Goobye Blogs

As the year has passed by I have noticed more than anything that I have become a stronger writer. When I look at my first few blogs I can tell I wasn't sure what to write or what Mrs.Gilman was looking for. I wasn't confident in what I was saying and I really didn't write that much in them. In the ones that I did, what I was saying really was a jumble of useless words. Since we have had to write a blog just about every week I have gotten comfortable with writing them and getting them done successfully. I think that since we have to do so much writing in them that it's obvious we will all grow a little in our writing. I have improved on using less words but the words that I do choose leave a lasting effect on the reader.
I have always known that in my writing i'm very opinionated. When I talk to people I don't often share my thoughts or feelings on most things. I just sit back and listen to everyone else speak and nod my head. For some reason when I write, I let it flow freely. My blogs have definitely turned into my brain full of opinions and thoughts. Its like your sorta of getting a closer look into who I am in a way. I didn't really expect my blog to turn out that way and have it be all about that. The way Mrs.Gilman sets up the posts, your blog could turn into just about anything. That's what I love about doing them. It doesn't have to be a boring hassle, it can be a creative way to express yourself. I definitely took the opportunity to make it just that. I always tackle each blog with at least one thing i'm thinking about on that topic in each post.
What I will take with me from this blog assignment is to have fun. I think that is what she intended this to be. I have learned so much from this. I tried to make writing each blog post fun. It may have not seem enjoyable for me through my writing, but every time I sat down at the computer and read that weeks job, I tried thinking of a creative way to write it. I have also learned that writing a little bit each week or each day can go a long way. It helps you think of ideas faster and get what you want to say out there in a more clear way. Each and every post, I didn't have to reread what Mrs.Gilman wrote. I could read it one, maybe two times and already have down in my head what I want to say. This definitely helped me in other areas too.
To me what I have written is a time line. A time line of me improving. It starts from me thinking I had what it takes to be and Honors English student, to in the end being an Honors English student. Then there is everything in between. You can see my growth, where I didn't do so well because I didn't put my full effort into my writing. That is what I feel I have written this whole year. A way to track my progress as a student. A quote that I thought fit well was, "More you learn, more passion/Leads you to more wisdom;"


Leads you to more wisdom

Memorable Assignment

My most memorable assignment we have done this year was when we did our first outside reading project. It was in the very beginning of the year, right after we had finished the whole unit of To Kill a Mockingbird. I liked that we had some options of what we got to read. I also liked that it wasn't like book reports that you do in middle school. One reason why it sticks in my mind so much is the fact that I hated the book I read. I read Pride and Prejudice. This is the only book I have read all year that was actually hard for me to pick up and read.
The biggest reason why this was memorable was the fact that my group made a movie of it. We worked really hard on getting good costumes and making it humours for the class. We also spent lots of time adding in effects to make the movie better. I also got to be some male characters in the movie and play dramatic women. I have never really made a movie like that before. I was extremely proud of the outcome. We had some set backs during the process. Our first filming of it got erased and we had to start all over. By having to re film, it made it that much more special to me of our outcome. It also helped me get to know some of my class mates.

Happy Times with Poetry...

I have had lots of experiences with poetry. I think the turning point where I actually enjoyed it was in 6th grade when my block teacher did this huge poetry unit. We all made huge books full of poems that we had written over the course of those few months. She didn't let us just free write how we wanted and at first it bothered me. It made me discover though that writing with so many poetic devices could be really helpful and fun. I always thought that it had to rhyme, but I was soon informed that in fact there are lots of ways to write your poetry.
My favorite part was when she would ask people if they wanted to go volunteer to go up in front of the class and read the poem that they had written for that week. I liked that every one's was always so different and how emotions of all kinds could be woven into a few simple words. One girl wrote about her sister and you could totally feel the strong connection they had by what she was saying. Right after her, some girl went and read about root beer and how much she loved it. It was funny, silly, and serious all at the same time. I think that week we had to make it rhyme. It always amazed me how we all had to write the same way, but no two poems were alike.
That poetry unit became a huge stress reliever for me. I think that's truly why I liked it a lot. It got hard at times to follow the guidelines of how it should be written, but what I could say had endless possibilities. I just loved that. Whatever I was feeling at that moment could be put down into a poem. Adults always say talk about your feelings to someone and you will feel better. Poetry for me was like talking to my pencil and paper. It understood what I was saying and when I would read it to someone else, they got it too. I always offered to read mine with the class. I didn't care if people thought it was stupid, it helped me through a lot that year.
At this point in my life, I would have to say, I LOVE POETRY. I write some usually everyday. I never care if its good or bad, I just like writing it. When I hear the word "poetry" I think of emotions. To me that's what it is. Sharing how you think or feel about something or someone through words because sometimes it hard to say exactly what you mean when your being literal.

I see Romeo and Juliet everywhere!

There are only so many story lines. It becomes harder and harder for authors to think of completely original ideas. In many stories they have similar plots to Romeo and Juliet. One that I could think of is the Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott. She creates a story about two best friends that are both wanting the same boy. You know your not suppose to love your best friends boyfriend, but you can't help who you fall for. They have a secret love affair behind the girlfriend/best friend's back and they know if they get caught, there will be bad consequences. It's just like Romeo and Juliet because they aren't suppose to be together but they go behind their parents back and if they get caught it will be off with their heads! In the end the friend finds out and hates both of them. It ruins the relationship between the girl and the boy that think they love each other. Its not tragic in the end like Rome and Juliet, but what can you say, its about modern day teenagers. There is not going to be some sappy, sad ending where they kill themselves. Books will always steal ideas from shakespear because his stories relate to any day and age.

Connecting with Romeo and Juliet

In the first few scenes of Romeo and Juliet, the first thing that stood out to me that I knew I could instantly relate to was when Benvolio was giving Romeo advice. I have played both roles as the love sick person and the giver of the knowledge on moving on. I think everyone can think of a time when they were wrapped up in someone and things just don't work out the way you would like them to. Then comes along your trusty friend that tries to cheer you up by saying forget about him/her, there will be someone better you have to be willing to go look. More often I am the one sitting down and talking to my friend. I try and help whether the person asked for it or not. That is pretty much what Benvolio does when he sees how depressed poor Romeo is over Rosaline. I always go to my friend Jordan when I am having a boy related issue and she is the one the encourages me to go out and keep my mind off that person and go catch other fish in the sea.
Reading at home for me has gone really well. The very few reading assignments that we have had, I have managed to read on time. I like rereading it in class because I feel there are more distractions at home then there is in the classroom. If I miss anything, I can count on getting it in class. I think if we didn't reread it in class, it would be way more challenging than it needs to be. As time goes on I am getting better at understanding things. I sometimes have to go back and read a line that I already have just to be safe that I got everything I could out of it. Listening to other people read it aloud helps you get the feel of the scene, which I greatly appreciate. Overall, I think I am meeting all the goals.

Wrapping Up

There are many themes within Great Expectations, one that stands out to me the most is karma. Everyone has heard of karma and basically that it's what goes around comes around. The whole book is one person makes a choice without a conscience and in the end, it works out not in their favor. Karma can either be, people do good things and those kind of things come back to them or someone does something bad to someone or something and the same treatment gets thrown right back. There really is no happy, your such a wonderful human being type. Only your selfish, self center, bad decision making, bite you in the butt kind. Everyone in our class can relate to it. We all have been faced with hard times where we're stuck in a difficult spot and we know we should do the right thing, but we don't. Then later down the line, the consequences slam down and we realize we could have done it differently. Not one person cannot say they haven't experienced it or at least watched someone have this happen to them. We make choices every single day and we think about the pros's and con's. Before the beginning of time this has happened, and until the end of time it will continue on.

Final Thoughts on Great Expectations.

When I first started reading I was dreading the next 400 and something pages. It didn't interest me and I kept thinking how so many books had convicts in their stories. I also got bored with the way Dickens's wrote the novel. The bad English from Joe grated my nerves to an extreme degree. As the pages went by and the plot was more developed, I started to really like his style of writing and the characters. It wasn't like all the teen books I spend my time reading now. None of them have crazy, heart broken woman in them. All of them have the same style of writing and the vocabulary is for people who have limited knowledge of words. The setting really had no effect on me. It couldn't of been any big city and I wouldn't of minded. I know a lot of people loved biddy or the convict, but my favorite had to of been Miss Havisham. She brought a lot of color to the book and spiced it up. I think her life story was the most interesting and had a long lasting impression on me. I always felt so sorry for her that the one person she loved only used her for her money and then just wrote her a note confessing that he didn't want to get married. That's like kids now days that break up with there significant other over text because they can't face them in person. I never felt bad for Pip. He brought a lot of the not so good stuff that happened to him upon himself. I liked figuring the mysteries out on my own. I didn't want spark notes to interfere with any good parts of the book. It ruins books when you cheat yourself by getting the answers before they happen.
I made sure to read every night like the sheet said. There was only one night where I forgot to read and it was a big mistake. I didn't like having to read extra. I finally started reading the weekend chapters on Thursday night's. Even though it added on to my already stressful homework load before Friday, I discovered that I liked being ahead of the game. There was never a certain time I would read. It just happened whenever I found the time to do it after I finished the rest of my homework. I usually do my homework at the kitchen table because I like being in the warm kitchen with my mom when she cooks. That wasn't always the most peaceful place to read. I would get distracted easily which didn't help with understanding the book. Also having my phone with me was a HUGE distraction. Whenever I got a text, I would be more focused on reading that than Great Expectations. The number one best place to read was in my room, late at night, when I had my phone not by my side. No one bothers me when i'm in my room so there was no one to come in and take my mind off the book. When it was late the house was silent and I could concentrate the best. If my phone wasn't by me, I wasn't interested if I got a text or not.

Great Expectation Photo Post (:

 

 A important concept is broken hearts. There are too very obvious characters who get their hearts broken by love for other people. Those two are Miss Havisham and Pip. Miss Havisham tortures others for how she was treated. Her daughter, Estella, and Pip end up receiving a lot of wrath because of that. The effect of her heart is she never wants to see the light of day, won't change out of her bridal dress, and has her mind set on taking revenge on any human who is of the male sex. Her daughter grows up being an extremely cold because of it and can never let herself love. Not even have that feeling for her own mother. Pip gets his heart broken because of Estella being so cold. He feels he will he was chosen to get to spend eternity with her. He is being fooled and lead on for many years of his life. He finally has to face the conclusion that he has to watch the girl of his dreams marry a man he hates.

Not only is there broken hearts of that nature, but you also have people like Provis, who experienced a different kind of heart break. Even though he does not come out and say it, you know growing up being homeless and treated badly had to take a toll on him. Also, the fact that his fathered abandoned him as such a little boy probably does not feel good. You know he feels sad inside if he is just so grateful to a little 6 year old boy who brought him food and a file if he is willing to turn his life around by making him into a gentleman. 

There is also like unfortunate characters like Joe. He had a wife who was mean to him and abused him, but he still loved her whole heartily. This man had to live with the fact that his one and only family member left got beat down and made her basically into a vegetable. It ultimately took her life in the end after a few years of living like this. Death of a loved on, especially your spouse, has to make your heart just explode with depression.

Connections!

One book that relates to Great Expectations is Gone With the Wind. In both novels, there is the motif of convicts. They both help out the main Characters. Like Pip's character gives him money for helping him and he keeps running into him. Scarlett uses convicts throughout the story to help her make money. Both stories have the convicts help them achieve the life they want to live. Pip becomes a gentleman from receiving expectations from his and Scarlett is rich and glamorous because they run her mill.

Another connection is the feeling of being ashamed of home. Pip doesn't want to be a blacksmith and wants to only be a gentleman who doesn't work. When Scarlett becomes poor she doesn't want to have to work in the fields like the slaves and not wear fancy clothes. She wants to be rich again and be a lady that all the higher class people want to be around. They both fantasize on becoming wealthy and think about it often. They ruin relationships just to achieve what they think will bring them utter happiness.

Money is a big deal in both stories. For those two characters they discover money can't buy you happiness. Pip talks about the sadness he feels and that he had done wrong by everyone that he couldn't go back to his old life. He had enough money to buy anything he wanted but that's not the same feeling you get when your with people you love. The thirst for money gave her a bad reputation and she lost a lot of friends. She bought everything she could imagine, but in the end of the story she is still not satisfied with her life.

Second Stage...

As the second stage begins, I feel not much has happened. It is important though to recognize the connections between the characters and motifs. Such as when Pip first gets to London and goes to the house he will be staying at for the night and he runs into the pale young gentleman once again. He teaches Pip manners he has yet to learn which goes along with the motif of becoming a gentleman. Also Herbert tells the story of Miss Havisham and why she is a creepy old lady who doesn't see daylight and wears the same old wedding gown everyday. He explains that her husband to be leaves her a letter calling off the marriage and only wanted her for the money. It wraps up part of the mystery of Miss Havisham but leaves Pip with even more mysterious questions. This all goes along with the motif of mystery.

In the middle of stage one Pip cannot come up with an answer of why Miss Havisham is a loony woman. She is very mysterious because she does not give any explanations to why she acts the way she does. While Herbert tells her story he gets his answers but gets more mystery as well. Along with this motif, becoming a gentleman is brought up over and over. As he learns manners and other gentleman ways he is becoming the gentleman he so hoped he would become one day. The more he learns of these ways the more condescending and rude his character is.

Pip's Changing Day

I feel when Pip says this, he is thinking back to the first day he was at Miss Havisham's house. its like a long chain of events that has brought him to who he is now. All the good and bad ( thorns or flowers) is all life altering. This day has altered him because he now sees that his life of wanting to be a blacksmith is not what exactly his dream. He wants to be higher up like the pale young gentleman. Pip is now different from the last few chapters because he is not as child like. He has grown up a little and expanded his thinking. He is striving to be older which is positive. I also think he is caring less about school and wanting to teach joe. That is extremely negative. Before I use to love Pip because he reminded me of myself when I was little. As he changes I like him less because he is not happy with what he has. Even though it is not quite the best life, he should still be content because it could be a million times worse. In the last two chapters I don't like how he keeps quiet about his sister being beaten. I think if he wants to be older he should start acting like it.

For me, my life altering day would be my first day of public school in fourth grade. It showed me there is more than what I was learing at my small little Christian school. That kids were not all well behaved children. I make a lot of mistakes and i'm okay with that. Before public school, I would beat myself up if I did on bad little thing or made a silly mistake. It also let me be okay with having divorced parents and how my family was. I now think its better that way because I have gained so many wonderful people because of it. I couldn't think like that the days that happened before my altering day.

Great Expectations...

In the passage I'm about to quote, I don't get why him being a tenant to her would be requiring to much of her? Also is the have yearly and quarterly the way they reference time?

"Isn't it just barely possible that Uncle Pumblechook may be a tenant of hers, and that he may sometimes-we wont say quarterly or have-yearly, for that would be requiring too much of you- but sometimes-go there to pay his rent?"
(page 50, bottom of the page)

Group Essay

I don't exactly get what were suppose to write for this blog. I'm just going to do my best to complete the task at hand. Nicole, my transition is going to be something along the lines of, Cecily is just one example of dishonesty and using it to create something better for herself, even though it was never ment to be permanent.
I need to know what yours is going to be. Oh, and i'm going to work on my commentary to spruse it up so it fits perfect with our thesis. We need to finish the conclusion. Got any ideas?

Dishonesty

As we read through the book you could see the lies flowing out from the pages. With the pursuit of pleasure they had to make numerous lies to escape their everyday strict social lives. Such as making up fake identities or fake friends. A good example of this is Algernon's good old friend Bunbury. Any time his aunt Lady Bracknell called on him for some duty, he claimed that Bunbury was very ill and needed his assistance. Then he could escape to the country and feel free to get wasted and get in scrapes. We all know that the name Earnest has to do with honesty. Jack's other person he made up named Ernest is quite good at lying. He lied to Gwendolyn that his true name was in fact Ernest. Very far from the truth. He even had Algernon thinking for a little bit that his name was in fact just that because he introduced everyone to Jack as that. In marriage your suppose to stay faithful to your partner, which is why you choose to be married to this person for the rest of your life. Men and women would both lie about where they were going so they could have another partner. They say something along the lines of two is boring and three is company. This just shows that in fact most aren't being completely truthful. One lie that I found pretty humorous was the fact that Algernon ate all those sandwiches that were suppose to be for his aunt and then his Butler lied for him. He didn't even have to ask him to lie for him. Lane could instantly think of a lie off the top of his head. This just shows how often Lane has to lie for Algernon. Another funny lie was Cecily making up that she was already engaged to Ernest. It made her sound completely crazy because he hadn't ever talk to him let alone met him.
I think Wilde is just trying to show you how imperfect this time period was. People were lying left and right so that they would have some enjoyment in life. They had such strong rules that were set and no one really liked them. They all had to pretend to be something they were to be excepted. Also your choices you got to make for yourself was limited. It was almost like the lying was their form of rebellion. Also in the book religion is brought up a lot. Everyone knows that religion talks about the shamefulness of lying. People pretended to be godly and good. I think Wilde was showing just how much people didn't follow the religion they supposedly believed in. In my opinion, Wilde's technique of making all the lies funny was his way to really get across how much they did lie back then.

Animal Farm Project Evaluation

Classmate: Joel
Type of project: Picture
Effectiveness: He sorta conveyed the elements. He mostly just showed what one of the main points of the book was. I think it was good that he showed in the beginning man was the ruler and in the end the pigs were the rulers. They were almost like humans which he showed by having the pig look human and he put an equal sign.
Classmate: Meghann
Type of project: Picture
Effectiveness: I think she did a good job of showing the elements. I thought her picture was creative and very well drawn out. It was a little hard to read some of the words because of the background. For the most part though, you could see everything.
Classmate: Jake
Type of Project: Picture
Effectiveness: Jake did a good job of showing how innocent snowball was. He also showed the greed of Napoleon with his money bag and clothes. I liked how he added in the angry dog. I feel that people forget about the dogs and how they played a big role in Napoleon taking power.
Classmate:Keenana
Type of project: Comic strip
Effectiveness: I liked how he showed the beginning, middle and end in his project. He showed a little bit of foreshadowing. I like how he put in talking bubbles. I also could tell that he put in a lot of work into his.
Classmate: Nic
Type of project: Picture
Effectiveness: Nic did a really good job. Not only did he have a picture but he had an explanatory paragraph about his. He showed lots of things that had to go back to the way people lived during the Russian revolution. I liked that his pig was just a little different from everyone elses.
Classmate: Britta
Type of project: Poem
Effectiveness: I loved her poem. It was different from what everyone else did. It was also a fun way to see all the elements of the book and if you never read it, you would get a lot out of her poem. You can tell she put a lot of hard work into this. Overall I think she has done the best so far.
Classmate: Enolal
Type of project: Video
Effectiveness: Enolal didn't show anything really about the concept of the book. All she had were the character's. They are important but if you don't know anything about the book then its not helpful or mean much. I wish she would have put a little more time into her project.
Classmate: Aaron
Type of project: Picture
Effectiveness: I enjoyed Aaron's picture. He showed everything he needed to and some pictures were funny. I liked how he showed that it was a continuous circle of events. That is very true about the story. I also like how he added in things that other people didn't have. He made his picture more about other animals then just the pigs.
Classmate: Gaylen
Type of project: Comic strip
Effectiveness: Gaylen showed many important aspects of the novel. I appreciated that he made his words big enough to read. Most people didn't do that, but he was thinking about this when he made it. I also like the pictures he chose.
Classmate: Olivia
Type of project: Picture
Effectiveness: She did a good job of showing foreshadowing and irony. I thought her pig was very cute. I am also wondering if that is suppose to be alcohol they are drinking in those cups or something else? Her paragraph was as well nice because it explained a little more then the picture does.

I still think I did a good job on my project. At first I thought my art skills would kill the picture, but as I look at others I realize how hard it is to draw with paint. I like that my picture is different from a lot of classmates. I didn't just focus on the pigs. Mostly I showed the elements in my clearly even if I didn't have a little paragraph to go along with it.

New Year's Resolution!

I always try to find a suitable resolution. This year I think I should go to the gym more. I use to go to the gym three times a week and work out really hard. I would be dripping sweat by the time I left two hours later. That doesn't sound too attractive but that just shows you how serious I took it. Between school, drivers ed, and having a serious boyfriend, I just don't have as much free time as I use to. I have missed out on all those days I could have been at the gym and I'm ready to get back in there. I'm going to become a lean, mean, exercising machine! I know that is a lot of people's resolution to become healthier and exercise more, but staying fit is so important in this day and age. To keep my promise I'm going to get a work out buddy. That way I have more support to go to the gym. We can carpool that way I can't use the excuse that I don't have a ride. Days that I absolutely can't go, I will go for at least a three mile run. On the weekends I can ask my boyfriend to go to the gym with me that way we can still see each other but be staying active. We could also go outside and shoot hoops instead of watching movies. This will improve my life because I will be a happier person since exercising makes you happy and by keeping healthy I will live a longer fuller life.

Animal Farm Creative Project