Dear Portfolio Committee,

Starting  English 101 I didn’t know what to expect, but it turned out to be not too bad. As a writer personally I like to write about personal experiences. I feel that when writing I struggle most with description and sentence structure. I have worked on becoming a better writer all semester. I believe that this course has helped me tremendously with becoming a better writer. Overall I found this course to be very informative and enjoyable.

I believe that the Memoir was truly my best work and that is why is chose to put it first. I find that this was also the easiest of the all the essays because it came from the heart. when writing this essay the hardest part was trying to explain how with the loss of my dog really affected home. At first I struggled to be informative. when I revised the essay i did my very best to bring the emotion to it. As soon as I explained how I really felt the essay came together much easier. Although this brought back feelings that I tried to keep suppressed, the emotion is what I think made this the easiest essay to write.

I chose to put the Shopping Ethnography essay second because I believe this was my second best essay. I struggled to be descriptive with the layout of the store at first. Because I struggled I decided to make a second trip to the store, so that I could bring the vision of the store to the reader. I also had to talk more about customer reaction and this is another reason why I made a second trip to the store. I think making multiple trips to the store really helped me bring this essay together.

The third essay I picked was the annotated bibliography. I found that this essay taught me how to become better at developing my researching skills. This essay also helped me get better at getting evidence to back up my argument. I learned how to incorporate the evidence throughout my essay to back up my claim, that playgrounds with challenges are better for the development of children. This essay is the one that I feel gave me the most amount of skills that I can use to become a better writer. I felt that this essay challenged me to get my point across and back it up with credible evidence.

Overall I feel that I have gained valuable writing skills from this course. I feel that i can now take pride in the essays that I write because of the skills that I have gained. The constructive criticism that I got in this course helped me to develop my writing skills, now I have a better understanding of how to write. I really enjoyed this course and all of the skills that I gained the from this course. I feel much more confident moving on to a new course now that I have gained all these new skills.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Pinel

My dog Coco had a continued profound effect on my life from the time she was born until she passed, helping me to realize what home really is. Coco became my true “home,” but let me start from the beginning. Coco was born on June 5, 2009 in the dark, early morning hours. She was born in the place I call home, the house where I live. Coco came out second to last, the seventh of eight puppies born. Something about her captured my heart.

Coco was a uniquely beautiful chestnut red and was already showing her unique personality and gentleness. While the other puppies were savages, trying desperately to feed off their mother, Coco calmly waited for an empty spot. I was drawn to her because of the way she kept to herself. This resonated with me because I was much like her when in social situations, due to emotional difficulties stemming from mental disorders. When she first started walking she always found her way to me, resting her tiny body near mine. This beauty, personality, and gentleness are some of the things that made me come to question what really made my home a “home.”

Let me go back to where I said I had emotional difficulties. From a young age my family saw that something was different with me. I was always hyper, unfocused, yet reserved when around others. Eventually my parents took me to be examined, and I was diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety disorder. It’s these difficulties that Coco’s calm, unique, and unwavering love came to help me overcome. I couldn’t wait to come home from school every day to be with her. Due to my ADHD, I always had to be moving, and rocking in the rocking chair was my way of doing this. Once Coco came along, I had a new rocking companion, she would sit right with me no matter how fast I rocked. With each passing day when I returned home from school she would be so excited to see me. When I would come through the door, my dad would say “your little Coco is waiting for you,” and I would reply “Where is she?” I would go get her from wherever she would be and play with her before doing my homework. It was in this way Coco was able to help me focus on my studies, overcoming another hurdle from my ADHD.

Coco’s uniqueness also helped me get out of the house and interact with others. We had bought a fur coat for her to wear in the winter as a joke, but came to find that she actually loved wearing clothes. Through her unique “fashion sense,” when I would take her for walks people began to stop and chat with me about her. At first this was difficult for me, but as time went on I began to feel more comfortable in my skin thanks to Coco.

The depth of Coco’s love knew no limits. For example, when it was time for bed sometimes I wouldn’t be able to sleep due to anxiety. Even though she had her own blanket and would tuck herself in at night, I could always count on my Coco to be there for me when I needed her. Sensing my tension coco would come find her way under my blanket to console me. She would rest her little head on my pillow cuddling with me until I was able to fall asleep. To give you another example of the depth of her love, when we would visit my brother’s house, she would take his cat to be like her own. She would light up upon seeing them and vice versa. Coco would check them all, making sure they were clean and alright, before lying down for them to snuggle with her.

Now, let me fast forward a bit to this past summer. Coco began acting strangely, pacing unusually and secluding herself from the family. As time went on she began to cry and wanted constant attention. We knew something was not right and just as we were about to bring her to the vet, she began taking seizures. My heart dropped and we raced her to the vet. The vet initially didn’t think much of it, saying that it was most likely epileptic seizures and that they were common to come on at this stage in life. We started her on medication and I kept a close watch on her all the time, caring for her as she had done for me so many times when I was younger. Unfortunately come September the medication was not working and we were running out of options. We came to find early one morning that we didn’t have any more options, Coco had passed during the night. Needless to say my family and I were, and continue to be heartbroken. Though this heartbreak is what woke me up to a realization, Coco had been my home all these years, not the place where I lived.

Once I realized what life would be like without Coco I had to turn to my family for comfort. As much as Coco was my home, so was my family. I used the story of Coco’s life to show you how your loved ones, pets or humans, are your true home. You can go out and buy a house or rent an apartment, but without having the love of your family to help you overcome your obstacles you don’t have a home. Coco was my home because she helped me in ways nobody ever could.

My observations of Barnes & Noble Book Store

I chose to take an adventure out of my normal journey while shopping and visit Barnes & Noble Book Store. During my trip to this specific store I took note of: the way items were displayed, store organization, customer’s habits, employee assistance, and employee customer relations. All the topics I took note of come together to form the complex web of interactions that make this store work. Barnes & Noble uses some of the techniques described in Malcolm Gladwell’s article, “The Science of Shopping”. The article talks about scientific studies conducted by Paco Underhill, a man that is an expert on trends amongst shoppers.

There are multiple ways that stores can draw people deeper and deeper into them. From the second I opened the doors I noticed adult coloring books and a section that was completely dedicated to nook. In the article Paco Underhill explains that stores will use placement techniques to draw people deeper into the store. He says, “For this reason, a supermarket will often put dairy products on one side, meat at the back, and fresh produce on the other side, so that the typical shopper can’t just do a drive- by but has to make an entire circuit of the store, and be tempted by everything the supermarket has to offer” (qtd. Gladwell). The bookstore does this by placing a new arrivals table in the middle of the store, now that I’m in the middle off the store I get curious and start looking at what else the store has to offer.  As I went about the store I noticed that the store was divided into sections. The magazines were at the front right section of the store, which of course got my attention because I’m into bodybuilding and any new information I can learn from the magazines. The right wall had a huge display of science fiction, fantasy and romance novels in a very organized fashion. The back of the store is where they kept all the children’s books, this is a good idea because parents are likely to come in looking for a book for their child. The reason that this is good idea is, because it draws them into the back where they are likely to look around before reaching their destination. The walls in the store were a cream color, the ceilings were high and the lighting was just right not to bright but not to dark. In the article Gladwell talks about lighting. He says “with white walls, muted lighting, soaring ceilings, gray stone flooring, and, so it seems, less merchandise in the entire store than Lauren puts in a single room” (qtd. By Gladwell). This plays a big role in the feel of the book store the lighting made me feel relaxed and calm. This made me feel comfortable so I grabbed a book that I was interested in buying, then I sat at the wooden table and read some of the book to see if I would like it.in the article they also talk about how men will go for something that catches their eye when shopping. In the article Gladwell says, “we know that they tend to shop much less frequently with coupons, and we know, simply by watching them shop, that they can be marching down the aisle and something will catch their eye and they will stop and buy”(Gladwell). This was very true the bookstore had displays that were very well thought out that caught my eye, they also had signs with big lettering that caught my eye.

While I was making my observation of the store I noticed that the customers were mostly quiet. Some customers interested in the same material would quietly talk amongst one another. The employees were all dressed in business casual clothing. The employees were very friendly asking me if I needed help looking for anything, they went around looking to make sure the store was presentable. I observed a customer that was looking around the bookstore for a good amount of time, they customer was beginning to get frustrated but didn’t ask for help and eventually left empty handed. I also observed another customer that also had trouble finding a book, this customer asked an employee who then said they did not have it and that they could order it for the customer, this made the customer extremely happy.

To sum up my visit to Barnes & Noble, in my observation, I noticed multiple techniques that were used to draw the customers in and make them want to purchase an item. The store even had a variety of options for people on a limited budget. The employees went above and beyond to help and be polite to every customer that came through the door. The eye-catching displays, friendly employees and the overall atmosphere of the store is why they are a successful business.

Work cited

Gladwell, Malcolm. “The Science of Shopping.” The New Yorker November, 4 1996:

Playgrounds play a major role in the development of children. They allow children to overcome challenges, be physically active, have fun and develop social skills. Modern playgrounds are being designed to be so safe that they are removing much of the fun factor for children. Unfortunately, more children are choosing to stay home due to this, lessening their social interaction. This causes society to have more socially awkward people and that is not good for progress.

So the real question is how do we get children to be active again? The answer is simple you put playground equipment that will allow the children to have fun. This will increase the chances that children might get injured but as Philip K. Howard said “Risk is fun, at least the moderate risks that were common in prior generations” (Howard). If you don’t give children a reason to be active they won’t be. If you put a challenging piece of equipment at a playground children will want to use it. In “Too safe, too boring Expert says playgrounds need to challenge children” written by Ben Hyde he talks about Dr David Eager and says “He has called for the return of challenging swings, higher climbing frames and tree-climbing, to challenge kids”(Hyde). This is a great idea because children will learn to face challenges and overcome them at a young age. By them overcoming challenges it will help them later in life.

Now of course we want children to be safe, so the question is how do we keep it fun and safe? The answer is to add things that will cushion a fall and things that reduce the risk of children getting burnt. Philip K. Howard says “Soft rubber matting will cushion any fall” (Howard). Although soft rubber matting can cushion falls, in the sun it can get extremely hot. The way to fix this problem would be to make a playground in an area that is in the shade. Philip K. Howard also said “The shade from the trees would keep the rubber matting a little cooler. Who knows, maybe we would even allow children to climb them” (Howard). By putting the playground in an area that has a lot of trees or by planting them, you kill two birds with one stone. The trees keep the kids safe from getting burnt and decrease the risk of them getting heat exhaustion, while also allowing them to have the challenge of climbing the trees.

To sum it all up allowing children to take risks and face the challenges that many playgrounds can offer, the children learn to overcome obstacles that will help them throughout their life. By offering these challenges it also allows them to get creative to find ways to overcome them. The interaction between children will also help them throughout their lives, but if they didn’t have the environment of the playground they wouldn’t know how to be social. The playground also offer a place for them to be active. Philip K. Howard talks about merry go rounds, he says “Those of us of a certain age can remember sprinting to get the contraption really moving. That was fun. And a lot of exercise” (Howard). By making the playgrounds more enjoyable it will help make more children active and reduce the percentage of obesity. With this being said, playgrounds where children are faced with challenges are a very important in assisting their development.

Annotated Bibliography

Howard, Philip K. “Why Safe Kids are Becoming Fat Kids.” Wall Street Journal, Aug 13 2008,  Journal, newspaper source, http://bristolcc.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.bristolcc.edu:2094/docview/399115061?accountid=26486.

This source talks about the importance of playgrounds helping to keep kids in good health. This is good to use for in text citation because it talks about how playgrounds are so safe that they are no longer fun, causing kids not to go to playgrounds. This source is credible because I found it in the newspaper section of the BCC database. Hyde, Ben. “Too Safe, Too Boring Expert Says Playgrounds Need to Challenge Children.” Advertiser, The (Adelaide), Y, 30 July 2009, pp. 9–9, Newspaper Source, bristolcc.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=200907301009617617&site=ehost-live.

I chose this source because it talks about how playgrounds are no longer fun because they are being made to be safer. This source also talks about how the challenge of playgrounds help develop children. This source is credible because I found it in the newspaper section of the BCC database.

Mitchell, Rebecca et al. “Not All Risk Is Bad, Playgrounds as a Learning Environment for Children.” International Journal of Injury Control &Amp; Safety Promotion, vol. 13, no. 2, June 2006, pp. 122–124. Academic Search Premier, doi:10.1080/17457300500310269.

I chose this source because it gives details about how playgrounds help children develop. This source also talks about the benefits of allowing children to explore playgrounds. This source is credible because I found it in the scholarly journal section of the BCC database

Weaver, Rachel. Pittsburgh Tribune Review (PA), 2014, newspaper source, bristolcc.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W64239865659&site=ehost-live.

I chose this source because it talks about how children can learn what to do in certain situations from challenging playgrounds. In this source they also talk about how being an overprotective parent can destroy a child’s experience of playgrounds. This source is credible because I found it in the newspaper section of the BCC database.

Westervelt, Eric. “Where The Wild Things Play.” All Things Considered (NPR), National Public Radio, Inc, 4 Aug. 2014, Newspaper Source, bristolcc.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=6XN201408042004&site=ehost-live.

I picked this source because it talks about how playgrounds can help develop skills that children will need. In this source, they also talk about how being overprotective is killing the amount of fun kids have at playgrounds. This source is credible because I found it in the newspaper section of the BCC database.