Picture of Items

These items in this picture really do a good job of describing me. Even though the items in this picture were what happened to be in my backpack that day, it says a lot, surprisingly, about my personality. The earphones, I always constantly listen to music. I love to sing, and play guitar, it makes up a big part of who I am. The "Winter Candy Apple" lotion shows that I like smelling nice, while being moisturized at the same time. The mirror shows how I do enjoy looking at myself at some points throughout the day, to make sure everything's alright :) The Vitamin C drink shows how just incase when I might suddenly get too tired to stay awake in class, I drink 1 bottle of that and I'm set. Overall, I just think these items show how I like to be prepared, and have lots of sweets throughout the day! I guess it also shows how I don't get enough sleep as well.

Weblog #6: The Bass, the River, and Sheila

             I disagree with the statement that W. D. Wetherall wrote this short story to tell a story of how a boy is creepy, and has creepy intentions to a girl he knows. For example, in the text, it shows how he is a very observant boy. Yes he describes Sheila while they are on the boat, very indepth, but if you look look carefully into all the details he says through out the text, readers should be able to infer that he is naturally very observant, and not just creepy. He says he "glanced" over at her. Glanced would be inbetween low, informal diction, to neutral diction. He isn't carefully observing every little thing she's doing, the word simply suggests that the boy looked over at her casually. There was no intention for anything to be taken in a creepy way. Also, another example in the text is when he said, "stared enchanted". This implies that he was almost under some kind of love spell, not just in some creepy way. He truly is attracted to her, more than just from the outside, but the inside as well. I would think the word "enchanted" is considered high, formal diction. This word, is very elegant, and just creates a very elevated tone. It's a very uncommon word, because it's meaning is very precise and almost in a way, classy. I understands why some may think the way the boy describes his feelings to the readers may be taken in a creepy way, but if you look carefully into the word choice, you realize his intentions of really liking Sheila are there.

Alice Walker Blog #5

Prompt: How is Alice Walker's take on the importance of writing different or (exclusive or) same to that of Tobias Wolff's take on it? (150 words)

          Alice's Walker's take on the importance of writing is the same to the take that Tobias Wolff has. Actually, maybe not the same, but similar. The difference is that Alice Walker goes more in depth into it, and explains more of her reasonings behind her position, and a solution or exit plan. They both agree in terms, that even though some writing's are hard to read, and may not be the most excited or up-beat piece of literature, readers need to accept that it's a harsh topic they're reading about, and count it as a gained experience. They both say that readers really need to reflect on what they're reading, instead of just simply reading it, and moving on after they are finished. In the video, Alice Walker goes on to say that these types of writing, that are hard to talk about, lead to a "good conversation". She says that a good conversation is when people really are listening to each other, instead of just hearing one another. So continuing from that, she goes on to say that, because feel as though they aren't being heard, they talk louder and louder, until they feel satisfied that the person they are talking to, is listening to them. She says that everyone just loves to talk and talk about just unimportant matters in the world, the sense of actually having a good conversation, is slowly disappearing. I'm sure Tobias Wolff was thinking the same things, just Alice got further into it. 

Weblog #4

1. "I became fascinated with the different shapes that I saw inside the moon".

I really liked this excerpt from my book because I can actually relate to this. I've grown up everyday just looking at the sky, and the moon, but not really caring enough to really observe it. When I finally just laid and took a deep breath and looked at the moon, I noticed all the craters and holes, and different sizes of the craters, that were on the moon. While I was observing the moon, all my stress just seemed to disappear, and all I could think about was the moon and how beautiful it looked. Just thinking about this gives makes me feel calm, and collected.

2. "I thought about where my family was, whether I would be able to see them again, and wished that they were safe and not too heartbroken about Junior and me. Tears formed in my eyes, but I was too hungry to cry".

This passage, I guess it isn't necessarily my "favorite", but when I read this at the time, this really made me stop and think about how this poor boy would actually be feeling. He's so mature for his age, to worry about how his parents would feel, rather than about himself. Honestly if I was in this situation, the only thing on my mind was how I miss my family, and when my next meal would be. But Ishmael has the maturity and kindness to sincerely worry for his parents' well being, instead of his. This also made me realize how important it is to love your family, and the ones you love, because you really never know how many "tomorrow's" there'll be.

3. "When he pulled himself ashore, he could see people drowning in the water, screaming as they fought to stay afloat. The rebels laughed at the dying people. He had wept all night as he followed the survivors, who made their way to a village down the river".

This excerpt, is so full of description, I was able to perfectly picture this horrid image in my mind. I imagined innocent people getting into a boat to escape, but the rebels laughing and making jokes at all the people dying, who I'm sure also included young children, and women. This excerpt also made me just think, what has this little boy done to deserve, to have to see these things. Especially since this book is a true story, I don't even want to imagine what this boy went through, and how he must struggle to live, or struggle to love/trust anyone, anymore. Such harsh things happened to this boy, and this passage was another part that helped me realize how real the situation is.

In the memoir "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah, Beah eventuall expresses to the readers how even though extreme things like these happen, there is always hope. Near the very end of the book, after Ishmael snuck his way into Conakry illegally, and finally settled down to think, he says "Nonetheless, I was happy to have made it out of Freetown, to have escaped the possibility of becoming a soldier again. This gave me comfort". This quote shows how Ishmael, after everything he'd been through, all the tragedies and death, he was able to make it to this point. This shows how there's always hope in the future no matter the situation, it's always there. He stresses in many different ways how he had almost lost all hope, and at point was about to give up, but he managed to pull through and finally make it here.