Journal 6 Katie Vance

Part One: Popular Mechanics and Bottle Caps
I feel like these two stories are the most different because of their tone. Popular Mechanics' tone is very harsh and anxious. I felt like I was walking on eggshells the entire time I was reading it. In Bottle Caps though, it felt like the tone was "matter of fact" like she would tell this story in the same tone if you asked her what time it was. Another difference between the two are the ages of  the main characters. In Popular Mechanics, the main speaker was an adult while in Bottle Caps it was a young child. A similarity between the two was the fact both stories took place at home. In Popular Mechanics, the father was leaving the house and packing his things. In Bottle Caps, the speaker talks about their collection growing in the basement and their backyard where their brother had and insect graveyard.

Part Two: The Old Badger Game
This was my favorite story out of the 7 because it talked about badgers and it made me laugh. I think this story means to not dislike others for living a different life from your own. Though it is a different life, there may be more similar problems between the two than originally thought. A writer can learn a lot about personification from this story. Annie Proulx wrote about badgers having jobs and being retired and did a fantastic job of it too. The most important word would have to be rancher. This is because it helps with setting, and what some of the characters do for their job. It allows for the badgers to be in the story in a realistic setting of their natural habitat. This helps make the personification seem more realistic. The most important sentence was " 'Good looking badger,' she said aloud, imagining herself in a coat of the same red hue, not necessarily a fur coat- a faux fur would do, or even tweed with a monkey collar." This is the most important sentence because it is the lever in the story. It pulls the first half of the story into the second half where the conflict lies seamlessly in one sentence.