wiki 5 -  20/20 - good post... I agree with you, we needed more wrap up of it at the end.

Week 5 

Chapel on Monday

The speech I am writing about is the speech and performance in chapel Monday. Rev. Schwab from Zion Lutheran gave the introduction to the performance in chapel Monday. I think that he didn’t do a great with his introduction because he was mumbling and trying to talk off the top of his head it sounded like. But the performance that followed if you want to count it as the main speech in the chapel I think that the performers, which included Rachel, Bethany, and Corey all, did a good job. They had a good tone throughout the performance and they had good pauses when trying to show that they were thinking.  One thing they could have done better was that they could have used more eye contact with the audience, but since they were having a conversation it didn’t hurt that much. All the people involved also had good use of hand gestures whining doing things like ask each other questions. One thing that could have been better was the ending though, because there was no ending speech to dismiss the crowd. The speech by Corey was a good wrap-up of what the performance was about. Overall I think this was a good speech/ performance by some of the students of LHS. 

wiki 4 - 20/20 - good post... and a very thorough one! You've done some good speeches yourself, Ryan... I have been impressed with your poise and confidence.

Week 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHbw3n0EIM

The speech that I am writing about is the famous speech given by the then president elect Obama. This is the speech he made from Grant Park after the results showed that he had won the presidental race. During this speech President-elect Obama makes good use of his hand gestures and his facial expressions. He start off smiling of course because he had just won the presidental race. He used good hand gestures throughout the entire speech to show when he was making a crucial point in his speech. And he also made good use of his facial expressions. He got a more serious type of face when he was talking about the big issues and when he wasn't he had a more friendly face on. President-Elect Obama in this video also made good use of his eye contact by making sure he wasn't just looking at his speech but by looking up and making sure he looked at the people in the audience. I would give this speech a positive review because it was right for the situation that he was in and he made sure to stress his main ideas. President-Elect Obama ended this speech well and did a good finishing gesture by getting out behind the stand and waving to the crowd.

wiki 3 - 0/20 - no post this week.

wiki 2 - 20/20 great observation notes! They did do a good job, I agree!

Week 2

The speaker for the chapel on Thursday was Mr. Kulhman and some of the senior football players. The speech was about people’s abilities not really mattering.  The senior football speakers overall did a good job with their volume but most of them just read the words at you. Also some the senior speakers also had some trouble with stumbling over some of the words that they had to read. Mr. Kuhlman gave the main speech of the chapel and he did a good job. He gave good eye contact to everyone making sure he wasn’t just staring at one side. He also had some good gestures the showed when he was making a big point. He also used he PowerPoint well because he didn’t load it down with information but just put up some of his main points. His volume was good throughout the entire speech. He made good use of the area in front of him by walking around to look at people of to add to his speech.  Mr. Kuhlman started his speech with a question, which added and tied his whole speech together. He ended his speech in a good way also, because it let the listener with something important to think about.

wiki 1 20/20 - great response work!

Public Speaking 

Week 1

The speaker that was at chapel Monday was Pastor Arlie who was from Our Savior. During this speech Pastor Arlie did some good things public speaking wise but also did some things that weren't good public speaking technique.  When looking at elements of physical delivery, he seemed calm and ready to give a speech which is always good when giving a speech to a large number of people. He kept good eye contact with the audience and made sure to look at every side of the audience. His movement and gestures were appropriate and added to the speech and weren't distracting. One thing that was bad with this speech was the rate of his speech and tone of his voice. Pastor Arlie was very slow delivering his speech in chapel and he used the same voice during most of the speech which makes the speech sound boring. Also during the speech the speaker seemed to ramble about things that weren't important and didn't add anything to the speech and did not make any sense. At the end of the speech I think the speaker ended the speech in a wierd way and the statement that he made did not relate to the rest of the speech.

Short Story

A Soldiers Life

            It was a dark, desolate night outside the hospital where the soldier lay. It was 2 a.m. and no one in the ward was awake. No one, except for the soldier that lay awake, haunted by his memories. The soldier lay there on his bed starting at the ceiling, drenched in sweat. Everything that had happened weeks before was now streaming through his mind, even the first time he met his unit.

            It was a clear, blue day in the skies of France as I got off the trunk. I had just finished basic training a few weeks ago and was now assigned to a new unit. I was looking around when I heard.

            “Private Smith” called the Sergeant.

            “Yes sir” I said.

            “My name is Sergeant Johnston and this is my company. You have joined B-company just in time to be involved in are next step of the invasion. I will give you more details at the debriefing at 1600 hours, now go the barracks and meet the rest of the unit.”

“Yes sir” I said.

I went into the barracks and was meet was a haze of smoke. A private stood up and took a look at me and walked over.

            “Hey you want a smoke?”

            “No thanks”

This simple refusal I noticed sparked the attention of some of the other men in the barracks, for a reason that I didn’t know.

            “So you’re just got out of basic huh, and by the way my name is Jack.”

            “Yes I am; how did you know?”

            Jack answered “Only men that haven’t experienced war and been in battles don’t smoke. Smoking is the only thing that calms the nerves after you been though war”

            I had just sat down only in time to hop back up because Sergeant Johnston came in.

            “At ease men, I have just received our orders and we are to move out tomorrow. We will be moving on the town of Gill and securing it as a launching point for the next leg of the operation. Intelligence says that the town is mostly empty so we shouldn’t have too many problems. We move out at 0900 hours, dismissed.”

            “Yes sir” said the soldiers in the barracks.

            The next morning was just like any other morning, yet for some reason I felt a little “off”.

I thought it was just because I was really going into battle, but I was trained for that, so it was something else. The unit assembled together to get set out to move.

            I was thinking to myself that I really had no idea what to expect, when I heard the order to hold. Sergeant Johnston was giving out orders, telling myself, Private Jack, and a few others to go and come up on the town from the right, while the rest of the unit goes left. Jack, I, and the other troops came up on the town to find that the intelligence was true. There were no soldiers, no tanks, nothing. Me and the rest of the group stacked up against the buildings and started searching the houses. Jack and I went into the house that had its ceiling blown apart by some kind of explosive. We made our way up the stairs towards one of the rooms that we heard noise coming out of. I was to kick down the door and Jack was to shoot the enemy. I moved by the door and kicked it in; Jack rushed in and saw no one. It was just a radio that was left on. I walked in while Jack took a seat where he could overlook the town plaza. As we were doing this, Sergeant Johnston and the rest of the men were making there way to the plaza.

            Johnston hollered out “Looks like they left.”

Jack responded by lighting up a cigarette while by walked down to rejoin the rest of the unit and then I just stood idly by, looking at everyone when it happened. I heard the shot but all I could do was turn around to see Jack standing up, staggering to his knees, and following over died.

            “Sniper” yelled Johnston

The whole unit took cover as a valley of gunfire erupted into the streets. I attempted to fire back when I heard the unmistakable noise. I knew then what caused the hole in the house’s ceiling. I looked back to see the tank coming down the street. I ran but to no use, the next moment the tank fired and I went flying through the air. I lay there covered in debris, bloody, and dying. I looked up to see my unit retreating and I thought to myself I am going to die here.

I awoke hours later in the hospital, surrounded by other injured soldiers. I lay there wondering what happened: how was the unit, where was I, and how was I alive? The next few weeks I would wake up at night screaming and sweating because I kept having memories about what had happened.

It was 2 a.m. and I woke up again. I laid there in my hospital bed catching my breath. I took out a cigarette and light it up. For smoking was the only thing that let me get pass my memories and calm me down now.     

Week 5

wiki 5- two good posts. I found your thoughts very interesting and I know you've had some first hand experience that you speak from. I appreciate your idea that what is central that people above all else love and care about one another.

1. Would YOU want to live in a family that kept "secrets" from one another the way the Hawley family did?

I think I would be okay with living in this family even though they keep big secrets from each other. Even though the daughter and father think they are keeping a secret from the mom they are going doing it to make her not worry and live out her final days in peace. Then the mom keeps the secret of her knowing that she is going to die from the other family members to make them not fret or worry but have comfort in the thought that she doesn't know what is coming. So I think it would be okay to live in this family because they all obviously care and love for each other. 

2. So is it always true that "what goes around comes around"? Or is there a lot more than meets the eye in this interesting little tale?

The old saying "what goes around comes around" does not always stand up because if someone does something bad to another person they don't necessary get it back. Also if you look at it the other way, a good deed doesn't always get returned with another good deed. I think that this story also talks about how people act and react to violence around them and how people will do anything to not have that violence directed at them. Also in the story where the new kid is the target of the other boy's violence and hate,  in society today the "new" people are often outcast.

Week 4

1. Can a 14 yr old school dropout reasonably expect success much less the respect of those around him?

I believe that a 14 year old school dropout would not be able to find success in the job field or in any other work place. They would I think not be smart enough to do any hard thinking kind of jobs and would be stuck doing hard labor kind of jobs. I think that the only way they could earn a living would be if the person had a special set of skills or talents that they could use to their advantage. I also think that a person wouldn't receive much respect for other people because they would judge him on being lazy or stupid and wouldn't show him much respect.  

2. How about the ending? Could it have REALISTICALLY ended any other way?

 Week 3

1. What do you think about the premise of the future which said "Every man must face reality." (p.111) thus saying that man is "better off" without fantasy, imagination, and fiction. Do you agree or disagree? 

I think this quote holds some truth in it because every person must at some time face the facts of their life and make something out of it. People can't always stay in the fantasy life that they have made for themselves. Even though this quote holds aspects of truth to it I would disagree with the thought that man is better off without fantasy, imagination, and fiction. If we didn't have imagination everything would be just like everything else, without fantasy people wouldn't have an outlet for their thoughts or wants, and without fiction people wouldn't have anything inventive to watch or read.

2. The talk we had in class yesterday was very interesting when we got the list of books that had been challenged by people. I found this list to have about ten books that I have read over the years and was surprised that some of them were on the list. The books like Where's Waldo, Harry Potter series, and James and the Giant Peach I think really shouldn't be on the list because they are kids book. I think certain people in America need to do something better with their time then to go around complaining about books that they don't like because they have witchcraft or something else that is fiction in it. 

Great entry work this week!   you make a great point in #2

Week 2

1.So what do you all think of this one? What's the "life adjustment" here?

While reading this story I thought that the son was actually lying about most of the things that were happening at his school. I was able to figure this out by paying attention to the father in the story and see how he was not fooled by the stories and by the questions that he asked it was clear that the boy was making up the truth as he went. Also I though it was funny how much the mother over-reacted to the stories of the boy. There are a couple of life adjustments happening in the story which are the boy adjusting to school and the mother adjusting to not always taking care of the son.

2.  Your thoughts? Is it right or wrong for Mike to do what he does to (for?) his grandma?

This story was weird because it invovled an older lady who though her younger grandson was her died husband and what was even weirder was that he went along with the lie and didn't correct is grandma. When Mike lied to his grandma about who he really was he was trying to do a good thing by letting her get what she did all those years ago off her chest. For Mike to lie, he was doing a bad thing by posing to be his grandma but he wasn't doing it in a selfish way, he was trying to help her which in my eyes makes it an acceptable lie.

Good job on Wiki 2! I appreciated your frank opinions! Good job. How's project #4 coming?

Week 1

1. What would YOU have done in Pablo's situation? Would his situation even happen in 2007?

In this case of Pablo's situation I would have done things differently. First off I would have brought some friends along with me to go into the other "gangs" territory. This is because having strength in numbers is always a determent for getting into trouble with other people looking for trouble. This situation I think would not happen in 2007 because people are less violent towards different ethnicity's in these days then they were in the past.

Why is violence more often seen as the "easier" answer to a conflict situation? Is it really?

Violence is often seen as the easier answer because it doesn't take as much energy as a peaceful method would. Using violence does get results faster but after the violence is over the person has to deal with the backlash of the violence.

2.After you read part 2 of the story, comment on the story. I am particularly interested on what you think of Crane's style. Is he an entertaining author? I am also curious about how you feel this story compares in style to The Red Badge of Courage... any similarities or did Crane go in an entirely new direction?

I thought the story was disappointing because it made you feel that throughout the whole story that a fight was going to happen. When the fight never happened I was disappointed. Even though the fight didn't occur the story was interesting because of the way Crane set it up. Crane added a lot of details that let the reader completely invision the scene and everything that is happening. I would say that Crane is an enteresting author because he lets the reader 

believe one thing is going to happen but ends up doing something else which keeps the story interesting. This story compares with The Red Badge of Courage because the style is the same with not really knowing what is going to happen next in the story.

Good job on wk.1 Remember - you only need to do TWO entries per week at 100 words per entry.