In this chapter we learn about how to construct a well written thesis statement. Your thesis should focus on the central idea of your topic and is usually written at the end of the introductory paragraph. The thesis should give enough information to give the reader an idea on what they will be reading and grasp their attention to want to know more.
Once you construct your thesis, you should support your thesis by giving concrete evidence and organize it in a way that will ultimately support your point of view. We also want to include any arguments that are contrary to your thoughts to give the reader a better understanding of the topic and will ultimately help support the reader to be on your side.
After reading this chapter, I will make sure to construct an outline that centralizes on my thesis statement (main idea) and when writing the essay I will make sure that each paragraph will stay on topic to support the central idea. I will also make sure to include any contrary thoughts that can ultimately assist me with having the reader understand why I am writing about this.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
All I Asking For Is My Body, Part I, Dialogue
b. Who is Makot? Do you feel sorry for him? What are your thoughts about him and the way he copes with his parents?
Makot is was the "gang leader" for Kiyoshi, Nobuyuki and Mitsunobu. They were much younger group then Makoto but they looked up to him a lot. Makot felt comfortable hanging out with those kids rather than kids his own age because kids his own age would make fun of him. They would taunt him for how he acted or the way he talked but Kiyoshi pointed out that they were treating him that way because Makot always had money and they others did not. By hanging out with the younger kids, he never got treated less than, and those kids really looked up to him as a bigger brother. Someone that they can confide with and have a great time with.
Of course it is odd that he never wants to hang out with kids his own age which makes me think of other things as to why he is doing this. Is he doing this because he wants to gain their trust and then manipulate them to do anything he wants in order to continue to get the same benefits as before? i.e. the chow fun, movies, candy etc... Or is he really doing this to get away from something that he does not want to share with others? The only other questionable thing that came up was the fact that his parents were never present most of the time until the very end of this section where you finally meet Makoto's mother for a brief moment.
A lot of things came across the this first section that just made you question the relationship Makot had with this younger kids and made me question just as much as Kiyoshi did to his parents as to why he was not allowed to hang out with Makoto any longer. That just brought back a lot of memories of when I was a child and being told who I could or could not be friends with. My parents never gave me a straight answer but just I could not and that I should respect what they say as they are my parents. I hated that so much but they eventually understood that they can not choose who I can be friends with and I can befriend anyone I wanted to and that I would sooner or later learn if that person would be a good person to have in my life. Maybe that is Kiyoshi's parents are trying to teach him, that Makot is not the greatest person to have as a friend and that he will understand at a later time but for now they are trying to protect him from harm that may be coming his way if he were to continue this friendship.
Also, since Makot's parents weren't properly introduced in the first section, you are left to wonder who exactly they are and what it is that they do that made Kiyoshi's parents comment negatively about them? They did not specify exactly what it was that made Makot's parents bad but just the way that they presented it with such secrecy made you think more and eventually find out for yourself. Since his parents weren't around that much, he probably took advantage of that by having them give him money when he wanted it and befriended those kids so he wont feel alone and do things that he might of wanted to do with his parents. Maybe he was just trying to fill a void for his parents working so much throughout the day. We shall soon find out more...
Makot is was the "gang leader" for Kiyoshi, Nobuyuki and Mitsunobu. They were much younger group then Makoto but they looked up to him a lot. Makot felt comfortable hanging out with those kids rather than kids his own age because kids his own age would make fun of him. They would taunt him for how he acted or the way he talked but Kiyoshi pointed out that they were treating him that way because Makot always had money and they others did not. By hanging out with the younger kids, he never got treated less than, and those kids really looked up to him as a bigger brother. Someone that they can confide with and have a great time with.
Of course it is odd that he never wants to hang out with kids his own age which makes me think of other things as to why he is doing this. Is he doing this because he wants to gain their trust and then manipulate them to do anything he wants in order to continue to get the same benefits as before? i.e. the chow fun, movies, candy etc... Or is he really doing this to get away from something that he does not want to share with others? The only other questionable thing that came up was the fact that his parents were never present most of the time until the very end of this section where you finally meet Makoto's mother for a brief moment.
A lot of things came across the this first section that just made you question the relationship Makot had with this younger kids and made me question just as much as Kiyoshi did to his parents as to why he was not allowed to hang out with Makoto any longer. That just brought back a lot of memories of when I was a child and being told who I could or could not be friends with. My parents never gave me a straight answer but just I could not and that I should respect what they say as they are my parents. I hated that so much but they eventually understood that they can not choose who I can be friends with and I can befriend anyone I wanted to and that I would sooner or later learn if that person would be a good person to have in my life. Maybe that is Kiyoshi's parents are trying to teach him, that Makot is not the greatest person to have as a friend and that he will understand at a later time but for now they are trying to protect him from harm that may be coming his way if he were to continue this friendship.
Also, since Makot's parents weren't properly introduced in the first section, you are left to wonder who exactly they are and what it is that they do that made Kiyoshi's parents comment negatively about them? They did not specify exactly what it was that made Makot's parents bad but just the way that they presented it with such secrecy made you think more and eventually find out for yourself. Since his parents weren't around that much, he probably took advantage of that by having them give him money when he wanted it and befriended those kids so he wont feel alone and do things that he might of wanted to do with his parents. Maybe he was just trying to fill a void for his parents working so much throughout the day. We shall soon find out more...
Thursday, April 14, 2011
"This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona” Response
Are you more impressed with the film or the story? Why?
After reading the story and comparing it with the film version, It's unfortunate to say that the video was a lot better. Usually the written version is much better than the video because in most cases the video usually leaves out a lot of key points or does not go into too much detail about on the characters backgrounds.
I would say that the video version did exaggerate a lot when it came to telling this story, like how Thomas parents died in a fire when in the story his father had died while in WW2 and his mother died while giving birth to him. Also, the movie mentions how Victor's father left because of guilt of accidentally killing Thomas parents by causing a fire in a house. When Victor and Thomas leave to Phoenix, in the movie it showed that they left on buss where as in the story they went on plane.
They way that Victor was depicted in the movie, it showed him with so much anger and hatred in which he took out with many people. He was not the most pleasant person to be around with since he was going through so much. Thomas was depicted in the story as someone that was annoying to everyone in which no one wanted to be around with where as in the movie it seemed that people were please to listen to his stories no matter how cheesy they might have sounded.
One key character that was missing in the story was the women who was the neighbor of Victor's father when he lived in Phoenix. I'm not too sure if I find the story to be better than the movie at all, I feel that the movie went more into depth with building character background and explaining why Victor's behavior was the way it was. Yes things were exaggerated but I felt it gave more to the story that was written. The story seemed a little boring compared to the movie.
After reading the story and comparing it with the film version, It's unfortunate to say that the video was a lot better. Usually the written version is much better than the video because in most cases the video usually leaves out a lot of key points or does not go into too much detail about on the characters backgrounds.
I would say that the video version did exaggerate a lot when it came to telling this story, like how Thomas parents died in a fire when in the story his father had died while in WW2 and his mother died while giving birth to him. Also, the movie mentions how Victor's father left because of guilt of accidentally killing Thomas parents by causing a fire in a house. When Victor and Thomas leave to Phoenix, in the movie it showed that they left on buss where as in the story they went on plane.
They way that Victor was depicted in the movie, it showed him with so much anger and hatred in which he took out with many people. He was not the most pleasant person to be around with since he was going through so much. Thomas was depicted in the story as someone that was annoying to everyone in which no one wanted to be around with where as in the movie it seemed that people were please to listen to his stories no matter how cheesy they might have sounded.
One key character that was missing in the story was the women who was the neighbor of Victor's father when he lived in Phoenix. I'm not too sure if I find the story to be better than the movie at all, I feel that the movie went more into depth with building character background and explaining why Victor's behavior was the way it was. Yes things were exaggerated but I felt it gave more to the story that was written. The story seemed a little boring compared to the movie.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Smoke Signals - Response
In what ways do the main characters struggle with culture, family, or identity?
Throughout this movie, we realize that both Thomas and Victor are two completely different people with different thoughts and views of the world. They are essentially one in the same as they are both Native Americans living on a Indian reservation trying to find themselves as who they truly are. It was unfortunate to find out that Thomas had lost his parents at a very young age making it a little difficult for him to grow up with a normal family. A mother and father to go home to everyday after school, or having someone to go up to in order to ask anything that is on your mind. His only family was his grandmother and his cousin Victor as well as his aunt and uncle. However, his relationship with Victor was not the best making it a little difficult for them to really bond as family. Thomas did have a good relationship with Victor's father in which he would constantly tell stories reminiscing the times that they had spent together, one of his favorites was the time that they had gone to Denny's.
Victor is a whole other story. Although he had both of his parents, it seemed as though he had none while he was growing up only because they were constantly drinking making it seem as if they were absent from his life. His parents loved him very much but Victor seemed to feel otherwise. It seemed as though he was extremely angry with how his parents were with him or were not with him. He took out his anger by beating up on Thomas anytime he were to ask him questions that would trigger his anger even more. Victor's life was extremely different compared to Thoma's, in fact they were the complete opposite. Thomas was very happy and calm and loved to tell stories regardless of being true or not. Victor on the other hand lived with a closed mind, everything was a bother for him with so much anger bottled up in him because of his father leaving him and his mom.
Victor and Thomas and different views to what Indians are. It's as if they did not know exactly how an Indian should be. Thomas was all about telling the stories and engaging with other people in order to create a friendship where as Victor was they type of Indian that would want you to feel fear. The bad Indian in order to get what ever it is that he wanted. These views were very different from each other in which it made it difficult for them to understand more of their cultural backgrounds as to who they truly are.
Throughout this movie, we realize that both Thomas and Victor are two completely different people with different thoughts and views of the world. They are essentially one in the same as they are both Native Americans living on a Indian reservation trying to find themselves as who they truly are. It was unfortunate to find out that Thomas had lost his parents at a very young age making it a little difficult for him to grow up with a normal family. A mother and father to go home to everyday after school, or having someone to go up to in order to ask anything that is on your mind. His only family was his grandmother and his cousin Victor as well as his aunt and uncle. However, his relationship with Victor was not the best making it a little difficult for them to really bond as family. Thomas did have a good relationship with Victor's father in which he would constantly tell stories reminiscing the times that they had spent together, one of his favorites was the time that they had gone to Denny's.
Victor is a whole other story. Although he had both of his parents, it seemed as though he had none while he was growing up only because they were constantly drinking making it seem as if they were absent from his life. His parents loved him very much but Victor seemed to feel otherwise. It seemed as though he was extremely angry with how his parents were with him or were not with him. He took out his anger by beating up on Thomas anytime he were to ask him questions that would trigger his anger even more. Victor's life was extremely different compared to Thoma's, in fact they were the complete opposite. Thomas was very happy and calm and loved to tell stories regardless of being true or not. Victor on the other hand lived with a closed mind, everything was a bother for him with so much anger bottled up in him because of his father leaving him and his mom.
Victor and Thomas and different views to what Indians are. It's as if they did not know exactly how an Indian should be. Thomas was all about telling the stories and engaging with other people in order to create a friendship where as Victor was they type of Indian that would want you to feel fear. The bad Indian in order to get what ever it is that he wanted. These views were very different from each other in which it made it difficult for them to understand more of their cultural backgrounds as to who they truly are.
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