Blog Reflection

I think the best comparison I can make between two blog posts would be between my post on "Girl" and my post on Zadie Smith's essay. While I will stand by what I wrote about "Girl," it is clear when comparing the two that at the earlier date, I was not fully reading into the text and into what everything meant in the story, I just took everything at face value. However, later in the quarter, my analysis of Smith's essay shows more care into what I was reading, naturally a result of looking at texts in a more analytical way.


Because the blog was public, I always tried my best not to look foolish in the ways that I wrote blog posts. While trying to maintain a professional and formal attitude in blogs, since it was for a class, I also tried to be easy to relate to, because the blogs were not meant just for a professor. For the most part, however, I did keep in mind that it was the professor who was grading me.


To be completely honest about my commenting, I was often a bit confused about what to say. It is pretty easy to just agree with someone, but I often found it hard to be completely helpful. However, I did do my best to offer different interpretations and opinions, and hopefully it helped someone to feel more confident about his or her writing.


In the same way, the comments of others did help me to feel more confident about my writing and analysis than anything else. There is nothing quite like the positive views of my peers on my writing, because at least I know that most people I will interact with can understand what I am trying to say.


When looking at all of my posts, I feel the best is probably the one I did for "Job History," because it reflects how I felt about that story the best. That story was among my favorites from the class, and I feel that it shows in my writing about it. On the other hand, I feel that my worst post was on the differences between the two versions of "Catastrophe." I put this post up very late, and for the most part I was rushing and did not explain the meanings in the play enough.



Overall, the blog posting for English 250 was very helpful, because it forced me to put into practice what the class demanded. By writing my own opinions and reading those of others, it helped to become and overall better analyzer, because after all, practice makes perfect. I feel that my largest improvement overall was my ability to look at metaphors and symbolism and be able to figure out what each means more than I was able to before the class.

Essay Topic

For my final paper I have decided to analyze "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," by Ursula K. Le Guin. As of right now, I plan on writing the essay about the use of the scapegoat in the story. The most interesting question the story raises is whether or not it would be worth living in a wonderful place if someone had to suffer for it, and whether or not you would walk away. In the same way, it may also be important to address what this story has to say about our society, because obviously there are a lot of people who suffer or live unhappy lives in order to support another person's dream. Clearly, some people are willing to pay whatever the cost is for happiness, but I want to explore whether or not that is right and what the story says about that.

Zadie Smith's Essay

In the essay "Dead Man Laughing," Zadie Smith likens her father to a comedian named Hancock. Zadie explains that Harvey, her father, is like Hancock in many ways, as Hancock was "quintessentially English, poorly educated, working-class war veteran with social and intellectual aspirations." This explanation of Hancock, as well as a few other lines in the essay, shed some light on who Harvey was and how we may perceive him. First and foremost, Harvey comes off as being somewhat of a tragic figure, as Smith explains him to be much like Hancock by being unable to "pull himself out of the hole he was born in." The fact that Harvey was such a fan of this character shows that he could in some way connect with him, that he understood and loved the endless hopefulness and imminent disappointment of Hancock's sitcom life.

Other moments in the essay point toward Harvey being a proud man, though he did not have great standing in social class. He sounds like he is very blue-collar and hard working, but he does not have much to show from all the work that he has done. Aside from successfully raising a family, which is very noteworthy, it seems like he probably never went very far or did too much. Because Harvey could probably see all these traits in himself, whether consciously or subconsciously, he fell in love with the character on television that mirrored him, that he could connect with.