​Before I was in Mr. Block's English and History class I never really thought that I was good at writing. Sometimes, as all writers do, I would get stuck. I never really knew what to do when that happened; usually I would just give up and try again another day. In Mr. Block’s class I learned how to get through those ruts and now when I am not in a so-called writing rut creative topics and concepts burst out of me like a geyser. When I think of the beginning of the year it reminds me of the first time I ever really noticed that I had the potential of being a good writer. The class had just finished reading a boatload of short stories and we had been assigned to write a letter to anybody of our choice. This letter had to have many different quotes in it from the short stories. I decided to write to my father and express all of the things that I had wished I could say to him if I was not so scared. I wrote, "I really don’t get to tell you how I really feel most of the time. I am usually scared to tell you because I am scared of you. Before I start I just want to say that I love you and what I say in this letter can and will change our relationship forever. Weather it makes our relationship better or worse I will not regret saying how I feel because I really want you to know. I want you to know how you have slowly started to destroy everything that I thought was my life." When I finally read my Short Story Letter I was astounded at how good it sounded. I felt a little bit better about my writing skills, but I still wasn't too sure of myself. Little did I know that would soon change.

In class we have had many discussions about many things, some of them would even last all class period. Discussions can change your perspective on things if you keep your mind open and really listen. In class we have had many class trials (almost like an actual court trial), we were all split into groups and had to find evidence to defend our group from the charges that were being pressed. We did two trials in the class one was the Cortez/Aztec Trial and the other was the Sweat Shop Trial. Everybody would go into the trial with his or her own set idea/perspective on what actually happened. But after the trial, after everybody heard what had to be said their views changed because interesting and reliable points were made. After the trial everybody had to write a trial response. When you read all of these responses and saw what different people thought about every single part of the trials.

            Over the course of the year we have also focused on freedom and deeper understandings of oppression. Hope can function as a support system. Just like in “Night”, in the holocaust all people had were hope and their families. But when their families had gone all they had was hope. To keep moving on they used the hope of being free and surviving carries them on. As well as in the movie “The Farm” these men are in jail and they have nothing to hope for, but to be proved innocent or to be free. It is interesting to see people’s stories and to try to understand how some of them feel. Another project that went with this unit is Art in the Open, we had to Pick a location 4 blocks away from the school and create and perform a creative piece to the school. The Leah Stein Dance Company helped us get in touch with our inner creativity.

            As I said before, I never thought that I was a good writer. But I realized when you work hard you can surpass your own expectations. It is very interesting how you can go from not wanting or knowing how to write a good essay to taking it on like it is almost nothing. I have written a couple essays for Mr. Block’s class such as The Lord of the Flies Comparison Essay to The Thesis Paper. I now understand how to do these things, it is important to have good grammar and amazing writing skills. Now that I have those things I can utilize them so they would work out in my favor. Writing essays for colleges and jobs is a skill that is needed. As well as you have to sound professional. All thanks to a great teacher and a great year of learning.

Morgan Taylor                                                                                                      October 11, 2011

Dear Mr. Darryl Taylor,

The first quarter of my school year is almost up. I have learned so much and part of that learning was reading short stories in English class. So far we have read 3 important short stories, but I only wish to share with you the two that really spoke to me and somehow related to our relationship at the moment. “Like a Winding Sheet” and “Wildwood” are the two. Brace yourself dad it’s about to get really deep.

I really don’t get to tell you how I really feel most of the time. I am usually scared to tell you because I am scared of you. Before I start I just want to say that I love you and what I say in this letter can and will change our relationship forever. Weather it makes our relationship better or worse I will not regret saying how I feel because I really want you to know. I want you to know how you have slowly started to destroy everything that I thought was my life.

Remember that morning; you know exactly the one I am talking about. The one when you were screaming at my mom at the top of your lungs. What time was it again? O, yes I remember now it was 3 AM on a Tuesday morning. Your yelling and screaming woke my sister and me up. We knew what was coming we just didn’t want to believe it. You then yelled at us to go into the movie room downstairs so we can have a “Family Meeting”. I would say it was more of a slow, painful murder of my life, or what I thought was my life. You did not explain, but expressed with anger and hate that you and my mother were not happy and that she wants you out of the house. You then explain with no regret what so ever in your voice that you had cheated. My mother cut in for a second or two and explained that she found out three years ago and decided to forgive you because she loves you. No not loved you LOVES YOU! Remember your two daughters that you are supposed to love and protect from harm were crying and sobbing for hours. It lasted until 8:15, I don’t even know why. Maybe it was because we were trying to comprehend how everything in our lives were and still are a lie. Do you feel bad daddy? Do you feel bad for ruining our lives? I asked you and what did you say? “I am a very cold man Morgan, so therefore no I don’t feel bad at all.”That did it for me and I just wanted to get away from you for however long I could.

       I remember from the short story “Wildwood” there was a quote that was probably one of the feelings I was feeling that day. The quote read "And at that moment, for reasons you will never quite understand, you are overcome by a feeling, the premonition, that something in your life is about to change" (page 76). Let me explain this to you. Now that you have practically ruined this family I will never be able to look at you the same way, my mom now has to pay all the bills and can’t really afford all of it, you don’t even understand. You know how your father left you and your family to provide for yourselves while he had a great life with his new wife and family. How hard it was for you having to get a job at 13 just to stay in an apartment. Why would you want that for your children? Our situation might be a little better but it is the same scenario.

Right now from me there is a lot of hate towards you. I just feel like I can’t do anything to express it. This reminds me of the quote from the short story "Like a Winding Sheet" "But he couldn't bring himself to talk to her roughly or even threaten to strike her like a lot of men might have done. He wasn't made that way." (page 200). I can’t say what I feel or think to you because you are my father and I love you too much, but at the same time I feel as if you were never my real father to begin with, I feel I know nothing about you or what my life really is. I want to not care if I talk to you with a stern voice or a little attitude because my life would be a whole lot easier.

       Then one day out of nowhere I just got really angry. I ran upstairs as fast as I could and told you off. I yelled and screamed, it just felt so good. I felt like I had power over you sad I could say whatever I wanted. I felt kind of bad, but I felt as if you didn’t care so why should I? In the “Wildwood” there was a line or two that said, "I almost felt sorry for her. This is how you treat your mother? she cried. And if I could I would have broken the entire length of my life across her face, but instead I screamed back, And this is how you treat your daughter” (page 78). I felt the same way when I was yelling at you to get the hell out of my family’s damn house. I want to break my entire span of my life across your face. Everything we have and had is a lie. You were lying to my face my entire life.  It was almost as if I didn’t see you as family any more. "Like a Winding Sheet" says, "The knowledge that he had struck her seeped through him slowly he was appalled but he couldn't drag his fist away from her face" (page 210). I felt almost like that. I couldn’t stop myself.
    Before you resent me for however long you live. I want you to know that I still love you. It will just take me some time to really love you like I did before all this mess happened. Like you said, you did failed. You failed to protect me, to protect me from the monster we call Darryl Thomas Taylor.

From the daughter that loved you most,
Morgan Ann Taylor

Introduction and Reflection:

     The purpose of this project was to write a language autobiography. In class we have been reading and learning about different languages and how they were used or how they are made fun of. Throughout this unit I found it very interesting the way that certain people act or speak in a certain environment. It was hard for me to write a language autobiography because I don’t see myself as having a unique accent or way of dialect. When I speak I think I am speaking normally, almost everybody thinks they speak normally. Finding the topic was one of the hardest things I had to do while writing this paper. After I found my topic, the rest was easy from there. I hope you enjoy what I worked so hard on.

Essay:

     All my life my dad has always said to me, “You need to be like a Chameleon, look at your environment and make yourself match and fit into it.” Why is it that people are taught to act, speak or be something they are not? In this world people try to “fit in” they talk or act a certain way in order to fee accepted and wanted. No matter where you go Russia, France, Canada, The U.S., Africa or even 15 blocks from where you live people are going to talk and act differently. Everywhere there is a norm and for certain places that norm may be different. In General People are different. In life I have ran into many people and they all act and talk differently. People hang out in groups of people that they feel comfortable with, that talk or act similar to themselves. I wonder why the world can’t just accept that all people a different and unique? Why can’t we all socialize, get along and not judge each other?

     I was about 8 years old, and I had just put my stuff in my cubby at after care. Immediately I decided I wanted to play ball with my friends. We were having a great time laughing and bouncing the ball to each other, that is when my best friend Danielle said “MORGAN HEADS UP!” I turned around, saw the ball coming at my face and ducked. All of a sudden I heard “OW! Who did that!” We accidentally hit a boy name Zane in the back of the head. Zane was white and probably a little bit racist. He turned around and saw that I was standing there relieved that it didn’t hit me. I think he thought that I through the ball, then he screamed a cruel sentence at me “Watch whatcha doing, you stupid nigger!” I had never had anybody call me such a harsh word before. I ran to my teacher and said to her “DESI DESI! ZANE CALLED ME THE BIG N-WORD!” He ran up to he and tried to play it off by saying he said nigga instead of nigger, he said that he was using slang or using black people talk. Since the after care was made up of predominately black people, he thought he was able to get away with it. Obviously he said it intentionally and to make me feel bad. Nobody bought his plead and he got suspended for a week.

People are always trying to fit in to a certain group, if you don’t talk a certain way in a certain area you are “made fun of” or judged. when my 10th grade class was watching a video called American Tongues the director decided to take video of what certain people thought of other peoples accents or way of speaking. All the people in the video had strong accents (in my opinion), it was funny how they were making fun of how other people sound when they sound just as funny. These people were judging folk that they didn’t even know, they were judging them based on how they sound. American Tongues said “Barriers are the difference between Park Your Car and Pak Ya Ca.” People learn how speak to according to how they were taught or how they enunciate their words. As said in the video American Tongues “Everyone thinks everyone has an accent.” This is saying that no matter where you go everyone has a different unique way of speaking.
    When you are in an working environment people talk in their “professional voices”. When you do not talk in that specific voice your ideas are put down and you are looked at as if you were nothing but an accent. As said in American Tongues, ”They don’t listen to ideas they listen to dialect and accents.” I was talking to my mother and I asked her what do you think when a person comes into an interview for a job at your Agency and they have face piercings and tattoos all over them. She immediately said

“It shows me that they won’t be able to reach certain levels of my expectations or the agencies. They will not be able to go as far in management position if they have those piercings and tattoos.”

“So mom it does not matter if they are super intelligent or if they have amazing million dollar ideas?”

“I would not hire them because they do not look the part they are supposed to look, it looks bad for my agency.”
    One day in middle school I got in trouble for getting in a confrontation with a girl that I did not like at all. Of course I did not hit her, I do not fight in school, that doesn’t mean I was not thinking of it. I was sent down to the office, to go to  the principles room and she said to me

“Morgan why would you do this, you were always such a good student.”

“ I know, I know Ms. Fitzpatrick, but I didn’t do anything. The teacher saw the entire thing, if the teacher was in the room right next to me you know I would not behave in such a manner.”

“I believe you Morgan, you are a fantastic student, one of our best.” “Thank you Ms. Fitzpatrick, I am sure you know I would never disrupt the class during such and important standardized test.”

“Of course not, especially when you are taking it yourself, you may go Morgan.”

“Thank you Ms. Fitzpatrick for sorting this whole thing out.” When I went back upstairs to class I realized that the person I got “ in trouble” with took video of my entire conversation with the principle and sent it to the entire 8th grade. I got made fun of for “being friends” with the principle. At my middle school all of my teachers used to say to my mom “Morgan has a higher level of maturity than the rest of the students, she know how to talk to adults and that is going to get her places.” When I got into almost every high school of my choice they all said “No wonder you got in, you probably rocked that interview you went to. You have a way with showing your intelligence. You have a great fun and serious side.”
    According to my dad if you know how to act like a chameleon you will make it far in life. Knowing how to mask yourself in a certain environment is very good because you will be taken seriously. Being taken seriously in this world is extremely important. To me, I somewhat agree. Fitting in is important because it will help you survive, survive in our society with work, friends and school. On the other hand being yourself is just as important.

Bibliography:
"American Toungues." PBS: 07/05/1988. Television. <http://video.pbs.org/video/1553932059/>.

Intro Paragraph: My goals in writing these monologues. Is to show how many views there are. Whether you are for or against the pipeline. I wanted to show all the different emotions of this situation, sadness, anxiety, rage, regret, confidence and many more. I want to show the government how much they are hurting their citizens.

Monologue #1: Are You Serious

Setting: outside of her house, showing the factories. In her hand is  a newspaper.

      I’ll tell you how hard it’s been to live here. My community has had illnesses like throat cancer, if they build the pipelines, what’s going to happen? When did they start building factories? They’ve been making different factories across the street from my house ever since I was in kindergarten. This isn’t worth losing more people. I would come home and smell this horrible smell that was deadly. Money is going to be wasted. They need to make wiser choices.  We have all these different factories that’s causing odors. I think about the pipeline situation from time to time and people will have jobs if we have pipelines. But while the pipelines are being made it’s damaging, and causing problems.

      What’s your final answer about this situation, should this happen or not? Do you see this newspaper in my hand? Almost every time I read the news it doesn’t say specifically if Obama is going to let this happen, and once he makes up his mind. Once 6 months pass, with change or no change, then I’ll make up my mind, but for right now I’m not too sure. This situation is bittersweet, it’s going to help people out financially because people will be provided jobs but then again they’re going to be wasting billions of dollars.

Monologue #2: Will This Be The Right Choice?

Setting: At school taking a test.

     Here I am twirling my lucky pencil in my hand, and holding a test in front of my face not rushing to do my test to be the first person to be finished but I’m…wondering… Re-playing the whole phone call I had with my dad yesterday

He said though I’m an a little young to really rap my head around the situation

He has to decide weather he should deny the permit for the oil Pipelines or not.

Pipelines – Transports goods through a pipe.

He also told me that people would be given jobs, if the pipeline happens.

Will my dad make the right choice?

     I know I’m only ten years old, and have no say in weather we should resume with pipelines or not… But I think that my father should pass it. People will be provided jobs, right? That would be great, because people have been getting laid for the past 3 years.  

     I did some research after talking to my dad…and it said that a pipeline is a network that delivers the nations crude oil such as gasoline, jet fuel and home heating oil, is that good or bad?

Will that be hurting the environment or improving the environment.

Will he make the right choice?

Monologue #3: It’s all about the workers and to heck with the Environment, I need a job!

 Setting: At the site of one of the pipelines. Getting interviewed

       Honestly I think that they need to pass this, I need a job, this will be providing for hundreds of unemployed people at the moment.  Even If it’s going to be polluting the earth. Right about now we need, no I NEED a job. For the past years thousands of people have been unemployed – I’ve been unemployed. And right here these pipelines are jobs that will be able to give to the thousands of people who are unemployed.  Are you trying say that the only thing that you care about right now is yourself? No, not exactly, I’m just saying that we’ve started with the pipeline and the construction and all of a sudden we had to stop, no money is flowing through! Obama wants a solution for these unemployed citizens and its right in front of our faces! So close that I can - we can all taste it. We will be one step closer to have a better economy, not environmentally. I’m all for the environment, but I’m ready to sacrifice this environment so I can have a job.

 If you already had a job, and was asked about the Pipeline situation, what would you say?

     To be honest I would be on the side to try to save the environment, because

if this happens, its hurting Mother Nature. These Pipelines aren’t healthy for this environment. But I need to provide for family-my children…

Monologue #4: You're So Greedy

*The goddess of the earth says this with a lot of passion and a little bit of rage.

I give and give and give! All I get in return is this crappy piece of nothingness. (these 2 sentences are said with a bunch of rage) Yes, I am a goddess but there is only so much that I can do. In the beginning it was ok. People respected my earth because they really acknowledged that it was all they had to survive.(Happiness/calm in these 2) All of a sudden my guests got extremely greedy and started destroying my work. Cutting down my beautiful forests, polluting my oceans, taking more than what is needed and killing my master pieces of animals.(anger and rage) I did a pretty good job making this little sphere of joy, but maybe I didn’t do such a good job of protecting it. That is going to change soon.

Then the government thinks there all tall and mighty and decides to ruin the last of my work with a pipeline that goes from Canada to Texas. In this pipeline there will be nasty black, gooey and just unclean oil. It is all about the money to you people. What are you going to do if you have nothing else left? Oh, that’s right you are going to die. The “Bad Guys” say “It will be good for the economy and we will be able to live better lives.” DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE SAYING! I made this earth to the best of my ability and you the greedy ones are destroying it.

Now you’re scared because I am finally taking a stand and getting angry. All of these natural disasters, all of the people dying are your doing. I am just showing you what you have been doing this entire time. I have tried to be understanding and loving, but there only so much that I can take. I demand respect! My earth needs to be respected!

Not only have you betrayed me by making this decision, you have betrayed all of the earth. For billions of years the Earth that has hosted you on this planet. You do have a chance to make it better. The first step is to not make this pipeline that will destroy what you have left of your world. I now leave it in your hands to make this huge decision. Hope you make the right one.

Monologue # 5

*A man in a jail sell regrets his decision for standing up for what is right. He is anxious and debating weather or not he made the right choice protesting.

         Why did this happen to me? Why did I make such a bad decision. I have 2 kids and a wife at home I need to take care of. Right now they think i am on a business trip in Los Angeles. What is my wife going to say when she find out where I actually am. I am the man of the house I need to bring home the bacon for my family. I want to say I was being selfish but I am really just trying to protect my home. I grew up in South Dakota 2blocks from where they are going to rip up the earth and place that monstrous pipeline. All of my childhood memories will be destroyed. Where will my parents go? They are to old to handle this type of change.

This jail cell is so cold and damp. I am going to ruin my good work clothes. I didn’t know I was going to be arrested. I just wanted to do the right thing and defend our mother earth. Bad decisions, after bad decisions. Money in my family is really tight because of the economy. Now my family has to pay bail for me to get out. I don’t even want to tell them, I am scared that they will not trust me any more. I wasn’t thinking straight, I didn’t think about the consequences of protesting. Will i loose my job? How will this affect my reputation? I really hope that I am setting a good example for my kids. I don’t want them to end up like this. In a 6 by 6, cold, dirty and damp space regretting a decision that was made.

When I think about it i think I am being selfish, but also standing up in what I believe in and protecting my family. When my grand kids are born I want them to have a world to live in that isn’t a piece of crap. My generation and generations before have ruined our future generations home. I feel bad that they have to clean up our mess. Maybe I did do the right thing and my family will understand that I was fighting for them.

My portfolio shows that I am a hard working student. For every project or assignment I never go anything lower than a B. That might not say how good of a student I am, but it does show that I work hard and try my best most of the time. As viewers I would expect you to see how different my work is. The work I do is unique, different than most peoples work, but it works for me. Getting into class reading assignments is one of my strengths in English. For example when we did Macbeth in this class I did an amazing job on the projects we were supposed to do. I procrastinate and I don’t like reading a lot, this can be considered as o huge weakness in English class. I always wait until the last minute to do my projects or to read a book for a book report. This can really hurt me in the future and I need to work on it. It was fun looking through all of my past projects and seeing how I grew in vocabulary and over all work since the beginning of September. I didn’t come across many issues in my work, but there were a couple of things I could have done better on. Some of those things are my first Independent reading project and my Vignette. I resolved these issues by reflecting on what I needed to change and what could have made it better. I am most proud of two pieces that I did in this class and they are my Me Magazine and my Macbeth Creative Piece. I am most proud of my Me Magazine because it was the first project that I did in this class and I really talked about my life, I never wrote so much in my life before I started going to this school. At previous schools before SLA we never had acting class or got a chance to do something really creative, my Macbeth Creative piece is an imovie of me acting as Lady Macbeth so obviously it is pretty special to me. I am proud of all of the work I did this year and I want you to see my best creations showcased.

Introduction:

            Almost every English class the students would walk in and see a journal on the board. The students would sit down and do the journal. Here are 6 of the many journals that were given and my responses to them.

Journal #1: Have you ever faced what seemed like an impossible task? How do you get through it (if you did…)? Were you alone?

GROUP PROJECTS! I really don’t like them, especially when your “team mates” don’t do what they are supposed to. This event happened in about 7^th or 8^th grade. It was a project that was worth 20% of your final grade. I had to get this done. I collaborated with my team mates and we decided what each of us were supposed to do for our project. But one of the people in my group was a horrible partner that didn’t do any work they were supposed to. The day before the project was due she skipped school. So the other two people and myself had to do that part of the project in 20 minutes and put it on the poster board. But we didn’t have a computer to type it up on. So we had to write it by hand. Ends up we got an A so everything turned out ok.

Journal #2: Why write?

I write to express myself. When I have no one else to talk to but myself, my pen and my paper. I feel like people don’t understand me sometimes so I go and sort of talk to myself and think about what to do about a certain situation. Or maybe I just want to write about life, something inspirational so when I need advice I can always go back and read it over. This is why I write.

Journal #3: If you really knew me…

If you really knew me you would know that in public I seem like a happy soul a person who has a care free life (which sometime I do). But on the inside I am an angry person. I do have anger issues. If someone pushes me over or close to the edge I will flip, go over board and not be able to control my actions. I do have to go to therapy to try to take control of my problem. If you really knew me you would know that I have anger issues.

Journal #4: How important is it to fit in?

People who know me know that it is every important for to be liked. I need to fit in to feel good about myself. I need to have friends, I need to feel like if I’m going to fall someone will be there to catch me. I love being liked by people it makes me feel good.

Journal #5: What are people’s expectations of you? What are your own?

Peoples expectations of me are to do well in school, to be responsible and wary and to be me. It is hard doing all these things and when people have these things on their shoulders and more they crumble under the pressure. My expectations are the same but a little bit more strict. When I do things I want myself to go above and beyond and when I don’t I feel bad about myself. It is hard living up to other peoples standards or expectations, but it is even harder living up to your own.

Journal #6: What is your response to seeing/reading and saying the ”N” word?

Seeing this word all over this book is hard and upsetting but at the same time ok. It is ok to see because it reminds you how things in the past really were and how things have changed for the better. It is refreshing to see how well African Americans are treated today knowing that things have changed forever and for the better.

Introduction:

            Part of the year the class focused a little bit on Greek mythology. A project we had to do was pick a God, Goddess of Nymph and write about a myth that they were in. We had to create a poster as well, I chose the character Persephone. Here is the written part of the project. 

                               The Fabulous Myth of the Goddess Persephone

            The name of the Goddess/character I am writing about is Persephone. When Persephone was younger they would call her kore, which means the maiden. She is the Goddess of the Underworld. Her husband who is the king of the Underworld is keeping her prisoner. His name is Hades one of the three brothers, Zeus and Poseidon. In this myth Persephone makes a mistake and ends up in the Underworld with Hades. Before she is allowed to leave she is tricked and eats 7 pomegranate seeds. The epithet for Persephone is an innocent child, because she was clueless on what to do and was tricked into eating the pomegranate seeds.

            Some people used to say she looked like an innocent child. This shows how much she didn’t know about the flower she picked and how clueless Hades thought she was. This is a symbol of a beautiful young girl. When I think of this symbol I think of a child. Some symbol having to do with the myth is pomegranates.  Because she ate the pomegranate seeds and therefore had to stay in the Underworld. Another symbol might be flowers and nature because she is the Goddess of spring.

            Persephone is related to Hades, Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter and many other Gods, Goddesses and Demigods because of her relation to Hades, Zeus and Poseidon. Her mother is Demeter Goddess of grain and fertility basically harvest. Hades is the God of the Underworld and all of the souls. Her father is Zeus, brother of Hades. So Persephone is married to her uncle.

            Once upon a time a beautiful goddess named Persephone went into the meadow and started to pick flowers. Her eye spotted the most amazingly wonderful looking flower she had ever seen. When she picked it Hades came and took her down to the Underworld. Her mother Demeter was devastated, and didn’t think her daughter could ever come back. Demeter persuaded Zeus to make Hades let Persephone go. All the time this was happening Persephone did not eat anything. But Persephone ate 7 pomegranate seeds. As a result of this she had to stay in the underworld 7 months out of a year. Meanwhile Demeter is so sad the earth becomes cold and barren. When Persephone is in the Underworld the season is winter. When she has her allowed time away from the Underworld it is spring.

            Persephone absolutely hates her husband Hades because he is sort of keeping her hostage. She wants to be on earth and she also wants to be happy with her mother and friends. Persephone is from Greece originally. Persephone as portrayed in Rome is Proserpina.

            This myth is very important because it explains why we have the seasons winter and spring. When Persephone is away it is barren and cold because her mother is very sad. If you look closely at the myth you can see that it is a chain reaction as to why some things in the end up the way they are today. Each myth is basically a reason why the earth and the way we do things are today. This myth can be put into modern day text or play form. Some creep abducted Persephone a beautiful teenager. She was scared and she didn’t want to be there. She refused to eat anything she just wanted to go home. Then she eats something and is forced to stay with the creep for 7 months out of the year. The mother is so upset her feelings affect the people and the things around her. Therefore this myth and some how all myths can relate to modern day times or explain why things are the way they are today.

Bibliographies:

Persephone, greek goddess of innocence and receptivity and queen of the underworld. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/greek_goddess_persephone.htm

Aaron J. Atsma, AJA. (2000). Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Persephone.html

June 24, 2008 . (2008, June 24). Retrieved from http://www.paleothea.com/SortaSingles/Persephone.html

Introduction:

            Throughout the year we as students had to read two books and write a book review on it. My second book review was on the book “Shug”. But for this book review the students were allowed the choice of something creative, I chose to do a podcast.

Independent Reading:

Introduction:

            Throughout the year we as students had to read two books and write a book review on it. My first book review was on the book “The Skin I’m in”.

Independent Reading:

                                                               The Skin I’m in

The title of this book is called The Skin I’m in by Sharon G. Flake. This book won plenty of awards and recognitions for its stellar material and meaning. Some of these awards and recognitions are…

• Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent
• Publishers Weekly Author to Watch
• New York Public Library Top Ten Book for the Teen Age
• YALSA Best Books for Young Adult Readers
• YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers
• Texas Lonestar Reading List
• Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year
• YWCA Racial Justice Award
• Detroit Free Library Author of the Year Award
• Starred Review in Publishers Weekly

From what I researched it seems that The Skin I’m in was made into a movie.

            The Skin I’m in is about a seventh grader named Maleeka. Who is tormented because of the clothes her mother makes her because she can’t afford new ones, her perfect grades and if that weren’t enough they would make fun of how dark her skin is. On top of all that she would hang out with the wrong crowd. Maleeka hangs out with the meanest girl in school, Charlese. The gang she hangs out with makes fun of her and they smoke in the girls bathroom most of the school day. Charlese mouths off to the teachers and messes around with other girls boyfriends. If she is almost caught by the girlfriend of the boy she tells them that it wasn’t her it was Maleeka. Maleeka takes this because every day Charlese brings in nice new pretty clothes and accessories for her to wear for the day. One day a new teacher shows up named Ms. Saunders with white starchy blotches on her face. Maleeka thinks that her life can’t get any worse until this lady comes and makes everything worse than it already was. Ms. Saunders decides that she wants to teach Maleeka to have more self-confidence and to not care what other people say or think and to just be herself no matter what. Maleeka wishes that Ms. Saunders would just leave her alone and go away. Charlese comes up with the idea to destroy Ms. Saunders’ room. Ms. Saunders got new velvet pillows for the children to sit on during class, nice new curtains and new stuff all over the room. They put glue all over the velvet curtains and pillows, the girls rip and make a mess of the curtains and pillows. Not wanting to into peer pressure Maleeva resists and Charlese decides to hurt her. Maleeka ta˚es a lighter from Charlese and burns the money she gave to her. She accidentally burns the curtains and gets caught by the janitor who was on duty; Maleeka was the only person who was blamed. In the end the truth comes out and Charlese’s sister sends her to Alabama and Maleeka is now confident and happy with how she looks. She also gets the guy she lives named Caleb. Everything works out in the end.

            My favorite character is Maleeka because she is teased for how she looks and overcomes what other people say, think and do to her. She eventually gets what she always needed self-confidence. What people should take away from the book is to love your self no matter what and be happy with you. Don’t do things you know is wrong because you want to be liked, just be you all the time and then you will be happy. There are many morels people could take away from this book but I think this is the best.

            I can relate to Maleeka because when I was in middle school I was teased for my weight and the way I looked. I used to pretend to be someone I wasn’t so I would be liked. I never trashed a teachers’ classroom but I did do things I wish I hadn’t done like mess with people who were my real friends, mouth off to my favorite teachers and mess with my sister. In the end I fond people I could relate to and went to a school were I can start over and be myself. I finally feel that I don’t have to be someone I’m not.

            I thought that this was an amazing book about a colorful girl who has yet to find herself in a school who bullies her every day. Not only did I think this book was awesome I could relate to it in my own way. The strengths of the book were the action parts. The weaknesses were the parts when Maleeka was talking about how she got in trouble and had to work in the office and can’t watch TV or use the phone. I would change the ending, the ending is the type of ending that leaves you hanging like there would be another book or something but there’s not. I really didn’t enjoy the type of ending used.

             I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in teenagers with problems or have trouble being teased. If you an relate to a kid who is being teased for their looks or how weird people think they are or how smart they are then this would be the book for you. Many people can relate to the main character in this story Maleeka in some way or another. As I said before this book is absolutely amazing. It doesn’t matter if you are in middle school, high school, college or working I believe everyone can relate to this boo in some way. Don’t think just do, you should just read, read, read this book.

a resists and Charlese desides to hurt her. Maleeka takes a lighter from Charlese and burns the money she gave to her. She accidentally burns the curtains and gets caught by the janitor who was on duty; Maleeka was the only person who was blamed. In the end the truth comes out and Charlese’s sister sends her to Alabama and Maleeka is now confident and happy with how she looks. She also gets the guy she lives named Caleb. Everything works out in the end.

            My favorite character is Maleeka because she is teased for how she looks and overcomes what other people say, think and do to her. She eventually gets what she always needed self-confidence. What people should take away from the book is to love yourself no matter what and be happy with you. Don’t do things you know are wrong because you want to be liked, just be you all the time and then you will be happy. There are many morels people could take away from this book but I think this is the best.

            I can relate to Maleeka because when I was in middle school I was teased for my weight and the way I looked. I used to pretend to be someone I wasn’t so I would be liked. I never trashed a teachers’ classroom but I did do things I wish I hadn’t done like mess with people who were my real friends, mouth off to my favorite teachers and mess with my sister. In the end I found people I could relate to and went to a school were I can start over and be myself. I finally feel that I don’t have to be someone I’m not.

            I thought that this was an amazing book about a colorful girl who has yet to find herself in a school who bullies her every day. Not only did I think this book was awesome I could relate to it in my own way. The strengths of the book were the action parts. The weaknesses were the parts when Maleeka was talking about how she got in trouble and had to work in the office and can’t watch TV or use the phone. I would change the ending, the ending is the type of ending that leaves you hanging like there would be another book or something but there’s not. I really didn’t enjoy the type of ending used.

             I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in teenagers with problems or have trouble being teased. If you an relate to a kid who is being teased for their looks or how weird people think they are or how smart they are then this would be the book for you. Many people can relate to the main character in this story Maleeka in some way or another. As I said before this book is absolutely amazing. It doesn’t matter if you are in middle school, high school, college or working I believe everyone can relate to this book in some way. Don’t think just do, you should just read, read, read this book.

Introduction:

            One of our most creative projects was our very first which is the Me Magazine. The students had to make a magazine about themselves with an editor’s letter, 2 articles and advertisements about the articles.

Introduction:

            Our third big project was an Odyssey Compare/Contrast Essay. Students had to pick a character from the book the Odyssey and another piece of work. In my project I compared Odysseus from “The Odyssey” and Everet for ‘O Brother Where Art Thou” In this project the students had to create a thesis and link it through the paper and support it.

Odyssey Compare/Contrast Essay:

                                     Odysseus vs. Everett who is a better leader???

Sometimes leaders can get distracted, even the great ones, but it is their job to realize that they made a mistake and must suffer the consequences. Some leaders only lead for the glory. Odysseus from The Odyssey and Everett from O Brother Where Art Thou were both amazing leaders and their men looked up to them. Despite their similarities there are some things that set them apart. Although Everett and Odysseus are alike, Everett has better leadership skills, which in the end helps him and his crew get to where they need to go.

Odysseus and Everett are both on a journey to get home. In The Odyssey, Odysseus has been away for twenty years. He was at the Trojan War for ten years and it took him ten more to get home. In O Brother Where Art Thou, Everett escaped from the chain gang so he can go home and win his wife back. Both men are vain. In O Brother Where Art Thou, when Everett and his men are trying to fix their get away car, Everett is supposed to be getting car parts, but he is worried about his hair treatment. This shows that Everett can get off track easily when it comes to his self-image and he doesn’t even think about what he should be doing. In The Odyssey Circe is telling Odysseus how to get home, when she tells him about a deadly creature that he should stay away from he wants to fight it any way. ”Deadly Charybdis-can’t I possibly cut and run from her and still fight Scylla off when Scylla strikes my men?” (Book 12, Lines 124-125, page 275). He says this because he thinks he is unstoppable and that he can take any monster that comes at him. He also wants the rights to brag about defeating a monster that no one else could defeat. It seems that Odysseus is more focused on the glory and the fame than the actual consequences of doing what he wants to. If he did not talk this over with Circe, Scylla would kill more of his men and maybe even himself.

Despite their similarities both men have many differences. For example, Everett is more focused on the task at hand while Odysseus is distracted. Odysseus and his men are on Circe’s island, after Odysseus saves his men from the clutches of Circe. Odysseus and his men hang out at the island for a year because Odysseus is sleeping with her. Odysseus’ men have to tell him that they have to go because they have been with Circe for a year and that its time to start heading home. The men say to Odysseus “Captain this is madness! High time you though of your own home at last, if it really is your fate to make it back alive and reach your well-built house and native land.” (Book 10, Lines 520-523, page 263). His men said this to him because Odysseus promised them that he would get them home. Instead he was fooling around with a Goddess for a year. After Everett and his men fall into the trap of the Sirens they wake up and fine that one of them is missing, Pete. Wanting all his men to get home safely Everett tells Delmar that they cannot stay because they have to finish their journey without Pete. In this case Everett shows that he is a better leader because he is more focused on getting to his destination

Odysseus steers his men in the wrong path, because of this many of his men die. Odysseus feels bad, but keeps it to himself and doesn’t tell his men. When Odysseus and his crew go towards Scylla and Charybdis he doesn’t tell them what is coming. As a result of this his men are horrified and six of his men die a horrible gruesome death.  When explaining his journey to people he explains how bad he felt and how he wanted to apologize but didn’t. This is how he explained the death of his six best men, ”I could see hand and feet already hoisted, flailing, high, higher, over my head, look- wailing down on me, comrades riven in agony, shrieking out my name for the last time!” (Book 12, Lines 267-270, page 279). Everett also steers his men in the wrong direction and lies to them. When Everett and his men escape from the chain gang he tells them that he has a treasure that they can split if they come with him. After Everett and Delmar rescue Pete, Everett tells them the truth about the treasure. He tells them that there really wasn’t a treasure; he just wanted to get his wife back. Everett feels bad and apologizes to his men for misguiding them and lying to them. Everett’s men are extremely mad at him because they only had a little more time on the chain gang and now they have another 80 years added on. Over all Everett has the audacity to tell his men the truth. This tells us that he is a better leader /man than Odysseus.

Everett and his men are all able to get where they need to go safely because Everett has better leadership skills than Odysseus, even though they are both alike. Both of the men Odysseus and Everett are very vain, they are both consumed with their self-image. Odysseus gets distracted by a lovely goddess and doesn’t leave for a while; his men have to tell him to leave. Everett however falls into the same situation, but can easily spring back into action. After Odysseus and Everett make a mistake Everett apologizes to his men and asks for forgiveness. However Odysseus keeps his feelings to himself. In all the leaders today and along time ago lead for different reasons, how would we lead in different circumstances.

Introduction:

            Our second big project was a Memoir Vignette. In the second Quarter the class read Freedom Writers and Funny and Farsi. These two books are memoir vignettes and we had to do one too. The students had to pick an event in their lives and write about it by using the elements we learned in class. Students had to incorporate a reflection without showing it was really a reflection.

Memoir Vignette:

                                                  Family is Always Better

            I was so excited for the next school dance[SA1] . The first one was so much fun. I felt free and like I was able to do anything. I also had a basketball game the same day. I was so excited to walk into that dance and tell the school about our amazing victory. But all that excitement went away when my mom finally mentioned that we were going to see our family on the 17^th of December. I thought to myself, “NOOOO!! That’s the day of the dance. I’m going to miss it.”[SA2]  But I just had to suck it up and deal.

            On the day we left I decided to go into the car with my parents instead of my grandmother. At first I thought it was a good idea. I’ll never make that mistake again. I was smashed up against the car door like a dead bug up against the windshield.[SA3]  During the drive my dad was being even more weird than usual. He kept saying the same thing in a loud obnoxious voice. “DANG YOU DANG WOODCHUCKS QUIT CHUCKIN’ MY WOOD!!!!” He saw it on a commercial and couldn’t stop saying it all weekend. We had to make a few stops to eat and use the bathroom. At those stops my parents started to embarrass me out of my mind. They started blurting out all of my personal information to the public. We were in the food court sitting down on the cold hard red chairs; we sat and started to eat our food that we just got.[SA4]  My dad started to say that annoying thing that he heard on the TV. I decided to ignore him and keep eating my cheese pizza and Coca-Cola. Then I had to ask my mom a very important question. It is way to personal to talk about. Any way they started to talk about it really loudly, I tried to quiet them down but it didn’t work. Eventually I decided to go and eat my pizza in the car where it was quiet. So far this was the worst trip ever, I though to myself “I’d rather be at the girls Basketball game or the dance.”[SA5]  Then it was back on the road.

            We thought that we were only two minutes away; well it turns out after five hours no one noticed that my mom put in the wrong address. So we drove around for another hour and a half trying to find where the hotel was.  Well it felt that way; it was only about five minutes.[SA6]  We made it to the hotel and pulled into a parking spot. I ran out the car to greet the family that I only see once a year. I run out and hug the first person I see, who was my Uncle Chris. I turn to hug the next person but there is no one else there. I end up waiting for my family to come. It didn’t take that long for them to show up.

            At the time only half of my cousins ended up coming. My cousin’s names are Kristen, Lauren and Stephanie. Stephanie the oldest brought her boyfriend along named Russel as a joke we called him Roger. My Uncle Chris’ wife is my Aunt Denis (we call her Aunt GG). I ran and hugged each of them, except for Russel, and helped them bring in their bags.

            After the family got all settled in we decided to watch the most amazing and funny Christmas movie ever, ELF!!! We all wanted to open our presents but we didn’t because our family was not there yet. It came to be about twelve o’clock and I was tired so I went to bed before my other cousins came. When I woke up I found out that my other cousins came a half a hour later, my mom took them to a dinner for breakfast/desert. I was jealous and kind of sad that they didn’t wake me up to take me with them.

            I woke up the next morning and greeted all the family I haven’t seen yet. My two younger cousins Emily and Jon Jon. I greeted my Aunt Leslie. Lastly I greeted my Uncle Rob. After I greeted everyone[SA7]  I went to the waffle maker and made a chocolate waffle with a mountain of whipped cream on top and a drizzle of chocolate syrup on top. It was the most amazing chocolate waffle ever.

            At this point I was still upset that I missed a basketball game and the dance. Some how I decided to get over it. I learned that we were going to see a whale hunting boat named The Charles W. Morgan. I was amazed that it had my name in it. I felt like a celebrity[SA8] , but no one really cared I could tell. We learned many things about how it was built, being rebuilt and lived in/used it. We also learned who worked in it, how it got its name and the captains that lived there. [SA9]  You could say it was like a class trip.[SA10] 

            After we finished the tour of the magnificent ship we went to the famous Mystic pizza. The pizza is said to be the best in Connecticut. And the romance movie Mystic Pizza was shot right there in that shop. Julia Roberts was in that movie and it was the jump-start of her career. I couldn’t believe that I was standing where Julia Roberts stood almost 30 years ago. I can honestly say that was some of the best pizza I have ever had. The flavors all-swirling in your mouth like a merry-go-round of delicious toppings cheese and sauce.[SA11]   Some went back to the hotel to take naps and swim, but I went back to see the ship. It was somewhat fun. I kind of wished I had my swim suit with me so I could swim with my little cousin but that was alright I had an amazing time.

            Soon enough it was present time. We started to each open our presents from each of the 3 families plus one from Grandma. In total we got 3 presents, except for my sister and myself. Since our grandmother lives with us we have to open ours at home. I got a 25 dollar itunes card from my aunt GG and a cute long-sleeved shirt-hoodie from American Eagle from my Aunt Leslie. I love the presents I got.

It is a tradition to play Monopoly after unwrapping all our presents. My dad always used to make up bogus rules. During the game we were all watching one of my favorite romance movies called The Titanic. This game was intense; I was winning then losing then winning then losing[SA12] . If you can’t tell this game went on forever. After a couple hours of playing I lost. My uncle Rob was the one who ended up controlling the whole entire board and winning. I was surprised I made it that far. The game ended at four A.M. Monopoly is always a good time.

            The next day came and it was the day to leave. Before we left my grandfather came over with his wife Mary. I didn’t stay, Jon Jon , Emily my sister and I ditched everyone and went to different buildings to play ding dong ditch on the residents. It was a rush, thrill anything awesome you can call it.[SA13]  Eventually it was time to go. I was sad to leave my family we had so much fun together. When everyone was all packed up and ready to leave we all said our good byes. We got into our designated cars and drove our separate ways. As I sat there in the car with my mom, dad and sister I was upset. I looked back on all the fun I had and was content. Family is way more important than any old basketball game or stupid school dance. I am happy now that I saw my family when I did , I can’t wait to see them again soon and I hope they feel the same way.[SA14] 

Introduction:

            Our first big project was a character analysis on the book Macbeth. Each student had to pick a main character and map out how they changed over the course of the book. In this project the student had to create a thesis and link it throughout the project to support it.

Macbeth Character Analysis:

Lady Macbeth:

Thesis: Lady Macbeth is a controlling housewife and would go to any length to get what she wanted, but by the end of the play, she suffered from remorse and guilt.

Act 1:

 In Act 1 Scene 5 of Macbeth, Macbeth just came home from war and seeing witches. He gives Lady Macbeth the news of the promotion he just received to the Thane of Cawdor. He also tells Lady Macbeth about what the witches said, and she begins to hatch a plan to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it” (1.5.64-65). Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to look innocent but be evil and have a secret darkness underneath his innocence. She is thinking that if Macbeth is sweet and innocent, he will gain the King’s trust and maybe he can get the title of king easier. Then she can be queen faster. This reveals that Lady Macbeth is a sneaky woman and can convince somebody to do something that really benefits her, and not the person she is convincing.

Later in the same scene, Lady Macbeth is still telling Macbeth her plan in progress, but she is not telling him all the details yet. Lady Macbeth doesn’t want Macbeth to worry about anything. Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth “Leave the rest to me” (1.5.72). She is saying that Macbeth doesn’t have to worry, and that she will plan and take care of everything. She wants to be in control of everything, and she wants to plan and be the mastermind. This shows that she is a controlling housewife that always has to be in charge of everything all the time.

In act 1 scene 7, King Duncan and the other thanes are at Macbeth’s house having dinner. Macbeth just finished his first soliloquy and doesn’t want to go through with killing Duncan, but Lady Macbeth Is trying to convince him to go through with the plan. She is convincing him by insulting him and using harsh insults. Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth,  ”I would, as it were smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out.” (1.7.56-58). She is saying to Macbeth that she would do the most horrible thing to the one she loved and gave birth to if she promised him she would. She is trying awfully hard to make him want to kill the king. She tries everything till he finally cracks. This shows that she is definitely controlling housewife that will go to any length to convince someone to do something, or to get what she wanted.

Act 2:

            Macbeth has just killed Duncan. Lady Macbeth realizes that Macbeth still has the daggers when he was supposed to plant them on the passed out guards. So she takes the daggers and does it herself. Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth, “Give me the daggers.” (2.2.56). She is frustrated with Macbeth for not following the plan. She panics and takes the daggers and finishes the job herself. This shows That Lady Macbeth is a do it herself kind of woman and is a controlling housewife. This also shows that everything must go according to her plan, which shows that she is a controlling housewife/woman.

Lady Macbeth Just took the daggers from Macbeth and planted them on the guards and smeared blood all over their faces. So she has blood all over her hands just like Macbeth. Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth, “My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white.”(2.2.67-68). She is saying that she has finished the rest of the plan and now she has blood all over her hands just like his, but she hates that she has a pure soul and ruined it. This shows That Lady Macbeth is a do it herself kind of woman and is a controlling housewife. This also shows that everything must go according to her plan, which shows that she is a controlling housewife/woman also.

Macduff just found King Duncan’s dead body and called everyone to wake up. Lady Macbeth is acting like she has no idea what is going on, when she finds out that Duncan is dead she acts like she is sad and can’t believe it and pretends to faint because of the “shock”. Lady Macbeth says to the men who are on stage, “Help me hence, ho.” 2.316. She is saying to the men “O my gosh, what a shock. Someone please help me”. She is faking it so no one will be suspicious of her and Macbeth This reveals that she is will do anything to get what she wanted such as pretending she knows nothing of what happened to protect herself and Macbeth.

Act 3:

Macbeth is king and Lady Macbeth is queen. Macbeth just hired 3 murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance. Macbeth is hosting a banquet for the Thanes and Lady Macbeth is getting ready for it. Lady Macbeth says to servant, “Where our desire is got without content.” (3.2.6). This shows that she is slowly feeling guilty about how she got to be queen. She says she is not happy even though this is what she wanted, but it’s not enough.

Macbeth is seeing Banquo’s ghost at the banquet and he is going crazy, Lady Macbeth is trying to protect Macbeth by telling all the thanes to leave so she can find out what is going on so she can help him. Lady Macbeth says to the Thanes, “At once, goodnight. Stand not upon the order of your going, but go at once.”(3.4.119-121). She is saying for them to leave the banquet at once and to not worry about the manners of the way they leave. She wants them to leave at once because her husband is going crazy and she wants to protect him and see what is going on with him. Macbeth might be going crazy about him having so much guilt of him killing Duncan. This shows that she is willing to end a big banquet to protect their big secret.

Act 5:

Lady Macbeth is sleep walking and the Doctor is telling Macbeth what is going on with her before a big battle between Macbeth, Malcolm, Macduff and Seward’s army. She is talking about what happened to Duncan in her sleep. Doctor says to Macbeth, “Not so sick, my lord, as she is troubled with thick-coming fancies that keep her from her rest.” (5.3.39-41). The doctor is saying that Lady Macbeth is not sick just extremely guilty so she sleep walks at night and talks of what she shouldn’t. Macbeth is dreadfully worried about his wife, but he has bigger things to worry about like the battle he is about to go into. This shows that Lady Macbeth is going crazy from the remorse and the guilt of killing King Duncan. She is most definitely suffering from remorse and guilt.

Macduff has just killed Macbeth and Malcolm is making his acceptance speech for becoming king and Lady Macbeth is dead as well. Malcolm says in his acceptance speech, “Of his dead butcher and his fiendlike queen, who, as ‘tis thought, by self and violent hands took off her life.” (5.8.69-71). He is saying that Lady Macbeth killed herself because of her guilt; she couldn’t live with herself so she committed suicide. Lady Macbeth felt so terrible about killing King Duncan that she killed herself. This shows that she suffered from remorse and guilt, and she knew she couldn’t make it right. She couldn’t live with herself so she killed herself.

In conclusion Lady Macbeth was a controlling housewife that will do anything to get what she wanted, but by the end of the play, she suffered from remorse and guilt. She convinced her husband to kill the King just so she could be queen. But when she became queen she was unhappy and was slowly going insane with the guilt of having to do with the death of Duncan, so she killed herself. In the end Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both dead and Malcolm resumes his rightful place as king.

In my resent research I have found some interesting facts. These facts really made me think. I had a few things on my mind while I was looking at this data. The entire time I was thinking to myself  “These adolescent teens are killing themselves while they are still young what would make them want to do that. They think that there is no way out of their horrible lives, instead of getting help the go ahead and end the lives they have not yet lived.

            If you read my last blog you would know that I was talking about what causes a child or teen to kill them selves. A question asked last time was “ What would make a person old or young want to end their lives when they still have more of life to live.” If you haven’t read my last blog please refer back to it if you want to know more or are interested in finding out why teens and people do this to themselves,

In this blog I will be talking about the math of this matter. Yes the statistics of teen suicide. This information is both very socking but absolutely true. These statistics are from 2001, if you think that these numbers are high think of how they changed over 10 years. 400,000 people that year went to the emergency room for hurting themselves. 30,622 deaths occurred that year for teen suicide. Deaths per 100,00 population is 10.8, this means that almost 11 of 100,000 people die for every 100,000 people in a population. Deaths due to firearm are 5.9 people and 6,869 people. Suffocation suicides are 2.2 people and 6,198 deaths. Poisoning are 1.8 people and 5,191 deaths. Although these numbers are not as high as expected this data is from 2001 and the number have and still are going up.

Next time I will be talking about the signs of teen suicide and how to prevent it, until next time readers. If you want to see more graphs go to this link below.

1. First Draw a line across the top of the paper where you want your ceiling line to be.
2. Next put a dot in the middle of that line.
3. Put 6 lines 1 in. apart on each side of the middle dot.
   
4. From the last line you made on each side put a longer line down to make the wall your going to be looking at.
5. Connect the lines to male a perfect square in the middle of the paper.
6. draw an X through the square to find your vanishing point.
7. Once you have the vanishing point you can start on the actual drawing.

This is a link to my audio and keynote.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12932776/Espa%C3%B1olQ2project.key

For the audio the link did not work so I will email you the audio.

Lesson 1:In order to know how to greet someone you need to know:

• how to say hello
• how to say good bye
• how to say how are you
• how to say nice to meet you

Lesson 1:in order to know how to greet someone you need to know:

• how to say hello
• how to say good bye
• how to say how are you
• how to say nice to meet you

Lesson:In order to know how to ask for someone's phone number you must know:

• How to ask "What is your number?"
• How to count in spanish
• How to break up phone numbers in spanish

Spanish=English

¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono?= What's your phone number?

Lesson 2:In order to know how to talk to an adult or friend the proper way in spanish you need to know:

• How to use tú v.s Usted
• The abbreviation Ud.
• The basic conversation question

Lesson 3:In order to know how to say the days of the week you need to know

• how to say the days of the week
• how to ask what day it is
• how to spell the days of the week
• how to say what day it is

When you spell the days of the week in in Español it is different  then english.The days in Spanish are always lowercase. for example Monday is capitalized in english , but in spanish (lunes,Monday) is lowercase.

Spanish=English
¿Que día es hoy?= What day is it?
Hoy es __________.=Today is _________.

Here is a video about how to say the days of the week

Lesson: In order to tell time you need to know:

- How to count in spanish

-How to ask what time it is

-How to say what time it is.

Spanish=English

¿Que hora es?= What time is it?

Son las doce y media= It is 12:30

Son las tres y cuarto= It is 3:15

Es la una y diez= It is 1:10

Son las dos menos cuarto= It is 1:45

There are other numbers you have to know to become experts at telling time.

If it is 1:55 you can say Son las dos menos cinco. or you can say Es la una y cincuenta y cinco.

These both mean the same thing, they are two different ways of saying 1:55.

The following numbers  are numbers you need to know:

So if you wanted to say it was 6:40 you could say:

Son las seis y cuarenta.

Son las siete menos veinte.

They both mean the same thing.

If it is AM you should say de la mañana after the time.

If it is the afternoon you should say de la tarde after the time.

If it is PM you should say de la noche after the time.

Ex:

1:05pm= Es la una y cinco de la tarde.

11:27pm= Son las once y vientisiete de la noche.

8:30am= Son las ocho y media de la mañana.

Here is a video about a boy who is late for class and asks his Puerto Rican friend what time it is.