Reading Response-"Reading as a Writer"

From this passage I learned that it is very important to 'actively' read. By this I mean constantly be looking for the author's claims, purpose in writing, and who the author is directing his/her message to. I feel as if I currently do this fairly well but something I noticed that I can do better is to pay closer attention to who the author is directing his/her message to, or the audience. In the first example, "Cultural Literacy", the author was clearly writing to a more knowledgeable audience because his word choice was very intricate. He also used many scholarly people as examples. I can do a better job at keeping my eyes open for these things in other essays so I can better identify who the message is directed to.




In my research I can do a better job of making sure my resources fit my audience. For example, since I am writing my essay on the royal wedding I will probably not need to use very scholarly sources like the author of "Cultural Literacy" did. I should be looking more at magazine articles or news reports of the event. Doing this will give me credibility and also allow my audience to understand the purpose of my message.



Last night's reading made me realize that when reading a paper you must look for things such as purpose, claims, and who the audience is. This will allow you to understand what the writer is trying to communicate and appreciate his/her message. You can also provide better feedback if your are looking for those key elements in the paper. This awareness and ability to give helpful feedback will not only make you a better writer but also improve other author's work.

Welcome Back!

So I created this blog back in my freshman year of high school and almost forgot all about it until I tried to create a new one for my English 1102 class.   So since I already have a blog I will just use this one for English. :)  Feel free to ignore all of the posts from 4 years ago unless you are crazy bored and really have nothing better to do.  Lol

Spring Break!!

I know, I know, I haven't been posted a blog in a bajillion years (sorry Brandi) so I thought I would type one while I had some time.

spring break....YESSSSS

I am enjoying spring break! We went to Albany to see the family for the first part of the week but other than that we have been sitting at home reading the twilight series all week! It has been soooo nice! My dad had surgery on Thursday so he's still recovering but it all went well and it shouldn't be too long before he's back to feeling good.

funny story...so like I said we have done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING this wonderful week of spring break...well the other day it was rather sunny outside so I though hey, why don't I try to get a little tan seeing that all of my friends will probably coming back to school with tans from going to the beach. So I went outside and basked in the warm sun for uhh I dunno 50 minutes maybe and hour at the most. (you've gotta know though, it was in the evening and the sun was low) So I come inside thinking so much for trying to get a little tan, i'm probably still as white as a ghost. I go along with the evening when suddenly I began itching. (just to fill you in a little, I get sun poisoning very easily...) So I go look in the mirror and sure enough I am BURNT!! I couldn't believe my eyes. So much for trying to tan! lol

here are a couple pics from our redneck weekend in Albany Georgia...

I let the cowgirl in me come out...

and the redneck =)Alex wasn't too sure if he liked all the gnats

haha...yup, pure redneck

I hope everyone else had a great RELAXING week because I think we can all agree that it was MUCH needed! =)

Xtreme Winter 08-09!!

over new years the VL crew headed up to Gatlinburg Tennessee for the Xtreme conference. we had a BLAST!! we were only up there for three days =( but they were the best! we got to hear some amazing messages from Dr. Ergun Caner, Josh McDowell, Tony Nolan and Johnny Hunt. Also we got to hear some awesome bands that were AMAZING! there was Barlow Girl, Unhindered, Rush of Fools, Third Day, Relient K, KJ-52, Newsong, and my favorite Flights From Egypt! ;)

well as always the VL crew can't go anywhere together without coming back with a story to tell...so....like i said we were only up there for three days, BUT we probably got a total of 8 hours sleep the whole time we were there...if that. so on our long drive home SOME of us had a little trouble staying awake. we tried to keep this person awake by giving him mountain dew and whoppers but this is what we got instead...

following this was a long conversation about the Oakridge boys which ended in Joe singing El Vira (wish i could have gotten that on video!l lol ) so yeah the ride home was definitely one to remember. here are a few more pics from the trip.

the girls on new years

me and megan on the way

third day and barlow girl

this one's for Brandi!!

so yes i realize that i haven't updated in a while but being a teen gets a little crazy sometimes!! lol im going to try my best to update more but im going to squeeze all the latest info on whats been going on lately to make this a short post.

so yes being a teen......where should we start....ahhh i have it.....DRIVING!!! yes i am driving not by myself yet but still im on the road so make sure you are wearing your seat belts at all times especially if you see a little black car drive by. ;) actually im not that bad...i think. im getting really comfortable and used to it so its nice. but one thing that drives my parents crazy is that it is mandatory that i have music playing. i don't know why but i get really nervous if the radio isn't on. not a good habit to get into i know but im being really smart about it. i've made a cd of all my favorite songs so all i have to do is pop it in and turn it up! *another thing to look out for...my singing!! haha!!

speaking of singing...the other night a bunch of my friends got together and we went to a Kareoke night!! the night consisted of my friend Sarah (a.k.a. Aqueeta) choking on her pizza, Alex almost knocking his off the table, and a bunch of girls wearing tie dye t-shirts singing Baby One More Time by Britney Spears! (yes that was us!) needless to say...we know how to have fun!! also a couple nights before that we all hit the bowling alley and i learned that i can actually bowl better with my left hand! I think its all that Wii bowling Alex and I have been playing!! =)

school is going great. first semester just ended!! second semester looks like its going to be a little tougher but hey its high school...bring it on!! i'm taking all of the same classes this semester and i have the same teachers so there's not much adjusting so i'm looking forward to it! i know my mom's not going to want to hear this but i was thinking about it the other day and i've only got 3 years and i'm off to college!! yes you heard right!! COLLEGE!! scary right?? i've got a couple places in mind but i definitely feel God calling me into ministry so we'll see where He leads me. =)

uhh Christmas break was awesome!! we went to Albany to see the grand parents and that was really nice! while i was down there God was really working on my heart. I went to visit my Pepa who isn't doing to well financially and i was such a great blessing. Of everything that i saw a couple things really stood out. Because my pepa isn't doing so well when it comes to money he was not able to get us presents this year...or so we thought. now i dont know if yall really know where Albany is but we're talking south Georgia...like SOUTH Georgia. you know like eat chicken after church every Sunday, crop growing, horse farming, deer huntin' SOUTH GEORGIA. so at the last minute me Pepa decides to surprise us with a gift. now we all know the saying great gifts come in little packages right well this one really was great. it was a carton of eggs...not just any eggs...these were eggs laid from the hens in the back yard! now although i was born in albany Georgia I'm not your average country gal. so to me this doesn't seem too sanitary right. i know I'm crazy but still just seems a little nasty to me. but despite the chicken poop germs that may have still been on the eggs i looked beyond that to see what he was really giving us...everything he could. this reminded me so much of the story in the Bible where the Pharisees were bragging about how much money they were giving to the church when a very poor women came and dropped two pennies into the offering plate. God said that her offering was so much more valuable because she gave everything she had. so i can't believe I'm saying this about dirty chicken eggs but they were probably one of my favorite Christmas presents this year!

new year was amazing i got to spend it with some of my favorite people in the world, my VL crew! we went to the Xtreme conference in Gatlinburg Tennessee and had a BLAST! i will be setting aside a post just for all the details on that because it will need it! lol

those are just a few of the big things that have been going on lately! =) i will try my absolute best to try to update more often (and i will include lots of pictures) but like i said, being a teen can get a little crazy sometimes!

another dance!

so this past weekend Shawn took me to another dance. it was the Military Ball which was a dance only for the people in ROTC. the theme was winter and it was AMAZING!! I learned how to Waltz! not as easy as it looks! but it was an unforgetable night and I had the best time! here are a few pictures!

getting older!!

so yes I am still alive and so sorry that I haven't updated in FOREVER!! I have been super busy with school and "stuff" so anyway I bet you are dieing to know what some of that "stuff" is...here it goes...(I'll break this blog up into sections so you can follow along lol)

Homecoming!

so a couple weekends ago I had my first homecoming!! woohoo!! I went with this AMAZING guy, Shawn. He was sooooo sweet and I had the BEST time. The night consisted of dancing, a driver, ice cream and Ashleigh's dog, Chopper, escaping!! I could not have asked for a better first dance! here are a few pictures:

Drivers License!


Yes I am driving! that means you might want to try to stay off the roads as much as you can!! ha ha!! actually me and my dad went driving earlier today and I was doing really good. I asked him on a scale of one through ten where he thought I was at and he said a one but I think that I did better than that! lol everyone told me that after I got my learners permit that I would never want to drive but I had soooooo much fun today and I can't wait to go driving with my dad again....now if i could just stop getting the gas pedal and the brake pedal confused...just kidding...but seriously =)


School!

ahhh school school school, whats there to say about school. uh got my report card couple weeks ago. I got all A's except in current issues. I got an 89 so it was like a really high B but hopefully I can bring it up by the end of the semester. I am LOVING ROTC! It's turned out to be one of highlights of school. I have another dance tonight! It's the Military Ball. Shawn's going to take me again and I am super excited! My dress is long and its blue but it has this like really sheer black material over it so the blue shows through and I love it!! ha ha!! but yeah high school is really starting to set in and despite all of the work, I love it!!

Priorities:

As you can tell there have been a lot of things going on lately (and boy do I mean a lot!) I guess since I'm sort of "growing up" I have had a really difficult time adjusting. I tend to put school or other teenage things before spending time with God. I keep thinking ok God is going to be with me through all of this so that's that, and I put him on the back burner. Then that leads to just getting into the motions of being a christian. I start thinking that since God is with me then despite everything going on, I'm just going to magically start feeling better about everything. But I realized that this isn't what it supposed to be like. Yes, God is going to be with me through these troubles no matter what, but is that all he's going to do? Is he just going to sit back and watch everything that's going on and occasionally slip in a little it's going to be alright? After a lot of praying and searching, God has shown me that he is here for more than just to oversee your trouble and make sure that you come out on the other end better than you were before you went in. He is here to help you through every little step and teach you something crucial through every little detail. He wants you to turn to Him when you don't know whats going on and He wants you to turn to Him EVERY TIME you feel scared or alone. He wants to comfort you and show you what to do through everything. And let me tell you there is such a relief and a peace of mind when you know that Savior of the World is holding you in His arms. So just run to Him. Don't be afraid of what He's going to say or what he's going to think of the situation your in. Guess what, HE ALREADY KNOWS! So don't try to hide it from him, run to him, ask him for advice, comfort, love. I guarantee you will feel the greatest since of relief from simply calling upon his name and resting your trust in him.

so I hope everyone is doing well and HAPPY SATURDAY!

p.s. I will try to update more! lol