How do I perceive Mitch Albom?

         Based on his novel, Mitch Albom is a very dynamic person. He lived most of his life trying to become as successful as possible, and he didn't worry much about how he lived his life and the people in it. After spending his days with Morrie, his dying professor, Mitch drastically changed his lifestyle by becoming more of a "live-in-the-moment" person and he tried to better appreciate everything he had.
      I perceive him as being a person who wants to live life to the fullest, and is very thankful for the people he has had in his life to make him realize this, and to share his life with.  

Why did Mitch Albom write "Tuesdays With Morrie?"

      Based on the content that Mitch included in his story, I believe he wrote "Tuesdays With Morrie" to help readers appreciate life more. He often mentioned how oblivious he was before finding out that his old professor was dying. He would refer back to times in his life when maybe he didn't make the best decision or didn't seem to care as much about other people in his life. This story discusses some of life's unknown questions and how to best answer them. Mitch explains to all of his readers that the advice that Morrie gave to him was something worth knowing for everyone. He wrote "Tuesdays With Morrie" to teach everyone else everything that Morrie taught him, that too often people live their lives without appreciating what they really have.

"Life As We Knew It" Evaluation

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1dlTMZw4acSjSTQF1REExVGv2tVGOFecIP_5IRBd40t0

Why did I choose to read "Tuesdays with Morrie"?

First of all, I am a big fan of Mitch Albom's novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I have heard of Tuesdays with Morrie before, but never had any time to read it. After reading Michele's summary on her blog though, I realized that I'm very interested in it. I always assumed it was a fiction novel because of his other book that I read. I was excited when I saw that Michele read it for this project because I didn't know it was a nonfiction story.

The story itself is inviting too because I am a big fan of stories that teach you life lessons and how to live with no regrets. I find them very inspirational, and according to Michele's post this book is filled with inspiration. I am definitely looking forward to reading it!

Tuesdays with Morrie

Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. New York, NY.
1997.

The Best Thing I Learned Last Semester was...

Last semester, I learned how to properly analyze a nonfictional writing. Starting with Aristotle's triangle, we were taught how to read a paper and see more than just what the author wrote. I learned that almost all writings have ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is credibility, pathos is emotion, and logos is logic. I can now read any piece of fiction, nonfiction, or essay and look for these three elements, along with all other rhetorical strategies, in order to analyze the writing.

Why in the world would I want to read a story about child abuse?

     "A Child Called It" is a story that explains how much the human spirit can endure and remain whole. Pelzer's point in the story was to show that he never gave up. While he couldn’t make the abuse stop, he learned how to manipulate his mother’s behavior enough to keep the situation from getting worse. It is an incredible tale of strength and courage in a person not even old enough to reach the bathroom sink. If a child can endure this and end up being as successful as he is, what the hell do I have to complain about? Pelzer helps us realize how blessed we truly are.

     The second thing that Pelzer accomplishes is that he puts a face on child abuse. He refuses to let us have the easy out of just ignoring the abuse we see happen everyday. There are people all around us, similar to those involved in his stories that are suffering in ways that we cannot possibly imagine. To turn our backs on them makes us no better than Pelzer's father, the man who knew better and did nothing. I challenge anyone to read this book and not admit that we must do something to stop the abuse that we see going on everyday to people all around us.

     Yet, if you can't handle some graphic and gruesome descriptions of abuse, then this book isn't for you. Pelzer goes into extreme detail on some of the "games" his mother forced him to play and reading it can get pretty difficult. It isn't too terrible though because the story begins with his rescue.