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This is my personal essay. Keep on typing stuff and some more stuff

Sentence of the Week

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright, quoted in Reader's Digest, June 1995

sentence

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history -- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience -- laughter is the cure for grief -- love is stronger than death.
-- Robert Fulghum

I ran across this quote while looking for a personal quote for something and thought that it is definitely inspirational. I like the way the author states laughter is the cure for grief, something people dont usually think about.

Personification

I just came across this one on dictionary.com


Somewhere in the incunabulum of time the New Year lay awaiting birth. Outside, in the dark, and with none to call it friend, the old year was fading into death.
-- Edwin Markham, The real America in romance, Volume 12

I think this sentence is beautiful and like the personification of the two different years- the new one about to be born and the old one dying.

Sentence of the Week

...With an unexpected amount of force, she thust my head forward without giving me a second to resist. The front of my skull collided with the doorframe. A thunderous bolt shot through my head as the hall blurred around me. Black dots filled my eyes as I attenpted to focus. Before I could find center, her tight grip tore the hair from my scalp and drove my head into the hard wood again. The corner of the frame connected with the left side of my forehead. The stinging burn above my eyes was followed by the flow of warm liquid down my cheek.

- This is an excerpt taken from my friends book, still in progress, who wishes to remain annonymous at this time.

Sentence of the Week

“The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it”. By Pearl Buck, The Joy of Children, 1964.

I'm not sure if this qualifies but I found the article interesting:

Wracked by recession, choked with debt and uncertain about the future, more Americans are asking: Is college worth it?

If you would like to read it go to: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38561562/from/toolbar

Sentence of the Week

There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror. ~Orson Welles

Sentence of the Week

"Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski."

Refering to how people Read, and what the internet has done to our fasination with reading.

“If you listen to your fears, you will die never knowing what a great person you might have been.” - Robert H. Schuller

Sentence of the Week

“There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.”
Mark Twain quote

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."
— Helen Keller

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind"
-- Dr. Seuss

Personification

When she warmed
and whispered awakened, soft vibrations
he brought his bow, aloft, to supple strings
to slide in flowing motion
above the bending bridge.

By: ten thousand cicadas on allpoetry.com

This poem, entitled Cello is one that I found while looking for a good use of personification. The writer uses sexually implicit wording talking about a man playing a cello- or more accurately the cello being played by a man- wanting to be played. This is a good example of personification. The cello performs human actions- (whispered, awakened) and you can apply the meaning of the words to a cello and a woman interchangeably.

Sentence of the week

"It is hard to fail, but it's worse to never have tried to succeed."-Theodore Roosevelt


This sentence holds true to me because for many years
I have feared failing college but I am here now getting over my fear.

Sentence of the Week

"Words mean more then what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.
-Maya Angelou

Sentence of the Week

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.
- John Lubbock

Sentence of the week

"Your thoughts guide you to your destiny"

This was something my Psychology teacher said in class one day that I liked, so I wrote it down. It's true. Positive thinking leads to positive outcomes. Negative thinking never leads you to a good place. If you think positive, good things will happen. It's a quote that really made me think.

Sentence of the week

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference.”
I like this sentence, because besides its simplicity, a powerful true is expressed.
There are controversies about the author.

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.... It's about learning how to dance in the rain.

sentence of the week

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Harold. R. McAlindon

Sentence of the week

"I crossed the street to walk in the sunshine."
— Elizabeth Gilbert

Sentence of the Week

"I yell, but the yell is only in my head. My lips don't move. I can feel them-and my tongue, lying on the floor of my mouth like a stunned mole- but I can't move them." From Autopsy Room Four by Steven King.

I liked this description of how he felt, I think it causes the reader to visualize how hard it is for him to speak. I especially liked how he compares his body parts to a "stunned mole."

my second sentence of the week

"People don't want to communicate with an organization or computer. They want to talk to a real, live, responsive, responsible person who will listen and help them get satisfaction."
-- Theo Michelson

Is there a subject for sentences this week?

?

My sencond sentence of the week.

“Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi”.

essentially means "what is permitted to one person or group, is not permitted to everyone."

sounds

As the shutters creeked back and forth, the rain continued to pounce down on the rooftop. The vivid noise felt like sharp icicles were going to come right through the glass and strike me. We thought this was going to be the worst hurricane we felt in a long time....

my sentence of the week

"Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends."
-- Walt Disney

"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.

A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave.

A soul mates purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master..."
— Elizabeth Gilbert

A robin red-breast in a cage, puts all of Heaven in a rage. Think to yourself that every day is your last. The hour to which you do not look forward will come as a welcome surprise.

-Thomas Harris

My second sentence of the week

I was reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow and I read this sentence, "It's over, I said to Jai. My goose is cooked." he was not talking about a real goose but he was talking about his cancer that he had. I thought that he did a good job with the word goose in that sentence.

My sentence of the week

I had read The Killer Angels for my history class and I came across sentences that I really like. It said, "... oh hast thou forgotten how soon we must sever? Oh has thou forgotten how soon we must part? It may be for years, it may be forever..." I love the style of the writing. How smooth it just falls of the tongue.

You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong.
Warren Buffett

“You hope for the success, you dream about it, but you never expect it.”
-- Nicholas Sparks

“My mother moves so fast I do not even see it coming. But she slaps my face hard enough to make my head snap backward. She leaves a print that stains me long after it has faded. Just so you know: shame is five-fingered.”

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Personal Essay

Endurance

One February morning, I remember opening my eyes and seeing all the snow on the ground from the night before. If that wasn’t exciting enough, I then realized I had no school due to February vacation. Impatiently, I recall running downstairs, and rambling into the kitchen in which my dad was sitting at the table. As normal, I tugged at my dads shirt and said, “ Daddy, let’s go play in the snow.” For the first time, my little six-year-old ears heard the words “Not right now sweetie, Daddy’s busy.” Astonished, I climbed onto the kitchen table chair and looked at what could have possibly been more vital than playing with me. My eyes fell upon half a dozen open books covering my kitchen table. I couldn’t comprehend how these dull, picture less, books were important enough to off-set our normal routine.

Not expecting to be rejected twice, I said ”How about now?” To my surprise, again he said,” Amber, Daddy can’t right now. Maybe when Mommy gets home from work she’ll go play with you.” Disgusted, I sat back in the chair, cross armed and said,

“ I’m mad at you Daddy.“ At that moment, my father could see the disappointment in my eyes. He knew I loved how much time I had been spending with him the past few days since he was laid off from work. I looked forward to this school vacation because I knew during the day my mom would go off to work and my father could stay at our house and play with me, which was something I wasn’t used to.

My father, trying to better the situation, reached his arms out to me and said, “ I need some help. Can you help me please?” After hesitating for a second, I agreed and went to him. He sat me on his lap and placed a book in front of me. He pointed to a word and said “ Do you know what that says?” Dumbfounded, I answered “ No.” He replied “ Me either.” Confused, I asked “What are you doing?” He said, “I’m doing homework.” Even more baffled, I said, “ Daddy, you’re to big to do homework.” My father then went on to explain to me a story. He told me about when he was younger and in school he never paid attention. He didn’t feel the need to. He hardly ever went to his assigned classes, and when he did, he barely listened to his teachers. He told me that when he was about fourteen years old, he stopped going to school and went to work with his father. He described how this was one of the biggest mistakes in his life. “Amber, you need to make a promise to me that you’ll always do your school work and pay close attention in school. I know its hard, but you have to always at least try. I didn’t and I have to go to school again now. I only want what’s best for you and Mommy and I cant do that without going to school.”

It became clear to me that my father was trying to explain how he only wanted what was best for me. He didn’t want me to have to do what he was doing, he would rather see me excel in life. My father was ashamed of the fact that he could no longer provide for his family due to his lack of education.

An influential person is someone who has reached out and affected or changed another person’s life in some way. There are only certain characteristics that a person can obtain, that prominently stand out and influence a person’s life. The most important, easily being endurance. That is exactly what my father proved he possessed on that day. My father showed me the regret he had for the foolish path he choose for his life. But, not letting that stop him he showed how much he cared about my mother and I, and how much he wanted to better himself so he could provide for us, by going back to school at the age of twenty-nine. My father progressed and grew into the field of business, where he obtained a career as an executive manager for a local bank. He proved to me and his family that he could make something out of himself, and that everyone gets a second chance.

From that day on, my father has been the biggest influence in my life. He has showed me that anything is possible and nothing can stop you. Anytime I feel that school is to stressful and tiring for me to handle, I always think about how my Dad, and the struggles he faced with school. He never gave up, even though it was not always easy.

Catching up...(for posts through 7/4)

Let's follow along Brie's lead and say that this week is for either

• sentences with strong verbs, or
• sentences that are appealing because of the way they sound.

I'll try to post some samples as well...

(Some of the people who have posted sentences, either here or or their own blogs, have been posting sentences because they liked the meaning. Try to focus instead more on how something is written, and be sure to add an explanation of just what it is about the sentence that attracts you.)

Sentence of the week- Sound

"And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain"

This is a line from Poe's "The Raven". I'm sure everyone is familiar with this poem. It is so rich. I adore the alliteration, in this line especially... silken. sad. uncertain. rustling.... all those s's!

I feel like evryone can appreciat this piece, even people who don't care for poetry. His words just blend so perfectly. You can hear the way they work together without even reading it outloud.

But... read aloud... it is phenomenal... LISTEN

Note on sidebar links to class blogs

I've noticed that some of the links to the right aren't working. (You get a bunch of html coding--if you delete everything that followings the .com/ you can see the blogs.) I finally figured out the links that don't work are the ones where author has not done a first post yet. To test this out, if your link is not working, can you please add a test post?

Remember rough drafts are due by midnight tonight! I will try to post an initial comment on everyone's essays by early am tomorrow to give grammar feedback (class meeting on grammar will be held tomorrow at 6 pm).

"The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened".
By Saki.

Sentence-vivid imagery

This is from the novel, The God of Small Things, by Arundati Roy:

"It was raining; slanting sliver ropes slammed into loose earth, plowing it up like gunfire"

For me the imagery in that one sentence is amazing! Her description of the rain as silver ropes allows you to picture the constant, hard fall of rain "slamming" the earth. "plowing it up like gunfire" is wonderfully vivid, as I think we have all seen those images (in movies, i hope) where bullets spray the dirt and make it fly. That description also brings an emotional element to the the rain. It is a combative rain. You just know there is trouble taking place.

any other takes on that?

Task for Week 2

(Sorry not to get this up earlier--I was waiting for more people to get signed in, but I see I'd better get going...)

When I ask students to find sharp details from personal essays, many seem not quite to understand what I mean. So let's start with one particular type of detail–the image. Images use words to give the reader sensory impressions: sights (most often), sounds, smells, tastes, textures. For this week, look for a sentence that gives (in that one sentence) a clear picture (or other sensory image).

Here's one that comes to mind for me from a Roger Angell essay titled "Long Voyage Home" about the 2004 baseball season:

"On his off days, Pedro Martinez settled capless into his upper corner of the dugout, wearing only remainder bits of the Boston uniform, and delivered momlike nods and smiles toward the unbuttoned Manny as he ambled toward the bat rack again."

I like the "momlike" (which is a surprise but seems right) and the "unbuttoned Manny" (which efficiently delivers his dishevelment).

And from the first page of novel I just picked up today (Tom Rachman's The Imperfectionists):

"A kitchen towel hangs from her shoulder and she wipes off her fingers, damp from peeled potatoes, dishwashing liquid, diced onions, scented from mothballed blankets, soil from the window boxes--Eileen is a woman who touches everything, tastes all, digs in."

Here I like how much of her character is conveyed through details, and how much of her surroundings. Nice rhythm with balanced structures. Also I like the way the author saves the general statement for end of sentence, letting reader experience Eileen before interpreting her (the way one does in real life).

If you find a sentence this week containing such a sharp image, please add it as a separate post. In the label box at the bottom of the posting window, please add the word "image" so that we can sort entries if anyone finds a great example in the weeks to come.

Sentence of the Week

"There is no sentence too short to be acceptable in the eyes of God" Willian Zinsser
We should be concise when communicating our ideas. It is no about quantity, but quality.