English Portfolio

Currently out of all three the papers I am putting into my portfolio, I am not confident to say one single paper shows my best work. I believe all my papers need a lot of editing because currently they are disorganized and they need to become clear of what the argument is.
In my close reading essay, I have a good example of closing reading an epigraph and providing an explanation of Krakauer's purpose of using this quote. I just need to elaborate on it more and do not leave the reader hanging. However, I do not close read every epigraph nor do I talk about the individuals who wrote each epigraph. I need to change that in this essay. In my introduction, I need to make an introduction that explains who McCandless instead of jumping right into my essay. Finally, I am too vague in the essay and need to focus on a specific argument about families.
In my McCandless essay, I need to make a clear argument about McCandless's journey in order to show how he over romanticized nature by isolating himself from society which resulted in his arrogance about the treacherous wilderness. I do provide good examples of this but really need to explain the quotes better. I also need to address the naysayer because I know there are a lot of people who disagree with my opinion. Finally, I also need to include scholarly sources. But mostly I need to organize my paper and be specific throughout my whole paper.
In my research essay, I believe I have a lot of strong points and quotes, but with these quotes I need to explain the meaning and how it connects to my main point. Currently my paper is filled with facts, but i need to analyze the meaning behind the quotes. Also, some of my facts are not necessary to my main point. But mostly I need to organize my paper. I use good explications of the movie to provide a deeper meaning of the movie and how it relates to American culture.

Krakauer Research

I thought Krakauer's research methods were successful until the very end of the novel. Throughout the whole entire novel, Krakauer consistently interviews people that Chris McCandless had meet throughout his whole entire journey. A good place of this is in Chapter eleven when Krakauer interviews Chris's family. Krakauer discovers the history of McCandless's childhood and finds out that he was different compared to the other children. Chris marched to his own beat and did not like being told what to do. Whenever his father gave him advice, McCandless would always roll his eyes or argue. I believe Krakauer did a good job in researching McCandless's childhood because the reader got a better idea of what type of person he really was. The reader also discovered where McCandless's passion for the wilderness came and who he really admired.
At the end of the novel I thought Krakauer's research was a little sketch because Krakauer really wanted to know what happened to McCandless. He wanted to prove that anyone could make a simple mistake by unknowingly eat a rotten potato seed. Even though Krakauer had good intentions, I thought he was trying to make his research work. Initially when he first the seeds tested, the scientists said there was the seeds were not poisonous; however, when an article came out about how toxic the rotting seeds can be he wanted to make it work. Overall, I believe that Krakauer's research was well executed throughout the novel.

Primary Source

My primary source is very important to my research paper because the movie, Some Like it Hot, allows the audience to witness how a woman's sex appeal has a huge impact on a man. This also allowed the audience to witness feminism throughout the whole movie because women were so much more than just a house wife. In the movie it showed an all woman's band which was not too common because women were known to be inferior to men. It showed how women are just as equally important compared to men because these women were performing with musical instruments and had a lot more qualities than just becoming house wives. The main argument I am going to focus on is how this movie was the beginning of feminism and sex appeal in the film industry. Throughout time, women were not portrayed as important in the society of men. However, this movie shows how men and women are capable of being equal and sets the foundation for other films to follow. My research is important because it allows the American society to see where our movies came from and how much they have progressed over time. It shows the American society how one women can change the film industry by using sex appeal. I am not saying that sex appeal is the answer, but Marilyn Monroe opened the doors for the film industry to expand the importance of women in American society. Women are hard workers who are searching for love and to become successful in their daily lives. Today, women are able to do whatever they want because feminism started to grow throughout the decades.

Research Paper

The topic of my research paper is a movie called Some Like it Hot starring Marilyn Monroe. In this paper I am going to argue that this movie is a stepping stone in expressing feminism and sex appeal which resulted in the changed the foundation of the film industry. This topic impacts American culture because today we witness a lot of movies with sex appeal.The 1950s began an era of a different kind of entertainment that forgot about women's inferiority and instead featured women's sex appeal to drive the men. Marilyn Monroe was a huge influence for feminism because without her sex appeal the movie industry would be completely different. I believe that this movie is different compared to other movies out there because this movie and other Marilyn Monroe movies are the foundation of a new form of entertainment. This type of entertainment influenced other films to become more daring and show the feminism of women throughout the decades. This movie is extremely unique because it's a comedy that keeps the audience wanting more. The specific cultural issues that I will explain in my paper will be the importance of women in American society and how they are equally important compared to men. All because Marilyn Monroe did use sex appeal in her life and movies that does not mean that every women should acted to like Marilyn. Marilyn set the foundation for women today. She allowed women to dream and hope for things that were not possible during the 1950s. This is relevant to my research because the film industry has a huge impact on American culture. Since the film industry starred Marilyn Monroe in multiple movies, it allowed women to believe they can do anything that they put their minds to.

Assessment

The paper that I choose to access was the close reading paper about Christopher McCandless. I believe this paper is in the middle range because I provided strong epigraphs that really helped prove my argument. Even though I tried to close read these epigraphs, there needs to be more research from where these epigraphs came from. I need to get to the heart of the each epigraph which is lacking in a couple paragraphs. It would be a good idea to explain where these epigraphs came from, not just how these epigraphs relate to McCandless. Once I achieve this, I believe my paper will be stronger and the reader will have a better understanding about the authors of the each epigraph. Another reason why I believe my essay is a middle because the argument is not clear throughout my whole essay and the naysayer is not clearly address. In order to achieve this I need to make the argument clear in the introduction paragraph so the reader knows what to expect throughout my whole essay and focus on this argument. Finally, my paragraphs could be expanded because they kind of leave the reader wanting to know more and is starting to get to the heart of my essay. Overall, I need to re-read my essay to determine the main argument of my paper. I need to expand my ideas, incorporate other sources in addition to the novel Into the Wild, and make my ideas more clear for the reader to understand. Once I successful do this, I believe my paper will become a high.

Into the Wild

I believe Krakauer's storytelling his helping the reader understand Chris's purpose for going into the wild. For me, it gave me a better understanding of how all these people went on their own adventures and failed. Why did they fail? Because our society is not fit to live in the wild with minimal equipment and food. On page 75 Gene Rosellini wrote a letter to a friend stating, "I learned that it is not possible for human beings as we know them to live off the land." Rosellini wanted to become a Stone Age native, but near the end of his journey he experienced the physical, mental, and emotional reality of living in the wild. Sure, it may be possible for some people to live in the wild and survive, but we don't hear about those kind of people. We hear about the people who fail and are found dead in the wild. Rosellini accepted this failure and acknowledge it. I believe this helps Krakauer's story because he is continuously explaining how people go out there to see if they can go live in the wild and conquer an amazing dream of theirs. For me, these stories are prime examples of how McCandless continuously made mistakes along his journey to conquer his dream. All of these stories happened before McCandless left for his adventure, but McCandless was too cocky and thought he could do everything by himself and overcome nature.

Taylor Swift

I found the article about Taylor Swift fascinating because I agree that Taylor Swift is not Grammy worthy. In the article, I believed the visuals added to the article and added to the authors argument. In high school, I never thought she was an amazing song writer and I believed that everyone who was listened to her music was naive about reality. Her songs mostly focused on fairy tales which is what every high school girl wants, their own fairy tale. I strongly believe that Taylor Swifts is not an unique artist because her songs are soft and safe. There is nothing wrong with being safe, but I believe in order to win a Grammy there must be some risk taken. Anyone can write the type of songs that Taylor Swift writes. Lady Gaga and Beyoncé are Grammy worthy because they have the vocals, take risks, and are unique in their own individual way. They are everything that Taylor Swift is not. Lady Gaga and Beyoncé have been working extremely hard for many years to become what they are today. After reading, "Swift was able to succeed so early 'cause her family was both supportive & wealthy enough to enable her ambitions." This frustrates me because to me it seems like Taylor Swift did not earn the Grammy's because her parents were wealthy and were able to make her dreams come true. Whenever I see Taylor Swift perform I want to change the channel because all I see is her standing up there and playing her guitar. Maybe I'm just being biased because I have never actually been to one of her concerts, but I know when I see Lady Gaga and Beyoncé perform on stage I'm fascinated to see what they will come up with this time. These two artists are extremely unpredictable, but that's what makes them great artists and performers. I'm sorry, but Taylor Swift is just an average person and definitely does not deserve a Grammy. A Grammy nominee needs to be unique, take risks and have amazing vocals which Taylor Swift does not have.