...Throughout the course of the first nine weeks in Mrs. Theisen's AP English Language and Composition class, my writing has changed dramatically. Towards the start of the year my writing was very weak, yet it has improved towards the start of the second nine weeks. My writing began in this class with bad thesis statements, weak transitions, awkward grammar, and lack of relevant evidence. My writing skills at the beginning of this class started in a rough spot. There are a plethora of examples of how weak my writing was at the beginning of the nine weeks. To begin, my thesis sentences lacked relevance and contained bad grammar - if I had a thesis sentence to begin with. In the very beginning of the year I had no thesis statements in my papers,...
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...call his name. In this poem, identity is not seen as something that is solid and concrete but as something that is situated and constructed by others, a glimpse of poststructuralist view on identity. Recently, language learning has been seen as participation and negotiation of self (see Higgins, forthcoming; Kinginger, 2004; Lam, 2000; Morita, 2004; Ohara, 2001; Pavlenko & Lantolf, 2000; and Solé, 2007 among others). The trend is resonated in the growing interest in language learner identity and the studies in narratives. In this paper, a case of heritage language learner will be investigated upon the theoretical frame of poststructuralism. Narrative inquiry will be used to analyze how she negotiates her learner identity. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: First, by looking at the struggle a language learner makes to acquire her heritage language, I reclaim the centrality of identity in defining heritage language learners. Second, to widen the horizons of narrative studies to the cyber space as it provides an ample source of easily accessible data and it has become one of the commonplace media of daily communication. Heritage Language Learners and Identity To refer to the Heritage Language Learners (HLLs), various terms have been implemented such as ‘native speakers,’ ‘quasi native speakers,’ ‘bilingual speakers,’ or, from the dissatisfaction with the prior terms, ‘home background speakers,’ and ‘heritage language speakers’ (Valés, 2005: p. 412). There has not yet been...
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...Personal Theory Exploration Sarah Haeck Bowling Green State University Growing Awareness “Knowledge is power.” -Sir Francis Bacon Knowledge is indeed powerful. It allows one to see things in more comprehensive ways. Knowledge doesn’t let one settle. It molds and evolves within someone. Knowledge pushes one to betterment. It can come from outside sources but always is processed and implemented within. As a counselor, knowledge is vital to the wellness and development of the client. Knowing who we are, where we come from, what influences us, and what makes us who we are, these are just some of the questions that help us discover ourselves. I have spent a great deal of time and effort understanding who I am and what goes into that. As well as how the situations and people around me have made impressions on my life. Then beginning to dealing with the issues that have come up because of these things. At the end of the day, I believe a few things to be true: relationships mold our existence, our spiritual lives affect us, and a holistic view and self-awareness are keys to growth. As I have traced the steps of several theories, one sticks out as primary to who I am – Existential-Humanistic Theory. Taking the essence of this theory and combining it with aspects of Developmental Counseling Theory and Family Therapy, I hope to have a comprehensive fit to my personality as a budding counselor. Adaptable and Practical Being highly spiritual makes Existential-Humanistic...
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...history, for today’s student to master. “Someone should write a film version of Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon,” a writer from The Independent suggested, and “the person who should write it,” he said, looking at me, “is you.” I looked to Walter, who replied, “If you write it, I’ll publish it.” And the die was cast. Faber offered a contract, and I set to work. Following the Bloom model I decided it should be an elitist canon, not populist, raising the bar so high that only a handful of films would pass over. I proceeded to compile a list of essential films, attempting, as best I could, to separate personal favorites from those movies that artistically defined film history. Compiling was the easy part—then came the first dilemma: why was I selecting these films? What were my criteria? What is a canon? It is, by definition, based on criteria that transcend taste, personal and popular. The more I pondered this, the more I realized how ignorant I was. How could I formulate a film...
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...Jorge Prieto Personal Narrative Essay Assignment People may think that talking about the situation Venezuela is passing through these days is a topic everyone is using so its not unique at all or is to cliché but for those who have been leaving for more than half of there life as unstable as it can go, running from city to city and leaving their families and love ones behind in the search of a better life and future this topic is actually very relevant and important. The political, economical and security problems Venezuela is facing nowadays has forced me, and a million of other Venezuelan citizens, to look for a future outside of our country of origin. I have to admit, even though a lot of people that remain in Venezuela believe that those who left took the easy way out of the problem, I believe is the complete opposite. I left the country where I was born but my heart and soul are still there. Even though more than 4 years have past I will always have the hope on going back to implement in my country all the amazing things I have had the opportunity to learn in Boston and Miami to make Venezuela the country it was 20 years ago, a country worth leaving in. When I first left Venezuela I had a mix of feelings I had never felt before. I had the sense as if I had a knot in my throat that didn’t let me breath properly and an emptiness in my chest as if my heart was not there anyone. I was afraid of leaving and been alone in a place I had never lived before and not be sure...
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...Shouldn’t we return to the days of humanism and leave the drone-like consumerism to the past? Many novels that are read in college English courses point out the injustices, evolution, or the hypocrisy of the capitalist society –like some of the novels in this course. On the contrary, Nicholson Baker's novel seems to suggest that the post-modern world actually inspires reflection and contemplation. Instead of exposing a world of negativity, The Mezzanine, completely defies the common perception of the hyper-productive, desensitized post-modern society. The symbol of the escalator allows Baker to illustrate his take on the industrious, consumptive postmodern world. It was quite interesting to witness the methods Baker used to interrupt time for both his protagonist and his audience –of possible naysayers. The time spent on the infamous escalator forces Howie to explore many of his forgotten memories. Immediately, the thoughts flow through his mind as he approaches the escalator. “It would have been less cumbersome, in the account I am giving here of a specific lunch hour several years ago, to have pretended that the bag thought had come to me complete and ‘all at once’ at the foot of the up escalator, but the truth was that it was only the latest in a fairly long sequence of partially forgotten, inarticulable experiences, finally now reaching a point that I paid attention to it for the first time. (Baker, p. 9)” A simple lunchtime errands leads to the beginning of deep contemplation...
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...mental handicaps, patriarchal social structures, racial discrimination, and economic systems over which they have no control. It is an invitation to allow our own personal and communal humiliation to be seen in the context of Bartimaeus's faith in Jesus as the Christ. The Story And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And many rebuked him, telling him to shut up. But he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; rise, he is calling you." And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Master, let me receive my sight." And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. Learning the Story Verbal Threads "Jericho." The first episode is tied together by Jericho: "He came to Jericho"/"as he was leaving Jericho" (vs. 46). "Cried out…'Son of David, have mercy on me.' " The first sentences in the episodes of Bartimaeus's crying out for Jesus have this extensive verbal thread (vss. 47-48). 69 Story Journey: An Invitation to the Gospel...
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...Quick List of Common Literary Terms Abstract Language—Language describing ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things, people, or places. The observable or "physical" is usually described in concrete language. Allegory—A narrative or description having a second meaning beneath the surface one. A story, fictional or nonfictional, in which characters, things, and events represent qualities or concepts. The interaction of these characters, things, events is meant to reveal an abstraction or a truth. These characters, etc. may be symbolic of the ideas referred to. Alliteration—The repetition at close intervals of initial identical consonant sounds. Allusion—An indirect reference to something (usually a literary text) with which the reader is expected to be familiar. Allusions are usually literary, historical, Biblical, or mythological. Ambiguity—An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way. Also, the manner of expression of such an event or situation may be ambiguous. Artful language may be ambiguous. Unintentional ambiguity is usually vagueness. Anachronism—Assignment of something to a time when it was not in existence, e.g., the watch Merlyn wore in The Once and Future King. Analogy—An analogy is a comparison to a directly parallel case. When a writer uses an analogy, he or she argues that a claim reasonable for one case is reasonable for the analogous case. Anecdote—A brief recounting of a relevant episode. Anecdotes are...
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...Even if the purpose of the book was not to make extroverts happier with themselves, Cain's simplifying generalization is harmful from an intellectual standpoint and should not have been allowed to shape her worldview. In the beginning of the book, Cain writes of an introvert in a meeting, saying, "Across the table sat nine disgruntles investment bankers in tailored suits and expensive shoes... Her thoughts running on a familiar loop: I'm too quiet for this kind of thing, too unassuming, too cerebral" (Cain 8). To create the victim, one must also make a villain. The way Cain balances out the characterization of introverts is by making extroverts intense and overbearing, once again simplifying an enormous group of...
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...results My career development has turned me into the person that I am today within my work environment. I have learned and overcome many obstacles along the way. I would like to think of my career as consistent growth and change. I am always willing to adapt and adjust within my position as time goes on and technology becomes more enhanced. My career has leaded me to a path where I can always advance within my job and there is always knowledge and experience to grow from. One of my biggest personality traits that are of importance to me is to hold high ethical and moral standing within my company. I had to progress in my company from a server to working within the Human Resource Department. It is my duty as an HR assistant to ensure that all of our employees are treated fairly and equally as for their human rights. As professionals, we are expected to exhibit individual leadership as a role model for maintaining the highest standards of ethical conduct. And we are ethically responsible for promoting and fostering fairness and justice for all employees and their organizations. We are also entitled as HR professionals to consider and protect the rights of individuals, especially in the achievement and propagation of information while ensuring truthful communications and facilitating informed decision making. Another one of my personality traits that I have incorporated is that I find myself to become goal focused. I always strive to obtain goals within my company and...
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...emergence of city life as a central force in society. Furthermore, an early attention to the object as freestanding became in later Modernism a preoccupation with form. Modernist writers were more acutely conscious of the objectivity of their surroundings. The most prominent modernist authors are: T. S. Eliot, W. B. Yeats, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, E. M. Forster, Ernest Hemingway, Joseph Conrad, Franz Kafka, Knut Hamsun, Gertrude Stein, Mikhail Bulgakov, MarcelProust, John Steinbeck, Ezra Pound, Katherine Anne Porter, Rainer Maria Rilke, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Frost, Boris Pasternak, Sherwood Anderson and a lot of others. Modern short stories only occasionally consist of an exposition. It usually comprises of an abrupt beginning, with the story starting in the middle of the action. The plots of short stories also have a climax, crisis, or turning-point. The...
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...of the First World War, having consolidated power and control over several centuries. One of the ways by which colonialism maintained power was by writing its own histories. These histories were conceived within grand narratives of progress, expansion and enlightenment. Inevitably, they both systematically and accidentally recast, ignored and silenced other competing histories from the places and cultures with which they came into contact. Post - colonial studies has consequently set itself the task of examining and challenging those narratives, developing other ways of telling histories, and re – evaluating other ways of remembering. If post- colonial literature means the interrogation of the subaltern to the “center”, no other book is representative of the post-colonial theory and practice as Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace. The novel won the 2001 Frankfurt e – book Award of fifty thousand dollars Grand Prize for Fiction. Abreast of the contemporary academic debates about colonialism and culture, Ghosh is well-equipped in challenging the institutionalized perspectives of the colonial history. He is certain of his human and historical insights. He belongs to a nation that was once conquered and ruled by Imperial Britain. Ghosh in “The Anglophone Empire” (2003) says: “I am Indian and my history...
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...invention Commercial Break!!: Creative Play With Media Influence Purpose: Works well to introduce a personal visual media paper, or other media analysis paper, because it encourages students to think critically about their childhood experiences with TV, etc in a personal, creative way. The exercise may become an early paper draft, or simply stimulate their thinking about the programs and commercials they have watched, and how these media affected them. Description: Students will write creative narratives about a childhood TV experience, then trade papers with another classmate, who will assess the program, the narrator, and then complete the narrative with a commercial break description suited to the program and audience. You may want to have your own example written up to read to them before each step, just to get them thinking about what’s possible. Suggested Time: 20 minutes to a full class period Procedure: Ask the class what their favorite shows were as kids: cartoons, sitcoms, even documentaries. You may want to bring in a few stills or uTube clips to project (in a tech class), as a memory jogger (ex. The Cosby Show, Ren & Stimpy, etc). Once you’ve discussed a nice variety of TV programs, ask the class to freewrite for 5-10 minutes (however long you wish to tell them) in first-person P.O.V. about their experience watching a show like these as a kid. They should be specific and detailed, writing whatever comes to memory about what’s going on in the program and their thoughts/reactions/and...
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...opportunity to understand better the material being studied. What does the research say about peer tutoring? In reviews of peer tutoring programs, researchers found: * When students participated in the role of reading tutor, improvements in reading achievement occurred * When tutors were explicitly trained in the tutoring process, they were far more effective and the students they were tutoring experienced significant gains in achievement * Most of the students benefited from peer tutoring in some way, but same-age tutors were as effective as cross-age tutors (Burnish, Fuchs & Fuchs, 2005; Topping, 2008) Some benefits of peer tutoring for students include higher academic achievement, improved relationships with peers, improved personal and social development as well as increased motivation. In turn, the teacher benefits from this model of instruction by an increased opportunity to individualize instruction, increased facilitation of inclusion/mainstreaming, and opportunities to reduce inappropriate behaviors (Topping, 2008). There is an old saying: “To teach is to learn twice.” Peer tutoring is a beneficial way for students...
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...The Narrative Art of The Great Gatsby Introduction The Great Gatsby was written in 1925. The author, Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) is one of the most outstanding writers in America. As a member of the “lost generation”, Fitzgerald made the short life of Gatsby epitome of the rise, boom and decline of the “American Dream” in “Jazz Age”. This novel shows us unusually rich literary and aesthetic connotation is has by its unique narrative perspective, the ups and downs of plot, superb accurate language, various rhetorical devices and vivid character images. To some extent, the reason why The Great Gatsby can become a famous classic work is that the author uses extraordinary narrative techniques in it. All the techniques are employed skillfully by Fitzgerald. The study of narrative art in this work has been highlighted in the research area in these years. Zhang Jinfeng(2001) analyzes the role of Nick in the novel from the its structure, themes and other aspects. Cheng Xilin(2009) uses the spatial narrative theory to discussed the space narrative art in The Great Gatsby from three aspects: the geography space, social space and the text space. Xiao Dongbo(2009) starts with the analysis on author and characters and expound the connotation of "American dream" and profoundly reveals the historical process of the formation, development and burst of the "American dream". Shang Guanghui(2011) analyzes The Great Gatsby from the narrators of the role and argues that the communication...
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