EvanJ's English1 Blog2

     One of my hits this year was the research paper. I consider this to be my greatest hit because I enjoyed what I was writing about. This enjoyment of my topic is not only what drove me to spend way to much time on it, but it is also what gave me a first hand experience of hard work paying off. While writing the research paper, I did an excellent job of making claims, then backing those claims up with specific evidence, which made my writing organized, accurate, and enjoyable. Another aspect of the research paper that I did well was my sentence fluency. After writing the article, I went back in and added transitions, backstory, and explanations to each paragraph. The small details and transitions that I imputed are what made the paper a smooth read. Aside from the writing tools that made the article a hit, I believe that the real reason that I consider this paper a hit was because of what I learned from it. This paper taught me to be patient with my writing, and to get a second opin

     Every individual writer has their very own strengths and weaknesses. My greatest strengths as a writer are the amount of time I put into my work and vivid detail. For me, I believe that my greatest strength is that I am willing to put in the time to attempt to craft a good paper, mind you that not every article I write is good. This simply means that I can spend vast quantities of time writing and rewriting a single sentence until it not only gets is point across, but uses at least one of the writing tools, such as vivid detail, symbolism, or diction. As the "Diary and Autobiography of John Adams" said, "practice makes perfect." My other strength is vivid detail. I mostly utilize vivid detail to gain the reader's interest and make them want to read paper or blog. Vivid detail is an essential tool because it can be used in a variety of different ways, but it is best used to provide the audience with a clear picture of what is going on. As a writer, my streng

Nick's What are you grateful for? Gregory's Are you distracted by technology?

     My family and I have begun traveling more and more as my siblings, and I have aged. These travels have changed my perspective, and introduced me to various new cultures. Last year, we went to Mexico. While in Mexico, I saw how impoverished the citizens of Mexico were. This caused me to be more grateful for things I rarely recognize, like clean water, and it also made me feel obligated to be more generous to others who are in need. When I first went to Mexico, I thought that it would be like any other trip where a tour around and look at various artifacts of historical value. Instead, I felt some of my character traits being shaped be people I only had only one interaction with. I think that any trip, no matter the destination, can have a more profound meaning and change the way you perceive various situations if you slow down and take the time to observe the different lifestyle of the people that live there.      Traveling has been something that I think I have been taking more f

     Purple Hibiscus is a story centered around the idea of change. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the author, begins to progressively utilize the element of contrast to better express Kambili's thoughts and feelings. The first concept introduced in Purple Hibiscus was the element of religion. As the story develops, this idea of religion takes two forms through Father Benedict and Father Amadi. After, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie divides the concept of religion; she begins separating Papa from Aunt Ifoema, Nsukka from Enugu, and so on. The reason for this harsh contrast between characters and lifestyles is to render Kambili lost between which ideas to believe; does she follow what she believes or what she was raised to believe? These questions are not directly stated in the text be are evident in the manner Kambili's brain processes situations. An example of Kambili making this decision to chose a side appears on page 184: "Jaja bent down and covered Papa-Nnuwku's body with

Tucker's Gun Control Gregory's Police Shootings