Third Entry - Nuts and Bolts

     A clearly and effectively written essay, David Sedaris used many techniques to make "Me Talk Pretty One Day" interesting and easy to read. These techniques are similar to those described in The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing by Michael Harvey. Sedaris used the methods found in Harvey's book like opening sentences, consistent characters, clarity and honesty to paint a better picture for the reader.
     Sedaris uses opening sentences like a pro; he always informs the reader what the paragraph is going to be about, which is something that Harvey suggests in his book (71). The succession from paragraph to paragraph is important, too. In the first paragraph of the excerpt from "Me Talk Pretty One Day", we learn that Sedaris is going to return to school in France and in the next paragraph we learn why: he has "hopes of learning the language" (11). Harvey stated that opening sentences help the reader to "see how the paragraph connects to what has came before" (71), which is what Sedaris did throughout the entire essay. For these reasons, he has followed the advice in The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing to create a clearly written piece.
     Using consistent characters is also another method in The Nuts and Bolts that Sedaris has utilized. This is important to "control how [the] reader moves from one character to the next" and the key is to create a "sensible design" for moving from one character to the next ( Harvey 23, 25). Sedaris creates a flow of characters that is easy to follow and doesn't take away from the story. First, he focuses on himself and his journey ahead. Then we learn of the teacher, only to shift to the student teacher relationships. After, he gets more personal describing his relationship with the teacher, only to come full circle and back to just focusing on himself. He weaves in different characters but doesn't shift too much at any one time. Following Harvey's advice almost word for word, Sedaris has written an effectively entertaining essay.
     Another way to effectively write is to be honest and clear, which is another idea Sedaris uses from The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing. First of all, Sedaris doesn't use "pompous style" (20) by adding big, unnecessary words. Instead, he uses the minimal amount of language needed to get the point across. Not only that, but he used brutal honesty and that is what it takes to "say what we see and think" and it takes even more "courage to tell the truth" (21). Sedaris writes "'I hate you," she said one afternoon. Her English was flawless. 'I really, really hate you'" (13).  If that wasn't brutally honest, I am not sure what is. He used clear and truthful writing, as describes in Harvey's book, to be successfully effective in his writing.
     All in all, Sedaris' essay follows the advice given in The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing to create a clearly and effectively written piece. He uses language that is easy to understand, effectively sets up his reader to understand what is next, and stays true to himself and his characters.

Second Entry - Peterson's AP English Poetry

Poetry Study Goals:
- Don't overthink
- Read Twice
- Learn more poetry terms
- Slow down
- Consider point of view


One of my main problems, that I have always had, is over thinking too much. Often, I'll choose the right answer but second guess myself later. While I have worked on it for years, I caught myself doing it during the practice test. Reading twice should be a rule for everything; however, that didn't stop me from trying to skate by with a single skim through. I thought it would save me time, but in actuality, reading twice allowed me to understand the poetry and be able to answer questions without flipping back every time. Slowing down is kind of part of the same thing, even when I did read twice I forgot to keep in mind that it's not a race. Besides that, even after forcing myself to slow down I finished the practice with plenty of time. I really need to work on my pace and work at a level that is comfortable and efficient. Considering point of view was also important. Often I had to look back and caught myself trying to understand the poem from my point of view, when really it isn't all about me. The narrator is key to understanding the flow and meaning of the poem. Although it is a rare problem that I have, I noticed it during the test and it shocked me.

First Entry - Peterson's AP English

As I took the Peterson's AP english practice test, I noticed a few things that will help me with the real AP exam in the spring. I was very surprised to see that there were a lot of very direct questions; no analytical thinking involved. While that is not true for a lot of them, there were quite a few questions involving answers that were simply stated in the article given. That makes me wonder how much of it will be true to the Ap test this year, but hopefully there will be some questions similar to those. One thing that I had problems with was recalling information from past years. Since I haven't been in school, and haven't been doing anything regarding much thought, when questions came up asking about what type of entry the piece was, I got frustrated. It will be an easy fix once school starts, but at the time I was distraught at my lack of memory. All in all, however, I did very well. Taking this practice test has made me feel confident in my ability to take this class and earn some sort of credit. There were things that I missed and I have a lot of skills that I need to fine-tune, but overall I did better than I had expected.