FALL SEMESTER
Reflection on Quarter 1 Theme:
The American Dream is the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity, traditionally held to be available to every American. (Dictionary.com). I agree with the Vanity Fair article because the American Dream is not realistic about its promises and not everyone is entitled to this ideal. In the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Elizabeth Stanton states, "all men and women are created equal" to show her concern about gender equality. For years, women have not be equally treated like men. Till date, most women are paid less for the same position a man has. Thus, women do not "live" the American Dream due to inequality.
Quarter 1 Columnist Rhetorical Analysis Reflection:
For Quarter 1, I analyzed some of Bill O'Reilly's columns. Bill O'Reilly is a political commentator at Fox Network. His style of writing is pretty unique. He puts emphasizes on specific thing to draw his audience in. In most of the columns I've read he puts emphasis on the media describing them as "bias" etc. In other columns, he finds a way to blame people his predominant audience may disagree with such as Clinton, Obama, and others. He's Republican and agrees with Trump by disagreeing with the policies of the Democratic Party. Lol. He is a Trump supporter but he does not want to reveal it.
Quarter 1 Novel, The Great Gatsby!:
The book depicts that achieving the American Dream means pursuing one's heart desire or striving to be successful regardless of a person's background. In the novel, Fitzgerald uses Gatsby to show the "American Dream". Gatsby was from a poor family but strives to be successful. However, Gatsby's story shows that the American Dream was not realistic. Gatsby was "borne back ceaselessly into the past" - (he still loved Daisy) and was later on murdered. Fitzgerald criticizes the American Dream that everyone could be rich without working hard. True satisfaction comes when one has achieve all their dreams and aspirations. Even though Gatsby had everything, he was not satisfied for one reason, Daisy. Meeting Daisy again brought him satisfaction.
Jefferson-Stanton Comparison Rhetorical Analysis Essay:
This comparison essay wasn't well-planned like previous essays I've written. On my next formal paper, I oath to be well prepared by developing a draft essay to put together a well written essay.
Favorite Quarter 1 40 Min-Timed Write:
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This is a synthesis essay on whether the USPS should reconstruct to meet the needs of the changing world.
Quarter 1 Reflection:
Quarter 1 was challenging because I had to keep track of due dates etc. I learned lot last quarter such as The American Dream (the good and bad about it), writing a Precis paper, an analysis and synthesis essay and many more. However, the most meaningful information was the "5-essay structure". Even though I knew what a "5-essay' was, I was able to learn the structure and apply it to essays such as the formal paper. I wish we skipped the first 2 Chapters in the textbook, it was a lot of information to read. I am looking to learn to write and complete a good AP essay within the time frame given. My quarter 2 learning goals is to participate more in class and also fully understand the information given. I also want to learn more about Identity, Race, and Culture.
Quarter 2
Their Eyes Were Watching God analysis.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a great novel by Zora Hurston which talks about culture, gender roles, race and other social issues. She uses many figurative language to develop her theme of either gender or race. One literary device she uses to develop her theme is symbolism. One important symbol in the novel is Janie's hair. It represents identity. Janie's husband requires her to cover up her hair all the time basically to cover up her beauty but she refuses. Her refusal to bow down to their norms shows her strong, and powerful.
Another simple in the text is the hurricane that occurred Everglades. It symbolizes how destructive nature can be. The hurricane makes the people in story question themselves about their purpose on this earth. Janie and their friends try to wait out the storm at home, they wonder if God "meant to measure their puny might against His." They wondered if they had a conflict with the world or God was against.
In contrast to the hurricane, the pearl tree represents Janie's views on nature. She is amazed by the blossoming tree in Nanny's backyard. Janie witnesses a perfect moment in nature (the bees), full of energy. This makes her realize the true meaning love when she sees the bees in the pear tree.
Quarter 2 Precis Paper analysis.
Link- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sFtgw1OE1Q87VuJIeVqgo65fn7JIJtKjUulOdVkGKE0/edit?usp=sharing
Clarence Page is a syndicated columnist t Chicago Tribune. He is a liberal, therefore most of his columns are about the things the Republican party are doing and ways the nation can unite. All of his 5 columns I analyzed was on Trump because it was during the Elections.
Page uses a lot of facts and examples. His arguments are counterarguments and his analysis are his rebuttal. He always provides some statistics, or example that would strongly support his counterargument. He would never state his argument, however his writing style style would make the reader figure it out.
The top devices he uses is logos. The author uses those devices to advance their overall meaning. Again, he uses logos through facts and examples. On December 6, his column was about questioning if the First Amendment protects fake news. He claimed that the 1st Amendment allows people to spread fake news that can harm a person. The author developed his argument with examples of how the 1st Amendment protects certain behaviors like the "Pizzagate" and other examples.
Synthesis Final Paper.
Link- https://docs.google.com/document/d/18jGy4iroI4N5o5Ium9pnibGkbntqtabMp_MYYWEoapc/edit?usp=sharing
Synthesis Paper Reflection.
In my essay, my prompt was that culture influences a person’s identity and I firmly believed that I answered the prompt. Culture being my thesis statement, I provided examples of how culture influences identity in the body paragraph. Also, my essay used the required number of sources and even included a personal anecdote which was used for logos in my conclusion statement and the first body paragraph. I also had a diversity of sources in my essay. I felt comfortable once I understood my visual source. It was very hard to find on because I limited myself to only finding one about culture. However, I decided to find one that could help me in explaining my counter argument.
Research: What did you learn about the process of researching? Are you confident that your sources are all reliable? Why or why not?
I learned that writing a research paper requires a lot of time and effort. If you do not take your time in finding and reading the sources you might screw up in your essay. Also, I am confident that my sources are all reliable because one of them using quotes from authors we’ve read about.
MLA Style: What did you learn about MLA style? If you were assigned another MLA style research paper, would you be comfortable with the in-text citations, formatting, and works cited page? If yes, what did you learn about MLA through this assignment that you didn’t already know? If no, what would you need to review or learn in order to feel comfortable?
I learned when using the MLA style you have to be consistent whether it is in-text citations or just citations at the end of the essay. I think I would be comfortable with the in-text citations, formatting, and works cited pages. I learned about MLA citations in 10th grade however, I never used it until the summer of 2016 in Upward Bound. Therefore, I had an idea of what it was.
Writing: What was easy about writing the synthesis paper for you? What made you feel the most confident? What was challenging? What made you feel like you weren’t quite sure how to proceed? Were you confident that you organized your essay into a logical coherent essay? Why or why not? Of the three main sections of the synthesis paper (argument, counterargument, rebuttal), which was easiest for you? Hardest? Why?
I think synthesis essay was pretty easy for me because of the variety of sources I could use which made me feel confident. It was pretty challenging but I overcame it. One thing that made me feel like I wasn’t quite sure how to proceed was the introduction. I wasn’t really sure what to write and how to start. Organization has always been my issue. I always feel like the order of my essay does not make sense but I’m sure it is not as bad in this essay. I think the easiest was rebuttal. I started my argument with my counterargument therefore my rebuttal was basically my analysis. The hardest part was choosing my counterargument whether to use race or gender.
Quarter 2 Reflection!
Quarter 2 is finally over! I think that this quarter was really stressful because of due dates and the workload. However, I overcame it. I learned a lot this quarter including writing a synthesis essay but one thing I learned (not directly in class was time management. With all the work we had, I had to learn how to manage my time wisely to get my work done on time and right.
Another important thing about was also managing my time during the exam. The quick writes, the practice essay questions has also helped me. I tend to be slow during an exam, but the more practice the better I've gotten. One thing about Quarter 2 that I didn't like as much was Precis Paper. Even though it was fun to read people's articles/columns, I found it hard to do the analysis. I'm looking forward to our final essay in Quarter 3. My goals for Quarter 3 is to manage my time wisely and improve my writing for the exam.
