Quarter 1: The American Dream
Reflection on Quarter 1 Theme
1. The Vanity Fair article argues of the American Dream being misconceived. The American Dream is people coming and living in the United States to work hard in order to become successful. Here's the twist, the American Dream should be achievable, but as years go by no one will be able to achieve the American Dream happiness. "The American Dream should require hard work, but it should not require 80-hour workweeks and parents who never see their kids from across the dinner table. The American Dream should entail a first-rate education for every child, but not an education that leaves no extra time for the actual enjoyment of childhood. The American Dream should accommodate the goal of home ownership, but without imposing a lifelong burden of unmeetable debt. Above all, the American Dream should be embraced as the unique sense of possibility that this country gives its citizens—the decent chance, as Moss Hart would say, to scale the walls and achieve what you wish." Once you achieve the American Dream we all should stop looking at the things we don't have and be grateful on the things we achieved. Jay Gatsby is a perfect representation because he represented the American Dream. Gatsby came from nothing and worked hard to achieve his mansion as a millionaire. Unfortunately, Gatsby was blinded and didn't think he achieved the American Dream only because he did not share it with Daisy Buchanan.
Quarter 1 Columnist Rhetorical Analysis Reflection
2. Kathleen Parker is a political columnist for the Washington Post. A rhetorical question is a device used to persuade or subtly influence the audience. It's a question asked not for the answer, but for the effect. Parker uses rhetorical question to emphasize a point or just to get the audience thinking. Also, Parker uses ethos connected to rhetorical questions to have the readers question the credibility of both of the presidential candidates. In Parker's article, “The real question this debate: Who are Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump?," Parker asks this question through the use of ethos, which is trust and credibility. She does this by asking the readers questions, “Most important, whose voice do you want to listen to for the next four years?” Therefore, they can question which presidential candidate is worthy of being the next president.
Quarter 1 Novel: The Great Gatsby
3. F. Scott Fitzgerald argues that people are blinded by the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses Jay Gatsby as a representation for the American Dream. Jay Gatsby was born into a poor family, but worked hard to be a successful man during the Roaring 20's. Gatsby himself did not believe that he achieved the American Dream, only because he did not have Daisy.
Thomas Jefferson expressed that the American Dream was separating from Great Britain and that we deserve freedom. Jefferson stated that we deserve life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Stanton believed for equality between men and women. That was her perspective of the American Dream.
Jefferson-Stanton Comparison Rhetorical Analysis Essay
4. For my next formal paper, I promise to have more analysis because this shows my comprehension of the text given. Also, I am aiming to practice having a sophisticated writing rather than the basic structure essay writings.
Favorite Quarter 1 40-Minute Timed Write
5. John F. Kennedy's speech was my favorite timed-write because it will show my development from the beginning of the quarter and now. Of course, I needed tweaking on rhetorical analysis because in order to write one and show full comprehension is through the analysis part of each paragraph in the essay. Kennedy uses many rhetorical devices especially more than the obvious ones (ethos, pathos, and logos). Rather than that, Kennedy used repetition, tone, diction, etc. in order to persuade the audience of the steel wages.
Quarter 1 Reflection
6. During Quarter 1 AP Lang, I learned that a "9" essay deals with a lot of sophisticated writing. In other words, breaking away from the regular 5-paragraph essay, but taking control in writing in your own structure. The most meaningful unit/assignment was reading The Great Gatsby. I love this book so much because I gained more knowledge within the evolution of the idea of the American Dream. I am looking forward for what the next independent reading novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," brings to me this following quarter. My goal for Quarter 2 is keeping up with the book (now that soccer season has ended :/) and start focusing on how to write great synthesis essays. I want to learn the structure and outline.
Quarter 2: Identity, Race, and Culture
Quarter 2 Novel: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Hurston uses symbolization to advance her them of gender or race. Joe Starks acts as a symbol. Starks believes that women don't have certain rights or are capable holding higher power positions. Therefore, Hurston's argument o gender roles are typical stereotypes. In the past era, married women are always looked as only housewives.
Hurston also uses description in order to reveal her stance on race. She reveals that beauty and race can be superficial even in your own race. Hurston describes Daisy having lighter feature to her appearance. This may mean that the beauty standards then and even now are having lighter complextion or lighter clothing means you are better and makes you more attractive.
Hurston uses the setting in order to depict slavery during that era. Therefore, the setting took place in the southern states of the United States.
Quarter 2 Columnist Precis Paper
Maureen Dowd is an American columnist for The New York Times, and a best-selling author.
Quarter 2 Synthesis Formal Paper & Synthesis Paper Refelction
Researching is difficult because you have to always make sure that your sources are reliable. I am confident that all my sources are reliable because they are mainly from our in and out of class readings. Also, I used sources from the SIRS catalog provided by PGCPS. Through this research, all my evidence does support my argument. I am actually comfortable using a visual source because it gives the audience an image to analyze and to comprehend.
Everything that I learned about MLA refreshed my mind. I previously wrote a research paper before. I remember some parts, but this was a great review because all the formatting was available through the posts on Google Classroom. The only thing that throws me off was the citation because there are certain rules.
The easy part of writing a synthesis essay was brainstorming and gathering ideas with evidence. The challenging part was analyzing the evidence. There are evidence that have deep meaningful thoughts to it. The easiest part was my counterargument and rebuttal because I got to use a personal anecdote.
Quarter 2 Reflection
In Quarter 2, my mind was refreshed on MLA format. I did a research paper in 8th grade. Therefore, I gained the most when writing the formal synthesis essay. One thing that held me back were the rhetorical precis papers. I'm dreading to learn about our new unit on ethic. Especially, with the new book we're going to read.
