Essay Time

It was finally time to give a go at my first rhetorical analysis essay, and although I did not finish my concluding paragraph, I believe I did good for my first time. One thing I need to practice on is managing my time for sure, as well as adding embellishments only when necessary. Overall, I would still prefer the essay to a test.

Skeddadle

What ever could I say for today? I had to participate in an event orchestrated by my lovely organization, the National Honor Society, so I was not in class for more than twenty minutes. Well, I did enjoy wishing my teacher happy birthday, so that was something! I am glad I remembered.

Reese's Puffs, Reese's Puffs --- Eat 'em up 250x

My teacher was absent so I busied myself with today's homework, leaving me with more leisure time at home. One could tell that any time my teacher is absent, the title will feature a play on his name. Who will stop me, Mr. Reese's, the absent teacher? The absence brought forth a productive day -- for my other classes. I sure hope he is not sick though, then I will feel bad!

Peer Review

I was a bit surprised to enter class and get dragged into an essay. Well, not so much that part than the bit where I had to review my classmates' essay. It was... educational reading their writing style and offering criticism. I enjoyed hearing my own critique and taking in advice to better my grammar, syntax, skill in making claims, and actually answering a prompt. I would love to do another peer review in the future and see how far I can get!

Essay Techniques

The class went over an example prompt for the AP Exam, or ACT, and I would say I have a bit more confidence in it. Not in writing it, that is a leap, but in deciding what to write about based on my advantages in the sources, not personal opinion. I still need help on rhetorical analysis, a lot of help in fact, but I just have to lodge it in my "If I don't get it now I have failed and am not an AP student" brain that it takes time.

A Chill Day

As the title says, today was a chill, mild day. The juniors that paid their absurd fee were on a field trip, and the remaining ones stayed behind. I personally did not mind, I despise missing class, but that does not mean I was displeased with doing a question game. The day was not the most memorable, but that in itself is a good thing for me.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Nicholas Carr, the author of "Is Google Making Us Stupid?", planted this question in my head; I was unmoved and obstinate at first. "Oh great," I thought. "Another old geezer whining about technology and forcing their view on the world." However, Carr struck some points that hit close to home about struggling to immerse myself in long texts, despite previously being able to do so in earlier youth. I always wondered what happened to me, perhaps this was the cause! In elementary, I was the "gifted" student, the creme of the crop, the nerd that would rather read twelth grade level work than play. Now, it takes me begging myself to read a single chapter of a book. Carr's statements, as well as counterclaims regarding the belief that the internet promotes productive minds, was incredibly insightful and prompted me to rethink my reading strategies.

Pronoun Case Errors

Before I entered the class, I had no idea what a case was in the context of pronouns. Now, I have a general idea, but still struggle a bit. Progress! The concept of object and subject identification is a bit difficult to me, and so is choosing the right pronoun without going with "it sounds right" all of the time. That belief there got me a few wrong answers on my assignment; I am at least glad I learned not to go with that assertion, which is more impactful than my minor failure.

Do's and Don'ts of Rhetorical Analysis

I was gladdened to receive examples of previous rhetorical analyses, as it provided me of a small crash course without the crashing. Yet. There was a good variety, with essays with a score of three to a score of eight, showing me some good techniques to employ. I have had low confidence in general about the subject because of my unfamiliarity towards it, so the exposure was a good little push in the less self-deprecating side. It was certainly a bit amusing to read the first essay, which was... wanting in many areas, to see the best way to get a three or lower on the AP exam's essay portion; the essay itself felt like the writer pulled random ideas from thin air out of panic from the time limit, or something similar. At least the essay that scored an eight did not use "I feel" and "I believe" within their text. With those sentiments in mind, I feel better about my prospects. For now!

Tone and Mood

My rather somber disposition left many confused as to why my behaviour was altered. Was it due to the draining life of school? The lack of validation? My severe, mentally damaging view of failure? Yikes, this is a dour topic! I wonder how the reader felt about that, which is what I was practicing. If one could appropriately assume by the title, I was given the honour of learning about tone and mood. I have a general understanding, I suppose, but I could definitely use some assistance regarding tone; it does not seem to be different to mood at all, which affects my perception of it. The definition of tone seems too... simple, and I cannot wrap my head around it. I hope Tuesday bears better fruit. Not sour ones, though, those are not desirable.

Important Parts of a Written Piece

Anyone can write a speech, story, or essay, even my estranged uncle from Morocco, but it takes a certain tact to make it stick. There are certain elements to consider, which is what I learned today, such as rhetorical elements, appeals, and structure. An example of the rhetorical elements would be exigence, which is a term I finally have a grip on after a prolonged period of tearing out my hair. Structure would be syntax, which I also finally understand. I get the feeling this will all accumulate to aid my jab at a rhetorical analysis, and I just hope I will not utterly fail and shame my family name. Again. It is apparently uncouth to devour a can of whipped cream.

Candy, Pliers, Perfume, and Some Whipped Cream

Today was the joyous occasion of another vocabulary quiz, to which I was required to bring objects to represent a word this time. My words were brevity, bucolic, and carnal, and I had a great deal of fun explaining why I chose the objects with dramatic demonstrations done with aplomb. Could it have gone better? Yes! I stole some whipped cream! Ah, I mean borrowed. The victim will get it back. Maybe.

Rhetorical Analysis 2: Electric Boogaloo

The majority of the day was spent sifting through Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech, and golly, it was rife with rhetorical strategies. No wonder the speech was so moving! I have a somewhat better grasp of the analysis, and had a surge of joy each time I identified a strategy in the text. I have a dream that I will eventually understand how to properly write a rhetoric analysis, as I am sure I will constantly let an explanation of the prompt slip through.

Rhetorical Analysis

This is a subject that I can already tell will have some difficulty to master, if I even can. I often have trouble with analyzing texts in general, so to do only the rhetoric used may prove challenging, but I believe I will have time to fully understand the concept. The class watched--then after noticing we could not understand her we instead read-- the eulogy for Ronald Reagan by the Prime Minister of Great Britain at the time and briefly went over an analysis. Thankfully, my teacher showed us an example, so comprehension may not be as far as I believe.

Poems and Poems and Poems and-

Hmm, I wonder what I did today? Oh, yes, I read a poem! It was actually interesting too, but unfortunately, I do not remember the author. I know it used an extensive metaphor and compared the poet to that of an acrobat. The imagery was honestly great and I could understand the point the author was trying to make! After reading the poem and answering analysis questions, I had to present the poem I composed yesterday. Except I was not there yesterday, so I desperately made one last minute to avoid a fat zero in the grade book. Surprisingly, it was not so bad despite it being made in thirty minutes or so! Would my readers like to gaze upon it? No? Well, too bad:

Fly, you little butterfly
You useless little thing
Nothing but a scrap of dust
You care not to swing
The wings are dull, the legs are frail
Can easily lull the child to wail
Why must you fly, why won't you die?
A trivial lie, the butterfly
Hark!
Your wings, the dull wings
Have been ensnared in life's web
It pulls, it pulls
Until you can fly no more
No more flying, you little butterfly
For the web has caught you forevermore!

Abstract concepts are my favourite, yes indeed.