Chapter 16 in Rules for Writers

     I choose to write about chapter 16 in our Rules for Writers book. This chapter is about how to fix wordy sentences. The reason I choose to write about this is because I have a tendency to make my sentences very wordy. I will use everything I learned in this chapter to help me become a better writer. I learned alot of ways to take words out of a sentence or where to place certain words to get ride of cluster. I use alot of the words that cause more excess words. I will try not to use these words as much as possible.
     It doesn't technically mean a sentence is to wordy if it is long. You can determine if a sentence is to wordy by taking out all the words that seem unnecessary. If this has not changed the meaning of the sentence then your sentence was to wordy.  The first way to fix a wordy sentence is by eliminating redundancies. You also need to avoid unnecessary repetition of words. Though sometimes is is done deliberately its not usually the best way . Sometimes it is best to cut out empty or inflated phases. Some examples of these are: in my opinion, I think that, it seems that, and one must admit that. Some other words you should try not to use very often are: is, are, was, were, it, there is, and there are. The reason for this is that these words usually generate excess words.

What do I think about Thomas and Victors relationship

     What do I think about Thomas and Victors relationship? Well there is a lot that I think about this. I understand that Victor had a rough life, but so did Thomas. You never see Thomas acting so cold hearted. I feel that their lives are alot a like. Thomas didn't have his parents, but neither did Victor in a way. Victors parents drank a lot which caused his father to leave the family when he was just a young boy. Victor was extremely mean to Thomas. Almost every time Thomas would talk Victor would tell him to be quiet.
     I think one of the first times that Thomas actually stuck up for himself was when Victor asked him for some money to go get his fathers remains. Thomas told him he would give him the money if he could go with him. Victor didn't want Thomas to go because he got on his nerves with all his story telling, suit wearing, and smiling face. This was the opposite of Victor. Victor hardly ever smiled or talked. He always tried to look tough. He even tried to change Thomas. He said that this was the way Indians are suppose to be.
     I think the thing that Thomas talked about the most, and upset Victor, was what brought them together at the end of the movie. It upset Victor greatly when Thomas would talk about his father. Sometimes it seemed like Thomas knew Victors father better then he did. I think Victor just didn't want to see the good sides of his father. Finally at the end of the movie Victor realized how good of a friend Thomas is and he apologised for the way he treated him. He also became a lot nicer to him and treated him like a true friend.

Chapter 48

     Chapter 48 in our Rules for writers book, is about evaluating arguments. First you will distinguish between reasonable and fallacious argumentative tactics. Logical fallacious are also know as unreasonable argumentative tactics. A hasty generalization is a conclusion based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence. Where a stereotype is a hasty generalization about a group. Hasty generalization usually contains words like all, ever, always, and never. An analogy points out the similarity between two things that are otherwise different. Sometimes it is quite difficult to draw the line between a reasonable and unreasonable analogy. However if it is totally off base then it is called a false analogy. All writers must weigh their options in order to be fair, and lastly you deduce a cconclusion (deductive reasoning). Deductive reasoning can often be structured in three steps which are major premise, the minor premise, and the conclusion.
     Next is distinguishing between legitimate and unfair emotional appeals. The difference is legitimate emotions appeal to the reader by invoking them. Were unfair emotions is when words with strong positive or negative connotations are used with bias language. It attacks the person who holds a belief. Lastly in chapter 48, it talks about how to judge how fairly a writer handles opposing views. Some people are fair were others will do anyting to win their argument. They will set up a "straw man" this is a character so weak that he is easily knocked down. Quoting opposing views usually is good unless taken out of context.
     I think I could use this information not only in my writing but also in my readings. I have learned what logical fallacies are. Also I learned about hasty generalization words, and some better words that could be used instead. Another tool I learned that I will use in my writing is to be fair and to explain the opposing views in my argument. I completely agree with this. When I watch political speeches and the components talk badly about one another it makes me feel that they have something to hide about themselves, so they talk about someones elses faults. I am much more likely to believe someone that tells the whole truth and not just their side of the story.

Shirley Temple Dialogue.

What is the significance of Shirley Temple? I feel that Shirley Temple plays a big part in both Lovey and Jerry's life. They both compare their lives to her life in her movies. Jerry and Lovey always spend their Sunday morning before Church watching Shirley Temple movies. They both start to cry but yet hold it back little. Before the movie is over they have to run off to Sunday School. While at Church they make their own happy ending for the Shirley Temple movie that that were watching just prior to church. Lovey and Jerry would always say "Happy endings all the time." They would even use this in their own lives.
What meaning does Shirley Temple hold for Lovey? I believe that Lovey thinks that Shirley Temple is this perfect, happy, beautiful girl. Lovey wonders how all her endings are always happy. One time Lovey decide to put her and Jerry in the Happy ending with Shirley Temple. Lovey wishes that she could be that all American girl, with the American name, home and  station wagon. Sometimes she is very ashamed of her family because of the way they talk and act. Lovey went as far as getting a Toni perm to try to get the curly Q's that Shirley Temple had. She ended up looking like an Oompah Loompah instead. Oompah Loompah had become their new saying in the family for anything that was worst then ugly that they couldn't find a name for.

Chapter 47

When constructing a reasonable argument you need to start with a debatable issue. When you construct a reasonable argument your goal is to try to convince your readers to reconsider their view points. You never want to use a tone too aggressive nor too passive. The best method to use is an assertive tone. You should never assume that your readers already agree with you. In your introduction you want to establish your creditability. In order to do this you need to show your readers that you are knowledgeable and fair minded. In order for your thesis to be stronger you should use persuasive lines before your thesis sentence. You should always back up your claims with specific evidence, such as using facts and statistics like examples, illustrations, and citing expert opinions. You should always anticipate objections and counter opposing argument. Going over what someone might think will make you a stronger arguer. However, you don’t want to be too aggressive. You still need to show some concern for your readers. This will make your readers more likely to acknowledge the validity of your arguments.
I learned a lot of really good tips in chapter 47 for my own writing. I don’t think I would ever have the problem of being to aggressive. I do think that I could be to persuasive. In this chapter I learned how to use an assertive tone. Another tool I learned in this chapter, which I thought was really neat, was to view your readers as a panel of jurors. Additionally, I’ve learned that when you write a paper believing that the readers automatically disagree with you, then you will be more likely to write a persuasive argument rather than assertive.

Optional writing topic summary

When writing an extended literary essay you are usually arguing that your perspective-an interpretation, an evaluative judgment, or critical evaluation-is a valid one. In order to do this you need to make sure your thesis is debatable.
When it comes to choosing a topic the best ones are the ones that originate out of your own reading of a work of literature. When doing research some good places to look are the library or the internet.
I have learned some really good writing skills. One of the things that I learned is when to underling a title or put it in quotations. This is something that I will need to change in my essay. I underlined “Superman and Me” , but here it says that it should be in quotes because it is a short story. Another thing I will use in my writing is the header and footer. I will use this to put my name and page numbers on all the pages in my essays.

Why do I relate to Sherman Alexie

After reading Sherman Alexie’s story The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me, I realized I had a lot in common with him. Growing up poor and never expected to go anywhere in life is something that both Alexie and I experienced. According to Spokeman.com they state that growing up poor you are less likely to go to college, and more likely to get in trouble with the law and end up pregnant earlier in life. Sherman Alexie and I both overcame a lot in our lives. For him it was to leave the reservation and become educated. For me it was to not live my life the same way my parents did when I was growing up.

I, like Sherman Alexie grew up in a poor family. This is the first reason that I feel like I can relate to Alexie. Growing up my mother did not work at all. My father was the sole provider as a laborer. He was a roofer so he only had income in the summer time. Winters where a horrible time for us. During that time we lived on government assistance. This was very embarrassing for me growing up. I never wanted anyone to find out that we were poor. Unlike Alexie, were everyone lived on the reservation so they were all in the same circumstances. School for me was a nightmare. I changed schools just about every year. This made it very difficult for me to make any friends and stay up to date with my education. They would either be further ahead or behind were I was. I was teased quite often. I remember one time in particular. It was my seventh grade year and I was going to a school that had a lot of upper class kids there. My mom bought me a new pair of jeans, and I only got clothes once a year unless it was a gift. I ended up wearing the jeans two days in a row and a boy that always picked on me called me a “scrub” in front of everyone. I told my mom that I didn’t feel good for about a week before she asked why I really didn’t want to go back to school. I ended up going to a different school the next year anyways.

Another way that I can relate to Sherman Alexie is he states that    “A smart Indian is a dangerous person.” (13)  Not that me being smart or successful is dangerous. It’s more that I was looked down on by my family. My father is a 9^th grade drop out. My mother finished high school and graduated dental hygienist school. She worked for about a year and then she became a stay at home mom. She was not the soccer mom that everyone thinks of when they think of a stay at home mom. She never attended school events nor did any house work. She spent most of her time in bed. I have three siblings and none of which graduated for a normal high school. I was completing high school with great grades and working full time and my father kicked me out at 17 years old. He said that I didn’t do enough around the house. Now at 24 years old I have realized that my father was jealous and upset that I didn’t need him to support me. I was doing better than he ever did in his 50 years of life. My family always considered me to be stuck up. I was never stuck up I just knew what I wanted in life and I was determined to get there. I wanted a great life for my children. I didn’t want my kids to have to go thru what I did growing up. I knew at the time that I had to get thru high school and be a hard worker to do this.

The last way that I compare myself to Sherman is our determined minds. Alexie didn’t care that he wasn’t supposed to be smart or leave his reservation to further his education. I am also a very determined person. I knew early in life that I wanted to do something in my life. When I found out I was pregnant at 17, just a few months after my father kicked me out. I thought I was starting my adult life off just like parents. I didn’t want to be just another statistic. According to familyfirstaid.org only 1/3 of teen moms receive a high school diploma and only 1.5% of them get a college degree by the age 30. Also 80% of teen moms end up on welfare. I told myself as soon as I got pregnant that I was going to finish high school. I graduated with a 4.0 G.P.A. I did have to make the very difficult decision to put college on hold. I had an obligation to work full time to take care of my son so I didn’t get on welfare. I told myself that I still had time to beat the last statistic of getting a college degree before 30. Even though I didn’t have a college degree I was determined to get a great job. Every job that I have had I excelled at and ended up getting higher positions and better pay.

In conclusion I have had my bumps in the road but I have made it over all of them. Just like Sherman Alexie pushed forward and became a very successful man. I also plan on doing to same thing. Just remember you can do anything you set your mind to, no matter what anyone says.