Jillianenglishblog

Judith Ortiz Cofer says,  “The Island travels with you.”  What part of your culture, family, or identity do you feel “travels” with you everywhere you go? Prompt Response:  I think something that follows me where ever I go is probably being adopted. Even though in the story we read her culture is what follows her because people notice it. Mine is not noticeable, but I feel it inside myself everyday. I wonder everyday who I would have been if I stayed with my birth parents and what I would look like. My parents make a good amount of money and I went to private school most my life. My birth mom seems to not make a lot of money and has had some drug related issues. She also posts different beliefs then my parents do and she looks at the world differently. Everyday it follows me that the life I have now is rare and how things could have ended up so differently for me, just because I was chosen by two people. Not only this but I have a half brother out in the world somewhere t...

Prompt: Write about an experience when someone assumed something about you because of a stereotype. What was the situation, and what did you do? Prompt Response:  In middle school I used to wear a lot of makeup. I did it because thats what I thought a girl was supposed to do to herself. No one judges you if you put makeup on because as a girl it is expected. But when I stopped wearing as much makeup in high school people would look at me odd and even my mom would make comments. But I just got tired of feeling gross and dirty with makeup on. I also realized that guys did not wear makeup and it confused me leaving middle school. I realized that girls were expected to look pretty and put together, while boys/men needed to look "tough" and "manly". My mom would make comments like, "why are you not put together?" Which hurt because it made me feel like i looked gross. But then I realized it was not my moms fault that she thought this way. It was societies fault...

Prompt: Describe something you will never fully understand. Prompt Response:  I will never fully understand death. I know I talked about death and the concept of it already, but, I really will never understand it. I don't understand how one day everything in life I have done or completed ends. It makes me think that some things in life really don't mean anything or should not be worried about as much as they are. In school we sit for hours to learn to get somewhere in life, but then we get old and retire and that's it of our lives. Knowing how much I think about death and how much it scares me, I want to have a job/career that I love and know will satisfy me throughout my life. I don't want to die thinking I was wasting my life working a job that made me bored and sad.  Summary: I was not in class today because I do not feel well. But I think most people presented their poems. Reflection: I hope that I feel better so that I can come to school and present my project in t...

Prompt: Write about something that you wish you had more of Prompt Response:  I wish I had more cats. Over the years I have had many cats. I have had 9 cats in my past 14 years. Right now I have 4 cats, Kitkat, Peanut, Bean, and Pickles. I love all of them but I wish I could be covered all night long in cats, they give me so much comfort and they don't stink like dogs do. Cats have always been my favorite animal and a lot of the older cats I had were strays that I rescued. Some of them had medical issues and others were feral. I believe cats have special souls and they are very loving creatures. I will definitely have a lot of cats in my future.  Summary: Today in class I finished my poem/art presentation and watched the Lakeside News.  Reflection:  I really enjoyed making the art visuals in the poem assignment, but I had to get help from my mom with the poem because I have a hard time thinking of how to put poems together. 

 

Prompt: What is the most creative thing you have ever made? Share what it was and explain why it stands out as your best work. Prompt Response:  The most creative thing I have ever made is my dad's father's day gifts. Every year since I could not even walk, I have created a hand print for him. The gifts are an accumulation of my hand since I was little to the age I am now. This gift is my best work for a couple reasons. First, it is a personal and thoughtful gift that I make my own every year. Second, I have made the gifts colors different every single year. This year instead of having a blue hand print like last year, I made the hand print purple and sparkly. Overall, this is for sure my best work because every year it makes my dad's day better.  Summary: Today in class we read "A Korean dream" by Sharon Lee. After we read, we dug deeper into her cultural identity and created our own poems about our cultural identity.  Reflection:  I enjoyed today's class and...

Prompt: Everyone has burning questions about life. Mysteries we wonder about but don’t always have clear answers for. Think about your biggest questions about existence, purpose, or the world around you. Write a blog post where you share at least two of your most burning questions about life and explain why these questions matter to you. Prompt Response:  I wonder about a lot of life and how things work. One of the main things that has confused me is death. I have for around four years now been concerned and confused with death. I have thought about what it might be like, but still cannot fully comprend it. I have thought that it is maybe like anesthesia or like how life was before I was born. Its important to me because what If I die to early and don't everything I want to do. Or what if my mom or dad dies and I am not ready. Another big question I have is why do we have school for 1/4 of our life span. I understand school is important but there has to be a better way in order to ...

Prompt: Describe a time when you felt completely lost.  Prompt Response:  The most I have ever felt lost was in 9th grade. I went to St.Martins all my life until I had to leave for my freshman year at highschool. I got accepted into every high school I wanted to go to, but my mom wanted me to go to Mount Vernon. She wanted me to go there because the school was supposed to help me with my Adhd. The first couple months were good and nothing bad had happen yet. But then I started getting left out and bullied. The girls at this school were very clingy to each other. If you were not in there group from at least the beginning of middle school, then they wouldn't want you in their group. I would cry everyday, I started not caring about school, and I would eat lunch alone everyday in the bathroom. I was so lost because I had such good friends, and then one girl didn't like me for no reason and then the whole group hated me. It was probably the worst time in my life I have experienced ...

Prompt:  Analyze how you’ve adapted to the demands of this course over the past week, and evaluate one strength and one challenge you anticipate as we progress, justifying your insights with personal examples. Prompt Response:  During this past week I have been challenged in good ways. In my old Lit classes we usually just read, took notes, and then took a test. In this class we read short stories, watch videos and use our imagination through art. For me, a short story is so much better than a long one. I can focus more and really understand what I am reading. I also like how there are different focuses throughout the week and not just one. The one strength I know I will have is creating blog posts and using art to show cultural identity. I love art and I feel like I am good at my own writing. One disadvantage I think I will have is reading. If we start to read bigger books later on in the semester I get bored and my brain wanders.  Summary: In class today I finished my ...

Prompt:  Describe how gender roles or patriarchy influence your identity; how did you depict this on your mask, and when did you assert your authenticity against these norms? Prompt Response:  On my mask, I used a flower to represent the traditional expectations placed on girls to be gentle, beautiful, and nurturing. I made the mask appear to be crying to show how women can be perceived as weak and emotional. Not only do the tears show a stereotype, but it also shows what the pressures of society as a girl can feel like. I consider myself to be strong and not emotional, but when gender roles make me feel insecure, it can become too much of an emotional weight.   Summary: In class today we watched a short film and I drew my culture onto a paper mask .    Reflection: In class today I learned that there are a lot more things to my culture than I knew. It made me realize that there is a lot more to me than I thought to believe. Now when someone asks me about my...

Prompt:  Describe a meaningful family tradition unique to your culture and explain how it mirrors or contrasts with the cultural identity themes of expectations and roles in "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid. Prompt Response:  A meaningful family tradition that my family has is the week of Fourth of July. During this week, my family and I go to Emarld Isle with my moms side of the family. We have been carrying on this tradition since I was a baby. If I decided I did not like this trip or the Fourth of July my parents would probably be confused and disappointed. This mirrors "Girl" because in this story if the girl did not follow her mom's expectations or rules she would be disappointed or upset. More importantly the mom sets family expectations through actions and my family does through celebrating. They both set expectations, just in different ways. Summary: In class today we took student id pictures and finished our last four questions that related to the story "...

Prompt:  Reflect on how your cultural heritage shapes your daily expectations, inspired by "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid. Prompt Response:  One of my main cultural heritages that has been passed down to me is religion. My family is christian, which means we go to church and celebrate holidays. Some of the most important holidays is Christmas and Easter. My expectation is to be Christian as well, but I lean more towards Atheism because I have a hard time believing in a god. I also find it confusing to believe in a heaven and a hell. This has made my parents expectations a little confused In me, but they are okay with it. More daily expectations is for me to do dishes, laundry, and clean my room. If I do not do this daily, then I can get punished and my parents can be disappointed in me.  Summary: In class today we read and discussed "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid. Reflection: The story "Girl" made me think about how expectations can really shape culture and how a pe...

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