Blog Post #8 ~ Writing in your Journal for "I Remember Masa."

Writing in Your Journal for "I Remember Masa" Pages 562-565

1. Write about your earliest memory of food or something associated with food, such as shopping or cooking.

One of my earliest memories of food are from when I was around three years old. I have a picture embedded in my head of me sitting on my 'play' blanket (a small, colorful blanket with pockets and things sewed on it to play with) while eating a piece of orange fake cheddar cheese. I still remember the taste in my mouth, as well as the memory of me returning often to my mother for some more.

My entire family is allergic to dairy, in any form. So eating soy cheese, soy and rice milk as well as other substitutes for butter, and yes, ice-cream, are things that I have grown up with. Another memory I have is from when I was about four or five. My aunt accidentally gave me some regular dairy ice-cream, and me, thinking that it was the kind I could have, ate it all! When I found out I felt very guilty, though I can't remember if I got sick or not. Most of the time when any of my family eats dairy we get a really bad cold and sore throat. Now as I am older sometimes I will knowingly eat things with dairy, because it looks SO good. But sure enough a few weeks later I am suffering the consequences.

Food is definitely one of my weaknesses! I LOVE food! It's something I look forward to everyday! There isn't really any kind of food that I don't like. I'm definitely the least picky eater in my family! I guess it all started with my fun and happy time of eating cheese on my 'play' blanket.

Blog Post #7 ~ Writing in your Journal

Writing in your Journal Assignment for “The Beguiling Truth about Beauty” By Carlin Flora

Pages 442-446

1. In paragraph 5, Flora says “Our brains have a built-in hot-or-not meter that never stops gathering data.” Is this statement true for you? Explain.

I’m afraid that I have to say yes to that. I think that the ‘meter’ works in my brain quite a bit more than it should. There are some days that I feel like I am pretty, but those days seem to be far and few between lately. I am absolutely terrible at comparing myself to others! I try to remind myself that every single person is completely different and therefore honestly not in any way comparable to myself, yet I do it anyway. Self-image and self-confidence are things that society really struggles with in the world today. Media has brought the ‘expectations’ of beauty higher than it has been before and men and women everywhere are finding it hard to measure up. I am affected by this like everyone else, but I find myself affected more by the people around me. I feel that I have to make up for my lack of physical attraction by my skills to get attention. How I feel about myself seems to greatly depend on what happens each day. The most important thing I am learning is that it is who you are that makes the difference, not how you look, and that it is also important not to let the ‘hot-or-not meter’ take control of your life. How you feel about yourself is a choice. I am trying hard to be happy no matter what other’s opinion of me is or what I think the hot-or-not meter says.

Blog Post #6 ~ Comparison-Contrast

A way that I am very different from my parents is my love of performing. Both of my parents are, and have always been, very reserved and quiet. Neither of them likes to draw any sort of attention to themselves and they like to live life quietly at home.

I, on the other hand, love to be on stage. One of the reasons is that I love attention, but only when I am on the stage. That is a similarity between my parents and me. If I am myself I’d rather not be noticed as much, but when I am being a different character especially when I do Musical Theater, it is a whole different story. I love being characters and showing many diverse personalities. When I perform I feel like I am in a whole different world and I can do anything I want to. One of my dreams is to perform on Broadway, and this is something that my parents have never had any desire to do, or to do anything like it. I am often more comfortable on stage than I am doing the daily things in my regular life. This is completely opposite of my parents who feel totally out of place anywhere but with our family. My parents encourage this quality that I have but also encourage me to be who I am where ever I am.

#5~Writing in your journal for "Shoot to Kill"

Writing in your journal ~ “Shoot to Kill”

I don’t think that my answer can be completely straight out. I think yes and no.

I think yes because it should have been recognized at the time of the incident that the circumstances required different procedures than usual. I think we as a civilization need to be continually improving in the way we handle things. Therefore as the law suits triggered re-thinking regulations and safety procedures which lead to new training to help improve how we are protected, I think it was needed.

On the other hand I also think that sometimes people need to realize that others do their very best at protecting etc. and suing the police department will not help you feel less sorrow at losing a loved one.

I believe that suing in itself is very subject to the situation. Sometimes it is necessary to sue to get much needed changes but at other times it is best to let things pass.

Blog Post #4 ~ Questions on Pg. 283 in Patterns for a Purpose

Writing Assignment on pg. 283

1-First of all I have to admit that I am afraid that I do not really know very much about this subject except what I read in this essay, but I want to know more about what homeless people go through at this time. I can see how the statement by Richard Lazarus that the homeless are “the rejected waste of the society” would truly be how people in such circumstances would feel. When people do not take the time to help others in dire situations, and not only to not take the time to help but also to make their lives more difficult, faith, hope and trust in a person can die. Actions are clearer than spoken words and if people or a city are doing everything in their power to ‘get rid’ of people who live on the streets out of necessity, then how can these unfortunate people honestly believe the city officials when they express sorrow for them, or say that they will try to help. If someone is treated like trash then they will eventually come to believe that is what they are whether it is true or not.

I personally believe that no human being is trash, and that it is society itself that creates such problems for people and in the economy.

2-I cannot think of any groups in particular that would be called "Untouchables', but there were many groups in general that would not associate with each other. I heard many times when one of my friends would say something like: "She won't talk to me because after all she is on the drill team" or "They're part of the 'cowboy' group so I am surprised that she would even consider asking him to the dance." Those are just a few that come to mind. No one could really interact with anyone who didn't do the things that group did. This can cause a lot of close mindedness. This is truly where segregating people, especially people in poorer circumstances, starts. Perhaps if everyone treated each other better no matter what they did or which 'group' they belonged to, there would be more compassion for those who have to live on the streets. It would be better yet if there were no 'groups' at all.

4-This essay did very well in moving my emotions. I think one of the reasons for that was the subject itself. The plight of human beings in whatever form is very touching for me. But the main reason I felt that this essay did well in procuring my sympathy for people without homes was all of the examples that were given. I appreciated that there were examples of many different situations. This helped me understand how widespread this condition is.
The impression I received while reading this essay was that the writer is hoping that the people who read this will try to change conditions for homeless people, or at least that people will be more sympathetic. I think that moving peoples’ emotions is a very important part of writing essay such as this one. Before people will change anything they have to feel the reasons why they should change, as well as knowing the logical reasons why they should.

5-I think (after reading) that the general feeling is indifference or ‘I wish I could help but I’m too busy.’ But also I believe that there are many people and many organizations who are sincerely trying to help the conditions of people in poor situations. I think our attitude is a very big part of helping the homeless and impoverished. If we show them that they are of worth that will change their idea about themselves. This often brings about a greater desire to do whatever possible to change things, in us and in them. Also I think that if we learned to really care for others, in fact everyone around us, we would not be content just to give some effort to help them, but we would give our best effort. It would help our society if everyone tried to have neighborly, or brother and sisterly caring feelings for everyone we meet. Then we would not have the different classes or those who are deemed “Untouchables."

#3~My Narration essay will be on....

My narration essay will be on my first day of dance class. It is something that is very important to me and something that has changed the direction of where my life is headed. I feel that since it is a day that I remember fairly well I will be able to remember more of the details and make it more of a story.

#2 - Responding to chapters 4 & 5

Both of these chapters were very helpful for me, but more especially chapter 5. I think that I really struggle with both under-describing and over-describing, and I need to find a balance. I think that the ideas and examples in Chapter 5 were very useful in helping me do that. Something that I have never thought about before and that will be extremely beneficial to me in the future was the idea of thinking about the five senses when writing descriptions. I believe that will spark my mind with ideas for writing because I often find myself using the same words to describe everything. Reflecting on the senses will help my mind ‘branch out’.
Chapter 4 helped me think about utilizing sources and how to correctly bring them into my writing, which is not something that I have done often and it will greatly assist my writing in many areas.

Overall I think that reading these two chapters has (hopefully) increased my confidence and ability in writing.

#1~How I feel about and what my experience is with writing and reading.

Writing and reading is something that I enjoy very much.
I love learning about history and reading is the principal way that I have and will continue to learn about history. Someday I would like to write historical fiction for my family.
Reading is usually the way I inform myself about subjects that I have an interest in. For example politics is something that I feel like I need to be more informed about because of the upcoming election. I want to make an educated vote, and I feel that reading many different things is how I will be able to do that.
I like to read things that open my mind to new ideas, or things that support my ideas.
When I read I can be anyone or anywhere I want to be in the story, that is something I do almost every time I read a novel. My favorite reading are the works of Jane Austen. When I write stories I seem to do better when I write them in the same style as Austen's works. This, for me, is one of the most enjoyable things I do, when I am able to find the time.
When I write personal things, about my life etc., I have noticed that I often just write about events or facts. While those things are important I decided that this year I would like to write more about my feelings and thoughts about things, perhaps to even write in a more poetic way.
Reading and writing have been a big part of my life and will continue to be.