Making the point of view consistent in person and number in which it is written is; first person (I or we), second person (you), third person (he, she, it, or they). “I” is used for point of view of the writer and used for informal letters. The “you” which is the reader is good for giving advice. “He, she, it or they” point of view, is third person and emphasizes the subject and used for formal academic and professional writing. The text says that settling on a point of view, whether 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person may sometimes shift from on to another. The solution is to choose a suitable perspective and stay with it throughout your writing. The other main points of Chapter 13 are, maintaining consistent verb tenses, making verbs consistent in mood and voice, and avoiding sudden shifts from indirect to direct questions or quotations.
On page 106, it says consistent verb tense is important in establishing timing of actions and when the writer shifts from one tense in the beginning and then another at the end the reader becomes distracted. Writing about literature can be more difficult because fictional events happen outside the time frames of real life, meaning past tense and present tense may be equally appropriate. There are three moods in English; indicative (factual, opinion, and questions), imperative, (used for order or advice), and subjunctive, (used to express wishes or conditions contrary to fact). A verb may be in active voice with the subject doing the action or a passive voice where the subject is receiving. It would be easy to confuse the reader and leave them wondering what happened without a warning. Examples of this are on page 107. Avoiding sudden shifts from indirect to direct questions and quotations in the same sentence are impossible to punctuate because indirect questions must end in a period and direct questions must end with a question mark. Indirect questions reports a question without asking it. A direct question asks directly.
Making the point of view consistent in my writing was something I had to learn, I would get confused as to which way I wanted to go and so I went back and forth without realizing their were “rules”. This makes sense to me now and I am confident in how I address my papers. I have worked closely with my thesaurus in this class which has given me knowledge of verbs and the passive or active tense to use them. I can see my writing in this class has consistently gotten better with paying attention to the details we have learned in the “Rules for Writers” book.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
What is the significance of the body in "All I Asking for is My Body"
Before the Oyama boys were born their fate had been cast, as had their parents and grandparents before them. The tradition of working and taking care of the previous generations debt kept young people born into this culture prisoners so to speak not able to get an education that would guarantee them a future from a system of filial piety, a duty to parents and ancestors.
The segregation by debt and the intentional system of the plantation and exploitation of a single ruling power keeps the Oyamas ensnared with large debt and extremely low wages make the boys feel hopeless and not empowered over their own fate. Tosh seeks out a rebellious form of expressing this suffocating life, while Kiyoshi goes more inward with his feelings doing what is necessary but has thoughts of what it would be like not to be so bound by the traditions of the past or his immediate circumstances. Soon we will see the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the internment camps the Japanese will have to live. All of these scenarios will see these boys from birth to adulthood governed by fate and circumstances to which they have no control.
“All I Asking For is My Body” is a poignant story of how the characters in this story have no jurisdiction over their own destiny as individuals. They were continuously being defeated and imprisoned by tradition of generational family ties, tradition, duty and respect and a class system of power that was deliberate in their intent to keep the poor, poor. Certainly the Oyama boys would not be empowered over their own bodies in this situation; however they did have power over their minds.
The segregation by debt and the intentional system of the plantation and exploitation of a single ruling power keeps the Oyamas ensnared with large debt and extremely low wages make the boys feel hopeless and not empowered over their own fate. Tosh seeks out a rebellious form of expressing this suffocating life, while Kiyoshi goes more inward with his feelings doing what is necessary but has thoughts of what it would be like not to be so bound by the traditions of the past or his immediate circumstances. Soon we will see the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the internment camps the Japanese will have to live. All of these scenarios will see these boys from birth to adulthood governed by fate and circumstances to which they have no control.
“All I Asking For is My Body” is a poignant story of how the characters in this story have no jurisdiction over their own destiny as individuals. They were continuously being defeated and imprisoned by tradition of generational family ties, tradition, duty and respect and a class system of power that was deliberate in their intent to keep the poor, poor. Certainly the Oyama boys would not be empowered over their own bodies in this situation; however they did have power over their minds.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Principles of Document Design; Rules For Writers Chapter 5
The main points of this chapter in Rules For Writers are, layout, margins, line spacing, font styles, phrasing headings and visuals. These elements all come together to make your paper a pleasing read for your audience. They will be different for the situation you are writing about. The chapter goes on to say that all of these elements form an appearance to your paper which is pleasing to the reader. Advertisements have a specific look about them as do papers college professors have you write, also corporations expect documents such as letters,resumes,memos and email to look cohesive.
Margins and spacing help to control the look of a document, for academaic and business documents Chapter 5 says to leave one to one and a half inches on all sides. This creates a visual frame and leaves room for annotations such as a professor making suggestions. Double spacing is the usual requiremaent as it makes a paper easier to read and not crowded. There are four ways according to "Rules For Writers" to align your document, right, left, centered and justified alignments. Left alignment is usual for academic and business documents. Font is usually 10-12 pt. for easy reading. There are many trendy fonts but they can slow readers down and distract from what you are trying to say. Font syles can be useful to draw attention to an area of your document such as boldface, Italic and underlining. On page 63, the text goes on to say that headings are not very useful in writing short essays but serve a good purpose for websites, business reports, and grant proposals. There are many styles of headings and should be short and to the point of what you are trying to say. Visuals can be a powerful tool to use when charts, graphs and tables are needed. Apropriate visuals should be chosen carefully and supplement your writing and reinforces your purpose. You can use photographs,maps and a diagram also to make your point or to support what you have written.
I have learned that keeping a cohesiveness to the papers I write are important for my reader to get the most out of what has been written and that means keeping the spacing, font, margins looking organized and clean. I use Times New Roman or Georgia, I like the look and it is very easy to read. The font I use is 12 pt. because you never know if the person that is reading it has difficulty and I want to make sure they are getting the most from what I write.
Margins and spacing help to control the look of a document, for academaic and business documents Chapter 5 says to leave one to one and a half inches on all sides. This creates a visual frame and leaves room for annotations such as a professor making suggestions. Double spacing is the usual requiremaent as it makes a paper easier to read and not crowded. There are four ways according to "Rules For Writers" to align your document, right, left, centered and justified alignments. Left alignment is usual for academic and business documents. Font is usually 10-12 pt. for easy reading. There are many trendy fonts but they can slow readers down and distract from what you are trying to say. Font syles can be useful to draw attention to an area of your document such as boldface, Italic and underlining. On page 63, the text goes on to say that headings are not very useful in writing short essays but serve a good purpose for websites, business reports, and grant proposals. There are many styles of headings and should be short and to the point of what you are trying to say. Visuals can be a powerful tool to use when charts, graphs and tables are needed. Apropriate visuals should be chosen carefully and supplement your writing and reinforces your purpose. You can use photographs,maps and a diagram also to make your point or to support what you have written.
I have learned that keeping a cohesiveness to the papers I write are important for my reader to get the most out of what has been written and that means keeping the spacing, font, margins looking organized and clean. I use Times New Roman or Georgia, I like the look and it is very easy to read. The font I use is 12 pt. because you never know if the person that is reading it has difficulty and I want to make sure they are getting the most from what I write.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
"All I Asking For Is My Body" Dialogue
“All I Asking For is My body” takes place before WWII on a sugar plantation in Pepelau, Hawaii. Kiyoshi, the narrator of this story, lives with his parents and brother, they are of Japanese descent. His father is a fisherman and his mother is a seamstress and even though they are poor Kiyoshi’s parents are very traditional and proud. Kiyoshi does not agree with his parents all the time, he respects their wishes and tries to please them. His mother does not like it that Kiyoshi spends so much time with Makot, an older boy who she feels is a bad influence on Kiyoshi. Makot’s family is Japanese also but lives in a Philippine camp. His parents are not traditional and live a questionable life according to Kiyoshi’s mother.
Makot plays with the younger kids because the older kids make fun of him and his family. I feel sorry for Makot as he does not seem to have a good role model; the book shows he mimics’ his parents. I am sure Makot treats his parents the way they have treated him. Kiyoshi’s mother knows he has got caught up with the ideas Makot has introduced him to and they are not traditional ways. Kiyoshi being respectful of his parents wants to obey them and so he tells Makot he cannot play with him anymore.
A Plantation is basically a large farm that grows crops in mass with workers that are either slaves or migrant workers which could be called indentured servants, they have a foreman which forces them to long hours and live in poor conditions with low wages and no way to get ahead and better their life. Sugar cane is the crop of choice and the labor force at this time was Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Korean.
Makot plays with the younger kids because the older kids make fun of him and his family. I feel sorry for Makot as he does not seem to have a good role model; the book shows he mimics’ his parents. I am sure Makot treats his parents the way they have treated him. Kiyoshi’s mother knows he has got caught up with the ideas Makot has introduced him to and they are not traditional ways. Kiyoshi being respectful of his parents wants to obey them and so he tells Makot he cannot play with him anymore.
A Plantation is basically a large farm that grows crops in mass with workers that are either slaves or migrant workers which could be called indentured servants, they have a foreman which forces them to long hours and live in poor conditions with low wages and no way to get ahead and better their life. Sugar cane is the crop of choice and the labor force at this time was Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Korean.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Summary; Writing Topic About Film
Dartmouth Writing Program website talks about the challenges of writing about film. Often we are so familiar with movies that we are lulled into passive viewing and as a result we do not see the camera work, composition, editing, lighting and sound. These “invisible” aspects are what professors ask you to write about. Breaking down the film into these components, you are then able to analyze what you see. The website goes on to say there are several kinds of papers to write about film such as; Formal Analysis, which is breaking down the film into its different components and discuss how those parts contribute to the film. Film History, have a historical content and shows the culture and values of that produced it. Ideological papers support a set of beliefs, which can be political or propaganda. Auteur is an assessment of a film as the creation of a single person and his or her vision.
One of the most important elements I found with Dartmouth Writing Program is the writing strategies it presents. Some of these are the elements of composition which says to be selective to write a good, focused essay. When viewing a film concentrate on the history, genre’, who made it and does it reflect any cultural meaning. The Writing Program gives a brief outline at the end of writing a paper about film and they say to focus on the topic, a strong thesis sentence, structure or body, coherent paragraphs and of course grammar and style. Some of the challenges are also some of the same in writing a paper in our class and these are, summarizing, do not recount the film everyone has already seen, but be conscious of the elements of composition of the film and do not treat it the same way you would treat an English writing essay.
One of the most effective methods I learned is viewing a scene over and over again particularly if it has important information about a subject I am writing about. When I view films more than one time there are certain elements I see that I may have not seen before. Paying attention to who made the film, the title and the content objectively and not subjectively has changed the way I view every film I see which has helped me immensely with my writing.
One of the most important elements I found with Dartmouth Writing Program is the writing strategies it presents. Some of these are the elements of composition which says to be selective to write a good, focused essay. When viewing a film concentrate on the history, genre’, who made it and does it reflect any cultural meaning. The Writing Program gives a brief outline at the end of writing a paper about film and they say to focus on the topic, a strong thesis sentence, structure or body, coherent paragraphs and of course grammar and style. Some of the challenges are also some of the same in writing a paper in our class and these are, summarizing, do not recount the film everyone has already seen, but be conscious of the elements of composition of the film and do not treat it the same way you would treat an English writing essay.
One of the most effective methods I learned is viewing a scene over and over again particularly if it has important information about a subject I am writing about. When I view films more than one time there are certain elements I see that I may have not seen before. Paying attention to who made the film, the title and the content objectively and not subjectively has changed the way I view every film I see which has helped me immensely with my writing.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
What is the importance of forgiveness in "Smoke Signals"? How does Victor Learn to forgive his father?
A parent leaving, can set a child up for limitations in life. Without forgiving his father Victor is unable to accept himself as he is and who he is so he can get on with living his life.
Adults tend not to give information or be forthright with their children when it comes to a parent leaving because they think it is best for the child, they do not want to frighten them, not realizing that talking to a child is soothing and helps them to understand. Children, having creative imaginations think in their little minds that it might be something they did or did not do and so they become afraid. Victor I’m sure could not understand why his dad left when he was a young boy and many things must have gone through his mind. He remembered the good stuff with his dad and then his dad was gone. Why did he leave, when is he coming back? This is where limitations on Victor’s life start, always waiting for his dad to come home and in doing so he does not move forward in his life to all the good things waiting for him he stays in this box of fear that grows more powerful each year he is growing. As the years go by this fear turns to anger and resentment and still holds Victor back from a productive life and creates a vicious cycle for him.
Victor was not able to reconnect with his father in “Smoke Signals”, because he died, so they could not talk about what happened and why he left so for Victor a reconciliation was not possible. The road trip Victor took to get his fathers ashes was part of this healing process for Victor. He learned many things about his father including the guilt his father felt and carried with him about the fire. Still, victor only has memories both good and bad as we see from the movie “Smoke Signals” but he is able to release his father into the falls and maybe this releases victor from his own "box of fear", so he can let the past go and start to build a future for himself.
Adults tend not to give information or be forthright with their children when it comes to a parent leaving because they think it is best for the child, they do not want to frighten them, not realizing that talking to a child is soothing and helps them to understand. Children, having creative imaginations think in their little minds that it might be something they did or did not do and so they become afraid. Victor I’m sure could not understand why his dad left when he was a young boy and many things must have gone through his mind. He remembered the good stuff with his dad and then his dad was gone. Why did he leave, when is he coming back? This is where limitations on Victor’s life start, always waiting for his dad to come home and in doing so he does not move forward in his life to all the good things waiting for him he stays in this box of fear that grows more powerful each year he is growing. As the years go by this fear turns to anger and resentment and still holds Victor back from a productive life and creates a vicious cycle for him.
Victor was not able to reconnect with his father in “Smoke Signals”, because he died, so they could not talk about what happened and why he left so for Victor a reconciliation was not possible. The road trip Victor took to get his fathers ashes was part of this healing process for Victor. He learned many things about his father including the guilt his father felt and carried with him about the fire. Still, victor only has memories both good and bad as we see from the movie “Smoke Signals” but he is able to release his father into the falls and maybe this releases victor from his own "box of fear", so he can let the past go and start to build a future for himself.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Dialogue; Week 12
“This is what it means to say Phoenix Arizona “is written with humor, symbolism and irony that makes you laugh and also want to cry. I liked the movie and viewed it as such; however, the written story gives more insight into these two characters, Victor and Thomas. In the story Sherman Alexie writes about fireworks, storytelling, and alcohol along with his Humor about the government.
“Its strange how us Indians celebrate the 4th of July. It ain’t like it was our independence everybody was fighting for”. The irony of this quote makes you laugh but when you really evaluate that line it makes you sad to think, we have put these people on a reservation , literally taken away any pride they might have and make them outcast in a land they were first to have inhabited! These Nations have turned to alcohol and only have the stories of their past to hand down to generations to come and as we see in this story, alcohol does take its toll on all, even Victor falls prey to its lure when he is talking to himself and says, “The only real thing he shared with anybody was a bottle and broken dreams”. Alcohol can take generations of families on a journey of despair and dread which makes it a way of life to mask the pain of the past and a bleak view of what the future may hold. Living on a reservation must be like living on an island; you get up everyday and see the same thing, same people same geography, why would you have anything but broken dreams. Lifetimes of Native Americans are spent there and if there is no hope or inspiration for you to do anything more why would you, there is always the “Res” to fall back on. This kind of thinking and life is like a nightmare that keeps slapping you down and takes away your dignity and motivation.
Sherman Alexie also throws in a bit of humor and symbolism and also plants an idea that the American government screws everyone, when Thomas-Builds-A-Fire strikes up a conversation on the airplane with a gymnast and she was commenting on the way the government screwed them out of the 1980 Olympics by boycotting. Thomas remarks, “Sounds like you all got a lot in common with Indians”. This I thought was very profound.
“Its strange how us Indians celebrate the 4th of July. It ain’t like it was our independence everybody was fighting for”. The irony of this quote makes you laugh but when you really evaluate that line it makes you sad to think, we have put these people on a reservation , literally taken away any pride they might have and make them outcast in a land they were first to have inhabited! These Nations have turned to alcohol and only have the stories of their past to hand down to generations to come and as we see in this story, alcohol does take its toll on all, even Victor falls prey to its lure when he is talking to himself and says, “The only real thing he shared with anybody was a bottle and broken dreams”. Alcohol can take generations of families on a journey of despair and dread which makes it a way of life to mask the pain of the past and a bleak view of what the future may hold. Living on a reservation must be like living on an island; you get up everyday and see the same thing, same people same geography, why would you have anything but broken dreams. Lifetimes of Native Americans are spent there and if there is no hope or inspiration for you to do anything more why would you, there is always the “Res” to fall back on. This kind of thinking and life is like a nightmare that keeps slapping you down and takes away your dignity and motivation.
Sherman Alexie also throws in a bit of humor and symbolism and also plants an idea that the American government screws everyone, when Thomas-Builds-A-Fire strikes up a conversation on the airplane with a gymnast and she was commenting on the way the government screwed them out of the 1980 Olympics by boycotting. Thomas remarks, “Sounds like you all got a lot in common with Indians”. This I thought was very profound.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Chapter 15 Rules for Writers;; My Choice for Week 11
Chapter 15 “Provide Some Variety” says, when rough drafts are filled with too many sentences that sound alike, putting variety into them can add to clarity and ease of reading. The main points of this chapter are, varying your sentence openings, variety of sentence structure, and inverting sentences occasionally. This chapter also gives information about reading the sentence out loud in order to hear if there is variety rather than depend on grammar checkers only.
Varying your sentence openings in Chapter 15 says that many sentences in English begin with the subject, follow to the verb, and end with the object. Adverb modifiers, such as, single words, phrases, or clauses can be added and gives an example on page 121 of “Rules for Writers”; “A few drops of sap eventually began to trickle into the bucket”. The adverb “eventually” modifies the verb (began) but does not need to be close to it. A variety of sentence structures are better than using only simple sentences or to many compound sentences. Too much of one thing or chopping it up can also be monotonous. The text goes on to explain, a sentence that does not follow subject-verb-object pattern is called inverted and usually is to be avoided, however can sound natural and add variety.
I have used this method of reading out loud to hear my sentence structure to make sure it sounds good. Learning the differences in varying sentences as far as the opening and structure of a sentence is something I will try in upcoming essays. Some of the examples the text gives on page 121 and 122 are great because this could change a paper that is dull to perky. Playing around with sentence structure can be fun; I know it has given me a refresher course in grammar on subject-verb-object and shows me not to be afraid to use it.
Varying your sentence openings in Chapter 15 says that many sentences in English begin with the subject, follow to the verb, and end with the object. Adverb modifiers, such as, single words, phrases, or clauses can be added and gives an example on page 121 of “Rules for Writers”; “A few drops of sap eventually began to trickle into the bucket”. The adverb “eventually” modifies the verb (began) but does not need to be close to it. A variety of sentence structures are better than using only simple sentences or to many compound sentences. Too much of one thing or chopping it up can also be monotonous. The text goes on to explain, a sentence that does not follow subject-verb-object pattern is called inverted and usually is to be avoided, however can sound natural and add variety.
I have used this method of reading out loud to hear my sentence structure to make sure it sounds good. Learning the differences in varying sentences as far as the opening and structure of a sentence is something I will try in upcoming essays. Some of the examples the text gives on page 121 and 122 are great because this could change a paper that is dull to perky. Playing around with sentence structure can be fun; I know it has given me a refresher course in grammar on subject-verb-object and shows me not to be afraid to use it.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
"Smoke Signals", Dialogue, Week 11
"Smoke Signals"is a powerful and moving movie of love, friendship, tradition, anger and humor. The scene of Thomas and Victor in the car with these two girls of the reservation going backwards is a funny scene and powerful metaphor that depicts a "Nation" of people wanting to move forward, yet, stuck going backwards at the same time.
The movie shows Victor with huge anger issues, some of these have to do with Indian tradition, family issues and the modern world. Victor and Thomas take a roadtrip together so Victor can get his fathers ashes. During this journey Victor and Thomas not only find true friendship for each other they also find out the truth of the fateful night that made Thomas an orphan and Victor left with a father full of shame and guilt. This only added to the challenges Native Americans on reservations have, and, for Victor's father, Arnold, was devastating enough he left his family. Victor now knows his father did love him and his father was trying to escape from what he did and not him.
Victor takes his father's ashes to the great falls where the salmon rise out of, a symbol for the indian nation as greatness and strength and throws his ashes in. Victor makes the symbolic jesture for his father, the only way he can say "I love you" and how Victor wants to move forward and not backwards any longer.
The movie shows Victor with huge anger issues, some of these have to do with Indian tradition, family issues and the modern world. Victor and Thomas take a roadtrip together so Victor can get his fathers ashes. During this journey Victor and Thomas not only find true friendship for each other they also find out the truth of the fateful night that made Thomas an orphan and Victor left with a father full of shame and guilt. This only added to the challenges Native Americans on reservations have, and, for Victor's father, Arnold, was devastating enough he left his family. Victor now knows his father did love him and his father was trying to escape from what he did and not him.
Victor takes his father's ashes to the great falls where the salmon rise out of, a symbol for the indian nation as greatness and strength and throws his ashes in. Victor makes the symbolic jesture for his father, the only way he can say "I love you" and how Victor wants to move forward and not backwards any longer.
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