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This blog post is a reflection of my experience in Professor Mangini's class, I will be writing in third person, to remove myself a little from the writing as to not hold back on my thoughts and what I've learned and experienced.
Cynthia came into this class, and this entire semester not knowing what to expect. She was an early high school drop out (9th grade) and got her GED her graduating year. She had never taken English classes in high school so she had a lot to learn. One of her biggest challenges was writing styles, like how to persuade, inform and entertain and how to differentiate them all. It was also a challenge for her to do showing writing, as was what the class was meant to do in the LCM (which she is still working on). Another challenge for her was presenting a paper properly in MLA style. While many other students are familiar with this she wasn't but now that she is aware of it, this will be a very useful tool for her in her upcoming classes. A bigger issue Cynthia faced and continues to face is how to make her work flow more, and to structure her writing so its not choppy and all over the place. Professor Mangini giving feed back on the students' papers is very helpful so Cynthia knows what in particular to work on. Cynthia enjoyed the process of working and creating a website. While, she had previous experiences with blogging and making websites in the past – they were for pleasure and personal use. It wasn't too challenging creating a theme for her blog but it was different. She enjoyed making a theme- though her's wasn’t that original, but it made everything make more sense and feel more organized. Cynthia also really enjoyed the Michael Moore film "Where to Invade Next" because it taught her a lot about other countries, stuff she didn't really know about, at least not to that degree. Writing about the film and choosing a topic was pretty neat too, because a lot of the time – outside of school when she watches things she just kind of forgets about it, so writing a paper about the topic means she will probably not forget about these things which is good and useful. Cynthia also really enjoyed when Professor Mangini played a clip from 8 Mile because come on, that’s a great movie and Eminem kills it. Working in class, in groups was very helpful for Cynthia as far as second guessing your work goes. It is always good to get feed back but sometimes we are reluctant to do so on our own, but Professor Mangini splitting us up into groups to just talk about the work was nice. Cynthia probably wouldn’t have otherwise shared her work, but with encouragement from the class and the professor found herself doing so, even outside of the classroom. Overall, Cynthia really enjoyed this class and has learned a lot about proper writing styles and formats. She also learned a lot from her classmates by reading and posting on their blogs. She has a lot to learn still and a lot of work to do on her Final drafts of her LCM and Research Paper but the future looks bright and she's willing to put in the work.
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In this blog I'm writing a reflection of my Research paper that you can find here.
I'm using reflective writing, as explained in this video here. I wrote a Research Paper on how children in America would benefit academically if they ate healthier food, more so if the schools provided the children with more nutritious food during lunch. I used various articles backing up my argument, that explain how children perform better on standardized test when they've been given nutrient enriched foods. And how they are more lethargic and pay less attention when consuming foods high in sugars and trans fat. I'm going to be answering questions about the processes I used when writing my paper, and how I plan on revising my paper and making my argument more clear, and overall better. I'm going to be writing about what I can do better in the future and what I could've done better when writing this to help understand my own thoughts and writing processes.
Other than that, I got my boyfriend to read over my paper and also give me some feed back on what he thought I could do better. Which was also helpful, because he can be very critical but in a constructive manner.
I wrote my actual paper at home, when I was alone which was also good because I wasn't distracted by family or friends.
I also think I would want to make the paper flow better because I after rereading it and working on revising currently, think it is a little choppy and kind of not as well structured as I would have liked it to be. Source #1: Moore, Michael, Where To Invade Next, 2015. https://www.google.com/search?biw=1920&bih=950&q=where+to+invade+next+streaming&oq=where+to+invade+next+streaming&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l4.2387.5409.0.5602.16.16.0.0.0.0.162.1147.15j1.16.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.16.1144...0i67k1.brsh8U9JWs0 In this film Michael Moore visits many European countries as well as well as Tunisia in North Africa. The main focus of this documentary is to show us, the viewer, the differences between these countries and our own country, The United States of America. Moore travels to many countries and looks at the difference in schools, not only the educational system itself but also things such as lunches and homework. In France, they have a far more superior lunch in their cafeterias than America does. There isn't soda, and the meals are well balanced and nutritional. Although France has a high tax rate, they receive more from the money they spend. Moore, also visits Finland, one of the most educated countries in the world. In Finland it is illegal for a school to charge for tuition from its students. In Finland as well, for the younger students, they are not given homework and their school days after shorter, as well as the school year.Slovenia is another country that offers free university. Moore also goes on to talk about women's rights in Tunisia and how they offer free women's healthcare as well as free abortion clinics. He also visits Iceland which is the first country to have a female president. He talks about the bank crash a few years back and how the only companies that survived that were run by women. Moore then goes on to talk about the decriminalization of drugs in Portugal. As well, as their prison system in comparison to ours. He concludes the film with the realization that these countries have adopted these values and systems from America itself. And that we can follow them, the way they were inspired by us. This film I think is very informative, while Michael Moore maybe biased in some regards he gets his point across fairly well. It is a great film to watch for my Research Paper assignment because of all the different and varied ideas and topics he discusses. The film is relevant to my research because like I previously said, of all the different topics you can chose from to do further research. The topic I picked is "Would American children(elementary/middle school) benefit in the classroom from having healthier lunches at school?". While Moore doesn’t go completely too in depth he does touch on this subject with the French students, which is a good kick start to my research. Source #2: Healthy Body, Healthy Mind: The Impact of School Lunch on Student Performance, online.campbellsville.edu, https://online.campbellsville.edu/education/healthy-body-healthy-mind-the-impact-of-school-lunch-on-student-performance/ In this article the writer, whose name is not posted (?) but only posted as Admin talks about the health effects unhealthy eating has on student's learning capabilities as well as their overall physical health. The writer explains that unhealthy eating habits and poor nutrition can lead to mental and behavioral problems in children. Not only that, but that deficiencies in Zinc, B-vitamins, Omega – 3 Fattys, and Protein in children have been shown to affect cognitive development. This in turn harms the student's ability to learn at pace for school success. This article also references a test done amongst Fifth- graders that shows those who had eaten fast food that day scored lower on a standardized test in comparison to class mates who ate, a healthier lunch. The articles goes on to talk about the progress America has made thus far as far as The National School Lunch Program goes. When President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, first lady Michelle sough to revitalize the program. Her mission was to make American children healthier and fight against childhood obesity- which eventually can lead to heart problems, high blood pressure, asthma, etc.. The most significant change, according to this article was the introduction of higher nutrition standards by USDA. Which places emphasis on the utilization of local farms to produce students with fresh produce etc.. While this article swayed a little from my Research Paper topic, it was very informative on my subject and gave me more concrete facts about what the government is doing to make school lunches healthier. This article also provided me with links to other websites that are helpful. This article is relevant to my Research Paper because it directly talks about the negative effects unhealthy eating has on students in the class room, and provides sources to back up the information. Source #3: Stuber, Nick, Nutrition and Academic Performance, Wilder.org This article talks about the childhood obesity epidemic in America, as well as the way unhealthy foods can lead to a slew of reasons why unhealthy food is making children not do well in school, and also what American schools can do and are doing to stop this. Nick, the author starts off with giving us straight facts. In the year 2010, one-third of American children/ adolescents were overweight or obese. He goes on to mention how foods served at schools high in trans fat and saturated fat are believed to negatively impact learning and memory. He adds that access to proper nutrition improves cognition, concentration and energy levels. He goes on to talk about the importance of a proper breakfast for students, and mentions come states' breakfast plans in school and how that has helped students. He also talks about what schools are doing to improve lunches, he mentions a study in New York.. Where they moved the salad bar from the corner of a cafeteria to the center, and how that ended up increasing the sales of healthy food in that school which eventually led to the decrease of unhealthier foods. This article is quite, lengthy but it is very well- rounded. It provides you with so much information, on all aspects of the school lunch system in the USA. This article is relevant to my paper because he talks about exactly what I'm writing my paper about. I also find it to be neat and very , interesting that he mentions some of the studies done that show students are more likely to make healthy choices if they are readily available and right in front of them. This seems to be more of a psychological experiment but doesn’t stray from his overall point. Source #4: Anderson, Michael L. Gallager, Justin. Ramirez Ritchie Elizabeth, How the Quality of School Lunches Affects Academic Performance, Education Digest, Feb2018, Vol 83, Issue 6, P 61-64, 4p. http://search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=127089030&site=ehost-live This article talks about the affect school lunches may have on academic performance. In 2010 President Obama signed the Healthy Hunger- Free Kids act, which was meant to make school lunches more nutritious. The main goal of this act was to target childhood obesity. This article states that although many public schools took part and started serving healthier lunches, based on certain studies in certain school the obesity rates didn’t seem to decrease. The authors' state that this may be due to the fact that not enough time has passed or that while the food is healthier, the caloric intake has remained the same due to health policies etc.. This article also talks about studies that show end of the year test improvements amongst kids who were provided with a higher quality lunch. This article gave a lot of facts and seemed to be behind the healthier lunch act. The article is relevant to my paper because it gives a lot of examples and shows and links studies that back up my claim, that there is a link between what students eat and how they perform in school. Source #5: Brody, Jane, E, The Importance of School Lunches, New York Times, 6/6/2017, Vol. 166 Issue 57620, p D5-D5, ½ p. http://search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=123427663&site=ehost-live In this article Ms. Brody also mentions the act passed by Obama the Healthy, Hunger-Free kids act and how involved Michelle Obama was with this program and on changing the lunches in school. She goes on to talk about how Sonny Perdue, the Secretary of Agriculture has went back on some of the changes the Obama Administration has made. How he has brought back refined grains and milk with fat in it. The article speaks on the topics of obesity and the correlation between academics and nutrition. She mentions various studies backing up her claims. And mentions how many argue that children don’t like healthy lunches and therefore the waste percentage will increase, costing more money.. She argues against this with facts from studies down throughout the nation on how well received the school lunches have been amongst students. This article is informative and she gives a lot of statistics. This is relevant to my Research Paper because although she is doing much of the same as the previous authors have, she is also giving an example of what people who don’t agree with her think, and arguing against. This will help me in playing devil's advocate and arguing a better point thus hopefully persuading my reader to think more openly on the issue in my Research Paper. ` Source #6: Anderson, Melinda. D, Do Healthy Lunches Improve Student Test Score?, www.theatlantic.com https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/03/do-healthy-lunches-improve-student-test-scores/520272/ Melinda talks about the cost of healthier lunches and touches on the Healthy, Hunger- Free Kids acts, as well as child obesity. Her main point in this article however is the link between nutrition and test scores. She talks about students who eat well are likely to score better. And how students who have sufficient nutrition have more energy, an all around better attitude and retain more information in the classroom. She goes onto talk about kids in low income communities have it harder, because their families most likely don’t have fruits and vegetables readily available at home – since it is pricier than, say a bag of chips. She goes on to talk about the importance for free lunches for such student and the importance of providing these students with quality food they're probably lacking at home. This article's main focus is on the affects healthy, well balanced eating had on test scoring and taking. This article is helpful because it is a little different than the others I've used and provides additional information and insight about the less fortunate children who are, probably underfed or under nourished, as opposed to your usual obesity argument. The reasoning for this blog post is to discuss the Michael Moore film "Where To Invade Next". I had previously posted a summary of the Michael Moore film and what I thought about the film, which can be viewed here.
In this blog I will point out three topics that stood out to me in the film, and whether or not I agree with what Moore, was saying or portraying. I very much enjoyed the film and after doing my own research so I believe most of the questions I choose to answer will be in agreeance with the film. The first question I pose is "Should America have Universal Healthcare?" I believe America should have universal healthcare for many reasons. It should be a basic human right, that the rich and the poor are entitled to because we are all humans and life is special and precious. It is my opinion, of course that no one person deserves more than another when it comes to something, such as going to a doctor when you're sick or injured. The cost of an ambulance shouldn't make the less fortunate think twice about calling for one when they're in an emergency- like medical situation. To further this, I also believe universal healthcare in America is very important to women, and women's health. Whether that be choosing an affordable, or even free form of birth control if they aren't ready for children. This I think, is especially important because this would cut down on teen pregnancy, and young women having children when they aren't mentally or, more so financially able to support one. Which would in turn theoretically help with the poor and low class situation because women in urban and low income communities would be able to go to school and pursue their dreams etc.. Another reason I believe the US should do so is because it would cut overall healthcare spending. Various arguments say that if the US had one healthcare system, it would cost a lot less than having hundreds of health insurance companies. It would also make America as a whole healthier, because since the poor who live in such bad conditions could normally see a doctor they would be a lot healthier. People would take better care of themselves because they could afford to do so, and then we would save money because people wouldn't be as sick. The second question I chose is "Should America have healthier lunches in schools?" (such as France etc..) I believe this also to be a yes, this one is a little more obvious of an answer. Children would benefit from healthier foods in so many ways. Childhood obesity in America, is kind of a big deal. Overweight children, if eating habits aren't corrected or shaped will grow into overweight adults. This in turn will most likely lead to health problems later in life, and that without universal free health care is a recipe for disaster. American children should be taught at a young age how important our diets and what we put inside our bodies are. They should even be taught to make and prepare their own meals as this will help them later in life. Also, I believe it will help them concentrate in school. Research has been done (which I will get into in my research paper) that certain healthy vegetables and healthy fats etc.. Are good for memory and focus. So again, theoretically this could help the children get better grades etc.. And would essentially help them in the future. Third, is "Should American workers get paid vacation time?" Yes! My answer on this one will be a little shorter. I think Americans should definitely get paid vacation. This should be a law, even especially if you work a certain amount of time for this company. Everyone deserves time off to spend with their family and shouldn't have to suffer and lose money because of it. There's a lot of single mothers and fathers who work very hard and very often to provide for their families. They definitely could use a break. There's older Americans who are still working long hard hours etc.. Working too hard and not getting a break could eventually lead to health problems, maybe even getting injured on the job depending on your job. I think paid vacation would greatly benefit Americans mentally and physically. This is turn like the Moore documentary said would lead them to be happier employees. The main focus of this blog post is to summarize and analyze the film by Michael Moore called "Where To Invade Next".
In the film Moore visits European countries, as well as Tunisia in North Africa. Moore's main focus of this film is to show what America as a whole country can learn from other countries in the world. Moore talks about topics such as the prison system, the educational system, female rights and female equality to men in the work place, amongst other similar topics. Amongst many of the countries Moore and his team visited in the documentary was France. He pointed out the difference in France's school lunch. About how better and more nutritionally superior their school lunches are compared to our lunches here in the U.S. He talked about the difference in sexual education, as well. And about how the French aren't taught abstinence but more so taught about how to engage in such acts in a responsible way – its not seen as a taboo topic. Moore then went on to talk about other educational differences such as how Finland doesn't have the whole standardized testing thing as we do in this country. As well as, their lack of homework and fewer school hours. He also touched on the difference in the prison systems between America and countries such as Portugal and Norway. How differently inmates are treated and the kind of life they live behind bars- where they aren't necessarily even behind bars but live in comfortable and accommodating living spaces. He went on to also talk about Iceland and how they had the first female president, back in the 80's. And the importance of females in government and in the work place in general. Moore concluded the film with mentioning and reflecting on how America can learn from these other countries, but also realized that most, if not all of these countries had borrowed these ideas from America to begin with. The film left me personally, with a feeling of hope because why cant America make positive changes and follow suit from these countries if we are partially the inspiration for their way of living and being? And I think eventually with work, we can. I am now going to get into my rhetorical analysis of this film. I believe that Michael Moore established Ethos is this film, by strictly backing up what he was talking about. He went and met with various people from these countries, that were important in some way such as being a part of the government, working in schools, prisons etc... The film was mainly composed around fact, with some of Moore's opinions which were mostly driven or backed up with facts on how these countries operate. I believe Moore uses Logos (or logical reasoning) in the same way he uses Ethos. He's informing us and backing this up with fact and physically visiting these places and talking to these people. Moore does a good (even if slightly bias) job at persuading the viewer because of this. Moore also appeals to Pathos, because he's making the viewer (especially if they're an American) take a closer look at us as a country. He's showing the differences in how other countries treat their own compared to how we did/ do. The best example I could think of is the police brutality we have here, as opposed to countries like Norway and Portugal. As well, as the amount of money school costs here in the U.S.A. Even, though I love this country it is saddening to me that we haven't achieved such things yet. It is very thought provoking and makes, you at least feel something. I feel as though Michael Moore's Telos in this film is to inform the viewer, of the differences between our country and others. And show us, better or more effective ways to run things. It also lets the viewer form their own opinion although, I feel as if he personally is saying America should adopt these things. In the end, Moore isn't against America, but believes America could do a better job at certain things. I believe Moore's main idea is that America is better than our educational system, or prison system or workplace discriminations and should make positive changes. As far as the Kairos of this films goes, I believe it was a good moment in time to release this film because a lot of young people are out spoken and making moves and letting their voices be heard. A lot of positive change in diversity is happening – such as the legalizing gay marriage, as Moore mentioned. Although people are set in their ways, and we have certain people in office, I think this film most likely did, can or would impact its viewers, especially with the younger generation- the future of America. This blog post is about the reflective writing video that I watched as part of my blog assignment, to write about my process in my life choice memoir. I watched this Reflective Writing video after starting my life choice memoir, but wish I had watched it prior to starting. It explains the approach in which you should write if you are reflective writing, and the difference between that and descriptive writing. It explains how when using this method of writing, you shouldn't just explain what happened in the past (something I'm very guilty of doing) but also explain what you were thinking during the whole process. Such, as what you were thinking when the event took place, and why, and what you thought after. Reflective writing seems to me to be more about letting the reader and you yourself know what your inside thoughts and reasoning for making decisions are, or were. It’s a way of getting to know yourself better, and getting down to the nitty gritty places in your mind. After watching this video I definitely am going to change my writing on my life-choice memoir. Though I'm still in the early phases, I feel as though I know how I want to deliver my story better now. For the second part of this blog post I have to answer some questions of my writing process for writing my life choice memoir. (Link to be posted, not yet posted).
But also reflective, because I'm letting the writer know my thoughts, as I tell the story.
Also, I want to get my sister to look over what I wrote, since the topic is very close to her as well and since she is an English major. Working with my teacher, as well as getting feed back from close friends and peers will help me approach the writing in a way I probably myself wouldn’t realize was possible. Hills Like White Elephants is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. The reason for this post is to fill the reader in on what is happening, and to decide for myself if the girl stays with the man. Also I am going to post my own story of a time I had to make a difficult choice to either leave or stay in a relationship.
The story starts with a man and a girl waiting for a train, sitting in a bar having beers. The man and girl later discuss an operation of sorts. The whole story is pretty much vague. From what I gathered from the dialogue, it seemed to be a high-tension situation. The man seems to be letting the girl know, once the operation is done everything will be "fine" and they can go back to being happy. The girl seems distracted to me, and doesn’t seem to agree with the man although assures him she does. The reading, was quite confusing to me and hard to really understand. But what I took from it is, that they want to start their life together and be together, but clearly the man doesn't want to have the baby. I believe the couple doesn't stay together and the girl choses the baby, and leaves the man (since it seems as though he is giving her an ultimatum) The ending line "I feel fine, there's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine" makes me believe that, and the girl's attitude seemingly shifts, as though she has made the right decision (keeping the baby and not going through with the operation). A tough choice I had to make was a few years ago, I was in a relationship with a guy, Shawn, for about 2 years (my longest relationship at the time). We were both very young at the time, and things happened very quickly. It was a very unique relationship considering he was very outgoing and I was quite the opposite. Somehow it worked and he brought out a different side of me. Shawn was in a band, and I would go down to Fish town to see him play almost every week (sometimes we would play together at shows). It was exciting, the alcohol was always flowing, and it was just a great atmosphere. It felt like a revolution even, to be there with so many young musicians, having fun and making music and standing for something. This went on for months, years. It was just bliss and a whirlwind and me and Shawn got closer and closer. Eventually, Shawn's attitude started to change, we would go out to these shows but the lights didn't seem to shine as bright as they once did. It got darker, Shawn would get more and more jealous of the people I would talk to – men and women alike. But I didn’t let it bother me, after all we were in love. I put up with this for a few more months. It wasn’t too long after that, I met someone at work. Andrew, who ended up being an amazing friend at the time. Shawn was livid and jealous of this friendship. He was starting to show signs of abuse, almost at least emotionally and verbally. But, Andrew was just a friend. Right? Yes. He was, but the more I got to know Andrew and see how different he was from Shawn I realized I kind of really was into Andrew. He was more caring and interested in what I had to say and just, everything Shawn wasn't anymore. My feelings seemed as though they were shifting, although I didn't want to admit that to myself or either of them. It wasn't until later that year, when my dog, Lucky died that I ended up making a choice. Andrew had gotten me flowers and a card, sorry for your loss. He had brought food to my house because I was too sad and torn up about my dog passing away to make food or go out and get some, she had been my companion for 8 years after all. Andrew let me talk to him for hours about my dog and cry. Shawn came to my house later that week, and had seen the flowers my friend had gotten me. Instead of saying kind words and being comforting about my loss. He got mad and jealous because of the flowers and accused me of cheating. He would throw things and name-call for quite a while now but I had gotten use to it. This was the turning point because instead of being there for me, he was hateful and nasty and not, sympathetic. And I realized then, I couldn't and wouldn't be with Shawn. So I broke it off with him not too long after my dog passed. It was tough because I did love him at some point and we did have great times, but he eventually just got so focused on his anger and jealousy. Andrew gave me space, and told me he understood what I was going through. After a few months, Andrew asked me out on an actual date. I agreed and we have been inseparable since. No jealousy, no bull so I am glad I made the decision I did even though I had a past with Shawn I knew we didn’t stand a chance at a future. This blog post is about the pod cast 'What You Don’t Know' by Lulu Wang.
In the podcast Lulu talks about when her grandmother was diagnosed with Lung Cancer, and how her family went about telling or in this instance, not telling her. Lulu's grandmother is from China, and in China when people are terminally ill, especially the elderly the doctors inform their close relatives and let their family do what they wish with the information. As opposed to letting the sick person themselves know their diagnosis. Lulu's father and mother chose to keep this information from Lulu's grandmother(Nana). The rest of Lulu's family agreed with this decision and chose to keep Nana in the dark. The reasoning behind this was because they didn’t want to worry Nana. Nana's little sister also believed that by not telling Nana they would protect her from the disease taking over. If she was oblivious to the fact they believed she'd live longer and with much more joy (based on an ancient Chinese belief.) Lulu's family had Lulu's cousin's wedding early as a way to get all of the family together to say goodbye to Nana in one place, and at the same time not let her know they were saying goodbye. In the end, Nana ended up living longer than the doctor's had predicted. Years longer. I personally, did not agree with the Wang family's choice to deceive Nana. I believe if anyone is sick, especially if given three months to live that it is their right to be aware of that. I believe Nana should've have had the proper medical treatment against this disease. However, their reasoning behind hiding the truth from Nana makes sense as they don’t want to see her suffer more and worry and be devastated by her impending doom. Ignorance, after all, is bliss. I think they also wanted to spend what could've been their last moments with Nana, in the purest way possible and just enjoy her company. But while I do understand this, I don’t agree with this. Nana may have gotten lucky with the Cancer and living years past what her family was told without medical treatment, but I think it was just that.. luck. Every sick person deserves to know they're sick and get the medical treatment they deserve. They also should have the knowledge of their terminal illness to make arrangements for their family etc.. I've had to make an important choice before to with hold truth from someone I care about in order to protect them. A few years back my friend, lets call him Jeff was going through a very difficult time. He was dealing with a lot of family issues and decided to turn to heavily drinking in order to numb his feeling or maybe just forget all that was happening. Jeff's drinking had gotten out of control, and after a heavy night of drinking he ended up in the ER. Eventually after getting treated Jeff was sent to a rehabilitation center. There Jeff met a girl, who we'll call Stacy and they completely hit it off. Jeff and Stacy eventually both got out of rehab within weeks of each other, and made plans to meet up on the outside. Before long Jeff and Stacy were inseparable and began dating. I became very good friends with Stacy, as I was always around her since Jeff was one of my best friends. There was one night where I was hanging out with Stacy and a few other girl friends of Stacy's and Jeff wasn't around. This had to be maybe 4 months into their relationship. Stacy and her friends were telling stories about how they meet guys online and agree to go out on dates with them. When I confronted Stacy and asked if Jeff knew she shrugged me off, saying she only does so for free food or free drinks and that she doesn’t cheat on Jeff. I then told Stacy that this was not only dangerous(since many of the men were older and she met up with them in shady places) but I also pointed out that if it wasn’t a big deal she wouldn't keep it from Jeff. Stacy said she would stop doing it, and begged me to not tell Jeff. But also assured me she never cheated and loved Jeff. It was hard to keep from Jeff but I did chose to keep my mouth shut the next time I saw him, and the time after that and after that... I thought maybe Stacy wasn’t doing anything other than getting a free meal even though I didn’t agree with it, she did swear it was true. Plus Jeff was finally happy with her and why should I ruin that? Some weeks past and I got a call from Jeff, he informed me that him and Stacy decided to go separate ways, because she had apparently met someone online. I felt instantly horrible, for being lied to from Stacy but even worse for with holding the little information I had from Jeff. I figure Stacy herself probably felt guilty or maybe she didn’t trust me to keep her little secret. Jeff took it pretty hard, but before long he was happy again. While, I slightly regret my decision to not tell Jeff I kind of think he wouldn't have believed me anyway. Sometimes it's better for people learn the truth on their own. I don’t think my lying was similar to that of the Wangs because of the situational differences. While Jeff, did deserve to know it may have not been my place to tell him. But I believe it is the doctor's place to tell you if you're dying, and your family's. Both outcomes turned out pretty decent though. The reason for this blog post is to share my views about this reading My Name is Margaret (Maya Angelou). The story is basically about a young African American girl, working for a wealthy white woman. The main character Margaret goes through many mixed emotions about the woman she's working for, Mrs. Cullinan. Mainly she talks about how ugly and fat she is, but then once learning she can't bare children she starts to feel remorse for her. Margaret's remorse soon changes, when Mrs. Cullinan starts referring to her as Mary instead of Margaret (something one of Mrs. Cullinan's friends suggested). Mrs. Cullinan referring to Margaret as Mary didn't sit well with her, as she felt it was unfair for the woman to rename her as though she was property that belonged to her. She later, purposely, broke Mrs. Cullinan's favorite china which had belonged to her mother in hopes of leaving this job.
I didn’t exactly agree with Margaret's decision to break the casserole dish and the two cups, while I did understand her reasoning for doing so. During this time period black girls and women weren't treated the same or even close to white women. While Mrs. Cullinan did refer to Margaret as a "sweet little thing", I don’t think she did so to sound condescending in anyway. I think that was her way of saying something nice about Margaret. What I'm guessing set off Margaret was seeing the way Miss Glory was treated, and how she just accepted it. She accepted the name change given to her by Mrs. Cullinan and seemingly acted somewhat happy and/ or grateful for the job she held, in my opinion. Once Mrs. Cullinan started calling Margaret "Mary" I think she took that to heart as something very disrespectful, and rightfully so. I do however think Margaret could've handled this situation in a better, more mature way. She could've simply confronted Mrs. Cullinan, even if she was scared to. The worse thing that then could've happened would be Mrs. Cullinan telling her to not correct her and asking her to leave, but she would've at least looked good standing up for herself. And having a voice in that way. Or who knows, maybe Mrs. Cullinan would've stopped calling her Mary. Its all very hard to say but I think Margaret could've handle this situation with more grace and maturity. But I do think she did get her point across, in kind of a rebellious bad a** way and I appreciate the read. The second part of my blog post is to share an experience I had, similar to Margaret's in the way of having to make a tough decision to resist (or not resist oppression) of some sort, and stand up to an authority figure. The most recent and most relevant thing I can think of is when I quit my job, in the Fall of last year. I was working, probably the closest thing I've had thus far- to a real job. I was working in the medical billing field for a well-known podiatrist. I started the job early last year, I had no experience in the field so he trained me himself. I very much enjoyed the job because I was working with my sister, I loved all my other co-workers and the pay was really good. The only problem I had was with the doctor himself. He was an absolute nightmare. He was an older man and had gotten this far by treating his staff like crap. The other 3 women my sister and I worked with had been working for him for 10-20 years. They were use to his attitude and how he would tear them down and yell at them as if they were misbehaving children – anytime they made even the slightest mistake. This didn’t sit well with me. I tried for almost 7 months to just take it, and not let it get to me. It was after I came back from Disney World in November that I realized I had enough. He was yelling at me about something that wasn’t directly my fault, I had just gotten back from vacation. He started cussing, very unprofessional. I had enough, so I stood up from my desk and I thanked him for the opportunity he had given me. I then told him what a horrible miserable person he was and walked out of his office. And I never went back. In many ways I feel that I could've handled the situation much better, just like Margaret could've. But I suppose when you're in a situation such as hers and mine, you just want out and you don’t want to take the disrespect anymore. I was unemployed for a few weeks, which honestly wasn't fun. I could've put in my two weeks and found a job while still employed with him. But to be completely honest, I don’t regret walking out on that job and standing up for myself. Since then, my sister and another staff member have left and that makes me happy. I have picked 3 different quotes from three different readings. The reason I picked these quotes is because they stood out to me and I could relate these to my own thoughts about writing and my own process.
The Daily Writing Routine of Great Writers by Maria Popova "You have started at six in the morning, say, and may go on until noon or be through before that. When you stop you are as empty, and at the same time never empty but filling, as when you have made love to someone you love. Nothing can hurt you, nothing can happen, nothing means anything until the next day when you do it again. It is the wait until the next day that is hard to get through." -Ernest Hemingway "A writer takes earnest measures to secure his solitude and then finds endless ways to squander it. " -Don DeLillo "I need an hour alone before dinner, with a drink, to go over what I’ve done that day. I can’t do it late in the afternoon because I’m too close to it. Also, the drink helps. It removes me from the pages. So I spend this hour taking things out and putting other things in." -Joan Didion Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott "I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident." -Lamott (5) "Very few writers really know what they are doing until they've done it." -Lamott (5) "And writing is about filling up, filling up when you are empty, letting images and ideas and smells run down like water- just as writing is also about emptiness. -Lamott (13) Teach Writing as a Process Not a Product by Don Murray "A student who clearly understands his purpose is not likely to be trapped by an accidental sequence of ideas, for he will recognize when he is going astray." -James McCrimmon (xi) (11) "The pieces of writing I have not yet thought of writing will become different from what I expect them to be when I propose them to myself. My constant is change." -Don Murray (xiv) (14) “Writing is primarily not a matter of talent, of dedication, of vision, of vocabulary, of style, but simply a matter of sitting. The writer is a person who writes.” -Don Murray (xv) (15) My Writing Process Quotes "Writing is like math, problem solving, trial and error. You just kind of wing it for a while and you go back and see if there is anything you can use and fix." "Sometimes having a light at the end of the tunnel, or goal to shoot for can help the process but more often than not I find myself arriving at a different place in the end which then means the journey was even more meaningful that I had originally planned." "Sometimes I feel like writing is like cheese, there is a lot of different kinds and styles and they all stink." |