Puente 2 Portfolio - Emily Phan by Thy Phan

Book Club Letter

10617511 — 2023-12-19 18:06:42 UTC

I chose this piece of work because I believe it dives deeper into my character/personality. In this letter, I go out of my comfort zone to open up about my reading journey. I found that my strength in this letter was being very descriptive all in one page. Usually, I ramble on and go past two pages but I was proud to let out all my thoughts onto a single page. I would like to think that this letter defines who I am as a reader.

My Personal Story

10617511 — 2023-12-19 18:11:38 UTC

This was one of the very first essays I've written in a while. It's also one I happen to be very proud of. At first, I was skeptical to open up about what I struggled with however, as I continued to write, I realized that it wasn't as bad as I was making the situation be. In this piece, the strengths I see are using narrative senses or the author's craft tools we, as a class, incorporated into our writings. However, this was also the trouble I dealt with. I wanted to incorporate these details but I was worried I wasn't doing it properly. However, after many trials and errors, I am happy with my results.

Interview Project

10617511 — 2023-12-19 18:21:57 UTC

Although my personal story is something I was proud of, I think my interview project is my best work so far. I am seriously the most happy and proud I can be of my writing. From what we were taught in class, I was able to confidently use all the author's craft/narrative tools into my piece of work. I might've had to take a moment to think about how I should incorporate many of the narrative tools however, after using my prior knowledge along with my creativity, I believe I did a good job at using many tools. The hardest part of it all was getting to understand my mother from her point of view. I wanted to make a very well written project in honor of her so every day, I decided to get to know more about my mom to truly understand her.

Community Cultural Wealth

10617511 — 2023-12-20 02:36:01 UTC

I believe my familial capital has grown the most throughout this semester for many reasons. I understand the general idea of my parents' poverty but I never really got to understand them truly. From the interview project to now, I find myself talking to my parents about what they saw at my age or what they've dealt with. It is them who has taught me more about the Vietnamese culture and I couldn't be more grateful. Out of all the capitals, the familial capital is one I regret not focusing on sooner. Another capital that I believe is an honorable mention would be my aspirational capital. Being a sophomore has brought me unexpected challenges. I didn't go into sophomore year, knowing how hard it might be. So for this reason, I struggled to balance my routine and studies all at once. I didn't get the hang of it right away which made me constantly think I was a failure and that I should give up. However, as the weeks and months went by, I found myself instinctively pushing through all my hardships and it was all worth it in the end. I figured out how to manage my time and stop running out of place. My aspirational capital strengthened, and so did I.

Burning the Old Year Poem

10617511 — 2024-03-06 18:23:43 UTC

As for the strengths in this piece, the poem expresses a strong story line. It is clear as to what the poem is about because the vocabulary words mentioned, are evidenced as the message I wanted to convey. My poem expresses strong emotions and my vulnerability. When writing this piece, the most important quality was to express as much emotions as I possibly could so the viewer could truly understand my situation. I wanted the truth to be put out, not some falseness to mask the real situation. I did have trouble figuring out more complex vocabulary words I could use to replace the generic sentences. If I could work on writing further, I would definitely find more generic sentences so I can replace them with a much more complex and emotion filled sentence.

Two Page Spread

10617511 — 2024-03-11 04:01:32 UTC

This was the second week of our Book Club meetings meaning this was my second Two Page Spread. As the strengths in this piece, I see that my reflection of the book were very clear because I was passionate in expressing my opinion through the questions given for us to answer. I was very invested in this book so I made sure that my answers weren't generic and that it came from my heart. When writing the two page spread, it was very important for me to include specific quotes to match the themes of my reflection. I also made sure to add color/draw images that fit the section of the book so that people could understand the vision I had when drawing what I drew. If I could work on this further, I would've definitely added more quotes because there are things that have been said in the book that leaves me in awe.

Identity Book Club Essay

10617511 — 2024-05-16 17:30:22 UTC

I chose this piece of writing because I felt as if I had a deep connection with the book I read. Since this book was about being disconnected from your culture and how family contributes to that, it made me realize that you shouldn't tear yourself down just because you aren't as "ethnic" as the rest of your family is. Parents expect so much from their children and the weight left on these children creates stress and anxiety. Since I was familiar with the topic of parents and children, I was able to write much of what I wanted to get out. When writing this piece, I found it important to include my own values and how I related to the protagonist, Jay, life. The only trouble I had with writing this piece was that I'm not Filipino so I realized I can't 100% relate to Jay but I resolved this issue by acknowledging that we don't have to be exactly similar in terms of our relationships with our culture.

Pachuquismo Play Scene

10617511 — 2024-05-16 17:38:46 UTC

Although this was one of the shortest assignments, I had the most fun with this. Not only was I able to collaborate with my friends, we had so much fun using creativity to create a script. It was fascinating to see how such different minds could come up with similar yet diverse ideas. I had such good laughs with both Magaly and Michelle in creating this masterpiece. The obvious strengths of this were that it was both intense and creative. Something we found important to consider in this work was how we would act this out. After some practices, we were set on displaying emotions like anger, sadness, and distraught. With the contribution of all of our dedication, our play went pretty well. The only trouble we had was memorizing our lines.

Lit Analysis Infographic

10617511 — 2024-05-16 17:48:17 UTC

I chose this work because this allowed me to look at different aspects of Zoot Suits, the play. Since I understand the main message of this play, the strengths I noticed in the info-graphic were acknowledging the recurring themes, the symbols and what they mean. When working on this, I found it important to mention discrimination and how it affects one culture. I wanted to make it clear that discrimination could lead up to the world being against you. The only trouble I had when writing this analysis was choosing the quotes that would best fit the idea of "Hope Vs Disillusionment". There was one too many good quotes but eventually I narrowed the options down.

Quote that I live by

10617511 — 2024-05-16 17:50:27 UTC

"You can't erase what you know. You can't erase who you are." -Sandra Cisneros

I live by this quote because I tend to be hard on myself no matter the circumstance and it affects me majorly but this quote allows me to remember that I don't need to be perfect.

Favorite Books List

10617511 — 2024-05-16 17:59:14 UTC

Twisted Love - This was one of the first books that I read at the beginning of the year. I bought this book a long time ago but I've been putting it aside for such a while. All I have to say is that this book was very descriptive and detailed. There were many plot twists and moments that angered me. I would rate this a 9/10 because there were parts that I felt wasn't necessary but overall, the content was very interesting.

Archer's Voice - I actually enjoyed this book a lot because it is a trope that I've never heard of before. It's about a mute boy and a girl who's had lots of traumatic moments. This book is very emotional and that's why I would rate this an 8/10. Minus the two points because there were some chapters that really enraged me.

Patron Saints of Nothing - This was my book club book and usually I don't step beyond the genre of romance but this book really left me shocked. There was plot twist after plot twist and it allowed me to realize how corrupted our world really is. I understand how culture could impact us positively and negatively. I found myself to relate to Jay because being connected to culture is an expectation our parents want us to reach. I give this book a 9/10 for this reason.

Community Cultural Wealth

10617511 — 2024-05-16 19:49:36 UTC