Elliot English Blog

  Prompt:  People sometimes feel the need to step away from their normal routines or environments in order to better understand themselves. Describe a time when you needed distance from a situation, place, or group of people in order to think more clearly or gain perspective. What did that experience teach you about yourself? Response: There was a point in time where I was friends with a girl who was a bad influence and I had to step away from her. We used to have a good friendship back in 9th grade, but when I noticed how she started to hang around problematic and hateful people I had to step back and try not to involve myself with that. At the time I felt bad for wanting to end a friendship but I knew that what she was doing wasn't healthy. That moment made me realize that I'm not responsible for other people's actions and that I should prioritize being around healthier environments. Having that distance away from her helped me avoid being in a bad friendship and normaliz...

  Prompt:  After reading Chapter 1 of Into the Wild, consider your first impression of Christopher McCandless. Based solely on the events and details presented in this opening chapter, do you believe McCandless truly understood the risks he was taking when he entered the Alaskan wilderness? Why or why not? Response: After reading Chapter 1 of Into the Wild, I believe that McCandless did not truly understand the risks he was taking but was aware of that fact. From this, my first impression of him is that he's a naive guy who enjoys taking risks and going into dangerous situations. The lack of any supplies tells me that he was overconfident or that he was reckless. I think that he romanticized the idea of a "transcendent experience" more than preparing for it. McCandless could've been more cautious when going out into the Alaskan wilderness.  Summary:  We read chapter 1 of Into the Wild. Reflection:  I wondered if I would ever travel to Alaska. 

  Prompt:  Today you worked on creating your Vocabulary Digital Cards in Adobe Express. In one well-developed paragraph, reflect on the assignment by explaining which vocabulary word was easiest for you to understand, which word was most challenging, and how creating your own sentence and selecting an image helped strengthen your understanding of the vocabulary. Use specific examples from your work. Response: The easiest word for me to understand was the word "bumpkin". Bumpkin was an easy word for me to understand since I grew up in the south where the word was often used. From that experience, I had prior knowledge of what it meant so it was easy to define. The most challenging word for me personally was "benign". The reason why this word was challenging for me was because I was unsure how to use it in a sentence. For my own sentence I wrote, "We were happy to hear that the tumor was benign." since the idea of a tumor being benign is good news.  Summary:...

  Prompt:  After viewing your classmates’ digital posters and reading the feedback comments left on your work, what new ideas or perspectives did you gain about your poster? Reflect on how the feedback influenced the way you think about your creative choices and describe what you learned about the creative process while designing and presenting your poster. Response: The feedback I received from my poster made me confident in my creative choices and writing. I found that people enjoyed my choices in design and how I made it look. People liked the background, colors, and photos that I chose. Some comments also showed that they enjoyed my metaphors and similes which boosted my confidence. From that, I was happy in what words I chose for my metaphors and similes and that it was interesting enough for the reader. That part was most important to me. I think from my overall experience that taking time to show the most unique and interesting parts of yourself is what matters most....

  Prompt:  Reflect on the simile and metaphor worksheet. Which topic challenged you the most when creating your figurative language, and why? In your response, explain what made that topic difficult and how you worked through the challenge (or what you might do differently next time). Response: I struggled most with trying to find a metaphor or simile that was unique enough to my specific situation. I wanted to be able to create something that was both interesting and that was able to convey what I wanted to best. What I wanted to avoid most was writing something that has already been used regularly. To do that, I tried to apply my interests into my metaphors and similes to make them unique and personalized to me. For example, I used unicorns in one of my similes since that is an interest of mine and then put it into words to apply it to my topic.  Summary:  We began to create our poster for our similes and metaphors.  Reflection:  I wondered what other sim...

  Prompt:  Today you created similes and metaphors that reflect your struggles, growth, and resilience. In a well-developed paragraph, reflect on the process. What did you learn about yourself while writing your figurative language? Response: Throughout the similes and metaphors that I've created, I discovered that I'm very resilient. Despite any challenges, I always pushed forward and tried to stay optimistic. One example of this was when I created the metaphor, "In the end, I am my own psychic reader who finds good within me.". This metaphor was about my self doubt and how eventually I always find good inside myself since I know myself best. I realized that I am more focused on my ideals and goals than I originally thought. From that, I also realized that I've shown growth in my capabilities from when I was younger.  Summary:  In class we wrote similes and metaphors about us, including our growths and struggles.  Reflection:  I reflected on how I can crea...