Maira Rana

Self Assessment Essay

I am pleased to say that I have achieved the course goals listed in this syllabus for ENGL 21002.

One of my main course goals was to improve editing skills using principles of grammar, punctuation, and unique styles of mechanics and usage of the English language. I have worked hard to hone these skills and feel confident in my ability to catch and correct errors in my own writing, as well as in the writing of others. I have also learned how to use various editing tools, such as grammar checkers and style guides, to ensure that my writing is clear and error-free. Another course goal listed in the syllabus was to develop an eye for a variety of rhetorical strategies and integrate that knowledge into my writing. I have spent time studying the different strategies that writers use to persuade, inform, or entertain their readers, and I have learned how to effectively use these strategies in my own writing. I have also learned how to analyze the rhetorical strategies used by other writers and evaluate their effectiveness.

I have also made great progress in my ability to read for main points while documenting information from text, books, libraries, film, and the internet. I have learned how to identify the key points in a piece of writing and to summarize them in my own words. Finally, I have learned and applied the major steps in the writing process to my own writing. I have learned how to brainstorm and prewrite, how to organize my ideas into a clear and logical structure, how to write a rough draft, how to revise and edit, and how to produce a final draft. I have also learned how to effectively revise and edit my own writing, as well as the writing of others.

I have achieved the goal of being able to respond thoughtfully in writing to published and peer essays and to recognize the features of a writer’s style and organization. One way I have achieved this goal is by actively reading and analyzing a wide range of published and peer essays. This has allowed me to become familiar with the various writing styles and organizational structures that different authors use. I have learned to identify the key points, arguments, and evidence that writers present and to evaluate the effectiveness of their writing. I have also learned to respond thoughtfully to these essays by considering the main points and arguments presented and offering my own insights and critiques. This has required me to carefully consider the content of the essays and to form my own opinions and arguments based on the evidence provided.

In addition to responding to published and peer essays, I have also learned to recognize and appreciate the various features of a writer’s style and organization. I have learned to identify the tone, voice, and language that writers use to convey their ideas and to understand how these elements contribute to the overall effectiveness of their writing

Overall, I am pleased with my progress in the course and the progress I have made in achieving these goals and feel confident in my writing skills. I am eager to continue learning and improving as a writer in the future. Thank you Professor Nivens. 

Maira Rana

Sayeda Zareen’s “According to Society, “How to be a girl””

I agree with Sayeda’s claim that society has set standards for girls and women to be viewed as worthwhile and valuable, even though every female is deserving and worthy no matter their accomplishments and their ability to be a “proper woman.” Sayeda uses many sources and includes rhetorical strategies to strengthen her claim. The two sources that I agree with most are Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” and the song “Victoria’s Secret” by Jax. Both of these sources reinforce her claim exponentially, along with the author’s use of repetition and pathos. Women and girls are frequently confined to the roles of mothers, wives, and caregivers. Gender norms place girls in the role of caregivers, resulting in gender bias in the distribution of family roles.

Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” is a short story that consists of short line instructions. The mother of the girl is laying out the rules of womanhood, these instructions set out by the mother are related to topics including household chores, manners, cooking, social conduct, and relationships. The purpose of the mother is to form the girl into a “proper woman,” not a slut that she is bent on becoming. This is a reality for many young girls who are tortured by their mother’s rules from a young age in order to emerge as poised women that society can accept and value. Sayeda also uses a song written by Jax called “Victoria’s Secret,” in which she explains the standard set for women in society is set by men, who know nothing of women. I agree with this statement because men set impossible goals for women to achieve and society reinforces those goals. Sayeda uses the artist’s use of pathos to show how the artist appealed to their audience, as the artist’s experience is something almost every woman can relate to.

This issue of women being held to a standard constructed by society has gone on since the beginning of time. Women have experienced the consequences since the beginning of time, but now they have started to be vocal and point out the problems within our societal standard. Sayeda does a wonderful job showcasing this prevalent issue. The consequences of this issue are now being brought to light by women who share their experiences, such as eating disorders to be skinny and seen as worthwhile. 

Maira Rana

This essay will discuss the rhetorical strategies of Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat”. These texts show how women are shaped from a young age to fulfill the roles set out for them. The context of all three texts is surrounding gender roles and their effect on women as an individual. Gender roles are a set of expectations that we have grown accustomed to as time has passed. In short, a gender role is what a man or woman can perform in a society that is convenient for them. Women and girls are frequently confined to the roles of mothers, wives, and caregivers. Gender norms place girls in the role of caregivers, resulting in gender bias in the distribution of family roles. 

The three texts that I will discuss in this essay are Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat”. First, Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” shows a young girl about to enter adulthood being taught how to act like a woman who society deems respectable. The mother of the young girl dictates the actions of the girl that she considers appropriate for females. Second, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is about the deterioration of a woman’s mental health while she is on a “rest cure”. Throughout the text her fascination with the yellow wallpaper in her bedroom reflects her decline into psychosis as a result of her depression.Third, Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” tells the story of Delia Jones, a hardworking, humble woman caught in a marriage with an abusive man who enjoys mistreating her. 

The common theme between these short stories is gender roles being assigned to women.  Kincaid shows gender roles being assigned to a young girl in “Girl” when she says, “This is how you smile to someone you don’t like very much; this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely;… this is how to behave in the presence of men who don’t know you very well, and this way they won’t recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming.”  This quote shows that women are instructed how to live their lives. The mother of the girl is laying out the rules of womanhood, these instructions set out by the mother are related to topics including household chores, manners, cooking, social conduct, and relationships. Due to the fact that society considers that a woman’s reputation and respectability predisposes the quality of her life in the community, the mother must make her daughter comply with these rules. 

Gilman expresses gender roles when she says, “John is a physician, and perhaps – (I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind) perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster.  You see he does not believe I am sick!” This quote demonstrates how John, the story’s upper-class protagonist, maintains a high-status employment as a physician, while his wife is given no name. The  short story serves as a warning about the dangers of set gender roles imposed by male-dominated societies: the man’s position as husband and reasonable thinker, and the woman’s role as faithful wife who does not question her husband’s authority.

 Furthermore when Hurston expresses gender roles she says,””There’s plenty men dat takes a wife lak dey do a joint uh sugar-cane. It’s round, juicy an’ sweet when dey gits it. But dey squeeze an’ grind, squeeze an’ grind an’ wring tell dey wring every drop uh pleasure dat’s in ’em out. When dey’s satisfied dat dey is wrung dry, dey treats ’em jes lak dey do a cane-chew. Dey thows ’em away. Dey knows whut dey is doin’ while dey is at it, an’ hates theirselves fuh it but they keeps on hangin’ after huh tell she’s empty. Den dey hates huh fuh bein’ a cane-chew an’ in de way. Den dey hates huh fuh bein’ a cane-chew an’ in de way””. This quote shows the standard for a relationship between a man and woman, it can also be compared to Delia and Sykes’ relationship. Many men treat women as if they were a disposable commodity such as sugarcane. When they first obtain her, she is “round, juicy, and delicious.” But they twist and squeeze the woman until “every drop uh pleasure” is gone, and then they throw her away. Only a patriarchal mindset can consider women to be used up. 

Maira Rana

Who am I?

I am lucky.
The first and only time I played the lottery, I won $3,000. The $3,000 check to this day is sitting in my bank account because I am not sure if I am supposed to pay taxes on it.

Luck: success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions Luck is why I am alive today.

I was overjoyed the summer after I graduated from elementary school; I had begun living with my father and had finally met my cousins and grandparents after five long years. I didn’t have to worry about my schizophrenic mother harming my brother and I anymore because she was finally gone. I was about to have the best summer ever in a three-family house with ten loud, mischievous cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. My grandmother would sit outside every afternoon under the shade of a huge tree in our front yard so we could play outside safely without running into oncoming traffic. The ice cream truck would come around playing its tunes and then we would beg her for soft-serve cones.

It was the perfect summer until everything went to shit. I began getting sick, at first no one thought much of it until I started throwing up everything I ate and was not able to sleep at

night. I went to see my primary care physician only to have her tell me to drink gatorade because I was just dehydrated. As expected, the gatorade did not fix anything; after a few days my grandmother recommended my father take me to my childhood cardiologist. She said in Punjabi, “Unu dil wala dakatar nu dakala, choto honda ve dil de masla si.” So my father did, and as we were a few steps from the doctor’s office entrance, the doctor came out with a brown box in his hands. It turns out it was his last day, he was retiring. My father explained to him my symptoms, and he agreed to see me before he left. The echocardiogram test showed that I was in heart failure.

I was immediately taken to the children’s hospital where the doctors tried a multitude of different procedures, but none were successful and I had to be put on the transplant list. I was extremely lucky because, due to my deteriorating condition, I received a heart within four days from a young girl who had recently died in a car accident. I was lucky that the girl’s family was generous and thoughtful even in their time of grief, because the colorful walls of the hospital could have only kept me alive for so long.

I will always be thankful to my grandmother because had she not recommended the cardiologist, it would have been too late. As an adult, I have come to realize that she always looked out for me more than my own father ever did. This could partially be due to the fact that she saw all that I went through in my childhood, or it could be the guilt from forcing my parents to get married and then divorced. The funny thing is that she is such an anxious soul, but she always tells me “Tension na liya kre ko.” Only if she knew it was too late for that, because now I am just as anxious as she is.

Now here I stand, eight years post-transplant, with the ability to do anything I desire and with memories I would not have if that summer luck was not on my side.

But here is the thing with narratives, you will only see what is shown. You probably thought this was a heartwarming story about luck and blah blah blah. No, this is about the truth, because what defines me today is not my luck, but the circumstances that shaped me into the person I am. Yes, I have the ability to do what I desire, but will I ever step up and do so? I have amazing memories that I would never have had, but I also have some horrible ones. What my “perfect” narrative did not showcase was my aunts’ shitty behavior towards my brother and I because she hated my mother, my father quitting his job to take care of me in the hospital, how I cried for my abusive mother because I felt alone in a house with fifteen other people, or choking down sixteen pills first thing in the morning. I will always be grateful and appreciative of my luck and circumstances eight years ago, but I feel as if that incident did not give me the inspiration or motivation that people seem to think I have after my transplant to be who I am today, but it was the shit that I went through afterwards that shaped the person I am today.

Nonetheless, I shall never forget the parents who decided to donate their young daughter’s organs so other children like myself could have a second chance.

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