Thursday, September 10, 2015

Journal 4: Reading Response from Paul Winters

My active reading is going rather well so far. It was weird at first actually writing in the book and getting in there. I did like really diving into the writing and looking closer at the parts I liked or found interesting. I struggle with getting into the house on mango street and active reading with it since the stories are so short and many sentences fragmented it can be hard to process sometimes and make good active reading remarks to it. I mostly have questions about things and write them down but it leaves me feeling like I don't even understand what is going on. Something I marked in the reading for today was on at the end of Pg. 30. "....Nobody looked up not once the day Angel Vargas learned to fly and dropped from the sky like a sugar donut, just like a falling star, and exploded down to earth without even an 'oh'" I highlighted this part because I thought the wording and visual was really good for the sensory detail.

Right now, I prefer A Long Way Gone over  A House on Mango Street. I feel I can get into and relate a lot more to Beah's story rather than Cisneros. Yes, Cisneros is interesting but her stories are so short and random it leaves me wondering what the point was and by the time I start mentally getting warmed up the story is over and it is on to the next random part. Whereas in Beah's story the detail and sensory factor is there and it is a length and style that is easy to flow with and I don't have to be fragmented all the time and wonder what he is talking about. The theme of A Long Way Gone of persevering and pushing through the tough times, and making sure we enjoy every moment while it lasts; because we never know when it is going to be taken away from us, speaks to me a lot more than the stories in The House on Mango Street.

3 comments:

  1. I agree that The House on Mango Street is a lot harder to follow because the stories are so short. I also find it harder to active read in that book as well because the stories are just so random and for me it is hard to follow.

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  2. Paul just remember starting something that you are not used to is always hard at first but as you do it it gets a lot eaier! Keep up the good work!

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  3. I think the house on mango street takes some creative thinking because she writes in a way that makes it seem confusing. It is hard to understand what is fully going on because it jumps around so much.

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