Shawn Jennings

September 28, 2014

Professor Young

English 1100

Essay 2

Problems in my Community

                I live in a small community that is about three square miles.  By living in a small community there are a lack of places to hang out.  There are a limited number of areas for teens to go because unlike adults most are unable to drive out of town to experience new thrills.  From being unable to leave town and the lack of entertainment options teens find excitement in making poor choices.  The insignificant amount of spots to hang out in my community causes kids, mainly teenagers, to do illegal activities.  Such law-breaking activities include drinking, experimenting with drugs, and petty crimes.  ----           

                One of the main problems in my community is underage drinking.  When teenagers drink heavy amounts of alcohol they tend to become reckless.  Drinking impairs the mind, especially a teenager’s mind, which causes them to destroy property.  Many parties end in disaster because most teens get too drunk to realize what their actions are.  Usually the house where the party is being hosted gets demolished by reckless teens.  Above all, minors put themselves in danger when drinking.  The amount of teen deaths due to drinking and driving is way too high and the number keeps rising.

                There are many ways to solve underage drinking.  One of which would be to make alcohol more difficult to obtain.  My community could make liquor stores do more in depth background checks on customers to decide if it is appropriate to sell alcohol to them.  Another way to resolve minors from drinking is to create more hang out spots.  This way teenagers would not be as bored, therefore they would not have the need to drink alcohol for fun.  If these methods do not work teens tend to turn to drugs after abusing alcohol. 

                Many teenagers experiment with drugs after using alcohol.  They get bored of being drunk and need a different feeling to pick them up.  Teenagers turn to marijuana as a gateway drug to get high.  Then they begin to use more hardcore drugs such as meth, heroin, or cocaine.  The majority for the use of drugs is because of boredom.  A significant number of teens need activities to distract them from turning to bad influences. 

                These activities could include movie nights or sports.  The community could get together and form a special night to go out and see a movie or play a sport.  Many teenagers could attend these activities to occupy them instead of going to a party to get high.  This could also make the town more interesting so the teens would not feel the need to leave and cause mischief.  Teens could be looked after at these events and not cause any trouble.  More events in town equals more teens occupied which means less time to cause trouble. 

                After turning to drugs for a high many teenagers get addicted to the feeling.  They spend so much money to try to attain drugs that they become broke.  After, losing all their money they begin to commit petty crimes like stealing from department stores to sell the items for money.  Stealing also serves as entertainment for teenagers because of the lack of things to do in the community.  They find stealing thrilling and entertaining because it is something different to do besides sitting around and doing nothing. 

                Ways to resolve this problem include to step up law enforcement in department stores.  If just one teen gets caught stealing it could scare any other teenagers who were thinking of doing it.  Another way to enhance catching teens in the act of stealing would be to install more cameras in department stores.  This could be essential in catching teenagers in the act of stealing.  An alternative way to keep teen from stealing would be to establish recreation centers in my community.  This would allow teens to go to a single place to hang out and play sports together.  Having a place to do something fun and exciting at would decrease the number of teens who get into trouble by being bored.

                My community is small and boring but there can be many things done to improve its excitement.  There are not many place to go and have a good time without causing trouble, but that can all be changed by adding a few improvements.  Any small improvement made could help teens find something exciting to do within the confines of their own community.  They could be given the choice to make a good choice for a thrill instead of making bad choices.  Just giving them a choice to play a sport or watch a movie could make all the difference in the end.   

Shawn Jennings

9/19/14

Professor Young

English 1100

Favorite Place

            I walk into my house and the first thing I notice is the smell that engulfs my nostrils.  It’s not an awful smell by any means.  It’s a fresh smell, like the smell of freshly picked fruit.  Every day I come home and take one step into my house I smell this scent.  It almost puts me in a trance and it sort of calms me down after a long day. 

After taking in the smell I take off my book bag and set it down on the oak colored hard wood floor.  I then take off my shoes and place them on the tan wool rug where the rest of families shoes are scattered.  After this I make my way over to my cream colored couch which is made of the softest leather.  I lay down and it is like I am floating on a cloud.  I reach for the remote and turn on the television. 

The TV lets out a huge booming sound that almost makes my ears bleed.  I start to cover my ears and wonder why the television was set to sixty out of one hundred.  I realize my Dad had come home for lunch and turned the TV volume so high it could be heard four houses down.  After turning the volume down to a soft twenty-five I watch a quick fifteen minutes of television before dinner. 

When my Mom yells, “dinner is ready!” I find it hard to get off the couch.  It’s almost like I am sinking deeper and deeper into the cloud that is my couch.  My Mother yells again, “dinner is ready, Shawn!” but I just can’t find the energy to escape the softest couch in the world.  Eventually, my hunger gets the best of me because I begin to smell the freshness of my Mom’s potato leek soup.  I spring off the couch and sprint to my chair.  I grab my smooth silver spoon and start to heave spoonful after spoonful into my gaping mouth.  After my second spoonful I feel a burning sensation on my tongue and around my whole mouth.  I spit out the delicious potato leek soup almost three feet across the table. 

Luckily, my brother, Karl, was not sitting across from me just yet.  I apologize to my Mom and clean up our brown wooden table.  Now I sit back down in my chair and remember to blow on the soup before shoving it down my throat.  Every spoonful is like filling my mouth with joy.  It’s not too thick and it is not too watery.  The soup fills every part of my mouth perfectly and the taste is so pleasant.  Every slurp is sensational.              

Essay 1 Shawn J

Shawn Jennings

9/2/14

Professor Young

English 1100

One page response to “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”

Identity

            One of my dreams is to go to England and watch my favorite club team, Liverpool F.C., play in a soccer match.  I want to feel the atmosphere of the stadium when the fans begin a chant or the roar when Liverpool scores a goal.  Soccer is a huge part of who I am as a person just like language is so important to Gloria Anzaldua’s lifestyle.  In the passage “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, she describes how language defines who you are.  She states language could be part of your identity and identity describes you.  A certain thing that defines who I am is soccer.  I am very passionate about soccer.  I love to play, watch, and do anything that involves the sport.

  I feel proud to love the sport just like Anzaldua is proud of her language and I am always happy when playing or watching soccer.  Identity can even be seen within the sport of soccer.  For example, people could like different teams that could define them.  I love watching Liverpool so I wear their jersey, which is red, to show my support of the club.  Also, players can express their identity by playing different positions on the field.  An example of this would be that defender would do anything to stop the other team from scoring a goal, this shows their desire and heart to stop the opposition from scoring.  An example of how a position defines me is that I play on the outside closest to the sideline.  I like to send in crosses to my teammates so they can score.  This describes me because I am unselfish on and off the field.  I tend to think about others before myself and I am satisfied to help my teammates score goals.     

            There are even more ways to identify a soccer player.  The number they choose on the back of their jerseys surprisingly says a lot about them.  For example, the number nine is usually a forward or goal-scorer, while the number seven is a midfielder on the outside that crosses the ball into the middle for the forwards to score.  On a personal note, the number which I chose says a lot about me as a person.  In high school I chose the number ten which is normally someone who is a play maker.  A play maker is usually unselfish, which is one of my own personal traits.

I love the way the crowd cheers when there is a goal scored and I love being there when it happens.  Even when I am watching a game at home I find myself jumping out of my seat to cheer.  Just seeing a goal scored for the team I support is so exciting to watch.  Hearing the crowd cheer through the television is enough to get me thrilled.  Soccer is something that expresses who I am.  It is something that I love to do.  It is part of my identity. I will never stop loving soccer.

            There are many people that put down soccer in the United States just like how people put down Gloria Anzaldua because she spoke a different language.  Anzaldua was almost harassed for speaking her language.  I feel the same way when others talk down soccer.  They say that it should not be considered a sport or they say soccer players are soft.  Many people don’t appreciate the skill and physical fitness level required to play soccer.  Most soccer players run an average of 6 miles per game.  Yet I am still proud to support the sport and the players that play it.  I will never stop supporting the sport I love.  I will always speak positively of soccer and motivate people to play the sport.   

             News stations such as Sports Center don’t recognize soccer as a major sport in the United States.  They mention the four major sports, not five.  The major sports are the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA.  But Major League Soccer, or MLS, is not included in this category.  This definitely frustrates me that the MLS is not considered a major sport and many people will not even consider it to be a sport in general.  The reason for this is because many citizens in the U.S. believe that soccer is boring and not exciting to watch.  These people do not give the sport a chance and therefore just assume it is not worth watching.  In my opinion, soccer is not boring at all considering there is no stoppage in play for forty five minutes in two halves.  The sport is definitely growing and I believe that someday it will be considered as a major sport in the U.S.  As of right now I will continue to support soccer and hope that it becomes more and more popular throughout the years.

                    Even when people put me down because I play soccer I will never stop striving to promote the sport.  Soccer defines who I am as a person.  I love to watch, play, and do anything to help the sport grow.  When I am on the field I can express myself.  I am normally a reserved person, but when I am running with the ball at my feet I feel more confident in myself.  Like Anzaldua I am proud of what defines who I am.  Soccer is what defines me; soccer is who I am, and it is part of my identity. 

Shawn Jennings

9/9/14

Professor Young

English 1100

Response Questions to “Black Power”

The main point McBride is stating about the concept of black power is that it is very strong and it scared him to death.  So strong that he feared it could separate him and his Mom.  He felt that the people who led the black power movement were violent people that would kill his mother.  McBride thought to himself, “These people will kill Mommy”. 

Identity defines who McBride is because of his upbringing as a child.  McBride’s childhood is a very unique one.  He had eleven brothers and sisters who were all African American while his mother was white.  His mother was a very resilient women who took care of each and every child and loved them all equally.  McBride would be a completely different person if it wasn’t for his mother.  His mother made sure he had the best education and lifestyle a young African American could have at the time.  As a result of this McBride saw both sides of the spectrum.  He went to school with mostly white children and got the best education, but he also was part of the black power movement.  This makes his identity very special and unique.  He saw the good and bad of both sides and because of this he is a more knowledgeable person.  He saw the harshness of the whites towards African Americans.  While later seeing the rebellion of the African Americans in the black power movement.   McBride had an exceptional young life.  His mother was a huge part of that and he would not be the person he is today without her.   

Shawn Jennings

9/2/14

Professor Young

English 1100

One page response to “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”

            A certain thing that defines who I am is soccer.  I am very passionate about soccer.  I love to play, watch, and do anything that involves the sport.  One of my dreams is to go to England and watch my favorite club team, Liverpool F.C., play in a match.  I just want to feel the atmosphere in the stadium when they begin their chants or the roar when Liverpool scores a goal. 

            If it was up to me I would wear a soccer jersey every day and buy as many cleats as I could.  I feel proud to love the sport and I am always happy when playing or watching soccer.  Identity can even be seen within the sport of soccer.  For example, people could like different teams that could define them.  Also, players can express their identity by playing different positions on the field.  An example of this would be that defender would do anything to stop the other team from scoring a goal, while a forward would do anything to score for their team. 

            There are even more ways to identify a soccer player.  The number they choose on the back of their jerseys surprisingly says a lot about them.  For example, the number nine is usually a forward or goal-scorer, while the number seven is usually a midfielder on the outside that crosses the ball into the middle for the forwards to score.

            Soccer is something that expresses who I am.  It is something that I love to do.  It is part of my identity. I love the way the crowd cheers when there is a goal scored and I love being there when it happens.  I will never stop loving soccer.      

"How to Tame a Wild Tongue"

Shawn Jennings

9/2/14

Professor Young

English 1100

Response Questions to “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”

1.       The dentist refers to Anzadulas tongue as strong or stubborn.  In other words it was hard to tame her tongue during her time at the dentist.

2.       Anzalduas use of Spanish throughout her writing did make sense for her purpose.  I couldn’t understand why she was doing this at first because I don’t know Spanish, but toward the end I understood why.  She wanted to show her pride in her language and how it defines who she is. 

3.       Yes there can be standard languages and nonstandard languages.  Language is how we can identify ourselves.  There can be different forms of each language that can identify ourselves to a larger extent. 

4.       I feel like we do need to speak and write in Academic English in order to do well in academics and the work force. 

5.       There are many types of English identities.  They include Southern English, Western English, Boston accent, and many more.

6.       My friends and I like to shorten words.  For example, probably becomes “probs” and memories becomes “mems”.

7.       I use nonstandard English when speaking with my friends and standard English when speaking to a teacher or my parents.  I feel that I change what type of English I use depending on the people I am with.  It depends on the audience to whom I am speaking to.

8.       “I am my language” means that your language defines who you are and how people see you.  When people think of who you are they tend to think of the language you speak and how you speak it. 

9.       The intro talks about how her tongue was hard to control because it was stubborn at the dentist’s office.  The conclusion restates that her tongue is difficult to tame by stating the stubbornness of herself and her people.

10.   Yes, the language I speak can be part of my identity.  How I speak is a unique trait and everyones speech is different.

11.   Identity is important to me.  I feel that everyone has unique qualities that can be part of their identity.  Without identity everyone would be the same and life would be boring.  Yes, Anzaldua believes it is important to have identity.  Without identity the world would be boring with no excitement.  Identity defines who we are, where we are from, and our ancestry.