In-class Lab

11.  & 3. “Entering the large VFW hall, we were struck by the chemical odor of a cleaning solution so strong that it seemed toxic. The hall had no windows; only fluorescent lighting illuminated the large space. Coming from the hot, humid weather outdoors, we found the inside uncomfortably cold from air conditioning. The cackle of a television set was the only sound. There were several rows of cots and mattresses with a few people lying on them.” (Pg. 128, para. 2)

22.  “Those first few mornings without your tribe or your uniform asserting your identity can be very lonely. They were for me. I realized how few people would miss me if I did nothing on any given day.” (Pg. 120, para. 1)

List of Ideas

1.  Writing in English class.

a.  D’Evelyn Jr./Sr. High

b.  Small school (>1000 students total) on the border of Wheat Ridge and Golden

c.  Class was taught in a temporary building, looks very much like a container box, but with windows.

d.  The floors creaked and the heater was too effective at times

e.  The walls were paper thin

f.  I’m tired from working part time, King Soopers as a bagger/cashier and playing on the basketball team.

g.  The class seats were small and uncomfortable

h.  The building had that really old smell because of the wood that was used to construct this building

i.  Mr. Bishop was a tall man, 6’7”, slender, had a blonde mixed with gray Abe Lincoln beard, balding, but with long blonde hair in a comb-over. He had a very monotone voice, that could put anyone to sleep. He was excited to teach, however, you could tell that the years were starting to wane on him

j.  We had to write a three page paper on the play Macbeth. I was not a fan of reading old English and could not see the humor that was in Shakespeare’s works. I found it very frustrating to write on a topic in which I did not feel some sort of connection. The play itself is tragic, however, I only know that now, not then. I just couldn’t see past the language and this frustrated me to no end. I found myself struggling to write. I had to balance between basketball, work and my other classes. At the age of 16, this is too hard to juggle that much on my plate. I chose not to tell my parents about this assignment, which hindsight being what it is, my mom definitely could have helped me out.

k.  I wanted to do well because I was already borderline failing this class and I wanted to prove to my parents that I could do all these things and still have time to party with my friends and maintain a decent grade point average

l.  The weight of everything on top of me made my experience in critical writing extremely anxious. To this day, I get nervous about writing.