Their Desert Island Songs:
Raheem: Ghetto Gospel by Tupac
Zac: What I've Done by Linkin Park
Sara: Kissing in Cars by Pierce the Veil
Pat: Badfish by Sublime
Ira: Redemption Song by Bob Marley
Latrece: Lean on Me by Kirk Franklin
Samantha: Canon in D by Pachelbel
Brian: Wait Til I Get There by Eric Durrance
David: Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles
Jen: Holes in the Floor of Heaven by Steve Wariner
Laura: Better in Time by Leona Lewis
Mike: I'm Me by Lil' Wayne
Woody: Immortal Corruptor by GWAR
N'ponda: Heal the World by Michael Jackson
Eddie: Wish You Were Here by Incubus
Marion: Baby I'm So Glad You're Mine by Al Green
Brandon: Jeremy by Pearl Jam
Holly: Guaranteed by Eddie Vedder
Chris: Yesterday's Feelings by The Used
Zanna: Lonely by Britney Spears
Archana: The Way You Look Tonight by Michael Buble
Montgomery College Germantown, MD EN 101 Professor DiFabio
Montgomery College
Germantown Campus
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Thanks
My deepest thanks goes out to Gardner Campbell and Bill Kemp, my EN101 professors over a decade ago at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA.
They are the true parents of Stranded.
They are the true parents of Stranded.
21 comments:
Eddie Raff
“I Wish You Were Here” –Incubus
I decided to pick “I Wish You Were Here” as my desert island song for a few reasons. I knew that I would be writing about this song a lot, so it had to have a lot of meaning. I made a list of my favorite songs and I thought that this would be the easiest to write about. I also don’t get tired of hearing this song as it is one of my favorites.
Now that the semester is over, I still stand by my song choice. I never really struggled to write about this song until the last essay. It was definitely my best option. All of my other favorite songs would have been much harder to write about. “I Wish You Were Here” has a lot of meaning behind it for me and I think it is about a feeling that everyone experiences one time or another.
Of all the essays we wrote this semester, my favorite one was the compare/contrast essay. Not only did I get an A on it, but I felt the best writing this one. I put the most effort into this essay and felt like I used a really good comparison for my song. I felt that this essay really supported my song choice of “I Wish You Were Here.”
If I had to give advice to students about to take this class, the only thing I would have to say to them is to pick a very meaningful song. You’ve got to have a juicy song that you can easily breakdown and talk about in any way. This is a good, fun class if you let it be.
Patrick Cravath
“Badfish” by Sublime
I decided to pick “Badfish” by the artist Sublime as my Desert Island Song because of how much it meant to me, and because of how much it impacted my life. It provided me with comfort and understanding after my friend had died from an accidental overdose many years ago. Since that day, Ive listened to it countless times, and it has become an integral part of my daily life. The song instantly popped in my mind when we were given this assignment for the semester.
Now that the semester is over, and we have completed all the essays, I stand by my choice. Thankfully it was easy enough to apply this song to all of the essay types we had to write throughout the semester. If I had picked a different song, it may not have been as easy, or even possible, to write that many essays about it. “Badfish” had enough substance to really explore it and write so many essays about it. Also, it helps that I really enjoy listening to the song, and didn’t get sick of hearing it. I think If I did, I wouldn’t have been able to get through this class.
The essay I liked best was the narrative essay. I liked this essay mostly because it was the easiest to write frankly. It also allowed me to really write with a voice and passion that the other essays never allowed me to fully do. The other essays required much more specific styles, and really were much more painful to write for me. It also doesn’t hurt that I got the best grade on it that I did on any other paper this semester.
A good piece of advice for students starting EN101 this upcoming semester is stay on top of your work. I know it’s easy to put of the paper to the last minute, but you produce much better work if you take your time and write a little bit each day. If you force yourself to do it the last minute, it shows in your work. Also, proofread everything. You make a lot of stupid mistakes when you’re writing that you never notice until it’s too late.
Zanna Vassos
English 101
“Lonely” by Britney Spears
I picked “Lonely” by Britney Spears because I can really connect to it because I know how it feels to have your heart broken and be treated awful, causing you to feel awful about yourself. When she sings about not letting people bring her down anymore and not needing a guy to keep her from being lonely encourages me to get over my past heartbreak and issues that brought me down.
I stand by my choice because I love this song. I would not change it because there is so much to write about it and reflect, even more than I thought there would be. It was extremely easy to find enough information about why Britney lost popularity and what led her to write these lyrics and sing this song.
I like the documented essay the most. I liked this one the most because I really got to understand the background of the song. It also was very interesting to learn everything that Britney went through, past the public rumors and judgments. I learned how hard her life really is.
I have a very important piece of advice to other students just starting EN101. You need to really think about what song you choose before you choose it. Also, you cannot get behind on your posts and read over your essays. Lastly, be prepared to write A LOT.
Sara Burns
“Kissing in Cars” by Pierce the Veil
I decided to pick “Kissing in Cars” for my DIS song because it was my favorite song at the beginning of the semester. I chose the song because it was the song that my girlfriend and I shared in our relationship. It was a song that could always put me in a good mood, and reminded me how lucky and in love I was with her. The song explained exactly how I felt every day and I could really relate to it.
Now that the semester is over I DO NOT stand by my choice. If I had to do this all over again I definitely would not pick the same song. Starting in October my now ex girlfriend and I started fighting everyday and having problems. My “perfect” relationship soon fell apart. We constantly became on and off and it became very stressful. It became so stressful that it started to make me physically sick, and made it really hard to continue to write my essays about how happy and in love we used to be. I thought she was the one for me, and that things would eventually over time get better, but as everyday passed we found something else to argue about and ended up breaking up for good about two weeks ago.
Now that I look back on it I liked the first essay, the narrative essay the best. I thought it was the easiest essay, and the most fun. It was cool to look back in time and remember the first time I heard the song.
A good piece of advice to incoming English 101 students would be to pick a song that they really like. I would definitely not suggest picking a love song about your boyfriend or girlfriend. I know a lot of teens think their relationships are perfect, because that’s where I was. However when your relationship fails it makes it really hard to have to write 3-4 page papers about it. Choose a song in which the meaning to you will never change.
Zachary E. Baum
“What I’ve Done” by Linkin Park
The way I decided my Deserted Island song is because Linkin Park is one of my favorite bands. This band has a very unique sound and is the only group that I actually like every song on every album. It was only natural to choose a song from one of their records. This song in particular always reminded me of my grandma and I wanted to share my story about it.
Now that the semester is over, I wish I had chosen a different song. Even though my song was meaningful, it was too hard to write five essays on it. It is too complicated in order to write a good/correct analysis on it. For example, when I was writing about the meaning of my song, it could have been interpreted ten different ways.
Out of the five essays I wrote, my favorite one was the cause/effect essay. This essay topic gave me the ability to fully share the story about my grandma’s struggle and how it related to my D.I.S. I did not receive the best grade on it, however I still think it was one of my best writings!
My advice to new students taking E.N 101 is that to make sure they pick a D.I.S song that is easy to interpret, has a great background, and a clear history. The five essays we have to write will make you analyze every bit of your D.I.S song so be sure it’s a song you love. `Also be sure to turn in everything on time and don’t fall behind.
Samantha Helfstein
"Canon in D" by Pachelbel
I decided to choose “Canon in D” by Johann Pachelbel as my DIS because it is calming and relaxing. When there is something I am upset about I turn to this song. If I am afraid and have no one to help me out or tell me to relax, I put my head phones in my ears and put the song on medium/high volume. I like this song. It is original and soothing. It has other versions that I enjoy listening to as well that are fun and upbeat that I can dance to but the original is still the best.
Now that the semester is over, I do not completely stand by my choice. Although it is a good song with a lot of background information for me to look up, it is difficult to find the meaning of the song without any words to listen to. I would change my song knowing what I know now. It is a good melody and very peaceful but it is not easy to write more than one type of essay about a song with no lyrics. Without the lyrics it is hard to find the meaning; especially when the melody of the song is repetitive.
The essay I liked the best was the narrative essay. It was fun writing a story that kept others interested. Having the ability to write about something that is true and interesting is a lot of fun. The narrative essay is my favorite essay because it explained the reasoning behind why I chose “Canon in D” by Pachelbel as my DIS.
To the students just starting EN101, always go to class. Don’t miss it unless you have a real excuse or unless you are extremely ill. If you are confused about something, do not be afraid to ask questions. The only questions that are stupid are the ones that are never asked.
Holly Serpas-Pineda
"Guaranteed" -Eddie Vedder
Frankly I don’t really know what led me to decide my desert island song. At first I had chosen “Collide” by Howdie Day and then I decided to change it right before the narrative essay was due. I think I liked “Guaranteed” more, it had more meaning to me and I actually knew its significance. It wasn’t a typical love song and that’s pretty much how it came to be my desert island song. Not much of a great story but it is what it is. I do stand by my choice but then again no. I still like “Guaranteed” but I do not want to hear or write of it for a while which is really sad because it is a great song. Unfortunately from now on when I hear it I will always remember EN 101 and I might have night terrors, just kidding! I think I would change it to a Britney Spears songs, she has so much to write about that really the paper would write itself. I think Britney Spears would have much more controversy and information than Eddie Vedder. The essay I enjoyed the most was analysis. My favorite thing in all my English courses was analyzing-poems or Shakespeare. I probably get the most creative with it because you can literally rip everything and find significance for it, whether the artist intended it to be that way or not it’s very interesting. Your imagination can go wild with it. You can mold it to form your beliefs as long as you justify your analysis, really with it the sky’s the limit. EN 101 like all other courses turns out to be easy as long as you attend class and keep up with your assignments. Procrastination is not your friend when it comes to writing papers; you have so much time to do it that you should not wait till the last minute, because in the end you only screw yourself over!
Mike Milner
“I’m Me” by: Lil’ Wayne
I decided to pick “I’m Me” as my DIS by narrowing down a group of my favorite Wayne songs. I thought it would give me enough material to write about throughout the semester because of its complex nature. I was very hard to pick just one song in particular because of how much great music there is.
Since the semester is coming to a close, I do stand by my choice. I think I could have changed my song and still have been able to do well this semester, but I wouldn’t change my DIS. “I’m Me” has been able to give me solid amounts of information to write about. I never once thought I would have to change my song because of lack of material.
The essay I liked the best was the cause and effect essay probably because I got an A on it. I thought the words flowed easily for that paper, it was easy for me to name causes and the things that happened because of those things.
Some advice I would give to a student just starting EN101 is that you should be prepared to write more than you ever have for an English class. There will be a lot of writing but it is bearable if you don’t wait till the last minute to complete assignments.
Chris Shafer
“Yesterday’s Feelings” By The Used
I decided to pick “Yesterday’s Feelings” as my dessert island song because it is a song I enjoy, and it fit the topic of the first essay best. When the essay was presented, I thought long and hard on a song I could actually remember listening to the first time. Honestly, this song was the only one I could remember my first encounter with. Not expecting to write so many essays on this one song, I choose “yesterday’s Feelings”.
Now that the semester is over, I do not stand by my song choice. I do really enjoy the song, but it isn’t an easy song to write so many essays on. If I were to know that so many essays were to be written, and what the topics of them were, I absolutely would have put more thought into choosing a new song. Some of the essays were hard to write because my song choice was bad. Focus was lost due to excessive thought about the one song.
From all of the essays, I liked the narrative essay best. This essay incorporated more personal thoughts. I think it is easier to write when the topic is about something personal; I know more about the subject.
Advice I would give to other students coming into EN101 would be to choose a good song. The essays get hard to focus on when it’s all about one song – Pick something personal!
Jeremy by Pearl Jam
i really didn't make much of an effort in picking my desert island song, at least that's how it would seem. i was having a pretty hard time coming up with a song. i had come up with about 30-plus songs that i could use. anything from Alice In Chains "Nutshell" to Hole's "Reasons To Be Beautiful" (as much as i'd hate to admit it, i like this song). i ended up writing each song on a piece of paper and putting it in a hat. i pretty much picked a random song. it wasn't a completly lazy option as each song was on that list for a reason.
now that i know exactly what happened, i might have made a different song choice. this would have been difficult because i would have had to figure out which song i could write each essay about.
i personally like my compare and contrast essay the best. i feel as i put the most effort into this particular paper. i was able to plan things out to the best of my ability and i was actually able to write about it. granted, my closing paragraph was lousy, but i never was able to close out a paper well.
some advice i could give so future students would be to try to plan things out ahead of time and try to keep hold of your priorities. if you have 3 or more classes and get assigned 2 essays or more at once, you may have a hard time getting it all done.
Raheem Bailey: Ghetto Gospel By Tupac Shakur
The way that I was able to decide to use ghetto gospel as my desert island song was to really and fully try to understand the way that this song touched me. It took some time to really think about it I sat at my table in my house eating food and thinking about what song to use. It was on my mind for a long time until I finally picked Ghetto Gospel
Yes I stand firmly by my choice, it may not be my favorite Tupac song but it was one of those songs that affected my life greatly so I was able to write really great things about it. If I had a choice to change I might consider it because this song gave me stress when I tried finding information on it.
The Essay that I like the most would have to be the Narrative essay. It was one of the easiest essays to write about and I really enjoyed it. Also I was able to have some fun with that essay that is why I liked that essay
A piece of advice that I will give someone whom starts this class is to find a song that makes you feel the most and use that to create some strong essays that you will look at and say wow I wrote that
Latrece Hargrove
“Lean on Me” by Kirk Franklin
I decide to pick “Lean on Me” as my DIS because his words were very encouraging and uplifting. At one particular time in my life I needed those words. During the summer of 2008 I was faced with a tough and challenging moment, While my mother was in the hospital near death, I would repeat the words, “You can lean on me” to her, letting her know that I was here, and it was not her time to go.
Since the semester is coming to a close I absolutely stand by this song, for the simple fact it made me a better person. Knowing what I know now, I would not change this song, because if it hadn’t been for the words to lean on me my mother would not be alive today. Kirk Franklin is truly an inspiration. He is one that lifts others when they reached their lowest point; he encouraged me to do that same for others.
The essay that I like best is the cause and effect essay because I had an opportunity to tell others about my life. Whenever I get a chance I enjoy letting someone know about the obstacles I endured, and how God brought me over.
The advice I can give to other students starting EN 101 is simple, think of what is most meaningful to you when you pick your DIS. Always when writing, your heart should be in every word. In order to write a good paper, you need to take time, and always let your feelings flow.
Laura Mckone
“Better in Time” by Leona Lewis
I choose my DIS be reading the description I received in the beginning of the semester and thinking about what song I could use to describe how I am feeling on the island. I choose “Better in Time” because the song is about how everything will work out in the end and then I could use the words of the song to describe my feelings about getting off the island. I could also write a lot about this song because I have a very emotional and strong story related to my song. I then learned that our first essay will be about our personal behind our song. I usually do not like to talk about my story because it is very personal, but I overcame my fear and realized that letting my emotions out on paper to a stranger actually helped me to forget about my past.
Now that the semester is over, I am very happy with my chose of song. I was able to write every essay very easy with my song because of all the emotions I felt from the song. I was not planning on going as in depth with the song as I did, but writing and thinking about the meaning the meaning on a different level brought out feelings that I did not have before. I would not change my song because I learned to feel comfortable about telling others about my past. At first I was embarrassed because I thought I would be judged, but now I am confident in knowing that everyone makes mistakes and you just have to learn from them.
I liked writing the narrative essay the most because I was able to tell my story in much detail. I had the chance to write my feelings and emotions on paper. It felt very good to get it all out. My parents and friends did not like to hear about my experience because it made them very upset and made me feel like a disappointment, so being able to get it all out to someone that I had just meant was the best thing for me.
For students entering EN101 you need to come to class every day. We do a lot of work in class that we have to turn in so missing one class you will miss a grade that will help you out in the end. Also you need to write all your essays to the best of your ability. Do not procrastinate or you will have a lot of unneeded stress the night before your essay is due. The last thing is to be organized. At the end of the semester you will have a portfolio that needs to be turned in with all your work so keep all your papers and practice writings organized.
Ira Gumm
EN 101 T, R 9:30
My DIS I chose was “Redemption Song” BY Bob Marley
I decide to use Redemption song because this is one of my favorite songs. The way I came up with it was when you told us that we would be on an island. I thought hum if on an island, only one song, it would have to be reggae. When I think of reggae the first arties that comes to mind is Bob Marley. When I think of Bob the first song that comes to mind is “Redemption Song”. So there that’s it I got it my desert Island song.
Now that the semester is over I stand by my choice. I think I picked the perfect song I never had a problem finding information to write about. If I had to do it all over I would pick the same song there is so much information on Bob Marley. I kept thinking all semester how happy I was because I picked the perfect song.
I like the narrative essay best because I got an A. I also feel that out of the essay that we did this is my best work. I spent a lot of time on this essay I feel that is why I got the A. I wasn’t able to spend as much time on all the other essays. I wish I would have maybe I would have gotten more A’s.
My best advice to a new student would be don’t be freaked out how fast you talk. Also don’t be late and talk to you if you have any questions.
Marion Rice
En 101
12/9/08
I decided to pick the song I’m Glad You’re Mine for my DIS, because at a very special time in my life I got to hear this song. The summer came to visit my very special friend and my aunt. The song brings back some important memories of some wonderful days in my life.
Now that the semester is over I stand by my song, because the song is still my favorite, and if I were somewhere on a island stranded this is the song I want to have with me.
I liked the cause and effect essay the best. It took me back to the days when I was young and care free, especially when I fell in love with my sweet heart.
My advice to other students who are just starting En101 is work hard and listen to the instruction given, ask for help because you came here to learn.
Archana Verma
“The Way You Look Tonight” by Michael Buble
It took me an extremely long time to pick the song I would take with me to the deserted island. I was so confused; I felt like I was losing sleep over it! The problem wasn’t having too many songs to pick from but not having enough songs to pick from. I mostly listen to Indian or Spanish music so with the given audience it was hard for me to pick a song that my classmates would know or a song I could write 5 essays on. So when I finally had to make the decision and it came down to a song by Mystic, or the song I chose, “The Way You Look Tonight” by Michael Buble. I picked this song because when I thought about it realistically and figured that if I were on a deserted island I would want to take a song that would make me feel happy and never allow me to be bored so I knew I could take this song. When I listen to this song I think of the first time I heard it in a movie I watched with my sisters, I think of my boyfriend, and all my blessings.
I think this song was an okay choice, I still stand by it but if I had the chance to change it I definitely would. I think that in certain cases, like when writing the cause and effect essay or analysis essay I was forced to manipulate the song to make it fit the essay. If I could pick a different song I think I would try to pick a song that was more personal to me without thinking about the essays.
Oddly enough, my favorite essay to write was the narrative essay. I really dislike writing in narrative form because I feel like I’m a bad storyteller but this essay was different, it was kind of easy to write. I decided to start my story from sitting in my sister’s room watching My Best Friend’s Wedding, it was easy to describe the setting, then I moved on to describing what I saw when “The Way You Look Tonight” came on and I explained what was going on in the scene and how it made me feel and it was really easy. One of the reasons I liked writing this essay so much is because I didn’t need to manipulate the song to fit it, I was like writing with out even thinking. I also liked writing the documented essay because I chose a topic that was not specifically related to my song, it was more open and not solely based on the one song; I like researching from books so that made it really interesting. I know- it’s really weird...
If I had to give out advice to someone who is getting ready to take this class, I would tell them not to think too hard and to just pick a song that is personal to them. They shouldn’t worry about the fact that they will be writing 5 essays on it because if the song means a lot to them, writing the essays will be very easy. I would also tell them that this class is a lot of fun, it’s not a typical English class, the professor is very fun and creative, and I’m sure they will enjoy the class.
Jennifer Manfuso
“Holes in the Floor of Heaven” by Steve Wariner
When deciding on which song I would choose for my DIS I thought about what songs I remembered hearing for the first time. The only song that came to mind was “Holes in the Floor of Heaven.” Since the first assignment was to right about the first time you heard the song, I wound up choosing this song.
Now that the semester is over, I stand by my song choice. This is definitely the song I would want to bring with me on a desert island just because of what the song means to me. I don’t believe that I would change my song selection however a couple of the assignments were a bit difficult to write especially because I felt like at points I was just writing the same thing over and over for each paper.
My favorite paper to write would defiantly have to have been the narrative essay. Just because the first time I heard this song it had such a great impact on me that to this day I have never forgotten it. I enjoyed being able to tell the story as it happened and include such detail where I could really bring the emotion across to the reader. Also being able to write in a story telling format seemed to come much easier for me than some of the other essays that we had to write.
If you are just starting EN101 you should think about your DIS choice very carefully because it is the one thing that you will be writing about for the remainder of the class. You should make sure that the song you choice has many different aspects that you can write about. Make sure that you will not have to be writing the same thing over and over for every essay. If you can find a song that also has an underlying meaning it would be very helpful when it come time to write the analysis essay.
When I read Latrece Hargrove blog from the "Early Brids", I was very moved and impressed of why she picked her song, "Lean On Me" by Kirk Franklin.She was able to use the words of the song to encouraged her sick mother to get well. She said she would tell her mother to "lean on her", and reasured her that she was there for her, I'm sure this made her mother very happy to have such a strong person in her life. Marion
The reason Archana picked "The Way You Look Tonight", is because it made her feel happy and this is the song she wanted to have if she was stranded. First of all she said she thought about her boyfriend when she heard it and of the blessings in her life. I like what she said about how the professor made the class interesting and very creative. I had no idea that picking one song for my DIS could lead to writing so many different types of essays, for example narrative,analysis,compare/contrast cause&effect,documented essays.This was a great learning experience for me.Marion
Brian Keen
"Wait Till I Get There" - Eric Durrance
I chose my DIS because it directly related to what I had gone through when I heard it. “Wait Til I Get There,” by Eric Durrance, is a song about a young man who receives a phone call from his mom telling him his Grandpa was very sick and may not live much longer. He then proceeded to travel about 500 miles to go see him. I received a similar phone call and had to travel about 650 miles to me my grandpa before he passed. To me this song is way to remember the good times I had with my grandpa. I love him to death.
I am torn about my choice of this song. Recently I have become more attached to the song “Here Without You,” by 3 Doors Down. Although, I am very pleased with my choice. I will always love the song by eric Durrance. It definitely was a difficult song to write about. Eric Durrance is a semi new artist, so it was hard to find out information about him.
I personally liked the narrative essay much better than the rest. It was the easiest to write about since it was pretty much the retelling of the story of my grandpa. It was an essay that allowed me to say what I wanted to say 100%. Although some of the other essays allowed it too.
My advice to the new EN101 students is this-
Don’t fret over the essays. It gets harder. Take it easy and take your time. Also, if you need help, make sure you go get it before its too late
yeahhhh good song choices guys
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