ENG 101

Brandon Walker 26 March 2018 ENG 101 Longreads response: Are the Teens All Right? I chose to read the Longreads article entitled Are the Teens All Right?. This article explores the current condition of teenagers who have been affected by the tragedy of the Parkland shooting. This is an issue that struck home to me as it is a tragedy in which I personally felt connected to for reasons I haven’t yet been able to decipher. More so than any other personal tragedy or public tragedy witnessed in the past. The article talks about how the amount of devastation the students of the school are feeling along with their strength and ability to speak with confidence and control on the subject is rather amazing. A part that stuck out to me is the student who spoke publicly about their demand for actual change rather than the plethora of “thoughts and prayers” being delivered. Although “thoughts and prayers” seem like a positive thing on the surface they don’t provide change or progression ...

Brandon Walker 26 March 2018 ENG 101 Coates Response This piece was created to draw attention to an existent topic that’s been existent for some time and been treated in many ways but has never reached a true solution or significant change; racism in America. Coates backs up his information with engaging storytelling about people who have experienced and are experiencing this issue. Storytelling allows for the reader to understand the issue on a more personal level and is a great way to grab an audience. Coates also backs his argument with statistics later in the piece which is necessary for an article of this caliber. The statistics give the reader a more educational viewpoint of the issue and with cold hard facts. I believe that Coates is very effective in his writing an provides for an engaging, informative, and surprising read. He provides the reader with a series of different emotions which will greatly affect the way a reader takes away the information and what they do...

Brandon Walker Anna DeWitt ENG 101 2 March 2018 Wallace Response This article is a great example of a solid and in depth exploratory essay. In this essay Wallace delves into the topic of lobsters. This topic grabs my attention because, truth be told, the thought lobsters do not cross my mind very often at all. Wallace talks about Maine Lobster Festival and uses it as his model to explore how society views and treats lobsters. He spends time talking about the history and background info on the creature itself and it gives the reader a deeper understanding, especially if the reader is like me and does not know a thing about the topic. This allows the reader to go into the essay with a better grasp of the topic instead of trying to relate to and understand a topic they know nothing about. Wallace also gives background info on the Maine Lobster Festival which has the same effect as describing the lobster did. Now that he has given the readers a strong basis, Wallace can effect...

Brandon Walker February 19, 2018 Graham Response This article starts off by pointing out that there is something a bit off about how we write and are presented with essays in modern education. It is stated that the act of teaching how to write has been mixed up with the pedagogy of understanding and analyzing literature from a personal viewpoint. This issue originated when the backbone of scholar’s studies began to be the study of ancient texts. This slowly started the study of modern literature which is how English classes actually began. Before this time, writing was seen more as a casualty. This birth of English literature studying eventually spread to lower grade schooling because high schools imitate colleges and universities in order to prepare their students for what’s to come. The article then proceeds to talk about form of essays and how we piece them together in modern English classes versus the original intent of what essays were supposed to be. Essays did not come...

15 February 2018 Reflection Blog Entry During the prewriting stage I spent most of my time brainstorming what my text could be. I knew it would be some song but I was having trouble thinking of art that has impacted me. Once I realized a piece that would fit well into the rubric of this paper I began do to some background on it and tried to recall all the ways it impacted me. After this, I just created an outline for the paper which would guide my writing to fit the assignment sheet and allow me to talk about all the things I wanted to get across. Next time I’d like to create a more thorough background because I felt as if it did not supply me with enough guidance to let the paper flow out of my brain and I had to add some topics to it. I’d also like to talk to more people about my topic and get their opinions and influences on it. During my writing phase I spewed out all my ideas on to the page thinking it would be far too much and I’d have to narrow down but I realized that I...

Revision to-do list: Content: - talk more about my personal connections with the text - Bring more relate-ability to the table - Bring a couple more facts about the text Style - give the text more of a consistent theme - Connect the relationships between my topics and theme more fluidly - Flow in a smooth order Structure - Double check to make sure grammar is correct - Check my accuracy on references and factual topics - Double check the assignment sheet for requirements

Editing Checklist: Content Original ideas - Something personal to you. Expository essay Examples -Use examples of how it matters to you Explantation - explain why it matters to you. Stay away from simply giving an explanation of what the text is. Facts/Info - Explain and describe your chosen text Structure Order of the content - introduces text and argues its importance to you Relationships between different pieces of content - connect everything cohesively Style Structure - a set of ideas and arguments that fit together in a way that is easy for the reader to understand Grammar - make sure grammar is correct dictation/word choice - up to the reader voice/tone - argumentative Cultural references - in relation to you or the text of your choosing Formality POV - it is okay to use “I” to help describe personal connection to the text Personal goals: Content: A more detailed explanation on why it matters to me in a way that the rea...