...experience from the viewpoints of herself as an adult. Ms. Dillard’s essay uncovers the differences between how adults and children view the world and seek happiness. However, there are a couple points to this essay. It seems as though, one of the author’s main points was to convey the message that some of the simplest moments in her life were also the happiest and most memorable. For example, she says, “I got in trouble throwing snowballs, and have seldom been happier since”. Also, I noticed that the author seemed to be motivated to inspire readers to chase life’s experiences passionately until one is satisfied. In the essay the author uses two rhetorical modes: narration and description. Ms. Dillard uses narration to describe her perspective of what it was like to be a child in America. In addition to using narration she also describes the intricate details of that particular winter day “Six inches of new snow had just fallen. We were standing up to our boot tops in snow on a front yard trafficked Reynolds Street slowly and evenly; they were targets all but wrapped in red ribbons, cream puffs.” (91). In relation to the unit theme: The shaping of Identity this writing piece uses an autobiographical narrative and flashback writing techniques to portray the American Childhood. Ms. Dillard’s perspective of an American childhood was quite accurate and helped me to remember my own childhood. I really enjoyed that her essay didn’t portray her as overly girl but someone that could hang...
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...Dear Bardes (aka the best teacher ever), Throughout my memoir, I reflect upon the meaning of a home to me, and how it’s definition to me changed over time. I also try to use innocence and ignorance highlight the misunderstandings of the real world through the mind and eyes of a child. My narrative includes stories of immigration from Israel, the struggles to fit in, and accepting myself for being one of a kind. This belongs to Unit 4 in particular because it easily relates to the idea of immigration, and transition, and feeling left out of the crowd, which is what Oscar felt and experiences in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I also tried to use humor to spice up my memoir with statements such as “And if your mother [...] case red rain boots.” which as silly as it may...
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...trips unlike other families. I never really understood how we were able to do this seeing as my parents did not go to college. They also rarely ever read; if they did it would be a magazine or an article online, and they never wrote. My parents would always push me to read more and always do well on my writing assignments and review them over and over again so they would be the best of my ability. Back then I never really understood why they would make me do all of this, but now that I am a bit older and understand how important these traits are, I understand why they did this. I’ll never forget my English teacher my junior year of high school, Mr. Stanizzi. He was the most inspirational teacher I have ever had in my life. He genuinely loved his job and made English class fun, and fascinating. By this time I thought for sure that no teacher was ever going to change my opinion on writing, but he proved me wrong. There was something he did while teaching and analyzing poems that really struck my interest. Every week we would have a period just focusing on either writing our own poems or analyzing them. There was one particular poem that I was extremely proud of and showed Stanizzi the poem. He was shocked that I wrote such a good poem. He liked my poem so much he read it to the class for an example and he still reads it to his classes to this day. At this moment I realized that I actually enjoyed writing poems and that people actually enjoyed reading them...
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...Teresa Hugo ENC 1939: College Writing II Scarlett Rooney October 2, 2012 The Photographic Essay W.J.T Mitchell believes that “Photography is and is not a language; language also is and is not photography.” (Mitchell 510) That would lead one to question where do images end and words begin? Mitchell would answer with the word “ekpharisis” (Mitchell 509), meaning that words give a voice to the photo. Victor Burgin and Ronald Barth have opposing views as to how this occurs. Roland Barth would argue that those words are written or implied, and are put there by the author. Victor Burgin believes that the words are put to the image by the viewer as he examines the photo, and that the images and words will be seen and heard concurrently. In the end, it would be agreed by both, that a reader’s emotions and experiences will guide how they “read” the words of a photograph. Victor Burgin’s idea is that the photo is a “message without a code” (Mitchell 510), and the image and the word are two separate forms of communication. If there is no caption on a photograph, the viewer would inject their own wording based upon on their own life experiences. “A photo is invaded by language the moment it is looked at and becomes an almost relic of the event it portrays.”(Mitchell) A viewer looking at a photo will immediately have thoughts come to mind, and those thoughts become the words of the photo. Roland Barth believes that a photograph has its own language that coexists within it, and he calls...
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...How to Write an "Accomplishment Essay" What are your three most substantial accomplishments, and why do you view them as such? — Harvard http://www.free-essay-writing-topics.com/index.php?page=mba-application-accomplishment-questions What is the most significant change or improvement you have made to an organization with which you have recently been affiliated? Describe the process you went through to identify the need for change and manage the process of implementing change. What were the results? — Kelley Describe your greatest professional achievement and how you were able to add value to your organization. — Johnson The goal in answering this kind of question is to analyze, rather than summarize, an achievement. This advice is particularly true if you're discussing an accomplishment that is listed elsewhere on the application. Your readers want to gain insight into your character, not read a factual summary of what occurred. Here are some guiding principles to use in constructing your answer: (1) Choose something that's meaningful to you. Some applicants feel obligated to choose the most objectively impressive accomplishments. You should write about something that has personal significance, even if you weren't formally recognized for it. What matters is that you write passionately and insightfully about your subject. Unless otherwise specified, you should feel free to draw on academic, personal, or professional successes. (2) Focus on details about the process. Show...
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...through old pictures and junk. She is starting to get bored and missing her life in L.A. Her family still thinks of her as a child. The mother cannot giver daughter the same sense of home and family because of her disconnection. This essay spoke to me on various levels but the main reason why I chose it is because I could see myself in it. As a married woman who has chosen to live far from “home,” I felt connected to this piece and to Didion. In “On Going Home” Didion uses place in both ways. She discusses her childhood home, in the Central Valley of California, the specific place where she grew up and where her mother resides, and as she shares her memories and experiences with the location itself, she also gives up insight into her history, culture, what her family is/was like and how that place affected and still affects her emotionally and how it compares to the home she’s made with her husband and daughter in Los Angeles. Writing about place challenges us to rethink the way in which we view our own place—what we take for granted, how we choose to define ourselves, and what we mean to others.” Didion’s essay had a profound effect on me. It caused me to reflect on my own life and to think about where I came from, where I am now and where I’m going. I’ve lived in various places and have considered each one my “home” at one time or another. Although Didion was talking about her own life, I felt as though she might as well have been talking about me and mine even...
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...Personal Essay Prewriting Candace Thompson ENG/220: University Academic Writing Professor Epi Enari April 26, 2015 Personal Essay Prewriting Writing is what you make of it. Choosing a topic that you are passionate about sets up for a potentially great essay. That is why after looking at the topic choices, the one that I would choose jumped out at me. I have chosen to write about an important event that had an impact on my life. Furthermore, the event that will be discussed is the moment I became a mother. Being that this is a topic that I feel passionate about, my game plan jumped out very quickly. The first prewriting strategy that came to mind to use was focused freewriting. I have a specific topic to narrow in on and it is a subject very near and dear to my heart. For me, this means that my words basically jump onto the screen. As I began writing, I had easily written a five hundred plus word piece of writing before u even realized it. This assignment made it necessary to experiment with more than one prewriting technique. This allows you to generate as many ideas as possible regarding your topic. And even though freewriting seemed like a great plan for my essay, I was more than willing to experiment with some other strategies to make my paper even better. That is why I also decided to try out both the outline and invisible writing techniques. Invisible writing is pretty similar to the free write technique that I originally used. However, by not being able...
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...telling the story of a time when, without her husband, she took her daughter “home” to celebrate her first birthday to the hometown where Didion grew up in the house where she lived with her mother and premarital family. The essay deals with Didion’s personal issues as she compares and contrasts her current life with her husband and their child versus her life and experiences growing up. The essay speaks to the internal conflict many of us feel as adults once we leave the nest, so to speak, and go out into the world to find new “homes” while always looking back to our pasts. I felt connected to this piece and that connection inspired me to want to dive deeper. This essay spoke to me on various levels but the main reason why I chose it is because I could see myself in it. Both as a mother of a young child and as a married woman who has chosen to live far from “home,” I felt connected to this piece and to Didion as its writer. I have traveled with my daughter, now age four, back to visit my family in Philadelphia numerous times since she was born. When we lived in New York, I made the drive three to four times per year and now that I live in Iowa, the frequency has diminished to an annual flight but she and I still find ourselves making the trip without my husband, due to his work schedule. Our recent two lectures discussed the importance of “place” and its meaning in our writing. Unit One discussed place as a specific location and Unit Two took the discussion to another level...
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...Writing 121 Video Essay 13, March, 2014 Essay # 2– “Any Given Sunday” Football has always been one of America’s favorite past time sport, a sport that has been around for 145 years and a game that is a religion to some individuals. “No guts, No Glory!” I remember my high school couch always scream out into the stands and the team cheering that same chant into the battle field. Football is a very intense and dangerous sport that young men play to hold the glorious title of “Winner,” seizing the opportunity to show off all their incredible football skills. In the movie, “Any Given Sunday” there is a famous scene were Al Pacino the head couch, gives a common but important inspirational speech to get his team all riled up and ready for battle. Giving the opposing team a run for their money and fight for every last inch they need to get to be victorious in the game. In every great sports movie there is always that locker room scene that gets the team pumped up for the win or lose game, with inspirational heart pumping background music. Making you feel like you are right there in the locker room, living in the moment and thinking it’s all or nothing at that very instance. The head coach reaching into each individual player’s soul and heart giving them that push to leave everything on that field to give everything they have, like it was a life or death situation. How many times have you seen that famous locker room scene and how does it make you feel at that moment? When I saw...
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...Ethics Essay Ron ETH/316 August 23, 2012 Ethics Essay Ethics can be defined as right and wrong for some people but ethics goes beyond that definition. Ethics reflects a person morals, values, and beliefs. All of your ethical decisions can define you as an individual in some type of way. This paper will reflect the similarities and differences of virtue theory, utilitarianism and deontological ethics. Virtue theory reflects a person who is pursing excellence in life, looking to be the good person. Utilitarianism is when someone is looking to satisfy other more than themselves with morality rights. Deontological ethics is based off moral facts that result from human actions. The similarities between the three theories are that they all reflect the good in people and how people strive for excellence and to justify the good for other people. The difference in the three theories is virtue theory focus on striving for excellence but that can sometimes become challenging when making life decisions. Utilitarianism focus on morality rights for a group which is balancing the good over the bad. This also explains the saying” The greatest good for the greatest number” (Boylan,2009). Deontological ethics reflects human action which is a person dedication to moral duties. All of three of theories has their own point of view but most important it teaches the right way of human morals. As a parent, wife, student and employee ethics plays an important role in my everyday life. Virtue...
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...1. Complex question but simple understanding. My daughter has a way of coming up with awkward question and at times you are baffled with their unexpected questions. One such thing happens to me sometimes back. The T.V was on but I wasn’t really watching, my mind was plastered on the meeting that I was going to be held tomorrow, but my daughter’s curiosity had the better of me. It was 19:30 and during the news report it was inevitable that the PM had to be mentioned. My daughter precipitously looked at me with a puzzle face and asked “Dad, what is a Prime Minister.” It took me sometimes before I could response; my daughter was only nine years old. I tried to explain that a Prime Minister is a leader of a group of individuals who takes decision for all people in a country and ensure people live in peace, harmony and gets all the need we require. My daughter looked at me and said “So you are the Prime Minister” Great thinking. Yes as a matter of fact I am the Prime Minister of my house; I ensure peace, harmony and get all the needs for my family. From there on it was much easier to carry on the explanation. I am the Prime Minster of my house and there is another Prime Minster of the country in which there are many, many houses. Simple understanding for a complex question. Progressively when we grow up we are surrounded with sophisticated and contemporary thinking. With the passage of time unknowingly we lose our creativity and simplicity. In our complicated...
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...I believe that in one point of our life, everyone feels that it is in nowhere, like Judy Copeland Copeland Copeland in "The Way I've Come" and Colleen Kinder in "Blow Out". Both essays express the theme of being in "nowhere" very differently, but precisely. In "The Way I've Come" by Judy Copeland Copeland we can see in the first sentence, "how the author place a sense that she is in "nowhere" when she says” Alone on the grassy airstrip..." Judy Copeland tells her story of being far away from her place to a place where she feels different, just because now after being doing things for herself for so long, she is getting help from others, in this sentence " I've been a solo hiker for almost 40 years, even since I was two" here we can see how...
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... Well it back to the books I said to myself I wonder what’s in store for me this year. I could hardly believe it’s my final year in school. Like my teachers would say “getting ready for the real world.” When I returned to school, I was so excited to see all of my friends, we hugged, we talked about summer vacations and then the bell rang from homeroom. I was in Mr. Henry’s homeroom, I was glad; he is cool one of the coolest teachers. Announcements came on and then it was off to Convocation. Mrs. Knowles addressed the entire school and then turned her attention to the seniors, she reminded us about the seriousness of this year and how at some point during the year we may have to make decisions that can affect our life forever! I am sitting thinking to myself “what kind of decision will have to make that will affect my life? I have a mother who makes those decisions for me.” The following day classes were in full swing, and the work load was heavy, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. I had settled down a whole lot and my last report card was a reflection of it, it was the best report that I had gotten in years. And oh boy wasn’t my mother proud! The school year was going by so quickly before I could blink my eye we were taking year book pictures, getting measured for cap and grown and the deadlines or course work was almost here. I remember this particular morning, I arrived at school and just as I came out of the car. Kwame came to me with a smirk on his face and told me...
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...December 25th.2012: 2:00pm (forgot exact time ==) Perhaps my very writing of this journal is indeed insignificant or pathetic, but I’ve decided after all this time to begin writing something meaningful. Of course, the whole objective of this self-reflection is to simply reinforce my own feelings regarding some of the experiences in this past. Most importantly, there will not be any editing for spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes, for I want this journal to be a continuously flowing train of thoughts, or stream of consciousness as they call it in IB English, not some SAT writing or contents full of bullshit. This journal, although written on the day of Christmas, serves no particularly meaningful celebration of a particular event, and is simply inspired by a moment of epiphany upon reading the novel “The Wars” by Timothy Findley. Like I’ve said before, it is but a truthful reflection and self discovery that serve to preserve a state of experience or emotions in my infinitivally miniscule cycle of life that seemed nonetheless to be quite meaningless. Truth be told, I could probably continue writing like this for hours, if not days. (Days was an exaggeration by the way, for I will probably be playing a round of league of legends before then, and did I say I just lost a ranked game this morning too?...) But it’s quite strange, normally I’d be angry at the fact that I’ve lost a game that dropped my elo by 37, but really, does it even matter at all? To some extent, I have to...
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...Essay “Where are you going daddy?” I seemed to recall when he stepped through the door. Leaving behind a bittersweet reminder as I held the pastry in tiny palms, my world was torn asunder that afternoon. From that moment, the recognitions from childhood to adulthood encompassed my mother. The outcome of my father’s absence was a tightened clutch on my mommy’s sleeve when I was a little girl. Flooding emotions swayed by her gentle words of comfort blossomed into adoration for my mother’s accomplishments and determination in the face of adversity. These reflections shall merit my opinion that women play a greater role in raising children in society than men ever could. The first experience to verify my presumption was the first day of elementary school. Children clung to their father’s as though they were their foundations. My mother’s hand was tender, like she was cradling me in her palm. When she guided me through the door of the classroom, I recall her gentle words of encouragement were very different from the stern unmoving speeches by my classmate’s fathers’. A father’s lesson was spoken like a lieutenant to a trainee soldier. I always despised their methods and saw them as intimidating. Yet, when the moments came of moral and ethics, my mother told me stories and fables. They were scriptures of fantasy and folk-lore that still etched a lesson of life into my thoughts. My best friend would tell me that her father was a “magic man”, who would take...
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