My Thoughts on "Why Leaves Turn Color in the Fall'

                              
  "Why Leaves Turn Coloe in the Fall," (1990), is a poetic, scientific essay written by Diane Ackerman, which explains why leaves turn color in the fall.  Ackerman develops the essay by gradually explainig the process  of what causes leaves to change color in the fall.  Ackerman's purpose is to explain the scientific process of  leaves changing colors in a poetic fashion, in order to teach others why the process happens.  Her intended audience is individuals, who although might not be interested in science, are probably fans of poetry.

      I had a hard time reading Ackerman's essay for a long period of time.  Perhaps, the writing style is simply Ackerman's way of writing poetry, it sometimes felt as if Ackerman was doing a little too much in the form of her writing.  For a poem, the essay did not seem to flow gracefully.  Maybe an essay such as this is intended more towards people who enjoy life sciences and can identify more with the subject matter.  As someone who enjoys reading pretty much anything, it was strange to come across a text that had me mentally exhausted after the first two paragraphs.

     The text just did not seem to flow, it seems that when I tried to immerse myself in the essay, I would come across something that made me do a double-take.  Instead of being able to read along and follow the essay, I found myself having to stop and look up the definition of a word in the text.  Even though, I can see how Ackerman used her poetic and scientific knowlede while writing this essay,  I am not so sure that the two blend together very well in her poem.

My Thoughts on "Spanglish"

"Spanglish," (1998) is an article written in TIME magazine by Janice Castro, Don Cook, and Christina Garcia.  The three authors explore on the fact that Spanish is increasingly being used in American society. Castro, Cook, and Garcia develop the essay by using a mixture of both English and Spanish to help the reader understand not only what Spanglish is, but why someone might speak Spanglish instead of English. The writer's purpose is to show others how both the Spanish and English languages have been influenced by each other in America.


Castro, Cook, and Garcia write on a phenomenon that has only increased since 1998.  There are now currently more Spanish speakers in the United States than speakers of Chinese, French, Italian, Hawaiian, and the all of the Native American languages combined.  There are about 35,000,000 people in the United States who speak Spanish as their primary language at home. The influence of English on American Spanish is also very important. In many areas where there is a influx of Spanish immigrants, it is common to mix Spanish and English, thereby producing Spanglish. The new generation of American Hispanics want to preserve knowing and Spanish as equal to knowing English.


The authors of "Spanglish," were not trying to give an opinion on the matter of whether or not one should only speak English when one immigrates to America.  They were simply stating that when you have an influx of foreign speakers, it is almost impossible to expect everyone of them to simply forget their language and culture that preceded their immigration.  Both languages, Spanish and English seem to be expanding off of the other in America.  I believe this was the authors intent, to show how both cultures are trying to learn and cultivate a connection with each other.

"A Man in the Woods" and My Thoughts

      "A Man in the Woods" is a narrative written by Andrew White for his English 1101 class in 2010. White tells his story of how he delivered food and water to needy people in Bankhead Village, Georgia. The men that lived in the village had livelihoods unlike anything most of us would experience. They live in the woods and survive on donations or food that they hunt for themselves. When it gets cold during the winter season, they burn logs and trash to keep themselves warm. When White enters the village with food and water, a man named James greets him and guides him through the village. James dropped off food and water from White at every hut that was inhabited. While White walks through the village, he notices the horrible odor that was coming from the trash that was piled everywhere. White realizes what horrible conditions they are living in and feels grateful for the things that he has.

      This story reminds me of the time I visited Vietnam with my family. Instead of one village, there were several poor villages. There are millions of people in the world who do not live in comfort and prosperity like us. They live harsh lives and are faced with difficult challenges that we have never experienced. This narrative reminds me of how blessed I am and how I need to support these needy people when I have the financial means to do so.

      White probably wrote this narrative to show his experience and uses it as a way to persuade people to not take their lives for granted and to show that there are people out there who are not as lucky as us. We should be thankful for our fortunes and do not forget about the people who are less-fortunate.

  

"The Battle Will Not Be Lost" and My Thoughts

     

      "The Battle Will Not Be Lost" is a compelling narrative written by Sandi Millwood for her English 1101 class in 2008. It retells the story of Millwood and her daughter, Aubrie, and their troubling beginnings. When her daughter was still young, Aubrie was found on her bed with blue lips and was having difficulty breathing. The emergency paramedics rushed Aubrie to the hospital where they found a tumor in her lung. After six hours of grueling surgery, the doctors diagnosed her with a rare form of cancer. Millwood was suddenly struck with a formidable obstacle. After four years, Aubrie won the battle and was cancer-free.

      This story touched me deeply and none of my horrible experiences can even compare to Millwood's heart-breaking battle. Millwood was a young mother that had her life thrown into confusion and depression because of her daughter's disease. This event scarred them for life and will affect them forever.

      Despite the few grammar errors and typos, Millwood wrote this narrative in a riveting way. Her use of words and the way she described her emotions captivates the reader. This emotional story could be easily picked up by any person, especially mothers. The story reminds us of how spontaneous life can be and the obstacles that block our paths.

My Thoughts on "A Lasting Impression"

“A Lasting Impression,” (Oct. 5, 2010), a narrative written by Debra Anderson, explores  Anderson’s memories of her mother’s struggle with alcoholism that ultimately lead to her death.  Anderson  develops the narrative by telling the reader of her mother’s difficult childhood and adulthood, which she thinks lead to her mother’ s addiction to alcohol.  Anderson’s purpose is to show how earlier issues not dealt with could lead one to develop an addiction. Her hope is that others may listen to her story, in order to stop themselves or someone they know from following in her mother’s footsteps.  Anderson addresses those who may be struggling with an addiction or those who may be dealing with someone with an addiction.

My heart goes out to Anderson.  Even though the story only gives the reader a few examples of what her mother had to endure because of her alcoholism, I can only imagine what Anderson had to go through.  Alcoholism does not only affect the life of the person who is an alcoholic, but also the entire family, especially the children.  Hearing the stories of Anderson’s mother is a little depressing, but it helps the reader to understand the steps that more than likely lead to her addiction to alcohol.

Anderson’s view of her mother is not only as an alcoholic, but also as someone who made an extremely strong impression on her life. Instead of thinking less of her mother because of her addiction, she shows the reader two sides of her mother’s life.  She was once a beautiful and successful woman who ultimately falls to the dreadful disease of alcoholism.  Anderson reminds the reader that her mother was more than just an alcoholic, her, ‘’amazing strength, generosity and love,” as Anderson remembers, “gives me the courage to proceed forward in whatever life has in store for me.”

"The Chase" and My Observation

      "The Chase" is written by Annie Dillard, who won the Pulitzer Prize and published dozens of books. "The Chase" describes a certain event during Dillard's childhood. During this time, she was seven years old and was considered "one of the boys". She played sports, such as football and baseball, with the boys in her neighborhood and played them as well as any other boy. Dillard learned something from football. If you fall, concentrate on the ball and try to leap forward. In other words: when you fail at something, try to make the best of it and work hard to achieve that goal.
      On the day after Christmas, Dillard and the rest of the boys come out from their homes looking for something to occupy their time. They gather around the front yard on a house located on Reynolds Street. As cars pass by, they throw snowballs at them to pass the time. Each car moved by at a slow pace and did not really care about the little kids having fun. But then a black Buick rolls along and is hit by the boys. This time, the driver is not so nonchalant. The business-ready dressed man comes out of his car and chases the children mercilessly. They split up and Dillard and one of the boys ends up being the man's main target.
      As the chase drags on, the children are finally caught by the man. After several minutes of catching their breaths, the man finally speaks.

       "You stupid kids," the man blurts out.

       Dillard actually remembers this event as one of the happiest times of her life. She enjoyed the thrill of being chased and the comradery with the other boys. She had fun playing without another care in the world. But who wouldn't enjoy that?
      During my childhood, which was not so long ago, I had great fun in the snow. We would build snowmen and have snowball fights all day long. Dillard's story greatly reminds me of my time in the icy wonderland as a child and brings me a desire to travel back to that time. I had no responsibilities, no grade-threatening exams to study for, and no endless amounts of homework. I had all of the time in the world at my hands and I could do whatever I wanted with it.
      Reading this story brought back those precious memories and entertained me thoroughly. 


~ David N.



      

My thoughts on, "The Garbage Man"

"The Garbage Man," is an excerpt from Sharon Curtin's novel titled, "Nobody Ever Died Of Old Age." Written in 1972, Curtin attempts gives the reader a look into the way society views the elderly. The excerpt tells the story of an elderly man who rambles through his neighbors's garbage cans, and is told through the memories of Curtin herself. The storyline follows Curtin in her childhood as she trails the elderly man in order to get a glimpse of his face, which many people in the neighrhood think will resemble some sort of monster. In the end Curtin finally sees the man face to face, and discovers that he's not a monster at all, but as Curtin puts it, "just a regular old face."

From my understanding of the story, Curtin was trying to express societies fear and prejudice of the elderly . He is thought around the neighborhood to be a kind of, "dirty old man." We read of him being mocked and made fun of by children and adults alike. Perhaps because, he is such an easy target.I comprehended Curtin'd point of the story, but I didn't quite experience the emotional reaction that perhaps the author was hoping for. Though the excerpt was only about six pages, I found myself becoming quickly bored with the story. The ending was a bit of a disspointment. Rather then simply reading the excerpt,  I think if I had read the entire novel, "The Garbage Man" would have produced a more meaningful opinion on my part.

Since this book was written in 1972 and the story was based in the 1940's perhaps that is why I have a bit of a disconnect with the views expressed from the other characters. In my personal experience I've never seen the elderly viewed with this much mockery and disrepect. It's possible people treated older individuals like that in earlier decades, but I dont think it's as common as expressed in Sharon Curtin's novel.