"Unemployment"

    Have you ever lost a job? Well if you know someone who has, you probably know that being unemployed for whatever the reason may be is a huge burden on that person and their family if they have one. It's especially a burden if that person doesn't really earn a whole lot of money to begin with. Regardless, not earning a paycheck can really affect a person's home life. You can't buy your groceries and other necessary things without any money. A necessary thing people can’t pay off is their mortgage or rent bills without a job that pays which not only makes them jobless still, but can lead them into being homeless if they have nowhere to live.

    According to an interviewer who will remain nameless, "My dad quit his job last year because his boss was a real Scrooge and he didn't like the amount he was being paid. His job made him really stressful and he felt like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was jobless last fall. Our family had to make sure we were spending our money wisely and on stuff that was extremely necessary despite my mom having a well paying job. We couldn't get new floor for the house because what makes wasn't enough to get out floor and at the same time still be able to frequently buy things we wanted whenever we wanted. The following summer he decided to work for himself and sell houses that he renovates really nicely. He doesn't have to work for a boss he doesn't like and makes way more than his other job as an electrician." This interview shows that being jobless can really affect a person's family. Being jobless can have a group effect and can’t allow you to sometimes have the things you want. You have to make buying your necessities your only priority.

    As you all should know, not only are their unemployed people in America, but people all around the world are without jobs that they desperately need to support themselves and their family. According to a fact from TheGlobalist.com, "In 2013, there were about 157.1 million unemployed workers throughout the world's developing nations." That is a lot of people who were without jobs. Who knows how many million people are jobless right at this moment. This is why we see so many beggars on the street asking for money. All those people are without jobs and ask us for money everyday just to get through the day.

    It's also worth mentioning unemployment can lead to people having psychological issues after losing their job. According to the Chron.com, "People experiencing chronic unemployment might become anxious or depressed, and have trouble sleeping. Prolonged unemployment also has a negative effect on a person's sense of self - worth, damage that might remain in place even after the person is once again unemployed, according to a webpage on Washington and Lee University website." As we can see, being fired can not only affect someone's spending, but their everyday feelings and mentality in a pessimistic way. People can feel all sorts of negative emotions because they lost their only job. A job that they need to keep food on the table and to keep a roof over their head which are huge responsibilities for an adult.

    Adding on to the negative effects of unemployment, some people feel bad about having free time in the day because they aren’t working like they usually do. According to a passage from Psychology today, "I told a neighbor of mine that I had written a book on coping with unemployment and he said to me, “I never told you this, but last year I was unemployed for five months. The worst time for me was when I got up in the morning. I was too embarrassed to go out. I felt like I was in a prison until five in the afternoon when I could leave my apartment. I didn’t want anyone to know that I was unemployed”. People feel shame in not having a job. They feel a person shouldn't have free time during the day and feel embarrassed that they do since they are unemployed. Shame is of course another emotional/mental effect on being jobless.

    On the other hand, the unemployment rate has surprisingly decreased a lot since America’s financial crisis a few years ago. America has been getting better since then. According to a fact from politifact.com, “The December 2014 U-6 rate was 11.2 percent, which is higher than the 11 percent rate in September 2008 and the 10.8 percent rate one month earlier in August 2008.” As we can see, America has made big progress bringing down the unemployment rate percentage. Obama has made some big changes ever since he has been elected into office being able to again lower the unemployment rate by a lot. Despite Obama making improvements to the economy and whatever else he did to lower the unemployment rate, more improvements can be made. We can lower that percentage even more. There is still room for more change. Not only are their people without work in America, but this is a global issue that still needs to be solved. This may look like a David and Goliath situation, but if we all see how we can come together, we can beat Goliath. If we strongly encourage Donald Trump to focus on this situation and help him care, hopefully he can make some sort of change.

Nonfiction Blog

     Yesterday, I finished a book called A Child Called It. It's a memoir and tells the story of Dave Pelzer. Dave, who lived in San Francisco California, was unfortunately beaten, starved, and brutally tortured by his alcoholic mother. Basically, he was abused as a child for several years. He had four brothers that surprisingly were treated well. They were not given the abuse and respect that Dave had to experience. They were sadly brainwashed into thinking what their mother was doing to Dave wasn't bad. They thought he was just given consequences for his bad behavior. When the boys had gotten older, they then realized what a true monster their mother really was. The father, Stephen Pezler, barely showed any care for Dave. He always came home drunk which led to him and his wife getting into heated arguments. He eventually left the family leaving Dave all alone. Thankfully, teachers noticed what Dave had been through and called the police finally saving his life.

     A passage that I found interesting in the book was, "Suddenly, I began to realize the longer I could keep myself off the top of the stove, the better my chances for staying alive. I knew my brother Ron would soon be coming home from his scout meeting, and I knew Mother never acted this bizarre when anyone was in the house. In order to survive, I had to buy time. I stole a glance at the kitchen clock behind me. The second hand seemed to creep ever so slowly. To keep Mother off balance, I began to ask whining questions. This infuriated her even more, and Mother began to rain blows around my head and chest. The more Mother slugged me, the more I began to realize I won! Anything was better than burning on the stove." (42) Although this moment in the memoir almost leads to Dave possibly meeting his death, I was interested by it. It interested me because it showed how smart Dave was back then. At an age like that, he used his brain to get out of something like that. I thought that was amazing, how he adapted and took smart actions. I'm not saying he is a genius or anything, but I thought it was pretty clever on how he distracted her and tried to kill time so his mom can stop.

     Something I am bound to never forget after reading this book is the fact that kids who have been severely abused can really consume and numb yourself as a person. According to the book, "My morale had become so low that in some self - destructive way I hoped she would kill me." (141) Of course it's a given that kids who have been abused, you don't normally function or act as though someone who was my age or younger that thankfully never had to go through all of the abuse he did. Just the way he said that made me knew that issues like this are really serious. Of course I knew they were, but hearing life threatening stories always put me in perspective of that persons issue and makes me feel terrible for that person or group of people.

     Something else I am never bound to forget was what Dave had to go through. "...My brothers and I were playing in our room when we heard Mother rush down the hall, yelling at us. Ron and Stan ran for cover in the living room. I instantly sat down in my chair. With both arms stretched out and raised, Mother came at me. As she came closer and closer, I backed my chair towards the wall. Soon I touched the wall... I closed my eyes as the oncoming blows began to rock me from side to side..." (134) Every time I heard about him being hit like that just mad me feel really sad. This is is what he had to go through every day. This book gave me the realization that kids that could be my age face bigger problems then me. In conclusion, this memoir indeed made me learn a lot about Dave and child abuse in generally.

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What I Am Thankful For

What I am grateful for this year is being with my family everyday. You may think that's a a little obvious to be thankful, because everyone is grateful for their family. I still think it's worth mentioning because not everyone is thankful for their family or are united with their full family. We as teenagers may take our family for granted or can't be with our full family for the holidays. Maybe from them passing or dying of some sort of unfortunate disease. I however don't take my family for granted and am thankful to be with them on Thursday. In conclusion, I am very thankful for all my family and their well being.

Something else I am also thankful for is specifically having my aunt living here and not moving. The story is, my had gotten married Fall of 2015. Last year they had been talking about moving to Morroco to live with her husbands family. Two months before last years Thanksgiving she had decided to move their out of nowhere. It was a very emotional day for our family seeing her leave to the airport. Thanksgiving my parents/brother and I went to my grandmothers for Thanksgiving dinner and as we walked into the kitchen, we saw her smiling and happy to see us. I am just thankful she stayed and won't be leaving ever again.

Another thing I am thankful for is having the opportunity to be able to attend a private high school. Thankfully, my parents make just the right amount of money to be able to send me to a private high school. Unfortunately, some parents can not afford for their kids to go to a school like Nazareth. That's also a reason why I don't take my parents for granted. They are giving me this big opportunity to go to a really good school which will cost a whole lot compared to a public school. That is something else that I am very thankful for.

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Article of The Week: What Learned

     From my own AoW, I learned a lot about something I never have heard of before. Who could have known we had all sorts of bugs living in our houses other then spiders? I didn't, that was why I chose my article topic on that. To learn something I had never heard of before. I learned that there are over 600 types of these bugs in our homes. Not just my home, but there are all kinds of bugs in everyone's home all across the country. Like me, some most likely don't even know at first. Newsela is useful for learning new information and learning more facts about the world everyday.

     Aside from my article of the week, I have learned a lot other then insects this week alone. Despite me not being able to particitape in last Thursday's gallery walk, I still had learned a lot this week. I read articles about Trump, an Earthquake hitting New Zealand, and not just on Newsela, but the news as well. What's great about the news is that it can be presented differently, that may be through newspaper, TV news, articles, and all kinds of other ways. In conclusion, I learned a lot more this week then just what a read in my article for my AoW.

   

Election Reflection

     In my opinion I feel this election was the most difficult to deal with in our generation. What I mean is that in this election, we had two candidates who have wronged us citizens in some way. One of these two had to be chosen by us to lead our country for four years. That is a really tough decision to make, for any individual, it may be easy for some but hard on others. That's how my mother felt once the election was over. She felt like she was being backed up into a corner trying to choose her side. She did not support Donald Trump and did not approve of some of the actions Hilary Clinton and her husband had made the past years. She had no idea who she should support and I didn't know who I should support for either. As I said before, I felt we Americans were put in a real tough spot choosing a president for our country.

     The results for the election didn't really surprise me. I had this feeling Donald Trump would win for some reason. Unfortunately, his words and said to be actions he'll take as president if he gets elected had been brought to a lot of citezens attention. If they believe in his same beliefs then they support him. The thing about Trump is that he wants to get stuff done in America. He may not be 100% detailed as to how he'll get these said things done, but he wants America to keep moving forward. People feel the same as he does, they want these things done as well. They want a president to act upon society's problems which was where he got all of his supporters from. That's why I wasn't that suprised of him winning.

     I am excited to participate in the next presidential election. I am adequately involved in today's politics and me being involved would help me formulate a decision as to who I think should be our president. I want to make a difference and have the feeling that my vote mattered. I want to feel like my vote made a difference and shows my beliefs and mindset towards society's problems.

     One issue I am interested in seeing Donald Trump go about is how to deal with terrorism. Now, I of course don't approve of his comments towards Muslims or any comment he has towards a certain group of people. I also don't approve on how he wants Muslims treated on America and how he thinks they should be dealt with. Still, terrorism is a huge issue in today's society and needs to be put to a stop. I'm not even sure how he's going to try and stop it, but citizens of America including me want to see territories stopped just as much as Trump.

   

   

"Thank you Veterans"

Thank you veterans for giving us our freedom
You will forever be in my debt
To me, you are America’s greatest asset
Unlike some people, when they think of Veterans, they tend to forget

I apologize for your comrades that were given a horrible and tragic fate
In my heart, they are and should still be considered great
I can’t show how much I appreciate
If I were god in heaven, for you all of you I would open the gate

Thank you for our peace and for our freedom
Because of you, this world is rid of some of its evil
You showed our country that we can be strong
You showed that terrorism and fear in this country doesn't belong

You put yourself through great torture and sacrifice
Your great service to this country can never be put at a price
What you do in battle will be forever honorable
For whatever our enemies do to you out of spite will  forever be dishonored

What you do out there matters to some of us
The conversations I have in school on Veterans Day are important to discuss
It's hard to think that you can fight for people who may consider you someone random
But you know that it's not only you, but it's us you fight for

Thank you veterans for giving us the peace, freedom, and joy that most countries simply can't get from their veterans
You matter to the world and especially me

What's Going on With Morton

Have you ever seen a Morton lawn sign anywhere around Berwyn before? Only one sign has been seen which isn’t ordinarily seen here in Berwyn. On October 21 2016, two blocks down from Wisconsin Avenue, there was a lawn sign that read “Morton West Tennis” on some unknown families lawn. The reason they have the sign up is unknown. The sighting was very peculiar to see in this part of Berwyn. On the whole street and the street across were no signs that related to Morton West at all. Signs supporting Morton don’t usually come up in the neighborhood. Now all of a sudden someone puts up a lawn sign just now.

Lawn signs showing anything related to Morton weren’t and haven’t been seen customarily around this area of Berwyn for an unknown reason. Why wouldn’t there be signs that show other people where their kids go to school? Could this indicate not a lot of teenagers attend Morton in the Wisconsin avenue area? What could the reason be for them not wanting or being able to attend a school so convenient for them? Hopefully, there can be some answers to these questions.

First Quarter Refelction Blogs

My blogs have been progressing quite well since August and 7th grade. Last year I did write a lot in my blogs, but I mainly kept them to their minimum which was three paragraphs. Now I've really been starting to write a lot more then I usually did last year. Instead of three paragraphs per blog, they have been increasing it's size into four paragraphs per blog. Right at the start of the year I kept saying to myself I can do better and that my previous work can be much better. Me trying to perservere really showed when my blogs started looking a whole lot nicer compared to a blog I wrote last year.

A strategy I have learned in this class has and always will benefit me is the TIQA format. It has always been a great organization stradegy to use when writing some of my paragraphs for my work. It keeps things in good cronilogical order and smoothly introduces quotes well without making things awkward. It especially helps me when I am doing an objective summary or trying to answer in essay question that is in need of a quote. This will salads be a skill I am going to use not only in this class, but in high school as well. Organization is key when starting high school and if I can learn early how too organize sentences in parghraphs, I'll do fine next year.

I have been doing well in my 10 book challenge. Last year I really wasn't looking to read 40 books during the whole year. I didn't have the stamina or the motivation to try and attempt to do that. For some reason, things have changed this year, I don't feel this same way as I did with reading anymore. I'm now starting to like books and have been reading them faster. I have read so far Lincoln's Grave Robbers, The Walking Dead Road to Woodbury, The Giver, Never Fall Down, The Nazi Hunters. I'm now in the middle of new book I just signed out and hope I can read more then 10 books this year. 

Some things Iearned about the world is that anything can happen other then negative stuff. In news today, it's really focused on finding the bad in the world and trying to highlight the trade gives a lot when there are other good things happening in the world today. For instance, for our second AoW we annotated an article about a 64 year old women who successfully efully swam all the way from Cuba to Florida. That shows that some people in the world aren't trying to do bad things and that they can do good things. Like accomplishing a goal like that sounds amazing and shows that hard work pays off when trying to reach a goal. Also for our first AoW we learned about how there was a new gene found to cure a diasese. That doesn't associate with anything bad, that is good information. Information like that should be told in news more often then what goes bad in the world.

Book Vs Movie

A scene from the movie that was way different from the book was the part in both the movie and book where we see how Jonas is feeling after expirincing the memory of war. In the movie, Jonas like the book experienced the memory of war. He was scared after living through seeing someone who he doesn't even kniwnkilled right in front of him. In the movie, Jonas walks through the courtyard where the kids are playing. What was different was that the kids weren't playing any war game at all. Also Asher wasn't a director or anything like that, he's a pilot in the movie.

Compared to what happened in the movie, what happens was very different from the movie. According to the book, "Then they were all silent, standing awkwardly, and the only sound was The of Jonas's shuddering breaths. He was struggling not to cry" (134). Jonas reacted very differently compared to the movie. I should also mention on this same page, Jonas abruptly tells Asher to stop playing the game and they get in an argument. They are probobly different because that would be a long scene in the movie. The bad thing about the movie is that it leaves important events and details the book thankfully provides for the reader. Maybe that scene would extend the time of the movie and effect the scene for the rest of the movie.

A thing I noticed in the movie was the age of the actor that played Jonas (Brenton Thwaities). He does not look like how I portrayed him in my head as I was reading the book. The reason why I believe the director chose an older actor was to try to bring the book to life as well as possible. In the book it states, "When I was eleven," his father said now, "as you are Jonas..." (13). The book specifically states Jonas is an eleven before the ceremony and doesn't show him aging rapidly in the Giver. The time span of the plot was not very long a sit was in the movie. Back to what I was saying, I think bringing in an older actor would connect more with the person watching the film. It wouldn't be realistic having a 12 year old boy and 12 year old Asher and Fiona would backfire on trying to liven the book to a movie.

To be honest, I would have to say the book impacted my understanding of the whole story for me. The reason I mainly choose movies over books is that it brings what you imagine while you read a book to life. You can finally see what the charters look like and listen instead of read dialogue between characters. I also rarely ever like when movies bring new ideas to the table and try to use them to maybe further the plot. The Giver kind of satisfied me, but not fully. In the end, I would prefer watching the movie rather then reading the book.

Giver Theme Blog

Jonas is a dynamic character, because he developed and changed in the end. According to The Giver, “Though he had been reassured by the talk with his parents, he hadn't the slightest idea what Assignment the Elders would be selecting for his future, or how he might feel about it when the day came” (19). Jonas at first had no thought and consideration for other people. He was a bit selfish in the beginning because all he cared about was what job he was going to get by the Elders and nothing more. There weren't any times where he cared for any other person but himself.

On the other hand, once Jonas was given these memories for a whole year, he started to development and change because of these memories. He started to become selfless and care for other people. According to The Giver, “He wept because he was afraid now that he could not save Gabriel. He no longer cared for himself” (174). This shows he changed from being selfish to selfless. In this moment, he cares and is concerned for Gabriel's well being. All he wants is to keep him alive and nothing more, his number one priority is Gabriel.

One of the themes of The Giver was the importance of memories. The importance of memories relates a lot on how the characters develop. According to the book, “Although he had through the memories learned about the pain of loss and loneliness, now he gained, too, an understanding of solitude and its joy” (122). This proves that he learned from all these memories he has lived through. That not all memories are happy and joyful, some are painful and nerve wrecking. He came to the realization that pain is a terrible feeling compared to joy and that developed his character.

This same theme ties into the setting as well as the characters. According to the book, “it’s true it has been this way for what seems forever. But the memories tell us that it has not always been” (154). This tells us that this “utopia” isn't what it seems. It doesn't give people the freedom and will our society gives us. It keeps people in the dark and affects the setting because what the “government” does to its citizens forms them into robots basically. They have nothing that makes a person an actual person. They have been forced to live the same lives as the rest of the population and has been this same cycle for what I think to be as long as this community has lasted.

This same theme also ties into the plot of the book. According to the book, “The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared” (154). This was the mean struggle the book had Jonas face. To stand up to this so called “government” and keep their fire end in the light instead of the dark. They have no right to keep the memories of the past to only selected people because you need to right the wrongs of the past to fix the future. To end the conflict, Jonas left hoping these memories can be released to the public.

The Giver Blog

 While reading The Giver by Lois Lowry, there have been lots of differences in their society then in our society. A big difference is that there are women who have a job giving birth to children to give to parents. In chapter three, Lily and here mother are observing Gabriel when Lily says, "I hope I get assigned to be a birth mother." If you don't remember, citizens get assigned jobs at a certain age. Lily wanted to be a birth Mother as she was looking at Gabriel, but then her mother discouraged her and told her to set her mind off that dream saying it isn't a job you would want. This society may have to resort to doing this because they probably are focused on keeping their population stable. They maybe don't want women to start giving birth to their own children because that will increase the population. If women start to procreate themselves, then the population will rise in a matter of years and could cause chaos throughout the community.

We have been interrupted by our main plot a lot to explore early memories of a main character. Mainly to further explain a rule/moral the community goes by or to foreshadow a further event that can happen in the book. Throughout this whole chapter, Jonas's father talked a lot about how the ceremony for the 12's goes and answered some of Jonas's questions about the ceremony. In chapter three, the morning before Jonas leaves in the morning his father says, "every December was exciting to me when I was young." Jonas's dad throughout the whole chapter tells Jonas about what the ceremony for the 12's is like and this just makes Jonas more nervous then he already is. I think this memory is important because maybe it can foreshadow that something could go wrong at the ceremony. Jonas can possibly not like his job or get nervous on his first day.

Final Reflection Blog

What are the three most important things you learned this year?

One of the three most important things I have learned this year was the TIQA format. This format was one of the first things we learned when we were introduced to AoW's and was able to be carried on to any assignment that we did throughout the year. A second important thing I was taught that was important to me was to take in a lot of information. What I mean is that in this class, you need to remember a lot of stuff and learn a lot of stuff. I was able to widen my attention span and that helped me take in more information than I usually have. A third important thing that I was taught this year was learn to make an argumentative essay. This was the first year I made an argumentative essay and I did have to make a couple in other classes as a matter a fact, knowing how to make one was really helpful when I had to do other argumentative essays.


What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?

I will always remember how to properly research. I know that there are a lot of jobs out there that do involve researching professionally, knowing how top research now will give me the advantage when I ever have to. I also know that in High School you will have to do plenty of research and again, knowing how to do it now will be very beneficial for me when that occurs.

What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?

During the second quarter, I was still struggling on how to properly study for a vocabulary test. I would keep studying and studying, but I would always do terrible on the test. I never knew what to do to improve my score. One day, Jack told me that repetition really helps when your trying to memorize something and trying to ingrain keeps will help you never forget it. Knowing that Jack is a very clever guy, I listened and tried his idea out the following week when we had another test. It worked and I got a good score on my test, I was so relived. I thought his idea and that fact that he told me was really cool and nice.

What is something you taught your teacher or classmates this year?

There have been times where my friends talk to me and tell me that they can't do something that Mrs. Larson assigned to them or that they should quit. I encounter this same situation too sometimes, but whenever I'm on the "OK" side of the situation, I tell them that it will only get harder. If they think this is hard, they should just wait until high school. I tell them that they can get through it and that they just need to keep moving forward. Trudge through any problem that gets in their way. I believe if we encounter situations like this where we don't have any belief in ourselves, that with a little motivation, we are destined for greatness. With just a little help from our friends, anything can be possible and there won't be anything you can't do.

In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of?

The area that I think I have made the biggest improvement on was my blogs I would have to say. In this class, you kind of have to widen your vocabulary and once you do you are set for life. You can use your new advanced vocabulary for all assignments, especially blogs. I like to show that I can use large words and putting them in a blog is a great way to show people. I have done that a lot this year and that really improved my blogs a lot. Something that I accomplished this year that I am still proud of was being able to read more books than I usually do. To be honest, I didn't used to read a whole lot before I got into this class. I would only read when it was necessary or if it was an only option to get through the rest of a class. I am glad that this class gives me a motivation to read more because of the 40 book challenge.

What was the most challenging part of this year for you?

The most challenging  part for me this year was doing the Christmas Carol Extended Response. What had happened was that I had phenomena and was gone the week that everyone went to the play and officially started doing the extended response. I was supposed to do it over winter break and had to watch the movie instead of the play. Of course I waited the very last minute to do it, and did the whole thing the two days before I was supposed to go back to school. I was freaking out and was working with the whole entire time I had, I still regret me doing it at the last minute. I even had to get help from my mom because I kept overthinking everything and it was about 12:00 at night by the time I finished. I am still glad that I went through that experience because it taught me that I should never procrastinate when it comes to doing big assignments like that.

What was the best piece of writing that you did this year? Why do you think it is your best?

I thought the best piece of writing that I did was my argumentative essay. I say this because first, I worked myself day/night trying to do the best research and trying to form the best paragraphs to help me get my point out to my audience. It turns out that I didn't do my best once I received my grade, but I revised my errors it and got all threes for my final grade. To this day I am still proud of me doing the essay and me working up to revising it when I really didn't want to.

Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why?

The one book that I read this year from Mrs. Larson's library that I think was my favorite was the Coraline book. I liked this book because I had watched the movie way before I actually knew there was even a book and it brought back a lot of memories from when I watched the movie.  I think the movie is better because when you read the book, all that runs through your head is that this is just an adventure book with a story tied into it. When you see the movie, you barely believe this could be a reality and it runs chills down your neck a lot sense the movie is a little creepy. The book was never that creepy to me. That's just my opinion.

What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?

I say this to anyone who will potentially be in this class next year, "You are not an average kid." What I mean by this is that you have something that other kids unfortunately don't. Use it to your advantage in this class. You may think that this class is just a class where you get twice as much work as other normal kids. Once you get older and get into high school, everything that Mrs. Larson taught you will eventually pay off and will never go to waste. Being able to learn other more challenging topics/subjects then other kids means that you must dedicate yourself to this lifestyle because it is not for everyone. You are given a gift by being taught by all of this, don't waste that opportunity by slacking off and doing mediocre work. If you want to do that then be my guest, if you don't you won't regret it.

Of Mice and Men Movie Blog

Section 2:

In one of the two newly added scene to the movie that was never originally in the book, George was in the barn rounding up the horse he had taken in. Culey's Wife was already in the barn almost having us think that she expected George would come in. The two interact when George, who most definitely doesn't want to happen, actually tries to give her a chance and lets her talk. Unfortunately, Curley comes in angry at George.

In second scene that we see that was added, we see Curley's Wife talk to Lennie and George instead of just George. She tries to ask how Curley seriously got his hand hurt and they try to avoid her once again. They just try to answer her questions as quickly and as brief as possible so they don;t get into any trouble with Curley. She actually tries to come out and tell George and Lennie that she just wants someone to talk to, but they still just try to avoid her and spare themselves from being possibly fired and or beaten up.

This changes my view on Curley's Wife because I think when you see her character in film, you can see actually how lonely she is. We can see that she literally has no one top talk to and she isn't allowed to talk to anyone either. Since Curley doesn't want any guys near his wife getting any "crazy" ideas. It makes the person whoever is watching the movie feel kind of bad for her because she really is all alone. She has nobody to talk about other than Curley and she doesn't like that. She even says out loud that she doesn't like Curley. She gets upset that she isn;t allowed to talk to anyone at the barn and when she tries, they avoid her to spare themselves from the trouble from Curley,

Section 4:

I thought this novella was great because ever since I heard we were going to read it I have heard many great things about it. Including my mother, who by the way only have seen the movie. The movie seemed more dramatic then the book because we can see actual emotions from our characters. I thought the movie was great as well. I have learned that hopes and dreams really matter and life. Once you set them, you feel like you have something to drive you towards greatness and that makes you do much better at what you want to do to help you get your dream. I would really recommend this to my mom because first off, she loves to read books. Especially ones like these especially that are sad. Second, she loved the movie and as we all know, book seem to be better then their movie counterpart. Which means she will love the book even more.

Of Mice and Men Conflict Blog

In Of Mice and Men, there are lots of conflicts. These conflicts can originate from someone saying or doing anything to someone else. For example, the conflict I am going to talk about is Man vs Man (kind of). Let me elaborate, Lennie and George have been on the road together for a long time, George could say something to Lennie and Lennie could forget it in a matter of minutes or hours. You can never really tell. This leads to George always insulting Lennie or having to yell ay him because he is forgetting what George is telling him to do. "Jesus Christ, you're a crazy bastard." (Page 4). This struggle between Lennie and George does cause some conflict, but nothing explosive or long term. George is Lennie's idol and always helps him get out of sticky situations which is why Lennie tries his hardest to do goof for George.

This struggle hasn't effected them massively yet, but I feel something is going to happen. Maybe Lennie will say something to The Boss or misunderstand something The Boss says and will het them fired from the ranch. He also is in on the dream that George and him have and he is not suppose to tell The Boss about it otherwise the two get fired. Maybe that will come into play soon.

Another conflict that I will be covering is Man vs Man and involves Curley and Slim. This tension between these two characters formed when Slim was wrongly accused of doing stuff with Curley's Wife (stuff I am still unsure of). "Well, you been askin' me too often. I'm gettin' God damn sick of it. If you can't look after your own God damn wife what you expect me to do about it? You lay offa me?" (Page 62). the gravity of this situation of pretty serious, when Curley acused Slim of doing stuff with his wife, Lennie got dragged into this mess and he got his face beat by Curley because like always he loses his temper and that caused the two to fight.

Now again, this fight caused a lot of conflict and tension. We haven't really heard a lot from Curley and Slim about the situation. Also Lennie and Curley haven't really talked to each other either. I think they are trying to keep their distance from each other and trying to cool down.

What Could Have Been

I considered myself a star.
I played and played and played.
Even though I didn't like playing in front of people I still liked playing.
It didn't care.

I have the equipment,
I have the speed,
I have the agility,
I had it all,
what can go wrong?

Then reality just hit me!
Time passed,
Years went by,
My dream was diminishing.
My dream was crushed into oblivion

I didn't feel sad.
I felt like I was taking this situation reasonably,
this was never going to happen.
What was I thinking.

All I know is things change.

Of Mice and Men

I feel that the bunkhouse has a lot of negative energy. There is all this rudeness being spread and Candy is kind of bad mouthing Curley behind his back. I feel this negative energy is spread from the boss because he is very rude, and judgmental towards his workers. Then it reached to his son who is almost a carbon copy of him. Then the cycle of negativity just goes on and on.

Like on page 27 when George said, "This guy Lennie is a son-of-a-bitch to me, I don't like the mean little guys." Also, the swamper or Candy tends to gossip a lot so far in the story which is not really a good thing to do, knowing stuff about everyone. "Curley says he's keepin' that hand soft for his wife." That for example, he shouldn't know that. Other than those incidents of negativity, there have been many others and this proves that it is not a healthy environment for George and Lennie to be housed in to do their work. The atmosphere is also positive. George and Lennie seem to be getting along with Slim so far. Slim also was referred to as a, "hella of a nice fella..." according to Candy. He seems to play the nice guy role pretty well.

Now onto the ranch, the ranch specifically has not been described like the other setting locations we have encountered. Maybe John Steinbeck left that for chapter three to build up a plot or conflict at the ranch.

Curely's wife does not have a name is because of the timeline the story takes place, I will elaborate. As you know, unfortunately African Americans were referred as "niggers." The men probably treat the women like African Americans because like the African Americans, they were not looked at as equals to the men. Like on page 32 when George said, "Don't you even look  at that bitch... I seen em' poisen before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse that her." According to George, women obviously are not shown with respect just like that African Americans.

3rd Quarter Reflection

The area that I think I made the biggest improvement was my vocabulary test and my blogs. First off, I my grades on my test are totally improving. I only got a two on one test and a two on another (these are for certain standards). I like coming to school on Friday not scared that I have to take one of these test. I study long, hard, and use lots of repetition when I study, that is my strategy. When I go to school I am always excited to take the test and am always ready. I really hope that my scores improve even more. That is the area I have made the most improvement.

Now my blogs, I could say that they have really improved since August. How I do it is that I look at it the second to last day that it is due. I make sure that I closely read the direction and I make a draft. Then the day that it is due. I make revisions to whatever I did and then turn it in. I do well because I try to have fun with the blog. It may not be the funnest thing to do, but if you think positively as you do it, you will do well and get the grade you deserve. Once I had that mindset you will do good. That is how my blogs have improved since August and is the ares I have made the most improvement, including the vocabulary tests.

Something that accomplished that I am was the argumentative essay. I did it in the second quarter, but was assessed on it this quarter. That project was the most stressful one that I have ever done so far and it just exhausted me every night I had to do it. Some arts were easy and some parts were challenging. For me, there were more challenging parts to it then easy. I did the best that I could and I didn't really get the grade I want. i got five threes and four twos. I took the inactive and revised it and got all threes. I am just glad it is over and I feel that I deserved the grade I got.

The most challenging part of third quarter was doing the poetry blogs. The reason that this was challenging for me was because sometimes the blogs were boring or little challenging. Sometimes we had to learn a whole new type of poetry that was different from the other poetry we were learning and we had to make one so we can attach it to the blog. The blogs about the bronx book weren't all that challenging, but I think making the other poems for the blog was most challenging. I just tried my best and tried to think as positive as possible so I can be motivated to do it and finish it. I never did all that bad.

Half Brother Literature Circle Blog

Half Brother By: Kenneth Oppel

Our EQ was how does the relationship between Ben and Zan affect Ben and his Dad's relationship? Once we had read the first few chapters because Ben and his Dad had this separation because of the whole move and all. It tied into our novel study at the end because that question was answered when Ben and his Dad reconnected to save Zan. They both wanted to help him and they both have the same goal.

As we progressed to through the book. The family was talking a little bit about bio medical labs. Ben learned that the bio medical labs were really bad and that Zan shouldn't be kept there at all. After Zan had bitten a student, they were going to a university to learn more about these bio medical labs.

When  Peter are Ben got their, the speaker was describing the bio medical labs during his presentation about them. He has specifically said in his presentation "should we be torturing animals so we can heal humans? Is that fair?" (Paragraph 2, pg. 165). That was what I thought was the most important thing he said and put a good picture in my head that these labs are terrible.

When I read the article I chose had said, "Sadly, in the early 1920s, experimenters in the U.S. began purchasing baby chimpanzees who had been kidnapped from the forests of Central and West Africa." The article had also said, To capture baby chimpanzees, hunters would kill the mother chimpanzees and any other adult chimpanzees who tried to defend the babies." This was from a source called "Chimpanzees in Laboratories." Now obviously both the person at the university and this author described the labs pretty negatively. The thing about sources is that they provide more information on a certain topic and books probably poetry them pretty vaguely only giving you the certain information.

Character Development Blog Second Post

In the book Bronx Masquerade, there were many characters who made tremendous changes.  The character who I think was developed the most throughout the story was Tyrone. First we see this kid named Tyrone. Tyrone is this very judgmental person and has a worry that he may die one day. He has this friend named Wesley who also has fear of dying and they both just want to survive. He seemed to care a little less about school then Wesley considering he said "school ain't nothin' but a joke," is evidence that he does not care about school which is probably the kind of attitude that drives his character because of where he lives and what he is exposed to. I also wanted to say that he never really cared for his classmates and that him and white people are have some sort of separation created.

Once we start to looking at the other students poems. As he listens he gives these little comments at the end. Comments like after listening to one of Janelle's poems, "I'm starting to feel like I know Janelle..." As he listens to some of these great poems, he feels connections between some of the poets like Janelle. When he listens to these poems he learns something different about each person who is reading that poem. Like what they want to do in life or maybe something that is effecting them very badly. Sometimes it can be from something that he has done. Like when Tanisha said "If Tyrone calls me "caramel cutie" one more time, I'll scream." Then once she read her poem he had said afterwards, "Now I know why the sista hisses every time I called her "caramel cutie." After listening to her poem, he obviously listened to it and understood what message Tanisha was trying to give. That is what made him change or in this case made him realize that he shouldn't call her that. That is how affected these poems can be.

When you get towards the end of the book when Tyrone takes over in the last chapter before the epilogue. Tyrone says something interesting, "It was kinda sad seeing the walls all bare." After looking at this quote, I knew that Tyrone had finally felt the importance of his school and what his fellow classmates were coming up with on Open Mike Fridays. The poems were obviously important to him and is what brought everyone in the class together no matter who they were, or what they looked like, and what their background was.

The setting of this book affects Tyrone and the story because, Bronx is not a healthy neighborhood, especially for teenagers. This probably brought out the worst of him considering his father was killed and he thinks that he will be killed soon enough. The characters affect him and the story because, his school welcomes a lot of people. In the story some characters we see are Hispanics, blacks, whites, and some are even Italian. He thinks that there has to be this separation between some cultures in his school just because he thinks that is the way things should be and he probably isn't the only person who feels that way. Once people shared their poem, that was what brought everyone together and that separation didn't seem to take affect as much anymore. The conflicts affected Tyrone and the because, sometimes a poem can share more feelings then others and can send messages to the people who are listening. If some people share a conflict their having and express it in their poem, when Tyrone gives his feedback he does have emotions towards peoples conflicts and sometimes feels for them. Lastly, plot impacts the story and Tyrone because, someones backstory and poem leads to the problems some other people are having which leads to the book introducing more of peoples back stories like Tyrone's when he comments on all the poems.

Do You Like What You're Reading

Currently, I am reading Half Brother. It is about a 13 year old boy named Ben. His parents are planning on raising a chimpanzee named Zan. They want to raise him to conduct research on him and teach him how to physically speak. 

I have to say, I do like what I'm reading. One thing I like about the book is that it is like a carbon copy of the movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I mean the movie literally has the same main idea as the book. They want to teach a monkey named Cezar how to talk. They first start out by signing with him just like the book does. I just thought I was really cool and there was even a cameo. Ben's friend had a Rise of the Planet of the Apes pinball machine.

I also liked the book because Ben is a very interesting character. He is basically indescribable. One day he acts like one person and the next day he acts like a totally different person. He acts like this because he seems to have to prove something when hanging out with that person or he just want to fit in. I just like how the book has him switch characters

. 

Poetry Reflection

Now that we have done poetry for over a month, I feel that poetry has it's importance, it's important in school. So far in my life, I did the most poetry in this class and all the poems and lessons that we learned were all different. It wasn't like the lessons and poems were boring, all of them were fun in their own way. You may not find poetry a vital part of your life, but it is a vital part of your life at school in this class.

 Honestly, I still think that poetry does not belong to everyone. Like I said, poetry may not be a vital part in everyones lives. It doesn't matter how long you go over in class, some kids still may not find it enjoyable. Maybe some poems that some kids had to do were hard for those certain kids. Mostly, kids may not like it because they probably think its boring, just based on what kids said before and what they say now that were finished with the lesson still think it's unenjoyable. That's how I know that poetry is not for everyone.

Of course everyones life is different, and different people have different experiences. Like Edgar Allen Poe for example, as you all know Edgar is not the most sane person in the world after viewing the Edgar Allen Poe web quest again. For a poet he is very creepy and insane. Now, what do you do you think make him insane. He is crazy for a reason, no one is just crazy. Poe is bizarre and insane because of his life. Edgar was crazy, alone, he had phycological issues and his life reflected on what he wrote in his poems and books, most of them were weird, crazy, creepy and they had so many other negative characteristics. After viewing some of his poems and researching on his life, this leads me to believe that poets life experiences do have an effect on their creations and that the poets life experiences are truly expressed through his or her creations.

Here is a poem about a tree. As you can see, the poem is quite short. When poets write their poems, mainly their poems structure is formed based on what they are writing and what the whole idea of the poem is about or is trying to get across the reader. If the poem is about a tree like this one, then maybe the poem will be formed into a tree of some sort. If the poem is depressing and is about sadness, then what I would think is that maybe the poem would look like a tear drop or just anything that symbolizes sadness. When I look at this poem I think "why is it so small?" "Why is it so short and why is the tree so short?" When I see the lines "a tiny tree, on a tiny table, with tiny lights, and a tiny star on top...." (just do you know, I put commas to crete a separation for different stanza of the poem) I think that maybe the poem is small because the poem is describing tiny objects like a tree, following up with other tiny objects that go on a tree at Christmas time. When the poet wrote this, he or she could have thought that maybe since the poem about the tree is talking about small things. Maybe these things should be described very briefly, then making the poem about the tree small. 

Here is another poem that is structured based on the main point if the poem. This is what I was talking about. Structures of poems are based on the poem. Like this poem with the apple. If I was going to change the formatting of the poem in a fun and cheerful way I would make the poe out of an apple. It makes sense because the poem is about apples so it wouldn't be irrelevant in any way to make my poem into a shape of an apple if I was writing the poem about apples. 

Nonsense Poem

Non fiction

Bio Poem

Spine/Found

"Where are you From" 

Prompt Blog - Do You Like What Your Reading

The book that I recently finished was called Born Too Short by Dan Elish. It is basically about two friends, Matt and Keith. They are two very different people, Matt looks at Keith like this perfect child. Keith has perfect hair, he has had a lot of girlfriends and has lots of friends. Matt describes himself as "born too short," he is not the most popular kid in school and has had only one girlfriend. They still like each other at first, but as time goes by things start to change about each character and their lives.

I liked this book because it really reflected on what we middle schoolers act like. The characters act just like us and do things just like us. Only in the book, I am guessing it is in the 90's. This shows me that school and the kids in them never change. the will always behave the same way for generations and generation. I really thought that was something cool that I noticed throughout the book. All middle schoolers may not be the same, but we all are a like, it wouldn't matter when the book was taken place, we would all act the same.

I also liked how this book really reflects on real problems students have now. Like girl trouble, arguments with friends, and peer pressure. It's kind of like what I said earlier, kids act the same no matter what year we are talking about. All these problems and way more happen all the time in Heritage and these problems will stick with all schools because that is just what happens when your in school. Problems like that are bound to happen.

Sanctuary - Nonsense Poem

"Afraid"

Hello, everyone

I thank you for coming today to listen to me ramble.

As we all know, there have been some concerning incidents

incidents that state that these voting ID laws affect the minorities votes

This outrages me

When I heard of this, I looked out my window

looked straight at a black women.

I looked as serious as someone who is at a funeral.

When I looked at this woman, I felt horrible, not just for her, for everyone, when I pictured

myself as this woman voting

I could see the hesitation from my eyes.

This hesitation making me sweat, I imagined myself as sweaty as cow,

sweating even worse than an cow.

I then saw this hesitation turning into fear, this fear was literally kicking at my brain and heart

making me think “will I get judged based on my vote.”

I see this in all different people, blacks, Asian, and the list goes on.

I don’t want this fear in all you people.

Even if researchers do say that minority votes dropped 4.7 percent in states that

have strict voting laws

Or, that the effect that these votes have on presidential candidates

We can change this

I don’t want our upcoming president to fear that their votes will ruin them

I don’t want a president who shouldn’t be president

And we can’t fear these laws, if it means changing them then so be it.

Poem inspired by: Strict Voter ID laws have a greater effect on minorities, liberals