Gregory Cunningham Jr. Sept.

12

Aug 25, 2009

Today is my first writing assignment in my freshman course English class. I am attending West Charlotte high school and my mother does not approve, but who cares? I surely dont! When making my decision as to what high school I should attend my AAU track coach who also coached at west charlotte persuaded me to attend his school. My home school had just been changed a year before due to the new school that was built, Mallard Creek high school. I didnt want to go to a new school because I didnt know how their athletic program would be. Also, all my friends were there and I knew I would get into a lot of trouble by goofing off on a regular basis. My friends and I stayed in trouble we were really immature. My father and I soon came to the conclusion that West Charlotte was the place for me. I didnt know anyone, I would have a fresh start, and I would have to mature rather quickly seeing that the school wasnt on the best side of town. My dad called it growing up and becoming a man. Back to my writing assignment! The assignment was to express yourself through a well-put together paper. I had fun with the assignment and put everything down that mattered. I worked as diligently as possible and got a fair grade on the assignment. Thats where the problem occurred; my paper in which I worked so hard on the first day of

class was just fair. I had really worked hard and couldnt figure out why she took certain points off for my style and the way I worded things.

Sept 5, 2009

My teacher gave the whole class a systematic way of writing in which we had to follow each and everyday. The system was rather straight forward and to the point and told you exactly how she had expected to see your paper. On these cut out consisted: how many paragraphs were expected, what each paragraph consisted of, (intro, 3 ideas, then conclusion.), the transition words you should use in each paragraph and each paragraph varied, and what point you were looking to make in each sentence of each paragraph. This made writing soooo much easier for me. Not only did it make writing easier and straighter forward, but also it made it mundane and difficult to be whom you were through your paper. So when we are asked to do papers about our self, they all ended up being somewhat the same due to the key transition words everyone had to use in each certain sentence in each different paragraph. I really appreciated the concept but, I wanted my papers to be way different from anyone else in the class so my teacher wouldnt get bored grading my paper and grade it more harshly. January 4th, 2010

Today in my English II class (10th grade English) my teacher made us write a journal for our warm up. In this class we were forced to write a journal for a warm up each and everyday. For our journal we would have to write a page front and back and under the time limit in which the teacher provided for us. Depending on how long the topic was our teacher would give us 5- 10 minutes. Her aim was to get us to get started on our papers faster and not waste too much time thinking. After the completing of our warm ups, our teacher would then make us share to show the different backgrounds. This would show everyones different dialect and way of writing.

May 9, 2010

Today class our English teacher made us read different articles. These articles talked about the different ways you can express yourself. It had different adjectives and even ideas when it came to formatting papers. It told us what types of papers we could write as well as when it was appropriate to write these different papers. This was the day that my teacher expressed to us that we must develop our own writers style. Not only that but we must get comfortable with writing and make it become our second nature. She explained to us that writing wouldnt go away and if we

didnt began to like it now that it would kick us in the butt as we advanced in grade level as well as age.

Sept. 28, 2011

Today my teachers made us come into class pick up a slip of paper off her desk and prepare a formal essay. This was no ordinary essay, this essay was in essay form but was done verbally. We were giving 5 min to write what every we wanted but this wasnt enough time to write what she was asking for exactly. We the went on to find out that what she wanted from us to be creative but also write a main topic for each paragraph along with two main points to go along with each. While doing this, it gave people the opportunity to express who they were as people and get their point across without being systematic. Although there were still guidelines, you had to talk formally (no slang) and, utilize the use of word endings.

Oct19, 2011

Today my English teacher went over the different ways she expects to receive a paper. She asked us if our previous teacher had taught us to systematically write our papers a certain way. Of course everyone in the class told her yes. This is when she suggested that we should develop our own identity when it came to writing. She said when reading our papers she should be able to tell it was Gregorys work. By this she meant we need our own style or charisma. She said that when you develop such panache it makes it easier to tell you havent plagiarized when doing a big assignement such as a research paper.

Aug 20th, 2011 I get my first assignment in college and its based on writers dialect. We were told to read a article and basically give our insight on the article and how we feel about it. Seeing that In the past Ive had different types of teachers and they had different view on this topic. Me personally I think that everyone should be different when it comes to writers dialect, let your dialect shine through your paper! Dont write systematically let your individuality take over.

How should I end a paper like this seeing that I am doing journal entries? How would I go about wrapping this up?

Sept 1st, 2011

Ultimately, being around both styles and ways of writing whether It be systematic or more open to English diversity, I like the idea of English diversity being favored. What Ive learned from my experiences is that people do their best work when they are comfortable, and this is what makes most writers the most comfortable. I feel like only the basic grammar rules such as spelling and complete sentences and spelling should be all thats required when writing or talking professionally.