Final Blog post! It's finally the end of the semester and that means, this is my last ever blog post about English! In this post, I will primarily be talking about how I did my portfolio, which is the final assignment for this course. The portfolio includes an essay and a media piece, which can be any of the following: - Blog post - Remix - Concept Map - Podcast - Webpage For my essay, I talked about how the wilderness archetype can be viewed through a modern perspective. It is generally associated with danger, but in Cheryl's life, the wilderness acted as a comforting friend and a perfect place to heal problems. This was my thesis: "By interacting with the nature and spending time in the wilderness, Cheryl in the novel Wild by Cheryl Strayed overcomes her depressive past, which includes grief of her mother’s death, broken relationship with others and deteriorating self-esteem. This ultimately leads her to reach her own potential." For the essay, I basically talked about how spending time in the wilderness helped Cheryl to overcome: - Grief of her mother's death (Second Paragraph) - Broken relationship with loved ones (Third Paragraph) - Deteriorating self-esteem (Fourth Paragraph) It is important to realize that in today's world, the nature/wilderness actually helps to heal problems that scare you away. This idea is prevalent throughout Cheryl's story. For the media part of my project, I decided to do a concept map. Basically, I presented the ideas in my essay in a different format. Along with that, I added a few points about the other literary theories. This is how my concept map looked like:
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A while ago, I started reading a novel called 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed and posted a series of blogs analyzing it. After viewing 'Wild' through 3 different lenses of literary theories, I have come to a realization that Feminist literary theory provided the most insight. I believe that this book was written targetting female audience. Cheryl's way of writing is specified in a way that women are able to relate. As a female, I was able to relate to Cheryl and her problems. A specific example would be when she talked about getting her period on the trail. A man would not be able to relate to that at all. Throughout the book, Cheryl talks about the struggles she faced on the trail, to show in the end how she overcame them all. Cheryl proves many stereotypes wrong and gives hope to women who struggle. First of all, feminist theory provided the most insight because it proves many stereotypes wrong. There are many stereotypes about women that are present in our society today. Some examples are, women aren't as strong (physically) as men, women aren't emotionally strong and women aren't capable enough to travel alone. But Cheryl's story proves that women are well capable, even above and beyond what men can do. Cheryl, in her book proves that she is physically able to carry heavy weights. She carried Monster (her backpack) all through her hike while several men couldn't. She stayed emotionally stable all through the hard times in her hike, not even crying once. Cheryl also proved brave enough in her decision to hike alone. Through all these actions, she proved the stereotypes wrong. You may wonder why that's a big deal. I believe that Cheryl wanted to show the world that women are equal to men. In my culture, women don't hold as much power as men. Men hold supreme power and are given more importance in any given circumstance. A point of view from elders in my culture would never approve of Cheryl's decision to hike alone. There are reaosns for their beliefs. It's because they believe that women aren't as strong as men. This stereotype blinds them from seeing the reality. For anyone woman that comes from my culture, Cheryl's story would be a great inspiration. As this is a book targeted to women from all different cultures, it helps them to see the positive and negative sides of going through struggles and enduring through them all. This is why feminist literary theory provided the most insight. Second of all, feminist theory provided the most insight because 'Wild' is a motivation for all women that struggle. Throughout the book, Cheryl describes her inner struggles. Many of her struggles are ones that most women can relate to. Cheryl describes the issues with her beloved ones in the beginning of the book. Her problems with her mother, brother, father, stepfather and friends were all solved through her hike. She chose the best way to heal from the pain she had. She shows how she healed by chosing the best path for her. It is important to believe in yourself ignore negative comments. Cheryl spent time alone, helping to heal from all the sorrow. She is portraying the message that each of us should know ourselves and find the best way to heal. Her story is especially relatable to women because they are often looked down upon in society. Cheryl's story inspired me to always strive for the best and believe in myslef. As a girl, I do not have a lot of opportunities or options in front of me. But after reading this book, I learned that I am capable to do anything. I believe that the underlying message in Cheryl's book was that everything is possible, even if you are a woman. Her story inspired me very much. I'll end with my favourite quote from Wild. “I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me” (Strayed 51). Work Cited:
Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. New York: Knopf, 2012. Print. 'Wild' through a feminist perspectiveI have finally finished reading the book 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed. Looking at the book through a feminist perspective, I can say that Cheryl has been looked down upon as a woman, alone in the woods. Despite the fact that she was surrounded by a negative, anti-feministic environment, Cheryl was able to prove that women are as capable as men. Cheryl, being a female feels vulnerable to be around with men. Everytime Cheryl encounters a man on the trail, she hesitates before doing anything because she is scared of what his intentions might be. As Cheryl waited for a ride in Chester, her thoughts went like this: "And I would be fine, I thought, as the man who drove the Chrysler LeBaron made his way toward me on the gravel shoulder of the road, though I felt a sick flutter in my gut as I attempted to discern, in the flash of a second, what his intentions were" (Strayed 177). Cheryl, who's alone in the woods always tried to make sure that she got help from people that looked harmless to her. Her attitude toward men that she encountered on the trail comes from previous experiences and the way women were often treated. Men held supreme power over women. Men were considered strong and capable of anything and due to this reason, they took advantage of women. Cheryl realizes these facts and proves it wrong when she endured through the whole hike. Cheryl never felt vulnerable being around with another woman. Her hesitance and vulnerability is also evident when she gets into Frank's truck. "As I sat there with him, I felt the way I always do when alone in certain circumstances with certain men—that anything could happen. That he could go about his business, mannerly and kind, or he could grab me and change the course of things entirely in an instant. With Frank in his truck, I watched his hands, his every move, each cell in my body on high alert, though I appeared as relaxed as if I’d just woken from a nap" (Strayed 73-74). Cheryl discusses how she was always on high alert with certain men on certain circumstances, which I believe is the same way for any other woman. Women always feel insecure and uncomfortable when they are around certain men. But if it were the other way around, no man would would feel vulnerable around a woman because they feel they're stronger and hold power over them. 'Wild' proves that women can do anything, that they're capable of doing everything that a man can do. Some men that Cheryl met on the trail thought that she wasn't safe alone in the woods. They judge her capability of lifting a heavy backpack. They advise her to stay safe on the trail. This situation is evident when Cheryl got her first ride to the trail: “ 'Are you sure you can lift that' ? he asked. ' ’Cause I barely can.' 'Of course I can lift it,' I said. He stood there, as if waiting for me to prove it. 'Thanks for the ride,' I said, wanting him to leave, so he wouldn’t be witness to my humiliating pack-donning routine. He nodded and slid the van’s door shut. 'Be safe out there' " (Strayed 49). The men judged her by the fact that she is a woman and she is not capable of carrying heavy weights. But at the end of the book, not only did she successfully reach the end of the trail without giving up, she carried 'Monster' (the name of her backpack) around for 1100 miles and never got seriously hurt. The outcome of this story proves that even though women are portrayed as incapable of certain things, they are completely able to do anything they set their minds to and should not be looked down upon due to their gender. During Barbara's (Cheryl's mother) last days with Cheryl, she opened up and spoke the truth about how her life has always been. " 'I never got to be in the driver’s seat of my own life,' she’d wept to me once, in the days after she learned she was going to die. 'I always did what someone else wanted me to do. I’ve always been someone’s daughter or mother or wife. I’ve never just been me' " (Strayed 273). Cheryl's mother's words reflect how women in general have no freedom to live their own life. They are always just expected to do things for their fathers, husbands or children. Most of what they are alive for is to take care of others. In Cheryl's life, after her father abandoned them, her mother took on the role as the breadwinner, although that's a role mainly associated with men. She had to provide for the family, putting even more pressure on her. Cheryl's family was really poor and never enjoyed any luxuries. Cheryl's mother always strives to do the best for her children and never cared about her own needs. This is generally how all mothers/single mothers are expected to do. Her life symbolizes how freedom is not always an option for women, because they always under expectations. During the last few days of her hike, Cheryl comes across a man that she felt incredibly vulnerable around. He comments on her appearance and makes her feel really uncomfortable. " 'I’m talking about liking your pants,' the man said with a touch of irritation. 'They look good on you. They show off your hips and legs' (Strayed 287). In this scenario, the man looked upon Cheryl as a sex object. The man's attitude and the way he spoke to her shows that he had an inappropriate intention within him. Cheryl, who strived to show courage and boldness through the trail didn't falter, but stood up and protected herself. But in some of today's third world countries, women are still considered sex objects and they do not have their own freedom. Overall, reading tthis book has helped me understand that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. It is very important to believe in yourself and ignore the negative comments that might surround you. 'Wild' is a great book of perseverance and success and I definitely recommend you to read it!
Please click on each image to see its source. Work Cited: Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. New York: Knopf, 2012. Print. The mentor, wilderness, and water - archetypes from 'Wild'As I've just finished up 2/3rd of Wild by Cheryl Strayed, I thought I would discuss with you all, the different archetypal characters and symbols I came across. First of all for the archetypal character, Greg acts like the "Mentor". Greg comes up and meets Cheryl while she was on her way to Kennedy Meadows. By this time on the trail, Cheryl was almost on the verge of giving up. Her experience had been very hard. When Cheryl first meets Greg, she feels an instant connection with him. Cheryl feels the urge to open up to Greg as they spoke. " 'It's been harder than I thought it would be,' I confessed, my heart heavy with the knowledge that I was even more of a big fat idiot that I'd initially reckoned. 'It's all I can do to cover eleven or twelve,' I lied, as if I'd even done that. 'Oh sure,' Greg said, unsurprised. 'That's how it was for me at the beginning too, Cheryl. Don't worry about it. I'd go fourteen or fifteen miles if I was lucky and then I'd be beat. And that was with me training ahead of time, taking weekend trips with my pack fully loaded and so on. Being out here is different. It takes your body a couple of weeks to get conditioned enough to do the big miles' " (Strayed 87). Although Cheryl felt discouraged about her progress through the trail, Greg's words encouraged her and gave hope. She says, "I nodded, feeling enormously consoled" (Strayed 87). There were many other encounters that Cheryl had with Greg, where he acted as a mentor. More encouraging words were spoken by Greg. " ' You're doing fine, Cheryl,' he said. 'Don't worry about it too much. You're green, but you're tough. And tough is what matters the most out here. Not just anyone could do what you're doing' " (Strayed 89). Cheryl was "so buoyed by his words that [her] throat constricted with emotion" (Strayed 89). Greg has all qualities of a mentor. He encourages Cheryl and guides her as she is 'less-experienced' in hiking. Greg helps her by showing how to use the ice ax. There are many other examples and quotes of how Greg acts like the Mentor. Greg. Image retrieved from: https://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjl-47JxMDQAhUJ74MKHYBsAt8QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcta.org%2Fwild%2F2015%2F01%2F28%2Fgreg-first-person-story-wild%2F&psig=AFQjCNGVeFtM1BoE9p1tQPioOwKH3Ita3Q&ust=1480047392404506 One of the archetypal symbols that is prevalent throughout the novel is the wilderness/forest. Although it is generally considered that the forest is a dangerous/dark world, a contemporary approach to this can be considered as the wilderness to be a precious resource and a place to reconnect with nature. In this Novel, the wilderness can be seen through the contemporary approach. As Cheryl spends more and more time in the wilderness of the trail, she is able to see it as a resourceful place rather than a dark and dangerous world. Cheryl is able to personally connect with the forest. ".....perhaps being amidst the undesecrated beauty of the wilderness meant I too could be undesecrated, regardless of what I'd lost or what had been taken from me, regardless of the regrettable things I'd done to others or myself or the regrettable things that had been done to me. Of all things I'd been skeptical about, I didn't feel skeptical about this: the wilderness had a clarity that included me" (Strayed 143). The wilderness represents positivity in Cheryl's life because she is able to connect with the forest that didn't affect her negatively. She is able to connect to it in a way that healed her of her sorrow and pain. Another archetypal symbol from Wild is water. Water symbolizes purification. "I filled the tub with water and got in and scrubbed myself with a washcloth and soap. Within a few minutes, the water became so dark with the dirt and blood that washed off my body that I drained it and filled it up again. In the second bath of water I reclined, feeling more grateful than perhaps I ever had for anything" (Strayed 129). Here, Cheryl purifies her dirty body with the water and it cleaned her completely, because the water itself became dark with dirt. This exemplifies how not only Cheryl's physical body is purified by water, but her emotional state of grief and sorrow is also purified through her experience on the trail, hiking. There are other bodies of water that Cheryl comes across in the trail that she uses to clean her body and quench her thirst. All this shows purification. Through her whole experience on the trail, she purifies her mind of past sorrows. Works Cited:
Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. New York: Knopf, 2012. Print. During the past month, I've been reading an interesting novel called 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed. The book is about the Cheryl's journey through the Pacific Crest Trail. Having read one third of the book already, Cheryl's choice of hiking the PCT all alone fascinates me. Cheryl Strayed is a very strong, brave woman. In the wake of her mother's death and her divorce, she needed a get-away from her grief. These reasons triggered her choice to hike the PCT. Talking about the PCT, it is a two feet wide, 2,663 mile long trail. Hiking this trail all by myself is unimaginable. I have never hiked in my life. I'm the kind of person that tends to play everything safe. If I ever had to grieve over something, I would never console myself by placing me in a vulnerable situation. However, that's what I like about Cheryl's life. In fact, her story inspired me. While reading the book, it was like I was hiking along with her, having a conversation. I can honestly barely relate to Cheryl's life. All that happened in Cheryl's life is something that I've never gone through or experienced. Cheryl says, "My father left my life when I was six. My mother died when I was twenty-two. In the wake of her death, my stepfather morphed from the person I considered my dad into a man I occasionally recognized. My two siblings scattered in their grief, in spite of my efforts to hold us together, until I gave up and scattered as well" (Strayed 3-4). Comparing this to my life, My father never left me, my mother never left me, my two siblings never left me. I can never imagine what happened in Cheryl's life happening to me. This explains to me how much in grief she must have been. I felt pity towards Cheryl's life. Reading the novel was like preparing myself for the struggles I may face later in life. That's what gives me hope. She fights against the stereotypes that women aren't strong. Cheryl says, ".........I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me" (Strayed 51). This kind of determination and confidence is definitely hard to find in a woman who went through so much sorrow. The hike through PCT was an emotional roller coaster for Cheryl. She missed her mother, Paul and her siblings. Being alone in the wilderness, she didn't let negative thoughts take advantage of her. Instead, she kept uttering encouraging words to herself. Her words went like this about her 'monster' backpack, "I was amazed that what I needed to survive could be carried on my back. And, most surprising of all, that I could carry it. That I could bear the unbearable" (Strayed 92). Cheryl's words encouraged me. For a woman who went through lots of sorrow, the determination and positive attitude to life found in her is what fascinated me about her life. The loneliness that she must have felt through the hike is enormous. But the way she persevered through it all is very appreciable. I want you to picture yourself in Cheryl's shoes through the hike. Hungry. Alone. Scared. Dirty. Emotionally broken. Physically sick. Vulnerable surrounding. What would be your reaction be to this situation? It definitely takes lots of courage and strength to endure through. I believe that towards the end of the book, Cheryl will safely hike all the way she planned to go. She might face even more struggles down the road but will successfully make it through. Reading 1/3 of the novel has taught me how to endure through pains and struggles in life and believe in myself. I'm so excited to finish the rest of the book! Works Cited: Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. New York: Knopf, 2012. Print. Image of Cheryl Strayed at the top of the page retrieved from: http://media.vanityfair.com/photos/545bb90cc2dcfcdc402d3506/master/w_450,c_limit/cheryl-strayed-wild-in-the-details-vf.jpg
Is it Creativity?In today's world, I believe that true originality is hard to find. Everything is a remake of something. Kirby Ferguson's video series called 'Everything is a Remix' helped me realize how 'most box office hits rely heavily on existing material'. In the video, Ferguson defines remix as "to combine or edit existing materials to produce something new". There are many examples of how the same bass line of a specific song has been used for several different songs. There are many movies that are adaptions and transformations of other existing material. In this post, I'm going to discuss how the movie "Star Wars" was combined and edited. First of all, Star Wars is inspired by Joseph Campbell's book "The Hero with a thousand faces". As mentioned in the video, it is also influenced by a lot of other movies such as The call to Adventure and Supernatural Aid. Many scenes in the movie are similar to other existing material from all over the world. There are many resemblances from other movies incorporated in Star Wars. The main point here is that without the existing scenes, shots and ideas from other movies, Star Wars would not have been present today. But the question is, Is that Creativity? Wasn't it copied? Well, I agree that Star Wars has many scenes resembling from other movies. Star Wars is a remix of other existing materials. Without copying, we cannot learn. It is through the process of copying that we learn to combine, adapt and transform. I believe that George Lucas, who produced Star Wars, did not copy exact ideas from other movies. He combined, edited, adapted and transformed other ideas to form his own version of a movie. Some light saber scenes from the movie, arm chop scene and others were combined and transformed from other scenes. Star Wars' credit list format at the end of the film is copied from the movie Flash Gordon. The resembling scenes from these movies in Star Wars cannot be categorized as 'copied' because the producer has given enough changes to create something new. The story line, setting, atmosphere, weather, angles, languages are all different from other movies, not making it an 'exact copy'. Ideas are hard to come up with these days, since so much time has passed. Creativity can originate from another existing material. That is exactly what I think about Star Wars. It is a very creative movie, combined, edited and transformed from other ideas. Although, I do think that credits should definitely be given when copying, combining and transforming. Otherwise, the origin of the idea will not receive much appreciation if it later becomes popular through a remix. Finally, to avoid ripping something off, make sure to transform a real idea a lot, enough to make it your own. Change as many aspects of it as possible to create a new element. Never forget to give credits to the sources you copied from. If you follow these guidelines, you can pretty much make sure that nothing's been 'ripped off'. Links to images and video references: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Star_Wars_Logo.svg/1280px-Star_Wars_Logo.svg.png https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-HuenDPZw0 http://www.ufunk.net/en/musique/everything-is-a-remix-lhistoire-du-remix-en-7-minutes/ My thoughts on episode 1 of SERIALThis is my very first time listening to a podcast. I didn’t expect a podcast to be as interesting, because it is just audio and there is nothing to see. Despite, listening to Serial was very interesting. The sound effects, music and every other component enhanced the message being spread. I really enjoyed listening to episode 1 of Serial. I don’t usually like mysterious stories or what not, but this story, like Sarah Koenig said, ’fascinated’ me. The fact that this story took place in 1999 (the year I was born) has something to do with my fascination. It also interests me that the story is about high school students that were my age. I also know some family friends that live in Baltimore, Maryland.
The idea of presenting investigative journalism in this format is very creative. It helped to give thoughts and insights from every part of the story and not just one side. My personal opinion is that Sarah Koenig has shown no bias on either side. Although, if this information were to be presented as a news report, I believe that there would have been some sort of bias since news reporters tend to lean on to one side of the story and leave the other side unexplained. The victim’s family, in my opinion would feel satisfied if the series ended with clear solutions about the case. As I only listened to the first episode, I’m not sure how the series ended. Since I listened to the first episode, I can say that the podcast producers have done lots of research into the case, giving them more detailed information about how, what, when, why, who, and where. This information will definitely help the victim’s family to calm down and heal, since it will give them peace of mind that the case is under consideration and solutions are being found. I think that I like listening to text like this than reading. Sometimes when I read, I get really confused about what the author is trying to say. Although when I listen to the podcast, it’s more like a conversation and helps me understand better. The disadvantage about a podcast is that you will have a hard time going back to something that you wanted to look over. In a book though, you just have to flip through pages to find specific information. As I was writing this post, I had a hard time finding exactly what I wanted from the podcast file. I generally do a decent job at memorizing, but if you asked me about events that occurred over 15 years ago, I would definitely be clueless. Since this podcast was made 15 years after the real incident, the witness’ information can be a little fuzzy. The information will not be clear enough because of such a huge time interval between the events. Image from: https://typeset-beta.imgix.net/rehost/2016/9/13/47af5b92-ad4e-47ab-ad9c-ec5d5e0bf5cd.jpg |
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AuthorI am Keziah Vilson from A.B. Lucas Secondary School. I write about topics we cover in my grade 12 English class. Archives
December 2016
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