Writers Voice

They often employ techniques of narrative.

Throughout the video Saunders uses techniques of narrative, overall the entire video is based off a personal experience and he tells the story of that. He takes a small moment from his childhood and turns it into a life lesson. He states in the video, "Why 42 years later am I still thinking of that? Relative to most of the other kids I was actually pretty nice to her... what I regret most in life are failures of kindness." He says this because he regrets that she never felt loved or cared about. He uses this to explain an act of kindness is much bigger than people think, although he was nice to her that didn't take away from the other people being mean. Saunders is saying that by being mean to people you are not only making them feel bad you are taking away from the kindness they should feel. He states, "Who in your life do you remember most fondly? With the most undeniable feelings of warmth, those who were kindest to you I bet." He says to show how much kindeness means to a person. Although she still felt sad because of the others, his small acts of kindness probably brought her small senses of relief and they probably made her feel good. He regrets that she didn't feel this way all the time and he uses this regret to push him to be even more nicer to everyone every day and he shares that through his narrative.

They exhibit perceptivity. (Show keen insight or understanding)

In the video Saunders talks about how he could see the pain in the girl when people were mean to her at school. He says, "I still remember the way she looked after such an insult, eyes cast down, a little gut kicked, as if having just been reminded of her place, she was trying as much as possible to disappear." He shares this observation of her to get his point across of how people feel when treated poorly. By noticing this, he shows an understanding of how she felt and how awful it is to feel unwanted and insulted. He wants others to notice these things so that they can go and help these people feel better. Saunders wants people to spread kindness to others, not just the people we're friends with but the people who we can see pain in. By spreading kindness to everyone, you are helping to make the world a better place.

They offer surprising information and observations.

The video offers up many different small observations and details about the girl he is talking about. In the video he shares his personal experience about a girl who got bullied in school and he shows how awful people made her feel. One small detail he shares is, " When nervous, which was pretty much always, she had a habit of putting a strand of hair in her mouth and chewing on it." The average person wouldn't notice such a small detail about someone they weren't even close with but he did because he felt bad for her. He wanted her to feel welcome so he was always kind with her. This is surprising because you wouldn't think about how people act when things happen to them or notice such small traits about someone so it is surprising that he was able to notice this and still remember it to this day.

Blog #2 Mrs. Parkinson

In the “Cather in the Rye” I found that the vignette about Holden and his issue with suitcases in chapter 15 was powerful and had great meaning. The Vignette talks about how Holden hates how his roommate has an old cheap suitcase. Holden goes on to talk about how he appreciates when people have nice new suit cases that are genuine and leather; like Holden himself.

 Holden says, “It sounds terrible to say it, but I can even get hate somebody, just looking at them, if they have cheap suitcases with them” (141). Why do you think Holden says this?

Catcher in the Rye Blog

Cather in the Rye 9-10 (Blog Option 1)

The article, “Your Rattle No One Else Can Hear” connects to the baseball mitt in “Catcher in the Rye” because both show a similar underlying connection that only Holden and The women who owns the car can grasp. The rattling car only seems to be heard and bothersome to the women and make her feel unsettled in her life. Holden’s baseball mitt connects to this, because the glove remind him of his brother who passed away. The remembrance of his brother generates a side to Holden, making him feel unsettled and irate just as the Rattling car did to the women.

The author creates a bigger idea in the article by creating a character (women who owns the car) and making them seem stressed and unsettled in a small discussion. He constructs a bigger idea out of this by reflecting back on how people have their own personal problems that are deep and only can be recognized by their self’s. He then goes on to tell about how “a long ago injury” can still cause chronic pain that doesn’t go away.