Overall Experience in Professor Wesley's Class :)

Well, I'll start off by saying that I found this class to be extremely helpful. As Professor Wesley said in class earlier, taking the easy way out or taking classes because the teachers are so lenient and they don't grade this or that is not always a good thing and you're really setting yourself up for failure. Professor Wesley is one of those teachers that make sure you are on your toes and that we do what needs to be done CORRECTLY. She is not one of those teachers that doesn't care about the work her students turn in and at first, I didn't like that about her but now I see the importance of having a hardcore teacher that stays on your back. I can say that I am just a little bit more prepared for any other English classes that I may have in the future and I am grateful for that. I cant say that I'm not glad this class is over though. Not just this class, but BOTH of my classes! I'm just sick and tired of doing work. This is summer and although these six credits toward my other college credits are very helpful, I would've much rather have spent my summer vacationing and relaxing for the most part. This experience was very interesting and unique. The entire thing. Not just the class but living with all of these other people with all of these different personalities. Its opened my eyes a little bit and the fact that I have to adjust to them was a bit frustrating because I'm not used to it at all. I wanted to be back at home the first week or so because I just didn't like that the way I think wasn't the way other people thought. I always befriend people that think like me and it turned out that these people didn't. That's life though. Everyone has different opinions and ideas and ways that they feel about things. I don't like the idea of having to adjust to SOMEONE ELSE'S way of thinking. It just seems like you're catering to them but what about doing the same for me? Some people don't care about your opinions. Theirs is the only one that matters. That's not how the world works...but overall, I enjoyed the class (some days) lol.

Good-bye Prof. Wesley! See you in the fall!

#ECSU17! #VikingPride!

 

 

Research Today

Today's research was challenging for me. I felt like I couldn't find the books that I was looking for, the online research went pretty well though. Its very easy to find sources and articles online that relate to your topic. Looking through the different types of books in the library was nerve racking and it made my eyes hurt. I'm not used to looking up actual reference books to research things so that was very out of the box for me. Had I started looking sooner, I probably would've found some good finds but other students got to the good books with all the good information before I did. But the ECSU school website was extremely helpful in finding online articles and such. All I had to do was type in major keywords of what I was looking for and everything just popped up. Everything I needed was in front of me. I am very picky when it comes to choosing my sources and so I don't write down any and every source that I see unless I know that it relates to my topic at least 80%. Making sure that I'm not writing about blabber and rambling about things that have nothing to do with my paper is one of my weaknesses in writing and so that's something that I'm trying to work on. I think the first step to that is to do good research and pick out sources that relate specifically to the topic at hand. This is preparing me for what the real college experience is going to be like when I have to write long papers and research my information though so I'm really not complaining. It's very helpful.

Argumentative Essay (2)

In my argumentative essay, I'm going to state my claim and stance on the absence of fathers in the lives of their children. I wrote all of my ideas out in the last post about my experience with my father being absent from my life for half of it. I really don't know what to say. I'm pretty sure that a lot of people that may read my paper will be able to relate to what I have to say so it wont be a challenge to persuade the reader to agree with me. Its sad to say that so many people know the feeling of not having a father around. Everyone needs a father in their life. I plan on keeping the rebuttals of the readers in mind and making sure I hit those thoughts right on the head and answer them. Out of the Logos, Ethos, and Pathos, I plan on using Ethos and maybe a little bit of Pathos. Usually I would go with the Logos side because that's my personality, but I'm trying to go outside the box here and try something different. What I believe, may not be the same things that other people believe and so I think I should try a different approach. Issues of Evaluation sounds more like my paper also. I have my brainstorm done and out of the way so I have a couple of ideas and main points that I can contribute to my paper.

Argumentative Essay

I think I do really good with argumentative essays. I love writing them because I always have very strong opinions about things and they're mainly based on my morals and values and the way I was raised. I try and do things and think about things in the right manner. I think literally and sometimes critically about certain topics. I try analyzing situations before just jumping to conclusions. I believe in giving things the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes I hate that I have such strong opinions about topics because then people think that I'm close-minded (which I've came to the realization that I am) or that I am old-fashioned or stuck in my ways (which, once again, I am). I grew up around a bunch of old people or senior citizens so I cant help but to think like I have some SENSE. I don't feel that I think like my peers. As far as common sense goes...sometimes it bothers me because I feel that I don't fit in with everyone and that I'm never understood, but then again, I guess I should be grateful that I do think the way I do. My thinking has saved me from a lot of dumb decisions that some of my peers have made. I've met very few people that think like me. Its hard. lol. But back to the argumentative essay...this shouldn't be too hard for me. Eight pages is quite a bit though I just may run out of things to talk about. Don't get me wrong, I can go on forever about something I believe strongly in like Absent Fathers. My father was absent from my life for 6 years. From the time when I was so little that I don't remember him leaving, up to my 5th grade in middle school. He was incarcerated and when he came back, I felt like I really didn't know who he was. Had we never received pictures of him from the prison I probably wouldn't have even known what he looked like. I would've walked right past him. I love my father and I'm ecstatic that he's back now but sometimes it feels like he's still "absent" because he's hardly ever around. The one thing that he told me a long time ago that has stuck with me is "Never be a follower. Always be a leader." That will stick with me for the rest of my life as long as I live. I really don't even know why that moved me so much.

 

 

1965 - End of the Road...

 

 

What does Nel mean when she says there were a lot of beautiful people in 1921?? Did she mean literally? Like, their faces? And I had no idea that Nel was HAPPY that Chicken Little died. That doesn't make sense, why would she be happy? And as for the event planning, in the book it said that Sula was still laying in Eva's bed for days before they found her. I thought they HAD to be planning the funeral. So...what was the event? I don't even think Eva remembered Nel to be honest because of how she answered her when Nel walked in. Or maybe it was just old age. For the first time, Nel started seeing the results of integration and desegregation in the 60's. She said colored people worked behind the counter at the dime store and handling money behind cash registers. And colored people were teaching at junior high schools now. The talk between Nel and Eva was pretty intense also .Nel finally realized how wrong she really was for keeping her mouth shut about Chicken Little's death and she stood there and watched him drown. Nel knew all along that she was guilty but she tried to make herself believe that she was the "good" one. That Sula was the one that was messed up really bad and she's the one who needed the help because hers was always together. Lies. Nel was just as messed up as Sula she just didn't express it as Sula did. Just as Sula watched her mother burn, Nel watched as Chicken drowned in the water. Didn't do anything to stop it. Nel might as well have been the one to throw Chicken Little into the water. They were one in the same. One entity.

 

 

 

1941 - Technology

I really like the Animoto videos that we are able to incorporate into our blogs. I'm not a huge fan of the Popplet thing though...its okay I guess its just not much fun interacting with it and doing different things. I've worked with a site like Animoto before in high school and because I went to a technology school we were exposed to a lot of websites that allowed us to embed videos that we created from scratch into our own websites that we had to create for a grade. I said all that to say that this assignment was not difficult for me and it felt very natural for me to do the assignment. Honestly, the world is moving towards the field of technology so for us to be using technology with our blogs, I feel like its a great opportunity and very preparational.

1941 (Popplet)

Popplet Presentation on 1941 in the novel Sula.