Tag Archives: writing

Winning an Award at The 2018 Literary Arts Festival

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Girl holding certificate and SmilingOn April 12th, 2018 I received an email from Professor Lucas Kwong informing me that I won First Place in the Michele Forsten Advocacy Category for my paper “The Price of Gentrification: Who Pays?” I was ecstatic when I read the news that my paper had been chosen, and that I was going to receive an award. Immediately I called my loved ones and my mentors to tell them about this major accomplishment in my life. Honestly, I didn’t know what to do with myself because this paper “The Price Of Gentrification: Who Pays?” caused a lot of controversy in my life. What I mean by this is that I had a lot of people tell me that discussing this topic was going to cause too much uproar. People also told me that my words were too harsh, and that I should try and soften my words so the message I was trying to convey wouldn’t offend people. For weeks I faced backlash from various people who were not only against my views, but who also were against me speaking out on this topic. However, I didn’t let these people stop me from saying what I had to say, and because I spoke my truth I was awarded an honor for a paper that I wrote while being nearly on the brink of tears.

This paper was a work of art that came from the depths of my soul. As I typed the words, I allowed myself to express my pain in the only way I knew how, with hopes that people who were and still are experiencing the same thing as me,  could gain some comfort. I understood that I could potentially offend many people, and possibly make some people uncomfortable, but it was a risk I was willing to take. So I went up against many people, and in the end it was all worth it when I walked on to the stage in the Atrium Amphitheatre and accepted my award in front of people like my Mother , Father Professor Jospeh Jeyaraj, Professor Jason Ellis, and The Buzz’s own Professor Jill Belli.

In that moment I felt as though my hard work paid off, and I was grateful for those people who supported me through the process of writing about the current struggle I was going through with seeing how the neighborhood I once knew had drastically changed.In the end I realized that in life you will face many obstacles when it comes to speaking about topics that may cause the majority to cringe. However, the best part about writing this piece on gentrification was not only the award, but the positive feedback I received from people who said they were going through the same thing. After reading my piece many people shared with me how difficult the process of gentrification has been for them, and many of them were glad to hear my side of the story. 

Winning this award at The Literary Arts Festival was a blessing for me because it showed me that my words resonated deeply with other people. People heard and they understood me and to me that was valuable recognition.

Now that I have told you about the struggle I faced to tell my story, and how my struggle turned into triumph, tell me your story.

Have you ever experienced a struggle that was difficult to overcome, but in the end everything worked out in your favor? If so, let me know in the comment box below.

A Passion for Poetry

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By Robine Jean-Pierre

Throughout my years in school, I have come across students who have found poetry boring or difficult. They were not intrigued by Shakespeare’s sonnets as his contemporaries may have been, nor could they wrap their head around metaphors. It was a challenge for me at some point too, having to excavate the meaning of a piece by digging deep down between the lines. It was a skill that we had to be taught. However, I quickly realized that I enjoyed using words to paint pictures of my own; it was exciting to use devices like rhyme and alliteration, and to say more with less (in comparison to typical prose).  

Poetry has been a passion of mine since elementary school. One of the earliest poems I remember writing was for Poem In Your Pocket Day; it told a touching story about my pet guinea pig Jeannie. Jeannie was totally imaginary, and I created her on a whim through my poem, but it must have been convincing enough to get some sympathy and attention from classmates and teachers. Other memorable poems around this time included an ode to teachers, and a vivid description of a “storm” which was later revealed to be the clothes cycling in a washing machine.

When I got to middle school and the “love bug” bit me, my poetry became very romanticized and emotional. I obsessed over a crush and my poetry tracked everything from the initial infatuation to the devastating heartbreak of seeing him end up with a close friend of mine at the time.

In high school, my work broadened and deepened to reflect my growing self-discovery, romantic desire, and belief in God. My creative expression was at its peak, and I went to open mics, attended Poetry Club occasionally, and stayed after school to review submissions to The Magnet, our school’s literary magazine (to which I also submitted my own work). During this time, poetry was my primary outlet, and I am happy that most of my work are still intact; I compiled scraps of paper and pages from other notebooks, and consolidated the poems I found into one composition notebook.

I find it understandable, yet surprising, when people say they do not like poetry; it’s similar to when someone tells me they don’t really like music. To me, poetry and music are simply media of expression; no one ever really dislikes the medium itself, but they may have certain preferences within it. The great thing is that poetry has so many different formats and styles that there is probably something for everyone. You have extravagant Shakespearian sonnets written in a style of English that we no longer speak, but then you have rap which is basically poetry fixed to an audible beat; you also have the smooth, sophisticated spoken word with an irregular rhythm and possibly no rhyme scheme, often depicted on TV being performed in dimly lit cafés and bars, punctuated by snapping and bongo drums. But then there are also lovable, laughable rhyming poems filled with whimsical stories, carefully crafted by writers like Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss. There are bite-sized haikus loaned from the Japanese, following a five-seven-five syllable rule and often depicting nature. The list goes on and on, and the subject matter is infinite.

I have experimented with all of the genres I listed above, and at its core, I see poetry as the art of arranging words, either according to their sound or meaning (but most of the time, both) in order to create an impression or share an idea. The reason we enjoy aphorisms and sayings like “black don’t crack” or “live, love, laugh” is because the words were intentionally grouped together, and their commonality makes them easier to remember.

I have not been writing as much as I did during high school, but I am grateful for the joy that comes to me from reading, listening to, or writing an impactful piece. I hope you enjoy the poem that I wrote below called “Photosynthesis.” It is about the power of persistence in spite of adverse circumstances. This can be considered an allegory because I used plants as symbols for human beings. Give it a try and see what you can gather from it. Read it a few times over if necessary, and please feel free to comment with any questions or remarks.

Photosynthesis
by Robine Jean-Pierre

You’re a product of your environment, some sage once presumed
Perhaps while gazing upon a garden freshly pruned.
Fertile soil, hydration, ample sunlight,
and any flower will flourish if the conditions are just right.
A simple equation, a quaint demonstration.
However,
What’s to say for the weeds that creep through concrete? How do they grow?
Does a seed trapped beneath the cinder block street somehow just know
that its temporary shelter in the ground below
is only a foundation, a platform for elevation?
Is photosynthesis some unstoppable force,
and can sunrays like X-rays penetrate the most dense materials to complete its course?
It’s clear then that traditional conditions are simply not enough
to determine the destiny of a seed, no matter how rough.
It’s something supernatural for a creature with no sense of sight
To press past hardness and darkness and burst forth into marvelous light.
We could take a page from one of these persistent plants–
Albeit rooted in the soil, it is not bound by circumstance.
Regardless of the climate of one’s environment,
Divine alignment ultimately triumphs over confinement.

Reviving Grammar II: Distinguishing Real Words from Made-up Ones

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By Robine Jean-Pierre

Last week, I wrote a blog post summarizing the eight parts of speech in an effort to revive knowledge of grammar. Grammar is something we tend to take for granted, especially in the texting, tweeting and “meming” cyber-world of today. So many posts go viral without having ever been proofread or spell-checked, and it makes me wonder how much thought people put into writing, especially before sharing something that the entire world will potentially see.

Given the limitations on time and space, there is no way I could make a comprehensive list of grammatical mistakes to avoid in a simple blog post. Also, I don’t claim to be a grammar expert by any means. There might be errors buried in this post that my eyes, Microsoft Word and Google Docs have not even picked up on, even after several revisions. My objective here is to point out those basic corrections that we could all benefit from making.

Made-Up Idea-Nouns

In my previous post, I explained how a noun can be a person, place, thing or idea. A lot of times, you can turn an adjective (a word that describes a noun) into an idea-noun by adding –ness­ to the end of it. For example, foolish becomes foolishness, happy becomes happiness. However, this is not always the rule. Sometimes the adjective takes on a different suffix, such as ­-ity or -tion, and other spelling and pronunciation changes must occur. A common mistake is to tack on –ness­ to the end of an adjective, making up a word instead of using the proper suffix. Some hypothetical made-up words, and their preferred forms, are listed below:

  • Stupid becomes stupidity, not stupidness
  • Wise becomes wisdom, not wiseness
  • Dedicated becomes dedication, not dedicatedness
  • Brief becomes brevity, not briefness

If I ever get stuck, I say the word out loud, trying on different suffixes until it sounds like the right one.

Made-Up Verbs

I have noticed that a similar error is often made when going from idea-noun to verb. This is especially true with nouns ending in -ation.

  • Conversation becomes converse, not conversate
  • Interpretation becomes interpret, not interpretate
  • Metamorphosis becomes metamorphose, not metamorphosize
  • Analyze becomes analysis, not analyzation

An Unnecessary Prefix

Another word I’ve heard people make up is in a category of its own: overexaggerate. This verb does not exactly make sense because of its redundancy. According to Dictionary.com, the word “exaggerate” already means “to magnify beyond the limits of truth; overstate; represent disproportionately.” Saying “overexaggerate” is like saying to “over-overdo” something. Maybe you could even say that the word “overexaggeration” is an exaggeration. (Clever, right?)

Don’t Be Shy–Verify

If you are ever in doubt, do not be afraid to look it up online. There are plenty of websites and resources that elaborate on these types of grammatical issues in depth. It is probably more trustworthy if the website is affiliated with a college or other professional organization. In particular, I’ve heard a lot of positive buzz surrounding Grammarly, which recommends corrections in real time. Apparently it’s free for Chrome browser. Aside from that, Microsoft Word has also gotten better about finding nitty-gritty errors of this sort. Dictionaries will often have various forms of a word for just this purpose.

Reading Is Fundamental

But best of all, nothing beats good old reading. Reading quality literature at the appropriate grade level will allow you to come across plenty of new words and contextualize older ones. My mental trick about trying on different suffixes only really works if you have read and heard certain words enough. Frequent exposure will allow certain words to lodge in your mind. Even if you do not know what they mean yet, you will know that you have heard or seen them.

So please, save yourself the embarrassment of putting up another misspelled status update. (Facebook gives you the option to edit, but only one time.) Take the time to proofread your work, and in general, READ.

Reviving Grammar: A Summary of the Eight Parts of Speech

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By Robine Jean-Pierre

Many of my peers would agree that we rarely studied grammar throughout most of our years of primary education. Grammar was a ghost that introduced itself somewhere between kindergarten and third grade, only to never be seen again–and yet our teachers would expect us to remember all that it entailed through high school, and maybe even into college.

My eighth grade English teacher, Mr. Snyder, took it upon himself to teach us all that we had missed out on, knowing that our previous teachers had done us a disservice. Before we got into building our vocabulary and writing analytical essays, we started with the basic building blocks: parts of speech. To help visual, synesthetic learners like me, he associated colors and shapes with each one. I will walk you through what I remember from his class.

Nouns

I always knew a noun to be a person, place or thing, but it wasn’t until this class that a fourth option was added to this iconic phrase: a person, place, thing or idea (also known as an abstract thought). Our teacher circled nouns in red marker. In a sentence like “Joe tried to hide his disappointment as he waited on a bench in the park,” Joe is a person, the park is a place, the bench is a thing and disappointment is an idea; these are all examples of nouns. When it’s not so obvious, you can generally identify something as a noun if you can count it, if you can put “a/an” or “the” in front of it (these are called articles), or if it ends in something like -tion, -ness, or -ity, for example, action, sadness, and unity.

Pronouns

These take the place of nouns. Imagine how clunky and awkward it would be if every time you talked about someone, you had to use that person’s name: “Angel said Angel is on Angel’s way, so wait up for Angel.” This next sentence is a lot more concise: “Angel said he is on his way, so wait up for him.” He, his, and him are all pronouns which are replacing, and referring to, Angel. We have a good number of pronouns in English: I, me, my, mine, myself; you, your, yours, yourself; he, him, his, himself; she, her, hers, herself; it, itself; one, oneself; we, us, our, ourselves; they, them, their, theirs, themselves; this, that, these, those. This may sound like a lot to remember, but we use them all the time without even realizing it.

Verbs

Next are verbs, which Mr. Snyder underlined in green. Verbs are usually referred to as action words, such as “eat,” “sleep,” and “breathe.” Since something or someone (the subject) has to perform the action, verbs tend to follow right after nouns. If you have ever taken a foreign language class, you have had to learn all about verb conjugations; depending on the subject, some changes would be made to the verb. In English, the change is simple for regular verbs: just add -s at the end if the subject uses the pronoun he, she, it or one (i.e. second person singular). For example: I jump, you jump, he jumps, etc. Our most irregular but most common verb, “to be,” does not follow this pattern at all: I am, you are, he/she/it/one is, we are, they are. (This holds true in many Latin-based languages like French and Spanish.)

Adjectives

These words, which he boxed in purple, describe nouns, giving you more information about them. If your friend is telling you about a new crush, the conversation will be oozing with adjectives: she’s so smart, funny, talented; he’s handsome, dreamy, confident. Adjectives include colors, numbers, size, quality, and other attributes. You might find these anywhere in a sentence but they can also come directly before the noun they belong to: the cool breeze or the delicious pizza.  

Adverbs

Our teacher made an orange triangle around these. Whereas adjectives describe or modify nouns, adverbs modify verbs. They tend to answer the question  “how?” and they often end in -ly. In the sentence “She entered timidly, quickly taking a seat by the door,” timidly and quickly are the adverbs, and they are describing the way she entered and the way she took a seat. Other adverbs not ending in -ly include often, just, much, and so. We use these all the time, if you haven’t noticed.

I don’t remember the color coding for the next three, and they are also not as frequently talked about, but they are good to know:

Prepositions

These include some of the smallest, most frequently used words in our language: to, at, in, on, by, for, out, from, etc. Longer ones include under, between, through, and alongside. Their name, made up of “pre-” and “position,” give a hint as to how they are used: they tend to indicate direction or placement, and can easily answer the question “where?” when grouped with a noun: “I’m at the park on West 4th street by the pizzeria.” 

Conjunctions

These connect words or parts of sentences to each other. They include and, or, but, because, whereas. Conjunctions establish a relationship between two or more elements. Or tells you that one out of several options is to be selected, not all of them: “Either I will be babysitting that night or doing my homework.”Another example: “You can only choose one color: red, green, or blue.” And may indicate that several things have something in common: “Nick, Joe and Kevin have black hair.” But tends to highlight a contrast: “It’s raining outside but I don’t have my umbrella.” Because has the word cause in it, and indeed links two clauses to create a cause-and-effect relationship. “I didn’t knock because I thought you were sleeping.”

Interjections

These words express emotion and for this reason tend to be exclaimed, for example: “Wow!” “Whoa!” “Gee whiz!” “Ouch!” It is interesting to note how these change from generation to generation within the same language (no one really says “gee whiz” anymore, unless it’s with a touch of sarcasm), and also vary from culture to culture.

I hope you found this helpful in learning (or relearning) the eight parts of speech, and that it wasn’t too difficult to follow. We shouldn’t take English for granted just because it’s our native language. The better we understand it, the better we can communicate.

Do the Write Thing (#WhyIWrite)

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By Robine Jean-Pierre

It is 11:40 pm on a Saturday evening. I worked from 5:00 to 9:20 pm on the audio/video crew for the Haunted Hotel, City Tech’s annual Halloween-themed attraction. I worked the same shift yesterday. Working on in-house shows and events is required for my technical production class, and inevitably takes away more time from an already jam-packed schedule.

It has been yet another long week of juggling six classes (17 credits) and two part-time jobs. We are about halfway through the semester and I have had a handful of anxiety attacks and emotional breakdowns. I have missed assignments and (very few) classes. I have wanted to cut my hair, or even tear it out; break computers; fling chairs; scream, kick, stomp, and curse out everyone within close range. I have wanted to drop at least one class even though the deadlines are long past. I have been playing a never-ending game of catch-up, handing in the lab report that was due last week this week, pushing off what’s due tomorrow because of what’s due in two hours, only to find that when tomorrow comes there is no time left. I have sat at a desk in front of a computer for hours, with the earnest hope of getting it all done in one shot, and next thing you know, my time is up and I have nothing to show for it. Nothing. NOTHING.

I have an overdue lab report and the current one to complete by Monday morning, not to mention an elaborate assignment for my theatrical drafting class that involves a software called AutoCAD, which I do not own at home because none of the laptops would be able to handle it. I don’t think the computer labs are even open on Sundays. Then there’s this very blog post that I am writing, also due Monday. My draft was supposed to be in since Tuesday, going by the guidelines, although Thursday has been a reasonable compromise for me and my fellow peer-reviewing blogger. I’m sure she’s tired of me failing to reach even that agreement.

I am not trying to brag about my struggles as we often do, hoping for a pat on the back for our valiant efforts or some sympathy to liven up the pity-party. It’s just that everything I have written so far is all I have been able to think about for a long time. I am hardly able to think straight and I felt like I would have gotten nowhere if I had tried to write about some topic that, let’s face it, I don’t even care about right now. (Believe me, I tried. It didn’t work.)

Even as I write this out of obligation (blogging is my job and as I said, my posts go up on Monday), I feel guilty being up this late, 12:07 a.m., writing this sob-story instead of completing my lab reports, at least. But honestly, it doesn’t matter how I arrange all my responsibilities on my priority list–it all has to get done, whether I work on something first or second or last.

On a deeper level, I have to do this. Not just because I signed up to be a blogger, not because of the paycheck. I need to write. Writing helps me to take the emotions and thoughts running around like chickens with their heads cut off, as they say, and line them up for inspection. Writing allows me to drain my mind of all the excess content, whether benevolent or noxious, although I have found that I will more readily write about a negative experience than a positive one. I know how to deal with happiness pretty well; I feel no need to transcribe it, no need to analyze it–it’s self-explanatory, and simple, and beautiful. But when turbulence comes and I’m overwhelmed with sadness or anger or guilt, writing is like the chisel that allows me to carve the masterpiece out of a hulking, rough, ugly chunk of faceless stone.

I write because it gives me healing, relief, satisfaction, and a deeper understanding of myself and my circumstances. It gives me a space to express myself without alarming anyone. I am writing this for an online audience, sure (and chances are that few people will read it, like my last eight posts) but I am writing this primarily for myself. I am the author, and that makes gives me the authority to say whatever I want to say, whatever I need to say, without feeling embarrassed or intimidated or worried about what other people might think. If I were to scream in the middle of a classroom and start pulling my hair out, that would worry people, for sure–but I could choose a better option and let these letters be my voice, and this post a scream, and at the same time, a sigh of relief. Writing keeps me sane.

 

Academic Self-Discovery: Literary Arts Festival pt. 1

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If you are someone who enjoys writing, plans to have a career as a writer or just have a literary work that you’re pleased with, I’m here The Literary Arts Festival. The Literary Arts Festival (LAF) is a writing competition that takes place every year to celebrate the writing of students, faculty and staff. Students are highly encouraged to participate in this event by submitting their literary work for the many categories that can interests them. Upon submitting their writing it must be anonymous and they can only submit one entry for every category.

Winners of these categories not only get to celebrate having their work be considered amazing enough to win but also win prizes and have the opportunity to read their work during the night of the festival. The festival itself is an awesome event that has entertainment such as the City Tech Step Team, cool introduction videos by the LAF volunteers, and guest speakers whose works students have been reading in class for that semester. This year we even had a singer serenading us with angelic vocals.

Last year I found out about this event from my English professor and decided to not just volunteer with the LAF team but also submit an essay I had written the previous semster. I sent my work just to take a chance on it. I was just proud of that essay and decided to submit it. Yet, one morning a friend that had also submitted her own writing texted me to let me know that I was one of the winners. Learning this left me in disbelief and delighted. It also reminded me that no matter the career path I chose, writing would always be something I’m passionate about.

Introducing “Our Stories – An Intimate Connection”

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a woman in glasses

Greetings! My name is Pamela and I am a working mother, a full-time student, and a writer. My passion for reading and writing has led me to a career path in Professional & Technical Writing. I believe that we all have something to share and capturing it in words and images is a powerful way to do so. Life struggles have led me to persevere and motivate and that’s a motto I live by today.

If you’ve read any of my previous blogs, you know that I believe success comes from education and that we can learn from each other.  People love connecting with people who have interesting stories and something to talk about. That’s why this semester; I will be interviewing fellow students and staff of the College, capturing their voice, attitudes, and passions. Our Stories: An Intimate Connect, will be refreshing and new and bring a different perspective each week. So join me on this journey as we share what keeps us going and makes us more determined than ever.

My Top 5 Favorite Food Blogs

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Stephen King once said, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”

I must admit I am not the most eloquent writer/blogger when it comes to grammar and punctuation, but that’s why I do read a lot or try to make time to read different publications, but most of all food blogs especially my favorite ones. I learn a lot from reading them as well as how other food bloggers write and about their own personal experiences with food.

Today, I’d like to share with you my top five favorite food blogs that I admire greatly and love to read:

screenshot of a foodblog

I Just Want to Eat is a food blog written by Jean-Philippe and his food blog is all about food, information about places he’s eaten in New York, New Jersey, or anywhere he’s traveled and a various information related to food. I like this food blog because not only is it well-written, but I Just Want to Eat is just everywhere on social media. Most food blogs I read are written by females, but it’s nice to read a food blog from a male’s perspective.

screenshot of a foodblog

I started reading Let’s Nom Nom earlier this year and I really enjoy this blog because the blog is a vegetarian focused food blog and even though I am not a vegetarian, I do find the vegetarian foods mentioned on this blog are quite tempting and may be worth trying. I also like the simplicity of this blog between colors, layout, and pictures are so clear!

screenshot of a foodblog

A dear friend of mine has a sister that is owner/food blogger of Feisty Foodie. I absolutely love her blog because there’s just a lot of content to read and this blog has been around for almost ten years – that’s a lot of content! Her food photos are on point, clear, and just makes you salivate. I also love how highly organized Feisty Foodie’s posts are and categorized in different topics.

screenshot of a foodblogAnother food blog I truly admire and enjoy reading is Chubby Chinese Girl because her blog is filled with lots of content too, just like Feisty Foodie and her food photos just scream deliciousness. She is also highly involved in social media and always posts up lots of delicious foods.  Coincidentally, I am connected to her on LinkedIn and found out who is behind this awesome food blog.

screenshot of a foodblog

Finally, I’ve been following and reading Food Intended for a few months now and man the food featured on this blog is phenomenal! The blog is broken down in different sections like – Hidden Gems, F Train Bites, Food For Thought, Pinky Up and a lot more. I recently got friend requested by one of the co-owners of the blog and that’s very exciting and pleasant at the same time. What I really and truly enjoy about this particular food blog is that in each review that’s done, the owners/bloggers leave little tips for their reader, fun facts and also include a map of where the food establishment is. This is neat!

These are currently my top five favorite food blogs, but I do read a lot more food blogs than this. I also admire the fact that these five blogs are highly active on social media which is always inspiring because I am a social media guru as well. Sometimes these food blogs do make me salivate, they do  inspire me, they teach me, and they motivate me to not only become adventurous in trying new foods, but also motivate me in becoming a better blogger and writer.

Do you have any blogs that you like to read? If so, why do you like them?