Welcome to Week Nine!

   Well, here it is, or second to last post. All of our reading assignments are behind us and all that is left is our research paper. What to write about? It was suggested that we write on our topics for our final paper. Seeing as I have little else to say, I will take that suggestion and see what comes from it. For my research paper I am going to focus on "The Shining", as many of us have decided to do. While the movie/novel comparison does sound appealing to me, I am going to attempt to try a topic of my own creation. In my paper I plan to discuss the issue of the American Family as it really exists in our society. Basically, by definition, the Torrance Family should be an ideal American Family. A mother, a father, and their child. However as we see early on in "The Shining", they are far from the ideal image that our Society has provided us with as almost a standard. I want to prove that King's portrayal of a family is far more accurate and representative to the majority of families in American Society today. I plan on using statistical documentation to prove that domestic abuse as well as alcohol abuse is a far more common element in today's American culture than anyone is willing to admit, and "The Shining" is truly a perfect example of today's average American Family (well, besides the haunting and psychic ability thing that is).

I think that all of the books we read this quarter have qualities that are impressive. Though we all may not have liked all of the books, they do offer something different to the reader. Personally, I enjoyed reading The Shining and Bean Trees the most.
I feel that these papers could be very interesting to do. I must say though, I was shocked to hear that some people have not read critical essays on books before. I don't want to sound pompous but when I read a book and love it, I actually enjoy reading essays about it because they open completely different meanings for the book. Sometimes critical essays make you realize how genius some authors are. I'm sure all of these books have really interesting essays about them.
Anyways, I just wanted to say that I enjoyed class discussions and I think we brought up many valid points during class. Hopefully we all learned something this quarter.

Edited by author 05-24-2002 02:11 AM
I am not an avid reader, but I read for enjoyment often enough. A few of these books I may have chosen to read. Others definitely not. Despite that, I am really glad that I was exposed to different authors. I disliked Beloved with passion, but I will admit Morrison's style was very unique.
One thing I really liked was the discussions. Sometimes I completely overlooked parts of the book that others thought were very key and it helped to hear what everyone was thinking.

    What I enjoyed most in the class was being able to discuss the books we have read. I liked being able to talk about questions on the book and every one discussing their oppinions on a specific topic. It was fun and interesting when a good depate came up to see how others feel so strongly and differently about the same topic. I feel that hearing other oppinions and views on a book is important for a better understanding of that novel.

I can't say that I learned anything in this class because most of the issues that were discussed I have heard before. I can say that I enjoyed a couple of the books that we read and disliked others(The Shining, especially!). I liked the discussions we had and how people brought up things in the books that I had overlooked. All in all I think it was a good class, and I'm glad that I was able to take it.

One of the main things that i learned in this class is that there are many different family types. This does not mean that one types is better than anoter, just different. Also, this quarter i learned that reading books can be enjoyable. I have never really read a book that i was not forced to, but after taking this class, i would think about reading certain books like the shining. Overall, i had a fun quarter and really enjoyed hearing everyone's comments concerning all of the different books.

I agree with a lot of what people have already posted. I found the class very enjoyable and I love to read so the homework was more like leisure to me. It's true most of the books we read I would never have picked on my own, but I'm glad I was exposed to the different styles of writing and different views on the American family. Also, I love to hear what other people have to say about certain issues in the books because people are so oppinionated (in a good way) and have so many different ideas. Although, I rarely shared my oppinions in the class, I was fortunate enough to have this discussion board to leave my thoughts and ideas. I liked all the books at least a little bit, and The Shining and Bastard Out of Carolina were my favorites. I'm writing my paper on Bastard Out of Carolina because I enjoyed the book a lot. At the beginning of the year I didn't have time to read but with this class I had that opportunity, and since we'ver read Bastard Out of Carolina I've read three books on my own. I know this has nothing to do with the class but I want to suggest the book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, to everyone because it's an excellent book. It reminds me of a modern day Catcher in the Rye. So with that, good luck to everyone on their research papers!

I learned a lot more about life from this class than anything else. Many people don't realize the abuse and neglect that goes on in families, because they do not grow up with it. I grew up in a house where there was no abuse or alcohol, and that sort of set a standard that made me think, "gee, if I don't see that, then maybe other families don't either." And that was unbelieveably nieve of me. I knew it was out there, but I never knew how prodominate it was over today's society. I learned that family always comes first, whether it is your blood family or not.
And I also learned that families come in all shapes in sizes, there is no such thing as a "normal" family.

Well I'm not going to say I've learned a lesson in life or anything quite so dramatic as that, but I will agree that I've been exposed to quite a few good books that I never would have read had it not been for this class. I've always known the things we read about go on in the world, but I've always been rather apathetic about it. I've never had to deal with it, so I never really bothered much with it. Through reading about it though, I think that maybe I've come to understand more and even sympathize with those who earlier I would hardly consider a victim (Bone's mom for example). In all, I enjoyed almost all of the books, and I'm glad I read the one I didn't enjoy, because now at least I know I don't like it and I can even tell people why. I like being able to have an opinion on something, because I value my own opinion so much:P

I'd have to agree with Jared that this class didn't really introduce me to anything I haven't seen before, but it was nice to have the forum to be able to discuss our different opinions. Looking back on the year I'm glad that I was able to hear everyone's different arguments, even though I didn't agree with many of them. I'm also glad I got a chance to read literature instead of just textbooks for a class. On that note, I still hate Beloved.

This weeks topic of conversation appears to be what we learned in class. I didnt learn much from this class, however it did change my view of the American Family. I realized everyone comes from different walks of life. This class introduced me to a few books that i enjoyed and recommended to my mother who loves to read. All and all i enjoyed the class.