Survey results summary

The sorority surveys results were half in half. I thought it was interesting that not many people wanted to join a sorority. Also, not many people have visited a sorority, although they know someone that is in a sorority. I think sororities are cool because you learn about what it means to be a family and house hold skills that you will need to have outside of college. The only part I do not agree with is hazing. I think it is obnoxious and not acceptable. This is what I think about sororities and fraternities.

Survey

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Gift of Motherhood, Sorority Sisters

 Evaluate why the following quotation evokes such intense emotion from Laurie, "This is the first time she called me mom"(355).

Laurie's strong emotion after hearing Megan call her mom for the first time stems from the lack of a close and secure bond with her own parents.  Some synonyms for intimacy are closeness, familiarity, affection, and warmth.  These qualities were not seen in the relationship between Laurie and her mom.   In one of the later chapters of Sorority Sisters  Laurie is asked about how her parents met.  She didn't know and had never asked them, but she did know all about the beginnings of her upstairs maid and her husband.  Laurie was sent off to a boarding school as a young girl.  Laurie asks the girls if they believed her parents even really loved her.  When Ellen asks Laurie to be the guardian for Megan should anything happen to Ellen, Laurie is shocked.  Laurie's style was to keep people at arms length distance.  This characteristic is put to an immediate halt when Ellen dies and Megan becomes Laurie's girl.  When Megan moves in, Laurie completely remodels her home making it look warm and friendly.  They decide to buy a dog  that they can raise together and save from the pound.  At the funeral Laurie remembers as she talks about Megan," I don't expect her to. I don't expect anything, anything beyond the fact that I will love her and cherish her for the rest of my life.  What she feels for me is out of my hands"(336).  Megan was the perfect solution to a somewhat distant women who was yearning for love, and when Megan shared her love to Laurie in the simple three letter word "Mom" it was enough to break down all barriers and feel truly loved.

Chester, Laurie and Megan's dog

Beta Pi Sorority

Sorority Sisters Analytical Paragraph

Karen, Diane, Ellen and Laurie form a sisterhood of the Beta Pi girls at ULA that would be characterized as solid and lasting friendships. A friend is described in the dictionary as a person attached to another by feelings of affection and personal regard. Deep friendships are based on trust, loyalty and common interests. Friends share in life’s disappointments, joys and mundane days. The relationships of Karen, Ellen, Laurie and Diane is documented in Sorority Sisters by Claudia Welch as the girls chronicle their experiences in their sorority, from their first impression at Rush through each year of college.  The book is written in a first person narrative giving a feeling as if the reader has just opened a diary written by each girl. In one of Karen’s recollections in the Fall of 1975 after a road trip from LA ending in San Francisco where they stay at Laurie’s house for a ULA and Stanford football game. Karen recalls,” Laurie grins for the first time since Fresno, looking at each of us in turn. It’s a moment that passes in an instant, a quiet, sunny moment of thanks. It’s gone before I can even smile my response to her. Maybe we do know how to fix Laurie. Maybe we’re the only ones who know how. Or maybe we are the only ones who care enough to even try”(91). Being able to understand a quick smile or an unspoken gesture that touches the heart, is a characteristic of close friends. The girls detail parties, dates, dreams, disappointments in the adjoining chapters that solidify their true bond as deep friends.

Why Sororities?

Malcomb Gladwell on David and Goliath

Malcolm Gladwell presents  a strong  argument for his thesis.  He gives the impression that he is intelligent and certain of his opinions. Malcolm Gladwell looks deeply into his subject in a way that the average person normally would not.  He brings new or previously undisclosed  facts to his audiences. His presentation captures ones attention during his entire talk.  He inspired me to think about David and Goliath in a deeper way.

David & Goiath

One could accepts as truth everything Malcolm Gladwell speaks in his lectures.  He uses scientific and medical reasoning to support his "facts" about David and Goliath.  He uses historical facts to support David's expertise as a shepherd.  However, he misuses Biblical facts to support his theory.  He misstates Goliath's height. Malcolm Gladwell infers David is an older shepherd rather than a young boy.  I Samuel 17:40 states," David chose five smooth stones from the stream."  The Bible makes no mention of the composition or density of the stones.

While it is my belief that Malcolm Gladwell takes liberty with certain Biblical facts, I would agree with him that appearances an be misleading.  In life each of us will feel like David at various times as we face our own giants.  It is encouraging to know that no matter how big the giant or how small one may appear, a person always has a shot.

Lit Circle Reflection:

I am struggling to join in conversation because of my insecurities understanding the novel. I need to speak more quickly when I have something to contribute. My insecurities are resulting in me not speaking, and my thoughts are being spoken by other people. I feel I am succesful in actively listening to my discussion group. Usually, I do not interupt people in their sentences. In my discussion group, we are having some difficulties staying on task. Also, we struggle with interupting one another and not letting eachother finish our sentences. Our strong suit is in analyzing the story and discussing the symbolism in greater detail. We can achieve this by really paying attention to one another and not letting ourselves get distracted. We decided as a group, to not talk randomely but to take turns following a pattern.