Finally, The Soloist ends for us as readers. However, Nathaniel's life is just beginning. Although he is not cured of his disease and is by no means better, since he verbally attacked and threatened Lopez, the ending of the story is a positive one. Nathaniel lives in a safer environment where he can practice and produce as much music as he wishes, he has made some memorable experiences and he has reconnected with some individuals from his past.
Unlike most of my classmates, I was expecting a sad ending. I was certain that something terrible would happen to Steve or Nathaniel that would change the others life completely. Fortunately, I can say that The Soloists' ending surprised me and none of the characters were placed in negative situations.
I believe that a lot of people will get the same message as I did from this story. the message, although very popular and sometimes cliched is this, 'don't judge a book by its cover'. Nathaniel was a dirty, worn-out, homeless man living out of a shopping carts on the streets. Many passer-byers saw him as nothing more, until Steve Lopez came by. He looked past the dusty, ripped cover on Nathaniel's book and took the time to sit down and read the pages of his story. He ultimately gave Nathaniel another chance at life and i believe that if everyone capable did this for another, then we would able living in a happier and friendlier world.
-do my ideas and thoughts connect to one another
-are my thoughts clearly expressed
-am i staying in the same tense
-grammar/spelling
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Soloist 3
At this point in the novel The Soloist, a thought has crossed my mind. It seems that Steve Lopez has waltzed into Nathaniel's' life and has been making important choices and decisions without even consulting with him first. Lopez decided to write a column and ultimately a novel about this man as if he were a test specimen; inviting the public into his world and he contacted his past acquaintances and family members without asking his permission first. Also he gave Nathaniel instruments that could have potentially set him as a target for muggers and robbers and Lopez connived Nathaniel into living at Lamp by telling him that he couldn't play these instruments unless he was there. Although Lopez had Nathaniel's best interest at mind and in heart when he did all of this, he still never asked or thought about what Nathaniel would be truly comfortable and happy with. What if Nathaniel didn't want so much public awareness of his life? What if he didn't stay in contact with his sister or his friends for perfectly acceptable reasons? How would Lopez feel if Nathaniel did get injured from having expensive instruments in his shopping cart? What if Nathaniel's condition got worse from living at Lamp?
This last question really stuck with me throughout this section of the novel. I recently watched the movie 'Changeling' and although the main character was placed in a mental institution for invalid reasons, most of the patients at the institution were there legitimately. The institution was horrifying. People were force fed medications that made them incapable of moving and thinking straight, they patients were beaten if they behaved difficultly (sometimes even electric shocked) and the doctors and nurses there were more focused on keeping the mentally ill people off the streets, then actually helping them to improve their condition.
So, I decided to do some research on Lamp to see what kind of place it actually was. On the homepage of their website I read something very comforting. Under the heading titled 'How We Do It', I read the following, "The approach we use, and helped to pioneer, is called Housing First or Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH). Conventional wisdom has long said that homeless people with disabilities had to “straighten up” before they could obtain housing. But people with severe disabilities cannot access treatment, let alone make dramatic changes in their lives, while struggling to survive on the streets. Lamp treats housing as a prerequisite for coping with the debilitating challenges of mental illness, addiction, physical disability, chronic disease, and the trauma associated with 5, 10, even 20 years of homelessness. Customer choice is central to all of our services. Historically, people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other serious mental illnesses have been denied a voice in decisions that affect their lives. But Lamp knows that personal choice is paramount to success in treatment and in all aspects of one’s life."
Steve Lopez, a man who has given up a lot of things like family time, personal time, effort and resource, and who has trying his absolute best to help out a complete stranger, was actually doing the worst thing possible for him. Lopez was denying Nathaniel his 'voice in decisions that affect his life'. I hope that in the ending of the novel, Lopez will give up some of his control and let Nathaniel's voice be heard instead of trying to speak for him.
-grammar
-correct punctuation
-staying in the same tense
-common mistakes/typos ex. (writing form instead of from, or adn instead of and)
This last question really stuck with me throughout this section of the novel. I recently watched the movie 'Changeling' and although the main character was placed in a mental institution for invalid reasons, most of the patients at the institution were there legitimately. The institution was horrifying. People were force fed medications that made them incapable of moving and thinking straight, they patients were beaten if they behaved difficultly (sometimes even electric shocked) and the doctors and nurses there were more focused on keeping the mentally ill people off the streets, then actually helping them to improve their condition.
So, I decided to do some research on Lamp to see what kind of place it actually was. On the homepage of their website I read something very comforting. Under the heading titled 'How We Do It', I read the following, "The approach we use, and helped to pioneer, is called Housing First or Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH). Conventional wisdom has long said that homeless people with disabilities had to “straighten up” before they could obtain housing. But people with severe disabilities cannot access treatment, let alone make dramatic changes in their lives, while struggling to survive on the streets. Lamp treats housing as a prerequisite for coping with the debilitating challenges of mental illness, addiction, physical disability, chronic disease, and the trauma associated with 5, 10, even 20 years of homelessness. Customer choice is central to all of our services. Historically, people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other serious mental illnesses have been denied a voice in decisions that affect their lives. But Lamp knows that personal choice is paramount to success in treatment and in all aspects of one’s life."
Steve Lopez, a man who has given up a lot of things like family time, personal time, effort and resource, and who has trying his absolute best to help out a complete stranger, was actually doing the worst thing possible for him. Lopez was denying Nathaniel his 'voice in decisions that affect his life'. I hope that in the ending of the novel, Lopez will give up some of his control and let Nathaniel's voice be heard instead of trying to speak for him.
-grammar
-correct punctuation
-staying in the same tense
-common mistakes/typos ex. (writing form instead of from, or adn instead of and)
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Soloist 2
"If he's got a cart," he tells me, sharing a bit of street wisdom that seems obvious now that he mentions it, "that's not the type that's ready to come in." (p. 64)
This quote brings many questions to mind.
-Why does the shopping cart mean that Nathaniel wouldn't want to stay at Lamp?
-Is the shopping cart a representation of ownership, responsibility, pride?
-If Nathaniel gets rid of the cart, will that be the first step he takes towards improvement?
-Why is this piece of advice, coming from a homeless man, seem so critical and obvious to Lopez after he had heard it?
-Is it a well known fact that a homeless person with a cart isn't ready to leave his street sleeping night?
Maybe this quote is the answer to my questions above......
"you can't organize your mind, but you can organize your shopping cart. So you do." (p. 67)
This quote means that Nathaniel's condition prevents him from having an organized mind, so he organizes what he can in life, and all that is available to him is this shopping cart full of his personal items. I don't see why he couldn't organize his items in a room at Lamp though. Nathaniel states that he wouldn't want to live in a shelter because he would feel too confined but Lamp isn't like a normal shelter that most of the homeless population try to avoid. Lamp will provide Nathaniel will his own housing and medications for his schizophrenia. He would be able to go in and out as if it were his own apartment.
In these chapters we are introduced to a very important character. Joseph Russo considered himself a very good friend of Nathaniel. He tells us how he made it to Julliard and all about his relationship with Nathaniel. He goes on to describe more specific memories he had with his Julliard classmate. Russo says that he first had the thought that something was seriously wrong with Nathaniel when, at a party, Nathaniel got furious when Russo referred to him as kid. Nathaniel thought Russo was being a racists, despite the fact that Russo invited him over for the holiday and was one of his closest pals. I think this is a really important part of the novel because it gives the reader some insight into the life of Nathaniel before he became homeless and schizophrenic.
"It's not clear to either of us what my role is in his life."
I think that it is very clear to me as a reader what Lopez's role in Nathaniel's life is. He is a friend, a guardian, and a reporter. He is a friend because he truly cares for this man and he is doing everything that he can in order to help Nathaniel out. He is a guardian because he looks out for him and makes sure that he is safe. He pushes the issue of housing and medication to assure Nathaniel will be out of harms way. However, Lopez is still a reporter and we as readers have to remember that he might not have this much interest in a homeless person, unless he could get a story out of it. The facts that this man could play beautiful music and had a peculiar personality are what drew Lopez in. He wouldn't have spent this much time on a person that he couldn't advance a story out of. Now that he has gotten involved, he feels it would be wrong to neglect him now.
This quote brings many questions to mind.
-Why does the shopping cart mean that Nathaniel wouldn't want to stay at Lamp?
-Is the shopping cart a representation of ownership, responsibility, pride?
-If Nathaniel gets rid of the cart, will that be the first step he takes towards improvement?
-Why is this piece of advice, coming from a homeless man, seem so critical and obvious to Lopez after he had heard it?
-Is it a well known fact that a homeless person with a cart isn't ready to leave his street sleeping night?
Maybe this quote is the answer to my questions above......
"you can't organize your mind, but you can organize your shopping cart. So you do." (p. 67)
This quote means that Nathaniel's condition prevents him from having an organized mind, so he organizes what he can in life, and all that is available to him is this shopping cart full of his personal items. I don't see why he couldn't organize his items in a room at Lamp though. Nathaniel states that he wouldn't want to live in a shelter because he would feel too confined but Lamp isn't like a normal shelter that most of the homeless population try to avoid. Lamp will provide Nathaniel will his own housing and medications for his schizophrenia. He would be able to go in and out as if it were his own apartment.
In these chapters we are introduced to a very important character. Joseph Russo considered himself a very good friend of Nathaniel. He tells us how he made it to Julliard and all about his relationship with Nathaniel. He goes on to describe more specific memories he had with his Julliard classmate. Russo says that he first had the thought that something was seriously wrong with Nathaniel when, at a party, Nathaniel got furious when Russo referred to him as kid. Nathaniel thought Russo was being a racists, despite the fact that Russo invited him over for the holiday and was one of his closest pals. I think this is a really important part of the novel because it gives the reader some insight into the life of Nathaniel before he became homeless and schizophrenic.
"It's not clear to either of us what my role is in his life."
I think that it is very clear to me as a reader what Lopez's role in Nathaniel's life is. He is a friend, a guardian, and a reporter. He is a friend because he truly cares for this man and he is doing everything that he can in order to help Nathaniel out. He is a guardian because he looks out for him and makes sure that he is safe. He pushes the issue of housing and medication to assure Nathaniel will be out of harms way. However, Lopez is still a reporter and we as readers have to remember that he might not have this much interest in a homeless person, unless he could get a story out of it. The facts that this man could play beautiful music and had a peculiar personality are what drew Lopez in. He wouldn't have spent this much time on a person that he couldn't advance a story out of. Now that he has gotten involved, he feels it would be wrong to neglect him now.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The Soloist
Steve Lopez tells the story of The Soloist in first person. It is from his point of view as a reporter that is desperately trying to find a story in a homeless musician he encounters on the street one day. The mans name in Nathaniel Ayers, he is African American and he is an alumni of Julliard, which is a very prestigious music school in New York. It perplexes Lopez how an African American kid could triumph through a time when racismn was very strong and most of his age mates were barely managing to survive. He tries to find out as much as he can about this homeless musician, connects with his sister, finds some of his old friends and aquaintances, and writes his article. In response to the article, many people send him insstruments to give to Nathaniel. Nervous that he will get mugged having all these expensive insturments attached to his shopping cart, Lopez convinces Nathaniel to go to a nearby angecy that works with mentally ill homeless people called Lamp Community. He is reluctant at first, but the desire to play the new instruments drives him there.
So far, this story is different than any other story that we've read in class and I think that it fits the genres of 'non-fictional/inspirational' or a 'real life human drama'. It deals with the issues of mental illness, racial over comings, homelessness, and unlikely frienships. There is a quote at the beginning of the book from the Bloomberg News. It reads "The Soloist is a beautiflluy written story that will forever change the way you feel when you walk down the street and pass a person who sleeps on the sidewalk." This quote fits perfectly because The Soloist tells the other side of the homeless persons story. Most aren't born to live on streets with shopping carts, roaming the streets day in and day out and it is very intriguing to hear about the lives of these people ebfore they became what we see on the streets.
Steve Lopez writes to the ignorant individuals for the misunderstood people of this world. He writes to inform people about issues that they aren't educated in and he wishes to tell of people all about those who are abandoned and have no one else to tell their stories for them. I think that when he tells these stories he goes into a lot of detail and he really descriebs things one-hundred percent. This is most likely becuase he is a reporter and he is used to telling stories like this.
I can't wait to read further and learn about the outcome in store for Nathaniel and Lopez.!!
So far, this story is different than any other story that we've read in class and I think that it fits the genres of 'non-fictional/inspirational' or a 'real life human drama'. It deals with the issues of mental illness, racial over comings, homelessness, and unlikely frienships. There is a quote at the beginning of the book from the Bloomberg News. It reads "The Soloist is a beautiflluy written story that will forever change the way you feel when you walk down the street and pass a person who sleeps on the sidewalk." This quote fits perfectly because The Soloist tells the other side of the homeless persons story. Most aren't born to live on streets with shopping carts, roaming the streets day in and day out and it is very intriguing to hear about the lives of these people ebfore they became what we see on the streets.
Steve Lopez writes to the ignorant individuals for the misunderstood people of this world. He writes to inform people about issues that they aren't educated in and he wishes to tell of people all about those who are abandoned and have no one else to tell their stories for them. I think that when he tells these stories he goes into a lot of detail and he really descriebs things one-hundred percent. This is most likely becuase he is a reporter and he is used to telling stories like this.
I can't wait to read further and learn about the outcome in store for Nathaniel and Lopez.!!
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Catcher and the Rye was written in first person by a teenage boy named Holden Caufield. The novel was very unique, not that it was written in first person, but how it was written in first person. The entire novel goes through a period of a few days after Holden gets kicked out of his school. During this time period the readers hear observations about people, and a random collection of stories from Holden's past and present. There is no basic summary of the book, because there is no plot or storyline. I do believe, however, that The Catcher and the Rye has a point to it and a lesson to be learned from reading the novel.
Holden is the middle sibling and his parents aren't even mentioned a great deal in the book. Holden does seem to care for his parents, because he waits to tell them about his expulsion from school because he knows his mother is a nervous person and won't take the news very well. Holden's mom became nervous when her youngest child, Allie, passed away. Holden talks about Allie a lot and wonders what would've been different if he had spent some more time with her. He also mentions his big brother D.B a lot. He seems to think D.B was a failure, yet he isn't shaping his life from his brother's mistakes, seeing that this is the fourth school Holden has gotten kicked out of.
I don't think that Holdens' character is unintelligent or a failure. I believe that he was misguided as a child and that he needs to hit rock bottom before he can start up a new and improved life. This is the lesson of the novel. 'When you get knocked off course, keep falling off until you can't fall any farther. This way, everything bad has already happened and all of your mistakes have been made, so when you start back on the course, there is nothing left that could go wrong.'
**I think that grading should be an even balance between my actual ideas and how they are conveyed (content, development and style) and the grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary that is used in the paper (conventions). I don't think that what you have to say is important without the use of proper conventions and vice versa (a paper with blande ideas that had no effort put into it shouldn't be considered a good paper because it was written with appropriate commas and subject verb agreement.)
Holden is the middle sibling and his parents aren't even mentioned a great deal in the book. Holden does seem to care for his parents, because he waits to tell them about his expulsion from school because he knows his mother is a nervous person and won't take the news very well. Holden's mom became nervous when her youngest child, Allie, passed away. Holden talks about Allie a lot and wonders what would've been different if he had spent some more time with her. He also mentions his big brother D.B a lot. He seems to think D.B was a failure, yet he isn't shaping his life from his brother's mistakes, seeing that this is the fourth school Holden has gotten kicked out of.
I don't think that Holdens' character is unintelligent or a failure. I believe that he was misguided as a child and that he needs to hit rock bottom before he can start up a new and improved life. This is the lesson of the novel. 'When you get knocked off course, keep falling off until you can't fall any farther. This way, everything bad has already happened and all of your mistakes have been made, so when you start back on the course, there is nothing left that could go wrong.'
**I think that grading should be an even balance between my actual ideas and how they are conveyed (content, development and style) and the grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary that is used in the paper (conventions). I don't think that what you have to say is important without the use of proper conventions and vice versa (a paper with blande ideas that had no effort put into it shouldn't be considered a good paper because it was written with appropriate commas and subject verb agreement.)
Friday, April 3, 2009
The Death of a Salesman
Miller's play, The Death of a Salesman, opens up a different world during the 1920's. Back then, success meant that you had a steady job, with an impressing salary, and were very well liked. Being a salesman was a very respectable job that most people were anxious to have. The main character Willy Loman is a salesman, and so is his brother Charlie. Uncle Charlie says that someone is only as good as what they can sell. I disagree with this opinion because Willy Loman is a great salesman, yet in his old age, he has yet to make a substantial amount of money, he doesn't own his own home, and he eventually gets fired from a job that he has committed his entire life too. Willy is a very unhappy person and he even falls into episodes of dimensia because of the stress that has been put on him from his job.
Willy had aspirations when he was younger. He had hoped to move to Alaska and maybe strike gold, but he didn't follow his dreams. That is where he went wrong. He wanted to be respected by everyone so he made a career choice that could get him that respect. However, there was a problem. Willy Loman didn't have the self-respect he needed to obtain respect from others. He always second guessed himself and was very critical of himself. Willy always thought that the buyers were making fun of him and he was very paranoid. No one in his business respected him because he didn't know how to respect himself, but his family saw past that and they all admired him; for the most part.
Willy saw himself as a failure, so he pushed his sons to succeed. I think that he pushed his sons too far because they were both forced into a job that they wouldn't be interested in or happy with. His eldest son, Happy, would do anything for his father, because he respected him fully. Biff, on the other hand, caught his father cheating on his mother in Boston, and lost all respect for him from that day on.
Willy died the death of a salesman. The stress of his job (or the stress of loosing his job) caused him to have these crazy dellusions. During one of his episodes he got into a car accident and was killed. No one showed up at his funeral except for his wife, Biff, Happy, Uncle Charlie, and his son Bernard. I think that the moral of this story is "no matter what your job is, or how much money you make, if you enjoy what you are doing, then happiness is yours."
Willy had aspirations when he was younger. He had hoped to move to Alaska and maybe strike gold, but he didn't follow his dreams. That is where he went wrong. He wanted to be respected by everyone so he made a career choice that could get him that respect. However, there was a problem. Willy Loman didn't have the self-respect he needed to obtain respect from others. He always second guessed himself and was very critical of himself. Willy always thought that the buyers were making fun of him and he was very paranoid. No one in his business respected him because he didn't know how to respect himself, but his family saw past that and they all admired him; for the most part.
Willy saw himself as a failure, so he pushed his sons to succeed. I think that he pushed his sons too far because they were both forced into a job that they wouldn't be interested in or happy with. His eldest son, Happy, would do anything for his father, because he respected him fully. Biff, on the other hand, caught his father cheating on his mother in Boston, and lost all respect for him from that day on.
Willy died the death of a salesman. The stress of his job (or the stress of loosing his job) caused him to have these crazy dellusions. During one of his episodes he got into a car accident and was killed. No one showed up at his funeral except for his wife, Biff, Happy, Uncle Charlie, and his son Bernard. I think that the moral of this story is "no matter what your job is, or how much money you make, if you enjoy what you are doing, then happiness is yours."
Sunday, March 29, 2009
"My Opinions on Blogging" Blog
Blogging has been extremely beneficial to me as a student, thinker, reader, and a writer. As a student, the standard shell of how homework is done was completely broken by the opportunity to blog. Assignments don’t seem as strict and the pressure has decreased because of that. As a thinker, blogging has been extremely beneficial; especially last weekend’s blog. When we are given the chance to free write I think that is when most of my brain cells are spinning and my inner most thoughts are portrayed. Blogging has also improved my reading and writing skills. Our blogs are always on topics that include some sort of preliminary reading, so in order to successfully blog, I always make sure that I have read and understood the text clearly. As a writer, I think that blogging has made those writing skills stronger because each week I am challenged to write a new paper, on a completely different topic. By doing this I am learning how to write about different things in different ways.
This approach to submitting writing for class has given me confidence and responsibility. I gain the confidence when my peers comment about how they agree and like my ideas and when they give kind remarks. Also, I feel confident when [YOU] Mr. Fiorini gives me positive feedback on my writings. I also take responsibility from this new experience because not only do I have to make sure to sign on BlogSpot, write a powerful paper, and then finally submit my blog, I also have to read and comment on a classmate’s blog.
I feel that this work has only been helpful and that we should continue to do this kind of work. Hopefully in the future we can have some more free writing opportunities. Maybe we could also have blog assignments that we as students have come up with. This way we all get a chance to blog about a topic, issue, or thought that we personally want to discuss. I think that we should be graded the same way we would get graded on regular essays that we would be submitted on paper. Since we get them every weekend and not during the course of the week, in fairness, they should be graded higher than an average homework assignment would. I don’t think that this work has changed the community within 11-1 and 11-2. To change this I think that every once in awhile we should be assigned to a person that we normally wouldn’t comment on or read their blogs. This way we can get insight into a person’s writings that we normally wouldn’t’ experience on our own.
This approach to submitting writing for class has given me confidence and responsibility. I gain the confidence when my peers comment about how they agree and like my ideas and when they give kind remarks. Also, I feel confident when [YOU] Mr. Fiorini gives me positive feedback on my writings. I also take responsibility from this new experience because not only do I have to make sure to sign on BlogSpot, write a powerful paper, and then finally submit my blog, I also have to read and comment on a classmate’s blog.
I feel that this work has only been helpful and that we should continue to do this kind of work. Hopefully in the future we can have some more free writing opportunities. Maybe we could also have blog assignments that we as students have come up with. This way we all get a chance to blog about a topic, issue, or thought that we personally want to discuss. I think that we should be graded the same way we would get graded on regular essays that we would be submitted on paper. Since we get them every weekend and not during the course of the week, in fairness, they should be graded higher than an average homework assignment would. I don’t think that this work has changed the community within 11-1 and 11-2. To change this I think that every once in awhile we should be assigned to a person that we normally wouldn’t comment on or read their blogs. This way we can get insight into a person’s writings that we normally wouldn’t’ experience on our own.
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