#3:"If you were a fairy tale/mythological character"/group skills

     I see myself as a initiator/contributor, a fairy godmother to the group. As she proposes a solution and contributes to Cinderella's night, I will contribute suggestions and solutions to our group as we work towards our goal. I believe I can help enable our group to move forward by coming up with new ideas and helping to bring up old thoughts that we may not have looked deep enough into. The way the fairy godmother contributed to Cinderella's success in life I hope to contribute to our group's success in this class. 

     I also see myself as a supporter/encourager. I strive to constantly inspire everyone in the group to give their opinions and contribute, similar to the Muses, Greek goddesses of inspiration. I like to stay positive and help keep the group positive and I believe a good way to do that is to give people good feedback and recognize their own strengths. I want to inspire people to contribute the best way they can to the group.

#2: Diagnosis/Exam Reflection

     After taking the practice test I've realized that it's been a long time since I have had to analyze pieces of literature that I am unfamiliar with in a short time frame. I've also realized that being so out of practice directly correlates to how many questions I answered correctly, or not correctly for that matter. All things considered I don't think the test went too awfully, but I'm definitely not where I want to be. 

     I discovered one of my weaknesses very quickly as the first question asked to classify a poem. Poetry is one of the areas in which I need to improve my analysis skills greatly. Starting with learning the terms, the classifications. Another area that I need to improve upon is recognizing what the symbols are within any piece of literature, and discover what it is being symbolized. In my first reading of a piece I don't go in deep enough. I scan the surface, not picking up on the true meaning of the piece until I'm over halfway through with it's questions, if at all. I need to dive deeper, sooner.

     As I scan the surface though, I do pick up on the literary devices quickly. I can identify the similes, personification, parallel structure, etc. the first time over and remember how they were helpful if referenced in a question. I can usually see how the piece connects as well. In the questions where it asks what certain words were referring to I can look back and easily find what two things connect. I can usually figure out what the basic meaning of a passage is, but it's the deeper meaning that tricks me up. 

     To improve my literary analysis skills, specifically in poetry first, I want to have read, analyzed and classified at least ten classic poems by October. Practice makes perfect right? In order to better identify symbols and the deeper meaning behind pieces I want to time myself analyzing 8 pieces from 5 Steps or the textbook by October. I want to be able to catch on the more important ideas the first time. Finally, I want improve my vocabulary, some of the words that were answers to the questions I just didn't know. I want to define 20 new vocabulary words I find in 5 Steps or the textbook by October. 

#1: Design

     I chose the font courier, because it is a classic font, reminding me of an old style typewriter. It is simple and professional. It adds a traditional feel to the blog. The size is normal because it is big enough to read, but not overwhelming. The color is peaceful and calming, and that is the mood I want my blog to portray. The color also goes along with the those of my template.


     The template consists of grays and blues which aligns with the peaceful feel I want the blog to have. The water droplets also contribute to the calm feel. It is simple, and there are no unecessary things distracting you from the main posts. The black background forthe text standsout against the lighter background drawing your attention immeadiatley to the post.