My First Blog

 

I thought the reading assignments’ techniques and procedures were very informative and helpful for my personal future reading experience.  The critical review techniques that I read on pages 151- 152 made me appreciate the method of critiquing ones work and that it’s not just one persons opinion, there actually is a technique.

 

            I once wrote a critical e-mail to the editor of the Detroit Free press news paper. It was concerning an article written by Matt Helms and why he chose to buy a foreign vehicle instead of domestic. Needless to say it wasn’t a very good critique on my part and it didn’t make the opinion section of the paper, but as read the section on Email letters to the editor on page 151 I can see why my rant wasn’t included in the opinion section. Although I was disappointed with my opinion not making the paper, I think I’m going to send the editor more critiques using these new found techniques as a guide.

 

What is literature? I never thought to ponder the question being an Engineering Student and an auto worker for Daimler Chrysler or Cerberus Chrysler. I did think the answer to this question by the Kenneth Burke, Terry Eagleton, and Salman Rushdie were very moving and made me think of the power and effect in bringing words together to create creative thinking can have on society especially in Rushdie’s case. My favorite answer to the question What Is Literature was from Terry Eagleton on page (153)   “the assumption by which certain social groups exercise power over others” I thought it was a profound answer to the question.

 

As I said the reading assignment was very informative and an easy read. Although not part of the assignment the Analyzing an Ethnography essay called Things We Carry by L Franklin Jewell pg (147-150) was a very inspirational essay.
Franklin’s stories of his family life and acts of kindness were very comforting to me. I love his quote “I reflect on the way my life has been molded by my own memories and the enduring impressions of the people who left them. The impression of our past are like footprints in our mind, always present as we adapt to or rebel against each new event.” I believe this to be true, I guess now that I have children I see that the way I raise them is definitely a reflection of my past experiences.