Blog #16

So i went to see Iron Man 3 tonight and it was so great. It was just like a piece of literature. It had puns, allusions, metaphors, and many other literary terms except it had pictures. :) But this is our last blog post of the year. This is exciting because i never liked the blogs but i think they have served a purpose. They have really made you think about what you have learned throughout that week. They help to allow reflection.

I have learned many things this year in my first Ap English class. I haven't enjoyed it all but I'm sure i will put some of the new assets i have gained to use in my college experience. It only gets harder from here on out. That sounds awful and not exciting. Why can't i just be smart and sassy like Tony Stark? He has it all but it started off just like the rest of us, small and unsure of his future. He made the best of what he got and thats what i plan on doing too. But maybe without all violence and iron suits. Maybe a little violence never hurt anyone but excess use is unnecessary.

Anyways this class had helped me to show myself that everything doesn't come easy, you have to work hard for what you want. I haven't fine this all year and may be in trouble because of that. But its a part of life, making mistakes is what happens. But what comes after mistakes isn't always fun.

Blog #15

So its close to the end of the year and everyone is done with school. I feel this also but am sort of sad at the same time. I like daily routines and i gave had this one for 12 years. Yes I'm looking forward to college but I'm scared of what may come. Am i prepared to face mistakes i will make, am i prepared to leave and be my own person? These are the questions that one must ask. But I'm not sure i want the answers. Why can't my life be a simple story with a happy ending? Because that's not living, that's why. But i think I'm ready to start a new chapter, ready to move on to different things, things you can't get in high school. Like being more responsible about course work, being on time, and moving out. These will all be new but exciting. And yes this is all very cliche but i needed one post about this.

But on the other have no more essays in English,  yay! I have seen a little improvement on these throughout the year but i still feel that i need to work harder on them. They are quite up to par. But I'm sure it will come in time. Just like the saying practice makes perfect, i intend on more practice.

Blog #14

Continuing with the poetry project had been fun. I enjoy reading about all the change that had taken place in such a short time period. The Victorians had a tough age to live in. Everything they knew was changing, social classes, working conditions, women's rights. This was the time of change.

This era really paved the way for life as we know it know. Without these events we could still all be different people. Women couldn't be educated, we would all still be on farms. And this industrialization showed on the poetry of the Victorians. But even with all this stuff I learned I want to be done with this project.

Blog #13

So this poetry project is going to be interesting. I have already learned some new things and hope to find much more. The Victorians were complicated people. They kind of piggy backed off the romantics for awhile but then their world started to change on big ways. Which in return would change the style of writing.

Some of the major events that changed the Victorians include the industrial revolution, Darwin's book and idea off evolution, and peoples perception of God. These are all serious events that really made people think about their lives in a new light. I'm excited to learn more and present my findings with my group.

Blog #12

In class we have been discussing the poems we have read. I enjoy reading and talking about them. I like seeing how every person gets something different out of the poems. Someone always finds a different angle to look at the words.

I always find multiple meanings. I can never decide what is the right one. Probably because there isn't a right one in poetry. Only the author really knows what it is about. Readers can only guess and hope to get the message the author wanted to portray. Again this is why poetry is always my favorite unit. Everything you read is different and interesting. You never read the same story twice.

Blog #11

I have quite enjoyed the poetry unit it has been very interesting. I like poetry and how it makes you think. There is never one answer. I enjoy some poems and author more than others. Some of them make you think more and really have to search for a meaning. Where as others are just plain crazy and are writing babble.

But the reading and decoding their messages is always fun. You never truly know what the author wants you to see, its all up to imagination. Which is the best thing about poetry. You can never be wrong. Everyone is against Tennyson and Dickinson but I have always enjoyed their poems the most. They bring real challenge and always have incredible detail and meaning. 

Blog # 10

So we have started poetry. I think this will be a fun unit. Poetry can express so much emotion and have a lot of meaning behind each word. I really like poetry, usually the love ones because I'm a hopeless romantic. I adore anything that has to do with love. I enjoy seeing people happy and the sappy chick flicks. But poetry can be tricky sometimes. You never really know the absolute meaning of word choice or the entire piece. Poetry allows for many different interpretations of the same thing, which is one of the things I like. You can never really be far off from what the author wanted you to get out of it.

Poetry can be very calming and beautiful. You can express feeling easily because there is no real straight forward way to write it. Its pretty much just a way to express feelings without structure. I don't enjoy when the point of the poem isn't super clear. Then it is harder to understand what the author wants to express and it makes it harder to annotate. But I am looking forward to this unit and hope to learn new things abut poetry.

Blog # 9

Thank goodness we are done with Beloved. As i had thought i didn't read all of it, i only read some of the book. I just really couldn't get into it and had a hard time keeping up with everything. I think it is also because of the writing style Morrison uses. I know it is literary and great in critics mind but i have a hard time following all the detail that goes into it. It is at times boring and slow at furthering the story. But that put aside it was a decent book, it had a great story to tell. It was neat to read something different than the typical love stories and teen fiction about vampires. Ghost are always fun, they can do things humans would never think of. Which is why Beloved was such an interesting character. Plus the back story of Sethe's life was a great change. Who goes and kills all their children? Sethe obviously had a rational behind her doings and i can understand her thought but couldn't she just hide them, instead of murdering them. Heaven is nice and all but don't you think they should have had a full and happy life with their mom? I think that back story really helped to show why Sethe is the way she is and why she accepted Beloved so easily because she wanted to have a true family again. She wanted to mother her and love her because she never go the chance to. Yes she has Denver but its not the same especially since Denver is very child-like and scared of Sethe. They don't really get along or communicate. But when Beloved comes and takes the favorite spot, i think Denver wants to grow up and change so she can be the only one in Sethes life, or in other words she was jealous. But anyways i hope all the other people who have to read this book like and enjoy it more than i did, because over all it is a great book to teach.

Blog # 8

Love always works in mysterious ways. I think once you really truly love someone you cant stop no matter what they do. This is how Sethe is with Beloved. She would do anything possible to keep Beloved happy and a part of her life. This relates to the real world extremely well. Just look around at all the people who you see. Plenty of people want to be loved and take any chance they have to hold on to it. I know i like to. I always have hope that they will get better and be the person i know they can be. Most of the time people have a happy ending but you have to accept reality and realize it doesn't always end the way you want it to. Sometimes you have to let go.

Sethe is one of those people who will never let go because she has a feeling of guilt in the back of her mind. Guilt is a very strong feeling that can stop most people from moving on to bigger and better things because its always there. Most people don't like open ended problems  they like to live with all their issues fixed and closed. But Sethe can almost never fix her problem. It will always be there because she cant forgive herself for what she did all those years ago. Beloved is only there to make sure she doesn't forget, ever.

Blog # 7

Guilt has become a big part of Beloved since Beloved is sort of making Sethe feel guilty. I cant really realte to this because i like to always follow the rules. I feel they are out there for a reason and they should be followed. I get very anxious just thinking about breaking a rule. But i think guilt and disappointment go hand-in-hand and i am a person who HATES to disappoint someone. So if you want me to do something just say you are disappointed in me and i will most likely do it.

So think Beloved is disappointed in her mother because she didn't let Beloved live a full and happy life and that makes her angry. Therefore she wants Sethe to feel guilty for murdering her. I mean what doesn't she already feel guilty? She killed all of her children and just went on. I only see that on TV when the person is a psychopath .. So her actions have me a little confused. I'm not sure how she dealt with the pain of losing her children.I guess she could hide it away but Beloved doesn't like that fact that she has done that. So she wants to bring all those emotions back to the surface of Sethe's mind.

Blog #6

Beloved is already a odd book. I'm not really sure what to think about it yet but i have a feeling it is only going to get worse. It seems confusing and strange. I going to assume that you have to read it many times to actually get everything that is going on. Even then it may be hard to see all the author wants you to see. The stream of consciousnesses narration is cool, but can be hard to understand when it is just in the middle of a chapter. Also all the dialect is a good change from the regular English we usually read. I like to read it in a accent in my head. Its a nice edition to the book and really adds character to the characters.

Even with all this I'm not sure if I'm going to enjoy the book or hate because i don't understand it all. I'm one of those people if i cant understand it i don't really want anything to do with it. It seems like a great and detailed story but its hard to follow. I get the basic plot story and who is who...thanks to spark notes but there is so much the author has put into the book. So hears to hoping that i finish the whole book.

Blog # 5

Independent reading has actually been fun this semester. My first book is a memoir about two twins who were in the holocaust. I don't know why but i am fascinated with the Holocaust, sick i know. But i just don't understand how one person could gain some much power over a county and then tell them to kill people and everyone is okay with it. But anyways the book follows Eva Mozes Kor and her twin sister throughout their journey. Being twins they had the experience of meeting the infamous Angel of Death. They had many experiments done on them but made it out alive. They were only 10 years old when they went in. For being 10 years old i was very impressed about their will power to stay alive the entire time. Their were some tough times but with each other they made it out. But when they left Auschwitz they didn't come back to a normal life they had expected. Everything had changed and they had no more family. Their sisters and mother and father had all perished in the camps. But they found an aunt who helped them get to Israel. Even this was a tough task because it took them 2 years to just be able to get passports. The Jewish race was still mistreated even after being freed. But the end they both got back into a normal life and went on. They have spoken many places about their experience and hope that no one ever forgets all the innocent people that had to lose their lives.

blog #3

I finished the Road and im not very surprised  the father started out sick and it just continued to get worse. The veteran was a little shock  i didn't really expect the boy to have some else to look after him. He had grown throughout the story but then someone just shows up to take care of him again. But i guess this goes with eh whole always have hope thing that was going on every time that the father and boy found food, there was always something in front of them to help when death was close.

In the packet it siad that throughout the death had mocked these too and then finally got one of them. BUt it also said that death is a metaphor or many things one being the loss of ones self. I saw this in the father because he knew of a world before ash and fire and decauy. So being in the new world of nothing he knew before this he didnt really know what or who he was anymore. So think this is the reason he died. But overall i liked The Road and would suggest it other people.

blog #2

The Road has got a little more interesting know that other people have shown up. The father and the boy are now having to run and hide to make sure that the bad people that eat other humans don't find them. They found a bunker that had everything they could ever need, food, water, beds, blankets. But the father is so paranoid after the cannibal incident that he doesn't even stay here. He runs and leaves the perfectly good shelter where no one could find them. So they continue south and finally make it to the ocean, but it isn't what they expected. Even the ocean is grey and ash filled. Now that they have reached the goal they were aiming for the whole book the father isn't really sure what to do next. There isn't really anything to do except continue to walk. So that's what they do. Before this they sleep on the beach and enjoy the sand, but right before they are ready to leave a thief comes and steals their cart and the father gets very panicked  When they find the thief the father is very cruel and mean to the man. Here the boy is trying to tell his father to stop but the father doesn't. He continues to embarrassed the thief and leaves him naked and with nothing. This was hard for the Father because he is getting sicker by the day and his future isn't looking very bright.

blog #1

We started reading The Road and so far in the first 45 pages im not very impressed. It's kind of slow and boring. But i do like the whole no chapters and weird conversation style the McCarthy uses, its a change. I think it makes it easier to read and flows more easily. In the book the father obviously cares a lot about the boy and would do anything for him. But i think there is something underneath it, is he the only reason the father is living, would the father have continued to live if the boy wasn't there? This is very unlikely because in one of the flashbacks the wife says that the father doesn't live for himself, he lives for others. So basically his only purpose in the new ash filled world is to make sure that the ones he loves make it to the next day. Otherwise he has lost his self and doesn't know how to function. He only knows how to keep himself and the boy alive and walking to the south.