Elliot English Blog

  Prompt:  In Into the Wild, Christopher McCandless gives up many of his possessions in pursuit of freedom and meaningful experiences. If you had to simplify your life and keep only a few important possessions, what would you keep and why? What would be hardest to leave behind? Response: If I had to keep only a few important possessions would keep my makeup, phone, and my digital camera. I would want to keep my makeup because I still want to look nice wherever it is that I go. I would also take my phone with me in case of emergencies and so that I can use CashApp for money. My digital camera is also important so that I can still have a hobby and so I can make money by taking photos for people. The hardest thing for me to leave behind would be my bedroom. My bedroom is highly decorated and has been a safe place for me for years so it would be hard to miss that comfort and seeing all of my interest in one room.  Summary:  In class we did an assignment on Writable over ...

  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...

  Prompt:  Describe how you spent your time, any activities, traditions, travel, hobbies, or moments that stood out to you. You may also discuss something new you tried, something you learned, or how the break helped you reset before returning to school. Keep your response appropriate for a school setting and focus on experiences you are comfortable sharing publicly. Response: Over the break I have spent time taking the moment to relax over the break. I was able to catch up on my lack of sleep which was refreshing for me. I also spent the majority of the break hanging out with my best friend. We discovered a Chinese restaurant close to us that had amazing food and that would be a new hangout spot for us to go. We also went shopping at a beauty supplies store and bought new perfumes and jewelry which was a fun activity. Over the break I didn't do much aside from bonding with my friend and taking the time to get rid of any stress from school.  Summary:  In class we ide...

  Prompt:  If you had to describe how you show love using only three objects (for example: a playlist, a hoodie, a late-night snack, a long text message, etc.), what would you choose and why? Explain what each object represents and how it connects to your personality. Response: I would use a playlist, meals, and art to describe how I show love. Firstly, I would use a playlist of songs to convey a message through lyrics on how I feel about love and my importance for a specific kind of connection. Songs I would use in that playlist would be about how I take the relationship seriously and how I find a lot of passion when it comes to romantic relationships. Having a meal would be my second object because food is an important part of my life and I think that food is a great way to connect with your partner since it keeps both of you healthy, it's euphoric to eat nice things, and it gives you time to bond over what you like and potentially cook together. To add on, I also enjoy cook...

  Prompt:  Now that you have completed the rhetorical analysis essay, reflect on your growth. Explain how this experience impacted your confidence as a writer and whether you feel prepared to continue analyzing complex speeches and texts in American Literature. Support your reflection with specific references to the writing process. Response: I found that learning to create a rhetorical analysis and write one in real time improved my writing abilities and knowledge on writing. Having a guide of broken down steps to create a rhetorical analysis helped me gain an idea of the necessities needed to create an analysis, such as having two or more sentences in my introduction to my topic for the first paragraph. Although I am not at my full confidence, I feel compelled to continue analyzing complex speeches in American Literature to improve any weak areas I have in my writing. I do have confidence that I did well on my body paragraphs and finding evidence to support my paragraphs. Ov...

  Prompt:  Today, you learned how to complete a rhetorical analysis planning guide step by step, from identifying the rhetorical situation to analyzing devices and effects. Reflect on one step of the rhetorical analysis process that helped you understand the process more clearly. Explain what you learned during that step and how it improved your ability to analyze a speaker’s message. Response: Planning out what rhetorical device I was going to use in my paragraph has helped me out the most. Being able to know what devices I am going to use saved me time from spending minutes trying to decide which device I wanted to use in the text. Having a quote ready to refer back to also helps me save time and be prepared on how to elaborate the meaning and connect ideas to my rhetorical device. Although it wasn't a step, making a draft of my paragraphs was also a crucial part in helping me create my analysis. By creating a draft I was able to prioritize points that I wanted to bring up a...

  Prompt:   In the spirit of Valentine’s Day week, describe your idea of a perfect day spent with someone you care about (a friend, family member, or significant person in your life). Reflection: The idea of a perfect day with a friend would be to go out and do something that we both enjoy, such as shopping. We would both have the opportunity to buy something and spoil ourselves for self love. It would also give us time to bond over a common interest and to get out of the house. We would also go out to get something to eat because I enjoy eating out a lot. Lastly, we'd also listen to music, whether it be at a show or in the car, since music is very important to me. I enjoy doing simple things so I don't require a lot aside from having company with me.  Summary:  We continued to explore in depth about rhetorical analysis.  Reflection:  I reflected on how to elaborate the main focus on topics better. 

  Prompt:  What is the best piece of advice of that your parent or guardian has given you? Tell what the advice was and what prompted you to ask the question.  The best advice my parents have given me is to make my education a priority. Throughout my life, my parents and sister have always pushed me to do good in school and to focus on my education. During my freshman year, I was struggling to keep up with assignments and I had a long lecture about grades from my parents. I knew this was good advice because the majority of jobs require some level of education and I want to make sure I have a stable future. If I don't do well in school then I could end up owing more debt in college and struggle to make a living. Summary:  In class we went into depth about writing. Reflection:  I reflected on how I can manage my time wisely for classes. 

  Prompt:  What is the most challenging part of working in a group? Discuss a time when a group assignment did not go as well as you planned and how you learned from that experience.  Response: The most challenging part of working in a group is getting everyone to collaborate. The only time I have struggled with a group project was when all of my members didn't want to put in effort or do work on the project. I was the only one who put in effort and the final result ended up poorly due to that. When everyone works on something, it takes less time to work on it and the final results will end up being at a better quality. I've learned to avoid that from happening, sometimes you have to assign certain roles yourself to your group members. If you have a good group that is willing to put in work, then you can manage your way through obstacles better.  Summary:  We worked on a rhetorical analysis practice assignment on Writable.  Reflection:  I wondered how ...

  Prompt:  What is the most challenging part of writing an essay for you? Is it brainstorming, organizing ideas, writing a strong thesis, or something else? How do you plan to overcome this challenge? Reflection: Personally, explaining ideas can be the most challenging part of writing an essay. I have a lot of ideas and although I'm decent at organizing them, I feel like I'm not thorough with explanations. To be specific, I struggle with being detailed and breaking down concepts. To help with this, I work on my phrasing and I try to understand the point I want to get across. Overall, writing essays is not difficult for me but this is the one thing I struggle with occasionally.  Summary:  In class we constructed a rhetorical analysis body paragraph. Reflection:  I reflected on how I can use transition words better.