Reflective Essay

Writing up blog posts for English class has been an extremely different way of writing that I am used to from a conventional English course. They are different from the typical English paper because a typical English paper is usually centered on a one specific topic, where as a blog post has much more flexibility. There is really no limit or restrictions to what I can right of, but with such flexibility some issues arise.

One issue that I find about having such an open ended piece of writing is that I more prone to being redundant or wordy in my writing. This is exemplified when I was responding to Keiland's free write about swag,

"You start at 5 "swag points and the highest you can go is 150." This is confusing me because I mean not sure what actually do you mean when you say everybody starts with 5 points. Are you saying that swag is like a game in which the purpose is to collect the most points possible? What are these 5 points exactly for? How did you even come up with 5 points to start and then 150 words to end? It makes no sense

This quote from my blog reflects how I can get redundant and wordy. For instance I start out by asking what these 5 points are for, but I repeat this very same question twice in this tiny excerpt. I also state that I am confused, but again I repeat myself in the very same excerpt. Not only do I repeat my self, but by reading this after a while I notice that this way too wordy and I could probably cut have of the words out of it and still get my point out.

Another issue that I encounter with the openness of the assignment is that when I respond to my peer's blog spots I end up finding myself writing things that do not really respond to the quote, it is more like I'm am just writing to get it done. This happened to me while I was responding to Vy's post about Ms. Valdez,

“Another way in which Ms. Valdez made class so memorable was that whenever someone said something deep or good she would always respond by saying, "ooh" or "interesting, say more." This was so funny because whenever she said this we would all crack up and she would just look at us with a smirk on her face. We all ended up using her line whenever someone just said something that made us think. Those were good times.”

What I had written in this excerpt was not really a straight on response to Vy's post rather it was some random Bull sh*t that was put together into some commentary. I encounter this problem many times when I am reaching the end of my writing, but I have not yet reached the word count required. When I do this I am not just cheating on my work, but rather I am cheating myself because I am not practicing my writing. If one day I need to look back at my posts and write an essay using what I wrote then I am in a bad situation because everything that I had typed was all bull sh*t.

Although I may encounter many problems during my writing process I find some positives about doing weekly posts. One positive that I found about the weekly blog posts is that I get the opportunity to practice my analytical writing. For example, writing my Night Essay helped to to practice on items that I had worked on last year such as commentary, CD integration and most importantly developing a strong thesis statement. Not only did writing this essay assist me in analyzing a text and writing something about it, but it also helped to look at books at a different way. Before, I used to read a book and try to look for a central or theme or idea, but this essay was different because instead of looking for a central theme, I am looking for a central conflict. Looking for this conflict made me realize the many different types of conflicts that a story can have.

Another positive that I find about doing weekly blog posts is that I get to respond to other people's blog posts. These responses can actually help the person who is being responded to improve their writing. This is shown when I responded to Leah's post about fashion.

“I disagree when she said about if you feel black it doesn't mean that you are black because skin color determine your race. We are all the same, just because someone sags their pants and wears a baggy t-shirt it doesn't mean that they are black. It doesn't mean anything, it is just a fashion choice. There is no reason at all that race should be tied into with fashion.”

In this excerpt I disagreed with what she had said about certain cultures or races having their own fashion or look. Disagreeing with her mostly likely made her realize that maybe what she had said was incorrect. I was not the only one who responded to her post though, many other people also responded. Since so may people had responded Mr. Sutherlnad told us in class that Leah had found our responses to be helpful and she was going to take our ideas and advice when she writes her next post.

Overall I find writing weekly blog posts to have their ups and downs. They can bring up issues such as redundancy and clutter, but they can also help me to practice my own writing and help others with their writing. I do believe that writing posts has helped me to become a stronger, so going into this new quarter I feel much more confident about my writing.

Night Essay: Elie and his father

There are many problems people face on a daily basis. These conflicts can range from person against person to person against the supernatural. In the novel Night, Elie Wiesel struggles with his relationship with his father. He has conflicting feelings about him, but in the end he realizes the amount of love he has for him.

Elie has his moments in which he believes his father is in the way. For instance, when they are caught in the blizzard, Elie wanted to just give up and die but he realized that his father was stopping him from doing that, “My father's presence was the only thing that stopped me... He was running at my side, out of breath, at the end of his strength, as his wit's end. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his only support,” (82). Elie was ready to give up, but the presence of his father kept him alive. At that very moment he thought that his father should have let him die, but then he realizes that if he died his father would also die. Elie was the only one keeping his father alive. He could not bare the fact of letting himself and his father dying. The love he had deep down for him kicked in and they both survived. Towards the end of the story when Elie is yet again trying to keep his father a live a thought runs through his head, “'If only I could get rid of this dead weight, so that I could use all my strength to struggle for my own survival and only worry about myself' Immediately I felt ashamed of myself, ashamed forever,” (101). Elie felt that it was pointless to keep his father alive. He was tired of it and wanted to only worry about himself, but as soon as he thought this, he regretted it He realized that he loved his father too much to let him go, he could never live with that thought. He knew that he meant too much so he continued to assist him.

Elie witnesses how his father is treated and how badly in shape he is in. Elie attempts to do something but it is ineffective, but when they returned to the camp and his father was beat he did nothing at all, “ I did not move. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck before my very eyes... I had look and said nothing... Had I changed so much then? So quickly? Now remorse began to gnaw at me. I thought only: I shall never forgive them for that,” (37). Elie had witnessed his father being beaten and he just stood there motionless. It was simply because he had fear; he did not know what to do. He thought of his father as strong man, but when he was in need Elie was no where to be found. He proved to himself and his father that he was just as defenseless as his father was. Later on the story Elie's father tells him that he has been beaten by his neighbors, “Eliezer... Eliezer... tell them not to hit me... I haven't done anything... Why do they keep hitting me?” (104). Yet again Elie witnesses his father being treated like trash, yet this time he actually does something. He confronts his father's neighbors, but to no results. He might not have been able to stop his father from being tortures, but he proved to himself that he was willing to fight for his father till the very end.

By the end of the story, his father is struggling to stay alive, he is weak, but Elie refuses to let him die. He tries everything to keep him alive, “I knew that he must not drink. But he pleaded with me for so long that I gave in. Water was the worst poison he could have, but what else could I do for him? With water, without water, it would be all over soon anyway,” (104). He knew that water was not the best thing for his father, but it was all he could give to his father. Even though there was not much more he could, he just could not let him die. They had been through too much. Elie had finally taped into the true love he had for father, but it was too late, he was already dying.

Thought the entire story Elie and his father have a rocky relationship. Elie overcome the negative thoughts he had and focused on keeping him alive as long as he could. He gave every bit of his heart and soul into him. He proved that nothing was going to stop him from showing the true love he had for his father.

Response to Shiyun's friendship

I found this interesting quote while reading through Shiyun's post about friendship

In the dictionary friends is defined as a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard. This is equivalent to what I think friend is, but I kind of disagree with the meaning that they give in the dictionary. It does not fully define what this word mean. To me, friend is defined as a person that we treasure, appreciate, and someone who we think is trustworthy. It is also someone that we can ask for help and support.

I agree with this definition for friends and I also agree with Shiyun when she says that a friend is also a person who we treasure, appreciate and trust. I fortunately can say that I have a good group of friends who I can mess around with, but who I can still trust. I cant say the same thing for other people. A "True Friend" can be easily confused for a person who just is Friends with you for a certain reason. They do not care about you or feelings. Therefore they are not a "True Friend". There will always be people who you admire and trust, that is a true friend, but there are also people who come into your life and just walk right out the next instance.

Even though I have some very good friends, I still think that friendship is a bunch of five star bulls***. I believe this because at the end of the day, no matter how many good friends you have, you are still on your own. In reality it is your life and you choose your own path. Your friends wont be there for you through the toughest moments in your life. Friendship is important.but it is not the whole world. Friends are a good thing only when they are the right people who will support you. Even though I believe that friendship is a bunch of BS it is still important to socialize with people.

Freewrite bout school

I personally find school to be boring and a waste of time. I think this of school for many reasons.

One reason why I find school boring and a waste of time is that some teachers just pile me with an abundant amount of homework, notes and lectures. They put no creativity or effort into making class fun at all. This is extremely boring because there is no room for flexibility at all. It is just the teacher blabbering while the students take notes. I feel that these teachers are a waste of time because I don not learn in a lecture, direct instruction type of classroom environment. Not only do I not learn from them but there never seems to be a way to somehow persuade them into incorporating some creativity into the class. Overall these kinds of teachers make up a good chunk of my reason of thinking school is boring.

Another reason I find that school boring and a waste of my time is that there is just so much work to do sometimes. How can teachers expect you to do so much work and be prepared for a test at the same time. I do not see how that is possible without working super hard and pulling an all niter. But even you manage to finish all the work and prepare for the test you will still be tired from all the time and effort put into the work. Not only is there is so much work, but most of the time I found the work to be useless and time consuming. I find it useless because I found it to be very ineffective at helping me to learn the material. I find it to be time consuming just for the simple fact that it takes me forever to do my homework or classwork. Overall I have a very negative attitude towards school.

Even though my overall feeling of school is negative there are also some positives that come from it. Some of those positives are meeting new people and get to experience and learn new things.

Response to Vy's post about Ms.Valdez

While reading through Vy's post about Ms. Valdez and English class last year I found a quote that basically completely summarized Ms. Valdez's class.

"She just wanted us to express ourselves as a student and help us find the bigger meaning in everything. One of the best thing about class was whenever anyone in the class would say something deep or say something she likes, she would go “mmmmm interesting” or “oooh i like! say more.”Freshman English would not be the same without Valdez and without her it would not be so memorable." 

I one-hundred percent agree with Vy because I do believe that without Ms. Valdez English class would have not been that memorable. Ms. Valdez was a very good teacher, she was the type of teacher who would make kids think outside the box. She would want us to not only to analyze a quote literally but to also analyze it in more figurative way. We had to connect what the quote was saying to an overall theme in our world. She was a very hard grader and would give tough comments and feed back. No matter how good your essay was you never seem to get higher than a B. Only a few people were actually able to get an A on her essays.

Another way in which Ms. Valdez made class so memorable was that whenever someone said something deep or good she would always respond by saying, "ooh" or "interesting, say more." This was so funny because whenever she said this we would all crack up and she would just look at us with a smirk on her face. We all ended up using her line whenever someone just said something that made us think. Those were good times. It is such a shame that she had to leave, but at least they replaced her with a good teacher (Mr. Sutherland). I will never forget those good times. :)

During class on Wednesday Mr. Sutherland showed us a picture of a woman sitting in a room, next to a window reading a letter. We were supposed to do a quick write about what we thought was going on the picture. We had to come with like a story about who the letter was from, what did it say, and how did she end up in the room. This what i wrote in class.

The year is 1776 and the setting is England. The woman in the picture is named Elizabeth. She is twenty-five years old and has been madly in love with a fine young gentleman named George. Unfortunely George was sent to service in the Colonies a couple of years ago. Ever since then him and Elizabeth have been exchanging letters. It has been a couple of months since Elizabeth has last heard from George. Then one late Autumn afternoon, Elizabeth received a letter a letter not saying who it was from. She quickly took the letter and ran upstairs to her bedroom. She kneeled down next to the window, hoping that the light would help her to read. She slowly opened the letter hoping it was from George, but she was wrong. It was not from George, but it was from the British military. The letter read, "Dear Elizabeth, We truly are sorry for being the informers of bad news, but your husband has benn killed while on duty." She immediately dropped the letter and broke into tears.e

She cried and cried for hours. She could not believe that he was gone. She had loved him for so long and so much. The pain was indescribable. She locked herself in her room. It was as if her heart was hit with the force of 10,00 fists. Her heart was shattered into a million pieces. She could no longer take it. Her pain and sorrow was too much for her. She got up and jumped out the window.