Assignment 3

Throughout Sedaris' Essay "Standing By," I felt a little bit upset and angered about the fact that the passengers flights kept changing. The idea that kept going through my mind is , "Do the flight attendants actually know when we are going to leave?", "Are they going to fix the problem?", and "How much longer will we have to endure this wait?" I slowly grew more impatient as the time passed by and as we continued to wait because I know what it is like to be continuously told that my flight will be departing at a later time and how it ruins the plans that I have for my trip. Sedaris did feel as though the flight attendants were just throwing out times to make him and others calm down and feel better about the fact that their flight would be leaving soon but it grew to a certain extent where he caught on to them and told them. "They told us we would leave at three instead of two-thirty and now they changed the time to four (275)." Sedaris, just as well as the fellow passengers, understood  the hassles of air travel and grew more fed up and impatient with the idea that nobody was ever going to be willing to help resolve this issue. I think that Sedaris felt as though the ticket agents and flight employees could care less about the needs and well-being of the passengers and cared more about their paychecks at the end of the day. I think this way because throughout the essay it was as if the employees at customer service, the ticket agents, and even the flight attendants would just excuse the passengers when attitudes started to arise as the passenger's impatience grew more and more as they waited.

As Sedaris would be waiting for his flights, there were people who had caught his attention. He may not have been looking for it purposefully but that is what happens when you are just sitting around as you wait and boredom begins to creep over. As his mind wandered what caught his attention was an older couple with a couple of teenagers more specifically the teenage father with a shirt reading "Freaky Mothafucka (Sedaris 276)." Was he trying to make a statement? Does he want people to think that he could care less about his son and more about partying, sex, and etc? That is something that most mature fathers in public especially with their parents just would not where out of respect. Sedaris describes the young boy's appearance as immature, disrespectful, and not ready to be a father. "This boy wore pants sagging below his wait, a revealing shirt, and he wore cornrows with blue beading like Stevie Wonder (276)." "The only ones having babies are the ones who shouldn't be having babies (276)." Sedaris raises the idea that if one wants to be respected and should be portrayed in the right light, it is important that the individual appears as such. It is mind bending how individuals, especially young people, are more ready to engage in such activities to make a baby but they are not ready to handle the responsibility to take care of the baby.

Sedaris at some point asks the question, "Who did you vote for in the last election? (276)" I thought this was kind of strange and random to ask this sort of question of a total stranger. The feeling that may come out of this might be "Why is this person questioning my political beliefs?" and "Would it matter to him what my beliefs are because I will not change that because of what he is telling me." Some people do get offended that someone is questioning them on such an issue that can become controversial as Hitler had been. Adolf Hitler was a very bad leader throughout history who wanted to destroy and get rid of the Jewish race in the hopes that one day he would develop a society of the pure Aryan race. He had extreme hate of the Jews and would do anything to get rid of them. "Isn't it amazing how quickly one man can completely screw up a country? (Sedaris 277)" Talking to the man with the mustache next to him helped him realize how today's government is destroying the economy and this is with Barack Obama as the leader of the country. Jobs were essentially lost with the closing of G.M. and many others companies. "They were doing fine, but now the federal government's telling them they have to close. Like this is Russia or something, a Communist country! (Sedaris 276)" Hitler had extreme hate for the Jews getting rid of them and in a similar way jobs are being cut hurting the middle-class and under. This brings backs such depressing, hurtful, and discriminatory feelings similar to those felt by the victims of Hitler's rage.

Sedaris, David. "Standing By." First Year Composition Reader. Boston: Pearsin, 2011. 275-277. Print

Questions

When Sedaris mentions the name Adolf Hitler, did it seem to bring about a more serious tone towards the end of the text?

While Sedaris is waiting in the airport, his mind begins to wander and , in his case, he starts to become very judgemental of others. Do you ever find yourself judging others consciously or without even knowing?

Sedars' "Standing By"

In Sedaris' essay "Standing By," he is describing his own personal experience with flying and the fears and difficulties that he had endured as well. One of the most frustrating things about air travel is timeliness of flights and altogether the growing impatience of passengers and even airline employee's dealing with these problems. "They told us we'd leave at three instead of  two-thirty so I went to go get a frosted pecan wrap, and when I came back they changed it to four (Sedaris 275)." As I am sure, this can be one of the most aggravating problems involved with air travel especially for  a business man who travels a lot like Sedaris. Meanwhile during these waits for on-schedule flights, one's  mind does tend to wander and begin to experience new and sometimes surprising people and may sometimes catch the attention of those unwanted which can sometimes be the most excruciating thing to endure. Sedaris begins to shift his attention to some of the most unpredictable appearances of others around him. Almost every time, there is always something astonishing about the people that you may see and the statements that they make just by their appearance , behavior, and how they conduct themselves. Soon after arriving to the connecting flight, Sedaris and any other passengers are directed to customer-service which was a big pain for everyone. At this point, the thoughts running through many individuals minds are " How are we going to get to...," or "The airline workers are never going to fix this problem," or maybe even "These people can care less about our plans." This can truly be a hassle for the passengers and the workers. Both groups of people are growing more impatient as the attitudes begin to show which contributes to no solution at all. At this point, the frustration and having heard many people complain Sedaris would rather be gone. Sedaris' mind begins to wonder about the grandmother and her children versus some young teen parents and their grandparents and is unwanted engaged in conversation with a fellow passenger. Throughout this conversation Sedaris and this man with a thick and curly mustache bonded over some things in common such as their anger for the attendant and how rude they were being. As a person coming into an environment, such as an airport, one may experience some weird and even crazier acquaintances that may even heighten the fear or even disgust of air travel. There may even be other people whom you may not want approach or engage in conversation with because of the statement they are making with how they are dressed or how their personalities portray them as. It can be a good thing to keep an open mind when traveling or in any public place of travel and conduct yourself in a manner that is safe and respectful to everyone around.

Assignment 2- Jessie Frohwirth

   As a college level English course, I do not expect that this class will be easy in any way, shape, or form. This is actually my second time taking this course. Knowing that, I know what to expect this time around. I do expect to be challenged and encouraged to step out of my comfort zone. More specifically, "speaking freely without being fearful of what others think(p 9)." I may not seem like a shy person but I really am especially when it comes to sharing my work with others. I do become conscious about what others think of me let alone my writing. I don't want others to think down or less about me because I don't seem like I know what I am doing. Being in English 101, I know and understand that I will be challenged to participate in group discussions to give further insight of our opinions about what we are reading or writing about, to explore ideas, or other things that we possibly would not have thought of had we had done the work on our own. I understand more that as a writer and also a college student it is highly important to our growth in this course and future courses that we are challenge ourselves to be more open to sharing our work, receiving constructive criticism, and internalizing it so that we can use that to become a stronger writer.

   Another expectation that I have of English 101 is to challenge us to deconstruct the text, determine what is going on, who the text is written for, and most importantly the purpose for which it is written.Essentially we are "exploring other writers and our own composing decisions as we read and write about different compositions throughout this course (6)." This is something that I may have trouble with because I do get bored with reading passages which makes me not want to read it any more. I understand that this mindset is never the best one to go into class with either because it will hinder me from being successful in this course and allow me to think that doing the minimum is okay. For me, I have never settled for just going the minimum. I was always an overachiever growing up and I did learn to come into class with a positive mindset and a willingness to learn and come out with something new will help get on that path of being successful in this course. This is something that I have and will always remember to do throughout this course and college career.

   I understand that this course will be difficult and challenge us to "critically analyze and examine the passages of the multiple texts that we will be reading (p6)." This is something that I have definitely struggled with and hope to improve upon throughout this course. Sometimes when I am reading a difficult text I find it difficult to really analyze and break down the text in simple terms that one can understand. With having such a small class and being able to share our thoughts and ideas with other students, I believe that I will improve on my analytical and interpretive skills to understand the meaning and purpose of a text. I also understand that every time going into any class, we all are afraid to ask questions or give responses to the professor. I believe that with having small group discussions this will help me to ask more questions to the professor and others to help clarify things that I may not understand.

   This course will teach us to "engage in the thoughtful work of reading and writing (p2)." I do not often think of the different texts or the reasons for which any form of writing is used. I am not really conscious of the reasons behind it. I know that I often engage in reading many forms of writing or media but often do not think of the true meaning for which it is written or performed. I believe that by the end of this course I will be able to dissect almost any form of media, social networking, and texts for which things are being written and enable myself to become a better analyzer and interpreter of text to become a stronger writer.



Questions                                                                                

Will our responses and readings be aloud during group discussions?

Are the students essentially facilitating the group discussions as we discuss each form of text or reading being read?

Would peer editing the work of other colleagues outside of class be encouraged or recommended? Does this have to be done by only our English 101 class or can others do this?

Introduction

About Me

My name is Jessie Frohwirh and I am born and raised here in Milwaukee, WI. I have 3 sisters and one older brother. I used to have a pet cat before I moved onto campus but we had to give him to a local shelter because my family had moved. My favorite thing in Milwaukee are the different ethnic festivals because I get to experience and learn something new everytime. In my free time, I like to go to places around the city that I've never been to because it's kind of like a wow sort of thing like I never knew this place existed and it's really awesome. 

The field of study that I chose to go into Nursing. Growing up, especially during high school, I have found a love for volunteering and just serving others whether they are little kids, adults, and even the elderly. I think that enjoying the volunteer work that I have done and working with kids has led me towards this profession. I feel like Nursing is the profession where I can truly give back to those in need. 

My biggest fear about college-level writing is that I tend to overthink things and double question my work which often results in failure. I really want to do well in college-level writing but I feel like this may get in the way. The type of learning that I work best in is a clean and respectful environment. Also one in which the professor actually knows what they are doing.

One weird fact about me is that I can pop my hip out of place.