Blog Assignment #7: "Author's Note" on Your Personal Memoir

“That’s when she told me the entire story.  Keisha was in foster care since she was born. Her mother was a crack addict and was doing drugs during her pregnancy. Nobody knows were she is or her condition. Keisha was born in Marcy housing park in Brooklyn. Left there alone then found by a cop who took her to the hospital. Her father was in jail, she did not tell me of what he was convicted for. All I know is that it most of been something serious because until now he has not gotten out. Also it is evident that his incarceration is drug related. Her family members did not want her. After she told me this all I felt was sadness, disappointment, but I wasn't mad at Keisha.”
This piece is about my best friend. I thought I knew everything about her, and in high school I found out she was in foster care. She was my inspiration for this piece, the idea came to me when I was eating lunch with her. She told me that when she turns twenty-one if she does not have a job and a steady place to live, the foster care agency would place her in a shelter. I turned this assignment in to late to be able to revise it for my final portfolio.  However, if I was able to revise it the first thing I would change is the title.  The writing of this assignment did not come easy to me. I was having trouble with being pleased with my work, before I gave it in to my professor I most had written it over about 4 times. As soon as I mentioned her being located in a mental institution Wurtzel Prozac Nation popped in my head. I think I was thinking about because I can just imagine the depression she most of had being in an institution with a bunch of stranger.

Blog assignment #6: Planning an Interview for a ‘Personal Profile’

For this blog I was thinking of interviewing my sister.  I was planning to aim for the struggle of a student that attended an expensive private college. The large amount of loan left and the difficult part of finding a job that is able to pay the student the amount they are suppose to get paid with the amount of education they have earned.  I  would be leaning a lot on the math aspect.
I plan to ask her:
How much does it cost to attend the college you graduated from?
How much do you have in loans?
How much do you get paid?

Another idea is to interview my friend. I would like to show the aspect of a homosexual man working with children. The children reaction to sexual preference and his actions. His coworkers and parents reaction to his preference. I could also start leaning towards his parents reaction when he told them about his preference.
I plan to ask him:
At what age did you discover you were attracted to the same sex?
Do your students ever ask why you talk or walk differently then other man in there life’s?
How long have you been working for Board of Education?

I think that when an interview format is just question and answer the reader becomes bored and uninterested. In order to make my essay more interesting I was planning to make it in a story format. I would also like to see if there becomes a large difference between my interview and an actual professional interviewer. I believe that there would be a difference since I know the people I am interviewing and I can act like myself around them.

Blog Assignment #3: Reading Description

This blog is going to be referring to Luis Alberto Urrea Across the Wire. Reading this work of literature the first thing that captures my attention comes from page 740 to 741 he states:

“Even in this wind and wet they joked and laughed. This feature of the Mexican personality is often the cause of much misunderstanding- that if Mexican are so cheerful, then they certainly couldn't be hungry or ill… Perhaps the women laughed because they were simply relieved to be getting food. Perhaps they were embarrassed-Mexicans are often shamed by accepting help of any kind… or maybe the poor don’t feel the compunction to play the humble and quite role we assign them in our mind.”

This phrase got my interest for the reason that he defended the underprivileged people. I felt like he was giving them a voice. It captured a sense of description the thought of several females smiling and giving the assumption of being happy is enough detail to be able to create a sense of an image. I can also get a sense of character from narrator it gives the impression of a strong minded individual.

Another phrase that attracted my attention is on page 753 to754

“Jesusita’s husband was held by the arms, and a sawed-off shotgun was notched under his nose and fired… the gunmen went after her. She was not fast – her legs were short, too short to carry her out of range. They shot her in the spine, knocking her facedown in the dirt. They must have taken their time reloading, because she managed to crawl a short distance, bleeding heavily. The shooter walked up to her, put the shotgun to the back of her head, and fired.”

To me this is very sentimental and emotional, it makes me shiver every time I read it. It is very descriptive I sense that it makes this scene more upsetting and cruel. There is noticeably no simile or metaphor. To me it was straighter just stating facts after facts.

Throughout this work of literature there are many phrases and sentences that grabbed my attention. The last phrase that got my attention is on page 750

“He grabbed her arm and pinched up a section of her skin. When he let it go, it stayed elevated, like clay, or a pinch of silly putty. A sign of severe dehydration”

He uses a well used metaphor and description. It does not really show a sense of character but it does tell the reader the condition Ms.Serrano was under.   

ENG 274 post #2 Author notes on assignment #1

 I decide to do the vignette in something that makes me happy every instance I think about the event. It also shows the funny and weird side of my family. The thought of everyone smiling made me want to write more than just a vignette it made me want to write an entire story. My inspiration came from seeing my brothers girlfriend and reminiscing the episode. In my revision I was planning to be more evocative and use a lot of imagery. I felt like the reader was unable to capture a sense of each character and each other differences. This was my first time writing a vignette, I consider a vignette harder than an essay to put in writing. The essay is very analytic but the hard part of the vignette is making the plot and finding the correct terms to describe a certain image.  I learned that a vignette is a short story that has no ending. I wrote my vignette on my laptop on Microsoft word, in my room, while eating cookie cream ice cream. While doing this work of literature I didn't have any reading in mind. My vignette is simple it though a reader would be confused or would need any extra information.

We sat all in a playful mood, joked around and poked each other’s nerves, the usual. All of a sudden the room changed everyone got serious and the air felt like iron steel. It felt like a funeral, me and my little brother staring at Maryann. As I look down at my feet all I hear is “Mom, Maryann is pregnant and we keeping the baby”. My mom quickly starts laughing, if I said the room felt like iron steel before during this time it felt like the material Captain America shield was made of.  As she laughs, she farts, that definitely broke the silence. We all started laughing; my mother started joking “That baby better not call me grandma! It should call me auntie; I’m too young to be a grandma”.

Melina Baez ENG 274 Creative Non- Fiction Blog

            Hi, my name is Melina Baez.  I’m currently majoring in Writing and Literature. For my major ENG 274 is a requirement. I previously have done many essays analyzing different topics.  I have also created several blogs posting for my ENG 101 and Eng103. Lately I’ve been reading and I’m interested in Julia Garwood novels. She is very talented and has outstanding novels. I’m not specifically interested in one kind of writing, I just enjoy expressing my self. However, I’m not very fond of writing research papers.

Melina Baez ENG 274 Creative Non- Fiction Blog

my integreated hour biography

  

   Melina Del Carmen Baez was born in Dominican Republic on October 13 1993. A healthy girl with black hair and light eyes. She is the child of Jose Juaquin Baez and Ylma Baez. Her father lived in New York and visited almost every summer for a couple weeks. After moving to New York at the age of five, she changed causing trouble in the relationship with her parents, and in school. In 2000 her younger brother Elvin Baez was born. She considered him her son spoiling him. At the age of 15 she found out that her parents had been keeping a big secret from her and her siblings. She had another brother just one year older than Elvin. However, it was until the summer of 2011 that she had the opportunity to actually speak with her brother.

   Human Rights are the rights given to every human for being simply that. Language is a way of expression not only a verbal one but also one through writing, body movements, pictures etc. The language of Human Rights is defined as the way the language or the rights given to the human being are interpreted and applied. The United States of America has many laws. However, many of the laws are misinterpret or are disobeyed. An education is a human right that should be given to everyone of all ages and all languages. The fact that everyone has the equal right to education yet not everyone received such is inequality. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) article number 26 mentions the right to education.