1. The writer did a good job of getting my attention from the beginning. He starts out with it being his turn in something but doesn't tell you for a couple short paragraphs what exactly his turn means. Therefore, I thought it kept me interested in whats next from the beginning.
2. This time the writer focused on a significant event from his childhood. It was a story about him and his grandpa having a lucky day, and obviously a day he remembered well. We never get a solid background about the narrator or any characters.
3. At the beginning I didn't seem to be able to visualize a strong image for the story. Once the narrator got to the event with him and his grandfather finding out dated food, I could clearly see what was taking place. Although it was at the end, it seemed to be the climax of the story and the descriptions he gave made it a good read.
4. Through the quotes the writer gives we can tell they seem to be a old country family. The dialect doesn't seem to be southern, but somewhere in the country. We can tell that the family doesn't seem to be very wealthy. They trade jobs taking care of their grandpa and pray for bread.
5. The episode of his grandpa and him finding on the hostess groceries in a shopping cart out by the dumpster was exciting. It was hard to tell where the story was going, but surprised you in the end. The writer does a good job of making this part exciting. Everyone who had a grandfather as a child could relate to this event in some way or another.
6. The writer briefly explains some specifics on why they are going to the dumpster but doesn't ever seem down about it. It's almost like it was normal for this kid to be searching dumpsters for food. The story explains what life is for a poor family after the depression, and how they made the best of it.
7. The conclusion of the story was after he got his grandpa back into the car after he got done shoving all the hostess goods in the car. Five minutes before they found the food, they had been praying for God to bring them food and then all of sudden they're on top of the world. It sums up a memory that he will probably have forever of his pop pop.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
White-Blog
1. The narrator grabs the readers attention with a mysterious lake that him and his family used to go to as kids. This story didn't grab my attention like Sedaris.
2. The writer explains the experiences and memories he has from a lake that he used to visit every summer. We know nothing about his life. All we know is how he feels about this lake and the emotions he feels when returning to it.
3. The writer doesn't even give a description of his son. He only says that his son is coming with him on a getaway to the lake. Rather, he uses strong descriptions of his memories of the places. He often contrasts how the lake is at present time rather than in the memories he has of the lake. The writer does a good job of setting the scenory for the reader.
4. No quotes are used throughout the narrative. He gives more visuals to the reader rather than explaining through dialogue. Because of the detailed aspects he gives to the reader, I think no quotes seems to be appropriate. He casts a strong visual in the readers mind.
5. The writer does this very well. It's easy for the reader to develop a visual for everything the writer describes. He is very specific and detailed throughout the entire story. He is able to create a setting for the reader to visualize.
6. The writer does a good job of explaining the significance of the people and places at the lake. He compares and contrasts the present day of the lake with the old days. He is able to show the tone or mood of the lake that he is feeling during his return. In this story, we could easily see how this lake shaped his childhood. He has very strong memories of the lake and thinks very highly of his times spent there.
7. He ends with his kid finally getting into the water. He doesn't describe his son very much throughout the story. However, we are able to notice that he sees himself in his own son. He also refers to him turning into his dad at this point in his life. The conclusion is about passing the lake down to his son.
2. The writer explains the experiences and memories he has from a lake that he used to visit every summer. We know nothing about his life. All we know is how he feels about this lake and the emotions he feels when returning to it.
3. The writer doesn't even give a description of his son. He only says that his son is coming with him on a getaway to the lake. Rather, he uses strong descriptions of his memories of the places. He often contrasts how the lake is at present time rather than in the memories he has of the lake. The writer does a good job of setting the scenory for the reader.
4. No quotes are used throughout the narrative. He gives more visuals to the reader rather than explaining through dialogue. Because of the detailed aspects he gives to the reader, I think no quotes seems to be appropriate. He casts a strong visual in the readers mind.
5. The writer does this very well. It's easy for the reader to develop a visual for everything the writer describes. He is very specific and detailed throughout the entire story. He is able to create a setting for the reader to visualize.
6. The writer does a good job of explaining the significance of the people and places at the lake. He compares and contrasts the present day of the lake with the old days. He is able to show the tone or mood of the lake that he is feeling during his return. In this story, we could easily see how this lake shaped his childhood. He has very strong memories of the lake and thinks very highly of his times spent there.
7. He ends with his kid finally getting into the water. He doesn't describe his son very much throughout the story. However, we are able to notice that he sees himself in his own son. He also refers to him turning into his dad at this point in his life. The conclusion is about passing the lake down to his son.
Sedaris Blog
1. The writer grabbed my attention with his first sentence.
2. The writer explains he has moved to Paris in order to better understand and speak the native French language. He doesn't go in to details of his life bio. He is writing about his experience of transitioning from New York to a foreign country.
3. The writer is able to give the reader a good feel about his surroundings. As a reader, it was like being in the class next to him as he described the teacher and students that were in the classroom. Also, through a flashback, the reader can tell that his mom may have been a little crazy through the quotes from her that he gives.
4. It's easy for the reader to get a feel for how his professor is like. Through both his descriptions and quotes, we can understand the professor thinks very highly of herself. As mentioned above, we even get a brief quote that shows us what his mom may have been like.
5. The two main visuals we are able to see as readers is the classroom, and the first day of school. He describes the first day accurately to any persons first day of class. I was able to strongly relate to him with his first day of class. The reader feels like they are sitting in class with the writer as he describes the atmosphered and mood within it. We can feel how intimidating his professor is.
5. The writer is explaining his transition from New York to Paris. He doesn't refer back to New York and what it was like very often. He stays focused on the experience in Paris. We can't tell how this experience shaped who he has become, but we can see how he took on this experience of learning a new culture. In the end, the reader can see that he now understands the language but hasn't yet learned completely how to speak it.
6. Their doesn't seem to be a conclusion. It ends with him saying he now understands the language, but finishes by not speaking it right. He almost leaves the reader with a "to be continued" ending.
2. The writer explains he has moved to Paris in order to better understand and speak the native French language. He doesn't go in to details of his life bio. He is writing about his experience of transitioning from New York to a foreign country.
3. The writer is able to give the reader a good feel about his surroundings. As a reader, it was like being in the class next to him as he described the teacher and students that were in the classroom. Also, through a flashback, the reader can tell that his mom may have been a little crazy through the quotes from her that he gives.
4. It's easy for the reader to get a feel for how his professor is like. Through both his descriptions and quotes, we can understand the professor thinks very highly of herself. As mentioned above, we even get a brief quote that shows us what his mom may have been like.
5. The two main visuals we are able to see as readers is the classroom, and the first day of school. He describes the first day accurately to any persons first day of class. I was able to strongly relate to him with his first day of class. The reader feels like they are sitting in class with the writer as he describes the atmosphered and mood within it. We can feel how intimidating his professor is.
5. The writer is explaining his transition from New York to Paris. He doesn't refer back to New York and what it was like very often. He stays focused on the experience in Paris. We can't tell how this experience shaped who he has become, but we can see how he took on this experience of learning a new culture. In the end, the reader can see that he now understands the language but hasn't yet learned completely how to speak it.
6. Their doesn't seem to be a conclusion. It ends with him saying he now understands the language, but finishes by not speaking it right. He almost leaves the reader with a "to be continued" ending.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Blog #5-Mechanics
I have many mechanics that could use some work when it comes to my writing. After reading Elementrary Principles of Composition, the mechanic I believe I need the most work on would be keeping related words together. My strongest trait is omitting needless words. In order to better my ability of keeping related words together would be reading my work over and over again. Perhaps reading what I have written aloud would be a good idea for the next assignment. I think when I read it to myself I don't read it as clearly as I would if I were speaking it.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Blog Post #4
Going from high school to college was a big change in my life because I had never had to study and read so much before. Teachers in high school really take it easy on you compared to the professors in college. At first, I felt a lot of pressure on how to organize all my studies as a whole. The hardest part I had to deal with at first was balancing work and school. When I tried to do that at the beginning of my college career I found myself getting stressed very easily. In high school you never had that much on your schedule so you could basically get homework done when you wanted to. That isn't so much the case in college. However, over time, learning how to balance all those things taught me how to be a more structured person overall. It took a lot of time to get used though. I still get stressed when I have a lot of assignments on my plate but I think I have learned how to manage them a lot better.
Blog Post #3
For me, Philosophy was one of the worst classes I have ever taken. I could never get a grasp on the type of mindset that you had to have in order to understand it. After I realized I would never completely understand it, I rejected it. I always found myself getting really frustrated with the material, which led to me not liking it at all. Even though the professors were probably good people, the class itself made me not like them at all as well. Like Thurber in Botany class, I refused to try after a certain point because the stress became to overwhelming. I will never forget that class and will forever think it is pointless to try and think the way that class wanted me too.
Blog Post #2
Although I have never kept a notebook, I believe it would help most with remembering experiences of the past. As Dideon mentions throughout the story, we forget everything so easily. However, I think that if I did keep a notebook, I would look back at the stuff I wrote and still not remember why I wrote most of the things down. I think social media has replaced the idea of keeping a notebook in todays world. Facebook and Twitter are like journals that everyone can see. I am not a big Facebook user, but I do have Twitter. I use Twitter to follow people, I rarely ever tweet anything of my own. I think most people today write stuff on their Facebook or Twitter in order to gain attention to themselves. I don't think that was the case with Dideon. She did it for herself as she mentions in her writing.
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