Introduction: My main focus for this essay was trying to write more directly. I  have been told many time that I write passively and have been working to get away from that. I’ve also worked on re-reading and re-working my work to make it better than ever. I honestly believe that I achieved that in this advanced essay. The part that I am most proud of or most looking forward to people reading are my scenes of memory. I want everyone who reads it to be able to picture the scene clearly without getting bored. As far as growing as a writer I think I have done a lot of growing between these two advanced essays and I’m eager to see what I come up with next. My next area of focus and improvement will be more focused around descriptive vocabulary and grammar.

I never thought I was much of a writer. I wrote a few poems here and there when I was younger but I never thought they were anything special. My father would boast about how easily the words would flow out of me, how naturally they came. Reading on the other hand was a cakewalk. Considering that I did not start to enjoy reading until the fifth grade, it was effortless. “Oh what do you have here?” I questioned.

“A book.” She responded.

“What’s it called?”

“The name of this book is secret.”

“Can you just show me the cover.” I responded annoyedly.

“I already told you the name of this book is secret.”

“Isabel stop messing around!” I demanded.

She flipped the book over to show me the cover. The title of the book was indeed The Name of this Book is Secret.

“Oh” I answered a little embarrassed. Even though my pride was hurt for being so frustrated, I was curious. I didn’t really like to read but all of the sudden I was drawn to this book. Why is the name of the book secret? Will anyone ever find out the name of the book? Who is Pseudonymous Bosch? Is that his real name? I needed all of my questions answered, so I made my way to the local Barnes & Noble to do some investigating. When I got my hands on the book I couldn’t have been more excited. At the moment I didn’t understand what I was doing. I was opening a door that I wouldn’t be able to close. I flew through the first book hoping to find all the answers, but I didn’t, but there were four more books in the series. Yet again my curiosity got the best of me and not too soon after I was anxiously waiting in line to buy the final book. When I finally got my hands on it, I knew I was never letting go. Once I started to read for myself, I caught on quickly. The words would connect and make sense in my head in a way that they didn’t before. I was actually comprehending the content and enjoying myself while doing it. That Christmas, Santa gave me eighteen wonderful books. I don’t remember being happier.

From Grothaus article, it seems clear that reading is a practice that has many benefits both physically and psychologically. A discussion about the relationship between reading and one’s writing skills might be an interesting place for the writer to go. In my experience, what I write does not reflect what I read. The two are definitely related, but this does not mean that reading leads to proficiency in writing. I grew up thinking that I was good at writing because I was reading well above my grade level. I never got bad grades in writing and I dabbled in poetry which everyone seemed to love. Plus, all the other kids who liked to read always got spectacular grades on their writing. There was a pattern that I saw early on: good reading equals good writing. It wasn’t until I got into high school that I realized that something about that system just wasn’t working for me.

“Alright class, don’t forget tomorrow is when you turn in your polished book review,” Ms. Dunn reminded us.

“I’m really about to kill this,” I whispered to my peer.

I only had to finish up the final paragraph, which took about ten minutes. I re-read what I wrote and closed my computer. All in all I was pretty proud. The next day I went to school and waited for lunch to come, I was satisfied of my work but I wanted Ms. Dunn to check it for any last minute mistakes. I showed up at her office right at the start of the period.

“Hey Ms. Dunn. Could you look over my review before I turn it in. This is the final version but I just want to be sure,” I asked

“Sure no problem,” She responded.

I shared her into my document and sat across from her, too anxious to see what she was typing, but sure were those fingers moving. Maybe they were good comments, I thought. I was so wrong.

“There you go, she said with a toothy grin on her face.” She closed her laptop and went to deal with another student.

I opened my document expecting to have to only make a few grammar edits here and there. I could not have been more wrong! All I saw were paragraphs worth of edits in the comment boxes. At first I kept my cool, fixing one error after another, until suddenly lunch was over and class had begun. That’s when I started to breakdown. I was running out of time until eventually I had to turn in what I had. After that class period I wasn’t feeling great about my writing but I was trying to stay positive. The next week I got my grade back on canvas - 79. That was the beginning of a pattern would continue through the school year. I took refuge in my books.

I never felt so incompetent and unsuccessful at writing. I don’t understand how someone who has read so well for so many years is unable to write well. Am I not paying attention to the writing techniques of different writers? Am I not comprehending the writing as well as I think I am? It’s stressful to know that writing a simple essay has to be a big production because you are constantly checking yourself on simple writing errors or areas of doubt. Writing still is a challenging area for me and no matter how much I read it doesn’t change how I write, and I’m not the only one who notices this. In the steps to become a better writer, I have been keeping a journal and working with a tutor to practice my writing skills and confidence as a writer. Because I like to read books I started marking my books and

Citations:

"How to Use Reading to Become a Better Writer | Write to Done." Write to Done. 31 Jan. 2008. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <http://writetodone.com/how-to-use-reading-to-become-a-better-writer/>.

"How Changing Your Reading Habits Can Transform Your Health." Fast Company. 27 July 2015. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <http://www.fastcompany.com/3048913/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/how-changing-your-reading-habits-can-transform-your-health?utm_campaign>.

I constantly hear students complain about math homework, or just any homework in general, asking questions such as, “How is this going to help me in the future? What purpose will it serve? How will it be useful? When am I going to need to use this? Why is this important or relevant to me? The questions ring in my ear, I swear it is contagious. I now have started wondering if there are certain things that I am not going to need to use after I get out of school and enter the real world. In fact, I remember recently talking to my mom who is a graduate school math professor about homework that Mr. Reddy gave us. “What are you doing in math class these days?” she asked me.

“…uhh….” My mind was blank. It was a friday night and I didn’t want to think about any sort of work at all, but she wanted to know the status of my homework for the weekend. “Oh right,” I just remembered. “We are learning about the division and simplification of polynomials.”

She asked me to explain it because this is something she had not learned in a long time and had not needed to know. I did my best to recall everything that Mr. Reddy drilled into our head. She easily understood what I was explaining, but there was a look on her face that suggested confusion.

“What?” I asked.

“Why would you put the remainder over the complex polynomial?”

I didn’t know how to answer. I tried to force an explanation out of my mouth, but nothing would come. I finally said “I don’t know” in an attitude that made it seem as if I had something to defend. “ I mean… I guess… Because-”

She interrupted. “Oh, because in normal long division, you put the remainder over the divisor and that is how you get the decimal.”

“Oh that’s true,” slight pause. “Also that’s what we were told to do.”

“That just seems useless,” she added, almost as an insult to what we were learning in math. “It just seems pointless. How would that help you? How would that simplify the equation?” I was speechless; my mind was flipped upside down; I was shocked. I never thought that my mom would ever in, her existence, question what I would be learning especially in my math class. I could not for the life of me think of any sort of response to her question. I wasn’t barely even confident enough to say “I don’t know,” but her question got me thinking. Do schools teach us to be literate in the real world? I mentioned this to my mom and we eventually got on the topic of what in school is necessary to be taught in schools, and what is not. I then told her about a video on Youtube that I had seen recently. It was of a British guy, Dave Brown, rapping about how the school curriculum was flawed. Ever since watching that video I had wondered if what we are learning in school is important to us. My mom also showed me the video titled “Somewhere in America,” the video in class. It was featuring three teenage girls who performed a slam poem about how the most important lessons we need for everyday life are not taught in school. Ever since then, I have always been interested in what is important to be taught in school versus what is irrelevant.

“I wasn’t taught how to get a job, but I can remember dissecting a frog,” Dave Brown. Unless you are passionate about becoming a scientist, learning how to dissect a frog is not important. If you are a junior or senior in high school, or if you’re just starting college, a skill that your survival in the world depends on is getting a job. This is especially true if you are trying to afford college. So far the only two jobs I’ve gotten are because my mom knew a couple people who were interested in hiring, and wanted someone who could help out with a large amount of work. I have never experience the process of applying for a job, sending in a resume, and setting up an interview. Now I’m afraid of what will happen when it comes time for me to get a job. I wouldn’t know how to handle the responsibility of getting a job even if I was approached with the opportunity to get hired. I wasn’t taught how to use computer programming, so how am I supposed to major in CS without any experience. How am I supposed to find an internship or volunteer work that can help me if I don’t have a platform to work off of. This makes me look like an idiot, especially when talking to professional programmers, video game designers, and computer scientists. The typical sting of the dreadful question that nags at me as if I’m stupid gives me a headache. “So, what programing experience do you have?” My mind hunts for words putting them together in one long command to impress whoever cares to listen. I fail each time, and have no clue what I am actually talking about.

“Umm… I uh… I can umm… I- I’ve- I’ve coded a few times… using processing… and then I- I tried using eclipse… which I think is javascript based. I found eclipse to be too hard though”, and now I know we’re off to a great start when I can’t even understand one of the most simplest programing applications, and its language. Their response is always the same.

“We can start you on something a bit more basic,” or “it takes time everyone needs room for improvement and room to grow.” Honestly I get it. I understand. There isn’t any reason the truth needs to be hidden. I know I am not that good, especially if I have no where to start.

I am trapped by my lack of knowledge. If only I had learned this is school. Unfortunately those in charge of the school curriculum believe that dividing polynomials and staying up all night writing essays about the history of these United States is more important.

“I mean I get that you want us to practice writing but in real life when am I ever going to need to do in depth research of how the English, French, Portuguese and, Spanish sailed across the Atlantic and slaughtered the Indigenous people with guns, germs, and steel? And when in my life am I going to need to solve equations that involve dividing polynomials? Even If you are interested in majoring in math no one whatsoever will need to know all that information about vertical, slanted, or horizontal asymptotes?”

Literacy is understanding the world around us. Schools do not always teach us to be literate. We often learn to be literate, but not from our parents, guardians, friends or family. We do not often remember learning how to be literate. Do you remember who taught you to always fill in “C” on a quiz or test when you do not know what the answer is? Do you remember who told you to pretend to be on the phone if you think someone is following you?

Most of my time on this earth has been centered around finding what made me different from others, why my skin color was so important to my social standing, and how others perceived me. When I was about 7, I had my first real encounter with the ideology of racial identity.I first encountered this ‘fence’ when I made my first friends in my neighborhood. Their names were Cory and Corby, brother and sister. As my uncle said to me in later years, everyone was friends with everyone when they were 7, so long as they could play together. This was also true for me and I played with them day in and day out. The more time we spent together, the more I noticed our differences. They both liked what I thought of at the time as ‘dude music’, whereas the music I listened to was soul, r&b, and pop. They were allowed to go roaming around the neighborhood without their parents, I wasn’t allowed off of the block without a chaperone. Discovering all of these differences also led to an eventual climax in our relationship, that challenged my opinion on who I was. This encounter spurred me into action of finding the answer to my question:who was I? Who was I supposed to be? This question I found gave me a multitude of answers, corroborated from new stories, my family, and just encounters with people at school. This answer wasn’t to who I was, but rather who I was supposed be. I believe that ethnic background and racial identity are like stakes in the ground that pin you to a certain spot, forcing you to conform to the social norms around you, or perish. This creates a society in which you are born into a class, and like a caste system that is where you live and die. I believe that to belong to a racial/ethnic group is something can be measured in authenticity, but rather in how comfortable you are with yourself and who you are first.

Continuing my story from above, The one distinct difference between us also led to the eventual termination of our friendship. One day, Cory and Corby cornered me in front of my house with my bike. I’d recently gotten a bike for Christmas. The chain had fallen off and I was trying to fix it when Cory and Corby came walking over, with determined looks. “Curse” they demanded, as they noticed that I never cursed but they always did. I refused, and they cursed instead, to show me how easy it was. However, I still wouldn’t do it, so Corby took my bike while Cory blocked my path and rode off with it. However, he didn’t get very far as the chain fell off and he fell over. He got up and motioned to his sister to come with him, deciding that I wasn’t “cool” enough to be their friend. I cried, and my brother helped me bring me back inside with my bike.

Speaking in terms of racial/ethnic identity, this experience didn’t teach me much at the time, only that Cory and Corby were jerks. Big, big, fat, meanie, nincompoopie jerks. However, and looking at this experience now, I realized that they were testing me. They weren’t testing my friendship in terms of loyalty, but rather in terms of toughness. They were trying to gauge my toughness, and my reaction was not to their liking. This form of testing I believe stemmed from an overlying dogma that encouraged black people to act tough and be tough to shield their vulnerabilities. This is just one part of the large population of sheep being harbored within this fence, but it is the only one I can say I personally relate to. I believe another factor that contributes to the ‘authenticity’ of being in an ethnic group is not just how you identify, but how you present yourself in your everyday life.In Ta Nehisi’s book, Between The world and Me, He says: “The meek shall inherit the earth” meant nothing to me.The meek were battered in West Baltimore, stomped out at Walbrook Junction, bashed upon Park Heights, and raped in the showers of the city jail. While this is a more extreme example of my argument, it still encompasses the kind of toughness that Cory and Corby were testing me for. When he says this, I believe he means to say that to fit in, to survive in his fence was to be tough, or at least feign toughness. For me, my identity would be what I said above, but underneath that layer is  my true self that you expose or hide from your ethnic group. In the end, I don’t believe ethnic identity is about proving your authenticity to others, but rather proving it to yourself. Then, I believe that is when you are able to embrace your ethnic identity, but not before then.

Introduction

This essay centers around the different types of literacy one can encounter in the world. Here I asked myself what does it really mean to understand a culture. I’m very proud of some of the metaphors used in this essay. I would like to further my metaphorical ability in future writing assignment.

Advanced Essay

As Americans, we are privileged to be exposed to diverse experiences. With this comes a perceived understanding of many cultures and their influences, but in fact, full cultural literacy is near impossible to achieve because the full depth of a culture is made up of many different subcultures. Culture is neither simple nor static.

My great-grandfather was born and raised in the backwoods of Mississippi during a turbulent time for African Americans. As a black man, he lived with perpetual danger. Through visits by the KKK, physical exploitation, and exploitation of black women, he has developed a much different opinion about gun ownership than I have.

My maternal great aunt, Henni, was a beautiful woman in her time. She was a tall 5’5” with long, wavy hair that rested in little curls at the ends. Her skin was a light coffee color, much like mine. Her facial features displayed an uncharacteristically delicate quality for her time. She was a nexus for all types of attention, good and bad.  

When she was at the ripe age of sixteen, a man, almost twice her age, arrived on the front porch. As he knocked on the door, he crooked a sly smile, not expecting to be greeted by the stoic face of my great grandfather. My great grandmother's exact words were something like “That big old man weren’t expecting your granddaddy to open the door. His smile dropped so quick you could feel the breeze.”

I can imagine that his smile dropped for two reasons. The first would be that my great grandfather met him at the door. The second was the shotgun Granddaddy cradled in both arms, the way a pageant queen might hold a bouquet. He cocked the gun. A hard gulp was taken. "I don't want no trouble, sir. I just wanted to see Henni," the man said, though much weaker than he intended.

Granddaddy was unbelieving. "You chased my daughter through a field, tried to snatch up her up and now I’m finding you on my porch?", he said in a low aggressive tone.  "Leave." I imagine him saying this part slowly, like a one liner from an action movie. In that instant the act of having a gun empowered him to defend his daughter from the advances of a white man in the Jim Crow South. Although he threatened violence in its expression, my great grandfather’s only intention was to protect his daughter, a pure and understandable sentiment.
One can see why easily see why my great-grandfather would favor access to guns. In his worldview, guns weren’t an offensive weapon, but rather a tool for defense. From my perspective,  I find guns to be overwhelmingly dangerous. My grandfather and I were from the same culture but at the same time we were raised by different cultures. The culture that raised me is like a tumorous growth on the back of his, a mutated and morphed version of what was once his culture. Although are part of the same origin, different experiences yield different offspring. Both create opposing views to the other.  The question about the acceptability of guns can't be answered simply. There are a thousand ways to think about this one issue, each supported by their own cultural experience.  

The writer Ravi Zacharias once said "With no fact as a referent, what is normative is purely a matter of preference.” He’s saying that nothing is universally true, especially not on a cultural level. Think of sub cultures as different type of dance. Like dance, each subculture is founded in its own philosophy.  Like ballet and hip hop sometimes these philosophies are diametrically opposed. This makes a superficial understanding achievable but to fully understand these philosophies one must commit to them and you can’t fully commit to two opposite ideas. One might say that commitment isn’t necessary for understanding but the great Chinese philosopher Confucius would disagree. In The Analects, the sacred text of Confucianism, he says that without life long commitment learning is impossible.

To fully understand a culture, even one of origin, in all of it's dimensions would require an real world understanding and encyclopedic knowledge of each individual subculture. Culture is too vast and ever expanding to grasp in its entirety. To put it mathematically, there are just too many variables, but this doesn’t mean that we should turn inward and deny ourselves culture in all of its forms. I purpose that we embrace this unknown. There is so much culture can provide for us.

Financial Literacy

By Luke Watson-Sharer

things in a small highlight is apart of script

As the United States loses its resume as a financial have, it is important to understand why. Is it because of multi-national corporations, banks, or the people? The lack of instruction in basic financial literacy has contributed to the destabilization of the United States. A basic economic literacy lesson is focusing on fiat currency, banking and the, minimum wage. To become financially literate, you must understand these topics. “Economics is everywhere, and understanding economics can help you make better decisions and lead a happier life”- Tyler Cowen.

One reason financial literacy is low is because people do not make enough effort understand basic economics. The nightly news broadcasts the Dow, S and P, etc. stock markets but we do not know the importance of theses institutions and ratings. To few high schools offer an class in economics, banking or anything to promote financial responsibility and literacy. This hurts our next generation especially when the up and coming currencies such as the bitcoins emerge. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss necessary components of basic financial literacy.

Fiat Currency has a daily effect on our lives and is significant to U.S. history since 1968. Fiat Currency is money that has no commodity. Commodities can be anything from precious metals, such as gold and silver, to food. Now you’re thinking, sweet, we get free money. Well, it’s the other way around. Fiat Currency only favors those with a lot of money.  When you have fiat currency you can create money from nothing. Therefore, every next dollar makes every other dollar worth less. This hurts your money big time. Workers are already taxed a lot but this serves as a “hidden tax.” This also allows unlimited credit and loans. So some will say, “cool more free money”. The word credit is Latin for credere which means “to believe.”  By creating money through loans and credit, the money supply increases and therefore, money has less value. Citizens need to be aware of what devalues our currency. Knowing the basics of fiat currency is a step towards financial literacy.“At the end fiat money returns to its inner value—zero.” - Voltaire

Another component of financial literacy we must understand how to be financially responsible. Knowing how to bank is required in a “free market” society. Banking consist of a few essential things: credit (covered above), saving, and profits. Credit is when a bank provides a loan. Loans are lending money from one institution or person to another institution or person. Loans must be repaid usually with interest. Savings are money a person or institutions saves or does not spend. When money is in our savings, it is reinvested by a bank as a loan to another person.  For example, the other person may buy a car, home, or pay for college. This means that the interest pulled from the credit on loans is how banks profit as a business. Saving money is important because it enables the banking system to work.  Without money from savings, banks could not be make loans and be profitable.  Understanding interest, credit and savings is another step towards financial literacy. “Typically, students slide into debt through the extension (by credit card companies) of unaffordable credit lines.”- Robert Manning

        The following scene explains the basics of banking.

Client 1: “Hello clerk, I’d like to deposit ten dollars.”

Clerk: “ Certainly would you like this in your savings or checking?”

Client 1: “Savings please.”

The bank can now reinvest your ten dollars.

Client 2: Can I borrow ten dollars for a shirt?”

Clerk: “Certainly.  The interest rate is 6%”

Client 2:” Fine by me”

1 month later he must pay the bank back. But must pay them an extra 6%.

Clerk: “Good afternoon.  Are you here to pay your loan?”

Client 2: “Sure. Ten bucks.”

Clerk: “Sorry, sir. Ten bucks plus 6% interest.”

Client 2:  “Oh, yea.”

Financial literacy also requires understanding the minimum wage. The minimum wage is the lowest legal wage one can employ labor at in the U.S., adjusted by states. The minimum wage was created in 1938. As indicated by the chart, the minimum wage has not kept up with the rate of inflation.

Source:  Pew Research

Many say the minimum wage isn’t for a family. Well, I agree it isn’t but it wasn’t meant to be. It was intended to be for younger workers and to raise the working age. Yes, it’s too low, but it was meant to be the minimum rather than a going rate. It’s important to understand the use of the minimum wage but also to restore it to a relevant wage of at least $12 an hour.  Since 2009, the minimum wage has lost about “8.1% of its purchasing power to inflation.” (Pew Research, 2015).  This reality is acknowledged by the twenty-nine states that have set a higher minimum wage. While workers need to know the minimum wage, more importantly, they need to know how to work for a fair or living wage. Understanding labor rights are just as important as understanding civil rights; they are connected. “I do not support raising the minimum wage, and the reason is as follows. When the minimum wage is raised, workers are priced out of the market. That is the economic reality that seems, at least so far, to be missing from this discussion”.- John Sununu

In conclusion, as we are not teaching our students financial literacy, we may potentially will lose our savings, become overly indebted, and not demand equity in pay.  Without basic financial literacy, citizens will not be able to challenge those who control capital and make policy. Because basic financial literacy has not been taught, the U.S. goal to become “middle class” has become less attainable.  To change this trend, basic economic literacy, including discussing fiat currency, basic banking and minimum  

wage, needs to be infused into the curriculum.  Financial literacy should be added to “reading, writing and arithmetic” in all schools.

Bibliography:

A History Of The Minimum Wage." YouTube. YouTube, 3 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2015. by Time Magazine:

Introduction

I knew from the beginning that I wanted my essay to have really strong scenes of memory. It was important for me to have this because I felt like it would be what made my thesis the most convincing. While writing my scenes of memory I tried to make them have a lot of description so that someone reading it would be able to visualize it. I think that my favorite part of my essay is the paragraph about having writer's block in middle school. This is probably because I had a personal connection to this part, which is funny because that’s one of the main points of my essay, that people write their best work when they’re writing about something they have a connection to and are passionate about. I think that if I can analyze my quotes in a stronger way it will make my writing stronger in general as well as make it flow more and just make for a better essay.

Advanced Essay

Up until the fourth grade I wasn’t a good reader. I remember picking up one book, Tuck Everlasting, and finally understanding what the big deal was about reading. It was just a normal Thursday. Forgettable really. The sun could have been reaching its rays through my classrooms 3rd floor windows or thunderclouds could have been sitting heavily over the buildings. I can’t remember. I do remember that my teacher had told us to bring a book to class because we were going to be doing independent reading. The book I brought was of no interest to me. Just looking at the cover made me grit my teeth. My friend, Nina, looked at me. “I have an extra book if you want, it’s one of my favorites.” I looked at her as she rummaged through her backpack and finally produced her paperback copy. Hesitantly, I took it from her. I heard the teacher say to start reading and went to lie on the carpet. The book sat in front of me, I dreaded opening it to the first page. With a final sigh I began to read. My eyes scanned the lines of each page and before I knew it, the time was up. To my surprise, I was upset that I couldn’t finish the chapter. I walked up to Nina. “You don’t mind if I borrow this right?”

In a lot of schools, the books that students have the option to read are not something that they are interested in. This could cause someone to never get into reading because the only things that they have read have been chosen by their school system. This can even be seen in writing. Structured essays and stories make it hard for individuals to show and express their themselves, and therefore their identities. The best writing that someone can produce will always be when they’re writing about something they have a connection to, whether that connection is a strong opinion, or a prominent memory.

Writer’s block. I would always get it at the worst possible moments. It was 7 o’clock the night before my first english essay of 7th grade was due and the only thing on my document was my name, which was funny because the essay was about our name. My name. I thought back to all the times it was mispelled and pronounced, how when people would ask me what it meant I had to tell them that I had no clue. I couldn’t count how many times I had said “No not India, it’s just Indee,” and “Yes, that’s the whole thing, it’s not short for anything.” As if my name wasn’t good enough, because it needed to be longer. Without even realizing it my fingers started hitting the keys. I didn’t know how much anger and annoyance I had for this topic. All of the times I remember hating my name and then loving it were forming on the page in such speed that even I was surprised. I heard my mom call up the stairs. “Ind! It’s time for dinner!” Without taking my eyes from the screen and my fingers from the keyboard I yelled back, “I’m not hungry!” There was no way I would stop myself now that I was completely focused.

"Reading can offer richer, broader, and more complex models of experience, which enable people to view their own lives from a refreshed perspective and with renewed understanding," This quote from the article, How Changing Your Reading Habits Can Transform Your Health, talks about how reading can give someone “complex experiences.” Complex experiences can contribute greatly to a person’s identity. With each story, the number of the readers experiences grow. A book can be a different experience for two people. One person could view it this way and the other a completely different way. These different views give others insight into who the individual is. Depending on how someone interprets something can show what type of thought process they have.

The books that someone reads affects how they view the world as well as how the rest of the world views them. A piece of literature can make you notice things you never thought about, and make the readers opinions sway from their original thoughts. The reader can have so many diverse experiences from books and how these experiences imprint on them can vary. The books someone reads and the topics they write about are as important to someone’s identity as their own fingerprint. Unique, unlike anyone else's.

Work cited

Grothaus, Michael. "How Changing Your Reading Habits Can Transform Your Health." Fast

Company. Mansueto Ventures, LLC, 27 July 2015. Web. Nov.14, 2015.

Digital Story

Verbal storytelling and public speaking are integral parts of our culture, a key part of being intelligent is the ability to communicate that intelligence. The ability to accurately communicate ideas to someone is something we all do on a daily basis. Classrooms should adopt new ways of teaching that involve discussions, how to properly have a discussion, and, have classes on public speaking.

Navigating the school system is an impossible task, from teachers who have given up, to the bureaucracy of administrators, to the sheer fact that The Lorax was banned at one point in time. Schools don’t teach all they could, leaving many students feeling cheated because they have no idea how taxes work. The classroom presentation is something that most students dread, but it doesn’t have to be. Ignoring the issue of students not caring for right now, public speaking that strikes fear into the hearts of the youth. One article from successfulstudent.org states, “Knowing how to connect with others, being empathetic, when to speak and when to listen, is of great value in the workplace and in interpersonal relationships. To learn the art of conversation is to actually do it, with peers and other varied and diverse people.” This quote mentions the art of conversation, and it really is an art. If you have ever talked to a child you realize how inept they are with speaking, they take huge pauses between words. The skill of having a conversation takes years to build. Just to be clear someone isn’t dumb for not being able to communicate ideas. There are very few jobs in modern society that do not involve some form of human interaction, and being able to do that can help you succeed in life. The world doesn’t revolve around silence; think about how many human interactions you have in a day, from the bus driver saying hi, to buying soda, to just saying something to someone you know. Imagine if almost everyone you meet knew how to have a conversation, the amount of awkward interactions would drastically decrease.

Storytelling is an integral part of my life and most people’s lives. I only recently turned into the storytelling powerhouse that I am today. The first story I put into circulation, by that I mean the first story I told most if not all of my friend groups. This story was originally gonna be a story I took to my grave, but now is just a fun and exciting story. It was an embarrassing moment of pure stupidity, and ended up being fantastic. When I was in the fifth grade I was not a smart child. My family took my brother to the chiropractor’s office when he messed up his back. At this point in time I had no idea what a Chiropractor was, so I went searching trying to find the true meaning or chiropractor. I found a man in one of the rooms not wearing pants, but luckily wearing underwear. I still have no idea why he wasn’t wearing pants to this day. So in my head my brain made the connection that chiropractic meant prostitute. At this point in my life I still thought sex was just two people naked under the sheets. I started getting all worried about my family taking my brother to the prostitute’s office. Eventually my mom starting going to the prostitute’s office. I was in distress at this because I didn’t want my mom going there because she had a husband. Then my sister started going to the prostitute, then my whole family was being taken by the prostitute. I was so afraid to go to the chiropractor, but not afraid like kicking and screaming, I was just wildly uncomfortable and on the edge of my seat. I am probably the only kid in the history of the world that was afraid of the chiropractor. Now what does that story have to do with verbal literacy and storytelling? This was a story that because of my confidence in storytelling and throwing caution to the wind allowed me to become a great storyteller. I began to tell more and more stories, to more and more people. If I had learned verbal storytelling in school, I may have been able to tell this story earlier, and be more confident about it. Adults seem to lose their ability to tell stories or stories that are interesting. Think about all the boring fishing or workplace stories you had to sit through at family dinners.

There isn’t a single class that has ever taught me nothing. Even if the lesson was an inadvertent lesson like dealing with a terrible teacher, or how to manage a class that you have no interest in. There have been many positive lessons in my life as well, like how to properly write a thesis, how discussions should be doing, or just getting invested in a topic that I thought was terrible. I would rather talk about what makes a good discussion and what should be taught. I’m not going to mention any teachers by name or any teachers from SLA. My music teacher was an eccentric guy, they told us stories about their life and man were they crazy. They once won a contest for saying “GOAL” the longest at their school, won concert tickets, but they didn’t like the band and they were too lazy so they didn’t pick them up. They taught me some valuable lessons like not saying ‘I think’ or ‘I believe’ before an idea, because ‘We all know you believe that because that’s why you are saying it.’ Needless to say this person was a huge influence in my life. We had laid back discussions that didn’t feel rushed, and we all respected them, which is almost impossible for an entire class to mutually respect a teacher. When someone in the class made a joke, they would laugh along with it, and have a back and forth. I think about that class, maybe 5 times a week, that's how impactful that class was. English classes have been an experience no matter what the circumstances. This English class was incredibly stressful, but also magical. I had projects that I was completely stressed over, even before I was assigned it. This doesn’t mean I hated the class, I felt challenged, like I was putting out work that mattered. My time was respected and I respected theirs in return by not turning in garbage.They told us that we can go over the word count if we wanted to lose points, but it would be a risk because the story could be better with more words. We could take risks and be rewarded.

Verbal storytelling, discussions, and public speaking, are invaluable parts of our daily lives. A person’s ability to verbally communicate thoughts to anyone is a skill we all do, all the time. Schools, teachers, and classrooms need to adopt new ways of teaching that involve discussions, how to properly have a discussion, and, have classes on public speaking.

"20 Life Skills Not Taught In School - Successful Student." Successful Student. 16 June 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.