Ives AP Comp Blog

I think a photo can definatly change the world. A good photo does something words, and sometimes even experience can’t do. It captures the emotions of the instance without working into the issue of small details that can detract from the whole picture like a writer can do when they try to give the whole picture but fail when they focused on some details that were not important or too general to really get to the drama of it.

I personally have a lot of trouble with the English language. I have laughed with my friends many times that I should count English as my second language. This is because in my household my father was the one at home during the day from when I was a baby to well into elementary school. Mostly this wouldn’t seem to be a problem. However my father was born and raised in one of the smallest towns on the Washington Canadian boarder that I think for a long time the governments didn’t really care which country it was in. With the lack of clear nationality to owe allegence there wasn’t a very good school system, and from what I have gotten out of my father he wasn’t much into school. This combined with his accent, quiet nature, and my dyslexia, created a paradox for me. When I was a child the teacher had to spend the most time with me. Though I wasn’t afraid of talking, a lot of what I said was pronounced wrong or I would put it into a grammatically wrong sentence. They would continually try and coach me but it was difficult. Like in Amy Tan’s piece to me the way that I talked was how I did so at home and it was much more natural for me. However I don’t think that my problem with the English language makes me any less capable than anyone else. I might not sound like the smartest person but I understand the concepts. Thus I think it is ok if people have different ways of expressing themselves in English. I don’t think that we should just say what we want without trying to put it into a grammatically correct sentence, I think people should always try to do better and not relax on the level that people understand them now. I know over time I have improved. It is not in leaps and bounds but it is happening, that is why I try to challenge myself with taking more advanced English courses. They stimulate me both mentally while also helping me express my ideas more efficiently in my writing and my speaking. 

Eighner starts out his piece being extremely formal and very well knowledgable about what he is talking about. He knows that his audience does not think highly of the action of dumpster diving so before he could really go into any real details about it he must first bring the reader into getting to understand that he is well educated and will not lead them into something that would be difficult for them to relate to. This type of tone was continued throughout the piece. He never uses any slang or make any conclusion about thing like why “jalapenos began showing up on most of the thrown-out pizzas.” In the way that he did come to conclusion it was in the same nonchalant way that anyone else would approach their food in the refrigerator. Furthermore in the middle as the reader begins to boarder on understanding and liking the way of life he goes on to get to the first reaction. That “every grain of rice seems to be a maggot.” Though he goes on to say that you get use to it the damage is done. And it allows to reader to yet again look at his piece not at an totally non-understanding of his point, but rather a point of view that is skeptical and allows them to pitty the author and others in his situation.

Eighner starts out his piece being extremely formal and very well knowledgable about what he is talking about. He knows that his audience does not think highly of the action of dumpster diving so before he could really go into any real details about it he must first bring the reader into getting to understand that he is well educated and will not lead them into something that would be difficult for them to relate to. This type of tone was continued throughout the piece. He never uses any slang or make any conclusion about thing like why “jalapenos began showing up on most of the thrown-out pizzas.” In the way that he did come to conclusion it was in the same nonchalant way that anyone else would approach their food in the refrigerator. Furthermore in the middle as the reader begins to boarder on understanding and liking the way of life he goes on to get to the first reaction. That “every grain of rice seems to be a maggot.” Though he goes on to say that you get use to it the damage is done. And it allows to reader to yet again look at his piece not at an totally non-understanding of his point, but rather a point of view that is skeptical and allows them to pitty the author and others in his situation.

1)    Talese takes a very interesting approach in describing what is happening to Frank Sinatra. Rather than telling what happens in a more textbook tone or taking it from Sinatra’s point of view and giving quotes that he had said, he tells it as a story. Talese explains Sinatra’s feelings, who he meets, and his actions in a strange way in which he knows what Sinatra is feeling and at the same time does not know. Talese also tells it in a way that though it may be past tense the reader gets the impression that it is the recent past.  However he suddenly randomly throughout the piece to his point of view.

Talese is trying to create a point for the reader in which they know who Sinatra is without going to extra step and assuming too much. This is important as if was totally written as a story it would be hard for a reader to take what he is trying to say seriously. This is important for Talese as this allows him to express a more personal view of Sinatra. In any other way it would be hard to get to know who he really was but the story/onlooker point of view he takes allows the reader to come as close to who Sinatra was without being akward. 

She does a good job of putting the reader in the moment with statements like “Kin Henderson pulled a pair of low-rider jeans over a high-rising gold lame thong….” She also uses these long complex sentences going off on short tangents in order to explain more what is going on. Futhermore she mixes bigger words like exasperated and such with quotes from the actual people she is talking about would describe it. For example for Kim she describes menopause as a “burning kind of numbness.” Though she does not write this article to the women to show what is going on and that they are not alone, but to an upper class who is trying to better understand the world around them. 

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

“Would you like paper or plastic?”

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. The middle age man with a slightly protruding belly stared intently at the screen watching as the price slowly increased.

“Sir, would you like paper or plastic?”

Beep, beep. The groceries were beginning to pile up the bagger sorted and pushed, stacked and stuffed. Desperate eyes met tired eyes and a common understanding was reached.

“Sir, what type of bag would you like?” It was an adult voice it seemed to draw the man out of his trance. He jerked his head straight at the teenage bagger, a look in his eyes as if accusing the younger one of not asking him earlier.

Beep.

“I would like paper.” His deep voice trailed off as he again turned his head though this time to look over the checkstand to see if his wife had yet returned from getting the box of crackers.

Crack. The paper bag snapped open.

A mass of groceries, and there were only five items left to take care of. Starting with the cold stuff the bagger began throwing in the frozen vegetables into the bottom on the bag in no particular order. A long arm reached over the checkstand and the bagger froze. Who dared entered the sacred territory of the bagger?

The man had pulled out a paper bag fumbling to get it open. He reached out grabbing whatever was closest to him and dropping it in.

Breath in. Breath out.

The number 1 annoyance to baggers, the customer was trying to help. Reaching out for the ice cream the bagger halted when it was snached and dropped into the customer’s bag right on top of the pears.

Crash, bam.

“That’s it!” the bagger threw the bag she was working on into the cart. “Do it yourself.” And she marched out of the door.

The purpose of the article is to help both the white population and the black population to understand eachother. It was written in such a time after the civil rights movement however there was still some anomisity in society. This article proved to be important as it was written with a high vocabulary, and distance that allows the white population to understand what he is trying to get at. However how he describes his father as “he should have been naked” and saying that he would have looked proud and beautiful as such allows the black population to feel pride in this. Because of this uniting factor as well as his general third person perspective on his surrounding it gives an unbiased and easy to relate view point to what is happening. 

My experience is that during our flag sleepover we had decided to go to the Richmond Beach park to play capture the flag. The park was dark and deserted and we thought that we would be left in peace to enjoy our game without any interruptions. However soon after we decided what side each team was on (as well as our team cheer), a black car with one headlight out pulled up. Turning on the highbeams the single light shown directly onto us. Our captains advised us to just ignore them. We laughed and began to move off to our respective side when the car backed up and drove off down the street. It was as if an oppressive fog had suddenly lifted from the field an easy laugh passed through the team. It was short lived as the opposing team approached the other edge of the park the car turned the corner on the other side of the park and slowly idled up to where they were trying to hid their flag. We thought it might be another car so we were curious why they were coming back over to our side, with quiet resolve.

“It’s the same car.” Someone said. We watched as the car started up and drove again around the corner to park where they had been initially this time the music blaring and a fake laugh cutting in between the base beats.

“They are just drunk.” Another girl tried to assure but it was too late we were creeped out.

“When they go around again we should run back to the house.” With the plan agreed on we waited until they again backed up and dissapear behind the trees to head for the stairs. We walked calmly. Maybe they had left for good this time. We heard a rev of a car behind us and started running.

“Go into the side yard!” someone yelled from the back. We ran into the shadows and knelt behind the trashcans, holding our breath as the car passed slowly by us 

My experience is that during our flag sleepover we had decided to go to the Richmond Beach park to play capture the flag. The park was dark and deserted and we thought that we would be left in peace to enjoy our game without any interruptions. However soon after we decided what side each team was on (as well as our team cheer), a black car with one headlight out pulled up. Turning on the highbeams the single light shown directly onto us. Our captains advised us to just ignore them. We laughed and began to move off to our respective side when the car backed up and drove off down the street. It was as if an oppressive fog had suddenly lifted from the field an easy laugh passed through the team. It was short lived as the opposing team approached the other edge of the park the car turned the corner on the other side of the park and slowly idled up to where they were trying to hid their flag. We thought it might be another car so we were curious why they were coming back over to our side, with quiet resolve.

“It’s the same car.” Someone said. We watched as the car started up and drove again around the corner to park where they had been initially this time the music blaring and a fake laugh cutting in between the base beats.

“They are just drunk.” Another girl tried to assure but it was too late we were creeped out.

“When they go around again we should run back to the house.” With the plan agreed on we waited until they again backed up and dissapear behind the trees to head for the stairs. We walked calmly. Maybe they had left for good this time. We heard a rev of a car behind us and started running.

“Go into the side yard!” someone yelled from the back. We ran into the shadows and knelt behind the trashcans, holding our breath as the car passed slowly by us