¡Un Músico en Filadelfia!

1-11-13 

Quarter 1

Alejandro Marothy

Señorita Manuel


¡Un Músico en Filadelfia!


Hay un músico. El hombre de Argentina. El es muy guapo, profesional, tiene pelo rizado, ojos marrones, y es delgado. Su nombre es Fededrico Abuele. Federico vivió en Buenos Aires, Berlín, Barcelona y Nueva York. Tiene un nuevo álbum. Su nombre es “Cinco.” ¡Noticias grandes: está en Filadelfia! Interpretará en Vivio Mundial de Café en el 4 de noviembre. 

Esto es emocionante. Realmente apasionante. Música es increíble. Se conecta a la gente. ¿Quién no le gusta la música? Nadie. Me encanta la música y me encanta este artículo. Me encanta este artículo porque se trata de un músico.

Soy un músico. Por lo tanto me encanta otros músicos. En el artículo, Federico habla de su nuevo álbum. Ha trabajado en el álbum durante muchos años. Es trabajo duro. Muy difícil. No es fácil. Pero dijo que tecnología moderna ayuda el trabajo. Tecnología te da al fuerza de un editor, productor, y creador todos juntos. 

Me gusta música española. Especialmente la guitarra. Guitarra española es hermosa. Es conmovedor, emocional, y muy afectivo. ¡Y es bueno para el baile! En el artículo, Federico dije que él no es un inmigrante. ¿Por qué? Se mudó a los Estados Unidos. ¿No? Si. ¿Es porque no le gusta los inmigrantes? Lo que sea.

Mientras leía este artículo, Aprendí algunas palabras buenas. Palabras como géneros, incorpora, afrosambas, y concebir. Bueno. 


Número de Palabras: 224



Trabajo Citado

EFE. "Latino News and Opinion." Federico Aubele, De Paso En 'Philly' - . Al Día, 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. http://www.pontealdia.com/philadelphia/federico-aubele-de-paso-en-philly.html

Lo Que Me Representa Por Adentro y Afuera

Soy Naomi Fecher-Davis, soy inscrita en el registro civil de Filadelfia el 3 de septiembre de 1998. Mi nombre tiene un origen de hebreo. Mis padres son Sabrina Fecher y William Davis. Mi madre creció en Inglaterra pero muvio a los Estados parra la universidad. Mi papa en los afueras de Filadelfia y los dos fue al mismo Universidad, Villanova. Es por ellos que estoy aquí hoy. Como muchos, es mi familia que me hace quien soy. Tengo muchos características que son como ellos pero también muchos que no son. 

En comparación con otros soy corto. Tengo amigos que son mas corto que yo pero la mayoria son mucho más alto que yo, los que no son, son muy similar en altes. Mi cara es por la mayoría redonda pero es muy rojo. Es algo que carreras en la familia, la cara de mi mamá y abuelo también es muy rojo. Sus caras son mas que yo pero es el mismo tipo de caso. Tambien tengo pelo marron. En la familia de mi mama todos lo tienen pero en lo de mi papa todos tienen pelo negro.

En cuanto mis relaciones académicas, me llevo bien con la mayoría de mis profesores. Me cae bien con Mr. Latimer y Mr. Best. Los dos también me hacen reir mucho y sus clases son mi favoritas.También mi consejera, Ms. Jonas es muy amable. Ella siempre puede ayudarme cuando soy inseguro de algo. Ella también es muy sensible de qué hacer en las clases para tener más éxito en las clases. En años pasados no e tenido éxito en los clases de matemáticas, creo fue porque no lo entiendo, pero también fue muy difícil. Además de los maestros tengo muchos otros relaciones, si no son mis amigos, es mi familia. Tengo amigos en todos partes del mundo, eso es porque e viajado a muchos partes. Todos en europa pero muchos de ellos viven en otros partes. Soy mas o menos serca a mi familia. Ellos todos son muy parecido a yo, todos son atleticas y por la mayoría moderna. Creo es de ellos que me aprendio la mayoria de mis caracteristicas.

No fisicamente soy, organizada, independiente, social y atlética. Soy organizada porque siempre tengo todo mi tarea en pilas de que hizo y que todavía necesito hacer. Si no tengo todo organizado me parece un perro suelto, es un cosa que me moleste mucha, la disorganization. Mayoría del tiempo soy independiente, hago cosas solo porque megusta el tiempo para reflectar. Pero cuando no soy solo siempre estoy con amigos, megusta la compañía. Cuando no soy solo tengo todos mis amigos. Tengo muchos amigos normal pero tambien tengo mis mejores amigos que hago todo con. De todo eso soy muy atletica. No hay dia que no tengo o baile o fútbol. Mis amigos me digo que soy demasiado atlética porque nunca tengo el tiempo para estar con ellos. Creo que hago lo que me gusta.Me Gustaa hacer todo eso porque cuando estoy haciendo lo me hace sentir bien. También lo hace que estoy en forma. Cosas que no soy son, agresiva (si no estoy jugando futbol) paciente, no megusta esperar por cosas, y tímida, siempre soy el primero a presentarme a otros. 

Soy una niña normal. Me gusta mis amigos y jugar los deportes. Por el afuera tengo pelo marron, soy baja y la mayoría del tiempo tengo un sonrisa en mi cara. Adentro soy organizada con todos mis cosas, independiente pero por el mismo tiempo social y muy atlética. Mi máscara es de un jaguar. Creo que ellos me parecen porque son muy atléticas y social. Yo soy Naomi y soy un jaguar. Roar!

photo 1
photo 1
photo 2
photo 2

E4 U1 Lo que mi máscara refleja de mí

Me llamo Sarybel Meléndez. Nací el 11 de febrero de 1996. Nací y me crié en Hatillo, Puerto Rico. Hatillo es un pueblo muy pequeño de Puerto Rico. Es hermoso. Tengo una madre a quien amo mucho y su nombre es Carmen Carrión. También tengo un hermano cuyo nombre es Joshua Meléndez. Mi papá se llama John Meléndez. Mis padres escogieron mi nombre al ver que la ganadora de  un concurso de belleza se llamaba Sarybel. Les gustó mucho su nombre y decidieron ponermelo a mí.

Soy baja, mido 4 pies con 2 pulgadas. Tengo pelo marrón oscuro y ondulado. Mi piel es mediana, ni clara, ni oscura. Mis ojos son color café y son pequeños. Antes era super delgada, pero ahora no tanto. Estoy en mi peso ideal. Me considero bonita, pero no tanto. Estoy obsesionada con el chocolate y los dulces. Siempre estoy comiendo.  Si no como me siento mal y sin ánimos. Me encanta comer, bailar y maquillarme. Me gusta todo tipo de música, en especial la música alternativa (indie), el pop y música en español. Me encanta todo lo relacionado a maquillajes y belleza. Me fascinan los colores y el arte.  

Soy muy callada y tímida. Casi siempre hablo sólo con gente que conozco y me caen bien. Se me hace difícil hacer nuevos amigos, pero trato lo mas que pueda para hacerlos. Todo el mundo dice que soy muy inteligente, astuta y aprendo las cosas rápido.

Tengo diferentes tipos de relaciones con diferentes tipos de personas. Con mi mamá tengo una relación súper chévere. A ella le puedo contar todo lo que sea y ella no se enoja. Me gusta que ella sea así porque le tengo mucha confianza. Mi hermano no me habla casi, pero no es su culpa. El tiene una condición llamada autismo y el siempre está encerrado en su cuarto. Mi papá tampoco me habla. El nunca ha sido un buen padre, pero no importa. Mi mamá es la única que necesito.


Las
relaciones académicas van mejor que el año pasado. Las clases son mucho más fáciles. Al principio, me daba miedo tomar la clase de matemáticas porque el año pasado me fue muy mal. Sin embargo, este año la clase está súper fácil y me gusta más. Estoy tomando una clase de Español 4 y es muy fácil. La maestra es súper amable y me gusta como da la clase y explica las cosas. No estoy tomando clase de Ciencia porque no la necesito. La clase de Inglés no me gusta porque es aburrida. Hasta ahora, todos los maestros son permisivos.


También están las relaciones con mis amigos, novios, etc. En Puerto Rico tengo muchos amigos y amigas. Hablo a veces con ellos por el internet. Los extraño mucho. Cuando estaba en Puerto Rico, éramos uña y carne. Ahora, no tanto como antes. Aquí en Filadelfia no tengo tantos amigos, sólo tengo una. También tenía un novio, pero rompí con él hace poco tiempo.  No tengo casi amigos porque hablar inglés se me hace un poco difícil, pero estoy practicando más y he mejorado mucho.


Mi personalidad es un aspecto muy importante que influye en como soy y es algo que no se ve. Yo tengo muchas características que no se ven. Por ejemplo, soy muy independiente. La gente que me ve quizás piensa que soy muy apegada a mi mamá pero en realidad hago mis cosas sola y no dependo de nadie. Soy bastante introvertida. No es que sea anti-social, sino que no me atrevo a hablarle a mucha gente. También me asusta el tener que hablar inglés porque no me gusta mi acento y a veces no entiendo lo que otra gente dice. A pesar de que soy tímida, soy una fiel amiga. Sin embargo, cuando conozco a alguien y me cae súper bien, soy muy graciosa y honesta. Me encanta hacer reír a mis amigos. También soy muy responsable y organizada. Me molesta la gente desorganizada. Soy muy amable y siempre estoy dispuesta a ayudar a los demás. No soy muy segura de mí misma, pero estoy trabajando en mejorar mi autoestima.  Tengo muchos sueños y metas. Quiero ser yo misma y lograr todo lo que me proponga.


En fin, soy una chica muy carismática una vez me conoces bien. Mi máscara es de una caravela con muchos colores y diseños. Esta caravela representa lo introvertida y misteriosa que soy. Los colores y diseños representan mi pasión por los colores y el arte al igual que mi personalidad extrovertida una vez me conoces mejor. Uno de los diseños más grandes y llamativos será una mariposa. Escogí este diseño porque quiero ser como una oruga que pasa a ser una bella mariposa que vuela libremente.



IMAG1792
IMAG1792
IMAG1793
IMAG1793

Articulo #8

Will (Guillermo) Amari                                                                                                                    1

Señorita Manuel



31/10/13



El día que Orson Welles sembró el pánico con La guerra de los mundos

¡Nosotros encanta Halloween! Pero, en Octubre trigésimo 1938 muchos personas eran muy espantado cuando Orson Welles leyó un poco novela. La novela se llama, La Guerra de los Mundos. La Guerra de los Mundos era sobre un extraterrestre atacar. Orson Welles leyó la novela en la radio y todos los personas entienden que era realmente un cierto evento. ¡Ellos entienden extraterrestres estaban en un guerra con el mundo! Para mi, que es muy comico.


El evento era 75 años. Orson Welles era joven y no es famoso. Sin embargo, Orson Welles más tarde tiene fama porque de el radio lea. Después, personas entienden que extraterrestres eran caminar los Estados Unidos. Unos pocos personas dijo que Orson Welles es un extraterrestre.


Yo leí la artículo porque Orson Welles es muy inteligente y extraño. Él hizo la película de Citizen Kane. Yo aprendí que el estacion de radio se escuchó por doce millones personas todo el mundo. Yo aprendí la palabras; mundo, extraterrestre, atacar y más. Pero la artículo era un bueno revisar. Orson Welles hizo el radio muy famosa, un muy importante evento en historia. Yo quiero escuchar Orson Welles leyó la novela La Guerra de los Mundos en radio.   



Palabras: 213

Moya, Altor. ABC. N.p., 30 10 2013. Web. 31 Oct 2013. <http://spanish.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=spanish&cdn=education&tm=192&f=10&su=p284.13.342.ip_&tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http://www.abc.es/>.                                                                                                       


“What’s good girl” vs. “Hey girl hey”

Growing up and listening to how everyone around me spoke was always very interesting to me. I love to listen to different peoples tones of  voices and the way they say certain words. I like to say that “Philadelphia is a melting pot of all different types of people.” People all over this city are different and say things differently than the way I may. I do not judge the different ways in which people speak, I actually find it very appealing. I love how the “South Philly accents” sound as they talk.

When I was in middle school, I used to call it “Little Italy,” because south philly is known for its large population of Italian-American families. It seems like whenever they say certain words they add an extra “aw” in the middle. For example if an Italian-American from South Philly says the word because, they are actually saying it as  “becaawse!” Another thing I picked up on from the Italian Americans in my neighborhood was that they will make up, that they truly believe are correct! It gets passed down from the generations and they pick up the way the people around them and speaking and start using  words like yous, which everyone else would just say as you guys or yall. Listening to this has always been very appealing to me. I have no idea why, but I love to hear them talk.

Going to Girard Academic Music Program, I spent a lot of my time around a lot of Italian American dialect, specific to South Philadelphia. Starting off in 5th grade I really did not understand what was going on. Being new to a school would sometimes make me feel like I was obligated to be friends with everyone. I would quite often code switch my dialogue to mimic how all the Italian-Americans spoke. I would sometimes add an extra “aw” in between my words to make it sound like I was one of them. I remember in the 5th grade I sat next to a young Italian American girl named Melissa Pantalone. I wanted to have friends so badly I tried to speak like them.

“Hey guys what are yous tawlking about?” I would say.

But in reality I would normally great my friends with “What are y’all talking about?” Because of these experiences I understand Italian-American dialect better that most people that never grew up around it. It bothers me when people comment on how they speak because everyone is allowed to be different. Going to G.A.M.P has made me more understanding to how Italian -Americans speak.

In some ways people in Philly use some of the same language, or the same pronunciations of certain words. For example, in Philadelphia a lot of people say “wooder” unlike every other region in the US that says just “water.” It is so hard not to say “water” like “wooder” because I have been living in the heart of Philadelphia my entire life. It seems like in Philly we make everything have a long “a”. When I speak I can’t help but to pronounce certain in the “Philly way”. Living in Philadelphia we use a lot of slang. I find it very tempting  to use a lot of it in my everyday speech. I love saying the word “jawn” or phrases like “you gonna ride”. I feel like we are just talking about absolutely nothing. We say a lot of phrases and words that a lot of people would not understand like “ocky,” “poppin,” “trizzy” “old head,” and “young bull.” Surprising me, a lot of what Philadelphians say, is not known throughout the country.

Always living in Philadelphia, it is very difficult for me to understand that people do not speak as we do everywhere. Some slang that we use is spoken throughout the nation. In America we tend to say the word “like” at the end of every sentence we use. For example everyone may say. “That is cute so, like.” I hear this everywhere and not just in Philadelphia. There are some things that we collectively use as a country as slang.

When I am around certain people I code switch my dialogue. I may be talking to different people about the same thing but it may sound different. For example if I am with My friend Greta our conversation way go like this.

“Hey girl” Greta may say.

“Hey girl heyy” I may say say.

“OMG her hair is literally disgusting.”

“Yess girl she needs to not”

The same conversation may be between my friend Gabby and I may go like this.

“JOIE” Gabby may say.

“Yesss girl” I may say.

“Tell me why that girl’s hair looked a mess this morning.”

“Where was her head at this morning?, She played herself.”

I am practically having the same conversation but with different people. It is weird how I do this. I don’t mean to change how I speak to different people. It seems like I change the tone of my voice when I am around certain people. Greta is a white American and lives outside of Philadelphia. Greta’s parents grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, which has influenced her to speak “white.”Because of who her parents are and their life experiences, it causes her to  speak the way she does. Greta uses standard english, but to others this is “Philadelphian standard English.” Gabby is African American with Jamaican descent. Her father grew in Kingston, Jamaica. They use similar dialect there that they use in Philadelphia.  Her mother is Philadelphia. This results in her using a lot of slang in her day to day dialect.

Philadelphia has a very diverse population, which can result in all different types of slang. They may use different dialect in Southwest Philadelphia and North Philadelphia, but we all still essentially live in the same city. This is something that is unexplainable. People always adapted to where they lived and created language to support their surroundings. My experiences have lead me to the ability to process the endless Philadelphian dialects around me.  



Work Cited:

"South Philly 'Tawk'" South Philly 'Tawk' N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. <http://www.dwaffleman.com/South%20Philly%20Tawk.htm> 

"Understanding Philly Slang." Examiner.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.<http://www.examiner.com/article/understanding-philly-slang>

The Story of Karolina Tiik By: Carolyn Borock

Tere, minu nimi on Karolina Tiik.

My life started in a small city called Viljandi in Estonia, which is of the coast of the Baltic Sea. In my country, Karolina was a traditional Estonian name. Tere, minu nimi on is Hello my name is, in Estonian; the native language to this small country. The language is only spoken by a million people and compared to the population count all around the world; it’s a very small amount. My language is completely different from English: the o’s are very hard to pronounce no matter how hard you try, it’s like ø: and is pronounced like the O in lonely and only a true Estonian can pronounce it.

Estonian is the language I spoke for the first five years of my life. My orphanage was a place with acres of fields and fresh strawberries growing, ready to pick,  and a big beautiful cottage. I was about 4 years old when I started to volunteer and help the farmer with his strawberries. I was picking strawberries and popping them into my mouth, not caring that I didn’t have parents. One day, the farmer came up to me and said in Estonian: “Hey! Don’t eat my crops! Here, have a basket and help me pick them for the other kids as well.”

I looked up at a man smiling back at me.. For the next few months after that, right before I left for a new life, he and I picked strawberries and he gave me horseback riding lessons. This same man would have waterfalls of tears coming down his face as he watched me leave for a new life, although he knew that I’ll be okay and in loving arms

As I walked back to the orphanage, I stopped for a moment and before I opened the doors, I remembered that when I walk through those doors it’s just another day at the orphanage. Those doors were a symbol to me: I  wished that one day, maybe someone will come for my brother and I, and I can walk through those doors into a new life.

I’m not saying the orphanage was a bad place, it was the opposite of all the places you see in the the movies, like “Annie” and “The Little Princess”. Those movies portray orphans as being these sad children without parents and that they live in these terrible places with mean old witches that verbally abuse the orphans. It was the complete opposite experience for me. The orphanage was a wonderful place with acres of farms and big rooms and lots of toys. We were always bathed, brushed our teeth and were put into clothes that were not rags. It was great, but as you get older and older you know that there is no one waiting for you when they kick you out at the age of 18 years old with no money and no home. People who are orphans and never get adopted don’t live happy lives, they go into prostitution and lots of drugs. That’s why I'm extremely grateful to my new mother and father, because without them I would have been lying dead somewhere. The death rates for orphans is very high, and the average life expectancy is at the age of 20, because they do get into that horrible stuff; for them, there is no other life or hope.

I used to speak the Estonian language fluently, but when I moved from Estonia to Philadelphia, I completely forgot the language. My parents or any friends did not speak it, and because the country is so small, I never met anyone who could speak to me in my native language. My native language now is English because my whole family speaks it and so do lots of people in America.  My brother, who is a year and a half younger than me and was adopted at the same time, also learned English quickly and forgot Estonian. At the orphanage, I had a friend who also got adopted about the same time as I did, in 2003. I used to see her sometimes. She moves a lot so I see her very little now and, liike me she forgot the language as well.

I started school soon after I moved to my new home, and it was my first time in a new environment. I had a person in school that helped me learn English and since everyone around me spoke it,  I learned English fairly quickly. Learning at a young age made it much easier to learn a language at the ripe old age of five. It also helped that my kindergarten class was teaching the alphabet and numbers. But I remember that time in my life where language was hard for me.

I do remember that the Estonian language has a lot of tricky pronunciations in it. I was in my kindergarten class and we had to do a project, making little alphabet books and we colored in the photos. As the teacher paced around the classroom she asked:

“Class, what is this letter?” Mrs. Smith said.

I raised my hand, as I did know that letter that was written on the board so perfectlyz; the uppercase C and the lower case as well.

“Yes, Carolyn.” Ms. Smith said.

“tse” I said with pride.

The whole class erupted in laughter.

“That’s not the letter.” One of the students said.

Why were they laughing? I asked myself. All I did was told the teacher tse: or pronounce as tsee, which technically, I was right because that was my C in Estonian. Why did the whole class look at me and snicker under their breath? This one girl was laughing as loud as she could. I was wondering if it was just something else. I didn’t understand English so I just laughed along with them. I laughed so I could maybe fit into the crowd of 5 year olds.

I came home and my even parents didn’t understand me. Thank God for my brother, he was the only one I could talk to in the language of which no one else knew. Then one day my mom got me a translator came and she was awesome, as far as I remember. He name was Maria and she would let me talk to my mom. But I don’t remember her that much, only from the videos that my grandmother took.

My mother had a hard time dealing with my brother and I speaking a different language and I quote “You two were wild ones and I was always worrying about you, but I couldn’t talk to you in Estonian! I only knew a few words. There was this one time were you where running around the house and you could have fallen and got hurt. I was holding a Estonian/ English Dictionary and looking up the word “STOP.”” She wanted to get closer to us but couldn’t because of the language barrier.

After that day, “I restricted my language to hide what people would judge me on.” A SLA student wrote in an essay. I hid in the shadows and didn’t really interact with my peers, until I met this girl in my class. When you are younger you are completely yourself and you make friends that don’t care about any of the stuff that teengers care about now.  As you get older a mini wall is put up to help from getting hurt, so you can’t be completely yourself because people can judge you for it. The one person I could be myself with was May. We did everything together we couldn’t leave each others’ sides. We did projects together we had nap time and we placed two mats side by side one next to the other. That next year she moved back to China. But luckily, it made me open up to my other peers, and I met a new friend, Lena, in 2nd grade; we hit it off so well and became best friends. Our parents became friends too, and it was fun filled adventure until my mom said that we were going to move to Kingston, New York. I hugged my best friend good-bye, and that was the last time I saw her (until until we moved back to Philadelphia about four years ago - we had both changed so much since second grade!) I was ready to start a new life outside of the bustling city, and it was the long three hour drive to New York, which had incredible views from the car window. The mountains were so pretty and green, unlike the tall skyscrapers I was used to.   

When I first came to America, I was a fun loving girl, but was shy and unsocial, and didn’t really understand English as much as I do now. Learning the native language of America was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Since I came to America, I let down that wall and learned the language in a year or so. I kept learning and  am still learning to this day. I didn’t care what people thought of me. I knew that if I never tried then I would never succeed in life as an American. I learned that even if there are troubles like language barriers, that you can get through it. I tell people that i’m adopted to everyone because no one should ever judge you for being yourself!


Works Cited 

"An Essay." SLA Student 1.1 (2012): 1. Print.



E4 U1 El Búho en Mi

IMG_1206
IMG_1206
IMG_1207
IMG_1207
IMG_1208
IMG_1208

Margaret Mazick Hohenstein. Me nombrado por mi abuela paterno pero me llama Maggie y se llama Marge. Nacio en filadelfia de Joe Hohenstein y Brandice Mazick a 15 de Abril 1997. Tengo 7 gatos y 2 perros desde era un bebé. Attende 3 escuelas en toda mi vida y me gusta escuela mucho.

Yo soy un persona ni alta ni baja. Tengo pelo y ojos marron, igual a mi padre. Neccesito las gafas pero llevo contactos porque me gusto estos mas. Me gusta llevo un poco maquillaje y llevo mucho el tiempo. Porque me llevo un collar de Harry Potter puede ver me gusta Harry Potter mucho. Me llevo la ropa un poco simplicil mucho el tiempo porque me gusta mas. No obstante me llevo los v100estidos a veces y me gusta estos muchos. Se puede ver me tropienza a veces porque tengo los cardenales. Igual a es posible ver me gusta los libros mucho porque me siempre tengo un en mi bolsillo. Cuando en mi casa me gusta lleva los pantalones y camisas muy largo porque me gusta mucha pero no me gusta llevo fui de la casa porque esas ropas es un poco fea. En general yo soy un person normal cuando vee a me. 

En cuanto mis relaciones académicas, mis profesores y yo nos llevamos bien. Me da risa el Señor Baird porque el es muy gracioso. La Srta. Pahomv me cae bien pero no es muy especial. A veces me molesta el señor Sherif porque el es muy permisivo y me gustan los profesores mas autoritario. Me entiende la señorita Echols porque se caen cuando yo era una freshman y hablamos mucha. La señora Rami me cae bien porque ella era simpática y cariñosa. La Señora Rami gusta En total mis profesores y yo nos llevamos bien. 

Me da risa mi mejor amiga, Lisa. A veces me está enojada o triste y me da risa ella. Ella y yo tenemos humor igual. Ella es muy graciosa y intelligente pero ella es introvertida. Lisa es un mejor amiga muy bien.

Me entiende mi hermana. Sin embargo mi hermana se gusta estar sola y me gusta el otro personas mucha del tiempo. Me dan risa mis padres y me inspira mis abuelos. Cuando yo voy a la casa de mis abuelos me siempre feliz. Mi abuela y yo gustamos hablar y ella tiene mucha preguntas. Igual a me caen bien todos mis primos. Mi primo Riley es muy graciosa pero ella también nerviosa. Ella tiene 16 años igual a mi. Nosotros hablamos mucho cuando está juntos. 

Me gusta escribir y soy inteligente. Me gusta trabajar. A veces yo soy madura pero no es todo el tiempo, con mis amigos nunca estoy tímido pero cuando las personas no se yo soy un poco tímida. Yo soy una persona introvertida y extrovertida. A veces me gusta las otras personas mucha y aveces me gusta nadie. Cuando me gusta nadie me leo o escribo. Valgo mucha las palabras y en el futuro, quisiera estar una persona que escribo libros. Ahora me escribo tres novelas pero soló gusto dos. Me molesta mucha cuando puedo escuchar un persona comida. Mis compañeros dicen que yo es cariñosa pero solamente cariñosa a veces. No obstante yo soy simpática y graciosa. Pero a veces mis amigos dicen que mis chistes es horible pero me gusta mucho. Me dan risa todos de mis amigos y mi familia. Tengo mucho miedo de las peliculas horror pero me gusta las peliculas comedias. Sin embargo no me gusto veer muchas peliculas porque me siempre quiero hacer algo. Cuando me está muy aburrida me gusta fui al parque y veo los personas. No veo un persona mucho solamente veo los personas en general; es muy interesante porque los personas muy interesante mucho veces. 

Mi máscara es de búho. Está dos razons para porque me eligo este máscara. El primero razon es búho son muy intelectuales y yo soy intelligente. El segundo razon es de búhos son el animales favoritas de mi abuela materna y mi. 

A Lesson Before Dying Raekwon Smith

“A Lesson Before Dying” is a very heartwarming story. It touches you in the essence that you feel like you’re there the whole time with the characters. It keeps you interested throughout and makes you want to keep reading. This book is a best seller for a reason.

The author of the book Ernest J. Gaines is an award winning author. Born and raised on a plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. He used his growing up as a premise and setting for a lot of his works in the future. He grew up the oldest of 12 children, raised by their aunt who was crippled. He was born after slavery had ended but he grew up on an old plantation and was impoverished.


He got his basic education at a plantation church, which in the book “A Lesson Before Dying”, the main character taught reading, writing and arithmetic at an old church for a few months out of the year. He later went to a catholic school to continue learning due to his previous school only going up to Eighth grade at the time. At age fifteen he moved to Vallejo, California to rejoin his parents who had moved during The second World War. At age 17 he wrote his first novel while babysitting his little brother. He sent it to a New York publisher who later rejected. Gaines burned the manuscript but later rewrote it, which became his 1st published novel, Catherine Carmier.

In 1956 he published his 1st short story titled “Turtles”. In 1957 he earned his degree in literature from SFSU. After he served two years in the army he then attended Stanford University on a two year writing fellowship. Since 1984, Gaines has spent one half of the year in San Francisco and the half in Lafayette leading a creative writing workshop in autumn at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Gaines currently lives at the old plantation he grew up on with his wife and had the church he grew up in moved there.

Now in the book A lesson before dying, it is set in the 1940’s and a guy named Jefferson gets into a car with these two cars he knew while walking down the street. The guys decide they’re going go to the liquor store and the driver says that the old man that owns the store is going to let them pay him back because they have no money. When they proceed to the store they pick up a bottle and tell the man they have no money but they’ll pay him back. The old man says either you have money or you leave so the driver goes behind the counter and does something to the old man but the man grabs a gun and starts shooting and the other guy begins shooting. After it finishes, everyone is dead but Jefferson, who stands there in shock hears the old man calling him but Jefferson stands still.

The old man finally dies and Jefferson grabs a bottle of whiskey and begins drinking to calm his nerves. He finally realizes what happens and looks at the register and takes the cash since he figured no one would know. He grabs the whiskey and leaves as two white men walk in the shop. Now he is on trial and the public defender tries to free him but belittles him in the process calling him a little boy and nothing but a hog who is incapable of the planning a murder and robbery. The jury doesn’t move because it’s the 1940’s and during that time, two men word against one black man’s doesn’t help.

So he gets charged with a crime he didn’t commit and is sentenced to the chair. Jefferson’s god mom said she wants him to die a man, not a hog and asks her friends nephew who is a school teacher to help him become a man before dying. Hence the title “A Lesson Before Dying.” This story keeps you hooked and you may become attached to some of the characters, especially Jefferson. If you like books like “The Heart Of A Woman” by Maya Angelou then you will enjoy a book like “A Lesson Before Dying”.

This book uses very strong language and controversial language you may not feel comfortable with but that’s one of the things that makes this book so good. The structure of the book and the way it flows is very well done. Going into the book I expected to be entertained and enjoy the book based directly off the title of the book and because I heard the movie was good. All in all, this book met and exceeded my expectations and I have to say this is now one of my all time favorite books.


Author: Ernest J. Gaines

Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group

Publication Date: 1993

Pages: 256

Genre: Fiction


Photo on 10-29-13 at 6.12 PM
Photo on 10-29-13 at 6.12 PM

The Stand: The Complete And Uncut Edition

The uncut version of Stephen King’s “The Stand” has 1,153 pages and a quite honest preface. A commitment, but one entirely worth the read.  King’s writing style takes all arduousness out reading such a lengthy novel. The original version of what is considered King’s best and most notorious work was published in 1978. This version was released in 1990 In one overarching story split into three sections, the fantasy/horror/apocalypse/action/adventure novel is probably one of the longest and best books you could have under your belt. The entire story is split into three segments: “Captain Trips”, “On the Border” and finally, “The Stand”.

Dismiss completely every notion that King only writes graphic, gory horror. ‘The Stand’ delivers on several different genres, from action to love, from religion to human nature. This is a story that will make you cogitate on many grim ideas, one of the most essential being the capacity man has to change (or end) the world. It raises questions of what magnitudes of suffering people are capable of subjecting each other to. Along with one ultimate question that’s even asked at the end of the story, and that reading the book may not even answer for you: Do people ever learn anything?

This version of the book also contains two additions to the story, an opening and a closing: “The Circle Opens” and “The Circle Closes”, with one at the beginning of the story and the other at the end, respectively.

In this uncut version, the story opens with a section named, “The Circle Opens”, in which the outbreak of the deadly virus ‘Captain Trips’ is explained. One slip up in a lockdown operation on a military base heralds the violent, tragic collapse of all human civilization. A fast-acting, deadly strain of the flu created by the United States specifically for the purpose of biological warfare is accidentally released within an isolated laboratory. After an emergency lockdown is operated, Charles Campion uses his one-second window to slip through a gate, unknowingly sealing the world’s fate. King describes with great detail the lives of this vast array of characters before getting to the gritty stuff, and once you get to that gritty area, you’ll know you’ll there. The  ‘Captain Trips’ segment of the book mainly serves to set things up for the second two. We see what our main characters want in life, what they’ve done in the past. We see their pain, their happiness, jealousy, anger and fear. We understand why they do what they do later on in the story.

This is ultimately a tale of the battle between the forces of good and evil. The opposite sides try to bring in as many people as they possibly can, because post-apocalypse, you can either join up with one side or the other or get caught in the cross-fire. In one corner, there’s Randall Flagg. Flagg is known by many names in the story, but his most accurate alias is the “Dark Man”. Or maybe “The Devil’s Imp”. He embodies all the evil in the world and the bringing of the end of mankind is music to his ears. He draws power from the extensive suffering of others and his appearance is the first official supernatural occurrence in the story. King writes Flagg’s introduction with sickening scrupulousness and gives only the clearest image of what he is and why he’s here.

On the good side, we have Abigail Freemantle, more warmly known as just “Mother Abigail”. She’s a 108 year-old woman who lives a solitary, quiet life on a quaint farm left behind by her late father. A quiet life that suddenly drops on her shoulder a burden that only a woman with a faith as strong as hers could bear.

This book tells its story sometimes in the third-person narrative, sometimes in first-person narrative. King employs many different forms of storytelling. The book often switches between settings: in one chapter, you might read of the trials and tribulations of the physically handicapped Nick and his friend Tom, and in another, you’ll be following the story of former aspiring singer Larry Underwood and his companion Rita. There are very many characters and scads of subplots which are all very gripping. In addition to the main characters and the various quandaries that plague them (no pun intended), there are several individual vignettes of characters only mentioned once in the entire story. By fitting in these littles tales of accident and tragedy, King shows that not everything goes as planned, even when people are freed from the regular difficulties of everyday life after the virus is spread. Whether it be the plague or a crazed person who’s been off their leash since society’s disintegration, a person’s fate will always find them; a concept that’s portrayed magnificently throughout the story. These smaller stories only briefly take you away from the main plot, and it’s always intriguing what deadly snafus unsuspecting survivors will get themselves into.

Readers of science fiction and fantasy will fall in love with this book in no time. As will readers of a vast multitude of other genres. But one thing you must know before buying this book is that it dwells heavily in the realm of fantastical adventure and supernatural phenomena. I read this novel expecting something completely different than what I saw. It exceeded my expectations and there was never a boring moment. Sometimes it moves very fast, sometimes medium. This book widened my reading scope to other books King’s written, like ‘Cell’, ‘Cujo’ and ‘It’. All very good books. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for something insightful, dark and thought-provoking. ‘The Stand’ is a must-read.


‘The Stand: The Complete And Uncut Edition’

Stephen King

Penguin group (USA) Incorporated

May 28th, 1991

1,153

Science Fiction / Fantasy / Horror / Action Adventure  


Who will be the Judge of your future?

Our idea for our Philadelphia election campaign was to create an image that spoke to younger generations of the city in order to get them to vote. The elements that we incorporated were keeping the writing on our image for a billboard minimal.  We have created a twitter to help inform younger people about the election in a way that is familiar to them; social media. The reason we chose a photo of the city/students is because they are not biased photographs, but they are relatable to for anybody who lives in Philadelphia.


Twitter info: Jeff & Anthony
DSC_0043
DSC_0043
Screen Shot 2013-10-28 at 11.35.07 AM
Screen Shot 2013-10-28 at 11.35.07 AM

Descubren más de 400 especies en el Amazonas

Michelle Friedman 

Señorita Manuel

Quarter 1

Descubren más de 400 especies en el Amazonas

Ante todo, yo quiero enseñarles algunos palabras nuevos que yo aprendí. La palabra primera está “descubrir”. Este palabra está muy importante para este articulo; en Ingles, descubrir significa “discover”. El artículo está sobre la increíble selva amazónica. La selva amazónica está el “Amazon Rainforest” en inglés. Estos son todos de los palabras nuevas que yo aprendí después de leyendo el artículo “Descubren más de 400 especies en el Amazonas”.

De los cuatro cientos cuarenta y uno especias que cientificos descubren, todos los animales están muy interesantes. Están doscientos cincuenta y ocho verduras, ochenta y cuatro peces, cincuenta y ocho anfibios, veinte y dos reptiles, diez y ocho aves, y un mamífero. Los científicos descubren las especias durante cuatro años- 2010, 2011, 2012, y 2013. Muchos de los especies nueves viven solo en la selva amazónica. Hoy, el el Fondo Mundial para la Naturaleza (WWF) dice que las especies que viven solo en la selva amazónica necesitan va a protedidar.

Yo pienso que animales en la selva amazónica estan muy importantes para personas y para el mundo. Los verduras y peces estan importantes también. Hay muchas animals estan moriendos. Animales como el oso polar. El oso polar vives en el polo norte.


Word Count: 209

"Latino News and Opinion." Descubren Más De 400 Especies En El Amazonas - . N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

Perks of Being a Wallflower

​Life is always throwing curve balls at you and as a teenager its hard to dodge them. In Stephen Chbosky’s book “The perks of being a wallflower” the author is continually throwing curve balls. His characters are always facing obstacles. Chbosky also was the screen writer of the screen play of “the perks of being a wallflower”. Thats not all, he also wrote the screen play for the 2005 film Rent and was co-creator, executive producer, and writer of the CBS television series Jericho, which began airing in 2006. “The perks of being a wallflower” was published on February 1st, 1999. The book is a young adult fiction book. The book is about coming of age and what its like to be a teenager in high school. 

This book is set up in a very creative but simple way.It is letters that he is writing anonymously.This is a great way to set up a book for teens because it is like a diary entry. As teens the best and most secretive things come out in secret journals. In the letters they talk about school, girl advice he was giving, love and drugs everything that a teen would want in a book.He always made sure that he ended his letters “Love Charlie”.

The language in the book was like a teenagers. He would throw in some quotations of words that he learned from reading his book Bill (his teacher) gave to him.The language in the book really made you imagine what was going on, like there was this time they drove through a tunnel and you could just imagine the lights from the tiles of the tunnel,the hair blowing through your hair, and the song blasting. all while standing in the trunk of a truck.

The title of the book fits right in with the plot.Its about a boy named Charlie, who lives in  in a Pittsburgh suburb.He is bullied in school and doesn’t fit in any where,until he meets Sam and Patrick. Sam and Patrick are brother and sister and also seniors, Charlie us just a freshman. They take Charlie under their wing and they show him the way of the world, but not before Charlie had to experience being alone. They show him all of life's adventures. 

Charlie wrote anonymous letters. They all where based on his life adventures. Writing was his outlet because his parents where always worried about their son who plays football for Penn State and their daughter who is a straight A student. Charlie is a freshman scared of whats ahead of him in high school and Sam and patrick where not the only two people that he made friends with he was friends with his teacher Bill. Bill would give Charlie extra work because he was a special boy.Charlie also has a very interesting relationship with his Aunt Helen. Charlie has a disorder where he see’s things, like his aunt.Sam and Patrick have a lot in common with Charlie, which he eventually realizes.

Sam is a very delightful girl who is best friends with her brother. She loves to take adventures and she loves just enjoying the small things in life.She is one of those girls that likes to explore and expose her self to older music. She is old fashioned. she wears mainly dresses and head bands. Sam was taken advantage of when she was younger by the men in her life. But she managed to overcome it. She is very smart,determined, and exquisite.

Patrick is a very interesting character.He is gay and open about it with his friends but the big secret is who he is dating.Patrick is a boy who does what he wants and doesn’t care what people think about him. He is a boy that just lives life as if no one is watching. Even if there where people there he would want them to see how much fun letting go is like.He dresses very classy. He drives so he’s always off on an adventure with his sister/best friend. In the book there isn’t much about Patrick and Sam’s parents.Sam and Patrick are step brother and sisters.They do not have the same mom and dad, their parents re-married each other.  

I feel as though  this book is very memorable because it is something that every teenager has to go through in high school.I feel as though In this book, Charlie has made some bad choices but at the end of the day he learned from it and got advice that helped.Many teens and adults could learn from this book. Adults could finally get the concept of what is going through their children minds when this happens. This book will not only open you up to a new way of thinking but it gives you the thrill of seeing how people just like you handle their problems. What I did learn from this book, was that the wallflower stands back and sees everyone else’s problems, and doesn’t recognize his own. By becoming friends with people just like himself, Charlie was able to deal with his own issues and not rely on his notebook anymore.

 

Investigar

Aaron Tang

Reflection #8


Ms. Manuel


Ayer, un hombre fue muerto en Rio Piedras en Reading, Pennsylvania. El murió en son las once y veinte. Martiz y  Edwin también estaban heridos. Vasquez Quitcon con récord delictivo en Puerto Rico y de Reading donde las policías investigan el asesinato. Vazquez tiene récord en cinco de Junio de dos mil trece. Policías van a investigar la persona. Son las tres y treinta, un hombre encontrado baleado. Ellos se encontraron 17 casquillos calibre .40. Son las cinco por la mañana, un diferente hombre fue encontrado baleado.


Yo pienso, las personas no deben tener pistolas porque ellos van a disparar la familia y chicos. La comunidad es segura por mucho personas. Yo pienso las políticas deben caminar en la comunidad y hablan personas en la casa por asesinato. Yo sabo personas van a morir porque nosotros son humanos. A veces, es malo cuando personas matan.  Mi padre tiene un amigo y él murió cuatro años pasado. Su amigo bebió. Luego, él caminé y hablé estúpido a personas. Los personas estaban locos y mi padre de amigo murió porque ellos cortan su cuerpo. No me gusta personas deber muchos porque es peligroso. Mi padre fue a su funeral.



"Hombre Acribillado Anoche En Río Piedras Era Buscado Por Asesinato." El Nuevo Dia. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. <http://www.elnuevodia.com/hombreacribilladoanocheenriopiedraserabuscadoporasesinato-1629539.html>.

Turmiso en China

Aaron Tang

Reflection # 7 

Ms. Manuel 

Hay los turismos en China. Una mujer de nombre Lin Xi no visita su país porque hay los días festivos quien cuatro mil personas van a el parque natural de Jiuzhaigou. El parque es por turismos van a China. En la plaza de Tiananmen, cien mil personas fueron la ceremonia y después la ceremonia, hay muchos tonelados de basura. Administración de China dijo hay mucho gente viene cada año. Cada año, el número de turismos, ellos van a ir popular países. Chinos gastan mucho dinero en ceremonias tener divertido. En Europa, Alemán visita diferente países.

Yo tengo familia en Alemania y ellos visitan en California. Ellos tengo mucho dinero porque sus dinero es más. Ellos les gusta Estados Unidos porque ellos quieran visitar la familia. Mi Alemania familia visita América casa dos o tres años en el verano. Yo quiero visitar Alemán porque me gusta visitar diferente países y aprendo cultural.  Yo fui China cuando tenía tres años. Mi madre y yo visitamos mi familia y celebramos una fiesta. China siempre divertidos fiestas y yo quiero visitar mi familia en el verano. Nuevo Chino año es popular en China y tiene muchos tradición comida. Yo estoy feliz quien yo tengo familia en diferente países.     

 



"China Descubre El Turismo De Masas." EL PAÍS. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. <http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2013/10/25/actualidad/1382702978_031027.html>.

Looking for Alaska Review

“I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane.” 

- John Green, Looking for Alaska 

Looking for Alaska by John Green is amazing written novel for young adults. It incorporates love and tragedy a combination that draws the reader in. It starts with a young boy  in his teenage years looking for something new and getting away from the life he's so used to. Looking for a great perhaps, and in looking for all of that he meets new friends and a girl that changes his life. Miles Halter enters a new environment where he's nicknamed Pudge because of his contradicting tall and skinny structure. Through out the book they face many challenges, The Eagle, their World Religions teacher, studying for finals, how to spend the holidays, and even pulling off the biggest prank of the year. They’re friendships still remain even when another team player is no longer in the game. They fight and argue, they make up, but most importantly they play video games with the sound off. No matter how bad things get they pull through. Looking for Alaska presents a group a friends that shows solidarity in their best and worst times. It gives an outlook on friendship and the value of life and the people you care about. Looking for Alaska captures a lot of feelings. It doesn’t leave out any real life details. You really get to grow attached to each of the characters as they reveal more about themselves. They each have little details that stand out, The Colonel’s love for his mother, Alaska’s fear of going home, and Pudge’s obsession of famous last words, and more of those little details become more aware to you as you read. Pudge’s struggle, Alaska’s struggle, and The Colonel’s struggle. All of their characters have something they struggle with individually and as a unit. As John Green’s first novel its also the best. “Will we ever escape this labyrinth of suffering?” was a question that come up that caught my attention, because it can mean something different to everyone. This book will affects each person that reads it differently, and how they connect to the story and each character. Pudge, The Colonel, Takumi, and Alaska will always share memories and experiences that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. 


Poem 

Pudge: 

She’s everything that makes my world stop

My heart skip a beat

My fingertips turn to ice

Alaska’s touch is as cold as the words that roll off her tongue

She tastes like cigarettes and liquor 

I long for that taste again

I’m hungry for a women I’ll never taste again

  

Alaska: 

I’m in love with him 

And even though you’ll never hear me say it

I’m in love with you too

I’m so many things

But not enough of the right ones

I hate to kill you with my serpent's tongue 

But I’ve been hiding in the grass so long 

I forgot what I’ve become


Alaska: He knows so many last words but he will never know mine

Pudge: I know so many last words but I will never know hers

English Q1 Benchmark

To Kill a Mockingbird


I have never been to Alabama before, but in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird he makes me feel as though I’m reliving a part of life that I never got to experience. In To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee decides to bring back the big thrilling situations into teen novels writing fiction based books. The story sets place in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, which is going through a small crisis. Scout Finch, the narrator and main character narrates many of the adventures that him and his friends in 1935. As the group of kids go on adventures throughout the neighborhood they start to become mischievous.

The authors purpose of writing this suspense filled novel was to get across to the audience of middle school aged kids and teenagers about a story that evolves around kids the same age as themselves. Throughout the text the author uses many examples of propaganda and symbolism to give predicaments of what will happen next in the story. Boo Radley and Scout Finch was the authors goto person to show that the story reveals a more deep meaning background.

Scout Finch, the main character and narrator of events makes me feel as though I am experiencing the events with them. The characters evolved around him helps him get a point that the trials they go through makes her feel as though she is relating to me. This book is filled with many characters of different types of backgrounds. Go and read this book to learn the many untold stories and hidden secrets that this small town foreshadows. Characters like Boo Radley are a spark to why the story has suspense and unknown details. Many other characters like Atticus, Calpurnia, Jem, Dill, and more also play a big roll too.

One reason why someone should read this book is because it makes you want to come back and read more of the exclusive suspense of events. If you’re a person especially just like me who doesn’t really like to read a lot of books or doesn’t have the time this book will keep you in interest of finishing it. This Pulitzer Prize winning novel has multiple themes and life learned lessons that can be very useful to know about. 

This book effected me in a way that makes me want to read more genre relating books by Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird gave me the excitement that I never have had from reading books. I was inspired to read this book because growing up I knew many older kids in higher grades who were reading this book and saying how good it is, however it didn’t catch my attention until I read it many years later. You should check this book out near a local library and read it for yourself.


Lover’s Dictionary


Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan is a good book to read if you’d like to enrich things in your love life. In David Levithan’s first adult novel he decides to add a little spice into his books in which this one is aimed towards all age categories. This book makes you feel all kinds of emotions after you’ve finished reading it. 211 pages of new vocabulary, meanings, and descriptions of identity of love. Levithan’s goal in this book was to write dictionary entries in which was from A through Z explaining the different meanings of relationships, ups and downs, couple issues, and other things involved with love related topics. The author was inspired to write this book after he got an idea after a valentines day one year, then he decided to post his ideas of what love is on many levels and published Lover’s Dictionary sometime in the year of 2011.

After reading this book it made my mind expand to a different level that many people don’t know what to do in a relationship or reacting with ones they love until they read this book. 


Creative Response:


lov-ers {noun} \ˈlə-vərs\                                 

dic-tio-nary {noun} \ˈdik-shə-ˌner-ē, -ˌne-rē\      Lover’s Dictionary {noun}


: a very exciting and fulfilling book filled with tips and information on how to enrich your love life, which include dictionary entries on love, relationship tips, and more based related topics.

Book Information: 


Title


Author 

Publisher

Date of Publication

Number of Pages

Genres

To Kill A Mocking Bird 



Harper Lee

J.B. Lippincott  & Co. 

July 11th, 1960

296 (first edition, hardback)

Fiction

Lovers Dictionary 

David Levithan

Farrar, Straus & Giroux

January 4th 2011

211 (hardcover)

Fiction


Bibliography:

http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2013/jun/29/review-harper-lee-to-kill-a-mockingbird 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2657.To_Kill_a_Mockingbird

http://blogcritics.org/book-review-the-lovers-dictionary-a/

Trife life is of lavish Book review

Everyone has their own preference in books.  I myself like the books that i can relate and have a special connection with. I like the books where there is drama from beginning to end. “Trife life of lavish” by Deja King is a perfect example of that. This book is about a woman named Teresa who is running from her past and meets new friends along the way.  She was living with, and dating the love of her life. He was a man whore, he literally slept with everything that walked. She put up with it for two reasons, she was in love, and he took care of her and her daughter Genevieve. One day she walked on him having sex with an unknown woman. She rages with frustration and curses him and the woman out. Her and the man gets into a heated argument that leads the man hitting teresa. After she recovers, she picks up a lamp and hits him in the head three times. He dies. She takes all the money she knows he has, and her things  and flees off.  With her on this crazy ride is her daughter that can’t let go of her mother’s past.


Deja King does an excellent job using dialogue and third person point of view to show how the mother and the daughter feel about the mother’s past.  From beginning to end this book will have you on the edge of your seat wondering what’s going to happen next.

The style of writing she has makes you really want to open your eyes to the world, She writes about real life situations and altercations in a fiction state. She actually has a  whole series of books. They are called the King Productions. Books in her series are entitled, B*tch parts 1,2,3,4 and 5, Stackin Paper parts 1 and 2, Dirty little Secrets, Hooker to housewife, Superstar, Trife life to lavish parts 1 and 2, Ride wit me, and Princess paper. After reading Trife life to lavish part 1, I would definitely consider reading those other books. It’s something about Deja King that I can actually sit there and read her books and not want to stop.


The reason why I liked this book is because something similar happened to my mother. My biological father disrespected my mother sort of in the way Teresa’s husband did to her. Even though I was only two years old, I knew what was going on. My mother even tells me different scenarios of them getting into arguments and fights about the certain things. This book sparked my interest the most because as I was reading the back summary, I could make a personal connection with what the book was about. I love books like that. When you pull me in by telling me a summary of the book and in my mind I say, “Hey, something similar happened to me”, 99 percent of the time I’m going to read it.


Deja King was born in Toledo, Ohio but was raised in California, New Jersey, Maryland, and North California. She went to North California Central College and majored in Journalism. Her inspiration of writing was gained from her mother. She said that Deja had a special talent that she should embrace. Ever since then Deja has been righting books and climbing the charts as a best selling author. Her book “Trife life 2 Lavish” was released February 14th, 2009.


If I was a book critic I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a book with a lot of drama as soon as you jump into the book. This isn’t your ordinary book. This book has lots of drama, flashbacks, and jumps right into the plot almost instantly. And the language is so colorful. If you like confrontation this book is for you. Deja King’s use of dialogue in this story is very choosy. She gives you that mature audience language with a little bit of extra intellectual dialect to add on top of it. This book in my mind deserves a 8 out of 10. I could make a life connection, it used lots of dialogue, it had little bits and pieces of foreshadowing, figurative language, and suspense. The author also did an excellent job describing how each character was feeling at different points of the story. This book had you at the edge of your seats thinking and wondering what the characters are going to do next. So if you like a Action packed, drama, with lots of colorful dialect from a third person point of view, “Trife life 2 lavish” is the perfect book.


Q1 BM - Haneef Nelson

Life In Prison by Stanley “Tookie” Williams, is very inspiring. This point of this book is to educate the youth of the reality of of prisons and what prison life is actually like. Mr.Williams was on death row when he wrote and published this book, he was on death row due to his gang involvement and four murders during two separate robberies. After writing this book and a few others and having a movie made about his life, Stanley was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his literature and his attempts to reach out to troubled youth. Which caused a controversy because people didn’t appreciate that a man on death row, that has done hundreds of horrible things in his life, is now trying to right his wrongs and is being praised for it.

The Bloods and Crips are the two most notorious and dangerous street gangs on the streets of California. Yet not everyone knows the beginnings of these two group nor their intentions. The Crips were Originated in Los Angeles California in 1971. The groups original purpose was to join together and fight against the neighborhood gangs that were bullying them. Self Defense was the motive, the motive was never to be the bully it was to fight against the bullies, although that’s what the group which became a gang evolved into. Stanley Williams is a cofounder of the notorious street gang. In the preface of this book he speaks on his lack of good influences growing up in a predominately African American neighborhood, all of the people he had to look up to were bad role models and were in jail. Those “role models” gave false depictions of jail on how it was fun and cool so that’s what a young Stanley and all of the other children wanted for their lives. So in this book he is attempting to give the youth what he was not given when he was their age. Each chapter of this book speaks on a different part of the Incarceration system, and how inhumane and dangerous jail really is.

After reading this book and viewing his other work I understand why he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Yes, he’s done horrible things in his life, and he acknowledges it but what makes him special is, he wants better for everyone else. I love this book because it does not sugar coat anything, and it gives straight facts. Unlike television and movies which portray prison as dangerous but also as fun, as a place you can go lounge around and workout. Throughout this book he refers to the freedoms you have as a free man and where you’re living with your parents compared to living in jail. An example being the section about “Clothing, Telephone, and Mail”, he says “Our mail is read by guards… I can’t stand knowing that some stranger is reading every letter and looking at every photograph that comes in the mail before I do.” I believe the purpose of this book is to inform the world of the harsh conditions of jail but to tell and show youth headed there that it isn't where they want to be. People who would love this book are prison reformist. This book points most of the flaws in the prison system and how it is designed to keep the inmates coming back. In this book Mr. Williams basically says when you’re in prison you either workout, you read and learn, is crazy, or is apart of a gang. The only thing people have in jail to better themselves to try and prevent their re entry to jail after their release is to read books, and even books are limited in jail if you don’t have family members who care enough to buy them for you. Stanley “Tookie” Williams was executed on December 13th, 2005. The last day he spent alive he told Ms. Barbara Becnel about how he although he lived all those years in that concrete cell on death row, his work with the youth provided him with joy inside his heart.This book should be an inspiration to all youth to stay out of trouble.

This book is nonfiction and was first published in 1998 by Morrow Junior Books a division of William Morrow and Company, INC., New York and then was again published in the United States in 2001 by SeaStar Books. This book is a fairly quick read it contains 80 pages of the horrors of what awaits inside prison walls.




https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/file/d/0B37HPKahKZmYazdIaVV1Q251clk/edit?usp=drive_web

Q1 BM - Brian Birkmire

The Mark of Athena is an outstanding book in the successful continuation of the Heros of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan. It is number three in the series that has grasped the attention of young readers for years now. The series is attached to Riordan’s first five part series he created, Percy Jackson And The Olympians, which flourishingly won multiple book awards. Riordan began writing as a young adult, writing short stories as well as writing for his high school newspaper. He made the attempt to publish some of his short stories but came out unsuccessful. His daughter, Haley, who was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia always showed fascination in Greek Mythology, it was a topic she could pay attention to. Haley asked of her father to create bedtime stories to tell her each night that included Greek Mythology within them. Riordan said, “I had taught Greek myths for many years at the middle school level, so I was glad to comply.” When Riordan created a new story, using the attributes of his oldest son Patrick, he was able to create the character Percy Jackson, the demigod with ADHD and dyslexia.

The story he told his daughter, about a boy named Percy who was falsely accused of stealing the almighty Zeus’s thunderbolt and required to redeem himself, took three days to tell her. Afterwards, Haley told Riordan that he should create a book from the story, and so he did. Today that book is well known as Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightning Thief. "Making Percy ADHD and dyslexic was my way of honoring the potential of all the kids I've known who have those conditions...it's not a bad thing to be different. Sometimes, it's the mark of being very, very talented. That's what Percy discovers about himself in The Lightning Thief."  

The Mark of Athena, although somewhat written for the young adult group, is another perfect example of a book I just can’t stop reading. The feeling the author gives through the whole book is incredible. It’s that “on the edge of your seat” feeling, the one that makes your adrenaline pump through every vein in your body, excreting excitement with every turn of the page. When opened to the first page, you find yourself aboard the Argo II, a hand built ship from a demigod named Leo, where Annabeth, who is Percy’s girlfriend and bestfriend, are on route to the Roman Camp to be reunited with Percy. Long story short, Greeks and Romans don’t get along well. Greek Gods at times, change into their Roman form, and during each form they had children. These children were called demigods, each possessing a certain power from their God parent.

Annabeth, who is accompanied by Leo Valdez and Jason Grace, finally arrive in the Roman camp. Military personnel at the camp of course do their duty and take no risk at what or who is aboard that ship. Percy, who was head praetor at the camp although he is Greek, came outside to the ship along with the head of camp, Reyna. The Argo II landed and off stepped Annabeth. When the Romans realized Percy knew Annabeth everyone stepped away while she ran and tackled her loving boyfriend. Later, after much talk between both camps, there was a compromise that although the camps don’t get along, they must fight together to stop the Earth goddess Gaea who was planning to destroy Olympus. Although there was friendship and trust being created, something goes terribly wrong at the camp, that destroys that trust in an instant. Now, escaping from the camp were seven demigods, both of Greek and Roman, destined to fulfill the prophecy they were told at camp. They don’t know what lies in store for them, they must make their way to Ancient Rome to stop Gaea and her children of Giants by following “The Mark of Athena.”

If you are into Greek mythology, this book as well as the entire series Rick Riordan has created, would be a thrilling read for yourself. Although, it can be said the books are an easier read for someone not of a young age, the book creates a massive amount of imagery for the reader. When I read the Heros of Olympus series, there is something about the way Riordan writes that helps me, and I’m positive other readers as well, create the world in our heads as we would see what’s happening. Riordan doesn’t describe the setting of each scene with much detail, just enough for the reader to create an imagination to turn into a reality of what they’d think was there. I enjoy his style of writing as well. With each new book to the series it only continues to amplify the outstanding work he has already created, giving him more kudos per page.

This book is a wonderful read for the young age and a perfect pick for anyone interested in Adventure. Riordan’s most famous character, the audacious Percy Jackson, is the ideal idol for most kids. When you think about him in depth, you see a trustworthy, protective, and insightful hero, who overcomes any obstacle thrown at him. In conclusion, the book The Mark of Athena can be placed in the same loved category all of Riordan’s book have been placed, creating a wonderful world full of imagination and learning for young readers everywhere.

The Mark of Athena by: Rick Riordan. Published: October 2nd 2012. 574 pages. (Fantasy/Young adult literature/Greek mythology/Romance novel)