Monday, August 23, 2010
ahhhh football
school is back in session for college students. YAY!!!! so this morning we had a discussion about culture, how to define culture, what makes up culture, how it gains power. all i asked was "what is culture" and early in the morning my students came up with great examples of how to provide examples and ideas about what makes up and defines culture. a sometimes difficult task. one of the examples that really struck home was sports. americans are one of the only countries who love football, and have all sorts of ideas, practices, identities, beliefs, and values surrounding sports. my students were able to enumerate many of these things, and how they felt about them. i then brought up videogames, of course. as my husband plays madden, he often complains about the lack of fan presence at milehigh stadium whenever there is weather. denver and green bay are well known for their fandom, their sold out stadiums for decades, their love of their teams. however, they are represented completely differently in the game. for a true fan, without recognizing the slight against their form of fandom, they are offended by how they are represented in the game. the complaints voiced by my husband are legitimate concerns about how a game is representing the fans of a team he loves. how could a videogame franchise so ingrained in game play botch up fandom so bad????
ahhhhh romance, its totally research
Flowers from the Storm by Laura KinsaleMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
really solid heorine and hero, madness and religion issues. just a great story!
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Thursday, August 19, 2010
goodreads review
An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method, Second edition by James Paul GeeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
very useful. helps provide tools and questions for when looking at language and language usage
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Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Lets liven up with literature
Ok, I saw these lists on another blog (blog browsing again) and I thought the list was terrible. Sorry to the person who created the list, but they were trying too hard to pick controversial characters they had to defend or that made them look literary cool. So, I give you my list and reasoning.
Top Ten Picks: Favorite Female Literary Character
1. Elizabeth Bennet – contemplates ideas of marriage and love in a time where women had no power, control, they weren’t even considered human, and she wanted love to dictate her life choices. That’s pretty progressive, and she was written by a woman. A classic example of culture affecting literature, and standing the test of time.
2. Kit Tyler – I know, I’ve written about her before, but she’s just so fun to read about. Completely out of her element in clothing, understanding, culture, weather, you name it she does it different. But she makes it work, teaches people reading, is tried as a witch. Classic American literature.
3. Anne of Green Gables – she’s a spirited, adopted red head who causes childhood problems, and drama. Just SO fun to read.
4. lyra belacqua – another children’s book. Through the trilogy you get to watch lyra grow up and figure out the world. It’s quite a journey, and the ending is so bitter-sweet it’s hard not to love lyra.
5. Margaret Hale – sent away from her family to be raised by an aunt in London, then upon her return she’s uprooted to a whole different life in the north, Margaret works through the culture shock and forces other characters to confront ideas of class and religion. She also rejects a lot of marriage proposals.
6. hermoine grainger – she makes being a nerd cool again!
7. Anne Elliot – forced to give up her beloved, she is the anchor of her family, and the most walked upon. Then she is forced to watch her love flirt with another woman while he’s still in love with her.
8. Elphaba – born to crazy parents, she struggles with water, rain, and fights for the rights of Animals. The loss of love that causes her ultimate break is so touching. You really can love the wicked witch.
9. Elinor Dashwood – the quietest of the dashwood sisters, elinor suffers heart break privately while working to keep her sister in one piece, and her family safe and comfortable.
10. Scarlett O’Hara – she’s tough, always pining for what she really doesn’t want, but when taxes are levied and need to be paid, Scarlett steps in and gets the bills paid, delivers babies, kills ravaging soldiers, and makes a dress out of curtains.
Top Ten Picks: Favorite Male Literary Character
1. Fitzwilliam Darcy – he may not be in book that much, but anyone who antagonizes a woman because he loves her is amazing. It really helps that he puts aside all pride and helps her family, and still wants her to accept him because of love, not what he can offer.
2. the dad from The Road – ok the world is shambles and he works hard through the whole novel to protect his son, provide him with necessary skills, and teach him to read as they have time.
3. Rhett Butler – another character who just doesn’t quite understand how to woo his woman. Eventually he catches her, and delivers one of the most poignant lines “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” ahhhhhhhh.
4. Will Parry – another children’s book. Will is in 2 and 3 of His Dark Materials trilogy. He comes from a difficult home, but he manages to find his path, and love. He works so hard to help lyra on her journey.
5. Mr. John Thornton – he seems all standoffish, and firm, but he’s really a big softie. His father tragically destroyed the family, and he dedicated his life to restoring the family name.
6. Quoyle – a large awkward man who suffers when his children’s mother dies tragically. He uproots his family to Newfoundland and discovers dark family secrets, shipping news, new culture, love and squid pie.
7. Holden Caulfied – teenage angst at its finest with culture critique thrown in for good measure. Holden embodies the outsider in his quest to protect purity.
8. harry potter – its just hard not to love the boy wizard who stumbled into awesomeness.
9. Pi – he survived a boat crash, and then the ocean while living on a life boat with a tiger.
10. Beowulf – after spending a semester translating Old English you develop a real bond for Beowulf of the Geats.
Top Ten Picks: Favorite Female Literary Character
1. Elizabeth Bennet – contemplates ideas of marriage and love in a time where women had no power, control, they weren’t even considered human, and she wanted love to dictate her life choices. That’s pretty progressive, and she was written by a woman. A classic example of culture affecting literature, and standing the test of time.
2. Kit Tyler – I know, I’ve written about her before, but she’s just so fun to read about. Completely out of her element in clothing, understanding, culture, weather, you name it she does it different. But she makes it work, teaches people reading, is tried as a witch. Classic American literature.
3. Anne of Green Gables – she’s a spirited, adopted red head who causes childhood problems, and drama. Just SO fun to read.
4. lyra belacqua – another children’s book. Through the trilogy you get to watch lyra grow up and figure out the world. It’s quite a journey, and the ending is so bitter-sweet it’s hard not to love lyra.
5. Margaret Hale – sent away from her family to be raised by an aunt in London, then upon her return she’s uprooted to a whole different life in the north, Margaret works through the culture shock and forces other characters to confront ideas of class and religion. She also rejects a lot of marriage proposals.
6. hermoine grainger – she makes being a nerd cool again!
7. Anne Elliot – forced to give up her beloved, she is the anchor of her family, and the most walked upon. Then she is forced to watch her love flirt with another woman while he’s still in love with her.
8. Elphaba – born to crazy parents, she struggles with water, rain, and fights for the rights of Animals. The loss of love that causes her ultimate break is so touching. You really can love the wicked witch.
9. Elinor Dashwood – the quietest of the dashwood sisters, elinor suffers heart break privately while working to keep her sister in one piece, and her family safe and comfortable.
10. Scarlett O’Hara – she’s tough, always pining for what she really doesn’t want, but when taxes are levied and need to be paid, Scarlett steps in and gets the bills paid, delivers babies, kills ravaging soldiers, and makes a dress out of curtains.
Top Ten Picks: Favorite Male Literary Character
1. Fitzwilliam Darcy – he may not be in book that much, but anyone who antagonizes a woman because he loves her is amazing. It really helps that he puts aside all pride and helps her family, and still wants her to accept him because of love, not what he can offer.
2. the dad from The Road – ok the world is shambles and he works hard through the whole novel to protect his son, provide him with necessary skills, and teach him to read as they have time.
3. Rhett Butler – another character who just doesn’t quite understand how to woo his woman. Eventually he catches her, and delivers one of the most poignant lines “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” ahhhhhhhh.
4. Will Parry – another children’s book. Will is in 2 and 3 of His Dark Materials trilogy. He comes from a difficult home, but he manages to find his path, and love. He works so hard to help lyra on her journey.
5. Mr. John Thornton – he seems all standoffish, and firm, but he’s really a big softie. His father tragically destroyed the family, and he dedicated his life to restoring the family name.
6. Quoyle – a large awkward man who suffers when his children’s mother dies tragically. He uproots his family to Newfoundland and discovers dark family secrets, shipping news, new culture, love and squid pie.
7. Holden Caulfied – teenage angst at its finest with culture critique thrown in for good measure. Holden embodies the outsider in his quest to protect purity.
8. harry potter – its just hard not to love the boy wizard who stumbled into awesomeness.
9. Pi – he survived a boat crash, and then the ocean while living on a life boat with a tiger.
10. Beowulf – after spending a semester translating Old English you develop a real bond for Beowulf of the Geats.
Monday, August 2, 2010
another goodreads
Hunting Ground by Patricia BriggsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
a bit cheezy, and i figured out the big mystery about halfway through, so that was disappointing. but its really hard not to love the messed-up but healing omega, and the hit-man alpha who is really a big softie. reading their love story makes it all worth it!
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