For this week’s blog post I listened to a podcast by Lulu Wang. Wang explains that her grandmother, Nai Nai, has stage 4 lung cancer, and she is terminal. Wang’s family is given the info and they chose not to tell Nai Nai about her condition. In this post I will be sharing my feelings about the situation, and what I would’ve chose to do in their situation.
A big hardship I have often been faced with is to be honest with my boyfriend’s nieces and nephew about their parents struggle with a heroin addiction. Growing up their mother was on a methadone clinic, and they knew that she needed it every day. They never knew why or what it helped with. They referred to it as “mommy’s medicine.” Their father has always been in and out of their lives. When he was away, either in rehab or jail, his sister would often have lied to them and told them that “Daddy’s at work.” As they got older they began to ask questions about his type of work. It wasn’t until my boyfriend and I took them on full time that we decided to tell them the truth. As much as it was going to hurt them we knew it was going to be better for them. We felt that they would eventually know the truth, and we wanted them to trust us. Lying would’ve potentially hurt them, and we felt that they shouldn’t have to grow up hidden from this truth. Unfortunately, this has been ongoing for their whole life, and I don’t see it ending anytime soon.
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This will be reflection on a short story called My Name Is Margaret by Maya Angelou. The story is placed in the 1960s where racism is a serious manner. A young girl named Margaret is a house keeper for Mrs. Cullinan. Margaret has to make a difficult decision to go with the flow or stand up for her rights.
Did you agree with Margaret's choice to break the casserole dish and two green glass cups? Personally, I feel that Margaret breaking the cups helped to prove a point. Through her actions she showed courage, and also managed to set and example of "challenging the status quo". She knew the choice she was making was not a good one, but she also displayed what it’s like to challenge the status quo. I feel that Margaret made the correct decision to break the dishes. It’s through this action that she proved her self worth. She took Mrs. Cullinan’s family dishes and broke them as if they were not valuable. These dishes were irreplaceable… often like traditions that are passed down from generation to generation. It’s through this action that she showed her self worth and courage. She was able to show that although she was diminished by those around her she still had the will power to fight for herself. She was able to free herself from abusive environment she was in. Unfortunately, even though she was free, Mrs. Glory was left behind to deal with the aftermath. She was the one that now would receive the wrath from Mrs. Cullinan for Margaret actions. If more people in this time showed the courage Margaret showed then the discrimination issue would’ve ended sooner. When have you made an important choice to either resist or not resist oppression, challenge the status quo, or refuse to obey an authority figure? When I was a junior in high school, I had to make one of the hardest decisions I would make in my entire life. My mother was the person who was pushing me in that decision. Either way I went with my decision it would still greatly affect my life forever. After lots of thinking I decided that going along with my mother decision was the best choice. I still sit here and debate everyday if I made the right choice. I know that my life would be very different if I had not went along with her decision. I wouldn’t be in the relationship that I am currently in. I know that although my mom was upset she felt that I had the decision that was in my best interest. It was in this time that I chose not to stand up for myself, and told her how I felt. Although I’ happy where I am in life right now I just don’t understand why I chose not to speak up about how I felt at this time in my life. I went along with my mom so I didn’t have to be faced with the aftermath that followed. For this post I read and annotated 3 reading from various authors. Here are some quotes by other writers that pertain to my style of writing. I have also provided 3 quotes by me that apply to my style of writing.
Teach Writing as a Process Not a Product (Don Murray) Quote 1: "Instead of teaching finished writing, we should teach unfinished writing, and glory in its unfinishedness." - Don Murray Quote 2: "Prewriting is everything that takes place before the first draft. Prewriting usually take about 85% of the writer's times." - Don Murray Quote 3: " The student is encouraged to attempt any form of writing which may help him discover and communicate what he has to say." - Don Murray The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers (Maria Popova) Quote 1: "I never listen to music when I'm working. I haven't that kind of attentiveness, and I wouldn't like it at all." - E.B. White Quote 2: "Starting tomorrow - if not today:" - Susan Sontag Quote 3: "I had a ritual once of lighting a candle and writing by its light and blowing it out when I was done for the night." - Jack Kerouac Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Anne Lamott) Quote 1: " Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." - E.L. Doctorow Quote 2: "What I've learned to do when I sit down to work on a shitty first draft is to quiet the voices in my head." - Anne Lamott Quote 3: "I don't think you have time to waste not writing because you are afraid you won't be good enough at it..." - Anne Lamott My own Quotes: Quote 1: " Your writing should pull your reader in quickly, or else they will pull out quickly. "- Elizabeth Appenzeller Quote 2: " Rough drafts are a representation of hard work, and not mistakes. "-Elizabeth Appenzeller Quote 3: "You don't need any type of experience in order to write. You just need your mind and a pen. "-Elizabeth Appenzeller The following questions are part of a famous questionnaire called The Proust Questionnaire. This will give you a little bit of insight on my personality, and what I like to do.
1.) What is your idea of perfect happiness? To be successful and have my perfect family in my dream home with a lot of dogs 2.) What is your greatest fear? I’m absolutely terrified to die. 3.) What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? The way I look at myself in the mirror. 4.) What is the trait you most deplore in others? I can’t stand people who lie to make themselves seem better to others. 5.) Which living person do you most admire? My mother 6.) What is your greatest extravagance? My weakest suit would definitely be clothes or shoes. 7.) What is your current state of mind? Focusing on myself and not letting people drag me down. 8.) What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Being yourself. No one knows how to be themselves these days. Everyone is always trying to be someone else. 9.) On what occasion do you lie? If the truth will drastically hurt someone I love. 10.) What do you most dislike about your appearance? My weight 11.) Which living person do you most despise? My ex-boyfriend is absolutely the worst person on this earth. 12.) What is the quality you most like in a man? He would need to be very caregiving. 13.) What is the quality you most like in a woman? Strength 14.) Which words or phrases do you most overuse? “Oh...” & “I just cant!” 15.) What or who is the greatest love of your life? My nephew 16.) When and where were you happiest? Anytime I am in Disney world. 17.) Which talent would you most like to have? Be able to sing 18.) If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Be smaller weight and height wise 19.) What do you consider your greatest achievement? Moving out and not relying on my parents at the age of 19. 20.) If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? A dog 21.) Where would you most like to live? Somewhere rural with warm weather year-round. Preferably Texas. 22.) What is your most treasured possession? My most treasured possession would have to be my Louie Vuitton. 23.) What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Fearing your life from someone around you on a daily basis. 24.) What is your favorite occupation? Anything that works with kids such as pediatric doctors, teacher, daycare teacher/provider, or nurse. 25.) What is your most marked characteristic? The first thing people notice about me would have to be my hair. Many people often comment on the color of it, and how bright it is. 26.) What do you most value in your friends? People who are loyal, tend to turn away from any drama. 27.) Who are your favorite writers? John Green is the only written I have found that is able to capture my attention in ANYTHING I read of his. 28.) Who is your hero of fiction? Edward Cullen. That boy is unstoppable. 29.) Which historical figure do you most identify with? I feel that there isn’t really any historical figure that I am alike. I haven’t really don’t anything miraculous like those in the past. 30.) Who are your heroes in real life? My hero’s, depending on the situation, are my parents, siblings, and boyfriend. 31.) What are your favorite names? For a girl I like the name Dallas, and for a boy I like the name Mason. 32.) What is it that you most dislike? I do not have a tolerance for people who lie about anything. 33.) What is your greatest regret? Trying to grow up way too fast. 34.) How would you like to die? Very quickly to prevent feeling pain. 35.) What is your motto? Take Care of yourself before others. |