I have learned many
interesting and life assisting things throughout this years English class, but
one of the things that will stick out to me the most is the language that I
have learned coming into this year and leaving this year. My ability to express
myself through spoken word and written as well has grown throughout the year.
Like I have my language has grown with me, and it has shown through my work and
not just in English class, but also in other assignments that require me to
write or express myself. With the help of Mr. Block and his English class, my
growth has shown in my work. Here are some examples in which my writing has
shown growth from now compared to the beginning of the year and my previous
years as a student.
Language
evolves within a person. As a class we were just heading into our poetry unit
and I wrote a poem about my stuttering. A line from my poem that stuck out to
me or really shows how I've grown is like a butterfly I fell as if I'm encased
in steel. I feel like that was my language in the beginning of the year,
trapped. Now that I have grown, my language has as well and it has broken out
of its steel shell that it was encased in becoming this
very elegant language that it has become which I am proud of. This is
just one of the ways my language has evolve over the years.
Another
example where my language has evolved along with me is in my Language
Autobiography. I expressed my difficulty dealing with language itself. Since I
am a person that stutters language is not really said to be my friend. In the
autobiography I compared my stuttering and everyone else's speech to
mine. I said "I’ll try to keep at my own
speed by switching lanes and letting everybody go past, but it’s hard. My brain
is a sweatshop. All of the work it has to put up with and the only reward is
knowing that you’re living to do it all again the next day." This
describes how I feel everyday. My confidence has risen since that moment. Which
shows the growth and the evolution of my language and myself as one.
These 2 examples will
always be the main part to my evolution with my language. This is what started
it all. From me coming out of my shell to actually using the new language that
I have achieved. Not overcoming my speech problem, but just knowing how to use
it now it one of the abilities that I have acquired in my evolution of
language. I am thankful that all of my hard work that I have done this year and
all of the assistance that I have received from Mr. Block and Ryan as well.
Without them and the projects that we were given, language would not have
evolved the way it has inside me.
This have been an interesting year, odd, but interesting. During this year I have experienced many things that I otherwise would not be able to understand anywhere else. One of which I say is the most interesting to me would be "Human Behavior." Near the beginning of this year the whole class was given a book that goes by the name "The Lord of The Flies." The name may sound odd; in fact, the name really isn't all that big of a deal in the book. The story itself is about a group of kids that crash-landed on an island with on adults. They were all smart little things so they started to work together in order to survive. They started was a simple system with everyone working together. The older kids hunt while the younger ones build huts and such. However, everything is bound to change after being there for so long. Not long after the older kids dyed their hands crimson with the blood of their first kill, they started to act, well, wild in a way or at lest that’s how we would describe it. In the end, the group split apart into two groups. One side just want to live the way they are on the island, the other wants to go back. But in the end the ones who wish to stay won the battle. But a battle is not won without blood spill and in this case, 2-3 died. This book simply explains basic human behavior. We humans are not born to live the way we do now. We are born to kill others in order to survive.
(A more detailed paper can be found HERE)
Now with the basic human instincts out of the way, time to rant about how the society has affected our simple minds. Here is something that happened not long ago. Sometime during 2012, there was a pipeline being built from Alaska to the US. What is it used for? Once the monster is complete it will haul tons and tons of Tar Sand into the US. The tar sand can be extracted for crude oil. This type of oil is extremely unclean and will cause many problems in peoples' heath conditions. However it doesn’t end there. Even during the building of said pipeline, there were many sad stories about how the next topic, Greed, turned everyday cubical workers and politicians into creatures unworthy of the word "human." The oil price in the US is rising day by day. People want cheaper oil. I mean who wouldn't? But in order to obtain one thing, another is lost. In this case for our greed, our humanity is lost. The workers desperate for work in order to earn money did everything they could in order to start building the pipe. Why do they want money? Simple, because they just WANT money. In our current society, money is the beginning and the end of everything. With enough of that green paper, you could even build a casino on the moon. So in order to obtain some of that paper, the workers abandoned their humanity and did many things that should not be done. One of the stories floating about the news web is how they forced an old lady off her own land. She have been living there for ages, everything she have and had was there on that land. From her house to her ranch to her dear memories. The workers however didn't even bat their eyelashes and just forced her out of her home where she spent nearly all her life. One could ask, "Aren’t they being ordered to do so?" To which I reply, "elementary dear Watson!" The answer is simple; it is the politicians and the corporations that issued the orders. However this does not excuse their behaviors. But the politicians and the corporations are just as guilty. They did this all to gain wealth, money, dough, lettuce. However you wish to call it, my favorite way is to call them paper since that is what they are. The politician’s gains favor with people and thus reelection, meaning more cash. The corporations want more cash to build more stuff to earn more cash. So in the end we are all caught in the endless cycle of greed, unable to escape. Greed is something everything alive have, however in our case, we are the only creatures on this planet that would stab someone in the back just to get paper colored in green.
(Some poems about this subject is HERE)
Now after all that the image of humans to me is the equivalent to that of a piece of trash. But not all hope is lost. There was once a man named Ghadi who was rather short. He was skinny as a twig and weak as a breeze. But this man defeated one of the mightiest empires in existence during that era using words and starving himself half to death. Now he is a shining star of hope in this dark, toxic cloud of humanity. He used his words to defeat the British and it worked out rather well! A wise man once said, "The pen is mightier then the sword..." in this case the guns and bullets. What it means is that using knowledge, nothing is unachievable. During the years that he fought the British power, he never once encouraged violence, but nothing ever goes smoothly. During one of these nonviolence protests, there was a fight. No one was killed for as far as I can remember, but because of this, it totally destroyed everything Ghadi have worked for. Because of this, he decided to fast until all violent actions have been stopped. With nothing but water, this man starved himself for a whole month. Seeing his determination, everyone stopped what he or she was doing. Once again Ghadi surprised the world with his actions. Not long after he has finally done the unthinkable, he have defeated the British Empire. Not once, not twice but three times he broke the way the world goes round and made it spin his way. He was and still should be a roll model for everyone. But sadly this great man's life end with a bang, as in a bullet flying through his body. Though he's body have perished, he's thoughts won't. Those who have listened to he's teaching will forever remember his words. These words of wisdom will be passed day one after another, until the whole world knows them by heart. (Link HERE)
Now onto a different subject, how about English journal entrees? Out of the many that we did, this one is my favorite. The question was something along the lines of beliefs. To believe something is good, however when one believes something too much, it would no longer help. Instead, it will cause harm to the believer.
(More Details HERE at EJ 41)
However one entree that intrigued me was English journal 41. It was for us to write a poem starting with the phrase, "Never shall I forget..." Using this, I wrote my poem based on repeating this line at the beginning of every line. It turned out rather well.
(Read HERE)
Last but not least the project that interested me the most this year would be the play. It was something where I can let my imagination go loose. Since it is not limited by most requirements, I had a lot of fun writing my play. But sadly at the time of writing this, it is not complete. But since it is already 40+ pages long I say is still a good read. I will finish this something during the summer.
(Read HERE)
