"Up in the Air"

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“Up in the Air”, a novel written by Walter Kirn, is a story of a man who spends a majority of his life on airplanes and within airports. The story is about, and narrated by, Ryan Bingman. Ryan is a traveling businessman who is obsessed with compiling one million frequent flyer miles. Bingham is a selfish man who seems to put himself and his desires above anyone else in his life. When confronted with opportunity to help an unfortunate woman by giving her a small portion of his miles to help her to get to his sisters wedding he refuses. Bingham does not care for anyone but himself and his wants. 

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The way this book is written really brings you in and makes you want to keep reading, even though the main character is a difficult person to like. Bingham is running from commitment or from who he really is for some reason, rather than face them. This novel was a little to slow for me and the ending was anticlimactic. Click here for the story of a woman who has lived in an airport for 10 years.
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Letter to Mrs. Cline

Mrs. Cline,

            English 102, to this point of the semester, has been an exceptionally challenging class for me. Literary analyzing is not a style of writing I have done in the past. The majority of my readings, to date, have consisted of text books and technical manuals. I have never taken the time and given myself the opportunity to enjoy the artistic side of reading that one can get by reading fictional novels. Without a background of reading these types of writings, I feel that I may lack the expertise required to really critically analyze these works properly.

            Winter’s Bone was a novel that touched me close to home. My wife has had members of her family that have had to deal with affects of addiction to meth. This addiction does not just change the addicted but involves everyone around them. I have seen first hand how this addiction can turn otherwise good people into thieves, liars, and criminals. I was surprised that you would incorporate this subject into our readings. But, I am glad you did because meth is a drug that is destroying our community and I think people need to be educated about it effects on our entire society.

            My writing in English 101 came very easy to me. This is because they were mostly based on me, my past, my career choices and subjects I had an interest in. My writings in Psychology were ones that also came naturally to me. But literary analysis is a new and foreign style of writing that I find challenging. My goal for the remainder of the semester is to continue growing in my ability to analyze these writings and increase my ability to see what the author’s underlying statement is. Another goal of mine is to understand more about the authors and what events in their lives have led them to write about the subjects they have chosen to in their novels. Hopefully by the end of the semester I will have accomplished my goals and have given myself a good foundation of writing skills to take with me throughout my life.

You help has been greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Michael Kean

Summary of Methland The Death and Life of an American Small Town

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Methland The Life and Death of an American SmallTown is an intriguing novel written by Nick Reding about the effects of methamphetamines on the small towns of America. In this book Reding submerges himself within the lives of the people most affected by this horrendous drug in Oelwein, Iowa during a four year period in the mid 2000’s.

            Reding noticed an issue with methamphetamines in small towns during his travels as a writer. Then when he returned to his home town of Greenville,Illinois he saw that the drug had infiltrated the place he called home, he then knew this was a subject that needed to be written about. Reding takes you into the lives of local Oelwein doctor, Clay Hallberg, a user named Roland Jarvis, and the county prosecutor Nathan Lein. He documents how meth has had negative effects on such a diverse group of people and how the demise of the farming industry played a part in the way methamphetamines have taken hold of this community and the lives of the people within it. The author gives you the history of methamphetamines and how it was used by governments and armies to help with moral during difficult missions. He also touches on the medicinal uses for weight loss and narcolepsy.  This article has many true points of how methamphetamines have destroyed the small towns of America. There are many reasons that meth has been able to take such a strong hold of these communities and Reding’s real life account lets you see how such a terrible thing has been able to happen to Middle America.

            This article would be a good article for Essay #3 because it shows how methamphetamines have taken hold of these small communities and have become the source of income, happiness, pain, and crime. Winter’s Bone also depicts the lives of those affected by methamphetamines in the small towns of the Ozarks. Methamphetamine is a drug that needs to taken out of circulation but it is almost impossible when it can be made in a kitchen sink and there is still such a strong want for it. The only thing that will stop this epidemic is education.

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Works Cited

Reding, Nick. Methland The Life and Death of an American Small Town. Bloomsbury, 2009 Print

Winter's Bone

Winter’s Bone

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            Winter’s Bone is an excellent book written by Daniel Woodrell. In this captivating novel, Woodrell is able to pull you into the backwoods lives of a culture that seems to be left back in time and keep you hanging on every word to see what is next.

            This book follows the life of a sixteen year old girl who has had less than a fortunate upbringing. Young Ree Dolly is tasked with trying to provide for and raise her two younger brothers. Her mother also lives with her, but is suffering from a debilitating mental illness that leaves her unable to care for her children or herself.

Ree’s father, Jessup Dolly, is a drug manufacturing convict who is on the run from the law and has left his family to fend for themselves. Jessup has put the family’s property up as collateral for his bail and now has not shown up for his scheduled court date. This selfish act has put the whole family at risk for losing there home with no way to pay for alternate housing.

Ree has taken on the mission of finding her father to save the family home. Woodrell has you following this child through the Ozark countryside in her search. Ree is forced to deal with drug dealers, thieves, and scoundrels to find her father. But to no avail. She is beaten lied to and taken advantage of by most of the people she comes in contact with.

Ree has taken on the roll of mother to her two younger brothers. She teaches them to cook with the little food that they do have. She teaches them to hunt squirrel to put food on the table. She also teaches the brothers to fight to protect themselves in this rough existence that they must endure.

Woodrell does an outstanding job bringing life to these characters. He has a poetic way of painting a picture of the Ozark Mountains that makes feels as if you could feel, touch, taste, and see them as if you were there. Click here for more info on the Ozarks. To this point I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait to see what is going to happen to Ree and her family.  

Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street -A Literary Analysis

Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener is a short story written in the mid 1850’s. This story has an underlying theme that has implications that affect the people of today as much as the time it was written. In this story Bartleby represents a new consumer or leisure class. Bartleby presents a lax attitude towards work, in contrast to the narrator who clearly embodies the Protestant Ethic of work and charity. Through these characters, Melville shows the deterioration of society, as this new class has no respect for the old ways.  

            Bartleby comes into the narrators employ and in the beginning he is a very productive employee. Bartleby spends the entire day focused on his work. “At first Bartleby did an extraordinary quantity of writing. As if long famishing for something to copy, he seemed to gorge himself on my documents. There was no pause for digestion. He ran a day and night line, copying by sun-light and by candle-light” (par.18). He never even takes time to leave for lunch.” I observed that he never went to dinner; indeed that he never went any where” (par. 51). This is how most people begin their working career. They are focused hard working and enjoy the fruits of the labor. People get pleasure from performing well and getting recognition for their effort. This is something that separates man from animals. The need to be appreciated for who you are and what you do, is a desire that drives most and has moved the human species to progress forward to advance with technology, literature, relationships, and much more from the time man was placed on this earth.

            Another trait that separates man from animal is a sense of charity. Besides the optimistic feeling one gets from working hard and succeeding, is having the ability to help those that are less fortunate. This rewarding feeling comes from lending a hand to those that truly deserve this charity. Yes, people want to assist those who deserve it but there is also a feeling of accomplishment that one gets for providing the charity that may spur them to do these good deeds.

            Hard work and charity are two traits that the narrator, in Bartleby, the Scrivener, possesses. He has built a successful scrivener business on honesty and his work ethic. His clients are wealthy people who are very particular about whom they trust with their legal documents. This trust is something that is not just given to a person, it is earned. It is earned by hard work and accountability. The narrator has built his office to a size where he requires the assistance of employees. Unfortunately, his employees do not share his same work ethic. Regarding Turkey he said “in the afternoon he was disposed, upon provocation, to be slightly rash with his tongue, in fact, insolent.”(par.6). Regarding Nippers he states” The indigestion seemed betokened in an occasional nervous testiness and grinning irritability, causing the teeth to audibly grind together over mistakes committed in copying; unnecessary maledictions, hissed, rather than spoken, in the heat of business; and especially by a continual discontent with the height of the table where he worked.” (par. 11) The narrator shows his compassion and charity for his fellow man by allowing them to stay in his employ. He also shows his charity by employing a young boy whose fathers had passed. “Ginger Nut, the third on my list, was a lad some twelve years old. His father was a carman, ambitious of seeing his son on the bench instead of a cart, before he died. So he sent him to my office as student at law, errand boy, and cleaner and sweeper, at the rate of one dollar a week” (par.14).

            Mr. Melville uses an employee of the narrator, Bartleby, as a representation of what has gone wrong with society. The sense of hard work and charity has gone away. Bartleby comes into the narrator’s life and after initially earning his trust and compassion, begins to take advantage of the man who has looked out for his best interest.  “Bartleby,” said I, “are you aware that you are the cause of great tribulation to me, by persisting in occupying the entry after being dismissed from the office?” (par.193) It is this sense of entitlement that has plagued societies who try to incorporate charity and welfare towards its people. It is not all of those that receive charity that fall into this category but the ones that do make it difficult for those who do and more expensive for those who pay into it. These people believe that they are entitled to handouts from those who are more fortunate, or better said as those who work harder and benefit from their labor.  “Now one of two things must take place. Either you must do something, or something must be done to you. Now what sort of business would you like to engage in? Would you like to re-engage in copying for some one?” “No; I would prefer not to make any change.” (par. 197)

            For a society to prosper there is a need for charity. This charity must be for those that are in real need of the assistance. Those who are physically or mentally disabled and those who may need help for a short time to get back on their feet. But to allow people who are able to work and provide for themselves to take advantage of this welfare is a crime and will lead to the death of the society and its charity, like it killed Bartleby. “Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!” (par 251).

Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street

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   “Imprimis: I am a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best.”(3) This is a statement made by the narrator early on in the story. By trying to live his life without confrontation, without being the center of attention, and by placing himself within an occupation without much chance of anything invading his peace, the narrator ironically lives a life that is completely the opposite of what he desires. This is a form of situational irony. Most of the turmoil in his life is caused by his mindset of not wanting any disruption.  

                          The narrator is owner of a scrivener office with four employees. One of his employees is given the nickname Turkey. This individual is a good worker for the first half of the day. But by the afternoon he is drunk and unable to perform his duties. The narrator would like to fire this employee and replace him with a more productive employee. To avoid any confrontation and any inconvenience for the employee he allows Turkey to stay, even though he will cause more problems in the long run. Another employee of the narrator goes by the nickname Nippers. A nipper is not very productive during the first half of the day but gets his work done during the second half. It seems as though he may be running some sort of a side business during his working hours at the office. It may or may not be an illegal side business. Again the instead of confronting his employee regarding these model employee deficiencies, he allows them to occur. This is another example his want for the easy way is making his life more problematic. The direst consequences of his aspiration for an easy life comes by the way he manages his relationship with Bartleby.  By allowing Bartleby to continue you to stay without working and not confronting him in an assertive appropriate manner it not only caused much mayhem but may have cost Bartleby his life.

                          By looking for the easy way out in the short term you may be setting yourself up for a much harder situation in the long term.  This attitude can lead to circumstances that have adverse consequences not only for the person looking for the easy way but for other people they are in contact with. It is best to take care of situations as they arise no matter how difficult it may seem. Because what may come of the problem since it was not taken care of appropriately initially it may increase the hardship ten fold. For more information on the life and works of Herman Melville click here.

Summary vs. Analysis

           Summary and analysis are both important tools used when writing an analytical essay but these are two very different tools. When writing an essay it is important to refresh the reader on the subject of which you are writing and to point out specific events of the story, also known as summary. These events are used to give credence to your personal argument and substantiate your line of reasoning, also know as analysis.

Summary is a brief overview of a writing, movie, or event. Summary is an essential instrument used when analyzing a subject, but it is not an analysis. Summary sticks to the facts of a story. It does not give the writer of the summary’s opinion of what the possible underlying meaning of the story is. It does not dig deep into what the story is really trying to convey.

Analysis is a much more detailed evaluation of a subject than a summary. Analysis is the essay writer’s attempt to find what the author is trying to convey. An analysis can be an argued point regarding the essay writer’s understanding of the story or a portion of the story. Click here for more information regarding “Summary vs. Analysis”.

            Avatar is a story that has a many undertones that lead you to believe that the author is comparing the mining and overtaking of a planet to America’s war in Iraq. The way the story is told puts a negative light on the invaders of this planet as capitalist who will rape this planet of its natural resources for its own gains. It shows the invaders committing crimes and genocide against the inhabitants. This seems the feelings of many people who are against the war in Iraq. By reading deeper into the meaning of what the author is saying you are analyzing the story, where as to summarize this story would not leave the reader with a point to argue but just a retelling of a shorter version of Avatar.

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"A Modest Proposal."

Jonathan Swift's essay, "A Modest Proposal."

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1. What is the problem that Swift identifies in his society?  What does he want to do about it?

Jonathan Swift identifies the problem of poverty within his country of Ireland in the 1700s. Mr. Swift’s plan to relieve his country of this difficult burden is to use the children of poor families as food. His plan includes the raising of these children up to one year of age and then slaughtering them, like swine or cattle, to alleviate the need to care for them, to use them as a commodity, and to provide food for the people of his country.  

2.  Is his suggestion serious?  If not, what is the purpose?  What is he making fun of?

I do not believe that Mr. Swift is being serious in this essay. His purpose may be to get the people of his country to sit down and critically think about a way to remedy this dilemma. I suppose that Mr. Swift is making fun of his government and others who have tried to fix these problems with little to no success. It seems that he feels their ideas have been so absurd that there would be no other way to get their attention then by going to extent of slaughtering their children to rectify the situation.

3.  Is his solution logical?  What kind of evidence does he give to support his position?
I do not feel that his suggestion is a logical solution to the problem. For hundreds of years since this essay was written, scholars and economist have struggled to find a solution to poverty and they have yet to succeed. Click here for a link to a website that shows what people today are doing to fight poverty.  Mr. Swift provides a good deal of evidence to support his position. He uses the fact that there would be less children to provide for and that the children who were born, would be a benefit in the way cattle can provide for a family. He also states that this would increase marriage and decrease abuse of woman from their husbands. He does give a good argument even though he is not serious in his writing.

Good Readers and Good Writers

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What does Nabokov think makes a good reader?

According to Nabokov, there are many attributes that make a good reader. He believes that a good reader should have an imagination, a good memory, and they should have some artistic sense. Nabokov also believes that a good reader is one that does not generalize or have predetermined assumptions about a book before reading it. He states that a good reader pays attention to details and lets the author direct them down the road he wants them to go.

Do you agree?

I do agree with Nabokov on most of the traits he says make a good reader. A good imagination is imperative to being a good reader. In order to follow the author you must be able to imagine the world he has created. Yes, the author can be very descriptive in his words, but it is still the mind of the reader that has the final say in what it looks like to them.

Another attribute Nabokov says makes a good reader is one with an excellent memory. I also believe that this import to being a good reader. Many authors will use words that are not common words to the reader. If a reader cannot build up their vocabulary by remembering these words they will have difficulty deciphering what the author is trying to say. Or the reader will spend much time looking up words while they are reading and become discouraged. Having a good memory can also help by having the ability to recall what the author has said earlier in the book. This will allow the reader to better understand the author.    

What do you believe are the characteristics of a good reader?

            I believe the most important characteristic of a good reader is having an imagination. Imagination gives the reader the ability to become part of the world that is being presented to them by the author. Having the ability to visualize detail and subtle descriptions given to the reader can enhance the readers experience and make it more enjoyable.

            Patience is a trait that can make a person a better reader. Patience can give a good reader the opportunity to read books that an impatient may not have the tolerance to read. Some book that were written long ago or set in a different era may be difficult for some readers to follow. But if a reader has patience, they can get through the uncommon language and understand the thought the author is trying to convey.

Do you consider yourself a good reader?

            No, I do not consider myself a good reader. Reading is not something I do for fun or leisure. Most of my reading is done for educational or work purposes. Just reading this one article by Nabokov has changed my view on how to read. I feel I am a better reader by reading this article. One thing I hope I can take away from this class is the ability to become a better reader. 

Click here for another article regarding becoming a good reader.

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