Assessment Journal #2

(TS) On my return to the Boys and Girls Club, I remembered my first experience where I was astonished, therefore, I didn’t expect anything this time. I think this was a wise tactic because if I had had expectations, there would have been even more surprises. (SD) One of first surprises I got was when I walked in and a little girl ran up and gave me a hug as she said, “I missed you!”. (CM) I was simply speechless. (CM) I didn’t expect these kids to forget me, but when I was informed that I was missed I felt jolly. (SD) It was at that moment, and a few after, that I realized these kids think of me as a friend. (CM) When I asked the kids about school they didn’t treat me like an adult who was interviewing them on their daily lives. (CM) Surprisingly, the children treated me like a peer who just wanted to see if they were having a good time. (SD) Not only did these young scholars treat me as one of their colleagues, in times where they needed assistance, they treated me with the respect of a counselor. (CM) After power hour, the time when all the children take out their homework and work on it, began, a young girl asked me for help on her reading homework. (CM) I was surprised she asked me instead of one of the older, more experienced counselors, nevertheless, I agreed to provide support. (CS) So far, each visit has surprised me with the kids’ behavior, and I hope to continue being astonished by how polite and friendly these kids are.

Assessment Journal #1

For my first visit at the Boys and Girls Club, I expected a bunch of little kids acting wild, and I was right but it was also much more complex than that. Since these energetic, rambunctious kids seemed too preoccupied playing to notice me even after Rodney, one of the counselors there, introduced me, I didn’t expect them to pay much attention to me. However, I was incredibly wrong because they took immediate interest in me. They asked me questions they talked about sports; it was like an overflow of attention. One child in particular stood out to me and his name was Seven. Before Rodney had even announced my name and right after I sat down, this kid says hello and asks me how I’m doing. When it was time to go out for Kickball, Seven looks at me with hopeful eyes and asks him if I would come play Kickball, and I was happy to oblige. Because of these few experiences, I realized that not only are these kids hyper, they are also polite, courteous, and friendly. There was another kid named Lyrics who politely asked me if I would make an arts and crafts toy for him. I am not particularly good at arts and crafts, so I felt worried he might not like whatever I made for him. After spending about ten minutes working with yarn and two Popsicle sticks, I had created a toy that I didn’t find all that impressive, but when he received it he was very thankful, and I could tell that he appreciated it. I look forward to continuing my service learning here and can’t wait to see what these children have in store for me.

Metaphor Essay

FINAL DRAFT

Austin
English 8
Mr. Salsich
December 9, 2009

Metaphors:
Finding Metaphors in To Kill a Mockingbird and my Life

(TS) Metaphors can simply be a tool to elegantly compare thoughts, or they can distinguish a person’s true nature or spirit. (CM) The expressions in a metaphor such as “little” or “powerful” can merely describe physical traits of someone. (CM) However, metaphors can translate deeper meaning when they relate to an individual’s soul. (CS) In both To Kill a Mockingbird and my life, there are metaphors that have deep, emotional connections.

(TS) The metaphor “red little rooster” which describes Mr. Ewell, a character in To Kill a Mockingbird, is a mocking expression of Mr. Ewell’s physical traits and personality. (SD) “…A little bantam cock of a man rose and strutted to the stand…We [Scout and Jem] saw that his face was as red as his neck” (Lee, 227) which depicts two odd characteristics of Mr. Ewell. (CM) One of these odd characteristics clearly explains why the “red” is part of Lee’s metaphor. (CM) The “little” part of the metaphor is also illustrated in the passage because Scout clarifies his lack of height. (SD) Unlike the other two words in the metaphor, rooster represents Mr. Ewell’s personality. (CM) Some people consider roosters to be an annoying animal since they crow early in the morning, interrupting dreams and sleep. (CM) Mr. Ewell has similar aspects to a rooster because he likes to be annoying while everyone else prefers working productively, and he also crows his opinion loudly creating pandemonium in the courtroom (compound complex sentence). (CS) Mr. Ewell is an unusual red faced man with an exasperating personality, illustrating perfectly the metaphor “red little rooster”.

(TS) Like Mr. Ewell I have a metaphor that depicts me: a cluttered computer. (SD) When a computer is brand new, its memory space is empty except for a few major programs, and before I was cluttered, I had a single dedication and fast computing power towards school (compound complex sentence). (CM) As a fourth grader, I didn’t have many friends, many hobbies, or many places to be, so I had all the attention in the world to devote to being a straight ‘A’ scholar. (CM) Because of all this time being spent on subjects related to school, I developed a quick mind for solving problems like a computer has fast computing power. (SD) Later though, I became more social which led to more friends and less time being spent on school work, thus, earning the “cluttered” part of the computer metaphor. (CM) Gaining new friends takes up a lot of time or a lot of storage space in a computer because I allocate myself to hanging out and talking to them as well as making sure I get good grades in school. (CM) Then when I started to study guitar, I had to equate that into the balance of my life that already had so much on either side of it. (CS) Cluttered computers must divide their computing power, and my life requires a lot computing power as well, but when I overload with information, I won’t crash.

(TS) Metaphors are capable of being powerful utensils for depicting people or objects. (CM) However, they can be objective descriptions like in To Kill a Mockingbird where they mostly describe a person’s physical attributes. (CM) In other cases, they can contain an unfathomable meaning that is used to explain the true nature of a person’s inner self. (CS) Metaphors can be formed anywhere because anywhere in life there are physical characteristics or spiritual emotions that can be put into an expression.

Irony Essay

FINAL DRAFT

Austin
English 8
Mr. Salsich
December 3, 2009

Irony:
Some Unexpected Instances

(TS) There is nothing that is always predictable. (CM) At any given point, a situation can alter and have an ironic outcome. (CM) The ironic outcome is absolutely unpredictable and unexpected by participants of the circumstance. (CS) Irony happens everywhere including To Kill a Mockingbird and my personal experiences.

(TS) Several instances in To Kill a Mockingbird have ironic circumstances, making the events in the story all the more interesting. (SD) One unexpected event was Jem didn’t have to sneak into the Radley’s property to get his pants. (CM) When his pants were ripped off by the fence, he thought he would have to return to the Radley place at night and inconspicuously take his pants back. (CM) However, irony intervened when his pants were already neatly folded and sewed on their deck ready to be reacquired by Jem. (SD) Another unforeseen occasion was when Atticus shot a dog with “mad dog” disease. (CM) “Our [Scout and Jem] father didn’t do anything… He was not the sheriff, he did not farm, work in a garage, or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone” (Lee, 223) which is an example of how boring Scout and Jem thought their father was. (CM) However, they didn’t expect their father was well known for his superb aim with guns. (SD) One of the most ironic situations that took place was when Scout broke up a group of rambunctious men who were ready to attack Atticus. (CM) At first, this group of men that Atticus referred to as a “mob” were determined to get by Atticus even if it meant running him down (dependent adverb clause). (CM) Nevertheless, when a young, nine year-old girl stepped in, the men were decent human beings again and left Atticus alone. (CS) There are quite a few ironic parts that take place in To Kill a Mockingbird and each generate a unique and interesting outcome.

(TS) Out of the many ironies that have transpired throughout my life, falling in love with music and developing a passion for guitar were the most unexpected events. (SD) When I was about ten years old, I had a schedule which provided me little free time. (CM) Karate was something I did that required a lot of time and dedication. (CM) After starting guitar, I had a great amount of difficulty handling both situations at once since they each necessitated a large quantity of time to handle (dependent adverb clause). (SD) Strangely enough, I never paid much attention to music when I was younger. (CM) I wouldn’t even listen to the radio on the way to school, but instead, I would simply watch trees and cars fly by as I daydreamed about still being asleep in bed. (CM) However, when I did listen to the radio on my way to school, I was exasperated by the artificial noises that were made by modern artists who used things like autotune to synthesize their voices. (SD) Later, after I had already started guitar, my first guitar instructor wasn’t a good one. (CM) Instead of learning an entire song, my instructor would teach me an intro leaving me yearning to learn the whole song rather than advancing to another intro. (CM) When he taught me, it was straight out of a book that wasn’t usually correct, but also the straight-out-of-the-book method doesn’t teach you one of the most powerful aspects of guitar: soul. (CS) The thought of becoming as good a guitar player as I am today never occurred to me when I was ten years old, making me believe that this is a fortunate and ironic outcome in my life.

(TS) Since there is always predictability in something, there is always irony to provide balance. (CM) Without irony to balance predictability, Harper Lee’s novel would be recognized as a dull book. (CM) However, if everything was ironic, I would never be prepared to learn or adapt to new methods of playing guitar. (CS) Irony appears in a copious amount of places in order to bring balance to books like To Kill a Mockingbird or even more importantly, our lives.