Elsy's English Blog

  Prompt Response:  I have been having a great experience in AP Language so far. Many things in this class have gone well for me like understanding the subject and also writing these blog posts have been great! Managing my time with writing has been a bit challenging but I see myself improving. Moving forward one thing I need to improve on is the length of my responses and the way I structure them. I feel like sometimes I write more than necessary and other times my information is kind of all over the place, but being in this class I know that with God’s help I will learn how to improve on these things! Summary:  Today in class we logged into Writable again and continued to discuss a little bit about the reading. After lunch we completed the prompt.  Reflection:  While writing today’s prompt I realized that the way a response is structured also affects how effective the response will be. Without proper structure and formatting my answer won’t be as clear as it c...

  Prompt Response:  A couple months ago I made the claim that we should start eating healthier and going to the gym to my brother. Of course he always needs me to explain things so he asked “Why?” I responded and pointed out the many benefits of living healthier. Things like “We’ll look better, get toned and even feel better.” Since that didn’t convince him enough I explained the science behind living healthier. I explained to him that in order to have a toned body we not only need to workout but eat healthier as the less fat we consume the more fat we will lose. I also explained how our brain will actually function better since working out allows more blood flow and oxygen to the brain for more serotonin. Explaining my evidence was just as important as providing it as it gives my audience (in this case my brother) a deeper understanding of the situation. Explaining evidence is more effective than just throwing facts out there. Summary:  Today in class we logged into Writ...

  Prompt Response : I enjoy class discussions the most because I feel like I’m actually involved and paying attention to the activity. It is a great way for me to learn as I listen to what my peers are saying and I can express my own ideas and get positive feedback or constructive criticism. Class discussions also help me understand how things can be put into perspective and they help me stay focused as it is harder to get bored when different people point out different claims. Summary:  Today in class we watched clips from the O.J Simpson case and analyzed how different methods of evidence were being used. Reflection: Something that stuck with me was the fact that many times people will manipulate evidence for their benefit. Now I know that I need to be more discerning about where I get my information and how it is explained.

  Prompt Response:  Something I will never and could never fully understand is God’s love for us. His love is one of those things I hear or think about that seems “too good to be true”. But His love really is real and true. I can never fully understand how my God so powerful, mighty and perfect could love me, a sinner who messes up everyday. I could never fully understand the kind of love it takes to give up His Son Jesus to die for me, still knowing I would run from Him at times. God’s love is perfect and He invites everyone to get to know Him and have an intimate relationship with Him, and that never fails to amaze me. But I really do cherish His love for me because I am so grateful to have a God who loves me unconditionally no matter what I’ve done. A God who always hears me and never fails to answer every prayer of mine with miracles! Summary: Today in class we learned how to determine evidence and wrote a prompt about how to take a clear position with claims to support o...

  Prompt Response: One thing that makes me different from other people is my love for Christ. I know that many people go to church and say they love Christ or believe in Him, but I genuinely love God. I love Him for all He has done for me, given and how He has stayed with me through every season of life. My love and faith in Christ has made me let go and let Him. The Holy Spirit has really transformed my life and I don’t know where I would be without my God. So that is what makes me different from others, my life is led by the Holy Spirit. Summary: Today in class we watched movie clips and tried to identify which rhetorical appeal was being used most. Towards the end of class we also took a quiz on AP Classroom. Reflection: One thing that stuck with me today was that rhetorical appeals really are used in everyday lives. Whether it is fighting, or trying to convince someone to do something we all use rhetorical appeals. I can now apply this to my life by identifying which specific ...

  Prompt Response:  Living in Atlanta has influenced the way I see my community culture and identity in many ways. I know that whenever there is a problem or issue Atlanta will not stay silent about it. Atlanta will make sure voices are heard as it is a city that is very connected and passionate about their community. Being in Atlanta has shown me that there is a wide range of variety and diversity which always welcomes new people and ideas. When I think of myself and how being here has shaped me, I remember how the friendly and welcoming environment has allowed me to feel good about where I live and even be proud of being from Atlanta. If someone were unfamiliar with Atlanta I would explain to them that it is a diverse community that cares for its people. I would explain how this city is packed which is the main reason for the bad traffic, but I would also share that it is very hungry passionate about social and political change. Summary: Today in class we watched/listened to...

  Prompt Response:  The most creative thing I have ever made was a volcano. I made a volcano explosion using baking soda, vinegar, dish soap and food coloring. This was my most creative work not just because of the volcano itself, but because of the reason behind the experiment. At church during our weekly Pathfinders meeting it was up to me and my friends to teach the younger kids about volcanoes. We had many options as to how we teach them but in the end we decided on making it fun for the kids by teaching them in a creative and interactive way.  Summary:  Today in class we went over Donald Trump's speech and broke it down to figure out where we could see ethos, pathos, logos being used and how to recognize the audience it was meant for. Reflection:  After today's activity I learned to put my biases aside while reading material that might counter my opinion. Now I know how to determine when and how ethos, pathos and logos are being used along with how tone can...

  Prompt Response:  A time I felt completely lost was last year during the school year in February and March. I had gone to the hospital for three days so I had missed a whole week of school. All my assignments had piled up and more were on the way. I did not know what to do or how to manage my time properly so my grades dropped. I felt completely lost and I did not know where to even start. Eventually through lots of prayer and hard work I managed to bring my grades up. I passed my classes by God's grace and I was happy about that. Summary: Today in class we learned how to identify claims that cover certain topics in articles. We also learned how to identify which type they are. Reflection: I learned that it is not that hard to find a claim in an article because a claim is just a statement that can be argued with reasonable evidence. Today I also learned how to identify the type of claim by asking myself if it argues a fact (claim of fact), whether something is good or bad (c...

  Prompt Response: Something I believed as a child was that once I become an adult I would be able to do anything I wanted with absolutely no problems or setbacks or people telling me what to do. I imagined a care-free life with no boring parents. This way of thinking made me look forward to becoming an adult and wishing I wasn't eight or eleven or twelve. The older I get the more I realize that being an adult is not completely as fun as I imagined. I am going to have to pay bills, work, buy my own things with my own money and actually take responsibility for my own actions. However, I am still very excited to become an adult soon, but for now I won't try to rush things anymore. I will just enjoy my teenage years because I can only be 16 once! Summary: Today in class we learned about different types of claims like claim of fact, claim of value, and claim of policy. Reflection: I learned that for claims of value I just need to make my claim and make a list of the criteria. Now t...

 Prompt Response: An argument I wish I could have handled differently was when I got mad because my mom was giving me all the chores while my brother did nothing all day. I pointed it out by blaming my mom and brother for making me do everything. My goal was to have some help with the workload or evenly distributed chores among us. As I take in what I learned from today, I would have changed the way I started the argument. Instead of blaming them I should have really set my goal in my mind and just pointed out that I was feeling overwhelmed with my chores and would appreciate some help. I would also ask them their opinion on distributing the chores to let them think about that solution. Summary: Today in class we learned about how rhetoric works and we discussed how we could use them in different situations. Reflection: As we learned about rhetoric and the many ways it could be used one thing that really stuck with me was the fact that knowing how to argue actually obtains your goa...

 Prompt Response: There was a time I was trying to persuade my younger brother to start eating healthier with me. To be honest I used all the methods of persuasion but the two I kept coming back to was logos and ethos. I used logos by telling him the many benefits and changes he would see if he ate healthier. Things like " Your acne will clear up if you eat more fruit and less soda," or " You'll feel more energetic if you ate a balanced meal instead of Cheeto puffs." I could tell he was getting interesting but he still wasn't convinced. It wasn't until I actually locked in and he started seeing how I was doing better that he started eating healthier too. So that is how I used ethos. My own experience finally convinced him to eat healthier. Summary: Today in class I had the opportunity to listen to my classmate talk about the origin of their name and what it meant to them. Reflection: When I heard all the different origins of my classmate's names I re...

Prompt Response: As I grow older and gain new experiences and viewpoints I think the topic I will have to debate about most often is politics. Throughout my life politics have been really important for my family and someone always has something to say about it. When I was younger I didn't really care much about it but the older I get I see how politics affect our everyday life. I have gained a deeper understanding as to why it is important to express yourself correctly in order to get more to agree with your viewpoint. So as my family values politics I also find myself getting more involved and expressing my mind about it.  Summary: Today In class we talked about argument, the elements of it and how to identify which form of persuasion is being used. Reflection: In class I learned that Pathos is not effective if it is not causing me to feel something. In the future, instead of me thinking it is Pathos simply because "other people" might feel something, I will look for the...

  Prompt Response:  This year I want to achieve many goals but here are three goals off of my list. The first goal I would like to achieve is to grow closer to Christ and deepen my relationship with God. Second, I would like to have absolutely no missing assignments this year. My last goal is to put in a lot of effort to achieve a 5 on my AP tests.