1) Final Draft
2) Second Draft
3) First Draft
4) Blog Posts
Monday, September 14, 2009
Final Draft
My early childhood years were full of tee ball, peewee football, and junior basketball games. It was hard to be the star player when my teammates were all older than me. I was always the youngest player on the field. Sure there is going to be some mild intimidation at first, but from a very young age I had always loved baseball more than any other sport. Eventually, by the time I hit double digits, I stuck strictly to baseball. I was able to refine my "fundamental baseball skills." I accomplished this by devoting all my time and effort into baseball. “You have to develop your fundamentals,” that is what my pitching camp coach would always reiterate to me every 60 min session I had with him. I started throwing with Chuck Neil in the spring of 2005, by time I was fourteen. He ran a pitching camp in Naperville, Illinois that was known for producing some of the top pitchers in the area. My parents would drive me there 3 days a week for sixty minute sessions with Chuck. From the first day I could tell he was very knowledgeable on the art of pitching. He helped me developed my pitching skills significantly faster than the rest of the kids my age. Most of the baseball players in my league took the winter off to play other sports, or just to concentrate on school. I was hard at work, with Chuck, developing my pitching form, release, and follow through. Those were the basic fundamentals that Chuck stressed so much to me.
This opened new doors for me to play with the North Aurora River Rats travel baseball team. They only take a select amount of players and travel all over the state and sometimes out to surrounding states for tournaments. This allowed me to play the best of the best that were the same age as me. Right around this time I noticed that I could compete with the older kids. My intimidation and fear that I had before of being the youngest player never crossed my mind when I was pitching now because we were all on an even age. In the travel leagues I was able to be tested. All the years of travel baseball ended up building to my most defining moment in my baseball years to date.
It was early August 2007 and I was 16. I found myself on the team bus to Northern Illinois Travel Baseball World Series. All my hard work over the past 10 years finally paid off that year. When I got to Rockford I was in the zone I knew I would probably have to throw twice within a 3 day span. I knew what to expect I had played most of the teams there at least once during the regular season. They ended up saving me the first game 3 games and I was on the spotlight for the last game of the season. The pressure only caused me to be more focused. After watching my team blow through 3 games with no problem I was able to use my immense confidence to push aside all the pressure. I had been dreaming of this game since tee ball and I was in the exact position I wanted to be.
One muggy summer night when the air was thick with humidity and the mosquitoes bit over and over again. I stood on the mound with a freshly opened game ball. Its bleach white skin was only a temporary to the sweat and dirt that it would accumulate over the 7 innings of baseball ahead. "Hey niner here we go play ball,” screamed the umpire. The adrenaline rush I got before I threw that first pitch was incredible. After throwing 2 innings my arm felt great my team was making plays and I mean really good plays not just fundamental plays that are expected in the beginning of the season. This was the end of the road and everyone was on the ball. Likewise was the opposing team from near by Saint Charles. I threw a couple K’s over 2 innings and by the fifth inning our bats started light the sky up with line drives. The other team through started to catch me on a couple bad pitches and they produced a steady offense throughout the game.
It was the final inning and we were up by two runs. Before I went out my dad came over to me and said, " hey buddy remember this is your game go out there relax and throw hard." I did just that I threw as hard as I could and stuck the first batter out and the second was an easy strikeout at the bottom of the order. All my teammates started to yell encouragement out from the field behind me. Now all I had to do was get one more batter out and the championship was ours. The only thing was it was the top of the order. These next 3 batters were some of the most dangerous hitters I have ever faced. They had been connecting on my bad pitches all night. The next batter gave me the scare of my life. After three or four pitches he cracked a homerun to dead center on me. My heart dropped and I was thanking God that no other runners where on base. They were now within one run of forcing extra innings. This put me on the spot, my arm was dead, and all are other available pitchers were still nursing their recently used arms. I had to force next batter out no matter what. After 5 pitches, which seemed like an eternity he smacked one in the right centerfield gap, allowing him to get to second with ease. I was starting to get very nervous but I just kept thinking about what Chuck said about fundamentals. The next batter took the first pitch while the runner on second stole third with ease. We did not want to take the chance of an over thrown ball that would end up tying the game, and force an extra inning game. I threw with everything I had. The count was three balls two strikes. I’ll never forget what happened next. I threw my last fastball I had in me high and inside. Some how the batter stepped out of the box with his left foot and pulled that sucker to left field. It was crushed and this time my heart really did drop. All I could do was watch my left fielder track it back to the warning track. He stretched his arm out and caught it just over the fence. I threw my hands up and ran out to left field with the rest of my team. My left fielder, Robby Turner, a name I will never forget gave me the game ball. The only thing I could say was, “no no no no no this ball is yours you won this game for us.”
I played with that travel team up until my final weeks of this past summer. My teammates have stayed pretty much same over the past 4 years. We have developed such good chemistry that we can predict each others next move. When you play with any team for four years and win a championship together you developed something special. It is very hard to explain but it is kind of like a brotherhood. I spent more time training, practicing, and playing games with that group of guys in the past four years, than I have spent with my own parents. The decision to stick strictly to baseball was the best decision of my life. It has given me the confidence to over come anything with a little motivation. It has also given me the chance to develop friendships with people who have to same interests as me. I’m sure I could go on and on about how baseball has changed my life, but I honestly think that as long as you make good friends and do what you love you will be happy. That’s what the last four years of playing baseball has brought me.
This opened new doors for me to play with the North Aurora River Rats travel baseball team. They only take a select amount of players and travel all over the state and sometimes out to surrounding states for tournaments. This allowed me to play the best of the best that were the same age as me. Right around this time I noticed that I could compete with the older kids. My intimidation and fear that I had before of being the youngest player never crossed my mind when I was pitching now because we were all on an even age. In the travel leagues I was able to be tested. All the years of travel baseball ended up building to my most defining moment in my baseball years to date.
It was early August 2007 and I was 16. I found myself on the team bus to Northern Illinois Travel Baseball World Series. All my hard work over the past 10 years finally paid off that year. When I got to Rockford I was in the zone I knew I would probably have to throw twice within a 3 day span. I knew what to expect I had played most of the teams there at least once during the regular season. They ended up saving me the first game 3 games and I was on the spotlight for the last game of the season. The pressure only caused me to be more focused. After watching my team blow through 3 games with no problem I was able to use my immense confidence to push aside all the pressure. I had been dreaming of this game since tee ball and I was in the exact position I wanted to be.
One muggy summer night when the air was thick with humidity and the mosquitoes bit over and over again. I stood on the mound with a freshly opened game ball. Its bleach white skin was only a temporary to the sweat and dirt that it would accumulate over the 7 innings of baseball ahead. "Hey niner here we go play ball,” screamed the umpire. The adrenaline rush I got before I threw that first pitch was incredible. After throwing 2 innings my arm felt great my team was making plays and I mean really good plays not just fundamental plays that are expected in the beginning of the season. This was the end of the road and everyone was on the ball. Likewise was the opposing team from near by Saint Charles. I threw a couple K’s over 2 innings and by the fifth inning our bats started light the sky up with line drives. The other team through started to catch me on a couple bad pitches and they produced a steady offense throughout the game.
It was the final inning and we were up by two runs. Before I went out my dad came over to me and said, " hey buddy remember this is your game go out there relax and throw hard." I did just that I threw as hard as I could and stuck the first batter out and the second was an easy strikeout at the bottom of the order. All my teammates started to yell encouragement out from the field behind me. Now all I had to do was get one more batter out and the championship was ours. The only thing was it was the top of the order. These next 3 batters were some of the most dangerous hitters I have ever faced. They had been connecting on my bad pitches all night. The next batter gave me the scare of my life. After three or four pitches he cracked a homerun to dead center on me. My heart dropped and I was thanking God that no other runners where on base. They were now within one run of forcing extra innings. This put me on the spot, my arm was dead, and all are other available pitchers were still nursing their recently used arms. I had to force next batter out no matter what. After 5 pitches, which seemed like an eternity he smacked one in the right centerfield gap, allowing him to get to second with ease. I was starting to get very nervous but I just kept thinking about what Chuck said about fundamentals. The next batter took the first pitch while the runner on second stole third with ease. We did not want to take the chance of an over thrown ball that would end up tying the game, and force an extra inning game. I threw with everything I had. The count was three balls two strikes. I’ll never forget what happened next. I threw my last fastball I had in me high and inside. Some how the batter stepped out of the box with his left foot and pulled that sucker to left field. It was crushed and this time my heart really did drop. All I could do was watch my left fielder track it back to the warning track. He stretched his arm out and caught it just over the fence. I threw my hands up and ran out to left field with the rest of my team. My left fielder, Robby Turner, a name I will never forget gave me the game ball. The only thing I could say was, “no no no no no this ball is yours you won this game for us.”
I played with that travel team up until my final weeks of this past summer. My teammates have stayed pretty much same over the past 4 years. We have developed such good chemistry that we can predict each others next move. When you play with any team for four years and win a championship together you developed something special. It is very hard to explain but it is kind of like a brotherhood. I spent more time training, practicing, and playing games with that group of guys in the past four years, than I have spent with my own parents. The decision to stick strictly to baseball was the best decision of my life. It has given me the confidence to over come anything with a little motivation. It has also given me the chance to develop friendships with people who have to same interests as me. I’m sure I could go on and on about how baseball has changed my life, but I honestly think that as long as you make good friends and do what you love you will be happy. That’s what the last four years of playing baseball has brought me.
Second Draft
My early childhood years were full of tee ball, peewee, and junior basketball games. It was hard to be the star player when my teammates were all older than me. I was always the youngest player on the field. Sure there is going to be some mild intimidation at first but from a very you age I had always loved baseball more than any other sport. Eventually by the time I hit double digits I stuck strictly to baseball. By devoting all my time and effort into baseball I was able to refine my "fundamental baseball skills". That’s what my pitching camp coach always reiterates to me every 60 min session I had with him. I started throwing with Chuck Neil in the spring of 2005 by time I was fourteen. He ran a pitching camp in Naperville, Illinois that was known for producing some of the top pitchers in the area. My parents would drive me there 3 days a week for sixty minute session with Chuck. From the first day I could tell he was very knowledgeable on the art of pitching. He help me developed my pitching skills significantly faster than the rest of the kids my age.
This opened new doors for me to play with the North Aurora River Rats fourteen year old travel team. They only take a select amount of players and travel all over state and sometimes out to surrounding states for tournaments. This allowed me to play the best of the best that were the same age as me. Right around this time I noticed that I could compete with the older kids. My intimidation and fear that I had before of being the youngest player never crossed my mind when I was pitching now because we were all on an even age. In the travel leagues I was able to be tested. All the years of travel baseball ending up building to my most defining moment in my baseball years to date.
It was early August 2007 and I was 16. I found myself on the team bus to Northern Illinois Travel World Series. All my hard work over the past 10 years finally paid off that year. When I got to Rockford I was in the zone I knew I would probably have to throw twice within a 3 day span. I knew what to expect I had played most of the teams there at least once during the regular season. They ended up saving me the first game 3 games and I was on the spotlight for the last game on the season. The pressure only caused me to be more focused. After watching my team blow through 3 games with no problem I was able to use my immense confidence to push a side all the pressure. I had been dreaming of this game since tee ball and I was in the exact position I wanted to be.
One muggy summer night when the air was thick with humidity and the mosquitoes bit over and over again. I stood on the mound with a freshly opened game ball. Its bleach white skin was only a temporary to the sweat and dirt that it would accumulate over the 7 innings of baseball ahead. "Hey niner here play ball,” screamed the umpire. The adrenaline rush I got before I threw that first pitch was incredible. After throwing 2 innings my arm felt great my team was making plays and I mean really good plays not just fundamental plays that are expected in the begging of the season. This was the end of the road and everyone was on the ball. Likewise was the opposing team from near by Saint Charles. I threw a couple K’s over 2 innings and by the fifth inning our bats started light the sky up with line drives. The other team through started to catch me on a couple bad pitches and they produced a steady offense throughout the game. It was the final inning and we were up by two runs. Before I went out my dad came over to me and said, " hey buddy remember this is your game go out there relax and throw hard." I did just that I threw as hard as I could and stuck the first batter out and the second. All my teammates started to yell encouragement out from the field behind me. The next batter gave me the scare of my life. After three or four pitches he cracked out dead center on me. My heart dropped and I was thanking God that no other runners where on base. They were now within one run of forcing extra innings. This put me on the spot, my arm was dead, and all are other available pitchers were still nursing their recently used arms. I had to force next batter out no matter what. After 5 pitches, which seemed like an eternity I was about to struck him out on a high fast ball that I got him to chase at.
This opened new doors for me to play with the North Aurora River Rats fourteen year old travel team. They only take a select amount of players and travel all over state and sometimes out to surrounding states for tournaments. This allowed me to play the best of the best that were the same age as me. Right around this time I noticed that I could compete with the older kids. My intimidation and fear that I had before of being the youngest player never crossed my mind when I was pitching now because we were all on an even age. In the travel leagues I was able to be tested. All the years of travel baseball ending up building to my most defining moment in my baseball years to date.
It was early August 2007 and I was 16. I found myself on the team bus to Northern Illinois Travel World Series. All my hard work over the past 10 years finally paid off that year. When I got to Rockford I was in the zone I knew I would probably have to throw twice within a 3 day span. I knew what to expect I had played most of the teams there at least once during the regular season. They ended up saving me the first game 3 games and I was on the spotlight for the last game on the season. The pressure only caused me to be more focused. After watching my team blow through 3 games with no problem I was able to use my immense confidence to push a side all the pressure. I had been dreaming of this game since tee ball and I was in the exact position I wanted to be.
One muggy summer night when the air was thick with humidity and the mosquitoes bit over and over again. I stood on the mound with a freshly opened game ball. Its bleach white skin was only a temporary to the sweat and dirt that it would accumulate over the 7 innings of baseball ahead. "Hey niner here play ball,” screamed the umpire. The adrenaline rush I got before I threw that first pitch was incredible. After throwing 2 innings my arm felt great my team was making plays and I mean really good plays not just fundamental plays that are expected in the begging of the season. This was the end of the road and everyone was on the ball. Likewise was the opposing team from near by Saint Charles. I threw a couple K’s over 2 innings and by the fifth inning our bats started light the sky up with line drives. The other team through started to catch me on a couple bad pitches and they produced a steady offense throughout the game. It was the final inning and we were up by two runs. Before I went out my dad came over to me and said, " hey buddy remember this is your game go out there relax and throw hard." I did just that I threw as hard as I could and stuck the first batter out and the second. All my teammates started to yell encouragement out from the field behind me. The next batter gave me the scare of my life. After three or four pitches he cracked out dead center on me. My heart dropped and I was thanking God that no other runners where on base. They were now within one run of forcing extra innings. This put me on the spot, my arm was dead, and all are other available pitchers were still nursing their recently used arms. I had to force next batter out no matter what. After 5 pitches, which seemed like an eternity I was about to struck him out on a high fast ball that I got him to chase at.
First Draft
My early childhood years were full of tee ball, peewee, and junior basketball games. It was hard to be the star player when my teammates were all older than me. I was one of those kids who was born around the cut off date for age limits so every season I was always placed in divisions were I was the youngest kid on the team. I was always intimidated by the older players because they were so much bigger than me. Trust me when you are young age is a big deal. This intimidation always caused me to be very shy and I wouldn't make many friends. This all change when in the summer of 2005.
It was early May and I was on the way to the first practice with my dad. I knew what to expect in the first practice the usual who's who questions and then a couple hitting drills and fielding just to get an idea of the team's skill level. Before this season third base had been my position since tee ball. The coach asked if I had ever pitched I said, "no but I'm willing to try anything to get in coach." I thought maybe he was just asking because we did not have a full roster yet. Little did I know how serious he really was.
As the season progressed I maybe got an inning here and there but mostly just bench time. It was hard to bond with the team when I never got to play with them. So by mid-season I was contemplating quiting, until one muggy summer night when we were on the verge of getting slaughtered my couch told me, "hey niner go warm up in the pen." I was shocked but very excited to show him that I could pitch. Being a third basemen for 4 years gave me a little bit stronger arm than most kids my size. I warmed up and when in to relieve the pitcher who was not having a good day at all. Before I went out my dad came over to me and said, " hey buddy remember your getting slaughtered right now so you got nothing to lose so go out there relax and throw hard." I did just that I threw as hard as I could and stuck the first batter out and the second. I was expecting to get rocked after watching 5 innings of our starting pitcher get pounded. All my teammates started to yell encouragement out from the field behind me. Before then I didn't even think they new my name. I finished the last two innings with 5 strikeouts no walks and no more runs scored. A bunch of the older players came up to me and said they did no I could pitch and I told them I didn't know either and that it was my first time ever. After that game I pitched almost every game and felt like I was actually part of the team I was an awesome feeling. For once wanted to go to my games because I had so many friends and they all relied on me to help our team win.
It was early May and I was on the way to the first practice with my dad. I knew what to expect in the first practice the usual who's who questions and then a couple hitting drills and fielding just to get an idea of the team's skill level. Before this season third base had been my position since tee ball. The coach asked if I had ever pitched I said, "no but I'm willing to try anything to get in coach." I thought maybe he was just asking because we did not have a full roster yet. Little did I know how serious he really was.
As the season progressed I maybe got an inning here and there but mostly just bench time. It was hard to bond with the team when I never got to play with them. So by mid-season I was contemplating quiting, until one muggy summer night when we were on the verge of getting slaughtered my couch told me, "hey niner go warm up in the pen." I was shocked but very excited to show him that I could pitch. Being a third basemen for 4 years gave me a little bit stronger arm than most kids my size. I warmed up and when in to relieve the pitcher who was not having a good day at all. Before I went out my dad came over to me and said, " hey buddy remember your getting slaughtered right now so you got nothing to lose so go out there relax and throw hard." I did just that I threw as hard as I could and stuck the first batter out and the second. I was expecting to get rocked after watching 5 innings of our starting pitcher get pounded. All my teammates started to yell encouragement out from the field behind me. Before then I didn't even think they new my name. I finished the last two innings with 5 strikeouts no walks and no more runs scored. A bunch of the older players came up to me and said they did no I could pitch and I told them I didn't know either and that it was my first time ever. After that game I pitched almost every game and felt like I was actually part of the team I was an awesome feeling. For once wanted to go to my games because I had so many friends and they all relied on me to help our team win.
Blog Posts
Adrian Garcia's Most Problematic Paragraph- 09/10/09
Many people believe that this hobby is a thing that anyone and everyone can actually do. Some also believe that people who DJ(Need to add commas before who and after DJ) are kids who have nothing better else to do with their lives. But knowing that I am a DJ now, I must say that all these people are wrong. This hobby takes a lot of talent and those who pursue DJ’ing are smart in school and do tons of things with their lives and better themselves all around as a person.(Run-on sentence) I can say this because I am experiencing this at the moment.
My Most Problematic Paragraph- 09/10/09
One muggy summer night when the air was thick with humidity and the mosquitoes bit over and over again. I stood on the mound with a freshly opened game ball. Its bleach white skin was only a temporary to the sweat and dirt that it would accumulate over the 7 innings of baseball ahead. "Hey niner here play ball,” screamed the umpire. The adrenaline rush I got before I threw that first pitch was incredible. After throwing 2 innings my arm felt great my team was making plays and I mean really good plays not just fundamental plays that are expected in the begging of the season. This was the end of the road and everyone was on the ball. Likewise was the opposing team from near by Saint Charles. I threw a couple K’s over 2 innings and by the fifth inning our bats started light the sky up with line drives. The other team through started to catch me on a couple bad pitches and they produced a steady offense throughout the game.
Peer Review I- 09/04/09
1)"Boston ended up being a complete disaster. The schools were branched off in the woods, people had accents, the streets were really long and weird, the speed limits were so low and police officers seemed to be everywhere." This is a good description because you talk about how the schools,people and streets are different from Chicago.
2) You should go more in dept on how your mom's boyfriend treated you differently compared to his own child. That could really add to the overall effect of having a father figure in your life.
3)Not having a father figure in your life has forced you to grow up and mature a little faster than normal but in the ended you are more prepared for the obstacles in life that you will eventually have to overcome.
4)She became a stronger person by going through most of her life without a father so I believe her literacy is growing up early.
5)It is a good story, I can really tell that you had to grow up faster than most girls and that life isn't always a fairy tale. You do a good job naming many specific events that really stick out in your mind they are good because the are memorable.
6)You have a lot of interesting points in the story that you should elaborate on like how your life was different once your mom starting dating her boyfriend, or how it changed when you got a new baby sister , and also how life was different in Boston.
Fill-in-The-Blanks Lit Narrative Activity- 08/31/09
A) I have chosen the bond I developed with my catcher by the end of the season as the focal event for my essay because it tells a good story on why you should be open minded when forced to do new things.
B) This focal event demonstrates why it is good to ride out situations that you are uneasy about because good things can come from it. how (my topic) changed my world view & this focal event has changed my worldview in the following ways: I have gained a long lasting relationship with my catcher. Even though we disliked each other. It has giving me courage and opened my eyes to meeting new friends. It as developed communication skills that I will use for the rest of my life.
C) This focal event is an example of creative literacy because I not only had to develop a strong bond with my catcher but I had to develop relationships with my whole team. This helped me pitch a lot better because I had confidence in my whole team which help gave us the ability to win the division playoffs.
D) My thesis will be: After gaining the trust of your teammates and vice versa with them I developed a confidence that helped me play to the best of my abilities.
E) I will demonstrate my thesis by telling the audience how I felt inside after going through my ordeal and describing the actions other people took towards me.
F)Three things I need to paint for my audience are how I felt in the beginning, what kind of things intimated at first, and how I have changed after the season.
G) The first practice, my time starting at pitcher, the final championship game.
Tell your story, without using "I"- 08/30/09
One event that changed my life was when my little league baseball team won the championship. This event stands out in my mind the most. It was my first season in the bronco league and I was one of the younger kids on the team. I was surrounded by kids who were two even three years older than I was. This made me very uncomfortable at such a young age.
I started the season with a bad attitude thinking I wasn't going to get any playing time. At first I maybe got an inning at the end of the game when we were slaughtering teams. But as the season progressed I proved myself in practice and started to gain the older players approval. I started to like going to baseball games instead of dreading them. I started to make friends and baseball ended up becoming a escape away from my other friends.
My teams was very talented and we started to climb the division leader boards and playoffs were around the corner. By this time I worked my way up through the pitching rotation to the starting pitcher. I was the only 13 year old on the field when we started the division playoffs. We eventually made it to the championship game after 2 weeks of playoff games. We ended up winning by 3 runs in the last inning. By time i had developed a very strong bond with my other teammates. I felt like they could read my mind because we worked so well together through the playoff series.
At the beginning of my baseball season I wanted to quit so bad because I thought I wouldn't play at all. I stuck through hoping that things would get better. By the end of the season I made so many new friends. This changed me because now I am not afraid to meet new people.
5 Examples of Literacy- 08/28/09
1) My baseball experience
2) Making it through an all boy catholic high school
3) Learning how to wake board
4) My experience in learning to become a lifeguard
5) Learning how to play the drums
3 Literacy Narrative Elements about Dumpster Diving- 08/27/09
1) Subtle Thesis: The author of "On Dumpster Diving" accomplishes the use of a subtle thesis by giving us the impression that he is a typical high school drop out hobo or wino. When he really is a very well educated man who just doesn't want to see anything be put to waste. The thought of someone who is very literate digging through trash sounds stupid at first but after hearing why the man digs through trash it is a very intellectual and economical though.
2) Description: The author describes what he finds in the dumpster with such great detail. He attempts to figure out every detail on why the people would throw out food,clothing, or any other thing he could deem useful. He also described his past experiences that help him pick out what is safe and what is harmful.
3) Narrative: The author tells the story about digging through trash and finding items that he can use to not let anything go to waste. Most people will never experience dumpster diving so it is hard for someone to paint a picture of what it would be like. The author wrote this narrative to describe what his wast less life is like.
Create Your Blog, Write 100 words about yourself- 08/24/09
My name in Andrew Vasquez. I am from Aurora Illinois in northern Illinois. I went to Marmion Military Academy, which is an all boys catholic highschool. My major here at SIU is aviation flight. I hope to one day become a pilot and own my own airplane. I chose SIU because I have a lot of friends who are go to school here and because my parents both went to SIU back when it was crazy here. I like to play xbox 360 with my buddies and go out on the weekends with them too. I am open to meeting new people and am not shy. I also like long walks on the beach and tiramisu.
Many people believe that this hobby is a thing that anyone and everyone can actually do. Some also believe that people who DJ(Need to add commas before who and after DJ) are kids who have nothing better else to do with their lives. But knowing that I am a DJ now, I must say that all these people are wrong. This hobby takes a lot of talent and those who pursue DJ’ing are smart in school and do tons of things with their lives and better themselves all around as a person.(Run-on sentence) I can say this because I am experiencing this at the moment.
My Most Problematic Paragraph- 09/10/09
One muggy summer night when the air was thick with humidity and the mosquitoes bit over and over again. I stood on the mound with a freshly opened game ball. Its bleach white skin was only a temporary to the sweat and dirt that it would accumulate over the 7 innings of baseball ahead. "Hey niner here play ball,” screamed the umpire. The adrenaline rush I got before I threw that first pitch was incredible. After throwing 2 innings my arm felt great my team was making plays and I mean really good plays not just fundamental plays that are expected in the begging of the season. This was the end of the road and everyone was on the ball. Likewise was the opposing team from near by Saint Charles. I threw a couple K’s over 2 innings and by the fifth inning our bats started light the sky up with line drives. The other team through started to catch me on a couple bad pitches and they produced a steady offense throughout the game.
Peer Review I- 09/04/09
1)"Boston ended up being a complete disaster. The schools were branched off in the woods, people had accents, the streets were really long and weird, the speed limits were so low and police officers seemed to be everywhere." This is a good description because you talk about how the schools,people and streets are different from Chicago.
2) You should go more in dept on how your mom's boyfriend treated you differently compared to his own child. That could really add to the overall effect of having a father figure in your life.
3)Not having a father figure in your life has forced you to grow up and mature a little faster than normal but in the ended you are more prepared for the obstacles in life that you will eventually have to overcome.
4)She became a stronger person by going through most of her life without a father so I believe her literacy is growing up early.
5)It is a good story, I can really tell that you had to grow up faster than most girls and that life isn't always a fairy tale. You do a good job naming many specific events that really stick out in your mind they are good because the are memorable.
6)You have a lot of interesting points in the story that you should elaborate on like how your life was different once your mom starting dating her boyfriend, or how it changed when you got a new baby sister , and also how life was different in Boston.
Fill-in-The-Blanks Lit Narrative Activity- 08/31/09
A) I have chosen the bond I developed with my catcher by the end of the season as the focal event for my essay because it tells a good story on why you should be open minded when forced to do new things.
B) This focal event demonstrates why it is good to ride out situations that you are uneasy about because good things can come from it. how (my topic) changed my world view & this focal event has changed my worldview in the following ways: I have gained a long lasting relationship with my catcher. Even though we disliked each other. It has giving me courage and opened my eyes to meeting new friends. It as developed communication skills that I will use for the rest of my life.
C) This focal event is an example of creative literacy because I not only had to develop a strong bond with my catcher but I had to develop relationships with my whole team. This helped me pitch a lot better because I had confidence in my whole team which help gave us the ability to win the division playoffs.
D) My thesis will be: After gaining the trust of your teammates and vice versa with them I developed a confidence that helped me play to the best of my abilities.
E) I will demonstrate my thesis by telling the audience how I felt inside after going through my ordeal and describing the actions other people took towards me.
F)Three things I need to paint for my audience are how I felt in the beginning, what kind of things intimated at first, and how I have changed after the season.
G) The first practice, my time starting at pitcher, the final championship game.
Tell your story, without using "I"- 08/30/09
One event that changed my life was when my little league baseball team won the championship. This event stands out in my mind the most. It was my first season in the bronco league and I was one of the younger kids on the team. I was surrounded by kids who were two even three years older than I was. This made me very uncomfortable at such a young age.
I started the season with a bad attitude thinking I wasn't going to get any playing time. At first I maybe got an inning at the end of the game when we were slaughtering teams. But as the season progressed I proved myself in practice and started to gain the older players approval. I started to like going to baseball games instead of dreading them. I started to make friends and baseball ended up becoming a escape away from my other friends.
My teams was very talented and we started to climb the division leader boards and playoffs were around the corner. By this time I worked my way up through the pitching rotation to the starting pitcher. I was the only 13 year old on the field when we started the division playoffs. We eventually made it to the championship game after 2 weeks of playoff games. We ended up winning by 3 runs in the last inning. By time i had developed a very strong bond with my other teammates. I felt like they could read my mind because we worked so well together through the playoff series.
At the beginning of my baseball season I wanted to quit so bad because I thought I wouldn't play at all. I stuck through hoping that things would get better. By the end of the season I made so many new friends. This changed me because now I am not afraid to meet new people.
5 Examples of Literacy- 08/28/09
1) My baseball experience
2) Making it through an all boy catholic high school
3) Learning how to wake board
4) My experience in learning to become a lifeguard
5) Learning how to play the drums
3 Literacy Narrative Elements about Dumpster Diving- 08/27/09
1) Subtle Thesis: The author of "On Dumpster Diving" accomplishes the use of a subtle thesis by giving us the impression that he is a typical high school drop out hobo or wino. When he really is a very well educated man who just doesn't want to see anything be put to waste. The thought of someone who is very literate digging through trash sounds stupid at first but after hearing why the man digs through trash it is a very intellectual and economical though.
2) Description: The author describes what he finds in the dumpster with such great detail. He attempts to figure out every detail on why the people would throw out food,clothing, or any other thing he could deem useful. He also described his past experiences that help him pick out what is safe and what is harmful.
3) Narrative: The author tells the story about digging through trash and finding items that he can use to not let anything go to waste. Most people will never experience dumpster diving so it is hard for someone to paint a picture of what it would be like. The author wrote this narrative to describe what his wast less life is like.
Create Your Blog, Write 100 words about yourself- 08/24/09
My name in Andrew Vasquez. I am from Aurora Illinois in northern Illinois. I went to Marmion Military Academy, which is an all boys catholic highschool. My major here at SIU is aviation flight. I hope to one day become a pilot and own my own airplane. I chose SIU because I have a lot of friends who are go to school here and because my parents both went to SIU back when it was crazy here. I like to play xbox 360 with my buddies and go out on the weekends with them too. I am open to meeting new people and am not shy. I also like long walks on the beach and tiramisu.
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