Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

I read the short story “The Ant on the Shelf” by ZZ Packer first. I felt like I was right there sitting in the car with Spurgeon and Ray Bivens Jr. all the way from jail to the March. I loved the details used, from the bird’s personalities, to the way Lupita spoke. On the other hand, I was disappointed by the ending. I felt like the story was climaxing with Spurgeon at the train station having no money left to get home, and then it just ended without telling me what happened next. Anything could have happened to him. I decided to try another story in hopes of a good ending.

The second story I read was “Every Tongue Shall Confess”. This story did an excellent job at using flashbacks. They were appropriate and purposeful. Packer was successful in making the flashbacks flow in and out. I felt like I really got to know Clareese Mitchell through the background information in the flashbacks. The ending was not quite fulfilling enough for me. I felt like I had a pretty good idea of where Packer saw the story going with Cleophus attending Clareese’s church, which I didn’t get with the previous story.

I feel like I didn’t get much from reading these stories other than a reminder of using details more frequently and that flashbacks work well every now and then. I was frustrated by the lack of endings and they made me feel like I read all those pages to not even get a conclusion. It was nice to have the endings open so that the reader can decide what happens, but I would like to have read more and heard Packer’s view on what she thought would happen. However, I did like the way I was “shown” not “told” details.

Word of the Week #8

Nicole Decker
Mass Com 100W T/Th 10:30 a.m.
Word #8

Word: koan
Source: Choke, by Chuck Palahniuk, page 69
How it was used: “My life makes about as much sense as a Zen koan.”

Definition:
Noun

1. a nonsensical or paradoxical question to a student for which an answer is demanded, the stress of meditation on the question often being illuminating
2. A puzzling, often paradoxical statement or story, used in Zen Buddhism as an aid to meditation and a means of gaining spiritual awakening
3. a paradoxical anecdote or a riddle that has no solution; used in Zen Buddhism to show the inadequacy of logical reasoning
4. A Zen teaching riddle. Classically, koans are attractive paradoxes to be meditated on; their purpose is to help one to enlightenment by temporarily jamming normal cognitive processing so that something more interesting can happen (this practice is associated with Rinzei Zen Buddhism). Hackers are very fond of the koan form and compose their own koans for humororous and/or enlightening effect.

My sentence: The English teacher had her students write a journal entry on what they thought of a traditional Zen koan.

Journal #3 - NPR Radio Interview Analysis

For this assignment, I downloaded a podcast of Fresh Air with host Terry Gross interviewing Stephen Waldmen, who recently wrote the book Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America. This is a book about the role religion had when America was being founded.

To prepare for this interview, Gross had obviously read the book beforehand. She also had to do some research on religion, as well as some history of America. The history most likely had to include the founding fathers, their beliefs, and documents from this era. Gross knew what he did outside of writing this book, such as founding a website called beliefnet.com, which is about several religions.

The questions asked in this interview were mostly about the book, and how different things influenced Waldmen’s beliefs about religion’s role in founding our country.

Gross had a lot of follow up questions. She built up questions by first asking one, and Waldmen would respond, for example, with a fact about the Quakers. Gross would respond to this answer with a question directed to the Quakers. To transition, she would say “Another myth you’re your book debunks is…”, quote the book itself, or simply reintroduce Waldmen and change subject completely. To me, it didn’t seem like she had a particular strategy for this interview.

If she asked a question but didn’t quite get the answer she wanted, she would summarize what he said, and then ask something along the lines of, “What’s an example of that?”, “What does that say to you?”, or “What guides your opinion?”.

The relationship seemed purely professional. It didn’t seem like they were great friends or anything, but they weren’t arguing and interrupting each other. When the interview ended, there was a quick and dry “thank you for coming. Goodbye” ending.

From this interview, I learned that you have to have your research done to ask questions on the spot, as well as expand on comments. You also have to have many questions lined up so you don’t run out of things to say, especially in a forty minute interview.

Word of the Week #7

Nicole Decker
Mass Com 100W T/Th 10:30 a.m.
Word #7

Word: acumen
Source: Nanny Diaries, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, page 261
How it was used: “‘He was telling me by the barbecue that he’s managed to expand into twelve new markets this year-’ Mr. X is impressed with Jack’s business acumen.”

Definition:
Noun

1. keen insight; shrewdness
2. Quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgment or insight
3. a tapering point
4. shrewdness shown by keen insight

My sentence: The woman surprised her older male coworkers with her acumen to solve the business’ problems.

Mystery Character

This male doesn’t say a whole lot but everyone can predict the low pitched words that will come out of his mouth. Kids especially love him, as he is always happily offering a cool refreshing treat on a warm day. He always has an enormous grin on his face, and like most of us, he is filled with red liquid. However, when he moves around, this red liquid spills out from the top of his head. What’s unique about him is that he is made of glass. His large round belly is the first to crash through a wall to get everyone’s attention.

Copy Edit the World: Sushi

When I went out to sushi I noticed they had a misprint on a sign. It's kind of hard to read it since I took this picture with my phone, but it says:

"This space is for your servers. Please, do not remove this one. Thank you, Sato"

This sign doesn't refer to what "this one" is. The phrase "this one" is vague, we don't know what it refers to. It could refer to the "space" or it could refer to the sign.

Word of the Week #6

Nicole Decker
Mass Com 100W T/Th 10:30 a.m.
Word #6

Word: melee
Source: The Nanny Diaries, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, page 234
How it was used: “She tosses her hair to the other shoulder and walks back to the cake melee.”

Definition:
Noun
1. a confused hand-to-hand fight or struggle among several people.
2. confusion; turmoil; jumble: the melee of Christmas shopping.
3. a group of diamonds, each weighing less than 0.25 carat.
4. Confused, hand-to-hand fighting in a pitched battle.
5. A violent free-for-all. See Synonyms at brawl.
6. A confused tumultuous mingling, as of a crowd: the rush-hour melee.
7. a noisy riotous fight
8. A fight in which the combatants are mingled in one confused mass; a hand to hand conflict; an affray
9. A cavalry exercise in which two groups of riders try to cut paper plumes off the helmets of their opponents, the contest continuing until no member of one group retains his plume

My sentence: The band tried to make their way through the melee after their concert.