Table of Contents

1. Introduction to person in class

2. Bear: What I see
3. Literacy in three metaphors (Homework)
4. Literacy in three metaphors (class)
5. Writerly-self valentine
6. Literacy Narrative Draft
7. Proposal draft
8. Bibliograpy drafts
9. Narrative drafts
10. Enthymeme
11. Reflection
12. Nuance draft
13. Journal
14. Weekly Writings
15. In class writings
A Letter from me..

Dear Connie Rothwell,
After a long and exciting winter break, English was my first class of the day and the semester. I was
eager to start my semester with a fun class and that is exactly what happened. After the first class, I am
ready to engage in a new set of courses and experiences.
By now, Ms. Rothwell, you would have figured out good my English and writing skills are! My name is
Parth Patel and I was born in a city of Gujarat, India. My native language is Hindi and I spent most of my
life speaking and learning the language. I moved to Illinois, United States on 27
th
August 2010 from India.
Moving to the states was a wonderful but tough experience. It was
wonderful because the course of my life was about to change
entirely and tough because I had to start from scratch by learning a
new language. I moved to Charlotte, NC in January 2011 due to the
cold weather of Illinois, mostly. I finished my high school in
Charlotte and started my college career here, at UNC Charlotte. My
ultimate goal at UNC Charlotte is to finish my undergraduate career
in Computer and Electrical Engineering at William Lee College of
Engineering at UNC Charlotte.
As part of extra-curricular activities, I like to play cricket and tennis. My favorite kind of
music is Classical Rock and Hard Rock. My favorite band is Aerosmith.
I am glad to have you as my English Instructor and I will try my best to be a good student
throughout the semester.
At this point, I realized that I have no good pictures of me to post. So, this is the best I can
do!

Thank You!
Awaiting for your reply,
Parth Patel.
/G/zO/3
- Tl -JE . NJ'" ) ~
------~-------------------------------------~
-
Name: Parth Patel
Instructor: CGR
Date: 1/28/12
Course: ENGL 1103
Literacy in Three Metaphors: Response

Sylvia Scribner appraises literacy in three representations: literacy as adaption, literacy as power
and literacy as salvation. She formulates all the metaphors to show their boundary problems by arguing
that any of the metaphor, taken by itself, gives us a partial grasp of the utilities of literacy and factors
sustaining goals for and achievement of individual literacy.
Definition of literacy is more dynamic than static. Society adapts one appropriate definition
according to inevitability and necessity of the situation. Scribner explains the situation in section
Literacy as Adaption by giving an example of level of education needed to be considered literate
during World War I. With the change in time, people will have to change the level of literacy
requirements. With the technology becoming the part of our everyday life, we are going to have to learn
how to operate equipment to be considered as technically literate. Let us consider my own example.
Two years ago, I can be considered literate in India. I can read, write and speak the language, and of
course, understand basic skills needed to survive. But, adaption was necessary after moving to the U.S. I
was able to read and write in English but it was not enough. I realized that to become an effective part
of the community, I am going to have to communicate efficiently. It was necessary for me to learn my
surrounding and environment for gaining a status and power in the society. This doesnt mean I was
illiterate back then. The social context and definition of literacy was changed as my society and
surrounding changed.
Decades ago, women literacy was considered excessive and impractical. But with change in
time, the notion was cleared and women literacy became possible because of the awakening. This
resulted into women empowerment and equality. Hence, it will not be wrong to consider literacy as
power.
Even though Scribner makes it very clear that she does not mean to imply a specific religious
interpretation when she talks about literacy as salvation, the first thing that the metaphor brings to my
mind is religious literacy. Hence I think it will be wrong for me to judge or respond on literacy as a
state of grace.
\
Parth Patel
Instructor: CGR
Date: 1/29/12
Course: English
FREE WRITING! !
After a long wait, this is when I start writing. It is 7:00 PM and I have one hour to finish
this free-writing paper. Literacy has no perfect definition. It is subject to change as per our requirements
and situation. There are different kinds of literacy. Being able to read and write is one of them. When
CGRasked to close our eyes and go back to our past, it brought memories. Happy or sad, it doesn't
matter. It looks like I am going off topic. Learning how to read and write was a process that just
happened as time went by. I do not remember a lot about how I "mastered" reading. I do remember
one thing about writing though. It was first day of class. I do not remember what grade I was in. I looked
at other students writing in cursive. I asked my mom to buy me a cursive writing book so that I can
practice how to write in cursive. I took the book to class and started writing: ".9.'/, firM', "17' ... and then I
was stuck at IIQ". I couldn't figure out how to write "0" in cursive. My friends tried to help me but I
guess god didn't want me to learn how to write "0". Eventually, I did figure out how to write "0" in
cursive. I have memories of learning how to read and write but that one was in my head for the rest of
my life. I am looking for a topic to write from the nptecards we made in class the other day. Let's see
what I can find. Oh yes, research paper. How can I not talk about the most hated thing in my life till
now? I hated writing research papers, I still do. I started writing research papers when I was ajunior
(Lucky me). But I was unable to grasp the concept of "research paper" till I was ready to graduate. I
wrote two papers for my English class, receiving "C" grade on both of them. Well, I am not complaining
because I got what I deserved. But I think free-writing is better than research paper. No barrier of what
to write and what not to write. Actually, free-writing also increases the level of literacy in an individual.
What else did I hate when I was a kid? It was newspaper. My dad used to ask me to read a newspaper
each week. J ust to sharpen my English. It was frustrating and useless I think. Sometimes, I couldn't even
figure out what the news were when I finished reading. I guess it did help improve my vocabulary, which
is not so good yet. One thing I liked reading, or looking, were comic books. I can relate the writings with
the expression on characters face. I haven't read a lot of books but from what I have read, I like the
"Homelander" series by Andrew Klavan. That was the only book that kept me attached to it. I finished
reading all three books from whole series in about a week. Now I am looking for time to read the fourth
one. Let us get back to the things I hated. I was not a fan of poetry. I liked the wayan author would
describe nature in poems but the vocabulary they used were above my head. Reading is boring. Writing,
especially this one, is fun. I am running out of things to say. It is because I do not recall my past. As much
as I want to go back, I feel more nostalgic about the things I did as a kid, in a good way. I wrote 614
words in 30 minutes. Does that mean I am literate? I don't think so. It just means I have high pace of
\
writing. My tonsils are getting worst and there is the distraction. My mom is calling me to eat dinner. As
a kid, I also hated looking for a word in the dictionary. The pages would stick to each other and it would
become hard to find one word.
As time goes by, I am realizing how difficult it is to write continuously for an hour. If it
was a research paper, I would be looking for a perfect end. But this is free-writing. I can end whenever I
want.
7 00p('-'/
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Name: Parth Patel
Instructor: CGR
Date: 2/6/2013
Course: ENGL 1103
First Draft
It seems like your school is giving away free days for reading books at night, asked my mom with
a little bit of mixed up feelings on her face. Why do you ask, mom? I replied. She responded by
saying what time it was. It felt good when I realized I have been reading a book for about six hours
now. But wait! Why am I reading a fiction book when I have a research paper due tomorrow
morning? Suddenly, it does not feel good at all.
It was The Last Thing I Remember by Andrew Klavan that kept me awake till 4 Oclock in the
morning. It was one of the best books I had read in a while. May be I felt that way because all I used
to read were books for my research paper and daily class reading. But this book was different. It
had a sense of attachment and feeling that helped me lose track of time. Let us get back in time to
know how I found the book and how I started reading it.
It was a cold and breezy Sunday morning in Chicago as usual. Usually, I like to sleep off my
weekends but this weekend was different. There was a research paper which was due on Monday
morning. I was at the final stage of my research so I needed to collect some books from the library.
Driving was not an option for me so I called up my cousin who lived couple of blocks away from my
apartment. At the library, I never like to explore the non-fiction section. Fiction always drags me
towards it and I always get distracted by non-real stories. Same thing happened this time. I was
reading the back page summary of the books I needed. This one book came across me and I was
thrilled just by reading the summary of it. The writer impressed me by his sentence formation skills
just like that. Even though the book was fiction and I didnt really need it for my research paper, I
picked it up. That book; I dont think it is appropriate for research she said, It is a fiction book
about terrorism. I know I said But I would like to explore this book anyways because even the
summary of it sounds thrilling and exciting. Admiring the book, she said, It is a nice book. I am
sure you will like it.
Leaving aside the research paper that was due the next day, I started reading the book. I thought,
Reading a couple of pages wont hurt. But I was wrong. It did hurt, not me but my grades. I kept
reading the book till 4 o clock in the morning. A couple of hours before my school, I started putting
my research paper together and yes, it was an F paper. But my teacher was really kind to give me
a C for that paper. Bad grade in an English class did not stop me from reading the book I started. I
finished reading the book in about two days. During these two days, I thought of skipping school
once in a while just to finish reading what I started.
I had to tell my cousin how good this book was. After reading the book, I expressed my feelings
towards it and she said You sound like you really liked the book. Why dont you read all other
books in the series? You dont have to tell I replied. Due to the lack of patience and the fresh
memories from book one, I started and finished reading other books in the series in about two
weeks. When we talk about reading books, this was the best experience Ive had in a long time. As
good as I know myself; I do not think I will be able to read any other book with this dedication and
concentration in future.
Name: Parth Patel
Instructor: CGR
Course: ENGL 1103
Date: 2/11/2013
Narrative: The Canterbury Tales
Every English class has some good and some harsh memories attached to it. It was the same
way for me as well. As a student, we have to cherish those memories and shape them to be a
successful student in class. This is a story about how a group of students fails to finish an
assignment given by an English teacher. The group includes me and my team members, and the
English teacher is Ms. Kirkman.
It was a cold but sunny day outside. A cool breeze was coming through the crack in the
window of the classroom. A group was presenting their project. I wasnt paying attention to what
the group was presenting. My attention span was that of a two year old at the moment. Why was
this happening to me? I think I have a fear of presenting. A team had just finished presenting their
project to class and the class applauded as the group approached to their seats. It was a nice project
and one commendable presentation. It was our turn now. As time came for our presentation, my
legs started shaking. Even though it was a breezy afternoon, I felt a sense of warmness running
through my body. My stomach started to feel strange. I think I might have skipped a heartbeat or
two. It was mid-winter but my body was still sweating. All this happened in a glimpse of a moment
between the class stopping to applaud and another us getting ready to present.
Bizarre and abnormal things happen to me when I am in English class and it is a
presentation day for a project. Even in a class of no more than twenty five students, a series of
unnatural thoughts capture my mind and make it paralyzed for a second when it comes to
presentation. The fear continues to grow as presentation time approaches and diminishes when it
is over.
Let us rewind back in time a little bit. After my second period at in school, I was headed to
my English class with some of my friends. Ms. Kirkman had a habit of putting class schedule for all
of her classes. Today, under our To Do List were three goals: Vocabulary quiz, SAT Question and
Canterbury Tales. The class started as usual with vocabulary quiz. In reality, those quizzes were
actually very helpful and productive. Learning new words every day was fun, unless I was not
tested on them. Next in list was SAT practice question. One question per day was not very stressful
but 150 questions a semester sounded like a great deal for us.
Ms. Kirkman seemed to be a lady who was a distant thinker. Next thing on list was
Canterbury Tales. As a fresh learner, I was always curious to learn English and read new books. This
fact always made English fun. I was excited to start reading the book as a class. But the excitement
did not last for a long time. Explaining the assignment, Ms. Kirkman said, For the next two weeks,
we are going to read a new book by Geoffrey Chaucer called The Canterbury Tales. The book was
written in Middle English... and she went on explaining the book. There will be groups of four.
Each group will be assigned to read one tale from the book. I was glad because I had some friends
in the class and we could work in a group. I will be the one assigning the group, she said. It was
still a good idea for me. I dont mind making some new friends I said to myself.
At the end of two weeks, every group will have to present to the class what they read, in
some form of entertainment. For example, making a video or performing the story live in front of
the class. Suddenly, the happy expression on my face vanished and it turned pale. The excitement
of reading book was no longer present in me and weird thoughts ran through my mind in an
instance. She went on explaining the assignment while I sat there with an expressionless face. As a
group, our assignment was to read The Wife of Baths Tale and make a presentation that will
explain the whole story in less than five minutes. It sounded a bit tough to explain the story in less
than five minutes but the fact that we had about two weeks to finish it cheered me.
I started reading the book the same day to avoid last minute rush where I would just read
the book summary. As it was written in Middle English, I realized how tough it was to interpret the
book. Reading was stressful and time consuming because I had to read every line more than two
times. This doubled the amount of work it would normally take to read a book. Reading the book
was tedious but I actually enjoyed the way story went. After a long and tedious week, I finally
finished reading the book and so did my group members. It was time we decide the theme and
content of our presentation. After a long and hasty thinking process and a period long discussion,
we came to conclusion that we will record a puppet show representing our story and show it to the
class. We decided a strategy. Since I was not a good writer, my team members would write
dialogues and make a script that can be used as a story. I was in charge of making puppets.
I was satisfied with the work distribution and at the end of the day I was happy that our
group is pulling off the assignment really well. We had plenty of time to record our puppet show, or
at least that is what we thought. Days passed and the final presentation was due soon. I was on the
verge of building my puppets. Before the presentation day, I called up all my group members to get
together so that we can record the play. Out of three other people, only Daniel responded back.
Presentation was starting to fade before my eyes as time passed and none of the group members
showed up for recording. I had done my work with full dedication and responsibility. I had the
puppets ready and Daniel had the script. It was not possible for only two of us to finish the project
by ourselves.
I was frustrated and angry at my team members. I wish I could go back in time and tell Ms.
Kirkman how my team members would bail out on us at the final stage. What do you think we
should do now? I asked Daniel. Daniel was either calm or he was pretended to be calm but he
kindly replied, I think we should just finish recording the video for now. He had the confidence
and patience to finish the project unlike me. But things like this demotivate me and I just want to
give up. On the other hand, Daniels confidence motivated me and I was ready to record the project.
While he wrote the dialogues, I called some of my friends to play rest of the characters. With the
help of Daniel and my friends, we successfully finished the project. But this did not decrease my
aggression towards other team members. I was still angry at them for abandoning us at the last
minute. I am sure they had their own problems but there should be at least a sense of responsibility
among big high school students.
Next day was presentation day. I was not happy to see the faces of people who betrayed us
at the last moment. Daniel, on the other hand, was too excited to see our presentation. He did not
even care about them. As usual, we took a vocabulary quiz for Ms. Kirkman and she gave us an SAT
question. It was time to present the work. Turn after turn, groups were presenting. It was our turn
now. Daniels confidence and my friends help was the reason we could see the video running on the
smart board.
After the presentation, I went to my teacher to confess about what happened last night. It
was all mines and Daniels work Ms. Kirkman. Other group members did not help us with anything.
I also have to tell you that my friends helped me with the video. I felt bad when I told Ms. Kirkman
about this but I had to do it for me, Daniel and my friends who helped us. I mentioned everything
what happened the other night. She was kind enough to understand our situation. Our group
members did not receive full grade for that project. When Ms. Kirkman notified them about their
grades, my team members didnt seem to be happy. But they had no reason to be sad.
From that day onwards, I am always afraid of working in groups. When a teacher assigns a
group task, the whole incident runs through my head in an instance. Before the project starts, I start
being judgmental and assume that my group members would backstab me. But the experience I had
with Daniel gives me enough confidence to trust my group members.
Name: Parth Patel
Instructor: COR
Date: 2/412013
Course: ENGL 1103
Literacy Narrative: The book I Read
Reading book was not fun until couple of year ago when I started reading "Last Thing I
Remember" by Andrew Klavan inmyjunior year. Part of the reason why I enjoyed reading it
was because it was not an assignment given by my teacher. Itwas my personal choice whether to
read the book or not.
When I used to pick up books to read fromthe library I looked at pictures and if they
interested me, I would read the book. But the cover of any book never went with the actual story
inside the book. This always used to frustrate me as akid and it still does. As aresult, I just
stopped judging the book by its cover. I was at the library with my cousin one day because she
wanted to pick up some books for her research paper. As she was looking for her books, I was
wandering around and looking "pictures" on cover pages. Non-fiction books arenot what I
would normally read so I went to the fiction section to check out if they had any new books since
my last visit. They didn't have any new books but this one book had anice cover. And as I said, I
didn't judge the book from its cover, I was reading the back page summary ofthis book.
Summary kind of held me to it and I took it to check out center. My cousin saw mewith thebook
and she admired the author and the content of the book. She was excited while telling me about
the book and hence I figured it should be anice one.
I started reading the book and I really liked how the author framed thesentences and how I
portrayed each and every character. Every line of it was athrill and suspense. I used to frame
each and every scene of it inmy mind to get aclear view of what is going on in the story. Itwas
hard for me to take abreak while reading it. I used to read it for hours without paying attention to
what is happening around me. The minute I stop reading it, I would think about what would
happen next inthe story. I was so into reading the book that sleep was no longer an option for me
at night. This reading process lasted till I finished reading the book, which was not too long after
I started it.
Things that I liked about thebooks were the organization, sentence formation, easiness to
understand, and the suspense it carried. As I mentioned, every line of it was thrilling and
exciting. At the end of one chapter, I was always curious what the next chapter is going to be
about. I didn't stop at the first book. I went ahead and read all the books inthe series. I need to
read thelatest book as soon as I fmd an open slot in my busy college schedule.
Dialogues ..
Before reading the book, at the book check out. ..
Cousin: I like the book you are getting ready to read. I read it couple of months ago and I am
reading the next book inthe series.
Me: That's what I figured fromthe summary. Let's see how the reading part of it goes.
Cousin: I amsure you'll like it. But if aregoing to reading this one, I recommend you read the
whole series. The secret won't be revealed until the last book.
Me: I will, for sure, if I like this one.
After reading the book ...
Me: Hey guess what? You were right about the book.
Cousin: Told ya..
Me: Yeah. I finished the book in less than aweek. I think I am too excited to know the climax
already.
Cousin: Start reading other books inthe series while you have fresh memories fromthe first one.
Itwill be exciting for you since youjust read the first one.
-.
Me: Of course I will. And thank you for telling meto read thebook.
Cousin: Thank me later.
Name: Parth Patel
Instructor: CGR
Date: 2/6/2013
Course: ENGL 1103
First Draft
"It seems like your school is giving away free days for reading books at night", asked my mom with
a little bit of mixed up feelings on her face. "Why do you ask, mom?" I replied. She responded by
saying what time it was. It felt good when I realized I have been reading a book for about six hours
now. But wait! Why am I reading a fiction book when I have a research paper due tomorrow
morning? Suddenly, it does not feel good at all.
It was "The Last Thing I Remember" by Andrew Klavan that kept me awake till 4 O'clock in the
morning. It was one of the best books I had read in awhile. May be I felt that way because all I used
to read were books for my research paper and daily class reading. But this book was different. It
had asense of attachment and feeling that helped me lose track of time. Let us get back in time to
know how I found out about the book and how I started reading it.
It was acold and breezy Sunday morning in Chicago as usual. Usually, I like to sleep off my
weekends but not this one. There was a research paper due the following Monday morning. Since I
was at the final stage of my research, I needed to collect some books from the library. Driving was
not an option for me so I called up my cousin who lived couple of blocks away from my apartment. I
was supposed to pick up some books that would help me research but as soon as I am surrounded
by all these fiction books, I am easily distracted. Same thing happened that day. I was reading the
back page summary of the books. This one book came across me and I was thrilled just by reading
the summary of it. Writer's way of sentence formation were impressive, Even though the book was
fiction and I didn't really need it for my research paper, I picked it up. "That book; I don't think it is
appropriate for research" my cousin said, "It is a book about akid who is unknowingly involved in
,
terrorist activities." "I know" 1said "But 1would like to read this book anyways." Admiring the book,
she said, "It is a nice book. I am sure you will like it."
Leaving aside the research paper that was due the next day, I started reading the book. I thought,
"Reading a couple of pages won't hurt." But 1was wrong. It did hurt, not me, but my grades. 1kept
reading the book till 4 0' clock in the morning. A couple of hours before my school, I started putting
my research paper together and yes, it was an "F" paper. But my teacher was really kind to give me
a "C" for that one. One bad grade in an English class was not going to stop me from reading the
book.lt only took me two days to finish the book. During these two days, I thought of skipping
school once in a while just to finish reading the piece.
I had to tell my cousin how good this book was. I expressed my feelings towards it and she said
"You sound like you really liked the book. Why don't you read all other books in the series?" "You
don't have to tell" 1replied. Due to fresh memories from previous book and lack of patience, 1
started and finished reading other books in the series in about two weeks. As far as reading is
concerned, this was the best experience I've had in a long time. As good as I know myself; 1do not
think 1will be able to read any other book with this dedication and concentration in future.
ft.) C ,06v " & <
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Cover Letter
Hello Dr. Rothwell,
The individual conference helped me to a great extent. I think I was able to show
and not tell my story. I am working on the digitalization part right now. I am also working on the
portion of how the puppets looked like and how I went through the process of making them so that
my narrative is more literacy based. I would certainly like to seek your help on my use of articles
and prepositions in sentences.

Thank You,
Yours Sincerely,
Parth Patel.


Name: Parth Patel
Instructor: CGR
Course: ENGL 1103
Date: 2/11/2013
Narrative: The Canterbury Tales
Every English class has some good and some harsh memories attached to it. It was the same
way for me as well. As a student, we have to cherish those memories and shape them to be a
successful one in class. This is a story about how a group of students fails to finish an assignment
given by an English teacher. The group includes me and my team members, and the English teacher
who is Ms. Kirkman.
It was a cold but sunny day outside. A cool breeze was coming through the crack in the
window of the classroom. A group was presenting their project. I wasnt paying attention to what
the group was saying. My attention span was that of a two year old at the moment. Why was this
happening to me?
I think I have a fear of presenting. A team had just finished presenting their project to class
and the class applauded as the group approached to their seats. It was a nice project and one
commendable presentation. It was our turn now. As time came near for our presentation, my legs
started shaking. Even though it was a breezy afternoon, I felt a sense of warmness running through
my body. My stomach started to feel strange. I think I might have skipped a heartbeat or two. It was
mid-winter but my body was still sweating. All this happened in a glimpse of a moment between the
class stopping to applaud and us getting ready to present. Bizarre and abnormal things happen to
me when I am in English class and it is a presentation day for a project. Even in a class of no more
than twenty five students, a series of unnatural thoughts capture my mind and make it paralyzed
for a second when it comes to presentation. The fear continues to grow as presentation time
approaches and diminishes when it is over.
Let us rewind back in time a little bit. After my second period in school, I was headed to my
English class with some of my friends. I took my seat in class. Ms. Kirkman had a habit of putting
class schedule for all of her classes. Today, under our To Do List were three goals: Vocabulary
quiz, SAT Question and Canterbury Tales. The class started as usual with vocabulary quiz. In reality,
those quizzes were actually very helpful and productive. Getting to know new words that I had
never encountered before was aspiring and interesting. Words like Obstreperous, contumacious,
mettlesome, cadge, and pith were actually making sense to me now. Learning new words every
day and English itself was fun, unless I was not tested on them. Next in list was SAT practice
question. One question per day was not very stressful but 150 questions a semester sounded like a
great deal for us. Ms. Kirkman seemed to be a lady who was a distant thinker.
Next thing on list was Canterbury Tales. As a fresh learner, I was always curious to learn
English and read new books. This fact always made English fun. I was excited to start reading the
book as a class. But the excitement did not last for a long time. Explaining the assignment, Ms.
Kirkman said, For the next two weeks, we are going to read a new book by Geoffrey Chaucer called
The Canterbury Tales. The book was written in Middle English... and she went on explaining the
book. There will be groups of four. Each group will be assigned to read one tale from the book. I
was glad because I had some friends in the class and we could work in a group. I will be the one
assigning the group, she said. It was still a good idea for me. I dont mind making some new
friends I said to myself.
At the end of two weeks, every group will have to present to the class what they read, in
some form of entertainment. For example, making a video or performing the story, live in front of
the class. Suddenly, the happy expression on my face vanished and it turned pale. The excitement
of reading book was no longer present in me and weird thoughts ran through my mind in an
instance. She went on explaining the assignment while I sat there with an expressionless face. As a
group, our assignment was to read The Wife of Baths Tale and make a presentation that will
explain the whole story in less than five minutes. It sounded a bit tough to explain the story in less
than five minutes but the fact that we had about two weeks to finish it cheered me.
I started reading the book the same day to avoid last minute rush where I would just read
the book summary. As it was written in Middle English, I realized how tough it was to interpret the
book. What do these lines mean? What is Chaucer trying to say in these lines? Why cant he write
the book in actual English? Reading was stressful and time consuming because I had to read every
line more than two times. This doubled the amount of work it would normally take to read a book.
Paraventure, swich was the statut tho
But that the queene and othere ladyes mo
So longe preyeden the kyng of grace,
Til he his lyf hym gaunted in the place,
And yaf hym to the queen al at hir wille,
To chese wheither she wolde hym save or spille.
How hard it is to write that queen is pleading for mercy and wants to give one more chance
to knight to expiate?
Reading the book was tedious but I actually enjoyed the way story went. After a long and
tedious week, I finally finished reading the book and so did my group members. It was time we
decide the theme and content of our presentation. After a long and hasty thinking process and a
period long discussion, we came to conclusion that we will record a puppet show representing our
story and show it to the class. We decided a strategy. Since I was not a good writer, my team
members would write dialogues and make a script that can be used as a story. I was in charge of
making puppets.



I was satisfied with the work distribution and at the end of the day I was happy that our
group is pulling off the assignment really well. We had plenty of time to record our puppet show, or
at least that is what we thought. Days passed and the final presentation was due soon. I was on the
verge of building my puppets. Before the presentation day, I called up all my group members to get
together so that we can record the play. Out of three other people, only Daniel responded back.
Presentation was starting to fade before my eyes as time passed and none of the group members
showed up for recording. I had done my work with full dedication and responsibility. I had the
puppets ready and Daniel had the script. It was not possible for only two of us to finish the project
by ourselves.
I was frustrated and angry at my team members. I wish I could go back in time and tell Ms.
Kirkman how my team members would bail out on us at the final stage. What do you think we
should do now? I asked Daniel. Daniel was either calm or he was pretended to be calm but he
kindly replied, I think we should just finish recording the video for now. He had the confidence
and patience to finish the project unlike me. But things like this demotivate me and I just want to
give up. On the other hand, Daniels confidence motivated me and I was ready to record the project.
While he wrote the dialogues, I called some of my friends to play rest of the characters.
In order for my friends to read the dialogues and flow in emotions, it was necessary for
them to understand the story. It was the time when I interpret whole story to my friends.
Remember the time I spent reading the book in Middle English? That time is not going to go
unutilized because this is when I have to prove my capabilities. I explained the story to my friends
while Daniel wrote the dialogues. With the help of Daniel and my friends, we successfully finished
the project. But this did not decrease my aggression towards other team members. I was still angry
at them for abandoning us at the last minute. I am sure they had their own problems but there
should be at least a sense of responsibility among big high school students.
Next day was presentation day. I was not happy to see the faces of people who betrayed us
at the last moment. Daniel, on the other hand, was too excited to see our presentation. He did not
even care about them. As usual, we took a vocabulary quiz for Ms. Kirkman and she gave us an SAT
question. It was time to present the work. Turn after turn, groups were presenting. It was our turn
now. Daniels confidence and my friends help was the reason we could see the video running on the
smart board.
After the presentation, I went to my teacher to confess about what happened last night. It
was all mines and Daniels work Ms. Kirkman. Other group members did not help us with anything.
I also have to tell you that my friends helped me with the video. I felt bad when I told Ms. Kirkman
about this but I had to do it for me, Daniel and my friends who helped us. I mentioned everything
what happened the other night. She was kind enough to understand our situation. Our group
members did not receive full grade for that project. When Ms. Kirkman notified them about their
grades, my team members didnt seem to be happy. But they had no reason to be sad.
From that day onwards, I am always afraid of working in groups. When a teacher assigns a
group task, the whole incident runs through my head in an instance. Before the project starts, I start
being judgmental and assume that my group members would backstab me. But the experience I had
with Daniel gives me enough confidence to trust my group members.
http://www.firstpalette.com/Craft_themes/People/communityhelperstickpuppets/communityhel
perstickpuppets.html
http://www.artsycraftsymom.com/2010/03/stick-puppets.html


Name: Parth Patel
Course: ENGL 1103
Date: 03/24/2013


The German Nazi Ideology And Its ROots

PRECONCEPTIONS:
To be honest, I am not familiar with holocaust as much as I want to be. All I know right now is
that holocaust is one of the deadliest events in the history when around 6 million Jews were murdered
brutally. Hence first of all, I would like to know more about the reason behind the genocide. I would also
like to focus on the Nazi mindset before, during and after the holocaust. I want answers to some of the
questions like What were the principles of Nazis during the world war?, Was the holocaust entirely
based on religious matters or was it more because of economic and political reasons? and What was
that one event that triggered holocaust?.
AUDIENCE ANALYSIS:
I consider myself new to this topic. As far as I know, people around me are more familiar to this
event than me and I am sure my peers are more informed about the topic. My audience, I think, is
mature enough to understand how intense and serious the topic is in history. I can jump right to my
topic without explaining the basics of holocaust to my audience. Based on the activity we did in class, I
realized that my classmates agreed with my question about Why were Nazis so cruel and radical about
their views that could lead to such a huge massacre?
RESOURCES:
I think UNCC library is the best source for my topic. Other than that, internet is always there for
me. I can seek information from some of the faculty members. I intend to use Google Docs for and
Microsoft Word to write my research paper since they have good citation tools. Holocaust is one of the
biggest events in the history and there could be some misconceptions about the topic. I would definitely
encounter credibility problems when I am using internet resources.
CONCLUSION:
To know and understand the Nazis mindset and the reason for holocaust is my ultimate goal
while researching the topic. As I begin the project, I would like to say that I do not support any ethnic or
non-ethnic groups that will be mentioned in my paper. The paper will be purely based on facts and my
opinions.
As far as my writing group is concerned, I would like to seek ideas from them about the topic
and I would like them to evaluate my drafts. As a writer, I am not very confident about my writing skills
but I am looking forward to improve them with this assignment. All in all, I am ready to end my
curiousness about the topic.
Nazi Ideology: An Inner Look at the Holocaust
Arad, Gulie N. America, Its Jews, and the Rise of Nazism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000.
Print.
Grunfeld, Frederic V. The Hitler File: A Social History of Germany and the Nazis, 1918-45. New York:
Random House, 1974. Print.
Hastings, Derek. Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism: Religious Identity and National Socialism.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.
Derek Hastings is a historian of modern Europe with a particular emphasis on the social and
cultural history of Germany in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Hastings teaches advanced
undergraduate and graduate courses on European nationalism, modern Germany, and the Nazi
regime at Oakland University.
The book Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism explores the changing religious identity of the
early Nazi movement between its founding in 1919 and the mid-1920s. In this book, Hastings
goes back to the years after World War I, when National Socialism first emerged, to reveal its
close early ties with Catholicism. According to him, although an antagonistic relationship
between the Catholic Church and Hitlers regime developed later during the Third Reich, the
early Nazi movement was born in Munich and the surrounding area. Hastings shows how
Catholics played a central and hitherto overlooked role in the Nazi movement before the 1923
Beerhall Putsch. He examines the activism of individual Catholic writers and priest and the
striking Catholic-oriented appeals formulated by the movement. He also talks about why the
Nazis embarked on a different path following the partys reconstitution in early 1925, ultimately
taking on an increasing anti-Catholic and anti-Christian identity.
Hastings focuses more on one topic in his book. The book is more biased towards the influence of
Catholicism on Nazi ideology. The book is more elaborative since it is exclusively concentrated
on one area of influence. No doubt the source is biased but the writer certainly has his point of
view which he proves by giving factual information.
Koonz, Claudia. The Nazi Conscience. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press, 2003. Print.
Claudia Koonz's interests are in twentieth-century German history, women's history, and
genocide. She has received research support from the Rockefeller Foundation, the National
Endowment for the Humanities, the German-Marshall Fund, Duke University, the American
Council for Learned Societies, and the National Humanities Center.
According to Koonz, dismissing the Nazis as monsters without a conscience is too easy and
simplistic. The Nazis were humans like everyone else and their acts, as immortal as they were,
followed logically and easily from a set of assumptions and beliefs which constituted a
conscience. The book analyses how the Nazis developed a philosophy and ethic of racial
superiority. It also includes information on how academic leaders helped justify and legitimize
Nazi beliefs. The book primarily focuses on public actions and discussions in the creation of a
public moral philosophy. The book explores how the Nazis constructed a moral philosophy and
worldview around the need of coherence and order as an antidote to the liberalism and democracy
of the Weimar Republic. It isn't hard to get people to accept the belief that they are special, that
they are better than others, that they deserve special privileges, and that they belong to a group
that spans space and time, creating a unique community that deserves aggressive protection. With
that in place, the demonization of Jews and others could lead readily to mass murder; indeed,
making the Jews social pariahs was inevitable by that point.
When many writers do not want to talk in depth about the Holocaust from a different point of
view, Koonz takes a different approach and tries to prove her point philosophically. The book is
printed so it is credible enough to be used as a good source of information.
Spencer, Heath A. "Catholicism And The Roots Of Nazism: Religious Identity And National Socialism."
Church History 79.3 (2010): 731-733. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. Web. 27 Mar.
2013.
Traverso, Enzo. The Origins of Nazi Violence. New York: New Press, 2003. Print.
Enzo Traverso held the position of a lecturer in the Department of Political science at the
University of Paris VIII and at School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS). He
worked for the International Institute for Research and Education (IIRE) based in Amsterdam,
and after that in the Library of contemporary international documentation (BDIC) in Nanterre.
The book is originally written in French but translated in English by Janet Lloyd.
Enzo Traverso's brilliant synthesis, The Origins of Nazi Violence, maps the troubling genealogy
of the Nazi regime, situating the extermination camps at the terrible intersection of European
modernity's industrialization of killing, dehumanization of death, and colonialist mindset.
Challenging the conventional presentation of the Holocaust as an inexplicable anomaly, in which
Nazi crimes have been excised from the trajectory of the Western world, Traverso navigates the
intricate history of technical, cultural, and ideological antecedents to the horrors of the Holocaust.
The uniqueness of Nazism, he argues, lay not in its opposition to the West, but in its terrifying
blend of many forms of distinctively Western violence. Deftly tracing and elucidating this
complex lineage, Traverso reveals that the ideas that coalesced at Auschwitz came from Europe's
mainstream and not its margins. In his book, Traverso talks about, for most of the part, the
mechanism of death since the French guillotine and especially World War I. In the European
colonies, it was understood that the conquered nations were a lower and less valuable culture that
logically had to give way to the superior Western culture and race. The shock in Nazi Germany
was not the principle, but the idea of applying the principle to the Jews, even though anti-
Semitism had deep roots in European history as well.
The book was originally written by Traverso in French and it was translated in English by Janet
Lloyd. Of course the book lost some of its originality while translation but the facts mentioned in
the book doesnt change. Also, Traverso has also included a bibliography of sources he used
while he was writing the book which makes the book equally credible as others.

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Name: Parth Patel
Course: ENGL 1103
Instructor: CGR
4/14/2013
The Roots of Nazism and Holocaust

Something happened there that until then nobody would have
believed possible. A deep sphere of solidarity between all those who
possessed a human face was affected. Despite all that world history
has witnessed in the way of crude bestiality, up until that moment
people had unquestioningly accepted that the integrity of that deep
sphere had remained intact. And since that movement, a link has
been broke, a link of naivete from which traditions confidently used
to draw their authority and which in general fostered historical
continuities. Auschwitz changed the conditions that allowed the
historical tissues of life to perpetuate themselves spontaneously.
(Habermas 1978b, pg 163) (Traverso 3)
-Jurgen Habermas

Something bad happened This is all I knew when I started the research on the Nazi
Ideology. My quest begins with a question which all of us might have: What are the roots of
Nazism and what is the root cause of Holocaust? Many of us might know the answer to the
question but since I am not familiar to the topic, but I would like to dedicate my time educating
myself on Nazi Ideology.
While I was researching the topic, I came along a lot of different perspectives of the
causes and roots of Nazism. The first book I read during my research was The Origins of Nazi
Violence by Enzo Traverso. The book was recommended to me by Dr. John Cox who teaches
courses related to Human rights and Holocaust at UNC-Charlotte. According to Traverso, one of
the aspects to the Jewish genocide is that it was perpetrated for the specific purpose of a
biological remodeling of the human race. It was conceived not instrumentally as a means to an
end but as an end in itself. Traverso states that the roots of Nazism lay in the aftermath of World
War I and the Russian Movement. In Ernst Noltes analysis, the genocide of the Jews is
presented as the extreme outcome of a European civil war whose beginnings he dates to 1917
and the Russian Revolution, which led to the founding, two years later in 1919, of the
Comintern, a world civil-war party (Traverso 8).
Many of us are not familiar with the term Bolshevism. Bolshevism is the first example of
a totalitarian political regime that, right from the start of the Russian civil war, practiced a policy
of terror and class extermination acted upon German imaginary both as a repellent and as
a model. Nazi anti-Semitism was simply of a particular kind of anti-Bolshevism and the Jewish
genocide an inverted but every bit as tendentious image of the extermination of a world
class by the Bolsheviks.(Traverso 8) In support of the above thesis, Nolte points to an
undeniable fact: the massive presence of Jews in the Russian and international Communist
movement. Given that the Jews were held to be responsible for the massacres perpetrated by
Bolshevism, the conclusion reached was that it was necessary, by way of reprisals and for
preventative reasons, to exterminate them (Traverso 9). So my follow up question would be Is
the real cause of the horrifying event in history was a mere feeling of revenge?
The fact that National Socialism fist took off as an anti-Communist movement does not
mean that its anti-Semitism was born along with the counterrevolution, let alone that is
justifiable to represent it as a copy of Bolshevism. There is, of course, more than one cause of
the genocide. Nazisms roots were solidly embedded in the tradition of ethnic nationalism that
for decades had been permeating the various currents of conservative German culture (Traverso
9). Hitler became anti-Semitic in Vienna at the beginning of the century, at a time when he could
not yet have been influenced by anti-Communism of alarmed by the presence of Jews in the
Russian Revolution and the political uprisings of central Europe (Traverso 10). The fact points
towards another possibility of the genocide.
Although the Nazi movement took shape under the Weimar Republic, its ideology was
nurtured by a complex of elements that already existed before World War I and the Russian
Revolution, and that were then radicalized in the context created by the German defeat and the
rise of Communism. It was from the German and European culture of the nineteenth century
that Nazism inherited its imperialism, its pan-Germanism, its nationalism, its racism, its
eugenics, and its anti-Semitism. Anti-Bolshevism was a later addition to these; it exacerbated
them, but it did not create them.
My next question would be, how big of a role did religion play during the Jewish
genocide? The early Nazi movement was born in Munich, a city whose population was
overwhelmingly Catholic. To find the answer to my question, I read some parts of the book
Catholicism and the roots of Nazism by Derek Hastings. Hastingss main interest is in the Nazi
Partys formative phase, especially in Munich, which was outwardly Catholic and politically
highly volatile between 1918 and 1923.
The National Socialists achieved their rise as a Catholic-oriented movement, Hastings
suggests, whose religious identity consisted in what he calls a CatholicNazi synthesis (Hastings
116). For Catholics, however, it was not possible to go along with the transformation of the
partys religious identity into a secular, political religion. The roots of the Catholics who joined
the early Nazi Party lay in a reforming Catholicism that was anti-ultramontane and critical of
Catholicism. Hastings argues that the religious identity of the emergent Nazi movement in the
Bavarian capital, convulsed by post-war chaos, socialist revolution and its violent suppression,
was shaped by people influenced by the ideas of reforming Catholicism and disappointed by the
Bayerische Volkspartei (Bavarian Peoples Party). So if the protest was an attempt to reform
Catholicism, how is it called the Catholic-oriented movement?
Dismissing the Nazis as monsters without a conscience is too easy and simplistic. The
Nazis were humans like everyone else and their acts, as immortal as they were, followed
logically and easily from a set of assumptions and beliefs which constituted a conscience. Koonz
analyses how the Nazis developed a philosophy and ethic of racial superiority. The first
assumption of the Nazi conscience was the life of a Volk is like that of an organism, marked by
stages of birth, growth, expansion, decline and death. In the Third Reich, a Nazi mantra exhorted
ethnic Germans to put collective need ahead of individual greed. The alternative was death of
the community.
The second assumption in the Nazi conscience was the every community develops the
values appropriate to its nature and to the environment within which it is evolved (Koonz 7). The
third element of the Nazi conscience justified outright aggression against undesirable
populations living in conquered lands whenever it served the victors long-term advantage. The
fourth assumption underlying the Nazi conscience upheld the right of a government to annul the
legal protections of assimilated citizens on the basis of what the government defined as their
ethnicity (Koonz 8). A comparison of anti-Semitic acts and attitudes toward Jews in the
population press of Germany and four European nations (France, Great Britain, Italy and
Romania) from 1899 through 1939 demonstrates that Germans, before 1933, were among the
least anti-Semitic people (Koonz 9).
Name: Parth Patel
Course: ENGL 1103
Instructor: CGR
Date: 04/17/2013
Fundamental Principle of Nazi Ideology: Racism
Something happened there that until then nobody would have
believed possible. A deep sphere of solidarity between all those who
possessed a human face was affected. Despite all that world history
has witnessed in the way of crude bestiality, up until that moment
people had unquestioningly accepted that the integrity of that deep
sphere had remained intact. And since that movement, a link has
been broke, a link of naivete from which traditions confidently used
to draw their authority and which in general fostered historical
continuities. Auschwitz changed the conditions that allowed the
historical tissues of life to perpetuate themselves spontaneously.
-Jurgen Habermas

During World War II, the Nazi empire and its allies systematically murdered nearly six
million Jews, with the goal of making its entire realm clean of Jews, to use the Nazis ugly
terminology. A country half of the size of Texas was responsible for a revolution and genocide
in all of the Europe. There was something about the rulers of Germany, the Nazis to be precise,
during early 20
th
century that caused the stir not only in Europe, but all around the world. There
had to be a reason behind this cowardice act against humanity. Was it political? Or was it
economical or religious? It was the Nazi Ideology of one race being superior to another race and
Holocaust was an implementation of that idea and an attempt to clean the country by
exterminating population considered as lower race.
In order to find evidence and prove the fact that the idea behind the Holocaust was
strongly based on racism, I interviewed Dr. John Cox, a professor of Holocaust and Human Right
Studies here, at UNC Charlotte. Let us rewind time
a bit, he said, When some parts of Africa were
colonized by Germany. Within Germany and some
other parts of Western Europe, racist ideologies
were also widely applied against Africans, a group
that would later from Nazi imperialism. Though
enthusiastic about African colonization, German
colonists believed Germanys destiny lay primarily to
the east, and considered the Africans to be massive, primitive and alien (Cox 2013).
The Pan-German Leagueco-founded by Alfred Hugenberg, who later played a key role
in elevating Hitler above the rest of the ultra-right masses in the last
years of Weimarnoisily agitated for expansion, We shall be a
conquering people that must seize its portion of the world itself!
Germany awake! blared a newspaper ad taken out by the League in
1890 (Cox 2013). In addition to the aggressive campaigning of the
colonialist fanatics, Germanys colonial experience in Africa
intensified these racist, militaristic and imperialistic politics, which
would reach their fullest expression under Hitler. The Nazis ultimate ambition was
unprecedented in its radicalism: to forge an ideal future world, without lesser races, without
the sick, and without those who they decreed had no place in the national community, as
Michael Burleigh and Wolfgang Wippermann wrote in The Racial State.
The ultimate Nazi idea behind Holocaust was racism. Nazism was born into a European
world of empire after European imperialism had shed most of its liberal tricks. During the
course of the quest of cleaning the entire country, a genocidal final solution to the so-called
Jewish question emerged, and other groups were also targeted for genocidal destruction as
part of a unified and uneven process. Nazis operated by a philosophy that prioritized anti-
Semitism but that dehumanized other peoples as well, the Nazi Holocaust claimed millions of
additional victims: Soviet soldiers and civilians, Poles, Roma and Sinti (gypsies), disabled
people, blacks, homosexuals, and religious and political opponents (Cox 2013). Since Jewish
population was most dominant at the time in Germany, Holocaust is mostly related to Jewish
holocaust in the course of history. Hence, the Holocaust cannot be merely associated with
Jews. Every other group, except Aryans and their supporters, was targeted under Nazi Rule.
During my research, I came across the book The Origins of Nazi Violence by Enzo
Traverso, who focuses on the issues of Holocaust and totalitarianism. According to him, the
other possibility that could be responsible for such a vicious Nazi Ideology is the relationship
between Bolsheviks and Germans. Many of us are not familiar with the term Bolshevism.
Bolshevism is the first example of a totalitarian political regime that, right from the start of the
Russian civil war, practiced a policy of terror and class extermination which acted upon Nazi
imaginary both as a repellent and as a model.
Nazi anti-Semitism was simply of a particular kind of
anti-Bolshevism and the Jewish genocide an inverted
image of the extermination of a world class by the
Bolsheviks (Traverso 8). In support of the above
thesis, Nolte points to an undeniable fact: the
massive presence of Jews in the Russian and
international Communist movement. Given that the
Jews were held to be responsible for the massacres
perpetrated by Bolshevism, the conclusion reached was that it was necessary, by way of
reprisals and for preventative reasons, to exterminate them (Traverso 9). So the question
follows: Is the real cause of the horrifying event in history was a mere feeling of revenge?
The fact that National Socialism fist took off as an anti-Communist movement does not
mean that its anti-Semitism was born along with the counterrevolution. Nazisms roots were
solidly embedded in the tradition of ethnic nationalism that for decades had been permeating
the various currents of conservative German culture (Traverso 9). For example, Hitler became
anti-Semitic in Vienna at the beginning of the century, at a time when he could not yet have
been influenced by anti-Communism of alarmed by the presence of Jews in the Russian
Revolution and the political uprisings of central Europe (Traverso 10). The fact points towards
the origin possibility of the vicious Nazi Ideology: Racism. Although the Nazi movement took
shape under Hitlers regime, its ideology was nurtured by a complex of elements that already
existed before World War I, and that were then radicalized in the context created by the
German defeat and the rise of Communism. It was from the German and European culture of
the nineteenth century that Nazism inherited its imperialism, its pan-Germanism, its
nationalism, its racism, its eugenics, and its anti-Semitism (Traverso 11).
One of the common mistakes we all tend to make is that we consider Nazis as monsters
and a group without conscience. Dismissing the Nazis as monsters without a conscience is too
easy and simplistic. The Nazis were humans like everyone else and their acts, as immortal as
they were, followed logically and easily from a set of assumptions and beliefs which constituted
a conscience. Claudia Koonz, an American historian of Nazi Germany, analyses how the Nazis
developed a philosophy and ethic of racial superiority. Describing a Nazi, Koonz states that the
life of a German is like that of an organism, marked by stages of birth, growth, expansion,
decline and death. A Nazi mantra exhorted ethnic Germans to put collective need ahead of
individual greed. The alternative was death of the community. One of the elements of the Nazi
conscience justified outright aggression against undesirable populations living in conquered
lands whenever it served the victors long-term advantage.
A comparison of anti-Semitic acts and attitudes toward Jews in the population press of
Germany and four European nations (France, Great
Britain, Italy and Romania) from 1899 through 1939
demonstrates that Germans, before 1933, were among
the least anti-Semitic people (Koonz 9). But by the fall of
1941 the Nazis were dedicated to killing every Jew they
could get their hands onand even those beyond their
grasp. The genocides of Slavs, Roma and Sinti, and the mass murder of Africans and political
and social enemies lacked the urgent priority and determination that, by late 1941, drove the
Jewish Holocaust. But these crimes originated in closely related goals and congruent Nazi
ideological roots in racism and imperialism. Slavs, Romani peoples, and Jews were murdered as
part of a common process, one that is best understand within humanitys long history of
genocide and the more immediate influences of European imperialism and racism.


Work Cited
Burleigh, Michael, and Wolfgang Wippermann. The Racial State: Germany, 1933-1945. Cambridge
England: Cambridge UP, 1991. Print.
Cox, John. Personal Interview 2013.
Germany Awake. Digital image. Deutschland Erwache. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.
<http://avaxhome.ws/ebooks/history_military/0912138696.html>.
Koonz, Claudia. The Nazi Conscience. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press, 2003. Print.
"The German Possessions; Imperialism and Expansion, Bismarck at His Best." Map. African Numismatics.
N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. <http://tielens.free.fr/Numis/AfriGerman.html>.
Totalitarianism. Digital image. Blow by Blow: Totalitarianism. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.bilderberg.org/usglobal.htm>
Traverso, Enzo. The Origins of Nazi Violence. New York: New Press, 2003. Print.
Name: Parth Patel
Course: English 1103
Date: 04/24/2013
Instructor: CGR
Research Journal

Wednesday - March 20, 2013: My inquiry project officially begun today. I am excited to be a part of this
journey. Main cause of the excitement is that I had the liberty to choose the topic. I have freedom to
choose my own topic. I have always been curious about the principles of Nazi Party. What are the roots
of Nazism? What is the root cause of holocaust? Hence, I wrote a proposal to CGR explaining my
question, conceptions, analysis and conclusion.
Monday March 25, 2013: Today, our class met with Stephanie Otis at the library. Stephanie Otis
introduced us to the resources provided at Atkins Library. I was amazed by how much help a library can
be if utilized properly. Stephanie personally helped every student with their questions with doing
research and finding books at the library. Also, CGR got back to me with my proposal draft I wrote on
March 20. She suggested me to make some changes like asking a narrower and particular question
rather than having a broader view at it. I will consider her suggestions and make changes where
possible.
Wednesday March 27, 2013: Last couple of days has been tough for me. I spent a lot of my time at the
library. I have been researching on the topic of Nazi Ideology. The research is not hard but the
information out there is so interesting and elaborate that it is hard to stop reading a book once I start it.
Somehow, I found two relevant books for my topic. One is The Origins of Nazi Violence by Enzo
Traverso. The information in the source is very important to my research and I am planning to use it as
much as possible. Another book I found is The Nazi Conscience by Claudia Koonz. The book explains a
lot about the Nazi mindset. I am also planning to talk to a professor at our university who can answer
some of my follow up questions.
Thursday March 28, 2013: Today I met Dr. John Cox, a professor of Holocaust, Genocide and Human
Rights studies at the Department of International Studies. I work as a clerk at the department so it was
not hard for me to sign up for an interview with Dr. Cox. Half an hour question and answer session really
helped me answer some questions. The session was informational and very useful for my research. I
think I will use Dr. Coxs interview as my main source while writing the final paper.
Wednesday April 3, 2013: My research finally came to an end. I have everything I need to write my
research paper.
Monday April 8, 2013: I am working on my research narrative today. Turns out, it is not that difficult to
put all the facts together once I have all my research conducted successfully.
Wednesday April 17, 2013: I formed an opinion about my research and the question I asked myself
when the inquiry project began. I finally see a final paper forming since I have my research and my
opinions.
Monday April 22, 2013: This is the time when I frame my research and opinions into one final paper. I
have an opinion and all I need to do is use my research to support my opinions. I will be working on my
nuance essay today.
Wednesday April 24, 2013: Todays class was more like final class even though we have one more
class on next Monday. Prof. Rothwell went over the contents of our next writers notebook. She
explained the final portfolio assignment to the class. My To Do List consists of a couple of things. I
need to update my annotated bibliography because some of my sources have changed significantly from
the last time. Also, I need to start preparing my writers notebook. The semester is coming to an end and
it is nearly the time when I start wrapping up my assignments before the finals.
Name: Parth Patel
Instructor: CGR
Date: January 23, 2013
Subject: ENGL 1103 Prompt

Collaboration and Collective Action
In his presentation, the presenter talks about how humans and other creatures collaborate, work
together in groups with cooperation to get things done. He talks about how humans as well as
other living beings on earth have been collaborating since their existence. He also explains how we
have been, and we are, impacting the world around us by working in groups. He explains a couple of
dilemmas that the world is facing while looking into collective action. He also explains how open
source production is affecting the society and what more could be done if we knew a little bit more
about cooperation.

According to me, the presenter (Howard Rheingold) has an entirely different and unique way of
thinking. His thinking is that the world that we know now was built on the basis of communication,
cooperation, collective action and mutual understanding and trust between our ancestors. Even
today, most businesses like YouTube, EBay, Google, Amazon, etc. are not built by bureaucrats or
structural firms but instead, a community that believes in open source production. I personally
agree with him when he says that the ways in which we organize socially have been coevolving for
quite a long time. That doesnt mean that the era of change is over. I believe that human beings are
currently evolving socially, but the change is barely noticeable. I also think that the way we
collaborate to get things done vary from people to people. For example, humans have been
collaborating in economics, politics, businesses, voluntary works and evolution. When Rheingold
talks about making an effort to collaborate, it is quite confusing to me what area in particular he is
asking us to collaborate for.

In my freshmen year at UNC Charlotte, I read a book by Stephen Covey called 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People. The presenter reminds me of Covey when he talks about interdependence and
communication. Covey in his book structures his seven habits into three levels of human
development: First comes dependence where a person is uneducated, immature and depending on
other people to do the work. Second stage is independence where a person wants to work
individually and be responsible for their lives. Last but not the least one is interdependence where
the person has to seek help, more likely interact positively to accomplish anything in life. The last
stage is most important and that is where most of the college students are at right now. We are
trying to form study groups, work in teams, and communicate with classmates to excel in all of our
classes. Even though this is a simple example of collaboration, it is pretty easy to understand. As an
immigrant, it was important for me to become a part of community that works as a whole and lives
with cooperation in the States. To be active and be part of the changing world, I had to collaborate
and cooperate with a community that I could fully understand. After all, this world is in existence
because of mutual trust and understanding between countries. Imagine this place blowing up with
nuclear bombs just because one country is not cooperative and feeling insecure.
Name: Parth Patel
Instructor: CGR
Class: ENGL 1203
Date: 2/25/13
Advertisement: The Emotions Involved

As I was looking for some flyers, websites and advertisements for this paper, I
came across this web page and picture on Google Images. I realized that this
advertisement was in a different language but I thought it will be interesting and a
challenge for me to interpret the picture. It would be easy and influential if I was to
select an English advertisement. Also I wanted to check how I would look at this
advertisement without knowing the language and by just looking at the picture. After I
describe my view on the advertisement, I would go back to the website to compare my
response and the actual meaning of this advertisement.
As we can see, picture is simply designed and executed. The fonts are
straightforward and plain. The picture is designed to focus on middle aged and older
group. There is no sense of excitement but I think it is intentional. I dont really know
what the quote means at the time. There is a website mentioned right after the quote.
Hence I would say that it is also focused on a group where internet usage is common.
At the bottom, there is a logo which says Bank. It becomes a lot simpler to understand
the poster after reading that word Bank.
The advertisement is mostly dominated by green color. Fonts itself are white
colored. Top and bottom borders and the background, trees, itself represent this color.
According to me, the color goes along with the banks name and logo. The picture is
not, of course, handmade. It is a photograph which is computerized afterwards.
Now lets talk about what is going on in the photograph. There is a sense of
good intention and happiness going through the photo. An old guy, in his mid-70s, is
learning how to skate. Now, we know it is hard for a person to learn something new at
an age of 70. A young gentleman is guiding the old person through is way. Old sir is
happy to learn and a young gentleman is happy to guide. It reminds me of generation
gap that is occurring in todays world. Two different generations are working together
to accomplish something new. This might be banks mission statement or the quote
itself, we dont know.
Lets go back and see what the advertisement and quote actually means. A bank
called TD Bank owns the right of above described advertisement. The quote sabemos
como hacer la vida mas facil is written in Spanish which means We know how to make
life easier. My assumptions were close enough. The simplicity of fonts, background,
emotions, colors and content reflects the simplicity of advertisement. Despite of its
simplicity, the interaction between an old person and the young guy reveals an
emotional side to the advertisement. Also, it is necessary for the viewer to trust the bank
just by looking at the poster. According to me, the author succeeds in doing so.

What value do I place on what I have said and understood about visual literacy?
Normally, I do not pay attention to any visual details of advertisement because for me, it
is irrelevant to just presume about a product by looking at an advertisement unless the
advertisement proves a logical point about a product and it provides true fact about the
product. But taking my time to observe an advertisement proved beneficial in a way. I
think it doesnt matter what language an advertisement is portrayed in but if it contains
enough pictures and emotions, it becomes easy to understand.
When words like constraints and requirements are thrown at a student, the reaction is usually not
good. But the article by Doss forces me to think about constraints in a different way. After reading this
article, I thought about how constraints would affect the final outcome. For example, one assignment
can be done in many different ways if the constraints were different each time. For example, if our
reflection essay for portfolio had to be less than 400 words, I would have found another way to write it.
One example given by Doss, which is about Marissa Mayers decision to eliminate telecommuting at
Yahoo, was good enough for me to think about constraints in a positive way. We do not know for sure
what the final outcome would be if Yahoo eliminated telecommuting but, good or bad, it would be a
good choice for future consideration of the situation.
This article was very specific to a topic of constraints. Since Doss was exclusively talking about
constraints through the whole article, my question to him would be that while he was writing this
article, what kind of constraints did you have in mind, if he had any?

Name: Parth Patel
Course: ENGL 1103
Date: 4/3/2013
Erskine Bowles: National Debt Threatens
U. S. Innovation
This week, I am writing about a conversation about effects of National debt on
innovation that happened between Henry Doss and Erskine Bowles. The title is catchy and that is
the reason I started reading the article. As I was reading it, I felt really engaged in the
conversation and was starting to flow with it. Questions asked by Doss represented almost all
college students and the answers given by Erskine were convincing as well.
National Debt is responsible for a lot of unexpected things that would happen in the U.S.
and threat on education is one of them. United States has always been a number one leader in all
the fields from time to time. The country is a home of innovative leaders. But having a national
debt jeopardizes the future of future leaders and students. The effects of our national debts are
not only limited to Washington anymore. They can be clearly seen at lower levels of education
like college and school funding. For example, from this year, students will experience a small cut
on their grants and aids offered by Federal and state government.
Current U.S debt is more than a trillion dollars right now. It will be really challenging and
difficult to find a solution of the debt by implementing tax reforms. What other ways do you
think are possible to pay off our national debt as soon as possible, other than tax reforms?

Parth Patel
04/19/2013

Innovation: Whos in Charge?

In this article, Doss rotates the article around the meaning of word Innovation. I agree with Doss
when he says that the word Innovation is no longer limited to its original meaning. People tend to bend
the meaning of the word according to their convenience.
The definition of innovation changes as we move from educational institutions to research facilities and
real world. I would like to give an example that I think is relevant to the definition of innovation. I took
an Introduction to Engineering class last semester. The course had three big projects that a student
needed to complete. One of those projects was exclusively called Innovations Project. We were to
build a car that will travel 15 feet straight while carrying some load. The car should stop at a certain
point. Now, it is fairly easy to make a cart but students can only use materials provided by instructor.
The problem no longer was building a car, but using the materials provided to build a car. . Here is
where innovation comes in. Students have to be innovative and think of a way to build a car with loaded
constraints.
For me, the definition of innovation could be different than what an engineer, who designs big
prototypes of cars, would have defined it. Hence it is not fair to limit the definition of innovation. Even
though the word has a specific meaning, the purpose should be kept wide enough for different sorts of
people to fit in.
Name: Parth Patel
Course: ENGL 1103
Date: 4/8/2013
Innovation: Five Keys to Educating the Next
Generation of Leaders
I will be defying the truth if I said I do not agree with Doss on this one. Five keys
mentioned by him in this article are definitely important for Next Generation students and
leaders if they want to succeed in any concentrations.
He starts off with a most obvious key to success in coming years: Language. In coming
10 years, this world will be a very small village as he mentioned. Next generation leaders will
need to communicate to personnel and business leaders all around the world. Even small
businesses will no longer be conceived as a domestic matter.
As I mentioned before, I agree with Doss on how important it is to educate the next
generation of leaders, but the one thing that bothers me is the breadth of students
education. It surely sounds astonishing to have knowledge of more than one field, but with
increasing competition and scope in future, it will be really difficult to keep up with the
increasing sea of knowledge. An average person has a life span of 80 years. It will be a massive
challenge for anyone to learn everything in those years. My point is that it will be a challenge
for future innovators to seek out and support a broader education.
Trust: The Bitcoin of Innovative Cultures

In his article, Trust: The Bitcoin of Innovative Cultures, Doss focuses on one of the most
important aspect of innovation and business: Trust. He talks about how important it is when it
comes to business and innovation. According to him, trust is capable of transforming an
organizational culture. While Doss only focuses on the importance of trust in business, I would
focus on its importance in the real world as well.
Trust and risk are closely associated. In fact, trusting someone can also be referred to as taking a
risk. Doss gives an example of how Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started their business in a
garage. For starters, the establishment of HP was possible because Hewlett and Packard trusted
each other as friends and business partners. When we, as citizens, pay our taxes, we trust the
government to use our tax money righteously. During this 21
st
century when almost every
country is occupied with nuclear weapons, we as a country trust other countries with them
having nuclear weapons. China trusts the U.S. and does business even though the U.S owes
almost a trillion dollars in debt to China. My point is that the world itself is built on a factor
called trust. Trust is the factor that keeps the world in balance. Without trust, there would be no
business, there would be no innovation, there would be no peace, and the world wouldnt be a
better place to live.