Writing Reflection

During Semester One I made a video called ‘Who Cares?’ for Media Saves the Beach. My script went through at least 5 revisions in the 2 weeks before the video was made. It was constantly revised also, during the making of the video. ‘Who Cares’ was a video that featured multiple people repeating one or more phrases. It would have been a train wreck if I hadn’t used a script that was well rehearsed.

The Writing Tips we learned over the year were really helpful for structuring essays. Concerts not Pancakes was my personal favorite and it helped me create a strong ending and a strong finish and leave the stuff I’m not so sure about in the middle of it. One piece of writing this applied to was my Ampersand Piece. In the middle I have strong phrases but, the majority of it isn’t super articulate, so I left my essay up to the intro and the conclusion to kind of buoy it up to the surface of good writing.

The 2009-2010 school year has taught me strategies to writing a good piece of work. I learned to always overwrite, because you can just cut stuff out at the end. It’s always good to have extra things, and I learned firsthand how much easier it is to write more than necessary, because it’s harder to write a piece, and add more later. I’m definitely going to carry on these writing tips for all of senior year and through college.

My main goal for future writing would be to get to the point where I don’t ramble on forever about one thing. Even in this reflection I rambled! “. I learned to always overwrite, because you can just cut stuff out at the end. It’s always good to have extra things, and I learned firsthand how much easier it is to write more than necessary, because it’s harder to write a piece, and add more later” and I need to stop being so repetitive.

Some of my writing strategies I have now I have had since I was a middle school-er. I wrote a detailed outline with the thesis and words I wanted to mention, or quotes, facts or stories and then worked it into my writing. I still do this even for my Ampersand piece. I wrote what things I wanted mentioned, who I wanted to mention and how I wanted to mention them. Doing so, you can get the meat of the paragraph done with, and so you just need to worry about the fillings around it. It’s a much easier way for me to structure an essay, so I will definitely keep on doing that.

Bring a President to College!

I personally think it'd be pretty cool to run into Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was the 32nd president of the United States of America and was an all around people person. Not only was he diagnosed with polio at a young age, but he married his fifth cousin's daughter, Eleanor Roosevelt! I think he would be a professor at my University because of his insight on things. He approached things without haste and realistically. "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself" is one of FDR's most famous quotes from his 1933 Inaugural Speech to becoming the President. There is truth to that statement, we tell ourselves to be afraid of things, it's programmed into us and we are afraid of being afraid. FDR would be an amazing teacher, and he could not only approach things in a new light, but he could provide political anecdotes and insight, which is very interesting!

FDR was and still is one of the most interesting and helpful presidents the USA has seen, he worked forwards in his efforts to help our nation and not completely 'bass ackwards' like his preceding president, Herbert Hoover. Not only can Roosevelt provide us with wisdom and help us imagine what it's like to control a whole country, but he can tell us how to approach situations with the most logic. In his famous "Day of Infamy" Speech, he says "As commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense." This was after Japan unexpectedly bombed Oahu and the US decided to bomb them. I believe that the president did what was in our best interest and that he reassured the people of the United States. So I really do think that FDR would be an amazing Politics or Public Speaking teacher!

Bring a Character to College!

If I had to choose any character from a book that we've read this semester to travel to college with me, it would be Bill Bryson and he would be a Professor at my school who teaches Environmental things! My main reasons for picking Bill Bryson for this trip to art school are the fact that he's funny and super sarcastic, which I am as well. He's knowledgeable and likes the outdoors and because he's very dedicated and hardworking. I think that one of the biggest reasons I picked Bill Bryson is because we are a lot alike. While reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, I noticed that most of the things that he would say, I would say in that specific situation as well! In a way I also would like to meet him and have him be my professor because I am jealous about what he has accomplished. He hiked a huge portion of the Appalachian Trail and has great stories to tell about it as well.

Bill Bryson did two of some of my favorite things, wrote and hiked a trail. Well, on a much larger scale, but I do love to do both of those things. I feel like he would provide satirical insight about any sort of problem, and his humor reminds me of my late grandpa's, very dry and quick on his feet. I admire what Bill Bryson has done and what he pushed himself to do. So, all in all I would be excited beyond belief to have him as my college professor!

Mock Trial Reflection

1. Summarize the facts of the case, as presented by the prosecution. Include relevant witnesses and testimony.

The prosecution called upon John Adams, James Madison and Raul Grijalva. They testified that HB 2162 and SB 1070 were UnConstitutional and geared toward racially profiling persons who fit the description of Mexican or Latino.

2. Summarize the facts of the case, as presented by the defense. Include relevant witnesses and testimony.

Dorian and I as the defense called upon Russell Pearce, Jan Brewer and Robert Watchhorn. Our testimony is that it is not racially driven, since it states nowhere in the bill that it will be profiling or racially stimulated, and that it is a criminal law, not a federal immigration law. = not an international affair.

3. What was the most significant piece of evidence, in your personal opinion?

In my personal opinion, for the prosecution, the Constitution and Bill of Rights was the only way the won the case. Without that they wouldn't have set rights and natural givens, they would only have thoughts and morals. For defense, the SB and HB were definitely the most important.

4. What was the most significant argument made, in your opinion?

The one that was made multiple times by the defense is that the bill does NOT racially profile. Which I feel like we proved very well by having Russell Pearce, the sponsor of the bill read directly to the jury and audience.

5. What do you personally believe the correct verdict should be? Do you agree with the jury? Why or why not?

I think that it was an incorrect verdict. I believe that if it were based solely upon skill and presence defense should have won. But it is hard to sway a jury who already had an idea that they didn't like the bill. In real life, I don't know what I would choose. I agree with a lot of the prosecuting side, but at the same time, researching this bill I found a lot of things that I completely agree with. I think it is inhumane to let people illegally cross over and it can and HAS BEEN harmful to residents of Arizona.

Self Grade-

I would personally give myself a 60/50 for all of the nights until 1 am doing only Humanities work for the trial and constantly emailing Randy all hours of the day and night asking questions. But I suppose realistically I would give myself a 50/50 or a 49/50. I did so much work and Dorian and I held the group together by little strings while still trying to do all of our work. I believe I earned a straight A.

Final Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck’s novel the Grapes of Wrath goes in and out of focusing on the Joad family and migrant families in the Dust Bowl. Steinbeck sets up the novel’s chapters with the “zoomed out” version of the Dust Bowl migrant workers, and then proceeds to the next chapter with an updated Joad story.

Personally, the odd paragraphs with the more broad descriptions were slightly boring to me. It seemed like the paragraphs just went on and on and had no real purpose in the beginning. Toward the end about 3 chapters foreshadowed something happening in the end, but even then, 3 out of 15 chapters is not a great deal of literary sufficiency. The zoomed out paragraphs did however create a more approachable character and helped the reader feel more in touch with each character in the book.

The specific stories about the Joad family keep you mostly on track with the book and what it’s trying to communicate for the most part. The good thing about Steinbeck’s writing is that it’s mostly free to interpret. Although the story doesn’t have a clear ending, the beginning and middle do show the unfortunate endeavors and problems that a common migrant family would come across on their commute to California. The zoomed out paragraphs really just are used to accentuate what is happening, and they all link at least to one thing happening in a chapter previously or in the near future.

The novel as a whole really can make you feel like you can relate to the migrants, or on the other side, it can make you feel like you could never relate to it at all. The story truly would be a completely different thing if you took out the broader descriptive chapters that didn’t focus on the Joad family. It would be your common run of the mill Great Depression story. With the way Steinbeck structured Grapes of Wrath and chose his topics, it makes this book a classic American novel.

blog!

Public Works Projects concentrates heavily on building dams, canals and many other things that directly benefit the nearby communities. Generalized, the Public Works part of it counts as anything from educational institutions and sewage management. Public Works was created to help offer jobs to people that were apart of the quarter to a third of Americans who had fallen out of work. During The New Deal, Roosevelt promised the 3 R's: relief, recovery and reform. One of the biggest things that came from this was Social Security which is still around in the present day.

Honors Novel: Cannery Row

Cannery Row is a story about people living in the same almost run down area, all working for various things. All of the people on Cannery Row were diverse but one thing they had in common was they were trying to obtain some sort of success. The definition of success varied from character to character, but it was a constant social issue throughout the story.

Most would say that Dora was the most successful character in the book, but in my eyes her success was based upon the exploitation of women. The one positive side of Dora’s business was using her girls to help out. When influenza broke out throughout the Row, she sent her girls out into the community to comfort the sick and bring them soup. Her success with the hookers was tangible, but the internal satisfaction with helping out the sick community was a more gratifying success.

Another interpretation of success can be counted as the party that Mack and his friends threw for Doc because they thought it would be a nice thing to do. Although the first time they attempted to throw Doc a party it didn’t particularly work out, but the second time the party worked out and it was a success. The level of achievement isn’t documented as clear as everyone else’s in the book, but they worked hard for the final product of the party and had a purpose in their lives.

Symbolism in John Steinbeck’s novels plays a large role so that he can portray his real feelings about a variety of things. Much like Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck throws in characters that accentuate his beliefs. With Cannery Row, much of what the characters did were not morally correct by the readers consensus, but by Steinbeck’s, you never know. Everyone has a different idea of success and throughout the book John Steinbeck proved that to be true.