Ashley’s English Blog

 One conversation that changed me was a late night talk with my friends. We were all sleeping at my house for the night, and we got to talking about life and feelings. During this talk, we they all shared their thoughts and vulternabilites, saying things that we needed to trust each other not to tell again. It changed me because I realized how important it is to have close friend that you can converse with, about any topic, and having ones that won't judge you for what you think or what you've done. And I think it's very important to embrace your differences and learn about each other in a safe space.  Today in class we took notes on evidence and read two articles while finding evidence to support a claim. I learned about the three ways to cite evidence: direct quote, summarizing, and paraphrasing. 

 Something I believed as a child was that the Tooth Fairy was real. My parents had told me she was real so I believed them until I was about 11 years old. I remember writing her notes when I lost a tooth and sometimes she would answer back or sometimes she wouldn't. But I found out that she wasn't real when my mom forgot to come in the middle of the night and did it in the morning when she woke up for work, but I myself was also awake so I could tell it was her. Today in class we watched commercials to learn about persuasive techniques and then started out vocabulary work.  I learned new vocabulary words and how to utilize them.

 I overcame my fear of needles. When I was younger, I would cry four hours when I found I needed to get a shot. I would run away from the nurse and fight them off. But my eleventh birthday I was put in the hospital for an infection in my gums. This was the most tpain I have ever felt, and the needles didn't even scare me anymore. I remember the nurses coming in during the night to take my blood to run tests, and I wouldn't even flinch. This experience was so horrible but I made it through and now I am no longer terrified of needles.  Today in class we read an article and identified claims throughout it. I learned how to create counter-claims.

 I think politics may be a big topic of debate when I get older. Right now I don't know much about politics,  but my dad is very opinionated and he sides with the right a lot. My mom is mostly neutral, but she also has some strong opinions as well. Although I don't know much about politics, I probably will when I get older, and I'm sure I will probably lean more left or neutral like my mom. But my dad likes to debate and discuss his opinions a lot, so I'm sure we'll have some issues later on. Today in class we learned about the types of claims and then did work about them. I learned how to create all the three types of claims.

 One truth a find hard to accept is that one day my family will pass away. I think about it a lot how I have limited time with the people that I love. I think it is so diffucult to understand because are parents and siblings were the first thing that we have ever know. And knowing that one day you might have to live in a world without them is very confusing, especially as a young child. Today in class we listened to a presentation about arguments and did an assignment on logos, ethos, and pathos.  I learned  about argument and rhetoric and how to write an argument. 

A lot of the time when I was younger I was judged unfairly by my family. As the youngest child and grandchild, my siblings and cousins seemed to constantly exclude me and judge me just because of my age. For example, I remember being left out of board games many times because I "wasn't old enough" even though I understood and could play the game just as well as they could. My cousins also expected me to act more maturely than I was, which led to ridicule when I would let my younger words and actions show. Today in class we did a Commonlit. Today I learned about how to harness negative emotions like fear and change them into something beneficial.

 I would be curious about how the Hispanic culture is different throughout the world. I know the Hispanic community is huge across countries and I would like to know how they differ or relate to each other and why depending on history. One thing is about the food. I would like to know how traditional Hispanic dishes differ from country to country and if one is considered the most traditional.  Today in class we learned how to write thesis statements. Today I learned about both umbrella and three point thesis statements.