Starting off the semester I did not know what to expect for English 131. The syllabus outlined the rules and expectations for the class as well as some unconventional learning techniques. The decrease in cellphone use, using blog posts to share my writing with the world, and developing a short period of real time into detailed paragraphs has improved my writing.
Cellphones can be a huge distraction for the learning o
f students in the classroom. Phones and other devices such as laptops are not allowed to be used in class unless we are typing a paper on our laptop. The cellphones must be put away, they are not allowed to be out. This allows for students to forget about them when we are going over things in class. The class receives a break halfway through class to allow the class to use their phones so we can be focused for the second half. Professor Lucas wants us to understand that too much screen time can be detrimental to students as well as the generation as a whole. If students are more focused on their phones then they will not learn in school. According to Jean Twenge’s article in The Atlantic, “the arrival of the smartphone has radically changed every aspect of teenagers’ lives, from nature of their social interactions to their mental health” (Twenge). This affects the quality of their school assignments. I agree with the cellphone policy for English 131 and believe it has helped me focus on what I needed to do this year. I was able to draft my paper on Serafina and the Black Cloak in class efficiently because I was not distracted by my phone. All of my energy was on the paper since my phone was put away and my writing benefitted from this. There were other ways my writing has improved over the semester.
Most of my classes, from middle school to my colleges classes now, have made me write essays about what we are learning or reflections on what we read in class. In English 131, the professor wanted to change the way we think of writing by implementing blog posts on our website that we created for our own writing. The blog posts made me focus on getting to the point and using important details instead of letting my paper drag on. I believe it is important for the way of writing in class to be varied so students can develop there writing in different ways. The blog posts allowed me to change my writing style and help me improve in ways normal prompt essays could not. It allowed my thoughts to be free formed into a blog post where the writing idea came from me, it was not given to me. Although it was a different focus for the class, the essays that we do write involves the critical thinking and analysis that we need to continue to develop the writing. Matt Richtel “argues that part of the problem is that teachers are asking students to read less, which means less substance – whether historical, political, or literary – to focus a term paper on” (Richtel). This enforces that blog posts have more of an impact on students today because the papers they write have less substance, which is like a blog post. When reading Swing Time and Serafina and the Black Cloak I felt that I was able to get to the point with what I was talking about from writing blog posts as well as develop my analysis of the books. It is important to add details into the writing to help the reader visualize what you are trying to get across.
When reading the chapter one excerpt from Blind Side: Evolution of the Game I realized that three seconds can be stretched out into a paragraph that creates vivid pictures in the mind of the reader. The author allowed me to see in my head what was going on every second from the snap of the ball to the career ending injury for the quarterback. With this, I decided to challenge myself to include the small details when writing about a short period of time so that the reader can understand the importance of the moment I am writing about. The things the readers remember and think about are the stories they can take away from your paper. I used this in my essays for the books we read in class so that important moments between Tracey and the narrator as well as the confrontations between Serafina and Braeden and the Man in The Black Cloak. The details of each character in each moment is crucial to devolving the paper and characters.
The development of my writing has been improved by the cellphone policy, using blog posts to share my writing with the world, and developing a short period of real time into detailed paragraphs. Cellphone usage is a huge distraction in class. Blog posts are a great way to change up the pace of writing in class and it is important to go in-depth on certain things to show importance. My writing has improved over the semester because of English 131 and its rules and expectations it has provided me.
Work Cited
Beatty, Robert. Serafina and the Black Cloak. Disney/Hyperion, 2015.
Smith, Zadie. Swing Time. 2016. Penguin, 2017.
Twenge, Jean M. “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/, Sept. 2017, Accessed 25 April. 2018.
Annotated Bibliography
Beatty, Robert. Serafina and the Black Cloak. Disney/Hyperion, 2015.
In Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty, a young girl named Serafina lives in the basement of the Biltmore Estate with her dad that works on the machinery there. She is unlike the other children that live on the upper floors of the mansion. At first, she just catches rats at night but all of that changes when children start disappearing. The Man in the Black Cloak starts absorbing the souls and talents of anyone he comes across. Serafina and her new friend Braeden must stop him from taking all the souls of the children.
Lane, Anthony. “‘Ready Player One’ and ‘Lean on Pete,” Reviewed.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2018, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/09/ready-player-one-and-lean-on-pete.
This article is a movie/book review by Anthony Lane that compares the similarities of “Ready Player One”, by Steven Spielberg and “Lean on Pete”, a novel by Willy Vaulten. Both of the stories are about teenage boys that are struggling through their difficult lives. The movie review also mentions how intense and over-whelming the movie Ready Play One was, especially in IMAX.
Lewis, Michael. Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. W W Norton, 2016.
The chapter one excerpt from Blind Side: Evolution of the Game is about how each second is crucial in the sport of football. The quarter back of the Washington Redskins, Joe Theismann, was brought down to the ground by Lawrence Taylor, Buffalo Bills linebacker, with a career ending leg injury.
Richtel, Matt. “Blogs vs. Term Papers.” The New York Times, http://www.newyorktimes.org, 20 Jan. 2012, Accessed 25 April. 2018.
Blogs vs. Term weights the pros and cons about using blogs instead of term papers. Because of the growth of technology, it seems like blog posts are more relevant to the students. It is easier to receive feedback on a blog post than it is a paper copy of a term paper because of the technology used. A pro of a term paper is the in-depth thinking that is done which blog posts go without.
Smith, Zadie. Swing Time. 2016. Penguin, 2017.
The novel Swing Time by Zadie Smith is about an unnamed narrator’s life. The reader follows along from her childhood to adulthood and what decisions she has to make. The story travels from England, New York City, and Africa so the cultures of each place including the inequalities there are expressed in the writing. The narrator’s friendship with her childhood best friend, Tracey, ends after complications between them as well as their parents.
Twenge, Jean M. “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/, Sept. 2017, Accessed 25 April. 2018.
The article by Jean Twenge focuses of the problems of the “IGen” and the increase use of technology and social media. The new generations face lack of motivation to be independent from their homes. This causes them to start adulthood much later than older generations. Twenge states that kids would rather stay inside and socialize online then play outside or get a job.
believes that the narrator is trying to bring her daughter down out of jealousy. The bond between the families were broken due to blaming one another.
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