Dialectic Journal 3

Chapter 31
P. 327: "I was trying to make my mouth say I would do the right thing and the clean thing, and go and write to that nigger's owner and tell where he was; but deep down in me I knowed it was a lie, and He knowed it. You can't pray a lie—I found that out.”

Comments and Questions
I find it interesting that Huck still believes that the right thing is to tell Jim's owner about him as if she truly had possession over him. I also am wondering how did Huck find out that you can't pray a lie. I suppose maybe he just meant its just pointless because god can see into your heart and mind and truly know what you want. One part of Huck wants to leave that note because of the society he has been brought up in, however the new him that has developed along his journey knows that it would be wrong, that's probably why he can't get himself to do it, or even ask God to have him do it.

Chapter 34
P. 356: “What a head for just a boy to have! If I had Tom Sawyer's head I wouldn't trade it off to be a duke, nor mate of a steamboat, nor clown in a circus, nor nothing I can think of.”

Comments and Questions
It kind of surprises me that after all Huck has been through he still wants to be like Tom. Huck has gone back to the person he was because Tom is there, and he doesn't give himself enough credit. I also find interesting, and a wise decision on Huck's part that he would rather have knowledge and wisdom then riches or authority. It shows how Huck has matured over time, and shows what he really values.

Chapter 35
P. 369: “Prisoners don't have geese running around the donjon-keep to pull pens out of, you muggins. They always make their pens out of the hardest, toughest, troublesomest piece of old brass candlestick or something like that they can get their hands on; and it takes them weeks and weeks and months and months to file it out, too, because they've got to do it by rubbing it on the wall. They wouldn't use a goose-quill if they had it. It ain't regular.”

Comments and Questions
This passage helps shows how Tom Sawyer works. Tom bases almost all his actions on books and how they need to be similar to the ways of the books otherwise they are wrong. Huck on the other hand doesn't read and just makes his decisions in the spur of the moment and doesn't really care how things get done as long as they do get done. So far in the book Huck's method is quite a bit more efficient while Tom's is just unnecessary.

Chapter 38
P. 401: “Yes—easy enough. Every animal is grateful for kindness and petting, and they wouldn't think of hurting a person that pets them. Any book will tell you that. You try—that's all I ask; just try for two or three days. Why, you can get him so in a little while that he'll love you; and sleep with you; and won't stay away from you a minute; and will let you wrap him round your neck and put his head in your mouth.”

Comments and Questions
This is another example on how Tom bases his actions on books, and how it's not really needed. After though I found out that Huck and Tom represent the two sides of the south. Tom represents the sophisticated and educated side that was the side who helped cause the civil war becaus they wanted to keep their slaves and continue making a bunch of money. Huck on the other hand represents the majority of the south, the ones who are broke and uneducated and were the ones who fought for the rich people of the south.

Chapter 39
P. 408: "“But Tom said all women was just so. He said they was made that way for some reason or other.”

Comments and Questions
This passages helps show the roles of women during this age. The aunt kept freaking out about animals in the house because like most women during this time they stayed and kept the house in order. Of course if creatures were in a woman's house today like a snake then she would freak out, however the aspect of a woman staying home has changed over time and isn't nearly as common as it was back then.

Chapter 42
P. 437: “Then they all agreed that Jim had acted very well, and was deserving to have some notice took of it, and reward. So every one of them promised, right out and hearty, that they wouldn't cuss him no more.”

Comments and Questions
I find this to be just horrible. Jim a slave went on and did something good in the eyes of the people and they decide to show their appreciation they would not cuss at him, but it would still be ok to treat him like a prisoner of war and cuff him and not give him a good meal.This just truly shows how horrible African Americans were treated during this time. It makes me wonder if we hacpve given enough appreciation to people. Perhaps this isn't an act of racism maybe it's just human nature to temporarily treat heroes good for a portion of time and then go back to treating them like dirt. Like the Vietnam war vets for example. When they got home we spat treated them awfull especially the hippes who thought they were monsters yet they were just following orders. We treated them bad because they were different, some were drunks and other were drifters yet they still deserved to be treated like heroes but they weren't. This is probably because its human nature to so this, and I don't think this is a habit we are going to break.

They Say I Say exercise 2

1st Summary

David Zinczenko believes that there are no healthy alternatives to fast food restaurants. Personally I question this statement because I do believe there are ways of avoiding obesity even if you don't have that much money. An example of an alternative to fast food restraints is Subway. Subway is a sandwitch restaurant that has been known to be a healthy solution to the problem of obesity, and it really isn't that expensive. Reaffirming the idea that there are healthy substitutions for fast food restaurants is the idea that the family shouldn't eat out at all. It's much cheaper to just eat at home with home cooked meals then going out to a restaurant every night wasting money on gas driving around all the time, and wasting money on junk food. If a family believes they cannot afford healthy groceries then they should join a program that provides them with the fruits and vegetables they need for no cost. In conclusion there are options other then going out for fast food and I implore you to explore them.

2nd Summary
Obesity is a common thing in our country today, and manny question whether being overweight is a medical problem. I support the idea that it is a medical problem. Being overweight can cause people to be less active, be less happy, and can lead to manny serious health problems such as diabetes or a heart attack. Manny would contradict this statement by saying being overweight is not a medical problem because being overweight by itself doesn't cause death. I renounce this by saying what kind of long life would that be though being obese unable to do so manny things and being at major risk of having a heart attack, a stroke, or even cancer. In conclusion obesity is an unhealthy thing that plagues our nation and I encourage people to stay away from it.

Dialectic Journal 2

Chapter 16
P. 141: “It most froze me to hear such talk. He wouldn't ever dared to talk such talk in his life before. Just see what a difference it made in him the minute he judged he was about free.”

Comments and Questions
This passage shows how freedom can truly change a person's personality. Jim, and ordinary slave lived his whole life not really standing up to people and doing what he's told because he was a slave. But when he was given freedom the person inside him was let out making him a more courageous person. I wonder what kind of person would come out of me if I was a slave then suddenly free.
Also I believe the purpose of this passage is to help explain some human behaviors.

Chapter 17
P. 158: “It didn't have an iron latch on the front door, nor a wooden one with a buckskin string, but a brass knob to turn, the same as houses in town.”

Comments and Questions
This passage and this chapter altogether help show the other side of the south during this time period. There was the side that had been previously explored quite a bit which was he side that was dirt poor, then there was the rich side where there were people that owned huge plantations with a bunch of slaves. One of the main things in the passage that shows this difference is Huck being fascinated by a door knob. I think a door knob is definelty something we all take for granted but I definelty think its better then a latch. I wonder if more the novel will go deeper into the lives of the rich during this time period.

Chapter 19
P. 195: “It didn't take me long to make up my mind that these liars warn't no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds. But I never said nothing, never let on; kept it to myself; it's the best way; then you don't have no quarrels, and don't get into no trouble.”

Comments and Questions
This passage shows how Huck is beginning to mature. He of course knew the king and duke were frauds but instead of creating a fight or telling Jim he just kept it to himself. I'm not very sure if Huck would have done that in the beginning of the book especially if he was in the group of pirates with Tom Sawyer. Perhaps he's finally become above Tom and now he no longer lives in his shadow like he did in the beginning of the book. But the question is if he had seen Tom again right then would he stand strong like the person he has become, or would he revert to hi original self?

Chapter 22
P. 228: “The pitifulest thing out is a mob; that's what an army is—a mob; they don't fight with courage that's born in them, but with courage that's borrowed from their mass, and from their officers. But a mob without any man at the head of it is beneath pitifulness. Now the thing for you to do is to droop your tails and go home and crawl in a hole. If any real lynching's going to be done it will be done in the dark, Southern fashion; and when they come they'll bring their masks, and fetch a man along.”

Comments and Questions
This passage addresses a conflict in the book, and what makes an army. The conflict in the book shown here is the conflict between the North and the South. The authors tone and attitude towards the South, implies that they are tough and a lot more tough then the South. Also he talks about how an army is a mob. I find it ironic how the author has these things so closely together because soon there is going to be a war between the North and South with 2 "mobs" fighting each other. Perhaps that's what the author saw the civil war as, 2 "mobs" fighting each other. I wonder if that's true.

Chapter 23
P. 238: “Well, that's what I'm a-saying; all kings is mostly rapscallions, as fur as I can make out.”

Comments and Questions
Huck believes that Kings are nothing more then rapscallions. He also believes that the man who is pretending to be a King really isn't that different from a real one. They're both greedy, they both lie, and they both are rapscallions. I believe Huck believes that all kings are like that because,  during this time period the South sees the North as kings. In the southerners minds they're the ones in charge and are being oppressive of the south.

Chapter 26
P. 268: “Honest injun, now, hain't you been telling me a lot of lies?”

Comments and Questions
This is one of the first times someone has been this close to finding out Huckelberry is lying. Before Huck had been so smooth and was able to not be discovered until now. For whatever reason, the people Huck is with now are throwing off his game. I wonder why that is?

Chapter 28
P. 293: “I'm afraid it ain't there no more. I'm awful sorry, Miss Mary Jane, I'm just as sorry as I can be; but I done the best I could; I did honest. I come nigh getting caught, and I had to shove it into the first place I come to, and run—and it warn't a good place.”

Comments and Questions
This is probably the first time Huck has told the truth ending one of his schemes. Earlier in the book Huck was so cold hearted he didn't even tell the truth to an old lady willing to help him. The girls Huck has meet has caused him to tell the truth and be sorry he had lied. This shows how during the book Huck has matured and changed for the better. The question is will he go back to his old self, or have the girls changed him and he is going to stay the person e girls turned him into.

Chapter 29
P. 305: “One man asked me if I see the niggers steal it.”

This sentence helps show what people thought of Africn Americans in those days. They truly saw them as lesser people and would automatically assume they had done done the wrong thing that has occurred. The thing is I don't really think this has changed. Manny people still assume an African American has done thing like stealing, because there are manny that do steal. Do you believe differently or do you think this hasn't changed?

They say I say assignment 1

Exercise 1
            Summer homework, is a device used by teachers that can be seen as a nuisance by the students. They see summer homework as a way to keep their students from being sloth and staying educated. However students do not see that summer  is meant for this purpose but is instead meant for a long earned break from school, stress, and the main cause of stress for students, homework. However teachers do not concur with this and give summer homework to keep students thinking. On the contrary students believe that summer homework and homework altogether because manny students like the ones in Finland have gone fine without it is unnecessary. For the truth is teachers believe that summer is becoming obsolete in this new world where a handful of nations have lived on without it. In this essay after analyzing both sides of this issue it can be seen that summer has become obsolete, but while it does exist in our nation, homework during summer is unnecessary. 

Exercise 2

         In the introduction to "They Say/ I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein provide templates to assist students in their writing endeavors. Specifically Graff and Birkenstein argue that the types of writing templates they offer truly assist students in writing and do not take away from their creativity of writing. As the authors themselves put it, " The template only assists in the students writing it doesn't actually do it for them." Although some people believe that in fact it does take away from students creativity and for this reason should not be used, Graff and Birkenstein insit the contrary that it does not take away from the writer's creativity but only assists the writer by giving the creativity the writer has an organized and logical format. In sum, then their view is that templates not only help organize the writers ideas and help them make more sense, but do not take away from the writer's creativity. 

          I agree. In my view the types of templates the authors recommend I believe that they do not take away the writers creative vision for the price of writing, but only enhance it with organization and logic. For instance if I say have an essay do and use a template it just helps with organization so I can focus on bettering the ideas of the essay. In addition I believe templates are a useful device for students that can only help them with their writing skills. Some might object, of course on the grounds that templates do not help people become better writers and only take away from the writer's creativity. Yet I would argue that only the opposite is true and that a template allows a writer to focus less on the format of the writing and more on the ideas. Overall, then, I believe templates are a useful tool for writers that should not be ignored - an important point to make given that the templates that the writer uses does not take away from the writer's creativity. 

Dialectic Journal 1

Chapter 2
P. 20: "Nothing only robbery and murder."

Comments and questions
I believe the reason that Tom wants to go into robbery and "murder" so bad is because he is bored. He has more money then he can spend and he needs something to do that's exciting so he chooses robbery and murder. Of course Tom isn't actually going to do either of these things but he wants to be doing something similar that will occupy his time. I believe Mark Twain is showing how humans pretty much only thrive when they want something, but when they have the ability to get anything they want with ease it causes people like To, to get bored. This is also one of the themes of Huckleberry Finn how humans always have desire.

Chapter 3
P. 24: "She told me to pray every day and anything I asked for I would get it. But it warn't so."

Comments and questions
This passage also expresses the theme of human desire and how humans always want things. I find it interspersing though that in this time period people of this area see god more as a genie then the creator of everything who they are suppose to give thanks to. They probably behave in this way because they are use to not having much to be thankful for because they are in a relatively poor part of the country. This passage shows how this part of the country lives, and how people even like Huck who have a bunch of money always want something.

Chapter 6
P. 43: "The widow she found out where I was by and by, and she sent a man over to try to get hold of me; but pap drove him off with the gun, and it warn't long after that till I was used to being where I was, and liked it—all but the cowhide part."

Comments and questions
In this passage Mark Twain shows how kids at Huckleberry's age would rather have an unstable irresponsible environment then a stable healthy environment which is also a little ironic because his dad beats him as well yet he'd still choose that life over being with the widow. Mark Twain also uses this scenario to show the roles of parents during this time. How fathers would be drunks that beat eir sons and how mothers are stern and try to get their kids to learn about religion.

Chapter 8
P. 76: “Jim said bees wouldn't sting idiots; but I didn't believe that, because I had tried them lots of times myself, and they wouldn't sting me."

Comments and questions
I found this passage to be hilarious and a great example of Mark Twain using humor in his works to get the attention of the audience. Mark Twain has been known to use humor in his other works like his book on Adam and Eve and "The Adventures of Tom Sawer". The passage is funny because Huckleberry thinks that he isn't an idiot and that Jim is wrong about bees not stinging idiots.

Chapter 10
P. 87: “That all comes of my being such a fool as to not remember that wherever you leave a dead snake its mate always comes there and curls around it.”

Comments and questions
People of this time are beginning to understand the environment they live in more because not that long ago the land wasn't even a part of the U.S. I think in this passage the author is also trying to help the audience know how Huckelberry treats Jim (by putting a snake in his bead which could have gotten him killed even though that wasn't his intention. It also shows what African Americans were treated like during this time period as well. But I do believe Huck's view of Jim and African Americans is changing all together.

Chapter 11
P. 93: “The nigger run off the very night Huck Finn was killed. So there's a reward out for him—three hundred dollars. And there's a reward out for old Finn, too—two hundred dollars.”

Comments and questions
I find it interesting how there is a bigger bounty for Jim then there is for Finn. During these times were whites seen as superior to blacks so I find it interesting how they clearly value the life of a slave then a kid. Perhaps it's not the slave they're putting ahead of the kid neccecarily but work getting done because Jim was a valuable strong man who would be a powerful asset to a wealthy farmer of the south during these times.

Chapter 14
P. 126: “It lays in de way Sollermun was raised. You take a man dat's got on'y one or two chillen; is dat man gwyne to be waseful o' chillen? No, he ain't; he can't 'ford it. He know how to value 'em. But you take a man dat's got 'bout five million chillen runnin' roun' de house, en it's diffunt”

Comments and questions
Here Jim makes a good point on how Solomon was raised and how he thinks it affected his judgment. The reality that Jim refused to acct though was that Solomon was never going to kill the kid he just wanted to see who the mother was. However the world Jim grew up in forced him to be stubborn and overlook the facts and automatically assume Solomon is a bad guy because he has power because that is what he was taught. Of course that's because of the time period he is living him that causes him to think this way. Throughout the story though he might begin to widen his view on life though.

Bradley's bio

Hey my name is Bradley Marshall also known as B-rad and I have been going to U-prep since 6th grade. Some ways I like to spend free time include playing tennis, quading, and writing. Some subjects I'm good at are math but a subject I truly enjoy is history. Some strengths I have are I'm fairly honest and some weaknesses I have are that I'm fairly honest. Other things about me include that my favorite movie is the  "Dark Knight Rises" one of my favorite foods is sushi, and my favorite football team is the 49'ers.