Humanities
Energy and Place
Essential Questions:
1. How does energy production impact place?
2. How does your sense of place, environmental ethic and understanding of our energy need influence your perception and decisions regarding energy production?
Project Description
The task of this project was to write an essay on a special nature place or on how we perceive energy. This essay incorporated our sense of place, our environmental ethic and elements of grand style writing. To start this project off, we learned about different environmental ethics such as preservation, conservation, etc. and about environmental justice. We looked at different examples about how these things were presented in films and different writing pieces. After we had a basic understanding of these concepts we began to look at different energy sources like nuclear power, which we were later going to be debating in our chemistry class. Over a two-three week period we had different guest speakers come in and talk to us about these various energy sources and how these sources effected the people and the environment. The last thing we did before writing our own essays was completing different assignments to help us find inspiration for writing our essay. We completed things like creative writing which helped get our ideas flowing and also watched videos for inspiration. We also studied different writing techniques in class.
Personal Growth and/or Self Awareness
At first I struggled with this project. I had a couple different places that I wanted to write about and I also had a lot of trouble letting my thoughts flow. I struggle with writing in general so it took a while for me to write, refine and finalize my essay. I wanted to write about CanyonLands, Purgatory, Heartwood and my river trip on the Green River, Gates of Lodore. Luckily I ended up finding a way to write about two of those places and integrate them nicely. I ended up writing about my river trip on the Green River and about Heartwood. These two places complimented each other nicely because I went on the river trip with friends from Heartwood so they integrated smoothly and I was able to write about two different places that I had a strong connection to. By doing this I was happy because I didn't write about only one sense of place but two. Even though it took a while to get my thoughts and memories down in a way that flowed nicely, I am very proud of how my final essay turned out.
Essay and Visual Piece Pride
For my visual I decided to paint the Green River, Gates of Lodore. Even though I am proud of my essay I am even more proud of my visual piece. I don't have much experience with painting so I was very scared in the beginning about how it was going to turn out. The process was very stressful and tedious but in the end it came together nicely. I was able to find the right colors and make them the correct shades to reflect the proper contrast between the colors. I believe the painting itself does a good job of representing my sense of place and I think this is the visual I am most proud of. Overall I think I did a pretty good job on this painting and I am very happy with the way it turned out.
Reflecting on the Interdisciplinary Project Process
Overall, I enjoyed this project but I did not really feel the connection between the projects in chemistry and humanities. In my essay I focused more on my environmental ethic and sense of place rather than my perception of energy. During my debate I argued that the health issues and radioactive waste resulting from creating nuclear power causes downfalls than benefits and in my essay I talked about how I loved the Green River and the people from Heartwood. I do see how the energy topics can connect to each other but the way in which I wrote my essay didn't reflect that. However, I see how the projects connected through the research we did leading up to the projects.
1. How does energy production impact place?
2. How does your sense of place, environmental ethic and understanding of our energy need influence your perception and decisions regarding energy production?
Project Description
The task of this project was to write an essay on a special nature place or on how we perceive energy. This essay incorporated our sense of place, our environmental ethic and elements of grand style writing. To start this project off, we learned about different environmental ethics such as preservation, conservation, etc. and about environmental justice. We looked at different examples about how these things were presented in films and different writing pieces. After we had a basic understanding of these concepts we began to look at different energy sources like nuclear power, which we were later going to be debating in our chemistry class. Over a two-three week period we had different guest speakers come in and talk to us about these various energy sources and how these sources effected the people and the environment. The last thing we did before writing our own essays was completing different assignments to help us find inspiration for writing our essay. We completed things like creative writing which helped get our ideas flowing and also watched videos for inspiration. We also studied different writing techniques in class.
Personal Growth and/or Self Awareness
At first I struggled with this project. I had a couple different places that I wanted to write about and I also had a lot of trouble letting my thoughts flow. I struggle with writing in general so it took a while for me to write, refine and finalize my essay. I wanted to write about CanyonLands, Purgatory, Heartwood and my river trip on the Green River, Gates of Lodore. Luckily I ended up finding a way to write about two of those places and integrate them nicely. I ended up writing about my river trip on the Green River and about Heartwood. These two places complimented each other nicely because I went on the river trip with friends from Heartwood so they integrated smoothly and I was able to write about two different places that I had a strong connection to. By doing this I was happy because I didn't write about only one sense of place but two. Even though it took a while to get my thoughts and memories down in a way that flowed nicely, I am very proud of how my final essay turned out.
Essay and Visual Piece Pride
For my visual I decided to paint the Green River, Gates of Lodore. Even though I am proud of my essay I am even more proud of my visual piece. I don't have much experience with painting so I was very scared in the beginning about how it was going to turn out. The process was very stressful and tedious but in the end it came together nicely. I was able to find the right colors and make them the correct shades to reflect the proper contrast between the colors. I believe the painting itself does a good job of representing my sense of place and I think this is the visual I am most proud of. Overall I think I did a pretty good job on this painting and I am very happy with the way it turned out.
Reflecting on the Interdisciplinary Project Process
Overall, I enjoyed this project but I did not really feel the connection between the projects in chemistry and humanities. In my essay I focused more on my environmental ethic and sense of place rather than my perception of energy. During my debate I argued that the health issues and radioactive waste resulting from creating nuclear power causes downfalls than benefits and in my essay I talked about how I loved the Green River and the people from Heartwood. I do see how the energy topics can connect to each other but the way in which I wrote my essay didn't reflect that. However, I see how the projects connected through the research we did leading up to the projects.
Artist Statement
For my visual I decided to paint the Green River, Gates of Lodore to compliment my essay. In my essay I wrote about my rafting experience on the Green river and through that I incorporated my sense of place, grand style writing and my environmental ethic. My environmental ethic is preservation and the entirety of my visual sort of represents my environmental ethic in the sense that I painted it in a way that made it look as realistic as possible. By doing this I was aiming to portray the fact that I want to preserve places like the Green River. In my essay I also wrote about the fact that everyone needs a place they can lose themselves within. A place where they can escape from their daily routines and connect with earth. To portray this, along with my painting, I had a quote from Edward Abbey that embodied that.
Refining my visual took a while because I am new to painting. Painting my visual also took a while because in order to get the final look, layers and layers of different colors were added to enhance shadows, shading, the sky, the river and the canyons. I played around with different colors until I got the right color contrasts and until my final piece came together. Although it was time consuming and stressful at times, in the end it came together better than I hoped.
I got my inspiration mainly from my essay. As I wrote my essay, my brain was filled with memories and visual’s of my time on the river which later inspired me to paint what I did. I was also inspired by the location itself because while I was on the river, I was in awe of how beautiful my surroundings were and I wanted to portray some of that beauty in my visual.
For my visual I decided to paint the Green River, Gates of Lodore to compliment my essay. In my essay I wrote about my rafting experience on the Green river and through that I incorporated my sense of place, grand style writing and my environmental ethic. My environmental ethic is preservation and the entirety of my visual sort of represents my environmental ethic in the sense that I painted it in a way that made it look as realistic as possible. By doing this I was aiming to portray the fact that I want to preserve places like the Green River. In my essay I also wrote about the fact that everyone needs a place they can lose themselves within. A place where they can escape from their daily routines and connect with earth. To portray this, along with my painting, I had a quote from Edward Abbey that embodied that.
Refining my visual took a while because I am new to painting. Painting my visual also took a while because in order to get the final look, layers and layers of different colors were added to enhance shadows, shading, the sky, the river and the canyons. I played around with different colors until I got the right color contrasts and until my final piece came together. Although it was time consuming and stressful at times, in the end it came together better than I hoped.
I got my inspiration mainly from my essay. As I wrote my essay, my brain was filled with memories and visual’s of my time on the river which later inspired me to paint what I did. I was also inspired by the location itself because while I was on the river, I was in awe of how beautiful my surroundings were and I wanted to portray some of that beauty in my visual.
Happiness and Meaning Project
Essential Questions:
1. What is the purpose of your existence?
2. What is happiness and what makes you happy?
3. What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
4. To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
Quote that embodies my opinion on happiness and meaning:"Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence" - Aristotle Link to Project
Descriptionhttps://docs.google.com/a/animashighschool.com/file/d/0B5ktO3NLUDlcems1NU1kbjZudWM/editPersonal
Reflection
Part 1: New Insights At the beginning of this project I didn't really have a strong opinion or idea of what happiness and meaning and the purpose of life was. Having done this project, I have learned that defining happiness and meaning must be done on your own terms. It should not be defined for you by others. You have to find what makes you happy and what you think is meaningful. Once you have found these things then the purpose of your life becomes clearer and clearer. However, finding happiness and meaning comes through different experiences and from different opinions and ideas. The definition of happiness and meaning should be unique for each individual. The following quote from a reading that we had helped bring this new insight to me. "Life is really very beautiful, it is not this ugly thing that we have made of it; and you can appreciate its richness, its depth, its extraordinary loveliness only when you revolt against everything--against organized religion, against tradition, against the present rotten society-- so that you as a human being find out for yourself what is true." -Krishnamurti From this insight, I came to the realization that happiness, meaning and the purpose of our existence is all tied together in many different ways. I found that when something makes you happy, it is meaningful and the things that are meaningful and that make you happy become the purpose of your existence.
Part 2: Further Questions
Here are some questions that this project brought up for me:1. How will I balance happiness, meaning and enough financial support through my future job? 2. Is it possible for some people to have a happy life without much meaning? 3. Is it okay that it may take time to fully define the purpose of our existence?4. Is it okay that we may never fully be able to define the purpose of our existence? 5. Do I want to pursue the things that make me happy even though it may not bring in much financial support?
Final Versions of Written Documents for this Project
Click on the following links to see the following documents
1. The Stranger seminar prep
2. Final Happiness and Meaning Seminar Prep
3. Literary Analysis Essay
4. Personal Philosophy Project Proposal
1. What is the purpose of your existence?
2. What is happiness and what makes you happy?
3. What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
4. To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
Quote that embodies my opinion on happiness and meaning:"Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence" - Aristotle Link to Project
Descriptionhttps://docs.google.com/a/animashighschool.com/file/d/0B5ktO3NLUDlcems1NU1kbjZudWM/editPersonal
Reflection
Part 1: New Insights At the beginning of this project I didn't really have a strong opinion or idea of what happiness and meaning and the purpose of life was. Having done this project, I have learned that defining happiness and meaning must be done on your own terms. It should not be defined for you by others. You have to find what makes you happy and what you think is meaningful. Once you have found these things then the purpose of your life becomes clearer and clearer. However, finding happiness and meaning comes through different experiences and from different opinions and ideas. The definition of happiness and meaning should be unique for each individual. The following quote from a reading that we had helped bring this new insight to me. "Life is really very beautiful, it is not this ugly thing that we have made of it; and you can appreciate its richness, its depth, its extraordinary loveliness only when you revolt against everything--against organized religion, against tradition, against the present rotten society-- so that you as a human being find out for yourself what is true." -Krishnamurti From this insight, I came to the realization that happiness, meaning and the purpose of our existence is all tied together in many different ways. I found that when something makes you happy, it is meaningful and the things that are meaningful and that make you happy become the purpose of your existence.
Part 2: Further Questions
Here are some questions that this project brought up for me:1. How will I balance happiness, meaning and enough financial support through my future job? 2. Is it possible for some people to have a happy life without much meaning? 3. Is it okay that it may take time to fully define the purpose of our existence?4. Is it okay that we may never fully be able to define the purpose of our existence? 5. Do I want to pursue the things that make me happy even though it may not bring in much financial support?
Final Versions of Written Documents for this Project
Click on the following links to see the following documents
1. The Stranger seminar prep
2. Final Happiness and Meaning Seminar Prep
3. Literary Analysis Essay
4. Personal Philosophy Project Proposal
Korematsu v.. U.S. (1944)
Project Description
Before I go into the description of this project, I am going to provide some history so that this project will be easier to understand and follow. In Oahu, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked the U.S. military base that was located in Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor is well known throughout the world however not many people know the events that occurred after the attack. In 1942, one year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt released Exclusion Order 9066. This order stated that anyone of Japanese ancestry would have to leave their homes, report to the government and would then be taken to internment camps. For this project, we studied and reenacted the trail of Fred Korematsu against the U.S.. The defense ( Fred Korematsu) was arguing that the internment camps and Exclusion Order 9066 was unconstitutional while the prosecution argued that not only was it constitutional but also that it was carried out to insure national safety and security. The story of Fred Korematsu is that he did not report to the government to be transported to the internment camp because he felt that it was unconstitutional and because he did not want to leave his home. He ended up getting eye surgery to make his eyes look less slanted and he also changed his name so that he would be less recognizable. The defense team argued that he did this because he was scared for his life and because he felt like he was being racially targeted. The prosecution argued that he deliberately defied the law. Each of us were assigned the role of either a judge, lawyer or witness. My role was a witness and the witnesses that I played were Fred Korematsu and Kenneth Ringle. Kenneth Ringle was an officer of Naval Intelligence who studied the Japanese culture. He fought for the defense because he found that not all Japanese people were a threat to the U.S.. As a witness, I had to do research for both of my characters in order to become familiar with their point of view and so that I could accurately act them out in the trial. I I completed biographies for both of my characters and shared them with the lawyers that I could be working with so that they would also have background information about who they were defending. These biographies were written as if I were the person. Writing the witness bio's came in very handy because it helped me get into character and have a better understanding of my characters. Another thing I did within this project was meet with my lawyers to come up with questions for direct examination. While meeting with my lawyers, we crafted questions, I was coached on how to answer the questions, we talked about how we wanted to portray the character and lastly we rehearsed over and over so that I could have it as memorized as possible. I also came up with questions that my cross examiner might ask me and I came up with answers for these questions as well. The last part of this project was the trial itself. We went to an actual courthouse in town so that we could get into character better and so that it would be more realistic. I had to dress like my character, which in my case led me to dress like a man since both of my characters where men. On the day of the trial, all went pretty smooth and I found it enjoyable. To see my direct and cross examination Q & A's for Fred Korematsu, click hereTo see my direct and cross examination Q & A's for Kenneth Ringle, click hereTeamworkThis project required both individual work and teamwork at different times throughout the process. As I said above, my lawyers and I had to work together in order to portray the character the way we wanted and this included a lot of teamwork from both of us. Personally, I enjoyed the teamwork that was required because it gave us a chance to have new and different ideas and opinions . My experience with the teamwork was a great experience because we were both supportive of each others ideas and opinions and we took them into consideration. The fact that we took each others ideas and opinions into consideration led to well thought-out, strong and refined questions and answers that really helped our case. Research and Written ComponentsFor me, the piece of writing that I needed to refine most was the answers and questions for both direct and cross-examination. For direct examination both my lawyers and I worked hard to come up with questions that were appropriate to be asked and also that would insure an answer that would prove the point we were trying to make. This was very difficult because we had to word the question in a specific way so that we wouldn't be interrupted with an objection. It was also hard to phrase the question in a way so that it would not be a yes or no answer. This part of the project was probably the toughest and most time consuming but in the end, we were proud of our questions. Reflecting on the ProcessOverall, I enjoyed this project. At the beginning it was a little stressful and confusing but as we got into the flow, it became easier to understand. I think the whole project came together very nicely in the end and I enjoyed the fact that we got to play the roles that we initially chose. I thought it was fun when we had to get into character and I liked that we did the trial in an actual courtroom because it made it feel more real and professional. However, I do wish that we had more practice with courtroom etiquette. I think it would have resulted in a more smoothly flowing performance. I also wish we had more practice with objections because there was a few times where lawyers were at a loss for words. But, as I said above, overall this project was really fun and I enjoyed it very much.Some advice that I would have for next year's witnesses would be the following. Make sure to really understand your character. Do additional research, watch interviews (if there are any), read an in-depth biography, anything that will help put you into the mindset of the character you are playing. Secondly, do not procrastinate. Witnesses have a smaller workload than the other roles but it still benefits you if you stay on top of your work. It also allows more time for memorization which is my last tip. Make sure to memorize, as best you can, answers for direct examination. By having your answers memorized, it allows you to add emotion and to become your character. This helps because you are graded on presentation within the trial. My last piece of advice is to make sure you have fun. Even though this project can be tough at times, it is worth it in the end.
Before I go into the description of this project, I am going to provide some history so that this project will be easier to understand and follow. In Oahu, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked the U.S. military base that was located in Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor is well known throughout the world however not many people know the events that occurred after the attack. In 1942, one year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt released Exclusion Order 9066. This order stated that anyone of Japanese ancestry would have to leave their homes, report to the government and would then be taken to internment camps. For this project, we studied and reenacted the trail of Fred Korematsu against the U.S.. The defense ( Fred Korematsu) was arguing that the internment camps and Exclusion Order 9066 was unconstitutional while the prosecution argued that not only was it constitutional but also that it was carried out to insure national safety and security. The story of Fred Korematsu is that he did not report to the government to be transported to the internment camp because he felt that it was unconstitutional and because he did not want to leave his home. He ended up getting eye surgery to make his eyes look less slanted and he also changed his name so that he would be less recognizable. The defense team argued that he did this because he was scared for his life and because he felt like he was being racially targeted. The prosecution argued that he deliberately defied the law. Each of us were assigned the role of either a judge, lawyer or witness. My role was a witness and the witnesses that I played were Fred Korematsu and Kenneth Ringle. Kenneth Ringle was an officer of Naval Intelligence who studied the Japanese culture. He fought for the defense because he found that not all Japanese people were a threat to the U.S.. As a witness, I had to do research for both of my characters in order to become familiar with their point of view and so that I could accurately act them out in the trial. I I completed biographies for both of my characters and shared them with the lawyers that I could be working with so that they would also have background information about who they were defending. These biographies were written as if I were the person. Writing the witness bio's came in very handy because it helped me get into character and have a better understanding of my characters. Another thing I did within this project was meet with my lawyers to come up with questions for direct examination. While meeting with my lawyers, we crafted questions, I was coached on how to answer the questions, we talked about how we wanted to portray the character and lastly we rehearsed over and over so that I could have it as memorized as possible. I also came up with questions that my cross examiner might ask me and I came up with answers for these questions as well. The last part of this project was the trial itself. We went to an actual courthouse in town so that we could get into character better and so that it would be more realistic. I had to dress like my character, which in my case led me to dress like a man since both of my characters where men. On the day of the trial, all went pretty smooth and I found it enjoyable. To see my direct and cross examination Q & A's for Fred Korematsu, click hereTo see my direct and cross examination Q & A's for Kenneth Ringle, click hereTeamworkThis project required both individual work and teamwork at different times throughout the process. As I said above, my lawyers and I had to work together in order to portray the character the way we wanted and this included a lot of teamwork from both of us. Personally, I enjoyed the teamwork that was required because it gave us a chance to have new and different ideas and opinions . My experience with the teamwork was a great experience because we were both supportive of each others ideas and opinions and we took them into consideration. The fact that we took each others ideas and opinions into consideration led to well thought-out, strong and refined questions and answers that really helped our case. Research and Written ComponentsFor me, the piece of writing that I needed to refine most was the answers and questions for both direct and cross-examination. For direct examination both my lawyers and I worked hard to come up with questions that were appropriate to be asked and also that would insure an answer that would prove the point we were trying to make. This was very difficult because we had to word the question in a specific way so that we wouldn't be interrupted with an objection. It was also hard to phrase the question in a way so that it would not be a yes or no answer. This part of the project was probably the toughest and most time consuming but in the end, we were proud of our questions. Reflecting on the ProcessOverall, I enjoyed this project. At the beginning it was a little stressful and confusing but as we got into the flow, it became easier to understand. I think the whole project came together very nicely in the end and I enjoyed the fact that we got to play the roles that we initially chose. I thought it was fun when we had to get into character and I liked that we did the trial in an actual courtroom because it made it feel more real and professional. However, I do wish that we had more practice with courtroom etiquette. I think it would have resulted in a more smoothly flowing performance. I also wish we had more practice with objections because there was a few times where lawyers were at a loss for words. But, as I said above, overall this project was really fun and I enjoyed it very much.Some advice that I would have for next year's witnesses would be the following. Make sure to really understand your character. Do additional research, watch interviews (if there are any), read an in-depth biography, anything that will help put you into the mindset of the character you are playing. Secondly, do not procrastinate. Witnesses have a smaller workload than the other roles but it still benefits you if you stay on top of your work. It also allows more time for memorization which is my last tip. Make sure to memorize, as best you can, answers for direct examination. By having your answers memorized, it allows you to add emotion and to become your character. This helps because you are graded on presentation within the trial. My last piece of advice is to make sure you have fun. Even though this project can be tough at times, it is worth it in the end.
Morality and Politics of Justice
Project Description
The overall assignment for this project was to right an Op-Ed paper on a political issue of your interest based off of your perspective on that issue. Along with that Op-Ed paper, there had to be a visual that also showed your perspective on your chosen issue. Within both our Op-Ed papers and visual pieces, it was required to incorporate rhetoric ( ethos, pathos and logos), moral philosophies, amendments or constitutions that it violated and quotes from moral philosophers. In order to guarantee our success in meeting these requirements, Ashley taught us about pathos, logos and ethos, and showed us examples of each of these. She also introduced different moral philosophies such as Libertarianism, Utilitarianism, Deontology and Rawl's Veil of Ignorance theory.
Personal Growth and Perspective
For this project I chose to focus on the Stop and Frisk policy. The Stop and Frisk policy basically allows police officers to stop and frisk anyone they think looks suspicious or whoever they think might have a weapon on their person. This policy is most popular in New York city in poor neighborhoods where there have been many shootings. However, my opinion on the matter based on materials/presentations presented in class and additional research is that the Stop and Frisk Policy racially targets minorities. For more depth and detail on my opinion, go to the link for my Op-Ed paper that is shown in the above paragraph. However, throughout the construction of my essay and visual, not only did I learn about my chosen topic but more importantly, I learned the importance of rhetoric. I learned that it was crucial to properly use logos, pathos and ethos because it made the message so much stronger. Personally, he most challenging part of this project was choosing the image shown in the visual. After turning in a strong rough draft of my Op-Ed, I struggled with finding a way to convey my perspective in a way that was not to confusing but at the same time very forward and obvious. After ideas from Ashely and my peers, I soon formed a strong visual piece to accompany my Op-Ed paper.
Self Assessment
For my Op-Ed paper, I think I did fairly well in the Rhetoric and Argumentation, Moral and Political Philosophy Content and Evidence categories. I argued my point of view with good amount of pathos, egos and logos throughout my paper and was able to back these ar.guments up with evidence. I also used used two moral philosophies and two amendments to help argue my perspective. As for my visual project, I think I did well in the Rhetorical Impact, Perspective and Integration categories. For the integration, I incorporated a statistic that supported my point of view on the policy and also a quote from a moral philosopher. I think that my visual clearly shows my perspective through rhetorical impact. I revolved my art around the rhetoric aspect of this project which I believe fulfilled the requirements.
Future Refinement
If we had more time for this project, I would most likely refine my art work a bit more. Overall, I would continue to work on refining my writing. I would have worked on less use of passive voice, make my sentences less wordy and made sure that my essay flowed nicely and was not repetitive. However, I will continue to work on these refinements throughout my writing career here at Animas. Overall I enjoyed this project immensely and I thought that it was a great learning experience.
This I Believe: Project Reflection/DP Update
Essential Question: What do I believe and why?
The assignment of this project was to choose a personal belief that you would write about. We were assigned to write about why we believed in it in a 300-500 word essay. We first started by reading/ listening to essays on a website called "This I believe", a public dialogue based on individual beliefs and stories. While we read or listened to these essays, we were asked to pay attention to the uniqueness and authentic voice of each author, what specific techniques and styles they used to share their beliefs and what literary devices they used in their essays that kept the audience interested. We were then asked to dig deep and find something that we strongly believed in. After finding something we wanted to write about , we experimented with different styles of ways to frame our essays and later went through peer critiques to help refine those chosen styles.
I believe in the power of appreciating and acknowledging the people you love. I came across this belief of mine when I remembered my grandmother who died from stomach cancer when I was about 7. When we were assigned this project, I took a plunge into my memories and found that I didn't really appreciate my grandmother before she died. This helped me realize my belief. The next step was being able to articulate my belief in a way that made sense. I tried writing my belief in many different ways but it took time and refinement to get it the way I wanted.
After my essay took form, I became proud of opening paragraph and my personal experience that I shared. The following is my opening paragraph and an example of a part of my personal experience.
" I remember talking to my grandmother for the last time. I was about five or six years old and it was over the phone. At that time, I had no idea that it was the last I would ever hear her voice again."
My opening paragraph is written in a way that makes it engaging and makes the reader want to continue reading. I think that by giving a personal experience to the audience, it made my essay and belief unique and made my authentic voice shine through the words.
One refinement that I want to make, not only to this essay but also to my writing in general, is to not be repetitive. My goal for making this refinement permanent is to proofread what ever it is that I am writing at least twice before calling it done. Another refinement would be to make sure my writing does not stray from the topic at hand. In order to do this, I will ask my teacher along with my peers to critique any writing piece that I feel I am struggling with.
Participating in this project has not only opened my eyes to my own beliefs, but also to my peer's beliefs. After reading my peer's beliefs , I have gained a greater understanding of the people I am surrounded by. Defining and sharing my belief has opened my eyes to the people around me and to the way that I treat the people I care about. I have learned that the simplest sentence that expresses love and care can frame the way you experience the outcome of life. I have learned the power of appreciating and acknowledging the people you love.