A Guide To My Journey

Table of Contents The giant puzzle and my reflection Introduction to piece on critical thinking: Who’s In Who’s Out Critical thinking: Who’s In Who’s Out Introduction to my rewrite The rewrite: Timed Write Introduction to a Piece on Audience and Voice The piece Audience and Voice Introduction to Writers choice Writers Choice: Tradition

The giant puzzle and my reflection

Hey everybody, my name is Ashley Davis and I live in Spokane Wa. I moved here in November for a change. I am a single mother of a almost two year old and met an amazing man. Life has changed a lot for me over the last seven to eight months. When this quarter started I was going for Early Childhood Education but now I have changed it to a PT Assistant. I think that is a better choice for me. I love school, this quarter with English has had me working and trying my very best to do well, although at times I did not feel that my grades showed that I did. Thought the quarter my mind has grown a lot. I have learned that something like a community is so much more then just a word. Some ones wallet or purse is so much more then just an item, there is a lot of meaning there. I never thought of a movie as the starting point for a great discussion, or writing piece but it can inspire a lot if talking. Also never thought of family tradition as a blog but it was nice to write a little about me.

Tradition, community, and identity were the themes we learned about this quarter. I did not know what to expect this quarter as it started. English is always hard for me and this class was a little bit harder then I thought. I thought I did better on some of the papers than the score showed, this made it tough for me. I did learn so many things in this class but living in Spokane I could never go in and talk face to face and this made it ever harder. I look at tradition differently then when the quarter started, the different things people talked about as being tradition were different then mine and I liked it. Community was the one that opened my eyes the most, there are more communities out there than I ever thought of before. Identity, this is a tough one for me, I struggle with this one the most. I liked this topic because it made me look into my self more. Diversity is an interesting thing to add to English, truthfully when I signed up for this class I did not know the difference in the two. Now I know, I liked this class and grew for the challenges it brought me. Looking back I may have picked the other 101 English had I known, but really English is just plain hard for me. I grew from this class and the challenges it brought to me.

The pieces I picked to show case are, My rewrite: Timed write #1 Off the Map, Critical thinking: Who’s In Who’s Out, awareness of audience and voice Blog post #1 Whats in your Wallet and Writers Choice: Tradition Blog Post #3. I picked these because I think they show my growth and change in me the most. The reason I picked Off The Map to rewrite is because I think I had good ideas but lost them under the pressure of it being timed. The other ones I think show a lot about me and how I really am and how I have been able to grow and get passed some hurt I had.

Introduction to piece on Critical thinking: Who’s In Who’s Out

For my critical thinking piece of writing I have selected a discussion board called Who’s in Who’s out. I picked this piece because for me it took time to think of how I wanted to say what I said. It brought back some memories that I other wise may have never talked about again. High School was a tough place for me to fit in. In our reading what Emily says'" Sitting on the sidelines now, I can still feel the adolescent loneliness in my guts."(15) This is me and I can relate to this statement. This post was very tough for me and made me realize that high school was tough for other people in the class; it made me not feel so alone. It helped me get passed the hurt I once had growing up. For this I am thankful for taking this class.

Critical thinking: Who’s In Who’s Out

High school, this was a place/world all on its own. It is like nothing else I have seen. In High School I did not have a group, but there were lots o them. There were the jocks, popular kids, kids with lots of money, losers, no-name and may be a few more. I remember that I never got invited to party's or things like that because people thought I was a goodie, when really I just didn't feel what they did was really worth my time. What Emily says'" Sitting on the sidelines now, I can still feel the adolescent loneliness in my guts."(15) This is me and I can relate to this statement.

Children can be crual to one another and not say very nice things. I was kind of quite in High School but now I don't care what people think of me and that has seemed to work well for me to this point. Emily seems to feel how I do and have some of the same thoughts and feelings as I do toward the situation. She says," The cafeteria is high school's proving ground. The place where you find out if you have friends or if you don't."(16) I think that this is so very true and think it must be like this in all high school's because I know mine was.

Introduction to my rewrite

The assignment was a one hour timed write this was the prompt for the paper considering your own perceptions of non-conformity, how does the film and the group discussion that ensued challenge these perceptions? I picked this one to do my rewrite because I thought the movie has a lot to offer and learn from. This movie was a great learning tool. I found that this movie was trying to show us the life can be much simpler then we make it out to be. In the case of the movie, Off The Map, being non-conformity or over the line is doing something that the rest of the world feels is not expectable to them. In this movie it shows some one from the IRS coming to their house to collect money and do an audit. He ends up getting sick but then after better he still stays there. This to me is over the line of some one working for the government. This movie thought me that you can not just look at one thing and make judgment on some one or a situation. You need the whole picture to see what is really going on some where. I thought that I had the right idea for this assignment but under the pressure of it being timed I lost track of what I was trying to say and decided that I would pick this for my rewrite.

The rewrite: Timed Write

Original:

The film Off The Map had things that seemed to be over the line to me. Crossing the line is in the eye of the beholder. Doing something that is over the line can be something as easy as yelling at someone, some one can think this is over the line. In the case of the movie, Off The Map, being non-conformity or over the line is doing something that the rest of the world feels is not explicable to them.

When Off The Map starts it takes place in the middle of nowhere in New Mexico in 1976. They live in a world of their own, they are really off the map. Charlie is in a very depressed state and Arlene does not know what to do to get him out of it. They live off of less than 400.00 dollars a month and hunt their own food. They do things that the rest of us feel is over the line and not right. Arlene and Charlie allow their daughter Bo to do some things that are over the line. She gets a credit card, writes letters to companies to get food, and also she kills a coyote just to see what would happen. The IRS has been sending them letters saying that they owe money. Arlene does not respond to them because she feels they do not owe any thing.

An IRS agent by the name of William shows up at their house to talk to them about how much they owe. William gets sick and ends up needing to stay there while he gets better. Bo feels that William is her connection to the outside world. William is also depressed and not in the best state in his life. William has gone from a cook to a IRS agent. This shows that he is not stable with his life. This is a very dramatic change for someone to go through. William ends up staying with the family and never leaves. He ends up falling in love with Arlene and tells her this, this is crossing the line. It is wrong of him to tell a married women that he is love with her. This is not socially excapable to do this, they welcomed him into their home and he should have respected them for that.

Charlie is a very depressed father and he not in a good state of mind. He drinks, sleeps, and walks around the house naked. This is over the line for Charlie to walk around naked in front of another man and more than any thing in front of his 12 year old daughter. Arlene also gets their friend George to go to the city and get some pills for depression to give to Charlie. This is not only illigal but also a very poor example to their daughter. They should be teaching her right and wrong; not how to cheat the system.

Off The Map made me stop and think, is life really as hard as we make it out to be? We work so hard for every thing in our life and some times we get nowhere in our life. This movie made me stop and think about what it was really trying to teach us. This movie was trying to show us that living simple is a better way to live then always stressed out. Willaim stayed there and became a painter, lived just as care free as they were and for once he seemed happy and not as depressed as he always had been. This film is one that most of us viewed is non-conformity to our normal thinking. There are more then one thing in this movie that we felt were not explicable and over the line, but then as we talked about this movie we started thinking that it was a different time, they lived care free, and had different values then we did. This film brought new light to the meaning of off the map.

The rewrite:

The film Off The Map had things that seemed to be over the line to me. Crossing the line is in the eye of the beholder. Doing something that is over the line can be something as easy as yelling at someone, some one can think this is over the line. In the case of the movie, Off The Map, being non-conformity or over the line is doing something that the rest of the world feels is not expectable to them.

When Off The Map starts it takes place in the middle of nowhere in New Mexico in 1976. They live in a world of their own; they are really off the map. Charlie is in a very depressed state and Arlene does not know what to do to get him out of it. They live off of less than 400.00 dollars a month and hunt their own food. They do things that the rest of us feel is over the line and not right. Arlene and Charlie allow their daughter Bo to do some things that are over the line. She gets a credit card, writes letters to companies to get food, and also she kills a coyote just to see what would happen and how that would make her mother feel. The IRS has been sending them letters saying that they owe money. Arlene does not respond to them because she feels they do not owe any thing.

An IRS agent by the name of William shows up at their house to talk to them about how much they owe. William gets sick and ends up needing to stay there while he gets better. Bo feels that William is her connection to the outside world. William is also depressed and not in the best state in his life. William has gone from a cook to an IRS agent. This shows that he is not stable with his life. This is a very dramatic change for someone to go through. William ends up staying with the family and never leaves. He ends up falling in love with Arlene and tells her this, this is crossing the line. It is wrong of him to tell a married woman that he is love with her. "The song "Me and Mrs. Jones" is a famous sound of a forbidden affair between an older woman and young man. This played as William stood watching the sunset while Arlene fixed his car." I never realized the background music, maybe because I wasn’t paying attention to it at the time. I like how you pointed that out. I think that is interesting that they chose that song. (DANICA NOOR stated this in our discussion board) This is not socially escapable to do this, they welcomed him into their home, and he should have respected them for that.

Charlie is a very depressed father and he not in a good state of mind. He drinks, sleeps, and walks around the house naked. This is over the line for Charlie to walk around naked in front of another man and more than any thing in front of his 12 year old daughter. Maybe the reason Arlene let him stay is because she felt Charlie needed the interaction from another person. They were all alone with only George to visit. I think they were all feeling lonely and maybe that’s why she wanted Charlie to stay to help them feel like they had some normalcy in their life. (PAULETTE WOODS stated this in our discussion board) Arlene also gets their friend George to go to the city and get some pills for depression to give to Charlie. This is not only illegal but also a very poor example to their daughter. They should be teaching her right and wrong; not how to cheat the system.

Off The Map made me stop and think, is life really as hard as we make it out to be? We work so hard for every thing in our life and some times we get nowhere in our life. This movie made me think about what it was really trying to teach us. This movie was trying to show us that living simple is a better way to live then to always be stressed out. William stayed there and became a painter, lived just as care free as they were and for once he seemed happy and not as depressed as he always had been. I think this film was also allowing for Bo to fanaticize. I also believe that George was an important component to Bo's life. He was her stability and God Father. When he was leaving to get married, Bo truly felt a loss beyond her abilities to pretend or fanaticize about the out side world. This film is one that most of us viewed is non-conformity to our normal thinking. There is more then one thing in this movie that we felt were not expiable and over the line, but then as we talked about this movie we started thinking that it was a different time, they lived care free, and had different values then we did. This film brought new light to the meaning of off the map.

Introduction to a Piece on Audience and Voice:

I selected this blog as an example of illustrating audience voice because in it I attempt to show others how a wallet or purse is not necessarily who the person is. I think I showed people that it is the same as judging a book by its cover, you can’t just look in a purse or wallet and know every thing about that person there are so many things you would miss by doing this. By this I mean they would miss that I love to travel, play out side, laugh, take pictures, and am a very happy person.

The piece Audience and Voice

The piece Audience and Voice

Walking along in the store I notice my purse is not with me any more. Where did it go did some one take it or did I set it down some where and don't remember. I head to the exit and wonder what happened to it. I'm so up set and not sure where to look for it. I wonder what some one would think of what was in it and what they would do with it. They would see a credit card, debit card, child support card, a student i.d card, video card, businesses cards, receipts, no cash, there would be a lot of earrings, make up, ipod, and cell phone. They might think that I get child support but really don't. They would know I have at least one child and not know if I have more. They also might think I take care of my self which I do. They might think I either spend a lot of money or non at all, which I am in the middle.
They would see no pictures and they would miss a lot about me. I love my family, my son and my boyfriend. They would miss that I love to travel, play out side, laugh, take pictures, and am a very happy person. My wallet is a big part of me and says a lot but it is not the whole me.

Introduction to Writers choice

My writers choice was a blog post, it was about tradition, which for me reflected on Thanksgiving. I do my best work when I write about things that make me happy and that I am passionate about. Thanksgiving and the memories it has for me I think made for a good price. The best part is our family always started with saying some thing that we are thankful for before we could say grace and then eat. Here I was able to share all the traditions that Thanksgiving had for me and my family.

Writers Choice:Tradition

Tradition Blog Post #3

Thanksgiving... I remember having the best time, laughing, talking, and just some down right good times on this holiday. Our family always started with saying some thing that we are thankful for before we could say grace and then eat. I think this one a great way to start and we still do this to this day. I think it gives us a different outlook then just to sit down and eat the food. The other thing we always have is my dad stuffing! Thanksgiving just does not seem the same with out it. As we get older and families mold together we add things, but the thing that never changes is saying what it is we are thankful for. We eat, play games, talk, tell jokes, and maybe ever shed a few tears talking about different stories. It is still a great time had by all. This may seem like it is "mainstream America" to some but to me this is the only way Thanksgiving can be had. I know some people, my boyfriend included don't see their family much or do many things together this seems different to me, but what my family does may seem different to them. In the end every one is different and some thing that seems normal to me may be off the wall to them. That is why it is always fun to talk about what people do nightly, monthly, or even yearly. I think it is nice to see what every one does at different times.

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