Progress...

My college blog is coming along quite nicely so far but I still have A LOT of work to get done. I am just at the beginning. I hope to be done by Wednesday of this coming week because I need time to also plan out how to present it to the class and other students outside of the AP Class.I am setting time aside everyday to do at least some small changes or adding something new to my college blog, I'm slowly progressing.

As of right now, I don't have a set plan as to how I will present my project to the class but I'm thinking of basically showing my college blog to the class and as I go through posts, explain them. I was also thinking of making a PowerPoint and taking snapshots of my college blog and putting in bullet points with information. I want to grab everyone's attention and let the students know that I really tried and planned out my blog.

I believe that I am not making enough progress right now becaus of everything else going on with graduation slowly creeping in on us seniors. I am excited and passionate about my college blog and will spend a lot of weekend time with it!

My Progress...

1. What I've done so far.

- So far I have created my college blog and started working on the design of it. I wrote a short description of what the blog is about and a little about myself as well. I would like to make the descriptions a little more descriptive though. I have got in contact with the groups that are good with website designing because I want my blog to be attractive to all people. Another accomplishment that I am pretty proud of is my list that I have made of all the things I want to get on my college blog before the end of the year. It helps me stay on track and organized.

2. What I still need to accomplish in the two weeks I have left.

- In the two weeks I have left I have quite a bit to accomplish. I still need to finish developing the design of my blog. I am not happy with what I have on it because it is too simple compared to what I have pictured in my mind for it to look like in the end of the whole process. I think the biggest part of making my blog will be the actual information I put on it. My plan is to have school admission requirements, what I did during my high school life to get in, and some posts on snapshots of what UC Merced looks like and things it has to offer that I know about it so far. PROMOTION!!! I need to get my college blog out there to students and all others who have desire in exploring colleges.

3. How my work will benefit me and others.

- My work will benefit me by allowing to take time to reflect on the school I will be attending this fall as well as the benefit of making relationships with others interested in UC Merced. I am really anxious about meeting new future students of Merced or talking to other college students who can relate to work I will be doing in college. It will benefit others by giving them a chance to easily preview UC Merced from their devices. It will also allow those interested in the school to have some one on one conversations with a student (me) actually attending the school. Overall, it will be a learning experience for me and all others who view my college blog. 

NEW COLLEGE BLOG

I just started my college blog and I am already really excited about it. It is barely getting designed so there is not much to look at yet. Please go check it out and let me know what you think I should start adding to it! (:

Link: http://ucmerced2016.blogspot.com/

Feat of Wisdom: Writing as Spectator Sport

I challenged Edith to "Stop, drop and write" the intro to an essay as well as the prewrite. She decided to take the full class period and write the entire essay. I challenged her inside of our NOISY Avid classroom and as you can see, everything was a distraction.

My Plan for my College Blog

My Goals

• to create a college blog well enough organized for anyone to be able to easily go through
• college blog will be completely focused on UC Merced and any further education I receive 
• to get a neat looking blog full of color and attractive to look at (draw attention)
• well explained presentation to colleagues

Things Required:

• new blog page
• better web design skills 
• go to UC Merced website and obtain information needed for entry in their university
• possibly interview some already present day students from UC Merced

Timeline:

• get help from web design group (tune in for some lessons)
• inform myself about the college off their website and other college sources
• make appointment to interview students 
• get reviews/opinions on school - ratings
• create new blog page (VERY FIRST STEP)
• write out what I did through out high school to get into UC Merced (partially done)

Presentation:

• present with use of college blog
• explain the different things I took into consideration while making blog
• show the difference between my design decisions
• make posts and link my college blog to them on social networking sites to try and get people outside the AP class to look at it and also spread the word

AP Exam Study Journal: Day 3

Today we went over the multiple choice questions we had difficulty with in class. I think that everyone agreed that vocabulary is difficult to get past because many of the words in the AP exam make us say to ourselves, "Where did this come from?" I learned that sometimes it is best to skip the ones we don't know right away because it will take up time and we are timed on the real thing.

I took note of the fact that Preston is really trying his best to get us ready for the things we are having difficulty with and the in class lectures so far are making the process of taking practice tests easier and faster. Right now I am very unhappy with my attention span still and have tried actually timing myself now while doing multiple choice questions. If it is taking me an hour to answer 20 multiple choice questions then there will be time conflict when the real AP exam comes this Thursday.

I plan on once again timing myself right now when completing my 20 multiple choice questions and I will write at the top of my paper how long it takes me to answer them and which ones gave me the most difficulty. Tomorrow I will be analyze my own work and put work on my timing if needed or way of thinking.

AP Exam Study Journal: Day 2

This weekend has been very stressful and I do not understand a lot of the multiple choice questions. I am having trouble staying concentrated more than anything because it all makes me so sleepy, especially the long passages we have to read before answering the questions.

I am having the most difficulty answering questions with difficult vocabulary that looks all the same to me. I am having a very easy time answering the multiple choice questions where the answers can be found within the text with no extra thinking. If any of you have any ideas on how to better master the vocabulary questions PLEASE comment!!!

So far the essay writing has been write enjoyable. I can write essays a lot faster now and they actually make sense. I feel that the need in a more formal and wide range of vocabulary is necessary though because I rely on the same words over and over again. When I am writing, i concentrate on getting my thoughts out so quickly that diction does not really pass through my head.

The easiest essay prompts to answer have been the Prose and the hardest have been the Poetry because I am not very good t analyzing poetry. When writing my essays earlier today, I looked up analysis of the poems and  went over the poem multiple times.

AP Exam Study Journal: Day 1

So far to keep studying for the upcoming AP exam I have kept reading over the reference page Preston has up on his blog. I had my writers conference with Preston today and got an 8.5 on my Macbeth essay. He said I did really well on my transitions and that made me very happy because I had worked especially hard to perfect my use of them.

I am having a difficult time right now with making better pre-writes. With the Macbeth essay I did a pre-write and it helped me A LOT during the actual writing of the essay. I think I need to help find better set ups to do everything. I only know the bubble chart which was used in elementary school and need some new idea. If you have anything that may help please comment!!!! i would highly appreciate it.

The literary terms quiz for the last terms left will be soon and at this moment I am studying. To get a better use of my time I am making flashcards, quizzing myself and having my little sister give me practice tests. I think that so far the most effective has been the flash cards.

For further use of spare time I will continue to post on the different articles I read on the AP Exam Reference page.

AP Exam Study #1

I read Analyzing The Essay Prompt and learned that there is a lot of steps I should take before actually beginning to write my essay. I thought that the hardest  part for me was reading through the poem and being able to tell what the iambic pentameter. I never really had taken the time to determine the patterns of poems and the way the syntax helped the poem's point develop.

I learned that in order to fully understand a poem or any piece of literature, I need to read the poem once thoroughly, a second time and start identifying elements in it and a third time to grasp the meaning of the poem and find more lit. elements. I liked the fact that now when I read an essay prompt I will be able to identify words that let me write with more freedom.

The prompt in this work, asked to " describe the author's attitude". The words describe and attitude are words that give freedoms to the writer. Describe can mean explain, analyze, interpret, argue, or theorize as long as it describes the author's attitude. Attitude can mean, ideas, conceptions, values, judgments and beliefs. As well as feelings, emotions, reactions and tones of voice. The more you reread the prompt, the more you will find a way to make the essay easier to write.


This is the link to where I read Analyzing The Essay Prompt:
(Scroll down to find it but feel free to read as many as you'd like to prepare yourself for the AP Test)

http://drprestonsrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/p/exam-practice-reference.html

Recommended Essay Questions

Prose Essay Prompts

1. 1977 No prose selection (instead, had the following prompt: A character’s attempt to recapture or reject the past is important in many plays, novels, and poems. Choose a work in which a character views the past with such feelings as reverence, bitterness, or longing. Show with clear evidence how the character’s view of the past is used to develop a theme in the work.)

2. 2004 Henry James’s “The Pupil” (1891): Analyze the author’s depiction of the three characters and the relationships among them. Pay particular attention to tone and point of view.


3. 2009B Zorah Neale Hurston’s Seraph on the Suwanee (1948): Analyze the literary techniques Hurston uses to describe Sawley and to characterize the people who live there.

                                                                   Open Essay Prompts

1. 1983 From a novel or play of literary merit, select an important character who
is avillain. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze the nature of the character s
villainy and show how it enhances meaning in the work. Do not summarize plot.

My Plan

At this point in this course it is time to straighten out and get things done. This is my plan to succeed in the AP Exam and overall in the class.

1. Create a study group that has the same issues as me in writing (transitions and thesis).

2. Stay on top of class assignments and stay up to date with my blog.

3. Take notes on lectures or anything that is 0f any significance to me.

4. Take practice AP tests that have been posted on Dr.Preston's blog (http://drprestonsrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/).

5. Use outside resources to get questions answered or use my peers and their blogs.

6. Make study time for myself at least 3 times a week to keep information fresh in my mind.

Macbeth Soliloquy

Lit. Analysis #4

Introduction to Big Question

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Still I Rise By: Maya Angelou

Still I Rise

By: MAYA ANGELOU

You may write me down in history 

With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

I chose this poem because it never fails to inspire me. It gives me the push I need to get up every time that I fall and to keep  moving forward. There are many people out in the world who will try to hold me back from doing what I want with my life but Maya Angelou makes it clear in this poem that we should not just sit there and take it but rather prove those people wrong. 

AP Practice Exam #1: The Open Question

"By their deeds shall ye know them." We often judge people by what they do; therefore, we consider people who commit cruel or reprehensible acts corrupt, base or amoral. In literature, however, authors often introduce us to characters whom we learn to like or even respect, despite their deeds.

Write an essay about one such character for whom you developed admiration or compassion. Briefly explain why you felt his or her behavior to be condemnable or contemptible, and how the author's techniques influenced you to admire that person. Do not summarize the plot. (40 minutes)

Big Question Abstract

The definition of language is a body of words and the systems for their use common to people who are of the same community or nation, the same geographical area, or same cultural tradition. I am going to study the way children develop new languages and how it is dependent on age or just the brain capability of the person individually. This study is important because we all need to communicate with others daily and not all of us have that ability due to the barrier of not knowing every language that is spoken around the globe. The main purpose of my study is to teach and help others understand the fundamentals of learning a new language effectively and to inform about how children do it already. I will start my study by researching the roots of spoken languages and start a basic timeline of how different languages developed and the ways that they are passed on by others not native to them. My sources will be books, internet, educational text and adults that have the knowledge and information I need.