Category Archives: Posts

Understanding Laymon’s Article ‘Quick Feet’

This article talked about how the grandma felt about white people. She had a hatred for them considering how she did not want Kie to be friends or even speak to the white boy Mumford. The source I’ve analyzed is from a reporter from buzzfeed news who did a report regarding Kiese Laymon and his books. The source is titled “Kiese Laymon Knows His New Memoir Is Raw. But It’s Not Trauma Porn.” (Bim Adewunmi) She summarized Laymons early life and the accomplishments he’s made along with his career. In the article, the author write that Laymon expresses himself and his past through his writing. He opens up about his past and expresses all the issues he’s faced being a black man growing up. The memoir, “Heavy” holds all the answers to his past. This article helped me understand “Quick Feet’ because Laymon just wanted to be truthful about his life. He stated that “The world encourages (him) to lie, so in (his) writing, (he) wants to be truthful.” Growing up as a black southerner in the past is rough but the writings, especially ‘Heavy’ gives us answers as to how he’s overcome the struggles and his life there. I believe this source is reliable because Buzzfeed news used quotations from Laymon and included citations of other articles/pictures used.

Buzzfeed News, (October 15, 2018) Kiese Laymon Knows His New Memoir Is Raw. But It’s Not Trauma Porn, Bim Adewunmi | Article –https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/bimadewunmi/kiese-laymon-heavy-memoir-southern-writer

my expectations

I was actually pretty late to enrolling for classes if I’m being honest. This class was thankfully available. I unfortunately was unable to attend the first two classes. However, I do expect this class to be fun and exciting in numerous ways. Reading and writing about social science is topic I can enjoy. I believe learning about our society and the social aspect of it can help us familiarize and experience the ongoing situations people face everyday such as racism, sexism, inequalities, and psychological aspects.

What I expect to get out of this class is the knowledge and critical information surrounding these topics so I can better understand what people go through and how our society functions.

PS: I posted this in the forum because I thought that’s how blog posts were done. My apologies.

Interviewing Jaquira Diaz

In an interview, “Jaquira Diaz’s Memoir ‘Ordinary Girls,’ Jaquira Diaz Searches for Home”, hosted by Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition, she discusses her childhood tale. Fights, raids, drug dealings, and firearms were all part of her upbringing. She thought it was usual as a child to grow up in this kind of situation, but as she looked back, she realized how out of the ordinary it was. She describes how she attempted suicide for the first time when she was 11 years old, and how after fleeing her home, she began to be jailed. She didn’t know what was happening, but was filled with a rage that she couldn’t describe. When she tried returning home, she didn’t feel like she belonged. A boy approached her as she wandered around her old school and said “No, you have to leave. You don’t belong here.” It was true what he said, no matter how much it felt like home, it wasn’t her place anymore. This source is reliable because it passes everything on the CRAAP test. This is a recent source, where Jaquira Diaz was interviewed by Steve Inskeep.

Steve, Inskeep (2019, October 29). Jaquira Diaz’s Memoir ‘Ordinary Girls,’ Jaquira Diaz Searches for Home: “[Radio Broadcast]” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/10/29/774306278/jaquira-d-az-on-her-memoir-ordinary-girls

Interview of Meredith Talusan

by Kevin Guaman

Meredith Talusan, author of the memoir Fairest, participated in an interview conducted by CNN Philippines. The interview is a YouTube video titled, “Fil-Am author Meredith Talusan talks about her memoir ‘Fairest’| New Day”. The interview focused on asking Talusan her inspiration for writing the memoir, how it felt to write her book, and her experience being part of the LQBTQ+ population. She responded that she believed her experiences with albinism, transitioning, and being a first-generation immigrant inspired her to write about it in her book to share with the world. Writing the book brought an end to the chapter of her life discussed in her memoir as she moves forward with her life and her writing as she moves toward fiction writing. Her experience transitioning from a male to a female brought different experiences to her life since there are those who don’t accept them, so the issues are not going to be over anytime soon. This source involved the work “migrate” many times. This word helped me understand the book better because since the book is focused on being transgender and her albinism, you tend to forget that she had to leave everything behind to immigrate from her home to the United States. It is another layer to her story that many can relate to. Finally, I determined the source is reliable using the CRAAP test. The source is very recent, it focuses on the author and her book, the source is a well known news station, the information comes from the author herself from the interview, and the purpose is to help everyone understand the author’s experience and her story written in the book.

CNN Philippines. (2021, July 12). Fil-Am author Meredith Talusan talks about her memoir “Fairest” | New Day [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTBPKGQVJx0&t=11s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTBPKGQVJx0&t=11s

Class 04: Face to Face!

Welcome to our first in-person class. We’ve got a lot on our “Chalkboard,” more than I expect us to get to on this strange, happy, rainy day.

Thanks to those of you who have already turned in your library assignments, and who have been participating in the Hypothes.is conversation on “La Otra” and “Quick Feet.” We’ll try to build on that a bit in class today and between now and Tuesday (on Zoom.) 

The main focus of this post will be the expectations blog posts and replies. Remember that in contract grading, your work is assessed as “complete” or “not-yet-complete.” To be marked complete, you needed both a post that followed instructions for content and format AND a reply to at least one peer who had not received at least two comments. 

Examples of posts that are complete include: 

  • Kevin (Weiting, Ashley) — “Hope for something different”
  • Yingrong (Zoe, Kevin) — “ENG 210- New Beginning”
  • Fatou (Rachel, Luis) — “Indicative Expectations”
  • Demetri (Fatou, Panagiotis) — “My Expectations”

There may be some others that have gone up or been completed since I checked this morning. 

Examples of work that needs an additional commenter: 

  • Zoe (Rachel) — “Hopeful Expectations”
  • Panagiotis (Yingrong) — “New Year, New Goals”
  • Weiting (Zoe) — “The Promises for ENGL 21002”
  • Spencer (Kevin) — “Pressed for Time –  My Course Expectations”
  • Yaminah (Demetri) — “Expectation Letter”
  • Ashley (Yaminah) — “Main Expectations”

And some work went up very close to the start of class, so has no comment trail yet, such as:

  • Luis (no comments) — “Expectations”
  • Rachel (no comments) — “Expectations for ENG 210”
  • Ashanti (no comments) — “My expectations in Learning”
  • Diana E. (no comments, published privately)

If you’ve posted and commented, then your work is done. If you have not done this yet, you can complete it within the next 24 hours. For now, there’s not a penalty. In general, this is the sort of thing that would lead the work to be marked ‘late’. We’re all still learning how to do things in this class so I want to be fair until we all get oriented. 

***

The class wrote a number of blog posts describing their expectations for the semester from their instructor, from each other, and from themselves. Many students commented on how stressful and unsatisfying emergency remote instruction has been. Quite a few expressed nervousness about being able to improve their writing. Most were excited to return to campus in person; no one expressed nervousness about that (though I wonder if some people are nervous). A few students set particular goals related to their field of study or to academic habits. Less than half the class completed the task on time. [This is an example of summary. Why?]

I was “moved” (to borrow the phrase from one student’s comment) by the honesty of these notes. At moments, students examined themselves (one called their work habits ‘lazy’), and at others they critiqued the attidues and approaches of their instructors. Most have high hopes to connect with their peers and with the material. I’m hopeful (to use another frequently deployed word) that our work will be fruitful as more voices join the conversation. [This is an example of response. Why?]

Two other great quotes that we’ll talk about over the next few class meetings:

  • “That is why I chose to have a class that is a hybrid because I am a very visual learner and I need in-person time to keep my head in the game.” This is an example of metacognition AND positioning.
  • “aspects of writing such as preparation, organization, and time management.” This is an example of concrete language
  • “I think all of us as writers have amazing ideas, but we don’t flesh them out.” This is an example of a claim. We’ll talk about that on Tuesday.

My Non-Expectations

Hello fellow classmates,

I wonder how often people use the word “fellow” anymore. Anyways, expectations. Everybody has those, whether they make is obvious or hide it deep down inside their minds. I like to say I try not to have any. My reason being not everything is in my control. Hypothetically, I can say I’d want our instructor to give us less work. This disregards the facts that professor has a lesson plan already and is going to stick to it. So, I say I don’t have any expectations. I can only hope that this semester goes on smoothly. I wont make expectations for others, but i will for myself. I will try my best to be cooperative and helpful to other students. I will set goals for myself to be productive, to improve myself, and to always complete a task. There are always unknown variables. This is another reason why I won’t set expectations for others. No one knows what will happen between now and the end of the semester. It may be jinx, but it is true. Every semester is different and I hope this one is better than my last one. I want this one to be better than my last one.

My Expectations

My expectations for enrolling in this English is high. I hope to get better at writing and learn to get over my writer’s block. I am excited to talk about the books and articles assigned to us. I can say I’m learning so much in this class, especially with Hypothesis and Academic Commons. This is very different for me. I usually worked on Blackboard. It’s my first time using “Chalkboard”. I know my expectations are being met and now I have to keep up. I am up for the challenge.

Expectations

Dear classmates,

Dear classmates,

Going into this class this semester, I did not know what to expect. I
honestly wasn’t very excited at first but after attending my first class on
Thursday and reading the blog posts responses, that gas changed. I am now more
excited than i expected to be and am looking forward towards our future
classes. I am especially excited to have our first in person class session, as
it would be first in person session since the start of the quarantine lock down.
I have some expectations for the class that I am sure everyone will meet.

To begin I expect everyone to be welcoming in our first session on Thursday. I am expecting an environment full of communication and open minds. A place
where everyone is allowed to voice their opinions, insights, and perspectives. I
hope we’re all able to rely on each other for feedback and can ask one another questions in moments of confusion. I am hoping we all able to help each other grow as both writers and people.

Best,

Luis Tolentino

Expectations for ENGL 210

Dear Engl 210, 

I enrolled in this class as a requirement, but am eager to take it, nonetheless. I expect to be writing every day for the next few months, as I am taking a few writing intensive classes this semester. I look forward to it, but one thing I will need to get used to is sharing my work. I am a perfectionist and am thankful to live in an era where the backspace key exists, and I don’t have to erase on a typewriter. 

I am excited to learn as a group. It is proven that skills improve with practice, and the more we write and share, the more naturally it will come. I expect my classmates to be open to learning and sharing as well, and together, I expect to grow as writers and critical thinkers.

I haven’t taken an English class in over a decade but recognize the importance of expressing oneself through words in everyday life. I expect us all to be able to exercise patience and try to come from a place of understanding, and lastly, hope to be able to develop as communicators in deciphering the world around us.

Cheers,

Rachel

Hopeful Expectations

Dear Class,         

Throughout this English class I hope we can build a strong, trusting, and respectful relationship that allows for everyone to share their experiences and thoughts in a comfortable way. Communicating through the computer does put obstacles in the way of achieving this goal due to distraction and lack of ability to form strong connections, but I think with our in-class sessions in combination with the online sessions we could build a strong community.

I expect my classmates to fully participate in discussions and do the readings. Throughout high school when I would come to class for a discussion there was a large number of people who did not do the reading and therefore could not contribute to the conversation. I think that because everyone is coming from a different background and has had a different upbringing, we can learn from each other’s different perspectives.

I expect the professor to encourage difficult, controversial conversations throughout the course. During high school, my teachers would guide us through Socratic Seminars, but also let people express their ideas freely. In my senior year of high school, my English class read the book, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. Throughout the discussions, everyone was able to really learn about the complexity of the monster. For example, I saw the actions of the monster as something that was inexcusable, but throughout the conversations, I was able to grow my thinking and start to think about Victor’s responsibility. The teacher would keep the conversation on the right track, but also encourage people to discuss varying ideas and opinions.

I expect myself to stay committed to my goal of becoming a clearer writer. I will be able to achieve this by spending more time on writing and giving my full attention during revision. I also expect myself to share out differing opinions and perspectives during class discussions.

Overall, I hope this class allows everyone to learn more about difficult subjects and be able to discuss differing opinions in a respectful manner.

Sincerely,

Zoe Sellers