Perla's english blog

 One must have dish from my culture is Tamales, it is the most commonly known but it is the most commonly known because it is good. Tamales come in different variations, red , green , cheese. My favorite are the cheese ones. Tamales are significant because it represents community and unity . We celebrate the 3 Kings Holiday, and whoever gets a toy baby has to make tamales for everyone else, it is a common tradition shared among generations. Additionally when making tamales you can not just make 1 or 2, they usually come in huge abundance because they are cooked in huge pots and only cooking a few would be a waste of space.  Today in class we had a discussion about different dishes that represent certain things. For example for weddings people eat birria. 

 A meaningful memory would be when I eat Lentils. My mom would make the lentils with pieces of bacon, pieces of ham, tomatoes, and I forgot what else. However when my mom would make them she would make us eat it burning hot, boiling almost. She said we could not let food cool down too much, she would complain we cannot eat  ¨cold¨ food. While me and my brother waited for the food to cool down we would often play around or tell jokes at the table which made my mom mad but it was funny to us and when my mom makes lentils(which she does not really make as often anymore) I think of the jokes that were not even funny that my brother would say and my mom´s mad face. This experience made me realize that for food to be good sometimes it does not have to do with the dish at all but the memories associated with it.  Today in class we started talking about food and cultural identity. We started talking about how aware are we of our culture and how unaware are we ? 

 In the writing process I was unsure of what details I could include and unsure of my thesis, therefore it brought my essay down. When I went to write my essay It was harder to do because although I had a general idea I didn´t know the exact argument I wanted to convey across to the reader. I learned that personally I need to be better in planning, especially taking evidence from the book was the hardest part because the book was boring and It was hard to scroll through and find evidence without getting distracted easily.  Today in class we wrote our final essay, which I didn´t complete fully. 

  Drafting is essential because it helps you put all your ideas down beforehand, and it prevents you from getting mixed up with different ideas last minute. In drafting you can write down all the general ideas and exclude details, or maybe write in bits of the details. That way when you start writing it is easier to just look at what you had and just complete essential details.  Today in class we started drafting our essay to prepare for the final essay.

 In an essay I struggle the most with writing a thesis statement, this is because although I may have an idea as to what I will write sometimes I can´t defend it strongly. I know what the points are but not how to make it strong enough and it makes the whole essay fall apart because without a strong thesis the rest of the paragraphs can´t function. 

 As we move towards the end of the semester I am considering community college. I am considering community college because of costs. I can´t apply for in state tuition due to me not being here 9 months prior to the application date, and I can´t qualify for Hope for the same reason. I would have to apply for out of state, making it a more expensive price. Especially a University which costs more than community. Which is why I am considering community and transferring after 2 years to go into education at a university. This way I don´t have to take out loans to be able to pay for college, since my counselor advised against taking loans, since it always ends up badly.  Today in class we started finding evidence in the book Wild for when we write the essay when we come back on Monday, since Friday is a virtual day. 

 The strongest idea that stood out to me when writing the essay was the prompt about the purpose of human journey. I think it stood out to me because everyone has their own definition of what a journey is for. Maybe for becoming a better person most would say, but what exactly is their definition of ¨better person¨ is what matters. What matters most in the argument is what Cheryl thinks her purpose was, what she describes in Wild she believes it is. In Cheryl´s case it is more about self-growth and taking time to reflect throughout the trail.  Today in class we started brainstorming ideas for our essay, as we choose ideas from the prompts allotted.  

 One thing I learned today is that students are taking longer to complete a bachelor's degree.  Although normally it is 4 years it is now 5.1 or just 5 years. This is all due to several factors. Between college costs and the overload of work. It isn't the students faults but rather the system that calls to them. It is important for seniors to know that so they know what they're stepping into, so in the end they aren't taken by surprise.  Today in class we worked on two common lit assignments, both being about college and different things you should consider ( financial aid, daily life, food, environment )  

 To make my writing stronger I decided to re arrange my sentences to different parts. Especially since I summarized a lot of parts I decided it would be better to rearrange to make it stronger. As well as re word the thesis statement so it would be stronger. Details from the text and stronger quotes from the article can prove a point more than just summarizing. 

 It is important for students to write essays in their own words because it is an expression of opinion, and without being able to express their own opinions, people tend to conform, and writing with AI makes them believe anything, as long as they don't have to do the work. Writing in your own words gives you an opportunity to grow, and seeing words that you wrote down on paper makes you come to a realization if i's right or wrong or if there's something you need to fix. 

       When we wrote an arguable claim for Wilde, the hardest part for me was going beyond to support my claim. I found it difficult to not summarize, I feel as though I need to summarize for it to make sense to the reader, Especially when it proves a point I feel as though I go overboard with summarizing. Once I can get past the claim it is a bit easier, but also writing the thesis makes it hard because I'm not sure if it might be right and I end up defending the wrong point, or I don't find enough evidence. 

 The process I find most difficult is having to come up with a thesis statement on the spot. Especially a 3 point thesis statement because I will rush through and then midway through writing , I'll realize that maybe my thesis isn't what I meant to say. What's also challenging for me is coming up with all the different ideas to fit into the graphic organizer. It is hard to not be vague in my ideas.