Group Progress #2

We had a really progressive meeting today in class. I think were on the right track to have our project successfully done at the deadline. I also think that it is going to turn out really good. As long as everyone sticks to the plan it shouldn't be a problem. I'm not going to lie I was a little worried at first, but it is all coming together.

Group Progress

So far our group has worked well together. There are about 7 trash pictures posted on our website and everyone has worked well together for the most part. I think we could take it further though by getting more and more people involved. I think personally I will be doing my best down the homestretch of the project to make a small but helpful difference.

Bad Apple

I, like many, have been victim to the bad apple who impairs our group's performance. The only way I really know how to do with these types of people is simple. I will talk to them about what they have been doing. Most likely, the bad apple won't listen. So I try to get deeper and talk to them about how important this specific task is to everyone until it means something to the bad apple.

Fecundity

My brightly orange colored majestic fish has a name. That well thought name is Maximus. He swims carelessly throughout his transparent sky blue tank. Whenever the frightened food enters the shallows of Maximus' territory there is a calm before the storm. Maximus stalks his prey out determining the speed of the mysterious new creature. Once he gathers the information needed he shows a burst of speed and elegance as he attacks. After the meal he lurks waiting patiently for his next chance to feed.

Manifesto and The Making of a Marginal Farm

I believe in Manifesto the author was trying to convey life in a meaningful sense. It seemed as though there was a comman theme throughout. That was to do what you want do not follow any specific path. Wendell Berry says that best when he talks about the fox on the last couple lines, "Be like the fox/who makes more tracks then necessary,/some in the wrong direction." He really just wants people to do as they wish even if its wrong.

The Making of a Marginal Farm had to do with just making a living on the land. Berry was trying to dipict the life of a farmer from the earlier ages. I think it shows how the environment helps people. Not just how it helps people but the impact it has on peoples memories.

What I am Doing

Lately, I have been trying to only buy organic foods. I don't feel it is alright to do some of the things processing plants do to food. I also think its wrong what a few farmers do to animals by giving them steroids or anything of that kind. Since this class has began I have started recycling. I believe this makes an impact on the environment. Using products more then just one time helps save other products, trees, etc. My writing will be covering recycling and it's impact on the environment. Because apartments seem to have a trash shoot on floors, no recycling ones.

What is her purpose/audience in writing this? How does she get her message across? Would you consider this writing-as-activism? Why or why not?

Her purpose is to inform the audience, anyone or specifically nursing mothers, about the harmful effects of the dioxins in breast milk. She gets her message across by bringing in a plethera of research that she has discovered. This makes her point very viable and gives good background so the people believe her. I would consider this as a form of activism. This is because she is standing up in some way for what she believes is right. She knows the harmful effects things like dioxins can bring to babies. Not just that she is also informing about whatever we put into the environment can come back to harm us if it is bad.

Personal Mission Statement

I care about life. I think that everyone has a very valuable life and can spend it more by just worrying about themselves. Growing up people around me took care of eachother. I hope to be just like that some day if I'm not already. I also value people that are honest to me and theirselves. My core being has to do with pursuit of happiness, ambition, fun and solid relationships. All of those things impact my life every day. I try to succeed in every one of them to make me a well rounded person that has a good chance in life. Not just a good chance so I succeed, but so i can also help others reach their goals as well.

Social Change Reading

Creating social change has been something many people have been chasing after for a long time. I think that it takes just one idea that someone is willing to put into action to make a difference. The reading talks a lot about how people work. However, I believe that anyone, even the bad, can make a difference in everyone's life. Maybe it is not a huge change. Picking up pieces of trash on the ground can make a difference. But what I really want to see change is the relationship's between people. It has completely changed over the years. Face-to-face communication is a dying art. When people are together they bounce ideas off eachother with more emotion. Changes in communication can allow us to have a better world. A place of love, laughter, hard work and freedom are deserved for everyone.

Silent Spring

Question: Delivery

Answer: Rachel Carlson uses her delivery to get across what everything looks like. Her description of the natural surroundings is very in depth and is done for a reason. That reason is to draw the reader into what she is saying by placing them there through the detailed imagery. Almost every paragraph has a sentence or more describing exactly what is around and that shows how important the author thinks imagery is. Carlson uses her delivery to develop a vivid scene for the reader.

A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf

Question: How does the writer structure this essay and to what effect?

Answer: Muir structures this piece by getting the audience involved first with action. This action draws the reader deeper into the book because it is interesting. Then Muir switches to his own beliefs by questioning things like life and God. People are going to be more likely to read these ideas with an open mind because of what he did earlier in the book by drawing them in. Not only that the ideas will make more sense. They will do that because they are directly related to the action earlier. It is a linear style piece.

Industrial Tourism and the National Parks

Question: What specific details stay in your mind? Why? How do these small details lead to larger ideas?

Answer: Edward Abbey describes the experience of working at a national park. Being in that situation it allowed him to look differently at the situation of the national parks. That detail shows his knowledge and allows the reader to respect his opinions. Then he suggests a way of eliminating cars from the parks. In my opinion, they seem to be very good ideas. Saving money on not making roads and helping the environment is a win-win. It seemed as though the details in the beginning helped back Abbey's ideas. That is why they stayed in my mind.

A First American Views His Land

Question: How does he make these transitions? What affect do they have on the forward momentum of the piece?

Answer: Momaday structures his piece by adding poems in between some paragraphs. This adds a dramatic effect to the transitions. In my opinion, it draws the reader more into what they are writing about because it adds a different tone to the story. This allows the reader to stay focused and keep a fresh mind towards it. The piece stays in a steady flow throughout because of the smooth transitions even between the poems and essay writing.

Walden

Henry David Thoreau and Chris McCandless have a lot in comman. They share the view that a person can live disconnected from the material world. They both think and enjoy living in a natural surrounding. People like these two are hard to find in the world. It is truly an inspiration to me. I never have thought like those two before, but it opens my eyes to a whole new way to live.

Smith Poem

I see
the wind
and taste
buildings in me
and feel
ground against my feet
and hear
fear
I need
life




This was about my experience seeing a tornado for the first time and seeing the damage after.

Blood Dazzler (first half)

Question: What are the major themes in this book? Are there any minor themes as well? Is there any kind of "subtext" in this book? What kind of murmurs run below the surface?

Answer: Poems by Patricia Smith have a complicated understanding. The major themes in this book have to do with Hurricane Katrina. She describes in her poems of the storm, the city and how her and the other people were feeling. The minor themes could have been the people. How Hurricane Katrina was affecting them. These poems show the sad, but real truth behind the devastating storm. It personifies Katrina into taking over them. Throughout the deep and strong poems it captures an unfortunate event in American in a better way then news could.

Snapshots

I was in Colorado and my family and I had hiked for hours finally reaching the top of this small mountain top. As I stood on the top I glanced over the edge to be shocked in awe with the stillness of the trees and rapidly moving small streams. It was beyond beautiful.

As I walked on the green grass on the the perfectly cut field I could hardly hear myself think. It was my first college football game and it was everything I had imagined and some. I sat on the sidelines soaking all my surroundings in knowing how lucky I was to be there.

My first time kayaking was on a lake right by my old house. I was expecting just to get some relaxing exercise in, but I was mistaken. A large snapping turtle swam up next to me under the water. I was a little startled at first. Then, I noticed its soft nature. I ended up touching its shell and knowing right there how pleasant nature really is.

The Summer Day

Question: Does any particular image run throughout the poem?

Answer: The image of a grasshopper is present in the poem. It plays a big part in describing the poem through a metaphor. The metaphor is one that has to do with life. The writer, Mary Oliver, questions life with the grasshopper. She is basically saying life is short and to do everything you can with it because there may not be enough time. I think the grasshopper image leads a reader to think of his/her own life.

The Ninemile Wolves

Question: What specific details stay in your mind? Why? How do these small details lead to larger ideas?

Answer: There is an in depth look at wolves from many different angles in this reading. It is easy to tell the author is very opinionated when it comes to wolves. That detail is one that I kept in my mind throughout the story. However, he does back much of his opinion up with minor details and facts. In turn, this builds upon his ideas about wolves making it more logical. This allows the reader to take the smaller facts and piece them together to develop one large idea.

Reading like a Writer

How the writer structures the essay.

Terry Tempest Williams structured Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place by giving in depth information about the topic he is discussing, then he relates many completely different topics to eachother. It jumps from Salt Lake to a bird refuge then finally to cancer. Not many could relate all these to make sense. Williams does a good job of fitting the pieces together to make it whole. However, it still felt as though he jumped around a little bit from my point of view. The effect it has on the reader is to make sure they are paying attention the whole time. If the reader does not stay engaged then most likely they will be lost.