In regards to Professor Wheeler's essay, I must say that he is EXTREMELY CORRECT when assessing how the students of America know how to read, but they don't know how to grasp the ideas of what they are reading...I've been disappointed to find in so many of my classes in highschool, kids who are being praised for memorization rather than intelligence, two things I find are completely different. In my opinion, having a good memory does not necessarily mean you are intelligent. Just because you have memorized someone else's words, by no means, means that you understand them or could ever come up with an idea that stands on it's own and is creative or meaningful. People here get praised all the time for simply memorizing words, but a lot of the time it's never for finding meaning inside the words. It's almost like the true use of language has been forgotten. Memorization does not equal intelligence.
Anyways, I could go on, but more importantly I have to talk about BLANKETS, so here I begin.
I chose the passage where Craig and Raina break up, because this one in particular confused me. Maybe it was because I was rooting for the couple, but I could not understand for the life of me, why they broke up. Craig portrayed them to be so in love, the way the story was written, I couldn't believe they were not. So when Craig and Raina broke up, it made me question Raina's character. I wondered whether Raina actually loved Craig to decide for them to be, "just friends," even with all the stress she had in her life... Maybe it's because I'm a different person than Raina, but it seems like having Craig there, even just to say sweet things to her over the phone, would be enough if they were really in love. I understand why Craig broke up with her--it was because he couldn't take all of the pain she was giving him by being so neglecting towards their relationship. It was unfair. I understand that most of the time, long-distance relationships don't work, but I had a lot of faith in this couple and it was disappointing to find them break up in the end.
I liked how Craig kept his characters simple looking so we wouldn't be quick to judge them like McCloud shows in his book, "Understanding Comics." The more real a person looks, the harder it is to take them seriously--I hate those prejudgements, but it's true. Symbolism forces us to find meaning in pictures, rather than search through the details. Simplicity is a filter.
2 comments:
Lyza,
I also had difficulty accepting the break-up. A part of me felt heartbroken that it didn't work out, but once I got over the fact that the book didn't go my way :) I really began, like you, to appreciate the subtlety with which Thompson expresses the truth behind complicated relationships. I appreciate your comments on the critical reading links as well. I was hoping the professor's words might ring true for a few of you. Becoming a critical reader is a much different process than being a simple reader of texts.
I enjoyed what you wrote about high school and I must agree with you. I often felt the same way and still do, here at University. However, I think memorization is important and is a form of intelligence as well. This doesn't mean that those who can't memorize as well are dumb. I think their needs to be a happy medium in which a teacher allows students to simply memorize at times, but also expects students to know, understand and grasp the concepts.
I also think a reason why teachers might allow memorization so much is because it make their job easier, in a sense - although it must become tedious very quickly this way. :)
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