Journal 4

You are about to write your first literary analysis. Are you prepared to write this? What do you plan to write about? How will you go about writing the essay? Do you have a writing process? Describe your process and what you plan to write about in as much detail as possible.
Am I prepared to write this upcoming literary analysis…….hmmmm..That’s a great question. Physically, yes. I have all the capabilities needed to write it. I have a pretty good idea about what I need and how to write a literary analysis. Mentally, I do not know if I have a strong desire or great energy source to write this first literary analysis. However, seeing how this paper is for a grade, I have no choice but to be prepared and continue to prepare myself to write it. Right now, my idea is to write my analysis on how A Rose for Emily is extremely symbolic of the old south flirting with succumbing to the ways of the north post-civil war. I think this should be a pretty great story to analyze because the options are endless. You can compare what goes on in this story to the North and South from a million different angles; or you could just compare it to how Miss Emily could have just been a psycho. You could talk about how significant Tobe is or is not in the story regarding the North and South during that time period. You could talk about how Miss Emily is symbolic of the old south as a whole. You could even discuss how the town itself was representative of different issues that went on during the post-civil war era. I figure, as long as I stay on topic I can’t go wrong with this story because there are so many different ways that I could go about writing the analysis. To write this essay, I will start off by coming up with a thesis. Once I do that I will pull at least three pieces of evidence to prove my thesis. Then I’ll find some quotes to back my claims from the text. Next, I’ll write an outline so that I can try to have a pretty decent structural foundation for my paper. Next I will find a quote that closely relates to my thesis or the story. Depending on how I feel, I may or may not begin my paper with the quote that I find. After that, I will probably have writers block for a few hours, maybe even a day or two. Finally at some point I will realize that my due date is rapidly approaching so I will buckle down and write my paper. After I write it, I will get my mom and maybe my roommate to proof read it for me. I don’t usually read over my own papers. I probably should, but I really don’t like to. So lastly, I’ll make changes from my mom and roommate, then I’ll get an English teacher to read it for me and I’ll make the necessary changes. Finally, I will turn my paper in on time! After that I’ll pray I get an A.

Journal 3

You have read a few stories and scholarly articles at this point. How do you feel so far about what you have read? What was enjoyable? What was difficult? Has anything in your reading process changed yet? Are you noticing new things as you read (either in the reading, in yourself, or in the world around you)? Have you made connections between the reading and your life or the world around you?
So far, everything we have read in class has come off pretty weird, but everything has had a pretty deep theme. Cathedral was awkward because the narrator was obsessed with how he was “anti-blind people”; In A Good Man is Hard to Find, the grandmother was beyond obnoxiously annoying; and in A Rose for Emily, Miss Emily was just flat out strange. I really like A Rose for Emily and Cathedral, but not so much A Good Man is Hard to Find. I think I enjoyed those two stories so much because I made more connections with the symbolism in the stories. I also liked the characters more. The grandmother in A Good Man is Hard to Find was just severely annoying to me. She talked so much and because of her, her family was extremely self-absorbed and they had no true value for life outside or their own. I don’t think any of them changed as a result of what happened in their story. However, in the other two stories, I feel like they were much more dynamic. Robert and the narrator in Cathedral communicated with each other which led the narrator to reach a sort of epiphany about his own life. In A Rose for Emily, Emily was changed by the way she was isolated from mainstream society by her father and her town. The most difficult story to read would have to A Rose for Emily. There was so much that could be read into and interpreted, however it was still pretty enjoyable. The other stories were a little more direct about their symbols and themes which made them a little easier to comprehend. Since reading and discussing the stories in class, I have begun to look even more closely into the smaller details from stories. I also pay more attention to who the narrator and auditor may be. I never realized how much simple things like that had on the tone of the story. I never really paid much attention to how significant knowing the setting and tone was when you actually analyze a story. After paying more attention to smaller details in the story rather than the big picture and the plot, it’s easier for me to pick up on the deeper meanings and symbols that are in some of the stories that we read. Noticing these details allows me to relate to the readings on a more personal level. Like in A Rose for Emily, knowing the setting and identifying the auditor and narrator made making connections a lot easier. At first it was really difficult trying to make a claim about why the author chose to tell that story, but after considering the history, the way it was told, who it was told by and then actually dissecting the words in the text, it became much clearer. I also have made connections with the world around me as a result of the stories. Looking at the issues that the characters go through, it encourages me to be more mindful of how I treat life and how much value I put on it.