September 2019 – Page 3 – JewellENG1101D325/C325

That one writing assignment

When I was younger I felt real low about myself in school. I never really thought of myself as a reader or writer. The teacher would try to facilitate discussions and I just couldn’t comprehend what the other kids were saying. Throughout middle school and most of high school I hated reading and I hated writing. Why is that? We had to read certain books that was a part of the “curriculum” the school had, everyone knows that. It was like I had to read a book and understand all the metaphors and the ideas of what the author wanted us to know. Listening to all the kids talking and going into depth of a book that meant nothing to me was kind of the start of me hating to read or write.

After that came essays we all had to write every single time and there was always a specific thing we had to write about and find details to support it and if you wrote something wrong you got a bad grade, obviously. There was always instructions to write essays and maybe that was the reason why I hated it so much, the writing part. Not only that but it was like my writing was so terrible, every time I got my paper back, there was so many grammar mistakes I didn’t see. Also getting a lot of comments back from my teachers about how my sentences didn’t make sense through some and most of my middle and high school.

During my Junior year, I had an english teacher that was so passionate about teaching students how to write well, she really wanted us to get used to writing well for college. Writing essays was different with her, she always gave us options in what we, the class, wanted and what we were comfortable with.

Yea that’s definitely when my perspective on writing changed. Also, my writing itself got better, I no longer had a ton of comments from my teachers what was wrong about my writing and it felt good. It was like taking baby steps and I didn’t realize how my writing got better throughout the year. This class helped me to continue writing my essays better.

During Senior year, I took classes that were college level to prepare myself for actual college. Surprising I had like a writing awakening sort of thing which actually came from my science college course. We were watching a movie about the Soviet Union and it’s time around there and the assignment was to write a three page essay on the movie. It was that kind of writing like a movie critic. I honestly don’t think I had ever worked so hard on an essay before, I guess because it was a college class I had to up my game. At first I was so anxious about how the paper would trim out, I saw that movie three times before I actually started writing and just going back to specific scenes here and there. Of course there was a prompt but it was really vague, just comparing that time period to this time period. I worked on it a couple of days until about one in the morning just writing and rewriting and fixing grammar and all that. After watching it so many times I thought that maybe I overdid it, but in my head Iknew this was going to be worth it. While writing it, I felt so proud of myself that I was able to accomplish a big assignment like that.

When I got that paper back, right on top was a one hundred and a small smile. I looked through the pages and had no comments and when I saw the rubric all it said was “perfect paper”. This moment felt like the greatest achievement I had ever done in my educational years and yet all it was just one assignment.

Not only did he write that on my paper, my teacher had said “ there was only one paper that got a one hundred, I didn’t have to write anything, it was perfectly written, the best paper I have ever read in my whole life of teaching”. In my head I finally got the feedback from the teacher I wanted for my writing.

He said “Nataly you did an amazing job”.

Revised Literacy Narratives

Due Sept 18: Please post your revised literacy narratives. Think of a title that encapsulates your piece!

Click on the “Literacy Narrative” category option when posting.

Peruse your classmates’s stories about how they became the readers and writers and thinkers they are today. What can we learn about the role of reading and writing today as a result of these shared pieces?

Personal experience

My name is Jae Rose and I was born in kings county hospital May 3.2001. My mom and dad are role models for me because they always push me to be great. Reading in general was my weakness. I hated reading. My parents notice this from when I was young even my English teachers.From young, my parents helped me be better at reading. On weekends they would make me read a news day article from the daily news and make me summarize it . Another way they helped me sharpened my skills was learning new vocabulary words. My mom would select 10 words from a dictionary and then I I would have to know how to spell, know the meaning, and how to use it in the dictionary every week. As time went on I started to get 80s and higher on my report card. Reading and writing has played a big part in my life so far. From my elementary days to now.Many different things shaped and influenced my learning and now reading and writing have become a big part of my life. As life goes on I would hope to develop these skills even more and become an expert at it

Inspiring things about “Only Daughter.” by Sandra Cisneros

Sandra Cisneros, the only daughter with six brothers that never supported her to continue her education and made a fool of her yet, has inspired me. According to her Passage, “Only Daughter.” Cisneros claims that her father was the only one that supported her at the beginning to get into college and continuing getting her education. But all he was thinking, that college was a perfect way for girls to get married. His thoughts never stopped Cisneros achieving her goals. Even when he said, ” Why would anyone go to college and then choose to be poor? Especially someone who had always been poor.” Cisneros continued her life being independent and proves her father that she was able to make a difference. During the holiday Cisneros came back home with a published book. She has given the book to her father for him to read her work and made sure that the book was in Spanish for him to be able to understand. As he finished reading, he asked for more copies to hand it out to his relatives. Cisneros inspires me to continue following my goals even when the closest ones are stopping me. And because of does people, that are disagreeing with my thoughts such as careers, education, or lifestyles. For them to be able to understand, I would have to prove and let them see the difference.

Personal Experience Essay

I was raised by heroes. Heroes who escaped the world of darkness to raise me in a world of hope and light. My parents Elbadry and Noura, are two of the bravest and unselfish people that I have ever had the privilege to know. Sacrificing everything to move to a new and strange land, they picked up and touched their entire lives to make sure that my life would be bursting with infinite opportunities. Being one of four children, I found it surprising how they were able to give equal amounts of love, understanding, and attention to all of us. It seems to be strange, but I believe they have more to offer.
My father works hard in this country. Some might even say that for a while, he struggled, and he did. Having lived through half your life already, and changing everything for the benefit of your family is not an easy task to adjust. It didn’t help that people in this country treated us differently because my parents didn’t speak or understand the language. Religion played a role, as Muslims we were hated upon and treated differently, working in a non-native country wasn’t easy. However, he endured and attempted that we thrived in this exotic country. As i watched my father work hard, while I didn’t do much as I grew up, I have tried my best on improving my self in school. One of my favorite subjects is math. Having to take an English class was a bet struggle for me just because i never liked to be told to read or write. i received an email from City Tech that accepted to the college, but first, need to take one semester at BEOC program to help me with my writing skills. Mr.Cameras inspired me on how to be in love with writing and educate me with reading. The girl that I was who had a headphone on and listened to music on the train every day now opens a book or randomly search something online to educate my self about life.

Personal Experience Resubmitted

Junior year, I had the option of taking a Spanish class or French class, it was a no brainer which one I would obviously select but little did I know my Spanish was very imperfect. Growing up I honestly do not remember which language I spoke first because I was mute, I refused to learn how to speak but I knew that Spanish was never my strong suit, sure I knew how to say things but it was never anything complex. I remember taking a Spanish class in Junior year, thinking it would be easy but I struggled not with reading but mainly with writing and sometimes speaking. It felt kind of embarrassing, although I knew Spanish I would always ask my friends Jessica and Ana for help. I feel like I just don’t get enough practice and so with time I started losing my accent and begin to stumble on words or give up and say what I meant in English instead of Spanish whenever I talk to my mother. I knew that this Spanish class was gonna be helpful for me but I definitely took it for granted, I would sit in the back of the class and fool around with my friends and make jokes not realizing I should’ve paid attention to the lesson knowing it would be beneficial. My family members would text me in Spanish and yes I understand it but I never know what to write simply because I don’t know how to say a lot of things in Spanish. Even having conversations on the phone I wouldn’t say much to a family member because I don’t want them knowing my Spanish isn’t as good as theirs, I would love to communicate with them more but I get frustrated and instead have my mom or my sister translate to them.

Sandra Cisneros Only Daughter – Resubmitted

The text “Only Daughter” by Sandra Cisneros was very interesting and relatable to many young women who try to pursue their careers but are told to do another thing. When Sandra said that her father told her, her destiny was to become someone’s wife that to me was very ignorant and it was not all that surprising because back in the older times, women at a certain age were told get a husband and have kids. I can somewhat relate to this not personally but from my country’s background, because in past Mexican traditions it was viewed as normal from a young age to get married and have kids, the man is supposed to take care of the woman while she does house chores. But of course, now times have changed and women can get careers however sometimes they do not have the support of their families or friends. Sandra wanted her father’s approval so badly that when she finally got it, she felt accomplished with what she has produced as a writer. I think this just shows how you shouldn’t be closeminded and explore the possibilities of what you’re capable of doing such as Sandra. She was told to be one thing from a family of six sons, to become a wife but came out as being a great writer.

Personal Response Essay

I was born in Georgetown, Guyana and lived there for 8 years then I came to the U.S. with my mom and my sister. We moved to Brooklyn first to live with my Aunt and that’s where I started my first school year in America. I had been placed in the 3rd grade and I was far behind my classmates when it came to any of the subjects, my worst class was English. In my country we speak an English based creole with African American and East Indian syntax, so it was hard for my teachers and classmates to understand me, it was also hard for me to understand them. My country’s educational system wasn’t as good as Americas, so I wasn’t prepared to see how much harder English was in America than in my country. I was failing all my classes with 50’s and 60’s and what made it worse was that, that same year we moved to Florida where I would have to start over again meeting new people and learning English a different way because no two teachers teach the same. I was happy though because we moved in with my Aunt and she’s a teacher so she would help me with my homework, and she made me become better at reading and writing. As a child my favorite book to read was “Dragon Slayers Academy” by Kate Mcmullan and “Charlotte’s Webs” by E.B. White. At first it was difficult reading these books, but as I kept on reading I was beginning to understand what was going on in the story and create a clear picture in my head. This helped me improve my reading and my writing, as well as my English which enabled me to talk to my teachers when I needed help and also make new friends.

Response to Malcolm X “Learning to Read”

I found “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X very interesting, because I gained some new knowledge about him that I never knew. Malcolm wasn’t a very good writer and wasn’t really educated and he saw his flaw when talking to Bambi and forced himself to fix that flaw, not many people can do that. Instead of just ignoring how much smarter Bambi was than him, Malcolm went to the prison library and took out books so he could learn to read, however he couldn’t understand the words and sometimes skipped pass them, but couldn’t understand what he was reading. Instead of giving up Malcolm went back to the library and got a dictionary so he can learn new words that he didn’t know. He would sit down and just read the dictionary and record the new words he was learning. And he was actually remembering the words, and the ones he couldn’t remember he went back to. It’s amazing that Malcolm spent all those years in prison become a better reader, writer and critical thinker, while most people who have a chance at education just take it for granted. I like that even after prison he continued on to read books, he says you couldn’t catch him with a 15 min break without a book in his hands.

Sandra Cisneros “Only Daughter”

Sandra Cisneros purpose into writing this story is to have readers picture what she was going through in her family .She was an Mexican American growing up with 6 boys being an only girl. From just knowing this you knew it was hard for her. It was hard for her because she was the only one looked down on in her family and all her brothers are being looked at as most important. Her relationship towards her father was off. I had found it interesting that her father thought that she was wasting her education because she didn’t get married when she was finished from college.. From my understanding, I thought that the father was basically saying that with all the knowledge she got from school she wasted it by not having a family to pass it down to her own family. Being an only daughter left her to think a lot and she wrote on her thoughts. The best moment in the story was her father reaction towards her writing and she was finally noticed by him

Month: September 2019