Journal 3

Brende does a great job of making the information in this book easy to understand. He uses great detail when describing his experiences. At some points he draws out the same point, making the reading somewhat dry, but it is not overly common and does not take away from the book as a whole. Brende’s use of descriptive words makes the text very easy to read and often enjoyable. He expresses his thoughts clearly and with much detail, illustrating what life in the Minimite community was like. Brende explains the processes employed by the Minimites very well, pulling the reader into the story. The author uses great narrative skill when explaining his experiences in the Minimite community. He keeps the reader’s interest even on somewhat dry occasions. Brende also explains what life for the Minimites is like, and the many problems that they have and the issues within the community. He also does a great job of explaining the many different types of Minimites such as the Amish, the Lancaster Amish, and the Mennonites. A main strategy of Brende’s is to have a strong conclusion to each chapter giving insight into his life and drawing up any points that were not fully explained.
I don’t really find the need to question any information brought up in this book. Considering that Brende lived in this community for an extended period of time, I think his observations are very useful, and truthful. I don’t really have the right to question the information considering that I knew very little on this topic before reading the book. I think each of these Minimite communities is probably different but I haven’t had any background behind this culture so I wouldn’t know what to question. I think for this book, there isn’t too much controversial information brought up considering most of the things that Brende talks about are just his experiences on the farm and the different methods they use to survive. If I did find some information to be false I could easily do some research on it to discover the real truth about the information. The ways I could research it may include reading different things on the internet about the Amish culture and try to find some more information. I could also go to the library and find some books on this culture and determine if some of the things brought up in this book were false. If I was truly bothered by something, I could try to go to a Minimite community and ask them questions and observe the way they actually do things. The last option would be the best way to learn as much information as possible about the topic
More information on this topic can easily be found on the internet. There are a ton of people who would disagree with what Brende says in the book, and how technology does make life easier. There are also plenty of people who would agree with what Brende talks about. Searching for “Minimite living” doesn’t seem to bring up much more about the topic than what is given in the book. Searching for “Amish living” however brings up more results that are related to the book. There are also plenty of books on technology and whether it is helping people or not. Similar topics to look for would be living without a car; living without a refrigerator; home pregnancies; or Mennonite way of life.