Into Thin Air Post #3

The author of this book uses a hyperbole really well. A hyperbole is an exaggerated statement or claim not meant to be taken literally. In page number 223 is it used, and especially on paragraph 4. This paragraph from this part in the story explains how and when Beck committed suicide. Krakauer uses lots of imagery in this passage too. He added many details to support his hyperbole. (Before I continue I want to make sure you know this is how I pictured Beck's death when I FIRST read it, you may have thought of something different) So Beck killed himself like this: he first said "Hey I've got this all figured out", then he rolls down a bit, and stretches his arm out wide like Jesus did when he died. He is then blown away in the wind never to be seen again. I strongly felt that the author exaggerated how dramatic this scene really was. But then again Krakauker was experiencing and survived one of the most devastating Mt. Everest storms that has ever come on Mt. Everest. Krakauer used these devices in my opinion to lightly tell us the horror to us, but it also lets us be able to picture it ourselves. The majority of literary devices in this books are mainly hyperbole.

because ron swanson

Into Thin Air Blog Post #4

The picture that will be below is a image of Beck Weathers who managed to make his way down from where he laid on the verge of death. He lost most of the lower half of his right arm along with four fingers on his left hand. He also had large amounts of damage to his face. He with all this somehow managed to dig himself out of the snow and stumble his way back to camp in his condition threw the raging storm. This was just a small tangent I want to add after the image I am going to talk about how his writing style swapped during this last section of this book.

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There was a very drastic and sudden change in the way that he described things to the reader at this portion of the book. The amount of detail that he gave in the beginning of the book tends to fly out if the window at this point. I can understand how this could happen because it was the case he was mostly delirious and the amount of trauma this situation must have caused likely caused a lot of repressed information. I just know for sure there was a drastic shift that started out as such long and drawn out detail that it at point started to irritate me to a certain degree. Once the storm had a very focal point in the story itself it changed to short amounts which almost felt choppy and not satisfying.My thought on this makes it feel that the author got lazy or just seemed rushed this part of the story which this section is terrible sad is also such a important one. This important section was rushed and seemingly pushed threw without the care and effort as the others.

When I Was Puerto Rican #4

When I Was Puerto Rican 4

"Hit me, go ahead. You can kill me if that makes you feel better," I screamed loud enough for the whole world to hear. I stood in front of her, shaking all over, hands at my sides, martyr like, fully aware of the dramatic moment that might backfire but willing to take the chance.

I really love this section of the book for a few reasons and because I actually can't relate to it all in any way. First off this is like a pinnacle if you will in the book. Not the end but Esmerelda has been dealing with her mothers constant abuse verbally and physically all of her life and she is now finally for once dealing with it and responding. Now I found this whole buildup and climax very interesting to look in on as I and no person I am close to in some aspect has ever experienced this. I feel like family's like this one are often stereotyped to "be" like that but in reality that is wrong and any mother who does this should not have kids. I just feel like mothers should be nurturing and loving to there children not harm them and put them down as a parents influence on a child is easily without a doubt the strongest impact on a child's growth. Another point of this statement that needs to be touched on too is the breaking point. Esmerelda has finally hit in this section and the wrong is so clear to her and so ignorant it must be stopped through all means. No child should hit this realization that there parents are morally wrong and that they must fend for themselves against there creators who are supposed to love them. Thats really one of the largest issues in this whole book thinking about it now as Esmerelda lived in constant fear but yet continuously tried to give her mother love.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

As I was reading I noticed that Arnold seems to start out having a negative outlook on life. He doesn't want to live on the rez, and he tends to single himself out as being strange and hated on the rez. He does this when he says things like "Ten teeth past normal" as a way to describe how he had extra teeth when he was born. He doesn't have to describe it like that, and he is kind of cynical about life on the rez, and sees it as something that will make you less of a person, or a worse person. Although he doesn't want to live on the rez, he doesn't go out of his way to get off the rez until his teacher tells him to go to school somewhere else because he doesn't want his to lose hope. I think this just kind of strengthens the idea that life on the rez is hopeless. When his teacher tells him that his sister lost hope and he should leave, I understood what the teacher meant by he isn't gonna get anywhere if he is surrounded by hopeless people. I get what he means when he talks about how if you are surrounded by people who feel bad, you will start to feel bad as well. I think this was important in the book because Arnold starts to go after his dream of not ending up like everyone else on the rez, and in doing so he loses a friend. I think a lesson everyone could take from this is that even when something seems achievable and will have consequences, you should try, because you will never know what would have happened if you didn't try, especially if it is something that means a lot to you and you will be destined to be unhappy if you don't.

Here is a picture for my last blog since I forgot it.
Trust me, its relevant.

The Glass Castle Post #4: Links and Videos

     
     Jeanette Walls Interview

     This is an interview with Jeanette Walls, the author of "The Glass Castle". Not all of the questions are relevant to memoir writing, but there are two questions specifically that address it. In question 10, someone asks "... Do you think that when we tell our story, we embellish?" Jeanette, in response says she thinks that everyone interprets things differently and she hopes she hasn't embellished anything. Since we, as the reader, did not experience Jeanette's life with her, we only have her interpretation to understand her life story. Her interpretation is written beautifully and is a very enjoyable story. However, something about her interpretation doesn't sit well with me. Throughout the book, it never seems as if she has any major flaws. Sure, her family is messed up and some of the friends she makes are bad people, but it is never her who is at fault. She might very well be as wonderful a person as her story makes her seem, but not all of us who are writing memoirs are as great as she are.
     In this sense of memoir writing, I disagree with her. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but without even trying to, I think Jeanette unintentionally embellished herself. I hope that when I write my memoir, I can express raw emotion and personality without adorning myself too much. I admit that I am not the greatest person in the world and I hope both negative and positive traits can be seen for all of the characters in my memoir, including myself.
     In question 14, someone asks "...How do you write the book without feeling like you were turning on your mother? What do your other two sisters think of the book?..." While addressing this question, Jeanette says that the toughest part of writing her memoir was trying to be fair to everyone. She talks about this balance between condemning people and whitewashing the story. She also says that for these reasons, she cut out a lot about her kid sister. It is clear that Jeanette's younger sister did not turn out the way she hoped for her to. It is possibly due to her reliance on other people, or maybe perhaps because she grew up differently from the rest of the kids, never truly experiencing California. Regardless of the reason, Maureen was not the same as her three siblings and Jeanette made that somewhat clear.
     Again, I somewhat disagree with Jeanette. I understand that she doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, especially not her sister's, but this is still her own story. I think that when writing a memoir, your own view of other people should be shown because the story is meant to be through your eyes. The raw truth of her feelings and opinions should be expressed as far as Jeanette is comfortable with. I suppose some sense of balance is needed to make sure no one gets offended. But when writing my own memoir, I want to be able to feely express what I think about other characters.

Into Thin Air Blogpost #4

Some problems that I think occur with writing a memoir would be choosing a topic to write about. I have so many crazy memories and events that have happened in my life and I wouldn't know which one to write about. It would be hard for me to write about something really long because that wouldn't be just a memoir but a trilogy. Though choosing a topic for my memoir would be hard, something even harder would be writing about what I end up choosing. I know that sounds crazy but I always over-think everything, I would be over analyzing which details to use and where to put certain things and I would probably stress myself out way too much. Some things I wonder about writing a memoir are questions like, "Does the writing flow once you start or does do you write in breaks instead of all together?" Another question I have would be, "Do you start to remember things/details about the event that you forgot before?", and, things like "While writing, do authors ever consider stopping because they change their minds, and if so, how many times does this happen regularly?" As I am thinking about writing my own memoir, some big hang-ups I am worried about would be the things I said in the first few sentences. Things like thinking to much about the tiny details and things like not knowing what to write about. I am also worried about not being able to write a good memoir because I don't know how to start or just because I don't know what type of format I would use/which format I would be comfortable using. I am really nervous to be writing my own memoir because I know so many things can go wrong, but, I trust that in the end I will be satisfied with the way everything turns out. I watched this video and it helped me to better understand how to start my memoir.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ckqIGDsCNE

Black Boy #4 Naiveity and irony

         In black boy, there's a section where Richard finally gets out of his house and moves into the city. He expects it to be super civilized and advanced, with less racism and more opportunities for him to get a job. The first day there, however, he's taken up by this very religious mother and her daughter. Since he's not very religious himself, he feels very awkward around this family. It becomes worse when the mother shows great interest in him marrying her daughter, and so does the daughter. This completely bowls Richard over. In his hometown, he says, all of the girls were sharp and calculating. But this one is very simple and focused on marrying him, impressed by his ninth-grade education and showing no interest in anything but him. He rejects her advances.

       Later, he's walking to his job and thinking about how naive the family was, when he finds a jug of good alcohol. Some black guy comes up to him and asks if it's his, then says that they should sell it to someone for good money. They take the jug to a white guy, the guy questions them for a bit, then the two other guys say they're going to go sell it and give him the money later. Eventually Richard realizes that they played him, using him to get their alcohol safely away. He was just thinking about how naive people were there, when he was the naive one as well.
       I just admire how the author made those experiences into some really good irony, when they were probably not that neat in real life. That's some things that memoir and historical fiction writers have to do to have a good, coherent story. For example, in the play Hamilton, Aaron Burr wasn't really the second of Lee, Lin-Manuel Miranda just had to write it like that for the story to fit together properly and so there wouldn't be this random second at the duel.
        A lot of what we've been writing about in class has been about the twisting of stories and how, if you can't really remember something, you can fib a little to make it work. On the other hand, it might be a blessing, because real life is strange and twisted with no distinguishable story and if you wrote it all down exactly the way it is it wouldn't make any sense.
         I wish all memoir writers, including my future self, luck in their writing and quick fingers on their keyboard!

Color of Water Blog Post #4

In the last chapter of the book, page 278 to be exact, all the kids are back at home only now they're all grown up. They go home to their mom's place every year for Christmas, even though the house is totally packed not just with 12 kids, but also with 12 grandkids and husbands- and wives-in-law. Everyone wants to do something different, and the mob mentality takes over and they all jump from wanting to go to the movies to wanting to watch TV to something else and so on. Their mom then quietly murmurs that she wants to go get something to eat and that's that. No more arguing. We're going to get something to eat, no questions asked.  This reminds me a lot of the way my mom, despite never wanting to admit that she silently rules the house, does just that.  If she wants something, even though she's never admit it because she's just so selfless like that, we're gonna go get it for her. That's just the way mothers are, I suppose.  This scene is really similar to my life in that way. Both moms are authoritative, but are always nice and would never say outright that they command total authority. I suppose this book is really similar to a lot of people and their lives, and that;s why someone wants to write a memoir. It makes it a lot easier to read and understand a book if you can relate to it, at least for me.  I really liked this book and could relate to it, which is odd when you consider how different his life was to mine. I'm white. He's African-American. I'm an only child. He has more siblings than he could count on his two hands.  But despite these obvious differences, I could still relate to his life. Isn't that cool? I sure think so.

Quinn Blog #4

For this blog i really just want to focus on how the main character has developed from the beginning of the book to the end of the book. At the beginning of the book the main character was one of the youngest very in his large family and he was pretty timid. as he grew older and the siblings older than him moved out of the house he spent  less and less time in the house because he was trying to avoid the issues in his family. but i feel like because he wasn't at his house a lot he kind of missed the stuff big brothers / sisters get to do. but i also like understand how he didn't want to be at home and stuff(because his step dad died). At the end of the book he is all grown up and stuff and he is still talking about his mother, but there is one main difference which is him talking about his mother with more of a deeper understanding of like why she may do some of the things she does. I'm not going to lie, at first i thought this book was kind of boring but especially in this last  quarter of the book i can appreciate the writing. i think its because i have a better understanding of the authors life like i know not that his father was a pasture who died from lung cancer. Well that's really all i wanted to talk about so i'm finished.

The Color of Water Blog #4

         This is a picture of the author, James McBride and his mother. Throughout the book, the chapters alternated between James McBride and his mother telling about their lives, specifically how they grew up. I found it interesting how the memoir was kind of comparing their lives to show how similar and how different they were. 

         The author was explaining how growing up, his life was hard being Black and Jewish. He was teased for being Black and not looking like his white mother. Sometimes people said he was adopted and at one point he did start believing them. He was a curious little kid and grew up doing drugs and had a little crisis then grew up being a musician and an author clearly.  

         The authors mother, Ruth McBride Jordan was Jewish. She was an immigrant from Poland. Her father was an Orthodox Rabbi who sexually abused her. While I read about her father sexually abusing her and not loving his wife kind of pissed me off and I wanted to knock some sense into him. I honestly don't understand sexually abusing someone you are related to and love. It's really disturbing to me and probably others.

          I kind of have a love hate relationship to this book. Some points I can relate to, which I love. Other parts piss me of and make me confused about why people would do certain things. Some pieces of the authors mother's story made me feel bad for her and also worry about her family. What confused me the most is why the author never told us about his mother's sister and why he never really talked about his family on his black side. Overall, I loved the book and I recommend people to read this book especially if they're biracial like me. 

The Circuit Links and Videos Blog Post #4

My group is reading The Circuit by Francisco Jiménez.  I will be using the Links and Videos prompt for this post.  This is a post from my 2nd blog post, which can be found at this link (click link).  What this is talking about my troubles in writing my memoir.  For example, I said there are some iffy-iffy things that I'm between writing it and not writing it, like where to start.  Do I start at birth, or do I start at where my memory goes to?  What is my limit in terms of privacy?  What will I write about?  What will I skip?  Many questions are in this post.  My point is, there has to be a lot of questions asked when writing a memoir.  If you write everything that has happened in your life, that would be a long and very boring memoir.  It is like "I hit my mom.  I laughed.  I farted."  See how boring that is?
Nobody could stand a memoir like that.  That is the purpose of that post.  It says what the processes are when you are writing a memoir.  It also tells you my struggles in trying to think of interesting events to write about in my memoir, because there aren't very many interesting moments in my life.  I'm sure I can get some help from my parents or good friends.  This post also includes "hang-ups" that I may meet along the way.  For example, as said before, there is where to start, how to start, and my structure.  Then there is what to write, and how to write it.  Writing a memoir is hard!!!

That's it for this post!  Please Comment down below!  This is my last post!  My birthday is tomorrow too (woop woop).  Please comment below!  Thanks for reading!!!

flippity doo wap this is the last time I do this crap

       
                                         Meh


   Yay! last post that I have to do! I don't really like writing that much, so this was an experience to say the least. Okay, gotta start somewhere. So, on page 178, the author says that his mother is the only individual that he knows that can fall asleep instantly for 2 minutes- deep REM sleep, complete with snoring- only to be awakened instantly by only certain select noises. This actually is really relatable to my life because I can fall asleep RIDICULOUSLY fast. Like, really really fast. Within a few minutes. And I wake up at the slightest specific things. Overall, sleeping is one of my extremely few talents. Sleep is awesome. In another bit, it says that the author's mom could sleep through a hurricane, but wake up at the sound of a baby crying or a pot crashing. One time I woke up because I was snoring, which was really weird, and I guess I snore. The more you know. So, right now, I'm about to go to sleep and stuff. I was watching clarence. (Lol can you tell)

Black Boy Memoir #4

Reflections on Writing:

Some of the problems that I think memoir writers face are accuracy because it is challenging to remember exactly what happens in an event. While I know some people remember every single detail because it was a very important part of their lives other events can still be challenging to remember and they may lie about some details. I wonder about how the writer decides which events to put in their memoirs because they can't include every little part of their life. Now that we are starting to think about what we should put in our memoirs I can't seem to come up with a good topic to base the events off of since we don't want to put a lot of completely unrelated events in it. I feel very ambivalent about writing my memoir because I know it will be very stressful but I also think it will be fun writing about some memories I almost forgot. I think it will be very enjoyable recalling embarrassing moments in my life and strong/proud moments in my life.

Now that I am thinking about writing my own memoir I am worried about not putting in enough descriptive language to pull the readers attention inward. I tend to ramble a lot so I am worried about not staying on topic or putting in enough detail. I am also very worried about getting off topic to an entirely different theme and never noticing because it has happened before. Someone read one of my stories once and they pointed out to me like four different places where I got off topic. Anyway I also tend to use repetitive language frequently which I think will definitely show up in my memoir at some point. I am very worried about everything for this memoir and don't want it to sound horrible.

Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers Blog number 4

     "Mickey and I went over and found that the man was Langston Hughes. We listened to him talk. He sounded like any black man on the street. There was nothing extraordinary about him, nothing that lifted him out of the ordinary. His humor was gentle, thoughtful. I was disappointed. When I pictured the idea of "writer" in my mind, pictures from my school books came to mind,and Hughes did not fit that picture"

     I love this quote because it explains how similar we are to the people who are considered to be famous, or stars. They are no different than us, it is just that they did something great or something not so great that got their name out there, so people know who they are. They may seem like your average superstar who doesn't talk to anyone because they are "too good for that", but really a lot of the times all they want to do is have a regular conversation without having to worry about people who just care that they are famous. The main reason I love this is because of Walters reaction. He was not expecting at all for Langston Hughes to sound like "every black man in the street". I think that it made Walter realize a connection that him and Langston were similar. This also seemed to make him have a different point of view on what it is like to be a famous writer. He saw that it was not as complicated and hard as he thought. He was always trying to see things like a "writer" before, but what he really needed to do was see things the way he saw them, in his own mind and opinion, and write like that. That is why this is one of my favorite quotes from Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers.

Into Thin Air #4

While reading to the end of Into Thin Air I am thinking about the process of having to write about such an intense and emotional journey. I had trouble writing about one day and he had to write about many weeks with detail and emotion. The hardest thing I think it was for him was to express his feelings throughout the book. It gets slightly robotic at some points that are key to getting to know characters. Or other times he can almost give us too information. Something I think was lacking consistently was him writing in first person saying (for example) "I was terrified beyond anything I had every felt" something like that would have been nice to hear directly from him. Its like he was dancing around it but never said it. The process of writing a memoir and specifically this one is that you have to express your thoughts in so many different ways and for so long. Personally I would run out of things to write about that wouldn't sound like me rambling on. Something else I think would be hard for me to do is choose a meaningful point in my life that is really worth sharing. By sharing it I would want to have a moral, meaning, or just something more than just entertainment. I would want to really capture the audience and be emotionally invested in the writing. Some techniques would use is to express innocence. The more innocent a character seems, then when something tragic or unfortunate, you feel for that character more than an average person and vis versa. The best feeling is when a character gets what they deserve and it's so satisfying to frustrate a reader when a bad character gets away without getting hat they deserve. Jon Krakauer doesn't keep innocence, he tells about immense physical and mental damage to people that make you cringe it's so good.

The Circuit Close Reading Blog Post #3

My group is reading The Circuit by Francisco Jiménez.  I have chosen to do the Close Reading prompt.  My quote comes from the 1st full paragraph on page 59 in my book.  "One early evening, Chico and Pilar came by themselves, without Catarina.  El Perico immediately threw a tantrum and began shrieking, louder than ever.  The noise struck my father like lightening*. He had been in a terrible mood the last few days because he was not sure where he would work now that the grape season was almost over.  Covering his ears with his hands, he bolted over to the corner of the garage, grabbed the broom, and swung with all his might at my friend who was perched on the wire.  Red, green, and yellow feathers scattered everywhere.  El Perico hit the dirt floor like a wet rag.  Instantly Roberto, Mamá and I start wailing.  My father shouted at us all to stop.  Seeing a stream of blood dribble from El Perico's silent beak, I felt an though someone had ripped my heart out."  This quote is very important to me, because it reminds me of when my dog died.  My dog's name was Lucky, and my parents got him when he was 2 weeks old.  We had that dog for my whole life.  I loved him.  In 2004, he had to get his eardrums removed because he had an infection.  In 2010, a squirrel got into our house, and he chased it away.  He was never the same after that.  He was always tired, and couldn't really do anything.  On June 4th, 2013, we took him to the vet to see if there was anything we could do with his problems.  He didn't return home that day.  He had to be euthanized, because that was the only thing we could afford.  I felt as if I had my heart ripped out of me, like Francisco did when his dad killed El Perico.  It was a sad day.  One month later we got our current dog, Emmy.  This is what this quote means to me.

That's it for this post!  Please Comment down below!  I will be blogging weekly until the 3rd of October (my birthday woop woop).  Thanks for reading!!!

*lightning.  This is how he spelled it in the book.

#4 glass castle character descriptions

Now I realize that the suggestion sheet says that you should choose your favorite character to describe, but in y book i only have a least favorite. Well actually two, but i don't want to take up too much space. My least favorite character is their mother. Im not going to give a physical description, because if Jennette Walls has taught me anything in her memoir its that looks can be very very deceiving and misleading.

Jennette's mother is probably one of the least mature people in the whole books. Her own children have to force her to go to school, because she complains and tries to stay home. Normally its the other way around, but to me it seems like half the time they take care of her more than she takes care of them. That should not happen.

Her mother is the single most selfish being in the memoir. She takes everything for herself and always puts her kids second. There is one scene in the book where the kids are starving and they go ever to their mom. To no surprise she's hiding under the covers with a humungous Hersey bar snacking away without giving any to her kids and they have to take it from her.

My biggest thing that i have against their mom is how she is so weak and refuses to be strong. The kids have literally told her to leave their father. She stubbornly refuses even though he has hit her and the kids. It would be unholy to leave their father but apparently its fine if u let him hit your kids. Also she willingly lets him take money to go out and drink, and takes his side no matter what happens. She needs to take initiative and help her children. She is dragging them in a life that is completely unfit for them, but refuses to do anything about it. Thats just not right.

post #4

Literary Device Admiration

While I was reading, "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings", by Maya Angelou, I noticed that she used a lot of imagery to paint a full picture of what happened in her life, which I found very intriguing, in some parts it felt like I too was there with her experiencing the same things as she did which was, in my opinion,really cool to read and that's what kept my attention throughout the book (which is especially hard to do for memoirs). Here are a few lines from her book as examples to show the absolute awesomeness of her use of this literary device, "In cotton-picking times the late afternoons revealed the harshness of Black Southern life, which in the early morning had been softened by nature's blessing of grogginess, forgetfulness, and the soft lamplight." She also uses simile (like) a lot which further draws the reader in. I would like to incorporate imagery in my writing to give it another dimension which would probably be quite flat otherwise. I would incorporate imagery in how I described a place. For instance, instead of saying, "The garden was pretty", I would say, "The multi-colored flowers sparkled with dew in the early morning light." I think the latter is a lot more interesting to read than the first one. I would also try to include simile; however, it's really hard for me to think up relatable things and compare them like Ms.Angelou did in her book or in her many amazing poems. I also admire her unapologetic honesty that is in the whole book. She just gives the readers the truth of what happened to her in a fashion that seems so raw and natural which is quite refreshing in a world full of liars who will do anything to make themselves look better in any way they can. 

The Color of Water

“It was always so hot, and everyone was so polite, and everything was all surface but underneath it was like a bomb waiting to go off. I always felt that way about the South that beneath the smiles and southern hospitality and politeness were a lot of guns and liquor and secrets” (James McBride). I thought this was an amazing quote. That used a very symbolic quote showing how the author, James McBride, showing how he felt people and living in the south.  I thought this quote really showed a how the south influenced people to feel a certain way about each other. Weather it's dealing with races or old kept secrets. That kept people with a burden of resentment on their shoulders, towards other people or themselves.

I thought this was a very well written quote because it almost uses a Hippocratic thought of how people showed a polite manor towards each other. But it wasn't invisible to people and especially to him. How people had an underlining opinion about each other, and that people were just waiting to really show how they feel towards each other. I also really liked how the author used the word bomb. To really show the feeling he felt other people felt. But actually how he had felt too.  It showed how he felt like there was an unspoken war going down in the south, and he felt like it was just ready to explode.

I think the order of the author's word show how he felt resentment against living in the south instead of living in his original home, New York. The order of the authors words show he felt that things may have seemed nice and in the south. But in contradictory at the end of the quote the author explains that it really is not.

Close reading

"Johannes Velez noticed me, even though Maritza Ortiz said I was so ugly that no boy would ever want me. She was the most popular girl in seventh grade. I was nobody. Her reasons for picking on me were as mysterious as Johannes's reasons for catching up with me one day after school and offering to carry my books."

I liked this quote because it reminds me of how much I appreciate that my seventh grade experience wasn't filled with drama about dating. I think its funny that this little section was included and was said the way it was, this book gets very serious at times and its nice to have some comedic relief that brings back memories from 7th grade. Its not always fun to read a book that tells a story while focusing on the sad parts. Its a lot more enjoyable if you focus not only on the sad parts but on the funny parts as well to add a sense of comedic relief. I also like how Johannes is offering to carry her books, I think its funny that the author included his attempt to show interest in her, even though his methods seem outdated by today's standards. I also liked how Esmeralda transitioned from her bully to a boy who has a crush on her. Relating the two by saying that they were both mysterious to her seemed like a smooth transition between subjects and sort of proved her bully wrong since a boy in fact did take interest in her. But that's just how i see it at least.

BLOG 4

"Their remarks and responses were like a ping-pong game with each volley clearing the net and flying back to the opposition." Each playing with the hope that it won't be them to slip up with their words, ready for the other to become slower, less aware, prepared to strike with their best in the other's weakness. They stood across the room from each other, back to back, he lied and she found out, she always did. Who knows why he thought it would be any different this time. She loved him, honest, childish, but strong, just like when they were young, captured in the heat of the moment, just them, the rest of the world on pause. But he had moved on, found one that fell for him, less than she did, but that wasn't clear to him, it was a new place for him, new signs of affection, he needed a break from the one he grew to loath, or so he thought. She didn't want it, all those years she sat in her office waiting to have his warmth there to comfort her once again, all those times she had the assurance that he would be there when she needed him most. But she needed him now, and where was he? Across the room, back turned, tense, defensive, and thinking of nothing but the arms of a more reckless women, he fumed with the readiness to drive away from his wife of twenty three years, twenty four in just a matter of weeks now. She had caught him every time, six times, and for each she was forgiving, longing so much that he would come to realize once again that he loved her, that he would come back to her, and she could take off her mask of bravery, he never did. And so now she had to let go, he had moved on, and there was nothing she could do about it but let him go, like the tree did its leaves on their first date, that crisp fall evening so many years ago. The question was, could she?

Blog Entry #4 Voice on I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou

This memoir kind has a childish personality since it’s written from a child's point of view. She chooses certain word choices in the book  that allows the reader to understand that it’s written from a child's point of view. She also imagines events as her own and  that’s one thing that children do all the time. I remember when I was little use to imagine things as my own and be in my own little world. She also uses a lot of childish emotion and behavior throughout the memorr. There’s one part in the book where she stole a lot  candy and got cavities because of it. Humor is also used throughout the memoir. In chapter twenty-six she tells the story of when her mom shot her business partner because he called her mom a b**** -when she tried to confront about him not doing a good enough job- so she shot him and he gave her a black eye, which I thought was really funny cause wrote that she didn’t kill him but she shot him. I mean your mom shot a guy don’t try to sugar code it she shot someone! Her use of descriptive language in the memoir I think is kind of a childish memory-I know I was very descriptive when I would write as a child and my teachers enjoyed it- but she would be so descriptive when describing food! Like who doesn't put a lot of description into writing about food I mean the main purpose is to make people so hungry by the end of chapter and she surely did that to me. The way she would describe it would make you feel like you were there at the breakfast or at the lunch. It would sometimes allow me to image the long dinners and breakfasts I would have with my family. It made me feel good. Even though this is the last blog for this memoir I was quite impressed with the descriptiveness she used I wish she used more literary devices but overall I thought the book was good could’ve been better though.

Into Thin Air Blog #4

I do not think Jon Krakauer is the best writer in the world. The structure of Into Thin Air is not my favorite because when he writes he puts things you do not really want or need to know right when something big is happening. I makes you just want to skip over that part just to get to the exciting part. He puts three vertical lines in a row to show when he is changing subjects. When I see those lines when I am reading I get a little sad because I know what I am about to read will be boring. At times when he changes subjects he flashes back in time or to explain something in greater detail, sometimes it adds, but other times it takes away from the memoir. I do not understand why he tells us so much about when other people have climbed Everest because it does not add to the memoir it just makes me want to stop reading it. I can understand how it is just there to give you background information but in the end (to me) it just takes away from the experience of reading the memoir. If Krakauer had had added less flashbacks and extra details you did not need to know I would have enjoyed reading the book a lot more. Overall the story was very entertaining when there were life and death situations but other than that I would not recommend this book to anyone unless they love climbing mountains and memoirs. (Still grieving over the death of my favorite man, Rob Hall.)

Blog Post #2

“She knows that they are not just Negro people, they are the talented class of 1940 Negroes.” That one sentence impacted my life because she was not put down by the white man racist speech; she knows she is a lot better than what he is describing her to be. She knew his words were not all that true, and that she is going to keep going in her life moving forward and enjoying life to the fullest. I wish all of us could do that, to not let us be put down by another person’s words to not to be bothered because someone put us down. Guess what you are better than that so keep your head up because nobody is going to put you down. If they do you just get back up and fight for what you’re made of. To just keep going cause you know what your well-being is better than the other person’s well-being. It shows that they are not just some random person they are the TALENTED NEGRO CLASS OF 1940. Those 17 words in that order no more no less is the reason I would go to school if I was a Negro in the segregation period to show those white folks that we are smart, that we will not be judged or criticized just because of the color of our skin but by the content of our character. It is nice that once you get past the hardships you go to the light in your future without the suffering and danger but all things come to an end and the wheel of hardships and danger will come again. That is life and you can’t get away with it you just have to roll with it or try to make it better all by yourself. Always be happy; always have a smile it might brighten someone’s day and yours you never know.

The Color of Water blog post 4

"You have to choose between what the world expects of you and what you want for yourself".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a quote where James's sister jack was getting him to pull himself together.The reason I find this quote eye-catching and relatable is because I believe that this is an important life choice for many people and not just those who are struggling. Yet this can be an especially important request for people or who aren't enjoying their life choices (especially their job). The world expects something different for everyone, but those expectations can be ones that some people don't really lean towards for multiple and personal reasons. One reason could be how tough a certain expectation can be. An example could be what emotions you have as a man, in this case only straightforward emotions. "Stop crying and be a man". <--- This right here is a big example of what can be expected of many guys in their life, even though it's a lot to ask, and isn't a very kind thing to ask of so many people (In my opinion it's totally ok to cry, we aren't robots). Another example is pressure for a certain occupation. Imagine someone with a family of successful doctors-then imagine that someone NOT wanting to be a doctor. I bet you can also imagine the pressure to be a doctor that could come from not only the family, but other people who know the family too. One last example involves issues and choices about clothing, language, actions, and opinions depending on where you live and who you live with, not to mention who you let inspire you or is in charge of your choices. I guess you could call them stereotypes, but it's just expectations from the world put onto you. I also feel like this is something James's mother would say to him, because usually she wants him to just be successful but she also doesn't like seeing him be brought down because she loves him. Also I feel like it was good for Jack to say that you would have to choose between either doing what is expected or doing what you want because doing both is hard and might not turn out as expected. I believe in someone doing what they find interesting and what you enjoy as long as it's for their benefit and doesn't harm others, like what James did. Many people in your life couled try and tell you what you should do based on factors in your life, but if it's something you don't want to do, and your heart is set out for something else, then don't let those people dictate your life. Once you have them make the decisions you truly want to make, your life might not be as enjoyable as it should be. Advice can be a great thing, but advice isn't peer pressure. And I feel like that's what Jack was trying to get at for James, like many siblings could do for each other.

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The Color of Water #4

Well, we've come to the end of the book, and I must say I really enjoyed it. The author's writing really made me enjoy the book a whole lot more because of his humor, connections, and obstacles. He seems like such a real person, and I love it. About 20 pages from the end though, I began to laugh, and that's because I was thinking about my grandma. I don't know why, but for some odd reason, I just did. No, I'm just playing, I actually made a connection to the writing in the book. The author was describing how his mother is similar or different from when she was younger, and it just really reminded me of my grandma. In the author's description, he talked about how his mother became a feisty old lady, and how she became shorter and stooped over. He also pointed out that her knees were bad, and that it took her longer to get places. And I'm telling you, no joke, that is literally a perfect description of my grandma. She's so short I can see over the top of her head, and I'm a really short person as well, so that's saying something. She has really bad arthritis in her knee, making her the slowest moving person I've ever met, but it's okay because I can be patient. Her attitude is so real and feisty, and she doesn't take any mess from anybody. I feel like it's a good thing to have connections with older people like grandparents, not just so you can describe them, but so you can learn from them. The author talked about how he's learned so much from being around his mother, and how she's influenced him to do good things in the world. By having those special connections with people older than you, you can be influenced by them, learn from them, and someday long in the future, you can even be them. You could be the person giving advice to younger children or adults. I'm kind of sad the book is over, given that it was really good, but I'm also glad that I got to read it, so it's all good.

The Glass Castle post # 2

For this post I decided to write about the making of a memoir.

  I have read multiple different memoirs so far in my life and of course they all touch on how their life was when they were younger, a lot of the time only 3-5 years old. This always made me ask the question, "how do they remember what they were like and what happened when they were so young?" This seems like a problem when writing a memoir. Over time I have come up with that the authors must of have asked other people and family members things about what they were like when they were younger. I am sure that these authors also maybe have pictures and maybe written things of what happened when they were younger and things like that. But I feel like maybe a lot of the ways the authors got this information was from sometimes winging it. Adding a few details they were guessing to be true to the story, etc.
  Even though these methods seem to be working i still feel like it probably is still and issue to them. It must be really hard to try to get things just right about something that happened years ago. It also must be super hard to try to add things that you are hoping were true as well. I don't know if these are the true methods being used and i wonder if they aren't, then what are the other sources/ methods being used?
  Another issue when writing a memoir might be the memories. I know personally I have gone through a lot in my life so far, and everyone else who is writing a memoir probably has to.  I feel like going back in time with your memories so you can write about them must be super difficult especially if they aren't happy ones. That is something i am nervous about when writing my memoir. It is going to be hard having to face those memories. I feel like this is definitely a struggle for memoir authors.
  Something that goes a long with memories is being honest. I feel like with people with hard lives or just people in general want to make their lives seem perfect with no drama or bad things. I feel like lots of people struggle with pushing themselves to tell the truth and be honest with themselves and others. I feel like this is also something i might struggle with too.
  Over all writing a memoir seems to be hard work because of trying to get things right, hard memories, being honest, etc. But i also feel like it is a great way to express yourself and to give people a glimpse into your life. I am excited to write mine.

in to thin air

As I look back over the memoire I'm truly dreading writing my own one.  The main reason is that I don't know how I'm going to fill up all that "stuff" that I don't remember without completely making up all of it.  I feel like this is a major  problem with all the memoire writers.  I think this happens to Jon Krakauer a lot I mean he was completely oxygen deprived tried and had almost nothing to eat too. I wonder how hard it was to write this memoir in the sense that all these people he knew died.

  I cant imagine how emotionally stressful that must be.  Writing the character descriptions for all those people that died up on Everest that he made friends with must have put a heavy toll on him.  For me I might have not even been able to talk about it there were some terrible things that happened up on the mountain.  The day after the storm a group of Sherpa went up to look for survivors, thy found nobody but Beck Wethers who was completely frosts bitten and presumed dead but when they chipped off his frozen over face mask he was still breathing.  They said that he was to long gone to survive, but that night just like he had risen from the dead he some how made it back to camp four and lived. There was another person that had walked straight off the mountain in to the abyss.  Just so many horrible stories about peoples demise.  Thought I have never been through a event like that I'm still not sure how he dose it.

When it comes down to it I feel like it will be extremely hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yK-OYKFHdE&list=PLJJLNd45FDfj-fkgZsp0ka6XYdAm6J95R

This is a video of a lot of the people that were on Everest and about what happened, I think it has a lot of good interviews and testimonials. 

Blog Post 4

Your Words Become Mine-

"See, you don't have to think about doing the right thing. If you're for the right thing, then you do it without thinking."

Were my mothers great grandmothers last words to me. I didn't realize at that point that those words would stick with me for the rest of my life. They would be rehearsed in my head every night like a worn out prayer. When my grandmother died I was five, and the day she passed away, so did my soul. I felt a state of grief that no five year old should have to go through, because my great grandmother was the only inspiring person in my life. She was the one who taught me how to cook, how to read, and how to survive my life at home with an abusive father and drug addict mother. My great grandmother was my everything, my only distraction from the real world.brown living room to see
I walked into my house at 10:01 pm. One minute past curfew. I didn't even want to think about all of the trouble I was about to get into. I walked into our tiny brown living room, dreading my father, I spotted him sitting in his giant leather chair, belt in hand.
I put my palms into fists and watched him stand up, rising three feet above me, and raise the belt. I calmly closed my eyes and didn't feel a thing. I was used to the pain so much that i couldn't feel a thing, that I didn't even notice the scars being created on my back, that I didn't notice the beads of sweat dripping down my fathers forehead. I waited for the tormenting to stop, and walked to my room, getting the whiff of cannabis as I passed through the squished hall. I repeated my great grandmothers words to keep myself sane.
"See, you don't have to think about doing the right thing. If you're for the right thing, then you do it without thinking."

Your Words Become Mine

"In the pitch-black night, there was nothing to look at but the road ahead, lit by the car's headlights." We were driving home from a visit with my grandmother. The night was lit only with the reflective road signs and the occasional gas station. The reflection in the window made me look like a ghost. I had just been completely crushed in a game of eights and I was not happy about it. Directly after getting in the car I had begun to sob unabashedly. It felt like everything was terrible. Like nothing would be okay again. Cut to twenty-five minutes later and I was peacefully reading a book like nothing had ever happened. I think when someone you care about dies it’s a little bit like losing a game of eights. People never play fairly. Sometimes you’re stuck with a hand you never, ever wanted while someone else’s cards are all great. The thing about eights is that if you lose, even if you lose horribly, is that you can always play again. In life if your hand sucks and the game ends badly you can’t exactly have a do-over. There’s no way to play again and do better the next time. Luck is a major factor in both eights and life, but what you do with it can change the game. My grandmother couldn’t change the ending to her story, she could only decide so much about the way her life would end. She chose where she died and who was with her, but she couldn’t change when she left. She didn’t have a say in that. In the car, on the way home I knew I wasn’t going to get a whole lot more time with her. I knew that I couldn’t do anything to change the way the game would end. But I did get to chose what I would do with the time left. I think knowing that there’s not much time left is hard to face when you’re 10. So maybe the tears weren’t just for the lost game I had just played, maybe they were for the one that hadn’t ended yet.

The Color of Water Post #4: Reflections on Truth-Telling

I think the author had to fill in memories from his childhood. Those moments were farther back in the past, and human memory doesn’t serve us that well. You also have to fill in dialogue and feelings, or reactions. I think that this is a good technique to use when trying to make a point or make the story stand out more. For example, the author shares a story of when one of his big sisters ran away, he uses a lot of dialogue in the story, and tells about his family’s reactions. He says, “We sat straight up. Downstairs, Helen and Rosetta were having a fight. …not even the boldest of them, … fooled with Rosetta. Rosetta was the resident queen of the house. I heard the sound of a coat tearing. Rrrrrrip!

‘You b***h!’ Helen screamed. I heard fists landing on flesh. Rosetta roared.

Kathy started to cry. ‘Be quiet,’ I said. Cursing in my house was not allowed. Cursing was out of bounds. Cursing meant things were out of control.

More commotion. I heard the boys downstairs saying, ‘All right, break it up. Hold her, Billy, wait—‘ Boom! Laughter by the boys, an agonized cry by Rosetta. ‘Oh, you’re gonna get it now!” Whomp! Helen’s scream. Another tussle. The sound of furniture flying, David shouting, a lamp breaking. More laughter and cursing . . . A vehement argument ensued, and I heard Helen declare she was leaving. Suddenly the boys got serious.” The story continues with Helen leaving to stay with their older sister, and then leaving altogether. The author was spying on his siblings with his younger sister Kathy so he doesn’t really know what happened, he’s just filling in the details. This shows how using this technique makes a story pop and adds more excitement.