3rd Soloist Post I think?

At this point in the story, it seems as though things are trying to come together for Nathaniel. Steve Lopez has found him an apartment at Lamp and it’s not half bad. Well not half bad to Steve. Nathaniel seems to hate it. He claims it’s too quiet and confining. He would much rather be where he was before, on the streets. He somehow comes to the conclusion that it is safer out on the streets than to live in that apartment. For some reason he really doesn’t want to be there. Maybe this is because he’s been through so many unsuspected changes in his life that he doesn’t want to try anything new. Maybe he subconsciously automatically shuts off all things unnatural to him so that he will always feel secure and protected. I think this is very interesting. If my guesses are wrong, then why would he rather be on the streets? The apartment is obviously safer than the streets but his thinking process is completely different from a normal person’s.
It is also strange how he seems to resist what Steve Lopez asks of him but eventually he folds. It seems as though he has built a great deal of trust with Steve. This is a good sign because it seemed as though Nathaniel wouldn’t be accepting of much of anything. And to see him warm up to Steve so quickly is a good sign for him. Even though Nathaniel hates his apartment and hasn’t really slept in it, he is showing signs of great improvement.

The Actual Movie

As I watched the movie, The Soloist, I noticed a few differences between the movie and the book. The movie was quite interesting, and it felt familiar. This is because I’ve been reading the book. As I watched the movie, I felt like I knew what was going on the entire time, and I felt like I’ve seen it before. As I watched it, I felt like I knew what was going to happen next, but in some situations I was wrong. The movie changed a few things from the book that I noticed.
The first thing I noticed changed was the fact that Steve Lopez worked with his wife. In the book, I believe he had a wife and a child, a little girl. But in the movie, he had no little girl, and his wife, or girlfriend (they never specified) worked with him at the office. In the book, I don’t even recall any conversations between him and his wife, yet in the movie, they were constantly talking and going out together and things like that. Another difference I noticed is how quickly Steve Lopez got into Nathaniel’s life. In the story, he always talked about trust between them and him trying to connect with him. But in the movie, their relationship grew fairly quicker than it did in the book. In the book, it took time for Steve to think about the situation when people were shipping him the instruments for Nathaniel. He thought about it and told Nathaniel about what was going on before he brought them. In the movie, he just one day showed up to Nathaniel with a new cello.
Another thing I noticed and liked about the movie was that I got a chance to visualize all that I’ve been reading. It was nice to actually hear Nathaniel’s playing and see how much he loved and got into his music. And even though it was a horrible sight, it was nice to actually see skid row as described in the book. Not good because of what was happening there, but good because it helped me realize what the place was really like and how hard life was to live there. Overall it was just nice to see everything I read.
In short, I enjoy reading the book, and even though there are obvious differences between the book and the movie, I still enjoyed the movie better.

Sharing My Thoughts

It seems like Lopez likes to talk and think about other people and their issues. He talks a lot about issues that a lot of other people have to deal with. he likes dive jump in their minds and find out all he can about them. Maybe this is because he is a journalist, and his second nature is to dig deep for the "scoop." But at the same time, he does this subconsciously. He subconsciously asks people about their lives and wants to know all about them. He is a very curious person, yet generous at the same time. He risks his relationship with his family in order to make sure Nathaniel is okay everyday, when he could be at home with his family.

Nathaniel seems to trust Lopez, yet distrust him at the same time because he doesn't want him to take his new instruments to Lamp.

The video clip adds to our reading because now we know how Nathaniel is doing now and how his life has been after the book. Without the video clip, as of now, I would have no idea what Nathaniel Ayers is doing now. I would have many questions like, where is he? Is he still on the streets? What is Steve Lopez doing now? Did he ever help Nathaniel the way he wanted to? Reading the book with all of these questions in my head would make me want to read the book even more to see if I could answer them, but because I know the answers to these questions, I now read the book in order to find out what happened leading up to today.

Questions I have now that I do no yet know the answer to are things like, does Nathaniel stay at Lamp? If he does, for how long? What ever happened to all of his instruments? Does he still have them?

The Soloist by Steve Lopez so far seems to be a pretty interesting story. If I didn’t know this book was based on a true story, I probably would have thought it to be fiction. So far, the story of Nathaniel Ayers seems to be sad yet inspiring. Sad because he has lost everything and is now on the streets, but inspiring because you see that even though this man has lost everything, he still sticks to his passion and wouldn’t give it up for the world. Even though he is on the streets and needs to try and find a job or a place to live, he really seems to not be concerned with any of it. He doesn’t even try to play his violin for money. He plays just for the sake of playing, and just because he loves it.
Another surprising element to this story is the fact that Nathaniel Ayers once attended Julliard, one of the most high profile schools for music in the world. Who would think that a person living in the streets playing a two-string violin once attended Julliard? No one. Even after hearing him play and the level of his skill Steve Lopez still couldn’t believe it and had to research it. Ayers even knew some of the world’s most recognized musicians like Yoyo Ma and a few others.
I look forward to reading the rest of this story and seeing what happens next. This is actually one of the few, if not the only book we’re had to read this year that I actually want to read. I guess because it deals with music and I love music. Or maybe because it’s a true story. I like to read about or watch movies about true stories because it makes me think about if I were in their situation what would I do? I hope this book keeps me thinking. I look forward to seeing what happens in the end and finding out more about Nathaniel Ayers.

"Phonies"

For this week’s English post, I have decided to write about the Cather in the Rye, and Holden’s opinions about “phonies.” Holden, the main character of the story, talks about how he dislikes “phonies,” or people that feel one way but act another. Near the beginning of the book the two phonies he talks about are Ackley and Stradlater. He talks about how Ackley acts annoying and loud because he is insecure and thinks that he is unpopular. In Holden’s mind, Ackley is a phony because he hides his true feelings and acts like someone he is not just because he is insecure.
Holden also shares his thoughts about Stradlater. He really doesn’t like him very much but is nice to him anyway. And that brings me to my next point. In my opinion, Holden is a bit of a phony. I think he is a phony because he himself feels one way about certain people, but acts differently towards them. For example, how he feels about Ackley. Holden dislikes him and points out all of his flaws, but at the same time, he is nice to him and doesn’t let him know how he really feels about him. He acts like everything is fine and dandy. And it’s the same situation for Stradlater. Holden doesn’t like him either but is still nice to him and continues to do favors for him. These are fine examples of a phony to me.
In short, even though Holden says Ackley and Stradlater are phonies, I think he is also a phony and just hasn’t realized it yet. If Holden didn’t spend so much time worrying and thinking about how much Ackley ans Stradlater annoy him, maybe he would come to realize that his is in some ways just like them.

Die the Death of A Salesman

How many still die the death of a salesman? In my opinion, hundreds maybe thousands every day. Business back in the 1920’s was pretty rough, but I think business today can be just as rough if not worse. In so many situations today I see people get let go from jobs they thought were secure. Even before the recession, business is never truly safe. With the way the world is these days, everything comes back to business, everything is about business. From television to school, and everything in between, business runs the world.
With the country in the state it is now, business is defiantly not a secure topic. The recession we are currently in has put thousands out of jobs. My own mother for example got laid off her job a few months ago and is now looking for a new job. Since she got laid off, more and more people from her company also got laid off, and now the entire business is set to go under some time soon. This could happen to anyone at anytime from the looks of it. I would not want to be involved in business right now, especially in knowing that I could possibly lose my job at any time. Back in the 1920’s, I don’t think they had to cope with a country wide recession. I don’t know what I would do in a situation like this. Maybe I would look for other jobs out there as something to fall back on just in case my business goes under.
In short, I believe business today in the 21st century is defiantly more difficult to deal with than business in the 1920’s. The recession defiantly plays a huge role in making business more difficult. The recession has made it easier for people to lose their jobs, and therefore made it easier for more and more people to die the death of a salesman.

Blog about Blogging

Blogging for the past few weeks has been surprisingly easy and useful. When it was first introduced, I thought it was so complicated and thought that we meaning my class should have just stuck with the Google forum. Now, after weeks and weeks of blogging, I think it is defiantly way better and easier than the Google forum.
Has blogging been valuable to you as a student, thinker, reader, and writer? I think it has. Before blogging, posting my work was a “project,” meaning it wasn’t as easy. On the Google forum, there always seemed to be an issue and it was difficult to figure out. Sometimes I would post work and not see it and have to post again. Or other times I ended up posting on the wrong thing or posting multiple posts of the same topic. Now that I have been blogging instead, I find things way easier. The process is simpler and everything is more organized and easier to see. And before, looking at other people’s work was boring. Now everyone has their own profiles which are all different and visually appealing. I actually enjoy going onto someone else’s profile and commenting on their work. Especially since I get credit for it.

Is this work different from other experiences that you have had in English classes? Blogging is defiantly something that was new to me. In all of my past English classes, we would have to submit written homework almost every day. This year’s English class has been way better in terms of how I turn in my work. It’s much more enjoyable blogging your work once a week as opposed to bringing in homework and textbooks every day.
In short, blogging my work has been an enjoyable experience. It is easy to do, and it makes it fun to post and look at other people’s work. It also saves a lot of paper.

Freewrite- Valley of Ashes!

Do you remember the valley of ashes from chapter two of The Great Gatsby? This place had me thinking about Philadelphia and how it is split up by different groups of people. In The Great Gatsby, the valley of ashes was a place in the city that was basically where all of the poor people lived. This area was created by industrial dumping and was dirty and not many people would like to go there. The rest of the city was blatantly better than this area, which made it seem that much worse.

There are a few places like the valley of ashes in Philly, but I don’t recall seeing any that are that bad. Now, I don’t want to offend anyone who may live in those areas, but there is defiantly a clear distinction between certain parts of the city. One difference that I notice everyday is how Passyunk Avenue divides South Philly into two parts. On one side of Passyunk, there are not so great houses where mostly minorities live. While on the other side there are noticeably nicer houses where mostly whites live. Now I have no clue how this happened, but it is very noticeable. I’m not trying to say that the side of Passyunk with the not so great houses is like the valley of ashes, I’m just saying that it is defiantly not as great as the other side. If the entire city looked like the better side of Passyunk, then the other side would defiantly look like a valley of ashes. There are other parts of Philly that resemble this and are even worse. Though I do not remember exactly where they are, I do know that other parts of the city are worse than any part of South Philly, where I live.
The valley of ashes is a place where I think no one would like to live. It is considered a place where only poor people live. It is basically the worst part of a city. No one would be proud of that. Although there are places in Philly that don’t look as good as other parts, I don’t think it is that bad to the point where it could be called a valley of ashes.

http://www.wordle.net/create

Chapter 2 Gatsby Journal

Chapter 2 Gatsby Journal

“Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher on the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” (Nick, p. 23)
This quote by Nick is loaded with figurative language. From the looks of things it seems like there is personification and hyperbole. He uses personification when he says, “our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy.” This is personification because he gives human qualities to an inanimate object by saying that they have been keeping secrets. He also uses another form of figurative language in the same quote when he says, “Yet high over the line of yellow windows must etc.” He uses hyperbole when he says how his yellow windows are high over the city. In my opinion this is a hyperbole because there’s is no way that HIS windows would be so high that he could say they’re high above the city.

“But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic—their irises are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose.”

These few sentences contain smorgasbord of figurative language. Just looking at these few lines, I see the use of hyperbole a lot, and also the use a metaphor. He first uses hyperbole when he says, “Above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it.” This is hyperbole because he over-exaggerates the “endless spasms of bleak dust.” He also uses hyperbole when he says, “The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic—their irises are one yard high.” This is defiantly hyperbole because there is no way possible that his eyes would be so gigantic that they would be one yard high. There is also the use of a metaphor in this quote. Metaphor is used when he says, “They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose.” This is a metaphor because when he speaks about enormous yellow spectacles he is actually talking about Doctor Eckleburg’s glasses.

Analyzing Li Lee

Li- Young Lee’s Poetry


1. The poem I chose for this writing assignment is Li- Young Lee’s, Eating Together. Li- Young Lee was born in China but raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after his family was exiled from China when he was about seven years old. Up until they were officially exiled, he and his family had to repeatedly flee persecution. In fact, in an interview Lee said, “I recall scenes of my childhood and youth in a kaleidoscope of dreams and nightmares.” In reading his poem, Eating Together, it seems as though his is in his own little dream world or is remembering a time in his past where there was peace in his world. It seems like this poem id the dream part of his “dreams and nightmares.” This is because during his childhood he was on the run, and in this poem, his family is peacefully enjoying each other’s company and enjoying good food. So I suppose his motivation for writing remembering times in his past and reflecting upon them.
2. It seems that the tone of this poem can be described as very serene. Everyone is relaxing and enjoying each other. Lee goes into detail about what they are doing and what food they’re eating. He describes each food and goes into detail about the foods. He also uses a simile when he says, “Then he lay down to sleep like a snow-covered road winding through pines older than him.” The theme for this poem would have to be enjoying peaceful times with your family and just to kick back and relax.
3. Another one of his poems I read was called, Nocturne. It seemed as though it was one big overall metaphor for something. Perhaps something that was bothering him. This is because he constantly talks about something screeching in the night, and he goes into detail about what it might be and what it sounds like. Maybe this goes back to his childhood and how he constantly had to flee persecution. I think this because in this poem he says, “Sometimes faint, far, then suddenly, close, just beyond the screened door, as if someone there squats in the dark honing his wares against my threshold.” This may be a metaphor for the thought of someone looking for him or just the thought that he has people looking for him.
4. I think what makes these two poems “American” is the fact that they don’t talk about any specific traditions that poetry and writings from other countries might have. Because as you know, America is like a melting pot of all cultures, so I would assume that American writing has a little bit of everything from every culture and part of the world. These two poems that I’ve read both contain no sign of a specific type of culture. When I read these poems I can see anyone from any race doing and think in the same things. Therefore, these writings are “American.”

Eating Together by Li-Young Le

http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poems/poem.html?id=171757

Cather's Writings

Cather’s Short Stories

I enjoyed reading Willa Cather’s short stories A Wagner Matinee, and Consequences. In reading these two short stories, I came to the conclusion that American realism writers are different than the American Romantics. Cather’s writings were blatantly different than that of the romantic writers like Martin Luther King or Gandhi. King and Gandhi both wrote about serious issue by directly confronting their audience with those issues. Cather used stories to talk about an issue. For example in Consequences, Cather was talking about suicide as the issue, but didn’t directly address the issue of suicide. She used characters to express their feelings about it and express her feelings through them.

As I just told you, Cather’s story Consequences is about suicide. Her other short story a Wagner Matinee is basically about love. In Consequences,, in my opinion, it seemed as though Cather didn’t really choose a side, but rather just expressed her opinion about it through both characters. Eastman thought there should be no reason that wealthy people would want to commit suicide. He also thought that there always has to be some kind of clue as to why a person decides to kill themselves. On the other side, the other character Cavanaugh, the one who committed suicide, tries to defend those who commit suicide when Eastman states his opinion. This tells me that Cather either is trying to understand people that commit suicide or that she is on both sides of the fence.

Based on the topics of these two short stories, I would say that Cather is wrote these stories for a few reasons. She Might have written Consequences to people possibly contemplating suicide, or to people that have lost someone to suicide. I think this because in the story, Eastman says that he has lost quite a few friends to suicide. This would be her writing to herself. Maybe she wrote this because she has lost someone in the same way. Maybe she lost one of her friends to suicide. Cather may have written A Wagner Matinee to those seeking a good love story. Or maybe, Cather has had a similar situation happen to her. In this case she would also be writing for herself.

Cather’s story Consequences makes relevant to me that suicide is a real issue that not everyone or many people understand. Not even her. This story, made me realize that you really never know who you know or may not know will or is thinking about committing suicide. For example, Eastman had had no idea that Cavanaugh was going to kill himself the night he talked him. The last time he saw him he was smiling and excited to go to Montana. Then the next thing he knew, Cavanaugh was gone. This means that suicide can be very sudden and unpredictable. That is an awfully dreadful thought.

To be honest, I really can’t think of what drew me to Cather’s works. I guess the issue of suicide is what drew me to want to read Consequences. I thought it would be interesting to read and find out a little something about what goes through people’s minds as they commit or think about committing suicide.
“The next morning, while Eastman was dressing, Rollins came in greatly excited. “I’m a little late, sir. I was stopped by Harry, Mr. Cavanaugh’s driver. Mr. Cavanaugh shot himself last night, sir.” Eastman dropped his vest and sat down on his shoe- box. “You’re drunk, Rollins.”
This excerpt from the story stuck out to me and also backs up statement that you really never know who wants to or is thinking about suicide. When Eastman heard the news, the first thing he did was drop his vest and sit down. He couldn’t believe Rollins. He even thought he was drunk. He had no clue. This also stuck out to me because this was what I thought to be the climax of the story. I had a feeling Cavanaugh would commit suicide because I knew that the story was about suicide, and also because there was something strange about him. He seemed to be going through some kind of conflict that was never fully understood.

Word Play

Words of Change

Does writing have the power to enact social change? It has been my experience that words can affect people more than one may think. Over the course of history, many people have changed the way people think just by talking. For example, people like Dr. Martin Luther King. King gave speeches and sermons and preached about his views, and people listened. Even some people who at first disagreed with him over time came to agree with him and see his views. Millions of people began to follow him and all he was doing was expressing his opinions and thoughts in the form of words.
In my opinion, whether positive or negative, words can change the way a person thinks. For example, one time a I was arguing with one of my friends. Now, normally when people try to insult me it doesn’t bother me. But when I was arguing that one time, one simple word really made me stop and it actually affected me. The person called me pathetic. Up to that point no one has ever called me pathetic, and it actually made me sit down and ponder whether I was pathetic or not. Because normally I don’t care what people say, but for some strange reason, that one word got to me and changed my mentality. Maybe this is how people like King were able to get to people and change them. Maybe their words were so powerful that the people listening had no choice but to open their minds to that change.
Also, I think words can enact social change based on who is speaking them. This is because you can only get certain points of view from certain people. For example, when King spoke, he talked about equal rights for all and not just African Americans. I think if he just got up and spoke about just equal rights for all black people, not as many people would support his ideas. Like if a black guy were in King’s shoes and tried to speak about rights for only black people, people in general would not like him so much, especially other races. King had followers from all races simply because he wanted rights for all and everyone felt he was fighting for them and not everyone else.
In short, in my opinion writing and words do have the power to enact social change. Whether good or bad, whether people like it or not, words can and will affect you in some way, whether big or small. Also, words will enact social change based on how they are used and how people interpret them. The person speaking or writing needs to connect with their audience in order to change their points of view to relate to theirs. This is how words can and will enact social change.

Price of a Child

My Child

I wish I didn’t have to leave him- my child.
I have to gain freedom, fight for him- my child.
I have to make this path clear for him- my child.
I have to do what I can whilst I can for him- my child.

I’m trying my hardest to succeed for him-my child.
I’m trying to make the future brighter for him-my child.
I’m trying to build a bridge to a better world for him-my child.
I’m trying with all of my might to be with him-my child.


I am almost there, with him-my child.
I can almost see the essence of him-my child.
I can almost hear the laughter of him-my child.
I can almost feel the warmth of him-my child.

Now he is here with me-my child.
He completes the me plus three-my child.
I’m glad t have completed this task for him-my child.
And now he is free to be free-My Child.



Torn

Torn, don’t know what to do, does it show?
Stay with my child, or leave while I can go.
The mistress, she sees it, she knows.
She kept my child and made me go.
Will I ever see him again? She is my foe.

Hurt, I miss him, can’t you see?
Stay with my child, or leave while I can go.
The mistress, she sees it, she knows.
She kept my child and made me go.
Will I ever see him again? She is my foe.

Hurt, I miss him, can’t you see?
My other two children, they question me.
Not with aloud but with their eyes, I see
I left poor young Bennie, how can it be?
I’d change it all if I could, for any fee.

I hope he forgives me, I love him
I hate that I left him alone, with them
But I had to go, it was sink or swim
I’ll never stop fighting, never stop trying
So long as he is not here, I’ll never stop crying.
I love my Bennie, I’ll show him one day
The love I have for him will never go away
For the rest of our lives I’ll find a way
To make it up to him, to always say
I love you.