metaphor chapter by chapter

Chapter 3: Highlighting and Hiding

• Language and concepts are structured by metaphors.
  
• Linguistic expressions are "containers" and communication is "sending". The way we speak about our language (our language about our language) is structured around a metaphor. Ex: "Putting our ideas into words" and "Getting them across"
• People "send" messages with metaphors and then others interpret these messages based on their experiences or backgrounds of understanding these metaphors

Chapter 4: Orientational Metaphors

• Structural metaphors: one concept is metaphorically structured in terms of another
• Orientational metaphors: organize a whole system of concepts in respect to one another (often have a physical basis)
• "unknown is up", "happy is up", "up-down" "in-out", etc.
  

Chapter 5: Metaphor and Cultural Coherence

• Different cultures have different values. "Bigger is always better" may not necessarily be the case in other cultures.
• Our culture seems to be mainly based on a "up and down" metaphor, up is "good", down is "bad"
• Individuals with different beliefs and values have personalized metaphors

Chapter 6: Ontological Metaphors

• People use metaphors when trying to understand their thoughts and their experiences
  
• Ontological metaphors: reflect the kinds of purposes served
• Used to refer, quantify, identify aspects and causes, set goals, and motivate actions
• Some metaphors only have limited range of purpose

Chapter 7: Personification

• Personification uses metaphors that give us the ability to think about things and act towards them
• An extension of an ontological metaphor
• People give human characteristics to objects so they can better understand them. If something is hard to grasp or understand, we give it a characteristic or find some common ground with the object so we can have ways of discussing it

Chapter 8: Metonymy

• Metonymy: figure of speech that consists of the use of the name of one object of concept for that of another to which it is related
  
• ^^^ no clue what the means!
  
• Synecdoche: figure of speech in which part is used for the whole or the whole for a part
• ^^^once again..
• Metonymic concepts are a part of the ordinary. The way we think everyday, talk , act, interact
  

Chapter 9: Inconsistencies in Metaphorical Coherence

• Metaphors/Metyonmies are not out of random. They form a system and strucutre in terms we get by experience.
  
• Time is considered a moving object metaphor
  
• Time is stationary and we move through it

Chapter 10: Further Examples

• Metaphors structure our everyday concepts
  
• We use metaphors everyday, without realizing sometimes
• Simple literal expressions and Idioms
  

Chapter 11: Partial Nature Metaphorical Structuring

• Metaphors are used to describe theories
• Theories are buildings
• Time is money
• You can attach one metaphor to another
  

Chapter 12:How is our Conceptual System Grounded?

• Metaphors are grounded through personal experience and living life
  
• Physical and cultural experience

Chapter 13: The Grounding of Structual Metaphors

• Metaphors in arguments
• Structural metaphors provide the riches source of such elaboration (ex: Rational argument is war)
  
• Labor is a resource and time is a resource

METAPHORS:
I'm dying to go home
Dance like no one is watching
Im dead tired
It's raining cats and dogs
The couple broke up
You just saved me a lot of time
That was a waste of time
Brightest crayon in the box
Dumb as a rock
Get your head in the game
Life is a party
I have too much on my plate right now
I'm hungry as a horse
Life is like a box of chocolates
I have to pee like a racehorse
He was so hot!
Life is a highway

Chapter by Chapter

Chapter 3
This chapter talks about how metaphors have limitations and that they hide/mask other aspects of their target. I liked this and found it interesting especially the conduit metaphor. It reminded me of those "shoots" at a bank drive through where they give you a container, you put your checks in, and then it shoots up and goes back to the bankers.
Chapter 4
I found some of their explanations weak and others strong. His explanation for "rational is up" was weird. How does "control is up" lead to "man is up" and then to "rational is up?" This answered a previous question I had. Can a metaphor become part of its target's definition eventually? According to page 18, yes. I can't believe we don't know much about experiential basis. Is the experience of grasping an experiential basis?
Chapter 5
I didn't like the metaphor: "The future will be better," because I think A LOT of people say the opposite. It's about optimism and pessimism, not culture. t the bottom of page 22 starting at "we are not claiming..." and going to the end of the paragraph on page 23 -- does that make any sense? You know what else seemed to not make sense? The small car analogy. I think that might be a typo. All the ups and downs are getting confusing.
Chapter 6
How are mountains, street corners, and hedges not discrete or bounded? I don't understand that. We treat inflation as an entity rather than what? I was unclear what else we can treat inflation as. Out of all the ontological metaphors, I didn't understand "referring." I liked the whole "in the tub" and "in the water" analogies on page 30. It gets interesting because it's like a Seinfeld "did you ever notice" routine (except not as funny, more intriguing). On page 30, they characterize events as objects -- not containers. So why do they call a race an event and then say it's a container? Are they saying that there aren't any specific categories for anything?
Chapter 7
This one wasn't very illuminating, but I never really realized how specific personification is. It's not just saying "inflation is human," it's picking out a specific human trait to compare it to.
Chapter 8
After reading this section, i feel like i have a much better understanding of the difference between metonymy and metaphor. A metonymy uses representational strategies and, unlike personification, shows something to represent an actual person (not just qualities). It said metonymy gets very specific (can't metaphor be very specific too, though?). I REALLY enjoyed the comparison and his face on page 37. I have NEVER heard the "object used for user" metonymy. It seemed made up. It seems like metonymy also serves as a shortcut for language -- like slang. So it's easier to say Alamo instead of the "attack on the Alamo." Although, Pearl harbor I don't think is metonymy. We have named the event "Pearl Harbor." IT'S WHAT IT'S CALLED, you know?
Chapter 9
I'm kind of impressed. They were able to work through these "inconsistencies" logically and were able to explain why they happen. Well done. I understood and agreed with everything. Just one question: You've got car voyage, train voyage, and boat voyage. What about plane voyage? EX: "Our marriage took off!"
Chapter 10
You know, some of these things are legit, but a lot of them are very strange. They're stretching things a bit thin I think. They repeat themselves a lot in their examples for their metaphors (cheaters). What the hell is this, "That idea is OLD HAT????" The "ideas are fashion" was strange. What did he mean by fashion? Like clothing? "He keeps up-to-date by reading" seemed more generic to me. A lot of these were branches of metaphorical coherence I think. Maybe not. How is THIS a metaphor: "That was one of the greatest moments in US history?" That was stupid. So were the ones about physical and emotional states being inside people. They are inside people! Literally! Disease infects the inside of the body and emotional states occur in the mind -- inside the body!
Chapter 11
I think this chapter can really help someone write better and more poetically. What we have to do is find the "unused" parts of metaphors and USE them to make imaginative poems and stories ("the mountain made a joke" plays on the unused part of "mountain is a person"). Very helpful and interesting.
Chapter 12
At first I agreed that maybe "UP" is not easily understood without metaphor. It has to do with culture they say. Then I thought that maybe it had nothing to do with culture. It's a natural experience that can be explained without metaphor -- we are humans and we all have a sense of up. Therefore, we can all understand it without metaphor. None of us are interplanetary beings floating in outer space. we are human. So we DO understand it. Male-female is also non-metaphorical. It's A or B. Simple as that. It's funny how "IN" starts becoming complicated on pages 59 and 60. Very interesting. I still don't know if there is a concept that can be understood w/o metaphor. They never answered their own question.
Chapter 13
I found it very interesting how verbal argument has been grounded by our knowledge and experience of physical combat -- hence "argument is war." These metaphors are truly grounded through years and years and years. I liked the comparisons of "rational" and "primitive" argument on page 64. I still feel like TIME IS A RESOURCE is not a metaphor because time IS a resource. We don't have an infinite amount of time on earth. Therefore, it can be "wasted" per say or used up. I don't care what these people say. And FYI Lakoff and Johnson, labor is defined in the dictionary as difficult, exhausting exertion. So there. It's so true though that leisure has turned into a kind of labor. People can't just sit and do nothing anymore because it's not productive.
METAPHOR LIST (some may not be metaphors)
that was the shit
let me be straight with you
what's up
I'm wasting my time
she can bring one up
I'm hungry, man
my parents called him out on that point
I snapped on her
you know more than the American Red Cross
he kept getting in between us
me and my buddy were hangin' out
sometimes I have to put him in his place
I think I can take you
she's not really my type
you're going to have to pursue a masters degree
she's really hot
you don't want to get into a career that will dry you up
keep in mind...
this gives you an idea
where do your interests lie?
we've got all our plans laid out
what career bath will you take?
there are lots of skills you can learn outside of the classroom
a resume is your market tool
you're interests might be all over the map

Metaphors!

Chapter 3

"A metaphorical concept can keep us from focusing on other aspects of the concept that are inconsistent with the metaphor." We focus more on one part rather than seeing it as a whole. It then goes on to talk about the "cooperative" aspects of arguing. This was interesting because nobody ever views arguing as cooperative. The complex metaphor is an odd way of looking at things; ideas are objects? These examples are everywhere: I gave you that idea, It's difficult to put my ideas into thoughts. It is a little hard to understand just because it is a new way of looking at language. 

Chapter 4

Orientational metaphors deal with up-down, in-out, etc. Example: "I'm feeling up today." the word "up" is associated with happy. Culture again plays a large role in metaphors. I never thought of the physical aspect of metaphors; drooping posture represents sadness or depression. More is up, less is down. It is fascinating how much these metaphors are in everyday life. Again, the point is brought up about the connection between metaphors, society and culture. The explanations of the metaphors and then linking it to other related metaphors was thought provoking.

Chapter 5

Simple cultural values will relate to the simple metaphors of that culture. It seems odd to me to assign status to metaphors: "more is up seems always to have the highest priority..." Who chooses which metaphor has the highest priority? ahhh, my question is answered. Personal values and culture influence the matter of priority of metaphors. Metaphors change as culture changes; small cars used to be associated with high status but that doesn't hold true today. Priority of metaphors can also change. 

Chapter 6

Experiences are thingified which lets us think about them in a deeper, different way. In our society we create boundaries that are not really there, for our benefit. It seems necessary to make things into entities, such as inflation and the mind. It seems weird to think that all these examples are metaphors. These seem "perfectly natural" to us. Where there aren't physical boundaries, artificial ones are created. The container idea makes sense, it is just a weird way to think of things. "Events and actions are conceptualized metaphorically as objects, activities as substances, states as containers."

Chapter 7

This chapter was easier to read compared to the others because personification is more of an obvious thing to notice and it is used constantly. It can be specific which i found interesting like this example, "It not only gives us a very specific way of thinking about inflation but also a way of acting toward it. We think of inflation as an adversary that can attack us, hurt us, steal from us, even destroy us." Personification puts some ideas into more understandable terms; makes abstract concepts into something concrete.

Chapter 8

Metonymy is a form of personification where people aren't actually referred to. "Metaphor is principally a way of conceiving one thing in terms of another, and its primary function is understanding. Metonymy, on the other hand, has primarily a referential function, that is, it allows us to use one entity to stand for another." It is similar to metaphors in the way that we use it everyday. The face and picture concept was interesting to think about. The face is the all-telling feature to people. "Like metaphors, metonymic concepts structure not just our language but our thoughts, attitudes, and actions."

Chapter 9

It is odd to think that in other cultures, front and back is reversed. Time as a moving object goes along with the front, back orientation. Weird that weeks to follow and weeks ahead of us essentially have the same meaning. Two ways to look at time; one is as a moving object and two as a stationary object. There is a difference between coherent and consistency; most metaphors are coherent, they fit together. 

Chapter 10

It is so fascinating to read the examples because I have said so many of them but I have never thought that ideas are food, people or plants. Understanding is seeing also stuck out to me. How many times have i sat in math class confused and then when i understand the concept i say ahh, i see now. Interesting how love has many different metaphorical elements; physical force, a patient, magic, madness, war. 

Chapter 11

Some metaphors we use in our everyday life but there are deeper metaphors that are categorized as "figurative" or "imaginative" The dead and alive metaphors was a little confusing for me.

Chapter 12

"...most concepts are partially understood in terms of other concepts." It seems the only concepts that can be understood without metaphor are the very simple, basic ones like "up" 

"All experience is cultural through and through..." the different types of experience was confusing and hard for me to follow. 

Chapter 13

The metaphors that are deeper and more specific allow for a lot of elaboration and detail. Irrational and unfair ways of fighting: intimidation, threat, authority, insult, etc. Even rational arguments can still be seen in a war like way. "...the metaphor is built into the conceptual system of the culture in which you live." Even the most academic, rational arguments are grounded in the Arguments is War metaphor. 

Metaphors from the weekend!

We're up here and you're down there. 

He's solid as a rock.

When we got back to the dorm she crashed. 

Don't worry, I'm on top of things. 

He drives me crazy. 

I'm just feeling down. 

Lets go, we're running out of time. 

A Metaphorical Life

This reading was just as interesting as the last ones. There were a lot of different concepts to remember though. It also became really repetitive at some parts. All the different kinds were hard to try and remember as time went on. I also did not understand the statement on page 19, "no metaphor can ever be comprehended or even adequately represented independently of its experimental basis." I'm not entirely sure why but I just could not comprehend what that meant.
I thought it was very interesting that not all cultures have the same meaning as we do for sayings such as up-down. Cultures value different things than we do and thus have different perspectives on such sayings and metaphors. On page 29 the paragraph about containers and how the world we live in is made up of them was also interesting. Its very true however. Our houses, rooms, classrooms, our enviornment, and more are all basically containers that we live in. We move from one to another without really considering the meaning behind them.
On page 37 they discussed how seeing a persons facfe satisfies our need to see a person. If we see a person without actually seeing their face then we aren't satisfied and do not feel like we know the person. This concept is so completely true to me. If I see a picture and the face is missing then I don't feel like I've truly seen the person in the picture. The face is an important feature.

Metaphors I've Heard Around Campus
1. I need a pick me up
2. The weather is bringing me down
3. The early bird catches the worm
4. I'm having a meltdown
5. I'm on a sugar high
6. Jumping for joy
7. Time is such a theif
8. He was built like a tank
9. She flashed me a smile
10. He eats like a machine

Chapter Summaries & metaphors heard over the week!!

Ch. 3-Metaphorical Systematicity: Highlighting and Hiding

Main Points:

*Metaphorical concepts may keep people from focusing on what is inconsistent with the metaphor.

* EX: in an argument, one may lose track of reason for arguing. 

* Battle aspects-lose cooperative aspects.

*"Conduit Metaphor"- "Our language is structured roughly by complex metaphor: Ideas(or meanings) are objects. Linguistic expressions are containers, Communication is sending."(pg.10)

*ideas-objects

    *words-containers 

*Sends along a conduit-takes ideas out of words. 

*EX: I can't get that point across to elena

She can't put what she is trying to say into words.

Insights:

*I agree that single words, phrases, even sentences can mean different things to different people.

* Examples show complexity of metaphors, and the use of them in everyday life.

*By emphasizing the importance of understanding metaphorical concepts, I easily understood that communication and argument- hide part of these concepts.

*Metaphorical Structuring-partial

Questions:

*What does conduit mean?

* What if someone views "objects and containers" differently?

* words-objects   ideas-containers

Ch. 4 Orientational Metaphors

Main Points:

* Orientational Metaphor

*organizes all concepts-not to have different meanings or understandings but to connect w/respect from one another. 

*Main-spatial orientation

*EX: "Happy is up"

*Based off of physical/social/cultural experience.

* diff. to each person based off of above. 

Insights:

*By emphasizing the basis of "orientational metaphors"- it is easier to distinguish the concepts within, and how/why they differ from one another.

*examples, explanations.

*Explaining physical basis-the clarity of different cultures and experiences come into play.

Questions:

*How do they understand how certain metaphors don't fit together if they don't know much about the experimental basis of things?

*How do these metaphors somehow connect?

*Experience.

Ch.5 Metaphor and Cultural Coherence 

Main Points:

*"The most fundamental values in a culture will be coherent with the metaphorical structure of the most fundamental concepts in a structure."(22)

*Cultural values mixed w/ consistency of beliefs of what is good, bad, up down..etc. 

*With these values brought so strongly throughout each culture, it forms different meanings, processes of metaphors between cultures. 

*"UP" might not be considered "better" in other cultures. 

*Values not independent; coherent system is created by the concepts we live by. (metaphorically)

Insights:

*The examples given in this section show the overall affect metaphors can have on a culture as a whole-each being viewed differently, or not even applying to them at all, when coming to metaphors. 

*By emphasizing the effect culture has on metaphors and how they are shaped, it becomes more evident how cautious metaphors can be, and the basis of what they are. 

*Showing how religion effects different views on main metaphors that apply to a culture as a whole, but not a sub-culture- shows how they are processed differently, or eliminated from one's beliefs. 

Questions:

*Although a culture can view a metaphor with similarity, these are differences as well, w/o being a subculture. What about individuals, do they apply to this?

Ch.6 Ontological Metaphors

Main Points:

*Ontological metaphors: ways of viewing events activities, emotions, ideas-as entities and substances.

*more than viewing/creating metaphors based off of orientation.

*Experiences as objects/substances makes it easier to pick out details of experiences-viewing them as entities and substances.

*when not tied together, we have broader views.

*By categorizing things as entities, it allows us to "refer to it, quantify it, identify a particular aspect of it, see it as a cause, act with respect to it, and perhaps even believe that we understand it."(26)

*helps one deal rationally with experiences.

Insights:

*By describing metaphors as "objects" they give diff. interpretations of metaphorical examples, showing "what the mind is"(28)-allowing to focus on diff. mental views through experiences. 

*Describing the nature of ontological metaphors-more clear how taken as self evident rather than metaphorically.

*Container metaphors-how people view things.

*These kinds of examples made everything more clear.

Ch. 7 Personification

Main Points:

*Personification-type of ontological metaphors.

*physical objects as human/people

*by viewing physical objects as humans, experiences can be related "with nonhuman entities in terms of human motivations, characteristics, and activities."(33)

*Personification, not all the same.

*different for the aspects of people who are picked out for certain metaphors.

Insights:

*Examples shown in this section made it clear that w/ these personification metaphors, we are seeing non human things as human.

*After reading this section it became clear w/ the examples and explanations that although personification is quite general, it "covers a very wide range of metaphors, each picking out different aspects of a person or ways of looking at a person."

Questions:

*Better examples?

Ch.8 Metonymy

Main Points:

*unlike personification, were no humans are really being referred to.

*Using one entity to refer to another in relation to each other-Metonymy

*Metaphor and metonymy have differences.

*metaphor conceives things in terms of another

*metonymy us primary function of a metaphor, must understand it.

Insights:

*Example of Picasso gave better understanding to how metonymic concepts work.

*Explanation of both metaphors/metonymic concepts-give better understanding of similarities and differences.

*Both grounded from experience.

Questions:

*"Symbolic metonymies are critical links between everyday experience and the coherent metaphorical systems that characterize religions and cultures."(40)

* What does this quote mean? Trying to say?

Ch. 9 Challenges to Metaphorical Coherence

Main Points:

*Come from "coherent systems in terms of which we conceptualize our experience."(41)

*People become incoherent with metaphors a lot. Book finds they are not incoherent at all.

*Apparent metaphorical contradiction 

*"front to back organization"

*Coherence versus consistency.

*more involved with coherence then consistency.

Insights:

*Section made evident that "metaphorical concepts are defined in terms of concrete images, but in terms of more general/categories, like passing."(45)

*better explains nature of metaphors, how they work and why.

Questions:

*The diagrams, how do they work?

*Does culture effect consistency and coherence of these metaphors?

Ch. 10 Some Further Examples

Main Points:

*Section "Claims" "that metaphors partially structure our everyday concepts and that this structure is reflected in our literal language."(46)

*Gives examples to further prove points.

*Examples w/ a metaphor and lists of ordinary expressions-"special cases of metaphor."(46)

*Literal Expressions

*Idioms

*fit into metaphors/part of everyday life.

Insights:

*Examples give further explanation and support to their beliefs on metaphors.

*Last couple of examples-"speech formulas/fixed-form expressions"-show how much a metaphor functions in our everyday life.

*everything metaphorically structured.

Ch.11 The Partial Nature of Metaphorical Structuring

Main Points:

*There are many metaphors to the concepts.

*Foundation/outer shell-expressions metaphorical concept-part of every day language and theories.

*All examples showed they were to show that "general metaphorical concepts are figurative."(53)

*no expressions are literal, only part is normal.

*Metaphorical concepts/systems

*separate; idiosyncratic metaphorical expressions.

*not used systematically- FOOT of a mountain... Example.

Insights:

*giving examples of "idiosyncratic, unsystematic, and isolated."(55) forms of metaphors helped me better understand the difference between the metaphors that work in a systematic way, and those that don't.

*Explanation of only part metaphorical was better understood with examples and further explanations.

Questions:

*"Theories are buildings", what exactly does this mean? The way they state it is confusing...

*"Phrasal Lexion" what does that mean?

Ch.12 How is Our Conceptual System Grounded?

Main Points:

*"Most of our normal conceptual system is metaphorically structured; that is, most concepts are partially understood in terms of other concepts."(56)

*Grounding of Conceptual System

*lots of examples of concepts "we live by in the most fundamental way."(57)

*Thought relative through gravitational field we live in--based off of spherical being and culture.

*EVERY EXPERIENCE

*systematic correlates-(58)

*Emergent metaphors/emergent concepts.

Insights:

*This section portrayed the importance of experience.

*Physical objects=basis of metonymy.

*"correlations in our experiences between two physical entities."

*Explanation of basic ontological metaphors--brought together by "systematic correlates within our experience."(58)

*Example: Visual Field Container 

Questions:

*What exactly are "the domains" of certain experiences?

*Is it okay to conceptualize our experiences or does that mess things up?

*"Is it possible to have equally..."(60)

*does that mean no?

Ch.13 The Grounding of Structural Metaphors

Main Points:

*"structural metaphors provide the richest source of elaboration."(61)

*"allow us to use highly structured and clearly delineated concept to a structure another."(61)

*Talks about stances of arguments using three diff. examples.

*show that how we bring about an argument is formed out of the grounding of our knowledge and experience.(physical combat)

*proves it is through experience/culture

*all examples deal with "cultural grounding" within ones experiences.

Insights:

*By giving the three examples with explanations they use diff examples to portray same message describing the grounding of structural metaphors. Providing diff. examples helped define that, better.

*Comparing structural metaphors to orientational/ontological metaphors, it became evident that they all involved and were "grounded in systematic correlation with in our experience."(61)

Questions:

*What does conception hold? Just knowledge and experience?

*Why use argument as first example? What were they trying to portray?

Metaphors from the week:

*"it's GOOD you are here."-orientational 

*"I love you so MORE"-orientational

*"It was hard to get that across to her the other day."-Conduit

*"Don't force me into your ideas."-Conduit

*"Get up!"-orientational

*"Elena has been really down lately."-Orientational

*"The ugly side of her comes out when she does not get her way."-ontological

*"She sees drugs as the solution to her problems."-ontological 

*"My fact argues with hers, that drugs are not the solution."-personification

*"The tiredness finally caught up with me."-personification

*"Yeah, she is in tennis."-Metonymy 

*"My boyfriend is not pleased with short skirts."-metonymy

AfterForeword

“For example, the metaphor Affection is Warmth arises from the common experience of a child being held affectionately by a parent.” Page 256

~ I like the idea that metaphors are already instilled in us ever since we were born. We were learning how to connect two words and create wonderful language alongside our first bruises and scars, alongside our first crushes and first tantrums.

“Since the mechanism of metaphor is largely unconscious, we will think and speak metaphorically whether we know it or not. Further, since our brains are embodied, our metaphors will reflect our commonplace experiences in the world.” Page 257

~This basically means all of us have the capability to spout off basic poetry, imagery and descriptive language.

“In a metaphor, there are two domains: the target domain, which is constituted by the immediate subject matter, and the source domain, in which important metaphorical reasoning takes place and…” Page 265

~I like how the author himself uses a metaphor by explaining a metaphor. It proves that you can’t escape the word itself and that we need it to get our points across in order to communicate better.

Questions about the Afterword:

• How can a Projection metaphor be a metaphor?
• How can a Mathematical metaphor be a metaphor?
• Is it because they represent something real? Describe something tangible by using other materials such as maps and overhead images?

Foreword:
“TIME IS MONEY…They are metaphorical since we are using our everyday experiences with money, limited resources and valuable commodities to conceptualize time.”
~This shows how metaphors have integrated themselves into our daily lives and making us use them without us even knowing.

Thanks for the help Gabe!!!

In our first project, I included many aspects of my life that made me the person I am today. I talked about relationships with my family members that shaped who I am. As well, I talked about the places I have lived in, and the place I someday hope to live. This project gave readers a view into my life through poems, papers, and a speech. I also let people into certain things that happed in my life that have really made me; me. Such as divorce, being in the middle class, and always having two houses to choose from, I think that all these things shaped my personality to the how it is today. This project got a little crazy because it mocks styles of Brathwaite, Friere, and Viswanathan. I believe the readers of this project can really see who I am as a person and how I became that way.
BRAINSTOM!!! BRING AN UMBRELLA! (wow that was really cheesy)
• Write some pomes about my parents to mimic Brathwaite
• Break apart words to make puns
• Add some symbols that are meaningful
• Include a mock speech so mimic Friere
• Act like this speech would be delivered
• Establish an actual voice
• Add insights about divorce and other background info, to mimic Viswanathan
• So into how divorce affect children
• Talk about the suburbs vs. the big city
• Just really feel this project rather than literally think everything through

Abstraction

Abstract:
This writing explores the events, places, and people that surround the author and how these factors effect him every day. The writing is broken into sections, almost like mini-chapters, and covers a variety of topics: his father's birth in Mexico, the strange murders around his hometown, his grandfather's involvement in the navy...and more. Some sections use pictures in conjunction with words, while some sections are just pictures or, in one case, a newspaper clipping from when he was briefly employed by Chicago Sun Times' High School Sports section. The writing is at times juvenile and at times almost incomprehensible, such as when he describes birth and death in various forms. The writing shows what he feels about certain things and was written to try and understand the “why”s and the “how”s surrounding his thinking. In some ways, the paper was made to be written more so than read.

Brainstorming:

Jobs, paid and nonpaid
Lies, why were they lies, why were they said
Pore into old photo albums, even from before I was born
Ask parents questions
Ask myself questions
Go home
Go through old notebooks
Revise, revise, revise
Look for old newspapers
Clean under bed.

.:Abstract:.

This written testimony takes a psychoanalytic look into the life of Elise Houge. Much of the focus involves unearthing specific forces that influenced her interests, personality and behavior. Both her parent's distinct upbringings are looked at as they pertain to the parenting style used on Elise. Their personalities will also be analyzed and compared with Elise's today to determine the extent to which they truly influenced her. Major events in her life will be touched on with detailed explanations of how they made an impact on her. Being an only child for the first five years of life, living in an older neighborhood, her summers spent in rural Iowa and the District 150 school system are studied to see what importance they made on Elise in her early childhood stage. Looking on to her adolescent stage, moving away and going to a new school are again events that will show reason for her personality. This process will overall give psychological proof to the fact that Elise's early influences made a lasting effect on not only her personality but her view of life.

.:Brainstorms:.

Houge's vs Kings
Mennonite vs Lutheran
Mom and Dad both introverts, nonsocial
Games/Toys I had
First born
Parents delt with food
Problems in school system
Church youth
Body issues
Peoria to Germantown Hills
8th grade year
Depression?
cross country in high school
Teachers I loved

.:Aides:.

Prayer of Protection
Newspaper articles
Pictures
Song lyrics
Peoria Public Schools
and demographics
Metamora-Germantown schools
and demographics
Academic writing for the conclusions on personality

Goals

My goal for this project is to not focus on myself but focus on the things that surround my life. I was to put emphasis on others who make me who I am. Not only that, but past situations that created me. This project will show the good and the bad that make me different. I am making it in the form of a scrape book because I absolutely love pictures, and I want to make it colorful. I am searching online for information on my hometown and family history. Some of my family history is bleak, but I think it is an important part of who I am. Not only that, but talk about my old jr. high and high school because that is the age when your influenced the most. I like the fact that this isn't a normal paper becuase it gives the chance to be creative.


Brain storming

Family Murder
Family Suicide
alcoholics
my mother
my brothers
friends
high school
hometown
boyfriend
golden apple
a little bit about who i became from all these influences

No internet jack until now.

why why why don't computers like me

My goal for this organized mess, or project, is to show why I am the way I am. I plan on making a ring of notecards. They will talk about my families past, my towns past, and things that have influenced me throughout the ages. It will probably be kind of hard though because I have lived a pretty normal life. I will really have to dig deep to remember past experiences. I hope to discover bits and pieces about myself that I had not thought about before. I want to see how where I come from really shaped me. How my family really shaped me. I am going to seek the help of online search engines, articles, newspapers, whatever can help, and use them to my advantage. This should be an interesting project in the fact that it is not a normal paper but pieces slapped together in a completely different fashion then what I am used to.

Brainstorming:

history of hometown
-why the name change
families, friends, pets
my high school
-influencial teachers
money
bipolerness
honesty
song lyrics that inspired me perhaps
local newspaper

its a start i guess

My goal for this project is to show how my world got formed from all different views of my family. Since my grandpa is 100% Finnish my world will have a big Finnish influence. I plan on making it almost like a scarp book of letters. My great grandpa will his story of being in Finnland and all the issues of living over there what was going on and why her came here to America. Then I will talk about my Grandpa and his life, what impacted it/ shaped it. Then I will do my moms side and talk about how my grandpa went to war, and how my Grandma is very resourceful and doesn’t waste a thing because she grew up during the great depression on a farm in South Dakota. Then to my parents and siblings. I will end my paper at our trip to Finland, where we went this summer to learn about our heritage. I feel like it will tie everything together.

Brain storming
I made listes of big things that happened in my life
And my parents
Wars
Depression
Family deaths
Family member in the army
Cancer
Moving
And ect

gay gay computers

I live a pretty boring life. I have a family, we are well off, i went to a good school, i was in cheerleading for 10 years, i have a great boyfriend, and i also have great friends. with saying this what does one write about in a story about her life. Just that i guess, ill write about being normal, leading a boring life, and how greatful that i am not living a horrible life. I would like to write things about me that i myself did not even know, get more in touch with my inner self.


BRAIN STORMING.
stupid dad

grandparents in the Korean war

Changing friends,schools, life

Best friend leaving me

my boyfriend and i first meeting

Cheerleading for 10 years and how hard that was

Wanting to have a good future

Abstract

This project contains materials that are very much suitable for children, materials such as information about Mindanao, the third main island of the Philippines, some of the exotic Filipino cuisines, other Filipino traditions such as asking for blessings from elders, things that will underline my own ethnicity and eventually explain my own individuality.

Some of the methods I might include are :

• Sprinkling a couple of Filipino words here and there
• Use pictures of Filipino food and other such practices throughout the project
• Use a poem Brathwaite-style
• Write a section of the project Eagleton style
• Some of Philippine's history under the rule of the Spaniards in a basic language
• List some of my stressors, pet peeves, quirks, hopes and dreams
• Use stars, lots of stars.

The Shapping of Laura

Laura's life from the outside looks pretty typical, in reality....it is pretty typical. She went through the same struggles any other child did and had family problems and baggage as does everyone else. She was born into this world too soon, her body wasnt fully formed and she had no stomach. Until this day she still under-gos surgeries and persedures to correct her body.
Laura was also born into an etreamly tense atmosphere. Her older brother was dieing, her father was cheating and doing drugs.
Life was sad and tough until it ws discovered she had depression, OCD and Tourette's syndrom. After that was discovered life become much easier with the help of medications.
She grew up in an extremly conservative, italian family where everyone knows everything about everyone. There is no such thing as an immideate family in her family. If you have her blood your immediate and you feel the need to state your opion to everyone else as well as talk over them at the same time. There is only one exceptable opoion in her family, you are italian, you are catholic, you are republican. If you violate these, you have to face Grandma.
High School was the highlight of her life, countless friends, sports, family, everything for the most part was going her way, minus the never ending medical concerns. Hiding these concerns from everyone became a burden and was painful. Excuses of twitches and fliches became a normal part of her life.

Brianstorming:
How I was born
brothers death
fathers drugs
growing up in an extremely conservative, italian family. not allowed own views.
constant medical concerns
constant surgeries
how being in the hospital growing up has changed my outlook
how having Tourettes has shapped my personality and outlook
how hard coming out and telling people about my tourettes is

Computer was Having Issues

Abstract: In order to analyze Katie Holbrook's life, one must draw, and often muddle, through years of simplicity, of youth, to those of heartbreak and disappointment. Her life as a young child was almost pristine, loving parents, close relationship with her two sisters and eleven cousins, but there is more than meets the eye, because few people could possibly fathom her hardships, and this paper analyzes her journey as a person, from battling thyroid cancer at 13, twelve neurosurgeries and weeks totaling months in hospitals, 4.5 years of depression and a constant series of disappointments, until now, a moody but generally well-adjusted person. The story draws through her ancestry, from her mother’s parents’ marriage at 18 with very little money to her father’s father building his house on his own to his death by bone marrow cancer when she was 5. Her story also draws towards the present, having been exposed to many cultures by friends of different ethnicities and an underlying feeling of blandness.

Brainstorming:
-thyroid diagram
-cultural influences: Indian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Ukrainian.
-middle child traits
-depression studies
-neurological diagrams
-medical research

hmmm still working on the title...

Abstract:

Kayla Montagano's world seems pretty peaceful from the outside. Average sized house, two little dogs, a family who loves her unconditionally. But Tinley Park is home to one of the worst murders of year, the Lane Bryant murders. That one February everything changed her quiet town. People were crying and staying inside, for the murderer is still at large to this very day. Tinley Park was in shambles and is still trying to pick itself up. This project is going to look into what really happened that day and how it changed many people's lives. It will hopefully be written similar to the way Braithwaite writes and will describe how I lived my life before and after this incident. It is a big part of my community now and it is important for me to get the story out. I think people should know that something like this could happen to any little town. In addition to writing aboutt his tragedy, I am going to look into my family's history and background and give some details about my childhood as well. I will also, describe other significant things in my hometown, hopefully no more bad because there are many good things that go on there too. My main goal is for people to get to know me and where I came from by reviewing this project.

Brainstorming:

newspapers about my family
newspapers about the Lane Bryant murders
newspapers about my town's history
the infamous (at least in my hometown) sketch of the suspected killer
family interviews
web sites
possibly song lyrics
Brathwaite's writing structure

Their Time and Mine

In a search to discover what people and events made Aaron Lankster who he is at the present time, he retells events before his birth that helped shape who his parents were. He then moves on to examine the lives of his close family, and how their dailey struggles witih poverty and inner demons affected him, as well as the sacrifice and indurance they went through in their endeaver to raise him the best they could. Eventually his parents' fighting grew worse and more frequent, and the stress grew so high that they divorced, each struggling for years to reestablish their lives, all the while passing their son between one broken home and another. The mother finds happiness with the marriage of another man, but the father continues to search until the day he dies, on September 12th, 2001. Shortly before the father's death, Lankster's mother has a child, and then two years later another, causing another shift in his life as he struggles to adjust to two new children and a strained relationship with his step-father. The story finishes with Lankster coming to terms with his new family. Set in rural illinois from the early 1990's until the late 2000's.

Brainstorming
Twin's death, impact on parents
father, mother working hard jobs
father's death
bitter grandmother who pushes everybody away
Mother's marriage
strained relationship with step-father
two little sisters causing stress
teachers who influenced my thinking
Loving aunts and uncles and summers spent with them

it's weird to be home for the weekend

Stephen Stanger grew up normally. He grew up in the normal suburbs of Chicago in a normal house with a normal picket fence. His family was normal and his friends were normal. In this environment Stephen Stanger lived a normal life. In this paper Stephen Stanger writes about his experiences with "normal" and how unnatural the idea of "normal" is. Through multiple sources of media and language he pays homage to the people and places that have impacted his life, and also criticizes the "norm" in which he grew up in.

Brainstorming-

Music as an educational tool
Problems with education- Falling into theory, -F (guy) forgot his name
Highschool was not educational
Independence in London
Independence in drum corps
Most of learning was outside of the classroom
Include a "soundtrack" cd
Include Birthday cards, notes, letters
Place footnotes at the bottoms of included outside texts
Come up with catchy title
Stop thinking of this as a paper and more so as a project
Use music- How?
Write on staff paper?
Be completely honest
Criticize Craig- Doesnt teach how, only what

Narrow this thing down.
It's way to broad. My life has been impacted by so much.

find a theme or motif and go with it.

Abstract

Abstract:
Everyday surroundings don’t appear to be of much significance when looking at the aspects of Mackenzie Monahan’s personality. However, by taking a closer look into her world, insight into who she truly is can be slowly unraveled. Everything from the small town of Morris in the middle of cornfield wasteland to the dysfunctional family that she would not change for anything has built the mold for the person she is at the current moment. The stubborn Irish blood that flows through her will always remain, but uncontrollable events will change who she is. The many different elements of her personality shine through the writing style and language she uses. The randomness of her writing may appear to be disorganized and chaotic, but it directly reflects the unpredictable life that is college. Through her writing, Mackenzie not only gives the reader insight into her life, but she also discovers pieces of herself that she did not recognize previously.

Brainstorming:
Recent deaths
Interesting aspects of Morris...could be impossible
Explain relationship between me and family
Reflect on grade school and high school
Research different language
Find ideas from inclass texts
Background of Irish heritage
Loss of Grandmother, injuries, losing friends, changes of college

Abstract

Abstract:
This project will give me a better look at where I came from and what has shaped me to be the person I am today. Through research on my cultural, ecological, religious, geographical, and familial history I hope to get a better understanding of my past through my parent's and grandparent's history as well. I plan on finding information on life in the Midwest suburbs from 1990 to present time, and using that to relate to my personal life. I also want to incorporate information I find on larger families and the effect that has on the upbringing of children. I'm going to include research on families with mixed religious backgrounds, considering my mother comes from a Jewish family and my father a Catholic one. In this project, I also want to emphasize on the effect that parent's relationship has on their children through research on family studies.

Brainstorming.....
Separation
Cheating
Generations
Interfaith marriage
Large families
Suburbs
Gambling
Alcoholism
Skokie, IL
Politics
Money
War
Guilt
Excuses

It leads everywhere. Get out your notebook. There's more

ABSTRACT: Using the form of a daily newspaper, the agricultural, ecological, and cultural events in a small Midwest farming town will be explored. Also, events and happenings in the outside political, social, and economical factors will be examined to see how small town life is effected indirectly or directly with global life.
Hopefully, by using the newspaper form, an easier to understand flow will be achieved. Hopefully, with the addition of graphics, pictures, layout, and this story type information will be a bit easier to understand and digest. Also, by using this format, I hope to put more of a creative twist on something. By taking this approach I have actually become excited by the outcome. I only hope that the finished product is at least a tenth of what I want it to be, for my limited layout skills and even more limited resources make it a tiny bit difficult. Here’s to hoping.

Overpopulation
Immigration
Alzheimer’s
Political scandals
Religion
War
Scholarships
Plays
Tornado
County fairs
Teachers
People
Corn

ABSTRACT 2

my bad, I did not finish brainstorming, I need to add a few! :]

-- Family life

--My mom, beliefs-- how she acted

--Dad

--Rules grown up with

--Expectations

--Schools I went to/cliques/friends/difference between all of them

--movies/why famous then? What impact?

ABSTRACT!!

Abstract;; I am not sure to which extent this would be considered a paper? Although I am not sure how I am going to compose this project, I do know that it will show the impact of the life around me as a whole. From the day I was born, till now as I sit writing this blog entry. Even though this is not a biography of my life, it connects me to the world I was born into, and how it relates to me as a whole. I plan to take bits and pieces of life around me from the year 1989 till present. With this information comes an impact, that both consciously and unconsciously made me who I am today. I think of myself as the center piece on a table, bringing the whole table together just by one decoration in the middle. That is me, I hold my own world together all by myself, by bringing "decoration" to my world, making me who I am today, because of the things around me. I am the center piece.

brainstorming ideas;;

-Agriculture of my time--1989-present

-Famous people, how they affected me?

    -- What scandals/rumors were going on?

-9/11--impact on everyone around me/myself.

-surroundings I grew up in;;Chicago/Naperville/Geneva/Aurora

     --Environment

     --Animal life

     --political issues

     --Murders--Lisowski family, effect on Aurora, IL

     --Divorces 

     --Family/friend deaths

-Money

-"Status Quo"-- expected/stereotypes of my time. 

--How do these all tie together!?

    --They make me WHO I AM today.

The Spark of It

ABSTRACT: This document explores the life of Andrew Terleckyj's grandmother Irene. Spanning from the day she was born to the present day, this exploration takes a journey through challenges in life, immigration, adaptation, and parenting -- each stage separate and yet intertwined. Every 'chapter' and/or story follows a brief history or insight into the specific genre the story falls under, beginning with Irene's life in Ukraine. A history of the time proceeds her tales and helps identify the origins of certain struggles. In addition, this biography follows a "fan" like structure in which a story is interrupted by another until the piece 'fans inward' and reaches a central story -- the story of Andrew's grandmother as a grandmother. This specific account is told in full, without interruption. Afterwards, the biography 'fans out' and the previous stories are concluded. The result is a direct relation and impact to Andrew's world as he knows it. A realization is made that connects the life of Irene to the life of Andrew which, in turn, shows how her stories have instilled a timeless mark -- a mark that will remain in his heart forever.

NOTES:

-interview my grandmother

-interview my mother

-find articles about Ukraine at the time of my grandmother (or ask her as well)

-find effects of immigration to family life (i.e. jobs, parenting, etc.)

-include my prayer blog

-write a conclusion or wrap up

-use databases at library (also definitely Google)

MAY NOT GET WHAT I NEED FROM LIBRARY IN TIME!!!

-jot down experiences with grandmother

-find times where she got angry or sad

-take notes on patterns over the years

-draw a picture on paint to possibly include in my final "story"

-find information on discrimination in relation to immigration

(possibly focusing on UKRAINE)

-research the plants in my grandma's garden

-possibly track religion throughout her life and find out why it proved to be of such strong importance

-RELIGION! See its importance in immigration

-see beginning of Christianity in Ukraine possibly

Abstract

This paper provides a look at my world from different perspectives and different angles. The history of my town is analyzed, my parent's past is looked at and also key figures and events that played a role in who I am as a person are evaluated. Different forms of writing are used in this paper such as poetry, academic writing and prose. Different voices are also used to show different aspects of my life, such as the voice of my mother and father. The voice of my mother is important because the pain she suffered through is portrayed in this paper. This is an in-depth look of my life using varying techniques making it more interesting to read. There is a lot of focus on my hometown; the nature and ecology of it, the people, and also the small town atmosphere is really looked at closely and related to how it makes up me. 

brainstorming:

research hometown

history of it 

history of my family-grandfather, grandmother

pick out who is really important in my life

family, friends, coaches

sorrows and bad times in my life 

academic types of writing

Anna Fogel