Minecraft

So, there is this neat computer game called Minecraft.  One of the versions of the game is called Skyblock Survival. In the game, the player is able to build items and collect items that are needed for survival.  A player may chop down a tree to collect saplings, which the player will in turn use to plant more trees.  In theory, one tree can provide the resources needed to plant anywhere between one and ten trees.  Another part of the game is creating an unlimited water supply, which one can do using the water provided when the game starts, making a pool out of cobblestone (that the player needs to collect somehow), putting the water in the pool, and putting ice on the water.  Water is a much needed commodity in the game, and an unlimited supply is a must, so making it is one of the first things the player does.  During the game, the player is forced to create an unlimited supply of cobblestone, for it is very likely that the player will increase the size of the playing area by 50-100 times within a few hours.  Thus the cobblestone is very important, although collecting it takes a lot of time.  During the night, skeletons, zombies, spiders, and other monsters appear.  These monsters can only spawn in dark places, so the player must light up the dark places in the area the game takes place in so that monsters do not spawn and kill the player.  During the game, one of the player’s missions is to create a platform for the monsters to spawn.  It is smart for the player to create a tunnel from the platform to a trap, such as a water/lava trap, in order for the monsters to be taken care of without the threat of danger or the player needing to take care of them individually.  The player also has several objectives to complete, which include, but are not limited to, making bookcases, painting paintings, create dye, plant mushroom and cactus farms, and collect pearls (which appear in the remains of certain monsters).

I heard about Minecraft from one of my friends and decided to check it out on youtube.com before I decided if I wanted to buy it.  On the website, I found a link to someone playing the Skyblock Survival version and chose to watch it.  Within a minute, I was intrigued, and am now watching the whole series of videos pertaining to the version.  The videos have made me want to play Minecraft, and I believe I will ask for the game for Christmas.  I found a free version, that does not include the different versions, or even any objectives online, and I have played it a few times.  The free version is very limiting and slow, however, so I hope that is not how the real game works.  However, you are able to build things free at will, unlike the version I have watched.  So, it is still very fun.

"The Shadow of No Towers" Quiz

As I read the comic, I realized how hard it was for someone to act during September 11, or during any tragedy for that matter.   On top of the shock of the collapsing twin towers, people were forced to witness the lives of the people inside the towers end and breathe the toxic air as they tried to help those in or near the towers, all the while not knowing why planes crashed into the towers or what was happening throughout the rest of the world.  The title, “In the Shadow of No Towers,” is a phrase alluding to the worry, the fear, the anticipation, and the striving feeling to help that emerged in everyone’s minds on that fateful day.  In the frames and gutters, the reader can see the twin towers burning and slowly collapsing, showing what is happening while the author’s story is going on.

The author portrays images of himself, of children, of the people he interacts with, and of the twin towers.   When the author portrays himself as a human, he is letting into his feelings and the reaction he and others makes during and after 9/11.  When he portrays himself as a cartoon human, he is simply showing what he did during the attacks.  When the author portrays himself as a mouse, he is thinking about the past, remembering his father, and worrying about what will happen in the future.   He portrays himself in these different ways in order to show the different aspects of the tragedy and how the different thoughts people have at different times.  It creates the effect of looking back on the tragedy, while the author is telling the story of the tragedy, which creates an illusion of time travel.

The text creates the feeling in people that they had when the attacks happened.  The text serves as a tool for people to remember what happened and why people acted as they did when it did happen.

Octavia Butler Quiz Post

The use of time travel as a narrative device in a piece of literature adds an aspect of mystery and excitement to the piece.  It forces the reader to be engaged in the present and the different times that are visited in the piece, and to discover how the different times interact with each other.  As the story unravels, the time traveling aspect becomes easier to understand, although in the beginning, the reader is downright confused as to how and why the time traveling is taking place.  In Butler’s novel, I was extremely confused during the first chapter, but as I continued to read, I became more aware of what was actually happening and what the point of the time traveling was.  One may use tie travel in his or her piece in order to show the relationship between the different times, and how the time(s) in the past affects the time(s) in the present or future.

For her novel, Butler had to research the plantation in which Rufus and his family lived, in order to correctly write about it in her story.  She also had to research the civilians in the area around the plantation in order to show how the people behaved and what they did correctly.  Historical fact is seamlessly put into the fictional story by allowing all the non-important events be how they were in the past.  She researched what life was like when Rufus was a little boy, and thus incorporated it into the story in order to make it seem more realistic.

I have always loved animals.  Over the course of my life, I have had many pets, including three toads, several fish, a bird, and a dog.  Eleven years ago, a cockatiel flew into my family's backyard.  We assumed that the bird was someone's pet, for cockatiel's are not known to be a wild species in Plymouth, the city I live in.  My family and I walked to a house a few homes down the street in which we knew of a family that owned exotic birds to ask if the cockatiel belonged to us.  As we walked down the street, the bird followed us, by walking quickly behind our feet.  We asked the people at the house, and they said that it was not their bird.  So, we walked back to our home, with the bird shortly behind us.  When we got home, we decided that the bird was not going to leave any time soon, and we kept it.  The bird then became our pet cockatiel, Mac, and she remained in our house until she passed away two years ago at the age of nine.  Oer the course of her life, Mac and I bonded in a special way.  I pet her every day and I played her Green Day songs, which was the only music that she seemes to enjoy.

Seven years ago, my family decided to adopt a dog.  One day, my mother took my sister and I to a house in Clinton Township where we met a lady who was selling Maltese/Shih-Tzu puppies that were about ten weeks old.  My sister and I played with the puppies for several minutes, and we decided that one of the two girls was the one that was the most playful, and my mother told the lady that we would buy the puppy.  The next day, my mom went back to the lady's home to purchase and bring the puppy home.  That puppy became my now seven-year-old companion, Zoe.  I look forward to going home from  college just so that I will be able to see my dog and play with her for hours on end.  

Diary of the Great Deportation Quiz

The moment that Lewin enters his diary with his own thoughts and feelings makes the reader feel as if they are actually the ones suffering in the Warsaw Ghetto.  It allows one to fully comprehend not just the facts, but the emotions and thoughts taking place in the mind of the victims of the Holocaust.  Personally, when I got to this part of the diary, I was swept with a sudden realization that people actually suffered through this horrifying event.  People usually think about the fact and the conditions of the Holocaust, but they don’t always think about what the victims were feeling while it was taking place.  It is quite hard to imagine these said feelings, and for some, it is only through such a powerful piece as this diary that they are able to understand what the victims were feeling and what was going through their mind.

            At one point Lewin writes about how his wife was taken by the Nazis.  I believe that at this point in the diary, Lewin has given up that there is hope for any of the victims of the Holocaust.  He wishes deep sown that his wife will be saved, but he knows there is a slim chance that his wish will come true, and he knows he cannot cling to hopeful feelings when he is living in a time when one needs to face the truth more than ever.  I believe that after this point in the diary, Lewin becomes less hopeful that anyone will ever be saved, and thus he writes with increasingly truthful details in order to be able to face the truth head on.

            At the end of the diary, after which it is thought that the Nazis seize Lewin and his daughter and sent to the deaths, Lewin begins to ask questions aimed at God.  He asks whether there is any hope for the survivors.   He wants to know if there will be a miracle in which will save him and his daughter.  The questions show how many of the survivors up until that point believed that they were all doomed, and that only a miracle, which was unlikely, would save them from their imminent deaths.  It is an extremely sad part in the diary for the reader realizes that these cries for help are their one last hope that they will be saved.

My Future

As of right now, I am pursuing majors in political science and history.  I am intrigued by politics and would like to become involved in the American government in more way than just voting.  After college I plan on entering law school, in which I plan to obtain my law degree.  With a law degree, one can do so many things: I could become a lawyer, a judge, a politician, a journalist, a political staffer, a new anchor, or a writer for a television news program.  I could follow in the footsteps of President Barack Obama, "NBC Nightly News" host Brian Williams, "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart, or just become a district attorney only known in my hometown.  There are so many paths to take, and I don't know which one will be the right one for me.

I know that someday I would like to serve in the United States Congress, although it would be difficult to get there without first being involved in local or state government positions.  So my primary plan is to go to law school, become a lawyer, work for members of the Michigan Congress, later become elected to the Michigan Congress, and then hopefully work my way up to being elected into the United States Congress.  My secondary plan would be to attend graduate school in New York City and possibly get an internship or job working for a well-known news corporation such as NBC.  From there, I could become a lawyer for the corporation, or possibly even work my way up to become a writer, correspondent, researcher, or even anchor.  Although, it is extremely difficult to get into many the law schools that I would like to attend that would give me the chances to go as far as I want to.  Especially the ones situated directly inside New York City, Columbia University and New York University, whose law schools are among the best in the nation.  But one can dream, right?

Organizing For America

Today, I went to an Organizing For America meeting at the Kalamazoo County Democratic Headquarters.  At the meeting, I, along with several other supporters of President Barack Obama, were able to watch the official premiere of the president's campaign website directed at young voters, http://www.barackobama.com/young-americans, via a live stream from the University of Pennsylvania.  At the actual event, there were several speakers, including the campaign manager of President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign, Jim Messina, and the mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter.  The topics addressed were the President's and his administration's political views and actions on health care reform, educational reform, and unemployment.

While watching the live stream, one could witness the enthusiasm and the excitement among the supporters of President Obama at the premiere.  After every speaker told their story or answered a question, the crowd erupted in applause.  The premiere also allowed many people, especially university students, voice their concerns or opinion about health care reform, educational reform, and unemployment.

After the premiere ended, one of the workers for Organizing For America gave me and several other people attending the meeting information on internships for Organizing For America.  Overall, it was a great day!

Definition of My Three Genres

 Genre #1:  Interview
Important Characteristics:  In an interview, one person asks someone of more than one person of a certain identity or group a set of questions.  In the interview, the person asking the question asks the person/people answering the questions a series of questions about actions or opinions they have taken on a particular subject.  The person asking the questions may also ask the person answering the questions about an action or opinion that would be the opposite that the answering party would have taken.
Purpose:  The interview will cover whether revenge is a justifiable action.
Audience:  The intended audience will be those that have been hurt and seek to enact revenge.
Stance (tone/voice):  The tone will be accusatory in one aspect and understanding in another.
Media/Design:  The media of the interview will be print.  The design will follow the guidelines of the classic interview, in which one person asks a question and another answers it.


Genre #2:  Lyric
Important Characteristics:  A lyric is a piece of literature that is built with the form of a poem or song, usually arranged in several verses.  A lyric will most likely have one to three distinct rhythms that keep the listener or reader’s attention and make it easier to listen to or read.  Oftentimes, a lyric will rhyme in order to further garner the listener or reader’s attention. 
Purpose:  The lyric will cover the storyline of the novel, and will start off with his great life in the beginning of the novel and will end with how he feels at the end.
Audience:  The intended audience will be those that have been hurt and believe they have a right to take revenge.
Stance (tone/voice):  The tone will be spirited, sometimes dark, and sometimes enthusiastic.
Media/Design:  The media will be print.  The design of the lyric is that the piece will be read to the rhythm of a popular song, one that I have not decided upon as of yet.



Genre #3:  Comic
Important Characteristics:  A comic is an image or series of images that usually contain dialogue and attempt to humorously attract the reader to a certain subject and influence or draw attention to the reader and the writer’s opinion on the subject.  A typical comic contains about three panels that develop a plot, which in turn satirize an actual event or thought.  Sometimes, several comic strips are related to one another and are put in a so-called comic book to let the reader read them in order and follow the story easily.
Purpose:  The comic will cover the high points of the novel, but in a comical way.  It will show the plot of the novel, yet will poke fun at it at the same time.
Audience:  The audience will be anyone who has read The Count of Monte Cristo.
Stance (tone/voice):  The tone of the comic will be humor, for it is a satirical reenactment of the novel.
Media/Design:  The media will be print because I will have to draw the comic.  The design will be in the classic comic format, with a collection of several panels satirizing the novel.

Bruce the Wolf

Bruce the Wolf

Late Sunday night, on October 23, Bruce the Wolf, a 46 year-old red wolf, passed away outside the home of Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother, Mrs. Mastema.  He died after enjoying one of his favorite past times, devouring the weak members of a close family.  Sadly, a hunter had noticed that something was wrong in Mrs. Mastema’s home and found Bruce there with her and Red Riding Hood in his belly.  As the wolf was sleeping, the hunter cut him open, released the two women, and filled Bruce’s stomach with rocks, killing Bruce as he later left for home.  On top of hunting the human species, Bruce enjoyed playing cards, chasing his tail, and going for long walks.  Bruce is survived by his loving wife, Claire, and his three young children, Adam, Christian, and Anne.  Those that constantly avoided his attacks will miss his vicious need for human flesh.  His funeral will take place Wednesday at noon, at the edge of the forest where his family lives.  In lieu of meat, please honor Bruce with donations to his favorite charity, Meat for Pups, an organization that teaches young wolf pups get meat for themselves and their families.  Mrs. Mastema, Red Riding Hood, and the hunter are hereby told to be careful, for the whole wolf population will be searching for them. 

In Loving Memory:  Bruce the Wolf (1965-2011)  

Calvin and Hobbes Analysis Outline/ Rough Draft

I.                   Thesis

As I read this comic by Bill Waterson, I thought about how people are fixated on learning about wars and not peace, how children pretend to battle each other instead of pretend to make treaties and agreements, even how many people are hungry to go to war.  It made me sad that at a young age, children are taught that wars are exciting and fun.  The comic strip also forced me to think about how impractical war really is.  In a war, two sides struggle to fight and kill the members of the opposing side until one of the sides feels that it has lost too many of its members and resources and surrenders.  Typically, both sides lose an unfathomable amount of soldiers and resources, making it seem as though no one has really “won” the war.  It seems useless to fight to the death when it would be easier to make agreements and treaties instead.  Bill Waterson, in his comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes,” successfully makes the argument that war, although for some reason is exciting and more intriguing than peace, is in itself an outdated and unneeded concept in the present day.  It aims to show the audience why neither side in a war is a true “winner.”  It also explains why people are intrigued by wars and not by peace settlements.  The intended audience of the comic strip is politicians, for politicians are the ones that start and end wars.  Soldiers do not start and end wars, for they are only the tools with which wars are fought.  Politicians usually do not physically fight in wars they start, so they do not have first-hand experience of what they have caused.  The comic strip displays a young child pretending to go to war with his imaginary friend because there are too few role models in peace making, a reason that should not exist in the youth’s minds.  The strip also demonstrates why war is, to put it simply, stupid.

II.                Supporting Evidence #1

a.       Bill Waterson uses dialogue in order to show why war, although fascinating, is something that Earth can clearly function without.

b.      For example, Calvin says, “We’re at war, so if you get hit with a dart, you’re

dead and the other side wins.”

c.        After playing the game, Calvin says, “Kind of a stupid game isn’t it?”

d.      Hobbes offers up an interesting question at the beginning of the strip, “How come we play war and not peace?”

III.              Supporting Evidence #2

a.       The author of the comic also uses the pictures in his strip to demonstrate his thoughts on war.

b.      Calvin and Hobbes get hit with a dart at the same time, showing the usual events of war.

c.       In the strip, Calvin and Hobbes stand directly next to each other when they shoot at each other, showing one of the defects of war.

d.      Calvin is wearing a military helmet, in order to depict the image of a real battle in the reader’s mind.

IV.             Supporting Evidence #3

a.       Bill Waterson uses the art of role-playing to further persuade the reader to accept his own thoughts.

b.      In the strip, Calvin assigns roles for himself and Hobbes to play “war” as, in order to give the reader a sense as to how nations view themselves in a war.

c.       Waterson shows that there is always an assumed “good” or “right” side; that depends on which side you are.

V.                 Supporting Evidence #4

a.       The author uses humor in order to show the atrocities of war without actually frightening the reader.

b.      The cartoons use dart guns in order to fight a pretend battle instead of real ones.

c.       The battle lasts only a few seconds, for the cartoons hit shoot each other at the same time.  In a real battle, battles can last from minutes to months, while wars usually last several years.

VI.             Conclusion

War is an evil that is often celebrated and reenacted by many in order to experience a fraction of the thrill it brought.  However, war is a concept in which both sides usually end up losing.

Schultz and Trudeau Quiz

2. What main argument does Schulz make about writing, editors, and revision? What evidence from the text supports this interpretation?

            In this particular comic strip, Schultz argues that editors have too much power over what a writer writes.  Editors can send a piece back to the writer if they don’t like it, even though the piece may be exactly what the writer wants to say, or needs to say.   Whether or not a piece is published is up to the editor, and the editor may not publish a piece just because he/she does not like it.  This leads to a bias in newspapers, magazines, etc. Revision can be good for a piece, especially if the piece has confusing or missing parts in it.  Revision can get out of hand though, like when one is forced to revise something that is perfect and exactly how the writer wants it.  Occasionally, the writer’s peers will revise his/her piece, and although this can offer some new perspectives on the piece, the writer is encouraged to change what he or she wrote based on what others want to see in it.  This is bad, for it limits individualism on one’s own writing.

2. What visual and written evidence from the comic strip suggests that Trudeau is critiquing higher education and not the K-12 education system in general? What visual and written evidence suggest that he is critiquing the American higher education system and not another country's educational system?

            Trudeau shows that he is critiquing higher education by drawing a campground in the background of the scenes of the comic strip and by showing students traveling across campus to different buildings.  Most schools in the K-12 education system do not have a campus, for the students go to one school every day for their classes.  They stay in that school all day each year until they advance from elementary school to middle school, from middle school to high school, and from high school to college.  At a university or college, students typically have to go to different buildings for different things: their classes may be in different buildings, they may live in a dorm on campus, and they may eat in a cafeteria inside of a different building that their dorm is in.  In the comic, one of the men begins to bring up security, which is unique to higher education, for most K-12 schools do not need security to maintain order.  One of the men mentions courses on “The Simpsons,” which is a television show in the United States.  This shows that Trudeau is critiquing higher education because “The Simpsons” is a show that originated in and continues to be a popular show in the United States.  “The Simpsons” is a major part of recent American culture.  Students in American universities are allowed to wear civilian clothing, while those in foreign countries are often forced to wear a uniform, which also contributes to the claim that Trudeau is critiquing higher education in the United States.

Katrina

In my opinion, there appear to be several intended audiences for this photograph.  One of these audiences is the government.  The government, especially the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was harshly criticized for acting slowly, for it took FEMA several days to bring food and water to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and to transport them to a safe area.  The assistance the government needed to provide was poor and unorganized, on top of the agonizingly long time it took for it to arrive.  The photograph shows one man dressed in military apparel attempting to aid the victims of the hurricane, while the victims appear distressed, most likely because there is not enough aid and that much has happened in the time before the aid arrived.  One of the greatest accusations during Hurricane Katrina and the events afterwards was the government did not provide as much aid to African-Americans as it did to the white people affected by the storm.  Some even went so far as to say that the government’s delayed response was partially due to the race and class by those it was to help.  The photograph shows several African-Americans that appear to be in much trouble, with no endangered Caucasians in sight.  The man dressed in camoflouge brings a question to my mind:  why would there need to be military in the response teams?

The Blackspot Unswoosher

The relationship between megacorporations and consumerism in “The Blackspot Unswoosher” is that large megacorporations, such as Nike and Adidas, have control over what consumers of the products they make purchase.  Only a few corporations, including Nike, Adidas, and Converse, dominate the shoe industry.  This makes it hard for people to buy shoes from local, small-business companies.  Another fact about these megacorporations is that they outsource their jobs to foreign nations where the employees will require less compensation.  They also contribute to the decline of unions and pollution, and do not use eco-friendly material.  Although consumers may not approve of these practices, they are forced to buy the products made by the corporations for there are no other alternatives. 

The Blackspot Unswoosher is a shoe made by the Adbuster’s Media Foundation.  It is made in a union factory with all-vegetarian and recycled material.  This is given as an alternative to the shoes that the corporations make through their non-progressive and cruel conditions.  There is a picture of the Blackspot Unswoosher (the name of the shoe), and, although it may not be the most elegant-looking shoe, it does get the job done and one can tell that it is made as it is described above.  Included features of the shoe are vegetarian leather, recycled tire soles, and organic hemp shoelaces.  The shoe is a great alternative to those made by the megacorporations.

Reading Quiz: Lianne George Essay Post

Lianne George, in her essay, explains that children in our society are being manipulated by snobby rich women such as Paris Hilton that want them to look like models and behave as if they were goddesses.  She also goes as far as saying that allowing young girls to wear lip-gloss and nail polish will eventually lead them into a life of a sex-crazed diva.  Now I don’t believe in what George is saying here.  Of course girls want to dress up like the beautiful women they see on tv and in magazines.  What’s wrong with trying to look nice?  Someday, they will eventually realize that it is not what is on the outside that matters, but what is on the inside.  And sure, even after realizing that they will try to look nice and wear nail polish and other stuff.  Using these kind of accessories does not change their attitudes; it does not turn them into snobby, stereotypical blonde girls like all these people say.  They don’t turn into a diva because they wore nail polish when they were six.  Of course, having parents tell them that they aren’t beautiful unless they use those accessories will do that, but that is a whole other story.  Most of the girls that wear this stuff have good, knowledgeable parents.  They will not dress provocatively either just because they wore nail polish at the age of six.  Girls for some reason enjoy decorating their body, but will not try to look like sex-crazed animals when they grow up because of it.

Compare and Contrast Post: Engkent and I

First off, I would like to note that I am the only person in my family that is “technologically-literate.”  Due to the fact that modern computers have evolved and been growing in power as I have been growing as a teenager, I have followed and learned the new and much-needed abilities one must have in order to properly engage oneself in the world of the Internet.  This is similar to how Garry Engkent, as described in his narrative “Why My Mother Can’t Speak English,” grew up in Canada from China and learned English as he was growing up.  For both of us, our mothers did not attempt to learn this new skill (the knowledge of the Internet for my mother and the English language for Engkent’s mother).

In Engkent’s case, his mother did not learn English for one main reason, which was that she did not want to drift away from her Chinese heritage.  “For thirty-some years, my mother did not learn the English language, not because she was not smart enough, not because she was too old to learn, and not because my father forbade her, but that learning English would change her Chinese soul.”  My mother, on the other hand, just didn’t bother to keep up with the changes of the technology of the personal computer.  It wasn’t because she was afraid to or had something against it, but that she just was too busy to keep up with it. 

Although the difference between our mothers (and our own stories) is quite different, both in what the problem was and why the problem existed, there are some similarities.  For example, both of us (Engkent and I) attempted to teach our mother the skills they lacked.  Engkent wanted to teach his mother English in order for her to do well on her citizenship test.  I wanted to teach my mother how to correctly use the Internet so that it would be easier to surf the web, and, more importantly, to make her job easier, for it involves much use of the Internet.  Both of our mothers refused our help, which frustrated us, the faithful sons only trying to help.

Compare and Contrast Post: Sedaris and I

As I was reading “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” I compared several aspects of the story to some of my own personal experiences.  This piece by Sedaris offers many ways that one can look back into their own lives and see how they were different or similar.  For example, one could describe how their own foreign language teacher acted while trying to teach the class.

As for myself, I found that Sedaris’s story could be compared to my personal experiences of teaching environment, teaching style, and language.

I took my third year Spanish class in my home country of the United States of America, while Sedaris decided to take his French course in Paris, France.  Even though my teacher spoke Spanish for most of the class, and that Sedaris’ teacher spoke only French during class, Sedaris was bound to learn the language he was attempting to learn much faster and more easily than I was, for he had to listen to French wherever he went, for he lived in France.  I lived in America, so it was unlikely that I was ever going to hear Spanish outside of my class.

When I entered my third year of Spanish, my teacher, like Sedaris’, decided to help teach us by speaking the language we were trying to learn.  My teacher only spoke in English in order to further explain directions that we may not have understood in Spanish, unlike Sedaris’ teacher, who never deviated from speaking French in the class.  Also, our teachers had a different method of teaching us the language.  While my teacher used the language to teach us, ask us how our day was, and similar normal things, Sedaris’ teacher decided not only to teach them in French, but to also insult them no matter how they performed.

Although a minor aspect in the comparison between Sedaris and I, it is worthy to point out that although we were both learning a language that was much different from our native language (which for both of us was English), Sedaris was learning French in his piece and I was learning Spanish, two different, yet occasionally similar languages.

Gary Engkent Short Story Post (Quiz 3)

Garry Engkent's "Why My Mother Can't Speak English"

1. Identify the obstacles that prevent Engkent's mother from learning to speak English. According to Engkent, what responsibility does he attribute to his mother for her inability to learn English? What responsibility would you attribute to Engkent's mother for her inability to learn English?

            Gary Engkent and his family immigrated to Canada to China when he was five years old and his parents were around forty years old.  As a child in a new country, Gary was able to pick up the English language easily, learning about it in school, listening to the people around him speak it, and frequently going to movies.  His father learned it in order to carry on his restaurant business.  His mother, on the other hand, not only decided not to learn it, but also was told not to learn the language by Gary’s father.  It is of course harder for adults to learn a new language than a child, for they already almost fully comprehend one.  Gary’s father made sure that his wife did not learn English because he thought it was a waste of her time, because, working in the family restaurant’s kitchen, she only needed to be able to understand the food orders. 

            There were still two larger, more important reasons why Mrs. Engkent never learned English, and they were because she did not want to abandon her Chinese roots and because she wanted to stay with Gary’s father.  Gary attributes this loyalty to his father as the reason for her inability to learn English.  By not learning English, she would not become a victim of the ideas of the “white man,” and create a conflict between her and her husband. 

            I would attribute Mrs. Engkent’s inability to learn English to the fact that she did not want to depart from her Chinese roots.  This need to live how she did in China allowed her to celebrate the Chinese way of life, including holidays and traditions.  It also was a factor in maintaining her loyalty to Gary’s father.

Richardson and Davis Post (Reading Quiz 2)

Elaine Richardson's "My Ill Literacy Narrative: Growing Up Black, Po and a Girl in the Hood"

1. Why does Richardson identify this narrative as an "ill literacy narrative"? Which events does she share to support the concept of "ill literacy"?

           

            Richardson identifies this narrative as an ill literacy narrative because it shows how the expectations of society are different in different places of the world, not only by region, but also by culture, class, and “social situatedness.,” and how these different categories are affected. “My Ill Literacy Narrative:  Growing Up Black, Po, and a Girl in the Hood” demonstrates various examples of these problems from Elaine Richardson’s life.   For example, Elaine was taught by the outside world that she was ugly, even though those around her thought that she was beautiful.  As an African-American, Elaine did not fit into the “beauty stereotype.”  “Both my brother and I learned through society’s texts that long flowing hair, light skin and Anglo features are equated with beauty.”  During her childhood, women were taught that men controlled them, and thus, Elaine was subjected to sexual interactions that she did not particularly enjoy, out of the “fact” that she was to do what the boys wanted.  “My actions or inaction (depending on the reader’s preference) appears to align me with the Black woman as sexual object/whore.  On the other hand, my inner thoughts as well as my outward squirming and struggle challenge the logic of the dominant discourse’s expectation of submission and helplessness.  The narrative is a helpful reminder of how expectations of society in culture, class, and “social situatedness” can undermine the actions and thoughts of people.

1. What role does dialogue play in the way that Sedaris makes sense of the challenges associated with learning French? How does it support/not support the purposes of this essay?

            Dialogue is a major factor in showing the challenges of learning French in the short story “Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris.  By using dialogue, Sedaris demonstrated how the teacher taught them how to speak French and taught them the extensive vocabulary, although the teacher’s methods appeared to be quite abnormal and often barbaric.  For example, the teacher asked, “Do we have anyone in the room whose first name commences with an ahh?”  By doing that, the teacher showed the appropriate way to pronounce the words.  Also, by showing the ways that the teacher attacked the students demonstrated how the teacher got the vocabulary into the students’ heads.  It supports the purposes of this essay by showing how hard it is to learn the language and how hard it is to teach it well.

First Blog Post: Mountains

Hello, my name is Garrett Wojcik and I am from Plymouth, Michigan.  I am a freshman at Western Michigan University and I am majoring in History and Political Science.  I went to Plymouth High School and played trumpet in the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park Marching Band.  I also created the Ultimate Frisbee Club at my high school.  In my free time, I enjoy playing disc golf and spending time with animals, including my dog Zoe.  The following post is my first post for my Thought and Writing course, and it is a rhetorical analysis blog, featuring a blog by Steve Smith.

Blog Example:  http://mountainwandering.blogspot.com/

Blog Title: Mountain Wandering

Purpose:  Steve Smith was writing a description of the mountains he climbed towards the end of the summer of 2011.  Not only is he describing his experiences and observations, but he is allowing the reader to imagine that he is there with him.  This is an informative blog.

Audience:  The primary reader is anyone that is interested in the environment or in hiking/mountain climbing.  As one of these people, I was interested in the blog.  The writer is the owner of Mountain Wanderer Map and Book Store, and is an avid hiker, indicating that he is learned in this subject.

Genre:  This is a blog, with the goals of sharing the hiker's experience with others and recording his observations.  The writer may also be planning to persuade others to check out the mountains mentioned in his blog.

Stance:  The author has a nice, informative tone, never sounding angry or mean.  At some times, the writer includes a little bit of humor, keeping the reader from becoming bored.

Media:  Electronic.

Design:  The blog is on a web page.  The web page has a parchment-yellow background, giving it the look of an old traveler's journal.  The blog contains many pictures, each under a sentence or two describing or containing an event involving the picture.

Context:  The context is historical, for it provides information about the mountains the writer visited and with information regarding the present state and look of the mountains.