Overall Reflection

 As I look at the paragraphs I've posted throughout the year, I realize how much my home life effects my writing. In almost every blog I have an allusion to someone in my family, or a place that I remember as a child. Writing about home makes writing more meaningful to me, because it's personal and not something I usually share verbally. Writing is like an escape from solitude, even when you feel your loneliest, because even if you don't speak, you're still able to voice your opinion.
 At the beginning of the year I would say I was a fairly good student. I did every blog, including extra credits, and each was done on time. As the year progressed though, my bad habits began to emerge when my home life became more stressed. I'm missing several blogs, and almost all of them are late.
 A few weeks ago, I was actually failing half of my classes. I was so involved trying to straighten out my home life that school just slipped my mind.
 My parents both gave me a proposal. My dad said that if I stopped skipping school, and passed all of my classes, that he would stop harping on me about seeing my mom. My mom, on the other hand, told me that if I did those same things, she would get me a puppy.
 I can't wait for school to be out so I can get that puppy. I don't know if I've ever been so excited about something, honestly. I've always wanted one, but my dad says, "cats are cool, but dogs are dicks". I'm sorry if that quote is inappropriate, but it just seemed to fit, and it's an actual saying.
 I learned a lot this year. Not necessarily in my classes, because I messed up A LOT after Spring Break, had a bit of a party fever, but from that I learned how important it is to stay on track and do your work.

A Memorable Assignment

 Writing papers has always been something I don't struggle with. When this year came along, I started getting lower grades than I ever had on assignments, so therefore began to doubt myself. Towards the middle of the year we read a poem called "Shoulders", and that's the assignment I'm most proud of.
 I expected to get a really low grade on it, so I remember not wanting to get it back. When the day came that you returned it to us, I was completely astonished to find out I got 100%.  In fact, I don't think I've ever been more proud of a paper in my life. This is a little bit embarrassing, but I actually folded the paper so only the note you wrote, saying I was a good writer, was showing, and then I tacked it on my wall, because it gave me confidence on other assignments I was writing!

A Good Experience With Poetry(late)

When I was in Mrs. Barber's class at Pioneer in third grade, she ordered all of my pupils and I a blank white book for us to put poems in. It took a few months, but eventually my book was filled, and I was so proud of myself. Our reward for writing a poem on every page was free time to color the cover of our book. I drew a tree on mine, with leaves of hearts hanging off of it. It almost looked like a Weeping Willow, but my own personalized version. I called it "Katie's Book of Poems" and gave it to my mom as a present at the end of the school-year.
 My favorite poem was one that I had written about my grandparents house, and to this day it's my favorite place to write about. The poem was surprisingly mature for a third-grader, I realized over time, and that's probably why everyone loved it as much as they did.
 I lost my poem book when I was evicted from my house on June 26, 2010, along with most of my other things. The book was upstairs on a book case, where my mom put only her favorite books, and since I was mad at my mom for leaving me, and letting our house be taken away from us, so I didn't include anything from her bookshelf in my plastic tub of things I was allowed to keep. Instead I put in a bunch of useless things. A computer, some of my clothes, movies that I liked, and a few video games. I really wish I would have put more thought into what was important, because I'll never get what was left in that house back. It's gone for eternity; probably in a landfill somewhere now.
 Personally, I love poetry, and I love writing poems. I write all the time, yet I always throw them away once they're finished because I'd rather get rid of things by choice than have them taken away from me. I think poetry soothes the soul, and that's why music is so appeasing to the senses.

Conflicts Within the Life of a Teenager

 Well, alike my other blog, this one also happens to be late, so it makes it a little harder to do what's asked specifically.
 Juliet, not allowed to marry her Romeo, is told to marry the man her father chose for her, Paris. Although she doesn't want to, it's against her will, whether it good or not. This is one of the many conflicts around love in this extremely romantic novel, and one that ends the lives of these star-crossed lovers.
 When I was about 6 or 7 my mom taught my Sunday-school class. It was boys and girls, and my mom really wanted me to have a crush on this one boy, we'll call him Chris. Sometimes to make her happy, I would say I thought he was cute, but really I liked this boy named Garrett, whom she thought was a brat. I remember telling her I liked him one day, thinking she would flip out, but instead she laughed and told me she knew the whole time!
 Romeo and Juliet didn't end that way, but then again, most similar situations have their differences.

Romeo and Juliet Comparison

I apologize for the late blog, the internet literally turned back on like ten minutes ago.

Although I could probably search for a story on the web for a similar story to Romeo and Juliet, I'd rather use a story that I know personally, my mom and dad!
A little more than 15 years ago, my mom was engaged to this guy whose name was Stewart. He took my oldest brother Will as his son, and they all planned to move into a house together. When summer came d the corner, baseball season started up, and my mom was on the same team as Stewart and his best friend, Kyle Gubbe. As the season went on, my mom and dad became closer, and Stewart and my mom became more distanced.
I'm an August baby, and although I really don't like to think about this, my parents got together for the first time that fall, and the outcome was me. My mom and Stewart were still together, but I was definitely my father's child.
My mom and dad weren't supposed to be together, my grandparents didn't like him(I don't really blame them) and he was bestfriends with my moms fiance; but in the end they were together, for the next 12 years or so. They weren't married until I was almost one, but their love lasted more than a decade. It wasn't quite as powerful as the love Romeo and Juliet shared, hence them not being together anymore, but at first my mom said their "love was lovely", and that's all that counts I think.

Connecting with Romeo and Juliet

Before we started reading it, I really believed that this story was going to be stupid and all lovey-dovey.. Well, it is lovey-dovey but that's part of it's beauty. At home when I'm reading I always think I know what's going on, or at least can generate an idea of some sort, but that idea completely alters when we read aloud in class. I'm really glad that we do because if not I would fail. Just like that quiz that we took, although I read the part I was supposed to, since we hadn't yet discussed it I was still confused and therefore got 3/10, when I really needed the points.
Like Romeo, I tend to rebel against my parents good-will, but the way I see it is that their good-will is different than mine. I like Juliet's character though, more-so than Romeo's. Instead of whining and complaining like Romeo does, Juliet obeys her parents for the most part, because she knows in the end that they have more power than she does.

Pip's Quote, and a life altering day for me

"Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the information of the first link on one memorable day."

 When Pip reconciles this quote, he means that what you do or think on just one day will change your life and perspective on something for eternity. Like a chain, one link is connected to another which is connected to another and so on, but the first link is what every other link is built off of, and will have an influence on all of the other links. The changes that occur in Pip's personality and ideas put in his head when he goes to Miss Havisham's house give him negative thoughts about his home and Joe. What Pip fails to realize is that Joe has always been there for him, and always will be. Someone like that doesn't deserve to be ashamed of, but Pip is ashamed anyways.

 A life altering day for me was when I was told I was being evicted from my house, which had already begun to not be a home. It was last year and I just didn't know what to do with myself.. I didn't cry, but instead I just went straight to my room and filled a box of the things I valued the most. I mostly filled the box with pictures of my family when it was whole, and that was all I took. I didn't want to be reminded of the life that was being thrown away.
 At the time my grandmother whom I wasn't very close to was living in our house with my little brothers and me, my dad was in jail and my mom was unheard of. I learned things in life aren't free, and it sucks. Every choice has a consequence, and my parents consequence of spending the money meant for bills on drugs and other unnecessary items was the loss of our home. I don't just mean our physical house either, I mean like the homey sensation you feel inside when you're with the people you love the most. Now, even with my dad living at my grandparents with my brothers and I, I still feel homesick constantly. This experience taught me that I need to look out for myself though, and I'm glad for that. I get to school on my own everyday without assistance aside from the city in which I live, and I never have to ask for money, I find ways to get it on my own. Being evicted made me realize that my parents can't support me, so I need to support myself. And I'm much more independent because of that.

Beginning Stage Two

 Pip goes through some major personality changes. He is building upon multiple themes and motifs in the novel Great Expectations. Most of these changes have grown from the theme of “becoming a gentleman”. This starts in the first stage when he felt as if he was better than his good friend, Herbert, and now Pip is acting rudely to his friend, Biddy. Becoming a gentleman starts other motifs, such as Pip's being ashamed of Joe. Pip's changes create a contrast that build upon the theme of becoming a gentleman.
 By the second stage, Pip has become a “double” of his former self at the start of the novel. During the first few chapters of the book, Pip and Joe are a practically inseparable pair. However, Pip starts to change once he learns that he is going to become a gentleman. With this and his growing older, Pip is losing his innocence and becomes ashamed of his working class family. By the second stage of the novel, Pip is judgmental, and has an “I’m better than you” kind of attitude towards many people he knows, even his best friend in London.

Question for Great Expectations

In the part of the story where the convicts are being searched for, I wasn't sure whether or not Joe wanted the escaped prisoners to be caught or not. "When we were all out in the raw air and were steadily moving towards our business, I treasonably whispered to Joe, 'I hope, Joe, we sha'n't find them.' And Joe whispered to me, 'I'd give a shilling if they had cut and run, Pip.'"(p.32)
In one sense, he could mean he'd give a shilling to make sure they got away, but in another sense could he be making a bet with Pip? It just sort of confuses me.

Dishonesty

         During the time period that Oscar Wilde wrote this play, people acted way different then they do today. He pokes fun at the upper class and how ridiculous they were about everyday issues. One example is lying about silly things, like their age. Another issue was that women and men acted so differently. When getting married, they sometimes weren't even allowed to choose their partner. Men got married to one women, but yet he went out with another women to fulfill his pleasuring needs. When Gwendolen and Cecily found out that both their Ernests' weren't really who they said they were, they forgave Jack and Algernon too easily, which made fun of women lacking self-respect. Oscar Wilde seemed to be stereotyping each of the genders, but mostly women because he himself was a homosexual.
         A large theme in the play The Importance of Being Earnest is the dishonesty. Lies varied from why there weren't any cucumber sandwiches all the way to your name and identity. Sometimes it's difficult not to lie, but the characters in this play had an especially difficult time with it. The dishonesty of the characters add a good amount of humor to the book. When one character dislikes another, they act overly nice to them, which just seems stupid to me. Being satirical about social classes also incorporates into the idea of being dishonest at times. Such as when Lady Bracknell doesn't like or find Cecily attractive until she finds out that Cecily has 130,000 dollars in her funds. After Lady Bracknell hears about this, she starts being extra nice to Cecily as if she is just going to give it all away to her. John Worthing is dishonest about his name/brother throughout the entire play. He lies about his "bunburying" deeds and makes up a character named Ernest. You'd think that if there was a character named Ernest then they'd be earnest themselves. However, Jack lying about Ernest isn't being earnest at all. Many characters in the book make up other people that they pretend to be or they just lie about their identity. They do this just for their own pursuit of pleasure.

Animal Farm Evaluation

Britney: (Picture)the original plan was for us to make a movie, but then we had technical difficulties so  both of us had to make last-minute pictures, and it kind of shows. But on the bright side, you can tell thought was put into it because you can see the windmill tumbling and killing a chicken, which represents how you need sacrifices for freedom.

D'Andra: (Poem) This was my favorite project! I thought the repetition in her poem was really good and made it's meaning even more clear.

Ketl: (Radio drama) This was good and it makes the project better that more than one person worked on it. You can tell thought was put into it because the script was well written.

Sara: (Picture) Although she thinks hers isn't good, I think it was really well done. Painting on the computer is hard, and she managed to actually make it look nice.

Will and Paul: (Comic strip)They could have added more to it, but it was pretty artistic. I think it was a good choice of something to do, and they completed the task well.

Grace and Molly: (Movie) This project was astounding and you can tell they put a lot of effort into it. At First I thought there was an actual movie clip playing!

Rachel: (Game)Wow, I never would have thought of this, This project was probably the most creative, and you can tell she put in a lot of effort, which payed off!

Melanie: (Slideshow) I liked the choice of music she used, it went well with how the slides shifted and also went along with the story. I think this should get an A.

Reagan: (Poem) This was a very-well written poem. Although there were spelling errors(tyranny) it showed an understanding of the novel and was great.

Brooke: (Song) It was well planned out and showed the exciting parts of the novel. I think more time could have been spent on it because it was really choppy so it wasn't very appeasing to my hearing senses.

Katie: (Picture) My project definitely could have been a lot better. I had good intentions and the planning of the picture required thought, but I didn't convey that very well in the finished project. Although, in my defense, computers are not very easy to draw on!

New Years Resolution (extra credit)

 I have always made up a resolution for myself at the first minute of the first year, but I can't honestly say that I've ever actually followed through with the goal. This year I hope to change that, and succesfully manage to be more forgiving. If it's a friend or someone I don't really know, I can easily let things go, but with my family I tend to hold onto bad memories.
 The number one person I want to be more forgiving towards is my mom. I never realized until this weekend at my visitation with her how much I don't let what she's done go. Pretty much I jut need to get over everything and give her a fresh start. Although I've given her multiple second-chanced and she's thrown them down the trash, I hope this time will be better. If I can honestly forgive her and not have any more bitterness it would not only improve my relationship with her, but it would also have a positive impact on how my two younger brothers see her. I don't want them to see her in a bad light, and they look up to me so I need to be more understanding of that before I take any actions.

 "Forgiving is the key to being happy," is something my aunt Donna used to tell me when she was alive. Even though she can't be here to encourage others with her wisdom, this year I plan to take her words into my own hands and let them live again.

Animal Farm: Creative Project

This shows Napolean accepting fake money from Frederick when they make trade with wood.
 The scene I painted out is ironic because while Napolean is tricking the other animals about the amount of food they should receive, Fredrick is tricking Napolean. Also, one of the rules was to have nothing to do with humans, and Napolean is breaking that rule by making trade with Frederick.
 The symbolism in my project is he money. Money symbolizes power, and since the animals don't actually have real money, they don't really obtain any power.
 This scene also foreshadows more interaction with humans, and since the humans are exploiting the animals, it foreshadows that Napolean will exploit the other animals even more in the future.
 All of these things reflect the theme of abuse of power. In the picture, Frederick obtains the power, because he has the money; and money symbolizes power. When Napolean reaches the top, he will also abuse his power.