Blog# 8: The Long Goodbye: Mother's Day in Federal Prison

"The Long Goodbye: Mother's Day in Federal Prison," by Amanda Coyne was a very good personal profile. I liked how the beginning started out in the middle of a scene and you didn't quite know what was going on. The only thing that gave away the story was the title. If the author would have made a better title that was more interesting and something that made you guess what the story was going to be about, I would have liked the story more because it would have kept me in suspense longer. After I read the title, I knew exactly what it was going to be about and the suspense was gone.
Overall though, the story was really interesting. I thought it was funny how the old lady just starts telling them about her whole life story and about her messed up children. Grandmas do this all the time. They will talk to random strangers about the craziest things. I thought the story about her daughter and her son was sad. I think the sadest thing was that her son hit her like her husband or boyfriend used too. She shouldn't be the one in jail. She should be able to take care of her son.
The author was very descriptive and she told the story very well. The only parts I got confused with were who everybody was. I think the problem was that there were too many stories with in one profile. Also, I feel like it was a memoir because there was no historical reference to the prison. I really didn't learn anything from it.

Blog # 7: I'm Not Leaving Until I Eat This Thing and The NewYork Pickpocket Academy

"I'm Not Leaving Until I Eat This Thing" by John T. Edge, was a very interesting profile. I thought it was very gross, yet intriging. Pickled pig lips are not the everyday subject that people talk about all the time or at all. I didn't even know that pickled pig lips even existed! Personally, they sounded really gross from the descriptions. When he started explaining the process of the ladies taking the frozen pigs and cutting off their lips and slicing the fat away; all I could think of was them doing that to an actual person. How disgusting! I also didn't believe that anyone would ask for different colored pickled lips for holidays and special events. Who would even eat them. I felt like he was lying about how people sold pickled pig lips everyday and they are in demand. I feel like oil is in demand, not pickled pig lips. That part of a pig is supposed to be thrown away, not another orderve.
Other than how gross the subject was, I thought John T. Edge did a very good job of describing the people, the pickled pig lips product company and the pickled pig lips. I could picture the man with the dark mustache who delivered the pickled pig lips. I liked the part where he said the pickled pig lips were in like "Kool-Aid- red slurry of hot sauce, vinegar, salt and food coloring." This part was yet disgusting, but so descriptive that I could taste it. One other thing that bothered me about this profile was that I feel like he jumped around a lot. The story didn't really flow. He would go from a personal experience of trying to eat a pickled pig lip to describing the man who was delivering them. I think it was the history of the pickled pig lips that really messed up the flow of the profile.
"The NewYork Pickpocket Academy" by John McPhee, was very confusing. I didn't understand the profile at all. All the pickpocketing that he described coming from different people at different times in Brooklyn made this profile story the most confusing. When he started talking about the random women who got pickpocketed was just another turn around in the story. The little boy was really random too. A good part to this story was that he showed that people are stealers and thieves, but they also are good people. For example, after the lady got pickpocketed other people in the market started putting money and food together for her. I thought it was ironic how the lady went home and then came back to the market to spend the donated money that she lost and possibly get pickpocketed again.

Blog # 6 Profile: The Last Stop

This reading really helped me understand the way to write a profile. Before, I really didn't know what a profile was. I was confused. I thought a profile was something that would come out of a magazine. I just thought it was a research paper or an add trying to sell something. I thought a profile was going to be a paper that was straight to the point, like black and white, no personal thought, just descriptions, but not really sensory details.
From The Last Stop, Brian Cable made me see profile writing in a different way. He used a lot of detail, describing the Goodbody Mortuaries. He really planted the picture of the dusty, pink building in my mind and the descriptions just didn't come all at once. He gave a step by step of what went on in the tour of the mortuary and in every step he described something different. For example, he described the building, the director, Mr. Deaver and then the embalmer and the body. He also added details from the internet about how much money is spent on funerals. He used his vague yet noticeable sense of humor when he talked about how that amount of money was more than a wedding sometimes. He used specific quotes from the director that really helped me understand the directors job and what his personality was like. He did a good job of showing and not just telling. Overall, I thought he picked a really interesting topic that many people wouldn't know too much about. I was really intreaged by this profile and thought it was really interesting to learn about. He brought in interesting facts from things that went on behind the scenes of a mortuary. I understand the elements of a written profile after reading this.

Readings from Rick Bragg and Tobias Wolff

In the first reading, 100 Miles per Hour, Upside Down and Sideways, by Rick Bragg had a very interesting story. He used many metaphors and similes in his story that made his story more compelling. For example, " It looked like a white sheet of paper someone had crumpled up and tossed in the ditch from a passing car." This was just one of the many similes that he put into his story. I also really liked the way he described his car. He used "her" instead of my car in the story to show his relationship with the car and how he treated it. You could really tell that he loved his car because he worked two summers to pay for the car and he called the car his "equalizer." He was saying that his car completed him. Obviously, his car was like his best friend. He also said his car helped him become popular and help him get the prettiest girls in school. This goes to show that people sometimes like you for things that you have and not your personality.
My favorite part was the forshadowing with the "Eagles' Greatest Hits tape." He explained how it was the only tape he could play in the car in the beginning and it showed up again in the end when he crashed into the ditch. After he crashed, the repetition of "The Lord was riding with you, son,"stuck in my head the rest of the story. At the end when his uncle lent him the money to fix the car up, I was really surprised by this. I would never think that an uncle would let his nephew drive the same car when he almost killed himself.

In the second reading, On Being a Real Westerner, by Tobias Wolff, the author described the gun very well. He also had a need for this gun like Rick Bragg had a need for his car. You could also see that Tobias looked up to Roy. He wanted to be like him and be in the army to shoot guns and wear the uniforms, but mostly to have the look of the army personell. When his mom gave in and let him have the gun, I was completely surprised. He wasn't that old and she even said that she couldn't trust him. I also couldn't believe that he shot the squirrel in the road and then lied to his mom about it. I don't know how someone could cry and mourn over a squirrel when he didn't even care about the squirrel in the first place. It kind of makes me sick to think that he would just kill the squirrel just to shoot something.

Readings By Annie Dillard and Jean Brandt

An American Childhood by Annie Dillard did a great job of telling her story of the snowball incident. In the first part of the story I thought she was going to just talk about her always playing with the boys and having tom boy like qualities. It kind of suprised me when she started talking about throwing snowballs at the cars. I liked how her baseball arm was played in to the snowball throwing incident with the car. I thought it was a good transititon to her actual story that she described. She was really descriptive with her story. I like how she explained the backyards like mazes and labrynths. She also was very descriptive about the man how was chasing her and Mikey. I couln't believe that a man who was obviously rich and high up in his career would leave his car door open just to chase some kids who threw a snowball at his car. He is crazy to run around with them and catch them just to say "you stupid kids." Who does that. He must love his car too much or he just must love to run and ruin kids fun.

In Calling Home by Jean Brandt, the author does a great job of telling her feeling through out the whole story. She really explains how she feels when she stole the pin and when she was about to call home. I don't know why or how a thirteen year old would have the guts to steel a pin that was only 75 cents. Why don't you just wait in line and pay for the stupid pin? She just stole it because she was lazy. I guess the crime wasn't that bad though because it was only 75 cents. Some people steal bigger things that cost way more money than a stupid pin. I was really surprised in the story when the owner of the store actually called the police. Usually someone who saw a thirteen year old steal something would just be like "put whatever you took back and never do it again." I also couldn't believe the police actually arrested her. I feel like they didn't even know what she stole or even cared to ask her. Usually police have bigger and better things to worry about, so arresting a thirteen year old girl is a little unrealistic. She was an innocent lazy kid who just didn't feel like standing in line. She shouldn't have been put in jail for it.

Blog # 3

In the Excerpt from "Fried Butter," Abe Opincar  did not appeal to his audience; his audience, equaling me and others.  He talked about his mother being pregnant and how she always used to have eggs.  When he was born, he talked about how she never complained when she cleaned or made him eggs for breakfast.  How could he degrade his mom like that.  He portrayed her as a good slave and him as a king that sat on his throne and did nothing to help her.  In one part of the memoir he said," I wanted to go outside and play."  She said, "I'm lonely. Please stay with me and talk."  He didn't.  He went outside to play.  Wouldn't he feel some type of guilt for not staying inside with his mom?  I couldn't believe he would be such a jerk and not hang out with his mom, especially since his mom does everything for him.  I also don't understand why his mom won't give herself a break.  It seems like she lives to do stuff for her family.  For example, "When she visits, she cooks for me.  I sit at the table and she watches me eat."  She even said, " I didn't do any of it because I enjoyed it.  I did it out of love."  So she doesn't like to do any of it, but since she loves her son so much, she will do anything for him.  I really don't understand that.  A mother shouldn't feel like they have to do everything for their family.  I feel like if she loved her son then she wouldn't do everything for him.  When he grows up, it will be hard for him to adapt to reality.  He will have to realize fast that his mom is not going to be their to do everything for him.  And because his mom did do everything for him,  he will probably be looking for a wife who will do everything for him like his mom did.

In "'Herb's Chicken,"Anna Seitz's memoir was interesting, but really gross.  I couldn't believe she would talk about something so gross as "processing" chicken. Who wants to hear how chicken is caught and slaughtered.  In the memoir, this part really made me cringe. "Herb easily pried the mouth open with his left hand, and with his right, he pushed the knife into its brain and turned it."  I  don't know how someone could do that to a chicken.  I know I eat chicken like every other day, but I don't want to know how they kill the chicken.  I guess you have to think of the chicken as survival instead of a living creature.  I think this memoir could make someone a vegetarian.  Anna Seitz did a very good job of being descriptive, but I really don't think anyone wants to know how a chicken is processed.  The one thing that I really liked about this memoir was the ending paragraph.  It was funny how her husband was excited that he learned how to kill a chicken and how she was the complete opposite about it.  His wife said she could do it again, but not eat it, especially since the whole point of killing a chicken is to eat it.