LIT ANALYSIS

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
Chocolat begins with the arrival of Vianne and her young daughter to a small village in France. This village is strictly and strongly catholic where everyone goes to mass on Sundays. Vianne is the only one who decides to not go. Her resistance for the religion and her opening of a chocolate shop in the center of the town during lent set the plot as conflict unwinds between the mayor and Vianne.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
Enjoy yourself! That is the theme in simple terms. What Joanne wanted to capture in her novel is the simple theme of living life for yourself and not to please people around you. What truly matters in life is your happiness. Carpe diem! ;)
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The author's tone was strong to illustrate Vianne's personality as well as the overall theme. Because of the author's tone, reader's were able to capture the true depth and meaning of just how strong of a message the author was trying to get across. To illustrate this, " You don't misbehave here. It's just not done, did you know that? If you don't go to confession, if you don't... dig your flowerbeds, or if you don't pretend, if you don't pretend... that you want nothing more in your life than to serve your husband three meals a day, and give him children, and vacuum under his ass, then... then you're... then you're crazy."  "Roux: I should probably warn ya: you make friends with us, you make enemies with everyone else.
Vianne Rocher: Is that a promise?
Roux: It's a guarantee."
"Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate or tortuous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive."

SEEKING MENTOR

My mentor has qualities of a great writer. She has the power to attract someone instantly in her first line of an article. Of course her destinations draw people in as well but a destination is nothing if you don't know anything about it. Her courage to do what she is doing I also admire.  The fact that she embarked on a year long of traveling by herself is amazing. This gal is none other than Brooke Saward of worldofwanderlust.com
check it out!

RESOURCE OF THE LAST 3 DAYS

For the last 3 days, Travel Channel has had a 3 part series on European countries. I clearly couldn't reflect on this before I finished watching, but now it's safe to say that I can. This was an amazing video diary of all the European countries. They covered the landscapes, the best cities, and the tourist spots as well as the local spots.

IS THERE AN EXPERT IN THE HOUSE?

My expert as mentioned many times before is Brooke Saward. She is truly an amazing person for the courage she has to do what she is doing at the moment. She was just awarded International Skyscanner travel blog of the year! Her blog was barely made a little over a year ago. The tremendous amount of success she has had has been astounding. What she is doing now is she embarked on a full year of traveling, by herself, and is taking one town, city, and country one day at a time. She is meeting people along the way via social media and is living her ultimate dream. She is one person I really look up to and admire. I pick her and emphasize on her because in a way she is just like me. She is still very young, and here she is, a go-getter which is how I view myself.

THIS IS ONLY A TEST

How does my masterpiece affect a potential career and then how does it differ from my true life passion? Like discussed in class, there are 2 kinds of tests; school tests, and this is where we as students are ATM'S in which the teacher deposits information throughout the course and on test days withdrawals it, and then there are life tests. Life test are the one's where we can draw on an experience and we really learn something. So in this masterpiece, I need to have both types of tests in a sense. However, we do not get the typical school test in expository composition. Anyways, back to my original question. This masterpiece could turn into a career if I wanted it to. It can transform itself into a full time, freelance journalism of my choice, and that is how I can make a living later in life. But, my passion is in fact traveling. So as I am traveling, and seeing everything there is to see, I am really pursuing a passion. My masterpiece could be a simple hobby of which I take up, or I can turn it into so much more. This really excites me to think of the possibilities.

MY EXPERT

My expert is someone who really inspired me to pursue travel journalism. My form of journalism will be a blog just as Brooke Saward did. She started her blog a little over a year ago and has had TREMENDOUS success. She has devoted herself fully to this and is enjoying her life greatly as you can see through her social media sights (i.e. instagram, twitter) as well as her daily posts on her blog. www.worldofwanderlust.com I am still waiting for a reply from her as to check out my blog, but I have made my step in the right direction.

RESOURCES TO CONSIDER

http://www.bunac.org
Here is a site you can go to to consider a great opportunity that can help you travel. Through this organization your traveling is paid for and you get to go to another country and do a great thing.
http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/timing-your-trip
Here you can see when is the best time to travel and why! This is great if you are trying to save money!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gogobot-/the-worlds-best-summertim_b_3473679.html
In this article, it tells you the best places to visit if you are going in summer and why they are amazing. I found it quite helpful!
http://www.macworld.com/article/2045191/what-to-do-and-not-to-do-when-traveling-overseas-with-apple-gear.html
This girl helped all of us fellow travelers out by telling reader's the do's and don'ts while traveling abroad.

Resource of the day.

This is almost as good as a joke of the day.
http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/11-06/get-paid-to-travel-best-jobs-that-combine-work-and-travel.html
here if you are a desiring traveler and want to be paid for it you can find multiple jobs that you could pursue to still travel and get paid to do so. Check it out.

MY AWESOME ESSAY

This in class essay went very well for me. Going into it I expected to have writer's block. After all it was really early in the morning. However, it was quite the opposite. My thoughts continued to flow out throughout the period which ended up forming a well organized, content filled essay. I had great information to present and I defended my points! Overall you will be impressed.

I, ENTREPRENEUR

(a) how the expert you designed the 10 questions for is or isn't an entrepreneur according to how we defined it in class; 
My expert, Samantha Brown, isn't necessarily an entrepreneur because she works for company, that being the Travel Channel. However, in a way she built her own career up and got her to where she is now, so I feel she is an entrepreneur of her own career.
(b) how you are or are not an entrepreneur according to how we defined it in class; and 
I think I can be an entrepreneur with my project in a way. Though I don't have a product to offer people, I have information that could make some people's lives easier. For example, if people are looking for travel advice and they come to my future blog and find all kinds of helpful information, then I just gave someone information. If this were to happen, I believe I would be an entrepreneur because I would have a business in which I help others. 
(c) how this culture associates expertise with entrepreneurship, and how you think this idea should be reinforced or changed.
I feel like this culture makes entrepreneurship's about money and about who you know, not what you know. It does make the process easier, but these things do not define a successful entrepreneur. Someone without these resources can just as easily do this, and it has been done hundreds of times. 

TEN QUESTIONS

1. What made you want to pursue this career?
2. Had you traveled before this career?
3. How did you start out?
4. What was your major in college?
5. Did you start out with money?
6. Were you an instant success?
7. If now, how did you work your way up?
8. Do you still enjoy your career?
9. What advice do you have for a young mind in pursuit?
10. What can I do to get a jump start?

HOW TO GET STARTED

Start by exploring your options. How can you travel? Do you know anyone in different countries? Do you have a flexible schedule to travel. Keep in mind all the cheap ways to travel including staying in hostels, flying standby, and going to countries known for being cheaper (check out Prague). Can you stay for a long period of time? Do you want other people to hear about your trip via social media? Ask yourself these questions and see how you can get stared traveling.

BENCHMARK read onnnn....

Tiana McMann

Expos Comp Per.1

March 6, 2014

Why do people even have an interest in traveling? What about it makes it so interesting? Through much research through blogs, Huffington post writers, and world renowned travelers, I have come to know the positives and pitfalls of traveling. Many people have discovered that traveling has changed them greatly and has evolved them into something they wouldn't have expected, for the better. But how is this possible? Like all things that make us happy, there is always the question of how.  Of course, there are situations where people have to travel. In this digital age, it can be mandatory for jobs, family, etc.. In 2008, only 30 percent of trips over fifty miles were done for business. New science papers have found that getting away is actually essential. It can truly clear your mind by simply putting yourself some miles away from your own reality. I am interested, along with many others I am sure, as to why people travel, and what better way to know why this is none other than doing it yourself. I was quite fortunate enough to recently embark on my own solo journey so I feel I can add my two cents to this subject! 

RESOURCE

If you are looking to travel, and to do so for cheaper then normal, a good place is to start is by looking for naturally cheap countries. This site I came across presents readers' with 6 of the world's cheapest destinations and tells you how! Check it out at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/worlds-cheapest-destinations_n_4170896.html