Reading Response #3

When reading both books, i found that in Lucy she lived in the darkness and the past. She couldn’t get past her past. She never could face the present , she always relates everything to her past. She constantly reminds us as readers to remember important ,fun  and even the bad things in life so that we can move forward. As a writer you have to elaborate and describe how you feel. Kincaid goes back and forth with her life back where she came from and then to the U.S. as i read “Mariah” Lucy and Mariah spent a lot of time together getting to know each other. Backgrounds,past,likes and dislikes, are things they shared among each other. Lucy hated talking about her likes and dislikes with others. Lucy tends to go back and forth about childhood and her mother a lot. This book relates to “Bird by Bird”.  “Finding your voice” is what Lamott stated that i can relate to. It means to think about something you have overcome or something deep that you can write freely. In “Lucy”  she talks about how her mother would be devastated if she found out she didn’t want to be anything like her. In the book “Bird by Bird” Lamott says for us to be our own person and have our own writing styles. Each book gives us writers different styles of writing and great ideas on styles of writing. Writing comes from the heart and emotions. Lucy also talks about letters to her mother, she goes back to her childhood constantly, while Lamott tells us to express our feelings because it can open doors for us when writing. Make the reader feel what you felt when experiencing what you felt when writing it.

Reading Response #6

As i read Rene Magritte’s Son of Man and the Struggle Between Good & Evil, it was the same as what we talked about in class. But as i read i felt where the writer was going and i liked the details described. But yet when you look at that picture you think the same thing but in a different mind set. Everyone notices that big green apple and the man in the suit but is often confused about what this photo means. What the painter wants you to do is think about color and focus on whats really in the picture in detail. The writer says “The apple serves as a way to demonstrate this man’s sin”. What the writer means is that in the beginning God created Adam and Eve and they were tempted to eat the forbidden fruit. Then as they bit the fruit they grew to know thatthey were naked. that was a great example from the reading. But also it was a dark and light side meaning he was confused about something. this painting made me really sit and think and eventually it came together and it was easier for me to break the picture down piece by piece.

Reading Journal #7

Chartent Thompson
Professor Harmon
English 1020
January 24, 2011
Reading Journal #7

When I read the essays and watched videos of Robert Frank my research question for him would be why would people be so mad at his work of art? This piece of art is very different but yet creative. He is a different person. His creations were phenomenal. But this research question also goes along with our criteria of study at the moment. We are examining art and the meanings behind them; the visuals, the creativity and all. We read books, articles, and even watch videos of his work. This is what provides us with sources. Robert Frank is effective in guiding someone in their research because it is a example of how our project is suppose to look. The professor supplied us with everything we needed to know and find out about Robert Frank. This paper can help me improve my paraphrasing and also my writing habits as well. This will prepare me for what I’m about to get ready for. And hopefully I do well. I just need to stay on topic and get all the information I need. In the article my main question was why would people be so mad at his work of art? My answer would simply be because the world saw everything as perfect when he non-brutally tried to make them see that its not.

Reading Journal #6

Chartent Thompson
January 19,2011
Professor Harmon
RJ#6

When i read all 4 articles i thought to myself why did this man take a picture of someones shit. Also when looking at the pictures my mind wondered around about what this artist was thinking when he did this. All the paintings are related because each artist had their own meaning behind the kind of art they did. They made us as readers see that anyone can have a special talent.When i read Art of Art i felt like i was in the artist mind. also when i was reading “Andres Serrano’s Shit” he made me realize that it doesn’t matter who doesn’t see what your purpose is behind your painting just as long as they can support what you create. When i saw the photo of David it was almost like i saw that sculpture somewhere before. Then it clicked in my mind i have seen this sculpture numerous amounts of time in my history books. This is a real famous painting. It fascinated me to know more about the painting though. “Starry Night”, this was a rather different picture. It was beautiful and it made my mind wonder about so much. The name of the painting matches. When you compare all these pictures,paintings, and sculptures together you find that all these artist kind of favored in some kind of way. From having their own creativity and their own meaning of art.

Reading Response #4

Chartent Thompson
1-16-11
Professor Harmon
Reading Response #4

I think the thesis of this essay was what does michaelangelo art really mean symbolicly and religously? The author does not correctly introduce sources in the beginning as well as he could have. The author fully develops his ideas and take us on a journey throughout the history of michealangelo’s paintings. He provides me with many examples and he goes into very specific details about the history of some of his paintings. He almost bored me with the load of imformation.The author was credible to me bacause he gave me visuals and most importantly he stayed on topic. As an beginner writer i would have more visuals for the reader to read also support my topics more with appealing information. His paper kind of bored me but i know i had to keep reading. But as an overall paper he did well.

Reading Journal #5

Chartent Thompson
January 13,2011
Professor Harmon
Reading Journal #5

In Bird by Bird, Lamott talks about writer’s block , how every writer goes through it and in writing everything just doesn’t flow right out it’s a long and annoying process. In Lucy, Lucy talks about how her family, past, and Mariah’s family were her whole life and how she wanted to branch out and be her own person. I feel like writer’s block and Lucy’s wanting to be her own person relate because they were holding her back on achieving her dream and writer’s block blocks writer’s thoughts from being put on paper. In the last chapter of Bird of Bird, Lamott tells her students that she wants them to write about their childhood, things that interest them in life, etc. In the last chapter Lucy talks about how she is beginning to find herself, and she talks about her favorite things to do like read books and take pictures. In Bird by Bird, Lamott has a chapter devoted to pictures and how she took a picture she took of her lunch when she was younger, when she took the picture it just looked like her lunch in the picture but after it developed and she looked at it closely she saw other images that were in the picture that she never knew was there before which made it more interesting. Lucy liked taking pictures and a guy named Paul got her a job with a guy that took pictures for a living. Also Lucy talks about a book that Mariah gave her at the end of the chapter Lucy say’s, “ I wish I could love someone so much that I would die for it.” I think writes first develop their love for writing they fall in love with it so much they would die for it and couldn’t find or think of a better way to die.

Reading Journal #4

Chartent Thompson

12-19-10

Prof.Harmon

RJ#4

In Bird By Bird, Lamott talks about trying to be perfect in writing papers he states that it can block your writing process. This also relates to life, your parents may expect you to be perfect which will never happen, and you may want everything and yourself to be perfect but that also won’t happen. Lucy talks about her parents discussing where their sons were going to college and how they were going to become lawyers and doctors like any other perfect child. Also Lucy talks about her mother’s goddaughter named Maude, that she praises saying she is wonderful and how she is a good influence for all girls. Just because your parents have a future planned out for you or a relative of yours seems perfect in your presence doesn’t mean everything will work out or turn out perfect. Lamott talks about how your first draft should be shitty so the second and third rounds can be better. In Lucy she talks about how her life on the islands was bad and how she was ready to go to the states to see and do new things. Even though Lucy is negative about everything I think all her experiences and the things she does and learns while she is in the states can mold her into a better person and the second and third chapter of her life can be so much better than her life on the islands. In conclusion, in life no one should strive to be perfect because God created us not perfect but to give everything our all and try.

Reading Journal #3

When reading “Lucy” and “Bird by Bird” there are many comparisons that are made in each book that allow them to be similar. In Lucy she describes her paintings on her wall;as the people in her life. She also talks about the people in her life the most at this point.In “Bird by Bird”he tell the writers to think of images like a poloraoid camara. Lamott also wants the readers to understand how to put a story together and just write. The inner life motivates the experiences of a character and the key to the full creation in writing.Good things happen to bad characters and bad things happen to good characters. You have to think outside the box though. In the story the characters point of view is being untold. The plot, according to Anne, is deeply devoted in the character. Find out what the character is most passionate about is one way to develop plot. Give the character a challenge and run with it. In Lucy she runs with the picture on her wall and creates her own characters and gives them different challenges and plots within her life. She puts them where she thinks they go in her life. The action will lead the writer and chararcter. It will also abuse the reader. To make them think oh my is this reality or not. You have to let the mind wonder.

My Painting”Kingdom Coming”

Chartent Thompson
English 1020-7
Professor Harmon
Essay
December 13,2010
“Kingdom Coming”
This piece is located on the bottom of the art gallery. I think was placed here because of its dark meanings. Colored pencils was used to do this piece. The are light, bright colors. The artist made this picture seem as if they had a dark past but a bright beginning for others. When looking at the art they are smiling past pain but they are singing a song. The artist uses music notes ,a big nose and a big mouth. This art seems to me as if it was going back into slavery with a field behind them and they use music as the only thing they really knew. Back in the days of slavery, slaves use to go to church at night fall and just sing. They loved music and going to church. It brought everyone together after a long days work. Their songs meant something. It was codes, codes to escape and never return. Slaves had to be careful so they sung in different languages so slave master’s wouldn’t understand them. When the nights came many slaves would try to escape so quietly without being heard by the dogs watching for any movement at night. In order for slaves not to get caught they would throw pieces of bread crumbs at the dogs and keep on with their trail to freedom. They started calling little bread crumbs they feed to the dogs hush puppies. This piece really has a symbolic meaning to it. It is very realistic and it’s a story untold. You have to express yourself and the painting in such a way that only you can feel the pain that the artist was going through when they created this image. The texture of the painting was really smooth by looking at it. When I look at this painting it makes me feel that my ancestors were very smart and very creative. Overcoming is the mood of this painting. The artist mood was sad but willing to overcome. I think this because of the title of the painting and the history of the painting, it means a lot.

Reading Response #2

When reading this essay i found myself to get really emotional. When i looked at the title i thought of someone having a problem with food or certain foods they didn’t like. As I read this the beginning of this essay i thought this little girl is just crazy to think she was big at 104 pounds. people who I know would kill to be that weight. She was a little skeptical about herself the whole time i read this story. When looking at the details and words she put in her paper she showed a lot that i could see when reading. images popped up in my mind as if i was right there beside her. As the story goes on she learns that she has a problem and so does others as well.Caitlin tells us looking in the mirror hurt her. She really notices when her chef tells her she has been watching her for the past couple of days. When the teacher pours out how she thought Caitlin felt about herself Caitlin begins to cry and understand and wants to get help for herself and others. Caitlin then feels that she needs to tell her mother about her darkest secret that she feels she needs to know so that she can get her some help. when she finds out that her mother isn’t really mad and that she kind of knew she had a problem she felt a little relieved at the situation but still wanted help. I like the way that she wants to change and get help. She obviously proved she loves her body more than her appearance to others and what they think about her. She then proved she could eat a meal without having to make herself sick. she was dedicated to herself and the ones around her that helped her overcome her sickness.