SparkNotes is not a substitute

SparkNotes is reading without really reading thats how I think is the best way to describe it in my own words. I think SparkNotes is a good idea for reading incredibly long novels and you can not follow what is happening in the book. But you should only sparknote a few chapters if you are behind on reading. Sparknotes should be used used along with the reading to help you better understand the text you are reading. Sparknotes only focus on the main points in the story not the novel as a whole.


SparkNotes take away from the experience of reading the book for yourselves. Sparknoting is good in the way it can help you focus on the main points of a chapter. But is also bad because of that same reason because that is the only thing you get from the spark notes. Sparknotes take away from the actual reading because you just have the climax of the the chapter and very little or nothing leading you up to that point. In conclusion sparknotes are not a substitute for reading the text but they are an aide in helping you understand it.

Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes This the wikipedia page for Langston Hughes

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83 This gives a bio on Langston Hughes similar to the wiki

http://www.redhotjazz.com/hughes.html Another bio and list of poetry

http://www.poemhunter.com/langston-hughes/ Apperantly all of Langston Hughes' poems

http://www.kansasheritage.org/crossingboundaries/page6e1.html Most of these are biographies

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/langston-hughes bios gallore

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/langston_hughes Hughes' best poems I will let you be the judge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance The Era Langston Hughes helped make great

http://www.biography.com/tv/classroom/harlem-renaissance Background info on the harlem Rennaissance

http://www.cswnet.com/~menamc/langston.htm Possibly Langston Hughes most famous Poem a Dream Deferred

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/hughes/aa_hughes_subj.html A short profile on Langston Hughes

http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/langston.html a selection of Langston Hughes Poems

http://www.nsm.buffalo.edu/~sww/poetry/hughes_langston.html List of Langston Hughes Poems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou Was influenced by Langston Hughes

Musical inspiration

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mvFtbjIngkY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This link is a to the song Strawberry Swing by Frank Ocean. This Song represents the theme of the The DreamKeeper because it has that soft spoken light and happy side to go about life to but a smile on your face even when things are looking down thin is seen especially in the 2nd verse Say hello, then say farewell to the places you know
We are all mortals, aren't we? Any moment this could go
Cry, cry, cry, even though that won't change a thing
But you should know, you should hear, that I have loved
I have loved the good times here, and I will miss our good times

The Artist sings these lines so well you can't help but smile

21st Century schzoid man

I personally like the concept of the 21st Century English classroom that consists of blogging, tweeting and, facebooking because it keeps students realitivly interested about what they are doing,opposed to just writing papers and reading books. English is probaly my least favorite subject because of all the papers and reading. But I am what I believe to me a semi-active user of Twitter and Facebook so when I heard we would be blogging I figured that would mean a "post here a post there" But I forgot this was an English class. I wish that the blogs were more of the Twitter set up where you are limited to a certain number of characters.         I believe that the Twitter and Facebook help with a students understanding because the students use these sites everyday. The main diffrence about the way i approched the novel when ever i had free time is when i would read. This is diffrent than the the way an English teacher would assign a chapter they would want you to .

Blogging Comments

JamiesonDeamer said...

Cody you made this book sound much more interesting than it already was by just giving background info on the it. And to my knowledge this is pretty popular read for a lifetime book at our school.I am considering reading either this or Please Ignore Vera Dietz and it will probaly be the latter. And why are not on Facebook or Twitter what are you Amish. I will try to talk you into using either one the same way i talked you into listening to OFWGKTA.

JamiesonDeamer said...
           Pierre you are reading the Great Gatsby this was also one of the books i was planning on reading. Hey you have to read at least one classic book while doing this assignment. I thought most of your blogs had there strengths and weakness so i understand why you got the grade you receieved. I have a question and a comment for you why did you switch from Hold Me Closer Necromancer to Gatsby. And My Comment you are missing out on werewolf sex.

What I thought about my Blog

             My First blog earned a C but i believe that is because I was not focused on the assignment. I also believe I got this grade because I missed lab days during the class periods. I was happy with grade I received even though I was missing bits and pieces to my blogs. One way I can improve on this assignment is by it more seriously and not trying to cram all my blogs together on the last day. I think I understood the blogs there and the prompts very well but just lacked content wise in each blog. My best blog I think was the one that explained myself as an English student. My worst blog was probably the one where you select a song because the book i was reading Hold me Closer, Necromancer was a book that was somewhat dark but had a light and playful side made it a hard book to choose music for. In summary I did a decent job on my blog.
          The book I chose to read this quarter is The Dreamkeeper which is a collection of poems by Langston Hughes. I chose this book because I thought it was an easy book to have and relate to. I was wrong this book consists of many poems some that are easy to relate some that I am complety clueless on being able to explain them. This book I chose it because it has a wonderful selection of poems that just make think about things.
         My goals for blogging are just staying on  focused on blogging. I can do this by taking advantage of  all the days we have in the labs. Not putting off the work until the last days. Actually reading my book when I spare time. And just taking the assignments more seriously. 

Comments

 

JamiesonDeamer said...

Nick So you randomly grabbed a book and decided to read it I like that mentality. And you rope cattle that is something I had no idea you did, besides that i'm surprised you did not mention your dislike of people taller then you, and your love of Gears of War you. Or your obsession with a certain person.

JamiesonDeamer said...

Cody it seems like you don't want to be involved in this project and want to be involved in social media even less.

JamiesonDeamer said... Pierre I am interested in more than just your book by what you listed in this post. You animate you are in clubs you are on youtube.And you also make your book sound interesting. Hopefully you keep blogging and keep them interesting

Links that I say are related to my book

http://www.lishmcbride.com/ This is the author's official website. It tells about events the author plans on attending. This website also gives background information on the book "Hold Me Closer, Necromancer".

https://twitter.com/#!/TeamDamnation This is the Twitter page of  Lish McBride. It is a source of random tweets from everything ranging from pudding to zombies. If interested follow her on twitter @TeamDamnation.


http://us.macmillan.com/author/lishmcbride This link gives more background information on the artist. And lists other works. And awards she has won.
 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hold-Me-Closer-Necromancer/117777438272215
This is the Facebook page for Hold Me Closer Necromancer. It has events about the book and related topics posted on it. And just general information about the book.

The Theme Song

I chose the song Black Max by Quinn Kelsey. This I believe embodies the eerie mood in the book Hold Me Closer, Necromancer but also has that playful side with lyrics that are funny. This is seen in the book as well with just the constant present of death but just funny random occurrences in between the serious parts

Visual Help

The theme and how the book ends

All the other pictures of decapitation were real gory

The necromancers 3 R's

This one is pretty self explanatory

The Book I am reading

Werewolves are in this book as well (the main character has sex with one)

Fast Food Workers

College dropout

The Author Lish Mcbride

Dragons are in this story

Necromancy and Voodoo are one in the same.

The Book without reading it

This story also has Witches

This is the main character at the beginning of the story

This book has just

Try not to over-think this one

The ultimate good vs. evil

Crows are very important to the main character

The main characters dad is a dead beat

Were it takes place

Tales of Jamieson Deamer as told by Himself.

My name is Jamieson Deamer. I am a junior at Carbondale Community High School. I view myself as an average student. I play soccer and run Track and Field. I also like to listen to music my, favorite artists right now are L.A.'s Hottest rap collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA) Which consists of; Tyler the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, Domo Genesis, Hodgy Beats, Frank Ocean, Mike G, Left Brain, Syd the Kid, Matt Martians, Jasper Dolphin, and Taco. I believe they are the future of music. I am a fan of Bruce Lee and plan on learning Jeet Kune Do sometime in the future. I love Mexican Food and velociraptors and doing drugs and shit (just kidding about the drugs). My favorite thing to do is watch Purple Rain and Get Him to the Greek. I am a fan of using profanity especially the f-word s-word and n-word. The purpose of this blog is to record the events of the book "Hold Me Closer, Necromancer". I also think it is a way to keep the english class from complaing about writing papers all year. I also believe it is just introducing a newer way of doing assignments. Ideas for the blogs should be favorite quote's from your read for a life time. Another idea would be what images does the story bring to mind. My last idea is does your book remind you of any other items in media.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4