Argumentative Essay: Rough Draft

Dwayne Ellis

English 112

Essay 3: Rough Draft

4/9/14

Damn Southern..

            Paint this picture. Chilly November’s day and there’s only about 38 days left of football and the season is finally over.  Your head coach then gets into an absolute shouting match with another coach, and I don’t mean any ordinary shouting match, I’m talking a fight nearly breaks out, punches thrown, explicate vocabulary is exchanged… all the good stuff. How would you react? Well, in short, I laughed. This incident just made it even more obvious that the team and program I played for was even more of a joke than I had already grown to feel it was.

            I’m sure if you asked the administration, they’d tell you otherwise, but athletics, especially football, are the face of almost all universities. Athletics are what people pride themselves most about in their attendance to their university, whether they’re a player or just a regular, supportive fan. To keep it simple, Southern Connecticut athletics are on the steady decline and that would just be pointing out the obvious. Once again, I’m sure if you asked the administration, they’d hand you the history books and tell you about the storied tradition of Southern Connecticut sports. That’s fine and all, but my main focus is the football program. I hate to be repetitive, but supporters (especially the Athletic Administration), would reach deep into the archives and hand you some statistics backing their claim of a “storied tradition in Division 2 athletics.” And that’s when I reply simply with, “Do past victories count now?”

8T

Logos- Correlates to statistics, facts, experimental results, and concrete evidence that is used to validate the claim that writer is making in order to back his or her argument up.

Pathos- The emotional feel and approach the writer takes to his piece. It seems like a part that wouldn’t play to key of a role in good argumentative writing, but with a strong sense of emotion for both sides of the argument plays a strong role to the reader. It gives off the impression that their writer is considerate and understanding of both view but also stands by their point of view strongly.

Ethos directly relates to ethics and the fact of writer being ethical in his or her writing. The writing has gone about establishing a strong sense of trust and credibility in the points her or she is trying to prove.

8R

The past week in class has stressed heavily on arguments, and we all know that I live for a good argument.  We finished up our autobiographical essays and began to take a look at the logical fallacies that appear in an argumentative essay and the three main appeals that strike a reader in these such essays; logos, pathos, and ethos.

            The three appeals are important because they credit and pretty much validate the writer of the piece. Logos comes directly from term logic. Logos correlates to statistics, facts, experimental results, and concrete evidence that is used to validate the claim that writer is making in order to back his or her argument up. Pathos is the emotional feel and approach the writer takes to his piece. It seems like a part that wouldn’t play to key of a role in good argumentative writing, but with a strong sense of emotion for both sides of the argument plays a strong role to the reader. It gives off the impression that their writer is considerate and understanding of both view but also stands by their point of view strongly. Ethos directly relates to ethics and the fact of writer being ethical in his or her writing. Is your writer trustworthy and credible? These are important factors, especially if someone is trying to convince you of a specific point.

            Arguing is perhaps my favorite thing to do in a classroom, so I highly look forward to writing this argumentative paper. I will make it a strong point to find the write use of ethos, pathos, and logos. The one thing I want to do is establish a credible and believable paper to convey my points strongly.

Observational Essay: The Awkward Pretty

DJ Ellis

English 112

Observational Essay

3/11/14

The Awkward Pretty

            Early morning, having my face slapped and punched by the near frostbite causing temperatures, I ventured through slushy, melting snow, all while being nearly knocked off balance by forty degree winds.  I dreaded the thought off class and hated listening to my teacher go on a shpeel, in a monotone voice, of some nonsense that won’t even come remotely close to benefitting me in my near future. I walked into the classroom, which is decorated with absolutely nothing and has walls that I would assume resemble what the inside of a maximum security prison jail cell looks like; it’s filled with thirty or so students, some of which I’ve talked to and had their names down to a T and some of which I never knew existed.  You would think after eight weeks of the semester I’d have formed some sort of relationship with each and every student, but seeing as the class is at 8:10.. I’m not the friendliest and easygoing person at such an early hour.

            The class discussion carries on and as the rest of my peers are happily participating, you can find me in the corner of classroom, near the window, counting the newly formed snowflakes as they fall. Deep and focused on about one-hundred and eighty-three in my snowflake count, my concentration is broken by the softest and gentlest voice I think I’ve ever heard. Low pitched, with a crack due to nerves every fifth word or so, I locked eyes with the girl who held this voice. I was basically at a loss for words. Her crystal blue eyes and chocolate brown hair (something rare) had me, for once, paying attention. It was obvious that she carried herself in a nervous way; almost as if she didn’t know how to fit in and in a way in which she felt she lacked the powerful voice and social skills needed to fit in.  This is what I like to call.. The Awkward Pretty.  Let me explain. We all know that one person who carries themselves in an awkward fashion, doesn’t really fit in, and seemingly comes off as weird as hell… but in the end they’re absolutely gorgeous.

            After class I made it my mission to find a way to talk to her, get to know her even just a little. I found myself weaving and maneuvering my way through people in the hallway all the way to the student center where I finally caught up to her. “Hey gorgeous!” I shouted out. She screeched to a halting stop and turned, which flipped her hair in a way that was almost modelesque; she was stunning. I found my way picking out my words carefully and getting the cutest most nervous responses ever. She didn’t know how to carry herself, she had it all; the looks, smarts, but just seemed to lack the social skills needed to break away from her shy personality.

            I developed my theory of the Awkward Pretty girl my junior year when I noticed that my school was filled with girls who had it all, but still walked the halls like ghosts. So the next time you take a walk through your hallway, take a look for those girls who clutch their books super tight to their chest, shuffle their feet when they walk, and seemingly never look up when they walk , almost as if they’ve memorized each and every detail to the floor plan’s blueprint of the building. This awkward pretty girl just might be your next crush.

7R

This week introduced a new type of writing that brings a completely different feel into our writing natures. We started observational writing. Obvservational writing is tang your surroundings and truly finding a way to describe it so vividly that the reader will almost feel as if they're there with you, looking at the same objects. Observational writing is something I've done in my previous writings without actually truly putting an actual name on it. My writings are very powerful and paint vivid pictures, but I definitely feel that I could use more of an observational feel. Describe my settings and surroundings better to give the reader a better mental picture.

Grammar is probably the most important thing about a paper. Without a sense of proper grammar, your paper will lack flow, understandability, and the techniques required to make a good piece of writing. My papers have always been grammatically strong, but after this weeks lessons i plan on maybe focusing in a little more on grammar due to its importance in a strong piece of writing.

7T

1.) Read like a writer- Reading in the means that allows and enables you to understand what the writer is trying to coney.

2.) Read for meaning- Reading to truly understand what the writer is trying to say.

3.) Independent cause- Simple sentence that can stand alone.

4.) Comma Splice- run on sentence separated by a comma. 

Final Draft

DJ Ellis

English 112

Autobiographical Essay

Final Draft

The Monster

                Test yourself.. can you think back to a time in which you were so angry that you physically harmed someone else or even  yourself, for that matter? I can. Now think about it.. what’s your deepest, darkest, and coldest secret? Would you tell? If you would’ve asked me three years ago I would’ve said, “hell no.” But if you were to ask me today, my answer is way different.

                Battle with your demons and face your fears. Run into them with a full head of steam at full speed; all while daring to challenge yourself to find out whom the real YOU is. I battled my own demons and always set out to never let them define who I truly was. Write your own destiny and define yourself as what you want to be remembered as.

I always knew I was an angry kid, short tempered and hot headed, but never would I have thought I was violent until my seventh grade year of middle school. Ryan Shiel decided he wanted to get tough, maybe try to pick on me and call me names; I snapped. I hit him so many times to the point where I blacked out and had to be pulled off of his motionless body. I remember coming back into a state of almost realization and seeing his bloodied face and what they thought was a broken nose. I thought to myself, “I couldn’t have caused this?” If you ask some people.. I’m sure they’d say this is when The Monster was formed. The Monster that lived inside me and could be turned on just as easily as you’d turn on the lights. That Monster followed me to high school, slept with me in my dreams, and stared back at me every time I looked in mirror. Who was I? What have I become? Those were constant questions that ran wild in my head and as much I wanted to push them far out of my mental, I couldn’t. The anger was inevitable.. inescapable. It lurked inside of me waiting for any little thing to set it off.

As I got older and finally touched down in high school, I formulated ways to calm The Monster. I felt like a lion tamer to my own inner person, my own brain. “Keep cool Monster! It’s never that serious.” was the only thing I found myself saying inside of my head and sure enough, for the time being, it worked. Everything was fine until The Monster decided to turn his back on me and betray me. This anger turned towards self-anger and self-hate and seeing as I had just truly started playing competitive team sports, the self-anger and self-hate worsened. I hated failure but I loved to compete. Competing against others was fun and all, and I was seen as dominant athletic force in Connecticut; but the daily competition that took place inside my head was unexplainable. The angry thoughts that The Monster had set free in my head began to resonate and turn to the thought of self-harm. The Monster was fascinated by it.. He loved it. At this point in time I was viewed as one of the nicest kids in school; no one would have ever suspected that Good Ol, Athletic Deej wanted to die…. Or should I say, no one would have ever suspected that The Monster wanted us to die? You see, The Monster and I were two completely different people. The Monster was fixated and infatuated with the thought of violence, more-so of the self-harm nature and absolutely hated the real me. While I, my true self, was in love with sports, my family, my friends, and the idea of being a normal teenager. For some reason, The Monster’s thoughts and my own just didn’t quite coagulate.

People said they understood and felt for my struggle, but I’m a firm believer in the fact that you cannot understand or feel anyone’s struggle until you have walked a mile in their shoes. For this exact reason I hated the idea of therapy and counseling. The more I went to therapy and was diagnosed by someone who didn’t hate themselves or had never felt an ounce of my pain and struggle, the more The Monster took over and began to triumph from the inside out. The thoughts of suicide became more vivid and more realistic; it was my fixation and my fucked up fascination that played throughout my head over and over and over. It was almost as if in my brain I had a single track CD on repeat.. only this track was a blade maneuvering its way through skin and finding the main vein that could put this struggle to a quiet end.  

                The monster finally won. I tried to kill myself. I cut. I cut deep. I bled. I bled a lot. I was taken to a hospital and questioned like no other. They checked me into the psych ward like I was insane. I was dangerous and a threat, not to anyone else because I was more than cooperative, but only dangerous and threat to myself. The question finally hit me.. “Was I insane?” Shit, I might’ve been. I talked to myself, well, I talked to The Monster; and to those white jacketed doctors they insisted I had schizophrenia. This was the prognosis until I sat them all down and handed the reins over to The Monster. He smooth talked our way out of the psych ward a couple of days later. He told them everything they wanted to hear just because he wanted to stay my little secret concealed away and only let out in privacy, making me literally crazy in my own head. He convinced them I was normal and far too bright and to in depth with reality to be schizophrenic. Some tests were run and the actual prognosis was that I was suffering from clinical depression, chronic anger disorder, chronic temper control disorder, and just to top it all off like you would a chocolate sundae with a cherry; for shits and giggles, they added a slight case clinical anxiety.

All of my disorders led to therapy and you already know how I to this day feel about therapy. After the therapy came medication. When I had the monster completely tucked away, I was the most fun and outgoing kid.. completely normal. I had this secret and I was extremely good at hiding it, but The Monster finally fought its way out. I swear I had no intentions of letting The Monster be known, but he had grown tired of being my little secret.

As much as I hated the medication, it was a stronger kryptonite to The Monster than I ever could have been; so without my 80 milligram Prozacs, which is the highest dosage prescribed to a patient, who knows where I’d be today. When I had The Monster tucked away as my own little secret, if you asked me where I’d be in 2014, I’d tell you all the aspirations and goals that I had fooled everyone into thinking I had. But if you asked me the same question when The Monster was let out to run wild, I’d answer in a short-mannered, simple, one-word answer.. “Dead.” I’d answer this question showing absolutely no feeling, emotion, or remorse. But I promise if you looked closely and deep enough into my eyes, you’d see not my own eyes but the eyes of The Monster staring back at you with fear, sorrow, hope, and hate all at the same time. The only reason I can tell you what The Monster’s eyes were like is because whenever I took a look in the mirror, a smiling happy Deej isn’t what I’d see. I’d see eyes that were elaborated with so much pain and hate. I’d see eyes that fed and thrived off of my weaknesses. I’d see eyes that became filled with joy when my normal eyes were filled with self-hatred and sorrow. I’d see eyes dark enough and strong enough to pierce into anyone and send chills down their spine.

I guess it all makes sense now. Everyday someone would tell me that my actions and attitude were affecting others around me and I just couldn’t quite seem to understand. But those piercing eyes were only the beginning; my actions started to change once The Monster was released and would break down those who cared for me slowly but surely. After I tried to kill myself, I finally decided it was time to face my fears. I stopped taking my medication one year after I attempted to commit suicide and decided it was time to face The Monster head on; to be my OWN, more powerful kryptonite to this dreaded Monster. I felt that I no longer needed my medication and three years later the doctor’s feel so too.

That suicidal, dangerous, threat of a teenage is no more. I’m no longer on medication, and no longer feel the need to harm myself. I can honestly say that what I went through in my life was a bittersweet struggle. I recall saying it was bittersweet around someone and they gave me the upmost craziest death stare ever.. they were in utter disbelief. They just could not understand how having been diagnosed as almost psychotic and schizophrenic came back to be something that I’m proud of. Well it is.

I’m happily alive and able to say that without this struggle I would not know how much I truly can endure as a human being. I’ve broken bones, had multiple surgeries, and even went through the windshield of car; but no physical pain will ever compare to the pain of hating yourself and the pain of having a mental breakdown. No pain will ever amount to the pain in having to put on a charade every day in public just to hide The Monster that lurked within. No obstacle in life will ever be harder than what The Monster had put me through in the four years I spent in high school. I can truthfully say that this struggle and what felt like a never ending battle with The Monster made me; it shaped the man that I’ve become today.

Because of my struggle and what it has taught me, as ironic as it may be, I plan on taking my story and my struggle into a career of mental therapy. I plan on being a psycho therapist, working with teens that in short, hate themselves or find themselves dealing with their own demons or Monster within. Think about it.. who better to talk to than someone who has once been trapped in solitary confinement in their own mind? Who better to talk to than someone who has danced with the devil? And who better to talk to than someone who can teach you the things necessary to become your OWN kryptonite to The Monster.

5T

1.) Autobiographical Essay- A creative written account on your own life. 

2.) Compare & Contrast- Taking things and finding specific things that are of similar and different nature. 

3.) Topical Thematic- Setting up your essay by what type of theme you are using

4.) Chronological Order- Setting up your piece of work in an order that makes the most sense. 

5R

Peer review. This week we dug deeper into this autobiographical essay process and I found myself truly enjoying the assignment. I love to write, especially creatively, and what better way to creatively write than about yourself? Our assignment was to mainly sit and write the first page of our essay and as I started the assignment, I found myself finishing the entire essay. I enjoy this assignment because I love working with peers and I love the fact that I'll be able to take their feedback and better myself. I thoroughly enjoy editing and reviewing my peers work; I was the chief editor of the school news paper in high school, so it brings back flashes of high school.

I felt that with the first step of the peer review it went extremely well, for the most part. My group members went about taking their time and providing feedback that will eventually help with the finished product of my essay. The only difficult part of this assignment was developing a thesis statement in an autobiographical essay. I told my story in a sense of powerful and meaningful writing, and still failed to develop a thesis. Hopefully my peers can help me with this problem. 

Outline/Thesis

*Thesis Statement* 
Finding this was tough because the essay is done and I couldn't pinpoint a true statement, but I love the way it's written, it tells my story.
--> "If you ask some people.. I’m sure they’d say this is when The Monster was formed."

*Outline* 

I. Inro
- Ask readers a coupe questions about life. 
- Answers questions your own answer

II. Second Intro
- Anecdote
- Introduce The Monster
- Who/What The Monster is

III. Body 
- Describe the struggle with the monster.
- Hatred to myself
- Fake persona in public

IV. Body 
- Suicide attempt
- Psych Ward
- Inner struggles 
- Kryptonite
- Therapy

V. Body
- More on The Monster
- Make the reader feel my pain after it described.
- Medication

VI. Conclusions
- Conclude the feelings
- Therapy elaborated
- How it makes sense
- How I overcame The monster
- Future endeavors (Irony in my future workplace)
 

Autobiographical Essay

DJ Ellis

English 112

Autobiographical Essay

Draft 1

The Monster

                Test yourself.. can you think back to a time in which you were so angry that you physically harmed someone else or even  yourself, for that matter? I can. Now think about it.. what’s your deepest, darkest, and coldest secret? Would you tell? If you would’ve asked me three years ago I would’ve said, “hell no.” But if you were to ask me today, my answer is way different.

I always knew I was an angry kid, short tempered and hot headed, but never would I have thought I was violent until my seventh grade year of middle school. Ryan Shiel decided he wanted to get tough, maybe try to pick on me and call me names; I snapped. I hit him so many times to the point where I blacked out and had to be pulled off of his motionless body. I remember coming back into a state of almost realization and seeing his bloodied face and what they thought was a broken nose. I thought to myself, “I couldn’t have caused this?” If you ask some people.. I’m sure they’d say this is when The Monster was formed. The Monster that lived inside me and could be turned on just as easily as you’d turn on the lights. That Monster followed me to high school, slept with me in my dreams, and stared back at me every time I looked in mirror. Who was I? What have I become? Those were constant questions that ran wild in my head and as much I wanted to push them far out of my mental, I couldn’t. The anger was inevitable.. inescapable. It lurked inside of me waiting for any little thing to set it off.

As I got older and finally touched down in high school, I formulated ways to calm The Monster. I felt like a lion tamer to my own inner person, my own brain. “Keep cool Monster! It’s never that serious.” was the only thing I found myself saying inside of my head and sure enough, for the time being, it worked. Everything was fine until The Monster decided to turn his back on me and betray me. This anger turned towards self-anger and self-hate and seeing as I had just truly started playing competitive team sports, the self-anger and self-hate worsened. I hated failure but I loved to compete. Competing against others was fun and all, and I was seen as dominant athletic force in Connecticut; but the daily competition that took place inside my head was unexplainable. The angry thoughts that The Monster had set free in my head began to resonate and turn to the thought of self-harm. The Monster was fascinated by it.. He loved it. At this point in time I was viewed as one of the nicest kids in school; no one would have ever suspected that Good Ol, Athletic Deej wanted to die…. Or should I say, no one would have ever suspected that The Monster wanted us to die? You see, The Monster and I were two completely different people. The Monster was fixated and infatuated with the thought of violence, more-so of the self-harm nature and absolutely hated the real me. While I, my true self, was in love with sports, my family, my friends, and the idea of being a normal teenager. For some reason, The Monster’s thoughts and my own just didn’t quite coagulate.

People said they understood and felt for my struggle, but I’m a firm believer in the fact that you cannot understand or feel anyone’s struggle until you have walked a mile in their shoes. For this exact reason I hated the idea of therapy and counseling. The more I went to therapy and was diagnosed by someone who didn’t hate themselves or had never felt an ounce of my pain and struggle, the more The Monster took over and began to triumph from the inside out. The thoughts of suicide became more vivid and more realistic; it was my fixation and my fucked up fascination that played throughout my head over and over and over. It was almost as if in my brain I had a single track CD on repeat.. only this track was a blade maneuvering its way through skin and finding the main vein that could put this struggle to a quiet end.  

                The monster finally won. I tried to kill myself. I cut. I cut deep. I bled. I bled a lot. I was taken to a hospital and questioned like no other. They checked me into the psych ward like I was insane. I was dangerous and a threat, not to anyone else because I was more than cooperative, but only dangerous and threat to myself. The question finally hit me.. “Was I insane?” Shit, I might’ve been. I talked to myself, well, I talked to The Monster; and to those white jacketed doctors they insisted I had schizophrenia. This was the prognosis until I sat them all down and handed the reins over to The Monster. He smooth talked our way out of the psych ward a couple of days later. He told them everything they wanted to hear just because he wanted to stay my little secret concealed away and only let out in privacy, making me literally crazy in my own head. He convinced them I was normal and far too bright and to in depth with reality to be schizophrenic. Some tests were run and the actual prognosis was that I was suffering from clinical depression, chronic anger disorder, chronic temper control disorder, and just to top it all off like you would a chocolate sundae with a cherry; for shits and giggles, they added a slight case clinical anxiety.

All of my disorders led to therapy and you already know how I to this day feel about therapy. After the therapy came medication. When I had the monster completely tucked away, I was the most fun and outgoing kid.. completely normal. I had this secret and I was extremely good at hiding it, but The Monster finally fought its way out. I swear I had no intentions of letting The Monster be known, but he had grown tired of being my little secret.

As much as I hated the medication, it was a stronger kryptonite to The Monster than I ever could have been; so without my 80 milligram Prozacs, which is the highest dosage prescribed to a patient, who knows where I’d be today. When I had The Monster tucked away as my own little secret, if you asked me where I’d be in 2014, I’d tell you all the aspirations and goals that I had fooled everyone into thinking I had. But if you asked me the same question when The Monster was let out to run wild, I’d answer in a short-mannered, simple, one-word answer.. “Dead.” I’d answer this question showing absolutely no feeling, emotion, or remorse. But I promise if you looked closely and deep enough into my eyes, you’d see not my own eyes but the eyes of The Monster staring back at you with fear, sorrow, hope, and hate all at the same time. The only reason I can tell you what The Monster’s eyes were like is because whenever I took a look in the mirror, a smiling happy Deej isn’t what I’d see. I’d see eyes that were elaborated with so much pain and hate. I’d see eyes that fed and thrived off of my weaknesses. I’d see eyes that became filled with joy when my normal eyes were filled with self-hatred and sorrow. I’d see eyes dark enough and strong enough to pierce into anyone and send chills down their spine.

I guess it all makes sense now. Everyday someone would tell me that my actions and attitude were affecting others around me and I just couldn’t quite seem to understand. But those piercing eyes were only the beginning; my actions started to change once The Monster was released and would break down those who cared for me slowly but surely. After I tried to kill myself, I finally decided it was time to face my fears. I stopped taking my medication one year after I attempted to commit suicide and decided it was time to face The Monster head on; to be my OWN, more powerful kryptonite to this dreaded Monster. I felt that I no longer needed my medication and three years later the doctor’s feel so too.

That suicidal, dangerous, threat of a teenage is no more. I’m no longer on medication, and no longer feel the need to harm myself. I can honestly say that what I went through in my life was a bittersweet struggle. I recall saying it was bittersweet around someone and they gave me the upmost craziest death stare ever.. they were in utter disbelief. They just could not understand how having been diagnosed as almost psychotic and schizophrenic came back to be something that I’m proud of. Well it is.

I’m happily alive and able to say that without this struggle I would not know how much I truly can endure as a human being. I’ve broken bones, had multiple surgeries, and even went through the windshield of car; but no physical pain will ever compare to the pain of hating yourself and the pain of having a mental breakdown. No pain will ever amount to the pain in having to put on a charade every day in public just to hide The Monster that lurked within. No obstacle in life will ever be harder than what The Monster had put me through in the four years I spent in high school. I can truthfully say that this struggle and what felt like a never ending battle with The Monster made me; it shaped the man that I’ve become today.
Because of my struggle and what it has taught me, as ironic as it may be, I plan on taking my story and my struggle into a career of mental therapy. I plan on being a psycho therapist, working with teens that in short, hate themselves or find themselves dealing with their own demons or Monster within. Think about it.. who better to talk to than someone who has once been trapped in solitary confinement in their own mind? Who better to talk to than someone who has danced with the devil? And who better to talk to than someone who can teach you the things necessary to become your OWN kryptonite to The Monster.

4R

                Peer Review.. if you ask my classmates, they’ll tell that when they did it in high school it was horrible and that it led to nothing but failure. As always, I found a way to disagree. Personally I feel that peer review offers a different view of the assignment other than from your teacher’s perspective, a view point that allows someone else who is working on the same assignment as you to give feedback and potentially even help you come to making drastic changes in your writing. With our first major writing assignment coming up, I plan on truly utilizing the peer review and the members of my group. So far the comments they have left on my biographical mixtape assignment will really come to help and will definitely be kept in mind when I’m writing my essay.

                Speaking of the biographical mixtape assignment, I truly enjoyed it.. it was two of my favorite things combined into one: music & creative writing. What’s better than writing about yourself in ways of doing it through a sense of music. I wrote about things that few people knew about me and what I loved most was that I was able to explain my story through music. It’s ironic because when I decided to make a change I did it through music.. I took to writing my own poetry and found Logic 9 software and began putting beats behind it. Music is something that saved me honestly. 

4T

1.) Peer Review- Peer review is when your classmates take the time to go about looking over your work and finding ways to come up with effective feedback that will then lead to your own betterment in your work.

2.) Thesis Based Writing- It holds a stronger meaning in your writing and has serves a stronger sense of importance.

3.) Reading Critically- Critical reading is really analyzing the piece of writing.. asking questions, making comments that can then be used as proper feedback, analyze the meaning of the writing, and then finding a way to respond to the text.

4.) Reading for Information- Reading for strictly content without truly analyzing the work. You find ways to point out important ideas and the main ideas of the piece of writing. While reading you come to find what important key terms tie back to the main ideas.

Autobiographical Mixtape

My Life's Mixtape:

1.) Kanye West- Through The Wire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvb-1wjAtk4)
- This song is about how Kanye West was in a near life taking car accident and his struggle back to the top and his struggle making his way back into the rap game. January 2, 2013.. I escaped death in a near life taking car accident. The car flipped over three times, sending me over the steering wheel and through the windshield. After I was forced out of the car, I went 65 feet from the car, in mid air, and traveled through trees and woods, hitting nearly everything in my path. This was the day that I cheated death. After Kanye West's accident, he had his jaw wired shut and was on life support; and while my injuries weren't this bad.. I had to get 12 stitches in my mouth and have a temporary wire placed in my mouth just like Kanye. I wasn't on life support, but I did break 2 ribs. The crash specialist said to me as he stared at the what used to be 2010 Infinity (which was know in a smokey ball), I'll never forget these words... "Son, you've got an angel looking over you and your friends.. You're all supposed to be dead.. especially you Mr. Ellis.. being ejected from a car and traveling that far through the woods, you should have broken every bone in your body... make sure you attend church this coming Sunday or pray to someone, because this was a miracle."

2.) R Kelly- I Wish (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8CXUzepL6k)
- This song is the most touching song I have ever heard. It is potentially my favorite song ever, because I can see my father's face and picture him smiling and laughing whenever I hear it.Though it brings me to tears every time I listen to it.. it's worth it.

3.) Notorious BIG- Suicidal Thoughts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GygEAcFFMVs)
- To keep it short, I've tried to commit suicide. Suicide was an everyday thought up until midway through my junior year when I made it a reality. I hated myself. So finally I decided I wanted out..I cut myself.. cut until the point where I passed out, and had to be taken to the hospital. I was placed in a psych ward for a few days, until I sweet talked my way out of it and wasn't seen as a threat to myself anymore.

4.) Transformation- Fabolous (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlhO3Wey0Vw)
- I feel as though I've truly made a transformation in my character and in my life in general. I went from literally being diagnosed as a "borderline psychopath and harm to himself" who was prescribed literally every prescription pill, and seeing a therapist 4 times a week.. to a multi-sport college student-athlete. Three years ago, if you would've asked me where I thought I'd be February 3, 2014.. I would've answered it simply.. Dead. So I proudly say that over the years, I've truly transformed who I am as a person.. and turned myself into something that not only my parents are proud of.. but I'm now proud of myself.

5.) Sky is the Limit- Lil Wayne (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6a4hvoY0G0)
- The Sky is the Limit. I always try to shoot for greatness, it's always been something I've wanted to achieve. Even through my struggles with being on medication and the struggles with depression and anxiety, I've always tried to be great.. and avoid failure at all costs. Failure is the reason why I was so depressed and literally hated myself. Finally, I came to grips that failure is apart of life and literally inevitable. No matter how hard you try failure is going to happen, but what got me by is always finding a way to not take failure as an option, even though I knew it was going to happen. As much as I hate to say it, failure and my struggle is the reason why I am where I am today.

Autobiographical Brainstorming

-> Autobiographical Brainstorming!

*Character Traits that Define Your Identity*
1.) Of mixed race.
2.) Athletic.
3.) Originally down south.. Decatur, Atlanta.
4.) Stubborn & hard headed.
5.) HILARIOUS

*Influential People*
1.) My Mother.
2.) My Father.
3.) Step Father.
4.) Malcolm X
5.) Marilyn Monroe

*Important Events*
1.) Winning nationals for gymnastics three times.
2.) Being named an All-American three times and Gymnast of the Year twice.
3.) The day my dad died.
4.) Graduating high school.
5.) Going to College.

*Life Changing Events*
1.) Losing my father.
2.) Graduating high school.
3.) Attending three private schools as a mixed race male.
4.) Being diagnosed with chronic anger and both clinical depression and anxiety, then finding a way to           overcome all three disorders.
5.) Escaping death- January 2, 2013 @ 1:26 AM.

Blog 3R

Three weeks into the course, and already I found myself reevaluating the way I read and write. Over the past couple weeks, we’ve been learning to develop better and more well developed thesis statements. Writing has always been my strong suit, but as I think back, my thesis statements seemingly came across as broad and basic. Hopefully, this course will help me to develop such well-developed thesis that my papers will seemingly just flow better; I’d like to build a thesis that presents such a strong argument that my paper will be able to hold 4-6 paragraphs worth of supporting details.

                Aside from the thesis statement, we have been discussing the differences between autobiographies and biographies. The pieces we’ve read so far, in which are of autobiographical nature, are the pieces that have seemingly caught my full and undivided attention. What’s better than writing about you? Who knows you better than you? Nobody. You can take such a creative spin on your take and your writing, all while telling your factual life story and that’s what I love most about it. I like that fact that in an autobiography you’re recalling on accounts in your life, but taking your own creative knowledge and placing different tones and styles behind the content and context of your autobiography.

                Summarizing and responding… Now I know that these are two completely different things. With more practice I plan on being able to respond to a writer’s piece with little to no effort. I plan on finding specific things in a writer’s work and being able to respond to it individually. I think this will come with better critical reading skills and a better sense of reading for analysis instead of reading for information. 

Blog 3T

1.) Response- A response to a piece of specific writing is more than a summary. A response is the process of breaking down a piece of writing and telling what you related to personally. Responding consists of taking out key points and really analyzing them closely; analyzing the whole piece of writing for its interesting characteristics that make it unique.

2.) Summary- A summary can be as short as one paragraph, but as long as a whole paragraph. It basically just wraps up the piece of writing and states the main idea, and in all sums up the piece of writing.

3.) Autobiography- An autobiography is a self account, written on yourself. It consists of a smooth means of storytelling, and is told in a sense of narration.

4.) Biography- A biography is a factual account written one person's life through another person's take. In a sense it is meaningful and holds a sense of more importance than an autobiography.

Thesis Homework 1/28

*Part A*
1.) This is not an acceptable thesis statement simply because it is a fact that does not have to be proven; it presents no valid arguing points.

2.) Yes, it is an acceptable thesis statement.

3.) No, because the writer is going about telling the reader what he or she plan on presenting in the paper; we were told never to tell what we're going to do, but to just do it.

4.) No, the sentence has no means of making an argument it just states a basic opinion; it also uses the word should.

5.) No, its an apparent fact that drug and alcohol use are an ongoing problem among college students; the writer needs to find a better way in telling us why it is or how to solve this problem.

6.) No, the writer is making the basic of claims possible. There is no argument built in this sentence.

7.) Yes, an argument can be eventually built. It leads into the writer being able to then build his or her body paragraphs off of the steps that are needed to be taken.

8.) Yes, the thesis builds a potential argument and has a direct stance.

9.) No, don't tell the readers what your essay will have in store; just do it.


*Part B*
1.) Living on campus is in the end better than commuting, simply because commuting can lead to missed assignments and poor attendance.

2.) Marijuana and drinking will always be an ongoing problem on college campuses, so because of this stronger rules need to be put in place in dorm rooms; rules that are not allowed now because of the privacy each student is entitled to.

Blog 2R

            How important is your thesis statement when writing your formal styled papers? In short, it’s extremely important. The thesis statement doesn’t necessarily summarize your topic, but instead provides your point on your topic.

            This week we learned all about what exactly a thesis consists of. These are as follows.. it is a statement that needs to be proven that isn’t necessarily a fact and something that not everyone has already agreed upon. The interesting thing about a thesis statement is that it needs to be a statement that possesses the ability to be proven, but in ways that meet the required length of your paper. You never want to make a thesis statement that can only be proven in a short essay and doesn’t meet your criteria of the amount words or pages required. We learned this week that a thesis statement should be specific enough to the point where it shows that you’re making a unique argument and holding an original position. The only thing to be cautious about is making sure you’re not overly specific to the point where you spoil your topic and point- you should have a targeted and focused argument. Also we were told to keep in mind that when writing a thesis statement we should avoid such words and phrases like: in my opinion, I think, I believe, and I should. But instead use words and phrases like: in my position, I assert, my stance on this, must, need too, and have to. Be convincing, and handle your thesis in a way that shows you know exactly what you’re talking about. 

Blog 2T

1.) Conclusion- Usually we've come to view the conclusion as a short one paragraph that basically reiterates your thesis and main points. But it's more than that; it is one to two paragraphs that wraps up your argument by reiterating your main points and thesis; but in doing so it maybe hold an anecdote or statistic that will find a way to convince your reader that your point is valid.

2.) Drafting- Developing multiple copies or drafts of your paper and not just skimming and searching for grammatical errors. It consists of redeveloping your paper and searching for areas in which all subject matter can potentially be changed. Drafting sometimes even results in changing your thesis statement sometimes.

3.) Anecdote- An anecdote is a a little story that pertains to to your topic of your paper; it is used to engaged the reader and draw them in. The anecdote is used as a way to open up into your topic without directly stating it.

4.) Persuade- Persuasion is the process of finding a way to sway your reader into believing what you're saying and really having them feel positively towards your point of view. Finding a way to relate to your reader early in your introduction is a good way to get on the right track of persuasion.

Homework: Act. 6

Look, take it from me.. College is far from easy. My first semester was an actual roller coaster, and held more ups and downs that you could possibly imagine. It was filled with more downs than anything simply because I came to college (a mature place) with an immature high school mindset. I figured, "hey, I coasted through high school, got straight A's with no effort.. I'm sure I can do it again!!" WRONG! Don't do it.. STUDY!!!! Take all of the good habits you've formed through high school and use them more than ever. Develop a schedule, a routine per say, and stick to it; a well balanced schedule, that sets aside "me time" and "study time" will be the reason why your first semester isn't like me. More importantly, go to class. It's easier to do the work and stay caught up, than having to work from behind make up work up.. nearly impossible. College is a place where the professor teaches you maybe 35% of the work and the rest in done on your own free time. To be a good college student you need to proactive and show a sense of care and respect for academics itself, or else.. too put it shortly, you'll fail. You'll find yourself where I was with a skyrocketing 2.0 GPA, struggling to do last minute assignments to boost it in any way possible.

Stay caught up, be proactive, organized, and STUDY. You do these four things and your first semester will turn out to be everything I wanted mine to be!!

Goodluck,
                Sincerely, DJ.

Homework: Act. 1

Immediately when I was told that my english class would primarily focus on "Writing Arguments" I was ecstatic; simply because I love to write and even more so I love to argue I'm sure you know that by now though Professor, you had me in inquiry). I look forward to truly having a strong sense of success due to the fact that I have seemingly always been a fairly good writer; the only thing I see holding me back is the fact that I lack motivation and proper study skills. Throughout high school I never really studied, nor did I nearly work as hard as I've had to in college; and my horrible study habits seemed to just carry on with me.

Throughout high school I was always finding myself caught up in something new on weekly basis, I was that kid who was a plagued with new obsessions and interest every week, it seemed as if nothing was good enough to hold my attention for longer than just a day or two. Then I discovered chemistry. Having not been a great, even good per say, math student it interested me that I found such a strong sense of success in the class, seeing as it was basically a mathematics driven course. The more I learned the more interested I became, I just couldn't put the books down and couldn't wait for D Block every single day. With more learning came more questions and not so much were they questions of myself and the subject, but about the subject itself. The answers came as my curiosity flourished; the more I read, the more my questions went answered.. but on the downside, the more more I read, the more I needed to know.. call it a never ending cycle.

Chemistry was the subject that made me think more highly for school itself. I started to think, "Maybe if I can find a way to be as interested in every other subject, I'll become a better student?!" Chemistry was the reason my grades went up, I started to study and pursue every subject to its full potential until I found something that caught my attention and grasped my focus. Unfortunately, this drive and determination towards school has left, and I'm slowly trying to rework these study skills I had acquired my sophomore year and work them into my college routine.. who knows what'll happen then?

1R: Reflective Blog

Writing has always been one of my strong points; I’ve always found it easy to share and make points in words. The great thing about writing is the tones you can use to convey a message; certain tones and styles make your writing piece flow and bring these words to painted, vivid pictures in the readers head, and that’s what I love most about it. Being able to voice my thoughts in an engaging way has always been my strong point in school; I was never the math wiz or science star, but when it came to English class and writing I always did well. I feel that I’m such a good writer because I set out to read a book a week, which really expands your view of different writing styles and tones. When you see someone else conveying their message and story into words, you notice their style and seemingly it will eventually transfer into your writing, but you’ll find a way to make it your own.

Personally, I enjoy creative writing such as short stories and poetry. Last year in my creative writing class, I was nominated as top young creative writer in Connecticut having had a collection of three poems and four short stories published. Whenever I get ready to write any type of paper even if it is a research paper, I try to do anything I can to turn the formal writing style into something that is more informal and suits my preferred style- creative.  I’ve come to notice that if you can voice facts in research papers in your own tone, you feel a sense of comfort with the material since you’re stating it in your own voice. I was never one who enjoyed research papers, but I always loved writing them because it was fun seeing all different ways I could take a formal essay and turn it into my own. When it comes to writing you’re on hundred percent in charge and I think that’s what I enjoy most about it, the control aspect. No one can tell me how to creatively write something.. I’m the boss. Think about it, math class there’s rules and guidelines, science there’s vocab and things to remember- but creative writing is strictly your thoughts, and there’s no better feeling than seeing your thoughts flow into words.