Plot Map

Reading Responses- 9/30

While reading these short stories, I have noticed that I have trouble with comprehending the reading even after I do annotations. The two stories I still am not sure about is "Harrison Bergeron" or "A Very Old an With Enormous Wings". I haven't always been a fan of science fiction or magical realism and I couldn't keep up with the style of writing and how I was supposed to make annotations on it. The one reading I have been able to understand was "Dry September". I understood it better mainly because I had background knowledge for the story and that it is realistic. 

For the most part, I understand the notes/assignments for the annotations but I have trouble putting the skills into action to annotate. I find things that stick out to me but find out that I am missing important chunks of the information related to the topic. From a young age, I have struggled to be able to remember vocabulary words I have learned and apply them in my everyday speech. I have gotten into a habit of underlining "big" words I am having trouble with understanding. Every time I come across these words I don't know, I look them up in the dictionary to have a better source of understanding the work I am reading. 

50 mins: "A&P"

20 mins: "VOMEW"

50 mins: "Dry September"

Me, Myself, and I: Ivy

I'm a sophomore. I'm 16 years old. I'm ready to get out of here. And I don't think I have enough patience to wait around 2 more years. 

MeMe has it all. I know she's my sister and people tell me we are so much a like, I just don't see it. She has so much more ahead of her in her life, but won't take the chances. She was nothing I could live up to. Track star, A+ student, mom and dad's favorite, homecoming queen, and every boy's dream. But she's not doing anything about it. She's been accepted into the top schools, but chooses to go to Alabama to stay within the "south", with her friends.. All those times spent as a child, talking about our futures, I thought she was better than that. I always pictured her going to UCLA and going out of her comfort zone. Turns out she's different. 

Which is where our differences become clear.

I want to get out of this suffocating world surrounded by walls trapping you in Birmingham, Alabama. 

I was looking forward to joining MeMe at UCLA just like we had talked about. I feel like she's abandoning me. Leaving me here. Alone. For 2 more years. 

I can't think of her leaving without a puddle forming in my eye creating this blurry vision I seem to carry with me once I lock myself inside my room.  

My best friend, my partner in crime... is leaving. Going away, to do everything she can in this southern state school where I never saw myself since a young age. 

We are gonna grow apart. She might be a few minutes away, living in her dorm room. But she will have new friends and grow further and further apart from me and I won't be able to tell her everything like I used to. 

I just can't imagine my past 16 years of life, separating me from my life long friend. 

Reading Response 9-23-13

This past week, my reading time of 2 hours was spent on our short story readings. "Harrison Bergeron", a futuristic view of the world, and "To Da-Duh, in Memorium", written in the past about a past event. I struggle with understanding the plot of many stories even after I read it multiple times. By annotating these readings, it helped me get a better grasp on the important information. As I had trouble completely understanding these stories, I later got an explanation in class that cleared up all of my questions. 

While I was reading "Harrison Bergeron", I was confused on the initial purpose in the story. It is set in our futuristic world where everyone is equal and no one is better than any one else. Harrison Bergeron though, was an exception because the Handicap Services could not change or disfavor him without him breaking the rules and still being better than everyone else. 

Once I had gotten a better knowledge of annotating these short stories, I read "To Da-Duh, in Memorium". I liked this one better than the reading before. This story contained more facts and was more realistic. A relationship of a girl and her family from New York with her grandmother living in Barbados. The girl's grandmother, Da-Duh, was eventually found in her home after a heartattack of a threat from planes in Barbados.

OR: Violet on the Runway by Melissa Walker-

9-10-13: 20 mins- 11 pgs.

9-13-13: 10 mins- 4 pgs.

9-16-13: 10 mins- 4 pgs. 

9-18-13: 10 mins- 5 pgs.

"Harrison Bergeron": 9-15-13: 40 mins

"To Da-Duh, in Memorium": 9-18-13: 30 mins

Another Literacy Narrative

Editing other literacy narratives in class helped me on my writer's block after I had been staring at my computer screen for too long. Getting a different perspective from other writer's helped my flow of ideas arrive on paper.

I read Emma Scott's literacy narrative and actually agreed on everything she wrote about. She was describing her trouble with reading from a certain scene which is how I started off as well. It helped me realize and come up with new supporting details to improve my literacy narrative. I wasn't exactly sure on what to edit. I really enjoyed her organization and structure which encouraged my sometimes confusing wording.

I spent my 120 minutes outside of class reading time working on my literacy narrative.

Class e-book

I am very excited to be making our own e-book for our literacy narratives. It is going to be interesting to have our work actually published and have that feeling of many people commenting on your work.

Going over the examples in class, I like the structured-ness of the one from your summer course, but really enjoyed the over all look of The Boulevard. I love the idea of Wordle that Dr. D showed in her blog, but wasn't sure where exactly to incorporate it. I think it would be interesting to make a class Wordle.  It could have our names, some adjectives describing our time together so far or on time spent on literacy narratives, or describing our papers. It could give it a more over-all modern feel for a unique touch.

My Literacy Narrative

Finding a topic for my literacy narrative was difficult. The time we spent in class doing our free writing where we did not not stop sparked all of my ideas. I began to realize how many moments there were that established me as a writer that came from reading.

After I found a topic and started to write, I noticed that I was able to describe some moments in vivid details but had trouble to put some of them into realization for others. I'm also having trouble with the flow of my sentences, some are found to be awkward or confusing. When I write, I try and put everything I want to say in one blob but can't seem to find the right wording when I put the pieces together.

I worked on my literacy narrative for 120 mins out of class.
70 mins: 9/4
50 mins: 9/5

Reading Response: 9/3/13

I have finished reading Perfect by Natasha Friend and I must say it has been a deep book. The main character has really grown throughout the whole book and she has learned a lot from her therapy group, friends, and family. Dealing with her disease and loss of her father was really tough for her and her family and for the majority of the book, they all grieved in different ways and was hard on all of them. By the end of the book, all characters begin to cope with their problems in more healthy ways and overcome their issues quietly with confidence. This book was slow but captured many details which was good for me to keep interest and easy to follow. I recommend this book for people who have trouble finding a good book and keep interest in. While reading the book, you really get a feel for the emotions the characters have and you get a chance to put yourself in their shoes. Are there any other good books that I should read fellow classmates?

8/28: 40 mins- genre reading in Norton Book
8/30: 10 mins- 8 pgs.
9/1: 20 mins- 13 pgs.
9/2: 50 mins- 37 pgs.

Literacy Narrative Response

In my Norton book, I read a literacy narrative called "Write or Wrong Identity". I didn't know much about literacy narratives and reading this writing, I noticed that the author brought every scene alive using very descriptive detail. I felt like I was there, in that moment where she realized she was a writer. This long essay turned out to be many descriptions of the moment she realized she was a writer. By giving her age, her city, the classroom she was in, and the writing assignment helped to narrow down that one moment. Going down the list of the 6 traits of good writing, it came clear to me that the author expressed each one with vivid details, word choice, sentence fluency, the way she expressed her ideas, and more. She gave her examples which help me with my brainstorming for my literacy narrative.