Dear Ms. Langley,

This year was definitely the experience. Although there were many challenges and difficulties throughout this year, I Want to thank you for continuously teach me and help me grow as a thinker and writer. As I reflect over this year, I think about the fact that I truly and honestly did learn so much from this year. 

To begin, at the beginning of the year, I came into APlang very nervous as to what it was like to take a college level English course and soon i relaized that it was just as fast pace as i thought. Throughout the year, I learned and discovered new things about myself that I did not know before. When it came to writing my first assertions, rhetorical analysis, argument, and synthesis essays have allowed me to become accustomed to approaching prompts with confidence as we have done so much practice and preparation over the course of this school year. And Im very glad that I was able to grow as a writer even with the existing conditions. 

on the subject of reading, I believe that I have improved in comparison to last year. I have seen improvement within myself, but as of course there is always room for improvement. I really enjoyed that a lot of the reading that we did was books of our choice, but I also really enjoyed reading the books that were selected for us. I loved reading Citizen and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, I loved reading books that related to some of the social justice issues in our day to day live and getting to read and write about what I feel strongly about.

writing reflections on a regular basis has caused me to see my improvement and get used to criticing myself as better development throughout the school year. The reflections have allowed me to see that, as a person, my strongest area is writing, while my area for improvement is reading. I will continue to improve each day as long as I am putting forth the effort to learn and experience new things, while also asking for help when I need it.

In conclusion, the grade that I would give myself is a 90. I feel that over this year, despite all the challenges, techincal difficulteies and overall uncertainty, I have worked hard to push myself to get through the year and do my best to stay on task and make sure to get my work turned in .I am proud of myself and know that I did the best that I could. It was such a pleasure having you as a teacher and i wish very much that I had the opportunity to come into class but next year I will definitely be stopping by! Thank you so much for everything this year, and thank you for being you. 

Sincerely, Ariana Arechiga

Should the government have authority over someone else’s property? I do not, even if it is beneficial for the government to take private property in order to gain money from it when there’s no guarantee in it working and having to take the risk of people becoming homeless if it doesn’t go through with it.

There have been multiple articles talking about how unhelpful it is to the lower class, and everything that will take into affects. In source C it says, “Most of the people displaced were left even worse off than they were before. The condemned property was often transferred to politically influential developers and business interests…occurs in the poor and minority neighborhoods and still inflicts great harm both on their victims and on the surrounding communities”. Here is nothing but just giving another example of how people are benefiting off of others loss. Also comes to show that people with money/higher power have more over the lower class.

 In source B it states, “Pfizer wanted a nice place to operate, the Hartford Courant quoted executive David Burnett…But Burnett wasn’t just talking about the junkyard…He was also talking about the area’s middle class homes. We don’t want to be around tenements”. This is another example of how a big company works with the government to mindlessly overrun an area with an already exsisting low end community. Which will ultimately foreshadow how these peoples lives will be affected , they no longer have a house and will become homeless. With no disregard to these people their lives and well being are on the mercy of the higher class. 

In source A it states “eminent domain has been utilized traditionally to facilitate transportation, supply water,  construct public buildings, aid defence readiness” this shows the main purpose of eminent domain. Although it does benefit transportation of supplies, it is no longer about the materialistic benefit of it all , it is about the peoples stability taken away from peoples lives.

In conclusion, eminent domain should not be allowedto affect the lives of the lower class and actually be used in the correct manner and not just an excuse to move people out of lowincome areas but instead being more proactive and helping the lower class. With all of the evidence and articles witten about eminent domain this issue should no longer be undermined.

The Keystone Pipeline has been a major project discussed since 2008, with many executive orders initiated by presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and now Joe Biden. In his first few months as president, Biden announced that he would be officially revoking the plans to move forward with KXL, this would be following the efforts made  by the obama administration in 2015 in order to take action against climate change. For as long as the project has been overseen and forced into political discoussions and decisons. In hindsight, refocusing attention onto other projects besides KXL could actually be the best of both worlds, a solution thats been long awaited. Therefore, President Biden’s decision to veto the Keystone XL pipeline will not only demonstrate the U.S’s action taking a step to a climate change, but will in actuality aid the national economy through the creation of permanent jobs in return. 

Many an article have been written in contention for and against the Keystone Pipeline due to its effects on the environment, specifically Native American land. Articles like Source #1 cite that Keystone XL vowed to have net-zero operations emissions by 2023, as TC Energy “plans to save its $8 billion contract by promising to use renewable energy in pipeline operations” and “hire a union workforce” in order to move ahead with the plan last approved by former President Donald Trump. However, in the same source, quoted environmentalists applaud the new decision, stating that “President-elect Biden is showing courage and empathy to the farmers, ranchers and tribal nations who have dealt with an ongoing threat that disrupted their lives for over a decade.” This is a significant change because throughout North American history, from white government leaders to ordinary citizens, society has long ignored the aboriginal communities whose ancestors had once taken precedence over this land. With destructive legislation like the Trail of Tears forcing aboriginals off their homeland into small, often sparse territory, the government has pushed aside the needs of Native Americans like second-class people. 

Not only would the Keystone Pipeline have run through reservation property occupied by native Americans, but it would have degraded the natural landscape exponentially . Source #5 raises an invaluable question, why should the U.S be forced to choose between saving the planet and creating jobs? Up and coming industries such as solar power and even electric companies focus on renewable energy sources are creating even more jobs than crude oil. The article suggests that these are the fields that can create more high-level careers in fields that will actually aid Joe Biden’s goal to put the U.S. on track to reach “a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions no later than 2050” back in Source #1. Many proponents for the pipeline are concerned with the U.S’s declining economy and rising unemployment, especially in light of the current pandemic

Furthermore, climate change actually already crumbling the economy. Source #5 explains that natural disasters such as hurricanes and droughts are impacting unemployment when businesses are shut down for months at a time and governments accumulating U.S debt with all the infrastructure damages in affects. By not moving the Keystone Pipeline forward, the U.S can allocate its funds elsewhere while preventing it’s already crumbling climate. The Labor Network for Sustainability also mentions that the construction unemployment rate is twice the national average. While some may use this as a reason to provide more construction jobs, the same source proves that actually, “40 percent of U.S oil-industry jobs consist of minimum-wage work at gas stations. Why would the best way to boost the economy be to create more low-paying jobs in a field laying off “4,400 employees” in 2010 alone? This perspective is expanded upon in Source #2, the NY Times, “the Obama administration estimated that Keystone would support 42,000 temporary jobs for two years — about 3,900 of them in construction and the rest through indirect support, like food service — but only 35 permanent jobs.” For this reason exactly, the very basis in support for Keystone XL is unfounded because the limited job change would be unproportionate to the $8 billion allocated in building expenses. 

In conclusion, Joe Biden made the right decision to stop a discussion gone on for too long and making efforts to improve our way as a nation tackling climate change and job creation for the next four years. Not only will stopping the construction of KXL favor Native American communities’ access to clean water, land, and resources, but more energy is provided sustainable practices and hopefully boosting the economy while at it.

Dear ms. Langley ,

Throughout this six weeks, I few struggled to accomplish such things to meet goals I once had for myself. As time passes by My motivation for school becomes more thin and thin, which ends up conflicting with my school work. I lacked motivation, and constantly pushed things off because I wanted single isolation from anything that kept me productive and going. It is nothing i am proud of but will admit because sometimes the way life goes can completely off set your mood and motivation to do things productive. 

One thing though that I did end up achieving was keeping up with my books.. It seemed like the one thing that could help me escape the reality i was living in and reading into another. For what it seemed like was giving me a break from it all. But i see this as something that has always been stable in myself since the beginning of this year and I know once testing comes around my reading level will help me keep up to speed.

A goal I try to set for myself and improve within my self is communication. I will hold myself accountable and say that I really lacked that this six weeks. When something was assigned and if I had any questions i would give up and eventually forget about it till it was right back in my face again and these are bad habits I am trying and actively trying to get rid of and by that i will be taking part of going back to in person school. I will be easing my days into the new school but I genuinely feel like that getting that extra support and having no distractions rather than being home alone would greatly improve my grades.

Circling back, a growth that I would consider and definitely do would be trying to control my obstacles, and refresh my communication skills. Have a better plan for this upcoming six weeks and end strong. Regardless I’m proud of myself for even working on this assignment, and reflecting on myself to really grasp on how I did overall, and specifically for this class. As for an overall grade, 81 would be what I would give myself.

If you asked one person or even a group of individuals who have ever had the chance to read a novel by tori morrison , many would agree that her writing is one of a kind. While her writing is beautiful she focuses on the topic of colored individuals and bring a first person perspective as to what it is like to go through the struggles they may face day to day. In particular the novel beloved by toni morrison. This novel begins by the introduction of a former african enslaved mother, sethe, where she tells the story of how her life was changed by her past when she was enslaved. While her life had been shaped by her past being enslaved a young women who would also be introduced in the novel by the name of beloved would also lead to big changes in shaping her life and family moving forward. Though the writing Itself and story telling of a book is crucial to a Good book, without having a balance of the two you lose the advantage of keeping your readers interest through language that is needed to create imagery and meaning behind it all. 

The story takes the writing and organizes it through themes and character relationships, making it easier for the reader to make sense of the writing and begin to connect the dots. When Sethe’s daughter Denver is wandering through her house she spots her mother, “What was unusual (even for a girl who had lived all her life in a house peopled by the living activity of the dead) was that a white dress knelt down next to her mother and had its sleeve around her mother’s waist. And it was the tender embrace of the dress sleeve that made Denver remember the details of her birth” (34). In this passage it represents the mother-daughter relationship Denver and Sethe share. When Denver goes to pray with Sethe the white dress holding Sethe close is Beloved, Sethe’s dead baby coming back to 124. The relationship these three women come to have stays consistent throughout the book. The alteration these three go through in the book stamp changes they are going through in their journey, the common thread throughout the novel is their bond and it’s this connection that strings the story together, and all the other characters are written in around the origin to these main characters.This exemplifies a perfectly written passage and had it not been written this way Most of the points and connections made would be aimless because of the indirect meaning of it all.  

      Beloved contains a number of themes that as you read on into you can piece together and ultimately stay drawn to the book, while this creates a better story if these themes were written any differently the story would lack the audiences attention and so When done correctly, themes can act like hidden Easter eggs for the reader to hunt for.. After Sethe escapes from Sweet Home, she lives at 124 Bluestone Road in Ohio, on the outskirts of a tight-knit community where secrets can never stay hidden. Sethe’s perception of the community around her shifts from a tool to use for help to that of fear and avoidance. For example, “Seth understood it then, but now with a paying job and an employer who was kind enough to hire an ex-convict, she despised herself for the pride that made pilfering better than standing in line at the window of the general store with all the other Negroes. She didn’t want to jostle them or be jostled by them. Feel their judgment or their pity, especially now.” (225). After Sethe has been living in Ohio and created her reputation for killing her children Sethe is aware of how closely her community watches her movements. Sethe doesn’t want anyone to view her as a reason for pity, so Sethe holds herself above her peers, going as far as to physically distance from them so she won’t become an object to tear apart from a single glance.          

      The setting of a novel allowed  the reader to visualize the writing into their own lives. Beloved specifically could not be created properly without the extensive background information given. Sethe was subjected to terrible mistreatment at the Sweet Home plantation, but even still she constantly flashes back to her more positive memories at Sweet Home, “Suddenly there was sweet home rolling, rolling, rolling out before her eyes, and although there was not a leaf on that farm that did not make her want to scream, it rolled itself out before her in shameless beauty. It never looked as terrible as it was and it made her wonder if hell was a pretty place too. Fire and brimstone all right, but hidden in lacy groves.” (7) This thought process symbolizes the internal battle within Sethe, constantly stuck between escaping the “hell” Sethe endured while, as Sweet Home served as a foundation for who Sethe would become in her life as a free person raising her children. Sweet Home chronicles Sethe’s history and consequently was the cause of her emotional downturn to killing her baby. Without the knowledge of Sweet Home given to the reader Sethe’s journey would’ve come across as a one-time event rather than a culmination of her past catching up to her present with Beloved stuck in the crossfire. 

The story serves a good perspective to the reader but the writing ultimately delivering the words. Both beautiful writing and a captivating story are a requirement for a successful novel and Toni Morrison was able to accomplish both in the novel beloved.

In Italo Calvinos essay “Why Read the Classics?” he starts by giving a list of reasons to the audience as to why they read the classics . Calvino claims that “A classic does not necessarily teach us anything we did not know before. In a classic we sometimes discover something we have always known (or thought we knew), but without knowing that this author said it first, or at least is associated with it in a special way. (Calvino)” In this quotes Calvino is beginning to state that when you read a classic you aren’t learning anything new which is helping make his statement argumentative. Now most times When people begin to read books they enjoy they usually go back and re read them sense they already know what’s going to, and not just because of that but a lot of people mention that most times there are small important details that they may have missed or things they may not have connected in the beginning. Often times people will solely do this to try and get deeper understandings of their favorite books for their own enjoyment. And Therefore, Calvinos argument about reading the classics is more of a personal opinion rather than what most would call a fact.

One personal accomplishment I am particularly proud of is getting my certification In red cross CPR, over this past year I got my first job as a lifeguard and before hand I spend more than 30 class hours learning and studying all the ends and outs of being a life guard and how to keep myself as well as other people safe against the dangers of water. Another accomplishment I am proud of is My advancement in math, i’ve always struggled with keeping up and retaining the information when it came to math and i’ve never led that to make me believe I couldnt learn or be good at math and with that being said I take pride because of how far I’ve come to get my placement in math the way it is.

One of my greatest academic strengths is being able to learn how to study and know what was would be most effective for me to do so. This became critical as I moved into high school and I knew it was a big adjustment to make but Also  i knew How greatlyu it would improve and help with my time management and making sure i am equally giving my classes the time necessary. An academic weakness I face is procrastination, As much as I can say that I easily am victim to this weaknmess i am actively y aware and continuously try to combat it so it doesn’t stay as a weakness but rather something I can learn from and get better at maintaing.

My most favorite class that I have taken all of highschool has been engineering, since I was younger I have always been fascinated with hands on building and learning new ways in furthering my knowledge about How electronics work and comparing to how things affect my day to day life.

History has not always been my strong point when it comes to school but It definitely has pushed me into furthering the way I gather information and knowing personally my histoory and the country’s history but also knowing the difference between valuable information and what is not such a reliable source of information. I think it has improved my thinking skills crucially and my writing as well. 

As a personal strength I believe that I am a hard worker when it comes to getting things done and I am always striving to be better then what is expected of me. For a weakness when i am given a task I have all of my goals listed and I work hard to complete them but as soon as I get another task  assigned to me i get side tracked very easily and it stunts my progress that I had planned for my first task.  

Three adjectives I would use to describe myself are Couragous, I believe that often times I am brave and willing to take on challenges thats would seem out of my comfort zone but I take the chance and I encourage others to do so as well.  Ambitious, I am ambitious because I always look up to my role models and the successful people in my life and strive to be just like them and even better.considerate, I am consideate because I am always thinking about how people are feeling and I never am the one to make people feel like they arent being heard or that their opinions amd feelings arent valid and instead I do everything I can to help them value their voice and feelings.

Reliable , I’ve asked a number of people this and their answers as to why and they can collectively agree that I am reliable because whenever they are struggling whether it is academically or emotionally I am always there willing to help and i never turn them down. I like to acknowledge that and agree because i dont like to see people struggle and if i can offer anything I love to offer my support. Thoughtful , Most people have described me as thoughtful because the way i treat people with respect and when it comes down to it Involve and value peoples thoughts and feelings. My first option would be Mr.smith, I have known him since elementary school because he worked with My older Sister anais and during that we built a connection with eachother and I have worked with him and been his student ever since.My second option would be Coach brown, I would choose coach brown because shes been there for me in all of my athletic related extra curriculars and it has kept a bond between me and us for many years.

this six weeks felt pretty quick but I can confidently say every single one has felt so. Each six weeks I have tried to adapt and dedicate myself more and more to this class. My reading this six weeks as to last six weeks feltlike the most improved thing this six weeks. I decided to continue reading the maze runner but I also revisited one of my favorite books the giver, as well to finish up Citizen this six weeks and I feel that both books are help bring me more awae and appreciate my life as it is. And still I am always left thinking and trying to compare what’s happening in the book with something that’s happening in my life. I’ve also feel like I lacked in reading because it is easy to be so sidetracked and distracted but i have but countless efforts in making it a routine and acknowledging it In my personal life.

My writing this six weeks consisted of a lot of writers block, I struggled with stating my citizens essay and the more and more time i spent on it I felt like I wasnt improving enough. I did my best this six weeks to give myself time to think and process out fully how i wanted to take assignments on and provide my best effort. My writing is getting better everyday and I am excited to see what you have instore for us next year. Writing for me is something I struggle with the most when it comes to English class, but this six weeks has helped me try and become a better writer which is what I strive for 

Remote learning has been one of those things where it is a constant cycle of  not being able to fully focus and get distracted easily. Now that is no excuse for anything But i’ve learned the more i’ve come to acknowledge and accept it I can continue to work on it and make myself a better student for you.I want to by the start of next year to be able to say that my writing is great and my reading schedule has never been better But I would also like to say thank you for always offering help and never turning down an opportunity to talk to us in class and even creating the cohorts incase to check in on us and make an extra effort to form that connection that is now a little harder to come across due to remote learning.

Citizen by Claudia Rankine is written in the voice of poetry, about moments and experiences in people’s lives, specifically of people of color. Main Themes that you find Rankine covers are racism and discrimination. She describes how easy it is to say something offensive and for it to be interpreted wrong but still hurts the same and is still as racist. She also describes how poeple will will degrade other people just to make themselves feel better. Claudia Rankine  exhibits her book Citizen to show her audience how racism, discrimination, and the attempt to make someone feel inferior affects people.

Claudia Rankine describes the negativity of discrimination and putting others down through part two of her book. Part two covers the stories about the world famous tennis player Serena Williams. It exhibits people picking out things she had done and criticized the way she lived her life and the way she continues to do so. “All the bad calls, the boos, the criticisms that she has made ugly the game of tennis – through her looks as well as her behavior – the entire cluster of betrayals will be wiped clean with this win” (Rankine, 31). Comments like these, may seem minor to most but in the mind of a person who is being told that it lingers and almost feels like an open wound. In some point of our lives we’ve experienced something like this. Having heard  someone make a comment about the way you looked one day, you can’t stop thinking about and whether or not the person realized they were hurting your feelings you start to feel self conscious and that itself is a lingering feeling.

In the stories Rankine uses she uses to talk about how people lives to an everyday basses are affected by discrimination. In these stories She writes,  “When you arrive and announce yourself, he blurts out, I didn’t know you were black! I didn’t mean to say that, he then says. Aloud, you say. What? he asks. You didn’t mean to say that aloud. Your transaction goes swiftly after that”(44). While making the comment this man stops himself for a second to take back his comment but has already exerted a message that is offensive and hateful. The person, whose perspective is used in the story, still felt the unkindness and discrimination in the man’s words. “Haven’t you said this to a close friend who early in your friendship, when distracted, would call you by the name of her black housekeeper? You assumed you two were the only black people in her life”(7). Even though you are meant to assume that this friend had no idea the negative impact she was making on the person’s life, you are still able to pick up on how hurt the person was that someone so close could be so unaware of their words and how that reflects on them as a person

Both of the themes in this book are quite interwoven. Both hurt just as much with intention behind it than completely on accident, or maybe just accidentally out loud. “Standing outside the conference room, unseen by the two men waiting for the others to arrive, you hear one say to the other that being around black people is like watching a foreign film without translation”(50). Words like these start to make you question what the man means by a foreign film without translation. Could someone’s life be so alienated to someone that they could compare it to an untranslated foreign film? Or is this just a perfect example to make someone else feel inferior to another.“And when the woman with multiple degrees says, I didn’t know black women could get cancer, instinctively you take two steps back though all urgency leaves the possibility of any kind of relationship as you realize nowhere is where you will get from here(45). The way this woman assumes cancer does not exist for a black woman because of the way she looks is a good example of someone invalidating this person’s experience of illness just because of their skin color. especially discriminatory and racist because of the fact that Rankine has made sure to mention that this woman is very well educated which could say that she is aware of her intentions.

When reflecting on this past six weeks, I believe that I have grown a lot and this six weeks taught me many useful things about myself and this class. Goals I had set last six weeks like my reading rituals and keeping up with a consist cycle , I’ve been able to do that for the most part between reading my choice book and Citizen. I also wanted to read more poetry and now that we’re reading citizen it is poetry but of things that correlate to today’s world and society making me think about how it affects me and my peers to today. As much progress I’ve made I want to continue and challenge myself as a reader. 

As a writer i can most definitely say I’ve grown so much more. With the three main assertions we wrote this six weeks I’ve finally got the confidence in writing them and now just thinking about them and finding new topics to write I am more confident with writing and being able to express my thoughts in a more meaning ways.

In times like this and getting used to remote learning and trying to stay on top of school and everything else in our personal lives I think all of us can agree it is equally as hard as it was in the beginning since we started school. A big problem I have always faced is procrastination, and especially now it shines through because of all the distraction I’m accompanied with now. This six weeks was better than my first because of setting personal goals and making a schedule for myself but Next six weeks I want to strive to be even better. I’m going to continue to prioritize my school work and take pride in it. I think a lot of times when I do things I don’t usually congratulate  myself for it or put much attention to it so i lose motivation for it but this six weeks I want to continue to strive and do better by motivating myself to do better.