Grace's ePortfolio

Grace Fortin ENG-110 Before reading this text, I feel as though I may have underestimated the importance of providing “what others are saying” in my academic writing. The anecdote at the beginning of the chapter is an example of what I feel goes on in many students’ papers, including my own. I completely agree with the authors that it is very important to provide exigence in an essay—a reason for which an argument is being made. For example, it would…

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Grace Fortin ENG 110-F Passage #1: pg. 202-203, pars. 1-3 (“Saturday afternoon…and drove home.”) Throughout the whole first paragraph, Carver does not mention the woman’s name. By creating this ambiguity, Carver keeps the reader at a distance from the scene he is describing, which accentuates one of the main thematic subjects throughout this story: distance from others. Throughout this scene, while Ann is ordering the cake for Scotty, she can’t help but feel uncomfortable with the baker’s lack of gregariousness…

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Grace Fortin ENG 110-F Food plays an important role in Carver’s story, although it might not seem so at first. In the very beginning, when Ann orders a cake from the distant and abrupt baker, she wonders why this man isn’t as jubilant as she is about her son’s birthday. She makes assumptions that this man must not be very good to his own children. She doesn’t take the time to think about how this baker has made hundreds upon…

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Grace Fortin ENG-110-F The Taste of Home They say that a human’s sense of smell has the greatest memory. They say it can bring you to a different time or place faster than any other of the five human senses. Most closely related to smell is taste. To me, taste has an even greater effect on my memory. One of my most favorite meals in the world is my mother’s spaghetti and meatballs. It always reminds me of her love…

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Grace Fortin ENG-110 After Reading “Entering the Conversation”, I was relieved to discover a template that could really help me develop my ideas and get them down on paper in a clear and concise way. That being said, the scope of what the authors are telling me to do did not come to me as a surprise. Throughout high school, I had been told time and time again that a proper argumentative essay needs exigence and purpose. So, that aspect…

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Grace Fortin ENG 110-F It’s usually a mistake to step into our minivan barefoot. But I am in a hurry, as usual, so my socks and Sketchers are in my arms as I fly into the backseat. The first thing my feet come into contact with is sand, the kind that is big and grainy, and I’m guessing there is also salt from last winter stuck to the carpet. The carpet, God help it, used to be beige. It is…

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Grace Fortin ENG 110-F Passage #1: Pg. 499, paragraphs 3-5 (“For practical purposes…and sometimes one another.”) Why I Agree: While this passage is more informative than it is an argument, there is still something to be said about why Wallace included it in the essay. Wallace describes lobsters as “basically giant sea insects” (paragraph 5), which equates them to ants and spiders. Most humans have no problem squashing them under their shoes. The reason I agree with this connotation is…

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Grace Fortin ENG 110-F Imagine you could invite David Foster Wallace into the discussion in our classroom. What questions would you ask him about this essay? If David Foster Wallace were to open himself up to discussion in our classroom one fine afternoon, one of the things I would inquire about would be what compelled him to write this piece. If everyone must stop and think about what we are doing to lobsters, why not also acknowledge every other victim…

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