My Experiences in English 102

       Ever since the end of Writing 101 have I dreaded going into another writing class. My previous class was all you would expect of a college writing course; slow, tedious, and uninteresting. I thought that the next level writing course would be just as tedious as the first, but  I was clearly mistaken. This writing course has taught me how to interpret material in ways that you would never of thought beforehand, grasp topics in multiple different ways besides only one or two, and understand life in a more well thought-out way.

       Before entering this semester, I viewed myself as an average writer; still some punctuation and grammatical mistakes, failing to interpret the topic(s) correctly, and not connecting ideas to my thesis properly. Professor Brady has made it a lot easier for us to understand and illustrate material that we have learned throughout the semester. I feel as if my language use and word choice has skyrocketed since last semester along with my literary creativity. This writing course has allowed me to grow as a thinker and as a writer. The way I view life at this point is different than I had previously; taking all into account for every situation and analyzing all aspects of that particular situation and this class has ultimately helped me with that.
       What I liked most about Enlgish 102 was the creativity and fishbowl lessons. The reason being is because these lessons really make you think outside of the box in ways which you would never of previously thought of. These ideas that professor Brady has taught us truly resonate within me and I will use knowledge I have learned throughout this class and apply it to my everyday life. For example, I have learned in this class to strive for you desires, but to not be too greedy and selfless about it. It is important in life to be caring for others and to be altruistic and not egoistic. In the mere future, I see myself as an eloquent and copious writer; constantly coming up with new and elaborate ideas to shed my knowledge with others.

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Class Lecture - Desire is evident in all of us/"Interpreter of Maladies" Connection

       Desire is a very powerful theme present in everyday life and is experienced by everybody, whether we like to admit it or not. Desire is to feel wanted, appreciated, and noticed. It is a strong feeling of wanting for something to happen. We all have desires such as money, sex, power and love, which are undoubtedly the strongest desires. These desires affect us every single day and are involved in the choices we make. In "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri, the speaker felt an intense desire for the beautiful woman, but it was a desire that turned to disgust after a minute or two. He became very close to committing infidelity, but ultimately did not.

Class Lecture - "A&P" by John Updike - Fantasy vs. Reality

     Sexual desire, social conformity, and fantasy vs. reality are the three main themes present throughout Updike's "A&P". Sexual desire is illustrated by the fact that the cashier follows the bikini girls outside that he is attracted to. Fantasy vs. Reality is present when the cashier envisions the girls liking him by the fact that he stood up for them to quit his job, but realistically they didn't care and were not there for him when he went outside. Social conformity is present by the fact that it was significantly less common for girls to publicly walk into a place with bikinis in the 1950's than it is now.

       Moreover, the reason this work is interesting is because of the irony that is present. During the 1950's, it was very rare that people who go out in public are dressed half-naked. Currently in this day and age, it is a lot more common. For example, Elvis in the 1950's was given a hard time just for hip thrusting. Children would be asked to cover their eyes or look away and nowadays, sexual behavior is more publicly common on TV and is seen a lot more explicitly as well. Ultimately, the reason this is ironic is because the girls were publicly flaunting themselves like this during that time period, which was very uncommon.

Class Lecture: "One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived." - Niccolo Machiavelli

     Niccolo Machiavelli once said, "One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived." From my understanding, this quote is conveying how deceiving somebody means that you're gaining personal advantage, and that it will come back to bite you later on down the road. If you were to deceive somebody for personal gain in any manner, you will be the one getting deceived later in life,  and most likely worse. Good intent and good deed contribute to good Karma and future happiness, while bad deed, such as deceit, lead to future suffering. Karma seems to be the main idea of this quote.

Published writing #5: Romanticism and Longing for your Desirous Love

        Poetry is a way to probe, understand, and express our emotions through literature using symbolism, tone, and theme. A lot of the time, poetry is used to express romanticism and love toward something or another. Aside from love being the main theme used throughout poems, there are many contradictory themes eminent as well including lust, astonishment, and desperation. Music is poetry regardless, and is written in different formats to properly suit the artist’s true meaning behind the song. Musical poetry can transmit to literary poetry in several ways through the use of theme. “Aston Martin Music” by Rick Ross ft. Chrisette Michele & Drake is a song narrating Drake’s longing for a woman that he has missed and did not return to due to the fact that he was caught up in fame, even though he did truly love this woman. “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” is a poem written by Ezra Pound conveying the speaker’s yearning for her husband, who is a river merchant and is traveling across water. “Longing for the one you Love” by Shirlotta Tidwell is a poem relating to fantasies finally becoming realities and how much the speaker has desired to join her heart to the man’s soul. Between these two poems and musical pieces, several parallels can be drawn relating to theme and lust for a loved one. 

            “Aston Martin Music” can correlate to “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” in several unique ways portraying love and for languish for another. The speaker of “Aston Martin Music” is Drake in the chorus when he says, “Would’ve came back for you, I just needed time to do what I had to do” and “whether that’s right I will never know”. These lyrics portray Drake’s languish for this woman that he misses greatly and is not sure whether he made the right decision or not by not returning to her. Moreover, these lyrics relate to “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” in lines 15-17 and 24-27 where the speaker says, “At sixteen you departed, You went into far Ku-to-yen, by the river of swirling eddies, and you have been gone five months.” and “They hurt me. I grow older if you are coming down through the narrows of the river Kiang, Please let me know beforehand.” The wife's statement of the length of his absence is expressed in one line, giving it full and emphatic force. Please let me know when and by what route you are returning, so that I may come to meet you. Her village is a suburb of Nanking and she is willing to walk to a beach several hundred miles upstream from there to meet her husband, so deeply does she yearn to close the distance between them. These two stanzas relate to Drake’s song from the man’s hidden point of view in the poem by doing what he has to do to reunite with his woman again. Furthermore, the man does indeed want to return to his woman, but may not be sure of the consequence of his leave, ultimately questioning his decision to work as a river merchant.

            “Aston Martin Music” can connect to Tidwell’s poem titled “Longing for the one you Love” in various inimitable ways conveying lust and love for each other. In “Aston Martin Music”, Drake says, “Kisses all on her body she tells me live in the moment, and baby, I never forget none of that, girl I told you I was coming back.” These lyrics illustrate Drake’s wonderful moments he had with this woman, and how despite everything that happened, through all the fame, he still committed these moments to his memory forever. In addition, these lyrics correlate to “Longing for the one you Love” in lines 13-14 and 16-20 where the speaker says “For the longest time have I longed to be with thee” and “For the longest time will you and I be together, until our fantasies have become realities, and our spirits have become one forever.”. The first two lines depict how long the speaker has waited for her love to enter her life. Lines 16-20 convey how the speaker’s desire to be with this person is everlasting, and how she has fantasized about this in a daydream, and it is finally coming true and they will be united forever. The two stanzas provided compare to Drake’s song by his desire to be with this woman. In addition, Drake has not forgotten these moments, nor has the woman in the poem. From another hidden point of view, the woman in Drake’s song is feeling the same way as the woman in the poem; waiting for her love to come back. They are truly in love with each other and despite the occurrences, they have not forgotten about each other and are returning to revisit their unforgotten, memorable past.

            In summation, “Aston Martin Music” by Drake can connect to “Longing for the one you Love” by Shirlotta Tidwell and “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” by Ezra Pound in several ways revolving around the themes of love, lust, fantasy, and desire. Drake has a desire to return to his love that he has not forgotten about and still has deep feelings for. Moreover, Ezra pound’s poem expresses the wife’s absence from her lover and portrays its full ardent vigor. Shirlotta Tidwell’s poem talks about her desire to be with her love and its eternal effect on her life. Once this fantasy becomes a reality, the two will be unified perpetually. 

"I Couldn't go on believing her story and live with Stanley" - Stella Kowalski

In A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Stella says, “I couldn't go on believing her story and live with Stanley.” (Stella, 1232) Stella is directing this statement toward Blanche because of her psychotic and erratic behavior seen throughout the play. Shortly after the doctor and the nurse remove Blanche from her house in New Orleans, Stella says that quotation, implying Blanche’s lies and preposterous behavior. By Blanche telling Stella how Stanley has raped her, Stella believed that it was outrageous and ludicrous of her to even say something like that. This seemed to be the final straw that had really put Stella over the edge, which ultimately led to her calling to get Blanche sent to a mental institution. Not to mention, the illusion between Stella and Stanley that is present throughout the play. Stella sees Stanley as a good man and together as an ideal relationship, but in reality they are only physically attracted to each other and Stanley is a drunken and abusive man, which no woman should want to be in a relationship with. Conversely, aside from Stella and Stanley’s illusions, Blanche portrays the biggest illusion of her feign life by constantly masking her appearance in front of men, lying about her age, and imagining how she is going to be swept off her feet by an amazing man who is going to take her on a cruise. That very moment before Stanley rapes Blanche, Stanley says, “We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning!” (Stanley, 1231) What Stanley is implying by this is that although Blanche has kept everybody else fooled by her illusion, Stanley knew her fallacy all along and saw right through her lies and manipulation that she has put about and ultimately winds up raping her.

Analogous to Williams’ play, Stella’s quote also can relate to the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Comparable to A Streetcar Named Desire, The Great Gatsby has many illusions as well, and is constantly a fantasy vs. reality. One of the most noteworthy illusions throughout this story pertains to the main character himself, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is an underprivileged man who has lived in poverty throughout his whole life and has flunked out of college. In Chapter 4, Gatsby says to Nick, “I’ll tell you God’s truth…I am the son of some wealth people in the middle-west.”(Gatsby, pg 42)  By Gatsby saying this, he is creating an illusion for all of his peers portraying a so-called “rich life”, and is somewhat believable (unlike Blanche’s) because of his renowned parties that he throws. Because of this, the truth of Gatsby’s family background is a prime example of the false reality he portrays. Another example of an illusion portrayed in this story is the fact how Gatsby lied about his completion of his Oxford education. He did in-fact attend Oxford for 5 months, but winded up dropping out. A man’s education defines him, and because of this Gatsby creates an illusion of it. In Chapter 4, Gatsby says, “I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford…” (Gatsby, pg 42) Then in Chapter 7, he speaks the Truth to Tom, revealing how he only stayed for five months and thus, “can’t really call myself an oxford man.” (Gatsby, pg 98) The reason for these illusions is for Gatsby to convey himself as a scholar and wants to be accepted among the rest of society.