Journal #2

The article "Student Metaphors of Themselves as Writers" is organized by categorizing the different metaphors by different themes.  This helps organize the article because it makes it easier to distinguish the different types of metaphors that the students wrote.  The sections that follow one another for the most apart are the opposites.  For example, metaphors of process and speed and metaphors of fear and courage follow it.  In my opinion, these types of metaphors are opposite from one another in terms of confidence with their writing.

The central claim of each section of the article is a different type of metaphor.  The different metaphors are process and speed, fear and courage, control, silence, and invitations.  This shows that there were multiple ways that the students thought of themselves as writers.  Also, the central claim of each section is that every student thinks of themselves as different types of writers.  Each section helps to guide the article together.

The overall thesis of this article is that having the students write metaphors is to help them figure out what kind of writer they are.  Each section that the article has gives examples of their metaphors, which helps with the thesis.  Also, all of the metaphors that were given as examples help to support the idea that the author has.  The thesis of this article talks about how a teacher had students write metaphors about them as a writer so he can get to know them better.  This article is good because it gives different ways that the students wrote about themselves as writers.

Journal Entry

I agree with Middlebury's College's policy because Wikipedia is not the best option to get information from.  However, the links that the pages provide could help with getting more accurate information.  Wikipedia could be used as a starting page to jump off from, but it should not be used as a primary source of information for a paper especially in college.  I agree with the policy because students need to realize that there are better sources of information than Wikipedia.  The policy is set in place because the faculty think that something should be done about the number of students using Wikipedia for one of their sources.

The other policies mentioned in the article are fair because it will teach students not to use Wikipedia.  It is a good idea for some deduction to be made in the grade if Wikipedia is used.  These policies are in place for a reason because too many students are using Wikipedia to get information for their papers.  The policy that is mentioned in the article are not to use Wikipedia as a primary source, which is a good policy.  To deal with the problems of Wikipedia the faculty could deduct some points from the paper to make the students realize that they should not use Wiki as a source.

Entry 9

After watching the first part of Into the Wild and reading the book it is obvious that are many differences. One of the differences is that the movie used more detail to describe Chris and what he did on his many adventures.  Another difference is in the movie it talks about his parents during their graduation and the book does not mention that at all.  Also, the film shows the parents getting mad at Chris because he did not want a new car as a graduation present. A similarity between the book and the movie is that they both follow the storyline of Chris's adventures.  However, the film depicts Chris better than in the book.  The film also does a good job showing the scenery.

The film does paint Chris in a different light than Krakauer does because it uses different techniques to describe Chris.  The film often shows Chris with the different jobs that he acquires on his adventures, such as the grain elevator.  The film and the book both show Chris as being a hard-worker through Krakauer's words and the actions showed in the film.  The light that the film paints Chris is hard-working and shows his emotions better than the book does.  Films are normally better to show emotions because films are meant for viewing and books are meant for reading.

Film does screw our sense of reality and romanticize tragedy because no one would watch the movies.  Film is one of these things where it takes away a sense of reality because sometimes reality is not kind to us.  It romanticizes tragedy because films like to play with our emotions and make us feel certain ways.  This is true in many movies, such as the Disney movies.  Films often do things that are not possible in reality and that is what makes people want to watch a particular movie.

Entry 8

My initial perceptions of Chris were that he was foolish and stupid because he went into the wild with barely any supplies.  Also, the majority of the weight of his backpack was filled with hardcover books and he tried to survive on 10 pounds of rice.  My perceptions of Chris have changed from being foolish to being adventurous because he liked to explore different places.  He is adventurous because he did a lot of things in the wild alone and that is what he liked to do.  However, some of his actions that he did were not the best ideas in the world.  For example, killing the moose and not knowing how to preserve it properly.

When Billie and Walt visit the bus where Chris died the feelings of them is a calm one.  For Billie she does not cry surprisingly and leaves a suitcase full of survival things for the next hiker.  Walt understands Chris a little more but he is still confused by things.  Billie thinks that Chris must have liked this place and thought that he was brave for doing this on his own.  Their perceptions of Chris at point are that he was peaceful in this area.

Some things that Chris did were important because he needed to kill animals in order to eat, but other things that he did were stupid.  The actions he did at the start of the trail were stupid because he did not have many supplies and did not have a map of the area.  However, near his death he learned that happiness is better when around people instead of being alone.  Right before he died the last picture of him showed him looking peaceful.  He was probably looking peaceful because he loved nature and being in the wild.

Entry 7

I feel that Krakauer interrupted the story with Chapters 8-9 because he wanted to talk about some of the other people who did similar adventures in the wild.  Not surprisingly, all of the other people ended up dying just like Chris McCandless did.  This shows that it was not just him who had tried to survive in the wilderness alone.  One of the people who died mistakenly gave the wrong hand signal to the pilot and was out in the wild just to take pictures.  Another person survived being in the wilderness and made plans to live out of his backpack, but he was found dead with a knife in his heart.

We change our names to better "fit" our personality for various reasons.  One reason is based on what we grew up with such as religion.  Another is we outgrew our childhood names and wanted to have a more adult version of our names.  These are some of the reasons that we change our names and some people choose not to change their names.  People might also feel that their name does not reflect who they are and create a nickname that better reflects their personality.

The question "What's in a name" is a question that is open-ended  Some people might say that memories are in a name because some people are named after dead relatives.  It really depends on what the parents want to name their child.  Some might want to name their children with the same letter, and others might just like a particular name and they just go with that.  As well as that, certain names have a really good meaning behind them and that is another way to choose a name that "fits" your personality.