English 2850 Spring 2024 Great Works of World Literature II

Hi Everyone! My name is Belkis Sumba and I am a sophomore at Baruch. I am still undecided about my major as I am debating on going from accounting to finance. I currently live in Queens so the commute here isn’t too bad as it’s just an hour to get here. 

I recently adopted a dog with my sister this past September. Me and my sister have always wanted to foster a dog growing up and we finally did in August. We found the sweetest and nicest dog. Her name is Muffin and she is a pitbull mix. After a week of just fostering her, we knew that we wanted to give her a forever loving home. We made the decision of adopting her, as she quickly got attached and we also couldn’t let her go. Now we have the cutest and smartest dog. She knows many tricks such as paw, sit, lay, stand, roll over, spin, etc. 

When I have free time, I like to hang out with my friends. I like to try new foods with them and as well love photobooth pictures. I also love listening to music. I would say I am pretty diverse in music and can listen to anything, except for country. I don’t know why I cannot wrap my head around country. It is one thing I won’t put myself through. My favorite artist is definitely ASAP Rocky. For people who’ve never heard of Rocky’s music, a song that I know they always like is ‘Sundress’. I think it’s one of his most popular songs, but it’s so good, I definitely recommend listening to it. 

Another thing I like to do is play video games. One in particular, Fortnite. I used to play it on mobile, but now I just use my PS4 for it. I love playing it with my friends, as they also don’t take it too seriously. I wouldn’t say I am a pro, but I also wouldn’t say I am bad at the game. I’m decent. 

I am looking forward to this class and having the opportunity to expand my knowledge. 

1. Why do you think Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon of some sort?
2. Why do you think people (both in the 18th century, when Akinari was writing, and in our own day) are attracted to ghost stories or tales of the supernatural?
3. Does “Bewitched” have anything to teach its readers? If so, what? What is Akinari’s message in this text?
4. The text describes Manago as”bewitchingly voluptuous.” What does the character of Manago tell us about feminine beauty?

As part of your work this semester, you will be working in small groups to prepare short presentations to accompany some of our readings. Each group will be working with one of our assigned texts. Your task is to come up with a CREATIVE way of exploring some aspect of the author, the work, or its context. These are NOT intended to be powerpoint reviews of an author’s biography, nor should they undertake an analysis of the text assigned. Instead, your job is to prepare a presentation that will complement or enrich or reading. For example, a presentation on Feng Menglong’s, “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger” might explore the social history of prostitution in 17th c China, or a presentation on Moliere might present a scene from the play using contemporary rhyming English. I am happy to meet with you to help you brainstorm!

Please use the linked Group Presentation Preference Form to identify your top three choices for this project. I will do my best to see that each of you is assigned to one of your choices. Please complete this form no later than Monday, February 12th.

Hello!

My name is Kayla. I am currently a freshman here at Baruch. I am majoring in Finance along with a minor in Computer Science. I grew up in Corona, Queens, and am currently living there right now. With that being said my commute from there to Barcuh isn’t too bad being about an hour without any transportation delays.

I am on the Baruch Women’s Basketball team. We practice every day and have about two games a week depending on scheduling.

I am currently not working due to my commitment to school and being on the team.

When I do have the time to relax I do enjoy resting and eating A LOT. I noticed that after being on the basketball I am almost always hungry. I also enjoy shopping, cleaning, listening to music, and just spending time with the people that I love.

I came to Baruch because this is my aunt’s alma mater and I have always looked up to her since a little girl. At Baruch, she got her degree in accounting and currently works as chief auditor. She was the first to go to college in my family which was what had inspired me to continue my education after high school and pursue a degree in Finance.

Hello everyone, My name is Stephanie Michaca but you can call me Steph. This is my fourth semester here, I’m currently in my sophomore year, majoring in finance. I currently live in the Bronx, which seems foreign in this school as everyone I’ve met is either from Queens or Brooklyn. Hoping to find more of my people in school. 

I’m an avid coffee/energy drinker, so don’t be alarmed when you see me walking into class with either in hand. Dunkin has my heart, as it is my preferred choice. While we’re on the topic I have this FAVORITE place I love going to. It is a korean chicken place just by the school on 27th and 3rd ave. It was recommended to me by a friend but any chance I get I recommend it to others. So please go try it and you won’t be disappointed.

When it comes to travel, though I haven’t been far (Hoping to change that in the future), I’m fascinated by the culture in Mexico. Im a first generation Mexican-American and i Love visiting family and learning more about where my family is from and historic background of such beautiful places. I’ve been to the Pyramid of the Sun, which is a well known pyramid in the ancient city of Teotihuacan. If you get the chance to go I promise you won’t be disappointed. Taxco is another beautiful pueblo located in Guerrero Mexico. I went there recently during winter break, I miss it already. 

Video games don’t call out to me very much, but I will take time out of my day to play Mario Kart or Super Mario Bros any chance I get. I do it more so for the nostalgia feeling. Taking me back to when I was in fourth grade playing on my nintendo Dsi with my sister during the hot summer days. Something I wish I could do more often, holding onto those joyous memories. The smell of a nice rainy day on a summer evening, blasting the AC in the living room, eating a big bowl of cookies and cream ice cream while playing on the hardwood floor. Now that’s what I call life.

I’m interested to see where this class will take me, and the things I will learn. Hoping to come out of this class knowing something new and delving deeper into a new field of literature.

Hello everyone,

My name is Gilda Capo, but usually I go by my baptisms name which is Ana. I am a new transfer student at Baruch starting off this semester. I transferred from Saint Petersburg College in Clearwater, Florida. This is my first semester at Baruch, but I am a junior majoring in finance. I quit school for close to four years and decided to go back and finish my studies. I chose Baruch for the great reputation it has in business. 

Momentarily, I am working on reorganizing my life and putting everything together. I am also taking six classes because I want to finish school as soon as I can; however, I also have applied for a job position at Chase, and I hope I will be one of their selected employees. In the past I have worked many different job positions in customer service, sales and management, waitressing, etc. 

Lately I haven’t had a lot of free time, but usually I spend my free time hanging out with my family, mostly my brother and cousins, watching Netflix, reading or going out with friends or family. I like helping people, especially the elderly, because they remind me of my grandmother and her sacrifices to raise me and my brother, and I think that group of people are the ones that need more care and love nowadays.

My strength is my attitude that I am always ready to take up the challenges and strive for excellence. However, I have a very positive view of life and I accept both success and failures. I think that there is no success without failure and failures teach people the best lessons of their lives. I believe in myself, and my hard work and I want to get ahead in life and help everyone that comes along my way.

My goal for the moment is to get back on track of studies and school as soon as possible. I am so excited to have started this new chapter of my life and be working on myself to grow personally and professionally. I am happy to have gotten back into college life and I am very happy to have such well-prepared college classmates.

My long-term goal after graduating is focusing on finding the right job for me to get a great training to prepare me for the future. I want to know more about investment banking and corporate finance and later I want to open a business with my brother. 

That is all about me. I am looking forward to a great semester with all of you. 

Hello everyone, My name is Tanvier Ahmed, and I am excited to go on a journey with you all for this English 2850 class. As a freshman at Baruch College, I am still getting used to how college life works and what I need to do to properly get adjusted, this marks my second semester at Baruch trying to go for my degree in Computer Information Systems (Cis). Before even going into the world of computer science, I was going into a different field. I had come to Baruch from Aviation High School, and during my time there my whole focus revolved around understanding the intricate components of airplanes and having the knowledge to fix said issues with these aircraft. My high school had this unique opportunity where I would be able to get two incenses in the aviation field which were the powerplant and airframe licenses and this would allow me to get a job in the industry right after high school at companies like Delta Airlines or American Airlines. However, during COVID-19 I had revitalized my desire from back in the day to try for my computer science-related job as that is what I wanted since I was a kid, and my interest in aviation was waning. I wanted to dive into the world of coding, programming, and everything that lies within the vast domain of computer science.

Transitioning from aviation to computer science might have seemed like a significant shift, but it felt like a natural evolution for me. I did find deciphering the mechanics of aircraft interesting, but my immense curiosity for technology and computers was equally profound. I embark on this new chapter, eagerly wanting to merge my foundational knowledge from Aviation High School with the diverse and dynamic field of Cis.

Other than school I enjoy things like Video games and TV shows as this is a constant source of entertainment and inspiration for me and it is nice to be immersed in a story. Playing with my friends online is a nice form of relaxation after a hard day’s work and also helps make good memories for the future.

I am a freshman fueled by curiosity and driven by a deep passion for tech, I am eager to explore the endless possibilities that lie ahead for me. I am hopeful and excited about what I will learn and how I will grow during my time here.

Hi, my name is Derek Valdez. I’m a new transfer student from Nassau Community College which is located on Long Island near Roosevelt Field Mall. I’m currently majoring in Opertations Managament and Analytics which I know is a mouth full. I decided to come to Baruch just to try something out of my comfort zone and get used to the hustle and fast-paced city of Manhattan since I spent most of my life on Long Island. 

If I’m being honest the real reason why I chose to attend Baruch is because life on the island is BORING. As I stated before I just wanted to do things differently and force myself to socialize and meet new people so I figured that Baruch was the best bang for my buck. It had alot of unique people coming from everywhere and it was like the best school for business majors tuition was reasonably priced, unlike some colleges that ask for 20k + in tuition. Besides that, I’m currently working as a shift supervisor at CVS in Roslyn. It’s a pretty far commute from where I live and from school but the work environment is great and the workload load isn’t too much so for a busy college student like me it is perfect. One more thing about me is that I love to travel. My recent journey was to the islands of Indonesia and the little country of Singapore. They’re both beautiful countries but I would have to say Indonesia was my favorite by far due to the culture and amazing but very spicy food but besides traveling, working, and going to school I’m just a regular guy who tries to keep himself busy at all times 

I’m looking forward to meeting new faces and building new connections with all of you

Hi everyone, my name is Zilola Ashurboyeva, but I usually go by Lola. I’m a junior majoring in accounting and minoring in communication studies. I’m also a part of the Zicklin Undergraduate Honors Program and am working towards its Advanced Business Analysis minor. I greatly value education and have a strong passion for continuous learning.

Currently, I work as a home health aide, taking care of a senior. It can be a tough job and requires one to have compassion and empathy, as the level of care required varies among different patients. However, I do hope to start an internship sometime in the near future and kickstart my career in accounting.

During my free time, I enjoy reading Webtoons and Manhuas, my favorite genres being romance, revenge, and reincarnation. Additionally, I had been binging K-drama series like Perfect Marriage Revenge and Marry My Husband, which also have their own Webtoons, before the semester began. I’ve always loved reading, from books to novels and now Webtoons. One main reason is that it’s a sort of escape from reality for me. I like to imagine myself inside the story and make the impossible possible.

One thing that I really enjoy in my classes is debating. I love reading about a topic and then having heated discussions with my peers about our ideas and perspectives. So, you’ll most likely find me participating a lot during class unless I’m just not having a good day. We had an ambassador from China as a guest speaker at my foreign policy class today, and it was one of the most enjoyable class sessions I’ve ever had. I hope we can continue having great discussions in our literature class and learn from various new perspectives.

In the future, I hope to receive my CPA license and work for one of the Big 4 accounting firms. I’m looking to go into either auditing or tax. I don’t have experience in audit yet. On the other hand, I took a tax class and it was quite enjoyable.

I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone in the class and having fun together.

Hey guys, my name is Antonio Rivera. I’m a junior who just transferred from Queens borough community college. I’m a music management major. Since this assignment has a word count requirement, I’m just gonna say random facts about myself because I don’t know how to structure this.  

One of my favorite activities is meeting new people and making new connections. 

When I’m not being a scholar at Baruch, I do Audio engineering and I make music. I’ve been writing and rapping my own music since middle school. I started learning audio engineering when I was 16. With the years of practice that I’ve put into audio engineer and recording music, I’ve been able to translate that into a Recording Studio Business. After high school I moved into my own apartment and I built my very own homestudio. I’ve been operating a recoding studio business for about 4 years now and I’ve engineered songs for many many artists. 

In my other free time, I enjoy physical activities like running or calisthenics workouts. I also enjoy freestyling with my bros and just being creative. I feel like looks are important and I try to make sure appearance is on point because appearances are everything. But with the cost of  living alone and how much inflation is going up, trying to dress your best and follow trends is becoming a challenge. 

I like to get my hair braided about twice a month. 

I also enjoy playing video games like Super Smash bros. Right now I work in Manhattan as a cashier at a Japanese supermarket. 

Growing up My family always told me I had natural entrepreneurial attributes and I’ve always been a good negotiator. My main passion is writing and performing my own music but in an alternate universe I think I would be a top salesman in New York. 

My main goal for transferring to baruch is getting a job/ internship in the music industry. Either at a record label or a music distribution company. I got a feeling that Baruch would be a good place to find this because we’re right in the middle of Big Apple. Also Baruch has their own Radio Station, and I’ve been told that multiple alumni from Baruch now work at Warner music and Spotify.