Total Eclipse: Annie Dillard (White Ring Passage)

9/30/14
10:17 p.m



Throughout Total Eclipse, a passage on page 485, stood out to me. The passage addresses the authors reasoning and symbolism behind the white ring that has formed due to the eclipse. The passage stood out to me because it represents what the author was thinking during the time she was watching the eclipse. The words that she uses seem harsh, as though she is trying to send a dark message out to the audience. The passage talks about death and how everyone on earth has,"died in our (their) boots" and they were, "alone in eternity" and "cared for nothing". The passage stands out to me due to the fact that, I would have though an eclipse would be a happy and memorable, but the way the author describes it, the memory seems sad. I like that she is able to portray how she really feels about the eclipse. The passage sets an image in my mind about how dark this moment may be on top of the hill that night. The only thing that I am not particularly fond of is how we can not relate to the death that she is describing. Dillard's goal in writing this is to show the reader now dark and scary this moment was for the author. She is trying to get the audience to experience part of what she had when the author was in the moment. When writing this passage, I agree that it fits into the rest of the essay because it is using unfamiliar objects to help describe something that is also unfamiliar. This paragraph talks about death, and as a reader, we do not know what it feels like to die, but we can still connect to the passage because of the imagery she uses. I also think it fits into the work as a whole because a few passages later, the white ring is brought up again, this time in a different light. The ring is portrayed as something happy that can control life. I think this helps to show perspective throughout the essay and each person watching the eclipse is going to have different feelings and thoughts towards it. 

Once More to the Lake- E.B. White

Once More to the Lake is structured by the use of time. E.B. White is able to portray his past and present within his writing by reliving his past through his son. Throughout the essay, we are able to decipher that the presence of the lake was located in an ancient time. White is able to explain his memories at the lake and the things he used to do with is father. White is able to reminisce back to the days when he was the same age as his son at the lake. Throughout the writing, we can see that there is no order to the way the essay is written, due to the fact that White goes from the past and present. White uses memories from when he was a child, and believes that he is his son at the lake, while White represents his father in the past. At times throughout the passage, reality strikes in and White recognizes that he is at the lake with his own son.


As the essay proceeds, we can see that E.B. White is struggling with the way the lake has started to develop and the way many things have changed since the last time he was present there. White talks about how technology has greatly impacted the ways of the lake. The loud motors on the boats start to disrupt the peace that was once present across the lake. He also recalls on the fact that cars have changed the paths of roads that you can follow. He shows that the once farmland and isolated life around the lake is slowly started to come to an end. At the end of the passage, we can notice that White is struggling with moving on. Time has gone by and he has started to grow old. He is no longer in the presence of himself as a kid, but rather an adult that realizes he has moved on through the years.  

The Story of An Hour #2

At the beginning of the response I noticed that the wording used for Mrs. Mallard's heart was described as "heart trouble". When I first read this I thought the wording seemed a little strange, but as I read on, I understood why the author used that wording. As the story continues along, the reader can noticed that there seem to be problems between Mr. and Mrs. Mallard's marriage. I think the heart in the story is a symbol that there is "love trouble" between this family.
The author also used limitation of the actual space that the character was in, and rather described things other than what were in the bedroom and the stairwell. The things the author described were able to help the reader understand the thoughts that were running through Mrs. Mallard's head. I think that the bird that she saw when looking out the window symbolizes the freedom and the reason why she continues to say, "Free! Body and soul free!". I also think that by not going into too much detail about the surroundings, we are able to feel the emotions that the door holds when Mr. Mallard walks through it.
The relationship that the Mallards have does not seem like a healthy relationship. We are able to see that Mrs. Mallard is able to think about being free and having time to herself rather than thinking about the time that will be lost with her husband. I do not think that they have as strong as a love that is needed to have a healthy relationship. Going back to the symbolism of the heart, at the end of the story, Mrs. Mallard's heart dies, which also symbolizes the ending of their love.

The Story of An Hour -Kate Chopin

This particular story reminded me of the essay I will soon be writing about a 30 second mundane moment of my life. When reading this response I noticed a certain way that the author arranged the format to tell the story. In the first two paragraphs, Kate introduces us to the characters and matter at hand for the rest of the response. She informs us that, in fact, Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition and her family must carefully break news to her and the death of her husband in a train accident.
In the next couple paragraphs the author uses a range of sensory details to help visualize the surroundings of Mrs. Mallard. The reader can clearly imagine the surroundings and the peculiar details that Mrs. Mallard is also noticing.
In the next following paragraphs, there seems to be a plot twist where the main character changes her view from grieving, gradually preparing herself to think about the future, a future without her husband. She thinks about all the time she will have to herself and that it doesn't even matter if she once loved her husband. She becomes accustomed to these ideas and sets herself free to the world.
In the concluding paragraphs, we learn that Mr. Mallard was not in a train accident, in fact he had no understanding that there was an event of such kind. Mr. Mallard comes back to his home after the time where his wive spent taking care of herself, when all the sudden Mrs. Mallard dies of a heart attack,  not from the shock and sadness of loosing her husband,  but from the happiness of seeing him return home.
In the concluding paragraphs the author ends the story by informing us of the incident with Mrs. Mallard's health condition.

What am I?

Grainy pieces of damp earth sit on the edges of the exterior, allowing short strands of crisp green growth to venture out to the open. Small clumps of this short, green weed grow inside this dirt that sit in the open holes of a cover. This object is enclosed among almost identical red, gray and brown rectangles, whose uneven and rigid sides form outside the perimeter. The sound of trickling water can faintly be heard on a rainy day. It sits on the middle of a sloping hole, hoping to catch any streams of water as they pass over a rusty surface. The droplets fall to the bottom of what seems an endless hole, where the drops of water soak into a patch of old dirt and tarnished leaves.

What it Means to be a Good Reader and Writer

A good reader is not necessarily a person who reads and comprehends at a fast pace, but rather, a person who takes in the content. A good reader notices the smallest details embedded in the text and relates it to the writing. A good reader tries their best to understand the message coming across to them and also making an effort to comprehend the reason for there being certain details. When the person is reading, they make sense of the authors words, and interpreting the meaning behind them in their own way. A good reader makes predictions about what may come next in the reading and relating to the topic at hand. The reader can change the way they read the text according to the voice of the author. Depending on the text, the reader is able to change their tactics for reading.

A good writer is a person who puts thought and effort into their work. They are able to draw in an audience with their words and engage the reader with what they have to say. In this case, the reader has a desire to continue enlightening themselves. Being a good writer means you are able to change your work after you assume that it is completed. A good writer is able to modify their sentence structure as they carry on, in order to vary the tone of the piece. They can change their wording to restate a concept they are trying to draw across to the reader, in return making their piece fluent and eligible. A good writer is someone who takes their time and who works to gradually create a stronger proficiency in writing.