As I laid on my bed staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought, I listened to Love Affair by Copeland and dissected the lyrics. Whenever I listen to this song I get into that "feel good" mood, and I go into a different world. The music from the piano and violin combined with the lyrics of this song make it my favorite. The chorus is my favorite, where he sings in a hushed, sincere voice, "just let me run where I want to run. Just let me love who I want." The power of music is truly incredible, it lets me feel anything I want to. Definitely listen to the song and just close your eyes while listening to the lyrics. I hope it gives you the same feeling it gives me!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Flower Garden by Shirley Jackson
Flower Garden by Shirley Jackson is a short story that explores all different depths of social norms, racial discrimination, and women in society. The mysterious friendship of Mrs. Winning and Mrs. MacLane leaves the reader guessing what will happen next. Mrs. Winning is introduced as someone who seems to be the perfect friend and one who would challenge social norms, but turns into a pumpous and arrogant woman. Mrs. MacLane, a character who just seems perfect, challenges social norms in the story and is looked down upon for doing so. The story shows both "the perfect house wife" side to woman of the stories time period and also the gossipy, nasty side to these women.
When thinking about the assignment as I read the story, I noticed two elements; person-against-society and open-ending. Society in the stories time period is very austere and restricting. Mrs. MacLane was one to ignore the social-norms and do things the way she believed they should be done. The biggest example for this is by her asking a black man to help her with her garden and allowing his son to become friends with her son. In the society at this time, doing just this was extremely frowned upon. Her consequence was being ignored and avoided by neighbors and towns people who had previously been so nice to her before. She struggled with her society and trying to figure out what was so wrong with what she had been doing.
The story ends with a big open-ending/cliffhanger. The last lines in the story are, "Mrs. MacLane waved and called out, 'hello!' Mrs. Winning swung around without speaking and started, with great dignity, back up the hill toward the old Winning house." The ending leaves the reader wanting to know more; wanting questions to be answered. For instance, was Billy trying to get something from the MacLane's? Was Mrs. MacLane ever going to move back to New York? Had Mrs. Winning completely turned against her old friend? Not only does the story end with these questions, it ends with a total character growth from Mrs. Winning. The story leaves you thinking about her character and how one person could have changed so drastically in that fairly small amount of time.
I think any author's goal is to keep the reader interested and wanting more, and that is exactly what Shirley Jackson did with this story.
When thinking about the assignment as I read the story, I noticed two elements; person-against-society and open-ending. Society in the stories time period is very austere and restricting. Mrs. MacLane was one to ignore the social-norms and do things the way she believed they should be done. The biggest example for this is by her asking a black man to help her with her garden and allowing his son to become friends with her son. In the society at this time, doing just this was extremely frowned upon. Her consequence was being ignored and avoided by neighbors and towns people who had previously been so nice to her before. She struggled with her society and trying to figure out what was so wrong with what she had been doing.
The story ends with a big open-ending/cliffhanger. The last lines in the story are, "Mrs. MacLane waved and called out, 'hello!' Mrs. Winning swung around without speaking and started, with great dignity, back up the hill toward the old Winning house." The ending leaves the reader wanting to know more; wanting questions to be answered. For instance, was Billy trying to get something from the MacLane's? Was Mrs. MacLane ever going to move back to New York? Had Mrs. Winning completely turned against her old friend? Not only does the story end with these questions, it ends with a total character growth from Mrs. Winning. The story leaves you thinking about her character and how one person could have changed so drastically in that fairly small amount of time.
I think any author's goal is to keep the reader interested and wanting more, and that is exactly what Shirley Jackson did with this story.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Query; Week of February 13th
How can we find happiness in simple acts of love or kindness?
By Sam Balka
In our generation, life passes us by without realizing the affect we can have on someone’s day. This Friday, February 17th, happens to be Random Acts of Kindness Day, in which people all over use a simple action such as a smile or holding the door to do the right thing. The ability to find happiness in a small act of kindness is determined by the way we look at life. Dale Carnegie says, “You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world’s happiness now… Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a life time.” Carnegie expresses the difference or impression a small act of kindness can make. While we focus on simplicity this year, we have to think about being selfless and finding joy in the small things.
At Newtown Friends, we learn values that will follow us through our lives. One of the values taught here is to always care for your peers and for your community. There are many things you can do to make a difference in the community.
1. Pick up a piece of trash outside
2. Offer someone help when they look in need
3. Hold the door for someone
4. Smile when your eyes meet someone else’s
5. Ask someone to sit with you at the lunch table
6. Say good morning, good afternoon, or just say hi
I put together a quick video to show you how one small act can brighten someone’s day and inspire another’s.
This week’s query is, “How can we find happiness in a simple act of love or kindness?”
By Sam Balka
In our generation, life passes us by without realizing the affect we can have on someone’s day. This Friday, February 17th, happens to be Random Acts of Kindness Day, in which people all over use a simple action such as a smile or holding the door to do the right thing. The ability to find happiness in a small act of kindness is determined by the way we look at life. Dale Carnegie says, “You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world’s happiness now… Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a life time.” Carnegie expresses the difference or impression a small act of kindness can make. While we focus on simplicity this year, we have to think about being selfless and finding joy in the small things.
At Newtown Friends, we learn values that will follow us through our lives. One of the values taught here is to always care for your peers and for your community. There are many things you can do to make a difference in the community.
1. Pick up a piece of trash outside
2. Offer someone help when they look in need
3. Hold the door for someone
4. Smile when your eyes meet someone else’s
5. Ask someone to sit with you at the lunch table
6. Say good morning, good afternoon, or just say hi
I put together a quick video to show you how one small act can brighten someone’s day and inspire another’s.
This week’s query is, “How can we find happiness in a simple act of love or kindness?”
Sunday, October 2, 2011
My Fish and There Friends
Hello,
Today, I bought a fish... it multiplied to 9 fish. So before I forget, here are the names:
Green Fish- Clay
Tea House Blue Fish- Ashton
Yellow Fish- Ming Co
Lite Blue Fish- Brittany
Blue Fish- Hariari
Red Fish- Shanaynay
White Fish- Pat
Black Fish- Deena
Orange Fish- Lucas
The newlywed couple they surround live by the names of Donna and Eric. When you see my friends, please feel free to feed them. Thank you and enjoy my friends, Clay, Ashton, Ming Co, Brittany, Hariari, Shanaynay, Pat, Deena, and Lucas.
Enjoy October,
Balka
Today, I bought a fish... it multiplied to 9 fish. So before I forget, here are the names:
Green Fish- Clay
Tea House Blue Fish- Ashton
Yellow Fish- Ming Co
Lite Blue Fish- Brittany
Blue Fish- Hariari
Red Fish- Shanaynay
White Fish- Pat
Black Fish- Deena
Orange Fish- Lucas
The newlywed couple they surround live by the names of Donna and Eric. When you see my friends, please feel free to feed them. Thank you and enjoy my friends, Clay, Ashton, Ming Co, Brittany, Hariari, Shanaynay, Pat, Deena, and Lucas.
Enjoy October,
Balka
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)