Shirley Miranda

I believe Essay 2 was my most successful assignment. I learned a lot from the feedback I received, which helped me improve both my writing and critical thinking skills. After applying that feedback, I earned a better grade, which showed me that I was making progress. This essay helped me become a better writer by teaching me how to better support my thesis and find strong, relevant evidence. It also made me more thoughtful in how I organize and develop my ideas. I feel like I could have done better on my first essay, especially in terms of clarity and detail. I think I could have explained my points more thoroughly, especially in areas where I was not as clear or specific. I should have connected my arguments back to the sources more often to help the reader better understand my points. Overall, I felt like some sections were too vague, and I could have been more concrete with my examples and explanations. One thing I learned this semester was how to dive deeper into my thoughts and opinions. This class really encouraged me to not just focus on writing academically, but also to incorporate my own insights into the essays. I appreciated how we were able to connect personal observations with the stories and poems we read. It made the writing process more engaging and helped me think more critically about the material.

Raymond Carver’s idea that ordinary things can hold great power with simple language is shown well in A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O’Connor. The story seems to be like it’s just about a family trip, but the grandmother’s simple comments reveal a lot about her character. For example, when she says, “In my time, children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else,” she’s just talking about the past, but it shows her judgmental attitude and how she feels disconnected from the present. This quote stood out to me because it shows how the grandmother thinks she’s better than others. The simple words don’t need anything fancy to show her superiority. O’Connor uses everyday moments, like the grandmother talking about respect, to show something deeper about who she is. It made me realize that simple language can have a strong impact by revealing character and emotion clearly.

My thesis for the research essay is, Even though fairy tales are meant for children, they often deal with dark topics like fear, danger, and survival, showing how people use stories to deal with the scary parts of life. From List A, I chose Jack Zipes’s article “The Struggle for the Meaning of Fairy Tales.” What stood out to me was how Zipes explained that fairy tales come from real struggles people have faced. These stories might use magic or talking animals, but they still talk about serious things like hunger, danger, or feeling alone. From List B, I picked Bruno Bettelheim’s “The Uses of Enchantment.” Bettelheim explains that scary parts of fairy tales actually help children deal with emotions like fear or anger. Instead of avoiding those feelings, the stories help kids face them. I like the idea that fairy tales are not just fun or silly they can help people understand hard things in a safe way.

When it comes to literary works that include offensive language, like racial slurs, there’s a tricky balance between preserving historical context and being mindful and considerate of the audience. In Flannery O’Conner’s writing for example the use of harsh language reflects the reality of the time and place she’s writing about the American south in the 1960’s. Keeping that language in the text helps readers understand the characters and the social issues O’ Conner is addressing. It makes the story feel authentic and shows how normalized racism and prejudice were in that time in society. That said offensive language can be hurtful to readers now in days. It might  make people feel uncomfortable, and some might not even want to continue with the text because of it. One possible solution is to keep the original language but provide context, like content warnings. This way, readers can better understand why it’s there and how it fits into the story without overlooking the uncomfortable parts of history.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve found poetry a bit challenging to understand but I’ve been trying hard to improve my understanding. Ive been focusing more on the emotions and deeper meanings behind the words, even though its not always easy. This approach has helped me with reading Oedipus the King. One poem that connects to the play is Natasha Trethewey’s “White Lies”. In this poem, the speaker talks about the ” white lies” to fit in, pretending to be wealthier than she actually is, while also hiding parts of her identity. For example, she says, “I could easily tell the white folks… that we lived uptown… not in that pink and a green… shanty fled shotgun section along the tracks” (Trethewey, lines 5-8)  This is similar to Oedipus the King, where Oedipus hides the truth about his identity and his past, and these lies shape his life without him realizing it. In both the poem and the play, hiding the truth leads to trouble. In “White Lies,” the speaker’s mother punishes her for lying by “washing out (her) mouth with ivory soup,” saying it will “purify” her (Trethewet, lines 13-15). This punishment shows the consequences pf the lies told, like how Oedipus’s ignorance of the truth causes his downfall. Both demonstrate that hiding the truth can cause bigger problems in the end.

When writing essay 1, it was definitely a challenging experience for me. When reading the student sample I struggled with understanding what the student was trying to say while also trying to connect their writing to the rubric. I often needed to reread the sample to grasp it’s meaning. I realized that i was focusing too much on what the student did well, rather than analyzing how well the essay followed the rubric and assignment criteria. This taught me the importance of being more specific and focused in my writing. In future assignments, Essay 1 will help me be more confident in providing clear, well supported points. I understand the need to refer back to the text and elaborate on specific examples to make my analysis stronger. This experience will guide me in making my writing more precise and analytical in the future. Also ensuring that i meet the assignment expectations fully.

In an essay that would focus less on socio-economic issues, would be an essay that explores Sylvia’s personal understanding and growth in “The Lesson”. In the beginning of “The Lesson” Sylvia is very resistant and stubborn towards Miss Moore’s lesson about social class and money. Sylvia is confused and doesn’t fully understand the purpose of the trip to the toy store. Throughout the story she begins to understand theirs more to society than she thought. This change of Sylvia’s mindset is a very important part of the story. Sylvia understands that this lesson isn’t just about the differences in money certain objects have, but it’s about gaining self awareness of where she stands in this world. Sylvia’s mind being opened up to the harsh reality we live in something we all can understand and relate to. The need to wanting to stay in your innocents but being forced to accept the unfortunate and unfair rules of society. The title I would give this essay would be “Sylvia’s Shift in Perspective”.

The prewriting assignment in Week 1 activity is to help us prepare to write essay 1. We will first need to read “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” and an overview of the story. After this, we will need to review supporting materials such as the Power points on thesis statements and MLA citation.  Finally, we need to read the directions and a sample essay. The purpose of the prewriting assignment is to familiarize us with the material and set the foundation for our own writing, without requiring any submissions at this stage. -Shirley Miranda