My Overall Learning Experience

Learning Experience
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My last blog for my English 102 class is a reflection of how I have grown throughout the course as a writer and a thinker. I took a look back to all the blogs I have done and I can see a big difference. Writing blogs is something I never thought I would do. Starting from the design and the font, to the title it was a learning experience. I have learned how to better put my ideas together and become a better writer and my skills have expanded from blog 1 to blog 15. It is interesting how my vocabulary have grown and expanded giving me the advantage to write longer paragraphs. The ability to connect the text with other sources such as my own experience and other texts has made my blogs more comprehensible to the public. Some descriptions that best describe my blogs are:

The blog entries
• organize the writer’s ideas around a main point.
• connect the texts with other texts in the packet, texts outside class, or personal experience
• are written in a clear, easy-to-read style

The writer

• selects graphics and multimedia to enhance the blog's visual appeal

• writes in an appealing style that reflects her/his personality

• stimulates class dialogue by extending the discussion in new directions

My online writing experience for this semester has been very productive. It has helped me write faster and accurate. It also, has helped me enhance my vocabulary by learning more synonyms and correcting my words with spelling checks. The experience of writing online helps me to organize my ideas before putting it in writing, giving me the advantage to erase and rewrite more efficiently. By writing blog entries my abilities as a writer have improve greatly, just the simple fact that I know other people are going to look at it makes me bring out the best of me. Now every time I write I try to make it perfect and understandable so that my message and ideas get across more easily.  Just as I like my classmate and professor to read my blogs, I also like to do the same with their blogs. Reading other people’s blogs give me the opportunity to provide and receive feedbacks and to realize that I share common ideas with other people. Therefore, I very often read other’s students online work. I believe that other member of the class have often read my blogs. I have received many feedback and suggestion that have helped me to change and improve my work.

The first lesson I will be taking away from this class and the most important is that I have improve my writing skills significantly. I had also learned how to blog and post my ideas online to receive feedbacks from others. Everything we have discussed is basically what a student would want to learn from his/her English class and the professor has explain in depth every topic and assignment. A memorable moment in class was the Much Ado Jeopardy game. We had fun and enjoyed it; the anxiety of being called to answer the question and answers it right for our team was pretty exciting and rewarding. My recommendation to a student who plans to take this class next semester is to read the books, write and submit all his/her blogs on time and take advantage of all the extra credit the professor may give to the class.  

Self evalution and Reflection

Much Ado About Nothing
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Blog fourteenth is one of my favorites blog. Once again I have the chance to choose one of my previous blog and talk about what makes me feel proud of. I also can identify it with what I have learned from the readings in the class. The one I have chosen is blog thirteenth; I feel it was one of the hardest blog I have done in the entire class. The amount of time and dedication I put in this blog was tremendous. Trying to understand Shakespeare vocabulary in this play was one of my biggest challenges.

From the in class reading and quizzes of the play Much Ado About Nothing, I have learned about many things. One of them is the meaning of the literary terms comedy and tragedy in a play. It is interesting how Shakespeare integrated these two kind of literary terms in a single play. Watching the film version of the play made a big different for the class because it helped me have a better understanding of what the play was about and why they expressed themselves the way they did. It also taught me a littler history of how women were treated in those days. Some were treated as a goddess and other were treated as shrew.

I believe that the ending of this play was really interesting, is not usual to see a double happy ending in a play and the way Shakespeare made it happen it was really creative. He uses death in order to rebirth the characters' “true selves”.

Double Happy Ending

Double Happy Ending
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The third set of series of the play Much Ado About Nothing is my blog thirteenth for my English 102 class. This ne is going to be about the symbolic meaning of the unmasked ceremony.

In the play, the unmasked ceremony served as a symbolic meaning to clear Hero’s name and prove that she was innocent from the accusation Claudio had made in front of everyone all Messina.  In order to do that she had to reborn herself  from death. Another important symbolic meaning was that Claudio accepted to marry Hero's cousin as instructed by Leonato just as a punishment for what he had done to Hero. Claudio felt that he had made a big mistake by accusing Hero of being unfaithful in front  of the entire Messina, without having sufficient proof nor confirming it with her. A new Hero was reborn because it was the only way for her to clear her name and prove that she was mistakenly accused of something that she did not do.

Claudio also had to reborn himself. When accepted Leonato's proposal to marry his niece in order to pay for his wrong accusations to Hero. He had accused Hero in front of  all the witnesses of the wedding of something he was not even sure about, before even listening to what she had to say. From that point Claudio became a new person, he learned from his mistake. Beatrice and Benedick were unmasked by accepting their true love in from of everybody, something they had been in denial for so long.

Beatrice and Benedick have revealed themselves in front of everyone. They have shown unconditional love to each other against their own will. They have reborn themselves as new characters in the play, changing their status from being single characters and thinking of themselves as longtime bachelors to being truly in love with each other and belonging to someone other than themselves.

In a way, this double happy ending for me was perfect. First of all. it surpassed my expectations as a reader with the way it ends; by having both marriages at the same time. Also it made the story a lot more interesting at the end, it felt like Claudio did not know what he had until he thought he had lost it. Also, Benedick who bragged, would stop being a bachelor because he found his true love.

True Love

True Love
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My blog twelfth for my English 102 class is the second from a series of blogs from the play Much Ado About Nothing. On this blog I am going to analyze the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick.

After their failed wedding, Benedick show his love for Beatrice in numerous ways. The main act of pure, gratifying and indulging love is when without hesitation Benedick gives into his lover request as if killing a man was just a way of making amends with Beatrice feelings. Benedick accepts and will challenge Claudio. Another way in which a sense of love for her is shown, is by being there when she needs him the most. He listens to her outburst of revenge and will satisfy her every need if given a chance to. This scene shows love in every aspect from tender compassion to the ability to stand by her side, even when he knows the outcome of his actions might be wrong.

By asking Benedick to kill Claudio, Beatrice risks losing her most loved one. She believes that her cousin was falsely accused. Revenge takes the form of an unsettled woman who is willing to do anything to bring justice to her cousin. She asks him to kill Claudio in order to prove his love to her. However, Beatrice believes that Benedick is not the man for the job because he is not part of the family, therefore he does not have the right to represent the family. Benedick risks his friendship with Claudio when he accepts Beatrice request. A friendship entitles trust and loyalty but when he takes on her request, he is breaking all the rules of friendship. He is also willing to kill his best friend for the love of his life. On the other hand, by killing his friend, he gains Beatrice’s love and respect. He feels that he needs to make her feel safe and loved.

It is my opinion that Benedick should not kill Claudio. The reason why Benedick would kill Claudio is to prove his love to Beatrice, but he should not make such a challenging decision based on Beatrice’s assumptions. He will also end up hurt because of this horrible action against his best friend and will lose his best friend.

I truly believe that the death of Claudio would make a difference in their relationship between Benedick and Beatrice. If Claudio dies Benedick will feel resentment against his beloved one and this feeling would make their relationship weak. Even if Beatrice feels as if Benedick proves himself to her, this will not be enough for Beatrice. Love would be the only feeling to make this relationship work and keep them together.

Women's place in Shakespeare's society

Women of Shakespeare's time
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My blog eleventh is going to be the first blog pertaining to the play we are currently reading in my English 102 class. Our professor has giving us a series of questions on which we are only allowed to pick only one and write a blog from it.  The one I have choosen is really interesting because it talks about how women were place in shakespeares society.

In the early act of the play Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare, we can see how women were diminished in Shakespeare society. Men were believed to be superior and dominated women in every aspect. Stereotypes were used to downgrade women’s position in society; one of them is women as whore or a wife.

Claudio, Leonato and Don Pedro think that Hero is a wife to be owned and manipulated; they also believe that she is a goddess. Hero is a quite, shy, sensible, vulnerable, and very polite woman, she would let her father and Claudio manipulates her. Later in the play, Hero has been dishonored and accused for violating her chastity; Margaret and Borachio made believe that Hero was making love with Borachio. The days of the wedding, Claudio humiliates and mistreats Hero in front of everyone. She is stereotyped as an adulterer and accused of infidelity in front of the public.

Beatrice is very independent and strong, not easy to manipulate. She refuses to get married because she is a strong person and has not yet fall in love with the right person. She wants to find partner that does not control and manipulates her; she is accustomed to be a free and independent woman. Benedick thinks that Beatrice is a scapegoat and always uses animal names when he refers to her or talks to her.

At the masked ball, Don Pedro proposes marriage to her Beatrice. Not knowing that he is really in love with her, she refuses him with good humor. I think Beatrice refuses men because she was hurt before and is afraid to be hurt again. Beatrice becomes vulnerable when she listens to Hero saying that Benedick is in love with her. It was very hard for Beatrice to admit that she is love with Benedick.

I think that Beatrice will be able to keep on resisting men’s attempts to control her actions forever. She is not like Hero that gives love and obeys her partner as if she was kid obeying her father. Beatrice has her own way of loving; she is intelligent, astute woman, capable to manipulate a man and make them do whatever she wants.

A Reflection on Kindred

Understanding is more than just an Award

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Blog tenth is one of my favorites because I was able to pick one of my previous blogs that I feel proud of doing. This is a hard question to answer due to the amount of time, thoughts and knowledge I have dedicated to all of them. However, blog eighth “Domestic Violence Equals Modern Slavery” have been stocked in my head for quite a while and the things that I have learned from that blog are amazing. In this blog, I was able to deeply analyze how domestic violence can be the same term as modern slavery and how women are treated like animals even though we are in the twenty first century.

From the in class readings and quizzes of the story Kindred, I have learned about slavery in the United States during different periods of times. I have learned how people were treated back in that time, analyzed the relationship between slaves and masters and compared it with how people are treated nowadays, especially women. Another remarkable thing I have learned is how old masters molded their young white kids to be masters. The quiz on literary terms helped me to understand better the story I was reading. It helped me to analyze the story from different perspectives; identify the different characters in the story and understand the types of narrator from this story. The setting played an important role in this story, it was a little confusing and at the same time is exciting, but it kept me hooked and focused into what was going to happen next.

My blogs comments and feedback from my classmates have been helpful. By commenting on other blogs we are able to improve what we have done wrong and shape us as better writers.  Most of my classmates have done a good job because they were able to respond what we were asked for and provide good ideas. However, other classmates were only able to respond only part of the assignments and left it unfinished.

Definition of Heroism



Torture of a female slave
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This is blog ninth for my English class 102. On this blog we are going to take into account the definition of Heroism that Karen Joy Fowler uses in her tribute to Octavia Butler. Also, we are going to plot in this definition on each of this three main characters, Dana, Alice and Sarah, by bringing out their endurances and sacrifices in a way that are being consider heroism.

Most slaves, especially women slaves, were forced to endure constant exploitation and degradation. The author in kindred uses three of her major character to show the different ways how women were exploited and degraded. One of these characters was Alice, who suffered tremendous amount of pain from the abuses of her master. Rufus, who was obsessively in love with her, used to treat Alice like an animal. He took advantage by raping and whipping her whenever she refused him. She was also punished many times for trying to run away from him but every time she did she was caught. Another character who had suffer tremendously was Sarah, however she had opted to live a passive live and accept that she was a slave. She saw how her master Weylin destroyed her family, took away her children and sold them to different bidders. He left her with only one child, Carrie, who was mute, so this way he could make sure that Sarah was not going to escape. Dana’s case was worst because she was from a different time of life; she was not used to the life style of the 1800’s. She had to suffer all types of punishment, from being whipped, insulted, to almost being raped. She could not talk back to the master or any other member of the Weylin family because she was a black woman; this was unacceptable behavior for the slaves. Dana was accustomed to talk back and defend herself if she felt attacked by another person; she had to sacrifice her freedom and life style. The only way Dana was able to escape from the past was by putting herself in danger situations. 

In my point of view, Dana was the most heroic person of the three. Even though she lived in a different time in life, she was able to manage all the punishments she received and still continued to save the life of Rufus every time he was in danger. She was only the black person who was well educated and knew how to read and write. She was able to teach these skills to some slaves of the plantation who she was allowed teach to. At the end, she was able to overcome her fears and killed Rufus while he was trying to rape her