Dawn

       Barnsey had to go to his grandmother’s house for christmas. He was complaining to his mother that what if he sat next to a strange person the whole way. His mother was like, don’t even go there. He was only thirteen years old. At least his mother didn’t pay attention to what she was buying for him, a lot of junk food. He got on the bus there were no other seats except for the one next to a girl name Dawn.she was the total opposite of him. She had nine earrings, nose rings, and a mohawk, orange and purple.she dressed in all black and had walkman on. When he dropped his cassettes he accidently got the tapes mixed up with Dawn. So when he was listening to the music he thought he heard nothing. Then he listened closely and heard soft music with rain noises. Dawn said that one band was rubbish. He thought about that word a lot. The bus had to stop because it was snowing badly. So a tavern offered to take them in for a bit. The bus driver gave the twenty dollars back. In the tavern, Dawn got in a small fight with some men but at the end they ended up laughing. But once Barnsey arrived at his grandmother’s home he had gotten the shock of his life. His parents are divorcing, and he will be living with his father. So he ran away but his father came to the station to see him. At the end of the story he gave the walkman to his father and said, “Listen.” They were listening to the rainforest music.

       I had experience that because my parents are dicvorced. They got divorced when I was around two or three. Me and my brother lived with my father. We moved to Florida and he got remarried. We stayed there until I was about eight and we left my step family. We moved back to Virginia and stayed there. When I was in middle school my brother didn’t want to live with my father so he left to live with my mother, and grandparents, eventually living in Florida with a roommate. My mother has also remarried. I like my step father. He is nice and funny. I have lived with my father since.sometimes it is hard having divorced parents because I don’t like going back and forth. But one positive thing is that my parents only live fifteen minutes away from each other. If my father says no about something and my mother doesn’t care but she rather me ask my father because she doesn’t want my father mad

On the Rainy River & The Setting Sun and the Rolling World

In the story “On the Rainy River”, the author O’Brien reminisces about the time he ran away from home to avoid being drafted into the war.  In June of 1968 he graduated from Macalester College with summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, president of student body and full ride scholarship for grad school at Harvard. He got his draft notice on June 17. When he opened it he felt like he was too good for the war. He hated the dirty things and camping. He didn’t like blood. He’s not very good at listening. That summer he was a declotter, which means that he gets rid of the clots from the dead pigs. One day he just dropped his water gun and walked out of the factory. He went home to pack and wrote a simple message to his parents. Then he left. He drove north towards Canada. He stopped at the lodge called Tip Top Lodge and stayed there for six days. The man didn’t say anything and asked nothing about why O’Brien came. They played games together and ate together.  At the end he realized he should not rum from his fears and should face it. He went back home and went into the war. He survived, but called himself a coward. If that was in his shoes and I was getting drafted I wouldn’t run away. I would face being drafted. I wouldn’t be a deserter because I would have to face the consequences once I was caught.

In the story “The Setting Sun and the Rolling World”, I feel like the setting was based in Africa or some country like it. Mungoshi was telling his father that it was time for him to leave his home and find something better. The father was telling him to think about it and that the land and his family needs him. But Mungoshi was stubborn, saying that the land was overworked. Finally the father gives Mungoshi his blessings. He states that the land is still his and as long as the father is still alive the home is open to him. I would leave home to find something better for me even if it means leaving home. I would want a better future for myself.  I would work until I am successful then I would come back home and help my parents. I have never worked on a farm so I don’t know anything about farm life. But one day I would like to live on a farm to get experience.

Beautiful & Cruel/Trip in a Summer Dress

In the short story of Beautiful and Cruel, the first sentence I see is “I am an ugly daughter.” I felt that she shouldn’t say negative words like that about herself. It looks like she is a teenager going through puberty. Cisneros’ sister says she wont wait her whole life for a husband to come and get her. She reminds me of the popular girls that get what they want and play hard to get. She wants to pick her own husband. Cisneros decides to rebel by becoming the opposite of what women are viewed as in society (clean-looking with manners.) she doesn’t want to give in to what women must do when they grow up. She has become a feminist by starting her own quiet war. Which means that she leaves the table like a man, not putting back the chair or cleaning up after herself.

In the Trip in a Summer Dress, I felt a little sad because Sanford got pregnant at 15 and her mother took her son under her wing. Matthew calls her mother, “mom.” Sanford desperately wanted to tell him that he is her son, not grandmother’s. Sanford and her mother went to her uncle’s house to stay until she gave birth. The family didn’t want the people back at her home to know that Sanford was pregnant because at that time getting pregnant and unmarried was frowned upon. Later when Matthew was a little older she tried to explain about the birds about a different bird was taking care of a baby bird. Matthew didn’t understand. Sanford got on the bus to go to Eureka Springs, Arkansas to get married to a guy name Bill Richards. She didn’t listen to her mother about bringing her jacket. She befriends a little girl on the bus.  Her parents are divorced so she visits her parents during the week and other parent on weekends. Sanford called her mother because she wanted Matthew to know the truth. She wanted to tell Matthew that she is his mother, not the grandmother.

I never had experience with having a child at a young age but I do have experience with divorced parents. My parents have been divorced since I was three I think. I lived with my dad all my life. I never really visited my mom until we moved back up to Virginia. Then I visited her ever couple weeks. Now both of my parents are remarried. I like my mom’s side of family because they are more open-minded and like to have fun. My dad’s side is more humble. They are catholic. But I don’t mind it because my grandparents spoil me. So does my dad ha-ha.

Language and Thought

          

           When reading the article English is andocentric (built in bias towards men), I felt like its all about sexist and language. When it said language was created by men, I was like “WTF?’ Then I started to realize men created it. Even though there are fewer words relating to women than men, reality is that there are 220 English terms for a promiscuous FEMALE and only 20 for a MALE. In the past, I know that women were like the person behind the curtains waiting for their moment to shine. They finally start to shine when they had Acts and Laws passed for their rights. Men built English because men controlled society, and The People with the Power were men in society who can build their point of view into the language. The typical male that society view as were men that were white, straight, middle-aged, and able-bodied (average weight.) So basically insulting the ethnic community and the LBGT community. So the people who are not the typical male were ugly, fat, too skinny, short, tall, dumb, weird-looking teeth, glasses, have disabilities, illnesses and a different economic status.

            People don’t notice language is biased unless it affects them. According to page 128, it states that it’s not the word itself that is racist, sexist or whatever. It is the meaning that we give them. In the debate between thought and language, it is thought that language was controlled by thought but some say it is thought that is controlled by language. Language can affect our thinking by helping our thought process. Like the act of explaining something to someone else often helps you understand it better yourself. One example would be a deaf person signing to another explaining what a word means. The more that person explains the more that person would understand him/herself. Even though thought and language are interdependent, language often assists thought and we have to think to understand and use the English Language. What does euphemism means? It means words that present their subject in a favorable light. Imagine you are watching television and an ad comes on. You see a product that looks odd looking. The person telling you about it is saying that the product is exquisite and is easy to use. You immediately think, “that thing??” even though it doesn’t look the best the person will try to advertise it to sell the product.