Readings From Amanda Coyne

Haha it's weird how it says what most is being smelled is the children. That kind of caught me off guard. I can slightly relate to this, but not with a child, with my boyfriend. I wear a jacket he gave me because it smells like him. I wanted to have something to remember him by and sometimes even when I'm just sitting home I can smell him. It's very weird but I can tell that he has a scent of his own and I'm sure that's just how the  mothers are with their children. This is an interesting topic because I have never really thought about it before. I like the way that she describes what it would have been like if the woman was not in jail. It really worked for this and I like how she brought it together saying how it really is. I actually really like this one because it goes into what it is like now and what it will be like. It's really keeping me interested and I think this subject is very interesting. I really liked this one because it reads more like a story, but still gives you information about the place. It actually gave me a very vivid picture of how it is. This has been one of my favorite ones to read so far.

Readings From John Edge

I like how this starts out with a time and then describes the place. It really gives you a feeling like you're there and experiencing it. This essay is really detailed and I like how he describes things in here. Haha I love the use of Kool-aid-red as a color. As I'm reading this I'm thinking that it's going to be kind of gross because it's talking about pig lips. This is something I really know nothing about, but I'm really not sure I really want to know anything about this. He uses a lot of quotes from the person. I really can't believe that pig lips would be such a big thing it really sounds gross. I can't believe that they dye the lips different colors either. It really sounds nasty. I really like how it incorporates the story of him eating lips into his profile of the guy. I really like the line about the vinegar tickling his nostrils. I think this really dealt with trying new things as well as describing the person. I, myself, would never try pig lips in my life, but I think he was very brave to actually try them. 

Profile Essays

I'm not sure what to do for my profile essay. I really can't think of a place or a person that I think is interesting to the community. I tried to think of something that would be different or really interesting. I thought about doing a group of people like maybe rebellious people, but the more I think about it the more I think it's stupid. I thought about doing a tattoo parlor, but I really don't know anything, and I've never actually gotten anything done there. I might do something like a band studio or something like that. I thought about talking about how people can just let go when they're playing an instrument. How people can get lost in the music. Sometimes I just sit at the piano and play whatever pops into my head. I'll play what I feel and it makes me feel better. I like to lose myself in many of the things I do. Whether it be writing, drawing, music, videos, or pictures, I'm always trying to put my heart into it. All of those things are important to me, but I don't know how they would be important to the community. Something that is important to me, may not really be all that important in the community. I guess that's why I'm finding this assignment so difficult for me.

Readings From Rick Bragg And Tobias Wolff

Rick Bragg: 

I really like how he turns a real life event into a metaphor in the beginning. I like the way that he's so completely honest about everything. He realizes that he did get some nice things but he wasn't a big shot like some of the popular people. Wow I can't even imagine how scary this experience must be for him. I remember how terrified I was when I got in my wreck and it wasn't nearly as bad as this sounds. I kind of don't like the way it jumps around in the story. I really don't like how it puts random unimportant stuff such as the taking science in 9th grade in there. I don't really see what the point in this essay was. I don't think the author really came to a conclusion in it.

Tobias Wolff:

I find some of the wording of this one a little strange and hard to read. It seems like he didn't even use punctuation in many sentences and some of them are run ons. There are no quotes where there should be. I think I'm pretty much offended reading this because grammatically incorrect it is. It's actually really pissing me off the more I read this. I really don't even want to go to the end. Some of the similes and metaphors are just weird. I really just generally did not like this essay.

Readings From Jean Brandt and Annie Dillard

Jean Brandt:

I can really relate to this because I remember when you had to have certain things to be "in". Actually it was pretty ridiculous and I never really understood why it was like that. I've been in a situation similar to this but I wasn't the one stealing something. Someone wanted to steal something for me but I wouldn't let them do it. I find it really funny that they're going through all that trouble only for a button. As I'm reading this I'm laughing a bit. This makes me really want to keep reading so I know what happens to her. It's exciting with the use of dialogue. I can really relate to this because I have been in plenty of situations where I have done something and knew my parents would be furious when they found out. I agree with the father on this that this whole situation over a button that was less than a dollar is quite ridiculous and they shouldn't have done that. I guess it really taught her a lesson though and I doubt she'll ever steal anything again.

Annie Dillard:

This actually makes me wish that we'd get more snow here. I only remember having snow a few winters but we haven't had very in the past few years. I wish we got more that would be really fun. This story is interesting because I have no idea why this guy would just get out and leave his car to chase these kids. I would never leave my car alone and wide open for people to just come in and lake. I don't know what the point of this essay was though. This one read more like a story in a book or something because it really didn't have a point.

Chapter 4 pg. 116-127

Memoirs are our experiences that show significance in our lives. No matter how big or small. A person or object could be used to show something important that happened. In this book they use food to describe a relationship between two people or an event that happened. Food is something that could be really easy to think of something that connects two people. For example peeling potatoes could be something that your mom and you used to do so you could write about that. Food is something that everyone in the world knows and can relate to so it would be really easy to create something that people will recognize. 

When thinking about an audience for my memoir I have to think about who will be able to relate and understand my experiences, but I don't want to write my memoir so that only a few people can understand it. I'm picking a topic that can be relatable not just to one group of people but to many people. I'm going to write about my experience in band and my changes and realizations that I had during my experiences in it.

My purpose in writing this is to show how I made the realization that being shy and not able to laugh at myself was holding me back from being myself. Over the course of my high school band experience I went to being the quiet girl with only two friends to being one of the more outgoing people with many friends. I'm going to connect with the audience by giving examples of embarrassing scenarios that I experienced in my time in band.