Thesis Statement: Alexander uses descriptive words, rhetorical questions and several extended metaphors to represent and display her fractured identity to the reader.

By using descriptive words: compacted, fragmented, fault mass, the writer portrays how moving from place to place has taken a serious toll on her life. In the excerpt the writer throws a very important word in the midst of a question, "And what of all the languages compacted in my brain?" A sentence of this sort is quite important to look at, because one word stands out quite memorably. Opposed to saying something in the whelms of "languages she had learned," she used a rather dramatic word "compacted." Being aware of what compacted means you can infer that the writer was forced to learn these things. Whether it had been an obligation due to her parents form of work or something she would need solely to survive in her various new enviorments, the languages she would learn were "compacted" into her opposed to her willingness to learn. Essentially the knowledge of so many other culture’s languages is something she would have not wanted for herself. About half way through the writing she refers to her many homes as "fragments of a broken geometry." Once more isolating the word broken and fragments we can infer that she did not wish such a nomadic life for herself causing her to lose her way, making her unsure of her identity. Moving so often that she can relate nothing to nothing. The name of the complete narrative is titled "Fault Lines." Closer to the end of the passage the writer refers to herself as a mass of faults or fault mass. The word being in the actual title of the writing in general tells the reader it is a very important word. Shortly afterward regarding herself as a fault mass, the writer mentions her looking up the definition of the word "fault." A defiency, lack, a want of something: she proceeds to mention the many words relating to her own imperfection. Equally the manipulation of these terms tie in to how the writer views her own fractured identity.

Accordingly the use of rhetorical questions aid the reader in seeing the confusion the writer must cope with. "Where did I come from? What might it mean for one such as I to look at myself straight see myself?" This technique establishes a thought: the writer has no idea where she fits, what she could file her livelihood as. "After all my life did not fall into the narrative I had been taught to honor, tales that closed back on themselves." By asking the audience rhetorical questions it not only demonstates her inner turmoil and cracks in her identity but also forces the reader to further think how she became so "askew." Eventually the writer has an ephiphany, that answers the majority of her questions. If all these things are true about her, she must be a "fault mass" or mass of fault. Which directly ties into the title of her autobiography and demonstrates her identity as fractured: broken and full of fault.

I dont know what your teacher wants you to do, but know the difference between rhetorical devices and literary devices. Rhetorical devices are like diction, imagery, and syntax. Literary devices are things like similes, metaphors, etc.

Thesis statement should have the devices, effect, and author’s purpose. Simply stating what the author uses is boring, and it’s vague. Your thesis should tell the reader what those devices do. (Effects of imagery include arousing emotion, describing, illustrating an abstraction, etc.) Personally, I dislike the one-sentence thesis, because it limits the degree of style you can put into your writing.

In your first body paragraph, be sure to quote what is actually important. Since you are talking about descriptive words, those descriptive words should be in quotes, preferably integrated into your analysis. Also, try not to use evidence in the topic sentence of your paragraphs. If you do that, then you are promising to ONLY talk about those bits of evidence in your entire paragraph. Your paragraph is talking about WORDS, and only WORDS, so dont quote sentences. Only talk about the individual words, and how they contribute to the author’s purpose. Dont summarize.

The second body paragraph has some issues as well. You have a stand-alone quote that is neither integrated into your analysis nor an example of the rhetorical device you are discussing. Once again, you are talking about rhetorical questions. Please stick to that.

Overall, your writing could be much more concise. I’m being honest…there’s a lot of work to be done here.

The concept of waiting is not a proven concept, as you wait time passes by and what you’re waiting for takes several different passing forms, and all you do is pass it on to a next generation who need form hopes and desires that have no true base, inspiration from the earlier generations. You want hope then hope doesn’t take a face, hope takes to this crazy thing we call life, and life isn’t going to be strengthen by one voice, by one soul, it’s going to have to be strengthened within the philosophies , time passing of man. No man lives within a generation, and speaks, walks within the moment, he leaves foot prints, the foot print doesn’t resemble the boot, invention.

You want to reinvent anything then the foot print should start to resemble the boot. What that means is an inward and outward reflection of humanity that is pure, loving, ideal, something we all share within our hearts, a love that sincere inwardly, a hope that is true, a prophet, savior, that’s born out of you, me, all of us. Because let me tell you, your prophets and saviors, don’t have the strength to stand alone.

This illusion of waiting, this illusion of hope isn’t the true livelihood of living dreams, hope. If you want hope then hope must be reflected inwardly as human beings, and outwardly upon the world as human beings. We all must believe, desire for hope. It can’t come to us as a prophet, as a intellect, as a savior. Intellect will ALWAYS lead to disagreements, arguments, pain, suffering.

What need to do is respect what makes us all human, inspire for better as an entire race, we need to pass it on, and appreciate every one’s potential to be decent human beings, and we must hold that at as the most important thing to our race. Not intellect, not if you’re a rocket scientist, or make 90,000 dollars a year. We need to get back to the basics and realize that intellect is over rated, that materials possessions may go on in their might, but that what’s most important is the life that we hold to ourselves, the human soul, that we are all companions in this species.

Some of us will suffer, may of us to the depths of poverty, we need to inspire for all the human race, so that all over the world even complete strangers know you are thinking of them , that you love and admire the beautiful species that we CAN be. The beautiful individuals that we CAN be. That’s what’s most important.

And we can’t get caught up in how great, wonderful any one person is, we need to focus on what greatness, and love that person can reflect back upon the world! Back upon humanity so that person may help inspire, redefine our children’s futures. Everything we do as a human race is an inward reflection of the species , animal, social creature we are, as well as a outward reflection of what humanity is, will, CAN be.

Is it so much to ask for the human race to bond together, show some compassion, love, admiration, hope for itself? Is it so much to ask that people respect that even if they are down that we hold humanity has the potential for every individual to inspire, give hope to any one? Is it so wrong to answer to this calling? To see within ourselves a beautiful race of social creatures, these logically flawed emotional creatures? Accept us as an imperfect design, and seek the next evolutionary step of man and woman kind as true companions, as a species with definition, a species that inspires one another to be the beautiful companions and inspiration this world needs?

Not every one can have physical equality, we have over populated, we have no resources, things are within a closed system. The most important thing we can change now, is to give this lost , race some hope again.

The US president has the right idea, change. But it’s not going to happen if you don’t follow your leader, if you don’t have that hope, and dream inside of you. If you don’t you don’t reflect the human admiration, dream, hope desire for change.

And we won’t change many things but this planet is our birth right, we evolve from this planet, we should stand as a human species, notice and seize our potential to be decent human beings and take it, we have enough challenges against nature to will ourselves against our own potential and growth as companions, as a brother hood of man and woman. We have enough obstacles.

When, just when is humanity going to start to believe in itself ? With all the music, art, poetry you enjoy, your soul so beautiful, and united, yet you fail to realize as a species that we should inspire the human design to be great, we should inspire everyone to be the best companion that they can be , to survive and to prosper as the human species!
And not everyone can have wealth, genius, but we can all be a true brother hood and all inspire humanity to reach its promise if it learns to respect itself and inspire that everyone respect what they reflect inwardly and outwardly as human beings. There is goodness in all of our hearts and in this world!
Your geniuses, artists, those in poverty, everyone all around the world has something to contribute, we need to respect every one if we are going to solve any problems, and we need to work together, not against our wills to inspire to be better, not against our own might!
With the right intentions and true to heart how can our species fail!? INSPIRE! We need music in our hearts all of us to form a symphony of the human species.
The illusion of being selfish needs to end, even if your actions are selfish the belief in humanity must remain if we are to believe we can continue to exist and prosper, we need to believe in something called humanity to keep it stable and keep it within us in our minds and hearts or else it dies!
Believe in yourself, believe in your own heart and see that connection to humanity! See what you are showing the universe inwardly and outwardly of your humanity! Inspire and be inspired and inspire! THAT’S what’s important, that’s the test. That’s what we should living and breathing. These illusions must end that hinder our growth.
It’s no delusion, acts of cruelty must be seen as crimes of the human race, no more illusions we hold, we must live, breathe this and finally come to realize the truth of which we’ve failed to truly accept.

These are all great ideas.. Unfortunately, most humans have a desire for prestige and to be liked. This causes us to over think the simple meaning of life, which is to enjoy who you actually are, as opposed to be the world’s most likable person. I also completely agree with your 6th paragraph; this is why I don’t really use Twitter – it is a place of worship for other human beings. The only human we should worship is our self.

We can’t force others to strive to help all humans – but we can show them the flaws of a life that doesn’t consider the needs or feelings of others.

The ONLY reason I use Yahoo is email. Period. I have NO interest in its garbage "social networking" capabilities, since Yahoo’s software engineers are INCOMPETENT as compared to Facebook’s engineers. When I am trying to access email using Yahoo, I am WORKING, and I have no desire to "chat" with lunatics, thugs, and whores.

These corporations ruined Silicon Valley and the lives, and livelihoods, of thousands of good engineers with their idiotic "me too marketing" of second-hand ideas implemented as Death March projects by Mongolian Hordes of minimally qualified little programmers. Now these Gadarene swine want to "do" social networking.

FORGET ABOUT IT, you clowns, you thugs, you worse than senseless things. It ain’t gonna happen. Facebook has cornered the market.

Just tell me HOW to turn the feature off so that when I log in to see important email, I don’t have to waste time waiting for a queue of greedheads, criminals, psychopaths, drug addicts, and ho-bags wanting to "chat" with me, you dig?

I’m asking "answers" because the morons at Yahoo Help are, of course, by definition, no help whatsoever.

There is a small window on the left side. Switch to Offline. You won’t see them again.

5 THEMES:
Location, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement, and Region.
DEFINITIONS:
1. Location-
Absolute Location: How that place is related to other places.
Relative Location: A place that relates to another.

2. Places-
Physical Characteristics- Includes elements such as element life.
Human Characteristics- Can be noted in architecture, patterns of livelihood, land use and ownership, town planning, and communication and transportation networks.

3. Human Environment/Interaction-
The human interaction can lead to different things, and is different to other people depending on there culture backgrounds and technological resources.

4. Movement- Interacting with other people, places, and things almost every day of their lives.

5. Region- An area on the earth’s surface that is defined by certain unifying characteristics.

Now I need an example for these 5 themes. Each one needs 1 example. Thank you!

5 THEMES:

DEFINITIONS:
1. Location-
Absolute Location: latitude longitude coordinates
Relative Location: the house with the red door past the motel 6
2. Places-
Physical Characteristics- a mountainous region with many freshwater lakes
Human Characteristics- a region with many sheep farms

3. Human Environment/Interaction-The Hoover Dam

4. Movement- immigrant populations moving into an area alter the areas culture

5. Region- The pacfic northwest

http://www.mda.org/disease/fshd.html
Has the information; which, if you are going to answer, logically, from your position; I would hope that you familiarize your self or at least try to understand what I’m going through.
Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy, is most commonly onset at the age of twenty, which I recently "turned". I’ve always had a slim, but fit structure; muscularly taunt and… youthful. Every day I walk back to my dorm after classes (such as "Speech Communication, where I am required and project myself as a credible conjecture. And and that conjecture, is that, constant reminder; the mirror. Every week, my pectorals retreat to my torso. I’ve labeled my scapulars, "budding wings" to lighten the conjuncture that I am displaying every exasperated symptom. The world before me is seen with eyes in darkened sockets, as the noise of muscular degeneration is simply; almost too loud to function within reality’s reflections reminding me. The loss of definition, in terms of my facial, lower leg, bicep (which is malformed, mind you), and chest muscles. I am at the age where.. I truly have the chance to go out into the world and live my dreams. But I am reminded daily, that I am displaying symptoms that may point to a rare, inherited disease that diminishes nearly all forms of physical credibility in the modern man. My face, gasps at you through a sharp, blemished cheek; sunken eyes, and the most peculiar muscle use of my mouth. I am not trying to convey the stereotypical whinging of a youth, I am NOT saying "My life is impossible to function in." Rather I am attempting to convey the seriousness of a un-diagnosed disease, and that I have had no major attempt to do so. I’ve grown up in South Dakota, and a must be a product of this society; somehow, because I shy away from help and stubbornly exist with (what I believe, or stipulate, to be) a violently degenerative disease. Stepping of the heavily traveled path of of mid-western livelihood, to keep the big problems; strictly to your self. To say there is something NOT good, happening to me.

So, I ask you. World,

Is there hope for me? To combat this disease? Have they found a way to introduce this missing piece of chromosome 4 (specifically: D4Z4), back into my system to reverse this degeneration?
I know the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (or CIRM: http://www.cirm.ca.gov/node/506) has completed studies on FSHD, would you advise that I contact them? Or, relatively soon, contact a local/state doctor specializing (or well versed) in muscular dystrophy?

There is no known cure for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. Treatments are given to control symptoms and improve the person’s quality of life. Activity is encouraged. Inactivity such as bedrest can make the muscle disease worse. Physical therapy may help maintain muscle strength.

I see the word "professional actor" being thrown around a bit here.
I don’t have a problem with it, if it’s used in the right context.

I do have a problem with it if it is used with negative connotations ie. Bullying others:
"You’ll never make it, take it from me I’m a professional actress" "These aren’t professional headshots, I’m giving you the REAL DEAL – I’m a professional"

So it got me curious about the definition of "professional", have a read:

Definition of professional:
As per: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/professional
pro·fes·sion·al (pr-fsh-nl)
adj.
1.
a. Of, relating to, engaged in, or suitable for a profession: lawyers, doctors, and other professional people.
b. Conforming to the standards of a profession: professional behavior.
2. Engaging in a given activity as a source of livelihood or as a career: a professional writer.
3. Performed by persons receiving pay: professional football.
4. Having or showing great skill; expert: a professional repair job.
n.
1. A person following a profession, especially a learned profession.
2. One who earns a living in a given or implied occupation: hired a professional to decorate the house.
3. A skilled practitioner; an expert.

So according to the description, YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL if you:
A) make money off what you do, regardless of how big or small your role is.
B) act in a professional manner, in this case you don’t have to be paid for what you do.
C) are truly passionate about what you do, in that you can’t live without it.

So don’t be afraid either when someone uses the term "professional" or afraid to use it for yourself ’cause as you see, you probably fall into the "professional" camp in some shape or form yourself.

All the best
Doc, I respect the book that you have written but you aren’t God!

You may point fingers, get your theatre hat on and say "in this book I’ve written, I’ve said this and that" but at the end of the day – that is your opinion and it is pretty presumptuous to use your title ("the tao") in that way. Heck I could create a Youtube video and title it "My sh*t don’t stink approach with Acting" but at the end of the day it doesn’t make either one of us a deities.

We’re simply men with opinions on opposite sides of the fence: your in the "break them down, crush the fantasy they have, they’ll never make it anyway" camp, I am in and always will be in the "believe in yourself, apply yourself and follow your dreams" corner – the only difference is I’ve got the Oxford Dictionary to back me up

Well, I am at the tender age of 41 now, and I grew up on the stage from the age of 3 through now (with a break or two thrown in for giving birth and time between shows).

Of course, please consider that I have never written a book myself. See, I have been much too busy actually PRACTICING my art/talent on a live stage in front of an actual audience.

This year, I was hired here in Boston based on my audition (my first paying acting role). I have heard from other locals that it’s extremely rare here in Boston to be signed as a paid actor based solely on a 20 min. audition. So, I guess my 30 plus years on stage were "practice" and I am only now considered a professional. Interesting .

The above is slathered in sarcasm, for those ignorant to the art of a sharp tongue. Don’t worry young performers, someday you too might be a "professional!"

Kids, please don’t think some silly book is going to do more for you than teach you extremely basic rhetoric of being an actor. Actors writing books are counting on making their living off of young performers. Think about that for a moment, those who can’t DO, tend to teach. Do yourselves a favor and take advice from actual performers and not from some writer.

I also CHOSE to wait until my kids were older to audition in Boston, so don’t be scared that you need to wait until age 41 for a paying role.

I believe that more can be learned by actually paying attention to older more experienced actors than you can get from a WRITER (wannabe a real actor). For those who seek instruction, take it from me, spend every chance you can either on a stage or work back stage. Experience will teach more than a book. So, please, get off script and LIVE your passion!

Okay so I need a sentence with the word Sustenance in it. It means sustaining life, or livelihood. This is an EASY 10 POINTS!! Plz help & thanks(: Nothing to complicated, a simple sentence.

A good parent will provide nutritious sustenance to their child.

-MM

The BP oil spill was caused by man, has contaminated our food supply, has impacted hundreds of thousands of citizens, not to mention the environment. BP has tried to cover it’s tracks by denying the amount of spewing oil, it’s safety records/procedures and the fact that it has no contingency plan for such a disaster. Clearly. We are in day 37. How is this not an act of terror? For those who depend on the coast for their livelihood’s. Don’t you think they are in terror? Knowing that they can not make a living anymore?

First things first. DHS Napolitano is 100% wrong in her definition of terrorism. If that is the case, than any man(or woman) made destruction, accidental or otherwise should be considered ‘terrorism.’ Now that’s just crazy!

What BP did may be deemed criminal when all is said and done, but it is hardly terrorism. They weren’t TRYING to cause fear or terror in order to achieve and end.

But why has the Palestinians refugee problem has persisted for so long, when compared to other, far worse refugee problems (like after WWII, when there were tens of millions of refugees) that were solved in shorter time periods? Here are a few things that make the Palestinian refugee problem more unique:
-The very definition of "refugee" is different for Palestinians from every other group. A non-Palestinian refugee is described as someone who (1) leaves their country out of "well founded fear of being persecuted," (2) is "outside the country of his nationality," and (3) "is unable or unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country." However, the criteria for a Palestinian to be a refugee is someone (1) "whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948," (2) "who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (regardless of the reason)," and (3) who is a descendent of someone who meets the first two criteria (Palestinians are the only group of people who can inherit refugee status, which means that it is the only group of people in which the number of refugees grows over time rather than decreases). So after reviewing those facts, it appears that refugee status is far easier to attain for Palestinians than any other group. Even if someone’s grandfather lived in what became Israel from April 1948 until the Arab-Israeli War (1 month), and left when they were told to by other invading Arab countries, that person has refugee status. This is unique in refugee situations, and inflates the number of refugees tremendously.
-Unwillingness of similar cultures to absorb the refugees- Refugee situations are usually solved by having a country absorb those refugees. The Palestinian refugee problem could have been solved anytime Jordan controlled the West Bank. The "Palestinian culture"and language is identical to the Jordanian culture because "Palestinians," as they were designated by the British in 1921, were for the most part migrants from what was then called TransJordan. However, the unwillingness of Jordan, as well as any of the other 21 Arab countries, to absorb ANY Palestinian refugees has exacerbated the problem.
-The mission of UN agencies serving refugees is different for Palestinians than anyone else. First of all, the Palestinians are the only group that has an entire agency devoted to their cause (UNRWA), every other group of refugees is cared for by a single agency (UNHCR). The mission of the UNHCR is to find permanent homes for refugees. The mission of the UNRWA is to maintain the refugees within the refugee camps they set up, rather than finding an actual solution to the problem.

So why do Palestinians have more rights that people from the Sudan, or the Congo, or Somalia, or Iraq, or Columbia, or Darfur or Rwanda? What makes them more special than any of these other refugee groups?
SECULAR HUMANIST- "Palestine" is not, and never was a country. It was the name of a geographic region named by the Romans following their victory over the Jewish kingdom of Judea in about the year 70. They named the area "Palaestina" after the Philistines of the Bible. The region included Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, all of Jordan, and some of Syria. Palestine was never a country.

Their god Allah (Satan) has duped the rest of the world into thinking they are the victims when in reality they are aggressors who are unwilling to stop trying to exterminate Israel. Someday they’ll get their come-uppin’s!

But why has the Palestinians refugee problem has persisted for so long, when compared to other, far worse refugee problems (like after WWII, when there were tens of millions of refugees) that were solved in shorter time periods? Here are a few things that make the Palestinian refugee problem more unique:
-The very definition of "refugee" is different for Palestinians from every other group. A non-Palestinian refugee is described as someone who (1) leaves their country out of "well founded fear of being persecuted," (2) is "outside the country of his nationality," and (3) "is unable or unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country." However, the criteria for a Palestinian to be a refugee is someone (1) "whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948," (2) "who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (regardless of the reason)," and (3) who is a descendent of someone who meets the first two criteria (Palestinians are the only group of people who can inherit refugee status, which means that it is the only group of people in which the number of refugees grows over time rather than decreases). So after reviewing those facts, it appears that refugee status is far easier to attain for Palestinians than any other group. Even if someone’s grandfather lived in what became Israel from April 1948 until the Arab-Israeli War (1 month), and left when they were told to by other invading Arab countries, that person has refugee status. This is unique in refugee situations, and inflates the number of refugees tremendously.
-Unwillingness of similar cultures to absorb the refugees- Refugee situations are usually solved by having a country absorb those refugees. The Palestinian refugee problem could have been solved anytime Jordan controlled the West Bank. The "Palestinian culture"and language is identical to the Jordanian culture because "Palestinians," as they were designated by the British in 1921, were for the most part migrants from what was then called TransJordan. However, the unwillingness of Jordan, as well as any of the other 21 Arab countries, to absorb ANY Palestinian refugees has exacerbated the problem.
-The mission of UN agencies serving refugees is different for Palestinians than anyone else. First of all, the Palestinians are the only group that has an entire agency devoted to their cause (UNRWA), every other group of refugees is cared for by a single agency (UNHCR). The mission of the UNHCR is to find permanent homes for refugees. The mission of the UNRWA is to maintain the refugees within the refugee camps they set up, rather than finding an actual solution to the problem.

So why do Palestinians have more rights that people from the Sudan, or the Congo, or Somalia, or Iraq, or Columbia, or Darfur or Rwanda? What makes them more special than any of these other refugee groups?
MICHAEL X- Do your research, and read what I have written. In 1948, the UNRWA documented 860,000 Palestinian refugees. Because Palestinians inherit refugee status, that number has grown to over 4.7 million. Israel has not exiled over 4 million people, as you claim. Really, if they were treated as every other group, there would be hardly any Palestinian refugees left.

Special rghts? Yes it must be a great privelege to live in a refugee camp, staring at the farm the Israeli army invaded and evicted you from 60 years ago, watching someone else pretending they owned it all along.