Franklin Diaz Mirás
Professor Cynthia Pittmann
INGL 3104-134
2 June 2018

Franklin Díaz Mirás
Professor Cynthia Pittmann
INGL 3104-134
25 May 2018

Blog Reflection           

          During the process of creating my blog I learned many things. Many of them that will serve me in my future, whether for other classes or in my professional career. This has been my second semester having a blog, thanks to this I was able to improve and improve my use of the website.

          This activity of publishing our works is extremely beneficial for multiple reasons. Many times we do very good works or investigations, and only the teacher ends up seeing and appreciating it. Through this page, anyone can search our username and see all the works that we have published. Also, many times we have some fear that other people see our jobs because of insecurities. The blog helps the student to lose that fear of being judged and gives more confidence to himself, something that will be very helpful in his future. Without a doubt, another great benefit is that by publishing the work on the blog instead of printing and physically delivering it, we are helping to conserve the environment and avoid the use of paper. I think that all the works of all the classes should be delivered like this, virtually, to try to avoid the destruction of our planet.

          In my opinion, I liked the integration of the blog to the class because it helped me a lot. Teachers should start using this in their classes, as it brings many benefits to the student's educational development. The students of each faculty could see the works of other students in other sections and thus use them as an example to do better jobs. Finally, this could help the student because if some reason can not attend the class, you can publish the work on the blog and meet the assigned date.

Works Cited

Pittmann, Cynthia. Blog Reflection Class Assignment. UPRRP, 24 May 2018.

Franklin Díaz Mirás

Professor Cynthia Pittmann

INGL 3104-134

1 June 2018

Maus Reflection 

          The Graphic Fiction Maus presents a story that take place durt the World War II in a different way that helps the reader better understand the events using different figurative languages like personification and metaphors. 

          The visual elements helped to create the story's meaning by the colors and the drawing techniques. For example, All the story was in black and white because it could help us understood it wasn't a love or a funny story. The technique to draw the mice and the cats were different. The drawing of the mice portrayed the mice as weak, innocent and tiny. The drawing of the cats portrayed the cats as mean, big and they had a mouth, something that the mice didn’t.

          The dialogue in which the text is written allows a casual way of speaking, causing a casual way of understanding. The story expresses facts and history in a casual dialogue way. The text in the panels have a significance too, some of the words were in bold to give it more force to the text and emphasis to the words significance. Also, the shape of some bubbles of dialogue were different. The spiky bubbles meant that the message was told with agitation or desperation. Also, sometimes there were bubbles with a square shape, this meant that the message was told by a narrator which in this case would be Vladek because he is the one telling the story to his son. The font of the words was always the same and it fitted with the drawings because it was a simple one, and the drawings were simple too.

         The meaning or purpose of this comic was to show the hard and horrible times of the holocaust. Vladek represented the Jews who survived the holocaust who didn't gave up never. Using a witness of the Holocaust, as Vladek, to tell the story was a very intelligent move because it gives credibility to the story and gives a much richer perspective to the comic. The pigs represented the persons who had nothing to do with the Nazi/Jews situations. Some of them were in favor of killing the Jews and some of them helped the Jews because they weren’t in favor of what the Nazis were doing.

Works Cited

Pittmann, Cynthia.”Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” Reflection Class Assignment. UPRRP, 1 June  2018.

Franklin Díaz Mirás 

Professor Cynthia Pittmann 

INGL 3104-134

22 March 2018

My Last Night

It was a friday night, on my way home,

walking by the street all alone.

The moon illuminated the avenue,

but the fog blocked my view.

Noises by the bushes alarmed my senses,

and a sudden movement of house fences.

I tried to look for someone near,

while my mind was being empowered by fear.

Minutes passed, the strange sounds had stopped

and fast beats of my heart had dropped.

At that instant, footsteps ran towards me 

and a voice screaming “look what you did to me”.

I woke up few minutes ago

in a dark room where I can’t see above or below.

There’s too much going through my head,

thinking about what the man said. 

At a close distance i saw a silhouette.

I tried to call for help but no one listened.

“You’ll pay for what you did” he said.

At that moment, I knew that soon I will be dead.

Franklin Diaz Miras
Professor Cynthia Pittmann
INGL 3104-134
7 June 2018

Getting Ideas for Writing Arguments about Graphic Fiction

Elements of Fiction

- Does  the graphic fiction feature a central character or a set of characters? How does the this character or a set of characters provide a focal lens for the short story?

         The graphic fiction presents a set of characters but sometimes the story shown revolves around one character. You can see the difference depending on how many times a character appears in the graphic fiction. This character provides a focal lens for the because of the dialogues he has with the other characters or his actions. Also, most of the time, the character is affected by the problem of the story and its himself who must solve it.

Visual Elements

- How do the visual elements of the graphic work together to create the story's meaning? What are the most important graphic elements being used by the artist to convey the story?

         The visual elements work together to create the story's meaning by creating symbols and metaphors. Some lines or doodles can symbolize things moving. Some visual elements are panels, gutters, captions, dialogue balloons, thought balloons and sound effects. The panels help you go through the story scene by scene. The captions give you a background of the scene. The dialogue balloons and thoughts balloons makes you understand what the characters thoughts are and even the story's message. The most important graphic element is the captions and the dialogue balloons because without them it would be difficult to understand the correct message which the author is conveying.

Narrative and Graphic Jumps
- How does the graphic fiction rely on the readers ability to provide narrative information that is not presentedby the words or images on the page? Does the work contain few or many narrative and visual gaps?

         The graphic fiction relies a lot on the readers imagination or interpretation to create narrative information that isn't explicit by making assumptions of what happened between panels. This is better called "jumping the gutter". A gutter is the blank space between the panels. The work not usually have many visual gaps because of it had, it would rely too much on the readers imagination and can lead to not understanding the real meaning of the graphic work.

Graphic Styles

- How would you describe the style of the graphic work? What seems to be the artist's signature style?

          I would describe the style of a graphic work by the drawings of the illustrations in the panel. Also, I would describe the author's drawing to describe the style. For me, the artist's signature style would be a repetitive characteristics of his drawings in different graphic works.

- How does the style match the story being told? Is the style a good match for the themes and concepts being conveyed by the narrative?

         The style matches the story being told because of the colors, shades, darkness, and the smoothness of the drawings. For example, if the story is a scary one, probably the drawings will be dark and with a lot of shades. If the story is a funny one, the drawings would be animated. The style is a good match for the themes and concepts being conveyed because it gives the graphic work and idea of what the mood of the narrative is.

Works Cited

Pittmann, Cynthia. Class Assignment “Getting Ideas for Writing Arguments about Graphic Fiction”.
Interdiate English. UPRRP. 7 May 2018.

Franklin Diaz Miras
Professor Cynthia Pittmann
INGL 3104-134
12 April 2018

“Desiree’s Baby” Reflection 

  Chopin’s story, “Desiree’s Baby", is a story that is mainly about race and prejudice. When Desiree gives birth to her child, the reader begins to become aware that there is a mystery about the child’s parentage. There are other characters, like LaBlanche’s son, which also serve to raise concerns about racial identity. Chopin builds a mystery in order to provoke the characters’ and the reader’s anxieties about race. Also, there is a sense of karma and consequences that is used in the story. The story explores the problem of a man’s pride overcoming the love he has for his wife and race. 

  I noticed many aspects of this short story but one of the most importants is that men back in the those years had the lead of the house. They were considered the superior authority and women were just the house wives who had to be isolated from the world. Women was like an abject, a trophy for the male. Basically, their only job was to get pregnant and take care of the house. Practically, every men in those times were male chauvinist.

   In the end of the story, all this came crashing down upon him when he found a simple letter with a very tragic significance to him. Some crucial information is revealed about Armand's background: the fact that his mother was black. What is more ironic is that Armand had given up his marriage and condemned their child, burned everything that remind him of her and the baby, and curse God for his misfortune of having the mixed blood. This tells us to never make an assumption that we latter might regret. 

  Chopin's message regarding slavery and racism is that sometimes, some people, or most people throughout history, would give up really powerful things, like true love and would do the most absurd things, even reject their own children in order to convey with social standards and expectations. Principles were even more twisted back then than nowadays.

Works Cited

Cynthia, Pittmann. Reflection of “Desiree’s Baby”. University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus.

         12 April 2018.

Chopin, Kate. Desiree’s Baby, 1893.

Franklin Díaz Mirás 

Professor Cynthia Pittmann 

INGL 3104-134

7 May 2018

Comparison between “Trifles” and “A Jury of Her Peers”

          The play “Trifles” and the short story “A Jury of Her Peers”, both written by the same author, are very similar in their content. Basically, they both present the same problem and situation but told in a different way. One is written in narrative form and the other one as a play. Another notable difference is, obviously, the title; “Trifles” and “A Jury of Her Peers” let knows the readers the two different focuses between the play and the story. The title “Trifles” seems to tell us that the play is going to focus on some objects that would show the meaning of the story while the title “A Jury of Her Peers” let us know that the story will center around the characters, especially Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, the ones that helped and understood the life of Mrs. Wright. 

          These similarities and differences allow us to understand the contrast between the two styles of writing and expression. When reading the play, you follow the story through the characters words and have other details that a narrator can miss in a short story but likewise in a play you can miss other details like the background story of the characters, events, and details of situations.

          First, the script is more precise than the narrative in some aspects because in the script you can see or imagine exactly and how the characters are moving through the 

area. Meanwhile, in the narrative it doesn’t gives much attention to it, you have to imagine it yourself. Also, in the script, most of the time you can’t know what the characters think but in the narrative form, if its in third person pint of view, the author tells what the characters aré thinking. This means that you receive a clearer information of the thoughts of the characters on the narrative than in the script. Also, in the script you can’t get confused on where the events are going on because every time there’s a change of setting, its more marked with huge description of new settings than it is in the narrative form, where sometimes the setting its not specified. 

          The setting of the story is well described in the play at the beginning of the scene. The description of the house, given at the beginning, also sets partly the mood of the situation. Referring to the house as “gloomy” and a kitchen “left not being put in order” can also foreshadow of what one might expect of the play, contrary to the short story, these details are not given so directly but they are given in the development of the story. Marking a primary difference between the styles because in the play you have many details at the beginning of the work that in the short story you get through the development of it. 

          Both styles have key concepts that help better understand their stories. The play sets the scene from the beginning which can motivate a reader to continue reading because of the elements it can foreshadow and the mood it can set. In contrast to the short story were you can identify the mood and other elements in the development of it. Like in this case were Trifles establishes the setting, the mood and other details at the beginning of the play while in A Jury of Her Peers, these elements are set through the story. The “walkthrough” structure of short stories, is great to better understand the stories elements because of the concepts used in its writing. The “raw” form of a play can afar readers from it because since its nature is a script and dialogue, it can be harder to read because of the switch between characters while reading. Different from the short story which is made in a paragraph form, making the process of reading more likeable.

            In conclusion, stories can be written in different forms and still have a similar effect on the reader. For the question “Which is more effective?” I would have to say it depends on the reader and what type of reading the person likes the most, either a play or a narrative. I think the most effective way to express or tell a story is via narrative, everything its more detailed.

Work Cited

Pittmann,Cynthia. Class Assignment “Comparison between a script and a story: “Trifles” 

          and “A Jury of Her Peers”. Intermediate English. UPRRP. 7 May 2018.

Glaspell, Susan. Trifles, 1916.

Glaspell, Susan. A Jury of Her Peers, 1917.

Franklin Díaz Mirás
Professor Cynthia Pittmann
INGL 3104-134
15 March 2018

“The Use of Force” Reflection 

The story “The Use of Force” by William Carlos William is about a doctor who examined a little girl named Mathilda Olson. He asked Mathilda to open her mouth, but she insisted to keep it shut. The doctor and Mathilda’s parents kept persuading her to do as the doctor said. They forced her from the simplest way by asking nicely, to the hardest way by holding her hands, feet and her body. They forced her to open her mouth. The situation that made the three adults to use their strength to make the little girl open her mouth became a very violent situation.

  In the story, there were many sides of manipulation. First was the manipulation

done by the doctor and Mr. and Mrs. Olson towards Mathilda; second was the

manipulation done by Mathilda towards the three adults. The purpose of manipulation was to change other person’s perception or behavior. Here, the manipulation done by the doctor and Mathilda’s parents was to make Mathilda open her mouth to be examined. On the other hand, Mathilda has the opposite purpose. She did that to make her parents and the doctor not to examine her. The main point in the analysis of this short story is not how the  three adults demanded a little girl to open her mouth to be examined, but how a little girl made the three adults use their strength to force her to open her mouth.

          A very important theme is that we should cooperate with doctors, even if they seem threatening to you. No matter what a person thinks of a doctor, their job is to help and cure a person from any medical problem. If not for a doctor how would society be able to live as long as we do. Williams story shows us the view of what a doctor does and how sometimes force on a person just might save a person's life.

The final part is different from traditional short story, which often arranges a paragraph or two to describe the collapsing ending, but this short story goes away from traditions and seems to start another new conflict, basically the main climax, when the girl tries to fight back. This type of ending leave the reader thinking about what happened after. Is an ending open for many conclusions.

Works Cited

Cynthia, Pittmann. Reflection of “The Use of Force”. University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras

          Campus. 15 April 2018.

Carlos William, William. The Use of Force, 1938.

Blog Reflection by Diego Ruiz

Diego E. Ruiz Ruperto

Professor Cynthia Pittmann

Intermediate English 3104 - 134

5 June 2018

Blog Reflection

Making a blog is not a task given in many classes, this was, in fact, my first and only class for which I have made a blog. A practice I consider innovative and up to date with the new methods of education and communication that are made possible with technology. Like in many new things, there is a process of adaptation, this project was no exception. Blogs like these, give more people more channels to express their opinions and if they have the knowledges educate more people because of the accessibility of people reading blogs.

At first, when I knew I had to make a blog I was excited because it was something I had never done before for a class. I had experimented with blogs and websites before but I hadn't done it for a class. I saw it as a great way to apply my knowledge regarding websites and blogs. For this second semester we did a group blog which is something I didn't have experience with. I liked how this turned out because in one web place you can find different opinions from different people.

Many times people have all the tools necessary to make a change in the way of doing something, like a class in this case and don't apply them. In this case we did, making a blog and constantly communicating by email and Whatsapp. These changes have with them an adaptation period because a person like me wasn't used to classes that use these technologies for educational purposes. I adapted very well and with the support of my classmates it was better because the error of one can be the error of many and that way we could resolve situations regarding these in a better way.

The accessibility of blogs with educational content like these make education more accessible for many more people. I believe these have a great potential. These are commonly used for entertainment purposes but integrating education is great for all. These are great channels to express anything, opinions, methods, news and many more. The ease with which these can be made and their low cost of entry allow many people to have a gateway to express themselves without any restrictions.

As my second semester doing a blog, I enjoyed this one in a different way than the first one mainly because of the fact of this one being a group blog. I consider this a great way to educate and express ourselves. Like many things, there is a process of adaptation but these are everyday less because of our daily adaptation to new technologies and companies making the softwares more user friendly. In the future I would like to continue adapting educational content to my personal blog as a way to make good impact with the reach of these.

Journal, Life Compass and Multigenre Projects Reflection by Diego Ruiz

Journal, Life Compass and Multigenre Projects Reflection

To me all three projects, the journal, the life compass and the multigenre are connected in their purpose of being a way to express yourself in a pure, natural and creative way. Doing daily journals during weekdays collects a lot of experiences of your life. The life compass is like a “screenshot” or a record of your status and a summary of how you feel. With the multigenre project I had to put my creativity to run, these were atypical works of writing were you would use metaphors and a form of expression that personalizes your works.

This was my second semester doing the journal project. The journals became a way for me to express myself in my own way because I would write the things that came up to my mind without worrying about anything. In many entries I would surpass the ten minutes that I was supposed to be writing. In one entry I wrote almost ten pages. In this entry I felt very relieved at the moment of finishing it. These entries later become history in me, I have gone back to read some and I have seen my thoughts on certain days and things that I thought which reflect me in a direct way. The entries were so good to me that after finishing the project, one day I had a situation with something and I felt the need to express myself through writing. At this moment I could talk with people and reflect with myself but there was something in me that wanted to write. So I did, I was like more than half an hour writing and after finishing, I felt super good. Writing in the journal would give you a different sense after writing than that of an essay or a verbal conversation. It’s also the fact that it is written that is different because later on you can go back and see what you were thinking and the reasons for you to think in a certain way that you could have been thinking. The day of this extra entry, I began to record a video expressing myself but it didn't give me the same feeling of the journals and it just gave me more desire to write and find more love to the work I would do in the journals.  

The state of your awareness, mental, emotional and physical being impacts directly on your form of writing. The life compass would summarize these feelings and you would write an additional sentence were you could understand what was impacting your writing which could most probably be impacting your day and your life. The best way to know how you are is yourself saying how you feel. Nobody can know better than yourself how you feel in regards of awareness, mentally, emotionally and physically.

The multigenre allowed a personification of my writings. Beginning with the project of covering our journal’s notebook with our favorite interests regarding literature. I did my cover two times.  The second time, my notebook represented my way of being so much that I believe that that added to my connection with writing in my journal because you would feel that that was your space.

Since my first semester, the journal project changed my way of thinking in regards of writing but this time it was to another level. I actually did an additional entry after finishing and not having to do it. I will most probably buy a notebook to continue doing this project. If I do, the first thing I will do is the multigenre project of covering the notebook with my favorite interests to make it feel like my space. I plan on maybe one day in the future reading them to see how my first year in the university was since I did journals throughout both semesters.