Superman and Me (blog # 4)

Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie was an interesting story of how he became interested in books and reading. It tells how before he could read or understand words picked up a comic book about Superman and how the pictures looked like one thing and how even though he could not read at the time would say what the picture was doing and that he ended up teaching himself to read that way. He also talked about how he treated every one in his life as if the all were a paragraph in the grand story of his life. However, growing up on an Indian reservation and showing that you read when he was growing up was frowned upon by his people and by the non-Indian instructors that ware there to say they were teaching them.  Yet he did not care he loved reading because his dad loved books and it trickled down to him and he was stubborn enough to not care what anyone else thought. Which lead him to become a writer and a speaker at reservation schools to inspire young Indians to strive for better then what they have.

This is an interesting story and it made me think back upon my time in a school that I was in for kindergarten to eighth grade, for whatever reason the teachers there did not like certain students and did what they could to keep these students down. I happened to be one of the students they tried to do this to yet no matter how hard they tried to make me think that I was doing my class work wrong I knew that I was for the most part not wrong because I compared some of my work with others that were given better grades then I was to see that are answers were the same. This led me to question the school and the teacher’s credibility to where I ended up just doing the work to my standards. I complained to my mom but got no response from her. She did not have the time to deal with the fact the teachers were trying to tell me I was not passing the classes even though the work compared to the students that were passing the classes was almost the exact same and no not copied. She had to work all the time and had three other boys to deal with so the school not giving me the proper passing achievement was of no concern to her. She told me not to worry about it and if I actually was doing the work properly it will show once I get into high school. So I just went on letting the mean teachers tell me I was a failure and whatever without any more arguments. When I got into high school I took some test that put me into higher classes then what this so called school said I should be in. I also was determined to confront any issues with grades that I might have because of that school however, I did not need to do much other than my school work because the teachers at my high school did not give me bad grades they actually inspired me to try harder and I ended up getting mostly A’s through High school. So I can understand the issues Sherman went through in school with his peers and teachers having a certain belief to what an Indian child can achieve because something similar happened to me.

Shitty First Drafts (Blog # 3)

                                             WHAT I HAVE TO DO A FIRST DRAFT

Shitty First Drafts by Anne Lamott was very interesting about how most writers don’t just sit down and write their best work with their first go at it. Most sit there and go through a frustrating ordeal just trying to figure what they are going to write about. The ones who are experienced writers go through those feelings and tend to step back to their past experiences to recall that making a really bad first draft they can get the good ideas that they may need for their second draft.

For me writing seems to come pretty easy. However, I do like the Idea of just making a draft that can just be whatever I would like it to be. Just by jotting down anything that comes into my mind that might apply to what I want to write about. By doing that I think my writing can become more interesting than it already is. I know that I still have a lot to work on like my grammar and spelling so doing this shitty first draft Idea or the kid’s draft I can go over my work and help me fix what I might be missing.  So I am going to start to implement this aspect to my writing from now on even though it might take me longer to do. The advantage of it taking me a bit longer will make my work better however, if I have a dead line and don’t get my paper done in time I will probably get a lower grade unless the work is extremely good to cancel out the fact that it might be late. I enjoyed the article and it gave me a new perspective on writing so I hope I can improve my writing by using this method. I cannot wait to do my next paper where I can try this method out to see if it works for me. 

The Price of Reading Is Enternal Vigilance Blog #2

In the New York Times article, by Anatole Broyard “The Price of Reading Is Eternal Vigilance,” Broyard talks about how people are not good readers. Even those who believe them self’s to be good readers are not. He talks about his experience with book and how he treated book with such respect that he kind of feared them. However, his understanding and analyzation of books be gain to change when he started to think for himself.

 

The thing that I find most interesting about this article is that he talks about one experience to reading a book by Joan Didion might be better or even different if you had seen it on Broadway laying on the pavement nearly in the gutter. I would probably find it less interesting if I had seen it laying there. I like my books to be bought from a book store not off the street. Not to say it is any different but at least by buying it form the store I have a better Idea that it is the right book and that it is not missing any part and that it also is not a stolen copy of the book.

 

I also like the idea that a good reader should confront the book in their own way because it can give a different perspective on what that book might be trying to get across. I feel that to this point I have been a lot like he was when it came to reading books. I was more into the fact that books are in charge and that I do not have the right question what it might be saying. However, from now on I will analyze books differently. I will ask questions and argue what I feel is a better idea for the book even if that is not what the author wanted. I find this article to be very insight full.

Interduction Blog #1

Hello I am Clayton Castle I moved to Oregon in 2003 after enjoying life in the Air Force. I like camping, swimming, hiking, white water rafting and playing in the snow. I also like going to movies and playing game like Call of Duty and halo as well as  all the need for speed games. I dislike people who do not wash there hands after using the restroom, long lines like the ones that have been in the titan store, having a bum left knee because of dislocating it and people who try to talk over you because they don't want to hear the truth or just don't care to hear what you might have to say. That is just a bit about me.