In this blog post, I will be sharing my overall feelings with you about my English Composition 100 class. This was my first English class in my college career, and I have to say it was one of the best classes I have ever been in.
Every Language Arts or English class I have taken has never interested me. I never considered myself a bad writer, but I never loved writing either. I found that writing was annoying and time consuming, and there was nothing or no one pushing me to actually enjoy the class. However, my English professor, Sabatino Mangini, was the first teacher to actually make me enjoy writing. One reason I started enjoying writing was by receiving help to improve my writing. In other English classes I took, we would plan an essay, outline the essay, write the essay, turn in the essay, and receive a grade for the essay. We rarely ever improved it besides spelling and grammar mistakes. In this class, we would focus on writing the essay first and then improving it second. Sabatino would push us to work and improve our first drafts to make a second draft. He encourages us to put in more showing scenes, feelings, thoughts, and even take out parts of the story to see how it would turn out. He explained how completing these possible improvements would improve our writing skills and make us better writers in the future. I completely agree with this statement because if you think about it, how would your writing improve if you don’t work on your previous mistakes? Improving my writing in this class helped me determine that I am going to improve my essays in my future classes. I will always be able to improve, and improving anything in my eyes makes me a better student. The second major reason I enjoyed this class so much was from the sense of closeness I felt with my classmates. Sabatino would start off class by asking how we were all doing. This gave a sense of comfort and fun in the classroom by sharing personal experiences and thoughts with each other really. I felt like I could express my opinion and agree and disagree with others without feeling judged. For example, during the first week of school, we all wrote a secret about ourselves that we have never told anyone before. Those secrets were then collected by Sabatino and written on the whiteboard – without naming who had what secret. We all then walked around the room and tried guessing what one another's secret was. After we found the majority of the answers, we all told our story about how our secret came about in our lives. Knowing each other’s secrets gave us a close feeling, kind of like “I know a secret about you, so were pretty much friends now.” I really liked having that feeling walking into the classroom because I didn’t feel like I was walking into a classroom full of strangers. I felt like I was walking into a classroom with students who have shared similar experiences as I have and students who have went through the same, semi-embarrassing experience of telling our secret story. Having this comfortable feeling around new people made me realize how much I like that feeling. From now on, I plan to break out of my shell a little bit and get to know the people around me, even if I have never seen them before. Looking back at when the class first started, I did not realize how much I would actually enjoy English Composition 100 in college. Looking at the class now, I’m really going to miss my classmates, my teacher, and the fun times we all experienced together.
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12/6/2017 0 Comments Student Choice: The LotteryIn this blog post, I will be discussing my thoughts and feelings about a short story we read in my English Composition 100 class called “The Lottery.” This short story overwhelmed me with thoughts and feelings that I will be sharing with you, and you may even agree with my thoughts and feelings too.
In the short story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, a village meets up once a year and conducts an annual lottery. All the men who live in the village choose a piece of paper from a hat. The man who draws the paper with the dot on it has to draw once again, this time with only his family. After his family all draws a piece of paper, the family member who picks the paper with the dot on it gets stoned to death by everyone in the village. For more information about this short story, you can visit this blog post. After reading this story, I was confused and horrified. I was confused because when I thought of a “lottery,” I imagined something good happening to people. For example, if someone tells you they won the lottery, they most likely just won a whole lot of money, which is definitely a good thing! I did not imagine a village drawing paper to determine someone’s death. I was horrified because I could not imagine real people stoning one of their acquaintances to death from picking a piece of paper. Doing that act is simply inhumane and cruel. I remember thinking “What kind of monster would come up with such a lottery?” After thinking about this “lottery,” I realized these horrible events happen right here in America. There are bombings, shootings, murders, and more horrid events that happen in this country. Although these awful events are not annually planned, they are planned by one person or by multiple people. Thinking about how people in this world would do this to another human being makes me scared to leave my house sometimes. A victim from these events could have never known they would be a victim from these horrible events. So you never know when something bad like bombings or shootings could happen to you. I’ll admit I am very afraid of death. I ask myself what is going to happen to me when I die, where would I go, and am I just gone forever? Though this is somewhat of a hard topic to talk about for me, talking about shootings and killings makes me accept death more. If I avoid this subject, I am never going to accept it which is not good for my mental health, physical health, and my overall health. Accepting that death will come for me some day will ensure that I will live a better and fulfilling life. I want to make the most out of my life before I die, and I think a lot of people do as well. Reading this article may have made me feel horrified, but it also got me to start thinking about death. Thinking about something that makes me uncomfortable makes me grow in the sense that I have to accept this will happen to me. I hope that one day, after talking and experiencing situations regarding death, I will fully accept death and let go of not knowing the unknown. In this blog post, I will be reflecting on my Life-Choice memoir assignment I wrote for my English Composition 100 course. I have been working on this essay off and on for about 2 months, and I will be sharing my process of writing it from my first draft until my last draft.
After receiving the assignment and reading this assignment sheet, I wrote my first draft. My first draft seemed to be more telling instead of showing. My teacher, Sabatino Mangini, specifically said to start the paper by jumping into a scene. When I looked back at my original essay, I did not jump right into a scene. I started the essay with “A high stakes life choice that I have made was…” This was exactly how not to start my life choice essay. After realizing my essay was not written how it was supposed to be, I started the essay again and pictured myself back in the first scene I wanted to include in my essay. I started describing everything I saw, felt, and thought. After describing as much as I thought I could, I added some ideas from my first draft and ended up with my second draft. One of the requirements for this assignment was to have one thousand to one thousand and five hundred words. When I looked at the word count of my second draft, I had two thousand four hundred and twenty two words. The word could was way over the required amount. When I talked to Dr. Mangini about my essay, he gave me a challenge to complete: eliminate seven hundred words from my second essay. This made me nervous. I was not sure if I would even be able to eliminate this many words without erasing parts that were important to the story. However, I was still up for the challenge. I went home that night and started eliminating words. First, I started eliminating the bonus “P.S” part at the end because it was not needed to tell my story. Then I started going through my essay from the beginning to the end. I started eliminating sentences that were not needed to enforce the point I was making. Then I went through the essay again and tried crunching words and phrases together to lessen the word count. After doing all of this, I only eliminated around four hundred and fifty words. I still needed around two hundred and fifty more to get rid of. This is when I started taking out descriptive parts of the essay that I wanted to try and leave in. After taking these wanted phrases out, I eliminated six hundred and eighty four words. I figured I pretty much reached the goal of my teachers challenge; therefore, making my third draft. After reviewing my third draft, I found I did not like this draft as much as my second draft. I feel like I took too many details out of the essay making the essay not as descriptive. However, I did like the challenge of eliminating a large quantity of words and seeing how that could improve my essay or not. Looking at the big picture, the process I took to get to my third draft was a little painful; however, it was well worth the pain because I feel that I have improved my essay substantially. I realized that going back into my essay and revising my first draft improved my writing skills and improved my essay overall. 11/30/2017 0 Comments Class notes 11/30/17In this blog post, I will be discussing what we learned in English class today. We defined terms, learned about MLA style writing, learned different ways to cite sources, and learned some basic rules. We also played a game show named "Let's Talk!" and reviewed different topics we have been learning about. I will be sharing all of this information with you. This information will further improve my research paper essay, which can be found here. All of this information I copied from our classrooms whiteboard into my notes, and this information was all written by my English teacher Sabatino Mangini. First, I will share the various terms we defined: Rhetoric- this is defined in many ways. It provides truth, not lies. It is not solely the art of persuasion, but persuasion is part of this. Rhetoric means making right choices, choosing what to say, choosing what to do, and choosing anything (by the way, the definition of this word on google is completely wrong, don't listen to it). Propaganda- lies, lacking meaningful content. This should not get confused with rhetoric. Plagiarism- taking and using someone elses ideas and not giving credit. Attribution- giving credit from a source. Parenthetical citation- putting the authors last name in parenthesis at the end of their own quote or idea. Example: Universal care is a social must (Jones 69). (Also, see how the period comes after the closing parenthesis? We learned that too) Embedded citation- adding the source into the sentence without using parenthesis. Example: Jones argues universal healthcare is a social must. Second, I will share information about MLA style writing: MLA style writing is a format that is used to write papers. This is similar to APA style writing, but APA is used for psychology courses, not English courses. An MLA research paper is a genre of writing, and it is mostly the style used in colleges. It exists because of 2 reasons: 1) it provides standards and conventions, and gives readers expectations of the paper with common language. 2) it ensures the writer will reference previous conversations about their topic into their own conversations, and gives background information. To summarize, MLA research papers helps enter a conversation in a clean way ans it helps to continue the conversation. Third, we learned about different ways to cite sources, which is what I will be sharing next: There are 2 ways to cite sources: 1) A work's cited page on the last page of the paper 2) In-text citations There are 3 ways to cite sources in an actual essay: 1) Summarize (using your own words and condensing information into a smaller amount) 2) Paraphrase (using your own words and it is the same length as the original source's information) 3) A direct quote (word for word inside of DOUBLE parenthesis) Fourth, we learned about some basic rules: 1) You can combine a direct quote and a summarization in one sentence. If you summarize part of the sentence and use the sources language in the other part, then you can put quotations around the sources direct language. Example: Universal healthcare is a "social must." 2) You do NOT have to put the authors credentials into your essay. Mentioning them in the work's cited page is enough. 3) You can combine a parenthetical citation with an embedded citation if you want. Example: Jones (69) argues universal healthcare is a "social must" (69). Another example: Universal healthcare, Jones (69) argues, is a social must. As you can see, there are a lot of different ways to cite your sources. Fifth and finally, we reviewed topics we learned about and talked about in class ever since the very first day of the course:
Types of Genres/Subgenres: 1) Creative Nonfiction 2) Memoir 3) Reflective writing Motives: 1) Make meaning 2) Get a good grade in this class 3) Enact writing to travel: past places, past people, and past selves 4) Learn about the narrative mode and its genres 5) Experience the ways narrative writing helps me to make a sense of the world 6) Make connections between material and nonmaterial world 7) Examine my life Rhetorical Purposes (PIE): 1) Persuade 2) Inform 3) Entertain Rhetorical Modes (DEAN): 1) Description 2) Exposition 3) Argumentation 4) Narration 11/28/2017 0 Comments Research Paper ReflectionIn this blog post, i will be answering questions about my research paper. After watching Reflective Writing and going over notes in class (which can be found in this blog post), I will be making revisions to my Research Paper Draft #1. Before making any changes to the draft, i will answer these questions about my paper so far. Who did you work with to compose your research paper? Was this a good approach? I did not work with anyone to compose my research paper. I think this was a good approach because I was able to include all of my personal thoughts and write the research paper the way I wanted to. What rhetorical mode and genre are you using? The rhetorical mode I am using is Argumentation and the genre I am using is MLA Research Paper. When did you write this project? Good approach? I wrote this project on Friday November 17th and revised it on the 18th and the 21st. I think this was a good approach because I think I wrote the paper early enough so I had time to revise it and make corrections the best I could. Where did you write this project? Good approach? I wrote this project on my living room couch and revised it in my room. I think writing in both of these areas was a good approach because they were both quiet areas and I had no distractions around me. I was able to write all my thoughts down and get the paper done when I wanted to. Why did you choose to write about your chosen topic? Good choice? I chose to write about sex education in America because I think it is a growing problem. Michael Moore's movie Where to Invade Next inspired me to write about this topic. The pregnancy rate and the rate of STD’s are increasing in the country and I think America should try different approaches to lower those rates. This is a good choice because the more awareness is spread, the more consideration there could possibly be in school districts to make a change about sex education. How did it feel to write this argument ("during, after, and since")? Do you have any "if only" moments that can help you revise the draft? While I was writing my argument paper, I felt pretty good about it. Since I completed the annotated bibliography, I pretty much had all of the information I needed. I had to pick and choose what ideas and evidence would go where and how I would put together the whole paper. As I was writing, these pieces seemed to flow together and I had a good writing experience. After writing the paper, I felt pretty proud of it. I thought I had a strong viewpoint along with strong pieces of evidence. I knew I needed to go back and switch a few things; and after I did that, I was still proud of what I had put together. I also thought my paper was very organized. Ever since writing the paper, I still feel pretty good about it. We talked about how to make revisions in class, so I know I want to go back to my paper and do some touch ups. My one “if only” moment is if only I did my paper bit by bit. I sat down and wrote the whole paper in one sitting. I feel like if I wrote one paragraph about one idea at a time, I could have thought of more creative ideas and maybe how to flow the paper a little better. How will you revise your argument?
I will revise my argument by going and revising one idea at a time, taking a break, and then approaching the other ideas. This will keep me focused on one idea at a time which will hopefully help me think and write the best I can about that particular topic. I will also go back and define any terms that the reader may not know about. I also will make sure that the exigency in the introduction paragraph is clear to the reader. Next, i am going to make sure that i reference the author or the article in every sentence. Then, I am going to add a header to the top left corner of my paper along with the page number in the top right corner of each page. Following that, I am going to add a works cited page which provides all of the sites I used in my essay and all of the authors that wrote them. Lastly, I will revise my conclusion paragraph and make sure my thesis statement is not word for word from my introduction, will add a strong closer, and ensure that there is no new information given in this paragraph. 11/28/2017 2 Comments Notes from class on 11/28/17In this blog post, i will be discussing what we learned in class today, November 28th 2017. We took a lot of notes which to me was partial review. However, i did learn some valuable information that i will carry on to my future classes. I copied these notes from my Professor Sabatino Mangini. First, the class learned what TPS stands for: Topic (what the paper is about) + Position (what you want to say about the topic; an opinion. If this part is debatable, then it passes the test and its a good position) + Support (what researched reasons you will use to defend your position; evidence). These parts are put together to equal a thesis statement. If a thesis statement involves these 3 items, then its most likely a successful one. The class example used was "Universal health care should be provided to all US citizens because this policy change will save lives, save money for people, and create a more humane society. Don't try to steal this idea, it already has a trademark on it. Next, we learned about parallel structure. Parallel structure is basically keeping order in the essay. For example, the first piece of support from our class example was "this policy change will save lives." Since it was the first piece of evidence mentioned, it should be explained in the first body paragraph. The second piece of evidence was "save money for people," so this should be explained in the second body paragraph. Lastly, the third piece of evidence was "create more of a humane society," which will be explained in the third paragraph. Parallel structure is simple and it can create a very neat and organized paper. We then learned about a research paper's introduction paragraph. There is a structure that it should have, starting with grabbing the readers interest. This can be done through a quote, question, statistic, or an opening anecdote. Next, inform the reader about any background information, context, or exigency they may need to know before continuing through the paper. Then, create a bridge that connects the information to the thesis statement, which is the last part of the intro paragraph. Not including a bridge will take the reader from background information right to a thesis statement, which will make the reader confused making the paper lack structure and flow. We also learned about the thesis statement. The thesis statement is the central claim of the entire paper. It is one sentence and is the last sentence of the intro paragraph. Having a thesis statement will provide focus for the research paper and provide an entryway into the writing. Another piece of information we learned about was a research paper's body paragraphs. These paragraphs job is to develop an argument, support a position, address counter arguments, and provide claims and evidence. Having these components in body paragraphs will further explain the paper, thus making the paper stronger and more believable. When the papers believable, that's when you persuade your readers. Lastly, we learned about conclusion paragraphs. Conclusion paragraphs should revisit your thesis statement but not repeat the statement word for word. The conclusion paragraph should also sum up the authors points, conclude with a strong closer, and the paragraph should not provide any new information All of this information really helped me with writing my research paper. It gave me structure to follow and ideas of how to flow my paper together. I am going to make sure to remember these points for future classes because of how helpful they were to me in this class.
11/14/2017 2 Comments Defining Unknown TermsThis blog post is a little insight of what we did in class today. The class worked in groups and together we defined the terms democracy, capitalism, socialism, social oppressive "isms", and social institutions. I co-authored these definitions with my group members: Kacie Montano, David Miller, and Regina King. Democracy- Everyone equals everyone. People have a say in voting, decisions, and more. The people vote and the majority wins.
Capitalism- More wealthy and higher leveled individuals have more control in government and decision making. Socialism- People do not have that much of a say, they vote on congressmen and state elected officials to decide what is best for the state. Fascism- Led by a dictator. One person makes all decisions. A government that has absolute power. They want to eliminate media, and think that violence is necessary. Social oppressive “isms”- When groups of people are pushed and pressed down by society. Some examples are racism, sexism, and sizeism. Social institutions- People that come together from a common belief to try and push their views accepted into society. They try to influence other peoples’ behaviors and set a certain expectation for them. Some examples are family, church, employment, school, prison systems, and media. 11/10/2017 4 Comments Annotated BibliographyWrite an annotated bibliography of at least four sources for your research paper. In the annotated bibliography, include the following:
A Counterargument:
11/8/2017 2 Comments Revising my Life Choice MemoirIn this blog post, I will be talking about how I revised my Life Choice Memoir Essay. The original essay (draft #2) consisted of 2,422 words when the assignment was to write an essay with 1,000-1,500 words. Since my essay was a little too long, my teacher, Sabatino Mangini, challenged me to get rid of 700 words.
While trying to eliminate these 700 words, I got very frustrated. I did not know what parts I should cut out and leave in the essay. I also liked some parts in the essay, but I knew they were parts and descriptions that were not necessary to tell. Therefore, I ended up deleting them. So, after eliminating as many words as I could, I got the word count down to 1,738 words in my revised essay (draft #3). I eliminated 684 words total. I know it wasn't 700 words exactly, but I thought that 684 was pretty close. Also, I did not see anything else I wanted to delete from the essay. Mr. Mangini told me that he thought I could possibly like my shorter essay better than my original one. However, I do not like it as much. I feel like I had to take out more descriptions than I would have wanted to. I also deleted the ending portion where I talk about hearing about my old job after I left. I liked that part of the essay, but it was taking up too many words and I didn't feel like I NEEDED to include it. I feel like draft #2 is more descriptive and more interesting than draft #3 is. Draft #3 definitely gets to the point quicker than draft #2, but I liked explaining more of what I saw and experienced in draft #2. Even though I do not like draft #3 as much as my original draft, I still liked the challenge of trying to eliminate 700 words from draft #2. 11/2/2017 1 Comment Where to Invade Next? An Argument.
In this blog post, I will be discussing the topics that were mentioned in the movie Where to Invade Next. The summary to this movie can be read on this blog post. I will be discussing 3 different topics from this movie, creating a research question for each topic, and answering that research question.
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Julia ThorntonI am using this blog for my English course and beyond Archives
December 2017
CategoriesAll Life Choice Making Connections Memoir Proust Questionnaire Reflection Research Paper Student Choice Summary Where To Invade Next Writing Process |