Blog Post #10 Summary & Response

I chose to respond to Thomas "Tom" LeClair's "Closing The Loop:  White Noise."  LeClair, born in 1944, is a book reviewer for the New York Times Book Review and the Washington Post Book World, as well as the Nathaniel Ropes Professor of English at the University of Cincinnati.  LeClair's point of view on White Noise cleared up alot of questions I had while reading and trying to comprehend all that was going on.  As I read White Noise, I felt as though the story was skipping around and had alot of meaningless information in it, with the one definite plot of the fear of dying.

One of the passages I didn't understand why it was put into the story with such a vivid description was the trash compactor, "dreadful wrenching sound, full of eerie feeling" (33), (393).  As LeClair states it is "an expression of his passionate concern with human survival, his rage at and pity for what humankind does to itself" (393).  This explanation opened my eyes to understanding the hidden meaning behind the story and began to make more sense to me, including the fragmented sentences.

There were many moments while reading White Noise that I had a hard time following, until LeClair's explanation "Gladney's strings of declarations effect a primer style, an expression not of ignorance (for Gladney knows the language of the humanities) but of something like shock, (391).  After getting this into my head, I was able to read and comprehend the meaning of what Gladney was saying, and the way it was being said, versus what I thought to be a very confusing, unrelating book that had many chapters that didn't seem to relate to one another.

Works Cited

LeClair, Tom. "Closing The Loop: White Noise." The Viking Critical Library:  White Noise. 'Ed'.Mark Osteen. New York:  Penguin Books, 1998

Blog Post #9

Finally, nine days after arriving at the Karate studio in Iron City, we were allowed to go home. While stuck in our temporary home, among forty other families, I made a new friend named Steffie. The studio was dusty, dirty, and very crowded. I was happy to go home and sleep in my own bed that is comfortable and warm. Steffie told me all about her family, and her Dad, J.A.K. Gladney is head of the Hitler Studies at the College-On-The-Hill. I’m not sure who Hitler is, but now I want to find out.


My family lives in a small town next to Steffie’s. We had to evacuate also due to the “Toxic Event”. “Time for homework Lizzy”, yelled my Dad as he was watching the news, looking for any new information on the Nyodene D. “It is done, Father. Why don’t you ever bug Alex about his homework? His is the one always in trouble, not me.” “Your brother is a senior in high school now; we still have a chance with you to make something of yourself.” Father was always fantasizing about one of his children going to the College-On-The-Hill. I smiled at Father and went to set the table for dinner as Mother was getting dinner ready. Since the Toxic Event, Mother boils everything; she says it will kill any bacteria that may have gotten on our food, to keep us healthy. What I could go for is some good ‘ol barbequed chicken, baked potato, and fresh corn on the cob.

I wonder if Steffie is still wearing her mask. She told me she would never take it off, it’s bad enough she got de ja vu from the Nyodene D. Steffie doesn’t want anything else to happen to her. Before we left the Karate Studio, I promised Steffie that I would write her every week, and Steffie said she would do the same. So it was Monday, and I just got a letter back from her, so I decided to write her back before going to bed.

My new friend Steffie,

Here is another letter to you, responding to yours I just received today. Have you decided to take your mask off yet? It has been 2 weeks since we were allowed to come back home, I think you will be safe now. My mask ripped over the weekend and my parents won’t let me wear it to school, they say it will scare the other children. I hear my Father and Mother talk all the time about your parents, how they want to get together with them. With my Father being an author, he really wants to interview your Father and write a Biography of him. He is pretty impressed with J.A.K. Gladney’s accomplishments. My mother wants to learn posture and how to walk properly from your mother; she is very fond of her too. Is Wilder talking yet? It must be fun to have so many brothers and sisters; you always have someone to play with! Since it is just me and Alex, it gets boring around here. Alex says it isn’t cool to hang out with his baby sister… I just heard Father say we are going to come to your house in a couple of weeks to Mother! That means we get to see each other and play! I’m so excited!

I will wait for your response to this letter and soon we will see each other! In your letter back to me, tell me what we are going to do while we are there visiting. I can’t wait!

Your new friend,

Lizzy

The next morning I mailed my letter to Steffie on the way to school. Recess was still limited to being indoors, keeping us from any possible Nyodene D still in the air. They say within a few weeks we will be able to be outdoors more. By then the days will be shorter, and the cold will role in.

Blog Post #8-Mid Term Check-In

Dear Laura,

After being out of school for seventeen years, I had decided that I wanted to get into the medical field.  This class is a pre-requisite for Radiological Technology, my major.  I never thought about having to take English for a career in the medical field, however, I have come to the conclusion that taking an English class is a difficult task for me to accomplish.  While in high school, I remember dissecting William Shakespeare’s plays, “Romeo and Juliet” and “MacBeth”.  I remember enjoying learning what each play was about but I also remember how difficult it was for me to comprehend.  So far this semester in your English 102 class, I have found my biggest challenge is the reading and comprehending of the material.  It has been painstakingly difficult for me to understand, giving me anxiety until my assignments are complete.  However, after re-reading the material over and over, and reading my classmate’s posts, I have begun to understand the deeper meaning lying behind the words.  The last essay we read, “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift really made me realize what people are really willing to do just to get ahead. 

Unfortunately, because it has been so long since I have been in school, I have only written one other paper since being back, and that was a psychology paper over a year ago.  To be completely honest, I don’t even remember what it was about.  I do know that literary analysis is definitely a more difficult type of writing for me.  By the end of this English class, I hope to be able to read a story and comprehend the meaning behind it without pulling my hair out in the process.  I have had to really push myself to get through this class, and, at one point I almost withdrew from it.  I knew giving up would not be the solution since I would have to get it done sooner or later!

I must say Laura, your style of teaching even online is very helpful, and even though my assignments I have submitted are far below what you are used to seeing by English majors, you have given me positive feedback where you can and that has kept me motivated.  I sincerely appreciate your feedback and hope to get through this class with a better understanding of literary analysis, since I never really understood it.  Although I’m sure I had been taught it in high school, apparently it wasn’t something that really caught my attention.

Thank you for being a kind and caring instructor, you have helped me to move forward and try to get something out of this class!

Sincerely,

Darcy Vazquez