In Class Assignment, Descriptive Writing

The forest is dark and woody. There are lots of trees and bushes. There are trees of all shapes and sizes. There are some really short and fat trees. There are also little skinny trees. But most of the trees are really big and tall, dozens of feet tall. When you look straight up, you can not see much of the sky because the tree branches are hovering up above. But you can see a little bit of sign light beaming through the tree branches and leaves. The ground is grassy but lots of dead leaves covor the green grass. When you walk on the dead leaves on the ground it makes a crunching sound. The main color scheme of the forest is various shades of greens and browns.
There is a narrow path that makes it easy to navigate through the forest. The path is naturally made by generations of people walking along the same route throughout the forest. Because so many people have walked alongt this same path, the grass is gone and it has turned into narrow dirt/mud path. The path goes through the widest gaps between treest. There are also creeks along the path.
I am walking along the path and I find a huge key just laying on the ground where I am about to step. It looks like one of those old skinny anciet keys. It is definitely not a key from modern day. It looks like it has been lost in this forest for a very long time. The key is a bronze or coppery color. It is rustic looking but I can tell it used to be shiny before it was covered in dirt from the forest.
Later on along the path I find a cup. It is submerged half way out of a pile of muddy leaves a couple feet away from the path. It is a plastic cup. It is very dirty but it does not seem like the cup is very old. I think maybe someone was having a picnic in the forest recently and forgot to throw the cup away.
I come across an obstacle along my path. The obstacle is a ginormous tree trunk. One of the tall trees recently fell and it happened to cut across the pathway. I look around to see if I can get around it some how. I walk around but I do not see any way to get around it. So I decide I must climb over it. The tree trunk is very large with lots bugs and dirt on it but I manage to climb up on to it and jump off onto the other side of the trunk.
After a long day of walking, I come across a long cabin. It is very quaint and small. It looks inviting so I go up to the cabin and see if anyone is there. As I approach the cabin, I see little elderly couple sitting on the porch. They invite me to come inside. I hang out there and eat with them and visit with them.
As I am walking along the path I find a fence. It is a little wooden fence. It is not tall at all, it reaches upto my hips. It does not seem like the fence was built to keep people out. It looks like the founce borders someones property. The fence is really old and is rotting.
On the other side of the fence is a huge pasture. The pasture seems to go on forever past the horizon. The grass is dewey. I see an endless number of cows and horses scattered around the pasture. I hop over the fence to the other side. I walk around and look at all the horses. The pastuer does not smell good because of all the animals.

In Class Assignment, What worked and wha didn't

This paper about a movie was easier to write than the first paper. I learned a lot from the first paper and I learned where I needed to improve. I hope I did a good job of not making the same mistakes of the first paper. The workshops always help me with my papers too because I like to hear other people's thoughts on my rough drafts. I always get new ideas from other people's comments on my rough drafts. The prewriting prompt questions were really helpful too. I watched the trailer of Mean Girls and it helped me with writing my brief summary of the movie. I also used my prewriting notes on the movie poster as a part of my paper. I used the movie poster as one of my outside references and I was able to find a lot of details in the poster that helped me with the argument of my paper. The film technique chart was interesting to fill out when watching the movie because I looked closely at the little details of the movie, but I did not really use many of the notes from the chart in my paper.

Out of Class, Authors Note to Final Draft, Unit 2

This is my final draft to my paper on Mean Girls. I made many revisions to my second rough draft. My rough draft for workshop 2 was incomplete so added a lot more since to this final paper from the last draft. I added more about the script of the movie and I added a conclusion paragraph. I rearranged my paragraphs so the paper would flow better. I also ended up reworking my thesis statement so it fit better with my paper. I created a different introduction paragraph because originally my introduction paragraph was a summary of the film. This new introduction paragraph relates more to the relevant pop culture of the movie. I also added my quotes from the outside references. I chose the movie poster and two movie reviews as my outside references. I am still unsure if I correctly incorporated quotes from the two movie reviews. On my last paper, my thesis statement and argument were not strong. I hope I have improved since my last paper and I hope my thesis statement and argument is much clearer on this paper. I enjoyed writing this paper much more than writing the Unit 1 paper on analyzing a space. Analyzing a movie was much more entertaining, especially since I wrote about one of my favorite movies. It was a lot easier to come up with ideas about the film to write about and analyze.  

In Class Assignment, Quote Burger

I find the concept of the quote burger to be very helpful. Incorporating quotations into papers can be difficult. It is hard for me to be creative about incorporating quotes when I have multiple quotes to put in a paper. The quote burger helps me further think about how exactly I am going to bring the quote into the paper and how I should comment on the quote. Many times I will put a quote in a paper but not put much commentary or analysis after the quote. So far on my paper for Unit 2, I have not put many quotes because I have not added 2 of the outside references yet. This quote burger will help me a lot when I decide on the quotations I am going to include in my paper.

Out of Class, Authors Note to Second Rough Draft, Unit 2

This is my second rough draft to the paper. I have made a lot of changes since my first rough draft and I have added some new parts. I still have so much more work to do on my paper. This rough draft is very incomplete. I have to finish the last paragraph I was working on in this rough draft and add a conclusion. I also need to incorporate my 2 other outside references. I have found the 2 sources I want to use but I am still figuring out where to incorporate it. I am planning on using a movie review from the New York Times and another review from filmcritic.com. I also need to work on my thesis statement still. In my thesis I mention the ridiculous behavior of the characters but I am not sure if I am going to actually do an entire paragraph dedicated to that part so I may need to redo my thesis statement.

In Class Assignment, Feedback on Rough Draft

I received a lot of helpful feedback on my paper. Thesis statements are always the hardest part of writing a paper for me and Kayla gave me some great ideas on how to fix my thesis statement to make it better. She also gave me ideas on how to make my argument stronger. I need to better emphasize how Mean Girls relates to high school girls. She recommended that I maybe add a personal story about high school in my paper and relate it to Mean Girls. I need to work on making my paper more personal. She also pointed out that I need to work on my transitional sentences to help the flow of my paper. She also revised some sentences throughout my paper to make them clearer. I am going to keep all these recommendations in mind as I work on this paper. I still have a lot of work to do on my paper. It is incomplete and I need to make a lot of revisions to what I have so far.

Out of Class, Authors Note to First Rough Draft, Unit 2

This is my first rough draft to my paper about Mean Girls. This is only the beginning part of my paper. I still have plenty of more to add to complete my paper. There is so much more about the movie Mean Girls that I can write about in this paper. I need to finish my paragraph about the stereotypical characters portrayed in the movie. I need to incorporate a section about the behavior and actions of the characters. I also need to write about the clever dialogue in the film. The script is what makes the movie so funny and I will find plenty of things in the dialogue that I could write about. I have written about the movie poster, but I still need to write about two other texts from the movie. I am thinking about using the movie review from the New York Times. I am still trying to decide with my third outside text would be. Once I am done writing my paper, I am going to revise my introduction paragraph and my thesis statement. My first paper did not have a strong thesis statement and the argument was not clear so I hope I do a better job on this paper.

In class assignment, progress on paper

I have chosen to write my paper about the movie Mean Girls. I still have plenty of more work to do with the paper. I am still putting my thoughts together about exactly everything I want to include in my paper. I have plenty of ideas of topics to include in my paper but I need to put it in more organized form. I have an outline of my paper and I have an idea of where I want to go with my paper, but I need to structure it better. I have found multiple websites and reviews that I can potentially include in my paper. I just need to narrow down which reviews and other texts I am actually going to end up including in my paper. My biggest problem with my paper is trying to formulate my thesis statement. My first paper had a very weak thesis statement so I want to do a better job on my second paper. Hopefully the thesis statement no this paper will be much stronger and clearer than my first paper. I have written down a couple of thesis statement ideas so far but I will revise it many times to make it much stronger after I actually write my paper.

Out of Class, Reality TV

When I think of reality TV shows, I would assume that these shows would be purely raw footage with no editing and no thought into how a scene is shot. Also, reality TV shows should not have any script and scenes and acts should not be setup. I would also assume that the characters in reality TV shows could be anyone, average people or celebrities. The term “reality” in reality TV shows is misleading. Reality TV shows are never actually 100% real. Reality TV might have some aspects to the show that make it more “real” than non-reality TV shows. Reality shows are usually different than non-reality TV shows because they somewhat portray the real life of someone. Non-reality TV shows can be about an actual person, but the scenes are completely written by a script writer. In reality TV shows, the scenes do not seem to be completely scripted. I do think that some lines are scripted in reality TV shows but not every line. Non-reality TV shows are usually filmed on a set. Most reality TV shows are not filmed on a set, they are usually filmed at someone’s house or out on the streets. Some reality TV shows are filmed on a set, such as America’s Next Top Model. I would think a reality TV show is cheating in a few ways. One way reality TV can cheat is by having script writers. If lines are written for a show than the dialogue is not actually real. Another way reality TV cheats is by setting up certain scenes. Sometimes it is obvious when certain incidents have happened in a reality TV show just to create more drama on the show. I also think some contestant shows are rigged by the producers so viewers can be shocked by the results of who wins or loses on a show such as Dancing with the Stars. Reality TV is very entertaining but you can never believe 100% of everything you see on reality show.

In Class Assignment, 2 readings

The two readings are similar because they both are about girls who do not follow the norm. Although the plots of the movies, Juno and Marie Antoinette, are not similar at all, the characters have some similar qualities. Juno is about a young girl who gets pregnant. Marie Antoinette is about her life. Both Juno and Marie Antoinette do not follow the rules of society they are expected to follow. Juno is an indie girl who is not part of the "popular" crowd in school, and she has no desire to be. Marie Antoinette does not fit in with the typical image of a royal. Both Juno and Marie Antoinette are faced with huge responsibilites as young teenage girls. Juno is going to have a child. Marie Antoinette is going to be queen. Although we cannot relate to their specific problems, we can relate to how they are feeling. Both authors describe how the characters and other props in the movie relate to our pop culture. I think we were assigned these two readings so we could get a better understanding about the types of details we should pay attention to when we write our papers about our movie. Both authors described their movies and characters well.

Out of Class, Music Playlist

The Temptations – Just My Imagination

Jackson Browne – For a Dancer

George Strait – Check Yes or No

Willie Nelson – Whiskey River

Don McLean – American Pie

Michael Jackson – Will You Be There

Justin Bieber – Baby

Justin Timberlake – Senorita

Britney Spears – Oops I Did It Again

All nine of the songs and artists I chose for my playlist have a special meaning to me and my life. I chose each one of these songs for different reasons. Most of the songs I chose remind me of special memories from my childhood. I chose the first two artists on my playlist, The Temptations and Jackson Browne, because they are two of my dad’s favorite musical artists. I have grown up listening to their music all my life. I chose The Temptations’ “Just My Imagination” because this is my dad’s favorite song to sing in the shower. I chose Jackson Browne’s “For a Dancer” because it is my dad’s all time favorite song. Something about that song makes him emotional. Because it is so special to my dad, it is special to me too. I added George Strait’s “Check Yes or No” because country is my favorite type of music. I like all country singers, but I decided to add George Strait because I think he is a classic. I have been to many of his concerts at the Houston Rodeo throughout my lifetime. I also added Willie Nelson because he is also a classic country singer. He is my mom’s favorite country singer. When I was younger, my family would road trip to Colorado and my mom would make us listen to Willie Nelson the whole drive up. I was forced to become a Willie fan. The fourth song, Don McLean’s “American Pie”, was my favorite song when I was little. Don McLean’s album was the first CD I ever owned. I will never forget my fourth birthday when my parents gave me Don McLean’s album and an American Girl Doll for my birthday presents. I chose Michael Jackson for my playlist because he was my nanny’s favorite singer. We would listen to Michael Jackson together. Whenever we would watch Free Willy, one of my favorite movies, my nanny would make me watch the beginning over and over again so we could watch Michael Jackson sing “Will You Be There”. I added Justin Bieber to my playlist because I have Bieber Fever. I also added Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears to my playlist because they were two of my favorite artists in Middle School and High School.

The genre of music on my playlist is very random. I have some oldies, some country, and some pop. I think this reflects how I love all types of music. There truly isn’t one type of music I despise. Because the music on my playlist is so random, some people might not be able to learn much about me through my choices of songs because they are all so different.