Last and final post!

Ok well since we did not have any readings this week I'm not sure what I am supposed to post about! I'll just say that I have throughly enjoyed this class this class this semester! It was my first online class and I have to say, Professor Hochenaur was very good and helpful. Any time I emailed him a question, he got right back to me very shortly. Before, I thought that I would never take an online class, but now I know differently! It has been fun working with all of you and good luck on Finals!!

week 7....it's almost over!!

I can not believe that we only have 1 more week left..that seems so crazy!! It has flown by! This week we have read some very disturbing and dark pieces of work. Some of them very hard to understand and take in. I enjoyed reading Mrs. Dalloway the most, because all throughout high school I had always heard of it, but just never got around to reading it. It was very interesting. It covers one day from morning to night in one woman's life. Clarissa, an upper-class housewife, walks through her London neighborhood to prepare for the party she will host that evening. When she returns from flower shopping, an old suitor and friend, Peter, drops by her house unexpectedly. The two have always judged each other harshly, and their meeting in the present intertwines with their thoughts of the past. Years earlier, Clarissa refused Peter’s marriage proposal, and Peter has never quite gotten over it. Peter asks Clarissa if she is happy with her husband, Richard, but before she can answer, her daughter, Elizabeth, enters the room. Peter leaves and goes to Regent’s Park. He thinks about Clarissa’s refusal, which still obsesses him. This was just the start of the book, it veres off in all directions from here and is all over the place. Hope everyone has a great week!

Week 6.....Thanksgiving break!!

OK, well I'm not sure if we are required to post this week or not, but I am going to just in case! First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their break from school! I know I am! Well, this week we did not study that many poets because of the break, but my favorite thing we read was "When You Are Old" by W.B. Yeats. I liked it because it talked about the romantic love that we all want to have when we grow up. Even though people age when they grow up, they can still be beautiful. The romantic love that Yeats is talking about is the kind of love that will last and is memorable. I think this kind of love is the most special because it brings you memories and you remember them forever and ever. This was my favorite because I think most people can relate to this, and understand where Yeats was coming from!

5th week... Victorian Era!

So, this week we have been studing the Victorian era and yes, I have enjoyed it but I would have to say that the Romantic has been my favorite! I do have to say that I was pretty stressed about reading Great Expectations, but it was not bad at all! I actually enjoyed it. I would have to say that my favorite charature was actually Estella, I know they may seem weird because she was so mean but I think that she was interesting! Estella is Pip's unattainable dream throughout the novel. He loves her passionately, but, though she sometimes seems to consider him a friend, she is usually mean and uninterested in him. As they grow up together, she repeatedly warns him that she has no heart. Though she represents Pip’s first longed-for ideal of life among the upper classes, Estella is actually even lower-born than Pip; as Pip learns near the end of the novel, she is the daughter of Magwitch. Despite her cold behavior and the damaging influences in her life, Dickens nevertheless ensures that Estella is still a sympathetic character. By giving the reader a sense of her inner struggle to discover and act on her own feelings rather than on the imposed motives of her upbringing, Dickens gives the reader a glimpse of Estella’s inner life, which helps to explain what Pip might love about her. Estella does not seem able to stop herself from hurting Pip, but she also seems not to want to hurt him; she repeatedly warns him that she has “no heart” and seems to urge him as strongly as she can to find happiness by leaving her behind. Finally, Estella’s long, painful marriage to Drummle causes her to develop along the same lines as Pip—that is, she learns, through experience, to rely on and trust her inner feelings. In the final scene of the novel, she has become her own woman for the first time in the book. As she says to Pip, “Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching. . . . I have been bent and broken, but—I hope—into a better shape.”

4th week of class!

Well I would have to say that my favorite thing that we read this week was Elizabeth Browning's "Say Over Again" sonnet. I enjoyed this one the most because I felt that it was a real poem that I could relate to. She just wanted to hear the words I love you over and over again. Maybe it could have been a bit too much, but she obviously needed and craved this attention. So maybe she did not feel loved like she should have? One thing about this week that is a little frustrating is our group presentation assignment. There are only like 3 people on my team that are even trying to get it organized! Oh well, we will figure it out and get it done!! I am really enjoying this class so far... it has been a good experience for my first online class! Have a good week!

3rd week of class...Frankenstein!!

I have really enjoyed reading Frankenstein! I remember back in high school when certain English classes had to read it, but mine never did! So I was glad that I had a chance to read it in this class. I really liked it. It brought different feelings throughout the book, sometimes it made me feel happy while others it made me feel very sad. I felt sorry for the monster, and I think everyone judges people by the way they look or act so we could relate to this. We really shouldn't judge by what we see on the outside. This poor monster was fine at first and all he wanted was a companion. Why couldn't Victor just have been his friend? I don't think the monster would have ever done anything evil if he had a true companion. The romantic works that we have been reading are a bit confusing to me, but I just have to re-read them over to understand a little bit more. Hope everyone is having a good week so far!

2nd week of class!

Well this is the 2ND week of class and it is about over. Time is going by pretty fast! Before we know it, the semester will be over! I must say that I have enjoyed this class so far, it is my first online class but I think I am figuring everything out and I am doing OK! This week we read Byron, Shelley, and Keats and it was a different style of writing! I will admit that I did have some trouble trying to understand what was going on in the poems at first, but after reading them over a few times I started to understand more. I guess that's the downfall of having an online class, not having a teacher there to help you interpret the poems. The poem that I liked most was "When We Two Parted" by Lord Byron. It was easy for me to understand and it talked about a situation that I have been around ( not personally, but a good friend) so I could relate to it on a different level. Throughout the poem you can feel Byron's love for this woman, but it must be so hard knowing that what you are doing is wrong and that it will never be able to work out. I could not imagine feeling like that! We all know that this situation is wrong, but it is not our place to say. If they are in that much love, then I can't imagine it not being able to work out.