FALL 2023
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 8th, 2023
Things I Like About my Hometown & Some History • It’s my hometown. I’m not going to lie and say that none of it has become invisible to me and faded into the background of my daily life, or that I love everything about it, because I don’t. However, it is still my hometown. It […]
Where The Crais Got Their Creole Natalie Cockey ’25 Like my uncle Clifton says in his memoir, my family has a tendency to “forget” our complicated family tree. “The Crais family is French” is all I could ever get out of my grammy even though she knew that wasn’t necessarily the truth. The truth is […]
Posted in Project Ideas on Sep 8th, 2023
My creative project is a kind of braided essay about personal experiences and impersonal pieces of history about my hometown, Gloucester, Virginia. Creative Project PDF Link
Good Morning! I chose to do my final project on the New Orleans supernatural hotspots that I could find and reasonably talk about in 10 minutes. I created a story map that you can access via this link ( https://arcg.is/0n0azm0 ).
Posted in Culture on Sep 8th, 2023
Taste Through Time: A Historical Compilation of New Orleans Cookbooks New Orleans, renowned for its vibrant and diverse culinary scene, has a long history of embracing flavors, ingredients, and techniques from around the world. Throughout the city’s history, aromatic and comfort-filled baked goods like coffee cake have found a special place in the hearts and […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 8th, 2023
I think a good word to summarize my thoughts and feelings about the two parts of the film series we viewed would be distressing. The aftermath of Katrina seems to be a topic that reveals more and more horror the more you learn about it. I had already learned about the situation in Memorial hospital […]
Posted in Project Ideas on Sep 8th, 2023
– Grand Rapids originally became a village in 1838, starting out as just a small fur trading village, and has quickly grown into the largest urban center in Western Michigan. – All the way back in 1836, a man named William Haldene traveled from Ohio to Grand Rapids and opened one of the first […]
Posted in Project Ideas on Sep 8th, 2023
Map Link to Share: https://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/Map-for-class/uRJccQgUfz Map Link to Edit: https://www.scribblemaps.com/create/#id=uRJccQgUfz Map ID: uRJccQgUfz
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 7th, 2023
For my final project, I decided to focus on a hurricane that affected my hometown like Katrina affected New Orleans. In 1969, Hurricane Camille stalled over the Blue Ridge Mountains and, meeting another storm, poured down rain into the valleys of Nelson County. I went down the path of an oral history, so I interviewed […]
Posted in Culture on Sep 7th, 2023
A Story of Beignets The cuisine of New Orleans stands as a testament to the city’s cultural diversity. Known for its diversity, it boasts a fusion of French, African, Spanish, and Creole roots. In the heart of all this culture lies the beloved beignet, a fried pastry dough that not only engages the taste buds […]
STAINED GLASS: A personal account of religious experiences & traumas Lane B. Vuick Sweet Briar College “Be still, and know that I am God” -Pslams 46:10 Grace Tabernacle Baptist Church There is a sentiment often quoted in the Christian religions that stems from a verse in the book of Matthew, that says that those with […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 7th, 2023
New School vs Old School Voodoo Old – Practiced in secret – Used as a religion – Most people who practiced were POC – Was used to gain certain social and economic benefits New – A huge part of the culture in NO – Used for tourism – More of a business – Interracial Similar […]
Posted in Project Ideas on Sep 6th, 2023
Map Link to Share: https://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/Map-for-class/uRJccQgUfz Map Link to Edit: https://www.scribblemaps.com/create/#id=uRJccQgUfz Map ID: uRJccQgUfz Patterns in icons and landmarks: Monuments and Landmarks: national parks and private spaces lightning strikes protecting monuments for future generations
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 6th, 2023
The information I found of my hometown that I am including in my final (+ sources): Grand Rapids gets its name from the Grand River and the rapids that used to help the local furniture industry with the transport of logs. The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, founded in 1854, became the country’s longest north-south […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 5th, 2023
Sadly, I’m still behind the mark progress wise when it comes to my final project. I have multiple ideas which I have researched to differing degrees but have not figured out a creative element. I know I’m very likely overthinking it, but still. I know last week I mentioned last week that I was interested […]
Posted in Bellocq's Ophelia on Sep 5th, 2023
While I know the blog posts aren’t supposed to mainly be about the quality of the works, I did want to say that I really enjoyed this book. The whole concept was very interesting. Natasha Trethewey’s decision to take Bellocq’s photo and create a story from Ophelia’s POV is in approach I haven’t seen before. […]
Posted in Bellocq's Ophelia on Sep 5th, 2023
Bellocq’s Ophelia is a poetry collection about a biracial prostitute named Ophelia or Violet in a New Orleans brothel. The name Ophelia echoes the character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet named Ophelia, a young woman who goes mad and ends up killing herself. Natasha Trethewey’s collection is about self-identity and the search to find oneself while struggling through the worst the […]
Posted in Bellocq's Ophelia on Sep 5th, 2023
In this poem, Bellocq is once again in Ophelia’s room. He’s there to take another picture of her, nothing else. They are more familiar with each other at this point in the collection, with her referring to him as “Papá Bellocq”. She’s started seeing him as a father figure or mentor of sorts. Ophelia has […]
Posted in Bellocq's Ophelia on Sep 5th, 2023
I really enjoyed this book as a whole but in her letter to her friend from February 1911 really stuck out to me. This poem really resonated with me as Ophelia sort of explains herself to her friend. She explains how different clients utilize her time and how she has moments of reflection as remembrance as […]
Posted in Bellocq's Ophelia on Sep 4th, 2023
I think that this piece in particular does well at representing the overarching purpose of the book. By ending with the line “and I fade again into someone I’m not.” it’s presented very clearly that this character is desperate to be seen beyond what is written of her and shown. To humanize this character of Ophelia/Violet […]
Posted in Bellocq's Ophelia on Sep 4th, 2023
Father – February 1911 “There is but little I recall of him – how I feared his visits, though he would bring gifts: apples, candy, a toothbrush, and powder. In exchange, I must present fingernails and ears, and open my mouth to show the teeth. Then I’d recite my lessons, my voice low. I would […]
Posted in Bellocq's Ophelia on Sep 4th, 2023
The poem book Bellocq’s Ophelia, by Natasha Tretheway, is a creative writing piece about the prostitutes of New Orleans throughout the 20th century. Tretheway created this book by looking at 20th century photos of prostitutes in New Orleans and from these photos, Tretheway gave these women a story that went beyond their job occupation. This […]
Posted in Bellocq's Ophelia on Sep 4th, 2023
Posted in Bellocq's Ophelia on Sep 4th, 2023
I usually don’t enjoy poems, but each poem from Natasha Trethewey’s collection I found particularly captivating. In this book, there are a variety of poems inspired by photographs of E.J. Bellocq. The book explores the life of a mixed-race prostitute named Ophelia in New Orleans during the early 1900’s. The poems focus on the themes […]
Posted in Bellocq's Ophelia on Sep 4th, 2023
In Natasha Trethewey’s “Bellocq’s Ophelia”, themes of representation and identity resonate prominently, shedding light on the complex lives of women like the Ophelia presented in this instance who lived in the margins of society during the early 20th century. Through verses encompassing vivid imagery and parallels to other characters in literature, Trethewey explores the intricate […]