Latin American Short Stories

12 responses so far ↓

•   Hannah // Aug 23rd 2014 at 7:07 pm

  In high school, I prepared reading assignments by doing a ton of active reading. For English classes where things were more analytical, we would make reading notes on post-it notes for every page, sometimes two per page. For other types of reading (history, science), I would often have to make an outline or fill out a chart for certain categories of notes.
  Our primary writing assignments in high school depended on the class. In my English class we wrote almost exclusively analytical papers. This would often mean in-class essays, but we did a few essays that we took more time on. We did a lot of essays in preparation for the AP test. I love writing analytical essays the most. Usually for these essays I would consider the question being asked for my assessment and decide how I was going to approach the answer I wanted to give. We had to write our strengths and weaknesses out on a piece of paper, typically, and then keep that paper close to us when we were writing the paper. We usually had a very clear plan, using a system called “Divide and Conquer” for our in-class essays and an index card system for our bigger essays. After that I would write the essay, and if it wasn’t an in-class essay I would edit it multiple times. We did a lot of peer editing, which I found to be extremely helpful. The most challenging aspect of writing for me is probably recognizing where I have weaknesses in my paper and figuring out how to get rid of these weaknesses. I really do love writing though and I think it’s really interesting to analyze works.
  My researching experience has not been extremely expansive, I actually have not done a lot of research papers. For projects involving research (usually we did projects not papers), I would usually use a database made available through my high school’s system. I tried to get primary sources for research papers, but those were not always available.
  In this First-Year Seminar, I hope to learn more about writing for college, which is something I am very nervous about. I also hope to learn about Latin American short stories! I cannot wait to learn more about that. I know the writing aspect of this course will help in every other course I take at Dickinson. Writing is a skill with benefits lasting a lifetime.

•   applegsa // Aug 28th 2014 at 8:02 pm

  a) In high school, I was required to annotate the books that I read, which pushed me to analyze the book further. Annotations helped me to be prepared for class discussions.
  b) I mostly wrote analytical papers in high school, but also wrote two research papers in my junior year- one for an English course and one for a History course. I did write a few compare and contrast papers also. I often wrote an outline, rough draft, and final draft of my papers. For my research papers, my preparation was more extensive because those papers were longer. I think the thing I struggled with the most when writing a paper in high school was developing a thesis statement and making sure my entire paper related to it.
  c) I have used a wide gamut of sources when preparing to write a paper. When writing an analytical paper, my sources usually only consisted of the book I was analyzing. When writing a compare and contrast paper, the same applied, but with the two books I was comparing and contrasting. With the two research papers I wrote, I needed to use several sources. I used my school library to find textbooks and encyclopedias. I also researched quite a bit online.
  In this seminar, I expect to continue learning how to write a good paper as well as how to analyze text. Both of those skills being further developed will carry over to many of my future classes. I also expect to learn about Latin culture, which I currently know little to nothing about.

•   Cailin Smith // Aug 28th 2014 at 9:36 pm

  Prior Knowledge – FYSM First Blog
  Coming from a college preparatory school, the writing program was especially important and prominent in my education. I took two AP English courses, which is where I wrote the most intensively, but had assignments in all of my classes in every grade. Most of my papers were analytical and/or research assignments, including three long term research papers. Occasionally, assignments for opinion essays or summaries were given as well. After being assigned the project, I do preliminary research to decide what kind of questions I want to study more, normally through internet sources. Once I have a general idea, I find book sources to be most helpful, and scholarly journals and articles to be excellent sources once there is a specific thesis. Though these are my personal favorites, I have also used teacher interviews, magazine articles, and TV and movie documentaries as sources.
  Prior to the assignment, I prewrite in a way that is appropriate for the type of paper. For smaller essays, I normally wrote a quick outline to organize a logical sequence for my thoughts, wrote the essay, then revised it. For larger assignments where research was involved, I decide what kind of questions I had, found sources, took notes from them, then compiled a long outline, wrote a draft, and edited multiple times. After each revision, especially if someone else – a teacher or peer – had made comments, I reviewed which areas needed strengthening, whether a certain paragraph needed another quote to make the argument stronger or if a point would make the argument stronger in another section. Throughout the whole process, the most challenging part of writing for me is organization. It is sometimes difficult to decide where quotes would be strongest in the paper, and after moving one, finding another to replace it can be frustrating.
  In this seminar, I am hoping to strengthen my writing by learning how to make arguments stronger. I definitely think this will extend to my other courses this semester and beyond, because every class will require some form of writing. Even if not all courses are writing intensive, writing forces students to think more analytically, form strong opinions, and support them with specific examples. I am also excited to learn about literature analysis and the Latin American culture. I have always loved English classes and analyzing literature, and I want to major in anthropology, so culture is especially fascinating to me. I am very excited to learn about so many passions, and strengthen my writing and become a better student at the same time.

•   chicasi // Aug 28th 2014 at 10:59 pm

  As a junior in high school, I attended AP Language and Composition. This class was a much more higher level course than the regular literature classes I attended in my first two years of high school. In this course, I had to read authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Stephen King, and James McBride, and analyze and explain their writing styles and explain the messages in their tales. My approach to analyze and explain these stories was to understand what is the point of this story and how does the text I’m reading relate to the main idea. Usually, when the class reaches a certain point into the memoir, story, or report, an essay is assigned.

  Essays in my literature classes can ranged from various different types. In AP Language and Composition, I am usually assigned analytical essays because the focus of the class is to understand writing techniques and explain why the author uses them to deliver his message. In other literary class, I would generally write summaries, reports, and opinion pieces along with analytical essays. While my final year of high school didn’t have a lot of writing, I still had to write my personal statement for college, along with any additional writing piece in the applications. I tend to start certain essays with an introduction of the essay’s topic that the reader might not understand or relate to, such as explaining the story of a play or revealing a writer’s accomplishments to make them sound worth reading. I would include sources from the book I’m addressing in my essay or the internet to find webpages for more information. The most challenging thing about writing is if you get your information incorrect when initially you believed it was correct, such as a theme to a part of “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

  Whenever I get an essay to write, I would always ask my literature teachers for any help to improve. I sometimes pursue peer editing whenever I need improvements and I would gladly do the same for anyone else. I really hope that in my time in Latin American Short Stories will help me become a better writer and enjoy the literature from different Latino authors. I would really like to connect with my fellow classmates to enjoy the course together. Hopefully, I can be able to take this experience and use it for my time in Dickinson and beyond, because writing is a very important skill to have in life.

•   jacobsoh // Aug 29th 2014 at 2:59 am

  In high school, I prepared reading assignments by working to connect with the text. As I read I would constantly be highlighting and adding sticky notes to the text to make connections with it. Writing these notes and markings better helped me to organize my thoughts and express my ideas about the text. Creating diagrams and timelines of events also helped with my reading comprehension. As well, I would have conversations with my fellow classmates to make sure I understood what I had been reading.

  In high school I wrote a variety of writing assignments. About once a year I would write an in depth research paper on a topic of my choosing, along with a bibliography. In my AP English classes -AP Lang and AP Lit- I wrote a few types of essays for each, such as opinion papers, synthesis papers and rhetorical analysis papers. When it came to research papers, which were given many weeks in advance, I took a lot of time to plan out my paper. I spent time researching, creating an outline, making a multitude of rough drafts and then compiling my research papers. When it came to in class essays I usually just jumped in without outlining, or thinking. That was not the best way to write my essay, but I felt pressured by the 40-minute time constrain. When I had a take home paper, such as the research papers, I was very thorough and spent a lot of time and consideration into what I was writing. One of the most challenging aspects of writing is finding a way to express my ideas in a succinct and easily understandable way.

  My research experience has been pretty well developed. I have not had huge amounts of research experience, but enough to feel like I know what I am doing when researching. When researching, I like to gather all my sources and then annotate them completely, highlighting and marking them up with all my ideas. I then pull those parts to create my arguments in my research paper. In the past I have used many school online databases to find sources and gather my research. In this first year seminar, I expect to learn how to be a better writer. I hope to improve my writing skills and be able to better translate my thoughts onto paper. These writing techniques will help me in all my future classes at Dickinson. I will be able to better express my thoughts by creating well written papers.

•   jimminkc // Aug 29th 2014 at 3:10 am

  Cassandra Jimmink
  August 28, 2014
  Prior Knowledge
  Each year of high school the English department at my school focused on a different writing and literature genres. I can’t recall the topics from freshman and sophomore year but for junior year we focused on satirical and poetic writing and senior year we had to write a 6-10 page persuasive essay. Anytime I was given a assignment either reading or writing my first step was to read the instructions.
  After I completely understood the instructions, I would make a road map. This would include an introduction, conclusion and then a varying amount of body paragraphs. Many times, I would write multiple drafts both first handwritten and typed. My biggest struggle with writing in high school was the editing portion of it. I am very hard on myself at times and sometimes I don’t feel confident unless it is perfect. Now, entering college I think my biggest goal with my writing skills will be the editing and revising portion.
  When given a reading assignment in high schoo,l I struggled with procrastination. If I was given a week to read a certain amount of pages I would often find myself waiting until the last night to read the book which was not a good idea. When reading any text I work best by taking multiple notes and making sure I understand what I am reading before I move on. I think in order to succeed at college I will make a set schedule so I won’t be left with reading a mass amount of reading in such a short amount of time.
  I believe that this FYS class will help me with my goals because it requires being able to discuss the reading assignment at the next class. It is much easier said than done so I will need to really commit myself to my reading assignments. This class will help me with my future classes because it will set an expectation for myself as I progress into higher level classes which will require more reading. I also hope this class will help me with a potential minor. I haven taken four years of Spanish and plan to continue studying the language. Even though I will be able to speak the language as of now I don’t know much of the literature culture. In Latin American Storytelling I will be exposed to a few different authors. Outside of the Spanish and literature knowledge I will also gain knowledge on how a Dickinson class works. I am very excited to grow with my classmates with the guidance of our professors.

•   Madeleine // Aug 29th 2014 at 3:14 am

  1. My high school placed high importance on college preparatory writing, so although I know college writing is different from writing essays and papers in high school, I feel comfortable knowing that I have a strong foundation. In terms of reading assignments, usually there was an accompanying writing prompt with it; it was easy to prepare for reading discussions because it was built in by answering the homework questions either in a short answer or journal format. I had a lot of this kind of work as my spanish teacher and history teacher especially was fans of this approach. They would assign questions that asked us to explain details from the text and also analyze certain aspects, metaphors, or the historical or cultural parts of the reading.
  Some of my writing assignments followed this strategy. I wrote summaries, compare/contrast essays, and analytical papers, and argumentative papers. For lengthy assignments, I typically jot down a basic outline and sketch out my thoughts and all the ideas I want to include in the paper. Then, I write a rough draft, read through it, edit it, ask a teacher or writing lab tutor for advice, and revise it into a final draft. That is usually my approach for medium length papers, but for long papers that require more research, I will also assign each source a notecard and write down all the pertinent information from each source on a specific card. Then, I like to organize them in an order that makes sense for a working draft. The most challenging part of writing for me is writing the first draft. I like the research phase because it is simpler for me to gather data and find useful information, but the more time consuming stage is synthesizing it into a smooth, concise paper that has every argument in the most logical order. Once I have a rough draft complete, I do not mind revising and editing because I know I already have all my ideas and thoughts down in some form.
  I was fortunate to take an online english class through my local community college while a senior in high school, so I had an opportunity to use their online library data base for research purposes. I gained more confidence in using MLA citing, annotating my sources, and delving into academic research and journal sources through this experience. I learned the significance of checking an author’s credibility prior to using a particular source and personally, I prefer to use an equal number of online sources as well as physical books because I am a tactile and visual learner.
  2. I am really excited to be a part of this seminar because analyzing texts on a deeper level can be a challenge for me but I am interesting in learned more about hispanic culture through the Latin American theme. I studied British literature as a junior and surprised myself by enjoying the psychological and historical inquiries of Hamlet and MacBeth, so I think it will be fascinating to apply that sort of english literature analysis to Hispanic stories. I am expecting this class to be tough, but also an asset because I will improve my writing skills and have an introduction to writing for college professors that will prepare me for other college courses. Clear writing and explanation of ideas and opinions is a crucial part of leadership, working with others, and communication in general, and I hope this seminar will help me to set a great precedent for developing those skills in the college setting. Furthermore, I am still uncertain of what to pursue as a major. Engaging in this class will be a perfect supplement to my Spanish 230 class and perhaps I will decide to major or minor in spanish.

•   Estiven // Aug 29th 2014 at 3:21 am

  When I approached reading assignments in high school, it didn’t matter if the reading was challenging or straightforward, I approached them the same way. I insisted on annotating at least two pieces of information for each page. Afterwards, I would read the text one more time to make sure I had a solid understanding of the text, so that I could create an argument on the text I had read. Finally, if I would seek out a classmate that was willing to discuss what happened in the text. We would then build off of each others’ opinions and one of us would catch something in the reading that the other didn’t see.
  b) In high school, the papers that were assigned were opinion or analytical papers. For example, for AP English Literature we did 2-3 Op Eds in which we selected a controversial topic and used articles as evidence to enforce my argument. For writing assignments, I would spend all my time on writing down ideas that I felt comfortable or preferred in order to start with a solid thesis that is focused and includes a who, what, when, why and how. After a solid thesis, I would plan out enough ideas as possible to make them into a body paragraph that would connect to my thesis as well as prove my thesis. I would proceed to write a paragraph that explains some of the weaknesses in my position, then disprove them to enforce my argument. However, we were graded based on how well the teacher thought we did on each part of the assignment. The most challenging aspect of writing for me is sticking to an idea without going on a tangent and not proving the thesis in my essay. For most of the research papers I did in high school, I didn’t do so well because I always came up with theses that were too broad and thus, my paragraphs didn’t build of each other. For sources, we were limited from using news articles, but were encouraged to use books, and academic journals. To gather the information we found useful from the sources, we would write down all the important information in a separate document where we kept track of the authors and citations.
  2) In this First Year Seminar, I hope to learn more about the Latin American community, the effect of imperialism in Latin America and anticipate learning more about how the events in the past have caused most Latin American countries to manage with deteriorating governments and struggling economies. I am taking a high level spanish class next year so learning more about the culture will help me know more information that can come useful in this class.

•   grandam // Aug 29th 2014 at 3:26 am

  In high school when I had reading assignments, I would first find a space where I could avoid distractions and then, depending on the topic of the reading, I would use different ways to organize the information I was taking in. For readings that were more informational and fact-heavy, I would take bulleted notes or make myself a diagram in which I would record different topics and subtopics. For fictional readings I would use a looser structure with more focus on overarching themes and examples with quotes and interpretations included. Often teachers would provide their preferred method of note taking and require that their students operated within that structure. This was helpful in that it focused my reading to the parts that would be most important to understand for class but I also realized that it limited my focus on the larger ideas in the articles.
  During junior year, we read almost exclusively non-fiction works including autobiographies, scientific journals and speeches. Senior year we focused on fictional writing like novels, plays, short stories and poems. When I receive an assignment, the first reaction I have is either one of intrigue or wariness. This is largely due to my familiarity with the topic or general level of interest. If there were assignments that accompanied the readings or essays that I knew would relate back to the readings in the future then I would approach the reading from that lenses, looking for sections and information that would support my arguments. In other cases, I usually look for the main ideas and other important information, saving my newly condensed version of the reading for later use. As I complete the reading, often I would realize that the approach I thought I would have in my essay was not the one that would best accomplish the assignment and so I would adjust the lenses I was using to begin to filter through the text in the revised way. Depending on the importance of the notes, I would also sometimes re-write them to make them easier to read and understand.
  I have not written a true, fact-based research paper in quite a while because my English class senior year focused on interpreting text rather than synthesizing multiple sources. As such, I am not extremely confident in my researching abilities but getting back into the practice of writing these types of papers will help build my confidence. When writing essays in the past I have used internet databases which were provided through the school, reference books, websites, personal interviews and a variety of other sources. I usually begin by doing brief research about the general topic and then use the information I gain to focus my search.
  In this FYS I hope to learn more about Latin American culture through literature, to help supplement my Spanish class, and to improve my essay writing skills. I know that effective writing is crucial to success in college and so this experience will undoubtedly help me as I move forward. Having a basis in Latin American works will also be useful as I move through upper level Spanish classes and will provide a richer understanding of an area where I may want to study abroad in the future.

•   Kienan // Aug 29th 2014 at 3:49 am

  In high school, while reading a book for example, I would annotate in the pages and discuss certain parts of the piece that intrigued me or that I had questions on with peers or teachers. I wrote lots of response papers and reflections as well as many document based questions. While writing the reflections and responses I was able to express my opinion in a straightforward way with. While answering a document based question, I had to read and analyze several essays, maps, charts, and articles and answer a certain question posed by the teacher in an essay. For both assignments, I would reread the pieces and discuss them with my teacher to organize my thoughts. After writing one or two drafts, I would go back to my teacher to go over the drafts and make adjustments. I should keep the same approach but have more focus at each step.
  Starting a paper is the hardest part because it really sets the tone of the entire work. I have found myself sitting at my desk for half an hour trying to figure out what the best intro would be to capture and captivate the audience. I use websites such as JStor to find print documents to use as sources in my papers.
  I am excited to read Latin American literature because of my Mexican background. I have family from Mexico and have heard many stories about life in Latin America as I have grown up. I intend to minor in Spanish and use my knowledge and understanding of Latin America and Spanish to help me connect with my family and the culture of Southern California better.

•   medinaeg // Aug 29th 2014 at 4:32 am

  For reading assignments I would give myself three to four hours to read. If the book was interesting I would read for a longer amount of time in order to finish the book. Though many of our reading assignments were read at class hours and we would analyze as a class. Our teacher would give us a summary of the story and why she chose this novel. We had a list from which to choose pre-selected books and many of them I still have not had the opportunity to read. I will always recommend the book To Kill a Mockingbird.

  For writing assignment we would write analytical essays were we would use literary devices and explain how they were used to help convey the meaning of the work. The first step for me was to re-read the reading and annotate the devices I knew that were being used. I would try to make outlines but ended up just writing off the top of my head. I would not give myself enough time to write and re-read my work. Literary devices are used for reasons but it is hard for me to understand how it truly helps the story. Comparative essays were a little bit harder as you supposed to analyze two separate texts and understand them before you could make an outline. Comparing and contrasting the ideas of both authors is time consuming and takes a lot of effort.

  For my researching experience I did not do much research. I would use books I knew that had similar ideas but would forget the part at which the idea came across. Having a large set of novels and texts, which are useful with information, is hard to find the one that fits in with your ideas. Usually for assignments we would use the texts, as we would try to find the devices the author/poet used to convey their idea. Each stanza, sentence, and word becomes information to analyze which is hard for me to grasp the idea.

  I hope to become a better writer and not be afraid to write an essay. I hope to become acquainted with the library and the writing clinic, as I would be there most of my times preparing essays and finding outside sources for essays. The information here would help me because writing expands your knowledge of the information you are writing about. Not being afraid to get an essay is my goal which I hope to be prepared for and able to know the steps to make an excellent argument.

•   Aden // Sep 2nd 2014 at 10:37 pm

  a) In high school I would usually do enough research or reading on a topic to develop a good understanding before starting the paper. I would create a thesis using this method. I would then go back to the sources I felt backed up my thesis and write the paper.
  b) I completed mostly opinion and analytical pieces in high school. Many were also compare and contrast essays. I often took a long time assessing the task. I would consider the different sides I could take in writing the paper and which would give me the strongest argument. I did not consider my strengths and weakness before writing a paper, nor how much prior knowledge I had. Planning my approach was the most important part of the process for me. I would research fully before deciding how to write the paper. I did not use a plan for my essays so there was not much monitoring of how well I stayed on task. My current approach works to an extent for me. The papers have good facts and content, but there is not a lot of fluidity or direction. I need to organize my writing. The most challenging part of writing for me is how the content fits in and the order it needs to go in.
  c) I have used a variety of sources in my writing; from academic journals to newspapers. I glance them over primarily and if they have the information I need, I read them more in-depth.

  2) I expect to learn how to write quality papers that are acceptable in the higher level classes of college. I believe that learning how to write correctly will help me gain higher grades in all my classes. It will also make writing strong essays a less daunting and time consuming task.

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