Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Modernism Project



WORKS CITED

Bell, Christopher Brooks. "Jeffers, Robinson." In Bryer, Jackson R., and Mary C. Hartig, eds. The Facts On File Companion to American Drama, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CAD259&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 25, 2011).

Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." Home | W. W. Norton & Company. W. W. Norton and Company, 2005. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.

Jeffers, Robinson. "Vulture - A Poem by Robinson Jeffers - American Poems." American Poems - YOUR Poetry Site. Gunnar Bengtsson, 20 Feb. 2003. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. .

Taylor, Karen L. "modernism." Facts On File Companion to the French Novel. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CFN346&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 24, 2011).

Werlock, Abby H. P. "modernism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS589&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 24, 2011).

"William Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily" Biography." Home | W. W. Norton & Company. W. W. Norton and Company, 2005. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Journal #43

As I listen to this jazz song that is being played, I think of some older African American man who looks like Bill Cosby just blowing away on a saxophone. I also think of my French Horn, since it reminds me of band class. This man is a very talented musician, and I bet that music is a very very big part of his life. Most likely, music was his escape from reality, and it was how he coped with difficult things. There is not much else that I am thinking while I listen to this song, except for the fact that it is over ten minutes long and that seems a little bit too extreme for my taste. Personally, I prefer music with lyrics. I listen to country music, and in country music, the lyrics and vocals are the most important part of the song, not the background music such as the drums, guitar, and any other instrument. Therefore, when I listen to this music, I find it sort of boring even though it is impressive. I am not by any means saying that this music is any lesser than country music, I just think that since there are not vocals or lyrics it is extremely boring, especially since it is over ten minutes long. Another image I get in my head is of some downtown area, like the neighborhoods of Chicago or New York, in which an elderly African American is just going to town in his balcony window. I think that image is in my head because it is sort of a common image relating to the African American blues and whatnot. Besides those images I got in my head, this song does not really spark any other emotion except for boredom. I mean yes, it is definitely impressive, but I understood that he was a champ at saxophone after the first two minute, I do not feel that I need to keep listening for another eight and a half minutes. He is a very talented artist though, and it is obvious to tell how he relayed his emotions through his playing to the rest of the world.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Modernism vs. Realism

While the Modernism era and the Realism era took place very close together, they demonstrate many different views and styles. Realism basically demonstrates facts and information on a subject (Werlock). It portrays accurate details, thoughts, feelings, and gives a very descriptive view on the situation (Werlock). For example, if the setting of a story or poem took place in the woods, a Realism author would most likely describe everything, from the blue of the sky to the little ants crawling on the leaves of the trees to how the character felt when the cool summer breeze lifted the little hairs on his arms. It would not get so flowery so that it almost reached to point of Romanticism; however, it would accurately depict every little detail as to fully give justice to a scenario (Werlock). Back in the days of Realism, many people were looked down upon, such as African Americans or people of less prestige and power (Werlock). This was evident in Realism literature, as these people were either spoken negatively of or basically just dismissed since they really did not matter to the lives of the authors (Werlock). Some authors, however, did depict the lives of African Americans, and their struggles were shown through this literature. Of course, it was very descriptive and took notice of all of the details, since that is what Realism is about (Werlock).

Modernism is very similar to Realism in the way that it, too, accurately depicts a scenario and does justice to basically every little detail (Anderson). However, as Modernism writing began to become popular, many little aspects of life were changing. African Americans, who had previously been seen as dirty, evil, or not as sufficient as the white man, were now being seen as people of true prestige and talent (Anderson). Although they had not acclaimed quite the level of status of that of the white man, they were no longer looked quite as far down upon. Another change is that women were becoming a little more promiscuous (Anderson). "Flappers" wore much less clothing than that of the typical housewife back then, and therefore the clothing choices for women were becoming a little bit less uptight and a little more revealing (Anderson). All of these changes were shown in Modernism literature. The revolution was obviously a topic of many stories and poems, and the authors were a more accepting of diversity and the change that was occurring. Another change that was happening in the world that was also written about were the new music styles. Jazz was introduced, influenced heavily by the African Americans along with their soul music (Anderson). This obviously had a great impact on the literary world; poems or songs were very emotional and would sometimes reflect on the struggles some of these people went through in order to gain the acceptance and level of status that they were now holding. As mentioned, this literature was very emotional and led to many of the styles of literature that we today read (Anderson). Both Modernism and Realism affected the literary world today; Realism had a great impact and influence on Modernism, and Modernism reflects greatly on the modern literature that we read today (Anderson).

Anderson, George Parker. "modernism." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. April 6, 2011.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. April 6, 2011.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Job Shadowing

When I grow up, I want to be a pediatric oncology nurse. For those who do not know what that means, pediatric oncology is children's cancer. For my job shadowing experience, I got to job shadow an oncology nurse at Memorial Medical Center. While this was not exactly what I wanted to do, since there is quite a difference between adult patients and child patients, it was an interesting experience and I got to learn quite a bit about what exactly an oncology nurse does. One thing that I found very interesting is the chemotherapy process. Chemotherapy is so incredibly harmful to anybody that doesn't have cancer; it can actually be inhaled or seeped into the skin and actually kill important blood cells, causing an abnormality of the cells, which then leads to cancer. Therefore, a nurse giving chemotherapy to a patient has to be extremely careful so that they themselves do not get cancer. There are obviously a lot of precautions the nurses take though; there are gowns made of a waterproof material, masks, and a double layer of gloves. Nurses go through a ton of gloves throughout the day, since they're dealing with lots of blood and fluids. Thankfully, I'm just okay with this. I'm not squeamish at all, and when my nurse had to pull a blood clot out of a guy with leukemia's arm, I did not even flinch; instead, I thought it was actually very interesting. My job shadowing experience led me to believe that I really do want to be a pediatric oncology nurse, and I am very excited to start my schooling and begin practicing this profession.