Essay 4

Kelsey Tucker

Lauren Servais

English 100

Essay 4

Should Kiyoshi and Toshio be responsible for their family’s debt? Should any child of a family be responsible for their family’s debt? Should children have to drop out of school and work for small amounts of pay; then just hand it over to their family and have their life controlled until the debt it paid off? 

This is the Japanese culture. It’s a tradition where as a young boy in the family, you work hard for your family so you can pay off the debt before moving on with your life and starting your own family. It’s normal to the Japanese but when us American people living in the United States hear this, it just seems crazy and very unfair.  I can’t imagine having to drop out of school if I was a young boy and having to work and work as hard as I could for years until I was able to pay off my family’s debt.  But… Traditions are traditions.  I do believe in traditions and I love to follow them but I don’t think I could follow this tradition if it came to my family and my kids, when I have them.   I really do not know what is right for the boys to do. Part of me feels that yeah they should go ahead and continue paying their family’s debt because back then, it was what they did.  I feel like if it was set in the current year and time we are in now, I don’t know if I would accept it or even consider making my children doing that even if I lived within the Japanese culture.

In the story, Toshio doesn’t think it is fair.  I feel the exact way and I understand why he doesn’t think it is their responsibility.  Why exactly do they have to give up their life? Everything? The more and more children they have, the more debt they are going to be in and the more their children are going to have to work. 

Kiyoshi takes thing differently.  He doesn’t express how he feels about working or doesn’t say a word to his parents. Kiyoshi is a good child and doesn’t talk back to his parents and he knows his parents need to help and he is willing to help them pay the debt.  He even gives his winning money from playing craps to his parents to pay off the debt.  Kiyoshi is seen as a filial son and he has respect for his parents.

Thinking back on the responsibilities I had as a child and seeing how my parents treated and talked to me about the things I did, there are some things I will never make my children do or talk to them the way my parents would to me.  I do see that the way parents are raised, influences how they raise there and children and it continues most of the time generation from generation.  I know I won’t raise my children the way my parents did but I did learn a lot about what I can do, and what I shouldn’t do in raising a child. But, being me, I would always talk back or say I didn’t like what my parents would try to tell me to do which probably wasn’t the best thing to do because I would just get in trouble.  I soon learned, that telling my parents how to do their job, wasn’t my place and if I kept doing it, I was just going to get into more trouble every time.  It isn’t the child’s place to tell their parents how to do their job or to talk back.

I believe Kiyoshi and Toshio should maybe change the tradition when it comes to them having children and not making them pay off their debt.  I believe that that is the parent’s responsibility and it’s not the child’s.  There are things children should do and then there are things that just cross the line.  Children shouldn’t be slaves to their parents.  Parents should help the child learn how to do things and not take the money they work so hard for.  

All I Asking For is My Body Part III

I think the title of the story relates to how Kiyoshi and Toshio didn't really have control of themselves and what they did. It seemed like their parents had them do everything and take responsibilities their parents shouldve. The boys were reminded all the time that their duty was Responsibilty and to pay of the families debt. The children were slaves on the plantation. It wasn't very pretty.
This led the boys to having no control of their life which was hard on them. The didnt make any decisions for themselves which is what the boys wanted and needed. I think the title means that the boys were feeling trapped and not in control of who they were and what they did.

All I Asking For is My Body: Part I

Makot is an older boy who likes to play with the younger boys.  All the older boys are mean to him and make fun of him for some reason. Makot seems to bribe the boys by buying them treats and taking them to movies.  In the begining the boys don't really want to do what Makot wants them to but he throws a fit and it makes the boys do what he wants.
Makot brings the boys to his house to come eat without his parents being home. Kiyoshi goes home and his parents try finding out where he had been and if he had eaten and he tells them that he was at Makots house and ate. Since he told his parents that Makots parents weren't home, they said he can't do it anymore because its disrespectful to eat another familes food without the parents permission. This brings Kiyoshis parents trying to explain to him that Makots family isn't good and they don't want Kiyoshi playing with him anymore.
I don't think I feel sorry for Makot. When Kiyoshi went over to tell him that his parents don't want him to play with him, when Makots mother opened the door, he seemed to get defensive and like he was embarassed his mother was talking to his "friend". But then when Kiyoshi told him he couldn't play with him because of his parents, Makot didn't make me feel like he really cared enough about it. I don't feel bad for him either because he doesn't seem to really treat the younger boys right and just tries to get what he needs from them.

Essay 3: Forgiveness

Kelsey Tucker

Lauren Servais

Online English 100

November 8, 2010

Forgiveness

            Sometimes forgiving someone who hurt you can be the hardest thing.  Some people have an easier time getting past those hurtful or disrespectful things done to them and others struggle with the hurt for longer time. There are also the people who never forgive the people who put them through hell because it’s too hard.

            In “Smoke Signals”, there is a young boy named Victor.  Growing up, he had an alcoholic dad, named Arnold, who also abused his wife and Victor.  Arnold soon figured out that he was hurting his family along with his actions and so he got up and left his family behind.  Throughout the coming years, Victor had to grow up on his own.  He had to teach himself to be a man since he didn’t have the help from a father figure. 

            Going back to the beginning of the movie, there is a house fire and Arnold saves a baby boy named Thomas. Victor and Thomas grew up being childhood friends.  Thomas, as he got older, always had good things to say about Arnold and creative stories to tell and Victor didn’t like it.  The only thoughts Victor carried with him were bad thoughts; thoughts of being abused by his father and his father’s addiction to alcohol.  Victor didn’t believe his father could be a good person after getting up and walking away from his family. 

            Throughout the film, Victor has flashbacks of his memories with his father.  Victor seems to angry about his father and let the past bother him for so long that he never got any time with his father years later.  There is a part of me that feels like he regretted this and like he missed out on a bond.  Because of everything that happened with his father, Victor lets it shape the way he thinks of everything because he didn’t get the feeling of love or someone caring for him.

            Arnold was soon to be found dead in his trailer and Victor got the call.  Victor and Thomas both went together to pick up the remains of the body.  Going to Arnolds home, he met his neighbor Suzy.  She let them inside the trailer where the body was found.  Inside, Victor found his dads belongings.  Inside his father’s wallet he found pictures and a picture of his family with the word “home” written on it.  Suzy then told them what Arnold had told her.  He was planning on coming back to Victor and his mother.  She said how proud Arnold was of his son and that he always had stories to tell about him.  Come to find out, Arnold admitted to Suzy that he was the one who started the fire that took the lives of Thomas’ parents. She said the guilt he felt made the drinking worse and soon to leave the reservation which meant leaving his family. Arnold had quit drinking once he left.  After talking with Suzy and being told information that he was never aware of, Victor finally comes to realize that it wasn’t him or his mother that made his father leave and that he loved them dearly.

            After the boys’ journey to get Arnolds ashes, Victor soon learned to forgive his father for leaving.  Victor forgiving his father would soon mean he could get on with his life and not think so negatively about it.  Meaning he could find happiness and live a good life.  There really is no excuse to leave your family behind and that can’t be easy for someone to be able to forgive that person who left.  Because Victor hadn’t forgiven his dad for leaving, he wasn’t happy with himself or in general. Victor realized that his dad was a good person and he needed to let go of the past.  I think that when Victor went to dump his father’s ashes out in the river, it helped him let go of all the anger and hurt he had inside of him for years because of his father leaving.

            Smoke Signals is a great movie and it teaches viewers about life and some of the struggles that come a long with it.  It shows relationships and how you really shouldn’t let something that was good for someone and bad for the other get between you and the other person.  In order for a person to be happy with who they are, sometimes they need to forgive the people or person who hurt them most so they can move past that experience and get on with their life.

This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona Dialogue

I didnt see a real connection between Thomas and Victor in the story. There isn't anything in the short story about how Victors dad saved Thomas. There wasn't anything about his father leaving either. The film makes the story a lot more interesting and makes everything come together. Also, The story makes Thomas a storyteller who no one cares to listen to but in the film, the girls seem to really like his stories.
Another part that caught my attention was how Victor wants to be a warrior but in the story, Victor wants to know the ways of being a true Indian.
The character have different personalities it seems in both stories and like I mentioned before, they don't have a connection as much to me in the story as they did in the film without mentioning the fire and Thomas being saved by Victors dad. I enjoyed watching the movie a lot more then I did reading this short story.

Rules for Writers Chapter 16

Chapter 16 is about wordy sentences. How do you know if its too wordy? Try taking out words you may not need and if the sentence still has the same meaning and is understanding, then you previously had a wordy sentence. Repeating words over again in a sentence can make it word, and redundancies. Words and phrases you should try to avoid are is, are, was, there is, there are, etc. and phrases like "I think that..", "It seems that...", etc.

The reason I chose to write about this chapter is because I tend to make my sentences too wordy. I always find myself repeating words just so I can fill up space or because at the time I thought it sounded smarter. But now looking back, it doesn't sound smarter and half the time it makes no sense. Avoiding using words like are, is was, there is..and etc, is really hard. I've tried it once as an assignment in high school to edit an essay we had to write and get rid of those types of words and I found it impossible. It's not impossible though, you just have to think about it really well to figure it out. I also tend to use the phrases "I think that..." and so on. I never found anything wrong with them but after reading this chapter I guess I need to stop using them..

Smoke Signals: Victor and Thomas' Relationship

Victor and Thomas' relationship reminds me of my boyfriend and his nephew. My boyfriend is mean to his little nephew because he is older, just like Victor is mean to Thomas. Victor is Thomas' role model and he looks up to him. You can tell Victor is trying to help him just like he is trying to teach him to be a good indian and what they look like.
I do understand why Victor and Thomas have their disagreements. Thomas is thankful for Arnold because he saved him from the fire, but Victor doesn't like his father because he left them and was violent. For awhile they have their differences and I think it's because of how Arnold helped Thomas but then left Victor. Thomas and Victor both care a lot for eachother even though Victor doesn't act like it for awhile. But it was all worth it in the end, because they couldn't be closer.

Rules for Writers Chaper 48

In chapter 48, it talks about evaluating arguments and distinguishing between reasonable or fallacious. Generalizations are used in arguments all the time but aren't always accurate. Some of the fallacies used in arguments are called hasty generalizations where someone only uses one source of data and there are stereotypes where people see what they want to see instead of knowing the real facts. Usually writers use ways to persuade the reader but sometimes its too emotional. Its good to put yourself in the opposing viewpoint. No matter what, the arguments should be supported by accurate information.

I have never put myself in the opposing viewpoint but I do think it will be helpful. Usually is something sounds good to me and makes sense to me, I tend to think of it as accurate even if it may not be. Now, I will probably read over everything and make sure I don't miss the real accurate information instead of sticking to what sounds good. 

Essay 2

We have read a few stories that all have to do with how family can shape an individual in many ways.  Not only can family shape a person by culture, the ways their parents do things, or anything else that could possibly help shape a person, but even a connection with your family; a bond where you spend time together and do things as a family.

                In the story Shooting Dad by Sarah Vowell, the narrator is telling the reader about her experience with her dad.  She grew up with her parents not really caring about what she did, so it wasn’t a big deal she didn’t like hunting and shooting things with her.  Once she got older and realized how much her father’s hobby meant to him, instead of pushing herself away from her father and doing her own thing, she watched her dad and helped out.  I think that her family shaped her identity but showing that it’s alright if someone doesn’t enjoy doing certain things family members might like, but it’s also important to realize how much that activity or event might mean to the person.  You can learn so much from your family and the people involved in your life.

                Shooting Dad and  Coming Home Again have some similarities that stick out to me.  Both stories evolve around a single event.  In Shooting Dad, the story is about a father and his guns.  His daughter doesn’t understand why guns are so cool to her father and her twin sister, but all she knows is she doesn’t like them.  Towards the end of the story, it tells how she soon realizes she needs to figure out the gun ordeal.  The story doesn’t say this but I feel like she wants to figure the gun ordeal out because she wants to become closer to her father and knowing her dad played a part in shaping who she is. So, she goes and watches her dad shoot the cannon and says that when her father dies, “I will have my father’s body burned into ashes. I will pack these ashes into paper bags.  I will go to the mountains with my mother, sister, and the cannon.  I will plunge his remains into the barrel and point it into a hill so that he doesn’t take anyone with him.  I will light the fuse.  But I will cover my ears.  Because when I blow what used to be my dad into the earth, I want it to hurt” (Pg. 23 in reader).  Even though her and her father didn’t always see eye to eye and had completely different opinions on everything, her dad had an impact on her and because her dad seems like he meant a lot to her, she will shoot the cannon when the times comes, for her dad.

                In Coming Home Again by Chang-rae Lee, the family is evolved around cooking.  The narrator tells a story about his mom’s cooking and how he wanted to grow up and be like her.  He got sent away when he was young, because his mother wanted him to get the best education possible.  Towards the end of the story, it seems to me like the mom regrets sending her son away for so long when that time could’ve been used and time spent together. When his parents would come visit him, his mother was always a little weird but what brought them together and closer was that she always brought him a meal she had cooked, which brought happiness to everyone.  His mother became sick, sick to the point where she couldn’t eat and could only take a little taste of what was being cooked.  Her son knew that cooking was his mother’s passion and he loved that and wanted to take it on.

                The significance of the themes of these two stories is that family is important.  The things people learn from family, time spent together, and bonding with them whether or not you want to, is important. Family plays a big role in most people’s life.  It determines the way that person is later in life and explains why they do the things they do.

                I personally can relate to Shooting Dad.  With my dad, I would always follow the things he liked to do when I was younger. I played almost every sport because he made me think it was cool.  Once I got older, I started not wanting to play these sports anymore, except I stuck with soccer.  Soccer was huge for me and I would get so many awards.  As high school went on, I got to senior year and just didn’t feel like playing anymore.  My parents were really disappointed which brought us to arguing.  My dad and I aren’t very good at talking about things and communicating, so we always avoid it. That led me to stop doing things with the family like going canoeing on the weekends and bike rides which was what my parents and sister did all the time. I chose not to.

                On July 30, 2010, I got home and no one was home. I called my mom and all she said was “Dad is on his way to the hospital! Meet us there and I’ll explain.” I don’t think I had ever realized how important my family was to me and how much I regretted doing my own thing without them for so long.  My family had been on a bike ride when my dad looked back for my sister and his wheel turned and he landed directly on his hip. After hours in the hospital, we found out my dad needed an emergency hip replacement.  My dad will probably never be able to do a lot of things with us like he used.  He still has trouble walking and bending his knee and it’s been about 3 months since he had surgery.  Ever since then, I’ve been trying to figure out why I never would do anything with my family or take any trip with them camping all summer or the summer before.  Now I know that once my dad is able to ride his bike again and go canoeing, I’ll be doing it with them.  His accident made me realize how I needed to be a better daughter and do more things with my family instead of pushing myself away from them. 

                I feel like I relate to the narrator in Shooting Dad because she didn’t like the hobbies her dad did.  She and her dad were completely different, just like my dad and I. Once she got older she realized how important hunting and shooting was to her dad and that made her go out with him to do the things he liked to do.  It makes me upset that it took my dad’s accident for me to realize how important doing those things together is to my dad.  I am grateful though that I did finally realize it and once he’s fully better, I can start doing more things with him.

                Family is important and I don’t know how some people can get by and be fine without it.  I know that my family has made a big impact on my life and has helped shape who I am and I know the people in these stories feel the same way.  Whether it’s cooking, doing activities together, going canoeing, bike riding together; it doesn’t matter what it is. Doing things with your family or having something that brings you together and relate with each other; that’s what’s important.

Rules for Writers Chapter 4

Chapter 4 talks about building effective paragraphs. First, you want to focus on the main point. You'll need to state the main point in your topic sentence so readers of the paper know what they're reading about. Throughout the paper, its important to stick with the point of the paper instead of going on about somethings your topic has nothing to do with. To develop your main point and make it stick out, you need to write more then a few sentences; maybe give a little back round information. There many parts to a paper so it needs to be organized in paragraphs. Some things to maybe include are some examples to support, description, comparing/contrasting something to your topic, narration (something that might have to do with flashbacks), cause and effect, classification, and definition. Make sure that your ideas are linked to each other.
Sometimes its important to repeat some key words in different forms. The book uses the example (hike, hiker, hiking). You also need to be consistent. You don't want to change the point of the view from one to another or the verb tense from something other then your draft used. Using transitions helps readers move from sentence to sentence (using worlds like for example, next, thirdly, etc.). 
Once your paper is finished you should go through and adjust your paragraph length. Make sure they aren't too long or too short. Paragraphs that are too long can make the reader get lost and lose interest in the writing.

When writing my papers, once thing I never do it go back and adjust my paragraph lengths. I usually just keep them the way they are and add more if it needs to be a certain page length but otherwise I don't usually mess with it. I think after reading chapter 4, I will start going back and adjusting my paragraphs to make sure they are just right and where they need to be. I also have a hard time including examples and experiences in my work sometimes. I either forget, or just can't think of something to use and so even when it was required to include those, I would usually just leave them out which resulting in a lower grade. Chapter 4 has a lot of great information and I am happy to say that I will be using it a lot on our next essay

Shooting Dad

The narrorator and her dad seemed to be two different people in the begining of the story. They had different political views, and had completely opposite hobbies. The narrorator was a Democrat and was interested in art. Her father was a Republican and loved guns, and was a hunter. They had a hard time having conversations because they would just end up in argument which seems to have lead them to dividing the house where they wouldn't have to deal with eachother and start more arguments.
The narrorator had a twin, but she enjoyed hunting and shooting guns just like her father did. The narrorator gave up her father/daughter time because she didn't enjoy the things her father did which lead them seperate ways. She did try shooting a gun when her and her sister were six and she didn't like it. She didn't like that it kicked her to the ground. Their parents let them do their own thing and didn't seem to car whether or not their children enjoyed what they did.
I think the narrorator finally realized, once she was older, how much shooting and hunting really meant to her father. Her dad finally finished his project of making a cannon and so she decided to call him up and hang out with him and see what it was about. Doing this, made her realize how much alike they are and how she thought the cannon was really cool.

Rules for Writers Chapter 3

In Rules for Writers Chapter 3, the main idea is global revisions. The main things you want to think about are the focus, your organization, the purpose, content, and the overall strategy. Put your paper down, and when you look at it again you want to read it as if you are reading it from the audiences point of view. After, you'll want to revise and edit your sentences and check for any thing that may need to be corrected. Then you'll need to proof your writing and make sure there aren't any spelling errors and that your sentences make sense.

When I write my papers, I never read it as if I was the audience. I've never even thought of heard of doing that. But it makes a lot of sense. I also usually just do my papers in one day and don't really put them down and come back to them to read it. I think that is also a good strategy because then you kind of don't remember the order of the sentences or maybe what you exactly wrote like I usually know if I'm doing it all at once.

Coming Home Again

Why did his mother regret allowing him to attend boarding school?
His mother regretted sending her son to boarding school because it made it so they had less time together before she passed away. She felt like she made a mistake because she felt like he should have been with the family. At the time she didn't realize she was dying, and she finally spoke her mind.

She sent him away because she thought it was what was best for him and good for him to get a good education and be successful. She thought it was good that he wasn't around her while he was sick and she didn't think he'd like her as much if he was around her sick. But he ended up telling her that he thinks he would have loved her more and liked her more if he could have been around at the time.

Rules for Writers: Chapter 2

Generating rough drafts is a way to get all our ideas out.  You need an introduction, thesis statement, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Your introduction needs to help draw the audience into your paper. It needs to give an overview of what your paper is about. In your introduction, is your thesis statement and that is usually what you use for the hook. There will need to be supporting evidence in the rest of your essay that correspond to your thesis. Your rough draft is like an outline. Eventually when you finalize your paper, you will exclude some parts that you won't need. It's important that your supporting paragraphs are descriptive and not too vague so the reader continues to have interest in your paper. The conclusion is the end up your paper the wraps up your essay. You don't want to introduce new information in your conclusion and you don't want to say something you said in your previous paragraphs.
In my writing, I am going to try find more support for my thesis. The thesis is the hardest part for me to come up with when I really concentrate on it. Sometimes, i'm lucky and I just write a thesis without knowing. I also have a hard time removing information from my essays and struggle sometimes with being too vague. Most of the time I do a pretty good job with all of  it and end up with good results on my paper. I like making charts and bubble diagrams before I write my rough draft because it helps me figure out what I want to say and where I want to put the information in my essay

Essay Draft 1: Image

                

                     Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted a dog.  Whenever I would see people walking their dogs in our old neighborhood in San Ramon, I would always stop and pet them before I knew if they were dangerous dogs or not.  Dogs made me really happy but my parents didn’t think we needed a dog in the house just yet.  My sister and I were only two and three at that time.  Later that year, we moved to Sebastopol in the house I still live in today. This time we were living out in the country and not in a neighborhood which meant we had a lot more property.  As a couple years went by, I still kept asking and asking for a dog because all my friends in my kindergarten class had one and I didn’t think it was fair.

                First grade came around and I still didn’t have a dog.  In the month of March, I asked again because my birthday was coming up on sixth.  They still said no.  It was the last week of March and after school when my mom picked me up she said she had a surprise for my sister and I.  She kept driving and I didn’t know where she was going.  We ended up at this really strange house and only being six years old, I was asking a lot of questions the whole car ride.  Finally, we walked into the house and I was so excited.  There were so many puppies.  My mom said I then told her that she was my best friend.  After an hour or so of playing with the puppies, I picked one.  She was the cutest puppy and she was so playful.  My sister and I were trying to think of names we liked.  We always used to watch the Rugrats and so we thought of the little girl named Lillian in the cartoon and that’s what we named her.  We called her Lily.

                Lily is a black lab border collie mix.  She is the most beautiful dog.  I would lay with her in the living room on her little doggie pillow we got from Costco.  She knew what she could and couldn’t do when we let her in the house and she was the best dog.   Every day after school I would play with her until it got dark.  A year or two went by and my dad thought that Lily needed a friend.  We looked and looked in ads and found a golden retriever chocolate lab.  We went and visited her and played with her and loved her.  We ended up getting her and naming her Molly.  Molly was so much fun when we went and visited her.  Once we got her home, she was different.  She ended up not being the dog we wanted or needed.  She tore everything apart.  My dad tried to get rid of her but no one wanted her and by that time my dad didn’t really wanted to get rid of her anymore.  My dad eventually had to build a fence and block off an area of our property for the dogs.  It really sucked because Lily was an extremely good dog, and it was like Molly ruined it for her.  Since Molly wasn’t allowed in the house, it wasn’t fair if Lily was.  Being in the fenced off area, the dogs didn’t get too much attention.  My sister and I got older and had other things we needed to do so we weren’t home as much.

                This year had been a rough year for Molly.  She got out of the area and was lost for a few days.  Once we found her, we had put her back in the fenced area and once again, she escaped about seven more times.  My dad couldn’t handle it anymore and it was getting dangerous that Molly as out on the highway and endangering herself and the people in their cars.  Finally, my dad called the humane society and I was so upset.  I didn’t talk to him for a couple weeks.  My sister called me told me great news.  She found Molly a home.  Her boyfriend said he would take care of her and she could live with him since he would allow her to live inside the house and so we could see her whenever we wanted.  Ever since Molly moved to my sisters boyfriends, she has been such a better dog and I’m really happy she found a safe home.

                Now, only Lily is here and she has all the freedom in the world.  Lily is about 13 years old and now has cataracts.  In the beginning of summer, I noticed how tired she would get and how her back legs shake.  A few months ago, my dad told me that this would probably be her last summer.  I was so upset and regretted not spending a lot of time with her in the years I could’ve.  I would go and sit with her and just cry because I felt so bad.  She was the best dog I had ever had and my very first dog.  She always showed so much affection towards anyone she met.  Now, I try to play with her and hang out with her as much as I can when I’ve got time aside from work, school, and homework.  Since she has cataracts, she can’t see really well and when you look at her eyes, they look all fuzzy and that even makes me upset.

                I guess I never really knew how much Lily meant to me until I started to see her get old.  She is really good shape for being 13 years old though and still loves to play fetch.  She doesn’t give up, even if she’s tired.  No matter what all she wants to do is play or for someone to pet her.  I’ve never really been a pet person, but once I realized how much I loved her and how special she was to me, that all changed.  I never even thought I could have so much love and attachment for an animal.