http://tagcrowd.com/ ---doesnt work heres a link to the cloud after i printscreened it and then uploaded it to photobucket...http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/SammyRZ/daisymillerwordcloud.jpg
I made a word cloud for Daisy Miller because I was really interested to see if the word pretty really was one that was used a lot in this story. I was really interested to find that "Winterbourne" was the most used word in this story, especially considering the fact that the story really isn't about him. "Pretty" is used quite a bit though, not nearly as much as "Winterbourne" then "Daisy" then "Young" then "Mrs" then "Daisy". I find it very ineresting that "young" is a big word, considering the discussion we had today about what "pretty" meant in the terms of this story, and what it usually implies about the person being described. "Young" was one of the first words we used to decribe pretty and its used a lot.
"Girl", "Going", and "American are also really intersting words to have repeated in this story, based on the fact that the characters travel so much in the story and it is a story about a girl, and the main characters are all american. After finally finishing this story, I found it a little more intersting than I previously thought, but it still needs to get to the point much quicker in many, many cases. Beyond all of that though, I found it the most intersting of all that Winterbourne is the most used word in this story, especially since I thought he was essentially the narrator of the story.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Mark Twain is the first comedian!
More than anything I was struck by the hilarity of Mark Twain’s writing. I realize that he wrote serious pieces and parts of Huck Finn are serious as well, but everything that we have read so far has been so funny! The dry, sarcastic tone to most of the things he writes, and the fact that he makes so much fun of respected authors of the time without even a care. It’s funny that the people being made fun of and the people reading it don’t understand the fact that he is trying to be funny. The lack of understanding makes it even funnier to read after the fact.
Everything that Mark Twain writes that is supposed to be taken seriously as isn’t serious at all. He starts out his writing as though it is serious, maybe a brochure or a analysis of people and starts out like it is saying something good about the place or person and then he undercuts himself by saying something that comes across as negative. A good example of this is “A Visit to Niagara” where he describes Niagara Falls and its good features and almost immediately says something you would not want to see or hear about the place. Also when he makes fun of important people, the outrage and anger that people do in reaction is funny to readers of our time because its so easy for us to see that it is meant as a joke and obviously isn’t meant to be taken in complete seriousness. We can tell that it is a roast of that person. I love it, I love this type of sense of humor and it actually makes me want to read more by Mark Twain. I think that Mark Twain created the roast and was the first true comedian as we know comedians today.
Everything that Mark Twain writes that is supposed to be taken seriously as isn’t serious at all. He starts out his writing as though it is serious, maybe a brochure or a analysis of people and starts out like it is saying something good about the place or person and then he undercuts himself by saying something that comes across as negative. A good example of this is “A Visit to Niagara” where he describes Niagara Falls and its good features and almost immediately says something you would not want to see or hear about the place. Also when he makes fun of important people, the outrage and anger that people do in reaction is funny to readers of our time because its so easy for us to see that it is meant as a joke and obviously isn’t meant to be taken in complete seriousness. We can tell that it is a roast of that person. I love it, I love this type of sense of humor and it actually makes me want to read more by Mark Twain. I think that Mark Twain created the roast and was the first true comedian as we know comedians today.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Three Words on Emily Dickinson
It’s not a word but the use of the hyphen in Emily Dickinson’s writing is very significant, important, and intriguing. “They” is an important word in all of Dickinson’s writing, the connection she makes to the outside world even though she spends most of her adult life in seclusion is interesting. And “Me”.
The use of the hyphen is interesting in Dickinson’s writing because it adds so much emphasis to certain words, it adds voice to her writing, and it makes you notice the parts of her writing she wants noticed. It makes her point so much stronger, as she details her life and her feelings, her thoughts and her dreams, we are instructed to pause and digest as we read by each and every hyphen.
Every time she uses the word “They” it intrigues me based on the fact that Emily Dickinson spent her adult life as a recluse. After caring for her sick mother for the majority of her life before connecting to the outside world only through correspondence, she had to have experienced a good amount of life in order to connect so well with what everyone thinks. So many people consider her one of the greatest writers of all time, and most of her writing was done from memory, from vicarious living, from pretend. In her mind, she came up with these poems about herself and others, watching others live their lives.
The use of “Me” is interesting as an opposite to the word “They”. In her reclusive life, she has to keep inside her own head. Thinking about herself in terms of herself is really what her world must revolve around. Her poems become very introverted as time goes on, and you can see the change readily as her writing goes from reaching out to the outside world to reaching within herself alone.
The use of the hyphen is interesting in Dickinson’s writing because it adds so much emphasis to certain words, it adds voice to her writing, and it makes you notice the parts of her writing she wants noticed. It makes her point so much stronger, as she details her life and her feelings, her thoughts and her dreams, we are instructed to pause and digest as we read by each and every hyphen.
Every time she uses the word “They” it intrigues me based on the fact that Emily Dickinson spent her adult life as a recluse. After caring for her sick mother for the majority of her life before connecting to the outside world only through correspondence, she had to have experienced a good amount of life in order to connect so well with what everyone thinks. So many people consider her one of the greatest writers of all time, and most of her writing was done from memory, from vicarious living, from pretend. In her mind, she came up with these poems about herself and others, watching others live their lives.
The use of “Me” is interesting as an opposite to the word “They”. In her reclusive life, she has to keep inside her own head. Thinking about herself in terms of herself is really what her world must revolve around. Her poems become very introverted as time goes on, and you can see the change readily as her writing goes from reaching out to the outside world to reaching within herself alone.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Textual Studies and Emily
After working in the AML this week, I decided that what we are studying, and the connection to the internet is very interesting. Textual Studies is really cool. I have always been interested in the original writing of writers and comparing it to the finished product. I do the same thing with my own writing, going back and seeing what I changed, trying to remember why. It gives me a great deal of insight into what I was thinking at different times, something you can see when you go look at these writings online. In looking at different examples of the development of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickenson’s writing, I was excited to see that Emily would ask her sister about her writing. It makes her so much more real to know that she didn’t just come up with the amazing writing that we see today, and not only through her own revision did she come up with it, but also by asking others.
After reading some of Emily Dickinson’s writing, I found it so interesting that her lifestyle so goes against what her writing portrays. Her life as a recluse really makes her writing seem even better. The fact that she can connect to the outside world so well and describe feelings she may have never felt in her life. Everything that she wrote really touches some part of every reader. The fact that she connects to so many people, becoming probably one of the best writers of her and our time, makes her writing so much easier to appreciate. Her understanding of the world around her is so deep; her interpretation of the events going on around her is amazing.
After reading some of Emily Dickinson’s writing, I found it so interesting that her lifestyle so goes against what her writing portrays. Her life as a recluse really makes her writing seem even better. The fact that she can connect to the outside world so well and describe feelings she may have never felt in her life. Everything that she wrote really touches some part of every reader. The fact that she connects to so many people, becoming probably one of the best writers of her and our time, makes her writing so much easier to appreciate. Her understanding of the world around her is so deep; her interpretation of the events going on around her is amazing.
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