Final Thoughts…

We have come to the end of English 1302.  It was a mixture of the known, unknown and the extraordinary.  It seemed like yesterday when we started this class and like all things, it is all coming to a wrap now.  Next week, we do our finals and perhaps to meet or not to meet again – only fate will tell.  However as we go our different ways in life’s journey, we all had this in common at this time in history – we were all classmates of English 1302 with Ms. Wood as our professor.  I have enjoyed meeting every one of you.  I had close encounters with most of you, a meeting of the minds with some of you and a not too firm contact with a few.  I have learned and hope you have learned from me.  The blogs have been really enlightening.  I might walk into an office sometime in the future and meet any one of you, what joy?  Some of you may even turn out to be Mayors and then I can  come for contracts….lol.  We might even produce the next President, who knows?  My point is: we are all like ships passing each other in the night.  We might meet at dock or not, but ships we are and that is what we have in common.  See you guys someday somewhere, somehow or not.  All the best people.

Thanksgiving Surprise

I had in-laws coming in from other states, and I was not looking forward to Thanksgiving at all, especially one of my husband’s senior sister (from Atlanta) who is known particularly to be contrary and offensive.  I prayed that she would change her mind about coming down – did not work.  I schemed to have the thanksgiving moved to another relative’s – did not work.  What do you know?  She came down with a host of others.  What I had dreaded so much however turned out to be the best holiday I have had so far this year.  In the last time I had seen her, she had become a more mellow, understanding, and generous person.  She brought my kids a suitcase full of clothes, she bought me stuffs including a body magic suit (most ladies may know what this is, forget it guys…).  It was a lovely thanksgiving and suffice to say, she was the last person to leave on Monday morning back to Atlanta.  Amazing!  I tell this story because it echoes the story of my research paper essay too.  I dreaded and looked for ways to wish it away but in the end, I had discovered the beauty of researching and writing a good paper.  Much like my sister in-law, I had been surprised by the wealth of joy that writing my research paper brought.

The beauty of blogging

I am thinking this blogging thing is cool.  Prior to English 1302 class, I had never blogged.  When Ms. Wood told us we would have to blog, I was like OMG.  I mean I am 41years old, never blogged during my time, and certainly did not understand any of the internet stuff going around now.  Besides, what did English have to do with blogging and what would I blog about anyway?  I guess if there was a punishment, I would be eating my hat now…  Because, blogging has turned out to be the best part of this year for me.  First off, I learnt how it worked, how to post, how to respond to comments and ultimately a channel of putting my thoughts together and hearing other people’s thoughts too.  I guess Ms. Wood knew her stuff – I take back now those questions and scepticism…  It is true that if you don’t try something, you will never know what.  I am glad to have had the opportunity of trying out this.  I guess change is the only constant thing in life and whether 2 or 41, life is about changing to meet the times, otherwise one will be left behind or become ancient.

The Moment it all came together

Then one night I had a flash of an idea.  I immediately got up to jot it down.  The next day I called up my friends and asked them to tell me what they knew, have read, have seen or do not know about social class discrimination.  Behold they talked and I listened and jotted down ideas.  Viola! My research was born.  Not that it was this simple, but it became purposeful.  I started putting the ideas together and getting more ideas as I went on.  Then I got more assistance from Ms. Wood and believe me as at Wednesday morning last week, I had eight pages of research paper written, but after her help, I went to the computer lab and fine-tuned my papers, got it down to seven, and submitted my work.  It has been an eventful, stressful and sometimes downright terrifying journey, but it has also made me a much more better writer.  It may not be very good, but I got this feeling of satisfaction from doing this research work and overall, its taught me one thing – that anything at all can be done with the right mind-set, practice, research, dedication, guidance and persistent attitude.  I exhaled though the minute I submitted my paper…

The Snags along the way

Writing a research paper was another ball game though.  I mean I was petrified!  I honestly was scared silly.  I mean I have never written a research paper.  I have written essays, manuscripts etc.  but research paper?  No way.  Like I said in my previous post, I enjoyed reading the fiction stories.  Seeing how each author wrote about a societal issue from a viewpoint that was woven with different tools made me see how one can also address any personal life issues with style, effectively and with panache.  I especially had difficulties deciding between ‘Revelation’ and ‘The Lottery’.  But then the writing part of the fiction paper threw me into a frenzy.    What would I write about, how will I write it and where would I get scholarly sources from?  All these questions ran through my mind but as always, Ms. Wood had us do that class workshop where we had to go to the library and get scholarly sources and from then on, it became easier.  That very evening at home, I wrote my first research paper paragraph.  You would think it would be smooth sailing thereafter, but no, I got stuck.  And I got stuck big time!  I read and reread my chosen topic several times and nothing clicked for over a week.  Eventually I left it alone and pretended it was no big deal when all the time, my heart was flip flopping every time I opened my computer and saw the pitiful saved work on the desktop that I had done so far.

The Journey

On the first day of class when we got the schedule and due dates for Engl. 1302, I quaked inside.  It seemed like so much to cover in just three months.  I thought here certainly is my demise, but then, the next class was interesting, especially when we read “Eating Poetry” and Ms. Wood made it come alive.  I have never really liked nor disliked poetry but given a choice, I would much rather avoid it.  So it came as a surprise to see that it had variations that when understood, made a whole lot of sense as well as interesting reading.  I gathered also that poetry could be a form of self expression, much like writing a letter but with a rhythm.  Then my next thought was ‘hmm.. this is fascinating’.  And really it was until we got to drama!  And then my trepidations came back again.  But then, after the class workshop’s and the different perspectives from coursemates blogs’s on their chosen topics, I got a clearer picture of what was expected.  Afterwards it did not seem so scary anymore.  The fiction section was exciting.  The different stories were so professionally written that I wondered if the authors had a peculiar brain than mine.  I mean they were brilliant.  I loved reading all the stories.

A stitch in time saves nine…

It is so amazing that we’ve come almost to the end of this course and here I am, with about eight posts missed.  Where did the time go?  I meant to write a blog every week but it never happened.  It is about planning one’s time I know but tell that to my kids who have one afterschool project or game to go to.  I have had to juggle so much in so short a time that I neglected my posts.  Well, better late than never and seeing as this counts as 15% of our overall percentage, I am going to see how many I can do before the clock strikes midnight.

This class has been interesting and initially I was angry that SJC made me take another English class within a three month period of each other.  You see guys, I transferred from the Houston Community College and I had taken English 1301 in the summer with a grade of A.  But to my surprise I was told I would take another English course in order to meet SJC’s requirement for my chosen major.  And so, I found myself in Ms. Wood’s class.  I am glad I did because I have learnt so much in this class.  The workshops especially have been real enlightening.  And there is also the fact that I met a lot of wonderful course mates.  So as much as I have two English course credits under my belt, it has not been in vain and maybe someday soon, it will see me towards becoming the proud author of a novel or story or poem.  Who knows…

towards the other

‘After’ thoughts

After the Wednesday class project, I began to see the whole picture of what is expected of us with regards to the research essay.  Although I still have some misgivings, resulting from fear of the unknown.  I certainly have never written a research essay, so while it is fascinating, it is also scary.  Thank goodness though that I was in class to experience the research project because this gave a whole lot of insight into what is exactly required.  

My chosen research story is “Revelation”, the title was the catalyst to my choosing it.  I was curious to find out what the revelation was, will be or is been inferred or referred to.  And so, I read the story.  It took until the end before I grasped what the ‘revelation’ was all about.  Just like in the story, it takes some monumental or obscure occurence sometimes for each of us to realize how wrong or judgemental or off-track we are about someone, something or opinion.  Mrs. Turpin had a rude awakening which jolted her out of her ‘sanctimonious’ outlook about people.  It should be interesting to see what I can do with this story.  Any views from anyone who has read this particular story will be welcomed by me.

‘The’ Research Paper

I missed class last week Wednesday and this week Monday and prior to then I had been writing this post for last week and then life happened.  I saved it as a draft and now, reading through it, I found out that my thoughts in writing it were not far from what is actually expected of us concerning this research paper.  From here on is the original draft… I think that this is somewhat like the othello play that we covered in class (for those of you who were present) except that in this case we will be interpreting or analyzing ‘any chosen’ story from the perspective of either of these approaches: biographical, historical, psychological, mythological, sociological, gender, reader-response, deconstructionist, or cultural studies. (This is all in the research paper handout Ms. Wood gave us in class. Now, having said this, I still do not fully know or understand how this is going to pan out, however, I am going to first off, decide fast on which story I want to interprete or analyze, so that I can then go into researching the issues raised in the story from the angle of whatever approach it leaned heavily on. So for those of us who are still confused about what this is, I think the best thing to do is to choose your research story first.

Persistence is the ‘key word’

All through the last two weeks I struggled so much to put down something with regards to the compare/contrast Essay and nothing worked.  My brain went blank and I grew frustrated.  I would sit down to write and nothing happened, and after a couple of minutes, I would just abandon the whole idea and move on to something else.  Finally on Tuesday last week, I sat down in front of my computer for more than an hour trying to get something down, and nothing seemed to be happening; but, somehow this time I was determined to write my essay and as if in response to my persistent attitude, eventually something clicked and then some more and my fingers started flying over the keyboard and viola! my essay was born.  I later on found out at the Wednesday lecture from Ms Wood that, the key to writing was persistence – how apt.  Apt in the sense that what I could not accomplish in weeks, I did in hours.  Apt that when we give up, we do not achieve our goal.  Apt because anything in life worth anything at all really, requires doggedness.  The compare and contrast essay was not easy for me to put together, but with the guidelines from Ms. Wood in class on Wednesday last week, and with the mindset of achieving my set out goal, I have been able to write my essay.  Good or bad, I do not know yet, but what I do know is that running away, impatience, and a lackadaisical attitude will not get me what I want.  I discovered my breakthrough coincidentally.  Coincidence as a result of persistence - the magic key word.