Post for 10-28

                We started to talk last class about nature poetry and at first I hated the idea I thought it to be just a boring topic and to think about reading poetry about nature made me think that I would personally rather watch paint dry. And then Professor Corrigan started to talk about the poem and read the verses from the Bible and showed pictures of the stuff that was talked about in the nature poem we had to read for class. Once I started to look at the pictures and think about it more it started to seem like a cool idea. Personally I love nature, I love when I go snowboarding to take the lift to the top of the mountain and then climb to the peak and see the view of all the other snow covered mountains, (last winter I went snowboarding in Whistler, British Columbia). Thinking of how much I love being outside and loving the view from the top of the mountain made me think that maybe nature poetry isn’t so bad, but there is one stipulation I would put on it. I think I actually want to be around nature when I am reading nature poetry and obviously, but not practically, I would like to be around what I’m reading about. So relating to the poem we read for class, I guess the reason I didn’t really like it the first time around may have been because I couldn’t really feel what the author was writing about. I’m excited to reread it this time around and actually go into my backyard and lie on the hammock under the trees outside and give it a nice through read and see if I like it any more. I think that I will find that I enjoy the poem for what it’s worth when I’m in a nature setting, kind of like when people go outside to read their Bibles and observe God’s creation. I hope I get something more from it this time because I was a little lost the first time around.

Post for 10-26

In class we talked about the use of curse words in literature, particularly the story we read, and all in all just what these words are and how we get these words. I thought about this some and for me personally, I am not bothered when I hear what some consider to be offensive language. However I stay away from using these offensive words because they are offensive to some people. I remembered this verse that I read a couple months ago and I thought that maybe it could apply here, “I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. ¹⁵ And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it” (Romans 14:14-15).  This verse strictly talks about eating meat, but maybe it wasn’t meant for such limited use. In my opinion we should take this verse and apply it to offensive language. We should be conscience of who we are around and when we are around people who are offended by foul language we should try not to use it around them.

Now how does this relate to literature? In my opinion if someone is truly offended by the language that is being used in the literature being read they obviously they should try to leave or stop reading, but if it is a situation such as a class where it would be rude to get up and leave then maybe it shouldn’t be read at all. If we are to act in love as Christ has called us we should think about what we do and how it will affect those around us even in literature.

Post for 10-21

                Today in class we did this reading activity, called Lectio Divina, with the story we had read for homework. Many people seemed to think it was a strange activity and some really liked it and there were a couple who didn’t. One guy in the class mentioned that he felt like it was almost wrong that we were meditating over this passage, because, if I understand correctly, he felt that this activity should be used only for scripture reading. I however have never done this activity before with the Bible or with any other form of literature. So to me this exercise has no past spiritual significance. At the beginning of the exercise I did find it a little strange but as we continued and dug deeper into the text I feel that this exercise was helpful due to the fact that it really made you slow down a lot and dig into the text for all it is worth.

                Another thing that was interesting in class today was that when Professor Corrigan was reading the passage it contained the “d-word” and one kid asked him why he read it aloud or if he was allowed to at school. Honestly I don’t really care either way what he reads out loud but if it were me I probably would have skipped over it or used a replacement word just to avoid anyone saying anything. But it interested me because I’m curious if other people see curse words in literature as just a part of the literature and don’t have any problem saying them. But I am interested to see next class period how this conversation turns out, because Professor Corrigan said we would talk about this topic in class at a later date. What does everyone else think about curse words in literature?

Post for 10-19

Today I started and finished reading the story “Sonny’s Blues” and despite the length of the story the time it took to read it, I really enjoyed the story. I thought it was really interesting how the author described the music being played at the end of the story as something like a conversation between the instruments. I thought the story was just overall very creative. Now this creativity goes a little far in the way that it explains the father’s brother’s death. Maybe it was to illustrate how horrifying of a death the father had witnessed, and if that was the point it did a good job. But it was disturbing enough just to read how the car trampled over him and you could hear the scream coming from underneath the car and the sound of the guitar’s wood breaking and snapping. All in all I really enjoyed reading the story.

Now I got Professor Corrigan’s email saying that we should really spend time with the story and give it a nice through read through. Now I did sit down and read the entire thing from beginning to end with just a small break to rest my eyes, but I feel like I have not really taken anything away from it. Maybe this is because I am writing this blog only five minutes after reading the story and haven’t really searched for a deeper meaning to the story. Though as I look back upon the story to try and relate it to class there is one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb and that’s the common element of suffering that we see in Professor Corrigan’s class. I am interested to see how Professor Corrigan is going to incorporate this story into class and what he will say about it tomorrow.

Post for 10-12

As I started to study for the mid-term this afternoon I saw the story listed on my “study list” called “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” and I remember reading this and the thing that stuck out most was the very end of the story which if I remember correctly says something like, “No matter what version of the story you tell they have the same ending. He dies, she dies, and everyone ends up dead.” I know this is not a direct quote or anything but that is the gist of what the ending said. A little morbid? Yes. True? Yes. Those last few lines are what struck me most but when I think back on the rest of the story I find that maybe the end is not what really matters. Maybe it is the story that matters most. I think that too often people only remember the last line of this story and forget to look at the lives of the people in the story. Yes there was pain and suffering but in some of the situations there was happiness. However most importantly there was life. I think that outside of the story and in real life people all to often only remember then end of people’s lives and remember that they have died. Most people forget to remember the life that they lived. Like when we went to the cemetery all I thought was that there were dead people all around me. It never really occurred to me that these people once lived a life probably some like the life I am living now. I find it sad that other than people inside my family I will probably be forgotten and people will not remember the life that I once lived and the joy in it. They will only remember that I am dead and they will look past all the joy that was in my life.

Short Story 10/6

     There was a man; his name was Jesse. He had grown up in a typical American home with two parents and he went to school all of his life and did everything that he was supposed to do as a child. He was tall with short brown hair and had rather fair skin. Jesse is a college graduate working with a professional sports team as an assistant to the players. Jesse had a great life for the most part; the pay was great and hanging out with all the players was an amazing experience and a new adventure every day, but this happiness would surely change for all good things come to an end at some point in one’s life. It was Jesse’s turn. It all happened while Jesse was working for Jason Jones, one of the most feared and revered football players of all time.

                “Hey, Jesse come here,” Jason said. Immediately Jesse rushed over to the new Mercedes where Jason was sitting, to see what he needed. “Get in the car; we have some errands to run,” Jason scuffed to Jesse. Of course, Jesse got in the car as Jason asked. It wasn’t because Jason didn’t like Jesse that he came off so harsh; it was because Jason had developed quite a nasty tone towards anyone he was around, and the people around him knew this. So they drove off.

                “Where are we going?” Jesse asked.

                “Places,” Jason responded.

                “Such as…”

                “You’ll see.”

                “Okay.”

                After about thirty minutes they came to a stop in a dark and unfamiliar place to Jesse. Jesse worried, slouched back into his seat, unsure what was going to happen or why he was there for whatever was happening; this was unusual for his job, normally he just ran around with the players and caught them up with their schedules and answered any questions they had. Jason leaned over the passenger seat where Jesse was sitting and reached for the glove compartment. Jesse looked down nervously as Jason opened the glove box. His eyes peered into the crack where he saw a black shiny object.

                “Is that?” he asked.

                “It’s only for protection,” replied Jason.

                “No! This is not happening. I’m leaving.”

                “Chill and no you’re not; nothing’s going to happen anyways.”

                “Ugh,” Jesse sighed.

                So Jason grabbed a gun out of the glove box and said, “Take one, too. Never know if you’ll need it. Just for self defense.”

So Jesse reluctantly grabbed one thinking better to be safe than dead. Once they got out of the car, they started walking down the alley until they came to a door. Jason knocked a few times and the door swung open and out came a man dressed in all black with gold rings around his fingers. Soon the words started flying and Jesse thought that nothing good would come of the night, and he was right. Next the man pulled a knife out and tried to stab Jason. However Jason saw him coming and started to run. Then the man turned towards Jesse; Jesse knew that the man was surely faster than him because back in school Jesse was the slowest in his class. So in the suspense, Jesse pulled his gun out of his pocket and fired off a couple of shots with his eyes half closed. Jesse heard a grunting sound and scared out of his mind he opened his eyes to see that the man was lying on the ground with his hand clutching the side of his body where the rib cage was. Jason reluctantly returned hearing the gunshots checking to see if his friend was okay.

                When Jesse saw Jason returning, he yelled, “Where did you go?”

                Jason quietly replied, “I was scared.”

                “Whatever. Well what should we do now? Call it in?”

                “No, we get rid of the body. Go get the car.”

                “What? We can’t do that. We didn’t do anything wrong! We should call it in and get a clean slate and conscience,” Jesse replied.

                “You didn’t do anything,” Jason said.

                “Oh no… what did you do?”

                “That’s not important now.”

                “You’re right; let’s just take care of this. I don’t care anymore. What’s done is done and we got to clean it up,” Jesse proclaimed.

                “Now we’re talking,” replied Jason. “Go pull the car around.”

                So Jesse got the car and pulled it around. Meanwhile, Jason got the man’s body all ready to be placed in the trunk of his Mercedes. Jesse jumped out of the car and helped Jason get the body into the trunk.  Jason decided to drive again and they headed toward the nearest lake, where they thought they could easily tie the body to a weight and throw it in the water so that no one would ever find it. Once they got there, Jesse and Jason got out of the car and found some stones to tie the body to and then they tossed the body into the water off of the pier. Afterwards they started back into the city where they lived. Jason dropped Jesse off at his house. No words were said for they didn’t have much to say to each other.

                As Jesse laid in his bed, to his surprise he was rather calm and felt like no one would ever find out and that everything would return to normal, at least on the outside. However on the inside, Jesse felt changed, like a different person. He felt like he no longer had to deal with anyone else’s garbage because he had killed a man. So Jesse went on living and no one ever found out about what happened that night. Jason changed how he spoke to Jesse because he started to see Jesse as more of a friend instead of a worker. In fact, Jason changed how he spoke to most people because Jesse got sick of it after a while and called him out on it. Jesse and Jason continue living on as friends, mostly because Jason feels obligated to stay friends with Jesse because he is scared he will talk and Jesse feels honored to be friends with one of the best football players ever.

Post for 10-5

So The Blessed House was a pretty strange story in my opinion. I was pretty unsatisfied when I was finished reading it particularly because I felt like there was no real ending to the story. We were never told if they ever worked the problem out, if he just sucked it up and dealt with Twinkle or if he was so mad that he decided he couldn’t take anymore and decided to leave her. So in my opinion I was unsatisfied with the ending. However that does not mean it wasn’t a good story. I found it very interesting that these two characters that seemed so different could actually get along for a period of time without killing each other. Honestly if I was Sanjeev I would have a hard time not putting a bullet in my brain or better yet hers. Now actually that’s a little bit of a dramatic way to say I could not stand living with Twinkle. To me it is as if she has no regard for Sanjeev or any of his beliefs or thoughts of personal space. Now I can’t completely hate on Twinkle because she did compromise with some things such as the large painting of Jesus and the statue of the virgin Mary, but all in all it seemed like she just walked all over Sanjeev. And to a point I feel bad for Sanjeev because he is working so hard to get the house clean for this big housewarming party and she decides to lay in bed and read a book, and then when the party comes she is a social butterfly and having all the fun as Sanjeev does all the party busy work such as getting more food and such. So all in all this was an interesting story because I could feel for Sanjeev because he didn’t really do anything and it seemed to me like he got the short end of the stick.