This Blessed House.

Lately, I have found out asking as many questions as possible helps me to develop ideas more clearly. My first observation about the story and the author is the fact that she lived in India. She was used to Hinduism, which makes me wonder if the character, Twinkle, is a reflection of her. Did Lahiri ever have a wonder what it would be like to not be Hindu? Sanjeev seems very strict and I am not quite sure how I feel about him. He talked about how he wasn't even sure if he loved Twinkle, but told her he did anyways. I didn't like that but I suppose he is in a different situation. He seems very closed minded. Twinkle is so free spirited and is excited with the new Christian items, but they anger Sanjeev. 

If it significant that Twinkle has a nickname and Sanjeev does not? Why is she so enthralled with the painting, if she is just a "good little Hindu".  What is the significance of placing all the items that they found on the mantel or, the items themselves? A painting, the Virgin Mary statue, and bust of Christ, theses are just silly little items but she placed so much emphasis on the three. The painting she wanted to hang up in the office. She is completely in love with the statue of Mary and wants to keep it in the yard and the bust of Christ was the very last thing that they found. 

I really didn't understand this story, but this what I have gotten out of "The Blessed House". Twinkle is a free spirited woman, young with beautiful features and Sanjeev is a hard and strict man. He is almost critical of what Twinkle does and says.  The things that she finds hidden throughout the house thrill Twinkle.  Yet, he just wishes they would just go away.  I didn’t get a deep message out of this story but I enjoyed it. Maybe in time with reading it again I may see the true meaning the author would like to get threw to the reader. However, as of right now I am just going to leave it as such.

4th post

After reading “Reading for Transformations through the Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins” it encouraged me to try lectio divine with all my reading. I have tried it once or twice with my daily devotions and truly enjoyed it. However, it never stuck in my routine. Perhaps involving this in my literature reading, not only in my devotions,  can help me understand what I am reading. However that was my only thought on this article. For some reason I found it hard to read and I didn’t get much out of the article.

Although, I did find Darkness, Questions, Poetry, and Spiritual hope intriguing. The question “Where is God when the word is falling to pieces?” is one I get asked almost on a daily basis at work. It is also a question I find very difficult to answer. The truth is I don’t know. I know that God is in Heaven and I know that when I am going through something I am always told God has never left me. Perhaps that is true but I am not sure how I could explain that to a nonbeliever, being that I am a “baby” believer myself. However reading through this article opened my eyes to the darkness of this world. I realized that maybe I had been looking at it the wrong way. Instead of just being confused in the darkness I should have hope.

“Jesus Promises, ‘I will never leave you.’ The presence of God with us in the dark makes it possible for us to sit with the question of darkness without being destroyed by madness. “ I really liked this quote and it is something that I have written down to keep. Seeing it explained like this makes sense in a weird way. I still find the concept hard to explain, yet I know I have the answer I was looking for.

Raymond Carver

I decided to approach this assignment like the same way we approached the poem in class. After reading it the first time I noticed that Mel and Terri are very interesting. I haven’t decided how I feel about them. Their views on love seem distorted. Terri can’t stop talking about how much her abusive ex-husband loved her. He “loved” her so much he was willing to kill for her. Mel talks about his ex-wife and how he knew he once loved her and wondered where that love went. The other couple, Nick and Laura, seems to be peaceful and know what love is and are comfortable where they are. They don’t question what they have and what they had in the past.

            The author, Raymond Carver, was an alcoholic and even after he sobered up his marriage was damaged and ended in divorce. He later got married to a different woman. Perhaps this is relevant. Maybe he is like, Terri and Mel, he had a marriage where he thought it was true love and later it was slaughtered and was irreparably damaged. They later go married to a different spouse but couldn’t stop thinking about what happened to ruin what they had.

The second time I read through this story I didn’t get much else. I noticed that the position of the sun was constantly brought up. Mel seems very confused and unhappy about his love in the past and now. He says on page 58 he’ll be glad to tell us what real love is and then later says, “What do any of us really know about love?” He doesn’t even know and I think this may make him angry. He talks about how he wishes he had been a knight because the armor keeps them from getting hurt so easily. He also says if he wasn’t with Terri and if Nick weren’t his best friend he’d be with Laura. Mel’s character bothers me. I haven’t figured out everything about him and what exactly gets me upset, but he doesn’t know what he wants. Perhaps that is where Carver was, lost. 

What you get out of what you read is determined by how you read.

     There are a few things about this chapter that will stick with me and are things I had never thought of before.
What you get out of what you read depends on how you read. Do I take notes, reread lines, and pay attention to details? To be honest, not often. It is something I would like to work on though. 
     When I read for a class I often just read through the book as fast as I can retaining little to no information, or only retaining the information long enough for the test. However, having to sit and work with the information I have read it is a completely different story. Which I suppose, this was the main purpose of this chapter. Although, I find that if I am interested in a book,I am rereading more intently, taking notes, and paying attention to every detail to learn more.
     Perhaps, I do need to start not only reading but getting more involved in my reading. Get more involved with the author, learning about their past and culture. I  had never thought about how important and relevant that truly could be. For example, going back to one of my favorite books, A Million Little Pieces. Though the author made up the story, he used his personal experiences throughout the story to make it more realistic. The pain he felt you could feel, just by understanding his story and paying attention to the small details he makes throughout the dialouge. When listening to your favorite songs listening to the words can help you understand the artist better. You can feel their emotions, good or bad. Before reading this chapter I had never even thought about how this could be helpful to understanding the piece of work and fully appericating it for what it was. There are numerous expamples I could make. 
     But I am learning that paying attention to lanuage,culture, and history could make a literary work much less confusing and easier to read and understand.

Literary Profile.

My earliest memory of literature is a book my Dad would read to me daily, "Two Cool Cows". It was about two cows, Milly and Maude, who wore sunglasses. I am not really sure why I enjoyed this story so much but, we wore out many copies of it. I also remember the obvious classics like Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Bears, and my second all time favorite, Franklin.

           Some of my recent memories of literature include, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Jesus For President, A Million Little Pieces, and sadly Twilight.( Also, I obviously read my Bible and any textbooks required for class.) I don't read often and when I do I mostly just read the same books repeatedly. It is hard for me to sit down and read even for a little while, it is hard to keep my attention on that one thing. However, A Million Little Pieces by James Frey is one of my favorite books. Perhaps it is not the best book, very vulgar, but I love how raw the dialect is. There in nothing in the book that is fabricated to make you feel warm inside, its just the "truth". 

            I think I am really going enjoy this class. The fact that this class is so nontraditional is really exciting. It is a breathe of fresh air. The article, "Literature Is a Thing You Do as Part of Life" just makes me even more excited to see what is in store for this semester. I am really looking forward to the painting day and I look forward to being able to read and appreciate literature more. I have always enjoyed reading but have never done it much. I am just excited to have a new fresh outlook on reading and literature itself.