Author: CRISLEYDI PAULINO

1. Creating an exhaustive documentation can help with writing down all of our ideas. Hengel states how it is important to ask questions about your text and genuinely be curious. I think this is something that I can apply to my text to make things easier. Instead of trying to analyze the text immediately and make my own interpretations, I can brainstorm with questions and answer the questions as I analyze.
2. Abdurraqib and Hengel touch base on a song that future wrote about heartbreak. In this song he expressed how he used substances to avoid his pain. In a way Abdurraqib can relate to avoidance of pain. When he mother past away he tried to avoid his healing process. Distractions of other things may had seem like the way out, but it only pushed those feelings aside temporarily. This is important as people can get a sense of comfort by relating to an artist; it’s not just a “regular person” who have traumatic experiences.

1. Coates focuses on the part that was left out of the movie because it actually plays a significant roll. Although the movie could’ve seemed intriguing the missing parts is what makes up the movie and add more significance if it already has. You can kind of think about it like a song with no lyrics. Sure the instrumental version sounds nice, but the lyrics is what really tells the story and what makes the song.
2. The word game is constantly repeated throughout this reading. When he speaks about the game he says that 10 million species were discovered. The game revolves around planets in which he searches for mineral deposits. On the last paragraph he states, “repetitiveness is inevitable, but, each time I punctured a new stratosphere, my store of patience and interest was renewed.” Although the repetitiveness of the video games can get boring for some, it gave more patience and new excitement.

1. “Serena’s behavior, on this particular Sunday afternoon, suggest that all the injustice she has played through all the years of her illustrious career flashes before her and she decides finally to respond to all of it with a string of invectives.” I found this quote to be interesting because the anger that Serena portrays during her game comes from past experiences and rejections, and in a way  it helps her play to her fullest potential.
2. “As offensive as her outburst is, it is difficult not to applaud her for reacting immediately to being thrown against a white background.” This quote has purpose to the world and the audience. Serena was accused of moving her foot wrongly during the game and she lashed out at the other player. Although what she did wasn’t very ideal to others, she stood up for herself in a “white background.”

“…it is difficult not to think that if Serena lost context by abandoning all rules of civility, it could be because her body, trapped in racial imagery, trapped in disbelief – code for being black in America- is being governed not by the tennis match she is participating in but by a collapsed relationship that had promised to play by the rules.” Logos is used in this quote as the point of this quote is to persuade the audience that she wasn’t wrong fro lashing out; they were wrong for calling her out on a false move.

There’s been multiple times where I have communicated with my eyes. I remember one time being with a group of people at an event and feeling uncomfortable. I looked at my friends and moved my eyes repeatedly to the right, signalizing the bathroom. I felt very anxious as I hoped they understood what I was trying to say while also trying to get out of the situation I was in. Although they didn’t understand what was going on, they understood that I didn’t want to be there anymore. They immediately realized that I was signaling to go to the bathroom and proceeded to go with me. As a female, I feel like this is something we do a lot when we are in a uncomfortable situation or conversation. That certain look is a look for “help.”

Ethos: “Does my ego get in the way of my happiness? Yes. This is a question I can answer for myself. I’m constantly fighting the idea of letting my guard down and just being open about the way I feel; but at the same time I’m a firm believer that people know what they do and I shouldn’t have to explain myself to others as to why there’s no longer a connection. This reverts back to my failed friendships.”

Pathos: “Which then follows up to the next question. Am I living for myself or for others? The opinions of others are just distractions to the things I want to accomplish in life. Seeking validation from others holds me back from focusing on what I want for myself. I wouldn’t say I live for others but I feel like there’s an image I portray for myself that I would want others to look at me by. If someone were to describe me I would want them to say that I am a boss. Everything that I have was worked hard for.”

Logos: ” ‘Codependency is a learned behavior that can be passed down from one generation to another. … It is also known as ‘relationship addiction’ because people with codependency often form or maintain relationships that are one-sided, emotionally destructive and/or abusive (Mental Health America).’ ”

2. Summer Walker starts her song “Over it” by saying “Am I really that much to handle?” In this song she speaks about a man who acts like he’s tough and has it all well put together but in reality he can’t handle her and her strong demeanor. Her dominant personality breaks down a man and his ability to have stronger masculine energy than she does. She speaks about how she’s very closed off with her emotions due to pass experience which can explain her strong personality. She repeats the word “I need a man who can handle me” as she feels no one else has met her expectations and asks for someone who can keep it chill as the men she previously spoke to did the most in terms of being unfaithful.

3. From doing this analysis I noticed how a song can tell a story. Same thing with a picture or an object. I found this easy as I made my interpretations off of lyrics. Whereas trying to depict a message from a painting could be a little more complex. However, everyone can have different interpretations of a song, image, or object but no answer is a wrong answer.

One thing that stood out to me about X’s narrative was when he would write down all the words of the dictionary to improve his vocabulary. I found this to be very intriguing because of his determination to educate himself for his own well-being. He was his own motivation and he was open to learning new things. Sometimes in life you have limited resources and have to use what’s around you. But those limited resources shouldn’t hold you back from learning or doing what you genuinely want to do.

In my literacy narrative I will be using personal/ past experiences. My personal experiences will add more to my narrative making it more engaging to the audience. It will also allow my audience to relate to my experiences as it may has happened to them or if it’s something that they struggle with now. I may also incorporate some of Sedari’s strong character swelling that my personality is very dominant.

Baldwin speaks about how language can identify someone. He speaks on how a different group of men all speak French but if they were together, they would have a hard time communicating with one another. This is because they adapt their languages to their environment and what may be something for one of them, can be something different for another. Belmihoub and Corcoran’s state, “In other words, from a strictly linguistic standpoint, all that really exists are the words that any given speaker knows.” This can revert back to the men who speak French as they know their language to be modified for them.

One piece of advice from Straub’s essay that is new to me is to give as much praise as criticism. We’re so use to giving criticism, especially when it comes to feedback to help the other  better their writing. This can cause confusion to a person in the sense that they won’t know what is good in their essay; they’re only going to focus on the things that need to be fixed. Giving praise can motivate the writer to continue writing and to make good changes to their work.