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Friday, March 11, 2011
Table Of Contents
A Reflection Of What's Done
My name is Elise Beebe. I am 19 years old and working through college. I am from California and have also lived in southern Oregon for the majority of my life. I really like music and I love to go swing dancing. That is a time when I don't have a care in the world and can just have fun. I am also a runner and like the outdoors. I like just about anything outside especially if it is hot and sunny. I don't really like the rain very much but I plan to, some time in my life hopefully, move to Europe and live there for awhile. My favorite place where I would love to live is Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, Italy. I traveled there over the summer and would absolutely love to go back. Not too long ago, about 5 years, I moved up to Washington and have really started to change my life for the better.
I didn't start running until I was a freshman in high school at in Snohomish. I started out being really slow and just running for the fun of it. I never thought in a million years I would, just four years later, have received a scholarship for running at a college. Throughout high school I was the shy and quiet person and didn't say much. When I became a faster runner I started to feel more confident and was able to speak up. I became a stronger individual every time I would race because I had a drive to win. I have never actually won a race but I am competitive racing to the finish with whom ever is around me. This drive to do better also showed in my everyday life. When ever I would meet new people I wanted to get to know them and make myself a better person.
When college came around I was not too excited about it because it was a community college. That train of thought has completely changed. I am so thankful that I ended up going to Everett Community College because I have met some incredible people and have experienced things I always wanted to do. Running on the college team has given me the opportunity to increase that drive to become a better individual all around. The races are way more competitive that high school and I really enjoy it. I also cannot imagine a better team than the one I am on. The people are all very unique and each have something that holds the group together. We may not get along all the time but we are a family none the less. Everett Community College has also led me to some of my closest friends right now and I never would have met them if I did not go there.
Just recently a huge and very impacting change in my life has come from a small group of friends I found through a church in my town. This group is called Arise, the Young Adults group at the church. Here they have showed me new life and new hope at a time in my life when I needed it the most. We hang out together, learn about Christianity, make new friends, and have worship. Up until now I have never really been to church in my life or felt very comfortable talking about religion and Christianity. Up until now I knew nothing of the religion and what it consists of. I am happy to say I love going to church every Sunday and grow as an individual. I have never felt so good and thankful like I have been with this amazing group of people. They have really impacted my life and I know I never would have met them if I hadn't gone to Everett Community College.
I am really glad I took this class this quarter because it has made me think more about writing with a purpose and writing to all audiences. It has helped me figure out who I am as a writer and where I want to go and improve with writing in my life. I especially liked the topics of the class which were Identity, Community, and Tradition. In all of my English classes so far we have not talked about these topics and I learned a lot about them in this class and how they relate to my life.
The pieces I chose for my E-portfolio were some of the pieces that I felt I did the best on and ones that I thought best showed my style of writing. They show that I can change my voice to fit the audience I am presenting to and that I can go more in depth on a topic to get my point across. I included one of my community discussion board 2 post to show my critical thinking skills and my identity unit paper to show my revision and rewriting skills. I have also included my "Running Is A Community" blog posting to show my awareness of audience and my own voice as well as my "What's In Your Wallet?" identity blog posting for a personal choice.
The topics and readings for this class have also showed me that our society today is more diverse than I thought. People are different and like to have their own identities. If someone doesn't have a personal identity then who are they? Everyone has an identity and they shouldn't all be lumped up into different groups depending on where they came from, what they look like, or how they act. Everyone is their own individual and I have come to realize that even better myself after taking this class.
Community Discussion Board 2: Critical Thinking
My Community DB 2 is the best example of my critical thinking and analyzing skills. Within the piece I am analyzing people's decisions to join groups or "tribes." They have to decide whether they want to join and feel like they belong or stand on their own and feel alone.
"He, [Berreby], says people will do anything, such as enduring embarrassment, in order to join a tribe. This just shows how desperate humans are to feel a sense of belonging."
I think this example from my piece is a great example of showing my analysis of how people will do anything to join groups even if that means consequences for them first. People need that sense of belonging and nothing will stop them from getting it.
"He, [Berreby], says people will do anything, such as enduring embarrassment, in order to join a tribe. This just shows how desperate humans are to feel a sense of belonging."
I think this example from my piece is a great example of showing my analysis of how people will do anything to join groups even if that means consequences for them first. People need that sense of belonging and nothing will stop them from getting it.
Community Discussion Board 2
In the essay, "It Takes a Tribe," Berreby explains that humans are always searching to belong. They are searching for a "tribe" to be a part of where people will support them and provide guidance. Berreby says, "people need to belong, to feel a part of 'us'. Yet a sense of 'us' brings with it a sense of 'them'.” (120)
People feel like they need to be a part of a group and want to be guided. People generally don't want to create their own path so if they are in a group they can be told what to do and just follow others. Although, if people didn't follow others or join a tribe then they would feel left out or that they didn't belong, but people try to avoid this at all costs.
Berreby explains that, "a subconscious clue for perceiving a tribe as real and valuable, then, may be expending sweat, tears, and embarrassment to get in." (122) He says people will do anything, such as enduring embarrassment, in order to join a tribe. This just shows how desperate humans are to feel a sense of belonging. In Berreby's essay, Mr. Hayden also gives an example of what people will go through just to feel a sense of belonging in a tribe. He says, "[he went through] a two-day ritual that included being stripped to [his] underpants, pelted with eggs, smeared with red dye, and tied to a campus tree. These humiliations signified [his] rebirth from lowly student journalist to Big Man on Campus." (122) This was his initiation into his tribe and even though it was very embarrassing, he still did it to be in a tribe and feel like he belonged.
People feel like they need to be a part of a group and want to be guided. People generally don't want to create their own path so if they are in a group they can be told what to do and just follow others. Although, if people didn't follow others or join a tribe then they would feel left out or that they didn't belong, but people try to avoid this at all costs.
Berreby explains that, "a subconscious clue for perceiving a tribe as real and valuable, then, may be expending sweat, tears, and embarrassment to get in." (122) He says people will do anything, such as enduring embarrassment, in order to join a tribe. This just shows how desperate humans are to feel a sense of belonging. In Berreby's essay, Mr. Hayden also gives an example of what people will go through just to feel a sense of belonging in a tribe. He says, "[he went through] a two-day ritual that included being stripped to [his] underpants, pelted with eggs, smeared with red dye, and tied to a campus tree. These humiliations signified [his] rebirth from lowly student journalist to Big Man on Campus." (122) This was his initiation into his tribe and even though it was very embarrassing, he still did it to be in a tribe and feel like he belonged.
Identity: Revision And Rewriting
I feel my Identity Unit paper is the best piece to show my revision and re seeing skills because my first submission of this paper was unorganized and not polished. It needed a good amount of work as far as sentence structure and staying on topic instead of wandering.
This assignment was about identity, where identities come from, if we have any say of our own, and if we can change them. Some of my strengths for this assignment were that I used many examples from the text that tried to help explain what I was trying to get across. Some weaknesses I had in this paper were going off topic and jumping around what I was trying to say within each paragraph. My paragraphs also didn't flow very well from one to the next. An example of this is from my second to third paragraph. The second paragraph is saying that one's own language can be a great tool in finding one's self-identity. I go on to explain how people can take identities that others put on them or they can speak up and declare their own identity. When I transition to my third paragraph I don't really use any transitional words and I talk about people coming from other countries and that that could already be part of their own self-identity. This would be something they can't choose and don't have a say on because that is where they are from.
This jump to a completely different topic of identity from the second to the third paragraph is my piece is very choppy and would interrupt the reader's concentration. This section could use the most work out of the entire piece to make the paper more uniform and transitional from paragraph to paragraph.
This assignment was about identity, where identities come from, if we have any say of our own, and if we can change them. Some of my strengths for this assignment were that I used many examples from the text that tried to help explain what I was trying to get across. Some weaknesses I had in this paper were going off topic and jumping around what I was trying to say within each paragraph. My paragraphs also didn't flow very well from one to the next. An example of this is from my second to third paragraph. The second paragraph is saying that one's own language can be a great tool in finding one's self-identity. I go on to explain how people can take identities that others put on them or they can speak up and declare their own identity. When I transition to my third paragraph I don't really use any transitional words and I talk about people coming from other countries and that that could already be part of their own self-identity. This would be something they can't choose and don't have a say on because that is where they are from.
This jump to a completely different topic of identity from the second to the third paragraph is my piece is very choppy and would interrupt the reader's concentration. This section could use the most work out of the entire piece to make the paper more uniform and transitional from paragraph to paragraph.
Identity
Identity: Original
A person’s identity is their individual uniqueness. It is how one person distinguishes another. What makes a person different from everybody else is that some people speak different languages and have different ways to say things, some people come from different countries, and some people have different appearances or personalities. All of these factors can be beneficial contributors in finding one’s self-identity.
Language can be one of the best contributors in finding one’s self-identity because you can express yourself however you want with words. In Queen Latifah’s “Who You Callin’ a Bitch?” she was able to find that words are very powerful and she, “learned that what you put out in the spoken and in the written word is what you’ll get back” (34). Many people, she explained, took the names that other people called them, like bitch and ho, and accepted that that is what they actually were when in fact they weren’t. This would be a chance to use your words and stand up for yourself to create your own identity, one that is actually who you are. People have the power to create a strong self-identity just by speaking out loud and using their language to do this.
People also come from all around the world. This alone should help people feel a strong sense of self-identity. Especially in our country many people are born and raised in America and have never been to another country. This means someone from another country living in America would be distinguished by their home-country. An example would be someone from Italy or Croatia coming to America, people around them would put an “identity marker” on them saying they are the “The Italian” or “The Croatian”. Being from another country should help with one’s self-identity because they are unique and Americans should feel happy to have them in the country and learn from them about other countries and their cultures.
Having different appearances or personalities can also be a challenge but can also be some of the best contributors in finding one’s self-identity. In Lucy Grealy’s, “Masks” she was faced with the fact that she looked different. Her face was scarred from having cancer and she couldn’t do anything to change that. She chose to try to hide it as much as she could so people wouldn’t look at her differently because that is what she was afraid of, not fitting in. If people can break through that barrier, like in Emily White’s, “High School’s Secret Life” she mentioned how the “natural helpers” stepped out of their comfort zones and everyone was “amazed that these natural helpers suddenly stand in front of them,” “beaming like saints”, then their self-esteem would rise and they could start to find who they are and their strong sense of self-identity (19).
Our society causes people to have very low self-esteem and no confidence. As Queen Latifah points out, “It starts with our own self-esteem, and too many women don’t have any” (35). And as Donald Trump says, to “find the greatness within yourself, the most important first step is to get out of [your] comfort zone” (242). This way you can find yourself and find out who you really are.
Identity: Revised
A person’s identity is their individual uniqueness. It is how one person distinguishes another. What makes a person different from everybody else is that some people speak different languages and have different ways to say things, some people come from different countries, and some people have different appearances or personalities. All of these factors can be beneficial contributors in finding one’s self-identity.
Language can be one of the best contributors in finding one’s self-identity because you can express yourself however you want with words. In Queen Latifah’s “Who You Callin’ a Bitch?” she was able to find that words are very powerful and she, “learned that what you put out in the spoken and in the written word is what you’ll get back” (34). Many people, she explained, took the names that other people called them, like bitch and ho, and accepted that that is what they actually were when in fact they weren’t. This would be a chance to use your words and stand up for yourself to create your own identity, one that is actually who you are. People have the power to create a strong self-identity just by speaking out loud and using their language to do this.
People also come from all around the world. Even though this doesn’t allow people to fully create their own identity it does give them a sense of their own personal identity. This is especially so for those who come from different countries who now live in America because they are coming to a country where most of the people were born and raised here so this would mean they have an identity of the country where they came from. An example would be someone from Mexico coming to America, people around them would put an “identity marker” on them saying they are the “The Hispanic”. Being from another country should help with one’s self-identity because they are unique. In any country, travelers or tourists have their own identities because they are most likely foreign to the country in which they are going.
Having different appearances or personalities can also be a challenge but can also be some of the best contributors in finding one’s self-identity. In Lucy Grealy’s, “Masks” she was faced with the fact that she looked different. Her face was scarred from having cancer and she couldn’t do anything to change that. She chose to try to hide it as much as she could so people wouldn’t look at her differently because that is what she was afraid of, not fitting in. If people can break through that barrier, like in Emily White’s, “High School’s Secret Life” she mentioned how the “natural helpers” stepped out of their comfort zones, found their own self-identities, and who they wanted to be, and everyone was “amazed that these natural helpers suddenly stand in front of them,” “beaming like saints”, then their self-esteem would rise and they could start to find who they are and their strong sense of self-identity as well (19).
Our society causes people to have very low self-esteem and no confidence. As Queen Latifah points out, “It starts with our own self-esteem, and too many women don’t have any” (35). And as Donald Trump says, to “find the greatness within yourself, the most important first step is to get out of [your] comfort zone” (242). If people could do this then they could find themselves, find out who they really are, and start to build their own unique self-identity.
A person’s identity is their individual uniqueness. It is how one person distinguishes another. What makes a person different from everybody else is that some people speak different languages and have different ways to say things, some people come from different countries, and some people have different appearances or personalities. All of these factors can be beneficial contributors in finding one’s self-identity.
Language can be one of the best contributors in finding one’s self-identity because you can express yourself however you want with words. In Queen Latifah’s “Who You Callin’ a Bitch?” she was able to find that words are very powerful and she, “learned that what you put out in the spoken and in the written word is what you’ll get back” (34). Many people, she explained, took the names that other people called them, like bitch and ho, and accepted that that is what they actually were when in fact they weren’t. This would be a chance to use your words and stand up for yourself to create your own identity, one that is actually who you are. People have the power to create a strong self-identity just by speaking out loud and using their language to do this.
People also come from all around the world. This alone should help people feel a strong sense of self-identity. Especially in our country many people are born and raised in America and have never been to another country. This means someone from another country living in America would be distinguished by their home-country. An example would be someone from Italy or Croatia coming to America, people around them would put an “identity marker” on them saying they are the “The Italian” or “The Croatian”. Being from another country should help with one’s self-identity because they are unique and Americans should feel happy to have them in the country and learn from them about other countries and their cultures.
Having different appearances or personalities can also be a challenge but can also be some of the best contributors in finding one’s self-identity. In Lucy Grealy’s, “Masks” she was faced with the fact that she looked different. Her face was scarred from having cancer and she couldn’t do anything to change that. She chose to try to hide it as much as she could so people wouldn’t look at her differently because that is what she was afraid of, not fitting in. If people can break through that barrier, like in Emily White’s, “High School’s Secret Life” she mentioned how the “natural helpers” stepped out of their comfort zones and everyone was “amazed that these natural helpers suddenly stand in front of them,” “beaming like saints”, then their self-esteem would rise and they could start to find who they are and their strong sense of self-identity (19).
Our society causes people to have very low self-esteem and no confidence. As Queen Latifah points out, “It starts with our own self-esteem, and too many women don’t have any” (35). And as Donald Trump says, to “find the greatness within yourself, the most important first step is to get out of [your] comfort zone” (242). This way you can find yourself and find out who you really are.
Identity: Revised
A person’s identity is their individual uniqueness. It is how one person distinguishes another. What makes a person different from everybody else is that some people speak different languages and have different ways to say things, some people come from different countries, and some people have different appearances or personalities. All of these factors can be beneficial contributors in finding one’s self-identity.
Language can be one of the best contributors in finding one’s self-identity because you can express yourself however you want with words. In Queen Latifah’s “Who You Callin’ a Bitch?” she was able to find that words are very powerful and she, “learned that what you put out in the spoken and in the written word is what you’ll get back” (34). Many people, she explained, took the names that other people called them, like bitch and ho, and accepted that that is what they actually were when in fact they weren’t. This would be a chance to use your words and stand up for yourself to create your own identity, one that is actually who you are. People have the power to create a strong self-identity just by speaking out loud and using their language to do this.
People also come from all around the world. Even though this doesn’t allow people to fully create their own identity it does give them a sense of their own personal identity. This is especially so for those who come from different countries who now live in America because they are coming to a country where most of the people were born and raised here so this would mean they have an identity of the country where they came from. An example would be someone from Mexico coming to America, people around them would put an “identity marker” on them saying they are the “The Hispanic”. Being from another country should help with one’s self-identity because they are unique. In any country, travelers or tourists have their own identities because they are most likely foreign to the country in which they are going.
Having different appearances or personalities can also be a challenge but can also be some of the best contributors in finding one’s self-identity. In Lucy Grealy’s, “Masks” she was faced with the fact that she looked different. Her face was scarred from having cancer and she couldn’t do anything to change that. She chose to try to hide it as much as she could so people wouldn’t look at her differently because that is what she was afraid of, not fitting in. If people can break through that barrier, like in Emily White’s, “High School’s Secret Life” she mentioned how the “natural helpers” stepped out of their comfort zones, found their own self-identities, and who they wanted to be, and everyone was “amazed that these natural helpers suddenly stand in front of them,” “beaming like saints”, then their self-esteem would rise and they could start to find who they are and their strong sense of self-identity as well (19).
Our society causes people to have very low self-esteem and no confidence. As Queen Latifah points out, “It starts with our own self-esteem, and too many women don’t have any” (35). And as Donald Trump says, to “find the greatness within yourself, the most important first step is to get out of [your] comfort zone” (242). If people could do this then they could find themselves, find out who they really are, and start to build their own unique self-identity.
Running Is A Community: Audience And Voice
My Community Unit blog post, "Running Is A Community", is my best piece to show my awareness of audience and voice. It is speaking to the public about my community. It shows my clear voice on the topic of communities and explains what "community" means to me. This piece gets my audience to think about communities in their own lives and what they consider to be a community.
Writing to the public, as far as on a blog, has made me think about my audience more and think about who would be interested in my writing and writing to them. It has helped my growth as a writer to try and be more aware of who would be reading my work and make my work suitable for that particular audience. It has also been challenging because, even though I like to write to the public with blogs more than writing formal essay, I have had to explain my topic more in depth to let the audience know what I am talking about. This is because I am writing to an audience who has no knowledge of what our assignment is, they are just reading a post about a topic that may interest them.
Writing to the public, as far as on a blog, has made me think about my audience more and think about who would be interested in my writing and writing to them. It has helped my growth as a writer to try and be more aware of who would be reading my work and make my work suitable for that particular audience. It has also been challenging because, even though I like to write to the public with blogs more than writing formal essay, I have had to explain my topic more in depth to let the audience know what I am talking about. This is because I am writing to an audience who has no knowledge of what our assignment is, they are just reading a post about a topic that may interest them.
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