Thesis Statement

1- I think A is the weakest statement because it makes no claim. It also has no arguable point and it doesn't raise any questions whatsoever.

2- I think A is the weakest thesis staement because it is nothing more than a simple observation. It's not an arguable point.

3- I think B is the weaker statement because it is also a simple observation, and a quite obvious one too. I don't think anyone would argue that one.

4- I think A is the weaker statement because it is just an announcement. It is just making an observation that anyone who sees the play can see for themselves.

5- I think A is the weaker statement because it is way too long, and also, a thesis statement doesn't use first person. It is more of a paragraph than a thesis statement.

Who is sean Huze and what influenced him to write The Sandstorm?

My thesis statement is, "These are ten very real experiences that Huze went through in person. They depict what he and his fellow marines saw and felt during the war, and how they impacted him and his work as a playwriter."

I think this is a strong statement because it argues that the stories in The Sandstorm are real, and that these experiences were what influences Sean Huze to write this play. It is also something that can be supported from the text and from biographical works about Huze. The ten experiences he talks about in The Sandstorm did happen and he wrote them down so that people could better understand the things a marine has to go through during war.

Here is the website where i got the image and also where you can find more info on thesis statements. http://ncowie.wordpress.com/2007/10/02/writing-a-thesis-statement/

Portfolio Letter

Dear Portfolio Graders,

Writing does not come easy to me. It has always been my academical "weak spot". I've had to write two essays so far in this class, and I'll admit, they haven't been so easy for me. But because they have been tough, I feel that I have learned and grown as a writer. To me, that in itself, has made it worthwhile for me, because I know I need to improve my writing, and being in this class is helping me do just that.

The first essay I wrote had to do with poetry of witness. Before this class , I didn't even know what poetry of witness was. I had never written a paper on a poem, so this was something new to me. But even though I struggled with it, I actually enjoyed writing it, because I liked the poem that I was writing about. I have never read much poetry because it wasn't my favorite kind of writing, but this poem in particular was very interesting. So even though I struggled with the essay, it wasn't so bad because I liked what I was writing about.

The second essay that I had to write was even more challenging for me. I had never written a literary analysis paper before, so it was a first for me. I learned that a literary analysis is different from a regular book report. And this wasn't just a regular literary analysis, it was also a compare and contrast, so there were two different readings involved. They were two different stories that I particularly enjoyed reading very much, so that made the writing a lot easier for me.

Both of those essays were tough, but I feel like I have grown as a writer and learned from them. I have enjoyed all of the readings in the class and I feel they have helped me improve my writing because the stories are so well written. When I read them, I see how the authors express themselves and how they convey their feelings and ideas through their writing. As this semester goes on, I want to become a much better writer, because, even though I have improved, I feel that I still have a lot to work on to become a more confident and efficient writer.

On the Rainy River

In the story "On the Rainy River", Tim O'Brien had just graduated from college. He had a full scholarship to go study at Harvard. But before he could go, he received a letter from the government notifying him that he had been drafted into the military to go and fight in Vietnam. He didn't want to go , but he didn't know what to do. So after several weeks of trying to decide what to do, he decided he would run away to Canada, because he was scared to go to Vietnam. But he didn't make it to Canada. He stopped at an old fishing resort right across the border from Canada. He spent several days there trying to decide if he really wanted to go into Canada and risk never being able to come back into the US again. He was there for 6 days, and on that last day, he went fishing with the owner of the resort. And that was where he broke down and cried and decided that he was going to go to Vietnam.

In the beginning of the story, O'Brien tells us that he felt that he was strong, that he could be a hero. He felt that if he ever had to make a hard decision, that he would make the right choice, no matter how hard it was. But by choosing to go to war, he proved himself wrong. He didn't want to go, but he was more scared of being ridiculed and shamed by his family and friends than he was of dying in war. He went, not because he felt patriotic or because he supported the war, or even because he needed the money. He went because he was scared. He was scared of the opinions of people who didn't matter, but whose opinions mattered to him. He admits to this in the last 2 sentences of the story, where he says, " I was a coward. I went to the war (O'Brien p 61)." He had not been able to make the decision he thought was right when it mattered the most. He gave in to the pressure and ended up having to go and fight in Vietnam.

I got the image from : http://www.miracosta.edu/home/gfloren/O%27Brien-Things.htm

Here is a site with many stories about other young men who went through the draft lottery for the Vietnam War: http://www.vietnamwardraftlottery.com/phpnuke/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive&sa=show_all