Random Dialogue

Carmen walks into her room and sees a huge mess, she immediately calls her daughter.

Carmen: “Sophie!”

Sophie: “Yes?”

Carmen: “Did you make that mess?”

Sophie: “No”

Carmen: “Who did it then?”

Silence

Carmen: “Are you sure you did not do that mess?”

Silence

Carmen: “I am talking to you, Sophie!”

Sophie: “Well...”

Carmen: “Yes?”

Sophie:  “It was an accident. I was looking for my shoes and forgot to clean the mess I made. I am sorry.”

Carmen: “Well that is all you had to say, now clean this mess and get ready to go to sleep.”

                I live with my older sister, Carmen, and her daughter, Sophie. I was in my room when I heard this dialogue take place. I found it interesting because dialogues between a mom and a daughter are always different from dialogues between friends. It is especially interesting when the child is about to get in trouble. It is an interesting dialogue because not much is said but with the few words spoken a clear message is delivered (that Sophie is guilty of making the mess). I believe dialogues are important in stories because they add more detail to the story. Dialogues help the reader understand the characters. For example, in this dialogue we sense that Sophie knows she did something wrong, that is why she is afraid to confess her action. Although the reader can infer, by Carmen's tone, that Carmen knows already that Sophie is guilty. I do believe if the dialogue had been more extensive and more detailed, I would have been able to have a clearer picture of exactly what Sophie did while she was looking for her shoes. This made me realize that when I use dialogues in my stories I have to put a lot of detail into them so that the reader does not stay wondering what really happened. It also made me understand that sometimes silence can say more than a thousand words. So in my writing I will keep in mind to use silence when necessary (and if it is applicable). Plus the punctuation marks at the end of each dialogue made an important contribution to the reader’s understanding of the emotions felt by the characters. I will make sure to use punctuation marks appropriately in my writing. Overall, I believe this was a good activity to fulfill, it helped remind me of the importance of dialogue.

Shooting an Elephant

Shooting an Elephant is an interesting story since it is told from a point of view that we, the readers, never usually hear from.  I have heard of imperialism many times and even read books about it, but they are usually told from the point of view of those who were overpowered. This story is told from the opposite point of view, George Orwell (who is a police officer for England at Burma) tells this story. That impressed me as a reader and kept me interested. I really wanted to see imperialism from a different perspective and I did, since George Orwell describes the way he feels and the way the people feel about him in a very detailed way.  That affected me as a reader since I got to have a glimpse of how uncomfortable life was for George Orwell during that time, he clearly states “I was hated by large numbers of people” in the very first lines of the story. Plus I understood that he had to often make difficult decisions and that he explains to the readers using this story about an elephant he had to shoot.

Shooting an Elephant is a well organized story and that makes it easier to understand. George Orwell uses figurative language often to describe the setting and convey his message about imperialism.  He even uses a simile to describe a dead person; he states “the great beast’s foot had stripped the skin from his back as neatly as one skins a rabbit.” The elephant in this story symbolizes the ruled people of Burma, who were doing nothing wrong but ended up being overpowered by a greater force. George Orwell continuously states throughout the story that he did not want to shoot the elephant since the elephant was an innocent animal who eventually is just calmly standing in one place. However, he ends up being watched by a large crowd of people (who already hated him) but were excited to watch the elephant get shot. Not having killed the elephant would have just given them another reason to laugh at him. The last sentence in this story sums this up, “I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking like a fool.”   

Imperialism is when one nation overpowers a weaker nation. George Orwell gives us an interesting glimpse of his idea about imperialism through this story.  George Orwell believes imperialism puts limits not only on the people being overpowered but also to those who have to maintain it that way.  He believes to be a “dummy” in between these two countries, England and Burma, though he is obviously the “dummy” of England. He says that “he (the white man) shall spend the rest of his life trying to impress the “natives”.” He now has a certain standard he has to live by and this standard will always limit his freedom to do what he wants. This opinion and George Orwell’s honesty is what makes this story so great.

Syria

I am usually never aware of the problems concerning foreign countries. Of course I heard about problems at Syria for many days. But I honestly did not even bother to ask what was wrong. Perhaps that is the problem of many Americans; we couldn’t care less about anything outside of our own country. The problem with Syria is its corrupt government, which finally encountered people willing to go against it. The current problem in Syria started with protests by the citizens, asking for a different government. Obviously the government was unhappy with this and reacted in terrible ways. This however, led to a civil war in Syria, a war that the government refuses to lose. The government is so determined to win that it even began to use chemical weapons. This action is what made the United States get involved. I don’t believe anyone could possibly know the correct way to react to this situation, not even President Obama. However, I do believe we should respect President Obama for at least trying to do something to help Syria. In my opinion, the U.S should not get involved. Starting problems with a foreign country can’t possibly lead to any good. The United States needs to worry about fixing its own problems first, before it tries to help anyone else. The United States needs to worry about its people first; it needs to show what good “ruling” is really like. Once President Obama can show what a good nation really looks like then he could lead by example. He could show the rest of the world there is no need for wars or violence in general. But until then he should completely focus on doing his job here at home and leave the rest of the world alone. I do realize there are people dying out there, and what we could do is pray that the problems in Syria will soon come to an end. I do hope everything in Syria works out fine.  

A Memorable Place

The one place I will never forget is my elementary school, P.S 19. It was my home for so long.  P.S 19 could be seen miles away since it was the tallest red building in the neighborhood. The outside was decorated with windows and signs that gave the building life. The noise that came from the school echoed throughout the whole neighborhood, it was noise made up of the children’s laughter.  It was a place where you could smell dozens of different lunchboxes full of food made by caring mothers. It was a place where the excitement of the children could be felt every single morning. Once the school day began, the day began for the whole neighborhood, for everyone shared the enthusiasm of living the new day. Many people considered it to be a good school, but half of those people were just parents who had barely been inside the school themselves. Inside the school is where the true magic began.

                As a child I spent most of my time at school, since my mom was always working. School was my home, so at first there was no choice but to get used to it. I do remember being one of those many little kids crying on the first day of school, fearing the unknown. However, as time passed, I began to feel comfortable in the school; I memorized the way all five floors, the bathrooms and the staircases looked. I began to become familiar with the people around me, especially with my teachers.  I had the nicest teachers ever, people who truly cared about me so much.  They taught me to love learning and the love of learning gave me a reason to wake up every morning full of excitement for the day ahead.  I learned to understand that everyone looked and sounded different as well, my school was so diverse, it’s how I realized the world wasn’t made up of only Hispanics. As time continued to pass, I began to love my school. There I learned the most basic concepts but they're concepts I have never forgotten. P.S 19 is where I laughed and cried many times. It’s where I began to understand myself. Anyone could argue that I have changed throughout the years, and of course that is true, but a piece of the girl that was created in P.S 19 will always be a part of me. 

                                                                                                                                        

Homework: The Clinic

A narrative is the way in which we tell our own story. The way we choose to tell our story depends on what we want to convey through our words. Plus we must consider who will be the audience of the story. The plot must be well organized and the details must be sufficient so that the reader can completely grasp the meaning of the story. Other methods such as dialogues and personification can be included as well to make the story more interesting. In this chapter of Back to the Lake, I read the narrative of Jeff Gremmels, The Clinic. In this narrative, this (soon to be) doctor learns a valuable lesson through a little boy who suffers from abuse. I did feel sad to realize the boy suffers from abuse, however, I was satisfied to know the doctor learned a valuable lesson.

I believe The Clinic was a well written narrative. It included very descriptive language that allowed the reader to visual the characters, the bruises and even the hospital room clearly. The dialogue made the story more alive and the chronological order of the story made it easier to follow. This narrative did include the basic requirements of a narrative and within the narrative itself we learned how important a background story really is (a requirement that had been mentioned earlier in this chapter).  I wouldn’t add much more to the narrative since I believe it’s good the way it is written.

I believe this is the doctor’s and the boy’s story.  First of all, it is told in the doctor’s point of view so that makes it his narrative.  Plus the doctor is the one who learns something valuable with this experience and chooses to share it with an audience. Though I would like to say it is the boy’s story as well since an actual story is told inside this narrative and that is the boy’s experience with abuse. In the narrative, the doctor explains how important a background story is and how he learned much more in this experience than in most of his years in med school. Plus, writing the narrative as a “medical detective” story made it more personal since the narrator is going to be doctor. So overall, I believe The Clinic is a great narrative.