This week in online school I wrote my second rough draft. I was able to include all of the things I originally wanted to put in. This is the last blog I’ll do for English 1302. Overall, I think I got what I most wanted. I reread over what I first wrote from my first blog, and I think I’d say I got most of the things I’ve done. My writing has improved compared to the beginning of the year and I somewhat learned skills that I would need in the future. I learned how to write a resume, and that was something I wanted to learn how to do. Those two things were the main things I wanted to improve and I think I achieved them.

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I used rhetoric this week to convince my dad to come with my sister and me to go shopping for my mom’s birthday. It was supposed to be a surprise and I wanted his opinion as well on what we should do. Originally, he wanted to do hot pot and Korean bbq for her birthday; however, I told him it was too hot to eat hot pot. Instead, we should do Korean bbq, and I’ll cook a small pot of kimchi stew and bibimbap (rice mixed Korean side dishes). Because I told him I would do the preparing, cooking and it was too hot, he agreed with my reasoning. I also convinced my sister and dad to get a smaller cake from Whole Foods because the big cake was too much for us and it was a lot more expensive. In the end, they both have to listen to my reasoning because I supposedly know more about cooking and food portions than them. 

The world has officially reached over 3.1 million cases and over a million recovered from COVID-19. Countries like Italy and Germany are reopening their countries but with a lot of caution.  Many workers for the Tyson food corporation are testing positive for COVID-19. This may cause a decrease in meat production in the US.  Former President W. Bush was interviewed about the reaction of Americans protesting quarantine. In this interview, he seemed very angry about how people are protesting. He said this doesn’t solve anything and doesn’t understand why they are arming themselves with guns. 

This week I wrote my first rough draft for my argumentative paper. I didn’t get quite as much information down as I would like, but I was satisfied with what I wrote. There is still more stuff I want to take about, so in my second rough draft, I will try to include more info. To build up ethos, logos, and pathos, I used historical facts to back up my argument. I compared historical facts with the character, Prospero, and how history matters in his time.Trusted sites that end with .org and .gov were used making trust the sites more than other websites. 

I used rhetoric this week to convince my siblings to help wash the dishes. I argued and gave reasons like I always wash them and said they aren’t that busy with school to avoid washing dishes. There is a rule in my house that says “cook don’t clean”. I told them I cooked and I still cleaned my dishes so they should wash the dishes. After a while of me arguing with them, they eventually ended up cleaning the dishes. 

COVID-19 has been affecting everyone worldwide. There are rumors of the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un, having the virus or has passed away from the virus. There’s no confirmed case that it’s true but may are speculating he has the virus. Many American states are reopening their states; however, there are speculations that the virus may hit again in the fall. The CDC director says the virus in fall may be even worse with the flu and other viruses going around. Many people are fearing that the worst hasn’t come yet and the fall will impact the world the most. There are almost a million confirmed cases in the United States and almost 3 million confirmed world wide.

This week was another week of online school. I worked on my argumentative bibliography and outline for my essay. In my bibliography, I included historical figures and definitions for my bibliography plus more. I talked about Mother Teresa and Gandhi in my bibliography and how they weren’t as good as a person as society makes them be. For one of my bibliography, it talks about mental health. In this article, it includes ways to treat exhaustion mentally and physically. It tells us the cause of mental exhaustion and how to ways to keeps treat mental health. 

I used rhetoric this week to convince my brother to not make pasta again. Ever since quarantine, he has cooked pasta for three times a week for a whole month. It gets tiring and no eats it anymore because we are tired of the same food. I convinced my brother to cook something else. I told him if he keeps cooking the same food, he will have to eat all of it by himself. After he heard my argument, he decided to not to cook any more pasta. Instead, he started to cook more Hispanic food. I told him I would rather eat more Hispanic food right now rather than pasta.

In this week of news for COVID-19, there were many protests in America about COVID-19. In Michigan and Texas, there was a protest about how the state government is responding to COVID-19. They were arguing on how the government is taking American freedom from then and how they don’t like quarantine. 

This week I worked on my thesis for my argumentative paper. My argument will be about Prospero in The Tempest because he is a controversial character. I will include an article on the European history of nobles. This article will be very factual providing logical evidence on Prospero’s character and why he acted a certain way. The history will provide facts on how nobles acted and their views on other people in society. It will give examples of different noble men’s character and attitude. 

I used rhetoric in persuading my parents to buy ice cream. I told them the weather is getting hot enough where it is over ninety degrees outside and buying ice cream will be very refreshing and it let us relax from stress. My parents agreed on my reasoning and my dad bought ice cream the next day.

The pandemic is getting worse with over a million cases, almost two million cases where people have Coronavirus. News footage from New York shows Hart Island becoming a mass cemetery causing more people to understand the severity of the pandemic. They are only buried here if no family member has claimed them. Some people still celebrated Easter at a party even though they were told to be social distancing. People are ignoring social distancing to meet up with friends and hanging out with other. Some people are giving malaria vaccines because it is supposed to help with temporary issues. l

This week we had online school. I took the time to help finish my group proposal. The difference between a proposal and a paper is the visual work. A proposal leans more on a presentation and interacting with the audience while paper rhetoric works more on diction. They are similar in a way that they are trying to persuade their audience to support what they are arguing for. 

I used rhetoric this week in persuading my parents to not make me go shopping. I used reasons like we still have food at home and I have homework to finish by a certain time. After a few minutes of trying to convince my parents, they got annoyed at me and eventually stopped asking me. Using these reasons allowed me to avoid going to the store. 

The government issued to close down all non-essential stores. This week America reached the most cases in their country. America outnumbers the number of cases that China had. Trump tested for COVID-19 twice and came out negative. It was just announced, a few hours ago, that a tiger from the Bronx zoo was tested positive for coronavirus.  Many hospitals all over the world are running out of medical supplies and can’t reach the demand that society is demanding. 

This week we finished reading The Tempest. I didn’t get to go to school because of COVID-19; however, I was still able to finish reading it online. Overall, I thought the story was interesting because of what happens at the end. I thought it was going to be like a Disney movie where the prince saves the princess, and they will live happily with their friends. After reading a whole Shakespeare play, I understand why people thought his rhetoric is important. His words and characters are iconic in English literature. His words and phrases are still used today signifying the importance of what he writes. Shakespeare is one of the few writers that people know that wrote books in the old times. 

I used rhetoric this week to convince my family to buy more snacks. All week we have been eating the same ones and it’s slowly running out. I convinced my parents to let my brother and sister get more snacks by giving them a bunch of reasons. All the ‘good’ snacks are gone and I know my parents will want to eat them. After a long time of pleading, my parents allowed my siblings to get more food.   

Every day, the media will release notifications of what’s changing with COVID-19. This week I heard in the news that the rate of people getting infected in South Korea is slowing down, and the curve is flattening out. The many news stations are saying we should follow Korea’s lead to slow down the rate of people getting infected. Unfortunately, I’ve also heard of people treating the disease like it’s a joke. Some people in Miami are not taking social distancing seriously and still are partying like it’s still spring break. It’s shown in media that many people are disappointed in how they are treating this pandemic. On the other hand, I’ve heard some really positive things about what COVID-19 is doing to the Earth. Since many countries are quarantined, there is less pollution on Earth. For example, I’ve heard that fish are now going back to the canals in Italy, and you can actually see the building in China because there is less pollution. Overall, COVID-19 is bringing both positive and negative factors in the world but only time can tell what will happen next.

This week I didn’t get to go to school because of a pandemic. I had online school and was tasked to read over The Tempest. In Act 5 of The Tempest, there were many types of rhetoric. “ I drink the air before me, and return Or ere pulse twice the beat” (Tmp 5.1.102-103). Ariel said this line after being free from Prospero. It’s ironic that a spirit that controls elements breathes in air. This shows that having a title to something can change someone’s view of their environment. Another interesting piece of rhetoric is when Ferdinand says “ Though the seas threaten, they are merciful” (Tmp 5.1. 179). This shows the antithesis: opposing forces that show conflict throughout the play. 

I used rhetoric this week to convince my parents to buy more food. They weren’t panic over this pandemic because it wasn’t close to us. Since there was a case of COVID-19 in Collin County, my parents are realizing the severity of this situation. I convinced them to go buy food and supply because other people are buying all of the supplies, and we won’t have any left. 

Media displays overdramatized COVID-19 causing many people to panic. The stock market is getting worse and over 2 million people lost their jobs this week. This causes harm for many people because they depend on that income of their job to survive. California has officially become on lockdown to prevent COVID-19 from spreading to other places. The Tempest shows how when some people don’t have control of what they are doing, they do acts they would never do before. For example, the plan to kill the king. They would have never done it before in Naples, but these people have no control of the situation of being in another place. This is shown in reality as well. When there was no COVID-19, people bought things in a normal amount; however, since people don’t have control over this virus, people are panicking and buying more than what they have done before.     

Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Edited by David Lindley, 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press, 2013. Accessed 8 Mar. 2020

We discussed the rhetoric in Act three and four of The Tempest. We had class discussions ver the Tempest and our thoughts on each question. Rhetoric is shown is different ways in The Tempest. “Hear my soul speak: The instant that I saw you, did My heart fly to your service” (Tmp. 3.1. 63-65). This line displays Ferdinand’s love to Miranda using zoomorphism. Another rhetoric I like is “The winds did sing it to me, and the thunder, That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounced The name of Prosper” (Tmp. 3.3.97-99). This displays Alonso’s fear and personification. 

I noticed rhetoric in social media and ads. There was an ad saying everyone needs to stop buying toilet paper because the sick and elderly won’t be able to purchase them. Elderly women was pushing her shopping cart and was trying to look for toilet paper in the empty aisle where they use to be. This makes me want to sympathize with them because they aren’t able to fight for the toilet paper like other customers. 

I used rhetoric on my sister this week. I just got my wisdom teeth out so my mouth was sore, and I wanted to eat ice cream because it was the only dessert I like. I convinced her I would wash the dishes so she will be able to get ice cream. It was a win-win situation for her because she doesn’t have to do the dishes and she’ll be able to eat ice cream. 

Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Edited by David Lindley, 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press, 2013. Accessed 8 Mar. 2020

This week in English 1302, we discussed the life of Shakespeare and his work. We talked about his original work, The Tempest. Shakespeare works many plays, sonnets, and poems gain popularity in his time and present day. His works were based on off of history and often rewritten to fit his colleague’s strengths. We were given parts of the play, The Tempest, to act out in front of the class. This allowed me to get an easier understanding and highlight what the play will be about. Shakespeare’s work is well known in English literature. The diction he used is very important in today’s time because many of the phrases used in his play are used today. He created new slang that many people will use. Many people will study his work to get a deeper understanding of his work. Studying his works will allow the readers to get a deeper understanding of his works, and an understanding of what his time period was like. 

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I saw rhetoric in an ad for Gucci Bloom. The ad is very feminine and shows things for an ideal woman’s body. The models were skinny, showing their clavicle, have long hair showing the things an ideal women would want in society. All the dresses were long and flowy with flowers everywhere in the ad. This ad wants young women to buy this perfume to be like the ideal women in society. 

I used rhetoric to convince my mom to go to this store called Daiso. My mom wanted containers to keep her seeds for her garden. I told her we can go here so I can get my stiff and she can get containers for her garden. We are killing two birds with one stone and all the stuff here is about a dollar to three dollars. This convinced my mom to go to Daiso, so we can get cute stuff for a cheap price. 

Over the week, we had a discussion over the second act of Hamilton. Some of the questions asked in the discussions led to a debate about Hamilton’s behavior. We also started our rhetorical analysis paper. I am doing Eliza and her role throughout the whole musical.  It was interesting looking at some of the rhetoric used in Hamilton. Especially the use of diction and the ones who are saying particular lines. Burr says “Death doesn’t discriminate”. (Miranda “Wait for It”). It depicts an interesting use of personification with death. Death is given a unique role because death really doesn’t care if a person is good or bad, rich or poor, or your skin tone.  If your time has come, your time is gone. Another interesting line is when Eliza says “You built me a palace of paragraphs” (Miranda “Burn”). Personification is used for the paragraph because a paragraph made Eliza feel like a queen. Eliza was so in love with Hamilton; however, Hamilton didn’t seem like he was in love with Eliza. Eliza though he no longer loved her because why would you cheat on someone if you didn’t love them anymore? I just think it’s interesting that Eliza was furious with Hamilton , yet she still stayed with him.

This week I saw rhetorical devices in advertisements. There is an advertisement with Patrick Stewart about refugees. It displays pathos by using a very simple visual. There was no sad music; however, it gave truthful facts about millions of people not having a home. It’s sad to think there is a lot of people without a home. I can somewhat relate to this because my parents were immigrants coming to America from the Vietnam War. They had nothing with them and couldn’t speak any English. Thankfully, they worked very hard and had opportunities to grow and get a better life. I couldn’t imagine how it would feel like if I had to leave my home and have nowhere to belong.

I used rhetoric this week to convince my mom and sister to come with me to see BTS. I used different tactics to first convince my parents to allow me to go. My parents wouldn’t let me go alone, so I asked my older sister if she would be able to go see BTS. At first, my mom said my sister can’t go because of her college debt, but thankfully, my sister agreed to go if the tickets were less than a hundred dollars. My dad then told me I should ask my mom since the week BTS is here, it is my mom’s birthday week. Somehow after a long time of convincing, my mom also agreed to go.

Miranda, Lin-Manuel. “Burn” Hamilton: an american musical, Performances by Leslie Odom Jr., Anthony Ramos, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo and Christopher Jackson, Atlantic Records, 2015.

Miranda, Lin-Manuel. “Wait for it.” Hamilton: an american musical, Performances by Leslie Odom Jr., Anthony Ramos, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo and Christopher Jackson, Atlantic Records, 2015.