Due September 15: Blog posts on “Introduction,” “On Keeping a Notebook,” “On Stuttering,” and “Me Talk Pretty One Day.”
Due September 17: Narrative Essay; come to class ready to discuss 1984 and BNW.
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Welcome, Class of 2012! I hope you will find this blog to be a useful, expedient mechanism for sharing your writing and responding to the writing of others. Furthermore, I hope you have some fun! There are some rules, however, of which you must be aware.First Rule
This blog is educational. It is not a space for chatting with your friends (you have facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc. for that). You'll be expected to respond to your classmates' writing, but I want you to think of them more as colleagues than friends on this site. The "fun" mentioned above will be in taking others' ideas to task in friendly debate. Therefore...Second Rule
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The men and women in the New World mainly interact after work hours. During this time they enjoy golfing, swimming, dancing, and drinking “soma” to remain happy. The men and women usually interact most during sexual intercourse since being promiscuous is not abnormal. Even within each caste, men still are perceived as dominant. The D.H.C., the Director, and the Controller are all males with authority in the new world.
The World State society is not a perfect world since everyone is living under false happiness. In order for the people to remain happy, they must numb their minds by drinking “soma”. As long as no one faces the truth in the new world they are happy. By escaping from reality, worries, and troubles with the use of “soma”, life is full of happiness and lies.
“Introduction”
The main point of this passage is that presence is located in writing. The writer shows his/her presence through personal experiences such as childhood events, school, and family life. The writer’s point of view help find the location of the presence, like a actual place or a reality. It is where writers can find themselves. It also the reader’s job to develop an opinion about presence as they read the writer’s work. The thesis is contained at the end of the passage, where discovering new techniques of writing lead to new ways to be present.
“On Keeping a Notebook”
My favorite line is this passage is “Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember?”
It comes to the point where we write something down in the notebook and we do not know why. I write things down in a notebook in order to remember important information, like notes from school, or childhood memories. We sometimes write about things that we are not happy about. The main idea is the passage that writers write things in books about what we really want to remember. Writing in books can help us go back in the past to solve any problems we’re having now.
“Me Talk Pretty One Day”
The quote that caught my attention was “If you have not meimslsxp or Igpdmurct by this time, then you should not be in this room. Has everyone apzkiubjxow? Everyone? Good, we shall begin”(274)
The way the teacher was speaking to the class was very obscure to me because they are suppose to be learning French and she’s speaking a whole different tongue that does not co-exist with the language. It was funny at first but i start to realize that some of her students do not speak proper English. I guess the title was suppose to show the in use of improper speech in American society
“Me Talk Pretty One Day”
This essay was very interesting because it was written in a comedic way but somewhat through the essay was a lesson being taught. I find it very ironic that these college level students are being taught French in France but none of them can’t speak proper. The teacher was very mean to the students that she treated them like garbage when she asks them about their character. The boy was afraid to show his true self because he felt ashamed. Obviously the teacher did not care much about him and felt that he was an embarrassment. But at the very end the boy grew courage to stand up to the teacher and be himself. I guess this was a life lesson to him that even though he could not speak proper one day that goal will come true.
“Me Talk Pretty One Day”
When I was reading this, I started to despise the teacher, because she didn’t seem to act like one. She was very blunt and straightforward. If she was trying to get the students to learn more by acting strict and mean, then it didn’t work because it only made the students become scared. Since they are scared, they do not feel the right to express themselves and the will to learn has gone away because of her. It was kind of weird how the students couldn’t speak French and they are living in France. The narrator seemed to absorb all that the teacher said, taking in every word. At the end, he understood everything and stood up to her.
“Me Talk Pretty One Day”
“Understanding doesn’t mean that you can suddenly speak the language. Far from it. It’s a small step, nothing more, yet its rewards are intoxicating and deceptive” (277).
This quote kind of reflects on what the narrator was trying to do. He thought understanding would mean knowing all about the language. But, understanding to him, is a small step towards learning something. Since he can understand the teacher, he kind of grew up and went through a little phase to be more determined. I think that the teacher wanted to test out their French skills and talk as much as she can, so then they can understand, having taken a step to learning the language.
ugh.. guys this post is last year 2009.
“A.W.M
September 13, 2009 at 1:01 am ”
I dont think this is where we are suppose to post our comments.
Sorry Weber. Please delete this post; I’ve notice that it is irreverent.
Me Talk Pretty One Day
“The first day of class was nerve-racking because I knew I’d be expected to perform” (274)
This quote remind me of how I took Spanish in my first year and I did not understand the language at all. I had trouble doing my work and needed help from my classmates all the time. Whenever my teacher calls on me, I would not know how to reply. I know how it feels to be in a class hearing language you didn’t understand.
Me Talk Pretty One Day
“Though we were forbidden to speak anything but French , the teacher would occasionally use us to practice any of her five fluent languages” (276)
This quote also happened to me before during my high school year. Our teacher didn’t spoke five fluent language but she did kind of forbid us from speaking other languages. I know she wanted us to improve our vocabulary but it was difficult to not speak English since it was our first language. In the end, my Spanish was not perfect but I acquire the skill to acknowledge my friends and teachers.
“‘What’s Your Name, Girl?’”.
“‘Mrs. Cullinan was eight about one thing. My name wasn’t Mary”(82).
I find this quote interesting because what she did wad bold and it was an act of defiance. I find what she did interesting because she stood up against Mrs. Cullinan, even though it’s a bit passive aggressive. I believe she did this because she doesn’t want her identity taken away. In the passage, she mentions Miss Glory’s real name and how she took that her real name,”Hallelujah” and made it to that. Though Miss Glory was submissive, she defied her because she wanted to be treated with respect. Though a name may seem like something very simple, it represents who we are, our hardships and will be there with us forever. When she felt that Mrs. Cullinan was trying to take I away for the sake of being short, she retaliate and for that I applaud her.
Oh sorry wrong post. Mr. Weber can you delete this as it’s irrelevant.
“Introduction”
When I first started to read this, I liked when it mentioned that having presence is so much more than “being present.” You have to make yourself felt mentally more than seen physically. You have to make the reader feel and see what your trying to show them. The excerpts from some essays are really used to emphasize that a presence must be felt.
“Introduction”
Two excerpts used caught my attention, one essay by Raymond Carver and the other Brent Staples.
(Raymond Carver) “My dad’s name was Clevie Raymond Carver. His family called him Raymond and friends called him C.R. I was named Raymond Clevie Carter Jr. I hated the ‘Junior’ part. When I was little my dad callled me Frog, which was okay…” This stood out to me because at first i found it boring he wasn’t trying to capture his reader but then I realized he talked like he would to any person. He was telling the story. You could actually imagine him talking to you.
(Brent Staples) “My first victim was a woman- white, well dressed, probably in her early twenties….To her, the youngish black man– abroad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket–seemed menacingly close.” Instead of just telling his story, he actually put himself in his “victims” shoes to show how she appears to him and not how he views himself. It’s like he’s giving his readers a picture of him saying “this is how you will see me.”
“INTRODUCTION”
“To be present in a classroom is not the same as having a presence there… presence is also a matter of individual energy and exertion, of putting something of ourselves into whatever it is we do” (1). When I read this passage I automatically thought of what my supervisor told me. She always said to me, “no matter what it is that you are doing, you should always put in all your effort and make the best of the situation”. This piece of writing makes me feel as if the writer is actually speaking to me directly. The introduction makes me want to start reading the essays in the book, to explore different writing styles and get an idea of a “personal presence”.
“Me Talk Pretty One Day”
One part of this short story that caught my attention was, “We soon learned to dodge chalk and protect our heads and stomachs whenever she approached us with a question” (Pg. 276). This quote specifically caught my attention because it reminds me of my 6+7th grade math teacher, Mr. Timpone. He was one of a kind to say the least. When a kid would get an answer wrong that would be obvious, or something we just learned, he would fling chalk halfway across the classroom with the intentions of hitting the child, then ramble on and on how his supply of chalk was decreasing because of idiotic children like ourselves (which he said jokingly). As to the second part of the quote where David expresses that him and his classmates learned to, “protect our heads and stomachs”, Timpone used to playfully smack his advisory kids in our math class upside the head if they got something wrong. This teachers actions reminded me a lot of Mr. Timpone’s.
“Me Talk Pretty One Day”
One part where I feel I can really connect with the narrator is when he realizes, “for the first time since arriving in France, I could understand every word that someone was saying” (Pg. 277). Specifically, I cannot relate to understanding a different language all of a sudden, but David was shocked when something he was working so hard to achieve happened to pay off, similarly I have felt the same way. Sometimes I look back at all the summer classes that I took, and remember how each day I dreaded getting up, taking the train and dealing with rude people. But when I finally finished all my classes, and looked back at all I did to better myself, I was shocked, and felt a sense of accomplishment, which is similar to what David felt.
“On Stuttering,” – Edward Hoagland
Near the end of Hoagland’s essay, he mentions two contrasting characters to further his point. He claims that having flaws (like stuttering) should be cherished and embraced, despite the challenge that accompanies them. He believes that accepting yourself adds to your character and sense of self, and one shouldn’t let their flaws win or lose entirely, but stick with you, defining you as a separate entity. His first illusion is to the fictional character, Billy Budd. Billy Budd is a novel by Herman Melville in which the main character (Billy Budd) is accused of a crime, and when unable to thoughtfully respond he begins to stutter and become anxious, then kills his accuser. Hoagland uses this as one extreme, this person cannot control his flaw and lets it lead him to inescapable trouble, ending in a situation in where his flaw does not only add to his character and unique-ness, but leads him into misfortune. Inversely Hoagland mentions the a man by the name of Demosthenes. Demosthenes was born in Athens Greece with a speech impediment, then took speech classes as a boy and was able to overcome his impediment. Hoagland claims that, like Billy, he wasn’t able to embrace his flaw and build character, but he overcame it. It’s arguable that Demosthenes didn’t just amputate his flaws, but amputated his character as well.
“On Stuttering,” – Edward Hoagland
Hoagland uses a series of metaphors for his disability. He begins his essay with comparing it to skipping rope and later compares it to football, but I’d like to think I’ve got one as well. Midway through the essay he explains how as his relationships grow, he has an easier time speaking without stuttering. I’d like to think of this as riding a bike, when the relationship begins he’s pedaling and sweating. He has a hard time getting started, yet once the relationship develops he quickly picks up momentum and begins sailing through his words without detriment! In his essay he describes a good relationship as his equivalent as “Popeye’s spinach”, something that makes him stronger and able to conquer his handicap.
” On keeping a Notebook”
” We are brought up in the ethic that others, any others, all others, are by definition more interesting than ourselves; taught to be diffident, just this side of self-effacing.”
This quote stood out to me because it’s true about what the author say. I can relate because I’m always curious about information, whether it’s trivial, it’s still very important to me. Though this may not seem true to everyone, it’s actually true. We are actually more interested in many things and people because we already know many things about ourselves, and it’s human nature to learn more about others. Also, the point about diffident is also true because when we all start out, whether it’s in Kindergarten or pre-school, we were all once shy, but this all eventually wears off because it’s our natural curiosity that piques our interests. Plus our curiosity is insatiable. Joan’s curiosity is also one of the things that help her imagination because her ” first entry is an account of a woman who believed herself to be freezing to death in the Arctic night” which she wrote when she was five (22).
“‘ On Keeping a Notebook’”
This story is very interesting because it explores the things that we don’t want to face, which is lying to ourselves. Joan wrote: ” I doubt that my daughter ever will, for she is a singularly blessed and accepting child, delighted with life exactly as life presents itself to her, unafraid to go to sleep and unafraid to wake up”(22). This is true to her and many other people because many of us believes in lies because we want it to be true, or we believe in lies because we don’t want it to be true. This is shown when she wrote: ” but that was how it felt to me, and it might as well have snowed, could have snowed, did snow” which shows dissonance between desire and truth (23).
Me Talk Pretty One Day.
- This was a really interesting/ confusing short story to me. So many questions ran through my head like, why is this teacher so angry? Where is this guy from that he cant talk properly, because not only can he speak French he hasn’t quite mastered English very well either. I think that the kids who haven’t mastered French believe they are beneath the people in the class who have and i didnt know mastering a language made you better then somebody else. This story sets the mood of nervousness and insecurity. The teacher is cruel and for no reason.
Me Talk Pretty One Day
” At the age of 41, i am returning to school and have to think of my self as what my French textbook calls “a true debutant.”
This quote definetly stood out to me because it explained a little. First off it explains why he might be insecure because he’s 41 and im guessing the other students are way younger in this French class. I am not sure what a “true debutant” might be. a debutant is a female beginner so maybe me using the word “he” is completely wrong now lol. But starting over fresh doesnt sound like such a bad idea.
“Me Talk Pretty One Day”
“They’re the same letters, but in France they’re pronounced differently. I know the shape of the alphabet but had no idea what it actually sounded like.” (274)
This quote shows how the French alphabets are the same as the alphabets that she had seen in her life, but the way the alphabets are pronounced are not the same. This quote shows the mean how some things might be the same but the way it is used is different. In this case it could be the alphabets. The author uses the character’s point of view to show a deep life meaning of how when you see something it doesn’t mean you know it. This quote is meaningful and holds a lesson to teach us how to view things.
Me Talk Pretty One Day
“The teacher’s reaction left me to believe that these mistakes were capital crimes in the country of France”(275).
This quote stood out to me because of the way he tells us about how the teacher belittled him, I can definitely relate to what he is going through at that specific moment. I felt like it was the end of the world for me at the moment in my life. So I can feel the expression that came out of the teacher. I also think that the teacher should never have to exert anger at a student.
Me Talk Pretty One Day.
When I was reading this story, I was really confused at first and filled with questions. Why was he 41 years old at school? Why was he talking about the other student’s youth? And why was the teacher being so mean? As I read on, I figured out that he was learning a new language. French. I didn’t really like teacher at all because of how she treated her students. “I hate you,’ she said to me one afternoon”(276). This quote was offensive in a way because I am currently a student, and if a teacher said this to me, I would be very hurt deeply in side. A teacher should never hate or use foul language ever at a student. It is just wrong!
“On Stuttering”
This essay is impressing to me because it puts me into a deeper understanding of what the word stutter means. People have all kinds of struggles through their lives, and especially for those who has disabilities. Communication is a very important tool for people to express themselves. Stuttering can be a big struggle, because it creates misunderstandings. As Hoagland says, “Stuttering is like trying to run loops of rope around your feet” (158). People are being tie up with many conflicts, but you shouldn’t be afraid to explain yourself. We should be diligent on enchancing oursleves.
“How many opinions can you keep to yourself before you choke on them” (159).
This quotation explains that we are easily influenced by other people’s opinions, and how it puts us in a dilemma. Although, other people’s opinions are very important, but how you think is the most important. And, people care about how others look at them, so sometimes you make decisions that are not your choice. You should be aware of yourself, instead of depending on other’s thoughts. They are not you, and they don’t live through your life, so they don’t suffer as much as you for your failures in you life.
Introduction
“On one level, presence simply means ‘being present.’ But the word is more complex than that” (1) The quote really stood out because it is simply the main idea of the word presence. I never thought of the word presence like that. After reading this part of the introduction I’m amazed to find how a word may not actually mean as it is define but could also be used for other meanings as well. I also learned that in order to have good essays and such it is important to have presence in it that way the reader can really enjoy it instead of being bored.
“On Keeping a Notebook”
Joan Didion
“So the point of my keeping a notebook has never been, nor is it now, to have an accurate factual record of what I have been doing or thinking”.(22) I find this quote interesting because her Journal was not kept to store accurate memories but in fact, it was to write about her imaginations and lies that she wanted to remember. Naturally, I believed Journals were kept to remember what happened and the exact event. However Didion records her desires and alternates the information to be partially accurate. For Instance, Didion’s family would tell her that his memory of the party was actually not for her nor was the spider a black widow. She must had wanted the party to be for herself. As she sits by herself, the Journal is like a place to put her thoughts, interests and feelings into words. It is interesting how she doesn’t even notice what had really happen and what might have happened because what she write in the Journals are consider ‘lies’ and are not specific; but are ideas that come to mind.
“On Keeping a Notebook”
Joan Didion
“‘ That woman Estelle,’ the notes reads, ‘is partly the reason why George Sharp and I are separated today.’”(21)
Didion started her essay with a entry from her notebook helps in putting her writer’s presence in the book. It connects her own experience to the writing, which is the essay about keeping a notebook. I think that Didion intended to leave a feeling of confusion for the reader to help the reader better understand her situation. The starting sentence does not tell specifically what has happen and lacks specific details; making the reader wonder what happened in that entry or part of life. This is also what Didion herself is wondering as well. She ruminates and observe the entry trying to figure out what it really meant because even she does not have a clear understanding as well.
Me Talk Pretty One Day
I find it really interesting that at the age of 41, this man is enrolling back into school into school to learn French. I also find it interesting that though he is an older man, and he is older than everyone in the class, he is easily intimidated. He ask as though he is a teen in high school on their first day of school. He is scared to talk in class, he is scared of looking bad in front of everyone, and he notices everyone’s appearance. Throughout the whole essay he is afraid of his teacher which makes him work harder. I found it pretty humorous that when he finally understood everything that the teacher said, he stopped caring about all the insults and curses she was saying that were directed toward him.
On Keeping a Notebook
- “I doubt that my daughter ever will, for she is a singularly blessed and accepting child, delighted with life exactly as life presents itself to her, unafraid to go to sleep and unafraid to wake up.” (22) This quote really stood out to me because it can really take you to reality. It takes the reader to reality because it relates to the everyday life and struggle. It relates in that certain way because there is a fine line between knowing the truth and not knowing it, or being told lies. Some people believe lies, thinking its the truth, because sometimes they just can’t handle the truth, so lies are truthful in their own mind.
Me Talk Pretty One Day
“My fear and disco,fort crept beyond the borders of the classroom and accompanied me out onto the wide boulevards. Stopping for a coffee, asking directions, depositing money in my bank account: these things were out of the question, as they involved having to speak.”(276)
This story is pretty interesting to me because it shows how the narrator went to France for school, but he is having trouble speaking it after all French isn’t his first language. What stood out to me is how he is afraid to speak the language such as not wanting to to listen to his phone calls,etc but how would you learn it if you do not try to speak it? Also towards the end when he finally learns how to hear the language he still cannot speak it because he does not have practice but did have practice listening.
“On Stuttering”
Edward Hoagland
“Stuttering is like trying to run with loops of rope around your feet” (158).
This quote stood out to me because it creates this image where you can almost feel what the author was going through. It creates and demands a sense of empathy from the readers which everyone can relate to. By describing stuttering as trying to run with loops of rope around your feet, the author makes sure that everyone can understand what the authors is feeling whether or not the reader stutters or not. This description captures the feeling of what it is like to stutter very nicely
The teacher in this essay seems to be the main character to me, only because everyone acts the way they do because of her. She comes off as rude and intimidating, making everyone afraid to talk and hesitate before they say anything. People cry and spend extra time on homework but I think she acts the way she does in order to push her students. He harsh criticism and attitude caused everyone to want to prove her wrong and learn more so that when they are put on the spot light in class they would not make a fool out of themselves. Though it is not the best way to teach, I feel like it may be a good way to teach adults and I kind of understand her motives.
“On keeping a Notebook”
- Joan Didion
“Keepers of private notebooks are different breed altogether, lonely and resistant rearranges of things, anxious malcontents, children afflicted apparently at birth with some presentiment of loss” (22).
This quote really caught my attention because I feel as if I could relate to the quote. I like to write in my journal about events that are to come, and events that have passed, to remember who I was. As the character describes the idea that a journal can help a person connect with his or her past personalities, she describes herself as if she was completely different person in the past. This makes me want to write in my journal about my life, as I grow older because I could look back at those entries to see how much I have changed, progressed, and grown throughout the years.
On Keeping a Notebook
- “I remember wishing that I could afford the house, which cost $1,000 a month. “Someday you will,” she said lazily. “Someday it all comes.” (26) What i think the speaker is trying to say has a metaphor to it. It has a metaphorical meaning because the not being able to pay the expensive rent part, also conveys to people who live the everyday struggle and aren’t able to get what they want and they need. An example of falling short to getting what you want and need, is failing to pay child support, paying people back, or just returning favors to old friends.
Me Talk Pretty One Day
- “If you have not meimslsxp or Igpdmurct by this time, then you should not be in this room. Has everyone apzkiubjxow? Everyone? Good, we shall begin.” (274) This quote was just completely weird because the teacher is supposed to teaching a REAL, but instead, the woman teacher was teaching and presenting her own made up language. It was weird at first, but it actually brought me to laugh because this teaching was just completely preposterous.
“On Stuttering”
Edward Hoagland
“A stutterer knows who the good guys are in any crowded room, as well as the location of each mocking gleam, and even the St.Francis type, who will wait until he thinks nobody is looking to wipe a fleck of spittle off his face” (158).
It is pretty amazing that a stutterer can recognize the personality of a person just by a simple glance at them. Yet it is really sad because it probably takes a long time to develop such a skill. This means that the child has been enduring such humiliation for a long time. It also shows how harshly people treat each other who are different and now we have all conformed to form single view of how a “normal” human being should be like. “They laugh at me because I’m different, I laugh at them because they’re all the same” (I forgot who said that quote)
“A write can also be present in an essay as a writer- that is, as a person consciously crafting and shaping his or her work.” (Page 5) This quote is interesting because it portrays writers as artists who must mold their work into a masterpiece before they are able to present their work. In contrast, whenever I write a second draft my revisions are minor and usually involve grammars or punctuation. Famous known writers have to undergo a series of editing and revisions before their works are considered for publishing. Writers usually have several literary elements ranging from metaphors to imagery while my writing is simple and basic.
“Me Talk Pretty One Day”
“Understanding doesn’t mean that you can suddenly speak the language.” (277)
The author wants to point out that even if you know some things it doesn’t mean you can do it. For example, some may know how the bike is used, but it does mean that people can ride a bike. This quote holds an idea of how people might think they know something but knowing is not enough. This is a life lesson that the author wants his reader to learn and understand.
Me Talk Pretty One Day
- “Understanding doesn’t mean that you can suddenly speak the language.” (277) This quote relates to many things. Its shows that you can study something or someone so much, but you still will not understand the concept of it. The reason for this is because not everybody is supposed to learn everything in it’s deepness. That’s where the truth and lies come in to play as ying and yang.
“We are brought up in the ethic that others, any others, all others, are by definition more interesting than ourselves” (Page 24) This quote reminds me of how some people always believe that the grass is greener on the other side. Most of the time people take for granted what they already have and believe that their life sucks compared to another person’s. I agree with this quote because I believe that someone else’s life is always better than mine.
“Me Talk Pretty One Day”
“Next came a beautiful young Yugoslav who identified herself as an optimist, saying that she loved everything that life had to offer.” (275) I don’t know why but I really like this quote, it makes me think about myself. Personally, I think I’m a pretty optimistic person, I would think everything in a positive way. I don’t like the teacher from this essay, why she has to make everybody feel bad? I remember when I came to America; my teacher treated me in a polite way, and never said anything mean to me. I believe if the teacher doesn’t treat the author that way, he won’t feel unintelligent and not confident while with his other classmates.
“So the point of me keeping a notebook has never been, nor is it now, to have an accurate factual record of what I have been doing or thinking” (22) This quote surprised me because this person did not use the diary for its purpose. In my opinion, the diary’s purpose is to help you keep track of your life and help you reflect who you are. Diary is all about you, so I don’t get the point of writing a diary if you are going to write things not about yourself. This also reminds me of the journal entry I have to complete for drama everyday. I have learned from drama that journals and such are there to reflect about yourself.
“Me Talk Pretty One Day”
I really like the quote, “Her temperament was not based on a series of good and bad days but, rather, good and bad moments.” (276)
Usually in America, people say that I’m in a bad day, or I’m in a good mood, and I got use to that. I really like the way Sedaris uses this sentence to describe the teacher. It shows how the teacher change so quick that you can never catch the moment of when she’s in a favorable mood or in an abominable one. I made connection with my mom with this quote, because she can have many highs and lows in one day, just like the way the author describes his teacher.
Me Talking Pretty One Day
“Over time it became impossible to believe that any of us would ever improve”(277) This quote reminds me of myself because I do not feel like I will ever improve in Spanish. Although I have passed the Spanish Regents, I do not think my Spanish have improved at all. I felt like it was not a good use of time that way. Even today I still can not communicate with any one in Spanish, I know very few words, only know enough to pass the regents.
“Me Talk Pretty One Day”
I really enjoyed this story. I could connect with the character feeling intimidated in a foreign setting but then taking matters into his own hands and beginning to own himself and love who he is more. It really makes me believe that anything can be achieved, especially when doing so to show someone that you can do something when you put your mind to it, which is really inspiring.
On Stuttering
“Life can become a matter of measuring the importance of anything you have to say.” (158) This statement reveals a very sad reality of Edward Hoagland. It pushes me to imagine how different my life would have been had I been a stutter. How is it like to live a life in which others pace what you have to say on a daily basis? It can be extremely difficult at times to live such a life. It can also seriously degrade self-confidence, which is something we are introduced to in the course of the essay. It is really difficult situation, but after all you have to live with it.
“On Stuttering” – Edward Hoagland
Something that stands out to me while reading this short passage is when Hoagland states, “Ive stuttered for more than 60 years, and the mysteries of the encumbrance still catch me up: being reminded every morning that it’s engrained in my fiber, although I had forgotten in my dreams.” (158) I find that this quoted segment of the text can connect to me and everybody else as well. In this quote Hoaglnad describes how he is remembered that he has his problem of stuttering every morning. I connect to this because sometimes I forget different aspects, problems, or parts of myself or my life that I will always have and will always be a part of me till I die. For example, I can draw. But many times I find myself forgetting that I can draw and that i have this talent till I actually draw again. We as humans dont only forget the bad or abrasive parts of our lives or our character, but we forget the good things about ourselves and even forget the most minute things. As humans we tend to take things for granted so we forget to appreciate the good segments of our lives, character, or ability. But when it comes to being reminded of the bad parts, lets be serious, nobody wants to be reminded of their issues.
On Stuttering
“My scariest moments as a stutterer have been…(2) once when I was in the woods and a man shot in my direction and I had to make myself heard loud and fast;” (160) While reading these particular lines, I try to imagine the intensity of the scare that was running through the author’s body in this instance. It becomes a matter of survival. He has to either to talk to save himself or risk being slaughtered just like any other animal. Imagining how he was struggling to utter those words out reveals a very intense and focus situation.
“On Keeping a Notebook”
“My first notebook was a Big Five tablet, given to me by my mother with sensible suggestion that i stop whining and learn to amuse myself by writing down my thoughts” (22). I took a liking to this quote because it is really true. Parents will try to make their kids find a way to amuse themselves either by playing or writing and, in this case the author chose writing. Also i remember back then when i was a kid i will amuse myself by bothering my parents and they eventually got sick of it and threw me a marker and paper to draw on. The quote allowed me to remember how much of a bother i was to my parents when i was a child.
“On stuttering”
“A stutterer knows who the good guys are in any crowded room…who will wait until he thinks nobody is looking to wipe a fleck of spittle off his face” (158). This quote made me realize how hard it is to be different from the normal people because people will literally laugh when you are physically different then others. Not to mention the possibility that there will at least be one immature person on a daily basis that will laugh when a stutterer talks. This quote made me feel bad in a way because i too might chuckle a little when a stutterer talks and now i realized how bad the person i laughed at might feel.
“On Being a Cripple”
“I am a cripple. I choose this word to name me” (183).
This quote makes me feel that this girl isn’t proud of being cripple but she don’t need anybody to pity her. I can imagine Nancy Mairs to be a strong and independent woman. This can also prove that she don’t have problem with other people talking about her disadvantage. Maybe other handicapped people doesn’t like people talking about their problem because it makes them feel different. I think Nancy Mairs understand that no matter who looks at her, she is still crippled so she might as well accept as part of her life. Nancy Mairs can be a respectable woman.
“On Being a Cripple”
“If I could make a cosmic deal, who would I put in my place?…No one…I might as well do the job myself”(193).
First thing that comes to my mind is “Oh my god, this woman is amazing!” In modern society, many human will not care for other people’s safety or health. Many people will only care for themselves and wouldn’t waste any time on strangers. But Nancy Mairs rather would stay crippled herself than to make someone else to adapt to this painful experiences. Not many people are willing to do that. Nancy Mairs also believes that it is god’s decision to make her what she is and she will just accept it. This is really touching.