Nina's English Blog

 Prompt Response: One time I made a claim supported by evidence was when I was finding out if I was being cheated on. Of course, it was a large claim to make- and potentially hurtful if proven incorrect- so I had to work diligently to find evidence and explain it thoroughly. To explain the situation, I was dating a boy and had an intuition that I was not the only girl. So, I talked to multiple of our mutual friends to get verbal accounts. Not only this but I thought of all of the times where there had been suspicious behavior I could use as evidence once explained. An example of this is when he showed me his phone and there was a girl's name which matched the name from a story I was told by a friend. Once I properly gathered solid evidence, I presented my claim to a group of friends. While I could have just stated what I had discovered, instead I explained every piece of evidence in detail and how it supports my claim. How the verbal accounts all connected together, proving their c...

 Prompt response: One thing I will never fully understand is racism. I know how and where racism started, but I don't understand why it still persists. This is because in American society today we are all technically equal. There are no laws which discriminate against a certain race, culture, or ethnicity. People from all different places and backgrounds work together in school, the workforce, and communities. Yet, racism is still extremely prevalent in our communities. Earlier in history, racism was extremely normalized. That is why, although it's harsh, it makes sense why people were not rejecting those ideals. It was all they were taught, and all they ever knew. However, today we are taught that everyone is created equally, and everyone has the same amount of potential for greatness. That is why I don't think I will understand that after all of the proof, all of the achievements, and all of the time people still believe in racist ideals. Summary: Today in class we took n...

 Prompt Response: One thing that makes me different then other people is my ability to hyper analyze the behaviors of others. The first thing I notice about people is their body language. The way somebody's eyes dart frantically, or shift their weight between their feet anxiously. Or on the contrary, when people sit with their body open, showing confidence. Not only this but I have picked up over time the skill of analyzing people based on their tone of voice. Many people can understand basic emotions like sadness, anger, or happiness from a person's tone. But I've learned to pick up when someone is lying, or secretly feeling worried about something. I don't know if I have picked up these skills by chance or because of something else, but either way they are very prevalent in my life. These skills make me different from others because I am usually able to pick up a person's real emotions and feelings based on analyzing their body language and tone of voice. This has...

 Prompt Response: Living around Atlanta has drastically influenced the way that I view my community, culture, and identity. The people of Atlanta are extremely diverse and come from all sorts of backgrounds. Growing up in a place with so much diversity has led me to become curious about other people's cultures, religions, and traditions. In places which lack diversity many people shy away from learning about people and places that are different from them. But growing up in a community which accepts all kinds of people has grown my knowledge and acceptance of others. Not only this but it has made me view myself differently. Whenever I would visit my grandparents in a small town in Florida, I would be treated differently from others. People would tell me things that were hurtful, like "go back to your country" and these comments changed my view on my identity. But when I would return to Atlanta and see people who looked like me, it made me accept who I am. I am a strong bel...

 Prompt Response: The most creative thing I have ever made was a hamster cage. I have a huge love for animals, and I always wanted a pet of my own. Before I got a hamster, I did hours of research to make sure that I could create a suitable environment for them. I recall that me and my mom took an old IKEA detloft cabinet, and began to design a cage. We had two cabinets, two large acrylic glasses, and a wired roof. Together, we cut the wood and formed it into an 8 foot long cage with wooden frames that held up the acrylic glasses. I believe that this stands out as one of my best works because not only did it give me an opportunity to build something, but I built it for something I loved. I am very proud of that cage to this day because it was a reflection of time, disciple, work, and my love for animals.  Summary: Today in class we looked at SPACECAT and how to apply it to arguments. Reflection: Today I learned how to look at speeches and analyze them even if I don't directly a...

 Prompt Response: A time I felt completely lost was the end of the second semester of sophomore year. This is because it was the end of the year and I was really struggling with all of my classes. I was taking 4 AP's and I started to become extremely overwhelmed with studying for the AP exams, my finals, and managing clubs on top of it all. During this time felt like I was completely lost. Normally, I am very good with managing my time and planning out a schedule to study and get my work done. Then, I felt very lost on where and what work to start with. I didn't know if I should study for my AP exams or my finals, and I felt like I didn't have enough time to do it all. It all felt very confusing because I didn't know how to organize my time to make sure that I had the knowledge of everything I needed to know. Eventually, I did manage to study for everything but I cannot deny that the whole process made me feel completely unorganized and lost. Summary: Today in class we ...

 Response: Something I believed as a child was that I could talk to animals. Whether it was a wild animal like a squirrel, or my pet cats, I thought I had the skill to communicate with any type of animal. For a long time I thought that they could also understand me, my thoughts or speeches out loud, and I would hear them "responding". I believed that the thoughts in my head were actually the animals communicating with me. Sometimes I would tell a random animal something and then expect them to follow my action or order that I had said out loud. Additionally, I thought this was a gift that only I had. I am not sure if I could this belief from watching to many Disney movies, or just having a wide imagination, but either way I was set on the idea that I had a power for communicating with all kinds of animals.  Summary: Today in class we learned what a claim is and how to use the three different types of claims to see if a claim is arguable.  Reflection: I learned that there ...

 Prompt:   What are three goals that you want to achieve this academic year?    Prompt Response: The first goal I want to achieve this year is improving my vocabulary. I want to acquire a new diction so I can articulate my words more effectively. My next goal is to improve my spelling. This is because on the AP exam, it doesn't offer a feature that indicates spelling errors. Therefore, I want to get better at spelling out difficult words so I don't have meaningless errors on the exam. Lastly, my third goal for this year is to increase the amount I read. This is because during high school I stopped reading as much to make time for classwork. This year, I would like to read more because it can help my attention span while also expanding my vocabulary.  Summary: I was in Mrs. Anderson's class that day, so I am not aware of what we covered in class. Reflection: This post has made me think more about my academic goals and how I can complete them not only in class but...