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Russell Harrison ENG 1101-060 Professor Hinnant Fundamental Values

Beth 9/23/13 6:41 PM You can come up with something more creative than this! Also, make sure youre using Times New Roman font.

Southern Pride: a way of life. It represents the food, hospitality, family

connections, community ties, a connection with nature, and hard work. Most people think that people from the south are just a bunch of ignorant rednecks that

Beth 9/23/13 6:41 PM Dont assume that this is your readers assumption.

like guns way too much, but to me it means a great deal more, even though some of that might even be true. Being a true southerner is way more than what people see on the outside, its a fundamental core of values based on honesty and family that cant be removed or changed. Its the only way we know how to live and it shapes our every

Beth 9/23/13 6:42 PM You should probably mention literacy here (reading, writing, and verbal communication). Otherwise, your reader might think this is more about how you act and think. Beth 9/23/13 6:42 PM Make sure you put these in quotation marks.

thought and action. ! Southern Dialect can sound like a language all its own to somebody not from the

south. The use of words like aint, yall, and gonna to shorten a group of words is very common and these words are used just about every day. People from other parts of the world dont even know what your talking about when you say these words. I went on a mission trip to Lithuania three years ago and people over there speak pretty good

Beth 9/23/13 6:43 PM Nice use of example here.

English because English is the business language there, but when you started to use the word aint they would just stare at you until you corrected yourself with proper English. ! Going on mission trips and to church has been a part of my life ever since I can

Beth 9/23/13 6:44 PM You may want to make a connection between Southern culture and religious culture. Right now it just seems like youre switching social forces.

remember. My parents grew up going to church and it was expected that you went every weekend. If you missed a Sunday you would be getting phone calls to make sure

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you werent dead. I guess my parents found something in church and they put me in Sunday school. Going to church continues to be a weekly event in my life. Recently prayer and talking to a God of my understanding has been has come to have more meaning because I have nally connected with God. It has really given me a purpose
Beth 9/23/13 6:45 PM What does this purpose look like? Can you explain it to me and then relate it your literacy? Beth 9/23/13 6:45 PM In order for me to really understand this I need to know what your new purpose is, and how it has actually affected the way you speak to people. Try to use specific examples.

that I didnt think was there before. Even though praying to God has been something Ive done my entire life I feel like this new found faith was put more condence and assurance in my voice. Going to to a Baptist church has showed me that being polite and knowing when to talk are an important piece of living in the south because people show off their southern etiquette at church. ! Southern hospitality and being courteous to other people is also a pretty big deal

in the south especially when talking to your elders. Saying Yes Maam, please and thank you, Yes Sir, and talking in turn is a vital part of life in the south. This comes
Beth 9/23/13 6:46 PM Why do you think this is? Are you less Southern if you dont talk in these ways?

from traditions that have been in place for a long time. These saying and customs were drilled in my head from a young age and I still use them very regularly today. My grandfather used to ask me questions, and if the response wasnt yes sir or no sir he would just sit and look at me until the correction to the proper way was obtained. Cutting someone off mid-thought or sentence is rude no matter where you are but it is taken to a whole new level in the south. People tend to talk a little slower and think a little bit longer about what they are about to say, so if you want to hear what they are going to say you might have to wait. Slowing down and thinking about what is about to be said also gives my voice a laid back tone to it. Never being in a rush to do anything allows me to take in my environment and other peoples reaction. As a result of the slower talking and thinking about what needs to be said, what comes out is the most polite way

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a person can say whatever it is they are trying to express. Its is straight to the point and
Beth 9/23/13 6:47 PM Make sure youre proofreading.

sweet. ! Robert E. Leess biography continues to be the only book over four hundred

pages I have read on my own time with nothing pushing me to read it. Reading this book at a fairly young age of fourteen has subconsciously led me to try to be a more self sufcient and manly man. This denitely shows through in my readings which now
Beth 9/23/13 6:48 PM Id like to know more about your experiences reading this book. Why did you choose it? How did Robert E. Lees biography affect your masculinity? What IS masculinity to you? Were there certain passages you remember standing out to you more than others? Really push yourself to talk in details.

tend to be about sports, guns, and cars. ! Growing up in the south, hunting and shing has always been a huge past time

for me, and reading about hunting and different ways to plant a eld and position your stand is vital to getting that big buck every hunter wants to kill. Hunting books tend to be shorter and only focus on the facts needed. They dont have any extra words that have no point to them and my reading choices tends to be about the same. Its not that my vocabulary isnt large enough to make sense of a reading, but focusing on the quality and ability of the work to be understood by anybody has always been important to me.

Beth 9/23/13 6:49 PM Hahah. Im not sure how well this example is working. It confuses me a little.

Using words, like hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, is stupid when you could just say fear of long words, and everybody would know what you talking about. Hunting catalogs, shing catalogs, and car manual dont even have much writing in them. They give you the information that is needed and thats it. They tend to just be bullet points of information about the gun, rod, or stand that they company is trying to get you to buy. This short and straight to the point kind of writing shows through in my writing also. ! Writing for me has always been driven by a reason to write. Ive never really

written for anything except school and thank you cards when they needed to be written.
Beth 9/23/13 6:50 PM You could probably find a way to tie this back to Southern culture as well.

In fourth grade my class was asked to write a poetry journal about different interest in

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their life. Poetry, to me, is a bunch of creative crap, so my poetry journal consisted of one poem that we were allowed to take from another author. It caused me to get a D in English that quarter. Adding creative uff and dragging a paper out with long descriptions is nonexistent in any of my writings. Sticking to the facts and getting my point across has always been my main idea for my writings, readings, or when I talk.
Beth 9/23/13 6:50 PM This ending seems a little TOO abrupt. I like it, but do you think theres any way to expand this closing just a little?

Russell, Theres some nice stuff in here! I really like that you push yourself to make strong connections between your Southern culture and your reading, writing, and verbal communication, and you have some really strong examples to back most of them up! In revision, Id like to see make these connections EVEN stronger. The examples you have are fantastic, and like to see more of them throughout. The writing itself also needs a bit of work. There are several instances where you have run-on sentences, misspelled words, etc. You dont want your reader to get so distracted from the actual writing that they lose sight of the wonderful things you have to say!