So today the rough draft for my memoir English project was due. I was really unsure as to what I was going to write about as I had many different ideas that would not all fit together in a single piece. I decided to write about receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time as a child.
I decided to write about this as it seemed to be one of only a handful of events in my life that would be interesting for me to write about and for others to read about. The event still sticks out in my mind, despite the fact that it happened over 10 years ago. While writing the rough draft I was remembering small details like the weather outside at the time, or the sights and sounds of my childhood home. This surprised me, as I can rarely remember what happened a week prior let alone 10 years.
Today we brought in our papers for peer review. I found this to be very helpful as an other person can easily point out flaws in a piece that the author was oblivious to. I was informed, by my peers, that if I shift my focus more towards the actual ceremony of First Communion in my piece and that if I gave a more detailed ending, my paper would improve. I will certainly take these suggestions into consideration when writing my final draft
Hopefully the final copy of my memoir will come out interesting.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Importance of Family
In case I haven't pointed it out in my previous entries, I am a guy who really values the importance of his family and friends. I was just talking to a few friends I have known for a while. While talking to them, I came to the realization that these guys were like my brothers. Almost every meaningful event involving me in the last couple of years has also involved them in some way. Because of this, they are probably going to have a heavy presence in the memoir I am required to write for English class.
Friends are really important, as after a while those you commonly associate with begin to feel like family. Associating friends as family has been a common occurrence in my life, as much of my relatives still reside in Poland. Aside from a few cousins who live in the US, there aren't really too many relatives I see on a regular basis.
That isn't to say that I don't value the relationships I have with my blood relatives, I do. I try to keep in contact with relatives across the Ocean, with phone calls/emails/etc. It just doesn't really feel the same though as I've seen the majority of them maybe twice over the course of my lifetime. It's funny how geography can shape a person's contacts.
I do however, stay in constant contact with my immediate family; my father, mother, and brother. They are all a staple in my life. They will also probably be present in my memoir.
Friends are really important, as after a while those you commonly associate with begin to feel like family. Associating friends as family has been a common occurrence in my life, as much of my relatives still reside in Poland. Aside from a few cousins who live in the US, there aren't really too many relatives I see on a regular basis.
That isn't to say that I don't value the relationships I have with my blood relatives, I do. I try to keep in contact with relatives across the Ocean, with phone calls/emails/etc. It just doesn't really feel the same though as I've seen the majority of them maybe twice over the course of my lifetime. It's funny how geography can shape a person's contacts.
I do however, stay in constant contact with my immediate family; my father, mother, and brother. They are all a staple in my life. They will also probably be present in my memoir.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Planning the Memoir
Today in English class we talked about writing our memoir. I'm still debating on what I will write about, though I do have a few ideas. After reading the assigned readings, I have learned that a memoir's content can be very dynamic and that reading a person's memoir can inspire the reader to feel a wide range of emotion. I have seen examples of how a memoir can be used to recall horrific or disturbing events, such as Alice Sebold's "Lucky, or how they can be used to just talk about someone's past in general, such as Jo An Beard's "Cousins." I think I will write my particular memoir about generally pleasant occurrences as I prefer to reminisce about the good rather than the bad.
I believe my memoir will either recall the eventful summer my high school graduation, or the day where I obtained my driver's license. Both these occurrences stand out vividly in my mind thus, I believe, writing about them will produce a very detailed memoir.
Those are the two memories I think I would prefer to write about, but who knows? Maybe I'll think of something a little later on, I still have a little while to get this done.
I believe my memoir will either recall the eventful summer my high school graduation, or the day where I obtained my driver's license. Both these occurrences stand out vividly in my mind thus, I believe, writing about them will produce a very detailed memoir.
Those are the two memories I think I would prefer to write about, but who knows? Maybe I'll think of something a little later on, I still have a little while to get this done.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Talking Politics
I have always been fascinated by politics; it may come as no surprise that my major is political science. The cause and effect relationship between what occurs on a state or global level and how it effects people as individuals has always intrigued me.
So many factors go into shaping politics, ranging from natural disasters to progress in technology to human nature as a whole. Politics determine who possesses authority to govern and how much power they are allowed to exert. Even though politics plays such a key role in our globalized society, its study is often neglected as many people seem to overlook the impact politics have on their daily lives.
I owe this great level of fascination in politics to my father. I remember discussing politics with my father from an early age, although I didn't realize we were talking politics until I was older. My father, being from Poland, would always tell me how very different life in Poland was from the United States. My father would discuss differences in earning wages, the military service required of all Polish men, and even the threat of jail time for speaking out against the socialist government ruling his homeland at the time. Being raised in the United States, my father's stories always seemed strange to me. When I was older, I realized that all of the differences my father described could be attributed to politics. After realizing how much the quality of life in an area can differ based on politics alone, I became very interested in studying the subject further.
Whether we know it or not, politics play a crucial and major role in our current society.
So many factors go into shaping politics, ranging from natural disasters to progress in technology to human nature as a whole. Politics determine who possesses authority to govern and how much power they are allowed to exert. Even though politics plays such a key role in our globalized society, its study is often neglected as many people seem to overlook the impact politics have on their daily lives.
I owe this great level of fascination in politics to my father. I remember discussing politics with my father from an early age, although I didn't realize we were talking politics until I was older. My father, being from Poland, would always tell me how very different life in Poland was from the United States. My father would discuss differences in earning wages, the military service required of all Polish men, and even the threat of jail time for speaking out against the socialist government ruling his homeland at the time. Being raised in the United States, my father's stories always seemed strange to me. When I was older, I realized that all of the differences my father described could be attributed to politics. After realizing how much the quality of life in an area can differ based on politics alone, I became very interested in studying the subject further.
Whether we know it or not, politics play a crucial and major role in our current society.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
About Me
As an introduction to my blog, I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself and provide readers with some basic background information on who I am.
My name is Chris Sudol and I am originally from Brooklyn, New York. I was born shortly after my parents emigrated from Poland to come to the United States. I spent a significant portion of my childhood living in Greenpoint; a neighborhood comprised of a large Polish American population located in the northern Brooklyn. My parents rarely, if ever, spoke English at home, as a result my first language was Polish and not English; I began learning English when I entered elementary school. As a result of my upbringing, I am now bilingual and am able to speak and write in Polish in addition to English.
When I was older, my parents moved up to Ontario, Canada; this is where I attended high school. It was a bit of a transition but as time progressed I became more accustomed to the change of scenery. Though, at the time, high school seemed like an eternity, looking back I can recall a wealth of pleasant memories. The acquisition of a high school diploma was not the end of my formal education.
I knew I wanted to attend college following high school but was not sure which school I wanted to go to. I decided to enroll at Western Michigan due to a close family friend who is currently employed as a professor at the University. I am currently a second semester freshman at Western and can honestly say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my college experience thus far and am very excited to see what the future will bring.
My name is Chris Sudol and I am originally from Brooklyn, New York. I was born shortly after my parents emigrated from Poland to come to the United States. I spent a significant portion of my childhood living in Greenpoint; a neighborhood comprised of a large Polish American population located in the northern Brooklyn. My parents rarely, if ever, spoke English at home, as a result my first language was Polish and not English; I began learning English when I entered elementary school. As a result of my upbringing, I am now bilingual and am able to speak and write in Polish in addition to English.
When I was older, my parents moved up to Ontario, Canada; this is where I attended high school. It was a bit of a transition but as time progressed I became more accustomed to the change of scenery. Though, at the time, high school seemed like an eternity, looking back I can recall a wealth of pleasant memories. The acquisition of a high school diploma was not the end of my formal education.
I knew I wanted to attend college following high school but was not sure which school I wanted to go to. I decided to enroll at Western Michigan due to a close family friend who is currently employed as a professor at the University. I am currently a second semester freshman at Western and can honestly say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my college experience thus far and am very excited to see what the future will bring.
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