Reflection on the Class

This class was my favorite class of the semester. I learned how to improve my writing abilities and had fun doing it. The subject matter was interesting, which actually made me want to do my work well. I liked that we were assigned to keep a blog because i never would have created a one if it weren't for this class. I wish that more grammar could have been incorporated into the class because i feel like this was something i struggled with in my papers. This class helped me finally figure out how to have a "so what" factor as well understand how to include a walking away point. This class was very beneficial to me and i'm sure it was to other students as well. I wish i could take it again!

UW Symposium

I really enjoyed myself at the University Writing and Research symposium. I think our class chose a great way to display our work. It kept visitors entertained and allowed them to ask thoughtful questions. I liked how we were able to interact one on one with the visitors, it made much easier to discuss our topics in depth. I also liked being able to walk around and view my fellow classmates presentations It was nice to see how their ideas had progressed. Some of the other symposium presentations were not as interactive which made them slightly boring. In the presentation i attended, two of the students had more of a discussion about their papers and the third student just read her paper verbatim. This was not as entertaining and would have like their to have been more interaction. I think if there is more interaction the presenters have with the viewers, will result in a more enriching experience for both parties.

Response to Straight Up and Dirty

After reading the first page of Stephanie Klein's memoir I was instantly hooked. I couldn't get enough. I loved her bluntness and matter of fact tone. Being from New York, I knew some of the places where her dates took place, which allowed me to visualize the text better. It also allowed me to relate to her a little more, which was refreshing. I also found the review of her book in Elle magazine very interesting because it went more in depth about Stephanie's personal life, i.e. eloping with her husband and having an abortion. Additionally, I liked that the review spoke about how divorcee's were frowned upon, but Stephanie completely transforms this image and makes them empowered. The article also showed two points of view of readers, which I thought was important to reveal. I was surprised at what people were saying about her, calling her a Carrie Bradshaw wannabe. I completely disagree with this view and feel as though Stephanie owns her work and is not trying to be anyone but herself. I look forward to our class discussion about this, it should be a fun and I can't wait to read on!

Comments for Candice

Hey Candice I really like your topic about Sororities. I think that comparing the ideals of the universities that the sororities are a part of to the ideals of the sororities that are affiliated with them, will show how backwards the ideas of southern sororities are. Interviews with students who are in sororities and who are not involved in greek life might be helpful for your paper. I look forward to reading the end result!
-Star

Comments for Gylise

Hey Gylise,
Your topic about African American female bodies is one that I find very interesting! I especially like the reasons you stated for why the African American body is becoming less curvy and more stick thin. I agree that this is due to the reasons you stated; self esteem issues, an effort to improve health, to appeal to their partners and pressure from the media. As I’m sure you have noticed, many African American celebrities ( Tyra Banks, Oprah, Star Jones, and Janet Jackson) are slimming down, a concession you could use in your paper could be the example of Monique and Queen Latifah embracing their curviness. Also, I think that it will be interesting for you to compare the US African American body type to the curvier body type of women in Africa. Additionally, instead of using Carrie Mae Weems, you should use the black body as your form of autobiography and discuss how it is transforming. I hope this is useful!

Reflection on Meatless Days

In Sara Suleri’s autobiography Meatless Days, she discusses how her identity was formed through the multi-cultural foods that she ate and prepared. Her mother being Welsh, and her father being Pakistani allowed her to have a very diverse palate. The relationship Sara had with her mother revolved around the food they cooked together, which enabled her to be exposed to a variety of cuisines as well as form a bond over cooking. I feel that I can relate to Sara and her mother’s relationship over food because much of the relationship that I have with my mom was formed in the kitchen, creating dishes for our family meals. I spent my childhood mixing batter and asking my mom how much milk the recipe asked for. The time spent with my mom in the kitchen helped our relationship flourish, which makes it easy to understand how Suleri and her mother formed their bonds.

Reading Communities and Culinary Communities, a contextual source that relates to Sara Suleri’s Meatless Days talks about how food is linked to identity, history, and tradition. I feel that this is true for the majority of cultures. Certain meals are made for specific traditional events that overtime form ones identity. Thanksgiving is an example of this in our culture. It is a meal that is of historical significance for Americans. The preparation that goes into the meal and the meal itself is what forms American identities. It is these traditional events that are vital to cultures and how the people of these cultures identities are shaped.

A Valentine's Day Surprise

On Valentine’s Day I wake up to tonsils the size of golf balls, aches and pains up and down my back, and a fever that takes over my entire body, making it so that the second my legs touch, sweat forms instantly.

I’m thinking great, it’s Valentine’s Day and I get to spend it feeling sick and miserable. Yay! Instead of letting my illness ruin my day, I decide to do something about it. At 8:30am I decide to haul my sick-self to Student Health in attempt find out what the hell is wrong with me. Of course, the night before it snowed a good 4 inches and D.C. ultimately just let it chill there for the day. So, I trek through the snow and finally make it to Student Health. I walk through the glass doors of the building at 9am and, assuming that Student Health opens at 8:30, I figure ok, not a lot of people should be here, so I should be able to see a doctor soon. I get there and the door is locked and the lights are off in the waiting room. I think to myself, this is bad, but I dragged myself all the way hear and I’m not going back until I find out what’s wrong with me.

Eventually someone shows up around 9:30 and says that due to the snow they are not opening until 10. After this nice woman lets me into the waiting room, she informs me that I will be able to see a doctor at 10. I then promptly pass out in my chair and hope to awoken by a doctor calling my name.

Unfortunately, my peaceful sleep is interrupted by a woman, with a long island accent, who is practically shouting, claiming that she is CONVINCED her daughter has bronchitis. I wake up and watch the mother-daughter duo. I also keep an eye on the clock as 10 o’clock approaches. To my surprise and utter disbelief, bronchitis girl, who has only been waiting 5 minutes is called in to see a doctor!! I wanted to scream, but oh wait I can’t because my throat kills and I physically don’t have the strength to.

At 10:17 my name is called by a kind, blonde haired doctor. Once in the room she looks at her charts and realizes that this is my third trip to student health within the past 2 months. Each time I visited they tested me for strep and gave me antibiotics, but each time I never had strep. After viewing my massive tonsils and checking my fever of 100.7, she says she’s going to have to test me for mono. In my head I freak out. The thought of having mono is devastating to me because right now is the WORST time to have mono especially because, not only is it Valentines day, but my birthday is 2 days away and I can’t be sick on my birthday! Oh yeah and it probably would be bad if I missed school too.

The doctor tells me I have an 80% chance of having mono. Awesome! She hands me a bottle of antibiotics and a sheet of paper which she then informs me that I need to take to a lab down the hall.

While I am paying for my visit, I overhear that bronchitis girl does not have bronchitis at all. Funny. The laughing stops here because the man at the desk tells me to take the sheet the doctor gave me to the lab, where they will take my blood. WHAT! I said. (I have an immense fear of needles). I ask him to repeat himself. He does and then I realize that there is nothing else I can do except go through with it.

I courageously walk down the hall to the lab and find that the door is locked. I trudge back into the office and tell the man at the desk that the door is locked and he says that they must be closed, but redirects me to another lab a few blocks away.

I walk down the windy, snow-filled streets searching for the building with this other lab. I eventually find the building, but when I get inside I can’t find the lab. After fifteen minutes of searching, I am sweating and on the verge of tears because all I want to do is be wrapped in my billowy comforter in my bed. Then, out of no where a man approaches me and says “you look lost.” I show him the piece of paper I am carrying and he directs me to the lab.

Once I am there the nurse sticks me in a chair, wraps a band around my arm, and then takes my blood. (While the nurse did this I 1. looked away the entire time and 2. listened to the new Justin Timberlake album in an attempt to distract myself from what was really happening)

I leave the lab and begin my journey back to Thurston. When I arrive back in my room, just as I am about to throw myself on to my bed, I see a dainty pink rose lying near my pillow from a special someone. I put the rose in a vase, lie down in my bed, forget everything I had just been through, forget that I was ever sick to begin with, and dream of my valentine.