Letter From A Burmingham Jail

Growing up I never knew that Martin Luther King Jr. was a devout Christian. I knew he was a pastor but I never knew that his writing was woven with Christian values and quotes. The letter is an explanation of what Martin Luther is going through and how he views the situation at hand. It divulges into the thought process that went into planning the peacefull protest and highlights the amount of concern they had for not disturbing a political election, even if that meant postponing their march over and over. The letter is dripping with the pain and oppression that his followers were feeling in burmingham. I was also very impressed by the level of artistic language used in the letter, it really is a beautiful piece of literature. After I read the letter I watched the 37 minute speech that Barack Obama gave on the issues of race that still exist in the world today. After experiencing both of these things I have a deep appreciation for the pain and suffering that racism brings to a community. One thing that will forever be in my heart is the quote from St. Augistine saying that an unjust law is no law at all. And his writing about using time constructively or destructively is the only option and that time is not neutral. I think so much more of MLK after reading this essay, no longer do I see him as a human rights activist but as a dedicated servant of God who has a unrelenting passion for his people and justice.

The Lion King

The lion king is one of my favorite childhood movies, so based solely on that fact I have a bias against anyone who would write a bad review about the movie. In the first paragraph or so the author takes one of my favorite scenes in the movie and draws a radical conclusion that the circle of life is some sick symbolism. Then she compares inner city America to a hyena, which is ridiculous, the movie is merely portraying the animal as it really is, a scavenger that lives in a pack. There is no ghetto and Whoppie Goldberg is the farthest thing from an inner city black person you can get. If it were a true representation of the ghetto it would include some sort of animal drug abuse and I didn’t see any hyena blowing lines or shooting up. They were just the villains of the movie who live in a scary place. The author then claims that her boys were deeply affected by the story and implied that the movie scared them for life. How ridiculous, it is merely a suspenseful Disney drama. This is an essay written by a bored and bitter housewife. I love the lion king and even if it has all these elements in it, a gay villain, a ghetto cast, and an oppressed population, what is wrong with exposing kids to the real world where there are good, evil and gay people.

In Defense Of Talk Shows Response

I think calling talk shows a moralistic forum is a bit too much because I doubt that the reason for the show is to teach its participants the correct way to live and treat their friends. It seems to be more of a contest for who has the most deranged view of life and the craziest ideas of reality. They gave the example of a perverted relationship between a girl and her boyfriend, and just because the audience was not applauding this situation the author tries to draw a conclusion that the hosts strong words against the guests on the show are really some sort of exhortation not to sin but really he is just calling them crazy. I think talk shows are the lowest of human form and any one who watches them is wasting their time. There is no moral betterment that derives from these talk shows. The bible says that you should guard your eves and abstain from evil. These talk shows are definitely evil. They are true stories of sinful people with no form of repentance being publicly humiliated. One does not gain any practical knowledge about morality from these shows, just a picture of a fallen world and the victims of a life of sin. Overall if one idealized the whole situation and looked at the big picture I could understand the viewpoint of the author. But even so the church is the place for reproof and repentance not a talk show.

lenses

Wow I don't think I could care less about this essay, but thanks for explaining how a microscope works that was exactly what I needed. That was called sarcasm. This author needs to understand that no one cares what she has to say. I think Stephen kind was right some people are crazy, this girl collects urine. And then I got to the part about swans. I don’t know if anyone told Annie but an introduction should have something to do with the paper. I also appreciated her geography lesson about Virginia. That was easily the worst essay I have ever read. She had no point no reason for writing nothing was interesting about the essay and all she did was take two completely random things and compare them to each other. so I guess the next time I’m next to a pond with swans overhead with binoculars in my hand I’m going to throw my binoculars in the pond and go do something important with my time. which would be anything other that writing an essay about urine and boring birds. Someone needs to take Annie’s right to write away and remove anything that could be used as a writing implement from her, for the sake of good, worthwhile literature.

Why we crave horror movies

Stephen king has a morbid way of writing, and when he called everyone insane I could see what he meant. I a way I agree with him on that, but I would add to that statement by prefacing that when people are pushed into certain situations they are insane in a way. Usually people are normal in everyday life and its affairs, but when a situation occurs that makes one mad you can actually see that bit of insanity in them. One thing I didn’t like so much was his baby joke, I didn’t think that was funny. And as the only member of my class who loves horror movies I might be the only one who is insane but who knows. I didn’t like how he referred to people as potential lynchers that wasn’t cool. I enjoyed how he compared watching horror movies when he said it was like opening up a door that revealed hungry crocodiles, and how good liberals didn’t like opening that door. However I’m not afraid of opening that darker door and feeding the crocodiles. I liked how he said horror movies remove the gray from life and reveal the true black and white and in a confusing world I like when there is less confusion. Finnaly I like how he used a quote from Lennon and McCartnry all you need is love. That’s just a great quote.

remembering california

I lived on a steep hill in Laguna Niguel. It was a beautiful gated community and if I walked to the top of the hill where the mansions were I could easily see the ocean. On a warm Sunday morning I was having breakfast with my dad and one of his friends. During the course of our conversation the man mentioned that his son had grown out of a go-kart and he wondered if we might like it. His only concern was that it might need a little tune up and a paint job. I jumped on the offer and bugged my dad until he accepted. It was rusty and beat up but it was perfect for me. With a new paint job and some love it was running like a champ. We improvised and put some lawnmower tires on it and pretty soon thereafter I was flying around our neighborhood and sliding around sandy corners. If I was going fast enough and I turned hard enough in either direction I could get the tires to squeal and lay down black lines of rubber on the road. the brakes on the go-kart were either applied or off and only on the rear wheels so when I slammed on the brakes it was like ripping the e-brake on a car, if I was turning and had to brake then I would instantly be trying to control a drift, alternating throttle and brake in order to control the slide. We soon moved to dove canyon, another gated community that was farther inland. It was a newer community based around a golf course, but once you got past the fence it was surrounded by desert. There were a few breaks in the fence and that's where my friends and I would break through with our go-karts and mini-bikes. On Saturdays and after school we would burn up gallons of gas while whipping around the desert trails that stretched for miles around. The dirt corners were perfect for my rear wheel drive kart and on almost any corner you could find little chuck flying sideways followed by a blackening dust cloud, and screaming at the top of his lungs. On one particular trip I forgot to check the gas tank before I left, and consequently I was several miles away from home with no gas, no cell phone, and no water, surrounded by miles of burning barren desert. Luckily after about 15 minutes a friend came flying up on a dirt bike, and gave me a lift back to my house. I came in quietly in because I didn't want my dad to find out that I ran out of gas. I got back and parked the chuck-mobile in the garage and vowed never to run out of gas again. Over Christmas break I walked into my basement in Connecticut and sitting on flat tires covered in a grey dust was my little 5 horse power go-kart. But I didn't see dust or flat tires or rust, all I saw was a mean machine that has a million unforgettable memories of the time I lived in California.

toys and barbies

First of all I’m in kind of a pessimistic mood because my windshield just cracked on route 128. I read the title toys and Barbie, and exactly as I assumed it was a dry essay that tried to make a doll conspiracy interesting. I was especially disturbed that the author tries to deduce a feminist position from a doll. It’s a toy, kids pretend they are older when they play with them, consequently the women have breasts because they are almost always visible, men don’t walk around with huge bulges trying to show them off. And they’re not sex dolls they aren’t meant to be naked they’re to play dress up on. Do we see male manikins with “junk” no but to we see female manikins with breasts? Yes. I bet if Barbie was lacking breasts this author would write a diatribe on how women are oppressed and cannot express their sexuality or some crap like that. Normally I am gracious with these essays, but this was a silly waste of time.

mother tongue

Amy Tan has a great perspective on writing. I mean essentially what is writing for.....to read, so why not write something that is going to be tangible for the reader. When I read a complex paper that waxes eloquence and uses verbose imagery I feel like I’m trying to decode something or like I’m putting a jigsaw puzzle together. That shouldn’t be the case. A clear description of what the writer is trying to say is much less likely to be misunderstood or mistaken for something else. So, that part I liked. But overall this is my least favorite story so far. I wasn’t emotionally involved in any of the characters and because of that the story was dry and hard to read. Because of that I learned that in my writing I need to attach the readers to the characters by creating an interesting story and I need to use common language in order to allow the reader to concentrate on the story instead of the words.

Shitty first drafts

Anne lamott is my hero. first because she is B.A. and second because she is no afraid of her faith. she throws God right in there with her. Another thing is she is not afraid to be real, or to tell it straight, and because of that i am learning from her methods of writing. After reading through this essay i saw that the reason why i loose a train of thought is because i'm focusing too much on grammar and spelling and sentence structure on that first "shitty" draft. but the next time i write an essay i am going to write everything that comes to mind. no matter how shitty.

My Fathers Suitcase

During the course of reading this essay i went through a couple stages of concentration. the first was an absent minded reading of a story i didn't care about. but as i continued to read the story started to apply to my life. my dad and what he must go through and i think somehow my writing improved because of it. the characters were simple and the plot was easy to follow. i just wish that there were some cooler things in the suitcase like TOP SECRET documents.

library card

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his perspective on prejudice. it was interesting how the books he read affected him so much. One small note is that i didn't like how the story just ended as he decided to leave his girlfriend and home.

Charles Obituary

Charles Gamer was always a kind man. He was born in Concord MA at a very young age. All his life he aspired to become a PS major at Gordon College. He had a horrible habit of losing his keys, but his luck would soon run out. On a blistering day in January he was locked out of the Wilson dorm. No one was there so save him, so it was there on the stoop that he froze to death.
The End