All I Asking For Is MY Body- Part II

Why do Kiyoshi's parents have so many children?

I believe that Kiyoshi's parents had so many children due to there culture, I dont think that it was planned when his mother would get pregnant, just like he says in the book, she did not know anything about rubbers. I think that she knew that she could possibly get pregnant but, I think that her thought process was if it happens its meant to be that way. 

I also think that they had a lot of children for the future. I think that when people think of having children, they think of raising them, they think of them small, but I think this family, and many others in the world, think of the future, then they are old they are going to have a bunch of children to take of them, and I believe that they also think that not all of them are going to turn out to be just how they want them to be, so if you have many children some of them are bound to take care of you when you age. I think that if they were to of had all girls, they would of kept trying until they had a boy, its just culture. 

Another reason could be that when Kiyoshi's parents age, they know that there children will help pay off there debt that they have, they will be able to work and help out when needed; and eventually take out there household and take care of them sense they cared for them as children. I think that it depends on the families, and past and present, today I think that people would love to have more children but with the cost of living, its just not possible if you want to give them everything that you want to give. But then there are still families today that are in the same mind set from the olden days, and do not want to be lonely when they are old. In my family I have 3 sisters, I am not sure why my parents didn't go for the boy  but I am thinking that they had the thought process of raising 3 girls, not that we would care for them when they are elderly and sick. As for my husband's mother, she had 6 children, and says that she would of had more if she could have, her reasoning for having so many children is not wanting to be lonely when she is old, and not wanting to have an empty house on holidays. To to each is own really but that is my theory as to of why Kiyoshi's parents had many children.

All I am asking for is my body, Part I, Dialogue.

Who is Makot?  Do you feel sorry for him?  What are your thoughts about him and the way he copes with his parents? 




Makot is a young boy who is full of adventure. He lives in a Filipino camp with his parents, he is in the 7th grade, but only played with children that were younger than he was, it was known around the town that he only played with kids that were smaller that he was because he was a sissy and liked to boss the little kids around and mold them how he wanted them, Makot had money to spend, so he would buy the smaller kids fun chow, candy and always take them to the movies. I think this is why all the smaller kids would play with Makot because he would always buy them stuff and at lunch time he would always bring them to his house and make them yummy food, that the smaller kids did not have at home. But in return the smaller kids where always doing the dirty work for Makot, like stealing coconuts and mangos and them selling them to buy a rifle. I think that part of the story is kind of weird because Makot has money to spend, so if he really wanted to he could of got all of the money that he needed to purchase the rifle, but instead he told the smaller kids that they needed five more dollars, so they stole the fruit and sold it. Maybe it was just his way on being in control and bossing the smaller kids around? Either way I think since Makot was in charge of these little kids it made him feel superior. In control. I think that he loved that feeling so that is why he played with the smaller kids, and since money was not an issue to him, it was an easy way to real in the children. 

Yes I do feel sorry for Makot, I feel that there is obviously something going on in his home life that makes him the way that he is, I am not sure what his father does for a living or his mother but I dont think that it can be anything good. It has created a reputation for Makot and I dont think that he parents care or maybe they do not know because they are never home, and if and when they are I dont think they give Makot the attention that he is seeking. Seems like they just hand him money and that seems to do the trick. But I do think that in future reading something is going to happen to make Makot realize that money is not happiness and he needs to find himself for who he really is.


My thoughts on Makot are that is he is a sad boy inside that just wants to be liked and wants to have friends around him at all times, no matter the cost, because that is not a issue. He is almost buying friendship, but he is blinded by that because that is all that he is seeking, attention. In time I think that something is going to happen to make he realize that he cant buy happiness. I think that he will eventually notice or talk to someone about his home life and explain why he does what he does and why his home life is the way that it is. He is just a boy who wants people around him because he is lonely and his parents are never around. 


I think that Makot copes with his parents by taking there money, and surrounding himself with little kids, it makes him feel like he is in control and has authority, its what is laking at home so he makes it up with the small children. He feels good about what he is doing because he is feeding his friends and taking them out and buying them treats. I think its his way of living and wishing that his parents did it for him, so he does it for others. 

Chapter 65 Dialogue

The chapter that I choose to write about this week is chapter 65. I choose this chapter because it talks about types of sentences. Example: sentence structures, simple sentences,compound sentences,complex sentences. I have difficulty with run on sentences and sometimes my choice of words to place in a sentence, so I thought that would be a good chapter for me to look at.

According to this chapter sentence structures contains two varieties: independent and subordinate. Independent clauses contains a subject and a predicate. This books states that it either stands alone or could stand alone. (that is a little confusing to me) A subordinate clause also contains a subject and predicate, but also functions  within a sentence as an adjective, noun, or an adverb; the book states that it could not stand alone.

One thing that stood out to me in this chapter was compound sentences. The book says that a compound sentence is composed of two or more independent clauses with no subordinate clauses. Independent clauses are usually joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction, example; and, but, nor, for, so, yet. or with a semicolon. So when reading this, I noticed that I am more of an independent type of sentence writer. I am very comma happy and always placing words, just as the ones above. Here is an example of an  independent clause.  One arrow is easily broken, but you cant break a bundle of ten.

Another thing that I liked about this chapter is sentence purpose. This section talks about how writers use declarative sentences to make a statement, imperative sentences to issue requests or commands, interrogative sentences to ask questions and exclamatory sentences to make exclamations. I was not aware of the detail that sentence structure entailed. I knew that is was about making a statement or issuing commands, but I was not aware of subordinate clauses and how they are classified according to there function.

In the future I will for sure look at this chapter when I am stuck on my sentences and not sure how to identify my sentence structures.

Essay #3 Smoke Signals

Emily Lopez

April 21, 2011

L. Servias

English 100

                                                                 Essay #3

What kind of person are you without integrity? Can you still be considered a loyal and truth worthy person. Are they still an honest person? In the movie Smoke Signals, Victor’s father, Arnold Joseph is a person of no integrity; he is a lair with no respect for himself or anyone else. He was an angry man most of his life; he lived as a drunk, abusive husband and father. I am not sure that Arnold knew that integrity was, but he certainly did not have it inside of him. I do not even believe that he was an honest person. He was always so focused on drinking and being selfish that I don’t think he knew what honesty was until he fled to Phoenix.

            I believe that Arnold’s first mistake was being a drunk; it created him to be an abusive drunk, carless father and deadbeat husband. With that said the night that the he light the house on fire, he was partying and was drunk. He wanted the people who lived in the home to come out and party some more, he had a torch in his hand and was waving it all around their house, and it eventually caught fire. Inside that house were a family, a mother, father and a baby boy names Thomas. Arnold rescued Thomas from the fire, and he was praised for rescuing Thomas, but little did anyone know that Arnold started the fire. Arnold never admitted to starting the fire, he lived his life without telling anyone until he went to Phoenix and meet a woman named Suzy Song, whom he gained trust with and told her all of his secrets. He had no integrity; I am not sure how he slept at night with that huge guilt on his shoulders. He may have not intentionally light the house on fire but that fact is that it was his fault and he did not admit to the horrible tragedy.

            Another reason why I think that Arnold lived with no integrity is because I feel that he was not up front and honest about leaving his family, he was selfish and just up and left his wife and son. I think he did this because of all the guilt that he lived with on the reservation. He could just not take the pain anymore, so he thought by up and leaving to Phoenix it would all just go away. He damaged his son and hurt his wife by leaving. His son yearned for a relationship with his father and he never got it due to his drinking and damaging him by being abusive. I think that any person who can leave their family has no integrity.

            Lastly I think that by Arnold leaving to Arizona and never coming back for his son is a huge sing that this man did not have integrity. I am not even sure how he lived there and lead a life daily without feeling so guilty. He knew that his son wanted him around and knew that he had a huge secret about burning down Thomas; house and yet he still was able to live a life in Phoenix. I am not sure how he lived as long as he did.

            In conclusion, I think that by the end of the movie Victor realizes that his father may have not intentionally set Thomas’ house on fire, but he understood that he did not mean it, and when I say that I mean that Victor now knew that his father lived a life with no integrity. He was not an honest man, he just knew that he lead an angry life and that is all that his father knew, he grew up on a reservation that did not hold any boundaries. I think that Victor is now at peace and will continue to live his life knowing that he did all that he could to get closure by traveling to Arizona to get his father. 

Smoke Signals Dialogue

Question: Are you more impressed with the film or the story? Why?

I thought that both the movie and the reading were good; but I have to say that I overall I liked the story better. I think that it was a little more focused on Thomas and Victor's relationship and it did not make Victor look or seem so bitter and hateful and did not make Thomas look like such a nerd that everyone hated, in the reading it mentioned it but not so drastic. The reading did not go into detail about Victor's father being alcoholic or the abuse that Victor encountered as a child. As for Thomas, the way that his parents died was vastly different as well, in the movie they died in a fire caused by Victor's father, whereas in the story the father died in the war and his mother while giving birth to Thomas.

I also like the story more because when I read it, I liked how it reflected on the memories that Thomas and Victor had a children, and when you read the memories, it seems like Victor is happy about the memories that he and Thomas had, and that Victor understands that when he was young he was not a good person to Thomas. He even mentions that he is sorry for some of his actions. After reading the story I think that Victor really wanted to hang out and be friends with Thomas once again and truly felt sorry for the way he was as a child/teen. In the movie, by the end, I thought to myself that Victor was coming around and was starting to feel bad for how he was towards Thomas. I guess I just liked how I got more closure in the reading than the film.

All in all, I think that they were both interesting, books and stories are usually always better than a film in my opinion, so I am not surprised that that I like the story better.

Smoke Signals

What do you think about the relationship between Thomas and Victor?

I would have to say that I think of Thomas a Victors relationship as brothers. I mean in a weird kind of way I suppose. I say this because they are not "real" brothers to begin with, Victor's father rescued Thomas from a burning house, that his parents did not survive, so he lived and grew up with Victor and his family.

I think that Victor and Thomas off set each other, they there opposites. Thomas was more optimistic and I thought that Victor was more negative. I think that Thomas was this way because he looked at himself as lucky to be alive and not caught in the fire, he thought of his life more as a second chance, where as Victor was cold and just not a truly happy person. I think he was like this because of how he grew up, his father was an alcoholic and was abusive. It did not make it any better for Victor when his father left the reservation when he was 12, he was left with violent memories that made him negative and cold. I think that if Thomas was on the same thinking path as Victor that they would of not had the same relationship and that by the end of the movie that Thomas would not have somewhat rubbed off of Victor.

Since they were opposites, I think that its what helped them throughout there journey to Arizona, Thomas was a positive thinker and Victor was always dwelling on the bad memories that he encountered as a child, whereas Thomas was just happy to actually be alive. This made them close in a odd way.

All in all I think that this movie was moving. It was also motivational to people that have had rough lives and think in a negative way because of what they have encountered in there childhood, it just goes to show that positivity can go a long way and thankfully Thomas stuck by Victor as a friend and a brother or who knows where he would be or how he would end up. I think that this movie was a great learning tool for me to remember to tell myself to think and be more positive about my childhood and the memories that I have maybe are not are harsh as I thought.

Chapter 50 Dialogue

I chose to write a dialogue this week on chapter 50. It is about evaluating sources. I chose this because sources are a very important piece of writing a paper. Before you even begin to write your paper, you have to think of the sources that your are going to use and that will support your writing. Also how the sources will support your thesis.

One of the main points that caught my eye in this chapter was, how to determine how a source will contribute to your writing- this section provided bullet points on how sources can have various functions in a paper. My two favorites were- provide background information or context for your topic, and lend authority to your argument. These two bullet point stuck out to me most because, they are the most difficult for me when I can writing a paper. I tend to sometimes think that the reader will automatically agree with what I writing, so therefore I tend to not go into much detail of the opposing view. I tend to not lend any authority to an argument. It is just difficult for me. As for background information, everyone knows that they need it for there essay, but for some topics its not a easy task. It is also hard to but what you read into words as well.

Another main point that stuck out to me was- read with an open mind and critical eye. I love this. This states that you need to read with an open mind, and not let your personal beliefs prevent your from listening to new ideas or opposing view points. This is basically saying not to judge, that is what really stuck out to me in the paragraph, I tend to be open mined but I think that is when I only agree with that I have read, I tend to sometimes not think about the opposing view point if I do not agree. I also like how the book said that when your reading critically your are not necessarily judging an authors work harshly, you are examining the assumptions, I like that, it doesn't sound so hard.

In the future I will use this chapter with the main ideas that have stood out to me, especially the part when I read about how to read with an open mind and a critical eye. It teaches you how to be alert for signs of bias and assessing the authors argument without assuming or being to harsh on the writing. I tend to think one way sometimes when I read others writings, and now that I have read this chapter it has given me the ability to not judge or assume before I have read the whole writing.