Final

Callie Reynolds
English 151
Final Essay

My Experience With English 151

Coming into English 151, I really did not think that I would learn much about writing. My dad is an editor and former sports writer and my sister has an English Major and now works for a textbook publishing company. I have multiple other family members who work in writing-related fields. I really thought that I knew everything I needed to know about writing and English and was almost certain that English 151 was going to be a waste of my time. Looking back, I realize that I could not have been more wrong. I have learned an incredible amount of information about English, writing, and myself in the past ten weeks.
I have had many changes in my writing, but one thing has stayed the same. I always like to relate my essays to outside topics. I titled my first essay for this class “Child Psychology”. I chose this because it is the name of a Black Box Recorder song with lyrics describing a young girl’s experience at a mental institution. I believed this was fitting because I was writing about The Ridges and I had been listening to this song the first time I drove up the hill to see the asylum. I recognize this relation of outside topics as something that has stayed the same with my writing because I wrote a fairly similar essay during my Junior year of high school. I compared the lyrics of “Brutality”, another Black Box Recorder song, to 1984. I am passionate about music and try to relate it to my assignments in any possible way.
Over the course of the ten weeks, I have noticed several changes in my writing. In high school, I was always taught that it was unacceptable to use the word “I” in an essay. This class has taught me that the use of this word is actually quite important. It allows me to express my own opinion on topics and I believe it makes my writing more interesting. I discussed my opinion in almost every assignment we had in this class and loved getting to share my thoughts on all of the blogs I posted. When you express your own opinion on a topic, it makes you much more passionate about the topic because it allows you to have a greater connection to the subject. I believe I have also learned how to be more engaging to readers. Each time I created an Eco-Event, I would spend a good amount of time trying to find a topic that interested me. I had tried to write a couple of Eco-Events on some topics that I really did not have much interest in, but I found myself having to go back and restart the assignment to find something that was important to me. I realized that by choosing an event that I was truly interested in, I was able to write much better blog posts. I tried to relate my posts to something we were discussing in class, such as WalMart and organic farming. Some of my Eco-Events were about OU. I talked about sustainability efforts going on at the school because I believe that people have a greater interest in a topic when it relates directly to them. My ability to present the same information in various ways has also changed over the past quarter. For projects two, three, and four I looked at the conventional and organic foods. I had the same information for each project, but I learned to deliver it in different forms. I enjoyed writing the essay, but I like the presentations even more. It helped me to see that there is much more to English than just writing a paper.
English 151 has taught me that I will never truly stop growing as a writer. I have learned to share and develop my own opinion about topics and am able to do this in a variety of ways. I have deepened my connection with writing and have learned to engage my target audience in the topics that I write about. My experiences in this class will not only have an impact on my writing, but on my life as a whole.

Works Cited

Black Box Recorder. “Brutality.” The Worst of Black Box Recorder. Jetset Records, 2001. CD.
Black Box Recorder. “Child Psychology.” England Made Me. Chrysalis Records, 1998. CD.

Final

Callie Reynolds
English 151
Final Essay

Food Relationship

If there is anything I have learned from growing up in a huge Italian family, it is that Italians do two things: they eat and they talk. These two acts normally occur simultaneously and continue for a seemingly endless period of time. This is how it all works: first, we talk while we prepare the food. Then, we eat while we converse, sometimes this discussion is about the food that we are eating. Once we have finished the meal, we sit and talk until the next meal is prepared. If you are not careful, you can easily get caught up in this ceaseless cycle. A couple of years ago, my family and I had taken a weekend trip to visit my Great Aunt Marian. It was Sunday morning and we were planning on getting up for a quick breakfast and then hitting the road for our long car ride home. We awoke to find that Aunt Marian had prepared massive amounts of food which we were expected to devour entirely. My family and I tried our best to steer clear of the food and discussion cycle, but it was no hope. We were trapped. We spent the next three hours talking with Aunt Marian and eating the colossal breakfast she had prepared for us. By the time we had cleared our plates, she had already started to make lunch. It is not just my Great Aunt Marian who does these things, but rather my entire family. And honestly, I have never met an Italian who has not been stuck in the dreaded food and discussion cycle at some point in their life. Needless to say, I have a pretty important relationship with food.
When I am with “The Italians”, I tend to eat whatever I please and consume vast quantities of calories. However, I only visit my relatives a few times a year and manage to maintain a relatively healthy diet for the remainder of the year. My mother and sister are both vegetarians, so I hardly ever eat meat. I take pride in the fact that we rarely eat at fast food restaurants, especially after watching Food Inc. in class. Not only was I thoroughly entertained by this video, but I also learned a lot. I knew animals received bad treatment on industrial farms, but I had no idea it was so horrible. I had the same reaction after reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I was disgusted to learn that cows are fed cow parts and that this is what causes Mad Cow Disease. I was so interested in this subject that I chose to write my English Argument on the benefits of organic foods versus conventional foods.
My eating habits have changed in several ways throughout my life. When I was little, my diet consisted of Good & Plenty candy, peanut butter sandwiches, and various other candies and snack foods. I was a typical kid with a major sweet tooth. In fact, my first word was “Cheeto”. As I grew older, I began to make smarter choices about what foods I consumed. I ate healthier foods and watched my daily caloric intake. I wanted to be in shape and eat nutritious foods. Around the time I started high school, a Whole Foods Market opened up down the street from my house. I thought it was the coolest thing and would be a great way to help me stay in shape. I could purchase all the organic foods I pleased. I suppose this is the way I fit into the greater food discussion. Nowadays, everyone talks about “Going Green” and “Sustainability.” By shopping at Whole Foods and declining any form of fast food, I am helping to sustain the planet. I am also keeping my body healthy. I may be buying into a fad, but I really do believe in the benefits of organic foods. I try to keep myself in shape and encourage my friends and family to do the same.
My relationship with food has changed many times throughout my life, but it always seems to be changing for the better. I am proud of the fact that I choose to eat foods that are good for me and sustainable for the planet. I know the media has an influence on all aspects of my life, including the foods I eat. I like being healthy and go along with The Organic Movement. That does not mean that I will cut out all forms of junk food in my life, because I certainly cannot give up my tradition of having a celebratory doughnut from Krispy Kreme on my birthday each year. However, I will continue to better my health and the health of the planet.

Works Cited

Food Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. Magnolia Pictures, 2008. DVD.

Pollan, Michael. “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau. Ed. Bill McKibben. 2008. 948-960. Print.

Organic Presentation

Presentation

Eco Event 7

I was on StubleUpon when I found this link.  It shows pictures of a Buddhist Temple that was created entirely out of recycled beer bottles.  The article says it took over one million bottles to build the temple that is located in Khun Han near the Cambodian border.

I thought this was really cool and pretty ironic.  People don't usually associate drinking and religion, but I thought this was a really neat way of sustaining the planet and making something useful.  The pictures of the temple are incredible and I was impressed by the artwork created by the beer bottles.

I really like the temple, but I wonder if other people will.  I could see how some people may even find it to be offensive to pray in a place made out of beer bottles.  I believe this was incredibly creative and it makes me wonder if this will inspire architects to build more sustainable buildings/reduce existing pollution in the places where they are making these buildings.