Letter Week 9

Dear Fellow Students and Instructor, I am writing you about my experience so far in English 102. We are now in our ninth week of the semester and over the half way mark. I have experienced many challenges during this Spring semester. I took a whole year off school because of my pregnancy and I am seeing how much different things are when you have a baby. I decided to take four classes and I initially thought that would be fine. I was so wrong. I didn't anticipate acquiring a second job. I couldn't say no to the opportunity. Now I am working 6 days a week. I have a fantastic babysitter, husband and mom that help me with the baby, however if he gets sick my world stops. And this semester he has gotten sick 4 times. Also I have had several unexpected things come up such as my husband getting in a car accident among other things. I am doing okay in my classes. I could definitely do better though. I do use due dates as motivation to finish assignments. I haven't expected that the work was going to take so much effort and time though. I am learning that online is harder than being in the classroom. It takes ALOT of self-discipline. I am constantly trying to do my assignment earlier than the due date and I am doing a better job. I have really enjoyed the reading in this class. All of the reading has really interested me. They are educational and the are interesting. The Winters Bone has really been fun. It was a great fast read. I totally got into it and couldn't put it down. Then I watched the Movie. I liked the book so much more. I felt like they didn't completely illustrate what I had imagined. My husband really enjoyed it though. I just think the book was extremely descriptive. Sometimes to the point of shock and disgust, but I am sure that is what Woodrell was going for. In general writing is hard for me. I am not a natural. Literary analysis has been both good and hard. I like to learn and critic. I don't necessarily like to argue strong points. I have to many thoughts about something to go on and on about a single thesis. I have never had large strong views about anything. I like to be open to all points of view and having to crack down on one is very difficult. I hope to beat my struggle with writing. I want to make concise accurate arguments even if is something that doesn't come naturally. I think it essential to have great writing skill. It will definitely improve my career if I could write a breathtaking news letter about laser, skincare or injectibles. I need to start doing my research at the beginning of the week. I need to form a plan about how I am going to accomplish the weeks assignments. And if it is an essay I need to outline and organize my thoughts, research, cites, and make it happen. Thank you for taking time to read my letter. I think it is a great way to motivate me to get in to gear and finish off the semester with vigor. Yours Truly, Shannen Alban

Unintentional Impact

Unintentional Impact Winter’s Bone Analysis Several hours from the nearest big city, deep in the Ozarks of Missouri Ree Dolly is transformed into a modern day heroin by Daniel Woodrell. Woodrell deplicts a story of the backwood lawless town that Ree inhabits. It is loosely based on the town of Collinsville which is known for its local gypsy-like population. The Dolly clan which Ree was born into is mostly comprised of drug dealing men and their submissive yet aggressive women. The author Daniel Woodrell was born in the Ozarcks and eventually moved back to settle there as an adult. It is a beautiful and tranquil place. There are many stories hiding in these woods and behind the mountains. Woodrell’s writing has been classified as “Noir”. Noir is a french term for dark and hopeless with no happy ending. However the writer himself does not like to fit into any sort of classification, “if you adapt to the structures of noir, then it just insists on a certain type of ending”( http://southeastreview.org/2009/04/daniel-woodrell.html). Instead his writing develops on its own. It is natural. He says that Ree started off as a 30 something with the boys being her own kids. But that just wasn’t her. She needed to be in more of an inherited situation. It makes her stronger as the main character. Ree Dolly is an amazingly strong women, but what you are given is a harden high school dropout that is roughened by the life she has had to lead. She in some light is soft, sweet teen and in other situations she is a wood splitting loogy hawking hillbilly. Woodrell and Dolly share the need to escape from there situations at a young age. Ree wants to join the military to escape and Woodrell joins the military at 17. It seems that the author uses the character to express the quality of people in the unlikeliest circumstances. He demonstrates the power of dedication and a good heart. Ree goes farther than the audience ever thinks possible. This story is inspirational at the same time tragic. This book as brought light to the use and manufacturing of methanphetime in small towns all over the US. The author has set many of his books in the Ozarcks and he is a fantastic story teller. It seems in his attempt to create a intense and believable story he has raised awareness in the small towns that have exponentially grown in crime and drug use in the last 20 years. The story of Ree Dolly is so close to the real situations going on in the Ozarcks that it has made an impact in the real world. This story sheds light on the poor and jobless. In the article methland the author tell true stories about Americas small Midwest towns that had been engulfed in the meth cycle. It eats the town alive. Family run stores and resturants have no chance. As the economy gets worse or times get tougher it seems more and more americans turn to methamphetamines. Wheather it is doing the drug or making the drug it devours the person, their family, and there whole world. The use of meth increases energy, decreases hunger and thirst and heightens mood. So for the majority of americans it is a cureall. Infact is was marketed in the early 20th century as a cureall. Up until the late 1900’s it was perscribe by doctors for weightloss, depression and many other ailments. It has become an enormous problem in the way it is highly addictive, cheap to purchase and easy to get. It seems at first to help. However it quickly poisons the body and mind. People do things they would sober never dream possible. In the story. A person naive to methamphetamine use would find this story confusing and all around unreal. A town so small were everyone knows that Jessup makes a great batch of crank. Even the law and business people. A town where the criminals outweigh the law. It is the reality however in many small towns today. The spread of the drug grows faster than the strength of the police force. If the town becomes stronger than the law the people begin to make there own laws. Ree having been raised in this situation seems to know her place. However, when her family is put in jepordy she quickly breaks all the rules and faces the penlites. There are stories all across the nation in the last 10 years about brutal murders and crimes related to methaphetimine use. There are kidnappings, beheadings, home invasions and fraud. There has been a rise in awareness of meth use and its affect on the body and mind. Most of these advertisements are very mainstream. There are commercials now that use scare tactics to frighten kids from trying meth. This most definitely works. This is definitely more prevalent in the big cities and more affluent suburbs. What about the generational influence and poverty struck areas. The rural areas that now are over populated with crank. It isn’t as big of a topic because not many go in or come out of these smaller towns. So it is a quite situation. Jessup Dolly was killed for being a snich. And Ree’s hunt for him ended up with her cutting off her dead drowned fathers hands as proof he was dead. Yet it seems quite assumed that that murder will never get pinned on anyone. There is a unspoken code of conduct in this backwood town. Everyone knows but no one talks. And when you go snooping you are risking your life. There truly was no one that would help Ree Dolly. She did more than most would do. She was ready to die to help save her family. In a way her dream of joining the military was portrayed by her fighting for her cause and risking her life. Meth use is higher in rural areas. And

Response to Winter's Bone-- Into chapter 5

I am enjoying this required reading. You tend to rebel against requirements. This and all other readings from this class I have enjoyed quite a bit. I relate to Ree. Ree is in the most ridiculous of situations. Her worthless father putting up the house as bail is just icing on the cake. I am in the middle of her being on the hunt for him. The people she has gone to for help, however, don't seem to find Ree's situation to be too out of the ordinary. Ree is poor and strong. She is put in a situation where she needs to grow up and make decisions beyond her years. I relate. I was also matched up with 2 people as my parents I had to take care of and clean up after. Ree seems rough and harsh and unrestrained. I am 90% soft, sweet and cool. But I completely have a Ree side. That is definitely part of the reason I am enjoying the book so much. I am cheering her on in her search and journey.

Literary Analysis

Uncomfortable Reality A Literary Analysis of Bartleby, the Scrivener Depression is complex. Humanities fight with purpose is overwhelmingly endless. It is the cause of heart attacks, alcoholism, and suicides. It causes anxiety and worry. It can lead to a carnivorous cannibalism cycle of sorts that can eat a man alive and strip him of his soul. I Melville’s, Bartleby the Scrivener the narrator is a lawyer on Wall-street that employs a wide array of personalities as him copyists. I his office there is anger, Turkey. There is anxiety and unease, Nippers. There is innocence, Gingernut. And then there is Bartleby, the most recent addition to the office. Bartleby is Depression. He is the darkest and the most uncomfortable parts of humanity. The narrator introduces himself as quite the opposite of his whole office. Prior to Bartleby he let nothing invade is peaceful existence. He was recognized as a tranquil and safe man that produced orderly work. The narrator believes in the usefulness of his eccentric office members. However, Bartleby tries his patience, peace and emotional wellbeing. Melville’s intent in creating this short story centered around Bartleby is to embody depression and show the depths and extremeness of it that affect everyone in some way. He represents humanities dark and uncomfortably depressed side through Bartleby. In the conclusion of the short story, information about Bartleby’s past is exposed. He was previously employed at the dead letter office in Washington. Bartleby was in charge of destroying the letters by the cartload. These letters would never make it to their intended recipient. The heaviness of the task might have drove Bartleby to the worthless emptiness that we read of. However we do not know. It can be assumed at some point Bartleby was an aspiring young lad, perhaps very eagar about life's possibilities. The thorough descruction of this mans soul makes you ponder what was and what could have been. Assuming a position in Washington may have sounded and felt like a great opportunity. Bartleby may have dreamed of promotions, a full career, a family, and maybe a picture perfect life. The position though was anything but inspiring. To embed the awareness of aloneness and death could have been the breaking point. With each letter and each day reinforcing the dark abyss that awaited Bartleby and all humanity he grew more and more lifeless. Emotionally weak and in need of employment, Bartleby shows up at the door of the narrators office. The office and the narrator are comfortable and warm. Bartleby moves in, and immediately begins to crumbles into a worthless lump. Melville describes him as “useless as a necklace, but afflictive to bear” (Melville, 1853). For the narrator the emotions brought on by Bartleby are quite troubling. Disrupting the flow of the office, Bartleby’s depression radiates. Anger and mockery from the others only add to the burden on the broken soul of Bartleby. The discomfort continues to grow. Bartleby by choice of employment for the narrator at first seems a chance happening. Melville describes the job of a scrivener as ‘very dull, wearisome, and a lethargic affair” (Melville, 1853). Placing himself in such a position, among the diverse set of emotional characters, and the tranquil yet placid environment only exacerbates the theme of depression. Bartleby’s unwillingness to do the most trivial of task such as examining his own papers is symbolic of depression’s unwillingness and incapacity to examine inward. Broken and unmotivated Bartleby more deeply dives into his own emptiness. Unwilling to even do the job he was hired seems a “protest against the inscrutable nature of human existence” (Criticism, 2008) The pity of the narrator is the human instinct to nurture. “Poor fellow!” (Melville, 1853). Instead of a heavy conscience, the narrator bears the burden of Bartleby. Hiding and protecting him from abuse and exposure. Depression is a fragile state. It is a condition that sees no end in the midst of it. The narrator is empathetic to the depression in the same way he accepts the anger and nervousness in his office. He accepts it for what it is because it exists. He fears the depths of hopelessness. He aches for humanity. His melancholy for the situation “merge(s) into fear, that pity into repulsion” (Melville, 1853). With complete awareness of humanities emotional teeter, the narrator, delicately begs and gently pushes depression and Bartleby out of his life. Resistant to change Bartleby refuses to move out and on. He simply waits to die. This emotional pull affects all audience. It is a deep fear. Death. Depression. Loneliness. Bartleby’s depression seems tangible. It is close to home. Most everyone has dealt with depression of family, friends or self. When life reveals its emptiness and lack of meaning it can be heartbreaking. Without the right amount of structure and foundation even the strongest of men can collapse. What is the purpose of hustling and bustling with “all the noise, and heat, and joy” of the day when your broken soul reminds you that you are nothing special. You are simply a number awaiting your turn to die. Life continues with or without you. Bartleby’s representation of depression is illustrated even in his death. Odd and troubled he inflicted sensitive beings around him with troubling situations of their own. In death he can be contemplated and reminisced of with a sense of forlorn pity. In death a new beginning is given to the narrator as the burden is lifted from his shoulders. However life can never be the same. The emotional stresses of watching a person die simply from giving up on life is a burden on its own. Humanities struggle with depression is an uncomfortable topic for all. Melville’s short story of Bartleby the Scrivener gives sympathy and pity for the despair of a vast populous. Works Cited Criticism, N.-C. L. (2008). Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. In E. R. Whitaker, Vol 193 (pp. p49-198). Detroit: Cengage Learning. Page 51 Melville, H. (1853). Bartleby, the Scrivner: A Story of Wall-street. In H. Melville. Paragraph: 19,53,216

Blog Post 4-Bartleby, The Scrivener

"Nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a active resistance" (page 181), "Are you ready to go on and write now?...In a word will you do anything at all, to give a coloring to your refusal to depart the premises?" (Page 384) The narrator develops a curiosity and emotional attachment to Bartleby. Because of this, the narrator makes it his responsibility to take care of Bartleby. The employer protects Bartleby from the other scriveners and the mundane tasks. At first he respects the polite disagreement of Bartleby. But over the course of the story, this "active resistance" nearly drives him mad. Bartlebly's refusal to do even the smallest of tasks grew a enormous inconvenience to the narrator. It caused embarrassment and uncomfort around the office and building. This particular situation is such a problem that the narrator is forced to leave his office. Even then Bartleby can not be shaken. It seems as though he will be a life long problem for the narrator. In the end when Bartleby passes it is bittersweet. It solves the problem of the daily worry of Bartlebys emotional and mental state. However it creates a unyielding concern over why and how a person can develop into such a lonely, reclusive and deeply unhappy individual. I think it is riotous to write about such an awkward situation. Such a thing makes you think about the meaning and imperfect situations in your own life. WORKS CITED Melville, Herman. "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street." Bartleby. N.p., 2011. Web. 18 Feb 2012. . IMAGE SOURCE http://mhpbooks.com/books/bartleby-the-scrivener/

Summary vs Analysis

Blog Post #2 Response to A Modest Proposal

The Modest Proposal by Johnathan Swift was written in the early 1700's. The most of the essay is written in a sarcastic tone. Swift mocks the ideas and solutions of his time. Swift's plan would help deal with the population, poor, and social issues in Ireland in the early 18th century. Swift highlights the growing population problem. With the steady increase of working class people less and less jobs were available. In Swifts essay, he proposes to sell children at the age of one year to the rich of Ireland as a delicacy of sorts. To build his case and his sarcasm he describe several different methods of cooking and preparing the babies. Swifts purpose is to show how badly Ireland was in need of some real ideas and help. I got the Message and really enjoyed reading this.

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