Journal #1:
Questions for David Foster Wallace:
- During the essay, you show both sides of the argument and include personal accounts but never share your opinion on if it is ethical or not to boil lobsters alive. What is your opinion?
- Was the purpose of the essay just to get people to think about the problem of boiling lobsters alive or to show a controversial topic?
- What are other ways to cook lobster that would be more ethical?
- Towards the end of the essay you get into the other ethical problems with eating any types of meats. Do you yourself eat lobster or other meats brought up in the essay?
- When eating lobster or other meats do you think about the moral conflicts or ignore them like many other people?
- Do you think the experience of attending the Maine Lobster Festival had any impact on your opinion on this issue and your purpose in writing this essay?
When having a written discussion, there are many limits. As an author when writing, they must think of questions the audience may have and anticipate them by including them in their writing. Another limit to a written discussion is to consider all sides of the story. This gives the reader the chance to make their own conclusions and beliefs. This is shown in “Consider the Lobster” by David Foster Wallace, Wallace explains the side that it is not ethical to boiling live lobsters and the other side that they do not have the same nervous system therefore do not feel pain like humans do. In a written discussion, it is limited because only the author is speaking to the reader, unlike in a conversation when both sides can share their views and opinions. This doesn’t allow for a real discussion to occur to reach a decision or exchange ideas as the discussion would be if it was done in person. While written discussions have their purpose and real conversations cannot always occur, they have their limits.
Journal #2:
In the past, the drafting process for me has consisted of many steps. First, I will write an outline or first draft of the paper and try to get down all my ideas and thoughts. After that, I go back through and read and edit, making changes to any spelling, grammar or sentence structure that needs to be fixed. Depending on the size of the essay, I will do one, two or three drafts. After every draft, I always revise the essay and read through it. When writing any paper or essay I have someone peer review to check for any mistakes I might have missed when rereading. I usually have a friend or family member read over it and then after, I make those changes and check again myself. The peer review method works well for me because unless I read it out loud, I usually miss small errors. By having someone else’s opinion on any wording changes, it helps me make my paper sound better. In high school, this process worked really well for me especially in the bigger essays with more drafts to make sure I was not missing any parts of the requirements. Last semester in Environmental Issues, we had to write “mini papers” which were around 500 words each. I used a drafting process myself to complete the paper by starting with any research and outlining and then making a first draft. After having someone read it I would go back and make those changes before rewriting and editing myself.
Journal #3:
After reading “The Art of Quoting” in They Say I Say, I feel like I have learned how to effectively incorporate quotes into my text. This will be useful in my favorite food essay when adding quotes from my interview with my mom. I found it interesting they use the title and saying “they say I say” to help you remember an easy way to quote what another person says. Following the quote someone else says, you need to in your own words explain and analyze that quote and its relevance in the essay. Another important thing to remember when using quotes in an essay is a “quote sandwich.” This means that you cannot just drop a quote in the essay and not introduce it before or explain and conclude after. A good analogy they used that I think helps people better understand was the hit-and-run quotation compared to a hit-and-run while driving. Just like you shouldn’t drive away if you get in an accident, you shouldn’t just drop a quote in a paragraph without any introduction or analysis. I also found the chapter to be beneficial because I will be incorporating quotes in my future writing, not just in an English essay. I can also use quotes in my writing for sciences as Med-Bio is my major. Quotes show evidence to support the thesis of a writing and this section showed how to integrate them without just putting the text in a paragraph and not explaining it. The information in the paragraph is important because this “quote sandwich” method should be used when writing any essay using quotes and will come up when writing essays in this class. Outside of this class, it is helpful to know how to effectively put quotes in a paragraph and always remember to analyze them from the tips provided.
Journal #4:
For my essay, I am interested in a quote from the second paragraph on page 2. In this paragraph Rhinehart talks about how he believes soylent could be “the end of food” because food can be a waste of time. He also talks about the creation of a separation between different types of meals. I agree with the statement in saying that if soylent is used as the meal replacement for busy people, it will take away wasted time thinking about, planning out and making meals each day. Compared to my essay, Friday night pizza night with my family could still occur if soylent took over, but it would be for the purpose of socialization in his words.
Another quote that could be useful in my essay that would support the benefits of soylent is the paragraph on last paragraph on page 5. This paragraph takes about how climate change is affected by the food and agriculture business. With people switching to soylent, there would be less of an affect on the world. This could be useful in my essay because it shows how soylent could help save the planet. This is something seen all over the news today making it a great way to get people interested in the meal replacement.
Lastly, a beneficial quote for my essay can be found on the bottom on page 5 onto 6, the fifth paragraph down. In this paragraph, Rhinehart talks about how much of our day is centered around food and how our indulgences affect us. This could be an important point in my essay because it proves how many times a day we eat food that might not be good for us just to stop being hungry. It would help me answer the question and prove that our days do really revolve around food and shows it to be one of our priorities in life. My favorite meal essay also goes along with this because every week, whoever is hosting pizza night takes a lot of time out of their day to buy the ingredients at the store as well as make the pizza.
Journal #5:
The section of “Entering the Conversation” in They Say I say is very useful for when I am writing my essays. The first thing I found to be able to easily remember is to state your own ideas in response to others. This is where they get the title, “They say, I say” and can be used as a template for writing. The authors make it clear that if there is one thing that the reader takes away from the book it is not only adding what you say, but also presenting the ideas from another person or group. Some people ask why the “they say” is important and the book responds by saying it needs to be included because it builds an argument and without it you wouldn’t have a point. Another main point the section goes over is the argument an essay can make in the they say, I say template. This can be used to challenge standard ways of thinking and to stir up controversy. When disagreeing with a point someone else said, you must take into account their point of view and understand it before saying all the points of why you believe they are wrong. In summary, you must view both sides of the argument and in some cases, both sides can be right and that can be acknowledged in the paper.
The section also answers the question of when is it plagiarism and not such as it is plagiarism if the words used to fill in the blanks of the templates provided in the book are used with acknowledging the person who wrote it. To not plagiarize, proper citing of the person it is being borrowed from must be included to give credit where credit is due.
Lastly, the section ends with a part on the templates that will be useful in my writing because they take into account what students like me might be thinking when reading. It seems like I would be copying the templates and not sounding original in my writing. But, if you just follow the “they say/ I say” structure, your essay can still be original and written in your own words but using their template explained in the section. These tips from this section will be useful in improving my future papers.
Journal #6:
https://clamphere2.uneportfolio.org/peer-review/
Journal #7:
The best comments I received were on how to make the flow of my essay better and how to organize my thoughts. Also, after the peer edit, I know I need to go deeper into explaining how breaks to eat a meal are beneficial and something Soylent wouldn’t give us. This is helpful to me because it will make my essay flow better and I will go deeper into my analysis and not just explain my evidence at the surface level. The best comments I gave to my peers were suggestions on how to improve their papers because for the most part, their essays were well done and didn’t need anything but minor changes. Examples of these minor changes are sentence structure or word choice and explanation of quotes. Other things that came up in our discussion that I hadn’t thought about before was how to transition our topic and conclusion sentences in a better way to make the essay flow. We also talked about how to make sure each paragraph clearly stated our view and didn’t leave the reader wondering what we were thinking.
After looking through my comments, I wish we talked more about our thesis’ to make sure they fully covered the topic in our essay. Also, it seemed like we all had different things for the citations, so talking about it would’ve helped us come to a conclusion on the correct way to cite. This kind of peer review differs from the type of peer review in high school because in high school we were only looking at grammar, thesis, paragraph structure and the flow of the paper. For this peer review, we had to dig deeper into the paper and leave more constructive feedback for the writer. Also, having the workshop time to discuss and not just read the comments helped because sometimes it’s hard to fully understand their feedback in writing. Being able to talk about what we thought was good and what needed improvement was very helpful to understand their peer review.
Journal #8:
I spent the most time revising the structure of my essay. I moved a few paragraphs around and took sentences out that were not needed in my discussion, which helped lower my word count, since I was significantly over. I used the notes from my peers and what we talked about in the workshop to change the minor sentence and grammar problems. I also spent a lot of time reworking my thesis to be a statement consisting of two sentences. There is nothing about the peer edit I would change because I got great feedback from my group.
This drafting and revising process is different from high school because in high school only one person peer reviewed my essays while in this class, we have multiple people reading our paper, which means more feedback and ideas to make the paper better. In high school, we only looked at grammar, flow, and minor problems, while in this class, we had more time to get deeper at the meaning of the paper. Last semester, I took Environmental Issues and we wrote papers, but they were only two pages in length and we didn’t do any peer review so I didn’t get any feedback until after it was graded. I had my mom or a friend check for grammar or mistakes I might have missed, but no one was looking deep into it. My approach to this project fit with the expectations for this class because I used the peer review as a time to make major changes and revisions to my paper. I took out sentences that were not needed, moved paragraphs around and added explanations, which was something that I was able to do because of the deep peer review we did in this class. I think the amount of time I spent editing the paper and the major revisions I made were expected for this college level class.
Journal #9:
The sentence on the bottom of the first page is important to Mann’s agreement and sets the scene for his paper. He states how wealth is not an achievement but it is the biggest problem of humankind. I am not sure if I completely agree or disagree with this statement. I think he is trying to say that as the world together has become wealthier, we have hurt the Earth in irreversible ways. This is true because we are using the nonrenewable resources of the world up, and leaving the future generations with none as we reach the climate crisis. But, we need these resources to live and they are used as time goes on. On the other hand, without the world growing and becoming wealthier, we would not have accomplished things that keep humankind here today such as medical advances to lengthen the lifespan and continue life. This is where I am conflicted to say whether or not I can completely choose a side because if it weren’t for discoveries and research people have done up to this day, humankind wouldn’t be flourishing, but we are in a crisis as a consequence of these actions.
The paragraph on page 9 before the section “Not One of Evolutions Finest Efforts,” revisits another point of disagreement between the Borlaugian Wizards and Vogtian Prophets. He states how the battle between the two sides has brought up a bigger question for humans: are we doing the right thing for the survival of the planet? I personally have a hard time deciding if humankind is doing everything they can to save the planet. There definitely are ways we have helped save the planet one step at a time, for example stopping the use of plastic bags and straws. The little things can help and have made a difference for wildlife and ecosystems, but there is always the question how much more we need to do. This paper brings up a good point that with the climate crisis we are in and the increasing population, there needs to be further research on if the Earth is going to be able to feed all these people.
On page 6, in the middle of the page, Mann discusses the effects of the growing population on farmers. He states how farmers will have to boost production to meet the demand of the increased population. Mann says this desire for more meat will significantly hurt farmers. I agree with what Man is bringing up in this paragraph. The increase in population will have to mean an increase in the food needed to feed the people, but where will it come from? There are only so many resources available for the farmers to produce crops and meat. This will result in a huge task for farmers to keep up with the rising demand, which in turn, will mean farmers will run out of supplies such as land and animals to keep up. This goes along with the major dilemma the world is facing right now as the world is approaching its maximum capacity, and without action, the future generations will suffer from the damage done by past generations.
Journal #10:
A paragraph that is centrally important to Pollen’s essay is the last paragraph on the bottom of page 19. His concluding points bring up very big questions to the reader. I agree with what Pollen is saying after reading through the whole essay, that cooking is becoming less and less like cooking as it was years ago. His question on this page is about if the culture of everyday cooking can be rebuilt and if men will share the work of cooking. I agree with this statement and what he is addressing. This is important because after he writes about the history and shows what cooking is now compared to what it used to be, we can see that everyday cooking is slowly becoming less popular. Earlier in the essay he says how one of the reasons everyday cooking is decreasing is because women have gone to work outside the home like men. This means that when he says one in which men equally share the work, he means now that both men and women are working, both should also be cooking, which would increase the amount of Americans cooking on a daily basis.
On the first full paragraph on page 12, Pollen talks about the Food Network and how it has transformed from actually teaching people how to cook and allowing viewers to do it in their own kitchen, to something people watch. The cooking TV shows now don’t actually want you to get off the couch, they want you to sit in front of the TV and watch, maybe even while you are eating. I agree with the statement Pollen brings up when he says that cooking TV now is not what it was originally planned for and how it is one of the reasons for the decline of cooking seen today. The shows today are either for a competition, or tasting food at different places over the country and reviewing it, not actually showing you how to cook a meal at your own house like Julia Child did.
Another point that Pollen brings up in his essay to support his argument is on page 8 the second paragraph about an analogy. He includes a study done by Harry Blazer in which the results show that people think of cooking now as more “assembling elements” instead of, for example, mixing ingredients together. This is because today you don’t have to bake a cake from scratch, you can buy a box and add water and feel like you are still baking a cake. His analogy shows how as technology gets better and better, why cooking won’t be seen as much anymore. I can agree with the analogy because it is true that we are not cooking the same way our great grandparents did and our grandchildren probably won’t be cooking much at all. This shows that it is inevitable that cooking at home is being seen less and less and how in the future, it may not be seen at all.
JOURNAL #11
After reading the section on “They Say”, Starting with what others are saying, there are a lot of important points addressed that can be useful in my writing. One important lesson the section states and explains is to give writing a point, the writer must include a thesis and also the larger conversion that thesis is responding to. This is a lesson I can apply to my own writing because I need to make sure that I am discussing the point/quotes I bring in from sources and its connection to my thesis so the reader understands why I am bringing this source into my own writing. When using quotes in my writing I need to be sure that I put what “they say ” first and then directly following it, discuss my connection and ideas as a response. By doing it in this order, it won’t confuse the reader and leave them having questions during my paper. A suggestion this chapter gives is using a “they say” quote to hook the reader. Although it contradicts the common practice of leading with your own words and thesis, as long as it is explained shortly after, it allows the reader to frame and clarify the issue on their own. The next part of this chapter gives numerous templates on how to introduce the “they say” in a paper. This will become very beneficial to me in my next essay as I can use them to introduce my quotes from either Widdicombe or Mann and follow them with my own discussion and ideas. Lastly, another thing to remember that was brought up in this section is to return to the view from the “they say” or source to remind the reader what claims are being responded to. The lessons learned in this section will be very useful in my own writing as I use quotes from sources and incorporate their views into my own ideas and discussions.
JOURNAL #12:
My essay is going well so far. I have around 3 pages and have planned out the quotes I will most likely use. I know that as of right now it is a rough draft and I will have to elaborate and further explain my quotes. I also think that as I write more, I will make minor changes to the wording of my thesis to fit around the next quotes and discussion I add. I think so far I have a solid introduction that invites the reader and has both introductions to “The End of Food” as well as “Can Planet Earth Feed 10 Billion People?”. Next, I will work on adding about two more quotes, one from each source and discussing them and my ideas about them. Following that, I will need to add a conclusion that wraps up all my ideas and ends my paper. Last week I had trouble figuring out how to tie the papers together, but after a meeting with Professor Miller, I feel more confident in how to bring these two papers together into my own writing. I will continue to keep working on my paper in sections or a little bit each day. This will ensure that I don’t get behind or “stuck” while writing if I were to try to do it all at once.
JOURNAL #13:
In this section “Planting a Naysayer in Your Text,” I learned good lessons and tips I can use in my future writing. The first part is about anticipating objections and this means that in your own writing, you should tell readers what others might say against you. This can be beneficial by giving more voice and answering the objections against your views. It also will convince the reader why you believe your side is correct. This helps identify problems with your argument before the reader can point it out and shows that you respect others opinions such as your reader who may not have the same stance as you. By adding the “naysayer” you also add more length and depth to your paper by answering what others may say.
This chapter of the book also has templates that can be used when acknowledging the objections or “naysayers” that can be helpful in writing. By showing the existence of the other side of the argument with these templates, the reader has time to form their own opinion on the topic. After stating the other side of the argument, you still have more to write as you must explain and represent this point of view with fairness. Fully explaining the other point of view allows the reader to know they can trust the writer and are taking it seriously. The book says the best way to make sure you are giving enough explanation to the other side is to put yourself in their shoes. This is something I will definitely use the next time I am writing about the counterargument to my point of view. Following the explanation the writer must be able to answer the objections successfully. All these pieces need to be included to ensure that you are effectively acknowledging the other point of view to what you are writing. I will use the lessons learned from this section and apply them to my own writing when I am adding in objections to my argument.
JOURNAL #14:
JOURNAL #15:
I Survived- Dr. Otto Wernecke
After reading the story on Dr. Otto Wernecke by this daughter Caroline, I was able to put in perspective what this time was like. It also helped me compare it to what we are going through in the Coronavirus pandemic today. Caroline tells the story of how her father, a dentist, died from the flu at the age of 39. I thought her story was very sad because she talks about how after her father died, people stopped paying the money they owed from going to see Dr. Wernecke for his dental work. Her mother had to go out and find a job to be able to support all her kids but since she was going to be working she had to find care for her kids. The kids were split up between family members and it broke their relationship apart. I can’t even imagine how this must have felt for her mother to have to send her kids away to go work and for the children to not grow up with their siblings and mother. Caroline says how her family was affected by the flu economically, emotionally and socially, which is starting to happen during the pandemic today as people lose jobs and are stuck in their houses all day.
What was it like not growing up for Caoline not having her mother as her caregiver? Did she still get the chance to see her or not until after her grandparents died?
Finding A Cure- Eleanora Berns
I found reading the story told by Eleanora Berns daughter Karla very interesting because she survived after being very sick and with little medical care during the time. Karla talks about her mother having such a high fever that she was placed in a room by herself and packed with ice with the window open. She had a nurse check on her who had to wear a large fur coat because it was so cold in there and she lost her hair from being so sick. When she got over the fever, she had to learn to walk again which I found very surprising to read. I also found it interesting that she says no one else in the family got sick and during this time entire families would die of the illness. It was very sad to read this story because she writes that, “for all of her life she could remember the nightmares from being ill” and shows how it scarred her.
How long did it take for her to fully recover?
JOURNAL #16:
Tori- I think the stories you wrote about were really interesting and eye opening. It’s also hard for me to wrap my head around how much this affected people during the time as seen in both narratives you chose. I think I would also have a similar question for Betty Sompii because she had to make a life or death decision on the stop without time to process what she was doing. As for the narrative about Robert Lynn Davis, I agree with what you said on how insane it was to have the job of digging holes for the bodies everyday. It must’ve put him through a lot mentally, emotionally and physically during an already hard time the world was going through.
Kaleigh- The two stories you selected were very hopeful and uplifting. It shows how people really can step up and help others out during these tough times like we are experiencing today. For the first story on Clella B. Gregory, I also agree with your question on how her dad was so positive during this tough time her family was going through? It shows that if people can stay positive and not give up, people won’t fall apart. Your second narrative on Alvena Buehler’s story was very inspiring to see someone our age, put her own life on hold and walk that far to help her family out. It shows that during this time we are going through now, when we are able to, we need to help others out and be positive. Alvena showed perseverance as she saved her family and everyone should have this quality and step up when needed.
JOURNAL #17:
INTRO/BACKGROUND INFO: It was Friday afternoon on March 13th when we got an email from President Hubert. I was packing up and getting ready to go to my last class of the week when the email came in saying we were done for the semester because of the fast spreading Coronavirus. Maybe it was the unlucky Friday the 13th but it was not expected after the school’s emails that week. This meant that our freshman year living at UNE was over. The night before was our last night eating dinner with friends, last night sleeping in our dorm room and that morning I took my last in person exam for the year. It all happened so fast that no one was able to fully understand at the time. I went home for the day knowing I was coming back again this semester, but only to move the rest of my stuff out. I was filled with emotions because I was excited to go home for spring break to see my family, high school friends and take a break from school work, but sad that I had to cancel my trip to South Carolina. After getting this email only minutes before I was leaving, it was hard to comprehend what was happening. I saw positives such as spending more time with my family I missed, having more free time and being able to make money babysitting, but I was realizing I wouldn’t be back until August and would miss all the friends I had made this year. There also came the uncertainty of what online school would be like after finally adjusting to college work and schedules.
LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT ME PARAGRAPH: The past couple weeks have come with more free time than I have ever had in my life and this time has taught me lessons. Growing up I have always had school to go to, homework to complete, sports to play, as well as family and friends to see. All of this suddenly disappeared as the outbreak progressed. As of Friday March 27th, exactly two weeks after we left UNE, the New Hampshire Governor has issued a “stay at home” order that only allows people to go out for essential things. All these changes have come fast and I have learned not to take things for granted. Whether it’s my family pizza night, hanging out with my friends or being at UNE, even if it’s just trying to find something to eat in the dining hall. There’s also the little things that I didn’t realize I need in my everyday life such as going to a gym, going shopping or out to eat.
LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT OTHERS(FAMILY, FRIENDS, COMMUNITY):
WHAT LIFE IS LIKE NOW/CHANGING & ADAPTING PARAGRAPH:
CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH:
JOURNAL #18
It was Friday afternoon on March 13th when we got an email from President Hubert. I was packing up and getting ready to go to my last class of the week when the email came in saying we were done for the semester because of the fast spreading Coronavirus. Maybe it was the unlucky Friday the 13th, but it was not expected after the school’s previous email earlier that week which made it seem like we were coming back after spring break. This meant that our freshman year living at UNE was over. The night before was our last night eating dinner with friends, last night sleeping in our dorm room and that morning I took my last in person exam for the year. It all happened so fast that no one was able to fully understand what this all would mean to us in the future. I went home for the day knowing I was only coming back again this semester to move the rest of my stuff out. I was filled with emotions because I was excited to go home for spring break to see my family, high school friends and take a break from school work, but sad that I had to cancel my trip to South Carolina. After getting this email only minutes before I was leaving, it was hard to comprehend what was happening. I saw positives such as spending more time with my family I missed, having more free time and being able to make money babysitting, but I was realizing I wouldn’t be back until August and would miss all the friends I had made this year. There also came the uncertainty of what online school would be like after finally adjusting to college work and schedules. Life is full of unexpected events and the Covid-19 outbreak has brought many emotions, hardships and uncertainty about the future. At the same time, it has given me time to take a break, reflect on myself and learn lessons.
It feels as though my whole life is put on pause as the days pass by. I celebrated my 19th birthday with only my immediate family, but didn’t get to see my extended family, my grandparents or my friends like normal. Instead of going out to eat, we got take out and we had to postpone my family’s “March Birthdays” party for a few weeks. Having such a large family we have also decided to cancel Easter. It’s sad because in the past, I have always been able to celebrate these events with extended family and friends and this year it is just my family. Although we are sad, we know that it is for the best to stay in and not get together as a large family to do our part in stopping the spread of the virus.
The past couple weeks have come with more free time than I have ever had in my life. Growing up I have always had school to go to, homework to complete, sports to play, as well as family and friends to see. All of this suddenly disappeared or changed as the outbreak progressed. I no longer had to attend school, I now complete it on my own time at home. There are no sports to play or watch and all gyms are closed. I cannot see any family outside my immediate family and can no longer see my friends in person. As of Friday March 27th, exactly two weeks after we left UNE, the New Hampshire Governor has issued a “stay at home” order that only allows people to go out for essential things. All these changes have come fast and I have learned not to take things for granted. Whether it’s my family pizza night, hanging out with my friends or just being at UNE, even if it’s just trying to find something to eat in the dining hall. There’s also the little things that I didn’t realize I need in my everyday life such as going to a gym, going shopping or out to eat. Now I have the time to reflect on all the things that kept me busy over the years and I have realized that I need to live in the present and enjoy the moments or I will regret it someday.
My family has shown to be hardworking and strong, something I already knew about them but can see more during this time. Both my parents go out to work everyday and my sister participates in online school and continues to train and stay in shape for her postponed lacrosse season. Every Saturday night we go out to eat at a restaurant and it is something we all look forward to. We had to make adjustments and order out but continue to sit down and eat together at home. This time at home gives us the opportunity to take a break from what we are doing and catch up on the week. It has been nice to get this time with my family since I was away at school before.
During this time, I have learned a lot about others in my life such as friends and my community. When I was still at school, I never realized how much I would miss my friends. After doing almost everything together at school from class to homework and playing sports it has been different not being able to see them in person. Even though I am home I am still not able to go out and see my high school friends like we normally would. Many of them have had to give up things that mean the most to them like sports seasons, vacations, and college graduations. My community has also taught me lessons from their generous acts of kindness. I have learned that during these tough times the best thing you can do is give to others in need when you can. Many people have been showing how much they care and want to help others in need by collecting donations and helping senior citizens.
The Covid-19 outbreak has taught me unexpected lessons about myself, family, friends and community. I have learned that I cannot take anything for granted because it all can be taken away so quick. For the future, I will enjoy the little things and live for now as much as possible. While at school I had been looking forward to summer, I’ll be looking forward to when we go back to UNE in the fall.
JOURNAL #19:
During the 1918 Flu Epidemic, American Red Cross workers and volunteers were probably scared about what was to come and anxious when the epidemic would be over. With this being said, they were still very strong and put their lives on the line to help others who needed it. This is similar to the events today and in the news we are seeing healthcare workers risking their lives to help sick patients and take the possibility of getting sick themselves or dying from the virus. I would put my life on the line to help others like the American Red Cross workers did, as I am going into the healthcare field with the goal of someday being a Physician Assistant. I feel as though this is a good fit for my future because I love helping and treating people who need it. It will be worth it to see someone overcome an illness or get better from my work.
In these hard times civic virtue brings the community together to help out. Civic virtue is the dedication of citizens in the interest of the community even if it costs their individual interests. In my community today people have stepped up to help out others when they are able to. A nurse in my town is starting a clothing and shoe drive for the patients who need to leave the hospital with donated clothes or shoes because the hospital’s supply has taken a hit from the increased need caused by the virus outbreak. This is something she doesn’t have to do, but is doing it for her patients during these demanding times. Another thing I have seen my community do is support local businesses. My family has supported them by doing take out from a local restaurant and buying gift cards from our hair salon, as they have had to close. Many other people have also been helping out the local small businesses as well as the senior citizens who may need help getting groceries or other necessities. Together, the community can make a difference to help those in need.
JOURNAL #20:
After reading Jess’s response to journal #19, I believe that I can agree with what she is saying. I also stated in my journal how these American Red Cross Workers put their lives on the line to help others. I found it interesting that she added the part from the article about how the women were offered pay but most weren’t expecting it because they did it as volunteer work. I have volunteered in the past and during a time like this I also think I would be willing to volunteer because so many people are in need, every volunteer can help to make a difference. I think it’s awesome that Jess volunteers her time at her town’s fire department, which is a big sacrifice during this outbreak and demanding as a college student. I didn’t include the first responders in my journal response but Jess brought up a good point that they are sacrificing a lot just to do their job and putting themselves as well as their families at risk to get the virus. This is something that has been on the news alot because first responders have been getting infected just as much as healthcare workers.
I also can agree with many of the points Emily brings up in her response to journal #19. She says how the American Red Cross workers and volunteers during the 1918 flu didn’t know much about what a virus was or how it spreads. This is a good point I hadn’t thought about because at the time healthcare was nothing close to what it was. I think it’s great that Emily would help out others when people are in need. I am thankful for people working in the healthcare field like both of Emily’s parents and sacrifice themselves and their families for others. Without everyone doing their part to stop the spread of the virus like closing non-essential businesses, something that was not done in the 1918 epidemic, hopefully the virus can be shut down.
JOURNAL #21:
When we first heard of the Coronavirus, not many people thought much of it because it was in China and we didn’t expect that it would make its way around the world and affect us like it is today. Within a matter of two months, the United States now has the most cases and officials are saying we haven’t hit our peak and this will continue for weeks. This news is scary and is the reason people have listened to the stay at home orders. People have given up many things to make adjustments because of the severity of this outbreak. On the other hand, we have been hearing in the news over the past couple years about the climate change crisis and how the time left on Earth is being limited more quickly everyday but the world hasn’t been shut down to help. Comparing the multiple, severe actions and measures taken for Covid-19 such as shutting non-essential businesses down, schools and having people stay home, to the actions taken for the climate change crisis are not even a close comparison. With the climate change crisis, people have still been taking action but it leaves the question: If we took as many measures as we are right now, would we be guaranteeing more years on Earth for future generations? Even during this Covid-19 outbreak people have still been thinking about the climate change crisis. I have seen on the news that with Italy being shut down that their canals are crystal clear enough to see fish swimming as well as swans and dolphins in the port, which hasn’t been seen in many years. This shows that when people stop polluting the water and pushing out wildlife, that there are benefits to the planet. With the world slowing down for some time and places being put on lockdown, it is giving us the opportunity to build a better future in the means of the climate change crisis.
JOURNAL #22:
After reading Ellen Bryant Voigt’s poem on the 1918 flu pandemic, I am left with a few questions. I am wondering what their routine’s purpose was and did they believe that it would stop them from getting the flu? Also, what does she mean when she says they killed the cat to leave out for the flies? What was the purpose of doing it to the lamb instead? Did they believe that the flies would take the sickness away from them?
When reading poetry it is easy to try to visualize what is happening to make sense of it. The images that really stick out to me while reading the poem were where she talked about shaving their heads where she said “clipped our hair to the scalp” and about killing the cat “I cut the cat’s throat” because they left me with confusion. I am wondering what their beliefs were behind the things they did during this time as written in the poem.
There are parallels to our current experience with COVID-19 and the 1918 flu pandemic. In the 1918 flu pandemic they were also advised to quarantine, and Ellen said in the poem, “we locked the doors and let nobody in.” Today, people today are being advised to stay in and not see people in person if they don’t need to. Even 100 years ago and today, they used this as a method to stop the spread of the virus and shorten the pandemic. I also found it interesting that she says “Each night we sang.” On the news recently there were videos of people in Italy who were singing out their windows in a town together. I find it interesting that singing is used both today and 100 years ago during tough times. It might be a sign of people coming together for the greater good of helping each other out like we are seeing in our communities today.
JOURNAL #23:
After reading Parker’s response to journal #21, I can agree with the points he brings up. He talks about how the virus started in China and people didn’t think much of it but now it is more serious because the United States is leading in cases right now. People have taken serious measures to stop the spread of the virus because it has become visible to them what will happen to them if they don’t stay home. This could be the same case for climate change and shows that if people haven’t done enough to save the planet, there could be a time in the near future where there is not life living on Earth anymore. Right now people don’t see the need to change their ways because it’s not affecting them, but when something starts to go wrong, it could be too late. I find myself thinking this sometimes and know that I need to change the way I am thinking for future generations. These future generations will include my kids or grandkids someday being affected, not many generations down the line long after I’m gone. I need to think about the small things I can do that will make a difference. I think there is a big lesson we can learn from the Coronavirus pandemic and put it towards climate change. While right now it’s probably not in the front of everyone’s mind, it will need to be addressed soon and actions must be taken before it is too late. The Coronavirus outbreak has shown that to stop the spread, big measures such as the large amount of shut downs, must be taken before it is too late and lives are taken. This can be applied to climate change as well, because if no action is taken we will see the human population decrease quickly as Earth could become uninhabitable.
JOURNAL #24:
I found that after reading Jake’s journal #22, I had similar questions and thoughts regarding Ellen Bryant Voigt’s poem about the 1918 flu pandemic. When I read the poem the first time I also wondered why they killed the cat and what the meaning behind the flies carrying the sickness away. Additionally, I wondered why the family chose to shave their heads and sleep in steam along with a few other “rituals” to try to prevent themselves from getting the flu, but these are nothing like we aren’t seeing in the pandemic today. The poem does have similarities to the COVID-19 outbreak we are experiencing today and I agree with the similarities Jake points out. In both pandemics there was a lockdown or a quarantine including not going out and not having people over.
In addition to Jake’s response, I also found that Emily had a journal like the one I wrote. I didn’t write this in my response but I also think her poem was a short but great way to visualize and imagine what it could’ve been like over 100 years ago, in a similar pandemic to what we are experiencing today. Now it is 100 years later and we are seeing some of the same ideas such as quarantining and not going out, but nothing like people shaving their heads and bathing in mustard like it talked about in the poem. Emily brought up a point I didn’t think of when she says, “Although the preventative measures seem extreme, they did not know the cause of the flu so they had to try different remedies to keep it away and cure it.” During the early 1900’s they did not have many medical supplies or the knowledge to know what they needed to do to help protect them, so they tried many different preventive measures. Even today, we don’t know everything about it so we are hoping that the things people are doing are right. Emily, Jake and I had similar responses to journal #22 as we looked at the poem and the similarities between what we are experiencing today and the flu pandemic in 1918.
JOURNAL #25:
