Tenzin's English Blog

School and sports are going well, and I'm managing my time better. My biggest problem is balancing school, friends, and staying up too late on my phone or gaming, which makes mornings hard. I also sometimes rush through homework just to finish it. I need to stop putting things off and start big projects sooner. Doing things earlier and working more steadily will make life less stressful and help me do better in school. Today in class, we wrote a paragraph on Writeable about "good kills." First, we talked about what makes a "good kill" and why it might be important in a story. Then, we highlighted the claim, evidence, and explanation in our writing. In the future, I can use this method to organize my thoughts and write clearer, stronger paragraphs. By highlighting my claim, evidence, and explanation, I will make my writing more convincing.

I said it's easier to remember things if you practice them instead of just reading. My classmate asked, "How do you know?" I said research shows doing and recalling things helps memory more than just reading. For me, doing lab work made learning science simpler. Just giving facts doesn't convince people. You need to explain how the facts support your point. If not, people might not believe you. Explaining your thinking helps others see why your idea matters. Today in class, we analyzed the book Ambush and discussed whether or not there was such a thing as a good kill. We used this passage to cross-examine it with OJ Simpson's case. I can use what we learned today to strengthen my arguments as a persuasive writer. If I don't know how to connect with my audience, how will I really know that they actually get what I am preaching?

Practical learning helps me understand better by turning ideas into real things I can see and touch. When I build models or do experiments, I focus more than when I just read or do worksheets. Hands-on activities give me quick feedback, so I can test my ideas and learn from my mistakes. I enjoy learning this way because it feels more interesting and I remember things for longer. Today in class, we worked on another FRQ from the 2013 exam about how ownership relates to different parts of ourselves. We studied four theories from three philosophers and picked the one we thought we could best support. After that, we used the same organizer as yesterday. We made five claims, grouped them into categories, and added more detail to our evidence. I still need to practice understanding the question and organizing my essay clearly. I also want to keep underlining important details in the prompt to be sure I answer fully.

One thing I will never fully understand is my mother's pride. She will never say that she is wrong and rarely thinks her opinion is untruthful. Though there are times my mom has shown some acceptance, most times it's because she's ignorant or boastful. Though these traits seem bad to most people, they also give my mother the strength to fight her own battles, never back down in what she believes, and protect her loved ones no matter the cost. Today in class, we learned about evidence, like its definition and how to use it in an SAQ to strengthen your claim. I will use this on the AP exam to support my claims with precise, claim-based evidence. This will help me earn a higher grade on the AP Lang Exam.

One thing that makes me different from other people is my identity as a Tibetan. Though there are others like me, there are almost no 16-year-old boys who are Tibetan except for my friend Jigme. Being from Tibet means I can speak Tibetan and help the cause to push China out of Tibet. Though there are many reforms to end Tibetan culture, Tibetans have stayed strong and have begun getting closer to their roots.  Today in class, we took a quiz on AP Classroom  identifying claims in passages, plus a writing portion describing our claims of values. This test gave me an idea of what the AP Exam will be like and the types of questions we will see on it. These questions will help me manage my time better on the AP test's MCQ and SAQ portions.

Being an Atlantan is always about feeling as if you’re in the heart of it all, where all of the culture is formed before the rest of the world gets to catch on. This is why I think Atlanta impacts my lifestyle, since everyone who lives here works hard, is creative, and is proud of their roots. If I were to explain to someone who isn’t from ATL what the city is like, I would let them know it’s a lot more than traffic and tall buildings; it's unique neighborhoods, amazing food, and an atmosphere where everyone supports each other. In today’s lesson in class, we went through a speech given by Mayor Bottoms regarding the violent demonstrations that occurred as a result of the murder of George Floyd. We then filled out a packet in which we discussed the various rhetorical situations in the speech, as well as the words the speaker used and their impact on the speech. I will use what I saw in Mayor Bottoms' speech to really express my emotion to my audience. To strengthen my resolve, ...

The most creative thing I have ever done is make Lego flowers with spare parts. Rather than sticking to the instruction book for the Botanical Collection set, I used parts from several different sets and built my own hidden gears inside the vase. Turning the hidden gear on its side opens and closes the petals, showing off the glowing metallic core of the flowers. Using parts for unusual purposes makes it exciting to watch, like using pterodactyl wings for the leaves and pink frogs for the buds. In today’s class, we read a speech by President Donald Trump on immigration. We then analyzed how the various elements of SPACECAT were used in the speech, such as the audience, purpose, context, ethos, pathos, and logos. I will use this to analyze how ethos, pathos, and logos are used in a speech. From the speaker to the contents of the speech, we really realize how much ethos, pathos, and logos have on our mindset.

Studying for AP Chem is not a light task. Through the tedious equations and formulas, you never think you are actually doing a question right. Earlier this week, I thought I would never understand what Unit 1 of chemistry was teaching me or get a good grade on the test. On Thursday, however, the words just seemed to flow within me, and the equations just seemed to come straight to mind. Though there have been times when I seem to be completely lost, I have come to realize that in every situation like that, there is always a way out. Today in class, we reviewed types of claims, such as claims of fact and value. After brainstorming examples of claims of fact as a group, we completed a worksheet on claims of value by choosing a topic and listing criteria for each one. I will use this information we learned today to see if my claim of value will actually hold up with facts and evidence. This will allow me to tweak my claims and make them more arguable with the help of my lidt of criteria.

In my childhood, I believed that the small red light in my bedroom's smoke detector was a small camera put in by my parents to watch me while I was sleeping. I used to position my stuffed toys in front of the "camera" to shield my face and sneakily stay awake at night to watch videos and play video games on my Nintendo Switch. Although I figured out later that it was just a battery light, I still get a nostalgic feeling from blinking red lights. In class today we helped the new students in class get redy for Mr.Rease's class by getting their blog accounts created and relearning ethos, pathos, and logos I will use what we went over in class today as a reminder for new exectations and to remind myself of the blogs due at the end of class. i will also used what we learned about ethos, pathos, and logos as new information and better learning how each one is used.

Last year, my partner and I had a disagreement about which of us would do the design of the presentation slides, and my agenda then was to lead in order to achieve my vision. Rather than trying to persuade her, I used the opportunity to try to win the fight by highlighting the weaknesses in their ideas, thus making it more of a power play in the argument than a persuasive debate that Heinrichs discusses in Chapter 1 of his book Thank You for Arguing. If I had the opportunity to do it again, I would use the technique of concession in Chapter 3. Today in class, we read chapters 1-3 of Thank You for Arguing and summarized how different approaches are used for different debates. I will use these different strategies used in debates to get out of different situations. For example, rather than arguing with my parents about something I did wrong, I could agree with them and make them feel better to lessen my punishment.

Back when I had a heated argument with a stranger out in the open while I was walking around Ponce City Market, I overheard him talking to his friend about why Tibet should not be free. Within the last century, Tibet has been ruled by China, and with me being Tibetan, I came over to him and started asking why he thought that or why he thought this way. He told me Tibet was originally serfdom controlled. Still, I told him this was mostly factually incorrect, as most Tibetans were indebted to others, and the reason they were slaves in the first place was that they had to pay their debts off. He asked why my opinion mattered and said I was Tibetan and that my father and grandfather lived in Tibet. So I believe that ethos was the reason it was the most appealing to him and the most convincing, as after he heard I was Tibetan, a person from Tibet, he backed off and told me that he was right. Today in class, we learned which ads used different appeals to the public or a specific audience to ...

Prompt: As I grow up in the world and face new challenges, I believe I will face new regressions in my faith. Although my whole family is Buddhist, I am a Christian, and in Tibetan culture it is frowned upon to not be Buddhist. I don't believe that I am at the age where I can stand up to my parents and defy them yet. But in the years to come, when I am stronger and can face them, I will reveal the whole truth to them. Most of my friends already know I'm Christian and will be faced with a new challenge of finding my denomination. Summary: Today in class, we learned about how logos, pathos, and ethos work and how they shape ads. Reflection: We are all fundamentally drawn to one when looking at an ad. Ads may have more than one; for example, an ad may have pathos and ethos or logos and pathos. I will use this in the future to see how an ad draws me closer to its cause.

Hi, my name is Tenzin, and my three goals for this academic year are to earn all 5s in every AP class I take, achieve a GPA above 4.0, and become a better writer in AP Lang. I can achieve these goals by doing my homework on time and studying for all my AP tests at least a month before. I want to achieve these so that I can get into my dream college, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I want to go to UMich because it is top-rated in the major I want to study and is where my aunt and uncle met. Ultimately, these goals will allow me to attend my dream school, UMich.