The following is an essay for my English 1 course.
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So what? These are more than likely the most important words in an autobiographer's vocabulary. When someone goes to write their autobiography, their mind is usually teeming with ideas, stories, and memories. Not all of these, however, will be allowed to make into the autobiography. Why? Because they're not important to the person's story! Oh, sure, they may seem important to the person, but not really to you, because you weren't there with the person when they had the experience. Reading a boring, or irrelevant, story makes a reader say, 'So what,'?
An author/autobiographer can use this to his advantage. He can already guess how the reader will judge his autobiography. By asking himself, 'So what,' he can put the stories to the test, and see if they really need to go in his autobiography or not.
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-RPCStudent1414
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
What was Equiano's Attitude Regarding His Life in the British Navy?"
The following is an essay for my English 1 course.
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Olauda Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, was a slave. Stolen from Africa at a very young age, he was bought by an officer in the British Navy. He was taken aboard ships, and was taught the sailor's way of life, which he quickly became accustomed to.
I do believe that it is safe to say that Equiano loved life at sea. At first, he was terrified of the white man, and shuddered in fear at his every move. Life at sea, surrounded by Europeans, quickly cured him of this. He began to learn the ways of the British Navy, and even called himself, 'contented', with their way of life. After participating in a battle against the French, (something he'd longed for for a very long time), and happily escaping all harm, and danger, Equiano described himself as, 'happy', 'comfortable', and other things.
Equiano's attitude was very positive regarding his life in the British Navy. He was well fed, well treated, and very contented with his life. His master was kind, and the Europeans aboard the ships were as well. He kept this positive attitude until he was unexpectedly sold by his master.
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Olauda Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, was a slave. Stolen from Africa at a very young age, he was bought by an officer in the British Navy. He was taken aboard ships, and was taught the sailor's way of life, which he quickly became accustomed to.
I do believe that it is safe to say that Equiano loved life at sea. At first, he was terrified of the white man, and shuddered in fear at his every move. Life at sea, surrounded by Europeans, quickly cured him of this. He began to learn the ways of the British Navy, and even called himself, 'contented', with their way of life. After participating in a battle against the French, (something he'd longed for for a very long time), and happily escaping all harm, and danger, Equiano described himself as, 'happy', 'comfortable', and other things.
Equiano's attitude was very positive regarding his life in the British Navy. He was well fed, well treated, and very contented with his life. His master was kind, and the Europeans aboard the ships were as well. He kept this positive attitude until he was unexpectedly sold by his master.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
What Must I Do in My Note-Taking to Describe What is Going on Around Me?
The following is an essay for my English 1 course.
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What should I do to describe what's going on around me? It's a valid question...and one that's been posed by hundreds and hundreds of writers. Here's my answer: adjectives.
I love adjectives. I think they're descriptive, helpful, insightful, and easy to use. There, I just used four! Adjectives are commonly described as 'describing words'. They're words that provide details about something, namely a noun or a verb. I used the adjective helpful to describe the word adjective!
The reason I would use them to describe the world around me, is that they are so easy to comprehend! Looking back on my notes and understanding what was going on when I wrote them would be a cinch. Just read the base sentences, and then add in the adjectives. They'll help you get a very clear, very detailed view of what was going on.
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What should I do to describe what's going on around me? It's a valid question...and one that's been posed by hundreds and hundreds of writers. Here's my answer: adjectives.
I love adjectives. I think they're descriptive, helpful, insightful, and easy to use. There, I just used four! Adjectives are commonly described as 'describing words'. They're words that provide details about something, namely a noun or a verb. I used the adjective helpful to describe the word adjective!
The reason I would use them to describe the world around me, is that they are so easy to comprehend! Looking back on my notes and understanding what was going on when I wrote them would be a cinch. Just read the base sentences, and then add in the adjectives. They'll help you get a very clear, very detailed view of what was going on.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Has Any Event in Your Life Had the Same Impact that Learning to Read Had on Douglass' Life?
The following is an essay for my English 1 course.
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Learning to read had an unmeasurable impact on his life. It was the beginning of his realization of enslavement, and the start of his longing for freedom. Indeed, this does seem like a pretty hard event to match, but I think I have one that might just put up a fair fight.
Just five months ago, I left the Mormon church. It was a heck of an ordeal, spanning at least three of those five months. The Mormon church has hundreds of life-restricting values, rules, regulations, and practices. Once I started to realize this, with the help of the internet, and my parents, I, like Douglass, began to come to the realization of the terrible position that I was in. While Douglass' transformation took years, mine took only weeks. Within weeks, I started opening up my mind to freedom. Douglass had to long for years and years for freedom, but my search proved nearly instant gratification. I was soon free from the Mormon church, and am happy to report that I am a 'free man' now.
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Learning to read had an unmeasurable impact on his life. It was the beginning of his realization of enslavement, and the start of his longing for freedom. Indeed, this does seem like a pretty hard event to match, but I think I have one that might just put up a fair fight.
Just five months ago, I left the Mormon church. It was a heck of an ordeal, spanning at least three of those five months. The Mormon church has hundreds of life-restricting values, rules, regulations, and practices. Once I started to realize this, with the help of the internet, and my parents, I, like Douglass, began to come to the realization of the terrible position that I was in. While Douglass' transformation took years, mine took only weeks. Within weeks, I started opening up my mind to freedom. Douglass had to long for years and years for freedom, but my search proved nearly instant gratification. I was soon free from the Mormon church, and am happy to report that I am a 'free man' now.
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Wednesday, April 30, 2014
As a Writer of an Autobiography About Life in the Woods, Would You Spend More Pages Describing an Ant War or Loons?
The following is an essay for my English 1 course. Enjoy!
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If I were in the position of Thoreau, writing an autobiography about life in the woods, I would be more inclined to write more pages on an ant war than on loons. (In this case, 'loon' refers to an aquatic bird resembling a duck.) This is because since loons are rather close in behavior and appearance to ducks, people would not find them as interesting as ants. Thoreau aptly described the ant war, and I found it more interesting than the section on loons. Therefore, I believe it would be wise to include more pages on the ant war. Also, I believe it is easier to describe an ant war, than to describe loons. This would be beneficial, because better descriptions make for more interesting passages.
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I hope you enjoyed this essay.
-RPCStudent1414
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If I were in the position of Thoreau, writing an autobiography about life in the woods, I would be more inclined to write more pages on an ant war than on loons. (In this case, 'loon' refers to an aquatic bird resembling a duck.) This is because since loons are rather close in behavior and appearance to ducks, people would not find them as interesting as ants. Thoreau aptly described the ant war, and I found it more interesting than the section on loons. Therefore, I believe it would be wise to include more pages on the ant war. Also, I believe it is easier to describe an ant war, than to describe loons. This would be beneficial, because better descriptions make for more interesting passages.
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I hope you enjoyed this essay.
-RPCStudent1414
Friday, April 25, 2014
How Important is it for a Person to Summarize His Philosophy of Life in an Early Chapter of an Autobiography?
The following is an essay for my English 1 course.
Enjoy!
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How important is it for someone to summarize their philosophy of life early in their autobiography? I would say that it is very important! If you have an absurd philosophy of life, say, Thoreauian, then I don't want to read your autobiography. Plain and simple. However, if you don't warn me of this early in your biography, then I will waste my time reading your autobiography, of which is of no interest to me. Many people read the first few pages of a book before fully reading, or purchasing, to see if it is going to be worth his time or money. If you don't make those first few pages interesting, attention-grabbing, appealing to the reader, then they probably won't pick up your book! Thoreau certainly didn't make his first few pages interesting, and I wouldn't have read his autobiography if it wasn't an educational assignment. Perhaps if he had explained his philosophy of life, no matter it's absurdity, I might have been more inclined to read it.
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I hope you've enjoyed this essay. If so, leave a comment below. If you're viewing this on my 'main page', then you must first click the essay's title before being led to an area where you can comment.
Thanks for reading,
- RPCStudent1414
Enjoy!
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How important is it for someone to summarize their philosophy of life early in their autobiography? I would say that it is very important! If you have an absurd philosophy of life, say, Thoreauian, then I don't want to read your autobiography. Plain and simple. However, if you don't warn me of this early in your biography, then I will waste my time reading your autobiography, of which is of no interest to me. Many people read the first few pages of a book before fully reading, or purchasing, to see if it is going to be worth his time or money. If you don't make those first few pages interesting, attention-grabbing, appealing to the reader, then they probably won't pick up your book! Thoreau certainly didn't make his first few pages interesting, and I wouldn't have read his autobiography if it wasn't an educational assignment. Perhaps if he had explained his philosophy of life, no matter it's absurdity, I might have been more inclined to read it.
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I hope you've enjoyed this essay. If so, leave a comment below. If you're viewing this on my 'main page', then you must first click the essay's title before being led to an area where you can comment.
Thanks for reading,
- RPCStudent1414
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Would Walden Have Been a Better Book if Thoreau Had Supplied More Background Information on His Life?
The following is an essay for my English 1 course.
Enjoy!
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Henry Thoreau spent 26 months of his life living in a shack, next to a pond, doing just about nothing, a mile and a half from Concord. Afterward, he wrote a book about it. I don't have to make a stretch to say that it was a quite disappointing. Thoreau is revered in my day as intelligent, keen, wise, and even as a good writer, but I see none of these attributes in his book, 'Walden'.
What did he do before Walden? I'm not sure. Thoreau didn't exactly provide copious amounts of information on his life prior to living at Walden pond. Would the book have been better if he supplied more? I don't know. I really don't think so. It might have made it more interesting, but it sure wouldn't lessen his absurd theories later in the book, or make us not notice them. It would have been interesting to see what he was like before Walden, sure, but I don't think much could be done to make this book better -- it's beyond help in my eyes.
He did give a bit of background information; he had been a schoolteacher, he lived with his mother, he never liked commerce, and he worked 6 weeks a year. It's not a lot, but it was sufficient for the story. Of course, he never went into detail. He didn't say why he lived with his mother. He never described why, 'trade curses everything.' We could only understand why it was possible to survive on $40 per year because we knew that he lived with his mom! More information expounding on the already existing information would have been quite helpful.
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I hope you found this essay interesting. Leave a comment below and let me know what you thought.
-- RPCStuden1414
Enjoy!
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Henry Thoreau spent 26 months of his life living in a shack, next to a pond, doing just about nothing, a mile and a half from Concord. Afterward, he wrote a book about it. I don't have to make a stretch to say that it was a quite disappointing. Thoreau is revered in my day as intelligent, keen, wise, and even as a good writer, but I see none of these attributes in his book, 'Walden'.
What did he do before Walden? I'm not sure. Thoreau didn't exactly provide copious amounts of information on his life prior to living at Walden pond. Would the book have been better if he supplied more? I don't know. I really don't think so. It might have made it more interesting, but it sure wouldn't lessen his absurd theories later in the book, or make us not notice them. It would have been interesting to see what he was like before Walden, sure, but I don't think much could be done to make this book better -- it's beyond help in my eyes.
He did give a bit of background information; he had been a schoolteacher, he lived with his mother, he never liked commerce, and he worked 6 weeks a year. It's not a lot, but it was sufficient for the story. Of course, he never went into detail. He didn't say why he lived with his mother. He never described why, 'trade curses everything.' We could only understand why it was possible to survive on $40 per year because we knew that he lived with his mom! More information expounding on the already existing information would have been quite helpful.
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I hope you found this essay interesting. Leave a comment below and let me know what you thought.
-- RPCStuden1414
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