Welcome to the blog for Prof. John Talbird's English 221 class. The purpose of this site is two-fold: 1) to continue the conversations we start in class (or to start conversations BEFORE we get to class) and 2) to practice our writing/reading on a weekly basis in an informal forum.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

I completely forgot but posting anyways end of semester feedback

I'm glad I decided to take this course, I can say I definetly say I set the bar higher on a personal level compared to the writing I've done previously, in terms of length and story itself. I've mostly written just poetry and music related, so most of what I've written in the past didn't include so many different characters and scenes. I really enjoyed the reading we had in the last class I think it was amazing listening to everyone and being listened to aswell. Some stories gave me goosebumps by how great they were, I think what fueled the fire in these stories also were the authors reading them. It's like I could feel it in myself reading my story but witnessed it in everyone else also as they read. All of sudden these characters that we've all been sitting with for so long got to be brought to life. We pictured them in our minds and all but during the reading it's like we were acting them out live. So it was awesome to observe that change . I felt like I knew my character even more in that moment.The whole Class I was doing my best to truly listen to everything . The change in pitch and tone that we all do as we read, sing, conversate in the moment. The emphasis placed on certain sentences, dialogues, or even words. I even began to close my eyes at certain times as I do with music, honing in onto one of my "senses". Some of my classmates tapped me thinking I was sleeping, only to find me really into a story someone was reading. My plans for this summer are to write songs. I also plan on performing music at various open mics, bars, subways  and really just anywhere. I will focus on performance and creating original work. I will probably do poetry readings aswell. I think everyone's stories were amazing although unfortunately I wasn't able to listen to the last one, I'm sure it was great aswell. In moments like that I look around the room and find us all creators, it's like I was eager to hear what everyone had to say, aswell as honored to share what I had, we all contributed something to each other it felt like.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Saying goodbye

Our last class was bittersweet it was a real eye opener for me of how talented our class was as a whole with creativity. I really enjoyed eating and enjoying stories it was one our best class meetings yet, even though I was tremendously nervous to read my story knowing that I shared dark story ideas with my fellow classmates made it really easy. Taking this class was a real and amazing experience. I really enjoyed the story that a female classmate wrote I'm sorry I forgot her name but she wrote a story with two different endings which I really enjoyed its nice that she did a alternative ending to give the different types of readers an ending they might like it was amazing. This semester I really learned to open my creativity and expand my thinking process I really enjoyed some of the reading and it gave me ideas of how to write my own stories, I believe it made me a better writer.

Saturday, May 21, 2016




Sayonara

I will have from this English class good memories that will last forever. All the stories that were read the last day of class were amazing. All of them came from our own inspiration. I want to Thank you Professor Talbird for helping us to bring out our abilities and your encouragement. I might not remember all the names of all the classmates of English class 221 Spring 2016 but I will remember your faces. I might still see a few of you around the hallways in the fall 2016 here in Queensborough. For those that are graduating I wish you good luck in your future endeavors . I wish you all a healthy and happy summer.

So long

These past few months have been better than I could've asked for. When I picked this class onlinr I thought to myself,  "I have no idea how this class is going to be. Will I even like it?" well now i can honestly say this was my favorite class. As for my original group of Charles, and Christian, I give you guys credit for being able to deal with me. Gotta give credit to the professor for being the Matchmaker lmao. I apologize again for the 20 minute reading. It was a longer 5 minutes than I thought 😁. Professor you have some great teaching techniques. Since day 1 you've proved to love your job here. Love you all. Hopefully we'll run into each other people.
P.S.
     RIP Isaiah

Friday, May 20, 2016

Nice Job to All from the last class & party

I will start from the beginning with the obvious...

Messi Gatorade by
Mr Abraham, excellent story, excellent use of props; wearing the shirt as well as the audio/video presentation!!!  You set the bar pretty high!!!  Nice job dude!  Your opening forward dedicating to your group, thanking the class and the professor or spoken like a true gentleman!

Christian "Quinn's Journey"...
It's always good for us to check in on Quinn in our little group in the corner with me you and Eddie as the original three… Although Quinn has seen better days but for you Christian the best is yet to come!

The Angel, named Love
"All Angels have a Real Name"
Beautifully Written & Presented!!!

Christian
"War Hero" You impressed me bro!!! Hard work does pay off!!!

The Strength of a Survivor Story
Rose, Beautiful, poignant and inspirational... Keep in touch

Nods to:

Ruth's waitress and the customer
Catchin a Rap & making a date

Western Body Eastern Mind
Ravi

"I would kill to stay alive"...
Please Stop killing Mermaids

Let's shoot the "Booger Goblin" with a "Snot Rocket"

Daphne's Bloodlust continues?
A poignant survivor story, attention grabbing and well written but surprisingly less deaths from Daphne, LOL

Pam
Never let a man see you cry...
which Annie song was that again?

Ingrid
"There is no such thing as a hopeless situation"

Kadija silent offering
The trouble ... ??
Where to blow it" How does that African saying go again?

N.O.W.
EDDIE
The story with only 3 letters but 18+pages, read in only 5 minutes...?  I want to work in a hotel in the hospital business but now I wonder if it safe?

     As I finish the last of the treats from the party and my last cupcake (thank you Pam & Fam) I realize that I had a Great Semester with my English Crew!!!
     You guys and Gals not only work hard but you poured out your hearts in the stories that you shared!!!  Thank you classmates!
      This class made me read, but not by force.  This class made me write, so much I stayed up many a night.
       Other classes claimed to be "writing intensive" by sneaking in a paper at the midterm or the final.   None of them compare in comparison to this course.
       None of this is a complaint, my gratitude is because I was able to empty my mind and pour out my heart without restraint.  I don't know if I could do it again, but from the semester I know I benefited in the end.

Thank you Professor Talbird!
 Thank you fellow classmates!
 It was an honor to share the semester with you all!
 Sincerely,
Charles
PS I invite you all to keep in touch if you are on Facebook, either please follow me or friend request me:  Chuck Kellerman "I am Iron Man"

A professor to remember

Despite my dislike for writing, this class helped me prove that I'm not as bad of a writer as I thought.  My grammar still needs a lot of work and we know I love run on sentences.  I want to thank you Professor for finding a talent in me that I haven't explored.  This class was amazing.  After taking such an extremely long break from school this class made getting back into the swing of things enjoyable.  I've stepped outside of my comfort zone, attended a book reading, had my story distributed to the class as part of a lesson and shared my opinions of stories on a public blog site.  I would have never done any of these things without you telling me my grade depended on it. lol.  But, thank you for helping me grow as a person.  By the way I got accepted into Queens College and may take another writing class as an elective.

A sweet fairwell

I just want to thank everyone for this experience.  It has been a pleasure to meet every single classmate.  I always find it amazing when people of all different cultures and characteristics meet.  The laughs the experience will not be forgotten.