Figuraive Language

“Do It For Me Now” by Angels and Airwaves

 

I'm frightened at night and the wind has a roar

It seeps through the hall and from under the door

Like the shit that was said

I can't take it that well

I give and I give and I give and I give and I'm still

Lost and hurt and bone thin from the love that's been starved

I know it got close but I'm sure it's too far

From the point of suspense, we know it should be

The end of that part of our favorite movie

When the guy grabs the girl and gives her his hand

Says take me away from this torturous land

Cause the grave is set up, the hole that I dug

I gave and I gave and I gave and I gave you my trust

Like the time that we kissed and you gave me a lie

To add to the scene you pretended to cry

But I'm here and I'm cool, the way that it is

Just give me a chance and I'll try to forgive

 

Chorus:

And I don't know

And I can't guess

If it's gonna be OK

But now my last wish

Is that you do this with me

Kiss me here and hold my hand

Let me feel like I'm the only one

I know you can

Won't you do it for me now

 

I've really had it with the rain of the tears

The predictable storm that has come every year

And it sneaks in from shore with a bat in its hand

I'm trying I'm trying I'm trying I'm trying I can't

You're a thief and a witch but I love you to death

You steal my heart and curse under your breath

But the one thing that I can most willingly prove

That when you are gone I'll be fine without you

 

Chorus

 

Now just hold on, hold on to me

 

 

 

 

 

In “Do It For Me Now” there is definitely a lot of figurative language (which I bolded) but I chose this song mainly for it’s awesome use of personification.  There wasn’t an excessive use of personification but the few examples that I highlighted were really strong.  The first example is at the very beginning.  It states “I’m frightened at night and the wind has a roar.”  The wind cannot roar, and actually humans really can’t either, but this example definitely gives the wind a lively characteristic that it does not realistically possess.  The wind must have been blowing so hard and strong that it made the noise that seemed like a roar.  This example of personification is great because it completely plays off of the first part of the sentence and adds to the element of fear that is presented.

The second good example of personification falls at the very end of the song (oh, snap. I used my own personification J): “I've really had it with the rain of the tears; The predictable storm that has come every year; And it sneaks in from shore with a bat in its hand.”  Here, the predictable storm, which is referring to some kind of mental upset, is personified into a person that sneaks up on you with a bat in their hand.  The speaker seems to know that he will be upset by something but is unsure of exactly when it will occur and therefore it is considered sneaky, like some people.  And obviously it cannot hold a bat in its hand, but this must mean that the pain or upset comes with great magnitude.

            I also chose the song “Breathe” (lyrics below) by Angles and Airwaves because this song has excellent examples of similes.  “And just like clouds, my skin crawls” is figurative language times two because it has a simile and personification.  Clouds can “crawl” across the sky because we can often look up and see the clouds moving very slowly.  And in this manner the speaker’s skin crawls.  This signifies a slow moving uncomfortable feeling that is coming over the speaker.  As for the element of personification, skin does not literally crawl, but is simply referring to uneasiness that people feel.

            The second instance of simile in this song states “My hands shake clasped with fear as you come near; To say goodnight, just like a dove; A peaceful sign.”  The speaker is comparing the other person, most likely a woman, to a dove.  The speaker seems to explain this simile because in the next like he says that it is a peaceful sign.  In the Christian religion, the dove was a sign of hope, and with that, hope brings peace.

 

“Breathe” by Angels and Airwaves

 

A blue, black shade of love.

Sent from above.

My hands are tied to worlds unknown,

And this I know.

Your breath's like wine,

And just like clouds, my skin crawls.

It's so divine, the sky it glows with fields of light.

 

Chorus:

Did you know that I love you?

Come and lay with me.

I love you.

And all this day, I will love you.

You make me feel alive,

and I'll love you

Until the end of time.

 

My hands shake clasped with fear as you come near

To say goodnight, just like a dove.

A peaceful sign.

To help us by as you come in.

Let this begin.

Stars fall like dust, our lips will touch.

We speak too much.

 

Chorus (2x)

 

I've got a lot to say, if you will let me

It's always hard, when you're around me

But here right now, there's interest in your eyes

So hear me out, and hear this the first time

Intertextuality

My example of intertextuality is from a South Park episode where Cartman is behaving really badly so his mom gets him on Nanny 911 and Super Nanny in hopes that the nannies will help improve Cartman’s behavior.  With no success from the nannies, a doctor recommends that Cartman’s mom call the Dog Whisperer.  So obviously already we have a lot of examples of intertextuality from South Park referencing other TV shows (Nanny 911, Super Nanny, and Dog Whisperer).  I have watched the shows Nanny 911 and the Dog Whisperer so I could easily see the parallels between those shows and how they were portrayed on South Park.  Cesar Millan form the Dog Whisperer treats Cartman as if he were a dog and uses the same techniques that he would use on dogs with behavioral problems.

Here's the link to the clip I used: http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/63702

Blue Highways

Ok, to start, I really dislike Blue Highways so far.  The style of writing is very different than Northern Lights and I much preferred Vida’s writing style to Heat-Moon’s.  Heat-Moon uses a lot of heavy description entangled with big words that, for me, are quite distracting to what the text is actually trying to say.  I found myself rereading a lot because the sentence structure was so complicated sometimes that I forgot what I was reading.  I don’t know… I just don’t like this book so far.  It’s definitely a more difficult read and I haven’t found it particularly interesting yet so it’s hard sometimes.  Even though Northern Lights was also about travel, I feel like Clarissa had a more appealing reason so just get up and leave her home than Heat-Moon.  Heat-Moon just kind of felt like it.  At least that’s the impression that I got.

Second (yes I have decided to address all three of the blog topics), I did not get the chance to travel at all over spring break.  I really wanted to go to Chicago to go shopping.  I tried to give up shopping for Lent, but that didn’t work out so well.  I feel like a terrible Catholic now, but I couldn’t freaking resist the temptation of $25 hoodies from A&F that were originally $100!!  Felt like a steal to me… Oh, I also bought a couple tank tops from Aeropostale (they were 2 for $20).  So I feel like I should give up something that I absolutely LOVE to punish myself…

Lastly, I’ll take this space to vent a little about my life in general.  So since I didn’t go anywhere for spring break, I spent most of my time at the Gahanna Animal Hospital shadowing the greatest vet ever, Dr. Worman.  I hadn’t been in to shadow since early January before school started back, so it had been a while since I’d been around gross animal stuff.  So as soon as Dr. Worman started telling be about this nasty c-section done on a dog with a ruptured uterus containing dead puppies, I got a little nauseous, and before long, was in their bathroom puking up breakfast.  Sorry that was really gross…  I just hope that stuff like that wont hold me back from being a great vet one day…

Northern Lights Reflection 1

While reading the chapter “Because I was Late,” I got the feeling that Clarissa didn’t have a very happy childhood.  It seemed that she was always giving subtle cries for attention like when she wished that her mother would reprimand her for not brushing her teeth.  The mother, Olivia, gave so much attention to Taft the cat and lacked giving adequate attention to her own kids.  When Clarissa and her mom wenucht Christmas shopping, I thought it was a weird coincidence that the man in the Body Shop said that Clarissa wouldn’t see her mom again if she bought the vanilla bath oil.  The fact that Clarissa decided to change her mind and get the body wash shows that she stilled wanted her mom to be with her and not to leave.  Then when the mother disappears because she was “tired of waiting,” I felt heartbroken for Clarissa.  She must have felt an incredible amount of guilt and probably blamed herself for her mom’s leaving.  I thought it was really sad that she later hid her father’s suitcases so he couldn’t leave.  I also felt that the dad wasn't really involved with his daughter’s life because she got away with drinking and was even allowed to take a road trip to Texas with just her friend.

I really like that the seasons of the book so far are all winter.  Since it is really snowy in Oxford, it allows the reader to connect to the feeling of cold feet and patting the snow.  Anyways, when the book goes back to Clarissa in Finland and her travels to Inari, I thought that it was so strange that Clarissa knew exactly where to find her dad and recognized him instantly.  I guess there aren’t many Sami churches in the area.  Clarissa has never met this man but she seems to know him.  The finding of her father and her calling him seemed to happen really fast and it just seemed to me that it worked out too perfectly.  I was expecting some sort of obstacle to be in her way of finding her dad.  Oh, another thing.  I hated that Clarissa kicked the pigeon at the train station.  I felt like she was talking her frustrations with Taft out on the bird, or just enjoyed seeing it suffer because she was suffering.  I feel like she doesn’t have good relationships with animals.

Anyways, here's a foster! This is my big buddy Byron. Awesome, affectionate dog :)  He's up for adoption in Columbus if anyone's looking for a best friend!

Reader Inventory

            When I was younger, my mom used to always read to my younger siblings and me before bedtime.  It was something that we all looked forward to because I think that stories really tend to spark the imagination of little kids and the pictures are always really colorful and entertaining.  As a little kid, I loved the books that had those textures to feel as you read like “Feel how soft the puppy’s fur is” and “Feel the roughness of the kitten’s tongue.”  Then you’d get to feel furry stuff and sandpaper.  Anyways, as I got older and my terrible procrastination completely evident by the fourth grade, reading became more of a chore than a pleasure.  During the summer months when my sibs and I were out of school, my mom made us read for a half an hour to an hour before we could do anything fun, so in my mind, forcing me to read made reading seem like a “negative” experience.  In school, no books could really hold my attention and I’d just put reading off until it was too much to handle.  And that’s how it’s been ever since.

 Sparknotes and I became good friends and I was able to get away with its summaries all through high school.  With the exception of A Clockwork Orange, I never read an assigned book all the way through in high school, or a leisure book for that matter.  I would start a book, then not keep up with the readings, and eventually feel too far behind to keep up.  Classic books were mostly boring to me and I felt like because they were all before my time I couldn’t really connect to the characters very well.  I don’t know what it was about A Clockwork Orange that intrigued me but thought that it was a really cool book.  My book didn’t come with that slang dictionary in the back, so I had to figure out this new language myself and I did.  It was fun to realize what our minds are capable of picking up and understanding.  I still remember that “slooshying” means “listening.”

            Even though I’m not so keen on books, I do enjoy reading magazines.  I feel like magazines always find a way to be addicting to readers because they are so specific in their audience.  Cosmo tends to hook me quickly and I’ll get lost in reading its articles for hours on end.  I usually curl up on my bed to read it and pretty much anything.  My room is quiet and I can better focus with less distractions.  I can get so easily distracted when I’m reading because I most likely would rather be doing something else.  So when I’m reading important stuff for school like BMZ or books for English class, I need to have a quiet and boring environment so that reading seems to be the most entertaining thing to do at the time. I prefer reading alone because I get distracted by people and will trail from reading the book and start talking about the weekend or the weather.  However, I do enjoy group studying in a group to some degree because usually everyone else is pretty focused on studying and that helps me to focus also.

            Since starting college my approach to reading has changed only somewhat.  I buckle down more to read because it’s more crucial to read all your class materials in college so you don’t fail and end up a bum on the streets.  There’s a lot less class time so you kind of have to read if you want to understand anything.  Finding motivation has also been a change for me.  Now that I have an idea of what I want to do with my life, it makes reading more worthwhile because in the end, it will help you achieve your career goals.  Maybe sometime soon I’ll look into finding some novels to read for fun.  I hear that the Marley and Me books are pretty good and it’s about a dog so I’d probably like that.  I guess it seems that I never really gave reading a chance.  I never tried hard enough to find texts that interested me or to have a positive outlook on the books that didn’t interest me in high school.  Hopefully this semester I can try to revamp my attitude on books and reading so that reading can be an activity that I look forward to instead of dread.

PS.  Here's a couple pics of one of my fosters, Marfield. 

And becuase I know that you all must be so concerned, yes, the fish has lived to tell of his terrifying experience.  :)

Hey Everyone!

Welcome to my blog :)  I'm Emily and I'm a sophomore at Miami University majoring in Zoology.  My focus is pre-vet in hopes that I'll attend OSU College of Veternary Medicine.  So obviously I adore animals of all kinds except for the creepy crawlies.  I'm not sure if I want to be a small or large animal (or even exotic) vet yet- I've only had experience with small animals, but I'm doing a horseback riding class at school which is really fun..so we'll see.  My favorite dog breeds are at the top of my page: Leonberger, St. Bernard, Newfoundland... - pretty much all the XL breeds.  As for cats, I like Orientals, Maine Coons, Ragdolls, and of course, the American Shorthair.  I've held a Sphynx (hairless) cat before and that was a really cool experience.  They feel like warm rubber.  My hobbies include volunteering (animal shelters and service trips down south to help with Hurricane Katrina cleanup/repair), messing around on my MacBook, watching Animal Planet, NatGeo, and Discovery Health.  I want to go dogsledding one day.  Yeah, that's about it...  Peace out.

(Picture of Daisy and I... she's gorgeous.)