Letter Week 9

Dear Fellow Students and Instructor, I am writing you about my experience so far in English 102. We are now in our ninth week of the semester and over the half way mark. I have experienced many challenges during this Spring semester. I took a whole year off school because of my pregnancy and I am seeing how much different things are when you have a baby. I decided to take four classes and I initially thought that would be fine. I was so wrong. I didn't anticipate acquiring a second job. I couldn't say no to the opportunity. Now I am working 6 days a week. I have a fantastic babysitter, husband and mom that help me with the baby, however if he gets sick my world stops. And this semester he has gotten sick 4 times. Also I have had several unexpected things come up such as my husband getting in a car accident among other things. I am doing okay in my classes. I could definitely do better though. I do use due dates as motivation to finish assignments. I haven't expected that the work was going to take so much effort and time though. I am learning that online is harder than being in the classroom. It takes ALOT of self-discipline. I am constantly trying to do my assignment earlier than the due date and I am doing a better job. I have really enjoyed the reading in this class. All of the reading has really interested me. They are educational and the are interesting. The Winters Bone has really been fun. It was a great fast read. I totally got into it and couldn't put it down. Then I watched the Movie. I liked the book so much more. I felt like they didn't completely illustrate what I had imagined. My husband really enjoyed it though. I just think the book was extremely descriptive. Sometimes to the point of shock and disgust, but I am sure that is what Woodrell was going for. In general writing is hard for me. I am not a natural. Literary analysis has been both good and hard. I like to learn and critic. I don't necessarily like to argue strong points. I have to many thoughts about something to go on and on about a single thesis. I have never had large strong views about anything. I like to be open to all points of view and having to crack down on one is very difficult. I hope to beat my struggle with writing. I want to make concise accurate arguments even if is something that doesn't come naturally. I think it essential to have great writing skill. It will definitely improve my career if I could write a breathtaking news letter about laser, skincare or injectibles. I need to start doing my research at the beginning of the week. I need to form a plan about how I am going to accomplish the weeks assignments. And if it is an essay I need to outline and organize my thoughts, research, cites, and make it happen. Thank you for taking time to read my letter. I think it is a great way to motivate me to get in to gear and finish off the semester with vigor. Yours Truly, Shannen Alban

Unintentional Impact

Unintentional Impact Winter’s Bone Analysis Several hours from the nearest big city, deep in the Ozarks of Missouri Ree Dolly is transformed into a modern day heroin by Daniel Woodrell. Woodrell deplicts a story of the backwood lawless town that Ree inhabits. It is loosely based on the town of Collinsville which is known for its local gypsy-like population. The Dolly clan which Ree was born into is mostly comprised of drug dealing men and their submissive yet aggressive women. The author Daniel Woodrell was born in the Ozarcks and eventually moved back to settle there as an adult. It is a beautiful and tranquil place. There are many stories hiding in these woods and behind the mountains. Woodrell’s writing has been classified as “Noir”. Noir is a french term for dark and hopeless with no happy ending. However the writer himself does not like to fit into any sort of classification, “if you adapt to the structures of noir, then it just insists on a certain type of ending”( http://southeastreview.org/2009/04/daniel-woodrell.html). Instead his writing develops on its own. It is natural. He says that Ree started off as a 30 something with the boys being her own kids. But that just wasn’t her. She needed to be in more of an inherited situation. It makes her stronger as the main character. Ree Dolly is an amazingly strong women, but what you are given is a harden high school dropout that is roughened by the life she has had to lead. She in some light is soft, sweet teen and in other situations she is a wood splitting loogy hawking hillbilly. Woodrell and Dolly share the need to escape from there situations at a young age. Ree wants to join the military to escape and Woodrell joins the military at 17. It seems that the author uses the character to express the quality of people in the unlikeliest circumstances. He demonstrates the power of dedication and a good heart. Ree goes farther than the audience ever thinks possible. This story is inspirational at the same time tragic. This book as brought light to the use and manufacturing of methanphetime in small towns all over the US. The author has set many of his books in the Ozarcks and he is a fantastic story teller. It seems in his attempt to create a intense and believable story he has raised awareness in the small towns that have exponentially grown in crime and drug use in the last 20 years. The story of Ree Dolly is so close to the real situations going on in the Ozarcks that it has made an impact in the real world. This story sheds light on the poor and jobless. In the article methland the author tell true stories about Americas small Midwest towns that had been engulfed in the meth cycle. It eats the town alive. Family run stores and resturants have no chance. As the economy gets worse or times get tougher it seems more and more americans turn to methamphetamines. Wheather it is doing the drug or making the drug it devours the person, their family, and there whole world. The use of meth increases energy, decreases hunger and thirst and heightens mood. So for the majority of americans it is a cureall. Infact is was marketed in the early 20th century as a cureall. Up until the late 1900’s it was perscribe by doctors for weightloss, depression and many other ailments. It has become an enormous problem in the way it is highly addictive, cheap to purchase and easy to get. It seems at first to help. However it quickly poisons the body and mind. People do things they would sober never dream possible. In the story. A person naive to methamphetamine use would find this story confusing and all around unreal. A town so small were everyone knows that Jessup makes a great batch of crank. Even the law and business people. A town where the criminals outweigh the law. It is the reality however in many small towns today. The spread of the drug grows faster than the strength of the police force. If the town becomes stronger than the law the people begin to make there own laws. Ree having been raised in this situation seems to know her place. However, when her family is put in jepordy she quickly breaks all the rules and faces the penlites. There are stories all across the nation in the last 10 years about brutal murders and crimes related to methaphetimine use. There are kidnappings, beheadings, home invasions and fraud. There has been a rise in awareness of meth use and its affect on the body and mind. Most of these advertisements are very mainstream. There are commercials now that use scare tactics to frighten kids from trying meth. This most definitely works. This is definitely more prevalent in the big cities and more affluent suburbs. What about the generational influence and poverty struck areas. The rural areas that now are over populated with crank. It isn’t as big of a topic because not many go in or come out of these smaller towns. So it is a quite situation. Jessup Dolly was killed for being a snich. And Ree’s hunt for him ended up with her cutting off her dead drowned fathers hands as proof he was dead. Yet it seems quite assumed that that murder will never get pinned on anyone. There is a unspoken code of conduct in this backwood town. Everyone knows but no one talks. And when you go snooping you are risking your life. There truly was no one that would help Ree Dolly. She did more than most would do. She was ready to die to help save her family. In a way her dream of joining the military was portrayed by her fighting for her cause and risking her life. Meth use is higher in rural areas. And

Response to Winter's Bone-- Into chapter 5

I am enjoying this required reading. You tend to rebel against requirements. This and all other readings from this class I have enjoyed quite a bit. I relate to Ree. Ree is in the most ridiculous of situations. Her worthless father putting up the house as bail is just icing on the cake. I am in the middle of her being on the hunt for him. The people she has gone to for help, however, don't seem to find Ree's situation to be too out of the ordinary. Ree is poor and strong. She is put in a situation where she needs to grow up and make decisions beyond her years. I relate. I was also matched up with 2 people as my parents I had to take care of and clean up after. Ree seems rough and harsh and unrestrained. I am 90% soft, sweet and cool. But I completely have a Ree side. That is definitely part of the reason I am enjoying the book so much. I am cheering her on in her search and journey.