1. What is the easiest part of writing for you?
The easiest part for me is using description.
The most difficult?
The most difficult part for me is organizing and coming up with new ideas.
2. As you look over your writing, select one particular essay with which you are satisfied. Below, discuss the specific effective traits of your piece. In other words, what did you do well? What does this particular essay have that others don't. Support answers with excerpts from you essay.
I really like my WWII timed essay. I think my ideas were really good especially when I explained how time is used as a metaphor in the third paragraph. I also think my organization was really good.
3. Over the past year, in what ways have you grown or changed as a writer? What sorts of things do you now do more effectively? What specific skills have you learned? Do you have the "Hang" of the five-paragraph essay? Will you be prepared for the O.G.T.?
I am now much more descriptive than I was before. I also have better sentence structure. My organization for the five-paragraph essay has improved.
4. Set a goal for next year. What do you still need to work on? What areas of writing would you like to strengthen?
I still need to work on my spelling. I also have trouble coming up with new ideas and adding concrete details.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Vietnam interview
Alex Bollas
Reidenbaugh
Period 6/7
5/28/08
Vietnam Memorial Interview: A Bitter Yet Sweet Experience
Dennis J. Stauffer is a Vietnam veteran. Unfortunately, I do not know this man but I did find an article on the internet that he wrote called The Bitter Homecoming. I used direct quotes from this article to conduct a mock interview. He had three brothers. His father died a young man so Stauffer was alone with his mother and siblings. Out of the four brothers, Stauffer and one other brother left to fight in Vietnam. The war had a large impact on Stauffer and his family, and the same was true for many families of that generation.
Alex: “How were you involved with the Vietnam conflict?”
Stauffer: “A senior radar operator for field artillery”.
Alex: “When were you in Vietnam?”
Stauffer: “I was in Vietnam during the late 1960s.”
Alex: “Why don’t Vietnam veterans like yourself speak of your experiences?”
Stauffer: “I kept my experiences quiet, as did many veterans, to avoid pain of the war. I also kept it quiet because the war was not a welcome topic outside walls of veterans clubs. We faced rejection and verbal, sometimes physical assault.”
Alex “Did you have any friends or family fighting in the war?”
Stauffer: “Yes, my brother and I had tours of duty.”
Alex: “Could you describe his experience?”
Stauffer: “He died in battle.”
Alex: “I understand you went to see the memorial. What was that like?”
Stauffer: “It was a bittersweet experience viewing the memorial for the first time.”
Alex: “What was bitter about it?”
Stauffer: “The bitter part was remembering my friends and family who were killed in the war.”
Alex: “What was the sweet part?”
Stauffer: “The sweet part came because we were honoring those boys-turned-men, our Vietnam War dead, in our nation’s capital.”
Alex: “Were all the Veterans happy with the memorial?”
Stauffer: “No, I heard a few veterans grumble; they did not feel its silent tribute and looked upon it as still another slap in the face.”
Alex: “Were there only Vietnam veterans at the memorial?”
Stuffer: “No, there were also veterans from other wars and some who had lost children in the Vietnamese conflict.”
Stauffer was greatly affected by the war. One of the greatest effects at the time for him may have been his brother’s death (besides his own involvement in the war). After his return, he and fellow veterans were treated very poorly. The creation of the Vietnam Memorial was the first time when Vietnam veterans could be looked at as heroes rather than the villains they were thought of as before.
During the “interview,” I managed to gain a good amount of knowledge about the Vietnam era. I did not realize how poorly the veterans were treated. I was previously knowledgeable that one of the reasons veterans did not speak of their experiences was to avoid the painful memories, but I didn’t know that another reason that they kept these memories to themselves was that they were often humiliated by fellow Americans. They received poor treatment instead of a welcomed home because many people thought the war was wrong and were against soldiers accepting the draft and fighting in an immoral war.
The article The Bitter Homecoming originally appeared in the Sunday, December 5, 1982 edition of the Grand Rapids Press
Reidenbaugh
Period 6/7
5/28/08
Vietnam Memorial Interview: A Bitter Yet Sweet Experience
Dennis J. Stauffer is a Vietnam veteran. Unfortunately, I do not know this man but I did find an article on the internet that he wrote called The Bitter Homecoming. I used direct quotes from this article to conduct a mock interview. He had three brothers. His father died a young man so Stauffer was alone with his mother and siblings. Out of the four brothers, Stauffer and one other brother left to fight in Vietnam. The war had a large impact on Stauffer and his family, and the same was true for many families of that generation.
Alex: “How were you involved with the Vietnam conflict?”
Stauffer: “A senior radar operator for field artillery”.
Alex: “When were you in Vietnam?”
Stauffer: “I was in Vietnam during the late 1960s.”
Alex: “Why don’t Vietnam veterans like yourself speak of your experiences?”
Stauffer: “I kept my experiences quiet, as did many veterans, to avoid pain of the war. I also kept it quiet because the war was not a welcome topic outside walls of veterans clubs. We faced rejection and verbal, sometimes physical assault.”
Alex “Did you have any friends or family fighting in the war?”
Stauffer: “Yes, my brother and I had tours of duty.”
Alex: “Could you describe his experience?”
Stauffer: “He died in battle.”
Alex: “I understand you went to see the memorial. What was that like?”
Stauffer: “It was a bittersweet experience viewing the memorial for the first time.”
Alex: “What was bitter about it?”
Stauffer: “The bitter part was remembering my friends and family who were killed in the war.”
Alex: “What was the sweet part?”
Stauffer: “The sweet part came because we were honoring those boys-turned-men, our Vietnam War dead, in our nation’s capital.”
Alex: “Were all the Veterans happy with the memorial?”
Stauffer: “No, I heard a few veterans grumble; they did not feel its silent tribute and looked upon it as still another slap in the face.”
Alex: “Were there only Vietnam veterans at the memorial?”
Stuffer: “No, there were also veterans from other wars and some who had lost children in the Vietnamese conflict.”
Stauffer was greatly affected by the war. One of the greatest effects at the time for him may have been his brother’s death (besides his own involvement in the war). After his return, he and fellow veterans were treated very poorly. The creation of the Vietnam Memorial was the first time when Vietnam veterans could be looked at as heroes rather than the villains they were thought of as before.
During the “interview,” I managed to gain a good amount of knowledge about the Vietnam era. I did not realize how poorly the veterans were treated. I was previously knowledgeable that one of the reasons veterans did not speak of their experiences was to avoid the painful memories, but I didn’t know that another reason that they kept these memories to themselves was that they were often humiliated by fellow Americans. They received poor treatment instead of a welcomed home because many people thought the war was wrong and were against soldiers accepting the draft and fighting in an immoral war.
The article The Bitter Homecoming originally appeared in the Sunday, December 5, 1982 edition of the Grand Rapids Press
Monday, June 2, 2008
Slaughter House-Five
Alex Bollas
Reidenbaugh
Humanities 9
3/3/08
WWII affected many people's lives in a terrible, sometimes horrific way, not just the soldiers. Slaughter House-Five Shows how the bombing of Dresden wasn't only supposed to kill enemy soldiers, but everyone in the city. Kurt Vonnegut clearly shows his dislike of WWII and the way it was fought in Slaughter House-Five by the way he shows the life of Billy Pilgrim and what he goes through and the way he refers to it as the "children's crusade" on Pg. 15.
Billy Pilgrim was an American soldier during WWII. He was later captured and taken to Dresden. When Dresden was bombed, the war entered the lives of everyone in the city. On pg. 180, it is clear to Billy that "Absolutely everyone in the city is supposed to be dead, regardless of what they were." When the American planes spotted Billy and the other American prisoners, they shot at them without hesitation.
Kurt Vonnegut uses time as a metaphor for what happens during the war. Billy Pilgrim is abducted by aliens and taken to a planet called Tralfamadore. The aliens there have the ability to travel to any period of time they wish. They tell Billy about how free will is a lie and everything that will happen, has happened, and has already happened and will always happen. The way Billy cannot control his future in any way is a metaphor showing that even though he is a part of the war, he has no control over it.
Kurt Vonnegut uses short sentences that are to the point without much detail. He uses a sarcastic sense of humor. His humor is dark and is not meant to be laughed at.
Kurt Vonnegut clearly dislikes war but his main character doesn't mind it (or so he claims). Billy's visit to Trafalmadore shows how Vonnegut doesn't like the lack of control the soldiers have in the war. What Billy takes away from Trafalmadore is that war is not good or bad, but that it must take place, just like everything else in life.
Reidenbaugh
Humanities 9
3/3/08
WWII affected many people's lives in a terrible, sometimes horrific way, not just the soldiers. Slaughter House-Five Shows how the bombing of Dresden wasn't only supposed to kill enemy soldiers, but everyone in the city. Kurt Vonnegut clearly shows his dislike of WWII and the way it was fought in Slaughter House-Five by the way he shows the life of Billy Pilgrim and what he goes through and the way he refers to it as the "children's crusade" on Pg. 15.
Billy Pilgrim was an American soldier during WWII. He was later captured and taken to Dresden. When Dresden was bombed, the war entered the lives of everyone in the city. On pg. 180, it is clear to Billy that "Absolutely everyone in the city is supposed to be dead, regardless of what they were." When the American planes spotted Billy and the other American prisoners, they shot at them without hesitation.
Kurt Vonnegut uses time as a metaphor for what happens during the war. Billy Pilgrim is abducted by aliens and taken to a planet called Tralfamadore. The aliens there have the ability to travel to any period of time they wish. They tell Billy about how free will is a lie and everything that will happen, has happened, and has already happened and will always happen. The way Billy cannot control his future in any way is a metaphor showing that even though he is a part of the war, he has no control over it.
Kurt Vonnegut uses short sentences that are to the point without much detail. He uses a sarcastic sense of humor. His humor is dark and is not meant to be laughed at.
Kurt Vonnegut clearly dislikes war but his main character doesn't mind it (or so he claims). Billy's visit to Trafalmadore shows how Vonnegut doesn't like the lack of control the soldiers have in the war. What Billy takes away from Trafalmadore is that war is not good or bad, but that it must take place, just like everything else in life.
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