MLK Letter discussionJournal 2: Excerpts

Tips & TricksBiography—‖Everybody’s

Talkin’‖MAJOR One: Workshop

WEEK 4– MAJOR ONE Workshop

MLK—Letter from Birmingham Jail:

Two Points: Raise tension through non-violence to highlight

unjust law&

The forces against us are working just as hard

and creatively.

I find myself on the run, now more than ever before. Fear not. I’m not an FBI’s most wanted and I don’t owe money to the wrong people. I simply have an addiction to running. For as long as I can remember I have been outside running about. From a young age I was the runner, the fast kid. I played soccer for 7 years. Playing tag with the neighborhood kids was always a blast for me because I was rarely ―it‖. When I entered high school I was recruited by my brother for our schools cross country team and I was hooked. I ran every day, whether it was practice, meets, or just to run. If you ask any serious runner, and even some not so serious runner, they will tell you that there is something addicting about getting 35 miles a week. ―

When I look back the thing I remember as the most embarrassing was when I started working for my dad. He had started a

business of cleaning up foreclosed homes, and he figured that I should start learning how to earn money. So, we began it all during

December many years ago and the first thing I can remember was how much I complained about it. The house was cold, dark, and dreary.

I was put to work in a bedroom on the second floor cleaning up a closet full of junk.” ---Nice set up, to this: (next paragraph)

“The entire time I was there I complained out loud about how it was stupid and pointless it was and how I wanted to go home.

However, halfway through cleaning the closet I found a Pokémon card. Nowadays it would have gone in the garbage bag with the rest of

the trash, but back then I was ecstatic. Back then Pokémon cards were a kid’s video game. At that moment I realized that in the process of

cleaning that house I might come across another good find, so I attacked the rest of that closet with greater vigor. “ ----HA!!!!

―One of the world’s newest addictions I share with millions of people is the use of cell phone. I cannot imagine living without one. Now days we have phone that do thing we never imagined they could do, and they even get better by the day. Since the day starts my phone wake up and goes to bed with me. I never get bore it keeps me entertain all day. When I get hungry it helps me find a place to eat. Our lives are so attach to this device that without it we could not perform our daily tasks. ―AND: ―I am pretty sure that in the future you will be able to smell stuff over the phone, if that happened I hope that people’s bad breath gets block off.‖

―In a place, where the nations Warriors exude their camaraderie, the stale smell of cigarettes still lingers in the air, the

only reminder of tobacco use, since it has been vanquished by the Fourth Reich’s

boot. Pictures of young men at the ready with machine guns proudly placed on the

western wall. In the corner is a table setting, placed in honor of those no

longer with us or whose fate is unknown. Tales are told and troubles are drown at the V.F.W’s and American Legion halls

across this country. Slowly, this clique is dying out. With them, dies their stories, and frankly, the freedoms these folks, sacrificed and died for. I have enjoyed

every time I have been able to experience this ambiance. Even,

establishing a taste for the otherwise detestable hot dog, that is served at The

V.F.W.. ―

“ Mis-communication is defined as a failure to communicate adequately and properly. If texting and emailing are considered written communication the nation has fallen short. Visual gestures like the middle finger and other hand gestures have even spoken loudly. Misperceptions and misinterpretations are more likely to occur in both settings. Al- though they may of not liked what was said and/or heard there is something to be said about seeing someone's facial expression and hearing their voice while having a conversation. As a matter of fact some of the greatest conversations were held at a dinner table. Families have allowed

technology to help disconnect them. Relationships have been broken because of the failure to communicate. I often wonder if anyone knows what a face-to-face verbal conversation is anymore. Have we lost it with the generations or did people just forget how to communicate? There used to be a time when if a person wanted to get a message to someone they picked up the phone, wrote a letter or simply just went to that person and had a face to face, down to earth, conversation. The computer was rare at one point, mostly found only in the libraries. It was only used for education purposes not breaking up, dating or bullying. Cell phones were only used for emergency situations and the thought of texting had not even surfaced. Despite the fact that technology has allowed the nation to communicate or shall I say run more efficiently and get messages to a person and/or a group in a timely manner, it has ruined the most effective communication of all, the verbal one. It’s funny how people have a lot to say

through technology but when faced in front of another person they become mute. They hide behind social websites such as Facebook and Twitter. The English language is becoming extinct and ebonics are on the rise. Technology has not only disabled man but it has caused the miscommunication of the human species. It's time to return to the dinner table. “

TIPS & TRICKS

Pre-Writing Exercises

Cluster: add as many ideas / associations as possible. Look for a common thread.Write a first (rough) draft as quickly as possible: get it out, errs

and all. Summarize your idea; try it in 3 or less sentences…

TIPS & TRICKS

Writer’s BlockWhat do I write about?‖ or ―I don’t

want to do this!‖Focus on the assignment: Person(s)Who did I learn a valuable lesson

from in my past? What difference do I see now I didn’t see then?

What activities did I engage in? What did I learn from the activity

(about myself, and my interests/abilities)?

ROUGH DRAFT REVISION:Find a partner, get out your rough draft, and read it out loud. The other person makes a ―reverse outline‖ of the draft, and then shares it with the reader.

REVERSE OUTLINE: A single sentence summary of each paragraph, along with at least two (2) main points.

After sharing this outline, begin to use the ―paramedic method‖, a sentence by sentence editing method that removes extra words, run on, or fragmentary sentences.

AFTER THIS: The second person reads their rough draft, and the pair begins the above process again.

Good luck on your final draft!