Table of Contents

Table of Contents Dear Reader Letter Introduction to Childhood Escapes Childhood Escapes Introduction to Childhood Games Childhood Games Introduction to Skeleton 2 Skeleton 2 Introduction to Perfect Escape The Perfect Escape Summary

Dear reader

Friday, June 09, 2006

Dear Reader,

Finally, English 97 class is almost over. Writing was a struggle for me at the beginning of the class. Learning and remembering the rules of punctuation marks was a challenge, how about recognizing subordinate clause and main clause? Using subordinating conjunction, conjunctive adverbs and coordinating conjunction, was quite overwhelming for me. To someone else might considered easy, but for me,which English is my second language, is a struggle everyday. The big challenge was taking my ideas and put into words.

I did not see the importance of writing until now, when I have to write friends. Can you imagine writing someone and cannot even start the first sentence? Forcing yourself to write? Unsure what words to use? Not familiar with the sentence structure? There are times I would like to write a friend to apologize, make comment, share ideas, talk about the old good memories or talk about the future and other endless things that were in my mind but I cannot. I could say one reason that contributed my handicap in writing was not having the right tools. It cripples me for not being able to speak or write what inside my mind.

Writing is too complex and complicated if you are not familiar on how to write. That is the main reason why I enrolled in English 97. Gradually the writing became less painful and stressful, and I started to become comfortable in writing. I cannot believe myself that I wrote 19 journals and 3 major writing assignments. Wow! That is a big step for me, a person who never write more that three sentences! Not only that I over come my fear of writing, but It also help me to read and write well. “Everything is possible if I put effort into it.” I often tell myself. So I finally did it!

I used discriptive words and phrases in one of my selected pieces entitled "Childhood Escapes". The other journal entitled, "Childhood Games" I used the process method while the "Skeleton 2", I have to add sentences to create Ideas to lead to an interesting story. The last one was the, "The Perfect Escape" a major homework assignment, the most challenging for me. The combination of different methods such descriptive words or phrases and show not tell. The four pieces is quite personal, and I am sharing it with you. Let me know what you think. Enjoy reading...

Introduction to Childhood Escapes

Childhood memories...fun, fun, fun. It was almost the second week of the quarter when I wrote the journal entitled, "Childhood Escapes". Descriptive words and phrases were used, such as "The yellow, purple and white wild flowers along with tall dark green grasses covered the entire lot", and also "Chasing high-hoping, fast-flying grasshoppers was more fun". While writing this piece, I could almost see the colors of the wild flowers and the movements of the grasshoppers, and I felt like I was back time. "Childhood Escapes" captured one of my wonderful memories as a child.

Childhood Escapes

Monday, April 10, 2006


The abandoned vacant lot next to our backyard was my favorite place to play when I was a child. A carpet of yellow, purple and white wild flowers along with the tall and short dark green grasses covered the entire lot. I would always pick several flowers and take them home with me. Hundreds of small, yellow butterflies were flying freely from one flower to another. Whenever I would catch one, I would place it in the bottle and I watch it with fascination. But, my greatest enjoyment came from chasing high-hopping, fast-flying grasshoppers. No matter how fast I ran, my short legs never could catch them. This is made catching them a great challenge. The abandoned lot was full of excitement and wonder. This is where I spent most of my time when I was a child.

Introduction to Childhood Games

Another pleasant memories. This journal showed how my relative and I were close to each other. When I was growing up, we did not have toys to play with but my cousins and I have each other. A combination of methods were used in writing the journal. I used descriptive words and phrases such as, "We all looked with wonder to the bright yellow, orange, red and purple that painted in the sky, and it reflected on the water." including quotations like, "Wow, look at that!" in this journal. I hope that you will enjoy reading this piece as much as I enjoy writing it.

Childhood Games

Surprisingly, walking to the beach and collecting sea shells was one of my favorite things to do when I was young. To have fun collecting shells, first I invited my three cousins, who live close by, to spend the night in our house. Spending the night together in the living room was part of it. We pushed the all furniture aside, spread the mat on the floor, and we laid on top of them. After we had our pillow fights, we talked, played jokes, and sang silly songs endlessly almost through the entire night, but we still managed to wake up early in the morning to catch the sunrise. But the most important thing of all was to bring the blankets and empty cans. As soon as we arrived to the beach which was still dark, we laid our blankets on the sand and sat on them. Next, while waiting for the sun; we talked, played jokes, and sang silly songs endlessly again, and at the same time watched the fisherman's boat arrived and unloaded their early catch. Patiently, we sat and gazed at stars and moon that gradually disappeared as the sun was coming out. All of us were frozen silent as we watched the sunrise. "Wow, look at that!" said one of my cousins, as he pointed above the water. We all looked with wonder to the bright yellow, orange, red and purple that painted the puffy clouds and sky. Hours after the sun was up, anxious and excited, my cousins and I grabbed the empty cans and started walking to pick up the shells of all types. I considered sharing the walks, talks, and jokes with my cousins while picking up empty shells on the beach to one of my ritual childhood games.

Introduction to Skeleton 2

This journal was written in the middle of the quarter, and it was quite challenging. Several sentences are given, which is the backbone, and I have to add sentences to create a story.

Here are the sentences given, The tide crept in, erasing the footprints in the sand, the beach curved away into the darkness, and the two shadows gradually disappear and they watched and listened one more time, as another wave crashed against the nearby rocks. I created a story based on the given sentences.

For me, it was difficult and challenging, and it made me think what words to use and what story I should create. But after I finished writing the it, I was quite impressed about the story that I created.

Introduction to The Perfect Escape

Two weeks into the quarter, I wrote my first Major Homework Assignment entitled, "The Perfect Escape". It is a descriptive paragraph. The lake was the perfect subject to write about, and I was comfortable writing it because I love nature. Camping or fishing during summer were a big events for me. This the first paragraph that I actually use descriptive words and phrases like for example, "Roaring like an angry beast, twisting, turning, furiously pounding endlessly through the rocks, the water continues its endless journey down the mountain". I chose this piece because I think I did an excellent job in using descriptive words and phrases, and I considered this writing the best.

The Perfect Escape

Roaring like an angry beast, twisting, turning, furiously pounding endlessly through the rocks, the water continues its endless journey down the mountain. Finally, its rapid vertical descent from the high rocky mountain gradually lost its momentum. Flowing slowly, the water continues toward the large lake named "Diwata", one of the most magnificent lakes in the Philippines. It is situated at the foot of the rugged rocky mountain. The lake is a perfect escape from the busy life of the city, a place to enjoy, relax, and appreciate the beauty of nature. Also, it is a temporary place to get away from the insane city life.

The Lake was so peaceful, and the view was breathtaking; furthermore, it is known for its tranquility and beauty. The blue sky, high mountains, birds flying and trees were reflected on the calm and clear water was magnificent! The water lilies with the white flowers float on the surface of the water. Around the lake, there was an old tree leaning towards the water, which I called "The House of the Fairies" because of its pink flowers has an incredible hallucinating scent. Hundreds of fireflies light up the tree at night and the morning dew sparkled like diamonds on its reddish, shiny, pointy leaves. Different types of wild mushrooms grow beneath the old tree. Vines wrapped around the trunk and hung their yellow bell shape flowers. Nearby, bushy shrubs and grasses grew. Above the dazzling wild colorful flowers, hundreds of butterflies were flying, swirling and showing off the intricate patterns of their wings. Bright red, blue, and green dragon flies rested on the branches of the dry brushes.

During the summer, the quiet sleeping lake awakens. The singing birds, the soothing sound of grasses when the wind blew was replaced by the human noises. The fragrant from the flowers were replaced by the smell of food. The water that used to be calm was disrupted by speeding boats and by people jumping and swimming on the lake. The wild flowers ripped from their roots and stepped on. Some of the sharp grasses were cut off to prevent people from getting injured, and the bark, leaves, and branches were damaged because people use the branches as a diving board.

The serene and beauty of the lake is sometime destroyed unintentionally by people who visit the beautiful lake. In spite of all disturbances, when the summer is over, the lake has its way to preserve its natural beauty and claim back its serenity.

Summary

Writing the pieces was a combination of two things such as courage to write and applying the necessary tools that I had learned from English 97. For me, it was a big decision for me take the class, but this is only the beginning. I am planning to continue taking the next class this summer and continue to the next following quarter. Yes, it is going to be bumpy, stressful and more challenging along the way, but for me, being able to express what think through writing is freedom. It is worth the struggle. I hope you enjoy reading my four selected pieces and somehow touch you in a certain way.

Thanks,
-Susan