Category: Portfolio & Reflection (Page 5 of 12)

Unit 1 revision:

It was a nice and bright summer day as the ceremony of my middle school graduation began, my principal called my name, “Christine Li”. I get up with nervousness and excitement, hands shaking to cross the stage with a whole crowd of eyes staring at me. I shake my principal’s hand as he handed me my diploma. I scan through the crowd from left to right looking for my parents as I raised my diploma to show them. With joy and a big smile of their faces, my parents start clapping and cheering for me. Now, a new chapter, a new beginning, oh I am so excited for high school and the new experiences I was going to come across. 

As excited as I was for high school, not all things turned out great for me. I wanted to make new friends which I have but not all those new friends I’ve made been good influences. For instance, I was sitting down in class listening to my teacher, as I see a text message saying if I want to cut after 6th period. They have asked me to go to a very nice burger spot. I sat there thinking about the delicious French fries and good eats I could get instead of going to class. But, in the back of my mind I was worried about being marked absent getting in trouble by my parents/teacher. The clock ticking, and I sat there thinking if I should or shouldn’t cut class with my friends. As the bell rang for the next class, I walk down the stairs and to my left, there it was. The exist to my school building and how tempting it was for me to simply just cut class. I hear another notification and looked down at my phone saying “just come, it’s just one day,” I look at the exit and started walking towards it and just like that I’m outside the school building with my friends.  I felt so guilty for skipping class but I thought to myself one day wouldn’t hurt.

But oh how wrong I was, skipping for one day became an addiction and I literally had no motivation to go a full day of school ever again. Skipping was way more intriguing than class was and everyday for a whole 2 semesters, I couldn’t get myself to stay in school. I mean like, anything would be more interesting than sitting in a classroom listening to the teacher talk about social studies. Every time, I hear anything about social studies, it’s like my brain doesn’t want to listen. I would always fall asleep or doze off. So, I would go grab bubble tea with my friends and sit in the store while we talk and make jokes. Or even, grab food because during school, I’m always hungry and play 8 ball afterwards. I would leave after like my attendance period and everyday continuously there would be someone who is always asking me to cut class with them. I felt tremendously lost like why was just simply saying no to skipping class with my friends so hard? It has gotten so bad that I even blocked the school’s number on my mom’s phone so if the school did call her, she wouldn’t realize. On the other hand, my guidance counselor was super sweet, asking if I was in the right mental state of mind and questioning me “you are such a great student, you had straight A’s in your previous years, why do I see you barely in school?” I explain to her how the people around me influences me to skip. She began to explain to me about how education is significant and I can always hang out with my friends after school. She continued on and on and lectured me and part of it really touched me but I still couldn’t stop skipping because classes were just so boring for me and top of that my friends didn’t help either. It was like a drug, a addiction I can’t stop except it’s not with real drugs. I felt so bad for my guidance counselor because she is trying to help someone who almost can’t help themselves. This all started in freshmen year and it kept continuing until Covid started which was mid way into my sophomore year.

Since Covid started, obviously we were all at home/quarantined and I couldn’t cut class no more because there was no point in cutting online classes because it’s like what else is there to do? Who would I have to cut with?  By this time I have already failed two whole semesters and was way behind on my credits for my grade. I was so devastated, worrying about not graduating on time and being held back as a super senior. I truly realized how behind I was and started making a change because there was no way I wouldn’t be able to graduate with my friends and on time. Fortunately, like the light through a dark tunnel, my guidance counselor gave me this computer class called apex where you are able to make up as much credits as you are willing to make up all online. It is basically a program where you read about the subject you are taking, and you answer a lot of quizzes based on what the reading was about. Luckily for me, I found an answer key to the tests online so I was nonstop grinding till I got my missing credits. Online classes were more interesting for me because I can work on my own pace without getting told what to do. Also, because of the fact that I am home, doing school work was pretty much the only thing I could do. Everyday, I would wake up, log onto apex, kept taking those quizzes until the subject I was taking was fully completed. I took full advantage of this time period. Furthermore, I had classes for my current grade that I needed to pass as well. Like I mentioned earlier, it was lockdown season so basically all my classes were strictly all online. I realized and saw this as my biggest opportunity. Eventually, after just one semester, I have made up all of my credits that I was missing, thanks to apex and the best guidance counselor.

Lastly, after a year of online courses, I have caught up to my grade. I worked harder the second time around because I realized how much I was behind and there was no way I would be left back and a super senior from everyone else. I would forever be grateful for my guidance counselor for being so supportive, helping, talking some sense into me, caring and helping me pass high school on time when I really didn’t think I was going to make it. She tells me how proud she was of me and that she knew I was a good student as long as I tried. Now here I am in college, graduated on time from high school around two or three months ago and I’m proud of myself for making it out. My high school experience taught me to always do and strive for the best in order to gain a chance to succeed. 

Unit 2 revision:

What is the history of streetwear? Firstly, Streetwear casual clothing of a style worn especially by members of various urban youth subcultures. Streetwear blends a diverse mix of styles such as casual sportswear, military pieces, hip-hop influences, skate references, workwear, and more. I’m interested in learning about the history of streetwear because as a child growing up, I’ve always loved clothes and shoes or hyped popular brands. I use to watch YouTubers make videos about the types of clothes one would have/wear and I would be very inspired to be apart of the street wear community. To me, it looked very pleasing to the eyes. Seeing the way certain types of clothes matching with each other really intrigued me and caught my eyes. Putting on clothes is more than just covering up, it’s a way to express yourself and I like to express myself by wearing street wear type of clothes. There’s always a reason for what someone chose to wear. What mostly got me into streetwear was the shoes, I liked certain color ways and models of certain sneakers. I expect to find what were the influences for the whole industry to start and how it became what it is today. In other words, how did street wear become such a popular thing? I expect to find this because the whole industry wouldn’t have became so big for no reason. I would also expect to find who or what types of people that had an impact and influence on street wear culture. Additionally, I expect to find where street wear originated and what culture started it. If I find information that’s completely against what I expected, I would be fine with writing it because I find street wear very interesting and would like to know more about the history of it.

Block, Elinor. “The History of Streetwear: From Stüssy to Vetements.” Who What Wear, Who What Wear, 1 Nov. 2017, https://www.whowhatwear.com/streetwear.

                   The article “The History Of Streetwear: From Stüssy To Vetements,” by Elinor Block talks about the history and the future of streetwear along with some brands that are included in streetwear. Originally, streetwear was a way to describe comfortable clothing, mostly worn by skateboarders or surfers in Los Angeles. Shawn Stussy, an originator of the streetwear movement, who made surfboards, also started making T-shirts and selling them. For instance, in the text it states “It’s really important to acknowledge that streetwear is a byproduct of wider subcultural movements like hip-hop and skateboarding, so what we now call streetwear has been evolving since the 1970s.” This demonstrates that streetwear was originally a skateboard and surfing brand but overtime it has evolved and changed to not just skating and surfing but more a fashion style as well. After California, the style became more popular with youth culture scenes, especially through skateboarding and hip-hop cultures in New York.

                    A brand called Supreme, which started in 1994 as a skateboard and clothing shop, really continued the trend further. Their brand logo is the iconic red and white logo that states Supreme on it . It is also a very known and quite expensive brand today. Supreme has also collaborated with other brands such as Nike, A Bathing Ape, Louis Vuitton and many others, making streetwear really start to attract the eyes of people. 

                  Elinor Block’s tone and attitude is very informative, letting the readers learn about streetwear and how the thing started. The primary audience is targets for young people, skaters, surfers or anyone that is interested in changing their fashion style to streetwear. The article was published in Washington, DC. The purpose of the article is for the author to let readers stay informed about the dynamics of streetwear. The author’s tone is more of a respectful tone. Considering Elinor Block give credits to people who started streetwear, and the brands that really made streetwear evolve over time. This article’s relevance connects back to my question of “what is the history of streetwear?,” because it helps me answer my question. Lastly, the author has cited and credited other experts to prove their point.

Law, Chris. “The History of Streetwear: Past, Present & the Future of Fashion’s Flyest Subset.” THE HISTORY OF STREETWEAR: PAST, PRESENT & THE FUTURE OF FASHION’S FLYEST SUBSET, 30 Sept. 2021, https://cassiuslife.com/356823/the-history-of-streetwear/.

                      In the article,“The history of streetwear: past, present & future of fashion’s flyest subset,” written by Chris law, it talks about the past and future if streetwear. Streetwear started to become popular right after World War II.  For instance, in the article it states “There was a youth quake — a moment where people started dressing more casually,” says Jonathan M. Square, Ph.D., Harvard professor. Men wore less suits and more denim, there were more sneakers and less proper shoes.” This demonstrates how streetwear started because people started to wear more casual and less formal clothes. Additionally, casual clothes would be denim, hoodies, T-shirts, sweatpants, or even sneakers. Furthermore, the article says how in recent years, hoodies and sweats has been very popular among people. These garments might have been considered dress down, or a better word, “bummy.” But however, nowadays, it’s nothing to see these pieces go up in value by a tremendous amount. As for the future of fashion, fashion continues to evolve overtime. Streetwear is likely to be cozy, comfortable, and a trend that people are very much leaning into and loving, especially these days. It’s already being seen with people throwing their hoodies or sweaters over their sweats and sneakers. The want and need for genderless clothing will also find its way in streetwear. The author Chris law has a very informative and nostalgic tone because it goes back in time and talks about the past and history of streetwear. He was also very informative about how streetwear started. The primary audience is targets for young people, skaters, surfers or anyone that is interested in changing their fashion style to streetwear. The purpose of this article is for people who are genuinely curious about the history or future of streetwear. This article is relevant because it shows how people went from formal clothes to comfortable clothes which is very interesting. This information can be verified because the author quoted other experts to prove his point.

Maling, Francis. “What Is Streetwear? Its History and Evolution.” What Is Streetwear? Its History And Evolution, 11 Nov. 2021, https://greyjournal.net/play/style/defining-streetwear-and-its-evolution/.

                      In the article “What Is Streetwear? It’s History And Evolution,” by Francis Maling, the author talks about how Streetwear has evolved. From the skateboarding era, to the early surfboarding era in the late 1970s. Streetwear also has its connection in music with the development in hip pop culture as well. In the 80s and 90s, skateboarding brands really helped develop the streetwear culture. Brands like DC Shoes, Vans, and Thrasher Magazine created an appeal and a home or sense of community for skaters worldwide. In the early 2000s, music producers and influencers like Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne had interest with japanese streetwear brands such as A Bathing Ape, and  Comme des Garcons, featuring pieces in their videos and references in their music which helped the streetwear industry get to the big culture it is today. The exclusivity factor of limited produced items of shoes, jackets, and t-shirts became the main thing for streetwear hype making a simple t-shirt go up to thousands. For instance, in the text it states” “Streetwear became more approachable than the average high fashion, designer label. It nurtured community, collaboration, and artistic expression”, writes elsewhere in their fashion blog.” This demonstrates how streetwear can be for most people which is why it’s very popular. Today, streetwear has a multiple styles, mixing casual looks, comfortable outfits, and even luxurious fashions. Streetwear became such a big culture, it estimates $185 billion revenue. Its growth and popularity will continue to evolve in the next few years because of the success it has. The article “What is streetwear? It’s history and evolution,” by Francis Maling was published on November 11th, 2021. The audience is targeted towards young people. For instance, in the text it states “Not only does streetwear appeal to teens and young adults, but the pivot into luxury appeals to the high-end fashion world has created an industry growth alongside notable brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Balenciaga. Celebrity endorsement helps the streetwear landscape, as well”(Maling 2021). The article is very informative about the past of streetwear, going back to the 80s and 90s. The picture right beneath the title makes one feel very engaged and curious because it shows a man on the street wearing clothes which matches with the title. It might make others feel the need to continue reading to find out how streetwear has started and where it would be going, or that if it would still be around in the future.

                   Overall, to conclude the history of streetwear and the research I had found, streetwear is one of the fastest growing and most powerful stage of the fashion industry. Streetwear is about mixing comfort and practicality with self expression. The global streetwear industry is a multi billion dollar industry and was worth an estimated $309 billion dollars in 2017 with a 185 billion revenue. Streetwear was originally a culture for skaters or surfers but has evolved over generations. Streetwear also has its connection in music with the development of hip pop culture as well. Streetwear started to become very popular right after World War II. With the help of skating and surfing brands such as DC Shoes, Vans, Thrasher Magazine and also with the help of famous music producers such as Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, Lil Wayne that featured Japanese streetwear brands such as A Bathing Ape, and  Comme des Garcons, in their videos, which really helped shape the streetwear culture that it’s known for today. Today, streetwear is fashionable, casual clothing worn by followers of popular culture. The majority of these followers are under 30, that also live in urban areas, and belong to a subculture group such as skateboarders or hip pop music fans. Additionally, the exclusivity factor of limited produced items of shoes, jackets, and t-shirts became the main thing for streetwear hype, making a simple t-shirt with a logo on it go up to thousands. So it wasn’t the easiest to get some specific pieces for the original retail price due to resellers. During, my research I was very shocked on how it was a multi billion dollar industry, obviously knowing the streetwear industry is worth a lot but I didn’t expect it to be this much. I was also surprised on how it has been around for a few decades and it’s already an multi billion dollar industry. My understanding of streetwear is much different from before because I have learnt a lot of new things about it, such as how it started with skating and surfing. Also, how hip hop influenced the industry as well. Furthermore, on how streetwear has changed and evolved over time. This is significant to learn because streetwear is a very big industry and can be a way one can express themselves based on the attire that they’re wearing. Lastly, this would be important for younger people to learn about because streetwear is targeted towards the younger audience, skaters or surfers and would most likely be interested in the giant fashion industry called streetwear today.

Unit 3:

Final reflection:

This was honestly a great english class. Throughout this term, I have learned to better develop my writing and analysis. By using more descriptive details and your choice of words so that, it would seem as if the reader is present in your scene. Also, to describe the outside scene as best you can. For instance, in unit 1, I’ve really tried to describe the scene that states “It was a nice and bright summer day as the ceremony of my middle school graduation began, my principal called my name, “Christine Li”. I get up with nervousness and excitement, hands shaking to cross the stage with a whole crowd of eyes staring at me. I shake my principal’s hand as he handed me my diploma. I scan through the crowd from left to right looking for my parents as I raised my diploma to show them.” Furthermore, in unit 1, it also states “ As the bell rang for the next class, I walk down the stairs and to my left, there it was. The exist to my school building and how tempting it was for me to simply just cut class. I hear another notification and looked down at my phone saying “just come, it’s just one day,” I look at the exit and started walking towards it and just like that I’m outside the school building with my friends.  I felt so guilty for skipping class but I thought to myself one day wouldn’t hurt.” These two quotes demonstrate how I was trying to really make the reader picture the scene but obviously can still use more improvement. 

As a writer, I find myself taking an abundance amount of time doing so because it just makes me think a lot and sometimes it can be difficult. However, throughout this semester, I’ve learnt to better manage my time while still maintaining a good effort and paper. Especially, I put a lot of thought on how I want to phrase my words. For instance, in unit 2, I’ve stated  that “hoodies and sweats has been very popular among people. These garments might have been considered dress down, or a better word, “bummy.” But however, nowadays, it’s nothing to see these pieces go up in value by a tremendous amount. As for the future of fashion, fashion continues to evolve overtime. Streetwear is likely to be cozy, comfortable, and a trend that people are very much leaning into and loving, especially these days.” Here, I really tried my best to choose the best words I could think of to sound more professional and to be sure I know what I’m talking about. As a reader, I always considered myself a slow reader because whenever I read something fast, it’s as if I never even read it and I wouldn’t have a clue of what I just read. I learnt to go in my own pace and sometimes I even need to reread the sentence carefully in order for me to fully understand the point given.

A challenge I had in this course would definitely be the word count. I felt like the word count amount was always way too high and I felt like I don’t have much to say to be able to reach the minimum word count. Even writing this reflection right now is sort of difficult to reach the word count. I overcame this challenge by explaining more about the point I’m trying to get across. By, including an example or a quote or anything that might relate to the point so I would be able to reach the minimum word count goal.

The knowledge I have gained this term can be used in the future throughout my college career because I have developed a better understanding of writing. Learning on how to better use descriptive details to get your point across clearly can be beneficial to future projects similar to unit 1. This can help me express myself, reach my target audience throughout my writing, and allow myself to get better grades. For instance, I’ve realized throughout unit 1 to unit 3, I’ve realized my grade just have went up and up. For instance, in unit 1, I received a B. Secondly, in unit 2, I received a B+. Finally, in unit 3, I received an A. Overall, with the help of this term I will transfer this knowledge to other writing situations in future courses as well  as in my daily life. 

I added more details to parts where it was needed.

Since I was 8 years old and living in the Dominican Republic, I have always enjoyed playing sports, especially baseball. Since I can remember, my dream has always been to be a professional baseball player and follow my dad’s dream of being a pitcher, but my dad his mom wanted him to study and become a doctor. In  DR, practicing baseball with a professional team was hard, because although my dad always sent me all the equipment I needed, the park was too far from my house. But that never stopped my friends and me from walking for an hour and a half to get to the field, and then, when we got to the field, we needed to run around the field for thirty minutes. Now that I look back at it, it looks like we were going too much, but we didn’t see that because we had a dream and were having fun. When I got the news that I was going to come and live in the United States, I was happy because I was thinking about all the opportunities to play baseball that I was going to have and I would have my dad to support me with his advice.

At first, it was hard to play baseball because I didn’t know English and I was scared of going out to the park without my dad. At the time, it was hard for me to play because, at the time, basketball was my brother’s favorite sport. I went to the park once a week with my dad. Going to the park with my dad was always a good and exciting time because we both liked baseball since we were little it was also a really special moment for me because I got to show my dad that I didn’t use to live with all my baseball skill, and it was nice seeing him smiling and getting surprised with how I play.                    The good thing was that I made friends with other kids my age that liked to play baseball just like me. In my first year in the U.S., it was almost the same thing every day going to school, coming home, doing homework, and going to the park on the weekend. The transition from middle school to high school was not easy for me because I didn’t know English that much but with time I got used to it and I also made friends that were just like that were from DR. In my freshman year I made the baseball team and did well for a freshman. In my sophomore year, I was ready to play baseball but it got canceled because of the pandemic. In my junior, we play baseball but it was not a long season we play like 8 games because there were not a lot of teams. But my senior year was when I put everything together as a player and had my best season by far. The team was doing good and we made the playoffs.

It was a normal day of school,  it was a  good sunny day to play baseball, the only thing was that the school baseball team had a semi-final game and I was going to pitch that game. That day for my first class I did nothing but think about plans for the game and talk to my teammates about the game. We were talking in Spanish because we were all Dominican and we were saying things like “Ahy que estar listo con tiempo pa’ la recta”(We need to be ready on time for the fastball) and one of my friends named Jhon told me “Tu tienes que tirar mucho strikes”(You need to throw a lot of strikes). The baseball team was doing good because we knew how to play smart and we knew what to do at the right time. That day all it was in my head was the catcher’s glove because as a pitcher you want to throw the ball where the catcher puts his glove most of the time is In the strike zone. At 1:30 pm it was time to meet up in front of the school so we can all as a team take the L train to the 14av stop and then take the 5 walks for like 3 minutes and get to the field.

When we got there the field was locked so our coach needed to call the owner of the league so he can come and open the field. I wasn’t nervous because I have faced that team two times before that game and I pitch well but that don’t take away that it was going to be an intense game because both teams were going to have their best pitcher pitching. We were the away team with meant that we hit first,  the first batter for us got a hit but was cut out stealing and the next two batters got out, so it was my time to pitch, that game was the best game I ever pitch because I pitch the full game with was seven innings and struck out 11 batters. We won that game with a score of 7 to  3 and I got the MVP of the game. When we went to the final although we didn’t play badly we lost because we were not able to put everything together. In baseball putting everything together means that we didn’t get back-to-back hits to score a run. 

 Losing the final was hard for me because that was my last baseball game with my high school team we were like brothers and the coach was like my dad in baseball and we were always talking about how we can improve and always talking about the MLB and the teams. When I got home I was proud of myself and also my coach was proud of me because of all the work that I have put in since I was a freshman and how much I have improved. 

Now at day, I don’t play a lot of baseball because I’m in college, but when I do get to play I always feel like a connection, like I miss the game and the game misses me. What I miss the most about baseball is putting in hard work to get better, and talking with my teammates and my coach about little things that I can improve that will make a big impact on my playtime. You may be asking if you were good at baseball and love playing the game why you didn’t go to a college where you can play baseball. Well in my senior year of high school I was focusing so much on baseball and doing good that I forgot about looking for a college where I can play baseball and have my career. I wish I could go back and spend time looking for a college that has a baseball program.

Unit 2

How has baseball become a global phenomenon?   

I’m interested in this question/ topic because I know that I’m not going to get bored reading about baseball and also I have played baseball a lot in my life I love to learn about the game. I expect to find out how baseball got popular in different countries and the different stories on hove baseball became that countryman sport. Is going to be hard to find information that goes against what I’m expecting because I know a lot about baseball but if it happens I will learn about it.

McMaster, Michael. “The Globalization of Baseball.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 3 Oct. 2017, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/178183-the-globalization-of-baseball.

Summary:  The Globalization of Baseball written by Michael Mcmaster on May 18, 2009, is an article that talks about how in the United States baseball is more than a sport, that is a tradition passed down from generation. The origins of baseball are unknown, but Americans believe it was created by Union soldier  Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown in 1839. “Over the next two centuries, baseball evolved into a national phenomenon, making stars and heroes out of household names like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jackie Robinson. Although the United States is where baseball is played on the biggest stage there are also some other countries like Mexico and Japan where they also have a baseball league”.(McMaster)  The world baseball classic is an event like the Olympics where every country has a team of baseball players(of that country) and plays against each other. In this event, the United States has a big problem and is that there are the best players don’t go to this event and play because they believe that there is a lot of risk of getting hurt and not being able to play for their regular team, especially pitchers because they have the most probability of getting hurt. Baseball is no longer America’s sport is now a sport of the world. In this article, he uses Key Quotes like, “Baseball can no longer be contained within the borders of America’s 50 states”. In this quote what he wants to say is that baseball is no longer popular only in America, baseball is a sport that is played at a professional level in more than 19 countries and we can see that in the 2023 Wold Classic where is projected to have 20 teams of 20 different countries play against each other. 

Rhetorical Analysis:  Michael McMaster is a developmental biologist and educator in 1994 joined the UCSF faculty.The primary audience is people who want to know more about the sport and how it got so popular also people who are new to the sport and want to learn more about it. McMaster published this in  2009  because baseball had a lot of players like Miguel Cabrera, and Albert Pujol in their prime, so it was getting popularity after some dawn years. McMaster wants people to know that baseball is not just a United States sport there are some other countries that have a professional league. The author sounds proud of the sport and its growth, he also sounds sad when he talks about how players from the United States don’t play in the BWC.

More Key Quotes: “Baseball is no longer America’s sport; now, it belongs to the world. The World Baseball Classic provides a stage for the world to compete. As nations compete, the world will look on, and hopefully, America will too”.  “In the United States, baseball is much more than a sport. It is a tradition, passed down from generations, woven into the beautiful fabric of American society”.

Cremonesi, Rafael Rojas. “Why Are Venezuelans so Crazy about Beisbol?” Caracas Chronicles, 2 Jan. 2016, https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2016/01/02/why-are-venezuelans-so-crazy-about-beisbol/.

Summary: In the article “Why are Venezuelans so crazy about beisbol” by Rafael Rojas Cremoise, Rojas talks about the big impact that the game of baseball has had in Venezuela. In a quote, Rojas says    “It’s the national pastime – bueno, alongside politics. It has become a big part of Venezuelan culture and embedded itself into the way we speak: we’re not in a tough spot, you’re “en tres y dos”. Venezuelans are never baffled, they have a  “cara de poncha’o”. We don’t do great, “la botamos de jonron”.  This quote shows that baseball has such a significant impact on the people that they are replacing normal words with baseball phrases. In Venezuela, the first baseball was called “Carasco BBC”, It was created in 1895, but in Venezuela baseball started getting popular with Juan Vicente Gomez who was the president of Venezuela in 1908. In 1941 the Venezuela baseball team played in the “Amateur Baseball World Series in Cuba” where they won the title; in that team where players such as Daniel Canonico(Chino), José Antonio Casanova, Atilano “Pollo” Malpica, and Guillermo Vento who now are legends in Venezuela and remember as “Los Heroes del 41.”   Now a day in the MLB Venezuela has a lot of star players like Ronald Acuna Jr, Jose Altuve, Miguel Cabrera, and many more.  

Rhetorical Analysis: Rafael Rojas Cremoise is a sports writer with more than 15 years of experience. Rojas wrote this article to show the history of baseball in Venezuela and why it is important. This article was written on January 2, 2016, with is one year away from the day that a  Venezuelan-born player won the World Series MVP. The genre is Non-fiction, he uses this genre because in the best way to prove his points.  Rojas had an informative tone and a fun way to tell the reader about his points. He uses Ethos/ credibility to prove his point. For example, “There’s simply no way to put into words how passionate Venezuelans are when it comes to baseball”.   To prove this point they said, “Current superstars include Miguel Cabrera, the first Triple Crown winner (2012) since Carl Yastrzemski did it in 1967, and Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez, who pitched a perfect game in 2012”. Quote Sandwich: In the article, “Why are Venezuelans so crazy about beisbol” by Rafael Rojas Cremoise, he wrote, “It’s the national pastime – Bueno, alongside politics. It has become a big part of Venezuelan culture and embedded itself into the way we speak: we’re not in a tough spot, you’re “en tres y dos”. Venezuelans are never baffled, they have a  “cara de poncha’o”. We don’t do great, “la botamos de jonron”.  What Rojas wants to say is that in Venezuela baseball has become a phenomenon that everyone enjoys, to a point that people are using baseball phrases in their normal life. For me, this means that if you talk about Venezuela you need to talk about baseball. I agree/relate with this quote because these are words that I use with my friends and we as  Dominican related a lot with Venezuelans.

Rodriguez, Julio M. “Early History of Baseball in the Dominican Republic.” Society for American Baseball Research, Sabr /Wp-Content/Uploads/2020/02/sabr_logo.Png, 22 Oct. 2022, https://sabr.org/research/article/early-history-of-baseball-in-the-dominican-republic/.

Summary: In the article “Early History of Baseball in the Dominican Republic”, by Julio M. Rodriguez, Rodrigues talks about the early stages of baseball and how everything started. Rodrigues said that baseball began in the Dominican Republic when two brothers from Cuva named Ignacio and Ubaldo left Cuva to come and live in Dominica in 1891, they were the ones that organized the first game of baseball in the Dominican Republic. Dominican people liked it so much that in 1907 they created their first baseball team named “Licey” and three years later in 1910 they created another team named “Estrellas Orientales”. Baseball became such a big thing that in 1911 the first stadium for baseball was built in D.R. During the American Intervention in 1916 when the games really took off, Rodrigues wrote, “During the years of the intervention, many games were played between Dominican teams and teams made of US Marines who came on Navy warships. To see Dominican teams beat those American teams was one of the greatest pleasures of the population during those years”.  In this quote, Rodrigues talks about the games that the Dominican team and U.S. mariners played and how happy people were when the Dominican team beat the U.S. marines team. This means that  Dominican players were getting good at baseball and the people were enjoying it.

In 1922 the first tournament was set between the two teams in D.R., Licey, and Escogido. The tournament was set to 30 games whereas Escoguido beat Licey 23 games to 9. The first Dominican player to play baseball in the U.S. was Mero Ureña in 1925, but he only played in the minor leagues in 1926 the first Dominican player to play in the American Negro leagues was Pedro Alejandro San. After that Dominicans have a thing a big part in baseball for example Rodrigues wrote, “In 1983 Juan Marichal, also from Montecristi, became the first Dominican player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown”. Having a Hall of Fame player born in the Dominican Republic was one of the best things that happen to baseball in D.R. Rhetorical Analysis: Julio M. Rodrigues was born in Montecristi Dominican Republic and is a board-certified pediatrician there. Rodriguez wrote this article so people can learn about the early history of baseball in the Dominican Republic and it became so popular and important. Rodrigues wrote this article on 22 Oct. 2022, with is the year that a lot of Dominican players like Manny Machado, Julio Rodrigues(From Montecristi), Jose Ramirez, and many others are showing why D.R has some of the best players in the game. This article was created for people like me that want to know more about the game of baseball and how it got popular in other countries other than the U.S. Rodrigues used a calm tone but he went over a lot of information about the history of the game. I dint like his choices I feel like it was really broad to read because the no images or something to call the reader’s attention.  In my opinion, this can have a negative on the reader because although it has a lot of good information like I said it doesn’t have anything to call attention to.

Quote Sandwich: In the article “Early History of Baseball in the Dominican Republic”, by Julio M. Rodriguez, he wrote, “Dominicans liked the game and began to organize teams. In 1907 Licey was founded in Santo Domingo. In 1910 the Estrellas Orientales (Oriental Stars) was organized in San Pedro de Macorís. A number of other short-lived teams were organized over the years”.What Rodriguez wants to say is that baseball and D.R. was love at first sight. For me, this quote means that baseball is a big part of the history of the Dominican Republic and also that the Dominican Republic is a big part of baseball since it is the second country that has the most player in the MLB, after the U.S. I agree with this quote and I’m a big example that in D.R baseball is a normal that everyone has played in there life and every Dominican grow up with the dream of being a professional baseball player.

Conclusion:  After spending hours looking researching how has baseball become a global phenomenon I found out that baseball is more than a sport for some people like me, baseball can a lot of things in a person’s life, for example in article number two we can see how people in Venezuela are using baseball phrases used of using normal words. I also found how that for every country baseball is a different story and had a similar impact on the people. For countries like Dominican Republic and Venezuela even though baseball is not their sport now a day baseball is a sport that represents who they are and are the main sport in their countries.  Here in the United States, we all know how baseball especially here in New York where we have two of the best teams in the games the average of people that go to a New York Yankee game is 40,207, and for the Mets is 33,308, these are top three and top six in 2022.

A lot of things surprised me, something that surprised me is how baseball has a different story on how it because a phenomenon in every country, for example in D.R baseball was first played because two brothers from Cuba that came to D.R introduced the game, and people in D.R. liked it so much that baseball became the country number one sport. Another that surprised me is how much the game of baseball has grown and how much it has changed before there was a league for black people called “The Negro League” and a league for white people. Now day people from every country and every color, baseball has also grown a lot, in 2022 more than 108 million people attended baseball without counting the postseason. I learned a lot of important things that for a baseball fan can mean a lot because for me baseball is like a girlfriend, I want to know everything, and I want to know where she is from and all of that. I think that the people that need to know this are people who are big baseball fans and want to know how the game is not only in the United States but in there are important countries to the sport like Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.

Unit 3

I record it again so I can sound more fluent.

Baseball is a big part of my life, since I can remember I always wanted to be a baseball player.  There are a lot of things about baseball that I don’t know and want to know, so what better than doing the research my self. The purpose of this project is to tell people a little more about the history of baseball here in the United State and In other countries like Venezuela and the Dominican Republic where baseball is the main sport. My main audience is young/new baseball fans that want to learn more about the game of baseball and any person who wants to learn a bit more about baseball and the impact that it has in other countries.

I chose this genre( a video) because I as a baseball fan enjoy watching baseball videos and also a lot of my friends who are baseball fans like to watch videos about baseball as well. Also, I think is not boring.  What made me think that this is the best genre for my audience is when I talked to my classmates about it they agree with it and one student told me that he likes to watch videos like this but about basketball. I think that a video is the best genre for almost all topics because you can watch a video at any time, for example, me I’m cooking or doing the dishes I always have a video playing in the background, and most of the time is a baseball video talking about a baseball player story.

Doing the video was really fun because I had an idea of what I was going to do. So I just needed to write what I was going to say.  The hard part of doing the video was putting the most important formation because there was so many go information that I didn’t know what to put. My original idea was to make a TikTok where I was not going to talk but because I had a lot of information the video was going to be too long so I choose to talk in the video.

Now that is done I think that it came out how I wanted not a long video but with the right information. Something that I will change if I did it again is how fluently I talk and I will say talk slower. Doing this project was not hard because I had the idea in my mind it was just a matter of putting it together. Something that works well is adding pictures in the background because it makes the video not boring. Also having my coach’s opinion was good because he talks about his experience with baseball. After doing it I feel proud and happy because I got to talk about something that I enjoyed talking about.  I can see myself using this in the future for example in like a different class.

Final Reflection

When I decided to go to college, I thought I was going to have a lot of trouble because my English is not at a college level. But I knew that I needed to give out my best and put a lot of work into what I was doing. Having Prof. Hall as my teacher was a big thing for me because she does a good job of explaining what you really need to do, and she always makes sure that everyone understands before moving on.

This semester, I improved in a variety of areas, but one, in particular, was adding details to a scene. In the unit 1 assignment, I wrote, “At first, it was hard to play baseball because I didn’t know English and I was scared of going out to the park without my dad. At the time, it was hard for me to play because, at the time, basketball was my brother’s favorite sport. I went to the park once a week with my dad”. After I did a revision, I wrote, “At first, it was hard to play baseball because I didn’t know English and I was scared of going out to the park without my dad. At the time, it was hard for me to play because, at the time, basketball was my brother’s favorite sport. I went to the park once a week with my dad. Going to the park with my dad was always a good and exciting time because we both liked baseball since we were little it was also a really special moment to me because I got to show my dad that I didn’t use to live with all my baseball skill, and it was nice seeing him smiling and getting surprised with how I play”

As you can see, I include details about me going to the park with my dad to play baseball as well as my emotions.

This semester, my favorite assignment was the unit one assignment because I got to talk about how I got into baseball and a special day in my life. I had a lot of fun doing this assignment because talking about baseball and going back to when I used to live in the Dominican Republic was really special for me. My least favorite assignment was the unit 2 assignment, not because it was long but because it was hard for me to find three different articles that were not talking about the same thing. Also, for me, reading a lot of assignments, and an article to find out that it has the same point as my other article is not fun.

I struggled with time management this semester because I’m a freshman, and the transition from high school to college is a big one where you really need to know how to manage your time. I used to spend a lot of time on my phone or playing video games. What I did to fix that was quit playing video games and set up times to do every assignment and have time for other things. But on the other side, something that I believed I did a great job of was doing the work fast. When I start to write, a lot of ideas come to mind, so I just put them all together.

Revising my old assignments was I really fun thing because I got to see my old work and then put all that I have learned together so I can make it better. But in the end, the best thing is seeing how much you have learned in my case, without even noticing.

After completing the unit three assignment, I learned that you need to stick to your first. My first pick was a video where I was going to talk about it, but after my first draft, I was thinking about making one where I didn’t need to talk and just put the words on the screen. After doing it for like 30 minutes, I realized that the video would be too long because I needed to add more time so people could read what was on the screen. So I went back to my original idea and did a two-minute video where I even included my coach.

Overall, working with Prof. Hall was a great experience, and I learned a lot of new things, like, for example, how important it is to make sure you are not using plagiarism because you can get in a lot of trouble for that. I believe that everything I learn will help me in the future, like in English Composition 2 and any other class where I need to do research and things like that.