The Final Post

Looking back on my past blogs, I see how much I have changed as a writer. I have grown a lot because of how often I worked on different aspects of it. I started the year out talking about how my blog will be complete and answer questions asked. I have been on time with all of my blogs and I’m very proud of that. In the beginning of the year I knew English was pretty important but now I know how important it really is.

My favorite blog post we did this year was when we got to chose a creative project on Animal Farm. One of the reasons I enjoyed doing this blog so much was because we could show our creative side while also understanding the deeper meaning of the literary work.

I think my blog is all about expressing my opinions and my views. I know we were given a prompt and had to answer it accordingly to the question but still I talked about what I thought. Like an unknown author said, “The principal mark of genius is not perfection, but originality.” My work on this was’t about copying people in other period’s blogs but doing my own work. This blog was all about how I felt about the things we were working on in class and how well I understood it.

I began this year knowing little about a lot of the topics we covered this year. Before taking Honors English, I never thought about how there could be more than one desired meaning to a work of literature. All of the work on To Kill a Mockingbird helped me understand what motifs and symbols were in greater depth. To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite book because of this year. Harper Lee is such a talented writer.

Word Power was pretty stressful just knowing there would be a test at the end of every week but it really helped me. To this day I’ll hear commercials or movies which use words that I wouldn’t have known if we hadn’t learned all of the different prefixes and suffixes in English this year. They'll say polygamy and think to myself, “many..many marriages.” It taught me so much about what words mean and how they come together.

My favorite project of the year was the five-part paragraph on To Kill a Mockingbird. The reason I liked this was because mine was so original. Also, I understood the book in so much depth I was confident with every word I wrote.

This has been a successful year. I’m so glad I took Honors English this year. I wish I would have signed up for it next year but people told me I should take more than two honors classes.

Thanks for being such a great teacher and for singing to us twice!


:)

My Favorite Assignment This Year!

When I look back on all of the projects, essays and homework we have been assigned I had no doubt which one was my favorite. The five part paragraph on To Kill a Mockingbird was my most memorable piece this year. I spent a lot of time on it and it definitely payed off. When Mrs. Gilman first told us we would have to recite it in front of the class I began to get really nervous because I am not good with reading in front of the class and on top of that, I am not the best with criticism. When I finished reading it, Mrs. Gilman had nothing but positive remarks to say about it.

Not only was this my favorite assignment because of the grade I got but it was about I book I grew to love. I understood this book in depth and wrote it well. It was a good assignment to start the year out because it was on something I had never learned before and it was on a novel that could have essays written in all kinds of ways. I would suggest that she do this with all of the freshman classes because it helped me grow as a writer and boosted my writing confidence.

My Experience With Poetry

Poetry is exposed to us all at very young ages. When I first started going to Kindergarten my mom would take me every Saturday to a place where we would sing songs and recite poems we had memorized for the week. I don't remember specific details as to what the group was called or where we went but I do remember that I always had a huge smile on my face when I would sit in my moms lap, singing and reciting nursery rhymes. Some of the significant ones that we did a lot were "The Ants Go Marching" and "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean." Of course, just like every other child I didn't really look or think about what a deeper meaning could have been but really a lot of the poetry out there for children is on the surface.

The next time I was exposed to poetry more often was when we had our poetry unit in middle school. I was in Mrs. Clear's class and she LOVED poetry. Some of the poems I really liked were the ones by Edgar Allen Poe. Although they were somewhat scary wand gory I understood them and I liked how they told a story. This was really the first time I started to analyze poetry. A lot of my classmates complained about how poetry was dumb and useless but I felt the complete opposite.

When it comes to poetry I have really come to appreciate it. Not only do I enjoy reading it I also love to attempt to write poems having to do with my life. The poetry I enjoy the most are the ones that leave you satisfied and have a good meaning. I can't wait to learn even more about poetry!

Conflict in Romeo and Juliet

The main conflict in Romeo and Juliet is the fued between the two families. The Montague's and Capulet's have a great hate for one another which helps illustrate one of the themes. This family fued has to do with the love of Romeo and Juliet. The families fighting makes them both try harder to love one another and makes this play more dramatic. Romeo gave the Capulet's yet another reason to hate him when he killed Tybalt. I feel like some of the conflict that goes on in this play is because of power because although they are "both alike in dignity" they are still different. The hatred for the two families is not just between the parents but it also effects Romeo and Juliet's love for one another.

I don't relate to this conflict with a direct comparison but I have seen a lot of movies that relate to this kind of conflict. A couple will get married and the families won't like the wife or husband which in the movie is usually the climax. Who will they put first? Their parents or the one who they love? I don't know how people put people they haven't known before the family who has always and will always be there for them. I guess I'll only understand how they feel when I am older and married. This conflict is external because of the hatred between the two families but it is definitely also internal because of how the two people must feel on the inside. Knowing that the persons parents don't approve or like you. That would be pretty tough to deal with.

Modern Shakespeare

Westside Story is very similar to Romeo and Juliet. The play we're reading in class has two people coming from different households who fall in love which is the same thing that happens in Westside Story. Tony is part of the jets and he falls in love with a girl from an opposite group name Maria whose brother is the leader of the sharks. Their foresaken love and opposite groups caused them to kill themselves.

Romeo and Juliet 1

A character I really relate with is Juliet. When Juliet was talking she said something along the lines of always wanting to please her mother. I try my best to please both of my parents. The situation is obviously a little different since I am not getting married but I wouldn't date or be good friends with someone who my parents didn't approve of. Juliet wants a man that her mother will like. The comparison between Juliet and me is that we both want to do what our mothers want us to do.

When reading Romeo and Juliet I think the best way for me to understand the play is when we read it together in class having different people play each part. This helps me because I can listen and think while other people read it. Also it helps me when Ms. Smith stops to ask what a certain thing means so we understand it better and can write in what it means. I am able to decipher the main events but some of the side conversations are more difficult to understand because it is the way Shakespeare spoke. When I read at home I don't understand the play as well as I do when we read it together in class.

Wrapping up Great Expectations!

I believe the universal message Charles Dickens was trying to display is that the people who mean most to you in life should come before money and social class. While reading the book this wasn't the theme I thought was the most important but towards the end and when I finished the book, if someone were to ask me what the theme of the book I just read I would say put people before the things in life. An example of this in someones life today would be parents being so concerned about making money and having a nice lifestyle that they don't spend as much time as they should with their children. This doesn't directly parallel the story of Great Expectations but it is a good example for a likely way people put money before friendship and before those who matter most. The parents don't mean to not spend enough time with their kids just like I don't think Pip meant to purposely not spend enough time with Biddy and Joe. In the end hopefully everyone realizes people are more important than things just like Pip did in this novel.

Great Expectations: Thoughts on reading

I really liked Great Expectations. The plot was my favorite part because it was so original compared to all of the other books I've read. The only thing I didn't like was how Charles Dickens seemed to drag his sentences on and on along with some of Pip's dialogue. This made more sense to me when I read and article about how he wrote this is chapters for a magazine and would get paid for however much he wrote. Some of the mysteries I was able to guess before they were clearly solved is that the letter telling Pip to go to the marshes was from Orlick and that Miss Havisham was not his benefactor but that one of the convicts was. I enjoyed the settings although they were sometimes confusing on where they were. The characters were perfectly chosen in my mind. There was the upper class and the lower class. Joe, Biddy and Pip were my favorite characters. Also up there are Mr. Wemmick and of course Herbert. I never slacked in reading this novel. I have a thing where I get really stressed if I wait until the last minute to do things or put them off until later so when I would come home from school each day around 3 I would read the assigned chapters. I started out reading to myself but I would get bored and space out thinking about things other than the novel. When this would happen I realized I wasn't totally tracking what was going on so I researched for some kind of recording I could listen to. I was going to get the CD from the Timberland Library but it was out of stock and I found Libribox. It was very helpful even though the guy reading it had a funny accent for the characters. Then a couple days later Mrs. Gilman told us about it so I knew it was a good website. My plan for reading it was, I would get home, turn on my fireplace, lay out all of my supplies and get my laptop ready then read. It worked very well for me and I was always right on the scheduled reading or ahead.

Great Expectations Photo!

A concept in Great Expectations I found very important was the different settings. The setting of the foggy marsh is a recurring setting which pairs with the motif of mystery. Fog is usually used in written work to show the story being unclear. In the beginning there were so many mysteries but as we come closer to the end it becomes more clear just like this picture. If you look in the distance, it is the most hard to see but the closer and closer you get the better you are able to view it.

Picture- To Kill a Mockingbird and Great Expectations

SCROLL DOWN TO THE BLOG POST BEFORE THIS ONE TO SEE MY WRITING ASSIGNMENT.

Connection to Great Expectations

I had to think about this prompt for a while but I finally came to the conclusion of To Kill a Mockingbird being comparable to Great Expectations. One of the main themes in To Kill a Mockingbird is crime and punishments and has the motif of mystery and jails. Scout and Jem go to the jail where they check on their dad and Pip goes with Mr. Wemmick to meet with someone who is being sentenced to death. In addition to having a similar motif and theme, these two books also have significant character who are lawyers.

Not only are there similarities, but there are many differences. Jaggers is a tough mysterious man and Atticus isn't. Atticus is a very good teacher to his kids and is very honest and open. Whenever Pip asks who his anonymous benefactor was, Jaggers says that he simply cannot answer. When I judged the main themes in both of the books I found that they are very different. In To Kill a Mockingbird I think the main theme is loss of innocence while in Great Expectations it is becoming a gentleman.

Great Expectations, 2nd Stage

One character that helps enhance themes and motifs is Herbert, also known as, "The pale young gentleman." He cleans up some of the confusion that is brought up in stage one. He tells Pip about Miss Havisham and is the same boy who fought Pip in the yard. Charles Dickens includes many characters who have a brief part in the beginning but come back to have a greater role. Mr. Jaggers, the man who Pip walked past on the stairs at Miss Havisham's house comes back to be the giver of Pip's great expectations. Self improvements is a big theme in Great Expectations because of how Pip longs to be a gentleman. Toward the end of the first stage and the beginning of the second, Pip's dreams come true. The main cause of self improvement is for Estella and Miss Havisham. Pip is ashamed of home and pictures Estella laughing at him while he worked at the forge with Joe.

A motif that we talked about in class was Dickens use of doubles. The main example so far is Biddy and Estella. Estella is a wealthy ward who is put to work trying to break Pip's heart, as Miss Havisham tells her whenever she happens to be around Pip. Biddy is a girl Pip's age who is very intelligent but is not high class or wealthy. Biddy is sweet and caring and advices Pip when he needs it. When they are walking in the marshes together, he tells her how he likes Estella so much and wants to see her. Biddy tells him that is not a good idea and really she is right. Not only are Biddy and Estella doubles but so are Mrs. Joe and Miss Havisham. Both of these women are invalid. These women are cruel and selfish but Miss Havisham is upper class and wealthy and Mrs. Joe is not.

Passage- Great Expectations

When my small group in honors English were talking about this passage we came to the conclusion that Pip is talking about gloom, convicts, and mystery when he talks about thorns and the chain of iron. But he wasn't only talking about this, he was comparing all of these dreary objects to speaking about gold and flowers. In chapter nine, Pip returns from the Satis house and lies to Mrs. Joe and Joe about his time at the house. This day made him feel so guilty for lying that he finally told Joe. I believe this is a positive change in his life because he no longer wants to be common. He plans on getting a good education and impressing Estella. He begins learning without paying for the tuition because his family does not have the money to do so, yet.

The memorable day that started my chain was when I "accidentally" called 911 instead of my dad, like I told my mom. I got to scared and hung up but 911 called back to make sure everything was okay. That small amount of time I felt so guilty. Like the police would come to my house any second. I was so young that I thought they could arrest me. A quote of Pip's that goes along with my story at that moment was, "Before the fire goes out, Joe, I should like to tell you something." Right before my mom answered I yelled and told her I called 911 and that I was really sorry. Even today, I still feel guilty when I do the littlest things that some people would do without any thought. Pip and I are actually very similar because of the way we get after we do something wrong.

My Confusion!

"This was all I heard that night before my sister clutched me, as a slumberous offence to the company's eyesight and assisted me to up to bed with such a strong hand that I seemed to have fifty boots on, and to be dangling them all against the edges of the stairs. My state of mind, as I have described it, began before I was up in the morning, and lasted long after the subject had died out, and had ceased to be mentioned saving on exceptional occasions." (73)

Some people might understand this but I don't understand what Dickens is trying to purvey. What is Pip talking about and why did his sister beat him for going with Joe to catch the convict?

Group Essay Collaboration

The body paragraphs are all complete but we are each going over our own again, making them flow more and making sure they prove the points talked about in the thesis. I'm not using any other concrete details and I know we won't have the same ones because we are all using different characters. All that I am changing now is making sentences more clear. Since Algernon is the character who starts out cynical towards marriage I chose two quotes where it shows his views on marriage. Then, my last concrete detail is when he admits he wants to be married to Cecily proving that marriage can change people.

I have a couple questions I need answered:

1) How should we tie in the next chunk to mine?

2) What could I say instead of cynical?

Thanks!

Dishonesty in The Importance of Being Earnest

One of the main themes in the play The Importance of Being Earnest is dishonesty. In the play, Oscar Wilde there is occasionly s selection of epigrams. An epigram is a brief, clever and memorable statement. An example of one is "the truth is rarely plain and never simple." This is the opposite of what we would think. The truth is always pure and usually never plain. The satire that occurs in this play has a lot to do with which class people were in. The rich, such as Lady Bracknell, only appreciate those who have great fourtune. Because she didn't know Cecily had a large profit she didn't like her. When she Lady Bracknell asked how much funding she had, Lady Bracknell soon had high respect for Cecily. Also since Jack was left at birth, Lady Bracknell did not like the thought of him not having high class parent. The name Ernest verses the trait to be earnest has to do with the pursuit of pleasure. Jack and Algernon both use Ernest for their own enjoyment and to have fun while not being earnest at all.

I believe with the theme being dishonesty, Oscar Wilde is saying that during the Victorian Era upper class people rarely told the truth if ever. Men could have a wife but go to a different women for pleasure. During this era, it seems that people didn't explain their true feelings or emotions. Lady Bracknell suspected the entire time that "bunburying" was not real but doesn't come out clearly accusing him of anything. When Gwendolyn and Cecily find out both of their Ernests' aren't really called Ernest they simply forgave them. This is a stereotype of women during the Victorian Era saying that they are indecisive and forgive easily. It also feels like Oscar Wilde was saying that women and men don't care about the connections between each other, just the fun.

Animal Farm Project Viewings!

Name: Hailey
Type of project: Poem
Literary elements: I thought Hailey's poem was very good. Her stanzas were clear and I knew exactly what she was talking about. She shows most important events that go on.

Name: Levi
Type of project: Movie
Literary elements: Levi's project is the best. He needs to show this in front of the class and explain how her made it! He used all of the elements needed and made it very entertaining to watch.

Name: Leanna
Type of project: Flyer
Literary Elements: Leanna displayed the theme and parallels very clearly. Very clear ideas!

Name: Annie
Project: Movie trailer
Literary elements: Annie and Austin did a one of a kind project that is unlike any I've seen so far. It gives you a re cap of the book and it's obvious they worked hard on it.

Name: Adora
Project: Poem
Literary elements: Adora's poem was deep. I could just picture Benjamin reciting it. She presented the theme through the poem.

Name: Daniel
Project: Drawing
Literary elements: In Daniel's drawing he shows the parallels to the Russian Revolution through the character drawn. The only thing I don't think he showed was foreshadowing.

Name: Angela
Project: Collage
Litterary elements: She successfully shows the seperation of power which is the theme and shows irony.

Name: Dan
Project: Comic strip
Literary elements: Dan shows the theme in the comic but doesn't show anything about the Russian Revolution

Name: Kayla
Project: Comic strip
Literary elements: This comic proved the corruption of power and paralleled this event to the entire theme. I liked this one!

Name: Giselle
Project: Slide show/diagram
Literary elements: This was a creative project. It gave a more sophisticate approach. She included the theme and did a very good job.

I think I did comparable to most of my classmates. Some of the projects I felt I did better work than and there were a couple that were above my work. I put a lot of thought and time into what I did for my project. I chose to do the pyramid of animal and human power because that is what Animal Farm is about. The theme, parallels and irony make the book. Instead of doing just one pyramid, I added a second one. The second pyramid I drew was the Human pyramid. With the colors I used it showed which characters were similar to the past times of Stalin.

Extra credit Blog: New Year's Resolution

Every year I make a list of New Year's resolutions that never end up being persued. This year I'm going to actually stick with what I have set, for the entire year of 2011. I have put a lot of thought into what my resolution should be and I finally came up with more of a fitness goal. My resolution is to continue eating healthy and to exercise everyday or every other day. Being fit and staying healthy is important to me for a couple different reasons. The first reason is because when I workout I feel better mentally and emotionally. Secondly, eating healthy is better for your body. A lot of packaged food has ingredients to make it not spoil as quickly and when we eat that food the unnatural ingredients go into our bodies. Thirdly, high school soccer is my main sport. During fall we'd been playing five days a week but now I've had such a long break between sports that I want to stay in shape. I know I will be able to make this resolution successful because I've made a planner and have gotten my family to do it with me. The more support the better. Past years I have made academic goals but this year I don't find

it is needed. High school has proven my skills and I am right where I want to be.