Reading Journal "The Death of the Moth" Virginia Woolf

In Virginia Woolf's essay The Death of the Moth she uses Narration and Descriptions very vividly and well. She talks from her perspective. What stood out was her use of strong descriptions. Her descriptions are not like little descriptions they  are very in depth. She describes the Moth to a certain degree by talking about its appearance "his narrow hay-coloured wings, fringed with a tassel of the same colour" and what he was doing "he flew vigorously." Woolf also gives an effective use on description when she talks about the moth dying " the moth having righted himself now lay decently and uncomplainingly composed."

Weekly Reflection 4

Last full week completed. We worked on our last paper (thank god, I honestly don't think I'm ready to go off to college if I couldn't even do this). We discussed toulmin. My favorite part of the week was when we watched Marina Abramovic performance. It was absolutely amazing. I cried. I went home and watched it again. On to the last week.

Weekly Reflection 3

Another week done. We began our group paper. It was a cause and effect. Our group chose racial profiling. I hope it was very informative for the rest of the class. I had a lot of fun working with my group. I was absolutely terrified when I had to get up and present with my group. My mind went completely blank with what I had rehearsed the night before and on my way to class. I learned that these papers are getting harder to write as well. On to week three

Weekly Reflection 2

Week two complete. We had to listen to a song that I can't even pronounce. We had to take notes over compare and contrast for our next paper. We also listen to lectures. Still learning a lot of things I wish I was taught in high school. We got into how we use our databases. Pretty much another hard working week. On to week three.

Reading Journal "Only Daughter" Sandra Cisneros

1.       In Sandra Cisneros Only Daughter, she really talks about how she is the only daughter of six boys. She says she had to “spend a lot of time by [herself] because her brothers felt it beneath them to play with a girl in public.”  Her dad also thought college was a waste because she had not found a husband yet. In the essay she even says that all her writings have “been for him.” It seems as if she’s trying to win her fathers approval for I guess disappointing him in not having a husband yet. At the end of the story the reader can see that the father finally accepted her work.

2.       Cisnero says “of all the wonderful things that happened to me last year, that was the most wonderful.  After everything she’s done to try and get his approval it finally worked.” She was so worried if her father would love the story she wrote or hate it. He ended up loving the story she wrote and wanted to give copies to the rest of the family. Her father was so proud of Cisnero for her work.

3.       Sandra Cisnero and her father can be similar by I guess being accepting. Over the years she was trying to live up to her dads standards or in the shadows of her brothers. She could've gave up but with persistence the day finally came when her dad finally accepted her. She knew all the hard work she went through for college and even  after finally paid off. 

Reading Journal "On Keeping a Notebook" Joan Didion

1.       In Joan Didion’s On Keeping a Notebook reading this essay made me think of the times I wanted to start a journal. I can go back in some boxes I have in my closet and read stuff I’ve written down. In Didion’s she says she “stop whining and learn to amuse myself by writing down my thoughts.” It’s funny looking back and reading some stuff like one of them was when I was seven and my aunt and uncle were yelling at me or how my mom made me go to my room and how I wanted to run away. I thought that when I was really mad or sad I could write out how I felt and that it would help. This essay makes me want to start back up and write in a journal to only read them 10 plus years later and reminisce.

2.       The section that contributed the best emotional when she talks about the notebook and its use. “It is a good idea, then, to keep in touch, and I suppose that keeping in touch is what notebooks are all about.” She can write down what her thoughts are how she feels good or bad and then go back and relive that point in time. When she talks about when her mother gave her the tablet when she was younger. When parents give us things we sometimes don’t understand how it will affect us in the long run.  

3.       She uses many different unanswerable questions like “(1960? 1961?)”, or when it may seem like random information actually is information she wants.  Things some of us might not get but in order for her to remember that point in time she puts some unanswerable questions that the reader may not get. I think this very much strengthens her essay by leaving the reader like myself confused about some information that looks like she just threw in. But that is Didion's way of Keeping a Notebook.

 

Weekly Reflection 1

Wow already the first week done. We learned how to do MLA correctly. We took a lot of notes and listened to some lectures about the upcoming days and weeks. I remember Mr. Smith saying our High School teachers didn't teach us right. I thing he is pretty right about that one. We learned about the Freetags Pyramid and how to do the correct narration form. Over all a big 360 from high school to now. I wish I would have been more prepared on how comp 1 would be. On to week two.

Reading Blog "The Chinatown Idea" Eric Liu

1.      In Liu’s narration in, The Chinatown Idea his most successful strategy is being very descriptive in his time in Chinatown. He could be simple and say it’s packed or that at night it is very lit up or it smells like something, but no he uses strong sensory details. He describes even the license plates to the aroma. He describes how cold it was by saying it was “chilly enough to numb my cheeks” but that the “bustle all around gave the place an electric warmth.” Liu also describes Chinatown as “lit like a stage thanks to the aluminum lamps hanging.” Those are just a few of his vivid description of his evening in Chinatown.

2.      Liu’s uses of intense sensory impression and using such detailed descriptions is to get the reader to use their imagination. He goes back to that point that he can “recall with precision.” He also gives a little description on his grandmother Po-Po. His strategy he uses is for the reader to actually visualize the scene as if they were there is very good and makes the narration more real.

3.      Liu’s choice of words like “incongruous”, “emporium”, and “fortified” are very descriptive for his narrative. The word “incongruous” is just a fancy way of saying they did not fit in in the “emporium” or marketplace when they were there. He felt “fortified”, by the trip that he helped I guess you could say embrace and see more of his Chinese culture. The mood not really change other than the fact he is using formal words to really describe the details of the scene what he is talking about in the narrative.

Reading Journal "The Art of Eating Spaghetti" Russell Baker

1.      In Bakers essay The Art of Eating Spaghetti, his choice of audience is children around our age. For the most part he is talking to children from middle school till college. He can also be reaching an audience that likes writing. Other than that others can relate to the essay as well. Baker wants to connect to the reader from his point of view that many others can relate to or think back on times in school.

2.      In the second paragraph you can see how he became “bored by everything.” All throughout his essay I can go back to any point in school whether it was elementary to now and think how the work “seemed as deadening as chloroform. I dreaded going to class at times even now in comp 1. Baker, even though he became bored with school he found something that he began to love, writing. It’s not that he drags on about the dullness of his teacher but he puts a great description on the teacher that many can relate to having. Towards the end Bakers teacher shone a new light onto his essay he had to write for his class and that is what set in stone his writing career. He went from thinking the teacher was dull to “the finest teachers in the school.”

3.      Bakers overall purpose of this essay is to reach out to the audience that can relate to this sort of message. Whether it’s relating to being bored with a subject to loving a subject. He wants his readers to understand his essay to a more personal level. He also wants his audience to strive for whatever they plan on doing. He had pure joy to know that his teacher who he thought would send him to the office loved his paper.

4.      Bakers purpose affects his tone speaking to the reader on a level of understanding. I for one think there is informal in this paper. He leans more too informal by using first person point of view. He uses “My mind” or “My words” or “I” and that’s informal. In a formal paper first person should not be present.

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

1. In E.B. Whites essay Once More to the Lake, he makes this a strong narrative because he tells the story from his perspective. Not only does he open up the first paragraph and answer the five Ws but, throughout the paper he uses tools and tricks. He begins the story by going back to his childhood during the summer. He talks about his past and what he would do at the camp. E.B. White uses very descriptive when describing certain things. For example, how the air was, the sound of the boats, and just the scenery. White goes into depth of explaining the little things. White talks about August being the last month of summer and that refers to him getting old/dying. He makes uses context clues that you have to really read to visualize his essay and that is what makes a strong narrative.
2. He uses the narrative path by going in chronological order. The story starts off with him going back to when he was a child and so forth. Basically he uses foreshadowing. The complexity of the narrative is very well thought of. He would put himself in his sons’ position when he was that age and then put himself at that time of his father’s self.
3. White would remember the things he did as a child that his son was doing and that made him visualize himself as “the boy.” By referring to his son as “the boy” we see him visualize that he is his son. He would constantly get I guess you could say confused in some aspects. In some things the boy did he would see himself when he was younger and some things he did as himself would be what his father used to say or do. In the last paragraph he talks about the “chill of death,” at that point in time he knew he wasn’t his son and that he was getting older.



Narrative Freewrite 7/12

      My First party experience
Summertime is when all the parties are going on every weekend and everyone gets together. During this time I was never allowed to go out to parties due to the fact my mother was very protective over me and she knew how high school parties were. For me, I felt as if I was always missing the fun and never got to do anything. My friends would upload pictures or tell me how fun the parties were and I was there, in my room, in the dark, on my phone like a hermit because I wasn’t allowed out. It sucked sitting at home.
      It was about the middle of the summer going to my junior year and I started I guess you could say dating this guy, I don’t know. He was cute had a baby face and was about three four inches taller than me. Anyway it was one day of the week and he was telling me about this party coming up that he wanted me to go with him to. Strike one. I’m all for it but, how am I going to be able to go? I already know what my mom’s going to say. Like any good child I thought of the consequences and thought is it worth getting in trouble? Should I stay home and have another boring weekend?
      It wasn’t until the night of I made my mind up. I told my mom I was staying at my friends house that lived across the street. Strike two. He called me to tell me he was outside with some of his friends to pick me up. We drive off to the party. I’m sitting the back and I start contemplating if I should tell them to turn around or not. By the time we get to the house that was the least on my mind. We walked inside and it seemed like a decent sized gathering. About an hour later that’s when everyone started showing up and the party went up from there.
      People were drinking and smoking. The house had a strong smell of different alcohols and weed. By the way weed smells like a skunk and stinks. I had never drank or smoked and didn’t plan on it. I was so scared to do anything I just sat there drinking my orange juice. My “date” was drunk and I didn’t know what to do. I felt I had to look out for him. At one point my mom and grandma called to check up on me and I had to go down the street because the music was so loud. I lied and told them I was going to sleep.
       It wasn’t until later people that weren’t invited showed up. Needless to say some people got into fights, things were broken in the house, and my “date” got jumped for his backpack. Come to find out he was selling weed. Strike three. We had to help him in the car and sped off as soon as we could. At that point in time I had no desire to go home because I knew I’d get my butt whooped. So what did I do... I spent the night at his house and slept on the couch. Strike four. When morning came around they dropped me off at my friends house and I stayed there until my mom called me home.
       Moral of the story don’t talk to boys that’s only intentions were to sell and smoke weed. Do not lie to your parents just for your sake. (I thank God my mom doesn’t know). Don’t sneak out to a party, just wait you’ll be able to go out sooner or later. Trust me you are not missing out on much.