How To Watch Your Brother Die By Michael Lassell
Knowledge
This semester, I learned abundance amount of information that I did not know before and I took each and every new knowledge into heart. I learn about parallelism, misplaced modifier, PIE, commas, i.e./e.g., entry points/ strategies, active vs. passive verbs, and not using ‘you’ in academic writing and more but what stood out to me the most was PIE. Every topic I learned in this class will be in use toward my major but mostly in future papers. This semester, I learned point illustration explanation (PIE) in my writing skills which will be valuable in my future college papers.
The topic that stood to me the most was point illustration explanation (PIE). PIE makes the reader understand one’s purpose better. When using PIE, the …show more content…
first thing a person starts with is the P which stands for point. The point is the topic sentence and this sentence will be one of the claims the entire essay addresses which is pretty much the reader’s the argument. Next is the I which stands for illustration. During the illustration phase, the writer shows the proof of one’s argument i.e., the writer can provide evidence to support the point, or topic. Depending on the type of essay, this can take many forms, whether it’s textual evidence, a memory based on the point, or a supporting quote from an outside source. Last but not least we have the E which stands for explanation. This is where the writer must find the reasoning between the point and the illustration, which is kind of like a conclusion because one is tying the illustration back to one’s point. While writing paragraphs may seem like an intuitive kind of skill, there are some easy things to keep in mind while writing to make sure paragraphs do what they’re supposed to do: illustrate an idea and end when it’s done. This strategy helps prove one’s point through the reader. This semester we read “How to Watch Your Brother Die” by Michael Lassell.
When writing this paper, I learned how to observe the types of strategy the author uses by providing the evidence (quotes) from the text and this is valuable because when a person is writing a paper stating their point, that person has to prove that point. One can’t just state their point and expect the reader to agree with them. For instance, in “How to Watch Your Brother Die” the author uses vivid imagery; the quotes he uses to invite the reader in were: “Remember the time he was jealous and opened your eyebrow with sharp stick” (Lassell 479). “Feel the lover’s hand on your arm restraining you. See in the guard’s eye how much a man can hate another man” (Lassell 480). “Stand beside a casket covered in flowers, white flowers. Say ‘Thank you for coming,’ to each of several hundred men who file past in tears, some of them holding hands” (Lassell 481). In “How to Watch Your Brother Die”, Lassell uses vivid imagery. His imagery invites readers go threw his journey with him, the narrator takes the reader with him in the past when his brother “broke his skin” causing him to bleed to watching him be buried, with his brother’s gay friends being at the funeral for
support. This semester we also watched a movie called the “Dead Poets’ Society”. By watching the movie, I learned to pay close details to certain characters and I will value this in the future because I will be able to see the different methods the producer of the movie uses. The “Dead Poets’ Society”, illustrates how a professor and poetry affects the students throughout the course. “The Dead Poets were dedicated to sucking the marrow out of life. That 's a phrase from Thoreau that we 'd invoke at the beginning of each meeting. You see we 'd gather at the old Indian cave and take turns reading from Thoreau, Whitman, Shelley; the biggies. Even some of our own verse. And in the enchantment of the moment we 'd let poetry work it’s magic” (Keating: Dead Poets’ Society). “Welton chapter. The meetings will be conducted by myself and the other new initiates now present. Todd Anderson, because he prefers not to read, will keep minutes of the meetings. I 'll now read the traditional opening message by society member Henry David Thoreau. ‘I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life’” (Neil: Dead Poets’ Society). In the “Dead Poets Society” The boys create a club called the dead poets’ society to express their thoughts to one another. Professor Keating encouraged them to believe in their own beliefs and to strive for their own voice. Professor Keating gives them clues to start something that has to do with language which is poetry and he showed the boys how language works and how it’s all around us. I feel like using PIE has improved my writing skills from high school papers to college papers. If I had watched the movie the “Dead Poets’ Society without having learned the PIE structure, I would of just watched the movie without examining the details of the actual meaning of the movie. But having learned the PIE structure, I had the opportunity to go beyond the movie. And I loved it because of the way the characters acted and just the movie itself. There was a lot of poetry through the professor’s teachings but I don’t think it’s the actual poetry that changed his students to react the way they did which was by creating a secret club. And neil ending up killing himself. I think the thing that really influenced his students was the professor, the way it taught the class and made them read the poems and do activities inspired them. If they were to read the poetry on their own, they wouldn’t have gotten the same reaction. Society then was not as good as it is now and by society I mean parents; all the parents controlled their child on what school that is good for them and what career they should do. But the professor changed that towards his students, he also influenced them to think for their own no matter what anybody says “I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for your self” (Keating: Dead Poets’
Society).
While learning the PIE structure, I had few difficulties throughout my papers. Looking back at my three essays I see how my writing has evolved. What I learned from my first essay that helped me write my second essay was being clearer when writing my explanation in PIE. For instance when using we or they, I need to be more specific on who I’m referring to. And what I learned from my second essay that helped me write my third essay was explaining my illustrations more instead of just listing them out. In addition, PIE makes one’s paper become clearer in a point that the reader will be able to understand one’s point. And PIE will continue to be in my writing skills which will be valuable in my future college papers.
Work Cited
Beth Alvarado and Barbara Cully, “How to Watch Your Brother Die”, Writing As Revision: Third ed. University of Arizona. (2010): 479-81
Dead Poets Society. Dir. Peter Weir. 1989. Touch stone Pictures, 1998. DVD
This semester, I learned abundance amount of information that I did not know before and I took each and every new knowledge into heart. I learn about parallelism, misplaced modifier, PIE, commas, i.e./e.g., entry points/ strategies, active vs. passive verbs, and not using ‘you’ in academic writing and more but what stood out to me the most was PIE. Every topic I learned in this class will be in use toward my major but mostly in future papers. This semester, I learned point illustration explanation (PIE) in my writing skills which will be valuable in my future college papers.
The topic that stood to me the most was point illustration explanation (PIE). PIE makes the reader understand one’s purpose better. When using PIE, the …show more content…
first thing a person starts with is the P which stands for point. The point is the topic sentence and this sentence will be one of the claims the entire essay addresses which is pretty much the reader’s the argument. Next is the I which stands for illustration. During the illustration phase, the writer shows the proof of one’s argument i.e., the writer can provide evidence to support the point, or topic. Depending on the type of essay, this can take many forms, whether it’s textual evidence, a memory based on the point, or a supporting quote from an outside source. Last but not least we have the E which stands for explanation. This is where the writer must find the reasoning between the point and the illustration, which is kind of like a conclusion because one is tying the illustration back to one’s point. While writing paragraphs may seem like an intuitive kind of skill, there are some easy things to keep in mind while writing to make sure paragraphs do what they’re supposed to do: illustrate an idea and end when it’s done. This strategy helps prove one’s point through the reader. This semester we read “How to Watch Your Brother Die” by Michael Lassell.
When writing this paper, I learned how to observe the types of strategy the author uses by providing the evidence (quotes) from the text and this is valuable because when a person is writing a paper stating their point, that person has to prove that point. One can’t just state their point and expect the reader to agree with them. For instance, in “How to Watch Your Brother Die” the author uses vivid imagery; the quotes he uses to invite the reader in were: “Remember the time he was jealous and opened your eyebrow with sharp stick” (Lassell 479). “Feel the lover’s hand on your arm restraining you. See in the guard’s eye how much a man can hate another man” (Lassell 480). “Stand beside a casket covered in flowers, white flowers. Say ‘Thank you for coming,’ to each of several hundred men who file past in tears, some of them holding hands” (Lassell 481). In “How to Watch Your Brother Die”, Lassell uses vivid imagery. His imagery invites readers go threw his journey with him, the narrator takes the reader with him in the past when his brother “broke his skin” causing him to bleed to watching him be buried, with his brother’s gay friends being at the funeral for
support. This semester we also watched a movie called the “Dead Poets’ Society”. By watching the movie, I learned to pay close details to certain characters and I will value this in the future because I will be able to see the different methods the producer of the movie uses. The “Dead Poets’ Society”, illustrates how a professor and poetry affects the students throughout the course. “The Dead Poets were dedicated to sucking the marrow out of life. That 's a phrase from Thoreau that we 'd invoke at the beginning of each meeting. You see we 'd gather at the old Indian cave and take turns reading from Thoreau, Whitman, Shelley; the biggies. Even some of our own verse. And in the enchantment of the moment we 'd let poetry work it’s magic” (Keating: Dead Poets’ Society). “Welton chapter. The meetings will be conducted by myself and the other new initiates now present. Todd Anderson, because he prefers not to read, will keep minutes of the meetings. I 'll now read the traditional opening message by society member Henry David Thoreau. ‘I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life’” (Neil: Dead Poets’ Society). In the “Dead Poets Society” The boys create a club called the dead poets’ society to express their thoughts to one another. Professor Keating encouraged them to believe in their own beliefs and to strive for their own voice. Professor Keating gives them clues to start something that has to do with language which is poetry and he showed the boys how language works and how it’s all around us. I feel like using PIE has improved my writing skills from high school papers to college papers. If I had watched the movie the “Dead Poets’ Society without having learned the PIE structure, I would of just watched the movie without examining the details of the actual meaning of the movie. But having learned the PIE structure, I had the opportunity to go beyond the movie. And I loved it because of the way the characters acted and just the movie itself. There was a lot of poetry through the professor’s teachings but I don’t think it’s the actual poetry that changed his students to react the way they did which was by creating a secret club. And neil ending up killing himself. I think the thing that really influenced his students was the professor, the way it taught the class and made them read the poems and do activities inspired them. If they were to read the poetry on their own, they wouldn’t have gotten the same reaction. Society then was not as good as it is now and by society I mean parents; all the parents controlled their child on what school that is good for them and what career they should do. But the professor changed that towards his students, he also influenced them to think for their own no matter what anybody says “I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for your self” (Keating: Dead Poets’
Society).
While learning the PIE structure, I had few difficulties throughout my papers. Looking back at my three essays I see how my writing has evolved. What I learned from my first essay that helped me write my second essay was being clearer when writing my explanation in PIE. For instance when using we or they, I need to be more specific on who I’m referring to. And what I learned from my second essay that helped me write my third essay was explaining my illustrations more instead of just listing them out. In addition, PIE makes one’s paper become clearer in a point that the reader will be able to understand one’s point. And PIE will continue to be in my writing skills which will be valuable in my future college papers.
Work Cited
Beth Alvarado and Barbara Cully, “How to Watch Your Brother Die”, Writing As Revision: Third ed. University of Arizona. (2010): 479-81
Dead Poets Society. Dir. Peter Weir. 1989. Touch stone Pictures, 1998. DVD