chapter 5

Adam Cole
Lauren Servais
English 100 OnLine
3 March 2010
Document Design
I chose this chapter because it is something that can make your writing into something special. I am a very visual person. I also feel I am mechanical, logical and factual. My research on different things is based on facts and hard evidence. When I write for business, I tend to use straight forward text rather than fluff. Sometimes for me, this style of writing tends to be dull and monotonous.
Chapter five in the book “Rules for Writers” gives me very good information that is going to help me keep my writing from going down the “path of dullness.” Simple things such as line spacing and font styles can make your writing come alive. It kind of like an average looking person can mysteriously look breathtaking with the aide of makeup. The way that we dress our paper can have a big impact on how someone will precieve it. This also can backfire on you so if you are not sure, it may be best to keep it a bit conservative. You need to take in to consideration you audience and what they are looking to get out of the paper.
I will be using the information in chapter five to try and make my writing easier to read. I am also going to use it in certain circumstances to capture my audience. One thing that I notice since I have been taking English at the start, (last year) is the use of double spacing my text. In the years past I would write something without spacing it and remember my associates become almost overwhelmed by looking at the page and seeing all that black. After spacing my text, even I have noticed how easy it is to read.
By taking advantage of the many tools we have in todays computer programs, we can make a page of text easier to read, we can make the words POP OUT OF THE PAGE by using the different fonts. We can wake someone up by changing the color. We can add pictures to enhance our writing



There is really no end to enhance our text. Chapter five gives us ideas for this.

happy endings

Adam Cole
English 100 online
25 March 2010
What is the significance of Shirley Temple? What meaning does she hold for Lovely?
In the reading “happy endings” written by Lois-Ann Yamanaka, the significance of Shirley temple is a desire of a wonderful, happy and joyous life. A life that is filled with happy moments and thoughts that brings beautiful memories. Her life was near perfection.
To lovely, a child growing up in a poverty stricken area, this was a lifestyle completely different that hers. You see, her life was one that did not bring much hope. She was living in a culture that was making it difficult to have a better life. Her surroundings were keeping her from thinking that there was hope of something different.
The value that Shirley temple plays to lovely is that of a lifestyle that has happy endings instead of bickering and making fun of each other. Lovely can imagine herself in Shirley’s shoes. The beautiful hair, the pouty lips and crying for happiness. What a wonderful feeling it was for her to imagine that she was in that frame. To her this was heaven.

essay 2 dialogue

Do you relate to one of the characters? How? Why?
Based on the essay “Shooting Dad”
When I started reading “Shooting Dad” written by Sarah Vowell I immediately started to relate to the situation Sarah was sharing with us. Although I was not relating myself to her feelings but rather to her fathers relationship with his daughters. There was so many ways that I could put myself into his shoes that it felt like this was a story about me and my two daughters.
From the first paragraph where she states, “I’m not saying who the democrat was or who the republican was,” to the end where she states “But I will not cover my ears” I felt emotion as strong as I ever have in the past. This essay became I and my two daughters’ home in many ways.
You see, my belief is one of freedom. My feeling is that the government from city all the way to federal has imposed rules that are in not way keeping with the values of the constitution of the United States. Burocrats have come in to office and have decided to make rules for the general public that are not what we have asked for or voted on. They have decided for us that certain situations should be the way they feel. But these laws are decided upon by some panel that is made up of primarily rich older white men. For instance this could be a curfew that has been set in place because of some crime that has taken place somewhere. They see this crime as a threat to them and feel it needs to stop right away so they put this new law in effect not considering what the rest of us feel. They also normally do not take the time to research this event thoroly because they feel it would be detrimental to put it off any longer. This is just one example of many laws that have been put in place in a hasty manner. Do you know that a woman may not drive a car wearing a house coat in California?
My oldest daughter is 15. She is a highly social girl. She also loves to get involved with helping others. She feels that it is a positive to let the government to make laws for us. She would use an example of the laws that have been put into effect that helps out the homeless and the illegal immigrants. What I try to show her is that when these laws go into effect that everyone pays for this through taxes, even those that did not want to help. The decision was not everyone’s but rather only some yet the others still have to pay. And what if those people are struggling to make ends meet as it is. Now a law has gone into effect that is going to take money out of their pockets making it harder for them to live. Is that fair? We go back and forth on these things a lot.
One of my favorite parts of this essay is the fact that the father wants to be blown out of a cannon to his final resting place. This is classic “me.” I say this because it has been my choice to be cremated and then my ashes fed down the intake of my favorite motor that is in my Hot Rod. I want to experience going through the intake, pat a valve and into the combustion chamber where an explosion occurs and then spit out of the exhaust valve and down the long tunnel of exhaust pipe and to the world again. Yes it’s true I may not feel it but maybe, just maybe if my soul is present, I just may.
And I am sure that my girls will do this for me. And I do not think they will be crying but rather they will have a big grin on their face. The grin of thankfulness, happiness, immortality, and just plain strange that their father want to know, “what really happens in side there.”