I enjoyed the article “Moving Beyond Pain” and it’s discussion of “Lemonade” as it being more than just an album about Jay-Z being unfaithful. What the writer says about “Lemonade” that I find interesting is that the writer explains that Lemonade positively exploits images of black female bodies, placing them at the center, making them the norm. She states that the album shows that there are diverse representations of the black female bodies and that it comes in all sizes, shapes, and textures with all manner of big hair. She also explains that the purpose of Lemonade is to challenge the ongoing present day devaluation and dehumanization of the black female body. What I learned from the article is that how the album “Lemonade” not only targets about Jay-Z being unfaithful to Beyoncé but it references both the personal struggles that Beyoncé went through and some of the issues faced by black women today and throughout history. For my own writing I would of course explain the individual’s purpose and meaning of making the album, who is the target for the songs in the album, and what values do the lyrics contain?
Author: David Wu
Final Draft Unit 1
David Wu
2/13/19
Prof. Hall
English 1121
More Than A Game
Ever since I was a little kid, I loved the game of basketball. The speed of the game, intensity, and aggressiveness always got me excited to watch the stars play. It started off with me spending time with my cousins watching games on television. Little did I know that playing basketball would have a much greater impact on my life than I could have ever imagined. It was a unique sport to me which led me to picking up a basketball at the age of 10. I would go to the backyard of my house just to practice by dribbling around. My older cousin would take me to the local parks to shoot around. It was when I was 13 I actually learned the correct way to play basketball. My friends and I went to an indoor court and one of my friend’s cousin showed up. He was the one who taught me how to shoot the ball correctly, how to dribble the ball in many ways, and how to play defense. I don’t believe people when they say that Basketball is just a game. I believe that basketball can teach people a lot of things in their lives. One of the lessons I learned was that life isn’t fair. I soon learned that when the referees in the game were making horrible calls or calls that didn’t make sense at the time. It seemed that all the calls that were being made never went our way and the referee never made the correct call when the call needed to be made. This happened a lot in a lot of games so I learned to accept it and just move on. Another lesson it taught me was how to have good sportsmanship. Playing any sport in general involves both wins and losses. You learn to be proud of your success without despising your opponents. You learn to accept failures and come back stronger next time. Over time you will realize it’s not really the win or loss that makes a difference. If you gave everything you’ve got, no matter what the outcome is, you can walk away with your head held high. This also applies in life too that everything you do does not always go your way. There are highs and lows but if you continue to give whatever you do your very best you will always emerge victorious. Another lesson basketball has taught me is how to make sacrifices and time management. In order to balance sports and other activities, you have to make certain sacrifices. This, for me, would mean cutting down on free time, so that I can balance studies and sport. A lot of time management is involved here too. In life too, nothing worth having comes easy. Sacrifices need to be made at every step in order to achieve what you aspire to. Through sports you learn how to do this and how to utilize your time for your greater good. Another lesson I learned from basketball is that nothing comes easy in life. It all comes down to hard work and dedication. A lot of the stars in the league states that they didn’t make it here by luck but by all the hard work they put in everyday to deserve to be in the league. If you really want to excel at something, hard work is the only way. It is the same with any other field in life. If you want to get better at school or get a raise at your workplace, the only way you can do it is by hard work. There are no shortcuts to this.  We are always taught to dream big but what we don’t realize most often is that our dreams don’t work unless we do. There is no substitute to hard work, ever. Basketball has also taught me to not dwell on my mistakes but to learn from them. If I don’t make a shot or lose my dribble, I just get back on defense and don’t mess up on the next possession. In basketball, you are taught to never give up. A few minutes can change the game in so many ways. Even on days when your shots just don’t go in, you have to keep trying and help your team in the other areas. You need to contribute in the defense, go after loose balls, make good passes and help in any way you can. You can never give up, not on the game, not on your team, and especially not on yourself. You keep trying until the very last second.  In life too, there will be many occasions where you will want to give up, but you need to fight and work hard. The most important lesson that basketball has probably taught me is leadership and communication. Basketball is a team sport and in every team there’s a captain. If the team isn’t communicating, I step up and take control of the team. I would tell them what play to run and they would respond by doing the play. To a lot of people, Basketball is just a game but I believe it can teach people these things by playing the sport. It is a gateway to learning life lessons.
My marginal comments are HERE. My endnote and grade are in the commentsÂ
Rough Draft for Thursday
Ever since I was a little kid, I loved the game of basketball. The speed of the game, intensity, and aggressiveness always got me excited to watch the stars play. It was a unique sport to me which led me to picking up a basketball at the age of 10. I would go to the backyard of my house just to practice by dribbling around. My older cousin would take me to the local parks to shoot around. It was when I was 13 I actually learned the correct way to play basketball. My friends and I went to an indoor court and one of my friend’s cousin showed up. He was the one who taught me how to shoot the ball correctly, how to dribble the ball in many ways, and how to play defense. I don’t believe people when they say that Basketball is just a game. I believe that basketball can teach people a lot of things in their lives. One of the lessons I learned was that life isn’t fair. I soon learned that when the referees in the game were making horrible calls or calls that didn’t make sense at the time. It seemed that all the calls that were being made never went our way and the referee never made the correct call when the call needed to be made. This happened a lot in a lot of games so I learned to accept it and just move on. Another lesson it taught me was how to have good sportsmanship. Whenever my team and I win games, we don’t brag that we are the better team or anything. We just shake the other team’s hands and tell them it was a good game. Even when we lose, we don’t get mad for losing. We just do the same thing if we win. Another lesson I learned from basketball is that nothing comes easy in life. It all comes down to hard work and dedication. A lot of the stars in the league states that they didn’t make it here by luck but by all the hard work they put in everyday to deserve to be in the league. This doesn’t only go for basketball but for careers as well. If you put in the work and dedication, you will be successful. Basketball has also taught me to not dwell on my mistakes but to learn from them. If I don’t make a shot or lose my dribble, I just get back on defense and don’t mess up on the next possession. The most important lesson that basketball has probably taught me is leadership and communication. Basketball is a team sport and in every team there’s a captain. If the team isn’t communicating, I step up and take control of the team. I would tell them what play to run and they would respond by doing the play. To a lot of people, Basketball is just a game but I believe it can teach people these things by playing the sport. It is a gateway to learning life lessons.
