Happy Monday! We will be very busy in Wed.'s class catching up ... if class is cancelled this Wed. because of snow, we will be extra busy next week. So, I'm putting up some helpful advice on notetaking. You were all great in lecture this morning, and I saw that some of you had notes on the reading.
NOTETAKING (This is Dr. Pruss-inspired):
1. Do not take notes while reading or with the book open. Read the story twice.
2. The first time -- just read the story.
3. A day or so later, reread the story. Put the book away.
4. NOW: Focus on the main characters and the main things that happened in the story.
5. What is the main conflict in the story? How is it resolved?
6. Why did the author write the story?
Try this for "Hills Like White Elephants" and "Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat" and (if we have time) we can talk about it in class.
If you'd like to blog some notes, please do that also. This is a writing intensive course -- the more writing you do, the better you will become!
RD
" There is no need for us to turn life's traffic accidents into statistics- thats a job for the traffic-safety department."
ReplyDeleteI found this quote to be upsetting because it sounds condescending snd cynical.
Using one of Ralp Waldo Emerson's quotes that relates; " It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself". Just imagine how beautiful the world would be today if moer of us would live a life where we are not concerned about impresing others with what we have, but more concerned with how we could collectively make a possitive difference in the lives of each other by sharing more love, respect, and appreciate one another.Because the man is dead, his life is not worth mentioning as "statistic" as a reminder so other don't suffer the same fate. MP
That's beautiful, Monique. Great use of an outside source and "digging deeper."
ReplyDeleteRD
I am posting this in regards to the last paragraph of "The Accident." The author, Xingjian starts off the last paragraph saying, "Here I am, discussing philosophy, but life is not philosophy, although philosophy derives from one's knowledge of life. By acknowledging that he wrote it, that reminds the reader that the accident was a fictional accident, and it brings the reader back to reality, even though the bicyclist just died. He goes on to write about how accidents are part of the newspaper and literature etc. He isn't belittling the magnitude of the accident, he is just reiterating the idea that accidents are a part of life. That's one of the main ideas that Xingjian is trying to portray, that these accidents are a part of life and they can be terrible, unpredictable and traumatic, but they happen. AS
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Allison, on what the writer is trying to portray but one must remember that yes we don't have control over many things, to an extent, but there are some things we as humans can do to eliminate some of those traumatic experiences: what i mean is think about, how most-to-all accidents happened... carelessness,unawerness,ignorance or a combination.
ReplyDeleteP.S. thanks for the insight and reminder, i didn't see it that way at first. I got caught up in the context of the story, forgetting it is fiction.lol
The accident really made me think about what we take for granted and what we put in to context instead of what is important. The people were all running to blame the driver and to get a police officer instead of seeing what the baby needs and what can be done for it. We have changed as a country and instead of worring about who survived we worry about who to sue.
ReplyDeleteIliana Cartagena
ReplyDeleteThe last paragraph in The Accident is important simply because it clarifies what the plot is really about. The author relates the story to reality and claims that life's tragic accidents can not be turned into statistics. Therefore, this accident should not be something that the public could reflect on their life; but rather an incident that simply occurred.