Assignment #12

What tone will you take with your essay?

 As the essay is on the subject of getting lost, my tone will be informative and encouraging. I will both inform the reader about the aspects of being in a meditative state of lost and encourage the reader to partake.

What narrative perspective will you use? First-person? Second-person?  Third-person?  Will you switch betweenperspectives?  Why or why not?

 As my essay develops I see myself using all three perspectives.  I will write from my own experience, encourage the reader to dwell on his/her own, and some aspects of the essay will include documented experiences of others.

What point-of-view will you use in your essay?

 The point-of-view of my essay will be personal as it will be told from my perspective on the subject of getting lost.

How much psychic distance will you create betweenyou and your subject?

 Very little, if any, because I feel that getting lost is a very intimate subject for individuals and couldn't be achieve with psychic distance

How will you weave story and idea?  In otherwords, how will you shift between summary and dramatic narrative?

 I had not planned to use the dramatic narrative until reading this question.  Most of my essay will be summary(ies) of the experience of getting lost.

How will you begin your essay?

 With a detailed definition of what getting lost actually is.

How will you structure your essay's middle?

 Summaries of experiences will take up the bulk of the middle

How will you end your essay?

 With an enlightened insight on the subject of getting lost and encouragement for the reader to participate.

Assignment #11

Description:  I will use both literal and figurative description in my essay about "getting lost."  Literally, I will describe the physical and emotional feelings of getting lost like zoning out.  I will also be able to figuratively describe getting lost by using similes or metaphors to compare it to unlike things.

Definition:  Elaborating on the essential qualities of getting lost may be difficult as the subject is so ambiguous.  I don't foresee using the rhetorical method of definition in my essay at this point but that is subject to change.

Exemplification:  I may use exemplification by exaggerating aspects of getting lost.

Cause/Effect:  I will use this rhetorical mode by showing the positive (maybe some negative) effects of getting lost- i.e. how getting lost can be a therapy by which people can clear their minds.

Division/Classification:  I do not see myself breaking down nor classifying different aspects of getting lost.

Argument:  I may use articles and other publications to support my claims about how getting lost can be a positive thing.

Narration:  I will give examples times when I have gotten lost.

Process Analysis:  I will give detailed steps in which one can meditate and reach the point of getting lost.

Assignment #10

5. What does it mean to lose one's religion?

To lose one's religion means to give up a belief system that the individual once held. One who loses a religion does not keep faith in a God or gods that they once found shelter and comfort in. This often occurs as a result of a tragic event like the loss of a family member in which the individual feels that his or her God has let them down or worse: killed that family member

Assignment #9

“You were the wind and I the sea.” (From “After Love” by Sara Teasdale)

Teasdale metaphor about her and I'm assuming her lover depicts what I believe is not a typical "fairy tale" love.  Perhaps she is physically or verbally abused by the one who the line is directed at much like the wind tosses about the sea.  Or maybe it IS a happier, more mutual love in which the wind is guiding the waves of the sea to the shore.

Assignment #8

I must weave in, out, around, and through traffic but within the hour after white-knuckling my way up the Grapevine the smile returns as I take exit 205 Frazier Mountain Park Rd., we’re almost there.

Assignment #7

1.  What will be the subject of your profile essay?  What place will you profile? 

Mt. Pinos, a hiking trail a couple miles West of Frazier Park.

2.  What will be the dominant impression your essay will evoke?

The dominant impression of my essay will be the therapeutic benefits of the "great outdoors" and how being outside is enjoyable.

3.  What narrative perspective will you choose?  
First-person ("I" or "we")? The first-person perspective provides a sense of intimacy. 
Second-person ("you")? The second-person perspective provides a sense of immediacy. 
Third-person ("he," "she," "it," "they")?  The third-person perspective provides a sense of objectivity.

Each perspective is acceptable, but each perspective will shape the essay in a different way.  Regardless of the perspective you choose, be consistent.
Reread the "Profile" attachment on Blackboard for clarification with the next questions.

First person.

4.  What will be your "Beginning"?

Describing the beautiful scenery of the hike.

5.  How will you structure your "Middle"?

Letting the reader know how much fun the hike is and how great it made me feel.

6.  What will you use in your "Conclusion"?

I will conclude by convincing the reader to partake in such events.

7.  How will you use dialogue?

My dialogue will describe Mt. Pinos vividly and make the reader either want to go or feel as if they have already been.

8.  What "Characters" will your essay feature?

There will be little characters as my profile will focus on a vacation from the everyday grind.  But it will possibly include my dog, my fiance, and the occasional fellow hiker.

9.  What "Illuminating Details and Anecdotes" will you use?

I will be extremely detailed in my description of Mt. Pinos but it will be impossible to completely describe the screen without going on and on so I must be weary of that.

10.  How will you use all (or most of) the senses?  What visual images will you use?  What auditory images?  What tactile images?  What gustatory images (tastes)?  What olfactory images (smells)?

For visual images I will describe the drive, green trees, the soil, and sometimes the snow.  For auditory I will describe the sound of the wind through the trees.  Tactile- the feel of the soil beneath my feet while hiking the trail, the crisp fresh air on my skin.  Gustatory- none that I can think of.  Olfactory- the smell of fresh pine trees.

11. What verb tense will you use?  Past tense?  Present tense?I will use past tense

Assignment #6

In "California:  Desert Byways" Peter Garrison writes to appeal to the senses vividly, or as Roy Peter Clark would describe in Chapter 14 of Writing Tools Garrison is "getting the name of the dog."  Garrison does not simply describe what he sees in Death Valley but also what he feels while traveling through it.  For example, when describing his journey down Lippencott Road Garrison writes that his vehicle "jounces and teeters over mammoth rocks and tiptoes across washouts."  Personally I thought it was not only very descriptive of the scenery but also how driving on the path felt physically.  Garrison "got the name of the dog."