Understanding The Truth

         Truth vs. fiction, these are normally recognized as two different things, but can they also be one and the same? Or are all the stories and historical documents we trust as being actual fact simply a correlation of truth and fiction? In Tim O'Brien's war story novel The Things They Carried, the stories he wrote were fiction with a true underlying basis, but as one would read the story, it'd feel as if one was connecting with Kiowa, Jimmy Cross, Ted Lavender as if one really knew them. It gives a glimpse into the horror of war. The reader can read about Vietnam and can only imagine that some of the same tragedies are going on over in Iraq and others parts of the Middle East.
       In an interview of O'Brien that we watched in class, he enforced that his story is much half truth. The emotions of the stories are true but the characters and much of the actual story line are false. Although I knew it was a fabrication of the truth, I was a little upset, I felt cheated, as if someone told an emotional heartfelt story, and then ended it saying, "Sorry, it's all made up."
       In reality, anything in life can be a interpretation of someone else's view of an event. The history books we learn from, they're based on historical document, but the men and women that were alive during this time that wrote this down, could have viewed it as their own interpretation therefore making it their own interpretation of the truth.  As O' Brien quotes on the last page of How to Tell a True War Story "It wasn't a war story. It was a love story". (85) This is what O'Brien did, although the characters were not true or the exact details weren't the heartfelt emotions were what was true. Just as O' Brien quoted Pablo Picasso's famous quote "Art is all that makes us realize the truth" perfectly fits O' Brien's story and all the stories of life in general, all the fancy details and added facts helps us understand and dig down to what's real.
     I believe that a fabrication of the truth is needed to make a story seemed appealing, many of the movies and books out have a common title "based on a true story" the underlying meaning is true, but a lot of the shocking events and characters are added in to make the story overall more entertaining and emotionally connecting. As long as the details are made up and the underlying meaning is true, that's all that matters right?
   
       
      

More Than Just A Book

      Reading is a part of every young child's life. When I was a child, reading was my absolute favorite way to spend a day. My mom and I would go to the library every now and then and I would find some books to bring home to start reading. This was extremely exciting to me because reading was a big part of my childhood and remained there while growing up. Some of my favorites were the Magic Tree House series. Every time I picked up a new one, it'd take me on a whole new adventure. I loved every second of reading and it never got dull, reading a new book never just never got old to me. The Dr. Seuss series were books that just captured my attention and kept me wanting every single book in the series by their bright colors and captivating illustrations. I remember asking my grandma to buy me them, and being a typical grandma, she did. One of my strongest memories of reading were the reading plans that you would do to get Great America tickets. I would read all day and all night just to get those priced tickets for a day at Six Flags. I did those for a few summers and was able to have fun at Six Flags, which made it all worth it. 
        Now that I'm older, reading has left my life for the most part, I don't read books for fun anymore because I can't seem to have to attention span to sit down and read. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good book when I happen to find one. I have read some books over the years that I have definitely gotten a place in my all time favorites. West Side Story is one of my favorite books and always will be, this book is one that I just seemed to get totally wrapped up with and was able to enjoy from beginning to end. The Outsiders is another one that I loved even though it made me cry, it's one of my favorites. 
      Reading was a big part of my life while growing up and influenced much of what I think today. That's what of the most important facts of reading, it can shape who you are. The story lines, characters, themes all presented in a story don't just go in one ear and out the other, they stay. This then can influence how you feel about a situation, or even how you might act. It's silly for one to believe that a book is just a story, it's much more than that. It's filled with real-life scenarios that can shape how we live.

Choosing Your Destiny

          Do you know what you want to do when you grow up? That's a question that gets asked many times to a student in high school as they're planning a career. Sometimes, they don't exactly know what they're going to do, but know it's essential that they get it figured out, and sometimes, they don't. Planning your life and deciding how your going to support yourself is a extremely important question and decision to any young person. I watch the news, read articles and I first hand can see people who are deeply struggling in life just to get by, just to get their next meal. They might have not known exactly what they wanted to do with their life, and they did not have a steady job that would give them a solid salary. The workers that Barbara Ehenreich worked with during her minimum wage experiment in Nickel and Dimed, were people that didn't exactly know what they were going to be when they grew up, and they now struggle day to day, working ten harder than some millionaires do, to be rewarded with measly minimum wage. I wonder at times how that is even fair, but that's the type of life that comes with low wage jobs.
         When I am asked that typical high school question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?", I seem to have a grasp on an idea or concept of what I would enjoy doing for the rest of my life, but I'm still a little indecisive. I remember being a young kid, just six years old, saying I wanted to be a singer, then changing and wanting to be a doctor, then I wanted to be a nurse, but now 11 years later, I'm not exactly sure. I definitely want to continue my education after high school to pursue a career that I would make a good salary off of. I want to have a job where I could better someone else. I know that this takes a good amount of work and I can't just breeze through the rest of school, especially college and even more importantly the rest of my life without putting forth effort and drive. I now realize after reading Nickel and Dimed, and noticing the struggles every minimum wage worker Ehenreich worked with went through, I know what I need to do. If I want to achieve a comfortable life and knowing that I'm going to be okay economically, my effort needs to reflect that.
         In Nickel and Dimed, Ehenreich and her coworkers worked jobs that help a general cause, such as housekeeping and being a waitress. I would love to have a job where I could do something that would improve someones health, their outlook on life, their money situation, anything to make a betterment for somebody else. I hear about just one person making such a positive impact on somebody else's life, when their just doing their job. That would be something I would love to do, whether it be a psychologist, a physical therapist, I really just don't know, but as time goes on I know I'll be able to finally decide exactly what I want to do.
         


 

Appreciating Every Nickel and Dime

          In the elections coming up in only a few weeks, for senator and governor of Wisconsin, there is a great debate regarding whether, Scott Walker and Tom Barrett or Ron Johnson and Russ Feingold will improve Wisconsin's job opportunities and contribute to the American government. Running for Governor, Tom Barrett, plans to create dairy processing jobs, to support what Wisconsin is known for. He also wants to cut the red tape around jobs and get new construction jobs forming. This would improve the unemployment rate weighing down on Wisconsin. He also supports middle class families being able to afford their healthcare.

         Running for governor, conservative Scott Walker, has a plan to create 250,000 new jobs in the state of Wisconsin. He also plans to decrease the taxes in the state of Wisconsin that burden many families living paycheck to paycheck. He also plans on decreasing taxes for businesses that create a burden for them when hiring new employees. Both senators have in mind that many people in Wisconsin, and the entire nation are counting their pennies and aren't making the most plentiful paycheck. Barrett and Walker's views both relate to the scenario presented in Nickel and Dimed. Finding a job and living on a minimum wage salary is stressful and uncomfortable for many individuals and families of different sizes. Barbara Ehrenreich had such a difficult time even getting a call back from many of the jobs she tried applying for. Both Walker and Barrett know that living off a small paycheck isn't easy and creating job opportunities and cutting taxes will take a burden off the hard workers of Wisconsin and America.

           Nickel and Dimed changed my views  of the length and power of the minumum wage paycheck. When the author/journalist Barbara Ehrenreich placed herself in the roles of various minimum wage jobs and left behind her cushy paycheck for an experiment. The challenges she faced were alarming. Her coworkers could barely scrape by every month, and even had to live in cars for periods of time until they saved up money. This situation relates to the millions of people living in America every single day.
           After reading of her experiences first hand, I understand how really valuable every penny is. When deciding which senator or governor I believe will benefit Wisconsin, Nickel and Dimed brought to my eyes how living on a limited paycheck affects your life. Every dollar made determines that kind of lifestyle that you can live. This can determine if you can live out and achieve the true definition of the American Dream and take advantage of the liberty of the America.

What is an American?

The simple question, What is an American?, is one that requires an extensive answer. With being an American many privileges and rights of freedom are given to a citizen. This past week in class, reading What Is an American?, by Micheal-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur, I was able to understand and remember the rights that the people of America are given, that citizens in other countries do not get. "Formerly they were not numbered in any civil list of their country, except in those of the poor, here they rank as citizens." (What is An American?, 70) Concepts like these are what important American documents, such as the Declaration of Independence had some of its main components based upon.
The Declaration of Independence enforced an idea of the American dream. It brought about the ideas that living in America you can get the freedom to live a life that was not possible in other countries. This document is still a basis for American freedom even today, even though some of the concepts of it, for example ho w it excludes women and some races, the Declaration is still the basis of American freedom and helped to develop the idea of the American dream. Immigrants long ago came to America with the same hopes for freedom and achieving the American dream as they do today.

"Don't end your life wishing you lived out all your dreams"

Communities

• What is a community and how do they form?

A community can be described as one of many situations. A community can be a social group, large or small, that share a similar culture or heritage. Communities develop when a certain group of people live around each other for a long period of time, then forming the same culture and having to survive around the same area.  That's just the general definition of a community, they can be as small as being a student in a school, an employee in a workplace, being part of your town or even being as large as the country you live in. An example of a large community developing over time would be the Pilgrims. This group of people originally from England, came to America seeking a brighter future and religious freedom. They were forced to start from the ground up and build their life from nothing. The Pilgrims then began to live around the same area, work together and survive with the help of one another. They shared the same religion from the beginning and had similar cultural values. Over time they formed a community that was able to last for many years.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/community

http://www.mbeinstitute.org/America/PilgrimsPlymouth.JPG