prezi

http://prezi.com/1trajwf5_nb3/copy-of-being-muslim-in-springfield/?kw=view-1trajwf5_nb3&rc=ref-19020484

Why I Write

Writing is my alone time to get to know myself. Only after I write do I truly see my problems and my solutions. Maybe I am not the only one, but up inside my cranium there is a thousand thoughts flying around at warp speed. And I spend most my valuable time in unrewarding pursuit of each and every thought. When I was unearthing my teen years at eleven years old, I discovered the power of writing. Do you remember when you first start to realize you have the world at your fingertips? And! You can do anything you want? I do, and I also remember the most overwhelming and confusing feels that come along like unwanted in-laws. Writing is my outlet for those confusing feels and compromising situations. I write poems like a road map to answers. The first line is the timid, ice breaker, reaching out offering its self to examination. Then as each line slips from my neurons to my fingertips, my subconscious becomes one with my conscious and I start writing things I did know I felt. Ideas form like molded clay and on and on it goes, I perfect my sculpture of words till every detail is intricately placed. By the end I am racing to pour out every last drop before it escapes into the air I breath and vanishes. When all is through, there is no hesitate to be done. I drop my pen and step back. Admiring my creation, not for its beauty but for its absolute enlightenment, that I can only see. In fact, when someone reads my writing and tells me it is "beautiful" I am almost offended, because their is no beauty in struggling to understands ones self. It is the ultimate frustration. Writing class assignments is mandatory, and not necessarily enjoyable, depending on the topic, but it is key to the survival of my writing. By survival I don't mean remembrance, honestly remembrance is of no importance when I write, I mean the strength of writing. The power my words have, and my own expectation I hold myself to when writing.

Plagiarism Response

summary, passage connected.

While reading this article I felt a certain sadness in its truth. My generation is run out of originality and uniqueness. I find this statement most certainly evident in my school and with my peers. Even in a small town such as Springfield, the amount of times I am aware that a student is cheating or plagiarizing is shocking. I will be honest, it has crossed my mind. I have late homework assignments and essays piling up on my dresser, and I am scheduled to work a closing shift every night of the week, It crosses my mind to cheat a little. You tell yourself, "Who is it going to hurt?", and in fact when the level of stress won't seem to give, it doesn't feel like it will hurt anyone. But in fact it is harming yourself the most, you are cheating yourself of originality and integrity. With myself I believe the problem is growing up in a low income household, I have convinced myself that to be extraordinarily successful is the only escape from being low income for the rest of my life. The result of this alienation is, me taking seven courses of honors or AP classes. Maybe this load is possible for a student who does not have to hold a job, or provide basic necessities for their self. While over loading myself with these classes, at semester I am thinking to your self, "What have I gotten myself into?". With this thought, also comes along thought of ways to make it out of these classes while still getting a decent GPA. Cheating and plagiarizing is not taboo, therefore, they come along and tantalize students like me. Thankfully I am to afraid to plagiarize, but that shouldn't be my motive for not plagiarizing. My motive should be integrity. I am aware that many student who plagiarize are simply to lazy to try and write their own paper, and if so I think the biggest consequence for them will be, passing through high school and getting good grades, then enter college and not being to cheat their way through classes and eventually dropping out of college.

The article I read basically was an analyzes of plagiarism in the 21st century. The idea of non-intentional plagiarism, and why the Internet is blurring the lines of originality.

         “Writing is difficult, and doing it well takes time and practice,” Donald J. Dudley said.
I really connected to this quote, because it evident in my writing. Teachers honestly believe their students have this wealth of creativity that is just waiting to be unhinged and poured out in assignments. I don't know what could be any less true. Being a student myself, not only am I 95% of the time confused about the rules of writing and how to write a good paper, I sit down and hold my pencil above my paper for an endless amount of time, waiting for this magical wealth of creativity teachers have convinced me I have, to pour out. And when I do creative ideas they come out in bits and pieces and don't fit together in a "introduction, body paragraph, conclusion" style. I have heard that what brain storming is for, but when I am writing I lose track, then I reread it and I want to start over. Writing is definitely not easy, and doesn't come naturally for most high school students. I believe writing in high school has this attitude of, give a student a writing assignment 20 times and by the end he will have learned what he needed to write a good paper. This is the worst approach to writing. This example student will probably become bitter about writing and not end up writing very well. Practice does make perfect, but writing is an art, that needs close cultivation and instruction. When given an writing assignment, it should only be worked on in class and the student should be on individual due date. Some student write faster or honestly are more creative. Another abuse of writing in the overused research essay, that is abused in almost every subject. I can guarantee that almost every student sees class essays outside of English classes as punishment. Teachers should allow cultivation of the writing skill to emerge through many field of writing, not singularly essays. If this was done so, before composition course were needed to be taken, maybe the student would be more open to different styles and new ideas.  

Sample Project Response

The topic of the project I chose to evaluate was being a student teacher in the 21st century.
The author used photographs, To-Do lists, Emails, Class room layout visual, Dialogue, an edited song, notes, multi-perspective chart, a poem, Venn-Diagram, personal stories, and a few other additions. I think the author was very effective on giving a whole view on her topic. The author could have used more photography, but otherwise she was effective in her variety in genres. The author provided over 11 different pieces to her multi-genre project. 
The section of the authors project that discussed Smart boards required research on Smart boards. The Venn-Diagram must have required research over what and how fiance majors in Miami go through to graduate. Lastly, the section that discussed special education teaching must of required research as well.
The story about how the author grew up wanting to be a teacher and finally achieving that dream came from her own personal life. Her poem about who Ms. Issac is, and her recreation of a song came from her own imagination. As well, the chart of hypocrite teachers came from her own imagination.
I don't feel like the author transitioned very smoothly in each piece. The project was just slid after slid, with no real flow. Besides staying on topic of being a teacher, the transitions were messy.
The transitions were not effective, because each piece just stopped and began. There wasn't a flow. I think with the idea of all her pieces it was difficult to make a beginning and an end for her topic.
The author gave me the impression that she is an honest, imperfect, real person. She style was not formal, but it was neat and organized. Her voice really showed the reader who she was and what she values. The project was extremely creative, and the author provided pieces to her work that were thinking outside the box. The depth was adequate, but I felt like it could go deeper. I did not exactly learn new information, but I gained insight into the field of teaching and how teachers feel.
The formatting was slight jumbled. The font changed often, which provided it to be easier to read. The appeal was moderate, it lacked color and favor in the sense of writing, but it was not bland.
Some idea I took away from this project was to use out of the box pieces, and to be more creative.

Being Memorable Response

Joe Romm's article seems to give the reader the key to success in life. Who doesn't want to be remember for their ideas and/or writing? The articles main idea is the explanation of how people make their selves remembered for ages. Of some of those people Joe uses for examples are; Jesus, Lady Gaga, and Churchill. The article explains and proves that, in fact, who doesn't remember these three people? The act of repetition and rhyming are keys to making headlines or music extremely memorable.

"Few skills are more important for success at work and life than the ability to be persuasive and memorable. And yet the tricks for effective speaking and writing, which have been known for twenty-five centuries and verified by modern social science research, are hardly taught today."

This passage made the most impact on me, because at my job being memorable and persuasive is essential to moving up to a promotion.

Reading Response

I really enjoyed (splitting infinitive) reading this article, and it was very informative. I didn't understand why splitting an infinitive would be bad, and come to find out, it's not. I liked how the author  uses quotes from important people to back his ideas about grammar. I use "which" as a relative pronoun all the time, so it is reassuring to know I can use it and be accurate. Also, I love writing using a passive voice so its good to know I can and still be accurate.

"Decimate to mean "kill or eliminate a large proportion of something""

This was my favorite thing the author said. It was clever and I will definitely use this new word 

Reading Response

I thought this picture was a cute depiction of semi-colon usage.

I read the article on seven grammar mistakes, and I can see the mistakes I make reflected in the article. I understand how the author explains fixing the mistakes, but I don't know how to remember all of the rules. The article is helpful, but I don't think I will retain any of the solutions. Definitely I make semi-colon mistakes in the papers I write, but I don't fully understand how to know when to use them and when to not. The author talked about pronoun problems, and I was slightly confused. Sometimes you write with "fred and me", and sometimes,"fred and I".

Descriptive Paragraph

My paper will be over the community if Springfield, specifically, its diversity. In my paper it will require me to interview many individuals. Some of whom I will do are; Alaa, a Muslim American, Abdullah, a Muslim foreign exchange student, Donna, a Ukrainian women with a family. Dates are a little up in the air right now, but I have one interview done from Majed, a Saudi foreign exchange student. I am hoping a positive image if Springfield will arise but it may come out negative. Culture will be a big theme, and I have certain historic events; the hanging in the square and the anti-pagan rise up. Problems that may occur during interviews is if the interviewee becomes uncomfortable, or a topic is reached that they don't want to talk about. I find this topic personally meaningful because being Muslim, I am part of the diversity in Springfield. If I can't manage this topic, because it is so expansive, I will just focus in on the Muslim community in Springfield.

Question Categories
1. Family history
2. Children
3. Education
4. Careers/Jobs
5. Traditions
6. Religion
7. Holidays
8. Racism/Prejudice
9.Traveling past/future
10. Hobbies

Things to do
1.Allow the interview to take place where the interviewee is comfortable.
2.Introduce yourself.
3.Inform them of your intent for the interview
4. Be friendly, all smiles, and don't be pushy.
5. Let the interview be all about the interviewee, and don't interject your own stories.

What to do
1. Ask questions that can lead to longer conversation.
2. End the interview.
3. Ask about any family stories.

Things to know
1. History behind Springfield's minorities.
2. Migration into Springfield.
3. Slavery in Springfield.
4. Agriculture available in Springfield
5. Diversity in fashion trends.
6. Springfield's plans for growing diversity.
7. Weather that takes place in Springfield, compared to interviewees native countries.
8. Difference in fashion in Springfield, compared to interviewees native countries.
9. The diversity in the politics of Springfield.
10. Culture events that occur in Springfield.

Professional look
1. Men verses women in the interviewees native country.
2. Life span in the interviewees native country.
3. Economic state in the interviewees native country.
4. Beliefs of the interviewees religion.
5. The statue of elders or children to the interviewee.

Multi-Genre Reflection

I am really excited to write a multi-genre paper, and it will be my first. I have already decided to do my paper over the diversity of Springfield. I decided to do this topic, because I love culture and learning about it. I would love to discover what Springfield is really made of, even though it is pretty white out here. I think it will be interesting to look at what others that aren't white have brought to Springfield.

Article 1 Response

I found that as i read the article I was distracted and bored. Some of the points made were interesting, but the length and no breaths was straining. The way I read the article proved the theory, Is Google making us stupider, correct. I read the article exactly how the author was complaining of; I skimmed it and hurried through. The article was about how the new generations, raised with Google, are becoming lazy readers. I believe the author is correct, having all the information at our fingertips requires no thought or analysis.
The quote I liked best was, "My mind isn't going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing." The reason I like this quote is because it pinpoints exactly the problem Google is creating for humans. Our minds are reaching for anything. In the quote the author is saying his mind is changing, but in a negative way. 

Reading Response 2

I am currently reading Gazelle. This is a book telling the stories of different people in Cairo. Elizabeth is the main character; she is a thirteen year old girl, who has a wild mother and a dissipating father. Elizabeth’s mother is the epitome of beauty; she is a fair skinned blonde woman within the depths of a dark skinned, dark haired, Cairo. Her mother does not only possess beauty but she has made her beauty a tangible object of jealousy and deep envy. Her mother has a dark soul that craves attention of every man. Her father is analytical and an unbelievably reasonable man that questions the universe in the most ridiculous ways. Her parent’s partnership is inevitably heading to ultimate disaster. To such preconceived notations, her mother disappears into the arms of young pliable men. Elizabeth is left with her father, whom now is an empty recorder of questions with no answers. Along the cleanup of her mother’s destruction, Elizabeth’s heart and newly awakening body is captivated by her fathers close friend, and the city's perfume maker.

This is as far as I have read. I would greatly suggest anyone to read this book. The vocabulary is expansive and the writer is very descriptive.       

My favorite quote so far is, “No one else mothers slept in fields and beat the ground in agony…”

Research Question

Does Cocorosie accurately expose the hidden stereotypes women are held to achieve?

Proposal

Statement of topic:
I will write an essay on CocoRosie.
Cocorosie is two women, Coco and Rosie, that defy standards for women, through their music.

Purpose & argument:
In this essay, I will explore and argue how Cocorosie defys societies standards for women and sterotypes for women. Also, I will define what those standards are, how they pose issues for women, and how Cocorosie is working against them.

Organization:
In my essay I will introduce Cocorosie and provide my thesis statement in my introduction. My thesis statement will be something like, "Cocorosie makes evident and defys the standards society has in place for women." In body paragraphs I will explore the standards and issues that women have in society. As well, I want to present how Cocorosie is working against those issues and standards.

Reading Response 1

I am currently reading Busted. Busted is painless way of learning ACT vocabulary, while still faintly enjoying a story. Busted is a story of a girl named Kim. Kim is a freshmen at Stanford University, but in the story she is on winter break. On break at most universities the dorms close. Due to the shut down of dorms, Kim as to go back home to Morrison. Morrison is a quaint and normal town, but is recently been having a drug problem at the private high school, Hereford. Kim's mother is a chief deputy on the Morrison police force. Being chief deputy, Kim's mom has to solve the drug problem. She has an idea to solve the problem, via using Kim as an undercover cop, at the high school.

In Busted the author, Emma Harrison, uses unsually large vocabulary words. This way the reader is challenged to fix the big vocabulary in his/her long term memory. Some of the words that were new to me were; engender, trepidation, and aplomb.

Blogspot won't up load a photo for my post.  

New Year Post

 Ten years from now I want to be happy. After highschool, I want to save lives. I will preform brain surgery. I will go see Bali and Dubai, I won't ever stop. I want to fly to the moon, and go visit the sun. I can't chose if I want to live forever, or die tomorrow. Either way, I chose to live for today.


I am reading Beautiful Chaos.

Parting Ways

My inspiration

Everyone, I believe, has equal amount of good and bad. Some people have more control to be good or bad.

As of lately, my best friend and I haven't been the same. We are not as close anymore, of course this didn't just happen, events lead to the separation. None the less, each day we grow farther and farther apart, becoming our identities we will grow into adulthood to be. I am an analytic and cautious person, and I am a converted Muslim. She now is a free-spirited person with no heed to tomorrow’s presences. Obviously these are conflicting characteristic, but I am in a slight denial that they are so conflicting that we can't still be best friends. With denial comes suffering, to which I am imposing on myself, willingly. Well, not exactly willingly, how exactly do you walk away from something you hold dearly to your heart? Knowing if you let go the wind will toss it away to a place I will never visit.

 Today I was offered to attend a party with my old best friend. The temptation was beyond over-whelming, considering I could take it all back, probably, in this night. I could change myself to her ever-morphing self. 

 Most people would look at me, and simply think I would decline being a Muslim. But that isn't exactly the situation; I converted to Islam after being friends with her for 4 years. Four years of relentless play and bonding, I had successfully eliminated anyone important in my life, so I could nurture my relationship with her. I never imagined it would come back to bite me in the ass.

I was always the person that was slightly detached, not her; I was the emotionless one, not her. Now the tables have turned and I have nowhere to go. It is weird, she tells me I don't know what its truly like to lose someone to death, but I feel like I am.

 What is worse knowing that person simply didn't fit into your life, or losing them to life?
I'm not sure I'm no philosopher, but I am going to have to start making some real life decisions, not just these teenage angst ones I am use to. 

Back to today, do I go the party and let myself go into the abyss of the present day?

Do I rekindle my broken relationship with my apathetic friend?

Do I push my morals down the drain to fix this ache inside my chest, this loneliness that fills my room till the windows explode?

No.

Sometimes when you love something you have to let it go. If it comes back then it was meant to be, if not then it wasn't meant to last.

I know that I am not alone, God stands by my side. Even when he is as silent as can be, and I feel like he is not even real. I know when I am at my lowest he will be the only one to give me a hand. I know my best friend won't be there, when she needs things I can't even understand. My sisters won't be there, nor my mother or father.

I do love them all, so dearly, but I can't make her a priority when I am barely an option for her.

My inspiration is myself, and the way God made me imperfect.
How I can go through this life with its trails. I will fail and I will sin, but I am not made to achieve perfection.
God simply wants me to try.

I like to pretend like I’m bitter that I wasted five years of my life being the best friend of someone, that won’t even look me in the eye. But I’m not bitter at all, because all I want to do is rewind and stay there for a while.  I am thankful I could share a “growing up” with someone that made me laugh till I cried. The end is bitter sweet, but you live and you learn.

The one thing that really honestly hurts is that it was so easy for her. By no means do I want anything to be hard on her, but the ease in which I just slipped out of her life , burns. The acceptance she has was in an almost bliss to let me open the door and leave. Maybe she is tired of having to keep people in her life, but I thought best friends were different.

Reading Response 6

I finished The View from Garden City ,and the ending was spectacular. I feel like I really met the women in this book. Huda, I watched as she struggle with accepting that she could not marry a poor man, her marriage to a kind man but not the love story all girls dream of, and I saw her get pregnant. Huda's mother Karima, I met her as a withering old women trying to marry off her children, but I got to read her story of how her father died and in the wake of his death she met her husband. Huda's grandmother, Selwa, I depicted as simply the sweet and blunt grandmother, but I got to read her story of love and the deaths of her many children through miscarriage and bad health. Afkar a brave and stunning women, who killed herself for the freedom her husband had stolen from her with his charm. Yusriyya, gave me a perspective of the farmers in Egypt. She was in love with her farm and wide blue sky and then was sent off to marry a man in the city. her marriage proved most unkind, her husband married another women and didn't often care for Yusriyya. The last story I read was the most interesting, Samira. Samira had everything she needed, a good home, a good husband, and a beautiful child. But all of this crumbled beneath her feet when she came in contact with her best friends husband, a man she was in love with in her youth. Her need for him is overwhelming and she could not control herself when she decided to meet him. They had a long passionate affair, that was always a secret. It all ended when both her husband and this man died within days of each other.

I loved how the author inner connected all of these womens lives and wove a beautiful story of what it is like to be a woman in Cairo, Egypt.

This pictured made me think of how the book was told from an American girl that was studying in Cairo, and how she met all these Muslim women.

5th Reading Response

The novel I am reading is, The View from Garden City, by Carolyn Baugh. Once again I have came upon an author that writes in serveral different perspectives. In, The View from Garden City, there is six different women's stories being told. All these women are living in Cairo, Egypt, and are dealing with different aspects of relationships with different men. So far, I have been introduced to Huda, Selwa, and Karima. Karima is the mother of Huda, and Selwa is Huda's grandmother. Huda is having to go through the pressure of finding a suitor to marry, but she is in love with a boy she attends the university with. He is poor and has to work two jobs, and this is not an acceptable suitor in the eyes of her mother, Karima. Selwa is not as unaccepting as Karima, she mysteriously tells Huda, "You'll see. You're not waiting for anything from anyone."