Star Wars Episode VII + Final Blog Post

Here is the extra credit video on Romeo and Juliet. This is for Wes Murry and me. This took all afternoon after-school Friday to film, some editing Friday night, and then finished editing on Sunday. I think it turned out really well!

If my English blog is a body of work, I would say that it would be about an average middle school writer growing up into a 10th grader. The beginning of my blog was very low-key, almost uncaring about the blog assignments, as if they are just some easy 10 point thing. For example, the very first sentence of my blogs is "I enjoy reading a lot." The whole post was about how I like reading, when I like reading, and my favorite book.

The next two posts were about irony in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Very basic, but my knowledge was increasing a little bit all ready. After that came my earliest memories, life lessons, best friends, and character symbol. My symbol for the post was a gavel for a judge, which is most likely the most obvious thing you can think of. But none the less, I was thinking! After that came the motif of a Mockingbird. I really liked that book because it was not to hard to read, it had a good storyline, and when you helped us figure out the symbols and motifs and what those things meant, then we were able to start realizing the in-depth-ness of some of these novels.

The next thing that we did was the Animal Farm theme project. I really wish that there would me more projects like this throughout the year. They take a lot of work, but if they are assigned a month or so in advance, (and you don't procrastinate), then they are much more fun. I learn a lot better when I have fun, and this assignment helped me understand what the point of theme is.

After that it was 2010 already! We did our new-year's resolution post, which I have kept more or less, and it was to be more self-motivated. We then read The Importance of Being Ernest. I sort of liked that book, but I didn't like the whole Victorian Era research part. It didn't help me understand the book any more. But we wrote our first portion of an essay with that book! I sort of liked the group essay idea, but mostly it was just chaotic trying to make sure everyone's parts fit and they all do the right thing and we get them in the right order... sheesh. But then came Great Expectations, which I loved because I got 95 on the essay, and it was a great book. I was finally getting a good grasp on picking out themes, motifs, and symbols. The skits were fun, too, and I got to dress up as Miss Havisham, with the sheet as my dress.

The blog about finding something in the real world that relates to Romeo and Juliet was very pointless. So was the one about fate. The summer reading gave me some good ideas for this summer, but with the honors 10 book and the AP World assignment, I think I am pretty set. Nearing the end, in the essay writing skills post I talked about how much I love the Gilman Method, and that has been the most helpful thing for me this year.

Altogether, this blog could be summed up as an average writer growing in his interpretation and writing skills over the course of a year. A theme could be that you won't get anything unless you work hard for it. If you plant seeds, but you don't water them, then what is the point of planting the seeds in the beginning? Thank you so much, Mrs. Gilman, for being such a great teacher this year! You have taught us all so much, but we never felt pressured to learn too much too quickly. I really hope you will be teaching AP 11th, so that I may have a chance to get into your class a second year! For my quote, it would have to be "Something (tsk tsk) reeeal nice!" Cousin Eddie says this in WalMart in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I think this has been a (tsk tsk) real nice 27 posts!

Essay writing skills

      I will say this first: I love the Gilman Method! It has been SO helpful! I like to be extremely organized and have everything completely ready to go, with CD's and CM's and transitions, before I start typing. The Gilman Method is perfect for that!

      I was very scared at the beginning of the year for essays. I had no idea how long they would be, what I would write about, and how I would think of enough ideas. But as we started doing short timed writes, the group essay, and finally the Great Expectations essay, and now this, it sort of worked it into me. I have been able to annotate knowing that later on I am going to have to write an essay. Some days annotating is just to get my homework done, but when I see a good idea I try to remember what color it was so I can use it later. (I use several colors of sticky notes) I have also been able to find a good motif with two sides (light/dark, strong/weak), and explain how those develop a theme. I like doing that because 1. it makes 3 easy paragraphs and 2. It keeps me from repeating commentary. The commentary used to be very hard to think of, but it has become easier and easier ans I have been learning more and more.

      This essay has been more fun to write that a nuisance because I have a very clear understanding of what I want to do for the 3 body paragraphs. On the 'B' list is:

1.Transitions may be poorly used, rough, or lacking.
I think my essay flows pretty well, but there aren't that many transitional words between 'chunks' and CM's. (Yet!)

2. Failure to use present tense always.
I use it almost always, but I think there are a couple of things like 'was' or 'were'. (In progress!)

Other than that, I think I have done pretty good on my essay! Again, I would not be able to do this without the Gilman Method! Thank you!

Summer Reading

I had to think way back to the beginning of school to remember a good book for reading this summer. I thought of some books that other classmates had read for their summer assignment that they said they liked, and I got these:

The first book is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I want to read this book because Jacob Peterson said it was really good, and it sounded like a very interesting plot. The time line is not chronological, and it is told from different peoples' points of view, so the timeline develops with the plot. Most off the characters are in the air force, and the main character's name is Yossarian.

The next book I chose is Mutiny on the Bounty, by Charles Nordhoff and James Hall. It is an extremely long book, but I like longer books sometimes, because I take longer to read it. I have heard it has a very engaging plot, but can be a little bit slow at times. I am up for a challenge!

I cannot wait for summer! (to read the books, of course!)

Themes and Motifs: Fate

I decided to do fate as the theme for this blog post. I saw Clash of the Titans during spring break and the intro to the movie was talking about all the stars pre-determining fate and everything being set way before time even began. I personally do not believe any of it, but because it is a very standing out theme in the play and I understand it I decided to blog about it.

The Chinese animal symbol that I am based on my time of birth is a monkey. Weird. My zodiac symbol is Gemini. Also very weird. The planets I have personal control over are Mercury and the Sun. I possess creative potential and enhance my impression on others by wearing 'the finest attire'. My lucky colors are copper and gold. It just gets stranger and stranger. I don't care at all about any of this, and hardly any of it fits me! I like to think I am creative, but I am not a monkey (?) and I don't wear 'the finest attire', I don't plan on owning any planets, and my favorite color is blue. But how does this fit into Romeo and Juliet?

In the prologue it says "A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life" (1.0.6) and this says right from the beginning that they will have bad luck together and that they just aren't the right fit for each other. But a good quote from scene three would be where Romeo says "I doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve/For sweet discourse in our times to come." (3.5.52-53) He is finally realizing that his fate has already been set for him to be banished from his true love. I think that just because I am creative and that is what my horoscope says doesn't mean all of them are true for everyone. In the same way, Romeo is hoping that what has supposedly been pre-determined he can switch back the stars to do what he wants them to do. Romeo also says to Friar Lawrence, "Ha, banishment. Be merciful, say 'Death'" (3.3.13) His star (if he is one) is simply being shot out of a cannon in the exact opposite direction that he wants to go. He would rather just end his life and get rid of the tormenting that he is going through.

That is all. Again, I don't believe anything of the star-stuff, but it is kind of funny to look at. I found out I am born on the same day as Andy Griffith!

Culture Shock: Romeo and Juliet

It was pretty dificult to find something to blog about, but I found a story about a police officer who arrested a man who was about to kill his wife. The man was driving too fast and had his high beams on, which is a typical sign of a drunk driver, so the cop followed him. He pulled him over and searched the car and there was a gun. The guy with the gun broke down and was really overwhelmed because he was going to use that gun to kill his wife.

This exemplifies a theme from R&J which is said by Friar Laurence, "Young men's love then lies, not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes." This shows how the man married his wife mostly for good looks and not for true love, so that fake love ended up turning against him to hate.

English Reflection Extra Credit Blog

This year in English has been a very good one so far. Some of my favorite activities are the group activities where we get to pick our own groups. The skits were very fun, but I felt like we didn't have enough time to prepare, and that we could have done a much better job if we had had a couple more days. But I understand that it was the week before spring break and we had to finish it quickly. I really like doing DGP all on one day, because it is always pretty easy to get 9-10 points. It has sort of become something that you just get used to doing, getting out DGP and working with a friend, finishing way ahead of time, and then talking. Another thing I have liked in this class is how the atmosphere is always calm and happy and everyone just sits on top of their desks and talks during the 10 minute break. I have also really enjoyed the frequent extended due dates, not because I don't finish the work, but because it makes me feel not as rushed and that I have that much more time to do a good job on it. I have never felt super-pressed about this class, and it has always been a class that I look forward to before lunch. It is one of my favorite classes, for sure.

Great Expectations Skit

Some ideas I have for the skit are as follows...

1. The part where Mrs. Havisham catches herself on fire and Pip uses his greatcoat to smother the fire and ends up burning his hands.

2. At the beginning where Pip first meets his convict and he tips Pip upside down and eats the bread in his pocket.

3. The scene (that is only described in the book) where Molly kills the person she was jealous of and gets the scratches on her wrists.

Which one is your favorite?