Essays

My weakest paper is my research paper. This is because it doesn't really argue what it is supposed to. Really the paper has no argument at all because I haven't finished it yet. But I am sure that I will after talking with Rachel. The hard part about making an argument out of my paper is that I chose Upton Sinlcair's The Jungle as my book. This book was written over 100 years ago, so talking about how it has effect todays culture is somewhat difficult. In the coming days I hope to tie it in to current journalism of the same sort. The kind of journalism that changes the way people think about a facette of society. I have no idea what I could use though becasue most of the media these days are just winers rather than eye openners. Besides that, I can't think of a book like Sinclair's in recent memory.

My stongest paper? My other two papers also lacked a good argument. I guess that is something I need to work on. I suppose that if I made a good argument out of my personal analysis essy it would be the best, because it is my life and I have all the facts I need about it. I also think that the argument I approached in my draft was pretty good. And now I have changed the paper so that that argument is almost harder to make. So there is a lot of fiddling to do, but I think it will be my best.

Clearly...

He would have kept doing what he had been doing. This is what he did. He couldn't stay in one place longer than a few months because he got itchy feet. He was in Bullhead City for a while working at a McDonalds. He seemed happy. Except he was a hobo. But he really thought he could stick around and make a life for himself. But as soon as he thought that he went off and headed back to Franz. As for contacting his parents, only a hollywood ending allows for that sort of a thing. Could there have been one? I guess on his death bed he might have called his parents....except they would most likely be dead too. So maybe he would reconnect with Carine. If his parents died maybe that would be the end of his journeys and he would go back and live a lovely life with Carine.



Nah. Maybe contact Carine, but still live on the move. He had been hurt by his close relationships with his family and always squirmed his way out of close relationships while on the move. He couldn't really stand to be with any of his new companions for too long. He would rotate between them. But going back to Carine would remind him of his father. I really think his father scared Chris off for good. He never talked about him (or anyone else in his family).



I don't really know how to end this. Chris was a man on the move. He avoided relationships, at least those lasting a few months. And he was hurt by his family, one of the reasons he did what he did. So I think he would have kept doing what he had been doing.

Almost Late

I heard that Chris did not have a map before I read the book. That made me angry. I was thinking that some stupid kid went into Alaska and killed himself because he didn't take a map with him. But as I read the book and thought of how Chris was a normal guy trying to accomplish something a little more than normal (or less?) I thought about how not taking a map would make the adventure more adventurous. It reminds me of how I once drove to the middle of nowhere Washington or somewhere between Othello and Pasco to work on a farm for the summer. I did not take a map. I got lost. But I found my way, and somehow felt really cool. Chris was probably looking for that same thing. I think that Krakauer has somehow made me realize that by writing this book. That the unknown is just that awesome? Something like that. And since Chris may have been looking for that awesome part of like the whole idea of a map just became stupid.

I always wondered why he didn't go down river when he realized he couldn't cross the river. Could have saved his life.

have a nice break everyone.

At first I thought the purpose was to bore me to death about how writing is some much more than just putting some words on paper. I really was getting annoyed with all the depth style and memiors have in writing. The whole show don't tell mantra seems to have left her behind for better material that doesn't bore the likes of me. She wrote 9 pages on almost nothing.

That last paragraph helps me understand that writing doesn't require much depth. That it can be boring. Being from Fridley is like gives you as much merit as a women that thinks memoirs are important. The good news is I can relate to this boy. I usually get to a point where I can't write about a topic or I think that if I do, it will be boring beyond belief. But with this story from Patricia Hmpl I have learned that boring beyond belief is acceptable. But I think I will try to my best to give my writing a boost, even though I know I'm not much better at that than Patricia Hmpl herself.

Title

I could tell Krakauer and McCandless had some in common by reading the chapter, but I think I had been comparing myself to McCandless the whole time. So I didn't need the chapter about Krakauer, even though that chapter helped me realize why Krakauer doesn't think Chris is stupid. That probably is a good thing for Krakauer because he established his credibility...in the 15th chapter.
Then chapter 16 is about Krakauer's dad...not Walt. The epigraph for that chapter said something about how love can go unnoticed and eventually lead to a build up of anger or resentment towards that person that doesn't notice. You get mad when people don't care back I guess. You see that in both relationships, and again that gives Krakauer crdibility. So is what I got out of those two chapters from Krakauer. Credibility.

Rhetorical Analysis

First, you guys did a great job. All of them were very nice.

I don't think it mattered what you chose, but pathos seemed more common. I don't think this "paper" was really aimed at ethos or logos, so that might be why. Taylor knew about the supplements, but really he was appealing to your thoughts about the supplements. On first look how would I know Taylor worked at GNC? But it was still affective. Same with Jon's and Kristen's.

I wish I could have done a video. But I don't have a camera, so I did postsecret, I think I still did an alright job.

Music

Well. I listen to John Mayer a lot. Dave Matthews Band, too. Counting Crows here and there.
When I'm listening to John Mayer I can't help but say "you are correct, Mr. Mayer." His song "83" isn't his best (at all), but I like the idea of things going back to the way they were when I was 6. That is when you are really you. What you did when you were 6 carries through to now. "plot a course to the source of the/ purest littel part of me." I would agree.

Then there's this from New Deep with a completely different message: "deep will only bring you down/ you know, I used to be the back/ porch poet with my book of rhymes/ always open knowing all the time I'm probably/ never going to find the perfect rhyme/ for 'heavier things'." Life is complicated, take it easy. You can try to figure out if or why there is a god. But there is no point.

If I were to write this on another day I would write about something else. That's the thing about music. When your mood changes, you connect (or whatever) with other songs. It is a beautiful thing.