midterm analysis

Monica Steinbrecher
Paul Gleason
EN 303
8 October 2008
Throughout the course of this semester so far, I have completed six blog entries. Over the weeks, the entries have improved and also changed styles. All three stages of reading development have been touched on in at least one entry.
The first few weeks were very centered upon first and second stage. I try to really keep “I” out of as much writing as I can, but the entries that were “I” based were mostly asking questions. My entry on September 9th about the first section of Murakami was completely “I” format. I had never really encountered a book anywhere near this before and this blog entry basically expression my confusion throughout the book and a general dislike for it. While I think I am generally beyond such formats for my writing, with so much confusion I would never have been able to relate the information to other texts or social aspects. The entry that was completely in stage two was about Haroun and relating it to the Wizard of Oz. We did the comparisons in class and thinking of all the ways that the two texts were similar was not only really interesting but helped out my understanding a lot.
I’m not sure where some of my other entries fall. They aren’t really relating the text to other texts, nor are they relating them to social ideas. A few entries I focused on a specific idea or two and really went into detail about it/them, for example, the Murakami entry focusing on eating and drinking. These entries are improved from opinion and “I” based entries. However, they aren’t quite up to a level three stage.
The two most recent entries fall into the stage three category, especially the Indiana Jones entry. The Indiana Jones entry was about Willie’s obnoxious personality, but really how that related to Lucas’s view of women and how non-Americans would view her. This is probably my most sophisticated entry and an example to base future entries. The most recent entry about The God of Small Things is kind of in between a stage two and a stage three entry. I was able to relate terms from the handout to the novel. However, I was also able to back it up from the text and the presentation on the Caste system. For example, I found several different instances of subordinate positions throughout the text and among all the characters.
There are a few things I could do to improve my entries to keep them at a stage three entry. For one, keep in mind the entries I feel I did really well on and use them as a model for future reading. In the Indiana Jones entry I picked out something specific in the movie and discussed it in detail, but also found a way to bring in world notions to it (sexism). If I can continue to do so, I think my entries will be quickly improving. Talking about a specific notion or item in the text in detail is really important to find the significance of certain things. For example, the subordinate positions in Roy’s novel. A way to improve this entry would be to discuss subordinate positions of today in reality. For example, women in the radical Islamic nations. People still think that some countries are superior or inferior to others. People all over are embarrassed when they don’t think their lives or possessions live up to someone else’s.
Whenever I have to read something but don’t have to write about it (for other classes or for pleasure) I have a completely different mindset to reading. I’m completely all over the board with stages and reactions. Usually I’m pretty “I” centered, but occasionally something will strike me. I’m in three Women’s Studies classes right now and find that so much of the material overlaps. I also find myself relating the material in one class to situations and material in another class. Sometimes a certain notion will really get me to thinking about social issues or a contemporary problem in the media. Once I can relate whatever I’m reading about to something else I could really go with it. Unfortunately, unless I’m writing about the book or have some other assignment with it, I rarely bring other texts or outside issues to it.
Overall, my blog entries have taken many different angles and maintained a place in each stage. I think they have improved in the last few weeks, but there is always room for more improvement. I hope to accomplish a goal of keeping all my entries in the third level.