Right now, I'm working on my author's biography. Yes, I procrastinate, I know. I've decided to go with the poem I liked by de la Selva and then another one by Pablo because to my great dismay, Borders has also failed me!!! I dragged Dee Dee there on Thursday night (she was a little upset, we left at 9:30 which was far past her bedtime) and I even asked for help, something that I really, really really do not like doing, and I STILL couldn't find the book. So then I tried to buy Reviving Ophelia instead because I just finished Running With Scissors and needed something else to read but I couldn't remember who it was by so I asked the guy at the help desk and he's like, hunting and pecking on the keyboard and the guy behind him goes "dude, there's no "f" in Ophelia" HMMM.....I dare to say that not everyone who works at Borders has a passion for reading and/or an extensive vocabulary and/or a deep knowledge of literature. Not pointing any fingers or anything though.
So I'm going to finish my biography and then tomorrow, I hope to narrow down the Pablo poems that I have picked out and choose one for the project.
This is my last blog, I'm a little sad.
BYE BYEEE!
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Thursday, December 7, 2006
7 December 2006: the status of my project
Well, where I am today is not much further than where I was yesterday. I did go to the bookstore last night and looked for the book by de la Selva, but they didn't have it. I was slightly miffed. Damn to the depths the management of Barnes and Noble! I might have to venture to their biggest rival (though coffee superior), Borders, later on to see if it is available there. If not, I'll have to compare the de la Selva poem I liked to somebody else. I'm not sure I would enjoy that project as much. I mean, Pablo Neruda is super cool and all but I liked discovering somebody who seemed to be new.
I've decided to include the poem I liked, just for fun.
"The Bullet"
by Salomón de la Selva
The bullet that kills me
will be a bullet with a soul.
The soul of this bullet would be like a rose
if flowers could sing;
or the perfume of a topaz
if gems had a fragrance;
or the skin of a song
if it were possible
for our hands to touch naked music.
If it strikes me in the head,
it will say: "I'm trying to find out how deep your thoughts are."
If it enters my heart,
it will say: "I just want to show you how much I love you."
from the collection Modern Poetry from Spain and Latin American translated by Nan Braymer and Lillian Lowenfels; published by Corinth Books, New York, 1964.
I was going to do a works cited entry, but that would be all too predictable.
I've decided to include the poem I liked, just for fun.
"The Bullet"
by Salomón de la Selva
The bullet that kills me
will be a bullet with a soul.
The soul of this bullet would be like a rose
if flowers could sing;
or the perfume of a topaz
if gems had a fragrance;
or the skin of a song
if it were possible
for our hands to touch naked music.
If it strikes me in the head,
it will say: "I'm trying to find out how deep your thoughts are."
If it enters my heart,
it will say: "I just want to show you how much I love you."
from the collection Modern Poetry from Spain and Latin American translated by Nan Braymer and Lillian Lowenfels; published by Corinth Books, New York, 1964.
I was going to do a works cited entry, but that would be all too predictable.
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
6 December 2006: What I've decided for my project
Well, for sure, I've decided I would like to examine a poet. Who that poet is, though, is the question left to be answered. I really liked Pablo Neruda, there's a lot of information out there about him and he's pretty well known. I'd say that Pablo and I were going steady for like, oh I don't know, about a day, and then today I went to look in another book (am I cheating on Pablo?) and I think I might have found someone I like better. I kind of feel bad. The new man's name is Salomòn de la Selva, and he was in a poetry anthology I was reading that cost $1.65 when it was published (WHAT A STEAL!! 1964 was love). So anyways, there was this one poem by de la Selva that I really, really liked so I went to go find more, only to make the discovery that our noble library does not have in its possession the collection of poetry written by him. I even googled and elibraried him and didn't find very much. So, I might go to Barnes and Noble tomorrow to see if they have it, and then I will be able to make my decision.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
AHH!
I've just woken up after, like, having a nightmare about male pregnancy. I think it was from that creepy site we looked at earlier, which strangely reminds me of that old Arnold Schwarzy movie. I mean, the site just seemed so credible. Like, they had reviews from Time Magazine on there (which they must have made up, I guess). Then again, Time Magazine essentially called the new Justin Timberlake CD c-r-a-p, so now I'm not really sure how credible Time is anyways.
sorry, I know this isn't part of the assignment, but i couldn't resist writing about this horrific instance.
sorry, I know this isn't part of the assignment, but i couldn't resist writing about this horrific instance.
5 December 2006...Evaluating credible sources
Today was not as exciting as yesterday...no time to get lost on the portal! we took a fun quiz, though, about evaluating sources, and lauren and i were definitely fooled by the one about the pregnant man. WOW was that scary. Also, this is worthy of note, Brittany didn't know when the internet was invented. Then I told her Al Gore invented the internet. She totally believed me. So I Wikied it and it said the internet was invented for practical use in 1993. I wonder if that is a credible source.
So, following all of the rules of this assignment, I googled Pablo Neruda. I must be honest, using GOOGLE for a RESEARCH project felt almost sacriligious, as I've been so well trained NOT to google. So, with my evaluative handout in hand, I applied myself to http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/279, the eighth site that google found.
1. Author- WHO IS THE AUTHOR?
Well, it looks like the author of this site is the poets.org people...the people from the Academy of American Poets. When I clicked on "ABOUT US" and then "WHO ARE WE?" I learned that the people who run the website are all poets or authors who have been published themselves or work(ed) in the publishing industry. Many of them have BAs in literature and writing and stuff like. Seems like they're poetry experts.
2. Audience- WHO IS THIS SITE WRITTEN FOR?
Hmmm....the site isn't exactly written at a level that is inscrutable, so I'm assuming that it's written for poetry enthusiasts, or more likely the general public since poetry enthusiasts seem to be a dying breed. It's written for people curious about Pablo Neruda and who want to know more about his general background and history.
3. Scholarship- IS THIS SCHOLARLY MATERIAL?
It seems scholarly enough. It's pretty in-depth and it's written by some pretty scholarly people.
4. Bias- WHAT IS THE AUTHOR'S POINT OF VIEW?
This article's only bias is that toward a love of poetry. It's essentially just basic facts, presented in a pretty flat, unbiased manor.
5. Currency- IS THIS INFORMATION CURRENT?
I couldn't find an exact update date for this site, but I'd assume it is pretty current since they have an entire staff team dedicated to production and maintenance. Also, Neruda died in 1973, so there isn't that much new info out there about him. However, it does include his posthumously published collections on the list of works by Neruda.
6. Links- WHERE DO THE LINKS TAKE YOU?
The links provided were few in number, but excellent in quality. The sites I was linked to provided a lot of really useful info about many different aspects of Neruda's life and career, and they seemed equally as concise as this one.
FINAL ANALYSIS:
I think this site is super credible and in-depth, and could be really helpful for my project. The site is very well produced and seems dependable enough, not to mention run by a reliable, established organization. Thumbs up from me.
So, following all of the rules of this assignment, I googled Pablo Neruda. I must be honest, using GOOGLE for a RESEARCH project felt almost sacriligious, as I've been so well trained NOT to google. So, with my evaluative handout in hand, I applied myself to http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/279, the eighth site that google found.
1. Author- WHO IS THE AUTHOR?
Well, it looks like the author of this site is the poets.org people...the people from the Academy of American Poets. When I clicked on "ABOUT US" and then "WHO ARE WE?" I learned that the people who run the website are all poets or authors who have been published themselves or work(ed) in the publishing industry. Many of them have BAs in literature and writing and stuff like. Seems like they're poetry experts.
2. Audience- WHO IS THIS SITE WRITTEN FOR?
Hmmm....the site isn't exactly written at a level that is inscrutable, so I'm assuming that it's written for poetry enthusiasts, or more likely the general public since poetry enthusiasts seem to be a dying breed. It's written for people curious about Pablo Neruda and who want to know more about his general background and history.
3. Scholarship- IS THIS SCHOLARLY MATERIAL?
It seems scholarly enough. It's pretty in-depth and it's written by some pretty scholarly people.
4. Bias- WHAT IS THE AUTHOR'S POINT OF VIEW?
This article's only bias is that toward a love of poetry. It's essentially just basic facts, presented in a pretty flat, unbiased manor.
5. Currency- IS THIS INFORMATION CURRENT?
I couldn't find an exact update date for this site, but I'd assume it is pretty current since they have an entire staff team dedicated to production and maintenance. Also, Neruda died in 1973, so there isn't that much new info out there about him. However, it does include his posthumously published collections on the list of works by Neruda.
6. Links- WHERE DO THE LINKS TAKE YOU?
The links provided were few in number, but excellent in quality. The sites I was linked to provided a lot of really useful info about many different aspects of Neruda's life and career, and they seemed equally as concise as this one.
FINAL ANALYSIS:
I think this site is super credible and in-depth, and could be really helpful for my project. The site is very well produced and seems dependable enough, not to mention run by a reliable, established organization. Thumbs up from me.
Monday, December 4, 2006
4 December 2006...2 things I investigated today
Today, we investigated possible idea for projects in the library. This mostly consisted of getting lost on the portal with Lauren, not being able to find the library resources page, and pondering the correct spelling of "Isabel Allende" ("did you spell isabel right?" "i don't know, i just spelled it like my aunt isabel!") After this little adventure, I browsed somewhere in the 800s for potential authors, and I spent most of my time investigating two, who are as follows:
1. Pablo Neruda
2. Gabriela Mistral
who are both Chilean poets. I've heard a lot about Pablo Neruda and I thought he'd be interesting to learn more about, so I picked up a book, and there were some poems by Mistral in there too so I just kind of kept reading and learned about her as well. I think I might want to pursue poetry, more so than short stories, because I am more intrigued about them and I think they require more interpretation and analysis. Plus, Latin American Poetry is very different from any other kind of poetry we've read....it seems they fit so much more feeling into such a few amount of words than other poets, and they just seem so passionate. So, in short, I'm thinking poetry.
1. Pablo Neruda
2. Gabriela Mistral
who are both Chilean poets. I've heard a lot about Pablo Neruda and I thought he'd be interesting to learn more about, so I picked up a book, and there were some poems by Mistral in there too so I just kind of kept reading and learned about her as well. I think I might want to pursue poetry, more so than short stories, because I am more intrigued about them and I think they require more interpretation and analysis. Plus, Latin American Poetry is very different from any other kind of poetry we've read....it seems they fit so much more feeling into such a few amount of words than other poets, and they just seem so passionate. So, in short, I'm thinking poetry.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
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