The Final Blog...Finally!!!

By reading through all of my blogs, I was able to learn a lot about my writing style. I have never really thought that I had a strong voice, but after 20 or some odd blogs about English you begin to see a pattern.

Well first off I have gotten a whole lot better at editing my blogs. I'm sure it fit's because I have had to write many things this year or if it's because when writing an English blog, you actually have to correct it. I surprisingly saw my writing get more mature. I feel once I understood more of what was going on in class, I was able to show that more in the way I wrote. I think the significance of my blog was how I interpreted the meaning of what I read. Though I could have gotten the main point of a poem or story, I was always able to get more out of it that I feel is not commonly seen by other people. This happened because I look at peices of writing differently than other people. If I look at the overall meaning of my writing I would say it was to show that I understood what I was doing but at the same timeshow myself and how I can grow through writhing. My writhing show how to use a blog in a way that can be helpful and insciteful but also interesting to read. I was able to take advantage of what a blog was. None of my writing sounded like how I would write on a normal English assignment. But at the same time I got the main point across like I did in my big point essays. I think this blogging experience has taught how to express myself in my writing and not be a total bore. Other than just a way to easily do writing assignments it was a way the students and the teach to see a different side the writer. I found this quote to be a good some up of how I think my writing is, " A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people" -Thomas Mann. Writing has never been my strong point but I find when I do A good job It sounds really good.

Essay Writing

When it comes to essay writing, I think I am pretty accomplished. I know when I am writing how to write a thesis, embedded quotes, meaningful analysis. The problem with essay writing for me is whenever I try to write all of these things, it doesn't sound very organized. I would say that I do know a little of what literary analysis is about. To me it is just analysing how, what , and why the author wrote something some way. The purpose would be to understand what you are reading more. The challenges are knowing whether or not your assumptions about the selection is right. Its rewards would go with its purposes ; you are able to understand the selection more.

If someone were to read an essay of mine they would probably say that it's okay but not great. I feel like when I write essays, the things I have a hard time getting right on the rubric is repetitive use of words. I may have 5 errors just because I kept forgetting to put an apostrophe in "it's." Many of my sentences come off as awkward and unorganized and I often worry about having an original idea. They only thing that I am confident that I have is the right parts in each paragraph.

Sumer Reading List

I really haven't thought much about what I will read over the summer. Seeing the reading list for the end of the year has inspired me to read one book in particular. 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult. This book seems interesting to read because it is about a school shooting. A school shooting is something that I can relate to because it could happen to me. Another book I would want to read Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. I would want to read this because I liked the movie and because the author is one of my favorites to read from. I don't know if this counts but I would also read or look at a book called Post Secrets: Extraordinary Secrets from Ordinary Lives. It is a book of cool postcards that people sent to this one man telling them about their deepest secrets.

Fate

I was born on January 13th 1995 which means that according to astrology I am a Capricorn. This means overall in character, I should be fearless reckless and eager to meet the challenges that I will meet in life. I am supposedly emotionally unstable, I am able to learn from my mistakes and can find the humor in a bad situation. My positive traits includes being very disciplined, ambitious, patient, resourceful and humorous. My ngative traits include, being selfish, pessimistic and grudging.

I am not much of a person who studies their horoscope or lves by it; ihave never really cared until this assignment. Most of this information I found right. But some was also wrong. Unlike me the characters believe that the stars and heaven will give them signs of the future.When Mercutio is yelling "A plague o' both your houses!"(3.1.111) he is saying that because of his death there will bad things happening to both the Montagues and Capulets. Another example is when Juliet says that if romeo were to come, he would the face of heaven. This means she knows the future will be great when he is there.

Culture Shock

OK I am totally going to hate myself for posting this, but there was one instance recently where I saw a Romeo and Juliet reference in New Moon. In every Twilight book the author has a quote giving a sort of hint about what the novel will be about. For this book she used a quote from Act II, Scene VI:

"These violet delights have violet ends

And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,

Which, as they kiss, consume."

Throughout the novel the character compare themselves to Romeo and Juliet. Considering that vampires are one of the most popular thing to talk about right now, I think that the fact that Romeo and Juliet was mentioned in a twilight book, clearly states how big the play still is in our culture.

Lately in Honors English

For the last couple of weeks it seems the only things I had to put much effort into was Great Expectations. This is not because of the high diction that is mostly used throughout the book, but because I could hardly stay awake to read it. Don't get me wrong. The whole point and plot of the story is interesting. Just not the way it was written. If it was written modern or turned into a weird present movie, it would be the most dramatic soap opera. I mean how many stories or real life instances have you had where the person you liked has been the daughter of the person giving you money, who is also the daughter of the maid for your lawyer.

Other then big projects we have done in class, there is also the daily work. For some odd reason, I actually enjoy DGP. Weird I know. I guess for me it is kind of like a simple math problem. It is fun to figure out, and if you do you feel smart.

For the most recent of things going on in class there is reading Romeo and Juliet. Which I am excited but scared to read.

Great Expectation Scene Skits

The three scenes that I want to perform in skits are:

1. The first time Pip meets Miss Havisham and Estella. In this scene Pip sees how creepy Miss Havisham is and is forced to play with Estella. The main characters would have to be Pip, Estella, and Miss Havisham. This scene is really interesting it shows how creepy weird Miss Havisham is when you first see her.
2. The second scene I would perform is part when Miss Havisham tells Pip that she feels sorry for ruining Pip's chance with Estella and when she gets on fire. The characters in this scene would be Pip and Miss Havisham.This scene would fun to perform because you would get to watch someone act on fire.
3. The third scene I would want to play is when Biddy calls Pip out on whether or not he would actually visit Joe like he said after Mrs. Joe's funeral. The characters would be Biddy and Pip. I would want to see this one performed because Biddy says awesome things to Pip and shows how out of all the characters she knows who he truly is and how he should be.

More Questions of Great Expectations

My question is Estella and Pip. The question is from pages 363-365 chapter 44. I want to clarify why she said yes to Drummle and not to Pip when she even told Pip that she liked him. I know that she was said out to break someones heart but, I can't tell if she intentionally meant it to be Pip or she will eventually break Drummles' heart as well. I also know that Estella said she didn't have "a heart" to feel any of this. So I'm wondering if she chose Drummle just because, or for any reason that I might have missed.

Question: Why did Estella pick Drummle over Pip? Does it have anything to do with Drummle himself, or does she just want to bug Pip?

Question About a Passage

My question is from chapter 29 on page 238 when Estella says that she "doesn't have a heart" and Pip thinks, " What was it that was borne in upon my mind when she stood still and looked attentively at me? Anything that I had seen in Miss Havisham?...And yet i could not trace this to Miss Havisham. I looked again, and though she was still looking at me, the suggestion was gone. What was it."

My question is about the feeling that Pip suddenly gets when Estella says that. I don't quite understand why he got that feeling. It seems as though every time he sees her he gets that feeling. I don't understand why he gets it and where it came from.

If anyone could give me a little information on why this suddenly happened to Pip that would be cool.

Great Expectations Photo

This is a photo of a bridge. It represents Pip seeing who he wants to be and the challenge and fear he will have to face to get it. Pip wants to step up on the social class to impress Estella, but he must face the challenge of trying to ge there. Pip has seen what the upper class is like. The bridge also shows the distance it takes to get to the goal he wants to reach. The bridge can also show how Joe sees Pip's leaving. He can see how distant he will be from Biddy and him and different on a social class level.

Great Expectations: First Stage

In the quote posted from the end of chapter 9, Pip is referring to his first day with Miss. Havisham and Estella. He is Also talking about a chain of memories. His chain started with this particular day. He says how these memories are special because they have changed or altered him in some way. This day altered Pip because it was his first up close encounter of the upper class. A place where the things he thought as something anyone would do like sit at the dinner table was seen as something common folk would do. He developed by coming to understand his surroundings and different kinds of places and people.

My memorable day or chain are the days when I have a realization. Some are big moments in the day or a small second out of it. For me it was a time when I learned something about life or myself. On those days I would start or add to my chain and try to change to fit those lessons. A person can have an altering day when they make the connection between something and themselves. Like how Pip saw the connection between classes and how they acted compared to each other. They are the days that make you think or instantly change your mood when you think of them.

The Importance of Being Earnest Group Essay

For my group essay we are doing dishonest. Our thesis is about how tolerance in different classes is different for the levels of dishonesty in the play. My first quote was when Algernon lies to his aunt about Lane not making her cucumber sandwiches. The second example is when Lane lies over Algernon's lie saying there were not any cucumbers at the market. The last one is when Algernon lies to his aunt about how he is bothered that there were no cucumbers when he in fact ate the sandwiches. For these three points I wrote about how they were white lies and how they were tolerated differently according to the different social classes. For both of Algernon's quotes I wrote how the lying was brushed off like it didn't happen. While when Lane lied he was yelled at by Algernon. I think my commentary works because it gives examples of the thesis.

I wrote my topic sentence but I didn't really need to tie it in to your guy's so I might have to change when we write the intro. I will also change my conclusion when i see the topic sentence coming after my paragragh.

The Importance of Being Ernest.

Before reading The Importance of Being Ernest I did research on the Victorian Era, the time in which the play takes place, to understand it more. The research helped me get how the people of the time thought of upper class and how marriage and the gender roles were.

Gender roles and marriage was a big part of the Victorian Age. Men were seen as the stronger worker of a couple women were supposed to rely on. Women were supposed to sit at home with the kids and cook and be the normal house wife. They were also supposed to be the uneducated person who would have to rely on the men. Marriage was a way for some to get money. It was also expected for girls to get married really young and they were also required basically to get married no matter what. Girls looked for men who were wealthy and came from a good background.This helped me understand why characters like Gwendolen and Jack, and Algernon and Cecily. Both of the women looked for the men to be wealthy and have a good family background.

Class was an unofficial rule that all people of the Victorian Age lived by. The characters are mostly upper class other then the help. Upper class has a lot of money, they look down on lower class and dress very proper. This is seen in how Algernon and Lady Bracknell treat Lane. The author often makes fun of the shallowness of this class. My research helped understand why the class acted the way they did in the play.

Animal Farm: The Storybook

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkYqymrY8fM

Theme: Power Corrupts

~Poetry outloud performance Reveiw~

The dry humor you could hear from the voice of Jackson Hille when he performed "Forgetfulness" by Billy Collins was really the key reason why he was one of the finalists. The satirical way he spoke the poem made it even funnier. The articulation helped you understand it more. His pausing and hilarious, facial expression made it seem like he was reading it as if he knew that he would coincidentally forget the poem himself. His Physical Presence is funny and awkward, like his trying to show the strange,weirdand the way you feel while being forgetful.

Jackson truly captured the meaning of being forgetful and how the poem showed it. I felt that Ihfully agreed and understood the poem. How it really portrayed that annoying ironic feeling that you were forgetting something as you remembered something else. Also that the memory just leaves you brain on some "Mystical river" I got How all the random knowledge that is stored in you r head just leaves without your control and the only way you realize it is if you try to remember it.

~Mockingbird Motif~

Through reading To Kill a Mockingbird I got to understanding the literary elements that we have been learning in English. One of these elements being motif. In To Kill a Mockingbird the motif of the novel is actually killing a mockingbird. This basically symbolizes doing something wrong to someone who doesn't deserve it. There are a few examples of this in the novel. One being repeatedly shooting Tom Robinson to kill him for escaping when really one would have done the job. Another Example is when there is an argument about whether Boo Radley should be put to trial for killing Bob Ewell. Even though he did it to save the Finch kids.

This novel has helped me understand what the definition of motif is by showing clear and obvious examples. All through the book, the characters would say, "This is just like killing a mockingbird." Many of the themes have to do with bad behavior of one person to another. These being hypocrisy, prejudice, and racism. The motif shows how strongly theses problems are in a southern community and with people in the time in general.

~Life Lesson~

Through out my life there has been one lesson that has been repeated over and over to me, whether it was intentional or not. This lesson is that things happen for a reason. I know it sounds sort of obvious, like everyone knows that. But for me it was a big lesson and a very reassuring one. The lesson would usually pop up when I would feel bad or angry about something that has happened, and my mom would just say " Things happen for a reason." It would also come up when bad things would happen to others in my family, and I would hear my grandma or mom tell them the same thing they tell me.

I still hear this lesson from my wiser family members. in some ways the lesson makes me feel better. I learned not to dwell on little things. I learned to just look on the bright side and move on. It also makes me feel better because if bad things happen in my life or to those I care about, I can just know that this was meant to happen and there is a silver lining.This lesson as I mentioned before is big one that I have learned, and I am glad that I live by this lesson because it has taught me many important things that will help me get on through life.

My Best Friend!

My best friend is Nikki S. For many of the obvious reasons. We laugh at the same stupid things and agree on most of the same topics. We also have our own strange language called izzity, where we can have long conversations about anything without anyone being able to tell what we are saying. She is tall, a brunette and Jock. ha ha. She would hate me for saying that, but that's how our relationship is, we are jerks to each other. When we talk it seems like we hate each other, but if we talked nice to one another then we would laugh and say..."Well this is weird"... So yes she is a huge sports person. She plays basketball and softball. Softball is her life as she would say. That's all she does, literally. She is dedicated to the point of it almost being annoying. Other than playing, She watches a lot of sports. ESPN is like her favorite channel. If its not baseball its football or basketball. But other than sports she is a huge...HUGE...HUGE Will Smith fan. Ask her anything about him and she will know what the answer is. No pun intended. There are multiply pictures pasted on her wall. She says she is married to him constantly. Though everyone tries to tell her of the massive age difference and that she is not, she just brushes it off and says, "It's only 26 years..." and, "I like Jada Pinkett only because he likes her but,I know he really likes me not her." What else can I say... Maybe that in wood shop all she made was Willard Christopher Smith Jr. signs. Or maybe that she knows all of his songs and all 19 movies of his. ( Sad how I know all this to. This is how much I hang out with her). And also that she knows all his kids names first, middle and last. I could could go on but I don't want to. I think you get the picture. Besides there is the fact that I hate to say Nikki always seems to not act the smartest. She is, but she can fool you a lot. She is constantly trying to convince me otherwise. Yet she still hasn't. Let me give you a few good examples. Well for one she likes to purposely make herself look dingy. And sometimes she gets really super hyper and really funny and crazy. Its so bad that she is only this weird around me.

I guess this shows that Nikki is dedicated to what ever she sets her mind to. Which I'm glad about. I wouldn't want my best friend to always give up. Talk about lame. This shows that she is a loyal friend because though she loves sports she is good to her friends and family. Nikki is kinda a altruist and an ambivert. She helps people when she can is normal in the way that she likes to be around other people and by herself. She would be surprised that I'm talking like this. Usually its the opposite. But you can write a lot of different things about a friend you have had since 2nd grade... so yeah we're cool and stuff.

Earliest Memory

One of my earlist memories is in daycare when my friend got to start school before me. She got to have a special party where we made awesome beady braclets. I didn't like that everybody was talking to her. Why did she get a special party. No one cared that I was going to school and why did she start before me.

So I decided to not talk to anyone that way they would have to ask me whats wrong. But nobody did so I was sad all that day. Everybody seemed to like her more than me. I t wasn't fair. My day was really runed because of her. But luckily they through me a party later and I felt all better.

~Rebecca- Motif~

In Rebecca the strongest literary element was motif. The motif of the story was the Manderley. The Manderley is the large mansion that the main characters live in. It hold many secrets That are waiting to be told. The author uses the motif of the Manderley to enhance the characters. It enhances the characters by helping create the feeling that the characters are feeling.

I think that the motif is so strong in this book is because of what Manderley also means to the characters. To the characters like Maxim it represents the terrible past that he had there and is still haunting him. To Mrs. de Winters it reminds her the terrible events that once happened there and of Rebecca, the ex- wife, who seems to haunt the halls. But besides being scary the Manderley can also represent elegance and the great life that one must have living in a place like that.