great works in literature II 2850 kta 2:55-4:35— Shades of Truth . . .

This course gives many writing activities both in class and online, it also allows students to write in different styles informal and formally well constructed paragraphs. I really like the idea of weekly blog posts, it has been keeping me up to date on reading assignments and it gives me a chance to go into a deeper analysis of the texts I have read. Aside from that, I was also able to see what my fellow peers had to say and what they thought about texts. In terms of in class writing, I believe I should improve on brainstorming and the process of transitioning my ideas onto paper with limited time given. I find it a bit difficult to do since I often come up with many and strive hard to pick one out, by the time I do pick one out very little time is left for me to write it out and therefore my writing comes out to be less organized and at times, rushed. As of the paper, I believe I should work on keeping my sentences in the same tense and review some rules of grammar such as when to italicize and when to underline titles of works.
For Myra, I think you should try reading different papers available online and scholarly articles and look for their thesis as practice. It’s important to get the thesis statement right since all other ideas of the paper depends on it. When developing mini thesis in the body paragraphs they have to somehow connect to the opening paragraph’s thesis as well. As for Diana, I think you should try harder to balance school work and personal life. I understand it can be difficult to do be it’s better to establish a good habit and find the right balance between work and school like while you are still in college.
-Chi Zhang

Writing is actually a hobby of mine and I write a lot during my spare time, but sometimes I get unorganized when I try and get my thoughts on paper. This course helped me improve my writing skills because of how we write our responses on a blog. It allows me to see the other students posts and so I can learn from their writing style and see how I can improve my own. The class discussions are really helpful too. Listening to everyone else’s opinions makes me reflect on my opinion and think on a broader scale, and somewhat alters my outlook on the topic we are discussing. The literature we read is also very interesting because it’s not my usual genre of preference; so these creative pieces are fun to read and explore. Learning the many themes is very useful because it makes it easier to spot themes in other pieces. A problem I have when writing is, it’s difficult for me to come up with a thesis. I have the idea in my head, but when I write it, my thesis statement doesn’t even look like a thesis statement. This is an area I really need to improve on and I feel this class helps in a way that I can understand what a proper thesis statement should be structured like.
A way Chi can improve on brainstorming is writing whatever she thinks of onto paper, then do the process of elimination. Only go for the ideas that are closely related to the topic on hand. Don’t think too much about the ideas you eliminated and try to add it in. Just go with what you have, it’s a lot easier and organized.
A way Diana can improve on doing the readings and writing assignments on time is by pacing herself. All the other things you work on is great, but the best way to get the assignments done is by setting a specific time just for the assignments.
-Myra Khan

I like this course a lot, my favorite time is when we get the whole entire class in a circle and have a discussion about certain themes or topics regarding the reading. The work that we have assigned to read is very interesting and a majority of it has to do with grasping something deeper from the life of the characters we read about. My biggest struggle has been finishing the readings and the writing assignments on time within the past 3 weeks. In my personal life, I have an internship, I do a lot of volunteering for communities on weekends, and once a month I have a huge commitment that I’ve been doing for 4 years with the homeless community. So reading everything thoroughly and creating the blogs posts have been really hard. I’m sure I will do better for the remaining of this class. For Chi, I think you should just pick one topic at the very beginning and just focus on it and you will be able to do better with your time. For Myra, a thesis is a sentence that expresses the idea or ideas of your whole essay. I agreed with what Chi recommended by reading other documents and articles and try to find their thesis statement.
-Diana Rodriguez

I have developed a lot of strengths in writing and analyzing through the online postings. The online postings allow me to think creatively, which was something that I always struggled with. The online meetings also have helped me look at the text more clearly and analyze each part of the story. They also help me by seeing my classmates points of views as well, and it overall will shape my understandings of the readings. The quizzes in class also help me by allowing me to not over analyze anything, they allow me to think more freely and put my thoughts into words quickly. In writing essays I need to analyze my quotes better rather than just putting them into my essay without a deep explanation. I also need to relate the quotes back to the point I originally tried to prove. I have always struggled with grammar and I alway have some type of grammatical error. I definitely need improvement in expressing my thoughts more clearly with my writings.

-Kelly Kay

During this semester, I developed some strengths in this class that I’ve noticed so far. I like the idea of free writing in class which helps me understand the text more. I usually just read the text without thinking it deeply through however with free writing, I get to open up and dig into the context and share the ideas with my classmates. Weekly blog posts posted by my classmates really helps me to not only view things in my way but also the others. Participation is usually the hardest for me because I’m too shy to open up in class and I’m not confident with the views I have most of the times. However, free writing helps me straighten up my thoughts, my words, and my confidence in the end. On the other hand, I would like to improve my writing skills more. Though, to me, I may try my hardest but in the end I’m not satisfied with the results. I want to get into the context more however, I may interpret it wrongly. These are the weaknesses I want to improve on to strive for the grade I want.

Although I consider myself a decent writer, I know that there is always room for me to grow and improve my writing skills. Writing a post every week, usually analyzing a certain concept, has definitely helped me develop a better organization of my ideas. I love analyzing various notions, and this class has definitely made me feel more comfortable expressing myself. However, when it comes to free writing, my mind usually draws a blank and I cannot seem to translate my thoughts into words. I always like to feel prepared and know that what I will say/write will transfer properly from my thoughts and be understood by everyone; therefore, I tend to doubt myself and hold back during discussion. Often, I find myself regretting it, and wishing that I had shared my view with others. It is definitely an area that I need to work on, but one that will definitely help me in other aspects in my future.

Weekly posting has given me the ability to further analyze a text or a theme of a text, and make connections. In addition to writing strengths, learning about a culture or an era in history such as the Buddhist religion, the “floating world” of Japan, respectively, has also broaden my spectrum of knowledge as to how I can connect a text or a theme to an idea. Making connections helps me better understand and interpret the texts we have read and discussed in class. Sitting in a circle in class and being able to listen to different outlooks on an idea or interpretation of a text, also helped me study for my final. The free writing that we also do in class, although the thoughts are not well organized, it provides guidance and ideas for posts, and recently the midterm exam. I would always like to improve my analytical skills, being that it is a skill that I can also apply to real life. There are times where I read, and I oversee a phrase that may symbolize something greater. I wish not to always depend on other people’s perspective, in order to see things differently.

Hello everyone, thanks to all who responded!

Many of you are making some really interesting connections between texts, with valid comparisons and contrasts. The biggest challenge for most of you in this exercise, I think, is to narrow your topics/questions enough for a manageable paragraph sized response. To do this, you need to make sure that the point of comparison is a relatively small one.

For example, some of you point to the way Bartleby and Saikaku’s narrator react to social pressures, and that’s fine, but then you need to go a step further and decided on a specific kind of social pressure they are both confronted with. Then you could go on to either compare their reactions, or contrast them. One of you suggests that one way to narrow this aspect of this social pressure, is that both of these protagonists choose to simply retreat from society, which is a very interesting way of focusing this topic, and also quite valid. Another suggestion for narrowing this topic is that in both narratives, going against social norms has both positive and negative effects on both Bartleby and Saikaku’s narrator. That’s a compelling notion, but again, too general for a two paragraph response, comparing two different texts. Suggestions on how to narrow this: first decide on positive or negative aspect. If you choose a positive aspect, what specific area could you explore? The freedom to live one’s life without restrictions? If you choose that, then what specific restriction is one free from? Try to narrow the topic as much as possible, then you can go more deeply into that aspect, when you discuss a specific quote from each text. Each paragraph should be an analysis, not a summary or paraphrase.

Remember our paragraph form: (and these items need not be in this order)

1) Concise topic sentence (your assertion, which is actually a sub-topic of your thesis)

2) Short introduction to your support (putting your quote in a context).

3) Support for your topic sentence/assertion (not more than one or two sentences). You are only to use one quote per paragraph, so make sure it is a very rich quote.

4) Explanation of why, very specifically, your quote defends your assertion. This is most of your paragraph, so you need to make sure you are doing an in-depth analysis of your chosen piece of text, and not simply a summary or paraphrase. You will certainly want to go back into the quote and point out specific words that “prove” your assertion.

In The Journey to the West and in Life of a Sensuous Woman, both of the main characters  (Monkey and the Sensuous Woman), experience social isolation at some point in their lives, but for very different reasons. Contrast the two characters’ reasons for living away from society and connect it to their individual Journey to Enlightenment.

1. What are some common themes that you found between The Life of a Sensuous Woman and Bartleby the Scrivener? What do these themes tell us about the human condition? Do these similar themes explain how the main character eventually end up on the same path to suicide? Use the text to support your answer.

• Borys Shturman

Although Journey to the West(Chapter 1, Norton,1st Edition) and Jounrey to the West(pdf from Norton, 2nd Edition) may be the same story, both editions share key differences. In a well thought out essay, use evidence from both texts that highlights these differences and a reason for why these differences may exist.

In Journey to the West and Life of a Sensuous Woman we are presented with characters who seek a form of enlightenment to feel more complete in their life. Using references from the stories, explain how they both did or did not achieve their goal at the end of the story.
-Sabera Qazi

In Life of a Sensuous Woman and Bartleby, we have characters who withdraw themselves from the environment. Using quotes from the stories themselves, explain how they both run away from the overlying issue in order to achieve their own peace.
-Brian Baigorria

The narrator in “From the Life of a Sensuous Woman” and the character Monkey in “Journey to The West” both have many life experiences that shape who they are as a character. During those experiences they both present many different character traits. Name one trait that you believe these two characters have in common and present why each character resembles that trait.

-William Dayan