SRTE Post

"Hey, Mrs. S--I filled out my SRTE form. Thanks! Love, Ant."

Self-Evalution

I can’t believe that this first semester is finally over. This English 15S course has been an amazing experience. I have learned so much in such a short time. I loved how everything we’ve learned in this course has been connected in some way. We started with the use of ethos, logos and pathos in our ad analysis paper. This opened my eyes to the techniques used in gaining the attention of audiences in all forms of advertisements. Then we moved on to writing a memoir which I’ve never done before this class. It was a great experience because for me it was in a way therapeutic. I was able to reflect on an experience in my life that has shaped me as a person. This was my favorite written assignment. With the acquired knowledge of ethos, logos, pathos and reflecting in detail a personal account; I could already see a change in myself. Next we were assigned to write a paper about what we personally define as art at Penn State or redefine Penn State as an artistic community. I chose to redefine Penn State as an artistic community after listening to a podcast about Penn State being the number one party school in the country back in 2009. I had to put Penn State in a new light so that people know that we are more than just drunk obsessed students looking for the next party. Though it was difficult I was able to do so and I took away with me a new viewpoint of my school. Our last assignment was to do a research paper on an issue of the arts. This paper was my most challenging, but it really shows how everything is connected to art. I also was able to express a concern I had with an art form that I personally enjoyed.

Now looking back at what I did in this I can truly say that I appreciate everything that was taught. This is something I never could see myself saying back when I was in high school. I also learned that if your teacher isn’t just someone gives you information to retain, but can become a mentor that inspire you to become a more rounded person. I will never forget my first English professor because you can never forget someone who shines that bright. Thank you so much Sheila, I hope that happiness and what you define as success will follow you for the rest of your life.

Second Required Reading

My second reading is a reflection of five different poems from five different authors. They all come from a website that allows people to read and listen to the poem being read by the author of the poem. The first poem that caught my attention was called “You Are Here to Receive This Prophet,” and was written by Hannah Stephenson. I am someone who takes their faith in God very seriously, and I appreciated the theme in this poem. Stephenson was saying that if you make the effort to keep faith or open yourself to the word of God, you will receive the message from him that will make your life seem much clearer than before. She also wants you to keep in mind that you have to have patience because the message will be told when your mind, body, and spirit are all instinct with each other. The second poem I listened to was called “Truth About Margaret,” and was written by Carolyne Whelan. It was about a Carolyne meeting an elderly woman named Margaret at her nana Kate’s 90th birthday party at a nursing home. Margaret saw Carolyne as a Hollywood movie star, most likely reminiscing about her past. Carolyne thought to herself that Margaret was thinking about the fun things she did back when she was a young woman. I connected with the poem because when I was a little kid I remember going to see my Nana in a nursing home. In my case I was crying because she couldn’t speak. I enjoyed the poem because it gave light to old people who still have a bit of life left in them. The third poem I listened to is called “My Father’s Grief,” and was written by Susan Facknitz. It was about her father’s anguish and him not making a big deal about it. His responsibility and guilt have been such a burden for him. With all of that help and support is the best solution. I personally can say the same about my father. He has been in the war and takes his service to this country very seriously. My father also is a hard worker who tries to make my life and everyone else he truly cares about life better. The fourth poem I listened to was called “If You Want Me,” by Ruth Foley. It was about her always being on the road. Possibly she is on the road due to work or running away from herself. Her car is marked with fast food wrappings and other trash. It seems as if she is tired of being on the road. I think Foley would love to be home wherever that is with family and friends. I know personally that this is a life that I don’t want to find myself in. I will always try to prioritize my life to balance it out with work, family, and friends. The fifth poem I listened to was called “The Peace Movement,” written by M.G. Stephens. It’s about being a better human being. It’s important to speak to people when you walk down the street. Listen to what people are saying to you. You just might learn something that could change your life. Now that I know about this website, I plan on telling my friends and family about it. I will also continue to be a visitor of this site and express my opinions of poems I read.

First Required Reading

I have gone to several poetry readings in the past two years and my English instructor, Sheila Squillante has to be one of my favorites. Before I got to class, I felt that the guest speaker was going to read to us and it happened to be Sheila. I was excited because I love poetry readings and I was very interested in what my instructor had to say about anything. My favorite of her stories were the trip to Six Flags as a child, Action Park, and Hawaii. In the story with six flags I connected with Sheila as a child who was slightly overweight. I’ve always have been skinny and I know what it’s like to be looked at different because of your appearances. My next favorite story was the action park amusement place. It probably would have been cool to grow up in the 80s.I’m very intrigued by the fact that this amusement park stayed open as long as it did. I also would like to know why parents would take their children to a place where death was so prevalent. The crazy rides, beer garden, and fried teens would have been a sight to see. Lastly, Sheila’s trip to Hawaii was really cool. When she talked about her parents going into the ocean, it was the first time heard them being intimate with each other. Overall, I enjoyed the poems though emotional, but emotion is good. I would recommend my friends and family to read her poems because it could change their view of poetry.

We Are...

When I first heard about this sex scandal, I was under the impression that Joe Paterno was sexually assaulting his football players. Then I realized that there is no way that a little old man could force a 200 something pound football player to have sex with him. Over the next few days, I learned that it was the former football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, whom allegedly molested eight boys. These boys, whom were taken under Sandusky’s wing through his improvised children foundation, had been victimized by the man who was supposed to be their role model. I was extremely upset because no man or woman should ever take innocence away from a child. It was revealed that Joe Paterno knew about at least one of these sexual acts for the past ten years and did almost absolutely nothing. Yes, Paterno reported this to higher authorities, but after seeing that the nothing was being done, he should stepped in. I know people say it’s easy to say that now that everything is out, but I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I knew that kids were being abused and I was there only way of getting help. Before I get back to Sandusky, I just want to say that I am extremely disappointed in Paterno. He is, well was one the most respected and honorable person in this community. If he would have thought about his children or even his grandchildren being put in the situation as these victims, there is no doubt in my mind that he would of tried to put an end to these sexual acts, ten years ago. I believe that Joe Paterno would have taken his heroism/legacy to the next level if he got involved. He probably would have received more support than he did with the riots. I was satisfied with the board of trustees’ decision to fire Paterno and President Graham Spanier. Getting back to Sandusky, I was livid that he had the audacity to plead innocent. My Psych teacher told our class that during the time media arrived on campus on of her students saw Sandusky at a store with no one following him. I can’t believe people are more worried about Paterno than Sandusky. Then again he is a local celebrity that would bring more attention to readers than Sandusky. All I have to say about Sandusky is that I hope when he goes to jail he will get tenfold of what he did to those boys.
After reading all of the articles and watching the videos that are on the class blog, I enjoyed Sheila and Weinreb’s articles and the daily show video. In Sheila’s article I thought that Sheila’s take on how Penn State itself is a major part of this town was very accurate. The town of State College could never be identified without this university. For, instance the fact that you could see Beaver stadium from the hospital when Sheila gave birth to both her children. I agree with Weinreb about Penn State possibly never getting back that same feeling it had before. I guess I’ll call that felling scandal free. I agree with the host of the Daily show that sympathy shouldn’t be given to Paterno. I assume that he knows from right and wrong.

Journal Prompt# 7 Kiss Me Kate!

I didn’t have a problem with going to see the musical “Kiss Me Kate” on Saturday because, all I do is eat and sleep on Saturdays. I was excited to see the musical because I enjoy the art form of acting and singing. I have been to a live theater performance before, but it was the first live musical I seen. The only other live theater performance I’ve ever seen was Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. I saw the play my senior year of high school in the school auditorium. It was mandatory for all the seniors to watch and I would recommend it to anyone who likes falling to sleep during a play. The reason my attention wasn’t captured was because of the confusing dialogue. I think that “Kiss Me Kate” was a better play because I understood what was going on in the play for the most part. I enjoyed “Kiss Me Kate” also because these actors have formal training compared to the students at my high school.

The musical theater genre as an art form is very inspiring and thrilling. I think that it incorporates many art forms in one. For instance, the design of props, paintings, and actors/singers are all examples of art. The musical theater genre is something I never gave to much thought about in relation to an education. After watching the play I have so much more respect for actors. For me at least, it was east see that these students, who performed this musical, put immense time and effort in rehearsal. When I looked in the eyes of some of these actors I could see and feel that they were passionate about what they do. I was so inspired by the performance, that I started thinking about majoring in theater. Then I read the biographies of all the actors and saw that they had years of acting and singing experience under their “belts,” so I’m still sticking with biology. My favorite musicals would have to be “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (film), and The Wiz (film)”.I have watched these musicals thousands of times since I was a kid. “Kiss Me Kate” was a great musical, but it could never measure up to “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (film), and The Wiz (film)”. Both of these musicals have been influential to Americans for many decades.

I have never seen on read Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew”. With that said, I do think that the show did enough to integrate it seamlessly. That is because I understood the basis of what happens in the actual play. There is a man with two daughters, one who looks forward to marriage while the other doesn’t. The father has to make a deal with a man to marry the daughter who feels that marriage isn’t for here, while the other daughter has three guys fighting for her hand in marriage. Eventually the daughter who doesn’t want to be married comes around and falls in love with her husband.

My favorite part of this experience was seeing the audience connect with what was going on in the musical. The musical had several plays inside a play and one was that of the time period of the 1940s era. The audience was mainly elderly and looked as if they lived during World War II. There were certain instances when something was said in the musical that people from that time era would know. Another favorite experience I had was watching the “gangsters” of the musical join the play and have a great time being part of it. It was a contradiction because society views gangsters as extremely masculine and serious. These gangsters were very friendly and fun seeking young men. I would recommend this musical to all of my friends, family, and people who enjoy exciting musicals. I would like to see this musical again and I’m open-minded about learning about other upcoming plays at Penn State.

Journal Prompt #6: This Penn State Life

The podcast on This American Life about Penn State being #1 party school, made me feel like someone finally knew how I felt. I agreed with everything that was said in the podcast. As a college student who knows what goes on at these parties, I can say with confidence that this podcast was and still is accurate. As, a Penn State student, I felt ashamed by the behavior of these students. I will never understand why the school gives admission to people who focus their time on binge drinking, reckless behavior and violence. Even though I refrain from drinking, I honestly don't have a problem with students who choose to drink. As long as you know your limits, drinking should always be a pleasant experience. I personally have no problem waiting until I'm 21 years old. I've had enough traumatic experiences for a lifetime. When students get drunk they don't realize that the school's reputation gets tarnished. What I mean by that is after graduating from Penn State and starting your job hunt, there are companies that will refuse to give you a chance, solely on the fact that you went to Penn State. These companies assume that you went to Penn State to party and not just to further your education. We as Penn State students know that isn't true. After a hard week of classes, it's only right to have some fun, but the problem is some students don't know when to stop.

The ethos from the podcast comes from the fact that Penn State being #1 party school two years ago, was ranked by the Princeton Review. I would say that its credibility is weak because it's ranked only by students. Students would rank Penn state number one just for the title. The votes should have come from faculty and the people of this community too because they see what goes on at these parties or they see what happens when students leave the parties. For instance the bar owner Ray Rocke, said he would rather see students who are lively and fun than too see students who are depressed and hate the world. Rocke has great credibility because he has been at been state for almost 2o years in 2009. Pathos would be when the interviewers began talking about the deaths associated with drunken students. Example is, Joe Dado who drank plenty, but his BAC wasn't too high that he would die. It was the fact that he had a loss of balance. This should inspire students to stop binge drinking. I felt proud when Ira Glass said that students love Penn State no matter what. Our well known chant "We are...Penn State,.Thank you... You're Welcome," shows that we as students aren't ashamed of whom we are and we aren't willing to change for anyone but ourselves. The logos that stood out to me are that at this time over 30,000 students drank alcohol during the weekend. That is more than most schools in the country. A small definition at stake is wild parties= trips to the cleaners. A large definition at stake is Penn State=party. Overall, I feel that the school won't put too much effort in controlling drinking on campus and around campus because that would hurt their "money flow" drastically. Tailgating is a Penn State tradition that Alumni partake in before football games and without it alumni might not contribute many donations too the school. For instance, the school made well over 100 million dollars just from alumni contributions. I highly doubt they school is willing to give that up, even though I though a life would be more important than money.