A Garden Without Sun. (by Bryan Do)

This entry is going to be of what I felt the article was trying to say. They compared Phillip K. Dick to Edgar Allen Poe in his ability to show a vast world that is decrepit with darkness and abyss. His hardships definitely have proven to get him far with his ability to have published the books he had and then died at the age of only 53. Commendable that is. True, his style was difficult and different that my typical read, but that was the why I kept reading. “His allegiance wasn’t to literature, but to writing.” It’s valid to see that he really didn’t care what was the norm in writing and wrote in his own style. The unique ability to evoke stories with such twists and characterizations is incredible. The ideas of paranoia and destruction within the mind is one of the big reasons his writings has made him so big. Brava. 

From the reading I was able to get to the nitty gritty of how to actually look at a piece of writing and really analyze what I was reading. The plot suggests the important aspects of the story, including the conflicts (the issues), the rising action (the actions that increase tension in the story, the climax (the exploding moments), the falling action (the realization and calming moments), and then the conclusion (everything is figured out). Cool. Plot. You’re done.Then we have the characterization portion in which we analyze who are our protagonists (HEROES) and the antagonists (VILLAINS). Round characters are ones who have a lot of descriptions and are wholesome characters, flat characters are one-dimensional and never change.The setting is a social mood and location of which the stories are being taken place in. A lot of the time the authors give really moody words to offset a feeling he/she wants to give the audience to be tossed into this world.The point of view is the story’s outlook. It could be written from the author’s point of view or maybe the main character’s point of view. The themes are usually the underlying meaning behind the story, like what were supposed to learn from the occurrences. At the end of the day, everyone should be able to know and understand these elements of fiction if ever reading a book. Nice re-cap!

Quite an interesting read when it comes to a child who moves too much to connect with others and then finding a family who has no connection to the television and what society has pried down as a “norm.” You begin to understand the narrator’s course of destruction as soon as he begins to spy on the Tomkey family and observe their oddity in comparison to a common family household. The judgements made, sadly, are ones we as humans make everyday. We pity & look down on people different than us, who we find odd. It took months before the narrator was able to understand the inner-hatred he developed towards them for just being different and his selfishness was quite evident. In the end it was great to see him understand his wrong-doings and allowing himself so see some people aren’t as fortunate. Sometimes being different is the best thing you can do in our society. :)

Black & White (by Bryan Do)

Modern Love Response: GPS on a Path to the Heart

Hilariously informative. This Modern Love reading gave insight on a way to obtain that special someone for the Season, Valentine’s Day. 

I’ll start off by commenting on her text vs. mail spill. Text messaging has become such a large part of the American community for casual invitations and conversations, that it makes anything that might sound romantic THAT much less romantic.“ur gr8 lets m8” Yeah right…

Consulting a religious guru sounds quite adventurous. The girl who was told by the rabbi that she would find her love on Hannukah is a leap of faith and luck in my opinion. I don’t think religious people can ever know fate that well enough to predict a future as that. It also causes people to wait around rather than pursuing and making something out of their love life.

Using tease-esque pictures to seduce our potentials without having to actually show anything… who hasn’t done it? Point in case, I believe this will allows others to initiate. RIGHT?!

The woman who found her love through Craiglist ended up falling in love. As farfetched as that sounds, that’s incredibly brilliant! Make a list of what you want in a man and let them apply for you. Simply Beautiful.

Sometimes the love of your life is already with you. But there is some reason you cannot be a couple, or so you think.

 As humans, we take people for granted too often. Sometimes we need to open our eyes even more to understand that the most important people are already always with us. Our future love could be sitting right next to you right now. “No, they’re my best friend.” Well, haven’t you heard the song “Lucky” by Jason Mraz? Exactly. 

I enjoyed reading the whole submission and what they had to say, for I am one of those lonely singles this Valentine’s day. But let’s face it, there’s no way one can find a love a month right before Valentine’s day. OH WELL! Just watch the turtle flap his arms…

(the picture was reblogged, but the response is all of my writing and my personal opinion)

Colonial Daze (by Bryan Do)

(a) What was your initial impression of yourself as a thinker, writer, and collaborator when you began this course? How has this impression changed over time?

-Initially I saw myself as a writer who puts more effort into a sentimental piece more than anything else. A thinker who seeks to touch emotions and enstill others to think deep into their thoughts. A collaborator who enjoys working with others due to the creation of new friends and showing what more than one mind can put together. Personally these portions of me have only grown since being in this class, for my ideas and thoughts have broaden within each section. Collaboratively I believe I have changed in that it’s more crunching. I’ve put more time into the growth of emotion in emotive pieces and have also thought more deeply into other’s thoughts through reading many of the articles we have had to for class.

(b)  How does EACH piece reflect your thinking/learning over the course of this semester? Of the three Unit papers, which was your favorite to write? Why?

- The pieces we wrote this semester have made me look at my writing skills in different ways. The first paper made me connect with my family and hone my ability to use emotions in a paper and allow a conclusion to grow with optimism and light. The second paper made me find ways to broadcast in a way with the uses of descriptive wording and excitement on a more professional term. The last paper (which I’m working on currently) is making me use more comparative skills and making me do A LOT of researching. The media project is making me work my butt off in order to share a view that others have put research into and making one idea and one conclusion. Personally, the first paper was my favorite to write due to the act of getting to talk to family members and connecting with them at such a deep level. It was such an emotional piece for me to write and I’m very proud of how it came together.
 

(c) Thinking of the various readings, essays, and videos we’ve used over the semester, what were your favorite activities? Why?

 -To name a few of the activities I enjoyed, it would be both of the readings on philosophy, the debate on some of the philosophy, going to the Hollywood Cemetery, and just being able to come to class and have the ability to speak with everyone at a personal level. I know for a fact that many students who take FI despise their classes and are mute for the larger portion of their time sitting in class, and that’s why I feel so blessed to have had such an amazing time thus far in FI with the amazing people inside it. I look forward for what’s to come of the upcoming semester! 
 

So in this reading we start comparing morals between different cultures including that of Greece, where they eat their ancestors and eskimos in which they trade off their wives to other men as a hospitable gesture. In our culture we look back and think how incredibly foul of them…. but we have to understand cultures between attacking them. In every culture morals and values are different due to maybe religion, society, and family ethics. The eskimos actually would have had an explosion of females in their population if they never gave up their female babies. Reading that I though, “Oh okay that makes sense.” Then I thought again, for they actually killed babies though. Once again it’s all about our culture we were raised in. Very good read and insightful.