Journal #17

This section of “They Say, I Say” brought up many useful points but there were three that stood out more than any others. One important point that it made was that in your writing, you need to anticipate objections from critics. This allows for your writing to be better because if you anticipate what people will object with and address it in a way where you convince people that the argument is invalid, your work will be better and seem more credible. Also, doing this makes you seem more open-minded rather than just talking about how you feel about a topic. A second point this reading brought up was that you need to provide enough reasoning for why an objecting is false. It states that if you just say that a critics argument is wrong, people won’t believe it and it will actually make your work less credible. You have to present the reader with convincing data and arguments so they will agree with you and dismiss critiques about your work as well. A third and final point that this section makes is that writers need to address objections early in their writing and spend enough time doing so, because if the only time they address critics is just a random sentence in the middle of their work it won’t seem convincing. Instead, writers should write a few sentences, at the minimum, in the beginning of their work.

Journal #16

It is so difficult to resolve these moral quandaries that Herzog writes about because as humans, we understand that what we are doing may not be the right thing to do but our brains will do what we find pleasurable and if that happens to be eating meat, we will do so because we believe that the benefits outweigh the costs. Living in the “troubled middle” is familiar to most people because we feel the emotions with our heart that what we are doing is wrong but our brains play it off and tell us to keep doing it anyway because we know other people do it.

Being human means having conflicting beliefs and actions that may seem to be abnormal and unreasonable. Humans have tendencies like no other species on the earth, so it would make sense that we have problems that most other species don’t have. Looking at our relationship with animals, we can see truly how strange and complicated humans are; for some animals we treat them like they are family, and for other animals we eat them on a daily basis. It really is inexplicable and makes no logical sense the patterns that we have towards animals. We are similar to animals because we have similar biological builds, as we have a heart, stomach, bloodstream, and brain, but we really differ with them on how those all interact with each other. Animals don’t have these moral problems that we do, and that is because we are much more of a developed and complex species than most, if not all other animals.

Between David Foster Wallace and Herzog, we see similarities and also differences. A similarity they share is questioning the morality of killing animals for food, as obviously Wallace for the whole of his essay is questioning whether boiling lobster is acceptable or not, and Herzog questions the process of killing animals so we can eat meat. They differ because Herzog continues and talks about domesticated animals and how we treat them, while Wallace never touches upon that.

Journal #15

After rereading David Foster Wallace’s “Consider the Lobster” and my own previous journal entry regarding the piece, I notice that my thinking has significantly changed about several things that I wrote about. The first thing that I immediately noticed was that I didn’t fully understand how often humans will ignore something that is controversial until I read the last several pieces in class. After only reading “Consider the Lobster”, I didn’t fully see the pattern that humans have of ignoring things that we think are wrong or controversial. A second thing I noticed was actually a question I wanted to ask David Foster Wallace, and that was whether or not he thought cooking lobster was acceptable or not. Of course, I don’t have a direct answer from him, but through his statements I can infer that he doesn’t necessarily think its something that is okay, but he still ignores it like most other humans. At the end of Wallace’s piece, he states that “there are limits to what even interested persons can ask of each other.” My immediate reaction to this was essentially disagreeing with it, but after looking back on what I think this really means, my ideas have altered significantly on this quote. After reading “Consider the Lobster”, I thought that he was wrong by saying this and that there really is no end to a discussion if people keep asking questions. But, I realize now that it wasn’t really about whether or not people had questions to ask or not. It was more about whether or not they wanted to ask them. Wallace says that there is a limit because humans, including himself, don’t want to ask all kinds of questions about controversial topics because they have decided to ignore the questionability of the potentially wrong things that they do.

Journal #14

In response to the first question, I would not feel comfortable whatsoever being involved in the death process of a family member. Death, although a natural thing, is something that many people try to ignore, including myself. Also, a way that many people deal with death is by trying to remember their family members in a positive way and when they were alive and living the lives that they lived. If someone who was thinking like that was involved in the death process of a family member, they would never be able to get the tragic memories out of their minds and would have a harder time dealing with the loss. In response to the second question, Doughty thinks it is important to humanize the industrial crematory because so many bodies are cremated and sent off to their final resting place all alone and without the family watching, which Doughty finds strange. She believes that the death process is important and the family should be there to witness the special process. She also states that people need to accept death and understand that it will happen to all of us so it shouldn’t be something we can’t come to terms with. In response to the third question, essentially no, my opinions haven’t changed too much regarding the commonly accepted practices we have talked about. Although I have learned a lot and gained an understanding that many people ignore these things, I still know that these things aren’t attractive but I will still choose to ignore them and go on living how I have been previous to reading what we have read in class.

Reflecting upon the works of Pollan, Mitford, and the interview of Doughty, there were parts which surprised me and parts that did not. Considering Pollan’s “The Meal-Fast Food”, the passage that surprised me was on page 112 when he explained that there was thirty-eight ingredients in a McNugget. This didn’t surprise me in a sense that I didn’t know there were many ingredients, but I didn’t know the actual number and the severity of this “food” because I had been trying to ignore it because I have eaten them before. A part that did not surprise me was on page 109 when Pollan explained that his son was more than happy to go to McDonalds because children just want something that tastes good. They aren’t worried about what is in the food or if it is all natural or not, so it didn’t surprise me that his son wanted this unhealthy product.

In Mitford’s piece, “The Story of Service”, a part that surprised me was the paragraph starting on page 41 and continuing on page 42 where Mitford explains just how much time and man-effort it takes to preform a funeral service. Because I have tried to ignore the whole process, I hadn’t really known much about how much work it really takes. A part that did not surprise me was on page 44 when she explained that Americans spend so much money on the funeral process and most people don’t even know what happens. This is extremely unsurprising because we have learned time and time again in the recent pieces we have read that Americans will turn their heads and try to ignore things that are disturbing or questionable, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that people spend money on the process even though they don’t know what occurs.

In the interview of Doughty, I was surprised about how she described and felt about the cremation process. I was somewhat shocked when she said she wanted families to stay and watch it despite the fact that the ashes will get on them and they will have to watch their loved one burn and never see them again after. This was surprising just because of how disturbing it was to me and I can imagine it would be disturbing to most as well. In relation, I was not surprised that the families did not stay to watch, because they don’t want to put themselves through that tragic experience of watching their loved ones burn; they want to remember how they were when they were alive.

Journal #13

In Jessica Mitford’s “The Story of Service”, she poses several questions and delves into many interests, all while stating several claims which could result in opinionated response from readers. One question that arises in Mitford’s essay is the question of why people will pay so much money for funeral services and embalmment and not really understand what the process is and what they are paying for. That question is what the majority of Mitford’s essay revolves around. A second question that is posed is about the legality of this embalmment process and whether what goes on is acceptable. This question actually relates back to the previously mentioned question because the legalities of embalmment are much more complicated when people don’t understand what they are singing off on.

Additionally, as mentioned, Mitford makes a few claims which could be somewhat controversial. One claim she makes is one previously talked about, but she states that “one must wonder at the docility of Americans who each year pay hundreds of millions of dollars for its perpetuation, blissfully ignorant of what it is all about, what is done, and how it is done.” (Page 44) I very strongly agree with this claim because I know from my own experience that I did not know the process of embalmment and when it has been talked about in my family nobody has understood it to the depth that Mitford provides. With todays “consumer” being relatively well-informed, it is ironic that in this situation that is so important we don’t understand what we are paying for. A second claim that Mitford makes, referring to embalmment, is that “Today, family members who might wish to be in attendance would certainly be dissuaded by the funeral director.” (Page 44) I also agree with this statement because the way Mitford describes the process of embalmment is nothing short of terrifying and disturbing. If people were to stay and watch the procedure occur, they would most certainly be sickened and not want to have any of their other members go through the process of embalmment after witnessing it. This is what funeral directors are probably worried of, and would therefore dissuade family members from staying and watching. A third claim Mitford makes is when she is referring to the funeral director and claims that “he has relieved the family of every detail” (Page 51) My opinion on this is a mixed one, as yes, he has done all of the procedures that must be done after somebody dies, but Mitford makes it seem like just because the funeral director does this the family forgets that someone they love has just died, which I would strongly disagree with.

Journal #12

In Jessica Mitford’s “The Story of Service”, the process and preparation of a funeral service is explained and analyzed in extreme and sometimes graphic depth. The entire story is very informational and descriptive but there were several passages from the piece that stood out as significant and important. Mitford, for the majority of her work, is explaining how the funeral process, specifically embalmment, is something that really no common man is familiar with and that the funeral process can actually be controversial. The first passage which stood out to me as significant was second paragraph on page 42, beginning with “Just how insurance…”. This passage struck me as crucial to Mitford’s argument because it was the first paragraph to introduce the extremely complex process of preparation for a funeral and how the word “service” means much more than meets the eye. This passage explains the “65 items of service” and how it takes about 120 man-hours to prepare completely for a funeral. The second passage that I thought was extremely important to Mitford’s argument was in the 2nd paragraph of page 44, where Mitford states that “one must wonder at the docility of Americans who each year pay hundreds of millions of dollars for its perpetuation, blissfuly ignorant of what it is all about, what is done, and how it is done.” This clearly is significant because it really is part of what seems to be her main argument about how people don’t realize how actually complex the process of a funeral service is. This is where she first states that people are paying so much money and they don’t really know what for. The third and final passage that seemed crucial to Mitford’s argument was the last paragraph on page 43, where when talking about embalmment, she asks “Is all this legal?” This poses an extremely important and controversial question which makes one think back to how she explained that people don’t really know what goes on during embalmment. Because the family of the deceased doesn’t really know what they are agreeing to, is it really okay for all of it to take place?

Journal #11

In this chapter of “They Say, I Say”, multiple ideas are brought up about how to properly summarize and include someone else’s writing into your own piece that are helpful for anyone to improve their writing. First of all, it urges writers to not be on an extreme side of the spectrum when it comes to incorporation the summary of another piece into your writing; it explains that you do not want to only talk about the other persons writing without talking about your opinion on it, or only talk about your views on the topic and not include the other persons ideas for context. When summarizing, the chapter explains that you should utilize specific parts of the writing to support your writing and be more specific; rather than just use their ideas in a broad sense, narrow down what they say to the level that you are arguing on. Lastly, it states that when talking about someone else’s ideas, you should use word rather than just they “say” or “talk about”; you should use words that give the reader a feeling of what the writers tone is, such as “urge” or “stress”.

Journal #10

In Raymond Carver’s “A Small, Good Thing”, he tells a story about a young boy, Scotty, who was injured in a hit-and-run. It continues to portray his parents (Ann and Howard) extreme worry about him despite the doctors telling them that he only had a fracture in his skull and a mild concussion. Yet, in a rare occurrence, Scotty actually ends up dying. Carver goes on to explain the misery that the entire sequence of horrific events put Ann and Howard through, yet he actually uses food as a type of metaphor to show comfort in the end of the story. Ann and Howard initially go to the bakery to give the baker a piece of their mind because he had been calling them non-stop about Scotty’s cake, as he didn’t know the trouble they were going through. Yet, when they get to the bakery and tell the baker what had happened and aggressively told him to stop what he was doing, he immediately felt terrible and offered his sympathy through food. On page 217 of this story, he offers them hot rolls and explains that they are a “small, good thing in a time like this.” What Carver is trying to put forward with this is that sometimes, in times of sadness or misery, just a small thing can make all the difference and can take our mind off the trouble we are going through for a bit. This idea is actually shown on the next page, 218, in the last paragraph, as the death of the boy and the sorrow they were feeling is not even mentioned. I believe that Carver did this on purpose, to show that just from eating some of the bakers food that he kindly offered them, it took their mind off of what had happened.

Journal #9

Over the course of this drafting process for the favorite meal essay, the thing that I spent the most time revising was definitely just taking the comments that my peers gave me and making sure that it could make sense to someone who is reading the paper with little to no knowledge about me. It is so easy to get caught up in your writing and assume that the reader will know what, say, your relationship with your cousins is or where you were when eating the meal, but the reality is that they really have no idea, so I tried as best I could to make the paper make sense and not be overly descriptive, all while giving the reader the information they need. One thing that I would change with my revision process is probably next time I would want to be more open-minded to peer revisions and actually try to make the changes that they recommend. I feel that sometimes I can be a little obstinate when it comes to putting other people’s ideas in my paper just because I am usually content with my writing and don’t want to change it all around, but I need to remember that my peers are also an audience and I should do whatever I can to make it better for the audience. This drafting process was not as much different from my past drafting experiences as it was more intense; usually in my high school we would peer edit for no more than twenty minutes and call it good, but for this paper, we really spent upwards of a half hour on each paper, not including the time we spent talking about them in class. I think my approach fit in with the expectations of this class because I took every aspect of revision very seriously to be able to obtain the best paper I could, even if I made some mistakes along the way. I made sure not only to give my peers good comments about their writing, but to think about what they said. I also re-read my paper dozens of times to make sure there were no flaws that I could notice.

Journal #8

This section of “They Say, I Say” brings up many helpful and beneficial points that I will immediately make sure I use in my writing. This chapter explains about the “They Say” aspect of writing, and how you should incorporate it effectively into writing. It talks about how for one, if you talk about your view on something without explaining what critics or other people think about it, readers will be confused because there was really no point to what you were writing; just because you are aware that people think differently about the topic at hand doesn’t mean that the audience also understands that. You need to explain to them what the opposing side may say, and then introduce what your view is and explain it. On the flip side, if you talk about what critics say but never talk about what your view is, your writing won’t make sense either because there will have been no point to it. Next, the chapter explains that another key aspect to correctly incorporate “They Say” into your writing, you must also keep referring back to the critics views. You have to make sure that the reader stays aware of those opposing views so they remember what the point of your writing is and have something to keep referring to as to understand the difference between your thoughts and the thoughts of others.

Journal #7

While peer reviewing in class, the things that my peers suggested that I found most helpful were essentially the things that they noticed that I could not. Because I’ve been through the process of eating and experiencing the meal I wrote about for as long as I can remember, it all has become routine to me so it’s much harder for me to notice when I describe something poorly or I don’t provide enough information. But, for my peers who haven’t had this experience with me and don’t know my family, they can easily detect when there is not enough information for them to fully understand what I’m saying. I think the same applied for my comments about their writing; they were writing about things that they have done before and people they are very familiar with, so when they didn’t provide enough information about a person or an event, I easily took notice. I also found that I was commonly recommending my peers to explain how things that were happening made them feel emotionally, rather than just explaining how the meal was made or the chronological order of them eating the meal. One thing that came up in our discussion that wasn’t captured in our discussion would something Prakash brought up, as he came up with the idea during our discussion that I could start my paper with a quote that I had put in that my grandmother said. Looking at that quote, I realized that it really summarized what my entire essay was talking about. Looking back, one thing I wish that had come up was if they could relate to the feelings that I was trying to put forth in my paper and if that allowed for them to understand my work better.

In addition, here is my podcast summarizing and restating my seventh journal entry.

Journal #6

Sean Walsh

English 110 H4

Professor Miller

Top 3 Concerns:

Do I explain and make sense of the quotes I use?

Is my thesis specific and clear enough?

Does my thesis connect to the rest of my writing?

More Than a Meal

I shove the door to my grandparents house open and immediately I am hit with the dense, warm aroma of a delicious thanksgiving meal being cooked. My mouth instantaneously begins to water and my stomach growls like an angry pack of wolves. I hug my grandparents and although I am happy to see them, I can’t help but remain focused on the exquisite meal that I am about to devour, and they understand because they feel the same way I do. The seconds feel like hours and the minutes feel like days as I await for the feast to be complete, and when it finally is, I can’t even decide what I want to put on my plate first. My eyes survey the soft mashed potatoes that look like moist clouds, the golden-brown stuffing, the flakey rolls, and most importantly, the tender, yet perfectly moist turkey. I put a little of everything on my plate and sit down and begin to attack my plate. Every bite is utter bliss and despite my extreme hunger, I savor every bite and enjoy the moment because I recognize that the remaining Thanksgiving dinners I’ll share with my family is unfortunately finite. I look around at the rest of my family surrounding me at the table and notice how they interact, laughing and joking with each other, yet still creating a lingering feeling of togetherness. The Thanksgiving feast that my grandparents cook for our family every year never ceases to amaze me and is my favorite meal, not only because of the varying delicious foods that comprise it, but because of the enlightening effect it has on my family, the vivid memories of eating the meal as a child, and the positive feelings of happiness and love mixed with the feelings of nostalgia and that arise while eating it.

For my family and I, our Thanksgiving celebration and our delicious feast signifies more than meets the eye; the meal has a deeper value for us. I feel that many people really forget the true meaning of each holiday and we begin to take them for granted and just think of them as a day where we get together and eat food, and in some instances give and receive presents. Although my family does participate in those practices that hundreds of millions of people also participate in world-wide, we never forget the true meaning and value of each holiday. When I look at the meal in from of me on Thanksgiving, I see more than just turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and vegetables. I see the value and the meaning of it. When I look down at my filled plate, I think of how lucky I am to be able to have such a loving family, be eating such a wholesome meal, and how lucky I am to live the life I live. The meal also signifies time I get to spend with my family catching up and visiting with them. I don’t see my family too often because of how busy all of our schedules are, as all of my cousins, including myself, are either in college or have graduated and have busy jobs and my aunts and uncles all have hectic adult lives as well. But, when we do get together, it is very special and I value the time I spend with my family very much.

The wonderful Thanksgiving dish also evokes many feelings from within me, one of those being a certain sense of nostalgia. Although my Thanksgiving celebrations with my family aren’t in my past, when I look down at my plate and see the same food I have eaten every Thanksgiving for my entire life, it brings me back to when I was younger and what my perception was at that time. I can remember one Thanksgiving in particular, I was probably about six or seven years old, and I sat at the table and thought about how much younger and smaller I felt than everyone else. I am the youngest in my family by about two or three years, so when I was younger, everyone else was much bigger than me. I don’t know why, but I think about how I felt at that Thanksgiving every single year and laugh at how much things have changed some twelve years later. Although somewhat depressing and pessimistic of myself, the meal also evokes some sadness in me because I know that I won’t be able to have that meal forever and some day, I won’t celebrate Thanksgiving with the people I have for my entire life. Yet, at the same time, I feel happy because for the time being, I still have time with my family left, and many delicious Thanksgiving meals courtesy of my grandmother left to eat.

Upon talking to my grandmother and grandfather about what this dish means to them, no matter what they said, their answers always went back to the reoccurring theme of family. My grandmother, when asked what making the dish meant to her, she explained that “[she] had always taught the kids that family was the most important thing. Thanksgiving isn’t only about the food, it’s about family. Family is the biggest thing” and that is what they thought about while making the dish. My grandparents had always instilled the value of family into my mom and her brothers, and it is very evident because they all live within a ten mile radius and talk several times every week. Although my grandparents have explained the value of family to me hundreds of times, they didn’t really think that the reason I liked the dish was because of the family aspect. My grandmother thought that I liked the dish because of just the food and my grandfather exclaimed “He doesn’t have to make it!”, which lined up perfectly with his humorous personality. But, to their surprise, I explained to them that most of what I had written about was how much the family aspect of the holiday meant to me and how the meal signified something larger than just food. They both agreed that this was also their favorite meal, as my grandmother stated that “On Thanksgiving, the whole family usually can make it so we are all together, but on Christmas sometimes people are working or have other places to be, so its really special when everyone is together” which truly resembles the essence of a holiday.

Overall, this dish is so meaningful to my family and I not just because of the food we are actually eating, but because of the value and the feelings that it brings. It means that my entire family comes together on a day to give thanks for what we have and truly appreciate each other. Although some people of my age may not understand the true meaning of holidays and think they are cheesy, which at some times can be true, to be able to come together with your family to share a meal is an unbelievable privilege. At the end of the day, holidays are more than what we are actually eating, but what we are doing while we eat and who we share the meal with.

Journal #5

In The Art of Quoting section in “They Say, I Say”, many helpful and beneficial points are brought up about when to quote from a source and how to properly integrate it into your own writing so the reader can understand why you used the quote and what it is about. First, the book explains that to quote properly as a writer, “…you need to have a sense of what you want to do with them-that is, how they will support your text at the particular point where you insert them.” This is important because if you insert a quote into your writing without understanding how it benefits and enhances your writing and you put it in just so you have a quote, it won’t make sense and will actually take away from your writing. The book also explains that many students struggle with appropriately explaining quotations after they insert them into their writing, and the chapter offers several templates to use to properly explain a used quotation. In addition, it maintains that in order to explain effectively, “…it is important to use language that accurately reflects the spirit of the quoted passage.” Essentially, this means that while explaining the quotation, you should use words that reflect the authors tone and feelings toward what they are talking about. If the author is making a statement where they seem to be surprised at something, you could use an appropriate word that portrayed that feeling to even better allow the reader of your writing to understand your quotation. Finally, the reading ends with brushing upon the topic of overanalyzing quotations, but sends the message that “It is better to risk being overly explicit about what you take a quotation to mean than to leave the quotation dangling and your readers in doubt.” Clearly, the author is putting the point across that it is better for the reader to have too much information about a quotation than too little, because the worst case scenario if you overanalyze a quotation is they just end up with information they didn’t need rather than having not enough.

Journal #4

This reading, albeit short, had many helpful tips and tools that will affect my writing and enhance it. One thing that I found particularly helpful was the thought of making sure you include a “they say” component. This means to address the viewpoint of other people, which could sometimes mean admitting that your critics or the opposing side of the topic you’re arguing has a point. The reason to do this is because if you just make your argument and never address other thoughts on it, the reader won’t understand why you are writing what you are writing and won’t be able to fully connect with your piece. It also explained ways that you can incorporate someone else’s views into your writing. It emphasized that you don’t need to have a definitive statement saying you do or do not agree with someone else’s view, but instead, if need be, you can explain how you partially agree with a certain point they made and potentially disagree with another point they made. It also touched upon the topic of plagiarism, which almost every student has had some encounter with over their education. It explained that using words or phrases that are common and may have been used in other writing is not considered plagiarism, but if you are using someone else’s ideas to “fill in the space” between these transition words, it is considered plagiarism. Overall, this chapter touched upon multiple topics that will affect my writing, especially the idea of “they say”, which I had never really thought of before but understand that using it will make my writing that much better because people will be able to relate and understand why I am writing it better.

Journal #3

I walk towards my car and extend my hand to grasp the smooth handle to the door and pull it towards myself to open the door to my Chrysler Town and Country. I lightly hop into the drivers seat and put my cell phone, my wallet, and my soda down in the passenger seat beside me. I look at the clock to see that it is eleven-forty-five at night. I know that I have to be home by midnight so I have to hurry. I shove the key into the ignition and as I turn it, I hear the engine of the car quietly, yet aggressively, rumble as the car turns on. I shift the car into drive and pull out of the parking spot. I turn onto the main road, and realize that I am the only one driving this late at night in the area. When driving in the dark with no cars around, you really notice more around you and are able to almost feel the darkness consume you as you drive through it. I can see the the rays of light coming out of my headlights because of the pollen and dust that are floating in the air are illuminated by my beams. I roll down my windows and can strangely smell the warmth of the summer air as it flies into my face, and I enjoy every second of the bliss. I grab my soda and take a drink, and I can taste the fizzy lemon-lime drink splash around my mouth and smoothly flow down my throat. I finally take the last turn onto my road, and I notice that everybody;s house lights are off, so I quietly inch my car into my driveway and turn it off, watching the light beams glowing on my house quickly die out and hear the noises that the engine makes slowly fade out until I was in complete darkness and silence.

Journal #2

My experiences with drafting processes haven’t been too extreme or exciting but I am somewhat experienced with them. In many of my high school courses, when we wrote papers, responses, essays, or whatever it may be, I would usually start with jotting down a few notes on what I wanted to cover in my paper and usually would plan out what my intro would have in it, and what each body paragraph would cover and then finish with how I would conclude. Rarely did I ever actually type up an outline (which many other students did). I didn’t really ever do that because I feel that one thing I’m particularly strong at is picturing in my head what I’m going to write and how I’m going to write it, so spending an hour or two on just making a rough outline always seemed like a waste of time to me because I would actually be writing the paper instead. After making a few notes of things I wanted to cover, I would get right into the writing and write my paper. After writing, I would re-read it multiple times to make sure I covered what I wanted to, my grammar was appropriate, and use to fix any little mistakes I may have made. After that, teachers would usually make us partner up with another student and read each others papers and we would mark down where we found any errors. I always found this type of draft revision process to be helpful because even the best writers may make a mistake in their writing and they won’t even notice it when they are reviewing because they are the ones who wrote it so their brains actually won’t even notice the mistake. But, when someone who didn’t write the actual paper reads it, they may notice grammatical or logical flaws that the writer would have never picked up on. And then from there, after peer revisions, I would make the edits, read it over one more time, and hand in the final piece.

Journal #1