wiki 5 20/20 - interesting review. You're right, he DID have to "tone" it differently with the grandparents there too.

week 5 - Mr. Schlesselmann

     Mr. Schelesselmann gave the message in chapel on friday. It is always great to hear from the leader of our school, however sometimes because he is kind of old, he can be somewhat boring to listen to and you would think that he couldn't relate to us at all. In his delivery he had a few verbal pauses, but not too many. He used a few hand gestures. The thing i didn't like was that he stayed glued to the podium. He didn't move around at all and just stould there without moving or looking alive. His voice was very monotone so it was a little hard to listen to and stay interested. He spoke on a subject that could've been boring, although he tried his best to relate it to the students so that made the speech a little more enjoyable. He also had the factor of the grandparents being there so maybe he toned down his speech for them a little bit. Also, it was a little hard to hear him because he was speaking fairly softly, even though he was using a microphone. Because he was quiet, it also seemed like he slurred some words together because it was hard to hear. However I think the grandparents enjoyed it and that was important because we were showing them how great our school is.

wiki 4 - 20/20 - Good post.How great that you have a pastor you WANT to listen to! That's super! I enjoyed reading your comments.

week 4 - Pastor Auringer (immannuel wentzville church)

     Pastor Auringer is great at public speaking. When he first came as a sem student, we liked him so much we wanted to keep him. He keeps things very contemporary which is important in our church since there are many young families going. His sermons usually involve something to do with sports and all of us can relate to it. He moves around, but not too much, so he is speaking to the whole audience. His voice and how he speaks is very clear and understandable. During the introduction to church, he messed up twice speaking his words, so he made light fun of himself which made the atmosphere lighter and he handeled it very well. He is so good, he knows how to make his speeches and movements a little different for each church service because the first service is very traditional and he knows what they expect compared to the later contemporary service. When he is giving the sermon, I actually WANT to listen to it, which didn't use to happen very often. This is because it feels like he is just talking to us and not at us. He speaks on our same level and and doesn't seem like he is just another pastor who is speaking about God. He is a terrific speaker who i really enjoy.

wiki 3 - 20/20 - good post. Your comments about the "okay" sign are quite true. I think he does take chapel a bit more seriously than some of our other speakers... he approaches it as if it were church and quite formal.

week 3 - pastor clausing

     Pastor Clausing is used to speaking in public. It is part of his job, so he does many chapels. He is good at public speaking, however, because he does it so much, sometimes he is boring to listen to and needs to come up with new ideas and twists to improve his connection with the audience. He maintains good posture while he speaks. He speaks clearly, articulating his words and is just loud enough to be heard. His voice doesn't fluctuate that much so he sounds monotone sometimes. He has some hand gestures, however, most of the time he is just making the "a ok" symbol and he uses it so much it gets pretty annoying.

     He does get is point across in every speech, however, sometimes he does not even try to relate to us at all and it makes his speeches really boring to listen to. Because he gives so many speeches that we listen to, he needs to incorporate other ways of connecting to us other than just speaking, he could possibly use some sort of props or other students in his message. His delivery in general was well given and he did a good job.

wiki 2 - 20/20 - excellent job! He DID do a really great chapel!

Week 2 - Mr. Kuhlmann

     Mr. Kuhlmann was a very good example of how to give a good public speech. His voice was clear and loud enough for everyone to hear him and understand him, however, it wasn't so loud that it was annoying. He walked around the gym so he could look at everyone he spoke to. He didn't leave anyone out of loop. His speech connected very well to the audience. He used his props very well and included some of the boys from our class which made it a lot easier to relate to and a lot more fun to listen to because we could have that close of a connection. He left everyone thinking about what talents they had and how they could use them. He kept us interested and he kept us thinking which is huge in capturing the audience's attention.

     He knew what he was going to say, however, he did not sound like it was the tenth time he said said it. He was not boring, and with highschoolers, that is a mountain to climb in itself. He used some hand gestures, but did not over use them, so it was not distracting. His posture was good and he projected his voice to the whole audience. He looked like he liked what he was talking about and his facial expressions were good. Overall, Mr. Kuhlmann gave a great speech and it was a great delivery.

 wiki 1 20/20 - great response work!

Week 1 - Public Speech

Pastor Arle

            His volume was very low, and because he was quite, he mumbled. A person could barely understand him. He was old, but that shouldn’t make a difference. He didn’t pronounce or articulate his words very well so he was very hard to understand. He spoke slowly and sometimes paused like he needed a minute to think about what he was going to say next. All of these factors made him very boring to listen to and his audience zoned out, therefore, his speech was kind of pointless because no one was listening to him because of his bad delivery.

            His speech was about his high school experience so it connected to us and made it more interesting. He didn’t move around a lot and had very little eye contact with his audience so it looked like he was just talking to himself. His posture wasn’t the best, he was somewhat slumped over. His facial expressions were weird because he looked confused. He should have looked confident and sure of what he was talking about. It seemed like he had given the speech before, but a long time ago so he was trying to remember it as he said it. Overall, he made his speech boring so that no one would be even interested in what he was saying. Delivery is a very important part of the speech.

Short Story

Whose Mistake?

     “You are always tired,” he said agitatedly. “You never want to do anything anymore – you’re so boring! I try and take you somewhere, and you might be okay for about a minute but then all I ever hear you do is complain. I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this. It’s been 7 months since the last time we did something fun together. Don’t you remember what fun is like? I know I don’t anymore. We used to do all kinds of fun things. We would go down by the riverside, to the zoo or just have a picnic at the park. When I proposed, I knew marriage was a big commitment, but I didn’t know life would get this difficult so soon.” He paused and looking ashamed he said, “ I honestly don’t want the rest of my life to be like this.” As I let him smoothly slide the engagement ring off my finger, I can feel the tears start to fill my eyes – he’s right. “Really honey, think about it. I can tell you’re not happy either. Maybe we should take some time apart and rethink if we really want to commit to each other.”

Part of me just wanted to smack him. Yes, I complain, but all he does is sit around the house. I have to do everything around here and it’s his apartment! …well, mainly, I guess I have been staying here for the last few months, however, it is not solely my responsibility, is it? He is right though, I have not been happy. Work sucks and since I’ve started my “new and improved” health regime, I’ve actually gained weight. Since we got engaged seven months ago, my mom has been all wedding plans all the time. I understand that she wants her only daughter to have the perfect wedding, but now there might not even be one. Oh God, how am I going to break the news to mom? I guess I’ll have to soon since I’ll be staying there for a while. He quietly steps out of the room and I grab the phone to dial mom’s number. After five rings I hear, “But I want it that way, I mean, our daughter would want it that way…oh hi darling, we were just discussing the wedding.” I interrupt her, “Mom, I have something to tell you…”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

     It’s been a month and a half. And actually, living with my parents isn’t so bad. They’ve taken my side of course, but they can’t seem to keep from pressing me about wedding details. Can’t they see that my life is ending?  My fiancée has left me, I’m living with my parents, my boss is picking me apart at work, and on top of that, my entire body aches. I can’t keep up with anything because I am so tired, although mom says that it’s because of the stress.

     I’ve had barely any contact with him. Mom says he has tried the house phone a few times, but he’s stopped because she keeps him on the phone interrogating him for hours. Oh well, he’s the one that put us in this mess so he’ll have to get us out. He knows he won’t get me back without a darn good apology and maybe some flowers, and chocolates, and maybe even my favorite season of House. My stomach has been hurting again. It’s been doing this for quite some time although I can’t really pinpoint why it hurts. Again, mom insists it’s because of the stress, but I’m beginning to wonder if I’d actually made myself sick, but it wouldn’t be my fault of course, it’s his. I’d begun to truly think about our relationship. I guess I could’ve tried to keep us together, but if he can’t handle me at my worst (that wasn’t even close to my worse), then he doesn’t deserve me at my best. I wonder if we will ever have the same excitement and love we had before all of this. But it shouldn’t be this hard, I mean the decision to stay together or not. If it was meant to be shouldn’t it be a no brainer? Isn’t a month and a half long enough for him to figure out his problems? He’s acting like a girl with too many emotional strings. Ouch, my stomach is beginning to really hurt; maybe I’ll fall asleep and when I wake up this whole thing will be just a nightmare.

~~~~~~~~

     Well, needless to say, I didn’t get too much rest. That night, I woke up in my bed with the worst stomach pains and I thought I peed myself – how embarrassing! But my mother being “all knowing” knew to take me to the hospital. It really wasn’t that big of a deal; I thought I just had a lingering flu. Boy was I in for a surprise.

     As I watch my daughter sleep peacefully, my heart couldn’t get any bigger. It’s been a long time since I felt this way. He was there for me through the whole thing since mom rung him up. He’s here now and life is how I expected it. Well, not expected, but dreamed of one day, it just happened a little sooner than I thought. He did apologize by the way and the wedding is still going to be just as grand, but with one more guest. After all, being tired and cranky wasn’t my fault, like I said to begin with. But that’s all in the past so for now I’ll just enjoy life, my fiancée and baby girl, my family.

Finally, I am curious why you think he entitled it "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky"...and speaking of the Bride.. if she's important enough to be part of the title, why doesn't Crane even bother to tell us her name? Why do you think he chose to do that?!

     The story is entitled “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” because Jack Potter’s internal conflict is about how his town will react to him being married. Since he is the town Marshall, he wants the town to like his bride, however he worries if they will accept her or not. Crane doesn’t tell us her name because in order to understand the story, we do not need to know it. He chose to not tell us her name so that we would be focused more on Jack Potter and not the bride, since the story is partly about his internal conflict. Also, maybe because so we would be more intrigued about his wife.

Now the really fun question: Should Grannies go about giving little kids sticks and sending them out to "battle" other kids??? (personally, I am a granny... so I am very curious as to your advice on this!) :-)

            When the grandmother gave her grandson the stick, he thought she wanted him to use it in case of trouble with other kids. However, the grandmother knew he wouldn’t have to use because the other kids would be inside for dinner. She gave it to him to build up his confidence. It is important in a child’s life that they have self-confidence and not feel scared or incapable of handling some sticky situations. A mother knows a lot, but a grandmother had lived longer to experience more of life and is usually wiser. Therefore, sometimes it is the grandmother’s job to teach her grandson lessons that only a grandma can teach. In this case it was confidence and self-assurance in himself to tackle tricky situations.

Good job on wk.1

wk 2

Your thoughts? is it right or wrong to do what mike does for his grandma?

     This was an intriging story. I did not expect the grandmother to reveal so much information about her past. For Mike to learn that about his grandma is huge because he was only expecting to have a casual conversation with her and then leave. He was put in a position that could change how his grandmother felt about herself and relieve her of a lifetime of guilt. I thought Mike did the right thing by letting his grandma think she was forgiven. His grandma is experiencing old age and can't remember much anyway. She will probably forget that her grandson ever came to visit. The least Mike could do was keep quiet and let his grandmother have a good conscience.

To bring this story into a more modern context... today, guys and girls will often accept disrespectful or even abusive treatment from someone they're dating, just to keep the relationship. Does this story offer an insights into WHY teens do this and what they SHOULD do instead?

     Everyone wants to be accepted. No one wants to be rejected. Many people have experienced rejection at one point in their life. You feel left out, lonely, and depressed. When you’re in a relationship with another person, you build up so many memories with them and you feel like you could never experience those with anyone else. If a person is in an abusive relationship, they stay in it because they think that the situation could get better, or that they have to stay with that person because they could never find another person to love again and they don’t want to ruin it. This story shows us that waiting around for guys is pointless and our lives should not revolve around them. The girl should’ve not been waiting for this guy, although she was because she had a hope that she would get into a great relationship and she had no one else she wanted. That is just like when girls should leave a disrespectful guy but they don’t. 

Good job on Wiki 2! I really like the common sense answers you put together!

wk.3

At what point in the story did you really start to catch on?

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

     At any age, dropping out of school in today’s society is a poor decision and is looked down upon. Some circumstances in the old day required the student to take care of the home and farm instead of schooling. This way they could somewhat have a life by farming. Today, everyone has the opportunity to complete school through the high school level. Many people strive for jobs so the job field is very competitive and require an education. It is almost impossible for a 14-year-old drop out to attain a steady paying job that could support him. Society is quick to judge everyone, so a high school drop out would not get respect, and will likely experience a lot of negative feedbacks.

3. When you think about people being "Displaced", what other types of people in contemporary times could that include? How do we in mainstream society generally deal with these people?

No one wants to feel displaced. It does not have a good connotation. The people that most come to mind are those that we are quick to judge. Maybe they are the people in school who are weird and quiet, who keep to themselves. Maybe it’s the people who aren’t all the way “there,” the ones whose lives are so different and difficult than ours and who someday have to go to a mental facility. It may even be the kids who are put in orphan homes and normal people don’t have to think about a lot. Mainstream society makes life ugly for these people. They aren’t accepted as much and therefore feel left out and have a hard life. We aren’t forced to interact with these kinds of people, they are just there. We put them in a category and stash it away, like putting others in facilities, dropping them off at foster homes, not lending a helping hand, and ignoring them.

week 5

 One Friday Morning

This story was one of the best ones we have read so far. It kept me interested throughout the entire story. I thought it was very unfortunate that the Artist Club Scholarship committee withdrew their scholarship from Nance. She had already experienced a hard life because of the trouble her parents went through to put her in school. She should not have had to deal with discrimination. I thought Miss O'Shay should've taken a more active role in insuring that that kind of discimmination never happened at the school again. Nancy handled the situation very well by not letting her frustration show. She turned it into a postitive thing because she thought about making the world a better place and changing it for others who come after her. I would've definitely told my parents about it and fussed for a while, but she handled it very maturely.

From Mother… With Love

I liked this story. Even though it was sad, it had a lot of emotion in it, which made it interesting. Minta’s mom had so much courage and strength to know she was going to die, but not let anyone else know that she knew. She didn’t sulk around and be angry about it, she had fun with her daughter like the past years and even got out of the house and raked leaves. It gave Minta’s dad closure to think that his wife lived a full and better life all the way up to the end because he didn’t tell her when she was going to pass away. Minta will have a hard life without her mother, but she has her dad. Her dad needs her to be with him and remind him that there is something to live for. Her father is comforted by the fact that Minta is just like her mother. I thought this story was very appropriate and shows the love and concern a family has for each other.

wiki 5 - good job... I liked your thoughts on the Mother with Love piece. Very insightful.