Passion or Apathy Throughout the years I have heard people refer to themselves as either being an “English” or a “Math and Sciences” type of person. With much thought invested into the idea, I came to the conclusion that I was neither. It was not that I was unable to understand mathematical equations or that I could not come up with a well put together essay. I just truly never knew how to categorize myself with subjects that were no passions of mine. My education does not excel in fields that I have little to no interest in, yet I still put worth the effort. One of the main things that has kept me going through my moments of struggling is the ounce of support I received from my educators. I have had teachers that I truly left no impact, along My papers had nothing more special to them than that of the papers of the student sitting next to me. “Great Job!” would be written at the top along with a check plus, all in red ink. Just like every single paper in the class that was turned in. The worst things that would happened to me in terms of English courses at the time would be my cursive letters not being clear enough or forgetting to complete an assignment all together. I was not an “English” or a “Math and Sciences” student at the time. I was an A’s and B’s student. I did my work because I was told I had to do it if I did not want to receive a poor grade. I had not utter passion for the subjects. As the years went on, and the concepts we were told to write about got more interesting, I became more enthusiastic about my That was the year I had Mr. Wimer. He was very passionate about his job. He told us how to love literature. We read The Poisonwood Bible, The Canaberry Tales, Snow Falling on Cedars, Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice, The Handmaid’s Tale, poems, short stories, and more works than I can even name. I was never much of a reader but I truly started to enjoy it. We learned about the background of the novels and why they are so important to our society today. This was all on top of the spelling tests and essays that we had to complete. The class was completely booked solid with criteria that had to be covered but I was never overwhelmed as I had been in the past because I was enjoying every second I was working on my
As I look back into my high school years, I thought I wrote papers well. But then coming into a college environment, my papers were mediocre. By overlooking at my past papers, I found that they were unorganized, sloppy and had bad use of diction. From now on, I will use the tools I learned in English 1100-40 as a foundation for the future papers I intend on writing in college. Following the criteria of organizing ideas so that they flow, impacting the reader with diction and also by being creative, will help become an ideal writer. Following the criteria of staying motivated in short and long term goals, taking responsibility for actions and finally the ability to study well will help me develop into a supreme student.
That year, coincidentally, was when I also decided to pursue a growth mindset. According to Dweck (2006), the author of Mindset, lying inside all of those with a growth mindset is a, “passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even when it’s not going well” (p. 9). Passion may sound nice, but it certainly does not guarantee success. English class, for better or for worst, was best summarized as a constant battle. A battle between me, my failure to produce decent content, and my grade. Every essay I wrote was deemed average or even below by my school’s standards; until the last, notorious essay of the year. Through endless hours of analysing the novel, asking for assistance from my teacher, and cut-throat revisions, I was able to achieve my highest grade in
Over the course of this semester, I have progressed as a writer. Picking up new skills and dropping old bad habits has transformed me into a much better writer than when I entered the English 101. Entering this class, the only English classes that I took were mandatory high school classes all four years. In these classes, however, content was focused on reading novels, poems, and literature. There was usually only one major writing assignment each year, which was a research paper on a topic that was given by our teachers. Although there was some writing involved in these classes, most of the class time was spent on improving my reading and comprehension skills. A small part of the class was given to improve my skills as a writer and even a researcher. In English 101, however, most of the class time was spent on writing and more specifically, academic writing. This includes doing proper research, picking a worthy topic to write about, correctly analyzing sources, and developing a well-rounded, complete paper. I have progressed a writer over the semester by effectively integrating and analyzing sources better, and being more specific with my words.
Section E was the best group and we enjoyed every class together. I had Mrs. Zambetti. Mrs. Prisco, Mr. Perrotti, Mr. Justave, and Mrs. Rosiak who were all the most wonderful teachers. I’ll never forget Egypt Day when Shealyn and I made an amazing diorama of the Nile River, dressed up as Egyptians in togas, and put eyeliner on all the girls, even Dominick who could not get it off and had to keep it on for the rest of the day. It was so funny! Mediterranean Day was also very fun as we ate all types of Mediterranean foods such as humus, pita bread, grapes, baklava, and more. Of course our Athens vs. Sparta field day competition was full of fun as we raced each other around the pond and played various games. Sixth grade was a yet another great year and one that I really
Mrs. Plot, one of the hardest English teachers in Murray County High School, was my teacher that year. She was a very determined and driven teacher that did not tolerate her students to fail her class, even if they were lazy. I had heard horror stories from her former students, but she was nothing like they said she was. She was the only teacher that I have connected with all throughout school. I looked forward to her class every morning because she always made learning fun. Mrs. Plot gave out good advice about English, but she also gave me personal advice and was more of a friend to me. She always knew what to say to me when I had problems. She motivated me to do better with my writing; we went to a journalism class together every week that year. Mrs. Plot deepened my love for reading and writing. Without her, I would not be the kind of student I am today. On every assignment in her class, I got the most feedback and it helped me out a lot. It took me a long time to become a decent writer, but with her help she sped up the process. I put all of my effort in every single paper I have written, especially for her
However in 8th grade I had an inspiring teacher, Ms. Moe. She told us to write whatever we felt on paper, to create stories from our lives, to write from our souls. Of course all of my stories were morbid with sinister events, but well written. (Maybe because I would spend all the time I could with her, so I would revise and revise until it was perfect- well at least for an 8th grader.) Writing My Past as a Writer was a great way to remind me why writing was alright. This paper was a little easier to write because it was my story. I had to revise it a bit and add some more background to what I was writing in the class, such as my Johnathn story (there are more of them too). As to let the reader know why Ms. Moe called me ‘disturbed’, but that was not hard. I’m sure Ms. Geary was a little concerned after reading this, wondering if she needed to report that I’m unstable or a threat to others, but no I just enjoy writing things that get my dark side out (I’m stable now, I promise). Getting a perfect score the first time, I still revised it and added things I thought would make it even better to read. Peer reviewing with Russell was great because he had some great insight in how to portray my reputation. Havi...
emotions are, what comprises emotions and where they spring from. Most of the times we
When analyzing a written text there are a couple of things to look at. Does the author validate what they are writing? This question can be asked in order to figure out the different qualities of the essay itself. How does the author relay the massage? This is another question that can be asked from this analysis. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. explains his message very clearly in his text, The World House. Dr. King provides a lot of information to back his ideas and main thesis. He uses examples when he describes what he wants you to know. He is able to relay his message to the proper audience, which happens to be everyone in the world, but specifically to the African American people when he wrote the piece. He is able to set the tone and keep it from the beginning to the end. Dr. King is able to use audience, tone and language to relay his message.
This semester was my very first semester as a college student. Being the first, it was probably the semester I would learn the most in. I learned the expectations for writing that I will have to live up to for the next four years of my college career. Though my high school teachers were usually demanding because I was in the Honors English section throughout high school, writing in college has still ?raised the bar? for me. Also, in high school, we would have weeks to pick a topic, create a thesis, outline the paper, write the paper, and then revise the paper. In college, the time restraints are not quite as lenient. I?ve had to learn to manage my time and be more productive with what free moments I have. Strangely enough, I?ve found the college English experience to be much more rewarding and enjoyable than in high school.
Passion is your fuel. It motivates you to do something. It propels you up the mountain of your dreams and goals. Have a passion for life, for people, for animals, for your causes and your convictions, and you will be nearly unstoppable. Be a role model for those who have great needs and can't do
It is human nature to desire freedom and yearn passion, yet it is also human nature to obtain acceptance and follow reason. It is a never ending battle between passion and reason; without reason there is no acceptance, without passion there is no freedom. In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Jane strongly struggles between passion and reason. Though Jane loves Mr. Rochester, her employer at Thornfield Hall, she has certain values to uphold in order to conform with society. Jane does not let her affections overtake her morality, though her return to Mr. Rochester proves passion to be stronger than reason.
extremely motivational third grade teacher encouraged my writing in ways that all teachers should note.
I remember my fourth grade year as if it were yesterday. My homeroom teacher, Mr.
When I was growing up, I remember attending elementary school, learning a new language seems to be difficult at first, but I was able to learn the English language because of the dedication of one of my teachers. Now, as I reflect on this experience, it is obvious that she was dedicated and enjoyed teaching her students to be successful. I know today that she made a difference in my life as I navigated through my education experience and high school years to present.
I thought that the teachers did a nice job with their classroom set up. I felt like I could have kept myself busy all day just by looking at the walls and seeing the pictures of presidents and famous historic quotes by famous people of our nations past. One thing I really enjoyed was the time the teachers allotted me at the end of each class to reflect to the class. Not only throughout my past middle school, and high school experiences but also, and most importantly, my current college experiences, the temptations that I have had to endure have definitely been rewarding.