Off the Road

One week till the paper is due and it looks like I'm in good shape. I've just finished the first draft of my general introduction, which I am sure will need some additions, but will have a few days to fix. I'm glad I didn't wait till the last minute as I'm sure I would have struggled and had many sleepless nights. The end is near.

On the Road (to success)

I'm not feeling too bad about this project, besides the fact that I have no free time in my life anymore. I finished the first draft of my annotations, which I struggled a little bit with, but it's starting to go downhill from here. I just have to do my intro to the annotations and my general introduction and I'll be set.

On the Road

The ending of “On the Road” was not quite what I expected. The last few chapters are the most interesting as Sal goes on a wild adventure to Mexico. For the reader it seems like Sal is more at peace with himself as he finds such great happiness and is one with the road. The last chapter though contradicts his main goal of breaking out from the typical American life. "So in America when the sun goes down and I sit on the old broken-down river pier watching the long, long skies over New Jersey and sense all that raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the West Coast, and all that road going, and all the people dreaming in the immensity of it, and in Iowa I know by now the children must be crying in the land where they let the children cry, and tonight the stars'll be out, and don't you know that God is Pooh Bear? the evening star must be drooping and shedding her sparkler dims on the prairie, which is just before the coming of complete night that blesses the earth, darkens all the rivers, cups the peaks and folds the final shore in, and nobody, nobody knows what's going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old, I think of Dean Moriarty, I even think of Old Dean Moriarty the father we never found, I think of Dean Moriarty" (307).  This last paragraph left me pretty confused. Sal ends up submitting to a life he was trying to escape. While I thought “On the Road” was more of a promotion of rebellion and going against the social norms, Kerouac tells us to do quite the opposite. I am not sure what I am going to focus on for my research project. I can focus of the nature of Dean Moriarty, or the friendship between Sal and Dean, or the reason for Sal’s journey, or the true message Kerouac is trying to portray.

Research and Writing

Jessie, Adam, and I recently went to the OU library to find some books and articles for our projects. While Kreinbring described the library as a wonderful place where information was just waiting to be picked up, we did not find it that easy. It was frustrating not having an OU card as we could not check out any of the books we needed and so we had to get guess passes, talking to the librarian for an extended amount of time. We then tried to copy our books and we learned you had to go to a machine where you pay to get a card. The machine then stole all my money and said it wasn’t working and we were told we had to go across campus to get our card fixed. When we were about to give up, Sal Munaco actually recognized us and was kind enough to help us out. He helped us scan our books and do other technologically advanced work that we would have never been able to figure out on our own. The trip was overall not a good one as we spent the majority of our day confused in a not technologically friendly library. I did end up finding two books on “On the Road” and a few articles that will hopefully be useful.

On the Road Reading

I am about half way through “On the Road” now. There are five different parts and I am half way done with part two. This novel is pretty interesting to read as the main character, Sal, is almost constantly traveling to different places and never really having concrete plans of what he is going to do next. It has become a little bit hard to follow as there are constantly new people and places. Kerouac’s writing almost has a kind of somber tone. While there are many instances of him on the road where he is happy, free of responsibilities and meeting great people, he always ends up in terrible situations, staving with no money walking by himself. The novel definitely explores the idea of personal freedom as he follows no one else’s rules but his own. In between scenes of him simply walking on the road or sitting with his friends, Kerouac always seems to write in tiny unexpected life lessons or small empowering statements as Sal climbs back up from the low points in his life. It is a very intimate look at Sal’s personal journey of self discovery.

On the Road Reading

The beginning of “On the Road” has kept my attention so far. The preface to the actual writing actually talks a lot about the author and how he started the “beat” generation. While I don’t know a lot about this, as I have not yet read the book or done any research, I think it might be important to writing my paper. Kerouac  was literally on the road himself and it says that he spent his time traveling for seven years but it only took him three weeks to write. Kerouac seems to be quite the interesting guy as he has traveled across the country, experimented with a lot of drugs, and been married multiple times. It writes that “On the Road” explores the idea of personal freedom and the American dream so I am going to play close attention to that being a theme.

On The Road

I have officially chosen "On The Road". It reminds me a lot of "Cermony" having a similar structure. My sister is also deciding to read it again with me so I have someone to converse with as I go through. I am thinking it will be a good choice and I can also watch the movie.

On the Road

The book I've chosen to read is "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac. I talked to my sister and she gave me a lot of suggestions of books she enjoyed including "Fight Club" "Brave New World" and "Breakfast of Champions". I really wanted to read "Fight Club" as it is one of my favorite movies but it does not have enough criticism. After talking to Kreinbring, I decided on "On the Road" because I am told I have a more poetry essence about me. I am excited to start reading the book and watch the movie after.

Backpack. Full of books and other materials necessary to complete my education and preform well in school. 20 pounds.

Paintbrushes. Bringing the tools for the subject that takes up the most of my time, art. 25 pounds.

Memories. The moments I don’t want to forget and the lessons I need to bring with me. 30 pounds.

iPhone. I have become too dependent on my phone as it tracks my appointments, stores my music, and is a major connection to the people around me. 20 pounds. 

The pressure of time. Time has gotten more precious as I grow older and the clock is always ticking in my mind. 50 pounds.

Future. Preparing for college and making sure I am on my desired path. 100 pounds.

Success. Being able to reach my goals minimizing failures. 30 pounds.

Avatar

Avatar is a recent version of an anti-war war movie. While it is fiction and computer animated, Avatar still highlights the dark side of war.  The local tribe is forced to go to war when their land is being used to find valuable minerals. While the tribe is adamant on peace and spirituality, they go into a war that not only kills many people but hurts their environment. Special effects do make fighting scenes entertaining but also showcase the damage and destruction of fighting. This movie is able to show the bad side of war in a situation that can be applied to life today.

Let Evening Come

Let the light of late afternoon shine through chinks in the barn, moving up the bales as the sun moves down. Let the cricket take up chafing as a woman takes up her needles and her yarn. Let evening come. Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned in long grass. Let the stars appear and the moon disclose her silver horn. Let the fox go back to its sandy den. Let the wind die down. Let the shed go black inside. Let evening come. To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop in the oats, to air in the lung let evening come. Let it come, as it will, and don't be afraid. God does not leave us comfortless, so let evening come.

Jane Kenyon

Core Belief

After being given more time to think about my morals, I decided to change my answer. Having to choose only one core belief and piggybacking off of Peter, I found that my motto is not to stress the small stuff. In today’s world, it seems people tend to stress out about insignificant events that will not alter their lives dramatically. Especially in high school, I see students upset, mad, frustrated, or distraught about events they won’t even remember in a year. While some stress is good, too much can become unhealthy. Being over dramatic and freaking out about a situation will not make the outcome any better. It is better to make the best of what you have been given and move on. This moral belief is clearly focused on thinking. My thought is why make yourself upset when in the long term it wont even matter? My motto is also based off feeling as well because I do not enjoy creating feelings that make me unhappy. There will almost always be stress in my life but I have made a point not to worry about situations that are not worth my time.

movie party with Sarah,Geoff,gin,colleen,Erin,and petting….and my puppy.

Picture Day

                 They say a picture is worth a thousand words but those words are incapable of telling a whole story. A simple picture is unable to explain the people and events of the surrounding time. When looking at my photo above, it seems like a typical family portrait of two parents and their three daughters. This photo does not show our relationship, how close we are to one another and what we have gone through together. Once a camera is taken out everyone assumes their places and plasters a smile on their face. True identities are hidden behind rows of pearly white teeth and unnatural positioning. While pictures are good for capturing a moment, they are unable to reveal the whole story.

The lunch table “tribes” is often a stereotype that permeates teen movies. Often we see in popular culture how different cliques sit in certain spots in the cafeteria. This clip from Mean Girls shows how a lunchroom can be seen by high school students. Whether it’s the nerds, burnouts, or popular girls, everyone seems to have a specific spot. While I would usually criticize the teen stereotypes portrayed in movies, I do see some underlying truth. Most students at lunch will sit with those who have similar interests as themselves. No one wants to be the one who has no where to sit. Mean Girls does take this stereotype to the extreme, though, Avondale does not have quite that much of a certain distinction. Cafeteria sectioning is one stereotype that is almost always present in teen movies.

Rebel Without a Cause

With its exaggerated characters and unrealistic events, “Rebel Without a Cause” does not accurately portray teens. Adults seem to automatically stereotype teens as being rebellious and out of control with little reason when in reality that is not always the case. Most likely I feel this movie is inaccurate because of the major time period difference. I know that no teen today would almost drive their car off a cliff because someone called them a chicken. I almost feel as if this movie is making fun of the everyday teenager. This movie follows the typical plot of any stereotypical teen movie. I have not once seen at Avondale any of the events that happened in “Rebel Without a Cause”. Depending on which teen groups you look at, there are many who are not carelessly rebellious. There are examples of teens that have a tendency to rebel with no purpose but this does not apply to everyone attending high school. There is an underlying truth to this movie that everyone wants to be accepted at this age but it is taken to a serious extreme. The characters become unbelievable as they hysterically cry and overreact to small events. I can tell this was written from an adult perspective since I feel it is inaccurate and does not fully relate to the teen audience. Overall, “Rebel Without a Cause” is just another stereotypical teen movie that is unable to portray the lives of high school teens accurately.

I can really relate to your story being that we are both the youngest of three sisters. While my sisters and I are not quite as close in age as you and Rachel, I do feel pressure to live up to the accomplishments they’ve had in the past. My life as a teenager is often being compared to Lauren and Jackie’s teenage years. It looks like we both came to the realization that we don’t have to play a role in our sister’s shadows. I now make my own decisions and take my own path in life as I know you are also doing. P.s. I like you better then Rachel:)

My sister. Pretty. Nice. Funny. Smart. Artistic.

Everything about her was perfect.

Why couldn’t I be more like her? Why do they like her so much better? What made her so “amazing”? I asked myself all of these questions.

My freshmen year, I stood in the shadow of my sister....