Thursday, December 9, 2010

Eassy 4-Rough Draft

                                                         My body, My freedom
    Debt is mostly every American problem now a days and it was a problem in the story “All I’m asking for is my Body” by Milton Murayama. In this story there is a Japanese family that is so much in debt that they just work to pay it off and they are very poor. This family is known as the Oyama family, they have to main children that contribute to help with the debt and they are Toshio and Kiyoshi. They were very young and already had so much debt that wasn’t even theirs. No child should be responsible for their parent’s debt and they shouldn’t be made to pay it off or even help at all.
    The parents have work so hard to put food on the table but they have put them selves in so much debt. The mother of the family has worked so hard as a sewer, she makes kimonos and sells them as for the father he is fisherman. The mother is very superstitions and she believes that all the family debts should be paid of by the end or the year. So for this to happen they both work very hard everyday and not by any new clothes or anything they will not need, they don’t even go to the dentist. To me this is very bad because even though you might be in so much debt you should take care of yourself and especially your children. Health is the number one thing anyone should be watching out for because if you don’t then how you are going to pay your debt back.
    This family helps each other in a way that I have never seen any family help each other. The father of the family used to work for his grandfather and gave him all his money to help him pay of his debt and know the Oyama want their old children which are Toshio and Kiyoshi to work and give all their money to them to help pay off their debt’s. I believe this is very wrong, it seems like they are using their children as slaves and they shouldn’t be doing that at all. It’s weird how some families can be very naive and not no any better for their children, just because they did that, work for their parents don’t mean they need to continue the legacy.
    Kiyoshi meet this one teacher that was trying to change how parents in that era would use their children as slaves. He tried to tell the children and educate them on how there are better opportunities out there in the world for them. Most of the parents didn’t like him because of what he was teaching their children, but he didn’t give up he knew he would be able to get to at least one child. Kiyoshi did take that advice and all he wants was to be the owner of his own body and not work so hard to pay his parents debt. He wanted freedom from his parents and he didn’t want to pay a debt that didn’t belong to him.
    No child should be responsible to pay a debt that their parents have earned. A child should be able to be free and make their own debts and not worry about anyone else.  I believe if you have a child you shouldn’t be using their child as a slave you should treat them with care and give them all you can and try your best to keep them healthy as possible. The economic stage of America has gotten worst and even back then everyone suffer from poverty. And it is very sad to say that now it is happening again.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

All I Asking For Is My Body, Part III, Dialogue

    What is the meaning of the title?     
           The meaning of the Title was that everyone is entitle to their own bodies and the reason why that is because in the book Kiyoshi and Toshio parents owe a lot of debit to numerous people. However, they are so poor that all they do is work to repay that debit and the parents make the children work and all the money they earn has to go to the parents to help pay the debit. It seems like they just have children so thy can work for the parents and give them all the money, the parents treat the children like slaves. In the last chapter of the book which was really good chapter Kiyoshi have a teacher that would teach all his children that they have a opportunity to change their lives. And that they shouldn't work for their parents to help them repay their debits. He wanted to express to the children that they didn't have to follow in their parents foot steps, they actually have a choice and they have to break that tradition.
          Kiyoshi mother has always expressed that they have to follow in their father's foot steps. Their father worked for his father for 12 years so they expect the same form their children. I believe all of this is wrong, we as parents should want the best for our children and not turn them into our own slaves. I know that there are still some countries that they still have their children married at a certain age to a total stranger, which is so wrong to do.  This is what the title meat to me is that everyone has freedom and they should be responsible for their own bodies and destiny.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

All I Asking For Is My Body, Part II, Dialogue

Why does Kiyoshi believe Obaban is a substitute for his mom?


        Kiyoshi believed that Obaban was a substitute for his mother because he started to believe in his mothers superstitions. He was being told by his mother that she was going to die because someone in her family has done something wrong and that she was being punished by it. When he went to go get Obaban so she can go see Kiyoshi mother, they were both talking about that sometimes a substitute for someones life can happen and if it does happen that person that is sick can be freed. 
Also, Kiyoshi heard a lot of praying coming from the room when his mother and Obaban were in there together, maybe that might have seem like she was offering her life for his mother's. When Obaban died he felt a since of relief because he thought and believe that she was the substituted for his mother even though he was sad for her death but happy for his mother.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Writing topic summary for the chapter 52!

In this chapter it talks about how to form a thesis and use supportive evidence to form a well organized essay. It starts by how to form a tentative thesis. You must have about on to two sentence to form a thesis which your thesis will answer your central question you have for your essay. Your thesis will appear on the end of the introductory paragraph. Then when you have done this you start to from your evidence which is mostly the body of your paragraph. You want to start by making an outline of your evidence then later on you will put it into you essay.  Another thing that would be helpful for your readers is to explain a unfamiliar word or idea in your essay and make sure you  to back up your assertions with facts or examples for the essay. Finally, you can use experts opinions but don't rely on their arguments, you will want to use your on words.

After reading this chapter it was very helpful to understand the whole concept behind and essay. I'm going to take into consideration about the outline regarding the body of the essay because i know that is one thing I fail to do. I sometimes just start writing instead of writing out my thoughts on paper. Also use your own words and trying to rephrase experts insights is very hard to do. This chapter was very helpful to me.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

All I Asking For Is My Body, Part I, Dialogue

Who is Makot?  Do you feel sorry for him?  What are your thoughts about him and the way he copes with his parents?

         Makot is a Japanese boy that has trouble making friends with boys his age, so he makes friends with younger boys then himself. His parents have a lot of money and it seems that his parents give him money whenever he wants it. Makot he tends to buy his friends by offering them food or buying them things and even taking them to the movies. Makot hangs out with three younger boys Kiyoshi, Mitsunobu, and Nobuyuki which he buys there friendship, well that's what it seems like. He seems very controlling because when he can't get his way he will pout till he gets his way.In a way I do feel sorry for him because he is always by himself at home or he is out and about on the streets. His parents don't seem like they are around very often and the only way he knows how to get attention is to bribe the younger kids since kids his age don't like him. 
         Makot copes with his parents by not being around and not taking his friends around is parents. He always has his friends over when the parents aren't around, I believe he is embarrassed by them since other people know whats going on with them, which seems like it could be a bad thing the parents are involved in. I believe that Makot is coping with his parents the best way that he can. I can't wait to continue the reading and find out more about him and his parents.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Extra Credit-Writing About Film!

The section Writing about film talked about how to actually look at a movie and pay close attention on how the film is made. For example, you must look at the composition of the film instead of retelling the film. There are different sorts of film papers you are able to write about, which are, formal analysis which is you must take the film and break it down into components parts and how it contribute to the whole film. Also, there are film history, ideological papers, cultural studies papers, discussion of the auteur. When writing a paper about a film the  first thing you must do is course view the film and also pay close attention to the film, this is consider a prewriting strategy.  Another thing that you must be ready to do is be very selective of what you want to write about because there is so much that goes into a film, being selective will help to write a good essay. Some writing tips that can help are that you need to focus on your topic, have a good thesis sentence, have a good structure, write clear paragraphs, and tend to the matter of style and grammar.

This information was really help to read about, but I mostly talked about how to write an essay about a film by looking deep into the film. I'm not to sure how helpful it would be for our essay on Smoke Signals, however I will take some of it into consideration when writing my essay. We are not going to need to break down the film into certain composition, but we do need to look at the importance of the film and the story behind it.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Eassy 3 Workshop!-What's the importance of forgiveness in "Smoke Signals"? How does Victor learn to forgive his father?

    In the movie Smoke Signals the two main actors Victor and Thomas are on there way to Arizona to pick up Victors, father’s ashes and some of his belongings.  During this time Victor is faced with the most challenging thing a person could be faced with which is to forgive a parent. Forgiveness is when you must put a side all those emotions and anger that you might towards a parent and try to give them a second chance. You must forgive them for their mistakes that they have done, especially were they have hurt you so much because at the end they are you parents, they are he ones that have put you in this world.
    Victor was abandon by his father as a child and all he remembers about his father was the abuse he used to give to Victor and his mother. Victor’s father was an alcoholic, which in the movie that was on reason he left was because the mother didn’t what alcoholism in the family or around Victor. When I was a young girl my father was also an alcoholic, he used to come home and be drunk most of the time. My fathers always seem very violent and loud towards my mother. My siblings and I used to be scared of my father and we would hide in the room or pertain that we were sleeping once he got home. I believe he used to hit my mother when we were young but most of it I tend to leave it a blur.
    Victor had to grow up with out a father and always wondering why his father left him and his mother. Victor grew up to be a very anger person towards other individuals, the only thing he loved doing was playing basketball, which I believe it kept him in the spirit of his father. We all have one thing that keeps us in touch with our parents, for example my mother  loves to cook and I love to learn her recipes so I try my best so one day I can share them with my family and that would be my way to remember my mother.  Victor’s way of remembering his father even though he hated him at first was all the good things he did for him, like play basketball but also all the bad things, too.
    In the movie Smoke Signals forgiveness is a very important part for Victor because that is the only way he can continue to live his live and also realize that his father wasn’t a bad guy, he just made a mistake that he regretted. Victor and Thomas went to Arizona to get the ashes and as soon as they got there they came across the father’s neighbor. She had a lot of stories to tell about Victor’ father to Victor and Thomas.  After hearing all the stories she had Victor started to realize that his father didn’t mean to leave his family and that everyday that went by his father regretted leaving him and his mother. Victor never thought that he would ended up forgiving his father but when he did he had a new sense of life it seemed and it also seem that he was relived.
    Another thing that really helped Victor was having Thomas with him, even though Thomas got on Victors nerves he was glad to have him there during a hard time for Victor. With out forgiveness the story in the movie would have been very different I believe and Victor forgiving his father was a good thing for him to do in the story. After they got the ashes they headed home and Victor ended up throwing his fathers ashes into the river that was near his home. While he was releasing his father into the river Victor started to scream and cry and at this point he started to grief over his father even though he wasn’t around he was sad that his father had died.
    Forgiveness is a very important part of life I believe, we all get mad at someone close to our hearts, but we all have to find it in our hearts to put aside those emotions and forgive that person. We can’t life a healthy life with so much anger in our hearts toward another person; it’s not good for you. So the sooner you get the courage to forgive that person even though they might not be in your life, you will have a sense of relieve and you will be able to continue to live your life.