Free blogposts – My Writing Journey

Blogpost #6 – “Death of a Mountain”

As a person who does not like to read, especially nonfiction, it was hard to get started reading such a lengthy journal. However, as I continued reading, I gained much more interest in the paper because Reece did a really good job describing things. He did great using his words to paint the magnificent beauty of the mountains and everything they are home to: plants in all sizes, animals, streams… The way I read things in English is that I usually say words out loud. Doing that does not only help me understand the sentences better, but also gives me a chance to practice speaking for better pronunciation. Sometimes, it can be exciting to do some impressions in dramatic or majestic parts. I like very much how vivid everything that Reece was talking about was. It is so powerful when he compared the differences, changes that mountain mining has done to the place. Above all the ethos of his work, Reece writes in a way that makes readers feel his compassion and empathy for the beautiful land that is being destroyed. It was helpful when he recorded things with specific dates like a journal. Besides that, Reece has made the mountain, subject of his journal, something he and his wife cherish, value, and hold dear to their hearts.

Blogpost #7 – Random poem

It was raining on September 29, and this was what I wrote during freewriting

Whenever it rains

            I am thankful

            I am thankful when it rains

            I am thankful for the cars

                                    for the big umbrellas

for the rain boots

for the waterproof jackets

I am thankful for the cooling rain

for the refreshing rain

for the cleansing water

I am thankful for the greening grass

for the grassy smell

for the graying sky

for the bluing sky

I am thankful for the nicely paved roads

I am thankful for the rain drops on the concrete

I am thankful when it rains.

My thought for poems has changed. I realized that American poems were not bounded by any rules or restrictions like Vietnamese poems. Poetry is a great way to express your thoughts without having to think too much about being bad at it. Everyone can write poems which will be their own accomplishments.

Blogpost #8 – Annotated Bibliography

As the second step of our big research paper, we had to write an annotated bibliography for our sources. My system to do my research paper was to search for as many sources as possible. I would read briefly but throughout what the source was about, and then decide if I can use this source for my paper. I then saved the source and carefully labeled it. After getting all the sources I needed, I stopped all research and turned all my attention to my sources. I would carefully read through each source, copied important quotes, and made notes. I always have a Word Document titled “Sources,” which I now realized that it is just like a complete annotated bibliography of my paper. The difference is that I did not have to write a summary or evaluate the sources because I had already done that in previous steps. At the beginning, I though writing an annotated bibliography was rather boring and a complete waste of my time. However, writing out the summary and what I was going to use the source for turned out to be a tremendous help. I was able to go back and see each source’s purpose in actual words. Would I like to write an annotated bibliography for each of my future paper? The answer would definitely be no, but if I had to, now I know that it will be for the better.

Blogpost #9 – Animating Revolt and Revolting Animation

            This piece by Halberstam was my favorite. It was so interesting to look at things, particularly cartoons which you thought were so simple (well they were made for children), in a different way. I am a complicated a person but when my views at things and people are very simple, I usually do not think too much about what was going on behind the storyline. However, reading this chapter of Halberstam’s book made me recognize the complexity of everything in my life. This sounds like a pretty bad idea because no one wants to further complicate his or her life.

Blogpost #10 – The Banking Concept of Education

This reading was probably the most relatable to me as a reader because it reminded me of many things I have experienced throughout my school years in Vietnam. As dull as the system was, there were also some good things I think any system could benefit from. The number one thing I think students in America and free countries should be taught is respect. An example would be a class I’m taking this semester, in which some of the students have been completely disrespectful towards the teacher. I have to admit that she could use some improvements as an educator and lecturer. However, she still very much deserves the respect. These kids should be taught discipline the way I was taught, I emphasize on the kids for two reasons: 1) strangely, as young as I am, I’m older than most of them; 2) besides years wise, I’m confident to say they are very childish. Learning to be respectful of others means so much more than just to get what we want. These kids need to know that respecting someone also means respecting yourself. Through respecting, one will have a chance to stand in someone else’s shoes and learn from all what the person has to offer.

Blogpost #5: Final Paper Reflection

At the beginning of the research, it was hard for me to find direct sources that I need, so I had to change my direction and approach the indirect research. I have to admit that the normal positive/negative effects would have been a rather mediocre and boring research paper. However, through the credited research I found and the way I put the information together, I think my paper had a good flow to it and was not as dry as it could have been. The biggest strength that I have for this paper is my personal experience as I was raised and born in the researched area. The professor’s advice to compare the changing Vietnamese’s attitudes towards American culture was really helpful. I did a brief comparison at the beginning of my paper and it made the research paper more interesting and gave the audience a general idea of what to expect in the paper. As mentioned above, I was lucky to have found multiple accredited sources in different areas that I did the research on. The sources were straight forward, comprehensible, and updated; hence, I was able to accurately interpret them and write my paper through my own understanding and put it in words that are logically clear. A related strength that I proudly possess is the ability to paraphrase accurately without intentional or unintentional plagiarism. I was strangely happy and proud when I learned that my originality report scored a 13 percent, even though I thought the low score was mostly because of the length of the paper. One of my most favorite things in my paper is the story of the backpack traveler, Nguyen Thi Khanh Huyen. The story was an inclusive example for everything I talked about in my paper. My biggest weakness in this paper is the countless technical errors (including grammar, spelling, word choice, and punctuation) I made. Much thanks to my full-rough-draft peer-review partner, Danis, who carefully and excellent fixed my mistakes and made my paper much less flawed. What could I have done to make it better? I probably could have gone in deeper about how parents and Government could help the young adults while preserving the precious Vietnamese culture and traditions.

Blogpost #4 - Evaluating a Source

One of the sources I used for my paper is the academic journal “Integrated management strategies for brick kiln emission reduction in Vietnam: a case study” by Co, Hoang Xuan; Dung, Nghiem Trung; Le, Hoang Anh; An, Dam Duy; Chinh, Kim Van; Oanh, Nguyen Thi Kim. I found this academic journal on Galileo search engine with keyword “air pollution in Vietnam” and “Full text” filter option. This academic journal is very credible because of many reasons. First I found it on Galileo which is a credible scholarly search engine provided by Savannah State University. Second, I examined the credibility of the writers and their institute which is the Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Hanoi University of Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam; and the Environmental Engineering and Management, Asian Institute of Technology. Another sign that makes this source credible is that on top of its first page, it says “International Journal of Environmental Studies, Vol. 66, No. 1, February 2009, 113–124.” This statement also provides me with the date of the case study, February 2009, which is pretty current. Moreover, this source is definitely useful for my research paper. This case study discusses the brick making industry in Vietnam and its emission which makes up one of reasons for air pollution in Vietnam. This source also explains clearly different types of brick kilns and how brick making emission emitted into the air. 

Blogpost #3 - Zong! Reaction

I have never been a big fan of the ocean or being on board. Big oceans scares me, first because I do not know how to swim, and they are so unlimited, no one can predict what disaster is going to come. Worse than that is my fear of living on a boat, because I am partly claustrophobic and I hate not knowing where I was. When read about half of the poem, I started to experience shortness of breath because of the anticipation and I had to drink some water for my throat. When finished, my head hurt a little and my eyes felt exhausted after reading 20 pages of an old copy with bad computer resolution. Then I remembered my motion sickness when I was on board and realized that almost felt the same after reading the poem. The difference is that I did not throw up. It was very hard to remember half of the thing I just read because of my dizziness. However some scattered words have impressed on my brain such as fall, falling rose, bone, her, es, os. While reading the poem, I felt like I was a part of ship, part of the voiceless slaves who tried calling out for help hopelessly. I pictured myself on the boat, hungry and thirsty yet wanting to throw up at the same time; top all that is the massive headache from the seasickness. Of course I could never know what it was like on that boat and even though I do not like being on board, I am sure that everyone’s will to live is tremendous no matter what the circumstances are.

Blogpost #2 - Your Discourse Communities

My most significant discourse community is the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement (VEYM) in the USA. In my case, my VEYM, which has about 30 the youth leaders (ages 18 and above) and 150 youths/students (ages 6 to 18), is located in Honolulu, Hawaii where I spent the past six years. I have not joined the VEYM in Savannah and not planned to because I want to focus on school.

“The Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement is a non-profit organization, under the leadership of the Catholic Church” (About Us). We would meet once a week on Sundays to have one-hour youth leaders’ meeting. During these meetings, we discuss everything that is going on within our VEYM such as plans for Easter egg hunt, Christmas play, Halloween’s hunted house, Lunar New Year, camps, outdoor activities; sharing lesson plans; discuss class issues and so on. Then we teach the kids two classes: Bible and Vietnamese language classes; each lasts an hour. The day ends with mass in church.

First thing that makes my VEYM a discourse community is that we share a common and specified goal which is to help our kids not only “be virtuous people and good Christians,” but also keep their Vietnamese root (About Us). Throughout the weekdays, we mostly communicate through emails to share and discuss information, plans, meetings’ minutes and so on. We also have a Facebook page where we post pictures of our activities through the year, have open discussion, and communicate with others VEYM at other states which make up one big discourse community, the VEYM in the USA.

Works Cited

"About Us." The Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement in The USA (n.d.). http://www.tntt.org/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=ABUS&Store_Code=TNTT.

Blogpost #1: Portrait of a Reseacher

Name: Uyen Nguyen Hill

ENGL 1102-25

Due Date: 8/25/2014

Portrait of a Researcher

            My first strength in doing anything is the interest in doing it. I appreciate the power of research and do it delightedly. Researching my favorite topics does not only impart me with interesting information, but also makes me feel like the world, let alone the universe out there is so unlimited and I could never discover it all. Secondly, being tech savvy is certainly a plus for me; as this will help me find something quicker, get access to private sources, and go further to discover more materials. Lastly, knowing how to filter and select useful information to put them to best use is definitely beneficial.

My number one weakness is English as my second language. I read everything slower for sometimes I take time to look up the meaning of a word. Beyond the meaning of words is the figure of speech, a word itself means one thing but together, a phrase could mean something absolutely different. Not being born and raised in American leads to another fairly related weakness. I definitely lack knowledge of many previous events in the economy, show business, politics and so on.

I have conducted various research papers. Academic research varies for many different classes such as History, Government, Business, Math, Psychology, Biology, and so on. Personal research includes pre-travelling research which includes hotels, airlines and plane tickets, car rental, destination’s characteristics such as geography, local traffic… and things to do at the destination. Everyday life events also entail personal research such as what restaurants to dine at, how to cook corn chowder or how to decorate a Christmas tree, and the like.

            With the current event involving the young, late Michael Brown and the police force, I would like to do research on how the police was trained to react to such situations, what they could have done differently, and associated events that happened in the past. On a categorically different topic, I would like to know more about divorcing matters such as what is the divorce rate and divorce reasons, how the U.S. compares to other countries in this matter, and what we could do to improve American marriages.