It was very interesting reading everyone’s ideas about home and I am honored to share a class with so many accomplished writers. For this post I am going to focus on Chloe Lee’s Blog, Hope Prince’s Blog, and Jenny Bachynski’s Blog. All three of those blogs share much in common. For instance all three students write that home is less about where you are but whom you are with. They also state in their individual voices that home evolves over time and that it is made up of stories. Below are the shared assumptions that these students have of home, what I believe are their shared values, and some stories that they share. Following that is a commentary of what I discovered while reading the class’s blogs about home.
Shared Assumptions:
- Home is not a place, it is an idea
- Home evolves over the passage of time
- Ideas of home changed when some of us began University
- Childhood definitions of home are usually much simpler than those that we understand as adults
- We all make internal stories about what we believe is home
- Sense of familiarity is part of home
Shared Values:
- Seeking Control or Stability In Life
- Family
- The Pursuit of Happiness
- Childhood Nostalgia
- Independence
Shared Stories:
- The idea of home evolved when moving to a different place because of lack of familiarity.
- With age home became less a place and more an idea, or choices made.
- While family is important, independence and adventure are celebrated and enjoyed
- Home was not always comfortable, but still held its meaning.
Commentary:
Besides the blogs above, a lot of class members also have similar senses of home. It is of general consensus that home is understood as an idea rather than a place. A lot of us value family, and a lot of us are nostalgic for the simplicity of childhood. Home and childhood seem interconnected somehow, perhaps because the memory of childhood is tied to familiarity, and familiarity is part of the idea of home. What stands out among the group is that the majority of the people in the class seemingly had stable childhoods, but a few of us did not. Home for those people who experienced childhood adversity is not the same as for those who experienced stable childhoods. The idea of home becomes less stable with adversity, and self-worth is threatened with lack of stability.
I would like to thank the class for taking the time to write honestly about happy times an hard times. Some stories are difficult to read and send us into a flurry of emotions, while others lift us up and put smiles on our faces.
Lastly, I’m glad that this assignment did not end up with lots of people writing the stereotype, “There’s no place like home.”
(Giphy, 2016.)
Works Cited:
Bachynski, Jenny. “Shifting: Assignment 2:2.” Canadian Studies Exploring Genres through Canadian Literature. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2016.
Giphy, “There’s No Place Like Home” http://giphy.com/search/theres-no-place-like-home. Accessed October 2, 2016.
Lee, Chloe. “2.2 Home.” Chloe’s Blog For English 470. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2016.
Prince, Hope. “Lesson 2:1 – Assignment 2:2.” Hope Prince – English 470 Canadian Studies Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2016.