Part III Dialogue

All I Asking For Is My Body is showing how important it is for someone to have the freedom to decide for themselves. Like their tradition says, Toshio and Kiyoshi have to work give their earnings to their parents so they can pay off their debt. They can be considered slaves of their parents and they have to work for as many years as it takes to pay off the debt. Their father worked and devotedly handed over his money to their grandfather for twelve years. Toshio and Kiyoshi are expected to do the same as their father, but they’re just not as willing as their father and it seems understandable because they are younger and just want to experience their own freedom.

    

Working and paying for their parents debt is a tradition in the family but ultimately like the title says all they’re asking for is for their bodies, which really isn‘t a lot to ask for. Everyone should have that right to choose and like everyone Kiyoshi and Toshio want to be able to decide for themselves. They are told that they should work and they have to for as many years as it takes yet all they want is opportunities and choices that are not really available to them. And that’s just the way the tradition goes in the family and they don’t really have a choice and their bodies are all their asking for. They are supposed to keep on doing this until the debt is fully paid off.

Part II Dialogue

Why does Kiyoshi believe Obaban is a substitute for his mom?

I think that Kiyoshi thought that Obaban was a substitute for his mother because he started believing all his mother's superstitions she was always talking about. His mother told him that she was going to die because someone, somewhere in their family did something wrong and that they were being punished for it. When he went to go get Obanan, they said something like that sometimes a substitute for someones life can happen and if it did happen that person that is sick can be set free. I also think that when he heard them praying in the room he thought that that's what they were doing, offering her life for her mothers. When Obanan died, I think he felt sort of sad but happy at the same time, like sad that Obanan died and yet happy for his mother, it seems kinda twisted and confusing but that's how he felt and I wonder if it was at all hard seeing someone die for the sake of another’s life, and someone that you love.

Chapter 51

When managing your information on a specific source, it's crucial that you do so without plagarizing. Even thought sometimes you might not even mean to, it happens. Keep a record of your sources, it's called a bibliography. After you've gotten all that down you can read it and annotate it and make comments and sentences about the main ideas, summarize it a little bit so you have an idea about what you want to keep your focus on. When you're taking notes try not to put the same words from the article or place you're taking notes from, and avoid plagarizm that way. Resist the temptation to look at the article. Read it and then summarize what you got from it.

A summer condenses information, you can reduce a chapter to a short paragraph or a paragraph to a short sentence. A summery should always be written in your own words and if you use phrases from the source, be sure to put it in quotation marks. A quotation consists of exact words from a source. Even when you write your notes, put all your quoted material in quotation marks so you don't miss them when you go to write your final paper.

I've always been taught about plagerizm in school and high school and all that but I've never had a problem with it. It's pretty clear and easy to avoid. Like the chapter said, I always make sure I quote where I got my information from if it's not my own. Plagerizm doesn't seem that big of a deal but honestly the way teachers and staff address it, it seems like a pretty big deal to me so I just avoid it at all costs.

Part I

The story takes place in Pepelau, Hawaii. The Narrator is Kiyoshi Oyama. He is

younger than Mokoto who hangs out with younger boys, and he is a fourth grader

who enjoys doing activites in the summer even when he doesn't have that much 

money. He lived in a Japanese Camp with his parents and brother and sister. His 

father was a fisherman and his mother sewed kimonos so even thought they didn't 

have a lot of money they always had something to eat, because his father always 

brought home the best of fish even though they sometimes got sick of eating the 

same thing every day.

Kiyoshi met Makot at the beach who soon became their gang leader and did 

everything Makot told them to do but he treated them very well. Because Makot 

always had a lot of money he would take them to the movies and buy them ice 

cream and always had fun activities to do until Kiyoshi's parents found out he was 

always at Makots. His parents were concerned with how other people thought about 

them and they told Kiyoshi he was no longer aloud to eat and play over there 

because it would look like they couldn't afford their own food and because his 

parents thought that Makot was a bad influene.

Extra Credit: Writing About Film

When you analyze and write about a film you have to remember that you aren't writing a review. Reviews are more of the viewers thoughts and responses to a film and don't require research or analysis, though your feelings and reactions can help you write a stronger paper. There are a variety of different kinds of film papers such as formal analysis, film history, ideological papers, cultural studies/natural cinemas, and discussion of the autuer. Before writing a film you have to of course watch the film, and try to pay more attention to the views and lighting and angles and things like that. When writing about a film don't just summarize but really get into detail about the effects and genre of the film. Look beyond the frame.

When watching a movie I'm always paying attention to the angles and the subjects and things being pointed out in a particular time. It's easier to do with tv shows then with movies I think, and I do it more with tv shows then movies but after reading all of this, it lets me know how and where to look for these things that I can use to write about when I'm writing about a film. It was actually excellent timing because  I have to write about a film in two classes so I will look forward to watching the films and being sure to look more into detail and lighting and angles and the things "behind the scene" then just the movie itself.

Essay 3 Workshop

What role does forgiveness play in Smoke Signals? 

In the movie “Smoke Signals,” forgiveness plays a major role in the theme of this movie. The 

very end of the movie I think contains one of the most insightful statements about the nature of 

forgiveness. It’s a move based on family and brokenness and how even anger, alcoholism, and 

hurt still can’t compare with love. It can’t compete. True and unconditional love cannot be 

defeated. I think the overall reflection of forgiveness in this move moves on toward the personal 

areas along with larger political and social areas. 

When Victor is told that this father has died in Arizona, he and Thomas have to make the long 

journey by bus and on foot to go and get his father’s truck and personal belongings. During this 

trip Victor and Thomas learn a lot about each other and more about Victor’s father, not only the 

demons he battled, but also about the love that he had for his son. At one point during the end of 

the movie Thomas asks Victor, “So why did you dad leave?” and Victor replies, “He didn’t mean 

to Thomas.” And the Victor begins to do what he was to do to grieve his father’s death and ask 

the question about forgiveness. The movie addresses the important questions of why we hurt the 

people we love and if we can or should be forgiven? 

The move begins with fire and flames and ends with the waterfalls over the bridge. I this 

symbolizes forgiveness. You see fire and flames which can relate to hurt and anger and then you 

see the beautiful waterfalls which could be symbolizing the cleanliness and washing away of all 

the anger and hurt and alcoholism and brokenness that seems to be all through out this movie. 

It’s sort of similar to the washing away of all the bad and showing something beautiful, like 

forgiveness. 

This movie I think explores forgiveness between family members and also in cultural and 

historical areas as well. For example, how could a race of native people forgive generations of 

the stereotyping and for allowing their family and grandparents to allow it happen if you think 

about it in such a way it can go in either direction. It’s difficult to contemplate forgiveness when 

you’re paralyzed by fear. Going a little off subject I believe that we are not to pass judgement on 

our bothers and sisters (referring to other human beings) and to “forgive our brothers and sisters 

from our hearts” (Matthew 18:21). So a lot of people may ask the questions in a society based 

forgiveness that can be illustrated in this movie about forgiving terrorists, rapists and murderers, 

liars, thieves, people along these lines. For some people forgiveness is not always an easy thing 

especially depending on the actions a person has made. Again, for example, people who abuse 

and mistreat children or alcoholics who refuse to recognize the damage they cause to their 

families, those who participate in rape and molestation and things like that destroy trust and love 

aren’t really helped when forgiveness comes easily with no consequences for their actions 

especially when actions such as these are continually repeated. 

I think a question this movie brings about is how do we see to get past our pain and hurt, fear and 

wounds, and realize that to be forgiven we must forgive others. Although the movie did clearly 

state the fact about forgiving our fathers, which is forgiving others it also throws out when is it 

necessary to seek forgiveness ourselves and not only in family or other people. I think mostly 

everyone can recall a time in their lives where their own parents, neighbors, family members, 

friends, somebody has a story with hurt and pain somewhere for whatever reason, could be 

regrets, lessons to be learned, rejection, things that meant great value to us that were taken or 

maybe given away, words that were said to us, sometimes not meaning anything to someone else 

but so powerful in our ears and has in some way determined the course of our lives whether it’s 

the fact that you’ve gotten past these things and decided to be something bigger or you’re still 

hurt and in fear because of these things as so you’re not living up to your full potential. I think 

forgiveness has a lot to do with everything here and the movie explains it very well. 

In the last line in the movie it says “If we forgive our fathers, what is left?” After we forgive 

someone who has repeatedly and deeply hurt us, what’s left? What is forgiveness going to do for 

us, is it going to cause us to come to terms with ourselves. How does the act of forgiveness 

cleanse and transform us? These are things I believe are being asked. And I think that when we 

forgive others, we can forgive ourselves. When we forgive people who hurt us we can say to 

ourselves, I’m bigger than this and I’m not going to let it affect my life because in reality, hurt 

people hurt people. And because Victor was so hurt, he put his anger and pain on other people 

like his mother and Thomas and his father. And when he’s willing and able to forgive, the pain 

that was once inside has now vanished and he can no longer continue hurting other people.

So the movie “Smoke Signals” really does bring about a lot more then just the act of forgiveness 

but in different realms, personal, political and social and why forgiveness is so crucial to our 

lives and what it can really do when we choose to face the acts of forgiveness. 

"This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona”

C.      Are you more impressed with the film or the story?  Why?


I can't really say, obviously the film has a lot more detail because this was just a short story but it played out well in that short amount. I like how the movie described their past more and how the two ended up being friends and how their lives played out with each other and in the story it did that also just not as much. I was sort of more in tune with the story for some reason. Usually I would rather watch the movies then read the stories but I feel like I got more out of the story. It tells you everything that the movie does just in shorter sequence. 


It tells the past of the two that they didn't always get along and how Victor would always pick on Thomas. It showed Thomas stepping up to help Victor with getting his father and the journey the two set out on that actually brought them closer together. Even though they couldn't be friends, they knew somewhere that they could now be civil with each other. All in all I think I would say for me I was more impressed with the story just because that's how I received my information better, but the movies are always better to watch.

Smoke Signals

What do you think about the relationship between Thomas and Victor?

The movie "Smoke Signals" is about two young indians who travel to Pennsylvania and on the way learn some things about each other in weird ways I would say. Thomas and Victor never seemed to get along growing up and never really liked each other as kids, they grew up in the same little town but couldn't have less in common. And when you see them grown up it seems as if they still have problems with each other. Victor is called away and it so happens that Thomas is the one who's able to pay for the trip but in return has to go with him. I think the relationship between thomas and victor is quite amusing. They seem as if they're brothers in a way and they learn things about each other through the fighting and arguing. Though it didn't seem like it, they had a strong bond because they both related in the fact that they lost their fathers and I think Victor was just mean to Thomas because maybe he had a lot of anger and that's who he took it out on.

Along the way, they teach each other life lessons. Thomas, who has a sensitive nature and is a storyteller, shows Victor that there's more to living than cynicism and built up anger. Victor tells Thomas what it means to be a real Indian. "Indians ain't supposed to smile. Get stoic. If you don't look mean, white people won't respect you." For Thomas, the trip from Idaho to Arizona means an opportunity to come to grips with his ancestry. For Victor, it's a chance to forgive his estranged father in death. It was interesting and entertaining to watch how Thomas and Victor interacted with each other. I think the overall story is about they growing up with their struggles together. I don't think it had any particular type of plot.

Chapter 22

Make pronouns and antecedents agree. A pronoun is a word that substitutes for a noun. A pronoun and its antecedent always agree with together whether its single or plural. Since they have to agree, you can't use a plural noun with single antecedents. Writers usually want to use plural pronouns for two kinds of singular antecedents. Indefinite pronouns and generic nouns. An indefinite pronoun is people or things that are very specific. For ex, anybody, something, somebody, everything. Though they sound plural we treat them as singular. A generic noun represents a specific member of a group, for ex, a typical student or lawyer. These also can sound plural but are singular. Treat collective nouns as singular unless the meaning is clearly plural. A collective noun is like family, team, audience, crowd, and class. Treat compound antecedents connected by and as plural.

I had no idea writing got so specific in these ways, i'm sure I've learned this before somewhere during school but it was definitely a refresher if so. When I write I usually do as the book told us not to which would be something like everybody has their own opinion when it should really be everybody has his or her own opinion. As it was saying a lot of writers tend to miss that and will out a plural pronoun with a single antecedent, so when I write from now on I'll try to remember that and maybe it will make my writing seem more clear. The smallest errors in writing, I've learned, can sometimes make or break your paper.

Happy Endings, Obituary & Oopmah Loompah

What’s the significance of Shirley Temple?  What meaning does she hold for Lovey? 


In the beginning, Lovey and he best friend, Jerry are watching the Shirley Temple movie before they go to church. They never get to see the end because they have to leave so they end up making the ending themselves in the middle of the pastors sermon.

I think growing up, we all search for meaning and purpose; who we are as individuals and I think that Shirley Temple was like a hero type in a way to Lovey in this story. She was like the girl that Lovey always wanted to be and she found such happiness and joy in the things that Shirley did throughout her life. I think she was really important to her and who she was and who she becoming, the things she was finding out about herself through Shirley growing up. 

I also think that she maybe wanted a different life. She was always humiliated at school and didn't like the stuck up girls that would have the nice long hair and the nice purses and things like that and I feel like she envied Shirley in a way  that she wanted to speak english, and she wanted to be more 'white' as well and from watching her movie she sees such a great and inspiring little girl growing up that she had such significance to her as a child. It's kind of sad in a way if you think about it but at the same time we all have that hero or one person maybe we wish we could be a little more like.

Chapter 48

Always evaluate arguments for logic and fairness in reading and in your own writing. Distinguish between reasonable and fallacious arguments. Many unreasonable tactics are known as logical fallacies. Most fallacies are misguided or dishonest of argumentative strategies. When we draw a conclusion from a list of facts we are using inductive reasoning, which deals with probability other than certainty. A conclusion must be supported by evidence that is sufficient. A conclusion that is not probable is known as hasty generalization. An example of one would be a stereotype. Many hasty generalizations will include words like all, ever, always and never. An analogy points out two things that are alike but otherwise different. Analogies are good for arguing points. A false analogy is assuming that because two things are alike on one way, they must be alike in others. Quoting opposing views is always a good idea because it shows fairness and accuracy.

The information in this chapter was helpful in a way of just bringing back old material. These are things I've learned and already known but took it to a deeper level which was also better for me to understand. I've been familiar with the subjects but not exactly how to use them in the correct ways. So I will apply from this chapter if its needed, in more of my writings. The information seems it would be most effective in an argumentative type of writing.

Chapter 47

When writing an argumentative viewpoint, you want to construct a reasonable argument. You don't necessarily want to battle against your viewpoint and have the last words about it, instead, you want to explain your understanding of the truth about a subject or to propose the best solution. Make other readers question your viewpoint and allow others to offer their viewpoints as well. Don't always assume that your audience already agrees with you. Make sure you have examples of all sides of the argument but in a way that states your main argument on the subject. Always state your side in the introduction. Before writing your thesis, let the readers know that you are open-minded to both sides.Always make sure to back up your thesis with persuasive lines of argument, and support your claims with specific evidence and examples from a text. Also, in your essay you should always have at least one paragraph of the opposing view and attempt to counter them. Create common values with the opposing sides, so they have more to agree with and think about.

I plan on using all of this information in my essay comparing two of the stories we read in class. Even though its not necessarily an argumentative essay type of paper, some of these examples could defiantly still be used. I will also use this information in future papers that I have to write an argument about. I knew some of the stuff but then some I didn't until I read this. I think it gave good examples on how to create your thesis and how to put the open-minded sentences before hand letting the reader know you care for both sides but think one is better then the other and why.

Essay Workshop #2

What theme in common have you observed in "Coming Home Again," and "Shooting Dad"?  What is the significance of the theme?

“Shooting Dad” and “Coming Home Again” are both their very own individual stories. However reading them and analyzing them, I was able to find a bit more in common between the two. They both have a similar theme and significance to each of them. Though they are completely different, they share similarities in the significance of their stories.

“Coming Home Again” is about a family, more so a mother and her son and their journey together as the mom fights cancer. Lee’s mother is an excellent cook, loves to cook and enjoys all around cooking, being in the kitchen and eating good meals. The ironic thing about her illness is that her cancer was in her stomach and has to use a pump that feeds her liquids and medications, lowering her appetite and desire for food. The symbol in this story is how the incredible love for a good meal comes between a mother and her son. In the mothers love for cooking, the careful steps taken to prepare each meal and Lee’s desire to learn the recipes for cooking and to be able to cook like his mother bring them closer than they ever were as a family. The love and relationship between the two, I believe that the authors purpose in writing this story, was to discuss his life growing up with his homely and caring mother and what happens, even though is very devastating, also turns out to be such a positive experience in the end. The title, “Coming Home Again”, explains the returning home to his usual life from boarding school, where his mother regrets sending him because of lost time. Lee is an all around loving and caring son and has always enjoyed his mothers means and took after her in learning how to make and create new ones as well. His desire to cook brought him and his mother closer than ever, even while she was battling cancer.

The story “Shooting Dad” is more of a conflict between a daughter and her father who are completely different in everything they do, yet come to the realization that they are so much alike in the fact that just because their interests are in different things they still have a passion for art and creativity. They couldn’t even hold a conversation without arguing. But amongst all this conflict Sarah found that they had more in common with each other than either of them realized. What they shared was a common passion, a certain dedication to their respective arts.

People who can relate to each other do so because they share some of the same interests, hobbies, outlooks, ideals, or personality traits. They share a mutual respect and understanding enabling them to exist together without major conflict. In other words they are compatible. Throughout her younger years, Sarah was her father’s ideal antagonist. They shared none of the same interests or hobbies. She was a democrat who loved art and painting and drawing and things like that, while her father, a gunsmith, was a republican and had an incredible amount of love for guns.
Sarah failed to see the artist appeal of her father’s trait. A gun was in no way fulfilling to her and never has been growing up. Beyond being an instrument of destruction, firearms had no place in her world. Although she recognized her dad as driven and talented, she failed to appreciate the appeal that firearms process. Music, on the other hand, inspired her much more. Sarah saw a gun as nothing but a tool used to kill and intimidate. To her, there was nothing constructive about a firearm. As they soon began to realize the similarities they shared, still Sarah never grew a passion for guns like her father but after he died, she did recognize them as more of a significance to her life and found herself slightly okay with the art of her father, shooting him out of the cannon, which were the title comes from “Shooting Dad.”

As you can see, these two stories were completely different in their own ways yet still shared similarities of a theme in a sense that each family was brought closer together by the interests each of them shared and experienced as individuals. Because of the mother’s interest and experience in her cooking, Lee became greatly interested in cooking and as a result came to be very close with his mother. And as Sarah and her father shared different arts, realized they had more in common they had originally thought, bringing them closer together.

The significance in both of these stories was the fact that even though you may think you and another person have absolutely nothing in common. Analyze each other more carefully and know that just because you share different interests, and because so, never seem to get along, you may have more in common then you think. Today we as individual don’t always take the time to hear each other out and really see what can become of a friendship or relationship. For example, you could love someone so much, but constantly argue or never seem to get along because of one or many things you believe you just don’t have in common. I’ve been through an experience like this in the past and it ended up falling apart because we were both stubborn people and were never able to see eye to eye and just settled at that. From both of these stories, you can see how giving some things a try that you may of never thought of doing in your entire life may just make or break you or a relationship. It also ties together with the sense of selfishness and stubbornness like I mentioned. For some people, it can be very hard to try something new for someone else, even thought you don’t want to do it, but sometimes when you love someone that much, you should be willing to give up a lot for that person. Even taking the time to find out what you have in common in your differences.

Extra Credit: Literature

Literature terms in an essay, article, or any piece of writing, lets you know how an author expresses his or her ideas. There are many terms you can find in reading such as characterization, conflict, dialogue, imagry, point of view, symbol, and tone. Each of these has its own set of standards. Characterization is used through  the characters in a story, actions, reactions, dialogue and thoughts of a character. Conflict is the struggle in the story, usually the whole main point and without conflict in some cases, there is no story behind it. Dialogue is talking or vocal exchange between two characters. Imagry is used to show attitude, tension, mood, setting and things like that within a story or the image itself can tell the story. Point of view is like the authors thought then eventually leads to the reality or definition of what the author is talking about. Symbol is realated to imagry in a sense, a writing can seem like something ordinary but have a real meaning behind it which would be symbolic to the author or reader. And tone is an attitude towards the subject communicated by words.

Writing poetry is like making an arguement. To be able to write a poem you should look at the genre and theme of what you're going to be writing about. Also a huge factor to writing poetry is the versification. How the words rhyme and fit together, theres many ways you can rhyme or poetry doesn't even have to rhyme. Be able to recognize your figures of speech such as metephors, similies, metonymy, synechdoche, personification, litotes and irony. Telling a story is the most importatnt part of poetry. Starting with a beginning of a story and making sure you finish with a good closure. All of these are huge factors into writing decent and excellent poetry.

I will use the literature terms more often. I usually don't think about using these kind of terms when writing for some reason but maybe thats because I don't usually write stories which these are more often found in. But I will remember the different kinds of tones that I'm able to use in stories to make them more efficient. I write poetry a lot or I used to when I had a lot of time on my hands and I would always do everything this artice said without knowing it, I was never "taught" how to write poetry I would just write it and versification was always my favorite part. The stories were hard to come up with when I wasn't going through anything but since I was for the most part gonig through different things in my life I always had a good story to make a poem out of. This information was all very useful and I plan on using it in the future.

The Insufficiency of Honesty

"When I refer to integrity, I have something very specific in mind. Integrity, as I will use the term, requires three steps: discerning what is right and what is wrong; acting on what you have discerned, even at personal cost; and saying open­ly that you are acting on your understanding of right and wrong."   
While this may not of been her exact definition in the story she worte, because she talked a lot about what integrity was, but this is the example of the word that stood out to me the most. The reason it stood out to me more so then any of the other definitions or examples is because when she said "acting on what you have discerned, even at your own personal cost." When I read that I feel like I'm not the only person that feels this way so in a way I relate to it. I strongly believe in the responsibility for ones actioins. Like the example she stated about the couple having sex and him saying if you get pregnant its not my problem. So then don't do it, or make sure your responsible enough and ready to take care of a child if your going to be fooling around setting yourself up for something you might not want or even be able to handle. I hope that makes what I'm trying to say sort of clear.

I think the way she describes integrity is awesome. I completely agree with it throught out the entire essay. Lying and integrtiy sort of go hand in hand. When I think of integrity, or the way I thought about it before ever reading this article, when someone would say the word integrity, I would automatically think honesty. That's what most people think I believe, growing up that's what I was tought in school is that having integrity was being honest. And I like how the author states all of the things because I agree with her. Integrity is honesty, doing the right thing when no one is watching. Not just being honest to others but honest to yourself. Like W. Clement Stone said "Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing simply because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity"

Chapter 4

       Chapter focuses on paragraphs. The main point, stating the main point in your topic sentence, sticking to that topic, making sure not to go too much of point, developing the main point and using a pattern of organization, for ex. you could use cause and effect, compare and contrast, illustrations, and description. When writing, your paragraphs should flow smoothly into the next. A paragraph can consist of a direct and indirect supports towards the main idea or point of your piece of writing. Parallel structures are like a bunch of ideas or sentences that come together but make one main point. And as you continue writing you should always maintain consistency, which occurs mostly when you go back and forth from one point to another. Keeping new information about a same topic will bring more interest to the reader and make your paper better overall. Usually to begin a new paragraph, its to start off a new idea or indicate an importatn shift in time or place. It can be a highlight of contrast or to emphasize a point or the main idea your getting at.
       I plan to use these techniques in the future. I tend to get off topic easily when I'm writing especially if I can relate to what I'm reading and then I have to write about it. I also have trouble sometimes stating my main specific point and even if, keeping my information on that point. Backing it up with claims, with direct and indirect support. Supporting evidence or a claim is easy when you have the information to support it, but this taught me how to keep my essays or paragraphs more organized and smooth flowing so I'm not all over the place with my thinking and information. Reading this chapter and learning these new things will hopefully make me a better writer in the future. With simple techniques, I've noticed you can see changes in your work from the smallest of new material.

"Shooting Dad"

            "Shooting Dad" is an interesting title. When you first look at it most people would assume literally and think someone shot their bad, but as you go in to read this short little story, you realize more about what the title really means. Personally, I think the title is a referenece to the dad's love of guns and the relationship between the daugher and her father. One was democrat, the other was republican. It seemed as if the dad was only ever interested in guns and she was interested in art. They were very different and because of their differences, they could rarely hold a converation without it ending as an arguement.
              I think that the the title itself is significant because once you read the whole story without just looking at the title, you realize "shooting" maybe meant fighting or argueing or it could of meant "shooting dad" just in the same sence but the other way around and his attitude towards his daughter. It seems as if they were always nagging at each other for certian things. So thats why I think the title holds a reasonanable amount of significance to this story. I really enjoyed this story, how as she began to mature, she realized they had more in common then she or they both thought. Just that him and his guns was another form of art because art can be so many different things in this case art was also what brought the two closer together.

Chapter 3

          In this chapter it talks about global revisions. Instead just fixing sentences you should start out with an entire aspect of the story. You can ask yourself if you have a purpse and audience, the main focus of your paper, your organization and paragraphing, the content, and a point of view. The best way to edit your essay this way would be to set it aside for a day or two and read it as an audience point of view and see what answers you come up with. Revising single sentences, you should proofread always. It's a slow way to catch andy typos or mistakes in your essay or story. Some people do it by just looking at a computor screen and others actually print out a copy of it and do it all there. You should focus on effectiveness when your editing your sentences. Proofreading is the most important part of a final draft. You should alwasy make time for it, thought it may be hard to see any mistakes from your point of view you can read it out loud and catch any that way, you can proofread our sentences in reverse order, which forces you to think about surface features instead and give you a more clear understanding on what exactly the sentence is saying. Proofreading shows that you care about your writing and respect your audience.
         I learned a quite a bit from reading this chapter that I didn't have any idea about. For example, the reading your sentences backwards, that sounds like a good idea, it can really help you understand more about what it is your trying to write and get the main idea of the story. I usually don't proofread, I'm not sure why, but since I now know its one of the most important things, which I should of probably already known, I'm just lazy. I'll start doing that more, mistakes and typos can be annoying in a paper and no reader really wants to read typos and things like that. Also, I've never heard of global revision before. It sounds like a really neat thing to be able to know and do. So I wil try that on my next paper, instead of just reading it I can ask myeslf whats my main idea in the story and would an audiece have a decent point of view on what I'm trying to write. Make sure its organized well and the content isn't all messed up, its proofread. I look forward to using these new techniques in my next piece of writing.

"Coming Home Again"

              In the story "Coming Home Again," the mom has stomach cancer and is fed through a tube. She can't hold any food down and one of the main ideas of the entire story is about food. But I chose to focus on the fact that the mom, if anything, regretted sending her son to boarding school. I think she mostly regretted it because when he was gone they didn't have time to be together as a family. And the time they would always get together would be dinner, or when it was time to eat. And when he came back from boarding school, his mom felt more nervous and distant and she obviously didn't enjoy feeling that way. But she was content with the idea that he was gone for a good purpose, he was getting an education which I would assume any parent would want for their child, and would in some cases do anything by any means to get their child the best education they had access too.
             I'm not sure if he regretted being away, but I would think he would maybe just a little bit because his mom developed cancer, and I would assume if a parent had cancer, the child would want to be with them as much as possible before they go. But he did get to spend a lot of time with her before she died, like I said as a family when it was time to eat. Their conversations were usually about food or food would bring up a conversation. He doesn't regret going to college, however the part about boarding school, while he was gone he grew more precious to her as her illness progessed. I think that he was glad to have gotten the education and at the same time, would be a little upset that he wasn't home to be with his mom the entire time she had cancer. I could imagine it would be hard, having to choose between going to school somewhere far away while your parent or a family member had cancer, but in his case I don't think he chose, she developed it while he was gone was my understanding while reading the story.
            

Chapter 2

There are many things that come with putting together a decent rough draft of writing. The first and most important thing you should focus on is the sentence structure and organization. You’re also going to want to include and introduction with a thesis, which is the statement stating the main point of your material. A thesis can be at the beginning or the end of your introductory paragraph. The body of the essay develops the support for your thesis statement. You should always have a plan developed first before starting the rest of the essay. As you begin your next paragraph and so on stop to think about the train of thought so that your readers won’t get lost as the essay goes on. Lastly, your conclusion should remind the readers of the main idea of the essay. It can be short and can also leave the reader with something more to think about. Avoid opening new ideas in the conclusion.

I plan to use all of this information in the future when writing rough drafts. Usually I put my thesis in the very first sentence. I just always thought that’s where it was supposed to go but I think putting at the end of the introductory paragraph would work better because it keeps it directly in mind as you continue on to the next paragraph. After I think about the main idea I can then start to develop my entire train of thought for the rest of the essay so that my points don’t get to far of topic and out of place. Keeping a train of thought is very important when writing an essay and I’ve realized that with my rough draft I just wrote. To make a conclusion, I will look at the main idea of my entire essay and pretty much summarize it into the last part, remembering not to make any drastic openings of a new discussion so it doesn’t completely confuse the reader but will state a sentence or two closing the idea with something to leave the reader more concerned about.  

The White Lie

A white lie can be referred to as many different things. In the story, it goes to say that a white lie can go from telling your friend she looks good when really she doesn't just because it might be more convenient for a compliment at the time, from telling a soliders family, he's missing when really he's dead. Keeping a family in that much torment for so long is just ridiculous. Things happen, people die. They couldn't move on because they said he had been missing. Would you want someone to do that to you? Absolutely not. On the other hand a white lie that I think would be reasonable at the right time would be like she said, there was traffic when really she was just tired and didn't make it to work on time. Those are okay, life is always gonna get in the way of things you have to do, and sometimes we just have to find a way aorund those minior stressors.

I think in some cases a white lie is okay, it still makes you an honest person. Some lies like the one about the death is wrong to me, because you shouldn't put a family through emotion like that, when something that drastic happens, you should be straight up. Sometimes when you think about it, a white lie is okay at times, for the reasons she stated in the paragraph about it, for example, when she said sometimes when you don't lie you can have major consequences if you were to say the truth, but at the same time I also think that your actions decide your consequences. If you can't handle it, don't do it. If you you don't want something, say no. Don't just lie about it event he smallest lies, because everyone hates being lied too, I know that for a fact.

Essay 1 Rough Draft

          Now I know when you first glance at this picture you don’t see much, but there's a lot more behind a simple picture, like the saying goes "a picture speaks a thousand words." Photographs can tell a story. Once photo can be of a slight occurrence, but the accumulation of pictures you have begins to reveal pieces of consistent themes and patterns in your life. And this is one I chose to tell about because it was one of the most important days in my life so far. It's a picture of my sister and I before my graduation last year. To some people, graduating may not be that big of a deal. It wasn't to me until someone came into my life and made me realize all the things I have, and the potential I have to succeed. I never cared about school, I never thought I was going to graduate; I had extremely low expectations of myself and found myself getting nowhere. 

     I struggled through school my entire life. Since I could remember. And when I finally got to high school, it started out just like a regular year until I figured out all the needs you have to meet to be able to graduate. And this never actually set in my mind until about my senior year a few months in. A little late, yeah I barely made it. I almost dropped out and just thought the hell with it; I can go get my GED. Thank God, my mom never let me do that because I would of regretted it. No diploma, and I wouldn't have been able to walk the stage with all my friends which for some was the last time I was going to see a lot of them. Walking across the stage with my entire family in the stands seeing what I've accomplished and seeing how proud they all were of me made me feel extrememly special. If I were to of dropped out I gurauntee they wouldn't of treated me the same. This picture and my diploma hold a major amount of significance to me and it will for the rest of my life.

      Looking at this picture brings back so many good emotions for me, one because, I love my sister with everything I am, she's my best friend, my other half and she means the entire world to me. Another reason is because I waited so long for something I thought I'd never have which is my cap and gown. Because for me, little did I know how much significance that day would hold for me. I felt like I accomplished something. I finished something I started which is also something I never found myself doing much, but now that I did that, I’ve gotten so much better at it. When I look at this picture so many events and accomplishments come to my mind and I cant help but smile. I can now look at myself literally, I think about it everyday, it's always something in the back of my mind and its the fact that growing up, I was the trouble maker kid that mom's "hated." And my sister grew up with so many good things always accomplishing different things that my mom would always be so proud of her and I never found my mom being proud of me. And when I graduated, I had something. She waited just as long as I did and she's the reason I made it through. Even though she wasn't necessarily all there for me, I knew it's something she wanted; to see her kid walk the stage and so I did it with that in mind. Now I feel like my mom thinks more of me, and that I can do what I put my heart into as long as I follow through.

            Many pictures can tell a lot more then meets the eye. A lot of them hold a great amount of significance to the photographer or the person or people in the picture and it can be interesting to know what a picture really means to someone in full depth. Knowing that I graduated and looking at this picture gives me a sense of how I've developed as a person over the years and how I shouldn't have low expectations of myself because I can acheive what I want with the resources I have, and the willingness to go beyond my potential and do better then my best.

Chapter 1

           Writing is not about putting down what you already know and think, but more of a process of breaking your thoughts and ideas down into pieces and figuring out what it is that you're thinking. Most experinced and well developed writers will handle a piece of writing in stages, consisting of three main stages. Planning, drafting and revising but may at some point refer back to each one during the breakdown process. The best way to generate ideas for a piece of writing is to jot down ideas either while listening to music or driving on your way to work. Explore your thoughts with those around you and anyone willing to listen to help you realize what your thinking and why your thinking that and experiement with ways of getting your thoughts to other readers in an understandle and reasonable method.
           Some general ideas for a writer to become more aware and even interested in their topic is choce is to talk and listen about the thoughts and ideas they're currently exploring, annotating texts and taking notes, listing, clustering, freewriting, askign the journalist's questions, or keeping a journal. The goal should be the same no matter what technique you choose to use. After your generate your thoughts and ideas you can then begin working on a thesis. Which is a question or the main idea of the topic your writing about.
          Using this information towards my writing in the future I think will help me in all the ways I descried since I've acually never really done any of them except, never for an assignment or something I had to do but usually for some reason my best thoughts and ideas always come to me when i'm driving. So i'll find the best oppertunity for me to quickly write down what came to my mind and then I'll look at it later and analyze that. What I was thinking and why and when and what it meant and all those types of things. So I look forward to using some of these strategies, especially since most are new to me.

  

"Superman & Me"

          In the story "Superman and Me" it talks about how a "smart indian" can be dangerous. Indians are often stereotyped as the people who don't know anything and can't become anything strictly because they are Indian. As the story goes on to say, a "smart indian" can be dangerous for a couple of reasons. They are ridiculed and feared by others or non-indians. Some may think that they won't amount to anything in life because of the stereotypes of the indian culture, which is why Alexie says that he saved his own life and wants to save the lives of other Indians, talking about reading and writing specifically in this story.
          Indians are expected to do very little because of the background and knowledge we assume to have towards them. Indian children in schools were expeced to fail outside of the "Indian world." They would stay quiet and sit in the back of the classroom. They grew up with the tradition of not learning to read or write which I could see how it would effect them in a lot of ways during their education. Unlike Alexie who taught himself to read and write because of his fathers interest in books and reading and things like that. I think what he means by smart indians being dangerous maybe to their peers and society as well, is the fact if Indians ignored the stereotype of their culture and applied themselves to do what they believe they can do, then it would be sort of like a "threat" to the non indians, proving that they can amount to what they set themselves up for. Anyone can do anything they really put forth the effort into, it's just a matter of how bad you want what your aiming for. In the story, Alexie is obviously the perfect example of someone who didn't give up and didn't give in to the negative aspects of the indian background and culture. He refused to fail. He was arrogant, and lucky and smart. And he did everything he could to acheive what he has today. He put forth the effort and did what he had to do for himself. He saved his life by not being affected by the "non-indians" and the things they had to say and portray for so many years. And the same goes for those he inteds to help with their lives as well. An indian who had experience with a negative atmosphere but still managed to "save his own life" growing up and knowing that reading and writing is the overall foundation from a decent to a very well education.

Chapter 24

     In chapter 46, the main ideas where, writing about texts. Summarizing or analyzing a text and when you write about a text, two techniques that can help you better understand the reading is to annotate while you read it with observations or questions and by underlining the main ideas or key points. Another idea was to sketch an outline of the text by outlining the authors thesis and key points. The thesis statement is usually in the first two sentences of a text/writing.
     In the future I plan to, as I read any kind of writing or text, to find the key points and the authors main ideas by annotating the text. They said it's better to use a pencil instead of highlighter so that you can make changes, so I will start doing that as well. For summarys, also, I plan on using the outline to be able to find the main ideas of the text, because as you sketch an outline and break it down by pieces and seeing how the author construced the text, you can get a better understanding of what you're reading.
    

Freewriting Exercises

           Free writing to me is all about writing non-stop for about ten minutes. I used to do it in my English class in high school; we would have to do it every day before the class would start. And I remember always writing words over and over again because I could never think of anything. Free writing develops stronger skills and it gets your brain ready for what you choose to do next. Free writing is also really important sometimes when you’re writing an essay, research paper, ect. It gives you the opportunity to just jot down whatever you think and then when you go over it, you can change whatever you’d like and make it better. I’ve noticed the more and more you go over a paper, it gets a little better every time you re write it.

            I think extremely fast and sometimes my thoughts get so hectic that I start to go crazy so I actually have no choice but to write it down, which is why I keep a journal type of thing. But it’s the same thing as free writing, every time my mind starts getting overwhelmed I just write it all down and get it out of there, and it helps your writing skills in time, you learn better methods of being able to write better.  It also makes you more comfortable with the act of writing and you begin to enjoy it more. It can help you discover even more things to write about which lead to new ideas, it can indirectly improve your formal writing and its always just fun. Then you can do what I do and go back later to what you wrote or what you were feeling at the time and make a song out of it. :)

Introductions Dialogue

             Hey! My name is Hailey Manning and I was born in St. Helena but lived in Napa my whole life and just recently moved to Santa Rosa for school. I'm 18 years old and I live on my own with my roommate, a friend from highschool. I have 2 bothers and 3 sisters who I'm all very close with. I work at Big Lots here in Santa Rosa, come say hi :). I've worked there for only a few months so far but enjoy it.
             My educational goal is to finish here at the JC first with just my AA degree and then deciding if I want to go on from there. I'm currently studying to be an EMT/Paramedic and working a little on my general ed courses on the side. I've wanted to be involved somehow in the medical field my entire life. I might eventually want to be in the ER but for right now I'm just working on EMT.
          My goal in this class is to become a better writer, I've written my whole life, every since I could remember I was always writing poems, stories, anything about life, struggles, I write it all down. I was working on a book that I wanted to publish just haven't gotten around to finishing it. I have a really hard time taking thoughts and putting them into words exactly how I feel or want to say them so I'm hoping this class can help me a little more with that. I always like to get my work done early, it takes more off my shoulders and stresses of everday life. I'm usually always in a rush its part of my ADD/ADHD but I learn to handle it better as I get older. 
         Some little things the class should know about me is, I enjoy sports. I've played my whole life. Softball and basketball were my main ones but I've been involved in soccer, tennis, volleyball, ect. Just grew up around an active family. I spend as much time with my family as I can, being that I live a few hrs away its kinda hard but I make time and drive down about once a week to visit and be in my home church. & I live life like everydays my last, not really but everyone should ;) 


Thanks for taking the time to read my autobiography! I hope you kind of enjoyed it, feel free to ask any questions if you'd like. Always down for a chat, god bless.


Hailey