Blog # 6

I really like this class period. English is one of my favorite subjects maybe because i'm creative and have that artistic urge to just express all my thoughts that are roaming inside my head somewhere and i'm always been able to do that in english. I've actually taken 101 and 103 together last semester so it was easy for me to pick the material and form of writing, and analyzing right away. The blogs in this class really help alot just being informal and writing everything freely without restricting yourself to a point is really helpful. I like reading my classmates work too getting a second opinion when i'm having trouble understanding something but the only problem is that i tend to forget to reply to their post when i read them hahaha. So overall this class is far better than i expected and is really helping me be more in tuned with my writing and how to develop the theme in character so this is really helping me with the stories that i'm writing. Hopefully i can finalize at least one of the chapters of one of them and then post it up and see if anyone likes it.

Blog # 5

Fluorescent Adolescent - Arctic Monkeys

You used to get it in your fishnets
Now you only get it in your night dress
Discarded all the naughty nights for niceness
Landed in a very common crisis
Everything's in order in a black hole
Nothing seems as pretty as the past though
That Bloody Mary's lacking her Tabasco
Remember when you used to be a rascal?

Oh the boy's a slag
The best you ever had
The best you ever had
Is just a memory and those dreams
Weren't as daft as they seem
Not as daft as they seem
My love when you dream them up...

Flicking through a little book of sex tips
Remember when the boys were all electric?
Now when she's told she's gonna get it
I'm guessing that she'd rather just forget it
Clinging to not getting sentimental
Said she wasn't going but she went still
Likes her gentlemen not to be gentle
Was it a Mecca dauber or a betting pencil?

Oh the boy's a slag
The best you ever had
The best you ever had
Is just a memory and those dreams
Weren't as daft as they seem
Not as daft as they seem
My love when you dream them up
Oh, Flo where did you go?
Where did you go?
Where did you go? Woah.

Falling about
You took a left off Last Laugh Lane
You were just sounding it out
You're not coming back again.

Falling about
You took a left off Last Laugh Lane
You were just sounding it out
You're not coming back again.

You used to get it in your fishnets
Now you only get it in your night dress
Discarded all the naughty nights for niceness
Landed in a very common crisis
Everything's in order in a black hole
Nothing seems as pretty as the past though
That Bloody Mary's lacking in Tabasco
Remember when you used to be a rascal?





The Arctic Monkeys are an indie english rock band so they aren't really that well known here in the states but their style of music is a change from the typical bands here. I stumbled upon this song "Fluorescent Adolescent" back in 2007 and instantly saw that i could relate to it. The song is about remembering the good old days and realizing how much has changed between people and how it's a "very common crisis" throughout teenagers lives. It's a really catchy song and always listen to it when i want to reminisce about how life used to be because when you think about it, it's so true how people change so much it seems like they been sucked into a black hole and there isn't any way to regain that back. Another line from the song that i believe is "Nothing seems as pretty as the past" i look at these old pictures of where i used to hang out with my friends in the past and it really isn't as great as the past too much has changed.

Assignment #4--Criticism

I’m going to chose the story “The Chrysanthemums,” by John Steinbeck is a good example of gender criticism. Gender criticism is “the examination of the ways in which sexual identity influences the creation, interpretation, and evaluation of literary works” something that was shown a lot in the Chyrsanthemums. Throughout the beginning of the story Steinbeck shows Elisa as a strong independent women who stands up for herself and doesn’t seem weak at all, which is not your typical female stereotype. But towards the end of story Elisa breaks down and turns into this weak sensitive character where she portrays the typical female persona that makes readers say “oh that’s a weak character”. It’s like she was shown as a character that breaks through all the gender barriers and then is zapped back to the gender roles that society has set for us. The use of gender criticism helps the reader understand the story and how Elisa is portrayed as a women as well as the hardships that she had to face. It also helps the reader see what was expected of the women at the time in how to act and behave. One is example is the stress that she got from the man because of what happened. She is already in a very stressful stage in her life because she wants to be treated equal to men but it seems that the time that she’s living in women are looked down upon. Steinbeck does a really good job in letting the readers know how women dealt with these problems and how they just kept to themselves and showed a brave front so no one would see their weak points. He also uses gender criticism really well and lets the reader understand everything that he wrote in his story.

Blog # 3 OPTION A

In The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien he wrote about a group of men that were sent to war. O’Brien didn’t describe the characters in his story very straight forward like most authors do, he instead described them in detail by the things that they carried in their bags; As well as by the actions that they did. Stories like these make reading more enjoyable. The most interesting character for me would have to be Kiowa. Kiowa is a Baptist and the most religious out of all the characters in the story. He carried a couple of material things with him, such a New Testament bible that was given to him by his father, as well as his grandfather’s old hunting feathered hatchet. Emotionally and mentally he carries his grandmother’s distrust towards the white men making him bit more stand off-ish towards them he a given situation. One example would be when Ted Lavender died, and he goes and describes his death in a very annoying way “Boom Down” which he kept repeating over and over and then finishing it off by saying “It was like watching a rock fall”. Kiowa is an upfront and honest solider, and while being such a person made his comment towards Lavender’s death seem a bit harsh. At first he seems like an emotionless flat character but it wasn’t until he saw his other comrade down and depressed and told him to shut up was that he showed a softer side to his persona. I found this character interesting because he reminds me a lot about certain people that I know that have like the cold hard persona but are really sensitive when it comes to people that are a huge part of their lives.

Assignment #2--Symbolism in Steinbeck

The Chrysanthemums written by John steinbeck uses symbolism in the very beginning of the story to explain to the reader what the setting is. He writes, "the high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot." Here he symbolizes what the area looks like, place closed off from the rest of the world that just basically looks like a pot on top of a mountain. The main characters in the story are Elisa and Henry Allen, but Steinbeck mainly writes about Elisa Allen. Steinbeck uses symbolism again when he describes what Elisa looks like, "she was thirty-five. her face was lean and strong and her eyes were as clear as water." . Here you can just picture Elisa's eyes and how they must resemble water. There is a sort of tension between Elisa and her husband Henry. Steinbeck gives us the intention that Elisa feels that Henry doesn't care to much about her Chrysanthemums when he tells her that he would rather like to see her work in an orchid growing apples. By Henry saying that Elisa goes on the defensive and Henry tries to justify himself by telling Elisa that he'll be taking her to dinner that night. Elisa summits and they go on with their day, here Steinbeck shows the tension that this couple have and how they resolve their issue so calmly before it got out of hand.
As the story progresses Elisa meets this Big Man that is interested in her Chrysanthemums and she gets this feeling that she was yearning for the appreciation of her work and love of her Chrysanthemums. She tells the man about how to grow them and gives him a red pot for him to begin. The man thanks her and goes on his way, and Elisa sees him off. Later that evening Elisa goes to dinner with Henry and sees on the road the Chrysanthemums she shared with the man on the road. She believes that the man threw the Chrysanthemums on the road but kept the pot she had given him. She gets all tensed up and sad and asks Henry if they can have wine at dinner and then starts talking to him about something that he's interested in prized fighting. Here Steinbeck shows that Elisa is trying not to seems weak by changing the topic and getting her mind off it, but she then turned her coat collar so Henry could not see that she was crying weakly-like and old woman. Steinbeck here shows that Elisa isn't content with the life that she has has for herself and her Chrysanthemums.

About Me

Well for starters my name is Adrian Espinal, born January 28, 1990. I'm twenty years old, I'm Dominican born and raised there, I came to the United States when i was four years old. I have some artistic talent i'm not the best but i can draw and sketch pretty good, i actually have a good sack of sketch books scattered around in my room. As of right now I'm actually writing a fictional story that wad inspired by a drawing that i did back when i was like ten years old. I'm not gonna lie i have been trying to start a story from that for years but it wasn't until recently that i had a creative impulsion in my head and all these ideas starting coming out of nowhere. I like to brag about it to all my close friends because I'm putting my all into this story I've given all my characters names, and everything, gone into depth and detail about their personalities, likes, and dislikes everything. I've set a goal for myself to finish this and try to get it out there, but finishing it is the main thing. I think of myself as a humble person, I'm very quiet and tend to keep to myself until i feel comfortable enough to be myself around that person. Other than that I really have anything else to say about myself if anything you can just ask me and I'll tell you.