Songggggg

I guess the song that I am choosing may not work for everybody, but for me it seems right. Where Corn Don't Grow by Travis Tritt is a pretty good song about how one young man who grew up on a farm thought that living in the city would be better and not have as many hard times. When he asks his dad, "Daddy, there's a lot that I don't know, but don't you ever dream about a life where corn don't grow?" His dad goes on to answer about how things may seem slow, but that "hard times are real." He explains to him, and the son later finds out, that there are "dusty fields" and "weeds" "no matter where you go."

I don't live on a farm, but I think that this song can speak to pretty much anyone. There are a lot of times when I expect that a certain place or situation would be better for me, and I often find out that there are almost always problems or hard times that I need to deal with. Sometimes it's easier to look at where you are and think that something else would be better and easier. The truth is though...the grass isn't always greener on the other side. And I think that a lot of people these days are looking at the other side (whatever that side is..in pretty any situation) wishing they were there, when in reality it may not be as pretty as they hoped.

I write....with words...

Supplies needed: a pen, paper (notebook!! :) ), chair, table. (chair and table optional)

I guess for me, I don't really care where I'm writing. I like to be comfortable. A lot of pillows and a blanket are useful. Most of the time I just pick a spot and start writing. I don't really have a way that I do it...normally. I just write. For some reason, when I actually write out stuff on paper, it seems to be better than when I type it first. I would say that it's probably because I can think more, and I don't get rid of sentences and things as quickly that are actually decent. Sometimes I notice that the words just flow easily, and sometimes I have a hard time putting a sentence together. Usually I try to fix that by drinking some water or taking a quick nap.

I don't really know what else to say about how I write. A lot of times in papers, I don't worry about my introduction until the end when I'm doing my conclusion. That usually seems to help me by letting me worry about the body first, and then I can get a nice intro. I like to write most of the time, but when it's for homework...I don't think it's as fun. But! I'm sure I will enjoy writing in this class!!

Inaugural Speech Words....observations

It was interesting to see the words that have been used most commonly. There were a lot of similarities among the presidents for their inaugural words. I noticed that "government," "nation," "people," and "America" were words that showed up a lot. It makes sense because those are words that--I guess you could say--would be difficult to not use. I was kind of surprised that war didn't show up for more of the presidents, but I noticed that they tended to stay more on the positive side by using words like "peace" and "freedom." Most likely those are the words that the people would like to hear.

It's kind of cool to see how those types of words are connected to the presidents. Just by looking at the most used words that any of the presidents used, one might be able to make an observation on what was going on during the time period. Also, it's neat to see how there were certain things that were focused on as the years went by. George Washington obviously focused on uniting and coming together; where as, Barack Obama had words having to do with jobs and work.

Oh man...

Mary Wollstonecraft's essay was definitely a big one. The minute I started to read it, I realized it would be a long, confusing read. I wouldn't say that it was necesarily bad...it was just really long...longer than it needed to be. I thought she brought forth a lot of really good points to show how women are viewed and how there isn't equality and everything else she pointed out. Most the time I was confused. I could tell her points were good somehow...but I didn't really understand them.

Her vocabulary was really...interesting. There were a lot of words that I didn't understand. I guess you could say that's what really confused me a lot. I tried to look up most of the words, but there were just too many of them. Maybe during her time Wollstonecraft's language was understood, but for this time...I was just confused.

Even though I was confused most of the time, there were definitely some points, sentences, and arguments that really stuck out to me and interested me. A huge point she seemed to make was that women are expected to be a source of entertainment, amusement, and pleasure. "She was created to be the toy of man, his rattle, and it must jingle in his ears whenever, dismissing reason, he chooses to be amused." That sentence showed exactly what Mary was trying to point out. Another sentence, "Rousseau declares that woman should never, for a moment, feel herself independent, that she should be overned by fear to exercise her natural cunning, and made a coquetish slave in order to render her a more alluring object of desire, a sweeter companion to man, whenever he chooses to relax himself." I didn't like the idea that women can't be independent, or that women are basically there for an object of desire.

Wollstonecraft did a pretty good job of putting out examples and reasons to support her views. I think she was confusing. The essay could have been easier to understand and more to the point. I can't say I really enjoyed reading the 19 pages, but I am willing to say that it intrigued me enough.