/They Say I Say "And Yet" Chapter 5 09/28/14

Summery: In chapter 5 of They Say I Say, it gets into the "I say" part of writing. The title of chapter 5 is "AND YET" as a way to distinguish what you say from what they say. For instance, there is an example of an essay in this chapter, written by Gregory Mantsios, that uses "voice markers" along with the word "yet" to distinguish the writers point of view from the point of view he is arguing against. In Mantsios's first paragraph, he uses the quote (or voice marker) "We are all middle-class," to show an argument that has been made. Then he starts off his second paragraph with "Yet class divisions are real" to distinguish his point of veiw from the argument that was being made. The chapter goes further in saying we can use "I" in our essay to help differentiate our views from others.

Response: This chapter helped me a little more with understing how to distingish arguments with reading them and writing them. I know now to pay attention to "voice markers" like quotes and prases that set apart arguements from others. The example of the essay with voice markers and the one with out, helped me really see how important it is to use quotes and transitional words like "yet" to dinstinguish arguments. It used to be hard to stay focused and distinguish what some writers were trying to argue, but now I feel more confident in discoverying arguments in material I read in the future.

Maya Angelou I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings 9/14/14

Summery: I want to talk about Maya Angelou’s book “I Know why the caged bird sings,” but more specifically I want to talk about what happened in chapter 11 and 12. To start off, Maya Angelo and her brother Baily were sent off to live their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas when they were 3 and 4. Angelou and her brother lived a childhood not knowing who their parents were or what they looked like. Angelou and her brother eventually make their way to live with their mother via their father. Angelou was 8 years old when she moved in with her mother. In chapter 11 and 12, Angelou describes in detail being molested by her mother's boyfriend. She talks about how Mr. Freeman (her mother's boyfriend) threatened to kill her brother if she told anybody about what happened. 

Response: I found great interest in reading this book from the first chapter on. At first, I saw it as book about a young child's rough times and took the assumption that her hard life would only make her the person she grew up to be. Little did i know that Maya Angelou was molested as a young child. These two chapters made me sick as I read through them. I couldn't help but feel bad for Angelou, because no one let alone a child, should ever have to experience that. In the end I guess it goes to show that even one of the most idolized and inspirational people can face some of the same problems that the average person faces. Some of the greatest people are still just people. It's foolish to idolize some people thinking they are perfect and that only they have what they want in life with no problems to overcome.