Finally DONE with this semester

      Literature is like a piece cake. (I LOVE CAKE!) This year was so exciting. Never exspected such an experience in expanding education. From the blogs, to the outer class participation it all built me as an information literate student.

      I have always been a strong literature student. With a background of Honors and AP lit courses. I never had a teacher who was so in depth about what we should know. You were an excellent teacher encourage who me  and my fellow scholars to work toward

Education Rita

Understanding literature can be determined by many factors.  Using tools such as setting, costume, and props can help the audience get a better understanding of a films theme. Throughout Educating Rita, I used them to help me to convey the complex meanings of the film.  Instantly, I realize Rita’s unique personality compared to the students at the college.  Not only did she dress differently she also spoke differently as well. The other students were well mannered and had their way of diction that was different from the way that she spoke. Rita constantly used slang and stressed word that were clearly not meant to be stressed.

In the film I noticed that setting played a major role in determining the attitude our feelings of Rita throughout certain places in the film. When Rita was attending school it was always bright and opened. In setting when its usually bright in an area good things happen and the characters are usually in a great mood. School wasn't the only place where Rita seemed pleased. In Franks house it was also bright and warm. However hear I let the environment being warm represent comfort. Weather conditions always play a huge role in films to me in understanding how the character feels at this point. Consider colors in this situation, warm colors usually signify change. You would realize that when the season change the atmosphere is field with warm colors. Also when the sun raise the sky is also field with those warming,  relaxing colors. The warmth of red, yellow, pink, or orange can create excitement or even anger. This is how I felt that the film was ironic because even though Franks home was warm meaning comfortable Rita still felt lonely. This strives me into a total different direction. 

Pygmalion

ACT I:

I have modernized ACT I the decisions between the mother and daughter. Instead I used a Father and a son with a hint of the 21st century. I hope you enjoy.


The Daughter (the son):


Yo pa's its freezing. What is Freddy doin', in there it been like forever . I'm not waiting on Jesus, You Know. 


Mother (Father):


shut up son. Why in such a rush?  to play video games and crash the house.Look boy you just hope he got us a ride.







The Daughter (the son):

He ain't going get us no damn cab father Were wasting our time. look you can stay. I might just head home. You be hear until 11:30

Mother (Father):


i know he got us a cab. He no we cant wait out here its to much crap going on, the news. Do he NOT watch it?




The Daughter (the son):

If Freddy had a bit of sense. he would've got us one at the door. (duhhhh)

Mother (Father):


Poor boy, you have a lot to learn your not grown. What could he have done?





The Daughter (the son):

We the only one without a cab. (Look around) Look other people got cabs. What’s up with us?

(Freddy walks up)


Finally, did you get us a cab?


Freddy:


A cab for what your young legs can get to stepping. i don't understand why your upset. There's no cabs.


Mother (Father):

Are you being cheap Freddy? Its no way you tried, there's cabs. it has to be one.


The Daughter (the son):


i'm tired. we been waiting for Jesus all damn day. if he didn't have a cab he should have came and told us. we could have been home by now. all that time we were waitin'.

Enjoy The Show...

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/12775781/pygmalion

"Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned"

“Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned”

REVIEW

Student Review 

Water Mosley use his excellent writing style to create a novel of many stories about an eight year ex-con name  Socrates Fortlow. Through out this novel Socrates tries converting his life and correcting what he did in the future to create a better him. Socrates lives in a very small apartment in Watts where his landlord died and now he lives for free. As the story goes along Mosley shows the ex-cons struggles in trying to be a "Black man in a White world".  Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned  is a novel full of continued drama as Socrates tries to live above his struggle of lust, violence, fear, and a brutal unemotional ethic vision. Through Socrates struggle of getting and continuing to be employed with a  job delivering groceries; takes in strangers from the street a kid named Darryl, who has murdered his friend Billy and has his own murder to hide; and helps drive out the neighborhood crack dealer. Mosley uses his choice of short stories to indicate the heart that lies within his protagonist.

Recommendations:

I really enjoyed Walter Mosley collection of short stories in his novel Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone especially college professors or high school teachers. This is a great book were you and your students will be engaged and excited to read every story. This series of stories is full of drama and you would never get bored or wanna stop reading

Lookout for these stories:

My favorite story is Equal Opportunity this is a story where Socrates goes to get a job at the supermarket. He is rejected the job because he is black however they make up all kinds of excuses. However he doesn't get discourage and he contently call and go to visit the manager about his application. Throughout his dedication he eventually gets a job. Another story I enjoyed was The Black Dog this is were Socrates was going in front of the court. He is in a holding cell where the other guy in the cell is trying to bitch him Socrates is kind of upset because he has to prove his self. So he choked the guy to the wall til he could barley breathe and let him go. When another inmate tells a guard the guy that Socrates had to choke out states he's okay because of fear, everyone in the pin started to look up to him  

Sure Thing by Miguel (Poetry and Song)

   Sure Thing 

By: Miguel

"Sure Thing" Lyrics

Love You Like a Brother
Treat you like a friend
Respect you like a lover

You could bet that
Never gotta sweat that [x4]

If you be the cash
I'll be the rubberband
You be the match
Imma be your fuse
Boom!
Painter baby you
Could be the muse
I'm the reporter baby
You could be the news
Cause your the cigarette
And I'm the smoker
We raise a bet...
Cause you're tha joker
Truth tho...
You are the chalk
And I could be the blackboard
And you can be the talk
And I could be the walk

Even when the sky comes falling
Even when the sun don't shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine
Even when we're down to the wire babe
Even when it's do or die
We can do it baby simple and plain

Cause This Love Is a Sure Thing

You could bet that
Never got to sweat that [x4]

You could be the lover
I'll be the fighter babe
If I'm the blunt
You could be the lighter babe
Fire it up!
Writer babe
You could be the quote
If I'm the lyric baby
You could be the note
Record that!
Saint, I'm a sinner
Prize, I'm a winner
And it's you
What can I do to deserve that
Paper baby
I'll be the pen
Say that I'm the one
Cause you are ten
real and not pretend!

Even when the sky comes fallin
Even when the sun don't shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty lil hand in mine
Even when were down to the wire babe
Even when it's do or die
We can do it babe simple and plain
Cause this love is a sure thing

Rock wit me baby
Let me hold you in my arms
Talk with me baby
[x2]

This love
Between you and I
As simple as pie baby
Such a sure thing
Oh is it a sure thing [x2]

Even when the sky comes fallin
Even when the sun don't shine
I got faith in you and I
So put your pretty little hand in mine
Even when we're down to the wire babe
Even when it's do or die
We can do it baby simple and plain
This love is a sure thing
Love you like a brother
Treat you like a friend
Respect you like a lover 

What is poetry?

Poetry is the flow of words that expresses the thought of what you can not say through words. Poetry is the expression of feeling through tone through, and literary devices to express your thought about a single experience.

-Connected-

     I used Sure Thing  to represent poetry. Through Miguel's poetic diction his lyrics convey a complex set of imagery and literary devices instantly reminded me of a poem. From the first line of his lyrics he states "Love you like a brother" this us a simile that compares the way he loves his girl to a family love. If you close your eye's and imagine you would understand that its no love like a family love because family bonds are held close and its not meant to be broken. This song doesn't not a a rhyme scheme and I love that aspect because every poem doesn't have to rhyme to be a poem. Also through out the poem he uses metaphors which gives the assumption of how close and true his love is with his girl. He explain in his lyrics that "If you be the cash, i'll be the rubberband" that explains how close he wants to be with her. Because when you think of how a rubber-band fits on money its usually tight where as though no money can get lost. In this since the love he has is the cash and he is the rubber-band and he doesn't wanna lose her love.

     I felt like this had to be the best song to use for this assignments because the meaning behind every line in his stanza's are so deep. He uses literary devices to strongly convey the complex meaning of love. Because there is no true definition of love and the way you are suppose to feel when your loving someone. Miguel was able to use a great scene of word choice throughout his poem. The scene of word choice matched and placed things together very well to place these images of what he saying in our minds. 

Who are you Sadie or Maud?

Maud went to college. Sadie stayed home. Sadie scraped life With a fine toothed comb. She didn't leave a tangle in Her comb found every strand. Sadie was one of the livingest chicks In all the land. Sadie bore two babies Under her maiden name. Maud and Ma and Papa Nearly died of shame. When Sadie said her last so-long Her girls struck out from home. (Sadie left as heritage Her fine-toothed comb.) Maud, who went to college, Is a thin brown mouse. She is living all alone In this old house.  Quiz Yourself… 1. There a sale at the mall.. You would (a)shop or (b) save  2. What would you prefer? (a) fruit or (b) snacks  3. With marriage come success... (a)Yay or (b) Nay  4. In life its better to be happy and unsuccesful then miserable and successful... (a) Yay or (b) Nay 5. Children should play to learn... (a) of course that's the best way to learn or (b) why play when children have much to learn in life  Who are You? If you choices... For #1,4,5 if you chose "a" then you officially have a mind like SADIE  For #2,3 if you chose "a" then you officially think as intelligent as Maud  You should do your majority… Because MAJORITY always RULE.

Son to Mother, (Poem)

I said a Mother's prayer for you 

to thank the Lord above 

for blessing me with a lifetime 

of your tenderhearted love. 

I thanked God for the caring 

you've shown me through the years, 

for the closeness we've enjoyed 

in time of laughter and of tears. 

And so, I thank you from the heart 

for all you've done for me 

and I bless the Lord for giving me 

the best mother there could be! 

I know how often I took you for granted 

when I was growing up. 

I always assumed you'd be there 

when I needed you... 

and you always were. 

But I never really thought about what that meant 

till I got older and began to realize 

how often your time and energy were devoted to me. 

So now, for all the times I didn't say it before, 

Thank you, Mom...I love you so very much! 

Dear Diary, (The Black Cat)

My husband such a loving and adoring man is changing. Is it me, I felt that we were inseparable but I seem to be in the way. It is not only me that notice his change it is also Pluto. He used to be fascinated with the site of animals and now he shows dreadful behaviors. Is it my assumption that he is no longer happy with me or our family? These behaviors are startling me, what should I do? I want to talk to him but no one ever see’s what they do wrong as wrong so would I be wasting my time. It’s the drinking of the Rum and Gin that’s possibly changing my love. I don’t want this I’m scared. He’s drinking way too much, how can I stop him? I sit back an observes how he tries to avoid the one he once loved, this needs to stop now before it gets bad.  

We lose everything; does this mean the love that we have are gone.  Do we start over like the first day we met? Or is this a new beginning should I enjoy this moment as I wish that losing everything and just having us well make us better. But wait my love almost like my child was gone. Was it my husband,… no, no it had to be the fire. My husband, butler and I mange to get out the house and its raging flames. No, Pluto a since of depression stimulated. Poor baby let inside to burn, should I be killed on his behave. He couldn’t talk he didn’t know what was going on and he is no longer with us. The man I first married would’ve saved me and Pluto but not this man. It’s like I was divorced and married all over again but why I loved my old husband so kind and nice. A since of bipolar behaviors comes over him in a since. Were we once shared the love of several animals that spreads our delight.

But not one stays with us. Was my husband hurt by the animals he once loved? I hope not, if so it wasn’t purposely I know animals are so pleasant. Would we ever have a pet again? And then one day in his way back home he had a friend with him. He resembled Pluto; however he was missing an eye. This drew me closer to the little fellow and I felt that I may have been over reacting my husband is still there. He constantly rubbed him and mad the cat feels just at home. The cat followed him as if to so appreciation and gracefulness. We were happy again. Then I notice that this cat wasn’t all black like Pluto once was he had a white spot on his breast area. This made me think how it would never be the same. When my husband started to change again, one day I was following him. When I saw him try to attempt to kill our friend, I grabbed his arm and that was all she wrote.

       

         Love,

Yours truly 

Me, Eleven, and Homework

In the article Homework the protagonist of the story Michael is unhappy because his dog was hit by a cart and eventually dies. He skipped school for a week and states how the only thing he misses is homework. His mother then explains to him how he is not the only one that’s unhappy but it doesn’t stop her from going to school. This is when he notices that his mother was aware of him skipping school. Yet it didn’t give the serious impression that what he was doing was bad. Instead his moms insist on if he’s not going to go to school then he could at least clean his room. Michael haves algebra problems that get him through the day. Eventually he wakes up with the perception that he was going to school, and since he was eighteen he is able to write his own excuse for school. His mother couldn’t believe what he wrote. He states “Please excuse my absence from February 17-24. I was unhappy and did not feel able to attend school”. Then he turns it in to school and the guidance counselor approaches him to ask him about the note. He tells her that he wrote the note this morning at breakfast and he knows it may not be acceptable but it’s the truth. She explains to him how she wants him to graduate. Takes his not crumbles it and attempts to throw it in the trash in his face but misses. He is told that he is okay this time but still has to make up the work. Michael leaves and then goes to meet his sister at work.

There are always connections with text to self. Were I take the protagonist feelings or behavior and connect them to behaviors or experiences of my own. In this article Michael isn’t happy because of the lost of his dog. He didn’t attend school because of his depression. The action to losing a love one is always devastating. I recently   lost my father in February and I was overwhelmed with depression. Not only was I unhappy and depressed I couldn’t function. Like, in Homework Michael used homework and algebra problems as his way of coping. When I lost my father I used basketball as my element of coping. Having our coping method made us feel better in the moments where we would usually be unhappy.

However in the short story Eleven the narrator is not too happy about being eleven. Rachel is having the worst eleventh birthday. She explains how it’s really nothing special about being eleven. She gives an explanation about how “when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one." She is really miserable in her because her teacher places an embarrassing sweater on her desk that her peers said was hers. However the sweater was not her and she explains it to the teacher but the teacher still thinks it’s hers. So she talks throughout the story about how she wishes that she was “one hundred and two”. She uses one hundred and two to represent the old and the wise. She believe that if she was older and wiser she would’ve new exactly how to handle the situation with the teacher and the sweater. Even though she wishes to be a hundred and two she expresses some really childish behaviors.

I love the out look of this situation. Because as Rachel felt about her age is the same way I feel about age and life in general. It’s like if your young its nothing and it doesn’t matter because it’s like the adults always through in your face in an argument, that they lived (bluh bluh) years so how can you tell them anything. So in the story she wishes that she was one hundred and two. I only know one man that’s 100 and that’s my grandfather, and because he is so old he gets so much respect and know one really argues with what he say at any point.  So when I’m in an argument with my mother and she tries to blame me for something that is not mines like the “sweater” in Eleven I can flash my age in her face with no question about it. I understand what Rachel is say when she explains being eleven “when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one” because as you get older you are suppose to be maturing however you still have all these ages bottled up inside you. So you have your moments when you don’t get your way and you act three. And the days where you fall and hurt yourself and you cry like a five. Therefore in the story it expresses how with older age it brings you the strength of the wise old man and that brings you happiness.

The Story of An Hour

The Flower

“It annoys me not to have a jewel, not a single stone, to put on.”

      Throughout the beginning of the short story The Necklace the protagonist Mathilde Loisel appears to be a character with low self-esteem and pride within her. I let the sentence “It annoys me not to have a jewel, not a single stone, to put on”, to represent the bitter self-centeredness that she had within her throughout the story. In the sentence that I quoted it shows the lack of appreciation that she has to just be invited to an event of such. It illustrates the lack of confidence that she has within. Mathilde Loisel doesn’t come from a worried background, she has a loving husband and stable living conditions however she’s unsatisfied with the life she lives. To Mathilde it seems like the only happiness comes from wealth. Though she doesn't have it she tries to imitate the wealthy lifestyle. That’s where The Necklace comes in to action. Mathilde is a prime example of everyone is different, she have to except the fact of that and become happy with who she is to make life easier with her. I enjoyed looking deeper in this story it reminded me of the story of Cinderella the step child that was treated unfair and as lower class that was invited to the prince ball and lived happy ever after. In this story Cinderella was supposed to be rich but as the step child after her father’s death she was treated like a servant. All she wanted out of life was to be treated like she was supposed to. However Cinderella never talked about her life to no one but her fairly godmother. Eventually the prince of the story found her on an earn for her step- mother and stopped her and invited her to the ball. She didn’t want to get in trouble so she questioned her going. Her fairly godmother dressed her as if she was a rich and wealthy young lady and it brought to the attention of the prince. But she had to be home before midnight or all the luxury would be gone. She managed and lived happily ever after. However in The Necklace the protagonist was never satisfied until she received the necklace which she thought was the secret to becoming wealthy and full of riches, though it was something she worked her whole life away for that wasn’t worth more than anything.

The Necklace starts off with the description of the protagonist describing her as a clerk that is pretty and charming with a spouse. She is not poor however she fills that she is not finically where she should be. She has a friend that is rich and very wealthy who she borrows a necklace from to where to the party that goes by the name of Madame. The protagonist ends up losing the necklace and works it all in replacement. I really pity the main character because she felt that being her wasn’t good enough and she let luxury defined the person she wanted to be. I feel that anybody that feels as Mathilde felt for herself should be ashamed. Jesus gives everyone the life that he thinks they should have however she felt that Jesus made a mistake on her destiny is insane. There people out here that would die for the life she has but it seems to me that Mathilde would rather die them live the life she has. You shouldn’t compare yourself to anyone but yourself and be happy to who you are and who you became.

Why is the question? Why should someone rather then I Madame Forestier keep my necklace. I appreciate things even if they aren’t what I make them to be. I should not pass my necklace on to someone who only wants it to make there self-feel like something they’re not. Yes I’m rich, wealthy and everything else however I do not let accessories defined me. That necklace was as cheap as the place I got it from but when I wore it I let my pride symbolize the cost, the expense of such accessory. I take care of the things I own. The things that mean what they mean to me. So I will keep my necklace because it is what I deserve. 

Now introducing "Ayesha Shakur Baker"

I am “La Amazing Shakur”; I prefer to be called by my middle name Shakur instead of Ayesha. I currently live in the Nations Capital Washington DC. I am an Athletic Training major who always loved learning about the human body and how it works.  In my spare time I enjoy shooting hoops, meeting new people, and photography. I never was a fan of literature; however I always enjoyed writing and creative stories. As a child I had a hard time reading and comprehending. At the same time as, as I got older my reading started to mature and age. I started enjoying literature because it was a series of creative stories and I benefit from understanding literature. I would not declare my self a skillful reader though my past Advance Placement course helped me to learn to break down text for a clearer understanding. Usually when I read I look for connections if it’s self to text, text to world, or text to text. Connections help me connect and get a personal view on the literature. In high school we were constantly told to break down the text. Meaning annotate for every reading we received we had to circle unfamiliar words, underline main ideas, and place question marks and question to things we didn’t understand or thought would be on the test. As a result, frequently I find myself marking and breaking down the text. I do not typically use references when reading pieces of literature. If I need help in understanding a piece of literature I generally ask someone. Using a dictionary with an unfamiliar word can sometimes make the understanding confusing. If I don’t know a word I would rather use a thesaurus, because it has words that I can plug into the text. I enjoy reading because it opens up my imagination and make me look at the world in a different way. I feel that reading is fundament the more you read it will impact your life.