When I signed up for this course, I really did not know what I was signing up for, but I got really lucky. I ended up loving this class and learning so much. I feel like I know a lot more about my weaknesses as a writer, which there are a lot of. But once I got a better sense of what they were, I was able to deal with them. I also found out that this is a good topic to study. I'm not going to lie here, I was not really that into the topic when I found out what it was, but I've really enjoyed everything we've read in this class. I loved Julie and Julia, and I enjoyed all the excerpts from the autobiographies we read. Except maybe Meatless Days-that book just did not do it for me. But I really did love this class. The class size was perfect, and I loved knowing the people in my class. It was great that we got to have small group discussions because I think people definitely feel more comfortable in that environment. Having writing conferences was also helpful for me. It's nice knowing that a professor really cares about your progress and wants you to do well in the class. I'm actually pretty depressed this class is over. If it's possible, I think I'll just go ahead and take it next semester.

Julie and Julia

I read Julie and Julia by Julie Powell for my blog book. I wasn't expecting to like it at all, but I ended up really liking it. I think I will probably write mainly about Powell's writing style, which is what really made me enjoy the book. She's very straightforward, and the honesty of her writing makes the book much funnier and easier to read. Since I really have no interest in cooking, I liked that there was a lot more to read about than just her cooking project. I liked how she wrote about so much more than just what is supposed to be the main focus of the book.

Research Topic

For my research paper, I want to look at women who use plays or movies as their autobiographies. I want to go into what inspires them to put their life up to someone else's interpretation, how they cast their life, and things like that.

Lost in Translation

Since I did my presentation on "Lost in Translation", I know that I read it more thoroughly than I did the other three stories. I thought of the stories we read, even though it wasn't my favorite, I could definitely relate to it more than the others. Eva Hoffman's experience was obviously significant, but at the same time, they are the same as so many other people's. It made me think of my first few weeks of high school because I went to a huge public school where I didn't know anyone after I'd been at a tiny private school for eight years, and all of my friends went on to high school there as well. Hoffman's situation is much more extreme than mine was, but I remember how hard it was to try to adjust to this new group of people, who had all been friends before I came into their crowd. I remember trying so hard to be funny, and when I would say something and no one laughed, I would get so mad at myself. Hoffman's story is just so easy to identify with when she talks about her feelings of isolation, even though she is dealing with moving to a new country and adapting a new culture while I just went to a new school. Hoffman's focusing a lot of her writing on her struggle with two languages. It reminded me a lot of "Meatless Days" in the way that the author uses food to tell her story. I loved when Hoffman talked about having to decide if she wanted to write her diary in English or in Polish. It just perfectly captures her conflict of clinging to her past while trying to adapt a new lifestyle.

G.L. Horton's Stage Blog

As I said earlier, I did a lot of theater in high school, and I really love reading plays. So I chose to read G.L. Horton's blog. Horton is an actress, playwright, and critic. She writes about plays she sees and has written, but she puts a lot of her personality into her writing and writes about her personal experiences as well. Most of the perspective I have gotten on theater has come from my high school directors, and I think it's interesting to read someone else's ideas. Her opinions differ from mine a little bit. She talks in her most recent entry about not liking David Mamet. I'm kind of confused as to how anyone could not like Glengarry Glen Ross... I like that she mentions that she writes a lot of comedy. It seems like drama is perceived as high class while comedy is kind of the lower art, or something like that. But it takes just as much talent to write and perform comedy as it does drama, in my opinion at least. Comedy is overlooked so often, and it is just as worthwhile and interesting as drama. What I also really like about Horton's blog is reading what she has to say about a play from her position as a playwright. Her reviews are so insightful, and you can just tell she has had so much experience in the theater. The writing in her blog is just great, and I am definitely going to look into reading some of the things she has written.

Hey, my name is Anne. I'm from Austin, Texas. I have two brothers-Jamie, who's twelve, and Harlan, who's twenty-one. My brothers are the funniest people I've ever met, and I'm really close to them. I love movies of all kinds. I would give a few favorites, but there are just so many that I'd feel bad for the ones I didn't name. In high school, theater ran my life, and I loved it. Right now, I'm not doing any theater, but I'm sure that I will go back to it. I think that Dave Matthews Band is the best band ever. I love "The Office" and "Lost" and "Arrested Development". I also watch "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report", but I swear I don't just watch TV all the time, even though it sounds like it. The best book I've ever read is "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer. "Lonesome Dove" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" are my other favorites. I also love David Sedaris. I like to travel. I've been to Brazil, France, Austria, Italy, and some other places I can't think of. I really like iced tea and Texas football. There's really very little about me that is at all interesting.