Well it is hard to find a topic that interests me enough to write about that I also do not have a strong opinion about. I think at this point I will write about the Islamic State weaponizing drones by planting explosives in them and why the U.S. military is doing nothing about it.

The gallery walk was a very helpful process. I learned many new tactics and methods about how to approach this writing assignment. The comments I received were not particularly helpful, but reading other’s introductions was very helpful to me. I will edit my introduction based on the other methods I saw today.

#rhetoricaltriangle

#rhetoricalanalysis

• Each essay needs to have 5 paragraphs
• Each thesis needs to have 3 points, one for each body paragraph
• Each essay needs to begin with a quotation
• You can’t use contractions when writing
• Don’t begin a sentence with a conjunction
• Each paragraph needs to be a certain length
• The introduction is only one paragraph
• you cant say you

I made great improvements in class today. When I came to class I did not bring my best work to class with my introduction, but thankfully after I received feedback we were given an opportunity to rewrite our entire introductions. Many of my peers simply edited theirs, but for me what needed to be done was to take the feedback, and simply write an entire new paragraph. I feel this was ver helpful because now I have a much stronger starting point for this assignment and will be more likely to really grasp what its about. Today was also helpful because now I will be more likely to understand the importance of coming to class with my best work each time so I don’t get behind.

I think that the prompt I will write about is the third prompt. I like the idea of the Native American stereotype. I haven’t given it much though before, but the idea that the white man affiliates the Native American with goofy sentimentalism is intriguing. The only concern I have about what may go wrong is not finding any articles on the New York Times website that go along with or debunk this stereotype.

College is essentially 4 years worth of quests. Some are completed in a day and others span the entire duration of the 4 years. The most important and obvious quest contained in the college experience is getting a degree. However, the quest that I will focus on almost just as much as graduating is to actually experience college. College is special for many reasons, and some of which are meeting new people, trying new things, and having a good time. The people you meet are likely the ones you will call your friends for the rest of your life, and I intent to meet a lot of them. I make it my personal goal to be friendly and remember everyone I talk to. They say its not about grades you make but the hands you shake. The second aspect of truly experiencing college is trying new things. I plan on getting involved in as many things as possible. Finally, having a good time is important too. This will be the last time that you have an opportunity to go out every day of the week (besides Sunday), and I don’t want to let that slip away without making the most of it.

There are many common themes between Alexie’s “Flight Patterns” and Adiche’s Ted Talk. In Adichie’s Ted Talk, she speaks about what it is like to live in America as an African. She mentions several different examples of Americans misunderstanding who she is based on the place she comes from. This is also apparent in “Flight Patterns”. William sees this ethiopian taxi driver and immediately writes him off as unintelligent and uneducated. However, once he finally gets to know the cab driver, William finds that he not only likes the man (whereas at first he didn’t want to talk to him), but he is impressed by his intellect and past. In Adichie’s Ted Talk she also mentions how she is ashamed of how she was shocked to see how people of Mexico are not as she imagined them based on media coverage. This shame is similar to the shame William felt once he actually took the time to get to know the cab driver.

Often I feel as though I am supposed to be someone other than who I am. Coming from my background, I often feel an excessive amount of pressure to succeed academically. My parents had attended this university and struggled. My sister had even attempted to attend college, but it was not meant to be. I have never had much trouble in school, and gotten honor roll every semester at a very difficult high school in Memphis. Because of this, my family has always had such high expectations for me and unintentionally applied a lot of unwanted pressure to my success. This makes me feel somewhat out of place.