Blog Post #3

Cameron Richards
Melinda Schroeder
English 101
10/21/16

Fish Cheeks

     "Fish Cheeks" is a short story essay, by Amy Tan. In the story Amy depicts a Christmas eve dinner with a fourteen year old teenage Chinese girl, who is very embarrassed of her Chinese family and culture. Her parents had invited not only her entire family but the minister and his son , named Robert, who so happens to be the teenage girls crush. She begins to panic as she watches her relatives devour the unique foods that her mother had prepared, and spots Robert with complete disgust on his face. After the meal the teenage girl fell silent until everyone left. Her mother then tells her a valuable lesson. The lesson was, you can be who ever you want to be, as long as you embrace that fact of where you came from.

Superman and Me

      "Superman and Me" is a short story essay, by Sherman Alexie. In the story Sherman talks about the stereotypes of Native Americans and how he broke free from them and found his passion for literature. Sherman describes how he found his passion from his dad who was a fan of literature himself, and how his thirst for knowledge saved his life. The purpose of this story was to show that its possible to over come stereotypes that you think hold you back from what is your greatest possibility. 

Choice of Analysis

       For my essay I have chosen to analyze "Superman and Me." The reason being I am very familiar with Sherman Alexie's work. I can really connect with his work. While for "Fish Cheeks", "Superman and Me" has much more content that I liked. 

Work cited:

Alexie, Sherman, "Superman and Me." The Bedford Reader. Ed. X. J. Kennedy et al. 12th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2014. 110-114. Print.

Tan, Amy, "Fish Cheeks." The Bedford Reader. Ed. X. J. Kennedy et al. 12th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2014. 582-585. Print.

I commented on Atokena's blog and Makayla's blog.

Blog Post #2

Practice Narrative Writing

Every winter when i feel the cold and frigid air touch my skin. I feel the urge, the desire, to flick a match to life and feel the growing warmth of a house fire filling the room. As I tangle and intertwine myself with the soft red fabric that welcomes me into its embrace, I bring a boiling hot mixture of exotic herbs to my lips and let it run down my throat. The fire pops and blows the ashes up into the brick. I can feel the dark and frozen air leave me as I close my eyes to see the faint light of the fire in the darkness within me. When i return to reality I rip open a book that is covered in leather and begin to mark the thin pages with ink. Doing so i reenter my own world of imagination.



I commented on Shelby's blog and Hannah's blog.

Blog Post #1

'Why We Lie'

Cameron Richards
Melinda Schroeder
English 101
October 1, 2016

Summary:

In the article "Why We Lie", by Dan Ariely, you read about the different reasons why we as humans lie to each other. Ariely and his colleagues performed three different versions of a simple experiment known as the "matrix task". Most of his experiments were used on college students who were given an opportunity to cheat or lie. In one of the experiments the amount of money that the students would receive was changed to a higher price, the results showed that this time people lied less than when the reward was lower. This makes you question, what pushes us into lying or cheating.

Paraphrasing Paragraph 10:

We are all aware that many are capable of lying and cheating, but what factors make us lie or cheat more often.

Quote:

While i was reading "Why We Lie", I came across a phrase that I have heard used many times. "It's for a greater good." (Ariely 443) This phrase is used to cover up the psychological guilt that people feel after they cheat or lie. I should know i have used it before, its not a great feeling.

Citation: 
 Ariely, Dan. “Why We Lie.” The Bedford Reader 12th (2014): 440-46. Print.

I commented on Andrea's blog and Emma's blog.