Cyber-Assignment for Eng. 1A 9-9:50 AM and Homework for Everyone
Today in the 9-9:50 a.m. class we looked at incorporating what They Say into what I Say (Chapter 3 pp. ). Students worked in groups based on where they were in the text. Each group was to use 3 templates on pages 46-47. Students were also to use the quotation sandwich.
The commentary-summary should be three paragraphs. Students were not aware that a paragraph could be just a sentence long (smile). Each paragraph should incorporate 1 citation. I wanted students to use direct quotes.
When we shared, students were to 1. listen and comment on how each group integrated and framed the citation or quote (see They Say 44-46) and 2. Blend the authors words with their own (see They Say 48-49).
Post the paragraphs here. Students should then comment on at least one other groups short essay and how well they accomplished their task using the language "integrated, framed, blended, etc."
Homework
Besides READ (smile), students are to summarize or comment on another chapter not used in this assignment in 3 paragraphs on Rubin's quest for happiness.
Bring to class electronically tomorrow. In English 1A 9-9:50 students will meet in A-205. Students will post the assignment in class and comment on another classmate's assignment. All other classes will post their summary-comments by our next meeting. Comment by Wed., March 6 before class.
We will look at essays from 50 Essays tomorrow to discuss chapter 4 and perhaps complete exercise 2, chapter 3.
The commentary-summary should be three paragraphs. Students were not aware that a paragraph could be just a sentence long (smile). Each paragraph should incorporate 1 citation. I wanted students to use direct quotes.
When we shared, students were to 1. listen and comment on how each group integrated and framed the citation or quote (see They Say 44-46) and 2. Blend the authors words with their own (see They Say 48-49).
Post the paragraphs here. Students should then comment on at least one other groups short essay and how well they accomplished their task using the language "integrated, framed, blended, etc."
Homework
Besides READ (smile), students are to summarize or comment on another chapter not used in this assignment in 3 paragraphs on Rubin's quest for happiness.
Bring to class electronically tomorrow. In English 1A 9-9:50 students will meet in A-205. Students will post the assignment in class and comment on another classmate's assignment. All other classes will post their summary-comments by our next meeting. Comment by Wed., March 6 before class.
We will look at essays from 50 Essays tomorrow to discuss chapter 4 and perhaps complete exercise 2, chapter 3.
posted by Professor Wanda's Posse at 2:00 PM
36 Comments:
Jose Tavares
Princess Espinosa
Professor Wanda
English 1A 9-9:50am
They say pg.46-47 HW
"THP" group summaries
In her book "The Happiness Project," Gretchen Rubin maintains her perserverance to achieve her twelve goals. In January, she decides to develop a healthier and more energetic life-stlye. Rubin herself writes," Studies show that by acting as if you feel more energetic, you can become more energetic." In her view, a "fake it till you feel it" strategy is quite effective in manipulating the way she feels.
In February and April, she works on her family matters. Her point is that being in a healthy relationship is essential to living a happier life. She aims to prove her love for her husband by changing the way she behaves towards him; she attempts to stop nagging, start fighting right, and avoid the expectation of praise and appreciation. In Rubin's view, "a good marriage is one of the factors most strongly associated with happiness," thus it is one of the first aspects of her life she focuses on in her happiness project.
Rubin's work is also an important aspect of her happiness and vice versa. In March, she decides that she wants to be a happier and more productive worker so she launches a blog entailing her happiness project; to her surprise, it becomes a success. Describing her blog's successful expansion to a larger audience, Rubin herself writes "so its slowly expanding success was an unanticipated pleasure- and a great contributor to the atmosphere of growth in my life."
Alex Noble
Corina Guerra
Miguel Becerra
Aaron Chung
English 1A 9-9:50am
They say pg.46-47 HW
THP Group Summaries
In June, Gretchen Rubin in "THP" relays the message that friendship is very important. Having friends is important because you always need someone to talk to in any situation. By focusing on relationships we can become happier.
Rubin used June to get closer to her loved ones. Rubin states, "You need close long-term relationships, you need to be able to confide in others, you need to be long. p.142" Rubin's point is that you need people to share your emotions and to feel accepted. Another way to be happier is to stay positive and upbeat. In other words, Rubin believes "One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy. One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself. p.147"
Friend is a big influence on happiness. Rubin states, "Act the way I want to feel. By acting more friendly I made myself feel more friendly. p.157" In other words treat others as you would like to be treated so everyone becomes happier.
Mylla Truong
English 1A 9-9:50am
They say pg.46-47
THP group summaries
In the month of May, Gretchen Rubin's main focus was to have more fun. Ms.Rubin states,"Research shows that regularly having fun is a key factor in having a happy life..." She then started to think of things that's fun for her and that wouldn't add to her plate where she'd feel she wouldn't have time for.
Ms.Rubin thought and she figured that she loves to read children's literature. She was intrigued with children's literature because in her view,"...I also find it enormously satisfying to see good prevail over evil..." Gretchen liked that children's literature didn't focus on the bad as how adult literature did.
After learning what she would like to do for fun she made a reading group focusing on children's literature. Rubin herself writes,"This group gave me a bunch of new friends and a lift in life satisfaction..."
Kimberley Squire, Israel Iniguez, Manuel Flores, and Gargn Calvin
Professor Sabir
English 1A 9-9:50AM
27 February 2013
Assignment: Group Summary-In-class, pg. 47-48-Quotations Introducing and Explaining from THP-Chapter, Three paragraphs.
If one lives their life stuck in the past, or thinking too much in the future they will not achieve true happiness. Rubin herself writes, “A common theme in religion and philosophy, as well as in catastrophe memoirs, is the admonition to live fully and thankfully in the present.” Make the best of the now, and stop worrying about whatever is on your mind.
If you do not have gratitude, happiness can never be achieved. According to Rubin, “Gratitude is important to happiness.” A thankful heart can show someone who is ungrateful that through joy, happiness is attainable.
Rubin’s point is that writing provides strength and happiness. In the book, The Happiness Project she says, “The satisfaction gained from the achievement of a large undertaking is one of the most substantial that life affords.” This proves that whatever brings you happiness, no matter what it is, is obtainable.
Hannah Slicton-Williams
Jasmine Senephansiri
Leah Wilson
Hunter Cates
John Senghany
Happiness Project Chapter Summary with 3 Quotes
Gretchen wanted to improve her marriage at the beginning of her happiness project. Throughout her book, she expects praise, "Why did I have such a need for gold stars?" She does not seem to recognize why she needs it, however it feels necessary to her.
It is her mother-in-law's party and Gretchen is upset that no one appreciates the fact that she threw it. Gretchen explains that Jamie understands, "But Jamie knows me very well. While Judy was opening her gifts, Jamie pulled a box from the shelf and handed it to me." Gretchen tries to perform an act out of generosity, but ends up still wanting something in return.
Gretchen tries to stay a couple steps ahead with her happiness project, but ends up two steps back. Although she progressed, she had a hard time keeping from her old ways. Rubin says herself, "As the days went by, I did feel a bit of resentment when Jamie never seemed to notice that he was the winner of a Week of Extreme Nice." Even at the end of the chapter, he insists on not being appreciated enough although she was aiming for selfless acts. She has a hard time moving forward through her project because she is focused on her lack of gold stars.
Kimberley Squire
Professor Sabir
English 1A 9-9:50AM
27 February 2013
Assignment: Comment in three paragraphs on Rubins quest for happiness. Use paraphrases.
When someone has the same routine everyday it can be hard to change habits to create something new. Rubin states in her book, The Happiness Project, that newness is invigorating in doing something different has surprising benefits, yet doing the same thing day after day can still have appeal [135]. If one was to determine which a better outlook to productive, routines or newness, I would have to lean toward routine.
In other words, Rubin believes that her routines make her happy, and to her this is an unexpected benefit [135]. However, if someone is to have no change in their life, life can become dull and uninventive.
In life, there are going to be ups and downs. Some people have enormous obstacle to overcome. In Rubin’s view, happiness is not something we should consider only when life is going well and when life is going badly. No matter what circumstances life generates to her is only life showing up [140].
Khin Ly
Cedrina Brooks
Chanh Saechao
In the quest for happiness, Rubin says "If you go new things - visit a museum for the first time, learn a new game, travel to a new place, meet new people - you're more apt to feel happy than people who stick to more familiar activities." (pg. 71) Every once in while we feel depressed, so we need to find something new to do. Rubin's point is that unfamiliar activities can be important source of happiness.
Aaron Chung
English 1A 9-9:50AM
Professor Sabir
28 February 2013
Paraphrases The Happiness Project
Children are sources of happiness for many parents across the world. Children are also a source of stress, worry, anguish and inconvenience. Rubin stated that in her research taking care of children is only better by a miniscule amount compared to commuting. (p.91) Becoming a parent takes a tremendous amount of responsibility and love to accomplish much of the tasks at hand.
Rubin takes the responsibility of making memories of the children for the family. According to Rubin, to build a place of happiness for her family it is her task to create it. (p.102) In the past Rubin used to resent the tedious chore of making happy memories such as photo albums.
As one would put it, “if Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” Rubin states that a singular emotion of sadness can be transferred upon your loved ones. (p.111) Rubin acknowledged the responsibility of understanding that the only actions she may control is of her own.
Aaron Chung
English 1A 9-9:50AM
Professor Sabir
28 February 2013
Paraphrases The Happiness Project
Children are sources of happiness for many parents across the world. Children are also a source of stress, worry, anguish and inconvenience. Rubin stated that in her research taking care of children is only better by a miniscule amount compared to commuting. (p.91) Becoming a parent takes a tremendous amount of responsibility and love to accomplish much of the tasks at hand.
Rubin takes the responsibility of making memories of the children for the family. According to Rubin, to build a place of happiness for her family it is her task to create it. (p.102) In the past Rubin used to resent the tedious chore of making happy memories such as photo albums.
As one would put it, “if Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” Rubin states that a singular emotion of sadness can be transferred upon your loved ones. (p.111) Rubin acknowledged the responsibility of understanding that the only actions she may control is of her own.
Israel Iniguez
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 9-9:50Am
28 February 2013
Rubin gives a lot of feedback when it comes to friends. She doesn’t just tell us to go out and make a new friend, but multiple friends and do the little things for them that matters. Having people to talk to about important things can make someone happier than if they keep it to themselves. Even having just one friend can make someone feel less lonely. To help strengthen friendships, it’s good to celebrate their birthday, even if you’re not the type or you often forget birthdays. She then talks about this website called HappyBirthday.com and how she contacted everyone she knew in order to get their birthdays.
Being generous to people, especially friends, strengthens bonds with them and boosts happiness a lot. If you want to feel good, then you should do good. While she enjoyed giving gifts, she despised shopping so she came up with four strategies to help her problem: “Help people think big,” “Bring people together,” “Contribute in my way,” and “Cut people slack.” Helping people think big refers to giving someone that extra confidence to go out and do what it is they want to do. Giving them this confidence boost helps strengthen friendships and in the end they’ll treat you the same way.
Meeting with people can be a thrill in itself, however getting a big group of people together for one cause can be extraordinary. Whether you’re creating a reunion for the ones you’ve worked with in the past or help organize a barbecue event like Rubin, it makes bonds between people much stronger. The presence of food really brings people together. Something about gathering around and feasting makes people happy.
Mylla Truong
English 1A 9-9:50AM
Professor Sabir
28 February 2013
Homework THP
We tend to take things for granted. Rubin agrees when when she writes,"...find some way to steer my mind toward the transcendent and the timeless, away from the immediate and the shallow."
There's a lot of time where I, myself can be very ungrateful and like Gretchen she states,"I wanted to cultivate a contented and thankful spirit." If we are happy with what we have, we wouldn't be miserable thinking of the things we wish we had.
A Buddhist monk named Thich Nhat Hanh writes about how we are always living in the future; for example we always are anxious to get to one place and are not content with our present moment. Rubin agrees when she writes,"I wanted to appreciate the glories of the present moment..." We tend to get caught up in our motive to get to graduation or even when we get off of work.
Aaron Chung
Professor Sabir
English 1A
28 February 2013
Commenting They Say/I Say Ch3
Kimberley Squire
Had a good introduction to the free paraphrases and tied it all together. The paraphrases fit well, and I can hear the author's words. They all also had some type of explanation with it which helps follow up on the free paraphrases and the page numbers are accurate.
John Sengmany
English 1A 9am-9:50am
Wanda Sabir
Feb 26, 2013
The Happiness Project Summary
The Happiness Project February: Gretchen (The Author) grew up motivated with
being noticed and appreciated, This was how she got self approval. Her intentions were to
do things that was thoughtful for those, but to also get recognition for what she has done.
She did the kind things with expectations of getting awarded, sad to say Gretchen set her
expectation bar a bit too high. Appreciation was all she asked for, its what kept her
motivated to do more. All of this tied into to her relationship with Jamie
(Boyfriend/Husband) she felt as if everything was already fine, why change? Gretchen
set her mind to achieving a higher level of happiness she knew she could reach. She knew
certain things could improve her relationship and make her and Jamie way more happier
together .
The Happiness Project March: So far along in this chapter Gretchen is breaking out of
her comfort zone approaching new found tactics to improve her work. With following
and staying committed to her plan, she took bits and pieces of her newly thought out plan
Sengmany2
and set reachable goals. Fear of failure and breaking outside of the box is what used to
trouble Gretchen, in this chapter she also explains the discomforting chore of learning
how to ask, she joins a writers group and uses that to work more effectively.
The Happiness Project April: This chapter you witness Gretchen go through a brand
New transformation of waking up and singing tunes, this idea came from her daughter
which made her want to actually take full consideration for. This mean’s slowing life
down and smelling the roses in front of you (Acknowledge what is in front of you) . To
keep you in good moods Gretchen figured if she kept forcing herself to be happy and sing
songs of encouragement shed be fine. Also take time out of your daily routine and make
time for small things such as doing projects or activities that remind you of a happy
memory, with this being said Gretchen took every step slow and carefully as possible.
Alex Noble
Professor Wanda Sabir
Eng1a 9:00-9:50
Comment Reply
I am commenting on Aaron Chung's summary of Rubin's take on children's relation to happiness. He says that instead of forcing happy memories through items such a scrapbook, memories should be made by having good times in the family that will be remembered without a book.
Israel Iniguez
Professor Sabir
English 1A 9-9:50 Am
28 February 2013
Commenting on Kimberly Squire's summary
Her introduction is really tight and tells me exactly what it is her summary is going to be about. She gives reasoning on why doing something new, other than sticking to the same routine everyday, can really be exciting. She goes into a good point that not all change is necessary, however not enough change can make things a bit uninventive and boring. Her last paragraph skews off in another tangent and reflects more on happiness and thinking about it even in the worst of times, rather than sticking to her main point which was change in routine. Other than that I thought it was a well done summary.
Garyn Calvin
English 1A 9-930am
Response to Aaron Chung
Great job Aaron!!!! You paraphrased the text so well in your own words it seemed like it was just you talking. Just off reading it didnt seem like you where pluging in templates and that made it flow alot smoother. Also the paraphrases you chose had cohesive and linking concepts. keep it up.
Aaron Chung
Professor Sabir
English 1A
28 February 2013
Commenting They Say/I Say Ch3
Kimberley Squire
Had a good introduction to the free paraphrases and tied it all together. The paraphrases fit well, and I can hear the author's words. They all also had some type of explanation with it which helps follow up on the free paraphrases and the page numbers are accurate.
I liked how in paragraph one talks about routine and starts the 3 paragraph assignment with how routine can be either be dull or exciting. This ties in with the next paragraphs.
The next paragraph talks about how if there is no change in life, it can become dull again it ties in with your introduction paragraph.
Last paragraph talks about how being happy shouldn't only occur when we are feeling happy but also when we are feeling down. It all works together and reading it felt smooth and fluid.
Kimberley Squire
Professor Sabir
English 1A 9-9:50AM
28 February 2013
Assigment: Comment on Israel Iniguez Summary.
Friends are an important part of our lives. Israel Iniguez states in his essay, "Rubin gives a lot of feedback when it comes to friends." Israel point is that if we have people in our lives that we can confide in, that our lives are not as happy as they could be.
When people start meeting new people this creates new relationships life becomes rewarding and meaningful. According to Iniguez, "Meeting with people can be a thrill in itself, however getting a big group of people together for one cause can be extraordinary." This is an excellent view of life.
Mylla Truong
English 1A 9-9:50AM
Professor Sabir
28 February 2013
Homework
Kimberley, you did great. I agree with you, when you state,"However, if someone is to have no change in their life, life can become dull and uninventive." If people were to do the same daily routine there would be no space for growth and just being able to learn and experience new things.
Hannah Slicton-Williams
English 1A
9-9:50
In February, Rubin decided to improve her marriage. She knows that she expects too much praise (she calls them gold stars) so she says that she needs to work on doing things for herself. She asks herself why she craves applause for every little thing. Although this was a behavioral issue she decided to tackle toward the beginning of her book, Rubin focuses on it a lot.
In order to show her family how much she loves them, Rubin decides to throw her mother in law a birthday party and organize it so that everyone in the family has a part in it. Despite that fact that she wanted to do this for herself and feel good about giving back, her husband, Jamie, gave her a present while his mother was opening her own presents. Jamie understood her and gave her a box from on top of the shelf. She claims she threw this party in order to give back but she still expected something in return.
Gretchen Rubin has made progress with her Happiness Project but still has a lot of work to do. She says herself that she held it against her husband for not noticing how nice she had been to him over the week. At the end of the chapter, Rubin still insists on not being appreciated enough.
Princess Espinosa
Professor Wanda
English 1A 9-9:50am
Homework:
THP Summary/Paraphrasing
In May, Rubin sets her goal to be serious about play. She forces herself to have fun, but still do things that she loves. There are many things in life that are enjoyable, but Rubin feels she isn’t as happy as others feel doing what most people find fun. She wanted to find what really satisfied her. According to Rubin, She absolutely enjoys kid novels (116). She feels that the atmosphere of children’s literature is much entertaining than adult literature. It’s true; children’s literature makes the reader what to keep reading.
Rubin finds children’s literature adventurous and appealing. Rubin did not know who to share this interest with, but at the same time she was ashamed of her likings of the many favorite children’s literature authors of hers (117). She finally finds a friend who shared this affection and they decide to make a children’s literature club.
When one decides to keep them busy, they must be doing what they LOVE to do. As Rubin states continuously in her project, “BE GRETCHIN”. According to Rubin’s research, shared likes among others lifts the outcome of a long-term friendship, also boost happiness (119). Having a friend to do activities with makes an impact to ones self-esteem. Some people work perfectly fine alone, but often times many thoughts can encounter ones mind and they can become doubtful. On the other hand, having a partner to work with can definitely make whatever they are doing much motivating.
Princess Espinosa
Professor Wanda
English 1A 9-9:50am
Homework:
THP Summary/Paraphrasing
In May, Rubin sets her goal to be serious about play. She forces herself to have fun, but still do things that she loves. There are many things in life that are enjoyable, but Rubin feels she isn’t as happy as others feel doing what most people find fun. She wanted to find what really satisfied her. According to Rubin, She absolutely enjoys kid novels (116). She feels that the atmosphere of children’s literature is much entertaining than adult literature. It’s true; children’s literature makes the reader what to keep reading.
Rubin finds children’s literature adventurous and appealing. Rubin did not know who to share this interest with, but at the same time she was ashamed of her likings of the many favorite children’s literature authors of hers (117). She finally finds a friend who shared this affection and they decide to make a children’s literature club.
When one decides to keep them busy, they must be doing what they LOVE to do. As Rubin states continuously in her project, “BE GRETCHIN”. According to Rubin’s research, shared likes among others lifts the outcome of a long-term friendship, also boost happiness (119). Having a friend to do activities with makes an impact to ones self-esteem. Some people work perfectly fine alone, but often times many thoughts can encounter ones mind and they can become doubtful. On the other hand, having a partner to work with can definitely make whatever they are doing much motivating.
Princess Espinosa
Professor Wanda
Eng 1A 9-9:50am
Assignment:
Comment on one summary
Response to Aaron Chung
Well written summary about Rubin's beliefs of being a parent. You made very strong quotation sandwiches. Also, good job using many templates on starting quotations from what we learned in they say i say. Awesome job,
Joshua Harvey
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A Mon. & Weds. 4-5:50 pm
3/2/2013
Homework: They Say, Template quoting using the Happiness Project.
One of Gretchen goals for May is to have more fun. She wasn’t really sure what activities was fun to her. She said reading and writing was something she enjoyed, but she wanted to find more activities that were consider fun to her. Gretchen herself writes, “If something was really fun to me, it would pass this test: I looked forward to it; I found it energizing, not draining; and I didn’t feel guilty about it later.” One activity she regarded as something she loved was reading children books. She then reflected back to when she was about 10 years old, when she gotten advice from an associate because of her lack of not knowing what was fun to her, and thought about what was it then she done for fun. She realized she liked to create themes in her blank book using words, letters and pictures from newspaper, and magazines, etc. As Gretchen herself puts it, “I turned my books into commonplace books filled with clippings, memorabilia, notes from school friends, cartoons, lists, snatches of information that interested me. Jokes cut from my grandparents back copies of Reader’s Digest sometime find their way in.” So she accomplishes one of her goals, which was finding more fun, for the month of May.
Miaoping Zhong
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A
Lec4-5:50MW
2 March 2013
They Say, Template quoting using The Happiness Project
There are many factors that can affect people’s happiness. In her book "The Happiness Project," Gretchen Rubin maintained that” a good marriage is one of the factors most strongly associated with happiness"(39). In February, Rubin fingered out marriage was an objective for her happiness project. She tried to improve with her relationship with her husband, Jamie by several ways. For example, she avoided nagging to her husband, started fighting right, and avoided the expectation of praise and appreciation. After her effort, Rubin states, “When you give up expecting a spouse to change (within reason), you lessen anger and resentment, and that creates a more loving atmosphere in a marriage” (68).
In March, Rubin focused on her working as her goal in her happiness project. Work is important to happiness. In her view, “work can be a source of many of the elements necessary for a happy life. The atmosphere of growth, social contact, a sense of purpose, self-esteem, recognition”(70). Thus Rubin gained more positive emotions by choosing the right work, such as starting a blog which was a great source of happiness. Moreover, She was willing to admire that failure is acceptable for her. She also found that asking for help is okay for her. Finally, Rubin was joyful the working process when she had an effective way to solve the issues of her work.
In April, Rubin worked on her parenthood as a goal of her happiness project. According to Rubin, “the happiness of having children falls into the kind of happiness that could be called fog happiness”(91).Rubin described the happiness of having kids was ambiguous but not much. She tried to put effort to be a peaceful and cheerful mother when she was with her two daughters. For instance, she sang cheerful songs in the morning so that she could pay more pation to her kids and she encouraged them. In addition, she acknowledged her children’s feelings, such as anger, frustration and sadness. Rubin created the “treasure house of happy memories” which was family traditions as well.
Amanda Wright
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 4-5:50
3 March 2013
THP/They Say
In, "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin, she dedicates a year of her life to becoming happier. For every month Rubin sets goals in addition to sticking to her twelve commandments. For February Rubin dedicates this month to her marriage, remember love as she calls it. In Rubin's view, "The atmosphere of my marriage set the weather for my whole life" (p.39).
By far this is the chapter I admire the most. Rubin's goals for this month are to quit nagging, don't expect praise or appreciation, fight right, no dumping and give proofs of love. According to Rubin, "Studies show that the quality of a couples friendship determines in large part whether they feel satisfied with their marriage's romance and passion and nothing kills the feeling of friendship (and passion) more than nagging" (p.42). She gives different situations when she did nag and when she did not. For the times she does nag she immediately feels bad afterward and also shows that it does not accomplish anything. I also agree with Rubin that you should do nice things because you want to not to expect praise or appreciation. Even doing simple things like sending emails to your husband during the day is a nice gesture as she does in the chapter.
I do believe marriage plays a big part to happiness. In the end Rubin's point is, "When you give up expecting a spouse to change (within reason), you lessen anger and resentment, and that creates a more loving atmosphere in a marriage" (p.68).
Manuel Flores
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 9-9:50 am
1 March 2013
Paraphrased
After taking the pictures, more ways to complete this task was to accept my character as the family note taker to spread my families joy. We have two lovable married grandparents and two nosy neighbors wanting information. I made sure to send letters and updates on how my life was progressing.(102)
I knew that if I changed the way I felt then it changed the feeling of the house. I knew that if somebody wasn't happy then nobody was happy. If somebody was sad then it brought everybody else's emotions down. (142)
As I took a while to learn these things, /i felt hurried and pressured when I could't learn something very fast until I learned a way to help me comprehend things. I put myself on time-out. I'm on time-out I would say. I'm where nobody can find me until i do these things in front of me. I have as long as I need to complete these tasks. I knew that was a lie, but it made me feel like I had all the time in the world. (77)
Corina Guerra
Professor Sabir
English 1A 9-9:50 am
1 March 2013
Paraphrase
Gazing at my contact list I realized I had lost a lot of old friends. My contacts had a list of friends I was once very close with but was no longer in my life. Particularly, there was this one girl I had went to school with. I was a year behind her and she was your typical eye grabbing, reckless teen and I was your typical school-savvy, always following the rules, loyal friend. (144)
I contacted her phone at her job. She was surprised to see that I called, but overall excited. (144)
We were on the phone conversing for a couple of hours. Talking to her after all this time made me think of the good old times we had together. It brought me feelings that I never thought I could feel again. (144-145)
Darolyn Jones
English 1A 9-9:50
professor: Wanda Sabir
March 3, 2013
"summary for a chapter in THP"
In the book " The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin in the February chapter Rubin focuses on love and her marriage. she notices how much she nags Jamie (husband) and tries to find a different way of asking him to do things without using so many words. at times she finds herself snapping and her attitude being bad. when G. K. Chesterton states, " It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light 41." when she read this she realized that she was very harsh on Jamie and it will be difficult to change that but its worth a try. its always easy to be mean and demanding because it comes with the attitude but not to be mean and snappy it is more hard and will take more time to work on.
Rubin was begging for Jamie's attention when it came to all the tasks she has done but doesn't get that from him. she feels guilty about want his attention or a gold star but since she isn't getting that she tells herself that she is just doing it for her own purpose. when Jamie feels that Rubin is unhappy he ends up in funk or not happy. According to Oscar Wilde, " One is not always happy when one is good; but one is not always good when one is happy. 54" In a relationship the couple feeds off of each others mood and feelings which its better for both of them to be happy or one so that the other one can feel the same. otherwise if one isn't good the other one is going to be in a funk.
Miguel Becerra
Engl 1A 9-9:50am
Prof. W.Sabir
)3/03/13
Quotation-Sandwiches
"THP August:Contemplate the Heavens"
Coming out of her previous month of money management, "Buy Some Hapiness", Gretchen was ready to get away from the physical and the material world asserting her strong belief that spirituality was a great part of being happy. Through her quoting of philosopher Boethius who in AD 524, while in prison awaiting execution wrote "Contemplate the extent and stability of the heaven and at last cease to admire worthless things". Gretchen was able to seize her opportunity to take on the wealth of knowledge attributed to many great individuals throughout life that had persevered or held their heads high through their ordeals hopefully, simply by reading their great works. "The challenges to my serenity were insignificant compared to execution, of course, but I wanted to cultivate the same sense of perspective so I could remain unruffled by petty annoyances and setbackss". Where she was able to learn from these triumphs though her family may have been a little bit cautious of her bringing out skulls to place on their coffee table as an altar of sorts.
To imitate a master would have been the most accomplished thing she could of thought up as many might ask what would Jesus do? Gretchen quandered what would the young Saint Therese, a twenty-four year old baby sister from France who challenged obstacles just trying to get into the convent at so young an age. Therese confided in (Story of a Soul)italicized.her memoir that " I want to be a warrior, a priest, an apostle, a doctor of the church, a martyr... I should like to die on the battlefields in defence of the church"(212). Gretchen admired Therese the Saint for her small attributions in every small way she could think, not just in a large full force take on the world way. her defence of the church was through her smile within the church, at home.
Sambath Tin
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A, 9-9:50am
3 March 2013
February
In the month of February, Rubin talks about Remembering Love. Early on, she mentions that she often nags or tends to make life more difficult than it should be for her husband.
Rubin recalls a line she had heard in her head by G. K. Chesterton: “It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light” (Rubin 41). The author wanted herself to understand that she should learn to appreciate the little things her husband does for her instead of expecting something spectacular and big every time.
A line that stood out by Pierre Reverdy: “There is no love; there are only proofs of love” (Rubin 55). Rubin made it clear that she wasn’t expressing love through her nagging. When thinking back to this line, she remembers that she can feel love but if she doesn’t show it in a way where people can understand, then she will be the only person ever having knowledge about it.
She explains by Oscar Wilde’s thoughts, “One is not always happy when one is good; but one is always good when one is happy” (Rubin 54). There’s a saying that goes, “bad things happen to good people.” Although a person can live a good life, there tend to be obstacles to make things difficult. On a different note, when a person is happy, they are more likely to produce good gestures of kindness. Happiness is a feeling that makes a person smile, a feeling of joy that illuminates the darkness. For Rubin, she knew that being a good person would ultimately make her happy, but her happiness would exceed beyond that knowing she could make others happy as well.
Miaoping Zhong
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 4-5:50
3 March 2013
They Say, Template quoting using The Happiness Project
There are many factors that can affect people’s happiness. In her book "The Happiness Project," Gretchen Rubin maintained that” a good marriage is one of the factors most strongly associated with happiness"(39). In February, Rubin fingered out marriage was an objective for her happiness project. She tried to improve with her relationship with her husband by several ways. For example, she avoided nagging to her husband, started fighting right, and avoided the expectation of praise and appreciation. After her effort, Rubin states, “When you give up expecting a spouse to change (within reason), you lessen anger and resentment, and that creates a more loving atmosphere in a marriage”(68).
In March, Rubin focused on her working as her goal in her happiness project. Work is important to happiness. In her view, “work can be a source of many of the elements necessary for a happy life. The atmosphere of growth, social contact, a sense of purpose, self-esteem, recognition”(70). Thus Rubin gained more positive emotions by choosing the right work, such as starting a blog which was a great source of happiness. Moreover, she was willing to admire that failure is acceptable for her. She also found that asking for help is okay for her. Finally, Rubin was joyful the working process when she had an effective way to solve the issues of her work.
In April, Rubin worked on her parenthood as a goal of her happiness project. According to Rubin, “the happiness of having children falls into the kind of happiness that could be called fog happiness”(91).Rubin described the happiness of having kids was ambiguous but not much. She tried to put effort to be a peaceful and cheerful mother when she was with her two daughters. For instance, she sang cheerful songs in the morning so that she could pay more patients to her kids and she encouraged them. In addition, she acknowledged her children’s feelings, such as anger, frustration and sadness. Rubin created the “treasure house of happy memories” which was family traditions as well.
Cecilya Alanis
Professor Sabir
English 1A 4-5:50
4 March 2013
Template quoting The Happiness Project
"The Happiness Project," Author Gretchen Rubin wrote ” a good marriage is one of the factors most strongly associated with happiness"(39). In the book Rubin discovered marriage was a key component in her happiness project. She soon after attempted to improve with her marriage this she did in several ways. For example, she stopped nagging her husband, started finding alternative means of arguments between them. After this, Rubin says, “When you give up expecting a spouse to change (within reason), you lessen anger and resentment, and that creates a more loving atmosphere in a marriage”(68).
Rubin focused on her work as a goal in her happiness project. An average person spends 80-90% of their life at work this makes work another key component in a person’s happiness. “Work can be a source of many of the elements necessary for a happy life. The atmosphere of growth, social contact, a sense of purpose, self-esteem, recognition” (70). Choosing the correct job for a person is a good way to positively reinforce a happy life. For example, she was willing to except her failures. With a happy worker it will make for a happy life.
Parenthood was another one of her happiness goals to improve on. Rubin, has said “the happiness of having children falls into the kind of happiness that could be called fog happiness”(91).Rubin put effort to be cheerful mother when she was with her daughters. To initiate this plan Rubin sang cheerful songs as well as providing more encouragement and the one I believe is major part in the happiness between her and her daughters was acknowledging the emotions her daughters were experiencing.
Ngoc Huynh
Professor Sabir
English 1A 4-5:50p.m.
Sumary Homework
Gretchen sets a whole year to accumulate happiness. She thinks having healthy relationship with people around you such as family, friends, and husband or wife are such important factors for her to feel happy. However, to allow others feel that she loves them, she has to find ways to let them understand her love. Thus, she suggests that in order to make yourself happy, you should express your love in actions that can make people beside feeling it, they can also see it. She writes, "' There is no love; there are only proofs of love.' Whatever love I might feel in my heart, others will see only my actions."
Gretchen Rubin writes, " enthusiasm is more important to mastery than innate ability, it turns out, because the single most important element in developing an expertise is your wiliness to practice. In another words, even though Gretchen has given us many good advises, but the most importance is that you need to exercise these good habits. Moreover, she claims that you don't need to born with good habits; it is more important if you know how to practice good habits.
Gretchen Rubin has mentioned in her “The Happiness Project” that in order to pursue she needs to give up the negative attitude. She writes, “… denying bad feelings intensifies them; acknowledging bad feelings allows good feelings to return.” In another words, she has to understand and solve her problems, so the bad feelings will be no longer exist. Thus, the happiness will come when there is nothing to prevent her to feeling good.
Brendan Gaines
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A
3 March 2013
Framing Quotations Exercise
In her book The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin states, “Nevertheless, studying Buddhism made me realize the significance of some of the concepts that I’d overlooked. The most important was mindfulness – the cultivation of conscious, nonjudgmental awareness.”(236) As she entered the month of October, she attempted to tackle her newest resolution, “Pay Attention”. (235) In talking about her quest with friend and acquaintances, Buddhism was a constant recommendation from her peers. This prompted her to do some research including the work, The Art of Happiness by the prominent religious figure the Dalai Lama.
While Rubin herself writes, “[And] although I admired many of its teachings, I didn’t feel much deep connection to Buddhism, which, at its heart, urges detachment as a way to alleviate suffering.” (235) In her book The Happiness Project, Rubin maintains that “I’m an adherent of the Western tradition of cultivating deep passions and profound attachments; I didn’t want to detach, I wanted to embrace; I didn’t want to loosen, I wanted to deepen.” (236) She seems to go back and forth on the virtues of things like meditations. She complicates matters further when she writes, “Perhaps I’d try meditation in Happiness Project II, but for now I would seek happiness in the ways that seem most natural to me.” (237)
Ultimately I think that Rubin did benefit from her study of Buddhism. She goes on to express appreciation for her new knowledge of the religion when she writes, “The aspect that intrigued me the most, however, was the study of Zen koans. A koan is a question or statement that can’t be understood logically. Zen Buddhist monks meditate on koans as a way to abandon dependence on reason in their pursuit of enlightenment.” (238) Rubin developed her own collection of koans including “The best way out is always through.” taken from Robert Frost. I feel confident in stating that Rubin gained a deeper appreciation for, if nothing else, the many paths to happiness that different cultures can offer.
Enrique Barboza
English 1A 4-550PM
They Say I Say Summary Analysis with quotation sandwich Page 46-47
In the Happiness Project, the author Gretchen Rubin takes a year to improve aspects of her life to make herself happier. She creates twelve resolutions for the entire year, one resolution for each month. As she completes a resolution for the month, she applies her resolution for the next month as well. For the month of June, for example, she decides to make time for friends. According to Rubin, she wanted to “[focus] on my relationships by strengthening old friendships, deepening existing friendships, and make new friends” (142). In making this comment, Rubin is urges us to maintain and create bonds with others that are close to you. Strong social bonds are key for being happy.
For the month of July, Rubin begins working on her resolution of making time for friends. She starts by remembering her friends' birthday, and she does this by using a website, HappyBirthday.com. A friend of hers recommended that she make a phone call instead, but Rubin decided she send emails instead because she disliked making phone calls. In Rubin's view, “the important thing was to maintain the connection” (144). Rubin's point is that as long as you remember to take the time to wish your friend a happy birthday, it shows that you care for your friend. Remembering friends' birthday will strengthen bonds because it shows that you deeply care for your friend.
Rubin also works on showing up to meet her friends' babies when she is invited over. Rubin saw that these simple “gestures deepen casual friends into close friends, and confirm closeness between good friends” (154). In other words, Rubin believes that showing up to any event that your friends invite you to, shows that you truly do care about your friendship with them. Bonding with your friends will truly keep your friendship going for many years.
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