Freddy's Rhetoric & Civic Life Blog

When my parents told me that they were moving to Hawaii, I couldn’t say I was surprised. We had visited the islands of Hawaii a number of times while I was growing up and honestly, it seemed to be the only place that my parents were truly happy. That is not to say that they were unhappy at home, but my parents, my sister, and myself have always lived a very hectic lifestyle. My Dad is the President and CEO of a distribution firm that manages construction projects from Manhattan to Raleigh and is always on the road. My Mom, on the other hand is a pharmacist and manager of pharmacy in a town on the Mason-Dixon Line and works anywhere from ten to thirteen hours a day. When we came to the islands for the first time, there is a noticeable change in my parent’s behavior, they wanted to spend every second of it as a family, which was somewhat different than what I was used to at home. When I was younger, I didn’t really take notice to how much these trips meant to my family and that is something that I regret the most from my childhood. It is really great to see my parent’s hard work paying off and to see them doing something for themselves as they near retirement. What a lot of people fail to realize when they think about my family they fail to recognize the adversity that were forced to overcome in the course of their lives.

 

Growing up, I was always picked on for being the “Rich Kid” and a lot of people credited my success in school and athletics to the fact that my parents did have a decent amount of money. Some people in my home town still say that only reason I was accepted into the Honors College is because I came from money, which is a totally fictitious and hurtful accusation. Not only does the honors college not check our parent’s income statements, but it is well known that the college values economic diversity, as do I. It was something that never really bothered me growing up, and trust me there are way worse things to be made fun of, as I am sure you are all well aware of just how vicious children can be to one another. It wasn’t the initial sting of the words that got to me, but after a while, it was just being singled out and identified as something that I never considered to be.

 

My parents always encouraged me to spend time with kids from all backgrounds and I am happy to say that some of these people, who came from virtually opposite economic standing, remain as some of my closest friends and have accomplished far more than I ever have. I digress, I hated being treated differently for something so unimportant, furthermore, for something I didn’t earn. When I told my parents how much it bothered me for the first time in 8th grade, I got the full family history for the first time and I am amazed to say the least. It is always ceaselessly interesting to hear about where you come from and in my case in particular, it helped me to take pride in what I had been originally been ashamed of, to look at my families success in a new light and ignore the estimations of others towards my family. Which has made me eternally more appreciative of my entire family, the life we have, and the time my parents have dedicated to give me the life they never had.

 

My Grandfather was born into a mining family near Shamokin, Pennsylvania from a first generation German mother and father. My Grandfather was gifted in almost every aspect of his life, finishing Valedictorian of his high school class at McCook Military Academy and receiving scholarship offers for Football from almost every school on the East Coast. What made this situation tragic was that my Great-Grandfather did not see the value in education as my Grandfather did and refused to support him in his academic ventures and would have rather seen him stay to work in the coal mines. Eventually, my grandfather made the decision to play football at Bucknell where he stood a pretty good chance of going to play in the NFL until he injured his leg the first game of his Junior year, meaning that Bucknell could and did have the ability to strip him of his scholarship, which is something that the NCAA did not make changes to until recent years. He was forced to leave school and find a job. However, he never did lose sight of his ultimate goal and was lucky enough to find some motivation along the way

 

It wasn’t until he was 30 that he decided to go back to school and by that time he had married my grandmother and had two new daughters, my mom, Dianne, and my aunt, Donna. He was working full-time as a baker and city councilman in Selinsgrove, Pa. and decided to go back to school at Susquehanna University almost right after my mom and aunt were born. I think they were the motivation he needed to take a look at the big picture and be willing to sacrifice that time with them at that early age so that he could give them something better someday. Needless to say, there was not a lot of money to spend on things besides the bare necessities, rent, and my Grandfather’s tuition. My Mom remembers these early years of her life quite vividly.

 

I remember her telling me how she was treated by the other students for the clothes she was forced to wear and the house she grew up in. How she explained it to me was that she wasn’t ashamed of what she came from in any way because her classmates did not see how hard her parents worked behind closed doors. My grandfather would go on to earn his degree when my mom was finishing junior high and it was not long until he had secured the purchase of his first company. From my Mom’s side, it was seeing her Dad work all day and all night to not only improve himself, but create a better life for my mother and her sister that inspired her to work as hard as she did in her own aspirations, as very different as they were from his own.

People always worry that someday that they will end up like their parents, but I look forward to the day somebody makes that comparison. My parents raised me to believe in the same decent values they were raised to believe in and I take a lot of pride in that.

When my parents told me that they were moving to Hawaii, I couldn’t say I was surprised. We had visited the islands of Hawaii a number of times while I was growing up and honestly, it seemed to be the only place that my parents were truly happy. That is not to say that they were unhappy at home, but my parents, my sister, and myself have always lived a very hectic lifestyle. My Dad is the President and CEO of a distribution firm that manages city’s construction projects from Baltimore to Raleigh and is always on the road. My Mom, on the other hand is a pharmacist and manager of pharmacy in a town on the Mason-Dixon Line and works anywhere from ten to thirteen hours a day. When we came to the islands for the first time, there is a noticeable change in my parent’s behavior, they wanted to spend every second of it as a family, which was somewhat different than what I was used to at home. When I was younger, I didn’t really take notice to how much these trips meant to my family and that is something that I regret the most from my childhood. It is really great to see my parent’s hard work paying off and to see them doing something for themselves as they near retirement. What a lot of people fail to realize when they think about my family they fail to recognize the adversity that were forced to overcome in the course of their lives.

 

Growing up, I was always picked on for being the “Rich Kid” and a lot of people credited my success with school and position in my athletic aspirations to the fact that yes, my parents did have a decent amount of money. Some people in my home town still say that only reason I was accepted into the Honors College is because I came from money, which is a totally fictitious and hurtful accusation. Not only does the honors college not check our parent’s income statements, but it is well known that the college values economic diversity, as do I. It was something that never really bothered me growing up, and trust me there are way worse things to be made fun of, as I am sure you are all well aware of just how vicious children can be to one another. It wasn’t the initial sting of the words that got to me, but after a while, it was just being singled out and identified as something that I never considered to be.

My parents always encouraged me to spend time with kids from all backgrounds and I am happy to say that some of these people, who came from virtually opposite economic standing, remain as some of my closest friends and have accomplished far more than I ever have. I digress, I hated being treated differently for something so unimportant, furthermore, for something I didn’t earn. When I told my parents how much it bothered me for the first time in 8th grade, I got the full family history for the first time and I am amazed to say the least. It is always ceaselessly interesting to hear about where you come from and in my case in particular, it helped me to take pride in what I had been originally been ashamed of, to look at my families success in a new light and ignore the estimations of others towards my family. Which has made me eternally more appreciative of my entire family, the life we have, and the time my parents have dedicated to give me the life they never had.

My Grandfather was born into a mining family near Shamokin, Pennsylvania from a first generation German mother and father. My Grandfather was gifted in almost every aspect of his life, finishing Valedictorian of his high school class at McCook Military Academy and receiving scholarship offers for Football from almost every school on the East Coast. What made this situation tragic was that my Great-Grandfather did not see the value in education as my Grandfather did and refused to support him in his academic ventures and would have rather seen him stay to work in the coal mines. Eventually, my grandfather made the decision to play football at Bucknell where he stood a pretty good chance of going to play in the NFL until he injured his leg the first game of his Junior year, meaning that Bucknell could and did have the ability to strip him of his scholarship, which is something that the NCAA did not make changes to until recent years. He was forced to leave school and find a job. However, he never did lose sight of his ultimate goal and was lucky enough to find some motivation along the way

It wasn’t until he was 30 that he decided to go back to school and by that time he had married my grandmother and had two new daughters, my mom, Dianne, and my aunt, Donna. He was working full-time as a baker and city councilman in Selinsgrove, Pa. and decided to go back to school at Susquehanna University almost right after my mom and aunt were born. I think they were the motivation he needed to take a look at the big picture and be willing to sacrifice that time with them at that early age so that he could give them something better someday. Needless to say, there was not a lot of money to spend on things besides the bare necessities, rent, and my Grandfather’s tuition. My Mom remembers these early years of her life quite vividly.

I remember her telling me how she was treated by the other students for the clothes she was forced to wear and the house she grew up in. How she explained it to me was that she wasn’t ashamed of what she came from in any way because her classmates did not see how hard her parents worked behind closed doors. My grandfather would go on to earn his degree when my mom was finishing junior high and it was not long until he had secured the purchase of his first company. From my Mom’s side, it was seeing her Dad work all day and night to not only improve himself, but create a better life for her and her sister that inspired her to work as hard as she did in her own aspirations.

Nothing ever came easy to my parents and I think they have done a lot in my life to make it seem to me that I am in a similar situation. If I lived under the constant impression that life was easy I would not be where I am today and doing the things I do. Hearing the stories about my family’s hardships fosters a competitive spirit in me that pushes me do live each day better than the last and not to take advantage but rather, cherish, the opportunities that those before me have worked so hard to provide. Appreciating the small details, the good deeds, and the efforts made by others are all things that improve our lives. I find new motivation and constant inspiration each day when I take the time do recognize or actively participate in these three things. The pride I take in my family history is just one of many inspiration I have found in my life and I encourage you to find something that inspires you, that you can take pride in, and think of that every time you go to start an assignment, help someone, or even help yourself. Because when you do find the thing that matters to you most, you will find life significantly more rewarding.

These are the two websites I have narrowed it down to for our E-Portfolio

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Valentino Achak Deng Foundation. Advocating for the education of Southern Sudanese Children. A little long but interesting. here.

Amnesty International explains why the U.S. should not resort to Drone strike in Pakistan and Yemen. here.

PETA’s banned thanksgiving ad.  here.

 

There is something about the human condition that I find absolutely fascinating. This is our desire to know and understand where we are from, I think that this is a result of our even greater desire to understanding our purpose in this world. When we have a loved one who is deceased or maybe who we have never even met, I think that it strengthens these desires which alludes to the better side our curious nature. This is how things have always been for me when I hear about my Grandfather, my Dad’s dad.

When I think of my Dad and his Father, I have always imagined a relationship similar to what I have with my Father. When my father and I would go fishing when I was younger , he would always tell me stories about the things that he and his Dad used to do. While there are some obvious discrepancies between our relationships, I think that my Dad has striven to bring me up in essentially the same way as he was. I take a lot of pride in that, seeing what my Dad has made of himself and sort of hope the same thing for me. This is what I think of when things in my life seem out of control, I figure “If things worked out for my Dad, they will probably work out for me.” A fathers job to his children is to equip them the best they can for the tough world ahead. My Dad taught me pretty early on that nothing would every come easy and nothing good ever came from waiting around for it to happen. Some people roll their eyes when their parents begin to tell them stories, something that I think is one of the biggest flaws in our society, my rationale is, if they are going to bother telling it, it is probably for a reason.

To provide some background, my grandfather worked as a Mechanic in the U.S. Army. The Army and his family were the two things that he was most passionate about. While he desired for much greater things for himself, at the time, the military did not allow for serviceman without a college education to commission. With four mouths to feed, going back to school was not as much of a possibility as it was for my grandfather on my Mom’s side of the family, while nonetheless impressive.

My Dad’s family grew up in Middleburg, Pa. About two hours South of here. Looking at the town today, and thinking “Dang, this place is small.” is no comparison to how small the town actually used to be. Everybody knew everybody, which proved to be somewhat of an issue for my troublemaker father. I must have heard the story of how he got caught smoking cigarettes by the neighbor and the subsequent punishment thirty to forty times in the course of my life. When he was eight years old, him and a friend stole a pack of cigarettes from my Grandfather and were caught red-handed by the neighbor. After what was basically being held prisoner by the neighbor, my Grandfather came to pick him up. This is where the story gets a little blurry and my suspicion is that the memory of the punishment that followed was somehow suppressed, but my Grandmother has told me that the cracks of my Grandfathers belt could heard throughout the neighborhood.

This story always makes me laugh a little, when we think about how much things have changed in terms of disciplining our children. Just recently there was a story in the news about some Governor out west who wanted to implement a law that allowed a parent to spank their child once “On the clothed buttocks.” While, I don’t think that a law is necessary, I can see the point of wanting to counteract just how extreme measures to prevent physical discipline have become. I would hate to advocate for one side or the other, but I was disciplined the same way my Father was on more occasions than I can remember (probably something to do with the suppressed memory thing) and I consider myself to be an alright kid.

My Dad always says that my Grandfather encouraged my Dad to pursue his passions, but also to never just quit on things that he is trying. My Dad and I actually just had this conversation this last weekend. When Navy SEALS are going through training, there is always a bell present somewhere in the general facility of the training exercises that the new arrivals are welcome to hit at any point during their training to indicate that they have had enough of whatever it is that they are doing. Hitting the bell does not necessarily count against the person that hits it in any measurable way, but more often than not, the person that hits the bell ends up dropping out of the program.

This is what my Grandpa always told my Dad when he wanted to quit something, when you quit once, you create a habit of it. This is why my Dad was always very careful about the clubs and activities he partook in, because he was never allowed to quit. My Dad was actually an outstanding soccer player and I’d hate to say it to any of you Penn State Soccer Fans out there, but crushed Penn State when he played for Loch Haven University, winning two National Championships. While there was times that he would get co  My Dad forced me to live by this code has forced my prolonged stay in a number of clubs and activities that I almost instantly regretted joining, including but not limited to; 4H, Boy Scouts, Karate, Chorus, Band…and the list goes on. It was not that my Dad cared if I had any invested interest in these activities, but that he was worried that I would suddenly think it was okay to quit things halfway through or give up on my commitments.

One of the things that both my Grandparents were pretty big on was to treat people well, because you never know who is going to grow up to be who. When I talk to people who knew them when they were younger, a lot of people admired them the same way I do today. While my Grandfather on my Dad’s side did not achieve the same monetary wealth as Mom’s Dad, I don’t think that money ever meant a whole lot more to him than a means to give my Dad and his brothers and sisters a better life. He put a lot of value on the people he worked with. People that worked at the Army Depot were always comfortable with going to him as not only their superior, but as their friend.

How we treat people is really one of the strongest indicators of how your life is going to go and is most reflective, in my opinion, of how you view yourself. My Grandfather always preached this to my Dad and in turn, has been preached to me. My Grandfather put a lot of time and effort into helping the people he worked with and his neighbors. He plowed the driveways in the winter, invited the other Depot workers over for dinner, and even loaned money to his friends that needed it, which speaks volumes considering not only his own financial situation, but that of the country at the time. My Dad’s company was named “The Best Place to Work in Pennsylvania” by the PA Department of Commerce this last year. This award is awarded to a company each year based on employees reviews of their workplace, compensation, and other benefits they receive. My Dad is by no means obligated, per say, to provide these things to his employees, it costs him more money than what most people would think. However, it is his personal belief, and something that is reflected in labor statistics everywhere, that when employees believe they are fairly compensated, their output is significantly higher. While it will still be some time before I get seriously involved in any business ventures, I would like to employ some of my Dad’s beliefs in my own life more often.

“Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained.”- Laozi an ancient Chinese philosopher said this thousands of years ago but it is still something that myself, my father, and my grandfather hold true today. While I could go into a psychological discussion of just how the emphasis on these values came to be in almost everyone in my immediate and distant value, it is more easily put as this, ethic are inheritable. Through practice and observation of others, we find more about ourselves than what you might think. This is why I would encourage everyone and anyone to take an interest in their past, because when we understand that, we have a much clearer vision of our future.

 

This past Tuesday Navy ROTC had what is referred to as Inspection at 6:00 am sharp, meaning we should get there 15-30 minutes early so that our next-up in the chain of command can get our attendance. While it may not seem like that is all that terrible, waking yourself up at 4:30 am without any motivation from your parents like I had in high school or my friends who will be asleep for another 4 hours can be really quite difficult. Here is that story.

Step 1: Look at the clock around 12:30 am and give up on studying

Step 2: Set my alarm for 4:30, including a 15 minute reward for studying so hard

Four hours later…

Step 3: Stare at my Phone Alarm in disbelief

Step 4: Fall back asleep with the snooze still ringing

15 minutes later…

Step 5: Climb out of bed

Step 6: Chug chocolate milk and eat an orange

Step 7: Around 5, Brush my teeth while showering to save time

Step 8: Look up how to tie a Full Windsor tie knot to follow Navy regulations

5 minutes later….

Step 9: Figured out the knot, put the rest of my Standard Dress Blues on

Step 10: Give my shoes one final polishing

Step 11: Around 5:15, flip through my notes for my quiz in a halfhearted attempt to study for a few minutes

Step 12: Throw on my jacket to realize that I lost my ID Card and Keys

Step 12: Hunt for my keys somewhere in my room, turning my room into a total mess in the process

Step 13: Check my laundry pile where they always are, but is always the last place I look

Step 14: Jog in my Uniform from South to the IM building with five minutes to spare, Getting there at 5:35.

This morning is atypical. Most recently, my phone has developed some sort of glitch where my alarm just doesn’t go off or it will go off…but on silent. So usually I am running to class with the first clothes I find at the top of my drawer, brushing my teeth while trying to put a t-shirt on, then running to class 5 minutes before it begins. Needless to say, I will be investing in a new alarm clock.

When my parents told me that they were moving to Hawaii, I couldn’t say I was surprised. We had visited the islands of Hawaii a number of times while I was growing up and honestly, it seemed to be the only place that my parents were truly happy. That is not to say that they were unhappy at home, but my parents, my sister, and myself have always lived a very hectic lifestyle. My Dad is the President and CEO of a distribution firm that manages construction projects from Manhattan to Raleigh and is always on the road. My Mom, on the other hand is a pharmacist and manager of pharmacy in a town on the Mason-Dixon Line and works anywhere from ten to thirteen hours a day. When we came to the islands for the first time, there is a noticeable change in my parent’s behavior, they wanted to spend every second of it as a family, which was somewhat different than what I was used to at home. When I was younger, I didn’t really take notice to how much these trips meant to my family and that is something that I regret the most from my childhood. It is really great to see my parent’s hard work paying off and to see them doing something for themselves as they near retirement. What a lot of people fail to realize when they think about my family they fail to recognize the adversity that were forced to overcome in the course of their lives.

Growing up, I was always picked on for being the “Rich Kid” and a lot of people credited my success with school and position in my athletic aspirations to the fact that yes, my parents did have a decent amount of money. Some people in my home town still say that only reason I was accepted into the Honors College is because I came from money, which is a totally fictitious and hurtful accusation. Not only does the honors college not check our parent’s income statements, but it is well known that the college values economic diversity, as do I. It was something that never really bothered me growing up, and trust me there are way worse things to be made fun of, as I am sure you are all well aware of just how vicious children can be to one another. It wasn’t the initial sting of the words that got to me, but after a while, it was just being singled out and identified as something that I never considered to be.

 My parents always encouraged me to spend time with kids from all backgrounds and I am happy to say that some of these people, who came from virtually opposite economic standing, remain as some of my closest friends and have accomplished far more than I ever have. I digress, I hated being treated differently for something so unimportant, furthermore, for something I didn’t earn. When I told my parents how much it bothered me for the first time in 8^th grade, I got the full family history for the first time and I am amazed to say the least. It is always ceaselessly interesting to hear about where you come from and in my case in particular, it helped me to take pride in what I had been originally been ashamed of, to look at my families success in a new light and ignore the estimations of others towards my family. Which has made me eternally more appreciative of my entire family, the life we have, and the time my parents have dedicated to give me the life they never had.

My Grandfather was born into a mining family near Shamokin, Pennsylvania from a first generation German mother and father. My Grandfather was gifted in almost every aspect of his life, finishing Valedictorian of his high school class at McCook Military Academy and receiving scholarship offers for Football from almost every school on the East Coast. What made this situation tragic was that my Great-Grandfather did not see the value in education as my Grandfather did and refused to support him in his academic ventures and would have rather seen him stay to work in the coal mines. Eventually, my grandfather made the decision to play football at Bucknell where he stood a pretty good chance of going to play in the NFL until he injured his leg the first game of his Junior year, meaning that Bucknell could and did have the ability to strip him of his scholarship, which is something that the NCAA did not make changes to until recent years. He was forced to leave school and find a job. However, he never did lose sight of his ultimate goal and was lucky enough to find some motivation along the way

It wasn’t until he was 30 that he decided to go back to school and by that time he had married my grandmother and had two new daughters, my mom, Dianne, and my aunt, Donna. He was working full-time as a baker and city councilman in Selinsgrove, Pa. and decided to go back to school at Susquehanna University almost right after my mom and aunt were born. I think they were the motivation he needed to take a look at the big picture and be willing to sacrifice that time with them at that early age so that he could give them something better someday. Needless to say, there was not a lot of money to spend on things besides the bare necessities, rent, and my Grandfather’s tuition. My Mom remembers these early years of her life quite vividly.

I remember her telling me how she was treated by the other students for the clothes she was forced to wear and the house she grew up in. How she explained it to me was that she wasn’t ashamed of what she came from in any way because her classmates did not see how hard her parents worked behind closed doors. My grandfather would go on to earn his degree when my mom was finishing junior high and it was not long until he had secured the purchase of his first company which he still owns at the estimated value of $85 million. From my Mom’s side, it was seeing her Dad work all day and all night to not only improve himself, but create a better life for her and her sister that inspired her to work as hard as she did in her own aspirations, as very different as they were from his own.  

1. Mom,

I see you so irregularly since college started and you don’t really have an excuse to come see me anymore now that college started. Between ROTC, Pledging, Initiation, and Exams, it so difficult to find time to come home or even take a few minutes out of my day to call you. I realize that you and Dad are busy too, preparing for retirement and going on monthly vacations…without me! I think I have established some sense of time management this semester and would love to have you come visit. I know that things were much easier for you when you had the excuse of the football games to come up and see me. I am so ready for this semester to be over and to come home. I didn’t realize how good I had it at home while I was there. I miss having my own room, the cooking, and mostly, the quietness. It is crazy to think that you and Dad moving to Hawaii next year. It is exciting, even for me, to see all of your hard-work paying off as you near retirement and finally see you start doing the things and going to the places that you’ve been talking about since I was little. Anyway, I really do feel bad about not making enough time for you and Dad, and I know you understand my situation. You have always taught me the importance of hard work, the problem is that it just had never conflicted with my personal schedule so much. I know how much we were in contact when I first left for school in June and it was you constant support and advice then that really helped me settle in. I hope that I can talk to you more this semester than last, because no matter how short or monotonous our conversations may be, it is nice to know that you and Dad are still thinking about me and I have your support.

2. My best friend and I spent our entire day together, from 6:30 am until 9 pm. We always took the same classes, played the same sports, were in the same clubs, dated the same girls, and had the same group of friends. So it is pretty easy to see where a sense of competition would have arisen from our friendship. We are both extremely competitive in every aspect of lives and fought and continue to fight pretty regularly. He is a unique friend in that he wanted to have me challenge him. We raced each other in freshman year of track and ended up making the varsity team, while the other freshman finished with a significantly different time. We played varsity football together and partnered up for hitting drills for the sole reason of wanting to hit each other, and we ended up starting at linebacker. We have literally had arguments about how words are pronounced that have about ended in fist fights. On paper, we are virtually identical and I really don’t think there is anyone who is more similar to me. There were two things that I could always count on when we were in school together; first, we would end up in some sort of argument or physical competition every day. Second, no matter who won, we didn’t really care or hold it against one another or rub it in each other’s faces. We enjoy each other’s company because we appreciated at a basic and difficult to explain level of having that challenge in our lives, a nemesis if you will that gave me a sense of purpose and something to strive towards in defeat.

3. “What are you doing after prom?”

“Ummm, probably nothing. I may come back here”

“Really? Because I heard that there was going to be a party at the Cabin.”

“Huh. That’s interesting. I don’t know where you would’ve heard that. I would know if someone were planning a party at our own cabin, don’t you think?”

“Are you really going to sit here and play stupid with me? I know what you and your friends have planned.”

“Mom, I am a senior in high school. I think I know how to handle myself and stay out of trouble. Don’t worry about it.”

“How can you expect me not to worry? I know what kids do after prom.”

“Mom, look. You have my word. I will be safe and I will make sure everyone else is. I’ve always been the responsible one.”

“….I guess that’s true. Whatever happens, I don’t want to hear about it.”

“Done and Done. Thanks Momma, I’ll see you later.”

PERSONAL VOICE

“The Good Souls will, doubtless, gain their reward in heaven: on this earth, certainly, theirs is what is technically known as a rough deal.” There is so much truth in the words of Dorothy Parker throughout the piece” that she does not need to try all that strenuously to get her message across and create a sense of resonation with her readers. Regardless she finds a great deal of success in doing so through the careful articulation of her words and phrases. Rather than lecturing the reader on what a “Good Soul” exactly is, which would could be summed at as a person who is basically taking one for the team by being the pushover, she paints a clear picture of what these people have been in her life and where she has recognized it before. Whether it be the patron at the theater who insists on giving up their chair with a better view to their guest or the child who shares their toys perhaps too much, the reader and Parker are both able to identify who the good soul is and what exactly they subject themselves to.

While remaining undoubtedly sympathetic for the Good Soul, the essay shifts from a list of opinions to an authoritative voice as the caricature of a Good Soul becomes to be portrayed as strong, rather than weak and tender. For example, when Parker is describing a Good Soul who is given the wrong order “and which they refuse to have changed, choking it down with a wistful smile.” Contrasts greatly from the paragraph where the good soul “laboriously” writes a letter critiquing an individual. It almost seems as though Parker’s the language she uses in the portrayal of the character becomes stronger throughout the piece, which mirrors the Good Soul itself as the examples used make the Good Soul seem less like a pushover that is easily ignored and more like a resilient and necessary person to have around.

Parker engages the reader relatively early on with the paragraph of questions which asks the reader to identify a Good Soul at childhood, which in her opinion means that the child who is destined to become a Good Soul is the one who is being picked on or taken advantage of. This has a wonderful effect in establishing the voice of Parker as sympathetic for 2 reasons; first, the subject itself. Childhood is a sensitive topic for a lot of people, and Parker’s choosing to describe an innocent child who clearly does not know their destiny to be a Good Soul introduces her voice as clearly sympathetic. Second, by asking question after question she shows the many ways that this Good Soul is recognizable and the frequency of the examples makes her voice seem urgent. Furthermore the question paragraph is able to help the reader connect because the examples are all something almost any person to can relate to or has recognized in their lifetime. Childhood is something that most of us are able to look back on objectively, which certainly helps the reader identify the person in their lives who may be the Good Soul. Overall, the paragraph of questions is quintessential in establish the sympathetic voice that is consistent throughout and reeling a level of resonance in with the reader early on in the essay.

DIALOGUE

The dialogue in Dorothy Parkers “The Sexes”, is crucial to the effect and understanding of the piece not only because the entire piece is dialogue, but because it allows the reader to identify shifts in the mood and tone without dropping context clues or explanations in between the lines. One of the interesting things about the reading is that it never used adjectives like “she scoffed at him” or “he said in a suggestive tone” to give the reader any hints besides the initial dialogue to as what the tone or mood of the speaker may be. Choosing a 3^rd person limited point-of-view can really only be effective in pieces like this where there is so much effort given into the word choice. The story is effective in establishing the tones of both speakers that the reader does not need a clear cut explanation of what exactly they are hearing with the help of context clues coming from the author but rather from the character’s dialogue which flowed very naturally.

When the story begins I felt very much on the side of the girl that was being all so apologetic and seemed to be acting like a proper lady and I interrupted the guy’s dialogue as abrasive and aggressive. It did not seem like there was so much reason for him to become so upset over her refusing his offer to go collect the cigarettes, but as the story drags on, the reader is able to recognize that there is a little bit more at play when she continues to ask circuitous questions like “oh did I?” or telling her that she is perfectly ok with him leaving when she is so clearly upset. The dialogue shifts the sense of power in the story by making the girl seem to be the one who is being unreasonable in the first place, not the man who I would have originally pegged as in the wrong.

Much like what we talked about in class, there are many ways to say the exact same sentence. Reading this with a monotone voice in your head is a totally different story. In that case, it would seem that the male was the one who was becoming upset or nothing. His dialogue in the story show that his emotions are relatively consistent throughout the story, which is most definitely an elevated sense of frustration from the short and relatively condescending responses he is getting from his female counterpart. For the girl, the dialogue after she reveals what is truly troubling her, shows that she is jealous and probably equally as upset as the male character. However, she reveals these true emotions in a much more indirect manner which I have heard hundreds of times in my own past relationships.

Throughout the piece the relationship between the two becomes more and more intimate as the male character eventually coax’s the female character to him what’s bothering her. At first glance it would appear as though they were perfect strangers on a first date, and one that was not going well at that. However, as the story goes on and more information is revealed through the dialogue, it becomes obvious that the characters are much more than strangers and how passionate the male becomes over proving his point and how distant the female becomes fits the archetype for almost any argument in a romantic relationship such as theirs. The dialogue shows how much these two characters care about each other. This is definitely a lover’s quarrel if I’ve ever heard one.

I hated playing sports when I was younger, and not just one in particular, all of them. All the way from karate to tennis. It was not because I was any good at them or didn’t enjoy playing, actually quite the opposite. I hated the thought of losing anything and sheer idea that someone could single-handedly tarnish my reputation as the Dojo Champion or best wide receiver on the football team with just one mistake on my behalf, brought up such a feeling in my stomach that I could become physically ill before games. Competition meant there was a chance of failing and failing to me meant that I should be ashamed of and my team.  

As I got older, the competition improved and I began to lose more and more. I used to view failure as a reminder of what I was bad at or should have avoided, but it is really just the opposite. Failure is a learning experience. That is why I believe that the inevitability of failure is a far more powerful method of learning than continual success.

I will never forget the first time I lost a wrestling match, weighing in at a mean 115 pounds, I assumed that I would emerge victorious as usual. I looked across the mat at the other kid, actually someone I had wrestled before, I had beaten him 3 times throughout our middle school careers, but this time he had a wild look in his eye which my teammates would look back on the match and refer to him as “Cat Boy.” If we were not 13 years old I would have guessed some sort of performance enhancer. The match itself lasted all of 2 minutes before I was flat on my back and I heard the rhythmic hands of referee giving ME the 3 count. There I laid, barely out of breath, dazed, confused…and pinned. This is where things got interesting, I didn’t know how to lose. I ignored his handshake, ripped my headgear off, throwing it into the garbage, left the gym, and went straight to the locker room where I sat and waited for my team. I was appalled with how I reacted and really can never justify it. My first loss was not supposed to be to HIM of all people. The questions; “How could I let this happen?”, “What would my parents think?” ran through my head on a loop. I was beyond embarrassed, but the next question that came was “Why should I be?”

I realize now that “Cat boy” was sick of losing and did something about it. He knew how to lose, which means to make it a learning experience, not something that you just give up on when you’re. He wrestled passionately and pinned me with the only move I had ever used on him. I took pride in that. I don’t compete all that much anymore, but now when I do poorly on any tests, I don’t get frustrated or upset, I just know that there is one more thing for me to work on. To this day, I am wildly impressed by what he did to me and honestly happy that I lost. My only regret is having never shaken the hand of the 13 year old who taught me that failing was better than it sounds.

 

This I Believe

1. I believe that I am a selfish human being. However, I don’t think that this makes me a bad person. I go to church every Sunday, I volunteer at the soup kitchen, and I do fairly well in school. It has always been difficult for my to say that I am acting selflessly when I do these things. I do these things because I worry about my own reputation constantly and even though I am only 18, wonder what impact I will leave on the world and what others think of me. This being said, I don’t think that selfishness is a bad thing and I do believe that there is a way of helping others by helping myself.
2. I believe that god is where you look for him, not where you are told to find him. This is something that I told my parents constantly while growing up in an excuse to get out of church at 8 am and it was not really until that last few years that I really began to believe my own words. In this world you can see the effects of god and religion everywhere, some of them postive and others not so much. However, if we are willing to look and work for it, we can find the principle that I believe truly represent the peacefulness that almost every modern religion emulates.

Civic Issues

1. I am leaning towards the political section because that is what I am most well-versed in but would hate to restrict myself to just one subtopic. My first idea for the civic issues blog would to write a general political blog where I commend and critique what I consider to be great political progress and poor leadership positions.  I think I will focus on U.S. social issues.There is always a lot of interesting things going on so I think I would have a lot to write about over the semester.
2. I am particularly interesting in economic issues and business regulation. I think that if while writing about these I talk about the issues as more of a developing story than simply just stating facts I will be able to keep the interest of the readers. There are also a few future econ majors in the class so I think that would find this sort of blog particularly interesting if it is tailored towards the everyday reader.

Passion Blog

1. Because I am new to the class I should probably explain my passion blog; for the first semester the blog was sort of giving business advice to people who may be interested in starting up their own business. This semester I plan on shifting the topic to more about short success stories of start-ups and lessons that can be learned from them.