astonge1997-blog

[astonge1997-blog]

Writing Process Analysis

There is one main reason, as to why I chose to tell this story. That reason is because I want everyone to know what could happen to you as a result of not talking about your feelings. Who knows what would have happened if my Uncle had just stopped to talk to someone about how he was depressed because his wife died; he may still be alive today. Regardless of why I chose to write this story, it was really hard for me to write due to the fact that it brought up a lot of old emotions that I have kind of buried down deep inside me, about this situation. I found that the best way for me to write this paper was to sit down and write down everything that I knew and write about how all of it made me feel because at the end of the day that is what this paper was about. At least that is what I think this assignment was made to do. It was made to make you feel something when you read it. This story made me feel sad and happy and proud of my uncle. Regardless of how he died. I learned that it is important to put things down on paper, especially things that you are feeling because of the fact that you are not keeping that emotion inside of you the entire time.

[astonge1997-blog]

Literary Narrative Final Draft

Two Gold Rings

When you are five years old you don’t really understand the concept of what death was or what happens. All I know is that on August 8, 2002, I was at the beach and was dressed to go out when my mom and my aunt walked into the kitchen with tears rolling down their faces. My dad sent me to my room where I angrily waited to go down to the beach when a few minutes later my dad walked in and told me that there had been an accident and that I needed to get dressed because we were going home. After that moment the day was pretty much a blur except for when I got to this big old musty building where my entire family was waiting and crying when a man came out and they told my dad and mom to go inside with my grandparents and to leave the kids outside. A few minutes later I remember everyone coming back crying even harder than they were before they left. I wanted to know what was going on but no one would tell me. It wasn’t till a few hours later that my parents had told me that my Uncle Carlos, the most amazing uncle that I had just seen a few days before, had died in a motorcycle accident.

A few years after my uncle had passed away, my grandmother started wearing this necklace. It was two gold rings on a gold chain one just big enough for the smaller one to fit inside the bigger one. It was then that I realized that those rings were my aunt and uncles wedding bands. Those two gold bands that once were on my aunt and uncle’s hands were now on a chain around her neck where they were supposed to stay until the day that she died. I didn’t know it then but those rings were going to be eventually passed down to me.

When I reached the age of fifteen I learned two very important things.  These two things were that when my grandmother passed away I would be given those rings since I was the closest to my Aunt and Uncle. When I heard that I immediately started to cry because at the same time I also learned that my uncle was not who I thought he was. I learned that the happy person that would always bring us toys and would make us laugh was a very dark and sad person. The day I found out that I was going to be passed down those two gold rings on the gold chain, I also found out that my uncle was very depressed. My aunt had died from breast cancer the year before and to help numb the gut wrenching pain that my uncle felt from her death he decided to turn to drugs, and that when he died he was under the influence of several drugs. It was a mix of drugs, poor decision-making, and mechanical failure with his bike that day that caused him to die.

Ever since the day that I found out that my uncle was a on drugs when he died I swore to myself again that I would never associate myself with it or ever put myself in a situation where I was around it. As of today, I have continued to keep that promise and will continue to keep that promise until the day that I die. As I went through high school I continued to find out more information about what my uncle was really like, by hearing all the stories that my mom would talk about from her childhood up and till before my aunt died.

Although my uncle was not the person he once was when he died I still would have been proud to wear those two gold rings around my neck, because in my eyes he will always be that person that when we were having a bad day would run out to Toys R Us and would bring a toy to our house. He was the person that on Easter Sunday, after dying our eggs he would break one open and would put ketchup on it and while I made faces he would say “Sweet Pea, don’t judge it till you try it”. He was the person that I would always hug first when I went to family events, and even today I am pretty sure I still would.

When my little sister turned 15 my grandmother gave her a little box that contained something very special. It was a rose gold necklace with a rose on the pendant. My uncle gave it to my grandma just two weeks before he died, and she gave it to my little sister on her fifteenth birthday. None of us were expecting what we were about to see. When my mom saw it after it was opened she started to tear up a little because she realized what it was. That is when my grandmother told us what it was that caused everyone in the room to go completely silent and start to tear up a little bit. That same year but just a month later, my older sister graduated from high school, and when she got to the present my grandparents were giving her, my mom told us all to look at my older sister because we would want to see this. We all turned around and stared at my older sister who was quite freaked out at this point and that is when my grandma gripped my grandpa’s hand and waited to see the reaction of my older sister. When she opened the box my older sister started to cry, in the middle of the restaurant, she did not say anything she just got up and hugged my grandparents who were sitting quietly and were tearing up. The reason they were crying is because they had just given my older sister a necklace that was given to my uncle when he graduated from high school.

Then, the unthinkable happened, when I graduated from high school it was a day full of happiness and emotions. I had finally graduated high school and I was feeling on top of this world. Following pictures after the ceremony we drove downtown to the place where we would have a celebratory dinner with my parents, my two sisters, my uncle, and of course my grandparents. After ordering our food, it was time to open my presents. I started with the presents from my parents, then my sisters, then my uncle, and then finally with my grandparents present to me. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see. Once again my mom called everyone’s attention and told everyone  to watch. I slowly opened the box kind of nervous about what I was about to see. Once more my grandmother gripped my grandpa’s hand, and I noticed that my mom was already crying and when I finally got the box open, I looked down and saw something I thought I wouldn’t see for a really long time. In that tiny box were two gold rings on a gold chain that used to hang around my grandmothers neck.

I just sat there for a few minutes taking in what was in front of me. When I looked up everyone was crying, and that is when my grandmother looked at me and said “Le hubiera gustado que usted recibiera esto hoy”. Which translates to “he would have wanted you to have this today”. With tears rolling down my face I got up and just hugged my grandparents, because this is something that I am proud to have, because it represents two people that meant a lot to me regardless of how they died. I think about them everyday and now that I have this necklace I can look down and always know that I have something that was so meaningful to them and to my grandmother, and now I have two gold rings on a gold chain that when I go home hangs around my neck. I now have a piece of them and I always will.

[astonge1997-blog]

Literary Narrative Rough Draft

                                               Two Gold Rings

When you are five years old you don’t really understand the concept of what death was or what happens. All I know is that on August 8, 2002, I was at the beach and was dressed to go out when my mom and my aunt walked into the kitchen with tears rolling down their faces. My dad sent me to my room where I angrily waited to go down to the beach when a few minutes later my dad walked in and told me that there had been an accident and that I needed to get dressed because we were going home. After that moment the day was pretty much a blur except when I got to this big old musty building where my entire family was waiting and crying when a man came out and they told my dad and mom to go inside with my grandparents and to leave us outside.  A few minutes later I remember everyone coming back crying even harder than they were before they left. I wanted to know what was going on but no one would tell me. It wasn’t till a few hours later that my parents had told me that my Uncle Carlos, who I had just seen a few days before, had died in a motorcycle accident.

A few years after my uncle had passed away, my grandmother started wearing this necklace. It was two gold rings on a gold chain one just big enough for the smaller one to fit inside the bigger one. It was then that I realized that those rings were my aunt and uncles wedding bands. Those two gold bands that once were on my aunt and uncle’s hands were now on a chain around her neck where they were supposed to stay until the day that she died. I didn’t know it then but those rings were going to be eventually passed down to me.

When I reached the age of fifteen I learned two very important things.  These two things were that when my grandmother passed away I would be given those rings since I was the closest to my Aunt and Uncle. When I heard that I immediately started to cry because at the same time I also learned that my uncle was not who I thought he was. I learned that the happy person that would always bring us toys and would make us laugh was very dark and sad person. The day I found out that I was going to be passed down those two gold rings on the gold chain, I also found out that my uncle was very depressed when my aunt died from breast cancer and to help numb the gut wrenching pain that he felt from her death he decided to turn to drugs, and that when he died he was under the influence of several drugs. It was a mix of drugs, poor decision-making, and mechanical failure with his bike that day that caused him to die.

Ever since the day that I found out that my uncle was a on drugs when he died I swore to myself again that I would never associate myself with it or ever put myself in a situation where I was around it. As of today, I have continued to keep that promise and will continue to keep that promise until the day that I die. As I went through high school I continued to find out more information about what my uncle was really like, by hearing all the stories that my mom would talk about from her childhood up and till before my aunt died.

Although my uncle was not the person he once was when he died I still would have been proud to wear those two gold rings around my neck, because in my eyes he will always be that person that when we were having a bad day would run out to Toys R Us and would bring a toy to our house. He was the person that on Easter Sunday, after dying our eggs he would break one open and would put ketchup on it and while I made faces he would say “Sweet Pea, don’t judge it till you try it”. He was the person that I would always hug first when I went to family events, and even today I am pretty sure I still would.

When my little sister turned 15 my grandmother gave her a little box that contained something very special. It was a rose gold necklace with a rose on the pendant. My uncle gave it to my grandma just two weeks before he died, and she gave it to my little sister on her fifteenth birthday. None of us were expecting it, it was something that when my little sister opened it and my mom saw it and my grandmother, told us what it was that caused everyone in the room to go completely silent and start to tear up a little bit. That same year but just a month later, my older sister graduated from high school, and when she got to the present my grandparents were giving her, my mom told us all to look at my older sister because we would want to see this. We all turned around and stared at my older sister who was quite freaked out at this point and that is when my grandma gripped my grandpa’s hand and waited to see the reaction of my older sister. When she opened the box my older sister started to cry, in the middle of the restaurant, she did not say anything she just got up and hugged my grandparents who were sitting quietly and were tearing up. The reason they were crying is because they had just given my older sister a necklace that was given to my uncle when he graduated from high school.

Then, the unthinkable happened, when I graduated from high school it was a day full of happiness and emotions. I had finally graduated high school and I was feeling on top of this world. Following pictures after the ceremony we drove downtown to the place where we would have a celebratory dinner with my parents, my two sisters, my uncle, and of course my grandparents. After ordering our food, it was time to open my presents. I started with the presents from my parents, then my sisters, then my uncle, and then finally with my grandparents present to me. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see. Once again my mom called everyone’s attention and told them to watch. I slowly opened the box kinda nervous about what I was about to see. Once more my grandmother gripped my grandpa’s hand, and I noticed that my mom was already crying and when I finally got the box open, I looked down and saw something I thought I wouldn’t see for a really long time. In that tiny box were two gold rings on a gold chain that used to hang around my grandmothers neck.

I just sat there for a few minutes taking in what was in front of me. When I looked up everyone was crying, and that is when my grandmother looked at me and said “Le hubiera gustado que usted recibiera esto hoy”. Which translates to “he would have wanted you to have this today. With tears rolling down my face I got up and just hugged my grandparents, because this is something that I am proud to have, because it represents two people that meant a lot of me regardless of how they died. I think about them everyday and now that I have this necklace I can look down and always know that I have something that was so meaningful to them and to my grandmother, and now I have two gold rings on a gold chain that when I go home hangs around my neck. I now have a piece of them and I always will.

[astonge1997-blog]

Writing Feedback

I have a love hate relationship when it comes to having to write a paper. Its not because of the grammar or even because of organizing the paper to where it flows and makes sense. I hate papers because of all of the punctuation that goes into it. I am okay in the area regarding commas and apostrophes, it is the semicolons that I have trouble with. Mostly, due to the fact that I do not know where I am supposed to place them. I found a website that will help me with my problem with semicolons and that website is http://www.edufind.com/english-grammar/semicolon/. I feel like with the help of this website I will be better informed with when to use a semicolon in a paper, due to the examples that it gave me. 

[astonge1997-blog]

Presentation on Judith Ortiz Cofer

[astonge1997-blog]

Racial Injustice

        In today’s world there are a lot of oppressions and injustices. One of the biggest injustices facing the world today is Racial Injustice. Out of all the Injustices you hear about, racial injustice is the one that strikes the biggest chord for many Americans. It strikes the biggest chord due to the fact that you can see it around you everyday. Along with the fact that it is very popular right now in the news, especially with the presidential campaign being in full swing. One of the biggest things that have happened was an event that took place at Donald Trump’s rally.

           What is racial injustice? Garcia, Pablo, and O. Wallace define racial injustice as “the act of being unjust to an individual or group based on race, particularly concerning legally recognized rights.” This article was written to give the reader some background as to what all goes on with racial injustice. This is an article that gives you more fact than it does opinion. As a matter of fact this article barely gives you any opinions from the writer. It is important to know the history behind racial injustice in order to fully understand what it all entails. This article is very important due to the fact that, without the proper education and or information as to what something is, can you really be someone that says that something is right or wrong.

What is the first thing that you think about when you hear about the statement all lives matter? When a lot of people think about it they think of equality, at the same time there is an underlying message to it. The article written by Dave Bry is about an event that took place at a presidential candidate Donald Trump’s rally in Alabama. What happened was a black protestor showed up at Trump’s rally with a black lives matter shirt on. Dave Bry stated; “at least one Trump supporter standing near the protestor starts chanting a refutation, “All lives matter.”” This is important because of the fact that the way that the Trump supporter was saying it was more of in a negative connotation because of the fact that they were saying it in a way that was negative. This article was written to make you see how people really feel about the whole black lives matter revolution. Even though the statement is saying that all lives matter it does not actually mean equality. It just depends on how it is used.

It happened on a day that was a lot like any other, in your average neighborhood in the south part of downtown Raleigh.  When Officer D.C. Twiddy noticed someone that had outstanding warrants, so naturally like any other police officer would do, he went in to make an arrest. Seems like any other arrest right?  Wrong! The Associated Press states that “A black man who was killed by a white police officer in Raleigh. N.C., on Monday was shot during a struggle when the man pulled a gun from his waistband and then reached toward the officers’ weapon […].” These are the kinds of articles that we are seeing these days, and they all have one common theme and it is usually has something to do with police brutality and or a black male being killed by a white police officer. This article is designed to give you all of the facts of what happened. Which is one of the reasons as to why it is so short. It is with articles like these that are designed to give you the facts and nothing but the facts. The media and the author want to give the reader the power to believe what they want, with the information that they are being given.

It has been almost three years since the first time people my age ever heard about police brutality. The first case that someone every really remembers hearing is about Trayvon Martin. After that incident its like more and more have popped up since then, cases about police brutality have not stopped, so much to the point where now it is something that you hear about on a daily basis these days but the only time that you really only hear about it is when a minority is involved. In Shaun king’s article a startling fact is revealed. Shaun King states “more than 1,000 people were killed by police in 2014[…]”. That fact is designed to make you realize that more than just the minorities are victims of police brutality. The problem is that police brutality is only ever heard about when someone in the minority is involved. Personally no one ever thinks about the fact that people who are not considered as part of the minority are also killed and or are victims of police brutality.

These articles all have one thing in common. That one thing is that these authors want to educate their readers. The authors want to educate their readers so that they can be informed in the things that are going on in our world today. That way they know how to respond to certain things. A lot of these articles have shed light on the recent incidents that have happened that involve the killing of “innocent” black men by white police officers. As Americans, we owe it to everyone in this country to educate ourselves and realize that there is an actual problem that is taking place in our country, and that problem is racial injustice.

  Works cited.

The Associated Press. "North Carolina: Details Released on Fatal Shooting by Police Officer." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Mar. 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.

Bry, Dave. "'All Lives Matter' Is and Always Was Racist – the Weekend's Campaign Rally Proved It | Dave Bry." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 23 Nov. 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

Garcia, Pablo, and O. Wallace. "What Is Racial Injustice?" WiseGeek. Conjecture, 12 Mar. 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2016

King, Shaun. "KING: Police Brutality Hasn't Subsided, but Outrage Has." NY Daily News. 26 Feb. 2016. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.