the end

Over the course of this year, we've read so many books and written so many blogs. The blogs have been a struggle--just to remember to do them. I did remember a great deal of them, and reading through them just now was kind of cool to see all we've worked on this year and my reflections on them. I never thought I'd ever be a blogger, but I guess I am now.
I find it funny how I sound in my posts, very informed and like I have important insight on the topics we covered. While writing them I never felt like I had a decent grasp on what I was analyzing, but looking back, it seems like I knew exactly what was going on. That could be because I don't remember how I misinterpreted things now that so much time has passed since I read The Jungle or whatever we were writing about.
Sometimes I really liked what I'd written, like in a post about life lessons, I wrote, "Now when I find myself in an altercation with someone, I reflect on the wise words of my elders and re-examine my actions, which generally deflates the situation, resolving the conflict in a much more peaceful manner." My concentrated use of big words makes that voice in my head sound sarcastic, and reminds me of the many times I spent rolling my eyes at the fact that I was blogging on a Friday night.
Some posts were more serious and heartfelt, like when I wrote about my best friend Zoe. I probably spent an hour and a half trying to make it perfect.
The overall theme of my blog could be summed up with a quote from Boxer, in Animal Farm: "I will work harder!" My struggling with this blog always made me mad, so whenever I forgot to write a blog, I'd scrawl on anything I could find "DO YOUR BLOG" so I might remember next time. It's been working for the most part, just in time for the very end of the year.

...

I don't consider myself an accomplished essayist, I can write them just fine, but they aren't anything spectacular. I'd love it if they were, but I never have anything particularly interesting to say about the works we write about. And if the writer isn't excited about what they're writing about, chances are that the reader isn't either. I think the purpose of literary analysis is to have a fuller understanding of the work (novel, play, etc). To put your own spin on the work--what you got out of it, something that maybe another person didn't.
Challenges for me include having a unique point of view that I'm comfortable with writing an entire essay on. Some of my ideas I don't trust, or want to put effort into making it make sense to others. Which, yes, is terribly lazy of me. I put a lot of thought into my Romeo and Juliet essay, but I have doubts that I'll recieve all 100%. My last essays have been in the B range, but I'm fixing my essay tomorrow in accordance to why the last ones lost points.

Summer Reading

I've enjoyed reading books on my own since learning to read in elementary school. My taste in books has changed progressively since then, of course, and lately I've struggled with finding decent books I'm interested in. Reading for classes and homework have kept me pretty occupied too, but this summer my schedule will be free and my reading shall (hopefully) pick up.
For my reading list, I'm thinking of trying Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, as I read Wuthering Heights by her sister Emily this year. That seems a little ambitious though, so we'll see.
Another book I've been thinking about reading for really a long time now is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I've liked several of her books and this one seems like it's got an interesting concept. It's non-fiction, but has great reviews (from my mother at least). Barbara Kingsolver and her family decided to live off food grown within a 100 mile radius of their home for a year, and this book is all about that, as well as interspersed with how the the agriculture industry has changed our eating habits.
As summer gets nearer, I'm going to add more books to my list, but for now, this is all I've got.

culture shock-o valencia

O Valencia, by the Decemberists is a fantastic song, and tells the story of forbidden love and an unnecessary death as a result.

"You belong to the gang
And you say you can't break away
But I'm here with my hands on my heart

Our families can't agree
I'm your brother's sworn enemy
But I'll shout out my love to the stars

So wait for the stone on your window, your window
Wait by the car and we'll go, we'll go

When first we laid eyes
I swore to no compromise
'Til I felt my caress on your skin

Well, how soon we were betrayed
Your sister gave us away
And your father came all unhinged

So wait for the stone on your window, your window
Wait by the car and we'll go, we'll go

Oh Valencia
With your blood still warm on the ground
Valencia
And I swear to the stars
I'll burn this whole city down

All I heard was a shout
Of your brother calling me out
And you ran like a fool to my side

Well the shot, it hit hard
And your frame went limp in my arms
And an oath of love was your dying cry

So wait for the stone on your window, your window
Wait by the car and we'll, go we'll go

Oh Valencia
With your blood still warm on the ground
Valencia
And I'll burn this whole city down
Valencia
With your blood gettin' cold on the ground
Valencia
And I swear to the stars
I'll burn this whole city down"

English extra cred

Previous english classes were a lot more do-what-you-want. I've found high school honors english have a much higher standard for assignments and stricter instructions. In the beginning of this year I thought english was pretty easy, but as the year has progressed our workload seems to have increased and I'm finding it hard to get things done in time.
I don't mind the reading for the most part, I used to read all the time outside of school, but now I pretty much only read what's assigned. Great Expectations wasn't as terrible as I initially thought it would be, I actually liked it by the end. Annotating takes something out of the enjoyment, but I understand that it's necessary to make sure we are actually reading.

Question

I've been understanding most everything we've read in the past few weeks. But in chapter 40, I got a little confused. Pip mentions that Herbert was gone, but was he really gone a year, and in that time, where was Magwitch(Provis?)? This was around page 338.

Photo Post

http://www.bullandbearclothiers.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/tailor_cutting_fabric_2.jpg

Ideally, this picture would include a boy holding a fistful of money, and another boy, perhaps with a broom, and somehow showed how the man acts completely differently toward each of them, but as it is just a man cutting out a suit, you'll have to use your imagination.
But this man represents Mr. Trabb, and how his respect for people is coming from how full their pockets are, rather than their character or something good-hearted people might value. Mr. Trabb's attitude was completely reversed when Pip mentioned he had come across a great deal of money. This was further reflected when you noticed the contrast between his treatment of Pip and "his boy".

importance of being earnest body paragraph

There’s usually a motive for lying. Getting out of situations seems to be the primary motive for both Jack and Algernon. Jack uses an imaginary brother “Ernest” to escape the country, and once in town, becomes Ernest. He is a different person to the different people in his life--Ernest to Algernon, but Jack to Cecily. On the other hand you’ve got Algernon, who’s way of getting out of unpleasant situations requires no actual name-changing on his part. Algernon just claims his invalid friend “Bunbury” is ill again, and he absolutely must go visit him. Of course he must visit him precisely when Aunt Augusta wants him at a dinner party. Another major lie was performed by Miss Prism. Before she was governess to Cecily, she took care of a certain baby, whom she misplaced in a handbag. Upon realizing her mistake, and being unable to find him, Miss Prism fled and didn’t explain what had happened to. To not have the guts even to tell her boss where and when the baby had been lost meant that it would be a miracle if the baby was ever recovered--although he was recovered 28 years later. Miss Prism lied out of protection for herself, though it’d be better for everyone if she’d just explained what had happened.

Corruption in Animal Farm

Poetry Out Loud

I watched Stanley Jackson recite "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar. I was very impressed by his voice and articulation, you could definitely hear him and his dramatization added a nice touch. When he tells of a river, he reaches his arm out, and when he speaks of scars he clutches his side. It's not too much, and I thought it enhanced the audience's perception of his understanding of the poem.
My own understanding of the poem was very much helped by the performance, had I just read "Sympathy" I wouldn't have gotten quite how meaningful it can be. The caged bird, or someone who feels trapped, sings because he wants to be free. Again the dramatization helped.

Mockingbird Motif

Motif is a literary element that means a recurring theme in a novel, that helps the book progress or get across a message more easily.
To Kill a Mockingbird really has helped me understand motif because the mockingbird is a great example of it. Before I was like, "Yeah symbolism, okay I don't know what you mean, moving on, next definition." With the discussions and timed writes on the mockingbird motif, its really helped show what it meant, rather than just a dry definition next to all the others.
The mockingbird motif is brought up a few times, but I definitely noticed whenever anyone mentioned a mockingbird because of the title, To Kill a Mockingbird meant that a mockingbird had to have some major relevence to the novel. Of course it does, it means to kill or harm in any way something innocent is a terrible thing to do, just like killing a mockingbird. Mockingbirds only provide music, they harm no one, so in return no one should harm them. Tom's death being likened to the killing of songbirds helped the theme of racial prejudace and Mr. Tate refusing to say Boo had stabbed Bob Ewell helped the theme of innocence.

life lesson? sure.

"You can't judge a person until you've walked 1.609344 kilometers in their shoes," says my mom, right after a lesson on metric conversions. At the time my childish mind just brushed it off as another bit of fluff floating around in my mother's head, but looking back, I find this over used cliche rather helpful.
I realize that this saying isn't telling you to literally rip off your enemy's shoes and prance about in them, but that you must try to see their point of view. Now when I find myself in an altercation with someone, I reflect on the wise words of my elders and re-examine my actions, which generally deflates the situation, resolving the conflict in a much more peaceful manner.

Characterization: Zoe

Mind lost in her headphones, Zoe's head moves unconsciously to the beat only her ears hear. Her dirty pink converse jut inward at the toe, looking like an awkward symbol for girl pride. Fashion is one of her fortes, whether she's bleaching her old jeans or making an amazing find in Dumpster Value's dollar bin. Her hair is continually morphing, growing shorter every few days rather than longer.

Creativity comes easily to Zoe, whether she's playing guitar or coming up with irrelevant references to slip into the conversation. She's smart and funny, but a bit of an introvert. She doesn't go out of her way to flaunt her insane amount of awesome, but she can be loud and in your face when necessary. There's a lot to Zoe Whorton, and I am impossibly happy to be friends with her.

an early memory

My childhood was riddled with various mishaps, much of which were apparently not as branded in my mind as I hoped upon reading this week's blog assignment.
However, I managed to remember this one birthday I attended. . . . In the good ol' days of playdates and early grade school, I went to my best friend's house for her birthday sleepover. We spent the night in her tree fort with a few other girls. Early in the morning, we woke up and started laughing and screaming and telling jokes and having a marvolous time. We were awake and wanted the rest of the world to know.
The neighbor's apparently heard, for our roucous was halted by the arrival of a policeman. All the rest of the girls pretended to be asleep, but when he called out to us, someone had to go talk to him. So I picked myself up and peered over the edge of the treefort. I spoke with him for a moment, informing him that "We're okay, thank you very much sir." My friend's mom came out and I slunk into the background with a feeling of exhilaration. We were in trouble, but I had done what was needed.
Needless to say, our yelling contests were put on hold indefinitely and we spent the rest of the morning indoors, but my trust in myself grew considerably that morning.

the jungle: motif

Upton Sinclair uses the motif of Jurgis to explain about the corruption of Chicago's factories in the early 1900s. Jurgis is an honest man in the beginning, believing in that hardwork pays off. He goes off to work in a terrible slaughterhouse, making hardly any money, but keeps his game face on. Gradually events unfold and he realizes how the system just wants to break him down.

Motif was used so heavily because without Jurgis' transformation, the book would have no point. Packingtown takes healthy, strong immigrants and forces them to work faster and harder under dreadful conditions and then not have any benefit. They lose their jobs or are broken down until they starve or have some catastrophic injury that prevents them from going to work. Upton Sinclair was exposing the harm that industry was causing Americans all for the sake of profit.

outside reading

I've been liking The Jungle more than I thought I would. Although it was a bit slow to get into, it's definitely kept me interested now. I think the most prominent literary element may be irony. But I'm not sure. The whole America seeming like such a great place to live and work, and then turning into the worst place imaginable, seems pretty ironic to me. It may have been writen in this manner because that's how Upton Sinclair could get his point across--that the US meat industry is/was terribly messed up.
The tone of The Jungle is pretty grim. Bad things happen to good people, and then continue getting worse and worse and worse. The working conditions are atrocious, not to mention awfully graphic.

writing about reading

When books don't interest me within the first few chapters, I usually put them down and come back from time to time, hardly ever actually finishing them. With assigned reading, I generally multitask to get through the boring pages; blasting music or switching up the place I read (perhaps going outside or a closet). This works to an extent.
I read what looks interesting, what captures my attention, I go to the library and scan the shelves for an appealing title or cover, or jacket flap. Sometimes I'll read from a recommendation. I really couldn't say what my reading style is; I just read whatever I feel like reading. Fiction especially. Fiction is great because there's so much variety, countless ways of telling a story, and so many differsnt plots.