OVERVIEWWW

Well, the semester is drawing to a close...Anna has a ten page research paper, finals, freaking out about HUST presentation a little less, and feeling like a sleep deprived zombie, yes, the end is near. But it has really been a good year. It was a little scary in the beginning and a lot of overwhelming emotions about how I felt about my classes and what I want to do with my life...OH MY! But in the end it worked out great. I succeeded in my classes and managed to get to know my professors. HUST was the class that really got me in the zone though when it came to analyzing. I found it also to be a very good start to a W course because Professor Ambrose graded hard and had very good notes that were clear about what you did wrong and how you should change that. I liked that because before in High School I always found it unclear as to what I did wrong in a paper. But, yes, the semester went well I just have to survive the last week!!! Wish me LUCK!

My MAJOR problem

At this point, selecting a major is me primarily taking classes that sound interesting and trying to decide if I am interested in it enough to want to major in it. That is for right now my plan especially in regards to next semester. I know that I want to major in German but also continue learning other languages as well so I am considering minoring in Italian but then again I love WOST or Women's Studies. As for my other major it is kind of up in the air. I know I am looking into HUST and I know I want internships and study abroad opportunities in regards to my major of choice. When I looked at the Anthropology Department the classes that looked really interesting was Peoples of the World and survey 1: Language and Culture. I like learning about different cultures and seeing how they look at life and their own beliefs. I also love languages and really want to look into that as well. I was really surprised/elated to find out there were studying abroad places offered one in Ireland and Italy. Both sounding really interesting with the courses offered.

I know I want to have internships on my resume for good reference and experience as well as service involvement specifically in having a leadership role.I also think it'd be important to list the jobs I was in like Phonathon in my resume. A really cool service group I would like to become a part of is possibly Dance Marathon where they raise money for Riley Hospital. I worked as a leader in one of the groups managing funds my junior year in high school and really enjoyed it.

Hyperlinking it alllllll together!

I think what I learned most from blogging this past semester is to truly process a text. I began to become better in my language when analyzing a text. I also found that when relating to a text or explaining it, it is always good to provide some form of visual. With the visual aid I found it easier to explain a specific scene or historical event that is relevant and occurred in the text.

Sometimes it was difficult to write and so in that case I did not provide a visual because I did not find it necessary and I also think I could have done a better job in regards to my diction at some point. Or I could have analyze the different literary mechanics that were incorporate in the literary work we were reading at the time. I found that analysis on language and dialect as well as diction would have been relevant especially in my blog about Translations. A play entirely encompassing the issue of language and the barrier but also freedom that it seems present.

Something that I tried in the blog was to go with my first initial gut reaction the work and explain that feeling. I also tried to relate a concept that we talked about in class or in a presentation we went to watch. In this blog post I tried to create a scenario that was relevant and able to be relate to. I also tried to have a little bit more fun with it and make the story I chose to relate to my audience funny. Not only for them but me (I know what selfish reasons) but I felt like the purpose of the blog is not just about who is going to view it but how you feel when writing. I want to enjoy it so I am going to write about what interests me in the text and relate it to what I want to!

In the future I could see myself blogging about my adventures while I am abroad and travelling. I think of my first blog in which I speak of seeing myself in Germany all stylish and hip with my head scarf at the local cafe looking like I belong there. That is something I wish to really accomplish. And since I love to write (even though I do need some improving in that area) I feel like blogging about what is happening to me in another country (hopefully countries) would be great. I also think that blogging would keep my family in friends also in the loop about my life. And knowing me the most crazy things would probably happen you can define in what context I mean crazy for yourself! :)

If anything I have learned that blogging about what we are reading in class makes me more interested in the literature. Not only do we discuss and analyze in class but actually sitting down and thinking of a new perspective to look at a certain text makes it much more interesting. Especially when I did a close reading on Mary Cassatt's painting. It was interesting to look at the painting in my own way. When I picked apart certain elements I felt proud of myself. It builds confidence to know you can think for yourself and see things differently than others.

Edmund... you scare me so!

When watching the clip of Edgar's soliloquy I was very much disturbed. Mostly because of the lighting on Edmund's face. It provided an atmosphere filled with dread. That, I think, was the director's intention in the PBS film of King Lear. Also in the play I had envisioned Edmund's soliloquy to be much more fiery. Almost as if he was shouting at his gods for this unjust place of a label that is cemented upon him since birth. He never really speaks of his mother. The absence of a role could make an argument that he has become so bitter from lack of a mother figure that, that is why he chooses to reek havoc on the lives of Gloucester and Edgar.

Yet I also wonder that because Shakespeare does not put stage directions that he did it on purpose so his lines were up for interpretation of the director or actor. The actor who played Edmund took his tone quality of the words in an entirely different direction then what I had originally thought from the character of Edmund. But i really liked this different take. It made more sense to me that he would be more quiet and firm about his actions that he is going to take. In making his statement controlled and slightly dark he has captured my attention and made me feel like I am in on his game that I do not wish to be apart of.

Be MANLY!

"Let not women's weapons, water-drops, Stain my man's cheeks!" King Lear Act 2 Scene 4

I found this quote from King Lear very amusing actually. It illustrated the sexist attitude of the time, that to cry was see n as a weakness and therefore, utterly feminine. Also the fact that Lear sees crying as a weapon women use means that he equates women as being manipulative. That when a woman cries she does it to attain an end. There is no true emotion in her weeping rather there is just a conniving force of want that makes the water pour from her eyes. I think Lear sees Cordelia as an enemy not only because of how she responded to his challenge of expressing love for him the best but also because she has the most power over him. He recognizes that when he sees that she has the power to make him cry... an unmanly emotion.

King Lear:Edmund you EVIL SPAWN!

During the course of the play I was yet again confounded by the intricate and diabolical plot by the villain, Edmund. Shakespeare never ceases to amaze me with his villains and the success in truly tricking all around him. At one hand I find it unrealistic how Shakespeare's villains like Iago and Edmund can successfully dupe all around them. Yet they do, they do it in a subtle way that the person being lied does not even know it. For example when Edmund quickly puts away a note when his father Gloucester appears. He timed it just right that he knew Gloucester would become curious and want to know what was in the letter. I find that this cunningly simple show of trickery sums up how smart Edmund is and that villains sometimes do make the story have an unhappy ending. I think it is very interesting that Shakespeare was that realistic. He realized that in real life there are not always a prince riding off into the sunset so it shouldn't always be that way in the theater.

Love... Can it Surpass All Really?? Please Wait While I Try Not to Vomit!

The one part of this play that I thought was very interesting was the romantic scene between Yolland and Maire. Yolland with all of his awkward, "sorry sorry?" comments on what exactly was said and Maire just staring and wondering if her trying to communicate is futile. It was hilarious in a way thought how they both were saying the same thing in their own language. It irony of it was quite powerful. With that said the question that came to mind is, is this scene meant to display the boundless quality of love (puke!) or does it just illustrate that first fascination accompanied with culture foreign from your own. I personally think the author was showing the fascination with the culture because the play did not seem to be a romantic play. It had a point. The point being more like a question to make the audience think. Is there something lost in translation and if so does that demean the quality that the old Irish names embodied. I, personally think there is a quality lost in translation. It is almost like the English came in and said, "Your names of your country are wrong. We may not speak your language but all of the names of your towns have to be changed since you did such a bad job." That is what the English seem to be saying through their renaming and more importantly in the way Lancey treats those in the Hedgehog school. He treats them like stupid, ignorant town folk just because they do not speak English. Which is hypocritical considering Lancey does not even try to speak Irish!