Good afternoon,
I apologize for the trouble you are having reading the sample student essay I posted on the blog. I will make copies for you and distribute them on Monday. (It is a PDF file and I cannot seem to transfer it to a file you can read....at least not past the first page!)
I am attaching the list of study questions to consider when you are preparing for your in class writing #1 on Monday.
I am also attaching the sample introduction and supportive paragraph.
Both of these handouts were distributed in class today, along with the student sample essay.
See you Monday with blue (or green) book in hand. :-)
Happy weekend.
SAMPLE INTRODUCTION AND SUPPORT PARAGRAPH
Much has been written about the importance of reading to young children beginning from the moment they are born. In fact, many parents insist that starting the pattern of reading aloud to one’s child should begin while the child is still in the womb. Besides for the need to expose young people to books and the joys of reading in their early years, the subject matter of these books should also be considered as significant. Exposing children to a wide variety of topics certainly aids in feeding their imaginations. For example, the theme of home is found in hundreds of children’s picture books and it is a compelling theme that invites a wide variety of approaches and sensibilities.
Beloved children’s author, Beatrix Potter, wrote Peter Rabbit, a story about a little rabbit who ventures away from home, gets into mischief, and when he arrives back home, is exhausted and ill and falls directly to sleep. Certainly young listeners learn about right and wrong and what happens when a parent’s words are not heeded. Yet, even though Peter knows his mother will be disappointed in his behavior, he still wants to go home. Potter suggests that home is a safe place, away from Mr. McGregor. Potter writes, “Peter never stopped running or looked behind him till he got home to the big fir tree. He was so tired that he flopped down upon the nice soft sand on the floor of the rabbit-hole and shut his eyes” (27). David Jorgensen’s pastel and watercolor illustrations depict Peter as content and rather relieved as he sleeps on the floor, and later in his bed. Peter is out of harm’s way at home and he is obviously loved by his mother, who feeds him chamomile tea to soothe his upset stomach and tucks him into bed. Potter’s message about home is very clear and very comforting for children to learn: home should be a safe and forgiving place of solace and love.
THIS IS A SAMPLE ESSAY: INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH AND FIRST SUPPORTIVE PARAGRAPH ONLY.
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DAUGHTER FROM DANANG--DISCUSSION QUESTIONS---THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. One reviewer describes the film as a “gut-wrenching examination of the way cultural differences and emotional expectations collide.” Would you agree this is an accurate description? Why or why not? Explain specifically.
2. Were there parts of the film that made you feel uncomfortable? If so, what were those parts and can you articulate why they made you feel uncomfortable?
3. Heidi acutely feels that she has been rejected by two mothers: her birth mother who gave her up and her Tennessee mother, whose cold, untouching demeanor drove a wedge between them. How does this fact impact Heidi and what she ultimately experiences when she returns to Vietnam?
4. The film is considered a very powerful one by many other small filmmakers as well as many reviewers. In your opinion, what makes this an effective or ineffective film?
5. What preconceived ideas about home are proven inaccurate after viewing the film?
6. In an interview with the filmmakers, they admit that when they decided to film Heidi’s return to Vietnam, they assumed that the reunion would be a healing story, a kind of full circle coming home. The war in Vietnam was long over and they felt they could create a film that would ease the collective pain that is still connected to the war. Instead, what they did discover?
7. Some viewers have condemned Heidi for representing an aspect of American culture that they believe is selfish and individualized. What do you think and feel about Heidi’s reaction for the family’s request for money?
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