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Here are a few extra credit questions.  Please put your answers in the box below. 1. Write a two simple sentences. 2.  Join those two simple sentences with a conjunction. 3. Tell me what your favorite reading was from this semester. 4. Tell me one thing you think you will always remember about this class when you go to write in the future.

MIAMI              Miami is a welcoming city that recognizes you before you ever feel like you belong. That is the one thing about this place that has never changed, and probably never will. Miami doesn’t wait for you to step forward; it steps toward you first. When I first moved here, I didn’t know anyone, yet somehow, I didn’t feel invisible. The city has a way of making your presence feel acknowledged, even on the days when you would rather shrink into the background. It’s in the small things: eye contact, the greetings, the soft smiles from strangers, that’s when Miami begins to feel less like a place and more like a familiar face you’ve seen before.            I started noticing that welcoming spirit in the simplest moments. People look at you with this open curiosity, like they recognize something about you that you haven’t said aloud. The older Caribbean women waiting at the bus stop will smile at you as if they already know your story. A cashier in Walmart will hear a tiny drop of Jamaican accent in your voice and switch to patois without hesitation. “Yuh good, sweetness?” they ask, and suddenly you feel rooted. Miami has a special talent for listening to the parts of you that are quiet but real.             In Miami Gardens especially, the feeling of welcome is so strong it almost sits in the air. If you walk into the Jamaican bakery on 183rd in the morning, the woman behind the counter greets you like she’s greeting her own niece. She won’t simply hand you your cocoa bread and saltfish; she looks you in the eyes and says, “Tek care a yuself, baby.” And it sinks right into your chest because it feels like something your mother would say. Sometimes I stand there for a moment longer than I should, just letting the warmth of that voice hold me because it feels like home.            Miami welcomes you through sound too. The city is loud in a way that feels alive. Cars roll by blasting old-school reggae, kompa, or Trick Daddy, and even though the traffic can be unbearable, there’s personality in it. There’s a kind of conversation happening, even between people who will never meet. Drivers roll down their windows to argue, laugh, flirt, or bless the whole block with music. It’s chaotic, but it’s human. It reminds you that life is happening all around you and that you’re a part of it, whether you try to be or not.            Even the man selling coconuts on 441 adds to that welcoming rhythm. He stands there in the sun with his cooler and his machete, waving at passing cars like everyone is family. Every morning, without fail, he shouts, “Good morning, sweetheart!” to whoever passes. He makes you feel like someone is happy you exist, even before you buy anything. His radio is always playing something; reggae, Soca, sometimes gospel, and somehow the whole sidewalk feels different because of him. It’s the kind of moment you don’t forget because it catches you off guard in a beautiful way.

Write the focus and the claim of “Composting” in one sentence in the box below.  The focus is the main idea, and the claim is why this idea is important.

Write a Formal Response Paragraph to “Composting” by Natalie Goldberg Now you will write a paragraph using the format we have been learning in class for formally responding to something you have read.  This is not practice writing.  This writing is formal, and the audience (me) expects you to follow the form we studied and to be edited for grammar and mechanics.  You need the following parts to appear in the paragraph: A topic sentence that states the form and claim and introduces the title and author. A significant quote that supports the topic sentence with evidence from the reading. An explanation of the quote in your own words that connects the quote to the claim. A personal example as further evidence that helps develop the focus and claim even further.

Write the focus and the claim of the passage “Miami” in one sentence in the box below.  The focus is the main idea, and the claim is why this idea is important.

After reading the passage above entitled “Miami Heat”, write in the box below the class the word Miami belongs to and the characteristic that the author is describing.  The author is defining the class and characteristic.

When a person is practicing mindful listening:

Which element of the listening process involves the physiological process of sound waves striking the ear drum causing vibrations?

Ricky is listening to Juana explain why she likes the San Diego Padres better than the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ricky disagrees with Juana, so he turns to Michael and asks, “Wouldn’t you agree that the Dodgers are a better baseball team that the Padres?” This kind of question is called a counterfeit question because:

The type of ineffective listening which is an imitation of true listening in which the receiver’s mind is elsewhere is: