Adventures at Michigan

I was born in Ann Arbor. I grew up in Ann Arbor. There has never been a point in my life where I haven’t lived in this town. I thought for so long that I would want to escape it for that very reason, but when it came down to it, I knew I could never picture myself going to college anywhere else.

Having so many connections to the school did leave me with quite a few expectations going in. I had only very recently watched my cousin go through her undergraduate years here and thought that I wanted to have the same experience she had.

Senior year: me and one of my best friends from high school

However, once I got here I realized that I truly knew so little about this town, this school, the students, and the people in it…or myself, for that matter.

I was worried going in that I would cling to my old friends from high school, but living on campus and taking classes in the summer helped me to get away from that. Now I have a bunch of new best friends and I still see my old ones too.

One of my NEW best friends

I’ve realized now that the beauty of this place and its size is that you can be any person you want. College is the most selfish time of your life.

I’ve discovered new locations in Ann Arbor that I never would have crossed into during my high school years, but now frequent with my friends. When people from out of town ask me what places I would recommend they visit, I am at a loss for words because I am actually discovering this town just as much as they are.

My favorite part of campus is the bridge by the CCRB at dusk. Mojo is so beautiful when it is lit up. For some reason, it makes me think that anything is possible.

Four years is a long time to spend at a place. I have no idea how much I will change in the next month and I wonder what I will be like by the end of my freshman year. 

Strategies When Revising Paper

I think that when I first start writing I have no idea what direction my paper is going to take. I just start writing my initial ideas and see where my paper goes. Often, this means that my thesis changes dramatically when I go back to revise. I still struggle however, with trying to change my essay as dramatically as I should. I think that often I don’t want to change a lot in my essay. When we talked in class about how professional writers will often cut out large chunks of their papers and rewrite them, I realized that I don’t usually do that.

Typically, what I do when I revise is go back and read the paper repeatedly and try to find things that I think don’t fit in with the main idea of the paper. I realize now that maybe I need to be making more drastic changes in my paper when I revise it.  

I like that we have more time to revise our papers because I like to have a lot of different people look over my papers before I turn them in. While I’m writing this paper, I’m trying to organize my thoughts in a more cohesive manner.

I think that what’s changing the most for me as I write is how much I am actually writing. My paper seems to get longer and longer each time I look at it.  

Possible Moments to Focus on for First Essay

"Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri

I think that when the driver takes an interest in Mrs. Das is very important because it shows how they're both thinking different things.

I am strongly considering the moment where the son is attacked by a monkey. I think that this has a lot of symbolism. The one son who is attacked just happens to be the son that she has with another man.

"The Most Girl Part of You" by Hempel

I thought that there were many interesting and slightly disturbing moments in this story. One important moment being when Big Guy carves her name into his skin. This gives a great deal of insight into their relationship.

My First Post-"Winter Life" by Bonnie Jo Campbell

“Winter Life” by Bonnie Joe Campbell explores the relationships of a couple of characters in a very brief amount of time, starting with the revelation of the character Pauline’s termination of her engagement. Initially, it is unclear how all of these characters are connected, but by the end of the story a revelation makes it easy to see. Harold and Trisha are married, but both desire others; Trish wants her ex-boyfriend, Stuart, who is married to a meth-addict, while we come to discover later in the story that Harold wants Pauline, Stuart’s sister. Harold briefly lived with Stuart’s family when they were young. Pauline is frequently irritated with his love of gardening and Harold suspects that his wife may be a lesbian. Mary Beth, Stuart’s mother who views Harold as her own son discusses Pauline’s relationship and demise of it with her fiancé Nick throughout the latter half of the story. The story ends with Pauline and Stuart kissing at the Farm N Garden while discussing a moment they shared in their teens. The readers realize that this occurs before Pauline breaks off her relationship, therefore explaining how all of these characters are connected. Stuart contemplates what has occurred while he sits in the driveway. It is unclear in the end what will happen to these complex characters.

1.   

2.     The moment when Harold examines his wife on page 86 is a key glimpse into Harold’s thoughts and their relationship. He states that he would never divorce her for fear of causing more pain. Harold is also reading about gardening; what he has nourished will flourish in spring. Harold’s gardening appears to be an escape from the real world for him.

3.    

      When Harold asks his wife what is wrong with Pauline early on in the story, it is foreshadowing what will be revealed by the end of the story: his feelings for Pauline. Harold does not reveal to Trisha that he saw Pauline at the Farm N Garden, and we come to realize that this is because he and Pauline shared an intimate moment. 

  I    

I     I viewed the last scene where Harold is in his driveway waiting to get out of his car as extremely important. Harold’s garden is very special to him and remains throughout the winter. It still has “life.” When Trisha’s headlights illuminate the driveway and he gets out of his car, it represents a turning point in his life.