Daisy Guzman Engl 1010 Blog by Daisy Guzman

Introduction

dguzman17_2_1 — 2021-02-03 18:38:11 UTC

Hello Everyone!
My name is Daisy Guzman and I am a first year at Stanislaus State. I am majoring in Psychology to soon become an occupational therapist for the special needs. One of my favorite thing I enjoy doing the most is cheering at Stan State. Although I haven't had my chance on the field, I can't wait for school to start on campus to enjoy the Friday night lights in my face and pom poms in my hand. I also enjoy listening to music or watching Netflix on my free time with my puppy. I love long runs just to get out of my head and think to myself. I hope you all enjoy this class as much as I am, Have a great semester and wish you all nothing but success in your future!!

Character Analysis

dguzman17_2_1 — 2021-03-08 06:54:56 UTC

The character I will be analyzing is Grandma Elizabeth which is Jeromes paternal grandmother. As we may already know, the grandmother plays a specific role in the book, a mean, viscous like character to Jerome. On page 26, you can just imagine the argument between grandpa Willy along with Jeromes mother and Elizabeth herself while Jerome was just listening. Later on in in the book (I believe page 52) Grandma Elizabeth starts calling Jerome false names like "dumb" because he has not yet said a word for at least five years, but could she be at fault for the reason Jerome acting the way that he does?

Moving on later into the book, I have learned that Jerome, now known as Omar changed his name as he became an adult. Omar then believes he is stuck and needs to find a way to leave, possibly to New York and become a poet or else he'd be stuck working in the tire factory for the rest of his life.
Omar still finds himself the same young kid that he was with not talking and feeling excluded from everything, but he was trying to speak with grandma Elizabeth; that is the way he preferred it. In this part, we encounter grandma Elizabeth still feeling the same for Omar as she made her little grins and "dull, empty" face, showing that she still does not feel different about the old Jerome. She still frankly believed he was "dumb" and so did Omar but more "stupid" upon his request of just wanting to have a conversation with her.

Some questions I have is what such thing did Omar do to receive such hatred from his own grandmother? Was it Jealousy of some sort? Why is it that she only enjoyed Larrys company instead of any of the brothers? What made her feel so much hatred toward her own family?

This picture is to help you gain a better understanding of Omar. He might feel as if he is stuck in a place that he can't get out of and is dragging himself to more independent, but we always need that extra push from others to make us feel appreciated and heart felt, not "dumb". He might feel as if he is in a dark place like this picture, but there is always a way to phase that and outbreak to new beginnings.

Setting and Conflict

dguzman17_2_1 — 2021-03-08 07:41:05 UTC

Growing up in South Stockton, known as one of the most dangerous cities in the United States was nothing compared to any other. I have seen it all.. all as in death happening right in my face. From innocent young kids getting shot for wearing a solid read or blue tees or hanging with the wrong people, to just being in the wrong place at the wrong time gets you killed. You see this as a cry for help, I see this as a regular day as a stocktonian. I have never been involved in such things, but I have been in conflicts where my mouth could have got me in trouble. I have always been the quiet and reserved girl when it came to things like this, like Jerome( Also known as Umar). Jerome's home of Akron, Ohio, is a place that he views as a dead end town. Reading "The last Poet" it has came to my attention that Umar is in a hard stuck moment where all he wants to do is move because he believes if he doesn't now, then he will never get the chance to in the future.

There is many conflict that Umar is facing but the one that brought my attention the most would have to Man vs Self. He struggles with addiction later on in his adult life as well as personal failure which can make him retrace all the big steps he has already taken to becoming a better person for himself. Man vs Self is a conflict many people struggle with especially if you have had a tough past. Life could be going so great for you, but you think back to that one time in your life and remember how depressed and sorrowful you felt? You may be going backwards and have to start all over. Umar is the definition of me. He defines how I feel in this very moment. (I am not saying I am depressed, just to clarify)

As Umar was dying to move to New York and pursue his dream of becoming a poet, I have always felt in order for me to grow, I need to learn about myself. I need to explore the way I am and feel in the happy moments. I live with my parents, due to the pandemic; I was not able to move to Turlock. I believe if I throw myself into the college world I am more likely to succeed. I feel like I am being dragged by everything around me, like I am yet to get anywhere in life. I feel this is exactly how Umar felt, he felt alone and when he had his grandmother saying things to him it was much worst and gave him more of a reason to leave.

This picture indicates how I believe Umar feels most of his time being. Like he is trying his best, but at times it can be challenging to please everyone around him. Due to past experiences, it is hard to evolve into a better person in one day. It may take a year, maybe two. Either way one day if we keep trying we'll get to our destined destination.

Theme

dguzman17_2_1 — 2021-03-21 19:02:13 UTC

In the Book "The Last Poet", the author believes that the characters in the story go through major ups and downs to get where they want to be. They then realize it is time to start moving fast because time goes by so fast, in a heartbeat and things can change drastically.
The Last Poets has many themes embedded into the story and the characters. Every character has many themes they live through that the reader gets to read and soak up to later think about and connect to. Jerome and Felipe both start off with a rocky beginning. A theme I want to include is the more obvious one being everyone outside of the book can relate to. "One's environment can greatly affect how one grows up to be as an adult" I think of Jerome wanting to grow up so fast when I see this quote. As we see in the book, Jerome has this mindset of outgrowing everyone because of his past events; having a gone father along with a grandmother who tortures him with words. Being young and going through mishaps, it really changes people to either do better or it affects them in the long run. I feel I relate to this character because it is obviously shown that Jerome has now grown and has his own road ahead of him, but can eventually clash with thinking about his past events, like me. I have chosen to move on from the trauma that I experienced, but I then think about the things I have experienced and feel alone; everything has changed so much. I cannot let those things affect me because then I will still be stuck in that hole of misery and never get out, or fully recover.
Another way I think about this theme is with Felipe because of how intelligent he is, just the events he goes through always gets in the way of being happy. Every year he is left a fragile child falling into any crack of comfort he can fit into which oftentimes is not the safest or best. As Felipe grows, he tries to literally do anything to fit in anywhere using his abilities like story writing to be protected.
In conclusion, they both lack the desire of wanting to feel loved. I believe if growth is a misconception, why is it so hard to get out of that headspace to fully grow. This picture, more of a quote is to briefly conclude my post of moving on and changing. It is okay.

The Hero's Journey or Coming of Age

dguzman17_2_1 — 2021-05-04 17:30:39 UTC

As I read through Good Kid M.A.A.D, I understood its concept of showing the readers a characters growing up in a dangerous place, but overcomes it. He suffers through it all, but the turning point from the story is him losing his innocence sexually to Sherane by taking the car and driving through the hood.

The point of view coming from this story is the character being the author referring himself as the first person since the main character is talking to himself. As for the character development, it would be him taking us through his daily life; us stepping into his shoes and hearing from his side of the story. The setting judged by what is being read is placed in a broken down neighborhood with broken dreams, known as a hood. As for the story it is based off people with broken everything, problems in their life that simply no one can resolve. It is something people live with and should and have to watch themselves in every step they take or they can be put into a "slippery slope".

I can connect this story to my life so much because I can relate coming from a place of danger, but somehow evolve from people thinking such things of me judging by where I am from. As a Stocktonian, I have made people gasp when I tell them I am from South Stockton. They simply believe someone like me should not grow up in a dangerous place, but that "dangerous place" is home.
I understand the lessons and lectures my parents also give me; "You cannot go out this late", "I do not give you permission to leave my house tonight". It is all in the form of parenting and understanding that it is dangerous, maybe another day. No matter where life takes, me I will always come home to Stockton.

Poetry

dguzman17_2_1 — 2021-05-06 23:55:30 UTC

In this Poetry Blog Post I will be analyzing Justin Biebers "Justice" album and what it indicates. I chose Justin Bieber because yes he is my favorite artist, but he also makes meaningful music and speaks from the heart which makes me relate to him so much. I have been a belieber since 2008 and have always felt he has made an impact on my life and fellow generation.

My first favorite song from the Justice album is Lifetime. Listening to this song the first time stood out to me differently because it's not only so synthetic, but it's from the heart. In the verse "Some people come in your life for a reason, others they come in your life for a season, but baby you are a lifetime." It is obvious he is speaking about his wife, Hailey Baldwin. Being a belieber has made me follow all the events that have happened in his life including his marriage; Looking at his past events in life, he has been through so much hurt that has made him lose people along the way, but in the end he felt Hailey has always been his person that he has been looking for in life.

The second song chosen from this album would be Ghost. I want to connect this song to my current loss I am grieving through. I have recently lost a friend that meant the world to me and spoke many truths to my life. "Treyvon Breckenridge, the star quarter back at Edison High School" was what he was known for. As for the people that genuinely knew him, they would know he was the most loving, bright person that has crossed our paths in life. He understood me like no one else did and guided me through so much like a true role model. I thank him for being the reason I tried out for the Stanislaus State cheer team and making it. As we were in Chemistry class, I was scared of the thought of not making my dream cheer team, he encouraged me to sign the papers for tryouts, and so I did in front of him. Now every time I step out on that field I will always think of him. It would be hard to put all the lyrics of this song in this blog post, so hear it from me that this song is the upmost best song in the album and encourage you to listen to it. "If you can't be close to me, your memory is ecstasy, I miss you more than life"

In my opinion I believe this whole album speaks so much truth to his life and how it has platformed throughout it all. He is a true angel and has fought through many things in life but it is revolving to see him back on his feet and loving his life again. Once a Belieber? Always a Belieber <3

Extra Credit Reflection

dguzman17_2_1 — 2021-05-09 22:21:48 UTC

Coming into this class I had a quick glimpse through "rate my professors" saying this class was filled with a good environment and the assignments were exciting and fun if you were into reading. It was exactly that!
I enjoyed both semesters in this class and feel I learned a lot from it. Going back to the beginning of the beginning of the semester, I was not really all into reading at all and never knew it was something that I really enjoyed throughout being in this class. If I learned one thing, I learned there are many parts to telling a story that I did not even notice when I would simply tell a little one. I always think of all the amazing novels and shows I have watched with there significant meaning behind them. I try and reflect it to my life and how it actually can help me in the future. I have now taken it upon myself to start some poetry writing due to the last lecture. I enjoy writing all of my thoughts and feelings on a per, expressing myself and just overall letting my thoughts out. It helps me breathe at the end of the day its just a matter of glowing better in my perspective.
In conclusion I enjoyed this class a lot and all that came with it. I wish we were all in class to meet you all the right way, but maybe in another lifetime. I hope you all have a great summer and over all the best years at Stanislaus State. Your future awaits!