Online Activity #2: The Body Paragraph

[Andrew Burton]

*** Your Writing ***

In response to Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire” (the text is
posted on Omnivox), write a body paragraph of 100-200 words whose
topic sentence asserts that a device expresses a theme. See the
previous online activity for possible themes or come up with a new
one. Choose one of the four devices below. See the Body Paragraph
Structure Handout posted on Omnivox for an example body paragraph.
Please be respectful of your classmates – do not post anything that is
offensive or insensitive. Ask yourself if your body paragraph
includes the following elements and meets the following criteria:

Part 1: A topic sentence that states that a device expresses a theme
- Ensure the theme is in subject-verb-object, reflects an insightful
understanding of the text and is preceded by the word that

Part 2: A signal phrase that introduces a correctly integrated direct
quotation
- Ensure the quotation’s context is clear
- Ensure the quotation is relevant
- Ensure the quotation’s length is optimal

Part 3: An explanation of how the literary device is present and
functions in the direct quotation
- Name the literary device
- Discuss the device elements (e.g. characterization: a) identify what
conveys information about a character b) state what is learned about
the character)
- Offer explanations that are clear, convincing, sophisticated and
original
- Support claims by referencing quotation language/content

Part 4: An explanation of how the literary device expresses the theme
- Ensure logic is fully convincing/explained and analytically
sophisticated
- Directly re-assert the claim that the device expresses the theme
- Support claims by referencing quotation language/content as
necessary

Possible devices
Characterization
- Identify what conveys information about a character
- State what is learned about the character
Setting
- Identify the time and/or the place
- State what in the text reveals the time and/or the place
Foreshadowing
- Identify the hint
- State the future event/thing being hinted at
Imagery
- Identify the image (a sight, smell, sound, taste or sensation of
touch)
- State the effect of the image

Your body paragraph must be posted by midnight Sunday September 18th.

*** Your Feedback ***

Each student must offer critical feedback to at least two other
students regarding their body paragraphs. Considering the criteria
above, identify two things that work well and two things that could be
improved. In your feedback, please make specific reference to a
student’s writing to illustrate your points instead of just offering
vague general comments. Make sure every student has received feedback
from at least two students before offering any student a third round
of feedback. Be courteous and keep your comments focused on students’
writing.

All comments regarding other students' paragraphs must be posted by
midnight Thursday September 22nd.

[William Shakespeare]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that farming
results in financial failure is expressed by imagery. “On your way
toss your house keys into the water well. Before doing anything else,
make a wish.” The image suggests that the farm is no longer operating
because otherwise the house keys would be necessary to live on and so
operate the farm. Clearly the narrator no longer lives in the house
despite the fact that the farm has been in his family for two previous
generations: “it was your father’s house and before it was your
father’s house it was his father’s too.” If despite the farm
belonging to his family for so long the narrator no longer lives on or
operates the farm, it is likely because he can no longer afford to do
so. His wish may be that farming were a more profitable venture that
would have allowed him to keep farming. Therefore the theme that
farming produces economic hardship is expressed by imagery.

[Andrew Burton]

Hi again Willie,

Things I liked
1. Great topic sentence – you state really clearly that a device
(which you name) expresses the theme
2. Your logic in the second half of the paragraph is very clear --
nice touch introducing another direct quotation to back up your claim
about the farm having been in a family over many generations
3. You offer a very clear restatement of the topic sentence at the end
of the paragraph – excellent

Things to improve
1. Your first direct quotation isn’t smoothly integrated because a)
you don’t offer any signal phrase to indicate its context b) you’ve
got the quotation in a sentence all by itself
2. When you say “The image” immediately after the direct quotation,
I’m not sure which one you mean. Is it the visual image of the keys
going down the well? The splash sound they make when they hit the
water? The visual image of the narrator making a wish? After the
quotation, explicitly identify the image in your own words, making
specific references to the quotation in the process

See you in class,

Mr. Burton

On Sep 13, 8:50 pm, William Shakespeare <andrewelbur...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

[Sheng Hao Liu]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that farming

leads to poverty is expressed by the setting. The narrator thinks
about his past and how his farm housed two generations of farmers
before it went bankrupt by stating: “ Before foreclosure on the family
farm, before the new highway.” By saying that it had a foreclosure, it
means that the narrator couldn’t pay the mortgage because he is too
poor. He also states: “At one time chickens lived here,” while going
through the barn and “This was feed once,” after dumping gasoline on
hay bales. The narrator cannot keep operating his farm because he no
longer has any animal that can bring him an income. The animals may
have died of sickness or were too old to go on. So by questioning the
chain of events that happened to the narrator, it can be concluded
that it was his farming career that led him to bankruptcy, thus the
theme farming leads to poverty.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Lian Ma]

In Stace Budzuka’s “How to Set a House on Fire”, the setting
demonstrates the theme that farming is no longer a profitable
business. “Before it was your house, it was your father’s house and
before it was your father’s house it was his father’s house too.
Before Foreclosure on the family farm, before the new highway.” This
setting describes how the farm has evolved through time. It suggests
that farm was in business for many generations before the arrival of
the highway. This highway may not be the direct cause for the
bankruptcy of the farm, but it symbolizes the arrival of modern times
and the development of new technologies. As a result, this quotation
suggests that the farm was not able to keep up with modernization.
Therefore, the setting shows how farming has lost its value through
time.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Salmon Nessa]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” characterization
expresses the theme that inheritance can make one possessive. The
narrator reveals that the farm belonged to his ancestors before
belonging to him: "Before it was your house it was your father's house
and before it was your father's house it was his father's too." He
also discloses that the farmhouse does not belong to him anymore:"
Before foreclosure on the family farm, before the new highway."
Because the family farm house does not belong to him anymore and that
this farm was always a possession of his family, he did not want to
give the farm away to the bank. He felt that this farm has always been
his possession and can not belong to someone else which is why he
burns the farm so that no one else can possess it. “After filling the
birdbath next to the old red maple with the remaining octane, call
Herm up at the fire station.” .By burning the farmhouse the narrator
characterizes himself as someone possessive over his inheritance. Thus
it conveys the theme that inheritance can make one possessive.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[John Khoury]

In Stacy Budzko "How to set a house on fire" characterization
expresses the theme anger could drive someone to the extreme acts. In
the story they discuss different scenarios performed to burn the
house. For example, "Before leaving, make sure the hay bales drip with
fuel". You can see that this man is attempting to burn the house down.
Throughout the story you see that the persons character is filled with
anger and hate. "Before it was your house it was your father's house
and before it was your father's house. Before foreclosure on the
family farm, before the new highway" This could cause his character to
change and make him do something stupid. All that anger just built up
which caused him to burn the house that was once his.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Calvin Chin]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that
foreclosure leads to burning houses is expressed by imagery. The story
is based on imagery. The imagery effects how you visual his actions.
The character describes how he burns his house down throughout the
story. He says "Before you light the gas, light a cigarette under the
old red maple in the front yard, under a hunter's moon, and take a
last look." The image of fire represents anger or rage and
destruction. He gives such detailed description of how he’s burning
his house down and at the same time, he’s giving you a clear image of
what he sees. This makes you wonder why he’s doing such an act. The
reason: “Before foreclosure on the family farm, before the new
highway.” He is destroying something that no longer belongs to him. He
must then feel angst about losing his property. He says “And after
Herm asks if you would do it all over again, tell him you would.” He’s
eager to burn down his house again and again. This proves that
foreclosure leads to burning houses is expressed by imagery.

[Karinne Legare]

In Stace Budzuka’s “How to Set a House on Fire”, the theme ``Demented
and psychotic, however meticulously planned`` is expressed by
Characterization. “And after Herm asks if you would do it all over
again, tell him you would”. We can see how the character is angry,
slightly psychotic though calm. However he has no remorse, no regret.
If he had the opportunity, he would burn the house all over again!
’’Spray the gaps in the oak floorboards and get into the heating
ducts, hit the horsehair plaster and take out electric sockets, then
run a heavy gas line out to the barn.’’(…) Even though this
was due to financial issues, only a mad, unstable and slightly
psychotic person could burn a house down with a solid plan from head
to toe. We learn to see how much the character is not only determined
to burn the house down but to also make sure he lets people know that
he does not have a care in the world for doing it.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Vladimir Turturica]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that
deception from failure could lead us to craziness is expressed by the
characterization of our main character. In his peasant measures to
burn the farm, he clearly showed us that his deception from
foreclosure and the failure of maintaining alive a family business has
lead him to insanity.”On your way toss your house keys into the water
well. Before doing anything else, make a wish” shows pretty much what
he’s thinking and yet as the irony of the words makes no fool of him,
yet, he has now given up on the house. It is important to know that
this house was his father’s and his grandfather’s and thus, by burning
it, it means that he could not longer accept to see his failure
materialized. Also, what’s crazy about the character is the fact that
he contacted someone to tell how he burned the house. If a perfectly
sane person would have done such thing, he wouldn’t have burned the
house down, even less contacted the firefighters to announce his acts,
but he would have simply acquainted a demolition crew to do the job
properly and risk-free.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Julia Ros-Larocque]

In Stace Budzko's "How to Set a House on Fire," the theme that
financial failure brings one to drastic intervention is expressed by
the setting. While spreading flammable fuel on the farm the narrator
thinks about how he financially lost the farm, "Before foreclosure on
the family farm, before the new highway." With the precision of the
"foreclosure on the family farm" the setting shows the narrator feels
like there is nothing more he can do except burning his farm down, so
it feels like he's in control for one last time. Therefore the theme
that financial failure brings one to drastic intervention is expressed
by the setting of a man who has lost the family farm because of
foreclusure, and wants to be in control for one last time, as a result
he makes a drastic move, and set his farm on fire.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Olivier Mariani]

In Stace Budzko's ``How to Set a House on Fire,`` characterization
demonstrates the theme that someone can do extrem actions without
being insane. The main character knows exactly what he is doing. This
fact can be proven by two different characterizations. Indeed, the
narrator characterizes the man as meticulous and well-aware that he is
burning his family farm. The following sentence demonstrates the man's
clear determination ``Spray the gaps in the oak floorboards and get

into the heating ducts, hit the horsehair plaster and take out

electric sockets, then run a heavy gas line out to the barn.`` The man
makes sure to put fuel everywhere which is an act of meticulousness.
The other fact that demonstrates he is not insane is that he explains
the situation to Herm and says he would do it again. The first
sentence is ``Tell him how the fire line went from where you stand to
the well and then zigzagged to the barn, and after the farm equipment
blew to the sky tell him how the furnace did the same.`` By telling
this, the narrator shows that the main character acts on purpose; his
actions are not spontaneous or impulsive ones. The last sentence is ``

And after Herm asks if you would do it all over again, tell him you

would.`` This demonstrates once again it is not an act of insanity but
a vengeance toward the bank which put a foreclosure on his family
farm. Those characterizations prove that the main character is not
insane. Extrem acts are not always linked with insanity.

[Jackson Chan]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the literary device of
imagery successfully expresses the theme that money drives people mad.
Since the farm will no longer belong to the writer, he becomes mad and
he wants to burn it down so no one will be able to take it away from
him. “Before you light the gas, light a cigarette under the old red
maple in the front yard, under a hunter's moon, and take a last look.”
This quote clearly exhibits the writer’s will to destroy the farm with
fire and the last look he takes will be the final memory which stays
in his heart forever. Moreover, the reason why he has to abandon his
farm is because he cannot afford the debt of bank: “Before foreclosure
on the family farm, before the new highway.” Money is the main cause
that separates him and his farm and that causes his madness. The story
uses imagery as the device to conveys the theme that insaneness can be
create by valuable item.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Olivier Mariani]

Hi John,

Things I like:
-Great topic sentence. I totally agree with your theme.
- Your logic through the whole text is very clear which makes the
reading of your text very smooth.

Things to improve:
-Eventhough your text is clear, I am not sure that the sentence ``

Before it was your house it was your father's house and before it was

your father's house it was his father's house`` demonstrates anger and
hate, if it is what you wanted to do.
- You say that the character does something stupid but I don't agree.
Of course it is an extrem act but the man acts on purpose. He doesn't
want the bank to take his family inheritance. This fact is not
stupid.

> > midnight Thursday September 22nd.- Masquer le texte des messages précédents -
>
> - Afficher le texte des messages précédents -

[Olivier Mariani]

Hi Sheng,

Things I like:

- Your topic sentence is clear which is very good.
- You have many quotations which make your text interesting to read.

Things to improve:
- I think your theme is too general. When you say `` Farming leads to
poverty`` it makes me think that all the farmers in the world are
poor, which is not true. Maybe you could say : Farming might leads to
poverty which is less general.
- The end of your text is really general. I mean, you speculate on his
life. I don't say it is wrong but I don't think there is enough
information in the text to be sure of your last sentence.

[Louis-Martin Jussaume]

In Stace Budzko’s short story “How to Set a House on Fire”,
characterization expresses the theme that bad childhood memories
follow adults all their life. The character explains the house was his
family house since two generations. According to the author “Before it

was your house it was your father's house and before it was your

father's house it was his father's too.” This means, “Before it was
your father’s house,” that the main character lives his childhood on
the farm he burns, and therefore, he has lots of bad financial
memories on this farm, “Before foreclosure on the family farm, before
the new highway.” Furthermore, these memories have follow him through
the years. The theme that bad childhood memories follow adult all
their life is demonstrated through the characterization.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Shiyan Du]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” characterization
expresses the theme that abandonment of memories is desperate and
helpless. In the story, the mental state of the main character and the
relation between him and his farmer is revealed by these words:“Before
it was your house, it was your father’s house and before it was your
father’s house it was his father’s house too.Before Foreclosure on the
family farm, before the new highway.” Since it is a family
inheritance, the farm that the main character burned relies naturally
to his memory, especially memory of the family. This characterization
shows that the main character feels helpless to the inevasible
foreclosure and his desperation drive him to make a complete
abandonment and destruction of the farm on which relies his past. This
revealed the theme that abandonment of memories is desperate and
helpless

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Jing-Lun Xu]

In Stace Budzkos’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” characterization
expresses the theme that desperation brings nostalgic memories. During
his explanation on spreading fuel in the backhoe, the narrator
mentions that “at one time, chickens lived here.” By saying that
“chickens lived here,” the storyteller reminisces the time when he
used to own farm animals. This good memory of his farm shows that the
narrator’s life used to be better. Also, the “foreclosure” of the farm
suggests that he is in a difficult financial situation. His
desperation to change his surroundings is proven by the fact that he
burns down his house. By mentioning the memories that he has of his
farm while burning it down, the characterization of the storyteller
expresses the theme that desperation brings nostalgic memories.

[samir ajam]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” characterization
expresses the theme that burning the farmhouse is an escape from his
problems. The narrator tells us of several problems the character is
dealing with. “Before it was your house it was your father’s house and
before it was your father’s house it was his father’s too. Before
foreclosure on the family farm, before the new highway.” With this
information, the narrator familiarizes us with some of the problems
the character is dealing with: financial troubles, depression, and
loneliness. Foreclosure of the farm and the building of a new highway
shows us that the character is having financial troubles. The
quotation suggests that he is most likely living alone, with his
father and grandfather gone, and with financial troubles he is facing
depression. The quotation suggests that the area around the farm is
being modernized, that the farm is in the middle of nowhere probably
near a highway and with no family members and/or friends around. The
character is thus feeling lonely. Knowing that the character is
having several problems, the only escape route he has is the burning
of the farm house, which he does do. The character understands this
is his only route; “And after Herm asks if you would do it all over
again, tell him you would.” The characterization of the several
problems the character is dealing with, expresses the theme burning
the farmhouse as an escape from his problems.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Melody Jia Yue Wang]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire”, the device of
characterization demonstrates that determination guides to extremist
actions. This quotation: “And after Herm [a firefighter] asks if you
would do it [set a house on fire] all over again, tell him you would.”
characterizes the main character as determined to accomplish his will
of an extremist action: burning his own house. Indeed, the main
character is described as willing to commit an extreme act of setting
a family heritance of two generations on fire: “it was your father’s
house and before it was your father’s house it was his father’s too.”
Clearly the main character most has a great determination to make an
extremist decision. Therefore extreme willingness may end with
horrible actions shown by characterization.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Sasha Bordonaro]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” ,” the literary device
of imagery is expressed by the theme that personal life failures can
lead us to giving up.”Before you light the gas, light a cigarette

under the old red maple in the front yard, under a hunter's moon, and

take a last look.”This image here is that the old red maple has no
longer an importance to our character. He is able to explain how he
will set the red maple on fire without expressing any emotion. The
character helps us visualize how he will burn the red maple. Visibly
the narrator is leaving the farm. The narrator is explaining to us
that he is to call his friend to leave the farm. “is he asks would you
do it again say yes,” this shows us that it burning the maple in the
front yard was played and there is not regrets on this. Regardless
that the farm has been passed down from generation through generation
the narrator shows that to him the farms dose not bring him anymore
value. As a result of this, the them that failure will lead us to
giving up is expressed by imagery.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Xin Tong Zhao]

In Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire” characterization expresses
the theme that abandonment of memories is helpless. By saying that
“Before it was your house it was your father's house and before it was
your father's house it was his father's too,” the characterization
shows that the farm is full of the main character’s memories. The barn
is not just a place for living, but the memory and history of his
whole family. Also, by telling that “Before doing anything else, make
a wish,” the characterization reveals helplessness of the main
character. The main character does not want to burn his property since
it was full of his memory, therefore, because of foreclosure, he has
no choice but to destroy his own property. By emphasizing the link
between main character’s memories’ and his farm, the characterization
shows how it is difficult for him to destroy his farm.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:

[Melody Jia Yue Wang]

Hi Lian,

Things I liked
1. Your topic sentence is good because it shows clearly
your device and your theme writtten in the form of subject-verb-
object.
2. I like your link between the degeneration of the business of the
farm
and the highway which seems logic to me to represent the replacement
of
oldness by modernity.


Things to improve
1. Just before the end, you talk about your quotation mentionned
earlier in the paragraph by saying "this quotation" but your quotation
is way too far away to use "this" as the article to remind the readers
about your quotation.
2. Your quotation is maybe too direct and not smoothly insert in the
paragraph. It will be maybe better if you can link it to another
sentence.
It is a little bit weird to simply have a quotation by itself.

> > midnight Thursday September 22nd.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Xu Yan]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that poverty
could make people destroy what they possess is expressed by
characterization. By saying that “Before foreclosure on the family
farm, before the new highway.” It shows that the main character is
poor and he has too much financial pressure because of his farm so he
can not pay for his farm anymore. At the end of the text, “On your way
toss your house keys into the water well. Before doing anything else,
make a wish.” This quotation shows that the farm will be destroy soon
by the main character. He destroys his farm because he does not want
the bank to take the property of the farm so he decides to destroy it
before the bank takes it. So we can make the relation between poverty,
destruction and possession. Therefore, the characterization of the
situation of the main character shows the theme that poverty could
make people destroy what they possess.

[Melody Jia Yue Wang]

Hi Salmon,

Things I liked
1. Your first quotation is really well introduced with the
appropriate
use of the two points and the quotation mark. It has been done
really naturally and smoothly.

2. I like the logique of your explaination of the theme. The lost of
his
possesion makes him agressive and violent and guides him to destroy
what he can't own or lost. It's prefectly coherent. The simplicity of
your
explainations is also helpful for the readers to understand your
logique.

Things to improve
1. At the conclusion sentence of the paragraph, it is good and
necessary
to remind the theme, but it would be better if you have repeat your
device too.
At your introduction you mentioned it, so it would be logical to
repeat it at the end.

2. I found your second quotation a little bit useless. The only
function I found in this
was quotation is to show the fact that the main character wants to set
his house on fire. Otherwise, it hasn't a use to support your theme.
If you want to demonstrate with this
quotation the fact the main character wants to burn his house, you
should have use it
earlier when you first mentioned his will to set his property on
fire.

[Laurent Lao]

In "How to Set a House on Fire", the theme of industrialization leads
to desperation is expressed through characterization. As the character
describes how to burn his house, he mentions that his house belonged
to a few generation of his family "before the foreclosure on the
family farm, before the new highway." In this story, the "new highway"
causes the "foreclosure on the family farm" and therefore, the burning
of the house. Indeed, the characterization of industrialization
through the "new highway" and of despair through fire,
characterization expresses the theme that industrialization leads to
desperation.

[Jia Yue You]

In Stace Budzko's "How to Set a House on Fire", characterization
expresses the theme that possessiveness leads one to do extreme
actions. To teach the reader how to set a house on fire, the narrator
describes his experience with his own farm. Since he mentions: "Before

it was your house it was your father's house and before it was your

father's house it was his father's house too.", it is very likely for
the narrator to have strong feelings of possessiveness towards the
family farm. Unfortunately for him, his possession is going under
foreclosure and, subsequently, he decides to burn it. By providing
information about the main character, Budzko characterize the latter
as a man who prefer destroying his dear possessions rather than ceding
them. The narrator even tells his readers to "toss your house keys
into the water well." before burning the house. By this act, he means
to take away the possibility of the re-ownership of the farm and
destroy it, so that the last possessor can only be him; sending out
the message that it is his farm or nobody's farm. To sum up, by
increasing the reader's knowledge about the narrator, characterization
express the theme that possessiveness leads one to do extreme actions.

[Karina Hirian]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that
indifference towards a serious matter can drive someone into doing
unethical acts deliberately is present. While giving out instructions
on how to set a house on fire, the author states “There's not much to
see now, really.” This direct quotation suggests the indifference
that the man explaining the instructions to the owner of the house is
indifferent towards the well-being of the farm and is heatless for
wanting to destroy a farm once functional and productive. He clearly
does not have any feeling towards the destruction and will have no
regrets. “And after Herm asks if you would do it all over again, tell
him you would.” This statement lays out the man’s character, which is
heartless. It even seems that destroying makes him happy.
Characterization expresses the theme completely. This device is used
to describe the narrator which in this case, is heartless and
indifferent.

[yuan kun li]

In "How to Set Your House on Fire", the theme formers are largely
influenced by urbanisation is illustrated by settings. "Before
foreclosure on the family farm, before the new highway." This setting
demonstrates that the village is developping very well but farmers
have to face financial difficulties as their property are being
foreclosured by banks. "Before it was your house it was your father's
house and before it was your father's house it was his father's too."
By saying that the guy is losing his family's property, the setting
describes the difficult financial situation of the farmer. And by
comparing the new highway and the old farm, the setting gives a better
image of urbanisation and its influence on traditional farmers.

On 9月13日, 下午8时49分, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:
> *** Your Writing ***
>
> In response to Budzko's "How to Set a House on Fire" (the text is
> posted on Omnivox), write a body paragraph of 100-200 words whose
> topic sentence asserts that a device expresses a theme. See the
> previous online activity for possible themes or come up with a new
> one. Choose one of the four devices below. See the Body Paragraph
> Structure Handout posted on Omnivox for an example body paragraph.

> Please be respectful of your classmates - do not post anything that is

[Hai Qi Liang]

In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” characterization
expresses the theme that desperation can drive someone insane.
“Before leaving, make sure the hay bales drip with fuel. This was feed
once. On your way toss your house keys into the water well.” The
description demonstrates how the narrator is willing to burn down his
own farm and not coming back on his decision since he threw the keys
down the water well. This clearly proves the madness and insanity of
the narrator since no one would burn their own place like he did.
Furthermore, the narrator does not regret at all his act by saying

“And after Herm asks if you would do it all over again, tell him you

would.” Indeed, the unorthodox state of mind of the narrator through
characterization expresses the theme that desperation can drive
someone insane.

On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:
> *** Your Writing ***
>
> In response to Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire” (the text is
> posted on Omnivox), write a body paragraph of 100-200 words whose
> topic sentence asserts that a device expresses a theme.  See the
> previous online activity for possible themes or come up with a new
> one.  Choose one of the four devices below.  See the Body Paragraph
> Structure Handout posted on Omnivox for an example body paragraph.

> Please be respectful of your classmates – do not post anything that is

[Vincent Ko]

In Stace Budzuka’s “How to Set a House on Fire”, the characterization
expresses the theme that a burden brings an abandonment. “Before it
was your house, it was your father’s house and before it was your
father’s house it was his father’s house too. Before foreclosure on
the family farm, before the new highway." This means that his father
and grandfather managed the farm well and had no financial problems.
The main character knows it really well so when the farm has been
inherited to him, it seems he got a big pressure from managing the
farm. Thus, the burden he got has probably grown by the financial
problem. The foreclosure of the family farm made him feel sorry and
also shame. This influenced him to barn the farmhouse and to erase all
the memories within it. So, we can clearly see that the burden has led
him to an abandonment.

[Zeshi Zhong]

In the short fiction "How to Set a House on Fire", by Stace Budzko,
the theme that nostalgia can lead to madness is expressed through
characterization. The narrator is standing in front of his farm,
smoking a cigarette and he is about to burn his whole farm down. He
states, "Before you light the gas, light a cigarette under the old red

maple in the front yard, under a hunter's moon, and take a last look."

As he says that he "lights a cigarette," he is very calm,and when he
"takes a last look," he is nostalgic, because he is recollecting what
he experienced on the ground of his ancestors. Therefore, he is fully
aware of what he is going to do, but he does not question himself and
feels very confident, by smoking a cigarette. As in Edgar Allan Poe's
"Tell Tale Heart", the madmen do not question themselves and strongly
believe the are not crazy, even if they committed an insane deed.
Because it is nostalgia who is forcing him to burn his farm, the theme
that nostalgia can lead to madness is illustrated using
characterization in this interesting fiction story.

[Zeshi Zhong]

Hey Jia :D

Things i like:
1. I really like the way you structured your paragraph so that your
logical process flows very smoothly. It really help to understand the
points you are making in it. Also, your quotation is very well chosen.
2. I like the second quotation you introduced in your paragraph, the
thing about the keys and the possession, because I didn't think of
that action that way, and it made me realize that your hypothesis
makes a lot of sense.

Things you should improve:
1. I do not really agree with you in your statement saying that the
narrator is someone who prefers to destroy things rather that ceding
it, because after the foreclosure, they want to build a new highway on
the territory of the farm, so the property the foreclosure is
interested in is not the buildings but the territory. The farm was
going to be destroyed anyways. I rather think that since he feels he
is the rightful owner of the farm, he should be the one to destroy it
and no one else.
2. I do not feel the necessity of adding a second quotation to your
paragraph. I know it adds an interesting point of view, but I think
what you want to prove is already done before it, so no need to add
extra length.

On 18 sep, 22:51, Jia Yue You <greenpearlmermaid_l...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

[Zeshi Zhong]

Hi Liam,

Things I like:
1. When I read your paragraph the first time, I found it very short
and consice, but I did not feel that you were not done or a lack of
explanation. You sure know how to summarize you explanation very well,
its certainly a plus.
2. I like the link you made between the highway and the modernity. I
always thought that the highway was the direct cause to the
foreclosure, but it really might not be that way.

Things You should improve:
1. While reading you text, The fact that you didn't add an intro to
your quotation caught my attention. I think the change form topic
sentence to the quotation is a change too abrupt.
2. I am not sure of what I'm saying here, but i believe that the
literary device you used to prove your point might not be setting.
Maybe it's characterization of the farm.

On 17 sep, 12:03, Lian Ma <lian_azn_natat...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzuka’s “How to Set a House on Fire”, the setting
> demonstrates the theme that farming is no longer a profitable

> business. “Before it was your house, it was your father’s house and

> before it was your father’s house it was his father’s house too.

> Before Foreclosure on the family farm, before the new highway.” This
> setting describes how the farm has evolved through time. It suggests
> that farm was in business for many generations before the arrival of
> the highway. This highway may not be the direct cause for the
> bankruptcy of the farm, but it symbolizes the arrival of modern times
> and the development of new technologies. As a result, this quotation
> suggests that the farm was not able to keep up with modernization.
> Therefore, the setting shows how farming has lost its value through
> time.
>

[Lian Ma]

Hello Hai Qi,

i really liked your quotation choices, i think they really support
your thesis. I also like that you text is unified, and your last
sentence sums everything up very nicely.

however, the point of "desperation" was not really proven or explained
throughout your text. why was the farmer desperate in the first place?
We can see that the farmer was in an irrational state of mind, but you
did not explain how desperation had anything to do with it. Also, you
could have put in introductory statement for your first quotation so
that it fits in better with the rest of the text. This will give the
reader a better idea of what your talking about.

[Lian Ma]

Hi Sasha,

things i liked:
I liked how you showed the farmers lack of emotion during the whole
process. It really helps us see how he had given up. the imagery that
you chose is also very interesting and it says a lot about this
situation. I liked that your last statement summarized your whole
paragraph.

things that can be improved:
I think that you should clarify the link between the burning of the
maple tree, and the fact that it shows that the framer is leaving. Why
is the maple tree so important? What does it symbolize? Also I think
that adding an introduction to your quotes will make them blend into
the text more smoothly

[Jackson Chan]

Good things:
1. You used 2 quotes to explain your theme. This helps to facilitate
the readers’ thought.
2. The explanation of the first quote is quite good. I can easily
understand the quote by reading your explanation.
Things to be improve:
1. You didn't use the signal phrase to introduce your quote so the
part between your topic sentence and your quote is not smooth enough.
2. It is not really a bad thing but it’s just a question. As you said
before, the author doesn’t really want to burn down his house. But why
does he destroy it? Why doesn’t he just keep it? I’m sure that there
are others reasons why he decided to burn down his farm (not for
money).

[Jackson Chan]

Good things:
1. You chose a really good quote to support you theme about extreme
action. I can understand the writer's feeling for his own farm.
2. In you quotation, you has added details (explanation of the words)
to facilitate the reading of the audience.

Things to be improve:
1. You didn't use the signal phrase to introduce your quote. You just
gave out the quote directly.
2. You just used one phrase to explain how the literary device
expresses the theme. It will not be enough (more explanations).

On Sep 18, 8:15 pm, Melody Jia Yue Wang <melodyjiayuew...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Julia Ros-Larocque]

Part 1: Good SVO and theme + that.

Part 2: Good intro sentence for your quote, but I'm sure you could
work your sentence so it becomes even more specific for the quote. You
could specify that the two generation are his ancestor for exemple.

Part 3: Well explained for the quote, you state well why it's
relevant.

Part 4: I don't really see how you explain your theme, because the way
you say it, it's not farming that led to the bankruptcy/poverty, but
the poverty that led to bankruptcy.

On Sep 15, 10:25 pm, Sheng Hao Liu <shenghaoliu....@gmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that farming
> leads to poverty is expressed by the setting. The narrator thinks
> about his past and how his farm housed two generations of farmers
> before it went bankrupt by stating: “ Before foreclosure on the family
> farm, before the new highway.” By saying that it had a foreclosure, it
> means that the narrator couldn’t pay the mortgage because he is too
> poor. He also states: “At one time chickens lived here,” while going
> through the barn and “This was feed once,” after dumping gasoline on
> hay bales. The narrator cannot keep operating his farm because he no
> longer has any animal that can bring him an income. The animals may
> have died of sickness or were too old to go on. So by questioning the
> chain of events that happened to the narrator, it can be concluded
> that it was his farming career that led him to bankruptcy, thus the
> theme farming leads to poverty.

[Julia Ros-Larocque]

Part 1: What is your SVO? I can't figure out wich one it would be,
also it should be introduced with "that".

Part 2: You should have an sentence to introduce your quote, because
if I was a wouldn't have read the same text as you, I wouldn't
understand.

Part 3: You should repeat your device, I don't really spot it, don't
be afraid of repeating.

Part 4: Like I said don't be afraid to fully repeat, because now at
the end it's like the characterization is more about the narrator
being determined than being demented and psychotic.

On Sep 17, 8:59 pm, Karinne Legare <xo.kari...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzuka’s “How to Set a House on Fire”, the theme ``Demented
> and psychotic, however meticulously planned`` is expressed by
> Characterization.  “And after Herm asks if you would do it all over
> again, tell him you would”. We can see how the character is angry,
> slightly psychotic though calm. However he has no remorse, no regret.
> If he had the opportunity, he would burn the house all over again!
> ’’Spray the gaps in the oak floorboards and get into the heating
> ducts, hit the horsehair plaster and take out electric sockets, then
> run a heavy gas line out to the barn.’’(…) Even though this
> was due to financial issues, only a mad, unstable and slightly
> psychotic person could burn a house down with a solid plan from head
> to toe. We learn to see how much the character is not only determined
> to burn the house down but to also make sure he lets people know that
> he does not have a care in the world for doing it.

[Louis-Martin Jussaume]

Your first sentence is good, you respect the device + expresses + the
theme that + your theme, such as your last sentence. I think you have
very well integrated your quotation.
I'm not sure with the use of words like "us," and "probably". At one
point, you wrote,"with his father and grandfather gone," and then in
the next sentence you wrote,"alone without members/friends."
Otherwise, I find you paragraph pretty good!

[Louis-Martin Jussaume]

Again your first sentence and last sentence respect the structure
( sandwich structure from the Pecs!). I like your paragraph, I just
have something against your second sentence which introduce your
quotation though. It just doesn't look right, but maybe it is. I like
the way you repeat the Chickens quotation, well done! Oh, and the
logic is easy to follow!
.

On Sep 18, 7:28 pm, Jing-Lun Xu <x.j.l....@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzkos’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” characterization
> expresses the theme that desperation brings nostalgic memories. During
> his explanation on spreading fuel in the backhoe, the narrator
> mentions that “at one time, chickens lived here.” By saying that
> “chickens lived here,” the storyteller reminisces the time when he
> used to own farm animals. This good memory of his farm shows that the
> narrator’s life used to be better. Also, the “foreclosure” of the farm
> suggests that he is in a difficult financial situation. His
> desperation to change his surroundings is proven by the fact that he
> burns down his house. By mentioning the memories that he has of his
> farm while burning it down, the characterization of the storyteller
> expresses the theme that desperation brings nostalgic memories.

[Xin Tong Zhao]

Things I like:
1-Your topic sentence is very well written, your theme followed SVO
form.
2-You put two quotations that are strongely linked to your theme,
there is logic through the whole text.
Things to improve:
1- You used "we" in the text and it makes your paragraph less
objectif. You can avoid using "we" by saying the sentence in another
way.
2- I had difficulties to follow your logic in the explanation of your
second quotation, because you used a little bite too much words like
"so","because" and "therefore".

[Jing-Lun Xu]

Hello Haiqi:
Things I liked:
1- Your topic sentence is well written and your concluding sentence
came back to your theme.
2- I liked how you used a direct quotation from the text to support
your argument.
3- The logic flows well throughout your paragraph.

Things you need to improve:
1- You put your direct quotation in a seperate sentence. It would be
better to integrate it in one of your sentences.
2- In your third sentence, I'm not sure if you meant the description
of the water well or the narrator's actions of burning his house.

[Jing-Lun Xu]

Hello Vincent!

Things I liked:
1- You stated your theme both in the begining and in the end of your
paragraph.
2- Your logic flows really well. It clearly explained the theme.
3- I think that your interpretation is really interesting.
4- You used your quotation to reinforce your statement.

Things you need to improve:

1- You put your direct quotation alone in a seperate sentence. You can
integrate it with another sentence to make it better.
2- In your third sentence, I don't know what you were refering to by
saying "this." Did you mean his inheritance of the farm, the new
highway or the foreclosure on the family farm?

[Jing-Lun Xu]

[Vladimir Turturica]

Hello Karina,

For the things I liked:
1. I believe that you did a good job quoting the correct sentances to
support your ideas.
2. You restated your initial subject at the end of the paragraph.

Things that I liked less(to improve):

1. I didn't quite understood what you meant in this sentance: "This

direct quotation suggests the indifference that the man explaining the
instructions to the owner of the house is indifferent towards the well-
being of the farm and is heatless for wanting to destroy a farm once

functional and productive." If I am not wrong, the man explaining the
instruction and the owner of the house is the same.
2.Sometimes the quotes seem wierd by themselfs; “And after Herm asks
if you would do it all over again, tell him you would " would fit
better inside a sentance.

Very good text though,
Take care,
Vladimir

[Vladimir Turturica]

Hey Jackson,

To begin with the things I life:

1. I believe that you incorporate ideas from the story very well
inside your paragraph. Reading your text I understood how and why
money drives people mad in "How to Set a House on Fire" (the theme).
Your principal quality was to perfectly link the quotes to your
arguments. (except for #2 of things to improve)
2. As for the second thing I like, the last sentance restates the
principal issue quite well -beautiful.

Finally, the things to improve:

1. Try to have less repetion of the word "mad", I know it's an
important idea, but it's quite a formal word compared to the rest of
your writing.
2. When you wrote: "“Before you light the gas, light a cigarette under
the old red maple in th e front yard, under a hunter's moon, and take
a last look.” This quote clearly exhibits the writer’s will to destroy
the farm with fire and the last look he takes will be the final memory
which stays in his heart forever." I don't understand what the fact of
this staying in his heart forever has to do with the subject (that
money drives people mad). You should have elaborated more on this, or
just took it off.

Hope it helped you,
Vladimir

On Sep 18, 11:24 am, Jackson Chan <jackson...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the literary device of
> imagery successfully expresses the theme that money drives people mad.
> Since the farm will no longer belong to the writer, he becomes mad and
> he wants to burn it down so no one will be able to take it away from
> him. “Before you light the gas, light a cigarette under the old red
> maple in th e front yard, under a hunter's moon, and take a last look.”
> This quote clearly exhibits the writer’s will to destroy the farm with
> fire and the last look he takes will be the final memory which stays
> in his heart forever.Moreover, the reason why he has to abandon his
> farm is because he cannot afford the debt of bank: “Before foreclosure
> on the family farm, before the new highway.” Money is the main cause
> that separates him and his farm and that causes his madness. The story
> uses imagery as the device to conveys the theme that insaneness can be
> create by valuable item.

[samir ajam]

Hi John,
Things I liked:
1. Good topic sentence, you state the device clearly and express the
theme .
2. The direct quotation you include fits very well with the first half
of the paragraph. The quote you’ve picked express clearly the extreme
acts he is committing.
Things to improve:
1. You didn’t state your topic sentence at the end of the paragraph.
2. The second quote that you’ve included isn’t smoothly integrated;
you didn’t offer any explanation what this quotation means in the
story. By explaining the quote the reader will have a better
understanding of the story, I do think it is a very good quote, if you
were it explain the quote it will fit in very well.


On Sep 17, 5:14 pm, John Khoury <italiene_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In Stacy Budzko "How to set a house on fire" characterization
> expresses the theme anger could drive someone to the extreme acts. In
> the story they discuss different scenarios performed to burn the
> house. For example, "Before leaving, make sure the hay bales drip with
> fuel". You can see that this man is attempting to burn the house down.
> Throughout the story you see that the persons character is filled with
> anger and hate. "Before it was your house it was your father's house
> and before it was your father's house. Before foreclosure on the
> family farm, before the new highway" This could cause his character to
> change and make him do something stupid. All that anger just built up
> which caused him to burn the house that was once his.

[Xin Tong Zhao]

Hi Laurent,

Things I like:
1- Your topic sentence and your theme are very clear.Your text is very
logic.
2- Your explanation for your quote is easy to understand, your text is
very smooth.
Things to improve:
1- You talked a lot about industrialization in your paragaph, but you
did not really elaborate on the desperation. It would be better if you
quote another quotation to explain the desperation of the main
character.
2- I think the information"he mentions his house belonged to a few
generation of his family " is not necessary in your text, because we
don't need to know the history of the farm in order to understand the
theme.
On Sep 18, 10:22 pm, Laurent Lao <xh0p...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In "How to Set a House on Fire", the theme of industrialization leads
> to desperation is expressed through characterization. As the character
> describes how to burn his house, he mentions that his house belonged
> to a few generation of his family "before the foreclosure on the
> family farm, before the new highway." In this story, the "new highway"
> causes the "foreclosure on the family farm" and therefore, the burning
> of the house. Indeed, the characterization of industrialization
> through the "new highway" and of despair through fire,
> characterization expresses the theme that industrialization leads to
> desperation.

[Sasha Bordonaro]

hello Laurent,

Things i like: i like that you made it short and sweet and straight to
the point. i also like that you put in different quotes to help the
reader understand

Things i don't like: there is a lot of repetition and it isn't very
clear,i believe that when giving the quote that it has been
generations that the farm was part of the family, you should have
written " is was my fathers and my fathers father" that would have
made it more clear of what you were trying to state.

[Salmon Nessa]

hey Shiyan

The two things that I like about your paragraph are:
1. You're body paragraph structure is perfect, you have followed
correctly all of the steps required.
2. The two quotation that you picked are really relevant to your body
paragraph and really helps to understand your theme.

Two things that you should improve:
1. When you state" between him and his farmer" it indicates that you
are talking about two different persons when you are actually talking
about one person which could get really confusing.
2. At the 3rd step of the body paragrah structure which is the
explanation of how the literary device is present and functions I
think you should be more clear on how you explain your theme. You
state :"main character feels helpless to the inevasible foreclosure
and his desperation drive him to make a complete abandonment and
destruction of the farm on which relies his past" this explains that
helplessness leads to desperation and abandonment of memories but your
theme is "abandonment of memories is desperate and helpless " which is
totally different, so i think you should be more carefull on how you
explain your theme because it could lead to confusion.









On Sep 18, 6:09 pm, Shiyan Du <sya...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” characterization
> expresses the theme that abandonment of memories is desperate and
> helpless. In the story, the mental state of the main character and the
> relation between him and his farmer is revealed by these words:“Before

> it was your house, it was your father’s house and before it was your

> father’s house it was his father’s house too.Before Foreclosure on the
> family farm, before the new highway.” Since it is a family
> inheritance, the farm that the main character burned relies naturally
> to his memory, especially memory of the family. This characterization
> shows that the main character feels helpless to the inevasible
> foreclosure and his desperation drive him to make a complete
> abandonment and destruction of the farm on which relies his past. This
> revealed the theme that abandonment of memories is desperate and
> helpless

[Sasha Bordonaro]

hello julia,

things i like:
1.the fact that your text is not to long i can see you point imidetly
because there is a lot of discribtion of the setting and the
characters emotion and how he is taking control for the very last
time.
2. i like the way you structured and set up your theme and explained
the setting.

things you should improve:
1. there is a lot of repition & like that can be very good that can
also make the reader loose interest because they feel like they have
heard this before.
2. i believe you shouldn't put " it feels like " because it sounds
like a not sure answer. maybe it would be better to just state the
feeling such as the character feels like he is in control for the last
time.

On Sep 18, 11:13 am, Julia Ros-Larocque <juliaroslaroc...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> In Stace Budzko's "How to Set a House on Fire," the theme that
> financial failure brings one to drastic intervention is expressed by
> the setting. While spreading flammable fuel on the farm the narrator
> thinks about how he financially lost the farm, "Before foreclosure  on
> the family farm, before the new highway." With the precision of the
> "foreclosure  on the family farm" the setting shows the narrator feels
> like there is nothing more he can do except burning his farm down, so
> it feels like he's in control for one last time.  Therefore the theme
> that financial failure brings one to drastic intervention is expressed
> by the setting of a man who has lost the family farm because of
> foreclusure, and wants to be in control for one last time, as a result
> he makes a drastic move, and set his farm on fire.

[Sheng Hao Liu]

Hi Calvin,

I like your topic sentence because you give out a clear theme and
device. The quote is well brought and makes sense in context. You give
out a nice explanation of why your quote expresses the device. I like
it how you put feelings and emotions into the character even though it
wasn't stated clearly in the text. You also have a second and third
quote as argument which is nice.

I didn't like the theme much because it is a bit too vague. It states
foreclosure leads to burning houses but not all foreclosure leads to
that. So maybe changing the topic sentence a bit would improve it. I
also feel that you have too much quotes in a single paragraph. It's
not bad, but I think one less quote and a bit more explanation would
be better.

On Sep 17, 8:51 pm, Calvin Chin <nivlacn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that

> foreclosure leads to burning houses is expressed by imagery. The story
> is based on imagery. The imagery effects how you visual his actions.
> The character describes how he burns his house down throughout the
> story. He says "Before you light the gas, light a cigarette under the
> old red maple in the front yard, under a hunter's moon, and take a
> last look." The image of fire represents anger or rage and
> destruction. He gives such detailed description of how he’s burning
> his house down and at the same time, he’s giving you a clear image of
> what he sees. This makes you wonder why he’s doing such an act. The
> reason: “Before foreclosure on the family farm, before the new
> highway.” He is destroying something that no longer belongs to him. He
> must then feel angst about losing his property. He says “And after
> Herm asks if you would do it all over again, tell him you would.” He’s
> eager to burn down his house again and again. This proves that
> foreclosure leads to burning houses is expressed by imagery.

[samir ajam]

Hi Olivier,
Things I liked:
1. Good topic sentence, you stated it clearly for the reader, and
it’s also very simple.
2. I very much enjoy how you describe everything; you describe your
quotes very well, and the possible meanings of the quotes.
3. I enjoy how you are making so many links between quotes, it shows
you have a very good understanding of the story, and it creates the
reader to have a better understanding of the story.
4. Your clearly state your topic sentence at the end of your
paragraph.
Things to improve:
1. At the end of your paragraph it seemed you were very closed down
on one topic of why he burned the farm house. There might be several
reasons why, and it can include the reason you stated.
2. It is a very long paragraph, perhaps you can remove a quote,
possible the middle one.


On Sep 18, 11:16 am, Olivier Mariani <oliviermari...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> In Stace Budzko's ``How to Set a House on Fire,`` characterization
> demonstrates the theme that someone can do extrem actions without
> being insane. The main character knows exactly what he is doing. This
> fact can be proven by two different characterizations. Indeed, the
> narrator characterizes the man as meticulous and well-aware that he is
> burning his family farm. The following sentence demonstrates the man's
> clear determination ``Spray the gaps in the oak floorboards and get

> into the heating ducts, hit the horsehair plaster and take out

> electric sockets, then run a heavy gas line out to the barn.`` The man
> makes sure to put fuel everywhere which is an act of meticulousness.
> The other fact that demonstrates he is not insane is that he explains
> the situation to Herm and says he would do it again. The first
> sentence is ``Tell him how the fire line went from where you stand to
> the well and then zigzagged to the barn, and after the farm equipment
> blew to the sky tell him how the furnace did the same.`` By telling
> this, the narrator shows that the main character acts on purpose; his
> actions are not spontaneous or impulsive ones. The last sentence is ``

> And after Herm asks if you would do it all over again, tell him you

> would.`` This demonstrates once again it is not an act of insanity but
> a vengeance toward the bank which put a foreclosure on his family
> farm. Those characterizations prove that the main character is not
> insane. Extrem acts are not always linked with insanity.

[Sheng Hao Liu]

Hi Karinne,

I like it how you made a different approach and changed the way to
start a text. Your theme is also very different and new. It makes me
look at the text in a different way as in what if the main character
was insane? I also liked your explanations at the end. It states a
possible reason of why the main character would burn down his home.

I think that even though it is good to come at it with a different and
newer approach, you should start with formal/instructed writing first.
The beginning started too brusquely. You should have a topic that
introduces the theme with the word "that" and have an introductory
sentence to make sure your quote will make sense even if someone
didn't read the text. I think that instead of always having new things
to say, it's better to stay on one argument and explain it well before
going to the next one. Repeating an important key word isn't bad.

On Sep 17, 8:59 pm, Karinne Legare <xo.kari...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzuka’s “How to Set a House on Fire”, the theme ``Demented
> and psychotic, however meticulously planned`` is expressed by
> Characterization.  “And after Herm asks if you would do it all over
> again, tell him you would”. We can see how the character is angry,
> slightly psychotic though calm. However he has no remorse, no regret.
> If he had the opportunity, he would burn the house all over again!

> ’’Spray the gaps in the oak floorboards and get into the heating

> ducts, hit the horsehair plaster and take out electric sockets, then

> run a heavy gas line out to the barn.’’(…) Even though this
> was due to financial issues, only a mad, unstable and slightly
> psychotic person could burn a house down with a solid plan from head
> to toe. We learn to see how much the character is not only determined
> to burn the house down but to also make sure he lets people know that
> he does not have a care in the world for doing it.
>

[Shiyan Du]

Things I like: The explanation about literary is well identified and
emphasized in the paragraph
The context is presented and it helps the reader to
understand the story
Things to improve: I'm not sure,but in the last sentence, it might be
better to reformulate your theme in a different way. It would
be more in accordance withe the topic sentence
The second quote is a little difficult to
understand in a obvious way

On Sep 18, 8:53 pm, Xin Tong Zhao <zx...@msn.com> wrote:
> In Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire” characterization expresses
> the theme that abandonment of memories is helpless. By saying that
> “Before it was your house it was your father's house and before it was
> your father's house it was his father's too,” the characterization
> shows that the farm is full of the main character’s memories. The barn
> is not just a place for living, but the memory and history of his
> whole family. Also, by telling that “Before doing anything else, make
> a wish,” the characterization reveals helplessness of the main
> character. The main character does not want to burn his property since
> it was full of his memory, therefore, because of foreclosure, he has
> no choice but to destroy his own property. By emphasizing the link
> between main character’s memories’ and his farm, the characterization
> shows how it is difficult for him to destroy his farm.
>

[Jia Yue You]

Yo Zeshi, :D

Things I liked
1. Great topic sentence (device + theme)
2. I like how you re-state parts of the whole quotation which makes it
easier for the reader to follow.
3. To reinforce your argument, you even used contents from a book of
Edgar Allan Poe. I thought that was brilliant.

Things to improve
1. I personally believe that there are better quotations from the text
which you could have used to prove that his madness is caused by
nostalgia. (E.g. the part where he talked about the farm belonging to
his ancestors.)
2. I like how your logic is profound but I think you should have
proven more why nostalgia lead him to madness rather than how mad and
nostalgic is he.

See you tomorrow,
Cheers.


On Sep 19, 9:30 pm, Zeshi Zhong <zeshi_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In the short fiction "How to Set a House on Fire", by Stace Budzko,
> the theme that nostalgia can lead to madness is expressed through
> characterization. The narrator is standing in front of his farm,
> smoking a cigarette and he is about to burn his whole farm down. He
> states, "Before you light the gas, light a cigarette under the old red

> maple in the front yard, under a hunter's moon, and take a last look."

> As he says that he "lights a cigarette," he is very calm,and when he
> "takes a last look,"  he is nostalgic, because he is recollecting what
> he experienced on the ground of his ancestors. Therefore, he is fully
> aware of what he is going to do, but he does not question himself and
> feels very confident, by smoking a cigarette. As in Edgar Allan Poe's
> "Tell Tale Heart", the madmen do not question themselves and strongly
> believe the are not crazy, even if they committed an insane deed.
> Because it is nostalgia who is forcing him to burn his farm, the theme
> that nostalgia can lead to madness is illustrated using
> characterization in this interesting fiction story.

[Shiyan Du]

Things I like: The topic sentence is well structured
The quote corresponds to the theme selected
Things to improve: The logic of the last part seems a little confusing
for me
The context of the story is unclear

[Karinne Legare]

Hi Jing-Lu,

Things I liked:
1-I really like your theme, it is clear and your device is appropriate
in the context.
2-Your quotes are strong and back up you’re topic sentence.
3-Great conclusion! I would have to agree with the last sentence;

characterization of the storyteller expresses the theme that
desperation brings nostalgic memories.

Things to improve:
1-When you say ‘’This good memory of his farm shows that the
narrator’s life used to be better’’, I think that the phrase could be
structured better and also
can’t quite agree with that since, we do not know for a fact if he was
happier before.
2- Towards the end, I found that you could have brought up another
quotation to solidify your topic sentence and signal phrase.

[Hai Qi Liang]

Hello Yuan Kun,Things that I liked 1. The topic sentence: you stated
clearly the device that expresses the theme (I agree with your theme).
2. You used not one but two quotes from the text to support your
argument.3. Your last sentence restates well the topic sentence.
Things to improve 1. Put the reader in context before adding a quote.
2. I don't really understand how the farm is his family is property
(second quote) and your argument 'difficult financial situation of the
farmer.' is relevant.
On Sep 18, 10:52 pm, yuan kun li <liyuankun7357...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In "How to Set Your House on Fire", the theme formers are largely
> influenced by urbanisation is illustrated by settings. "Before
> foreclosure on the family farm, before the new highway." This setting
> demonstrates that the village is developping very well but farmers
> have to face financial difficulties as their property are being
> foreclosured by banks. "Before it was your house it was your father's
> house and before it was your father's house it was his father's too."
> By saying that the guy is losing his family's property, the setting
> describes the difficult financial situation of the farmer. And by
> comparing the new highway and the old farm, the setting gives a better
> image of urbanisation and its influence on traditional farmers.

>
> On 9月13日, 下午8时49分, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > *** Your Writing ***
>

> > In response to Budzko's "How to Set a House on Fire" (the text is

> > posted on Omnivox), write a body paragraph of 100-200 words whose
> > topic sentence asserts that a device expresses a theme. See the
> > previous online activity for possible themes or come up with a new
> > one. Choose one of the four devices below. See the Body Paragraph
> > Structure Handout posted on Omnivox for an example body paragraph.

> > Please be respectful of your classmates - do not post anything that is

[Vincent Ko]

Hello Yuan Kun

Things I like:
1- The theme is good, clear and everything is very logically
explained.

2- Restatement of the theme at the end

3- Quotations supported your text really well.

Things to improve:
1- Your two quotations are both isolated and not connected with other
phrases (using punctuation marks). Also, you could have use indirect
quotations.

[Jia Yue You]

Hey Yuan kun,

Things I liked
1. Clear topic sentence (even though you almost lost me there with
"formers [sic]")
2. Your logic is very coherent and very easy to follow.
3. I also like how you sometimes repeat the word "setting" to remind
the reader about your device.

Things to improve
1. I feel that your direct quotations don't smoothly fit in the text
since you didn't precise the context (even if it's a setting). The
quotations are also in a sentence all by themselves.
2. In the first part of your body paragraph, you talked about the
setting demonstrating that the village is developing well. I don't
really see how the quotation demonstrate that. Also, the author never
mention that the farm was in a village and that the latter was in a
good state.

See you tomorrow,

Jia

[Karinne Legare]

Hi Louis,

Things I liked:
1-Good quotes; appropriate and relate to your topic sentence
2-I agree with you, he is burning down a house that holds a lot of
history.

Things to improve:
1- I think your topic sentence can be re-written as it is a bit vague
2- Before going from one quote to another, be sure to explain more
your argument since it does
not always flow smoothly (but the quotes are good and relative!)


On Sep 18, 4:28 pm, Louis-Martin Jussaume
<louismartin.jussa...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s short story “How to Set a House on Fire”,
> characterization expresses the theme that bad childhood memories
> follow adults all their life. The character explains the house was his
> family house since two generations. According to the author “Before it

> was your house it was your father's house and before it was your

> father's house it was his father's too.” This means, “Before it was
> your father’s house,” that the main character lives his childhood on
> the farm he burns, and therefore, he has lots of bad financial
> memories on this farm, “Before foreclosure on the family farm, before
> the new highway.” Furthermore, these memories have follow him through
> the years. The theme that bad childhood memories follow adult all
> their life is demonstrated through the characterization.

> On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > *** Your Writing ***
>
> > In response to Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire” (the text is
> > posted on Omnivox), write a body paragraph of 100-200 words whose
> > topic sentence asserts that a device expresses a theme.  See the
> > previous online activity for possible themes or come up with a new
> > one.  Choose one of the four devices below.  See the Body Paragraph
> > Structure Handout posted on Omnivox for an example body paragraph.

> > Please be respectful of your classmates – do not post anything that is

[Vincent Ko]

Hello Xu Yan

Things I like:
1-The topic and the theme is clear. You restated the theme at the end.

2-Quotations to support your idea. They are both well structured in

your paragraph.

Things to improve:

1-Quotations are good and has connections with your theme, but I think
some explanations are missing, therefore your idea makes it unclear
and less logic.

On Sep 18, 9:23 pm, Xu Yan <yanx...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that poverty
> could make people destroy what they possess is expressed by
> characterization. By saying that “Before foreclosure on the family
> farm, before the new highway.”  It shows that the main character is
> poor and he has too much financial pressure because of his farm so he
> can not pay for his farm anymore. At the end of the text, “On your way
> toss your house keys into the water well. Before doing anything else,
> make a wish.” This quotation shows that the farm will be destroy soon
> by the main character. He destroys his farm because he does not want
> the bank to take the property of the farm so he decides to destroy it
> before the bank takes it. So we can make the relation between poverty,
> destruction and possession. Therefore, the characterization of the
> situation of the main character shows the theme that poverty could
> make people destroy what they possess.
>

[Hai Qi Liang]

Hey Jackson, Things that I liked: 1. The topic sentence and your
theme2. Before the your first quote, you added a sentence to put the
read in context.3. Your last sentence restates well your topic
sentence.
Things that you should improve :1.Try to shorten your sentences or put
punctuation in it. I think that it will help not only yourself when
you are correcting, but also helps the reader to get a certain rhythm.
2. If the narrator is mad, he wouldn't take a take a last look to be
his 'final memory which stays in his heart forever' as you said. The
link between the quote and your explanation is a little unclear for
me.

On Sep 18, 11:24 am, Jackson Chan <jackson...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the literary device of
> imagery successfully expresses the theme that money drives people mad.
> Since the farm will no longer belong to the writer, he becomes mad and
> he wants to burn it down so no one will be able to take it away from

> him. “Before you light the gas, light a cigarette under the old red
> maple in the front yard, under a hunter's moon, and take a last look.”

> This quote clearly exhibits the writer’s will to destroy the farm with
> fire and the last look he takes will be the final memory which stays

> in his heart forever. Moreover, the reason why he has to abandon his

> farm is because he cannot afford the debt of bank: “Before foreclosure
> on the family farm, before the new highway.” Money is the main cause
> that separates him and his farm and that causes his madness. The story
> uses imagery as the device to conveys the theme that insaneness can be
> create by valuable item.
>

[Calvin Chin]

Things I like:
Every statement you write, you back it up with a quote; it provides
evidence to prove what you are trying to say. Your points are concise
and to the point which is great. You ensure the quotation's context is
clear. Your explanations are convincing and clear. I really like your
theme "inheritance can make one possessive." You also directly re-
assert the claim that the device expresses the theme.

Things to improve:
Not much I could say that you can improve. You followed the body
paragraph structure entirely.

[John Khoury]

Hi Vladimir,
- I find that your topic sentence is really good and fits perfect with
the story.
- The quotation you used in your paragraph goes good with the story
and you explained it very well. You also backed up your points very
well throughout using the events in the story. Th device you picked
was also perfectly showed in the paragraph explaining how the
character behaved relating to your topic sentence.

- I find that everything was really good but that you should try to
find a better ending to your paragraph so that you can catch the
audience and convince them about the things you mention in your
paragraph.
- Also after the ending restate your topic sentence just to remind
your readers what it was.

On Sep 18, 10:29 am, Vladimir Turturica <theblad...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that
> deception from failure could lead us to craziness is expressed by the
> characterization of our main character. In his peasant measures to
> burn the farm, he clearly showed us that his deception from
> foreclosure and the failure of maintaining alive a family business has
> lead him to insanity.”On your way toss your house keys into the water
> well. Before doing anything else, make a wish” shows pretty much what
> he’s thinking and yet as the irony of the words makes no fool of him,
> yet, he has now given up on the house. It is important to know that
> this house was his father’s and his grandfather’s and thus, by burning
> it, it means that he could not longer accept to see his failure
> materialized. Also, what’s crazy about the character is the fact that
> he contacted someone to tell how he burned the house. If a perfectly
> sane person would have done such thing, he wouldn’t have burned the
> house down, even less contacted the firefighters to announce his acts,
> but he would have simply acquainted a demolition crew to do the job
> properly and risk-free.

[Calvin Chin]

Hi Louis-Martin

Things I liked:
You gave proof and explanation for your chosen theme.
Your explanation was clear.
You ensured that the quote's context is clear.


Things to improve:
I'm not sure that the character telling the story mentions at all if
he had any bad memories at his farm house, besides this point
everything else was good.

[Salmon Nessa]

Hey Louis-Martin,

The two things I liked are:
1.The quotation you picked are realevent to prove and explain how the
literary device works and functions in your paragraph.
2. You have perfectly followed the body paragraph structure.

The things I think you should improve:
1. When you state a direct quotation to prove your literary device,
don't restate your quotation to explain it .” “Before it was your

house it was your father's house and before it was your
father's house it was his father's too.” This means, “Before it was
your father’s house,”

I don't think repetition is necessary here.
2. In the following sentence :"and therefore, he has lots of bad
financial memories on this farm, “Before foreclosure on the family
farm, before the new highway.”, you are explaining the financial state
of the narrator before giving the quotation proving his financial
situation so it does not seem to be coherent.

On Sep 18, 4:28 pm, Louis-Martin Jussaume
<louismartin.jussa...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s short story “How to Set a House on Fire”,
> characterization expresses the theme that bad childhood memories
> follow adults all their life. The character explains the house was his
> family house since two generations. According to the author “Before it
> was your house it was your father's house and before it was your
> father's house it was his father's too.” This means, “Before it was
> your father’s house,” that the main character lives his childhood on
> the farm he burns, and therefore, he has lots of bad financial
> memories on this farm, “Before foreclosure on the family farm, before
> the new highway.” Furthermore, these memories have follow him through
> the years. The theme that bad childhood memories follow adult all
> their life is demonstrated through the characterization.

[yuan kun li]

Hi Shi Yan
Things i liked: 1. You're very clear in your topic sentence about
which device is used and what's it used for. The theme is original and
i like it. In fact, we can feel the desperation of the main character
in the text.
2.Your quotations are well organised as we can easily follow your
thought. The logic is there. If the main character has seen the farm
since he was young, he's got the feelings with the farm, i mean in his
mind, that's part of his childhood.
Things you might improve:1. I'm not sure i've understand all, you may
want to pay more attention to your sentences, because sometimes your
little mistakes make the reader fonfusing. Like"him and the farmer"
and other little mistakes.
2.I'm not sure if you're talking about characterization. Because
characterization should be the description of a character and your
quotation is more about the history of his farm. Maybe there is some
incoherence here.

On 9月18日, 下午6时09分, Shiyan Du <sya...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko's "How to Set a House on Fire," characterization

> expresses the theme that abandonment of memories is desperate and
> helpless. In the story, the mental state of the main character and the
> relation between him and his farmer is revealed by these words:"Before

> it was your house, it was your father's house and before it was your
> father's house it was his father's house too.Before Foreclosure on the
> family farm, before the new highway." Since it is a family

> inheritance, the farm that the main character burned relies naturally
> to his memory, especially memory of the family. This characterization
> shows that the main character feels helpless to the inevasible
> foreclosure and his desperation drive him to make a complete
> abandonment and destruction of the farm on which relies his past. This

> revealed the theme that abandonment of memories is desperate and
> helpless

>
> On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:
>
>
>
> > *** Your Writing ***
>
> > In response to Budzko's "How to Set a House on Fire" (the text is
> > posted on Omnivox), write a body paragraph of 100-200 words whose
> > topic sentence asserts that a device expresses a theme. See the
> > previous online activity for possible themes or come up with a new
> > one. Choose one of the four devices below. See the Body Paragraph
> > Structure Handout posted on Omnivox for an example body paragraph.

> > Please be respectful of your classmates - do not post anything that is

> > midnight Thursday September 22nd.- 隐藏被引用文字 -
>
> - 显示引用的文字 -

[Karina Hirian]

Hey Calvin,

I like how you give many examples by citing 3 quotations out of the
text. It expresses the fact that you understood well the story. You
clearly explain why you chose these citations. For example, "The image
of fire represents anger or rage and destruction." Even if the
citation you include for this explanation doesn't necessarily have
this exact meaning, you make us believe in your words. I find as well
that the introduction to your paragraph is clear and straight to the
point. As of the first two sentences you let us know the theme and the
device you use. "Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the

theme that
foreclosure leads to burning houses is expressed by imagery. The story
is based on imagery."

As for what you should improve, my advice to you is to be careful with
your verbs and choice of structure for them. If you start with a bare
form like "He gives", you should stick with it instead of playing
around with the present participle "he's burning."
Second of all I find that you are jumping to conclusions way too
quickly and assuming things that may not be true. For example when you
say:"This makes you wonder why he’s doing such an act. The reason:
“Before foreclosure on the family farm, before the new highway.” " You
are assuming that this is the reason he "might" be angry when maybe he
isn't angry. I didn't see no sign of anger or notice in the text about
his emotions at all. You should be careful with assuming things.

Apart from that, you've done a great job!

On Sep 17, 8:51 pm, Calvin Chin <nivlacn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that
> foreclosure leads to burning houses is expressed by imagery. The story
> is based on imagery. The imagery effects how you visual his actions.
> The character describes how he burns his house down throughout the

> story. He says "Before you light the gas, light a cigarette under the

> old red maple in the front yard, under a hunter's moon, and take a

[Salmon Nessa]

Hi melody,

The things I like:
1. You're theme and topic sentence is perfect.
2.You follow perfectly the body paragrah structure and your paragraph
is really clear.

The thigs i think you need to improve:
1. I think that you're first quotation is missing its signal phrase
that introduces the quotation.
2. I think that at the end "Therefore extreme willingness may end with
horrible actions shown by characterization.", you should have repeated
exactly your theme how you wrote it in the topic sentence so it would
be more clear."In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire”, the
device of characterization demonstrates that determination guides to
extremist actions."

On Sep 18, 8:15 pm, Melody Jia Yue Wang <melodyjiayuew...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire”, the device of
> characterization demonstrates that determination guides to extremist
> actions. This quotation: “And after Herm [a firefighter] asks if you
> would do it [set a house on fire] all over again, tell him you would.”
> characterizes the main character as determined to accomplish his will
> of an extremist action: burning his own house. Indeed, the main
> character is described as willing to commit an extreme act of setting
> a family heritance of two generations on fire: “it was your father’s
> house and before it was your father’s house it was his father’s too.”
> Clearly the main character most has a great determination to make an
> extremist decision. Therefore extreme willingness may end with
> horrible actions shown by characterization.

>
> On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:
>
>
>
> > *** Your Writing ***
>

> > In response to Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire” (the text is

> > posted on Omnivox), write a body paragraph of 100-200 words whose
> > topic sentence asserts that a device expresses a theme.  See the
> > previous online activity for possible themes or come up with a new
> > one.  Choose one of the four devices below.  See the Body Paragraph
> > Structure Handout posted on Omnivox for an example body paragraph.

> > Please be respectful of your classmates – do not post anything that is

[John Khoury]

Hi Karina,
- You picked a good topic sentence, it clear and it fits well with the
story.
- You restated your topic sentence at the end of the paragraph which
is good because it reminds the reader of what they read in your
paragraph.

- When you wrote your topic sentence at start of the paragraph you did
not mention the device which expresses your topic sentence. This is
very important to the paragraph for the reader.
- In the paragraph you say that the man does not care about the house
therefore he sets it on fire. I think that he did care cause it was
his before and he is angry that it was taken away therefore he burned
it down. Also when you write a quote try not to put it as a sentence
alone. Add it to the sentence where you explain it.

On Sep 18, 10:51 pm, Karina Hirian <karr...@msn.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that
> indifference towards a serious matter can drive someone into doing
> unethical acts deliberately is present. While giving out instructions
> on how to set a house on fire, the author states “There's not much to
> see now, really.”  This direct quotation suggests the indifference
> that the man explaining the instructions to the owner of the house is
> indifferent towards the well-being of the farm and is heatless for
> wanting to destroy a farm once functional and productive. He clearly
> does not have any feeling towards the destruction and will have no
> regrets. “And after Herm asks if you would do it all over again, tell
> him you would.” This statement lays out the man’s character, which is
> heartless. It even seems that destroying makes him happy.
> Characterization expresses the theme completely. This device is used
> to describe the narrator which in this case, is heartless and
> indifferent.

[yuan kun li]

HI Jia ^^
Things i like:1. Your body paragraph structure is perfect, you did
exactly the same with the instructions. Your topic sentence is very
clear about device and theme. Then you have quotations that you
explain well. Finally you remind your topic sentence of the beginning.
2. The link you maked between keys and possessiveness is very
interesting. This detail describes clearly the psychological activity
of the main character. By throwing his keys into the water, he refuses
to give his property to anyont else. That demonstrates how he want to
own this farm exclusively.
Things you might want to improve:1. Maybe your writting is not simple
enough. You could introduce the quotation earlier instead of gaving a
not very useful sentence:" To teach the reader how to set a house on
fire..."
2.In the second part of your paragraph maybe you want to prove and
explain your first statement instead of making a new point. I mean is
clear enough, but sometimes it drives readers attention away from the
topic into the details.

On 9月18日, 下午10时51分, Jia Yue You <greenpearlmermaid_l...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> In Stace Budzko's "How to Set a House on Fire", characterization
> expresses the theme that possessiveness leads one to do extreme
> actions. To teach the reader how to set a house on fire, the narrator
> describes his experience with his own farm. Since he mentions: "Before
> it was your house it was your father's house and before it was your
> father's house it was his father's house too.", it is very likely for
> the narrator to have strong feelings of possessiveness towards the
> family farm. Unfortunately for him, his possession is going under
> foreclosure and, subsequently, he decides to burn it. By providing
> information about the main character, Budzko characterize the latter
> as a man who prefer destroying his dear possessions rather than ceding
> them. The narrator even tells his readers to "toss your house keys
> into the water well." before burning the house. By this act, he means
> to take away the possibility of the re-ownership of the farm and
> destroy it, so that the last possessor can only be him; sending out
> the message that it is his farm or nobody's farm. To sum up, by
> increasing the reader's knowledge about the narrator, characterization
> express the theme that possessiveness leads one to do extreme actions.

>
> On Sep 13, 8:49 pm, Andrew Burton <a.bur...@marianopolis.edu> wrote:
>
>
>
> > *** Your Writing ***
>
> > In response to Budzko's "How to Set a House on Fire" (the text is
> > posted on Omnivox), write a body paragraph of 100-200 words whose
> > topic sentence asserts that a device expresses a theme. See the
> > previous online activity for possible themes or come up with a new
> > one. Choose one of the four devices below. See the Body Paragraph
> > Structure Handout posted on Omnivox for an example body paragraph.

> > Please be respectful of your classmates - do not post anything that is

[Karina Hirian]

Hey Jia,

To start off with the things I like, I've got to point out that you
did a great job expressing your point of view through out the whole
paragraph. Not once did you go off topic and you were right on track
all the way to the end.
Also, you clearly put down the main theme with its device within the
first sentence:"In Stace Budzko's "How to Set a House on Fire",

characterization expresses the theme that possessiveness leads one to
do extreme
actions."

You give great explanations according to the quotes you cite. For
example: "The narrator even tells his readers to "toss your house keys

into the water well." before burning the house. By this act, he means
to take away the possibility of the re-ownership of the farm and
destroy it, so that the last possessor can only be him; sending out
the message that it is his farm or nobody's farm."

After the citation, you directly explain concisely to the point why
you chose this segment and what you think about it.

As for the parts you should improve, I think you should be careful
when it comes to assuming things. I don't think the narrator wanted
necessarily to burn it by himself for the sake of possession. He had
no choice but to destroy the farm. Whether he ceded the house or not,
it had to be burnt down in any case.

Second of all, I don't really understand what you mean when you say:

"To sum up, by increasing the reader's knowledge about the

narrator..." The narrator never really increased our knowledge about
him. As a matter of fact, he didn't say much about his life or his
emotions. He let us assume everything when he described the way he
would burn the house.

A part from that, your text was really well written and ideas followed
through smoothly!

On Sep 18, 10:51 pm, Jia Yue You <greenpearlmermaid_l...@hotmail.com>

> > Please be respectful of your classmates – do not post anything that is

[Xu Yan]

- The topic sentence of your paragraph give people a perfect idea
about your paragraph
- The quotation is good we can easily follow your logic

- You may remind your theme at the end of your paragraph

- The ending do not follow the structure of a paragraph

On Sep 18, 10:29 am, Vladimir Turturica <theblad...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In Stace Budzko’s “How to Set a House on Fire,” the theme that
> deception from failure could lead us to craziness is expressed by the
> characterization of our main character. In his peasant measures to
> burn the farm, he clearly showed us that his deception from
> foreclosure and the failure of maintaining alive a family business has
> lead him to insanity.”On your way toss your house keys into the water
> well. Before doing anything else, make a wish” shows pretty much what
> he’s thinking and yet as the irony of the words makes no fool of him,
> yet, he has now given up on the house. It is important to know that
> this house was his father’s and his grandfather’s and thus, by burning
> it, it means that he could not longer accept to see his failure
> materialized. Also, what’s crazy about the character is the fact that
> he contacted someone to tell how he burned the house. If a perfectly
> sane person would have done such thing, he wouldn’t have burned the
> house down, even less contacted the firefighters to announce his acts,
> but he would have simply acquainted a demolition crew to do the job
> properly and risk-free.
>

[Xu Yan]

things i like :
The text is short but it contains everything in it and respects the
structure

Good topic sentence that gives people a clear idea about your
paragraph and the end of the paragraph you do a good ending

things to improve:
You may add more explanation about the quotation, gives readers more
information about the situation of the main character.

The ending of your paragraph may be too long for your short paragraph


On Sep 18, 11:13 am, Julia Ros-Larocque <juliaroslaroc...@gmail.com>

wrote:
> In Stace Budzko's "How to Set a House on Fire," the theme that

> financial failure brings one to drastic intervention is expressed by
> the setting. While spreading flammable fuel on the farm the narrator
> thinks about how he financially lost the farm, "Before foreclosure  on
> the family farm, before the new highway." With the precision of the
> "foreclosure  on the family farm" the setting shows the narrator feels
> like there is nothing more he can do except burning his farm down, so
> it feels like he's in control for one last time.  Therefore the theme
> that financial failure brings one to drastic intervention is expressed
> by the setting of a man who has lost the family farm because of
> foreclusure, and wants to be in control for one last time, as a result
> he makes a drastic move, and set his farm on fire.