My Way of Thinking

Due to the multiple books I've had to read for honors literature, and the intense notes Randy made us take, my way of thinking has changed. My mind is more active when I'm reading and I am able to ask questions, make connections and comment about what I'm reading. I space out less often and I am now more focused, which is great because my mind always wandered when I read and that has always been a problem for me. I am really glad I had the opportunity to take the honors literature because my way of thinking has significantly improved.

Magazine Reflection

Due to the magazine project I've developed and learned a good use of writing qualities such as “Concerts not Pancakes” and keeping my nouns and verbs in the beginning of sentences. Those qualities improved my writing throughout the multiple drafts because I can see the difference from where I started, and where I am now. By keeping “Concerts not Pancakes” in mind, I was able to take out lots of sentences that would “nauseate” the reader and replace them with more exciting things to write about. Also, by changing the first sentences in my paragraphs so that the nouns and verbs are at the start of it, I was able to hook the reader to continue reading.

I was able to learn the new techniques by practicing with two different articles I contributed to the magazine instead of just one. I got the best benefits for doing so because I got the chance to practice everything I just learned while it was still fresh in my mind. I now focus in turning everything I learned to a natural habit for my future writing.

I can spread all nine drafts of “My Contribution to an Anniversary Retrospective Concert” and see the transformations it went trough to get to its final stage. My biggest improvement was my use of clarity when trying to explain what I saw and felt like when I went through the archives. Clarity is sometimes my biggest problem because I can have this great idea in my mind and it makes complete sense to me, but as soon as I try to put it down on paper it becomes a jumbled mess. Writing nine drafts helped me experiment with techniques to clarify and bring my work to its fullest potential.

Looking back to my very first draft, I realize how rushed, unimportant and redundant my article was. You can even tell by one of my paragraphs all the changes it had to get better.

“Digging through the archives was a whole new experience because it was like looking through someone’s greatest moments. I saw the first photographs of Jean Isaacs dancing, and watched time rush before my eyes as articles grew older and older. The newspapers told me stories of her successes and falls, of her goals and futuristic plans, and by being able to see this as an outsider was intriguing because I knew all the final outcomes.”

In that paragraph, I have no idea where it was going. The point I was trying to make was how I felt like I was time traveling, and how interesting everything was because the news occurred when I was growing up or before I was born. Here is my latest version.

“…In the process of doing so, I uncovered a window that showed me life before my time, the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. I saw what was the latest news-I saw their latest fashions, their newest moves including “E.T.”, their advertisements for the “latest” inventions and their entertainment. It was all different from what I see now with my surroundings. It took me longer to find Isaacs’ dances because everything I saw intrigued me to read more and learn about growing up in the past.”

I feel like my idea is clearly written in a relatable way that the reader can connect with.

I learned lots of new techniques to keep in mind when writing. I feel like the one I used the most was putting meaning in the start of my sentences instead of later. So by putting the noun and verbs in the beginning, I made my paragraphs more interesting. I also tried to remove my excessive “-ings” because I had a lot of those.

I didn’t face many challenges along the way, the only tedious part was sometimes I would have to revise my essay in class and I would not happen to have the latest version of my article with me. Which meant I had to retype the whole thing again. Now I know to always have the latest draft with me in either a hard drive or email, but in a format I can access no matter where I am to be prepared for class.

My organization and timing went really well while creating my magazine because it benefited my process and final product. Since I remained on top of my work I finished my article days in advance and had enough time to paint my honors art piece along with an artist statement. I also started my first article by scratch because I wanted a more original piece of writing in the article instead of a photo essay or interview.

The techniques I learned are important because they did make a difference in my writing. In the end, I was capable to expressing my ideas in a clear way for the reader to understand, my starter sentences were interesting due to use of nouns and verbs and my paragraphs started and ended strong like a concert. Those are all valuable techniques for a successful article and I am grateful for learning them at this age before college instead of later on.

Magazine Reflection Part 2

I can spread all eight drafts of “My Contribution to an Anniversary Retrospective Concert” and see the transformations it went trough to get to its final stage. My biggest improvement was my use of clarity when trying to explain what I saw and felt like when I went through the archives. Clarity is sometimes my biggest problem because I can have this great idea in my mind and it makes complete sense to me, but as soon as I try to put it down on paper it becomes a jumbled mess. Writing eight drafts helped me experiment with techniques to clarify and bring my work to its fullest potential.

Overall, what I feel like I could have improved would have been to include more descriptions and examples of the points I was trying to make. When I was describing what I saw in the archives I included some of the pictures I saw, but I feel like I could have gotten a lot more creative with the way I wrote it.

Looking back to my very first draft, I realize how rushed, unimportant and redundant my article was. You can even tell by one of my paragraphs all the changes it had to get better.

“Digging through the archives was a whole new experience because it was like looking through someone’s greatest moments. I saw the first photographs of Jean Isaacs dancing, and watched time rush before my eyes are articles grew older and older. The newspapers told me stories of her successes and falls, of her goals and futuristic plans, and by being able to see this as an outsider was intriguing because I knew all the final outcomes.”

In that paragraph, I have no idea where it was going. The point I was trying to make was how I felt like I was time traveling, and how interesting everything was because the news occurred when I was growing up or before I was born. Here is my latest version.

“…In the process of doing so, I uncovered a window that showed me life before my time, the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. I saw what was the latest news-I saw their latest fashions, their newest moves including “E.T.”, their advertisements for the “latest” inventions and their entertainment. It was all different from what I see now with my surroundings. It took me longer to find Isaacs’ dances because everything I saw intrigued me to read more and learn about growing up in the past.”

I feel like my idea is clearly written in a relatable way that the reader can connect with.

I learned lots of new techniques to keep in mind when writing. I feel like the one I used the most was putting meaning in the start of my sentences instead of later. So by putting the noun and verbs in the beginning, I made my paragraphs more interesting. I also tried to remove my excessive “ings” because I had a lot of those.

Magazine Reflection

My organization and timing went really well while creating my magazine because it benefited my process and final product. Since I remained on top of my work I finished my article days in advance and had enough time to paint my honors art piece along with an artist statement. I also started my first article by scratch because I wanted a more original piece of writing in the article instead of a photo essay or interview.

I didn’t face many challenges, the only tedious part was when I needed to revise my essay and I would not have the latest copy of it with me so I would have to rewrite the whole thing. That has helped me because now I know to always keep the latest draft with me through a hard drive or email so I can always be prepared in class.

What stood out as a good example were my fellow classmates’ articles. By going through them I was able to get lots of good ideas with picture and text placement. It also helped me get creative with my layout so that it stands out more then it did before. Sydney’s and Ana’s blogs helped me the most because they got their layout plans by looking through other magazines. I tried to make my layout unique while keeping their ideas in mind.

Our Really Awesome Book Club

I really liked our literature group because we were all super cute and creative. The best part was that it was like a book club but only a lot more enjoyable, the food, and our board game.

I don’t think I would change anything next time, probably choose a smaller book, because it felt like even though I had a month to read my novel, I read every day for half an hour and it still seemed like I was behind. But I always caught up so it wasn’t too bad.

We read “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck. The novel was about the Joad family traveling to California in hopes of a better life. It also had to do with the industrialization that the country was going through, because there were “infinite demands with finite resources”. There were too many people with starving families, and very few job spots that paid very little.

I am looking forward to reading our next book “Slaughter House Five” because I heard that it was a very good book and my group is pretty awesome. 

Obama Socialism

I believe that the socialist label on Obama’s political proposals is not correct. His intention to improve our country was to “spread the wealth around” so we don’t again end up with the rich few, and the many poor workers. McCain and Palin referred to Obama’s plan as “a little bit like socialism.” Just to get the media’s attention and to “promote the idea that Obama’s tax and health-care policies evoke socialism.” 

 A historic connection with Obama’s proposals can relate back to the industrial era. The reason for that is because Obama is trying to prevent our country from being run by only the very few powerful and wealthy. During the industrial era, only the men that owned all the land and factories made money. Everyone else was just a desperate worker who was treated unfairly in his working environment. By “spreading the wealth around” we have a chance to be equal and not be categorized by “class”.  

Sources Cited

• Dave Michaels and Todd J. Gillman, Dallas Morning News, McCain Remarks on Obama 'Socialism' Viewed as a Stretch, 19 October 2008, Link, Accessed 21 April 2009.
  

Honors Blog: Grapes of Wrath

Tom Joad
Tom Joad is of average stature, and working a lot in the fields has made him tan and strong. He is usually very dirty because of all the traveling he does with his family. In the beginning he doesn't have any scars but when he gets in a fight towards the end of the novel, it causes him to have this big scar across the side of his face. His outfits are not necessarily distinguishing because he clothes are the same as every other migrant worker; Dirty, old and slowly falling apart. His speech is the same as his whole family with a heavy southern accent which is hard to understand at times. His roles and in the novel is be a supporter of his family. He doesn't have a job throughout most of the book but when he does get work he makes sure to be as efficient as he can. Even though the Joad family is very religious he doesn't seem to care about it much. He is Ma and Pa Joad's favorite son. Tom is good-natured and thoughtful and makes do with what life hands him. Even though he killed a man and has been separated from his family for four years, he does not waste his time with regrets. He lives fully for the moment, which enables him to be a great source of vitality for the Joad family. As a guide and protector, Tom exhibits a moral certainty throughout the novel that inspires him with strength and resolve: he earns the respect of his family members as well as the workers he later organizes into unions. His whole life is a connection to history because he was immigrating to California with the thousands of others during the Industrial era when jobs were scarce because of all the big corporations and machineries. The character's name doesn't suggest much besides the fact that he is named after his father, and just like his father he takes on the responsible roles of a man. I believe Tom changed a lot throughout the novel because the situation caused him to mature. He stopped living the life as a boy and began to take the consequences for his actions and helping others instead of himself.

Rose A Sharon
The oldest of Ma and Pa Joad's daughters, and Connie's wife, she is an impractical and romantic young woman, Rose of Sharon begins the journey to California pregnant with her first child. She and Connie have grand plans of making a life for themselves in a city. The harsh realities of migrant life however soon throws away Rose of Sharon ideas. Her husband abandons her, and her child is born dead. By the end of the novel, she matures a great amount, and possesses her mother's impossible to defeat spirit and grace. Most of the clothing she wore were dresses that her mother would buy her. Her habit was a worrying habit, and being pregnant brought out the worst in that. It caused her to constantly assume the worst and pity herself. She also has a thick southern accent just like the rest of her family. Her role is society was the role of women and their difficulties when immigrating turns for the worst and breaks families apart. Rose of Sharon is religious and also very superstitious. She believed that the worst was out to get her baby and that because she had “sinned” she would go to hell. Her family loves her very much but with her constant complaining and self pity, it would annoy them as well. Her name is after a flower, and her mother loves the sound of it very much. She changed from the beginning of the novel as a childish and dreamy teenage daughter who develops as the novel progresses to become a mature woman. She symbolizes regrowth when she helps the starving stranger.

Ma Joad
As the mother of the Joad family, Ma is introduced as a woman who knowingly and gladly fulfills her role as “the citadel of the family.” She is the family's healer and the settler of their arguments, and her ability to perform these tasks grows as the novel progresses. Ma is described as being not skinny but not fat either, short of stature, and curly hair. Just like her daughter she mainly wears dresses whenever shes out. Her habits change through the book from at first being the quiet women who let the men do the leading, to the one in charge and making decisions. The whole family love her but her husband is always upset at how he feels like he isn't in charge anymore. Ma Joad emerges as the family's center of strength over the course of the novel as Pa Joad gradually becomes less effective as a leader and provider. She is embedded in history because she was one of the first women who started taking things into their own hands and having a say in the matters instead of only men. Her real name is never revealed in the story she was always referred as Ma. Ma displays a startling capacity to keep herself together, and to keep the family together, in the face of great turmoil. Like the time when the family was crossing the California dessert. Here, Ma suffers privately with the knowledge that Grandma is dead, riding silently alongside her corpse so that the family can complete its treacherous journey. She consistently proves to be the novel's strongest supporter of family and togetherness.

The patterns I notice about the characters is that they all immensely matured throughout the novel. Tom and Rose A Sharon grow up to the adults they become, and Ma begins to stand up for herself. The conclusion that this leads me towards is a better realization of the climax. That there isn't a specific one because the book is about life. Life has its ups and downs but never one single climax. In the book they all mature and grow as the story continues, just like in real life which works perfectly because its true.