Quickwrite 12/8

I found this piece to be very interesting due to how many Asian people are here on Michigan State's campus. In fact my TA for my math class is very similar to this he may be the smartest person, but I judge him based on that I can only understand about 50 percent of what he says to the class. This piece made a lot of sense to me because as bad as it sounds I judge people who speak "broken" English all the time, and this piece really makes me think that I should strive to not judge a person just by how they speak but rather their actions and personality they have.

12/8 Post

I found this piece to be very interesting. She mentions that her mom spoke in broken down English. There are a lot of students here at MSU that are the same way. I have a lot of kids from China that are in one of my other classes and we are required to work in groups. I often finding myself speaking in very simple sentences and not using any slang. I find it very easy to relate to Amy Tan.

Quickwrite 12/8

Can narrative be arguement? Can stories be arguements?

In my opinion, yes, narratives and stories can be arguements. Earlier in the class we also discussed how everything can be an arguement, but aside from that, when narrating or telling a story, one could be arguing thier own opinion on a fact. Or even arguing how they view the story should be told or how it happened. If you really wish to argue a point, I wouldn't reccomend a vague tactic like that when you could just blatantly argue your point, but narratives and stories can in my opinion argue, even if it is discreetly.

12/8

This was a pretty interesting reading. Ive always knew there was different type/forms of english, but never knew any one else considered this. in the story it touches on how you speak influences how your treated. also that the people your around influences the way you speak. after being around someone for so long you tend to pick up their style of speaking.

Quickwrite 12/8

I think the reading was really interesting. I did not know that kids dont realize that if their mom or dad grow up with a different language they do not see how many mistakes they actually make in their other language.  I also thought it was really funny that the daughter had to call the bank of her mom to make a complain, because she was to afraid, that they would not take her seriously because of her poor English. But I also think that it pretty sad that people judge other people because of their ability to be not fluent in a FOREIGN language. A lot of those people are actually better educated and smarter than the other party, but they just cannot show it like them.

Sebastian

MOTHER TONGUE 12/8/11

A narrativeis more effective that an opinion because it isn't forcing an idea on someone it is simply telling story and people can react to it in any way that they please. But by the way the story is told, it can give a message and people will tend to interpret it a certain way. Stories keep the audience interested and they can infer things in their own way, so people are more open to what is being said. In an opinion paper, people will tend to take a stance right away and not stray from that belief, but a story grows on you and slowly changes your mind without saying your opinion isn't valid.

Quickwrite 12/8

I think a narrative can be an argument. The writer is talking about the importance of a child's learning abilities along with the language they are brought up in. I think that the writer didn't try to persuade anyone to think that every child should be brought up the same way, she just implied that her mother using English in her household really benefited her intelligence. The narrative just forces the reader to think a different way about the topic.

Quickwrite 12/8

The story Mother Tongue was kind of cool how one persons english can change their lifestyle so much. This girl knew all sorts of english which helped her become who she was but the style of english she could use depended on who she was talking to and about. When she was giving a talk she finally realized how some people, including her mother, would have no idea what she is trying to say. I found it weird how spot on she was because I experience this at MSU when you try talking to TA's or even the professor one on one. It is amazing how different the languages are.

Quickwrite 12/8

I felt that "Mother Tongue" was a very strong argumentative piece. I believe she has a whole paragraph explaining how she would have to act as her mother on the phone, because her mother's broken English wasn't taken seriously. I agree with her argument, even though I haven't had a personal experience, because the listeners would probably think broken English is just her being lazy. Also it was unfortunate to her when it came to the ACT. Since the English subject isn't my strong point, I also felt like the ACT was about which sentence sounded the best to me. Thus making me relying on the English I heard growing up around me.

quickwrite 12/8

Can a narative be an argument? Can Stories be Arguments?

Yes both of these can be arguments. while they are not as direct as a presuasive piece strories and naratives argue by showing that certain actions cause certain things to happen. like when Tan talks about how the nature of english placement tests pushes many asian americans toward math and science she is argueing that these test are the cause for this trend. Stories often have a moral to them and this is an argument to behave a certain way.

-Jeff

Mother Tongue

I believe I know what she means when she talks differently to different people. She has a certain language, almost a mini dialect with this person that she and the other person understand perfectly, but it might not be perfect English. My roommate Di is Chinese and the way I talk to him is different than the way I talk to others. When I talk to him I have to slow way down and use common words that he as used to using before. For instance the other day he wanted me to come eat with him and his girlfriend and he said to me, "You are going, eat, come with us." I try my best to make him understand the correct way of saying it. The more I talk to him the more I accidentally use this "language" i have with Di with my other friends.

12/8 Quickwrite

I found this piece to be very interesting due to how many Asian people are here on Michigan State's campus. In fact my TA for my math class is very similar to this he may be the smartest person, but I judge him based on that I can only understand about 50 percent of what he says to the class. This piece made a lot of sense to me because as bad as it sounds I judge people who speak "broken" English all the time, and this piece really makes me think that I should strive to not judge a person just by how they speak but rather their actions and personality they have.

Blogpost Thursday December 8

In my opinion, both stories and narratives can be arguments. Stories can be examples of arguments when talking about something that the author disagrees with. The whole point of the story in this example would be to argue against what it is the author disagrees with. Also, when writing a narrative, you could be writing about something you disagree with, or some injustice that occurred to you and the whole point of relaying your story could be to tell people what happened, and argue that this is wrong.

QW 12-8-11

I do not believe that a narrative can be an argument although I do believe that it can be used to process and support an argument. For example, in this case Tans narrative basically illustrated an example for the purpose that even through adversity success can be obtained. So basically stories and narratives are simply first hand examples that support an argument. If one were to analyze this on a credibility argument, the author does not provide enough evidence for me to assume that her claim is correct. Therefore this does not make a successful argument.

Quickwrite 12/8

My general reaction to "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan is that it is very interesting and inspiring that she was able to become such a great speaker and writer (in English) when her mother has spoken "broken" english her whole life. I enjoyed reading this because she tells her story of her struggles growing up with a mother who her friends couldn't understand and also more recent situations where she has to step in and speak for her mother.

quickwrite 12/8

This piece made me realize that there are several uses of English that I/we employ every day. I use a certain language to talk to my friends, a different one to talk to my grandparents and mother, and another one to write educational papers. Even though we use different languages for different acquaintances, we still employ the use of argument into our language. I can kind of relate to the author of understanding our mother's language, but my mother and I use a hybrid English in which we speak formally but educated as well. It hs always been like this and I think that is why i enjoy reading and writing so much.

QR 1/8/11

My general reaction to this piece was that it was a very easy and fun reading. I liked it because I could relate to it alot. When she talked about her friends not being able to understand her mother made me think of my grandma because she is from Poland and has a very strong accient and most of my friends cant understand her at all, but my friends from gradschool who have known her longer understand her a lot better. I ofcourse can complelty understand her 100 percent because I grew up with her allwyas talking to me. Also the part where Amy had to pretneced she was her mother so people woulnt ingore her or preternd not her hear here made me think of times when my bobcia goes out on family dinners to resultants, we have to order for her because usually they dont understand her accient. This piece made me relize that people today who are faced with different nationalities and accents dont really care or try to help them out when it comes to situations that might take them a little bit longer to handle, the part where Mrs. Tan went to the hospital to get a CT scan for her brain really made me sad to think that they would just pretend they lost her so she couldn't get the results right away. Overall I really enjoyed reading this because it really related to me and I could see alot of myself in Amy.
One part that I tahguht was very interesting was when she talked about how most Asian orientated people go into math and sciences because their language is known as more "broken" or not as good. So I liked how she wanted to strive harder to break that stereotype. It also made me think if that is why I enjoy math and science more than writing because when I was younger I was allways arround my grandma who you could say had "broken" English.
As far as the argument part of this piece I would say she did a great job having examples of how she has became a better writer by trying her best to becoming a great writer.

quickwrite 12/8

I found this reading pretty interesting because it discussed the many forms of language, more specifically the english language. The most effective part, in my opinion, was when the author talked about broken english. It was an interesting term for me, because as she said I never thought of language as something that is fixable. For people not from the United States, they have this problem a lot, where it is difficult to understand them because of their lack of experience of the english language. It was interesting for me to take a closer look at this way of thinking about language.

QuickWrite 12/8

I thought that this piece showed the will to learn a language and appreciate it. She mentioned that there wasn't anything that she didn't like about a certain language, because she loved everything about language. Her interest in foreign language was greater than her mother's, therefor, she learned to be more fluent. When you have an interest in something, you tend to succeed more often.

quickpost 12/8

Tan's "Mothers Tongue" is an argument because she is "arguing" that it is a different language, or different form of a language. The language being english. She argues this by showing the effects that the way her mother speaks had on her everyday life. One example was when her mom was at the doctor for results from a CAT scan and they had lost the scan. The doctors were going to make her come back later for another and schedule a later appointment. But when she made the doctor call her daughter who spoke clear english the doctor was more willing to work with the mom.

Quickwrite 12/8

In what ways is narrative more effective arguments than opinon?

Narratives can be more effective arguments than opinions because it's hard for readers to disagree with the author. The stories they tell are both interesting and honest. Even if the reader can't relate to the author's story, they can still understand it and believe it.

quickwrite12/8

Mother Tongue is an argument because Amy Tan argues how limited knowledge about the English language can hold one back using examples about her mothers life.

quick write 12/8

I found this kind of interesting, because personally I hear situations like this all the time. Especially since going to MSU I hear broken english all the time. I think this piece was pretty real according to how people who cannot speak fluent English are judged. I also liked that the author considered herself to be literate in all fo the different forms she knew. She knew fluent English, broken English, and she said watered down Chinese. It was a cool reading.

Quickwrite 12/8

I really liked the piece Mother Tongue. It kept me interested throughout the whole writing. I like how she used her moms English as an example. She made a really good point on how one person's speech can affect how you're treated. For example, whenever her mom needed something and she talked to someone about it, she never got it. But then she'd say, "Talk to my daughter" and she'd get what she wanted because her daughter could speak fluent English. I really liked the end of the piece when the daughter wrote a book and she had her mom read it. Her mom then said, "So easy to read." It's a happy ending to the piece of writing because her mom could easily read what she wrote.

Quickwrite 12/8

My reaction to this piece was very indifferent. I found it interesting that it took Amy Tan so long to catch on to her mothers and her own "broken english". I could see how it would be difficult to learn a language in its entirety. When i was in high school i took french for 4 years. At the end of my class i could see how if i were in france what i thought to be clear french would be incomprehensible to the people that live there. After reading the piece i found it disturbing that people would give her mother bad service because of her English. i know that it cannot be easy to know two languages that are nothing structurally alike and to discriminate against someone that is trying to use the language correctly strikes me as wrong. Overall, i thought this piece was interesting.

A Letter to America 12/6/11

I was a little put back by this article, because I felt her argument wasn't valid. She argued to many various subjects that didn't really interrelate. A few things that were effective were the facts that she presented. A few of them were the ones about the war and when she talked about soviet Russia. I like that it is personal because its in the format of a letter to someone. She had a good connection to the audience through that format. She demonstrated what mainstream culture was and why government is bad. But again I felt that connection just wasn't there. Lets not forgot the girl didn't have any sources. She was totally going of claim and opinions. The only reason I knew some of the things were facts is because I have proper knowledge of the subject. Even then she is pinpointing an audience and creating a high context article, which conflicts my earlier statement that she had a connection to her audience. She made some generalizations that weren't correct. I didn't approve of this paper

12/6

didnt read it

Quickwrite 12/6

In the reading "A letter to America" the author Margaret Altwood literally writes a letter to America. She describes how much she loved her country in her childhood and how disappointed she is now about it with the war in Iraq and the huge amount of debt. I think she is really right in what she is saying. The US definitely has a pretty bad image in the rest of the world. By stating that the US in "gutting the Constitution" by for example searching your "private records", she makes a really effective argument, stating that the country even does things today that are against the law. Her arguments might have been ineffective in a way, that she did not support her arguments with solid data from reliable sources.

Sebastian

QuickWrite 12/6

I didn't read it.

Quickwrite 12/6

I didn't read it.

12/6 Quickwrite

I'm sorry I didn't read the story.

12/6 post

I feel as though Margaret Atwood makes a lot of good points, but I think she's not taking into account the times we are in. She makes reference to how good the 40's were, she is just living in the past. It isn't just America that has changed, the rest of the world has as well. I feel her argument is effective because she brought up how America was great, and then how those things changed into negatives. I feel as though it was ineffective because the great things she brought up were about pop culture, and then the negatives mainly pertained to govt. and the economy. There were poor governmental decisions made back in those days as well.

QW 12-6-11

My initial reaction was kind of agreeing with her but as I read more, there are some very irrational statements. I believe that in general she is claiming that the government is dropping the ball and becoming irrational. Atwood explains that her point in valid by personifying the government. She does this by explaining her positive relationship with the government. After this, she explains how the government has changed. She does seem to exaggerate when giving key reasons when she says, "You're gutting the Constitution." She also is lacking in any sense of credibility by not citing any facts. She also uses the either-or fallacy as she says that either we stop spending or we turn into the USSR.

12/6

I didn't read

qucikpost 12/6

I didn't read sorry...

quick write 12/6

i didnt read it

Quickwrite 12/6

I thought that this piece was a little bit on the harsh side. The author did point out the flaws in the government which I do agree with, but she made it seem like the government had a chance to revive its self and now it can't. She notes, "You were Sinclair Lewis and Arthor Miller, who went them after because they thought you could do better" (Atwood, pg. 10). I feel that very good point were made, for example she writes, "You're running up the record level debt, keep spending this way and you won't be able to go on any big military adventures" (Atwood, pg. 15). I agree that the government is just digging themselves a deeper hole. The one thing I think that hurt her argument was the fact, that she had a nasty tone about the whole issue, I feel a more constructive criticism tone would have been more appropriate.

Quick Write Tuesday, December 26

My reaction to this reading was one of agreement, but some disconnection. I can agree with her basic idea, that America has changed a lot over her lifetime and she doesn't like where it is heading. However, her support for her argument were ideas based upon her childhood, and since she is so old, I can't relate to her childhood. This made her argument ineffective. She did make a good argument though when she was talking about what she didn't like about America today, as I am living in the current time and can relate to her issues. Her issue with the economy was the most powerful in my opinion and her problems with our lack of producing our own goods was especially resonant to me, as my father worked for a factory and it was recently closed, costing him his job. Overall, she made a good argument, but I couldn't relate with all of her issues.

quickwrite 12/6

Upon reading this letter, it renewed my feelings of feeling let down by our once great society. we used to be number one in everything from production to export to happiness in census reports. Now, what are we doing? Waging wars overseas and selling the newest Gucci handbag to 12 year olds."I won't go into the reasons why I think your recent Iraq adventures have been - taking the long view - an ill-advised tactical error" (p. 3). This quote can spur animosity and ill will toawrds the author and must approach it in a very cautious manner so as not to anger any families who may have lost loved ones in the war. ALWAYS BE AWARE OF YOUR AUDIENCE. Atwood drew on the emotion of the audience to draw them in and hat was a very creative tool.

quickwrite 12/6

In my opinion, this piece had some really valid points and some not so valid points. Atwood created effective arguments in several of her quotes, but one that really stuck with me was

"You're running a record level of debt" (pg. 3). This was effective for me because it is a true statement that needs to be dealt with better than what the conditions are now. Also, when she said "You didn't used to be easily frightened" (pg. 3). That sentence was bold to me because it is a harsh comparison to the past and really makes the reader think of what America used to stand for. The themes that I found in this piece were a lack of support for America and almost hatred for what it has become. I believe that Atwood's arguments were ineffective at the parts where she stated "You're gutting the constitution" (pg. 3). Her word choice, with the word "gutting" was a very powerful word that really paints a picture in your mind of cruelty and carelessness. I did not agree with this statement fully, so it was ineffective to me.

A letter to America 12/6

My reaction to this piece was not surprised. It was about an older woman who grew up around a "fun" and exciting America. Everything about the old America was ok, but today the author describes how America is "Gutting the Constitution". This country is getting itself into wars, specifically with the middle east, and is proving itself to be the bad guys. The country is also destroying its own economy, and is defiantly not as strong as it used to be.

"Keep spending at this rate and you won't be able to afford any military adventures" This quote talks about how bad our economy is, and it hints at how we spend our money (towards war).

The paper could be ineffective because it doesn't really have sources to back up the information. It simply states information that could not be entirely true. It also doesn't give the full story of why our country may be spending this money and why we are deciding to go into war.

A letter to America

My general reaction to this piece was that it was pretty interesting. I liked how it was someone speaking directly to America as though they were almost human in a way. It was written so that America could listen to what the person was saying and understand what they meant. It lists a lot of facts about our country's past and future and put them together nicely in a way to fucus on the disappointment that the public has on America compared to how it used to be. I thought it was well put together and had a nice style to it, the audience was that of basically everyone and for that, I think it makes people think about where America is headed.

QR 1/6/11Beccbaz

In "A letter to America" by Margaret Atwood I felt like as if she was writing to a personal friend because she was pretty informal and I got the feeling that she was trying to explain how much she loved America as a little girl and goes into explaining all her favorite actors and shows, then how she was dissapointed about what is going on in the world today. She made a good argument when she said " We're like Romanized Gauls-look like Romans, dress like Romans, but aren't Romans-peering over the wall at the real Romans." This quote to me was trying to say that we dress and act like americans but the Canadians see over the wall who we really are. It is also the closeness that Canadians feel to America. Her argument way have been inneffective when she said "Anyway, when did you get so scared?" I think this was talking about how America used to be so great and now she dosent even know America anymore, this can be somewhat innefective because she was first talking about how great America was and now saying that America is "scared".

Quickwrite 12/6

I honestly read this, but I didn't understand it enough to write this blogpost. My reaction to "A Letter to America" is confusing.

Quickwrite 12/6

I did not read "A Letter to America." I didnt know we had a reading.

Quickwrite 12/6

My reaction was that I mostly agreed with what the author stated, and I liked her approach on the argument. Making it into a letter made it interesting, and it allowed her to get really personal. I think the author used very colorful and powerful vocab words to get her points across. This strategy was really effective because it made the issues seem really important, and her side of the argument seemed correct. One powerful statement she used was "You're gutting the Constitution." One thing that may have weakened her argument was how she dragged on a bit at the beginning, when she kept on presenting things that America was to her.

Quickwrite 12/6

My reaction to this piece was that Margaret had a really strong opinion on what is happening to America and it was well argued. I think that by listing the things that America used to mean to her, like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, it expressed how the innocence of the country has in a way diminished. She brushes over the topic of Americas involvement in Iraq and i think thats part of her problem with America. She then states, "lets talk, then, not about what you're doing to other people, but about what your doing to yourselves". I thought this quote was really effective because even though she is focusing on our involvement in other countries and how that makes us look bad, it also ruins things back home. The debt we have and the american economy is a result of these decisions. I also found it effective that at the end she says there is still hope and relates to an old British myth. What could have been seen has ineffective in this argument was how in the 4th paragraph on the second page she talked as if America was a person, which kind of lost me in respect to her argument.

Quickwrite 12/6

Margaret Atwood's piece made a lot of sense to me. She wrote about how America has changed and how it's not for the better. I like when she said "This is a difficult letter for me to write, because I'm no longer sure who you are" (page one). Then she goes about arguing how America used to be strong and talked about the great things that came out of the country. She ends it with talking about the war and how it makes America look weak. For example, she says "By the time you read this Baghdad may or may not look like the craters of the moon" (page three). I don't think her argument was ineffective at all. I like how she stated the strong points about America then slowly went into how it's bad. She also gave many examples that made her argument stronger. Her arguments were opinions but they were also facts. The war is a fact but her she makes her own opinion about it which makes it her argument. I also really like how she wrote it in letter form to America.

quick write 12/6

My reaction to this piece was indifferent. There were some things that I agreed with, while other things I did not. I think she did make valid arguments though, and things she believes are real occurring things that need change. According to Atwood, "I won't go into the reasons why I think your recent Iraq adventures have been - taking the long view - an ill-advised tactical error" (p. 3). Many people could probably agree with this sentence, even if they do not agree with all of her other views. This sentence touches on a pretty serious issue though America has had to deal with over the years. I completely disagree with her however when Atwood says, "You are gutting the constitution" (p. 3). I think that leaders have to do what they feel best, but I don't believe you should ever word something where it seems like they are not taking the best interest of America to heart. There were parts of her letter that made me want to stop reading it, and there were also parts of letter that really made good points.