Monday, February 5, 2007

Assignment Schedule


UnitWeekDateTopics/AssignmentNotes
Unit 1Wk 1 1/16/2007IntroductionRecommended reference texts: Handbook, Dictionaries
IntroductionWk 2 1/23/2007Introductory Essay: Personal (family), Social (culture, home country), Professional (economic now/future), Universal (philosophical, goals, definition of success)QnA-- Interviews

Essay: Where do you stand? (feet, stomach, heart, ears, eyes, hands, brain)
Wk3 1/30/2007Peer EvaluationUnit 1 Paper Due
Unit 2: Wk 42/6/2007

Introductory essay due

Language, Literature, Art, Music

Story of English;

Do You Speak American?
Humanities FocusWk 52/13/2007C24, Writing about Literature and the ArtsMLA Format
Wk 62/20/2007Literary Analysis (357), oral presentations (319), web writing (399)
Wk 72/27/2007C25, Academic EssaysUnit 2 Paper Due
Wk 83/6/2007Review; Presentations
Wk 93/13/2007Midterm
3/20/2007Spring Recess
Unit 3Wk 10 3/27/2007C26, Writing for the WorkplaceAPA Format
Social Sciences FocusWk 114/3/2007Abstracts/summaries(538,540,550)Business, Economics

America at Work
Wk 124/10/2007experiment report (341), observation report (319), research paper(423)Unit 3 Paper Due
Unit 4Wk 134/17/2007C27,, Writing and Designing in the WebCosmos
Physical SciencesWk 144/24/2007Field Report (341), research paper (423)Nature/ Ecology

Micrososmos
Wk 155/1/2007Review; PresentationsUnit 4 Paper Due
ConclusionWk 165/8/2007 Final

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Check Your Spelling, Anyone? -- from the Net

The Trouble with Spell Checkers

Pome

1
I have a spelling checker -
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.

2
Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it's weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.

3
A checker is a bless sing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when aye rime.

4
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud.
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaws are knot aloud.

5
And now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
Their are know faults with in my cite,
Of nun eye am a wear.

6
Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed to bee a joule
The checker poured o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.

7
That's why aye brake in two averse
By righting wants too pleas.
Sow now ewe sea why aye dew prays
Such soft wear for pea seas!

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Write On, Laugh On

HOW TO WRITE GOOD [sic]*
Thanks to: Chani Silverberg for this contribution

*Note: [sic] or (sic) (from Latin sic for "thus") is a bracketed expression used to indicate that an unusual spelling, phrase, or any other preceding quoted material is intended to be read or printed exactly as shown (rather than being an error) and should not be corrected.... from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIC


My several years in the word game have learnt [sic] me several rules:

1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)
4. Employ the vernacular.
5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
8. Contractions aren't necessary.
9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
10. One should never generalize.
11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said:
"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
12. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
13. Don't be redundant; don't more use words than necessary;
it's highly superfluous.
14. Profanity sucks.
15. Be more or less specific.
16. Understatement is always best.
17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
18. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
20. The passive voice is to be avoided.
21. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
22. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
23. Who needs rhetorical questions?

Friday, January 12, 2007

Where do you stand?

FEET: What do I stand for as a foundation of writing?
STOMACH: What upsets me about writing?
HEART: What do I love about writing?
HANDS: What do I feel about writing?
EARS: What do I hear about writing?
EYES: What do I see about writing?
BRAIN: What do I think about writing?

Welcome

Welcome to the blog for Written Communication II -- spring 2007


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Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Spelling Internet-related words -- from Dictlionary.com

From dictionary.com:


Usage Note: The transition from World Wide Web site to Web site to website seems to have progressed as rapidly as the technology itself. The development of website as a single uncapitalized word mirrors the development of other technological expressions which have tended to evolve into unhyphenated forms as they become more familiar. Thus email has recently been gaining ground over the forms E-mail and e-mail, especially in texts that are more technologically oriented. Similarly, there has been an increasing preference for closed forms like homepage, online, and printout.

(12/7/05)

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

C19

Know your readers
KEYS FOR SUCCESS
Know your readers
Promote your cause-not quarrel
Be reasonable
Be reasonable
Non debatable
Select a topic
Non debatable
Debatable
Personal experiences
Personal ideas
CHAPTER 19 PERSUADING READERS TO ACT
KEYS FOR SUCCESS
Know your readers
Promote your cause-not quarrel
Be reasonable
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
Personal experiences
Personal ideas
Communit concerns
National or international affairs
"No comment" topics
PERSUADING READERS TO ACT
Select a topic
Non debatable
Debatable
Choose and analyze your readers
Narrow your focus and determine our purpose
Generate ideas and support
Organize your thinking
Write your first draft
Share our essay
Revise
Edit/proofread
Prepare and publish essay
National or international affairs
PERSUADING READERS TO ACT
Select a topic
Non debatable
Debatable
Choose and analyze your readers
Narrow your focus and determine our purpose
Generate ideas and support
Organize your thinking
Write your first draft
Share our essay
Revise
Edit/proofread
Prepare and publish essay
"No comment" topics
Write your first draft
Share our essay
Revise
Edit/proofread
Prepare and publish essay

Chapter 18 Outline

Explore all positions
KEYS FOR SUCESS
Explore all positions
Go beyond pure opinion
Take a measured stance
Take a measured stance
Select and narrow a topic
Take stock
Get inside the issue
Refine your position
Traditional pattern
Current affairs
Blatent confession
Burning issues
Organize our development and support
Traditional pattern
Blatent confession
Delayed gratification
CHanged mind
Winning over
CHAPTER 18 TAKING A POSITION
KEYS FOR SUCESS
Explore all positions
Go beyond pure opinion
Take a measured stance
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
Current affairs
Burning issues
Dividing lines
Fresh fare
GUIDELINES
Select and narrow a topic
Take stock
Get inside the issue
Refine your position
Organize our development and support
Traditional pattern
Blatent confession
Delayed gratification
CHanged mind
Winning over
Write your first draft
Opening
Development
Closing
Title
SHare our position
Revise
Edit and proofread
Prepare and publish essay
Dividing lines
CHanged mind
Fresh fare
GUIDELINES
Select and narrow a topic
Take stock
Get inside the issue
Refine your position
Organize our development and support
Traditional pattern
Blatent confession
Delayed gratification
CHanged mind
Winning over
Write your first draft
Opening
Development
Closing
Title
SHare our position
Revise
Edit and proofread
Prepare and publish essay
Opening
Development
Write your first draft
Opening
Development
Closing
Title
Closing
Title
SHare our position
Revise
Edit and proofread
Prepare and publish essay

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Suggested Topics for Persuasive Papers

Controversial Topics

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Quotations References -- Explore for Starters

The Quotations Page - Your Source for Famous Quotes
Your source for quotations from famous people and literature. Search or browse over 22000 quotations from thousands of authors. Includes the popular Quotes ...
www.quotationspage.com/ - 11k - Nov 8, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages
Famous Quotes by Subject - Random
Quotes of the Day - Famous Quotes by Author
More results from www.quotationspage.com »

quoteland.com - Quotations on every topic, by every author, and in ...

Literary Quotations Beautiful quotations from works of literary art. Quotations by Author The master list of all authors quoted on this site. ...
www.quoteland.com/ - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

Bartlett, John, comp. 1919. Familiar Quotations, 10th edition

Including over 11000 quotations, the first new edition of John Bartlett's corpus to be published after his death in 1905 keeps most of his original work ...
www.bartleby.com/100/ - 20k - Cached - Similar pages

Bartlett's Familiar Quotations

Searchable quotations site, provided in electronic format by Project Bartleby at Columbia University.
www.bartleby.com/ - 38k - Nov 8, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from www.bartleby.com ]

Quotations for Creative Thinking

Quotations for Creative Thinking (Creative Quotations) lets you search 50,0000 famous quotations and provides biographical information (and quotes) for 3000 ...
www.creativequotations.com/ - 20k - Cached - Similar pages

The Quotations Archive

A database of quotations. Contains a special section on love and marriage, useful for wedding toasts.
www.aphids.com/quotes/index.shtml - 4k - Nov 8, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages

Mathematical Quotation Server

A collection of mathematical quotations culled from many sources. You may conduct a keyword search through the quotation database.
math.furman.edu/~mwoodard/mquot.html - 6k - Nov 8, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages

Quotations in the Yahoo! Directory

Search sites featuring famous quotes, sayings, quips, phrases, and proverbs. Find quotes by a particular person, for a special occasion, or on themes such ...
dir.yahoo.com/Reference/Quotations/ - 17k - Nov 8, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages

The Quotations Home Page

Quotations Home Page, containing approximately 25000 quotes in 30ish indexed collections.
www.theotherpages.org/quote.html - 8k - Cached - Similar pages

Famous Quotations Network - Quotations, Quotes, Proverbs

A vast collection of searchable famous quotations and proverbs, sorted by categories and subjects, including authors biographies, and quotes citings, ...
www.famous-quotations.com/ - 27k - Cached - Similar pages

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

General Form for Electronic References from apastyle.org

General Form for Electronic References

From the 5th Edition of the Publication Manual (© 2001)
Note: Some elements of the 5th edition's style guidelines for electronic resources differ from previously published guidelines.

Electronic sources include aggregated databases, online journals, Web sites or Web pages, newsgroups, Web- or e-mail-based discussion groups, and Web- or e-mail-based newsletters.

Online periodical:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (2000).
Title of article. Title of Periodical, xx, xxxxxx.
Retrieved month day, year, from source.

Online document:

Author, A. A. (2000). Title of work.
Retrieved month day, year, from source.

Detecting Tutor's Hand in Applicant's Essay-- from NY Times

Detecting Tutor's Hand in Applicant's Essay -- from New York Times

By KATE STONE LOMBARDI

Published: November 2, 2005

It is the bane of college admissions officers: the highly polished, professionally edited personal essay that barely reflects the thinking or writing, let alone the personality, of a 17-year-old high school student.

"If it sounds like it was written by a 42-year-old attorney, chances are it was written by a 42-year-old attorney," said Lee Stetson, dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania.

Now colleges have a new tool to help them discern how much help students are getting on their applications: the SAT.

Since March, the SAT has included a 25-minute essay section. When reviewing an application, colleges can easily download the test essay from the College Board, obtaining a sample of the student's unedited writing. Many colleges say they plan to do so, at least in cases where there are questions about a student's writing aptitude.

In a survey of 374 top colleges and universities conducted by Kaplan, the test preparation company, 58 percent said they would use the SAT essay to evaluate whether students had received outside help on their application essays in cases where there appeared to be discrepancies in the applicants' writing levels. Thirteen percent said they would compare the essays for all applicants.

"What that is saying is, 'We know there are a lot of cooks in the soup on these application essays, and we want to make sure that the writing that you are able to produce on your own can keep up with that polished writing,' " said Jennifer Caran, national director for SAT and ACT programs for Kaplan.

Dan Saracino, the assistant provost at the University of Notre Dame, said that when the first batch of the March SAT's became available, he went online to look at the writing samples.

"I did compare the online written essay and the personal essay, and you can see the connection, and you can see when it's a forced style that's been taught by a tutor," Mr. Saracino said.

At Notre Dame, not every applicant's SAT essay will be reviewed, but the test may well be downloaded when there are questions about writing ability, Mr. Saracino said.

Given the volume of college applications, the two writing samples will not be routinely compared at most schools. But in an increasingly competitive market, the essays of borderline students are more likely to be reviewed.

"We will use them on an individual basis as we need to use them," said Marlyn McGrath Lewis, director of admissions at Harvard College. "If we wanted to get a better sense of how somebody actually expressed something in his or her own words, we certainly know where we could go to extend our understanding."

Harvard is aware that some applicants get much more help than others on their applications, Ms. McGrath Lewis said.

"At Harvard, we try very hard not to over-reward extra preparation," she said. "We try not to base the admissions decision on someone being the perfectly buffed-up applicant."

Margit A. Dahl, the director of undergraduate admissions at Yale, said the university had no intention of reviewing 20,000 SAT essays. But in instances where there is a question about writing - for example, if a personal essay is well written, but the writing score on the SAT is low - admissions officers may download the SAT essay.

"You can certainly tell if there are serious grammatical glitches in the essay that was written in 25 minutes, and that means that without help, this student has some real trouble with writing," Ms. Dahl said.

Some argue that comparing the two essays is unfair. A student has far more time to polish an application essay than to burnish a 25-minute response. But educators make the case that basic writing and organizational skills should be consistent between the two samples.

"Schools recognize that this is a first draft and not polished work," said Ms. Caran of Kaplan, a former English teacher. "They want to get a sense of the students' innate writing abilities, to understand the students' thought processes and ability to express themselves, and whether that expression of thought is compatible with what they are saying in the application."

Complex sentence structure, the proper use of advanced vocabulary and clear expression should all be consistent between the two samples, she said.

But even a student's work on an SAT essay can be coached, as Ms. Caran points out. Students can be taught how to write a persuasive essay under time pressure, using organizational tips and practice, she said.

But admissions officers say they can see through that, too.

"You can see the canned responses," said Mr. Saracino, of Notre Dame. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to identify that this is a pat response that is a result of Kaplan."

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Writing a Process Essay-- Literary Education Online (LEO)

LEO LEO: Literacy Education Online

Writing a Process Essay


What to consider when writing a process essay

A process paper either tells the reader how to do something or describes how something is done. As you write your process essay, consider the following:

  • What process are you trying to explain? Why is it important?
  • Who or what does the process affect?
  • Are there different ways of doing the process? If so, what are they?
  • Who are the readers? What knowledge do they need to understand this process?
  • What skills/equipment are needed for this?
  • How long does the process take? Is the outcome always the same?
  • How many steps are there in the process?
  • Why is each step important?
  • What difficulties are involved in each step? How can they be overcome?
  • Do any cautions need to be given?
  • Does the process have definitions that need to be clarified?
  • Are there other processes that are similar and could help illustrate the process that you are writing about?
  • If needed, tell what should not be done or why something should be done.
  • Process papers are often written in the second person (you), but some teacher prefer that you avoid this. Check with your teacher.

Your responses to these questions and statements should enable you to write an effective process essay.

Suggested transition words to lead readers through your essay

Process essays are generally organized according to time: that is, they begin with the first step in the process and proceed in time until the last step in the process. It's natural, then, that transition words indicate that one step has been completed and a new one will begin. Some common transitional words used in process essays are listed below:

One
time
Transition Another
time

TIME

After a few hours, Immediately following,

Afterwards, Initially,

At last In the end,

At the same time, In the future,

Before In the meantime,

Before this, In the meanwhile,

Currently, Last, Last but not least, Lastly,

During Later,

Eventually, Meanwhile,

Finally, Next, Soon after,

First, Second, Third, etc. Previously,

First of all, Simultaneously,

Formerly Subsequently,

Immediately before, Then,

A Sample Process Essay

Kool-Aid, Oh yeah!

It has been said that Kool-Aid makes the world go 'round. Let it be advised, however, that without the proper tools and directions, the great American beverage is nothing more than an envelope of unsweetened powder. There are five simple steps to create this candy-tasting concoction.

Picking the proper packet of flavoring is the first step in making Kool-Aid. Check the grocer's shelf for a wide variety, ranging from Mountain Berry Punch to Tropical Blue Hawaiian. If it is a difficult decision for you, knock yourself out and buy two. The packets usually run under 65 cents.

After choosing the flavor that best suits your taste buds, the second step is making sure that your kitchen houses some necessary equipment for making the Kool-Aid. Find a two-quart pitcher. Plastic is nice, but glass pitchers allow the liquid to shine through and add festive coloration to any refrigerator shelf. Next, find a long-handled wooden spoon, a one-cup measuring cup, a water faucet that spouts drinkable water, usable white sugar, and an ice cube tray full of ice. Then, you are ready to mix.

Third, grab the left edge of the Kool-Aid packet between your thumb and index finger. With your other hand, begin peeling the upper-left corner until the entire top of the envelope is removed. Next, dump the contents of the envelope into the pitcher. Notice how the powder floats before settling on the bottom of the pitcher. Then, take the measuring cup and scoop two cups of sugar into the pitcher as well. At this point, adding the water is a crucial step. Place the pitcher under the water faucet and slowly turn on the cold water. If the water is turned on too quickly, powder will fly all over when the initial gusts of water hit. After the pitcher is filled within two inches of the top, turn the water off and get prepared to stir. With the wooden spoon submersed three-quarters of the way in the liquid, vigorously stir in a clockwise motion until all of the powder is dissolved. Taste it. If the Kool-Aid is not sweet enough, feel free to add more sugar.

Fourth, when you are finished seasoning the Kool-Aid to your liking, rinse off the spoon and the measuring cup. Take a glass from the cupboard. An eight-ounce glass is usually sufficient. But stronger thirsts might prefer a 32-ounce mug. Add ice and then fill the glass with Kool-Aid. Find a comfortable chair, put your feet up, and drink away. After all, Kool-Aid makes the world go 'round.


Return to the Write Place Catalogue


For questions and suggestions, please e-mail us at leolink@stcloudstate.edu.


© 1995, 1996, 1997 The Write Place
LEO: Literacy Education Online
This handout was written by Heidi Everett and revised for LEO by Judith Kilborn, the Write Place, St. Cloud State University. It may be copied for educational purposes only. If you copy this document, please include our copyright notice and the name of the writers; if you revise it, please add your name to the list of writers.

Last update: 28 September 1997

URL: http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/process.html


Monday, October 17, 2005

Revised Assignment Schedule

Week


Topic

Assignments due

Rhetoric

Reader

Handbook


1


Introduction


1, Critical Thinking and Reading

9, Personal Narrative

35, Marking Punctuation


Unit I Assignment:

9/1/2005

Narrative and Descriptive Writing

2

9/6/2005

Reading and Thinking


2, Getting Started

10, Personal Reflection

36, Checking Mechanics

3

9/13/2005

Writing Process

Unit I Paper

3, Planning

11, Personal Description

Multilingual and ESL Guidelines

4

9/20/2005

Writing and Rewriting

4, Drafting



5


Narrative and Descriptive Writing


5, Revising

6, Editing and Proofreading

Parts of Speech

9/27/2005

6


Analytical Writing

Unit II Paper

7, Submitting

12, Cause and Effect

Parts of Speech



10/4/2005

7


Comparison and contrast


8, One Writer’s Process.

13, Comparison and Contrast

Sentence Basics

10/11/2005

8

10/18/2005

Classification



14, Classification

Sentence Problems

9

10/25/2005

Process

Portofolio I Due


15, Process Writing


10


Definition



16, Definition

Numbers, Word Parts, and Idioms

11/1/2005

Vocabulary and writing

Using the Right Word

11


Persuasive Writing

Unit III Paper Due


17, Strategies for Arggumentation and Persuasion

Understanding Grammar


Rhetoric of Persuasion

11/8/2005


12

11/15/2005

Defining a point of view



19, Persuading Readers to Act

39, Constructing sentences

13

11/22/2005

Responding to an argument



20, Arguing Against a Claim

40, Avoiding Sentence Eerrors

14

11/29/2005

Problem-solution format

Portfolio II


21, Proposing a Solution


15

12/6/2005

Review





16

12/13/2005

Final Exam Week





Links to Student Work

Here is the E82 link for viewing student work including maps and summaries:

E82



Monday, October 10, 2005

Writing Skills Links-- From McGraw-Hill

Fundamentals

Links to websites to help one with the fundamentals of adaptation, construction of clear sentences and paragraphs, and effect are limited. Included below are links to both print and electronic reference works as well as links to sites with software and instructions for creating documents.

A selected bibliography
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/course/mflatley/BBC10/writing_sources.htm

A selected bibliography of good sources for basic writing skills in print form.

A.Word.A.Day
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/index.html

A.Word.A.Day is a site that not only presents a word of the day along with its meaning and pronunciation, but it will also send you the word a day if you register for the free service. It's a nice way to build a vocabulary while getting each day off to a good start.

Compound Words
http://www.m-w.com/help/faq/compound.htm

This article helps you know how to present compound words.

Roget's Thesaurus
http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/ARTFL/forms_unrest/ROGET.html

Roget's Thesaurus is an interactive online program. One enters the word needing substitution and the site returns a suggestion with links to other words.

The Elements of Style
http://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk101.html

The Elements of Style is a classic book written to help writers with language, composition, and form as well as a few other matters.

The real estate B.S. artist detection checklist
http://www.johntreed.com/BSchecklist.html

This site interprets in plain English how some in real estate use words to manipulate and deceive readers.

The Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus
http://www.wordsmyth.net/

The Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus is a site where you can look up words as well as enjoy a words of the week, word link contest, and other word fun.

Unmapped Exercise
http://www.infomap.com/im_timetest/tmresult.htm

This interactive page lets users see and understand the value of mapped information.

2004 List of Banished Words
http://www.lssu.edu/banished/archive/2004.php

Since 1976 Lake Superior State University Word Banishment selection committee has compiled its annual list of words banished for misuse, overuse and general uselessness.

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

Autobiography -- Dante

My Autobiography

I was born in Tbilisi, Georgia and moved to California when I was only six years old. Our first house was right off of Fulton street next to the Golden Gate Park. It was blocks away from Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Without knowing a single word of English, I was exposed to an unfamiliar world. My parents enrolled me at Lafayette Elementary school located between Anza and Balboa street. I was barely able to communicate with the other kids for the first year or two. Luckily, I stayed persistent and by the third grade, I was speaking English better then some of my other classmates. It was also in the third grade that I started playing the piano a couple days a week with my instructor Milla.

After working as a doctor in Tbilisi, my mother spent her days studying to retake the medical board exams in order to continue her work as a licensed doctor in the state of California. When I was in the sixth grade, she married my step dad whom she had met through a mutual acquaintance. Both my parents had the same vision and that was to move out of San Francisco and put me through a better school. We packed our bags that summer and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County,where we moved into an apartment.

Once again I was exposed to a whole new world leaving behind my friends. I found myself starting over once again. Somehow, since I no longer had a language barrier, I was able to make some new friends. Before I knew it, I was in high school. Later did I come to find out that Robin Williams, an international super star mostly known for his humor graduated the same school. I studied at Redwood High School up until my senior year. It was then, that my father was offered a residency program at the SUNY Hospital in Syracuse, New York in the department of anesthesiology.

After rebuilding my life for the third time to the point where I then considered Marin County my true home, I was faced with yet, the biggest change of all. I had one year of high school left, and we were going to move to the other side of the country. I begged, I pleaded, I did whatever I could to convince my parents to reconsider, but unfortunately, nothing helped. I realize now, that it was more important for us to build a stable future as a family, than it was for me to graduate high school with my friends. After all, it wasn’t like I was never going to talk to them again.

We moved to Syracuse later that summer, where I eventually graduated from Fayetteville Manlius High School. I immediately moved to New York City to pursue my career in the jewelry business. I graduated from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), with a major in diamonds, November of 2004. The school was located on Madison Avenue, in the heart of downtown Manhattan. New York was unlike anywhere else I have ever been.

After working for Helzberg Diamonds for a couple of months, I decided to move back to California and begin my studies in business. Which brings me here writing this autobiography. Yes, as a child growing up, I did move around a lot. Yet, each time we moved I learned to adapt to new environments quickly and effectively.

I can honestly say that my past experiences, events, and memories make me who I am today. Every individual contains the story of life, their life. Life is an unexpected journey, in which the story is written not in a single day, or month, or even year. It is a story that evolves over decades. When life begins, it is almost as if an empty book is opened with the child’s name on the cover. As they grow, the blank pages inside begin to fill up with words, and the story evolves. Everything he/she does will become a memory, an experience, a story of the past. Until one day, the last sentence is written. The last words are spoken; and the book is closed, as their ashes flow with the wind. Life has a beginning but it also has an end. It is up to us use the time in between to write the greatest stories of all by turning our dreams into reality. One cannot predict what’s to come in the future yet one has the ability to create the future as he/she desires.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Link to English Page

Here is a good page to check for help with our current text assignments:
http://www.englishpage.com/