Shane Brabant
Living in Tongue’s By Luc Sante
English 100 Tu-Th 4:00-5:20
Anicca Cox
Luc Sante is one amazing individual. I have never had the experience of understanding another language fluently, so this memoir was a very intriguing read. After learning that Luc began his life speaking French and then adopted English as his primary language I found myself in awe of his eloquent word structure. He brings the reader into his childhood memories with seemingly effortless recollection. I am unable to relate to Luc’s language/memory connection and I found his explanation of the language/memory relationship to be curious, and thought provoking. I began to think about my own childhood, about the little things that remind me of a time or a place from my past. I am not as skilled as Luc to be able to recall such memories with the level of description and fluidity that he shows us, the readers, in his passage about his uncle’s soft dark eyes, or the smells and sounds of his parlor in Belgium. His illustrations of memory astound me. I am envious of his ability to recollect such fine details of his life. I know this is the writing of a very intelligent and skilled wordsmith, so my feelings of inadequacy in relation to my own ability are overshadowed by the beauty of his words.
The difference between cultures is extremely apparent in the world. Luc gives us a brief glimpse of the Belgium way. Their food, “sirop” and “makee” for example, or how he explains that “real” beer, bread and cheese where hard if not impossible to come by. The comparison of living space was another area of interest for me. Having grown up in the woods of Humboldt County, I have only memories of my mother and fathers small wooden homes. A cellar was never a reality for me, nor was ceramic tiles a normal floor cover choice in the hills. He compares and contrast his apartment in the U.S. to his home in Belgium without making one or the other preferable, he simple points out the differences. For example, Luc Sante describes French as a correspondent to the soul, whereas English was more related to the word. I really enjoy how he writes.
As the reading comes to a close, I noticed another element to his writing that makes it so appealing to the eye. His choice of words is awesome, varied and descriptive, but what make the last paragraphs of this read intriguing to me is the metaphors he uses; the relationship of mind, thought, word and image. I hope to be able to write with such description and rich command of my language. In this class, and in my other classes I will try my best to expand my vocabulary, write with vigor and metaphoric illusions. I prefer to read a colorful passage, one with a wide spectrum and hue of language, so I will attempt to write with all the colors of my mental cognition of thought to word to text.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Letter of Introduction
Shane Brabant
English 100
Anicca Cox
January 21, 2010
Dear Anicca,
A letter of introduction is an important beginning to our relationship as student and teacher, I will try and give you a well rounded view of “who I am” and I will do my dandiest to answer Mike’s questions.
I was born March 3, 1991 at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon here in Humboldt County. I have spent the majority of my physical life behind the redwood curtain. I have lived in many places within Humboldt County. My parent’s houses are in the mountains of southern Humboldt, however I have lived in Redway and Arcata. I moved to Arcata ~7 years ago in order to go to a better school than the ones available in southern Humboldt. I also lived in Sayulita, Mexico when I was 10-11 year of age. That experience was one of my favorite in life thus far. I have traveled in Europe and Costa Rica. I plan to return to Costa Rica ASAP, Europe is a place that would take a lifetime of exploration, a life well spent. Hopefully I will have to opportunity to continue traveling over the small planet we call home.
What makes me, me? I am the reaction to a collective summation of my life experiences, a temple that is being built with the stones of my every day. I have learned and I have lost, I have forgotten and remembered, I have loved and I have hated, and today, I am happy to be alive and to be living. There are few truths in this world, many of them are simple qualia, I would like to remember that happiness is self manifested and love is never ending. My heart goes out to those whom are suffering, I do not know if I would feel the way I do if I had not suffered. Would you dislike the cold if you had never felt the sun upon your face? I believe that experience, and the ability to learn from our experiences, is a defining factor in life.
I am interested in many, many things. I like people, and I dislike them, but I certainly like watching them. They are so very complex and interesting. I like music, dancing, singing, laughing, crying, running, swimming, hiking, leaping, and appreciating the world and its natural processes. I am also, of course, interested in survival, which is the reason I am writing this here and now. Survival in this modern world requires money. In order to make money one must be “educated” in a specific field that allows for the generation of funds. I am unsure as to what path I will be taking in the pursuit of a job, career or business at the moment, however I am confident that a solution will present itself. For now I am simply living and learning, waiting for the spark of comprehension to light a new path for my feet to follow as I live here. Originally I thought that I would have liked to be an Environmental Resources Engineer (has a nice ring to it doesn’t it) and that is the reason for my choosing HSU. I suppose the fact that I was accepted within the first week of application as well as the fact that no other college on my list of possibilities accepted me, had some weight in my decision to go to HSU.
I have been in Arcata for many years now, I feel I understand it well, and I know the way things work here. Recently, however, my insurgence into the world of college has opened my eyes to numerous and boundless new possibilities here in little Arcata. I am ready for the challenges of this new semester and this new chapter in my life. The last few entries into the “Book of Shane” have been difficult to write. I find that persistence, support, love and humor are catalyst elements in the reaction of learning and living.
I spent the last couple of years at Six Rivers Charter High School, home of the Pirates, Arrrr!!! It was a very interesting school. My teachers were just out of college, young, enthusiastic and full of new and great ideas about teaching and learning. Narrowing my high school experience down to what I learned about writing I would say that I have learned a lot from Six Rivers. I had some really great teachers that helped me figure things out in creative ways. I spent a great deal of time structuring and writing essays. I also wrote poetry and short stories. I would say that I do enjoy writing, perhaps for the reason you quote from the home page of your site outlines rather eloquently. I believe my greatest struggle is that I really want everything to be perfect, which is impossible, so I just have to continue to practice acceptance in my writing. Another area of difficulty is writers block. I am easily distracted and I have a hard time writing sometimes. When I say sometimes, I really mean most of the time, unfortunately. Another area of struggle for me is the spelling element of writing. I have never been a good speller and I am eternally thankful for spell check!
Concerning writing processes, I have a variety of methods. Brainstorming and outlining seem to be the preferred methods. I do draft and advise. I usually write, read, fix, write more, and repeat. I spend a great deal of time writing my more important papers. I suppose it is because of my need to explain my thoughts “correctly”, and if I feel I have not accurately explained myself, then I have to reread and rewrite it until I get it “right”. I know I am done when I have reached the required length, finished all of my thoughts on the subject, and usually after I have someone read it over and give me feedback. In the past mom was of course the number one reference for acceptance in regards to my writing.
I would like to get an A out of this writing course. I am eternally practicing my writing ability, and all the necessary elements that come together to create a well written piece. I would like to have interesting assignments that compel me to write. Excess homework is always frowned upon. I would like to improve in all areas, nothing specific. Spelling is something I will just have to get the hang of, practice make perfect right? I would like to be able to carry the skills honed here in English 100 over into my life and academic career. Writing and the ability to explain oneself on paper is extremely important in today’s fast paced world. I am looking forward to a semester full of learning and application.
The scores I received from the VARK test are as follows;
Visual: 7, Aural: 8, Read/Write: 7, and Kinesthetic: 8.
The first thought I had about this was “Does this make me a well rounded learner, or am I just confused?” So I then clicked on the Multimodel link. I fallowed a few more links thereafter and I seem to be in the category of a “context specific” learner or I have a learning strategy that combines the entire V A R and K strategies of learning before I feel like I have grasped the subject at hand. This is according to Neil Fleming’s summation of multimodel learners. After reading further I begin to lean towards the “Whole-Sense Approach”, which really actually jives with the way I am feeling these days. It is the approach where the learner may take a longer time to understand a subject, but after the subject is understood, the learner has a more complete understanding of the material. The same idea is used for decision making. I do take a long time to make decisions, but after I have taken the time to make the decision I feel very confident in my choice. When I am rushed to judgment, I tend to make a misjudgment, and possibly regret my decision and replay the situation in my mind for days to come. This is a problem because of how fast decisions need to be made in this world, I find myself skimming over the important issues in life because there are so many that deserve my consideration, and time is such a precious commodity.
English 100
Anicca Cox
January 21, 2010
Dear Anicca,
A letter of introduction is an important beginning to our relationship as student and teacher, I will try and give you a well rounded view of “who I am” and I will do my dandiest to answer Mike’s questions.
I was born March 3, 1991 at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon here in Humboldt County. I have spent the majority of my physical life behind the redwood curtain. I have lived in many places within Humboldt County. My parent’s houses are in the mountains of southern Humboldt, however I have lived in Redway and Arcata. I moved to Arcata ~7 years ago in order to go to a better school than the ones available in southern Humboldt. I also lived in Sayulita, Mexico when I was 10-11 year of age. That experience was one of my favorite in life thus far. I have traveled in Europe and Costa Rica. I plan to return to Costa Rica ASAP, Europe is a place that would take a lifetime of exploration, a life well spent. Hopefully I will have to opportunity to continue traveling over the small planet we call home.
What makes me, me? I am the reaction to a collective summation of my life experiences, a temple that is being built with the stones of my every day. I have learned and I have lost, I have forgotten and remembered, I have loved and I have hated, and today, I am happy to be alive and to be living. There are few truths in this world, many of them are simple qualia, I would like to remember that happiness is self manifested and love is never ending. My heart goes out to those whom are suffering, I do not know if I would feel the way I do if I had not suffered. Would you dislike the cold if you had never felt the sun upon your face? I believe that experience, and the ability to learn from our experiences, is a defining factor in life.
I am interested in many, many things. I like people, and I dislike them, but I certainly like watching them. They are so very complex and interesting. I like music, dancing, singing, laughing, crying, running, swimming, hiking, leaping, and appreciating the world and its natural processes. I am also, of course, interested in survival, which is the reason I am writing this here and now. Survival in this modern world requires money. In order to make money one must be “educated” in a specific field that allows for the generation of funds. I am unsure as to what path I will be taking in the pursuit of a job, career or business at the moment, however I am confident that a solution will present itself. For now I am simply living and learning, waiting for the spark of comprehension to light a new path for my feet to follow as I live here. Originally I thought that I would have liked to be an Environmental Resources Engineer (has a nice ring to it doesn’t it) and that is the reason for my choosing HSU. I suppose the fact that I was accepted within the first week of application as well as the fact that no other college on my list of possibilities accepted me, had some weight in my decision to go to HSU.
I have been in Arcata for many years now, I feel I understand it well, and I know the way things work here. Recently, however, my insurgence into the world of college has opened my eyes to numerous and boundless new possibilities here in little Arcata. I am ready for the challenges of this new semester and this new chapter in my life. The last few entries into the “Book of Shane” have been difficult to write. I find that persistence, support, love and humor are catalyst elements in the reaction of learning and living.
I spent the last couple of years at Six Rivers Charter High School, home of the Pirates, Arrrr!!! It was a very interesting school. My teachers were just out of college, young, enthusiastic and full of new and great ideas about teaching and learning. Narrowing my high school experience down to what I learned about writing I would say that I have learned a lot from Six Rivers. I had some really great teachers that helped me figure things out in creative ways. I spent a great deal of time structuring and writing essays. I also wrote poetry and short stories. I would say that I do enjoy writing, perhaps for the reason you quote from the home page of your site outlines rather eloquently. I believe my greatest struggle is that I really want everything to be perfect, which is impossible, so I just have to continue to practice acceptance in my writing. Another area of difficulty is writers block. I am easily distracted and I have a hard time writing sometimes. When I say sometimes, I really mean most of the time, unfortunately. Another area of struggle for me is the spelling element of writing. I have never been a good speller and I am eternally thankful for spell check!
Concerning writing processes, I have a variety of methods. Brainstorming and outlining seem to be the preferred methods. I do draft and advise. I usually write, read, fix, write more, and repeat. I spend a great deal of time writing my more important papers. I suppose it is because of my need to explain my thoughts “correctly”, and if I feel I have not accurately explained myself, then I have to reread and rewrite it until I get it “right”. I know I am done when I have reached the required length, finished all of my thoughts on the subject, and usually after I have someone read it over and give me feedback. In the past mom was of course the number one reference for acceptance in regards to my writing.
I would like to get an A out of this writing course. I am eternally practicing my writing ability, and all the necessary elements that come together to create a well written piece. I would like to have interesting assignments that compel me to write. Excess homework is always frowned upon. I would like to improve in all areas, nothing specific. Spelling is something I will just have to get the hang of, practice make perfect right? I would like to be able to carry the skills honed here in English 100 over into my life and academic career. Writing and the ability to explain oneself on paper is extremely important in today’s fast paced world. I am looking forward to a semester full of learning and application.
The scores I received from the VARK test are as follows;
Visual: 7, Aural: 8, Read/Write: 7, and Kinesthetic: 8.
The first thought I had about this was “Does this make me a well rounded learner, or am I just confused?” So I then clicked on the Multimodel link. I fallowed a few more links thereafter and I seem to be in the category of a “context specific” learner or I have a learning strategy that combines the entire V A R and K strategies of learning before I feel like I have grasped the subject at hand. This is according to Neil Fleming’s summation of multimodel learners. After reading further I begin to lean towards the “Whole-Sense Approach”, which really actually jives with the way I am feeling these days. It is the approach where the learner may take a longer time to understand a subject, but after the subject is understood, the learner has a more complete understanding of the material. The same idea is used for decision making. I do take a long time to make decisions, but after I have taken the time to make the decision I feel very confident in my choice. When I am rushed to judgment, I tend to make a misjudgment, and possibly regret my decision and replay the situation in my mind for days to come. This is a problem because of how fast decisions need to be made in this world, I find myself skimming over the important issues in life because there are so many that deserve my consideration, and time is such a precious commodity.
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