Life's Expectancy

What our families, especially our mothers and fathesr, believe about us can have dire consequences for our lives. The Bible is true when it says that "The tongue has the power of life and death" (Proverbs 18:21). I am reminded of my first husband, whose father often told him he'd never amount to anything and that he had a remarkable power to screw up all he touched. Sadly, it turned out to be true. Today he is addicted to both drugs and alcohol. He has ruined two marriages and severely disappointed three children. Anything we hear repeatedly becomes part of us. It is the way brainwashing works. That's why it is so important to only speak words of life over our children and over other people.

Blog Assignment: All of us will be responding to the same prompt this week. It is #3 on page 568.  If you are so motivated, you might read the essay that preceeds it entitled, "Only Daughter" by Sandra Cisneros. It will help direct your focus.

My Response:  After my father passed away, my mother gave me a letter he sent me when I was just an infant and he was a traveling salesman. I like to take out that letter every now and then. In fact, I keep it in a cabinet where I am unlikely to misplace it. It's that special. In it, he relates how thrilled he is to have me as part of the family, how he feels blessed by God through my existence. He relates how much he is saddened by having to be on the road, and he reveals the dreams he has for my life -- dreams of success and happiness. Now, I never knew this letter existed (though maybe he read it to me when I was very young), but I always knew that there was a strong bond between us that was different than the bond between my father and my older stepsister and the one between Daddy and my younger sister. It wasn't stronger, it was just different. I know I disappointed him many times, like when I decided to become an English major instead of a business major in college. In all fairness, I did take one accounting class -- a night class in an underground building lit solely by flourescent lights. Definitely NOT for me. Give me books, give me writing, give me literary food for speculation about life and the unknown. Other times, I pleased him by my choices, like when I decided I was going to take the test to become a general contractor. I passed it the first time around, something grown men who had been in the industry all their lives were unable to do. He was as proud as a rooster in the henyard. You might see a huge dichotomy between the two; however, the consummate act of creativity lies within both fields.  And that is what I am all about. I am a creator (not surprising, considering I am made in the very image of the Creator). And maybe those words, words spoken over me in the night as I slept, filled me with the life he so desperately wanted for me -- a life of happiness, a life of creation.

Your Turn: Sign in and post your assignment in the Comment box. Preview your response so you can see what you need to correct. Make your corrections and click the Post Comment button. Please be sure to post your response no later than midnight of November 2. Remember your Engrade option is still available should you need it; look for Blog #9.

Where Do You Stand?

It is true that everyone has an opinion, but not all opinions are based on sound reasoning. Sometimes our opinions find their justification in the strategically biased ramblings of people who have no idea what the true facts really are. And sometimes, which is an even worse scenario, the vocal party knows the truth but espouses the lie for his or her own gain. It's a shame, really. The only way a person can deliver him or herself from such villiany is to understand the tactics of persuasion.

I liken persuasion to going to war. A country just doesn't jump into war without having very carefully considered the enemy. The agressive country knows all about their enemy -- where their borders are, what kinds of weapons they are able to deploy, the number of able-bodied men and women who could be engaged in the fight, etc. To approach the idea of war from any other position would be suicide.

Well, frankly, the same is true of persuasive writing. Not only do you have to know which techniques would be effective against your opponent (the enemy), but you also have to know what arguments they will bring up to counter yours and strategically plan to oppose those claims with weapons of your own. You have heard that the pen is mightier than the sword, right? Duel on, my little writers.

Blog Assignment:  On page 169 in the textbook, select either #1, #4, or #10 and write a persuasive paragraph stating your position and at least 3 reasons to substantiate your opinion. Be sure to provide a clear topic sentence that presents your viewpoint.

 

My Response: It's a nightmare scene out of a movie: you are driving home late at night; it's been raining. In the distance you see headlights. As your car and the oncoming one approach, the driver in the other lane begins to weave and aims straight for your car. There is no place for you to go to escape the awful impact you know is coming. Your life flashes before you, and you think of the spouse and children you will leave behind as the sound of screaming metal collides with your vehicle. I definitely believe that drunk drivers who cause accidents with fatalities should be charged with murder. According to drunkdrivingstatistics.toplawblog.info, "There were 16,885 alcohol-related fatalities in 2005." This number is 39 percent of all traffic fatalities for that year. Frankly, that's a lot of people who died because someone decided to get behind the wheel and drive after he or she had been drinking. The United States has campaigned quite heavily over many years to alert drivers to the dangers of drinking and driving. Many bars will call a cab so that patrons who have been imbibing can arrive home safely. There is usually someone at a party who is the "designated driver" for the evening so that those who are polluted don't have to get behind the wheel and endanger themselves and others on the road. Real friends don't let their friends drive drunk. A person who has been drinking knows there are many alternatives to getting behind the wheel, so when they choose to drive and, God forbid, get into an accident that takes a life, then they need to be fully responsible for that life. I firmly believe that with all the stopgap measures in place for someone who has been drinking, the culprit should be charged with murder if a traffic fatality ensues.

 

Your Turn: Sign in and post your assignment in the Comment box. Preview your response so you can see what you need to correct. Make your corrections and click the Post Comment button. Please be sure to post your response no later than midnight of November1. Remember your Engrade option is still available should you need it; look for Blog #8.

The Law of Karma

The law of Karma is the law of cause and effect. It is everywhere around us, and there is no escape. It is evident even in writing. Now, an effective writer knows that a person cannot just connect any two things and determine those things have a cause and effect relationship. That relationship must be clearly stated. That's where efficacious transitional words and phrases help out; they show which actions are related to effects. That's not always so easily discerned, either. Many effects are the result of a series of causes, and, conversely, one cause may have many effects. It often takes some serious thinking to get to the heart of a problem. The more clearly you can define the relationship, the easier job a reader will have understanding your point(s).

Blog Assignment:  On page 154 in the textbook, select either #3, #8, or #14 and write a cause and effect paragraph. Be sure to provide a topic sentence that clearly states your point.

My Response: To tell the truth, I love technology. Many of my peers are not so enamoured of it and are actually afraid to venture out into the realms beyond their cell phone and email, but I love to explore the web's online software that make artistic creation so much fun. Even though I am a tech junkie, I do realize that the computer can have negative effects on  relationships. I have to use the computer for work and I am constantly searching the Internet for the latest educational research and aids to make my classroom teaching more vibrant. However, I know that finding just the right thing can sometimes take forever. As a result, the time I have to spend online robs my marriage of face-to-face time with my husband. And he can be even worse than I. He designs websites, so he spends an inordinate amount of time on the computer. Usually, the only time we spend together is dinner. The rest of our evening is spent with each of us separately on our own computers working. As if searching for information were not enough of a problem, there is the whole email annoyance. I hate wading through the spam I get from other district employees trying to find the information I need to get through my teaching day. In fact, I am usually several days behind reading email, so I have to check that in my off time as well. I really hate that keeping up with work's newsflashes steals time from my family. It takes forever just to get rid of the junk I don't even need to read! I have even given up my Facebook posts because I just don't want to rob my husband, daughter, and pets of the little time I have left. The Lord knows there is a lot of mindless drivel to snorkel through just to get to something really interesting on Facebook anymore. So, even though I see the value and love all the neat, creative things I can do online, I prefer to relinquish the negative effects of time theft by limiting my interactions online.

Your Turn: Sign in and post your assignment in the Comment box. Preview your response so you can see what you need to correct. Make your corrections and click the Post Comment button. Please be sure to post your response no later than midnight of October 19. Remember your Engrade option is still available should you need it; look for Blog #7.

Everybody's Got A Story

It's true - everybody does have a story. Some stories are sad, while others are uplifting; some stories make us laugh, and yet others make us pause and think. What's your story? Relax. Have something cool to drink, and tell me all about it.

Narrative writing is simply telling a story. Now, there are at least two ways to  do that, right? You can tell only the important points - the bare outline - or you can embellish it with details. Which one would you rather hear? Narrative writing isn't like writing a report or an outline; narrative writing depends on those lovely details that enliven the facts and make us lean in closer so we don't miss a word. Of course, there has to be a point. And that point should be made clear to the reader. Some writers make that point early on, while others save it until the very last so it can make a definite impact. Bear in mind, though, that without making the point clear to the writer, why bother to tell your story at all? It's like the bad joke teller who forgets the punchline. All that effort was pointless , reminding me of Oblio in the Pointless Forest. Oh, you don't know the story? Click here and enjoy a little nostalgia about making a point. 

Blog Assignment:  On page 88 in the textbook, select either #2, #10, or #13 and write a narrative paragraph. Be sure to provide a topic sentence that clearly states your point.

My Response:  To look at me, most people would never guess that I have Latino blood. Taking only my last name into consideration, people think I am just a white girl of Irish descent, but McDonald is my married name. Few people know that my family name of birth is Diaz, and because of this lack of knowledge, and the incorrect assumption that I am just a "white girl," they feel free to spout their prejudices in front of me. They really are surprised, however, when my true identity is revealed. Let me confess a rather unusual incident. I was shopping one Saturday with my mother in  Miami's "Garment District" when I was in my twenties. We were in a certain manufacturer's shop looking at dresses and we had made several trips back and forth between the racks and the fitting rooms. By the time we were ready to check out, we both had three or four items apiece that we were planning to buy. We weren't the only ones in line, but we were clearly the second and third customers at the checkout. We were also the only ones not chattering away in Spanish. The sales ladies at the registers were plainly ignoring us, calling out in Spanish to the obviously Latin women in line around  us and beckoning them to bump us and come up to the register. My mother, who was in every sense of the word a lady, patiently stood her place in line, but when the women at the register began laughing at us and calling us ignorant "gringas," my regal mother replied back in perfect Spanish that they were the ignorant ones for assuming we did not understand their rude comments just because we didn't look like the other Latin women in the store. She directed me - in Spanish - to drop the designer clothes that we were planning to buy on the floor (easily worth several hundred dollars) and leave before paying customers could be insulted any further. You should have been there to see the horrified looks on their faces as we promptly left the store. Prejudice, in whatever form it comes, is a monstrous creature that should be slain with a silver bullet before humans get hurt. 

Your Turn:

Sign in and post your assignment in the Comment box. Preview your response so you can see what you need to correct. Make your corrections and click the Post Comment button. Please be sure to post your response no later than midnight of October 12. Remember your Engrade option is still available should you need it; look for Blog #6.