My audience in my piece

Who do you want to reach?

In my piece, I am reaching to those who are local residents of the park. Maybe new mothers who want to take their children out to play at a park. I am reaching out to all the people who are interested in the fire that happened a year ago.

What is your audience’s background- their education and life experiences?

Their background is they have been to school and most likely adults so that way they are able to read my piece. They could have experiences of growing up around the park or going there and want to know what the history of it is. Also, those who may have heard about the fire that happened in the park.

What are their interests?

They like the outdoors and getting exercise and enjoy the feeling of being outside. They care about their community and local parks and want to keep them around to enjoy.

Is there any demographic information that you should keep in mind?

Since my piece is about a local park, it is welcome to everyone. I’m basically writing my paper for any race, gender or sexual orientation.

What political circumstances may affect their reading?

Some political circumstances that may affect their reading is if they don’t think the park needs to clean the barn or get rid of it, that it has meaning, they may think it’s fine the way it is. They don’t want to have to worry about the extra money that will be needed to contribute to fixing up the park to help it out.

What does your audience already know- or believe- about your topic? What do you need to tell them? What is the best way to do so?

My audience already knows that it could be expensive to clean up the messes around the park and the barn. I would have to tell them there would be many volunteers to help with the cleaning. We would need as many people possible to be involved to help make the park safe and clean. The best way to tell my audience they should help in cleaning up is to let them know how it affects the way the park looks and those who attend the park and don’t like the bad memories of what happened to it.

What’s your relationship with your audience, and how does it affect your language and tone?

My relationship with my audience is they are my peers as well as my teacher. My language and tone in my piece will be more professional and be in a certain format instead of just thrown together. I would also have to check for grammar and punctuation in my piece, not like when I am talking online to my friends that stuff doesn’t matter.

What does your audience need and expect from you?

My audience expects me to know a lot about my place and its history. They’ll need me to be able to back up my case when I’m arguing for something to change about it, especially when there will most likely be money involved.

What kind of response do you want?

I would want a positive response and for my audience to agree with me in what I want to do. What I feel is best for our community in our local park. This could also help other people get involved and want positive changes throughout our local parks.

How can you best appeal to your audience?

I can best appeal to my audience by having my piece in a well written format, maybe with larger font if elder’s would want to read my piece. Also, to have it revised over several times to make sure it’s a good piece and that my audience will be able to understand it.

Audience and Genre

Audience's and Genre's are connected by what you as a writer is writing about. You may want to write your paper as a certain genre like a speech so you need to think about who your audience may be when writing out this speech.Your audience may have a specific genre they enjoy reading the most and they will look into that to see. "What you write, how much you write, even your choice of genre- all are influenced by the audience you envision", what you are writing about effects who your audience is. When you are writing your paper, you want to think about your audience and ask yourself several questions as to what they may think, such as, what would they think and who do you want to reach? It's important to answer these questions so your piece doesn't seem like it's all about you and that you have their input in it as well. You do the same thing when you are thinking about the genre. Does the genre require formal or informal language? Does the genre affect the tone? All the questions are what me, as a writer, need to think about for the audience and genre.

Proposal

Who Cares: This interpretation challenges the work of those critics who have long assumed that small local parks have no meaning to it.
Who Should Care: At first glance, people might say it's just a park. But on closer inspection it's not just a park, there's a lot of background to it
So What: Tom Sawyer matters because it is a local park that everyone enjoys going to and has sentimental meaning.

My readers would read my paper and think about my wrongs and rights in my piece. People should care about my place because it's part of where I live and there are many other people who live in Louisville and know about the park. It's a part of us and they should be able to know more about it. I have learned that there are many people who enjoy going there to get some exercise or to participate in the activities. Also, the land was once owned by a mental hospital and was named after Erbon Powers Sawyer who passed away in a car accident on September 23, 1969. Many people wouldn't know that because they don't take the time to actually explore the park and see what could be out there. I believe it affects anyone who goes to the park and works there. Anyone who cares about it and would like to keep it around. It affects them because they are apart of the park, they should know about it's history and where it came from. They should know when it started and what it was before it was a park for them to enjoy. I think it would help my determine my audience by figuring out who it would affect the most. My audience would be anyone who enjoys parks, especially parks in Louisville and Kentucky. Also, the people who spend a lot of time at the park, they can read my piece and maybe learn something a little more about it that they didn't know before. That way, they can look at the park in a different aspect and maybe appreciate it more. 

After reading "So What, Who Cares", Church's Piece

After reading the short preview of Church's piece, I would have to say that she does state why her audience should care about her topic. She states that "humans are the number-one cause of biodiversity loss in the world." By pointing out that humans are the main reason, it makes her reader concerned about the issue because we are all human. She also mentions the medicines we use and that the medicine that's disappearing due to the loss of biodiversity is TAXOL and it is a treatment of breast cancer. People will be more concerned if the most promising drug for breast cancer is slipping away due to her topic. She lets her readers know what is happening to the world due to biodiversity loss and that causes people to pay attention. Even though I wouldn't be interested in reading this because it basically has to deal with science and I am not big on science, it would catch my attention if someone were to read it to me or to talk about it. It would catch my attention because Church mentions the problems its causing because of us.

"So What, Who Cares"

After looking over my paper and thinking of ways it could be argumentative, I could basically write about what the positives are about the park, as well as the negatives. My readers would read my paper and think about my wrongs and rights in my piece. People should care about my place because it's part of where I live and there are many other people who live in Louisville and know about the park. It's a part of us and they should be able to know more about it. I have learned that there are many people who enjoy going there to get some exercise or to participate in the activities. Also, the land was once owned by a mental hospital and was named after Erbon Powers Sawyer who passed away in a car accident on September 23, 1969. I believe it affects anyone who goes to the park and works there. Anyone who cares about it and would like to keep it around. It affects them because they are apart of the park, they should know about it's history and where it came from. They should know when it started and what it was before it was a park for them to enjoy. I think it would help my determine my audience by figuring out who it would affect the most. My audience would be anyone who enjoys parks, especially parks in Louisville and Kentucky. Also, the people who spend a lot of time at the park, they can read my piece and maybe learn something a little more about it that they didn't know before. That way, they can look at the park in a different aspect and maybe appreciate it more. 

Exercise #2

My point here- that Tom Sawyer Park- should interest those who care about our local parks. Beyond this limited audience, however, my point should speak to anyone who cares the larger issue of knowing the history of it and wanting to keep it alive.

Napoleon Dynamite

The angle of Holson's questioning in "Rural Idaho Town" was to find out about what people thought about the movie Napoleon Dynamite because it took place in their town. She wanted to know if they thought it was exciting or interesting for a movie to take place where they live. She was looking for answers of peoples expressions and thoughts about the movie and what it represented. She conducted her research in person because she attended a festival where there were people who were dressed up as the characters from the movie. Also, there was a tater-tot eating contest since Napoleon, in the movie, enjoyed eating them. She explained what the people looked like and what their names were as she was talking about them in her piece. She talked to the people of the town who were at the festival and who were dressed up as the characters. They were relevant to the place because they were a part of the town and they were playing particular characters of the movie. They must have known a little more about the movie since they lived there. Some people took it as offensive because they made it seem like their town was sort of hick-ish and was bland and boring.
The best option of "Decisions You'll Need to Make about  Your Project" that fits into this piece is option B, present the experiences and/or perspective of the individual. This fits best because she would interview several people around the town and see what their input was on the movie. She presented what they thought and felt about this movie that took place in their little town. They would tell whether they were happy or upset about what this movie portrays their town. 

Oral History in Spiegelman's Maus

He goes to visit his father and he wants to know about 1939 when he was drafted. It is an example of oral history because he is sitting with his father, questions ready in a notebook, and he asks him questions that happened during a certain event at a certain time in the past. He actually sat and had a conversation with his dad instead of just sitting there and reading his questions. His father even got off topic for a little while, "the next year father wanted I would again to the same thing, but I begged him and I went in 1922 to the army", his son, "but lets get back to 1939!" It'd good to keep a conversation in instead of just saying "uh-huh" while they are talking. In the Oral History, it says to let them know you are interested by nodding your head and maybe asking a little more after they are done answering their question. You want to get every detail you can about your topic, even repeat some important questions to get the best possible answer.

5 Interview Questions

After reading "How do I ask the questions?" under Oral History Guidelines, I began to think of possible questions I would want to ask my interviewee. I thought about questions I would need answered in order to know more about Tom Sawyer Park and it's history.

What do you want to find out?
What is the primary goal of this oral history?

1. Why was the park chosen to be in this spot? Where there any other spots available to put the park in that was affordable?
2. Why was the park named after Erbon Powers Sawyer? Did he help plan the park? Was it his idea?
3. How long did it actually take to build the complete park?
4. Do you think anything will be added to the park and if so, what? and when?
5. Does the hospital still have a part of the land? If not, what happened to it and if so, does it contribute to the park at all with money, ideas, or events? How or why not?
6. How did you feel when the fire happened last year? Did it effect the park at all? How? Did people still come to the park often after it happened?

Negatives

As I was walking around my place to find flaws, I noticed in the beginning of the walkway there was an open hole. It wasn't very big or deep but someone could really hurt themselves if they were running and didn't notice it. They did have an orange and white stripped cone there so people would take notice. If it doesn't get fixed soon, then more holes could develop or more people could get injured. Also, I found random trash around on the ground. Many people don't think littering is a bad thing but it is bad for the environment and it makes the park look dirty. They need to make sure that no one should be throwing their trash on the ground and also to clean it up if someone does. We don't want the park to be a trash dump. I was looking up people to contact for research and I found Gordon Dean who is the chairman of Tom Sawyer Park foundation. Also, the main number of the park to maybe talk to someone who works there.

Unit 2 Annotations

"History of E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park." Kentucky State Parks, n.d. Web. 19 Jun 2011.

Tom Sawyer Park is just one of the unique parks that are found in Kentucky. It is located in the northeastern part of Jefferson County and is about 550 acres big. There are many activities to do there such as running, playing ball, swimming, and much more. It was named after former Jefferson County executive judge Erbon Powers Sawyer (1915-1969). The park was purchased in June 1969 by the Commonwealth of Kentucky from the Kentucky Department of Mental Health and the park was first opened in 1974. The Kentucky Department of Mental Health still had a part of the park, "a portion of the property had once been used for farmland for the mental health hospital." They used it as farmland and even today some of the remains are still there, such as, cemeteries and barns. There was once a barn there that was usable, but then a fire happened last year and the barn plus other parts of the park got burned down. The barn, however, didn't and it's still there. The park has a great history behind it as to where it all began. Not many people think about the history of places when they visit it. It's important to learn about the places that you grew up around. Many people think of Tom Sawyer Park as just a park and don't actually think about how it started. I never really thought much of the history when it comes to certain places because it doesn't seem that interesting to me. Tom Sawyer is important to certain people who helped keep the park open and it should be important to many others who enjoy spending their time there.

"Foundation History." Tom Sawyer State Park foundation, n.d. Web. 19 Jun 2011.

Tom Sawyer State Park foundation began on May 19, 1982 as a way to raise money to keep the park open. There was a series of revenue shorts which caused there to be a significant amount of reductions within the state budgets. Tom Sawyer, specifically, was affected the most. They thought it would be best to not keep it open all year long and "the initial decision from the state was to close E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park between Labor Day and Memorial Day and remove all staff members from its premises with the exception of the park manager and a maintenance person." There were some people who were not okay and two women went and spoke to the state officials to see why there wasn't any way the park could stay open. They suggested seasonal openings; however, the state officials didn't find that to be a great idea. The two women began a rally to keep the park open and about 400 people showed up. The state officials then agreed to open the park and cut the number of employees. The park may seem more important to certain people because they help kept it open all year long instead of just certain days. The foundation that was formed helped keep the park open so people could come and use it. It's a smart idea to do a foundation to help raise money for a place that has meaning and is important and could be a great part of our state for something to do. The foundation worked and they were able to raise enough money that they needed to keep the park open because everyone else wanted to keep the park open as well.

Unit 2

       The day is beautiful with flowers blossoming and not a cloud in the sky; I decide to spend my evening in the amusing park of Tom Sawyer. I slowly pull into the parking lot in my cerulean Nissan Murano and immediately think of how I never realized how vast the park is. There are many people running around, enjoying their day and it made me start to think about when did Tom Sawyer begin? Who decided to put in an adventurous park for everyone to come to and be a part of all the neat activities? Tom Sawyer Park is just one of the 52 Kentucky State Parks there are and it is about 570 acres. The park was purchased in June 1969 by the Commonwealth of Kentucky and was first opened in 1974. “By May of 1975, the park recreation building and pool were officially opened with the assistance of matching funds from a Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant”, which of course people were very thrilled to use the pool during the hot, humid summers.

         The land was still, however, part of the Kentucky Department of Mental Health. Come to find out, “a portion of the property had once been used for farmland for the mental health hospital.” Now, you don’t see much of it being a farmland. Many remnants, like the barns and cemeteries, are still at the park to this day. It was also named after a former Jefferson County judge executive named Erbon Powers Sawyer (1915-1969) who was born in Metcalfe County, Kentucky. He served in World War II as a Naval Officer and graduated from University of Louisville Law School. Sadly, he passed away due to a tragic car accident on September 23, 1969.

         The park today stays busy as people enjoy their time outside and contribute into the many activities they have, such as, archery facilities, educational programming, babysitter training classes, and also the Tom Sawyer State Park foundation. There are many people who don't know what the foundation is or what it's about. "The Tom Sawyer State Park Foundation is a volunteer organization that contributes ideas and funds to benefit projects and activities at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Sate Park." This foundation helps to assist the staff at the park and provides many programs and events. The foundation began in July of 1981 when the State of Kentucky had announced some revenues of short falls that caused a significant amount of reductions in state budgets. It caused many people to lose their jobs and as well as service reductions with the agencies and departments within the state government.

         The state park system was one of the departments that was most affected, especially Tom Sawyer Park. They were planning on closing the park between Labor Day and Memorial Day to remove all the staff members. Citizens who were part of the services weren't too thrilled over this idea. Instead, two women visited the state officials and attempted to talk to them about having just seasonal closings. They weren't very pleased with this idea, so they began a "save the park" rally on August 20, 1981. About 400 people showed up and all kinds of TV crews showed up as well to interview people. They became the park advisory group and tried to talk with the state officials to see if there was anything they could do to keep the park open. The state officials agreed to keep the park open all year long but reduce the amount of staff. The advisory board would have meetings throughout 1981 and 1982 and thought of the idea to start a non-profit foundation to help raise funds for capital purchases and support the parks operations. The corporation was officially open in the State of Kentucky on May 9, 1982.

         Knowing about the history of the park makes me more intrigued by its beauty and to not take advantage of what we have. People worked hard to keep this park open and I can appreciate its presence more. As I continue to walk up towards park, I think back to when my parents would bring my brother and me here when we were younger. We would run around the wide open field, using our imagination and believing we were wild animals chasing after each other. In the fall, we would bring my brother’s rocket here and watch it shoot up past the golden and crimson colored leaves of the trees as we lost where it went up in the sky.  There would be times where we would end up finding it in the pool and since it was fall, there was no water in the pool so it was easier to fish it out.

         I remember times my mom would drag us there to watch her play tennis or when she would meet up with her friends. We didn't mind that much since we were at the park and we always would find something fun filled to do. There were other times we came to the park to walk our dog, Lassie, who was a full grown Collie with lengthy orange and white fur. Most of the time we brought her during the fall since summer time would be too humid for her. Other times, we would fly our kites, no matter what; we were having a decorous time. All my time I have spent here in this park has always seemed adventurous to me. The immense park helps you be able to find something new basically every time you go.

         I decided to start exploring the park by sitting underneath a tree and see and feel what it brings to me. I laid back and closed my eyes as a slight breeze crept its way through the tree branches and the hot air. It felt nice since the temperature hit about 95 degrees that day but it didn't bother many people since they were out spending their evening in it. Maybe because the weather here in Kentucky can be a bit odd at times and they take what they can get. As I keep my eyes closed, I listen to the rustle of the leaves on the tree branches as they sway to the movement of the wind. I hear people yelling and kids screaming of excitement that summer is pretty much here. Dogs are doing their normal routine of barking at the excitement of going to catch the ball. Soft and quiet music hits my ear when I realize it could be someone’s iPod as they walked by.           I begin to open my eyes and stare out into the distance of all the people enjoying their weekend here with the ones they love. Many people are running around in the open field where I once would fly my kites around when I was seven. Now there are numerous kids flying their kites and playing on the little jungle gym the park has. Mother's sit alongside on the benches watching their kids, making sure they don't fall and scrap a knee, and as well as to be nice to the other kids on the jungle gym. They yell at them to remind them it's not like the one they have back at home, this one they need to share. I stopped to watch a group of guys play some soccer. I have never been interested in the sport myself, I'm more of a football and basketball kind of girl but for some reason I wanted to see how the game ended. It didn’t keep me entertained long so I continued to walk the gravel pathway while the trees alongside built a tunnel of leaves on the branches for shade. I continued to walk the gravel pathway while the trees alongside built a tunnel of leaves on the branches for shade. People were running back and forth, breathing hard and checking their pulse for their heart rate.

         As I kept on walking, I came to a road where the walkway starts to make a curve and spotted an old shed looking barn on the other side. I decided to snoop and see what could be in there. I walked inside and found beat up computers and old desks scattered everywhere. The place was a mess; there were many papers spread all over the floor. I was curious as to what was on them. I picked up several papers and found people’s names on it that dated back to 1995. It showed that they were signing up for some training, I believe, to be firemen. I was pretty amazed and stunned to find these papers that dated back sixteen years ago and haven't been moved or thrown away. I felt like they had meaning and could be valuable to someone. I carefully lay the papers back in their proper places and I shuffled my way out of the shed and ran across some younger kids exploring the shed as well to see what they could find. I made my way back to the walkway through the tall grass that tickled my legs and made me scratch them constantly.

         As the walkway was coming to an end, I passed the aquatic center and heard kids laughing and screaming while they were splashing and playing Marco polo in the pool. The splashing water seemed so relaxing and made me want to jump in on this hot day. I could see the lifeguard doing is job on duty, watching the kids swimming, making sure everyone was swimming safely, and blowing his whistle whenever it was necessary. I started to make my way towards my car as I was thinking there was an abundant amount of obstacles to take while walking around the park that you could find so much more. It was, yet again, an adventurous day at the park.

"History of E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park." Kentucky State Parks, n.d. Web. 19 Jun 2011. 

"Foundation History." Tom Sawyer State Park foundation, n.d. Web. 19 Jun 2011. 

Integrate Unit 1 and Unit 2

I think they way I am planning to combine my information with my narrative is how Barry Lopez did with the Stone Horse. I want to start it with the history and background information of Tom Sawyer Park to make my reader know what's it's history before I begin to explain my history with it and what it is like today. If feel like if the reader knows the history first, then they'll be able to relate to what I am experiencing when reading my narrative part. What might change is I may have to cut some parts of my narrative so that way the history of the park blends in perfectly with what I am seeing now when I go visit Tom Sawyer. I will definitely have to add more research than what I have now. 

"Black Men in Public Spaces" They Say

Staples was talking in his paper about a writer named Norman Podhoretz and he explained that black men have a history of mugging in New York city. It is why people judge them too quickly when they see them walking around at night. He explains that they were more tougher than they were ruthless. Staples gives examples of what has happened to himself to show that what Podhoretz is saying is true. He explains about the women in the beginning of the narrative who thought he was a mugger or a rapist. Also, when he was a journalist and came into the building with the finished product and the people at the front desk called security because they thought he was bad. I don't think I would make any changes to Staples piece referring to "they say" because he used some quotes out of what Norman Podhoretz had said and turned it to use it within himself. He proved to what they say is possibly true. However, he continues his normal routine trying to appeal less threatening to show what they say is not true.  

Annotation

Tom Sawyer Park is just one of the unique park that is found in Kentucky. It is located in the northeastern part of Jefferson County and is about 550 acres big. There are many activities to do there such as running, playing ball, swimming, and much more. It was named after former Jefferson County executive judge Erbon Powers Sawyer (1915-1969). The park was purchased in June 1969 by the Commonwealth of Kentucky from the Kentucky Department of Mental Health and the park was first opened in 1974. The Kentucky Department of Mental Health still had a part of the park, "a portion of the property had once been used for farmland for the mental health hospital."

Reflection on my place

One place I found in Tom Sawyer Park that I am going to narrow my research on is the barn that you see along the trail when you are walking. Also, the overall history of the park as well because it seemed too interesting to me to leave out. What interests me about the barn is that it looked like it had been through a lot and old and burned so I am interested to what happened to it. I found some internet based research about the park that helped me learn more about the history of Tom Sawyer.

http://parks.ky.gov/findparks/recparks/ep/history/

Unit 1- The Essence of a Place

As I walk up towards the exciting fun filled park of Tom Sawyer, full of exultant kids and energized runners, I reflect back to when my parents would bring my brother and me here when we were younger. We would run around the wide open field, using our imagination and believing we were wild animals chasing after each other. In the fall, we would bring my brother’s rocket here and watch it shoot up past the golden and crimson colored leaves of the trees as we lost where it went up in the sky.  There would be times where we would end up finding it in the pool and since it was fall, there was no water in the pool so it was easier to fish it out.  I remember times my mom would drag us there to watch her play tennis or when she would meet up with her friends. We didn't mind that much since we were at the park and we always would find something entertaining to do. There were other times we came to the park to walk our dog, Lassie, who was a full grown Collie with lengthy orange and white fur. Most of the time we brought her during the fall since summer time would be too humid for her.  Other times, we would fly our kites, no matter what; we were having a decorous time. All my time I have spent here in this park has always seemed adventurous to me. The immense park helps you be able to find something new basically every time you go.

         I decided to start exploring the park by sitting underneath a tree to observe and experience what it brings to me. I laid back and closed my eyes as a slight breeze crept its way through the tree branches and the hot air. It felt nice since the temperature hit about 95 degrees that day but it didn't bother many people since they were out spending their evening in it. Maybe because the weather here in Kentucky can be a bit odd at times and they take what they can get. As I keep my eyes closed, I listen to the rustle of the leaves on the tree branches as they sway to the movement of the wind. I take notice of people yelling and kids screaming of excitement that summer is pretty much here. Also, all the dogs barking and even music that is playing on people's iPod's as they run past me.

         I begin to open my eyes and stare out into the distance of all the people enjoying their weekend here with the ones they love. Many people are running around in the open field where I once would fly my kites around when I was seven. Now there are numerous kids flying their kites and playing on the little jungle gym the park has. Mother's sit alongside on the benches watching their kids, making sure they don't fall and scrap a knee, and as well as to be nice to the other kids on the jungle gym. They remind them it's not the one they have back at home, this one they need to share. I stopped to watch a group of guys play some soccer. I have never been interested in the sport myself, I'm more of a football and basketball kind of girl but for some reason I wanted to catch sight of how the game ended. It didn’t keep me entertained long so I continued to walk the gravel pathway while the trees alongside built a tunnel of leaves on the branches for shade. People were running back and forth, breathing hard and checking their pulse for their heart rate.

         As I kept on walking, I came to a road where the walkway starts to make a curve and spotted an old shed looking barn on the other side. I decided to snoop and glimpse of what could be in there. I walked inside and found beat up computers and old desks scattered everywhere. The place was a mess; there were many papers all over the floor. I was curious as to what was on them. I picked up several papers and found people’s names on it which was dated back to 1995. It showed they were signing up for some training, I believe, to be firemen. I was pretty amazed to find these papers that dated back sixteen years ago and haven't been moved or thrown away. I felt as if they had meaning and could be valuable to someone. I shuffled my way out of the shed and ran across some younger kids exploring the shed as well to witness what they could find. I made my way back to the walkway through the tall grass that tickled my legs and made me scratch them constantly.

         As the walkway was coming to an end, I passed the aquatic center and heard kids laughing and screaming while they were splashing and playing Marco Polo in the pool. The splashing water seemed so relaxing and made me want to jump in on this hot day. I could spot the lifeguard on duty, doing his job by watching the kids swimming, making sure everyone was swimming safely, and blowing his whistle whenever it was necessary. I started to make my way towards my car as I was thinking there was an abundant amount of obstacles to take while walking around the park that you could find so much more. It was, yet again, another adventurous day at the park.

Descriptive writing in "The Stone Horse"

The part to me in "The Stone Horse" that I was most drawn to was after he went and spoke to the BLM archeologist in the beginning of section 2. He went to get directions to be directly in front of the horse so he could actually learn more from it. I was even more drawn into the story once he started explaining what he was seeing and feeling. "When I released my breath, the images softened. My initial feeling, of facing a wild animal in a remote region, was replaced with a calm sense of antiquity" (p. 500, paragraph 19). As he is describing what he is feeling, he uses imagery to try and place his reader basically in his position. He uses descriptive wording to make you want to be able to see what he is seeing but to also place the image in your head as you are reading. As I was reading this, the way he describes the horse and it's history helped me get a better understanding of what the horse looked like and also why the horse was important to Barry Lopez. 

Ascending the Cave

The only thing I can think of being in a cave-like situation is when I was in a relationship with this guy and we dated for a while. He would start to treat me bad and I knew I had to get out of the relationship. So, I ascended and I felt better about myself to be out. Eventually over time, I wanted to be with him again. When we started talking again, everyone was telling me it was a mistake. His response was that he wanted to be with me and he was going to change. However, 3 weeks later he moves away to Indiana where he is originally from and ended up being the same guy. He was happy with me wanted to be with him again because he was always happy to be with me and liked the feeling of me back in his life. There is another situation of being in a cave but it's with my brother. He is younger than me and he hated living in my parents house because he had to follow certain rules while being under their roof. He decided to move out into an apartment with a couple of his friends with limited money. Eventually one of his roommates bailed and now he is struggling to pay rent and wants to move back into my parents house. My parent's said no because they were already used to him being out and he moved out even when they kept telling him he shouldn't do it because he doesn't have the money or the responsibilities. They feel that now he is out, he should continue to learn to be on his own and learn from his mistakes.

I think that researching my place would be considered ascending because you're learning about something that you sort of take for granted. There's so much history to your place that you never really realized. You are stepping out of your cave to learn about something new in a place that you have lived in most of your life. It's neat and exciting so it makes you want to learn about all the other places that are around your area.

Response to Plato's "Allegory of the Cave"

I think what Socrates meant when he was quoting Homer is that the slaves that were in the cave didn't really have a reality to what was the real world. All they were able to make of anything was when people were passing by the walkway with their items and mumbling so then the slaves would think that's what the objects sound was. They didn't really think there was more to what they saw and if there was anything more, they thought it was bad. So to be a servant to the poor masters, there isn't more they would have to do to themselves than what they are already doing, which is being chained up looking at their own reflection. I would have to disagree with Socrates intended philosophy because there could be so much more out there for people to be able to experience. If you were stuck in a place, working for the same person for the rest of your life, then that wouldn't necessarily be reality. It would be to them, but to the outside world, there's more to see, feel, taste, and touch. They could be more than just a slave to a poor master, they could be their own master and rich. It's better to know what other realities could be out there.

My Place

The place I have chosen to write about is Tom Sawyer Park. I chose this place because I have always enjoyed spending my time there. I feel that it's a peaceful and beautiful place to walk around and get some fresh air. As you sit underneath a tree because it's too hot outside to be sitting in the sun, you look around and visualize what's around you. I see many people walking or running the trail, some are walking their dogs which are mostly Golden Retrievers. The sun continues to keep it hot even when it hides behind some passing clouds every once in a while. There's also a slight breeze that would come and cause the trees to sway and fallen leaves to move across the ground. There's a group of people in an open area of the park, laughing and talking while passing a frisbee back and forth to each other. I begin to get up and put on my sunglasses before stepping out underneath the sun and start walking around the track to see what else there is. I see a couple with their dog while he's jumping up trying to get a branch on a tree. I start to laugh because I've never seen a dog do that, usually a person throws him the stick while he runs out to get it. On the other side of the track, there are several kids playing on the mini jungle gym while their mother's side on the side bench watching them; making sure they don't get hurt. Their laughter and screams fill the air as people are out enjoying this beautiful sunny day.

While walking through the park, I feel joy and happiness. It was nice to have a calming place to walk through to see if I could find anything new about it and just to get out of the house. Most people come to a park to have fun and run around, maybe to clear their thoughts or to take a break to thinking. Many people there were laughing and having fun spending some free time with their friends and family.

Brainstorming for my place

Even though I have been living here since I was 3, it is difficult for me to think of a place. I was thinking about doing the Waverly hospital because I have already been there and I think it's very interesting. Two summers ago I stayed the night there and I was freaked out but I wouldn't be able to visit it once a week because it is too far away from my home. I was also thinking about Tom Sawyer Park because I really enjoy going there and there are some interesting things around the park that I could look at and explore. Also, it's a big park and it's closer to were I live so I would be able to visit it regularly. I was also thinking about Churchill Downs because it's such a big part to Kentucky. Many people come to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby and I think that is interesting plus there is a lot of history to it. The Louisville Slugger Museum is another place to go to. I remember when I first went there when I was younger and I thought the big bat was cool on the outside of the museum.

About Me

I am Cailyn Arnold and I'm 20 years old. I'm from Toledo, Ohio and moved here to Louisville when I was 3 years old. I am majoring in communication to be a sports broadcaster for football because I love the sport. I want to move to San Diego, California when I can afford it, it's where I've always wanted to live. I love the beach, I think it is a beautiful place! When I was younger, I would always write and as I got older, I got tired of it. It became more serious writing because of school and mostly papers I didn't want to write. When I was younger, I could write about whatever I wanted because it wasn't an assignment. I would define the term place as somewhere to go whether it's to eat, hang out, shop or whatever. It can be somewhere you want to go to relax and not have to think or worry about anything.