TOW #31: Letter to a Future APELC Student

Dear Future APELC Student,

Wow, you’re finally a junior in high school.  No longer are you an underclassman who everyone blames for ruining the school but the one doing the blaming.  You have made it through the past two years of high school, and hopefully you are still relatively sane.  You have taken challenging classes.  You have aced a test.  Maybe you’ve even failed a test.  The point is, you’ve made it through to junior year.  Most importantly for the intent of this letter, you’ve made it through to take AP English with Mr. Yost.  Now that you’re here and sitting in my former chair, take some advice from a retiree; make the most of this class!  In order to do just that, attempt to do the TOWs to the best of your ability, speak up in class, and get help when the going gets rough.

In order to succeed in this class, you must try to complete the TOWs to the best of your ability.  Now, you’re probably wondering what a TOW stands for.  I’ll be honest; I don’t remember.  It’s something of the week.  Though, maybe?  Anyway, during the school year, you are going to have to write a blog post every single week Sunday that has to be in at either 11:59pm or 9:59.  I know you probably think that sounds ridiculous, and honestly, I agree.  We shouldn’t have to be stressed to get something in at a certain time and possibly have to work one of our two free days around a TOW if we’re super busy.  However, Mr. Yost’s intentions are good; he wants us to get sleep because unlike a lot of other teachers, he shows that he cares about us.  Anyway, I personally found the TOWs the most monotonous assignment, but I don’t want you to feel that way.  The TOWs are meant to broaden what you read so you have ideas to draw from in your own writing and to help improve your writing for class and for the AP exam.  If you put a lot of effort into these TOWs instead of just going through the motions to complete the assignment, your writing WILL get better, A LOT better.  In terms of the TOWs, put your best foot forward and do whatever you can to work your writing.  Focus on both your strengths and weaknesses because there is always something to refine.  I’m sure you’re already a good writer, but working hard on the TOWs can make you be a great writer.  

One thing that you must do in order to make the most of AP English with Mr. Yost, and occasionally Ms. Pronko, is to speak up and speak out.  Although I do talk in class, I didn’t really speak up as much as I should have, and it made it harder for me to enjoy the class.  You see, I noticed that whenever someone spoke up and their ideas weren’t agreed with, the whole class would sort of come down on them and make them realize how wrong they were.  That obviously makes someone feel bad and ruins their confidence.  I’m telling you that no matter what, express yourself.  Even if your ideas aren’t always in accordance with the rest of the class, defend your thoughts.  NEVER be afraid to let your voice be heard like I was.  If you talk more, you are bound to feel more comfortable in the class and with Mr. Yost.  From what I’ve witness this year, Mr. Yost tends to be a lot closer and friendlier to the students who speak out more, so if you want a strong relationship with him, talk!  

To be successful in this class, you must seek out help when you’re feeling down or feel like you’re not living up to your potential.  One thing that Mr. Yost said throughout the year was that the class was not a race but more of a marathon.  You might not get the grades you want right away, but if you keep working hard throughout the year, you’ll steadily improve and end up with a good grade.  At least, I think it was something like that.  Anyway, the marathon is a bit tiring and it does take up a lot of sweat and tears.  You see, we have numerous in-class writing prompts that make everyone nervous.  Everyone worries what the prompt is going to be and if they’ll do well.  Although you think you may have done extremely well or extremely poor, you never truly know because your peers will be giving you your scores.  Your peers, as intelligent as I’m sure many of them are, don’t know exactly what to look for when grading and don’t always give out accurate scores.  When you think you did well but end up with a really bad peer-graded score, you feel very unconfident and like you have no clue what you’re doing.  At least, that’s how I felt when it happened to me.  Luckily, Mr. Yost and Ms. Pronko are always there to wipe away the sweat and the tears.  Mr. Yost looked over my work and said that he would have graded it higher and really made me feel like my writing wasn’t worthless, which is how I felt.  Ms. Pronko, the one time I actually spoke to her about english, listened to my problems and offered great advice.  I just wish that I hadn’t waited until March or April to speak with my two coaches.  Please, don’t do what I did.  Talk to Mr. Yost and Ms. Pronko whenever you can because without them, you’ll never get to the finish line at a decent place.  

One thing that I can’t stress enough is to be yourself, both in person inside the class as well as in your writing.  Even though there might be times when you think that you can’t be creative or express yourself because the class is based on non-fiction, there are always ways to incorporate your unique ideas and thoughts in everything that you do.  Don’t let anyone get you down and try not get too discouraged if you get a bad grade.  Keep trying and improve because, remember, writing is actually a skill that you’ll use when you graduate.  

Sincerely,

___________

P.S. Don’t write in the sloppy way that I did because you will get a bad score.  Be more organized!

TOW #30: Queen of Versailles and Bill Gates

One of the claims made in the documentary, Queen of Versailles, was that rich people are greedy.  Although I agree that David Siegel and Jackie, specifically David, fit those characteristics, I do not believe that being greedy accurately describes all people of wealth because there are many rich people who are not exceedingly ostentatious but are exceedingly altruistic.  

One such person who is unpretentious and extremely charitable is Bill Gates.  Worth at one point in 1999 more than $101 billion, Gates is overwhelmingly wealthy.  In fact, he is currently the richest man in the world, and yet, he does not portray himself to be nearly as greedy as David Siegel.  Although Gates owns a 66,000 square foot house, Xanadu 2.0, that is one of the only ways in which he portrays opulence.  He has worked hard for his money and should be allowed to buy a nice house if he wants to, as did David Siegel.  However, Gates was not as ostentatious as Siegel in other ways.  For example, even with all of his money, Gates did not buy a private jet until 1997.  Before that, not only did he fly on public airplanes, but he flew coach instead of first class.  A person full of greed would never have flown commercially on a flight full of people, therefore proving that not all wealthy people are greedy.  

Bill gates is also not greedy because of his philanthropy.  Through the years, Bill Gates has donated billions of dollars to numerous foundations that help out people of lower social classes as well as many other causes.  In 2000, Bill and his wife, Melinda, formed the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation in order to help others.  Not only does Gates make charitable arrangements within his family but also with his peers.  On December 9, 2010, he, Warren Buffett, and Mark Zuckerberg signed the Gates-Buffett Giving Pledge.  It is an agreement between the three of them to donate at least half of their money to charities during their lifetimes.  Gates tried to fulfill that pledge by also donating to universities.  Gates’ bountiful acts of altruism prove that not all wealthy people are greedy.

Bill Gates

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates

TOW #29: Documentary Rhetorical Analysis-"Queen of Versailles"

David Siegel, his wife, Jackie, and their kids lived a life of luxury due to David’s fortune from owning the largest timeshare company in the world.  However, the downturn of the economy caused their opulent lifestyle to end and a life of uncertainty to begin.  The documentary, “Queen of Versailles,” shows the Siegel family struggle to learn how to live a life of poverty after their money is lost, all the while having their dream home, Versailles, become stripped away from them as well.  Through the voices of David and Jackie, the general audience gets a clear visual of how the American dream of climbing up the social ladder can both be achieved and taken away.  In order to to demonstrate what a lack of humbleness does to someone and to show the real-life struggles of people during the recent depression, “Queen of Versailles” uses symbolism and depressing stories.

Three symbols used in the documentary are a chair, music, and fireworks.  At the beginning of the documentary, before the Siegels lose their money, David is being interviewed sitting on an ornate throne.  The throne represents the money, power, and greed that David has and exudes.  Later, at the end of the documentary after the money was lost, David is seen getting interviewed in a common chair instead of a lavish throne, thus demonstrating how he has been humbled by his experience(s) and how he no longer can be equivalent to a king, especially the king of Versailles.  Another symbol used was the change in the type of music.  At the beginning of the documentary when all was good with the Siegels, the music was somewhat cheerful, demonstrating that there were no problems for the family.  However, after the Siegel family’s luck spiraled, the music began to change.  Instead of happier tunes, the music became very gloomy in order to show how depressing the situation was.  Yet, the music would also start to become more cheerful whenever there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel.  Therefore, the music represents the effects of being too greedy and what happens when one is not humble.  A third symbol is the fireworks at the end of the documentary.  Fireworks normally are used for happy occasions but I feel that that is not the case here.  I believe that the fireworks show the crash and burn of David Siegel’s business as well as the shortfalls of the American dream.  

In order to show the effects of the economic downturn, the documentary shows interviews of both the Siegels and humble people, thus appealing to pathos.  The interviews of the Siegels after they faced hardship are used to show a humbling experience.  Before, the Siegels had interviews where they seemed very arrogant and domineering.  However, as the family goes deeper and deeper into debt and  cries and complains about their issues, their problems, the audience gets moved to feel bad for them.  The audience feels even worse for the people who never had obtained wealth, such as Jackie’s friend, Tina, who lost her house and the Siegel’s nanny who struggles to make money for her family back home.  Seeing these interviews of the how bad people struggle in order to fulfill the American dream causes the Audience to be humbled and hopefully realize that life could be worse than it is.

“Queen of Versailles” showed how even when people believe they are on the top of the world, they can always be toppled.  Yet, it also showed how even though people can fall, they are never out of the running to rise again.  

The Versailles Mansion

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/david-siegel-unfinished-mansion-75-million-westgate-resorts-tiger-woods-37835.html

TOW #28: Reflection

Although I have complained throughout the school year that I hated doing TOWs every single Sunday, which I will now be forced to say about Tuesdays, I will admit that I did benefit from my weekly works at the end of the day.  At first, I thought that the TOWs were going to be a serious assignment that would be graded harshly, but then I learned that that was untrue.  As a result, the TOWs simply became a tedious exercise that I felt did not help me at all in the AP English.  They weren’t being graded, they weren’t being critiqued, and they were never looked at in class. Therefore, they seemed to be a waste of time.  However, I did want to improve my writing so there were times when I had a free schedule where I put more effort into my responses.  Looking back at those TOWs, I can see how the influence of the course shaped those particular works to be better than the rest.  However, it was really the grading that forced me to work harder and truly benefit from the assignment.  When I knew that I was getting points for my TOWs, I worked especially hard to complete them with a higher standard, even the ones that I was pretty sure weren’t going to be graded.  Just the threat of having my class grade dip caused me to apply what I had learned in class in order to make my writing better.  As a result, of my distaste for the TOW assignments, the desire to do better, and threat of grading, my TOWs changed throughout the year.

Looking back through my TOWs there were a few noticeable changes, all of which are positive.  However, nothing has been mastered and everything can still be improved upon because there is always room for improvement.  The first aspect of my writing that I noticed had changed was the organization.  Back in September, I had a simple structure for opening my TOWs, I would maybe give a sentence or two of background information and then talk about the credibility of the author or open the other way around.  I would then answer most of my assigned points in the next few sentences just to get them out of the way.  Then, the rhetorical devices used by the author(s) would get analyzed.  This same structure continued on for months and has even continued until this very month.  However, I now might add a few extra sentences and space the assigned points out so that the TOWs seem less rushed and more coherent.  Coherency is the next aspect of my writing that I noticed had changed over the duration of the year.  At the beginning of the year, it seemed as if I was just stringing random sentences together that had little to no connection(s).  There were minimal transitions which caused my TOWs to seem as if I was just listing pieces of a summary instead of analyzing evidence for rhetorical devices.  Now, I use more transitions and evidence to prove my points, causing my writing to be elevated to a higher level.  Besides more evidence and coherency, my writing would not be elevated if my introductions and conclusions didn’t improve somewhat.  Although neither my introductions or conclusions are perfect, they have definitely gotten better since the beginning of the year.  My introductions now sound more profound and my conclusions are usually at least two sentences in length instead of one.  However, if they are only one, it’s because my evidence has improved so much that I couldn’t write more without going over the word limit.  Anyway, the one aspect of my writing that I noticed has not really progressed is my thesis statement(s).  For the majority of my thesis statements, the structure generally stayed the same and never improved.  Out of everything that I still need to work on, my thesis statements are my number one priority.

In conclusion, I feel as though my TOWs may not necessarily reflect how much my writing has grown as a result of AP English, but they did help me reflect on my strengths and weaknesses.  The reflection that was caused by looking over my TOWs helped me constantly readjust inside of the classroom in order to better succeed.  Therefore, even though I don’t really like writing TOWs, I will admit that they were very beneficial to me.

TOW #27: "Land a Summer Internship as a High School Student" by Delece Smith-Barrow

Everyday high school students here something about college talked about in the hallways.  They know that their future is coming soon and that responsibility is looming over their heads.  They also know that regardless of how sick of school they might be, college is still the answer for them.  Therefore, they want to beat out the competition to get into good schools.  One way to do that according to Delece Smith-Barrow, an author for U.S. News, a credible source since its an acclaimed agency, is for high school students to get internships.  Barrow’s purpose is to show her audience of high school students and their parents that having an internship in high school is beneficial.  Although her purpose does get targeted by her use of quotes from expert Lauren Berger, I feel that her purpose is not accomplished since the essay does not seem very focused.  

Barrow initially starts her essay off by saying how beneficial high school internships are because they provide an advantage for kids to get into better colleges and get jobs.  However, she then uses Berger as an expert to talk more about the how of getting an internship rather than why internships for high schoolers are so great.  For example, a quote from Berger says,”They're more willing to look outside of the box”.  The they’re she’s referring to are smaller companies, locations that she deems are more likely to hire high school students instead of college students.  This is irrelevant to the purpose of saying why high school internships are important; the quote is more interested with showing how to get internships.  Anyway, it is not really until the end where Berger says that “You're doing this internship to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your career” that the importance of high school internships is mentioned again.  

Therefore, although Smith-Barrow’s purpose may have been hit on, it was not hit over the head.  As a result, her purpose was not completely accomplished.  To get her purpose better accomplished, Smith-Barrow should have used more statistics from other sources.

High Schoolers are Interested in Internships Too

https://mhsseniorinternship.wikispaces.com/

TOW #26: Micromax Mobile Advertisement

In this day and age, the market for electronics, particularly cell phones, is quite competitive.  As a result, numerous companies, such as Micromax Mobile, a credible Indian electronics company, have started to make new innovations to both their phones and their advertisements.  Micromax Mobile’s purpose is to persuade its audience, people in need of a phone or future phone buyers, to purchase the Micromax A70.  This purpose is successfully accomplished by the advertisement’s use of mockery of the iphone and the coloration.

What this advertisement does relatively successfully is convince people to buy the Micromax A70 by mocking how expensive Apple’s iphones are.  The first way in which this is done is at the top center of the ad.  In black writing, “i” and “phone” are written separately.  However, there is an orange arrow between the two words pointing up to more orange wording that reads, “can afford this”.  The end result is that unlike the iphones which are ridiculously expensive, people can actually buy the Micromax A70 because it is reasonably priced.  The iphone comparisons also extend to the next line of the advertisement where Micromax A70 is presented as “the affordable android”.  By placing the text write underneath the iphone wording, Micromax Mobile is trying to promote their product while mocking Apple’s extreme prices.

The coloring of the advertisement attracts viewers, therefore attracting people and might buy the phone.  The background of the ad is gray and white, a rather dull coloration.  However, the black phone and its bright screen contrast with the white background and pop out more, thus attracting viewers.  Around the phone and its side view are little, colorful arrows that point to words which highlight the good feature of the Micromax 70.  The bright colors of the arrows and wording also contrast with the white and gray background, making the likeable features become highlighted to consumers.  Therefore, the result of the coloration is that people become more attracted by the ad.  Since people get attracted to the advertisement, the purpose of the advertisement is accomplished.  

The Advertisement

http://www.technologymint.com/micromax-a70-mobile-new-iphone-review-and-specifications/

TOW #25: "Beats Music's First 100 Days: A Bumpy Start" by Yinka Adegoke and Alex Pham

Yinka Adegoke and Alex Pham, two continuous contributors to Billboard’s, a famous name in the music industry, discuss in their article, “Beats Music's First 100 Days: A Bumpy Start.” how Beats Music is faring since its recent launch.  Beats Music is a music streaming service started by two notorious people of the music business: Jimmy Lovine and Dr. Dre.  However, even with such talented folk running the show, Beats Music is currently a disappointment since it is still relatively unpopular.  According to the article, Beats Music is not necessarily reaching its intended audience but this article achieves its purpose of demonstrating the progress, or lack thereof, of Beats Music to an audience of music lovers by using referring to references and quotes made by others and by comparing the company’s progress to Spotify’s.  

Adegoke and Pham’s use of quotations from people of the music industry add extra insight into how Beats Music and its owners, Lovine and Dre, are truly faring in the first 100 days of the music streaming service’s existence.  In response to the company’s disappointing numbers, one senior executive said “Jimmy is finding out this is tougher than it looks.  This business takes time.”  Even though Beats music has accumulated some buzz and some describers, this quote demonstrates that the service is not running as well as its owners had hoped and that it is a struggle to run and maintain.  Had this quote and other similar ones not been included, the audience may have thought that Adegoke and Pham were exaggerating the failure of Beats Music; but they’re not.  

Although, Beats Music might seemingly be failing, Spotify, another music streaming service, is not and will soon become a tougher competitor for the fledgeling company.  Since Spotify has been so successful, many people of the music industry and Adegoke and Pham compare the two services.  The authors wrote, “Some label sources say Beats Music should scrap its original advertising-led approach and give away more free music. ‘We've learned from Spotify that you have to fund free for a length of time with users investing time, creating playlists and getting used to the service,’ says one senior executive.”  Neither Spotify or Beats Music were instant successes, but Spotify had a plan that catapulted the brand into being one of the top music streaming services.  Therefore, Lovine and Dre should take notes if they want Beats Music to progress at a faster pace.  

Lovine and Dre: The Creators of Beats Music

http://thesource.com/2013/05/15/dr-dre-and-jimmy-iovine-donate-70-mil-to-u-s-c/