Blog #11

Many Hmong people faced large amounts of discrimination when they came to America. Like most immigrants face some kind of discrimination and adjustment coming to America, the Hmong’s had to deal with a brand new type of lifestyle and culture; this caused their own culture to be tested. (#5) Along with adjusting to a new lifestyle they were very discriminated by their religious rituals. Playing roles were a huge deal to Hmong culture. The husband, who would find a  job, allowed the wife to be at the house tending to their children’s needs. (#3) It was easy settlement back in their country because they lived on farms, grew their own food to eat and made all the necessities that were needed for living; they lost their way of living when they came to America because everything relied on money or a job. (#6) If the husband could barely speak English it was very hard for him to find a job. Because of new living conditions, the Hmong wives wouldn’t be able to grow their own food in their backyards. (#8) It was a huge transition and the roles within the family were lost because of it.    

So much was lost. (#10) The underlying root cause was mainly their previous way of living and transitioning to a whole new establishment. There disadvantages of the English language kept them from obtaining a job. In the movie “Coming to America” the husband was trying to get a job in America but was held back because he could not speak the language at all. It was a huge setback for them, the hardships continued. (#9)

It would be hard to adjust to all this from being so used to your own culture and lifestyle because of the living barriers it would indeed be hard to adjust overall to the new living conditions; role loss can cause discouragement. (#4) It is in fact a hardship for Hmong families in the beginning just dealing with every aspect of American culture.

In “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” the family deals with more hardships in America because of the stress coming from their culture. The Lee’s deal with the challenges not only coming from the doctors but through their culture as well. The clash between the Lee’s, the doctors and Hmong culture creates stress and a very destructive environment. The Lee’s deal with many controversies they don’t even understand, their daughter being taken away for example. Lia was taken from her parents because the belief in the certain medication Lia takes. Lia’s parents believe in the Hmong culture and following their beliefs not what the doctors say, this causes the idea of clash and disagreement.

Ultimately they (Hmong people) lose so much when they come here (America). (#2) America is in fact a better environment than what they were living in, however, to them it may not seem that way.(#7) They were vulnerable in so many ways that it is hard for them to pick up a new life different from the one they are used to living. Even though the Hmong people don’t cause destruction their beliefs cause the clashing between many environments. 

Blog #10

In the film “Bonnie and Clyde,” the dramatic elements of crime, love, gangsters, and death are implemented into two characters, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. The film was shot in 1967 but the real crimes themselves took place in the 1930s during the Depression Era. “Bonnie and Clyde” first meet when Bonnie sees a man WHO is trying to steal her mother’s car, from there on out she is hooked on Clyde’s behavior and everything he does. (2.) It continues from the moment they meet until the moment they die. As the film progresses they become more skilled at running than robbing the actual banks. In the first bank robbery Bonnie and Clyde do together, the man at the bank starts laughing because the bank had closed three weeks earlier and it carried no money. From there on out Clyde, WHOSE thirst for money is excruciating, becomes the boss of Bonnie. (4.) They had a certain, I will never leave your side, connection that made the whole story about them so interesting. The world was THEIRS to have it seemed like. (3.) Clyde wanted Bonnie to run with him but then changed his mind, typical man saying he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her.

The duo would then eventually pick up people, a car mechanic and Clyde’s brother and wife, to help them with these law breaking acts. (1. a series of 3 items punctuated with just commas) They wanted to be seen as these celebrities that can get away with what they were doing. Throughout the course of the movie it was mainly them just running from the law. They became famous with their faces in the paper but were somehow seen as a gang that just wanted to take from the government and not the people. It slowly ended in hot pursuit. (8. Simple Sentence) Bonnie and Clyde were held up in gunfire, a quick and painless death. (10. Complex Sentence)

            What I found that was note worthy of this movie was the fact that Bonnie and Clyde wanted to make themselves known and they were strictly about robbing banks.(9. Compound Sentence) I found it surprisingly funny in one part of the movie that they stole a car from a couple and the couple ended following them. In the pursuit of the car chase the couple was afraid they had guns so they just turned around. Clyde then thought it would be funny to turn around as well and start following the couple. The gang ended up pulling over the couple, let them know they were robbers, and continued to have a typical conversation with them. The night ended with the group of robbers and couple getting burgers at a burger joint. I don’t think the whole idea of Bonnie and Clyde wasn’t to actually scare people straight but to mess with their heads into thinking they really weren’t doing anything wrong in the middle of stealing and robbing something.

            When this film was made in 1967, it was during a time of violence and battle especially in Vietnam. The country was torn between ITS war and antiwar protestors with prominent faces such as John F. Kennedy and Malcolm X. (6.) During this time the filmmakers did not want to make a violent film filled with shooting sprees and deaths. They felt like during that time it wasn’t a good idea to depict such violence in the film with all the violence going on around in the country.  They did it anyway whether receiving good reviews or not. The book depicts the movie story line as having some “basis in fact.” Clyde and Bonnie went on a spree of robberies in the 1930s and it ended in 1934 by a Texas Ranger. During this time of the 1930s represented the Great Depression Era and the time of “glorified gangsters.” It states in “History by Hollywood,” “The streets of American cities were relatively quiet from the 1940s to the early 1960s. Americans grew fearful about their safety, especially those who lived in an urban environment.” Because of this fear from the people they were afraid of controversy it would cause, which makes complete sense in my eyes. What I felt when I watched this movie was a rebellious lifestyle of two people with not a care in the world. It fascinates me that its idea of a man taking in a woman to tag along in the acts of robbery would be such a thrill. Bonnie portrayed herself as being fearless and that showed in the movie, but yet she was still a woman and got scared at some points. The personality of the characters in the movie is what I see as WHOM Bonnie and Clyde would be like in real life. (5.)

Blog #9

As Americans we strive for change in hopes issues like race and immigration can be pushed aside. What exactly is the right terminology? What exactly is the wrong terminology? (Real Question) It all depends on the perspectives people portray on other people. By digging deeper into the history of racial issues America has succeeded to change. I feel that the arguments in the article all have valid points when dealing with race and immigration and proper terminology amongst ones racial background.(Simple sentence with compounded verbs connected with ands) For example Rev. Jesse Jackson makes a clear statement saying, “Every ethnic group in this country has a reference to some land base, some historical cultural base. African-Americans have hit that level of cultural maturity.”

Demographics have shifted when dealing with race, the ideas of race and immigration have changed context for the meanings of words like African-American and Black-American,  HOWEVER, by making arguments like who is allowed to use those words or why they are allowed to use it just sends America flying backwards in time. (Use “however” in a correctly punctuated sentence)&(One Sentence Paragraph)

When examining the terms of “African- American” and “Black American,” we justify that they are two classifications describing an external feature of a human being. In my opinion, the analysis of these words cuts deeper than just external features. To many Americans today, the term “Black” is used in such a broad racial manner. It is extremely hard for a society built on different class levels to be able to understand and analyze such critical terms of what is the difference between “African-American” and “Black American.” (Long Sentence, punctuated correctly) Given that our country has gone through different contexts of these words it is hard to maintain a balance. I believe that in a public setting people should be educated with these terms. African American or Black American-they are American. (Dash to emphasize the last element of a sentence) Whether their past shows hardships in this country or not, we should all be treated equally, with equal opportunity. They are an American citizen for a reason, being American. Do we really need to repeat the past to figure out that we are all created equally? (Rhetorical question)

Ethnic labels are thrown out in American society everywhere with every race. Abdulaziz Kamus even wonders what ethnic label defines his own self in America. I agree with him because he brings up the concern for what is defined as African American in this country and what is not. He states that he is African, he is an American citizen, and he should consider himself an African-American. It makes sense; and he doesn’t dig deeper into the meaning of his own race. He states that if he walks down the street white people would see him as an African-American, not think about his family roots 200 years ago. As much as it pains for me to say it, Americans perceive other Americans externally firsthand, not internally.  Alan Keys brings up the definition of African-American differently. It should be used for only those whose families that endured the hardships during American slavery and segregation. That, I don’t agree with. (Short Sentence)Whether it being black family descents of slaves from the US or black immigrants, Barack Obama makes a clear point to ethnic labels. They share greater similarities THAN differences even through all the hardships. (Then and Than) 

Blog #8

Bottled water is a growing industry in major corporations-Pepsi, Nestle, and Coca-Cola- creating ongoing issues that are beyond average people’s control. (1 set off by dashes) Fryeburg’s main crisis with one corporation is Nestle.  Due to its abundance in clean, fresh, spring water Nestle wanted to grab a hold of what Fryeburg had: leaving the city in crisis. (1 set off by colon) Nestle, powerful and competitive, wanted all control of Fryeburg’s. (Adjective out of order) They began to pump water from Maine’s main springs and turn it into bottled water to sell to people all across the state. Maine was then paying for water that was stolen from their springs, while the Nestle Corporation received all the profits. They would pump water then leave the citizens second. This would soon turn into competitions between other big corporations and other cities would be left with very minimal water supply and severe water threats among their towns to save and conserve water.  

I did not know that corporations have such authority over a powerful product like water. In states like Maine (where water supply is abundant) there should be laws for corporations, such as Nestle, that can access it. (1 set off by parenthesis) Allow the voices of people in Maine to be heard. Create laws and regulations on how much water they can take. The profits they make are enormous and all they are doing is taking from the people both out of their pockets and out of their health and giving back to themselves. The people, who are unaware of this problem, are being victimized for future health issues. (1 set off by commas)

Water, a necessity that can be seen as never running out, could end up happening. (Participle Phrase) People suffer from big corporations for many different reasons but I would have never thought water was one of them. I understand that big corporations thrive off of the public and they will do anything to make themselves money to sustain their company but I feel like there should be a line drawn

Blog #7

Kim Liebhaber

Blog #7

As an urban country in southeastern Africa, Malawi deals with major poverty issues; as a poverished country, Malawi struggles for survival and sustainability. (6- compound sentence using a semicolon)

Due to the high amount of poverty; both rural and urban areas, the country’s population stands at a staggering 16,320,000 people. (7- super comma)

 With this large population it is in fact still growing and drowning in poverty. This country lacks basic water needs and services to provide proper sanitation for everyone in the community, leading to huge problems for the population.

BECAUSE it takes money to develop facilities to regulate water control, being a very poverished country, Malawi struggles with that challenge as well. (Start a sentence with a “because”)

When they already lack basic water needs and a drought hits, there is an impeccable chance that Malawians receive the water they need to maintain to stay healthy. It is hard to sustain healthy water wells BECAUSE there are not proper climate patterns. (End a sentence with a “because” clause)

Proper climate patterns aren’t holding this poverished country back; proper money funds are. (5)

Without access to safe drinking water, disease, infection, and death occur among the population. Considering if the people are drinking unsafe water, but water in general, they can still die of disease and infections. I feel like this is a huge challenge because it is flourishing the community and water is what sustains it. In the mean time, THOUGH the Government of Malawi is coming up with ways to try and figure out how to sanitize and access clean water for this community, they want to prioritize and set goals but it is hard without money.  (Use, though, to interrupt a main sentence)

Blog #6

Ethnic labels are thrown out in American society everywhere with every race. Abdulaziz Kamus even wonders what ethnic label defines his own self in America. I agree with him because he brings up the concern for what is defined as African American in this country and what is not. He states that he is African, he is an American citizen, and that he should consider himself an African-American. IT MAKES SENSE; AND HE DOESN’T DIG DEEPER INTO THE MEANING OF HIS OWN RACE. He states that if he walks down the street white people would see him as an African-American, not think about his family roots 200 years ago. As much as it pains for me to say it, Americans perceive other Americans externally firsthand, not internally. Alan Keys brings up the definition of African-American differently. It should be used for only those whose families that endured the hardships during American slavery and segregation. That, I do not agree with. Whether it being black family descents of slaves from the US or black immigrants, Barack Obama makes a clear point to ethnic labels. They share greater similarities than differences even through all the hardships.

It should be used for only those whose families that endured the hardships during American slavery and segregation. BUT, I do not agree with.

 I agree with him because he brings up the concern for what is defined as African American in this country and what is not. He states that he is African, he is an American citizen, AND he should consider himself an African-American.

Kim Liebhaber

English 326

Blog #2

Dora

Exploring New Boundaries With Punctuation 

At the beginning, the teacher wanted Dora to connect the letters with sounds. Easily, Dora would write down the letters that went she thought matched the sounds initially from what she heard in the words. For example, “YER” portrayed the sound as “We are.” Then the teacher simply asked Dora to separate the letters and create them into words. The separation of words led to periods and Dora putting periods after every word she thought had ended. This helped her understand what letters broke off into words. Noticing that every word didn’t end in a period Dora started to understand the spacing between each word, she caught on without the teachers help. Now the punctuation aspect plays a role in the rules Dora needed to figure out. At such a young age children, like Dora, are taking on major steps of writing, whose main goal plays a huge part in further punctuation learning.

The teacher allowed Dora to read her “sentences” out loud and helped her define what a true sentence was and what an unnecessary marking was. Dora initially focused on writing instead of punctuating her sentences and over loading them with period markings. “Periods go at the end of the page,” this was Dora’s logic and went with it without the teachers help.

The teacher chose to not approach Dora with her learning habit. Children grow with their intellectual abilities, just like spelling, they learn to catch on as to what is wrong and what is right. By learning through mistakes Dora could incorporate why certain punctuation has its abilities to be swapped around with different meanings. The teacher guiding Dora in the right direction didn’t want to suffocate her with what she will be able to grow into. She allowed Dora to talk and reflect on her work and criticize it how she wants it. She begins to formulate her sentences, not with proper punctuation, but through further writing experiences. The teacher allowed Dora to explore her own writing by not following a particle format, the context and format being entirely theirs. Theirs to understand and guidelines that didn’t have deeper explanation that confused them more.

It was hard for her to catch on to the concept of sentence-end-marking because she seemed more focused on writing what she saw. She didn’t understand what word usage you needed to use to make up an actual sentence. She didn’t understand the definition of a sentence but she heard it. She was unaware as to what she saw on the paper. What she communicated with the teacher was a lot different than being able to break it up onto a piece of paper. It was hard for her to perceive the word how she wrote it which made it difficult for her to break apart each line into a sentence.