English 1109 at 10:30, M-W
09/14/20
Journal Three
So far throughout the books, The House on Mango Street, and One and Down. I feel like I am doing well in my active reading, I understand more than just the words on the page, I can decipher what Cisneros means by her passages through highlighting text, underlining key elements, and writing my opinions, thoughts, and connections in the margins. On the other hand, some things that are not going well for me is that sometimes it is hard for me to enjoy the book and have fun with it. Reading for pleasure is something I've always enjoyed but when I have to stop and make markings in the book it ruins my flow of interest for the book. I do believe that this is something I can work on. As a solution, I am going to try and first read the passages once and then go back around a second time to form my annotations so that the first time I can enjoy the reading and then I can fully analyze the text.
One of my strengths in The House on Mango Street, Is I can visualize what is happening in the book because of Cisneros's great use of imagery, similes, and metaphors. My weakness in the book includes that I sometimes get lost because Cisneros brings up a lot of different characters in the book, it jumps around a lot to different times and locations and it can be hard to fully comprehend what is happening. My strength in One and Done, Is I can grasp and understand where Clarett is coming from, I never grew up the way Clarett did and I don’t have the intentions that he did, so it can be hard to relate to where he is coming to so instead of trying to relate to his stories I imagine myself in his position and try to understand his thought process and why he did some of the things he did. My weakness is that it is hard for me to draw connections to his life and relate him. Overall I prefer to read The House on Mango Street. I find myself always wanting to read more and I love Cisneros' uses of literary devices.
So far reading Clarett a question I ask myself a lot throughout the book is If Clarett had a father figure in his life would he have less mischievous behavior during his youth and if so how would that affect him later on in his life? Something I noticed in chapters four and five is that Clarretts street life and credit, meant nothing to him, really the only thing that mattered was the attention, as long as Clarett was receiving attention and status he was alright. He realized that he can make a name for himself, a better name while playing football. In my opinion, I believe that this mentality is going to affect his decisions later on in life.
Hey, I am curious about your question too. It is an interesting topic for discussion. I believe that things could've turned out much different for Maurice if he had a good father figure in his life.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of reading the chapters first for enjoyment but then going back through to read deeper and take the notes on it, because I also think I struggle with getting into the book if I am always having to stop and write in it. I also like the question you made about Clarett and what if his father was there. I think it could have definitely made a difference but I think only if the dad were to be supportive and what not. If he wasn't maybe it could have made Clarett worse.
ReplyDeleteWow you really have a solid reading strategy described above. I may have to adopt it my self as I have been noticing that I to read similarly to you. I really do like to get caught up in the book and really get a sense of where the author wants us to be. This is good and bad, but in the end I agree because this sense of where the author wants us to be is essential to finding great literary devices in the readings. Giving ourselves the time to once again go over it and really understand it, sounds great because while looking for the story we sometimes lose sight of our original goals for reading the book in the first place. Thank you for enlightening me and at the same time sharing your ideas. Also side note I actually differ from your book choice and think that One and Done is a more enjoyable read in my opinion but I love to hear how you have come to like Cisneros and hope that I wisen up and feel the same. Good luck and hope to speak to you more.
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