Extra Credit

I really enjoyed most of he short poems from goldbergs book "writing down the bones, This book along with the short stories have really helped me improve my comprehension skills and deepening my analysis of what I read. I've always thought authors either painted the picture for you or allowed you to paint your own picture. I never realized maybe they wanted the reader to paint more then one picture or two. For example in the short story speaking about the prostitute everyone had their opinion on why she did what she did and why she called the men she slept with suitors.

From goldbergs book I thing one of the poems I liked the most was "obsessions". Where she says its good to write down the things we consciously and self consciously spend out waking hours thinking about. She spoke about putting them to good use, because we are ran by our compulsions. She also explains what real freedom is and how it feels. She then says that not all obsessions are bad.

I agree with goldberg about obsessions its better to face then then allow them to lurk in the shadows of our lives waiting for opportunities. An obsession of mine lately has been avoiding any talk related to my grandmother, as soon as she used to come up in s conversation I'd quietly excuse myself and do something to get her off my mind. So for my final portfolio I faced my obsession of avoiding speaking about my grandmother by dedicating my whole portfolio to speaking about her. It has helped me in many more ways then I imaging, I'm not saddened to think about our good time or even our bad ones. I'm just very grateful for all the time I got to spend with her and cherish the things she's taught me.

I really like the structure of coopers book so I followed in his steps a bit by writing about something persona. But I chose not to beat around the bush I let it all out. It's as if the words I wasn't able to speak jumped onto the page. My story doesn't really fluctuate between time like his does I feel as if it has an even flow. I added lots of details and as much imagery as I could, though I followed in coopers footsteps I know my writing is still very amateur compared to his work.

April 9th

In class we spoke about " The House of the Future" where cooper speaks of all the opportunities that layed in the future as a reader it made me excited and drove my imagination insane. At the same time it made me feel like I needed to appreciate the smaller things in life more like the people and things that are currently in my life. I've always tried to live in the moment and see the positive sides of everything. Also I've tried to forgive as much as I possibly can because my very last memory with my grandmother wasn't as good as it could have been. I remember it was my birthday I had planned to spend it with my fiance and cousins who lived all the way in Detroit. My birthday was awful my fiance ended up blowing me off for a really silly reason and my cousins had to go home early. Then when we went to visit my grandmother at the end of the day we found her apartment a wreck and she was very stubborn about not allowing us to help her clean. My mom maid my siblings and I sit while she spent 3 hours cleaning. On top of not getting to do all that I wanted for my birthday I blamed my grandma for my lack of sleep that day and I was a bit rude to her about it. I know she didn't hold it against me but I never got to apologize for that night.

Cooper speaks of his brother dying from a disease she hasn't told us much about. He speaks often of not so great memories he had while his brother while he was sick. I felt as if he didn't recall enough about his brother while he was well. From the way he beats around the bush of telling us about his relationship with his brother I feel as if they had a pretty good relationship. He spoke about his fear of not being able to remember his brother and I think he means remember the good things about his brother. I know for me I have a difficulty not remember my grandmother she's just in everything I do.

I especially liked this line "It could be said that hardly a natural material occurs in it's original state anywhere in your new home!"  Its kind of saying that the future in uncontrollable and that no one's ever ready for the changes it holds. I recall cooper say how he'd come home everyday wondering if his brother was still alive or not. Though the death of his brother was expected I felt as if cooper was still waiting for a miracle of some kind to  keep his brother alive. The optimism of children saddens me sometimes because they don't really believe bad things can happen until they actually happen.

April 2nd

So I've been reading bits and pieces of coopers book Maps to anywhere because I didn't purchase the book on time. I read the essay "How to Draw" where cooper spoke about his experiences with art from a young age. His dying brother used to draw they eiffel tower slanted to the left, his mother enjoyed are with fine details, where as cooper found himself enjoying are made on the spur of the moment. Coopers speaks about the different forms of are and how everyone took different positions on classifying art.

At a young age cooper was told he didn't master how to draw hands by a teacher he had, so he began to draw pictures of himself handles. I thought this was very interesting. Usually when someone tells a person they aren't good enough at something they try to master whatever it is to feel good about themselves, not just stop doing it at all. Well that's how it is for me. In most of the poems I've seen bits and pieces of cooper seems to speak alot about his family and his personal life. He also speaks about about creativity and how important it it. 

Another essay I read was The wind did it where he spoke about the relationship he had with his father. The language he uses here makes everything palpable, as if you're experienceing it with him. I especially like the line "The worst by far was coiling the hose, a task he claimed I could never do well, though he made me do it again and again. Heavy and green and recalcitrant, the hose would snake in the wrong direction and cramp with kinks I couldn't undo."  The way he chooses to descibe the hose was just the same as I would have described it. As a child I used to pretend the hose was a snake so its nice to see someone else thought of it as a snake as well.