Library Choice of Book

"Acts of Recovery" by Jeffrey Hart

Why did I chose this book?

I chose the book "Acts of Recovery" because economy and how things work interest me.

How many authors does it have?

The only author of the book is Jeffrey Hart

What is the title?

Acts of Recovery

Who printed the book?

University Press of New England

Which city was it printed in? What year was it published?

Hanover and London, in 1989

Part 2

The book "Acts of Recovery" by Jeffrey Hart provide provacative information on many American and European writers to reveal the values of western tradition. In the year of 1989, in Hanover and London, The book was published and ready for print.The book was printed by the University press of New England. The Author Jeffrey Peter Hart specialized in 18th century literature, but he was also very fond for modernist literature. Students favored him knew him because he required a great deal of writing. Writing was a passion of his. His political views and interests annoyed many faculty and colleagues but he was well known for his interest in history.

 

 

 

Research Tips and Tutorials

Starting Your Research

This is helpful when doing a research paper because is helps you find topics, search them, and find the scholarly information. The subject help different links that you could click on and then visit the website for help. The following subjects are quotationed under starting your research.

 

“Library 101”

It is a guide with tips and tricks to help you get your research papers done quickly. The link is broken down into five steps helping you obtain better information about your topic.

“How to Find Hot Topics”

The link provides you with suggestions and resources that will help you select topics and provide background information on that topic.

“Information Cycle”

Helps you decide which resources you need. (Books, websites, journals, etc.)

“Library and Services for Graduate Students”

Link is a research assistance which provides database access.

“Primary Sources”

A list of online collections of newspapers that provide access to primary resources.

“Minnesota History Day”

Helps students work on this project. Some data bases are only accessible through librarian.

Finding Resources

Finding Resources is helpful when doing a paper. It helps you find resources that are scholarly and provide good information.The following subjects are quotationed under finding resources on topic.

“Locating Scholarly Articles"

Helps find scholarly articles physically and online.

“Scholarly Journal v. Popular magazine articles”

Is a useful link to help you decide if a document is scholarly.

“Internet Search tools”

Search engines that compare and evaluate the credibility website guides.

 

Evaluating Information

Evaluating Information from your sources and things you have read is important to help your research be effective.The following subjects are quotationed under evaluating information.

“Assessing the credibility of online sources from SCSU’s project LEO”

Helps when evaluating online sources that are appropriate for papers and assignments.

“How to evaluate Journal Articles”

Tips on assessing quality articles you will come across in research.

“How to Evaluate Books”

Tips on assessing quality books you will come across in research.

“How to Evaluate a Web Page”

Tips on assessing quality web pages you will come across in research.

“How to Evaluate Web Sites”

Tips on assessing quality web sites you will come across in research.

“Evaluating Criteria (from the good, the bad & the ugly)”

Explains criteria necessary for evaluating information you find anywhere on the internet.

 

Using the Information You Found

When using your information you have found from resources, you want to be careful when using the information. The subject helps you cite your sources carefully to avoid plagarism.The following subjects are quotationed under using the information you found from resources.

“Citation Styles (APA, MLA, etc.)”

Gives examples of these styles and helps you learn how to format it.

“Refworks Basics”

Guide for managing citations

Group Project: Chapter 1 Review

Chapter One:
Valerie Mattson,
Almoutasem Aljahdli,
mohammed asiri
abdulhakeem alabbad
Grant Schow

• Orphanage
• Food
• Hospital
• Child trafficker, Golkka

Summary:

     The entire reason Conor Grennan begins his volunteering adventure in Nepal at an orphanage is to impress friends, family, and women in bars.  He does not realize there actually is a war going on because he assumes the brochure, from which he learns of this opportunity, is exaggerating.  He had previously worked in Prague for eight years but wanted to do something both challenging and impressive as an excuse to travel the world.  The first place he goes to in Nepal is Thamel, which is a tourist region.  The first night is spent with a host family.  The little daughter, Susmita, teaches Conor a little bit of Nepali.  He spends his first night outside gazing at the stars.  This is the moment he realizes Nepal is going to be a completely different experience from anything he had ever encountered.  He then travels to the Little Princes home in Godawari, which was founded by Sandra.  By spending time with these children, he gains new insight into Nepali culture. 

     He learns how once a person has touched his or her food, it is considered “juto”, or unclean.  Also, trash and environmental concerns are difficult topics to understand and consider in third world countries because they are primarily concerned with the welfare of the people themselves.  He learns it is a custom to call older males “brother” as a sign of respect.  He also discovers the people of Nepal consider time differently than citizens of the United States do.  This is because no one punches in a clock for work, nor do they attempt to impress others by working through lunch. 

     One day, as Conor is trying to help the children get ready for school, the Maoists instigate a strike, which is known as a “bandha”.  During this time, everything, even school, closes.  There are people desperate enough for money they drive taxis anyway, even though they could be physically assaulted for not respecting the “bandha”.  As a result of production being forced to stop, there are food and kerosene shortages, which is dangerous for an already impoverished nation.  In Nepal, children actually enjoy school; however, teachers are not paid a lot by the government, so it is common for them not to come to work, which results in school often being closed.  Conor realizes the school system is flawed when he sees the answers to Anish’s homework is wrong, but the teacher does not mention it as being incorrect.  Education is not the only flawed system. 

     When he takes Santosh to the hospital, he realizes how unsanitary all of the beds and medical equipment are.  After this event, he meets Golkka, who is a child trafficker from the poor region of Humla.  Humla is also the home of the children of Little Princes.  Golkka commits this terrible act because he is able to receive a cheap source of labor from these children, which is otherwise difficult to accomplish in the poverty struck nation of Nepal.  As Conor rides a bus through Nepal, he notices a dark-skinned man on the side of the road.  This man lives in horrible conditions because he is at the end of the economic scale.  In Nepal, they consider the Caste System to be in control of economic affairs; therefore, if people are dark skinned, they are considered to be at the bottom and are untouchable.  They are often born into this judgment.  When Conor returns, Sandra decides to go on a hike.  She is captured by Maoists and forced to return, which makes her realize how powerful these rebels are.  Before leaving Little Princes, Conor Grennan tells all of the children he will return in one year.

Analysis:

     Conor Grennan begins his journey to Nepal because he feels he needs to do something challenging to impress all to whom he speaks.  Initially, he does not want to go to Nepal to actually help these children.  He just wanted to do something adventurous because he feels his routine has become boring.  Volunteering at an orphanage does not sound selfish and is the perfect excuse to travel the world and use his money in less responsible ways than he could be.  He does not realize how much this journey would impact him.  Right away, he realizes Nepal is a completely different country than the United States.  This impacts him because he has never realized how wasteful he is.  When the volunteers at the orphanage take the children out to bathe, Conor accidentally gives a child too much shampoo.  In the United States, this is about the amount most people use every day.  The child acts crazily with hysteria and excitement because he has received a lot more than he normally does. After this moment, Conor realizes how resourceful the children are because they are able to do a lot with just a little amount.  

     When they are eating dinner, Conor becomes full and does not want to finish all of the food that is on his plate.  He is unable to give it to the children, however, because he knows how once food is touched by someone, it is considered untouchable.  He begins to think about all of the times he threw away trays of food back in the United States.  The more he spends time with these children, the more he realizes how wasteful and ungrateful his and other people’s behavior in the United States.  Although a lot of the behavior is flawed in the United States, there is a custom in Nepal that Conor finds disturbing.  This is the caste system.  Conor finds it disgusting how a person can be born into a never-ending cycle of poverty and cannot do anything about it.  This is something about Nepal he has never been able to forget.  

     At one point during his time spent at Little Princes, he tries to commit a kind and charitable deed by purchasing toys for the children; however, the toys brake, and the children continue playing with toys Conor did not consider to be in good condition, but the children love them because these toys are considered to be their personal possessions.  

     These children teach Conor to become a better person, and he develops a loving relationship with them which then results with him promising to return to Nepal.  The ultimate meaning behind all of this is Conor realizes how American culture is more wasteful; however, there are many problems with a poorer culture, such as trash.  Ultimately, Conor will learn more about himself and become a better person through this experience with the children at Little Princes.

Improving the way my writing sounds

Group 3: Grant Schow, Rakan Alolayani, Ahmed Akhwaher.

 

My Writing sounds choppy, it doesnt flow

• Transitions and linking words

• connect words, sentences and paragraphs.

• show the relationship between ideas.

• indicate the order of things and their relative importance.

• indicate when something new is coming.

• signal to readers how an idea fits in and where it's going.

• show a change is coming, i.e. introduce new ideas

• introduce a summary or a conclusion.

• http://www.openpolytechnic.ac.nz/study-with-us/study-resources-for-students/writing-and-formatting/how-to-write-better/how-to-make-your-writing-flow/

Adding parallel structure

• Thesis statement: A sentence in an essay, report, research paper, or speech that identifies the main idea and/or central purpose of the text.
• Putting the thesis statement in parallel form emphasizes the main ideas into action and give your paper purpose.
• Consider a topic such as "air pollution in Denver, Colorado, USA." If you want to write about the "causes of air pollution" (the controlling statement), your sentence at the end of the introduction could be "...so the objective of this paper is discuss the three main causes of air pollution in Denver which are (1) exhaust from automobiles, (2) soot from industry smokestacks, and (3) smoke from wood burning fireplaces." (Exhaust, soot, and smoke are all nouns which is parallel structure, but in this case, parallel structure is even more effective because the nouns are all followed by prepositional phrases.
• http://eslbee.com/parallel_structure.htm
• http://www.tutorfi.com/LanguageArts/howtoimproveessaywriting

Fix Dangling and msiplaced modifiers

• A Modifier:is a descriptive word that describes a noun or sentence
• Avoid misplacing modifying words
• Example: ‘Sarah was voted prom queen.”
• Correct Format: “The blond girl named Sarah, who was a foreign exchange student from England, quickly climbed the ladder of popularity during her junior year, smiling her way through cheerleading and an ASB presidency term she inched near the top and was a sure fit as junior prom queen.”
• http://www.grammarly.com/handbook/sentences/modifiers/2/what-are-modifiers/

Using Better Vocabulary

• Using the same word over and over again?
• Use a Thesaurus
• Thesaurus
• A thesaurus is a collection of synonyms (words which have basically the same meaning) and antonyms (words which have basically opposite meanings).
• http://thesaurus.com/features/howtousethesaurus.html

“Little Princes” by Conor Grennan - Book Review

Reviewing this book does me great pleasure, as it comes from an author who achieved something ordinarily special. Conor Grennan’s trip around the world turned into much more than he expected. Yeah he climbed to the base camp of mount everest and visited beautiful places. Those things are still fascinating to write about but one thing in this book that differs it from others, is he rescued tons of Nepali children from human traffickers and united them with their families. Not only did he rescue these children but he then formed an international non-profit organization. Grennan’s Journey and achievements through this novel are both both inspiring but what really makes this book noteworthy to readers is his sense of humor, humility, and charm towards the children of Nepal.

When Conor first leaves to Godawari, he is honest in saying that going to work at the orphanage is merely but an escape from his job and as an excuse to do a year long trip around the world. He would use his trip to the orphanage as a pick up line for girls at bars and just an excuse to leave the life he felt was going nowhere, a dead end.

When Grennan arrived in Nepal in 2004, a decade-long civil war torn country, he wasn’t even close to being prepared to what he might find there as he should have been. Maoist rebels fighting against an the royal Nepalese government, impoverished population living in unsanitary conditions, without running water, toilets, or electricity, and a child-trafficking system aided by both sides. Conor mentions now that he is actually in Nepal, his idea seems ludicrous.

While reading through the text it seems as if Grennan is a survivor of his own. He is a person who sees whats at hand and learns from the situations he has been a part of. Conor really did bond with these kids while he was working at the orphanage. When it came to leaving the kids, he say and underlying truth that most wouldn’t. He became a parent to these kids. He feels he would be walking out on these kids if he were to leave. Thats why he promises the children he would be back in one year after he leaves.

Grennan visited the orphanage many times in the next three years only to find that most of the kids who were there were donated to traffickers, stolen or given to families who could only hope to protect them. Grennan Farid then decided they would do whatever possible to stop what was happening to these children of Nepal. Grennan organized an international non-profit organization called “Next Generation Nepal.” The purpose of the organization was to reconnect these trafficked kids with their families and communities. He partnered with an international organization, the Umbrella Foundation, to buy a home where newfound “orphans” could live free of fear. He then Raised a ton of money for these kids, assuming they didn’t have any, to aid for their health and future.

For many reasons and more , “Little Princes” is quite possibly one of the most passionate, yet straightforward true tales you’ll have the pleasure of reading. If any of the above reading didn’t seem to grab your interest, it might be good to mention Grennan falls in love too.

Initial and Later reason for going back to Nepal

Initial And Later Reasons For Going To Nepal

     When Conor first leaves for Nepal it is because he is bored of his life style and wants drastic change. He feels like there is nothing in his home town worth waiting for and wants to do something of value with his life that he can remember and make the most of. Helping the orphans for him right away was more of an excuse for him to go and to find change in his life.
     When Conor is saying goodbye to the kids the night before he takes off to Thailand he feels a sort of affection come over him. He actually cares for these kids now and he wants to be in Nepal to take care of them. His Motive the second time around is different. Caring for these kids this time actually means something to Conor, they have a place in his heart. They are family now and Conor has made his promise to return to the ones he loves and cares for.

Later reasons to come back to Nepal

Reasons to Come back to Nepal Later pgs.53-55

     Conor Grennan made the promise to come back to the kids after one year. Not because he felt obligated to or that he felt bad for the kids, but for the sole fact that these kids had nestled a place in his heart. He felt like he was a parent to these kids. They played such a big role in his life now and he didnt want to leave them. Of course he wanted to finish his trip because it is what he had planned on in the first place, but some things changed while he was in Nepal. Now his priorities were different. He made the decision to come back one year from when he leaves the kids because he loves these "little princes."

Initial reasons to leave for Nepal

Reasons to leave for Nepal pgs. 5 & 6

     Conor Grennan never did anything out of the ordinary in his life before and he had wanted to do something of value with his life. He explains in the text that he was bored of his life style and he needed some sort of change in it.  He was single, had no mortgage, and no plans to get married so he packed the bags and made his decision to travel the world. Conor wasn't worried about the issue of money because he had saved up over the years. One thing that took Conor by surprise is that his friends and family weren't as supporting about the trip as he hoped. In Connor mind, he wasn't concerned about letting anyone change his thought about the trip because he knew in his heart it was what he wanted.

Peer Reviews

Peer Review 

The top three people who I picked on my grading sheet were:
-Adam Block
-Valerie Mattson
-Jasmin Sainju

The reason I chose these three as the top scores is because they wrote grammatically correct, used correct punctuality, and made sure that their spelling was correct. The post about them also had some kind of structure to it and provided me with what kind of a person they were.

Grades
-Here It Is