Ms. R’s Comments (group member since Oct 26, 2008)

Ms. R’s comments from the Curie World Lit: Only The BEST group.

Joshua wrote:

No it was not fair for Gregor's manager to come to his house and belittle him in front of his family..."

I totally agree. This "nerve" and bad behavior is very symbolic for Kafka. The manager acts as a really big symbol within this story. Consider the characterization of this character. Kafka paints this sort of picture for a reason.

Joshua wrote: "Although the manager was acting anxious to get Gregor out of the rm, he was not acting unreasonable giving his lack of knowledge concerning Gregor's condition.

I totally agree with your views concerning Gregor and his "sudden transformation", but I would like you to consider if the manager is indeed NOT being unreasonable. Consider what we know about Gregor as a worker. Looking at the manager's speech, is he being fair to Gregor? If you were Gregor, would you think it was fair for your boss to come to your house and say these things to you outside of your door?

Joshua, thanks for the question! I think it's a very important one to pose to the class.

I too have a question:

Do you think we, as the reader, are suppose to side with the Manager or with Gregor? Is Gregor acting lazy or is the manager acting unreasonable?

Joe wrote: "I do believe that Kafka is indeed following Modernist ideas. We are able to tell that Kafka is following Modernist ideas by the first sentence in the story. "When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled d..."

Joe,

You have made me very happy with your post! Thank you for posting so early, and thank you for formulating a well thought out paragraph. When asked, "what was your favorite part of the day" I will respond, "When Joe posted early about Modernism and Kafka"

Thank you,

Ms. R

Great posts you all!! I absolutely loved reading all of your responses! For the most part they were very well thought out and amazingly put together.

One comment I would like you to consider is the issue of divorce within the story. Keep in mind this story was written a very long time ago, when divorce was not really an option.

Also consider Chopin's message behind the story. Consider her reasoning behind writing this story.

Great Job All Around,

Ms. R

Gread post! Though I think it's a little funny that there are 50 views on this blog topic and only 32 posts...someone please explain this to me.


Grading and confused,

Ms. R

Here is a place for you to ask and answer each other's questions.

You will receive participation points and even more points for answering questions.

Yay helpfulness

Ms. R

Marzena,

I'm sorry it took me so long to reply to your post. I hope that everything turned out ok. Let me know if you still have questions.


Smiles,

Ms. R

This week I would like you to consider if Kafka is indeed portraying Modernist ideals within his short story "Metamorphosis." In order to adequately answer this question you must look over the notes we took in class dicussing the Modernism Movement. Remember you must use at least one quote from the story to back up your claim. Don't forget to ANALYZE this quote. Push your ideas further, always asking yourself, "why is this important" and "so what?" Be the amazing Critical Thinkers I know you all are within

** DO NOT confuse Modernism with Contemporary Literature.

Happy Posting!!

Ms. R

We've spend the last couple of weeks discussing Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour." In a well formulated paragraph please let us know your final response to the story itself. Feel free to aks questions or make comments, but remember to back up your ideas, always answering the question "why?"

Happy posting,
Ms. R

Today is a historical day in American history. Placing aside our political affiliations, we were asked, as Americans, to come together under our new leader.

Many say that this time of change has long been called for. Others say that the standards set for now President Obama are entirely too high for him to ever live up to. What are your thoughts? How does it feel to be a young American during this electric time in American history. Have you caught the "Obama bug?" Do you believe in our President's battle cry. Can we?

**Please respond in a well formed paragraph. Remember this is a formal writing assignment.

Seniors, please post any questions you have about the final here.

Thanks!

Hey Bea, We missed you today in class.

Yes, I would be more than happy to help you fill out your applications. Just bring them to division.

Are the standards the mom is setting for her daughter fair? Are these the rules we want our young girls living by?

Your comments so far are very interesting. I like the themes and topics you are all bringing up.

A good deal of you have introduced the fact that the mother in this story is just being a "mom." I would like you now to consider what this means. What does it mean to be a "mom"? What do you think Kincaid is saying about this definition? Does she support this definition? Try to push your ideas a little further.

**I would also like all of us to consider the fact that the POINT OF VIEW OF THE AUTHOR DOES NOT NEED TO BE THE SAME AS THE VOICE OF THE MAIN CHARACTER. Meaning, the ideas presented by the main character are NOT necessarily those of the author.


Having said that, I find Valery and Marek's comments interesting. Both of your postings present and idea and back it up with the text. Those who have yet to post or wish to add to your postings before Friday, please look to these as a model. They have both the length and consistency I am looking for.

Happy Posting :0)

Seniors,

Though I know many of you are all too happy to say goodbye to Jamaica Kincaid's story "Girl" I did want to have one final discussion focusing on this story. Sadly we will not have time to complete this in class, so here is the next best thing.

While reading your reflections concerning this story, I found many of you were confused by the conclusion of the story. Here the mother continues to belittle her daughter stating, "...you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?" (Kincaid 2). I find two aspects of this conclusion significant: 1) This question acts as just another element in a list of outlandish requirements for her daughter. 2) It leaves the reader with the feeling that the mom could continue to add more demands to her already existing list of mandates for her daughter.

Feel free to comment concerning what I have said here or add your own ideas. Remember, these postings are a grade so make them a significant paragraph as we have been practicing in class.

Happy posting!

Please post strong reflexive closings here. Let's help each other out with our narratives.

Thanks so much for you patience. :0)

~Ms. R

Gustavo wrote: "1.How long does it take for a college to respond to your application?..(UIC)

2.How do I go about getting financial aid?..(UIC)

3. How long does it take you to get your Master in Engineering?

Here is a website for the Engineering school at UIC:

http://www.uic.edu/depts/enga/

If you are interested in becoming a teacher here is the website for the Golden Apple Scholarship:

http://www.goldenapple.org/pages/beco...

The Application process for next year is now CLOSED, I'm sorry. Take a look at what they have to offer though.

Scholarships:

http://www.fastweb.com/fastweb/regist...

http://www.scholarships.com/

http://www.college-scholarships.com/f...

FASFA!!!!!

http://fasfa.com/?cm_mmc=NEW_Google_A...
**This is another one you can just google search for and find a ton of information. Search for "college scholarship search"