Personal Experience In Barbara Mellix's 'From Outside, In'

1400 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Diversity in a classroom

In my personal experience I grew up in small town, Tolono, where most of the people are Caucasian and speak English. In third grade we received a new girl to our school and whenever a new student joined our class I was always very welcoming. The new young lady spoke English but was from a different culture. One day in the library I was reading a book with the new girl and some other friends; it was a book on the body and health. The book had all sorts of interactive fold out pages with actual examples. I picked up one of the hair piece examples to show everyone in the group. The hair piece that I picked up that I thought was from the book turned out to be a removeable dread lock from the new girls’ hair that had fallen out. At that time for me I had no clue what a dread lock was or how it could have possibly come from her hair. I am sure my body language and facial expression was an expression of shock and puzzlement, …show more content…

She specifically mentions in the article that, “Each experience of writing was like standing naked and revealing my imperfection, my “otherness.” And each new assignment was another chance to make myself over in language, reshape myself, make myself “better” in my rapidly changing image of a student in a college composition class.” This reminds me of a new stage of my life making new friends and going down a new path. In high school I had one absolute best friend the rest of the student body was hard to connect with. College gives me a new chance of finding my place and connecting with students going down the same career path. Like Barbara Mellix, I too am go through a language change in college and in my work place. I am doing what I need to succeed and not maintain the same language just to be accepted by my own

Show More
Related

  • Brief Summary Of Tiffany Martinez's Article Academia, Love Me Back

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    She uses adequate vocabulary to establish her ability to write and communicate effectively. She even mentions that she is careful about each word she expresses because she doesn’t want to support the professor’s claims of her inadequacy in word choice. She uses strong, emotional words like “debilitating and painful”, and “bitter”, “doubt”, and “criticized” to allow the audience to feel empathy. She transitions between her ideas with short simple sentences to keep the audience focused on the important items. “Today is different”, begins the specific account of her professor’s words on her paper. “In reality, I am tired and exhausted” is a simple sentence with powerful, honest words. This sentence transitions into her ideas of what should be done to stop stereotyping. Lastly, she uses the pronoun “I” throughout the paper, but shifts to the pronoun “we” in the final sentences of the article. This shift targets the audience and challenges the reader to be responsible for making changes in academia and stereotyping. The simple statements, “We all have work to do. Academia needs work” are strong and

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Erin George's A Woman Doing Life

    1380 Words  | 3 Pages

    Erin George’s A Woman Doing Life: Notes from a Prison for Women sheds light on her life at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women (FCCW) where she was sentenced for the rest of her life for first-degree murder. It is one of the few books that take the reader on a journey of a lifer, from the day of sentencing to the day of hoping to being bunked adjacent to her best friend in the geriatric ward.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Living Out By Lisa Loomer

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    Living Out by Lisa Loomer is a play that tells the story of the complicated relationship between a Salvadoran nanny and the lawyer she works for. Both women are smart, hard-working mothers who want better lives for their children. The play explores many similarities and differences between them. Through the main character Ana, we understand what it’s like to leave a child in another country and to come to come to the United States. We also get what the potential cost is like to sacrifice your own child in order to care for someone else's. Through the lawyer; Nancy, we understand the pressure on women today. How they try to do everything perfectly and sometimes having to put work before their family. The play also looks at the discrimination and misconceptions between Anglos (White American’s) and Latinos.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Shitty First Drafts By Anne Lamott

    1442 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Once people actually write to others, they do things to them, they act on them. Perhaps you have not thought of your own writing as doing something, as acting on readers” (Schmidt and Kopple). She states another time when she says, “I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, not one them sits down routinely feeling widely enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts” (Lamott). This is yet another example of Lamott going back to the subject that first drafts are supposed to be bad. There is one example of bad rhetoric and it is when she says, “Not one of them writes elegant drafts. All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much. We do not think that she has a rich inner life or that God likes her or can even stand her.” At first she says that everyone writes bad first drafts and then she brings up how one person doesn’t need to, she went against what she just said and that might cause confusion for the reader. Lamott would tell this purpose to this audience because she wants them to improve in their writing. Anne Lamott wants to achieve the success of helping everyone excel in his or her writing. She wants to inform writers that all first drafts should be bad. She does not want them to feel down on themselves, and to continue writing. This purpose is important because this

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Beside Oneself By Judith Butler

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the featured article, “Beside Oneself: On the Limits of Sexual Autonomy,” the author, Judith Butler, writes about her views on what it means to be considered human in society. Butler describes to us the importance of connecting with others helps us obtain the faculties to feel, and become intimate through our will to become vulnerable. Butler contends that with the power of vulnerability, the rolls pertaining to humanity, grief, and violence, are what allows us to be acknowledged as worthy.

    Read More

  • How Margaret Fuller and Fanny Fern Used Writing as a Weapon For Women's Rights

    1225 Words  | 3 Pages

    As every well-read person knows, the background in which you grow up plays a huge role in how you write and your opinions. Fuller grew up with a very strict education, learning multiple classic languages before she was eight years old. Fern grew up with writers all throughout her family and had a traditional education and saw first hand the iniquities of what hard-working had to contend with. Through close analysis of their work, a reader can quickly find the connections between their tone, style, content, and purpose and their history of their lives and their educational upbringing.

    Read More

  • Critical Review of Helping Students Meet the Challenges of Academic Writing by Fernsten and Reda

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    ‘Helping students meet the challenges of academic writing’ by Fernsten and Reda is an interesting study how reflective writing practices can be useful for marginalized students, who are struggling with “negative writer self-identity. The possible causes according to Fernsten & Reda are, “issues such as race, class and gender that are marginalized factors for many basic writers”, in addition to the expectations of the dominant academic culture. However, even though Fernsten & Reda illuminated the ‘potential conflicts’ within the academic world, they have failed to provide conclusive evidence that supports their argument regarding their solution. Their reliance on dated research that provides a one sided historical perspective, may no longer accurately reflect current socio/economic issues. In addition, education has been evolving to an inclusive curriculum approach, as immigrated children enter the school system in record numbers. “Persons obtaining legal permanent status in the U.S from the year 2000-2010 are roughly eleven million” (Homeland Security,pg.10/2010). Fernsten & Reda’s confidence of their own limited teaching practices without legitimate comparables from an empirical study leads to their underlying assumptions about the true effectiveness of reflective writing strategies and the causes they believe are associated to a student’s socio/economic background.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of How It Feels To Be Colored Me By Neale Hurston

    1781 Words  | 4 Pages

    Despite the current scrutiny that her race faces she asserts to the reader that her race and color define her as a person and does not determine her identity. Despite the mindset that most of her peers keep about the inequality of race, she maintains an open mind and declares to the reader that she finds everyone equal. Thus proving herself as a person ahead of her own time.

    Read More

  • My Experience With English 1301

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    From this course I have learned that being a writer is much more than writing grammatically correct. A writer is one who studies deeply and takes into mind the audience and the context and then begins to form their paper. Writers are rhetor’s, encoders, and members of discourse communities. As a writer, I hold the power to influence anyone that reads my writing, whether I intend to influence that person or not. Being a writer from my understanding this semester should actually be called a rhetor or encoder, because just about every piece of writing contains rhetoric and intertextuality of some sort, whether you consciously recognize it or not. I find that the knowledge, skills, and new ideas I have acquired this semester will significantly influence not only my college career but also benefit my life in general.

    Read More

  • Writing for Myself, by Russell Baker

    328 Words  | 1 Pages

    The purpose of Baker’s essay and its placement in The Prentice Hall Guide for College Writers is to encourage young writers to realize that writing truly is a privilege. It is also placed in the book to show college English students that writing does not have to be a grim task and that thinking of it in that manner will only make the student average.

    Read More

  • Amy Tan

    2361 Words  | 5 Pages

    Amy attended high school in Montreux, Switzerland. When Amy graduated high school, she moves back to the United States. She soon attends Linfield College in Oregon, San Jose City College, San Jose State University, the University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of California at Berkeley. Although Amy’s mother wants her to become a neurosurgeon, Amy had different plans to become a writer. After graduating college she became a language development consultant and as a corporate freelance writer. Although it was a good job, Amy was not happy and achieved her life long dream to become a writer.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Finding The Lost Freshman

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    In all, I feel that the author’s message was to prepare the reader being the college freshman on the journey to becoming a college student. The author wants the reader to know not to lose what they have learned before making the journey of becoming a college student. I believe that if you stick to what you have learned prior to becoming a college student, and know that this is a journey where you will find success, in not losing who you are you will graduate and will have fewer worries on the

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative Essay: How I Become A Reader And Writer

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    I have always been an artistic person, and I saw writing as another way to express myself artistically. Many students my age hated to write but I never saw it as a burden. I carried that passion throughout high school and continue to enjoy it in college. My junior and senior English teacher, Mrs. McGhee, had the biggest impact of my writing skills. She was always a tough grader and always made sure to elaborate on our mistakes. She is the reason I became such a strong writer. She and Anne Lamott have similar personalities. Lamott states, “It’s not like you don’t have a choice, because you do- you can either type or kill yourself.” Mrs. McGhee hated excuses. She expected her students to complete the tasks that were given to them, but, of course, high school students always complained and probably rather kill themselves than write a paper. She constantly motivated her students to work hard and complete their work to the best of their abilities. I cannot thank her enough for the impact she has had on my academic

    Read More

  • Reflective Essay: Advanced Placement English Class

    626 Words  | 2 Pages

    They invite students to alter their voice or imitate a particular style they find interesting. They show their students the beauty and joy in writing. They praise students for their successes and comfort students during their failures. They force students to seek out the unbridled joy of finding the perfect idea. They encourage their students to take risks, to break conventions, to add passion to their writing, and to play with rhetoric. They do this because even if the student’s experiment fails, the student will have learned the value of a dynamic writing style. They teach students to love

    Read More

  • Multiculturalism and Technology

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...re being taught is steadily changing. With the growing use of technology and the idea of multiculturalism, students are now learning more about how to work with others, and succeed in life. I believe that in the future, almost all writing classes will have a sense of multiculturalism to it. Students will develop better skills to help them achieve in the real world and become an overall, better-educated group. As the world changes, so do its people, but one thing will always remain the same. College professors will always find big and better ways to improve the minds of their students.

    Read More

More about Personal Experience In Barbara Mellix's 'From Outside, In'

Open Document