Akari

Since I was a toddler, my mother always read to me multiple times a day. When I discovered how to read on my own, I discovered great books and not so great books. There were the pleasure books that were like a cold, sweet drink on a sweltering summer afternoon, and there were the soul shaking novels that brought tears and chills to my body. They made me go to bed shaking, my mind and chest full with thoughts and unexplored emotions. I am a small, tiny, possibly and probably insignificant cell in a world that is a pulsating organ to the body of the universe. Yet I am filled with overflowing, complex thoughts and feelings-- why is this?

Poems are shining, simple yet complex jewels, glowing with depth through the carefully selected words, opening up new facets of perception. When I found e.e. cummings's "i carry your heart with me" I knew that I had found a small, smooth stone, a pebble that I could grasp in my hand while the entirety of the universe swirled around me in cosmic explosions. Words are a way to express yourself, to show different angles of perception and to tell someone's story. Words are precious stones, and I have learned that even if a rough draft is terrible, that perseverance is key. Maybe that small, dull, grey pebble, can be polished, metamorphosing into a luminous, white pearl.

[|Akari's Blog]

The blog entry that was the most meaningful to me would be Blog 6: Thoughts on Feminism. It was a way to organize my thoughts on paper, instead of jumbled in my head, This way, I could carefully analyze what I thought and compare it to reality. I think that my point of view is pretty accurate. Women do sometimes desire to be treated like princesses by men, but at times they are competitive and individualistic. It is true that some of our actions and feelings are caused innate habits from primal instincts; men want to be protectors, and women want to be protected. Yet women are reaching out today, and the fine line between chivalry and feminism is a touchy one. I myself am finicky about the subject, and to lay it all out in writing was a great way for me to organize my thinking.

e.e cummings: "i carry your heart with me" media type="youtube" key="SjzJ56c1wrY" height="390" width="480" media type="file" key="My Song 2.m4a" width="300" height="50"

another great poem: http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/vaughan/world.htm

Shug to Mr. ____ Shug to Mr. ____ Reflection

Akari Persepolis Panel Persepolis Missing Panel Reflection

Coming of Age 2-1-2011 Coming of Age Reflection

CW Channel Paper CW Reflection

Akari's Final Project- Lesbian Parents and Their Children

The Final Assessment:

I am truly glad that I signed up for Women in Literature and was able to take the course. I really do think that this is one of the classes where everything I learn can be applied to not only life, but in academia as well. Everywhere I go, I see injustice between the sexes; in every book I read, it pops out at me. For example, in //Ender’s Shadow// and //The Storyteller’s Daughter,// I thought about injustice more. For the latter, I think it is also because we read //Persepolis,// which deals with fundamentalist Muslims in Iran, and the journalist who wrote //The Storyteller’s Daughter// went behind the front lines in Afghanistan, risking her life in order to tell the world what was going on. Especially because of this class, I realized how privileged I am and how materialistic we as a country are. I am grateful to Ms. Falk for willingly helping me edit my papers. I sincerely hope that I will become an excellent, concise writer one day (without the wordiness.) I am glad we did a final project. I felt that I learned so much about the topic that I chose that I did not know before. I learned to look into the legal history of certain subjects, and when I learned of Virginia’s sodomy laws, I was angered, dismayed, and in shock that it was as recent as 1995. I also learned more about the different views of Christianity, and I am so appreciative that I went to Chaplain Martinson-Koyama and talked to her. Not only did I interview her, but I was able to ask her about her thoughts on such matters, as I know that some of my liberal views clash with the more conservative views of Christianity. It helped me to sort out my confusion. I will definitely take away the analyzation part of this course. The current events especially helped me to analyze works of literature and media (about sexism and femininity) without even realizing it. I am so thankful for these skills, and it is something that I hope I will hold forever.