Overall Review of English 1102

On the first day of class, Professor Lindburg was going over what the class was going to consist of. I realized right then, this class was not going to be a cake-walk, and cake-walk it was not. I had no idea what I was in for. This is not a class that all you have to do is show up and you will pass, no, this class was going to require a lot of work and effort. There was a tremendous amount of content and material to cover during this semester. There were discussions, readings, and a list of essays that had to be completed throughout the semester

            The content assigned during this semester was great. Professor Lindburg did a great job posting the material required for this semester. I thought there was a lot of reading involved in this class. I really liked that all the material was posed in a week to week basis. Having the material classied in specific weeks, help cut down on a lot of confusion.

            Some of the readings were really good such as “Everything must Converge” and “Death of a Salesman” these readings seemed to capture my interest. Some of the readings were really hard to comprehend and understand such as “Araby”. At some points during the semester I think that there was a little too much reading assigned. There were some occasions where the class was assigned to read three stories in a couple of days. This seemed to be a little much for me because it was hard to keep up with all the different components to each story.  

            The assignments in this class were very demanding. There were so many assignments that had to be completed during this semester. Because there were so many assignments it became a little overwhelming at some points during the semester. During the beginning of the semester the students were assigned a research paper. This research paper was very demanding it required a tremendous amount of effort. My first response of the work required for this research paper, was that this is ridiculous. All the steps to completing the research paper especially the “Notes and Quotes” assignment I realized why Professor Lindburg had us do all that work. Because once the steps were completed, the research paper was almost complete. The prior assignments to the research paper kept me from procrastinating.

             The discussions that we had in class, I absolutely loved. I enjoyed when the whole class would participated in class discussions. The discussions that we had to post on a weekly basis I did not like so much. The discussion posts were my least favorite attribute about the class. They did not seem to be very helpful.  

            I really enjoyed the other students that were in the class. The group activities I really enjoyed. It seemed to me that everyone in the class worked really well with one another. The activity I enjoyed the most involving my peers and I, was role playing in front of the class. I thought this was a great activity.

            Out of all the classes I have this semester, this English class is my favorite. This class reguires a lot of hard work and dedication but it is all worth it. If a student is willing to put forth the work that this class demands, the student will not walk away from this class disappointed. This has been a great class. I have really enjoyed interacting with my peers in the class. Professor Lindburg has done a fantastic job of teaching this class.

Crude

Crude

How high will it go

When will be its peak.

A fair price for the common man

That is all he seeks.

The prices rise

The prices fall.

But it’s the greedy man that makes that call.

No matter the case the common man that pays all.

From his back

Riches are made.

For the profiteers its only a game to be played.

Riches, riches them sons of bitches

For how long would they last in our ditches.

Hyprocrisy At Work

I witness hypocrisy at work sometimes, when another employee bad mouths another employee for something that they have done.  There is a particular instance that comes to mind, when ask if I have witnessed hypocrisy. I was working at Berry College, with the company that which I am still currently employed. My fellow coworkers and I were remolding a three story dorm room complex called Dana Hall. This was a fairly big project; it took a little over a year to finish it. When we started this project, there were about ten employees from the company that I work for, assigned to this job. Most of the guys on the job had a pretty good attitude and worked hard, but there was one employee in particular that just griped and complained every single day, day in and day out. This was a guy who tried to get by, by doing as little as possible. He would stand around and gripe constantly about “so and so” not doing anything and about how lazy they are. He would actually work harder trying to get out of work, than if he would have actually just worked. He would come into a room where I would be working, just griping about someone standing around or about how long someone was taking to do a task, and I would sit there and think to myself, “man you are really one to be talking”. His behavior stayed the same throughout the course of this construction project, making him almost intolerable to the rest of the employees. I also see hypocrisy in another way at work. This is something that almost everyone is guilty of, griping about not putting things back where they belong. I hear this almost every day at work and I am also guilty of this myself. All too often when looking for something at work such as tools, parts, or other things that are supposed to be returned to the shop, are not able to be found because someone did not bring the item back or they did not put it in the right place. When an employee goes to the shop to look for something and they cannot find what they are looking for, they automatically start blaming someone, knowing they are just as guilty for the same thing.     

Saturday March,17

On Saturday March 17, 2012 was a very busy day for me. I woke up at four o’clock in the morning. I had a fishing tournament at Lake Weiss in Centre Alabama. After I got up on Saturday morning I met my cousin in Rome, Georgia, and then we headed to the lake to fish the tournament. We arrive at the lake about Thirty minutes before daylight and the boat ramp was so crowded, we had to wait about thirty more minutes before we were able to put the boat in the water. After we got the boat in the water, we had to wait on blast off. Blast-off is when everyone takes off. After blast-off we headed way up the river to our first fishing spot. When we arrived to our first spot we started fishing, for what I thought was going to be a really good fishing day turned out to be a very tough day. We fished for about an hour before catching the first fish, and the fish were few and far between after the first on. We put together a limit of fish to bring to the weigh-in, a limit consist of five bass. After catching a limit we decided we would go back down the lake to fish around there. We did not catch anything down the lake. Weigh-in was at three o’clock, so around two thirty we headed back to the boat ramp to weigh our fish in. When we arrived to the boat ramp, it was a mad house of boats, trying to get out of the water. Whenever we finally got the boat on the trailer and parked the truck, I got the fish out of the live-well and carried them to the weigh-in. After weighing in our fish we realized we did not catch enough to win the tournament or even get in the money, so we decide to head back home. After getting back home from the fishing tournament, I had to rush in the house to take a shower, because some friends and I were going to Buckhead for St.Patty’s day. When we arrived in Buckhead, it was really crowed with people. Since it was St. Patty’s day everyone had green on, there was green everywhere. We stayed and partied in Buckhead till around one o’clock in the morning before finally deciding to call it quits, and head home. I was so tired from this busy day as soon as I got in the car and we started heading home, I passed out for the whole ride home.   

Troy Maxson

It is hard for me to give an exact answer on weather, Troy Maxson is a racist or not. The time period in which Troy is in, is a time period of racial divide. In this time period it is hard for me to believe that blacks could not help but be a little bit racist, because of the way they were treated. I do not think Troy has hatred towards white people he just wants the same opportunity as white people, with this being said he might harbor some resentment towards whites for not allowing him a chance at opportunities. All Troy wants is to have the same rights as the whites and to be given the same opportunities as the whites. In this story Troy uses some words to describe white and blacks that are racial words. The way Troy uses these words I don’t think they would make him a racist. I don’t think Troy is a racist but he is really frustrated trying to figure out how he can gain momentum in the society he is in.    

The Death of a Salesman " The only thing that you got in this world is what you can sell"

In the play Death of a Salesman, Willy has fallen upon hard times. Willy goes to talk with his boss Howard about working local and staying off the road. The news that Willy is about to receive from Howard is not what he is expecting. Howard has to tell Willy that he is no longer needed to represent the company. After receiving this information Willy has no clue what he is going to do for income. The whole time Willy is talking to Howard he keeps selling himself short, he keeps saying he will work for less and less. At first he starts off saying he will work for sixty five dollars a week then he goes as low as forty dollars a week and Howard acts like he doesn’t even hear him talking. After the meeting with Howard, Willy goes and meets with Charley. Willy and Charley get into what seems like a heated argument. Charley offers Willy a job and Willy will not accept his offer and Charley tells him “the only you got in this world is what you can sell”.

            What I think Charley was trying to tell Willy is that it is all about perception. Charley didn’t mean literally selling merchandise he meant selling yourself. If a person has a sour attitude the put off a sour vibe, the same goes with confidence. If a person doesn’t seem confident in themselves then no one is going to have confidence in them. Willy clearly does this when he is talking with Howard and keeps lowering his price. I also think Charley is trying to get Willy to think outside the box, and make him realize he is capable of doing many different types of jobs.

            Things have changed from 1940’s to 2012 but I really don’t think that people have changed that much. When Charley offers Willy a job, Willy won’t have it, even though he needs it, he doesn’t want to work for Charley because they do not get along that well. Willy may also think he is too good for working for Charley. This is possible in 2012 with the unemployment crisis; there are jobs out there but the jobs available might not be what a person is looking for or a person may think they are too good for the job. Another thing that hasn’t changed you have to have confidence in yourself and realize you confident in doing multiple things. If a person works 20 years for a company and get laid off that doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of doing anything else. They have to realize that they are and believe in themselves.

The Death of a Salesman "The only thing you have in this life is what you can sell"

In the play Death of a Salesman, Willy has fallen upon hard times. Willy goes to talk with his boss Howard about working local and staying off the road. The news that Willy is about to receive from Howard is not what he is expecting. Howard has to tell Willy that he is no longer needed to represent the company. After receiving this information Willy has no clue what he is going to do for income. The whole time Willy is talking to Howard he keeps selling himself short, he keeps saying he will work for less and less. At first he starts off saying he will work for sixty five dollars a week then he goes as low as forty dollars a week and Howard acts like he doesn’t even hear him talking. After the meeting with Howard, Willy goes and meets with Charley. Willy and Charley get into what seems like a heated argument. Charley offers Willy a job and Willy will not accept his offer and Charley tells him “the only you got in this world is what you can sell”.

            What I think Charley was trying to tell Willy is that it is all about perception. Charley didn’t mean literally selling merchandise he meant selling yourself. If a person has a sour attitude the put off a sour vibe, the same goes with confidence. If a person doesn’t seem confident in themselves then no one is going to have confidence in them. Willy clearly does this when he is talking with Howard and keeps lowering his price. I also think Charley is trying to get Willy to think outside the box, and make him realize he is capable of doing many different types of jobs.

            Things have changed from 1940’s to 2012 but I really don’t think that people have changed that much. When Charley offers Willy a job, Willy won’t have it, even though he needs it, he doesn’t want to work for Charley because they do not get along that well. Willy may also think he is too good for working for Charley. This is possible in 2012 with the unemployment crisis; there are jobs out there but the jobs available might not be what a person is looking for or a person may think they are too good for the job. Another thing that hasn’t changed you have to have confidence in yourself and realize you confident in doing multiple things. If a person works 20 years for a company and get laid off that doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of doing anything else. They have to realize that they are and believe in themselves.