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Friday, June 3, 2011
Reflecting On My Journey
Hello world, my name is Eugene, I am 19 years young, and I am just another college student. As I first registered for this class, I thought it is going to be piece of cake since it's an online class. My initial response was: "sweet, I don't have to go to college, I can just sit in front of my computer and pretend like I am doing something, and get English 101 college credit." Second week into it, I realized I'm in a whole different situation and I won't be able to slip right through these ten weeks with my feet kicked up in the air, like I always did in my previous English classes. I recall the instructors letting us know in announcement postings that in this course there will be a whole lot of reading. I did not take it seriously and thought that I can just do the minimum and get away without reading everything. Later I realized that everything that is posted online in this course is all very important, and is something a student cannot do without if he or she is planning on passing this class.
I can honestly say and be 100 percent sure, that this is the hardest class I have ever taken in college yet. I defiantly under-estimated this when I first signed up for it. Even though this class was a great challenge for me, I think it is for the best. I have learned and understood what it means to be dedicated to college. When I first started going to Everett Community College I heard people and teachers saying that for every hour of class in college, there is two to three hours that need to be spend outside of school for homework and studying. I did not buy this at all. I have always done the minimum just to look like I am trying, and to pass a class with an A or a B. This course defined that statement of spending at least twice the school time, at home for homework. Every day there is something to be read and to be posted or submitted in this course of English 101D. One of the biggest and most challenging things I have noticed about this course compared to other English classes, is that 101D is all about learning and exploring other cultures, religions, and getting to know basic understanding how other people live in other countries. This was challenging for me because each of the major themes that we focused on such as identity, community, and tradition, go much more deeper than just this single word. They are all very similar while very different at the same time. This is what made it much more difficult to write papers and do discussion assignments on. Instructions having us pick our own thesis within a general idea of identity, community, and tradition, made it harder, because I would rather have someone give me a very exact and specific thesis to do my paper on.
I am glad that I've survived through these nine and a half weeks so far. When I found out about the e-portfolio assignment, I panicked a bit inside. It seemed like there is a whole lot of work to be done and would be almost impossible to accomplish. I waited until it was a couple of days before the due date, and I jumped both feet into it. As I started doing one introduction after another, I realized that it is not that hard as I thought it would be. It is simple and straight to the point unlike the essays we had to break our heads for till we get the right thesis going.
The four pieces I chose to be a part of my e-portfolio are; the timed writing we did for a movie we watched, "What's In My Wallet" blog assignment which I revised, Foods in Cultures blog assignment, and last but not least the discussion board first post for tradition unit. I did well and showed some critical thinking for the movie essay we had to do, considering it was timed and we only had sixty minutes to write it. Being new to online courses, and having the "What's In My Wallet" assignment be in first or second week of class, I missed out on the instructions, so I wanted a redemption, and take another stab at it by revising it. Foods In Culture blog assignment is my voice paper, in which I have directly spoke to and at the audience, something I have not done before. For the fourth piece, I picked my first discussion board posting for tradition unit. I picked it because when I was writing that assignment, I felt right and it felt good expressing what was on my thoughts, relating to the main idea of what was in the instructions.
I can honestly say and be 100 percent sure, that this is the hardest class I have ever taken in college yet. I defiantly under-estimated this when I first signed up for it. Even though this class was a great challenge for me, I think it is for the best. I have learned and understood what it means to be dedicated to college. When I first started going to Everett Community College I heard people and teachers saying that for every hour of class in college, there is two to three hours that need to be spend outside of school for homework and studying. I did not buy this at all. I have always done the minimum just to look like I am trying, and to pass a class with an A or a B. This course defined that statement of spending at least twice the school time, at home for homework. Every day there is something to be read and to be posted or submitted in this course of English 101D. One of the biggest and most challenging things I have noticed about this course compared to other English classes, is that 101D is all about learning and exploring other cultures, religions, and getting to know basic understanding how other people live in other countries. This was challenging for me because each of the major themes that we focused on such as identity, community, and tradition, go much more deeper than just this single word. They are all very similar while very different at the same time. This is what made it much more difficult to write papers and do discussion assignments on. Instructions having us pick our own thesis within a general idea of identity, community, and tradition, made it harder, because I would rather have someone give me a very exact and specific thesis to do my paper on.
I am glad that I've survived through these nine and a half weeks so far. When I found out about the e-portfolio assignment, I panicked a bit inside. It seemed like there is a whole lot of work to be done and would be almost impossible to accomplish. I waited until it was a couple of days before the due date, and I jumped both feet into it. As I started doing one introduction after another, I realized that it is not that hard as I thought it would be. It is simple and straight to the point unlike the essays we had to break our heads for till we get the right thesis going.
The four pieces I chose to be a part of my e-portfolio are; the timed writing we did for a movie we watched, "What's In My Wallet" blog assignment which I revised, Foods in Cultures blog assignment, and last but not least the discussion board first post for tradition unit. I did well and showed some critical thinking for the movie essay we had to do, considering it was timed and we only had sixty minutes to write it. Being new to online courses, and having the "What's In My Wallet" assignment be in first or second week of class, I missed out on the instructions, so I wanted a redemption, and take another stab at it by revising it. Foods In Culture blog assignment is my voice paper, in which I have directly spoke to and at the audience, something I have not done before. For the fourth piece, I picked my first discussion board posting for tradition unit. I picked it because when I was writing that assignment, I felt right and it felt good expressing what was on my thoughts, relating to the main idea of what was in the instructions.
Critical Thinking Intro
For the critical thinking skill category, I would like to display my timed writing paper we did for a movie we watched. Main reason for this is because we watched a movie and had to think and analyze it. I believe I had some great points and discussion in that essay. I had followed up with the instructions to make this essay a thesis driven essay starting from the introduction, to the body paragraphs, and all the way down to the conclusion. Considering that we had only 60 minutes to write whole essay, I think I did a good job. After finding out that I have received a score of 74/80, I was a bit happy, because compared to my other essays we had to do, this is a fairly high score. Therefore I believe this piece of work best qualifies for something to "show off" as I got the best score out of all my essays, but unlike tree other papers, this one had to be done from scratch in one hour only.
"American East"
The film "American East" demonstrates what it is to be an outsider by showing the challenges and struggles of an American Eastern person, Mustafa living here in the United States. Selling his father's land back in Egypt and moving to another country with hope to provide a better life for his son, daughter and sister. Mustafa now works very hard to support his family here in the USA, while at the same time sending money over sees back to Egypt trying to buy off the land he sold for the money to move here. He learns that he cannot keep up with being a good Muslim and being good father at the same time. Which all leads to a main idea that an outsider has to make sacrifices of his own culture, life, and religion in order to fit in with the community residing in and belonging to.
Movie "American East" does a great job displaying a message that Arabs are just as human beings as anyone else. Americans living here in the states, have an unconscious feeling toward all "Arab looking" people and stereo typing them as terrorists, which creates a natural fear of all Middle Easter people in general. The movie portrays characters that go through a inside conflict of battling between being faithful and loyal to their religion and country, and between living it up and enjoying themselves in a new county which supposed to be "land of the freedom and opportunities." Mohamed, Mustafa's son asked his father "Why am I a Muslim?". After Mustafa responds with an simple explanation of "You are a Muslim because I am a Muslim," Mohamed asks his dad if they can get a Christmas three. Mustafa is left speechless because he knows that in this new country, specially the new generation is going to be greatly influenced and affected, and their cultural and religious views of life will fade away over time. Mustafa now realizes that he will have to make sacrifices in order to live in the new country they moved to.
Another great example that can be used to recall the idea that people need to change and lose some of their self-identity to fit in with the community is when Omar has a constant problems with always having to play a terrorist when being filmed as he is working as an actor. He is happy that he has a nice job working in a filming industry, but this comes back to haunt him, because he understands that he has to lie to himself every time playing a terrorist. By accepting a role of a terrorist in a film he is playing a role for, he accepts and agreed with a stereo type that all Arabs are terrorists, which just crushes his soul inside. This puts him in a tight situation whether to stay loyal to his culture and religious or to accept the new way of life in this country which is that money controls everything, and people will do anything for a nice paying job such as an movie actor.
The group discussions on the film have expended my critical thinking and ideas on what it is to be an outsider or an insider. Having read the different responses to the film, I now have more knowledge how other people view on this same idea and concept of a person having to struggle while fitting in with the community. I have found it interesting that one group member in our discussion teams who is from Middle East himself, thought of the movie ending not be realistic and almost cartoon-like. Ahmadi Zabih said in his post: "If things were that simple, you would not have some of the fighting that is going on between Israel and Palestine for example or other middle east countries that don't get along." Although this is a true statement and I have to agree with it, I liked how the filmmaker made a nice message at the end of the movie when Mustafa and his Jewish friend Sam opened a restaurant together, the Muslims and Jews were still fighting over who gets to enter first. This shows that even thought the two countries with different religious and views can come together and work something out, there will still be a tensions and conflicts that might erupt into something much bigger any moment.
Living in a whole different community will have a very different and unique experience on a person no matter who it might be. The main point is that in order for outsider to fit in with the public, some sacrifices will have to be made no matter what. After getting used to a different atmosphere living where a person might not be comfortable, there will come a time when things will ease off, which will conclude that sacrifices has been made in order to fit in and feel belonged.
Movie "American East" does a great job displaying a message that Arabs are just as human beings as anyone else. Americans living here in the states, have an unconscious feeling toward all "Arab looking" people and stereo typing them as terrorists, which creates a natural fear of all Middle Easter people in general. The movie portrays characters that go through a inside conflict of battling between being faithful and loyal to their religion and country, and between living it up and enjoying themselves in a new county which supposed to be "land of the freedom and opportunities." Mohamed, Mustafa's son asked his father "Why am I a Muslim?". After Mustafa responds with an simple explanation of "You are a Muslim because I am a Muslim," Mohamed asks his dad if they can get a Christmas three. Mustafa is left speechless because he knows that in this new country, specially the new generation is going to be greatly influenced and affected, and their cultural and religious views of life will fade away over time. Mustafa now realizes that he will have to make sacrifices in order to live in the new country they moved to.
Another great example that can be used to recall the idea that people need to change and lose some of their self-identity to fit in with the community is when Omar has a constant problems with always having to play a terrorist when being filmed as he is working as an actor. He is happy that he has a nice job working in a filming industry, but this comes back to haunt him, because he understands that he has to lie to himself every time playing a terrorist. By accepting a role of a terrorist in a film he is playing a role for, he accepts and agreed with a stereo type that all Arabs are terrorists, which just crushes his soul inside. This puts him in a tight situation whether to stay loyal to his culture and religious or to accept the new way of life in this country which is that money controls everything, and people will do anything for a nice paying job such as an movie actor.
The group discussions on the film have expended my critical thinking and ideas on what it is to be an outsider or an insider. Having read the different responses to the film, I now have more knowledge how other people view on this same idea and concept of a person having to struggle while fitting in with the community. I have found it interesting that one group member in our discussion teams who is from Middle East himself, thought of the movie ending not be realistic and almost cartoon-like. Ahmadi Zabih said in his post: "If things were that simple, you would not have some of the fighting that is going on between Israel and Palestine for example or other middle east countries that don't get along." Although this is a true statement and I have to agree with it, I liked how the filmmaker made a nice message at the end of the movie when Mustafa and his Jewish friend Sam opened a restaurant together, the Muslims and Jews were still fighting over who gets to enter first. This shows that even thought the two countries with different religious and views can come together and work something out, there will still be a tensions and conflicts that might erupt into something much bigger any moment.
Living in a whole different community will have a very different and unique experience on a person no matter who it might be. The main point is that in order for outsider to fit in with the public, some sacrifices will have to be made no matter what. After getting used to a different atmosphere living where a person might not be comfortable, there will come a time when things will ease off, which will conclude that sacrifices has been made in order to fit in and feel belonged.
Revision Work Intro
I have revised the "What's In My Wallet" blog assignment, because this was when this English 101 course has just started so I wasn't very clear on how to do things, but now I realize that I performed weak on that assignment and I want to re-do it. Mostly what I did wrong about this is I didn't read the assignment instructions on angel. I saw an announcement that we have to make a blog post discussing what is in our wallet, so I just went straight to that. In this assignment we were supposed to talk about our wallets and what would someone think of us if they were to find our wallet based on the contents inside. I have failed to answer a few questions that went along with this assignment such as: "If all they had to go on is your wallet, what would people miss or be unable to know about you." After revising this assignment, it sounds much better and more complete. I have answered the questions that were originally instructed. I also expended this paper more, to keep the audience more interested in a way I could.
What's In My Wallet
What contains in my wallet, tells a whole lot about me, like it would with any other person who uses a wallet. Before I start, I will tell a brief experience which happened to me today. As I went with my mom to look at a car she found for sale, I dropped my wallet in her car and didn't notice. When we got home, I was so upset that I thought I lost my wallet. I looked everywhere, did not find it. Last place on my list to look at was my mom's car. I was so happy when I found it under the passenger seat. How the heck did it slip out of my pocket and got under the seat perfectly so it couldn't be noticeable without looking directly under it. Now back to the subject. If a person would find my wallet and open it, the first place they would look is the large pocket on the side which is for the money. They would see that I got few one dollar bills, couple of five dollar bills, and one or two twenty dollar bills. This could tell about me that I do use money on the regular basis, that is why it is not all in nice, perfect, crispy large value dollar bills such as twenties or hundreds. The next major thing that would stick out in my wallet is my driver license which is under see-through plastic cover. My ID card would tell a whole lot about me. My license number, my full name, my address, my weight (at least when this ID was made), my height, my sex, eye color, bate of birth, and last but not least - my photo. Next on the list, would be my cards, as I have a lot of them. I have a Costco gas card, which if a person knows, that it has one of the cheapest prices for gas. It might tell that I am a wise one, and care for my money. Next to the Costco gas card, I have my Debit card. I don't know much it could tell about me which would make me stand out from other people. On the other side of my driver license, is more cards. The tip of a YMCA card can be see, and a Vitamin World card behind it. Those two cards could tell about me, that I do or at least try to stay healthy, by going to YMCA and being active. In the next pocket of my wallet is a blue paper Everett Community College card which has my student number on. This could tell that I am a college student, it could also tell that I have not the best memory because I cannot remember my student number after two full quarters of college. Behind it is a Traxx Indoor Raceway card. It could tell about me, that I am young, like to do fun things from time to time, and might even tell that I am a male, because go-carting stays on the boy side of things. If the person who picked up my wallet goes deep into my wallet and checks every crack and every hole, they would notice a paper behind my driver license card. It is a admission ticket for the San Francisco Zoo. This might tell that I like to enjoy the nature and animals in it. Looking at all of this taken together, my wallet reflects exactly what I am. It shows that I am a regular teenager, who pursuits further education after high school, who likes to go out and do fun things once in a while, and also who likes to keep himself organized and in order.
What contains in my wallet, tells a whole lot about me, like it would with any other person who uses a wallet. Before I start, I will tell a brief experience which happened to me today. As I went with my mom to look at a car she found for sale, I dropped my wallet in her car and didn't notice. When we got home, I was so upset that I thought I lost my wallet. I looked everywhere, did not find it. Last place on my list to look at was the car. I was so happy and relieved when I found it under the passenger seat. How the heck did it slip out of my pocket and got under the seat so perfectly that it couldn't be noticeable without looking directly under it. Now back to the subject. If a person would to find my wallet and open it, the first place they would look at is the large pocket on the side which is for the money. They would see that I got few one dollar bills, couple of five dollar bills, and one or two twenty dollar bills. This could tell about me that I do use money on the regular basis, that is why it is not all in nice, perfect, crispy large value dollar bills such as fifties or hundreds. The next major thing that would stick out in my wallet is my driver license which is under see-through plastic cover. My ID card would tell a whole lot about me. My license number, my full name, my address, my weight (at least when this ID was made), my height, my sex, eye color, bate of birth, and last but not least - my photo. Next on the list, would be my cards, as I have a lot of them. I have a Costco gas card. If a person is familiar with Costco, he or she will know that it has one of the cheapest prices for gasoline and quality is very good as well. It might tell that I am a wise one, and care for my money specially right now with our sky-high gas prices. Next to the Costco gas card, I have my Debit card. I don't know much it could tell about me which would make me stand out from other people. On the other side of my driver license, is more cards. The tip of a YMCA card can be seen, and a Vitamin World card behind it. Those two cards could tell about me, that I do or at least try to stay healthy, by going to YMCA and being active. In the next pocket of my wallet is a blue, paper, Everett Community College card which has my student number on. This would obviously tell that I am a college student, it could also tell that I have not the best memory because I cannot remember my student number after two full quarters of college. Behind it is a Traxx Indoor Raceway card. This would tell about me that I am possibly young, like to do fun things from time to time, and might even tell that I am a male, because go-carting stays on the boy side of things. If the person who picked up my wallet goes deep into it and checks every crack and every hole, they would notice a paper behind my driver license card. It is a admission ticket for the San Francisco Zoo. This might tell that I like to enjoy the nature and animals in it. Looking at all of this taken together, my wallet reflects exactly what I am. It shows that I am a regular teenager, who pursuits further education after high school, who likes to go out and do fun things once in a while, and also who likes to keep himself organized and in order.
One of the most important things that indentifies and defines me that people would be missed or be unable to know about me if all they had to go on is my wallet, is what kind of car I drive. I strongly believe that a person can be told and generally defined by what kind of car he or she drives. For example, take a Toyota Prius. I could not picture a lot of people driving it except females who are all about "go-green," and who don't know that to make a Prius, it takes and creates much more air pollution and exposure of CO2 into the atmosphere then it could save as it is a hybrid and supposed to have low emissions. If I think about a new German saloons, like an Audi or a Mercedes-Benz, I would instantly think that it is a car for well paid business men who take pride in what they drive. Me, I drive a 1995 Mercedes-Benz C-class. If a person knows cars, and have a picture in their head what this car is, they would know that C-class Mercedes is one of the cheapest in price, smallest in size, and less technology advanced out of Mercedes. This would tell about me that I am not as wealthy person at this moment since it is a 1995 and fairly cheap in price, but I do like to be classy and take pride in what I drive. Since I am a European background myself, this could tell that I also take pride in my background and like to "represent" in ways I can.
What contains in my wallet, tells a whole lot about me, like it would with any other person who uses a wallet. Before I start, I will tell a brief experience which happened to me today. As I went with my mom to look at a car she found for sale, I dropped my wallet in her car and didn't notice. When we got home, I was so upset that I thought I lost my wallet. I looked everywhere, did not find it. Last place on my list to look at was the car. I was so happy and relieved when I found it under the passenger seat. How the heck did it slip out of my pocket and got under the seat so perfectly that it couldn't be noticeable without looking directly under it. Now back to the subject. If a person would to find my wallet and open it, the first place they would look at is the large pocket on the side which is for the money. They would see that I got few one dollar bills, couple of five dollar bills, and one or two twenty dollar bills. This could tell about me that I do use money on the regular basis, that is why it is not all in nice, perfect, crispy large value dollar bills such as fifties or hundreds. The next major thing that would stick out in my wallet is my driver license which is under see-through plastic cover. My ID card would tell a whole lot about me. My license number, my full name, my address, my weight (at least when this ID was made), my height, my sex, eye color, bate of birth, and last but not least - my photo. Next on the list, would be my cards, as I have a lot of them. I have a Costco gas card. If a person is familiar with Costco, he or she will know that it has one of the cheapest prices for gasoline and quality is very good as well. It might tell that I am a wise one, and care for my money specially right now with our sky-high gas prices. Next to the Costco gas card, I have my Debit card. I don't know much it could tell about me which would make me stand out from other people. On the other side of my driver license, is more cards. The tip of a YMCA card can be seen, and a Vitamin World card behind it. Those two cards could tell about me, that I do or at least try to stay healthy, by going to YMCA and being active. In the next pocket of my wallet is a blue, paper, Everett Community College card which has my student number on. This would obviously tell that I am a college student, it could also tell that I have not the best memory because I cannot remember my student number after two full quarters of college. Behind it is a Traxx Indoor Raceway card. This would tell about me that I am possibly young, like to do fun things from time to time, and might even tell that I am a male, because go-carting stays on the boy side of things. If the person who picked up my wallet goes deep into it and checks every crack and every hole, they would notice a paper behind my driver license card. It is a admission ticket for the San Francisco Zoo. This might tell that I like to enjoy the nature and animals in it. Looking at all of this taken together, my wallet reflects exactly what I am. It shows that I am a regular teenager, who pursuits further education after high school, who likes to go out and do fun things once in a while, and also who likes to keep himself organized and in order.
One of the most important things that indentifies and defines me that people would be missed or be unable to know about me if all they had to go on is my wallet, is what kind of car I drive. I strongly believe that a person can be told and generally defined by what kind of car he or she drives. For example, take a Toyota Prius. I could not picture a lot of people driving it except females who are all about "go-green," and who don't know that to make a Prius, it takes and creates much more air pollution and exposure of CO2 into the atmosphere then it could save as it is a hybrid and supposed to have low emissions. If I think about a new German saloons, like an Audi or a Mercedes-Benz, I would instantly think that it is a car for well paid business men who take pride in what they drive. Me, I drive a 1995 Mercedes-Benz C-class. If a person knows cars, and have a picture in their head what this car is, they would know that C-class Mercedes is one of the cheapest in price, smallest in size, and less technology advanced out of Mercedes. This would tell about me that I am not as wealthy person at this moment since it is a 1995 and fairly cheap in price, but I do like to be classy and take pride in what I drive. Since I am a European background myself, this could tell that I also take pride in my background and like to "represent" in ways I can.
Awareness of Audience Intro
For Awareness of audience and voice category I have selected the "Foods in Culture" blog assignment. I believe that out of all assignments we did in this course, this one has the most use of "you" and is the most which is audience directed. Throughout the whole assignment I kept in mind and tried to make it as most direct at reader(s) as possible. In my third sentence, I have asked a question, thus trying to get readers involved in it as well. These specific assignment was much different from all other work we did on this class because in all other papers, the instructors encouraged everyone not to use seconds person wordings, such as "you." This helped me learn and practice a whole different form of writing, which was a bit more challenging, because I did not do a lot of those type of writings.
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