My Conclusion.

Reading back through my blogs, I notice a vast and unequivocal improvement in my writing style with each one. I definitely learned to write about things on a deeper level, and each assignment got more meaningful. Most of my blogs are about the themes and different things in the books we read in class, and even the themes, symbols, and motifs I write about improve. I think this blog helped me delve deeper into all the books we read than I would have with just the in class assignments, because I was able to really think about things in a comfortable environment, and wasn't afraid of sounding dumb because it doesn't feel like it's really me saying it. I actually think I sound smarter in my blogs!

I have learned how to look at things in a different way, and analyze them. I have written about my experiences, about important things to me, about lots of books, about what these books mean to me, and many more things. My blog is about English, yes, but it is ALL about me as a writer and as a reader and as a student. It's about my input and opinions on things. It's about how I look at things. It's about what people don't usually give the time to listen to so I don't share it. I have evolved as a writer in every way I could. Not just from my blog, but it shows on my blog.

My blog is significant because it is my words. No one else's blog is like mine. Showing yourself in your own words and "to be yourself is all that you can do" (from the song Be Yourself by Audioslave).We all have the same posts, but we're all very different. All of us look at the assignments in different ways and go about writing them in different ways. You cannot find anything like my blog anywhere else, because it is so significantly me! The meaning of my blog is just me growing as a writer. Each post is so different, that there isn't a meaning like love or dreaming or hurt. It's just about me, myself, and I (kind of). In the timeless words of Forest Gump, "If God intended us all to be the same, he'd have given all of us braces on our legs."

Reflecting on a Memorable Assignment

One of the most memorable assignments to me from this English class is my summer assignment. It was my first high school assignment ever, and i got 100% on it. It was most memeroable because I worked the longest on it, it is the longest assignment I've done, and I worked on it it many different places. Since I did it over summer break, I worked on it at home, camping, on two different plane rides, and on vacation in Florida. I remember being very stressed over finishing it and getting an A, as it is an honors class and I wasn't sure how hard the gradig would be.
It really prepared me for what to expect for the rest of the year, and prepared me for highschool. I probably put the most effort into it out of all the assignments we did. I was so proud of my grade on it, and it helped motivate me to put in my best the rest of the year. I would have rather not have done the assignment, but it was stil my most memorable because of he length, grade, and it being my first highschool assignment.

A Good Experience With Poetry

I used to stay at my granparents house a lot. They live in Tumwater, which is really close to where I live. One memory I have from staying there is my Grandma reading poems to me from Where The Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein. She would read to me or I would read to her every night. I loved the rhymes and imagination and creativity in all of the different poems.

My favorite poem was always "I Was Walking in a Circle." The words are written in an actual circle, and the end of it leads to the beginning. So in a way it's a never ending poem. I would read it as many times as I could until my Grandma said we should read another one. I even memorized it so I would always say it at school or to my parents. I liked a lot of other ones too, but that one stands out most in my memory.
This made a positive impact on my life because it got me excited about poetry. In school whenever my teachers would say we would be writing poetry, I would remember all the poems I read with my Grandma and couldn't wait to start writing. In some ways it also helped me with creativity, because it gave me ideas and helped me write my own poems. If I hadn't read those poems when I was younger, I doubt I would have wanted to write poetry as much.
At this point in my life, I don't like poetry as much as I used to but I still like it. I feel like I'm not as creative as I used to be. When I hear the word poetry, I dont get really excited like I used to, but I don't feel dread either. I still really enjoy reading poetry, but my feelings toward writing it are neutral.

Conflict in Romeo and Juliet

There are many conflicts in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. One specific conflict I've noticed is one with Juliet and her parents, the Capulets. Juliet's parents want Juliet to marry Paris, but Juliet loves Romeo (who is also her families only enemy). It's first introduced in the first act of the play before the party, when Lady Capulet comes to Juliets' room and talks to her about meeting Paris at the party and considering marrying him. Juliet says she will, but then she falls in love with Romeo and marrys him without telling her parents. Her parents then agree with Paris that he can marry Juliet, and set up the wedding against Juliets wishes. This is an example of person vs. person. This conflict is important because otherwise Juliet wouldn't have had to fake being dead to get out of her wedding to Paris. This developes the central theme of time. Capulet rushes the day of the wedding, forcing Juliet to act sooner.

This conlfict relates to any teenager and their parents. I am always having conflicts with my parents, from cleaning my room to not being able to do what I want. This is significant because it can relate to almost anyone in the world. I can bet that every teenager has had some conflict with their parents. Not as big as Juliets, but it can relate. The conlfict links to the meaning of respecting my parents choices and knowing that they want best. It also teaches parents to listen to what their kids are saying and consider it from their side. I have lots of other conflicts in my life too. Conflicts with my friends, teachers, coaches, society, etc. My friends and I argue about plans or fight over boys. I don't always agree with my teachers. Sometimes my coaches will keep me out of something I want to do for reasons I find unfair. If I do anything that society looks down on, I get labeled for the rest of my high school life. People are always going to have conflicts in their life, from Shakespeares time to now and forever. You just have to learn how to deal with it in the best way possible.

Romeo and Juliet in Modern Culture

The story of Romeo and Juliet is known everywhere. Two people who fall madly in love but are forbidden to be together because of their families and where they came from. One specific movie where I noticed a reference to Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet is The Titanic. The main story the this movie is the actual ship sinking, and the story of that. But the movie also tells a tale of two people who fall in love, Rose and Jack (first similarity, Rose-Romeo, R's, and Jack-Juliet, J's). Rose is of high class, and engaged to someone else of high class. Jack is poor and gambled his way on the ship at the last second. Jack saves Rose from jumping off the side of the ship, and instantly fall in love. They go through lots of people try to break them up, but none of it works. At the end Rose has to let Jack sink to the bottom of the ocean, and she gets saved. It is a very famous tragic love story, just like Romeo and Juliet's.

(Also, the same actor, Leonardo Dicaprio, plays both Romeo and Jack!)

Connecting with Romeo and Juliet

From what I've read, Romeo seems to fall in love easily, and isn't afraid to break the rules. Juliet is more sweet and wants to please her parents more than anything. We haven't really read much of Romeo and his parents relationship, but Juliet and hers seems to be that they want her to be happy, but they also know whats best for her. The one big decision that I thought the most about was Romeo's to go to the party even though he knew that his family specifically was not invited. This shows the more brave side of him, and how much he thought he loved Rosaline. One thing out of these concepts that I can connect with is Romeo getting advice about love and moving on from his friends. I know that the people I get the most advice from about love is my friends, along with what appears Romeo.

I do the reading every night on my own, but I dont feel it necessary. I can barely decipher anything on my own and hardly understand anything about the book until we go over it in class. It has gotten a little easier as the book goes on and I learn the story more, but not by much. Reading in class is helping me get a deeper and more complete understading of the text. I would not know half the things I do now if we didn't read aloud in class.

Wrapping Up Great Expectations

The main message Dickens was trying to get across in Great Expectations was that in the end, friends are always going to be more important to you than money. Money can buy you all the things in the world, but what are they worth if you have no one to share them with? Money can buy you a computer, on which you go on social networks to communicate with friends. Friends can give you love, care, happiness, etc. as which money itself could never do. In life, if you had the choice, friends should always come first.

Thoughts on Reading

I enjoyed the overall story of the novel, just as a reading and not looking into every little detail. I mean by this that on my own I would have read this book for fun and liked the impact the story had on me. I admired all of the turns, twists, and mysteries throughout the book. I also feel like the characters were all developed very well, and all had their own very distinct characteristics that made them feel more real than just a character in the book. One of my favorite characters is Abel Magwitch, because I love his unselfishness, courage, and contentness with the life he has. The settings had a weaker effect on me, excluding the Satis house. Most of the settings didn't create a picture in my mind and I couldn't remember what the descriptions of most of them were while I was reading. The writing got easier to understand with everydays reading.

I honestly can say I did enjoy Dickens as an author. I like the old-style writings and him actually living in those times made it sound more realistic than someone trying to sound like they grew up speaking/writing like that. I didn't really sympathize Pip, because he had lots of really good friends, nice comfortable places to live(excluding the Tickler which most kids get a spanking every now then;)), and pretty much got all he aspired for in life. I did however sympathize Estella. She was grown to have a cold heart(not her fault), never knew her real parents, gave up her chance at love because of that, married someone who beat her, and really had nothing good happen to her except being blessed to be beautiful. The only mystery I solved without being told or looking was Pip's benefactor. I pretty much figured it out when the mysterious guy with the file gave Pip the two pounds when he as a kid. I didn't know any of the others until they were unfolded.

I did read the entire book, I finished it the day we were supposed to on the bookmark. I read the assigment on the bookmark every day on the day it was meant to be read, usually right when I got home from school/drill practice. At first I would try to skim pages that didn't seem that important, but obviously that didn't work since there are important things on every page, so I stopped after the first three days. I tried to read before it got too late, because when I get tired the reading makes me more tired and it takes me a long time to read one page, and I often forget what I read. I read either on the couch, or at the island in my kitchen. The assignments were kinda lengthy for me, and I usually forgot some things even if I read it at 5:00. I'm glad I read everynight and not skipping a few days, because I think that would've stressed me out more and had a bad effect on my overall comprehension of the novel. In conclusion to this, my overall comprehension was probably the highest it could have been for me.

*The "I" at the beginnging of my last paragraph is for some reason floating next to my second paragraph instead of where it should be, and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. Please excuse that.

Photo Post

One of the many important concepts in the first two stages of Great Expectations is Pip trying to figure out who he is and where he belongs. He starts off wanting to be apprenticed to Joe and becoming a blacksmith. Then he meets Estella and starts to question himself, for his love for her and the want to impress her encourages him to become a gentleman. Miss Havisham pays for his apprenticeship which should have made him happy, if he was who he used to be. "'I am not at all happy as I am. I am disgusted with my calling and my life.'"(128) He then in the second stage gets what he wants and does become a gentleman, but finds himself missing the life he had. This picture shows Pip(the boy) looking at his choices of who he wants to be; who he already is, or something more(the two different images in the mirror).

Making Connections

A book that is similar to Great Expectations is To Kill a Mockingbird. There are similar themes and motifs in both books. Both books have the motif of mystery, and both have the theme of growing up. Pip and Scout have different life styles and the plots are not similar at all! But they have similar meanings and Pip and Scout learn a few of the same lessons.

The motif of mystery is strong in both books. Some examples in Great Expectations are the question of Pip's benefactor, who hurt Mrs. Joe, the spirit in Estella, and more. A few from To Kill a Mockingbird are Boo Radley and his family, Mayella and her family, Dill's parents, and Scout and Jems mom. The mystery's in the books are not the same and have different feelings, but the motif is the same throughout the book.

The theme of growing up is also a big thing in both of these books. Pip and Scouts lives are pulled out throughout the books, but Pip does grow up more in age. They both learn things too much for them at their age, but handle everything very well. Pip goes through helping an escaped convict at a young age, having to go play at a creepy old ladies house and falling in love with her adopted daughter before the age of 18, and having to leave his family completely around the age of 18. Scout goes through bullying from her fellow classmates because of her dad defending a black man, a rape trial, and being attacked by a drunk man.
 This picture shows the growing up that was forced upon Scout in the rape trial.

One last similar thing is that Pip was to grow up to be a gentleman, and Scout to be a lady. There was a difference in the fact that Pip wanted to be a gentleman and his family didn't, and Scout didn't want to be a lady but eveyone else wanted her to. The both had the expectations of it though. These two books are very different in some ways, but in the themes and motifs I talked of they are the same.

Second Stage

One of the many new characters in the second stage is Mr. Wemmick. He is one of the first people Pip meets in London, and is a colleague of Mr. Jaggers. Mr. Wemmick and Mr. Jaggers work as defensive attorneys, for people who are shady and don't have the best qualities or morals. When Pip goes to Mr. Wemmicks' castle with him, he washes his hands and says that he is washing away all the guilt from his job. He also doesn't mix his work like with his home life.

Mr. Wemmick washing his hands for the symbolic way of washing away the guilt from his job shows that he doesn't agree with his job, but it's what he does. This shows the motif of shame and guilt. He feels guilty about helping the bad guys, and him washing his hands shows his shame. Something that happened in the first stage similar to this was when Pip stole food and the file and gave it to the escaped convict. He felt guilty for stealing and helping a bad guy, and his shame showed when he never told anyone because he didn't want Joe thinking less of him, because he knew it was a shameful thing to do.

Pip's Quote

In this quote Pip is referring to that in your life, the good and bad things that happen because of one thing happening on a different memorable day in your life. This day has altered him in a way that he finally realizes that everything happens for a reason, and there is always more coming up around the corner. Pip is older in age and maturatiy in chapters 10-16 in contrast to chapters 1-9. Some of the changes are positive, since now he has a want to learn and do something with his life that he really wants. There are some negative changes though, because now he's losing some of his innocense of a child and happiness with who you are. Before he didn't care if he was common, but now because of Estella all he wants is to be uncommon. But he is wanting knowledge now and to be a gentleman, which is good.
A memorable day that began my chain was when I moved in 5th grade to the house I live in now. I didn't move far at all, but I know that things would be different if I hadn't of moved. For instance one of my good friends Shelby lives across the street from me know, and whenever there's no school or something I can just walk over there instead of needing to wait for a ride. It's possible that if I hadn't of moved we might have not been as good of friends in middle school. A lot of my character was helped shaped by Shelby, and our parents becoming good friends when we moved to the neighborhood. I know that little things in my character would be different if that day hadn't of happened.

Question About a Passage

"But I ran no further than the house door, for there I ran head foremost into a party of soldiers with their muskets; one of whom held out a pair of handcuffs to me, saying, 'Here you are, look sharp, come on!'" -Chapter 4, page 28.
When I first read this I thought the soldiers knew that Pip had helped out the escaped convict, but reading on I soon realized they didn't. So what I don't understand on this paragraph is what the soldier sayed at the end of it; what does what he said mean? What was he trying to say?

Group Essay Collaboration

I haven't changed anything in my paragraph since either of you read it. All of my concrete details are the ones you helped me find, and my commentary is the same as i wrote on Thursday.
It would be helpful for you both to read my paragraph and comment on anything that doesn't fit or needs changed before Monday. I think all of our transitions will be fine since we are writing about three different couples, not three different things on one person.This is it:

Algernon and Cecily’s relationship is an example of pursuit of pleasure shown throughout the play. When Cecily goes to write down her and Algernon’s conversation in her diary, Algernon asks to read it. Cecily refuses him and says that “when it appears in volume form”(52) she hopes he will order a copy. This is an example of how they both want to be included in each other’s personal lives, but Cecily wants to make him wait. If she didn’t want him to read it she wouldn’t have told him to order a copy, and if Algernon didn’t want to read it he wouldn’t have asked. Then when Algernon proposes to Cecily, she mentions that they have been engaged for the last three months. She brings up that she had all of his letters in a box that she was “forced to write”(54) for him. Algernon just went along with her, which relates them in a way that they both do whatever they please to make them happy. If Algernon thought it was strange that Cecily had done this, he wouldn’t have pretended it was real. When Gwendolyn comes and her and Cecily start arguing, Cecily gives Gwendolyn the exact opposite foods from what she asked for. Likely, Algernon doesn’t let Jack eat the cucumber sandwiches in the beginning because he says they’re for Lady Bracknell, but then Algernon eats all of them. This proves how neither of them are afraid to deny someone what they want, if they themselves don’t want them to have it. They both let their own feelings go above politeness and the expectations of a host or hostess. Algernon and Cecily’s dialogue are very similar in a way that they want what they want, and they won’t accept anything less than that.

Thanks!

Dishonesty in The Importance of Being Earnest.

Dishonesty is a big thing in The Importance of Being Earnest. It relates to to humor by people saying lies in a joking way. One example was when Jack said Lady Bracknell was being a monster without being a myth. Dishonesty relates to satire of social institutions in this book by people making fun of or exaggerating something that isn't true. An example of this was when Cecily said that men are cowardly, because usually men aren't cowardly. It relates to references to Ernest/Earnest when Gwendolen tells Jack he is the most ernest person she knows, when really he's lying to her about being Earnest. Lastly it relates to the pursuit of pleasure because in the book people are being dishonest about things in order to get the pleasure they want.

Wilde seems to be using the characters to display that people are often more dishonest than you think, and it isn't always the bad way to go. Sure it would have been a lot better for Jack and Algernon never to pretend to be Earnest, but if he hadn't they may have never met the loves of their lives. When people are dishonest about little things, such as making fun of marriage, they usually know they're doing it they're just trying to get a point across. So yes, it is bad to lie. It is bad to keep things from people who deserve to know. But that doesn't keep people from doing it, or lead to the best path for that person.

Animal Farm Evaluations

1. Leanna
- Artwork
Leanna's drawing is very well done, and you can tell she put a lot of thought into how to portrey how "Animal Farm" related to the Russian Revolution. It shows understanding of the relations between Stalin and Napoleon, and the animals and the communists. It easily conveys the reference.

2. Adora
- Poem
Adora's poem shows the message from the book that there will always be a leader. There is never complete equality. Her poem conveys this message obviously, and is very well written. It shows understanding of this throughout the novel.

3. Kesley/Kayla
- Comic Strip
Their comic strips porteys the animals building the windmill while the pigs just watched, it being destroyed, then the animals having to build it again. This shows how the pigs made the other animals work really hard. while they "supervised." You can tell this had a lot of effort put into it, and the artwork involved is very good.

4. Emily
- Artwork/Pyramid
Emilys project shows the relations between "Animal Farm" and the Russian Revolution. It clearly conveys all of the allusions shown throughout the book. Emily obvioulsy understood the relation and put a lot of effort into her project.

5. Levi
- Movie
Levi's project is amazing! He obviously took a lot of time making it and creating the story line. It represents "Animal Farm" very well. I really like how he made a side story, it is very unique and creative. Nice job!

6. Hailey Reese
- Poem
Hailey's poem is done very nicely. You can tell it took a lot of time because it rhymes, it's long, and it tells the story through the eyes of all the animals(except the pigs). She clearly understoof the book, and payed very well attention while reading it.

7. Daniel
- Artwork
Daniel's drawing shows from the book that the animals would and do turn into the humans. It also shows how the animals saw the want for animalism soon turn into communism. The drawing is very good, and looks like it took a lot of time.

8. Angela
- Artwork
Angela's pyramid collage is very neat, and seems like it would take a long time since she had to find all the pictures, and cut them out and everything. I also like how she included the quote. She understood the novel and the meanings, its obvious just from reading what she wrote underneath! Good job!

9. Thomessa
- Artwork
I really like how Thomessa included both versians of the seven commandments. It shows how the pigs changed them. She didn't really say anything to show her understanding of the novel though.

10. Paden
- Artwork
Paden's artwork clearly shows how the pigs turned into the people, and that the animals were just Napoleaons ignorant followers. This shows understanding of the storyline of the book. I like how he chose to show everything.

My project is not the best in the class, but it was still good. Some people's were a lot better, but I believe mine was in the middle/normal range. I probably could have put more effort in, but I tried hard on my poem. My project did convey literary elements successfully. It shows the storyline, and shows I understood the novel.

New Years Resolution

My new years resolution is to achieve an A in honors biology. I have a B right now, and if I get an A i will have a 4.0. To achieve this goal, I will need to actually study every night instead of just telling myself I will do it the next day. Every day. I will also go to peer tutoring when I don't understand something and need help. This will improve the quality of my life by taking away the pressure and want of raising my grade. It will stop being a constant nag at the back of my mind, and will ease my stress. I want to have an A before the end of this sememster, hopefully!