Portfolio

Arlene Penaloza

English 104

December 8 ,2017

Growth

    I started off this year intimidated, worried, and anxious for what my first semester in college would be like. I was scared because back in high school I was not really the strongest writer and I just felt as if my true ideas and words were not being fully expressed as I tried to release them onto a sheet of paper. I was intimidated for my first English writing class in college because I had my mind set to fail already. I always had teachers telling me that college was going to be so much harder when it comes to writing essays and that we were going to have to write 100 page essay for our classes. But now coming to the end  of my first semester and looking back on my progress and seeing how much I have grown into a write is astonishing. I can truly say my writing strength have grown immensely and my enjoyment and abilities to write will continue to grow. I could say I am ready for the new year, meaning the next semester and what Processor Dan has instore for us.

    As a reader I believe I have found a way to find reading my intriguing and entertaining for me. I've always struggled with picking up a book and reading on my own. I ultimately just avoided books all in general because I just did not enjoy sitting down and looking at words on paper. But learning how to annotate and how to grasp an understanding of what an author has to say through words on a page has started to grab my attention more. This semester I learned how to annotate correctly. I learned to use sticky notes and to highlight, and how to summarize. I would put sticky notes on the corner of my pages and write down important quotes and tie it into the story in order to understand the importance of the theme. I would highlight important words, whether they were in a different language or just a word I did not know I would look it up and define it too understand why the author chose that word specifically. And finally I would summarize the certain chapters so I would know the specific important events that occurred during that chapter so I was able to go back and find it easily when it came to sharing. This semester we annotated a lot of articles, and I annotated The Complete Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. Reading all the articles from Freire and Albers to Anzaldua and Young, I have learned how to understand what the authors were trying to say and I have picked up new ways to annotate that.

    Working with classmates that actually cared, and tried to get help on the essays while peer reviewing was actually very helpful. Sometimes I had to work with people who really didn't care about fixing their essays were the reason I did not enjoy peer reviews but other then that it was a good way to get feedback and a second opinion on my writing. When we had peer review and interacting with my classmates mostly helped me fix my grammatical errors and also how to fix the flow of my word choices. I ultimately really enjoyed working with my classmates, and getting some feedback really did help me fix my essays. When it can to Professor Dan giving me hints and a hand it was more of a helpful way to revise my essay so they could be much more stronger.

    I can truly say that my turning point in writing essays have had to be the end of essay 2 and my last essay 3. I felt like words would just flow and come out of my mind when I thought about the thing I was writing about. Although I began the year thinking I was a passive reader and writer I gave myself the chance to think about reading and writing. In my essays I have been learning to have better transitions and better word flow using the book “They say, I say”. At the beginning I had came to the conclusion that writing was not my thing and that I was not interested in forming essays and reading books, for example, “As I continue with school and my mind advances I notice that I am more of a “Passive reader”, as the author Albers once said. A passive reader is someone who just reads when it's assigned and just to get over the book.” This quote came from my first essay, now reflecting on this I realize that deep down in my I had potential to be a stronger reader and writer and to not live a life of passiveness. I have learned a lot this semester, from the basic life hacks of college to writing a moderately good 5 page essay.

    I really have not put in mind what my role would ultimately be her in San Francisco. I already want to go back home honestly. So I could say that my role for when I go back home is to help my brother with writing? I really have no idea, I am really just trying to get some ground and try and figure myself out first. As of now I  have my heart and mind set on becoming a physical therapist to help people regain a pain free life. With this career I think I'd be able to use academic writing with communication because I would know how to speak to my patients in a form in which they understand. Just like when we were learning the different types of language this semester, is it the same thing. All in all I can say I have really enjoyed this semester in learning the basic formatting of an essay and becoming an academic reader. By using specific tools like “They say, I say”, reading “Persepolis” and all the articles in class, I have grown immensely especially my confidence in thinking I was a “shitty writer” for the lack of better words. Honestly thought the growth I have noticed is amazing and I could say I am proud to continue growing as an academic writer and a writer. Going back to the idea that everything is a text, I once said something along the lines that we are like authors but instead of writing books we are writing our own lives, although it is harder to for a life because there is no specific structure to writing a life there's still a way to writer a good life for one self. The idea that everything is a text is true when you think about how in life you grow and form new experiences and chapters and peaks in life just like a book. I hope the next semester has much in store for me and that I enjoy it as, much as a did this semester, and that I grow into an even stronger reader and writer.

Arlene Penaloza

English 104

December 8, 2017

Experiences

    Reading the world is a lot like telling the story of life in your perspective and your interpretation of the world. In my experiences reading the world means seeing things in different point of views.  As I grow up I am constantly learning and changing my viewpoints of the world. Reading a book is a lot like living life, because you either put all your attention and work into it for example, “living life to the fullest”  or you just skim through it and go along just to get over the day or the chapter. As I continue with school and my mind advances I notice that I am more of a “Passive reader”, as the author Albers once said. A passive reader is someone who just reads when it's assigned and just to get over the book. If you think about it reading can symbolize living, if you're a passive reader and you read a text and just skim through not paying attention to annotate or write notes to relate to it, you're just trying to get over it. You could see it in the ways of living, you wake up, go to school, do homework, and go to sleep and you basically just form the same boring cycle of what you call “your life”. How are you going to gain any experiences or different perspectives of the world if you're isolating yourself to a routine of passiveness?

I’ve come to learn that personally I do not enjoy reading as I used to when there were pictures in the books. As the books advance and have certain themes and symbolisms and metaphors I just simply do not think outside the box enough to comprehend or think about the true meaning on my own .As you grow up and start reading more advanced text it's like growing up and going through more advanced life situations. I personally don't know the true meaning of life, yet. But hey who does right? While reading you start to pick up the main events and the true meaning of the book, and realize, “ Text are in a dialectical relation with context; the text creates the contexts as much as the contexts creates the text”(Albers 6). The events in the book make up the book as much as the book makes up the events is what this quote is basically stating. I see that books are structurally arranged in an order that the author wants it but life is not as easy as that. We don't have the textual structure a book has. We need to create it on our own, and that's the challenge.

A lot of Freire's work is based on experiences and when I read his article it really made me reflect on me and my past experiences of life and how books affected it. Growing up the books that would get read to me in class had specific morals that you were taught as a kid like respect, patiences and how not the be greedy. Reading Freire's text a quote that stood out to me stated, “Surrendering myself to this effort, I re-created and re-lived in the text I was writing, the experience I live at a time when I did not yet read words”. (Freire 7). Re-creating your experiences and your life events is how you interpret how “everything is a text”. When you think about your life its like you are the author of your own story. You make the decisions of where the next step is and where you take yourself. But it's not so easy, traumatic events take place and come out of nowhere unexpected and unannounced and redefine and redirect your life of your  

“story”. When I was younger I ended up having to grow up too fast, and didn't really get the opportunity to have a childhood and I feel that it affects me because I’ve always had to be independent, so my childhood text creates my adulthood text.

    Thinking back on my past event in life really made me think of how I am now, that I am grown and have the power to control my own life. No one decides my fate but me. As Freire once said,  “I felt myself drawn enthusiastically to re-reading essential moments in my own practice of reading whose memory I retained from the most remote experiences of childhood, from adolescence, from young manhood when a critical understanding of the act of reading took shape in me”. (Freire 5). I can say I've never experienced anything like this before. I have never really taken the time to see my life as a text or a visual compared to a symbol of a story. But I've seen them as lessons to learn from. Seeing my mom struggle with a drug addiction and my family crumbling into pieces scarred, but also formed me into a strong person who has goals to never become someone like her. Seeing my Dad drift far away and then get taken to Mexico just for him to die because of drugs pushed me to be a reliable person and to never let anyone down because I would never want to cause a void in someone's heart just like I have from my father. Having that big elephant in the room when you go to family gatherings because everyone knows the drama but they don't mention it even though they just want to hear the “chisme” taught me to not let situations define the type of person I am but to help me grow from these circumstances. So what's the point in being the author of your own story?

    I ultimately think to myself, “what's the point?” How does reading a text have to do with my life, or reading the world? Although reading is not my greatest interest I can say some themes can be related to some people, that’s why when someone reads and it brings out some sort of emotion, it is because it triggers a memory or thought that one can relate to and it has them reflect on life. Freire remarks, “Reading the world always precedes reading the word, and reading the word implies continually reading the world.”(Freire 10). I interpret this quote as meaning when you read the text it can relate to reading the world. It has to do with your life experiences and how you can relate them to the text. When you see the world and read it as if you were reading a book you could see so much more. You need to look outside of the box or outside of your basic thoughts of life better than just the initial outside cover. The significance of reading the world is to get a full and better understanding of how your experiences in life can help you create a path to a better one.

Arlene Penaloza

Eng. 104

December 8, 2017

We Are Still Here

   

Culture is something that is very important to me, and most likely to many people around this world. The visual I choose to connect with is a mural painted in 2009 by an artist named Marc Nicely, in collaboration with Larry Sillaway of a tribe of Native Americans with powerful fists up in the air, and a quote on the side that says, “We are still here”. The way that the people in the painting look, so strong and united as one, although their home in the back is being destroyed, shows how together communities can overcome obstacles. The painting gives a sense of power and alliance with one another in order to make a community. The phrase “we are still here” is a huge part of what pulled me in, to choose this visual because as a Native American myself, it helps me feel that my people and I are part of this community and we still matter, and are relevant.

The text is a mural of modern Native Americans but also with the original Native Americans in the background. Their are children and animals and adults. They look happy as if they are living a life that will later become successful because of the great support they have within each other. The people in the front of the picture represent modern people today, they have normal clothes on, and have smiles on their faces. The people in the background represent the traditional Native American from back in the day. They still have the traditional skinned clothes, head dresses with feathers, and the tattoos. The colors in the background are a dark mysterious color, and I believe that is just to complement the darkness of the image but there is also light that shows the hope of any situations which I think is the representation. For me to consume the text I saw it as more of an empowering image. I look at the people painted in it and how the animals in the image are strong fierce animals like wolves and eagles. The mural is located on the SFSU campus by the food court, Quickly, and Inoodle. I think the setting of the mural is a good spot for it to be placed because while people eat they can look at the mural and think about it. It is a pretty big painting so it's very obvious.I wanted to see how this mural could  impact other student on campus so I decided to talk to one of my friends who could also relate to this piece of art on our campus. Alexis Wells a Native American student in San Francisco state says, “I like that they are advertising it, because most of the time everyone focuses on other culture and races, which is great, but it's more empowering that it shows we are still here painted on a mural because I am Native American as well and it means a lot to me.” The overall cultural context of the visual text is to empower people of Native American culture, for them to feel as if they're no longer in the dark. The image promotes strength and dignity. The empowering visual shows people not to forget their culture and to also embrace it. The bulldozer in the back of the image represents struggles people have too overcome and I believe many people who come too SFSU have to overcome many tough struggles and hardships to get where they are right now so that is why it is important.

The author of the mural is named Marc Nicely. He painted this mural in collaboration with Larry Sillaway. The mural depicts community activism. They painted this mural to show self determination, Resistance and survival of Native American people and their defending of land. The visual clues this by showing the people holding up their fists together as a fight against the cruel. This visual was created to show how Native American culture is still important to the community. It's also important for all cultures to be accepting of this community. The fact that the Cesar Chavez building was built for a united school campus only makes sense to have all cultures remembered and accepted no matter what, or where people come from. The mural was a connection between the San Francisco State strike of 1968-69 and the occupation of Alcatraz. The painting shows of self determination and political struggles of the Ohlone tribal nation and other nations indigenous to the Bay Area. I went online to find more information of this visual text by Marc Nicely and he described his piece to have a meaning of empowerment. The mural represents resilience, fighting against genocide and the holocaust, to end exploitation and destruction of the land. Also intertribal council of male and female leadership, meaning either male or female deserve the power to be leaders and that is a strong and honorable opportunity to be able to have the rights no ,matter what gender. The author constructed these message, by making  all the people from the same tribe all look like a community.

The way I constructed meaning to the text is how I saw how that the faces looked serious and it was more of a serious tone of image. It wasn't too colorful it was an image full of complementary colors in dark tones. My reaction to the text is that  I  thought it was a very inspirational image. As a Native American  myself it made me feel as my culture that once was oppressed is now being noticed as an important aspect to the world and community. It makes me feel more welcomed and accepted into the society. I fully agree with the message because it is a serious topic. I believe no one could really have a wrong opinion of how they read the world, so I agree with how Marc Nicely portrayed the visual text as a empowering image.

Culture is an important aspect too many people. We all need to remember where we come from and know our roots because that is a natural right. When I see this “we are still” mural painted at the top of cesar chavez it makes me feel more connected to my community but also personally to my culture itself. I see the image and see modern native americans with their fist up as if they are saying “no surrender, we will not give up”. The image shows how the modern Native Americans like myself has evolved from old hunters to now graduating students as presented in the mural, who come into a community to make it better while also spreading peace and intelligence to this world. I chose this image because it stood out to me and gave me a sense of acceptance and unity here at SFSU, and to know that people understand us Native American that once were oppressed are accepted is an amazing feeling. So yes we are still here and were stronger and better and united. Although there are many struggles for gender religion, and race equality going on in the world and many communities there are so much more support systems and groups of people who are fighting for equality. That's the most we could hope for, strong minded people who don't give up for our equality. Everyone in this world deserves equality and a voice to show who we are so this mural I chose to analyze and relate too shows a huge and clear representation of unity in a community.

Arlene Penaloza

English 104

December 8, 2017

Close Reading Rhetorical Analysis

    Reading new types of writing after becoming more of an active critical reader has really intrigued me and caught my attention as a reader. As we have received these last few articles they all have the same opinion that all diverse languages are good things. Reading texts that have different words that are not in English have really made me more interested in reading because I want to know what the author is saying and why they had to use a different language. After reading the articles by Young, Anzaldua and Lyiscott, understanding where they come from and why they believe that any language has the right to be spoken it has really made me think of interacting with the text more and how to understand the different ways to speak. As said in many of the articles we have read and videos we’ve seen, we learned that there is no specific standard rule in speaking the way you choose. So that is why I enjoyed reading texts that have diverse language because seeing authors express their language though writing is very interesting.

    In the article “How to tame a wild tongue”, by Gloria Anzaldua, she argues that people who come from different countries and states should not have the fear to speak in their language. She states that no one should hold their tongue back just because people say it is wrong to speak a different language in America. When Anzaldua was in school she was punished for speaking up for herself by simply correcting the pronunciation of her name. The teacher then snapped on her and stated if she wanted to be American she needed to speak American. Anzaldua states in her article, “So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethical identity is twin skin to linguistic identity”(39). Anzaldua accepts herself for the languages she speaks so she is very passionate pof where she comes from. I agree with Anzaldua because as a chicana as well I embrace my second language and background and believe I should have the freedom to choose the way I speak and when and where to speak it. While annotating this article I could say it was very relatable to me because have family migrate from a different country, just like my father, I made me have a deeper understanding of why he loved speaking spanish and why he wanted me so badly to speak it as well. While annotating this article I interpreted this as an example of how my family have came to learn a new way of life by speaking English and Spanish.

    In the Article “ Should Writer’s Use They Own English?”, by Vershawn Ashanti Young, he believed that everyone has the right to speak a language they chose. Young states, “If students infected with the facile egalitarianism of soft multiculturalism declare, “I have a right to my own language,” reply, “Yes, you do, and I am not here to take that language from you; I’m here to teach you another one.”(111). As I read this article I felt that being able to speak  freely is a right, and no one should feel any less important, or even less educated based on people's opinion of what the correct form to speak is. Having more than one dialect is a trait people should be proud of and after reading this article with a diverse language it made me realize that all forms of speaking and writing should be accepted. I can say I’ve had the opportunity to learn more a different language when I learned to advance my english and spanish in high school. When I highlighted this quotes and annotated it caught my attention because it reminded me of how when people come into the US they all have opportunities to speak their original language and learn to speak new languages.

    In Jamila Lyiscott article “3 Ways to Speak English” she brings up the idea that people have many different ways to speak depending on the settings or situations they are in. Lyiscott writes, “Cause I speak three tongues One for each: Home, school and friends I’m a tri-lingual orator”(3). The idea where if you're surround by a different crow you will speak differently. This is not incorrect, but in reality I believe it is very relatable. When you think about it when you're surrounded by peers at school you wouldn't treat them as if they were your siblings. Another way is if you were working and you talked to your manager you would speak to them in a professional way rather then when you would speak to your friends. As I read this article the point brought up of having different diverse ways of speaking not just language but situational purposes showed me that adapting speaking ways is easier than you may think this is why I annotated this specific quote because it made me understand how this point is very true. I can relate to this because I really do speak differently compared to the different situations I am involved with.

    In one of the videos we saw in class called, “Broken English”, is argued that there is a wrong way in speaking and that is in proper English that they would like to get out of a kids vocabulary in order for them to be successful later in life. In one of the scenes in the video there was a sister who spoke in “Broken English” and her sister expressed to her that if she didn't learn to speak correctly she wasn't going to get anywhere in life that way. As I saw this video and learned the different slang words that basically have the same meaning as regular words it gave me a sense of a new language because it was different but it meant the same thing. After watching this video it made me understand how different ways of speaking came to be. One thing said in the video went along the lines like, “You learn more from what you hear the most”, and that totally made sense and it just clicked into why so many people speaking differently because it depends where they are coming from and who they associate with. Having a different way of speaking is not broken English in my opinion it's just different and that is okay. I can relate too this video because myself I use now a day slang at times but depending where I am I can change the way a speak in less than a heartbeat and that is something I think many people can do.

    Reading these articles and understanding the positions and ideas of where the authors stand for diverse language helped me understand how their are many different ways to speak one solid language and that should not be frowned upon as a bad thing. I received young and Anzalduas messages because they both had ideas of being able to express who they were without having someone judge them. Young says that people have rights to express and speak in whatever language they choose. Anzaldua explains that heritage and culture is important so do not offend her language. In Lyiscott article she brings up the point that their are different ways to speak in different scenarios so it's important to have different dialect. Finally in the video broken english we learn that speaking is based on who we surround ourselves with, but that does not necessarily interpret that it is incorrect. All these different sources and references to a diverse dialect has helped my research a different understanding of how as readers we should respect and appreciate different forms of language because in my opinion differentially catches my attention more than a common could get anywhere type of experience. That is why having diverse language is important so we can be in touch with more interactive reading when we need to understand different forms of English or even languages in that sense. Having the opportunity to read diverse language was a great experience and I personally believe I learned more.