Weekly Reflection 3

07.25 - 07.28
As this summer classes comes to a close this assignment provides an excellent opportunity to write about the things we’ve learned most about this week. This is the third week of english composition 1301 and there are two more weeks of summer school left. This week we were given a group writing assignment on causes and effects. As a group, we got to choose our topics and my group topic was about the causes and effects of Stress. We also presented a powerpoint on our topics. On friday, we learned about Aristotelian Argument. The goal as a writer is to convince the audience of something this includes using strategies to persuade the audience to adopt your side of the issue. Using this technique, helps the readers to attempt to persuade the reader to a particular view. This includes logos, ethos, and pathos.

Reading Journal | “Last Rites for Indian Dead" Suzan S. Harjo

In the shorty story, Last Rites for Indian Dead, Harjo argues that her ancestors should not be treated the way that they are like being put up for display and being sold to private collectors. She fights for her rights throughout this piece using ethos and pathos. As I was reading the short story, ethos was easily spotted. In the first paragraph, Harjo starts off by saying, "What if museums, universities, and the government agencies could put your dead relatives on display or keep them in boxes to be cut up and otherwise studied?" This is a perfect example of ethos. She is trying to draw sympathy with that horrifying sentence. Harjo uses ethos to make an argument that what was happening to the Native Americans was not fair. Harjo also uses ethos effectively to create credibility and character for herself to make it her seem more appealing to the readers. Harjo also uses pathos in her writing. At the end of her writing she offers a solution for Congress to act and the outcome she provided was, "Let us bury our dead and remove this shameful past from America's future." She uses this solution to provide a valid reason to solve the problem that appeals to the reader's emotions.

Reading Journal | "The Chinatown Idea" Eric Liu

1. The most successful strategy of Liu's narration is when he uses strong sensory details. As the writer writes about New York's Chinatown, his visits to see his mother, and her experience coming to America, he describes those details of the many scenes he experiences in great depth. By writing about a scene's impact on all five senses and using countless of specific visuals, Liu is able to paint a picture of a scene so distinctly that the reader feel that he or she is actually there. The most important vivid description in the piece was his depiction of Chinatown. "Red-and-gold lanterns, swinging, wild neon lettering. Gangsters in black sedans. Roast birds hanging by their necks behind grimy windows. The waft of vented grease and burnt incense and garbage." Liu's description is not only effective, it is also important to the piece as a whole, as it gives the reader perspective of what Po-Po experienced when she first came New York.

2. Liu uses intense sensory details because he wants to allow the readers to personally experience whatever he is trying to describe, reminding them of his own experiences. These vivid, sensory details is more likely to engage and affect the reader's. Liu is very descriptive while setting the scene for the different memories he takes us through. “Chinatown is presumed authentic: the food, the people, the way of life. This what real Chinese-ness is supposed to be.” Throughout the rest of the story he backs this statement with personal individuals stories. He describes what exactly happened, how he felt, and how others reacted. By doing so, this technique gives the reader a vivid setting, basically taking the readers to the actual scene and making the reader feel connected to the writer. Overall, Liu uses thick description very effectively in his "The Chinatown Idea" as it makes the work feel more personal and real.

3. The word he uses like “incongruous”, “emporium”, and “fortified” are all examples of formal words. I think Liu uses formal dictions to create and convey a typical mood and atmosphere to the readers. A writer’s choice of words and Liu’s selection of graphic words not only affects the reader’s attitude but also conveys the writer’s feelings toward the literary work.

Reading Journal | "On Keeping a Notebook" Joan Didion

1. In reading Joan Didion’s “On Keeping a notebook”, I was surprised by how enjoyable the essay was. I used to think that diaries, notebooks, and journals were kept by people who thought it was just for fun or people who didn’t have anything better to do with their time. I realized that there are many different reasons why someone would want to document certain events in their life. As for Didion, she wanted to document her life so she could keep in touch with the person that she was at different points in her life. Didion reflects on moments in her life and says, "It is a good idea, then, to keep in touch, and I suppose that keeping in touch is what notebooks are all about." She used her notebook to record things she saw around her that she felt that was important to her. People these days don't use a diary or a notebook but instead it is replaced by technology such as computers and phones that could be used for social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat.

2. Throughout the short story, I can feel a connection to Didion. Although, I do not write in a journal each day, but I do partake in updating my social media accounts such as posting a status on Facebook. I use these social networks on a daily throughout the day. It is something I can do when I am bored and it is entertainment for me. I feel like this could be considered my journal. I think if you participate in any type of social media, you're basically keeping a diary of your life experiences. This type of self-expression is just a different way to articulate your feelings.

3. I feel like the many unanswerable questions strengthens her work by leaving the reader very confused with not knowing her next move. In a way, it helps us dig more deeper to find out what she is getting into because in most cases you really do not know what is about to happen but in a way it makes you want to read more and it makes the story more interesting. It leaves the reader kind of confused with a mysterious thought. In the conclusion, the author mentions in the last few paragraphs that notes are to help oneself keep in touch with everything in the past and the present. I suppose that keeping in touch is what notebooks are all about.

Weekly Reflection 2

07.18 - 07.21
This is now the second week of English Composition 1301. We were taught new learning materials such as describing music but also things we had already learned through previous years. This week, we were taught the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarism. Paraphrasing is expressing the same message in different words while plagiarizing is expressing the same message in the same words by directly copying information from any source word for word without giving them credit. I gained a lot of knowledge on how to accurately write MLA style papers with citations. It helped me learn how to cite quotations properly and how to use quotations in the text of my writing. After the quote, we put the page number where get got the quote from and then put parentheses around the page number. I also learned that signal phrases provide clear signals to prepare the readers for the quotation. Using signal phrases blends the quote into the sentence, making it easy to be read smoothly and that is why it is important to have a signal phrase before a quote or after a quote.  

Reading Journal | "Only Daughter" Sandra Cisneros

1. Cisneros was the only daughter out of seven children. The author explains to us how she felt left out because her father would always tell everyone he was the father of seven sons, and who was looked down upon for being the only girl in the family. Cisneros also expresses her desire to go to college and her dad agrees because he hopes she will meet a man in college. She completes grad school, and still unmarried. Her father feels she has wasted her education. In the end of the story, after she has been a professional writer for 10 years and her father has grown more sick, he reads one of her works that has been translated in Spanish and enjoys it and even want copies for the whole family. In this way, he expresses that he is really proud of her and the dispute between them is resolved.

2. Towards the end of the story, her father starts to show acceptance in his daughter. Cisneros goes home for Christmas and brings with her a copy of a story published in an anthology of Chicano writing. She watches him read her story and nervously waits a reply from him. She says, “When he was finally finished, after what seemed like hours, my father looked up and asked: “where can we get more copies of this for the relatives?””(497) This shows that Cisneros was worried about what her father would think, not knowing if he would dislike it or admire it. Following that quote, she finally has approval of her father and she was proud to finally be recognized by her father. Cisneros writes, “Of all the wonderful things that happened to me last year, that was the most wonderful” (499). He felt proud because he wanted to share his daughter success with the whole family.
3. Cisneros and her father can be similar in a way. They both are accepting. At the beginning, her father only wanted her to go to college to find a husband, and not for the success of it. She wanted to be noticed and treated equally but her father refuses to until he reads her published story. After all those times, she could’ve easily rejected her father for the times he was not supportive of her but instead she was very accepting. The author repeatedly shows that she will strive to receive acceptance from her father. At the end of the story, her father was accepting of her after she published a story. This story about her father is to encourage the readers to be patient with people who may be difficult, especially one’s that are close to us.

Weekly Reflection 1

07.11 - 07.14

I have learned multiple things this week from narration patterns to the type of narrations, and learning the correct way of MLA format. But the most important thing I learned this week was Tone, purpose, and audience. Learning to recognize an author’s purpose, tone, and audience in a text can help us not only to better understand what an author is trying to say, but understand their stance on a subject. There are three types of purposes: Persuade, Inform, and Entertain. The author’s tone shows us how he feel towards his subject, and the emotion he wants us to feel as well. Tone can range from sarcastic to humorous, or from formal to informal. Writers produce their most effective writing when it is directed at an audience. It can send mixed messages and likely to alienate the readers. If, for example, you are writing for a teen audience, you won't write in the style of a New York Times newspaper. I learned that having these techniques make it easier to write and have an effective paper.

Reading Journal | "The Art of Eating Spaghetti" Russell Baker

1. I think the audience he is trying to appeal is people in general. For instance, people who are interested in writing, as well as those who are in school I feel like Baker choice of audience is that wants people to feel where he is coming from and how he wants to connect with the reader's. Baker wants the readers to connect with his point of views like in a way he talks about writing. It makes him more open to express how he is really passionate about it. Also, I feel like he is somewhat pushing people to do what they believe in and never be afraid to do it.

2. In the second paragraph baker brings up writing so passionately about how he expresses writing and how he knows that it is something he really wants to do. For instance, the way he always says that writing is what he would like to do as a career and also how he did a great job on his essay shows that he likes to showcase his skills. He tells the reader's repeatedly that writing is his way out. He never gives up no matter the circumstances, if people laugh at him it shows him that he will go through whatever to get to the top. I liked the statement where he says "most people don't agree with me being a writer but it's what I like to do." What he is trying to say is he wouldn't trade writing for anything in the world when you have a dream no matter what you do. Baker illustrates that perfectly at the end of the story to prove himself to the reader just a little work can pay off in a major way. This whole passage is basically talking about how an english course and a teacher impacted him largely. He doubted that his essay was any good and when it unexpectedly does he can't believe it. He discovers that he has a big passion and talent for writing.

3. The purpose for the author writing this essay is to express and reflect the memory of the time him being sixteen and wondering what to do with his life. He wrote this essay because it was a defining point in his life. It was such an event that had a huge impact and ended up changing his life. Baker wishes to share this lesson with others who are interested in writing. He wants to share to his readers how writing is the pathway to get away from other things and how it gives him true identity. He is expressing to his readers that no one is perfect and it takes times to find something you’re truly interested in. But it can also turn out to be something you don’t take interest in. It feels like Baker wants to tell us through this essay to never give up on our goal and never stop believing nor stop achieving.

4. In conclusion, the tone of voice in this essay comes across as informal and very casual. Since the essay is a autobiography and uses first person, we can determine that this has an informal tone of voice. In the 12th paragraph, he says “my words!” That sentence makes it informal because it is a short and simple sentence. Throughout the essay, he is using a first person point of view. His word choices are more vague and colloquial. “It wasn’t a question but an exclamation of mild surprise at our ignorance.” In that sentence, he uses contractions. In formal writing, contractions can not be present or else it will be informal.

Reading Journal | "Once More to the Lake" E.B. White

1. What makes this essay a strong narrative because EB White creates a very descriptive image from the surroundings to the emotions to the sensations felt of what it feels to relive a memory. White wants to put the us, the readers in the same place when he was a child. He uses many details in his writing to bring the readers back in time and actually experience an implied experience. Throughout the short story, White uses words that help us visualize each scene which keeps the readers interested. His visual content creates a connection to his readers and creating that connection is important for the reader's to keep wanting to read more and making them care about the story.

2. The short story sums up mostly of flashbacks. The father takes his son to the lake and everything is still as he remembered it was years ago. The father has flashbacks of the times that him and his dad spent together and has a difficult time portraying what is real and what is a memory. There was a few times during the short story when White would position himself in the shoes of his son as a younger version of him and positions his adult self as his own father.
3. "When the others went swimming my son said he was going too. He pulled his dripping trunks from the line where they has hung all through the shower, and wrung them out. Languidly, and with no thought of going in, I watched him, his hard little body, skinny and bare, saw him wince slightly as he pulled up and around his vitals the small, soggy, icy garment." I think this quote means that he is using this time to say goodbye to the past and all the old memories and accepting that he is now going to make new memories with his own son just like what he did with his father. "I began to sustain the illusion that he was I, and therefore by simple transposition, that I was my father." When White reminiscence his fun times and becomes sad knowing that, that was where he and his dad would come and his father could no longer be with them to share and make more memories.

Free Write Assignment 1

In society today many of us have all had a perfect day. Most people often love to have a perfect day they consider a good day as wishing they could have one everyday to me this is where celebration comes into play. I feel that people love to celebrate especially when it comes to family getting together and getting along it shows gratitude, love, and concern all the qualities to have a good time their are times when people just would just like to cut back cut loose go all in for a celebration as they say every good thing that happens it must come to an end. brings me to this topic and celebration gone extremely bad not only bad it also tore relationships tore open the door for opportunity lastly my family never trusting me again. It was like any other summer green grass good people a lot of cars at grandma's house with warm welcoming arms. I was excited for the summer because of family get togethers it only happens once every summer exactly on june 10th. As I exited the car first then my brother joe who was 13 at the time I was 14 as we are going around hugging everyone and playing around eating food. Joseph tells me, "hey let's go outside and play with our cousins" I was not the type to just go outside and play because I liked to stay in watch t.v. hear my old grandpa baffle about wars, food, his favorite liquor which I thought at the time was pretty humorous all for the simple fact that he is a old man boasting himself. Going outside where my grandma lived was hectic it was so huge a lot going on it pretty much looked like a mini mansion could be built in the backyard nothing but field. My brother kept pressuring me to just go outside and have fun in the back of my head something told me no not to do it. Why would I leave all the fun is happening here why would I risk that to just go outside to play in the scorching heat it's a miserable thing to do. I stayed in the house and kept talking to my grandpa as he had me laughing while joe was outside playing with my other cousins. Joseph comes running back into the house with a look on his face that is to die for he says "Elizabeth come outside please everyone wants you to" take in mind the party is still going on people are dancing, playing cards, talking about how much they miss each other and it feels good to be around all of that honestly it does. So I finally gave in, I put my shoes on and head for the back door take in mind my grandparents home has a bayou that connects to their yard which we always cross over to go do stuff the times I did go outside after my long process of thinking i knew this was a bad idea as soon as I stepped out the door, which was funny I already knew it was a bad idea as we cross the field which is my grandma's back yard we cross the bayous. My cousins and Joseph and I cross last. We are walking on higher land now where a flat surface is there's a basketball court a park a pool also a tennis court there are a bunch of people here I guess because this is where people go to enjoy their productivity as we are walking around we see a bike nobody is around this bike that's the thing my brother Joseph gets an idea to say I am going to steal this bike I tell him don't it. Joseph is the type of kid who doesn't care till this day he still doesn't. We continue walking circling around back to the bike my cousins are far from us. Joseph just pushes it over I am thinking why on earth would he do that and he is laughing in the inside and I am sorta laughing also it's actually funny as we are laughing out of the mist. Two kids come over ask us "why did you push my bike down" talking to me. I tell them I didn't do it and they repeat "I saw you do it why would you do that" the kids are younger than us maybe 7-9. I didn't do it next thing happens the mom comes over she is really upset she is yelling in my face saying "why did you do that what's the matter with you." She grabs me takes me down to the bayou water as soon as I am about to enter the water my whole family comes to save me I am so relieved. My aunt  and the lady who grabbed me are arguing back and forth the next thing I know they are fighting each other. The fighting stops once the cops show up as they separate groups from groups people write statements thank god nobody was arrested or went to jail. I took the blame for my brother and said it's my fault and the bike fell instead of really saying Joseph pushed the bike down the bayou. As we are heading back to my grandparents house I start to feel like everything is my own fault which really makes me more upset knowing I did not do it. I told my brother I was tired of people always questioning me about something I did not even do. It was pretty annoying my mother yells at Joseph. I actually feel quite relieved since that day joe confessed everything has been smooth the family still gets along and they still love us it's just like another day in june all over again every year. Everyone should be careful with what they do the day could have been perfect or almost perfect if we made smarter choices we came to celebrate to have a good time no matter what you do people are not satisfied they always have to do more when it should not be that way I guess the saying is true every good thing must come to an end you can't have fun all day without somebody messing it up at the end of the day it just makes you stronger it makes you think more about life choices which in particular I tend to do a lot we all have some growing up to do honestly in this case what it comes down to it just learn from your mistakes. I know this is a repetition and this is crap writing but it is a free write.