I felt that I portrayed many strengths on my entries simply because it was my own work and i felt that I did a good job explaininng the things that came to mind. The only weakness that was present was the thinking process I found it difficult to sit there and just allow what came to mind flow on to the page. Because sometimes I would over thinking the whole assignment. These entries reveal my development as a writer and or reader, because when we first started doing blog posts my first couple posts were very short and not very detailed. As the program progressed I found that they started to become more detailed and meaningful. I also improved as a reader as well, as I read different things I began to analyze more and try to put myself in the authors shoes and see things from his/her perspective.
Jaiden Dale
Summerbridge English
July 15, 2019
Reader Response
While reading From the Mind of a Statistic by Tesha Harris and I’m only Twenty by Brandon Wyatt, I find From the Mind of a Statistic is more effective simply because the author expresses the feelings and emotions she endured while going through the process of getting an abortion. This is evident when she alludes to “My head agrees, my heart…Not so much. I’m sure I will forget all about this and move on with my life, yea, right! I will never forget the day I became a murderer” (Harris). Harris is second guessing her decision to get an abortion even though that she knows she has made a mistake and does not want to be considered a statistic. In conclusion the author expresses the feelings and emotions she endured while going through the process of abortion.
In addition, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and From the Mind of a Statistic by Tesha Harris are similar in ways. They both involve women who are undergoing trials and tribulations in their lives ad fear they will be judged by society. This is evident when the author alludes to “This is a difficult country to look too different in—the United States of Advertising, as Paul Krassner puts it—and if you are too skinny or too tall or dark or weird or short or frizzy or homely or poor or nearsighted, you get crucified. I did” (Lamott). The author discusses how she was criticized by society because of her differences. This is also evident in From the Mind of a Statistic by Tesha Harris where a girl is scared to have her child because she fears that society will view her as a statistic. In conclusion Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and From the Mind of a Statistic by Tesha Harris are similar in ways. They both involve women who are undergoing trials and tribulations in their lives ad fear they will be judged by society.
Jaiden Dale
Summer Bridge English
July 16, 2019
Reader Response
The main idea of Finding Your Voice by Anne Lamott, is finding one’s voice means not to be afraid of letting dark things an individual has endured be heard by others simply because they fear how others will view them. This is evident when the Lamott alludes to “We write to expose the unexposed. If there is one door in the castle you have been told not to go through, you must. Otherwise, you’ll just be rearranging furniture in rooms you’ve already been in. Most human beings are dedicated to keeping that one door shut. But the writer’s job is to see what’s behind it, to see the bleak unspeakable stuff, and to turn the unspeakable into words—not just into any words but if we can, into rhythm and blues” (Lamott). Lamott is inferring that the writer should not always talk about the cliche “perfect” things in life because that is not reality, instead they should go beyond their comfort zone and express their raw emotions.
However, this is also evident in Young and Dumb by Ryan Abbott is a passage about a young man who tells the story of how his mother and fathers relationship has gone down hill over the course of multiple years and the negative effects it had on him and his family, he discusses the emotions he endured . This is evident when the author alludes to “ I can turn it into fuel, into knowledge, and into wisdom. I was determined to prosper and rise, even in front of the eyes of the weary who said I was just like my father. So here I am, making mistakes of my own but never the same ones twice” (Abbott). Abbot discusses his life and the situations he has encountered and how he intends to overcome these situations. In conclusion Finding Your Voice and Young and Dumb share the same main idea that finding one’s voice meaning not to be afraid of letting dark things an individual has endured be heard by others simply because they fear how others will view them.
Jaiden Dale
Summer Bridge English
July 18, 2019
Reader Response
The main idea of Plot by Anne Lamott is to explain to readers how to build a good plot for a story. In order for a piece of work to be good there should always be a plot. This is evident when she says “Your plot will fall into place as, one day at a time, you listen to your characters carefully, and watch them move around doing and saying things and bumping into each other. You’ll see them influence each other’s lives, you’ll see what they are capable of up and doing, and you’ll see them come to various ends. And this process of discovering the story will often take place in fits and starts” (Lamott 51). Lamott is saying as you continue to observe and build piece by piece and be patient your plot will unfold. This is also evident in art such as painting, sculpting, etc. Because in order for an artist to create a piece of art he/she has to have patience and inspiration in order to create a good body of work. This is evident in Stories when Trenton Doyle Hancock’s mother alludes to “ A Lot of his art is inspired by the things he has seen throughout his childhood, many hurtful things , and he wanted to get in there and do something about it , so he created his own superhero to protect him from these things” (Stories). Trenton takes all the dark and negative obstacles he has been through in his early years of life and channels all of that energy into his artwork and turning it into something positive instead. In conclusion Plot by Anne Lamott and Stories share the main idea that building a plot will always be necessary in life regardless if you are writing a book or creating artwork.
Creativity to me is the ability to be yourself, your own unique person. Not everybody has creativity because not everyone thinks the same. If you are creative you are capable of turning nothing into something. Whether it is fashion, writing, etc. In order to be creative one has to be able to think differently from others mentally. Creativity is based off of imagination, if someone does not have a good imagination they may not be able to be as creative as the next person who does. Everyone is creative in their own way, what one person finds creative the next person may not. That doesn’t mean that the person is not creative , everybody just doesn’t agree on everything .
Jaiden's Journey 