Throughout my five years at Adelphi, I have noticed a few things. For one, the English building is falling apart. Seriously, how about we fix that place up before adding another dorm building? Second, college professors love to assign ridiculously long papers for absolutely no reason.
Why do professors feel the need to give a required page length when assigning a paper? I'm talking about your basic paper, not a Thesis. Why? Don't they realize that most of the times students will ramble about nothing for a few pages just to get to the desired page length? Why not allow a student to write an amount that they feel is appropriate and then grade them on the content of their writing, regardless of how short it is.
We are in college after all; I'm pretty sure we all are aware that we can't hand in a two page paper and call it a day. I know plenty of people that got points taken off simply because their papers weren't the "desired length", but the the professor then also commented on how well they proved their point. It just doesn't seem right to me. Especially when the class is an elective. I'm not trying to say that these classes are inferior to the classes that students actually have to take, but the professors of these classes need to understand that a student is going to be a lot more concerned with the work they have to do for the classes that are a part of their major.
I for example, just had to work on a 12 page literature review tonight for an elective that I decided to take. The professor gave us less than a week to do it. If her goal was to completely stress out her students, she did a fabulous job. It's stressful enough to have to write big papers for my education classes, why would a teacher that knows they are teaching an elective feel the need to assign such a paper to a class of Master's students?
How do you guys feel about papers with "desired page lengths"? Do you think its fair?
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Beginning of Short Story: Untitled, For Now.
She didn’t want to be there in the first place. It was hard for her to accept the fact that the rest of her family was so willing to move on while she was still trying to hold onto the past. This isn’t right, she thought to herself. How am I supposed to walk into this place and find another Chloe`? But walk in, she did.
At first, the place reminded her of a hospital. The kind of hospital where she watched Chloe` breathe her last breath. The kind of hospital where the doctor told her, “we’re sorry, there’s nothing else we could do.” It was the disease that did her in, not the doctor’s, but it always mad Jessica feel better to think that they had something to do with Chloe’s passing. She knew it was wrong of her to think this way, but she felt like someone should take the blame for the death of her best friend.
That night was still fresh in Jessica’s mind. Getting into bed that night, she looked across the room to see Chloe` in her bed crying, whimpering. She was so old now; her hair was so thin. It resembled a light fog that seemed to engulf Chloe` wherever she went. This fog, which no matter how hard Jessica tried to brush and care for it, would never resemble the white, curly hair that used to grow in its place.
This new place, with this old dreadful feeling, was not completely like the hospital that Chloe` had lost her fight to Cancer in. This place was filled with happy faces, and plenty of options. Jessica and her mother walked up the receptionist, telling them what they were looking for. The young woman with the dark green eyes smiled at them and told Jessica’s mother that they had come to the right place. Within a few minutes, another worker was there to help assist them in making their choice. They walked down the hallway into the first room.
“These are the bigger ones. Most of them are older than what people are normally looking for, but they all have great personalities”, he said with a reassuring smile. Jessica walked in first with her mother close behind. The nose was deafening at first. She had to stand in place for a moment, to get used to the nose. Her mother walked passed her and starting going down the row to view the options. Jessica just stood there. The barking dogs may not have seemed so intimidating to her if she saw them one at a time, but with all of them in the same row of kennels, it was too much for her to bare. Labordors, Pitbulls, Shepards, and tons of dogs that seemed to be a mix. All of them barking at her, wagging their tails. She couldn’t tell if their barks were friendly or a warning. She became so overwhelmed with the noise.
She didn’t want to do this in the first place. How could she choose just one? It was impossible. They were all so big; was this really what her mother had in mind? After a few minutes, Jesscia’s mother walked back towards the beginning of the row towards Jessica.
“They’re a little too big for our house I think. My husband will have a fit if I come home with something this size.” What did she think she was adopting, furniture? Jessica couldn’t understand how the woman that brought her here to adopt a new dog could talk so emotionless about the animals in those kennels.
She was there, Jessica thought. She was the one that drove while I held Chloe` in my arms on the way to the emergency vet in the pouring rain. She’s the one that woke me up the next morning to sit with her because she couldn’t bare the silence of house after Chloe` passed. How could she simply rule out a dog simply because of its size. With that, the friendly man nodded and walked them back into the hallway.
The man explained that at this time, their shelter only had larger dogs that were suitable to be adopted. Jessica was relieved. She didn’t have to forget Chloe` just yet. They didn’t have to throw out her old toys, and get a new doggy bed for some replacement dog that her mother felt that she “needed.” He did however, hand Jessica’s mother a list of other shelters in the area that they could try. With that, Jessica’s mother thanked him, and they walked out of the shelter.
“We’ll find one soon Jess”, her mother said as they walked to the car. “We can try again tomorrow.”
Monday, October 17, 2011
Technology in the classroom? I want to know your opinion!
As this semester goes on, I am seriously beginning to feel the pressure of all the work we are expected to for our masters program. The one thing specifically that is really stressing me out is my Capstone project. For my project, I am trying to conduct a little case study if you will, and see how English teachers feel about the use of technology in their classroom. With the introduction of SMARTboards, it seems to me that a lot of schools are spending their money on technology because they feel that it will help their students learn.
For my project, I will be interviewing teachers that I know about their views on technology in the classroom, if they use technology in their classroom. If they don't, I would be really interested to know why. Personally, I think SMARTboards are fun and everything, but are they really needed to help a child learn in all subjects? I understand that they can be entertaining, but haven't students been learning English with chalkboards and whiteboards for years? Are these fancy boards really worth the money? On the other hand however, there are aspects of technology that I really think could be beneficial in a classroom setting. The internet for example, allows teachers to show students videos, websites, and other material related to their subject.
How do you guys feel? As future educators, it would really mean a lot of me if you could post your comments below. It will definitely give me some insight to how others feel about technology in the classroom. Will you use technology in your classroom? Why or why not? How do you feel about technology, and are your feelings related to your knowledge (or lack thereof) for all the technological advances that seem to be finding their way into classrooms
For my project, I will be interviewing teachers that I know about their views on technology in the classroom, if they use technology in their classroom. If they don't, I would be really interested to know why. Personally, I think SMARTboards are fun and everything, but are they really needed to help a child learn in all subjects? I understand that they can be entertaining, but haven't students been learning English with chalkboards and whiteboards for years? Are these fancy boards really worth the money? On the other hand however, there are aspects of technology that I really think could be beneficial in a classroom setting. The internet for example, allows teachers to show students videos, websites, and other material related to their subject.
How do you guys feel? As future educators, it would really mean a lot of me if you could post your comments below. It will definitely give me some insight to how others feel about technology in the classroom. Will you use technology in your classroom? Why or why not? How do you feel about technology, and are your feelings related to your knowledge (or lack thereof) for all the technological advances that seem to be finding their way into classrooms
Monday, October 10, 2011
Critical Lens (Revised)
"In literature, evil often triumphs, but never conquers."
Someone once said, "In literature, evil often triumphs, but it never conquers." Two novels that support this idea are To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Girl That Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow. These two novels are great examples of how evil and horrible things are often presented in the stories one finds themselves reading, but they are never able to vanquish.
In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, we are introduced to a society that, like ours today, is filled with the evils of racism and prejudice. One example of an evil that triumphed but did not conquer is when the townspeople started to treat Scout and Jem differently because Atticus was defending Tom Robinson in court. The story is set in Maycomb, Alambama during a time when racism was very prominent. Even though this made things difficult for Jem and Scout, they never let the ignorance of other people affect their love for their father. They were raised not to care about what others thought because "the one thing that doesn't go by majority rule is a person's conscience." This shows that Jem, Scout, and Atticus are all very strong characters in this novel and aren't so easily swayed by the the negative views of others. No matter what people thought, they were never convinced or manipulated to change their feelings about the courace case or each other. another example of an evil that was not able to overpower Jem and Scout was their fear of Boo Radley. At first, Jem and Scout were terrified of him because they were so easily influenced by one of society's evils: gossip. In continuation of the motif of prejudice, most of the townspeople said bad things about Boo Radley simply because he was different. Thankfully, after Boo saves Jem and Scout's livees, they were able to overcome that negative outlook and see the kind and courageous person that Boo Radley actually was. Another example of of how evil is unable to conquer is in the novel's main character, Atticus Finch. Throughout the novel, the author's moral voice is embodied in Atticus, who is surrounded by such evils as hate and prejudice. Atticus even finds himself to be fighting a losing battle of defending Tom Robinson in a clearly racist court room. He understands that their is evil in the world, but he never loses his faith in humanity and its ability to be good.
Another novel that supports the idea that evil cannot conquer in literature is Heidi W. Durrow's The Girl That Fell From the Sky. One example of a horrible evil that was not able to conquer the main character was when Rachel's mother made her children jump off the apartment building with her to die. Rachel's mother was unable to deal with the social injustices her children were being exposed to in America for being bi-racial, and wanted them to end their lives with her. Luckily Rachel survived the fall, and was able to have a second chance at life. Another example of an evil that was not able to conquer in Rachel's life was the death of her aunt. Rachel really looked up to her aunt because she felt that she was the only one in her family that accepted and acknowledged the fact that she was both black and white. Rachel was told at an early age "that black people don't have blue eyes. I learn that I am black. I have blue eyes." Her aunt helped her realize that it was beautiful to be both black and white. Even though Rachel was negatively affected by her aunt passing away, as a character she was still able to go on with her life and learn to love herself for who she was. Her aunt's love helped build the stepping stones in Rachel's life that would continue to get her through hard times that would come up in her future with strength.
Harper Lee's novel and Heidi W. Durrow's novel are both similar and different in many ways. One example of how they novels are similar is that they both have a theme based on racism. in To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is automatically considered to be guilty because he is African American. In The Girl That Fell From the Sky, Rachel grows up feeling different from everyone because she is not accepted by the white community or the African American community because she is bi-racial. Another example of how the books are similar is that in both novels, the people that were facing hard ships because of the color of their skin had someone on their side trying to help better their situation. In Harper Lee's novel, Atticus was defending Tom Robinson in court because he truly believed that he was innocent, regardless of his race. In Durrow's novel, Rachel's aunt was always there for her and taught her to love herself for who she was despite the harsh comments that people made about her. These two novels, however, are also very different. In To Kill a Mockingbird, only the white community was prejudice towards Tom Robinson. In The Girl That Fell From the Sky, Both the black and white communities were prejudice towards Rachel.
With these differences and similarities, both novels are still able to drive the same point home that evil can never truly conquer. Both of these novels show main character that are able to overcome evils that could have ruined their lives. The characters in these novels are great examples of people that stood their ground in the face of adversity, and never gave up on what they believed was right.
Someone once said, "In literature, evil often triumphs, but it never conquers." Two novels that support this idea are To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Girl That Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow. These two novels are great examples of how evil and horrible things are often presented in the stories one finds themselves reading, but they are never able to vanquish.
In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, we are introduced to a society that, like ours today, is filled with the evils of racism and prejudice. One example of an evil that triumphed but did not conquer is when the townspeople started to treat Scout and Jem differently because Atticus was defending Tom Robinson in court. The story is set in Maycomb, Alambama during a time when racism was very prominent. Even though this made things difficult for Jem and Scout, they never let the ignorance of other people affect their love for their father. They were raised not to care about what others thought because "the one thing that doesn't go by majority rule is a person's conscience." This shows that Jem, Scout, and Atticus are all very strong characters in this novel and aren't so easily swayed by the the negative views of others. No matter what people thought, they were never convinced or manipulated to change their feelings about the courace case or each other. another example of an evil that was not able to overpower Jem and Scout was their fear of Boo Radley. At first, Jem and Scout were terrified of him because they were so easily influenced by one of society's evils: gossip. In continuation of the motif of prejudice, most of the townspeople said bad things about Boo Radley simply because he was different. Thankfully, after Boo saves Jem and Scout's livees, they were able to overcome that negative outlook and see the kind and courageous person that Boo Radley actually was. Another example of of how evil is unable to conquer is in the novel's main character, Atticus Finch. Throughout the novel, the author's moral voice is embodied in Atticus, who is surrounded by such evils as hate and prejudice. Atticus even finds himself to be fighting a losing battle of defending Tom Robinson in a clearly racist court room. He understands that their is evil in the world, but he never loses his faith in humanity and its ability to be good.
Another novel that supports the idea that evil cannot conquer in literature is Heidi W. Durrow's The Girl That Fell From the Sky. One example of a horrible evil that was not able to conquer the main character was when Rachel's mother made her children jump off the apartment building with her to die. Rachel's mother was unable to deal with the social injustices her children were being exposed to in America for being bi-racial, and wanted them to end their lives with her. Luckily Rachel survived the fall, and was able to have a second chance at life. Another example of an evil that was not able to conquer in Rachel's life was the death of her aunt. Rachel really looked up to her aunt because she felt that she was the only one in her family that accepted and acknowledged the fact that she was both black and white. Rachel was told at an early age "that black people don't have blue eyes. I learn that I am black. I have blue eyes." Her aunt helped her realize that it was beautiful to be both black and white. Even though Rachel was negatively affected by her aunt passing away, as a character she was still able to go on with her life and learn to love herself for who she was. Her aunt's love helped build the stepping stones in Rachel's life that would continue to get her through hard times that would come up in her future with strength.
Harper Lee's novel and Heidi W. Durrow's novel are both similar and different in many ways. One example of how they novels are similar is that they both have a theme based on racism. in To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is automatically considered to be guilty because he is African American. In The Girl That Fell From the Sky, Rachel grows up feeling different from everyone because she is not accepted by the white community or the African American community because she is bi-racial. Another example of how the books are similar is that in both novels, the people that were facing hard ships because of the color of their skin had someone on their side trying to help better their situation. In Harper Lee's novel, Atticus was defending Tom Robinson in court because he truly believed that he was innocent, regardless of his race. In Durrow's novel, Rachel's aunt was always there for her and taught her to love herself for who she was despite the harsh comments that people made about her. These two novels, however, are also very different. In To Kill a Mockingbird, only the white community was prejudice towards Tom Robinson. In The Girl That Fell From the Sky, Both the black and white communities were prejudice towards Rachel.
With these differences and similarities, both novels are still able to drive the same point home that evil can never truly conquer. Both of these novels show main character that are able to overcome evils that could have ruined their lives. The characters in these novels are great examples of people that stood their ground in the face of adversity, and never gave up on what they believed was right.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Critical Lens
"In literature, evil often triumphs, but never conquers."
Someone once said, "In literature, evil often triumphs, but never conquers". This idea is shown in the novels To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Girl That Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow. These two novels are great examples of how evil and horrible things are often present in the stories we read and love the most, but they are never able to vanquish.
In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, we are introduced to a society that, like ours today, is filled with the evils of racism and prejudice. One example of an evil that triumphed but did not conquer was when the townspeople started to treat Scout and Jem differently because Atticus was defending Tom Robinson, an African American. The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during a time when racism was very prominent. Even though this made things difficult for Jem and Scout, they never let the ignorance of other people affect their love for their father. they were raised to not care about what others thought because "the one thing that doesn't go by majority rule is a person's conscience". This shows that Jem, Scout, and Atticus are all very strong characters in the novel who aren't so easily swayed by the views of others. No matter what people thought, they were never convinced or manipulated to change their feelings about the court case, or each other. Another example of an evil that was unable to conquer in the novel was Jem and Scout's view of Boo Radley. At first, Jem and Scout were terrified of him because they were so easily influenced by one of society's evils: gossip. In continuation of the motif of prejudice, most of the townspeople said bad things about Boo Radley because he was seen as someone who was different. Thankfully, after Boo saves Jem and Scouts's lives, they were able to overcome that negative outlook and see the kind and courageous person that Boo Radley actually was. Another evil that was not able to conquer because of this novel was the theme of racism. thanks to Harper Lee and this novel, she was able to open her reader's eyes to an evil that needed to be addressed in society, regardless of time period.
Another novel that supports the idea that evil cannot conquer in literature is Heidi W. Durrow's The Girl That Fell From the Sky. One example of a horrible evil that was not able to conquer was how Rachel survived from jumping off the apartment building with her family. Even though it was horrible and extremely disturbing that Rachel's mother wanted all of her family to die together so they wouldn't have to deal with a society that wouldn't accept their interracial family, Rachel was miraculously able to survive the deadly fall and have a second chance at life. Another example of an evil that was not able to conquer in Rachel's life was the death of her aunt. Rachel really looked up to her aunt, because she felt that she was the only one in her family that accepted her for being both black and white. Rachel was told at early age "that black people don’t have blue eyes. I learn that I am black. I have blue eyes", but her aunt helped her realize that it was beautiful to be both black and white. Even though Rachel was negatively affected by her aunt passing away, as a character she was still able to go on with her life and learn to love herself for who she was.
Harper Lee's novel and Heidi W. Durrow's novels are both similar and different in many ways. One example of how the novels are similar is that they both have a theme based on racism. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is automatically considered to be guilty because he is African American. In The Girl The Fell From the Sky, Rachel grows up feeling different from everyone because she is not accepted by the White community or the African American community because she is bi-racial. Another example of how the books are similar is that in both novels, the people that were facing hard ships because of the color of their skin had someone on their side trying to help better their situation. In Harper Lee's novel, Atticus was defending Tom Robinson in court because he truly believed that he was innocent, regardless of his race. In Durrow's novel, Rachel's aunt was always there for her and taught her to love herself for who she was despite the harsh comments that people made about her.To These two novels however, are also very different. In Kill a Mockingbird, only the white community was prejudice towards Tom Robinson. In The Girl That Fell From the Sky, both the African American community and the White community were prejudice towards Rachel.
With these differences and similarities, both novels still able to drive the same point home that evil can never conquer. Both of these novels show main characters that are able to overcome evils that could have ruined their lives. As an audience, we must take what we learn from literature like this and learn to overcome the evils that try and plague our own lives.
Someone once said, "In literature, evil often triumphs, but never conquers". This idea is shown in the novels To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Girl That Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow. These two novels are great examples of how evil and horrible things are often present in the stories we read and love the most, but they are never able to vanquish.
In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, we are introduced to a society that, like ours today, is filled with the evils of racism and prejudice. One example of an evil that triumphed but did not conquer was when the townspeople started to treat Scout and Jem differently because Atticus was defending Tom Robinson, an African American. The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during a time when racism was very prominent. Even though this made things difficult for Jem and Scout, they never let the ignorance of other people affect their love for their father. they were raised to not care about what others thought because "the one thing that doesn't go by majority rule is a person's conscience". This shows that Jem, Scout, and Atticus are all very strong characters in the novel who aren't so easily swayed by the views of others. No matter what people thought, they were never convinced or manipulated to change their feelings about the court case, or each other. Another example of an evil that was unable to conquer in the novel was Jem and Scout's view of Boo Radley. At first, Jem and Scout were terrified of him because they were so easily influenced by one of society's evils: gossip. In continuation of the motif of prejudice, most of the townspeople said bad things about Boo Radley because he was seen as someone who was different. Thankfully, after Boo saves Jem and Scouts's lives, they were able to overcome that negative outlook and see the kind and courageous person that Boo Radley actually was. Another evil that was not able to conquer because of this novel was the theme of racism. thanks to Harper Lee and this novel, she was able to open her reader's eyes to an evil that needed to be addressed in society, regardless of time period.
Another novel that supports the idea that evil cannot conquer in literature is Heidi W. Durrow's The Girl That Fell From the Sky. One example of a horrible evil that was not able to conquer was how Rachel survived from jumping off the apartment building with her family. Even though it was horrible and extremely disturbing that Rachel's mother wanted all of her family to die together so they wouldn't have to deal with a society that wouldn't accept their interracial family, Rachel was miraculously able to survive the deadly fall and have a second chance at life. Another example of an evil that was not able to conquer in Rachel's life was the death of her aunt. Rachel really looked up to her aunt, because she felt that she was the only one in her family that accepted her for being both black and white. Rachel was told at early age "that black people don’t have blue eyes. I learn that I am black. I have blue eyes", but her aunt helped her realize that it was beautiful to be both black and white. Even though Rachel was negatively affected by her aunt passing away, as a character she was still able to go on with her life and learn to love herself for who she was.
Harper Lee's novel and Heidi W. Durrow's novels are both similar and different in many ways. One example of how the novels are similar is that they both have a theme based on racism. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is automatically considered to be guilty because he is African American. In The Girl The Fell From the Sky, Rachel grows up feeling different from everyone because she is not accepted by the White community or the African American community because she is bi-racial. Another example of how the books are similar is that in both novels, the people that were facing hard ships because of the color of their skin had someone on their side trying to help better their situation. In Harper Lee's novel, Atticus was defending Tom Robinson in court because he truly believed that he was innocent, regardless of his race. In Durrow's novel, Rachel's aunt was always there for her and taught her to love herself for who she was despite the harsh comments that people made about her.To These two novels however, are also very different. In Kill a Mockingbird, only the white community was prejudice towards Tom Robinson. In The Girl That Fell From the Sky, both the African American community and the White community were prejudice towards Rachel.
With these differences and similarities, both novels still able to drive the same point home that evil can never conquer. Both of these novels show main characters that are able to overcome evils that could have ruined their lives. As an audience, we must take what we learn from literature like this and learn to overcome the evils that try and plague our own lives.
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