Reflection

 A Letter to Me

Dear Dani,

  This is the 18 year-old you writing to the 16 year old you. You have done a lot of things that you regret in your life. You made a lot of dumb decisions that you wish you could take back. If I could go back in time, you wouldn’t have let breaking up with your boyfriend of two years ruin your senior year. The way you broke up was difficult, his mom made you break up and that was it. You lost your best friend. But instead of letting it go, you continued to let it hurt you and ruin, what is supposed to be the best year of your life. Now, you can never get that year back and when you think about high school that is all you are going to remember. He was just a person who was in and out of your life, just like a lot of people will be and if you got a chance to do senior year over, you wouldn’t dwell on something that you could never change.

            You are stubborn, and you don’t really show any emotion. You are also caring and would do anything for anyone. You live life with almost no regrets and you believe that everything happens for a reason. But if you could go back in time, you would need to put yourself first. You give so much to everyone that you forget about what you need sometimes.

            One more big regret, and something that you would need to change if you got the chance, was not turning down that scholarship to Lawrence Technological University for soccer. You have been playing soccer since you were 4 years-old and you had no logical reason for turning down that scholarship. You used every excuse in the book to not play. Soccer was your life, when you were sad that was only thing that would cheer you up and let out all of the built up frustration.

            Overall, you turned out pretty good….. so far. You have an amazing family and sometimes you forget that. Your parents do a lot for you and you should really be more appreciative. You’re the most ambitious person you know and there are a lot of things in your life that have made you such a strong individual. Other than those few little things that you could take back, you live life with no regrets. You are the only person that can make your dreams come true. And you will.

A Letter to Me

 A Letter to Me

Dear Dani,

  This is the 18 year-old you writing to the 16 year old you. You have done a lot of things that you regret in your life. You made a lot of dumb decisions that you wish you could take back. If I could go back in time, you wouldn’t have let breaking up with your boyfriend of two years ruin your senior year. The way you broke up was difficult, his mom made you break up and that was it. You lost your best friend. But instead of letting it go, you continued to let it hurt you and ruin, what is supposed to be the best year of your life. Now, you can never get that year back and when you think about high school that is all you are going to remember. He was just a person who was in and out of your life, just like a lot of people will be and if you got a chance to do senior year over, you wouldn’t dwell on something that you could never change.

            You are stubborn, and you don’t really show any emotion. You are also caring and would do anything for anyone. You live life with almost no regrets and you believe that everything happens for a reason. But if you could go back in time, you would need to put yourself first. You give so much to everyone that you forget about what you need sometimes.

            One more big regret, and something that you would need to change if you got the chance, was not turning down that scholarship to Lawrence Technological University for soccer. You have been playing soccer since you were 4 years-old and you had no logical reason for turning down that scholarship. You used every excuse in the book to not play. Soccer was your life, when you were sad that was only thing that would cheer you up and let out all of the built up frustration.

            Overall, you turned out pretty good….. so far. You have an amazing family and sometimes you forget that. Your parents do a lot for you and you should really be more appreciative. You’re the most ambitious person you know and there are a lot of things in your life that have made you such a strong individual. Other than those few little things that you could take back, you live life with no regrets. You are the only person that can make your dreams come true. And you will.

Visual Argument

Subaru Commercial

I believe that the Subaru commercial, in my opinion, was Dominant-hegemonic reading because the commercial shows the dog jumping out of the car when it is a puppy. They then show the car a few years later; the husband has a wife now and the dog is in the back seat. Then they take it one step further and show a child and the old dog in the back seat. At the end of the commercial, they say “A companion for life, Subaru.” Dogs are usually known as companions so I think that it was a really good idea to have the viewer focus on the bond between the man and his dog. You then realize that the car has also lasted many years. I think that there was a lot of thought into whoever made this commercial. There were a lot of little hidden messages. Plus, everyone loves dogs so that held the viewers’ attention, even if they didn’t care about the car.

Process Memo

Danielle Dillon

WRT: 150

10-10-12                                   

 

                                                       My Literacy Narrative Process Memo

Being literate is something that everyone needs to be successful now days. Everyone also has a different story of how they learned to read. Becoming literate is a big step in anyone’s life and there is a special story that goes along with it. When I began organizing my timeline, the first thing I thought of was my dad and how he would work with me all of the time.  I tried to put things in chronological order, and what my most vivid memories were. The most interesting thing I realized was that when I was little I just thought my dad and I were fishing, kind of like the song “Just Fishing” by Trace Adkins. Trace Adkins describes how he would take his daughter fishing and in time, she would realize that the memories were bigger than that. Every time my dad took me fishing, and hunting he would teach me how to spell different animals. When I was little, it never occurred to me that I would cherish those memories so much.  I knew instantly that, that was going to be the theme to my story of becoming literate. Creating this timeline showed me that my parents have always been a major part of my life.

When it came to writing my narrative, I felt it was necessary to include that I didn’t learn to read until I was six years old. My first elementary school didn’t teach children to read until they were in second grade. When my family and I moved, everyone at the new school that I went to already knew how to read. I talked about my first grade teacher, Mr. Nader, and how he worked with me every day at lunch so I would be caught up with the other students. And then I went into talking about the story of my dad. I tried to follow my timeline as much as possible. That way, whoever was reading it didn’t have to play a game of connect the dots throughout my whole paper. Keeping it in chronological order seemed like the best way to keep the whole thing organized. My partners did a very good job when it came to helping me focus on one main point at a time. I tend to bounce around with my ideas and they gave me advice on how to concentrate on one thing. As I was writing my paper, I tried to keep in mind that this had to be turned into a video. I didn’t want to tell too much in my paper, and not be able to show everything I was trying to say. I thought about the pictures that I had and made sure I told a story that could be understood based on those pictures.

            When it came to actually composing my Animoto video, my partners did a really good job with choosing 15 sentences that they thought would be appropriate for my video. Though, I did find it very difficult to use the exact same sentences considering the limited amount of space in the word text boxes. I did try to keep the sentences as close to the ones in my narrative as best as I could.

            My pictures were used to give visuals as the slideshow went on. After each text slide, I tried to put a picture that corresponded with the previous slide. I had a lot of pictures with my dad and doing what we usually did; hunting and fishing. All of my photos were personal. I felt it would be very difficult to tell my story by using pictures off of the internet. By using personal photos, people who are watching my video can also make the connection between who I was then, and how much I have grown and developed.

The song I chose wasn’t exactly the one that I wanted to do. I wanted to use the song I talked about earlier by Trace Adkins but it wouldn’t download. So the reason I chose the song that is actually in my video is because the music was upbeat and lively. I didn’t want to put a slow song, or one that might scare the person who was watching it. My story of becoming literate was very positive and I did not want to ruin it with a song that was completely irrelevant.

Overall I believe that I did a pretty good job. I wish I could have been able to include more pictures, but they are at my grandma’s house and she is currently in Florida on vacation. Obviously, I wanted to impress the viewers but I think this video was more for me than anything else. This assignment made me realize just how grateful I am of my mom and dad. It made me appreciate things a lot more and I’m really glad I was assigned this project.

Digital Literacies

 As we get older and as the generations pass us by, technology is quickly becoming a huge part of our everyday lives.  Whether it’s from being able to use a credit card and having instant money at our fingertips, or being able to look any question we have up on Google.  Even though our generation is generally pretty good with technology, there is a lot more that our high school teachers could have taught us. We were not allowed to take our computer to school and if we did then we would get in trouble. High school teachers don’t realize that everything in today’s world revolves around technology.  It is their job to teach us how to use, and do things that will make us successful in life.

I personally want to be a Mechanical Engineer. I will be in a computer all day long and using technology every day. In high school, we did have computers in the engineering classroom but we didn’t learn everything there is to know. At Oakland, expect to learn all of the advanced technology that there is to offer.

Personally, I do like to write and do my assignments through a blog or an email. I feel like it’s not as formal and that it’s more of my opinion than it is anything else. Students being able to express the way they feel through a blog is a lot better than having to turn in a paper.

Literacy Timeline

*2 years old. My first word was “Hi”

*I learned how to play soccer before I knew how to do anything else.

*My dad would always take me fishing and hunting and he would name an animal and tell me how to spell it.

*5 years old – old elementary didn’t teach people how to read until they were in second grade.  Went to new elementary – Didn’t know how to read at all.

*Mr. Nader – First grade teacher- Came out of first grade at a 5^th grade reading level.

*Little women was one of the first big books that I read. All of the Harry Potter books followed it.

*All in all I never really liked to read but my mom and dad helped me out a lot when I was little.

Mother Tongue

        In Mother Tongue, Amy Tan wrote about how her mother used to speak to her and how it made her see the world differently. The language her mother used was vivid and direct. It helped her shape the way she saw things and made sense of the world. She believed that her mother’s English reflected the quality of what she had to say. Amy used to also have to speak for her mother and call stock brokers for her and doctors. She solved arguments for her mother when her mother couldn’t understand the English. The people that used to talk to her mother at department stores, restaurants, and banks used to pretend not to hear her, understand her, and did not give her good service. But with her mother’s English, it made her write her books in a different way visioning her mother as her reader. I like that Amy Tan did this. I’m also glad she used her mother’s broken English as a road to write books for people who spoke “limited English."

Why Writing is Important

                Being a Mechanical Engineer will force me to step outside of my comfort zone when it comes to writing and public speaking. Neither one of these things is something that I am very good at. Writing and English classes were always a struggle for me.  Taking this class will help me to be more comfortable and to prepare myself for my profession. Being able to speak to people and or write about the ideas I will have in the engineering field is essential.  The kind of writing I will have to do is not difficult, just something that I am not good at. I will definitely have to work on being able to thoroughly express my ideas through writing and presenting.  I am hoping that this class will be able to help me with my insecurities when it comes to writing and by the time I achieve my bachelor’s degree I will be able to communicate properly with my colleagues and coworkers.