My instruments produces sound by plucking the strings or running a bow over the different strings. The vibrations of the strings create waves and out of them sound comes out. The pitch is changing with the thickness of the string and the lengths of the strings. Also the pitch changes when you tighten the strings from the top.
I will use wood and have something to use to model the shape of my instrument. I will need wire for the strings and nails to help with the tuning of the strings. I will also need horse hair so I can use it for the bow.
Throughout the year, we occasionally were assigned
to write in our journals. Sometimes, we got the chance to write what ever we
wanted, however, there were times when we had to answer questions that the
teacher wrote down.
Journal entry #47
Do I like being a female? Of
course!! I wouldn’t change it for the world. However, in being a female, comes
a lot of challenges physically, mentally, and emotionally. From deciding what
to wear everyday, to body parts changing, to mood swings…it’s just a lot.
Sometimes it can be very painful and uncomfortable each month. Each female is
different and they can either take the pain or just can’t. These are the times
that I wish I was a boy just for the couple of days. For me, I have mood swings
and don’t want to be bothered with anyone. Sometimes I get so sick that I don’t
even come to school. Not only the physical changes that I as well as a lot of
other females go through, but we also go through a lot of emotional changes.
Personally, they can get in the way a lot because you would have feelings that
later on you would think about it and then it would be stupid that you even
thought about it.
I would like to be a boy and
have the mentality of a boy for one day just so that I can see and experience
how they function on a day to day basis. To me, it’s kind of difficult to
understand them and know their ways; for example, how they think, what they do
when a girl walks by, etc. I think that it would be cool, however, I wouldn’t
want to go through this for a long time. I think being a girl is better than
being a boy J
Journal Entry: December 16,
2010
I really never wanted to be
apart of a group. For me, it was mostly me hanging out with the same group of
people. Hanging out with that same group of people has made me realize that
hanging out with the same people is not making myself available to other
people. I always that when those group of people weren’t in school, I thought
that I was alone and there was no one for me to talk too.
But
I realized that if I continue to hang with the same people over and over, then
I won’t ever make myself available now and later in the future. Now that I am
older, I now go up to people and introduce myself and network. Im not really
good at meeting new people because I can be very shy in the beginning. It
sometimes feels awkward, but I make the best of it.
Journal Entry: February 2,
2011
To me, a hero is someone
that you look up too as a person of integrity. That person might have done
something nice or has helped someone out in hard times. A hero must be someone
that you can look up too and count on for anything possible. That doesn’t mean
to take advantage of them but use them for legitimate reasons. They also are
people who have wisdom and can guide you threw the roughest times that you may
encounter in your life.
Journal Entry: April 4, 2011
Some of the expectations
that are put upon by others aren’t always the best. They could be sometimes be
uncomfortable for me and I won’t want to accomplish those expectations. On the
other hand, some of the expectations that make me “uncomfortable” is good for
me to bring me out of y comfort zone and explore and experience different
things. Some of the expectations that are put upon me are to continue to get
good grades, and continue to do what I do. Also, they want me to be a leader and
not so much a follower. Some expectations for myself are too also get good
grades, be an example for others that are younger than me, and some times older
people.
My portfolio shows that I am hardworking 9th grader. I had
trouble in getting the grades that I wanted but I was still passing. As the
year went on, I got better and better at writing papers and getting A’s on
benchmarks.
I think my
strengths in English are coming up with ideas for papers. I would pick topics
that no other person would pick to write about, or I would come up with reasons
that no other people would even think about having. Also, I tend to be
different that everybody else, so I bring different ways of doing things.
I think my
weaknesses in English are participating in class and writing papers sometimes.
Also, reading aloud in class. I am
always scared in all classes that I will say the wrong answer or that my idea
is stupid, so I don’t say it. I would always try to get A’s on my papers in
English, but it never worked out well. I would always get B’s, when I tried so
hard to A’s. Reading aloud is very hard for me, the fact that everybody is
listening to me read, scares me. I will get nervous and then mess up reading.
I would work on
writing better, reading aloud, and not being so shy in front of class. I would
work on being more confident about my answers and ideas so, I could say it to
the class. I would work on reading aloud by reading to my friends or family. I
would work on my writing by proofreading my work more than once and then give
it to the teacher to read. So finally, I could get it to be an A. I had issues with correcting my papers from the teacher’s comments. I
never know what to change. I just sit there and look at the essays and think
about what I should change. It is annoying. So, I go home, sit down, and really
look at them. I realize what I need to change and then I proofread. The outcome
is better essays than before. When I go through my old work, I just wondered
why I would write something so weird. I feel like I matured in my writing
because I think what I use to write is just goofy.
The piece
that I am most proud is the ‘The Odyssey Compare and Contrast Essay’. This was
the Quarter 3 benchmark and it was the highest grade I received on ANY of the benchmarks. I’ve
always had a difficult time in English, getting B’s mostly on my essays or
missing parts that were missing on all my benchmarks. This benchmark was
different; I let a whole bunch of my peers read it. They all came to
conclusions that it was too boring and that I should change everything, 3 days
before the benchmark was due. I stood my ground and didn’t change anything. I
was proud that I could write something so long and descriptive, so I turned it
in. I received a 92%, 92% was higher than all my friends’ grades. They wanted
me to change it; if I had changed then the grade would’ve been lower. I didn’t
change it and I toped all their grades. I toped my own grades for the
benchmarks. I was so immensely proud that I could get a 92% in English.
My portfolio shows that I am a hard
working student. For every project or assignment I never go anything lower than
a B. That might not say how good of a student I am, but it does show that I
work hard and try my best most of the time. As viewers I would expect you to
see how different my work is. The work I do is unique, different than most
peoples work, but it works for me. Getting into class reading assignments is
one of my strengths in English. For example when we did Macbeth in this class I
did an amazing job on the projects we were supposed to do. I procrastinate and
I don’t like reading a lot, this can be considered as o huge weakness in
English class. I always wait until the last minute to do my projects or to read
a book for a book report. This can really hurt me in the future and I need to
work on it. It was fun looking through all of my past projects and seeing how I
grew in vocabulary and over all work since the beginning of September. I didn’t
come across many issues in my work, but there were a couple of things I
could have done better on. Some of those things are my first Independent reading
project and my Vignette. I resolved these issues by reflecting on what I needed
to change and what could have made it better. I am most proud of two pieces
that I did in this class and they are my Me Magazine and my Macbeth Creative
Piece. I am most proud of my Me Magazine because it was the first project that
I did in this class and I really talked about my life, I never wrote so much in
my life before I started going to this school. At previous schools before SLA
we never had acting class or got a chance to do something really creative, my
Macbeth Creative piece is an imovie of me acting as Lady Macbeth so obviously
it is pretty special to me. I am proud of all of the work I did this year and I want you to see my best creations showcased.
The first book we read in our freshman year was Macbeth, that was the most difficult book for me to read. We had to analysis the change of either Lady Macbeth or Macbeth throughout the book. I decide to do Macbeth and this is was interpreted from the book.
Macbeth Character Analysis
In the beginning, Macbeth was
any normal person – polite, kind-hearted, and likeable - but by the end of the
play, his heart was cold and his mind was evil. Macbeth never second-guessed
anything and he was just looking at his position to stay king. Nobody could get
in his way because he couldn’t be killed be a person birthed from a woman.
In
Act 1, Scene 3: Macbeth received a prophecy from the witches that he is going
to be the Thane of Cawdor and then the King of Scotland. He stated: “If good,
why do I yield to that suggestion. Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair? And
make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature?” Macbeth is
basically wondering why he is thinking about murdering King Duncan, but the
thought is so horrifying that it makes his hair stand on the back of his neck
and his heart pound against his chest.
In
Act 1, Scene 6, and Duncan: Duncan has come over for dinner and is looking
Macbeth, so he can praise him. Duncan says, “Conduct me to mine host. We love
him highly and shall continue our graces towards him.” This is important because
even other people can see how kind-hearted Macbeth can be. Duncan trusts him
with everything and honors Macbeth.
In
Act 1, Scene 7, and Lady Macbeth: Lady Macbeth is trying to convince Macbeth to
go with the witches’ prophecy. Macbeth wants to be king but he can’t take the
risks needed – killing Duncan. Quote: “Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage?” In this
quote, Lady Macbeth is calling Macbeth a sad poor cat that is too scared to do
anything. This is important because even Macbeth’s wife is saying that Macbeth
is too polite to kill Duncan. Also, that he isn’t brave at all.
In
Act 2 Scene 1, and Macbeth: Macbeth is convincing himself to Duncan. He is
thinking about all the good things, so he is basically pumping up himself up.
The beginning of the soliloquy Macbeth is nervous and doesn’t want to do it,
but by the end, he is pumped and ready. Quote: “I go, and it is done. The bell
invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell. That summons thee to heaven
or to hell.” This quote is important because this is where Macbeth starts to
become evil. He finally decides after a little convincing from Lady Macbeth and
himself that he will kill Duncan. From here, everything goes down hill.
In
Act 2 Scene 3, and Macbeth: Macduff and Banquo came to visit Macbeth’s castle,
but they found out that Duncan is dead. They tell Macbeth and Lady Macbeth who
play it off, as they had nothing to do with the killing. Quote: “Renown and
graceful is dead. The wine of life is drawn, and mere lees is left this vault
to brag of.” This quote is important because this shows how evil Macbeth can
be. He is now hiding the fact that he killed Duncan to all his close friends
and that had any idea of it. Macbeth is using words to praise Duncan, even
though he killed him.
Banquo
comes over for the feast and tells Macbeth that he may be late for the dinner,
Act 3 Scene 1. Macbeth is worried about what Banquo will do because he knows
about the prophecy that the witches said. Macbeth is alone and says to himself:
“Rather than so, come fate into the list. And champion me to th’ utterance.”
When Macbeth states that he is planning on killing Banquo, he doesn’t even
hesitate with his decision. Macbeth’s servant then brings in the murders and
tells them what the plan will be. This quote is important because this is where
Macbeth’s evil rises, he doesn’t even talk to Lady Macbeth about it. Macbeth
doesn’t talk to anybody about it. He is determined to stay in his position of
being king and nobody can stop him now, but there are people that want him to
be stopped.
Act
3 Scene 6: Macbeth’s feast has just ended and it is the next day, Lennox is
talking to another Lord about Malcolm, Macduff, and Macbeth. Lennox is
suspicious about Macbeth; he thinks that Macbeth killed Duncan and Banquo.
Lennox clearly states “May soon return to this out suffering country under a
hand accursed” which basically states he wants Malcolm to come back and take
out Macbeth as king. Lennox thinks Macbeth is a tyrant and a liar, this is
important because even other people don’t trust Macbeth. Lennox is having a
conversation with another Lord which may mean that he wants to know if his
theory are also, suspected.
The
witches has told Macbeth another prophecy but this time with apparitions - Act
4 Scene 1 – they tell him to fear Macduff, the woods, and Banquo’s children.
Macbeth takes this prophecy into his own hands and says this “The castle of
Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his
wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.”
Macbeth is ready, the witches just gave him advice and he is once again taking
it upon himself to deal with it. Basically, Macbeth is planning on going to
Macduff’s castle and killing everybody. This is very important because Macbeth
is once again being cold-hearted and he doesn’t even hesitate with this plan.
He knows that Macduff could stop him from becoming king, so he is killing
everything that Macduff loves. Macbeth doesn’t know that other people aren’t to
sure about him.
Act
4 Scene 3, Macduff is in England to have a chat with Malcolm. In this chat,
Malcolm basically complains to Macduff about his father – Duncan – being killed
and that he was blamed for it and Macduff just listens. Malcolm tells Macduff
that he suspects that Macbeth killed Duncan. This is what Malcolm says, “This
tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues, was once thought honest; you have
loved him well; he hath not touched you yet.” Malcolm is calling Macbeth the
tyrant and that it hurts to say his name because he is traitor. Macbeth use to
an honest man and people loved him especially Macduff, Malcolm says. But, now
he is doing reckless things, but Macduff doesn’t know about it because Macbeth
hasn’t hurt him yet
In Act 5 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth
is sick from guilt and Macbeth is preparing for the war that is supposed to
happen. Lady Macbeth has just screamed and after this Macbeth thinks about
himself in the past and present self. Macbeth says, “
I have almost forgot the taste of fears. The time has been my senses would have
cooled
To hear a night-shriek, and my fell have
hair would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir, as life were isn’t. I have
supped full with horrors. Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts,
cannot once start me.” In this quote, Macbeth is talking about when he was
scared of everything, when he was kinder, and didn’t have courage for anything.
Now, Macbeth believes that he is prepared for any scary thing he has seen
because he had many horrific things happen or done by him, that horrible things
are familiar to him now.
By
the end of the play, all his followers were following him out of fear but
everybody was scared to do something about it. Macduff successfully kills
Macbeth and give throne to the rightful owner, Malcolm. Macbeth turned into the
evil cold-hearted man from being a kind-hearted man who followed the power of
suggestion. Macbeth turned into a person that he could never be and got killed
for it. In the end, nobody should ever try to be what they know they can never
be because there will be a downfall in the end.
During the year, we read Freedom Writers for our 2nd Quarter Benchmark. Freedom Writers was about stories about different kids and this teacher. We wrote a memoir vignette about something that happen in our life. Mine was about my parents divorcing when I was about 7 years old.
Maybe Love Isn’t Forever
I hoped and dreamed that he wouldn’t leave, but their life
was such a hell being together. (Opener) Now my parents, they
put up a front. Every time they come to my school for a meeting or conference,
they have on a front
“Nobody needs to know our situation,” my mom says.
“But, some people already know cause it isn’t a big
deal.”
“I don’t want anybody teasing you.”
“It is fine, nobody cares anyway.” (Dialogue)
I always thought that parents would always be in love,
be together forever, and be happy together. (Magic Three) I was
wrong, and I realized it when I was just 7 years old.
5
A.M waking up in a cold room like any other day like every other day. At my
age, no one should know about this time of day. The house was dark as a cave
(Simile); I rolled out of bed and into the bathroom. The house, it feels
different. It is like the house is angry, maybe even sad about something.
(Personification) Maybe, I should just ignore it. My teeth are now brushed
and they are white as pearls. (Simile) and off I go to get some breakfast
with my parents! I walk in the kitchen; there isn’t a piece of bacon to be
found, or my dad. My mom is standing in the kitchen alone with this blank expression
that I don’t recognize. “Morning, Dakota,” (Dialogue) my mom says in a
monotone voice. Her tone, her eyes, and her posture it is different. (Magic
Three) I can’t identify what it is, but it isn’t happy and it isn’t tired.
“There isn’t breakfast today,” she says.
“Why not?”
“Dad and I need to talk to you about something.”
“Is it bad? Cause you seem sad.”
“You won’t be happy about it.” (Dialogue)
What could I not be happy about? Whatever it is, my dad
always makes the best of it.
My dad, his footsteps, they
aren’t peppy. They are loud and sad. The floor vibrates, more than usually. I
can barely keep still. I want to see what is going to happen. I run over to
my dad fast as a cheetah, (Simile) “HI DAD,” (Dialogue) I say
enthusiastically.“Hello Dakota.”
(Dialogue) We walk over to my mom. Her eyes, I can see them better now and I
could see the horrible emotion that filled them. Puffy, red, and cloudy, it
is like somebody just punched her in the eyes but, they haven’t swollen up yet.
(Simile, Magic Three) I look at my dad. His eyes, his breathing, and his
clothes, they are all out of sorts. (Magic Three) He is never this messy.
“What is going on,” I ask cautiously.
“Your dad and I, we need to talk to you about something
important.” My mom states firmly.
“What is it? I am shaking in my pjs!”
“Your mom and I have been
having some problems. Problems that aren’t getting ironed out.”
“What kind of problems?”
“Your dad and I aren’t getting
along as well, as we use to.”
“WHAT? What does that even
mean? You guys love each other and you are supposed to get along, perfectly.
I’ve never seen you guys argue.(Dialogue)
The
tension in the house becomes thicker. The house creaks, waiting in anticipation
for the answer (Personification). The answer isn’t coming fast enough. I
stare at my parents, in agony. I want, need, desire to know what it is going
on.(Magic Three) Am I too young? Will I not be able to understand? I just
want to know. My mom, she hasn’t said anything. My mom is holding on to the
table as if it keeps her from falling. My dad is holding on to the wall like
he is an old man and needs a walker (Simile). I am frightened, what if
somebody died? I don’t know what I would do. I need answers and I need them
now. TALK, PLEASE!
“Your father and I need some time
off.”
“Cheryl, don’t lie to her.
This time is off, Dakota. It is going to last forever.”
“WHAT! WHAT! I DON’T
UNDERSTAND!”
“Your dad and I are
separating. He has to move out.”
“SEP-ER-ATING? What does that
mean?”
“Dakota, your mom and I aren’t
getting along. We argue a lot more than is normal.”
“Wait…Dad. You are
leaving…forever?”
“Yes, Dakota. I can’t live
here anymore.” His voice is cracking like he is a teenage boy
going through puberty (Simile).
“Dakota, this isn’t your
fault. Your dad and I just don’t love each other anymore. We need to become
different people”
“You said that love last
forever! This isn’t forever!”
“I know. But remember, your
mom and I will still be your parents, even though we aren’t together. We will
still love you. I will still love you. You are my daughter, I will never stop
loving you.”
“Dakota, mommy loves you. I
will always love you.”
“Who do I live with?’
(Dialogue) I say as the tears fall like a stream from my eyes, to my nose,
to my chin (Simile, Magic Three)
“You will be living with me.
Your dad will be moving in with somewhere else.”
“Dad, you can’t leave! I need
you! Your hugs when I have awful days! Your jokes when I need cheering up.
You..can’t..leave!”(Dialogue)
I
am yelling and they don’t even seem to care. The room quiets down and I hear my
mom sobbing. She has no reason to cry, it is not like she loves him anymore. I
still love him and I will always love him. I have these memories and I can’t
even make new ones with my dad anymore. He is basically gone. His hands, his
embrace, his laugh are so warm (Magic Three) and they are leaving me. Now,
I won’t be able to have them everyday, they are my own personal drugs and I
am addicted. (Simile)
“I have to leave now, Dakota.”
“YOU CAN’T LEAVE!”
“I have to leave. I will be back.
Not to live here, but to see you. Promise.”
“YOU CAN’T LEAVE!
NOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Don’t follow me.”
“Don’t let go.” (Dialogue)
He
lets go. I am standing in the middle of my parents, my mom is holding on to me
and my dad has let go of me. I haven’t let go and I need to chase him back to
where he belongs. I dash after him and grab hold of his leg. He isn’t going
anywhere now because I won’t let him. The scent of tears travel to my nose,
they are my dad’s. (Imagery) I didn’t know tears existed in my dad’s body.
I thought he was too manly to have tears or to even cry. I feel his huge arms
picking me up from his leg to his chest. My forehead is gently kissed as tears
spill on to me. My dad’s shirt is drenched with my tears and the hallways
echoes from my wails. My dad carries me back to my mother, who has fallen to
the floor, and sets me down with her. She grabs hold of me and her touch is
cold; (Imagery). My mom is making my dad leave the house; how can she think
to even touch me. I am furious at her and try to wiggle out her grip but she
just grips harder.
My
dad’s footsteps become quieter. The front door opens, shuts, and my heart stops
working. (Magic Three) He is officially gone and I am with my mom. There is
nothing else to do. She puts me in my bed and I cry until I fall asleep. I
awake later on that day and realize that what happened wasn’t a dream. I
yell as if somebody just broke both my legs (Simile) and my mom comes
running in. Her eyes are worst than before, which I imagine my eyes look like
too. I gaze up at her, turn over, and go back to sleep.(Magic Three) I
want nothing to do with her right now. She closes the door and walks to her
room. Sleep comes easily because I am fragile like glass. (Simile) Just
a few hours ago, all the water in my body rushed out through my eyes.
(Hyperbole) Life goes on and school comes the next day. The rest of the
days, months, years of my life are different. (Magic Three). I become more
and more unlike the person I was before the separation. I am stronger but I am
weaker. I don’t fall for peer pressure but I get mad at meaningless things.
Things like somebody bumping into me and saying excuse me. Things that I didn’t
notice before my dad left. I am older now and understand everything. They won’t
tell me the reason why they separated because they say I don’t need to know. “Not
everybody can keep up with the changes a person goes through and they
eventually fall out of love,” (Dialogue) says my mom. People can’t
control if they fall out of love, it just happens,”(Dialogue) says my dad.
Sometimes people take on bigger roles than they should of. As the years past, I
realized that my dad was never actually gone he is always still here. My dad
still loves me and I see him often. I realized that things happen and marriage
isn’t always for everyone. Divorce was made for a reason.
My portfolio shows my growth as a person and as a
writer over the course of the year. Throughout this year my writing has
improved, as you can see by my benchmarks, for each I got higher and higher
marks each time, 85 to 92 then to a 96. My strength has always been to learn
from my mistakes and I have truly done that this year, taking my weak areas and
making then my strengths. One area I do need to work on still is my design.
Creating this portfolio was as hard as I first thought. I have always looked
back on my projects to make them top notch. The hardest part would have been
when I had to shorten some of my statements in my projects due to a lot of
content. I am most proud of my 3rd Benchmark because it is the
results of all my hard work throughout the year.
Almost every English class the students
would walk in and see a journal on the board. The students would sit down and
do the journal. Here are 6 of the many journals that were given and my
responses to them.
Journal #1: Have you ever faced what seemed like an impossible
task? How do you get through it (if you did…)? Were you alone?
GROUP
PROJECTS! I really don’t like them, especially when your “team mates” don’t do
what they are supposed to. This event happened in about 7th or 8th
grade. It was a project that was worth 20% of your final grade. I had to get
this done. I collaborated with my team mates and we decided what each of us
were supposed to do for our project. But one of the people in my group was a
horrible partner that didn’t do any work they were supposed to. The day before
the project was due she skipped school. So the other two people and myself had
to do that part of the project in 20 minutes and put it on the poster board.
But we didn’t have a computer to type it up on. So we had to write it by hand.
Ends up we got an A so everything turned out ok.
Journal #2: Why write?
I
write to express myself. When I have no one else to talk to but myself, my pen
and my paper. I feel like people don’t understand me sometimes so I go and sort
of talk to myself and think about what to do about a certain situation. Or
maybe I just want to write about life, something inspirational so when I need
advice I can always go back and read it over. This is why I write.
Journal #3: If you really knew me…
If
you really knew me you would know that in public I seem like a happy soul a
person who has a care free life (which sometime I do). But on the inside I am
an angry person. I do have anger issues. If someone pushes me over or close to
the edge I will flip, go over board and not be able to control my actions. I do
have to go to therapy to try to take control of my problem. If you really knew
me you would know that I have anger issues.
Journal #4: How important is it to fit in?
People
who know me know that it is every important for to be liked. I need to fit in
to feel good about myself. I need to have friends, I need to feel like if I’m
going to fall someone will be there to catch me. I love being liked by people
it makes me feel good.
Journal #5: What are people’s expectations of you? What are
your own?
Peoples
expectations of me are to do well in school, to be responsible and wary and to
be me. It is hard doing all these things and when people have these things on their
shoulders and more they crumble under the pressure. My expectations are the
same but a little bit more strict. When I do things I want myself to go above
and beyond and when I don’t I feel bad about myself. It is hard living up to
other peoples standards or expectations, but it is even harder living up to
your own.
Journal #6: What is your response to seeing/reading and saying
the ”N” word?
Seeing
this word all over this book is hard and upsetting but at the same time ok. It
is ok to see because it reminds you how things in the past really were and how
things have changed for the better. It is refreshing to see how well African
Americans are treated today knowing that things have changed forever and for the
better.
This was my first English
Benchmark, which was to analyze 10 quotes out of Macbeth and make a thesis on
Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. I chose Lady Macbeth and got 85 as my grade.
Lady Macbeth Examination
By Nicholas Murray
Thesis: Lady Macbeth is a strong willed and wicked woman in the
beginning of the play, but in the end she was not strong enough and too fragile
to live with what she has done or keep her title as queen.
In act I scene 5, page 16 Lady Macbeth has received a
letter From Macbeth, containing the prophecy of being Thane of Cawdor then
King. He tells her that he has already been named Thane of Cawdor, which fills
Lady Macbeth with joy. She (alone) then says, “That which cries ‘Thus thou must
do’ if thou have it;/ And that which rather thou dost fear to do/ Than wishest
should be undone”(lines 23-25).Basically, what Lady Macbeth is saying that there is only one-way
Macbeth will be king and she does not think Macbeth is up to it. Since This is
the first time seeing LadyMacbeth,
a bad first impression is mad. She is pondering what must be done for Macbeth
to be king, which includes sinful things. This first impression shows us
thatLady Macbeth has an evil
mind.
In act I scene 5, page 17 Lady Macbeth confirms what she is going to do.
She has now become aware that king Duncan is coming to their home with Macbeth
so she thinks more about what must be done. She says, “Come, you spirits/ That
tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,/ And fill me from the crown to the toe
topful/ of dearest cruelty” (Lines 39-42). Lady Macbeth is asking the spirits
to make her bold like a man. By “unsex me she” means she wants to be cruel like
a man not kind like a woman. She knows that for Macbeth to be king Duncan must
die. She does not think Macbeth is cruel enough to kill him so she wants to be the cruel one and
pull the strings. This gives the reader a clearer picture of what kind of
person Lady Macbeth is. It shows that she might not be as bold now, but she
wants to be bolder. That fact that she wants the strength to kill somebody
shows that she is already cold hearted.
In act II scene 2, page 27, Lady Macbeth waits alone for
Macbeth. Macbeth is out executing king Duncan to become king after Lady
Macbeth’s pleas. She quotes,“That
which hath made them drunk hath made me bold;/ What hath quenched them hath
given me fire. (An owl/ shrieks) Hark! Peace” (Lines 1-3). Ladyis talking about the plan in this
scene. The plan was to get the guards drunk, take their daggers when they pass
out, then frame them for the murder of Duncan. She thinks that because she went
through with the plan, she has become even bolder. The truth is that she is
kind of scared. She must be if she was scared by an owl’s shriek. This shows
her inner turmoil. She may put on a brave façade, but like anyone in this
situation, she was kind of scared
In act II scene 3, page 35, the king is found dead in his
room. When everyone realizes the king is dead they all panic, even Lady
Macbeth.In her apparent “shock”
Lady Macbeth says, “Help me hence, ho!” (Line 116). This simple line was enough
for the lords to drop the talk of the king’s death, while throwing off any
suspicion. Even though Lady Macbeth is kind of scared, she is able to put on a
good act. Lady Macbeth must still be a strong willed person. In spite of her
guilt she is un-phased.
In act III scene 2, Page 46, line 13, Lady Macbeth speaks
as the new queen. The children of king Duncan have fled leaving no one to be
king except for Macbeth. Macbeth enters and seems worried. She quotes, “What’s
done is done” to Macbeth. Lady Macbeth sounds content as the new queen with all
her goals accomplished. But she may just still be shaken by what she has done to the
king. She must not want Macbeth to worry about anything so they can act like
nothing happened and try to live as happy as they can. She has no intension of
what she has done to found out so she just wants to keep everything as it is.
In act III scene 5, Page 56, line 142, Lady Macbeth is
worried about Macbeth. After Macbeth kills Banquo, because it was prophesized
that he will have more sons and they will be king, and leaves Lady Macbeth out
the plan, and there is a party hosted by Macbeth, Banquo’s ghost appears but
only Macbeth sees it. Lady Macbeth takes Macbeth aside and tells him, “You lack
the season of all natures, sleep”. She is worried about her husband. She does
not want things like this happening in her new life. At this point she is
worried.
In act V scene 1, Page 84, line 35 Lady Macbeth begins to
sleepwalk. In her sleep she says, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!”. She must be
talking about the blood she has on her hands after all those crimes. That much
blood would drive someone mad. Her will is probably breaking.
In act V scene 1, Page 85, lines 70-71, the doctor hears
all the deeds Lady Macbeth confesses in her sleep. Context: Lady Macbeth
confessed all that has happened in her sleep. He says, “Unnatural deeds/ Do
breed unnatural troubles”. He realizes that Lady Macbeth has done horrible
things. These horrible things drove Lady Macbeth mad. Lady Macbeth is now a
fragile woman.
In act V scene 3, Page 89, lines 39-41 the doctor tells
Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s condition and why she is sleepwalking. He says “Not so
sick, my lord,/ as she is troubled with thick-coming fancies/ that keep her
from her rest”. She is not sick but a mental trouble is making her sleepwalk.
This proves that she is losing her will. She is currently unfit for the crown.
In act V scene 5, Page 92, line 16, a woman’s shriek is
heard. Afterwards Seyton appears with bad news. He says, “The queen, my lord,
is dead”. Lady Macbeth died and lost the crown because of the things she did to
get the crown. This only happened because she had a change of heart. She lost
her will became fragile and died.
Conclusion: Lady
Macbeth was a very unstable woman in this play. From start to finish she went
through many changes in her personality. First she had started out as an evil
manipulative woman to become queen. After the plan to kill Duncan was formed
she became nervous. After she became queen she had nothing to worry about. That
is until Macbeth went mad with power. She couldn’t handle it all and went mad
herself. Because of all the guilt she had she became weaker. Because of her
weakness she died and lost the title of queen. Because she became weak her
dreams were not fulfilled
The most challenging part of this benchmark for me was collecting all the pictures for each topic. I found this project difficult because categorizing each topic with globalization seem like each could be represented differently. And all the pictures had to be taken in Philadelphia to show how globalization has happen over time or is still happening. As I travel around Philadelphia taking pictures I started to see that globalization was easily seen in some communities that others. In the end I really enjoy this project because I’m able to walk around the city and see it in another light then I have before.
As
a 9th grade English student I feel that my portfolio shows the
growth I have made since I first became a 9th grade English student.
When I first entered English 9 I would constantly make grammar mistakes, my
sentences would sometimes not make sense, and I had trouble with expanding on
topic than just writing 3 or 4 sentences as a paragraph. Now that I leave
English 9 I make minimal grammar mistakes, my vocabulary grew, I revise my work
about 4 times until I find it sounds perfect and my paragraphs aren’t
paragraphs until they have exceeded 8 sentences or more. Looking back at all my
old projects and looking at the one I recently did I can see the growth and the
person I came to be. Through out this class I have also seen a change in my
self. I’ve noticed that I have begun to see things from a different
perspective. I have grown as a person, mentally and physically.
When others see my work I hope that
they understand the point that I’m trying to get across. More importantly I
want the viewer to get any reflection to myself that I have done. When I write
I always try to reflect back to myself depending the situation. If it’s writing
about myself then I try to see things from a different point of view.Also I want the reader to understand
how self-assured I felt about my piece of writing.
Through
out English 9 my strengths are being able to expand on my writing and being
able to adapt to the new vocabulary they the English 9 had to introduce to me
to enhance my writing vocabulary and just in general. My weaknesses are dealing
with the parts of speech which I have trouble remembering which part of speech
goes with which word. I would like to work on the part of speech and also I
would like to work on being able to write conclusions.
Going
back through my portfolio it gave me a chance to see how much I’ve really grown
and the challenges that I overcame with myself. Now that I actually reflect on
myself I notice that the way I’m leaving English 9 is not the same way I
entered I’m more confident in myself and I’m prepared for what 10th
grade may have for me. While making my portfolio I had issues with revising one
of my benchmarks that involved me re-doing most of my work. From my point of
view I felt that there was no point in re-doing it if I had already gotten a
good grade but I though about it and I know I’m capable of doing better.
There’s always room for improvement. I stayed positive and was able to revise
all my work and feel proud of myself.
The
piece I’m most proud of is the 3rd Benchmark where we had to compare
and contrast the Odyssey. It’s my most proud piece because it’s the piece I was
most enthusiastic about and the piece I really took my time to do and tried my
hardest. I tried hard on all my benchmarks but there’s some things that if
people are interested in their going to give their all into it. While I was doing this project I felt
that once I began writing I didn’t want to stop.
Q1 Benchmark:
Macbeth Character Analysis
For this project we analyzed a character from Macbeth and we had to write a thesis statement and prove it with quotes from the book/play. This was our first benchmark and its piece I happen to be very proud of.
Thesis: ‘’Lady Macbeth begins from
stopping at nothing to get what she wants, to dying from what she had’’.
In Act 1 scene 5 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth had
recently received a letter from Macbeth stating his recent meet with the weird
sisters and how they hailed him Thane of Cawdor, and King. As the messenger
brings news of King Duncan joining them for dinner that following night, Lady
Macbeth begins her soliloquy saying ‘’Come, you spirits that tend on mortal
thoughts, unsex me here’’ (Act 1, scene 5, lines 39-40). What Lady Macbeth
means is that she wants to be less of a woman and a strong as a man. She wants
to be able to feel no guilt and have no second thoughts on her evil deeds
therefore showing her charisma.
In Act 1 scene 5 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth begins
here ways into royalty. She’s telling Macbeth of her rigid plan and is sighting
move by move of his deed is to be. She wants him to ‘’Look like th’ innocent
flower, but be the serpent under’t’’ (Act 1, scene 5, 64-65). In other words
she wants him to make Duncan feel as in trust but inside be the demon that will
show. Lady Macbeth wants to seem as innocent as she was before the death and
after for no suspicion. Even though it might not be as easy for Macbeth.
In Act 1 scene 7 of Macbeth, Macbeth doesn’t
want to continue on with the bad deed. He wants to enjoy his honors and not
risk losing them so quick with such repulsive acts. Lady Macbeth notices she
must act fast in order to get what she wants and begins to use her feminine
sexuality to go her way.She
begins to put Macbeth in a position where he isn’t man enough to proceed with
his deeds. Specifically she says ‘’and live a coward in thin own esteem,
letting ‘’I dare not’’ wait upon ‘’I would,’’ ’’ (Act 1, scene 7, lines 43-44).
She is insulting his manhood in able for him to get frustrated and Macbeth
yields to her just to prove her wrong. Lady Macbeth is at the point where she
wants nothing to go wrong with her plans and will go at any lengths to get what
she wants.
In Act 2 scene 2 of Macbeth, Macbeth has just
killed Duncan and he regrets his deed. His hands are filled with blood and is
still holding the daggers that were suppose to be put with the guards.Macbeth regrets his acts and believes
the guilt will live on with him. Meanwhile Lady Macbeth is correcting his
mistakes and is ashamed. She says ‘’ My Hands are of your color, but I shame to
wear a heart so white’’ (Act 2, scene 2, lines 67-68). What she means here is
that her hands are bloody to but she shames to have her guilt show out with
such ease. This indicates that Lady Macbeth at this point has no heart and is
going at all lengths to fulfill her plans.
After being crowned in Act 3 scene 2 of Macbeth,
Macbeth is keeping stuff to himself, having sad thoughts, having nightmares,
and still is guilty. He is also scared of the fact that Banquo is suspicious
and decides to kill him without telling Lady Macbeth. In this case Lady Macbeth
to tell him ‘’Things without all remedy should be without regard. What’s done
is done’’ (Act 3, scene 2, lines 12-13).She’s trying to explain to him that if there’s no way to fix your
mistake than don’t keep thinking about it.
In Act 5 scene 1 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has
been sleepwalking and unaware of being watched. The Gentlewoman and the doctor
are both waiting for Lady Macbeth to see her night actions. Lady Macbeth walks
in with a candle, eyes open but sleeping. The doctor us confused and asks where
did she get a candle from is she is asleep. The Gentlewoman responds ‘’Why, it
stood by her. She has light by her continually. ‘Tis he command.’’ (Act 5,
scene 1, lines 22-23).The reason
for Lady Macbeth to demand a candle by her at all time is because she’s scared
of the dark. Lady Macbeth is guilty.
In Act 5 scene 1 of Macbeth, The Gentlewoman and
the doctor are watching Lady Macbeth as she continued her weird acts. Lady
Macbeth Gets out of bed; Gets paper, Folds it writes on it, reads it, seals it,
Rubs hands, and talks as if someone were with her. As she speaks she says ‘’
yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? ‘’
(Act 5, scene 1, lines 38-39).Lady Macbeth is talking of when Macbeth killed Duncan and she seen all
the blood. She partially reveals that Macbeth killed Duncan to the Doctor.
In Act 5 scene 1 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth had
just revealed some shocking news while she is sleepwalking. She reveals this to
the doctor and the Gentlewoman and both are shocked. Lady Macbeth talks about Duncan,
she speaks as if she were talking to Macbeth and he were there letting most
there secrets out.The Doctor is
surprised and tells the Gentlewoman ‘’Go to, go to! You have known what you
should not‘’ (Act 5, scene 1, lines 46-47).The doctor begins to notice the lies that have been going on
and knows he heard what he was not supposed to hear.
Act 5 scene 1 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth goes to
bed and the Doctor analyzed her actions and came to a conclusion. The doctor is
speaking to the Gentlewoman and confirms that Lady Macbeth has gone insane and
has a disease. He tells the Gentlewoman ‘’my mind she has mated, and amazed my
sight’’ (Act 5, scene 1, lines 77).The Doctor is amazed from what he has heard and seen. He thinks there’s
it could be something evil, but it more than what he can do.
Act 5 scene 8 of Macbeth, The Battle had just
ended and everyone is hailing Malcolm King of Scotland. Malcolm killed Macbeth
for name of his title, King. He reveals the way of lady Macbeth death due to her
insanity. In His speech he says ‘’ who, as ‘tis thought, by self and violent
hands took off her life’’ (Act 5, scene 8, lines 70-71). In other words, Lady
Macbeth committed suicide due to her disease.
Lady Macbeth began from going at any lengths to
get what she wants. Slowly she turned insane throughout the time from the
guilt.
Q2 Benchmark:
Memoir Vignette
This was our second benchmark and also was the benchmark we had to work the hardest on. For this piece we had to craft a memoir vignette and use stylistic devices.
Perfect Disassemble
At 6 years old
all you want to see around you is happiness(Opener). At the age of 6 I was
a very happy child. I had my mom, dad, sister, brother, nephew, and brother’s
wife with me.We all lived
together in the same apartment in New York City. 2 bedrooms and 7 people the
highlight of my life! (Humor)My brother and sister decided to have children at a young age while
still living with my parents.In
my opinion that was not the best decision they could have made.My brother and I got along great while
on the other hand my sister and I were like two bombs about to explode, but
being the youngest child had its advantages. As the youngest child in my
family I was the spoiled one and boy did I love it! (Humor) My friends
would always came over my house because I was the one who had the best toys or
the coolest things, those I love you daddy’s paid off (Humor).
I
have always seen my family to be the perfect family. Though no family is
perfect that’s how I saw it in my eyes. When I was 8 my brother began moving in
and out. Eventually my brother got divorced with the mother of his first child.
Who said young parenting would be easy. Ending up living in his own apartment
my brother left our home to my sister, my parents, and I.In this time my dad had kidney disease
and was on dialysis for 6 months in need of kidney transplant but he was not
able to find anyone who was the same blood type. My mom wanted to give a kidney
to my dad, but wasn’t compatible. After the 6 months my dad’s doctor found two
brothers named Sean and Kensley who were going through the same problem. Sean
needed the Kidney transplant and Kensley wanted to donate his kidney to his
brother but were not the same blood type. After many tests the doctors came to
realize my dad was compatible with Kensley and Sean was compatible with my mom.
There was a miracle given from god.
At age 10 I became
the aunt of my sister’s son Anthony. He was born with asthma, murmur, 7 UTI’s, classification
in his kidney, and high blood pressure It’s an everyday struggle for him, a
child full of energy and intelligent somehow makes he is able to make his way
through the day. My sister still lives with us but in a room my dad made by
putting a wall half way through the living room. My sister didn’t get to finish
college because of her pregnancy but is well looking forward to finishing
college when she has more time.My
sister and I still clash but we put our differences aside because of the new addition
to the family we continue to be the perfect family, even without having my
brother around as much.
At
the age of 12 kids get excited to enter their teen years. Having more
freedom is more fun than sitting in my room playing tea party with Mr.Snuggles
(Humor). But there’s one difference of this age than all the other ones,
have been living in Philadelphia for 1 year now. We moved when I was 11 because
my mom wanted a change. She wanted her own house and a different environment.
My perfect family had disassembled slowly. My sister lived In New York City
with my brother but in different parts, my parents and I lived in Philadelphia
2 hours away from happiness.Yet I
see a disassembled family I had to realize I still had my parents and that’s
still perfect to me.
Age
13 and the perfect family involved having the perfect parents. From time to
time my parents would argue about the dumbest things, but I didn’t want to face
the chances of an imperfect family and would ignore all the arguments. One late
night my dad was making coffee and they started arguing on that my mom said she
didn’t want coffee and my dad got smart. This is where the 8oz bag of coffee
really began the drama (Humor). My mom stormed out the kitchen and ran
upstairs. Next thing I know my mom’s coming down the stairs with her coat and a
bag of clothes. Knowing we didn’t have anyone in Philadelphia I started getting
scared and started crying because I knew what was going to happen next in this
scene. I knew my mom would do anything to make me happy so I cried and cried
for hours and begged her to stay until finally she decided to stay but didn’t
forgive my father. Although I got to see my perfect family again I knew the
happiness surrounding my perfect family was gone. I knew my mother was staying
because of me but her heart was not in it. And I knew I was being selfish for
thinking of my happiness and what I wanted to see before thinking of my mom’s
happiness(Rep 4 effect).
Age 14 going on 15
soon and from time to time I still hear the late night arguments, now I try and
help out but I don’t solve the problem. I still think about my years as a young
child and my definition of a perfect family to be a family that stays together.
However, the real definition of a perfect family is the family who is simply
happy.
Q3 Benchmark:
The Odyssey
Compare/Contrast Essay
For this piece we had to compare and contrast the Odyssey to a different piece of art. It could have been a character or and event.
Penny and Penelope
both face issues with their husbands and differently with the suitors, Penny is
engaged and Penelope has to deal with 140+ suitors. Vernon T. Waldrip is
Penelope’s fiancé while Penny has not yet chosen a suitor for which she wants
to marry. Both suitors show to be a threat to Everett and Odysseus and both in
a different way challenge Everett and Odysseus’s lives. Even though Vernon T.
Waldrip and the suitors seem the same, Penny and Penelope deal with them differently,
which makes Waldrip a stronger suitor and foe.
Vernon T. Waldrip
from “O Brother Where out thou” and the suitors from “The Odyssey” both have
similar situations. They’re both suitors to Penny and Penelope but neither
actually marries Penny and Penelope.They might not have gotten married but they’re still threats to Everett
and Odysseus. Vernon T. Waldrip was practically taking Everett’s family away
from him and Everett’s kids thought that Everett died from a train accident.
Even after Everett was in front of his children and Penny still tried to
convince them he died in a train accident. As for the suitors they also wanted
to marry Penelope and take Odysseus’s family from him. Penelope finished it off; she
can’t seem to avoid the suitors. In book 19 Penelope says, "So I finished it off. Against my
will they forced me. And now I cant escape a marriage, nor can I contrive a
deft way out"(Book 19 Lines 175,177).Yet the suitors wanted to marry
Penelope for power not for love. Even though the suitors did not get to marry
Penelope if Odysseus did not get there in time he would have lost his wife like
Everett could have lost his wife the next day.
Both
Suitors get close to marriage but finish off differently.Vernon T. Waldrip proposed to Penny and
they scheduled to get married the day after Everett showed up, while Penelope
only wanted Odysseus and did not want to accept the fact that she might had to
have gotten married to one of 140+ suitors at her house. Penelope challenged
the suitors for her grooms place knowing the only person who could pass the
challenge was Odysseus.In Book
19, she reveals her plan to Eurycleia, saying, “Now I will bring them on as a trial for my suitors. The hand that can
string the bow with greatest ease, that shoots an arrow clean through all
twelve axes- He's the man I follow, yes, forsaking his house where I was once a
bride, this gracious house."(Book 19 Lines 648,652). With this hard
task Penelope believes that none of the suitors will be able to even get past
the first step. Therefore delaying the marriage with her suitors for hope that
Odysseus would return. While on the other hand Penny did not care and figured
Everett was not going to return which made her unfaithful, becoming Vernon T.
Waldrip’s fiancé. Though Everett was the father of Penny’s children she found
Vernon T. Waldrip to be “Bonafide” a guy who can offer more to her kids than
Everett could. While, the suitors had nothing to offer to Penelope and nothing
the suitors could possibly do would make Penelope be unfaithful.
Over 140 suitors
fighting 6 other men makes it seem like an unfair battle. Yet the suitor’s lack
of knowledge and strength makes every single one of them died. The suitors
proved that they don’t compare to Odysseus when it comes to battle and
knowledge they all thought that since they had armor surrounding them that it
would be easy but Odysseus was smarter. Once Odysseus shot Antinous the rest of
the suitors were in shock and scared that Odysseus has returned. As in book 22
the narrator describes them and says “Terror gripped them all, blanches their
faces white, each man glancing wildly-how to escape this instant death” (Book
22 Lines 43,44). At this point suitors are aware that Odysseus is not going to
let them off that easy. While on the other hand Vernon T. Waldrip’s proves he
is the better man when he fights Everett and wins. Vernon T. Waldrip won the
fight in less than 3 minutes leaving Everett to look like he is not good enough
to compare to making Penny’s choice of husband clearer. The suitors at that
point didn’t have a chance against Odysseus and he got to keep his wife as soon
as the battle was over as to Everett he still had more work to do to get Vernon
T. Waldrip away from his Family and regain his life back.
Penny and Penelope
deal with their suitors differently, but even though they seem the same, Vernon
T. Waldrip is a stronger suitor and foe. Vernon T. Waldrip defeats Everett in
their meet and makes Penny not regret her choice. The suitors lose 6 to 140
plus making Odysseus the better man for his wife and no suitor can take his
place.
Creative Piece:
Me Mag
Me mag is a magazine we did at the beginning of the year that had to include articles and even advertisements. This is one of my favorite pieces because we were able to design this to our choice and show who we are.
Click image to view full magazine
Independent Reading Review
For this project we chose a book 2 times a year and wrote a review on it. I chose my most recent book review because its the one I'm most proud of.
Blue moon is a fantasy novel and
was written by #1 New York Times
bestselling author Alyson Noel. Blue Moon was published on July 7, 2009 by St.
Martin’s Press and is the second book of the immortal series preceded by
“Evermore” and followed by “Shadowland”. Blue Moon got praised “Publishers
weekly bestseller”, An international bestseller, Deputed at #1 on the New York
Times Best sellers list, Deputed at #14 on the USA Today Best sellers list and
nominated “Children’s book council’s best book of 2009”.
Blue
Moon deals with a 16-year-old girl named Ever bloom that can see people’s auras
and get they’re entire history by on touch because she is immortal. Ever is now
learning to control her power as they grow but her love Damen Auguste has
become ill and is losing all his power and becoming mortal to the point where
he dies. Ever is willing to do anything to save Damen. While she is on her
journey to the beautiful dimension of Summerland where time does not matter,
she learns much. She finds out she can get her family back from their death in
the car accident and also discovers Damens horrible past. Through out her
journeys to Summerland she meets 2 twins who are there to help Ever in her journey
and deciding right from wrong. The Blue Moon is the answer to all her problems
now she is to decide between getting her family back and the love of her life.
She then decided her family but it only last to the point where the accident
reoccurs and she is back to the life she left. Ever than saves Damen from the
illness with an antidote she found in Summerland having only hours left before
he died.
Blue
Moon has many interesting characters such as the main character Ever bloom and
the lover of her life Damen Auguste. Damen Auguste is also an immortal in the
book.During this novel Damen is
ill but not in a sick way he is possessed by Roman who is seeking revenge on
Ever for killing Drina and is hurting what Ever loves most. Roman was in love
with Damens ex wife Drina but once Drina died he planed his revenge in a clever
way. Romy and Rayne are twin girls who have been helping Ever with her task to
save Damen in Summerland. Miles and Haven are Evers best friends who also get
possessed along with the entire school by Roman. My favorite character would
have to be Roman not because he was the “villain” in this case but because he
was so clever. He was able to gain Ever’s trust and destroy her with that, he
possessed an entire school and almost got away with his plan. He played it off
when he acted that he did not know Ever was the one who killed Drina but he
knew all along. Readers my age or readers who have similar issues should take
in the “problem solver” the way Alyson Noel set these characters to solve their
problems.
Through
out the book I felt as if I could relate to Ever. Not with the powers or her
undying lover for Damen but for how she would do anything to save Damen. If I
put myself in that situation and changed Damen for one of my parents I know I
would go to any lengths to try and save them.I also understood why Ever chose her family to Damen. Ever
needed her Family, love comes and goes but family is forever. Throughout most
of the book I tried putting my self in Evers situations and my heart would just
break sometimes. While Ever began to explain how much she missed her parents
after she got to be with them once more I began to cry because I thought of how
I would feel I wasn’t to able to see my parents again. It opened my eyes into
really appreciating what I have.
I
enjoyed this book very much it keeps the reader wanting more. After I finished
reading “Evermore” I began Blue Moon as soon as possible and loved every page
of it. Alyson Noel exceeded my expectations and gave the book twists I never
would have thought would occur. The only weakness of this book is that Alyson
Noel had Ever give it away to easily, on something being wrong about Roman.
After noticing Ever kept repeating, “there’s something odd about Roman” I began
to notice Roman was the problem of all that was occurring. A strength about
this book was that while Alyson Noel was giving it away about Roman she was
also twisting my mind and making it more of a question than a statement if
Roman was the problem.
I recommend this
book to all teenagers and adults as well. The love between Ever and Damen is
what brings the entire book alive. Their history, their ways of solving their
problems makes you want to live it yourself. The way Ever feels about herself
with the power she now gains shows the reader an entirely different point of
view in life.This book takes you
to new levels in reading and nobody should miss out on the love and exciting
fantasy this novel has to offer.
Journals
Throughout the year we have days where we get to class and just get into our journals. Some days we have questions to answer and others are free write. Below are 4 journal entries I have chosen.
Journal #1
1-25-11
There are many different ways to know that you’re an adult.
You can go the legal way, which that is 21 years old and older. Or my way which
is when you mature enough reach an appropriate age and you’re your own person.
In my opinion I feel that each person has there own moment of becoming and
adult. Some people mature faster than others and become an adult when their
ready to become one. For example when they’re ready to take care of their own
lives and make the right choices. For others the moment of becoming an adult is
the legal way even though the person is not ready for the responsibility the
title adult has.
Journal #2
2-16-11
As a young child I had trouble with a friend that a lot of
other people did not like. I don’t remember exactly what the situation was but
of what I remember I know she lied of something I did. One night I was on 3
line with 2 of my other friends and a conversation about her started. My
friends pressured me into calling the girl but when she didn’t pick they
decided to leave a voicemail. One of the girls who was on the 3 line said “I
hope you die see you on the other side”. After being called into the principles
office the next day at school I got blamed for my friend’s actions since my
number came upon their caller id. Hardest part about all this was facing my mom
knowing that no one would believe me and I would do the crime.
Impossible task: Facing my mom after I knew she felt
ashamed.
Journal #3
3-16-11
The way your environment shapes who you become is by the
inspiration you get from it. The way my environment shapes is me is the people
I hang out with more common called my friends. The friends you hang out with
depend who you are. If you hang out with school hating, smoke loving friends
than you’re not headed off to a good future. Yet if you hang around the right
people that will push you into doing the right things than any time soon your
going to do the right things on your own and helping others into making the
right choices.For example in 6th
grade I was a straight A student than came 7th and 8th
grade and my friends change I went to an A and B student with a couple C’s. I
knew my choice in friends weren’t good but it was fun. At times I knew I was
doing the wrong thing but most teenagers don’t want to seem like “lames’ in
front of their friends. Now High school I have a variety of friends I mostly
became my own person. I have the “Lets cut class” friends and the “I have to
get my work done but still have fun with it” friends.
Journal #4
4.5.11
An expectation put upon me by my parents is that I’m always
going to get good grades. Though I know I’m capable of it I also know I’m human
and I have flaws. In the 6th grade I had straight A’s and only one B
through out the entire report card by the end of the year. Now my mom believes
that if I don’t get A’s it’s a very bad thing.I try not to let my parents down I always want them to see
the best in me an I be the child they wanted, and when I know I haven’t met my
parents expectations it tares me up inside. Yet now I’m starting to learn that
they want me to try my hardest but they also understand its hard to always do
it all when you a whole bunch of stuff to deal with.
As
a 9th grade English student I feel that my portfolio shows the
growth I have made since I first became a 9th grade English student.
When I first entered English 9 I would constantly make grammar mistakes, my
sentences would sometimes not make sense, and I had trouble with expanding on
topic than just writing 3 or 4 sentences as a paragraph. Now that I leave
English 9 I make minimal grammar mistakes, my vocabulary grew, I revise my work
about 4 times until I find it sounds perfect and my paragraphs aren’t
paragraphs until they have exceeded 8 sentences or more. Looking back at all my
old projects and looking at the one I recently did I can see the growth and the
person I came to be. Through out this class I have also seen a change in my
self. I’ve noticed that I have begun to see things from a different
perspective. I have grown as a person, mentally and physically.
When others see my work I hope that
they understand the point that I’m trying to get across. More importantly I
want the viewer to get any reflection to myself that I have done. When I write
I always try to reflect back to myself depending the situation. If it’s writing
about myself then I try to see things from a different point of view.Also I want the reader to understand
how self-assured I felt about my piece of writing.
Through
out English 9 my strengths are being able to expand on my writing and being
able to adapt to the new vocabulary they the English 9 had to introduce to me
to enhance my writing vocabulary and just in general. My weaknesses are dealing
with the parts of speech which I have trouble remembering which part of speech
goes with which word. I would like to work on the part of speech and also I
would like to work on being able to write conclusions.
Going
back through my portfolio it gave me a chance to see how much I’ve really grown
and the challenges that I overcame with myself. Now that I actually reflect on
myself I notice that the way I’m leaving English 9 is not the same way I
entered I’m more confident in myself and I’m prepared for what 10th
grade may have for me. While making my portfolio I had issues with revising one
of my benchmarks that involved me re-doing most of my work. From my point of
view I felt that there was no point in re-doing it if I had already gotten a
good grade but I though about it and I know I’m capable of doing better.
There’s always room for improvement. I stayed positive and was able to revise
all my work and feel proud of myself.
The
piece I’m most proud of is the 3rd Benchmark where we had to compare
and contrast the Odyssey. It’s my most proud piece because it’s the piece I was
most enthusiastic about and the piece I really took my time to do and tried my
hardest. I tried hard on all my benchmarks but there’s some things that if
people are interested in their going to give their all into it. While I was doing this project I felt
that once I began writing I didn’t want to stop.
Q1 Benchmark:
Macbeth Character Analysis
For this project we analyzed a character from Macbeth and we had to write a thesis statement and prove it with quotes from the book/play. This was our first benchmark and its piece I happen to be very proud of.
Thesis: ‘’Lady Macbeth begins from
stopping at nothing to get what she wants, to dying from what she had’’.
In Act 1 scene 5 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth had
recently received a letter from Macbeth stating his recent meet with the weird
sisters and how they hailed him Thane of Cawdor, and King. As the messenger
brings news of King Duncan joining them for dinner that following night, Lady
Macbeth begins her soliloquy saying ‘’Come, you spirits that tend on mortal
thoughts, unsex me here’’ (Act 1, scene 5, lines 39-40). What Lady Macbeth
means is that she wants to be less of a woman and a strong as a man. She wants
to be able to feel no guilt and have no second thoughts on her evil deeds
therefore showing her charisma.
In Act 1 scene 5 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth begins
here ways into royalty. She’s telling Macbeth of her rigid plan and is sighting
move by move of his deed is to be. She wants him to ‘’Look like th’ innocent
flower, but be the serpent under’t’’ (Act 1, scene 5, 64-65). In other words
she wants him to make Duncan feel as in trust but inside be the demon that will
show. Lady Macbeth wants to seem as innocent as she was before the death and
after for no suspicion. Even though it might not be as easy for Macbeth.
In Act 1 scene 7 of Macbeth, Macbeth doesn’t
want to continue on with the bad deed. He wants to enjoy his honors and not
risk losing them so quick with such repulsive acts. Lady Macbeth notices she
must act fast in order to get what she wants and begins to use her feminine
sexuality to go her way.She
begins to put Macbeth in a position where he isn’t man enough to proceed with
his deeds. Specifically she says ‘’and live a coward in thin own esteem,
letting ‘’I dare not’’ wait upon ‘’I would,’’ ’’ (Act 1, scene 7, lines 43-44).
She is insulting his manhood in able for him to get frustrated and Macbeth
yields to her just to prove her wrong. Lady Macbeth is at the point where she
wants nothing to go wrong with her plans and will go at any lengths to get what
she wants.
In Act 2 scene 2 of Macbeth, Macbeth has just
killed Duncan and he regrets his deed. His hands are filled with blood and is
still holding the daggers that were suppose to be put with the guards.Macbeth regrets his acts and believes
the guilt will live on with him. Meanwhile Lady Macbeth is correcting his
mistakes and is ashamed. She says ‘’ My Hands are of your color, but I shame to
wear a heart so white’’ (Act 2, scene 2, lines 67-68). What she means here is
that her hands are bloody to but she shames to have her guilt show out with
such ease. This indicates that Lady Macbeth at this point has no heart and is
going at all lengths to fulfill her plans.
After being crowned in Act 3 scene 2 of Macbeth,
Macbeth is keeping stuff to himself, having sad thoughts, having nightmares,
and still is guilty. He is also scared of the fact that Banquo is suspicious
and decides to kill him without telling Lady Macbeth. In this case Lady Macbeth
to tell him ‘’Things without all remedy should be without regard. What’s done
is done’’ (Act 3, scene 2, lines 12-13).She’s trying to explain to him that if there’s no way to fix your
mistake than don’t keep thinking about it.
In Act 5 scene 1 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has
been sleepwalking and unaware of being watched. The Gentlewoman and the doctor
are both waiting for Lady Macbeth to see her night actions. Lady Macbeth walks
in with a candle, eyes open but sleeping. The doctor us confused and asks where
did she get a candle from is she is asleep. The Gentlewoman responds ‘’Why, it
stood by her. She has light by her continually. ‘Tis he command.’’ (Act 5,
scene 1, lines 22-23).The reason
for Lady Macbeth to demand a candle by her at all time is because she’s scared
of the dark. Lady Macbeth is guilty.
In Act 5 scene 1 of Macbeth, The Gentlewoman and
the doctor are watching Lady Macbeth as she continued her weird acts. Lady
Macbeth Gets out of bed; Gets paper, Folds it writes on it, reads it, seals it,
Rubs hands, and talks as if someone were with her. As she speaks she says ‘’
yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? ‘’
(Act 5, scene 1, lines 38-39).Lady Macbeth is talking of when Macbeth killed Duncan and she seen all
the blood. She partially reveals that Macbeth killed Duncan to the Doctor.
In Act 5 scene 1 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth had
just revealed some shocking news while she is sleepwalking. She reveals this to
the doctor and the Gentlewoman and both are shocked. Lady Macbeth talks about Duncan,
she speaks as if she were talking to Macbeth and he were there letting most
there secrets out.The Doctor is
surprised and tells the Gentlewoman ‘’Go to, go to! You have known what you
should not‘’ (Act 5, scene 1, lines 46-47).The doctor begins to notice the lies that have been going on
and knows he heard what he was not supposed to hear.
Act 5 scene 1 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth goes to
bed and the Doctor analyzed her actions and came to a conclusion. The doctor is
speaking to the Gentlewoman and confirms that Lady Macbeth has gone insane and
has a disease. He tells the Gentlewoman ‘’my mind she has mated, and amazed my
sight’’ (Act 5, scene 1, lines 77).The Doctor is amazed from what he has heard and seen. He thinks there’s
it could be something evil, but it more than what he can do.
Act 5 scene 8 of Macbeth, The Battle had just
ended and everyone is hailing Malcolm King of Scotland. Malcolm killed Macbeth
for name of his title, King. He reveals the way of lady Macbeth death due to her
insanity. In His speech he says ‘’ who, as ‘tis thought, by self and violent
hands took off her life’’ (Act 5, scene 8, lines 70-71). In other words, Lady
Macbeth committed suicide due to her disease.
Lady Macbeth began from going at any lengths to
get what she wants. Slowly she turned insane throughout the time from the
guilt.
Q2 Benchmark:
Memoir Vignette
This was our second benchmark and also was the benchmark we had to work the hardest on. For this piece we had to craft a memoir vignette and use stylistic devices.
Perfect Disassemble
At 6 years old
all you want to see around you is happiness(Opener). At the age of 6 I was
a very happy child. I had my mom, dad, sister, brother, nephew, and brother’s
wife with me.We all lived
together in the same apartment in New York City. 2 bedrooms and 7 people the
highlight of my life! (Humor)My brother and sister decided to have children at a young age while
still living with my parents.In
my opinion that was not the best decision they could have made.My brother and I got along great while
on the other hand my sister and I were like two bombs about to explode, but
being the youngest child had its advantages. As the youngest child in my
family I was the spoiled one and boy did I love it! (Humor) My friends
would always came over my house because I was the one who had the best toys or
the coolest things, those I love you daddy’s paid off (Humor).
I
have always seen my family to be the perfect family. Though no family is
perfect that’s how I saw it in my eyes. When I was 8 my brother began moving in
and out. Eventually my brother got divorced with the mother of his first child.
Who said young parenting would be easy. Ending up living in his own apartment
my brother left our home to my sister, my parents, and I.In this time my dad had kidney disease
and was on dialysis for 6 months in need of kidney transplant but he was not
able to find anyone who was the same blood type. My mom wanted to give a kidney
to my dad, but wasn’t compatible. After the 6 months my dad’s doctor found two
brothers named Sean and Kensley who were going through the same problem. Sean
needed the Kidney transplant and Kensley wanted to donate his kidney to his
brother but were not the same blood type. After many tests the doctors came to
realize my dad was compatible with Kensley and Sean was compatible with my mom.
There was a miracle given from god.
At age 10 I became
the aunt of my sister’s son Anthony. He was born with asthma, murmur, 7 UTI’s, classification
in his kidney, and high blood pressure It’s an everyday struggle for him, a
child full of energy and intelligent somehow makes he is able to make his way
through the day. My sister still lives with us but in a room my dad made by
putting a wall half way through the living room. My sister didn’t get to finish
college because of her pregnancy but is well looking forward to finishing
college when she has more time.My
sister and I still clash but we put our differences aside because of the new addition
to the family we continue to be the perfect family, even without having my
brother around as much.
At
the age of 12 kids get excited to enter their teen years. Having more
freedom is more fun than sitting in my room playing tea party with Mr.Snuggles
(Humor). But there’s one difference of this age than all the other ones,
have been living in Philadelphia for 1 year now. We moved when I was 11 because
my mom wanted a change. She wanted her own house and a different environment.
My perfect family had disassembled slowly. My sister lived In New York City
with my brother but in different parts, my parents and I lived in Philadelphia
2 hours away from happiness.Yet I
see a disassembled family I had to realize I still had my parents and that’s
still perfect to me.
Age
13 and the perfect family involved having the perfect parents. From time to
time my parents would argue about the dumbest things, but I didn’t want to face
the chances of an imperfect family and would ignore all the arguments. One late
night my dad was making coffee and they started arguing on that my mom said she
didn’t want coffee and my dad got smart. This is where the 8oz bag of coffee
really began the drama (Humor). My mom stormed out the kitchen and ran
upstairs. Next thing I know my mom’s coming down the stairs with her coat and a
bag of clothes. Knowing we didn’t have anyone in Philadelphia I started getting
scared and started crying because I knew what was going to happen next in this
scene. I knew my mom would do anything to make me happy so I cried and cried
for hours and begged her to stay until finally she decided to stay but didn’t
forgive my father. Although I got to see my perfect family again I knew the
happiness surrounding my perfect family was gone. I knew my mother was staying
because of me but her heart was not in it. And I knew I was being selfish for
thinking of my happiness and what I wanted to see before thinking of my mom’s
happiness(Rep 4 effect).
Age 14 going on 15
soon and from time to time I still hear the late night arguments, now I try and
help out but I don’t solve the problem. I still think about my years as a young
child and my definition of a perfect family to be a family that stays together.
However, the real definition of a perfect family is the family who is simply
happy.
Q3 Benchmark:
The Odyssey
Compare/Contrast Essay
For this piece we had to compare and contrast the Odyssey to a different piece of art. It could have been a character or and event.
Penny and Penelope
both face issues with their husbands and differently with the suitors, Penny is
engaged and Penelope has to deal with 140+ suitors. Vernon T. Waldrip is
Penelope’s fiancé while Penny has not yet chosen a suitor for which she wants
to marry. Both suitors show to be a threat to Everett and Odysseus and both in
a different way challenge Everett and Odysseus’s lives. Even though Vernon T.
Waldrip and the suitors seem the same, Penny and Penelope deal with them differently,
which makes Waldrip a stronger suitor and foe.
Vernon T. Waldrip
from “O Brother Where out thou” and the suitors from “The Odyssey” both have
similar situations. They’re both suitors to Penny and Penelope but neither
actually marries Penny and Penelope.They might not have gotten married but they’re still threats to Everett
and Odysseus. Vernon T. Waldrip was practically taking Everett’s family away
from him and Everett’s kids thought that Everett died from a train accident.
Even after Everett was in front of his children and Penny still tried to
convince them he died in a train accident. As for the suitors they also wanted
to marry Penelope and take Odysseus’s family from him.
Penelope finished it off; she
can’t seem to avoid the suitors. In book 19 Penelope says, "So I finished it off. Against my
will they forced me. And now I cant escape a marriage, nor can I contrive a
deft way out"(Book 19 Lines 175,177).Yet the suitors wanted to marry
Penelope for power not for love. Even though the suitors did not get to marry
Penelope if Odysseus did not get there in time he would have lost his wife like
Everett could have lost his wife the next day.
Both
Suitors get close to marriage but finish off differently.Vernon T. Waldrip proposed to Penny and
they scheduled to get married the day after Everett showed up, while Penelope
only wanted Odysseus and did not want to accept the fact that she might had to
have gotten married to one of 140+ suitors at her house. Penelope challenged
the suitors for her grooms place knowing the only person who could pass the
challenge was Odysseus.In Book
19, she reveals her plan to Eurycleia, saying, “Now I will bring them on as a trial for my suitors. The hand that can
string the bow with greatest ease, that shoots an arrow clean through all
twelve axes- He's the man I follow, yes, forsaking his house where I was once a
bride, this gracious house."(Book 19 Lines 648,652). With this hard
task Penelope believes that none of the suitors will be able to even get past
the first step. Therefore delaying the marriage with her suitors for hope that
Odysseus would return. While on the other hand Penny did not care and figured
Everett was not going to return which made her unfaithful, becoming Vernon T.
Waldrip’s fiancé. Though Everett was the father of Penny’s children she found
Vernon T. Waldrip to be “Bonafide” a guy who can offer more to her kids than
Everett could. While, the suitors had nothing to offer to Penelope and nothing
the suitors could possibly do would make Penelope be unfaithful.
Over 140 suitors
fighting 6 other men makes it seem like an unfair battle. Yet the suitor’s lack
of knowledge and strength makes every single one of them died. The suitors
proved that they don’t compare to Odysseus when it comes to battle and
knowledge they all thought that since they had armor surrounding them that it
would be easy but Odysseus was smarter. Once Odysseus shot Antinous the rest of
the suitors were in shock and scared that Odysseus has returned. As in book 22
the narrator describes them and says “Terror gripped them all, blanches their
faces white, each man glancing wildly-how to escape this instant death” (Book
22 Lines 43,44). At this point suitors are aware that Odysseus is not going to
let them off that easy. While on the other hand Vernon T. Waldrip’s proves he
is the better man when he fights Everett and wins. Vernon T. Waldrip won the
fight in less than 3 minutes leaving Everett to look like he is not good enough
to compare to making Penny’s choice of husband clearer. The suitors at that
point didn’t have a chance against Odysseus and he got to keep his wife as soon
as the battle was over as to Everett he still had more work to do to get Vernon
T. Waldrip away from his Family and regain his life back.
Penny and Penelope
deal with their suitors differently, but even though they seem the same, Vernon
T. Waldrip is a stronger suitor and foe. Vernon T. Waldrip defeats Everett in
their meet and makes Penny not regret her choice. The suitors lose 6 to 140
plus making Odysseus the better man for his wife and no suitor can take his
place.
Creative Piece:
Me Mag
Me mag is a magazine we did at the beginning of the year that had to include articles and even advertisements. This is one of my favorite pieces because we were able to design this to our choice and show who we are.
Independent Reading Review
For this project we chose a book 2 times a year and wrote a review on it. I chose my most recent book review because its the one I'm most proud of.
Blue moon is a fantasy novel and
was written by #1 New York Times
bestselling author Alyson Noel. Blue Moon was published on July 7, 2009 by St.
Martin’s Press and is the second book of the immortal series preceded by
“Evermore” and followed by “Shadowland”. Blue Moon got praised “Publishers
weekly bestseller”, An international bestseller, Deputed at #1 on the New York
Times Best sellers list, Deputed at #14 on the USA Today Best sellers list and
nominated “Children’s book council’s best book of 2009”.
Blue
Moon deals with a 16-year-old girl named Ever bloom that can see people’s auras
and get they’re entire history by on touch because she is immortal. Ever is now
learning to control her power as they grow but her love Damen Auguste has
become ill and is losing all his power and becoming mortal to the point where
he dies. Ever is willing to do anything to save Damen. While she is on her
journey to the beautiful dimension of Summerland where time does not matter,
she learns much. She finds out she can get her family back from their death in
the car accident and also discovers Damens horrible past. Through out her
journeys to Summerland she meets 2 twins who are there to help Ever in her journey
and deciding right from wrong. The Blue Moon is the answer to all her problems
now she is to decide between getting her family back and the love of her life.
She then decided her family but it only last to the point where the accident
reoccurs and she is back to the life she left. Ever than saves Damen from the
illness with an antidote she found in Summerland having only hours left before
he died.
Blue
Moon has many interesting characters such as the main character Ever bloom and
the lover of her life Damen Auguste. Damen Auguste is also an immortal in the
book.During this novel Damen is
ill but not in a sick way he is possessed by Roman who is seeking revenge on
Ever for killing Drina and is hurting what Ever loves most. Roman was in love
with Damens ex wife Drina but once Drina died he planed his revenge in a clever
way. Romy and Rayne are twin girls who have been helping Ever with her task to
save Damen in Summerland. Miles and Haven are Evers best friends who also get
possessed along with the entire school by Roman. My favorite character would
have to be Roman not because he was the “villain” in this case but because he
was so clever. He was able to gain Ever’s trust and destroy her with that, he
possessed an entire school and almost got away with his plan. He played it off
when he acted that he did not know Ever was the one who killed Drina but he
knew all along. Readers my age or readers who have similar issues should take
in the “problem solver” the way Alyson Noel set these characters to solve their
problems.
Through
out the book I felt as if I could relate to Ever. Not with the powers or her
undying lover for Damen but for how she would do anything to save Damen. If I
put myself in that situation and changed Damen for one of my parents I know I
would go to any lengths to try and save them.I also understood why Ever chose her family to Damen. Ever
needed her Family, love comes and goes but family is forever. Throughout most
of the book I tried putting my self in Evers situations and my heart would just
break sometimes. While Ever began to explain how much she missed her parents
after she got to be with them once more I began to cry because I thought of how
I would feel I wasn’t to able to see my parents again. It opened my eyes into
really appreciating what I have.
I
enjoyed this book very much it keeps the reader wanting more. After I finished
reading “Evermore” I began Blue Moon as soon as possible and loved every page
of it. Alyson Noel exceeded my expectations and gave the book twists I never
would have thought would occur. The only weakness of this book is that Alyson
Noel had Ever give it away to easily, on something being wrong about Roman.
After noticing Ever kept repeating, “there’s something odd about Roman” I began
to notice Roman was the problem of all that was occurring. A strength about
this book was that while Alyson Noel was giving it away about Roman she was
also twisting my mind and making it more of a question than a statement if
Roman was the problem.
I recommend this
book to all teenagers and adults as well. The love between Ever and Damen is
what brings the entire book alive. Their history, their ways of solving their
problems makes you want to live it yourself. The way Ever feels about herself
with the power she now gains shows the reader an entirely different point of
view in life.This book takes you
to new levels in reading and nobody should miss out on the love and exciting
fantasy this novel has to offer.
Journals
Throughout the year we have days where we get to class and just get into our journals. Some days we have questions to answer and others are free write. Below are 4 journal entries I have chosen.
Journal #1
1-25-11
There are many different ways to know that you’re an adult.
You can go the legal way, which that is 21 years old and older. Or my way which
is when you mature enough reach an appropriate age and you’re your own person.
In my opinion I feel that each person has there own moment of becoming and
adult. Some people mature faster than others and become an adult when their
ready to become one. For example when they’re ready to take care of their own
lives and make the right choices. For others the moment of becoming an adult is
the legal way even though the person is not ready for the responsibility the
title adult has.
Journal #2
2-16-11
As a young child I had trouble with a friend that a lot of
other people did not like. I don’t remember exactly what the situation was but
of what I remember I know she lied of something I did. One night I was on 3
line with 2 of my other friends and a conversation about her started. My
friends pressured me into calling the girl but when she didn’t pick they
decided to leave a voicemail. One of the girls who was on the 3 line said “I
hope you die see you on the other side”. After being called into the principles
office the next day at school I got blamed for my friend’s actions since my
number came upon their caller id. Hardest part about all this was facing my mom
knowing that no one would believe me and I would do the crime.
Impossible task: Facing my mom after I knew she felt
ashamed.
Journal #3
3-16-11
The way your environment shapes who you become is by the
inspiration you get from it. The way my environment shapes is me is the people
I hang out with more common called my friends. The friends you hang out with
depend who you are. If you hang out with school hating, smoke loving friends
than you’re not headed off to a good future. Yet if you hang around the right
people that will push you into doing the right things than any time soon your
going to do the right things on your own and helping others into making the
right choices.For example in 6th
grade I was a straight A student than came 7th and 8th
grade and my friends change I went to an A and B student with a couple C’s. I
knew my choice in friends weren’t good but it was fun. At times I knew I was
doing the wrong thing but most teenagers don’t want to seem like “lames’ in
front of their friends. Now High school I have a variety of friends I mostly
became my own person. I have the “Lets cut class” friends and the “I have to
get my work done but still have fun with it” friends.
Journal #4
4.5.11
An expectation put upon me by my parents is that I’m always
going to get good grades. Though I know I’m capable of it I also know I’m human
and I have flaws. In the 6th grade I had straight A’s and only one B
through out the entire report card by the end of the year. Now my mom believes
that if I don’t get A’s it’s a very bad thing.I try not to let my parents down I always want them to see
the best in me an I be the child they wanted, and when I know I haven’t met my
parents expectations it tares me up inside. Yet now I’m starting to learn that
they want me to try my hardest but they also understand its hard to always do
it all when you a whole bunch of stuff to deal with.
For my independent reading choice, I chose "The evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly. It was a surprisingly captivating book. Kelly incorporated a lot of problems young women faced back in the 19th century which interested me because the wide difference form then to now.
Victoria Yarbrough
December 27, 2010
English ClassThe Evolution of Culpurnia Tate.
Book Review.
Book: The Evolution Of Calpurnia Tate.
Author: Jacqueline Kelly
Winner of the ‘Newberry Honor’
Calpurnia Virginia Tate is the only girl out of seven brothers growing up
in rural Texas at the turn of the last century. (1899) Calpurnia’s mother is
trying to teach her how to become a young woman so that she can find a suitable
husband when she gets older. However, Calpurnia would rather spend her time
observing insects, animals, and plants. She wants to become a scientist, but is
restricted by the sexist ways of her town and family. The only person that
believes in her and wants to help her is her grandfather. He is a naturalist
him self and sees potential in the young Calpurnia. As their relationship
grows, Calpurnia’s grandfather teaches her how to become an avid naturalist. He
believes that young women should be educated academically and should not have
to worry about things like ‘posture’ and ‘sewing’.
Personally, my favorite character would be the main character Calpurnia,
seeing things from her point of view really hit home for me. It shows her
feelings towards a situation that may be looked at differently from someone
else’s point of view. It is interesting reading the way she feels about
situations. This book is a prime example of the saying “Just because you are a
girl does not mean that you should not pursue your dreams”.
I my self can partially relate to Calpurnia. When I was younger people
would tell me “All a woman needs to learn how to do is cook and clean and
she’ll be alright”. That enraged me even at a young age. Women have so much
more potential and can do anything that a man can. I love science which is
another reason why this book spoke to me, I too like Calpurnia, love to look at
living organisms and study them.
I liked this book. The author did a really good job of emphasizing that
girls don’t have to learn about the Domestic aspects of life to succeed. I felt
the need for a romantic interest in this book, it seems like a challenge to fit
one in this particular story. However, if there was one, that would make me
appreciate it the book even more. Also, science remained one of the main ideas
throughout the book; I think that will sit well with science lovers who are
looking for a thrill.
I would recommend this book to other people. However, the book may only
take to girls who are older than 10 years old. It is a fun way to learn a
lesson about pursuing your dreams and exceeding past expectations.
Revision:
Victoria Yarbrough
May 19, 2011
English ClassThe Evolution of Culpurnia Tate.
Book Report.
Book: The Evolution Of Calpurnia Tate.
Author: Jacqueline Kelly
Winner of the ‘Newberry Honor’
Calpurnia Virginia Tate is the only girl out of seven
brothers growing up in rural Texas at the turn of the last century. (1899)
Calpurnia’s mother is trying to teach her how to become a young woman so that
she can find a suitable husband when she gets older. However, Calpurnia would
rather spend her time observing insects, animals, and plants. She wants to
become a scientist, but is restricted by the sexist ways of her town and
family. The only person that believes in her and wants to help her is her
grandfather. He is a naturalist him self and sees potential in the young
Calpurnia. As their relationship grows, Calpurnia’s grandfather teaches her how
to become an avid naturalist. He believes that young women should be educated
academically and should not have to worry about things like ‘posture’ and
‘sewing’.The idea of a girl’s
academic success being more important than her domestic abilities became the
main conflict.
Personally, my favorite character would be the main
character Calpurnia, seeing things from her point of view really hit home for
me. It shows her feelings towards a situation that may be looked at differently
from someone else’s point of view. It is interesting reading the way she feels
about situations. This book is a prime example of the saying “Just because you
are a girl does not mean that you should not pursue your dreams”.
I my self can partially relate to Calpurnia. When I was
younger people would tell me “All a woman needs to learn how to do is cook and
clean and she’ll be alright”. That enraged me even at a young age. Women have
so much more potential and can do anything that a man can. I love science which
is another reason why this book spoke to me, I too like Calpurnia, love to look
at living organisms and study them.
I liked this book. The author did a really good job of emphasizing
that girls don’t have to learn about the domestic aspects of life to succeed. I
felt the need for a romantic interest in this book, it seems like a challenge
to fit one in this particular story. However, if there was one, that would make
me appreciate it the book even more. Also, science remained one of the main
ideas throughout the book; I think that will sit well with science lovers who
are looking for a thrill.
I would recommend this book to other people. However, the
book may only take to girls who are older than 10 years old and younger than 18
. It is a fun way to learn a lesson about pursuing your dreams and exceeding
past expectations and sexist stereotypes.
The Odyssey and O' Brother Where Art Thou is what our Quarter 3 Benchmark was about. We read the Odyssey and then compared it to the movie O' Brother Where Art Thou. O' Brother Where Art Thou was suppose to be based off of the Odyssey. For out benchmark, we had to compare either the book and the movie, characters, the book/movie to another movie. I picked Polyphemus from The Odyssey and Big Dan Teague from O' Brother Where Art Thou. Here it is!
Polyphemus vs. Big Dan Teague
While “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”and “The Odyssey”
are set in two different times and are from two different points of view, there
are some major similarities and differences between events and characters. Both
“O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “The Odyssey” are stories
that describe a man’s journey home with the help of his crew, meeting different
people, creatures, and triumphing over various obstacles. Although, the episode
with Polyphemus and Big Dan Teague are set in different times, they both have
some likenesses. Polyphemus is an antagonist in the book “The Odyssey”; he lives on an island that Odysseus comes to
with his men. Big Dan Teague is an antagonist in the movie “O’ Brother Where Art Thou,” that
Odysseus meets with his men.
Polyphemus beat up
Odysseus and his men, much like when Big Dan Teague beat up Everett and Delmar,
while in the beginning of the movie/book that were kind. fgbh. Big Dan Teague
greeted Everett and Delmar politely when he came up to them in the restaurant
and then invited them onto a picnic.However, Odysseus and his men snuck into Polyphemus’s cave uninvited,
but Polyphemus was still pleasant towards them in the beginning. “Strangers!
Now who are you? Where did you sail from, over the running sea-lanes?”(Homer, The Odyssey Book 9. Lines
284-285) Even though Polyphemus is a angry giant he was still kind to them when
he found out they were in his cave, just as Big Dan Teague was kind and
respectful to Delmar and Everett even though he wanted to rob them.
Both
Polyphemus and Big Dan Teague attacked their prey for a reason. However,
Polyphemus’ attack could be more easily explained than Big Dan Teague’s. Big Dan
Teague invited Everett and Delmar to a picnic even though he had eaten lunch
already. At lunch Big Dan Teague proceeded to eat everyone else’s food, then he
began to explain how he was in the business of ‘making money in the Lord’s
service’. Midway through his speech Big Dan Teague suddenly breaks off a tree
limb and starts hitting Everett and Delmar with it. Big Dan Teague knocks
Everett and Delmar unconscious, steals their money and leaves them dazed under
a tree.Similarly, when
Odysseus and Polyphemus are just meeting, Odysseus is telling Polyphemus about
how he and his men got to the cave. Polyphemus asks Odysseus about his ship and
where it is, Odysseus expecting a trap of some kind, answers in his crafty way.
“My ship? Poseidon god of the earthquake smashed my ship, he drove it against
the rocks at your island’s far cape, he dashed it against a cliff as the winds
rode us in.”(Homer, The Odyssey
Book 9. Lines 318-321) Polyphemus doesn’t say anything in response, but he
suddenly grabs two of Odyssey’s crew and eats them. Odysseus disrespected
Polyphemus, by talking about his dad, Poseidon. Odysseus’s crafty skills ends
up getting two of his men killed. Everett decided to trust a stranger, Big Dan
Teague knew how stupid that was of him, and decided to use that to his
advantage and steal their money. Both Polyphemus and Big Dan Teague attacked,
but they attacked for different reasons. They both get something though,
Polyphemus gets a meal and Big Dan Teague gets some money and another meal too.
Both characters were aggressive when trying to get what they want.
In
both episodes, the monster or bigger opponent was given food; Polyphemus took
the food without asking and Big Dan Teague was graciously given the food.
Everett and Delmar went on a picnic with Big Dan Teague who ate their food from
the restaurant. Everett bought food for Big Dan Teague and he thanked Everett
for it, “Thank you boys for throwin’ in that fricassee.” However, Polyphemus
just decided to eat two of Odysseus’s crew because he didn’t like what they
said. “Not a word in reply to that, the ruthless brute. Lurching up, he lunged
out with his hands towards my men and snatching two at once, rapping them from
the ground.” (Homer The Odyssey.
Book 9. Lines 322-325) Polyphemus thought he could just take what he wants
because he is a giant and can kill all of them at once. On the other hand, Big
Dan Teague knew that he couldn’t just kill them at once because he is bigger
but there are two of them. So, Big Dan Teague decided to be nice about it, while
Polyphemus decided to be violent. Both bigger opponents got their food, but in
different ways.
Both
episodes have many things that are alike and different, even thought they are
in different points of views and points in times. They show the difference
between the real world and myths. In myths, giants are viscous are huge. They
take whatever they want, but they get in trouble at the end or die. While, the
human gets into trouble at the end to but the human is kinder at first and then
gets mean. It shows how to worlds are different. Another thing is that it shows
how some humans could be like mythical creatures because they are ferocious and
larger than other humans. So, from the point of view of a smaller human that
one person they know could be a mythical creature.
In class, we were reading Shakespeare's "Macbeth". To represent either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth's change throughout the play, we had to create an artistic version of what happened to them through the play. I chose Lady Macbeth and did a comic of how she changed.
This was my 3rd
Benchmark, a comparison between a character from The Odyssey and any other
character. I chose Odysseus and Everett from O’ Brother Where Art Thou’ and got
a 96.
English Q3 Benchmark
By: Nicholas Murray
Orange Stream
Odysseus vs. Everett
Journeys can be long and difficult
under certain circumstances and can sometimes seem impossible. But if you have
the right team to back you up things might became much easier. Odysseus and
Everett both faced odds and at some points, things seemed impossible to do.
Odysseus and Everett had very different help throughout there long journey. Even
though Everett’s life and Odysseus’s life are similar, Odysseus had more help in the end and
overall had an easier journey.
While Odysseus was
gone for 20 years and Everett was only gone for one year but did not have as
much determination as Odysseus. For him to have still been searching for his
home to his family, even with the possibility of not being wanted or not being
recognized. For example, Odysseus didn’t want any thing to stop him or slow him
down while heading home. So that the sirens would not make him stray from his
path, he told them to restrain him. “First, she warns, we must steer clear of
the sirens, their enchanting song, their meadow starred with flowers. I alone
was to hear their voices, so she said, but you must bind me with tight chafing
ropes so I cannot move a muscle, bound to the spot, erect at the mast-block,
lashed by ropes to the mast. And if I plead, commanding you to set me free,
then lash me faster, rope, pressing rope.” (The Odyssey Book 12, Page
276, Lines 172-179). In this quote Odysseus tells his men to tie him up so that
the he will not be tempted by the sirens, taken off his path and be killed. When Everett met those beautiful women
he was easily seduced and forgot all about his mission, which gave them the
chance to drug him. Because of this mistake he lost one of his friend.
Gods helped out
Odysseus while Everett had little help and was being chased. Odysseus had
Athena to watch his back throughout his whole journey, which proved helpful to
him. “Father, son of Cronus, our high and mighty king, surely he goes down to
the death he earned in full! Let them all die so, all who do such things. But
my heart breaks for Odysseus…” (The Odyssey Book 1, Page 79, Lines
54-57). She also helped out when the battle with the suitors came, “At his
command, concentrating their shots, all six hurled as one but Athena sent the
whole salvo wide of the mark (The Odyssey Book 22, Page 447, lines
267-269) … Again the suitors hurled their whetted shafts but Athena sent the
better part of the salvo wide (The Odyssey Book 22, Page 447, Lines
285-286).” In both quotes Athena was showing sympathy for Odysseus and because
of this she helped him. Everett had no one important looking after him until
the very end of his journey, which wasn’t very helpful to him during his actual
journey. After he prayed for help for him and his. His prayers caused the
higher power to send a flood to stop him from being hung. Unlike Odysseus he
does not believe in this higher power and it may never help him again.
Odysseus was missed by his family and
was helped by his son to kill the suitors; Everett’s family turned his back on
him, which left him with even less help. Odysseus’ son was by his side when he
prepared for battle, “He paused with a warning nod, and at that sign Prince
Telemachus, son of the king Odysseus, girding his sharp sword on, clamping hand
to spear, took his stand by a chair that flanked his father--- his bronze
spearpoint glinting now like fire…” (The Odyssey Book 21, Page 438,
lines 480-484). Everett had no family member that would lift a finger to help
him. His wife kept saying he didn’t know him and that a train hit him. His
daughters had also turned their backs on him because of his wife. In the end
his wife was still cruel to him. Unlike Odysseus, after Everett, wife finally
addressed him as her husband, she still makes his life difficult, and she also
makes it seem as though his journey is still going on.
Both Odysseus and Everett had a
difficult journey, but in the end Odysseus had better luck than Everett due to
the support of his family and his determination of getting home after so long.
It is true that Odysseus had it tough in the beginning and lost all his
friends. But, near the end of his journey he had so many powerful people
helping him he could not fail. Everett had to brave it out with only two
friends for nearly all his journey. Odysseus had an easier time when it came to
finding his home after being gone for twenty years.
It
is not even important to try and fit in with everyone. If you can’t fit in,
then you were not meant to be there. It’s kind of like a puzzle, if the piece
doesn’t fit, don’t force it in, it’ll just break or mess everything else up
down the road. Basically, it’s not worth killing yourself over fitting in, soon
all the pieces will fall into place.
What makes a good story? What kinds of stories do you like?
For
me, a good story is one that leaves you unfulfilled and hungry for more at the
end. I have never liked stories that have a completely happy ending with nearly
all the problems resolved. BORING. I like conflicts and I love it when the
ending is sad with so many questions unanswered. For me, it makes the story be
interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat waiting for the next book. A
book should not give the reader everything they want, and it should make them
wait.
Response
to reading/hearing/saying the “n” word...
In these days, the N word is not a big thing, plus it is in a
book that is centered on the time of slavery. There is no reason anyone should
have gotten mad because of that word just because of its context. In addition,
so many people have used the N word and being called the N word is a good
thing. Just because someone who is not black says it doesn’t make it racist. It
is just hypocritical to be offended especially if you are one of those
people.
What
is a “hero”? How would you define it?
A hero isn’t afraid to give his life; a hero will save you
just in time. This can be interpreted in several ways. A hero isn’t afraid to
give his life, for example. Their “life” might not be as extreme; it could be
their social life, their possessions or their freedom. So a hero is not afraid
to give up something dear to them in order to protect someone. A hero will save
you just in time; can also go another way. It can mean that the hero will race
to help you out no matter what. It can also mean that they wont let stop
something before it gets out of hand, like a rumor. The hero will also take the
blame for an ill deed, in order to not get anyone else involved. That is what I
think a hero is.
In Quarter 1, we read Macbeth and did our benchmark on him. The benchmark was a character analysis of either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. I picked Macbeth. Later on that year, we did a creative project about our character analysis. I picked a Keynote to do, here it is. Enjoy!
(In our first benchmark we had to show how macbeth evolves as a character.) Roger
Bracy11/1/10
Macbeth
Evolved
Throughout the story of Macbeth the
character of Macbeth has evolved in so many ways. Macbeth has changed and
evolved from a heroic and ambitious person to evil and mean spirited.
In
act 1 scene 2 of Macbeth, Macbeth is thought of as heroic for the country of
Scotland he is one of a kind on the battlefield. He is praised when the captain
describes him on the battlefield; “like a valor’s minion carved out is
passage till he faced the slave which ne’er shook hand nor bade farewell to him
till he unsreamed him fro the nave to th chaps and fixed his head upon our
battlements.” (Act 1, scene 2, p 4) The captain is saying that Macbeth is a
warrior who is very gruesome on the battlefield. Showing he is heroic and will fight
for his country.
In
act 1 scene 7 of Macbeth, Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, are planning to
kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth plans on killing the king to get Macbeth
prophesies to happen faster. Although, Lady Macbeth is confident in the decision
Macbeth is not, he thinks to himself when he states; “If it were done when
‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly. If the
assassination could trammel up the consequence, and catch with his
surcease success.” (Act 1, scene 7, Page 20) insuring that he will get his
power. Macbeth is saying that, if the assassination were done then he could get
his success promised to him by the three witches much faster. As the story goes
on the Macbeth get more and more anxious to make his prophesies come true.
Also
in act 1 scene 7 of Macbeth, after Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth, gave him the
idea of killing King Duncan, Macbeth man-hood is questioned because he doesn’t
have the strength to kill. So he second-guesses himself by stating; “Bloody
instructions, witch, being taught, return to plague th
inventor.” (Act1, scene 7, p 21) This shows that Macbeth is very humble to
King Duncan because he says he doesn’t want to kill the man who taught him how
to kill. However this shows Macbeth is willing to at least think before he and
his wife make a decision.
In
act 2, scene 1 in Macbeth, Macbeth finally makes the decision to kill off the
king. He is doing this to prove his masculinity to his wife and to prove the
witches prophesies true. Through peer pressure Macbeth makes the decision to
kill the king when he says. “ Is this a dagger I see before me? The
handle toward my hand” ( Act 2, scene 1, p 25) Macbeth is trying to state
that he is not ready to do this, and he is about to do something he will
regret.
Act
2 scene 2 of Macbeth, the deed is done and not only is Macbeth feeling guilty
but Lady Macbeth acts like there is nothing wrong. Macbeth shows his guilt when
he comes back with the bloody dagger he used to kill Duncan with, and says. “Will
great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand.” (Act 2, scene 2,
p 29) Macbeth has stated that he wants to wash this blood from his hands
because he doesn’t like that he just betrayed someone who he trusted. He has to
over come his guilt if he ever is going to be a powerful leader and right at
this point he doesn’t show those qualities.
In
act 3 scene 1 of Macbeth, the town finds out what was done but not who had done
it, so the lords group together to find this mystery. Banquo, who is also a
lord like Macbeth, has a suspect that there was foul play involved and he tries
to go farther into in, but Macbeth soon find this and tries to shut Banquo’s
investigation down. He decides, without influence from his wife, to kill Banquo
by having two murderers follow him. Macbeth makes this plan by saying; “So is he mine; and in such bloody distance that
every minute of his being thrusts against my near’st of life.” (Act 3,
scene 1, lines 116-118)Macbeth is now on the path of
evil because he is stating that he will kill banquo because he is a threat to
his crown. Banquo will soon have his revenge.
In
act 3 scene 4 of Macbeth, after Banquo is killed he comes back as ghost to
haunt Macbeth at his dinner party, but Macbeth is the only one who can see him.
Macbeth knows he’s in way over his head when he says; “I am in blood, Stepped
in so far that, should I wade no more.” (Act 3, scene 4, p 55) What
is being said here, is that Macbeth is feeling some guilt he mite have done to
much. As a reader, Macbeth is now making his own decisions and is not
influenced by anyone else but himself and he is becoming more of villain with
all these murders under his belt.
In
act 4 scene 4 of Macbeth, Macbeth is now a full blown king with and he is using
his power to become a villain instead of a leader. Macduff was next to get
executed because he knew too much about what happened to King Duncan and
Banquo. So because of this Macbeth decides to kill Macduff while he is at home,
what the muderers found was a house only filled with Macduff’s wife and son but
he wasn’t there. Macduff hear this news and Malcolm, the real king who was next
to receive the crown but run away, comforts him when he says; “This tyrant,
whose sole name blisters our tongues once thought honest, you have
loved him well; he hath not touched you yet.” (Act 4, scene 4, p 73)
Malcolm statement on Macbeth shows that he is a disloyal king and cannot be
trusted as the King of Scotland.
In act 5 scene 5 of Macbeth, Lady
Macbeth has just passed away because of her sickness and Macbeth isn’t fazed by
this because he has a bigger challenge ahead of him.
This
challenge is the war between Macbeth and the other lords. He doesn’t even think
about his wife when the messenger says; “The Queen my, lord is, dead”
(Act5, scene 5, line 16) Macbeth is feeling no hurt because he has been through
this situation before with King Duncan. So now he has no one to back him up and
he will face this army alone.
In
the end, Macbeth is found to be a ruthless killer, who has no feeling for his
wife or his country. These quotes connect to my thesis because they help
describe Macbeth evolvement into the monster that he became in the story.
Shakespeare’s motive for the story of Macbeth was to inform readers to be happy
with what you have, because Macbeth was given a promoted and the prophecy that
he will be king; but he was impertinent and need more power.
This is my favorite piece by myself and it was a rather upsetting time for me. I started my new year off with an argument with my step dad. It escalated and at the time I wished that the New year had never came.
“A Not So Happy New Year.” – By: Victoria
Yarbrough.
New Year’s is such a joyous occasion. Being with
family, seeing people that I haven’t seen for months, and feeling the
triumphant feelings of getting through one more year (Magic Three).
However, the “joy” of New Year’s was cut short for me. My step-dad and I had an
argument that ruined my New Year’s and days to come. We were all at my Aunt
Teresa’s house having a good time seeing family again. Everything was going
smooth. We were all dancing, hugging, and eating. (Magic Three)Like being asked to marry (Simile),
it felt unexplainably great to see them again. After the ball dropped and
everyone screams “Happy New Year!” my mom, dad, and I sit down for a while and
begin talking. We were talking about how glad we were to start fresh and what
were our thoughts of 2010.
We all agreed that 2010 was a trying year and that
we were going to make the best out of 2011. My stepdad and I begin talking
about the events of 2010 and how we were going to change. Him and me have had
some issues in the past, like all stepchildren I just didn’t feel that he
possessed the authority to tell me what to do. This caused sizzling hot
(Imagery) arguments, and dark (Imagery) mean words to occur just
about every day. How can you expect me to respect you if you don’t even know
the first thing about me? And when I asked him this he got upset and began
yelling at me. “ Oh, but when I am throwing money in your damn face
everything is all cool and I’m your dad huh? But when I tell you to clean your
room I’m just a stranger to you”. (Dialogue)When it’s not even about that, “I just don’t feel that
you should be yelling at me when you don’t know the first thing about me.” I
replied. (Dialogue) So we drove home. All the while my step-dad is yelling
at us. I remained silent while my mom took the back lashes (Imagery) for
me. She was trying to defend me and explain my point. I felt helpless and
stupid. How could I just sit there and listen to “Shut the Fuck up”
(Dialogue), and “You don’t even matter” (Dialogue)? I still look
back and think how I should have defended my mom. Seeing her cry made me hate him from an unknown place within me
(Imagery). He has me
mistaken because I don’t think that way. Why would I? I’m not some self center
egotistic manic or a user. We arrived home and I went upstairs to my room and
slammed the door as hard as I could.With the anger doing tap dancing inside of me, I picked up an old juice
bottle and threw it at the wall of my room. ‘CRASH’ (Onomatopoeia). He
hollered at me through the door as if I had no right. I was furious. I was here
before him! It’s practically my house next to my mom. Who did he think he was?
Sometimes I despised him. The way he paraded around the house as if he was the
boss, as if he were my real dad! No! He would never replace my real father. I
locked the door of my room so he wouldn’t get in. I wasn’t in the mood for him,
not tonight, not on new years. It was quarter to 2, and my mother began to
knock on my door. I didn’t answer. The sound of rushing pounds (Imagery)
came to be annoying. Constant bangs against my door. “BAM, BOOM, BOOM, BAM.”
(Onomatopoeia) She began screaming. “VICTORIA! UNLOCK THIS DOOR RIGHT
NOW!” (Dialogue) I kept the door locked. I didn’t care. I was pissed to a
new level. Why did he have to say something like that? I’m not a user and for
the record, I never considered him as my father in the first place. More
importantly, I didn’t mean to get my mother involved but I didn’t want to see
anyone at this moment. Later on she stopped screaming and yelling. I was left
alone for the moment and I began to cool down. Anger still ran through me
(Personification) at an all time high. The thought was still swimming
(Imagery- Personification) through my mind and I wanted to feel a little
less. I felt numb and confused so I went to sleep. That was a waste because I
woke up 20 minutes later to the sounds of hollering…
…Enough was enough. I swung open my room door and
followed the sounds. They were in the basement.The next thing I hear is “ If she cant respect me then I
cant respect her, so Imma’ talk to her any way I want to.” (Dialogue) I
hate how he thinks that he is right. He sounds like a child. “But that’s not
what she’s saying at all. She just thinks that maybe you should get to know her
before you try to be a direct father figure.” (Dialogue) My mom shot back.
At that moment, I didn’t even want him to get to know me. Being on a stranger
like bases sounded completely fine. Right when my step dad was about to say
something, I came down the basement stairs and said, “ She’s right you know.
I try to be friendly with you but we all know that you don’t care about me. You
only do things for me because it pleases my mom.” (Dialogue). Surprisingly,
it got really quiet. And I knew what the silence meant. I had been right. He
didn’t give a damn about me. All though I tried to stop them, tears fell out of
my eyes. Right there in front of my mom and him. I hated myself for it. Those
tears made it seem as if I cared, but they were tears of anger. I felt played.
All that time he didn’t care and I thought we were working towards some kind of relationship. I guess I
should have expected it, but it shocked me. Why couldn’t he accept me? Why did
I have to be so ideal for him? After that, we stopped talking to each other as
much as we used to. Now, we barely speak. And I wish the New Year never came.
At least last year, words were exchanged no matter how gruesome. Words were
words.
My stepdad and I had a rocky relationship. But now
that I know he doesn’t care about me, I don’t think there is a relationship. It
may be wrong to feel that way, but after knowing him for a few years and still
not being on good terms what am I supposed to think? Maybe in reality we are
both being silly. Whatever the case may be, I’m not ready to forgive. If there
is one thing I can take away, I can probably say to trust my first instinct.
Why? I knew he was a phony but I let the curious side of me win and I wound up
getting hurt. Now I know to not be so trusting and to not distribute my respect
and love if I won’t be loved and respected back.
Revision:
“A Not So Happy New Year.” – By: Victoria Yarbrough.
New Year’s is such a joyous occasion. Being with
family, seeing people that I haven’t seen for months, and feeling the
triumphant feeling of getting through one more year (Magic Three). However,
the “joy” of New Year’s was cut short for me. My step-dad and I had an argument
that ruined my New Year’s and days to come. We were all at my Aunt Teresa’s
house having a wonderful time seeing family again. Everything was going smooth.
We were all dancing, hugging, and eating. (Magic Three)Like receiving a surprise gift(Simile),
it felt unexplainably great to see them again. After the ball dropped and everyone
screams “Happy New Year!” (Dialogue) my mom, dad, and I sat down for a
while and began talking. We were talking about how glad we were to start fresh
and what were our thoughts of 2010.
We all agreed that 2010 was a trying year and that we
were going to make the best out of 2011. My stepdad and I begin talking about
the events of 2010 and how we were going to change. Him and me have had some
issues in the past, like all stepchildren I just didn’t feel that he possessed
the authority to tell me what to do. This caused sizzling hot (Imagery)
arguments, and dark (Imagery) mean words to occur just about every day.
How can you expect me to respect you if you don’t even know the first thing
about me? And when I asked him this he got upset and began yelling at me. “
Oh, but when I am throwing money in your damn face everything is all cool and
I’m your dad huh? But when I tell you to clean your room I’m just a stranger to
you”. (Dialogue)When it’s not
even about that, “I just don’t feel that you should be yelling at me when
you don’t know the first thing about me.” I replied. (Dialogue) So we drove
home. All the while my step-dad is yelling at us. I remained silent while my
mom took the backlashes (Imagery) for me. She was trying to defend me
and explain my point. I felt helpless and stupid. How could I just sit there
and listen to “Shut the Fuck up” (Dialogue), and “You don’t even
matter” (Dialogue)? I still look back and think how I should have defended
my mom. Seeing her cry made me hate
him from an unknown place within me (Imagery). He has me mistaken because I don’t
think that way. Why would I? I’m not some self center egotistic manic or a
user.
We arrived home and I went upstairs to my room and
slammed the door as hard as I could.With the anger tap dancing inside of me, I picked up an old juice bottle
that I failed to throw out some time ago and threw it at the wall of my room. ‘CRASH’
(Onomatopoeia). He hollered at me through the door as if I had no right. I
was furious. I was here before him! It’s practically my house next to my mom.
Who did he think he was? Sometimes I despised him. The way he paraded around
the house as if he was the boss, as if he were my real dad! No! He would never
replace my real father who I know for a fact wouldn’t treat me the way he does.
I can’t help but have curiosity towards what my life would be like if my real dad was still around. I locked the
door of my room so he wouldn’t get in. I wasn’t in the mood for him, not
tonight, not on New Years. It was quarter to 2, and my mother began to knock on
my door. I didn’t answer. The sound of rushing pounds (Imagery) came to
be annoying. Constant bangs against my door. “BAM, BOOM, BOOM, BAM.”
(Onomatopoeia) She began screaming. “VICTORIA! UNLOCK THIS DOOR RIGHT
NOW!” (Dialogue) I kept the door locked. I didn’t care. I was pissed to a
new level. Why did he have to say something like that? I’m not a user and for
the record, I never considered him as my father in the first place. More
importantly, I didn’t mean to get my mother involved but I didn’t want to see
anyone at this moment. Later on she stopped screaming and yelling. I was left
alone for the moment and I began to cool down. Anger still ran through me
(Personification) at an all time high. The thought was still swimming
(Imagery- Personification) through my mind and I wanted to feel a little
less. I felt numb and confused so I went to sleep. That was a waste because I
woke up 20 minutes later to the sounds of hollering…
…Enough was enough. I swung open my room door and
followed the sounds. They were in the basement.The next thing I hear is “ If she cant respect me then I
cant respect her, so Imma’ talk to her any way I want to.” (Dialogue) I
hate how he thinks that he is right. He sounds like a child. “But that’s not
what she’s saying at all. She just thinks that maybe you should get to know her
before you try to be a direct father figure.” (Dialogue) My mom shot back.
At that moment, I didn’t even want him to get to know me. Being on a stranger
like bases sounded completely fine. Right when my step dad was about to say
something, I came down the basement stairs and said, “ She’s right you know.
I try to be friendly with you but we all know that you don’t care about me. You
only do things for me because it pleases my mom.” (Dialogue). Surprisingly,
it got really quiet. And I knew what the silence meant. I had been right. He
didn’t give a damn about me. All though I tried to stop them, tears fell out of
my eyes. Right there in front of my mom and him. I hated myself for it. Those tears
made it seem as if I cared, but they were tears of anger. I felt played. All
that time he didn’t care and I thought we were working towards some kind of relationship. I guess I
should have expected it, but it shocked me. Why couldn’t he accept me? Why did
I have to be so ideal for him? Is it my fault that you don’t like me? After
that, we stopped talking to each other as much as we used to. Now, we barely
speak. And I wish the New Year never came. At least last year, words were
exchanged no matter how gruesome. Words were words.
My stepdad and I had a rocky relationship. But now
that I know he doesn’t care about me, I don’t think there is a relationship. It
may be wrong to feel that way, but after knowing him for a few years and still
not being on good terms what am I supposed to think? Maybe in reality we are
both being silly. Whatever the case may be, I’m not ready to forgive. If there
is one thing I can take away, I can probably say to trust my first instinct.
Why? I knew he was a phony but I let the curious side of me win and I wound up
getting hurt. Now I know to not be so trusting and to not distribute my respect
and love if I won’t be loved and respected back.
