English Portfolio

Out of the papers you are putting into your English portfolio, which one do you think shows your best work and which one do you think needs to be edited the most? Explain why. Be specific. Provide examples of your best and weakest areas.

I think my best work is within my McCandless essay, I think my introduction is good and I did well on incorporating the naysayers to make my argument stronger. Although my introduction is good, I can make it stronger by saying why Chris is the way he is and maybe introducing his family and friends too. I am hoping to include my personal analysis essay in my english portfolio too although it needs a lot of work. I have a lot of researching to do and I think I may need to find another celebrity to incorporate into my essay. I have good ideas with my own life but I need to weave better with somebody else. Also I need to figure out what my essay is saying, the purpose of my essay. I don't think it is clear to the reader mostly because I don't really know myself.

If Chris would have survived...

Describe the kind of things you think Chris would do if he did make it out of the wild alive? Would he contact his parents? What would he say to them? Would he get a job, go back to school?

If Chris would have made it out of the wild, I think he would have gone back to his old self. I feel like that adventure for him was to see if he could live that lifestyle and once he accomplished that he would have gone back to a normal life. I think he would have contacted his parents and solved the issues he had with them. He would have said he needed to do this adventure to fulfill his ideas of what he thought life should be. I don't think he would go back to a 'normal' life, but he would have gone back to living around people. I think he would go back to school, Chris seems like the kind of person who always wants to learn and expand his knowledge.

Research Paper

What is your topic for the research paper? How does this topic currently impact American culture (or another country, if that's where you're going with this)? How is your book/show/movie different from all of the other books/shows/movies out there like it? How is it unique? What specific cultural issue will you be addressing in your research essay and why is it relevant TODAY?

The topic for my research paper is how the American family has changed and Full House the television show. This impact American culture because it has dramatically changed over the times. Our culture has embraced somethings that use to be frowned upon. Full House is different that other shows because it showed a family, that instead of having a picture perfect feel, that was a single parent household with men raising children. This is relevant today because many families are faced with similar issues.

The Dark Art of Description.

From the reading last Tuesday, what is the author Patricia Hampl's purpose in writing about description and word choice in, The Dark Art of Description? Why are the last few paragraphs, about the story she tells with one of her students, significant to the purpose?

March 5th

"Do you think it was a good idea to add the chapters about Walt (Chris’ father) and Krakauer as individuals? What did it do for you for your views of the novel? Did anything change your opinion or did it support what you already thought? Why?"

I thought it was a very smart idea to add the chapters about Walt and Krakauer as individuals. I thought it did two good things for the novel. First, the chapter about Krakauer gave him a bit of credibility as the writer of the book, the idea that he thought somewhat like Chris, I think, made it easier for him to describe and understand what Chris was doing. Secondly, the chapter about Walt made it easier, I thought, for the reader to understand where Chris was coming from. When I read that chapter, it helped me understand a little why Chris was so angry with his parents. Without this chapter, the reader would never have had any insight on why Chris was so angry. These chapters supported my opinions, they made it easier to understand the book as a whole too.

Media and Rhetoric

"What did you think was the most effective type of media in presenting an aspect of rhetoric? Would you have chosen a different media source if you could for the rhetorical analysis project? Why or why not?"

I think the most effective type of media in presenting an aspect of rhetoric would be television commercials. I believe they can hit the most effective of the human senses. They can set a mood with music (sound) and pictures (sight). Television commercials seem more effective than print ads and billboards because they have that extra element of sound, and more effective than radio commercials because they hold the element of sight. I would have chosen visual if it seemed possible for me to complete but it didn't seem like I could actually come up with something better than I could do with print media.

Hitchhiking

"how do you think the use of hitchhiking has changed over time?...what do you think is the cause of this? is it beneficial to those in need or just overall too dangerous?..explain your thoughts"

I don't think hitchhiking has changed much over time. I think people hitchhike for multiple reasons. One, to get from place to place. Two, for a thrill. Some people might find excitement from it. And third, well obviously because they are crazy and want to steal things from you or kill you. I think it is beneficial to the people who hitchhike for a good purpose, but it has obvious dangers too. I personally wouldn't pick up a hitchhiker, I've seen way too many scary movies. Although, I do feel bad when I pass people and it's pouring rain or freezing cold and I just simply drive by. You never know how much you could be helping a person out by giving them a simple ride.