Blog #15

   Everyone sure will have secrets in their lives. People needs privacy and secrets are the one that keep our privacy from others. In the essay, "Secrets We Tell" , Sante gives three reasons for secrecy:Soviet Union, internet, and confessional culture/media. 
   I don't really understand what the author is trying to discuss about Soviet Union, but I think it's about the privacy of that society. Like how the government doesn't want outsiders to obtain their real information in the Soviet Union, like the used of propaganda. 
  Next, Sante discusses about the internet. The internet is like a digital world full of secrets. We can go to news and there will be tons of news that will come up, from a girl got shot yesterday to a person that won a reward in science fair, etc.... Internet is a place full of gossips, we can easily obtain an information, well if we know how to search it right. Anyway, internet is a place where rumors spread the fastest. For example, this celebrity has tons of surgeries (fault) but within 5 minutes, thousands and thousands of people will see that topic. 
  Lastly, Sante discusses about our culture and the media. Since everyone has secrets, sometimes the only way to relieved themselves is to reveal the secrets, like to their best friend or to a dog/cat. As long as someone that will listen to the secret without making a big deal on it. I supposed that what Sante meant when he discusses about the culture.

Blog #14

   I believe that ethics and personal values should not be taught in public school. School is a place where we gain our knowledges from, it is where we learned academic subjects that was not taught in our house. So schools should not teach students values and morals because those should be taught by their parents or whoever raise them. Also, students should learn and decide for themselves what is right and wrong. Like me, I decided on what to believe and what to live by.
   Everyone is unique with different beliefs and values so school should not brainwash them. As far as my opinion go, school should not get involve with people beliefs and values. It should stick to academic subjects. 
  School already does its job by teaching us responsibility and be organized. Since we're growing older and older (higher grade), we have tons of homework to do, if we're not organize and responsible for the homework, then we would fail the class. 
   So again, schools should not teach students ethnic and values because school should be a fun, safety place to learn academic lessons. For students values and morals, they should be taught by whoever raise them and decide for themselves whether or not what is right and what is wrong. 

Blog #13

   Movies. I'm not really a movie kind of a person. Its been awhile since I last watched any type of movie, the latest one that I watched is the romance movie at Nicole's house (normally I watch movie without knowing its title...). Anyway, I remembered I cried at the end on the movie, which is something I really hate to do. Even so, it's still a very good movie and I enjoyed it a lot.
   There are so many kind of movies out there, from a happy musical one to a terrifying horror one. Different people has different taste in what kind of movie they like. Sometimes it depends on a person's mood, perhaps they're sad and want to watch a comedy movie (or tragedy movies). Again, everyone is different. Since I only watch movie because my family is watching it or a friend of mine want to watch it so I really don't have a favorite genre. 
   I'm sure everyone of us have seen a movie and thought, "this is the worst movie I've ever watched." or something like "I just wasted my precious 2 hours to watch this stupid movie.", because I have. After watching the famous Twilight movie, I felt that I've wasted my times watching it. ( this is my opinion, so don't attack me!). It's not the worst movie but it's not something that's worth watching either, perhaps because I read the book? Who knows.... However, some people loves that movie, not because they're in love with Edward or Jacob (or maybe they do...) but because they felt that it was a good movie. 
   This is what I want to point out. People has different opinion on what's good and what's bad. There is no right answers in what make a movie good because it's all right in the eyes of the watchers. However, a general answers on what make a movie good is good acting, real scenes (like in horror movie, not real real scenes but like make it looks real), and sound affects. 
   

Blog #12

Debrief & Reflect on Price’s “The Plastic Pink Flamingo” timed write. Use the Debrief & Reflection handout in the Blog Locker


Self-Check:

1. Yes, I believed I answered the prompt. However, I should of explained it more, since this is my second time essay and I'm not use to it yet, I rushed through the explanation of Price's view on American culture. 
2. Even though my intro was not so good, I did have a clear thesis statement.
3. My essay was focused around the theme. My paragraphs were linked, however my transition between the introduction and first paragraph wasn't too good.
4. I focused on the imagery and tried to give evidences on it, but I feel like I should of also include the Price's diction. 
5. I used quotes from the text to support my thesis. Also, I tried my best to explain my analysis.

Reflection:

1. I managed to have time to organized and be able to finished the essay on time. I have quotes to support my thesis and my paragraphs were linked together.
2. What didn't went so well is I didn't have time to reread my essay. Since I finished right before the time ended. I didn't have any times left to go over it one more time.
3. If I have more time, I would reread what I wrote, and maybe I will catch those misspelled words or those awkward sentences.
4. Yes, my organization on the essay turn out how I wanted it. 
5. As I was writing, I began to understand more and more on Price's writing, and those details that I did not catch when I first read through it. 
6. If we have another time essay, I would quickly start the intro. I always have problem trying to write the introduction of each essay, and that is what killed most of my time. 

Blog #11

Culminating Writers Profile

1. I'm aware that AP English class requires lots of writing, still I chose to be in it. I must admit that I'm not a strong writer, however, I've changed the way I used to write. Before, I always used a casual tone, but I've learned that we need to be a little more formal in some essays. My grammars have not change but I'm working on it. 
2. I'm not a good writer, so I feel like I don't have much of a strength, but I do feel like I can stick to my thesis and support it all the way.
3. I have many weaknesses like: writing convention, tying the conclusion, and zoom out. I'm trying to improve my writing convention by reading more books and paying attention to the sentence structures. Every times, I came across a prompt that I don't understand, my mind became blank. So instead of reading the prompt over and over again, I try to break it apart and slowly comprehend it pieces by pieces.

 Evaluating Your Writing Process

1. If I can write one more draft on my essay, I would try to get rid of the "to-be" verbs. Also, I need to organize my thoughts and make the paper flow easier. Some how, I felt like my essay is a bit cliche, so maybe I can make it less cliche?...
2. After having the feedbacks, the easiest one to be fix is the wording since my sentences are awkward. I did have feedback on the ideas of death, but it's a little tough to do.
3. The hardest problem in this essay is trying to write something that is not too cliche. I have a hard time trying to make the reader see my topic in a different ways and I feel like I didn't do too good on it either. 

Evaluating Your Successes

1. My biggest successful large-scale revision in this essay would be the organization of the ideas on my topic.
2. I didn't combine the elements, but I used mostly descriptive and a little similes. 
3. Since everyone has a different perspective on "death" (or not), I tried to have a different counter arguments for the readers to see.

Being Honest with Self

1. I was intimidated by the fact that it was the first AP essay, not only that, it's the first essay where I have to explain/show the reader a different perspective on the topic I've picked. I read through the example definition essay, the viking, and tried to come down with some ideas on how I should organize my paper.
2. My essays have always been weak, but through the text and all those preparation, I learned to use a stronger tone. I also added more description and a little bit of vivid imagery.
3. I like how students used their personal experiences in this essay. So I tried using personal experiences in my essay as well.
4. My peers helped me expand on my ideas, since my essay look like I've put everything into a big clump of thoughts. 
5. After completing this assignment, I feel like I've improved in my writing, not tremendously but little by little. I might need more practices to create a strong essay and I think I can do better job next time. 

Blog #10

Write 1-2 paragraphs defining “Nobodiness.” Analyze and explain 1-2 particular causes of feeling like a “nobody.” You will use this writing tomorrow to analyze/revise your own sentence variety.

  Nobodiesness. No one is a nobody. Perhaps there are times when we might have felt like a nobody, but that doesn't mean we're a nobody. What causes nobodiesness? There can be a lot of reasons to feel like a nobody, but the main factor is social awkward
  When we look around us, there may be a person that we see everyday yet fail to know their name. We can just described that person as a nobody. However, just because we don't know them well, we can't simply call them a nobody.
  Everyone is different whether or not they're sociable so no one deserves to be described as a nobody.

Blog #9

In Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom addresses the materialistic nature of our lives – and what Morrie has to teach him about how to live.  What did you take away from reading Tuesdays with Morrie?  Has it changed any outlook or previously held beliefs?

    Mitch Albom wrote Tuesdays with Morrie in hope of spreading Morrie's message to the people. Morrie wants people to live their lives with meaning, to love and beloved. Morrie, who was diagnosed with ALS, lives a life of happiness. Eventually he will die but that didn't make Morrie give up on live. 
   Tuesday with Morrie, had taught me the important of lives and what it means to live a "happy life". Myself, like most human being, have always thought that getting a good job (money) was everything. However, that wasn't the case, money isn't everything. Like Mitch Albom, who spent years working and working, but he wasn't happy. 
  Most people just live their life without knowing/appreciate the people around them Morrie stated, "when you learn how to die, you can learn how to live." emphasized that people only realize/look at things in a different perspective when they know they're dying. 
  Tuesday with Morrie is a good book. I learned many lessons but the most important is to live my life with meaning and to view it in a different picture.