This English school year I tried my best then messed up sometimes but now I know my mistakes and can help me in the future. Looking back at the year I grew as a writer and improved in other areas. Everyone is at different levels but no matter what if you put everything you can into the work you will get the grade you deserve.

My strengths in English are reading books and collaborating with others about the story.  My weakness in English is my process with the projects I wait until last minute or don’t stay focused in class but I think from the beginning of the school I have gotten better at that, also my spelling I want to work on my writing a lot more I am very creative and I think if I really try I can have great pieces of writing.

Going back and looking at my work Is funny also something that all students should do because you get to change things, know what you need to work on also remember your year. It’s funny because it’s like oh my god I wrote that or what was I thinking if its something that you didn’t think you would write or do. Some issues that occurred were my journal entries because my journal entries were not organized and fully done I went back and polished my journal entries. 

The piece I am most proud of is my Macbeth creative. I did a keynote with my own pictures and some from the Internet that show lady Macbeths journey. I feel as though I did my best on this project. What I wanted to do was make people understand her change through my own pictures and how I thought this the picture should be and others understanding it. I worked on it whenever we had time to, I was focused.

            This portfolio will contain all the of the projects and work done this year in 9^th grade English. To me this year was ok. I feel as though I could have done way better. Looking back at my old work I’ve seen how far I’ve come and how much better I am now. Also from looking at these papers over with teachers I learned a lot from my mistakes. Also while looking back at my old projects it makes me think if I knew what I knew now my grades would be way better.

            Since now I can easily see my improvement I’ve become more confident knowing that I am a better student now. Even though I am better now I still have trouble with certain things like introductory paragraphs, conclusions and my work ethic.  Those things will come sooner or later but until then I will work with what I have.

My first paper at this school was a Memoir called “Snapshot of My Life” In this assignment we had to tell about a story or moment in our life that was important to us. I told about my relationship with my sister and how her going to college brought us closer.

                                      Snapshot of my Life

Do you have an older sibling? If you do or don’t you should know about the love hate relationship that brothers and sisters have. The younger one is always annoying, the oldest one is bossy and they never get along until later. Well my story is the same just with a more in depth perspective of what it is like and some of the life lessons I learned from her.

As baby I loved my sister but she didn’t always love me as much. When I sit with the family at dinner they tell me stories about how I used to break my sister’s barbies, mess up her board games in the middle of them and just flat out annoy her. I never really knew as a kid that I was being annoying. I was just being a kid. On the flipside they would tell about times when my sister would deliberately make me cry or mad. Sometimes when they tell stories I often think about what I would do if that happened now.

Pre teen years weren’t the best either. At the time I had thought I was a “grown man.” Thinking that way wasn’t the best idea for our relationship with each other. The arguments were always over stupid things like eating each others food in the refrigerator. It was the same thing everyday tantrums, yelling. Me and her were like two trains on the same track, a wreck. To us it was a usual thing. I got on her nerves she got on mine. Soon my mother decided to intervene and help us get along. My mom told me that one day I would miss her and would regret treating her like I did. At a young age I wasn’t trying to hear that “foolishness” as I called it. 

When I turned ten I didn’t know but a life changing event would happen. My sister was leaving for college. It seemed to come very fast but at the same time I didn’t really care. As a matter of fact I was happy she was leaving. With her gone I wouldn’t have to worry about her bossing me around, getting me in trouble and just being a pain. To me this was a dream come true.

Freshman year was the best. I frequently called her to see how she was doing but the conversations weren’t long. I just wanted her to feel like I cared when I really didn’t. I began to reminse on what my mom said to me early on but once again flagged it off. I was only 11 and a straight A student I had nothing to worry about. At that age all I thought about was video games and ice cream, let alone my relationship with my sister.

Sophmore year rolled around pretty quickly. That was the year when I had thoughts about my sister I was wondering was she ok. My mom sat me down and asked me did I really miss my sister. After a long and dramatic pause (which probably only lasted a few seconds) I broke down and said yes. All of a sudden it was like a burden was lifted off my chest.  It all hit me I was being a jerk and had a feeling that I was being a bad brother to he. I began to stop taking her for granted and really appreciate what I had.

Junior year was when I was ready for my sister to come back. Unlike before, I would call her everyday to the point where it was annoying. Now older and more mature we had great and meaningful conversations and even hung out every once in a while. Since I couldn’t have her at home and I still missed her I came up with a crazy idea. I knew it was wrong but I had nothing else to lose. I started befriending other girls in and out of school to try and take her place. But there is nothing like the genuine relationship of a real brother and sister. They filled the void temporarily but I just knew it wasn’t the right thing.

Senior year came and I was now a freshman at SLA. Me and my sister were now the best of friends and I was at the school of my dreams. Nothing in life was going wrong. She graduated and now lives with me and my parents. We are now the complete opposite of what we were before. I thank god everyday that I have her in my life and when everyone else talks about how much they don’t like they’re siblings I just laugh and think “that used to be me.”

         Macbeth and Odysseus are two different leaders from two different eras. Homer wrote The Odyssey in the Greek culture. In this culture there were a lot of gods, demi-gods, remarkable mortals, creatures etc. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in the English culture. In the English culture there are a lot of different dialect, castles, kings etc. Even though Macbeth and Odysseus both leaders and great in battle, their paths were very different in some ways.

  Macbeth and Odysseus were great warriors in battle. The outcomes of their paths were different in a few ways. Both of them endured long journeys and changed drastically through out the books. Macbeth went from a loving, caring and loyal man into a mean and disloyal tyrant. Odysseus went from being a cocky and careless man to a more thoughtful man who cared about his family. In the story Odysseus always wanted to take the long or hard way out of things just so he could have bragging rights. By doing this he got his men killed and made his travels longer and harder. Macbeth, on the other hand wasn’t as cocky, he spoke with his actions. He would make a plan and go through with it and try not to make himself known, because if he does he might have gotten caught.

Both of them were fierce, brave and skillfull in battle and and did not let anyone stop them to kill another person. In some cases they killed their own men, weither on purpose or not. Both of them also showed signs of craftiness and great skill in battle. They were both leaders either good or bad. In the Odyssey and Macbeth they were both kings in one point of the story. As Odysseus went on his journey he was the leader of his men as was Macbeth. Odysseus shows craftiness when he came up with the plan to kill the suitors. By deceiving them he was able to kill them off easily. As he killed them he showed his skill and ruthlessness by killing the lead suitor by shooting them in him in the neck. Also by cutting off one of the suitors’ head. In my opinion shouldn’t have been killed. Macbeth shows these traits in a different matter. Since Macbeth was not king, him and his wife had to use wits in order to kill King Duncan. He also had to think about not getting his cover blown so he killed one of his men who he thought knew what he did. In act 1 Macbeth shows ruthlessness and bravery when he cut an opposing warrior from the naval all the way through his head. “For brave Macbeth – well he deserves the name – Disdained misfortune, with his brandish steel, which smoked with bloody execution. Like valor’s minion carved out his passage till he faced the slave...Till he unseamed him from the nave to the’ chaps and fixed his head upon battlements” Lines 13- 20 and 22-23.    

            This next project I will show is my ME Magazine project. It was my first English project here at SLA. We had to make a magazine that told about us and our interests and hobbies. My me magazine was entitles Heart, Soul, Basketball. 

For every semester we must do what is called an Independent reading project. We must choose a book to read on our own time and do a report on it. The one I will show you is a podcast I made for the book Hoop Dreams.  HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmeBZe4EqME) is the movie. 

This year we were required to keep a journal here are some of my entries…

Why Do We Write?

I write because it is a way to get feelings off my chest that I normally can’t. Its something about putting a pen to paper that is more relieving than talking. Also people don’t care about your problems all the time so writing makes it better.

How Important is it to Fit in?

To me since I am a basketball player I kind of automatically fit in. Fitting in has never ever been a problem for me. I personally think it isn’t that important ti fit inbut as long as you have a few good loyal friends and family they can help you get through anything and take you anywhere.

If You Really Knew Me?

If you really knew me you would know that I hold back a lot and can be very depressed at times. You would also know that I am silly and am a happy guy for the most part. Also you would know about my love for basketball, family and friends. They help me through everything. You also would know that I never work up to my full potential because I already know I can get all A’s if I wanted to.

Has Anyone Ever Exceeded My Expectations?

Yes plenty of times. Sometimes we make assumptions about others and even ourselves based on what we know or have seen. You never fully know what a person can do. Just like science there are variables which means maybe someone is going through something causing them to perform better or worse.

What is an Adult?

I think an adult isn’t really a person of a certain age because they may not be mature enough. So an adult is a person who is responsible and mature. Someone who takes care of their business and is beyond the  puberty stage of life.

Winter Break….

My winter break was pretty good. I hung out with some of my friends and chilled out. I ended up on punishment for the last few days but I still had fun. I am now just waiting for this summer to come.  These benchmarks are harsh and aren’t helping my transition into high school but I’ll get over them.

My portfolio doesn’t say a lot about the person I really can be. I feel like I could have done better and spent more time on my work. The only issues I faced while doing this portfolio was looking for my old work and scanning my me magazine. These problems were easily resolved by asking for help and checking on moodle for all of my work .When people see my work I want them to see a hard working student but this me looking for ns I must put forward the effort to do so. My strengths are in spelling, parts of speech, definitions etc (like when we do vocabulary.) Also I am good at writing papers and getting to the point without adding to much (attracting and keeping the audiences attention.) I would like to work on my weaknesses that were stated in the first paragraph which include opening and closing paragraphs and organization.

1.      What I think the portfolio says about me as a 9^th grade English student is that I was a dedicated student trying my best to do all my work and making a effort to turn it in on time. When everyone see’s my work I expect them to be able to see everything I have accomplished and am proud because I made it through the year with a effort and determination to try my best and past 9^th grade English class.

2.      My strengths in English from my point of view were to be able to do the Benchmarks and projects and do a good job. I also had a lot of improvement since the beginning of the year, when I look back to all my old work and the work I did at the end of the school year I can see the difference and how much I improved on using grammar, words, and punctuation. But not only that I have learned how to use words and learned new words that I never knew. My weakness I would say is to be able to turn everything in on time, and I would try my best to work on this. I have gotten good grades but every time I turn it in late I get points deducted which affects me in many ways.

3.    My experience that I had making this portfolio was very challenging. I learned new ways to put things and how much work I have accomplished even though it feels like I didn’t do that much. I am proud to be able to do half of the things I do but to complete all of them makes me feel like I accomplish something important. I had issues because I had things to complete and some things I needed to tune up a little so in order to do that I came and had people read it for me and tell me what was wrong so I was able to do the tune ups and make it better than it was. It was good to go back into the past work, once you go back into the old stuff you can really tell a lot about yourself. And you can see how much you accomplished.

4.    Lastly the piece I was most proud of must have been my story about my brother bout a memory that we had. I think this because even though I did pretty well on it my teacher also told me that I was the most improved. Because I would listen to her and the things she would tell me to help me and it was pretty helpful because it bring my grade up a lot and I got a better grade than I thought I would get. And this story was a true story that came from the heart, so it was hard for me to get it out my chest so I was proud I had enough strength to come out with this story and tell everyone bout this long lost memory.

5-24-11

Macbeth Analysis

Thesis Statement: In the beginning of the story Lady Macbeth was a crude and mean woman who worked along side her husband, but at the end of the story she distanced herself from him because she felt guilty about what they had done.

            In Act: 1 Scene: 5 Lines: 64-65 Macbeth goes up to a Lady Macbeth to tell her that King Duncan is coming for dinner. This is when Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth “Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it”. What I think this means is that to be close to the king but aim for the target when the time comes. She believes that the easiest way to get all of the goods that the witches told her is by killing the king and anyone in the way to take his spot as king.

            In Act: 1 Scene: 3 Lines: 71-72 Lady Macbeth is convincing Macbeth to not worry about anything that she is going to handle everything. In this quote Lady Macbeth says “To alter favor ever is to fear leave all the rest to me”. What she means when she says this quote is that she thinks that when you change favor from one thing to the next might not be the best move someone cane make cause the thing that the person has might be the best but when they try to change it them it might mess up. Like when she started to change in the story she started to talk her sleep because she was feeling guilty so because of this she committed suicide.

            In Act: 1 Scene: 5 Line 39-43 Lady Macbeth Is aside wanting to change. She wants to change cause she doesn’t want to be a bad person anymore she wants to do good not bad. In this quote she says “ Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe of direct cruelty ”. What she is trying to say is that she wants to be known not as lady that takes orders from someone special who has a word in everything. She wants to have power like men did in those days.

            In Act: 1 Scene: 5 Line: 42-46 Lady Macbeth has is aside and she thinking wanting the spirits to give her everything she wants that would make her powerful. This is when Lady Macbeth says “Make thick my blood; Stop up th’access and passage to remorse, that no compunctious visiting’s of nature shake my fell purpose nor keep peace between the, effect and it”. What she means is that she wants her blood to be thick so that no one can break her so easily and she can be unstoppable and crude.

            In Act: 1 Scene: 5 Line: 46-49 Lady Macbeth is still aside begging the spirits many things so that she can become powerful and not be a regular women who does house chores all day. This is when Lady Macbeth says, “Come to my women’s breasts and take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers, wherever in your sightless substances you wait on nature’s mischief. What Lady Macbeth is trying to say is that she wants to be filled with evil instead of what fills her in other words she wants to be evil and powerful not full of innocents and love. This shows that she wants to be evil and full of hatred.

            In Act: 1 Scene: 5 Lines: 49-53 Lady Macbeth is aside once again and she is still asking favors from the spirits to become more powerful in her life so she could have a word in the things going on. The quote that Lady Macbeth says is “Come thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, that keen knife see not the wound it makes, nor heaven pep through the blanket of the dark to cry HOLD HOLD”. The meaning of this quote is that she thinks that the blade that they use to kill Duncan is a blade not to see the wound or heaven it is for Duncan to die and never return again.

            In Act: 1 Scene: 7 Line: 55-58 Lady Macbeth tries to man handle Macbeth with her words and with her sexual touches and feelings. This is when Lady Macbeth says “ How tender tis to love the babe that milks me; I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I sworn as you have done to this”. What she means in this quote is that if she would have made a promise and said she would have done it even if she loved the person or thing she would have done it if she had sworn it.

            In Act: 2 Scene: 2 Line: 67-68 Lady Macbeth tries to convince Macbeth that he did a good thing in order to become a king or ruler just play if off and act like it never happened and that you are not guilty. This is when Lady Macbeth says, “My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white”. What she means by this quote is that she is in the mix with him but she is not letting it get the best of her. This shows that she already had this planned out in her head.

            In Act: 5 Scene: 1 Line: 61-63 Lady Macbeth is sleep in her castle because she feels guilty about convincing Macbeth to kill Duncan while he was in his sleep. In This quote Lady Macbeth says, “Wash you hands, put on your nightgown, and look not so pale. I tell you yet again, Duncan’s Buried. He cannot come out on grave” What she means is that she telling Macbeth to stop being worried and scared about being caught for the killing of Duncan.

            In Act: 5 Scene: 1 Line: 65-67 Lady Macbeth is sleep walking thinking about what her and Macbeth did to Duncan feeling guilty. In this quote Lady Macbeth says, “To bed, to bed; there’s knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, come, and give me your hand. What’s done cannot be undone”. What she is trying to say in this quote is that whatever they did cannot be put back so they have to face the consequences. This showing that she is lighting up and thinks that it enough no more has to be done. Also she is feeling guilty for what her and Macbeth had done and for that she kills herself so they won’t find out what her and Macbeth had done.

Conclusion:

My conclusion is that Lady Macbeth was all mean and stuff in the beginning of the story but then as she started to do things that was getting to her she wanted to be the nice and innocent one and didn’t want to get caught so she committed suicide and killed herself.

         The title of the story I read was Treasure Island written by Robert Louis Stevenson. This story was named to be the first adventure stories written specifically for adolescents without an obvious emphasis on teaching morals. This story was later on made into a movie, T.V show, and also into Audio and radio. In the movie Treasure Island Orson Welles played as Long John Silver in the film.

         In this story the narrator for most of this book is Jim Hawkins, he is

          About 15 years old, he is the son of a innkeeper near Bristol, which is located in

         England. Even though he is young he wants to go out hunting for treasures just

         like all the other pirates. This man named Billy Bones who is known for a scar on

         cheek  pays to stay at the Jim’s inn for a while and tells the Jim to keep a

         for a man that has one leg missing. But then one day as Billy takes a walk

         he returns and is confronted by a so called man named Black Dog. They have a

         very deep and harmful conversation which ends in blood and pain, but

         apparently Billy has a stroke during the battle and dies in the middle of the

         kitchen room.

                   When Billy dies Jim and his mother make a plan to attempt to find

         The treasure that he was hiding, but then when they find the key around his

         Neck and open the chest they find only gold. But as they are going through the

chest they hear foot steps and voices outside the inn so they head out and on

there way running Jim’s mother faints. When she faints he drags her under a

bridge, which they hide. But then he gets interested and pokes his head out and

can see men going into the inn and becoming mad and irritated that Billy was

dead. So the one thing that was going through Jim’s head is that they don’t

want Billy or the chest, they are going for something much more bigger. But

what ?

         Towards the end of the story Jim is taken by Long John Silver to the

Treasure spot but they find out that someone else had been there. So the men of Long John Silver think that he set them up and they all turned against them. When this happened Dr. Livesey, Ben Gunn, and Abraham Gray emerge from the trees, their muskets smoking. They had saved the life of Long John Silver. He was glad to be saved but happier to find out that hey had took the treasure and took it to a cave where it was hid from everyone , and they were the only ones that knew where it was at. Then they all ended up splitting the gold and having a good meal together and live happy with the gold that they found.

         I have never been in a situation like this before or have ever heard someone or seen someone go through this before. I have also never done any of these things because it was a modern time when pirates were existing and they were the stories of treasures that were supposedly hidden on islands. I do not relate to this story in any way I think unless I go on a trip in search of something I would be the one to hide and take the trip slow cause I might not know what might be popping out. Also in one way I would be alike is the way I would help my partners that are in need or they are not in need. I would be the team player and not only care a bout me but about everyone that is on the trip with us cause I would know that not only am I putting my life on the line but they are also.

         I like this book a lot it was a action packed story, which they were intense moments, and there were moments where you can image what was going on in your head. This story was good by using imagery but it didn’t really teach a lesson at the end. This book was mostly about learning from your mistakes. My strengths for this book were that it was easy to read and he was sticking to one narrator or 2 not to a lot all at once. If I would try to change something about the story I would change that it should be more information and make more sense of setting cause a couple of time I got lost in where the characters are at during the time.

         I would recommend this book to anyone because it would be entertaining to people in many ways because of the action and the way it was written. So yes I would tell anyone to read this book on there spear time and  have fun enjoying it.

Journal 2:            Some expectations put upon me by others are that people look up to me and expect me to d well in school and also do a good job on keeping up with my school work and grades. Also they expect me to be kind and helpful to other people that are strangers or not. My expectations are to do well in school and also try my best to treat others the same as other people. No they are not different in any ways but I have some that are different as my own expectation is for me to become something in life I think everyone has that to me.

Journal 3:            The thing that defines an adult is when they are mature and have learned the meaning of life. When they get a job and have children and are able to pay there own bills and pay for there own home. Also when a person is done their education and has become something in life. You find out if your grown up is when you start doing things like a grown up. Working, Kids, Bills everything that an adult does in order to live a life.

Journal 4:            When I exceeded expectations was when my parents thought I was not going to play for the basketball team. So I said you know just for saying that I am going to prove you all wrong. So when I went to try out for the team I gave it my all and came on the top and proved to them that I was good enough. Since that day they won’t dare to say anything cause they know I would give it my 110%. I like when people think I can’t do anything because it makes me feel good. Well sounds weird but I like it cause it makes me want to prove to them that I can do it no matter what they say. I like challenges because I would live up to the opportunity and show people how I can do things even if they think I can’t ever do it. I also had a time that some exceeded my expectations. It was my little sis. He had bad grades in her school and then at the end she made it to the end and passed the grade.

Lady Macbeth

Thesis: Lady Macbeth was a controlling and confident person in the beginning by the end she was a weak and guilty person.

Act 1 scene 5 Lady Macbeth is by herself talking to Macbeth even thought he is not there. Also thinking about what is happening. King Duncan and Macbeth are coming to the house for a dinner and she needs to get ready. (Act 1, scence 5, line 38, page 17)

Lady Macbeth has her time alone talking and she says “ Come you sprits that tend their mortal thought unsex me here.” What she is saying is that she is not afraid of Duncan. She wants to be stronger then Macbeth manlier. Lady Macbeth wants evil in her to keep her strong. Lady Macbeth is controlling she is going to do anything to succeed finish what she wanted to do.  She wants to me able to do what she wants not be afraid or feel guilty after.

In act 1 scene 5 Lady Macbeth is talking to Macbeth to tell him you have to be nice and innocent to the king and the quests. Lady Macbeth in (Act 1, scene, 5, line 24) says “Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it.” This means that they need to nice to the king so they would not suspect anything that they are going to kill Duncan. The play she is now very confident in her plan wants it done and over with, with no problems. If they’re good at the dinner then they can proceed.

Lady Macbeth in act 1 scene 5 she is preparing for king Duncan he is arriving at the castle any minute to have a dinner. She doesn’t want to quit she needs to stay strong so she is able to do the murder. (Act 1 scene 5, line 42). Aside Lady Macbeth is talking and she says “ stop up the’ access and passage to remorse.” This quote from the play that she says means she can’t regret this. Lady Macbeth needs to be evil, mysterious and stay that way. In this scene is very important because this is lady Macbeth is powerful.

Lady Macbeth in Act 1, scene 7 lady Macbeth is talking Macbeth into killing Duncan. If Duncan dies Macbeth will be king and she is will be queen. Lady Macbeth is doing all she can to make him go through with this plan. (Act 1, scene 7, line 60) Lady Macbeth says, “ we fail? But screw your courage to the sticking place and we’ll not fail.” This means she is saying Macbeth needs to man up and do the plan. They will not fail there is nothing to worry about.  She explains everything to him and soon he agrees with her to go through with it. At this point lady Macbeth is feeling very confident in herself and is not scared.

In act 2 scenes 2 Macbeth has just killed king Duncan and is freaking out because he regrets it and feels guilty while Lady Macbeth is covering it up there is a level of panic in the room.  (Act 2-scene2, line 35) Lady Macbeth says “these deeds must not be thought after these ways so it will make us mad.” This means that they not repeat this to anyone it is a secret and if they talk about it, it will stay in their minds and drive them crazy which soon will happen to both but Macbeth isn’t as strong as lady Macbeth, his guilt will show more and earlier in the play. This shows Lady Macbeth will find a way to fix everything to make sure they are not caught and that is not spoken of again. Also lady Macbeth can put the guilt feeling aside at this point , which Macbeth cannot do.

In act 3 scene 1 king Duncan I dead and they are having another dinner but someone is missing. Macbeth was thinking that Banquo was going to get suppsious or try to take his position as king. Lady Macbeth is worried. Macbeth kills banquo (Act 3, scene 4 line 110) Lady Macbeth says, “ You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting with most admired disorder” The quote means that Macbeth killed banquo his close friend to stay king. He was supposed to be at that dinner but he is not. Macbeth sees his ghost and goes crazy then lady Macbeth is telling him he is wrong for what he did. Soon she starts to go crazy along with him.

In Act 3, scene 4 Lady Macbeth is talking to Macbeth and talking about how he killed Duncan because now he is killing everyone in his way of him not becoming king.  She says in (Act 3, scene 4, line 63) “ this is the air-drawn dagger which you said led you to Duncan O theses flaws and starts.” This quote means that what led him to kill Duncan is making him kill more and more people. He is killing then messing up which are his flaws then he starts over again. Lady Macbeth is trying to say stop, now her guilt isn’t showing because she is stronger but his is now showing a lot.

In Act five scene 1 lady Macbeth is sleep walking and is washing her hands to get the blood off from when Duncan was killed so she is not caught. Macbeth killed Duncan and when it was done she went and cleaned up. Lady Macbeth got blood all over her hands and could not get it off. (Act 5, scene 1, line 53, page 84). Lady Macbeth says, “ Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh oh!” This means the blood on lady Macbeths hands is gone but it will she thinks its there because what she did can not be undone, in her mind its still there and nothing will make it go away. This shows she is weak and cannot control what is happening.

In Act five scenes 1 the gentle woman was worried about lady Macbeth so she called a doctor. The doctor has seen lady Macbeth sleepwalking, washing her hands for a long amount of time, speaking to someone and the doctor is interested in what is wrong with her.  Also wants to determine why she is doing this. Aside the gentle women and the doctor are speaking to each other. (Act 5, scene 1, line 53, page 84). “ What a sigh is there. The heart is sorely charged.” This quote means that Lady Macbeth is finally showing her guilt and the truth. She wanted to kill but when it was done, in her mind she didn’t want it to happen. It didn’t show throughout the story but at this stage in the play Lady Macbeth did not choose to show it but in her sleep it came out. At this point the doctor is not sure what is going to happen to her.

That shoes that she is weak towards the end of the book.

In collusion Lady Macbeth has a major change during this play.  Seeing all the quotes and analyzing lady Macbeth through the story you can tell she’s fine in the beginning and broke down in the end. It came back and haunted her. Her plan did not turn out the way she wanted it to.

This portfolio is going to show how I started off and will end as an English 1 student. At the being of the year I was still a 8^th grader turning into a 9^th grader now I’m a 9^th grader turning into a 10^th grader. Over this year I have grown in area’s in literature that Ms. Dunn and Ms. Finlay have helped me with. Viewers will get the understanding of how my work over this year has come to many different conclusions with different Benchmarks. One strength that I have is coming up with great idea’s to work on. One weakness I is trying to complete the project to the point of perfection in my mind but on a grading system of exceeding expectations.  If I had the chance to go back and re-do a project it would be the Macbeth Benchmark. The experience with making this portfolio was great because I had a chance to see how I use to write and how I might still might write now. Looking back at work I did in English this year is funny because of silly mistakes like wrong words and misspelling by one letter. The project I’m most proud of is the Macbeth creative project because I was creative was my dancing to say what the characters of Macbeth was saying through dance movements.

For the Q1_Benchmark analysis a character from the story of Macbeth and give quotes that explain your thesis of the character.

Thesis Statement – Macbeth at the beginning was a brave, loyal strong warrior but by the end of the story he was a bloodthirsty oppressor.

            In Act 1 scene 2, King Duncan is with the other thanes and his kinsmen talking about how Macbeth has done a great effort.  The great effort was that Macbeth reported after killing the traitor from his kingdom and that his death was cruel.  King Duncan says, “What bloody man is that? He can report, as seemeth by his plight, of the revolt the newest state” (Act 1, Scene 2, lines 1-3).  This quote says that he was a brave and strong

warrior because he killed the traitor.

            In Act 1 scene 2, Macbeth is just getting back from the battle and is explaining how he has exterminated the traitor.  Macbeth says, “Which smoked with bloody execution, liked valor’s minion carved out his passage till he faced the slave; which ne’er shook hands nor bade farewell to him till he unseamed him from the nave to th’chaps and fixed his head upon our battlements” (Act 1, Scene 2, lines 18-22).  This quote also shows how violent he can be but in addition this quote says that he is a warrior as well.

            In Act 1 scene 7, Macbeth is explaining how confused about how he is feeling towards the thoughts about murdering and or being a traitor to King Duncan.  Aside, Macbeth says, “First, as I am his kinsmen and his subject, strong both against the deed; then, as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself” (Act 1, Scene 7, lines 1-28).  In this quote Macbeth fell into a blind darkness of murder before he fell into temptation his loyalty to King Duncan was showing.

            In Act 2 scene 2, Macbeth is back from killing King Duncan.  He’s feeling remorse because he can’t clean his hands of the blood.  Macbeth says, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean washes this blood clean from my hands?” (Act 2, Scene 2, lines 63-65). This is where Macbeth the bloodthirsty oppressor first comes to part but here Macbeth is a remorseful kinsmen and is also freaking out because he felt as if he was an unloyal thane

to King Duncan.

            In Act 2 scene 3, Donalbain and his brother just found out that his father was killed, so him and his brother both decided to leave to stay alive and until the murderer is founded.  Donalbain says “To Ireland I.  Our separated fortune shall keep us both the safer” (Act 2, Scene 3, lines 136-137).  This is important because it shows how everybody is scared of Macbeth because he is so violent that they don’t even know that he killed King Duncan.  Now he can use his power against everybody and use fear as a defense.

            In Act 3 scene 1, Macbeth ability to use fear is call convincing and telling them what they know but in a way to trick them to get them to kill Banquo, which they are the two murderers.  Macbeth says “Both of you know Banquo was your enemy” and “So is he mine, and in such bloody distance that every minute of his being thrusts against my near’st of life; (Act 3, Scene 1, line 114-118).  This is important because Macbeth is showing how he can be a great ruler in his own mind.  Such as he believes that killing is the right way to go to keep power.

            In Act 3 scene 4, Macbeth is talking with the other Lords around the table talk about how Banquo isn’t there.  They are talking and have the time of their life until the ghost of Banquo comes in.  Macbeth says “Banquo, whom we miss.  Would he were here! Enter Ghost of Banquo” (Act 3, Scene 4, lines 91-92).  This quote indicates that Macbeth killed Banquo for selfish reasons and that he lost his mind when Banquo entered in the room as a ghost.

            In Act 4 scene 2, the messenger is coming to warn lady Macduff because Macbeth has sent people to kill them.  He says leave and never comes back.  The Messenger says, “I doubt some danger does approach you nearly.  If you will take a homely man’s advice, be not found here” (Act 4, Scene 2, lines 67-69).  This quote says that Macbeth is something less than a warrior because a warrior never hurts the family of the man your looking for.

            In Act 5 scene 5, Macbeth hears screams of women and then he ask Seyton to see what it was and it was that Lady Mac is dead.  Macbeth feels remorse but he has to prepare for battle but he can’t think about her because of all the evil things that he has done even he knows he is going to die in this battle.  Macbeth says, “She should have died hereafter: There would have been a time for such a word” (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17- 18), “Blow wind, come wrack, At least we’ll die with harness on our back” (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 51-52).  This quote says that Macbeth plan has backfired on him and he thinks this has stressed out his wife.  Also he says that we will die but with his own control.

            In Act 5 scene 8, Macbeth is about to go into battle and is about to die.  He knows he has nothing to live for so he is crazed and is thinking about his dead wife.  Macbeth says, “Why should I play the Roman fool and die on mine own sword?” (Act 5, Scene 8,lines 1-2) and “Hail, King of Scotland!” (Act 5, Scene 8, line 58).  These two quotes say that Macbeth has lost the fight to Macduff and that now Malcolm is king because Macbeth is no longer around.  This can prove that being an evil leader can get you nowhere but death.

Conclusion – After researching in the story of Macbeth, strong feelings have supported my thesis statement.  The paragraphs should explain why these quotes support my thesis statement. “Macbeth at the beginning was a brave, strong warrior, which he was also loyal but by the end of the story he was a bloodthirsty oppressor but this way of life does get you anywhere”.  As you read though the 10 quotes you will see the support of the thesis in all ways little to big problems and that this way of life doesn’t get you anywhere.

For our Q2_Benchmark we had to choose an event that was amazing and or horrible about your and write about it.

The Day A Life Was Almost Taken

            Have you ever seen life pass before your eyes?  One typical Wednesday started off wonderfully.  I had to go to school and plus I was amazed because it was the last day for Thanksgiving break.  That day went on and then my mom came and picked my sister and I up from school.  Although we would always drive on Lincoln Drive, something was different; it either was the car in front of us or the car behind us.

            Three days earlier it was my sister’s birthday we didn’t do anything big because Black Friday was coming up and we would take her shopping.  I believe it was my sister’s 9^th or 10^th birthday and she got about four to five birthday cakes.  One yellow cake with blue, one pink cake with white, one black cake with purple, and one rainbow cake.  I was sitting there thinking back to my miniature dull cake. My mom was pregnant at the time and I was just being me playing football and basketball.  The next two days went on as they always did.

            After the clocked hit 3:04, then we all knew that it was time to go home and get ready to Eat, Eat, Eat and get Fat.  But for me it was time to split up Thanksgiving with my mother and my father.  I liked spending time with my dad but not slitting up a holiday that is supposed to be spent together.  So we were driving through North Philly trying to get to Lincoln Drive.  Well as we got on Lincoln Drive we turned one corner, then another after that one, then another, then two more and at that moment the light was green turning yellow.  The car in front went through on green, we went through on yellow and the car behind us went through on red.

“CRASH”

“911”

“HELP”

“YES” “YES” “YES”

“Why are you so happy? My mom said.”

“Because we have a Thanksgiving break performance and a party today.  I said.”

“Are you performing? My mom asked.” 

“Yes, mom why do you think I am so happy? I said.” 

“I don’t know, maybe because you are cooking for thanksgiving. My mom said.”

“Oh that’s really funny mom. I said.”  

            After that my mom told my sister and I to go get in the car so we could go to school.  We were on Lincoln Drive driving to North Philadelphia even though I lived in Germantown.  But my mom and stepdad thought we should be more in the area of their work places.  So school started and an hour passed before anything happen; my class and I were like urgggggg, omgggggg and mannnnn, “when is the performance going to start?”  The performances started at 11:00 a.m. and ended at about 1:30 p.m., directly after the performances the school had a big party that ended at 2:45 p.m.  So for the last nineteen minutes of school we had fun, just sitting there playing games, talking and the 5^th grade classes decide to have all of our classes together. When that clock hit 3:04 p.m., we ran out of the classroom and ran home.

            As I asked before have you ever seen life pass before your eyes?  Well with ten seconds, I will show you how I have seen life pass before my eyes. 10…. Leaving from school, 9…. Driving to get to Lincoln Drive, 8…. Turning every corner on Lincoln Drive, 7…. Making that yellow light, 6…. The feeling of the car from behind us hit, 5…. The pain in and out of my body, blood from my sisters mouth and the screaming from my sister and I screaming, 4…. My mom’s reaction, 3…. My mom going in to pre-term labor, 2…. The ride in ambulance to the hospital, 1…. Arriving to the hospital and hearing the doctors say my mom may lose my baby sister.

            Earlier, when I said, “something was different, it either was the car in front or the car behind us”, it was the car in back.  The guy who was driving the truck was a little drunk, and alcohol and driving don’t mix.  They both had trucks, which had looked like they were monster trucks, one with the full metal bumper guard.  So the guy in back of us ran the red light and then without trying to stop his car, he hit us from behind and pushed us forward, under the truck in front of us.  The pain from this crash was backbreaking pain.  I was in the back of the van, where the car hit the little trunk and the trunk crashed in to the last row seat where I was and that chair broke in half on my back.  I cried and screamed like the soldiers who are dying in Iraq.  My mom ran from the front of the car to the back to make sure I could move and see if anything was broken.  Next she checked on my sister who had chipped her tooth and was bleeding from her nose and mouth.  But the thing my mom forgot was that she was pregnant, being in a car accident and running right after sends you it to pre-term labor.  If you’re wondering where does the title “The day a life was almost taken” fits in well, when my mom was driving and the car was pushed us up and under the other car, the stirring wheel broke and went down to the bottom of the car, which stop my mom from hitting her stomach and killing my little sister Lola.  While my mom was running around checking on us she called my aunt Nikki.

RING RING.

“Hello. My mom said.”

“Hey girl what you doing. My aunt said.” 

“Hurry up I just got in a car accident. My mom said.” 

“Where are you? My aunt said.” 

“I am on Lincoln Drive with the kids and I think. My mom said.” 

“What do you think? My aunt said.”  

My mom was out cold in the front seat, the ambulance pulled up and took us to the hospital.

            At the hospital is where we found out that my mom almost lost her life and my little sister’s life.  My aunt called our dad and stepdad because my sister and I had to go to our dad’s house, and so my stepdad could stay with my mom.  So for thanksgiving this year, it was suppose to be my moms year with us but we stayed at our dad’s house for a while and then when my mom came out of the hospital we went home.  The mood of the house was like a depressed soap opera.  Thinking of the life I had before the pain in my body.  Times running around without falling because my knee decides to give out or not even being able to play any sports in and out of school because of fear that I may not move again with the wrong moment of my back.

            After the car accident I had to go to rehab to rebuild the strength of my knees and back.  For years and years I can still fill the pain in my knee and back, it feels like fire and unstopping bleeding.  My sister had to get a plastic tooth place on top of her chipped tooth and she had to go to rehab also.  After her tooth was replaced, she found out that she can’t eat different types of food and shouldn’t try to run as fast as she use to. My mom couldn’t rebuild her body from the car accident because she was still pregnant.  For my mom it took her longer to recover from her pregnancy, for females who weren’t in a car accident.  Even today we all have pains in our body. 

            But life for me has changed; I reflect back to the times where there was fun no pain and a lot of gain for me.  But now there is more pain then gain and a lot of things I used to be able to do I can’t do any more.  The good thing about this story is that the value of family and life itself is priceless. This was the telling off “The Day A Life Was Almost Taken”.

For the Q3_Benchmark we had to pick a character from the story of Macbeth and compare them to another from the movie of “Where art thou brother” or another character from a movie and or book.

50 Cent v. Odysseus

            History might actually have had a chance to repeat itself.  In many we can connect the present day to the older historical days.  For the first comparison the story of “The Odyssey” to the movie “Get Rich or Die Tryin”.  Although 50 cent and Odysseus are from different places and different time periods, they deal with similar problems as a rapper/drug dealer and a warrior/king.

            Coming from the streets of New York (NY) seeing drug dealers on each corner, pit bull terriers and Rottweiler’s, cops and homeless people to a stoned kingdom in Ithaca with blacksmiths selling swords, lions and tigers, soldiers and baggers.  The thesis is proven right because NY to Ithaca have many ways to sell and buy but also have pets of different species.  But in NY you die in honor if you die by getting killed by a stray bullet or just getting shot but in Ithaca you can die as a soldier would or you would die in war but for both if you do a crime you get the death sentence or prison time.

Quote v. Quote

             “Get rich or Die tryin” is the name of the movie but also the quote of the movie.  The quote means live life to the fullest and make something of it or die while trying to live it. This was the sitting point to the movie because it started off with the death of 50 cent.  “Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, after he plundered the stronghold on the proud height of Troy” (Book 1, lines 1-3).  To me this quote means that he saw his falls but he had to strive on for his shipmates and make it back to Ithaca alive to become king again.

50 cent vs. Prison and Odysseus vs. War

            Since 50 cent was a drug dealer he got arrested for the containment of drugs.  He want to prison for six months and he was at war because somebody tried to kill him and the security gave him a razor blade to kill himself.  But as being a great leader he started to write on the wall his little rhymes and in no time everybody knew his raps in prison.  Also his girlfriend at the time was by his side in every way and she was pregnant with his son.  Although Odysseus did not go to jail but went to war in another country.  He fought for his kingdom and his men (Book 3, lines 340-6).  But Odysseus had a long way before getting to go home.  Every time he got closer to being home something happen and even though Odysseus was gone for twenty years Penelope stayed loyal to her husband.  Odysseus and his men were on the boat right across from Ithaca but his men opened up the bag fall of air.  This bag was opened and pushed them back to other country.  In the movie with 50 cent his bag was filled with money.  His crew pulled a job robbing a Korean shop and somebody from his crew shot him and killed him.

The coming back

            When 50 cent got shot he die but he came back to life.  The doctors started to work on him and after they were done his mouth was wired shut, his rapping put on hold and him being a drug dealer was finished for good.  Months passed by at time and his mouth to wired.  Him not even trying to rap or do anything with his life but when his wife said, “I’m leaving and taking our baby” he got up and unwired his mouth and started to rap.  Before Odysseus could get back to Ithaca he was pushed back to another country where he stayed another year at because he had a woman who loved him a lot.  When he was told that his men were sick, tired and wanted to go home to be with their families, to which Odysseus responded like okay with a feeling of “yes we do needed to get back, just wait a little longer” (Book 18, lines 443-51).

            Although 50 cent and Odysseus are from different places and different time periods, they deal with similar problems as a rapper/drug dealer and a warrior/king.  In this paper it should of have hit the three main points I was aiming for.  Point one is the Quote v. Quote, which showed the comparison between the titled of the 50 cent movie and the first lines of “The Odyssey”.  The second point is 50 cent vs. Prison and Odysseus vs. War this is where the comparison and differences of the main characters of the movie and book.  The third point is the comeback for both of the characters and how they fell down but got right back up.  In all, this is how history has had a chance to repeat itself.

For our Independent Reading we have to read a book with then 150 pages and talk about how we liked the book, any interesting things, what we learned and a summary of the book.

 The title of the story is One of us written by Anne Schraff.  This book falls into a series of stories written for the Urban Underground book series, some known stories are ……….

·      When a hero Dies

·      Secrets in the Shadows

·      Until we meet again

·      Be very much Afraid

·      Someone to Love Me

·      Lost and Found

·      If you Really Loved Me

·      One of Us

Other research found out about Anne Schraff and the Book.

            Anne Schraff wrote books and books about everyday life.  The stories speak about how different stages of time in life.  Her books were never turned into movies but a lot of people asked her to make movies of her books.  Also the book I read is in the Urban Underground series which isn’t the only series she has done, another series is the Bluford series, which is her earlier series.  Well I couldn’t find any records of awards won by Anne Schraff but that means her books are.

            One of Us was about a kid name Derrick who lived in a neighborhood like Philadelphia, corner stores on every corner and violence.  Derrick and has family was struggling with money, so Derrick got a job at the 99¢ store.  When he closed up one night he witnessed a murder in which put him in a situation where it was life or death.  Derrick went to Tubman High School where B.J Brady went.  B.J Brady shot and killed Rafe WexFord who was a high school/college track star.  Derrick was told to keep quiet or him and his mom, dad, sister and brothers would die.  So Derrick wanted to say something but was like I can’t and then a girl started to like Derrick so it was even harder not to tell anyone.  But at the end of the story B.J Brady dies and they had an argument about who would ever go to his funeral and people stepped up and went to his funerals.  The main characters are Derrick, Wes and B.J Brady.  Derrick was the witness of the story and the story was about him.  Wes was the owner of the 99¢ store, which he talked to Derrick about life.  B.J Brady was the murderer and the person Derrick was scared of.  The conflicted was the murder that was witness, the threat that was said to Derrick and the reaction to the threat and the murder.  So the kind would be “person vs. person, person vs. society and person vs. self”.  My favorite character is Derrick because he is scared of what would happen and even through that he found a girl and close friend and learned a life lesson.  Also Derrick grew as a character, something like a weak leader to a strong leader by leading the people in his life to the right path.  In the story Derrick went from getting a job for his family to getting people to come to the funeral of a kid who lost his ways in the street of violence and that nobody cared for.  Readers should take amazement from this story but also things happen unexpectedly.

            I could relate to Derrick and his friend because when everybody thought that B.J Brady deserved nothing but his ashes being thrown in the trash.  I can relate because I had to see the good from the bad in a person. But they respected him as the kid they knew before his drugs and violent life came a long.  I have never had actually been in a part of life to say that I have felt what Derrick felt or I haven’t had to do anything Derrick had to do.

            I would say if you are interested into life in different points of views this book is for you.  If you are into moments of shocking and spine chilling in your body this is a book for you.  Also even if your somebody who doesn’t like books like this one, then the Anne Schraff series is for you because she changes everything with reading in her series.  So if your bored or just need a book to read pick up an Anne Schraff book series.

For my optional piece I chose is my Me Magazine from the beginning of the year and this Me Magazine is all about me, Who I am as a person but also who I want to be.

Why Do We Write?

I believe we write so that we can better our skill of writing to express ourselves. If we write down what teachers say we can study for test and or just have the knowledge to share if needed. Also some people may learn better and faster because they learn by seeing.

How Important Is It To Fit In?

To me it’s not important to fit in because I rather be myself then someone I’m not and if I don’t fit in I won’t care. But since me being myself I do fit in because I dance, rap and I’m sociable. And when I don’t try to fit in there is always one person that is a he or she has something interesting about them that I am interested in. 

Has Anyone Ever Exceeded Your Expectations?

A lot of people exceed expectations upon me because the way I look and the way I act. But the reason is because I am big in appearance so some may say he can handle this load or he can carry this and that. Also I acted will around people with first impressions so I am not shocked with the way they come off to me.

If You Really Knew Me…

You would know that I don’t always smile and I’m not always happy. I go through stuff all the time from small to big. Growing up I saw stuff that a child should not have seen. I heard stuff and been around stuff where I could have lose my life. Seeing my parents struggle with different things made me think about if I will ever have to go through that, and things and people who hurt my family, so behind to smile, dancing and rapping there is some angriness inside.

                  Throughout the year I have recognized my many strengths and weaknesses.  Some of my strengths is that I can really analyzing a book after I am done reading it with my class. I can understand many aspects of the book, which allows me to complete a really great benchmark project.  I can make many connections to the book with other texts, world events, or connections with myself. Even though I have much strength as an English student, I also have many weaknesses. I like everyone else make a lot of simple and easy grammar mistakes. I sometimes have trouble noticing that I have a word spelled wrong when I am proof reading my work. I also have a lot of trouble with tenses, and realizing if I am writing a story in past, present, or future tense. I think that as I grow to become a even better student of English I really want to focus on these weaknesses and also search for other weaknesses that I have and improve those too.

                  I have had a great experience doing his portfolio through out the year. I remember the feeling I had each time I completed a piece of writing. I felt really accomplished and happy.  Before I had the feeling of accomplishment, I also had difficulties with my writing. I usually have weaknesses on concluding my essays. However I also had lots help with these situations. I was always able to rely on my classmates to revise my writing and give me good feedback. If there was a time when I felt that I didn’t receive great feedback from a classmate I went to Lit Lab and I was able to improve my writing there.

                  Out of all my works on writing in my portfolio my favorite was definitely the Odysseus and Harry Potter comparison. I remember I had a lot of fun writing this essay since I really enjoyed reading Harry Potter. When I realized that I wanted to compare Harry with Odysseus I felt that I had a perfect idea in front of me. As I started to work on the essay and complete it I knew that I did a great job and that my grade would not displease me. I felt extremely confident and that is why this writing in my portfolio was my favorite.

11-3-10

Lady Macbeth 10 Quotes

In Act 1, scene 5, Macbeth has just sent a letter to Lady Macbeth saying that he has been promoted, and is now Thane of Cawdor.  He also tells her about his encounter with the three witches and he will become king. Lady Macbeth is elated to hear this news. She is happy to know that Macbeth has been promoted and will become king but she doubts that he has the strength of killing Duncan in him, to become king. In her soliloquy she says to herself “Yet do I fear nature It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness” (Line 15-16 Pg. 16 ACT l.5) Lady Macbeth is saying that she thinks Macbeth has too much kindness in him and is too weak to kill King Duncan. She is saying this to herself, she believes that he is not capable of finding his way to becoming king by himself. She in trying to convince herself that she will not let Macbeth’s weakness to stop them from becoming king and queen. At this point in the play Lady Macbeth is really selfish, and greedy, but she is not aware of how much her greed will increase.

In Act 1, scene 5, Lady Macbeth just got news that Macbeth is now Thane of Cawdor and will soon become king. She gets news that Macbeth is going to come home and that King Duncan is also coming over to stay for the night. She deeply wants Macbeth to become king as soon as possible, it has suddenly become her obsession. But she thinks that Macbeth is to soft to do the job, she feels that she is more capable. In her soliloquy she says “Come to my women breasts and take my milk for gall” (Line 46-47 Pg. 17 ACT l.5) In this quote Lady Mac is saying to take out all means of kindness from her and replace it with coldness. She is trying to make herself more strong and stonyhearted in order to harden Macbeth as well. Lady Macbeth’s is progressing at becoming greedier.

In Act 1, scene 5, Lady Mac continues her soliloquy, she so badly wants Macbeth to succeed at becoming king. Lady Mac puts all her worries behind her and her number one priority is to get Macbeth to become king. She does not want to take any risks that will put her in danger of not reaching her goal. As she continues her soliloquy she says “Come you spirits that tend to my mortal thoughts, unsex me here,” (Line 39-40 Pg. 17 ACT l.5) This quote means that she wants to do the job her self and kill Duncan herself and play the role of the male in the house. She knows that Macbeth has a lot of loyalty and respect for Duncan and killing him will be a huge decision to make. Lady Macbeth wants to be the man in the family so she can go ahead and complete the task without thinking twice like Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is still acting cold hearted.

In Act 1, scene 5, Lady Macbeth still continues her soliloquy filling it with more cruelty by each word. She is loosing respect for her self as she becomes less humane by the minute. The only thing that remains in her world is Macbeth being King. She continues to say in her soliloquy “Make thick my blood; Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse,” (Line 42-43 Pg. 17 ACT l.5) In this quote in the same soliloquy Lady Macbeth is saying that she does not want to regret anything she is about to do. She feels that if she feels remorse that will make her weak. Lady Macbeth at this point in the book is determined to reach her goal and will loose self respect to reach her goal.

In Act 1, scene 5, Lady Macbeth is now trying to set an example of herself to the king. She and Macbeth are welcoming the king to their home. Lady Macbeth is going to tell Macbeth her plan for Macbeth to be king. Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it,” (Line 64-65 Pg. 18 ACT l.5) She says hear to play a show for Duncan, making him think that the couple are happy that he is at their home. Lady Macbeth wants Duncan to think that everything is all right when his death is awaiting him. Lady Macbeth now is already planning ahead but she has idea what the outcome will be like once Macbeth is king.

In Act 1, scene 7, Lady Macbeth is now trying to persuade Macbeth to kill Duncan. She is going through a plan that will successfully kill Duncan and Macbeth will not be suspected. Macbeth is absolutely afraid of doing anything. Even though he wants to become king he is scared of killing Duncan. She says “Was the hope drunk wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it sleeped since?”(Line 35-36 Pg. 22 ACT l.7) Lady Macbeth thinks Macbeth is acting stupid and insults him, calling him a coward and unworthy of being her husband. She uses her sexuality a lot in this part of the book. Macbeth gets mad at Lady Macbeth but continues to do what she wants. Lady Macbeth uses his weakness to get what she wants.

In Act 2, scene 8, Lady Macbeth is now trying to convince Macbeth that he did the right the thing by killing Duncan, but he is feeling like he is betraying Duncan because he is really loyal to Duncan and he was satisfied with being The Thane Of Cawdor. Lady Macbeth then says “A foolish thought to say a sorry sight.” (Line 24 Pg. 28 ACT ll.8) This is saying that Macbeth says he shouldn’t have killed, but Lady Macbeth says that killing Duncan was their plan all along. Why would they not want to kill the king? Lady Macbeth is happy that Duncan is dead, she thinks everything is perfect. They have successfully killed Duncan without being suspected since the guards get the blame. Lady Macbeth now feels even more confident that she is doing the right thing but she still isn’t aware of her mistakes.

            In Act 2, scene 2, Duncan is now dead, and Macbeth is king. Everything is going fine. Macbeth has made plans to kill Banquo but Lady Macbeth is unaware of that. There have been some changes in Lady Macbeth now. She is starting to feel weak. Macbeth talks about about Banquo and his son Fleance. Lady Macbeth says  “What to be done?” (Line 46 Pg. 47 ACT ll.2) Lady Macbeth says asks Macbeth what he has done when she says this quote. Macbeth still hasn’t told Lady Macbeth making it a surprise for her. Lady Macbeth does not want anymore killings. She is afraid there secrets will come out. At this point of the book Lady Macbeth is staring to shift. She is loosing some of her boldness.

In Act 5, scene 1, Lady Macbeth is now sick. She is going insane and is being kept under the eye of a servant and a doctor on Macbeth’s orders. She is starting to sleepwalk. She is so afraid of her truth coming out that she sees what she has done in her sleep. She is talking about what she has done without knowing that there are witnesses like the servant and the doctor. She says “Out, damned spot! Out I say!” (Line 35 Pg. 84 Acts V.1) She is rubbing her hands together seeing the blood of King Duncan on her hand. She desperately wants the blood to come off. She feels remorse and the remorse is driving her to insanity. She is now fully aware of her mistakes.

In Act 5, sence 1, Lady Macbeth is continuing to struggle. She doesn’t want anyone to see the blood on her hands. She doesn’t know that she is imagining the blood. She is still sleepwalking when all the drama is occuring. Lady Macbeth then says something that stuns the audience ”Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” (Lines 38-40 Pg. 84 Act V.1) Lady Macbeth absolutely regrets killing Duncan. She wants all proof of the killing to disappear. Meanwhile the doctor and the servant overhear her saying this. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s secret has now been exposed. Of course since Lady Macbeth is asleep she is unaware of this. Soon enough her insanity leads her to suicide.

Through this timeline of ten quotes Lady Macbeth starts of confident and full of boldness but ends up in insanity. She thinks that she is making the correct decision but is not aware of her consequences. Lady Macbeth’s true colors start to come out as she goes into insanity. In this book Lady Macbeth plays a really strong character that starts to fall.

Uh-Oh! I Broke My Fast! 

            “Wake UP! Stupid child! Time is running out! HURRY!”(OPENER and DIALOGUE) Mom shouted at my sleeping face almost dragging me out of bed. I started to get used to waking up at 4:00 am instead of 12:00 pm. It was summer, but also the last day of Ramadan, and everyone in my family was going crazy (MAGIC THREE). Slowly taking my time I got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. I splashed water into my face, I don’t really know many times I had splashed water into my eyes for them to finally stay open. I walked out the bathroom, still taking my time, like an old lady does when she gets out of a public bathroom, and there are others waiting to go (MAGIC THREE and SIMILIE). All the lights in the house were turned on and it was really bugging my eyes, I mean I thought we were suppose to save energy here (HUMOR). As I walked into the kitchen I smelled the cinnamon and mint from chicken curry in the air. I sat down next to my dad on the kitchen table and started stuffing myself with rice and delicious chicken curry. My mom looked back from washing the dishes and said, in her unusually stern voice, “hurry up you have about four minutes to finish eating.” (DIALOGUE) I gasped, munched, and gulped down my food fast (MAGIC THREE and HUMOR). I hardly tasted anything I ate. During Ramadan Muslims wake-up at sunset to eat and start off a day of fasting. As soon as the sun is set, there is no more eating, and fasting has started (MAGIC THREE).

Feeling as fat as a pig (SIMILIE and HUMOR), I went back up the stairs to pray. Before I started prayer, I took a shower. Everyday after eating in the morning at sunset I would take a shower to start off my day of fasting. After I showered, I fetched my praying mat from my messy closet and laid it out facing towards Mecca, the direction in which Muslims all around the world pray (MAGIC THREE). I started to pray, clearing my mind of all thoughts and only focusing on prayer. I recited parts from the Quran in whispers, and thanked god for a pleasant month of Ramadan. I closed the prayer. After I finished prayer, I went back to bed and I fell asleep almost instantly. 

            Today’s tiring day went by like the autumn winds (SIMILIE). I didn’t even get to sleep until my usual 12:00 pm. My family went through preparation after preparation getting ready for tomorrow’s Eid (Eid was the celebration for the end of Ramadan, where Muslims spend time with family and friends eating and having fun together.) But until Eid I had to make sure everything was in tip-top shape.

 Finally only three more hours until sunset and I could finally eat! But in order for time to pass by, I had to do chores. The only breaks I was able to take were for prayer.  Cleaning up the house is a pain in the eye in my case. I would rather try out for the part of a clown in the circus (HUMOR). After cleaning the house from head to toe my mom ordered me to go grocery shopping. Going grocery shopping wasn’t so bad as long as I could be sneaky and buy a bag of chips while I was at it (HUMOR). Finding the main ingredients for traditional Bangladesh food wasn’t hard. Mostly it was rice and a bunch of spices for the seasoning. After coming home with my hands full of groceries I collapsed on to the coach, picking up a glass of water from the table, and taking a big gulp (MAGIC THREE). All of a sudden my eyes went open in shock (HYPERBOLE). It wasn’t time to break my fast yet.

I was more scared than I have ever been before. I put the glass back on the table as if it was a poisonous snake (SIMILIE and HUMOR). I didn’t even want to look at it anymore. I quickly averted my eyes across the room and saw my mom standing with a small grin on her face.

“Why are you smiling?! I just broke my fast and it wasn’t time to eat yet!”(DIALOGUE) I said in a shaky and horrified voice. My mom just shook her head, smiled and walked away (MAGIC THREE). I ran back to her. “What do I do??”(DIALOGUE) I asked sounding like I just ran 10 miles (SIMILIE).

“Nothing, just go on like you haven’t done anything. As long you didn’t drink water on purpose it doesn’t make a big difference,” (DIALOGUE) she said conscientiously (VOCABULARY). I gave a huge sigh of relief. I felt like a great amount of weight had just been lifted from my back (SIMILIE). I had always thought that fasting meant not eating. Not eating until a given time. From my mothers words I was proven wrong. I hadn’t meant to drink that glass of water. It was an accident and that is what counts. I should have known better than to panic and just step over mistakes that aren’t a big deal. At least I know now not to worry about this kind of a situation in the future.

            It was time to eat. I ate like never before. Today’s meal was just the same as any other. My plate was filled with all sorts of foods.  Dates (a special fruit that are usually a tradition to eat during Ramadan meals.) Lentils (a high-protein grain that is dried and then soaked and cooked before eating) and of course chicken curry (MAGIC THREE and IMAGARY). Nothing had changed. I didn’t feel any different than I did when I fasted yesterday or the day before. It was just a normal last day of Ramadan. I felt accomplished. I also felt sad that Ramadan was over but I also looked forward to next year’s Ramadan and the year after that. Tomorrow would be Eid and there would be no more fasting and I would be starting off the new month after Ramadan with a great start.

3-7-11

The Odyssey vs. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

There are hundreds of stories about people always doing the impossible and accomplishing the most incredible tasks. Some people may say it’s Hercules or Achilles while others think the true hero is Sherlock Holmes. However Harry Potter and the Great King Odysseus are also true heroes. On the contrary Harry and Odysseus may be very alike on the outside, but on the inside the two characters are a thousand miles different; Odysseus is prideful and shallow whereas Harry is selfless, and caring.

            In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry and his two best friends are on the search for horcrux’s (objects that will destroy Lord Voldemort an all time evil sorcerer) that could be anywhere in the world. In the beginning of the book Harry pleads to Ron and Hermione not to come to the trip with him due to the fact that there are many dangers involved. Saying this it is clear that Harry really cares for his two best friends and would rather have him be put in the hands of danger than them. Odysseus is merely the exact opposite. In book 12 Odysseus and his men have to make their way through the Scylla, a horrible female sea monster. Circe of course warns Odysseus about the dangers up ahead and it’s Odysseus’s job to make sure he and his men are going to be okay. Instead of telling his men about the horror onward he says “friends, we’re hardly strangers at meeting danger- and this danger is no worse than what we faced when Cyclops penned us up in his vaulted cave with crushing force! But even from there my courage. My presence of my mind and the tactics saved us all” (Book 12, lines 226-230). Saying this Odysseus thought he would be able to calm down the crewmen from

 panicking. This shows that Odysseus really doesn’t care about how his men are feeling. All he wants is their cooperation so he can make it through Scylla and go on with telling his amazing stories in the future. In both of these situations it comes to the matter of what is really important: friends and crew by one’s side or pride and glory.

            In many ways Harry and Odysseus have proven to be different but they also have characteristics that make them slightly alike.  In Chapter 12 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Harry, Ron, and Hermione are captured by Death Eater and brought over to Malfoy Manor. Hermione is tortured brutally while Harry and Ron are locked away in an underground cellar. When almost all hopes of survival are lost for Hermione, Harry and Ron find ways to escape the cellar out of fury and anger together saving Hermione. While reading his chapter it was obvious that Harry wasn’t going to give up and let everything go down the drain. In a similar situation in The Odyssey in Book 9 “The One-Eyed Giant’s Cave” Odysseus and his men are all locked inside of a cave full of sheep and the only way of getting out is if the Cyclops itself lets them out which in unlikely to happen. In thought of panic Odysseus thinks, “what was the best way out? how could I find escape from death for my crew, myself as well? My wits kept weaving, weaving cunning schemes- life at stake, monstrous death staring us in the face-” (Book 9 Line 470-473). Under heavy pressure Odysseus and his men come up with a plan to hide themselves under the sheep that the Cyclops tremendously cared for. Hiding under the sheep’s wool they were able to leave the cave. In this chapter Odysseus proves that he is intelligent and is determined to escape dangers. Both Harry and Odysseus are determined to fight their way through till the end. Even though Odysseus’s journey lasted for twenty years and Harry’s only lasted for one, they both pushed their way till the very end.

Harry and Odysseus both complete their legendary journeys they still have not embraced peace and freedom. After Harry has hunted down all the horcrux’s he reaches Hogwarts finally to find the last with his two best friends, Ron and Hermione with him. Of course he is still not left alone and finds himself at war with Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Odysseus is in a similar situation. After finally coming home to Ithaca with out his men who have died during the journey, he learns that he has to face a hundred and forty suitors. “How on earth can two men fight so many and so strong? These suitors are not just ten or twenty, they’re far more-” (Book 16 Line 275-276).  Odysseus, his son and two other loyal servants come together to fight the empty suitors, just like Harry, Ron, and Hermione have to fight the many Death Eaters with the help of Hogwarts teachers, The Order Of the Phoenix (A organization of wizards who want Voldemort defeated) and qualified students. With the help of all the people who remained loyal to Harry rather than Voldemort, Hogwarts was able to overthrow Voldemort just like Odysseus and his little crew vanished every last of the suitors.

            Odysseus and Harry have proven to be both alike and also very different. But they have proven more than just that. Harry has proven to be caring and selfless, and Odysseus has proven to be prideful. Harry really cares for his two friends trying to keep them out of danger and this enabled the three friends to come home to Hogwarts unharmed. Odysseus of course returned to Ithaca empty handed without his crew since they died when trying to make it through Charybdis. In conclusion Harry and Odysseus are more different than alike since Harry’s selfless and caring personality led him and his friends to come home safely and Odysseus’s prideful character caused him to come home alone without anyone by his side.

 CREATIVE PIECE: Macbeth Poster

Independent Book Review

Research:

            I have chosen the book Marked book one from the series House Of The Night by P.C. and Kristen Cast who have a mother are mother and daughter relationship, writing The House Of The Night series together. The two authors published the book Marked in 2007. The book takes place in a boarding school called the House of the Night in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The entire series of the house of the Night was on the New York Times Best Sellers list for 63 weeks straight. The series has sold in 39 countries and over ten million copies have been sold. Marked has also been translated in German and reached #1 on the Der Spiegel (a German Weekly Magazine). The House Of The Night is a series with a total of 12 books. So far eight books have been published and fans are breathless to read more.

Summary:

            The protagonist in Marked is a 16-year-old teenage girl named Zoey who gets marked to become a vampyre. Zoey has no idea what to do about being marked and is now a fledging (vampyre in the process). Her human friends and her parents don’t want any relations with her. The only person Zoey can rely on is her beloved Grandma. After Grandma’s help, Zoey arrives at the House of the Night (Vampyre school). Zoey feels more at home then she has ever been. She makes many new friends Stevie Rae, Damien, Shaunee, and Erin. Zoey thinks of her mentor Neferet the High Preistess, as her own mother and Zoey feels loved. As the story goes on Zoey learns what it is like to become a fledging, she takes classes with teenagers just like her and she is familiar with the atmosphere.

As everything goes on smoothly Zoey even has a new boyfriend Erik the hottest guy at school, but also a friendly fledging who helps Zoey through out her problems. Soon enough Zoey encounters problems with Aphrodite. The antagonist in the story. Aphrodite is a stuck up bully of the school who wants to be the next High Priestess and Zoey and her new friends are now determined to make things right about Aphrodite. Zoey schemes to reveal Aphrodite’s evilness to Neferet. On a very special day Aphrodite has planned a ritual to thank all the Vampyre spirits and the goddess’s above. Zoey and her friends feel like this is the perfect time to reveal Aphrodite to Neferet.

Aphrodite feels as though she is perfect and can go through the ritual flawlessly. Unfortunately she makes mistakes during the ritual because of her clumsiness and spoils the ritual. Aphrodite feels that Zoey is the one to blame and acts disrespectfully towards Zoey only to find out that Neferet is witnessing the situation. Under Neferet’s command Zoey replaces Aphrodite and trains to become the next High Preistess. She along with her friends returns to the school from the ritual happily.

Favorite Character:

            My favorite character is Stevie Rae. Even though she doesn’t take a huge role in the book like Zoey or Aphrodite she is always supporting Zoey. In the book she is looking forward to becoming Zoey’s friend and wants Zoey’s trust. She understands what Zoey is feeling like; coming to a new place totally different from a world she is used to. Zoey is able to tell Stevie Rae anything knowing that Stevie Rae won’t reveal anything to anyone. Stevie Rae is a comfort to Zoey. Another reason why I Stevie Rae is my favorite character is because she reminds me a lot of my best friend whom I can talk to about anything, I trust her to keep my thoughts to herself just Like Zoey can trust Stevie Rae.

I think that readers should take away a lot of simple lessons that the book teaches. Readers should take a way lessons about friendship, and how to reveal someone's true identity when they aren't thinking along the correct lines like Aphrodite.

Personal Experiences:

            I’ve never been through any of the situations Zoey has since in the real world Vampyres don’t exist, but I have felt some of the things the characters did. Zoey has always loved her mother till she remarried. After Zoey’s mom remarried she has fallen under the grip of John Heffer, now Zoey’s dad. Zoey felt as though she was being separated from her mother. I feel this when I always see my brother or sister with my mom. I feel as though I never get to spend any time with my mom just like Zoey feels like she doesn’t recognize her mom anymore. Another way I can relate to the characters in the book is Zoey and her relationship with her grandma. Zoey always runs to grandma when there is trouble. I feel like I am the same when it comes to my grandma and me. When I am in trouble and I don’t have the courage to go to my parents I can always rely on my grandma to help me out just like Zoey can count on her grandma.

My Opinion:

            I really liked the book; overall I thought it was pretty good and I can’t wait to read the next books of the series. I want to know more about Zoey and her adventures with her friends. I think one of the main strengths of the book is the way P.C and Kristen Cast made up Zoey’s character. Zoey is really strong and when she feels weak she is given support from her friends. I thought that was a really important thing of the book that I really liked. Another thing about the book I liked is Zoey and her relationships with others. I liked the way in which the authors evened out the protagonist vs. antagonists. I think one of the weaknesses of the book was probably the ending. I think it could have been written a lot better. If I were to rewrite the book I would mainly focus on that. The ending of the book happened really rapidly and was hard to understand what was going on. If the authors slowed down the pace of the events in the end of the book it would be greater.

Book Recommendations:

            I would definitely recommend this book to people who are on the look for a good page turning read. I think I would mostly prefer teenagers to read this book since it is a book that can teach lessons about coming of age, romance and friendship. I don’t think this is a good book for adults because there is a lot of drama in the book and I find it that teenagers would enjoy reading the book more.

Lady Macbeth

Laura De Jesus

Thesis: In the beginning Lady Macbeth was strong, persuading woman who would do anything to get what she wanted, but that all changes in the end when her guilty conscious gets the best of her.

In Act 1 Scene 5 in the play of Macbeth, Macbeth has just arrived home from war; he had an encounter with weird sisters the witches. They said to him that  he would be the new Thane of Cawdor, and King. When he told Lady Macbeth, this is when she hatches her plan to kill the King. Lady Macbeth says to her husband, “ Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it” (Act 1 scene 5 lines 64-65). What she is saying is that, be the innocent person, but be the evil underneath it. Lady Macbeth is thinking to herself, while talking to her husband that her plan might just work in time. She is hoping that her persuading ways would get her what she feels she needs.                                            

After Macbeth and Lady Macbeth had their “talk”, he begins to think to himself, whether he should do the requested deed or not. A few moments into thinking Lady Macbeth enters and says “Art thou afeard to be the same thine own act and valor as thou art in desire?” (Act 1, scene 7, lines 39-41). Lady Macbeth is trying to say are you afraid to be the same man you once were, or the man you wish to be? She believes that Macbeth thinks he will act different after the deed is done. Putting her strong foot forward, she is not letting her plan go away to fast. She needs to think of more ways to persuade him.

Act 2 scene 2, Lady Macbeth hears weird noises and begins to grow suspicion of what is going on. With confusion she starts to think what could it be, she left the daggers in plain sight so there should be no problem. Macbeth enters, Lady Macbeth “Alack, I am afraid they have awaked and tis’ not done, th’ attempt and not the deed”. (Line 8-10). What she means is that she is nervous with all the noise going on if he did the deed or not. She can’t deal with the anxiety.

With two bloody daggers Macbeth has announced that he has killed the king. He also states that they may not be all dead. She takes matters into her own hands and finish what he started. “My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white”, (Act 2 Scene 2, lines 67-68) Lady Macbeth says with a panic in her voice She feels like she just did the worse thing possible. The worse thoughts are flowing through her head. The fact that she helped with the murder is eating up at her. She thought that’s what she always wanted but maybe she was wrong.Lady Macbeth is preparing for the gathering, dealing with the fact that she just murdered

In Act 3 scene 4, the dinner is in action, every one is there but Banquo, no one knows where or what happened to him. When he was ready to get his seat he table, he realized he had seen Banquos ghost sitting in his chair. An outrage begins, Lady Macbeth confronts him and says “This is the very painting of your fear, this is the air drawn dagger which you said led to Duncan.”(lines 62-64) She means, that he needs to get it together there are guest that are present, so behave your self and act like a man. She maybe thinks that he will show that they did something wrong or had a part to play and blow their cover.

The suitors, Macbeth, the house has become worried that Lady Macbeth is going completely insane, they don’t know what she is capable of. The doctor is called in, is asked to help. The Gentlewoman says to the doctor, It is an accustomed action with her to seem thus washing her hands. I have known her to continue for an quarter of an hour”. (Lines 27-30) The gentle woman is completely clueless about what to do with Lady Macbeth, so she calls in reinforcements. Lady Macbeth is getting to the point where her guiltiness, is taking over life.

In Act 5 scene 1, Lady Macbeth is going around the house sleep walking, and spilling the facts. The doctor and gentlewoman have just found out that Macbeth is the one to blame for the death of the King, and she helped. Washing her hands Lady Macbeth says,” Here's the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand”. (Lines 50-52). She believes that the blood from the daggers will forever be on her hands, never get off. Her thoughts are making her go crazy, no one can help. The changes that are going through her body are horrible.

In this stage of the play, the doctor is trying everything in his power to help her, nothing has worked. “This disease is beyond my practice. Yet, I have known those, which have walked in their sleep who died holily in their beds”, Doctor says. (Act 5 scene 1 lines 58-60). He believes that she will never be the same, she may just be at her last few breaths/days. Lady Macbeth can no longer take this, from being strong she went completely weak.

In Act 5 scene 8, Macbeth has heard that Lady Macbeth has passed away. He doesn’t pay much attention, he is worried about the fight he has headed. Little does he know that Malcolm and Macduff have planned to kill him. After Macduff has killed Macbeth, Malcolm has become the king and announces “Of this dead butcher and his friend like queen, who as tis thought, by self and violent hands took her life”. He is telling everyone that Lady Macbeth has committed suicide. Lady Macbeth was once a persuading and strong woman who let her conscious get the best of her.

 Basically Lady Macbeth is a woman who was thought to be of strong courage and bravery, but in the end wasn’t. The quotes above, the story relate to us today in many ways. Shakespeare is telling us that no matter how much  you want something you shouldn’t harm others. Killing gets you no where in life, and could also lead to your own death or a horrible life ahead of you.

The Day My Life Changed . . .

            Last year my life changed forever. It was during the summer, around the beginning of school. I went to visit my boyfriend not knowing what would happen minutes later. I arrived there at normal time, twelve noon. We did the usual met up, hug, and talk. As we were to his house, I could tell that today would not be the same. His attitude was more happier and more mischievous. Also there was a change in route, we were just walking through alleyways which was abnormal. My heart was beating like a drum but I kept quiet. We finally arrived reached his house, I was no longer comfortable in his presence but as usual I kept quiet to see what was to happen.

While the movie was playing we were just sitting there, talking, and laughing like old times. Nothing out of the ordinary, but then he began to touch me more then the normal. The feeling of uncomfortabliness came rushing back for the second time but once again I ignored it. I thought going along with it would make it better but it didn’t actually made it worse. After about two minutes I pushed him off, I kept getting further and further. Honestly, that was the dumbest thing I could have done, he groped me and threw me on the ground. Before I hit the ground I hit the glass circular table headfirst. That didn’t stop him; it actually made him smile and chuckle.

Once, I was on the ground, half way unconscious there was absolutely nothing for me to do but kick. While the beating started, I was crying like a baby without milk. After unsuccessful attempts of getting him off me, he went to my face, but busted it up terribly. That was just the beginning through, the worse hasn’t started yet. After all the blood and tears the harassment began. He began to feel up my shirt and tried to unzip my pants. Because I was barely able to walk there wasn’t much I could to get him off me. He was just there on top of me feeling all over me nothing I could do at that moment I just wanted to die. I started to think the worse things ever, but the biggest thing was “rape”. His smile that shone like the sun scared me instead of bringing me joy. As the tears were rolling down I realized that I shouldn’t let some boy take my precious gift from me, with all my force and might I tried to kick him. After a few attempts I finally got him off of me.

I ran to the door fast as lightning. I made it out the door to Godfrey but he caught up to me and pushed me into the street, almost getting myself hit by a car. People just walking by saying or doing nothing.  The only option I had left was to fight him, so I did just that. He beat me down once again, but one kick to his “private area”, he was done. While he was lying on the ground, I tried to get up as fast as I could, but the fact that I was barely able to walk made it difficult. After like three minutes I finally got up, and sprinted to the nearest pay phone and called my best friend. She came to my rescue.

To this day my mother doesn’t know what happened to me that day, I am afraid to tell her due to my past ways. She might not believe me and think that is what I wanted just to get attention. So I decided to keep it between him and I. I never regretted anything more than this but there is nothing I can do now. September 13 2010 will always be remembered.

Laura De Jesus

English Benchmark

March 11,2011

            Odysseus is the main character from the book the Odyssey. Everett is the main character from the movie O’ Brother Where Art Thou. While Everett and Odysseus both make it home to their families, the way they handled their adventure is what makes them different. Everett and Odysseus will face some hard battles and choices in the meantime of making home but in the end of the story it makes them stronger and better men. This adventure is life changing.

            Everett and Odysseus show some signs of similarities. Everett makes it home to his family with the two people he came and left with Delmar and Pete, his best friends. But it doesn’t end up as well as it seemed in the beginning. On the other hand Odysseus has lost all his partners and friends due to his selfish ways and disregard. Odysseus and Everett are both fathers, but neither of them is worthy enough to be good at being a father until their final return home. Also, Everett and Odysseus have issues with commands, they do what they think is best for them and don’t worry about their companions or any one else.

            Everett and Odysseus have two main differences one of them is there work ethic. Everett is an ex-convict who escaped from jail with Delmar and Pete, his two companions. While on the other hand Odysseus is the King, and has to go to war and fight. “What if his great father/ came from the unknown world and drove these men/ like dead leaves through the place" Book 1, lines 145-7. (Athena goes and tells the suitors to leave before Odysseus returns, but during the time she was daydreaming so Telemachus says this.)  But little did he know that the war would take ten years, plus the ten extra years he added on due to his ways. The way that Everett and Odysseus handle the work and the way they get home is what makes them different. Odysseus gives into much temptation, which leads to several affairs and unfaithfulness. While Everett is lead into them but doesn't give in, the main he wants to get home to his wife and children. In the end Odysseus isn’t so truthful to his wife about the affairs and his ways. "Go down at once and tell the lady Penelope/ that I am back from Pylos safe and sound" Book 16, lines 151-2 (He tells Eumaius.) This is telling Penelope his wife that he is finally home and has arrived for good.

            Although Everett and Odysseus both had companions on their trip, Odysseus wasn't the best captain/leader in the world. He was selfish and only cared about himself and what made him happy.  "Hearts of oak, did you go down/ alive into the homes of death? One visit/ finishes all men but yourselves, twice mortal!" Book 12, lines 25-7 (This is the point in time when Odysseus is only thinking of himself and what he wants and needs). He didn't care about what his team wanted or needed, as long as he was happy then everything would be okay. He was a self-centered man. While, Everett also started off that way that is not how he ended up. (In part of the movie he thought his appearance and hair were the most important parts of life.) After a few adventures he changed his ways, and instead of it being all about what he wanted he took into consideration what they needed. His appearance didn’t matter, as much to him anymore, there were more things to worry about. Although, he did have his moments, he still came out the bigger man.

            Both Everett and Odysseus learned a lot in their adventures. Although they faced difficulties returning to their families in the end it was for the best. The difficulties that they faced like returning home and realizing who are they are made them a better person. Everett and Odysseus learned that a lot during their adventure but the main thing that they learned was the fact that appearance shouldn’t matter as much as their family.