My six word story comes from a song by The Guess Who. Here is the extra credit prompt:
"Write your own six word story that will serve as the title to your portfolio. let it somehow communicate your writing journey, the subject of your papers in your portfolio, etc. let your imagination run wild. have fun with it. then, to actually get the extra credit, you'll need to provide a brief explanation (a short paragraph) that tells your reader how this six word story is representative of the experience that is your portfolio."
Seasons change and so do I
This six word story is representative of my writing journey this semester because I began not looking foward to English 101 class at all. I knew I was a decent writer, but not the greatest in the world. But throughout the entire course this semester, I was able to focus more to improve my writing, and figured that putting your own spin on writing is a good thing. It gives your words a unique voice that isn't like the standard 5-paragraph essay. This relates to my portfolio because in the three papers I selected, I had to change all of them drastically. By this, I mean I originally had an idea I thought would serve it's purpose in the topic. However, by getting some input from Rachel and consulting my own thoughts, I changed the overall meaning of every paper. Sure it's a ton of work, and thus far I'm only finished entirely changing one paper. It will be a lot of work to put my portfolio together, but in the end I believe it will be worth it.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
English 101.25 - Miracle
It's gonna take a miracle to do my best these final 2 weeks of school. Anyways, here's the prompt for the week:
"Out of the papers you are putting into your English portfolio, which one do you think shows your best work and which one do you think needs to be edited the most? Explain why. Be specific. Provide examples of your best and weakest areas."
In my portfolio, I am choosing the American Lit Essay, the Personal Analysis Essay, and the Research Paper. The one that I believe will show my best work is the Personal Analysis Essay for a variety of reasons. First, this is the paper I am most interested in, mainly because I am talking about sports and competitiveness; two things I can really relate to. Besides that, I'm mentioning a player from my favorite sports team, the Boston Red Sox. I also believe that the player, Jon Lester, and I have a few things in common besides our first names (even though my name is Jonathan). The best area in this paper definitely comes from my introduction where I'm relating competitions with my brother throughout our lives. My weakest area is connecting the part about Lester to my own story. Hopefully I'm able to work on it a bit and change it within the next week.
The paper that needs to be edited the most is essentially a tie between the other two, but I will give it to my American Literature Essay. This is because Rachel helped me come with an interesting spin on the paper that I can totally make my own. Originally, the essay was basically like everyone else's; they talk about Engdahl and give a clear example of literature as support. I'm going to take a different route, in regards to that literature isn't as big as it was in the past, due to technological innovations that have happened over the past few decades. Currently, I don't have any strong or weak areas in the paper because I haven't entirely started to hammer everything out.
Hopefully I can get all 3 papers done, along with the other 2 that I have to finish for other classes. Best wishes to everyone else with their finals and portfolios!
"Out of the papers you are putting into your English portfolio, which one do you think shows your best work and which one do you think needs to be edited the most? Explain why. Be specific. Provide examples of your best and weakest areas."
In my portfolio, I am choosing the American Lit Essay, the Personal Analysis Essay, and the Research Paper. The one that I believe will show my best work is the Personal Analysis Essay for a variety of reasons. First, this is the paper I am most interested in, mainly because I am talking about sports and competitiveness; two things I can really relate to. Besides that, I'm mentioning a player from my favorite sports team, the Boston Red Sox. I also believe that the player, Jon Lester, and I have a few things in common besides our first names (even though my name is Jonathan). The best area in this paper definitely comes from my introduction where I'm relating competitions with my brother throughout our lives. My weakest area is connecting the part about Lester to my own story. Hopefully I'm able to work on it a bit and change it within the next week.
The paper that needs to be edited the most is essentially a tie between the other two, but I will give it to my American Literature Essay. This is because Rachel helped me come with an interesting spin on the paper that I can totally make my own. Originally, the essay was basically like everyone else's; they talk about Engdahl and give a clear example of literature as support. I'm going to take a different route, in regards to that literature isn't as big as it was in the past, due to technological innovations that have happened over the past few decades. Currently, I don't have any strong or weak areas in the paper because I haven't entirely started to hammer everything out.
Hopefully I can get all 3 papers done, along with the other 2 that I have to finish for other classes. Best wishes to everyone else with their finals and portfolios!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
English 101.25 - The Adventure
I picked the title of this blog as one of my favorite songs by Angels & Airwaves. Also, Chris went on an adventure into the wild. Here's the prompt:
"Describe the kind of things you think Chris would do if he did make it out of the wild alive? Would he contact his parents? What would he say to them? Would he get a job, go back to school?
Back up your answers with examples from the text that make you feel this way. "
If Chris did happen to make it out of the wild alive, I don't believe he would have contacted any of his family. As it says in the very first epigraph of Into the Wild, Chris writes to Wayne saying, "Please return all mail I receive to the sender. It might be a very long time before I return South." By this, Chris was not planning on going back where his family lived. I believe he would get a job, due to all of the previous jobs he had taken along his journey. Chris would have worked for the sake of working, and having something to do. Eventually, just as he had, he would grow tired of working and just go about with no money. Potentially he could go on other venture out into the wilderness, or immigrate to another country. He would not have returned to school, as he did not like some of the rules and regulations that students had to abide by. No one knows the exact answers to what Chris would have done if he survived Alaska, and all we can do is guess.
"Describe the kind of things you think Chris would do if he did make it out of the wild alive? Would he contact his parents? What would he say to them? Would he get a job, go back to school?
Back up your answers with examples from the text that make you feel this way. "
If Chris did happen to make it out of the wild alive, I don't believe he would have contacted any of his family. As it says in the very first epigraph of Into the Wild, Chris writes to Wayne saying, "Please return all mail I receive to the sender. It might be a very long time before I return South." By this, Chris was not planning on going back where his family lived. I believe he would get a job, due to all of the previous jobs he had taken along his journey. Chris would have worked for the sake of working, and having something to do. Eventually, just as he had, he would grow tired of working and just go about with no money. Potentially he could go on other venture out into the wilderness, or immigrate to another country. He would not have returned to school, as he did not like some of the rules and regulations that students had to abide by. No one knows the exact answers to what Chris would have done if he survived Alaska, and all we can do is guess.
Friday, April 2, 2010
English 101.25 - Maps
Within the first sentence of reading the prompt, I immediately thought of a song from Rock Band called "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Anyways, here is the prompt for this week's blog:
"At the beginning of chapter 17 of Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer refers to the fact that McCandless did not have a topographic map a few times. In fact, McCandless did not have any map at all (174). This brings up the issue of how prepared Chris McCandless was for such an adventure. Krakauer often brings up letters from angry Alaskans or outdoorsmen who wrote letters complaining about this very issue, something that they saw as elementary knowledge and common sense. It is extremely difficult to argue that not having a map is not a sign of being unprepared when going out into the wilderness. However, it is important to note, as Krakauer does, that Chris had no intention of being 'prepared' in a conventional way with modern equipment (174). As we approach the end of the this documentation of McCandless's journey, has your overall view of Chris McCandless changed at all regarding this topic? Do you think that this is a sign of arrogance, ignorance, or just a human being challenging themselves? The chapter appears to be heavily defending Chris's mistakes in the wild, while still acknowledging them. Are Krakauer's methods effective for you in this case?"
Personally, my view of Chris McCandless has changed from the beginning of the book. Originally I believe McCandless to be extremely foolish, but reading the entire story has revealed new information. The whole acknowledgement of the maps towards the end provides an example that Chris did not bring what other people might not bring on a journey. He was not trying to bring a huge backpack with all the gear he needed in order to survive for years and years comfortably; he wanted to live off the land. Since the bus in Alaska was part of the land, he ended up calling it home becase that was basically his best option. Anyways, the map could be viewed as a human challenging themselves, because Chris very much challenged himself along every step of the journey. Additionally, the methods that Krakauer uses in the book are effective. At first I thought this information would have been more useful at the beginning and that it took too long to reveal. But going through each chapter how it was placed provides good context for the finally revealing of everything at the end. Krakauer has a well-written novel, and it was a pleasure reading it for the first time.
On a different note off topic, I like how in the closing chapters that Krakauer discusses McCandless's death and how reports were confirming all of his investigations, even though they were not right at the start. But Krakauer really did a ton of investigative work in order to figure out that those seeds in mixture with the mold would cause to die, instead of the original cause of death as starvation.
"At the beginning of chapter 17 of Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer refers to the fact that McCandless did not have a topographic map a few times. In fact, McCandless did not have any map at all (174). This brings up the issue of how prepared Chris McCandless was for such an adventure. Krakauer often brings up letters from angry Alaskans or outdoorsmen who wrote letters complaining about this very issue, something that they saw as elementary knowledge and common sense. It is extremely difficult to argue that not having a map is not a sign of being unprepared when going out into the wilderness. However, it is important to note, as Krakauer does, that Chris had no intention of being 'prepared' in a conventional way with modern equipment (174). As we approach the end of the this documentation of McCandless's journey, has your overall view of Chris McCandless changed at all regarding this topic? Do you think that this is a sign of arrogance, ignorance, or just a human being challenging themselves? The chapter appears to be heavily defending Chris's mistakes in the wild, while still acknowledging them. Are Krakauer's methods effective for you in this case?"
Personally, my view of Chris McCandless has changed from the beginning of the book. Originally I believe McCandless to be extremely foolish, but reading the entire story has revealed new information. The whole acknowledgement of the maps towards the end provides an example that Chris did not bring what other people might not bring on a journey. He was not trying to bring a huge backpack with all the gear he needed in order to survive for years and years comfortably; he wanted to live off the land. Since the bus in Alaska was part of the land, he ended up calling it home becase that was basically his best option. Anyways, the map could be viewed as a human challenging themselves, because Chris very much challenged himself along every step of the journey. Additionally, the methods that Krakauer uses in the book are effective. At first I thought this information would have been more useful at the beginning and that it took too long to reveal. But going through each chapter how it was placed provides good context for the finally revealing of everything at the end. Krakauer has a well-written novel, and it was a pleasure reading it for the first time.
On a different note off topic, I like how in the closing chapters that Krakauer discusses McCandless's death and how reports were confirming all of his investigations, even though they were not right at the start. But Krakauer really did a ton of investigative work in order to figure out that those seeds in mixture with the mold would cause to die, instead of the original cause of death as starvation.
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