End of Engl101S

Before entering this class, all I could think about was how much I was going to dread writing loads of papers throughout the term But now as we approach the final day, I'm realizing how much I actually enjoyed this class. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would've been, we even had an awesome teacher ^^. The assignments we had all helped to make my writing skills significantly better. Even though they were stressful to write at the time, I'm thankful for the skills I learned through them. In conclusion, I have learned to like academic writing up to a certain extent and not hate it with a passion. :] That has got to be one of the greatest achievement of this year for me. :D

Pura says...

"The Pura Principle" by Junot Díaz

My first impression of this short story: the author is very straight-forward with their language(s). That was a bit of a throw-off since I wasn't really expecting that. Anyways, as I was reading I thought maybe this would end up being one of those life changing stories with a gleeful ending and such. A sibling in tragedy with a pot-head brother and a mother gone church-crazy. So I kept on reading, waiting for the story to take a turn for the miracle to happen and got nothing. I really thought this 'miracle' would happen when the character Tammy Franco was introduced but that didn't go anywhere.
Okay, so maybe I didn't really get the point of this story. What exactly was the author trying to get at? Was it maybe that illness doesn't change a person? Or that women can be conniving* witches? Or was he trying to portray a mother's blinded love? Did I miss a part in the story here?? Alright, I have too many questions. Any thoughts?

*I don't think Pura Adames was really a conniving type of character but I couldn't think of the 'right' word.

A dance with lost fantasy...

Waltz with Bashir (2008)

I don't whether this film was to show the horrors of war as many war movies do or to emphasize the aftermath of war on the location and the people who were a part of it. But the work with animation didn't seem to hinder the depth of the movie in my opinion. First off I thought because of the animation, the transitions between scenes from 'reality' to the flashbacks were really smooth. There was a part near the beginning of the film where the music became bright and 'exciting' that I left me confused. But then I thought the film was making a mockery of the war, where everything was shot at and blown up with no real intention or purpose. Even in these scenes, without the animation it probably would've been difficult to capture the 'ease' of such destructive explosions on film.

John Q

In the film John Q (2002), I thought there were many scenes that could be marked as ‘memorable’ such as when John Archibald shouts to Lt. Grimes the words “I am not going to bury my son, my son is going to bury me!” But another scene before that, that kept replaying in my head was when John and Denise Archibald were sitting across the table from Dr. Turner and Rebecca Payne to discuss the money needed for their son’s operation. I don’t know if this was the correct rhetorical appeal that was used but I thought that Payne was relying heavily on logos. She just kept belting out information on information to the Archibald’s expense barriers. It was probably out of her professional costume that required her to come off so strict but she seemed so cold to the fact that a little boy was about to die. This scene seemed important to me for it was where Michael's parents hit a roadblock to save his life because of the money factor. It wasn't even that a donor wasn't available, it was that he couldn't even begin to search for a donor until he had enough money. Money became a greater factor than the life of a human being.

[Sidenote: The scene that I am referring to. I'm not sure why the clip is titled "John Q clip 1987" but it's from the right movie so, there you go.]

Research Log

Sources that I intend to use for the Experience and Other Evidence paper! MLA style~

1. Brown, Walter A. "Ancient Sleep in Modern Times." Scientific American Mind 17.6 (2006): 14-15. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. EBSCO. Web. 2 Mar. 2011

This article focuses on a sleeping cycle that in modern times is thought to be a problem and even an illness called insomnia. But gives examples and proof of sleeping schedules that were similar to "insomniac" being common in past times. Also the article reviews on experiments that were performed with extended hours of darkness to study the human sleep patterns. This article will allow me to make comparisons to sleeping cycles that were common before and now seen as problematic due to the human lives of modern days.

2. Martinez, Denis, and Maria do Carmo Sfreddo Lenz. "Circadian rhythm sleep disorders" Indian Journal Medical Research 131.2 (2010): 141-149. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. Mar. 2011

In this article, the common conditions of circadian rhythm sleep disorders that lie between the sleeping periods and the 24-hour environmental cycle are reviewed. Circadian rhythms are changes that respond primarily to the light and darkness of an organism's environment. These rhythms are related to our biological clocks as they are driven by our biological clocks. This article will allow me to make connections to our physical and social environments that have an affect on our sleeping cycles.

Philadelphia

In the film, Philadelphia (1993) directed by Jonathan Demme, the scene that stood out the most to me had to have been the night after the costume party at Beckett's house where he and Miller were left alone to review some Q&A's for the court. Beckett seems to be taken away by the lyrics of the opera singer and starts reciting them for Miller to hear (is this a soliloquy?). The lights are flashing through shades of red as the camera drops views of Beckett being moved by the song as he accepts his time of death and of Miller who just stares stunned at this person who used to disgust him but now understands his feeling of loss. It was such an intense scene bursting with emotions that have been locked up and put behind throughout the whole film until this point. Then Miller is shown coming home, hugging his baby girl and lying beside his wife, while the same opera music is still playing in the background as if he's taken away by his own emotions as he lies still besides his wife. I found myself a bit confused yet intrigued by this scene for the subtle yet strong, dramtic expressions.

The Final Choice

The experience that I have decided to write about will deal with the power and beauty of sleep. My most memorable experiences realted to this top dealt with the lack of sleep. These cases revolved around staying up past midnight doing things that could've and should've been done at an earlier time frame. Those "things" could have been studying for a test, writing up a paper, reading a book, or playing games online (all of which are being spoken through personal experience). In all of these situations the endings were similar around the next morning that came, a brain that would zone in and out of focus with no control.
What is sleep? -The natural period suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored. (Merriam-Webster)
What is then the 'essential' amount of sleep that is required? On whose scale?
What is it that causes us to stay up through the dark hours?
How did the invention of LIGHT change our lives? (question inspired by Ms.Carolyn Urena) For the better or for the worse?