The Conclusion

I cannot believe how fast the year has gone by! So much more work, so many blogs. Some blogs have been really fun to write about, but some have been really annoying, especially when I forgot to do them until the last night or even later. My blog is all about everything I have learned and looking back on them, I see how many things I have learned that I didn't know a year ago. The quality of my writing and the depth of my writing has increased as well. I remember late nights when I just remember about the blog and great feelings when I get it done early. I would say that I have liked the blogs because it is a fun way to write about what I am learning because there is a voice behind it. When we write essays, we aren't supposed to make it personal. The blogs are about my views, opinions, and the way I have learned. I like sitting in the comfort of my own home typing on my laptop, even if I'm in a rush to finish it. It has been such a good way to communicate with others. Even though we write about educational things, I have learned things about other classmates and I feel like I know people way better in English than in any other of my classes. Sometimes the blog may seem tedious, but "Practice makes perfect"(My dad) and all of these blogs have helped us improve as a writer. This will be my last blog and I am happy to say that this has been a great year, blogs included!

Reflecting on a Memorable Assignment

We definitely have done many things in English this year. Out of all of them, I would have to say the most memorable thing for me was poetry out loud. I'm not a big poetry and fan wasn't very excited at first. There were so many poems to choose some and was excited that I found ones that I liked. I highlighted each stanza a different color and made myself memorize piece by piece so that every single word was perfect. When I heard that I was one of the winners in the class I was so excited. I thought it was a mistake because when I was up there I felt like the whole world was shaking.

I am proud of this because it took a lot of time to do this and make it meaningful. I also didn't know that I could memorize things so well. I found in a number of instances this year that I am actually good at memorizing things! I will definitely remember many things from English freshman year, but I will never forget how I felt at both poetry out loud competitions.

A Good Experience with Poetry

When I was in elementary school I don't remember any reading any other poems other then ones written by Shel Silverstein. I loved those poems. They were easy to understand and about things that I actually liked and made me smile. I have never been really interested in poetry. I don't like the rules and structures. In fifth grade, we wrote short poems about our cispus experience and that was really fun, but whenever I write poetry, I feel like I don't have a big enough window to be creative and make it perfect. Last year in eighth grade, we wrote poems and I could never come up with ideas I truley like. I also remember reading poems. The unit I remember the most was the Edgar Allen Poe and they were weird; I like happy things.

When I here the word poetry, I think of someone out in the wilderness writing in a notepad. I don't really feel happy when I here because I am not a big poetry fanatic.

Conflict in Romeo and Juliet

In Romeo and Juliet, there are many different conflicts. In act four, Juliet wants to escape from her life and get away from having to marry Paris by killing herself, but Friar Lawrence gives her a potion to make it seem like she is dead instead. This could be a couple different types of conflict; Juliet and Paris, Juliet and Capulet, and even her marriage against her parent's wishes. So this conflict is person vs. person as well as person vs. society. This conflict throughout the book develops a theme of trying to escape and get away from something. It is important because without it, major events and especially the ending of the book would never even happen. It develops themes by making the characters make hasty decisions that affect their life and the whole book.

This type of conflict is present in many ways in our society. Sometimes I just want to leave my house and get away from my parents, I want to leave and go to college, but I'm stuck here, and my parents still tell me what to do since I am not an adult and I want to escape their authority. Other people could want to escape anything; a bad situation, a job, or homework. The conflict is significant because without it, no one would strive for things they want, find out what they like, and be who they want to be. I don't really have a lot of conflict, but when I think of conflict, I mainly think of my brother and stressful things dealing with school. The way I deal with conflict, is to not make it worse, stay calm, get help if I need it, do my best to fix it, and move on if there is nothing else I can do. It kind of depends on the conflict, but generally, I do the best I can to make it go away and I think most people do that to because nobody really likes conflict. Well, I guess crazy terrorists and bullies do, but I think normal people try and have as much peace in there life as they can get, I know I do.

Romeo and Juliet: It's Everywhere!

Romeo and Juliet has definitely influenced many things in our society. A part of a movie that relates to Romeo and Juliet could be Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. In this one, Anakin becomes Darth Vader and Padme dies. In Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Padme and Anakin secretly get married because he is supposed to be focusing on his Jedi training and she is older than him; so they hide it, like Romeo and Juliet do. Also, in the third one, Anakin turns evil and is dead to her. Obi-Wan also fights him and leaves him to die and Padme probably thinks he is dead. When Padme is in childbirth, she doesn't have the will to live so she loses her strength and lets herself die in childbirth.

Connecting with Romeo and Juliet

To me, all of the ideas we have been discussing in class have challenged me to think about the novel more than I would have if I was reading it on my own. The personalities of each character is unique and different. It seems like no one really wants to fight anymore, but they are enemies and feel like they have to. I don't understand how Romeo and Juliet fell in love and knew they were the only person for each other when they didn't even know the other person. I could specifically connect with Juliet when she didn't want to be set up with someone to be married. I don't connect with her loving Romeo so fast, but I do connect with her because if I really did love someone that is the only person I would want to marry. I also connect with Capulet not caring that Romeo was at the party and not wanting to fight.

Reading Romeo and Juliet has been really hard for me. It is just one of those books that I can't understand. The placement and words they use are so confusing to me. I read at home and kind of get an overall understanding of what happens in the scene, but it helps me a lot to read it in class and discuss it. It is a little easier as I go along I guess. I read the left side pages and that helps but it's really annoying to keep going back and forth. I think the goal of getting a deeper and more complete understanding by reading in class is definitely working and helping me.

Wrapping Up Great Expectations

Now that we are finished with Great Expectations we are thinking about our overall understanding of the book. To me, Charles Dickens meant a few different things when writing this book that could be universal. One thing he meant was only do things if you want it, not for someone else because you won't end up happy. He also wanted to say that people and affection is way more important than jobs, money or social status. Also, that just thinking about yourself and doing anything you can to make yourself better pushes people away. You have to stay kind and loyal to your friends. You can't expect everything to always be fine and don't abuse friendships and take the people you love for granted. I believe that the most important theme was that people are more important than possessions and just because you have everything and have a high social status, doesn't mean you're going to be happy. An example could be someone unhappy living in a small house not being able to go shopping all the time or go out to dinner and all they can think about is the money and what it would be like to have that money and be popular. But what would they have to do to get it? They would probably push everyone away trying to get it and lose everyone they care about in the process. Then once they get it, they would be unhappy with no one to enjoy it with. Then it might be too late to get the ones they cared about back. Overall, Dickens, and I, are trying to say that happiness is simpler than it seems to be and you don't have to have everything you want to have it, just love.

Great Expectations: Thoughts on Reading

When we first started Great Expectations, I was not excited at all. It seemed very boring. To me, the book didn't really get interesting until towards the end of the book. I know this is a classic book, but I didn't really enjoy it that much. Not enough things happened for me and I didn't really like and get attached to any of the characters. I also thought that both of the endings were bad and didn't like either of them.

This is the only book I have read by Charles Dickens, but so far, I do not like his writing style. It was very hard to understand and follow. He also referred to many things I didn't understand. I know that I was supposed to look up everything I didn't understand, but if that were the case, it would take me all day to read the required chapters for the day. Although there were a lot of things I didn't understand, I think I did pretty good compared to other people in the class. I also hate computers and don't turn mine on unless I'm doing homework and I actually didn't use spark notes once!

I was actually very proud of myself for how well I kept up on my reading. I only got behind twice and it was only by a couple chapters. I actually did have a routine too. If a book is hard for me to understand, I like to listen to it. Before I put the chapters on my I-pod from Librivox, my mom would very kindly read it to me and when something important would happen, I would yell "Stop" and she would hand me the book so I could write an annotation. The reading was always the last homework of the day I did and I read before bed. Some nights it was late though and I was very tired. When that happened, it affected my reading because I forgot a few details because it was harder to pay attention.

Overall, I guess I would say this was an okay book. I liked how organized this unit was and liked knowing what we were going to do in class every day.

Great Expectations Photo Post

To represent Great Expectations, I chose a picture of a rose with it's petals falling. I believe that this is a good representation because it reminds me of Pip. This is like a flower growing up from the ground, which represents Pip starting as a child in the marshes and then growing to be a respectable gentlemen in London. Although the more you grow, you should get stronger, but Pip doesn't seem to. This flower keeps losing petals the higher up it goes. The petals represent everything that Pip is losing the more he becomes a gentlemen and chooses to make all of the decisions he making. From Pip's decisions, he has lost Joe, Biddy, Estella, and all of his happiness. Now he is starting to realize and miss what he used to have, but will it be to late? This photo accurately represents Great Expectations in many ways but the most important ways are that it represents the motifs and themes of becoming a gentlemen, shame, and guilt.

Making Connections

I read the blog assignment this week and had some trouble trying to decide what to write about this week. I read other classmates and they had some insightful ideas.I had thought of some of the ones that were already written by other classmates, but I wanted something more original. After more thinking, it hit me. Annie is a musical that I think could very easily be related to Great Expectations.

Annie is an orphan, living at an orphanage, with other orphan friends, and a mean old lady who they all hate. When she was younger, she was dropped off at the orphanage with half a locket and a statement that her parents were later coming to pick her up. She is later adopted when she is ten years old by Mr. Warbucks who comes to really enjoy her presence. But then, her "parents" come to take her home.

Pip's life and Annie's lives are similar because they are both orphans. One of the major themes in the book is Pip wanting more than what he has, and once he gets it, he still isn't happy. When Annie is at the orphanage she wanted to leave the mean lady and be adopted. Once she was adopted by a rich man, she still wasn't happy because she wanted to find her parents. She didn't know they were dead though, and was taken by people who lied to be her parents. For the little time in the car she was with them, she was miserable and unhappy. She wanted the man who first adopted her back and missed her friends back at the orphanage. Pip has gotten all of the fortunes he's wanted, but I think he is just as miserable as being kidnapped like Annie.

Annie learned and became happy when she saw her friends and went back to live at Mr. Warbucks. I don't know how Great Expectations will end, but I hope Pip will learn from his mistakes and turn his life into a happy one rather than a miserable one.

Great Expectations, the Second Stage

"If I could buy the furniture now hired for me," said I, "and one or two other little things, I should be quite at home there." (Pg. 197) Pip is asking his guardian Mr. Jaggers at his office for his money to buy things. Pip is becoming greedy for money and buying things. With Pip becoming a gentlemen, he has gained many things, but not for the better.

This event relates to the motif of Pip becoming a gentlemen. With that motif, the more Pip wants and becomes a gentlemen, the more the readers don't like him. In the first stage of the novel, Pip goes to Miss Havisham's and meets Estella. He wants to become a gentlemen to impress her even though she is so mean to him and Biddy is so perfect for him. Pip also starts to feel ashamed of his best friend Joe and the place where Pip lives. Pip is now becoming a worse and worse person which is also a reoccurring motif within the novel. This event really enhances the motif to show you that that Pip's bad character is building and that maybe by the end he will be a gentlemen, but have the downfall of being a terrible person.

Great Expectations- Chapter 9 Quote

This quote is a little confusing to me and I don't understand it completely, but I think he is talking about his life and the person he is. He is saying that each thing that happens to you affects you and makes you the person you are. That there is always one beginning moment that sets you on the path to be the person you are meant to be and have the life you are meant to have. For Pip, this day changed his way of thinking by being curious about Miss Havisham, started to be embarrassed of his less rich and proper family, and starting to really experience guiltiness and decide what's right and wrong. In the later chapters Pip doesn't really change positively because he is embarrassed of his best friend Joe and he lets Estella be mean to him and still likes her. It seems like he cares a lot about what other people think rather than just being happy with who he is.

I can't think of one exact beginning life altering day that changed me to be who I am. I remember various things that have happened to me that I know have affected me and who I am. Without those things I wouldn't be so respectful of other people, care about people's feelings, know to be who I am, and many other lessons I have learned over the course of my life. Some bad things have happened to me in my life, but even though I regret them or wish they didn't happen, every event has affected me and I am happy with the person that I am. Every single one of these life altering days changed me and I wouldn't be the same without them.

Great Expectations- Question About a Passage

"For such reasons I was very glad when ten o'clock came and we started for Miss Havisham's; though I was not at all at my ease regarding the manor in which I should acquit myself under that lady's roof."

Why did uncle Pumblechook keep quizzing Pip about multiplication problems and why would Pip be excited to go be at a place with an old lady he didn't even know?

Group Essay

1. I was unhappy with my transitions so I changed those and reworded those sentences. I made my commentary a little clearer and hopefully my paper is easier to understand.
2. I feel like I am say lying and the thesis in my commentary too much. Any ideas on what else I could say? We also need to think of a couple more solid sentences in our introduction.

Dishonesty in The Importance of Being Earnest

Dishonesty is shown all throughout The Importance of Being Earnest in many ways. Epigrams are used all throughout the play by saying things about life that are the opposite of how they should be. An example could be how they refer many times to marriage and say one who lives for pleasure doesn't get married. There is a lot of satire of marriage. One of many examples talks about how people didn't know each other before they got married. A satire of social class is shown by the rich people being all stuck up and very fake, and the servants boring and rude. There is also much dishonesty in the name Ernest/earnest. Jack lies about being Ernest and having a brother Ernest and Algernon also lies about being Ernest; which are all very un-earnest things to do. The Importance of Being Earnest also shows that to pursue and get pleasure, you have to be dishonest. Jack and Algernon lie about names and what they are doing to be happy.

Through the characters and their speech and actions in the play, dishonesty is portrayed as a regular part of life. He shows that everyone lies and is more likely to lie than tell the truth. He uses dishonesty so much it also causes me to think that he may believe the exact opposite of everything he writes. Maybe he thinks lying is a horrible thing and people do it too much and don't think it's that big of a deal. He wanted to prove a point and send a strong message about society through his play in a fun and entertaining way.

Animal Farm Project Evaluation

1. Grace, Molly, & Sarah made a movie and they did a very good job at portraying animal farm in a correct an entertaining way. They used music to show where the plot changed and did a great job showing corruption of power.

2. Brooke made an interesting song on garage band that showed all of the major events throughout animal farm with light happy music and other more intense music. I think it was a very creative idea and she did a good job.

3. Rachel made a game about animal farm that showed the importance of animal farm through trivia questions. It seemed like a fun game to play and also thought her project was very creative.

4. Alena & Mackenzie made a funny movie and very craft fully used animals in a barn without making it look too fake. They did a good job at showing the evil of Napoleon and things that were going wrong.

5. Olivia thoughtfully wrote a haiku. Although it is short, she showed that Jones is gone and the pigs take over.

6. Melanie made a power point that showed all of the critical points of animal farm along with pictures and music to enhance the project.

7. Kayla made a picture of the animal classes. She did a good job at showing before and after. It really showed how the farm had really changed and the pigs had taken over.

8. Sara made a picture in a creative way that I didn't think of. She did a great job at showing how the farm should look like because of the corruption and I can't believe she made the picture on the computer.

9. Reagan wrote a poem that I loved! It was very creative and she did a wonderful job at portraying animal farm. It showed the "tyranny" through and through in animal farm.

10. D'andra wrote a Poem and I like how she kept repeating the beginning words to create a message. She did a great job at showing what happens in animal farm.

My project: I feel that we did a good job at conveying the literary elements of animal farm and in an entertaining way. Neither of us are super tech savvy and we probably could have tried to find more help on that, but overall I'm happy with the project we made. It was a fun project to do!

Extra Credit: New Year's Resolution

(Starting to take more pictures. Picture of my doggy yawning! RAWR)

I cannot believe that it is already 2011! I usually don't really think about resolutions that I want to make, but I have a few this year. I am satisfied with my grades and activities in my life, but I feel like I could be doing more simple things. I want to start helping out around the house more without being told because my mom does a lot for me and I feel it's time to start repaying her! I also got a journal that I wanted for Christmas. I love to write and I don't want to forget the best moments before I'm all grown up to maybe share with my kids someday. I want to write all of my good thoughts and favorite things down so I will never forget! I have also resolved to take more pictures because I feel like I don't take enough! I plan to start carrying my camera in my purse as well as my journal, and when I'm sitting around bored, I will get up and be more useful around the house! I can't wait for the great year ahead of me and the rest of my freshman year!

Animal Farm Creative Project

Enjoy :)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IedxHclr6Ww