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In Moran and Camargo’s article entitled “Families share tears, hugs, and words in “Opening the Door of Hope” event at Friendship Park,” authors set up the heartbreaking scene. The authors evoke the feeling of sadness to the readers through emphasizing the time frame, stating specifically 3 minutes, using the picture to convey the hardship and difficulty for the family reunion.

The two authors use a number of quotes to contribute to the accountability and reliability of the story, in addition keeping the readers engaged in the story. This quote really stands out for me, “Rosa Mariscal reunited with her son, who has deported four years ago. ‘I cannot describe the emotions because I was so anxious to see him,’ Mariscal said”. As an international student, we do not always get to see our family, and this is why this quote really touched upon me. A child has not seen his mother for four years, from a mom’s point of view that four years is a long time. A child needs love and care from his mother when he is growing up. In contrast, three minutes is way too short compared to four years. Miss seeing the child for four years is harmful to the kid and the mom’s life mutually. The child lack of motherly love, which could be devastating the mental issues. For a mother, miss seeing the child growing up prevent her from maturing with her child along the way as well as result mental insecurity inside her child.

picture cited

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/north-county/sd-me-friendship-park-20170430-story.html

Families share tears, hugs and words in ‘Opening the Door of Hope’ event at Friendship Park

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-WuCuZ1ynNwY%2FT5_lYhHiJAI%2FAAAAAAAABCY%2Fwf_YzAZknP8%2Fs1600%2FDSC00883_2.JPG&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theodysseyonline.com%2Fsouth-africas-door-hope&docid=7TO-gfmOMnqZRM&tbnid=SOUxyd0FB7GimM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwi8zIu2nOXXAhVh04MKHaHABF4QMwhAKAIwAg..i&w=1600&h=1128&safe=active&bih=904&biw=1029&q=opening%20the%20door%20of%20hope&ved=0ahUKEwi8zIu2nOXXAhVh04MKHaHABF4QMwhAKAIwAg&iact=mrc&uact=8

      They should not be the one      

     Our project is about drug trafficking and the immigration issue. At first, when we picked the topic we thought that drug has influenced people of different ages. And it always addresses to immigration problems. We believe there is a connection between these two problems. During our first meeting, I questioned that the drug traffickers are seeking for the money while the majority of the immigrants are seeking for better life status.  However, what my teammates believe is the undocumented immigrants transfer drug in order to exchange the way to get in the United States illegally. I believe that is the bias most people would have because there are so many stereotype news or articles that brings up misleadings. Through the discussion and talks we had during the meetings, we developed a deeper understanding of each other’s belief. Thus, we built up a stable relationship as a team and a handful of cooperative skills. After analyzing the facts, we found out that the majority undocumented immigrants are not related to drug trafficking. Therefore, we came up with an idea of interviewing other people and see how other people think about the issue of drug trafficking and its relationship to undocumented immigrant

         For each interviewee, we ask them 4 questions and we state some facts to them. The first question is “Do you believe there is a connection between drug trafficking and illegal immigration?” Different interviewees have different perspectives. Some people said they do not believe there is any connection between drug trafficking and illegal immigration, others said they think there are some connections but not one cause to another, and some even said they think immigrants use drug trafficking to exchange the way to get in the United States.

       Depending on the response to the first question, we follow up with different questions based on their answers. In the end, we provide facts and data about how many immigrants are actually involved in drug trafficking. This surprised some of the interviewees and resulted in some thoughts from them. We interviewed 12 people in total, and we narrowed down and picked out some of the good responses.

         After interviewing different people, we draw down the conclusion that most of the people show the biased perspective on this issue due to the misleading of media. They judge the problem subjectively without knowing the truth behind it. Some of them fail to give a reason that supports their ideas. Most of them were shocked by the data that only 17% of immigrants are related to drug trafficking. The number is out of their expectation and refreshed their opinions on it. Also, when we ask them about political question due to the immigration problem, everyone shares their own perspective about the political side, whether agree or disagree, which is interesting to us. Therefore, after the whole talking and questioning, some of them changed their mind about this issue. Most of our interviewees are from out RLC. I believe that by doing this project, we start to draw a lot of people’s attention to this situation. More and more people start to share their personal perspective with us as we were putting the project together. We are going to put the clips together to form a documentary by using iMovie. We are going to publicize this documentary on Youtube and other social media so that more people will have the accessibility to it. Therefore, more and more people are expected to be aware of the dangers drug trafficking brings as well as the importance of looking deeper into the truth before making judgments towards others and other races. We will improve on our side by reading through people’s comments and feedbacks in order to keep an eye on how the world think about our ideas and our researchers.  Overall, the project helped us a lot in the sense of understanding each other as a team as well as embracing other cultures and races in a generous way. We learned to respect each other and listen to each other with different ideas. We developed a stable team spirit as well as a concrete relationship.

        We posted our video on Youtube. We hope our video can reach out to more people, and raise the awareness of this issue. 4 days after we posted our video, our video has about 50 views. We got 9 thumbs up and 7 comments. Most of the viewers think our video refreshes their mind about this issue. Also, for some, who do not understand about this issue, we helped them to start getting to know the truth behind drug trafficking. Also, we are able to refresh their perspectives on the relationship between drug trafficking and undocumented immigration.

Youtube- link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A7b9g3nT8Q&t=39s

After reading through Vargas’ “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant”, I can image how hard it can be for an undocumented immigrant who lives in America. Vargas was a young kid, a boy sent by his mom to America. This diction was not based on Vargas’ will. His mom thinks that he could have a better life in America. In Vargas’ article, he illustrates that in order not to be deported, his grandparents forged green card for him. Being treated differently at the young age, Vargas did not quit. He kept pushing the way through.

One part of the article that stood out to me is Vargas kept follow his dream, the American Dream. He wants to stand out for himself also for many undocumented immigrants like him. Vargas wants to use his voice to convince others to think differently about the undocumented immigrants. Although he presents a weak figure as an undocumented immigrant, he built his inside self as a strong and tough fighter for his own sake. The spirit that in his blood made him eventually “created a good life” and also “lived the American dream”.

Overall, Vargas’ story has a happy ending. His story makes me interpret the life of undocumented immigrants better. Throughout Vargas’ article, I can find some common things that are relevant to me. I came to America when I was 14. At that time I struggled with language just like Vargas. Even a legal immigrant, it is still hard to fit in the societal culture. Compare to the undocumented, I already had a lot of privilege. However, I always bore on the pressure from society. It must be harder for those people to achieve their dream.

Picture cited

http://www.elon.edu/e-net/article/85254

https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-01-18/more-mexicans-are-crossing-border-leave-us-here-s-one-family-s-story

https://www.englishclub.com/learn-english/language-skills.htm

In the last few Chapter of The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea, the heartbreaking scenes emerge to the reader. The tragic stories are full in the context, some immigrants may or may not make it through the desert. As a reader, it is hard to image the pain or suffer that these immigrants went through.

The undocumented immigrants do not have enough basic supply for their travel, most immigrants died in the middle of the road. In order to achieve their dream, the immigrants have to bear the painful outcome. Lots of survivors not only have to go through mental and physical treatment, but they also have to endure assault from the Border Patrol.

 

Later in the book, Urrea depicts how Mendez betrays the immigrants. “The walker did ask Mendez to go for water, but that Mendas rejected all pesos. It was only the long green for Mendez” (Urrea 153). When they were out of water, Mendez took the money from the immigrants and lied about to get water and help. Without any reasons of coming back and helping these immigrants, Mendez left them to die. The action that Mendez did on the immigrants is dehumanization, hard to believe that a human will does such a thing to another.

From my point of view, Mendez’s crime is unforgettable. Mendez only cares about himself and the money, he does not see the immigrants as human beings. In often times, we do not realize how someone’s actions or words can have such a drastic impact on a single individual. Under that circumstances, people should be more united. They cannot turn their own back to another based on their own benefits.

Picture Cited

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/02/middleeast/saudi-yemen-robertson/index.html

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alfredo-j-ramirez/an-open-letter-to-immigra_b_9191416.html

http://newsfirst.lk/english/2014/07/group-illegal-aliens-sri-lanka-caught-entering-america-mexico/46930

In the first chapter of The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea, the author demonstrates the difficult circumstances that these undocumented immigrants have to face. The undocumented immigrants have to cross the desert to reach to the “wonderland”. By beginning with a despair description of immigrants’ condition on the road, the author shows that how desperate they want to seek for a better life.

 

In order to let the reader to put themselves in these undocumented immigrants’ shoes, in the first paragraph the author states “One of them wandered back up a peak, one of them was barefoot. They were burned nearly black, their lips huge and cracking, what paltry drool still available to them spuming from their mouths in a salty foam as they walked”(Urrea 4).

The author uses lots of detailed and feature descriptions, which helps the reader to image how rough condition the undocumented immigrants were going through. Urrea shows great details to keep the readers engaged in the context. In Chapter One, Urrea depicts the horrifying situation facing the undocumented immigrants, and tries to evoke the sympathy from the readers. Their basic needs, like water, cannot be satisfied. These undocumented immigrants go through the desert like gamblers, they are betting their life on the risk. By reading through the book, I can feel the eagerness that immigrants have to find a new life. Thought out the Chapter one, I love the writing style that Urrea presenting. By using colloquial language to tell a real story, it interests the readers into the plot and is able to distribute to a wider range of audience.

Work Cited

                           Urrea, Luis Alberto. The Devil’s Highway: a True Story. Back Bay Books, 2014.                   

https://dabrownstein.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/corbis-42-15733156.jpg

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Native+American+Shadow+Wolves+Track+Smugglers+izQ-axCe22bl.jpg

 

         After seeing Charlie Chaplin’s silent movie, The Immigrant, I am able to find a lot of implications through the scenes and his body language. Chaplin uses a comical representation to demonstrate the struggles and difficulties that the immigrants have to live through on the boat. In the opening scene, a crowded group of people is shown lying on the boat. Two women are cuddling against each other, which implies that they are suffering. Then, Chaplin enters the screen by hanging on the edge of the boat.

The audience are probably thinking that Chaplin is throwing up or trying to escape from the boat, however, later it is evident that Chaplin is simply trying to catch a fish. This tells us that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, or judge people by its appearance. When we think of immigrants, we often come to the notion that they are ‘outlaws’ of a society, and that they are going bring negative things upon the country. In this short clip, Chaplin is intended to deliver the message that people should be more open-minded. Later in the movie, he shows the dreadful conditions facing the immigrants. Everyone is fighting for the food on the boat, they are rushing into the dining space when the crew signals them for dinner. The plate is swinging from side to side just like how the boat moves.

Picture cited

http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/Chaplin,%20Charlie/Annex/NRFPT/Annex%20-%20Chaplin,%20Charlie%20%28Immigrant,%20The%29_NRFPT_02.jpg

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+immigrant+charlie+chaplin&view=detail&mid=2C0B36F0270EF3C3351D2C0B36F0270EF3C3351D&FORM=VIRE

In the article The Story of the Picture Frame, author W.H. Bailey illustrates how important the frame around the artwork is. In his article, I found out that different types of frames have different meanings. Bailey states that people always focus on the main part of the painting and the artwork. They won’t usually pay attention to the frame or the border. I agree with him because every time I look at an artwork or painting, I always like to have an overview rather than look into the details. The author demonstrates the frames never act as the protagonist, yet frames should never be in the shade since the value of the frames is indispensable. Our group chose the painting called Don Gaspar de Guzman, Count- Duke of Olivares, c.1635.

The painting shows Count-Duke of Olivares ride on a white horse, which seems like the painter formed a heroic image. As a viewer, it is hard to focus on the frames in this type of painting. The painting is more attractive than the frame around it, but Bailey expresses the equal values between the painting and the frame. Bailey explains that the satyr masks have screaming, gaping mouths as a protection for the painting. I agree with Bailey’s point about how these satyr faces are protecting the painting. When I look closer to the picture of the frame, I found out that this satyr face is often used as a protection symbol a lot in seventeenth-century. For example, people put satyr face statue in front of their house in order to keep evil spirits away. After reading through Bailey’s article, I learned to look at the painting and the surrounding as a whole to consider the message behind the work.

picture link

http://n7.alamy.com/zooms/2e9a4861e5004d049c7bc1d7b0b14ae9/don-gaspar-de-guzmn-15871645-count-duke-of-olivares-by-diego-rodrguez-bp559c.jpg

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/370045021292-0-1/s-l1000.jpg

In the third chapter of They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein shows “The Art of Quoting”. The authors not only introduce how important it is to use quotes in your writing, but also explains how to use quotes properly. The risk of using quotes is that we have to truly understand what it talks about. Some writers, especially high school and college writers,  would misunderstand what the quotes they quoted actually mean and they may go off track through their entire writings. The authors bring up the fact called “hit-and-run” quotations which means writers use certain quotes without analyzing them. Therefore, to write an efficient essay, we should keep in mind that we have to mix our thoughts with the actual context in order to deliver a better demonstration of the message. In the context, the author gives some common templates on how to introduce a quote. In my high school writings, I always use keywords to search quotes instead of fully understanding what the deeper message is. On the other hand, we should prevent over analyzing a  quote as well. Sometimes we spend too much words on explaining our thoughts and it usually results either cliche or twisty messages.

One example of over analyzing would be the whole presidential voting period. Social media during that period of times tend to over analyzing the actions of all the candidates as well as what people say about the presidential campaign. Even though it has to deal with presidential promotion and canvassing, it is still a practice of over understanding which results in the general bias before the final came out.

 

pictures URL

http://www.decalrocket.com/images/kanji/UNDERSTANDING.jpg

http://theduran.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/maxresdefault-11.jpg

 

 

In Graff and Birkenstein’s book of They Say, I Say, the author argues about how to “put yourself in their shoes” (Graff). In order to write a good summary, we must try to understand what environment does the author stay in. Furthermore, we have to put ourselves in their shoes and come up an assumption of what we would do in that circumstance. In chapter two, the author quotes from Peter Elbow’s theory “believing game” (Graff).

The “believing game” is a method to project yourself in the author’s point of view. This process can help me to increase my critical thinking skills and enhance my ability to understand articles. Another great point that the author claims in chapter two is when we write a summary article, we cannot be subjective and analyze it from our own perspective. In high school, when I write a summary of an article I usually like to pick a side (either agree or disagree) to summarize it. Now I understand that in that way, my summary may distort the author’s intention. Later in chapter two, author provides an example summary for David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater”. The example summary fills up with “angry tone”, which the original does not have. In this situation, the writer changes the original meanings that is delivered by the author. Overall, through the reading in the book of They Say, I say, I am refreshed with the idea that we need to prevent reading the articles subjectively but analyze it with our own understanding in addition to the author’s interpretation.

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. “They say / I say”: the moves that matter in academic writing. New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2017.

picture sources

www.haikudeck.com/the-believing-game-education-presentation-oLf5wko3lg

mrhappytummy.wordpress.com/reading-response-2/dont-blame-the-eater/

 

 

After reading They say I say in the past few days, I felt refreshed in the field of English writing, thinking and reading. The title gave me a great impression when I first took it in my hand. When I begin reading it, I realized that the author uses few simple words to summarize the main contents of the whole book. From the title, the author delivers the idea that people need to understand what other people think before we give out the responses. At the beginning of the book, the author quotes a story to point out how important it is to make a point. “A writer needs to indicate clearly not only what his or her thesis is, but also what larger conversation that thesis is responding to.” (Graff 20).The author illustrates that when we write something, we can not only just rely on our thesis statement, but also need to explain the meaning behind the thesis. At the middle of chapter one, the author provides some templates for different circumstances. The readers can benefit from these templates. We can apply these sentences to our daily communication. The templates can reduce over thinking and feeling of anxiety. At the end of chapter one, the author put exercises for readers in order to help them use the template adroitly. The author claims that pointing out that your view is different from others’ is significant. To achieve that, writers should listen carefully to what others said. In general, the author uses a lot of quotes, stories, and templates to help readers understand more easily.

 

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. New York: W.W. Print.