REflECt

I noticed that there was some changed between my writings at the beginning of the quarter to now. I started off somewhat understanding the poems I read at home but then once we moved onto short stories I started analyzing them more accurately at least to what I think is considered accurate. I think I am better at reading stories than I am at poems because stories are easier to dissect because there is more material. I tried to think of the audience as a person who was sitting beside me reading what I just posted. I mainly used a very casual tone while typing. I really wanted to go for a personal tone to appear to the readers more of whom I am and kind of get a sense of how I will respond to prompts. I started talking about what my day was like or how my overall mood was during that day to give them a sense of what I’m coming from in analyzing. My comments to others were not what I would consider class A comments. I agreed with their overall message but most of the time I put a little funny bit into my comment and didn’t give it a very serious tone. Honestly I came into this class not thinking I had a very good knowledge of English because I was a science major in an integrated language arts class. So I was kind of nervous to critique anyone’s essay so the first few classes I just sat at the computer and read every blog till it was time to go to the classroom. So I don’t know exactly how beneficial I was to others education. On the other hand I really appreciated all the responses I got for my blog. I especially liked the one that discussed Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. I tried to take the comments I received and adapt my writing or thought process to try and incorporate them into my blogs and my work throughout the quarter in my other classes that require me to write. I think my blogs were pretty well done for my standards. I tried to mix up my writing styles every now and then and put a little extra in from time to time. Sometimes I rushed the blog assignment other than when I wrote about an interesting story. The poetry aspect was definitely my weak point. I have trouble making a huge analysis over a single stanza poem. I like I’m slightly better at analyzing poems after taking this class and I think my blogs represent that statement. I feel like the blog was actually a good idea all things considered. They were easy assignments and I only recall missing one or two of the postings. I felt like I could write more openly despite the fact it was on the Internet. I felt like the only people reading it would really understand what I was trying to communicate my thoughts to the computer screen. The different prompts we wrote about helped to get a grasp on how to effectively analyze a story and even write a paper out of a few concepts. They gave importance to things such as the author’s diction and other writing strategies that vary form story to story. There was real goal to get in depth to the stories.

Fixed

Heath Urbaniak
English 250
Dr. Albert Rouzie

The story “The Fix” written by Percival Everett is not your average everyday run-of-the-mill story. For one the aspect of one man being able to fix so many things, including the fixing of mortality, does not quite seem possible to most people. The story is a clever mix between the real and surreal based around a character that can literally defy death. Some may read the story and think it is quite the tragic tale of some extraordinary man, but Aesop might find a moral to this fable. To me this story has underlying messages involving social aspects, moral codes, and biblical references.
The main characters in the story are Douglas Langley and Sherman Olney. Douglas is a kind hearted sandwich shop owner where Sherman is a quiet man who is quite handy at anything he does. In a way Douglas can be viewed as the Good Samaritan from the infamous story in the bible. The story tells about a man who was robbed and beaten on a road. While lying there he is passed by a number of respectable figures such as a priest. All the social elites passed the poor man by while a Samaritan, who in biblical times was viewed as a heathen, took care of the man. Douglas takes in a beaten Sherman and gives him food and shelter only asking for a few tasks to be done around his faulty sandwich shop. There are also other stories in the bible involving Samaritans. There is another story involving a Samaritan woman drawing water from a well. Christ is sitting near the well and asks for a drink of water and then for a bite to eat. The woman was astonished that a Jew would ask a gentile for any assistance. Nevertheless she gives the man food and drink and because of her act of kindness she is blessed with endless supplies of water and flour. Once again Doug portrays the Samaritan and Sherman would play the role of Jesus. In “The Fix” Doug profits greatly from Sherman, he gets business from the mending abilities of his new friend as well as having all his appliances running in tiptop shape. Lets take the Jesus role of Sherman a little further. The story of Christ resurrecting Lazarus is a story that can be easily recollected by anyone who attended Sunday school as a child or has a basic background of the bible. In the story Jesus arrives too late to heal his friend Lazarus of his ailments and while Jesus was on the way Lazarus dies. After being dead for days Christ brought his friend back to life. Sherman also defies death by reviving a dead woman. After the resurrection of the woman, Sherman a man of many miracles decides that he must end his life due to the mob crying, “fix us”. The end of the story leaves a gap and a question of whether or not Sherman actually goes through with his sky dive off the bridge, but you get the feeling he might have. He sacrificed himself for the greater good, leaving people to fix themselves.
Morality is quite a broad and touchy subject. What constitutes moral actions and what constitutes immoral actions? The definition of morality says that morals pertain to something that is good and ethical. While the definition gives you an idea it is not concrete. Good and ethical can mean different things depending on the interpreter so I will analyze what I think based on my own moral convictions and meanings of good and ethical. To start off I would describe Douglas as a good man. He is a hard working small business owner who cares about others. This is evident in the ways he helps out Sherman, a complete stranger. He helps out someone he doesn’t even know despite his wife’s accusations against his sanity. He shows the need to help out others in need and the act to respect Herman and his privacy. Sherman is another character I would define as moral. He is a kind person that doesn’t protest helping others in need. He has a great gift and is willing to use it when he is asked. He will fix anything for anyone as long as they ask him, however at the beginning of the story he is ruffled up by government agents due to his lack of cooperation. What did they want him to fix or at that make? We never find out what the government wanted Sherman for but one can assume it was for a task that would not coincide with his beliefs or right and wrong. Sherman never commits a wrongful act through the whole story; he is merely a man willing to help. Some might say he is selfish for ending his life but in reality there was no way to live a life filled with the demands of thousands.
The story also touches on the problems of society. Society as a whole is very centrally based. Everyone wants something that will make their life easier as soon as they can; a quick fix. Herman is their quick fix; their hero, the answer to all their problems, and they overwhelm him with their problems because they believe he has all the answers. In reality one man cannot save the whole world from themselves. If you take a look at popular movies you will see societies desire for a hero. The top grossing film of the past year was about a superhero. Superhero’s come from our desire for someone to be heroic and fix our problems. In Sherman’s case he literally fixed problems whereas a superhero fixes a cities crime situation by beating the bad guys to a pulp and disappearing into the night with the good-looking girl. Society desires a single hero to save them instead of looking inside them self to find the hero lying inside each of us. It is very easy to put your problems upon someone else and let him or her deal with it. Sherman did his best to help those who asked with their minute problems, but when word got out Sherman was a present day messiah things escalated quickly and the mob came after him. The situation at the end of the story calls attention to the mob mentality of society. Mob mentality is the decisive factor of a large group of people. There is evidence everyday in the news. A mob of people attacked another mob of people because they differed on religious beliefs. Protesters, religious activists, rioters, gangs, congressman, lobbyists, and even a group of friends can fall victim to mob mentality. The feelings of one can rapidly transfer throughout everyone in the group with little or even no persuasion. The news of Sherman’s miracle spread throughout the town and a mob was formed. The world cried, “fix us” so Sherman left the world. The truth is people are unable to handle power even if it is not their own. They saw what Sherman could do and instantly abused his powers. Society cannot handle a hero like Sherman.


I couldnt come up with a conclusion so some ideas would be helpful

Fatality

After reading over the essay topics i decided to go with the story "The Fix" i thought it was a really good story and i like the whole philosophical aspect of the story. i might touch on the biblical aspect with the Christ like sacrifice. i might also make connections between social problems, like the abuse of power. there is also potential for moral codes and conducts. these are just a few topics off the top of my head and i hope i can actually develop them a little further.

Not funny "haha "

It took me a little longer to read this essay, i had to manage my time around the 7:00 hour of scrubs as well as the Cavs game and i managed to watch a movie. I can't quite recall what it was, it was a good movie dont get me wrong im just a little spacy. So i just spent about a half hour finishing up reading and re-reading the essay and i have to say i enjoyed it. I was intially captivated by the references to monty python. my father and i both share a love for monty python films i even bought him a DVD copy of the meaning of life. we were the only ones in the living room that christmas morning because the rest of my family doesnt quite get why we get our chuckles from watching a fat man eat a little "paper thin wafer." so anyways away from me and back to the essay. i enjoyed the essay very much because it kind of made me reminisce about me and my father watching monty python sketches sort of like what i did earlier. the esasy analyzed comedians that made me think back to comedians i have seen on tv. demetri martin uses a big notebook pad sort of like Edward Aczel.and there are other comedians i know of that come on stage and dont have much stage presence but are terrifically funny. welp sorry im going to have to cut this short, id like to write more but ive got some matters to attain to

T.C Boyle uses a wide variety of metaphors throughout the short story Greasy Lake. In the story he uses a metaphor to describe the barrenness of the island in the middle of Greasy Lake. He said it looked as if the Air Force had strafed it. He uses another metaphor to refer to the headlights of another car saying that it blinked towards them. The author also refers to the bad character as a lusty Rockette in the way that he kicked the narrator in the face. There is also a metaphor to describe the narrators emotions by saying he had a "tinny compound of shock, rage, and impotence wadded" in his throat. "He was a big grimacing toothy balloon and I was a man with a straight pin" this metaphor was used to describe the situation of the narrator striking the man in the head with his tire iron. The author then uses another metaphor to describe the girl screaming after the boys "the screams of the Sabine woman, the Christian martyrs, Anne Frank dragged from the garret."

Whoop d do

Cold Hearted was about a chinese-american child growing up with his traditional chinsese family. He exlaimed that tv dinners were the greatest invention every because all he got to eat at his house was oriental cuisine that was "blackfoot food" the author tells the story of when the boy went with his father to go take an old refridgerator that his father spotted on the side of the road. The experience meant so much to the boy and he thought he was really bonding with his father during their escapades. Then once they got the fridge home his father really only cared about the fridge and the process of retreiving the cooling device was just another task his father had to do. The title of the story is cold hearted because his father loved a fridge instead of his son or so it seemed at the time. The son hoped that one day he could love something as much as his father loved that old frigidaire.

Interesting

There are a few small differences between the film and the acual play. For one the man never smokes, whats up with that ? Its okay to have a nice big cuban every now and then. A mans got his needs. Theres also a few more severe differences between the two. I noticed that in the film there are only 4 characters in the film wheras there are 5 in the story. Theres no lovely assistand to flip the letters on the giant board of wheel of fortune. What a shame not to see lovely Vanna White in the film. Theres also the entire vaugness of the play. None of the characters have any distinctive qualities. None have a set age or gender which takes away from the idea of the play itself. At first i didnt fully understand the meaning of the play but once i went through the slides it made perfect sense and I acually ended up truly enjoying this extremely short but meaningful play.