Saying Goodbye to 101-203: This Journey Will Lead Me to Another

Before saying goodbye to this course, my classmates and my instructor, I have one last opportunity to blog about the course. I have to say that this course kept me extremely busy. In fact, so busy that sometimes I would have to push my work on my other courses to the side in order to meet the deadlines. I think this is one of the only things I did not like about this course. Considering the amount of insight the course gave me about writing and what I am capable of achieving, however, does balance things out. I found I love writing and being able to voice my point of view through writing.


It is interesting to work with someone about my work and help guide me along the way. It is refreshing when I get more than the perspective of the instructor as well. I  am able to work side by side (or laptop by laptop) with my classmates as we tried to make sense of the course and each other. I especially want to thank both Sarah and Ahmad for the hard work they did on my peer reviews. I hope my classmates also enjoyed my peer reviews. It was wonderful to see what others wrote when interpreting the same subject from different perspectives. 


I would like to thank Rachael for everything she has done for me. She has worked hard to make sure I understand the course and the material I worked with. She showed interest in trying to make me do my best work, which illustrates how valuable she is as a teacher. She definitely likes to play with words and I like that about her. You've got my "props" girl!


If anyone would like to continue to read my blogs I will continue to post from time to time. In case you don't know where to find me, you can look me up at cjcool76@blogspot.com. Always feel free to post a comment, question or a link to find you. Good luck in all your endeavors and Happy Holidays!

Delusions in the Aftermath of the Deluge

September 1^st of 2005 was a horrible day for most people in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Josh Neufeld decided to write his comic: ”A.D. – New Orleans: After the Deluge,” which captures the suffering and loss of refugees after Katrina. Neufeld not only shows the problems the refugees of Hurricane Katrina faced, but he also shows how the government’s and the outside public’s response to the situation were utterly unacceptable.

Neufeld starts his comic on Thursday, September 1, around 10:30am at a New Orleans Convention Center and shows how the day progresses from here with a female character who he follows throughout the entire comic. The woman (who remains unnamed throughout the comic) starts in a place where she used to work (the convention center) which is filthy from top to bottom. She is stuck in this place with what looks like hundreds of refugees after the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina. The day seems to be really hot because all of the characters are perspiring profusely. What Neufeld shows throughout the comic is how they are all stranded without any survival supplies like food, water or medicines while waiting and hoping to be rescued. Tempers flare as more refugees are brought in and government relief is nowhere to be seen. An elderly woman dies just as their survival is already looking bleak and panic has set in leaving our female character with her final and powerful words, “They are trying to kill us all.”(237)

The comic starts with how grotesque the convention center was by a panel showing us our female character (let’s just call her F.C.) entering a ladies restroom with urine, feces and toilet paper all over the floor and sludge and grime everywhere, not to mention an odd looking woman in the middle of the restroom (not in a stall) squatting with her pants down “taking care of business”. This is a very fast “attention getter” in this comic and definitely points out the disgusting conditions in which the refugees were left to survive in. Neufeld illustrates the comic in a pale yellow hue for most of the characters and their surroundings. Neufeld contrasts this with a reddish-brown hue to shadow or outline the characters and surroundings. Neufeld uses these colors throughout his comic strip to cast pallor over these scenes that would not have the same emotional impact in plain black and white. It is a stagnating, sickish feeling that Neufeld wants to convey to his audience that sets the tone for a feeling of disgust and despair for the conditions in the convention center. After using the facilities, F.C. exits the convention center claiming; “Now how the hell am I going to get this shit off my shoes?” and comes to what looks like a crowd of hundreds (216 – 218).

At this point two police officers drive by and on their microphone announce, “Attention, people…The buses are on their way. Get yourselves lined up!” (219). Here Neufeld draws one of the policemen with an almost sinister smile while simultaneously giving a “thumbs up” to the crowd (219). While waiting for the buses, a water truck drives by as people are running behind it shouting, “WATER! We jus’ need water!” and “HELP!” This panel makes it look as though the water truck is not going to stop because the back door of the truck is open and inside readers can see cases of water and a man who is doing nothing but staring back at the refugees (220). Then, a couple of panels later F.C. states, “They bring us here, with no power, no sanitation, no food, no medicine – and they can’t give us water? It’s like some kind of sick joke!” (221). This part of Neufeld’s comic stresses the desperation of the refugees due to the lack of relief from government agencies. He revisits this later in the comic with the Police in an All-Terrain Vehicle, holding out their rifles, as they drive past the refugees who are sweating and pleading for water. Neufeld draws the sun beating down in this panel to emphasize the heat of the day. Here again the yellow and reddish-brown hues convey the disgust and despair of this situation (226).

Neufeld suggests bad communication among government officials when the buses that arrived were not there to pick them up but instead, dropped off more refugees adding to the overly crowded conditions.  He illustrates this by a heavyset character who stepped off the bus wearing a jersey, with a big number “5” on it, and is holding a very tiny girl who asks, “Please – any y’all got some water? My baby’s dehydrated. We was on a roof for 36 hours!” He approaches a man with water and starts to fight him for it until a couple of tough looking characters break it up. Then we see the heavyset guy on his knees, holding out the limp little girl and he has tears running down his face as he pleads, “But…you gotta help me…What am I s’posed to do with her?” (221 – 225). Neufeld created this panel as a universal appeal to his audience for compassion and understanding towards these citizens who were victims, not only of Hurricane Katrina, but of a government incapable of responding adequately. Neufeld definitely hit my heart with this by placing just the father and the limp little girl in a two page panel with nothing else around them. All readers see is a father and child and their suffering. It is sad and disturbing to see a father, whose little girl might die before him as he is helpless to help her.

September 1, 2005 at 4:03pm, the “thugs” come back with supplies that they looted from a nearby store and start handing them out to all the refugees. Neufeld surprises his readers a few times in this comic with tough looking men (who F.C. refers to as “thugs”) more concerned with the well-being of these citizens than our own government officials. They keep the peace, make people feel safe, and bring much needed supplies. They even tend to the elderly as Neufeld shows in the first panel of page 229. Neufeld keeps this notion as a background but brings it more alive at this point by having F.C. say, “And look how organized they are, making sure the sick ones and the old folks get what they need first…” (229). Neufeld demonstrates this to argue once again, how our government is more disorganized than the crime element of our society.

Neufeld also touches on how the outside public viewed these events after Hurricane Katrina. Neufeld draws several panels showing a couple who are driving in Muskogee, Oklahoma at 5:31pm on September 1, 2005. Unable to receive any phone service the couple decides to turn on the news only to hear, “All those folks in the Superdome and whatnot – why didn’t they just leave the city before the storm? What is wrong with those people?” Neufeld counter argues blaming refugees and points out the flaw of this kind of reasoning. It is easy for persons not directly affected to look at a situation and make accusatory judgments and unjust assumptions. Do we really know that everyone in New Orleans had viable options to evacuate in an efficient manner? This is why the couple refutes this by stating, “…when you take for granted you can hop on a computer and make a reservation at a Hilton five hundred miles away – it’s pretty easy to forget what it’s like to be a have-not” (232). In this comment, Neufeld infers the detachment with which many of our citizens view events outside of our immediate locale. He places this in the comic to remind us that people with low to zero resources don’t have the same advantages as those who do, and we really need to think carefully before making  a presumption about a situation we have absolutely no idea about.

From here nothing but panic ensued. Then the old lady that one of the “thugs” helped, dies. There was nothing they could do but leave her in her wheel chair and cover her with a blanket as she laid, dead, in the entrance of the convention center. One of the characters little girls asks, “Mama, she sleeping?” The mother replies while sniffling, “Yes, baby…” but the little girl knows better and starts to cry. The refugees own perception of their circumstances transition from one of wondering when, not if, help will arrive; “Oh shit here we go again…What’s this, like the fourth time they told us buses were coming?” (219). Later in the comic there is bewilderment on the part of the refugees as F.C. wonders (230), “How can this be happening? Don’t the authorities know about us? Don’t they care?” (230). Then in the final panel, the feeling of complete despair and disbelief as F.C. exclaims, “They are trying to kill us all” (237). What Neufeld is displaying in the last panel of his comic is that all of this is the consequence of a horribly unorganized government that had absolutely no concern for the citizens whom they are responsible for.

Neufeld has demonstrated through his comic how the supposed “thugs” were better and more organized at taking care of our society, how our government made feeble attempts in aiding those in need, and the consequences of the unethical choices of our government officials. It is devastating that no one was able to come to the aid of the refugees in New Orleans after Katrina.  Our government failed in multiple areas and we need to hold all government officials involved accountable. If we don’t let them know there are consequences for their actions (or inactions in this case), then they possibly might just “kill us all” (237).

Works Cited

Neufeld, Josh. “A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge.”  First Year Composition Reader. Boston: Pearson, 2011. Print. 215-237.

Reflective Essay Draft

The Blood, Sweat, Tears and Joy of Writing

Although writing can sometimes seem easy to some people I can truly say that it is not simple. There is much complexity involved in writing something good and tangible. There is also a feeling of great accomplishment when you write something that you know can reach a wide audience. I had the pleasure of reading two different authors writing styles and techniques. Both of these authors displayed their works in different forms. Josh Neufeld illustrated his writings in a graphic novel form (a comic) and Tom Junod presented his writings in the form of an article. Even though both used very different mediums that distinguished one from the other, their issues were very similar. They both felt compelled to write about a disaster in our American history and provided us with a glimpse of how these disasters affected not only the victims but the general publics and the media’s perception of both the events and the victims. Neufeld’s disaster was a natural disaster that left its victims feeling neglected, forgotten or even purposely discriminated against. Junod’s disaster was a manmade disaster that counted among its victims not only those who died or were seriously injured but an entire nation that was shaken to its very core by the unexpectedness and the audacity of the event. Each event is viewed from a historical perspective that is shaped by human nature and American culture.

These events caused people to re-examine some part of their existence that had always been taken for granted as an American.  Neufeld’s comic illustrates the confusion and disgust of the people that were victims of hurricane Katrina.  In the aftermath of the disaster his story speaks for the victims and asks his audience to identify with the victims. Junod’s article takes an iconic image from 9/11 and gives his readers a glimpse into the publics and the media’s response to the image while at the same time trying to identify the man in the image. Junod asks his audience to see past censorship of the image. Instead the audience should see the image as a reflection of our individual freedom. The other commonality that these writers share is the way they wanted to change our perceptions of how we view these disasters. Also they demonstrated to me how persuasive writing can be. I feel that I learned a lot about writing technique.

Neufeld’s argument was so persuasive that it made me very angry at our government official’s inability to manage the relief effort following the disaster. In order to persuade my readers that they too should feel this way I chose quotes from Neufeld’s characters in the comic that I felt highlighted the increasing anger and disgust the victims felt.  I also made sure to interpret the colors used along with a description of certain panels to make the readers understand Neufeld’s point of view in relation to mine. This allowed me to make sure my readers understood the disgust and desperation of the victims. As for Junod’s article, I very much liked the way he took a photograph of a terrible tragedy in progress, a photo that initially was seen as too raw, too painful to view and he asked us to look at it again and to remember it. Even though he released his article about two years after 9/11 he was still courageous enough to make a statement regarding the jumpers of 9/11, an overwhelming and controversial topic ‘til this day. He wanted us to remember them as heroes, not a dirty little secret that America should sweep under the rug. I agree with his argument and thought that it would be good for me to pass this on to my readers. In order to do this I had to highlight the points of view collected by Junod of the media, the public and the families involved in his article. This was the only way for me to display the incorporated deniability with regards to the jumpers. Through the use of a plain writing style of my own and citing examples of the writers’ quotes, I was able to connect my audience with what the two authors had written had written and was able to use their quotes as evidence for my audience. In my interpretive essays on these two subjects, I thought it would be best for the audience to understand my point of view with each of the writers’ points of view as well as my interpretation of them.

What I did with Neufeld was first decide what panels and quotes that I wanted to use. I wanted to make sure to use those that would strengthen my argument. This supports my point of view especially when the evidence I use coincides with the points that I want to make in my argument. I needed my audience to know what Neufeld illustrated in his comic. This is the key to making an emotional appeal to my audience. I used my summaries of his panels to explain my interpretations in the best detail possible:

“The comic starts with how grotesque the convention center was by a panel showing us our female character (let’s just call her F.C.) entering a ladies restroom with urine, feces and toilet paper all over the floor and sludge and grime everywhere, not to mention an odd looking woman in the middle of the restroom (not in a stall) squatting with her pants down ‘taking care of business’” (Ferreira 2).

            After writing this I knew the first thing my readers would think is, “Eeeeww!” This definitely ensured that I had my audience’s attention. Then after summarizing the scene of the panel I would interpret what the scene means to me:

“This is a very fast ‘attention getter’ in this comic and definitely points out the disgusting conditions in which the refugees were left to survive in” (Ferreira 2).

            All I had to do after this was blend in my point of view with Neufeld’s point of view in order to strengthen the evidence I had presented:

“The comic is illustrated in a pale yellow hue used for most of the characters and their surroundings. This is contrasted with a reddish-brown hue used to shadow or outline the characters and surroundings. Neufeld used these colors throughout his comic strip to cast pallor over these scenes that would not have the same emotional impact in plain black and white. It is a stagnating, sickish feeling that Neufeld wants to convey to his audience that sets the tone for a feeling of disgust and despair for the conditions in the convention center.”

            Since Junod only used one photograph and wrote about it in the form of an article, I had to slightly change my technique by first summarizing his article and then using quotes to establish emotional appeal as well as strengthen the arguments of my interpretation. With Junod this tactic became a little more difficult. Mainly because there was so much to his article that I had to sift through it repeatedly in order to discover what would work best when interpreting his article. The problem was some of things that I would have liked to use could have invalidated my evidence or drawn attention away from my goal of convincing my audience that they too should look and remember. I had to be very careful on what I could use and also how I should display it. For example:

“One hit a fireman on the ground and killed him; the fireman’s body was anointed by Father Mychal Judge, whose own death, shortly thereafter, was embraced as an example of martyrdom after the photograph – the redemptive tableau – of firefighters carrying his body from the rubble made its way around the world” (Junod 71).

If I had used this quote from Junod I was afraid my audience would struggle over the same questions that I struggled with as I read this quote, such as, remembering the priest as a martyr. Why? Did everyone forget that he killed another person by jumping? And why did they forget? Is it because he was a priest? Was this priest a part of a religion that condemns suicide as a great sin? And why is it that he should have more recognition than the Falling Man or any other jumper for that matter? I felt that some people might question my intentions if I posed these questions. Would my readers react as though I were attacking ‘the church’ or something? I did not want my readers too focused on religious arguments. I wanted them to think more about the Falling Man.

Both of these writers had influenced me on how writing can be a complexity to enjoy. Sure you have to deal with the paper cuts (the Blood), the deadlines (the Sweat), and the frustrations when what you wrote at first doesn’t come out right (the Tears). However, when you write something that can persuade a person to open their minds to new points of view or different concepts, well… that is a ball of sunshine that will never go away (the Joy).

Works Cited

Neufeld, Josh. “A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge.”  First Year Composition Reader. Boston: Pearson, 2011. Print. 215-237.

Tom Junod, “The Falling Man.”  First Year Composition Reader. Boston: Pearson, 2011. Print. 69-80.

Ferreira, Carlos. “Interpretations of ‘A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge’ by Josh Neufeld.”

Ferreira Carlos. “Interpretive Essay of ‘The Falling Man’ by Tom Junod.”

Ferreira, Carlos. “Working with Direct Quotes and Paraphrases While Interpreting: The Falling Man, by Tom Junod.” From My Finger Tips. Blogspot.com. 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.

Reflecting On My Writing

 As I began writing my first interpretive essay I struggled with what was expected of me as a writer which led me to over-think what my rhetorical audience should be. Because of this I had trouble defining my purpose as well as my context, medium and strategy. My instructor said; "This draft is impressive, considering that you had a bit of a rough start figuring out what I was going for in the thesis/statement of purpose assignment." It wasn't until my revision that I realized that I can use Kalman's essay as a structural model in which I could write my essay. By looking at how she interpreted the world around her gave me insight on how I should interpret her essay. This allowed me to understand my purpose, context, audience and gave me a sense of what my medium should be. I used this same strategy with my next two essays.


For the Neufeld essay I discovered that my essay should convey the disgust the comic made me feel when I read  it. It made me feel a sense of disgust toward our government, our media, and disgust of what society feels about the lower class or those below the poverty line - that they are just not that important. Because this was a comic though I felt a strange need to mention the colors that he used. I thought that I should demonstrate how these colors blended with the story that he told, how effective his drawings were and how his characters sprung to life. I think these things were effective and influential in telling his story. 


Junod's article was a little more difficult though. I had a hard time figuring out what I want to mention because he gave us so much material to work with. My purpose was clear - I didn't want the Falling Man to be forgotten either. Junod's article was touching and inspirational and I wanted to make sure that this essay would give my audience the same remarkable feelings that Junod gave me. This I used for my strategy. Figuring out my context for this would be a challenge because again, there was so much to work with! So to stay in context I made sure to only mention what I could use to convey the points in my essay. I also had the pleasure of quoting Junod in different ways which made the essay a little more fun to write because I got to play with different quoting techniques. 


As long as I keep these same strategies and techniques in mind, I am sure I will be able to continue writing with the same degree of influence and inspiration as these talented writers. 


Keep your pencils sharp and your wit sharper.

Working with Direct Quotes and Paraphrases While Interpreting: The Falling Man, by Tom Junod

"But now the Falling Man is falling through more than the blank blue sky. He is falling through vast spaces of memory and picking up speed (75)."

 As I was reading through class discussions, this sentence that stood alone in Junod's article, rang more true.It was like some kind of epiphany that Junod had when writing this because when you mention anything that has something to do with 9/11, people lose focus and immediately react to all other aspects of 9/11 except for "the jumpers" (71). This is why I think my thesis should remain alongside Junod's thesis: explaining why we should remember the Falling Man.


My statement of purpose, however, will be a little complex because I am not sure, yet, in which ways I am going to do this. For example, I am troubled by the fact a priest was recognized as a martyr even though he too was not only a jumper but also he "hit a fireman on the ground and killed him (71)." Did everybody completely forget that he killed another person by jumping? And why did they forget? Is it because he was priest? Was this priest part of a religion that frowned upon suicide as great sin? And why is it that he should have more recognition as martyr than the Falling Man or any other jumper for that matter? I know that most people might react to these questions as though I am attacking 'the church' or something, but will that happen because as a writer I have provoked an audiences feelings towards their beliefs, or because as a reader it is much easier to focus on something familiar (religion) rather than the unfamiliar troubled waters (the Falling Man).


What do you remember most from my post?  

A Preliminary Observation of "The Falling Man" by Tom Junod

"The Falling Man" by Tom Junod is a controversial article about a picture of a man who jumped from the north tower during the attack of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The picture was captured by a photographer named Richard Drew who works for the Associated Press. This photograph was one of the most famous of history as well as the most painful.


I like the way Junod sorted each section of his article. He starts by describing the photograph itself in very good detail and also adds the opinions of what others thought of the photograph to depict other points of view that he later brings up in the article.Then tells us a little bit about the photographer and quite a bit about what the photographer went through that day (9/11) and how it was that the photograph was chosen.


Junod starts to talk about the jumpers themselves as well. This part of his article had me crying as I was reading it. I don't know if it was due to the memory of that day and all the horror that I saw on the news or if it was the article itself, but I do know that it affected me in many ways. My feelings of disbelief as I watched the north tower, in smoke and flames. As I watched some of the jumpers before the south tower was hit which had me crying wondering what might be going through their minds before they jumped as well as on their way down. I watched as the second tower was hit, with a strong feeling of horror. This was nothing "like a movie," as Junod claims some of the witness stated. This was reality, this was really happening, this was the unforeseen worse case scenario. Then the towers collapsed and all that was left was extreme fear. I remember that was when I had to drink myself to sleep because I was restless with the chaos and trauma I had just witnessed. All of these feelings came back to me as read this part of the article.


Junod then talks about Peter Cheney who was given the assignment of finding out the identity of "The Falling Man." The article is mostly about this. The search leads to many different family's and many different people are involved in trying to figure out who he is, although nobody really succeeded. Junod definitely provoked questions to his audience, for example: I still want to know who the falling man really is! In his writing it almost seems like he is about to reveal the naked truth.What he does instead  is end the article with a metaphor of  what he believes "The Falling Man" represents. Teaser Alert!

Assignment 3-5

The peer review I had was fair and getting a different perspective was refreshing. I also believed that I would have to edit and rewrite some of the essay.

"September 1^st of 2005 was a horrible day for most people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. So much so, a writer by the name Josh Neufeld decided to write a comic about it called: ”A.D. – New Orleans: After the Deluge.” 


It was suggested this is not a very strong introduction. I will make the necessary changes to make this stronger by changing the wording to be more direct and clear and maybe adding a short phrase that signifies what Neufeld captured in his comic. An opening teaser to the rest of the essay.


It is also true that I need to work on my past and present tense. It is a little difficult to know what tense I should be writing in when I  recently read  the comic (2011) but the author wrote the comic in the past (2009) and the comic itself takes place further in the past (2005). I will work on this and try to remember that keeping the writing in an active form will allow me to have a grasp on which tense I should use.


I am sure with these things in mind that my writing style will flourish.
 

Feedback Focus Areas On My Own Interpretive Essay On Neufeld's Comic

After the last post it was suggested that my thesis was more like a reaction to Neufeld's comic more than it was a thesis and even though that is true, I think I still did pretty good at writing an interpretive essay. There are, however, a few adjustments I need to make to the essay. To start with, I thought that about the 3rd paragraph in my essay, I talk about the colours that were used in Neufeld's comic. I think I can take those examples and tie them more with situation they were used. For example, when I talk about the colours being used to show the disgust of the convention centre, I should tie it in with the paragraph where I describe the convention centre. I believe this will help the flow of the essay to be smoother. I just hope I got the feel of the colours right.


I also need to do something about the citing that I have not put into the essay yet. I will be citing, not from Wikipedia but from the sources you can find there. I will try to take as many paraphrases as I can to coincide with with my interpretation of Neufeld's comic. I hope to do this by showing the inside perspective and his use of stereotypes and reversal, and the concepts that have come from the mass media.This is also why I have not created a works cited page yet. I am still indecisive of which ones I will use.


I am also eager to hear from my peer to review my essay and see what they think of it. I am wondering what paragraphs in my essay they feel I need to work on. I am sure one of the things that might come up is that I need to expand more on my interpretations of Neufeld. I made sure to be quite descriptive about his essay but my interpretations were short. I think expanding upon these will definitely get my point across to my readers and this will also make my statement of purpose stronger.


I should also explain more about what the emotions some of the characters display to also give a more in depth description of what the characters are going through so that my readers can feel the same as I did when I read the comic. I think that's all for now. I better go, I've got a busy week ahead of me.

Thesis and a Statement of Purpose on "A.D. New Orleans: After the Deluge" by Josh Neufeld

Reading "A.D. New Orleans: After the Deluge", a highly tense graphic comic, I tried to think of the best way to go about my interpretation. I guess one thing is very clear. The conditions in which the people were trapped in the Superdome were utterly unacceptable and our governments actions should be held responsible, however, most of the government officials involved were not.

I will show this first by delving into the interpretation of Neufeld's comic starting with the filth the refugees were made to live in then the crisis of their survival needs and then the violence and deaths that ensued. I will also show the government responses during these troubling days. I am also going to discuss the outsiders point of view that was brought to the comic by the couple in the car and possibly cite media reports relating to this as well. I will do all of this to the accuracy of Neufeld's story and how he touched base on some very real problems with our government.     

Preliminary Observartions of Text: A.D. - New Orleans After the Deluge Assignment 3-1

As I was reading "A.D. - New Orleans After the Deluge" by Josh Neufeld, I found it interesting that the aftermath of Katrina was written in comic form. I would think that this would make an argument like this less powerful. As I continued to read I noticed that the use of profanity was not only used to show realism but also the irritated and heated tempers of the characters and situation. I also noticed that the illustrations used a very disturbing background that was full of dirt and trash, clothes lying all over the ground, and sweaty characters. These details were used to heighten the extreme dilemma's of the aftermath.

Over and over this comic shows the irritations of the characters situations and how they were not receiving any aid from the government. There supply of water was running low, yet they still had cigarettes and booze and other items they looted from surrounding businesses. The only people that would help were gang members that wore Disney shirts with Disney characters on them. It sort of helped to make them appear less dangerous. The continuing notion that the government didn't care or were trying to kill them in careless ways was a ringing tone throughout the comic.

The one anomaly that I found in this comic was a couple driving in Muskogee, Oklahoma. I found it weird that this couple had anything to do with the situation at the Convention Center. I can only think that Neufeld used this as a counterargument to an outsiders point of view like the one the couple over heard on the radio. This allowed Neufeld to blend it in with the couple responding with an explanation an outsider was clearly not thinking of. I did also find it odd that these people could not clean up after themselves. It was almost as if they could not function on there own. I mean your looting for things that you need like food and water, why not some cleaning supplies.

Reflecting and Revising - Assignment 2-5

While reading another students essay I learned something new about the Kalman essay we are interpreting. My classmates essay stated "Kalman used a picture of a pair of shoes to give the reader the feeling of the long journey she took to find the missing piece which we lost in our life, the missing piece of democracy of how to eat healthy." I found this to be interesting because the picture of the shoes and the words under the picture that said, "In my head.", always confused me but my classmates essay shined a new and different point of view.Even though the statement of the shoes that my classmate used was brief and not completely clear, it taught me that I also needed to expand on my interpretations in my essay as well. I would like to thank my classmate for not only opening my eyes to another point of view but also for helping me to learn a little bit more about myself and how I need to expand on my interpretations.

I also got the chance for another classmate to read my essay and analyse my interpretations. I found all of her criticisms to be very constructive. It really was helpful to know everything she thought I could do better.I really think she understood my purpose and helped me to get my purpose to flourish.I liked the compliment she gave me stating, "...he follows with a simple but detailed explanation." and that I was able to do this without a "copious amount of words. I appreciate all the time she took on my essay.

At my conference with my instructor for this essay, I learned that my essay draft was in free writing form. She definitely gave me some good insights on what was expected of the revised essay. Any confusion I may still have will be dependent upon how well I did with my revised essay. I am uncertain as to if my revisions are what she is looking for. I do appreciate her patience and understanding.

I think I need to work on expanding, staying more focused on the topic, and a little citation clean-up. I think if I can work really hard on these three things I should do well.

Thesis and a Statement of Purpose on "Back to the Land" by Maira Kalman

Kalman's "Back to the Land" persuades her readers to eat healthier foods instead of fast foods through contrast; however, her contrast can be confusing and needs some interpretation.

I will start my essay by first showing her contrasts and interpret them from my point of view. This will help to see how an audience can relate or be persuaded by the contrasts that I have selected to be appropriate for my thesis.Then I will I show how I can relate to them by using my own personal experience with healthy foods and fast foods. I will also take one of the contrasts I selected and place evidence to support a counter argument. I will then conclude with a review of my thesis, body, and counter argument. I hope it makes for a good read.

An Analytical View of "Back to the Land" - Author: Maira Kalman

I spent some time reading "Back to the Land" by Maira Kalman. I found the writings of Kalman very interesting, to say the least. She talks about Agrarian societies as if we have lost our way. She wrote, "Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison - farmers all - envisioned an agrarian society. We have since evolved into a very different kind of society." Like we did not understand what the founders of America had hoped for us to be. Like we should start to rethink the way we live but mostly the way we eat. She suggests that the fast food most of us Americans consume will make us overweight and unhealthy. She states, "every little bit of this country has very fast food. If you eat too much of this food you become sick and also Fatafat. And no amount of Fatafat pills will help you." I never heard of Fatafat pills and I work in a pharmacy, so these sound very strange to me. I also noticed this phrase, "Do the wealthy have access to the really healthy food while the less affluent do not?" I thought this to be revealing of the cost of foods today. It is true that you can get a couple of dollar cheeseburgers from places like McDonald's, which is very unhealthy for you, or you can spend up to $6.00per/lb for fruits and vegetables. Which would you chose?

As I read throughout the rest of the text I see that most of the text is filled with food. She shows pictures of bad food and good food. She uses the pictures as a way of showing fast food in comparison to organic food. She gives all kinds of examples of the food she likes, for instance, chicken and eggs, fruits and vegetables. I think she does this as a suggestion of foods we can eat that are healthier for us and we might also enjoy them as she does. She talks about farmers and city children who are gonna start gardening. It might be a suggestion of people who are still continuing to live like agrarians or that we as a society should teach all of our children how to grow their own food. How we should teach them healthier ways of eating. She also suggests that we should question bad eating habits and the our own choices by asking, "So what do we do about that?"

I guess there are some things that can throw you off a little bit in her text. For example on page 95 there is a picture of a chef standing next to two pizzas and a phrase that says, "The wearing of sponge pajamas. The eating of cod liver oil. Hmmm." I see this to be an anomaly to her writing because I don't see how it fits in with the rest of the text. I can't tell if it is a quote from F.T. Marinetti's book titled; "Futurist Cookbook", or if it is a statement of the picture itself. I think it also not fair to suggest that every city has a cart vendor or that all cart vendors sell food that is unhealthy for you, as she does on page 83. If you take a closer look at the cart, on the bottom of the sign it reads, "Veggie Wrap $3.00." I also find it strange that she writes about a problem that needs to be addressed but she hardly showed any kind of solution. Almost as if she is leaving the solution up to the reader. More than anything though it is a good read because it leaves you asking questions about yourself, your food choices and your eating habits. Bon appetit!

More Than Dirty Laundry

You never really think much about most spaces you dwell in. Some of them are places you visit frequently. Sure, you probably walked in the first time and assessed the place by answering the usual self questions; "is it clean?", "Is it safe?", "Where are all the vital tools I need that this place offers?", "how do I use these tools efficiently so I can leave and get on with rest of my routine?". I never analyze a space much more than this nor did I ever have to analyze a space for an essay before. Since I was on my way to do some of my dirty laundry, I figured, why not analyze a Laundromat? A Laundromat has a lot of elements to offer for a good analysis. It has environment, machines, and people all in one place.I chose one in West Allis, Wisconsin on 87th and National Ave. Although, anyone who has been to a Laundromat could probably agree they are all similar. Let me show you some examples.

When walking into a Laundromat the first thing you will see is the environment. The floors, ceilings, walls, machines, how busy it is and where do you get the soap and change, if necessary. When I first walked into this particular one I noticed it didn't look clean. There were scuffs on an already dull floor. The benches to sit in are worn and have several gouges in the finished surface. The folding tables are also worn. It has a soap box dispenser on the wall titled "Soap Center" and the walls were unprofessionally painted in an attempt to spruce up the place . Sometimes these places make me feel Laundromats make me feel exposed and ashamed. After all, some of the people in here might get a chance to see your undies.

Next, you'll notice the machines.The washers and dryers were a bit new, although the back area has some older industrial sized washers and some very new large load dryers. These are pretty much the reason I came here, although I am not in favor of the decorum. I do like the fact I can wash and dry bigger items like pillows and comforters that I can't wash at home.Another thing I noticed about all of these machines is they still take coin. There is no option for dollar bills or credit/debit cards on any of the machines. It's almost as if there have not been any technological advances since1934, when C.A. Tannhil opened the first Laundromat in Fort Worth, Texas. Back then it was called a "Washateria."

Finally you'll notice the people. One thing for certain is that Laundromats do not discriminate. You can run into people from all different races, religion, social culture, gender, sexual lifestyle, and age. I met an Italian man who kept trying to talk to me. I engaged in conversation with him out of politeness because I was trying to use this time for analyzing and studying. We all seemed to be dressed a little sloppy to do laundry. I find it strange that a majority of us do this. Like it is a right to dress down a notch from our usual casual appearance.

Even though going to a Laundromat that has a mildly unclean look to its environment, technologically un-advanced coin operation, and people who are dressed sloppy, I still had an interesting time. This is the first time I really got to look at my surroundings in a very analogical way. It's almost as if my eyes are open for the first time and I got to see that Laundromats are more than dirty laundry.

My First Blog

Hello everyone! I hope you find my blogs interesting, educational, and entertaining.