Chrissy’s blog?

Recently I received a booklet of sixteen poems and short stories from a man at my work.  Though he has many years under his belt, I believe it all to be wisdom and intelligence based on what I found in this booklet.  He goes by the name Paul C. Webb who likes sugar-free cocoa with half a glass of milk and jell-o with every dinner meal.  Though he lacks much variety in his taste for food, I think he clearly gains it back through his intelligent mind.  The first poem I chose from him is called Beauty.  He was inspired to write this poem when staying in Wenatchee close to the hills overlooking the Columbia River.  He states in an introduction, “At such times, I became somewhat philosophical, wondering if one could take the power of the surrounding beauty in their interaction with others to enhance the relationship with people, like a plant takes sunlight and carbon dioxide in the presence of the chlorophyll to produce food.”  Though he does not use rhyming format in this poem, the “simple beauty” of this poem helps paint a picture in the reader’s mind.  The second poem I chose to use of his is called Pictures.  On a trip to Vancouver B.C. his wife-who happened to be a painter- and himself watched as people expressed their painting abilities on 4’ by 10’ panels of plywood.  This poem clearly praises the artist and shows his frustrations in expressing his talent with “mere words.”  Paul stated in an introduction, “I admire the talented person who can be inspired to express themselves in any art form.  I have to be content to use words pictures to express myself in writing or speech.”  Even though Paul C. Webb comes down every night for dinner, holding the hand of his new beloved Carol Puttzier, I did not realize how much wisdom he really had.  With his polite gestures and calm attitude, I have begun to see him in a new light as well…

Throughout each book cover, reoccurring colors are found in each. Those colors being different shades of reds, oranges, and yellows to depict the flames.  Though the covers differ in ways where there may be pages burning or some form of alien robot, each one focuses clearly on the fact in which flames are devouring books.  Not having read the book, nor knowing to much about it, I can still get the main theme of this story.  The cover in which stood out the most to me was the one in which the pages of the books came together to form what looks to be a human.  This “human” made by the accumulation of papers is caught on fire and looks to be playing the “damsel in distress” role.  Its knees seem to be slowly bending and it is starting to react to the power the flames have. It may be quite a stretch to say that the reason the pages of books , newspapers and what not have formed a human is because that is exactly what books and such have helped us obtain. The knowledge and understanding found on different forms of paper have shaped who most people are and how they think.  By burning the pages of books it can be compared to destroying all the knowledge younger generations will fail to obtain.  Though this had been the cover in which stood out in my eyes the most another came as a close second.  The design is actually quite plain, yet in the bottom right hand corner it appears flames have begun to overtake that book.  I find his somewhat ironic in that a book which talks about the burning of books, is being engulfed by the flames as well.

Feeding the elderly may seem to be a simple task, yet it can only be described as being thrown to “The Wolves.”  Around four forty-five each day this hungry pack of beasts come looking for a fight, and maybe dinner while their at it.  They are ready to pounce on anything which dare question them.  “The Wolves” are known for their cute nurturing smiles and their comforting wrinkling paws.  Yet every wolf tamer knows the underlying damage their claws can do, and what every piercing glare does to any mere human being.  Even the thought makes me shutter.

I consider myself to be one of the greatest wolf tamers Mill Ridge Village Retirement Home has ever seen.  My speedy, agile foot work leave people in awe as I enter and retreat from each dining room, (A.K.A. “The feeding grounds”).  Each table competing to have the most complicated order, “Salad with italian AND ranch dressing, water-not all the way full- with a little bit of ice, and of course cottage cheese with a hint of french dressing.”  The fear or saying, “we don’t have that” lingers throughout every bone in my body, expecting an immediate under-the-breath comment in which everybody heard.  I run along side a pack of 98, constantly attending every need, with a smile of course.  The painstacking pressure is always there, “The Wolves” continuously looking out the corner of their eye, waiting to see you crack.

Being done with serving salads and drinks, I am ready to start feeding the starving, wild beasts.  Seven plates balanced upon a tray, I take a deep breath, and heave myself into the feeding grounds.  By the time I am back for my second round my shirt is torn, spaghetti sauce is dripping from my once crisp, white shirt and six plates are on my tray still because of some  sort of defect in how the garnish was facing or what not.  Yet, I am still alive and ready for more.

Having to know all the allergies, diabetics, likes, dislikes, extra hot plate lovers, and extra veggies, I have surprisingly finished serving the main course and the dessert. “The Wolves” are finally content. WRONG.  Now they have even more complaints now that their mouths have been fed.  Cleaning up may seem a tedious job, yet with the feeding grounds cleared away and some of “The Wolves” seeming to be happy, I can do my work in peace.  WRONG.  Though “The Wolves” have been fed and some even happy, the continuous banging, clanking, clinking, dinging, and ringing are the only sounds I hear for the next hour and a half.  Only a real trooper can stand such sounds.

Though I appear to approach “The Wolves” by killing them with kindness each and every day, I can’t help but love them.  I don’t know where I would be without the constant bickering between husbands and wives, the ever apparent memory loss when they call you Stephanie instead of Chrissy, and my favorite, the screeching ring of hearing aids, all somehow buzzing together in harmony.  Without all of this, my job would be no fun.

Barbara Holland constructs her argument by relying on a personal anecdote in the begginning in referring to the often taken nap by the French.  She describes how Americans are less likely to take naps because of the ever apparent tasks in which consume our day.  An improvement which could be made would be the data used to support her argument.  Though she relies on some facts, her argument could have been made stronger with more evidence.  I agree with Holland in that some Americans feel  the day is only so long therefore they must make the most of it.  Yet I believe she did not consider the counter argument in which our country is increasingly becoming lazier each day, that naps are being taken advantage of and somehow becoming an addiction to some.  Although, for the most part, I agree with Barbara’s argument  basing that on first-hand experience in that naps can be refreshing and help the mind focus on all our daily responsibilities.

 Anthropomorphized: To ascribe human form or attributes.

#2-Throughout this cartoon the humans are depicted as evil and possibly deceiving as well.  The two scientists in the beginning are wearing business suits first of all therefore possibly deceiving the audience into thinking they are real scientists when they may not be.  Also the evil smiles on their faces show they have no remorse for what they are doing, yet in the end gain some when karma catches up with them.  The woman holding the knife is the result of what the scientists have done, and is over exaggeratting because of it.

#4-The parallelism between frames one and four is that the tables have been turned from the vegetable to the human.  Yet in the first one the so called scientists are studying the vegetable and in frame four they are studying another human like themselves.

#5- I believe the cartoonist is showing irony in that what they were doing to the vegetables is now being done to them.  Almost like karma or a form of pay back.

#6- The tone throughout the cartoon I think would be sarcasm when the pictures are shown with the text. Though if they were not then it would seem like a serious tone and being more informative. 

http://www.slate.com/id/2185033/

The article I found on slate.com was one called, “Oscar Fashion Report Card.”  There were two writers, Amanda Fortini and Julia Turner who discussed the different red and black dresses found on the red carper this year at the Oscars.  It was an interview or casual conversation between them both in which the reader might easily become involved if present.  Different situations such as the writer’s strike had been used to compare each celeb’s choice of dress.

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24377174/

This next article I found on msnbc.com called, “U.S. surfer dies in shark attack in Mexico.”  It thoroughly describes the setting in which this incident took place, this makes it extremely easy to picture in one’s mind and better understand the dilema.  The writer uses statements from police investigators as well as the Safety Department in order to strengthen his article by backing it with such facts.

pg. 360 #3 (Discussion)

I think what Woolf is trying to say is that when writing you have to be focused, and have an, “unconscious” mind in order to leave the door open for ideas.  I think this is absolutely true because for example when I write papers, being in a place with no distractions helps me clear my mind and form a more clear idea.

pg. 361 #’s 4 & 9 (Rhetoric..)

4.) I think the Angel in the story had been all the distractions in which specifically appealed to Woolf.  Almost like the persuasive demand on her left shoulder overpowering her thoughts and distracting her.  This “angel” represents all the things in which would encourage Virginia Woolf to get her off track.

9.) I think the effect of describing the girl with the pen in her hand was to help the audience imagine what it must be like to not be focused like Woolf said, “in a trance” (para. 5).  Showing that the “angel” had won and she had been distracted.

1.)  What is the effect of Franklin’s two concluding sentences?

   a.) To help the reader learn to prepare to answer the questions more thoroughly.

   b.)  To get the readers to embrace the need for silence.

   c.)  In order to strengthen her argument for silence.

   d.)  To encourage silence in the world.

   e.)  None of the above.

“The Angel in the House,” also known as a “self-sacrificing heroine,” had been described as, “an ideal Victorian woman.”  This “ideal” woman might be seen as a mother or single woman who upholds the daily duties and is a polite woman of great stature.  Woolf described the “angel” as someone who, “came in between [her] and [her] paper” (para. 3), a distraction during the pursuit of greatness.  All things such as cleaning, cooking, mending clothing, or tending to the garden can be examples of the self-sacrificing things in which stand in the way of pursuing greater things.  “The angel in the house is dead and no longer lives in the imaginations of either women or men” (pare. 3). Virginia Wolf’s angel, or distraction was the focus in writing her paper. So many things had gotten in her way in which our culture had once deemed normal and an obvious thing to do.  Men and women today see through different eyes in which they once saw through before.  They are more inviting to the idea of women holding value in a difficult jobs and what not.  Therefore making it a challenge for, “The Angel of the House,” to, “[bother us] and [waste our] time” (para. 3).

4.)  What does the author suggest about the relationship between Genetics and evolutionary psychology in paragraph 19? What are the effects of these two things?

5.)  How does using Martin E.P. Seligman’s point of niew in the concluding paragraph make the author’s argument stronger?  If you do not think it strengthens his argument, how could it be made better?