Amelia's English Blog

  Prompt Response:   Food helps individuals understand who they are especially when they feel caught between cultures or judged by others because it gives you something tangible and enjoyable that you likely have a lot of fond memories of. Food is also a very communal experience and eating food from your culture allows you to feel connected to your loved ones and with your identity. For example, in the Ted Talk the man discussed how his mom would send him traditional Korean lunches that he was bullied at school for. He asked her to send him "normal" lunches, but it only took him a few days to miss his old lunches and his true culture.  Summary: Today in class we discussed different stories of how people feel about the food in their culture. Reflection:   I got a better understanding of how food relates to culture.

  Prompt Response:  The choice to serve leftover Chinese food in "Lunch' is significant because it represents the family leaving behind their culture in a way. For the first time, the author and her grandmother aren't sharing the traditional meal of sancocho, and ordering Chinese food almost feels like an insult to that tradition. In the text, it says "when she tasted it, she grimaced." This shows how the grandmother resents the Chinese food, because when she sees her granddaughter, it brings back memories of the old food traditions.  The author could've made a more culturally significant choice by choosing to make sancocho with the grandmother.  A time when I realized I could've done something more meaningful for someone else was when I chose to go to school on my last day of middle school instead of my brothers high school gradutation. Either way, I knew I might regret my choice because it was the last time I would ever see the people I had gone to scho...

  Prompt Response:  When I was little, my dad wanted to cook lamb chops, and I told him I wouldn't eat it. I had seen lamb on the menu at restaurants before and I always insisted that it was evil to eat such a cute and innocent animal, and that I would never eat something "white and fuzzy." My logic was definitely flawed because I had no problems eating chicken or beef or any other meat. My perspective eventually changed after trying a few lamb dishes at Indian restaurants. I became more aware that in many cultures eating lamb is very normal, and I shouldn't cast judgement on what animals people are eating just based on my own opinions. Summary: Today in class we worked on our Cultural Food presentations. Reflection:  I got better practice analyzing my own culture and how it connects to food.

  Prompt Response:  One dish that shows that food represents more than just something people eat is Linda's Yakamein. While the spices and flavors she uses impacts her cooking a lot, she also describes how much love and history goes into her food. She uses recipes that have been passed down for many generations, and people recognize the old-school, traditional comfort of her cooking. Her yakamein also brings together the community because at every community event, Linda is there serving her food, so people look for her and her food. Summary: Today in class we watched the New Orleans episode of Street Food. Reflection:  I got a better understanding of how food and culture are intertwined.  

  Prompt Response:  One dish from Irish culture as well Southern culture that is a must-have representative is mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are very versatile and can be used in a lot of different dishes, both in home cooking and in elevated cuisine, but they always consist simply of potatoes, some kind of dairy, and seasoning. I think mashed potatoes are significant because they offer such a comforting base for any type of meal. In my family specifically, someone will always bring a bowl of mashed potatoes to nearly every holiday celebration. Overall, mashed potatoes are an important staple in both Irish and Southern culture. Summary: Today in class we began making our cultural food posters. Reflection:  I got practice analyzing how culture influences food and vice versa.

  Prompt Response:  A meaningful memory connected to a dish is the pizza that my dad makes. My dad made pizza from scratch very often throughout my childhood. I consider it to be one dish even though he always changes up the toppings. He makes a lot of unique pizzas with toppings from potato to arugula to balsamic vinegar to mushrooms that he foraged himself. I think his cooking taught me that food doesn't have to stay in the lines of what you would expect. His experimental pizzas taught me that using diverse ingredients can be fun and very delicious. It also taught me that a culture's food can develop and change with creativity. Summary: Today in class we discussed how food is a part of culture. Reflection:  I got better understanding of how food influences my culture and other cultures.

Prompt Response:   The writing process shaped the strength of the final essay because being able to plan extensively, from putting all of my ideas out in the cluster and carefully selecting quotes improved the quality of the essay. It also made it way easier to put everything together when writing the final version. Since I was able to get a large portion of my draft written ahead of time, all I had to do was add a little more commentary and polish everything. I've learned that my personal strengths in writing are developing claims and finding evidence that supports my argument, and my areas for growth are finding appropriate transition words and writing analysis of evidence. Summary: Today we wrote out literary argument essay. Reflection:  I got better practice writing literary arguments.

Prompt Response:  Drafting is an essential step in the writing process rather than going straight to a final version because evidence can seem effective, but once you try to explain it, you might struggle to actually put it into words. For example, when I was drafting my essay I realized that I wanted to switch one of my quotes because when I tried to explain I was repeating my analysis from my previous quote. Drafting also helps you to organize your ideas into the most effective order to prove your point. Summary: Today in class we continued drafting our literary argument. Reflection:  I got practice constructing a literary argument.

Prompt Response:  I think that when writing an essay I struggle the most with analyzing evidence.  I feel most confident about developing a thesis and writing introductions. I feel strongly in these areas because they are pretty straight to the point and simple. I find analysis of evidence to be challenging because  I sometimes find it tricky to put my internal thoughts about the evidence into words. One goal for how I plan to improve my essay writing skills is by cutting out a lot of summarizing words and focusing more on specific language to analyze the quotes. Summary: Today in class we went over how to write introduction and conclusion paragraphs and started writing the draft. Reflection:  I got better practice writing introduction paragraphs.

Prompt Response:  As of right now, I have been accepted to several colleges and I am choosing between University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. These are definitely my top two, but if I had to choose a third it would be Kennesaw State University. I am drawn to the University of Georgia because I was accepted to the Honors College which comes with perks like special dorms and access to class selection. I also really like the campus and it probably wouldn't be as rigorous and stressful as Georgia Tech. It also has so many different majors and minors to choose from so it would be very flexible to find what I want to study. I am drawn to Tech because of it's prestige and top quality engineering programs. I also like that it is close to home. However, I was admitted for their Summer semester program, so I would have to start classes in June if I wanted to attend. Finally, I am drawn to Kennesaw as a less rigorous option that still has high quality education and engineering programs. S...

  Prompt Response:  I think the most interesting idea that I came up with for my essay was that survival requires a willingness to confront your past. I think this could apply in a lot of ways because in order to move forward and survive, you have to understand your past mistakes so you don't repeat them. Specifically with Cheryl, she confronts feelings of grief and anger for her mother as well as regrets in her relationships, which will further contribute to her emotional survival. I think this is an interesting idea because it looks at survival in a different way than just staying alive. Summary: Today in class we chose are prompt and made a cluster for our essay. Reflection:  I got practice brainstorming for writing my essay.

Prompt Response:  One thing I learned that I didn't know before is that the average American student takes 5.1 years to earn a Bachelor's degree. I typically think of a Bachelor's degree of taking only 4 years the vast majority of the time with little exception. I think this is important information for seniors to understand because a lot of people may not understand that just because you go to college for 4 years, it does not necessarily mean you will be ready to graduate with your Bachelor's degree. I think it would help students plan better for their future if they knew that in fact a Bachelor's degree takes a year longer than expected for an average student. Summary: Today in class we did two Common Lits about college. Reflection:  I got advice on how to choose a college and how to make college affordable.

  Prompt Response:  I was pretty happy with my first draft but the edits I made included improving transitions and polishing the format and language. I added more effective transitions to introduce quotes and explanations. I also think it helped to just reread my work with fresh eyes. When I was writing it in class, I quickly got very attached to the words I was using. However, when I looked at it again today the mistakes and unclear language jumped out at me and I was able to polish it so it makes more sense. I also fixed little grammar and punctuation mistakes. Summary: Today in class we looked at the feedback on our body paragraph and revised it. Reflection:  I got practice revising and editing my writing.

Prompt Response:  I think its important for students to write essays in their own words because every piece of writing you create is practice that hones your voice and makes you a better writer. Almost everyone will need to have polished writing skills for various tasks at some point in your life and relying on artificial intelligence to write will make you a weaker writer long term. I also think it's important that anything you put your name on, you should be able to back it up. By using AI, it takes away your ownership of the words you write.  Summary: Today in class we went over how to explain evidence and watched videos and answered questions about AI in schools. Reflection:  I got a better understanding on how to explain evidence.  

  Prompt Response:  I find the analysis part of writing a literary argument to be the most challenging. I find it to be pretty simple to develop a claim and pick out strong evidence, but I do struggle a little analyzing the evidence. I think it always makes sense in my brain how it connects, but I have to put it into words so that others can walk through the same thought process as they read. I also think it's challenging because there is no concrete right or wrong answer, so it's hard to know if your interpretation will be effectively convincing for your reader. Summary: Today in class we discussed how to write body paragraphs for literary arguments. Reflection:  I got practice writing body paragraphs for literary arguments.  

Prompt Response:  An aspect of writing essays that I find most challenging is brainstorming. Especially when a specific prompt isn't given, I struggle to come up with something worth writing about or coming up with personal experiences or details that can support a claim. For example, in AP Lang last year I really disliked writing the FRQ 3, which is entirely supported by anecdotal evidence from your life or from the world. However, I think when given a specific prompt and being able to use evidence from the text, I will be more successful. Once I have brainstormed ideas and selected evidence, I don't usually struggle with putting it into essay format.  Summary:  Today in class we discussed how to write claims for a literary argument. Reflection:  I got practice constructing claims.