I sit here with a feeling of mixed emotions about my work in this course. I know I tried very hard but at the same time I wonder if I had not stressed out so much over the course and assignments if I wouldn’t have done better. I struggled to maintain a general theme through my work. I wish had been able to choose a general theme at the beginning of the course and stuck with it. However the experiences I had because of this class were like none other. I got to write about real things that were happening to me and how they related to the world around me. That’s where good writing comes from and I appreciate the opportunities given to me.
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Sarah Binger
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Sarah Binger
On an unrelated note. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the final? For instance when we will be taking it, etc.? For some reason this is not clear to me. Thanks!
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Sarah Binger
Reading/Research: As the end of the semester approaches and I begin to look at the whole of my work as one final piece of work so comes the act of revision. I honestly am not someone who has been big on revising papers for other classes, I like the organic feeling of my first work. However I wish to make my work slightly for this course simply because it is in portfolio form and will look much better. This is not an easy task by any means, in fact I kind of started out as a sort of chicken with its head cut off. However I am glad to say that Professor Mcguire’s guidelines have been incredibly helpful for starting a plan. Of course not everything applies to me specifically, but I would definitely say everyone should look it over carefully and use his advice to better their final product. Good luck to everyone!
Mcguire, Michael. “Lesson 15: Final Editing Strategies.” 2012 Web. -
Sarah Binger
Reading/Research Journal 13: When listening to Professor Mcguire’s lecture on the topic of writing style I got to thinking about my own writing style and what that means for any future writing I might do. What really is a writing style? I thought back to the first times I ever came in contact with the written word, the times when my parents would read stories to my siblings and I. The first literature I heard was in their voices, and each of their voices was different down to the stories they read to us. Winnie the Pooh belonged to my mother, Paddington belonged to my father. Their voices changed the way I understood what was written. As I grew and began to be able to read for myself the voice I heard was the author himself having to make me understand through written word what exactly he was trying to say. With this in mind I begin to think of my own writing style, what is it that I want to convey to the audience? I want to paint words and not just “tell” a story as Professor put it. Recently I began reading the novel “No Country for Old Men” by Cormac McCarthy, now that is an author that has his own style, disregarding any cues for conversation or normal transitions he tells a story in such a way that it feels very natural, like you’re watching from a bird’s eye view. I wish to write in such a way that people feel compelled to read my work and possibly even enjoy it.
Mcguire, Professor Mike. Writing Style: What is it? 25 April 2012. Slide Presentation. -
Sarah Binger
The pieces selected from “Language Matters” are very heavily charged with a ton of information and ideas. The general idea is the power of language. Despite the fact that words are simple they pack a lot of punch and once said they cannot be taken back, as they say you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. With this in mind I very much believe in the freedom to express one’s self through language of all types. Is that not one of the foundations of our very country? The article by Ann Hartman gave me quite a bit to think about. Where does censorship play a role in society? Can we let some things slide because of context and reinforce the disapproval of others? Strong language can hurt; anyone who has ever been verbally abused can tell you this. So when someone is being harassed with language should this be treated with the same harshness as that of a physical beating? I myself do not know the answer to this question. I worry for a world that does not allow for ideas and opinions to spread freely, however I also worry for those who can potentially be hurt by words. I wonder if it is not the words we should be worried about but the sad intentions of the people who say them.
Bauer, Laurie, James Holmes and Paul Warren. “What we call ourselves and others: Names, Solidarity, and Stereotypes.” Bauer, Laurie, James Holmes and Paul Warren. Language Matters. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. 293-337. PDF Document. -
Sarah Binger
Geography of Exclusion: When reading about the idea of “geography of exclusion” many things came to mind. Gates locked with chains, one way signs, chains across the entry ways to forest preserves, etc. However driving home today one example particularly caught my eye. The object in question was a picnic table in a nice shady little park in a pretty industrial area. While a picnic table itself might not be a symbol of exclusion this one is a tad different. It is in actuality a sort of “half” picnic table with only enough room for possibly two people, but only really meant for one. This gives a very private feel to these simple tables. There is no possibility for a friendly stranger looking for a seat to sit down and start up conversation. While understandably we at times get frustrated with these do-gooders it is a different matter to shoot down the possibility completely. These tables are designed to give people peace while eating their lunch, working, or anything else one might do at a picnic table. The problem comes when we as people forget how to properly socialize. We live in a world where everyone can be connected to their friends at once, so why even try to make new ones? I myself have noticed a trend of kids who simply do not wish to ever be talked and just want to be on their phones. To me these picnic tables encapsulate this feeling. “Go away. I need no one’s company but my own.”
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Sarah Binger
Research/ Reading Journal 10 Ruptura. Woo boy. This article was no easy read. Being that it is full of scholarly language and heavy topics one must definitely put their thinking cap on to begin to analyze what the author is saying. The main point that hit home with me was the idea of a possible moral dilemma when serving a community. How selfish and egotistical can we be at times thinking we know exactly what people need? The story of Margaret Dana challenges so much of what we think service should be. My brow wrinkled with her and her instructor’s when listening to what her peers had to say. Do children really benefit from the short lived affection given to them by temporary volunteers? I’d like to think so; however I am reminded of an event in my own lifetime that could cause me to question my own intentions when serving. To summarize my story I spent a week on an American Indian Reservation in Montana mostly running a part time daycare type program for kids. One child and I clicked particularly well and I was constantly playing with him, holding him, hugging him, etc. This was all well and good up until the last day when he left crying. My heart wrenched wishing I could stay and hold him and give him love where he wanted it, but I had my own life to get back to. I doubt he will remember me but this child will be forever etched in my mind. So while Margaret Dana may seem cold, I believe her intentions were good. She questioned every idea that is given to us about service and I now question it myself. Are we doing the right thing in terms of service? I think this is an important point and should always be thought about when pursuing service opportunities; what is our true purpose? And what do the people really need?
Hamler Carrick, Tracy; Himley, Margaret; Jacobi, Tobi. Language and Learning Across the Disciplines; Ruptura: Acknowleding the Lost Subjects of the Service Learning Story. 2000. pg. 56-74-
Linda Seguin
Good Morning Sarah,
I agree with you when you acknowledged the emotional pain that a young child may experience after a service worker ‘s hours are done. They do not understand our adult world and we must threas lightly in situations involving the children. One of our students volunteered at the animal shelter and had a hard time leaving those animals behing after showing them only a small bit of affection. These service opportunities pull at our heartstrings and we must fing the courage sometimes to stay committed.
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Sarah Binger
“Interdependence” such was the title of the article assigned for us to read this week. Interdependence is defined by dictionary.reference.com as “mutually dependent; depending on one another.” This definition sums up well the topic of the article. A discussion participated by two persons, one able to use their legs to walk and the other unable to. Their topic of discussion is one of grave importance to the party unable to walk, that of independence. Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor bring up many questions about the idea of independence itself and what it means in society. If one takes a moment to think, there is no real independence, there are simply those with fewer restrictions than others. Our country’s history is riddled with independence and our very principles rest on keeping ourselves “independent.” Going back to our Revolution, Suffrage, and more recently Gay rights, much discussion is made over the idea of freedom. People are constantly looking to free themselves of the shackles others have put on them. But what if you can’t? What if the restriction isn’t one of the mental or politically variety? What if you have a physical determent that puts in the need of help from others? Such as the one Sunaura lives with. Why is it that we are constantly trying to rid ourselves of mental shackles but are so quick to forget the physical? This is not to say that the physically handicapped are necessarily oppressed. I just mean to draw up the point that there is a certain stigma attached to those who physically different from the ideal. It saddens me that people like Sunaura feel unable to do things in a way that would makes things much easier for them, but makes the rest of the world “uncomfortable.” I believe it would do us well to stop thinking of “us” helping “them,” but to think of it as them making our lives more comfortable. So if we are so set on independence, why do we make the physically handicapped dependent on us, at times unnecessarily?
Taylor, Ashtra. “Examined Life: Excursions with Contemporary Thinkers.” pg 186-213 New Press. Print. -
Sarah Binger
Reading/Research Journal on Bobbie Harro. Bobbie Harro’s work is all about diversity, the topic on most American minds. It is without question that our history is wrought with the issue of diversity. Going back to the Native Americans, the early immigrants, and the slaves. When looking back it is clear to see that it is only recently that we as a people are beginning to fix the wrongs we’ve committed, and even then things are looked over. One of the points that Harro brings up is the topic of “socialization.” From the time we are born we are being taught how to think. From our parents, to the media, friends, and beyond most of our ideas and beliefs are not our own. Harro speaks about much of socialization being about “whom to look up to and whom to look down on.” He makes a great point. So much of what we learn as children and teenagers is who is better than us and who we are better than. As opposed to finding our self worth within ourselves we are conditioned to find it in the eyes of others, making independent thought a, sadly, rare thing. The thought that going against the norm could even be dangerous is a scary reality. Harro brings up the story of two men in the Southwest U.S. beaten and one killed simply because they were walking so close “they must be gay.” What were these men hurting other than the ego of those too afraid to do as please so they choose to hurt others? A book called “The Hunger Games” has become extremely popular recently. In it a character has her tongue cut out for speaking out against the government. This may seem extreme, but is it that far off from reality? What’s to stop people like the abusers of those two men from getting in office? Anyone can be President after all! The answer is us. You and me. Those who would choose to think critically as opposed to swallowing every bit of information thrown at us. Harro shows a diagram that is a cycle of what happens when hate is continued. It won’t stop without change.
Harro, Bobbie. “Cycle of Socialization.” Reading for Diversity and Social Justice. 15-21 -
Sarah Binger
My reading/research this week is based on the film “Sister Helen.” Sister Helen is definitely the most unique nun I have ever seen in my entire life. She yells, curses, and accuses the men at her center for addicts of being liars. My first thought was “wouldn’t that be counter-productive to recovery? Why would you act that way?” Then as the film progressed I kept thinking that there must a reason these men kept coming back to her. What would possess someone to go back to a place where they know they will be yelled at? Then Ahshish starting talking about how Sister Helen was like a mother to him. It occurred to me then why Sister Helen was so loved. She wanted what was best for everyone, even if that meant being a bit of a drill sergeant at times. Think of the mother who chews out her child after he comes home drunk, most of the time it’s not to make themselves feel better, but it’s because they fear losing their child and can think of no other way to discipline them. This doesn’t necessarily mean I would take the same approach but I understand why she is that way. Not to mention she is an old Irish lady who grew up in New York, some of it is just the way she is and she is being true to herself, which the men obviously appreciate. Throughout the whole film however the person that was the most interesting to me was Robert. Robert was the person who was most vocal about the fact that he did not agree with Sister Helen’s techniques. Take the time she tried to offer him money because he has been so helpful, he sees it as a way to make herself feel better and refuses it. Despite all this however Robert was the only one who tried to keep things straight after Sister Helen died even saying “you wouldn’t do this if Sister Helen was here.” Despite any distaste he had for her, Robert was the person who saw Sister Helen’s true intentions, and I believe we all should do the same.
Sister Helen. Dir. Rob Fruchtman and Rebecca Cammisa. 2002. Hulu-
Iwona Ligeska
I was intrigued by this video as well as you ladies. Sister Helen represented a different picture than I anticipated to see. It was completly the opposite. She was a strong lady, who experienced the same addiction like all of these men. Nothing was new to her and nothing could surprise her. Sister Helen trusted them enough to stay at her place but new that they fight with the temptations every day. Therefore she was smart to check their urine and had them report to her after work. They needed her strong hand, her swearing and she new about it. There was nothing wrong about it. This was the way she could reach up to them and support them. This movie is a great example that each of us has a potential to improve the world around us.
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Patrycja Gola
Sarah, you have made some interesting points about the video on Sister Helen. I honestly didn’t really think of her as being a mother and yelling at them because she cared for them and wanted to protect them. I didn’t think so in depth as you did in regards to the video. I liked your example of the mother being harsh with her son who comes home drunk, that’s very true, it’s to protect her child and not to make herself feel better.
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Linda Seguin
I agree with your insight on the Sister Helen being a mother figure and your point of view that,”Not to mention she is an old Irish lady who grew up in New York, some of it is just the way she is and she is being true to herself, which the men obviously appreciate.” Like I stated earlier, Sister Helen is not a professionally educated counselor nor a social worker. She did what felt right to her and her God. Being honest was the number 1 rule that she enforced and kicked men out if deceitful.
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Sarah Binger
Chapter 2 of Why White Rice resonates with me more than any other information we’ve gone over yet this semester. Let me explain; My education up until fall 2011 was done my mother. I was homeschooled. While this is not terribly abnormal, I was educated unconventionally even for a homeschooler, my mother calls it “unschooling.” You see my mother does not like the idea of grades, despises them really, why learn something just to get the grade and then forget it? So Professor Mcguire’s teaching style isn’t unfamiliar to me. I was used to taking risks, learning and thinking in a way different from most. I wrote about what I loved and nothing more. However when last semester started my way of thinking changed. I am to extent a perfectionist, I like knowing I’ve done my best. And for me my best is a 4.0 grade point average. Because of this my writing became pretty methodical. Most of you have heard of the “five paragraph essay” right? I used it to death. Looking back I roll my eyes at myself, what happened to the Sarah Binger who wrote a paper on why she despised Scarlett O’hara? She was writing instead to get the grade. I was the kid who asked “Is this what you’re looking for?” of the Professors. I wasn’t, as Professor Mcguire put it, “using my boundaries.” I was instead allowing them to bind me. I am trying to loosen up however, and I think I’m getting better! I think the tools that Professor Mcguire introduced, such as freewriting, will be very helpful to get my creative juices flowing.
Mcguire, Michael “Risky Business Indeed Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone” Why White Rice? Thinking Through Writing. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company 2010 Dubuque, Iowa-
Patrycja Gola
Homeschooling sounds pretty awesome, since I believe our school system and the way the teachers teach is pretty messed up, homeschooling gives you a chance to be taught in an unconventional way that may really help you to grow in a different way. There are many creative people out there that don’t even know what they ae capable of because they were never given the chance to explore their creativity in a regular school.
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Sarah Binger
Like a lot of other people, my most recent research was in regard to my service/activist’s guide. For the sake of the paper I read a great book called “Global Issues: Human Trafficking.” While I am somewhat familiar with the issue, I’ve researched it for my own sake, this book gave me great insight into Human Trafficking. The book is written as if it were different articles put together about a specific issue. These “articles” (chapters?) are titled in such a way that if someone wanted specific information about Human Trafficking they could easily obtain it.The author goes over a brief history of what trafficking (slavery) has looked like over the centuries. She goes back to ancient Muslim, Greek, and Judeo-Christian texts and one can easily see that slavery is nothing new. The author goes on to give an overview of what modern-day slavery looks like and the similarities and differences between that and its ancient ancestor. Something that the author hit upon that I did not immediately associate with Human Trafficking was the issue of child soldiers. Anyone familiar with the Invisible Children campaign will know that in some countries children are kidnapped and forced to fight in wars. This book gave me a broader idea into what Human Slavery really involves, there are even people who are bought and sold for their organs. Kathryn Cullen-Dupont’s book overall gave me a lot of important information into the issue of Human Trafficking, things I hope to not soon forget.
Cullen-Dupont, Kathryn “Global Issues: Human Trafficking” Infobase Publishing. 2009 Print. -
Sarah Binger
Hello! I was wondering if any one could help clear up some confusion about the “whole class writing workshop.” I noticed very few (if any) people had commented on the pages of the people we were supposed to discuss. Is there possibly something I’m missing? some part of the assignment that I missed? thank you!
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Sarah Binger
I appreciate the feedback. Good to know I didn’t miss anything. Hopefully the next workshop goes well.
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Patrycja Gola
I don’t think you missed anything, I’m pretty sure many people just chose not to do the assignment.
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Prof McGuire
And quite honestly, that stinks. There is still time to comment if you haven’t. I’ll send a reminder to everyone.
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Sarah Binger
Thesis statements are honestly the thing that get me (on a sidenote I’m glad to see I’m not the only one.) How does one sum the idea of somewhere between 3 and 12 pages in a single sentence? This is why I love Chapter 4. I especially appreciated when the writer said “It (The thesis statement) tells you what you’re going to write about.” The assumption is that you write you thesis statement so the reader will know what you are talking about, but how can the reader understand your paper if you don’t even understand it?There have been times when I’ve been floundering in the middle of a paper dumbfounded by the amount of information filling my head, then I just looked at that little thesis statement and suddenly I remember the simple idea I was trying to get across. It gives the entire paper direction. It’s those small road signs that seem so insignificant, until you’re lost in no man’s land. However the article “Sometimes it’s fun to lose the map (everything is not a position paper)” jarred me a tad. I’m a very format driven person when it comes to writing papers. I do however like other types of writing, stories, songs, poetry, etc. I had never really thought to sort of “let go” and allow the thesis to come along the way. This thought seems very enjoyable and could hopefully make for some creative papers in the future.
Devillez, Eric “You Can Do It in the Garden or in an Elevator, Writing is Critical Thinking” Why Write Rice? Thinking Through Writing. Kendall Hunt Publishing 77-99 -
Sarah Binger
Reading chapter 7 of Why White Rice? I thought “Oh man, another thing on citing sources.” And while it was that, I thought it was put in an interesting and thoughtful manner. When writing a paper one does not usually think about why they should not plagiarize someone else’s work, just that it is necessary to not get in trouble. When the thought of integrity and trust comes in it’s a completely different story. When someone puts an idea out in the open for anyone to see or use they are taking a certain level of risk. After they’ve put it out there anyone could cite it as their own and take massive amounts of credit for it. This is what makes copyright laws so necessary, sure they may seem a bit harsh at times but if you come at it from another point of view they are understandable. The artist, writer, songwriter, etc. puts enough trust in the public that they hope their idea won’t be taken for granted. At the point that this contract of trust is broken the offender has a price to pay. This is relevant to our college careers because not only have our source’s placed trust in us not to plagiarize, but so have our instructors and the college where we attend.
Swanson, Troy “Mash It Up…Gracefully Using Sources” Why White Rice? Thinking Through Writing, Kendall Hunt 2010 -
Sarah Binger
Thoughts on “Why White Rice?” Chapter 3, The topics and issues discussed in this chapter are ones I relate to very well. When the author speaks about being frustrated when told a topic will just “come” to you, let me tell you, I know the feeling. Then it comes, the eureka moment. The chord is struck, the gears ground, something just hits you and you know, this is right. The author speaks about finding something important to you, as the role of men in Jane Eyre was to him. This led me to thinking about our most recent writing assignment, “Live. Die Kill.” The entire premise behind this paper is writing about what is important to you. I honestly didn’t think about the importance of this exercise, in regards to writing, until now. I know how it feels to write a paper without wanting to really understand the topic, writing for the sake of writing, but if every paper was a new and exciting topic to us, wouldn’t that be the joy writing? In regards to writing one must find topics important to them to speak honestly about them, and make the reader care about them. The author speaks about feeling “less than” others. For instance, he feels inadequate next to his older brother because his brother is in all honesty a great person. He feels inadequate because a woman talls his “men don’t matter.” The author uses this as fuel in his writing about the roles of men in Jane Eyre. The feeling of being told you are “less than” someone else is terrible. However, this should not bring us down. We should use this as an opportunity to write a well researched argument for why we are not in fact inadequate. Using these tools as fuel for writing, I believe we can all be great writers.
Dow, Thomas. Why White Rice? Kendall Hunt 2010-
Linda Seguin
We each have our motivating factors which are completely unique to each individual. I would never be able to assume what would be an intresting topic to any of the students in this course. We each bring such diffrent life lessons and experiences and writting on them opens up new worlds to the reader and makes us more tolerent and sypathetic/empathetic to each others writting.
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Kimberly Kolozy
So true. How you feel about a specific topic will be made clear in how you write about it. The last draft we did on the live, die, kill paper made us evaluate our true passions/possessions that we care most about. Putting down our feelings on paper wasn’t hard to do!
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Sarah Binger
I’m sorry this is late Professor Mcguire, I had trouble posting this morning, some sort of error. This week I read all of the assignments, but what stuck out especially were the stories by Dave Eggers. I first read “Your mother and I.” I found the format of the story very intriguing. The story is told as a father telling his child whilst making dinner how he and his wife fixed all the problems in the world. If only it were that easy. If only they was no redtape to go through. Nothing to stand in the way. The problem is, I doubt even this would make us people happy. Even if all the problems in the world were fixed I think we would find something to argue about. The second story “What It Means When a Crowd in a Faraway Nation Takes a Soldier Representing Your Own Nation, Shoots Him, Drags Him From His Vehicle, and Then Mutilates Him in the Dust” really touched me. The author seems to be chastising those who see problems, and choose to do nothing. Sure, it would be difficult for the main character to go to the faraway country where the soldier was shot and help his comrades there, but there are other things he could do. Send encouragement, money, and many other things, but like the author says at the end of the story “he will do none of them.” We Americans tend to be so removed from a situation, something can bother us but we will do nothing about it because we like our comfortable life. That is my take on the reading for the week, everyone have a good one!
Eggers, Dave “Your mother and I” Eggers, Dave What It Means When a Crowd in a Faraway Nation Takes a Soldier Representing Your Own Nation, Shoots Him, Drags Him From His Vehicle, and Then Mutilates Him in the Dust” -
Sarah Binger
Hello everyone. My name is Sarah Binger and this is my second semester at Moraine. I have taken one online class before where there was absolutely no conversation whatsoever, which is something that I hope changes in this class! Hopefully this semester is enjoyable for all!
Sarah Binger, 
Mayra Pulido are discussing. 
Linda Seguin is discussing. 
Iwona Ligeska, 
Patrycja Gola, and 
Kimberly Kolozy are discussing. 
Sarah Binger 8:10 pm on May 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Alright, thanks Professor!
Sarah Binger 11:13 am on May 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
You know you’re probably right, thanks Mayra!
Mayra Pulido 7:11 pm on May 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I thought the finals was the portfolio
Prof McGuire 8:02 pm on May 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Nope nope. I’ll post info on the final soon. Nothing to worry about, though.