When reading the article called, " Serving In Florida," it made me appreciate the things that I am doing in college so much more. I know that college is hard sometimes and that we all sometimes say to ourselves if all this stress is really worth it.. and it is. As I read Barbra Ehrenreich's essay it made me see that being in college is one of the best choices that I have taken in my life. I could not stand to be in a fast food and earning minimum wage when I know I am capable of more.
When I read this story it reminded me a lot of the job right now and I keep thinking to myself how lucky I was that this job was not going to be permanent. I work in my town's Dairy Queen right now and even if it might not be as hectic as a real fast food restaurant it does have its crazy times. When I read Ehrenreich's descriptions of the customers that she saw coming in, it took me back to all of the different types of people that I have encountered at my job. It was neat to see how this story related a lot to me as I bet it has for a lot of us.
In " Serving In Florida," it relates back to the poem by Sharon Olds's called , " Seven Floors Up." Both of the writers are observing and talking about these people's lifestyles but the only difference is that Ehrenreich in " Serving In Florida," is not just observing it see is living it as well. Olds's in her poem was just observing the homeless man and thinking of what he might be feeling but Ehrenreich actually knows what the people around her are feeling because she is one of them.
" Serving In Florida," was a really interesting essay to read. It made me see again, like all the articles I have read in Rereading America the importance of furthering my education. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be working at Dairy Queen forever and making banana splits until i die. :)
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A or An??
A and An might be a grammar rule that may seem easy to follow but sometimes it can be a little tricky and you find yourself using the wrong one. I always do this when writing papers, I get confused and do not know which one would sound better in my paper.
One thing that has worked for me to remember these rules on An and A, have been writing lots of sentences and seeing which word would sound better in them. Also, i looked up the rules that i need to follow for A and An so to know that I am using them correctly from now on.
Rules:
"A" goes before all words that begin with consonants.
a cat
a dog
a purple onion
a buffalo
a big apple
with one exception: Use an before unsounded h.
an honorable peace
an honest error
"An" goes before all words that begin with vowels:
an apricot
an egg
an Indian
an orbit
an uprising
with two exceptions: When u makes the same sound as the y in you, or o makes the same sound as w in won, then a is used.
a union
a united front
a unicorn
a used napkin
a U.S. ship
a one-legged man
For more help with An and A this website has proved to be helpful for me:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esliart.html
One thing that has worked for me to remember these rules on An and A, have been writing lots of sentences and seeing which word would sound better in them. Also, i looked up the rules that i need to follow for A and An so to know that I am using them correctly from now on.
Rules:
"A" goes before all words that begin with consonants.
a cat
a dog
a purple onion
a buffalo
a big apple
with one exception: Use an before unsounded h.
an honorable peace
an honest error
"An" goes before all words that begin with vowels:
an apricot
an egg
an Indian
an orbit
an uprising
with two exceptions: When u makes the same sound as the y in you, or o makes the same sound as w in won, then a is used.
a union
a united front
a unicorn
a used napkin
a U.S. ship
a one-legged man
For more help with An and A this website has proved to be helpful for me:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esliart.html
Art and Politics
In the poem called, " Money," by Dana Giola, she talks about the way people see money and how it affects our lives ever day. She invites her readers to stop and think about the ways that we use money and how it is so relevant to our everyday lives. When we think of money we do not really ponder about the subject much but when we read a poem like this one it really makes of see how important things like money is in our lives. We need it to survive just like Giola says," makes both ends meet." Money is what keeps us eating, living in our homes and buying all the luxuries that we want.
In the next poem called,"From Seven Floors Up,"by Sharon Olds's a man is up in his building and he is observing a homeless man. He goes on to write a poem about the differences between himself and that man down on the bottom of his building. He has a nice warm place to go to at night and the homeless man just has to go to where ever he can find shelter. Olds's wants readers to see how it would be like to be a homeless man and have the feeling of what that man has to do every day. She gives us a very good visual of what is happening, with her use of detailed language. It is almost like you are the person that is on the seventh floor, looking down at the man.
Art can relate to politics in many ways, whether it be a poem, painting or photograph. The people that are writing these poems or drawing painting could be expressing what they feel about the government. It is a way for them to represent themselves differently and not having to go out there and speak what they are feeling. When we look at art it can be of any subject you can think of and of course that includes politics.
In the next poem called,"From Seven Floors Up,"by Sharon Olds's a man is up in his building and he is observing a homeless man. He goes on to write a poem about the differences between himself and that man down on the bottom of his building. He has a nice warm place to go to at night and the homeless man just has to go to where ever he can find shelter. Olds's wants readers to see how it would be like to be a homeless man and have the feeling of what that man has to do every day. She gives us a very good visual of what is happening, with her use of detailed language. It is almost like you are the person that is on the seventh floor, looking down at the man.
Art can relate to politics in many ways, whether it be a poem, painting or photograph. The people that are writing these poems or drawing painting could be expressing what they feel about the government. It is a way for them to represent themselves differently and not having to go out there and speak what they are feeling. When we look at art it can be of any subject you can think of and of course that includes politics.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Transtions
Transitions, I have always been pretty okay with transitions, but i soon forget putting them in my papers and that's where I get frustrated. I will learn about then in my English classes and be doing so good in adding them into my papers but then I leave for summer and it is like it has left my brain. I start writing papers and forget all about transitions and adding them into my papers.
I know that there are a lot of words that can help a transition in your paper such as:
Addition:also, again, as well as, besides, coupled with, furthermore, in addition, likewise, moreover, similarly
Consequence:accordingly, as a result, consequently, for this reason, for this purpose, hence, otherwise, so then, subsequently, therefore, thus, thereupon, wherefore.
They come in categories and there are so many other words that one can use and you can find these and other words at: http://www.studygs.net/wrtstr6.htm
Transitions really help a paper flow better and help the reader not be overwhelmed, for these and other explanations of what transitions do go to:http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/574/01/
I know that there are a lot of words that can help a transition in your paper such as:
Addition:also, again, as well as, besides, coupled with, furthermore, in addition, likewise, moreover, similarly
Consequence:accordingly, as a result, consequently, for this reason, for this purpose, hence, otherwise, so then, subsequently, therefore, thus, thereupon, wherefore.
They come in categories and there are so many other words that one can use and you can find these and other words at: http://www.studygs.net/wrtstr6.htm
Transitions really help a paper flow better and help the reader not be overwhelmed, for these and other explanations of what transitions do go to:http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/574/01/
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Who is it? Whom is it? Who knows??
A grammatical subject that I have never quite got the grasp of is when to use who and whom. To really tell you the truth I never use whom ever, but I have seen throughout my English classes that there is a difference. I think I struggled with it because I can never tell the difference. I do not know if i need who or whom when I write. I some cases I can see that it is obvious that I need to use who, but sometimes ill get corrected and they'll say that I need to use whom. Who knows really?
The way I now remember how to tell the difference between who and whom are with these simple definitions:
Whom: is an object
Who: is a subject
Also you can try the he/ him approach.
Whom = him
Who= he
Ex:Original statement: James didn’t know who/whom would win.
Replace with he/him: James didn’t know he would win.
Therefore: James didn’t know who would win.
Original statement: With who/whom should Trey go?
Rephrase and replace with he/him: Should Trey go with him?
Therefore: With whom should Trey go?
For more help these following websites are the places to go:
http://editing.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_use_who_and_whom_correctly
http://web.ku.edu/~edit/whom.html
The way I now remember how to tell the difference between who and whom are with these simple definitions:
Whom: is an object
Who: is a subject
Also you can try the he/ him approach.
Whom = him
Who= he
Ex:Original statement: James didn’t know who/whom would win.
Replace with he/him: James didn’t know he would win.
Therefore: James didn’t know who would win.
Original statement: With who/whom should Trey go?
Rephrase and replace with he/him: Should Trey go with him?
Therefore: With whom should Trey go?
For more help these following websites are the places to go:
http://editing.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_use_who_and_whom_correctly
http://web.ku.edu/~edit/whom.html
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Bro.. i think not
I will never forget the way he said," Get on your knees," when I asked if I could go to the bathroom. Also the way he would place his hand on my shoulder and i got the feeling that I would get sick to my stomach. Mr. Brotherson was my math teacher when I was a Senior in high school and he was a teacher that I can say did not have a positive affect on me. I dreaded going to that class everyday because I knew I was going to have to be in the same room with that man. I thought that teachers were suppose to inspire their students not make them loathe and detest them. He always said that I was his best student but to hear that it did not make me feel good at all. I just had never had a teacher tell me to get on my knees when I asked to go to the bathroom. It was so not needed and he thought that it was as normal as anything. But this experience has taught me a lot and now that I am going to be a teacher it has taught me how to to act with my students. I am going to be nothing like Mr. Brotherson. The only thing now that concerns me is that my younger brother now has him and is having many problems with Mr. Brotherson as well.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
On and On and On..
I don't know about you but run- on sentences have always been a stuggle for me. I alwasys seem to make my thoughts too long and before i know it i have a run- on sentence. I always try to break up my sentences so that they won't become into run on sentences but it is sometimes hard. I just write the sentence and end it where i think it should without even thinking about the structure.
a run-on sentence is when a sentence has too many ideas and runs on too long . If you have this problem, don't worry. It is quite easy to fix. The first thing you need to do is identify when a sentence is a run-on. A run-on (or run-on sentence) is a sentence that really has TWO sentences (or complete ideas) INCORRECTLY combined into one. It is okay to combine two sentences into one, but you must follow some rules.
For example: I saw a teacher who cares.
It can be fixed to say: I saw a teacher. Who cares?
For more rules and insight visit:
http://www.myenglishteacher.net/runonsentences.html
a run-on sentence is when a sentence has too many ideas and runs on too long . If you have this problem, don't worry. It is quite easy to fix. The first thing you need to do is identify when a sentence is a run-on. A run-on (or run-on sentence) is a sentence that really has TWO sentences (or complete ideas) INCORRECTLY combined into one. It is okay to combine two sentences into one, but you must follow some rules.
For example: I saw a teacher who cares.
It can be fixed to say: I saw a teacher. Who cares?
For more rules and insight visit:
http://www.myenglishteacher.net/runonsentences.html
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Average Joe
I really like Mike Rose's essay called. " I want to be Average." It was so full of detail written with so much feeling. When he described all of the situations that he had faced i felt like I was right there beside him. He really knows how to keep a reader attention and put all of himself in his writing and I think that is what I liked the most.
In his essay Mike Rose goes on to describe how he was placed incorrectly in classes that he was not suppose to be in. He never knew about his incorrect placement until two years into his eduction and by then he had already built an image of himself as being a poor student. Then after he finds out that he was placed wrongly he has to change his classes and is more confused than ever. He just wants to be average he says like he remembered one of his classmates say one time in class. But it was hard for Mike to ever feel that way when he was always being confused about who he truly was. I would have been confused too if they told me I had to be in some certain classes because I had failed miserably in my entrance exams and then tell you that you weren't even suppose to be in those classes in the first place.
The essay makes us look once again at our education system and how it is full of flaws. We need to try and make sure that we check everything when we are getting out eduction because it is one of the most valuable treasures that we have. Many students could be like Mr. Rose, being placed in classes that they shouldn't and making them feel something that they shouldn't. I know this from experience because one of my younger siblings was placed in a ELL class that he did not need at all. My brother know English better than most Americans, no accent or anything and they put him in this class without any of my family knowing. He had just been in these classes and he had the same feelings that Mike Rose had been feeling in school. Hopefully one day all these flaws in the education system will be worked out because like Mike Rose there are so many students that have gone through or are going through the same thing. And when they finally do find out what happened it is a little to late.
In his essay Mike Rose goes on to describe how he was placed incorrectly in classes that he was not suppose to be in. He never knew about his incorrect placement until two years into his eduction and by then he had already built an image of himself as being a poor student. Then after he finds out that he was placed wrongly he has to change his classes and is more confused than ever. He just wants to be average he says like he remembered one of his classmates say one time in class. But it was hard for Mike to ever feel that way when he was always being confused about who he truly was. I would have been confused too if they told me I had to be in some certain classes because I had failed miserably in my entrance exams and then tell you that you weren't even suppose to be in those classes in the first place.
The essay makes us look once again at our education system and how it is full of flaws. We need to try and make sure that we check everything when we are getting out eduction because it is one of the most valuable treasures that we have. Many students could be like Mr. Rose, being placed in classes that they shouldn't and making them feel something that they shouldn't. I know this from experience because one of my younger siblings was placed in a ELL class that he did not need at all. My brother know English better than most Americans, no accent or anything and they put him in this class without any of my family knowing. He had just been in these classes and he had the same feelings that Mike Rose had been feeling in school. Hopefully one day all these flaws in the education system will be worked out because like Mike Rose there are so many students that have gone through or are going through the same thing. And when they finally do find out what happened it is a little to late.
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