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.

Rules for Writers: Chapter 1

In chapter one, it explains the writing process. It tells you step by step how to start generating ideas to help you get started. You'll need the key elements (subject, source of info, purpose, audience, and the constraints). It helps to think about personal experiences to generate your topic if you weren't given one. Even look through readings and other relevant information you may have. Readings are most likely to be the primary source of assignments. Observations can be a really good way of collecting information but it's important to write down what you're observing because it stays fresh instead of trying to use your memory later. Usually the purpose of your paper will be determined by the writing situation. A lot of the time, the hardest part will be trying to find the purpose of your paper and usually your audience, or even asking yourself why people will care what your writing about can help find the purpose. 
Different techniques such as free writing, clustering, talking, etc. will help you generate ideas faster and can potentially turn into your rough draft. These techniques help you cross out ideas you may not need and it helps you get all your ideas that relate to each other. The thesis is the hardest part of the paper, at least for me. Your thesis should only be a sentence or two and it's usually the answer to the question your paper is about, a resolution to the problem your addressing, or a statement. Finally, you'll want to sketch a plan. Once you find your thesis, start writing idea to help support your thesis statement. Making lists is one way.

I usually try to make a cluster chart or lists of ideas when I write. They help so well and really get your started. What I do have problems with is making my thesis statement. For some reason, it is always the hardest part of all my writing assignments. I always can find the purpose of my paper and what I'm addressing I just can't figure out how to write a good thesis statement. Chapter one has a lot of good ideas that I will start using when it comes to more writing assignments.

The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me Dialogue

How is education a means to save one’s life?  How is Alexie attempting to save the life of the students he works with?  How did Alexie save his own life?

Education saves one's life because it can get you somewhere. Education gets you jobs to make money so you can have a life and so you can somewhere to live. A lot of people stop their education once they graduate from high school. Very few of them are successful and have a stable job.  Now a days it seems like it is a lot harder to get by if you don't have an education. 
Alexie is attempting to save the life of the students he works with by encouraging the children to read and write and to continue their education.

Alexie saved his own life by teaching himself how to read. Even though he was extremely young when he learned, it helped saying out loud what the pictures were doing and eventually made sense with the words that were actually written. He was constantly told to be quiet and to not be smart but he didn't listen. He knew he was smart and he knew he wanted the education. Look where it got him. It seems like he is now a very successful writer and got to where he wanted to be in life.