Writing Topic Summary-CH 4

In Rules for Writers Ch 4 by Diana Hacker the main focus is how to write an effective paragraph. The first step is to focus on a main point that is clear and that all sentences in the paragraph should be about that main point, you should also state the main point in the topic sentence. You want to make sure you stick to the point, and to develop the point you want to make sure the paragraph is fully developed. Next, you want to choose the correct pattern of organization. Some of the patterns include examples and illustrations, narration where your telling a story and process which is structured in chronological order, compare and contrast, analogy where you come up with comparisons between things that are very different, cause and effect, classification and division which is grouping items into categories according to a consistent principle.  Finally, the last pattern of organization is definition.

The next thing you want to do to make sure your paragraph is effective is to make them coherent; make them flow. To do this you should link ideas clearly, repeat key words, use parallel structures, maintain consistency, and provide transitions. Finally, you want to make sure the paragraph has the correct length. Paragraphs between one hundred and two hundred words are suggested.

First of all, I never thought I could learn so much useful information in writing a paragraph. I didn't know that there was so much detail to it. This is very helpful in assessing my paragraphs to make sure they are good paragraphs and this will also be a helpful guideline in writing clear, organized, complete and coherent paragraphs that aren't too long or too short.

"Shooting Dad" Dialgoue

The significance of the title is that he is a shooting dad, he loves shooting and loves firearms, but more importantly when he dies, he wants them to literally shoot his ashes out of the cannon. I thought that this was really funny and interesting that her dad wanted his ashes to be shot out of a cannon. It seems like when someone dies they want to remember the things they loved most, and the things that made them the happiest.

My dad loved the mountains and he was similar to her dad, he loved guns, shooting guns, and westerns.  We lived in Calaveras County in Mountain Ranch and it was so far out in the middle of no where it took a half hour to get to the nearest, tiny town.  Although, I hated living there more than anything (The bus ride to school every morning was an hour and a half).  He loved it more than anything, it was always his dream to live in the country, he was born and raised in San Francisco.  So, when he died he wanted his ashes to be spread across the mountains where he lived, and that's exactly where we put them. I could definitely relate to this story and it was one of my favorites so far. The ending of her story, when she said that she wanted it to hurt, I thought was the best part. She wanted to feel her dad's death without holding back, she wanted to experience the pain to the fullest and never forget it.

Writing Topic Summary-CH 3

In Rules for Writers Chapter 3 by Diana Hacker the main focus is about global revisions. You want to think about focus, purpose, organization, content, and overall strategy. Once you put your paper aside when you look at it again, you want to read it as the audience instead of the writer. You want to then revise and edit your sentences by making sure they are correct and effective. Lastly you want to proofread your work, this is a very important step. To proofread, you want to read slowly searching for any mistakes. You should proofread out loud so that you don't read what you were meaning to say instead of what you wrote.

I have never thought about when I'm proofreading that I will read what I intended to write because it's already in my mind instead of what I actually wrote. This is probably where I have messed up, from now on I will always proofread out loud so that I don't make this mistake. This is very helpful because sometimes I will keep reading and revising a paper and not get to look at it with fresh eyes, so taking a break from it and then coming back to it is useful advice.

"Coming Home Again"

Why does his mother regret allowing him to attend boarding school?
She regrets allowing him to attend boarding school because she ended up passing away. She didn't know she was going to die, and they said this was the first time that she spoke her mind and said exactly what she wanted to say.  She felt like she made a mistake because he should have been with his family. At the time she thought she was doing what was best for him. She sent him because he was becoming too much like her.  I think she wanted him to get the best education possible and become like his father.

Then, she thought maybe it wasn't a mistake because she didn't think her son would have wanted to be around her while she was sick, she thought he wouldn't have liked her. This is silly of her to think this, a son will always love his mother especially if she is sick he will want to protect her.

Writing Topic Summary-CH 2

In Rules for Writers CH 2 by Diana Hacker the main focus is writing your rough draft.  For your rough draft you want to think about ideas and organization, keeping your lists, brainstorming, notes, etc.. close by. A very important part of your introduction is your thesis or main point, you want to make sure you have supportive evidence when developing your thesis. A thesis is like a contract with your reader. Next, develop your thesis with the body paragraphs. The body is all the supportive details to your thesis. Finally bring it all together with your conclusion. Remind your readers what they wrote, and try spicing it up a bit.

This will definitely help me because I know I need to work on organization. What usually works for me, is preparing an outline with these exact guidelines. If I do this I can remember organization first, otherwise I will just start writing and have no idea where I'm going with it.  It is important to have organization so that your reader can follow along easier and understand exactly what your trying to say.

An Ending-A Beginning

This picture represents an ending, as well as a new beginning in my life.  Yes, it's in black and white, but what's important is the location, and the person in the picture. This is my boyfriend, his name is Anthony and someday, we plan to get married.  The dog next to him is Dixie, although the fact that he's with her is not why this picture is significant to me. The location of this picture is in Calaveras at my dad's house.  Calaveras is in the middle of no where and it takes four hours to get there. This was the first time Anthony met my dad, and the last time he ever saw him. 

I met Anthony in Santa Rosa, and we fell in love. After a while, I had to go back home to my dads.  He came up to Calaveras one weekend he had off of work.  He met my dad and my dad loved him which is unusual for him because he was the type of dad that would have a talk with a boyfriend with a shotgun sitting beside him. We ended up having so much fun together, we watched movies, and had great laughs. Anthony and I were inseparable since the day we met, we hated not being together. When it was time for him to leave I didn't want him to go. I told him that he couldn't leave and he told me to go with him, so I did.  

I ended up staying with Anthony for approximately one month, when I got a call from a police officer telling me my dad had passed away. He got thrown into oncoming traffic on his Harley and was hit head on by a van.  I started screaming and Anthony was sitting right next to me, He grabbed me and I cried in his arms. I was just screaming and crying and I couldn't believe it. I was in shock, it was all a blur. It was unreal I felt like I was in a nightmare. I was scared, and sad, and felt like my whole life had just fallen apart. I was heartbroken. I called my mom and my sister to tell them. I was the first person to know, and the next few days were very foggy. I became severely depressed and all I did was drink alcohol, and sleep. I would wake up, drink, and go back to sleep. I slept all day from the time we fell asleep at night; usually around midnight, until the time Anthony came home from work around 6pm. Then, when he came home we would drink all night together, I wanted to escape reality. It is by far the saddest I had ever been in my life and the hardest thing I had ever had to go through. This was the end of my life.

I stayed in Santa Rosa with Anthony, his parents knew what happened and were kind enough to let me stay with them. I wouldn't have gotten through any of it if it weren't for Anthony, I had just met the man of my dreams and fallen in love and at the same time my dad had died. About 2 months after he died I became pregnant with a miracle. I quit drinking and smoking cigarettes the second I found out. I was forced to deal with all my feelings and the only way I could go was up. My life took a turn for the best. Having Aubree was the best thing that ever happened to me, my hurtful tears were replaced with tears of joy. Although, I will always miss my dad, I had so much love in my heart for my new family.  Little did I know when I took this picture that I was looking at the hero that God sent me right before he took my dad. This was the beginning of my life.  

Chapter 1 Writing Topic Summary

Chapter 1 in Rules for Writers by Diana Hacker is about coming up with ideas and planning your writing. You want to assess your writing by looking at the subject, sources of information, purpose and audience, length and document design, and reviewers and deadlines. For your subject you want to view your sources of information, and if necessary narrow down your speech. Your purpose has to do with understanding your assignment, the purpose, how to answer questions. You should also know what kind of an audience your writing for. Your length and document design may be developed for you to follow by someone else. Most writers have reviewers who give you feedback, and deadlines are critical in planning your time frame.

You should be creative in exploring ideas for your subject. Great ways to generate ideas are to talk and listen, take notes and annotate, list, cluster, freewrite, writing in a journal, and asking a journalist questions. Next, you want to form and test a tentative thesis. Finally, plan it all out by writing out your outline. I will use annotating in almost all of my school work because a lot of the time I read first, and then write about it.  I will also use clustering because that is how I get the best ideas relating to eachother. I will focus more on my audience when I'm writing, which is usually the teacher.

The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me

There are many things that can be dangerous about being smart. When it comes down to it, our brain is our most important weapon. If it comes down to two people, and they each have a gun, the smarter one is the one that is more likely to not get shot.

You can talk your way out of things when your smart, and manipulate others into doing what you want. You would be amazed at some of the things that people can manipulate, it can hurt a lot of people. Just look at lawyers, they are really smart and they do whatever it takes to win their case no matter what it cost them, no matter who they are hurting. They don't care if they are right or wrong.

Some criminals have been really smart and that's why they've gotten away with so many things. It is dangerous to be smart when you have bad intentions. Being smart is not only dangerous it is having power.