Journal 4: A Mouthwatering Meal

I love birthday dinners.  On my birthday, my mom likes to cook the best steak.  It is grilled to perfection with just a little bit of crisp around the edges.  While it is being cooked on the grill, the overpowering smell travels through the air to please your nose to give your body small goose bumps.  Instantly, your eyes begin to widen with excitement and your mouth is convinced to moist slightly with drools hanging off your lips.  The texture of the raw reddish goop begins to cook into a big juicy piece of meat that has shades of dark maroon, black, and light brown that makes your taste buds zing with flavor.  It is flipped gently on its back while still lying on the grill to reveal the thick black strips across the front.  The fires rise up from the grill and begin to heat the steak.  Cooking it like the sun frying an egg on the sidewalk, the sound of sizzling starts as the liquid flows from out of the steak onto the grill.  It is so tasty, and it is almost done.  Finally, after minutes of impatiently waiting, your mouth gets to taste the moist, scrupulous steak that makes you feel as if you are floating in mid air.  Each little bit of thick steak, leaves your plate, and enters your stomach that is begging for more as your mouth continues drooling.  As you begin to realize it is almost gone, you slow down to grasp each bit of zesty flavor that keeps your lips smiling.  The juices are left sitting on your tongue as you finish your last bite.  The delectable food is now slowly going down your throat as you try to relive the same amazing feeling as you did, the first time you ate the miracle of life, steak.

Journal 3: Yummy, Dog Food

 

1.  Cite three specific examples of Hodgman’s descriptive imagery that you find to be particularly effective. 

• “I gagged my way through can after can of stinky, white-flecked mush and bag after bag of stinky, fat-drenched nuggets.  And now I understand exactly why Shortie’s breath is so bad” (77)
• “Up close my Gaines-burger did not much resemble chopped beef. Rather it looked-and felt-like a single long, extruded piece of redness that had been chopped into segments and formed into a patty.” (78)
• “There were chunks in the can, certainly-big, purplish-brown chunks. I forked one chunk out (by now I was becoming more callous) and found that while it had no discernible chicken flavor, it wasn’t bad except for its textural-like meat loaf with ground-up chicken bones.” (79)

2.  What do you think Hodgman’s purpose was in writing this essay?  What overall message/meaning do you take from the essay?  

Hodgman was trying to tell the reader that dog food is not as appetizing as it is advertized. The author tells the story in a satirical way to give a sense of humor.  She is making fun about cook books and magazine reviews by writing a review for dog food, not human food. Just because a dog is able to enjoy eating our food, does not mean that we are able to savor the taste of their wet or dry food in a can.  She is trying to show that everyone is curious about the world we live it.  You are going to want to try crazy things that are not designed for man, but do not worry because it is human.  Another message the story conveys is that not everything looks as good as it tastes.  Numerous times throughout the story, the author would connect the dog food with its delicious looking advertisements.  Just as she said, “in the world of wet dog foods was this demonstrated better than in the fanciest I tried-Kal Kan’s Pedigree Select Dinners.”  Hodgeman was excited to eat this because if it tasted as good as it looked, she would have had a great meal; however, it did not end up that way.  All in all, you cannot just a book by itself cover because it never works out right.  

Journal 2: Fight Like a Moth

1. How are the moths in the essay’s opening different from the moth at the campsite?  What do the different moths represent?

 

The months are life choices.  She would rather be the moths on fire then the ones slowly dying in the bathroom.  The months in the bathroom are shrunken and gray.  They are its and bits of little body parts rotting away.  Some moths are dead, but some of them are stuck in a web waiting to be eaten.  However, on the other hand, the moths burning in the fire are dying but they show motivation and passion.  They have decided to end life with a spark and go all out.  The first moths in the bathroom are forgotten and dried up.  They do not have any drive or reason to live.  The month dying in the flame represents determination and living life to the fullest. 

2. What lesson does the moth provide that Dillard takes back to her students? 

Dillard asked her students if they want to be writers.  If they do, they have to give up their lives.  They must be very dedicated and committed to writing essays all their life.  Dillard is trying to make her students realize that whatever you do in life, you must put all your heart into it.  She wants them to be like the moth in the fire and have a passion for what you do.  You have to put yourself out there and sacrifice everything, just like the moth in the fire.  The moth in the bathroom show emptiness and represents the people that try to settle down and not push forward in life.  Dillard is trying to convey a message about life, not just about being a writer.  Basically do not be like the moth in the bathroom, be like the one at the campsite.

3.  How many references are there to fire in the essay?  What’s the larger significance of fire in the essay? 

There are a few references in the essay.  She writes about the moth burning in the flame, the candles she lit at night, and the cats tail catching on fire because it to close to the flame.  There was also the reference of the book A Day of Fire, which inspired her to be a writer.  The word fire was used to show people are passionate and inspirational.  Ignite, spark, getting fired up are expressions fire are used to show these traits.  Even when we light a candle after someone dies, it shows hope.  It represents the idea that you were able to pursue your dream while you were alive.  Dillard lit a candle to so her intention of becoming an inspired writer.  When the moth died in the flame, Dillard was able to make the moth look like a martyr for what it believed in.  It sacrificed itself for something it believed in.  In some way, you could say the moth was like a saint dying for his or her beliefs.  She wanted everyone to attack with full force and go all out in life.

4. Address how each of the following quotes connects to Dillard’s overall point.  

a.      “I would rather be ashes than dust!
          I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
          I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in        magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
          The function of man is to live, not to exist.
          I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
          I shall use my time.”

                    -Jack London

In this quote by Jack London, he addresses his belief of how he wants to live his life.  He would rather give it his all and do everything he can, rather than sit back and watch the world pass him.  This is similar to “The Death of a Moth” because there was a comparison between to moths.  The one moth watched the world pass by and decided to crumble into dust rather than do something inspiring.  On the other hand, the other month went into the fire to show his passion for life, similar to how London wants to live his life.  To be living and to actually live your life are two completely different ideas, and both London and Dillard believe that everyone show live their life to the fullest.

b. “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

          -William Butler Yeats

Image of fire is used. Education-educating students, the idea of fire being used is similar to how she used fire while teaching her kids.

William Butler Yeats is stating that education is our guide throughout life.  It is “the lightning of fire” because it will glow within us to show us the ways of the world.  This is very similar to “The Death of a Month” because Dillard tried to explain this very idea to her students.  She told them they have to have a burning passion to choice and commit to one career.  The purpose of education is to inspire people to have a purpose for living life.

c. “A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.”  

          -Franz Kafka’

Frank Kafka is explaining that reading is a source to all of our wonders and questions within our heads.  A book is going to open up new thoughts and ideas inside of us.  The symbolism of the ax is used to represent the force that cuts away the confusion that is in us by reading books.  The image of the ax was also used in the story “The Death of a Moth” to explain the force and strength it takes to live life with all of your heart.  As powerful as this mental image is, it is basically used as an inspiration to try your hardest at everything and keep moving forward.  Never dwell on the pass because it will not benefit you.  Besides, an ax will not work if it is swung backwards, so keep swinging forward.  

Journal 1: Good Girl Gone Bad

      
It all started on January 20, the day of my thirteenth birthday.  I was dressed in a white sundress, getting ready to head out to dinner with my family to celebrate the day.  I was excited to eat because I was super hungry after coming home from such a tiring day of school.  At exactly five o’clock, I went into my mom’s room to let her know that I was ready to go out to dinner.  She did not reply to me, but I knew she heard me, so I went to get inside the car.  Once I was buckled, I decided to turn on the radio while waiting for the rest of my family; however, they never came out of the house.  An hour passed and I began to grow impatient about their tardiness, so I went back inside.  That was when I found my parents yelling at each other at the top of their lungs.  I felt scared because I had never seen them so angry at one another.  Suddenly, they stopped when they saw my face.  At that point, they sat me down and told me that they were getting a divorce, on my birthday.  I became extremely upset and started to cry my eyes out.  I ran out of the house and to the park where it was quiet and I would be alone.  As soon as I arrived, I sat underneath a tree and let my tears run down my face.  Eventually I stopped crying, but I did not want to return home.  After about thirty minutes, it began to get dark and I saw a shadow in the distance.  As the shadow approached me, I realized it was a very attractive teenage boy coming over to talk to me.  He had something in his had that glowed when it was close to his mouth.  He sat next to me and looked at my face.  He could tell I had been crying so he put his arm around me and leaned in close.  He handed me the cigarette that was in his hand.  At first, I told him no, that I did not want to smoke, but after he told me it would make me feel better I decided to try one.  And soon I smoked another and another until I could not feel the pain anymore.  After sitting with him for two hours, I decided I wanted to go home.  As I began to leave the park, he ran to me and told me that if I ever needed to relax again, I knew where to find him, and that is where I have been every night since my thirteenth birthday.