Eng 111 Personal Narrative

Everything had began magnificently the day I attended the renaissance fair. It was the first time I’d ever been to any festival of the sort, and the air was full of magic. At exactly 10:30 in the morning, the ceremony began. The King and Queen presented themselves atop the castle’s balcony to address their people. As the beautiful royals welcomed us into their kingdom, my heart beat erratically, and I crossed the threshold with my breath held. There were so many events that I wanted to see, and activities I wanted to try; I couldn’t wait to get inside. I wasn’t just an ordinary guest, however, I had a job to do. Carrying my instrument lightly with one hand, dressed as a princess and feeling important, I walked proudly through the bustling

Most of us had an experience where we have felt that some clothes or gifts are cursed and responsible for creating the wrong events. When we are young, our thinking is restricted like we believe that clothes or gifts which we don’t like are unlucky for us. When I was young, I participated in an animal costume play that organized in my school. My dad bought me a bear costume for the play, but I wanted a rabbit costume. Though I did not like the bear costume, I wore it anyway. Suddenly, unpleasant things started happening: my performance was not good, everyone called me “BEAR, BEAR,” and laughed at me. I felt insecure and the costume became a curse for me. Now, when I recall that funny episode and the bear costume, I laugh at myself for being so silly at that time. “The Jacket,” a memoir story written by Gary Soto, is the same story about the feelings the author had when he receives a jacket. He hates the jacket’s “guacamole color [with] mustard color lining” (para.2). Soto’s jacket symbolizes his embarrassment about his childhood poverty even though he uses humor to alleviate the pain of his situation. Although I do not share Soto’s impoverished childhood, I understand the embarrassment, insecurity, ridicule and coincidences my bear costume caused.

In the story, “How I Lost the Junior Miss Pageant” by Cindy Bosley, the narrator tells her story about how she lost the Junior Miss Pageant. She takes us on a journey about how she watched pageants and rated the females as if she was the judge and how she got into the pageant and practiced. She told us about her and her mother’s struggles with money, men and ultimately how she lost the pageant. She went even further after the pageant was over, to tell the reader how disappointed her mother was because she did not win and her mother’s ultimate sorrow, her loneliness. This descriptive narrative allowed me to understand the text's main point: being accepted by others.

Although the daughter’s shame in her mother is evident, she is also prideful of her as well. The strong love that the mother and daughter share is pervasive throughout the story. The story is being told by the daughter after she is all grown up. The fact that Jones uses such vivid detail on the mother’s preparation for her daughters first day of school shows that the daughter loved her mom and all that she did for her. The daughter recalls that her mother spent a lot of time preparing her when she says, “My mother has uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour on my hair that morning, plaiting and replaiting so that now my scalp tingles.” (Jones) She also remembers that her “pale green slip and underwear are new, the underwear having come three to a plastic package with a little girl on the front who appears to be dancing.” (Jones) The daughter having remembered details like these illustrate that she has an immense love and takes pride

Adeline comes home from her first week of kindergarten, all smiles because she had been chosen to lead the class and has received a medal and a certificate for her achievement. Her aunt Baba is full of pride and files the certificate and medal in her safe deposit box. She described the certificate as “some precious jewel impossible to replace” (page 2). Adelines academic achievements are how she eventually gains acceptance within an uncaring family. She had a lot of pride over the metal it shows the sadness she is facing everyday, with her siblings hating her achievements and her dad only caring when she receives them. “I was winning the medal every week and wearing it constantly. I knew this displeased my siblings, especially Big Sister and Second Brother, but it was the only way to make Father take notice and be proud of me” (page 15). Adeline starts to mature when she starts to realize that her achievements should only matter if it makes her happy, not just her father. Adeline's parents threaten to move her to a far away school. Adeline is elected class president. Everyone is excited, her classmates and more importantly her. Her classmates decide to celebrate at her house and this is when her parents lash out and get

“Of course not. It’s just wool. Doesn’t hurt when you get a haircut, does it?” He walked out into the fields and grabbed a sheep. Almost effortlessly he picked up the animal and carried it over his shoulders, making it look like he was wearing a coat with the biggest and fluffiest collar imaginable. The sheep baaahhhed in protest.

Everyone has an expectation, but what does an expectation feel like when it does not become reached? The boy in Gary Soto’s Short story “The Jacket” experiences just that. The author wants the reader to know the overall theme is that one's expectations can get in they way of our happiness. In Gary Soto’s “The Jacket” the boy explains “My clothes have failed me.” “ I remember the coats I wore in fifth and sixth grades when you either danced like a champ or pressed yourself against a greasy wall, bitter as a penny toward happy couples.”

Confidently, the two take their stands, and begin weaving. Both work with skillful accuracy, carefully, as well as intricately, entwining strands to create magnificent pictures. When the contest was finished however, Pallas was surprisingly astonished by Arachne’s work. Not only, but Pallas was actually grieving at the beauty of it. However, Arachne’s success inspired a resentful fit from Pallas. Although Arachne’s work was beautiful, Pallas reminded her that insulting others is never a good idea, despite how talented you may

“I don’t want to go to school today,” Laurianna declared. She paused to see if her mother would start up a speech or insist that she go. Laurianna was a freshman at Versas High. Even though it was mid January, she was pretty nervous about starting in the middle of the semester and being behind. “Well that’s no way to start off your second semester in a new school” her mother exclaimed. She could hear her mother babbling about making new friends in the other room, but she was more focused on what she was going to wear on her first day. She had always dressed comfortably but still strived to keep up with the trends of her old classmates.

Before I started using Smarthinking, turnitin, and the remaining tools from Capella, I was quite nervous on how my paper will be graded. Then, I became more confident in my writing styles due to the feedback that I received from Smarthinking, turnitin, and most importantly, from Dr. J. The revisions to Unit 4 and Unit 7 assignments have already been implemented in order to improve my final paper for Unit 10. For instance, some of the suggestions that I had to revise were sentence structure, word choice, and grammar & mechanics. I took my time to make revisions about the suggested comments so that my assignments will have clarity and with precision. The feedbacks that I received from Units 4 and 7 have been tremendously very beneficial. As

When I was first hired I was told I would have 30 days from the start day to sign up for benefits. The date by which I had to sign up by was 03/20/16 a Sunday; I tried to get on, on the 03/18/16, but it would not let me. I called the helpline to get my password reset to gain access to the online portal; whenever I received access it said there were no available sessions for enrollment. My manager informed me to come in on Saturday 03/19/16 and he would help me further, he was not able to locate it either. He then informed me to make a benefits appeal, because I had tried to get enrolled before the cutoff date. I have two pictures, to show the information that was displayed and the date. Thank you for your time and

When they finish and their eyes open to see the reaction of the crowd, that is when they truly feel accomplished. Similarly, when I finished speaking, I felt as if my eyes had just “opened” to their surroundings. To my left, the judges were deep in their rubrics, slightly nodding their heads and raising their eyebrows. To my right, the other contestants, faces petrified as if seeing something that can never be unseen. In front me, a crowd of only around 30 students, now completely engrossed and clapping to a teenager in a baggy shirt and dress pants. I concluded that my purpose for delivering this poem was not to impress the judges with an emotional portrayal preaching respect. My goal was to leave the audience in awe simply for the message that David Wagoner and I were

The results came a week later. Although I didn’t win the piano competition, the judges, contrary to my expectations, enjoyed my playing immensely. As I reflect now on this competition, I realized that I had, without knowing it, cut the Gordian knot. Finally, instead of perfection, there was

In sashays Miss America, her arms laden with golden roses, her tiara tilted ever so slightly in a cluster of diamonds. A luminous yellow gown was perfectly draped over her tall figure. Smooth and silky fabric fell perfectly into a puddle behind her on the floor except for the couple inches of fabric that appeared to be bunched together, out of place, and now tucked into the side of her nude coloured tights. She stood on the glossy wooden stage with a smile that was radiating happiness into the audience. Frowning contestants lined the back of the stage, each and every one having a look of envy in their eyes. As all the judges stand up to applaud Miss America a tall, handsome man in a tuxedo enters the stage also clapping, congratulating the

When I arrived back at the hotel, I opened Skype on my netbook. After a few minutes of loading, my sister’s face appeared. She was so bright and cheery, and I loved her so much. She told me she missed me, and I told her that I wished I could have brought her along. When our conversation ended, I cried. Here I was at an amusement park while my little sister, who had never gone on a ride in her life, was at home. I felt like a spoiled brat. I spent $150 on the trip that could have gone to rent or to my other sister’s college tuition, so I punished myself by eating canned soup for the rest of the week.