Post 26 - Comparing and Contrasting from Post 25

                 I chose to compare and contrast posts by Michael and Demarshun.

Comparatively, both writers believe that the role and rights of women have changed in the last century. Michael stated, "women in today's society are more capable of bringing home the bacon now than they were over a century ago", and Demarshun saying, "the roles between the modern day woman and man are a complete reversal from the time of a "doll's house". Overall, both posts agree, but where they contrast is the mention of single-parent homes. Where Demarshun believes that women can lead as the head of the household and make lives for themselves, Michael says they have the potential to do it on their own as well. I'm not saying both don't agree on this matter, just that one made an effort of stating it. Either way, I think people see the roles of women and how they may have changed differently. In some places, the role that Nora experienced is the norm or even worse. In many other places, the role of women has changed drastically, causing like these posts said, women, to lead the household and bring home the bacon.

Post 25 - Modern Women vs Nora

              I believe things have changed a lot since the late 1800's, shockingly. The role of a woman is not that of a housekeeper or just the maid in her own home. She is not the only one there to take care of the children. In Nora's case, she gave up many of her own ideas and motives to live the married life. Nowadays we see women not having to give up what they want to do. In some cases, it's the responsibility of the man care for the kids and even someone other than the parents. I personally know someone where both parents work and it's up to the grandparents and great-grandparents to watch the kids (whether that's good or bad, you can decide.) In all, there are still people like Nora that give up themselves for the ones they love, even if that love is not reciprocated in the same way.

Post 24 - Movie Plot

                It's not necessarily my favorite movie, but I still like the plot of Forrest Gump. We watch Forrest Gump just sit on a bench waiting for the bus to arrive. In the meantime, he recounts moments from his life and tells them to the random people that sit next to him. From him playing running back for the University of Alabama to him fighting in Vietnam, he reveals the Watergate scandal, joins an anti-war protest, and becomes rich and famous. I think it's an important plot because we get to see moments in history through the eyes of someone childlike. We get an innocent and raw perspective of war and loss, but we also get shown how choices in your life can send you to so many new environments. He was bullied as a kid for his disabilities and when running away, he gets noticed by coaches and gets convinced to play football. From him getting bullied to eventually winning in football and meeting the President.

             I'm always a sucker for any historical movie and this one is just good. I love how you get new perspectives on historical events and see it from someone that lived it, albeit fictional. We normally read it in history books, but these people on the bench with Forrest get first-hand accounts of everything he tells them.

Post 23 - TV Show Setting

               Shockingly, one of my favorite shows is Game of Thrones. It is based in the fictional country of Westeros and about 1/5 of the time is in Essos. Westeros is interesting because it's not entirely fictional. It's really just Great Britain turned upside down Ireland placed on top of it. Plot-wise it also makes sense because the story is based on the real-life War of Rose in the mid 15th century, which saw battles for the throne of England between House of Lancaster and House of York (Lannister and Stark)

If you want to see more this is where I found some extra info.
https://inews.co.uk/essentials/culture/television/game-of-thrones-real-british-history/

Post 22 - Irony in Song and Poem

                 "What could be more beaut-iful than these heroic happy dead who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter". This is ironic because we don't think of dead being happy, we don't normally think of death as beautiful, and most that die in battles don't die heroically. The next line furthers this by comparing these soldiers to lions. Lions are courageous and calculating, in this case, the soldiers are just rushing into a slaughter.

I hate that I keep using the song from Game of Thrones for these posts, but it's fresh in my mind. In Rains of Castamere, "In a coat of gold or a coat of red, a lion still has claws. And mine a long and sharp my lord, as long and sharp as yours". Here we have to Lords, both have sigils as lions and the lesser one thinks he is equal to the other. Ironically, we know that the Lion he thinks is weak, is actually extremely powerful. The lesser lord rushes to his death, believing he is equal but actually gets completely obliterated.

Post 21 - Symbol in Poem and Song

               The symbol I chose from a poem we read are the lions in "next to of course america god i". "Who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter/they did not stop to think they died instead" when we think of lions we get images of strength and courage, but I also think of calculating. They rarely lose a fight and only take them when necessary. They only hunt because they need food for energy. In this case, the lions are soldiers, fighting for their country, but they are not calculated nor are they courageous. Most likely set in World War 1, these soldiers would be charging out of trenches into a slaughter.

Similarly, the symbol I chose from a song is the lions from the song "Rains of Castamere" from Game of Thrones. "In a coat of gold or a coat of red a lion still has claws...and now the rains weep o're his halls". Here we do get the image of a courageous and strong lion, representing House Lannister and House Reyne. A smaller lord Reyne standing up to the more powerful lord Tywin Lannister. Where they are similar though is the smaller lions lack of calculating. He doesn't really know Tywin Lannister, just his father Tytos. Believing Tywin to be weak like his father, Lord Reyne rebels. Not knowing Tywin is one of the most ruthless Lords, House Reyne gets slaughtered by the Lannisters, a Lion running into a slaughter.

Post 20 - Metaphor for Poetry

                   I tried to think of a metaphor for poetry, that captures it somewhat well. What I came up with was "Poetry is a bottle of root beer", some people love it and can't get enough of it, they'll ix it with other things they like and just make it better. Other people think it tastes like toothpaste or medicine and have no clue why others enjoy it.

Post 19 - My Life's Metaphor

             I like to think of my like like driving a car. Sometimes you'll drive at 90 down the highway living fast, sometimes you'll be stuck in traffic not knowing when you will get out, and sometimes you just sit idle in the parking lot listening to music.

Down highways, muy rápido,

In driveways, voy a parar,

Last Summer, tuve que escushar,

a "Despacito". 

(I don't know... I made something up sue me.)

Post 18 - Image's Different Meanings

                       I believe that the reason images from songs, poems, or anything really have different meanings is because of the many different experiences people have. You could have an upbeat song that you enjoy listening to, but all of a sudden you may have a tragedy happen. The song you once listened to now you see it in a different way.

                     Even though it's from a show and the people who gain meaning from this song are fictional, I still believe it shows people reacting differently to the same song. In Game of Thrones, the Lannister's song is the Rains of Castamere. To the Lannisters, the song represents the strength of their house. Lord Reynes of Castamere no longer respected house Lannister after the weakness shown by their Lord Tytos. When Tytos' son Tywin became Lord, house Reyne rebelled against their liege. Tywin decided to prove his might and quickly defeated the Reynes executing every Reyne and burning their castle, making the family extinct.

But now the rains weep o'er his hall,

with no one there to hear.

Yes now the rains weep o'er his hall,

and not a soul to hear.

For the rest of the Kingdoms, this song is a threat. It shows them the ruthlessness and strength of Tywin and House Lannister. We get imagery throughout the song of a house believing they are equal, "Only a cat of a different coat, that's all the truth I know" But even if you are equal the lyrics make sure to tell the other houses that you will lose against Tywin. Even as proof that the Lannisters see it as strength and everyone, a threat. After the Reynes rebellion, another Lord, Lord Farman became aggressive toward the Lannisters. Tywin sent a musician to the Lords keep to play the Rains of Castamere in the keep. Afterwards, Lord Farman never questioned the Lannisters again. 

Post 17 - My Image

               I think this logo represents me well. I've always played games, whether it be: Playstation, Xbox, Computer, board game, doesn't matter I've been playing them all since I was like 5. They're just something I find competitive yet relaxing and what I turn to when I have some downtime. I've logged hundreds of hours into some games and maybe thousands into 1 or 2 games that I really liked, but in all this image represents what I find fun and get enjoyment out of.

Post 16 - Myths in this weeks Poems

                   The poem "Hazel Tells LaVerne" follows the myth of a frog being a prince and if a woman kisses him he will make her his princess. We get this idea from the line, "But sohelpmegod he [the frog] starts takin/bout a golden ball/an how i can be a princess". This frog pops out of a hotel toilet and wants this cleaning lady to kiss it an he says/kiss me just kiss me/once on the nose. In return, she gets to be a princess with him as the prince. Hazel ends up not following the myth strictly and decides to flush the frog down the toilet.

Post 15 - Myths in My Life

                Something that relates to mythology that happened in my life was the myth of UFOs. Some people might argue that UFOs are real or fake but it doesn't stop them from being a modern myth. When my family was driving back home in Florida in about 2004, we all thought we saw a UFO. We pulled up our road after taking my siblings, friend, I to the movies. We saw a flash of light and a fireball coming toward the ground. We all froze and believed we saw a UFO but later I think the news reported it was something along the lines of a satellite. That got me very interested in aliens and all that jazz; until a few years later when I lost interest and decided that there were explanations for a lot of things and aliens were probably unlikely. Either way, it was a modern myth that we all believed at the time of it happening, and still makes you question if it might have been real. 

Post 14 - Verses

                 A verse that I like that also comes from the song "One More Light" by Linkin Park, which I also wrote about in post 13, is the opening verse:

Should've stayed, were there signs, I ignored?
Can I help you, not to hurt, anymore?
We saw brilliance, when the world, was asleep
There are things that we can have, but can't keep.

               I feel like this is a great line about the whole theme of the song, loss. But I also feel it's sent as a warning. A message that even though things are sometimes temporary, to see the good in people and try to help whenever you can. If you see someone is hurting or down, talk to them, make sure they are ok. Try your best even though you know it might be worthless to do so. And even if it doesn't help, at least you noticed and tried to help.

Post 13 - Theme of a Song

                  I never really have a favorite song for too long, but as of right now I've been really into "One More Light" by Linkin Park. I used to listen to Linkin Park pretty much through all of middle school and then every once in a while since. After hearing of Chester Bennington's passing it made me go a listen to their old and new music. I believe the theme of this song is mainly about loss, but specifically suicide, which is also how Chester died.

The reminders pull the floor from your feet.
In the kitchen, one more chair than you need, oh.
And you're angry. And you should be. It's not fair.
Just cause you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.

This set of lyrics embodies the meaning of the song. The sudden loss of someone can make you feel like the ground is leaving you. The constant reminders of the one you lost hurt you. Memories of them and even just an extra empty chair in the kitchen make you angry because they were taken away so suddenly. The last line, in my opinion, deals with mental health. Just because someone is hiding what they feel, or maybe no one pays attention at the time, doesn't mean it did exist. The song as a whole, deals with loss, and even though there are some people don't care: "Who cares if one more light goes out", there are those that do care and will suffer from the loss.

Post 12 - Theme of Me

                    I think if I had to give myself a theme, it would be "Do what makes you happy". I usually don't go out of my way to things I don't like and stick to things that I find enjoyable. I go to school because I (sometimes) enjoy it. I play games because I enjoy it. I worked somewhere that was fun to work at. When I'm confronted with a situation that would make me unhappy I try and make light of it. I find a way to get through bad situations in the best way possible and get back to what I like doing. I've been pretty much doing this all my life and I think it is one of the themes of my life.

Post 11 - Theme of the United States

                      I think that if I had to give the United States a theme, it would be something along the lines of "Freedom through Fighting". When the country was merely a colony of England, men and women alike came to the new world in hopes of prosperity. Some were wealthy and owned acres of land. Some were of very low class, these people who had no prospects in England came to the new world as indentured servants. They traded away part of their lives hoping to make something of themselves in the colonies. What they found was anything but easy, they fought for years in lands of disease, hostile natives, and poor living conditions. Though they freely chose this life to better their own, they didn't know of the near slave-like conditions and years of work and fighting they would be put through all in the name of freedom.

                     Fast-forward about a century, and the 13 colonies are at war with England. Feeling they had been oppressed and taken advantage of for many years, the colonies declared their independence. What ensued was an 8-year war and the deaths of over 200,000 people. The United States fought long and hard for its freedom as a country, and in the end, we won it and earned it. 

                    Another fight for freedom arose about 80 years later. The Civil War was mainly fought over that act of slavery. An act that was cruel and inhumane, but did help America in its early days build as a prosperous colony and later a country. Though the slave trade had ended in the early 1800's the ownership of slaves continued on for decades until people decided the practice needed to be ended and that those people bound in slavery should have their freedom. The war cost the lives of over 600,000 Americans, but lead to the freedom of 3,900,000 slaves.

                 Just those 3 points show that the United States is all about Freedom, but it does have a cost. Many people have had to fight, some through hard conditions and some giving their own lives. In the end, we are of the freest countries out there and that freedom was not just given to us, fighting for that freedom was required.

Post 10 - Other's Symbols

                The first symbol I related to from one of my classmates is Gary's. He talks about how his beard to him is a symbol of "freedom of choice" and the he could have one for twenty years of his life. I grew mine not for his reasons, but just the fact that I wanted to. I agree with his last statement that "I suppose for most who wear one self expression plays a large role." It did for me, I wanted something my own and that's what it is for me. The second symbol I chose is Brandi's. Her's was a ring given to her by her mother. When I was younger my grandmother (Ninny) gave me a silver skull ring that I always had somewhere in my room of on my person. Brandi said "I hate pink...but it was from her" and that how I felt about the skull. I was never into that kind of imagery but I didn't complain because it was from Ninny. about 10-15 years later, she was diagnosed with dementia and died in 2014. I lost that ring sometime before she died, but wish I could find it to this day.

Post 9 - My Symbol

                 Something that I always carry with me is something that probably everyone else also carries; my wallet. It's just a basic, crappy Velcro wallet that's almost falling apart, but what makes it special for me is the Pittsburgh Steelers logo on it. When I lived in Pittsburgh for the first nine years of my life, I never had an interest in football, that pretty much all changed when I moved to Florida. I fell in line with tradition and became a Steelers fan in about 2004. In 9th grade, I was in P.E. and the kid next to me knew I was a fan of the Steelers, and he offered to sell me a wallet with the logo on it for $5. Of course I took him up on the offer, and now, about 10 years later I still have it. Every time I take it out it reminds me of not only the team that I love, but my family and where I'm originally from.

Now for the logo itself, it looks like this(for the uninitiated). It was originally the logo used by the company U.S. Steel, but looked a tad different. In 1962, the Steelers adopted the logo as their team logo. That season the team had their best season in history up to that point, that only cemented the logo as there's from some superstition. The colors of the diamonds were later given some meaning, representing the materials used to produce steel: yellow for coal, orange/red for iron, and blue for scrap steel.

Post 8 - Learning from Others

                   After reading some of our classes blogs, I learned more about the plot of Packer's story that I originally posted about. In Benjamin's post: "This[The setting of the story] is important because Dina is not from Tokyo, and generally neither is the audience." I never thought of the setting being used to not only confuse the characters, but also us as readers. The author used terms that most of us would not know and without the footnotes on the page, we would be as misplaced as Dina. From Jennifer's post, I discovered that the setting was set on multiple levels. Dina moved from a big city, Baltimore, to the small country of Japan. Not only that, but she takes up residence in a tiny flat that is also crowed by her roommates. "The small apartment offers no amenities other than space to inhabit, same as Japan." All in all I feel my thoughts on the plot of "Geese" was greatly expanded by the ideas of my colleagues. 


Jennifer's Blog
The Post

Benjamin's Blog
The Post

Post 7 - Importance of Setting in "Geese".

                 Most of the time, setting in a book or story has meaning. Sometimes the setting and meaning is subtle and not really a huge part of the overall story. Other times, like in "Geese", it is a larger part of the story as a whole. The setting Packer choose for the story was outside of Tokyo, Japan. It's an important location because it helps surmise the journey of the characters. Historically, Japan used Kamikaze pilots in World War 2. The soldier's planes were "allotted just enough fuel for it's one way trip."(204) Like those pilots, our main character left home with only enough money to get to Japan and back. She sold her return plane ticket and used all her money. She made it to her destination only to find out it wasn't what she hoped it would be. There, her and her flatmates crashed and self-destructed.

Post 6 - Author's Life compared to Doc1 story.

                  An author's life can have great impact on how and what they write. In “A Secret Sorrow” Faye is conflicted by her past and her inability to reconcile and resolve said past to move onto her future. Karen Van Der Zee (the author) was in a way trying to get over her past. She had a dream to travel but was stuck in Holland. “I also always wanted to travel. Holland is very flat and I wanted to see mountains and coconut palms and tropical beaches and deserts.” She wanted to see exotic places but first she had to let go of her old life. When she met her husband, it gave her the motivation to leave her home and explore the world around her. Faye finally let go of her past with the help of her lover and future husband Kai. Together they moved from her past and went on to have children, something that was unknown and exotic to Faye.

Post 5 - My Story from an Event

                    I believe I have an event that I could make into a story about me. It's not one singular event but spread out though my life. Since I was nine, I have been moving quite a bit. I am originally from Pittsburgh, but I have lived in eight different states in my life. Some areas I lived in for very short instances but four of them have been a majority of my life. I spent my first nine years in Pennsylvania, and my next nine in Florida. I lived in South Carolina for three years and now reside here, in Georgia. I have experienced the cultures and differences from the East and West coasts, from the North and the South. In Florida alone I have seen the change in people from the south of the state to the panhandle. Living in certain areas lead to my family having good and bad changes to us economically. We've experienced times where money was expendable and didn't bat an eye buying something new or otherwise unneeded, and times where money wasn't really seen, barley living paycheck to paycheck sometimes. Travelling a lot is and was hard, but it leads to many life lessons and experiences that some would otherwise not learn or see. I'm thankful for those lessons and I believe this part of my life could be a story that others could learn from.

Post 4 - Faulkner's Plot

                       The plot for A Rose for Emily is sometimes a challenge to recognize. Faulkner doesn't follow a strict chronological order of events; starting with the death of Emily. "When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral" is the opening line of the story. The end of the story is the time after her death and the town folks finding the skeleton in her bed. The outside source I found for this story says: "The nonlinear plot structure of A Rose for Emily gives life to the story and creates a different way of comprehending the narrative." Faulkner's way of engaging the story's plot is very different from stories I've read before. It sets up an interesting way to view someone's life that you would never think to do before. 

Post 3 - Comparing a story to my Life.

                       I guess if I had to choose one of our stories to relate myself to, it would be "A Sorrowful Woman". Though of course I am not a woman, I can relate to her becoming overwhelmed and shutting everyone and everything out. In the story, the woman becomes tired and sick of her family. She becomes depressed and isolates herself from all of them. When something happens to me and I am too overwhelmed to deal with it, I will lock myself away. I try to deal with my problems on my own, away from everyone else. I don't think the problems I deal with equal to the woman's depression and eventual death, but I can relate with the need and want to isolate ones self from a situation.

Post 2 - Favorite Movie.

                    I tend to watch a lot of movies and TV shows. They range all different genres and maturities, yet when asked my favorite movie for this post I thought of Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar".It's about a team trying to find a new home since Earth is dying. A type of wormhole was discovered and scientists believe some higher being is leading them toward it. Visually it was amazing, the music composed by Hans Zimmer was on point the whole time, and story wise it kept you hooked through and through... though it did get confusing on my first watch of it toward the end. One minute the main character Cooper is in space heading for a black hole, the next his in some bookshelf dimension and observing time as a three dimensional projection.

              The movies literal meaning deals with fighting. Humanity is fighting for survival, trying to find a new home. Cooper, is fighting with his daughter Murph about leaving for so long. Murph fights on Earth trying to find an alternative should Cooper fail. Dr. Brand, Coopers partner in the mission fights to try and get to the planet her love went to, believing he may have found the right one.  On a potential new home, Cooper finds a scientist there who literally tries to fight and kill him to keep a harmful secret, a secret. All of these show that humanity is all about fighting whether it's for good or bad, but there is an underlying meaning that I see too.

          The underlying meaning is the opposite of fighting; helping and sacrifice. Cooper was offered the mission to look for this new planet and when he took it he sacrificed his life with his children and father to help the world. When the movie reaches the climax of the third act, Cooper sacrifices his life to save Dr. Brand, so she can find the man she loves. As Cooper is falling into a black hole he gives up and accepts his fate, but he is saved. He's saved by humanity from very far in the future. So far in the future, that humans have transcended there 3D plan and have become 5 dimensional beings from there control of gravity and time. They construct a sort of tesseract in the black hole, that lets Cooper see time as 3D. In the end we find out that it was future humans helping those in the past to find a new home.

Post 1 - Introduction

             Hey everyone, my names Zachary Reid and I'm originally from Pittsburgh, PA. I've moved around quite a bit in my life so I've lived in many different places. Most of my life was spent in Pennsylvania and Florida, but I've also live in LA, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, and now Georgia. I graduated from Milton High School (in the town of Milton, about 15 miles outside of Pensacola, Florida) in 2012. I haven't set a major for myself yet, but I hope to go into Education and teach History, as it's always been a passion of mine. Other than that, I played Trumpet in my high schools band, worked at an amusement park, and like to play different games.