Sunday, September 30, 2007

My memoir so far (Part #2)

Loaded Words:

1. Bedlam-Complete and total chaos. The author ued this to put how much was going wrong in Baghdad into perspective by over exaggerating. (page 47)

2. Tent-The Author uses this word to describe the Republican palace. He says this because, there was no electricity, running water, or windows. The impact he was trying to make was that the palace had no amenities and therefore was like a tent. (page 47)

3. Rubbled-The author uses this word because it paints a picture in people's mind of bit and pieces of a structure. He uses it to describe a building hit by a cruise missile. (page 49)

4. Gun-toting-The author uses this to create a negative feeling in the reader because of the use of the word gun. Some people may be impartial to this word but most negativley associate this word. (page 54)

5. Dispirited-The author uses this word to get a negative effect. He uses it to show how badly the director of the ORHA felt about the situation in Iraq. (page 56)

6. Scout-The author uses this word to describe Carney the director of the ORHA. The author is trying to illustrate Caney's adaptiveness and preparedness. (page 57)

7. Elder-The author uses this word to show how old William Cohen is without using an impolite term. (page 61)

8. Orbit-The author uses this word to make the point that Paul Bremer III was involved with white house affairs. (page 62)

9. Prohibited-The author uses this word to make a negative impact, because the word is very upfront and extreme. (page 63)

10. Canoodle-The author uses this word to put a positive even childish look on the relationships of the staffers in the green zone. (page 65)

My memoir so far (part #1)

(The first page of the first chapter is page 9, all previous pages are the prologue)
Page
9. This page describes the food served at the Republican palace in Baghdad and how it was very american.
10. This page describes the dining hall with all of it's Halliburton supplies and patriotic decorations.
11. This page describes the "cliques" of the dining hall and why they were arranged so.
12. This page talks about the Halliburton customer service liason and how he tried to make everything seem like home for the people working in Iraq
13. The palace is described with it's ample luxury as "Versailles on the Tigris".
14. Outsourcing of as many jobs as possible and Halliburton's supply contract with the U.S. military are explained.
15. Housing and amenities in the green zone are described.
16. Transportation and restaurants within the green zone are described.
17. This page describes who runs the green zone and how it is run.
18. This page describes how the author (Rajiv) met Mark Schroeder and what Mark's job is.
19. This page talks about what stores are in the green zone and what those store sell.
20. This page talks about travel outside of the green zone.
21. This page describes the area around the green zone and the rest of Baghdad.
22. This page describes the people (Iraqis) who wanted to enter the green zone. It also describes a suicide bomber attack on the Imam Kadhim Shrine.
23. This page talks about how the Americans didn't talk about the bombing at all. It also describes the man Mahmud Ahmed.
24. This page talks about Mahmud's daily commute to the green zone.
25. This page describes what the traffic is like in Baghdad since the Americans have come.
26. This page describes what Mahmud thinks about the green zone.
27. This page describes how the people in the green zone received their news.
28. This page describes posters put up in the palace that were meant to dicourage secret sharing.
29. This page describes the green zone several days after the Americans liberated Baghdad.
30. This page describes a tour of the palace Rajiv was given shortly after he arrived.
31. This page continues to describe his tour.
32. This page describes how planning for post-war Iraq was carried out.
33. This page describes Jay Garner, the man put in charge of the unofficial planning for post-war Iraq.
34. This page describes how Garner found out about the official post-war planning operation at the Pentagon.
-Impact:
The impact reading this had on me was, i was very surprised toknow that America wasn't really ready to go into Iraq. I was also surprised that the people who worked in the green zone were working in a very nice environment with all amenities. I had never known any of these things were true and finding these things out was very surprising.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

This I believe Assignment

1. A link to the essay
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11505283

2. Author
James Loney.

3. Title
All Beings Are Interconnected.

4. One sentence of what the belief is
I believe all things and all beings are interconnected.

5. 2 examples from the story that showed their belief
One example would be when his captor wiped his hands on a rag that James had used to wipe up his own "unfortunate messes" which arose when he had to go to the bathroom. He said, "In that moment I saw how everything we do, even the things that seem most insignificant — cleaning up a mess or wiping our hands — affects everything and everyone else."
Another example was this paragraph describing the illusion of power his captor held, "Uncle was one of our guards. With keys in one hand and gun in the other, his power over us seemed absolute, but he was not free. He said so himself on one of those interminable days when we asked him if he had any news about when we would be released. He pointed glumly to his wrists as if he himself were handcuffed and said, 'When you are free, I will be free.' "

6. 1 favorite passage
"I believe there are many ways we can hold one another captive. It might be with a gun, an army, a holy book, a law, an invisible free-market hand. It doesn't matter how we do it, who we do it to, or why."

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007

The thing I am most anxious about at Edina High School is the fact that I have to do my homework for the next day overnight every night. I answered this way because, I usually would have to do homework for four classes every night and it would be easier. Now I have one less day to get the assignment done but I also have more classes to do homework for.
One goal I have for myself in my sophomore year is to get all my homework in on time with effort put into it. I answered this way because I sometimes would rob myself of an A or A- just because I wouldn't do my homework or I wouldn't hand it in. I believe that I can do well and receive at least an A- in almost all my classes as long as I keep up with the homework.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Welcome!

Welcome to Will M's Blog