Alex Gowan

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reflection of project 2 (portfolio)

Reflection for project 2 portfolio:

             For my revisions for project 2 I fallowed the feedback from Matthew and tried to incorporate the correct information into my revised version instead of leaving them out as I did in my first version of project 1. In the feedback it stated that I was missing a clear description of my comparison for the two stories, and I was short on the word count and I was missing citations. This project was really hard for me because though I enjoyed Mikes writing over all this was not my favorite project and I had a very hard time coming up with things to write about and how to give a good review on the things I did like about Mikes works. His story Place Names of 501 Filomeno was really hard for me to read because of the way he had it formatted. It was hard for me to keep up with the story and to really understand what was going in. Because of this I lost interest in the assignment very quickly and could not seem to remedy this. In my revisions I was able to change this and create a better review of his work by pulling out main pieces of the story that I did understand and go from there instead of being overwhelmed with the entire thing. In my revisions I really focused on comparing the two stories and tried to make ties between the both of them in order to get my point across clearer. I also went back and looked up how to site quotes in MLA format and attempted to do my best. This was a little difficult. I also made sure to expand my writing as much as I could while working on my revisions by adding a clearer explanation of how the two different stories compared going into further detail of what I liked about his writing as a whole.

 The SLOs that I improved towards while doing my revisions for project 2 for the portfolio are SLO A, SLO C AND SLO H

 SLO A was improved in this revision because I was able to look further into comparing the two stories rather than just trying to discuss them separately and take into consideration the audience, which in this case is anyone reading this review and most of all the instructor.

 SLO C was progressed towards in this revision because I had to go back and redo my research in order to cite my quotes and where I found the information about Mike himself. All of this enhanced my revisions from my original review because it further supports my arguments on the good review I gave Mike and further my beliefs of his good writing.

 SLO H was improved on in this revision because I had to improve the tone of my writing to make my points into more of a comparison rather than just me writing about them separately. I made this clear when I described that both of the stories had a fun but dark humorous feel to them. This helped me compare his works because it allowed me to take both of the stories into mind and allow me to look at how they were written and how the tone of the stories felt.

  One of my main problems I had with this assignment was the fact that I had a hard time reading

Place Names of 501 Filomeno

due to the formatting. Other than this I thought this project was interesting and I enjoyed reading his

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revised version of project 2 (portfolio)

The rising New Mexico author, Mike Smith, is a family man, author and student. Not only is he a native to New Mexico, he is also a current student at the University of New Mexico as a third year graduate student. Mike is a father of three. He has two daughters: Anodyne and Sonora and a son, Hagan. Mike has been acknowledged in New Mexico Magazine, the alibi and the Santa Fe reporter. These are just some small accomplishes Mike has achieved. He is currently in the middle of writing a memoir and has written the book called Towns of the Sandia Mountains and some small short stories for instance Place Names of 501 Filomeno. Most of Mikes work talks about his family, his life and of Albuquerque itself. Because of this the reader can see that he truly writes what he knows and from this you can see how much it all means to him. This allows the readers (especially those that live here in Albuquerque) to be able to connect to his work and relate to his works.

I for instance could relate and found it very interesting when in one Mikes work Place Names of 501 Filomeno, he tells a brief history of Albuquerque. He states “…Native Americans lived in the Rio Grande Valley of central New Mexico before the Spanish fist arrived in 1540, the name- meaning ‘white oaks’ and then the spelling of  ‘Albuquerque’ was first applied to a spall adobe villa in the area in 1706 in honor of the Duke…” This is very interesting to a native “Albuquerquen” who might not have known this information.

      Mikes short story, Place Names of 501 Filomeno is very interesting. The way it is written allows the reader to be drawn into the story and allows the reader to see his life. He explains the way everything is laid out and tells some small stories of his family and of each setting to allow us, the readers, to feel that small connection through his words and makes the reader feel involved. For instance when he tells of his children’s bunk beds and how his daughter curses his son and then tells how his son had the infamous “booger wall” next to his bunk. The way that Mike has this short story written is refreshing and is an interesting take to an otherwise simple story.

“For instance, yesterday at a party, my six-year-old daughter popped a balloon, and was crying, and I was able to explain that all balloons pop—that's just what they do—just as all humans die, every one of us, even me and Mom, even you. One by one, all the people you love will die, and then you will also. Everything you are and know will cease to be, just like that. Just like that balloon.”

This is my favorite excerpt from this short story because it shows the true characteristics that come with having small children and being a sibling. He portrays the interactions of his children very well. Every reader with siblings, young or old, can say they have encountered something like this at some point in their lives. This also adds some dark humor to this short story; making you remember how mean and slightly gross children can be.

   (This is not the children’s actual bunk bed just a representation)

  The second of his short stories Notes from a Slowly Dying Suburbanite my favorite line is:

 “For instance, yesterday at a party, my six-year-old daughter popped a balloon, and was crying, and I was able to explain that all balloons pop—that's just what they do—just as all humans die, every one of us, even me and Mom, even you. One by one, all the people you love will die, and then you will also. Everything you are and know will cease to be, just like that. Just like that balloon.”

 This is not only my favorite line because it is a very true statement but because of the morbidity in this statement. He is telling this to his child and in this comes as a huge hilarity to me as the reader and brings me comfort. Growing up my mother was very much the same, bold parent. This statement shows the funniness in parenting even if the child is crying. This statement is also very true. Not only to other parents, but also to every reader. This statement, though bold, forces the reader to think about these words in all of their morbid truths and then to allow us to laugh at the situation in which he says this. Mike does a great job at expressing his forms of parenting and his outlook on life itself through this short story

(This is not his actual child this is just a representation of what I imagine his child to look like during his explanation)

 These two different stories, though very different have the same sort of feel to them. They both tell of Mike’s children, their lives and his experiences as a parent. Mike not only shows us in each of his stories his love for his children but also shows us that he is a very humorous parent as well. Each of his tales carries the same dark humor. But yet we see that they also have truth in them. In their similarities we actually see very small differences in tone, setting and over all feel of his work. It is refreshing to see an author write about their own lives and their own stories in all their glory. From a booger wall to then using life as a comparison to a “popping balloon” while his child cries confused. Instead of sugar coating the yelling at the kids, or their crying Mike shows the real life experiences that come with an ex-wife and three small children in each of his stories, Place Names of 501 Filomeno and also in Notes from a Slowly Dying Suburbanite. Mikes style of writing allows his readers to feel like a member in his family even just for a moment. His descriptions of his life, children, and ex-wife, and his passion for writing really makes Mikes writing something wonderful to read.  Mike is an author on the rise and definitely a great one! We can see this through each of his stories, which make you not only, love him and his writing but also his family and makes us as readers want to fallow his stories and find out what happens next in their day to day lives.

Work cited:

 information about Mike: http://baltimorereview.org/index.php/fall_2013/contributor/mike-smith

Quote from a Notes from a Slowly Dying Suburbanite: ““For instance, yesterday at a party, my six-year-old daughter popped a balloon, and was crying, and I was able to explain that all balloons pop—that's just what they do—just as all humans die, every one of us, even me and Mom, even you. One by one, all the people you love will die, and then you will also. Everything you are and know will cease to be, just like that. Just like that balloon.”” Line 8 page 1.

 Quote “For instance, yesterday at a party, my six-year-old daughter popped a balloon, and was crying, and I was able to explain that all balloons pop—that's just what they do—just as all humans die, every one of us, even me and Mom, even you. One by one, all the people you love will die, and then you will also. Everything you are and know will cease to be, just like that. Just like that balloon.” PAGE: 37 SECTION “bunk bed”

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reflection for project 1 (portfolio)

Reflection for Project 1:

 For my original project 1, I created a video with audio of myself speaking and also with the audio of the song I chose to represent my issue and to be the song for my campaign along with a couple of bits of text thought out video. My original video and audio were missing a clear statement of who my campaign was aimed at, a clear discussion of Ethos, Pathos and Logos and why this song in particular was the right song for my campaign. In my revisions I clearly stated that my campaign was aimed at our society as a whole. I also stated how my video and song relate to each Ethos, Pathos and Logos. I explained what parts correlated to each of these in the song. I also went into more depth of why I thought this song was right for this campaign. In my original video/script I forgot to state all of these things because I thought I had to have my voice recording the same length as the song, but as I watched fellow classmates videos I realized this was not the case. This helped me to be able to explain everything in further detail and allow me to hit all of the necessary points while including everything in my script. Where as the first time I left a lot of my script out in order to keep it all the same length.

In these revisions I advanced towards the SLOS D, G, C AND F.

 SLO D: I progressed towards SLO D describing the social nature of writing, particularly the role of discourse community’s at the local, national and international level by aiming my campaign towards our society as a whole. This not only works on a social level but possibly even nationally. This campaign is aimed towards everyone. The issue of eating disorders is widly misunderstood and many people suffer from it every day. I used my writing to not only describe the illness itself (with fact such as it is the highest death rate of any mental illness) but also signs to be aware of and to know that it is not its usual stereotype of the skeleton girl. My writing and audio/video aim to show people that this illness is so much more. My original video lacked this SLO D by the fact that I did not clearly state who I was aiming my issue at. I progressed to this by describing it at a local and national level. Our society.

 SLO G: I progressed towards this SLO in this final assignment more so than the original video assignment because I already had a couple of assignments under my belt rather than this one being the first assignment for the semester. This class has helped me improve my writing by teaching me how to aim towards a specific audience and to get my point across clearly. I advanced towards this in this assignment because of my ability through my changes and revisions I was able to see what I needed to keep in my writing to get my point across and what was not necessary so I could take it out. For instance I was able to see that I did not need as much information/ fact on the illness itself but rather I needed to talk more about who I was aiming my issue at and why. I also advanced towards this in my revisions in regards to discussing Ethos, Pathos and Logos. In the original video I left these three key factors out and did not really understand what they ment and how they connected to my campaign. In my revisions SLO G helped me go back and look at my more recent projects and see where and how I used ethos, pathos and logos and was able to tie my other writing from this class into this assignment.

 SLO C: I advanced towards SLO C in this revision because I was able continue using my own personal beliefs on the issue of eating disorders and the research/facts that I found to make my writing/ audio more believable and more professional sounding. It also gave my writing a vast amounts of opinions not only my own but facts that I found doing research and fining on a local eating disorder clinics website. For instance when I state “Eating disorders have the highest death rate in woman from ages fifteen to twenty-four.” I would not have had this information if I had not used SLO C, “doing research as a means of discovery.”

 And lastly I progressed towards SLO F in my revisions because for this assignment I had to use many different approaches for planning, research, composing, assessing, reviewing, proofreading, collaborating and incorporating feed back by having to use a video for this assignment. I incorporated Matthews feedback into my revised video because he said that I was missing a clear description of who my audience was, I was missing my explanation of ethos, pathos and logos in accordance to the song itself, and most of all I did not explain why I thought this song was the perfect song for this campaign. In my revisions made sure to state both audibly and in my script, that my audience was our society, and my goal was to change our image of beauty. I also made sure to explain in my audio what ethos, pathos and logos ment in accordance the lyrics of the song.  I also stated more than once throughout my audio and script why I thought the song was the song for this issue. I stated that the song allowed the audience to experience the emotions of an eating disorder and I also showed which lyrics could be related to the thoughts of a persons dealing with this disorder.

 A couple of technical issues I had in both the original and revised version is that I am not very technologically “savvy” and had a very hard time trying to figure out how to re-record my audio and how to post my video from iMovie to my tumblr page and how to even save the video to my computer even. I also had a hard time recording my voice for the audio part of my video. I kept stumbling over my words and mixing up words and sentences even while reading my script. You know what they say though; the sixth time is “somewhat better.” Overall I really enjoyed this projects in both the first and my revised version because it allowed me to talk about something I am very passionate about and allowed me to share it with at least just a couple people, even if they were just our classmates.

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portfolio (project 1 revision)

As a society let us come together and bring this illness to light so that we may be able to prevent it. Let us save our little sisters, our friends, mothers, aunts, fellow woman and ourselves. In order to save people from this illness we must first see this illness. Anorexia is not just the skeletal girl you see on the runway or in your local stores. Anorexia is the average woman. Know the signs. Know the illness. Be aware.

Our society is the main target of this problem. We are not aware of this issue and we are not taught the true meaning or devastating results of this illness. The song we chose to use to represent the issues of eating disorders and anorexia nervosa is the song Breathe Me by Sia. I think this song is a great representation of the sadness and vulnerability that come with this disorder. The death rate associate with that of anorexia nervosa is 12 times that of associated with any other death of females between the ages of 15-24 years of age.

Eating disorders have the highest death rate over any other mental illness. We need to let our fellow woman and men that we are here, we are aware of what is happening, and they are not alone.

The first line of the song is “Help, I have done it again, I have been here many times before.” This disorder is very misunderstood by our society as is but most also don’t realize that just like addictions. This disorders mind set is very easy for the victims to fall back into. Many people suffer from the effects a couple times in their lives. For instance if someone diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and treated they very well could end up in the same position at another point in their life.  This illness is so harmful and sad because the persons suffering from this disorder are in the mindset of not good enough or they need control over at least one aspect of something. Mindset is a very hard thing to change and revert. Imagine trying to change the entire way you think of yourself or to change the way you think. It is much harder than anyone may think. This song shows the vulnerability of an eating disorder because she talks about how she is small and needy and the feeling of loosing herself. “lost myself and I am nowhere to be found.” This statement is the reason why we chose this song for this campaign. This song forces our audience to listen and feel the emotions of our issue. Anorexia is a horrible thing and can be very damaging to not only physically but it also takes a huge tole on the persons mental health too. This song does a great job telling a silent story. The singer does not outwardly say what the song is about necessarily but it is a great representation of the twisty slide of emotions anorexia is.  This song hits all of the emotions of ethos, pathos, and logos.

 1.    Ethos- makes the viewer listen. It shows us that even though she is not saying it is directly about a eating disorder it still explains it very well and even if the viewer isn’t dealing with an eating disorder itself what ever problem they are dealing with can be related to with this song.

2.    Pathos-This makes the audience feel the emotions of the eating disorder. It forces the people to hear the raw emotion and the roller coaster a person dealing with anorexia deals with on a daily bases.

3.    Logos- This video shows the a young girl looking at herself in the mirror changing her clothes. The tone of the video is eery and gives you the feeling that the girl is unsure of herself. The way the video is done in photographs flipping through to make it look like a moving picture also gives the viewer the feeling that it is sporadic and uncontrolled almost. Just like an eating disorder.

The point of this campaign is to make our society aware. We want to change our societies view on beauty and to make everyone aware that eating disorders are an issue. They do take lives. They cause more harm than anyone would know. We need to make our society aware of what is actually going on. Not just the stereotypes that people have of this issue. It is not just the skeletal girl. We need our society to know the signs and know how to help. We need to save our fellow brothers and sisters. Learn the signs. Know the issues. Many people who suffer from this illness can relapse many times in their lives while some can recover once and stay healthy. Lets keep each other safe and know how to look for warning signs and that help is always available. Sense this disease affects these people not just physically but also it takes a huge tole on their mental state as well. This song does a great way of showing the feeling behind this disorder.

Here is to HEALTHY!

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final reflection for project 3

1.     SLO A: “analyze rhetorical situations in terms of audience, context, purpose, and medium to improve your reading and writing”

SLO A was used in this project because I was reviewing a play. I had to take into terms other peoples views of this play so that I could interpreted them into my own writing for instance when I quoted two classmates and my date and talked about their statements. This improved my writing because it gave my review a more versatile feel rather than just having my own opinion being the only one portrayed. This also helps back up my own opinions and makes my writing stronger and more believable to the reader.

2.     SLO D: “ describe the social nature of writing, particularly the role of discourse communities at the local, national, and international level”

SLO D was used in this assignment because I had to talk about the people who were at the play, the people acting in the play and also the social environment of the play itself. It was also explained because the discourse community of the Blackout Theater is a local community who comes together to create plays and do what they love. I portrayed this in my review by describing the hard work that they put into this and described the different things that made this play unique to the discourse community who created it, which would be the cast of the blackout theater company.

3.     SLO F: “ use multiple approaches for planning, researching, prewriting, composing, assessing, revising ,editing, proofreading, collaborating and incorporating feedback in order to make your writing stronger.”

I used SLO F in this review because I interviewed people who had also attended the play giving myself multiple approaches to my own ideas which also helped me plan more in detail on the bases of the assignment and how I was going to portray this. This can also be considered collaborating because by collaborating with other sources than myself I was able to see that not only I enjoyed the play and was able to make a stronger case towards my love for it. I also edited this by the fact that my original plan was to make this assignment into a podcast, but with my proofreading and prior feedback I realized I am not good at speaking into a recorded assignment and that I would succeed more towards the actual assignment if I just wrote a blog format

  A technical issue that I encountered during this project was again the fact that I am horrible at recording myself speaking and am in deed a much, much better writer. I also could not find something that I could record myself on that was easy to upload and work with (I’m just slightly technologically challenged) With this I changed the bases of my idea and created my original podcast script into a blog format which In the end ended up being much easier for me to handle and I feel that my overall review came out really well sense I decided to not do a podcast.

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Welcome to the review of the Black Out theaters production of The Midnight Mile: Nowhere Girls and The Big Night Inn. This immensely creative play, was not only captivating as far as the acting but it also had an essence of mystery and drew the viewer in from the self made costumes, to the newspaper props and the amazing portrayal of characters. This play took place at the VSA North 4th Theater in Albuquerque New Mexico. The Black Out theater production was created in July 2007. This play in particular was of course preformed by the marvelous cast of the black out theater. It is refreshing to see a theater cast/company who is doing the play merely for the fact that acting and creating is their passion. This is the Blackouts second play written by them. With the way these performers preformed and all of the work they put into this production there is no denying this truth. The actors range in age, whether they are in their teens or well into their adulthood. The cast of the black out theater is actually responsible for writing the script for this particular play; they also will do some recreations of other plays. This play was truly a masterpiece and a wonder to see. The cast, not only built the stage, designed their own costumes, wrote the script, they even created their own music. The most interesting this about the music in this play is that it is the whole inspiration around the play itself. Each of the actors came in with their favorite song and they all came together to pick what would be right for their creation. As we could all see these actors and actresses were there to have a good time, and boy did they!

 “I enjoyed it! I loved their enthusiasm! Timing just sucked. Getting to hear about how the play was put together and why they used newspaper for the set. The only thing that I didn’t really like was it was incredibly loud. It was fun and I would go again, just not on Easter…” says one female classmate, another says “Having the script before the play was really cool because I knew what to expect. The actual performance was much better than I was expecting!” and a non-play going boyfriend states “I actually was very impressed, the lighting and props were really well done and it is SO impressive that they did it all themselves!” It was great to hear the different reactions from fellow classmates and my date to the show. It was interesting to see the different types of people who were in attendance to this play; there was a wide range from a couple of college kids to adults! Everyone seemed to be having a great time, even the males who were obviously there to escort a wife or girlfriend. The music and lighting gave everything a magical feeling and made for a blast of a night. It was great to see everyone enjoying this show young or old, male or female!

The main characters of this play are the goofy cop type named Andy Duegoode and the hard working, too good at her job, Connie Powers. Andy is new to the force and doesn’t really care about the crime that is going on around him; he keeps his head down and keeps to himself. “His face in the shadow. His voice defeated.”  Andy is a fragile man and we see his out busts multiple times during the play, in the beginning he wails, and he says “Most nights I cry.” We see Andy completely ignorant to two “goons who appear, holding a package that says “DRUGS.” Andy keeps on his monolog of his childhood tales of Midnight Mile as the goons hide the package and wave and with this Andy continues on without a second glance. Again we see two goons stab a man in the street and pretend like he is still alive and Andy again continues on his way stating “See; places like the midnight mile ain’t got laws that need be enforced. Here, one mans law is another mans privilege.” This is our introduction to Andy. He is ignorant to the problems around him and frankly not a very good cop. As he is headed towards The Big Night Inn, Andy has a flashback of the judge, who was killed outside of the establishment. The Big Night Inn is home to the Nowhere Girls, their manager named Friday, and the Madam who is secretly working with The Midnight Queen. We also see the late Judges wife, who happens to be sleeping with the mayor. The Big Night Inn is a place of trouble and mystery for the people of Midnight Mile. “The Nowhere Girls can make your deepest desires come true, temporarily, of course.” We see Andy swept in and the story begins. We soon come to find that the Midnight queen and the madam have been kidnaping girls and making them forget their pasts so that they become Nowhere Girls. This unravels their plans of framing the judge, so that he could not out them and ruin their marvelous plans. We also see that Connie has now been framed by the madam and the Midnight queen and is now in jail with a confession note and no way out. Andy is desperate to save her.

This play is captivating and keeps the viewers sitting on the edge of their seats until the end. With the dim lighting the loud music and the ambiance of the acting you cannot help but be drawn into this show. I thought this play was very well done and fulfilled all of my creative wanting’s. The fact that the cast put so much effort and creativity into this show makes a great play truly spectacular. You can see the amount of time and energy that went into the making of this show and it makes the audience appreciate it that much more. If in the future they continue to make their plays I would definitely be in line to see it! And would recommend this group to anyone, play goers or not. As I showed above even guys, who do not necessarily go willingly to such things, genuinely enjoyed the production and the creativity of the cast. It was also interesting to have the cast tell us a little about the play and its background before the show even began. They explained everything from the props, to the music and they showed us how much this play ment to them. Hearing all of this from the cast was very cool and it allowed for us to be apart of their experience a little more than if we had just seen the play with no prior knowledge. This cast did an outstanding job with every aspect of this play especially for being low budget and not well known. These actors are rising stars and deserve to have their work shown and should be suggested to many people. I am highly impressed with all aspects and would rate them as outstanding! Just as anyone who saw this play would.

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portfolio idea

For my portfolio I plan to revise my video from project 2 and my project 3. I plan to work on the revisions that were given to me from my project 2 and do my best by fixing all of my mistakes in my video. I plan to try to make it go smoother and I plan to work on whatever mistakes that are made during the podcast for project 3.

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reflection for project 3

Pre reflection for project 3

 So sense I plan to do my project 3 by using a podcast I plan to make my first part of my discussion about how I wrote the script and how making a podcast went. I plan to talk about my edits and the changes I made through talking to other students and how my interviewing other people for the play went. I will also give some information on what I thought of the other peoples opinions and how they interact with my own.

My second part of my discussion I plan to talk about the SLOS I progressed towards in this assignment and evaluate if I indeed fallowed through with my improvements and I will also discuss whether there were other things that I needed to work on.

For the third part of my discussion I will go into more detail on my process of creating a podcast and how the whole thing and project went as a whole.

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draft/project 3

For project three I am going to discuss my own feeling on the play. For about 100-200 words. Than I will do my research and see if there is any prior reviews done on this play and write about my findings for another 100-200 words. I will talk about how the company made their props out of newspaper and how they had their own live music for about 100 words. Then I plan to interview my date (who went with me to the play) and than I will also interview a fellow class mate and write about their opinions vs my own and the ones that I find. I plan to tie all of these in together to create a review of this play. I will also use quotes from the script to get my point across. For this project I also plan on creating a podcast and for my image I plan to use the theater company’s logo

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finished reflection(script)

So to start off my jing would not work that is why I am using my voice recorder. This project was interesting but not my favorite. I had a hard time staying focused on what I was actually supposed to be doing rather than taking it down a different path. I had a hard time reading the stories from Mike Smith due to their set up. I had a hard time fallowing the correct order which lead to me loosing focus on the story itself causing me to have to re read the story more than once to actually understand what was going on. Over all Mikes actual writing is very interesting and I really enjoyed his raw honesty rather than covering the not so glamorous parts of his life up.

I progressed towards the SLO’s C and E in this project because this assignment required me to do some research on Mike Smith himself and read his stories and I also had to take into account his type of writing and his perspectives and use them to create my own opinion.

I showed both of theses (C and E) through my explanations of Mikes work. I also am showing my work in a different light by using this voice recorder for my reflection.

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project 2 final draft

          The rising New Mexico author, Mike Smith, is a family man,author and student. Not only is he a native to New Mexico, he is also a current student at the University of New Mexico as a third year graduate student. Mike is a father of three. He has two daughters: Anodyne and Sonora and a son, Hagan. Mike has been acknowledged in New Mexico Magazine, the alibi and the Santa Fe reporter. These are just some small accomplishes Mike has achieved. He is currently in the middle of writing a memoir and has written the book called Towns of the Sandia Mountains and some small short stories for instance Place Names of 501 Filomeno. Most of Mikes work talks about his family, his life and of Albuquerque itself. Because of this the reader can see that he truly writes what he knows and from this you can see how much it all means to him. This allows the readers (especially those that live here in Albuquerque) to be able to connect to his work and relate to his works.

I for instance could relate and found it very interesting when in one Mikes work Place Names of 501 Filomeno, he tells a brief history of Albuquerque. He states “…Native Americans lived in the Rio Grande Valley of central New Mexico before the Spanish fist arrived in 1540, the name- meaning ‘white oaks’ and then spelled ‘Albuquerque’ was first applied to a spall adobe villa in the area in 1706 in honor of the Duke…” This is very interesting to a native “Albuquerquen” who might not have known this information.

         Mikes short story, Place Names of 501 Filomeno is very interesting. The way it is written allows the reader to be drawn into the story and allows the reader to see his life. He explains the way everything is laid out and tells some small stories of his family and of each setting to allow us, the readers, to feel that small connection through his words and makes the reader feel involved. For instance when he tells of his children’s bunk beds and how his daughter curses his son and then tells how his son had the infamous “booger wall” next to his bunk. The way that Mike has this short story written is refreshing and is an interesting take to an otherwise simple story.

“Bottom Bunk: this, the lower half of the Bunk Bed, is where Hagan sleeps. It’s also where he listens to me read chapter books to him and anodyne at night—the Famous Five books, the Oz books, e. B. white—as I sit in the doorway for the light. When anodyne is angry with him, it’s also where Hagan listens to her whispering horrible, naïvely sadistic things to him as he falls asleep. “You’re a horrid brute,” she’ll say. “I only love Sonora, not you.” “The kids in preschool just pretend to like you.” in early 2010, the Bottom Bunk was also briefly, and to the great disgust of everyone but Hagan, the site of the Booger wall.”

This is my favorite excerpt from this short story because it shows the true characteristics that come with having small children and being a sibling. He portrays the interactions of his children very well. Every reader with siblings, young or old, can say they have encountered something like this at some point in their lives. This also adds some dark humor to this short story; making you remember how mean and slightly gross children can be.

  (This is not the children’s actual bunk bed just a representation)

  The second of his short stories Notes from a Slowly Dying Suburbanite my favorite line is:

 “For instance, yesterday at a party, my six-year-old daughter popped a balloon, and was crying, and I was able to explain that all balloons pop—that's just what they do—just as all humans die, every one of us, even me and Mom, even you. One by one, all the people you love will die, and then you will also. Everything you are and know will cease to be, just like that. Just like that balloon.”

 This is not only my favorite line because it is a very true statement but because of the morbidity in this statement. He is telling this to his child and in this comes as a huge hilarity to me as the reader and brings me comfort. Growing up my mother was very much the same, bold parent. This statement shows the funniness in parenting even if the child is crying. This statement is also very true. Not only to other parents out they’re but also to every reader. This statement, though bold, forces the reader to think about these words in all of their morbid truths and then to allow us to laugh at the situation in which he says this. Mike does a great job at expressing his forms of parenting and his outlook on life itself through this short story.

  (This is not his actual child this is just a representation of what I imagine his child to look like during his explanation)

 These two different stories, though very different have the same sort of feel to them. They both carry the dark humor and yet they also have truth in them. It is refreshing to see an author write about their own lives and their own stories in all their glory. From a booger wall to then using life as a comparison to a “popping balloon.” Instead of sugar coating the yelling at the kids, or their crying Mike shows the real life experiences that come with an ex-wife and three small children. Mike is an author on the rise and definitely a great one! We can see this through each of his stories, which make you not only, love him and his writing but also his family and makes us as readers want to fallow his stories and find out what happens next in their day to day lives.

[agowan120-blog]

start of my reflection

Here is plan for my reflection (I will make my video on Jingfor the final)

 I plan to talk about how and what I thought about the two stories by Mike Smith and how he has a different perspective and styles of writing.

 I will compose an analysis of each of the different text from Mike Smith

In this project I progressed towards the SLO’s A and B. I will improve even more toward these SLO’s as I approach towards my final draft of this project because 

I can show different arguments through different genres for instance even the different genres from just mike smiths work. And I will also be able to show the purpose of my work through the video used on Jing.

[agowan120-blog]

draft2

The rising New Mexico author, Mike Smith, is a family man, author and student. Not only is he a native to New Mexico, he is also a current student at the University of New Mexico as a third year grad student. Mike is a father of three. He has two daughters; Anodyne and Sonora and a son, Hagan. Mike has been acknowledged in New Mexico Magazine, the alibi and the Santa Fe reporter. These are just some small accomplishes Mike has achieved. He is currently in the middle of writing a memoir and has written the book called Towns of the Sandia Mountains and some small short stories for instance Place Names of 501 Filomeno. Most of Mikes work talks about his family, his life and of Albuquerque itself. Because of this the reader can see that he truly wrights what he knows and from this you can see how much it all means to him.

             Mikes short story, Place Names of 501 Filomeno is very interesting. The way it is written allows the reader to be drawn into the story and allows the reader to see his life. He explains the way everything is laid out and tells some small story behind it to allow us to feel that small connection through his words and makes the reader feel involved. For instance when he tells of his children’s bunk beds and how his daughter curses his son and then tells how his son had the infamous “booger wall” next to his bunk. The way that Mike has this short story written is refreshing and is an interesting take to a simples story.

“Bottom Bunk: this, the lower half of the Bunk Bed, is where Hagan sleeps. It’s also where he listens to me read chapter books to him and anodyne at night—the Famous Five books, the Oz books, e. B. white—as I sit in the doorway for the light. When anodyne is angry with him, it’s also where Hagan listens to her whispering horrible, naïvely sadistic things to him as he falls asleep. “You’re a horrid brute,” she’ll say. “I only love Sonora, not you.” “The kids in preschool just pretend to like you.” in early 2010, the Bottom Bunk was also briefly, and to the great disgust of everyone but Hagan, the site of the Booger wall.”

This is my favorite excerpt from this short story because it shows the true characteristics that come with having small children and being a sibling. He portrays the interactions of his children very well. Every reader with siblings, young or old, can say they have encountered something like this at some point in their lives. This also adds some dark humor to this short story; making you remember how mean little kids can be.

             The second of his short stories Notes from a Slowly Dying Suburbanite my favorite line is:

“For instance, yesterday at a party, my six-year-old daughter popped a balloon, and was crying, and I was able to explain that all balloons pop—that's just what they do—just as all humans die, every one of us, even me and Mom, even you. One by one, all the people you love will die, and then you will also. Everything you are and know will cease to be, just like that. Just like that balloon.”

This is not only my favorite line because it is a very true statement but because of the morbidity in this statement. He is telling this to his child and in this comes as a huge hilarity to me as the reader and brings me comfort. Growing up my mother was very much the same bold parent. This statement shows the funniness in parenting even if the child is crying. Mike does a great job at expressing his forms of parenting and his outlook on life itself through this short story.

 These two different stories, though very different have the same sort of feel to them. They both carry the dark humor and the truth. It is refreshing to see an author write about their own lives and their own stories in all their glory. Instead of sugar coating the yelling at the kids, or their crying and the real life truths that come with a family. Mike is a author on the rise and definitely a great one! We can see this through each of his stories which make you not only love him and his writing but also his family.  

[agowan120-blog]

draft/map/setup idea

For my project two I plan on using a blog format. I want to compare a couple of his stories (unsure which two)

I want to have an image of something relating to each story following some narrative.

I will do research on the author himself for 250 words, fallowed by an image of him

Than I will explain his first text for 250 word fallowed by an image of a relating photo.

Than I will write another 250 words on the second set of text also fallowed by a picture relating to the story

For my conclusion I will use 500 words to related each story to each other, describe what kind of audience he was Mike was going for and in this I will use it as a way to pretend like I am from a book publishing company with the tone of my writing.

I will fallow this with another image and make my blog format set up in a fun way to where it would make the reader want to read not only what I am saying but the stories as well.

[agowan120-blog]

Literary Analysis Worksheet

Over the last couple weeks you have read several short stories by Albuquerque author Mike Smith. Now, you will begin to identify the similarities and differences in style, format, tone, character, theme and plot.

In the following worksheet, you must address “Place Names of 501 Filomeno” plus at least one more from earlier in the semester.

Post your responses to Tumblr (#worksheet, #project2), and post the link to Learn.

 1)    Which characters do you find the most interesting? Why? Do these characters have anything in common that is significant? Kealla, she is the most interesting because she is the least stable of the bunch and through her erratic adventure to California it makes the reader wonder what she is thinking.

 2)    Consider the structures of the different stories and the way those stories develop. Describe the difference in narrative framework for at least two stories. I

I do not like how this story is written. Reading these stories on a computer is very hard to fallow and confuses the reader because of the lay out of the writing.

 3)    Consider the different settings (both time and place). How is the setting central to the story? Cite two stories.

They are connected because they take place In the same place.

4)    Consider the language and tone of the different texts. How does the way a story is told impact the characters or the audience?

The tone ofthis story sounds more laid back and causal like he is almost not even talking about his own life.

5)    Which major themes, ideas, and/or concepts are similar across the stories? How does the author address them differently?

The theme is that the author is depicting his life and his family in both stories and then through this he throws in discriptions of what his Albuquerque home looks like

6)    What questions are you still left with? Consider issues that still confuse you or something that you disagree with. Identify three questions/concerns.

What was the purpose of this story and this writing?

[agowan120-blog]

As a society let us come together and bring this illness to light so that we may be able to prevent it. Let us save our little sisters, our friends, mothers, aunts, fellow woman and ourselves. In order to save people from this illness we must first see this illness. Anorexia is not just the skeletal girl you see on the runway or in your local stores. Anorexia is the average woman. Know the signs. Know the illness. Be aware.

The song we chose to use to represent the issues of eating disorders and anorexia nervosa is the song Breathe Me by Sia. I think this song is a great representation of the sadness and vulnerability that come with this disorder. The death rate associate with that of anorexia nervosa is 12 times that of associated with any other death of females between the ages of 15-24 years of age.

Eating disorders have the highest death rate over any other mental illness.

The first line of the song is “Help, I have done it again, I have been here many times before.” This disorder is very misunderstood by our society as is but most also don’t realize that just like addictions. This disorders mind set is very easy for the victims to fall back into. Many people suffer from the effects a couple times in their lives. For instance if someone diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and treated they very well could end up in the same position at another point in their life.  This illness is so harmful and sad because the persons suffering from this disorder are in the mindset of not good enough or they need control over at least one aspect of something. Mindset is a very hard thing to change and revert. Imagine trying to change the entire way you think of yourself or to change the way you think. It is much harder than anyone may think. This song shows the vulnerability of an eating disorder because she talks about how she is small and needy and the feeling of loosing herself. “lost myself and I am nowhere to be found.” Anorexia is a horrible thing and can be very damaging to not only physically but it also takes a huge tole on the persons mental health too. This song does a great job telling a silent story. The singer does not outwardly say what the song is about necessarily but it is a great representation of the twisty slide of emotions anorexia is.  This song hits all of the emotions of ethos, pathos, and logos.

 1.    Ethos- makes the viewer listen. It shows us that even though she is not saying it is directly about a eating disorder it still explains it very well and even if the viewer isn’t dealing with an eating disorder itself what ever problem they are dealing with can be related to with this song.

2.    Pathos-This makes the audience feel the emotions of the eating disorder. It forces the people to hear the raw emotion and the roller coaster a person dealing with anorexia deals with on a daily bases.

3.    Logos- This video shows the a young girl looking at herself in the mirror changing her clothes. The tone of the video is eery and gives you the feeling that the girl is unsure of herself. The way the video is done in photographs flipping through to make it look like a moving picture also gives the viewer the feeling that it is sporadic and uncontrolled almost. Just like an eating disorder.

The point of this campaign is to make our society aware. We want to change our societies view on beauty and to make everyone aware that eating disorders are an issue. They do take lives. They cause more harm than anyone would know. We need to make our society aware of what is actually going on. Not just the stereotypes that people have of this issue. It is not just the skeletal girl. We need our society to know the signs and know how to help. We need to save our fellow brothers and sisters. Learn the signs. Know the issues. Many people who suffer from this illness can relapse many times in their lives while some can recover once and stay healthy. Lets keep each other safe and know how to look for warning signs and that help is always available. Sense this disease affects these people not just physically but also it takes a huge tole on their mental state as well. This song does a great way of showing the feeling behind this disorder.

Here is to HEALTHY!

[agowan120-blog]

the mask

The question “In counting all our tears and sighs?” stands to ask the question in this poem whether or not we should let our troubles run our life or should we use our happy to show everyone? The poem says that we should show our happy and sometimes even use it as a mast to portray a happy that isn’t always there. I think you should not have to wear a mask and that you should be able to be yourself in any mood or emotion you are feeling regardless because that is how you show yourself. You should not have to hide behind a “mask.” Our society today kind of say that you should wear a mask and not show how you really feel but people are tying to get away from that so that you can be yourself and feel free to be the true you.

           The metaphor of the “mask” in our society is a huge role. It shows that people feel like they need to use the mask to hide how they feel or how they act or even sometimes people can use the mask to hide their image whether that is their physical image or the image they hope people see them as. This kind of goes back to the image our society makes our woman feel. Our media plays a huge role of the mask. The “mask” as described in this poem is still an issue today. This poem was written in 1896 and we are still using the “mask” today in 2015. This poem makes you see that the mask is not a good thing. The poems tone is very sarcastic while you are reading it and you see that the writer is not happy about the image of the “mask.” Maybe at some point our society is going to be able to be able to finally move past the image of the mask.