Friday, March 28, 2014

Literature Analysis

Bless Me Ultima

General
1. Antonio is almost 7 years old when Ultima comes to live with them. His family took her in because of her healing powers and experience with magic. She becomes very close with Antonio who becomes fascinated with the process of healing. He frequently goes out with her to collect herbs and make remedies. Antonio begins school and his mother desperately wants Ultima to reveal his destiny. She tells her that he will become a man of learning.
The war ended and Antonio's brothers return home from the war. They have a strange conflict with their father that Antonio will never understand. They both struggle to lead independent lives.
Tenorio gets in a conflict with Ultima and blames her for the death of her daughters. He tries to kill her, but fails. Later, he curses a man and the mans house becomes haunted. Ultima is called upon to get rid of the ghosts, and she does. She is highly respected after this.
Tenorio is still infuriated with Ultima and tries once again to kill her, but ends up shooting her owl. Ultima dies soon after because her owl is her spriritual symbol. Antonio is very sad and buries the owl as Ultima's last wish.
2. The theme is the importance of culture on an individuals identity. For example, the towns people look down upon Narciso for being the town drunk but little do they know that his traumatic experiences from war are what have altered his phsycological state. The characters are limited to what their culture has taught them, and never look past their own assumptions.
3. The authors tone is hopeful. The story is told by Antonio and since he is young, he has reason to hope for everything to turn out the best. He is very mature for his age though. He has many intellectual questions that adults cant even comprehend. The fact that the child tells the stroy, gives it a sense of innocence in a town of guilt. "

Characterization
1. Direct- "She took my hand and the silent magic powers she possessed made beauty from the raw, sunbaked llano, the green river valley, and the blue bowl which was the white sun's home."
-"He spoke in Spanish and the village he metioned was his home. My father had been a vaquero all his life, a calling as ancient as the coming of the Spainard to Nuevo Mejico."
Indirect- "I pressed my forehead against the cold wood of the porch wall and closed my eyes. I wanted the cold to draw all the heat our of my tired, wet body and make me well again. The day had been so long, it seemed to stretch back to eternity. I only wanted to go home... I wanted to hate Andrew for being bad with the women, but I could not. I only felt tired, and older."
- "At first we could only see the flaring light of the pinon torches. Then our eyes grew accustomed to the dark and we could see the dark outlines of men, and their red, sweating faces by the light of their torches."
2.  No, the authors syntax remains the same throughout the entire novel. Since Antonio is narrating the story, everyone is seen through the eyes of the same character, so the syntax and diction remain the same.
3. The protagonist, Antonio, is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the novel, Antonio was as innocent as he looked. He was naive and young. He had alot of questions, but he didn't understand the meaning of them before he became close to Ultima. By the end of the novel, Antonio may not have grown much in age but in mind, he grew about 20 years. He had a new understanding of the world and the people around him, thanks to Ultima.
4. I feel like I have just met a character in a book. I never was fully intregued into the novel. It isn't the type of story that really grabs my attention. For me, it lacked a romantic subplot. I think that the book was very well written and that the story was great. It just didn't hook me the way I beleive it was intended to. "At that moment I heard Ultima's owl hoot a danger cry outside. There was someone out there. I looked at Ultima and saw her smile vanish. She held her head high, as if sniffing the wind, and the strength I had seen when she dealt with Tenorio at the bar filled her face. She, too, had heard the owl."

Monday, March 10, 2014

10 Questions

10 Questions I would ask my expert:


1. Is this the job that you always wanted?
2. Do you have any tips for time management?
3. How did you create a network of people that are reliable?
4. Is this the type of job you love coming to everyday?
5. Are there any special skills that you need to get this job?
6. Did you ever change your major in college?
7. How do you balance work and a social life?
8. Do you have any contacts that I could use for my career?
9. Do you ever get really stressed out?
10. How do you manage stress?

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Benchmark

Sarah, Micaela, Caroline and I have tried multiple ways to approach our website. After the first two platforms not working or costing us money we finally found one that worked for us. Although it is not completely ready to show people right now I think our website will really be helpful to people. I hope that people in the class will actually look at it and tell their friends about it to spread the word so that it will become popular. Our website will be one that has something for everyone.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Resource of the Day #4

STARBUCKS!! This is the best place in my opinion to get together and work on a project like my group did. There are plenty of delicious drinks and snacks to have while we are working. Thank goodness for coffee!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Resource of the Day #3

Today's resource of the day is the internet! There are so many easy ways to start a cool website, my group is currently trying to decide what platform we want to use but we did pick a name "ClassyU"

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Resource of the Day #2

Today's resource is Amazon, I ordered two new books about beauty and style for a lot cheaper than a book store! Ordering them is easier and saves you money!

Monday, March 3, 2014

Resource of the Day #1

Laurenconrad.com
This is a website that was started by Lauren Conrad who started out of Laguna Beach the Real OC and The Hills on MTV and now has a clothing and jewelry line. She gives tips and tricks to girls about everything you could think of.