I had an answer, but I struggled terribly with putting it down on paper because I wanted this interview to “be perfect”. I was too worried about what I looked like or sounded like, so ultimately I had lost “my voice.” I went to my dad for more help. I had wasted a whole hour stressing over how to answer a few questions about myself. My dad told me something very important that day, he said, “The best way to impress someone is to be you”. After meditating on what he said to me I had at least something to put down.
Weikun Lu 09/16/2014 EAD II, Section 21 1.2 Professor Kalteissen Title Literacy transmits an ability to screen negative and positive while growing and it may help people change their life. Literacy always plays a key role in daily life from past to present. Sherman Alexie is the writer of “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”. Alexie was born to a US family on the Spokane Indian Reservation in eastern Washington State and his family has[had] very poor living standard[s] but his father is[was] never miserly with books. In his essay he described[s] how he became a competitive student through reading books and gaining knowledge.
In the essay, Aria, he was forced to study English and Richard Rodriguez resented the loss of intimacy in the family. However, he, later, discovered his love in books. Richard Rodriguez switched from hating English to fall in love with books. Education has changed his mind; therefore, changed him. He confesses: “What I am about to say to you has taken me more than twenty years to admit: A primary reason for my success in the classroom was that I couldn’t forget that schooling was changing me and separating me from the life I enjoyed before becoming a student” (598).
However, as I learn to write better I am starting to see why the author uses so many stories and many large words to get his point across. If the author did not go into detail about what he was writing about someone might not get the point that he was trying to get across. After reading Yosemite Mon Amour, numerous times I begin to have a clear understanding of why there is so much detail in the story. I felt that the essay was to long because of many stories that the author had written. At the time of first reading this story it seemed as though the author was jumping around and I had a hard time following where he was going with the story this started right from the first paragraph I had no idea why the author was describing Toyotas, and Winnebago’s and then jumping into describing rain.
In the story, he loved to read and he read everything that he possibly could find in his house such as: newspaper, the back of cereal boxes, and auto-repair manual, etc.., or even if they weren't a book. As a result, he grew up and became a famous writer. In the final sentence of the story, Sherman Alexie says, “I am trying to save our lives.”(2) This is a very powerful quote because he thought after he became a writer. He’ll teach creative writing at Indian schools and try to help the struggling children, but many of them got it, some didn't. Alexie did not give up on the children as they have already given up on themselves.
11 December 2014 Drowning in the Discourse Julie Wildhaber says that “A strong, well-defined voice is the bridge between you and your audience: It helps your readers understand who you are, and it helps you engage them” (Wildhaber). For students in college, their audience will always be their professor. Along with expecting a strong voice, professors expect students, even first year students, to master and employ the many other writing skills that make up academic discourse. Most students tend to prioritize the more technical conventions of writing over the development of a distinguished and personalized voice. The conventions of college writing are very complex and if professors are more helpful and patient with first year students as they learn academic discourse, students will be better prepared for all future academic endeavors and they will have a better opportunity to strengthen and develop their voice.
That is really all the teacher is trying to do. Make you want to work harder so you can start writing like a professional. All teachers have seen many essays over their career and they expect the new students every year to be able to write better than the last. Just like in a job, if the manager gets fired and you get promoted to manager your expected to be better than the last one; and teachers know by the end of the year if they have taught their students to be better than last year’s students. To them if that doesn’t turn out to be true then they feel like they have failed and didn’t do their job.
Many choose to find a plot in the novel, although the author clearly states that the novel purposely lacks a plot. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is many times an unpopular novel among high school teachers across the country due to its inappropriate language; although this novel does not intend to insult the reader. Throughout the novel, Mark Twain describes the adventures young Huckleberry Finn and his friend, Jim, go through and the American life style of the 1880’s. In order to get the reader to imagine the setting, the author has to add as much detail to the story. For this reason, Twain has made it obvious that the story takes place during a time period in which slavery still existed.
Although I hadn’t yet become comfortable writing about my past during the first few quarters of school, I enjoyed writing for academic growth. I enjoyed analyzing and debating the issues, reflecting on books we had read, or just journaling my thoughts about the day. It wasn’t until my second year at Evergreen that I was able to revisit some of my past experiences and childhood memories by writing a required memoir for one of my classes. This process was very difficult, and I found myself re-writing over and over again. The experience, although very painful has sparked a desire in me to tell my life
In the beginning of the semester I read the work book to him, but now he simply follows my finger and reads the words I point to. Also, in the beginning of the semester Anders took longer to work and got frustrated very easily, but now he pulls through and finishes his work much faster. While we worked I promised him songs and stories that reminded him that if he works he can have fun after. After reading a specific chapter in the book I found that I should listen to his scripting and not ignore it, because it's his way of trying to tell someone what he needs. I also learned from you, Mrs. Beitner, that when Anders says or does something wrong I should correct him by saying things like: "is that ok?"