Jennifer H.'s English 202-400 WEBFOLIO

WELCOME!

2005-08-10T15:48:00.000-05:00

WELCOME to my English 202-400 Webfolio! I invite you to take a look at the information and artifacts I have chosen to display. You will find links to these under the title "Previous Posts" to the right of this message. You can also find a link to my Introductory Reflective Hypertext Essay to right under "Previous Posts". Links to other important (and required) sites can be found under "Links". Enjoy!

Introductory Reflective Hypertext Essay

2005-08-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

Dear Classmates,

At the beginning of this journey through my first run at an online class we began learning about the Fiction form of literature. I learned the many uses of tone in fiction stories, especially from the sarcastic tone used by Byron in Allison Baker’s Better Be Ready ‘Bout Half Past Eight. This dialogue for example shows the sarcastic tone used by Byron:

“A shower?” Byron said.
“Isn’t it a kick?” Emily said. “Gifts like garter belts and strawberry
douches.”
“That’s sick,” he said.
“Oh come on, honey. His men friends are invited too… It’ll be fun.”
“Why don’t we just play red rover?” Byron said. “All the girls can stand on
one side and yell, ‘Let Zach come on over.’” (307, lines 159-63).

Byron’s tone throughout this short story showed how he was trying to hide his discomforts through the use of sarcasm in conversations with Zach/Zoe, his wife, and others. This piece was a great start to this summer session, and therefore I chose it as my second artifact for the Webfolio. In addition, I really enjoyed Lorrie Moore’s How to Become a Writer. This story-telling piece taught me much about the idea of theme, because this story that is told revolves around one theme—becoming a writer. Moore describes all the things, even the minute things, one really must do to become a writer despite all the stereotypical ideas of just getting a degree and simply writing. According to Moore, it’s not that simple. One part of the story describes the sacrifice needed to give the necessary attention to one’s writing: “Your child psychology advisor tells you you are neglecting courses in your major. What you spend the most time on should be what you’re majoring in. Say yes, you understand,” (552).

From Fiction we moved to Drama. While reading the assigned dramatic pieces I learned to pay attention and think about every word that a character speaks. There are so many meanings behind everything when you read it three-dimensionally. I really enjoyed digging deep into the meanings of the objects and words in Glaspell’s Trifles. I enjoyed it so much that I chose to write about this element of the drama in my first letter of Drama Forum One (Artifact 1) and in my Critical Analysis (Artifact 5). While reading Trifles I also learned to read a play better, as if I were watching it unfold in my head. This was especially true at the end of the play when I read the character action descriptions, which say

Suddenly Mrs. Peters throws back quilt pieces and tries to put the box in
the bag she is wearing. It is too big. She opens box, starts to take bird
out, cannot touch it, goes to pieces, stands there helpless… (1257).

I also learned a lot about Samuel Beckett’s hard-to-read Krapp’s Last Tape by exploring the meanings of different objects used in the monologue. I discuss this exploration in my third Artifact.

My second favorite piece in the Drama portion of our course was Rodeo by Jane Martin. This piece taught me the importance of each character’s language. If Big Eight’s language would have been different than “Them people is so screwed-up they probably eat what they run over in the road,” the story would not have been the same (1667). I connected with and learned a lot from this piece and that is why I chose it as my fourth artifact.

I have always enjoyed reading poetry, although I find it fairly difficult, and this time was no exception. My favorite poem was Syliva Plath’s Mirror, which taught me how to personify truly inanimate objects in a way that connects them with the deep and hidden thoughts of those who use them. For example the mirror in this poem describes itself by saying, “I am not cruel, only truthful…I have looked at it so long I think it is a part of my heart,” (828). I also learned that poems can be used as dramatic monologues when I read Katharyn Howd Machan’s Hazel Tells Laverne. I can just picture a character on stage performing a monologue and saying, “…an I hitsm with my mop an has ta flush the toilet down three times me a princess,” (764).

The feedback I received from the Discussion Board Posts of my peers was very helpful throughout this course. It was interesting and mind-opening to see how classmates viewed the exact same pieces of literature so differently. As Meredith P. explained in her Fiction Forum 2 Letter 2, “While I thought that Byron was confused and scared, you viewed him as sarcastic.” I also learned from Erica E. that even the aged work of Frankenstein applies to events in today’s society. For example, she says, “I would just like to make a connection between what Victor Frankenstein did to create the monster and what brilliant scientist and people in the medical fields can do with the stem cell research and cadaver parts.” These two peer discussion board posts are also my sixth and seventh Artifacts.

Sincerely,

Jennifer H. ENGL 202

Curriculum & Career Plans

2005-08-08T15:58:00.000-05:00

I am a senior Communication Studies major with a media emphasis and will graduate in May of 2006. I had originally planned to enter the television broadcasting business, but after completing an internship with a contemporary church in the summer of 2004, I felt called by God to enter the ministry. In August of the same year, I began working part time with the children’s ministry of New Spring Community Church in Anderson, South Carolina, where I had completed the internship. I have been working with preschoolers, infants, and toddlers for the last year and I absolutely love it! This is what I am called to do—work for God in the Church. When I have children I plan, as of right now, to be a stay-at-home mom until all my children are in elementary school. I believe that is a great gift to your children and I hope that I have the opportunity to do so. I plan on staying at New Spring after I graduate from Clemson, and I am elated!

ARTIFACT 1: Drama Forum 1 Letter 1

2005-08-06T20:11:00.000-05:00

Dear Classmates,

While reading Glaspell’s Trifles I found an interesting parallel between the broken jars of fruit and the situation which could have possibly led Mrs. Wright to commit the crime she was accused of committing. There is an important meaning behind these shortly mentioned broken jars.

The drama explains through the conversation of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters that the jars of fruit preserved from Mrs. Wright’s hard work in the summer broke because of the cold temperature leaving a sticky mess on the counter. All the jars were broken except one. So what does this have to do with the accusations against Mrs. Wright? Let me explain.

Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters talked about how the house, and the people in it, composed a quite unfriendly atmosphere, which seems to be what kept Mrs. Hale from visiting over the last year. The cold and unfriendly atmosphere is represented by the cold temperatures that caused the fruit jars to break. Mr. Wright is the cold air causing the jars, which represent Mrs. Wright, break time after time when he would upset her for instance when he possibly killed her bird or told her he didn’t like her singing. Each time he would do something against her, she would burst like those jars. But one jar was left, and in my opinion it represents Mrs. Wright’s last chance to stand and she did not break, but instead she broke him—literally.

This idea is relevant to the 21st century because we hear very often of men abusing their wives physically, and emotionally suffocating them. It could also be paralleled to the pressures women feel in the male-dominated business world.

What does the cold air represent in today’s society that is breaking women?

Sincerely,
Jennifer H. ENGL 202

ARTIFACT 2: Fiction Forum 2 Letter 1

2005-08-05T20:13:00.000-05:00

Good evening,

Alison Baker’s Better Be Ready ‘Bout Half Past Eight is a short story about a slightly under middle-aged respected scientist named Byron whose best friend, colleague, and godfather of his baby son has just decided that he is actually a woman. Byron’s friend/fellow scientist, named Zach (at the beginning of the story before he changes his name to Zoe) seeks Byron’s support as he undergoes physical changes to become “who I’ve been all along,” Zoe says about herself (313, line 304).

Byron’s tone as he narrated the story made very clear his thoughts, confusion, and emotions he was experiencing as this new experience occurred with a man he thought he had deeply and personally known for the last twenty years. Byron portrays a sarcastic tone when Zoe says, “I really am thinking of law school… I need to change my life,” and Byron responds by saying, “Changing your sex isn’t enough?” (313, lines 302-3). By the clear display of Byron’s tone, I had an easier time understanding what he was feeling and/or thinking just by reading the words he was saying.

Byron’s sarcasm and lack of understanding of Zach’s decision to become a woman is also shown through his tone during many of his conversations with his wife, Emily. Take this dialogue for example:
“A shower?” Byron said.
“Isn’t it a kick?” Emily said. “Gifts like garter belts and strawberry
douches.”
“That’s sick,” he said.
“Oh come on, honey. His men friends are invited too… It’ll be fun.”
“Why don’t we just play red rover?” Byron said. “All the girls can stand on
one side and yell, ‘Let Zach come on over.’”
“You act as if you’ve lost your best friend,” Emily said.
“I am losing him. I’ve known him for twenty years and suddenly I find out
he’s the opposite of what I thought he was,” (307, lines 159-66).

My question for the class is how do we know we are not giving what we read a specific tone that may not be what the writer was trying to portray?

Sincerely,

Jennifer H. ENGL 202

ARTIFACT 3: Drama Forum 2 Letter 2

2005-08-04T20:15:00.000-05:00

Dear Ashley,

I agree that some might sympathize with Krapp, but it is very obvious that he has allowed his life to become a reflection of his name—Krapp.

As I began reading the play I wondered the same thing about the bananas. What is their significance and/or what do they represent? I think that they could represent many things that occur or that we learn about Krapp throughout the story. The following is one idea for their meaning.

First of all he takes the time, which seems like a lot of time when reading the description, to search almost blindly through the drawers to find the first banana. To me this represents his blind search through life for happiness, satisfaction, and success. Once he finds what he’s looking for, the banana, he seems to prize it when the description says, “He turns, advances to edge of stage, halts, strokes banana, peels it, drops skin at his feet, puts banana in his mouth and remains motionless…” (1658). He finds what he’s looking for, prizes it, peels away its covering (which he drops on the floor), and then uses it (eats it). But while he’s using/eating it his mind seems to be somewhere else so much that he slips and nearly falls on what he once prized—the banana’s peel, which he uncaringly dropped on the floor. To me this shows that all he wants is the good stuff, the meat of the banana, but he neglects its entirety (the banana and its peel) to get what he wants and then what he didn’t want or tossed to the floor eventually comes back to “haunt” him.

This is just one of many parallels that could be made about the significance of the banana in Krapp’s life. That was a good question!

Sincerely,

Jennifer H ENGL 202

ARTIFACT 4: Drama Forum 2 Letter 1

2005-08-03T20:17:00.000-05:00

Dear Classmates,

Rodeo by Jane Martin was a very interesting and comical piece about a girl who had been riding bulls since she was a child, lived within the culture of farms and rodeos—once a way of life and entertainment, not money-making events, and experienced first-hand the changes that occur when people with money get a hold of the rituals of those without it.

There was one line in particular that really caught my attention: “Them people is so screwed-up they probably eat what they run over in the road,” (1667). When people today think of a stereotypical farm-living, bull-riding, redneck, they tend to think that those would be the kind of people that would eat road-kill. But I found it interesting that Big Eight said that people like the banker who wants to make money off of what her and her family and friends do for pleasure—participating in rodeos—are the ones who would probably eat road-kill. This is just a small line that really caught my attention.

I believe this is a fictional situation modeled after some very non-fictional circumstances. I grew up right down the street from a very large farm—the largest in the county (Cobb County—located just outside of Atlanta, Ga.). The year after I graduated high school, the county annexed the property that Dr. Hill, the owner, had willed to Berry College (a Christian school in North Georgia) in order to build a brand new middle school/high school campus that was really not needed in that particular area. They ignored the fact that this farms is what Dr. Hill and his family had spent their whole lives tending to and using for other educational purposes, but because they had the power and the money, they took away the man’s entire culture—everything he had. I think this example is a more extreme case that I experienced of what happened to Big Eight’s rodeo life.

What other stereotypes does Big Eight make about the banker in Jane Martin’s Rodeo?

Sincerely,

Jennifer H. ENGL 202

ARTIFACT 5: Critical Analysis

2005-08-02T22:57:00.000-05:00

Jennifer Hancock
D. Reiss
ENGL 202-400
7 August, 2005

The Knots in Glaspell’s Trifles

Many lines in Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, Trifles, carry below-the-surface meanings beneath what is actually being said. The following lines are no exception:

Mrs. Peters: She was piecing a quilt. (She brings the large sewing basket
and they look at the bright pieces.)
Mrs. Hale: It’s a log cabin pattern. Pretty, isn’t it? I wonder if she was
goin’ to quilt it or just knot it? (Footsteps have been heard coming down
the stairs. The Sheriff enters followed by Hale and the County Attorney.)
Sheriff: They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it! (The men
laugh, the women look abashed.) (Glaspell 1253)
And the play continues later with:
County Attorney (facetiously): Well, Henry, at least we found out that she
was not going to quilt it. She was going to—what is it you call it, ladies?
Mrs. Hale (her hand against her pocket): We call it—knot it, Mr. Henderson.
(Glaspell 1257)

These lines about quilting and knotting, like many lines in this particular play, have an almost hidden meaning—hidden to the male characters at least. There are many uses and metaphors of quilting and knotting spoken in the dialogue between Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, and made light of by the Sheriff and the County Attorney.

Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale were curious about Minnie Wright’s plan to either quilt or knot the log cabin pattern they found in the sewing basket beside her rocking chair. Quilter’s Online Resource and Sew-whats –new.com describe knotting (also known as tying) as an alternative for quilting that is easier than actually quilting (“Tying Your Quilt”; “Tying a Quit”). Sew-whats-new.com says “when quilters choose to tie their quilts, it is usually because they need the quilt finished quickly or it’s going to be well used,” (“Tying Your Quilt”). This explains why Mrs. Wright would be knotting—because of the cold temperatures and harsh farm life described by the characters in the play this quilt was needed quickly to keep warm and it would last longer on the farm than a regular sewn quilt. But there is deeper meaning behind the knotting on which Mrs. Wright was working.

Much more was being tied together in the Wright house than is evident at first glance. First of all this knotting could represent the knot tied in the rope that was used to strangle Mr. Wright—the murder of which Mrs. Wright was being accused. Phyllis Mael from Pasadena City College saw the act of quilting as a connection to the murder that Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale were casually solving (281). Mael said, “Through their attentiveness to the ‘trifles’ in her life, the kitchen things considered insignificant by the men, the two women piece together, like patches in a quilt, the events which may have led to the murder,” (281).

The topic of knotting, which was a laughing matter to the men in the play, came up again between all the characters in the final lines of the drama. This too had meaning according to Suzy Clarkson Holstein’s article in The Midwest Quarterly (290). Holstein describes the play’s final line as “replete with several puns” and says:
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters intentionally ‘knot’ their knowledge and do ‘not’
share it. Their silence has become a mark of their solidarity, a refusal
to endanger a sister. For the men in the play, their secret remains an
undiscovered trifle. (290)

Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale have a deep understanding as to why Mrs. Wright would have killed her husband, because, as we can see, they experience the same authoritative, you’re-stupid-because-your-a-woman attitude from men as Mrs. Wright did from her husband. That is why the two curious tag-along wives do not share what they have uncovered with their husbands or the County Attorney—these women protect each other like a knot protects a quilt from unraveling. Much like the knots Mrs. Wright was preparing to tie on her quilt, the actions and thoughts of Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale were much the same—their pride and the pride of Mrs. Wright were more durable this way.

There are many hidden meanings found in Glaspell’s one-act play, Trifles. And the question Mrs. Peters raises about whether Mrs. Wright was knotting or quilting the log cabin pattern found next to the widow’s rocking chair is just one example. The fact that she was knotting could represent many things including the knot used to strangle Mr. Wright, the way Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale stuck together regarding the evidence they pieced like quilt patches to probably solve the murder, and the way the women did “not” tell the men what they had found. The knotting may also represent the way Mrs. Wright had “not” received the love she longed for as well as the durability of knotted quilts to undergo harsh conditions within a cold house—a physically and emotionally cold house for Mrs. Wright.

Works Cited

Holstein, Suzy C. “Silent Justice in a Different Key: Glaspell’s ‘Trifles’.”
Midwest Quarterly: A Journal of Contemporary Thought 44 (Spring 2003):
282-290. EBSCOhost. Clemson University Libraries Research Tools, Clemson,
SC. 26 July 2005. .

Mael, Phyllis. “Trifles: The Path to Sisterhood.” Literature Film Quarterly 17
(1989): 281-284. EBSCOhost. Clemson University Libraries Research Tools,
Clemson,SC. 26 July 2005. .

“Tying A Quilt.” Quilters Online Resource (1997). 1 August 2005 com/~mgdesign/qor/begin/tying.htm>.

“Tying Your Quilt.” Sew-What’s-New (2002). 1 August 2005 new.com/tying.shtml>.

ARTIFACT 6: Discussion Board Post by Erica E.

2005-08-01T20:42:00.000-05:00

Dear Jennifer,

Before I answer your specific question I would like to talk about your ethical issue that you discussed in paragraph three. Though I am not personally oppose to stem cell research, I have heard a great deal about how unethical it is and how it¿s a lot like abortion to some people. I would just like to make a connection between what Victor Frankenstein did to create the monster and what brilliant scientist and people in the medical fields can do with the stem cell research and cadaver parts. My mother has had 3 reconstructive surgeries on her ankle during the course of her life time. The last time she had this done they gave her a cadaver ankle bone. The science behind it is incredible. My thought is why the people of Victor Frankenstein¿s day did not recognize the brilliance of what he did, when he created the monster. I think that it was simply due to outwardly appearances. Which leads me into your question ¿if the monster Victor created would have been some sort of ¿superhero¿ that did good?¿ If I were to speak without thinking about it I would probably say that if the monster were a ¿superhero¿ type of character then people would accept him for his good deeds and not look at him as a monster. However I think people are to centered around beauty to actually look for good in a monster. He may be more tolerated after people realize that he is doing good things, but I don¿t think that he would ever be truly accepted by human beings for what he was on the inside.

Sincerely,
Erica Elkins
English 202

ARTIFACT 7: Discussion Board Post by Meredith P.

2005-08-01T20:30:00.000-05:00

Dear Jennifer,

I completely agree with your question and have asked it myself many times. Long ago I read Harry Potter, book number five. I absolutly hated it. I thought Harry's tone in the whole book was agressive and mean. Recently I started listening to the same book on CD and realized that I, the reader, gave Harry all the "mean" characteristics. Hearing the voice on the CD, sounded nothing like the voice that I heard when I read it.

I think one of the main things authors have to accept is that their stories are not always read the same way. While I thought that Byron was confused and scared, you viewed him as sarcastic. That is why authors usually have to be careful with what they write and how they write it. Some areas of literature are meant to be read retrospectively. It seems to me that Baker wanted the confusion of the tone. This story, and many poems are meant for the readers to develop their own perspective. I believe that Baker wanted the reader to unravel their own feelings and emotions in the character of Byron. If we were put in his situation how would we react? I gave Byron the tone of sadness, confusion, and in the end acceptance... because that is how I would have reacted.

Sincerely,
Meredith Pate