Final Project Proposal

I am wanting to do option #2 and am planning on using vampires as my monster. I am going to read the Southern Vampire novels by Charlaine Harris and use True Blood as a secondary source. I love the series and am interested in seeing how the actual novels convey vampires in modern times. The idea of vampirism has always been something I have wanted to look into and love to research. I am hoping by really looking into the hidden meanings in the books and the series I will get a deeper insight to what is really trying to be conveyed by the authors. I am also going to use other websites for my research. http://bestfantasystories.com/a-comparison-of-true-blood-vs-charlaine-harris-books/ This link is just one of many sites that compare the books to the HBO series.

Mid-Term Check In

To Whom It May Concern:

Well, it has definitely been a long road so far and we are only half way through. I guess I was not prepared at all for this class because I have not done the work that I know I can do. I guess I just was not mentally prepared for all I was going to have to put into 4 classes this semester. I haven't been in school full time in 18 years so it has been more than I was imagining in my head. One of the harder things in this class was reading Frankenstein. I really could not get into this book. I am so used to reading whatever I want and I had never considered reading a classic. I have learned though that I need to be much more focused during the second half of the semester. I am really looking forward to the literary analysis during the second half as I love the subject matter we are looking at reading. I made a vow to myself that I am going to do every assignment and get the grade I know I can get.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Walker

Response to a Poem

I was actually moved by the poem Fairy-tale Logic by A.E. Stallings. I have not read any fairy tales since I was a child and it reminded me of why I loved them. I miss stories of witches and wizards, good vs. evil, and love unconditional. Yes we have stories like those still but fairy tales are written in such an innocent, wonderful way.The line "You have to fight magic with magic. You have to believe" (9) just touched me deep inside. I wanted to go sit down and take with me a copy of Grimm's fairy tales and get lost in the stories. This poem was your typical poem as well and I mean by rhyming and was straight forward. I have never been the type of person

who liked poetry that was confusing and full of hidden meanings. I think we all have different types of poems or stories that we just don't understand or that just reach into us and makes us feel like it was written especially for us. This poem was that way for me.

Summary Vs. Analysis

When it comes to summary vs. analysis it seems very simple. Summary is just basically telling someone what

the story is about. No guess work is involved and no opinions are needed. As an example one of my favorite

books is Blood Trinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon, by looking at the book on her website you are given a quick

summary of the novel, http://www.sherrilynkenyon.com/book/blood-trinity/ . Now if I were to explain what I

believe the author is trying to get across to me through this story that would be an analysis. I believe in Sherrilyn's

story she is showing us a strong female lead character who doesn't necessarily follow all the rules to fight evil. An

analysis to me is very opinion based and doesn't need to tell someone all the facts of the story.

Nabakov - Good Readers and Good Writers

Nabakov is saying that to be a good reader you must have an open mind and not judge a book before you actually read it. We tend to form opinions about things and use that pre-judgement and not actually open our minds to what the author actually intended. I do believe this is true. I have many a time looked at a novel and just based on the title formed an opinion about it. After reading his opinion I am more aware of this and am going to strive to keep an open mind about literature. He also states that we need to visualize the places and people that the author is describing to us which I highly agree with. What is the point of the author describing things if we are not going to use our imagination?


I do believe that I am a good reader as I do try to visualize what I am reading. I love descriptive novels that bring me into the story. I also think that to be a good reader you have to want to be in that world with the main character. You have to feel what they do and take personally what happens during the story. I am a very emotional reader and catch myself all the time getting happy, sad, or angry over something in the story.