IR Blog Post 3

Symbols: Technology- While the author was in Britain for 20 years the technology in America got way more advanced. He mentions that in Britain they have very few television shows and one that really stuck out to him because it was the only one on at the time he was able to watch TV was Open University. This was a show were a professor would give a lecture and students would watch and then later would be tested on what was told. He noticed when he came back to America there were many shows just like this that he had never known about.
His Past- He says that the thing he missed most was baseball, the sport of America's pastime. Bill talks about how it is a key thing in his life and that no matter where he lives that it will never leave his life.
He talks about lessons that he learned when he was younger that have helped him develop into who he was today.
Drugs- Drugs are brought up a good amount of times especially on how addicted Americans are to drugs and how they will spend so much money not only fighting against them but at the same time buying them. He says how British people don't look to over-the-counter drugs to help change their lives and when something is wrong they help themselves differently instead of wasting their money. Drugs are seen in magazines, commercials, and newspaper ads everywhere you look in America, but in Britian only a very few ads are seen.

Themes & Ideas: Enjoyment of the little things- In the book he mentions a lot of different little things that help make his life a lot better. He talks about how people get so stressed out about things and can't take enjoyment of the little things life has to offer. If you enjoy as many little things as you can eventually something big will come along.
Intelligence- People are not very intelligent. Companies have to put directions on products because people can not use their brains long enough to understand how to do things. He does not call out any specific group of people but as a whole America tends to not grasp things as quickly as other countries.
Food- No matter where you go there are always restaurants that try to make a name of a food sound fancier than it is so that you will want to buy. Even though this only causes confusion and Bill talks about a time he and his wife went out to eat and he asked for a steak but the waiter said they only have a fancy type of steak and that calling it steak is an insult.

IR Blog Post 1

People:  Bill Bryson- main character, traveled to Europe and this story is his life after he returned back 20 years later.
Simon Kelner- Friend of Bill, journalist, asked Bill to write for his magazine which lead to the book being written.
 The only other people mentioned so far are the town people and his family. He doesn't talk much about his family so far so we are not sure much about them at this point.


Places: London- Bill moved to England and lived there for 20 years until he decided to move back to the US. It was there he met his wife and got married. They had 4 kids the grew up in Europe for about 8 years until they moved to the United States.
Hanover, New Hampshire- Place he moves back to after living in London for 20 years. He had lived there before he moved and felt that it was the best place for him and his family to come back to to settle down.
Post Office- He mentions post offices multiple times throughout the story and the differences between American and English post offices. The post office he visits in America is very friendly, helpful people, and the workers have only one mindset, whatever postal matters need to be dealt with are handled nothing else. He compares it to an English post office where it is pretty chaotic and the workers take interest in matters outside of postal concerns.

TMD Preview

Glenn Beck Video Post

• I have only heard little things about Che that I can not say I was shocked or angry about was said by Glenn Beck and the other man. Once I find out more about Che from other sources that are not biased to his ideas.

• Since I do not have much knowledge about Che and what he did, I don't have a one sided reaction. I will listen to both sides of the argument before I pick which side I want to believe more. Aside from Glenn Beck and his guest's attitude points they were saying could have been true but a lot was extreme. 

• Glenn Beck loves to yell and has a biased opinion on the topic. If there is something he loves to talk about he will and at a very loud tone to draw in people. If he was quiet when talking, no one would want to listen to him. 

• From the clip Glenn Beck appears to believe that Che was a terrible man. He and the guest feel that wearing a shirt with his picture on it is like going around wearing a Hitler t-shirt. He also compares the two by saying that Che killed more people in 3 years than Hitler during the Holcaust. Like I had said before he talks very loud and with inflection in his voice. If someone is monotone when talking people lose interest very quickly, so he uses his voice loudly. 

RAFT Introduction

Role- Me
Audience- Classmates
Format- 2 (Tweet)
Topic- What do you expect to study this M.P?


I expct 2 study about a young man & his friends jurney across South America I will get to c how he turned into the man he is known as today.

180' South Reflection

 "It's like the quest for the holy grail. Who gives a [darn] what the grail is, its the quest that counts...its the transformation that is within you that is important."   


1) This quote is in my opinion what his whole trip was about. He originally had one goal in mind and that was to get to Patagonia before the ice melted. This was Jeff and his crew's holy grail. Along the way they run into problems that cause them to have to pick choices they weren't expecting. After they get to Patagonia and try to climb the mountain but are not able to, the holy grail changes to how can they help Yvon and Doug before they have to return home. On the trip everyone involved was transformed by the time they were ready to go back.


2) I am starting my second semester of my senior year and according to my parents my holy grail is college. I have always had second thoughts about what I plan to do for the next for years and by the end of this year I think I will have a new holy grail. Going from high school to college is a big step in anyone's life who gets the opportunity to go. Personally I want to explore the world and see what lies beyond this chunk of land called America. I don't have a set holy grail for now but I know that in a few months I will have the transformation of a lifetime. 

Theme #4 Reflection

1) I did alright on this theme as compared to the other themes we have had. I thought I did better than my grade but because I did not follow all of the directions my grade is deserved. I was able to show a strong connection of colors to racial beliefs. I was able to improve my transitions from paragraph to paragraph.

2) I am starting to get better and better on my transitions. I was able to make each paragraph flow into each other. I used quotes that I found in the novel that showed very strong connections to what was looked upon on the theme. The only problem that I had was not following TICAP instructions.

3) I can improve on using TICAP. I need to gain a better knowledge for how to use TICAP. I can also spend a lot more time and get more people to edit my paper.