Argument Point- SuperStores

The expansion of stores, of houses, of buildings in general; I believe undermines the American Dream of "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.” Because, America is lacking in understanding that bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better. Our lives our even less meaningful and dull; because we have so many conveniences and accessibilities; that the mind doesn’t wish to exercise itself and thus falls into a sort of vegetative state.  Quality matters, way more than Quantity. If we have more of the same, its value won’t be as high as if we had less of it; because the essence is not to fulfill the always hungry hole of craving; but fulfilling the simple peace of heart.  By expanding stores; making them all-for-one, one-for-all; we are undermining the simple struggle and effort by the small town business owners.  They had a dream; and they made it come true by effort. We undermine that effort by making the source so easily accessible. We devalue the value of creativity and self-achievement by choosing epitomes of the opposite meaning; superstores are nothing but something that is hungry for one thing: money. When I was growing up; we used to shop at the main street in Old Greenbelt.  I knew the grocer, I knew the car mechanic, and I knew the ice-cream lady. I cared for them and what they represented. Today, my younger siblings don’t have that connection between things and the resources; what they see they want; there is no intermediary to check their greed. I see the Wal-Marts all across the nation, beginning to be Super Wal-Marts; where they are selling fresh produce as well as the basic necessities of livelihood. But the quality! Oh the bananas are beyond ripe; the oranges sour, and the bread days old. Is this what we willingly exchanged for convenience? That whatever we have or use is below its real worth??  An illusion indeed.

Reflective journal 2 -The American Dream Reflection

Fitzgerald was considered a “sloppy” writer by many critics, and indeed letters to his friends showed a sort of endearing mistakes in grammar and spelling. The Great Gatsby is a sort of embodiment of that carelessness that permeated the 1920s. Its wide use of juxtaposition, as well as quirky word syntax completely captured the era; just like a picture captures a moment in time. I found that; by creating a relationship between his content and form; Fitzgerald married emotion to action. The reader thereby can feel the emotions that ran underneath the faceless carelessness; they understood the times, as if they were there.

The wide use of imagery and symbolism was kind of confusing. I guess the purpose was to make the reader understand all the mixed messages that were constantly bombarding the people of the 1920s. there wasn’t a single moment of real reflection; and this is heightened by Nick’s sense of objectivity and his duty, however little he fulfilled of it; to follow it. Peter Drucker once said, “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't being said.” I believe this saying is totally relevant to The Great Gatsby…there’s just so much symbolism and reference to historical as well as philosophical things; that I kind of got lost in all the hidden meanings. What I need to work on, in the later units; is probably understanding motifs and imagery in literature.

Reflective Journal- Exam Week 1

The essay weeks really are a great way for me to practice for the test. One of my friends is also self-studying for the AP English and I have taken to printing out the prompts and both of us timing ourselves and writing the essays. This way; I have more of a test-taking atmosphere and don’t lose track of time. But now I’m really worried about the multiple-choice. I always had a problem with those; it’s usually because I don’t understand the prompts and therefore answer the question wrongly. My first multiple-choice grade was HORRIBLE…I got a 7 out of 15; or a 46%...I really hope my study sessions with my friend can remedy that; because while I’m, ok in the essays she needs help in that; yet she’s really good at the multiple-choice and therefore we kind of balance each other out. The essays; I think my outlining time and organization takes more time than what I actually write. I think this is because of my organization problem. I hope I can get specific help on this from my instructor; because I believe I know what I want to say; but the right way to say it; that’s the prob.

Reflective Journal- Transcendentalism

This unit was a sort of history behind the development of this philosophical movement called American Transcendentalism. It was influenced by German Idealism and was a whole new look to the institutional conventions of the modern world. Emerson, who is considered the founder of the movement made sound arguments using rhetorical strategies effectively and really proved his point. He was kind of cynical in the whole societies and governments; I never considered myself as an anarchist and therefore the arguments; while sound in this aspect; didn’t really appeal to me. I guess, this unit was trying to edify us about the new theology that rose in America and its significance to the American literature and writings. There were many ideals the transcendentalist brought forth; and they were very new to me. As a homeschooled and religious institutionalized student I really wasn’t exposed to many different ideals other than my own. Therefore, the whole transcendentalism ideals were very new and radical to me. I found them quite interesting and especially how the transcendentalist developed their arguments. This was a prime example of rhetorical strategies and it gave me an idea on how to set my points in my essays. 

Reflective Journal- Socrates

  Wow, well this week I learned a lot about rhetoric. I have a friend who studied quite a bit of rhetoric and she never told me it’ll be so different, it’s like a whole new world opened up. I always wrote essays with a flair for the dramatic; kind of quirky and sometimes didn’t really make sense. It’s probably because of my poetry background. This unit, in short, gave me a whole new outlook to the world of writing and reading. I learned rhetorical strategies such as Anaphora, Syllogism, and Antithesis. I also learned how to analyze diction and syntax to decode what sort of mood or tone an author or writer is trying to set. The Socratic dialogue was an amazing piece of work; even though I don’t believe in the argument; I was impressed at how he used rhetorical strategies to make it. I’m really new to all this; and I hope this fact won’t set me back, I basically have two months to be proficient at this; I’m really counting on this course to help me; as well as my instructor. So far, she’s been a big help in answering my questions and giving me hints in how to make my work better. Some of the rhetorical methods in developing ideas are amazing. For example; I found that the use of syllogism in the sense of inductive and deductive reasoning is useful in proving an argument that probably is new and unconventional. My grade on my dialogue was a hundred; so I guess I understand the concepts and how to apply them. I still think I need more practice though; which the subsequent units should remedy.

Reflective Journal- Intro Reflection

My goals for this course are primarily to fulfill my graduation requirements as well as gaining college credit. I just finished one assignment so far; and it gave me an idea how the rest of the course shall be like. I believe my difficulties will mostly lie in organization. I always had a problem with that as well as transitions. I believe my strongest ability is my vocabulary and the knowledge I have in various ideologies and historically significant events. So far my grades for the current events and such are ok; I hope I’ll do well in the course; I’m just worried I won’t be able to know most of the material by May 16 which is when the AP test will be. I really want to score high; The University’s I’m applying to, most of them won’t accept anything below a 4. I have to really work hard in order to fix my weaknesses and develop a strong and coherent argument in my essays. The rhetorical vocabulary wasn’t really new; I took English four and some of the terms I already knew; because I was constantly flipping back to the Language Handbook and I would come across words that sounded interesting and memorize them and their meaning. I was looking through the course units; the one unit I really think I’ll have to put a lot of effort in is the Poetry unit. My friend told me the essays won’t be having prompts from fiction; is this true? I hope it isn’t; because I believe with fiction you can have a freer rein in interpreting it; rather than in nonfiction; cause then there is already a significant meaning behind the words and you have to basically be a detective and figure the answer.