Blog #10 To Blog or Not To Blog

This semester I learned endless ways on how to improve my writing. I learned which words to stay away from like "society" and "very." I understand the different uses of point of views and how they effect the reader perspective on the story. First person point of view tends to give the reader a better understanding versus a third person limited where the narrator knows things, but not every single aspect. I also learned that when I am writing a research paper I need to use quotes to back up each claim I make in order to provide evidence for my claim. Writing is a long process that needs to be constantly revised. Rhetoric and Composition taught me that through peer review and Criterion, I can improve my writing. These two helpful items helped me become a better and more thorough writer. 

I am unsure if I will continue to post on my blog. However, I like how the blog is fun and creative, but I personally prefer to write in my own journal. There are many pros and cons to having an online blog. Some pros are that you can share your blog with whoever wants to look at it on the web (some people, like myself, may also view this as a con.) Another pro is that blogging lets you share comments with others; it is much more social than keeping a personal journal. While I enjoy editing my fonts, backgrounds, and pictures on my blog, I also enjoy watching my own handwriting change over the years as I continue to write in my own journal. Some people view blogging as a con because you cannot keep up with how one's style of handwriting changes.

Although I enjoy blogging, I will probably continue to write in my journal rather than post on this blog. Here are some extra pros and cons of posting on a blog.

                 Pros:                                                                                         

• Fun and creative                                                                      
• Social 
• You can comment, share pictures, include links
• You can look at other people's blogs
• fast and easy (for people technologically capable)

                 Cons:

• Not entirely private
• Can not watch hand writing change over time
• Can not use when there is a power outage, if you have a dead battery, etc. 
• Someone could possibly hack your blog 

Blog 9 "Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape"

Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape by John Ashbery

When I initially went to the link that was given to read the poem, I read the poem, but then I decided to listen to John Ashbery read it. I knew that the poem was a bit odd because it contained cartoon characters and there had to be a deeper meaning than Popeye having to leave his small and peculiar apartment.

When I heard the actual reading of the poem, it seemed to make a little more sense to me in the fact that the audience was laughing in the background. Although it was still difficult to understand the entire meaning of the poem, I think that Ashbery mixes a technical form with cartoon characters to add ironic humor to his sestina.

Ashbery also uses enjambment in his poem to create a sentence structure even though he writes a sestina. 

The repeated words in his sestina are thunder, apartment, country, pleasant, scratched, and spinach. While Ashbery follow the techniques of how to write a sestina, he incorporates many humorous lines using his “end words.”

My favorite line in the poem is “the thunder soon filled the apartment. It was domestic thunder, The color of spinach.” I liked this line the most because who would describe thunder as the color of spinach? The entire end tercet is just funny to me because of the odd way Ashbery combines all the repeating words. I find it really interesting how poets can just combine the words in the final tercet and it makes sense. Although this poem did not make complete sense to me, the end tercet made me laugh in the fact that the entire poem is all odd, funny, and poetical all at the same time.

Blog #8 Poem (Vilanelle)

Dying for Sleep

By: Nicole Zerbo

Her body is tired, mind runs elsewhere;

She restlessly lies there with open eyes

in hopes of slumber without a nightmare.

Repeating this cycle that leads to nowhere,

she tosses, turns, and stares at the ceiling;

her body is tired, mind runs elsewhere.

Becoming weary and filled with despair,

she creeps into the bed she despises

in hopes of slumber without a nightmare.

Each passing night she becomes much more aware

of insomnia’s dreadful dark demise;

her body is tired, mind runs elsewhere.

Tonight she will overcome this affair

by drinking cough syrup until she dies

in hopes of slumber without a nightmare.

Holding on to her last breath of cold air,

she feels worn out like an exhausted child;

her body is tired, mind runs elsewhere

in hopes of slumber without a nightmare.

blog 7:WAR what is it good for?

When I think of the US in the Vietnam War, the first thing that comes to my mind is our countries’ fight to prevent the spread of communism. The United States’ main reason for entering this war was because we had to send military aid to countries being invaded by the communists. A specific detail that I think of is the Truman Doctrine which states that the US needs to aid countries that could be harmed by communist influences. This led to the thousands of troops being sent to Vietnam.

The present war in Iraq and Afghanistan is similar to the war in Vietnam because the United States is invading unknown territory. Both of the United States’ enemies fight a similar style of guerilla warfare because they are more familiar of their territory which they use to their advantage. This benefits our enemies greatly because they do not have to risk losing a lot of men in one big battle such as the Civil War. The majority of the small battles include a bombing tactic. 

Blog #6

       In today's society, it is more accepted to break free of our own cultural heritage because we live in a more individualistic world. People tend to try to do what they want to do rather than abiding to what our parents want. It is much more accepted to be who you want to be which includes breaking away from cultural norms. Although it is not as easy to break free in some cultures as it is in others, it is done more frequently in society today. For example, Asian cultures tend to be more strict and attempt to hold on to their tradition and culture in order to establish themselves in society.
        Some societies try to keep people in line by imposing rules and laws. Stereotypical behaviors in which genders are supposed to play their own role are still enforced today. For example, mom cooks, dad makes the money, kids go to school. Men do not cry. Women do not make more than their husband. These are societies unwritten rules. Written rules (within the law of course) attempt to keep society in line by imposing consequences so that rules are followed.
        Some people break free by breaking the law. Some people feel the need to rebel against society because they believe in doing what they want regardless of the consequences. Breaking free from cultural heritage on the other hand is easier than breaking free from societies rules. Breaking free from cultural heritage is someone's choice. They break free because they feel the way they want to live their life is different than how their parents/cultures see fit for them. For example, some people decide to assimilate to a new culture by not carrying on their native languages or traditions.
        Disregarding societal's norms is frowned upon in society, but my generation tends to be much more open than the "baby boomer" generation. Generation Y (1980-2000) is more accepting with race, religion, sexual orientation, culture, etc. Disregarding societal norms is not illegal so technically there are no real dangers, but one may be treated differently or unfairly based on their beliefs and actions.
        Benefits of disregarding societal norms are being able to be your own person regardless of the dominant culture. Another benefit would be that one would not feel that they were constantly living to please other people because of their societal norms.

Blog #5 "The Love of My Life"

Nicole Zerbo
October 8, 2012

Yes, China and Jeremy are condemned by their peers because what they did was terrible. My response is the same as their peers, if not worse. I have taken a forensics class my senior year in high school and learned about Jeffrey Dahmer; what Dahmer did was disgusting. He killed men and he thought that he could turn them into sex zombies by drilling holes into their skulls and injecting them with some type of acid. Any type of murder is bad. Boyle persuaded me in to thinking that such an event could never be possible. Being completely and utterly puzzled, I had no idea how Jeremy ended up dumping his own flesh and blood in a dumpster. Boyle's use of cacophonies, diction, and imagery in his story made me realize how disturbed I was with the each main character. I do not understand how Jeremy could willingly dump his own baby in a dumpster, nor how China could tell him to "get rid of it." The dialogue in this short story made me yearn for a psychologically correct explanation on how a woman who claims she is an adult can carry a baby in her stomach for 9 months and then have her boyfriend throw it in the dumpster after giving birth. I would like to understand the aspects of such behavior and how one could go about doing something so terrible. While it is difficult for me to understand how someone could dump a new born in a dumpster, I do not believe that there is an explanation for murder. If China did not want the baby she could have given it up for adoption. It is not like she got an abortion when she knew she was pregnant; she had sex, got pregnant, gave birth, and abruptly ended her own child's life when another adult could have been able to nurture that child.

Peer Review

October 1, 2012

Reading my peer's essays made me understand other people's views of alcohol on campus. Peer review not only helps me develop my paper further by having another person read my work, but it helps me grasp new ideas. Since my peers are doing the same project we can discuss our papers together rather than having an outsider (roommate, friend, etc.) read my paper.
Criterion was also another helpful factor while writing my paper; it evaluates small things in my paper so my peers do not have to waste their time in doing so. Criterion pointed out a lot of repeated words, punctuation issues, etc. Although I submitted my paper to Criterion twice before peer review, I still had to make corrections. I enjoy peer review because you get personal feedback from a classmate who is researching the same topic that you are, therefore they have a similar mind set as you do.