Narrative: Trip overseas

One of the most interesting things I've done was in the Summer of 2010 and that was traveling to Barbados. This was particularly exciting because I had never traveled overseas! I was ready to go because I knew I would have an exciting time on the island! When we arrived in Barbados , it's was really hot, maybe even hotter than New York was at that time. After being in Barbados for a little while and getting into the car, I realized that the driver used the right side instead of the left side! This struck me as odd but it was something different. Something else I loved about the island was the beaches. The sand was clean and the water was clear, this was nothing like the beaches in New York which I'm often weary about going too. Another great thing in Barbodos was the food trucks. It was nothing like America and convient if you were on the beach and wanted a meal. There were also restaurants and KFC is big over there! I haven't been to Barbados in a few years but I wouldn't have a problem visiting again.

Chapter 8 Reflection

In Chapter 8 "Following the authors thought patterns", I came across six common patterns authors use 

*Illustration/Example

*Definition

*Comparison/Contrast

*Cause/Effect

*Classification

*Chronological order/ Process

Illustration/ Example is when you give an example to illustrate what you are saying. 

Definition has two points to take note of:

a. Tell what general group or class and item belongs to

b. Explain how that item is different or distunguishable from other items in the group

Comparison/ Contrast is when the author shows how something is similar or different from a familiar object or idea.

Cause/ Effect is used to describe an event or action caused by another even or action

I feel that I use cause/effect a lot in my writing at certain time and it of course improves the story.

Furthermore, Classification is when an author divides a topic into parts and explains each part. Lastly, Chronological Oder/ process refers to the order in which something is done.

After reviewing the chapter, I've decided that using these common patters can improve almost any story!

Chapter 7 Story

The story "Sustainability on the menu" is all about college cafeteria's, why food the school is serving and what they are doing to become a green school. The author if the piece, Carl Pino wrote some very interesting statistics. The Sustainable Endowment Institute (SEI) is a company that looks at about 200 colleges initiatives and their 2007 Report Card tells us a lot about these schools. More than 70 Percent of schools "Devote at least a portion of food budgets to buying from local farms and / or producers. This tells is that the institutions really care about getting food that is better for the students and administration working and studying at these various colleges. He also goes on to state that "29 Percent of schools on the institute list earned an "A" in the "Food and Recycling" category.

         At various universities (Yale, Princeton etc.)  they have provided their students healthier options and better options. This is great because the topic about food has always been debated and people have always been concerned about what's exactly in the food we eat. I'm happy that colleges have taken initiative to make eating habits better. 

Chapter 7 Reflection

In Chapter 7, "Understanding Paragraphs: Supporting details and transitions" I've learned to identify supporting details, key details, and minor details. What supporting details are and why they are important is because they are facts and ideas that prove or explain the main idea of a paragraph. This is beneficial to use because we cannot have  non-factual information within our paragraphs, let alone a full on paper. Key details actually explain the main idea and minor details provide extra information and often offers an example of something. 

          Various other components go along with the supporting detail definition.

*Examples make ideas and concepts understandable

*Facts and statistics give evidence that the main idea is in fact correct

*Reasons are writers giving extra reasons why the main idea is correct

*Descriptions give writers time to describe certain things more than others

*Steps and procedures give authors a chance to explain how to do a certain thing

Chapter 6 Reflection

In Chater 6, "Understanding paragraphs: Topics and main ideas", readers we introduced to general and specific ideas. A general idea is a broad idea and applies to a large number of individual items. An example of this us a word like "Countries". This is a general idea because we want to know more about the "Countries" or what "Countries" you would like to know about. A specific idea is a more detailed idea. So above I used Countries as an example and if you wanted to be more talking about Countries, you'd talk about The UK , The US, Brazil etc.

In addition to all of these  definitions, I also learned what a a topic sentence is. A topic sentence is usually a clue about what exactly the main idea of a story or article is. This will help of course when you start to write a paragraph on something for your class.

Chapter 5 Reflection

In chapter 5 "Reading as thinking" we are basically learning about different techniques to remember what we read. As we get into chapter 1, we find that the first thing we see is Previewing.  Previewing is  a way of quickly familiarizing yourself with the organization and content of material before beginning to read. Of course this is one of the most important parts  because you have to be comfortable and understand the text before just diving in and having no idea what you read. When you preview, you should look at the title and subtitle, find the most important ideas in the material and note exactly how the reading is organized. These tips work with both textbooks and regular articles depending on how they are written. Another helpful tip is to review after you read. You may think you've finished reading but you have to ask yourself: "Do I even understand what I just read?"

Chapter 5 Reflection: Body Piercing and Tattooing

In the story "Body piercing and tattooing: Risks to health by Rebecca J Donatelle, we talk about why body art is so popular nowadays. Donatelle  explores the history of body art and explains that in ancient cultures body art were actually signs of royalty and elitism. Fast forward to the present and now everyone has more piercings and tattoos than ever before. A student from University of Wisconsin- Madison explained that it gives a person  "Empowerment" and lets us know that we are in control of our own bodies. I do agreee with the student. If you feel the need to get a tattoo, feel free to do so because its your body and after all you CAN do what you want.
                  When we do get tattoos or piercing we do have to watch our health. You have to wash your hands before you play with a piercing and make sure you get a tattoo or a piercing in a clean environment. I would actually like a tattoo in the future. I have ideas of what I want and where I want it. Until then, I am for people getting body piercings and body art because they are expressing who they are and no one can stop them