3 examples of clear, concise writing

Looking back over past readings, I found parts of "Black Elk Speaks", "The American Dream" and "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" to be good examples of clear and concise writing.  Each writer makes their point in an organized, clean way with descriptive details.


Black Elk mourns the death of Crazy Horse and tells us "Crazy Horse was dead.  He was brave and good and wise.  He never wanted anything but to save his people, and he fought the Wasichus only when they came to kill us in our own country.  He was only thirty years old.  They could not kill him in battle.  They had to lie to him and kill him that way." (113)

In Jim Cullen's "The American Dream", he writes about the dream of equality, and the changes that took place in mid to late 1800's.  He writes, "The acceleration of industrial capitalism in the late nineteenth century, combined with the growing application of the Darwinian theory of 'the survival of the fittest" to human affairs, popularized a notion of freedom as the right of the individual entrepreneur, like John D. Rockefeller, to make as much money as he could" (107)

Thoreau's "Walden" offers a lot of life advice.  In "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For", he argues that, "We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep."

Post-Apocalypse and Post-September 11th

In his book "The World Without Us", author Alan Weisman considers how the natural world would be without the influence of humans.  Our huge infrastructure would collapse and eventually vanish.  Everyday items would be cemented into fossils.  Some of the most long-lasting things would be bronze statues, plastics, man-made molecules, and radio waves.  After a long time of physical and chemical weathering, our material world would break down and vanish.

Post-apocalyptic books, movies, and shows are really interesting to me because they look at all the possible outcomes of a major, destructive event.  They also explore human psychology, how people would deal with an event like this. 

Though the world did not end after the al-Qaeda attacks on September 11th, it sure halted.  At the time, it seemed like things could get worse and worse.  Thankfully, the attacks halted, national security has been a priority, and victims' families may have a little peace in knowing that Osama Bin Laden had died.  Yet al-Qaeda terrorism will continue to affect how we live, including our suspicions of Muslim people in particular.  With two wars continuing, American politics is getting more polarized.  While at the time people came together in patriotism and empathy for the victims, we are still divided in politics and openness of other cultures.  Some of these attitudes and suspicions are like plastic, and will remain for quite awhile unless another major event takes place that brings us together.

Presentation is done!

It's always a good feeling to finish a project or speech because all your work finally pays off in the end.  I'm really happy with how my group did because it was a challenge getting everything done in the midst of a busy weekend.  Here are some things I think we did well on and some things we could work on for future oral presentations.

Things worked well when we...
- met early on and split up parts for each person
- decided on meeting times and adjusted when we had to
- communicated through email and used Google Docs so we could work independently and as a group
- practiced and times our presentation
- used humor to make our content more interesting and approachable

We could have...
- practiced more
- gotten started even earlier
- talked more about how and when to use humor
- done more research as a group, or shared our individual findings more
- asked for feedback throughout the process


Good luck everyone, you'll do great!

Mobility, Home, and Cat Stevens

Black Elk reminds me of themes we talked about during first semester while reading "Landscapes of the Sacred" by Belden C. Lane.  He compares white settlement to Native Americans' idea of place.

Settlers were mobile, moving to wherever offered the most opportunities and security.  Even today we are increasingly mobile, moving for jobs, school, and other commitments.  Yet we as Americans can feel that we're not at "home".  With railroads in the 1800s and our current highway system, we are able and willing to move.  Yet, home doesn't have to be just where you grew up.  Home is wherever you are in the world, with whoever you've made the most meaningful connections.  One looks for opportunity, expansiveness, a freedom of space, but also safe enclosure, or security of place (Lane 221).  Aldo Leopold criticizes our country's sprawl and misuse of resources when he asks, "Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?' 9Lane 219).  Nature can help us feel at home wherever we are.

In general, Native Americans have a different view of landscapes and nature.  During the debut of railroads, many groups were nomadic and moved to areas that offered the most resources, like the settlers.  However, reservations brought about settlement and a change in native culture relatively quickly.  Even after settlement, the Santa Clara Pueblo people of New Mexico retained their beliefs and values.  Their most "important relationship is with the land" (56), writes Rina Swentzell in "Conflicting Landscape Values".  Black Elk describes how some of his people willingly join up with the whites in the towns (105).  Eventually most of the people in his group decide to go out of necessity - they were starving and cold, exhausted by a hard winter (109).

I always thought of Native Americans as being more mobile and settlers being more rigid.  Really, we all move around to find a place to call home, whether it be for a long winter or for four years of college.



Also, over break I listened to way too much of my parent's vinyl from the 60's.  Like an unhealthy amount.  Here's part of a Cat Stevens song called "On the Road to Find Out".  I really like it and it reminds me of what it was like to move away and start college.

Well, I left my happy home
to see what I could find out.
I left my folk and friends
with the aim to clear my mind out.

Well I hit the rowdy road
and many kinds I met there,
many stories told me
of the way to get there, ooh.

So on and on I go,
the seconds tick the time out,
there's so much left to know,
and I'm on the road to findout, ooh.

Well in the end I'll know,
but on the way I wonder
through descending snow,
and through the frost and thunder,

I listen to the wind come howl,
telling me I have to hurry.
I listen to the robin's song
saying not to worry, ooh.

Gender Roles in "Black Elk Speaks"

While reading "Black Elk Speaks", I came across some attitudes about gender and the expected roles that boys and girls play to prepare them for life as an adult member of the tribe.  Boys played hunting games and did tests of physical strength and endurance.  They would put hot sunflower seeds on their wrists that would make sores on their skin.  Black Elk remembers, "but if we knocked them off or cried Owh!, we would be called women" (45).  Once boys grow up and fight in battles against the tribes enemies, they are reminded of the "helpless ones" back home who need their protection.

Women have a very different role.  Their job is to cook, raise and care for children, clean and help move camp, and make clothing and other essentials.  Parents would pray for the birth of a boy who would grow to be a brave man.  Baby girls were expected to become mothers and raise brave men to protect the tribe.

The reasons for these roles make sense.  Men are usually more physically strong and capable of combat.  Women bear children.  Unlike our society today where men and women both participate in work and household work, Black Elk's people have very organized and established gender roles.  This can be demeaning to people who want to do things associated with the opposite gender.  But it can also be helpful because everyone knows what is expected of them.  In our society this system wouldn't work because in general we really value our individuality, and gender roles are becoming less rigid.

Johnson's thoughts about railroads

I'm surprised that Johnson doesn't talk a lot about Native Americans much in his discussion about railroads, as the two were opposing forces.  He discusses trains over the course of their development.

Before trains there was water transport, helped along by the steam engine (366).  As railroads began to connect rivers together, they functioned as a supplement to canals (368).  Passenger lines became popular, though they weren't very comfortable.  Also, fast carriers and telegraphs emerged as people and ideas started to move faster than ever (369).  The rails connected Eastern manufacturers who wanted high tariffs with Western farmers who enjoyed free or very cheap land.  Transportation helped form an alliance between them (434).  It's incredible how the United States went from being a primary producer to the world first "industrial superstate" (532) in a relatively short amount of time.  Railroads offered a lot of capital and new jobs for people.  The national government appropriately stepped in to regulate land usage and laws (535).  With these new businesses and investments in trains came bureaucratic corruption and abuse of financial power (546).  Some of the leaders in this field wanted consolidation in lower prices, investment opportunities, and deals for stock holders (563).  The rail system evolved into Los Angeles' all-electric system which uses cheap electricity (689).  Trains have gotten more efficient, safe, and reliable over time.  Unfortunately, this transportation system is on the decline and we aren't getting all the benefits it has to offer.

Effective Presentations

After looking at the board where we made a list of things to do to make a good presentation, I know I have some things to work on. 

1.  Slow down.  Whenever I'm nervous or excited, I tend to speak faster and it can be hard to understand everything I'm saying.
2.  Use transitions.  While I really like details and the little touches, it helps to use clear transitions so the audience knows I'm going from topic or idea to another.
3.  Use visual aids effectively.  Using a Google Doc is a really easy way for my group to all contribute to the visual and personalize it.
4.  Make the presentation interesting.  We might do a series of interviews, since a straight-up series of small talks is easy to understand but can also be bland.
5.  Practice!  I know I always feel so much more comfortable having taken time to practice individually and with the group.  Also, timing is important to make sure we're in the time limit of 15 to 20 minutes.