Writing Interview

Interviewing “The Writer”:

1)      What are the different ways you use writing (in and out of school)?

-          I use writing in many different aspects of my life. For my social life I use Facebook and text messaging. I Facebook and text message every single day throughout the whole day. For my academic life I write essays and do homework that involves homework. I usually do about 7 hours of homework a week. For my organizational life I create to-do lists and jot down notes to remind me of important things.

2)      What writers have you read that you could say had an authentic “voice”? Describe the qualities that made them unique.

-          I haven’t read any books where the authors “voice” stood out to me.

3)      How would you describe your writing voice? How connected is it to the way you think and talk?

-          I would describe my writing voice as very forward, straight to the point, basic and simple, argumentative, and honest. Most of my writings are based off of facts instead of opinion. I like to be very structured and organized with my writing and how I portray my writing.

4)      List all the types of writing you’ve done in this class (brainstorm together). Were some of these more challenging to you than others? Which ones did you feel most comfortable writing? What does that say about you as a writer?

-          In this class we have done an Issue Essay, Annotated Bibliography, Reading Responses, and a Multi-Genre Research Project. Along with these we have watched plenty of documentaries and clips from Net Flicks and YouTube where we usually either discussed responses or gave a write up on them.

5)      What is your earliest writing memory?

-          My earliest writing memory is writing letters to my mom for holidays or her birthday. The reason I remember this is because she still has them. Having those remind me of when I tried to write them when I was younger. I’m sure I wrote other things before those but writing letters to my mom is most likely the first composed writing I had done.

6)      What is your best /worst writing experience?

-          My worst writing experience is when I was a senior in high school. We had a huge essay report due for our final and I waited way too long to start it. I had to make the whole thing up without proof reading and ended up getting a terrible grade on it. I hate not having enough time to read my writings over and over again because each time I re-read it gets better and better.

Bonus Question: If you could have anyone do a voice-over for your writing, who would it be?

-          Eric Church – country singer

poem

Generations

As time goes by

The generations fly

From past to present

Things will change

Allowing for growth

To the ones we love most

We can help one another

To improve the future

Always looking for something to nurture

With future and past

And building a story

That forever will last

Spoof Ad

Research Log #3

Belkin, Lisa. “Shifting Importance of Parenting.” New York Times 15 March 2011.

Summary:

In this article it discusses how different generations responded to the question, if you had to choose between your child and your spouse who would you choose? They found that if you were a part of Generation X “being a good parent” was slightly more important (42 percent) than “having a successful marriage” (35 percent) but if you were in the millennial generation the gap was much larger. 52 percent said that being a good parent was more important compared to the 30 percent who felt their highest priority was their marriage. This article claims that views on marriage and parenting are shifting. The next part of discussion is how to explain the shift in values between one generation and the next. Pew researchers suggest that because growing up in a single parent home is becoming more common the idea of not getting married is becoming more normal.

Response:

Key concepts revolved around the question of why there has been such a shift in the way Generation X and the millennium generation perceive marriage and children. This is interesting to me because these are current generations that are still participating in the way of the world. Their input affects the generation after them and those inputs could have lead down to my generation as well. They also concluded that the way Generation X and the millennium generation view marriage is different. They know there are patterns between why the view is different and that is what intrigued me the most throughout the article. The millennium generation was more likely to say the child doesn’t need a mother and a father to live a happy childhood. This could stem from the fact that more children grow up in single parent homes. This would prove that your parents play a huge role in how you perceive things when reaching adulthood. Samhita Mukopadhyay explains on her website, Feministing, another reason for the shift “I would add that the shift in attitude in the last 14 years from Gen X’ers to millennials is due in part to the decline in the economy in the past 10 years.” This could also be a factor and usually this is the exact reason why it is so hard to pin point how much of an affect previous generations have on future generations. There is just simply too many factors to consider.

Next Steps:

I got this source from the New York Times which I knew has really good current articles. I choose this specific article because it related to my research topic. It was short and got to the point but also had a lot of really good information in it. I would like to find an article similar to this one that goes more in depth. I know the author of this article has a column called Motherlode so I think I’m going to research her other articles a little more. From here I could find more detailed and specific information. I have the historical facts down, the general facts down, and the current issue is presented. I feel like from here I can get more into the specifics of my research topic.

Research Log 2

“Generations: History of America’s Future.” C-span. Booknotes, Washington. 31 Dec. 1991. Television.

Summary:

I watched a recording of a television broadcasting that was based off of the book Generations: History of America’s Future. The authors spoke about the purpose of their book and what it was all about. The main theme of the book was to show how the past shapes the future and how certain personality traits follow a generation from youth to old age. They discussed 18 different generations and how American’s society pulse to rhythms in families and at large. They describe a four part cycle that includes idealist (moralistic), reactive (pragmatic), civic (selfless), or adaptive (compromiser). They explain that the four part cycle can explain the history of America and predict the future patterns of American culture. They talk about how the ages of the millenniums are wild and not further educated and because of this the previous generation (boomers) felt a sense of guilt for the outcome of the new generation (millenniums). They followed generations from puritans to today’s children, which ended in the year 2003 in their research. At the end of the book the future is discussed. From their research they explained that the future after the millenniums will have just as dramatic changes as the previous generations. Most people think that people who are 25 are going to act the way 25 year-olds have always acted. They point out that this is not true and has never happened in the past.

Response:

Key concepts that related specifically to my research topic where things like how the boomers felt guilt for the outcome of the millenniums, how American’s society pulse to rhythms in families and at large, and how certain personality traits follow a generation from youth to old age. My reaction to these points was happy because of the fact that this is what I had previously thought. They mentioned how the past shapes the future and I personally strongly believe in this. They depicted how every generation has certain qualities and can be identified into certain categories.

Next Steps:

Hearing what they have to say and what was written in their book is information that I think more people need to know about. All of these points interested me and answered some questions that I had. Knowing that the boomers had an effect on the future generation proves that our present generation can impact the future generations. If we can realize this and take advantage of that fact we could change the future. This is exactly what I want to find out more about. The broadcast that I had watched was a summary of what the book was about if I read the whole book I think a lot of my questions could be answered. At the end of the broadcast some feedback was read that interest me as well. Seeing what people thought about this book and how current generations feel about this is something I would like to look into. I choose this source because it has a lot of interesting information that was helpful to me.

Research Log #1

Schrag, Peter. “The Old History and the New California.” Rethinking History 11.1 (2007).  

Summary:

In Peter Schrag’s scholarly article “The Old History and the New California,” he goes on to explain how California has improved, changed, and maybe even became a disappointment for some. He points out that during the post-Second World War period California had become a model for efficient public service, an inspiring government, and an opportunity for the good life. Schrag states that in the 1960’s when California outgrew New York in population an outburst of television specials and magazines were capitalizing on the fact that California was now the ideal embodiment for optimism and glowing futures. However, it is pointed out that the not so perfect side of California was always there. Racism, political corruption, labor violence, crowding, poverty, pollution, regulation, complexity, ethnic riots and competition from abroad are unfortunately all part of the ideal California. While generations and generations flew by, California has worked ever since to restore perfection. Tax limitations, spending limits, tough criminal sentencing laws, denial of services to illegal immigrants, funding for stem-cell research, minimum wage increases, and medical marijuana laws are proof that California is still trying. Whether we are digging ourselves a deeper hole is the question. Schrag focuses on the discussion on immigration. He states that “much of the spike of the past two decades in the number of illegal aliens in the United States, estimated at 11 million in 2006, has been driven by the increased efforts to toughen border enforcement” (Schrag 35). This is a main claim used by Schrag and he goes more into detail about how we can learn from previous eras to perfect the future. He also reminds us that we could be turning in circles while trying to make everything too ‘perfect’.

Response:

Some of the key phrases throughout the article are California; Population; Economy; New Society; Old Institutions. One of the claims I found most interesting was the first sentence of the article that stated, “In the past forty years, a radically New California has grown under, around and often over the old one” (Schrag 31). Making the distinction that California has changed is obvious but not many take the time to look at how generations are repeating the same common themes. It shocked me as I read further into the article about how he believes we are striving for this perfect and ideal state and while doing so we could be potentially ruining what we already have.

Next Steps:

I think Schrag’s overall look at how things have changed and progressed is extremely interesting. He does focus more on immigration and population than I would like to but I think a lot of his main points are directed towards my research question. I choose this source mainly because it takes a very general outlook on how things have changed specifically in California. Now that I have researched this source I would like to get more in depth about how the certain generations actually affect the next. We know that history has affected the present but I want to understand exactly how and possibly focus more on education.

Inquiry Questions

What is something you believe is important for others to know about? What is a question that you would like answered? What creative outlet did you have early on that you’d like to reclaim or understand better?

I think it is important for everyone to know about their culture and history. If there is one thing that everyone deserves to know about, it is definitely who they are and where they come from. To some people ‘who you are’ can mean different things, but to me it is something that comes from your family, history, ancestry, and culture. We get our looks, personalities, likes and dislikes, traditions, etc. all from our past. If we can all grow to understand and have knowledge of how we, as a person, became how we are today than we could learn how to create change. The importance of others to know about where they come from is outstanding and could ultimately create a huge change in our society.

There are many questions I would like answered and choosing one is not easy. If I did have to choose one it would be, ‘Why are things the way they are?’ However, this is an extremely broad question and is nearly impossible to answer. To get more in detail I’d like to know why there is hate in the world. I don’t know who created this world and no one else does either, but whoever is was or however it happened, why did they allow there to be hate? Why does it even have to be an emotion? With one question comes a hundred more.

When I was younger and had more time on my hands I had a creative outlet that came in the form of creating colleagues. I could put together pieces of work, whether it was paintings, pictures, words, etc., that looked amazing when all neatly proportioned and constructed. I would love to know if that meant something or if I kept going with it what it could have turned into.

Can There Be World Citizenship - in class

1)      How does Boulding describe the problems with the current state of “world citizenship”? Find a quote or two that helps support your claim.

a.       “I realized that there could be no safe places in the world unless we humans learned to make them safe, and I became a peace activist.” This quote says that she thinks the fact that war could come about at any second is a problem within world citizenship. Boulding explains how “we the people” is supposed to have a sense of unity, however we have not yet accomplished that

2)      Describe the term “three-fold citizenship.” What would this proposed global community look like in reality? Do you have any personal examples?

a.       The three-fold citizenship is supposed to be finding world citizenship in steps of three. The first being locally, the second being within the state, and the third being within the United Nations itself. This proposed global community would look very peaceful and everyone could work together.

3)      Does this proposed “governance for the planet’s citizenry” seem feasible? What are the restricting factors? What seems possible?

a.       No this does not seem feasible. We could definitely work on uniting and communicating within our nation. However, there are many activists including Elise Boulding who commit their lives to resolve the issues on war. All we can do is continue to work in order to achieve “world citizenship.”

Generational Survey

- Expected Education: College degree is needed in order to get a job
- View of Family: Finding a ‘Brady Bunch Family’ is extremely unlikely and not expected
- Role of Career: Climb to the top. 8 or 10 jobs to get you to where you want to be in your career
- View of Authority: Authority is everything
- View of Technology: You need to keep up, or technology will out smart you
- View of Success: Work for it
- Interactive Style: Entrepreneur but know how to work with others as well
- Messages That Motivate: “No one is going to hand it to you,” “Stay on top of the game”

“Can There Be World Citizenship?”

In order for there to be ‘world citizenship’ things would have to be a lot different than how they are now. However, we have come a long way. People want world citizenship but there are so many controversies that tie along with this. Some people don’t even want world citizenship, some people don’t care, and others are so against it they will spend eight-one years of their life promoting it. I’m not sure if the question should be so much can there be world citizenship but rather can we come up with an agreement of a way to reduce war and terrorism in order to further world citizenship. Complete world citizenship is something I’m sure I will never see in my lifetime. Yes it would be wonderful for our United Nation to serve as one and come together, but the reality of it is just far stretched. People are always going to disagree and that’s just the way it goes. The best we can do is hope to continue to further ourselves as a United Nation.

This article relates to the video we watched of “Talk to an Iraqi.” He was going around trying to find out more information on the war and what Americans thought. Some were for the war others were completely against it. I would say the Iraqi himself was looking for world citizenship. It also relates to what we have recently been talking about our generations. Things were so different just four generations ago. To look back at where they were and their beliefs and how we believe and act now is a complete one-eighty. People didn’t speak up and take action, people didn’t want to have their voices heard because they were afraid of discrimination, and people didn’t want to change things because of fear. Now people can stand up and fight for what they believe just like Elise Boulding.

"Generation Me"

“Generation Y”

These articles really got me thinking about myself. I related almost everything said to my own actions and how I portray the business world and how much I rely on my parents. I found truths and things I would consider to be highly generalized with no supported theories. There are many ways to consider why our generation acts the way we do and how things have changed. Things have changed, that we do know. Things will most likely always change, we know that too. All I can say about this is, who knows where we’ll be by the time the next generation is in the spotlight. Generation Y could be the richest, most successful of all generations. We could also end up being the least successful and irresponsible as well. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

When comparing the two articles I found myself agreeing with “The Why-Worry Generation” article than “Generation Me.” I found “Generation Me” to be very dramatic and not very realistic when it comes to how things really are. “The Why-Worry Generation” gives statistics and actually had me thinking about these kinds of my generation should be thinking about but isn’t. “All that narcissism is a problem that can range from the discourteous—residential advisers at Southern lament students disregarding curfews, playing dance music until 3 a.m., demanding new room assignments at a moment's notice and failing to understand why professors won't let them make up an exam they were too hung over to take—to the disastrous—failed marriages, abusive working environments and billion-dollar Ponzi schemes. Seems that the flip side of all that confidence isn't prodigious success but antisocial behavior.” Reading this makes me feel like I’m being stereotyped and judged by someone who isn’t even close to being anything like me. Who is she to say that I’m this way or I’m that way? Even if a lot of people are that way, there are a lot of people who are not. I mean come on, it’s probably your generation that got us in the mess we’re in today anyway. I thought Judith Warner took an interesting viewpoint on the reason for why generation y is the way it is. “Perhaps it’s a result, as some longtime observers of this generation have suggested, of growing up in an era of almost unremitting ambient anxiety: school years spent in the shadow of Columbine, 9/11 and, lately, widespread parental job losses. Maybe chronic unease has simply raised this generation’s tolerance level for stress, leaving it uniquely well equipped to deal with uncertainty.” Everyone has their own opinions on generation y, but all I have to say is, go find a generation your own size to pick on J

"Generation Me" Questions

“Generation Me” Questions:

1)      In the op-ed “Generation Me,” what is the attitude of the author toward your age group? What evidence can you find in the text to illustrate it?

I would say that she is very bitter about our generation. She thinks we are all very selfish and inconsiderate. Evidence to support this is “Perhaps, one day, we will say that the recession saved us from a parenting ethos that churns out ego-addled spoiled brats.” Some more evidence would be all that “Narcissism is a problem that can range from the discourteous—residential advisers at Southern lament students disregarding curfews, playing dance music until 3 a.m., demanding new room assignments at a moment's notice and failing to understand why professors won't let them make up an exam they were too hung over to take—to the disastrous—failed marriages, abusive working environments and billion-dollar Ponzi schemes. Seems that the flip side of all that confidence isn't prodigious success but antisocial behavior.”

2)      To what extent do you think her argument is true? As a group, make a list with two columns: on one side, list the ways you agree; on the other, the ways that you disagree.

Agree: Some people are like this, people our age are more materialistic, and the level of selfishness has increased since fifty years ago. These days you are given more assistance which can lead to laziness and dependability.

Disagree: Not everyone is like this, there are so people who are considerate and compassionate, many people do have to work for what they get and don’t expect things to be handed to them.

Last Lie I Told

Story of the last lie I told:

            The last lie I told actually was not that long ago. I was talking to my friend, who I have only known for about 2 weeks, about going home this weekend. She said she wanted to come with me. When she said this I got really nervous because I would feel uncomfortable if she came home with me for the weekend. I nodded and said “Okay,” without really thinking about what I had just said. When I got home that night I realized I didn’t want this girl to come stay with me at my house and I also didn’t want to offend her because she was my friend. So I decided to lie. I texted her and said that on Saturday I was going to work at my old job from home which she knows I frequently do on my trips home. I said I would feel bad having her just sit at my house all day while I was working, but maybe she could come with me another time. Not only did I lie about having work, I didn’t tell her that the truth of the matter was I just didn’t want her to come with me.

Examples of "Ways We Lie"

“The Ways We Lie”

1)      White lie – If one of my friends was trying on a dress for a school day and turned to me and asked “do I look fat?” I would most definitely tell her something like “no, not at all!” I don’t want to hurt her feelings by telling her that maybe she does look a little fat so it is much easier to tell a simple white lie.

2)      Facades – If you are planning on babysitting a really nice house anytime soon, do not go on a date in a nice suit, pull out a bunch of hundreds and leave a huge tip, then take your date back to the house you’re babysitting and leave out the fact that this is not your house or that you do not usually carry a bunch of hundreds on you.

3)      Deflecting – When my mom asked me what I ended up doing over the weekend and if I finished all my homework, I quickly replied with “mom have I ever told you how much I loved you? By the way the weather is really nice here, is it nice there?”

4)      Ignoring the plain facts – If your boyfriend recently cheated on you and you just found out because his best friend felt so bad for you that he came and told you what his friend did but you stay with him and try to act like nothing happened. You’re ignoring the plain facts.

5)      Stereotypes and clichés – People have a stereotype for what a gay man should be like. I have a friend who everyone has always thought was gay, but never had the guts to ask. He was very feminine and never had a girlfriend before. One time we all sat him down and asked him if he was gay, unfortunately we fell for the stereotype and it turns out he is not gay.

6)      Omission – When homeless people ask me for money, I will usually give them the change in my pocket and add “that’s all I’ve got” but really I have a 5 and a 10 in my pocket, but he doesn’t need to know that.

7)      Groupthink – In order to get my friend to come with us to a party, my other friends and I made up a lie. We said that we had talked to the person having the party and the boy she liked would be there. We knew once she got there she wouldn’t be able to get us all to leave, so as a group we made a pact to stick with the story, until we got to the party at least.

8)      Out-and-out lies – Whenever my mom catches me doing something that I shouldn’t be doing, I always raise my hands and say “it wasn’t me!” Clearly she sees that it was me, but cracking out-and-out lie of a joke always seems to lighten the mood

9)      Dismissal – How many of you have ever said to your parents “I’m freezing!” and they turned to you and say “no you’re not”? Really they are just too busy to deal with the fact that you are cold and they hope that it will keep you from complaining for at least 5 minutes.

10)  Delusion – Sometimes if I really don’t feel like doing my homework and I happen to run out of ink I will go to class the next day and say something like “well my computer ran out of ink and it would have been impossible for me to do my homework.” Because of the simple fact that I really didn’t want to do my homework that bad I lied to my teacher and really convinced myself that there was no other way I could have printed out my assignment.

Rant

People who are stubborn and closed minded. To all the stubborn people, you should know that you’re not smarter or better than anyone else, so stop acting like it. If someone else has an opinion, WHO CARES! It’s not like its life threatening to you to hear someone else’s point of view. If everyone were as close minded as you then we would have never gotten rid of slavery or allowed women to vote. Have you ever had a conversation with someone and they will not stop talking about how they think things should be? This is the most annoying and overbearing thing anyone could do. No one cares what you think and no one wants to hear you extend your reasoning for why you are right and everyone else is wrong for the next two hours. For example, my roommate (whom I’m not going to mention her name) is a very religious Christian. Now there is nothing wrong with that and in no way am I saying that I have a problem with her being religious or Christian. But…just because she is saving herself till marriage and doesn’t drink or use profanity, doesn’t mean she can judge everyone else for it. If she would open her eyes and listen to us for two seconds she would realize that we don’t hate on her for being the uptight know-it-all that she is and she shouldn’t judge us for wanting to enjoy our college years. Now I’m not saying it’s okay to be a slut and drink your life away either. Whatever people want to believe is fine but you cannot go pushing your thoughts onto other people and judging them because they don’t believe in the same things you do. Attention sweetheart it’s 2011.

No Rules

“Why I Like Vicious Online Comments”:

“They say things they would never say in the presence of flesh-and-blood human beings.”

“Some media outlets have decided they’ve had enough of the endless juvenile trolling and hate-mongering, and have either adopted a stricter moderation policy or forced would-be commenters to fill out forms supplying information that would make it easier to track their identities and ban them if they run afoul of the site’s rules”

“You see this phenomenon all over the Internet, including Salon, which, despite having some of the smartest and most articulate commenters on the Web, has also attracted its fair share of vitriol. And it’s not just in articles about lightning-rod public figures such as Barack Obama or Rush Limbaugh, whom you would expect to inspire heated, sometimes obscene or hateful comments, but in the comments threads of online material that is, in the great scheme, inconsequential, as deserving of bile, profanity and wanton viciousness as a smiley-face button or a paper flower.”

“Civilogue”

“It is time for those of us who still believe in the American experiment, who still believe that the passion of our disagreements need not overwhelm the common values that bind us, to take back the rhetoric.”

“Any time you see or read or hear anybody step over the line, call them on it. Do it politely, with kindness and consideration. But do it clearly and cleanly, with a humble explanation of what they did wrong.”

“Yes, this will require time and effort. Reply to every such example you stumble across, in person or online.”

Reasons for not having rules prohibiting what people can say on the internet:

1.      People should be able to say how they feel

2.      If you are willing to post something on the internet, then you are allowing people to comment on whatever it is you posted

3.      Some peoples idea of what is ‘wrong’ to be on the internet, could be completely different from another person’s ‘wrong’

4.      Restricting what people can and cannot will upset a lot of people and some might say it’s violating their freedom of speech

The 'Comment' Box

            In the first article by Matt Seitz, he talks about a specific video clip posted on YouTube that had collected some vicious comments by viewers. “Holy fuck was this gay,” wrote one commenter and the others sounded pretty much the same. Seitz makes a really good point when he states that people say things on the computer that they would never say face-to-face. This brings up the topic of how we should be representing ourselves even when no one is watching. If you are the type of person to act like a certain ‘someone’ in front of people but then go on the internet and talk differently than you would in person, you should revaluate yourself. Seitz talks about how some media outlets are looking to control what can be said in the ‘comment’ box. He shares viewpoints that agree and disagree with the idea of filtering the comments. On one hand, allowing people to write what they want without putting a name on it shows the real kind of species we are today and he actually states that the personality people have on the internet is more real than how they act when in front of others. However, Seitz shares with us that it would only take one simple step of requiring some sort of ID to filter what is said on the internet which can be hurtful and cruel. I believe he makes great points. Freedom of speech is huge and the internet is one way to vent your feelings but is the fact that you are not held accountable for what you say a good thing? And if you aren’t willing to put your name on it, are you sure you even really mean what you’re saying?

            Make Our Ugly Discourse Better: Join the Civilogue, takes a completely different look at what should be allowed on the internet. He protests that people are saying things on the internet that are ‘wrong’ and we should start something called the “Civilogues” in order to make people aware of this in a nice and polite way. I think one of the most interesting parts of this article deals with one simple comment “I allow for no exceptions, even for humor.” This is a huge step in eliminating what is on the internet. There are a lot of websites that are dedicated to making fun of stuff and creating humor out of bad situations. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If people were to go on and make comments about what people have already said, trying to prove to them that they are wrong, it will start ciaos and probably create even more ‘hate’ comments.

What is freedom?

If Haider were to have asked me the question “What is freedom?” I most likely would have had trouble coming up with an answer right away. This is mostly because there is no straight forward answer or definition for the word freedom.

For me personally, I think of freedom as being able to express yourself. That is an extremely broad term so if I had to narrow it down I would probably say something like the ability to be able to express yourself in whichever way you choose to, with the exception of if it interrupts with another person’s freedom.

In the movie Two Wars, Haider describes how in Iraq you cannot walk the streets from sunset to sunrise. Although we might take walking the streets from sunset to sunrise for granite in America, this is a symbol of freedom. In my own life I have the right to freedom of speech. Not only does this allow me to express how I feel but also to have an impact in my community. Last semester I was in Political Science 155 and we were assigned a project that would take place over the entire semester. While doing this project we were given a topic and mine specifically was hunger in America. While doing this project I did a lot of research and the answers came to bother me about what hunger in America is really like. At the end of the project, our entire group of about 30 people got together and discussed what we came up with and how we would help change this if we decided to. The ability to discuss changes that we want and the option to follow through with them if we chose to do so is an example of what freedom means to me.

10 Things About Me

10 Things About Me:
1. I'm an only child.
2. My dog likes to like my nose.
3. I have to sleep with the T.V. on.
4. I sucked my thumb until I was 12.
5. I still sleep with my baby blankey.
6. I bought a stuffed animal that looks like my puppy so I wouldn't get lonely when I went away to college.
7. I shave my arms.
8. I accidentally pulled the fire alarm in elementary school
9. I had a crush on my 5th grade teacher
10. Shopping makes me happy when I'm upset.

"Two Wars"

In the movie Two Wars, a man from Iraq had his home invaded. He came to America in the hopes of having more opportunities and his freedom. He always wanted to ask people why they are ‘for’ the war and why they think it happened, so he did.

One of the aspects of the movie that interested me was when the man would ask the Americans, “How has being in Iraq given the people of America freedom?” Most of the chosen viewers were stumbled by this question. This shocked me because usually when we ask ourselves why we are in the war we think it to be because we are fighting for our freedom. He also makes a remark about how America wants to believe that we still live up to the standards that the Founders did, but points out that that is not true anymore. In the very beginning of the movie there was a scene of a tiger and sloth fighting. The wording that went along with the scene was mentioning how the tiger and the sloth will never get along and some say it is because we do not know each other well enough and others say it is because we know each other to well and that is why we hate each other. I think this is a very important point that you should think about while you watch the rest of the movie. It brings you to think maybe the reason we are fighting with Iraq is because we do not know each other well enough and that brings fear.

I disagreed with a lot of the people answering this man’s questions. One of the Marines that he had spoken with mentioned that he thinks all terrorists need to be killed and being reminded of all the innocent people who died in the war does not bother him. This bothered me and I completely disagree with his mindset.

I ran into difficulties understanding the second part of the movie. I did not follow along with the importance of the grass being a big deal or how it was supposed to be like war. I understood that the married man was from a different place and had troubles with some of our laws and regulations, but did not really get what it had to do with the first part of the movie or war at that.