Fodie's Advanced essay #2: Relationship

​Introduction: In this paper, I focused on student teacher relationship. How a strong student teacher relationship is key to education. If a student has no support or a horrible student teacher relationship, how will the student every want to be involved with education? I brought up some of my personal life examples supporting what I was stating in my advanced essay. I focused on a lot of things in my paper especially my grammar. I always wanted to improve in my writing and in this piece I think I did well with that. I am very proud of every single part of my advanced essay especially my grammar. I plan to grow on my grammar, sentence structure, focus and just as a writer. 

Advanced Essay 2: 

A relationship is the way in which 2 objects or people are connected. Hate is having an intense feeling for someone. Hate is a powerful word. Dislike is the ability to feel distaste for someone else. I would say I dislike someone rather than say I hated someone. Feeling valuable is key to having a good relationship. People can have a good relationship by having somebody in their life and feeling valuable. If somebody is mistreating you, how would you gain confidence? You would feel some type of way, if it is a skin color, stereotype or anything else.

“If you need any help Fodie you can stay after school if you want, ” said my second grade teacher. I replied, “Yes, I’ll stay after school for a little.” She was the best teacher that I ever had in my life so far and she will forever be one of my favorite teachers.. It was 3 o'clock, the time to stay after school for a while and get help with my homework. My parents are immigrants and they don’t fully understand English. Sometimes my dad won’t even be home when I come after school because he has to work and provide for us. The best thing for me was to try and get the best education that I could in my life.

We started my homework and got it done in less than a hour. We talked for a little bit about random things about my life and how I was feeling. It felt good expressing and talking about my life and feelings. I felt like I always had someone to talk to if I were going through something. We could talk about anything. She used to give me snacks sometimes, too. I felt as if she treated me as her own son.  She was a second mom to me. Our relationship and bond was so strong and no one could ever break it. When it was the last day of school for second grade, I gave her the longest and biggest hug ever. I knew what I would be missing moving to the third grade. I would still see her but it wouldn’t be the same.

“Go to the office right now,” said my third grade teacher named Ms.Reeser. I said, “I didn’t even do anything wrong at all, I was sitting quietly in my seat.” My teacher said, “go and get out out my classroom right now!” The whole classroom got quiet, I left the room before I cause a bigger problem.  As I was walking to the office, I already knew I was going to get in trouble. A teacher can’t ever be wrong, it's always the students fault. I got to the office and talked to my principal and counselor about what happen. My teacher came into the office and explained a completely different story. Of course I got in trouble for something I didn’t do, she lied.

As I was walking back to the classroom, I thought that she hates me. She was always so mean to me, no matter what good deed I did. I started to notice that she hated me and a couple other people. I started to notice that the people she hates were the people who were all of different skin colors. I started to think at a young age, was it because I was black that she hated me? Was it because I was a different skin color than a majority of people at my school? What was the reason? I wanted to find out the truth as soon as possible.

A quote from “I Just Want to be Average” by Mike Rose. “But mostly the teachers had no idea of how to engage the imaginations of us kids who were scuttling along at the bottom of the pond. And the teachers would have needed some inventiveness, for none of us was groomed for the classroom. It wasn't just that I didn't know things didn't know how to simplify algebraic fractions, couldn't identify different lands of clauses, bungled Spanish translations but that I had developed various faulty and inadequate ways of doing algebra and maldng sense of Spanish. Some teachers really don’t care about the relationship and how that it is key to education. If a teacher is giving you support and you have a good relationship with that teacher, you are more likely to have a more beneficial education. If the teacher is just learning to get a paycheck, what learning is involved with that at all?

After school, I went straight home. I told my dad about what happened at school and how it was unfair.  I asked my dad, “Why do some white people have to be mean to us, black people?” He responded back, “I don’t really know, I think they have something against us black people, they don’t want us to be over them because they think they are the best people in the world.” I stood there and thought about what he said and then it hit me.

Relationship is key to anything in life. Having a success relationship in education is the best that could happen in education. A student that has a teacher who have major confident about them will push the student farther in life. People are always bring up different topics about education but aren’t realizing the huge major topic of student teacher relationship. Many teacher try to involved this because the different boundaries between a student and teacher.

Rose, Mike. "I Just Want to Be Average." Lives on the Boundary: The Struggles and Achievements

of America's Underprepared. New York: Free Press, 1989. 162-67. Print.


Advanced Essay #2

What I focused on going into writing this paper was finding a way to use real life situation that I know for sure happens and relate it to literacy. The part I am proud of is being able to use my scenes and life experiences to support my claim. A plan to continue growth as a writer is just to constantly get feedback and peer review edits from teachers and students. 

Zaeem Wallace-Parker

11/23/15

Water Stream

English 3

Advanced Essay #2

In my society, young black men my age are becoming more and more violent and criminal that it causes all young men in my society to be stereotyped. I was one of the young men leading into the violent and criminal path. Smoking, fighting and being disrespectful were some of the things I began to do. However, I moved to Georgia and lived there for 3 ½ years and I’ve changed my ways. Although I’ve changed, the other young men in my society haven’t. Therefore, it causes the young men headed in a good path to be stereotyped as a defiant and criminal teens.

One night this summer, I came in the house and the smell of baked fish rushed into my nostrils. I dropped my gym bag and made my way straight to the kitchen. My mom was in the kitchen preparing dinner how she normally does. “ What you cooking mom?” I asked, and without answering my question she quickly stepped in front of my face and said “Were you smoking?”. I rapidly responded no because I didn’t understand what would have made her ask me that question. “So why your eyes red?” she asked. At this point it became offensive because I always hear people say, your eyes are low, your eyes are chinky, or your eyes are red. “Mom I wasn’t smoking” I answered aggressively. She ended up backing off and returned to cooking so, I figured she decided to leave the situation alone. Little did I  know I was wrong. 20-30 minutes later, my uncle came to my house. When he came in he said “ Damn what’s that bump on your face… Let me see”. Now I’m not a child, I know he wanted to look into my eyes and see if I was high, I knew if I backed down it would have seem like I was lying about smoking. So I brought my face close to his eyes and let him stare deep into my eyes. He was staring so hard, it felt like he was trying to see into my soul. He stared into my eyes for a good 10 seconds and then said “ that bump is big”. I played along with his schemes and said “ yeah it just got there like 2 days ago.” Then, he turned away from me and went into my mom’s room and shut the door. I could hear them whispering but, I couldn’t comprehend what they were saying. Stuff like this just shows the issue within my society. That’s what most males of my culture and age is doing in my society therefore, I was justified and seen as one of them because my eyes were red.

My mom should know me well enough to know that I would never go back to the life I used to live, the life that the boys my age in my society are living. I’m an athlete now and I actually want to get somewhere with the sport I play. Living the life my society portrays will only hold me back from my dream and not only me but the other young men in my society that have dreams too. Absolutely all my friends, not 1 person singled out, smokes and do dumb (illegal) stuff. But not only my friends but my family too also do the same stuff. My cousins that are around my age are either in juvie, on their way to juvie, or occupied with their child. No matter where I go and who I’m with I always feel like I am the oldest and the most responsible. Even when I am around grown men that watched me grow up as a child. These grown men are not my uncles or cousins, they are just grown men that live in my neighborhood. When I’m around them, I still feel like I’m the oldest and the most responsible because the contribute to the stereotype holding down my society. With them I think like, how are you all grown men but I have more money in pocket than you do and I don’t even have a job? All they do is waste their money on weed and would waste it on clothes and shoes if they had enough to splurge on that stuff.

People outside my society use this stereotype of my society so much. Everytime South Philly comes into the equation of conversation with my friends here at school, I here the same stuff from people who never really experienced the South Philly experience. “South Philly’s the mix”, “You’ll get robbed if you go there”, “Zaeem you don’t need to be outside”, those are the most common things said when or if we talk about my society here at school. My society displayed itself this way and has been long before I was even born.


However, stuff that happens in my society happens all over the world. As humans, we are going to naturally judge a book by it’s cover until we control our thoughts and think neutrally. Until then, our thoughts will always be biased, not perspective.

Advanced Essay #2 - Intrinsic Motivation

Introduction: My main focus for this essay was trying to confirm the idea that we all possess intrinsic motivation. The only thing that varies between us all is what it takes for this quality to be revealed. It can be a long list of things, but I think your environment has the biggest effect. I wanted to show how when we are put in different environments than what we're used to we see different things that help awaken this motivation in us. I hope I was able to convince the readers of my idea and to show different examples of why I stand firm in this belief. I feel like I was very descriptive with the scenes in this essay as well as my first essay. For my next essay I want to focus on narrowing down what I'm trying to communicate so my reader doesn't get confused with all the ideas they're presented with. a

Advanced Essay #2

In life I have learned numerous lessons and I am comfortable with the fact that I’ll learn more as I grow. But through all life’s lessons there has only been one truth that has left a lasting impression on my mind. This truth lives inside each and every one of us. That truth is we all possess intrinsic motivation. This intrinsic motivation allows us to be driven by ourselves rather than the people around us. Motivating ourselves leads to an everlasting benefit, while being motivated by others only gives short term success. This idea is communicated through the old saying ”Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” What some fail to realize is that the man must first want to learn before he can actually be taught. People who aren’t motivated to educate themselves can not be taught. Which leads me to question, does everyone possess this intrinsic motivation?

We all have this intrinsic motivation, but it takes certain environments to awaken it. The only thing that varies between us all is what environments we have to be in for this quality to be revealed. The environments we grow in effect how fast and when we become motivated.

This belief became real to me one day last year while I was out with a friend. I had an interview at Chipotle that day, so I insisted on going to my interview first then accompanying my friend to get her state ID. After my interview we were on our way to the place that I seem to pass by everyday without knowing. When we entered, the room was full of impatient faces. There were people standing on the walls, people sleeping, others in line. There were two seats open but they weren’t next to each other.

I said “Claire you take that one, I’ll take the other.”

She said “How about we ask the man who is sitting in between the two empty seats to move over so we can be next to each other.” I nodded in agreement.

The man looked very unapproachable. He held a folder full of papers in one hand and his smile in the other. A frown that extended from one ear to the other was plastered on his face.

“Excuse me, can you move over one please?” She asked.

A number was called on the loudspeaker “76 come to line B”

The man got up quickly while gathering his papers.

After we sat down I couldn’t help but observe the anxious faces around me. My eyes were stuck on this one elderly lady who moved in slow motion. She looked sick and unhappy. As she walked to line A, I watched her stop to regain her balance. My eyes followed her until they met with what looked like a middle aged man who was waiting for her in the line. Their faces shared similar traits, but his looked more rough. He has a scruffy beard and wondering eyes. The similarities in their faces lead me to believe that man was her son. He looked clueless as he talked to the women behind the desk in uniform. He said the words his elderly mother could not, but they didn’t seem to be the right ones. He looked to his mother for help every so often but didn’t receive any. The two small figures left the line empty handed and looked more disgusted than they were when they entered the place. I started to think about the role my mother plays in my life. She’s my support system and my teacher. Since she is the only person I know I can depend on, I sometimes take her for granted. I don’t listen to everything she tries to teach me about life that I need for the future. But while observing all the hopeless and confused faces I gained a sense of gratefulness for her teaching me certain things so with or without her I would be capable to take care of things on my own. That night I went home and I researched all the documents you need to have in order to get your state ID and I researched the process. I was expanding my knowledge for myself so I wouldn’t have to depend on my mother to inform me. In order to succeed you have to want it for yourself and you have to push yourself to get it. It took me being in this environment that was different than the one I was used to full of confused people to understand the resource I have which was myself.

I also remember a story my mother shared with me which was a little more extreme than my own but it gave me the same realization. She told me a story of boy who lived on her block named Pete. Her mother never allowed her to go near the house or associate with Pete because he was not good association. Pete’s mother and father were heavily involved in illegal drug activity. They subjected him to this lifestyle, which lead to him abusing drugs and selling them. His parents didn’t reprimand him, because they thought this was an ideal way of living. He grew up ignorant to how life really was outside the world he was used to. He went to high school without basic elementary skills. When he entered high school, he felt out of place and “stupid”. The contrast between him and other students looked him pried his eyes open, so that it was all he could see. It was then that he realized he wanted to educate himself. He began going to the library which sparked his interest in reading. He still had a long way to go, but he was determined and fueled by his intrinsic motivation. When his parents noticed the change in his behavior they questioned him. This questioning ignited a heated argument where he expressed his hatred for them. He felt unloved, because they were holding him back in a way he never knew they could. Naturally, his parents felt guilty. Pete was later shot and killed due to previous involvement in drug activity. Anyone who knew Pete’s family knew his death left his mother devastated. In Pete’s case his intrinsic motivation wasn’t revealed until he was put in an environment that made him challenge his intelligence.

When we yearn for enlightenment we guide our fingers to the book and pry it open ourselves. This enlightenment we yearn for comes from the intrinsic motivation that sleeps within us until our environment awakes it. In conclusion whether it takes being put in an environment totally different than the one we are used to or being put in an environment with similar traits our motivation reveals itself.



Works cited:


Anzadula, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." (n.d.): n. pag. Web. November 25,2015

"What Is Intrinsic Motivation?" About.com Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

Myers, Christopher. "The Apartheid of Children’s Literature." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

"Intrinsic Motivation." Intrinsic Motivation. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

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Advanced Essay #2 - Intrinsic Motivation

Introduction: My main focus for this essay was trying to confirm the idea that we all possess intrinsic motivation. The only thing that varies between us all is what it takes for this quality to be revealed. It can be a long list of things, but I think your environment has the biggest effect. I wanted to show how when we are put in different environments than what we're used to we see different things that help awaken this motivation in us. I hope I was able to convince the readers of my idea and to show different examples of why I stand firm in this belief. I feel like I was very descriptive with the scenes in this essay as well as my first essay. For my next essay I want to focus on narrowing down what I'm trying to communicate so my reader doesn't get confused with all the ideas they're presented with.

In life I have learned numerous lessons and I am comfortable with the fact that I’ll learn more as I grow. But through all life’s lessons there has only been one truth that has left a lasting impression on my mind. This truth lives inside each and every one of us. That truth is we all possess intrinsic motivation. This intrinsic motivation allows us to be driven by ourselves rather than the people around us. Motivating ourselves leads to an everlasting benefit, while being motivated by others only gives short term success. This idea is communicated through the old saying ”Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” What some fail to realize is that the man must first want to learn before he can actually be taught. People who aren’t motivated to educate themselves can not be taught. Which leads me to question, does everyone possess this intrinsic motivation?

We all have this intrinsic motivation, but it takes certain environments to awaken it. The only thing that varies between us all is what environments we have to be in for this quality to be revealed. The environments we grow in effect how fast and when we become motivated.

This belief became real to me one day last year while I was out with a friend. I had an interview at Chipotle that day, so I insisted on going to my interview first then accompanying my friend to get her state ID. After my interview we were on our way to the place that I seem to pass by everyday without knowing. When we entered, the room was full of impatient faces. There were people standing on the walls, people sleeping, others in line. There were two seats open but they weren’t next to each other.

I said “Claire you take that one, I’ll take the other.”

She said “How about we ask the man who is sitting in between the two empty seats to move over so we can be next to each other.” I nodded in agreement.

The man looked very unapproachable. He held a folder full of papers in one hand and his smile in the other. A frown that extended from one ear to the other was plastered on his face.

“Excuse me, can you move over one please?” She asked.

A number was called on the loudspeaker “76 come to line B”

The man got up quickly while gathering his papers.

After we sat down I couldn’t help but observe the anxious faces around me. My eyes were stuck on this one elderly lady who moved in slow motion. She looked sick and unhappy. As she walked to line A, I watched her stop to regain her balance. My eyes followed her until they met with what looked like a middle aged man who was waiting for her in the line. Their faces shared similar traits, but his looked more rough. He has a scruffy beard and wondering eyes. The similarities in their faces lead me to believe that man was her son. He looked clueless as he talked to the women behind the desk in uniform. He said the words his elderly mother could not, but they didn’t seem to be the right ones. He looked to his mother for help every so often but didn’t receive any. The two small figures left the line empty handed and looked more disgusted than they were when they entered the place. I started to think about the role my mother plays in my life. She’s my support system and my teacher. Since she is the only person I know I can depend on, I sometimes take her for granted. I don’t listen to everything she tries to teach me about life that I need for the future. But while observing all the hopeless and confused faces I gained a sense of gratefulness for her teaching me certain things so with or without her I would be capable to take care of things on my own. That night I went home and I researched all the documents you need to have in order to get your state ID and I researched the process. I was expanding my knowledge for myself so I wouldn’t have to depend on my mother to inform me. In order to succeed you have to want it for yourself and you have to push yourself to get it. It took me being in this environment that was different than the one I was used to full of confused people to understand the resource I have which was myself.

I also remember a story my mother shared with me which was a little more extreme than my own but it gave me the same realization. She told me a story of boy who lived on her block named Pete. Her mother never allowed her to go near the house or associate with Pete because he was not good association. Pete’s mother and father were heavily involved in illegal drug activity. They subjected him to this lifestyle, which lead to him abusing drugs and selling them. His parents didn’t reprimand him, because they thought this was an ideal way of living. He grew up ignorant to how life really was outside the world he was used to. He went to high school without basic elementary skills. When he entered high school, he felt out of place and “stupid”. The contrast between him and other students looked him pried his eyes open, so that it was all he could see. It was then that he realized he wanted to educate himself. He began going to the library which sparked his interest in reading. He still had a long way to go, but he was determined and fueled by his intrinsic motivation. When his parents noticed the change in his behavior they questioned him. This questioning ignited a heated argument where he expressed his hatred for them. He felt unloved, because they were holding him back in a way he never knew they could. Naturally, his parents felt guilty. Pete was later shot and killed due to previous involvement in drug activity. Anyone who knew Pete’s family knew his death left his mother devastated. In Pete’s case his intrinsic motivation wasn’t revealed until he was put in an environment that made him challenge his intelligence.

When we yearn for enlightenment we guide our fingers to the book and pry it open ourselves. This enlightenment we yearn for comes from the intrinsic motivation that sleeps within us until our environment awakes it. In conclusion whether it takes being put in an environment totally different than the one we are used to or being put in an environment with similar traits our motivation reveals itself.




Works cited:


Anzadula, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." (n.d.): n. pag. Web. November 25,2015

"What Is Intrinsic Motivation?" About.com Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

Myers, Christopher. "The Apartheid of Children’s Literature." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

"Intrinsic Motivation." Intrinsic Motivation. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.


Literacy Through Reading and Writing

Introduction: My main focus for this essay was trying to write more directly. I  have been told many time that I write passively and have been working to get away from that. I’ve also worked on re-reading and re-working my work to make it better than ever. I honestly believe that I achieved that in this advanced essay. The part that I am most proud of or most looking forward to people reading are my scenes of memory. I want everyone who reads it to be able to picture the scene clearly without getting bored. As far as growing as a writer I think I have done a lot of growing between these two advanced essays and I’m eager to see what I come up with next. My next area of focus and improvement will be more focused around descriptive vocabulary and grammar.


I never thought I was much of a writer. I wrote a few poems here and there when I was younger but I never thought they were anything special. My father would boast about how easily the words would flow out of me, how naturally they came. Reading on the other hand was a cakewalk. Considering that I did not start to enjoy reading until the fifth grade, it was effortless. “Oh what do you have here?” I questioned.

“A book.” She responded.

“What’s it called?”

“The name of this book is secret.”

“Can you just show me the cover.” I responded annoyedly.

“I already told you the name of this book is secret.”

“Isabel stop messing around!” I demanded.

She flipped the book over to show me the cover. The title of the book was indeed The Name of this Book is Secret.

“Oh” I answered a little embarrassed. Even though my pride was hurt for being so frustrated, I was curious. I didn’t really like to read but all of the sudden I was drawn to this book. Why is the name of the book secret? Will anyone ever find out the name of the book? Who is Pseudonymous Bosch? Is that his real name? I needed all of my questions answered, so I made my way to the local Barnes & Noble to do some investigating. When I got my hands on the book I couldn’t have been more excited. At the moment I didn’t understand what I was doing. I was opening a door that I wouldn’t be able to close. I flew through the first book hoping to find all the answers, but I didn’t, but there were four more books in the series. Yet again my curiosity got the best of me and not too soon after I was anxiously waiting in line to buy the final book. When I finally got my hands on it, I knew I was never letting go. Once I started to read for myself, I caught on quickly. The words would connect and make sense in my head in a way that they didn’t before. I was actually comprehending the content and enjoying myself while doing it. That Christmas, Santa gave me eighteen wonderful books. I don’t remember being happier.

From Grothaus article, it seems clear that reading is a practice that has many benefits both physically and psychologically. A discussion about the relationship between reading and one’s writing skills might be an interesting place for the writer to go. In my experience, what I write does not reflect what I read. The two are definitely related, but this does not mean that reading leads to proficiency in writing. I grew up thinking that I was good at writing because I was reading well above my grade level. I never got bad grades in writing and I dabbled in poetry which everyone seemed to love. Plus, all the other kids who liked to read always got spectacular grades on their writing. There was a pattern that I saw early on: good reading equals good writing. It wasn’t until I got into high school that I realized that something about that system just wasn’t working for me.


“Alright class, don’t forget tomorrow is when you turn in your polished book review,” Ms. Dunn reminded us.

“I’m really about to kill this,” I whispered to my peer.


I only had to finish up the final paragraph, which took about ten minutes. I re-read what I wrote and closed my computer. All in all I was pretty proud. The next day I went to school and waited for lunch to come, I was satisfied of my work but I wanted Ms. Dunn to check it for any last minute mistakes. I showed up at her office right at the start of the period.

“Hey Ms. Dunn. Could you look over my review before I turn it in. This is the final version but I just want to be sure,” I asked

“Sure no problem,” She responded.


I shared her into my document and sat across from her, too anxious to see what she was typing, but sure were those fingers moving. Maybe they were good comments, I thought. I was so wrong.


“There you go, she said with a toothy grin on her face.” She closed her laptop and went to deal with another student.


I opened my document expecting to have to only make a few grammar edits here and there. I could not have been more wrong! All I saw were paragraphs worth of edits in the comment boxes. At first I kept my cool, fixing one error after another, until suddenly lunch was over and class had begun. That’s when I started to breakdown. I was running out of time until eventually I had to turn in what I had. After that class period I wasn’t feeling great about my writing but I was trying to stay positive. The next week I got my grade back on canvas - 79. That was the beginning of a pattern would continue through the school year. I took refuge in my books.

I never felt so incompetent and unsuccessful at writing. I don’t understand how someone who has read so well for so many years is unable to write well. Am I not paying attention to the writing techniques of different writers? Am I not comprehending the writing as well as I think I am? It’s stressful to know that writing a simple essay has to be a big production because you are constantly checking yourself on simple writing errors or areas of doubt. Writing still is a challenging area for me and no matter how much I read it doesn’t change how I write, and I’m not the only one who notices this. In the steps to become a better writer, I have been keeping a journal and working with a tutor to practice my writing skills and confidence as a writer. Because I like to read books I started marking my books and



Citations:

"How to Use Reading to Become a Better Writer | Write to Done." Write to Done. 31 Jan. 2008. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <http://writetodone.com/how-to-use-reading-to-become-a-better-writer/>.

"How Changing Your Reading Habits Can Transform Your Health." Fast Company. 27 July 2015. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <http://www.fastcompany.com/3048913/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/how-changing-your-reading-habits-can-transform-your-health?utm_campaign>.


How Kids can and should be able to Handle the Classics of this World

My essay is about the low expectation that teachers have for kids in literacy. I will explain how that can be harmful and what can be done to fix it. 

When I was in elementary school, I was not  an avid reader, especially when you compare me today with my younger self. However, I still read enough for me to be considered slightly above the reading average of my grade. The way that teachers would determine your reading level would be by you reading a couple of passages and then they will ask you questions. From there, they will base your reading level using the alphabet with A being the lowest level, like on a kindergartner’s level, to Z being the highest, which was an 8th grader’s reading level. I was usually given an S,sometimes a T depending on the teacher that was evaluating me, which was slightly above average, and I was fine with that, especially considering the fact that I was expected to be at a level R anyway. So, my teachers really never pushed me to do more. “ Sianneh your are doing so well, so I wouldn’t worry too much. You're so smart”.  My ignorance to this, blinded me from seeing this as a problem until a decision that I made later on opened my eyes to it.
Going back to my experience with reading in elementary, my indifference towards books quickly came to a close in 3rd grade, when I found out my sister’s reading level. “ You’re on a Y” I said in amazement. She shrugged her shoulders carelessly “Sianneh it’s not that big of deal. You’re at a high level too” That was not what I wanted to here. “I don’t care!” I said angrily “ I want to be as high as you and I’m going to be too”. It proved to be a little more difficult than I thought it would be, and looking back at it now, I understood why. There was a lack of encouragement for challenging yourself, and there was more encouragement for stagnance. “ Sianneh you’re already on the right track now. it doesn't matter what level your sister’s on”  This is not a problem until it starts to prohibit the opportunities to challenge yourself.
When it came to challenging yourself, most of the initiative had to come from you while you were in an environment that promotes being average as the main goal. While I was trying to improve my reading level, I found out the more you read, the better your result were, especially when you tried to read challenging books. I remembered with the library that we had in class, they would organize the books based on your level as well. The easiest books were at the top-mid shelf while the harder book were more towards the bottom. In fact, with the harder books, there weren't that many interesting ones that I could really remember. There were just random books. They would be mostly be books that were on history or war. I still did not let that discourage me though. I went outside of school, to libraries and I read with my dad. “ You need to try and read everyday. It’s a long time commitment that requires a lot of dedication.” He would say to me. It took some time, but I was able to finally get where on the level that I was able to be on, and my love for read grew by that time too, but from there I only wanted to go further.
That was when I started to notice the looks of surprise that people started giving me for choosing books that they never expected a child to read. “ Wow, I never thought someone like you could read books like these.” , “ That looks like a challenging book, I’m surprised you chose something so difficult” People saw me as some sort of fascinating oddity. In Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me” he addresses this issue as well. He stated that “ If he’d been anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation, he might’ve been called a prodigy”(13). I was, naturally, surprised that people would look at kids who were not white, yet still very educated like they was so sort of rare occurrence when it should be the norm. It made me think, now, and I realized that when they look at a smart minority, their astonishment is not about child’s intellect, it’s about the child’s success in a broke system.
When you are apart of an environment that is set up for failure, or being average as the main goal, someone who is able to go against that and succeed is something rare. It shouldn’t have to be that way at all. Literacy should not have limitations of any form. It is a simple, yet complex form that should be available to everyone. Anyone can read just about anything they choose as long as they are able to understand and answer these three important question. Who is speaking? What happened? Why does it matter? Now, people might say  that there is more to this process, which is true. The reason that sometimes these question can be hard to answer at times is because there is a lack in vocabulary and experience. Vocab is the easy part. All there is to do is to learn more words, but most of the time experience can be challenging. You have to understand where the author’s character is coming from and the times, as well as the society of the story. Only then can you understand the significance of what happened and why it matters coming from the person who is speaking. Once you overcome these two setbacks you can read just about anything at any age.

Title it Advanced Essay #2: The School Sylubus

In this paper I have focused on becoming a better writer. I have always struggled with writing, and I have wanted to do a better job when it comes to writing. I have wanted to expand my vocabulary, so I don't say the same things over and over again, and I want my writing to be smooth, connected with conjunctions in proper places. I have also tried to improve upon my use of grammar, figuring out where to place punctuation, so that my sentences make sense. I am very proud of my analytical writing, I felt as if it was something that I improved upon. I want to get better at writing descriptive scenes.

I constantly hear students complain about math homework, or just any homework in general, asking questions such as, “How is this going to help me in the future? What purpose will it serve? How will it be useful? When am I going to need to use this? Why is this important or relevant to me? The questions ring in my ear, I swear it is contagious. I now have started wondering if there are certain things that I am not going to need to use after I get out of school and enter the real world. In fact, I remember recently talking to my mom who is a graduate school math professor about homework that Mr. Reddy gave us. “What are you doing in math class these days?” she asked me.

“…uhh….” My mind was blank. It was a friday night and I didn’t want to think about any sort of work at all, but she wanted to know the status of my homework for the weekend. “Oh right,” I just remembered. “We are learning about the division and simplification of polynomials.”

She asked me to explain it because this is something she had not learned in a long time and had not needed to know. I did my best to recall everything that Mr. Reddy drilled into our head. She easily understood what I was explaining, but there was a look on her face that suggested confusion.

“What?” I asked.

“Why would you put the remainder over the complex polynomial?”

I didn’t know how to answer. I tried to force an explanation out of my mouth, but nothing would come. I finally said “I don’t know” in an attitude that made it seem as if I had something to defend. “ I mean… I guess… Because-”

She interrupted. “Oh, because in normal long division, you put the remainder over the divisor and that is how you get the decimal.”

“Oh that’s true,” slight pause. “Also that’s what we were told to do.”

“That just seems useless,” she added, almost as an insult to what we were learning in math. “It just seems pointless. How would that help you? How would that simplify the equation?” I was speechless; my mind was flipped upside down; I was shocked. I never thought that my mom would ever in, her existence, question what I would be learning especially in my math class. I could not for the life of me think of any sort of response to her question. I wasn’t barely even confident enough to say “I don’t know,” but her question got me thinking. Do schools teach us to be literate in the real world? I mentioned this to my mom and we eventually got on the topic of what in school is necessary to be taught in schools, and what is not. I then told her about a video on Youtube that I had seen recently. It was of a British guy, Dave Brown, rapping about how the school curriculum was flawed. Ever since watching that video I had wondered if what we are learning in school is important to us. My mom also showed me the video titled “Somewhere in America,” the video in class. It was featuring three teenage girls who performed a slam poem about how the most important lessons we need for everyday life are not taught in school. Ever since then, I have always been interested in what is important to be taught in school versus what is irrelevant.

“I wasn’t taught how to get a job, but I can remember dissecting a frog,” Dave Brown. Unless you are passionate about becoming a scientist, learning how to dissect a frog is not important. If you are a junior or senior in high school, or if you’re just starting college, a skill that your survival in the world depends on is getting a job. This is especially true if you are trying to afford college. So far the only two jobs I’ve gotten are because my mom knew a couple people who were interested in hiring, and wanted someone who could help out with a large amount of work. I have never experience the process of applying for a job, sending in a resume, and setting up an interview. Now I’m afraid of what will happen when it comes time for me to get a job. I wouldn’t know how to handle the responsibility of getting a job even if I was approached with the opportunity to get hired. I wasn’t taught how to use computer programming, so how am I supposed to major in CS without any experience. How am I supposed to find an internship or volunteer work that can help me if I don’t have a platform to work off of. This makes me look like an idiot, especially when talking to professional programmers, video game designers, and computer scientists. The typical sting of the dreadful question that nags at me as if I’m stupid gives me a headache. “So, what programing experience do you have?” My mind hunts for words putting them together in one long command to impress whoever cares to listen. I fail each time, and have no clue what I am actually talking about.

“Umm… I uh… I can umm… I- I’ve- I’ve coded a few times… using processing… and then I- I tried using eclipse… which I think is javascript based. I found eclipse to be too hard though”, and now I know we’re off to a great start when I can’t even understand one of the most simplest programing applications, and its language. Their response is always the same.

“We can start you on something a bit more basic,” or “it takes time everyone needs room for improvement and room to grow.” Honestly I get it. I understand. There isn’t any reason the truth needs to be hidden. I know I am not that good, especially if I have no where to start.

I am trapped by my lack of knowledge. If only I had learned this is school. Unfortunately those in charge of the school curriculum believe that dividing polynomials and staying up all night writing essays about the history of these United States is more important.

“I mean I get that you want us to practice writing but in real life when am I ever going to need to do in depth research of how the English, French, Portuguese and, Spanish sailed across the Atlantic and slaughtered the Indigenous people with guns, germs, and steel? And when in my life am I going to need to solve equations that involve dividing polynomials? Even If you are interested in majoring in math no one whatsoever will need to know all that information about vertical, slanted, or horizontal asymptotes?”

Literacy is understanding the world around us. Schools do not always teach us to be literate. We often learn to be literate, but not from our parents, guardians, friends or family. We do not often remember learning how to be literate. Do you remember who taught you to always fill in “C” on a quiz or test when you do not know what the answer is? Do you remember who told you to pretend to be on the phone if you think someone is following you?


 Brown, D. (Director). (2015). Don't Stay in School [Motion picture]. England: Youtube. 


 Youth Speaks (Director). (2014). Changing the World, One Word at a Time! | The Queen Latifah Show [Motion picture]. California: Youtube. 

Advanced Essay #2: Troubles with literacy

Intro:   

In this paper I focus on how kids that have disabilities are affected in the way they view literacy. I focused more on a personal disability to better express what I know and inform everyone real life issues children are going through. I am proud that I got to talk about an issues that I have struggled with personally. A plan to continuing growth as a writer is writing more about personal experiences.



“You read slow, read faster. Fix your grammar. You can’t write.” Words that taunt one’s way of seeing English class. Words that make you not participate because everything you say you will just get judged for it anyway. Getting judged on issues in english class that kids everyday are suffering with the same problem, so, at least, I am not the only one. I have a comprehension problem where I have issues comprehending what I read as well as others. The comprehension problem was worse in middle school because I would have to read a book maybe three times to fully understand what the story was about. I would read slower so I can understand what I am reading at the first try and not have to keep reading it over and over. People always told me to “read faster” but what good would that do me. Getting put in “special classes” just because kids like me don’t read or write like the rest of them shows us that we are not like everyone. Sherman Alexie once said in the essay Superman “I refuse to fail” was something we always followed. We didn’t want people thinking they have a right to say hurtful things to us just because we have disabilities. Especially me  I was not going to let them get to me, I will show them I am just as good as anyone of them. Everyone is their own person and we are not always going to know to same as other people. I thought we were suppose to do everything at the best of our abilities not do something and if you are not on the level than they label you as being slow or needs extra help. That’s the problem especially in english class kids always point out the “slow readers” and criticize them. There is a reason for these kids reading slow and not being able to comprehend.


Today many kids suffer with reading disabilities, reading rockets states the abilities such as  phonological deficit, processing speed/orthographic processing deficit, and comprehension deficit are common . Phonological deficit is an explanation for the cause of reading difficulties and dyslexia. Processing speed/orthographic processing deficit is a disability that kids that don’t have good grammar. Comprehension deficit is “an active problem solving process in which readers relate the ideas in the text to own knowledge and experiences which allows the reader to create a mental construct in memory” (National Reading Panel, 2000, p. 23). A lot of young children feel alienated from reading and literacy because they suffer from these disorders. Often the classroom setting doesn’t allow kids that are slower at reading to fully enjoy the subject.  


“I want everyone to remake the story little red riding hood.” My teacher, Mrs. Goodnow, said. I remember I was in the third grade I didn’t really know much about how to write a story  because I was never a good writer. So, when she told us to write a whole short story.  I panicked the room started spinning and all I kept thinking how this could not be real. The spinning stopped “You have until tomorrow to turn in a draft,” Mrs. Goodnow said. The only good thing  that came out of this was we had to remake my favorite story little red riding hood. When school was over at 3:05, I rushed home to get started on my draft. 5 o'clock hit and  it was dinner time I still had nothing written down on my draft.  I had no clue how to start this story and I also need to draw pictures to match. After I was done dinner, I went to my room because it was the quietest place in my house. I stared at the blank piece of loose leaf paper admiring its perfectly straight lines.” “Lilly snap out of it,” the little voice in my head told me. Only a few hours left to write this before I had to go to bed. I finally started..with the title little green riding hood. Since I wanted to make it funny I started doing the original red riding hood but with funny twist. It took me about a hundred balled up papers on the floor to finally get a good start. After the start more and more ideas kept popping up  in my head.  


The next day I had to read my draft out loud before the teacher told everyone to pick their partners, me and my best friend Natalia gave each other that I choose you look. After we sat with our partners it was time to share out. I was not even nervous because I was partners with my bestfriend. I read mine first just to get it over with so I started with my title and author  “Little green riding hood by Liliana Guercio” then I started the story I wrote. Once..upon..a..tim-- before I could finish she cut me off saying “you read slow, read faster.” I sat there and gave her the death glare. “What?” she questioned. I responded with “that is how I read.” My own best friend criticizing me on how I read. She made me feel like I was dumb and I couldn’t do anything. That is when I became distant in english class. I stopped raising my hand because if I said anything I would feel like everyone would just think I am stupid.


The environment that an english class can present often can alienate children that struggle with learning disabilities.


Code- Switching

Introduction
Growing up, I've always been singled out because of how I talk and the way I pronounce my words. This wasn't always a bad thing, though, because it experienced me to new ways of life. Moving to Philadelphia was the transition period which had the most impact in my life. I was around so many people of color as myself, and I was not used to this. So I did what I thought was best in order to be able to fit in and adapt to this new environment which I was not used to, learn their ways. This essay really reflects on the effects code switching has had on my life. It also reflects on the role social class plays in code switching, simply because that is one of the main reasons why I do so. I could have improved this essay by including more sources, which would have made my thesis and essay even stronger.

Essay

“Wassup dog”, or “Lemme ask you something real quick.” are some of the things I would normally say to my friends or family members. But, the second someone of a higher class or professional field approaches me, that language would automatically switch. Without even thinking about it, that “wassup dog” would turn into “how are you doing today?” Code- switching is the practice of alternating between two different languages, usually to fit in more with a specific environment.

Fifth grade was the year I first encountered and discovered code-switching. Because I was raised in the suburbs around white people of high class, whom are considered the dominant members of society because of their social status and wealth, I had become accustomed to speaking Standard English as a dominant language. In today’s society, those of the high class are viewed as superior, educated, and powerful. When I first moved to an urban Philadelphia area, there were words and slang terms being used that I never knew could exist.

“Why you talking like that?”

“You talk like a white girl?”
“Stop talking like that, be yourself.”

Before even asking for my name, these were just some of the things that people said to me on my first day of attending a Philadelphia Public School. Someone had told me to be myself, yet that’s what I had been doing all along. I didn’t know how to talk any other way than standard English, so I did the only thing that I thought and knew would ensure my survival in Philly. Learn. I learned how to speak slang, what words to use and not to use. Most importantly, I learned when to use this on my own. Speaking slang around those in the higher class could cause judgement, leading to stereotypes against those who aren’t privileged. In order to not be judged and stereotyped, I learned how to code- switch in order to be able to survive not only in Philly, but the real world, which isn’t made for everyone especially not myself. The United States of America was claimed and created by white men and for white men, no one else. Yet, as one, the majority of American people have grown to be diverse and integrated. Although this is great, it doesn’t take away from the values of those in power. The only way I could succeed in a world that wasn’t made for me to succeed was to cope with and somehow learn the ways of those who America was created for.

I can not remember exactly how many times my people (black people) have told me I “talk like a white girl”. This just shows the psychological mindset of blacks in America. Speaking properly is considered “speaking white.” Yet, the most successful people, not always white, know how to speak fluently and professionally. Being able to do so can take one further in life than them not being able to or doing so, and this is because of the cultural capital of those who are superior in America. The reason many people associate speaking “black” with speaking “ghetto” or improper is because that is how blacks are viewed as a whole, regardless if they can speak properly or not.

I remember watching and observing a video project relating to code- switching and there were numerous perspectives involved. There were blacks, whites, hispanics, and those of the lower, middle and higher class. The video composed of numerous questions being asked based on code- switching, who is superior in society, and who is inferior in society. One interviewee who was a black male of the lower class said "I don't see my cultural capital to certain institutions as valuable as a white person's cultural capital". Being black in America, I can relate to what was being said. Because blacks are viewed as inferior to whites,  this inferiority can discriminate against the views of those who are inferior. The effects of this discrimination are a group of people, whose ideas and opinions are swept under the rug and viewed as abnormal to those who are superior in society (typically the high class). Which brings back the point that anything outside of society’s norms leads to stereotypes and judgements, as Black English is viewed. My language does not define who I am, rather it defines who I’m around and which way I am perceived to act.


Works Cited:

Powell, Josh. "Code-Switching and Social Class." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HIe4qwObUk>

Google Dictionary
<http://www.google.com>
Thompson, Matt. "Five Reasons Why People Code-Switch." NPR. NPR, 13 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/04/13/177126294/five-reasons-why-people-code-switch>.

Looking Up to the Dream: Siawale's Advanced Essay #2

Intro:

For this essay, I was studying the impact of culture on the definition of literacy. In particular, I was studying the Liberian culture on the definition of literacy. Liberia is heavily influenced by the United States and its definition of literacy. As a whole, first world countries have a great influence on third world countries view of literacy.


Essay:

This was the second time we’ve gotten my brother’s report card and his teachers were saying he wasn’t on his grade reading level. The feeling of knowing that my brother wasn’t on the top half of the class was something my father refused to believe. Being the fastest reader between all my siblings, my dad gave me the task of teaching my brother. I saw the potential in my brother as he continued to read, but the problem that I saw was that my brother had no motivation. He would start off really strong, but then he would always just stop and say, “I don’t feel like it anymore”. That attitude is what a lot of Black boys face and it was something I could never understand. I have always had that drive to keep pushing forward. My father always told us the story of his struggle growing up in the liberian civil war. The drive was something my dad described as something people have to just keep going. Sometimes we want to just in one place and give up and life just happen, but when someone has the drive, they refuse to sit down, maybe they stand for a little bit, but they never fully give. Knowing thing and having someone just give upon himself, was something I could never relate to.

Culture has always been in direct correlation with the general ideas of literacy. Throughout the world,I believe that there is a shared understanding how literacy is important. However, in different places throughout the world, the definition and application of literacy is very different. Cultures have different beliefs that influence the way literacy is interpreted and how it influences the way of life for people. Specifically, coming from Liberia, my parents never had an opportunity to have a great education, which is why their definition of literacy is to excel above others in all aspects of school. Liberia was founded by America, so many of the definitions Liberians have is heavily influenced, or basically copied, from the American system. As a result, school is a place where literacy is the thing that defines how you will live the rest of your life. While these values are of American value, Liberia is not in the same economic standpoint of America. Upon those facts, Liberian culture has a tremendous impact of the definition of literacy and literacy is defined as education everyone must obtain in order to be happy.

When I was younger, my Father was very pressed on all of children being advanced readers. My Dad would have a set time, usually in the evening that we would have turn off the tv and all other games we had, which was little to none anyways, and he would sit us around the dining table. We would all choose books and my dad would tell us we would for read for a set amount of time, the minimum time would be 30 minutes. After reading, we would be responsible for writing a summary of what we read and my dad would check over it and then we would read our summary back to him. The process was always something that I dreaded so I would always rush to read as much as I could and write quickly so I could go back to watching tv. This was a habit that developed of the years and as I got younger, I started to rethink of why my dad was so eager to have all his kids be at a certain level. When I would ask, my dad always described his struggles as a child in the civil war and he would tell stories of how America was always the goal for the Liberian people. It is the place where happiness and wealth come intertwined with one.

The type of images and messages sent to other countries who value America as a role model for literacy makes up very high standards set by people. This is due to the fact that America has had a reputation of being the country to hold the freedom and that freedom is built off of literacy, which is just defined as education. Literacy had a huge impact on the way people see life. Specifically, literacy in the Liberian culture is to embrace the american culture. In How to Tame a Wild Tongue, the author states “ if you want to be American, speak “American”. Liberia specifically takes this statement at the heart of its definition of literacy. The bigger idea is that third world countries have always looked up to first world country fro influences on definitions of literacy. This is due to the fact that first world leaders have used their definitions on literacy in order to advance their country and third world countries want to be able to give their civilians those same opportunities.


Japan Tour tught me Noone can judge you.

Scene 1

The thing with life is that it’s only lived once, and I mean what I mean is for sure it only happens once and I’m talking about life. I was blessed enough to experience the feelings of singing and the tours that I’ve been accepted to go too.  Then the wrong feelings of people were brought in the line and the lane. I brought back the feeling  back from the memories I shared with others in Japan, and I’m pretty sure you’d do the same. I went from back to back cycles with the mind in my head going from different mindset to mindset.


Scene 2

The trip I had was amazing with the Japan tour. It had teached me that not everyone is the same because if that was true then everyone would’ve gone on that tour, and everyone in the choir would’ve been happy. I was blessed to be go on this tour because I was up against about three hundred other guys to be picked on this tour and they chose me. I was very happy with the turnout of my conductor decision. I’m not saying that because he chose well actually yes I am because  of the decisions have been made in my life and the mindset I’m in now is because of Mr.Fisher. He impacted my life so much by just being there and not being a square basically just being  a lame, but back to the story.




This story means don’t judge by the cover or give someone a chance.




I was just in the airport going through security and saw many pretty girls in the lines to get to the airport. I think they call it the terminal and so after we got all the way through. I finally went to go get something to eat in the food court and I got japanese food and it was really good chicken. The rest of the group was doing their own thing in the terminal because we were set into pairs of two and the rest of the choir was sitting down because they didn’t want to spend there money. I suppose they would rather eat Airplane food rather than real food but that’s none of my business. Finally they called our plane number on the microphone and we approached towards the plane, and someone had forgotten there snapple so the plane waited for us while one of the members Tunde Sogo ran and grabbed his raspberry Tea Snapple and got on the plane. Then as we were packing our items on the plane one of our managers had started singing On the road again and we all started to sing along even some of the older people on the flight were singing with us. It was so heavenly to hear older/elderly people sing to our songs because that means we’re history in the making or the other way around.

On the plane ride I had sat next to a good friend of mine name Adam and we liked the same music so basically for the whole plane ride we listened to Kendrick Lamar and watched the Heat back to back.  We ended up having the seats towards the window so we just chilling there, so I don’t recall if I had used the bathroom, actually I did because I remember eating five of the airport dinners then taking a huge shit in the bathroom and someone had used it right before me.


Once we got off the plane ride we had gotten on a terminal bus straight off the airport. We were driving on land and I remember some of the people were looking at our windbreakers and kept asking questions about what KSB stood for and we’d tell them and we sung for them when we were driving in the bus. I wasn’t concerned about the singing part. I was mostly worried for how some of the people would’ve responded because all of our voices were a little horse and people actually ended up applauding us for our time and our voices. One man said he couldn’t believe seven boys could combine and a voice of an angel. The reason he said that because when we’re united our voices link and we end up being the sound that everyone gets so interested in. Finally we were leaving the airport and I guess you could say we were at the entrance of the airport waiting for the cars to come, and we’re in Hiroshima (One of the best cities in Japan in my opinion). Finally the cars came and they were on time and all of us were pretty hungry but our managers told us boys that we had to go check in our hotel rooms and then we’d go get something to eat. So I ended up driving with one of the managers Mrs.Martha and she’s so cool and chill. Finally we had gotten the hotel and when we got out the cars people were already unpacking the cars and putting the luggage onto the carts that they have in hotels, but I can’t recall if they’re actually named anything. Once all that was finished we got on the elevator and took it up to our floor while our managers were finishing up the rest of the check in. In Japan they give you the room key but they have a system where they can turn in



After this trip it was a lesson that was learned and that lesson was Never judge anyone by there cover because they could be way different and I’m pretty sure my conductor figured that out after the tours he invited me too. There’s another thing when some people here that you’re in a boychoir or even some other “weird” group or some type of event they’ll make fun of you and call you names, but once they see you perform they’ll be sorry they ever did any of those things to you. Some people might go and join those activities so they can cherish the same moments that you have already captured.

Advanced Essay #2:Racial Authenticity DuBois Stewart

Most of my time on this earth has been centered around finding what made me different from others, why my skin color was so important to my social standing, and how others perceived me. When I was about 7, I had my first real encounter with the ideology of racial identity.I first encountered this ‘fence’ when I made my first friends in my neighborhood. Their names were Cory and Corby, brother and sister. As my uncle said to me in later years, everyone was friends with everyone when they were 7, so long as they could play together. This was also true for me and I played with them day in and day out. The more time we spent together, the more I noticed our differences. They both liked what I thought of at the time as ‘dude music’, whereas the music I listened to was soul, r&b, and pop. They were allowed to go roaming around the neighborhood without their parents, I wasn’t allowed off of the block without a chaperone. Discovering all of these differences also led to an eventual climax in our relationship, that challenged my opinion on who I was. This encounter spurred me into action of finding the answer to my question:who was I? Who was I supposed to be? This question I found gave me a multitude of answers, corroborated from new stories, my family, and just encounters with people at school. This answer wasn’t to who I was, but rather who I was supposed be. I believe that ethnic background and racial identity are like stakes in the ground that pin you to a certain spot, forcing you to conform to the social norms around you, or perish. This creates a society in which you are born into a class, and like a caste system that is where you live and die. I believe that to belong to a racial/ethnic group is something can be measured in authenticity, but rather in how comfortable you are with yourself and who you are first.

Continuing my story from above, The one distinct difference between us also led to the eventual termination of our friendship. One day, Cory and Corby cornered me in front of my house with my bike. I’d recently gotten a bike for Christmas. The chain had fallen off and I was trying to fix it when Cory and Corby came walking over, with determined looks. “Curse” they demanded, as they noticed that I never cursed but they always did. I refused, and they cursed instead, to show me how easy it was. However, I still wouldn’t do it, so Corby took my bike while Cory blocked my path and rode off with it. However, he didn’t get very far as the chain fell off and he fell over. He got up and motioned to his sister to come with him, deciding that I wasn’t “cool” enough to be their friend. I cried, and my brother helped me bring me back inside with my bike.


Speaking in terms of racial/ethnic identity, this experience didn’t teach me much at the time, only that Cory and Corby were jerks. Big, big, fat, meanie, nincompoopie jerks. However, and looking at this experience now, I realized that they were testing me. They weren’t testing my friendship in terms of loyalty, but rather in terms of toughness. They were trying to gauge my toughness, and my reaction was not to their liking. This form of testing I believe stemmed from an overlying dogma that encouraged black people to act tough and be tough to shield their vulnerabilities. This is just one part of the large population of sheep being harbored within this fence, but it is the only one I can say I personally relate to. I believe another factor that contributes to the ‘authenticity’ of being in an ethnic group is not just how you identify, but how you present yourself in your everyday life.In Ta Nehisi’s book, Between The world and Me, He says: “The meek shall inherit the earth” meant nothing to me.The meek were battered in West Baltimore, stomped out at Walbrook Junction, bashed upon Park Heights, and raped in the showers of the city jail. While this is a more extreme example of my argument, it still encompasses the kind of toughness that Cory and Corby were testing me for. When he says this, I believe he means to say that to fit in, to survive in his fence was to be tough, or at least feign toughness. For me, my identity would be what I said above, but underneath that layer is  my true self that you expose or hide from your ethnic group. In the end, I don’t believe ethnic identity is about proving your authenticity to others, but rather proving it to yourself. Then, I believe that is when you are able to embrace your ethnic identity, but not before then.

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. Between the World and Me. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

English argument

Advanced Essay #2: The Standard of Nonconformity

Introduction:

In this essay, I focused on developing a deep idea in my thesis that got readers thinking and questioning themselves. I also tried to support this thesis with by supporting it with direct evidence and ideas. I am proud of the complexity and development of my thesis and how I upheld it. In future writing assignments, I would like to add more descriptive and thorough information to my personal experiences.


Essay:

Trend. Fad. Blind leading the blind. Mainstream. A lot of names that mean one thing: conformity.  Many people, including myself, aim to go against and question these ideals. These people in our society are usually titled nonconformists. The nonconformists that I see are just obsessed with being apart from the norm and tend to question and criticize anything popular and counteract it. I’ve also noticed they admire other people’s individuality or style and try to model it for themselves, because it is different from the current norm. These people want to be unique from popular trends, but decide to mirror what they admire in another person that is seen as distinct instead of following their own minds and hearts without second guessing. They also change just for the sake of change or to purposely try to become a nonconformist.

As the American columnist and author, Bill Vaughn, once said, "If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it’s another nonconformist who doesn’t conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity.” Vaughn mentions this “standard” of nonconformity which is adored in our society today. There are certain types of trends and styles that are accepted in the nonconformist world while others are viewed as too different or weird. Some of trends these include being “emo”, “hipster”, and “indie” which were once seen as outcast styles but are now famed for being unique and trendy. Styles like these have become trends themselves whether or not they are deemed as popular, because they have many followers. Many people follow these trends for the sake of being a “nonconformist” and in doing so are conforming to the prevailing standard of nonconformity.

I’ve witnessed this standard at a summer concert festival called Warped Tour that features many punk, rock, metal, and indie bands and artists. As I walked through the maze of the crowd I noticed so many people wearing similar band t-shirts, eyeliner, black skinny jeans, beanies, and Dr. Martens along with the other “emo and punk kid essentials. The crowd is a sea of dark colors in which I look like a foreigner with denim shorts, a black tank top, and Vans. I think to myself, “These people must be sweating like crazy! Why would someone wear all black, jeans, boots, and hats in this humid 95 degree weather? To prove to everyone how “edgy” you are? This isn’t a contest, it’s concert. Just be yourself!” I finally made it through the crowd to the stage where a band is about to play. The lead singer is preaching about how it's okay to be an outsider and to embrace who your individuality and rise above the bullies who try to bring you down. The crowd screams and claps with every word that pours out of the singer’s mouth. I noticed empowering words like these that preached individuality in performances from other bands whether it was in the form of a speech or it was encoded in their lyrics. Every time the uniform crowd responded with screams and words of adoration for the bands as if they were gods. I don’t doubt that these people are bullied for their music taste and fashion and I feel sorry for them, but I also don’t believe that they should be considered unique because they are blindly following this trend and the band members who don’t follow their own prophecies of being an individual. Many of the music from the bands that I heard that day sounded very similar instrumentally and lyrically. It is hypocritical to teach what you do not follow, but it is even more of a travesty to carry on the prevailing standard of nonconformity and to imprint it on to people who are searching for their unique identity.    

All in all, nonconformity for the sake of nonconforming is still conformity. If you choose to question everything, shouldn’t you also question your questioning? Shouldn’t you challenge the desire itself to question? People need to find the deeper reason for why they portray themselves the way that they do and why they go against societal norms. If it is only because they want to rebel against what is popular, they are conforming to our society’s nonconformist trends. In order to truly be a nonconformist is to live and present yourself without thinking of people’s perception of you. That is the real you and makes you unique, because it is rare for people to live and act without allowing society to have a say in who they are.


Works Cited:

"Bill Vaughan." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2015. 25 November 2015. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/billvaugha122530.html

Chernoff, Marc. "Nonconformity for the Sake of Nonconformity Is Conformity."Marc and Angel Hack Life. N.p., 05 Sept. 2007. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.<http://www.marcandangel.com/2007/09/05/how-to-avoid-the-pitfalls-of-     conformity-and-nonconformity/>.


Artist's Statement: 
The two paintings below connect to my essay by providing a visual element that implicates my thesis and thoughts. The first painting states, "In trying to be different" with two green people and one blue person. The one blue person represents the nonconformist in the group of green people. I chose to make the other two people different shades of green to show that people labeled "conformists" in our society are not exact copies of one another, but they are extremely similar. The second painting is a continuation of the previous one and finishes the sentence by saying, "we become the same" under three shades of blue people. I used three shades of blue for the people for the same reason that I did the green people in the first painting. The continuation of the painting symbolizes how people who claim to be nonconformists obsess with being different and follow these set standards of nonconformity that I discussed in my essay. 
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Advanced Essay # 2

I could see her lips moving and her jaw going up and down but the words the sentences that she was speaking made no connection in my brain. When I think back to that day I think maybe it was her thick accent that I could never understand or her horrid pronunciation.  Even today I can never clearly understood what she was saying, but I will always remember her walking me into my first class walking in and seeing the kids sitting in there chairs quite focused and the teacher was sitting taken in her own world just as the students.

They all were reading their own books because they had a choice reading. Which I later learned found out and it  was  not just something Americans did in school. I remember the girl sitting next to me asked me for my name and I couldn't understand her it seemed like she was also speaking in language I did not know, I felt lost and out of place. Then she said to me would you like to borrow a book I feel like I said yes to her because after that I remember opening this book and feeling this spark of joy because there was finally something I could see and read that I could partially understand. It was weird to see how short the American's alphabet was so short I thought, but at least I am familiar with some of these words they are not all just symbols like the Greece's with their alphabet 2 letters then the rest seems like the jacked the periodic table of elements.

The way that this two people spoke were different so it came easier to understand  the girl because she has a less thick accent is the best way to describe it because the older women had a thicker accent and the region was hard to tell. It might also had to do with that she talked in a more proper way and some of the words that she was saying I could not understand that well.  The girl was saying words that I could understand because she was a first grader the boy next to me though who was the same age as me talked the same girl but when we got outside and he meet his friend the way that he was talking to to him was so different he switched his tone his way of speaking the properness.

I never put so much thought in the way that people spoke but the way that he spoke to me and then introduced himself to his “bro” was interesting because it made me curious to see if all people switched the way they talked to one another. That day I went home  with this thought in my mind do all people switcht the way they talk with one another or is it just people that have some kind close relationship. On the train ride home I saw a man interacting with one of his “boys” as he called him and when his other acquaintance came walking by he did not otter some type of saying like he did with the first two kids. That same day I went to introduce myself to the neighbours with my parents and the way that they were speaking bad but  not to the point where you could not talk they were speaking so proper on both sides and so generic it seemed like the entire time I was in a play scene waiting for it to be over but it kept going every one with these scripted words not real voice then when I went home I heard them speak normal.

This made me think of a quote from the story that we read How to Tame A Wild  Tongue

“I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess - that was a good for three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler. I remember being sent to the corner of the classroom for “talking back” to the Anglo teacher when all I was trying to do was tell her how to pronounce my name. If you want to be American, speak ‘American.’ If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong.” This quote was powerful to me because it made me think that this girl was me at one point I was at the end of that stick I could not read or write or even speak English does that mean I should go back a go to where I was from. When I write I write with imperfections and and my type of writing is how I speak it's my voice taking form in words on my paper, does this mean that I should be kicked out and judged because of the type of english I speak . If so then who else needs to what is perfect english in speaking and writing what is the standard who should we follow.

I think not such thing exist because everyone has an individual voice away that  they speak that represents 

them and there are times when groups of people start to speak the same because they understand one 

another and when they change the way they speak like that with one another it's because that's for them to 

understand that's a way to show their individuality a way to break from the shackles that bind is a way to 

rebel from the idea of one voice on mind. Voltaire once said “Men use thought only as authority for their 

injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.”This quote I thought was a way to describe the 

way we write and the way we speak as well I thought that writing is a way for us to not hold back and get out 

thoughts out on pen and paper for the ones that we cannot speak we write. I used this quote not for the 

meaning of men have bad thoughts but because we are not allowed to speak our mind or speak in our own

way that is holding us back suppressing us and binding people's voices but we we also put that in words it 

makes it so much worse because leaves us with nothing like Maya Angelou said “There is no greater agony 

than bearing an untold story inside you.”.


Music is the Influence

Intro:


This paper is about the way that musicians, rap artists especially, use their words to influence their fans. I think this is important because everyone loves art and it is extremely important for people to share their thoughts and art. The way that rappers use literacy and change it up to tell stories is amazing and I find it very important just because they are able to inspire and influence their fans with their music.



Essay:


I once told my English teacher to “Shut the fuck up”. I do not know if you have ever been pushed to the point that you had to do things that were out of line but I have. At the time I was some depressed little kid whose new days were just a copy of the previous one. I wanted and needed something to happen so I looked for the opportunity and when a career discussion came up I thought that I would be able to shock the rest of the class with my goals. “I want to be a fashion designer” I said. I then talked about my role model Kanye West and how he has inspired me to be different. They laughed and the teacher told me that Kanye West was such a ridiculous man and I should never try to shoot to be something that I can’t do. I think he was just trying to “be real” but I found it being one of the most disrespectful things someone has ever said to me. So, in a calm but apoplectic voice I said “Shut the fuck up. You’re a teacher…a teacher that is putting his stress and hate on his students. I don’t appreciate what you said and if you really think that then I guess I will grow up to be such a ridiculous man as well but at least I’ll be more paid than you are.” I was told to leave the class immediately.


Everyone is influenced by certain artists who are considered their icons. They use literacy in such a way that creates pieces or songs that are just perfect to certain listeners, viewers or readers. Literacy is universal. Every culture has their type of literacy that shapes and defines who they are. It is in our arts, it is in our schools, we speak using words, our world runs on math, science, and literacy. In music, literacy is expressed in multiple different ways. Also, artists all around the world have different fan bases who are influenced through the music that the specific artist creates. For example, rock or metal fans would speak and act a different way than hip hop/rap fans speak or act. They could also influence fans to do things that are out of their comfort zone and or raise their confidence.


Kanye West is my biggest influence by far and because of him, I can say that I talk, act, and dress differently from other people. West, 38, once said before that his “music isn’t just music — it’s medicine.” Like other fans of artists, I find things like this true. When you are influenced by someone as much as some fans are by their favorite artists, they vouch for what they say. They also take the information and change themselves because of it. For example, if a rapper states that they go to a restaurant every Friday, many of his fans might be influenced to visit that restaurant just because they believe that is what is the “cool” thing to do. As a person who is heavily influenced by West, I would not say that he influences me because he is famous and I want to follow him in order to be cool like he is.... I would say that instead of following him, I am learning from him. The masses do not truly understand the difference between following and learning and that is why some fans who are influenced by artists who do bad things are most likely to do bad things as well and that could be a problem.


Not only do artists influence the way people act but they also could influence the way they talk or the way they dress. Rappers specifically, use different types of slang words depending on where they are from or what they represent. For example, over the years rappers have used words like “jawn” to “trill” to “bud” as slang words to replace actual words for the sake of rhyming, for fun, or to replace the names of drugs. The way certain musicians speak has such a big influence on fans and a lot of times, fans do not even notice that the way they speak has changed. One big influence is A$AP Rocky. Rocky is a younger artist who has grasped the youth and influenced the way we speak and dess. He has brought words like “trill” and “jodye” to the world of slang and although he impacted the New York youth scene the most, kids from all over the world have been heard saying words that he has brought into the game.


It is believed that what artists (rap artists) wear has the most influence on the fans. Fashion is such an important subject in society and almost everyone does not realize how influenced they could be when it comes to fashion and style. Since the beginning of rap, fashion, streetwear especially, has been talked about and has influenced popular culture even to this day. From Notorious B.I.G. and his Coogi sweaters, to A$AP Rocky and his Raf Simons and Maison Margiela, to Kanye West in Haider Ackermann and other high fashion clothing, rappers have dominated pop culture influence when it comes to fashion for the masses. Kanye West is a perfect example...because of him people from all over the world have taken more notice to high fashion brands like Givenchy, Marcelo Burlon, and Haider Ackermann. We also cannot forget that every sneaker that has been designed by Kanye West has sold out in less than two hours upon release. Not everyone listens to hip-hop but everyone does wear clothes and when people see rappers wearing the clothes that they are, they have to have it because this person might be their idol or they love the piece. When people see each other wearing certain pieces, the influence spreads and artists themselves become trendsetters. I believe that fashion has the biggest influence on fans (besides the music) just because it has been relevant since the beginning of the idea of popular culture. Rap artists are not the only ones that have influenced their fans either. Musicians in every genre have set trends for their fans over and over again and that is why music and fashion go so perfectly together.

Music being the influential tool that it is, has been around for decades and decades. But not only has the music inspired people but the artists themselves have inspired and changed the listeners every since popular culture has become a more relevant subject in society. Artists have influenced people’s speech, attitude, and fashion sense and it can be said that this will happen for as long as people are able to express and share their art.


The Myth of Cultural Literacy

Introduction

This essay centers around the different types of literacy one can encounter in the world. Here I asked myself what does it really mean to understand a culture. I’m very proud of some of the metaphors used in this essay. I would like to further my metaphorical ability in future writing assignment.


Advanced Essay

As Americans, we are privileged to be exposed to diverse experiences. With this comes a perceived understanding of many cultures and their influences, but in fact, full cultural literacy is near impossible to achieve because the full depth of a culture is made up of many different subcultures. Culture is neither simple nor static.

My great-grandfather was born and raised in the backwoods of Mississippi during a turbulent time for African Americans. As a black man, he lived with perpetual danger. Through visits by the KKK, physical exploitation, and exploitation of black women, he has developed a much different opinion about gun ownership than I have.

My maternal great aunt, Henni, was a beautiful woman in her time. She was a tall 5’5” with long, wavy hair that rested in little curls at the ends. Her skin was a light coffee color, much like mine. Her facial features displayed an uncharacteristically delicate quality for her time. She was a nexus for all types of attention, good and bad.  

When she was at the ripe age of sixteen, a man, almost twice her age, arrived on the front porch. As he knocked on the door, he crooked a sly smile, not expecting to be greeted by the stoic face of my great grandfather. My great grandmother's exact words were something like “That big old man weren’t expecting your granddaddy to open the door. His smile dropped so quick you could feel the breeze.”

I can imagine that his smile dropped for two reasons. The first would be that my great grandfather met him at the door. The second was the shotgun Granddaddy cradled in both arms, the way a pageant queen might hold a bouquet. He cocked the gun. A hard gulp was taken. "I don't want no trouble, sir. I just wanted to see Henni," the man said, though much weaker than he intended.

Granddaddy was unbelieving. "You chased my daughter through a field, tried to snatch up her up and now I’m finding you on my porch?", he said in a low aggressive tone.  "Leave." I imagine him saying this part slowly, like a one liner from an action movie. In that instant the act of having a gun empowered him to defend his daughter from the advances of a white man in the Jim Crow South. Although he threatened violence in its expression, my great grandfather’s only intention was to protect his daughter, a pure and understandable sentiment.
One can see why easily see why my great-grandfather would favor access to guns. In his worldview, guns weren’t an offensive weapon, but rather a tool for defense. From my perspective,  I find guns to be overwhelmingly dangerous. My grandfather and I were from the same culture but at the same time we were raised by different cultures. The culture that raised me is like a tumorous growth on the back of his, a mutated and morphed version of what was once his culture. Although are part of the same origin, different experiences yield different offspring. Both create opposing views to the other.  The question about the acceptability of guns can't be answered simply. There are a thousand ways to think about this one issue, each supported by their own cultural experience.  

The writer Ravi Zacharias once said "With no fact as a referent, what is normative is purely a matter of preference.” He’s saying that nothing is universally true, especially not on a cultural level. Think of sub cultures as different type of dance. Like dance, each subculture is founded in its own philosophy.  Like ballet and hip hop sometimes these philosophies are diametrically opposed. This makes a superficial understanding achievable but to fully understand these philosophies one must commit to them and you can’t fully commit to two opposite ideas. One might say that commitment isn’t necessary for understanding but the great Chinese philosopher Confucius would disagree. In The Analects, the sacred text of Confucianism, he says that without life long commitment learning is impossible.

To fully understand a culture, even one of origin, in all of it's dimensions would require an real world understanding and encyclopedic knowledge of each individual subculture. Culture is too vast and ever expanding to grasp in its entirety. To put it mathematically, there are just too many variables, but this doesn’t mean that we should turn inward and deny ourselves culture in all of its forms. I purpose that we embrace this unknown. There is so much culture can provide for us.

digital representation

Caroline Pitone - SLIDE

Inspiration




My slide is a little different than what you would probably expect from me. From looking at it, you may be like ¨What?¨. I wrote my initials in the center and upside down for a reason. That reason is being because I always feel like my life is upside at some point. But then again I can't forget about the upsides. My sisters initials are right above mine because she's up in the clouds watching over me. My background is white because there isn't a certain thing that describes me. As time goes on, I've learned that things do change and they change unexpectedly. So I can't always latch on to something and get too attached, because it could be gone in the blink of an eye. Time is an important key to my life and living. Everything is paced. I listen closely to my surroundings like music.


CCP (1)

Advanced Essay #2- Literacy and Tolerance

Intro:
For this essay, I really focused on making sure that my thesis was clear and well supported by facts. It’s easy to use your own life as an example to support the thesis you created. It is another to actively search for outside sources that will support your thesis. I think I did well when picking the quotes I was going to use and in my analysis of them, given the word limit we had. I would like to continue improving my analysis and research as I continue my writing. I would also like to improve my imagery in writing, to make both my scenes of memory and analysis more engaging for the reader.

Essay:

I’ve always believed that reading and writing are the closest things humans will ever get to magic. They allow us to know things and people that never were. They allow us to create worlds and people and places that never happened. We can alter the course of human history with a single story. We can change the way people see the world with one book. If you need proof of this, simply look at the Harry Potter franchise. With 7 books, JK Rowling influenced billions of lives. She’s prevent countless suicides with her characters and taught us hundreds of lessons with her stories. Her books created worlds, created movies, created thousands of fans. All simply by writing something that people wanted to read.

This pleasure isn’t something that should be withheld from anyone, yet 26% of the world’s population is illiterate. This is something that can greatly affect the rest of your life. Not only does being a literate person give you social, political, and economical advantages over an illiterate person, but it can completely alter the way you think. When author Neil Gaiman spoke for the Reading Agency in London two years ago, he made it clear how important literacy is in our lives: “How many prisoners are there going to be, 15 years from now? And [scientists] found they could predict it very easily, using a pretty simple algorithm, based on asking what percentage of 10 and 11-year-olds couldn't read.” The fact that literacy can determine likely it is that you will go to prison in 15 years should completely dispel any sort of passivity surrounding this issue.

I’m lucky, in the sense that I grew up in a very literate home. I grew up with bedtime stories and parents and teachers who were constantly teaching and encouraging me to read. I went to a school that had a library full of different books. By the time I reached second grade, I was reading far above my grade level. And that talent became a passion. JK Rowling has said, “If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book yet.” I was lucky that I found the right book so young.

When my second grade class reached the library on the third floor of my school, I already knew which book I wanted to check out. As Ms. Moran let us go look around the library, I made a beeline for the fantasy section. I grabbed the first copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone I could find. I had just seen the movie and I wanted to read the book. I ran to get my book checked out and then plopped myself down on one of the beanbags in the reading area. This was the biggest book I had ever read by myself, but I was determined to do it. I opened the book to the first page and dove in. By the time Ms. Moran came back to get us, I had finished the first chapter and had decided that I would read the entire series.

“What book did you get, Michaela?” my friend Lindsey asked me.

I smiled, “Harry Potter!”

Harry Potter quickly became my favorite series. I fell in love with the plot and the characters and the world they existed in. I began to explore the world of books, the world of magic. I read to both understand the world, and to escape it. I read to believe in magic and myself. In the words of Sherman Alexie, “I read with equal parts joy and desperation. I loved those books, but I also knew that love had only one purpose. I was trying to save myself.” When the world wasn’t there for me, my books were.

And all of the reading paid off. According to a 2014 study:

becoming engrossed in a novel enhances connectivity in the brain and improves brain function. Interestingly, reading fiction was found to improve the reader's ability to put themselves in another person’s shoes and flex the imagination in a way that is similar to the visualization of a muscle memory in sports.- (Reading Fictions Improves Brain Connectivity and Function, Psychology Today, Christopher Bergland)

This study isn’t the only one of its kind. Also in 2014, researchers from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy found that children who read Harry Potter were far more likely to be open minded and less prejudiced to different people and cultures.

Reading provides escape and magic and the ability to connect with the people around us. Literacy provides so much more than practical advantages. Literacy, especially in young children, can completely change how you see the world and the people in it. Literacy can open your eyes to how terrible this world is, but it can also make you realize that you can change it. People who read are more likely to be more tolerant, empathetic, and open-minded. They see the world not how it is, but how it could be. For the literate, it is easier to look past difference in past, skin color, culture, and heritage. Our imagination knows no bounds and our reality is very different from that of the person who doesn’t read. For the man who doesn’t read, reality is small and boxy. It is their home and their community and their day-to-day routine. For the man who does read, reality is the whole world and every piece that works together to make it turn. Literacy is not simply a tool that humans use to further themselves; it is a key that unlocks different worlds and emotions and frees us from the cage of ignorance.

Works Cited


Alexie, Sherman. "Superman and Me." The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the Pleasures of Reading. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1997. N. pag. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 1998. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://articles.latimes.com/1998/apr/19/books/bk-42979>.

Bergland, Christopher. "Reading Fiction Improves Brain Connectivity and Function." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 04 Jan. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <https%3A%2F%2Fwww.psychologytoday.com%2Fblog%2Fthe-athletes-way%2F201401%2Freading-fiction-improves-brain-connectivity-and-function>.

Eberspacher, Sarah. "Study Finds Kids Who Read Harry Potter Books Become More Tolerant of Minority Groups." The Week. Dennis Publishing Limited, 30 July 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://theweek.com/speedreads/449053/study-finds-kids-who-read-harry-potter-books-become-more-tolerant-minority-groups>.

Gaiman, Neil. "Why Our Future Depends on Libraries, Reading and Daydreaming." Reading Agency. Barbican, London. 14 Oct. 2013. The Guardian. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming/print>.

"International Literacy Day September 7, 2001 Washington, DC." International Literacy Day: Facts about Illiteracy. SIL International, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www-01.sil.org/literacy/LitFacts.htm>.

Myers, Christopher. "The Apartheid of Children’s Literature." Editorial. New York Times 16 Mar. 2014, National ed.: SR1. Print.

Zimmer, Carl. "This Is Your Brain on Writing." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 June 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/science/researching-the-brain-of-writers.html?_r=0>.

Becoming ME! By Sean DeSilva

Inspiration Is What Drives Me


Create a script to describe that slide. Why did you make the slide look the way it does? What influenced your decision making? Use new vocabulary from the websites to write this script.


The reason why I chose to make my slide the way it is, can be for many reasons. But the main reason why I chose to include the quote and the picture is because I want to inspire people who read this. You see, I play this game called "League of Legends.'' I started the game 3 years ago (October 22, 2012). I fell in love with it and wanted to get better. I was inspired by many of the famous Pro-League players and I wanted to become the best player in my area. I was driven by the inspiration that was given to me due to my discovery of the game. I want to be the best that I can of the game and I still want to, after years and years of practice and determination I am almost there to where I want to be! I want people to understand that only losers give up and winners always try no matter how hard they've fallen! Don't let your dreams be in your head, make them real for others to see!



Sean DeSilva Orange Stream Tech Slide-Presentation (1)

Advanced Essay #2 Luke Watson-Sharer Financial Literacy

Financial Literacy

By Luke Watson-Sharer

things in a small highlight is apart of script


As the United States loses its resume as a financial have, it is important to understand why. Is it because of multi-national corporations, banks, or the people? The lack of instruction in basic financial literacy has contributed to the destabilization of the United States. A basic economic literacy lesson is focusing on fiat currency, banking and the, minimum wage. To become financially literate, you must understand these topics. “Economics is everywhere, and understanding economics can help you make better decisions and lead a happier life”- Tyler Cowen.


One reason financial literacy is low is because people do not make enough effort understand basic economics. The nightly news broadcasts the Dow, S and P, etc. stock markets but we do not know the importance of theses institutions and ratings. To few high schools offer an class in economics, banking or anything to promote financial responsibility and literacy. This hurts our next generation especially when the up and coming currencies such as the bitcoins emerge. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss necessary components of basic financial literacy.


Fiat Currency has a daily effect on our lives and is significant to U.S. history since 1968. Fiat Currency is money that has no commodity. Commodities can be anything from precious metals, such as gold and silver, to food. Now you’re thinking, sweet, we get free money. Well, it’s the other way around. Fiat Currency only favors those with a lot of money.  When you have fiat currency you can create money from nothing. Therefore, every next dollar makes every other dollar worth less. This hurts your money big time. Workers are already taxed a lot but this serves as a “hidden tax.” This also allows unlimited credit and loans. So some will say, “cool more free money”. The word credit is Latin for credere which means “to believe.”  By creating money through loans and credit, the money supply increases and therefore, money has less value. Citizens need to be aware of what devalues our currency. Knowing the basics of fiat currency is a step towards financial literacy.“At the end fiat money returns to its inner value—zero.” - Voltaire




Another component of financial literacy we must understand how to be financially responsible. Knowing how to bank is required in a “free market” society. Banking consist of a few essential things: credit (covered above), saving, and profits. Credit is when a bank provides a loan. Loans are lending money from one institution or person to another institution or person. Loans must be repaid usually with interest. Savings are money a person or institutions saves or does not spend. When money is in our savings, it is reinvested by a bank as a loan to another person.  For example, the other person may buy a car, home, or pay for college. This means that the interest pulled from the credit on loans is how banks profit as a business. Saving money is important because it enables the banking system to work.  Without money from savings, banks could not be make loans and be profitable.  Understanding interest, credit and savings is another step towards financial literacy. “Typically, students slide into debt through the extension (by credit card companies) of unaffordable credit lines.”- Robert Manning



        The following scene explains the basics of banking.


Client 1: “Hello clerk, I’d like to deposit ten dollars.”

Clerk: “ Certainly would you like this in your savings or checking?”

Client 1: “Savings please.”


The bank can now reinvest your ten dollars.


Client 2: Can I borrow ten dollars for a shirt?”

Clerk: “Certainly.  The interest rate is 6%”

Client 2:” Fine by me”


1 month later he must pay the bank back. But must pay them an extra 6%.


Clerk: “Good afternoon.  Are you here to pay your loan?”

Client 2: “Sure. Ten bucks.”

Clerk: “Sorry, sir. Ten bucks plus 6% interest.”

Client 2:  “Oh, yea.”


Financial literacy also requires understanding the minimum wage. The minimum wage is the lowest legal wage one can employ labor at in the U.S., adjusted by states. The minimum wage was created in 1938. As indicated by the chart, the minimum wage has not kept up with the rate of inflation.


Year

Minimum Wage

Wage worth in today’s money

1938

.25 cents

$4.15

1950

.75 cents

$7.29

1956

$1

$8.61

1968

$1.60

$10.75

1975

$1.80

$9.49

2015

$7.25

$7.25

Source:  Pew Research

Many say the minimum wage isn’t for a family. Well, I agree it isn’t but it wasn’t meant to be. It was intended to be for younger workers and to raise the working age. Yes, it’s too low, but it was meant to be the minimum rather than a going rate. It’s important to understand the use of the minimum wage but also to restore it to a relevant wage of at least $12 an hour.  Since 2009, the minimum wage has lost about “8.1% of its purchasing power to inflation.” (Pew Research, 2015).  This reality is acknowledged by the twenty-nine states that have set a higher minimum wage. While workers need to know the minimum wage, more importantly, they need to know how to work for a fair or living wage. Understanding labor rights are just as important as understanding civil rights; they are connected. “I do not support raising the minimum wage, and the reason is as follows. When the minimum wage is raised, workers are priced out of the market. That is the economic reality that seems, at least so far, to be missing from this discussion”.- John Sununu


In conclusion, as we are not teaching our students financial literacy, we may potentially will lose our savings, become overly indebted, and not demand equity in pay.  Without basic financial literacy, citizens will not be able to challenge those who control capital and make policy. Because basic financial literacy has not been taught, the U.S. goal to become “middle class” has become less attainable.  To change this trend, basic economic literacy, including discussing fiat currency, basic banking and minimum  

wage, needs to be infused into the curriculum.  Financial literacy should be added to “reading, writing and arithmetic” in all schools.




Bibliography:

A History Of The Minimum Wage." YouTube. YouTube, 3 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2015. by Time Magazine:


White, Lawrence H. "Inflation." : The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Econlib, 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.:
https://vimeo.com/146914128

Tech Me Magazine Jacobo Pastor

Tech Me Magazine Jacobo (2)
​I have chose this design because it express what are the steps that I have overcome to be myself. First of all I have done a breve description saying that I am in high school for the reader to have a sense about what is he/she looking at, and what is he/she going to expect. In the second description I have chose the most important fact about me, which characterized my way of thinking, acting and expressing myself: I am from Spain what makes a different that leads the reader to be more interested in my Magazine. In the last description by saying one of the few, leads the reader to guess that I am also smart enough to get to a good high school that will help me to choose in which way I should go in the future, what should I choose and why.

Advanced Essay #2: The Importance of Handwriting

Intro:


In this essay I wanted to focus on writing scenes of memory. In the previous essay I didn’t work as hard as I could have on the scene I chose to include and did not develop it very much. I also decided to focus on the development of my thesis and my ideas. I am proud of the growth of my scene of memory. I think I did a better job of writing it than the memory in my previous essay. I am also proud of the topic I chose and how I was able to tie it back to literacy and identity. As we continue to write essays I want to do a better job of making my scenes of memory more engaging. I want to be able to express my ideas more concisely and also be able to include a greater variety of ideas.


Essay:


I stare steadily at the open composition book lying on my dining room table. The pencil I hold trembles slightly as I tentatively move the tip towards the empty paper waiting below me. Slowly and carefully I start copying the words my abuela has written on a separate piece of paper. La gata come su pollo. I copy the sentence over and over again until I’m sure my abuela will be satisfied. When I’m finished I look down at my handiwork and smile triumphantly. The words I just finished copying are legible, though aesthetically mediocre. My handwriting has improved drastically since I began practicing at the beginning of summer vacation. It isn’t something I chose to do. My mother insisted that I learn to write neatly. In previous school years teachers often complained of my almost illegible handwriting and my mother decided it was time for a change. My mother not only decided that I would be taking daily handwriting lessons but also decided that my abuela would be my teacher. I had not been excited and I still am not excited to have to spend hours copying meaningless sentence after sentence. For what has to be at least the hundredth time this month I wonder why handwriting seems so important to every adult I have ever met. Why do I have to have perfect my handwriting? Is handwriting still relevant in an age where we can type everything we want to write on phones, computers, and other electronic devices?


“Handwriting, e.g., using the hand to form letters on a page, is essential in the writing process and can predict the amount and quality of children‘s written ideas.” There are multiple reasons handwriting is important. One of these reasons, as quoted above, is the fact that handwriting influences the writing process and improves quality of written ideas. Handwriting influences composition, explained in the following quote: “Handwriting, and in particular the automaticity of letter production, appears to facilitate higher-order composing processes by freeing up working memory to deal with the complex tasks of planning, organising, revising and regulating the production of text. Research suggests that automatic letter writing is the single best predictor of length and quality of written composition in the primary years... in secondary school and even in the post-compulsory education years.”  Handwriting abilities are also pretty accurate reflectors of success in school, grades, and test performance: “Not only were students with better penmanship in pre-k found to have higher scores in both reading and math later on, but they also had higher grades in general and higher scores on standardized tests. Students with strong handwriting marks in pre-k were found to have an overall “B” average in second grade compared to an overall “C” average for the students that did poorly on writing tasks in pre-K.” Handwriting not only affects writing but also reading skills: “Dr. Dinehart did point out in her report that studies have found that children who physically write letters recognize them more readily than students who type them on the keyboard, possibly meaning that handwriting instruction leads to better reading skills.” All these studies and research on handwriting prove that it is a fundamental aspect of literacy because it influences writing, reading, and school success. Even with all these apparent benefits schools have stopped teaching children to write neatly, the focus is never on handwriting. Handwriting is essential to our development as writers and yet we are never encouraged nor taught to write properly and as perfectly as possible. In the past, students were graded on handwriting and taught to write neatly and legibly. Whenever adults talk about their experiences in school they almost always talk about how when they were in school they had to write neatly and they were taught how to write neatly.They complain about how that has changed and how awful their child or children’s handwriting is. After researching handwriting I have come to agree with them. Handwriting is an important part of developing literacy but it is also more than that. It is an opportunity for each one of us to express our own individual personality and interpretation of literacy.


In recent years we have been moving away from paper and pencil literacy and have been focusing on technological literacy. Although being able to type instead of always writing by hand is wonderful it is important to not dismiss the importance of handwriting. It is essential that we are be literate with technology but other types of literacy are just as important. There is no one type of literacy that can take precedence over the others and it is vital to keep all literacies balanced because different types of literacy depend on each other. To be well rounded and to truly understand the world we need to be literate in every way possible. We shouldn’t dismiss handwriting and certain other types of literacy just because we are now more technologically advanced. To do so would be to ignore a fundamental part of the development of our individual literacy and understanding of the soul, spirit, mind, body, and universe. To maintain our own individuality and uniqueness in relation to literacy we must know how to express ourselves through our handwriting. To be able to understand the ideas of the many people who use technology and social media to express themselves we must be technologically literate. To understand the music and messages spread through music we must be musically literate. None of these types of literacies outweigh each other; they all add up into a unique and complete understanding and comprehension of the world.



Sources:


Clark, Gloria Jean. "The Relationship between Handwriting, Reading, Fine Motor and Visual-motor Skills in Kindergarteners."Http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/. Iowa State University, 2010. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2432&context=etd>

Medwell, Jane, and David Wray. "Handwriting: What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know?" Literacy 41.1 (2007): 10-15. Apr. 2007. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.drawingchildrenintoreading.com/assets/handwriting-article-medwell_jane.pdf>.

Stevens, Angie. "Is Handwriting an Important Part of Language and Literacy Instruction?" - Reading Horizons. Reading Horizons, 2 Feb. 2012. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.readinghorizons.com/blog/post/2012/02/07/is-handwriting-an-important-part-of-language-and-literacy-instruction.aspx>.


Second Modality:


Instead of making a digital story I decided to make some art pieces/write poetry. For the first two pieces I found two poems about literacy and then illustrated them. I used different handwriting from a variety of people in those pieces to demonstrate how handwriting is unique. For the third piece I pulled words and phrases from my essay and wrote a poem. I then illustrated that poem as well.

Screenshot 2015-11-25 at 11.08.47 AM
Screenshot 2015-11-25 at 11.08.47 AM
Art2
Art2
Screenshot 2015-11-25 at 11.29.38 AM
Screenshot 2015-11-25 at 11.29.38 AM

Advance essay #2 [ Nobody learns the same ]


  At my old school in Wisconsin, I remember my social studies teacher yelling at me and my friend Keef for not paying attention in class, we would always play around in that class. Every day he would try to get either me or him to sit in the front of class, but it never worked. Every time he turned his head, we would make our way to the back of the classroom. It happened so much, he eventually gave up and just let us do what we wanted. He thought we would fail his class, and honestly, we probably would have failed. But he always made the same dumb move. Every test or quiz he put an answer sheet under his desk like we didn’t know he put it there. That’s how we passed the class, we would get the answer sheet before the tests or quizes started and  put them back before it was over. He knew we cheated too because he moved the answer sheet around sometimes we always found it though. After a certain amount of  good grades in his class, he eventually just put us in a different room for testing.  I believed he cared  for us because  he still gave us those good grades knowing what we were doing.

Having this past experience with my social studies teacher was helpful and harmful. It was helpful because I never failed his class that whole year I actually got straight A’s in that social studies class so it was a good short term experience. The bad long term experience is that, that whole year I honestly can’t remember anything I learned from that class. So I'm uneducated about  almost anything  that  has to pertain with social studies. From that class I learned something that helped me excel in school though. I learned that I can’t learn how I was being taught in that class and that may have something to do with the reason that I thought it was okay to cheat my whole sophomore year in social studies. Throughout my whole sophomore year in my social studies class he would do all of his work, lessons, test etc. out of a textbook and just hearing that makes me tired. I believe that made me lose a lot of focus because it's like the book is teaching me and not the teacher. Me, as a student really didn’t know why I didn't like school because how his class was, that was almost every  class,  I just thought that I would be a C student and that was good because that was what the school i went to made see okay. Until I moved back to Philadelphia. Now I go to a school called Science Leadership Academy  (SLA), and its like they so far showed me a whole different side to learning.

Attending SLA as a Junior they have showed me there is a different side to learning. A lot of their learning is based off of a computer it's usually just the classwork, and homework so the teachers are still very live in the classroom they go through lessons have classroom discussions about an assignment that you may have have not understood, your allowed to email them at a respectable time, anytime about question or concerns that you may have. My old school would just have had to call the school or tried to catch the teacher at sometime. They don't give  you so many test during the quarter it's maybe two but at the end of the quarter they give you a project which is not bad because they give you enough time to complete them. Lunch is extended an extra 30 min for any body who feel like they need extra help with their class work there is something called Math Lab where you can get extra help math by a teacher or a student how is in a higher math class. So it honestly seems like they care about your education and the teachers and the school wants to see you succeed.

Going through these experiences showed me that learning is not hard it’s all about how you get taught. Not everybody learns the same, also that not every school is the same prime example the situations i just explained. The school I'm at now which is SLA cares more about my education they just come up with ways for any student to learn were as my old school taught everybody the same way. It's important to know your students as a teacher because you could get through to some who feel like school is not for them and slowly make them realize that you care about their education and want to see all of their students succeed.


Advance Essay #2 The Syrian Refugee Crisis and The Hunger Games

Matthew Willson

11/25/15

Water Stream


Advanced Essay #2


Intro


While creating this paper the skills I mainly focused on were connecting the experience I had reading The Hunger Games and what I took out of that experience to a larger idea. I am proud of how I focused on a recent topic and related it to a book I read many years ago.  I have always been a good writer when it comes to creativity and making up stories. But I have never been that good or enjoyed writing and researching about real world topics. As I grow as a writer I hope to get better at writing bigger issues around the world.


Essay


Literacy is a way to communicate and a way to share ideas. This communication allows us to understand people's perspective through time. This communication can help humans understand and ideally learn from their mistakes so they are not repeated. Without literacy, good ideas cannot be shared and people also can’t learn about bad ideas, which risks bad ideas being repeated. By looking at the present Syrian refugee crisis, we can see that crimes are being committed against humanity. We have an opportunity to help the refugees. However, there is political pressure in our country to keep the refugees out because some people are afraid they bring the risk of terrorism.  This is important because we never want to repeat the history of not helping people in crisis.

When I was 11 I read The Hunger Games, a series of three books written by Suzanne Collins.  These books take place in a world called “Panem” which is divided into a very wealthy capital and twelve very poor districts that exist solely to support the capital.  At the start of the first book, each district sends one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death.  The children are chosen by lottery, with the event staged for the capital’s entertainment and as a “reminder” to the districts of the time when they attempted to revolt against the capital and were defeated. When I first read the scene where the children, called tributes, are chosen, I was shocked.  I just couldn’t imagine being at the whim of a person picking my name out of a raffle to be killed. The characters had done nothing and it was just a sick game for the powerful people from the capital.  I thought of what my world would be like in the future.  Would it have districts and segregation?  Reading the book emphasized how cruel it is for some people to make life decisions regarding other people. Power becomes the force that decides the fate of peoples’ lives, whether they live or die. Humanity is not even considered in this type of power relationship. It’s not about what's right or wrong, it's about who has power and who doesn't.  As an 11 year old this was a lot of me to comprehend. As humans our duty should be to make sure everyone is fairly treated. Throughout history people have done many sick evil things to set people behind due to their race or beliefs like Hitler or Slavery. The human race needs to look back and make sure that those things don’t happen again. We have to make sure the world doesn’t end up in a scenario like The Hunger Games.

Right now, the Islamic group ISIS has claimed responsibility for attacks in Paris that killed over 130 people. The group is forcing people in Syria and other Middle Eastern countries to either join them or abandon their Muslim religion.  At the same time, there is a civil war in Syria between the government led by Bashar al-Assad and the rebels.  As a result, there are hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, without homes because of the civil war, attempting to flee the country and avoid both the conflict and ISIS.  Many countries including the US are questioning whether they should allow the refugees to enter their country.  People are afraid that some ISIS terrorists will be hidden amongst the refugees, and so they feel it is just safer to say “No”.  This is not the time to abandon people we should be helping.  During the first Hunger Games, the main character, Katniss Everdeen, did not attack the other tributes.  She defended herself, and actually helped some of the other tributes to survive.  The lesson is that it is important to do the right thing, even if it may put you at some personal risk. These are the values that define who we are as a country.  We should not be afraid.  We should do the right thing and help the refugees who are in need.  Just after the attacks in Paris last week, the French President Francois Hollande said that France would allow 30,000 Syrian refugees into the country, honoring a commitment they had previously made.  Despite suffering the worst attack on French soil since World War 2, that is the right thing to do.  We need to do the same.


Advanced Essay #2 Literacy and Identity

Introduction

I knew from the beginning that I wanted my essay to have really strong scenes of memory. It was important for me to have this because I felt like it would be what made my thesis the most convincing. While writing my scenes of memory I tried to make them have a lot of description so that someone reading it would be able to visualize it. I think that my favorite part of my essay is the paragraph about having writer's block in middle school. This is probably because I had a personal connection to this part, which is funny because that’s one of the main points of my essay, that people write their best work when they’re writing about something they have a connection to and are passionate about. I think that if I can analyze my quotes in a stronger way it will make my writing stronger in general as well as make it flow more and just make for a better essay.

Advanced Essay

Up until the fourth grade I wasn’t a good reader. I remember picking up one book, Tuck Everlasting, and finally understanding what the big deal was about reading. It was just a normal Thursday. Forgettable really. The sun could have been reaching its rays through my classrooms 3rd floor windows or thunderclouds could have been sitting heavily over the buildings. I can’t remember. I do remember that my teacher had told us to bring a book to class because we were going to be doing independent reading. The book I brought was of no interest to me. Just looking at the cover made me grit my teeth. My friend, Nina, looked at me. “I have an extra book if you want, it’s one of my favorites.” I looked at her as she rummaged through her backpack and finally produced her paperback copy. Hesitantly, I took it from her. I heard the teacher say to start reading and went to lie on the carpet. The book sat in front of me, I dreaded opening it to the first page. With a final sigh I began to read. My eyes scanned the lines of each page and before I knew it, the time was up. To my surprise, I was upset that I couldn’t finish the chapter. I walked up to Nina. “You don’t mind if I borrow this right?”

In a lot of schools, the books that students have the option to read are not something that they are interested in. This could cause someone to never get into reading because the only things that they have read have been chosen by their school system. This can even be seen in writing. Structured essays and stories make it hard for individuals to show and express their themselves, and therefore their identities. The best writing that someone can produce will always be when they’re writing about something they have a connection to, whether that connection is a strong opinion, or a prominent memory.

Writer’s block. I would always get it at the worst possible moments. It was 7 o’clock the night before my first english essay of 7th grade was due and the only thing on my document was my name, which was funny because the essay was about our name. My name. I thought back to all the times it was mispelled and pronounced, how when people would ask me what it meant I had to tell them that I had no clue. I couldn’t count how many times I had said “No not India, it’s just Indee,” and “Yes, that’s the whole thing, it’s not short for anything.” As if my name wasn’t good enough, because it needed to be longer. Without even realizing it my fingers started hitting the keys. I didn’t know how much anger and annoyance I had for this topic. All of the times I remember hating my name and then loving it were forming on the page in such speed that even I was surprised. I heard my mom call up the stairs. “Ind! It’s time for dinner!” Without taking my eyes from the screen and my fingers from the keyboard I yelled back, “I’m not hungry!” There was no way I would stop myself now that I was completely focused.

"Reading can offer richer, broader, and more complex models of experience, which enable people to view their own lives from a refreshed perspective and with renewed understanding," This quote from the article, How Changing Your Reading Habits Can Transform Your Health, talks about how reading can give someone “complex experiences.” Complex experiences can contribute greatly to a person’s identity. With each story, the number of the readers experiences grow. A book can be a different experience for two people. One person could view it this way and the other a completely different way. These different views give others insight into who the individual is. Depending on how someone interprets something can show what type of thought process they have.

The books that someone reads affects how they view the world as well as how the rest of the world views them. A piece of literature can make you notice things you never thought about, and make the readers opinions sway from their original thoughts. The reader can have so many diverse experiences from books and how these experiences imprint on them can vary. The books someone reads and the topics they write about are as important to someone’s identity as their own fingerprint. Unique, unlike anyone else's.

Work cited

Grothaus, Michael. "How Changing Your Reading Habits Can Transform Your Health." Fast

Company. Mansueto Ventures, LLC, 27 July 2015. Web. Nov.14, 2015.

Digital Story