#21 Week 3- The Lottery by Shirley Jackson pg.136-141

           The story starts with a small town on a special day. The day is the lottery, where everyone in town lines up and draws a paper. The town is small, only about three hundred people, so the narrator states that the lottery doesn't take long, only one day. Children play with pebbles, and then the mayor calls everyone to get in the line. One woman, Tessie Hutchinson, is late, but is still greeted warmly. Then the townsfolk start talking about other towns who have stopped doing the lottery, which Old Man Warner comments on negatively. The scene is also set; a town that sticks strongly to traditions and doesn't deviate from them/change. The drawing commences and Mrs.Hutchinson gets the slip of paper with the black dot. The people of  the town begin stoning her to death, where even the smallest child is given pebbles to throw.

         At first, I thought that the lottery was going to be a good thing, I mean, when I think of lottery, I think of winning money. As the story progresses, I, as the reader, began sensing that something was amiss. My suspicions were confirmed when the friend of Mrs. Hutchinson's daughter proclaims that she hopes her (the daughter) won't be chosen. Then they start throwing stones, and I start thinking how barbaric the people in this story are. I did not like the ending, and the story was just weird.

#20 Week 2- Always Keep to Your Point; Stick to It Tenaciously- pg. 44-46

         An example is given, but it is not great, and can be improved. It begins with a good topic sentence, but then it gets side tracked. Demonstrating the article's main idea; keep to you topic, and don't stray. As a writer you connect the parts of your essay yourself, and make sure that all relationships are clear. You should start, use details/facts, and then return to your essay to demonstrate how the fact is relevant to your essay. A line is diagram is used with a topic line (to which you must always return), and an exemplifying line (which is your writing, with details), and a point at the end where the two lines meet, where your goal is reached. Develop a few topics clearly and with purpose, not many topics without purpose.

        I enjoyed this article's use of a line diagram. The paragraph preceeding this diagram did not offer a very clear picture of how to write, and what it was talking about, but the line diagram really clarified things. The multiple examples, along with how they can be improved, were also of immense help. I also think that its final paragraph's message was also very important; quality over quantity. This article is at least different, I'm glad that the book has finally stopped repeating itself endlessly.

#19 Week 2- Develop an Outline as the Means of Organizing Your Essay- pg. 37-38

         So far in the book, the author was discussing a normal outline, or a plan of organizing your essay. Some writers use lists, others use outlines, some make the outlines after they write the essay, and some authors don't use outlines at all. But whatever you use to organize your essay, it should have a tight structure that is easy to follow, and doesn't confuse readers. The outline they are refering to in this article is called the "analytical sentence outline". This outline has an introduction (with a central idea and thesis), topic sentences that can be used in each paragraph of the body, and ending with a conclusion. The conclusion is the freest part of an outline, it can be almost anything, as long as it ends the essay.

       I wasn't sure what to think about this article. I'm one of those people that don't like outlines. When I write, I only make an outline at the very end, and only when I absolutely have to. I like to just write what comes to mind, and then organize everything after I'm finished writing. The conclusion is the freest part of an essay, I kind of agree with, but it is also one of my least favorite parts of the essay. The conclusion seems to pressure you to be the best part of the essay.

#18 Week 2- The Use of Verb Tenses While Discussing Literary Works- pg. 36

         Literary works come into life anew with every reading, thus it is plausible that everything happening takes place in the present. So, when writing about a literary work, you have to use the present tense. One exception is when dealing with two different time frames, in this case you introduce the past (in the past tense) and then go to the present (in the present tense), but make sure to keep your tenses straight. When writing about the author you can use the past tense, but when referring to the author with their work, use the present tense.

         I found this interesting and refreshing. It provided a needed break from the same old repetitive stuff. I did not know this information either, and it is something that I will almost certainly need to know. It was a good article and provided pretty clear examples, demonstrating their points. These examples included Shakespeare, who everyone recognizes. It's last paragraph sums up the work; you will almost always be right if you use the present tense for literary details, and the past tense for historical details. The last sentence however, sounds like something from a science safety contract.

#17 Week 2- One Topic per Paragraph, and Using the Topic as the Arguments for Development-pg.35&37

         Choose one topic per paragraph, and stick with it. If it seems too detailed or long then break it up into smaller subtopics with each getting their own paragraph. These groups of paragraphs are called sections or parts, but each paragraph should still get its own topic sentence. Use your topic sentence to focus your ideas, observations, and conclusions. Details from the story are used to provide extra support for the topic sentence's point of view.

         They should have mentioned this before. The last article made me think that we would have to write very long paragraphs, but I still think that writing a topic sentence for every paragraph is kind of a waste of space. Of course every paragraph should be focused and add to your position, stated in the thesis. Choosing only one topic for each paragraph is also obvious. At least it isn't just repeating over and over again the same boring, old ideas, it finally brings in something slightly new, which you know it will repeat over and over again to death. This book is very repetitive.

#16 Week 2- Create a Thesis Statement and Starting Paragraphs with Topic Sentences-pg. 34-35

          Keep your central idea in mind when writing a thesis statement/ sentence. You should write out the major topics that support you argument (expressing them in the thesis). You can always go back and change your thesis (which is why some people write this last), as it is the most important, and connects all the parts of an essay together. Many times the thesis is placed at the end of the first paragraph (or introduction), where it alerts readers of your essay's structure.As you write, you need to support the points of your thesis. Use a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph, a topic sentence connects your thesis with the paragraph, showing how the paragraph relates to a central idea.

       This seems like a lot of work. Why do you have to write a topic sentence and cover a whole idea in the paragraph, doesn't that make for a very lengthy paragraph, and an unthorough covering of the topic/idea? Wouldn't it be better to break up the paragraph into smaller, less unsightly pieces, that draw the reader's attention and keeps it? I've found that long paragraphs tend to turn off readers (myself being one), and then they don't pay as close attention and may miss your point entirely. I think that you should have one topic sentence for a series of small paragraphs, leading to satisfied (and actually attentive/awake) readers, and a more thoroughly covered idea (which is very important in my opinion). I'm not so sure about following this article's suggestions, I just hope we don't have to do these things for class. Talk about boring.

#15 Week 2- Initial Draft and Base Your Writing on a Central Statement, Argument, or Idea-pg. 32-33

         By this stage you already have most of the materials to build on your topic, but now you need to clarify and reexamine your work. An essay is defined as "an organized, connected, and fully developed set of paragraphs that expand on a central idea, central argument, or central statement". All the pieces of your essay should help the reader understand your essay's idea. Each paragraphs is an argument that should demonstrate how details from the work relate/support it. A successful essay is thorough, yet brief, not long. It can be about/ include any of the points previously stated; character, background, etc. Once you choose an idea you want to use, write it out as a complete sentence that is important for your essay, the next sentence should move your essay towards "exploration and discovery", this is your central argument. Now evaluate your idea, make sure it's valid, and then you can make an outline/ list, lastly you should use your ideas as evidence and to connect your central argument. Details are essential.

        This article restates previous ideas of developing your ideas/ argument. It suggests that you use evidence, since it will bolster your argument, and I agree, the best way to establish credibility is to support your ideas with evidence and facts. My favorite part of these articles is their suggestions on possible topics. I liked their suggesting things you can write about, instead of telling you what to do, which they also do in this article. All in all, this article was just repeating the ideas in the previous chapter and brought little new to the reader.

#14 Week 2- A Plus-Minus, Pro-Con, or Either-Or Method for Ideas-pg. 30-31

          A sometimes very helpful way to discover new ideas is by using a contrast system where you list the differences in a story. Dee in "Everyday Use" is used as an example backed up with exerpts from the story listed under two columns, the "Plus: Likable" and "Minus: Not Likable" headings. Putting contrasting observations side by side can be helpful, and will help your writing. Either column in this example could be used as a basis for your argument, or you could use both on the argument that the character is neither completely positive or negative. This is a helpful habit of promoting thought and discovering ideas; it can lead to new perspectives that aren't immediatly obvious to you.

         I thought that this idea could possible be helpful. I haven't tried this method and so I cannot say if it works, or doesn't, but it seems like it could. As for developing new ideas and such, I think that it slightly exaggerates, and that with this method you are just rewriting and organizing information from the story. All of these articles seem a bit pompous and presumptuous, each article seems to think that their way is the best and only way and that it works for everyone. This view point annoys me.

#13 Week 2- The Need for the Physical Process of Writing-pg. 29

          Thinking and writing are two different, yet connected processes, and if you don't write down your thoughts then your thinking is made less efficient and is thus impeded. Writing down your initial thoughts is helpful because you can then go and spread out all your materials, and see everything together. The computer is an invaluable tool that helps expedite your writing and editing process, but one downfall of computers is that you can't spread out everything in front of you, only a small piece is visible; when using a computer make sure to back up your computer files though, or you might lose everything. Also remember, unwritten thought is incomplete thought.

         The main idea of this article is to write, if you don't then you will forget something and your essay will suffer as a result. A valuable tactic when writing is spreading out all your information in front of you, something I find useful as the point is to not have to search and risk losing your train of thought. Writing initial thoughts for me doesn't really help, and I find it a bit distracting. I did take one of its ideas to heart though; unwritten thought is incomplete thought, to which i completely agree. I also agree that having only the limited point of view of a computer isn't as good as having everything you need in front of you, but that the computer's ease of use outweighs its limited view point.

#12 Week 2- Trace Patterns of Action and Thought-pg. 28-29

          A way to discover new ideas is by making a list/scheme for a story/ main idea. Some questions you might answer/ ask are what conflicts appear, where they appear between, how they are resolved, which comes out on top, why, and how do you respond to the winner/loser. Examples of such a scheme are given, they revolve around Dee, from "Everyday Use". You should just start mapping out the patterns and planning your essay. Make especially sure that you account for all of the actions/scenes that relate to your topic, or you might miss a piece of evidence/information.

         Patterns of action and thought in a work can open up areas previously overlooked. Tracing these patterns can help lead you to a conclusion, or strengthen/weaken your already existing one. This continues from the previous article with the message to "just write". I found its suggestions about conflict and the questions surrounding them valuable to my own future essays. I learn from examples, so this article's exerpt/example from the story furthur helped demonstrate its point.

#11 Week 2- Preparing to Write- pg. 27-28

          By this time in the writing process most of the material and information you need you will already have gathered. At this time you will begin developing paragraphs and sketches of what you will use. You should be thinking about what topic you are writing about, what argument/point you will try to make, and your position on this. Jump in and start writing, anything at all, just write and deal with the materials. Keep in mind that your ideas are fluid, constantly changing in favor of better ideas; you can throw you ideas away, move things around, and make other deletions and changes. The most important thing is to start writing.

        This was my favorite article from everything I have read before. I founds its belief that your ideas are always open to change, and that you should just start writing, helpful. The main reason this is my favorite article is one line it contains which I found hilariously amusing, it goes as follows ". . . invariably digressions will occur, together with other difficulties -- false starts, dead ends, total cessation of thought, digressions, despair, hopelessness, and general frustration. Other than this line, the article's message is one of the most practical, and that message is to just start.

#10 pgs. 25-26 Week 2- A Work's Major Ideas and Artistic Qualities + Other Important Approaches-

         These two articles focus on the work itself. One of main ways to focus on a work is to follow certain ideas, values, or issues in the work. Then, the work's artistic qualities are not illustrations but rather how the story is written. Some artistic qualities of a work are writing style and organization/plan. These articles also go into detail about the story "Everyday Use", Mrs. Johnson narrates and that gives us more insight into Dee and then Maggie. The story also strongly uses symbolism; the house fire, and Mrs. Johnson's "rough, man-working hands". A writer could also use the humor in "Everyday Use" or Maggie, even though she isn't the main character. Other ideas that aren't obvious might come to you, and they could be just as important and interesting.

        I didn't like these articles as much as the previous ones. Even though they continue with the theme of ideas/ helping write your essay it didn't seem to catch my attention like the others. One thing that did interest me was the idea that artistic qualities didn't have to be actual art or illustrations. The one thing that did catch my eye was the idea of writing just about Maggie or that unusual ideas/ aspects could become the main focus of your paper. I couldn't picture writing a whole essay just on Maggie, but I did appreciate their advice to keep your mind open to explore new ideas/ ways of seeing things and thinking.

#9 Week 2- Historical Period, Background, Economic and Social Conditions- pg. 24-25

       One obvious question about a story is what time it takes place. How well does the story portay detail about life during the time of the story, this is important because it effects the thoughts of the characters. Another topic is the character's economic and social level. One approach to writing a paper is from a feminist approach (or child's, or man's). This provides you with a way to discuss a work, and to analyze what a work says about the condition of being in that category during that time period. Another important topic is race/ethnicity, it offers deeper insight into the characters and story itself.

      I liked these articles. They offered possible points of discussion/ topics for a paper, and this is important to me as a student in english class. I never really considered the race or feminist point of view and its implications in the story. I just read something and then wrote about it, answering whatever questions where asked. These articles also continue the idea of the previous article, offering more insight into characters, and helping to create a more well rounded essay. If nothing else, it provides food for thought.

#8 Week 2- Study the Characters in the Work-pg. 23-24

      You can write a paper on just the characters in a story; analyzing them, discussing them, and raising the issue about the characters represent and do in the story. You can write about how the characters are at the beginning of the work, what happens to them, and how they change. The change in the characters can be especially important; what causes them to change, was it good or bad, and what kind of change took place. You can also write about if the characters confirm to what others call "normalacy", or if they do/do not do what is expected of people in their position; do they correspond to type. How are the characters affected by their enviroment/circumstances. Parents are not supposed to have favorites, but in both fiction and real life they do.

      I liked this article about characters and writing about them. I think that this would be easy to write about, as compared to other subjects like setting and how it affects the story, which would be more difficult. The last part about how parents try to treat their children equally, but inevitably have favorites is true, and thus even more interesting (at least in my opinion). The last sentence poses the question if Mrs. Johnson's change from Dee to Maggie is logical or illogical, if it is within the limits of what we think of as normal. I think it is not usual, but it was for the best.

#7 Week 2- Discovering Ideas (Brainstorming)- pg. 21-23

       The earliest stage or writing, where you discover what you will write about by creating ideas and then narrowing them down to one, is called "brainstorming". During this phase of the writing process, writers should also try to introduce purpose and resolution to their thoughts. The writer must zero in on a specific idea which they will later develop and build on. One way of finding this idea is to create a sunburst diagram (my own name). This diagram consists of a circle in the middle for the topic/ literary work, and multiple rays of varying lengths. The rays represent possible paths of thought/ ideas, where the ray's length is proportional to its importance/ intrest to you. The points in the diagram represent your ways of discovering ideas about the work you will write about. The examples they use are characters, historical period/ background, social/economic conditions, major ideas, artistic qualities, and additional approaches.

        This article is a continuation of previous articles in that it is about the writing process and focusing in on one thought. It explains the process of coming up with ideas and then narrowing them down. I think that the diagram they show is interesting, but it is just another (slightly more attention grabbing) form of the brainstorming diagram we have been shown in school. I agree that you have to first come up with an idea before you can write, but I think that what you use to come up with that idea is a matter of personal preference and that no one way is right. The categories they used of main ideas are interesting and I thought that it was one of the best ideas in the article.

#6 Week 2- The Goal of Writing: To show a Process of Thought- pg. 19-21

       Writers should explain the work they are trying to analyze, not restate events in the work. The article states "Good writing should be the embodiment of your thought; it should show your thought in action". Thinking doesn't just happen, it requires that you develop you thoughts/ ideas, make conclusions, and support them with details; connecting everything clearly. When writing, you should have a prevalent thought/ thoughts in mind, steering your work in one direction, not several. There are four stages to thinking/writing, in the first, the writer tries to find details to help their writing. In the second stage you write drafts/ sketches; ideas, sentences, then paragraphs. The third means organizing wht you have written. The fourth and last stage is where you revisit your writing, keeping your mind (and your writing) open to change and improvement.

       This article uses examples to demonstrate the points it tries to make. Its examples are from "Everyday Use", and focus on Dee. The point this article makes is to develop a direction to your writing and stick with it. The last paragraph is about the four stages of writing, where it explains each stage and what happens in that stage. This article stresses using your own ideas and not retelling the story, found it invormative and relevant to my writing class.

#5 Week 2- Writing Does Not Come Easily- for Anyone- pg. 19

       The purpose of a composition and literature class is to help you develop you capacity to think and clearly/ fully express your thoughts and ideas. The process of writing is not automatic, it begins with hesitation and uncertainty, and then evolves into clarity and confidence with careful guidance and much work. Good writers also make mistakes, and their first drafts are vague, incomplete, and messy. They build on those ideas, reconsidering parts, restating others, discarding details, adding others; rearranging, rewriting, and changing their work. They correct misspellings, sharpen their ideas, and smooth out their work so that it has a natural flow.

       Even great authors have to work hard to write well. That is the main impression that I got from this article, and I found it comforting to know. It describes writing as just a continuous work in progress eventually ending in a complete and fluid work. I thought that this article sent a good message, and that is "never give up". It was definitely better than the last article.

#4 Week 2- Guidelines For Reading- pg. 14

      Write words, situations, and concepts; explain things that are not immediately clear, definitions of words you do not know, and questions you have. Determine what is taking place where and when in the work. Take notes as you read recording your first impressions. These should include your (as the reader's) reactions and responses. Make an outline; describe the story's conflicts, and with what elements of the story they take place. Memorize passages you find important, interesting, or striking.

       There was a lot of repetition in this article. I found some of its ideas boring, some interesting, and some completely unuseful to me. I think that they should have included how to know if something in a passage is important, such as key words/ phrases, and not just what you think is important. If everyone followed these guidelines exactly, their notes would be longer than the story they were reading and thus of no help to them in studying for a test. The article also does not suggest how to go about memorizing something, it just says to memorize them. I disagreed with and disliked this article, and found it to be a waste of ink and paper.

#3 Week 2- Everyday Use by Alice Walker- pgs. 6-13

       This story follows a hardworking, African American, single mother of two daughters. Her youngest, Maggie, is shy, fearful, and ashamed by her horrible scars (which she recieved in a house fire). Her oldest, Dee, is the exact opposite, she changes her name to Wangero, and brings a friend (Asalamalakim) with her when visiting her family (the narrator believes they might be married but doesn't ask).When Dee returns home she uses "Black Power" phrases that her mother and sister don't understand, then she demands multiple items including pieces necessary to make butter and quilts. Her mother finally stands up to her eldest daughter and takes the quilts from her, giving them to Maggie, like she promised. Dee leaves, upset, complaining that they don't understand the true value of their heritage. Maggie smiles, no longer afraid; she and the narrator sit together at the end of the story.

       I really liked this story, though if it had not been for the comments on the side I would not have gotten a large bit of it. I especially love the end where the mother takes the quilts from Dee, and Dee ironically remarks that they don't understand their heritage (ironic since she won't take the time to understand and respect her own). I disliked how Maggie was referred to as "slow", she didn't seem slow to me, just shy. I disliked Dee and loved how lost to her mother, especially since she expected to be able to take whatever she liked, and did not expect her mother to stand up to her; she deserved what she got. I was glad that Maggie finally stopped being afraid and smiled truelly at the end.

#2 Week 2- Types of Literature: The Genres- pgs. 3-5

       There are four categories of literature, called genres, they are: Prose Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Nonfiction Prose. Prose fiction encompasses myths, novels, and short stories; it is also known as narrative fiction. Poetry uses rhyme and structure to intensify its emotional impact, along with devices such as imagery and metaphor. Drama is literature acted out on a stage or film and makes great use of character's dialogue. Nonfiction prose is a collection of facts in media; news reports, essays, and textbooks.

       I found the multiple genres interesting. I enjoyed the book's description of poetry in particular; paradoxically, its many formal and metric restrictions provide poets great freedom. It classifies the first three types of genres as imaginative literature, but also mentions a type of nonfiction prose called creative nonfiction, and then proceeds in explaining it. It goes into detail about each of the genres, explaining what they are and what they include. I found this article very informative without being boring.

#1 Week 2- What Is Literature and Why Do We Study It?- pg.3

          The word "literature" has come to mean to us compositions or works that tell stories, spread or analyze ideas, recount situations, and express various emotions. But long before we wrote down our ideas, we shared them orally; our oral tradition. No matter the form literature takes, it helps us grow and opens the doors of opportunity for us. It provokes thought, encourages creativity, and strengthens our understanding of both others and of the world we live in.

      I have always considered literature to be written, not spoken. This article opened my own perspective on the word "literature". Many of the ideas it expresses are thought provoking from literature being able to help us grow, both personally and intellectually, to the idea that it makes us human. Though in my opinion, the second paragraph did seem to ramble a bit, and could have been shortened.