Thursday, May 2, 2013
Collection 20: Larissa and Rachel
Your blog assignment this week is to evaluate the presentation by Rachel and Larissa. First, you should point out the strengths of the two-day presentation. Then, you should make suggestions for possible ways to use other ways to present the material. What do you like to see in presentations? Second, determine the major theme in John Updike's "Son" - how does this theme of your choice relate to human life? Do the same for Anne Sexton's "The Bells". Finally, what is the most interesting tradition that is evoked by Scott Momaday's "The Way to Rainy Mountain"? Be specific - you are now experienced bloggers!
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Rachel and I presented collection 20, "From Generation to Generation." I think that we had good material and useful information, but the presentation could have been longer. When we were making the PowerPoint it seemed like we had a lot to discuss, but I guess we ran out of talking points. I definitely learned a lot when putting this presentation together. The major theme in "Son" was about the struggling relationship between a father and a son. The son had to get a job and provide for his family at a very young age. The father did not really praise his son for the good things he did either. For example, most parents would be proud that their child is involved in a sport, but the father just said that he could do better. This relates to everyday life because many parents are still like this today. They try to live through their children and they try to force them to do things. Sometimes, they don't even realize that they are doing this. In "The Bells" the theme is remembrance. The circus poster reminded her of her past and being with her dad. I found Anne Sexton to be very interesting. We can definitely see how her poems relate to her life because she lost her family and became very depressed. She had a mental illness and lived in a hospital for years. Writing was her therapy and I think that is why many of her writings show anguish. Scott Momaday travelled to Rainy Mountain to see what his grandmother went through. He explains many of the different traditions of the Kiowa Indians. An interesting thing that they always did was sacrificing animals at sun dances. The Indians had a passion for animals and land, and they were always performing some kind of sacrifice to the gods. Overall, I think that Rachel and I had a good presentation.
ReplyDeleteLarissa, I agree we had very useful information in our presentation. It could however have been longer. I think our collection was hard to get information out of though. It didn't really lend itself to well to conversation. This was a problem because I really shortened our presentation without class participation. Other than this however I think that we had some really good information in our presentation. If there was more discussion however we could have done better. I'm glad we both learned from this presentation and I am glad we worked together! Great job Larissa!
DeleteLarissa, I thought that you had a very good blog. You and Rachel both did a great presentation. You knew your material very well. The power point was a little short however the class did not always participate. "Son" was a very interesting story. I enjoyed reading that one the most. I think that this one relates to everyday life. So many times we have annoying family members but yet we still love them. I enjoyed all the authors in your collection. Each one of them was different and made it interesting. As we have been doing this we have seen that many poets have had mental problems. This was the case for Anne Sexton's. however she wrote some of her best work during this time. Overall I think you did a good job presenting!
DeleteLarissa and I presented this week on Collection 20 "From Generation to Generation". The three works we covered were "Son" by John Updike, "The Bells" by Anne Sexton, and "The Way to Rainy Mountain" by Scott Momaday. I think we had some good information but it could have been longer. I think the topics we covered were harder than other groups to have a discussion on. They didn't really have as much detail. "Son" was the story that had the most information and it was easy for us to relate to. We all have problems in our families and we all get angry and say things about one another. A lot of the times things we don't really mean but we say anyway. I think this brought up some good discussions in class. The poem brought up good discussion as well. I think that it made us think of memories we had as children with our parents. "The Way to Rainy Mountain" was the hardest to discuss. There wasn't as much detail or ways for us to relate to the story. We didn't really have a lot to talk about this day. It is also extremely difficult to try and have a group discussion when the same five people talk. This to me was frustrating. Yes I realize that we didn't have as many topics for conversation this day, but more people still could have answered.
ReplyDeleteI think that Larissa and I had a good presentation and learned a lot. It is interesting to see other culture's ways of life. I enjoyed learning about the Native American people the most. The Kiowa culture and other Indian groups were forced out of their lands and onto reservations where the land was not near as nice as what they were used to. A lot of times people thought that discrimination only happened to the African Americans when in reality it happened to all races including the American Indians.
Rachel, I think you did a good job presenting. You seemed to really know the background information on your collection. One thing I liked about yours was that the authors were from all different races. This made it interesting. I mentioned in Larissa that you guys had good information just a little short at times. My favorite was "Son". There are so many things that I can relate to in that story. "The Bells" was very different. The author was crazy while she was writing it. I think it helped a lot to play the video. The video of that poem really set the mood for how it sounded. I could picture what was happening during the poem. The other story I did not find very interesting it was hard to talk about. I can see how it can be frustrating when people do not participate. I know I am one of those people who need to get involved in class discussion more. Overall you did a great job presenting!
DeleteFirst off, good job this week Rachel! You guys did very well, I enjoyed learning about you're topic. I agree, it could have been longer, but you're stories and poems were very hard to go into depth on because they didn't have much detail for discussion so I understand why it was so short. I really enjoyed "Son" because I can discuss a lot on that story because it happens a lot in the world today, with fathers trying to live through their sons. It is very sad and sometimes I feel that sons could actually be better fathers than their own fathers. You and Larissa did very well and I learned a lot from your presentation about different cultures.
DeleteRachel, I think you had one of the most relatable topics with your collection this week. When your first started discussing the topic of Son, all I could think about was my own relationship with my father and fathers in general. I found it quite interesting how everybody seemed to have the same ideas of dads in general, with some thinking of these tendencies in extreme ways or just simiple similarities. I found that you and Larissa both had very good dialogue while presenting and were able to bounce ideas off of each other. I think you incorporated information to appeal to every listener. If anything, maybe include some more information to make it last longer. Time is hard to control, but you did well. I agree with you when you said how hard and frustrating it was to have the same five people answer every time there is a question. I find it very difficult to answer and I am hoping that you consider me one of the five people. Good job!
DeleteRachel and Larissa did a very good job presenting their topic. Their strengths were definitely their crowd involvement. I felt like there was a lot of discussion going on throughout their presentation. It was easy for me to discuss also because the topics were easily related to things going on in the world today. I was thinking maybe they should have focused on the stories more and split the work up more evenly. Other than those common mistakes they did very well. I like to see the presenters discussing along with the class during the presentations. They didn't give too much away, they discussed it along with us and let us make some points. Another thing that I really liked about their presentation was that they only had questions on their slides and rarely facts. This gave the class plenty of facts to discuss so we weren't just reading right off the PowerPoint. It also helped us have a variety of things to discuss about each story, author, etc. Son was definitely my favorite story of the presentation. This story has a plot that is common in the world today. In this story, the son and father weren't very close. He didn't like to spend time with him. It is obvious that the son is angry with his life. It is mentioned that the son thinks he would be a better father than his father. I think that is because he knows what it is like to be in the sons shoes. This story relates to many boys in the world whose fathers want them to be something that they're not. It was mentioned in our discussion that some fathers try to live again through their sons and do the things that they never got to do on their childhood and I agree with that. The Bells is a short poem about a daughter reminiscing of the past to her father. She was reminiscing on her childhood, going to the circus with her father and how much she enjoyed it and how close they were. Some people grow away from their parents as they get older, but we'll always have those childhood memories to remember. The Way to Rainy Mountain I found hard to understand, it had mostly to do with Indians. I could tell they thy had some trouble going into depth on it because there wasn't much detail in it. They did very well though and I enjoyed their presentation, good job girls!
ReplyDeleteLeah, I like how you said a strength was crowd involvement. There were definitely many more people participating than usual. You also stated that there weren't many facts on the slides, which was a good idea. Then we were able to further discuss things rather than just read them once. During the story "The Way to a Rainy Mountain" I feel as though we learned some of their difficulties, which many people don't know about. It was definitely a story that was difficult to interpret at times, but overall was good.
DeleteLeah, thank you for your input on our presentation. I am glad you liked the questions we put at the end of our slides. I think it really helped for the class to get more discussions going. I know that in other presentations questions really make me think and want to discuss a certain topic. I think the story "Son" was definitely a story that most people can relate to. We all feel pressures from our parents to achieve greatness, but sometimes parents push their kids too much. Parents just want the best for their children, so sometimes they don't even realize that they may be pushing their kids too hard. I agree with you when you said we had trouble going in depth with "The Way to Rainy Mountain". When we first made the presentation it seemed like we had a lot more information on it than what we did. Obviously that isn't the case. Thanks for your input!
DeleteLeah, you are comopletey right when you say that their strength is crowd involvement. I don't think there was a presentation yet that has had so much openness for peers, but the peers did not step up to the plate and take advantage of the opportunity to respond. In "The Bells", I found it to be a recollection of the good times the author had before her life started falling apart and she went crazy. I agree with your opinions on "The Way to a Rainy Mountain." This story was a little more confusing and did not feel the same as the others. They did not provide as much information, but I understand their struggle with this story since none of us could come up with our own ideas with this particular work. Good job!
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ReplyDeleteRachel and Larissa did a great job presenting. One thing that I liked about their collection was how there were writings from authors of a different race. This whole time the authors have either been African American or white. All their authors were about Indians. I liked how they went over the one authors tribe and art work. My parents used to live in South Dakota on an Indian reservation. They said that they were some of the nicest people they had ever meet. Also they tried to use everything they could and not be wasteful. This made me think of when Rachel told us that they use the deer hide to make clothing out of. I thought they really knew the background information of their collection. However one thing that needed to be worked on needs to be the amount of information. The slide shows were short and did not take up a lot of the class time. Many discussing more about the authors and the poems and stories you covered. I understand that us as a class did not help them out much by participating. Also when people did participate it was only a few of the same people. This makes it hard to get the class involved and a big discussion going. The information that s given was very good. In the story "Son" by John Updike was a very good story. When in was reading it I got the scene that the theme was unsettling love. This is showed by how much he resents his family. Yet is some way he still loves them. We all see this in our families today. Everyone has an annoying family member that gets on their nerves, yet they still love them not matter how annoying that person might be. I know it is this way with my sister. We are so close in age and play all the same sports. We are always with each other doing all these activities. I know that sometimes I get really annoyed with her and just want to do my own thing, I'm sure she feels the same way about me. However at the end of the day we still love each other very much. The next poem we had to read was by Anne Sexton. She was like many other poets that we have talked about. She was crazy in but in a hospital for her problems. There we see that she wrote some of her best work. This is where she wrote "The Bells". This poem was about when her and her father went to the Circus. The poem had a lot of imagery in it. I think that she was trying to remember her father during the time she was locked away. The last peice they covered was "The Way to Rainy Mountain" . Everyone else including my self found it hard to understand what they were really talking about. That why our participation was so low on this one. Rachel and Larissa both did a great job on their presentation this week!
ReplyDeleteHayley, that is interesting how one of your favorite parts was how the writings were from authors from a different race. I didn't really realize but most of the authors in our presentations have been either African American or white. This change in diversity makes the stories a little different. Since these authors were indian, the stories had more to do with their way of life. I feel like we don't pay enough attention to Indians today. Even in cultures class, we often focus on African Americans ways of life, but rarely do I remember talking about Indians. You made a great point that I didn't even consider!
DeleteHayley, I love your blog this week. You made a lot of good points, and I agree with the idea of the information on slides needing to have more depth. There were an extra fifteen minutes each day, which adds up. They definitely had good volume and eye contact most of the time. I also like how you mentioned about this collections including Indians, not just blacks and whites. You covered everything I was thinking about!
DeleteMy favorite part of the presentation this week from Larissa and Rachel was the story "The Way to Rainy Mountain." As I said during their presentation, I don't feel as though the Indians receive enough credit for everything they were put through. They were taken from their land in which was their source of food and life. They were moved to reservations, pretty much the land in which us Americans didn't want. The video where we heard their war dance music was my favorite, I love hearing their music. It's funny to think that making those noises from their mouths is considered music. I also enjoyed "The Bells" by Anne Sexton, because it really allowed us to visualize what she was saying. She used symbolism when talking about the three rings, which could be interpreted a few ways. In the very beginning when she states that the poster is stabbing off the concrete wall, it almost made me feel like she emphasized saying the "concrete" wall because concrete is so permanent and durable, and her memories of that circus are also permanent. The fact that the poster is "scabbing" off makes sound like something gross and unattractive to look at. During the story "Son" I feel like the major theme that was trying to evoke a sense of relationship, especially one of a father and son. Their relationship was either very strong or very weak, and the son should have had a father figure in his life to teach him how to be a man. The son had to help provide for the family starting at a young age, which can take a toll on a child.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that Rachel and Larissa had a good collection with many talking points. I feel as though it may have went smoother if they had been standing next to each other so they could discuss things a few times, because Rachel had a lot of movement as well as a lot of looking at her papers. Note cards are the way to go! There was a good volume throughout the whole presentation which was a strength as well as the slides containing just a few key words. I loved the collection, because it was so different than everyone else's before this. Our eyes were opened to the hardships faced by Indians, not just by the African Americans.
Nicole, I like that you compared the hardships of African Americans to the hardships of Native Americans. They are forced to live on separate lands and that isn't fair at all. I like what you had to say about the war music and how the Indians made music with their mouths. I remember learning that the Indians used everything that they had and they never wasted anything. They should be treated as equals. I also thought that the assessment of Rachel and Larissa was accurate. They were able to help each other out, but they seemed to cut each other off sometimes. They had some really good discussion points and they were able to work through a colleciton that was a little bit more difficult.
DeleteNicole, good blog this week! You brought up some very good points on various parts of the presentation. I agree that Rachel and Larissa had good talking points, but it felt as if they were not sure on how to elaborate on them. I also agree that it might have went smoother if there wasn't as much movement. Since I presented right before them, I seem to understand how Rachel and Larissa felt as they talked. While note cards are a great idea, I feel that it was more of Rachel and Larissa not communicating with each other as well as they should have. I really enjoyed what you wrote about for "The Bells", especially tying in symbolism for the poster falling off the wall. Keep it up!
DeleteNicole I agree with your stand point about the Indians. Indian tribes are discriminated against and mistreated. I found the discussion points about this topic very interesting. I also enjoyed reading/listening to Indian tribe's traditions. I like to learn about other cultures other than my own. I thought that "The Bells" was also a unique piece of literature. As you said in your blog the author used symbolism a great deal in this poem. This poem was small but contained a great deal of hidden information about the author. I thought the presentation was interesting, but different in a good way. Rachel and Larissa had good information, but at times they would interrupt each other.
DeleteWith Rachel and Larissa presenting this week, they were faced with one challenge the rest of us did not have such a large problem with: class participation. Lack of participation is a hard problem to deal with, but I think that the girls stepped up to the plate and really tried to work around it. I noticed that whenever they asked a question that the class was not able to answer, both of the girls were able to reciprocate off of each other and come up with ideas to spark interest in their topic. I congratulate them very much on how well they were able to work together and bounce ideas off of each other in order to get their topics rolling. When the girls started discussing the story for "Son", I could picture my own family and expectations. The boy's father expected him to do so much in his best interest to become the best man he could possibly be. To me, that is what every family wants for their child. It may be hard to deal with and cope with as a child is growing up, but the family that pushes you to succeed is the best type of family to have. Sometimes, it seemed like the father in the story was a little to harsh with his son and could have taken it easier on him. Families today even have parents that are trying to have their kids live the lives they wish they had. Kids need to realize that the parents mean well but sometimes do not realize the pressure they are putting on their family members to achieve such goals. The tone of stories almost completely changed when we read the short work of "The Bells." The author of the story had to go through a lot with her mental illnesses she suffered from when her family started to die. Her way of coping with tragedy and her mental illness was through her writing. This story brings a feeling of remembrance for the good times before everything started going wrong. This feeling makes me think that there is always something that can bring us back to reality and sanity. The most interesting traditions that I noticed during "The Way to Rainy Mountain" were the familial traditions that originally came from the indian tribe of the family. The grandmother that the main character is going to visit was part of that tribe and had the man grow up learning about his true roots. I feel like everybody needs to take a moment sometimes and look back to where they came from to give us a reality check and make us notice what is truly important in life
ReplyDeleteCarli, I agree with what you said about Rachel and Larissa's presentation. They did a good job of bouncing ideas off of each other and trying to get the class engaged. I like what you had to say about the story "Son". I know that your parents are like that sometimes, but it is important to know that they want the best for you and want to push you to succeed. Even when we were discussing it in class, you seemed to have some sort of connection to the story and that made it easy for you to participate. I really thought that what you said about the Native Americans was true because they don't take anything for granted. They apprectiate the little things and dwell on situations that you can't change. Good job on pointing that out in the blog this week Carli!
DeleteCarli, I agree with you on the class participation aspect. The girl did a great job in coping with it. I am a culprit of poor participation during their presentation, and I apologize for it. The story "Son" was a great story to read because it showed how fathers in our world expect a lot from their sons. They want their sons to be athletic and smart, and sometimes their sons do not want to be that. Many times sons like to sing or dance, ect, that. Their fathers don't see their talent in these subjects, and it is very sad to see. This is what that story really focused on and it was very relatable to today's father figures.
DeleteRachel and Larissa had a very interesting collection for their presentation. They started off with the story “Son” which talked about a relationship between a father and his son. I thought that they had a lot of good discussion points for this story. I think that the class was more engaged in this story than the other two, but I can understand why they had a hard time with the class discussing their stories. I am someone who tries to answer questions, and I feel bad answering all of them, but I don’t want the presenters to have to answer their own questions. I also thought that the poem “Bells” was interesting. It started out very cheerful and it seemed like it was talking about circus. Then it stared to take a little bit more of a darker tone and started to talk about three rings of danger. I think that this poem could have had some more discussion points, but the class could have discussed the ones that we did have. The story “The Way to Rainy Mountain” was very relatable to the first story we read. “Son” talked about the discrimination of black people and how they weren’t treated fairly. This story talked about the discrimination of Indians and the fact they were continuously being pushed to reservations. The author talked about how much love he had for his grandmother and he seemed to look past the bad things that occurred in his life. I think that Larissa and Rachel did really good for what they had to work with. It is really hard to get up in front of a class that doesn’t want to answer questions. I think that one subject that could have been discussed is the connection between the authors. They all seemed to have faced hard times because of their ethnic group and that could have maybe been brought up a little bit more in discussion. I also just wanted to say that I thought that we were doing the worksheet in class and that is why I didn’t have it done. I would have done it but there was some confusion with it. Over all I think that you guys did a good job and did well with the situations that you were faced with.
ReplyDeleteI think that the theme of the story “Son” was a type of relationship between a father and his son. This story seemed to show a more aggressive dad and how he doesn’t really care a whole lot about his son. He doesn’t want to be in his life, but he later comes back and claims that he does everything for his son. I think that in the end, this could help the son because it helps him to realize that he shouldn’t be like that to his future son. “Bells” seemed like a darker type of poem. The theme wasn’t real evident, but I think that it was the movement from a happier time to a sadder time. “The Way to Rainy Mountain” made me think of how close a grandchild can be to their grandparent. I think that Native Americans are very close families and that was very noticeable in this story.
Camille I agree with the main points of your blog. The presenters did the best they could discussion wise. I also agree there was mass confusion about the worksheet. I understood that we were going to do it during class. If the worksheet was suppose to be done for class the next day the presenters should have assigned it or sent an email. I thought the information presented was interesting and incite full. I especially enjoyed the story and discussion about the Indians. The Indians were misunderstood and discriminated against. I did however like the theme of learning about the past and sticking to your family's roots. Good job with your blog.
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ReplyDeleteThe collection covered this week was presented by Larissa and Rachel. This collection is different, but similar to the others. This collection contained topics such as family and relationships. Larissa did an excellent job with public speaking. I thought that both presenters had good eye contact with the class. However I believe that their presentation would have gone better if they had more discussion points. I thought that the information on the handouts were informational and interesting. The main thing that I would suggest as a critique would be to make sure to show your confidence in what you are presenting. I thought this group of presenters did well and had an interesting presentation.
ReplyDeleteThe first item covered was "Son." I thought this story was easy to relate to. A poor relationship with a peer is commonly seen and experienced in today's society. The poem "The Bells" also corresponded to a relationship. This poem's theme is remembrance. The speaker if this poem remembers a special moment in her childhood when her father took her to a circus. I found it interesting that the author, Anne Sexton, wrote this poem suffered from memory loss, and she writes to remember. The last major work covered was a story titled "The Way To A Rainy Mountain." This story explains the passion of a young man named Scott Momaday, tracking to learn about his family roots. This man travels to learn and see where his deceased grandmother lived. Scott discovers and explains the traditions of his grandmother's tribe the Kiowa Indians. I also enjoyed the discussion brought up with this topic. The Indians had it rough. During the Trail of Tears the Indians were kicked off their land and forced to move to other land. This was a hardship that caused many people pain, death, and suffering. I would hate to be kicked of my homeland, and the way it was done was horrible. The Indians were mistreated during the time period of this story.
Personally I thought the theme of your collection had to deal with relationships and memories. Overall I thought this presentation was very relatable to our lives today.
Marla, I agree that the collection this week is very relatable with society today, especially "Son." The father is very demanding, and expects so much from his son. Especially when it comes to sports, academics, and lifestyle choices, there are parents out there who feel their children have to follow one certain path. I also can relate to what you had to say concerning "A Way to Rainy Mountain." I could never imagine what the Native Indians went through, being forced off their lands and forced to march to an unimaginable fate. It had to have been extremely frightening. Yet, I also commemorate these people for being brave enough to walk so far for so long after being kicked out of their homes, to be forced to live off of run- down land.
DeleteMarla, you did a great job in showing how these stories were very relatable to today's life and history. I also felt awful about how the Indians were treated in that time period. I also think that in our society, we always look back on how blacks and jews were treated harshly but we never usually talk deep in about how the Native Americans were treated, which is very sad because it needs to be known, it cant just go unheard. Good job this week on your blog!
DeleteThis week, Larissa and Rachel presented Collection 20. They covered a variety of themed works that somehow, all related to each other. All of these works had to do with family relationships. Take "Son" for instance. It's about a demanding father who expects more from his son, trying to run his life. A lot of the works we have covered this year, like the "Glass Menagerie", have parents that try to live through their children. We also see that today when parents try to force their children to do something they did when they were younger. Another example could be when they do not approve of something, some parents give the “When I was your age” talk, establishing their disapproval. In “Son”, the father made his son work, for the sake of the family, and continued to judge his son. The feel of the story made me feel that the son resented his father. This feeling of resentment contradicts the theme of “The Bells.” In this poem, the other is remembering her trip to the circus with her father. It is an old memory. She talks as if he was there, but knowing the author had mental illnesses, it was obvious this was written after her family died. “A Way to Rainy Mountain” also had a family theme. Scott was going back in time through his grandmother’s journey to Rainy Mountain. To Scott, remembering the hardships his grandmother went through is important for the future.
ReplyDeleteRachel and Larissa were not at all nervous, from what I could tell, and there presenting skills were very strong. There were a few things that could have been different, but I feel everyone feels that way after they do something this big like a presentation. They had good talking points, but I felt they should have gone further into detail with some of the topics. Also, I feel that there was a lot of movement during the presentation that could have been avoided. But either way, the girls should be proud of their hard work and be glad they are done!
I did not feel that they were nervous either. I also got the idea that their presenting skills were strong. I think that they had a bunch of good talking points too, and they might have been able to go more in depth on their part to stimulate more discussion. They worked well with each other in presenting, and they did well. Good job on your blog, Maria, and well done with your presentation Rachel and Larissa.
DeleteMaria, thank you for your input! I also agree with you that things could have been done differently. I wasn't nervous at first, but then nothing seemed to go in our favor so the second day was not as organized. I can't go back and change them now. I found the stories very interesting, and I wish we could have talked about them more in detail. It was very hard to have a class discussion and bring up more talking points when no one wanted to answer the questions. Good blog!
DeleteRachel and Larissa's presentation was a great end to my week in that class. The first day was very good. The story "Son"was very interesting and it showed how a father looks at their sons in many situations. Also on the first day we read the poem "The Bells". This was very interesting because it was, what I felt, was about the poets life when she was little at the circus. I felt that the first day was stronger than the second day in presenting because they had more speaking points and had gone deeper into depth with them, while on the second day it was slower moving. I felt that they put forth a lot of effort though, which was awesome! Throughout their presentation, however; there was a lot of back and forth movement from across the tv to the podium to look at the book. This was very distracting to me, and it took away from the presentation.
ReplyDeleteDuring their presentation, the story "Son" was about how fathers at many times want their sons to be perfect and like them, which was what I thought the theme of the story was. Many times throughout the story, I felt that the fathers to many of the sons were unhappy with what their decisions were going to be in their lives. One son in the story told his father that his calling was to serve God. The father said that he never received the call, so he didn't exactly approve of his decision. Many times we see how fathers always want their sons to have a good life in the future. Some times their fathers live their own lives through their sons, like through athletics. Fathers want their sons to be their pride and joy, but if their sons aren't what they planned for them to be, then they are a disappointment. In today's society, we see thing like this disappointment when we see homosexuality in males. Their fathers expected them to do other things with their lives, and they are very slow to warming up with their sons decisions on homosexuality.
Also during the poem " The Bells", I had a sense of sadness throughout it. I feel like Anne Sexton wrote this through her depression and mental stage of her life in the hospital. It was about when she and her father went to the circus together. She put a lot of detail into the things she had seen while she was at the circus like the clowns. It seemed to me like this was a memory, a very strong memory in fact, that she needed to write about because of all the emotion in that scene.
In the story, "A Way to Rainy Mountain", the main theme was about Scott Momaday trying to learn more about his grandmother and his life heritage. Many traditions were shown during the story, which helped in giving detail of his grandmother's life and tribal life through the story. In today's time, we are so far from history, that people forget about where they came from. Our heritage is such an important part of our lives that should not be forgotten, it is who we truly are in history. Rachel and Larissa did a great job and put a lot of hard work forth in their presentation. great job girls!
I agree with your views on this, all of the stories had something to do with family. They seemed to revolve around how society and family mixes together. The fathers here are pictured as overbearing or bad, when in most cases, I think this is not the case. Larissa and Rachel did a great job with their presentation this week. They demonstrated the main themes well in their collection, and had good speaking skills the entire time.
DeleteI did not think about which day was stronger, but I do agree that the first day was better organized and better presented than the second. I also do think that sometimes fathers want their kids to have the life they wanted to live. Sometimes they want their son to have a better life then they did. "The Bells" did not make me feel sad. I did think that it was a good read though. Memories make an interesting topic to write about. I did like how "A Way to Rainy Mountain" brought up heritage. People often forget about the past and where they came from. History can not be forgotten, unless the mistakes of the past want to be brought up again.
DeleteThere are pros and cons about two day presentations. The good thing about them is that it encourages the presenters to learn their material well, and to get skills with public speaking / presenting. These are skills that are needed at university and later on in life. The con about two day presentations is that the students will not know everything about the topic, Someone who has studied the material before would be able to give a better lesson on the material.
ReplyDeleteLarissa and Rachel did good on their presentation this week. They explored the stories in their collection well, and developed the theme of the collection nicely. The theme of the collection is family, and everything that goes along with it. Family is a huge part of life, and this collection explores it. It goes especially into family in stories like "Son" where just the name hints at it being family related. This story was about a son who's father left him when he was little. This choice of theme related to the hard parts of human life, and that we just need to do the best we can in working with what we have.
The way to Rainy mountain was about family also. I noticed that this one was more about coming together than breaking apart, the opposite of "Son." This was about traditions and rediscovering the past to understand yourself, The main theme here other than family would be remembering the past and where you came from. The presenters both demonstrated this well, good job on the presentation!
I can agree with your opening statement, but I still think that we are capable of giving good information. We still have to do the research and make up the presentation, and I do honestly prefer professionalism. I also think that the collection is mainly about family, at least all three of the stories that were presented had family as a part of them. I really did not think about family being broken apart in "The Way to Rainy Mountain," but since you mentioned that I can see that in the story. The last thing you mentioned, about rediscovering the past, I see more in "The Bells" than in "The Way to Rainy Mountain."
DeleteJess, while I agree with what the majority of what you said, I still think that all of the presenters have the capability to show people good information. I feel as though almost all of the presentations so far have been full of valuable information. I do agree that it is good for us to get experience in public speaking and giving good presentations. Good blog this week, Jess!
DeleteRachel and Larissa's presentation was very good. The information covered in it was well rounded to cover the various parts of the collection. I did like how the pieces of literature covered had different writing styles. If every reading in a collection was done with the same writing style, the collection would become monotonous fast. The two-day presentations have been good, I really can not think of another way to have the material presented. Since there are two days to give the presentation, there is no rush to finish and give out all the information. The presentations also allow for people to participate, which broadens the views on the information.
ReplyDeleteIn "Son," I think that the major theme has to do with family. The story starts off by pointing out the quirks in the rest of the family. The more people are together, the more they tend to notice the small things that someone finds irritating. Family is usually together more with each other than with anyone else. However, the main connection of "Son," is between father and son. The beginning states being a better father than his father. There is actually a poor relationship between the father and son. The theme is a one that can be related to. Since everyone has interaction with their family, or at least they should, everyone can have some reaction to the story. In "The Bells," the main theme seems to be about memories. Memories induced by an old poster, at least it seems old to me because the word used to describe its deterioration is scabbing. The poster brings back memories of attending a circus with the speaker's father. Everyone has memories, and they sometimes are brought up by odd occurances. An example being that when the naughty clown was mention, I instantly thought of Pennywise the Clown. Not the oddest connection, but Pennywise was really an alien. In "The Way to Rainy Mountain," the most interesting tradition to me was the Kiowa's Sun Dances. The interesting part about it was how dedicated to the annual tradition they were. One year, they had no buffalo, which were essential to the tradition, so people were sent to Texas in order to find a buffalo. They could not find one, and were probably very disappointed that they had failed in their search.
Tyler, when I read the first paragraph that you wrote, it was like you taking the words right out of my mouth. I agree in every aspect of the way with your first paragraph. Another point in your blog that I found interesting was how you related a clown to the collection. Much like you, I also enjoyed watching the Kiowa's Sun Dances. It really brings out the true culture that the Indians had.
DeleteTyler, I completely agree with you on the different writing styles. Every story or poem that we read was about something different within the aspects of family. "Son" was more sad, African American style of writing. It portrayed a betrayal by the father of his family, both of his sons and his wife. "The Bells" had a feeling of loss, as if the family member that she was speaking of is either no longer alive or no longer there for her.
DeleteThis week I’m going to write one of the most honest blogs that I’ve ever written. I think it’s important for us to realize that not everyone is pleased with our work. Criticism helps us build our skills, not fluffed lies that are designed to make us feel better.
ReplyDeleteAs for strengths of this presentation I would first like to commend Larissa. To be completely honest I wasn’t expecting you to be a great speaker in the ways of volume and speaking, but you did WONDERFUL! You were very clear and used “like” and “um” very sparingly. You sounded very professional. You seemed calm and it was very relaxing.
I think that Larissa and Rachel had a collection that held a really lesson. I was rather disappointed. The first story “Son” was very confusing at first, but half way through their presentation on it I realized how it was written. I was disappointed that I had to figure this out for myself and that we did not discuss. Maybe we did, but I must not have heard or understood it. I think “Son” was a good story because it shows not only how teenagers act, but also parents. It’s always a difficult time for parents and children because we feel so oppressed by rules, but we’re still children and need them.
I think that Anne Sexton’s “The Bells” was more of a sad remembrance of her father. We learned from her biography that she lost her family early in her life so moments like the described in the poem would be some of the only memories that she has.
I think that “The Way to Rainy Mountain” was one of the best stories for us to discuss, but we didn’t. I, personally, had a lot to say about certain aspects of the story, but we only covered it broadly. I was very disappointed with the second day. I think one of the most interesting traditions of the American Indians was the story about the bear in the sky and how it came to be.
Now to say something about our lack of discussion that has been pointed out numerous times. First of all I would like to say that Morgan and Maria had this same issue and they seemed to handle it much better. It was our fault for not reading the entire directions on the worksheet, but I think the way it was handled was very rude to use but also to Dr. Pam. Rachel completely gave up while Larissa seemed baffled and quietly suggested we just go over the questions. Yes, it was our mistake, but we could have made up sentences. We’re not evil people, we want to help each other succeed. We realize how hard these presentations are and we want to make these as easy on each other as possible. I don’t think the stories had a lack of detail. I thought they were very detailed and could have had a lot of better discussion. I think people fell into the skim reading habit. To end my blog before I end up making people hate me completely I’d just like to say that there are five of us that always answer for EVERY presentation. This wasn’t something special to this presentation. Morgan and Maria filled their time with barely any participation.
I know this is probably going to go over badly, but this is what I thought.
Maddie, I just want to say thank you for being honest. After all, these blogs are for giving your opinion. When Rachel and I were putting together this presentation I thought we had a lot, but we could have gone into detail on more things. I agree with you, we did not have as many discussion points as we could have. However, I paid for that with the grade that I got on this presentation. Good job on getting everything out there. I think this was a good blog. If we ever have to do anything like this in the future, I will know how to improve
DeleteMaddie,I will say that was the most interesting blog that I have read to this point about these presentations. It is good that you are honest, and the criticism will help I am assuming. I think we can both agree that relationships are the themes of these stories. In "Son," the relationship was between a father and a son. In "The Bells," the relationship was between a daughter and a father. the daughter also remembered many important past details. In "The Way to Rainy Mountain," the man wanted to know about his family, and his relationship with his family. Overall a good job by Larissa and Rachel, but also a good blog Maddie.
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DeleteRachel and Larissa presented Collection 20 this week. They had multiple pros in this presentation, but they also had some cons. Yes maybe the presentation could have been longer, but that does not bother me because they covered all that they needed to. It is not their fault that the crowd involvement was not at its highest, and they tried to handle it as well as they could. “The Way to Rainy Mountain” was my favorite work that we discussed in this section. The presentation by Rachel and Larissa was put together well, and they discussed many themes that were important for us to learn.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the major theme in “Son” was a relationship between a boy and his father. The relationship was not very good between father and son, and I believe that many of us can relate to this relationship. Boy or girl, some of us will fight with our father, but we know that they are teaching us valuable life lessons. This relationship can be seen in my family. My father has many expectations for me, and I respect, but we also get into arguments. I will always respect my father, no matter what kind of argument we get into. I also believe that “The Bells” by Anne Sexton relates to a relationship with ones father. The speaker is asking her father if he remembers about her childhood. She also remembers important details about her childhood. Another theme that someone could say about this story would be remembrance because the speaker is remembering important details about her father. The last work covered, “The Way to Rainy Mountain,” was my favorite work. I also believe that it speaks of a relationship with a family. N. Scott Momaday wants to learn more about the past history of his family. He was an Indian, so he had a rough life. The Indians were always discriminated against, and had to fight for survival. This fight for survival could strengthen some sort of relationship with a family.
I enjoyed the presentation by Larissa and Rachel. Their presentation was short, but I believe that if you cover the information that you want to, then the presentation will be fine. That is how this presentation will be. I am looking forward to presenting Collection 21 on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
Andrew, my favorite story was also "The Way to Rainy Mountain". I think it showed a very good mix of American Indian culture and legends as well as family relationships and the importance of knowing your history. I think that "Sons" was very relatable even for those of us who are girls. I am also looking forward to your presentation because the things you told me about it were interesting.
DeleteTwo day presentations to cover an entire section have both pros and cons. The pros would be that the class receives an overview of the section while other students are teaching. These students have a deep understanding of their subjects, and they have the opportunity to work on their public speaking skills. These skills are not only valued in University, but also throughout general life. Everyone should have the ability to bring their points across precisely and in an intriguing manner. Cons would be the fact that with only two days to present, many topics and stories end up getting skipped or skimmed over. The students that taught about this particular topic would be much more knowledgeable concerning their topic than the students being taught.
ReplyDeleteRachel and Larissa both did a very good job with their presentation. The theme of their collection was family, and all of the stories that we explored with them seemed to have a theme of broken family, but family nonetheless. Family is very important to everyday life, and it's not always perfect. These stories were very realistic in the ideas that they did not portray the "ideal" family. They showed families with issues and troubles. This idea is especially shown in "Son." The story was about family, but a broken family as the father left them and the mother was ill. It showed how they pulled through with the help of the family that actually cares. This relates to life today on the way that someone that is related to you may not actually be your family. "The Way to Rainy Mountain" was also about family, but it was about a family that came together as compared to a family that was falling apart. "The Bells" showed that while there may be good memories of family in the past, your family may not always stay the people hat you believe them to be, and they may leave you behind. However, they are still your family, and you will always love them.
Tori, I like what you said in the beginning of your blog. Presenters have to remember that we're going into this with a somewhat basic understanding of the stories they've asked us to read. It's their job, like its our teacher's job, to broaden our understanding. If presenters don't understand their presentations how could they expect their listeners to? I think these presentations are going to help us later in life even is aspects that we don't realize.
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