"Fish Cheeks" by Amy Tan, and "Superman and Me" by Sherman Alexie

The first essay that I read was "Fish Cheeks." by Amy Tan. (110-11)
Young Amy has a crush on an American boy whose family will be sharing the Christmas Eve meal with her Chinese family. She is embarrassed by the differences between their cultures and traditional foods. Amy's mother teaches her a gentle lesson about the importance of embracing your cultural roots; only recognizable to her years later. Tan's purpose for writing this essay was to show that although it may not be easy to recognize in our youth, our culture and differences are vital parts of ourselves to be cherished.

The second essay I read was "Superman and Me." by Sherman Alexie. (582-85)
A poor child growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, where children were neither expected or encouraged to be smart, Sherman's father showed him a life rich in books and the love of reading. Sherman taught himself to read at the age of 3 through the pages of a comic book, altering his view of the world. His intelligence made him different, but he devoured books anyway; sensing a path to a better life.  As an adult, and highly acclaimed author, he now returns to the reservation school to try to give the children who live there the same keys to success that he found as a child: a love of books and reading, and a positive role model like his father was to him. The purpose of this essay is to show how reading and books can be a pathway to life that rises above cultural expectations.

I am choosing to do my analysis on "Superman and Me" by Sherman Alexie.  I really enjoyed the message of his essay.  It reminded me of growing up with a mother who loved books, and reading all of her books that I could. I am looking forward to delving deeper into this essay.

I commented on the following:

Shelbee's blog:  http://srwilhite.blogspot.com/

Ariel's blog:  http://arielkhodge.blogspot.com/

Works Cited.

Alexie, Sherman. "Superman and Me." The Bedford Reader.  Ed. X.J. Kennedy et al.  12th ed.              
     Boston: Bedford, 2014. 582-85. Print.

Tan, Amy. "Fish Cheeks." The Bedford Reader.  Ed. X.J. Kennedy et al.  12th ed. Boston: Bedford                

      2014. 110-11. Print.

narrative freewriting

The hard thud of the tailgate and the jingle jangle of dog tags signal that we have arrived. One black lab wears an oval tag with a small brass arrow and the words, "I'm with stupid", casually pointing to the other, who's tag proudly proclaims, "Oh Shit, I'm Lost!". It sums up the relationship of the sisters perfectly. In an instant, zoom! Off they go, two bullet trains of shining black fur on a doggy treasure hunt. Their tails cut through the early evening air, like windshield wipers set on high. Snouts to the ground, each sniff revealing another clue of who, or what was there prior to our arrival. The trail beckons ahead. The sun has started it's journey to the other side of the world, brushing it watercolors on the sky's canvas. The air feels like an inhaled breath waiting to be released.

This is my favorite time of day here. In the dimming light, swarms of gnats make their appearance, taunting the dive-bombing swallows looking for a fast food meal. The damp earth below gives softly with each step, releasing it's soil perfume: a mix of dirt, grass, and the ease of childhood. Small snakes occasionally dart into the sidelines, brown bodies like ribbon candy in motion. On a good day I can pick one up, hold it in the air in front of me, it's body elongating, tiny tongue angrily flickering at me, just for a brief moment, then return it to the trail.  The dogs are uninterested in the snakes. They are busy exploring out-of-bounds, fur now spotted with glistening drops of dusky dew, smiles reaching from riverbank to riverbank.

The river whispers it's goodnight stories into the dusky air.  Breathing in deeply, I feel the rush of the watery wisdom enter my soul.  My heart is filled with happiness three times over, once for me and two more times for the panting labs who have returned to my side.

I commented on the following blogs:

Alex: https://happiestepitaphs.wordpress.com/

Validia: http://vtomasko.blogspot.com/

"Why We Lie", by Dan Ariely

1.) Summary

     Ariely believes that most people cheat, and it is these small dishonest acts that we all commit that are more of a detriment to our society than the big acts of dishonesty committed by very few people.
     Experiments have shown that there are many factors at play when it comes to dishonesty in peoples actions and the degree in which they are willing to cheat. Risk vs. reward is not much of a factor. It is the internal struggle in our own minds that leads to cheating.
     As a society we need to pay attention to the large transgressions by few individuals.  More importantly though, we should be focused on the small lies of the masses that are happening everyday. We may not be able to stop the big cheaters from cheating, but we can discourage the small cheating that goes on in our everyday lives (Ariely 440-446).

2.) Paraphrase of Paragraph 10

     According to Ariely, we are already aware that most people have a willingness to cheat to a small degree. What we must search for next are the reasons why we choose to behave honestly or dishonestly (442).

3.) Quote

     "If it is my teammates who benefit from my fudging the numbers, surely that makes me a virtuous person!" (Ariely 443)

    I chose this quote from the essay because I think it shows the internal struggle we all have when it comes to cheating.  It is much easier to justify bending your standards of honesty if you can make yourself believe that it has a benefit to someone else.

I posted comments on the following blogs:

Michael's blog; http://mhendricksen.blogspot.com/

Validia's blog: http://vtomasko.blogspot.com/
                                                       

Works Cited.

Ariely, Dan. "Why We Lie." The Bedford Reader. 12th ed. Ed. John E. Sullivan. Boston: Bedford/St.

     Martin's, 2014. 440-446. Print.