Student Essay

I decided to write my paragraph about a chinese girl who is struggling to fit in a new culture. That being America. Her name, Mengfei Yuan is Chinese, but all her American teachers and friends cant pronounce her name right so she goes by "Fayer". I have been to many countries myself, and i had a horrible time communicating with people. Mengfei Yuan said that using her American name has helped her make friends. She said telling her chinese name to people would create an awkward conversation which she tries to avoid as much as possible. In a way she leading a double life, which makes her quote " The girl deep in my heart is shouting, for her name not to be Fayer". She wants to be treated live everything else. A girl that likes funny movies, shop, and have a good times with friends. In Mengfei's award winning essay, she explains all her difficult situations well. I have the same problems too. So this is a small world after all, and we should embrace people who are different then us.

Blog response Nov. 12th

Through personal experience I have to say that everyone has some sort of public image that is either kind of scary or completely innocent. With Staple's public image he noticed that people are really scared of his image as a person. I must say that I never had a case where somebody was so scared of me that they just flat out ran away out of fear. That's why I try to be as polite as possible around strangers, to make myself look somewhat dignified and responsible. Mr. Staple's on the other hand has a much more different situation. He admits that it doesn't help being an African-American who dresses in very hip clothing. I personally noticed that people dress a way to perceive themselves in public as a personal statement.

Mr. Staples, who says he is an avid nightwalker, suffers the prejudice against middle aged African-American males for being street thugs or bullies. Staples recalls that growing up in terror of black males; "they were tougher than we were, more ruthless"(288). Once Staples decided he had enough of, he decided to go on a personal quest to change his public image. Staples was sick and tired of people running away from him, or crossing the street early so they wouldn't have to walk past Staples. He decided to give his nervous onlookers a break. In the last two paragraphs of the article, he explained that he would stand a few yard away from any person that seemed threatened by his presence. When there was a group of people in an alley way, we would wait for them to leave, so they wouldn't think he was following them. Staples even started to whistle classical tunes such as Beethoven and Vavaldi.

Getting back to my personal opinion on the topic of public image, i have learned to avoid certain characters on the street, but also embrace the friendly and outgoing ones. Sometimes there were kids in my public school that would dress in really gothic clothes, and I would be hesitant to approach one of them. It wasn't until one day my sophomore year that changed my life and my perception of people. I had a group project and a "goth" kid was in the same group as me. I thought to myself, "this is going to be awkward". As it turns out, the "goth" kid turned out to be one of my best friends in High School. His name is Seth, he was one of the shyest kids on school but he was very smart and funny. He said if it wasn't for me he probably would not have had a girlfriend in High School because he was too shy and not very social. So from this day on, I make sure not to judge somebody before I meet them.

Past Present Blog Response

Baca used narrative and persuasive writing to explain how serving a prison term has changed his life. How the millions of people today experience the brutality and inhumanity prison life possesses. Baca writes about how bad prison by saying "What was most shocking to me was not that I survived, but that the prisons still stood, that cruelty of that life was still going on". I concur with Baca, because people need to reform how prisons are operated in the United States. When a criminal goes to prison, the experience tends to make him more criminal then reformed. His writing is extremely effective, he uses first person describing his miserable time in prison. "The vast majority of convicts, imprisoned for petty crimes that have no more to do with wrong judgement than serious criminal intent." Prison makes the most normal person into a rugged criminal. In prison there is a hierarchy among inmates. All groups in prison are all race related. For example there are whites, blacks, northern mexicans, and southern mexicans. To say the least prison is just a miserable experience and people's dignity and respect can be destroyed in a penitentiary. Baca's means of persuasion was effective because he is intelligent and spoke exactly what was on his mind or a narrative.

Sanitized Reality

In the Salamone's article "Images of Main Street" used the phrase "sanitized reality" as a way of describing the atmosphere of Disney World. I've been to Disney World myself and concur that Disney Land is a "sanitized reality". When I walked in the front entrance it was literally cleaner then Vatican Square when I was in Italy. It felt like a slap in the face how perfect Disney World was. You could see roller coasters, Disney cartoon characters, concession stands, and of course the life size castle which is Disney's logo. Everyone there has a smiling face, I swear that Disney hires employees to look like an ordinary family. When I walked around some parts of Disney World, I tried to find trash and it took me a half hour to do so. I agree with the Salamone's when they commented on cleanliness of Disney World. "There is a lack of messiness of real life. The labor of keeping things clean is always conspicuous by its absence or camouflaging"(171). Disney just has the persona of being Perfect America. Disney movies alone have shaped many people's lives. I really don't watch Disney movies but I can name at least five off the top of my head. Let's see Aladdin, Jungle Book, Snow White, Bambi, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lion King etc... Lets put Disney Land in another perspective. My cousins from Germany came to my house three years ago, and the only thing they knew about America is Disney Land and Coca Cola.


Since the second question is asking for my subjective opinion I will write about what i think, so don't be offended. I think another case of "sanitized reality" in the US is subdivision housing. If you don't know what I'm talking about its a piece of old farmland that scattered by identical looking homes, sometimes more than a thousand at a time. All the homes come with really small yards with fake grass on top. I really have nothing against them, but some of my friends lived there, so i would go every once in a while. It really just made me appreciate my house more because its unique. All subdivision homes look the same and it seems like it would get really boring after a while. I rarely ever see any kind of criminal activity that comes with city life, which is nice if one is worried about safety. It just all seems a little to fake to me and my friends agree.

Rhetorical Analysis Blog

Throughout Winston Churchill's career as Prime Minister of Great Britain, he was known for his public speaking skills and ability to connect with his audience. Churchill used his writing and oratorical skills to get his point across in a very charismatic manner. Better known as rhetoric. Our first definition in class was anaphora, which Churchill used expertly in his writings. In his speech "Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat" he used anaphora twice. "We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many long months of toil and struggle. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills" (Winston S. Churchill). These quotes are very powerful, it shows Churchill's determination to defend his homeland and rally the citizens of Great Britain. Churchill gave this speech before the Nazi “blitz” over Great Britain that handed Hitler his first defeat
of the war.

In the midst of the heavy bombing over Great Britain, Churchill used anaphora at the beginning of every sentence in one of his greatest speeches ever "Never Surrender" to rally the citizens of Great Britain. "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender! (Winston Churchill). These speeches are a clear example of how rhetorical writing is so influential to an audience.

In the speech "Never Give In" Churchill gave the following month, he used anaphora and diction very well. "This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty (diction)—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy"(Winston Churchill). Churchill was so influential to the British that they would literally fight to the last man for him. His expertise in speech giving has earned him the title of the greatest Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Churchill’s passion and patriotism permitted his rhetorical flourishes to sidestep demagoguery. In a historical perspective his speechmaking to the British Empire was worth perhaps 3-4 British Expeditionary Forces divisions or perhaps the deciding Royal Air Force squadron during the Battle of Britain. Many times rhetoric succeeds in only dividing but in this case it united a people and permitted a nation to not only survive but endure

Rhetorical Analysis Blog

blog due 9/3

Question 1:

The article uses trick description well. “Place” by Lynn Staeheli literally uses every analysis o fhte word “place” in her article. She used a very effective graph on pg. 82 that shows five conceptualizations of place. The chart shows how “place” is used as a physical location. Staeheli uses this first because eit is the most common perception of the word. It is also used to describe how cultures or societies live together. For example Jerusalem is a “place” of worship both physically and metaphorically. Staeteli also continues to explain that “place” is used in context and process. The article goes on to say “it becomees inpossible to think of interactions between the geographical and physical characteristics of place (Staeheli, pg. 84).” This shows how people view the word and meaning of “place.” “The difference in definitions of place, then, reflects polotical strateges and goals (Staeheli, pg.85).” No matter what the topic is there will always be supporters and critics. So in the end, its up to you to decide what the correct defintion of “place” is for your context.



Question 2:

In the article by Ian McGuiness called “the Church Uptown” uses interesting tequiches to capture the readers attention. McGuiness starts the article by first criticizing the church, that then later becomes his place of refuge. “ Ablast from its battlements every hour surel does the trick (McGuiness, pg 40).” That quotet tells the reader that the church is not looked upon nicely by the auther. At the same time, one would see the article is extremely biased. McGuiness goes on to explain why he is biased. Hisexperience at Miami so far has not been good, which he goes on to take his frustration out on the first draft of his article. The writeer does a good job linking religion to his writing of the article. McGuiness talk s about how his friends all view the church differently. That is extremely effective because ehe asked about five or six people.His friend described the church as “non-modern (McGuiness, pg 42).” Well, not alll things are ment to be modern because age is a fact of life. The buildings that we have today will be looked at in fifty years as old anf ugly, but life will go on.

blog response #2

1. Lamott's writing is great because she is able to connect with her audience. She talks about her daily struggles, and how hard it is to actually get started on the work at hand. Once you get over the first hump, you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

2. I believe group work fails because it alway lands in the "smart" persons lap. I agree with Roskelly about how in group work people can get off topic very easily. Like what they did last week or last night, or how Brett Favre will win the Super Bowl for the Jets this season. It's not because they don't care about the task at hand, there is always something more interesting to talk about. 

3. Reynolds tries to get across the point that style differs upon what age(century) it is written in. I agree with her that when one is writing they should concentrate more on expressing their thoughts and feelings rather than punctuation and grammar. I think in the end it comes down to how you feel as a writer is and is not acceptable. 

1st blog response

1. First of all, good writing is to me considered a subjective topic. I believe that good writing has to have some sort of connection with its audience. That helps in many ways because your audience must be able to understand and somehow be connected with ones writing. 

2. One becomes a good writer by simply practicing. Yes, there are a few exceptions with naturally gifted writers, but that is a small minority. Being a good writer entails an enthusiasm for writing, and also a plot for the reader to understand. 

3. My main question is what inspires people to become writers. I know that sounds like a simple question, but i struggle to grasp to concept of writing for fun or enjoyment. 

4. If i had the opportunity I would write a novel or book about the Civil War. It is by far my favorite subject, and it has had the largest impact on our society today than any other historical American conflict. As a writer, that would be the easiest thing for me to accomplish.