she isn't in the room, and act like she doesn't understand when they're rude to her and treat her like trash. It's something that I found ironic because from the moment that they met Higgins and Pickering wanted Eliza to change everything she knew about how to behave and speak, yet Higgins and Pickering can stay completely set in their ways just because their language is considered better than hers.

Pygmalion Acts 1 & 2

This was my first time ever reading the play, and prior to this class I hadn't even heard of it so I didn't really know what to expect when it came to whether or not I thought I would enjoy it. As it turns out, I have enjoyed the play a lot so far. The only issues I'm seeming to have involve a lot of the slang that is used, especially from those in the lower classes. It feels like they talk in an entirely different language during some parts of the play, but I've been able to use context clue in order to keep myself from feeling totally lost in the language. The relationship between Eliza and Higgins seems like it will be an interesting one later on in the play, and I have a feeling he'll be taking back his views on women even if it's only in the case of Eliza.

Politics and the English Language

While the title had me cringing before I even began reading (since most things that involve politics tend to swing one way or another depending on the author's biases), I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised when I finished reading. At first, I wasn't sure I would be able to understand Orwell's connection between the decline of proper English and how politics is at fault for this, but the analogies he used helped make things a lot clearer. He explained that when a man feels like he's a failure it may drive him to drink, when in actuality he ends up becoming a failure because of his decision to drink instead of improve upon the things that he doesn't like about himself. That line got me the most because I saw a lot of myself in it (not through drinking). It's so easy sometimes for me to say “I can't do this” or “I don't know how to change” and it's even easier to convince myself that that's a viable enough excuse to continue doing things that I know I would rather not do (like be a procrastinator and never study). After the analogy he mentioned that the process is reversible, but only if a person is willing to go through the necessary hardships to change the way they do things. He's completely right, because I've seen people break the hardest of habits with the right kind of motivation and perseverance. I'm just hoping that one day it'll happen for me because I feel like I'm ready for it.

Feminist Perspective

The feminist perspective of Wuthering Heights analyzes Catherine through her diary and the marriages she had gone through as well as the non marriage to Heathcliff. In fact, the author Lyn Pykett argues that Catherine Heathcliff was her true identity, even though she had never married Heathcliff to begin with. It was an interesting claim, and I think I agree with it especially after completing our letter writing assignment. It was always clear to me that Catherine had felt something very strong for Heathcliff, even if they were a little destructive with each other at times. I think if she would have chosen to marry someone on love alone, it would have been Heathcliff because they were both very passionate about each other. Unfortunately, during that time loving someone for love and love alone did not seem to be very popular or even allowed. It was all about your status, and what husband would give you the most financially which is why Catherine never married Heathcliff. He couldn't provide her all of those things, but it was still easy to see that the two had a chemistry together, which I believe Pykett also noticed when giving a feminist perspective of the novel.

Wuthering Heights Pt 3

A lot of the documents and pictures that we've looked at have been interesting to me. Honestly, I think I like them better than I like the novel itself. It's always interesting to be able to look into the back story of a novel even if it's not directly. What I mean is, the documents that I've read and the pictures in the book help give me more of an idea about the setting of the novel and possibly why the novel touched on some of the issues that it did (like a woman's rights in marriage for an example). It's easy to understand from the novel alone that the law was a very big deal in those days, but to see a real life petition from women demanding their own rights really helped put it in perspective for me. These issues weren't just things that certain families had to deal with, it was an almost universal law and all women were effected by it in some way (some more than others of course, but it's still something that all women of the time were able to relate to and I'm sure a good chunk of them had to be frustrated by their lack of say so in the marriage at least from a legal stand point). That document alone was probably what stuck out to me most, because it helped give a better understanding of the novel since the law in general played such a huge role in Wuthering Heights.

Wuthering Heights Pt 2

Well, a lot has changed since the last time I updated about Wuthering Heights. I'm very happy to say that the book has finally gotten somewhat interesting, and it didn't feel like as much of a chore to read like it did in the beginning. Unfortunately I'm still having a little bit of an issue with keeping up with all of the people and names (I'll never understand why they thought it was a good idea to have 25 Catherines and 72 guys who all have H names), but the chart we did in class has been a little helpful. My favorite part since the first update would have to be when one of the Catherines has fallen ill, which of course leads to the airing of some dirty laundry. Heathcliff has a letter for Catherine, which Nelly decided to give to her but unfortunately her timing is awful because that is the exact time that Heathcliff comes into her room. At this point a little drama ensues while Catherine and Heathcliff exchange some words (some harsh words actually). Then a bit of a bombshell is dropped when Catherine says that Heathcliff and Edgar broke her heart. On top of that she confesses that she hates the idea of dying while Heathcliff is still alive, and that she doesn't want to be without him. Some tears are shed and Catherine begs for forgiveness, which Heathcliff gives but probably not the way that she intended it. Needless to say this family of people all have their baggage and secrets to share, which is one of the things that I've found interesting about the novel. It's always fun when reading to see that something or someone you thought was one thing can actually be something else entirely at the same time.

Wuthering Heights

To put it nicely, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte has been a difficult read so far. I love to read as much as the next person, but if a book doesn't catch my attention or keep me interested then it's like pulling teeth. So far, that has been the case with this one. To give a brief overview of Wuthering Heights, it is about a man named Lockwood who lives in this country town in England. While living there he asks Nelly, his housekeeper, to tell him about his new landlord Heathcliff and about Wuthering Heights. Lockwood then writes down the things that Nelly tells him in the diary that he's been keeping. I know, completely riveting. Unfortunately it just hasn't been my cup of tea. I'm not totally sure what it is about it that I'm having trouble connecting to, but one of the main things that comes to mind is that it feels like things are moving along a bit slow. One thing that always keeps me from being interested in something (whether it be a book, movie, or television show) is when it feels like things are being dragged out for no apparent reason. If it's for suspenseful purposes then I'm all for it, but in the case of Wuthering Heights, I'm not expecting much suspense in the chapters ahead.

Name: Shanise
Age: 20
Grade: Junior
Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii

There, now that all of the boring stuff is out of the way I can actually talk about the things I enjoy and really make me who I am. To tell the truth I'm not completely sure of what I want to be just yet, but I do know that I have been a lot happier lately and I think I care about that more than I do about my 10 year plan in life (sorry if you see this mom and dad). My life is pretty typical, I guess. My dad was in the military since before I was born so I've moved around quite a bit (I think before I left high school I had been to 11 schools, but it's hard to remember). The longest place I've ever lived in is here (kind of unfortunate, but whatever). Music is super important to me and I go to a lot of shows, which is something I really love doing. If it were up to me I'd probably go every weekend. Instead of listing off all the music I like I'll just link my last.fm so you can check it out if you want. You can add me if you want, too. I've also got a tumblr where I actually talk about myself and post things that I love (mainly music, food, animals, and pretty places). I guess that's enough about me, so yeah hi. Oh, I decided to make a playlist for my blog that I'll be updating and stuff throughout the semester so if you wanna listen to it you're more than welcome to :).