In this blog post I will be discussing a short story written by Maya Angelou titled “My name is Margaret.” This story is about a young black girl who was a servant to a rich white woman. It explains how she was oppressed, and beaten down until she finally decided to stand against authority. I will then use this story to relate to a story of my own, and give some insight into my personal life. I whole heartedly agree with Margaret’s decision to drop the casserole dish, and the two green cups. I say this because Margaret was being stripped of things that made her human and was being squashed down and oppressed just because she was seen as a lesser person, if even that, just because she was not only black, but the fact she also lived in poverty. While many people may say it is ok for a boss to treat their employees like they are not people, I must disagree with the statement, because the second you give in, and let others treat you that way it will slowly seep into you, to the point where you will forget who you are. I like to say that words are much like a boat in water, the boat will not sink until water is let in, and once it is in everything floods quickly, and the same concept applies to words and how people treat you. As long as you do not allow the words to get to you, you will never sink to a lower level, and your self esteem will continue to float. And this is exactly why I agree with Margaret’s choice to drop the dishes, because she was breaking the chain of oppression that was constantly being felt by many people over and over again; and by doing this she did not allow herself to flood, and kept her humanity, and dignity all because of one simply deliberate action. I had a similar situation, or multiple situations when I worked for Acme. I was only ever seen as a number, and the mangers wanted me to work like a robot every day of my life with no signs of slowing or weakness. There were multiple times that I had enough of how they were treating me until I snapped over and over, but I was lucky to have a union so they could not just throw me out. The one situation I remember most clearly while working there was the one day I that I did not feel very well. I tried to call out in the morning so I could sit at home and rest; however, my store manager insisted that I come in, and she assured me that if I felt bad after an hour or so in she would send me home. I saw this as a reasonable request, and decided to go in that day to keep my manager happy. After about 2 hours into my shift I finally decided that I could not take any more, and went to my store manager to make sure it was ok that I was going to leave. It was at this point she insisted that I stay at least another 3 hours until she could get a replacement in. At this point I was too sick to argue, and I decided the best course of action was to clock out and leave without permission. After that any time I felt sick they would send me home without protest, and I was very happy I stood up for myself, and hopefully changed their viewpoint enough to help other people.
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I am writing this blog post to give some insight into my writing process. It will be a quote collage of quotes I have hand picked from the 3 articles, “Teach Writing as a Process, not a Product.” by Don Murray, “The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers.” By Maria Popova, and “Bird by Bird: Some Writing Instructions on Writing, and Life.” By Anne Lamott.
Teaching Writing as a Process, not a Product (Don Murray) Quote 1: “Writing is the act of producing a first draft. It is the fastest part of the process, and the most frightening, for it is a commitment. When you complete a draft you know how much, and how little, you know.” -Don Murray Quote 2: “There must be time for the writing process to take place and time for it to end.” -Don Murray Quote 3: “He doesn’t test his words by a rule book, but by life. He uses language to reveal the truth to himself so that he can tell it to others.” -Don Murray The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers (Maria Popova) Quote 1: “I can work anywhere. I wrote in bedrooms and living rooms when I was growing up with my parents and my brother in a small house in Los Angeles. I worked on my typewriter in the living room, with the radio and my mother and dad and brother all talking at the same time. Later on, when I wanted to write Fahrenheit 451, I went up to UCLA and found a basement typing room where, if you inserted ten cents into the typewriter, you could buy thirty minutes of typing time.” – Ray Bradbury Quote 2: “I need an hour alone before dinner, with a drink, to go over what I’ve done that day. I can’t do it late in the afternoon because I’m too close to it. Also, the drink helps. It removes me from the pages. So, I spend this hour taking things out and putting other things in. Then I start the next day by redoing all of what I did the day before, following these evening notes.” – Joan Didion Quote 3: “I write with a felt-tip pen, or sometimes a pencil, on yellow or white legal pads, that fetish of American writers. I like the slowness of writing by hand. Then I type it up and scrawl all over that. And keep on retyping it, each time making corrections both by hand and directly on the typewriter, until I don’t see how to make it any better. Up to five years ago, that was it. Since then there is a computer in my life. After the second or third draft it goes into the computer, so I don’t retype the whole manuscript anymore, but continue to revise by hand on a succession of hard-copy drafts from the computer.” -Susan Sontag Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Anne Lamott) Quote 1: “Often when you sit down to write, what you have in mind is an autobiographical novel about your childhood, or a play about the immigrant experience, or a history of oh, say—say women. But this is like trying to scale a glacier. It's hard to get your footing, and your fingertips get all red and frozen and torn up.” – Anne Lamott Quote 2: “Now, practically even better news than that of short assignments is the idea of shitty first drafts. All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts.” -Anne Lamott Quote 3: “Very few writers really know what they are doing until they've done it. Nor do they go about their business feeling dewy and thrilled. They do not type a few stiff warm-up sentences and then find themselves bounding along like huskies across the snow.” -Anne Lamott Me Quote 1: “Just because the first draft is not the perfect draft, does not mean you should settle for it, or even worse give up on it completely” -Daniel Kraus Quote 2: “On your first draft do not worry about having everything work out perfectly, instead write what you feel is right, you can always go back for a second draft to fix anything that was not quite right.” -Daniel Kraus Quote 3: “Having an uninterrupted stream of thoughts to write is always important; it does not matter how long it takes you should always reserve enough time so you can make sure you can think freely without time constraints weighing you down.” -Daniel Kraus I am answering 35 questions from the “Proust questionnaire” to serve as the first assignment for my English 100 class, as well as give some insight on my personality, and how I may view certain things.
__1.__What is your idea of perfect happiness? __2.__What is your greatest fear? I have a very large fear of heights, and honestly fear nothing more than it. __3.__What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? I am not a fan of the fact that I like to procrastinate so much. __4.__What is the trait you most deplore in others? I hate when others can not grasp simple concepts no matter how well you may explain it. __5.__Which living person do you most admire? I don’t really admire anyone I just work through life. __6.__What is your greatest extravagance? I am not really extravagant in any way. __7.__What is your current state of mind? Rather happy. __8.__What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Honesty. It is nice to never be lied to but lying is part of human nature. __9.__On what occasion do you lie? Depends on the situation but if I see a reason for it I will. __10.__What do you most dislike about your appearance? My weight __11.__Which living person do you most despise? I tend to not hold grudges, so I guess whoever I was most recently mad at. __12.__What is the quality you most like in a man? N/A __13.__What is the quality you most like in a woman? Intelligence __14.__Which words or phrases do you most overuse? I tend to try and change what I say to practice good vocabulary. __15.__What or who is the greatest love of your life? N/A __16.__When and where were you happiest? Probably one of the cruises I’ve taken when I was younger. __17.__Which talent would you most like to have? The ability to play piano. __18.__If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? The amount I procrastinate. __19.__What do you consider your greatest achievement? Earning my eagle scout. __20.__If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? A rock so I could be lazy. __21.__Where would you most like to live? Somewhere tropical such as Hawaii. __22.__What is your most treasured possession? My memories. __23.__What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Nearly failing high school due to procrastination. __24.__What is your favorite occupation? Accountant. __25.__What is your most marked characteristic? __26.__What do you most value in your friends? Loyalty. __27.__Who are your favorite writers? George R.R. Martin. __28.__Who is your hero of fiction? Jon Snow __29.__Which historical figure do you most identify with? LBJ __30.__Who are your heroes in real life? LBJ __31.__What are your favorite names? I don’t have any favorite names. __32.__What is it that you most dislike? Impatience. __33.__What is your greatest regret? Procrastinating too much in high school. __34.__How would you like to die? Drowning in chocolate __35.__What is your motto? I don’t have one. |
AuthorI am a student at Delaware County Community College. This blog servers multiple purposes, the foremost being that it is to showcase many of my English Composition 1 assignments. However, it also serves to give a look into my writing processes, my personal life, and my own opinions. It is also an amazing showcase of how i have grown over the year, and how my English Composition course has influenced me within just a few short months. Archives
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