Thursday, April 29, 2010

Welcome!

Welcome to My Blog! Read Zora Neale Huston's Their Eyes are Watching God along with me. This book is a powerful story told in the voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, or fear. Janie Crawford is half African American and half white, and she will share her story for us to learn from and be inspired by. We will learn, laugh, cry, and go through the joy and pain that Janie feels. Read this book along with me!


Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. HarperCollins, 1937. Print.


Picture Source:

Web. 29 Apr. 2010. <http://www.santarosa.edu/english/past_wolms.html>.



25 Random Things About Me!

  • I learned to write my name from my sisters when I was three.
  • I have never been to Disney World.
  • I am compassionate, caring, and try not to do what I would not want done to me.
  • I love little kids.
  • I just flew on a plane for the first time in January.
  • I have always wanted to be a teacher, but my dad wants me to be an attorney.
  • I have a nine year old dog that looks like Toto from the Wizard of Oz named Annie.
  • I love screaming and cheering at my sister's college lacrosse games.
  • I love country music and have been to a Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban/Carrie Underwood, and Kellie Pickler/Taylor Swift concert.
  • My dad has taught me some of the greatest life lessons.
  • My dad's side of the family does a "birthday march" where everyone lines up and piles presents on top of you on your birthday. You will also get random things from around the house put on your lap.
  • Dancing around and singing at the top of my lungs in my room is one of my favorite things to do.
  • I know the words to Oldies songs because they are all we play at family parties.
  • I am the "baby of the family" on my dad's side of the family.
  • I always wave at someone when they let me cross the street.
  • My neighbor and I have been best friends since I was five.
  • I went to St. Margaret's starting at age three.
  • I like reading for pleasure.
  • I used to get allergy shots twice a week for a year.
  • My family has a birthday song that we sing after we sing the traditional "Happy Birthday".
  • My dad is the best cook.
  • I replay the Gilmore Girls series and watch at least part of an episode every day.
  • I LOVE rollercoasters…the bigger, the better.
  • I eat macaroni and cheese, and much more, with ketchup.
  • Both of my sisters, 21 and 19, go to Elizabethtown College in PA.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Symbolism

Many symbols are in Their Eyes Are Watching God. Listed below are just a few that we found.


1. Head rag = The head rag is a symbolism of the jealousy that Joe had of Janie because other men were fantasizing about her. It shows Joe's control over Janie to make her wear a head rag.

2. Gate = The gate symbolizes Janie wanting to be set free from Logan Killicks. She sees what life could be like on the other side, but she is held back by him.

3. Pear tree = The pear tree symbolizes romance, love, and Janie becoming a woman. It blooms and grows like Janie is.

4. Overalls = The overalls Janie wears symbolize poverty and a downfall in her life.

5. Matt Bonner's Mule = The mule symbolizes freedom and the right to a happy life.

6. "High chair" = The high chair symbolizes being on top and above everyone else.

7. Tobacco spittoon = The spittoon symbolizes wealth and belittling others with what your possessions.

8. Horizon = The horizon symbolizes the possibility of freedom and a new life. It symbolizes hope.

9. Checkers = Janie not being able to play checkers symbolizes the view on women and the role they have in life.

10. Lamp post = The lamp post symbolizes a rebirth of a town and the bright future it holds.


Picture Source:

Flickr. Web. 6 May 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/oneeighteen/481873844/>.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Imagery

Imagery is written throughout a lot of this book. A few quotes that used imagery are below:

1. "She was stretched on the her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun, and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her." (pg. 11)
2. "The cooling palma christi leaves that Janie had bound about her grandma's head with a white rag had wilted down and become part and parcel of the woman." (pg.12)
3. "Throught pollinated air she saw a glorious being coming up the road." (pg. 11)
4. "From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds, from the leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom." (pg. 10)
5. "Janie and Logan got married in Nanny's parlor of a Saturday evening with three cakes and big platters of fried rabbit and chicken." (pg. 21)
6. "It was a cityfied, stylish dressed man with his hat set at an angle that didn't belong in these parts. His coat was over his arm, but he didn't need it to represent his clothes. The shirt with the silk sleeveholders was dazzling enough for the world. (pg. 27)
7. "Joe noted the scant dozen of shame-faced houses scattered in the sand and palmetto roots and said, "God, they call this a town? Why, 'tain't nothing but a raw place in de woods." (pg. 34)
8. "His prosperous-looking belly that used to thrust out so pugnaciously and intimidate folks, sagged like a load suspended from his loins." (pg. 77)
9. "Then too she noticed how baggy Joe was getting all over. Like bags hanging from an ironing board. A little sack hung from the corners of his eyes and rested on his cheek-bones; a loose filled bag of feathers hung from his ears and rested on his neck beneath his chin." (pg. 81)
10. "He was lying on his side facing the door like he was expecting somebody or something. A sort of changing look on his face. Weak-looking but sharp-pointed about the eyes. Through the thin counterpane she could see what was left of his belly huddles before him on the bed like some helpless thing seeking shelter." (pg. 85)

Picture Source:

Web. 6 May 2010. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Pear-tree,katori-city,japan.JPG>.

Monday, April 12, 2010

What's in a Name?


When I was growing up, I always wanted to know why I was named Jenny. Jennifer is my full name, but growing up, I was always called Jenny. When I asked my parents why they chose that name they told me that my sisters said, "Whatever you name her, we are going to call her Jenny," so that became my name. My full name is Jennifer Marie Kreis. My mom's and both of my grandmothers' names are Mary, so my middle name became Marie. My mom knew that I was going to be a girl, so she did not have a boy name picked out. On the list of the popular baby names for 1995, the name Jennifer is number 17. (http://www.babynamescountry.com/popular/1995_baby_names.html)

Everyone who has known me for a long time still calls me Jenny. Many people say that it is too weird for them to refer to me as Jen. Now that I am older, I always introduce myself as Jen, and that is what people I meet call me. I do not know many people my age or younger that have the name Jen. Anyone that I know with my name is older than I am, by at least a few years.

I have many nicknames that I have been called throughout the years. My uncle calls me Jenny Re, because of my first and middle names. I have been told that if my cousin's nickname was not Re, from her full name Annemarie, I would have been called Re in our family. My aunt calls me "the pup" or puppy dog because she thought that I had a face that looked like a little puppy dog when I was younger. My dad is one to always give nicknames to people. Some of my relatives were given the nicknames Foot, Shoe, Slab, Notz, Pene, JB, Cab, Curry, Chicken, and Hornhead. Many stories go along with these nicknames which go back years and years, and I am not even sure how all of these relatives have gotten their nicknames. In my immediate family, my dad calls my mom Septin or Shew. My dad and sister Kathy used to always read the book The Littlest Bunny together. Kathy’s nickname then became Bunny which became Bun, then Rabbit, and it is now Rabs. I rarely call her by Kathy, it is usually always Rabs. Even my dog Annie has a nickname, which is Wouse. My dad used to say that the kind of dog she is always likes to hunt things and search for things like a mouse. Annie was called Mouser, then it was shortened to Mouse, which became Wouser, and is now Wouse. My dad calls me Cat Dog because I used to love that show. He also shortens it to CD. I am also referred to as Jenny Penny. Lately, he has called me Donkey because of a Christmas song that we listened to and he thought that the song said “Jennifer the donkey.” As you can see, my family has a crazy relationship with unusual nicknames and funny stories behind them. All of these names sound extremely weird and bizarre, but they all have some sort of funny meaning behind them. I love that I am close with my relatives and that we have this sort of relationship.

I like being Jennifer, or Jen. I think that it is cute when people I have known for a while still call me Jenny. I don’t mind having odd or strange nicknames because it adds personality and character to my family.


Source:

Web. 13 May 2010. <http://www.babynamescountry.com/popular/1995_baby_names.html>.