In class Writing 4

The hall was silent until she heard footsteps coming down the dark flight of stairs. "Why did I go into the school by myself at night?" She thought. Her homework could have waited to be done tomorrow since she forgot it at school and didn't realize until late that night. Instead, she decided to enter the dark school all alone. She started to walk faster, hoping to pass the stairs before whatever was coming down them caught her. She thought she had scoped the place out, there were no cars or lights on although it did seem odd to her that the door was unlocked. She did not feel safe at all, she felt as if she was in danger. As she quickly walked by the stairs, it was still getting louder. She passed them thank goodness, and waited around the corner to see if she could get a peak. It was dark, therefore she could not see clearly and couldn't make out an image as the figure stepped off the last step and turned to the opposite direction of where she was. She was relieved. She hurried down the hall, opened up her locker and quickly retrieved what she had forgotten. As she was leaving, she heard a door in the distance slam. Then paces against the hall way tile floor, getting faster. She threw herself into a nearby broom closet. "Will I ever be able to leave?" She thought to herself.

Conference with Mrs. Piro

Meeting with Mrs. Piro personally with my essay helped me sooo much! I think all teachers should have conferences like that with their students, it proves to the student that they care about succeeding in their class. She definitely was right when she said how important it was to meet with her and not to miss your conference. She picked out errors that my classmates missed and I am so glad because now my grade on my paper will be better. As i rewrote my paper and fixed my errors she suggested, my paper makes a lot more sense now and flows better then it did. I had to take quite a bit of irrelevant stuff out, but it gets my point across a lot more now. I can't wait to read everyone's papers Tuesday! I also can't wait to turn in my final copy and my 3 prong binder to get my grade, I tried my best!

In Class Writing Prompt #2

Today I brought to class my pink pen. It is pink, it smells like ink, it feels comfortable to use in my hand, and when I write I can hear the pen transferring my thoughts on to a sheet a paper. I cannot tell you what my pink pen tastes like because I would rather not lick my pink pen. I would guess that it tastes very bitter though.

My pink pen is my favorite pen and my favorite writing utensil. It is very important to me when it comes to writing. Normally, my classes would call for blue or black ink, but when I can write with my pink pen, I do. My pink pen writes with pink ink. Pink is obviously my favorite color. I like to write with it because I feel like it spices up my papers and adds my own personal touch. I feel like when I write in pink, my paper looks neat and pretty. It makes me want to use good penmanship rather than boring, quick, blue or black chicken scratches. Pink is a color that makes me happy. Even though I enjoy writing, my pink pen makes me enjoy writing even more since I get to write with my favorite color. I always have my pink pen with me. For as long as I can remember, I have always bought a pink pen before every year in school started. Some teachers back then would still tell me not to use my pink pen. Anything personal I wrote and anything I did not have to turn in, I always wrote in pink.

Bechdel, The Canary-Colored Carcavan of Death

After reading this comic the first time, I did not understand it. All I had gotten out of it was that he had a dream of being with his father 2 nights before he died, his father killed himself, and his mother and father ignored his creativity attempts. In my opinion, this story jumped around a lot and it was hard for me to get the main point of the story. After discussing the story with other classmates and giving each other our inputs, opinions, and better understanding of the story, it all started to come together. The pictures helped me see what was going on, and even though I did not understand the story, the author was still able to create an "awkward" tone. Bechdel is very talented, in my opinion, for being able to do so. I have to admit, the fowl language in the comic strips did throw me off and startle me when I read them. But those strips played an important role in the story. They told what the character really wanted to say, but knew they couldn't and quickly changed there mind and said something more appropriate.

It is different that Bechdel told her story with a comic. Like I said, the pictures did help me understand, but I would rather read a story straight through, paragraph by paragraph. I like to create my own images in my head rather then them being on the paper in front of me.

Reading Response #1***

When I read the introduction of "The Secondhand Bookseller" I was instantly hooked. I really enjoyed this story and how it made me feel. It amazed me that Marina had gone to prison for such a reason. It is great that she loved to read as much as she did. Her and her mother were not the wealthiest people, so her mother told her she could buy her one book a month. Marina came up with her own ideas to be able to buy her own books since she read so much that she could read more than one book a month. When her parents were away, she decided to check out a secondhand book store that she had noticed before. Albert, the owner, wasn't used to seeing kids so young in his store. He found her a good book to read, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. She read it two times in just three days. She went back to return the book. The first thing Albert said was, "Let me guess, you couldn't understand a word of it." He was surprised when she told him that she had finished the book and loved it, and wanted to know if he had the next book. Marina thought of Albert as an angel from that day on because he told her she didn't have to pay for books, she could borrow them. He told her that she just had to take good care of them. He had realized this little girls true love of reading and couldn't help but give into it.

After reading this story, I hope that my love of reading grows to this extent. I do like to read, but not so often. Once in awhile I will find a good book and quickly finish it. When I enjoy reading a book it is easy to tell, because I can't focus on anything else but getting to the end. I think my problem is that I do not take the time to look for good books. I really like when people suggest books to me because then I start to explore. Reading is great for everyone, it builds vocabulary and teaches you to stay focused and draw conclusions. One day instead of napping or watching television when I have free time, I hope I will choose to read!

Miscellaneous***

College is a brand new experience for me. I am really enjoying my new daily grind! I am surprisingly a morning person, so I love getting up Monday through Friday and having a class or two a day. Unlike high school, you have a lot more free time in college. I hated getting up at 7 A.M. to go to school for eight hours everyday! Now that I get up that early but am only in school for no more than 3 hours a day, I love it! I have time to do anything that needs to be done after class, and I have time to work. I like to get my classes out of the way everyday, stay on campus for a little while and do my homework, then go to work or relax on my days off. I believe that the key to staying stress-free is getting things done and out of the way ahead of time. That is exactly what I like to do! Another thing I love about college is how nice everyone is. Let's admit it, in high school we all belonged to a certain group of people that were similar to you. I was never a fan of that even though I am guilty of it. I talked to everyone and got made fun of for it by friends. College is much different, everyone is nice to everyone no matter who you are! I love coming to school and talking to whoever I want knowing I will not be judged for it, I always love meeting new people no matter how different they are than me. Someone I had never even met before walked me to class with their umbrella because I was not carrying one. It made my day to know there are still genuine, good people out there. I am really enjoying my time as a Rhodes State student!

In Class Response-Creativity

I am not afraid of writing and being creative. You can work through your fear to achieve self-efficacy by brainstroming, and just not letting your mind stop working when thinking about writing. The best way to do this is to get a piece of paper and just let your mind flow and write down whatever comes to mind. When you are ready to construct your writing piece, you can put all these ideas together to form a cohesive paper. I definitely embrace my creative urge. In a literacy narrative, there are many ways you can be creative and it all depends on who you are and how you like to write. Me, for example, I like to tell an exciting story to keep the reader's attention. I like to use to dialogue to make my story more interesting and really put the reader in the story. Using vivid details is also very important in a literacy narrative writing. The more details you use, the easier it is for the reader to create picture in their mind of what they are reading. When doing this though, you must remember to stay on topic and not to talk about things irrelevant to your topic. For example, if you were writing about an evil English teacher that gave you a bad English grade and made you despise writing, you would not want to go into vivid detail about what you wore to school that day and what you had for breakfast that morning. Since I am not afraid of writing and being creative, I have to constantly reread my writings to make sure I do not do this. Since I like to let my ideas flow, it is easy for me to get off topic or talk about things irrelevant to my topic because I like to write whatever comes to mind. Creating images in the reader's head will keep them wanting to read and help them understand what is going on in the story. It also reassures them that they know what you are trying to say and lets them know that they understand your story. When you write a literacy narrative, your creativity should never stop. With all the ways you can be creative, even if you ARE afraid of writing and being creative, if you spend more time on your writing you can be sure to get your point across in a not-so-boring way.