Lily Terhune

September 29, 2014

ENGL 1100, Writing Skills Workshop

Professor Young

Community Essay

Doing work in your dorm room at Fairleigh Dickinson may be hard because of the noise coming from other rooms. Students may be playing music very loudly, or hanging out with a lot of people in their rooms causes a distraction. The sound of music when you are trying to work is like the sound of bees buzzing around your head.  It is a huge distraction that you may not be able to control. Although we have a library easily accessible, sometimes doing homework or studying in a dorm room is preferred. In Valerie Kinloch’s essay, “Harlem, Art and Literacy and Documenting ‘Harlem is Art’/ “Harlem as Art”, the problem in Phillip and Khaleeq’s community is that Harlem is being denitrified. Although their issue is on a different level of seriousness than mine, loudness in the dorms can pose many problems for students at Fairleigh Dickinson. 

Kinloch talks about Harlem as a place full of art. From the buildings to the people on the walking and talking on the street, it is all art whether they know it or not. Although, the art is slowly being taken away by gentrification. Whiteification is happening and new buildings and stores are being built, taking away from the old Harlem. Big chain stores like Old Navy are being built in place of little independently owned stores. The buildings are turning from projects with fire escapes running up and down the buildings to beautiful buildings with balconies. They try to embrace the old art of Harlem, yet find it hard because of the many new things rebuilt in place of the old. This a bigger problem for Phillip and Khaleeq compared to my problem in my community. My problem consists inside of my dorm building, where I live and spend most of my time. 

Quiet hours were constructed to make it easier for students to sleep  without being interrupted. Finding time thats quiet during the day to study or do homework is a problem; therefore it would be helpful and beneficial for students if daytime quiet hours were made. Silence is necessary for students to get work done efficiently. We are able to focus on our work more without any distractions. Without silence, our work can be put off causing students to procrastinate often. With a lot of noise, students might wait until its quieter and never get their work done on time.

Students also need silence in the dorms to get sleep or to take naps. Most college students will be up late at night doing work so naps are crucial for college students. Sleep affects our stress level, G.P.A, and the efficiency of our work. Sleep is important for our health. Lack of sleep can really affect student’s academic performance. 

Fairleigh Dickinson is a beautiful campus in Madison, New Jersey. It has trees that reach up to the sky. The buildings are old and beautiful, giving meaning to the campus. Theres always students everywhere, either in the dorms or on the big open lawn spaces. Like Kinloch’s essay about Harlem, the scenery in both Harlem and Fairleigh Dickinson plays a big part of the community. The amount of students that hangout in their dorms can cause the problem of it being hard to study during the day. The noise coming from the rooms can be so loud at times that doing work or studying is tough. This problem has been ongoing for a while now I assume. Although there are quiet hours, they are only at nighttime on Sunday to Thursday from 8pm-10 am and Friday and Saturday from 12 am to 10 am.

If students use Ihomes or speakers to play music the music can be heard from one room to another. Especially if the music is being played loud, it can be a distraction to the other rooms close by. If a student is trying to study for a test, doing work can be as hard as trying to do work in a room full of people. If quiet hours during the day were implicated, it would benefit students who try to get work done in their dorm rooms during the day. Quiet hours from the hours of 2pm to 4 pm would be perfect for students. 

Is this a problem for all students? Are students having trouble studying in their dorms? In Kinloch’s essay, “Harlem, Art and Literacy and Documenting ‘Harlem is Art’/ “Harlem as Art”, may people were not standing up to present the problems of Harlem being denitrified. If students do not stand up for what they believe, nothing will be accomplished. Quiet hours would be implicated for all people in the dorm building and would help a lot of students. Two hours a day to have quiet time for work is all that would be needed. Students may develop better studying habits in their dorm rooms without distractions. Without this, students may have trouble studying in their rooms and never learn good study habits inside their rooms.

Lily Terhune

September 25, 2014

ENGL 1100, Writing Skills Workshop

Professor Young

Community Essay

Doing work in your dorm room at Fairleigh Dickinson may be hard because of the noise coming from other rooms. Students may be playing music very loudly, or are hanging out with a lot of people in their rooms causes a distraction. Although we have a library easily accessible, sometimes doing homework or studying a dorm room may be better. Quiet hours were constructed to make it easier for students to sleep without being interrupted. Yet, sleeping is not the only thing students need quiet for.  Finding time thats quiet during the day to study or do homework is a problem; therefore it would be helpful and beneficial for students if daytime quiet hours were made so students who like to work during the day in their dorm rooms can.

Fairleigh Dickinson is a beautiful campus in Madison, New Jersey. It has trees that reach up to the sky. The buildings are old and beautiful, giving meaning to the campus. Theres always students everywhere, either in the dorms or on the big open lawn spaces. Like Kinloch’s essay about Harlem, the scenery in both Harlem and Fairleigh Dickinson plays a big part of the community. The amount of students that hangout in their dorms can cause the problem of it being hard to study during the day. The noise coming from the rooms can be so loud at times that doing work or studying is tough. This problem has been ongoing for a while now I assume. Although there are quiet hours, they are only at nighttime on Sunday to Thursday from 8pm-10 am and Friday and Saturday from 12 am to 10 am.

If students use Ihomes or speakers to play music the music can be heard from one room to another. Especially if the music is being played loud, it can be a distraction to the other rooms close by. If a student is trying to study for a test, doing work can be as hard as trying to do work in a room full of people. If quiet hours during the day were implicated, it would benefit students who try to get work done in their dorm rooms during the day. Quiet hours from the hours of 2pm to 4 pm would be perfect for students. 

Is this a problem for all students? Are students having trouble studying in their dorms? In Kinloch’s essay, “Harlem, Art and Literacy and Documenting ‘Harlem is Art’/ “Harlem as Art”, may people were not standing up to present the problems of Harlem being denitrified. If students do not stand up for what they believe, nothing will be accomplished. Quiet hours would be implicated for all people in the dorm building and would help a lot of students. Two hours a day to have quiet time for work is all that would be needed. Students may develop better studying habits in their dorm rooms without distractions. Without this, students may have trouble studying in their rooms and never learn good study habits inside their rooms.

Lily Terhune

September 22, 2014

Professor Young

ENGW 1110

Writing

Hip Hop Planet Response

In James McBrides essay, Hip Hop Planet, the character does not enjoy rap music. Rap music consists of rappers bragging about violence, money, and expensive cars. Everywhere he went he was surrounded by this type of music and everyone around him enjoyed it. From rednecks to teenagers, everyone loved rap. Kids in South Bronx and Harlem would DJ and play music outside their windows to many people, spreading their love for rap. At 13, this character heard the rap music of the Last Poets and was mortified. They used the N-word in their music which was never done before. White kids were intrigued by the music because of its “cool” factor. However everyone connected differently with the music, on all different levels of meaning. Even the character’s own siblings would play the rap music when their parents left the house, because they were not allowed to listen to rap in the house. He is a jazz lover and cringed at the sound of rap music. Rap music held a meaning to him that he did not want to be reminded of so he simply ignored it. But because he ignored it, he missed out on an important cultural event.

No one stopped and questioned the origin of rap music. Rap music originated in West Africa many centuries ago. Africans would use drums and songs to tell stories about their journeys of being slaves. Rap music belonged in Africa, where the lyrics were meaningful and told a story about their troubled times. Rap music changed from being a way for the Africans to express their hardships to rappers expressing their love for money and women through rap music.

Hip hop shapes this character’s identity because he visited the villages of West Africa and got a first hand view at the real world of hip hop. It was very different then standing in the kitchen of a party where rap was being played on the turntable. He was in a place that was filled with poverty that these people were making music because they needed to make money to support their families. These people idolized Tupac and had his picture hanging up in market stalls. Rap music had a different meaning to these people. Rap music has evolved over the years, changing significantly from its origin in West Africa. 

Lily Terhune

September 22, 2014

Professor Young

ENGW 1110

Writing

After a long tiring school day I would drive to my second home. As I go through the doors of the daycare the smell of children and diapers scent was so strong like my mother cooking that could be smelt from anywhere in the house. I could hear the voices of little children coming from all the classrooms down the halls. The walls were bright and colorful, full of the children’s artwork from the ceiling to the floor. There were eight classrooms, all representing a different animal for the different age groups. I would pass the koala class, hearing the sounds of crying infants and the faces of stressed out teachers. Then I would pass the penguin and lion room, where toddlers were running around the room tearing the toys off the shelves and leaving the room as if a tornado hit it. As I made my way up to the classrooms filled with the older kids, the building smelt less like diapers and smelt more like markers that were being scribbled against papers.

Foundations Prep School, where I worked for 2 years has become my second home. I was given a class of children who were ready to learn, and I was eager to teach them. I was the afternoon teacher and had a class filled with 19 three year olds, ranging in abilities and personalities. The children would run around the classroom, causing me to become stressed. They would come down when would read books, play centers, and of course dance to music. 

Foundations Prep School has had a extreme impact on my life; I have never been as happy as when I am there with those kids. During the last period of my own school day, I would often catch myself looking up at the ticking clock watching the hands move anxiously waiting for the bell to ring, so that I can leave to go to my class at the daycare. After a while, being at Foundations did not feel like work. I wasn’t working for the paychecks; instead I was doing it for the kids. My work with the kids at Foundations has been one of the most enriching and rewarding experiences of my life. There was so much love at the school that I could feel the building wrap its arms around me and hug me. These kids were the reason for my happiness; the reason for the smile on my face at the end of the day.

Lily Terhune

September 19, 2014

ENGL 1100, Writing Skills Workshop

Professor Young

Essay 1

Identity

When I walk through the streets I feel as if people’s eyes can see right through me. Who do they see? Do they see my baggy jeans, my sneakers, and my hoodie and think I am a guy? Or do they see my small frame, long eyelashes and cheekbones and think I am a girl? My name is Sam. I was born a girl, yet I know I am a guy. My sex is not my identity. My sex is not who I am. In Gloria Anzaldua’s passage, “ How to Tame A Wild Tongue”, her identity is her language. Gloria speaks in her own “slang”, Chicano Spanish, a mix of Spanish and Mexican. She is told that her language is not correct and that she needs to change it. However, Gloria says you cannot change ones identity. “Wild tongues cannot be tamed, they can only be ripped out” (Anzaldua 244).  Anzaldua’s language makes up who she is and I stand by her and admire how she does not change her native language for anyone. Identity is important because it makes up who we are and who we will become. 

Identity is made up of who you are and it is important because it is a sense of self and an acceptance of your inner pride. Anzaldua belongs among the Chicano’s and grew up always being corrected for the way she spoke. Anzaldua says, you cannot “tame” a wild tongue. Her native language cannot be controlled or changed because it is who she is; her identity. Anazdula felt as if she had to hide her language because she was always being told she was wrong. Although, she feels very passionately about her language being part of who she is. Anzaldua says, “ I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself” (Anzaldua 251). I think its important to be passionate about your identity because it shows the inner pride you have in yourself.

If  identity never existed we would be always searching for something we would never find. Searching for your identity is a common thing for teenagers. We all experience those awkward years from middle school into sophomore year of high school. We struggle to find a place and meaning in this world. We meet new people and experience new things that all have an impact on who we are. But sooner or later we find who we are and where we belong. Once we reach that, we have completed our search. But what if there was no such thing as identity? I can’t imagine a world without it, it is necessary. It is made up of a lot of things like characteristics, beliefs and morals, hobbies, and language.  I would feel lost without music which is part of my identity just as Anzaldua would if she did not identify herself with the Chicanos. She feels a sense of home among them. It is necessary and without it we would be lost, never finding a place where we belong.

Identity is important to our development and the way we carry ourselves. It is the way we view ourselves as well as the way we are viewed by others. Gloria Anzaldua is told her language is wrong and that she has to change who she is to be proper. Our identity is necessary and without it we would be lacking something crucial to our development. As I walk through the doctors office doors the beat in my chest gets faster and faster. My face masks exactly the way I feel. I keep my expectations low. Now that I am eighteen, I finally have the ability to do this without the permission of my parents, which I would never receive. Today is the day, the day I can start my transition into the real me. My search for my identity is over. My looks will soon portray the way I feel. I have pushed through all the obstacles, never stopping to give up. Im now standing in front of the doctor, my feet cold against the tile floor, about to finally take the steps that I have been waiting to complete. I am ready for the next step in my life, I am ready to be the real me. 

Black Power Response

Lily Terhune

Friday September 12, 2014

Professor Young

ENGW 1110

Black Power Response

In McBride’s story “Black Power, the term black power is used throughout the novel and has a significant impact on the main character James. Growing up, at nine years old James questions his mother about her background yet never receives an answer he wants. James is one of 12 children, all ranging in different shades of brown although his mother is white. Being white never seemed to effect his mother, although it was obvious to other people that she was not the same color as her children. Black power frightens James not because he is scared for his own safety but for the safety of his mother. I think McBride’s point about black power is that James has no other option to fear for his mother because he is surrounded by the idea that blacks and whites do not mix. Although James supported and cheered for a car named Black Power at a gray race, it is obvious that he fears it at the same time for his mother’s sake because she is white. James says, “I thought black power would be the end of my mother” ( McBride, 26). Black power does not make up James' identity, it fills him with fear.

I think that black power is considered an idea not an identity that influences James. He understands that his mother is always in danger. On a subway ride home James watches his mother fight with a mugger over her purse and she just brushes it off as if it does not effect her. although James is stricken with fear. His mother also receives many comments from both white and black people like “nigger lover” and “look at that white bitch”. She would be the only white person in sight, yet feel completely comfortable and part of the black community. I think black power is an idea that defines who James is. Because James is black and part of the black community he is safe from black power. He has to fear for his mother. When James is on a bus and sees his mother standing with a Black Panther he tries to warn her and is unsuccessful. He punches the Black Panther’s son out of anger and fear for his mother. Being black is part of James identity, yet Black Power is an idea that James does not want to identify himself with for the sake of his mother's safety. 

Lily Terhune

Sunday August 31, 2014

Professor Young

ENGW 1110

Answers

1. The opening scene of Anzaldua in the dentist’s chair provides the reader with a basis of what the story will be about. The dentist tells Anzaldua that her tongue needs to be tamed. Her tongue is causing the dentist trouble and he reacts angerily. He is getting mad over something that is natural, that she cant help like her “native tongue”. 
2. Her use of Spanish throughout her writing was confusing at times when she did not translate. I think her purpose was to inform us of her language and how it feels to be on the outside of a different language.
3. Yes, Academic English can be viewed as a formal way to speak like standard Spanish. Chicano Spanish is altered Spanish, but is based off of Spanish. It can be said that it is ignorant to call ones identity (language) non standard but I think that regular Spanish is universally known as being standard.
4. It is necessary to speak and write in Academic english when you are at school or in a work environment. I do think it is necessary to get a job or present yourself nicely.
5. I think that it can be necessary for us to write in Academic English because that is what is expected of us to do in school and in the work place. Yet I believe that speaking informally is normal when in the right situation. 
6. I use a different language when I talk with my friends. We made up words that we all know what it means and we use it daily. We also pick up some words from other people and adapt to that.
7. The form of English I speak with my friends would be considered slang. I use the Academic English when I am speaking to an adult or in a formal situation.
8. Your language is your identity. Your language makes up who you are, like your identity.
9. In the introduction, Anzaldua is in the dentist’s chair and he is fighting with her native tongue. Her tongue gets in the way and is making the dentist’s job harder. In the conclusion she talks about being patient and the struggle of our identities. She talks about how her race is not going to give up their tongue, unlike others. They connect because in the beginning she was feeling bad about her native tongue and at the end she learns how to embrace it and not give in to the pressures to change who she is. 
10. Yes, I strongly believe that it is a part of your identity. It is the way you speak and the way you speak to others. It plays a huge role in who you are.
11. I think identity is really important. At my age I have spent years struggling to find who I am and I think once you find who you are, you should be proud of it. Also some of your identity is what you are born with and cannot change yet that should be embraced. I am pretty confident about my identity and I think thats important. She says, “One day the inner struggle will cease and a true intention will take place” (Anzaldua 254).

Lily Terhune

Sunday August 31, 2014

Professor Young

ENGW 1110

Write

One thing that defines who I am is my creativity. Growing up I have been surrounded by art. My father is an artist and an art teacher. Ever since I was young, my father has influenced me to become more artistic and creative. He would always spend time painting and showing his artwork in galleries. Throughout that all he has pushed me to express myself through art. Whether it was through drawing, singing, or dancing he has always supported me. Also, my mother is an interior decorator so she also is very creative. She is also a hairdresser, which is another way to express art. I express my artistic ability through music and singing, which has been a passion of mine since I was young. Throughout my four years in high school I participated in my school’s choir ensemble. I started off in an all girl’s choir making my way up to an honors chamber choir. Throughout choir I was able to express myself through singing which also led to me traveling the continent with my choir. I traveled from San Francisco, California all the way to Montreal, Canada. In Montreal, I saw several beautiful buildings and new types of artwork that I have never seen before. From Old Montreal to New Montreal, from the old city and cobblestone roads to the towering skyscrapers, I was exposed to a new environment and culture that influenced my creativity. 

Like Anzadula’s language was very important to her, art and music means a lot to me. Her language was a way for her to express herself and I can connect with that in my own life.   Music inspires me and gives me the dedication to do everything in life. It is my passion, my creativity, and I am so thankful.