Music is Life

I read through the essay packet right before moving on to finish my first essay assignment. I came across Joy Harjo's "Suspended" and I found it interesting. Ironically the word I chose to focus on for my assignment was music, which is what the essay was about. This just proves that music plays such a huge role in our everyday life. However everyone's experiences, preferences and views are different.
There are so many genres for everyone to dabble through. Music can be inspirational for everyone but it touches everyone differently. Depending on someone's upbringing, daily struggles and morals music can be taken many different ways. Music is so diverse that it can be broke down so many ways. Music is worldwide, controversial and its not going anywhere.
Seeing how music makes different people feel in many different situations just makes me think about what life would be without it.
Music has gotten me and (I'm pretty sure) a lot of other people through some things in life. Whether it be a breakup or intense anger in the moment, music helps people cope or relax. It can sometimes be comforting, especially when the artist seems to relate. I personally feel that music makes the world go round.

Last of Writing Down the Bones

I thought the book as a whole did a good job at persuading the reader to write. However the last section of readings was the most inspirational for me. There were stories that gave me ideas and some even made me want to start writing in that very moment. I liked majority of the stories I read but "Go Further" and "Trust Yourself" stood out for me.
I enjoyed "Go Further" because it was about pushing yourself beyond what you may think are your limits. On a regular basis I try my best to avoid failure and this sometimes leads me to miss out on potentially great opportunities. Upon coming to college three years ago I realized that if I wanted to accomplish anything. "Go Further" reminded me of how I was when I first came to college and how much I've improved. Since I've been in Ypsilanti I have faced so many obstacles that I never thought I would or could. Today I look back proud of all that I've accomplished for the simple fact that I pushed myself to keep going in those hard times; I can now say that I learned from those times and they always, eventually, got better because I refused to give up.
"Trust Yourself" is basically about believing in yourself despite what others may think. I related to this piece for writing and in everyday life. I write poetry but I'm always hesitant to share it with other people because they might not understand or agree. They might not think that it is "real" poetry. The crazy thing is that after they read it, they usually like it. That made me realize that I need to have more faith in myself and my abilities. In life I usually do my own thing and have no problem ignoring negative opinions about how I live my life. I've learned that no matter what you do, someone is always going to disagree or have a negative opinion so you'll be better off doing what makes you happy.

The Girl with the Blackened Eye

Oates' story had great structure. The vovabulary and details used helped paint vivid (sometimes disturbing) images for the reader. These aspects could also drae empathy from the reader. She made characters, settings and feelings very easy to picture and understand exactly what was taking place.
Everything in the story was extremely graphic to the point where it seemed that it was all a movie. The author definitely did not hold back any details of whag happened to the women. This story reminds me of an episode from the series Criminal Minds. It's usually hard for me to read an entire [assigned] reading but creepily this one had me entertained from beginnkng to end. I had started to read just to get an idea of what was taking place, and then i found myself reading the whole thing. A good story should make it hard for the reader to stop.
I also wanted to talk about the story more in depth. This story has made me wonder with numerous stories and shows abiut this happening, how often does it happen?  With knowing how messed up some people are in this world, if i saw that girl in the passenger seat, i would call the police. I wouldnt endanger my well being but i would be blind to the situation. That girl could be someone's daughter, sister or friend; that girl could be me.

In Writing Down the Bones(50-100) there were two sections that stood out. They were either relatable or had a good message. In Big Concentration (79) it talks about being aware of one's surroundings when writing. If you pay attention to what's going on around you while you're writing, it could add more detail. I believed this could be a good message to people letting them know that you should always be aware, even when you aren't writing. I've learned this some time ago, which is why I'm so observant now. Everyone should learn to go about life this way.
The other section I enjoyed was called Living Twice (53). It discussed the issue of how people sort of miss out on life or things that they really enjoy doing because of money. The phrase "money makes the world go round" is being supported in this section. People sell their time because money is so important but they miss out on doing the things they enjoy. I'm convinced that people are blinded by money.

Tocqueville pg 48-66

On My Mind seems to be a story told by a teenager who's talking about their mother. This poem has a lot of details, thus providing a lot of imagery. This causes the reader to be empathetic. It gave me a good idea of what the writer was going through. There was a good amount of insight on what was happening, making it easy for me to relate.
I wouldn't say the writer is saying that their mother was terrible but she definitely had her flaws. I gathered that she was protective because of the line "yet a silliness for keeping a man around....the boy in school....the daughter unpregnant". However she lacked the emotional aspect of motherhood. She was around and wanted her children to stay on the right track. Although she never spent time with them, probably because she was too bust with a "significant other".
I chose this poem because it reminds me of the relationship I had with my mother-minus the gold tooth and cigarettes. I know a lot of people see poetry as something that's hard to understand or just a waste of time. However poetry can connect two random strangers or make someone who feels alone know otherwise due to the similarities in feelings and experiences.

Tocqueville

This week I read Tocqueville (pg 22-46) and though I was a bit confused, I liked it. For some time I honestly couldn't tell if the section was broken into pieces or if it was one whole poem. However I feel like all of the sections were on good topics. I'd also like to add that even though it was all over the place, it oddly still flowed.

I enjoyed the very first page which talked about race. It lists name of different backgrounds but puts them all in one category. It starts by talking specifically about certain individuals. Then I feel like it's basically saying that we shouldn't fight each other since, in reality we're all fighting the same fight. 

The entire reading was so good I also wanted to talk about the middle section on page 29. It was brutal and sounds like something you'd see on a crime show called criminal minds. I believe it's about a home invasion but overall a test of love. At first I was disappointed that the father would take his own child's life instead of giving their own. If they had taken his life first, there's no telling what would've happened to the child? Was it better to kill his child quickly himself or risk leaving it in a worse situation. However after he took his child's life they cut his arms off, so did he fail the test??

There was an activity in the Cameron reading that involved writing down everything you see or feel in a certain amount of time. I decided to go ahead and try this out. I found it interesting to see my thoughts and feelings that usually never leave my head, written down on paper. I've realized that I have a scatter brain but to actually see this happening and filling a paper. The thoughts that I had in that little amount of time amazed me.
My mind does not stay on one thing for too long; it is just who I am. I realize that maybe writing my thoughts down could help me be a bit more organized and help me stay focused. Since I've started college this has been a big thing for me with homework assignments and upcoming events. Writing things down helps because with my mind moving so fast all the time, i tend to forget about things. So whenever something important is coming up like an exam or a big project, i write those things down so that the unimportant things running through my brain don't get in the way of my priorities.
Along with writing down important daily things to try to help with my fast pace thinking, every now and then i try to write down how i feel. I'll usually write a letter to the person on my mind, positive or negative, and then throw it away. Though I didn't give them the letter, it still allowed me to get those things off my mind so that i can focus on other things. Other (most) times I will write a poem because I can be a secretive person. Poems allow me to express myself possibly with a play on words here and there. This makes me feel more comfortable because if someone happens to come across my private thoughts they may still not understand what/who it is that I am talking about. With that being said, writing has helped me and I think it is a good form of expression and can help everyone out at some point or another.