Ellie Deifel

Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2020, Semester 2

March 17, 2021

Unit 2 Learning Log

Unit 2 Day 1:

Two Golden Quotes - “In the present age, to be literate means to be able to communicate

through texts in ways that help you meet your needs and the needs of others.” This quote

explains how writing has developed and the word literate has developed with it. “Once we

become aware of the various personal literacies we practice in our lives, we can begin to see their

connections to the academic literate practices we must develop to meet our academic goals.” It is

difficult to navigate personal writing and academic writing.

Timeline - Being read to as a baby, learning sounds of letters and words, learning how to speak,

learning to read, reading nursery rhymes, reading my first real book, doing book reports, getting

into reading a few series like Percy Jackson, writing 1 page essays in middle school, writing an 8

page essay in high school.

Unit 2 Day 2:

Why is storytelling so vital quotes - “ When we use language to recount events in our life, we

are deliberately utilizing strategies in order to enact a particular type of response to our words.”

“They are a form of action, of entering and living in the world.”

Explain this quote - When we write something we are opening up a part of ourselves to the

reader and connecting with them. So when we read something we are also opening up ourselves

to hear what they have to say.

Unit 2 Day 3:

2 Ah ha Moments - “Was the story I had written a lie? Was it simply my version?” Stories can

be true to an extent“I would argue, however, that one thing is clear: the minute we start to retell a

story from our past we are constructing it from our point of view, so there’s no need to get too

worried about getting every detail correct.”

How is “Truth” complicated? - Truth is complicated because someones truth can be different

compared to someone else's truth. It could be different perspectives or what each person

remembers.

Unit 2 Day 4:

Ideas from Video - When thinking about a topic you will think about other things, you want to

write these down and explain them. The reader cant follow your train of thought so you have to

explain it. Because the reader cannot follow your train of thought you have to keep it organized

so it is easy to understand.

Technique from each section -

The Power of Scene - “areas of intense focus where we describe people, places, and

actions in order to make a reader feel they have witnessed something themselves. “

The Power of Experience - People compare experiences to their own. In order for the

reader to connect to the words being written it has to be relatable.

 The Power of Sensory Detail - “gives an additional texture of reality to the subject, but

it can help memory.” Helps the reader to better visualize what is going on.

The Power of Voice - Your tone of voice and the dialog used helps keep the reader

engaged.

The Power of Conflict - Conflicts show that it is something worth caring about and that

there are different opinions on it. It keeps the reader wanting more, keeps them

captivated.

Unit 2 Day 5:

How does the acronym success make you a better writer?

S- Simple- Be direct and too the point so that you don't loose the reader. If there is too much

detail the reader could get bored.

U-Unexpected- Keeping the story interesting by doing something the reader never would have

expected. This keeps the reader engaged.

C-Concrete- Keep what you are writing about solid, if you aren't sure what you are writing then

the reader wont know. It needs to be clear and organized to be able to understand.

C-Credible- When telling a story it is important to keep it as factual as possible.

E-Emotional- Involving emotion in the story give the reader something to connect to.

S-Story-Based- Keeping it authentic and personal helps the reader relate to the story and connect

to.

Unit 2 Day 6:

Three Ironic Statements - “To narrate our lives is to admit to a point of view and to ground our

arguments in the lived experience of who we are.” “It is to push back on the so-called objective
view, which holds that we can carefully reason through a position without our own motives

interfering.” ““I find it amazing to think that so many years later I still strive to argue for

storytelling as a form of analysis, and I still carry a nagging sense of shame about that, a murmur

of ‘you’re touchy-feely, you’re not rigorous enough.”” These statements are all ironic because

there are so many different points of view on narrative writing and storytelling that there are

arguments going both ways.

How is a story an argument - A story argues how an event went down and what happened. It

argues that their perspective is correct when there are other perspectives to be taken into account.

Unit 2 Day 7:

How is a story underlying all understanding? List five specific ways - Timeline, occasion or

event, tone of voice, emotions, detail.

2 ah ha moments - “Writers seeking to create the narrative effect work to realize these qualities

for the reader.” “The narrative effect can be used within other types of texts, such as within a

text that is more informative or more persuasively oriented.”