Hanexi Perez Ramirez  
Prof. Cynthia Pittmann
ENGL 3103-134
June 2018

Blog Reflection 

As in the previous semester, we had as a subject the realization of a blog. In comparison with the last experience with this project, this time it will be a group blog where each member of the group will publish their work together with the other members. The realization of a blog related to the topics studied and discussed in class seems to me a very intellectual and modern idea. Integrating technology in academic purposes always seemed to me something very innovative and very useful. It was during the previous semester when for the first time I had the experience of creating a blog, and on this occasion, I could have a better command and understanding of it.

In my opinion the previous experience where each one could decorate and manage his blog to his taste and style seems more interesting to me. I support my thinking with the fact that most of the blogs on this occasion were much simpler and more basic compared to the previous experience where the variety of photos and videos abounded in each of our blogs. Also, on this occasion many colleagues had difficulties with access to the group blog and with the publication of their entries. Another detail is the platform that Blogger uses for each publication, a program that is compatible with Word would be much more useful and beneficial, and it will be even easier to use videos, photos and many other additional details. In conclusion, I think that this blog project is an excellent idea what does the learning more attractive and interesting to the student. But it is a better experience when is make it individually and with another program will be even better.  

Work cited

Pittman, Cynthia. Class Assignment. Blog Reflection. UPRRP. June 2018

Hanexi Pérez
Professor Cynthia Pittmann
ENGL 3103-138
June 5, 2018

Journal Reflection 

After a semester of being affected by the natural catastrophe that hit Puerto Rico and that being my first semester as a university student, I had again the opportunity to carry out the journal project and the life compass project. In comparison with my first experience with both projects, it was one of greater benefit and learning. Having, already, an idea of ​​what the two projects really consist of and having a better command of the guidelines, in both jobs, this second experience was much more useful and worthy. As for the Journal Project my mentality has changed remarkably since, unlike the previous experience, I was able to enjoy and improve my writing without. Besides that, now I could really understand the abstract idea of ​​the Project that is to express my thoughts and dedicate myself a few minutes of the day to self-reflect or organize myself while I am practicing my written English. I no longer have to write for ten minutes, now I felt that those minutes were flying. Before maybe I was a bit afraid or lazy to be obligated to write for a few minutes and it was a challenge for me but after letting go and daring my perception changed.

As for the life compass project, I think it is a technique that was very useful for me and could be very useful for many people. It is an exercise that must be done by everyone at least once a day. This exercise works as a self-evaluation of four very important aspects of the human being. In my case it worked pretty well since it was the time of the day where I analyzed how I felt physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally. This evaluation made me analyze what were the possible factors that caused some effect in any of the aspects. In addition to that you can analyze some pattern in one of those four areas and how you are influencing in some way in my decisions of that day. You could say that this is my favorite project because it is fast, direct and very useful.

Unlike the two previous projects this project was one in which almost no work was done but it was quite fun. This new project is named as a multi-project Project, this work had as its objective the realization of different types of genres that we study. I suppose that because of the little time available that we had in this special semester, it was not possible to carry out a significant amount of work, but the few we did were interesting. The activity of writing a letter to my young self was an activity that I enjoyed a lot because I had to reflect on many of my decisions taken throughout my life and I could at least imagine what would have happened if I had taken the other path as It would have been to continue playing baseball. It also helped me to add value and remember several of my achievements, sometimes remembering your victories helps you remember how great you can be.

In conclusion, the set of projects carried out during this academic period were very useful and teaching for me. The previous experience with two of the three projects helped me to get a better benefit and understanding of this. I find them very useful jobs for anyone, it helps you identify your mistakes and reanalyze your actions.

            Work Cited

Pittman, Cynthia. Class Assignment. Journal Reflection. UPRRP June 2018

Jan: Comic

Hanexi Pérez
Professor Cynthia Pittmann
ENGL 3103-138
May 31, 2018

My Sparky Life 

Hanexi Pérez
Professor Cynthia Pittmann
ENGL 3103-138
May 24, 2018

Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman

After reading the graphic story title “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” by Art Spiegelman, I could say that it is a really interesting literary production, which captivates the reader's attention by presenting the experiences lived by a Jewish in the Holocaust period. The story presented in a graphic style went since the younger years of Spiegelman’s father through many stages of his life like the engagement, prewar period or the marriage during the German domain and how he deals to survive with his family. Vladek Spiegelman had to take tough decisions and sacrifices for the goodness of his family hoping for a better wellness in each one of the situations. It also showed the post effects of all those hard years of constant persecution and instability suffered by Spiegelman’s father. 

The graphics of the story are so worthy to understand and visualize the circumstances of the moment, which are a very unpleasant ones. The images used to illustrate the story are perfectly related to the text since the employment of black and white colors to a simple drawing technique. The utilization of black and white method fits perfect to represent the darkness and difficulty of the moment, the time in which the story occurs, the pain and segregation suffered by a sector of the society and makes it easier for the imagination of all the success. The simplicity of the drawings is another detail that is absolutely related to the text because both of them are truly understandable and appreciable to any reader, which makes this graphic story an easy one to comprehend and interpret. Another aspect of the graphics of Maus is their size and gutter, there is a great flexibility on the application of the gutters to administrates the images and their sizes in the graphic story. Even though the gutters change constantly during the whole story, they are well organized with the text, allowing the reader to enjoy the masterpiece without complications.

There are some aspects of this graphic story that are quite interesting to many readers who are observant and alert. The whole story is composed by animal faces with the purpose of portray different nationalities and races. It is also funcional to represent all the people that were mentioned by Spiegelman’s father during the story telling that the author never saw. Every sector of the society has their own animal face. The Jews are reveal like mice, no matter their origins, there were the most susceptible animals during the entire story inasmuch as they have to refugee in small places or bunkers to hide from getting chased by the Nazis. They are seemed like a type of pest or something that the people often to exterminate. Being the cat the natural hunter of the mice, the Germans were showed as cats. The analogy of the cat and the mice match perfectly with the historic event between Nazis and Jews. Another community was part of the story, they were the Polish. The Polish were depicted as pigs, they were the ones able to give the better witness existing of this horrified event. The pigs were also dominated by the Nazis, but they weren’t chased or abused by them, they can stay in their houses working and have a normal life under the rules of the Nazi domain. 

One of the most interesting aspects of this graphic story are the themes presented. The impact of the war it is introduced since the beginning of the story with the strong character of his father. Vladek Spiegelman still having many habits and ideas that he obtains from all those hard years of war. He hoards many things that weren’t so useful or necessary just to be prepared in case that any tragedy occurs again. The old man had sufficient money secured in the bank and no one have access to it, even his actual wife. Vladek had turn into a kind of selfish and grumpy man like consequence of his experiences. Another one who suffered so much the impact of the war was Spiegelman’ s mother, Anja. She had emotional problems before the war began, but the war events magnified her unhappiness even more. In addition, she lost her family and her first son, Richie, all this reason is the justification to her decision of taking her own life.  The morality is another theme presented in this story, in the middle of all the pain, persecution and suffer Vladek had to appeal to many people to ask for help or housing. In war times nobody will risk their own security to help other ones, even your own family wouldn’t do it. Help people that are being hunted could cost your freedom or even your life. The few ones that took  the risk did it only for money, like Mrs. Kawka and Mrs. Motonowa do it for Vladek and Anja giving them a place to hide from the Germans. 

Finally, I think that this graphic story is an excellent way to learn and complement the history between the Jews and the Nazis, which could be a little bit unpleasant and uncomfortable for many people who felt disgusted and sad with this event. I think that this graphic story is a brilliant idea to explain the success with an alternative modality and with a good illustration of the concepts related to the Holocaust, like it was the idea of the animal faces. This graphic story must be very useful to those who didn’t have the age to comprehend the complexity of the historic events, presenting them the same incidents and concepts with elemental images and the anecdotes of someone who live this hell. Other thing that makes this graphic story so cool is the constant change of moments between the anecdotes and experiences of Vladek, and the moments between Spiegelman and his father in the present of the story. That fact facilitates the reader the comprehension and invite him to imagine it like it was him the one who is hearing that kind of story from his dad.  

Hanexi Pérez
Professor Cynthia Pittmann
ENGL 3103-138
May 22, 2018

Graphic Fiction Questions

Elements of Fiction:

Does the graphic fiction feature a central character or set of characters? How does this character or set of characters provide a focal lens for the story?

·         The graphic fiction it does feature a central character or set characters converting them into the focal point of the story. All the panels presented in the graphic fiction are based or directly related to the central character or set of character, this is one of the literary elements that the fiction shares with the graphic fiction. 

Visual Elements:
How do the visual elements of the graphic work together to create the story’s meaning? What are the most important graphic elements being used by the artist to convey the story? 

·         The visual elements of the graphic operate simultaneously to produce the meaning of the story giving to it a structure and organization that allows the reader to comprehend and follow the sequence of the graphic fiction. They are so useful to the understanding and convey key aspects of the story’s meaning. Each graphic element has a worthy purpose but there are some elements that are indispensable to the graphic fiction. The panels and the dialogue balloons are the most important graphic elements because there are the ones which illustrated the image and contains the dialogue between each character. Another important element is the gutter, which divides the scenes and give a sequence to the graphic fiction. 

Narrative and Graphic Jumps:
How does the graphic fiction rely on the reader’s ability to provide narrative information that is not presented by words or images on the page? Does the work contain few or many narrative and visual gaps?  

·         The graphic fiction can trust on the reader’s ability to provide narrative information that is not presented on the page because it has a sequence of panels and scenes that gives to the reader the opportunity to infer the omitted information. Like is presented on the book, if one panel illustrated an person standing at the bottom of a mountain and the next panels shows that person standing at the top of the mountain we can infer that the character climbed up the mountain. The quantity of narrative and visual gaps that a graphic fiction could have it depends of the time that the story requires. Because if is a story that occurs in one hour it should have only a few gaps but if is a story that occurs in one day could have many gaps. 

Graphic Style:
How would you describe the style of the graphic work? What seems to be the artist’s signature style?

·         I would describe the style of the graphic work by focusing myself on how realistic and the complexity of the illustrations. The lines and the techniques used in the graphic work also helps me to describe the style of the work.  The artist’s signature style is often to be the colors and the type of drawing of the artist, the intensity and the detailed are distinguishable for each artist. 

How does the style match the story being told? Is the style a good match for the themes and concepts being conveyed by the narrative?  

·         The style is directly related to the story being told, it is the one which gives to the story his own design and shape. The style will infer with the interpretation that the reader could have of the story. And it is obviously associated with the themes and concepts being conveyed by the narrative since the style will insinuate and suggest the concepts presented in the story. For example, a dark and obscure style will make the reader interpret the story as a gloomy or tenebrous one. 

Work Cited

Elements of Graphic Fiction. Literature for Composition: An Introduction to Literature. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, and William E. Cain. 10th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. 522-529

Jan: Blog Reflection

Jan C. Navarro

Prof. Pittmann

Engl 3104 – 134

6 June 2018

Blog Reflection

            Just like in the last semester, we must do a blog as well for this semester, the only difference being that the blog in the last semester was a personal one but this one was a group one which was a bit weird, to say the least. But it turned out nice and it’s a bit better than all the members having their own blog since in this main blog you can find the work you want to come on in the post menu. It’s that easy.

            Though we had a few technical problems with the account and website, there were remedies to it since we in a group, before I got access to the account again, the member of my group that I had to give my work to was Hanexi, but since I fixed the issue that I had I am able to do it myself.

I found the blog to be very helpful platform to express your righting. It gives you a certain creative liberty on how you write things and how you post them which is good. I found myself intrigued and a bit freighted that I will be posting my works online. Because it’s one thing posting your writings in a website where you need a password given by the teacher to access it than putting all those writing on a website were basically anyone can have access to.

           Overall, though I had a bit of a rough start, I ended up enjoying this project very much. This project even inspired me to continue my writing and possibly even create my own personal blog where I can upload my own stuff.

Jan: Journal, Compass, and Multigenre Reflection

Jan C. Navarro Lopez

Prof. Pittmann

ENGL 3103-134

5 June 2018

Through Journals, Compass, and Art

We had to do the journals again this semester, the professor gave the same rules. As last time, those being, using an ink pen for all entries, don't worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar, and keeping your hand moving. Those rules were easy to understand. Then there were some rules that I didn’t understand at the moment such as lose control, don't think, don't get logical, go for the jugular, and write your first thoughts, out of these the ones that I had a hard time following were the ones of not thinking, not being logical and, the one of writing your first thoughts like, how were we supposed to write a journal entry without thinking what to write about or the ideas that you write about in that paper not being coherent with each other. Yet, as the teacher explained it more it made more sense. This wasn’t going to be your typical journal where you start with “Dear journal…” or “Dear diary…” The purpose of this school journal, unlike a regular journal, was to do a sort of psychoanalysis on we with the thoughts and ideas that you’ve had during the day. This is better shown when we begin to do the daily compass, as its purpose is for us to analyze how we’ve been feeling during the day.  Before we started doing this project I would take my time writing and thinking of the correct way to put my ideas together, dropping the pen and thinking. But now that we were in a time limit, and we also had a rule to not stop moving your hands for the time limit helped me to think of words quicker and to memorize them.

Just like the journal, we had to do the compasses again and during the time that we did this activity, I always wondered what its purpose really was. Well after doing eleven of these and then reading over them again, I can say that I’ve figured out the purpose of this activity. Obviously, it’s to know how you’re feeling at the day you do the compass. However, this exercise helps you be more connected with your emotions since you’re doing self-meditation analyzing how your day go, to help you fill out the compass. It also helps you understand the emotions you are feeling for the future purpose of asking yourself, “Oh, why am I feeling like this?” You’ll be able to tell yourself, “I’ve felt this way before and this is how I cope with it.” Even if I didn’t understand the purpose of this assignment I think I do now, it helped me understand more what I was feeling and coming to terms with it, something that’s easier said than done.

The Multigenre project was neat. I couldn’t do a cover for my journal last time so that was a predicament, however, it was implemented this time and it came out rather nice. Doing the letter to my past self was also really fun and doing the metaphor too. 

Jan: 5 Maus Insight

Jan C. Navarro

Prof. Cynthia Pittmann

Engl 3104-134

24 May 2018

Five Insights on MAUS by Art Spiegelman

These are my five insights on the graphic novel, Maus, by Art Spiegelman.

1.      The title – The title, as well as subtitles, of this graphic novel, have a symbolic meaning attached to them. The main title, Maus, is German for the word mouse or mice. This meaning goes on par with both the symbolism of the Jews being drawn as mice and that during this time, the Jews across Europe were, “trapped as mice”, from the Germans. The other two subtitles, these being, “A survivor’s tale” and “My father bleeds history”, go more into the story of Vladek Spiegelman, the character who the graphic novel focus on, after all it’s his tale that Vladek is telling his son, Art, and his father “bleeds history” since he lived through that time and survived.

2.      The use of anthropomorphic animals – Throughout the events that transpire across the comic not one human is shown, rather every single character has the head of an animal, this head usually being linked to the nationality of said character. The most notable one is the one of the cat, which was used to indicate the Germans, and the one of the mouse, which was used to indicate the Jews. This imagery helps spread the message on the relationship between a German officer and a Jewish prisoner, this being how the Germans saw the Jews as something that had to be eliminated, or even a pest, since cats usually hunt mice down, not just for “sport” but for their own amusement.

3.      The dialogue of Vladek Spiegelman – Throughout the visual novel whenever Vladek talks he usually speaks in a broken English, even though he’s lived a huge chunk of his life in the US, this is done to show that Vladek is an immigrant and not from America.

4.      The use of no color – By there being a lack of color, there’s a lack of vision. Everything just being a shade, that being either black or white. This also helps set the tone of the visual comic that it’s something quite series. You can also say that it’s based in the past and all pictures were black and white back then.

5.      Anja’s Diaries – The diaries are a very important item in the visual novel since it represents the history and the story of Anja, Art’s mother, inside the concentration camps. Around the end of visual novel Vladek burns the journals all of Anja’s journals, making Art angry and as a result Art calls his dad a murderer. The reason for this statement is that by Vladek destroying these diaries his “murdering her history” as well as the history of both their people and the suffering that they went through. 

Jan: A Trifle Between Her Peers

Jan C. Navarro

Professor Cynthia Pittmann

ENGL 3103-134

6 March 2018

A Trifle Between Her Peers: Comparing “Trifles” and “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell

            Before we begin analyzing the concept of the stories themselves we can compare the two literary works just by looking at them briefly. To start off, “Trifles” is written in the format of a play, a play is meant to be acting in front of an audience, with the help of props, lighting, music, and tone of the actors. It also helps the fact that it’s being acted out since the audience won’t have to imagine how or where the scene is taking place since it shows it perfectly. Now if we look at the way that “Trifles” was written, and we compare it to the way “A Jury of Her Peers” is written we can see a great difference between these two. 

After reading the two lectures written by Susan Glaspell, titled “Trifles” and “A Jury of Her Peers”, it’s possible to notice many similitudes and some remarkable differences. Both lectures are in literary context the same one, both have the same plot and message but, the main difference is the structure in where they were written. “Trifles” have a play structure in which every character has a line and stage instructions, it’s the constant dialogue between the characters which developed the plot of the story. In a play the actions and gestures of the character are a key part to understand the intention and the real purpose of their words. Instead, “A Jury of Her Peers” is written in short story structure. The whole story is organized in paragraphs and it provides more details and information to the reader. In the short story isn’t necessary the performance of any character to understand their role, the same reading gives you an insight and the necessary details to comprehend their intentions. I read first “Trifles” and it was kind of difficult and ambiguous for me appreciate the tone and personalities of each character. I couldn’t establish the role and the mood of the characters, it was so messed up and all over the place without centering any of the characters of the play. In contradistinction to the play, when I read the short story everything was totally clear and understandable. With the short story I could notice the meaning of every character and their way to think to the situations and moments presented in the story. A perfect example is when Mrs. Hale was worried of the declarations that could say her husband. “She hoped he would tell this straight and plain, and not say unnecessary things that would just make things harder to Minnie Foster”. In the play I couldn’t notice her concern about unnecessary declarations from her husband.  

     The titles are another difference that can be mentioned by any reader at first sight. The title differences are very useful to contrast the focus between both lectures. In the play the little things and details are the focal points through the whole text, that’s why the title “Trifles” fits perfectly with the intention of the play. Are those little details which guide the reader through the whole text to create and predict the possible denouement of the story? But “Trifles” is also related to the point of view of the men about the women role and their work, it is more of a symbolic title. An example of this is when the three men go into the kitchen and start criticizing the aspect of Mrs. Wright ‘s kitchen. “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles”. “Not much of housekeeper, would you said, ladies?” The short story has the same plot but a different focus because in this case, the characters of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are the focal point. Like I said previously, the short story allows for more descriptions and information about the character’s feelings and relationship with the other characters of the story. The short story is centered in the interpretation that both women had of all to the success of the story, there were giving their judgment of the murder according to their findings and perceptions. In other words, the short story “A Jury of Her Peers”, entirely describe the judgment given by the two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, about the murder of John Wright.

     Even though both lectures have the same plot, the content management is quite different. In the short story, there are descriptions that facilitate the reading and the concepts of the story. The setting is one of the primordial factors to make possible the imagination of the background and the place in which the story takes places, and the short story has a better description of the setting than the play. In the short story, the setting is described as a lonesome place with an unpleasant weather. “It looked very lonesome this cold March morning.  It had always been a lonesome looking place.” In the play, the setting isn’t presented with the primordial key details, and it leaves a lot to the imagination for the reader.

     In conclusion, I could say that, for reading purposes, the short story is much more effective than the play. The story written in a paragraph contains very important information that is necessary to understand the plot of the story at maximum. For reading, purposes are more effective give a few clues and details that help him to appreciate the real intentions of the author, while in the play those clues are expressed by the actors who perform the characters. In addition, in the short story, the thoughts and emotions of the characters are presented in an explicit way, which make everything more easily and concordant. 

Jan: Reflection on the play

Jan C. Navarro

Professor Cynthia Pittmann

Engl 3103-134

10 March 2018

A Reflection on My Magnus Opus

            “A Man named Richard Cory”. That is the name I gave to the script. Now what first started as an idea thanks to wonderful ideas that were contributed by my classmates, it slowly became a reality. The idea sprouted when I was in the train and the song “Richard Cory” by Simon and Garfunkel came out in my music player. Now this song, a song that I’ve heard multiple times, even considering one of my favorites, well when I heard it this time, something clicked inside me, and I knew that I wanted to write a play based on the song. After some researching, I soon remembered that the original “Richard Cory” was a poem written by Edwin Arlington Robinson. Now that I had the “background” information for the play I was ready to start writing the script. Now in both the poem and song, there’s a twist implemented, that twist being that Richard Cory, a man who was described as “… a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim.”, as well as being rich or as the poem says, “And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—”, he shoots himself in the head. Now when a person reads the poem or even hears the song, the first thought that would probably go through their mind is “Why the hell did he kill himself?” And the answer is quite simple and yet tragic. Richard Cory suffers from depression. That was going to be the focus of our script. How one man has to combat the demons inside his head, which were personified as a being named Dee Sion, which would always talk down to him and make him feel less than he actually is, until he is finally overwhelmed and exhausted by the constant harassment that Dee puts on his day to day that he takes his own life.

            The character I played in the play was John Doe, his name is the name they usually give male victims that don’t have any identification with them when their body is found, he is supposed to be the representation that Richard Cory has with the common folk or those of a lower social class that he is. He’s a flat character and his purpose is to inform Richard Cory about the success that the company has achieved. He’s later promoted to CEO by Richard Cory for his hard work, loyalty, and dedication that he’s given to the company. The scenes in which he appears in are Act 1, Scene 1, Act 1, Scene 4, and Act 1, Scene 5.

            Overall, I had fun doing this assignment, I know I’m not the best actor, but damn did I had fun, and seeing how my other group members acted as well was something great. But mayor props to Hector and Valeria who nailed their roles perfectly as I would have imagined it in my head. But as for me, I would stick more in the writing than the acting, or maybe with enough practice, I could be decent at it.

Graphic Fiction

Valeria R. Martinez Soto

Prof. Pittmann

INGL 3104-134

8 June 2018

Graphic Fiction

Does the graphic fiction feature a central character or a set of characters? How does this
character or set of characters provide a focal lens for the story?
   The graphic fiction features a set of characters; a father and his daughter. They create a
depth of field that   manipulates what the reader sees. They also set a level of intimacy in the story that directs where the reader should be putting their focus.

How do the visual elements of the graphic fiction work together to create the story’s meaning? What are the most important graphic elements being used by the artist to convey the story?
   Visual elements work to convey key aspects of the story. They give meaning to it by using a series of panels that contain a single image that when read in sequential order tell a story. The most important graphic elements being used by the artist to convey the story are dialogue balloons and sound effects. They are used as a way to reflect, communicate, and altere culture and ideas so that the reader may respond to the visual image.

How does the graphic fiction rely on the reader's ability to provide narrative information that is not presented by the words or images on the pages? Does the work contain few or many narrative visual gaps?
   The story must be told with clarity and precision so that the reader may make accurate assumptions. When this happens theres is no need to point out certain factors or details about the scene or the characters. “Nature vs. Nurture” does not contain many narrative visual gaps because it can be understood clearly by the visual elements and the dialogue between the characters.

How would you describe the style of the graphic work? What seems to be the artists signature style?
   The style of the graphic work looks realistic and you can feel the images coming to life. He has a simple style with accurate representations of real life situations, people, and objects. An example can be the freckles and glasses on the father that add personality and disstinction to the character.

How does the style match the story being told? Is the style a good match for the themes and concepts being conveyed by the narrative?
   There is detail and precision in the drawing which is a perfect match for the story being told. Each panel contains visual elements that accurately describe what the characters are saying and doing. The style is a good match because it project this theme of “biology versus socialization”. This graphic fiction is told as a way of entertainment, so this means that we are not assuming that Spiegelman is saying that “nature is not unchangeable”.

Work Cited

Literature for Composition: An Introduction to Literature 10th edition Chapter 16: Graphic Fiction pp. 412-414. University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus.

Blog Reflection

Valeria R. Martinez Soto

Prof. Pittmann

INGL 3104-134

8 June 2018

Blog Reflection

   Once again I faced the blog. The first time I encountered it, I struggled because it was
something very new for me and it took me time to figure out all the tools. Since I am not the best with things that have to do with technology, so this was still a challenge for me. I slowly started to familiarize myself with it and play with its gadgets. I never fully got the hang of it but I enjoyed the process. I personalized it to my liking and gave it my unique touch. My favorite post had to be the one about our play. I enjoyed the story and working with my classmates; it was a project that helped me create good and lasting memories.

   What is most interesting about a blog is the endless possibilities of publishing that one has. It is like a blank canvas waiting for its painter to fill it with the first drop of color, and with every stroke, the canvas is given life, transforming it into a painting. Its easy access, allows it to be viewed and appreciated by people from all parts of the world. It connects us with a simple click of a button.The is a major difference between the blog and the journal. The blog is open and creative, whereas the journal is private and for our enjoyment only.

   This blog was different because we got to do a group blog; whereas in the first semester we each did an individual blog. In my opinion, it made things easier for me because I did not have to deal with it so much. In conclusion, I enjoyed the blog project because it helped learn new thing about the cybernetic world and I have gained some experience. It has the great advantage of being able to reach many readers and making it your own. I still prefer the old fashioned way of pen and paper because of how basic it is. I like to keep my writing, if I ever do write, to myself. I choose whether I want to share it or if I want to be critiqued upon it. There is a certain beauty about putting words on paper that could change someone's life or simply drift into the minds of those that read it.

Blog Reflection

Rubie Beltrán

Prof. Cynthia Pittmann

Intermediate English 3104-134

6 May 2018

Blog Reflection

This second semester, the blog was not done separatly like I wanted, yet it was only one blog to be made for 5 members of our assigned group members. At first, I thought the the concept of having a group blog would be a bad idea since, in my perspective, I have trouble sharing responsability with others. However, I began to realize how beneficial to us as a group, only one blog instead of creating each blog individually. Why? Because this semester was too short and every class was piling us with many assignments, so, in my opinion, there would not have been the time to dedicate it to making individual blogs. 

Although, we had technical problems and it was challenging having to sign into the accounts of blogger, it was also good to be able to help my group mates. For example, Valeria could not log into her account so she sent her posts to me so I could publish them for her on the blog. I think that was one of the things that benefitted in having this group blog.

Overall, I love the idea of blogs and creating blog posts and I wish I had more time to dedicate it to this kind of platform since it is very fun to interact with. I’ve always loved the dynamic of blogs and sometime in the future (hopefuly soon), I will create a blog dedicated towards one of my loves: photography. And as a person that very much spends much of her time on social media looking for inspiration, it has been a dream to have my own blog to see the contrast between audiences and reach out to people in a different way. 

Journal, Compass and Multigenre Reflection

Rubie Beltrán

Prof. Cynthia Pittmann

Intermediate English 3104-134

6 May 2018

Journal, Compass and Multigenre Reflection

   Beginning the second semester of the course of Intermediate English, I knew we had to keep doing more journals. I think my initial reaction was to complain about it with myself, but when I bought the notebook (journal), I became excited when it came the time to decorate the outside of the journal, I got to customize it with images that spoke to me and resembled my personality. The front of the journal mostly featured pictures taken by me and the pictures that had quotes on them were from Pinterest. The back of the journal featured "memes" about University experience as to lighten up the stress and overall hectic semester and remind me that sometimes it is good to just laugh and unwind. On the other hand, the almost daily task of writing in the journal varied from time to time. When I felt very stressed and anxious, I would take my journal and pen out to write until there was no more space left on the page, those times writing did not feel much of "task" but sort of decompressing and letting myself go for a bit. Yet other times I really did not feel the want or need to write anything. 

    However, one of the things I found very exasperating to write, was the compasses. Although the professor said this semester we only had to write ten, I still did not enjoy the process or idea of them. I have a very negative aspect towards numbers and measuring my emotions through them, I did not get the concept of making them, at all. I had no feeling of connection towards it so most of the time I just wrote random numbers that did not mean anything to me, but that is just my honest opinion...

    The multigenre project was a fun and creative assignment that I would have liked to do more of if we had the time. Writing a letter to my younger self, was something I had always wanted to do and this project gave me the freedom and creativity to do it. The metaphor of the letter was something I also enjoyed doing even though it seemed challenging since I did not want my metaphor to be written poorly. Overall, the multigenre project was an interesting feature of the journal. 

Work Cited

Pittmann, Pynthia. "Journal, Compass and Multigenre Reflection". Class assignment. 6 May 2018.

Journal, Life Compass and Multigenre Reflection

Valeria R. Martinez Soto 

Prof. Pittmann

INGL 3104-134

May 2018

Journal, Life Compass and Multigenre Reflection

   I am proud to say that I carried on the tradition of writing on my journal, only this time I write three times a week and when there is a special occasion. When introduced on the first
semester I was skeptical at first because it was not a common thing for me to do. When I write, it is mostly for an assigned work or project but the custom stuck with me the moment I got used to it. It helps me reflect on my day and how it affected me and see how certain activities affect my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual state. It helped me realize how much I enjoy writing and expressing myself with pen and paper.

   Later, we combined our journal entries with a life compass. It is a different and faster way to express how you are feeling on that day. It is a reflection in itself, where one has to give deep thought on how we feel spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. A daily task in which one does a search within oneself to learn a little bit more about what we are made of. We had to rate our state of well being, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, from one to ten; ten being the highest rating.We had to do this everyday and I got so used to it that it almost felt therapeutic doing it.

   A new concept introduced this semester was the multigenre section. It was different and interesting because we got to do various projects. My favorite was the one were we have to write a letter to our younger self. While doing this project I got very emotional because of all the memories, good and bad, that came to my head as I was writing. It helped me reflect on my past decision and even make peace with some of them who were still bothering me. It was dynamic and it was very enjoyable. These three activities helped express myself in different ways and learn more about myself. I realized how much I like to write, especially about myself.

Work Cited

Journal notebook
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus 

"A Jury of her Peers" and "Trifles" Comparison

Valeria R. Martinez Soto

Prof. Pittmann

INGL 3104-134

7 May 2018

Comparison between “A Jury of Her Peers” and “Trifles”

   Susan Glaspell wrote the same story in different ways; one is a short story and the other she wrote in the form of a play. Even so, they have an almost word-for-word similarity in the dialogue and the narration. One of the biggest most noticeable difference between the two is the perspective and feelings of who is telling the story. Mrs. Hale perspective and feeling are the primary point of view in the short story while on the other we get a narrator.

   Having a narrator’s only point of view limits our perspective from the characters feelings and personal thoughts. I felt like “A Jury of Her Peers” was most effective to me as a reader. The short story form allowed me to see one of the character’s perspective which made me feel integrated into the story. Mrs. Hale's detailed description of the situation and the people surrounding her brought the story to life. For example, when she describes Mrs. Peters, “Mrs. Peters, at last, ventured, as if she felt they ought to talking as well as the men.” At the beginning of the story, we also read a brief description of Mrs. Hale’s personality: “she hated to see things half done...”.

   With “Trifles” I did not feel integrated into the story. I was conscious that I was reading a play. It was not as entertaining as the short story because the constant description of the surroundings and every pause to describe what the character was doing or what facial expression they were making, zoned me out of the story. “Hale: Well, women are used to worrying about trifles [ The two women move a little closer together ]”. When I read a play and have to stop to identify who is saying what, the natural flow of the story is lost. I enjoy short stories the most because their mood is felt better and I create a better and stronger connection to the characters.

Work Cited

Literature for Composition: An Introduction to Literature 10th edition chapter 17: Reading and Writing about plays “Trifles” and “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus 

"A Man Named Richard Cory"

Valeria R, Martinez Soto 

Prof. Pittmann

INGL 3104-134

10 may 2018

“A Man Named Richard Cory”

   When the project was introduced, my friend and fellow classmate Jan Navarro was so
excited he let out a scream of excitement. We have become good friends who enjoy the discussions of comic books and all things “nerdy”. We had to write and act in a play were that had to do with a relationship and a twist had to be introduced at the end of the story. We had our task and all members of the group, Jan, Hector, Rubie, Hanexi, and Jan started to let our creativity flow and the brainstorming began.

   In the beginning, we were stuck, and we did not know what to make our play about. we started discussing different topics and looking at different options. While everyone was contributing Jan was sitting quietly in his chair when all of a sudden he could not contain his excitement anymore and told us he had the best idea for the play project. After he finished explaining we all immediately loved it, except for Hanexi who did not understand the story. Once we had our story we started to come up with clever names for our characters to make them stand out more. For example, the maid of our play’s name is Maid Scullion.

   I enjoyed every minute of this project because I got to know the talents of my fellow group members. We each had characters that we felt carried a little of our personality in them so we felt that much more connected to the story. I played a character named Dee Shion, who is a personification of depression and pessimism. I got very into character and felt like I was actually in the world of the play. This experience helped me discover an untapped corner of my personality that I happened to be talented at.