engl 1102 midterm

7/30/2019 ENGL 1102 Midterm

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Sidney Covington

Suzanne Ingram

ENGL 1102-025

11 October 2012

Dear Friend,

It is freshman year at UNC-Charlotte and I am not going to lie it is hard. I have enjoyed

my time here making new friends and getting involved in organization like Voices of Eden,

United Black Professionals, and 100 Black Woman Coalition. Coming this summer to the UTOP

program was great for me I feel like I am an advanced-freshman and I also got all A from my

classes which left me with a rocking GPA. But I hated that we didnt get to hang out like we plan

to do for our senior summer. I love all my classes and professors; I liked one of my professors

so much I even took her class for English 1102. My English 1102 meets every Wednesday and

Friday at 9:30am, pause I know high school started at 8:45am but 9:30 is hard to get up and go to

class just like high school was.

Back to my English class, this semester our thematic question is What is it like to be

Healthy. The first day Ms. Ingram asked us that question so my mind immediately goes to

thinking about food and exercise because that is what I think of when I talk about health. But,

one day we did a class activity where Ms. Ingram gave us something from her house. My group

got some type of oil I believe it was sunflower seed oil. I didnt smell so good and made me

think What in world would you put this on; the assignment was to write down what this item

would be used for and what Ms. Ingram would use it for. So my group and I thought you would


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use it in food for frying, we compared it to peanut oil. You know how people say that peanut oil

is healthier to fry then Canola oil we thought that sun flower oil was even fresher. Oh yeah, by

the way my English professor is a vegetarian so she has a limited amount of things she can eat.

Personally we couldnt be vegetarian because the way we devoured that meat lover pizza after

prom; we could even make it one day without meat. But we found out that Ms. Ingram actually

take two spoon full of it every day she says it helps with skin. I found out that it also good for

constipation also if applied directly to the skin it can help poorly healing wounds, skin injuries,

psoriasis, and arthritis; and as a massage oil. I looked further into the sunflower oil after class

because of my battle with eczema that I have had my whole life.

The most interesting assignment that we have done so far that I truly enjoyed. Is the first

major assignment that I completed which is the What it is like to be You essay. This

assignment opened my eyes to recognize who I am. I had to sit down and think about how I see

myself not how others see me. I know all the obvious things like I am loud, crazy, head strong,

and loving child of God. But for this assignment I wanted to go deeper. I compared it to that

India Arie concert that we went to last year remember how she said she was trying to be the best

her she could possibly be. That how deep I want to reflect to my readers, that this girl not only

know her strength but he weaknesses and is willing to make a change to be better. So I decided

to talk about three main things in my life my relationship with God, my hair and ethnicity, and

how it is a requirement to run in the rain. To get deep like I said I would, all of those statements

all had a deeper mean then what I said. I wanted to express the struggles that black woman go

through every day by being a different race and the talk about having natural hair verses straight

hair. Of course I talked about my relationship with the one and only God you know how I love

church; look at how many times you came with me that why they always asked if you wanted to


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become a full member. I also talked about how I love to run in the rain and by that statement I

mean enjoy the little things in life everything shouldnt always be so serious loosen up for a

change. That is the message I want to convey to my readers; so when I come home next weekend

I want you to read my essay and tell me if that is the feeling you felt after reading my

assignment. Then I will ask you What it is like to be you? you have a whole week to think

about it, so get to work.

You know how much I love reading right, joking; we had to read a book called Peace,

Butter, and Jelly by David Seidel. It wasnt a bad read at all I really enjoyed it; I know that sound

like a lot. Coming from the girl that waits till the very last weekend of summer to start her

summer reading book Oh.. How to Kill a Mockingbird was a struggle to read and stay

awake. Why I like this book so much because it was a different twist on an autobiography. You

know how it is hard for me to stay on topic when I get really excited about what I am about to

say; that is how I interpreted his book. He would talk about his life with his wife and then jump

off on a tangent about a poem that reminded him of his wife and then get back on topic. My

favorite poem from the entire book was For one Moment:

for one moment

for one constant moment,

I would like to hold you to my bosom

and declare my love:

I am your scribe.

I am your wordsmith.

You light my day.

What is the source of our dream?

When do we turn away?

My duty is to write it down


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This was my favorite poem because I am a very romantic person I always want my love life to be

magical like you read in Romeo and Juliet but with a different ending. Remember those nights

that we would sit up watching The Vow, 27 Dresses, and our all-time favorite Pretty Woman; we

wanted our love lives to be an 80s love movie like Sixteen Candles. This poem remind me of

the love that I hope to feel one day for someone and what I want them to feel for me. Look at

how the poem is written it isnt perfect it is written in an odd style the first two words in the

leading statements are not even capitalized. This type of poem is an in the moment poem he says

for one moment, for one constant moment; meaning in that moment if time could stand still I

want to hold you next to me and declare my un-dying love towards you. Then he goes on to state

a list of thing he would say like I am your scribe. I am your wordsmith. You light my day. I

take that part of the poem as lets write our own story of love and make up our rules as we go

along falling more and more in love. Then he end with by the way you just light up my day; it

just makes you have chills all over doesnt it? To conclude his idea of love he asked her a

question What is the source of our dream? When do we turn away? I believe he is saying to

her we will determine that when and if the time ever comes. David Seidel ends his poem like any

good writer It is my duty to write it down I know he is writing it down because he wants to

remember every magical moment that he experienced with her. His book was about many other

things but that was one of my favorite poems in the book that I made a connection with.

Overall as you can see I am really enjoying my time at UNC-Charlotte, I am especially enjoying

my English 1102 class it is opening my eyes up to what writing is about. The writing process has

become very easy now and I dont struggle with what tosay anymore. Now I cant wait to start

writing because I have so many ideas floating around in my head that need to be put on paper.


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We have done many other assignments in class but the ones that I have mentioned are my

absolute favorite as of right now. English 1102 is going to be a breeze if I continue to keep up

the good work. I also forgot to tell you that my revising and editing skills have got much better

because of Ms. Ingram. She has us read our essay out loud to our peer group so that we not only

hear what we wrote but our group can do the editing to our work while we read. Who knew, that

the exercise would actually work I have caught a lot of mistakes just from hear my writing read

aloud. You need to try it because the results are As. I hope all is going well with you at UNC-

Greensboro I really miss you a lot we definitely need to hang out during the winter break to

make up for the summer.

Love,

Sidney Covington

engl 1102 midterm

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