Many small people, who in many small places, do many small things, can alter the face of the world.
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I did! he was very impressed
i really miss the avondale english department
another monday, another night sitting in my friends room as they do their peer reviews for their english composition class. however, what surprised the hell out of me is that my friends have never done peer edits before! therefore, they really have no clue what to do for them and what feedback is good feedback.
on a more personal note, i just got back from a meeting with my TA for my struggle for equality since 1865 writing intensive, and i could not be thankful enough for everyone who helped me grow as a writer over the last 4 years. again, he handed me back a perfect paper, telling me it’s the best work in the class. he said “I seriously need to know who your high school english teacher was, because it’s unheard of to have a student come into college as a freshman writing this well”. this class kicks my ass, but it feels really good to know all the hard work and research i put into my papers is paying off.
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i really miss the avondale english department
another monday, another night sitting in my friends room as they do their peer reviews for their english composition class. however, what surprised the hell out of me is that my friends have never done peer edits before! therefore, they really have no clue what to do for them and what feedback is good feedback.
on a more personal note, i just got back from a meeting with my TA for my struggle for equality since 1865 writing intensive, and i could not be thankful enough for everyone who helped me grow as a writer over the last 4 years. again, he handed me back a perfect paper, telling me it’s the best work in the class. he said “I seriously need to know who your high school english teacher was, because it’s unheard of to have a student come into college as a freshman writing this well”. this class kicks my ass, but it feels really good to know all the hard work and research i put into my papers is paying off.
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Woman Suffrage Parade
March 3, 1913

Women’s March on Washington
January 20, 2017
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dear college professors:
dear college professors,
it’s time to redesign education. i came to this realization in my two hour lecture, which happened to be my third lecture that day. why is it that it’s acceptable that students go from subject to subject, class to class, and are expected to sit and take notes for FIVE HOURS, THREE DIFFERENT SUBJECTS. I found myself feeling this exact frustration in high school, but since i’ve began college, i’ve truly realized how hard it is to stay attentive in class, no matter how much sleep i got the night before. it’s not because i went out and partied. it’s because i go from class to class, to listen to professor after professor talk too fast for me to even be able to take notes. it’s exhausting. our education system is exhausting.
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thank god for the avondale english department
So as I complete my fifth week, I’ve really realized how much of an impact high school English had on me, most importantly my last two years. I wasn’t a natural. I failed a few times. But I showed up and I learned. Last week, we learned about ethos, pathos and logos, and when the TA asked who had ever heard of these before, I was the only person raising my hand. Mind you, there are seniors in this class, because it’s not just a freshman composition class, it’s labeled as “writing intensive”. While everyone in the class struggled to grasp the difference between the 3, I completed all the activities with no problem, often providing more reasoning to why each example fit each approach compared to everyone else. I also got my paper back that I wrote a few weeks ago for revisions, and again, surprisingly, the TA wrote “no revisions, excellent paper” meanwhile the girl sitting next to me had marks all over hers. In no way do I see myself as the best in the class, I still struggle to raise my hand and voice my thoughts, even when it’s something I know about. However, I do think that had I not experienced the Eng Wing and learned alongside the greatest tribe, there’s no possible way I would feel so confident about my writing.
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college week two
honestly, I'm probably fine. however, college week two hit me harder than I thought it would. I had my first two writing assignments due! One was scary because they use Chicago style format and I was like..what? AND I HAD TO USE FOOTNOTES FOR THE FIRST TIME AND FOR ANY FELLOW FRIENDS IT’S A VERY, VERY SCARY THING. My second assignment was a movie reaction paper, which I hope I did okay on? I can’t understand how I could go so wrong in 250 words or less, but then I remember, I am me. Aside from schoolwork, I’ve felt pretty alone. I keep hearing from my other friends how lonely they are, and I’m not gonna lie I’ve been in that boat too. Especially since I got sick, it’s like I feel like shit but I only can miss two days of class in a 17 week period so I better go unless I’m sure that I’m dying. It’s just been really hard ever since my other roommate moved out, I feel like I knew so much about her life, and my new roommate will sit in the same room with me for hours and say absolutely nothing to me. One night she literally sat and didn’t talk to me for over 6 hours. I’m trying to look my situation positively, like I guess it’s good that we aren’t fighting? I’m not sure, I guess I just feel like half the time I’m not really living, I have major FOMO, like I just don’t want to look back and wish I would’ve done something differently.
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no more futon
By the title of this post, you’re probably like “what the hell?” Right? Well, about 9 months ago, I met a girl on social media and we almost immediately decided that we would be roommates this fall. We’ve talked almost every day since then, with the exception of a few days where we’d both work really long shifts and forget to respond to each other. We’d talked about how excited we were for football season, and even what color scheme we wanted our dorm to have. Today she moved out. And I think this is the hardest breakup I’ll hopefully ever have to go through. You see, I waited so long to finally meet her, and then before I could ever really get to know her, she was gone. I knew something was off when we made plans and she just never responded to me, but I thought, maybe it was just me? You know? Like maybe, I snore or something and she doesn’t want to tell me.. But then she didn’t come home the next night either. Or the next. And then I woke up to a text explaining that she was leaving CMU as a whole. Ten minutes later, she was here taking her homey additions out of our dorm, and by the time I got back from my first class, she was gone, no traces left behind. No futon to dramatically fall onto after walking all around campus, just an empty wall. I understand leaving was what was best for her, but I’m still left with that lonely feeling, similar to what you feel after a breakup. And I still have a roommate! It’s not that I don’t like my other roommate, we just don’t have that connection like I had with the other roommate. It’s like we both swiped right and then she went back and swiped left.
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my first dinner away from home
So, at CMU my dorm has the “real food” kitchen, which means there are real people cooking the meals. Although I brought my own lunch every day all four years of high school, let me just say, the food there would make Avondale’s look even more inedible than it is. Also, keep in mind I waited ALL DAY to get this meal. I only get ten meals a week and we had meetings all day so I was saving this meal like it was Derek Sheperd’s life!! I get up to order, and everything is looking good, there was this pasta that looked like it was straight out of Olive Garden so I was like ALRIGHT BET. So I order, everything is fine, and I get back a bowl of noodles. Just noodles. Me, being passive, takes my bowl of noodles and is feeling salty af that I scammed myself. I WAITED ALL DAY AND WENT TO THE BEST FOOD COURT ON CAMPUS, USED ONE OF MY MEAL PASSES FOR A TRUE COLLEGE STUDENTS MEAL. I COULD’VE MADE THAT IN MY DORM. RAMEN NOODLES HAVE MORE FLAVOR. Well, hopefully I’ll get better at this whole cafeteria thing.
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college day one
So, I moved into college yesterday. I cried like a baby too. It doesn’t feel right that all of my most prized possessions all amounted to one large car trunk of college dorm stuff, because that’s all that it feels like now, just stuff. I have my first class on Monday, and from what I can tell, my hardest class (which is history and appreciation cinema?? like how hard could movies be??) on Tuesday and Thursday. I say this is my hardest class because I haven’t even been there yet and the professor has already emailed us three times about being late, and telling us that we should drop the class if time is an issue. However, I found out I have that class with Jacob Boyce, so we should be able to handle it. I also went out and bought pepper spray after being here for eight hours!! When I bought it, the cashier asked me “Is this for welcome weekend?” as if it was a confetti bomb or something. I’m gonna try and blog about my college experiences more, to help further my writing.
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thank you
to whoever is reading this,
thank you. thank you for listening. i didn’t often have much to say. there were days in class over the past two years that i didn’t say anything at all to anyone. but when i did say something (it was probably about feminism), you listened. oh yeah, i’m sorry i talked about feminism so much. who am i kidding, no i am not at all apologetic. for those of you who didn’t know, i didn’t really have any sort of outlet for talking about what i was thinking about. between 9:12 and 10:02 monday through friday. that was my outlet. so, thank you for listening. and to those who were annoyed, thank you for being annoyed. if it weren’t for ap lang and ap lit, i wouldn’t have reached for a lot of books that i did. i wouldn’t have pushed myself like i did. and if we’re being completely honest here, i wouldn’t know myself like i do now. and for that, i thank all of you. each and every one of you, no matter how big or how small, have had some sort of impact in introducing me to myself. we write to understand, and now that i’ve written, i understand much more than i ever knew that i could about myself and all of you, and i will take a little piece of all of you with me wherever i may go. when reading through my past blogs, i am reminded of who i was then and who i am now, and i am so thankful that i am who i am. i still remember sitting in front of my computer, inventing my blog & myself. that’s when i “became” bri the good. at first, it was just a play on the saying “be the good”. but not long after, it morphed into something that i was; “being the good” in and around me. it was such a hard four years. i developed anxiety. i loved. i lost. but i found myself. and i found each and every one of you too. and i thank you for that.
bri the good is still going to be good. i think she’s even going to work on being great. and i wish you all the very best with what it is you do next. and regardless of who is reading this, i’m not going to stop blogging. right now, i’m currently looking at a stack of books that i bought before we were introduced to our final project, none of which i’ve touched. my summer plans include reading most of, if not all of these books, so wish me luck. i also plan on continuing to watch handmaid’s tale. and i plan on blogging about my english experiences at central michigan university. speaking of which, i thought it would be funny to share with you that my “writing intensive” class that i was placed in for the fall semester is “struggle for equality since 1865″, which i think i will do just fine in ;) i didn’t pick it. i swear. but i found it funny.
anyways, for one “last” time, thank you.
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So fun fact, over spring break, my mom came to me with an opportunity and told me that I had no choice but to do this market research thing for a company. For two days, I had to go to this building which is eerily similar to the workplace that Marian McAlphin worked at in The Edible Woman. Honestly, if it weren't for this project I would've probably really enjoyed my experience. However, I couldn't help but think about how by participating in this survey, I was giving in to a capitalist society run by consumerism. I should've just taken the $80 they paid me and forgot about AP lit, but who am I kidding, this follows me everywhere.
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On Tuesday, we all went to Panera and did some AP lit and it was really therapeutic. I also realized that talking to other people about what I'm writing helps solidify my thoughts. Also, Amanda's favorite movie is 13 going on 30.
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good old canada
So, I was editing my disaligning paragraphs and I was really contemplating why Atwood notes The Edible Woman as being "protofeminist" opposed to being a work of feminist literature. Considering this is one way that I counter my literary criticism, I thought it was pretty important that I figured out why Atwood says this. WHY DID I FORGET ATWOOD WAS CANADIAN? I was reading one of the sources that I use for my aligning and THERE IT WAS. Although in America, the 1960s was the match that sparked several feminist movements, Canada was not in the same place as the U.S. Although they also had feminist movements, they were not moving as rapidly as the U.S. This just shows how important point of view can be to an analysis.
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Okay, so I was just sitting minding my own business, and I started just staring at my book cover (which matches the first one with the fruit on it) AND TELL ME WHY I NEVER SAW THE LEGS. At first I saw the legs, and then I eventually figured out the positioning of the body. I then proceeded to look up other covers of The Edible Woman (there’s like a million of them) and I found the second one, which was a lot more obvious than the cover of my book. The cover of my book is a lot less dramatic and obvious than the other one, the face is completely hidden/very unexposed because of the shadows that it’s given in the fruit basket. I’m slightly surprised that out of all 5 of the sources that I read, not a single one of them mentioned the significance of the cover. Both of them touch on the same idea, the second one is just more blatantly stated. The point of placing a woman with both food items is to hint that the woman is what is being consumed/becoming empty. In the first cover, the woman is hiding in a fruit basket, shielding herself from what might be grabbed next. In the second cover, the fridge is in the shape of a woman, and each time something is taken out of it, it could symbolize her slowly becoming more and more empty OR how throughout the book she gradually loses her appetite for one thing at a time. While looking up covers, I saw several more that just had a picture of a woman in a wedding dress. I wonder why Atwood chose to have so many covers of the book, and how come in some of them there’s no edible element, because it focuses more on the idea of marriage. It leaves much more to the readers imagination.
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Consumerism in The Edible Woman
In The Edible Woman, Atwood critiques Marian’s edible nature as a woman under capitalism. Marian herself works for Seymour Surveys, which is a company that sends out surveys to find out what consumers like. Atwood uses Marian’s anorexia to symbolize her resistance to consumerism and expectations of what it means to be feminine. After her engagement to Peter, she feels as if she herself is being consumed. On page 42, Atwood writes “The alarm clock startled me out of a dream in which I had looked down and seen my feet beginning to dissolve, like melting jelly, and had put on a pair of rubber boots just in time only to find that the ends of her fingers were turning transparent” (42). This comes after Ainsley and Marian share a very uncomfortable conversation regarding having children, and passing on “weak genes”, which makes Marian very uncomfortable. Ainsley, on the other hand, feels that being a mother will allow her to fulfill the deepest part of her femininity. In society, women are often defined by their culture as passive objects for male consumption, so Atwood presents women as an edible commodity and uses Marian’s eating disorder to discuss a young woman’s rebellion against a male dominated society.
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POV in The Edible Woman
In The Edible Woman, Atwood sections the book into three parts. However, the book changes speakers between 1st to 3rd point of view between the first and second part, and then back to first person for part three, which is only 5 pages long. Part two, which is told by an unknown, unbiased narrator, is the longest part of the book. Atwood does this in a similar way that Cisneros does in Woman Hollering Creek, changing from a female narrator to an unknown. Like Cisneros, Atwood does this to show that Marian McAlphin is disassociated from herself following her engagement. Part two is where Marian announces her engagement, and also where her eating disorder is brought to light. On page 110, the last thing Marian says before Atwood shifts to third person is “I must get organized. I have a lot to do” (110). In the 1960′s, being “organized” was used in reference to meeting social expectations, which caused Marian a large amount of anxiety, especially when it meant being a wife and a mother. Atwood shifts POV to show how Marian has lost her identity, and instead, allows her to speak through her anorexia.
Marian could never really imagine herself as being a mother or a wife, she saw it as a form of entrapment. I found this to be similar to The Rocking Horse Winner, because in the beginning of the story, D.H. Lawrence talks about how the mothers children were thrust upon her. However, Peter, her fiance, is a very traditional man who felt that by being a husband and a father he would be achieving a dream of his.
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Pregnancy in The Edible Woman
It’s weird how Atwood talks about pregnancy in The Edible Woman. One of the characters, Clara, is pregnant. On page 121, Atwood says “The pregnancy had gone first one week, then two weeks longer than it was supposed to, and Clara had sounded over the phone as though she herself was being dragged slowly down into the gigantic pumpkin-like growth that was enveloping her body. “I can hardly stand up,” she had groaned. But Marian had not been able to face another of contemplating Clara’s belly and speculating with her on the mysterious behavior of its contents. She had responded last time with cheerful but notably uncheering remarks intended to lighten the atmosphere, such as “Maybe it’s got three heads,” and “Maybe it isn’t a baby at all but a kind of parasitic growth, like galls on tree, or elephantiasis of the navel, or a huge bunion...”” (121). When I read this, I was trying to think WHO would think of pregnancy like that. I understand that she was just trying to lift Clara’s spirits and try and reassure her that nothing is wrong with a bun in the oven that needs a few extra weeks. But referring to it as a “parasitic growth”? I think what Atwood says about pregnancy explains a lot about how womanhood is viewed as society, and how pregnancy is seen as a weakness, such as in professional sports. For example, in the NBA, a common injury is a torn ACL. However, in the WNBA, when a woman is out due to injury, they’ll list pregnancy as an injury. I’m sorry, but what kind of bullshit is that? Pregnancy should be seen as a celebration. Men’s basketball players, like Steph Curry, are open about their families and good news (such as pregnancy announcements), so why do men’s basketball players get praised for announcing that their wife’s pregnancy, but a women’s basketball player announces hers as an “injury”?
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