Class work blog - childhood memory

When I was five years old I caused my brother to get stitches. Me and my friend Devin were outside with my brother. It was winter and the snow was the crusty kind with a nice icy top layer. Devin and I wanted to go sledding down this hill in my front yard but we were scared that the snow was too icy and that we were going to sled right into the road. So we talked about it and came to the consensus that we needed to test the situation. So we talked my little brother into sledding down the hill first. Devin told him that if he was going too fast, he'd catch my brother. So we plop my brother into a flimsy, blown-up tube and push him down the hill. He flies down, straight through Devin's legs and right into the ditch before the road, smashing his head into the culvert pipe. I was horrified and shocked so I go screaming up the hill and into the house yelling, "Mom! Mom! Ethan's head is bleeding!" So my mom rushed my brother to the hospital and he had to have his first stitches put into his head.

"Toys" and "Barbies"

When I read "Barbies" I couldn't help but laugh. This is such a funny essay. And it all makes sense really now that I think about it. I never really thought about who really invented Barbie, whether it was a male or female. And now that I know that it was a man, Jack Ryan who invented Barbie, it all makes sense. No wonder Barbie is all out of proportion. I mean, seriously, no woman is really built like that and like Emily Prager states, no woman would ever build a doll that looks like this. I'll admit that I am slightly offended that a man would make a doll that looks like this for little girls to play with. It is so true that the message we are sending to little girls around the world is a twisted one. When you look down the Barbie aisle at a toy store, all the dolls are stick thin and blonde. I did play with Barbies as a little girl and was actually obsessed with them. I loved playing with my Barbies but I'll admit that all of them looked the same. I don't see how they entertained me for so long. But I do think that it's true that we should try and get better images for girls. I never dealt with an eating disorder but I did have self-image issues through my teenage years. And who can blame me? Look at all the role models young girls have - all the early Disney princesses are skinny girls who are lost without their fresh young and of course, good-looking princes. They never really have a mind for themselves. I can say, though, that Disney (just to use for an example) is getting better. Mulan, for example, is a strong woman who fought for herself and didn't let men control her. Girls out there need more role models like her than Barbie or Bratz dolls which are just as bad.
The essay "Toys" was not as funny and a little harder to follow but I still agree with what Roland Barthes says. It is true that most of the toys that children use today are just smaller versions of the everyday life that adults go through. But I think that those were always the fun toys to play with. I know that I enjoyed playing mother to my baby dolls and pretending to go grocery shopping in the toy grocery store. I think that children enjoy doing these things so much because they look up to their parents and want to be just like them. So toys are constructed around that and children enjoy playing like they are grown-ups. Sure, I think I would be concerned if all a child did was pretend to be a grown-up all day without any fantasy play that enables their imaginations but a little play like that is fine in my opinion.

"Lenses"

I really enjoyed reading this essay by Annie Dillard. She uses her adjectives so eloquently and I really feel like I am at the pond with her as she describes the swans and the pond in which they land. I'm not someone who is passionate about nature and loves to spend every waking moment outside, but this essay really makes me want to just go outside and observe nature. The way she describes how she sees things makes me want to see this way, as well. I just want to go and marvel at God's beautiful creation.
I think that this is a very good example of an observing essay. She doesn't just state what she sees and leave it at that. She relates it to her life and the fact that she loves to observe things. I like to observe, too. My bedroom at home looks out over a parking lot to a grocery store and I seriously sit there for hours sometimes just watching the people as they go in and out of the store. It amazes me at how people act, even in public, when they think no one is watching them. I'll admit, I feel slightly creepy for just sitting there and looking at these total strangers, but I love to do it so much. I never even thought about writing down what I observed. I wonder if I would realize something while writing down my observations, maybe even realize something about myself. I can't wait now for the next time I can just sit there and observe and write about the people I watch.
I really like the part where Dillon describes her little "ends of the worlds." I think it's funny because what tweleve year old doesn't like to feel like they're bigger and better than something and that they can destroy things. I like the fact that she kept doing the same thing over and over again and never go bored of it. It shows that she has such a passion for looking at things. And the fact that she can put this passion into writing and share it with the rest of the world leaves me in awe. I really admire her passion and her ability to share what she loves in her writing.

"Mother Tongue"

This wasn't my favorite essay of the essays we have read for class so far but I have full respect for Amy Tan after reading it. I really value that she did not let authority figures, her teachers, tell her what she is good at and what she would succeed at in life. Just because she got straight A's in math and science doesn't mean she has to major in them or a field related to them. I really like that she chose to major in English. Sure, she wasn't the best at it, but it was something she was passionate about and that she loved to do. I sort of had the same problem because all through my school years I got straight A's in everything. Sure, I'd get a stray B here and there, but they weren't solid B's in any particular subject. And I don't mean to sound arrogant at all, but I was just really good at school. But when it came to the later years in high school, all my peers were focusing on classes in which the subject interested them. But I did not have any particular subject that I was really passionate about. I'd like certain parts of my classes. I enjoyed reading novels in my English classes and some parts of my math classes interested me but nothing that I thoroughly enjoyed and could see myself doing for the rest of my life. So, what did I choose to major in? Elementary Education - a job in which I get to teach all of the subjects. And I think that this major suits me well.
Amy Tan is a strong woman for what she had to deal with in her life. I don't want to pity her, but I feel bad that she had such a hard life. She must have had to grow up fast in order to take care of herself. I don't think that her mother was incompotent, I just think it must have been hard to live in a world where you do not understand everything and have to have your daughter make phone calls just so that you would sound literate and so they would listen to you. I just think it's horrible that so many people take advantage of someone just because they don't speak "perfect" English. Just because someone doesn't speak the language perfectly doesn't mean they're stupid. People can be so ignorant sometimes.
I like the part when she talks about her mother's "broken" and "limited" English. She "winces" everytime she hears or says that. The fact that she cares so much about her mother and doesn't want to think of any aspect of her being "broken" or "limited" really says a lot about her relationship with her mother. Even though Tan had to do some "grown-up" things when she was young for her mother, she still looks up to her and cares so much for her. She doesn't want her mother to feel dumb because she knows that she isn't. I admire her strength and persistance, and most importantly, her love for her mother.

"Shitty First Drafts"

Anne Lamott is hilarious. I just have so much fun and enjoy reading her writing so much. Even though what she says is controversial and I bet that there are many people who frown on her, I think that she is intelligent and has a lot of good advice for writers.
I relate to a lot of what Lamott said in this essay. When she talked about sitting down and worrying about writing and thinking that she has nothing good to write, I was surprised that she feels the same way I do about writing. I always worry and get all anxious that I have nothing to write about and that I will never be able to write 3-5 pages on a certain topic. And I complain about it and put it off until the last minute and once I sit down at my computer and start typing, I find that I have more to say than I thought. I don't know why I feel this way seeing as it happens every time and I always tend to pull off a decent essay. It's those voices that Lamott talks about that are constantly in my head telling me that I am a horrible writer and that nothing I have to say is worth anybody's time reading. But deep down I know that this is not true yet I still listen to those stupid voices. It's weird how I can relate to someone who is so different from me. But I bet that lots of people do the same thing. I think it's part of human nature to justify yourself for every little thing you do.
I like how Lamott says to just put down anything that comes to mind at first and then go over it later. I think that my problem sometimes is that I get so caught up on the little things, like making one sentence sound perfect, that it trips me up and I can't move on. First drafts are only meant for the writer to see so you can write whatever you want. And more often than not, it's mostly good material written down that can be kept for the final draft. What I have to do is just turn off the negative voices in my head telling me that my writing is terrible and just write.

"My Father's Suitcase"

Orhan Pamuk is a good writer. I like him and his style of writing, and what he talks about, I feel like I can relate to. I understand when he says that writers lock themselves in a room all alone only to find that they are not alone. I used to write stories and I just felt like there was something inside of me that just wanted to let loose on paper. I would start out strong, but then fade out after a few chapters. Pamuk kept reinstating that writers needed to be patient and I think that that is something that I lack. When I would hit a dead end, I would just throw my notebook in my closet and forget about it and just wait for a new idea to form. As I look back now, I think that middle and high school crushed my inspiration for writing. Essays and pieces of writing would turn into a formula - it was really like math. As long as you had all the components, you would get an A. I hate math but I was good at just plugging in the information so I would do well according to their standards. But I was not open to any imgination - it was almost like I was not allowed to think creatively. And it is sad because I started to hate writing which was such an important part of my early life. This passion inside of me to create new worlds, as Pamuk puts it, seemed to be stifled, buried under this assumption that all writing needs to be formal. But here in college it is like they actually want to hear what you think - your opinion matters. I am so thrilled that I can put myself into the paper. The passion inside of me, I feel, is beginnig to become uncovered, layer by layer.
Pamuk's statement that the worlds that he writes become more real than the world he lives in reminds me of an interview I read in Time magazine with J.K. Rowling. She said that when she finished the last Harry Potter book she cried for days. It was like a world, a part of her life, had ended, or died. The way she immersed herself in her writing is so inspiring. Pamuk is right, though, in saying that writers are, in a sense, isolated from the outside world. I think that even when writers are surrounded by people they are alone in their thoughts. They have such a different outlook, which I would like to acheive someday.

Chapter 1 - Reading:Purposes and Processes & "The Library Card"

When I first started reading the textbook part of the book, I thought that it would be boring and that I would not get anything out of it. Surprisingly, though, I found a lot of the information helpful. I learned that I should try to become more of an active reader. I find that I write a lot when I read textbooks but not so much when I read entertaining pieces of literature. But maybe if I was a more active reader, I would understand the meanings better. I also learned that I can write about trivial things without sounding trivial.
I really like the essay, "The Library Card" by Richard Wright. While reading about this man and his troubles, I realized that I take advantage of the fact that I have free access to books and can read them anytime. What really hit me was when Wright stated that he "hungered for books." And he "hungered" for intellectual books yet struggled to get his hands on them and here I am, able to read any book I want and I more often than not, choose entertaining books without much substance. I should try to learn by reading and choose books that make me think.
I also found it depressing that this boy has to carry a "burden" for reading. He should be praised for his intellect, but instead he is chastised, just because of the color of his skin. It is sad that the reading "created a vast sense of distance between [him] and the world..." But I am glad he persevered and stuck with it even though it was difficult or he may have never written this and no one would be able to read this and be inspired by it.