Post#2 for 5/14

     I am very stressed about exams, and know that they won't be easy. I have started to come up with a little plan for English, and it will definitely help me out. First, I am going to go through all of my English stuff in my binder, and make sure to keep anything useful. Then, I will put all that information into an exam folder and make sure I don't lose that folder. After this, I will then go online and look at everything from essays, to other English stuff from Dr.d's assignment page. Next, I will calculate how many days I have until the exam, which is actually from today, 9 days. So, after this, I will then start studying probably on the weekend and make some note cards and organizers. Also, after this process, I will study for the exam the most, the day before the exam.

     I next, will make some sort of study tool, so that I can actually start studying for my exam over the weekend. I will then, put to use some of my useful study tips, and when I am studying, I will make sure that there is no sort of bad distraction in my way of studying for Dr.d's exam. Finally, I will do that studying and when I will take that exam, I will ask the teacher any questions I have, and I will make sure that I am not sitting near someone who is going to be a distraction.

Post #1 for 5/14

     I personally think that I would consider myself a good student and my evaluation is something like this: First of for me, I am a very hard worker and I believe that I am very good at coming to class because I have never been tardy for English. Secondly, I have only asked to go to the bathroom and nurse during a class period, and I don't go anywhere else than where I am saying I'm going. Also, I check my email always after or during school, so I try not to miss anything important. Next, I have participated generally well, but it is really not all that good, and that is because I am shy. Also, I do do the work assigned in class like taking lecture notes, but my notes could always be better.

     Next, for me is that I do both well in group and individual work, but I would say that I do better in group work. This is because I feel that there is not a whole lot of pressure in group work, and that puts me at ease, so I can concentrate. I also, could extend more beyond the minimum, and I know I can, but I just need to put in that effort and make it count. Lastly, would be for me, that I have grown a lot throughout this year. I would say that now I am not as afraid of presentations, and I have to credit that to my nice classmates. Also, even though I still am shy, I think that I have stepped up and asked appropriate questions all the time during class. So, I think that I have done my best, and know that my efforts were noticed.

Macbeth

     I being MacBeth, hath learned so much from this mere mistake that I hath made just a little while ago. I hope thy Lady of mine tis stay true to her word and keeps this mistake away from all that shall never know of it. I am scared and I know not what to do, but tis no one think it tis me. Many others believe it tis the guards, even though I tis hath killed them. Only Sir Macduff tis worried and thinks that I, MacBeth shall have not of killed the guards. He tis think they could be used for many purposes. I knew though that killing them was better than not, and this tis only because they might hav' th remembered many things.
     I speak to my Lady and hope for the best, while as many people tis think Malcolm and Donalbain tis hath done it. They went and left to go somewhere else, and many people tis believe in this rubbish. I for one though cannot hold my tongue for what I have done. If tis not for Lady MacBeth, I more than not would hath gave it away. She saved me from saying such stupid things that could have cost us our lives, so I do believe in her so truly. I want to sit and cry for my mistake, but me hath have to pull it together and be a King MacBeth.

Reading Response

     My book is still the Maze Runner and I am about to finish. It is by James Dashner who I think is a great author and makes this book a really good one. So far, many things have happened in my book, and one of which is that Thomas and Minho got locked out from the Glade overnight. The cool part is that they were the first to survive a night in the Maze surrounding the Glade. Now, everyone either thinks Thomas is a hero or they think he was wrong for what he did.
     In my story, there is also a lot of controversy on many other things and one of those is about the girl that came a day after Thomas arrived. She is not spoken of too much right now in my book, but she seems important, and her and Thomas seem to have some sort of connection. I really like my book, and I hope to  keep reading it. I will eventually finish it, and I will read the next book after that.

I read all 150 min both in and out of school

Essay for English

     My work on writing over this school year has been a lot of fun. I think the reason is because we got to really pick our topics like for the literary analysis and for the world issue or global issue paper. Also, the wrap essay was a good one to, and even though it told you your topic, the topic we had was perfect for me. My writing really has been fun and I think that I have done averagely well on this writing. Many people thought it was so stressful and boring, but I actually enjoyed it and liked the essays.

     Now that I have looked over all my feedback from the wrap to all the other essays, I get a good understanding of what I did well on and what I did not so well on. First of all for all the essays, I saw that many people including the teacher thought I had very good word choice and voice. This is because I used hyperbole and very sophisticated words such as imminent and even paraphernalia. Also when I looked through my writing, I had a lot of comments that talked about my great enthusiasm which was supposedly shown throughout all my essays including the wrap essay.  Lastly, when I looked through my papers, an important thing I saw was that when I looked through my peers' comments and then through my teacher's comments, they were completely different. What I believe is that many of my classmates did not fully read or take their time on putting good and helpful comments on my essays.

     My essays have been pretty good like I have said, but what really bothers me is that a lot of the times, I get low scores in Ideas. Out of all the essays, not one has a high score on Ideas, and this can be worrying. What I am generally missing in the Ideas category is the good, vivid, and complete details, which really contribute to making a paper one that is great. Also, I have a lot of errors in Punctuation, and that is especially having to do with quotations. I really had trouble with quotations and it was hard for me because quotations were used on just about every essay except for the Wrap. Lastly, the biggest error made by me in all of my essays, was individual organization within a paragraph of any of my essays. I think the reason it was tough was because a lot of the stuff I said within a paragraph should have gone to a different paragraph, usually at the beginning.

    Now that I look at my feedback more closely, I see that my understanding for the feedback is limited. What I mean by this is that a lot of the errors I made were because I did not really know how to make them right. So, for example, my works cited list was not indented in the second line because I did not know how to do so. Now, for some of them though, I swear I knew how to do it , but it did not come out right, or I really didn't know how to do it, and I was just thinking so. An example for this would be when I thought a semicolon would used in a manner that is only supposed to be used for normal colons. Finally, my ways of evaluating my writing has changed dramatically, and I have to credit that to Dr. d and her continuous amount of work she put onto us. Even though many people don't won't to do it, it really helps and causes us to see our mistakes and nice work that is in the piece.

     I would really like to set a whole bunch of goals up for next year, but I know I can only accomplish so many. First of all, I would like to set a goal that states that I should practice writing at school and at home on my free time. The plan for doing this goal is to cut out free time in my day at home and instead of watching television, I would go and write a short essay. My next goal would be, to organize my writing better for next year, and to make sure I look over every single comment I have on any paper I write. The plan I have for this, is for me to put every essay or writing assignment in a folder or separate binder away from any other class items. Also, the plan I have for looking over comments would be to, every time I write something, store it away safely, and make a note on it for me to remember that I need to look over the comments for it.

     My writing has been a joy to do and has been a joy to look over the feed back given. I hope to carry these feedbacks into my next year at Episcopal because I know it will help and encourage me to write better, more thought out essays. Lastly, I want to improve on multiple things including the Wrap essay because I could always do better on the Wrap, since I have taken it 3 years in a row.

   

Reading Response on Outside Reading

     My book is the Maze Runner by James Dashner and it is one to read. Right now, I am about to finish the book and see that the book is even more interesting than I thought. Thomas is now, stepped up and currently, where I stopped, he is stuck in the maze with his friend Alby, and Minho. This book is really interesting because of the way it is told, and the way it is told is by a narrator and quotes are put in for Thomas and the other characters.
     Also, I read in the book, and found out a ton about the Greviers and what they look like. The Greviers are creepy figures with fur and metal covering them, and they have no distinct head of bottom. These things also have mechanical arms that do different things, like one has a needle for stinging people, one has razor sharp claws, and another holds some sort of scary object. This thing probably sounds scary and it is, so I only recommend this book so far, to people interested in suspense, adventure, and horror.( not that horrific, just a little creepy.)



I read 150 min of outside reading. 150 min was done during all of easter break.

Song Analysis for Umbrella

     The song that I chose for the analysis is Umbrella by Rhianna and Jay Z. First of all there are many techniques that are being used and the first one is enjambment. Enjambment is when a line break comes in the middle of a sentence. This technique is used by when you see the lyrics or listen to them there is a pause in the middle of sentence and this is why. Lastly, the effects that this technique causes is that it causes the song to be more fluent and sound rythmic. Next, is stanza becuase there is a bit of it, and a stanza is a series of lines that is usually a recurring pattern. The way this is used is by since the song is so long that there has to be breaks in the lyrics for the chorus and other things. So the song has periodic breaks. The effects this causes is that it makes the song not sound like it is in one breath and it makes it sound more relaxed instead of sounding rushed.

      The next technique that is used would be consonance which is just the repitition of consonant sounds. So, the way that this is used when there is an end to any line there is a consonant rhyme with the other consonant either above or below it. The effects this causes is that it makes the song sound definitely more rythmic and makes it sound morelike a song and not like just words that are out there. Finally, the last technique used would be internal ryhme which is rhyme between a word within a line and another either at the end of the same line or within another line. This technique is used in the song by in some of the stanzas are examples of internal rhyme. The effects this cause is that is makes the song sound different and not so organized, meaning that the song has many different parts to it.

Blog Post for childhood poem

     The poem that I chose for my poem was called, "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke. The major techniques that were used in the poem were, stanza, assonance, consonance, and meter. In the poem, stanza was used by the poem being one that has a recurring pattern. For this poem the pattern was that each verse was four lines, and that this poem rhymed. Also the effects it had in the poem were that it made it easier to read and made it less complicated. Secondly, is assonance which was used by every other line being a rhyme to every other line. An example is the first and third line, where it says breath and death. Also, the effects it had were that every last word of every other line rhymed, which made the poem sound fluent and well organized.

     Also in the poem, was consonance, and it was used by the same as assonance. What I mean is that every other line rhymed and instead of it being for vowel sounds, it was for consonant sounds. An example is line 6 and line 8, where it says shelf and itself. The effects that this made in the poem were that it made the poem sound very well when read, and it made it song sophisticated. Lastly, is the technique called a meter and more specifically, it is an iambic meter. This means that the poem repeats a single basic pattern. So, this technique is used by there being in the poem, a specific rhythm in each verse. That rhythm is that every other line rhythms with each other. The effects it has in the poem are that it makes the poem look like a perfect stanza, and that it makes the poem a masterpiece. Finally, these techniques contribute to my interpretation of the poem by making me believe that this poem took time, and that this poem was very well thought up.

Outside Reading Post

     My outside reading book is called The Maze Runner by James Dasher. The main character of the book is a young boy named Thomas. I have been reading and since I have read, there is something interesting that happened. In my book, I read that there was a half alive girl that appeared in the Glade from the elevator. The weird part is that that is the first girl to appear in the Glade and that, she appeared 1 day after Thomas appeared. Also she is somewhat pretty from Thomas's view and she is very pale and skinny.

     In the book, the head people help this random girl out and she is eventually fully conscious and normal. People thought that Thomas should know her or she should know Thomas because they appeared one day apart. Thomas says though that he doesn't remember her. Not until he actually gets a closer look, does he somewhat recognize her. I really like this book and I hope to read more of it. I need to find out if there is a sequel.


I read 150 min of outside reading.
I read 90 min during school week, 30 min during weekend, and 30 min for poem.

Free post about size

     Many people care about their size and want to change it and one of those people are me. I hate that I am so small and skinny because it just causes people to tease you a lot. Also, even my best friends tease me and I tell them not to, but they do, and they don't stop. Another problem is that I am skinny and that is because I have a high metabolism, which just means I go to the bathroom a lot. Also it means that I don't eat much, and so I am not getting bigger that way.

     I just wish that there was something I could do to change it, but I know I have to deal with it. I know that I have to deal with all the people who tease me and I know I have to deal with every little thing I can't do because I to short for it. One example is how sometimes I can't go on certain rides at carnivals because of my size. I know I have to deal with these things, but I will pull through it and I can't wait till I pass everyone up when I am older.

Outside Reading Post

     Like I have said, my book is called the Maze Runner by James Dashner. So far, this book has been so great, and I know I will keep reading it.  The only problem I have with the book is that the book is very complicated and that there are way too many characters. Anyways, this book is so interesting and one example is how these kids or mainly boys are trapped in a place called the Glade.  This is surrounded by a maze, and they need to get out.
     Also, this book is very complicated and one example is how there are so many characters. Also, another example is how this kid, Thomas, always asks questions and he doesn't find the answer, which makes me go crazy. I want to keep reading this book and I know I will. This book is great and I want to read more like it.




I read 150 min and 110 for outside, and 40 for poem.

Outside REading Post

     My book that I am reading is called The Maze Runner and it is by James Dashner. This book is about a young boy named Thomas who is teleported to the Glade which is an area surrounded by a huge maze. Many boys live here and have been trying to figure out the Maze for a while, but they can't seem to figure it out. Thomas says that he wants to become a Maze runner, so we shall find out if that happens.

     What is interesting is that I just read that a girl was transported to the Glade and she was half dead. She is just  a normal girl and she and Thomas might  have some connection. I hope to read more of this book and I know it will be good.

Blog about Saint Patrick's Day

     Saint Patrick's Day is one of my favorite sort-of holidays during the year. The reason is because me and my family host a party that goes on from after the parade and until people want to leave. This party is so fun because of all the people and the entertainment. We have a huge blow up slide, great jambalaya, a parade going on before, and even people may be driven on my go kart. This year was one of the best because of all the people, but I had to drive so many people around that I probably now could drive with no hands.( joke)

     Since this was such a fun weekend, I am sad that it is ending and am not so happy that we lost our soccer tournament also. I actually woke up at 6 o clock this morning to go to a soccer game and we lost 1 to 0. Anyways, this weekend was great and I can't wait until next year.

Outside Reading

     I have not yet to read any more of my outside reading book because I have been reading Nervous Conditions, but I can talk a little about my book. My book is called the Maze Runner and it is one to read. It is so far about a young boy named Thomas who is the main character. He is teleported to an area where there are many other boys around his age. He gets there, gets a tour, and learns more about this place and why they can't get out.
     During the tour the guide talks about the place and mentions that there is a maze surrounding this place. There are runners that go and all day run throughout the maze searching for an exit. He then finds out why the runners don't go at night and that is because of the beasts that lurk inside the maze. They come out at night and Thomas actually is shown one one night. This book is really good and I know that I will read more of it.

Free Post about soccer

     Soccer for me is very fun and I have been playing it all my life. I play just about all the year because I play with two teams. One team is called a premier team and this is the team that I play with from August to November and then from February to May. The other team I play on is my High school team for Episcopal and that goes from November to beginning of February. The main team though that is what I do all the time is my Premier team.
     My premier team is awesome and we have games just about every weekend. We also have practice on Mondays and Wednesdays at Independence Park which is now, very nice.Our premier team actually played this weekend and we won our first game against a good team, but lost our second game to the best team in the league. The score was 5-2 , so I am not to mad about it, but we could of always done better. Soccer is not my hobby, it is my life.

Free Post about Driving.

     Nowadays, so many people are driving and many of my classmates have their permeates. I have a later birthday which is in April, so I don't get to drive until later. Also, other people think that driving is such a big deal and that their life depends on it, but I have a sister and she is 17, and she says it gets tiring driving everywhere. She wishes that our mother could drive her around once again, but she knows she can't do that.
     Since people in my class are so much older, I kind of get anxious because I do want to drive, but I have to remember that it may seem cool at first, but it will probably get tiring. Also, I don't even know if I will be able to fit over the steering wheel, so it is probably a good thing that my birthday is late because it gives me a chance to grow more and eventually see over that steering wheel. I do get worried and think about driving a lot, but I know that my day will come.

Nervous Conditions

     Nervous Conditions has been a great book and I am so sad that we have now finished it.  Dr. D has told us that there is a sequel to this book, but she says that it is way too graphic for her.  Though, I may like that book because I can handle graphic stuff and actually, I sometimes like it a lot. Anyways, this book was a great one and since we have a test on it, I think I won't have to put it away just yet.

     Since I am sad to let it go, I will talk about it some more. In the last two chapters of Nervous Conditions, I think that it was very hectic. It was hard for me to read the last chapters because the information was put on to us in a very fast and crazy way. But, the last chapters were the points where Tambu and Nyasha changed a lot. Tambu became more independent and Nyasha turned into a skinny weird freak that had to go to a psychiatrist. I really liked this book, and hope to find another like it.

Free Post about Family.

     My family is a very good family, all my cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, and even sister. Every sunday, my aunt, uncle, and cousin, come over to my house and have dinner with me and my family. This has gone on since I can remember, and I think that it is a pretty good thing to have. This process lets you bond with your outside family and lets you open up and talk about you week and/or day.

     I really like meeting with my family every Sunday because it allows me to first of all, play with my cousin and watch NFL football. Nowadays though we usually watch baseball or even soccer, but NFL is my favorite. Anyways, my family is great and I wouldn't change a thing about them, so just remember to thank your family for what they have done.

Nervous Conditions

     Nervous Conditions is a very good book so far, I think. I really like this book because it is very interesting and shows how people can change overtime. One example would be how Nyasha at first was a normal African who respected her parents and thought of her dad as a king. Now, Nyasha believes that she can do want she wants to do, and she believes that she can talk back to her father or Babamukuru.
     This book though can have it's downfalls, and some may be pretty different. One downfall of this book is that it is all over the place and that I can't keep up. Usually, I read this book very slowly in order to understand it, and that is because the book is confusing. This book can be good and bad, but one thing I know is that this book is a different one.

Nervous Conditions

     Nervous Conditions is a pretty good book so far and I hope to keep enjoying it.  Many people say or have said that this is not that great of a book, but I disagree. I think that this book is great because it puts you in another person's shoes and almost lets you feel what they feel. Also, I somewhat like this book because it is very intriguing. It makes you want to read more because it almost foreshadows the whole time.   An example would be her saying her brother dies and he actually does die later on in the story.
     This book really shows how life was and maybe still is for these people in Africa. Actually today many Africans are very poor and can't even afford there own house, but still it makes you feel for this family in Nervous Conditions. I really want to keep reading this book and hope to read another book just like it in the future.

Free Post about Stress

     Stress is something that everybody has and they have it especially during rough times. For me, school is very stressful because I am just starting high school, and there are loads of homework. I don't know if the teachers realize how much stress they are putting upon us with the homework. Many of my classmates would agree with me on this, and I think there should be a minor cut back on homework. I think that it would be easier for us and the teachers because they don't have to stay up late grading homework or making it.
     Like I have said, school can be very stressful. I actually stay up late just about every night doing homework, and it really gets tiring. I hope that teachers may cut back a little because I can't stay up every night doing homework when I have a test the next day. Stress can be good and bad, but the stress in school for me is pretty bad.

Nervous Conditions

     Nervous conditions to me so far is a decent book. The reason I say this is because it is a well written book, but I think that it is boring. Also I think that the author gets carried away during the book and can kind-of just jump around the place. Also, many of my classmates agree with my opinion on this book, and I think that that is just because it is the beginning of the story and nothing interesting has happened.

     Some people may disagree with me on this book, but it is only my opinion. So, therefore people have different opinions and that is what makes us who we are. Anyways, this book is not really that good to me, but I think that I will start to like it more just like many other people in my class. It may be not so great at the beginning, but it can always get better

Working on my Draft

     I worked a whole bunch on my draft this weekend especially because I knew I had to in order to complete it. It was a lot of work and sometimes I would just sit there because I did not know what to write about. So now, I have a full rough draft of my paper, but there is definitely still things that have to be done. One thing I need to do that I haven't yet is to put a header and the right format on my paper. Also I need to read over my paper multiple times just so that I get a feel for the paper and maybe read it to check for any minor mistakes.

     This paper has really been a challenge to me, but I think that I have pulled through the toughest part of writing it. Usually in a paper the toughest part is when you need to write a rough draft because you have to change it from either an outline or something into a rough draft.  I know what I have to do now in order to make my paper the best it can be and I may learn more things that I have to do after peer revision has been given to me.

Free Post

     Have you ever wondered if you get athleticism from genes from your parents or do you just obtain the skill overtime? I would say that most people think that you obtain it overtime, but that is my opinion and people may think otherwise. This idea though can go towards many of other things like tastes, music, or even personality. There are really many different ideas or things that you either obtain overtime or get from your parents.

     I would like to focus more on athleticism though because many people can relate to it. Athletic abilities can be very awesome and actually if you have over the top amazing athleticism, you could actually make a living off of your abilities. I really do take a huge interest in this idea because it is pretty cool to think about and I mean what if it is just skills.

Post about Paper

     My paper is slowly developing and right now I am working on my detailed outline.  I am really trying to focus on my detailed outline because if my outline is really good, it will definitely be easy to write the finishing product. I continue to work on it and I hope I don't run into any trouble with my paper. Also, I need to learn more about how to cite a quote correctly and efficiently, in order to help me in my paper.

     Like I have said I am continuing to work on my paper and so far I have not run into any problem that is major of some sort. I think that I will start my draft sometime at the beginning of this week coming up like Tuesday or maybe Wednesday.  Also, I usually have trouble with waiting till the last minute, but I have said that this time I will try not to and hope for the best.

Reading Response for Outside Reading #4

     The reason I chose this book was because a friend told me it was good, and I have heard from other people that it was good. I don't know what it is about the book so far, but it is just so interesting to the point that you can't put it down. Like I said it is very adventurous and so complicated that you want to keep reading and find out what happened. Also, the questions that Tomas, the kid, asks are so intriguing that you won't stop either.
   
     I can't stress how much I love this book so far, but I can't love it to soon because I know my opinion could differ. It is really a good book and I recommend it to anyone that likes reading somewhat confusing books. I hope people will read this book because it's so interesting and it makes you not stop reading it.

Reading Response for Outside Reading #3

     The book that I'm reading like I had said is called The Maze Runner by James Dashner.  It is a really good book so far and I know that it will be one of the best I have ever read.  It is more of a confusing, but adventure type book in which there is a 16 year old kid. He is transported to a place called the Glade, and as I have found out recently, he now knows some of the answers to his questions.

     The questions he asked were from his first day and he actually found out one on the first day he was at the Glade. The question was what was happening to this kid, and he came in and saw really something that changed his life. He didn't know what to do after that, but he went to bed. I really like this book and hope to find one like it after I'm done with this book.

Reading Response for Outside Reading #2

       Like I have said in my other post, this book is not one to miss.  The activity in this book is tremendous, and I know you will like it. I would also say that reading it so far, I would recommend it to any boy or girl that is relatively close to a teen's age.  This book is definitely not for younger kids, but if you think you can read it, please read it. Really, this book is one of the best so far and it just interests many people who read it.

       This book is unfortunately not one to relate to because it is definitely a fiction. I really hope that many people read this book though because it is amazing and just a great book to think hard about. Lastly, this book can sometimes get a little weird, but it never fails to entertain.

Reading Response for Outside Reading #1

        I have now started a new book this semester and it is called Maze Runner.  This book so far is a very good and interesting book in the fact that it can be confusing. What I mean by that is that in the book it just starts off as a kid trapped in a dark elevator and falling.  He ends up in a strange place called the Glade with  a bunch of guys his age. These guys call him the Green-bean in the book and that is because he is the newest addition to the Gladers. 

        I really love this book so far and I know I won't stop reading it anytime soon. It is just an interesting book that makes people reading it very curious. Also, there are many moods or emotions in this story and everything in the beginning is happening so fast. You have to read carefully and make sure you do not miss a thing because this story will blow your mind!

Post relevant to a new quarter

        New quarters are always a challenge to me and can be very interesting.  The reason that new quarters are a challenge to me is the fact that you have to start doing work again and it just is naturally hard for me to get back in the swing. I don't know why it is hard for me, but i think it's mostly because I don't put in the effort. I know it might be hard the first week or two, but I have to pull through it and just work my tail off. Also new quarters can be interesting because you don't know what is going to go on in that quarter quite yet and there are a lot of surprises. Personally I do not like surprises because I want to know what is going on and how to plan myself ahead of time. So, new quarters can be interesting and challenging, but you always have to pul through it and really work hard.