Mrs. Dalloway: Flowers

Reading this book is difficult, especially only a few pages in. Every passage seemed like a blur to me as I tried to piece together what exactly was happening. The first passage that really stuck out to me was on page 12, starting with "Nonsense!". This struck me because that's exactly what I felt like the whole book had been about so far, nonsense. It also is repeated twice, "Nonsense! Nonsense!", as if Mrs. Dalloway is shaking herself from an idea, which she is. This diction and repetition shows the seamless transition through Mrs. Dalloway's thoughts and her surroundings, which has happened throughout the novel so far. It seems to be a stream of consciousness style of writing, which I believe is highly affective to show a character's inner thoughts, especially if they have a mental illness which I believe Mrs. Dalloway does. To me, it was interesting how Mrs. Dalloway could say "Nonsense!" and be shaken out of her daze while also having the same effect on the reader. By including this command, the reader also gets pulled out of Mrs. Dalloway's daze, making it seem like they were Mrs. Dalloway.
I also liked the next paragraph that followed, the one that began with, "There were flowers". If I was Mrs. Dalloway and had a mental disease that I knew about, I would probably dream that I were something more beautiful than myself. Sure, this may come from being self-conscious about it if that were the case, but I'd want to see beauty in other things and have people see beauty in me, just like a flower. From this paragraph, I felt like Mrs. Dalloway was comparing herself to a flower, or at least imagining herself as one, again getting caught up in her dreams versus her surroundings. She personifies the flowers, "holding their heads up. . . as if it were the evening and girls in muslin frocks came out. . . every flower seems to burn by itself" (Woolf 13). She may be comparing the flowers to herself, reminding herself to hold her head up even though she has an illness. The "evening and girls" phrase may show how she is a party planner, and the burning may show that her illness is really hurting her. Perhaps this is foreshadowing through flowers, and if that's the case, then I think that's pretty cool.

Harkness Reflection

Overall, I felt that the Harkness went really well. I definitely enjoyed it better than a test and liked that we had this opportunity, because some people aren't the strongest test takers. Also, it was interesting to have a discussion run solely by the class. The hardest part was jumping in to say something, so maybe next time we can come up with a way to respectfully share our ideas but making sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to talk. We could raise our hands or use another method to let others know that we have something to say. I think our conversation also stayed interesting, as we talked about truth versus fiction, death, and Tim O'Brien. By having this discussion, we were able to talk about what we found important and certain stories that stuck with us, rather than having to answer questions about things that we could have forgotten. We could also comment on other people's thoughts in real time.  I would have found it interesting to sit in on another class discussion to see where their conversation went, because I feel like conversations could differ so much depending on the group or students. I wasn't sure how this would play out at first, but I'm happy with how it did. I think everyone spoke up equally and I believe that everything that was shared was important and intelligent. I also think that Dr. Spiegel should hang up the drawings on the wall to make some cool art.

1: "The Things They Carried"

The story that was my favorite was "On The Rainy River". I am a true believer in the fact that 'a little fresh air can cure anything'. I found it interesting that Tim was able to realize that he needed this time to himself, to figure out what he was going to do. He was tired of his monotone job and was anxious about war; overall he was struggling with his life. So he had the courage to pick up and leave. In this circumstance, he just drove until he found a place that he found comfortable. I believe this was his fate. His fate was to have a boring job, get a draft card, become anxious and stressed with his life, and then run off and find Tip Top Lodge. This lodge healed him in a sense, and I believe it was fate that this would happen so he would get the oppurtunity to heal and have self-reflection and figure out what his next step was. I also believe it was his fate to write this book, as another healing process. He opens this chapter with the sentence, "This is one story I've never told before" (O'Brien 37). The reason he hadn't was because of embarresment. In this book, just like at the Lodge, O'Brien is learning healthy ways to cope with feelings. Before the war, he was upset and conflicted about whether or not to go, so he did self-reflection in the Lodge. After the war, he still had a lot of negative feelings, such as embarresment, and he is doing a self-reflection as he writes this book to learn it is okay to open up. Because of this trip to the lodge, Tim ultimately makes a decision that will shape his life, as he chooses to go to war. He was a little shaky on this trip, but as he is leaving he is able to stand on his own two feet, knowing he made the right decision. I believe that without this trip, Tim's confliction would have torn him apart. 

Sueños Jorge Luis tarea

1) Si, yo tengo sueños que te hayan parecido reales mucho noches. Tengo estos sueños cinco noches a la semana.  Si, mucho a veces es difícil a distinguir entre los sueños y la realidad. Que da miedo cuanto tengo una pesadilla porque cuando me despierto no puedo recordar lo que real y lo que es falso. La pesadilla que yo tengo más frecuencia es donde yo estoy pequeño y las cosas a cerca de me están grandes y no puede mover. A veces, yo tengo pesadillas donde yo estoy muy grande y las cosas a cerca de me están más pequeño y otra vez no puede mover. Pero mayoría de las noches, yo tengo sueños vivos con muchos colores. 

3) Cuando el narrador dijo es necesario aceptar los sueños como hemos aceptado el universo, el no dijo nada sobre entendiéndolos. Es importante que comprender cosas, no sólo aceptarlas. Si sólo aceptamos los sueños y la realidad, no vamos a aprender nada. Es importante que cuestionar las cosas como sueños y realidad para que podamos ser más inteligentes a nosotros mismos. El narrado no está explorando nada, sólo la acepta. Creo que es un error porque no está aprendiendo nada y es más importante a distinguir los sueños y la realidad. 

5) No creo que usted puede demostrar que usted existe en la vida real, creo que sólo hay que creer. Nadie sabe si están vivos o sólo un sueño. Creo que usted no sabe la respuesta a estas preguntas hasta que esté muerto. Yo podría ser un sueño de alguien, pero creo que si soy un sueño entonces todos los demás es un sueño también. Todas las personas en esta tierra podría ser el sueño de Dios. Creo que la única cosa que todos podemos hacer es vivir la vida como si estuviéramos en la realidad y creemos que somos reales. Creo que en el final de mi vida cuando me muera, voy a saber la respuesta a esta pregunta. No creo que hay una respuesta real en estos momentos.