Zarek Golike

Mrs. Jankowski
English 12H
8/17/15

Journals
1. 8/17- What is the biggest catalyst to make a change in our lives?
The biggest catalyst to make a change in our lives is when you gain the ability to talk as
an infant. Once you gain the ability to talk absolutely everything you is affected by what you say.
Words are one of the most powerful things in the world, and they can be used for both good and
bad. If you use words in a certain way they can help you and if you use words in a bad way they
can harm you.Once you have gained the ability to speak billions of new things are available to
you.
Score-3
Feedback- Decent structure to your answer; A few comma problems; Work on sentence structure
2. 8/25- As our country becomes a melting pot, do we embrace our differences more or less?
As our country has become more diverse, I believe that we, as Americans, have learned to
embrace our differences a lot more than we did in the past. I believe that over time all of the
races, ethnic groups, religions, etc. have all become united and equal in this great country. I see
our country as a family that is happy and friendly the majority of the time, yet also fights and
gets mad at one another on occasion. Even though we fight, we always make up and become
friends again, and thats how you know we truly embrace one another.
Score-3
Feedback-Interesting comparison, Strengthen vocabulary, Some good phrasings
3. 8/31- What would you pack in your suitcase if you could never go home again?
If I could never go home again, I would pack only a couple of personal items in my
suitcase. The items I would put in first, would be the large items that have value to me, such as,
my knives and PS3. These items mean a lot to me, because, they have played a big role in my
life. My knives have played a large role in my life, by them having sentimental value to me,
because I collect and clean them. My PS3 means a lot to me as well because, I watch shows, and
play games on it with Alex.
Score- 3
Feedback- Very plain- work on your extending your rationale (Why is it sentimental?)

4. 9/15- Certain key experiences help us mature from children into adults. Describe one of
those key experiences in your life.

A key experience that helped me mature into an adult, would be getting dumped by a girl
that I liked a lot. She dumped me, because she thought that I acted too childish and immature. I
had never experienced real heartbreak before this point, so when she dumped me, it hurt pretty
bad. After the breakup I worked on this by trying to act more like an adult. I did this by not
talking as much, not running around and being stupid, and by just calming down. After a while
she began to notice that I had matured a lot, and she gave me another shot, by asked me out
again. We have been dating for almost 4 years now, and she thinks of me as a much more mature
person.