” The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.” – Brian Herbert

During this semester of English 1302, I have learned many valuable writing techniques that I feel have improved my writing as a whole. This semester were given a variety of assignments that were honestly very unexpected. They followed a similar theme, instead of bouncing around like last semester. Our professor based most of our assignments off of the hit musical Hamilton and Shakespeare classic Macbeth. These two productions were used for numerous argumentative essays, as well as used for comparing themes, characters, and designs between the shows. I have never based an entire semester on a common work before, and I found it very interesting. It forced us to dive deeper into what the productions actual meant, and the complexity of developing a successful story. We would not have seen that if we had only had one assignment on that topic.

This semester I feel that I was successful in achieving my goal of increasing my knowledge on professional writing. Our professor gave us an assignment of creating a resume for a marvel super hero, and although it seemed silly at the time, I feel that it really educated me on what a professional resume should look like. Although this was not one of my personal goals, I am very grateful that we were able to read Shakespeare out loud as a class. I have always struggle deciphering old English, and had never had the dedication to try it on my own. By reading lines allowed, it helped me understand what they were trying to say and apply it to the time period and setting of the show. It was overall very rewarding for me and I’m very glad we were able to participate in that.

Unfortunately I did have some negative experiences this semester as well, most of them being my own fault. I procrastinated on my essays, and wasn’t consistent on finding reliable sources. I’m beginning to realize how valuable time management and credibility is within your writing. If I had been more efficient with my time, I believe I could have gotten significantly better grades on my essays. Although I never got below an eighty on an essay, I still strive to receive all A’s on my assignments. I also was not thorough on my editing, which could have potentially brought my grade up five to ten points. If I had taken the time to double check my MLA formatting, put my essays through Grammerly.com, or send my essays to Collin to be edited, I would have been more rewarded then I realized. Overall, I need to improve on my procrastination and time management, and learn to take the advice that my professors give me.

This was an extremely successful semester, and I am so happy I improved in the ways that I did in English 1302. Hopefully, the skills and experiences I received this semester will help me in achieving my future career, and help me reach my larger goals in life.

Hurburt, Brian. 2016. <https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CAKVPC_enUS672US672&biw=1312&bih=539&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=zSrGXOHZGsmWsAWZzIbAAg&q=learning++quotes&oq=learning++quotes&gs_l=img.3..0l10.14341.18062..18327…0.0..1.650.3778.0j5j6j3j0j1……1….1..gws-wiz-img…….0i7i30j0i67.2Mv4yStkiyw#imgrc=AieGFmbe4JADfM:>.

“News writing, editorial writing, column writing, and feature writing.” Mass Communications Talk. 2016. <https://www.google.com/search?q=writing&rlz=1CAKVPC_enUS672US672&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj379Kf7fPhAhVBKKwKHep9DsAQ_AUIDigB&biw=1312&bih=485#imgrc=eSRfwadlv2A_4M:&gt;.

We have now completed our eighth week in English 1302, and we are diving into the emotional changes occurring with the characters in Macbeth. This week we once again spent our time reading and discussing the play of Macbeth. I was chosen to read for Lady Macbeth, which I was dreading because of the thought of speaking in front of my peers and potentially messing up my lines. However, after reading her lines for the third and fourth acts, I understood the plot more fully and payed closer attention to the character development then I had for the previous acts of the show. During these acts, we experienced intense rhetoric over the characters emotions regarding the murder of King Duncan. A major example of this is when Macbeth forgets how to pray, and causes a huge internal struggle for him. Lady Macbeth reacts to his concerns by arguing that he is foolish for being concerned with his relationship with God, and that his focus should be on diverting the attention of the crime to Duncan’s sons. Although this attempt diverts his attention for a little while, he quickly returns to his state of distress and eventually to madness.

This week I experienced a form a rhetoric with one of my classmates concerning consistency. Although this conversation did not deal with the emotional state of someone, it did associate with the physical. My friend and I were on the phone and we were discussing the correct way to work out. I have been trying to start healthier eating and exercising habits over the last few weeks, and have been getting advice from people on the best workouts and diets to go on. I genetically gain and lose muscle very quickly, and tend to work out one section of my body for multiple weeks in order to build a strong base for myself. My friend, however, disagreed with my tactic, and argued that I was putting too much strain on my body at once. Although I understand where he is coming from, I prefer to target a certain area of my body at one time. This argument could go either way, and is really just a matter of opinion.

One example of rhetoric that I believe all students at Wylie High School can relate with, is the dress code. This school district is arguing that a dress code eliminates all forms of discrimination, conflict, inappropriate behavior, and judgment that could occur if it’s students were to dress however they wanted. However, from the student’s perspective, the dress code is costing them extra time and money and eliminates their comfort and uniqueness. Once again, the argument could go either way, but being students, we are required to listen to our superiors and follow the rules set in place for us. Over the years, the school has compromised with what the students have been asking for, which caused the argument to decrease. The conflict is still there, and I do not believe it will change so long as we hold our high status in Texas schools.

Travers, Peter. “Macbeth.” Rolling Stones. 2015. <https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/macbeth-104575/&gt;.

“Double, Double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” – William Shakespeare, Macbeth

During this seventh week of English 1302, we began reading as a class the Shakespeare play of Macbeth. Although we only skimmed the surface of it’s elaborate plot, we were already introduced to the majority of the characters and countless important events have occurred. Act 1 of Macbeth contains witches, prophecy, murder plots, and conflict. It begins by Macbeth being told by three witches that he has been named the Thane of Cawdor and he is destined to become the new king. This information, however thrilling it appears, will require the brooding task of removing the current king from the throne. Lady Macbeth is adamant that Macbeth must kill Duncan, the current king, which is a major event of rhetoric in the show. Macbeth is conflicted on whether killing Duncan is necessary at the time, and is hesitant to act rashly on any form of violence. Lady Macbeth argues that it is the only option for his ultimate success, and finally manipulates him into killing Duncan. This is just one example of rhetoric in Act 1, however, there are countless others scattered throughout the story.

Although my week did not contain any witches, kings, or crowns, it did involve discussions that revolved around relationships. Over this Spring break I was having a conversation with my friend about the importance of religion within a marriage or relationship. He was arguing that if a couple does not share the same common beliefs, the relationship will not last. Although I believe religion is very important in a relationship, I have proof within my family that people of different religions can have a successful marriage.

Apart from real world discussions, this week I had the opportunity to travel to San Antonio with my sister and my best friend for spring break. As you can imagine we past copious amounts of advertisements to the five hour drive south. One billboard was used over ten times along the highway that simply read “Sick? Call ***-***-**** today!” This billboard was so vague and strange we didn’t really know what to make of it. However, we came to the conclusion that the billboard was arguing that they could help any medical issue brought to them. That conclusion is still very broad and open ended, but it was a very difficult advertisement to decipher.

“Macbeth.” Stratford Festival. 2017. <https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/WhatsOn/PlaysAndEvents/Production/macbeth&gt;.

All the world’s a stage and the men and women merely players. They have their exits and entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts. – Jaques in As You Like It

During this week of English 1302, we are transitioning from our former topic of Hamilton, to Shakespeare and his production of Hamlet. We ended last week by writing a paper over the visual rhetoric within Hamilton. Our professor carried this topic of visuals into our discussion this week over the style and writing of Shakespeare. Using a very engaging activity, my class performed short skits from the play Hamilton using only a short sentence of context provided by our professor. We were also divided into groups and given a sentence to read and act out based on what information we obtained from the sentence. Although these activities made some of us uncomfortable, self conscious, or awkward, it ultimately helped us understand how to interpret the Shakespearean text.

Shakespeare is one of the most well known writers in history. His work has been passed down through history, and his timeless stories never lose their passion, charm, and creativity. One reason I believe we are studying Shakespeare is simply because he is culturally popular. His writings are very sophisticated and within his works he invented over 1700 new words. By simply reading the plot lines of his plays, he paints a picture of the culture hundreds of years ago. Explaining how the idea of rulers, honor, and spirits prioritized and plagued their lifestyle. William Shakespeare depicted this like no other writer could, and has given us the visuals, violence, and passion of the Renaissance.

This week did not contain much rhetoric for me, except for one instance. While driving to Dallas to sing at the Meyerson with my choir this weekend, we passed copious amounts of advertisement billboards along the highway. One that stuck out to me said “We can give you a new smile.” My friends and I joked about giving each other new smiles because the ones we have aren’t good enough. However, I started thinking about the real message they’re conveying. This dentistry company is arguing that their employees have the experience and capability to transform your crooked teeth into a perfect smile. Of course this is the message they hope to convey, but suppose you take it a different way. They are not specific on what the final product will be. They merely say they will give you a “new” smile, which could either result in a positive or negative outcome. My friends and I argued over it’s meaning for a few minutes before determining that it was a stupid and frivolous thing to fight about. However, it was a very good example of worldly rhetoric, and helped me recognize it in other advertisements as well.

The Biography.com. “William Skakespeare Biography.” The Biography.com. 2014. <https://www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323&gt;.

“Create your own visual style…let it be unique for yourself and yet unidentifiable for others.” – Orson Welles

As we continue with our evaluation of the Broadway show Hamilton, we are expanding away from it’s main focus, the music, and diving into it’s visual aspects. This is now making us ask the questions, why do we find this appealing? What about this catches my eye? What is the color pattern? What contrasts are shown between characters? This week has shown the the importance of visual presentation, and how it can change the audiences perspective and displays an entire new meaning then from what is simply heard.

This week in class, we practiced finding visual rhetoric within the Hamilton mix tape song “Immigrants”. Before we began, we discussed what we should be looking for when analyzing a visual argument. This included the basics of color, structure, design, and lighting. Then we dove deeper, examining examples of figurative language within the video such as irony and allusion. These devices pressed the argument that Americans don’t treat immigrants as equals, and are not treating them with the respect they deserve. They are performing the jobs that are undesirable by the general public and by doing this are helping build the foundation of our country. However, they argue that “Immigrant has become a bad word” which is ironic because America was created by immigrants. By going back and interpreting the visuals given, it assists the audience in understanding what the author was trying to convey.

This weekend I had the opportunity to go on retreat with my parish, to the Dallas Catholic Youth Conference. We were shown many inspirational videos that contained incredible visual arguments that were very compelling and emotional. For example, one video we were shown demonstrated the internal anguish we feel when we are separated from God or allow worldly things to take his place. It showed God remaining by our side and trying to help us, whether we see it or not. To do this they used music shifts to demonstrate when the characters were close to God as opposed to drifting away into chaos. They also used visuals such as adding or removing black clothing to signify their relationship to God. After examining the Hamilton song in class, I couldn’t help but notice these specifics when watching this video.

On this church retreat I was introduced to many new faces, ideas, and lives that I had never encountered before. With these new found friends we quickly began expressing our opinions on relationships, a common topic among teenagers. Over dinner, I began an argument about if allowing your friend to date your ex-boyfriend was okay or not. Many opinions were thrown out into the conversation, and we finally decided that it depended on the situation. From there we covered every situation that could possibly occur and debated the correct way to handle the situation. This continued for some time, and included the use of forks and spoons for place holding characters in the scenario. Although the discussion got very intense, it ended in laughs and acceptance of other peoples opinion.

Chan, Carmen. “Visual Literacies.” Design Wiki. 2008. <http://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/Visual_Literacies&gt;.

Residente, Riz MC, and Snow Tha Product. “The Hamilton Mixtape: Immigrants (We Get The Job Done).” YouTube, YouTube, 28 June 2017, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_35a7sn6ds.

Welcome back to English 1302!

Another week has passed within the English 1302 writing course. This week we discussed the deeper meaning behind lyrics, and how the distribution of ethos, logos, and pathos, enhances the meaning of the song.

We first began this topic by reviewing the definitions of these persuasive writing techniques. Ethos, we were reminded, is the ethics of a statement and is important for credibility within a work. Pathos is based on emotion and how it effects readers personally. Logos is based on factual evidence that is reinforced by credible sources. We discussed as a class the positives and negatives of writing a work based on emotion rather then facts. After hearing a multitude of opinions, we determined that the credibility of the work would decrease, and there would be a larger chance of conflict with the readers personal beliefs. There is also a chance of swaying from the original topic, and coming off as a rant from the author as opposed to an academic discussion.

Our professor gave us the assignment of analyzing examples of ethos, logos, an pathos in the song “My Shot” from the world wide musical success, Hamilton. We were first able to recognize the placement of ethos within the piece. Hamilton discusses the oppression of King George on the people and gives factual evidence to support his accusations. He frequently displayed pathos by relating back to his difficult childhood, and creates excitement for the future of the country based on his personal goals. This assignment is preparing us for our future essay topic, where we will analyze a song from Hamilton and recognize forms of argument within the lyrics.

Throughout my daily life, I was able to experience argumentative rhetoric in regular conversation. My sister and I had an argument in regards to who we felt deserved to win the Super Bowl. We discussed both sides of the conflict and decided we both like Tom Brady, but we are tired of the patriots winning the Super Bowl and would like to go for the underdog. However, we do not want the Rams to win either because we feel the Saints deserved to be there and are not because of one bad call. The discussion ended on a very neutral note, but we were able to discuss and evaluate looking at all our opinions and facts from previous games.

I am beginning to realize that arguments are everywhere. They are present in the media, essays, books, and even in everyday conversation. Learning to distinguish between emotion and facts will be extremely important when trying to obtain credible information.

Stewart, Charles. “Ethos, Logos, and Pathos.” Backdrops by Charles H. Stewart. 2018. <https://charleshstewart.com/ethos-logos-and-pathos/&gt;.

The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress. -Joseph Joubert

The third week of English 1302 has been very eventful and informative in a very subtle way. Our class time was dedicated to discussion and debate on questions we were assigned and developed on our own, as opposed to a normal lecture or lesson. We dove deeper into the lives of the characters, and how their background affect them later in life. This upcoming week we are turning in an analysis paper, discussing the placement of ethos, logos, and pathos within a Hamilton song. I chose the song “Burn” sung by Eliza, Hamilton’s wife, which is her reaction to Hamilton’s publication of an affair he had with another women. Getting to discuss our questions about the plot was extremely helpful for developing a substantial argument for our paper.

Once again this week I experienced another argument with my peers, but this week it was more serious then Super Bowl teams. We discussed the new abortion law established in New York. This law legalized the abortion of full term babies. We debated for multiple hours the pros and cons of this law, and couldn’t come up with a scenario where this would be necessary. We also discussed the adoption and foster system and how poorly it is run, and how we would personally try to fix it. Being in a group of all christian girls, we all agreed on mostly the same things. It was very interesting to hear all the different ideas and to establish what we all thought was personally and morally right.

Overall this week has been very helpful, and I hope that we are able to do more in class discussions!

“Hamilton.” SHN. 2018. <https://www.hamilton.shnsf.com/Online/default.asp&gt;.

Burn. Performance by Phillipa Soo. Atlantic Records, 2015.

Thanks for joining me!

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go. – E. L. Doctorow

After going through the fall semester of English 1301, there were many new and innovative assignments that contributed to making it a success. By combining new writing patterns and editing tools, this significantly improved the quality of the students writing. In this spring semester of English 1302, I hope our class branches away from classic essay assignments, and veers more toward forms of writing that will help us in a business environment. Our professor has already demonstrated this by creating a resume for a super hero of our choice. I really hope to see more creative, intriguing, and challenging assignments like this later in the year.

As a person who takes things slow, I really appreciate the leisure of getting class time to work on assignments. This gives me the opportunity to ask questions as I find them, as opposed to trying to remember specific questions and answers outside of class. However, I do hope to learn to time manage while being a part of this class.

I also hope to have an understanding of what the professional world is looking for when it comes to writing. Applying for colleges is the next step in my high school career, therefore, practicing the correct way of writing professional applications is crucial for my future. What is an appropriate format? What vocabulary is acceptable? What changes a work from professional to informal? These are the types of questions I would love to have answered and mastered during this semester. Entering my senior year feeling fully prepared for college is my ultimate goal, and I fully believe that this class will help me achieve it.

“4 Things to do Before Writing an Essay.” Oxford Dictionary Blog. 2019. <https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/05/21/4-things-before-writing-essays/&gt;.

Doctorow, E.L. Brainyquote. <https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/writing&gt;.