Blog Post #4- homeless people

Kozol Response Q's

1. We are afraid of the homeless children. Why? Because of so many reasons, the mischief they will get into. The disease they care. They are not hygienic and they do not have a place to be that way. It is not fair too these poor little kids but I agree. I have an aunt who doesn't vaccinate her children and I do steer clear of these cousins and I do avoid them because I don't want a disease or sickness. The thing is though my cousins have a home, they bathe, they are clean just not vaccinated. Now imagine a stranger with all of those things, of course you are going to fear this little germy person as sad as it is to say.

2. The cause and effect reasoning of why we treat homeless persons the way we do is simply for our benefit. It states numerous times throughout the article that business owners and restaurant owners don't want homeless people outside of their stores because of appearance and how it makes it look. It lessens the value of places. Another thing that I observed in the readings is it seems like if you give an inch then you're in a mess. For example the little doughnut shop that gave away the doughnuts they'd be throwing away had to stop because of word spread and then is turns to chaos. 

3. My perception of homeless people I feel is the same. I do feel bad for them and I do wish them all the best. However, I work very hard for my things that I have and I feel there are numerous opportunities and chances to succeed in this life if you put in the effort. I would never not allow someone to use a public restroom, or stab someone for sleeping in a park... BUT it is a great reminder that they are people too not a "waste."

Blog #3, What will my formal narrative essay be about?

I think I will be writing about a very personal experience in my life and that is my experience as a wife. I was married from March 2014-July 2015. It wasn't for a very long time but in that short time I have learned a lifetime of lessons. I would like to write my informative essay on this because I have a lot of feelings and feel that this is something I would like to document anyways. I haven't taken the time to write down my feelings about this time period and this is an excuse to do so. I am excited to organize my thoughts and maybe even publish this piece to some of my loved ones.

Responding to Chapters 4 & 5

How did chapters 4 & 5 help me as a writer?

-Writing summaries is something that I struggle with. I even struggle when telling stories to SUMMARIZE what happened. When I was little and I would come home from school my parents would set a 3 minute timer and I would have to tell them about my day in 3 minutes that way I would get the important details and leave out the minor details...that has to be some form of child abuse right? Lol. But for reals, I needed to read about summarizing because this is something I still struggle with today. 

-Writing a synthesis... integrating your own ideas with material from others ideas and resources.

-Paraphrasing 

What is useful about them?

How to summarize- well a summary is the main points of a story, so you will need to have read the material and be able to pick out the main points. A summary can support itself and stand on its own.  Below are the steps SUMMARIZED on how to write a summary.
1. Read the material over and over again until is it understood
2. Identify and underline the main points
3. Write an opening sentence with the title, purpose, and thesis
4. Begin the first point underlined, easy on the quotes and captions
5. Use transitions... So & states, So & So explains, So & So further explains... 
6. Check to make sure you have altered the reading, but not changed the meaning
7. If you did quote be sure you have provided a parenthetical citation

How to write a synthesis- 
1. Understand everything in the sources
2. Underline all major ideas
3. Review all major ideas
4. Find something to explain, prove, contradict, signify, and support your theories
5. Write an outline
6. Check paraphrases and cite

How to paraphrase-
Summarize & Quote

How did chapters 4 &5 not help me as a writer? / What was less useful?

There was not anything I read that I didn't find useful in one way or another. 

Although the descriptive writing was a review :) 

How I Feel About Reading & Writing

Critical and college reading and writing are are probably my #1 struggles in English as well as many other students. I wish I had better skills to learn how to analyze and assess the information. You won't get very far in college if you do not have these skills... So how do you do it?

READING: 

"If reading is to accomplish anything more than passing time, it must be active."

Chapter one teaches us that to be an active reader we need to approach our reading with a reflective and questions in mind. We need to preview the material we are about to read. It is imperative to have a reading journal while reading. Crazy right? Jot down thoughts. Circle words you don't understand. Highlight important phrases. Avoid marking large sections. Make the reading personal to you. 

WRITING:

It doesn't matter what you are writing.. an essay, a text message, an email whatever it is... you need to consider the audience and who will be reading the writing. If you were going to write to three year olds there would most likely be pictures and small word phrases; when writing to a college professor there would be a certain format to follow and it would most likely be in MLA with multiple pages of educational information spouted out. In order to be a successful writer you HAVE to know your audience. Have a PURPOSE. As stated in Patterns for a Purpose you must entertain your reader, express your feelings, inform the reader, and persuade the reader.