I went to elementary school in Mason City Iowa. It was a small town where everyone knew everyone and you couldn't get away with anything without word getting around.
I remember when someone pulled the fire alarm in my school. It was third or fourth grade and the middle of winter. I'm guessing the kid that did it wasn't to smart because everyone had to go stand outside in the snow, and half of us didn't have jackets. The teachers wouldn't even let us take five seconds to grab them from the hooks in our classroom. Nope. They made us all run outside in single file and stand out on the sidewalk in our sweatshirts, and in some cases, t-shirts, shivering and pissed off.
This one girl that I absolutely hated had broken her foot and had to be carried out by one of the firemen that came into the building shortly after the alarm was pulled. I was so jealous of her. I remember thinking that she probably just waited inside so that all the attention could be put on her. She was always doing selfish things like that. Even at such a young age she knew exactly how to play people so they would pay attention to her. God I hated her so much.
Like every group of small children, rumors started to spread about who pulled it. I think we had narrowed it down to one or two people; they were older boys of course. None of us wanted to admit that any of the kids in our own class were that bad. It had to have been one of the older kids. Probably a fifth grader.
As it turns out, it just happened to be faulty wiring or something that set the alarm off, but for several weeks after the event the student body of first through fifth graders had nothing else to talk about.
"Remember when the alarm went off? You were so scared you stuff was going to burn."
"I would have grabbed my backpack if it had been a real fire. I just got a new GigaPet!"
"It had to be Grant that did it. He's always getting into trouble like that."
The rumors cycled over and over throughout school, each day a new story would pop up about how a kid was in the bathroom and had to quick pull their pants up, or how rebellious they were by sneaking out the side door rather then going out the designated fire escape rout like they had practiced seven times earlier with the fire drills.
The fire alarm was the talk of the school for weeks until a new student arrived. And everyone had completely forgotten about the event entirely.
Reflection:
Looking back at the incident I find it quite funny. We were all so scared when it first happened; everyone thought their things were going to be ruined. When everything was all said and done, and we continued to talk about it for weeks, everyone just seemed to be trying to make it seem like their story was the best and most adventurous out of everyone else who told one. It's funny because as little kids, we all thought this event was so huge and so bad. Back in elementary school, the fire alarm going off without warning completely shook up our entire world. I realize know that it was nothing. I can only wish I could be that naive and innocent again.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Drafting For Personal Narrative
A Change of Heart
My brother has Autism. As far back as I can remember he has always had problems, but it wasn't until three or four years ago that he was diagnosed with Autism. At first it was a behavioral problem. then it was ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) then finally it was Autism and he was finally able to get the type of treatment he needed in order to live as normal as possible.
It wasn't until last year that I began to realize the impact my brother's disability on my life. Once he started going to my High School my relationships with my friends started to change. People started treating me differently because I stood up for my brother when he couldn't. I was called names and ultimately disowned by a few people who thought I had changed.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Multiple Events: People changed their opinion of me because of my brother's Autism
People:
Setting: BHS
Significance of the event:
I am proud of the way things turned out. I handled the situation the best I could and despite the fact that I quite clearly came out the loser in the end, I am fine with that. Life isn't about the number of friends you have, or your status in a community of people, it's about how you can feel about yourself at the end of the day. Can you look in the mirror and be proud of the person you see staring back at you? It's true that friends are important in people's lives, by nature we are people seeking beings, but your family; your support system, is by far more important in the end. If something happens to you, it's not your friends that are going to have your back, it's your family.
My brother has Autism. As far back as I can remember he has always had problems, but it wasn't until three or four years ago that he was diagnosed with Autism. At first it was a behavioral problem. then it was ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) then finally it was Autism and he was finally able to get the type of treatment he needed in order to live as normal as possible.
It wasn't until last year that I began to realize the impact my brother's disability on my life. Once he started going to my High School my relationships with my friends started to change. People started treating me differently because I stood up for my brother when he couldn't. I was called names and ultimately disowned by a few people who thought I had changed.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Multiple Events: People changed their opinion of me because of my brother's Autism
People:
Setting: BHS
Significance of the event:
I am proud of the way things turned out. I handled the situation the best I could and despite the fact that I quite clearly came out the loser in the end, I am fine with that. Life isn't about the number of friends you have, or your status in a community of people, it's about how you can feel about yourself at the end of the day. Can you look in the mirror and be proud of the person you see staring back at you? It's true that friends are important in people's lives, by nature we are people seeking beings, but your family; your support system, is by far more important in the end. If something happens to you, it's not your friends that are going to have your back, it's your family.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Grading my Paper
I deserve a solid A.
The paper remains focused on the Rhetorical element of Ethos throughout and my sentence structure is well played out. The main point never wanders or drifts and my arguments are strong.
The weakness of the piece would be it's a little short. The requirement is between 4 and 6 pages and although I am at 4 pages, I feel as though it should be in the middle; at five pages long.
If I had more time, I would have re-worked the conclusion. It is a bit weak considering the rest of the piece and although it would be a strong conclusion in a different piece, it doesn't stick to the main theme of the paper; ethos
The paper remains focused on the Rhetorical element of Ethos throughout and my sentence structure is well played out. The main point never wanders or drifts and my arguments are strong.
The weakness of the piece would be it's a little short. The requirement is between 4 and 6 pages and although I am at 4 pages, I feel as though it should be in the middle; at five pages long.
If I had more time, I would have re-worked the conclusion. It is a bit weak considering the rest of the piece and although it would be a strong conclusion in a different piece, it doesn't stick to the main theme of the paper; ethos
Monday, September 8, 2008
Rhetorical Analysis
I am going to analyze Why I Want A Wife.
I found the essay to be interesting and entertaining. The Judy Brady uses Sarcasm as well as everyday stereotypes of women in her essay to get the point across that husbands rely too much on the woman's role. I enjoy reading this type of writing as well as using this style in my own writing.
Purpose: To show others the stereotype a wife is held at
Context: The essay comes across as a bit aggressive, but it needs to be in order to get the full message across. No one is going to care to read it if it's a boring piece of rambling words
Appeals: Brady definitely appeals to the female audience in this piece. She is speaking to the men, as well as the woman about stereotypes, but she is directly speaking to men, basically telling them to respect their wives and what they do for the household
Emotion: She comes off as aggressive and in your face with the facts about the hard things wives have to deal with
I found the essay to be interesting and entertaining. The Judy Brady uses Sarcasm as well as everyday stereotypes of women in her essay to get the point across that husbands rely too much on the woman's role. I enjoy reading this type of writing as well as using this style in my own writing.
Purpose: To show others the stereotype a wife is held at
Context: The essay comes across as a bit aggressive, but it needs to be in order to get the full message across. No one is going to care to read it if it's a boring piece of rambling words
Appeals: Brady definitely appeals to the female audience in this piece. She is speaking to the men, as well as the woman about stereotypes, but she is directly speaking to men, basically telling them to respect their wives and what they do for the household
Emotion: She comes off as aggressive and in your face with the facts about the hard things wives have to deal with
Friday, September 5, 2008
Fears Be Gone
Coming into Mankato I didn't really have many fears. I have always been a very confident person and change is always welcome in my life. I'm a very go with the flow type of person and I have a very laid back personality. I enjoy chaos.
The one thing I was worried about before moving in was who my roommate was going to be. I'm not a very easy person to get along with and at times I get very crabby, so finding a roommate posted a bit of an issue. My biggest concern was that they would be interested in rap or country music. Music is a big part of my life and I am a fan of the hard rock and metal type music, rather then rap and country. In fact, I can't stand rap at all.
My roommate turned out to love heavy metal just like myself and enjoy the same things that I do. We are actually pretty good friends by now and have started looking into apartments that we could possibly move into next school year. As of now, I don't really have any other fears about Mankato except for maybe finding things to do. I'm really bored.
The one thing I was worried about before moving in was who my roommate was going to be. I'm not a very easy person to get along with and at times I get very crabby, so finding a roommate posted a bit of an issue. My biggest concern was that they would be interested in rap or country music. Music is a big part of my life and I am a fan of the hard rock and metal type music, rather then rap and country. In fact, I can't stand rap at all.
My roommate turned out to love heavy metal just like myself and enjoy the same things that I do. We are actually pretty good friends by now and have started looking into apartments that we could possibly move into next school year. As of now, I don't really have any other fears about Mankato except for maybe finding things to do. I'm really bored.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Interestingly Insane
He's about six foot three with shoulder-length black hair and bright blue eyes. Slender and lean he doesn't take bullcrap from anyone. He would call himself an antisocial human being and I would believe it to be true. He doesn't play well with others and he is almost always in trouble for one thing or another.
But
If you are considered to be one of his friends, he would drop anything he was doing to help you out. He's not afraid to speak his mind and he's always going to tell you the truth, despite what it may mean to your feelings. One of his favorite hobbies is going to punk shows and starting mosh pits and he's not afraid to bleed a little in a fight. He's a hard working person and always active.
The best story I can give to explain him in full, is the concert we went to last night. Rage Against The Machine was playing a protest show against the Republican National Convention and we were there. We bought the cheap tickets, the ones where you sit behind the stage and cant see a thing but there was no way we were going to stay there long. When the first band started up, we left out seats and made our way around to the complete opposite side of the arena and down to the front row of seats. We started talking to a few people around us who had the same idea we did. We were going to jump.
The drop to the floor was about ten feet, not too bad. But, we needed someone to go first to distract the security guard that was standing on the floor directly below us. Luckily we talked a kid into it and sure enough, the moment he jumped down he was grabbed and hauled out of the show. After that we all jumped. The key to moving levels in a large concert like that, is as soon as your feet hit the ground you run, which is exactly what we did. Joe grabbed me and we took off into the crowd, dodging people and security officers. By the time RATM was on stage, we were front row and center.
Joe is definitely one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He's extremely outgoing and always ready to do a little bit of illegal activities.
But
If you are considered to be one of his friends, he would drop anything he was doing to help you out. He's not afraid to speak his mind and he's always going to tell you the truth, despite what it may mean to your feelings. One of his favorite hobbies is going to punk shows and starting mosh pits and he's not afraid to bleed a little in a fight. He's a hard working person and always active.
The best story I can give to explain him in full, is the concert we went to last night. Rage Against The Machine was playing a protest show against the Republican National Convention and we were there. We bought the cheap tickets, the ones where you sit behind the stage and cant see a thing but there was no way we were going to stay there long. When the first band started up, we left out seats and made our way around to the complete opposite side of the arena and down to the front row of seats. We started talking to a few people around us who had the same idea we did. We were going to jump.
The drop to the floor was about ten feet, not too bad. But, we needed someone to go first to distract the security guard that was standing on the floor directly below us. Luckily we talked a kid into it and sure enough, the moment he jumped down he was grabbed and hauled out of the show. After that we all jumped. The key to moving levels in a large concert like that, is as soon as your feet hit the ground you run, which is exactly what we did. Joe grabbed me and we took off into the crowd, dodging people and security officers. By the time RATM was on stage, we were front row and center.
Joe is definitely one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He's extremely outgoing and always ready to do a little bit of illegal activities.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Fitting Response?
Over the summer my boyfriend and I decided to go to a Jimmy Eat World concert. We ordered the tickets online and had them shipped to my house. The day before the concert, the tickets were in my mailbox and I was thrilled when I realized that a second set of tickets had been accidentally shipped along with mine. The envelope that the second set of tickets were in had somehow been stuck to the envelope my tickets had come in. There was no postage stamp on the second envelope, only an address to where they should have been shipped.
I was faced with an issue. The address was for Howard Lake; not to far away from Buffalo. I could have easily looked up the directions to the address online and returned them to the owner so they were able to get to the show. Then there was the second option, and that was to keep the tickets. I had a couple of friends that loved Jimmy Eat World and would have loved to come with my boyfriend and I.
It was either fix Ticket Masters mistake, or profit from it.
I decided that, however wrong it probably was, that I would invite my friends along and see if they could use the tickets to get it. After all, it was TicketMasters mistake for not mailing them out properly and I couldn't let a pair of tickets go to waste, especially since they had already been paid for and everything. We all went to the show and had a wonderful time, there were no problems getting them into the show and everything went smoothly.
If I had been that person who had never received my tickets, the fitting response would have been to cal up ticketmaster and make them refund the money, which I'm sure they did. I feel a little bad about them not being able to see the show, but we all had a great time.
Lesson To Be Learned
When you decide to purchase tickets online from TicketMaster, either have them on Will Call and waiting for you at the door, or go to a location and pick them up. It's much safer.
I was faced with an issue. The address was for Howard Lake; not to far away from Buffalo. I could have easily looked up the directions to the address online and returned them to the owner so they were able to get to the show. Then there was the second option, and that was to keep the tickets. I had a couple of friends that loved Jimmy Eat World and would have loved to come with my boyfriend and I.
It was either fix Ticket Masters mistake, or profit from it.
I decided that, however wrong it probably was, that I would invite my friends along and see if they could use the tickets to get it. After all, it was TicketMasters mistake for not mailing them out properly and I couldn't let a pair of tickets go to waste, especially since they had already been paid for and everything. We all went to the show and had a wonderful time, there were no problems getting them into the show and everything went smoothly.
If I had been that person who had never received my tickets, the fitting response would have been to cal up ticketmaster and make them refund the money, which I'm sure they did. I feel a little bad about them not being able to see the show, but we all had a great time.
Lesson To Be Learned
When you decide to purchase tickets online from TicketMaster, either have them on Will Call and waiting for you at the door, or go to a location and pick them up. It's much safer.
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