When researching and writing my essay, I mostly had difficulties with procrastination, which is of course my own fault. I don't really know what to do about that. Besides that, my first issue was choosing what exactly I wanted to write about; I wasn't sure what there would be a lot to write about, and what I would be able to find a lot of support for. When researching, it was difficult to find reliable sources, and to know how to rephrase things in my own words. When revising, I didn't change much. I wasn't really sure what to add or take away. I still don't think my essay was all that great but I'm unsure how to make it better. Most of the time I think all formal essays sound cheesy, and the good ones phrase things in ways that I would never think of. So maybe I just need more practice?
I thought the pre-writing activities were useful. They helped a bit with my procrastinating habits. The activites kept me on task and also helped keep my thoughts organized. When it came to actually writing the essay they made it much easier.
I'm not very good at peer-editing. It's hard for me to find things in other peoples' writing that I think should be changed. As for my essay being peer-edited, I think it was helpful to see another person's opinion on it, and it helped me see the essay from someone else's perspective. However, to be honest, I didn't really take many of the suggestions. Not that they weren't good suggestions or anything, because they were, but I just didn't. I guess I felt that it was good enough for me already. But now when writing my final draft I will probably go back and use some of those suggestions.
Some strengths of my essay are that I feel like I approached the prompt in a different kind of way. And maybe that's not true, but it was a more interesting direction than what I was originally going to go with. However, I have trouble making everything flow nicely, making it sound professional, and also making it sound like I know what I'm talking about. I plan on focusing on why what I'm talking about is important, and thouroughly explaining things so the reader isn't asking "so what?" the whole time. I also need to find some more sources and get some more detail.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Blog #5, Prompt 3
"Don't hesitate or allow yourself to make excuses," is good advice by Chris McCandless given to Ron Franz. It's good advice that I, myself should probably take. People, including myself, hold ourselves back from both success and failure way too often. Holding back to avoid failure can be a good thing sometimes, although when we fail we also learn. Holding back from success is a different story. I think we all do that for different reasons. Personally, I hold back because I'm afraid of what other people think. It's stupid and I wish I didn't care so much but deep down I know I do. Something I hold back in a lot is speaking out in class. In group discussions or if I think I know the answer to a teacher's question, I have a habit of just keeping it to myself. I think we're all afraid of failure and don't want each other to know if we're wrong. But by trying to avoid failure we kind of miss out on an opportunity to be successful. It's a never-ending cycle that really if you think about it doesn't make much sense.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Blog #4 - Let it all go..
Nature is a powerful thing. Just one step outside can change your mood, your outlook on the day or even your whole life, and can make you feel so much better about everything.
Throughout the day I felt very claustrophobic and trapped inside the school, surrounded by people that for the most part I don't particularly enjoy being surrounded by, and stuck inside my head swimming in the negative thoughts that just wouldn't go away. This is how it goes most days, it's a kind of routine or pattern that I've fallen into and have been experiencing difficulty getting out of.
I knew the weather report for the day before we actually went outside. According to the Weather Channel it would reach a whopping 79 degrees, more than 20 degrees hotter than what's normal for this late in October. On a normal day this might have made me happy, but all I could think about was how the drastic temperature change was strange and almost scary. There couldn't be a logical reason for it, and I was jumping to think the worst of the situation.
When I was informed that we would be going outside for English class today, I was a bit skeptical at first. I didn't really want to deal with the wind messing up my hair, or the sun making me squint and causing a headache. Again with the negative thoughts. I kept my complaints and negativity to myself and tried to tell myself that it would be fine. I gathered up my notebook and pencil and followed the class through the doors.
Immediately when I stepped outside I was almost overwhelmed with the perfection of the day. The sun felt warm on my skin, and I could feel it soaking in, as if it wanted a last attempt to give me a tan before the winter's clouds and cold took over. The air was warm, with no humidity and a gentle breeze. It did blow around my hair and my notebook paper, but it wasn't irritating as I had suspected. It was sort of peaceful. Its invisible strength tossed around the fallen leaves and made them dance across the grass. The wind hummed in my ears and the birds sang their songs, adding a calming, relaxing effect to the experience. The air smelled clean, with the occasional interruption of smoke from leaves burning.
The exposure to the beautiful day cleared my mind of all my stress, and really helped me get out of my head. I felt light and free and had hope that the rest of the day would be enjoyable. Sometimes getting out of a stuffy building and away from other people is exactly what I - and I'd imagine most people - need. Maybe we should all take a minute every day to step outside and just let it all go...
Throughout the day I felt very claustrophobic and trapped inside the school, surrounded by people that for the most part I don't particularly enjoy being surrounded by, and stuck inside my head swimming in the negative thoughts that just wouldn't go away. This is how it goes most days, it's a kind of routine or pattern that I've fallen into and have been experiencing difficulty getting out of.
I knew the weather report for the day before we actually went outside. According to the Weather Channel it would reach a whopping 79 degrees, more than 20 degrees hotter than what's normal for this late in October. On a normal day this might have made me happy, but all I could think about was how the drastic temperature change was strange and almost scary. There couldn't be a logical reason for it, and I was jumping to think the worst of the situation.
When I was informed that we would be going outside for English class today, I was a bit skeptical at first. I didn't really want to deal with the wind messing up my hair, or the sun making me squint and causing a headache. Again with the negative thoughts. I kept my complaints and negativity to myself and tried to tell myself that it would be fine. I gathered up my notebook and pencil and followed the class through the doors.
Immediately when I stepped outside I was almost overwhelmed with the perfection of the day. The sun felt warm on my skin, and I could feel it soaking in, as if it wanted a last attempt to give me a tan before the winter's clouds and cold took over. The air was warm, with no humidity and a gentle breeze. It did blow around my hair and my notebook paper, but it wasn't irritating as I had suspected. It was sort of peaceful. Its invisible strength tossed around the fallen leaves and made them dance across the grass. The wind hummed in my ears and the birds sang their songs, adding a calming, relaxing effect to the experience. The air smelled clean, with the occasional interruption of smoke from leaves burning.
The exposure to the beautiful day cleared my mind of all my stress, and really helped me get out of my head. I felt light and free and had hope that the rest of the day would be enjoyable. Sometimes getting out of a stuffy building and away from other people is exactly what I - and I'd imagine most people - need. Maybe we should all take a minute every day to step outside and just let it all go...
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Blog #3 - Elizabeth Proctor
Elizabeth Proctor I think will turn out to be one of the major characters in The Crucible. There's evidence in her being a major character in the fact that she is basically Abigail Williams's enemy. Because Abigail is one of the main characters in the story, Elizabeth being her rival makes her an important part of the plot. As a strong woman in a historical era, she also is definitely a round character. She's not the average stereotypical housewife, but a strong, intelligent woman who any girl could look up to.
Elizabeth has a lot to deal with in her life. She's a mother, a wife, and a victim of adultery. After confronting her husband, John, about his cheating ways, they are now stuck in the awkwardness of getting back to where they were before. Abigail just happened to be the girl we cheated with, and that's what makes her hate Elizabeth so much. Abby's want for John impairs her judgement on an innocent woman, and causes her to blame Elizabeth for witchcraft. Of course the town and judges believe the girl, since of course she's running the show, and they take Elizabeth to jail until the trial continues. This whole ordeal greatly plays a part in her strength. She goes quietly, despite her husband's commands to make her stay, and hopes her cooperation will aid in her freedom later. She is a good Christian woman who never participated in witchcraft and although she is innocent, she's now about to be pushed even farther in court. If that's not an example of strength, then I don't know what is.
Elizabeth is involved with a few different types of conflict. The main one is man vs. himself. I think she struggles with knowing how to deal with John. An example of this is found on page 192 of the play. It says:
Elizabeth: Aye, it is. (There is a pause. She is watching him from the table as he stands there absorbing the night. It is as though she would speak but cannot. Instead, now, she takes up his plate and glass and fork and goes with them to the basin. Her back is turned to him. He turns to her and watches her. A sense of their separation rises.)
Proctor: I think you're sad again. Are you?
Elizabeth: (she doesn't want friction, and yet she must).
This shows her internal struggle to decide the best words to say to her husband. It's hard for her to know how she feels about his mistake, and if she should forgive him and trust him or not. It's a tough situation to go about and she doesn't want to approach it wrong.
The other conflicts illustrated in Elizabeth's life are man vs. man and also man vs. fate. Elizabeth did not choose to be cheated on by her husband. There was nothing she could do about that. This is an example of fate. The fact that the girl he cheated with happened to be Abigail supports this as well. Abigail is the minister's niece, which automatically makes her a well respected person in the town, which causes everyone to believe everything she says. So when she blames Proctor's wife for being a witch, naturally no one even blinks an eye or thinks of it logically. They just arrest her. Abigail's attack on an innocent woman whom she simply doesn't like is what makes this situation man vs. man.
Elizabeth Proctor is so far I think an important character in this play. I'm interested to see how the events play out in the rest of the story.
Elizabeth has a lot to deal with in her life. She's a mother, a wife, and a victim of adultery. After confronting her husband, John, about his cheating ways, they are now stuck in the awkwardness of getting back to where they were before. Abigail just happened to be the girl we cheated with, and that's what makes her hate Elizabeth so much. Abby's want for John impairs her judgement on an innocent woman, and causes her to blame Elizabeth for witchcraft. Of course the town and judges believe the girl, since of course she's running the show, and they take Elizabeth to jail until the trial continues. This whole ordeal greatly plays a part in her strength. She goes quietly, despite her husband's commands to make her stay, and hopes her cooperation will aid in her freedom later. She is a good Christian woman who never participated in witchcraft and although she is innocent, she's now about to be pushed even farther in court. If that's not an example of strength, then I don't know what is.
Elizabeth is involved with a few different types of conflict. The main one is man vs. himself. I think she struggles with knowing how to deal with John. An example of this is found on page 192 of the play. It says:
Elizabeth: Aye, it is. (There is a pause. She is watching him from the table as he stands there absorbing the night. It is as though she would speak but cannot. Instead, now, she takes up his plate and glass and fork and goes with them to the basin. Her back is turned to him. He turns to her and watches her. A sense of their separation rises.)
Proctor: I think you're sad again. Are you?
Elizabeth: (she doesn't want friction, and yet she must).
This shows her internal struggle to decide the best words to say to her husband. It's hard for her to know how she feels about his mistake, and if she should forgive him and trust him or not. It's a tough situation to go about and she doesn't want to approach it wrong.
The other conflicts illustrated in Elizabeth's life are man vs. man and also man vs. fate. Elizabeth did not choose to be cheated on by her husband. There was nothing she could do about that. This is an example of fate. The fact that the girl he cheated with happened to be Abigail supports this as well. Abigail is the minister's niece, which automatically makes her a well respected person in the town, which causes everyone to believe everything she says. So when she blames Proctor's wife for being a witch, naturally no one even blinks an eye or thinks of it logically. They just arrest her. Abigail's attack on an innocent woman whom she simply doesn't like is what makes this situation man vs. man.
Elizabeth Proctor is so far I think an important character in this play. I'm interested to see how the events play out in the rest of the story.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Blog #2 - I am not a sinner in the hands of an angry God
This morning I returned to church for the first time since my husband died last year. Since the last time I was there a new minister has stepped in, his name was Jonathan Edwards. I'd heard rumors about his intense sermons and angry outbursts, but none of the talk could have prepared me for what I was about to experience.
I bundled up my four-year-old daughter and stepped out into the cold, crisp Autumn air. As I walked I took in the beauty of the world around me and thought about how the next hour or two would be for me. I was looking forward to an enlightening service, something to give me hope after all the sadness in the past year. But as I walked through the heavy front doors I quickly gathered that this wouldn't be the enlightenment I was looking for.
There was a nervous, quiet murmer in the room, and creepy, dim candlelight. I saw no sign of the minister anywhere. My daughter and I took a seat in a pew near the back and tried to blend in with the rest of the congregation. A few minutes later Jonathon Edwards walked up to the front of the room and began speaking.
His opening words, "we find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth" started out relatable. But then he followed up with "thus easy is it for God when he pleases to cast his enemies down to hell."
I wondered, what? This didn't make sense to me. The God I knew did not "please to cast his enemies down to hell." He continued, speaking of God's anger and wrath, his disappointment in us, his followers, and in the rest of the world. He talked of "the flames that now rage and glow" and how we were being held over the pit of hell, just waiting for the moment when God grew angry enough to let us fall into that firy pit.
He told us that his wrath was everlasting, and then went on to say we have "an extraordinary opportunity" to become better people, and no longer sin. This was one of the many contradictions in his sermon. If we became better people and did not sin any longer, then why would God have everlasting wrath?
I walked out of the church feeling angry and confused. I look to God for enlightenment and hope, and inspiration. I think it is obvious that I won't be returning to this church again. If nothing else I'll simply pray on my own and read the bible alone. My God does not have an everlasting wrath toward me, and I do not fear Him or feel anger toward Him either. So now, I suppose I'll say farewell to the Puritan religion.
I bundled up my four-year-old daughter and stepped out into the cold, crisp Autumn air. As I walked I took in the beauty of the world around me and thought about how the next hour or two would be for me. I was looking forward to an enlightening service, something to give me hope after all the sadness in the past year. But as I walked through the heavy front doors I quickly gathered that this wouldn't be the enlightenment I was looking for.
There was a nervous, quiet murmer in the room, and creepy, dim candlelight. I saw no sign of the minister anywhere. My daughter and I took a seat in a pew near the back and tried to blend in with the rest of the congregation. A few minutes later Jonathon Edwards walked up to the front of the room and began speaking.
His opening words, "we find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth" started out relatable. But then he followed up with "thus easy is it for God when he pleases to cast his enemies down to hell."
I wondered, what? This didn't make sense to me. The God I knew did not "please to cast his enemies down to hell." He continued, speaking of God's anger and wrath, his disappointment in us, his followers, and in the rest of the world. He talked of "the flames that now rage and glow" and how we were being held over the pit of hell, just waiting for the moment when God grew angry enough to let us fall into that firy pit.
He told us that his wrath was everlasting, and then went on to say we have "an extraordinary opportunity" to become better people, and no longer sin. This was one of the many contradictions in his sermon. If we became better people and did not sin any longer, then why would God have everlasting wrath?
I walked out of the church feeling angry and confused. I look to God for enlightenment and hope, and inspiration. I think it is obvious that I won't be returning to this church again. If nothing else I'll simply pray on my own and read the bible alone. My God does not have an everlasting wrath toward me, and I do not fear Him or feel anger toward Him either. So now, I suppose I'll say farewell to the Puritan religion.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Blog #1 - Writing
I feel like writing is something harmless that everyone is afraid of. For me, I just never know where to start. Once I get a good beginning I can pretty much make it through. However, "make it through" doesn't say much about the quality of my writing.
I don't consider myself that great of a writer. For some reason in elementary school I thought I was a great writer. But as I got older I slowly began to realize the truth of the matter. I think my main issue is making things flow nicely. I also wish I had a better vocabulary. I'm really trying to work on that. I enjoy talking to people who use awesome, interesting words in normal conversation and in their writing and I want to be like that too.
This year I'm determined to get past the fear of writing and quit cringing every time something is assigned. I'm looking forward to making progress in the quality of my writing and preparing for what I'll face in college.
I think the portfolio assignment is a really great idea. It will definitely be a lot of work, but it will be worth it. I think I'll learn a lot and get some real writing practice. I don't quite understand all of the details, but I'm all for it.
Besides that I'm excited to read all of the books mentioned in the syllabus. I love to read and I've heard good things about most of those books, and some I've never even heard of. I'm excited about this class and am looking forward to the rest of the year.
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