5 Questions *

There are a lot of questions i could possibly ask. First I would  need to find out the basics about the person. One question I would ask would be who are you? I would need to ask that question because if I didn't then the person reading my essay/interview would never know who I was talking about. I would ask them where they went to high school and if they graduated high school. I think that would be an important question to ask because If the reader didnt know that either then that would be a big piece missing from the point im trying to make. Another question I would ask the person I am interviewing would be when did they first go back to college? Where did they go? What made them want to go back? These are all important things the reader would need to know because, that gives information about their schooling and the facts. Where they have gone to school in the past is important information because there could be reasons why they might not of graduated or did graduate or went to a certain school. An important question that I listed above would be what made them want to go back. I think the answer to this question is very important also because if you stopped going then started going again years later or a period of time later, I think it would be interesting to know why you decided after that time to go back to school.

Response to #1 of Reflection and Writing

I think the cuentos in Cofer's memoir are particually womens stories becuase the men might think differently about what the womens stories are saying. The men wouldn't want to hear that they are stealing womens hearts and then leaving. I think that there is always two sides of the story and the part the women were telling is different from the one the men would tell. I think the equvilent of the womens stories in this to mens stories would be the guys talking about the women and that they just needed to go make their fortune and make money so they could come back and start a life with the girl they want to marry. Also i think that the men would say when they left to go make their fortune they found someone else so that would be a reason they wouldnt come back. I think that the person who would tell the stories on the mens part would be a great grandfather or grandfather because the grandmother is telling the stories on the womens side. The elders in the family know more about everything, and about the past of their culture and background so they would be more likely to tell the cuentos.

Self Evaluation

Self-Evaluation

What is the thesis for your paper? Moving to Smithville was a good thing even though i didn't want to at the time

List the main points you make in your paper. Made Lifelong Friends, Moved into a nicer and bigger house, gained self-esteem and courage.

What was the most helpful advice you received from your peer evaluation? Putting more detail into the paper.

What was the most helpful information you received in class for your paper? The grammer mistakes.

How many drafts of this paper do you think you wrote and how/when did you write them? For example, did you compose at the keyboard, did you write lots of notes to yourself, did you pre-write or outline, did you write in small chunks of time or sit down and produce an entire draft at one sitting? I wrote at the key-board and i had only one rough draft then i made a final draft from that.

What would you do differently with this paper to make it more effectively, or what did you try to do that you just don’t think you got a good handle on? I think i should of made an outline and then wrote from that, with alot of detail

What are most pleased with about this paper? I think in the end it turned out good, and i had alot more detail than i did in the rough draft and i think i made everything flow better also.

Response to "Sister Flower's"

A memorable Childhood Experiance.


I remember a time in my childhood when my mom(Teresa),dad(Jim),brother(Levi),great grandmother(grandma), and I, drove all the way to Canada. We were driving there because we were going camping up there with our new camper. The drive took forever. We even had to stop and sleep for a while because it was over 24 hours of driving. We stopped at least 10 times if not more to get food or go to the restroom. I had so much fun on our trip.
My mom sat in the passenger seat while my dad drove. Me, my grandma, and Levi sat in the back seat. At the beginning i sat in the middle of the back and Levi and my grandma sat beside me. Me and my brother started arguing so my grandma had to sit between us. Levi is only 2 years older than me so we argued alot when we were younger. I was about 10 and he was about 12 when we took this trip.The most memorable experiance from this trip was when we were driving around one evening and my dad decided to turn and try to take a short cut. We got extremely lost, in a forest. It started to get darker outside and my dad was freaking out. My brother turned on the video camera without my dad knowing it was on and started recording my dad from the back seat. My dad would say things like "Guys im really startin to get scared", and "Its not funny there is bears out here". It was so funny everyone in the truck was laughing.

Booker's Essay

Booker's essay is an interview about her grandmother. Her grandmothers schooling and what she did at school. IT is connected to task two because we have to give an interview to someone and find out about their past with education, and in Booker's essay we learn about her grandmother through an interview she gave her. I think i need to ask questions that can be answered in deatail and have more than one word answers. An open ended question is a question that isnt just a one word answer.

I need to ask questions like where did you go to school? why did you drop out? how did you get your high school diploma? where do you go to school now? why did you decide to go back to school?

Task Two Interests

I am Thinking about writing about my dad for task two.

He is interesting to write about because he dropped out of high school, went back got his high school diploma, then he went to college...stopped and then now is going back.

I would ask why he dropped out. why he wanted to go back to college. Where his college is. Why he chose that college.

I think i might not be able to get enough information to write two and a half pages.

Question #1 "On Becoming a Chicano"

My racial identity is caucasian. I think that this identity is slowly becoming the minority right now and that is kind of scary to me personally. When I walk into a room that is full of black people or mexicans I feel somewhat intimidated. Me being a white girl, older black men always say something to me. Mexicans also do too. If i were to go to an all mexican or all black school, I would probably be very scared and intimidated. I have walked in down town Kansas City by myself and guys would holler inapropriate guestures at me, and so I started walking faster. I am a red head also and my mom always told me older mexicans like those red heads. So I would be at a gas station or something and they would whistle. It really creeps me out.

My experiences are somewhat similar to Rodriguez because when he went in a room with all white people he felt over powered too. He was the minority and everyone looked at him weird. Also he couldn't even speak english when he first went so it was probably alot harder for him to try to enter the white or "gringo" culture after being a Chicano for so long. I think that it is less likely now days for people to feel excluded because of their race, but it still does happen sometimes. I also think that it is alot different because Rodriguez is a guy so we dont share all of the same experiences. Rodriguez's are more based on his english speaking abilities and just his race basically. Mine experiences are mostly because I am a female, not just because I am a white female, although that is a big part of it.

Question #1 "How it feels to be colored me"

 Some labels that I give myself would be girly, clean, organized, loud, and happy. These things function in my day to day life because I show all of these things in my personal traits. I make sure I am clean and smelling good like a girl when I leave to go anywhere. My car has to be vacuumed at least once a few weeks and wiped down too, also with a black ice air freshener. That smell reminds me of my car anywhere I go. In my day to day life I am usually happy all the time, unless something is really bothering me. All of my friends and co-workers could tell you I am usually in a good mood or laughing about something.

I am somewhat like Hurston because when she listens to music it brings some memories back for her from when she would dance to the music when she was younger. Even though she is sitting in a room with a white person she can still remember who she is and what she likes to do. When I listen to music it brings back memories for me also. For example every time I hear the cupid shuffle song I think of me and a big group of friends getting on this huge truck and doing the cupid shuffle, because that is a good memory I have. Also I am like her because I don't have separate feelings between white people and colored people either. I think that everyone is equal and everyone should be treated equal.

Question #1 "Rite of Passage"

My great grandmother's name is Helen Swan. She is very important to me and to my family, especially my dad, she practically raised him. We used to go to her house every single day. That was also when we lived right down the street from her. She is a very gentle and caring person. My grandma let her daughter and great grandson move in with her when they didn't have a place to stay. She would always take me shopping or to the park. There is a park really close to her house called penguin park. That was my favorite place to go. My grandma has helped take care of me and my family. When we got sick and couldn't go to school, she was there to let us come to her house and make us soup. My grandma and I had fun together, before I grew up and we moved far away from her house.

My grandma could cook the best food ever. My brother and I used to ride our bikes to her house and she would always cook us lunch and give us a soda, then double stuff Oreos of course. She is very important to my family because she is eighty seven years old, which is the oldest living person in my family. Also because she is the most loving person always wanting to sit and talk to someone. She has much knowledge from being around so many years now. The only bad thing is she smokes like a chimney. Who would of thought? Smoked cigarettes her whole life and she is still up and going.

What im thinking of writing.

I am going to write about when i moved to Smithville in the 6th grade. I am choosing this to write about because it affected my life and me personally. It made me the person i am today. I had to leave my old town in North Kansas City with all my friends that i made since i was 2 years old to move 45 minutes away to Smithville. I used to live 5 minutes away from my grandmas and i could walk to their house, now i would not hardly ever see them. Also my best friend Leah lived right down the street from me and i would go to her house everyday, now we dont hardly talk.

 I am also going to write about the house i moved into, how it is so much different than my old house. My old house was 3 times smaller and in the middle of a neighborhood. Now I live in the middle of nowhere on ten acres with a ranch style home and a huge pool in the back yard. Another thing about me moving to Smithville in 6th grade is the friends i made. When i first moved here it took me a little while to make some friends so i gained weight. Then i made some great friends who i go to the same college now. The problems I think might arise when i write this paper are, not having enough to write about and probably the grammer and spelling. I anticipate to being a better writer and having help from my peers and teacher to make me a better writer so that I can have more knowledge.

Savannas Letter of Introduction

My writing and reading past is not very great at all. I never really have liked to read.  My past teachers in high school and in middle school have tought me alot but i never really liked to do it. I only read cause i had to. In middle school and in high school we had to read a book worth a certain amount of points and then take a test about it. It wasn't that hard but I usually just waited until the last minute to do it.

  Sometimes i liked to write, if it was something interesting that i was writing about.  If i was writing about a certain topic that i enjoyed then the paper was easier for me to write. I enjoy writing letters to people and stuff like that. I also like to write about my life and the things that are going on in my life. I usually have a hard time following a specific style of writing. I think i will enjoy my english class because you dont have to write a certain way, everyone writes different and that's okay.