FINAL BLOG

I just finished and sent my biographies on my authors- Jorge Luis Borges and Luisa Valenzuela (whose name I still have to look up because my spelling is about as good as a preschooler's). I truthfully thought that learning about their lives would be not the most exciting thing BUT it was really fasinating. First, I read that Borges was a visiting professor/guest lecturer (I don't know which one, it didn't specify) at the University of New Hampshire in 1972 and my parents (well for sure my dad) were there!!! I also thought it was interesting that Valenzuela's parents entertained a lot for Borges ( I guess that means he came over to their house a lot and ate their food...hmm sounds a lot like my friends) and she personally knew him and worked for him. In one of the biographies I read that Borges was a major influence in her writing, which will work out really well for my essay. For the essay, I think I'll do a similarities/differences thing between their writings and how Valenzuela was influenced by Borges. I also thought it was interesting that both didn't start out writing short stories or novels, which they are both most famous for. Borges started out as a poet; Valenzuela, a journalist. (look at that sentence pattern!!)

DAY 4

After reading Nora's entries, I felt obligated to make mine more entertaining but don't get excited because it's not. Maybe, when I have more time I'll spice it up but for now here's what I have: I was really pleased to find both my authors, Luisa Valenzuela and Jorge Luis Borges, on Gale Group and elibrary. I will probably use both of these resources for the biography and who knows I might even do something crazy and google them. I tried using Jstor on the library resources from home and it didn’t work, but I’m even without that I’m sure I can find enough information for the biography. However, I am looking for another short story by Borges. I copied Valenzuela’s “Up Among the Eagles” from the book Kaitlyn had, so I have two short stories by her, but I’m still working on Borges. At this point, I am also brainstorming ideas for my essay. I think it would be really effective if I compared not only the two authors as people, but also their work, just because they are so different yet they still have some of the same Latin American characteristics in their writings.

Day 3: Final Decisions

I have decided on Luisa Valenzuela and Jorge Luis Borges. I liked the Borges' "Garden of Forking Paths" when we read it in class and wanted to know more about him and read more of his work. But I also wanted someone to compare him to. I read Luisa Valenzuela's "Panther Eyes" and like how it goes from third person to second to first and back to third. The structure of "Panther Eyes" is different than a lot of the short stories I have read and I like the magical realism twist to it. Next, I am going to find works by these authors. For Borges, I am going to use "The Aleph" and I am still searching for another story. For Valenzuela, I am pretty sure that I am going to use "Panther Eyes" and "Up Among the Eagles", but I am still keeping my eyes open for more of her work. After that, I plan to find background information on them- biography stuff. Then, ideas for the essay- similarities and difference between the two authors and their work.

Evaluation of a website

http://www.themodernword.com/borges/

Author: Who wrote it? On this site there is a specific link that takes you to information regarding the site and it’s authors. Here there is a long list of bio’s- where they went to school, what they do know, their degrees. All of the people listed current do or at some point worked at a university and hold high degrees in English. They seem smart and credible.
Audience: Who was the site written for? It’s definitely not for younger audience. They talk seriously about Borges ideas. I think the audience ranges from the true Borges fans to people seeking general and specific information regarding Borges and his work. Yes, the audience is reliable.
Scholarship: Is this scholarly material? Some of it is kind of weird. These people seem to be really into and intrigued with Borges and his material. So along with stuff about his theories and ideas, there is also criticisms, biographies, and works from Borges.
Bias: Is there any evidence of bias? I definitely think these people are big fans of Borges but they do give links to different criticism and it is hard to be bias about known facts or biographical information. I would not look here for opinions against him though. Also there are links to buying stuff (posters, books, etc.) about Borges, so they are trying to sell something. I defintely think this website is somewhat bias.
Currency: Is this out of date? This is one thing the site is not. It is updated really frequently and recently. Recently as in the last year and since Borges died in the 80s this is definitely if not excessively recent.
Links: Where do the web pages take you? They take me where they are suppose to.

Conclusion: While this is not my number one site for information regarding Borges, just because I think it’s more of a fan site than a purely educational site, I still think the information here is valid and reliable. These people seem to really be interested in Borges and I think they know what they are talking about. I would trust the information and links here I do not think I would use it just because it is not what I really need for this project and I think there are better and more specific sites about Borges. So no, I do not think I will be using this site in my study of Borges and his work.

Day 1

I knew from the beginning that I did not want to do poetry; I am definitely doing Latin American short stories. I started looking through “The Vintage Book of Latin American Stories”. I read “The Aleph” by Borges and I really liked it, so I think that I want to research him. I am pretty sure I want to do two authors but I am still deciding and picking. Some people I am considering are Julio Cortazar, Sergio Ramirez, and Luis Rafael Sanchez.