Practice Write 10/18/16

I feel good about my essay #2, although I think my essay #1 was better. For essay #1 I felt like I related to it more and was freely writing it instead of having to write about a specific article. Essay #1 was more fun to write because it's easy to write about myself and my experiences, also it is fun for people to learn more about me. This essay wasn't terrible though, I thought Young's article was interesting and the group discussions and the idea draft helped a lot.

Bookclub Blog #1: Ch. 1-8

1) Summary
The book is through Olivia's point of view with flashbacks, but sometimes it switches over to Kwan's voice. In the beginning she introduces her half sister Kwan saying she has Yin eyes. After Olivia's father died her mom started dating many guys leaving Kwan to babysit her and her bothers. They they taught each other their languages (English and Chinese). Throughout the book you learn more about Yin eyes. Olivia touched briefly over how Kwan was sent to the psych ward because her family thought she was crazy for seeing ghost. When Olivia and Kwan somewhat got closer she would tell her about her passed in China in a haunted house. She kept talking about Miss Banner, Lao Lu, and  General Cape. Kwan mentions how the town thought General Cape was a traitor, but she helped Miss Banner find her sweetheart, which ended up being him. After Kwan talks about her friends, Olivia remembers how she once has seen a ghost but didn't tell anyone. Religion also pops up throughout the chapters, it mentions Olivia's views on heaven and hell, and also church. She never got close with Religion though. Another significant thing that Olivia keeps bringing up in the book is her husband, Simon. She says their marriage has fallen apart but gives us the history between them. They met in college but he kept mentioning he had a girlfriend but in pass tense. Later on, Olivia discovers that his ex-girlfriend, Elza died by a ski accident. Olivia said that she felt really guilty about Elza's death because she thought she killed her by hating her. With this guilty feeling she is sensitive towards Simon and tries to hold onto Elza's existence. However, she couldn't handle it anymore so she asked Kwan for help. Kwan then told Simon about her Yin eyes and "talked" to Elza's ghost with him. She persuaded him that Elza wanted him to move on and forget here. Olivia said she should've been happy in that moment but she was sad because she too saw Elza and she was saying the complete opposite. Kwan also elaborates on the Yin world and Secret senses to Olivia. Olivia goes through her marriage with Simon, she said for the first 7 years things were great but the next 7 years they drifted apart. When they started to drift apart they bought a old victorian house in SF. It was a big house and needed a lot of remodeling. We get to know why they don't have kids in this chapter (8), it's because Simon is sterile. When they were remodeling the house they took out some insolation of the walls (horse hair) so the house echoed. Olivia said that she kept hearing noises and Kwan told her that she doesn't see any ghosts, but living people.

2)Quotes
- "The potential, of course, had more to do with us" (Tan125).
I picked this quote because Simon and her marriage has to be an important topic in this book because she elaborates on every detail of their relationship. I was shocked that she was saying they were drifting apart than bought a house together. Maybe to work things out, I think the house symbolizes their relationship because they have been married and been together for a really long time, have had some problems, and are trying to repair it.
-"Send to Yin World.  Everything with mind and heart together, use hundred secret sense" (Tan 113).
This quote caught my eye because it has the title of the book in it. Kwan tells more about secret sense but I still don't get the "hundred secret senses" and why its the title.
- "I never thought that he too would fill my life with ghosts" (Tan 92).
I found this quote interesting because she started to introduce his ex girlfriend as a present girlfriend and hinted at her being dead but then when he told her the story of how Elza died we knew she was actually dead. I think at this point she is way more accepting of Kwan and her Yin eyes because she can relate (but not admitting it).

3)Questions
- Was Elza actually pregnant?
-Do you think theres a reason Olivia mentioned that Simon is never there when she hears noises?
- What is the significance of Kwan's passed friends (Miss Banner, General cape, and Lao Lu)? Are they ghosts that still talk to her?

4)Reflection
I think the novel is easy to read because it's really interesting however I can't keep up with it when it switches to Kwan talking. Also its hard annotating while I'm reading to mark it up because theres hardly any margins. But I really like it because it doesn't feel like I have to read the book and its not forced so the chapters go by super quickly. Im glad I picked this book because it has romance and mystery.

Practice Write 10/11/16

I think my draft has good content I just didn't know how to put it into letter form. I basically put everything i thought from the idea draft into my letter. I want help on my transition in my letter. I didn't know how to incorporate my quotes from young into the letter without it sounding choppy and out of place.

Practice Write 10/6/16

I didn't really have any road blocks or obstacles when I was doing my idea draft. I found all the questions easy to answer from the quotes I sighted. I liked how there were more than one question for each because it made me think more about the quote and get more ideas out. Having a outline/ question sheet for my idea draft helped more because it guided me through what I should be thinking about and what I should be putting in my essay. I found the idea draft helpful.

Essay #2 Idea Draft

1. Readers' Struggles/ Process
Author: Young
Overall Argument: code meshing and that everyone should learn others dialects and be open to them.
Passages:
-"But don't nobody's language, dialect, or style make them 'vulnerable to prejudice.' It's ATTITUDES" (Young 110).
1. I chose this quote because it got me thinking of why people are prejudice. When I was first reading it the all upper case letters in "attitudes" stood out to me.
2. I underlined the whole sentences and then circled  the word "attitudes" and rewrote it in the margin. I then continued reading one or tow sentences down to understand the quote more.
3. The passage contributed to the overall article by backing up Young's theory that people should learn other's dialects without discriminating them. This quote is basically saying that it's not the fact that they talk differently that makes them vulnerable to prejudice, but it's the peoples attitudes and close mindedness.
4. The class discussion helped my understanding of this quote because one of my group members also thought this quote was important and she helped me understand it. I then went back and read the essay to get a better understanding.

-"And, further, grad students also be tryin too hard to sound smart, to write like the folk they be readin, instead of usin they own voices"(Young 113).
1. I chose this quote because I could relate to it. When I was first reading this section of the reading I found myself doing the same thing (trying to sound smarter). I liked this whole paragraph but this quote summed it up.
2. I just underlined this passage and the sentences around it and wrote "his thoughts of grad students and academic writing" and also wrote "true" in the margin.
3. I think this connects to the overall reading because Young defines Standard english and Fish's take on it, but doesn't totally disagree on it. He knows there this theory that everyone in school should use "standard english" but he thinks that students can make their writing way broader by putting big words to sound sophisticated.
4. During class discussion we were analyzing Anzaldua's writing and we noticed a connection with this one about standard english in the classroom. Anzaldua talks about how they are "punished" if they don't write a certain way.

-"Code meshing blend dialects, international languages, local idioms, chat-room lingo, and the rhetorical styles of various ethnic and cultural groups in both formal and informal speech acts" (Young 114).
1. I chose this quote because it takes Young a while to get to one of his main points but he uses mostly a whole page describing and defending code meshing. When I was first reading this quote I found it to be the clearest definition of code meshing with examples. I also noticed the italicized "and".
2. When I was annotating I just underlined the while sentence and noted "code meshing" on the margin. When I continued to read down the page I got a better sense of what code messing was and examples.
3. This contributes to Young's writing by giving on of his main arguments. He emphasis on code meshing and how everyone does it on a day to basis. If everyone uses code meshing in English without knowing it why can't we accept others' dialects and code meshing of different languages? I think thats one of his main points he is trying to get across throughout he whole article.
4. Discussion helped me understand code meshing better because we all talked more about how it's a theme in this article. Professor Dan also had a discussion with my group clarifying the concept of code meshing. These discussions made code meshing and how it relates to the article clearer so I later went back and reread the article with a better understanding.

Writers' Moves
1. Young intentionally inserts Fish's thoughts into his article and then shuts them down. He does this to show readers two sides of the issue (language and dialects).  Young also writes with his own dialect and slang in his article to help support his claim that people should use their own voice through their writing and people should just accept it. The overall purpose was to give the reader an example of what he was trying to say in his article but through the writing itself.  by contradicting Fish he was trying to persuade his readers to agree with his view and not like Fish's.
2. I think the audience is people who agree with Fish. I think this because he puts in Fish's thoughts and then turns to his and on why his are right, trying to persuade the reader. Also he puts in little things like "Let me drop some code meshing knowledge on y'all" (Young 114). This quote makes it sound likes he's trying to teach the readers his theories and why it's right.
3.I think they would want to reach Fish's believers because he's trying to tell them that they are wrong because he has facts why. He's trying to persuade them over to his side.

Overlap
1. Young connected with when he was talking about how students try to use big words just to sound smart but excluding their voice in writing. I treated to that when I have to write formal papers.My first reaction of this article was that it was confusing and hard to read. After the class discussion and re reading the article I understood it better and that he was going back and forth with Fish.
2. I don't think this article is academic because we've been taught that academic writing has to be formal with correct spelling and grammar. But on the other had it may be academic writing because he has a thesis, examples, a purpose (trying to persuade) and an audience.

Annotation Blog #10: Chapter 9

Summary/ Main Idea
In the beginning of the chapter the writer says that how students think you need to use big words and long sentences and thats not necessary. He writes that writing should be relaxed and flows wells. It talks about mix academic and colloquial styles including: informal writing,  formal, and a blend of formal and academic usage. Blending of styles and languages can be effected in many types of writing. An important point this chapter makes is to remember your audience and purpose when blending styles.
Quotes & Reaction/Responses
- "That to impress your instructors you need to use big words, long sentences, and complex sentence structures?"(Birkenstein 121).
When I was reading this I could so relate because I feel intimidated to use sophisticated language when Im supposed to write formally.
-"Many successful writers blend writers blend academic, professional language with popular expressions and sayings" (Birkenstein 122).
When reading this I was thinking that it was a skill to do this successfully.
-"It is by blending these languages that what counts as "standard" English changes over time and the range of possibilities open to academic writers continue to grow" (Birkenstein 128).
I was intrigued when I read this because it mentions "standard English" .
Questions for discussion
-When is it appropriate to mix styles?
- What does it mean when it mentions Colloquial styles?

Practice Write 10/4/16

Dear Mr. Elliot,
I took your English 12 class last year during my senior year of high school. I didn't talk that much during class but I appreciated that you still knew my name. My class was a crazy one; we were never focused and were always super loud. I knew english 12 was easier  than comp lit but I didn't know how much I would learn from it.
I liked how you did composition units in between the reading units so we weren't reading book after book. I love the creative writing we did using different writing styles we learned like process analysis, descriptive writing, etc. Those were my favorite because you let us write formal and serious or informal. I enjoyed writing papers with sarcasm and joking, I found out those were my best. You opened my eyes up to a new way of academic writing by allowing us to let our voice stand out through our writing and tell you stories about us. For the books we read for homework it really helped when the next day you had short quizzes to see if we read but then after wed spend time recapping and discussing the book. That was helpful for those one of two times I forgot to read but I felt caught up after those class discussions.
You were a great teacher that everyone loved with your jokes and stories. I will always be thankful for all I have learned from your class.

Best wishes,
Karina Zalac