Wednesdays english blog

 

 On the 29th we read the ending of the short story “The Rockpile” by James Baldwin. The story talk about a split family living in Harlem New York in the 1930’s. In honesty I didn’t find this story very captivating but I like that it was open ended. The author never explains John’s relation to the family other than saying that he came from the mothers time of sin. There is also no clear ended so we are left to come up with the possibilities of what happens next. 

 Today I was absent. 

 Today we did our first assessment. I felt really confident and was surprised at my score. I got an 80 which I am normally not upset with, but today I was. That was at first before we reviewed the questions. When I realized that only one person got an A, I felt much better about my grade. I also felt reassured with my responses after we went over the questions.

 Today we answered a work sheet about the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. While i found this poem to be amazingly written and a powerful piece, I found todays assignment uneventful. I didn’t feel very engaged. I know that this is very difficult to do with only a sub in class but I still wanted to voice my opinion. I did get a little confused on todays paper with the question about the complex account. I wasn’t really sure what this was but I tried my best through assumption. I also noticed on the roll call sheet today that Mr. Rease put my pronouns and it honestly made my day!

 

 Today on August 18th we read the poem “Refugee in America.” We had a big discussion about rights and political/social issues. I love the discussions that we have a class and how we all get to express our opinions on the topic. I really enjoy debating the current rights in America today and I honestly learned a lot. I wasn’t aware of the teacher who got reprimanded for reading a book to her class about gender expression. I’m very passionate about social issues and always enjoy a good discussion about them. 

 Today on the 17th we read the poem “ I, Too” by Langston Hughes. This is one of my favorite poems that I have ever read. The metaphor for oppression and discrimination by using the imagery of a kitchen and dinning room was amazing. It really sets the scene and helps convey the situation to those who don’t understand. It doesn’t convey the severity of the situation but if you are educated about that time period it definitely does. This poem was also very empowering and beautifully written. I really enjoyed reading and discussing this poem today. 

 I was absent on the 16th. 

 I’m class on the 15th we read “ The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” This poem was fascinating to me and I really enjoyed reading it. The relation of rivers to the long living black race was genius in my opinion. The use of historical events centering around rivers that involve black history was amazing! It really drew in my attention. 

 Today we went over an introduction into African American culture. A minor part of the discussion was over stereotypes which was really interesting. It was captivating to see how some stereotypes stemmed from African American culture. For example, corn bread. I also found myself thinking about how culture is very base line and seems to only be “ accurate” from a historical standpoint. All individuals have a unique cultural experience and unique individual qualities. 

 Today I really enjoyed reviewing our homework assignment “First Thoughts.” I am really interested in cultural anthropology and I love to think, so this assignment was perfect for me. I also find stereotypes to be really impactful but almost always incorrect. For me this made this assignment and discussion about our answers fascinating! I hope to have more debates and discussions like this one.