Coming Home Again

"Coming Home Again" is beautifully written and permits us to learn a lot about Lee. He describes both a  complex and heartwarming relationship with his mother. When asked why she permitted her son to be away at boarding school, Lee's mother explains that she did it "because [she] didn't know that [she] was going to die" (Lee 128). By saying this, she gives us an insight into the way that we tend to carry out with our life. Sometimes we regret how we handled a certain aspect of our life because of an unforeseen event. 

We often take others for granted because we automatically assume that we have a whole lifetime ahead of us. We think that time is on our side and that there's no need to go out of our way to spend time with our loved ones. This isn't always how things turn out. Nothing is guaranteed in this life which is why it's crucial to do as much as we can right now. 

Lee's mother wished that she could go back so that she could have spent more time with her son when he was young. Even though he was living with her before she passed, she missed out on part of his life. It's a chunk of time that she simply wasn't ever going to get back. That time she spent away from him was very sad for her because she sacrificed quality time with him. It's to be expected that once you're an adult, you move away from home and you make your own life, but it's different when you're still a child. This is when children are supposed to learn from their parents, a time when you enjoy being really close to your parents. This just goes to show that sometimes, being with your family is more important than anything else. 

Summary for Chapter Three

Revising can not be accomplished merely by completing one step. The process is split up into two sections. Hacker discusses these  stages in chapter three. There are global revisions and there's also revision of overall sentence structure. Global revisions center around organization, focus, content, purpose, and strategy. After making the necessary adjustments to global matters, you can focus on sentence structure, grammar, spelling, punctation, and mechanics. Hacker advises completing global revisions first. The two steps aren't really interchangeable, but for a good reason. 

Global revisions come first because while making these revisions, you're going to make drastic changes. You might even eliminate whole sections. Therefore there isn't a valid reason for revising sentences that might not even end up in the final draft. When making a global revision, try to view your work from the an audience's perspective. In order to distance yourself from your draft, you can take a night or two to step away from you draft. Then come back and try to read as if you were the audience. You could also ask a few people to read over your work. Make sure that they focus on the larger issues of the writing such as whether or not the thesis is clear. The next stage is to revise the sentences. You have to be careful when reading over your essay so that you can identify typos. Finally, you're ready to prepare your final manuscript and to proofread. Proofreading involves checking for misspelled words, omitted words, and word endings. This can be hard because you might not be able to identify your own mistakes which is why you might consider proofreading out loud. Don't try to avoid proofreading because it is crucial to the quality of your writing. 

Summary for Chapter Two

Chapter two of Rules for Writers is centered around making a rough draft. Hacker talks about a few vital steps that will help you produce a helpful draft. It's all about organization, so in order to sketch a draft you have to have all your materials ready. That includes lists, freewritings, outlines, etc. If you have these materials within reach you're better prepared to take on the task at hand. An essay has three main components, you'll target all of these while doing your rough draft. You'll begin by drafting an introduction, then the body, and lastly, you'll try to put together a conclusion.

The purpose of an introduction is to point out the main point of your essay. The first few sentences need to capture the reader's attention and establish what your purpose is. Include a focused thesis in the introductory paragraph, it doesn't matter if it's shown at the begin or at the end of paragraph. In order to make the thesis more attractive, you can make use of examples, quotations, questions, and other enticing sentences. You want your readers to want to read on. Sometimes it will be impossible to express the main idea in one thesis sentence. If that's the case, don't force the main idea into one sentence. Hacker then goes on to suggest drafting the body of your essay. The body is crucial because it develops your thesis, therefore you should have a tentative thesis before beginning the body. It's a good idea to have a plan as to how you'll be approaching this part of your essay. If you don't have already have a plan, take a break and write one up. The conclusion is the last paragraph and should echo your central idea. You don't want to simply repeat the idea, instead briefly remind the reader of the main idea. The conclusion paragraph can also include key points or offer advice. Most importantly, make it memorable.

I've always know what a thesis is, but when it comes to my writing, I have a hard time composing an effective thesis. This is probably because it's very hard for me to try and convert my main idea into one sentence. This chapter did make me think a little about how I can make improvements in my writing when it comes to this specific component. I don't necessarily have to have a perfect thesis when I first begin drafting my essay. I should have a tentative thesis, which means I can adjust and alter it as I go. This is really going to help me because I won't lose confidence in my paper if at first my thesis doesn't sound as good as i'd like it to sound.

Essay 1

Sarahi Carranza

Lauren Servais

English 100           

February 8, 2011

Photograph

            Photographs are often heavily important for many of us. They hold a lot of significance because they’re capable of capturing so much. They can capture an important moment in our life or even someone that we cherish. I found a particular picture that is truly valuable to me. It’s an image of my sister, my only sibling whom I care for and love dearly. The setting is also vital to it’s value.

            Last summer I attended a music festival in San Francisco with my sister. This was a special occasion for her because it was her first time going to any kind of live music event. The first day we arrived, we wandered around and we arrived at one of the stages in which a reggae band was playing. I, of course, had my camera and one of the pictures that I took was a picture of my sister at this very moment. The reason why I like this particular photograph so much has to do with the fact that I’ve experienced a lot alongside my sister.

            We had a fairly happy childhood; we had loving parents that were able to provide a comfortable life for us. As we grew older though, we began to have trouble at home. It wasn’t necessarily serious trouble, but it distanced us a lot from our father. It was tough for both of us. Children deserve to have a healthy relationship with their parents, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case for us. By the time I was about 12 years of age, we had altogether stopped talking to my dad.

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It was quite an experience for us because it was emotionally straining. Even thought it was difficult for me, it was especially hard for her to deal with the situation. Although the experience wasn’t pleasant, it brought us closer. We had to rely a lot on each other during this time because no one else could really grasp what we were going through. My mom is a great person, but frankly, she wasn’t very sympathetic in this case.

            She would just write us off and she came to the conclusion that we were at fault for the distance that had been created between my father and ourselves. She was partly correct. In any relationship, it takes more than one person for a strong bond to form. In any case, my sister and I depended on each other’s support. We would talk about the situation with one another and that strengthened our relationship.

            This is not the only reason for my emotional attachment to the photograph. My sister is very important to me, but the location is also significant. San Francisco is a city that I love. The bay area in general has appealed to me since I was very young. I have family here and because of that; I had the opportunity to visit often. Visiting up north was always something that I looked forward to as a child. I was always happy here. I got the chance to spend time with loved ones and I also took in all the beauty of the valley and of the city as well.

            Now that I live here I’m able to enjoy this environment on a daily basis. The music festival that I attended in the summer was one of the first things that I really enjoyed after moving here. Fresh out of high school, I wasn’t too sure of what it was that I was going to be doing. In the midst of all that confusion, I was able to share an

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unforgettable experience with someone that I admire and appreciate. My photograph is a visual recording of this. 

The Ways We Lie

Ericsson talks about an array of lies, but the white lie is usually the most commonly used. He mentions that a white lie in essence is assuming that the truth will cause more harm than the lie. This definition is pretty well rounded. White lies tend to be small lies that aren't going to cause much harm to anyone. This kind of lie is often used to spare someone's feelings. For example, when a friend asks us whether or not we think they possess a bad quality, do we tell them that they are obsessive? Or do we assure them that they are far from it? It's really a matter of how we feel about distorting the truth.

A white lie is still a lie. Even if our intentions are good, we're still refraining from telling the truth so that our friend won't feel bad. It might be a better idea to be honest and that way, if our friends finds it necessary, they can choose to make changes. If we don't tell them the truth, we're personally deciding what is best for someone else. That's not our responsibility. It may seem like it's up to us to keep our friends happy, but we shouldn't compromise their trust in us. After all, aren't they asking for our opinion? The right thing to do is to answer honestly. That doesn't mean that we're going to be harsh, we can tell the truth in a respectful and considerate manner. This way, we avoid lying not only to our friends, but to other's  that are interested in our opinion.

Summary for Chapter One

In chapter one, Hacker discuses ways in which we can create ideas for any writing assignment. She also provides suggestions as to how to go about when organizing your ideas. Writing is a process, there's steps that you have to take to crank out good material. Organization is key. The first step is to assess the writing situation. The second step is to explore the subject that you're writing about. After exploring the subject, you should create a tentative thesis. The final step of this writing process is to sketch out an outline or plan.

As you're assessing the situation, keep in mind a few things. You want to know what your subject is exactly, know what your sources of information will be, your purpose, who your audience will be, and specifics that include the length of the assignment and deadlines. By knowing all of the above, you're able to execute your writing well. Once you have this down, Hacker believes that the next step is to explore your subject. Some ways in which you can do this is by talking to others about your subject and listening to their input. You can take notes on the text and on your sources of information. Freewriting is also a good idea. The third step is to create a tentative thesis, this basically means that you want to establish a central idea. A thesis should provide direction for both the writer and the reader. Sometimes it's a good idea to know your thesis early on because this can help you with your draft. Drafting is the final process. Sketch an outline so that you have an idea of how your ideas will be structured. A formal outline can be written after you have a rough draft, that way you can visually see if your essay's structure makes sense.

This chapter is going to help me out when I have to write an essay. In the past, my way of writing is very unorganized. I don't use structure as far as planning and sketching out an outline. I tend to just write and let the ideas come to me as i'm typing. It works out okay for me. I can produce good work, but I think if I organize my ideas to begin with, I might be able to produce excellent work. Planning is important because that way I can see beforehand whether or not my essay is going to flow smoothly and logically.

The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me

Sherman Alexie's father was an avid reader and this heavily influenced Sherman. He began to pick up books at a very early age and was a completely self taught reader. This in itself is very impressive, but even more so considering that he was Indian. Sherman mentions that a "smart Indian" is a dangerous person. Education is such a powerful thing. By simply reading, you're able to expand your overall knowledge significantly. This allows you to go beyond what you've been taught because you begin to learn about new things and concepts. This is influential especially in a person like Sherman.

He was not only feared by non - Indians, but also by people of his own kind. When you're ethnically different, and by this I mean not caucasian, you're expected to have a certain amount of knowledge. A very minimal amount of knowledge. Sherman was expected to be like any other Indian that struggled with school related matters. He was different though and being different can be a threat to many. Once you've proven to be smarter and hungry for knowledge, you're a force. If you lack resources and books, you can be kept under control without asking questions. By reading, Sherman was likely to want more than he was given because he knew what else was out there. A "smart Indian" is bound to question authority and likely to crave education.