Blog #10

Since I had the same instructor for both of my English classes, I already had done most of the assignments given in this class. TS/CD was not new to me. When I would write my papers, this method would come naturally to me. When it comes down to the transitions, I did not use this when writing my papers. It is easy but TS/CD comes normal to me now. I try not to use “you” or “one” on my papers anymore. I try using active verbs to make my writing better. Even though I had the same instructor last semester, I did end up learning one thing.
I learned how to write in APA format. I followed the OWL Purdue format of how to write an APA paper. It includes four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References. It was time consuming but doable. In my papers I will definitely use the TS/CD method when writing. I will try to use the transition method, but for now I feel more comfortable with the other method. Plus, I will go to the OWL Purdue website if I need help with citing a paper. I will use easybib.com as well to get help with my work cited page.
I think my research paper tells what kind of writer I am. It has my thoughts and opinions about my topic. I felt strong about this topic because I lived it and my family is still living it. I tried to give the reader a visual about my neighborhood and my family. I like the readers to know how rough I had it growing up. All those experiences have mold me to the person I am today. I believed I still got a long way to go so I can develop to a better writer. I want to be able to write a paper with better vocabulary. When I do that, I will consider myself a BETTER writer.

Blog #8

Well this paper was not goin that well. I did not know where to start. I thought of various ways to put my introduction but it would not work out for me. I guess I was stressing that it had to be done rite away. After taking a day for break I felt relaxed and ready to try doing my paper again. Some how it all came together. My introduction was a story about my experiences and how I was brought up.

The paper was coming together. The difficult part was that I was in Mexico and I did not have a computer with me all the time. I had to sometimes wait a week to get access to one but of course it would cost me some money to use one. On that note it was also good because I would get a break to re-think some of my organization of my paper. It would give me time to come up with thoughts on what to use on my paper.

I think it was also difficult to find sources for my paper. I knew exactly what I wanted to say on my paper but did not have enough sources to back up my thoughts. It helped that I was suppose to write about this topic on some other English class and I had sources from that. That really helped me because it helped my paper come together at the end.

Blog #7

When I think of the word humor, I think of my two year old son. At his age, he does the funniest things we can imagine. Well not to forget he repeats everything he hears. Usually if he does something in front of people I will laugh out loud. If it is something that he should not be doing but I am the only one that sees him then I will laugh silently. As far as the cocaine article goes, I thought it was ridiculous and very dumb on part of the dealer calling 911. He panicked and did not think straight.
When I think of the word style, I actually think of Lady Gaga. This is because she has a very unique style when it comes down to her clothes. It is out of the box and most people seem to enjoy her music even though her clothing is not the best. This is what we as writers should try to aim for. We need to have a unique style of writing and concentrate on making readers enjoy what we write.
I try to create a picture in my readers head. I try to go back to my childhood and teen years and show the readers how it was growing up. In my introductions, I try to tell a little story so my readers know why I am writing about a certain topic. In my conclusions, I try to reinforce my overall major point of my paper. So far I have been successful as a writer.

Blog #6

When the class was first assigned the critical analysis, I thought that doing an analysis on a chick flick was not going to be exciting at all. As I was writing my paper, surprisingly I enjoyed it. Yes it was a little difficult to get it started but I liked my final draft. One thing I noticed on my paper was that I used TS/CD on every body paragraph. Honestly, I did not realize that my writing came out like that. It seemed natural when I began writing. I do wish that I would have more time to write my paper. It seemed rushed but I was happy with the organization of my paragraphs.

If I could change my paper I think I would change my conclusion. I thought my conclusion was rushed and I admit I sort of had a brain fart when I was writing it. My introductions in general I think they are fine. With this introduction I was okay with. If I had more time to write the paper, I would have spent more time on my introduction. I like writing my intros because that is when I know exactly I am going to write on the paper. Overall I was pleased with my paper. I would have rather do my analysis on another movie. Even thought I would have not picked this movie to do an analysis on, I enjoyed it watching it as well.

Research Paper Free Write

I was born and raised in Chicago. I have five siblings and twelve nieces and nephews. Living in Chicago was not easy because there is a lot of gang violence there. In high school, there seemed to be an epidemic of teen pregnancy. My school was not the best but not the worst either. I was the only one of my family that graduated with honors from high school. I am the only one that has continued with my education. It was rough growing up in Chicago, because everybody expected me to be like everyone else. Dropouts, gangs, and teen pregnancy ruled my neighborhood.
In high school, I use to play volleyball and softball. During my freshman year, I was on the chess team. I traveled to Peoria for chess tournaments and won various awards in those events. In the spring time, I am trying to join a softball team so I can keep busy. I love sports in general. During the football season, I watch different football teams go at it. I hardly see any television shows, because I am either busy with work or homework. I do not watch the news because around that time I am most likely sleeping.
I have an almost three year old, so most of my time is spent with him. I am a twenty four hour case manager. I will be getting married in November of this year down in Mexico. I have a lot on my plate right now. I do not believe that I will have any more children, but I would like to adopt a little one when I do not have so much on my plate.

Blog #3

The only thing I found hard about writing this essay was that it was a partnered essay. Well my partner’s schedule and my own agenda conflicted a lot of the time. The only thing I would do different would be that I would like it to write it on my own and not with a partner. I just found it very difficult to write an essay when both of us are totally different writers. My partners and my style of writing were very different, so I was not use to somebody else invading my paper.
I found that my partner’s and my opinions were different and sometimes crashed with one another. I found that I was a better writer when I work alone than in a group. Do not get me wrong I like working in groups, but when it came down to writing a paper it does not work. Our ideas conflicted too much and it was not the paper I was looking for.
I prefer writing on my own because I know it will be my thoughts and opinions on my paper. I do not have to consult anybody or have an agreement with them. I state what is on my mind and write down whatever without anybody’s approval. If it was a different project and if there was more time, I think our paper would have been better.

Blog #2

If I could improve one thing when writing an essay, it would definitely be my grammar usage. I want my papers sounding a little more sophisticated and by using harder words it would help me develop my grammar. A strength that I have would be that I try creating a picture in the readers head. I try giving examples and details to go along with my writing. Plus I need more help in my transitions. Often I get lost in the writing that I forget how to transition to another paragraph or idea.


What I found hard about the diagnostic essay done in class was that I could not think of how to do my thesis. I could not find the words to put it together. I knew what I wanted to say but had a brain fart. My train of thoughts was frozen because the subject was not to my interested. If I had to do something different when writing my essay, I would definitely do prewriting so I could brainstorm some ideas of how to format my paper. I would keep my position of my argument the same in the favor of adding a computer class to the general requirements. This is because it would be beneficial. I would also keep my introduction and my supporting details the same because there are my strong points in my essay.

I really do not enjoy writing because I do not consider myself a good writer. I do not have the grammar usage I would like to have when writing my papers. If I got to write on a subject of my interested I would enjoy writing more often.

Blog #1

When reading the sections of “They say/I say”, I realized that the only thing I knew when writing a paper was that it consisted of an introduction, body and conclusion. I know that we need a thesis statement, a topic sentence, and supporting details. Reading further into the sections, I found interesting that it had “templates” that we could use in our own writing. At first, I thought that these templates would take away from my originality of my paper.

As I kept on reading, it showed me ways of putting my own unique touches to my writing. The templates are like a guide for the writer to get started when writing paper. It is not intended to keep our creativeness away from our writing. It is a way to help our writing develop and expand the way we write. It also helps us with our critical thinking. It was also useful to know that we do not have to necessarily use he says, he shows, he writes, etc. That is why this section guides us so our papers will not be boring and repetitive with the same phrases that everybody else uses in their writing. Overall, these segments I found to be resourceful. I will definitely look back at these sections when writing my papers.

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Blog #5

When the class was first assigned Essay 4, I thought this homework was going to be boring. As I started looking at different ads on magazines, the media, and internet, I thought about myself as the viewer. I thought to myself what attracts me to an ad? Then, I answered my own question, humor. So I began to look for an ad that made me laugh and when I found one I started to analyze it in great detail. So I asked myself, what about this ad made me laugh? I then, figured that it was how one can relate to the commercial which was the funny side of it.

Essay four was good, because I chose the commercial to analyze and I found some interested things. If I had more time to complete this assignment, I would definitely take my time organizing my body paragraphs. I just think that my paragraphs need to be thought out a little more so they could be arrange better. One thing I would do the same is keeping the commercial of my choice. This is because I really liked that my ad used humor to bring in the audience. I would not be satisfied if I had chosen another genre for the commercial. I have learned how to analyze an ad with specific details. Now, I see ads in a completely different way.

As far as the resume project, I did the normal format of it. I would use a different format, because the one I used is too simple. It looks like I did not even try. What I found helpful was the worksheet given to us in class. It gave us an idea of how the layout of a resume should be. I have done resumes before but it has been almost two years since I have done one. Not having my resume in front of me frustrated me. This was a pain because the resume I had before was structured differently, and I could not remember how it looked. I wanted this resume for school to look as professional as the one I had before.

Blog #4

As I reflected on my homework, the assignment I thought I did well on was essay three. This essay was based on our view of a topic of our choice. Getting to write on a subject of my choice was the best assignment I have received from this class. We could have written about anything that we wanted. Well growing up in Chicago motivated me to write about sex education because it seems that schools are not teaching abstinence. Doing research on this was a little hard but I was able to find helpful information to use in my essay. The homework assigned to us has been good for me. For example writing three helped me practice my TS/CD paragraphs. I have learned that transitioning from one thing to another does not have to involve a transitional phrase. Now, I could put two sentences that are not similar and make them relate to one another. The sentences and paragraph assignment helped to proofread my own writing after being finished. Well the grades that I have received so far have been surprising. I thought that I would have gotten slightly lower grades but I am happy with the overall grade in class. As far as this summer course, it feels like if it just started and in about two weeks it will be over. I admit it has been stressful just because I work fulltime and my job makes it hard to concentrate on homework. I have learned time management taking this summer class. I have to do the homework when they it is assigned to us in order for me not to feel that I am being pressured. I like the speed of the course because I get it done and over within eight weeks. I definitely believe that if I had more time I would spend more time on my essays, proofreading and revising them of course.

Blog #3

When the class was assigned to do a synthesis I was confused. I have never done a synthesis before so I did not even know what it consisted of. Even though Kristen gave us a worksheet that sort of help guide me through the essay, I really had to think about the organization of the paragraphs. It took a long time to do the synthesis. Therefore, the interview was easier to do. Mainly because I knew my mom very well and needed very little help of her in the interviewing process. I really enjoyed writing the interview, because I got to bond with my mom. I usually see her over the weekends, because she lives in Chicago. Well that gives me a limited time to work with her. The only thing I would do differently would be if I could possibly have more time to interview my mom. The hardest thing was that I found that we would start talking about her then slowly change the subject. I would use two exercises which are the transitions and the TS/CD. The transitions are a good way of putting two sentences that have nothing in common and somehow relate them to one another. The writer could use this because the writer could run into this problem with when doing the paper and this would really help in this situation. Well the TS/CD exercise is good because it helps the writer know how a paragraph should be structured. It helps the writer get an idea of how to go about writing the essay.

Blog #2

If I could improve one thing when writing an essay, it would definitely be my grammar usage. I want my papers sounding a little more sophisticated and by using harder words it would help me develop my grammar. A strength that I have would be that I try creating a picture in the readers head. I try giving examples and details to go along with my writing. Well when writing this essay I thought it was easy because I speak another language. The essay showed how it impacts the way I am today. If I had the chance of re-writing this essay I would definitely put it into the essay layout. It would show that I know the format of a paper and not just write in one big paragraph. Plus I need more help in my transitions. Often I get lost in the writing that I forget how to transition to another paragraph or idea. I would keep my examples the same because it gives the reader a picture of what I try saying in my writing. When somebody reads my examples they are often interested because they are my own experiences from the life I have lived. I really do not enjoy reading and then writing an essay on what we read. In order to enjoy writing the reading also has to be exciting. I have to be fascinated with a topic in order for me to enjoy writing. The type of writing I really enjoy is argumentative but again on a subject that I like.

BLOG #1

When the class was assigned to read these chapters I was confused. I have heard what “rhetoric” and “genres” were but could not remember their meanings. All I knew was that these words had to do with writing. It was until I started to read the chapters that I knew what the authors were talking about, but at the same time I was learning new information. For example, the purpose, audience, genre, stance, and media/design are part of the rhetorical situations. Basically, when writing a paper the writer has to take into consideration all these elements for the reader to understand their text. As I kept on reading I came across the word stance. According to Richard Bullock and Maureen Daly Goggin, this means how the writer feels about the topic chosen.
When I thought how I would use these aspects in my writing, I thought that was an interested question. Therefore, I would use all of these elements in my writing, because they all play a big part on the writing process. Think about it without a purpose or a point my writing would not make sense. If there is no stance how one would expect the reader to feel what one feels about the topic. Of course, the writer has to target an audience whether it’s teens or adults. Then there is the genre, what kind of or writing one is going to use. One uses these elements in order for their writing to make sense.
When I first saw these concepts, I thought they were hard. As soon as began reading it was like a light shined on me. It was interesting because I knew what the reading was saying. It was sort of hard because I would not understand some texts and I would have to re-read the section again. Well it was time consuming, but overall the reading was informative. I learned new words and their meaning plus information that is new to me.

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