The Soloist, Final Post

My experience reading The Soloist was very different from my experiences reading the other works I read this year. I found this novel to be the most interesting novel that I have read all year. I think part of why it was so interesting was because it is a current story, a story of a real man, still living and still struggling to this day. Another reason why I was so interested was because I made the connection with him as a musician, and I can understand the joy Nathaniel Ayers receives from playing his instruments. The novel also opened my eyes to schizophrenia, a disease I had heard of but didn't really know much about. I now know that this disease, which I never thought could be a really huge problem in one's life, could actually hinder one's dreams and goals, which it did to Ayers. I'm happy this book was chosen for our class to read and I'm very glad to have read it.

The Soloist

While reading The Soloist, I have been trying to figure out Steve Lopez's purpose for writing the novel and the goals he wished to have achieved by writing it. One of the most obvious reasons why he might have written The Soloist was to spread awareness about schizophrenia and how it can affect one's future. I also think he wrote it to demonstrate a fact of life. In life, nothing is fair. One can have the best luck in the world for the longest time but could one day find himself or herself faced with unbearable misery. All that is good in one's life can be taken away in an instant, as was the case with Nathaniel Ayers, whose bright career in music was blocked by the obstacle of schizophrenia. I think Steve Lopez is trying to tell the world through his novel to take nothing for granted, that everything is not a right but a gift which must be cherished and never forgotten.

*Please tell me if anything I have said is off topic. Thanks.*

The Soloist

The Soloist continues to be a very intriguing novel. I am so amazed that a gifted musician, a student from Juilliard with a bright career ahead of him, ended up homeless, the street his concert hall and the passersby his audience. Even though he has schizophrenia, with the variety of treatments readily available there should be no reason for him to be living the life he is living.  I like that Steve Lopez did not just write a column about Nathaniel Anthony Ayers but did all he could to help his situation, such as collecting instruments to give to Ayers and attempting to get him into a facility to help his schizophrenia.

The Soloist, Chapters 1-6

"Music is a meditation, a reverie, a respite from madness. It is his way to be alone without fear."

Overall, I find the book The Soloist to be a fascinating one, one unlike any other book I have ever read. Although every sentence and every page keeps me interested in the story of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, this quotation really stood out to me. Ayers, as a homeless schizophrenic, could probably be considered by some to be a lunatic. He is very much unlike us, yet something about him is similar to us. We are not all musicians, but we all have some passion that we turn to to keep us going when times are tough. Ayers's passion happens to be music, playing it for himself and those passersby who wish to listen. When playing music, the weight of the world, the weight of all things bringing him down, is lifted off of his shoulders, and he is in his own little peaceful world, doing what he was born to do: use his music to bring the joy and peace he feels to others. 

*Please tell me if any points made in this post are in any way not consistant with The Soloist."

Catcher in the Rye

There were many good and bad things I found in Catcher in the Rye. The novel read more like an entry from Holden Caulfield's journal than an average novel. I kind of liked this because in a personal journal, a person writes down every detail and every emotion, so having the novel set up in this way allows the reader to more deeply enter the thoughts of Holden Caulfield and have a better understanding of how he feels about certain situations. What I didn't really like about this setup is that in a journal, there is no novel structure to it, so therefore there is no rising action, climax, falling action, etc. This is what keeps me interested in a novel, and at times I found Catcher in the Rye to be a bit boring and unorganized at times. Another thing I really like about Catcher in the Rye was how Holden addresses the reader as "you." It makes the reader feel like an old friend of Holden's and allows the reader to have an active part in the story. 

Overall, I felt that Catcher in the Rye was a very good choice for our class to read. I would recommend it to others, but I would warn that the lack of structure might make for a confusing or difficult time reading it.

*When reading my writing, please tell me if anything I have said is off topic.*

Death of a Salesman

This was the second time I read Death of a Salesman, and this time I read it more closely and tried to understand it more fully. The first time I read it, I could not understand how Willy died or the purpose of the rubber pipe, although I knew it must have had something to do with attempting suicide. Also, when I first read it, although I could distinguish between reality and hallucination, it was very difficult for me to follow much of the plot. Reading it the second time, I paid more attention to the smaller details and was able to pick up on a lot more, such as how Biff's finding of his father cheating on his mother was the reason he gave up on everything he could have become. The movie was also a great help. It allowed me to give meaning to the words in the text and have a clearer understanding of the plot. Taking into consideration the time period in which it was written and set allowed me to see Willy Loman's struggles and understand why he was feeling so distressed, both about his work and about his son's lack of security. All of these things allowed my second reading of Death of a Salesman to be an enjoyable one.

*When reading my post, please let me know if I have any grammatical errors or if what I am saying somehow does not make logical sense. Thanks.*

Blogger

Using Blogger for the past few months has been a great experience for me. I prefer Blogger to Google Groups because with Google Groups, if I found that I made an error in my post, I would have to delete the entire post and post it again. With Blogger, I can edit my work over and over again without having to delete my entire post. I also like being able to comment on others' work and to have others commenting on my work. I have become familiar with peoples' writing styles and I have enjoyed reading what these people have to say. I like having others commenting on my work because having some constructive criticism is helpful to me as a writer. The fact that this blogging is between both 11-1 and 11-2 allows me to read and enjoy writings I would have never seen if it were not for Blogger. I think we should continue to use Blogger for the rest of the year and next year.

The Great Gatsby

“My idea is always to reach my generation. The wise writer...writes for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward.”

This quotation caught my eye because when reading it, I realized that what Fitzgerald says about works of writing is true. "The wise writer...writes for the youth of his own generation." Fitzgerald wrote and set The Great Gatsby during the Roaring Twenties, as the decade came to be called. During this decade, the stock market was on the rise, with seemingly no limit to how high it could go. The rich were becoming richer and the poor were becoming wealthy as well. This time period and the novel demonstrate both "old money," or money inherited through the family, and "new money," or money recently acquired throught the stock market or other means. This brings up the debate of whether "new money" can be considered "wealth," since there are many times when people who suddenly become rich gain the mindset that they have enough money to cover anything they would like to do and quickly end up bankrupt. This debate, the modern time period, and the many love stories intertwined in the story keep the story interesting for the young, especially for the young of the time period. However, there will always be some who disagree with an author's writings or motives for writing. Fitzgerald mentions this in his quotation. These critics of the next generation, as Fitzgerald states, may feel that writings are not appropriate for a specific audience or may have controversial statements or plots. However, these critics must consider in their analyses of writings the time period in which they were written and who the target audiences are/were. Fitzgerald also mentions that schoolmasters will forever use these writings afterward. This is so that present students would get an idea of what life was like in the past, a sort of history lesson from literature.

The Great Gatsby, Chapter 1

In Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby, we are introduced to the narrator, Nick Carraway. Nick lives in West Egg. In West Egg, most of the people there have become wealthy only recently, mostly from investing in the stock market. Most of the houses are nothing extraordinary, except for the mansion which stands next to Nick's apartment. This is the mansion of Jay Gatsby. The town of East Egg is filled with people who have inherited wealth through their families. Nick travels to East Egg to have dinner with his old friends, the Buchanans. Nick and Tom Buchanan had been friends when they attended Yale University. Since then, they both have changed, Tom becoming more of a stuck-up person, and Nick more tolerant of the people around him. Tom is reading "The Rise of the Colored Empires," a book promoting white supremacy. Tom believes all of the claims that whites make up the dominant race are true; therefore, it can be safely assumed that Tom himself is a racist and believes in white supremacy. At the end of the chapter, Nick sees Jay Gatsby for the first time by the water, but when he looked again, he diappeared, causing who he is and what's he's all about to remain an enigma.

Herman Melville

http://www.poetry-archive.com/m/the_martyr.html
-"The Martyr"

http://www.poetry-archive.com/m/the_berg.html
-"The Berg"

Herman Melville was born in 1819. His father, Allan Melvill, died in 1832, two years after the collapse of the family's import business. Melville began writing at a very young age, but could not focus primarily on his writing due to the family's financial difficulties. After working as a cabin boy on the St. Lawrence, Melville began writing about the sea in novels such as Moby Dick and Typee.

In "The Martyr," Herman Melville uses much imagery. When he says, "He lieth in his blood" one can get a mental image of a man not only dead, but brutally murdered. Also, the line "Beware the People weeping/ When they bare the iron hand" makes the reader fearful that the mourners of the murdered man seek vengeance for his death.

While reading "The Berg" by Herman Melville, I could visualize the shipwreck as it was occurring. Melville's use of imagery allowed me to put myself in the presence of the ship as it hit the iceberg and as it was sinking.

I couldn't see anything in Herman Melville's writing that would classify him as an American poet. The only connection I could make between his works and American history and media was how "The Berg" seemed very similar to the story of the Titanic. Most of his writings seem like they could have been written by anyone from any culture. I doubt that if someone who knew nothing of Herman Melville read one of his poems for the first time he orshe would be able to surely say that he was American.

Mark Twain

Mark Twain was an American realist; that is, he wrote about life as he actually saw it. This differs from the writings of the American romanticists, who wrote about what life may be like if they were living in an ideal society. While the romanticists wrote about such things as how America can become a better place, Twain wrote about what actually occurred in the current America, such as little boys who don't get rewarded for their good deeds or men who tell stories about betting men to people who come seeking other information.

Twain writes about a variety of topics. One topic that he writes about is how the laws of karma are not always followed. It is said that if one does good deeds, good will be brought upon that person. In the case of the good little boy, every time he does a good deed, some negative repercussion in inflicted upon him.

I am happy that I chose to read and write about Mark Twain. I like how his writings do not romanticize society but show what life is really like. I now understand why Mark Twain is such a popular author.

The Power of Words

For years, people have been using writing as a way to convey their dreams for the world and what others must do in order to achieve those dreams. Many of these writings have succeeded in their goals. Writing is a powerful tool that can help affect change in the world.

After reading "The Bombing of Baghdad" I felt saddened for all of the innocent victims killed during the bombing. This was exactly June Jordan's goal. Her poem was purposefully filled with emotional appeals in order to convince her audience that the bombings in Iraq were wrong and to stir up antiwar feelings in the reader.

"What anthems or lullabies soon can restore us after we killed the children?" This quotation comes from an untitled poem by Rose Styron. What Styron is asking is how a soldier can celebrate a victory or feel content when innocent people, namely children, are killed in the process. Stryon uses the image of dying children to make those engaged in battle feel ashamed for killing such innocence and beauty.

To many people, writings like these may seem like words on a page. However, hidden in these words are important messages that have the power to change minds and hearts. Words have much more power than most people give them credit for, and maybe if we all make an attempt to understand what is trying to be said in writings, we can take the first step in trying to carry out the author's wishes.

From Son to Mother (Price of a Child Poem)

Mommy, Mommy, where have you gone?
Why have you gone away?
I don't know how I'm going to survive
Without you here today.
Mommy, Mommy, please come back
I'm sitting here alone.
Being alone with the Bat and without you
Makes me feel less at home.

Mommy, Mommy, it's been months
And not a day goes by
That I do not hope for you to return
And dry the tears that I cry.
Mommy, Mommy, where are you?
Why have you been gone for so long?
Do you not love me anymore?
Have I done something wrong?

Mommy, Mommy, I'm no longer a slave
Yet I feel not an ounce of joy
For what good is my freedom now
When I'm a motherless little boy?
Mommy, Mommy, you set me free.
The battle has finally been won
But you're not here to take me home.
Am I no longer your son?