FINAL PORTFOLIO SHANIA ROMAIN thank you Professor Hall

I really loved this english class and for my first semester this was the perfect class for me . I was allowed to be myself i was allowed to express myself and i was allowed to remain myself  . SSo far this year I have learned The importance of citing textual evidence and proper vocabulary. We also covered the use of proper grammar including commas semicolons periods quotations (ect).Understanding annotations are a key writing skill and Is used to add evidence to a writing piece. I have learned that a good writer has great Coherence in their writing. This was a big emphasis by my professor. My biggest drawback from the semester is that I wish that I learned more and I wish I wrote more. There was a lot of good learning in this semester . In my English class i would say the main things i learned was the five key qualities of a good writer witch are Focus, Development and coherence as what i like to call it . Without these writing guidelines your essay will be redundant and have no substance to it.You have to know how to form you words and make it flow . All of these things made me a better writer . An essay should have A clear Central idea as to what the essay is based upon. This is main things.Each paragraph should support or explain the central idea of the essay or paper.This is like TEA The idea of each paragraph be Should be proper illustrated through examples and thorough descriptions. That is the Every paragraph should relate to the main idea Or Central idea of the overall paper. An essay or a paper should be accurately and coherently organized to Where information and detail and go together. A Paper or essay Should be written in clear complete sentences In relation to the central idea. Writing is one of my biggest passions and I am very satisfied with my grade in this English class this semesterBecause I feel as thoughI came in as a good writer and I am leaving as one . . I did not just gain another college credit,I gained valuable writing skills. Next semester I plan to pass my English class with the highest grade possible. I will attack my next English chorus with extreme ambition and desire to persevere. I understand And comprehend the grandness of surpassing my educational goal with city tech. The expectations of my next English course are exponential, I have gained tremendous educational wisdom this year.

 

Shania Romain

 

English

 

Professor Hall

 

December 2019

 

FINAL PORTFOLIO 

 

 

 

Chain Of Events

 

 

 

 That lil boy really saved my life I tell you man! You may be wondering which boy I am talking about .Have you ever heard the saying “ My son changed me? He made me a better person, I am so glad he came into my life ?That’s me, and I have definitely said that Let me run you through the “Chain of Events”.I was a troublesome kid in high school, I went to the Urban Assembly School of Law and Justice, where I was notorious for getting suspended expelled getting into fights, It was literally the worst academic time of my life. Did I hate school? No. Truthfully, I just needed consistent guidance and truthfully nobody was really there at the least . Let me break it down a little for you.  Every other kid can sit and boast about how they enjoyed their prom, their senior trip or how they became the president of a club or something. They exclaimed how they got into their dream college , etc. I was the opposite. I got arrested, I got left-back, I became pregnant.I was the only one who didn’t graduate. While there was a 99% graduation, I WAS THE 1%. LOL!! Isn’t that funny? 

 

 

 

 Classes usually ran like this 8:45 am you had to be present in advisory where you basically got prepared for all of your classes. Your advisor spoke to you about things your other teachers were saying about you in. the classes you needed to improve on, they also checked attendance etc . My name was never called because I was never there. My first class was Global , I had to take that class again because I was a dick head who couldn’t pass it the first time. History was one of my best subjects too, like what the hell ! The class wasn’t even that hard to be honest. For example,Napoleon Bonaparte was a French man who moved his way up during the French Revolution . He led the French Army during hard times blah blah blah and the other nigga got his head cut off because he was being a Tyrant  and people didnt like the way he was ruling. See? It wasn’t that hard. . At least I understood something .I just needed the motivation to stay consistent . All of my teachers looked at me like a delinquent and didn’t want to help me even if they saw me struggling They thought I wanted to be the way I was however i was just looking for someone to help me. So i eventually lost hope. I could’ve gotten out of highschool faster if someone looked out for me but no one did . Isn’t that a teacher’s job though ?

 

Fast forward to the time that I got arrested. Like I said I was a troublesome kid who needed consistent guidance and this is the story called “Chain of Events”  It was a sunny day in mid winter , you know like when winter is finishing up not that cold but cold. You still had to wear a coat but not a big one .There was no snow however I had a blue Nautica coat, a burgundy H&M sweater, dark blue jeans and some all blue Adidas shell tops.Fun Fact !  Blue was my favorite color .I loved those blue shell tops and yes the other reason had to do with a gang affiliation . The “Crips “ I am sure everyone has heard of them . I was affiliated, not official. I just had a crip boyfriend well ex boyfriend who went by the name “Loco”. Anyways, back to describing the day I regretted my hair was in a bob and of course, my eyebrows were well drawn on . I was looking cute that day not knoiwng I was going to be escorted into an NYPD van , I got arrested for a stupid fight, This was no ordinary fight . This was a fight against a pissed off angry teen and an NYPD cop . Yes, of course, he was White , so you can only imagine how I felt. My friends and I were Downtown Brooklyn standing in the corner as we watched the whole block go in shambles . On this day everyone was fighting for some reason  and we were just standing there laughing. There are like 5 different high schools Downtown Brooklyn .The cops came last minute when everything settled down and everyone got their fights in and the block was clear again . Here they come acting as if they were doing something running and pushing people . This is how everything started. As we are standing there officer Bradley yes I remember his name decides to push through our circle and literally break it apart . How can ONE person maneuver to break a five person circle ? This is what turned up the heat. I turned around and yelled “WHAT THE FUCK “?? Of course, I was the only one who had the nerve to say anything everyone else was too scared. I didn’t really think he heard me but he did. He turns around stares me down with his blue master of the slave eyes and grabs up my fucking collar. My friends stand there shook and scared . What CAN they do though , they don’t want to wind up getting shot for retaliating. He does this for about 45 seconds . I’m not gonna lie, I was extremely scared but that only enraged me more.He let’s go and walks away  I got angry.I exclaimed ”Oh hell no , does he know who the FUCK I am”? I am not your regular black bitch I WILL CUT YOU !” I grabbed my pocket knife out my bag and began cursing out loud “ I am not the fuckng one ..!! “ You messed with the wrong MOTHER FUCKING BITCH “ !! I made enough ruckus to catch the attention of a black officer who put the cuffs on me and took me to the precinct. what enraged me even more was that a black officer arrested me not even the cop who had the issue with me .Thank God right because maybe a limb of mine would have been gone or something . Luckily no one got hurt. I was in that dirty stinky pissy ass precinct crying and banging on the walls for about 3 hours where they had me do the regular take off your belt shoe laces earrings etc. It smelled horrific in there I kept seeing the officer walked past and I swear he looked at me grinning. I just shot up the midlle fnger and said’’ Go fuck yourself “There was a guy in the jail beside me who was high .You could tell .In his face he was lightsknned and short looked about Peurto Rican. I saw him when I used the bathroom, I couldn’t hold it !. don’t judge me .That bathroom was gross though ! He was my buddy for that time being . He told me he got caught with some drugs on him but he is going to sue them for stop and frisking him  because he was wobbling in the street and they stopped him. He has four kids. Poor guy. That experience was horrible . Do you know what it feels like to have flappy shoes with no shoe laces? Pants falling when you walk i’m sure everyone can tell I just got released from jail by the way I looked. When I got out.I was so embarrassed.Eventually they let me out and of course my mother was unhappy she called my whole family and told them I was a big disgrace , which I was. This was only one of many disappointments. I kept disappointing her.I was troubled . I mean no one was helping or guiding a troublesome kid who could make something of herself but just needed someone to be there. Not blaming anyone but this is what happens when you don’t pay attention to small details and then teachers don’t try to go the extra mile to pass the stigma and help students succeed . 

 

This may be a disappointment to others however this was my ultimate saving grace.Like I said I was a disappointment . I got pregnant and this what really changed my life. I got pregnant before I could finish high school I found out in June of the academic year 2018 . I had 7 credits to get. This was the icing to the cake of my many disappointments. I found out i was not going to be graduating on time .Howevr I was ecstatic to know that I was having a boy. My baby boy who was supposed to be born February 22nd, 2019 arrived 12 weeks early November 30th. Born premature at only 30 weeks, he is the reason why I am the way I am now, a different person. Like I said that boy really changed my life and for the better .The new and improved Shania Romain . He came early and he had many difficulties he had 2 ½ surgeries and everyday was a new day for him . Everyday could be good or bad .There was time his little body couldn’t tolerate all the food they were feeding him There was times he had to go on I’vs . Sadly he went through many things that cut really deep to talk about. He came early because I was stressed and my placenta stopped feeding him. One day I went in for a check up and he I ended up staying in the hospital for more than a weeks before they took him out by cesarean . Being born premature is risky and it can affect every child different. After He came into my life I immediately wanted to improve it .There was a huge shift in my academic development and he is the definitive cause of that . When my son came into my life it changed my perspective of life. I thank God everyday for him because I would have still been out there being a dickhead kid. I would have still been getting into things I didn’t need to get into . He made me want to do something with my life. I WANTED to get focused. I WANTED to get on track. I had to, I really didn’t have a choice. I had someone who was looking up to me . His name was Leonard Elijah Jermaine Romain-Martin and although he passed away from Necrotizing Enterocolitis which is when the large intestines dies due to being inflamed, he had a large impact on my life for the little time he’s been here . That disease came from him being born so early and in some situations, it can get worse .Leonard’s got worse . He gave me a purpose and he is the reason for my change in behavior and the way I view education . I would never want my son to go through the things I went through , I had to switch up quick and take advantage of the opportunities in front of me. First, it was finishing school , and getting into college so that I can make him proud because he was and still is the closest thing to me. No one should ever have to lose a kid that young but God knows best. One thing that I admire about him is how he never gave up on life, when the doctors told me that he only had approximately three days left , he showed us that he can push for seven ! He is my angel , my personal motivation to keep going, he changed my life. I made a promise to him when he was passing away to not make my mother disappointed anymore to be a better person to change my life and be better  and make something of myself. I also vowed to make him proud . He taught me to keep going, and even when life is against you keep trying, you keep striving. This is why I am never going to give up on myself again . I needed someone to push me a teacher a mentor orsomeone.No one was there then he came along and he was what i really needed . This is the new and elevated Shania Romain. I am determined to reach my goals because my son didn’t live to reach his and as his mother, I have to make him proud. 

 

 

 

I view education as something I need and yearn . I view education as the way out .I didn’t have the best mentors in my life to guide me . I wish I did but that “boy saved me “ and I’m glad he can call me his mother.

 

In this writing prompt I revised certain grammatical errors and I added and subtracted some things .There is not a major difference in what I did because this piece can from my heart and when I read it over I felt the same way I did when writing it . I felt empowered . This piece represented me shelling out my old skin and talking about things that recently transpired .This piece talked about how one person directed me into a new path in life .I changed a little bit of the introduction .I added a little more in the pregnancy part and I also made the arrest paragraph more clear . 

 

Shania Romain 

 

Professor Hall 

 

English 

 

December  2019 

 

Rebuild Renew Change 

 

Hello ! Hello ! All ! 

 

If you are sitting here at Bridgetown Hall tonight it means you want answers you want change and you have had enough and it means that you believe in me and want to see better for our society for our millennials coming up .You want to see a better outcome a change and I thank you . Thank you for coming out in the cold .Have you talked and started seeing the wind yet ? You know the white air that you see as soon as you speak?   That’s how you know winter is here ! I told my husband that I needed all the heat today literally,and when I say all the heat I mean for everyone to show out and that is exactly what happened .All the seats are filled in this room. So now I feel extremely warm and I thank you.

 

Today we are discussing the need for change in our justice systems . You’re clapping because you have had enough.You’ve had enough of the unsolved issues. You’ve had enough of the broken systems .We need to Rebuild Renew and finally Change . Black men are unfairly incarcerated due  to preconceived notions o f black men. This needs to stop Once and for all .( Pause while they clap ) We need to Rebuild our communities Renew our systems and Change the way our government persecutes .This is the solution. Rebuild Renew and Change a system that has been broken for so long.Our communities is so broken .The society we live in needs to mature . America has grown but not in a good way.At this very moment right now,there are two things America is known for. These may be the things the other countries are laughing at us for .One we have the most arrogant unfiltered immature President in office and second our incarceration system .We have the highest!  A staggering 2.2 million black men’s re improsoned .Why haven’t America finally got past the stigma that black men are so cruel and dangerous.Black men are so vindictive and arrogant.Dumb and stupid.They have nothing to offer to society . They do nothing but get themselves in trouble.In truth have you seen the amount of black men who graduated from Ivy League Schools .Yale, Harvard , Princeton .They don’t talk about that though . Haven’t you you had enough ?

 

 Did anyone hear about the man who has been on death row for 21years? Despite no evidence against this man he still remains on death row .They were about to execute him a few weeks ago ! AMERICA WAKE UP ! Rodney Reed brought an uproar to Texas’s cruel and unjust justice system which is notorious for the death penalty.  Rodney Reed who was 28 when falsely convicted has been incarcerated for something dna has not proven. Rodney Reed’s sentence is controversial because after many pages of evidence he still remained on death row . This particular case is troubling because of so many different factors such as police misconduct missed DNA samples prosecutorial misconduct and Rodney Reed’s poor counsel . Rodney Reed was convicted  based on semen sample.This is the ONLY piece of evidence brought against him. Now Rodney did have a legal relation with the deceased Stacey Stites. Does that mean that he killed Stacey .A black man dating caucasian a woman still intimidated a lot of folks back then it seemed .I mean it is Texas right ? No other evidence connected Rodney to this death not DNA from clothes or who knows her body that day but just semen . She was found in the forest and they didn’t find finger prints of dna from the clothes at all ! He was set for execution for November 20th.Thank God they delayed his execution and they are giving him a new trial .Our mission continues . I say our mission continues we need to Rebuild Renew and Change .Our system is broken for penalising an innocent African American man and basically framing him for something he did not do . When will this stop America. When will we learn to accept African Americans and stop trying to shun them from having the life  we all deserve ! 

 

There is many more evidence pointed towards Jimmy Fennel .At this point they still have not incriminated Jimmy Fennell which is not okay ! Jimmy Fennel is the one who has a past .We are moving into 2020 a new decade this cannot continue . I applaud you guys because you guys understand the need for a new start.This should not be happening . The system should not be biased . However the system was biased because Jimmy Fennell is at home in his house while Rodney Reed is serving time living in a hell hole for something he did not do . He is sitting behind bars for a crime he did not commit! Why does an affair with a black woman intimidate Mr Fennell to  go out in the morning to kill a woman who he is supposed to be marrying . Stacey Stites was his fiancé ! An innocent woman is now dead because of man who was was supposed to be law enforcement .Thats hypercritical ! Jimmy Fennel was an ex cop at the time. This same police officer pleaded guilty to kidnapping a woman in 2008 and he was released in 2018 The woman did say that Mr Fennel also raped her To top it off did you know that an inmate who served time with Mr Fennell signed a sworn affidavit swearing that he overheard Mr Fennell saying that he did in fact kill his ex wife for sleeping with a black man .This man deserves to be on death row . This man needs to be behind bars .Do You see the problem here now . When a black man is accused of doing a crime accused he immediately gets sentenced to long periods of time in prison .However a Caucasian guy doesn’t get questioned until years pass by and he is still not suspected of doing a thing . That can cost you one African American but the system does not care though right ?

 

Would you look at that Not only are  black people shot for walking or stopped  and frisked or pinned on the ground for not swiping a metrocard their lives are being framed and taken from them .This is not right .This is a continuing cycle that needs to be stopped .The big picture here is that the justice e system needs to be fixed and the justice system needs to stop taking advantage of black men .It needs to be stopped .It needs to be changed .The Justice system needs to be Rebuilded Renewed and Changed 

 

America You have to do better . STOP THROWING AWAY THE BLACK MEN .Stop stealing their life . I say this because this is a great epidemic . This should have never been Hopelessness did not manifest .Thank God you guys stopped the process and voiced your opinions and used your phones for something positive . I need you guys to continue continue to put the government on blast .When you see something say something .Take out your phones !Record when you know you can’t do anything that’s eveidnece . You guys channeled that energy to move the process along for a better outcome of mankind and we thank you . I thank you . .Each one of you 5000,000 signatures got this innocent man case delayed .His case got delayed so that he may at least be heard .He deserves to be heard . He needs to be heard .You put your voices toward something as one people .In America unfortunately the prison system is failing our black men.Degrading our black men. Abusing our black men. We cannot sit around on this any longer . This needs to be changed . Our journey as black people has already been hard .The task of protecting our black men has been  moved forward even more .The best is yet to come. . I want to thank everyone for using their voice for something . Every celebrity ,every news outlet ,every signature mattered and we are here now .We are here now to make sure this does not happen again. How many of us have an uncle or brother incarcerated for something they did not do .Being beaten behind bars by CO’s .Being abused .This needs to change . I have an uncle who served 10 years in prison for a marijuana charge something small as marijuana ! He served time in Upstate Correctional Prison. Meanwhile there are real rapists real murders real killers out there . This is how they treat our black men . Marijuana cannnot scar someone marijuana cannot harm someone .Howver Jimmy Fennell did ! Jimmy Fennel scared a whole family and scared an innocent black man by allowing him to take the fall .He deserves to be on death row bot people like Rodney Reed who at a tender age had to serve more than half his life in prison for something he did not do ! They looked at the facts and they still kept him hostage . The fiance told the truth and they still kept a black innocent man captive under the hostilities of the worst conditions . We have to fix this in our nation . The prison epidemic is becoming to big too known it should not be something that is common to us once in a while but everyday ? Let’s fix this America ! I will fix this !!

 

This essay I revised by adding a topic sentence because my ideas were all over the place . I followed TEA and it helped me get the message ascross bbetter . I organized and I added more things . I organized the paragraphs also by separating them like you told me to . There is a black man paragraph a Rodney Reed paragraph a Jimmy Fennel Paragraph and a conclusion . 

 

Homework Assignments

 

GENRE HOW TO 

 

When I did this homework I  was excited . I got dressed up just to read my speech in class .This really represents a me as a writer because as I mentioned in the beginning of the year I like to write formally .I feel like that assignment was the beginning of me coming into how I want to write and how high I hold myself.This assignment really shows the standards I hold for myself . I would love to continue to write even better !I like how I mentioned that you have to have an attention grabber to key the audience in and you have to know what you’re talking about before you even speak so that it can flow . This is like any writing ,wether it be persuasive argument i’ve .So I really enjoyed this assignment . 

 

BLOG POST 

 

This homework assignment describes me and my classmates as writers because this was like the summary of when we did our first assignment. We realized that we have many things in common . For exhale me and Neil were both trouble some kids in school and we didn’t get the help we needed . We both feel like we could have been motivated more and strengthen more instead of teachers looking at our weakness. The.  environment that we can agree on was not the best .Thereforw we just did what we knew ! I remember that day in class when people ben cried because we knew that teachers don’t know the kind of impact they have on students’ lives . If you don’t believe in your students then what is your puspise . I like how I said we are all here for a reason . It was like if this was meant to be . We all got along we all were fairly close we all agreed on the same thing and we all came for a purpose . That homework assignment was the start to great things .