Author: Brianna Linn

Isn’t it funny how we learn through the process of listening- listening to others. The people we listen to can be scholars, professors, friends- anyone. The fact is, we rely on someone else’s knowledge to develop our own. Where we find this knowledge though is often debated, but it is up to the person themselves. Discoveries can come from anywhere, but it is our mission as students to find the why. We ask the question, “Why is this discovery necessary, and what does it do to help me?”.  As students, our job is to  fine tune our knowledge and implement it in a way that is necessary to our own and others learning processes. We are constantly learning everyday, especially within an academic setting. As long as we gain knowledge from reliable sources, we will make new discoveries. English 203 has taught me that sometimes I need to be dependent on the knowledge of others in order to grow as a student.

The process of listening is important everywhere, but in English 203 I especially found it vital within class discussion and group work. Every single class we counted off in numbers to find our assigned group for that day. In the beginning of the school year, I did not even know what this group work setting would begin to reveal to me. I got to interact with my classmates in a hands on setting, but what I didn’t know is that their perspectives on topics would help me in the long run. I found that through my classmates I was able to understand the readings more, I found new blog post topics, and they even helped to proofread and give me ideas for my papers. Their understanding of a variety of topics  perpetuated new interpretations for me. They often made me think in a way I would not have thought before, forcing me to grow as a learner. It was interesting to see how five people could read the same passage, but come to  100 different conclusions as to what that passage meant. If I had not been introduced to what my classmates thought it meant, I would be convinced that only my way was correct. Through the process of relying on their knowledge, I was guided to break the boundary I had created for myself. Ultimately, I became more open minded as a learner and this helped me to  find new things. Continue reading “Referencing Others To Complete Me (ENG 203 Reflection)”

The holiday season is here, my work load is drastically increasing, finals are right around the corner, and my meal plan is lower than ever– all signs that the semester we know is coming to a swift close. With this knowledge, I would like to reflect on my English 203 class, and focus on all that it has taught me. It is undeniable that I have learned a lot in the class in general, but I would like to specifically discuss how helpful this blogging assignment was for me. I remember one of the first days of class, we were reading through the syllabus, and I heard Dr. McCoy say “Anybody have any questions about the blogging assignment?”.  Oh, I had more questions than my brain could take at that given moment, but I tried to play it off as if I wasn’t confused at all. But, Open deadlines AND open ended prompts? Ten entirely DIFFERENT blogs? This alone sent my mind into a frenzy. How was I supposed to blog in timely manner with my prevalent disease of procrastination? To help ease all this stress I immediately began to set my own dates for each blog in my planner. I decided to set my own deadline that consisted of posting one blog every two weeks. This, as we now know , was unrealistic for me. It was just one of the many things I would learn from this unique assignment. Continue reading “Blogging, Blogging, Gone”

Have you ever heard about those fish that fasten themselves onto the bodies of other predator fish? They feed off of the scraps of the predator fish and are essentially protected from other fish that might eat them. These clingy fish are called remoras. I remember being fascinated by their existence when I learned about them in Biology. The relationship described between the remora and its’ host is categorized as commensalism, specifically phoresy. You may be wondering why I would start a blog post talking about such a small insignificant fish. But I can tell you that a strong parallel exists between these little fish and Vlepo in Frenzy by Percival Everett.

Continue reading “Vlepo or Remora?”

A week or so ago in my English 203 class, we discussed a section in Re: f(gesture) entitled Bodies. I would just like to say that this book of poems by Percival Everett has to be my favorite. I have always loved poetry and I actually write my own poems sometimes, but these poems are entirely different from my own. They speak to readers in a new and unique way, one that actively generates a class discussion and bring conversations to new heights. For example, my classmate Lael introduced to me the interesting realization that bodies are something we think we know a lot about since we have them, but Everett describes them in a whole new light. This comment that Lael made really resonated with me. It made me question my knowledge of my own body and ask, Do I even really know my own body? What its’ made out of? What muscles I use everyday? These poems revealed to me new discoveries that not only exist in the poem, but on the larger scale of life as well.

I remember first reading these poems and not knowing what the heck Everett was talking about, as usual. It emphasizes Lael’s point about how I was reading something so familiar, and yet still I could not understand it.  I have my own arms, legs, and fingers that are hitting the keys on this keyboard as we speak. I hold all the elements necessary that make up a human body and yet, Everett still describes bodies in a way that is so foreign to me. Was he trying to confuse me and prove a point? Was he making fun of me for not knowing about my body? Well if Everett was, he definitely succeeded.  He made me think about all of the things I think I know about, but I actually do not.

As a naive nineteen year old, a lot of the time I feel like I have my whole life figured out. I sense that I KNOW when people are taking advantage of me, and I think that the decisions I make are almost always the best. But then, I talk to my mom or my grandma and I realize that wow, I have so much to learn. I do not have enough life experience yet to know exactly where this journey is taking me, and I do need to rely on the people that have been through this all before. Funny how that works, right? I thought that these poems would be straight forward, which is ironically similar to how I thought about life. I thought it wasn’t possible to write a poem about an ordinary tongue, in a such a complex way. Now, I can admit to you that Everett has proven that wrong, just like how I was wrong about life.

 

 

I cannot imagine being a student of the infamous Percival Everett, an author that has written various works that have confused for months. My mind cannot even begin to grasp that he is a professor, standing at a podium and teaching students at the University of Southern California. If I were his student I wonder if he would answer my many, burning questions, or would he confuse me even more? Would I leave every one of his classes crying? Can I let you in on a secret? Sometimes, when I read his works, specifically I Am Not Sidney Poitier, I feel like Percival Everett and I are two extremely different people. Two different people that would not get along in everyday life.  What I have learned though, is that it is one thing to read his various works, but it is another to think about the person writing behind the pen, Percival Everett.

Who is Percival Everett and what inspires him to write the things that he does? What is he like as a person- is he kind or is he cold? Was he an excellent scholar in school or did he struggle? What was his childhood like, does he have a family that he is close to? To me, Percival Everett exists as a big giant mystery. His works are unlike anything I’ve ever read before. Each piece is so extremely different, but at the same time, they are all the same. My questions about him are kind of like the questions I find myself asking when I read his writing, questions that are frequent and fail to have a one specific answer. Continue reading “A Tribute To Everett”

Is logic in everything we do? Or do logical things exist, but yet we fail to think logically in our everyday lives? I would argue that is hard to make any real life decision without also considering the logic behind it. Logic practices practicality, it is a driving force in today’s society. It is shown in the act of deciding a major when you go to college, amongst many other things. When choosing a major, you carefully consider your passions and interests, but you  are also prompted to think about the job opportunities in that particular field,  as well as how much money it will provide for you in the future.

I am often told that I am a dreamer, the creative path and following passion is more important to me than considering how “smart” my choices are in the whole scheme of life. I want to one day travel the world, and pursue a career in singing. I think of how amazing it would be to one day be on Broadway, yet I am forced to consider the real life consequences. Logical thinking keeps me in check. I do not have the funds yet to travel the world, and pursuing a singing career is risky. Logic fights with my inner desires frequently, and I am always trying to find a balance between the two. It is one of the reasons I am a communication major with a track in journalism and media, AND a voice performance major. I recognize that is too risky to just do one or the other.

Continue reading “Logic In A Sense, Is Illogical”

Monday, October 29 2018, was a very difficult English class for me. We viewed a series of media that forced us to relive the past, and acknowledge that our history is far from perfect. Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if we did not educate ourselves on the world’s past?  Do you think that history would repeat itself? Would we ever evolve as human beings? I think about this all the time, and there is no right answer I can tell you. But in my opinion, I cannot see how we would grow as a society of individuals without reminiscing on the good, the bad, and the ugly of our history. And one thing that really helps us to learn, is literature.

Literature can speak to us on a variety of forms: it can connect to things in our daily lives and has the power to reveal to us new discoveries about ourselves, that can even exist on a larger scale. That is what is so magical about it– each person can read one novel and have 1,000  interpretations that differ from that person that sits next to them in class. What I enjoy so much about Beth McCoy’s 243 class is that we do not just read novels, we focus on the ways that that novel can impact humanity.

Continue reading “Would You Harbor Me? Would I Harbor You?”

Have you ever been told a story where the speaker goes on a tangent about something you cannot understand? Maybe because of the way they phrased it or presented it to you, but it brings about a lot of confusion. Was this frustrating for you, the speaker, or both? It is always hard to communicate effectively, but it is even hard to explain things thoroughly within our writing.  The speaker is the writer, you are the reader, and trust me when I say it can be extremely frustrating for the both of you.

There have been so many times in my life where I try to tell a funny story and when I hit the final punchline, my audience just looks at me with a perplexed expression. I often get the dreaded question nobody wants to hear, “Um what?”. This is when internally I roll my eyes and think, “How could they not have gotten that? I was so clear! No way do I want to tell the story all over again”. How could my audience not see how my story had relevance to our previous conversation? This is possibly one of the most frustrating things, and it happens to me on a day to day basis! I do not want to resort to the lazy “nevermind” reply, but I also would rather not rephrase the whole entire story just for them to maybe understand it all over again.

Continue reading “Metacommentary: All About Balance”

Joe Moran, author of Interdisciplinarity, introduces the importance of discipline through his writing. He examines interdisciplinary approaches by engaging with different disciplines. His portrayal of disciplines often focused on categories of knowledge– delving into history to compare systems for different disciplines. In the in class reading discussing the concept of discipline, it showed how discipline can establish power, by encompassing knowledge that others do not have.

When I think of the word discipline I think of harsh straight lines and teachers that hold rulers. I think of a dog being taught how to sit by his owner, or a family that follows a regular weekly chore chart. Sometimes when I think of discipline I even think of perfection, or at least the progression towards perfection. The word discipline is defined by Merriam Webster as control gained by enforcing obedience or order. The word itself is broad, it can exist in both large and small scales. As humans we can have many disciplines, or should I say many interdisciplinarities. It gives us the freedom to work harder on one discipline than others, and they can exist in a lot of different aspects in our lives. For example, my discipline in college is Communication and English, but I also have other disciplines that are more abstract. I am a daughter, a student, a sister, and I am also an opera singer.  Continue reading “Discipline: Opera Singer”

This past  Monday I was sitting in my English 203 class as the rain graciously dripped down the windows. I thought about how thankful I was that the room was not its’ regular ninety degrees, and how for once my clothes were not sticking to my back. My classmates and I carefully got into our assigned groups and patiently waited for class to start. I heard Dr. Beth McCoy address the class with a cheerful “Good Morning” and prompted our first topic of discussion, “What challenges did you encounter while reading The Bacchae?”.

My group instantly bursted into conversation as remarks were made about how the character Dionysus is referred to too many names, how the vocabulary was challenging and outdated, and how we all faced the harsh realization that reading plays are a lot different than reading the usual text based novel. To this statement, Dr. Beth McCoy made the comment that it is difficult to read such a circular play like The Bacchae, when the way the text is positioned on the page is so linear.

Continue reading “Be Circular In A Society That Wants You To Be Linear”