Casside Woods
Dr. Flowers
CENG 106| Composition II
29 April 2011
Reflective Essay: English Edition
First semester ended and I felt like I did not accomplish anything and I was going in
semester thinking the same thing. When coming back I heard that we were still working on the
same assignment that we worked on last semester. I did not too much get that paper the first
time and I had a whole month off thinking we were done. I know first semester I did learn a lot
of things about my writing and what my weakness and strengths were. The hardest thing I think
was for me this semester understanding the assignment to its entirety. I did not understand
when the assignment was given and it was too much to comprehend without a guide. The
strongest point was second life and making the building Even though I had my times I feel that
was my strongest point of this class. This class helped me first semester but coming into second
semester I did not see the point and I was so frustrated this semester. Like I said in my first
reflective essay I said that I found this class helpful in a way. My whole mindset has changed
since first semester. I will go into detail of what I have done this semester and how my feelings
have changed.
Beginning of the class we were to make an account in Second Life. Second Life is virtual
world where we make up avatars. I still think that this website is cool because of all the things
we could do. So second semester we would work more on Second life than we did first
semester. The assignment had two parts to it there was a visual part and there was written
part. The visual part we were supposed to build our own business and furnish it and everything.
The written part was to talk about the project in its entirety.
Moving a step further in this class, we are learned how to build our own things in
Second Life. The objective is to find something that catches your attention, something of your
interest. I decided to do my project on music and poetry, mainly spoken word. Music and
poetry are something I always enjoyed growing up and also at this point in my life. I chose to
build a lounge where people can come to listen to music, poetry, and sometimes will have
spoken word. The lounge focuses on the music. As I matriculated through this project I planned
on being more knowledgeable about the background of the genre of choice. When I started to
research my topic I started to learn more about the music and their origins. My lounge is called
the Quiet Lounge. This is where people can come to get away from their problems. It could be
for those people who like to go out with their friends or even on dates.
The Quiet Lounge setting is soothing, relaxing, and smooth. The music focuses on
Rhythm and blues and hip hop and other music in those categories such as jazz. The lights are
dim with candles everywhere. The stage where the performances will be held has carpet. There
are seats on the floor as well as chairs by tables. There are tables where you can take your
drinks. Yes, the lounge provides drinks at the bar. Couches are available to sit on. On the side,
where the bar is there is an area where you can dance and just have fun. On the stage there are
microphones, lighting, and instruments for the performers the bar side is the more sociable
side where people intermingle and listen to music. All around the room will be pictures of
famous artists. Under the pictures there will be descriptions of who they are and what they did.
I chose this because I always wanted to go to places like these but never had the chance.
Instead of a regular club I made this for people to enjoy and relax. You can sing, dance, and let
go and have fun. I have a passion for music and poetry and I would not have chosen anything
else. Can everybody relate to music and poetry? Music and poetry are a universal language that
everyone appreciates.
Quiet Lounge focuses more in R n B, and hip hop. How did R n B and hip hop begin? R n B also
known as Rhythm and Blues has grown out of African American culture. The term R n B
originated in the 1940s and it first became popular in the places where African Americans
migrated like Chicago, New York, Detroit, and Los Angeles. It developed from changes that took
place in the United States before and during World War I. The term rhythm and blues was
originally created in 1949 by Jerry Wexler. Back then rhythm and blues catered more to
teenagers than it did to adults.
Hip Hop consists of djing, graffiti, and breakdancing. It is known that hip hop originated in the
Bronx by a Jamaican Dj named Kool Herc. From then on there were rap and other types of hip
hop. Rap and hip and hip go hand and hand like KRS-One said “Hip-hop is something you live,
rap is something you do.” Rap is more of the music part and Hip hop is more of the living style
such as graffiti, clothes, and more. I chose to have these two genres of music because they are
my favorite.
Beside music there will be people speaking and expressing their own piece of work and
this interpretation is called spoken word. Spoken word is very powerful to an individual. It is
work and performances that a person writes from their experiences. People express spoken
word in different kinds of ways such as talking or miming and sometimes there are
interpretations like dancing. You can say it is poetry coming alive. You can feel the emotions
and realness of the person that speaks it. Spoken word evolved around the late 1980s and early
1990s by poetry slams.
Beginning this project I did not know plenty of the information I know now. I knew a
little bit about the background but I did not know the full history in details. I researched and
found out that R n B was originated around World War 1. There are some things I did know and
that was how powerful spoken word can be. Spoken word is made up of people emotions and
experiences. I knew about music in the 1990s but not exactly how music developed over years.
Researching a little background about the music and poetry that will be acknowledged in my
lounge you will learn about the history of the music. After I built the walls and ceilings I started
to furnish the place. I went shopping for things for my lounge but it was difficult to find exactly
what I wanted. I did not have that many items but I looked and found some more. Inside of the
lounge I have pictures of musicians and give a little background about them and about poetry.
Now that all of this is down, The Quiet Lounge is to be open to everybody to come have fun and
enjoy the scenery. I know it is exciting to hear such a great place and now you can experience it
for yourself. This is the place where you can relax, let go, and have fun. This was somewhat of
my paper but it did not go into detail on the music history.
When I first did this paper I did it wrong because at first I thought it was one paper but
later on I would find out we had to do three papers. I did not make a good grade on this paper
because I did not follow directions but who knew it would work out for me in the end. Doing
this project was kind of tough but not really I did enjoy this project because it was a hand and
hand project. I like to see what my mind can come up with. When I started to build on my
business I was so happy with what I was putting out that I had to tell Dr. Flowers. I told her to
look at my project and she was like I saw it. Truth is told she said I did not think that you would
come up with something like that. I was offended but kind of happy at the same time. I know I
have ability and I always put my best forward. It is something about this class it just seems like I
can excel like I am supposed to do.
My writing I feel like it has been getting worst every time I get disappointed. I feel like I
did a good job. After a while I got lazy in my writing because I saw that I have not been doing
well and I just got discouraged. Dr. Flowers to sign up for a tutor and I was all for it because
there is no progress if you do not get any help. Everything was so unorganized and when I asked
for assistance I was blown off. This semester was the most stressful and worst. I never felt this
way ever in my 12 and half years of school.
Besides some of the setbacks I had I enjoyed the major assignment that we had. The
building was the part that I liked the most. I really worked on my paper. I let the website that
teacher gave us read my paper back to me. I been determined to get my grade up and I’m going
to stick to that because I do not plan to be a failure nor fail. This class has been a rollercoaster
and now I am at the end. I can say that I tried my best and that I know I started to let go but I
hopped right back on.