Writing and Living

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I visited the Art Institute of Chicago over this past spring break. Towards the beginning of the semester, our College Writing class wrote a summary and analysis paper about an art museum called Art in Island. As I was at the museum, it reminded me about this very unique museum. Art in Island is a different kind of museum. It is an interactive art museum located in Manila in the Philippines. As my friend Chloe and I were roaming around looking at the art, I thought to myself, "I wonder how these sculptures and paintings would be if I were at Art in Island." As Mallonee mentioned in her article how normal museums are boring and just like any other art museum where you walk quietly looking at art, I could see why she thought that. Me not really being an art person, I did sort of start getting bored after a while. Walking around silently looking at art isn't really my thing, but it was free so why not? I did think the art was still be...

So this past week of spring break happened to fall on the week of my birthday! Better yet, my birthday fell on the the Friday we got off of school for spring break! I went out for sushi with my friends that day and later that night, my mom took me out for even more sushi! I guess you could say I love my sushi. On Sunday, my family and I went to a Korean Barbecue place for my birthday. I received $600 total from my family, but you already know I spent most of it the next day at Oakbrook Mall :) I have a habit of spending money, which I should really learn how to save up. Being that it was pretty chilly out on Monday and Oakbrook is an outside mall, I got a little sick the next day and found myself having a sore throat and a stuffy nose, which is never fun, especially on spring break :/ However, I took some medicine and felt a little better as the days came along, so my friend Chloe and I decided to do downtown on Thursday and go to the Art Institute since it's free from 5-8 on Thu...

I have talked about this topic in the previous blog, but I thought I could go more into depth with it. America has become the land of entertainment. From carnivals to amusements parks, humans and animals have been exploited for their entertainment value. One of the biggest amusement parks in America, Sea World, is under heavy scrutiny by people across the nation. I personally have visited the Orlando Sea World, and although I fell in love with the marine animals around me, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the entrapped creatures. These animals have been kidnapped from their homes and kept in captivity for years swimming in a "bath tub". Orcas in the wild are fierce and intellectual hunters who are very social creatures. Orcas in captivity have a history of killing humans who have entered the aquatic prison with them. A well known orca named Tilikum had a track record of four murders before he died a premature death due to the conditions in which he lived. Orcas in capti...

Blackfish This documentary is one of my favorites I have watched. It is about how these whales and other marine animals were captured and taken into captivity for Seaworld. Me personally, I don't think it is right to keep animals in captivity and use them for entertainment. I think it is a cruel thing to do to these creatures just to get money. Blackfish tells the story of different whales, like Tilikum and Kasatka, and ow they were used for entertainment. One scene I found very interesting was the one where the man that used to capture the whales for Seaworld. He talked about how he regrets that moment, capturing the whales and taking them away from their family and their home. I wonder what changed his mind and made him realize that what he was doing wasn't right. Overall, this documentary was very interesting to watch. When I was younger, I used to love going to Seaworld as a kid. Realizing how bad it really was and how they only used these creatures for money really open...

1. A scene that really affected me was when Vincent Moto was talking about how he had served his time in prison just to be proven innocent and how he wasted 10 and a half years of his life in jail for something he didn't do. He felt like he couldn't be a father to his kids because he couldn't support them or be there for them while he was in jail. This made me very angry because after he was released, he received no compensation. This is not only wrong but inconsiderate to him and his family. As he said in the documentary, he missed out on life during what was supposed to be his prime years and he can never get them back. He received nothing for the mistake that THEY made. He now has to live his life harder than before. It will be much harder for him to find a well-paying, stable job. 2. The fact that all of these people were accused of something that they didn't do and that they had to spend all of this time serving when they were innocent all along. Their lives wer...

As the new semester kicks off, I am excited to start writing and see how much I improve this year. Last semester in College Writing I, I started off as not being the best writer. I never really knew how to start my papers or what to write about. As time progressed however, I slowly started to become a better writer and discovered the importance of revising, which I rarely did in the past. This year, I hope to improve even more with my writing skills and become the best writer that I can be. The papers we wrote last semester were pretty tough, but it helped me a lot in the long run. I hope that this semester will be the same!

Reflection In high school, I wasn’t a very strong writer. I never really knew how to write a paper and didn’t know how to format it. I took AP classes and I never really got good grades on my papers and never really revised them either. I would write a first draft and have that be my final draft. That was probably not the smartest thing to do. If there’s one thing I learned from this class, it is to revise, revise, revise. “Write early, revise often” is what Dr. Kyburz always said. When I first entered the classroom of my College Writing I course, I was determined to become a better writer. I would learn how to edit my drafts, get them checked over, and learn how to format. For me, the documentary summary project was my favorite to write about. It was very interesting to pick a documentary to watch and learn about. The documentary I chose was The Hunting Ground. This opened my eyes to a whole new concept that I never knew was a major issue. This paper was pretty difficult for...