[raulitosdoritos]

Does anyone know if we have to do each revision exercise for multiple paragraphs or just one? (Please say just for one)

[melissaashleybrooks]

I think it depends on which exercises you choose. One of them requires a few different paragraphs. 

[melissaashleybrooks]

I took these photos on a morning walk with my camera phone and I liked how detailed they came out. It made me think about the first adaoptation we wrote for this class. The one I wrote was about taking walks and paying close attention to the things around us. On this occasion I payed close attention to all of the pretty flowers in my neighborhood :-)  

In our Enl3 class we have been paying close attention to the details of the text we read to uncover true meanings. It's important to zoom in to a text and analyze specific words and phrases to uncover the true nature of the entire work. 

[englishanew]

As I mentioned in class, we’ll spend the final two weeks revisiting material on the syllabus during Weeks 1-8. We’ll certainly spend more time with NLMG and we’ll work through the final three pieces (Levi, Quindoza-Santiago, and Banias). Comment below to vote on additional texts…

[alexibrown]

I would rather have the due date on Friday to give more time for a quality paper rather than a rushed work.

[melissaashleybrooks]

Be An Animal

Adapatation of "Be An Animal" by Goldberg Take a walk. But don't just walk. Use your senses to fully engage in your surroudings. Notice the small things around you:street signs, the color of the car that just passed by, the type of flowers in your neighbor's yard. Look up at the sky and take note of the different shapes the clouds make. Life is truly beautiful and has so much to offer, but we have to take initiative and actually notice it. Who knows? Maybe you'll find something worth writing about. Or maybe the walk you take will clear your mind and give you a chance to focus on other things besides the things you have to do. Sometimes we are so busy worrying and stressing about stuff that we forget to just be. Relaxation seems like a thing of the past, especially as a student. We constantly worry about what assignments we have to complete and what things we have to buy that we forget to notice our surroundings. So, take a walk. Pay close attention to the things around you. You might miss something beautiful.

In Goldberg's "Be An Animal", the author wants to emphasize the importance of noticing our surroundings. She says that we should be like cats:watching, listening, smelling. We should forget about money and materialistic things and reflect on more important things. She iincluded an anecdote about her friend from New York and her fear of venturing out and getting lost.

The main point, similar to Goldberg's, is to venture off. Walk around. Somwhere new or old and use your senses to take in your surroudings. I think this is a useful thing to do for anyone, especially in an English class. It can be really useful for free writing exercises. Even anaylizing literature and paying close attention to the words on the paper and looking at the individual words to uncover meaning.

Rewriting this adaptation gave a new light to Goldberg's piece and helped me further understand the author's intentions. All of these things are applicable to analyzing pieces of writing in order to fully comprehend them.

Works Cited

Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones. Boston: Shambhala, 1986. Print.

[melissaashleybrooks]

Analyses Revision

Target Area: Judgment Quote: "..in dignity, and for the liberal art Without a parallel. Those being all my study, The government I cast upon my brother And to my state grew stranger, being transported And rapt in secret studies (i,II,91-95)"

Original Text: Prospero is not in the wrong to say these things, but he talks about himself as a good person, one who does things out of love, and one who for the bettering of himself gave himself solitude to gain knowledge and practice his magic. All of the things he talks about he centers around himself. He seemed self-centered and entitled through the words that he used to talk about himself and other people.

Revision: Prospero “casts” the government onto his brother, reinforcing the idea that his studies were his primary focus. Thus, the excerpt implies that Prospero, whose sole focus was on his own studies, is selfish in nature because he puts his duty as a leader second to enriching himself.

Reflection: Still wondering if it is ok to use “selfish” even if the text shows him in that light at some points.

Target Area:  C2 Idea without evidence

Quote: "And I loved thee, And showed thee all the qualities o’th’ise…. For I am all the subjects you have, Which first was mine own king; and here you sty me..(I,ii,400-410)"

Original Text:  Caliban refers to him as “mine own king”- for once he can be viewed as something more than a monster. One who lived on his own and grew to know the island very well- where to find food, water,shelter, etc. It shows how knowledgeable Caliban is- something usually not associated with a monster.

Revision:  Caliban says “I loved thee” and shows Prospero “all the qualities o’th’ise” which shows that Caliban is capable of human qualities, as represented in the text, as being one that is capable of love. For example, Prospero shows love towards Miranda, and Miranda and Ferdinand show love for each other.

[melissaashleybrooks]

Lirerary Adaptation of "The Space Traders"

summary adaptation: It was the year 2000 and people gathered along the Atlantic Coast to experience the appearance of alien ships to Earth. Upon arrival, no one expected the foreigners to offer America all of the resources that would solve their current issues and decades to come: gold for the debt crisis, chemicals that could deplete pollution, and safe nuclear engine and fuel to solve the nations deteriorating fossil fuel sources. In return for all of those things, the aliens wanted every single black American in return. The African American president and his democratic cabinet members were placed in the ultimate decision-making position because the president and two hundred people of his choice would be exempt from departing with the alien beings. The emergency gathering of the president and his cabinet was brief and to the point. Nearly every democrat in the room voted against the trade. Their conversation included arguments for human rights and took into consideration America’s dark past and how much progress has been made since then. They claimed that surely the samples of the resources provided by the aliens could be used for research and America would find a way to solve their own problems. The ultimate decision included no consideration of trading human lives for a relatively short-term solution.  

excerpt adaptation: 2 January The President called together his cabinet, all of who were white democratic men. They all gathered the next morning to discus the dilemma put before them. Joining the men was one of the President’s most trustworthy friends, Golightly, a white professor from a well-respected university; he was mostly of conservative upbringing, but nonetheless intelligent and valued in his community. “It is obvious why we are gathered here this morning,” said the President. “But I think I know where most of us stand on the issue at hand. It is in no question what we are supposed to do. We have progressed rapidly on the issue of civil rights that it wouldn’t make sense to go backwards. We cannot vote in favor of the trade and send the rest of my race to an unknown fate, even if our problems can go away.” The Vice President continued, “Why yes, of course. The democrat party has the upper hand for a reason. The people, especially minorities, trust that in a situation like the one before us, that we will support the people, no matter what race. Golightly, representing the conservative party, added to the conversation: “We have to take into consideration the benefits of this scenario. Surely, if the black American’s are traded, America will be in a Golden Age for decades to come. Most of all the people that called in favor of the trade were conservative white families thinking about the future of our country. Think about how devastated they would be if we turned down this opportunity.” He went on, “Don’t forget sir that you are omitted from the trade; you and two hundred others of your choice. Please we have to think about both options. And think about the trade in a positive light. These people up for offer would be leaving to better this country, to help everyone in the long run. We can display the trade in the media this way. You can tell people that they are going to be heroes, and that they will be going to a better place.” The President thought for a moment of the prosperity the trade would bring, but ultimately was not convinced. “It wouldn’t be right. Black, white, Hispanic, Native American, everyone is a living human being and this is no longer a topic of question,” The President said making up his mind.

analysis:  After completing the adaptation on Bell’s original piece, I was more aware of how the conservative party was displayed in the story. The original text shows the conservative party as racist and as people who value wealth over the people’s well being. As shown here, while describing the country’s dire straits, “..it was a time of crisis…. Decades of conservative, laissez-faire capitalism had emptied the coffers of all but a few of the very rich (Bell 162).”  Here, crisis is emphasized and linked to the conservative party and the use of “laissez-fair”, a policy of not interfering, shows that the conservative party, in power for decades, did nothing to help the people that needed it the most, but instead let the rich collect wealth. The evidence implies that even when the county needed help the most, the conservatives in power did not care about people, but rather focused on money. Bell also shows the conservative party with racist values. During the cabinet meeting, the Secretary of Health says “A large percent of blacks rely on welfare and other social services. Their departure would ease substantially the burden on our state and national budgets (Bell 164).”  In this quote not only is money placed above human life, but also a clear racial division is present.  The black Americans are separated from “our” nation and state, as if an unrelated group of people that is associated with being a “burden”. The underlying idea present in this comment is that the conservatives view black Americans as separate from the rest of the people in the nation. This idea can be further supported with the exchange between Golightly and the Secretary. The secretary, numerous times, refers to the black Americans as “your people” when speaking to Golightly. The word choice deliberately separates the blacks as a group of people removed from the general population. It further implies the conservative party as people that view themselves as a superior group of people over the “lesser” races. As stated by the Secretary directly, “I don’t even think black people are that stupid…talk about patriotism, about the readiness of black people to make sacrifices for this country, about how they are really worthy citizens no matter what some may think (Bell 172).” This quote implies the Secretary doesn’t see himself as stupid because he isn’t ignorant enough to think the black people would believe false claims. However, he does see the black race in general as having a lower level of intelligence because he thinks they can be fooled into agreeing to the trade with a speech that will make them feel important. The quote actually implies the opposite of what it says because the true nature of the speech is to be a false ideal speech in order to ease the black Americans into the idea of leaving the country at their own will.  Overall, in Bell’s story, “The Space Traders”, the conservative party is shown in a negative light. They are displayed as selfish white people who think they are superior to blacks. When I wrote the adaptation I switched the party in power to the democrats and ultimately the fate of the black race was changed because the values of the democrats were opposite of the conservatives. When analyzing the original text I was drawn to the way that Bell displayed the conservative party and how much blame he placed on them, not on white people as a whole because the liberal white people in the story were against the trade and were even a part of the Anti-Trade Collation.

[melissaashleybrooks]

Analysis 4

"The Space Trader's" describes the aliens both as " good-guy folks in comic books" and as "no-nonsense folks like regular Americans" from the white American's perspective. While other evidence supports that they are bad from the African American's perspective as "distinctly unpleasant, even meanacing in appearance" casts a new light. Together, these latter pieces of evidence imply that because the white American's are not the ones up for trde, their perspective on the aliens is lighter, maybe perhaps to justify their later decisions to trade the black Americans. This means that the views of the aliens are opposing from each race because of the situation at hand and encourages readers to consider the problem of racism that is hevily present in the text.  

[melissaashleybrooks]

Writer's Choice

http://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/378577902/how-to-become-batman?showDate=2015-01-23 

Here's a link to this interesting podcast called Invisibilia on NPR. It takes a look at invisible forces in the world that affect human behavior. This episode investigates expectations and how they affect people. I really like the science experiment that they talked about in which two groups of scientists were given two groups of rats. They told one group that the rats they were given were dumb and that they had to train them to run a race and they told the other group that their rats were ectremely intelligent and that they had to train them. When both groups of rats entered the race, the "intelligent" rats won, even though all the rats were the same. The test was to see how human expectations of something/someone would affect its behavior. The main part of the episode includes a story on a blind man who taught himself how to "see" by clicking...sounds weird but it was very interesting. The women that host the show questioned the possibility of blind people being able to see if people highered their expectations of them. 

A connection to our class: There are a lot of unseen elements in a text that influence the way we look at characters. For example, it may not be spelled out that Prospero in The Tempest is seen as selfish, but his actions and the connotations associated with his words may lead the reader to make this assumption about him. 

[melissaashleybrooks]

Analysis 3

The artice that I chose came from CNN. It is an article addressing that lawmakers in the UK voted in favor of the new in vitro fertilization technique (IVF) which allows the use of three people's DNA to create a baby. The article gives the pros of this technology, mainly focussing on the idea that the use of mitochondrial DNA from another women with healthy DNA can replace the actual mother's DNA which carries mtDNA that can lead to incurable diseases later in the child's life. The article also sheds some light on the ethical issues the new technology brings into queation by religious groups, but ultimatley is for the new technology. My opinion, on the other hand, is that this new IVF technology sound ideal, but there isn't enough research done in the field for it to be voted on by lawmakers.

I also gathered information from The Telegraph, which also had an article on this topic. The article included a lenthy list of professional docto's in the states and the UK that have commented on the law possibly going into effect. Many of the comments included the fact that this is an extremely new field of study and it isn't developed enough to go into legal practice.

Here is a comment made from Dr. Paul Knoepfler from UC Davis that I found in the article : “Since this is uncharted territory and the children born from this technology would have heritable genetic changes, there are also significant unknown risks to future generations.There are numerous serious risks associated with this technology. These include most notably the possibility that developmentally disabled or deceased babies will be produced."

There needs to be more research done in the field before this new technology is only shown in a positive light because there could be potential of more damage than good. As stated by Dr.Knoepfler, the result  may be a dead child. In that case, the mixing of DNA to "better the child's life" would have been for nothing. The risks of this technology also may not be seen until future generations are born from the babies with the altered DNA. It is completely unknown if miscariges will increase or the possibility of new genetic diseases arising because this is uncharted territory.

[melissaashleybrooks]

Notes 4

Reflecting on Analysis 1 -  The ideas that I tried to convey in my analysis came off as an opinion rather than an analysis. I think that is what I struggle with the most (being able to word things so that it doesn't sound opinionated). I also skimmed over the text rather than staying close to it and using the words in the book to do the analysis (as stated in my one-on-one) and I recognize that now after reading through it again. Instead of giving textual evidence in my analysis and implications, I only worte down my ideas based off the text, so it read more of an opinion. In the analysis I was trying to show Prospero's "self-centered" nature, but it was hard to do that without actually using those words. For the next time around, I will use sprecific traces of evidence in the text to add to my claim so that it is credible. 

[melissaashleybrooks]

Analysis 2

Text: The Tempest

Binary: Man/Monster. At first it might seem like Caliban is an actual monster. He is addressed as monster and slave. His ugly, monstrous appearance is also addressed in the play. 

Complication: Even though Caliban is viewed as a lower being, being addressed as "monster" throughout the play, he shows some human qualities that prove otherwise. (like in act 1 scene 2 and act 2 scene 2)

Evidence: 

"And I loved thee, And showed thee all the qualities o'th'ise.... For I am all the subjects you have, Which first was mine own king; and here you sty me..(I,ii,400-410)" 

In this speech to Prospero, Caliban reveals that he learned from Prospero, that he grew to like him, and that he showed Prospero everything he knew about the island. He then curses him and expresses his hatred toards Prospero for confining him to a cave. Caliban refers to him as "mine own king"- for once he can be viewed as something more than a monster. One who lived on his own and grew to know the island very well- where to find food, water,shelter, etc. It shows how knowledgeable Caliban is- something usually not associated with a monster. 

"But for every trifle are they set upon me, Sometimes like apes, that mow and chatter at me. And after bit me; then like hedgehogs, which lie tumbling in my barefoot way and mount their pricks at my footfall. Sometimes am I all wound with adders, who with cloven tongues Do hiss me into madness..(II,ii,7-14)

Here, Caliban compares those who mean him harm (Prospero, Miranda,etc) to apes and hedgehogs that grimace at him, hedgehogs that prick him, and snakes that hiss at him, and he says that they all drive him to madness. He can be seen more as a human in this instance- someone that is tired of being mocked and put down. Caliban seems as though he is tired of being looked down upon and talked to in such cruel ways, that he curses Prospero. 

Claim: Based on the evidence provided, Caliban can be seen as an actual person and not just some hideous monster. He shows intense emotions and even admits that he is tired of being hurt by Prospero. 

Analyses: Quote #2 (II,ii,7-14) 

Caliban calls those who harm him "apes", "hedgehogs", and "adders" (snakes) in this speech. The imagery in this piece of evidence made me picture Caliban as the one who was human, and all of those who treat him like dirt as animals that harm him, which contrasts the view that is mostly seen of him throughout the play, which is of a slave or even lower being, something not human. Caliban, although adressed as a monster, shows qualities that are more human, like in this quote, where everyone else are animals and he is pricked at his footfall and he is hissed into madness. Is is the words and maltreatment that the others inflict on him, that drive him crazy, and thus the reason he is a "monster"?

[melissaashleybrooks]

Notes 3

The Tempest, Act 3 Scene 2

Short summary- Caliban tells Stephano that he will be his servant and he will show him around the island and let him know where to get water and food. He tells him (stephano) that he should take over the island and in order to do so he would have to take Prospero's magic books and kill him- Stephano agrees to that plan. Stephano also says that after killing Prospero, he will take Miranda as his wife and they will be king and queen of the island.Trinculo and Caliban quarrel because Ariel, who is invisible, shows up and speaks rudely as Trinculo (in Trinculo's voice).

Analysis- While reading this scene, I took note of binaries and larger themes/motifs that connected to the rest of the novel. I wrote down monster/man, master/servant, men/women, and the strive for power. The monster/man binary is most apparent in this scene. Stephano and Triculo  refer to Caliban as "monster", "mooncalf", "servant monster", and "half fish half monster", all of which reflect how low they think of Caliban. When Caliban places himself at Stephano's feet as a servant, Stephano becomes entitled to something greater, thus his plan to take over the island as king.I thought this was kind of ironic because Stephano is a servant to Alonso and now that he has someone to serve him, he feels empowered to be something more than what he is. Throughout the whole play, several of the characters strive to be powerful leaders, like Antontio, who took over for Prospero as Duke of Milan, and Sebastian, who planned to kill his brother to inherit the throne. I also want to note the division between men and women in this scene. Because Miranda is the only woman on the island and she happens to be a maiden, the men view her as some type of object. They seem entitled to take her hand. Stephano practically claims her as his queen without her concent in this scene. 

Sparknotes Analysis- The analysis provided by Sparknotes, is about the use of doubles. They reflect on the similarities between this scence and Act II scece i and how it is esentially a mirror. Just like this scene, in act II scene i, the men (Gonzalo, Sebastion, Antonio, Alonso) wander around and the lower status men talk about what it would be like to have power. Ariel also enters and leads them astray as an invisible being. Stephano and Trinculo are "power- hungry servants" and are "rough paradodies of the power hungry courtiers Antonio and Sebastian".

Comparison- Before reading the Sparknotes analysis, I wrote my own and I found that we both pointed out the similarities of the thrive for power between the servants, Stephano and Trinculo, with Sebastian and Antonio. However, in my analysis, I included more details specific to the scene, like the binaries between monsters and men and men/women, while the Sparknotes analysis focusses on the use of doubles and conects it to another scence, which I didn't notice until after reading their analysis. 

[melissaashleybrooks]

Analysis 1: 3-4 on 1

The Tempest

Quote: "..in dignity, and for the liberal arts

Without a parallel. Those being all my study, The government I cast upon my brother And to my state grew stranger, being transported And rapt in secret studies (i,II,91-95)"

Mini summary of immediate context- Prospero is explaing to his daughter, Miranda, how he used to be the Duke of Milan until he got so involved with his practices that he temporarily let his brother rule.

Mini summary of broader text- In the first part of scene 2 act 1, Miranda sees the ship and the storm and tells her father. He then explains to her that he raised the storm and has to explain to her why. He goes on to tell her that his own brother, Antonio, took over as Duke of Milan and conspired with Alonso, the king of Naples, to cast himself (Prospero) and his daughter Miranda out at sea and that is why they have been starnded on an island for the past twelve years.

Focal word- "secret studies" (referring to his "art")

Strand- "being transported and rapt in secret studies"

Binaries- knowledge/power

Concepts- knowledge/solitude

Themes- occult knowledge, dark arts, magic powers

Implications of quote-

Prosperso admits that he was so wrapt up in the studies of his art that he handed the power over to his brother out of love, but his brother betrayed him and actually took the title and lied saying that he was the actual duke.

I would say that this implies the true nature of Prospero's brother as one that is thirsty for power.

This part of the quote sharply contrasts what he says about his brother. Prospero shows that his actions were out of love, but his brother "should be so profidious." He straight up says that he brother is decietful and then implies that all of his own actions were for good. Maybe Prospero doesn't recognize his flaws.

Immplications of focal words-

"secret studies"- study of mystical and occult matters. "secret" implies that his studies were done in private or he did not want it known to the people what he was studying.

References- "If by your art, my dearest father, you have put the wild waters in this roar, allay them (i,II,1-2)"

"I have with such provision in mine art so safely ordered that there is no soul ... (i,II,35)

"It was mine art, when I arrived and heard thee,that made gape the pine and let thee out... (i,II,345)"

Art- referring to his "secret studies"..I couldn't find anymore direct quotes of his secret studies, but when he says art he is talking about his study of magic.

Analytical Paragraph- In the quote that I chose, Prospero is explaining to Miranda what his brother did to him/ how his brother betrayed him. Prospero is not in the wrong to say these things, but he talks about himself as a good person, one who does things out of love, and one who for the bettering of himself gave himself solitude to gain knowledge and practice his magic. All of the things he talks about he centers around himself. He seemed self-centered and entitled through the words that he used to talk about himself and other people.

Reflection- I watched the analysis video that was posted on the site before reading the text so I got an idea of what to do. I bascially chose a passage and re-read it a few times and then translated it into modern English. I then wrote down ideas that came to my mind. I found it hard to focus everything based on one small part of the text and it was hard to not include my opinion on things( I think I included an opinion in my analysis).

[melissaashleybrooks]

Notes 2

Appendix B: The education of Victor Frankenstein: Darwin and Davy

The author of the Discouse, Sir Humphry Davy, talks about science (chemistry in specific) in a creative way in these notes. Here is a short overview of

In Discourse 5-9 Davy credits many scientific discoveries- "production of rain,hail,snow..the conversion of deaad matter into living matter by vegetable organs"- to chemistry. He explains the significant role that chemistry plays to the scientific community as a whole.

Discourse 14-17:

In the name of science, man has used nature out of self satisfaction and personal desires. He says that man harnessed parts of nature, such as heat and light, under his control for "instruments of...enjoyment, or of...destruction." He argues that science has given man "powers which may have been called creative." He basically says that men use these powers for a sense of control rather than to gain knowledge. Then he mentions that science has so much more to offer and there are new discoveries to be made. He calls upon future generations to build upon what was known before them and to continue to expand what is known in the science world.

Discourse 18-19:

In short, this section discussed the idea that new discoveries (during the time) have emerged and replaced old ones. For example, electricity, the composition of the atmosphere, and gas properties. He even refers to the discovery of electricity and its ability to make dead matter, animal and human, move.

Discourse 23:

New discoveries in the "external world" give people enjoyment and because ideas in this subject are always changing, they constantly change our "habits of thinking."

Discourse 24-26

Davy says that the most powerful ambitions of the soul are never satisfied with knowledge. And that scientific discoveries may only cause happiness in solitude because the rest of the world may be "indifferent" toawrds them.

Many of Davy's beliefs about the relationship that men have with science are apparent in Frankenstein. I found a few examples in Volume I of the text regarding Victor and his practices.

"..loathsome in itself, but which had taken an irresistable hold of my immagination. I wished..to procrastinate all that related tp ,y feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit pf my nature, should be completed (82)."

"..I believed that exercise and amusement would soon drive away such symptoms; and I promised myself both of these, when my creation should be complete (83)."

In both of these examples from the text, Victor admits that he is consumed by his project. He must complete it in order to feel satisfied. Its these symptoms that Davy warns man about in his notes.

I found from a few sources online that Mary Shelley was reading works by Davy while writing Frankemstein. It is evident in the way she writes about science that she drew a lot of inspriation from Davy's ideas. She makes some sexual references to science and talks about the power that men have- almost like creators (referncing religion)- just as Davy does.

[melissaashleybrooks]

"Be An Animal"

Adapatation of "Be An Animal" by Goldberg

Take a walk. But don't just walk. Use your senses to fully engage in your surroudings. Notice the small things around you: street signs, the color of the car that just passed by, the type of flowers in your neighbor's yard. Look up at the sky and take note of the different shapes the clouds make. Life is truly beautiful and has so much to offer, but we have to take initiative and actually notice it. Who knows? Maybe you'll find something worth writing about. Or maybe the walk you take will clear your mind and give you a chance to focus on other things besides the things you have to do.

Sometimes we are so busy worying and stressing about stuff that we forget to just be. Relaxation seems like a thing of the past, especially as a student. We constantly worry about what assignments we have to complete and what things we have to buy that we forget to notice our surroundings. So, take a walk. Pay close attention to the things around you. You might miss something beautiful.

Reflection

In Goldberg's "Be An Animal", the author wants to emphasize the importance of noticing our surroundings. She says that we should be like cats: watching, listening, smelling. We should forget about money and materialistic things and reflect on more important things. She iincluded an anecdote about her friend from New York and her fear of venturing out and getting lost.

This is what actually drew me to the piece. Just yesterday I was on my way to San Francisco to visit a friend and then to the airport to pick up another friend. My phone happened to die while I was driving. And naturally I was using my phone for directions. I panicked for a minute...or maybe an hour. I pulled off the freeway to find my way to my friend Mahdi's new place in the middle of downtown SF. Completey lost in the middle of too many one-way streets and abnormal turn lanes that I freaked out. Finally I found the street I was looking for and after walking for a few blocks I stumbled upon the person I was supposed to meet. And of course he didn't have the type of charger I needed. I wanted to cry. No way of contacting the friend I was supposed to pick up, at the air port that I had never been to,in an extremely busy city that I had never driven in.

I forgot to just breathe. Instead I hit the big red panic button like there was no other option. Luckily the friend I met up with is the most laid back, care free person I know. He told me to calm down. We walked around and we pointed out all the cool buildings and intersting people on the street. Found a convience store and picked up a car charger. In no time I was on my way to where I was supposed to be, I just had to take a breath. So lesson learned: do not panic when you're lost. But more importantly, notice the things around you. I seemed to calm down after doing that.

The main point, similar to Goldberg's, is to venture off. Walk around. Somwhere new or old and use your senses to take in your surroudings. I think this is a useful thing to do for anyone, especially in an English class.

It can be really useful for free writing exercises. Even anaylizing literature and paying close attention to the words on the paper and looking at the individual words to uncover meaning.

Writing this adpation was a useful task. I had to identify the main ideas from an article and write about them in my own words. It gave a new light to Goldberg's piece and helped me further understand the author's intentions. All of these things are applicable to analyzing pieces of writing in order to fully comprehend them.

[melissaashleybrooks]

Notes 1: Binaries in Frankenstein

rich-poor

"One of his most intimate friends was a merchant, who, from a flourishing state, fell, through numerous mischances, into poverty (64)."

The division between the wealthy and poor is apparent in the description of Victor's father's friend, Beaufort. It directly describes his situation as "unfortunate" and Victor's father "grieved..for the loss of his society", as if Beaufort would no longer be welcomed by the wealthy people that he once associated with. This division gives the reader a background as to what type of family the main character comes from, obviously one that is apart of the upper class. Even though Beaufort falls into poverty, Victor's father offers to help him because he cares a lot about him. This notion builds the character of the father as one that is caring and empathetic.

life-death

"After days and nights of incredible fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life;nay,more,I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter (79)."

The division of life and death is common throughout the novel. Victor often addresses this topic and asks questions about life after death. He becomes so intruigued with his study of natural science that he neglects his family and fails to keep in contact with them. His fascination with life/death is what drives him to create "animation unpon lifeless matter."