On Dumpster Diving

Bailey Ralston 

Ms. Parkinson 

English IIIB 

5 April 2016 

"On Dumpster Diving" 

Scavengers have a rough life. Many our forced to become scavengers because of their poverty or their last layoff. But often those well off do not experience these hardships and do not understand them. In an article by Lars Eighner, whom was once homeless himself, he looks back at his experience. In this retelling of his story Eighner uses the appeals of pathos. Pathos is the appeal to your emotions. Eighner wrote, "No matter how careful I am I still get dysentery at least once a month, often in warmer weather"(Eightner 718). In this sentence within the chapter you can feel for the author. Connecting to the author through his experience as well as knowing what he went through lets you understand the conditions that he goes through. You can understand that the author put himself through these experiences every month for years at a time, this creates an even deeper relationship to him. He wrote this line as if this was a normal experience and nothing was unusual with it. It was normal to him. What this does is allow for the readers to see that he subjects himself to these conditions that are considered lunacy to everyone who is not impoverished, which allows for more empathy towards the author. 

Staying Together

Ralston 1

Bailey Ralston

Ms. Parkinson

English IIIB

14 March 2016

Staying Together

            Throughout the book so far George and Lennie have been traveling together from town to town chasing after their American Dream. What keeps these two together is this American Dream. George has the brains to make it on his own. The one thing he lacks is the strength to work on a ranch and stay competitive in the workforce. Lennie however, provides this strength for George, “He can put up a four hundred pound bale” (Steinbeck 22). George can use Lennie’s strength and his obedience so that he can live The American Dream. It seems as if Lennie is being taken advantage of. But this however is not the case, by following George’s leadership Lennie is able to work towards his American Dream. This American Dream that they are pursuing is the hope that all who survived the Dust Bowl have ever wanted. A Dream that they can live on their own land and become independent. This common goal is why these two stick together.

Harlem Renaissance Writer: Countee Cullen

Bailey Ralston 

Ms.Parkinson 

English IIIB 

7 March 2016 

Lessons from Harlem 

From the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance writer Countee Cullen, it can be learned that when a person takes an action that goes against society it opens a path. If someone takes an action against social norms it opens a path. This path can and will be followed by others that believe in the same idea. In the poem Tableau, it is said "That lightning brilliant as a sword should blaze the path of thunder"(Cullen 11-12). In Tableau, this lightning is the action of a black boy and a white boy holding hands. This is seen as unorthodox to both blacks and whites.During this time there is a lot of path making. These actions allow for others to be inspired to stand up for what they believe in. This can be seen later in the civil rights movements.  

The House on Mango Street

In the text of House on Mango Street there are many examples of writer’s voice

They deliver interesting information:

            The first aspect of this voice is that the author, Sandra Cisneros, delivers interesting information in the text. She begins telling the story of the house “We didn’t always live on Mango Street.” (Chapter 1, pg. 3). This is one of the beginning sentences of this text, and it catches your eye. You read the line and you begin to wonder. You want to know why they moved to the house on Mango Street. You want to know if there was a specific reason. It makes you want to keep reading the text. The main character begins to tell about what has happened and why it happened. But this is approached in an interesting way. “We had to leave fast. We were using the washroom next door and carrying water over in empty milk gallons” (Chapter 1, pg.4).  The main character is portrayed through the voice of a child. You see this with the short quick sentences and quick thoughts. This interests the audience because you get to see the hold perspective of the story from someone who is very young, you get to see that it seems different when written through a child’s point of view. The audience learns all of their information through this little girl.  “Our house would be white with trees around it, a great bug yard and grass growing without a fence” (Chapter 1, pg.4). The audience finds out their information about settings, and different thoughts through such an innocent perspective.

            They employ the techniques of narrative:

            The second aspect of voice is that the author, Sandra Cisneros, employs multiple different techniques of narrative writing. One of these techniques is the use of movement through the text to get to a greater idea. This idea is that while things may seem like they aren’t as good as they could be but they are only temporary. The author uses dialog that the character says to move the plot along when she says "There, I said pointing up to the third floor" (Chapter 1, pg.5). The author uses imagery to describe the scene of the old house. " I had to look where she pointed- the third floor, the paint peeling, wooden bars Papa had nailed to the windows so we wouldn't fall out"(Chapter 1, pg.5).

            They exhibit perceptivity:

            The third aspect of  voice that the author, Sandra Cisneros, employs is exhibiting perceptive. The narrator of this piece has an interesting point of view, she notices many things that many would find uncommon, she notices the businesses closing, the nun walking down the street, the broken pipes, the water carrying, and many others.

Blog 2: Chapter 15-16

“The best thing, thought, in the museum was that everything stayed right where it was. Nobody’d moved. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finishing catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deer’s would still be drinking out of the water hole, with their pretty antlers and their pretty skinny legs… Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different is you” (Salinger 135).

This vignette from Catcher in the Rye shows a very powerful insight that Holden has. In this vignette Holden says that every time that he goes to the museum that nothing is different about it, except for himself. This is a powerful idea, it shows that people will change sometimes. They change while the things around them do not change. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. This scene is added to overall by the hyperbole, “You could go there a hundred thousand times” (Salinger 135), this hyperbole makes it seem like somethings will never change, like in a museum. But you still will be different each and every day.

Catcher in the Rye: Blog 1

Catcher in the Rye: 9-10

Blog Option 1:

In the article “Your Rattle No One Else Can Hear? “ by Daryn Kagan it is explained that there is always something that will bother you on a deep emotional level, and no one else can experience it except for you. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden experiences that “rattle”, when he is writing about his brother Allie and how he felt after he had died from leukemia.  

The author of “Your Rattle No One Else Can Hear?” uses the simple analogy of a piece of a car rattling to portray this bothersome idea and the idea that no one can hear it. The rattling drives the husband crazy but no one else can hear. This is an analogy for emotional pain, it is felt deep down and can drive a person crazy but only that person can feel that pain. It is unique to just that person that feels it. Holden’s loss of his brother Allie caused a deep emotional tear deep within Holden. These emotions are unique to Holden and they cause him to get angry.

The article, “Your Rattle No One Else Can Hear? “, shows this idea of emotional pain clearly in the last half of the article. The following line from the article shows this, “that thing that is the thorn in your side that others can’t see or detect that you’re told to get over”, it shows that no matter what your pain was it is a thorn in your side that you can feel deeply but no one can see. Holden shows this pain symbolically in Catcher in The Rye with a physical pain, “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the windows with my fist for it… My hand still hurts me once in a while”, this symbolism with the physical pain demonstrates the pain that Holden feels and only he feels.