In blog post #5 I will focus on how I composed the first draft on my narrative assignment using the writing process. Watching the three videos from the Wizard of Oz I was able to gather information on how to write allowing the reader into my heart, brain and the nerve that it takes to share about an emotional time in my life.
Writing my narrative enables me to travel back in my past to a significant emotional event. Using my brain to think back to that event so I can write my narrative I realize how differently I view the event. When the event initially happened I felt so many different emotions and thought that I had reached a really low point in my life. I couldn’t wait for change. My narrative allows me to explore my heart because now I realize all of the emotions that I felt so deeply then are just normal emotions that can be overcome in time. My narrative meets the high-stakes element of storytelling because it allows the reader to be in my shoes and be able to feel exactly how I did in that moment. Writing my narrative also enables me to re-examine the power I have in authoring my life-story because you control how you individually react to event in your life. Thus allowing you to author your life-story depending on your emotions and reactions. In my opinion our sense of identity is shaped through stories we tell ourselves about life events. I think this because when you are telling a story about an event you are incharge of what is shared allowing you to possibly alter the story or keep certain aspects to yourself.
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In blog post #4 I will be composing a narrative scene that relates to Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway. Ernest Hemingway’s narrative was filled with many different emotions that occur in life and through making tough decisions. My narrative scene connects to this narrative because it contains mixed emotions.
It was September 2nd, 2017 a Sunday morning. The 6th Sunday that I was away from my family. I woke up at 0400 as I had everyday for the past six weeks. As I rose from my top bunk I could see out the window it was raining. I walked down the hallway to the latrine to wash my face, brush my teeth, and put my hair in the usual tight bun. As I walked back to my bay I started to think about how I missed Sundays at home with my family, this was the first time I had really felt sad or even thought about my family since I had left. Before formation I reread the letter that I had received from my mom on the previous Friday, the letter contained little encouraging notes, and her telling me how much she missed me and how she was so happy I was achieving everything that I had ever wanted. Reading the letter just made me miss home and the people I was familiar with. After barracks inspections I walked down the stairs to morning formation. My drill sergeant announced “Catholic services will be held at the chapel at 1100 hours.” I turned to my battle buddy and asked “Do you want to go to church with me today?” “Yes of course” she replied. I carried out my morning duties of sweeping the sidewalk in the pouring rain. This was the first morning we didn’t get punished or have to do push ups. I should have been happy, basic training is not a walk in the park. But I still didn’t feel like myself. I just kept thinking about home and my family. I thought if I could just see someone from home maybe I would feel a little better. But the chances of that happening were slim. I was halfway across the country in Missouri at basic training. No one I knew would be here. “Privates attending catholic services need to be formed up outside in 10 minutes, or you don’t get to go” rang through the loud speaker in my bay. I ran outside to formation and marched to the chapel. Church went the way it did every weekend. I felt a little less sad. As I was standing outside the church with all of my battle buddies from my company I heard someone across the parking lot yell “SCARPATO!” I turned around confused as to who was yelling my name. When I saw who it was I began to smile. It was a male that I went to high school with. He also went to the same recruiting station as me so we had done a lot of training together. In that moment I instantly felt better. I knew this was the sign I needed to let me know that everything was going to be okay and I would be seeing my family in no time. “McGill?” “Scarpato how are you? How long do you have left” “I have 4 weeks left. How long have you been here?” “This is only my third week it’s been a big adjustment” We continued to talk for a few more minutes about how different it was being away from home and being with so many new people. We both agreed that it was comforting to see a face that we recognized. In blog post #3 I am writing in connection with Maya Angelou’s narrative piece “My Name is Margaret”. Angelou’s narrative and my own narrative connect because they both use the five sense to evoke emotion. As I ran onto the field to first base I could feel my heart beating fast in my chest. It was a perfect day for a softball game, sunny with a slight breeze. It had rained the night before making the grass appear bright green. I threw practice ground balls. First to the second baseman, than shortstop and finally the third baseman until our catcher yelled “BALLS IN COMING DOWN” I threw the ball towards the dugout and ran to the pitcher's circle. All of the players from the infield placed our middle fingers on the ball and took two deep breaths like we did before every game. As the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning was thrown I could feel my nerves fading away. What was I worried about this was just another softball game? I was wearing my black Nike softball pants with a hole in the right knee, my black jersey with white down the sides that had “Cougars” written in royal blue across the chest, my royal blue sock and my black rubber Mizuno cleats. Nothing was different except for the location of the game. We were playing at Penn State's Beard Field in the State Championship. The first inning went by really fast. Neither of the teams scored. In the bottom of the second inning the other team had a couple of hits but left two base runners stranded. When we went into the dugout to prepare for our at bat my coach told the team “you all need to relax. Take a deep breath with me. I believe in all of you, now go out there and hit the damn ball.” My sister Courtney was leading off the inning she hit a single, then Taylor stepped up to the plate and hit another single advancing Courtney to second base. Tori the three hole batter stepped to the plate and hit a slow rolling ground ball to the third baseman. As the girl went to throw the ball to first base she made an “Uh-oh” sound as the ball flew 4 feet over the first baseman's head. Everyone was cheering. The runners advanced. The bases were loaded as my sister Lauren stepped to the plate. She took the first pitch that was always a guarantee. As she stepped back into the box with her powder blue helmet that had Chaos written on the side she eyed the pitcher, Lauren took her step and swung. As soon as I heard the ball hit the bat I knew it was going far, and it did it hit 2 feet below the top of the wall in left field. We were all yelling again as Courtney, Taylor and Tori all crossed the plate safely. Lauren was safe on second and would be left stranded there at the end of the inning. The fourth, fifth and sixth inning went by fast just like the first two innings. There wasn’t any hits or runners left on base. It was a good game. My team was the away team so we batted in the top of the seventh and didn’t score any runs. In the bottom of the seventh there was 2 outs, as the pitch spun towards the plate the batter swung and hit a ground ball to our shortstop, she fielded the ball cleanly and launched it over my head at first base. The girl was safe at first. Courtney called time out and called us into the circle to tell us “take a deep breath don’t worry about the girl on first go for the batter”. I ran back to first and got into my ready position, the next pitch was inside the girl swung. It was a hard hit ground ball to me. I charged the ball, turned around and ran as fast as I could to first base. When I felt my right foot hit the left inside corner of the base I heard the first base umpire yell “OUT”. I threw the ball into the air and ran to the middle of the field where my whole team was hugging and cheering. WE DID IT!! We were the first team in school history to win a State Championship and I got to achieve it with my two older sisters by my side. |
AshleyI will use this blog to further my knowledge in my English course. Archives
April 2019
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