This is the piece I'm most proud of. It's not the best written piece but I worked long and hard on this. I think my hard work payed off and I tried my best. Keep in mind that everything in this magazine represents me, even the adds. Hope you enjoy. 

​Jhonas Dunakin            Odysseus and Al Capone Connected Trough Time                        Red

3/8/11

 

            Even though Al Capone is a real life figure and Odysseus is a mythical character, their legends are both connected. Al Capone was a famous mobster for his crimes, including the Valentines Day massacre, which started the end of the North Side Gang. The way the North Side Gang was executed was very crucial. it was executed was Al Capone and his crew were disguised as policemen. They ordered the rival gang members to stand against a wall and shot them with Tommy gun till the dropped dead. Odysseus on the other hand is a famous character from many ancient Greek tales including Homer’s famous story of the Odyssey. Odysseus also fought a war against a rival. He was fighting the Trojan War and during it disguised himself and his men. But instead of them disguising themselves like Al Capone and his men, they hid away in a statue that the Trojans thought were an offer to the gods. The Trojans brought it into the city and at night they opened the gated to the city and the Greeks killed everyone. As you can see their legends have already been tied together.

 

            In addition both Al Capone and Odysseus both show signs of being strong men but sometimes not so intelligent as leaders. For example when Odysseus leads his men through Scylla and even though Circe told him that he would lose some men she told him to resist and to let it take some of his men. It’s better to loose a few men rather than all of them. “Scylla’s no mortal, she’s an immortal devastation, terrible, savage, wild, no fighting her, no defense just flee the creature, that’s the only way. Waste any time, arming for battle beside your rock, I fear she’ll lunge out again with all of her six hands and seize as many men” (Book 12, lines 130-134). Odysseus stubborn as he is, prepares himself for battle to fight it and Circe’s warning is forgotten as he decides to keep his pride high, rather than deny the challenge as he was told. “I donned my heroic armor, seized long spears in both my hands and marched out on the half deck.” (Book 12, lines 245-246) “Now Scylla snatched six men from our hollow ship, the toughest, strongest hands I had, and glancing backward over the decks, searching for my crew I could see their hands and feet already hoisted, wailing down at me, comrades riven in agony, shrieking out my name for on last time!” (Book 12, lines 264-270) Even though Odysseus’s adventure was mythical Al Capone had a similar thing happen to him. Al Capone had everything going for him; he was in charge of Chicago for the 1920’s till the early 1930’s. Even though he thought that his illegal activity was tax-free his tax lawyers told him it was not. He being as stubborn as Odysseus was he did not listen to them. He was then sued buy the U.S. government for failure to pay his income tax. He owed $215,080.48 in taxes, which in today’s modern dollar money is worth $2, 408,901.38.

 

            Furthermore Odysseus and his men was part of a famous war known as the Trojan War just like Capone was part of a gang war against the North Side gang. The Trojan War was fought by a group of ancient Greek city-states. This includes the ancient empire of Ithaca lead by King Odysseus. The way they fought their wars was way different than the gang wars. They had battle tactics and battle formations, but their motives were the same. The reason the Ithacans fought the war was to eliminate a common enemy and competition in wealth. The Trojans had a very popular trade route that would make them very wealthy. In comparison, Al Capone had competition in the same nature. Al Capone had very many rivals in the alcohol industry during the prohibition era. (1920-1933) In order to eliminate the competition and plundered all their riches he declared war with them. The end of one of the wars was the Valentines Day massacre the marked the end of the North Side gang which was smartly planned by Al Capone, just like Odysseus had planned the Trojan Horse which marked the end of the Trojan War.

 

            As a result Odysseus returned home after 20 years away from home to be greeted by suitors, just like Capone returned to his gang after 7 years in prison only to know that it was in the hands of a new leader. Odysseus after 20 long years away from home returned to Ithaca with nothing and had to fight for everything he had lost after those years. “These suitors are not just ten or twenty, they’re far more you count them up yourself now, take a moment…” (Book 16 Lines 276-277) Al Capone faced a similar task after he was let out of prison in 1939. He had to get to get in control of his gang once again. But just like Odysseus he had obstacles to get through before he could get it back. Odysseus had to make sure Penelope was safe and to be careful because it was Odysseus, Telemachus, and two servants against about 120 men. Al Capone had to fight off his numerous dieses that he developed in prison.

 

            Even though Al Capone is a real life figure and Odysseus is a mythical character, they’re legends are both connected. This statement might be true, but I’ve found a small catch to it. They have different endings to their stories.  Al Capone gave up and retired to home in Florida with his wife in 1949 and died of pneumonia, which was unrelated to any of his dieses. Odysseus on the other hand killed all the suitors and everything returned to normal. But one thing is similar about there endings. Al Capone may have died in the end but died a happy man, living happily ever after with his wife in his beautiful home in the Florida countryside. Odysseus also had a happily ever after ending with his wife and son in his giant palace in his country of Ithaca.

 

 

 

Introduction: During the whole year i feel that my jounal was the only way i can express myself. Unlike other people that just post it on facebook. Well this is 4 of my best journal entries i did in the whole year.

7. A time when you wish you could drop a part of your identity...

 

            There have been many times when I wanted to drop a part of my identity. But one is when I wanted to drop what race I am. When first moved to Philly and went to school people used to always make fun of me because of Asian. But they all thought I was smart so they keep copying my work, and when I said no, they told me not to leave school. I already knew what that meant. But to be safe I left. But I learned to live with it and as the year went on everything change. School for me was fun after that.

 

 

8.  A time when you were part of a group but didn’t want to do what the group was doing...

            Once me and my friends were bored, so we decided to go rob someone on the streets. I was in the 5^th grade but had a smart mind. I couldn’t decide if I should do it or not. But be the careless me I did. So we saw a random boy on the street and hit him, we didn’t notice but there were cops right near us and 2 of my friends got locked up, except me because I didn’t do nothing but watch. Now I think if I did join them that night my life may have been kind of different. I mean being dropped home by cops after being looked up, my mom would of never looked at me the same way.

 

9. What are people’s expectations of you? What are your own?

            I have high expectations being given. A C in my family is a failure. But I always get a C. I argue with my mom all the time telling her its not that bad, but you know most Asian parents are strict when it comes to school. My expectation is that, if I am working my ass off in school and still get a C that is perfectly fine. At least I know I tried my best.

 

15. What is a “hero”? How would you define it?

 

To me a hero is no someone you look up to or adore; it is someone who makes a change in the world. For an example Rosa Park is a hero. If it weren’t for her, colored people would still be sitting in the back of the bus. Why would you call someone like lil wayne a hero when all he did was influenced drugs, and make music to the world. Where you can have someone like Obama as a hero because he is the first black president ever.

Introduction:

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

Independent Reading:

                                                               The Skin I’m in

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Introduction:

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

Independent Reading:

                                                               The Skin I’m in

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Introduction:

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

Independent Reading:

                                                               The Skin I’m in

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you click Globalization in my Community you will be able to access the keynote I produced, that reveals the different photos taken in my community which represents varies themes in globalization.

• What did you find most challenging about this project?

The thing I found to be most challenging about this project was taking pictures in the my community that reflected the different themes listed for globalization. It's not that I didn't know how to explain those themes, I just found it hard to actually find those themes in the area where I lived. Also managing time was a little difficult for me. Because we were given so long, I kept delaying the assignment.

• How did you go about collecting the images or selecting the images?

I didn't have a specific method for collecting the photos, the only thing I tried to do was focus on the theme and figure out what would best correspond. The mindset I had was if I couldn't actually get the picture I wanted, then get something that was in the general ball park of my explanation and explain why I couldn't get the actual picture I wanted and explain how the one I actually took was appropriate.  

• Which image is your favorite? Why? Elaborate.

My favorite image would have to be the photo I took for the theme Society, Culture, Gender. I mean, for starters it is a picture of me getting a body piercing on the back of my neck which elaborates on the culture portion of the theme. It's the most exciting picture I've ever seen in my life, and I have a lot of body piercings so it's almost like globalization lives with me.

• How prevalent is the evidence of globalization in Philadelphia? Do you think it is more or less so (evident) than in other large cities in the US? Why Why not?

I think the obvious things like Health, and Trade or anything involving the economy (well not really) are more evident in Philadelphia in terms of globalization. But as far as education, and society, those topics were a little hard to see. I don't think it has anything to do with the city being large (because if anything I think it would appear more evident) however I think it mainly depends on the eye one has for globalization. Because I've never noticed certain things before, it made it a lot harder to notice them now, and I've always been told: you see what you want to see.

As a 9th grade student, my writing portfolio shows a growth in me. This growth doesn’t affect me in terms of height, weight or anything like that, but as a person. As you progress through all three benchmarks and all the projects in order, there is a change in how I write. They go from immature to an understandable young adult with his opinions. Of course there are those childish moments but can you blame me? No matter how much we grow up, our inner child is clawing to get out. Don't be mistaken, all these writing pieces still expresses who I am and who I have become, but each one shows a different side of me. 

            With growth, there come strengths and weaknesses. As of right now, some strengths that I have as a writer is the ability to imagine and be creative. So naturally, writing formal essays and papers that require a serious tone is difficult. However, as I continue to grow throughout my years, perfecting the art of writing a serious and very important writing piece of my goal here at SLA. No one has ever got a professional job by being funny and making up stories that are untrue, none that I know of anyways.  

            Producing this portfolio was no easy feat. The most problematic part of constructing this portfolio was making the projects that are contained in this portfolio. Each one had it's own problems and issues. I can't remember a majority of them because I choose not to. All I really know, and can really advise, is to never procrastinate. It will be the end of good quality work and sleep, as you know it. As I am reflecting on each individual piece, some of the problems might come back to me and be listed. Lets get started!

 

The first ever benchmark of my freshman year. In this benchmark the student has to pick a character out of the play "MacBeth" and write about how (s)he changes throughout the story. Also, ten quotes are needed to help aid the reader in seeing this change. I personally choose Macbeth because I thought he was the easiest but I was horribly wrong. Did this benchmark lacking in confidence. This was simply because it was “The” benchmark, killer of sleep, destroyer of fun. This was also because we were taking on Macbeth. First book of the year and we have to read Macbeth? But I got through somehow and that feeling of success made my confidence skyrocket. Take a look at my shaky start in English.

 

(Q1 Benchmark)

Henry Poeng

 

Thesis: Macbeth change of heart at the beginning of the play cost him his life.

 

The Three Weird sisters in Act One, Scene 3, approach Macbeth and Banquo.  They hail Macbeth first as Thane of Glamis, then Thane of Cawdor, and finally King.  Macbeth and Banquo are mesmerized in many more ways than one. Macbeth then says “The Thane of Cawdor lives, why do you dress me in barrowed robes.”  This line shows how Macbeth feels about being addressed as the Than of Cawdor. Shortly after the question is asked, the witches vanish without answering anything.  Macbeth and Banquo are left to interpret what the meaning is.  Macbeth sees the witches prophesy as good news and is very happy but also very confused at the same time.  Macbeth just does not know in what way he will claim these titles.

King Duncan officially proclaims in Act One, Scene 4 Macbeth Thane of Cawdor.  At that same time King Duncan proclaims his son, Malcolm, Prince of Cumberland or in other words his successor.  Macbeth, who is very surprised when hearing this, goes aside and starts speaking to him self.  “Stars hide your fire; let not the lights see my black and deep desires” was one of his lines.  This line that Macbeth said translates to, Heaven, please don’t let anyone see my deep and dark desires.  This specific lines shows that Macbeth is shocked to hear that Malcolm was going to be king instead of him self and there fore he is going to do something about it.  Then Macbeth’s ambitions start to show. He was going to be king one way or another even if he has to kill someone for it.

In Act One, Scene 7 Lady Macbeth confronts Macbeth and tells him of her plans to kill King Duncan.  Macbeth goes aside and weighs out the consequences of these actions. After some seducing performed by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth changes his mind and goes with the plan.  At the end of the scene Macbeth says, “False face must hide what false heart doth know.”  This line means to be a flower on the outside and be a serpent underneath.  In other words, look nice and innocent but conceal your feelings from the public.  At this point Macbeth becomes hesitant about what he’s getting himself into but his ambitions start to take over.

In Act Two, Scene 2 Macbeth has killed Duncan.  He and Lady Macbeth are flooded with guilt.  Macbeth says that he heard voices shortly after he killed King Duncan.  The voices said,  “Glamis hath murdered sleep, therefore Cawdor shall not sleep”.  In direct translation it pretty much means that Macbeth killed someone who was sleeping, therefore he doesn’t get to sleep as a price to pay.  At this point Macbeth is starting to go a little bit crazy, as well as Lady Macbeth.  The guilt is going to impact everything from this point on.

In Act Three, Scene 2 Macbeth has hatched a plan to kill Banquo.  He indirectly tells Lady Macbeth who doesn’t really understand.  While telling Lady Macbeth, Macbeth says, “O, full of scorpions is my mind dear wife.” This quote explains just hwa tkinds of things are going on in Macbeth’s head. This indicates the type of thoughts that are going on inside of Macbeth’s head.  Evil scheming thoughts that plan to destroy all his enemies.  At this point in the play, Macbeth is planning to kill anyone in his way without hesitation.

In Act Three, Scene 4 Macbeth has killed Banquo.  After slaying Banquo, Macbeth is not guilty and doesn’t really regret what he has done.  Macbeth killed Banquo because Banquo has a gut feeling that Macbeth was attaining all this power by unfair means. Macbeth says this after the deed is done.  He says that he is, “Stepped in so far that, I can wade no more.”  In direct translation, this means that Macbeth has gone so far into his evil deeds that he can’t turn back so he just going to keep on going.  At this point in the play Macbeth has become pure evil and nothing can stop him, not even him self.

In Act four, Scene 2 Macbeth is talking to his subjects, who are of course working for him out of fear and not love, when he realizes something that the Weird Sisters had done to make him be in this situation.  So he says “Time thou anticipates my dreaded exploits.” In the quote he says “anticipates”, which means predict, “Dreaded exploits,” which means evil deeds.  This means that time or another thing has predicted his evil deeds. Therefore he accepts his that this is “fate” and continues to go forth with his plans.

In Act four, Scene 3 MacDuff and Malcolm are ranting off about Macbeth in England where they have fled off to live.  They are venting their anger towards each other. This anger would have never started if Macbeth didn’t betray them. With all this ranting MacDuff says,“ No one in the legions of horrid hell can come a devil more damned in evils top Macbeth.”  This quote means that, no one sent from hell can be more evil than Macbeth.  This quote shows what other people think of Macbeth.

In Act Five, Scene 3 the 10,000 men from England are approaching.  Macbeth is mad at all the servants that keep coming to warn him.  In an attempt to shut them up and maybe bring courage upon himself, Macbeth says, “I’ll fight till from my bones my fleshed be hacked” This line means that Macbeth will fight to the death no matter what.  He has nothing to lose and is blinded by his ambitions to realize what he’s getting into.

In Act Five, Scene 8 Macbeth is fighting Macduff in a final attempt to protect this throne.  After some intense fighting Macduff is on the verge of winning. Realizing he’s going to die on the spot, he says, “I throw my warlike shield.”  This means he’s going to sacrifice him self and die here and now instead of facing the consequences and bowing down to Malcolm. In a final attempt at attacking Macduff, Macbeth is slain.  At this point in the play, Macbeth is dead. This just proves that since Macbeth is so stubborn and naive, he threw away everything he had for everything he wanted but ultimately failed in the end.

In conclusion, Macbeth had a very dramatic change of heart that widely influences the whole play.  Just one act and all his inner ambitions are arisen. Throughout each act, his cold-heartedness grows.  Towards the end, his thoughts are clouded with evil, and he has nothing to lose.  Therefore, Macbeth has the meatiest change throughout the whole play. As a secret message towards any potential readers, Shakespeare show how taking all the wrong turns to get what you want will bring failure upon your life.

 

(Q2 Benchmark)

This was a fun project to write. In this project, students had to compose a memoir vignette (snapshot of their life) that changed them in some type of way. I chose to write about an experience that was like none I ever had before. It was about violence, but not that punch-kick violence. This violence involved shooting and killing. It was a coincidence that this happen, because when I first heard that we were getting this project, I was struggling to find that snapshot of my life. The second I heard that we were doing a vignette, I was all over it. I remembered a majority of every detail that happen that day with relative ease. Making a story out of it was just amazing. I felt like I was soaring in imagination with this one, even though it was 100% real. Check out the creative process at work.

Henry Poeng

Orange Stream

 

An Ordinary Day In The Neighborhood

 

            “Uncle, are you okay?” My dad’s response tone to this question showed both surprise and shock. “Yeah I’m fine” he said reassuringly. “What wrong?” then asked. “I just had this horrible dream… there was a shooting in front of your store and someone died. I couldn’t really make out who the person was but he was important.” My dad’s face went grim. “Alright calm down, we are all fine here. Chill out and get some sleep okay?” Click. My cousin had hung up and my dad put the phone down.

 

            December 30^th, 2010. 12: 47 am. Everyone in the family except for me was ready for some sleep. (opener) It was tiring just like any other day. My dad just got out the shower, when he got a phone call. It was my cousin, who was planning to visit soon from Connecticut. His voice was heavy, he was breathing deep, and he seemed shaken. He explained to my dad that he just experienced a nightmare. In the nightmare, people were shooting each other in front of our store. My dad was surprised to hear this but laughed it off nevertheless. My dad comforted him and told him to go back to sleep assuring him that everything was fine. My cousin warned my dad to be careful. I was in my room starting a recently assigned English benchmark project. (Foreshadowing)

December 31^th, 2010. Not much was expected on this New Years Eve. It was just another boring day of hard work and some extreme grumpiness. The previous night, I didn’t get enough sleep, but that didn’t stop the customers from flooding in like there was no tomorrow.  Just what you would expect on a party night, right? Little did they know. (Foreshadowing)

It was around 7:45 pm when the most unexpected thing happened.  I was taking care of a customer and brooding(vocab) about how to get out of work, all at the same time. Work being: selling customers whole cases of beer, candy, cigarette, soda, etc. I live in a beer store so this is an everyday thing.  All this brooding left me bemused and started an awkward situation. The customer I was serving got angry and started to become insolent(Vocab) towards me., which was perfectly fine until it got way out of hand. He kept going on and on, screaming, cursing, and trying to escalate the tension. (Magic 3)   Being very adept(Vocab) at conflicts like this, I just ignored him and went about finishing the transaction. Then, just outside the front of the store, BAM! (Onomatopoeia) Sirens blared, breaking the awkward silence that followed.

            Everything was dropped. “Holy Shit!” (dialogue) screamed a good majority of people. My mom and I went to peek out the window to see what was going on. It wasn’t the most pleasant sight. A green dodge mini-van looked like it was going down the wrong way on Walnut St. and went into a sudden halt not far off from the intersection of Walnut St. and Frasier. Strange thing is, a patrol vehicle looked like it caused the crash. Imagine this, a Green dodge minivan pointed towards Jehovah’s Witness, which is directly left of my store, at a 90-degree angle, a good size dent in it with a police car perpendicular to the vehicle.  (Imagery) The first thing that came to my mind is, “This is not good.” (Dialogue) So I walk back to attend to the waiting customers.

            Fireworks went off, or at least that’s what I thought it was. Running back to my mom I asked “What’s going on out there?!” The response blind-sided me in the face like somebody was running and just tripped into a wall. (Simile)  The driver of the green Dodge mini-van gunned down two cops! My mom and I ran to the back of the establishment and notified my dad and my brother of the situation. My brother looked at me like he just watched a good show of SNL and said, (Simile)

 

“Please… it was only fireworks don’t get so worked up” (Dialogue)

“But, Richard! Come look!” (Dialogue)

 

With some proper begging he came and took a glance.  Turns out, the scene changed, and there was way more then just one police car out there. Around 25 + vehicles, Officers out, and guns pointed. It looked like a lustrous (Vocab) clump of red and blue in the night, which was very appropriate for New Years. (Imagery) Then they open fired, emptying about a magazine into the suspect’s car, at least that’s what the news said. POP! POP!  POP! POP! POP! (Onomatopoeia/ Rep 4 Effect). I was scared out of my mind. It looked like an old western movie. A standoff was happening right in front of my house! I was in shock and awe. So many things raced through my mind. Will we get out of this alive? What happened to the cops who got gunned down? Are they okay? This is exciting! I’m hungry, so tired… sleepy, sleepy… and so forth.  (Rep 4 Effect)­

The fun part is how stupid we all acted. My dad, who arrived rather late, ran outside and looked into the car, as did about 15 other bystanders, my-self included. Dumb move, I know. Difference was, I was about a quarter-block away from the car. The cops started yelling and shooed us all away from the danger zone.

Everyone pretty much piled up in the store. A good majority of them were very irritated because they were disrupted from their holiday festivities. The customers pretty much notified their family, sat around, or tried to make a quick transaction so they can get out. (Magic 3) Just goes to show you that even in crisis some people are still extremely selfish. My dad, who did not want to close shop just yet, decided to play along with the selfish customers and go sell them ice. This involved him going back outside again. Bad mistake. He was held outside behind a wall in safety. My dad called shortly after we noticed that he was missing. He told us to be wary (Vocab) of the situation and to lower the bulwark (Vocab) that is the front gate. Daring not to disobey, we evacuated the store and lowered the gates.

A mere five minutes later, my dad called on the phone. He told my brother and I to grab a case of beer so we can sell it to a customer who was buying it the “back-door” way. We thought he was joking, until we saw our dad approaching the back yard with a customer in tow. After making the transaction, we all went back inside. Around this time a copper chopper arrived to the scene rather low.Using the mounted spotlight, it circled around the suspect’s vehicle and made light of the situation. (Pun Intended/Humor)

Naturally, in situations like these, you want to feel safe right? You know that feeling when you want to grab something sharp and deadly, or just go hide somewhere to feel safe? That’s exactly what I did. Upon re-entering the house, I ran to my room and totally missed the light switch. Groping (vocab) around in the dark, I grabbed my metal softball bat and a metal baseball bat. I know it seems stupid, but it made me feel secure. Others didn’t think so. A cop noticed me with the bats and told me “What are you going to do with those bats?  Going to hit a bullet out the park? You can’t even swing with one hand!” (Dialogue/Humor) That comment made me feel stupid, but I felt safe so it was okay. Putting the bats away, I went to go watch what else was unfolding.

When I arrived back at the place of entertainment, anyone who was viewing the little show had a face that could make even the most secure in mind cry. Amassing (Vocab) some courage I peeked over the window, heart racing. The scene had changed. With the spotlight illuminating the car, some of the higher ranked cops gathered in a circle at the intersection of Frasier and Walnut St. They appeared to be scheming on how to handle the rest of the situation. Out of nowhere, down the dark alleyway of Frasier St. was a heavily armed officer, otherwise known as a S.W.A.T (special weapons and tactics) operator. Walking down slow mo, or at least that’s how I saw it. He looked extremely intimidating. This man was dressed in all black with armor and bullet proof pads spread across evenly all over his body, thick helmet on his head, attached with a helmet visor. In his right hand, a riot shield, in his left, an assault rifle. I can only guess that it was a M416, but that’s just from background gaming knowledge, which made it even more exciting. (Imagery)  His face was made of stone. (Metaphor)

They call him the crisis negotiator, negotiator for short. His job was to approach the suspect and cause a diversion for a S.W.A.T team to arrive, or talk the suspect into surrendering, or both. From my perspective, it seemed like both. I can only assume that being a negotiator, you needed to be shrewd (Vocab) andconscientious (Vocab) of the suspect in critical situations.

My dad, my brother and I took this given opportunity of peace to talk to my dad’s friend who happened to be an officer at the scene and likes to visit the store when he’s off duty. My dad was at the door speaking to his cop friend, who coincidently had his patrol vehicle right in front of the store entrance. My dad was chatting away with his friend, while I was talking to my brother, who was just as excited. He told me to go and listen in. Being his younger brother, I had to comply.

While I listened in, my brother was broadcasting what was going on to my other brother who was in Florida at the time. I found this superfluous, but what the heck, it was exciting.  Apparently, the showdown on Walnut was being shown live in Florida, which I found extremely strange. My dad was talking to his friend. We got the gist of the situation. Apparently, the cops were waiting for S.W.A.T. to arrive, there were 200+ personal surrounding the perimeter and all branches of law enforcement were deployed. This was the first event in Philadelphia law enforcement history of its caliber. All of a sudden, the radio exploded with a sharp command that was lost in a sudden burst of confusion. We ran back inside. “Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic!” I constantly told my self. (Rep 4 Effect/Dialouge)

After a quick break, we all resumed our position in front of the window and stared at the scene. Nothing interesting happened just yet so I went to back to getting some work done. Unable to keep myself away I ran back just in time to get blinded by a burst of flares. The flash looked like a firework that had gone wrong. It looked like an extremely bright light with flares coming out the sides with a loud pop that is redundant now and days.  This special item causes disorientation of anyone unfortunate enough to witness it. Good thing I was behind the window.  I just witnessed a flash bang. (Imagery) I peeked back up to examine the next set of events. Assuming that the suspect was disoriented, S.W.A.T moved towards the car and took out the suspect. He was dead and covered in blood. It looks like someone missed a paint ball gun filled with red paint balls horribly. (Imagery) One can only guess how much anguish (Vocab) he suffered in that one-hour period, barricaded in his car.  The scene at the time was surreal because so much was happening at once. I was inept (Vocab) when it came to things like this, but this has only made my mentally stronger. After the dramatic event over, all the bystanders went back to what they were doing, including me.

Refreshing the page on a news site for 10 minutes straight wasn’t the smartest thing, but it was worth it, just to see what was going on from the news reporter’s perspective.  The reports say that the two officers that got shot were in good condition and had been released from the hospital. A sigh of relief went around the crowd that was around the computer. (Imagery). All the excitement left me tremendously enervated. Crawling to bed, I took the time to reflect on what was just witnessed.

With this reflection came inner thoughts. What you do will follow you for life, but how you repent for it is what makes the difference. Shooting cops will be the end for you. Be prepared for the unexpected because this is the type of world we live in. Think of the possible consequences before doing anything. As I slowly drifted to sleep, I whispered to myself “This is just another ordinary day in the neighborhood.” (Dialogue) and dozed off.

III

III
III

III

\/

Down here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is just for kicks: :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now this is the story all about how
some guy got flipped, turned upside down
and I'd like to take a minute just sit right there
I'll tell you how I almost pulled out all of my hair.

In West Philadelphia born and raised
In a beer store is where I spend most of my days.
Selling, taxin, relaxing all cool

And enjoying this day off from school.
When this one guy, who was up to no good
Starting causing trouble in my neighborhood.
He robbed one gas station and the cops got scared.
They said “get out the car with your hands in the air”

The cops called for some back up, when it came near
The crazy driver shot the two cops with a frightening sneer.

If anything, I could say this scene was super rare
but I thought oh heck no, it’s safer in there.

Then back up pulled up round seven or 8.
came out and said “yo dawg get the tazer.”

Hey Look at that! S.W.A.T is finally here.
Extracting the body with guns in the air.

(Over exaggerated)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trying to this project was an adventure by it self. This was probably from reading the confusing Odyssey, to watching a confusing movie. But I took on the challenge and made it through. Of course with some bumps and bruises here and there (If you catch my drift). Anyways, the third quarter benchmark consist of the comparison between Odysseus and Everett from the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou”. This is done by using comparison and evidence from both the movie and the books to compare and contrast these two characters. The two characters didn’t have to be between these too, but I was having a huge writers block so finding a good match came to late. Take a look at writer’s block!

 

 

(Q3 Benchmark)

3/7/11

Henry Poeng

 

            Odysseus: Great teller of tales, Trojan War hero, and main character of The Odyssey. Everett: Master Tactician, Leader of the Soggy Bottom Boys, George Clooney and main character of O Brother Where Art Thou. Odysseus and Ulysses are both selfish at times, and overcome their conflicts in the same manner. But, it’s how they are assisted on their journeys that make the difference.  Although these two are very similar in their personalities, they have a different approach to their respective journeys.            

Everett and Odysseus show similarities in their selfishness during several points of their adventures. In the movie O Brother Where Art Thou, Everett risks the life of his crewmates in a vain attempt try and persuade Delmar and Pete to go and get his hair gel from the back of a burning car. Everett shows that he’s going to put himself first instead of considering the life of his loyal crewmembers. This had to potential to get all three of them killed. In The Odyssey, Odysseus said “Cyclops- if any man in the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so—say Odysseus, raider of cites, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca!” (Book 9, Lines 558-562).  Unlike Everett, Odysseus actually puts his crewmates in grave danger. As a result, he got them all killed in the end. But, this also shows how they are like in their thinking, and how selfish they both can be. 

            O Brother Where Art Thou  is heavily based off of The Odyssey. There are several hints that show this in the movie. One would be the prophet, who tells Everett how to get home, much like in The Odyssey.  However, they are actually different. The Odyssey Odysseus was thrown off course so many times that it is hard to keep count. It is believed that the main source of all his interludes was, for the most part, the Greek gods. Poseidon, earth shaker and king of the seas had a deep grudge on Odysseus for blinding Polyphemus, his son, and being associated with Athena. As you may know, Athena and Poseidon HATE each other very much. Using everything in his power that didn’t involve direct interaction between him and Odysseus, Poseidon further delayed his return trip home via storms, monsters, etc. Athena on the other hand was on Odysseus’ side, protecting him and only him throughout a huge chunk of the epic. If you think carefully, do you see this happening at all in O Brother Where Art Thou? Nope. In O Brother Where Art Thou there aren’t any gods, or some supernatural other worldly power to veer Everett and companions off course, or further then along for that matter. He got home all by himself without the need of the Gods.

            In The Odyssey, Odysseus overcame his challenges by first, thinking of some well thought out plan, then eventually needing Athena’s help towards the end of executing the plan. For example “Naked threats- and Athena hit new heights of race, she lashed out at Odysseus now with blazing accusation: “Where’s it gone, Odysseus- your power, your fighting heart? The great solder who fought for famous white-armed Helen, battling Trojans nine longs years- nonstop, no mercy, mowing their armies down in grueling battle- you who seized the broad streets of Troy with your fine strategic strokes! How can you- now you’ve returned to your own house, your own wealth- bewail the loss of your combat strength in war with suitors? Come, old friend, stand by me! You’ll see action now, see how Mentor the son of Alcimus, that brace fighter, kill your enemies, pays you back for service!” (Book 22, Line 234-246). As long as this quote might be, it has a huge significance. Without Athena, who knows where Odysseus might be right now. Some might argue, that without the Gods, Odysseus might have not gotten home at all or vice-versa. This may be true, but we haven’t really seen the famed Odysseus “Master of tactics, Great teller of tales” in action without the help or intervention of the Gods. In O Brother Where Art Thou, Everett gets through all his challenges by himself. From escaping the chain gang, to making “old timey” music and sort of getting his wife back. He did it all himself that is what someone should be respected for. That is a huge difference in terms of showing character traits and applying it.

In conclusion, Odysseus and Everett might share the same qualities with each other, but the manners in which they achieve their goals are quite different. Sure you might think, “Oh, well if Odysseus didn’t have Athena, he would have never got home.” or, “ Oh, well if Poseidon wasn’t messing with him so much then we would have gotten home safe and sound.” which could be very true. My point is, if your going to talk about someone else’s abilities and what they are doing, then talk about it right, not with some sort of handicap. That to me is just plain unfair. It’s just like saying “Yeah! I totally made this turbine with the help of my twenty friends so appreciate me more because I want more credit!” It’s the same deal with Odysseus, but must admit that he is insanely smart and strong. Although these two are very similar in their personalities, they have a different approach to their respective journeys.             

The creative Macbeth piece was probably my second most favorite project as a 9^th grade freshman in English. I basically went all out in both creativity and fun. For this project we had to make a character journey of a character of choice. It could be creative. I chose to do a keynote that was very entertaining, to me anyways. From music to a clever rhyme scheme, and getting everyone intrigued at how I produced such a wonderful project. Alas, I cannot show the keynote, but if you are interested please email me. This wasn’t much difficulty in making this project. It simply flowed in my brain until the project was done. What you are about to read is the poem part of my project.

 

(Creative Piece)

Macbeth and Banquo are marching back as heroes, embarrassing everyone: making them zeros. On the way back there was a surprising mental attack. They meet three weird sisters, full of warts and blisters. They hailed Macbeth as thane of Glamis, Cawdor and King here after. So Banquo is confused. He asked the weird sisters to state his news. They declare him the fountain of kings. It was strange for Macbeth and Banquo to hear these things. The weird sisters soon after leave, making Macbeth and Banquo puzzled on what to believe. Ross  and Angus enter the scene, upon their face was great amounts of gleam. Bringing them with news of his promotion, Macbeth says “The Thane of Cawdor lives, why do you dress me in barrowed robes.” Macbeth declares that he will later probe.  So continues the story, turn to the next slide to read of Macbeth’s rise to glory.

 

Macbeth and Banquo return to the castle where King Duncan waited with no type of hassle. Macbeth was proclaimed Thane of Cawdor, a title the traitor had, not long before. This proclamation had Macbeth convinced. Soon after Malcolm was made the newest prince. A successor to the throne, someone who has worthy shown. Macbeth goes incognito, off the side, planning something evil. “Stars hide your fire; let not the lights see my black and deep desires” . He has plans for these infrequent criers. Macbeth’s ambitions start to show, something that will be explained in the next slide, so come on, lets GO!

Lady Macbeth shows warm welcome to Duncan and his subjects. Behind her face: Ambition. With one goal in mind, with one mission. To get rid of King Duncan and Malcolm, his son. She and Macbeth are planning to declare their lives done. “False face must hide what false heart doth know.”  Macbeth and his wife must hide what their heart shows.  Late in the night, when all is retired, Macbeth and his spouse continue with the plan they have conspired. Silence.... a hoot is heard. The deed is done. The guilt has begun. Macbeth comes in with bloody hands, Duncan is dead, by his wife’s command. Then they both go crazy, their minds a little hazy. “Glamis hath murdered sleep, therefore Cawdor shall not sleep”. Macbeth has stole Duncan’s life, like a thief. Therefore he shall pay, with lack sleep of during the absence of day. Now, lets continue this story. It’s going to get kind of gory.

 

Macbeth has become king by unfair means. How do you become King when it has not been past down through your genes? Banquo is very suspicious. He is about to come across something meaty and delicious. Macbeth finds out and becomes rather vicious. Macbeth starts to plan and scheme. How do you get rid of someone that was once on your team? With murderers that have stealthy skill. They will dispose of Banquo and Fleance with a silent kill. “O, full of scorpions is my mind dear wife.” Macbeth is going to kill Banquo without thinking twice.

Banquo is no more. Covered from head to toe in fresh slimy gore. Looking more disoriented than ever before. Fleance has ‘scaped! Running in the wind, looking back as he swore. The murderer's make their return to Macbeth’s castle door. They enter the party that was held on the ground floor. The news given to Macbeth was both great and poor. He was happy to the very core, but also mad that the assassins' had done only half their chore.

These two acts we will remember for our lives.  Macbeth is alone, sitting and thinking at his throne. “Time thou anticipates my dreaded exploits.” Many evil deeds were committed, a dark aura is emitted. Many miles far far away, are two people that Macbeth has betrayed. MacDuff and Malcolm talk about many tragic deaths. So much so that MacDuff says “ No one in the legions of horrid hell can come a devil more damned in evils top Macbeth.” Back at the castle, a war is waged. His majesty is enraged. “I’ll fight till from my bones my fleshed be hacked”   Little does he know, that he will never be backed. Ten Thousand men march, revenge burning in some.  They are here to get rid of this tyrant scum. Let the battle begin and on the next side we will see who wins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Independent Reading Review Project)

 

In our English class, we were given two independent reading projects. The one that I am presenting is first of the two. This basically consists of an introduction to the book, a paragraph or two about the book, a personal connection, some conflicts, an opinion about the book, and a recommendation of the book. This was particularly hard on me, because I never really like doing book reports or reviews. I struggled but manage to pull through somehow and get a good grade.  Read on to take a look at a New York Times best seller.

 

 

Henry Poeng

Orange Stream

 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

By: Stieg Larssona

 In an epic show down between the past and the present, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is challenged to solve it all. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is indeed a movie. It was released 2009. Not only that, but it got a lot of buzz from news sites like Yahoo, CNN, etc. That’s what tempted me to read it. Also, it has an interesting title name. From what I’ve read in the reports, it said that it was a suspenseful, crime theme, which is something that I don’t normally read. So I decided to take a chance and change my genre.

 

 

The book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a mysterious crime story, which takes place in Sweden.

 

Summary:

Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist, publisher, and co-creator of Millennium magazine, published an article against Swedish billionaire, Hans-Erik Wennerström. After a libel case against Hans-Erik, Blomkvist is sentenced to three months in prison. Facing professional disgrace, Blomkivist quits his job at Millennium magazine. Approached by a lawyer shortly after leaving the court house, he is offered a freelance job, assigned by Henrik Vanger. Henrik is the former CEO of Vanger Enterprises, which is a massive company in Sweden. A few days before the encounter, Henrik Vanger hires a young girl in her twenties by the name of Lizbeth Slander, to dig into Blomkvist’s life history. She is a genius hacker, with a photographic memory, and just scary in general.

Blomkvist goes to the Vanger estate, located in Hedeby island, several hours away from Stockholm, which is Blomkvist place of residence. Arriving at the Vanger estate, Henrik explains the assignment to Blomkvist. Blomkivist was to write a book on the Vanger family history, but also to find a serial killer that killed Harriet Vanger, Henrik’s niece. Henrik promised a hefty reward with juicy details that could bring down Hans-Erik Wennerström. Reluctantly, Blomkvist agreed to the offer, seeing no other choice. Blomkvist accepted what could be the scariest assignment of his life. Together with Lizbeth Slanders, they will hunt down a serial killer from the past.

 

Some conflicts?

-Blomkvist vs. the media (Person vs. society) The media is making a huge deal out of the libel case and how badly he failed.

-Slanders vs. herself. (person vs. self) Slanders appears to be trying to find her self.

-Blomkvist/Slanders vs. Serial killer (person vs. person) Blomkvist and Slanders are out on a hunt for a Serial killer that have been murdering several females by using lines from the bible.

 

 

-My favorite character in this book is Mikael Blomkvist.

He is to my hero because of his courage and how professional he is. I could learn from this guy, excluding his sex crave of course. You will learn about that as you read the book. By courage, I mean he is brave, intelligent, and very wise. By professional, I mean he is intelligent, handles himself well, and has good management skills. You can learn a lot from this guy.

 

-I believe that readers should take into the account that the book is trying to say, be fair to women. If you read carefully, the whole story is about women being abused and killed all the time. For a theme, I would say “Everybody should be treated equal. No matter what”

 

My relationship to the story and the people in it?:

None. What Lizbeth and Mikael went through just makes my life seem boring. If I recall correctly, I haven’t been raped, attacked by strangers, put in political shame, solve cold-cases, or a computer genius. I haven’t experience the thrill of traveling from place to place looking for a serial killer, writing a biography about a wealthy family, or experience three months in jail. If anything, would like to relate most of their lives. But that’s just not happening.

 

-Opinion?

I think it’s an excellent book that will keep you coming back for more. Even though it’s rather lengthy, and it uses a lot of big words. Overall, a well written crime story with a great story line. Now personally, if I could change something in the book it would be how the frame stories are integrated. It get confusing sometimes trying to keep up with past and present.

 

-Recommendations?

I would recommend this book to anyone that can handle good amounts of suspense, drama, action, sex scenes, and plain weird stuff. Also, lets not forget lots and lots of detail! Plus, it would make the book even more amazing if you have a great imagination. That just makes the book an even better experience to read since it is filled with so much detail.

 

            

 

 

 

 

 

(Journals)

 

Considering how I don’t really remember the prompts, I’m going to go try and explain each one as best I can. The first prompt was just to talk about how our Thanksgiving break was. The second one was to explain what you think an adult is. The third one was to explain how winter break went. Last but not least, the fourth one was explaining what criteria do you think a person needs to be a “Hero”. Some of the answers that I wrote were short because I didn’t know what to write. But I did the best I could in that current moment.

 

11/29/10

 

The Thanksgiving break was “okay”. On Thanksgiving I had to work and serve the customers and their needs. Friday was my birthday. Not the most interesting day of the year. Pretty much work, work, eat, party, sugar rush, sleep, fat. Saturday was confusing. I don’t even remember what happened or care to remember for that matter. Sunday however, was fun. The family got together and had a Thanksgiving feast. A well deserved feast at that. Soo much food, just loads and loads of food.  It was amazingly fun too. It was great playing ping-pong and pool with the people I barely see. Overall, the break started real slow but then picked up like a rocket taking off.

 

1/24/11

 

Too me, an adult is someone who has past 21 years of age. An adult is someone that is mature and accepts hit or her responsibilities. Someone that is proactive and not reactive. An adult is someone that can balance out life and fun. In a general sense, an adult is someone who is seasoned at life.

 

1/3/11

 

My break was okay I guess. Same deal. Wake-up, text, shower, work, text, sleep. Boring right? 100%. The holidays are the worst for me. Wake-up early, work until 12 am, and then drop. But it’s for a good cause I guess. One day, something broke the cycle. On the 31^st of December something crazy happened. My mom and I were manning the fort. MY dad and brother were in the back. Then all of the sudden, we hear a lot of sirens outside. MY mom and I looked out the window. WE saw a dodge mini-van pointed towards the church next to my house. Two officers were walking towards it. It was a strangely ominous scene. Then all of the sudden, the driver-side window cracked. A gun was fired off. Both the officers went down, guns blazing. It seems that the assailant was struck. My mom went to go tell my dad in a frenzy. I went to go tell my brother. I sat there in shock and awe. Hopefully I can turn this story into a project.

 

2/2/11

 

A hero to me is someone that is special. A hero is someone that sets a good example for someone good or bad. Someone that gives others hope and meaning in their life. You don’t have to fly or have super powers to be a hero. All you need is a sense of hope and the will to go on. That’s what I think a hero is.

 

 

 

 

 The Myth project was given when the students were done reading the Odyessy. In the Myth project, you are supposed to pick a Greek god and explain what he or she is. What they represent in Greek culture, and what they mean today. Also, you have to research myths about them and write about it. I picked Poseidon because he seems so cool. I know it’s not a legitimate reason but it’s my reason. Take a look about Poseidon God of the Seas.

 

 

(Myth Project)

 

Henry Poeng

Orange Stream

 

Greek God: Poseidon

Symbols: Trident, Horses, and Dolphins

Qualities: God Of The Sea, Earth-Shaker, and Rapist.

Family:

            Parents: Cronos (Father) and Rhea (Mother)

            Brothers: Zeus, Hades.

            Sisters: Hera, Demeter, and Hestia.

            Lover of: Any Female he can get his hands on.

Enemies:  Athena and Odysseus.

Where are they from?:

Athena is the Brainchild of Zeus literally. She was popped right out from his brain when he had a headache, but that’s a whole other myth. She is the enemy of Poseidon because she was given the city of Athens instead of Poseidon in which Zeus promised him. Also it would appear that Athena has a polar personality compared to Poseidon. Poseidon being hot-headed and

Odysseus is a Greek hero that fought in the Trojan War for Achaeans. He is responsible for the Trojan-Horse that ended the 10 year war. The reason he is the enemy of Poseidon is because he blinded one of Poseidon’s many sons, named Polyphemus, who’s mother is Medusa.

 

Earth-Shaker, Creator of Horses, God of the Seas, these are just a few epithets that describe Poseidon. Quick to anger, and quick to love Poseidon is. Some say his short temper is the cause of earthquakes, horrible storms, and droughts. He is known to hold long grudges against those who anger him.

            Before the god’s there were Titans, known as the “elder gods”. Cronus, son of Uranus and Gaea overthrew his own father. After dethroning Uranus, his mother Gaea made a prophecy. The prophecy stated that his own children would overthrow Cronus. Living in fear Cronus ate his own children as they were being born. All but one was consumed. Rhea, Cronus’s sister wife hid the last born, and fed Cronus a rock covered in a blanket. When he became an adult, Zeus made a plan to take revenge on his father. By making Cronus vomit out all of the children he consumed, Zeus would rally them and overthrow Cronus.

            In the previous events, six children were born in this order: Hestia, Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera and Zeus.  Out of the six, three were males: Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. While having no active leader to rule, a lottery was held between the three brothers to decide who rules what. Hades, eldest of the three, became God of the Underworld. Poseidon became God of the Sea. Zeus became god of the Sky and Supreme ruler the gods. Hades got the shorter end of the stick.

            During the Trojan War, some of the Olympian gods were split.  Siding the Greeks was: Poseidon, Athena, Hera, Hermes and Hephaestus. Sided with the Trojans were: Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis and Ares. I like to call them the A team. Poseidon was sided with the Greeks because of a broken promise.  Poseidon helped build the epic walls that surrounded the great city of troy while on punishment from Zeus. The King did not pay Poseidon, who was disguised as a mortal while building the walls, for his hard manual labor. As punishment, Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack troy, only to be thwarted by Hercules.

            In the midst of battle the Trojans killed Poseidon grandson. This only infuriated Poseidon even more. As result he joined the battle disguised as a mortal seeking his revenge disobeying Zeus’s strict orders not to interfere. Hera, was in the middle of seducing Zeus when he heard the battle cries of Poseidon, he realized that he was being tricked. Containing his rage, he sent Iris, a messenger god to warn Poseidon. Poseidon disobeyed at first, but then eventually backed-off, not because of fear, but because of respect of Zeus.

           

 

 

​In this part I was required to compare and contrast the book The Odyssey to another book or another story so i choose something comical. fave fun.

Who do is the most amazing hero out there? Is he Greek? True heroes are people like Telemachus or Odysseus. These people are wrong. Although, a lot of people think that Odysseus and Telemachus are very important heroes, the real heroes are SpongeBob square pants and Patrick star. Greek is so last week and the reef is the new sheik. The true heroes are SpongeBob square pants and Patrick star and here’s why.

 

     Let’s be honest. How would someone feel if you were constantly told that you where just a little kid and that you were not a man. Odysseus, Telelmachus, SpongeBob and Patrick were all tired of being underrated.

    

     In the beginning SpongeBob does not get the promotion at the Krusty Crab because he is not a man yet and he needs to grow up. So, he decides to go to his job after he gets really drunk and talk to his boss but ends up making a deal with Poseidon to save his boss and prove he is a man. In comparison to Mr. Square pants, Telemacus is in a similar situation because he can’t do anything about his mom and all of the suitors in his house. So what he does is call a meeting like his dad to prove he is a big boy and them makes a journey to find his dad.

       Although the crew put a lot of into getting everything ready for they journey for Telemacus to find his dad od with all of those medieval and Viking/European style ships taking all of the waters of Europe. And also under the waters of the pacific. Then, SpongeBob gets his best friend Patrick and go to the garage and show him the “state of the ocean” Patty-Wagon.

 

        Boats, promotions and growing up are all a part of a hero’s everyday life. Whether they are under the sea or on a mythical animal chilling with a God at the end of the day we are all heroes. We are all special in our own way.

 

 

I don't need to fall in love with the perfect guy. I found my soulmate three and three-quarters years ago, in September, on the first day of school. She's my best friend.

These are my top four journal entries in my opinion. They speak out to me about my points of view and who I am as a person. I hope you enjoy them. 

How does your environment shape who you become?     3/16/11

My environment is pretty much were I live. Its all around me and around everyone else. It develops our personality, what we look like, our influences, everything. For example someone who lives in an indigenous tribe in the Amazons will be different from someone who lives in New York City. The person in the Amazon uses basic tools and materials to help him with his everyday life but he uses man power instead of coal or gas. A person in New York City or modern society has a computer, a TV, lives in a tall apartment building, fridge, microwave, a living room things in that nature. Another example would be music. You can compare American Rap with Spanish Bachata you can see a tremendous difference. Rap is like a long poem in song form and Bachata is has different instruments like guitar and trumpets. It just depends what your introduced to and what your willing to accept in your life.

 

How did you feel when you encountered the word “nigger” in kindred? What are your thoughts on the word in general?                  3/18/11

When I encountered that word I didn’t really react to it at all. It’s come back in modern language as a cool word that only African-Americans are able to use. But it’s been extended to be used to all the major “minorities.” This includes African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. Also to me it’s just a word, no word can be used to offend me. I see words as informative, all words, no matter what the word is. In general, it’s just a word. No one takes it offensive to it anymore. Even though it was created and designed to insult the African-American race. It seems it’s only offensive if a person of the White race or “majority” race uses it. I think the only reason it is offensive in that context is that Whites are the originators of the word and it seems to be a way to get back at the White man. A word everyone is aloud to use except for White people. Seems like revenge to me.

 

What do you think is going to happen to Kevin if he’s left in 1819?    3/24/11

I think it can go in two different ways with Kevin. He will either be questioned by all the white people and beaten and would go back to 1976 just like kindred does when she gets into trouble. Or he could act dumb and play it out and people would trust him and he would be safe in 1819. I believe they both have the distinct ability to travel through time when in the face of danger. 

What are some of the expectations put up on you by others? What are your own expectations of yourself? Are these expectations different? How? 4/5/11

People expect me to be a good person in general. They expect me to be knowledgeable and to be a good student in school. People in general especially my family have high expectations for me. I have high expectations for myself. But I try my best only to help others. When I’m older I want to help people who are less fortunate and need my knowledge to help them. I expect myself to be a diligent worker in school and outside the school environment. I only pay attention in school to help others around me, my family and loved ones. For it is my knowledge the world will feed off of and depend on. Everyone in this room is the future and it is for this reason I have these high expectations.

In this part of our Q4 benchmark I was required to analyze a ​character in the story called Macbeth.hope you like it.....

Dionysos (DionusoV)

Is a god who was twice born. The first time her was in the womb of Semele and then she died by the bolt of Zeus. Then Zeus saved him and put him in his thigh till he was born again. In the story Lycurgus, the king Lycurgus discovers that Dionysus is in his kingdom .So what the king does is has all of the followers of Dionysus

to be put in prison. Then Dionysus fled to Thetis and then caused a revolt because of the drought that he caused. Dionysos made the king crazy and made him kill his son thinking that it was stick ivy. A wise man claimed the land was going to be dry while Lycurgus was alive. So his people killed Lycurgus and then Dionysos lifted the drought.

 

   I think this is a very funny because it describes the god Dionysos and how violent and also fair he can be. I say that because he is known for being the God of wine, parties and festivals, madness, drunkenness and pleasure. So like probably had a wild party when the king got mad at him and then did what he did. Then Dionysos was drunk on wine from the party he got made n put a curse on the king’s land. When the king was killed that brought him pleasure.

 

 I believe that the symbols (thyrsus, grapevine, leopard skin

Panther, tiger, and leopard) represent him because they symbolize power. Like if you see any of the animals you would be scared. And the leopard skin and thyrsus if they are on your body you will look cool.

 

 I think this god exist because their has to be god that “PARTIES HARD.” So they made him to have fun. I think the Greeks really like him because in away he is like the bad uncle in the family that is a bad influence.

Reflection:

    What I feel my portfolio says about me, as a 9^th grade English student is that I’ve progressed throughout the year. My grades for the Benchmark gradually got higher as the year started to end, which means that I improved throughout the year. My strengths in English are focusing in class, doing my work, turning in homework and assignments. My weakness is test taking. Even though I got a good grade on the spelling quiz I have trouble remembering if the vocabulary word is a verb, adverb a noun or an adjective.

 

    My experiences in making this portfolio are having the chance to make my previous assignments better, now that I’ve had more experiences writing papers. What it was like going through all of my work is how I gradually got better at writing papers and my grades got better. The piece I was most proud with is comparing the book “The Odyssey” with the movie “O brother where Art Though”. The reason why I’m proud of my self with this piece, because I took time out my lunch, I went to Lit Lab everyday, I worked really hard and I had a goal to get an A on that assignment which is what I told the teacher.

 

Quarter 1 BM(Macbeth Character Analysis)- We had to pick ten quotes and a main character  from the play “Macbeth” , and write what they went through and how they changed throughout the play.

 

 

Thesis: Lady Macbeth changes dramatically through out the play, her plan to kill Duncan eventually happened, which wound up haunting her throughout the play and she started to regret her decision-makings.

 In Act 1, Scene 5. Lady Macbeth got a note from her husband Macbeth.  She is reading the letter, which says that Macbeth the weird sisters saluted him and referred him to the coming on of time with Hail king that shalt be! As Lady Macbeth was reading the letter she says  “Thou mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing by being ignorant”(Act 1 Scene 5, Line 11). This reveals that Lady Macbeth is basically saying don’t lose your chance to become King.

In Act 1 Scene 5. Lady Macbeth just finds out that her husband Macbeth is on his way back home from his trip. She starts to panic because she finds out late. The King is coming so of course Lady Macbeth wants the house to look clean, and have food prepared for them. When Lady Macbeth finds out about the King and Macbeth is coming she says aloud. ”Would have informed preparation” (Act 1 Scene 5,Line 33.) This reveals that someone should of told her earlier about Macbeth coming so she could prepare for him, as in prepare she means, clean up, and might even mean to look pretty and dress up for him. If you had a husband that you loved and you didn’t see him for a while you would want to look pretty and dressed, up. At this point Lady Macbeth is thinking of a plan so Macbeth can eventually be king, she is being devious.

 

 

       In Act 1 Scene 5. When Lady Macbeth finds out that Macbeth could possibly have a chance at being king, she thinks of a plan to kill King Duncan. Obviously Lady Macbeth is a woman but she wants to become manlier and have more manly features to kill King Duncan. When Lady Macbeth was alone thinking about a plan to kill Duncan she said.

“Come to my woman’s breast and take my milk for gall” (Act 1 Scene 5, Line 46-47)

This reveals that Lady Macbeth wants to have manly features after she thought about killing Duncan. The quote pretty much says that she wants to exchange her breast for a mens chest. She wants to be tough. At this point Lady Macbeth is going to talk about her plan to kill Duncan to Macbeth. Macbeth would have to be the one to kill Duncan, because he is a man.

     In Act 1, Scene 7 of Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are in the scene when they’re planning   about killing Duncan. Macbeth is becoming unsure but Lady Macbeth is all for it.  As Lady Macbeth was talking to Macbeth she said. “What cannot you, and I perform upon”(Act 1 Scene 7, Line 70)? This reveals that, even though Lady Macbeth is woman she is not afraid to kill Duncan to get what she wants. On the other hand Macbeth is too scared, and what Lady Macbeth is trying to say in the quote is, if she can do it,  he u can do it. Lady Macbeth is more for it than Macbeth. She wants to get her way. Will her way affect anyone, like her or Macbeth?

 

 

 In Act 2, Scene 2 of Lady Macbeth. Macbeth has finished killing Duncan and comes out the room with bloody hands, which is evidence! Lady Macbeth tells him to go wash and then she goes in to the room to finish what Macbeth started. As Macbeth was panicking about killing Duncan. She said, ”A foolish thought to say a sorry sight”(Act 2 Scene 2, Line 24). This reveals that Lady Macbeth her thought of killing King Duncan was very clear in her thought, but when her thought becomes real, it’s a sorry sight, maybe this is when she starts to regret her thoughts. Even though she got her way, doesn’t mean it’s going to turn out the way she wants it to be. What about the evidence?

   In Act 2, Scene 2 .  Macbeth has just killed King Duncan. He is panicking, doesn’t know what to do so Macbeth tells him to wash that filthy witness off your hands, because if someone goes to Macbeth and see’s the blood on his hands, it’s obvious he killed Duncan. When Macbeth still had the evidence on his hands Lady Macbeth said “Go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hand.”(Act 2 Scene 2 Lines 49-50) This reveals that Lady Macbeth doesn’t want to get caught and her too is panicking about the situation. The quote itself means that she wants Macbeth to wash the evidence (blood) of him killing King Duncan away , and by washing blood away guilt will be less.

      In Act 3, Scene 1. Macbeth holds a solemn supper, for most of the characters in the play. This supper happens recently after Duncan gets killed, and not many people know who did it. Lady Macbeth trys to act surprise and say that there has been a gap in the supper. Lady Macbeth says, ”It had been as a gap in our great feast”(Act 3 Scene 1, Line 12). This reveals that this a the time around when Macbeth killed King Duncan and Lady and Macbeth act like they have no idea what happened. In modern time the quote means that Lady Macbeth notices that there is a gap that gap would’ve been replaced with Duncan but he got murdered. Do you think that Duncan is going to haunt the person that killed him?

     In Act 3, Scene 4. It’s the day of the big supper after the Duncan was killed and now Duncan’s ghost is haunting Macbeth, which made him look crazy in front of all his guests. Lady Macbeth was trying to cover what just happened. Probably everyone is wondering what is wrong with and wants to find out the problem. As Macbeth left to get his self together Lady Macbeth said to the guest You shall offend him and extend his passion”(Act 3 Scene 4, Line 58) This reveals that Banquo is haunting Macbeth, because he murdered him, Lady Macbeth tells the guest that he is sick, to cover up what is really going on. She means in the quote that you should basically be patient to him.

     In Act  5 Scene 2 . Almost at the end of the play Lady Macbeth starts to sleep walk and, talk about the night when Macbeth killed Duncan. Starting to haunt her, she starts to repeat what she told Macbeth when he had evidence on his hands (blood). After Macbeth murders Duncan Lady Macbeth says: ”Wash your hands, put on your night gown, look not so pale”(Act 4 Scene 2, Line 61-62) this reveals that the day when Macbeth killed Duncan starts to haunt her in her sleep. The quote means to wash away the evidence until it looks like nothing ever happened tonight.

 

 

 

    In Act 4, Scene 2 . Lady Macbeth is still sleep walking, still talking about the situation. Maybe she will start to regret her choices, even if something goes your way don’t expect it be perfect at all times. As she was sleeping walking she said,  “ What’s done cannot be undone”. This reveals that Lady Macbeth is regretting her choice, that she only thought about her and only her self in the situation of getting what she wanted. The quote basically means that you cant have a re-do in life. 

       Lady Macbeth got her way, did it turn out the way she wanted to? No, it happened, but it turned out worse.  The thoughts of the night Macbeth and her killing Duncan turned in to nightmares. The situation haunted her, until she couldn’t stand it anymore, and killed herself…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quarter 2 BM(Memoir Vignette)-we had to pick a situation when we had a realization in our lives.

 

      9:00 pm: I hear my mom yelling “What were you thinking?” “ Give me your wallet and your keys”My brother hits my father , my mom tries to break up the fight and that was just the beginning of the worst to come that night. Then my dad says  “You know what , you think you’re a man? Get your stuff and get out”. I tried to hold Romare back ,  while he tries to pack up his things , while my parents still yell at him for how stupid he is. He tried to leave but I kept on pulling him back while I cried my eyes out. He pushed me away .I look at him as he left and thought about a holding a grudge for sometime , because he pushed me on purpose and he didn’t even look back , I felt sad and abandoned.

     As I was still thinking about the day before I got dressed while my dad kept on  calling my brother’s name  so he could wake up for school, each time my brother never answered, I started to get worried, because at this time my brother should be at school.  After the fourth time, my dad walked up the wooden , creeky stairs to the third floor where my brother’s room was at, all of a sudden my dad yelled and tells my mom to hurry up stairs. My mom and I stopped what we were doing ran up the stairs and see my brother laying on his bed, seeing that he threw up what he had for dinner. My mom got her phone goes in to the other room and called the police panicing and telling them what has happened to my brother Romare. The police were being complicated with my mom so my dad takes the phone away from my mom and tells the police our address and tells them to hurry up, with an ambulance.

   The ambulance finally came all I could do was panic and cry. My mom went with my brother and my dad stayed with me . I told my dad that I wanted to go to school, that maybe it would take my mind off of everything,

   When my dad dropped me off at school I sat at my regular spot at school with my friends, I was feeling ok, until my best friend, Majuel came to school, said hi to me, and I decided to tell her what happened that morning. As I told her, I started crying, everyone, stared and started to ask me what was wrong. A couple of my friends walked me to the counselor, Ms.Cocer.

     When my friends and I arrived at the counselors office , I tried to tell her what  happened , but I stared to cry all over again. She let me call my dad , when I call my dad says that my brother , is ok   and that when he picks me up I can go visit him at Einstein hospital.  After the phone call I felt much better. When lunch came around I thought about how lucky my brother is and how lucky I was to not lose my brother.

  At 3:00pm I rushed out of school see my dads Volvo , and hop in , without saying bye to my friends. I was too eager to see my brother.  As my dad was driving us to the Einstein hospital to visit my brother I asked him how Romare was holding up. He said that he is doing fine and that if we had taken any longer to find out that something was wrong that he would of died.

  My dad and I arrive at the Einstein hospital we enter go to large front desk told the woman my brothers name “Romare Hooks” and she told us his new room number. When we came to his room I saw him laying in the bed he looked tired , but he looked happy to see me. I hugged him tightly he looked at me and apologized about the other night and of course I forgave him.

  As I was sitting in the corner while my family members were talking to my brother , I thought to myself that I was honestly fortunate to still have him in my life alive. I thought about my grudge and how this morning I thought about not talking to him for a while. This whole day changed my perspective on grudge holding one day you hold a silly grudge on a person you love and the next there lives could be taken away. There will be more good sunny days between my brother and I know now not to hold grudges.  You never know when your loved ones life will be taken away from you. Life is too short to hold grudges

 

 

 

 

  

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quarter 3 BM(The Odyssey Compare/Contrast Essay)-we had to pick a character from “The Odyssey” and  a movie or book that had a character that acted just like the one you had to pick and compare , contrast them.

 

 

  Penelope and Penny are the same character in different situations. Penelope is the wife of Odysseus in the book” The Odyssey”, Penny is the same character but in the movie. Penny and Penelope have a lot of similarities that all connects to their husbands Odysseus in the book “The Odyssey” and Everett in the movie “O brother where art thou”. Penelope and Penny are married to men of adventure, the ways they handle their relationship reveals the kind of woman they are.

 

     Penelope and Penny are woman connected to Odysseus and Everett. Two men were unheard of for years. When, Eurycleia (the old nurse) told Penelope that Odysseus came back from his journey, she didn’t believe her, and she said “the gods have made you mad. They have that power putting lunacy into the clearest head around”. (Page 455, line 12) This shows that Odysseus was away for so long that Penelope made herself think that her husband was not coming back.  The old nurse told her more information Odysseus and him disguised as a beggar, Penelope started to believe her, but she still needed to prove that, the beggar was really her husband Odysseus. Penelope believed the nurse but at the same time was unsure. When Everett and Odysseus comes unexpectedly back to his old town where Penny and Penelope lives, Penny moved on without Everett, by moving on she told her children that Everett (their father) that he got hit by a train. Penny even got engaged with a suitor. Everett tried to tell Penny everything that happened, how he wanted another chance, but being gone so long Penny just didn’t want to hear it after a while. Sooner Penny forgave him and they got engaged. In both of these scenarios Penelope and Penny reveal that they are some what forgiving wives towards their husbands even though they were away for years.

 

  Penelope and Penny handle their relationships differently.  When Penelope finds out   by the old nurse that Odysseus was disguised as a beggar, she wanted to prove that it was really Odysseus. She finds out that it was Odysseus when she tells Eurycleia to move the sturdy bedstead out of the their bridal chamber. Odysseus replies by saying “Woman-your words, they cut me to the core! Who could move my bed, impossible task, even for some skilled craftsman.”(Page 461 line 205) that’s when she knows its him. There relationship picks up from where they left it years ago. Neither does she ask Odysseus questions that might tear up there relationship/marriage. When Everett comes back he too wants to start where he left off with Penny. Penny wasn’t very forgiving at first; she didn’t want to give him a chance. When she finally gives him a chance to re-marry Everett, she wants her husband to get her old ring, as long as he doesn’t get her old ring she won’t marry him. Penny is somewhat of a selfish person; if she doesn’t get her way then everyone else suffers with her. It seems like Everett tries to make Penny happy, but it always fails. Its like Penny sees his effort but, until everything is perfect and the way she wants it to be then, everyone will suffer with her. The movie Penny is the same person, who knows her husband Everett is trying his best to please her, but still pushes him away. Unlike Penny, Penelope changes during the book “The Odyssey”, she is at first hopeless, because she couldn’t do anything with her life because the suitors were over powering her, then towards the end Penelope had power, and she was more confident.

 

 How Penelope sees waiting for Odysseus is, after years when her husband doesn’t come back form his adventure she decides to marry a suitor who can bow-and arrow like Odysseus. She says “all day long I indulge myself in sighs and tears as I see to my tasks, direct the house hold woman. When night falls and the world lies lost in sleep, I take to my bed, my heart throbbing about to break anxieties swarming, piercing. She wants to marry a man similar to Odysseus. Penelope obviously misses Odysseus; she thinks he’s dead so she wants to replace him with a man who is just like him.  Penny on the other hand marry’s a suitor and tells her daughters that their father got hit by a train. Honestly Penny, seemed like she fully moved on from Everett, and blocked him out from her life.  Penny hardly changes through out the movie. At the beginning she doesn’t care about her husband coming back, neither does she want to have a conversation with him. Towards the end, she’s the same. Penelope and Penny might be based on the same situations, but their attitudes toward their husbands are different.

    Penny and Penelope are both connected by their husbands (Everett and Odysseus). They are mostly different, not much alike because of their attitudes towards their husbands Penelope changes through out the book, a woman who is afraid to over power, but begins to feel her power strengthening once Odysseus comes back from his 20 year journey. Penny hardly changes she ignores her husband Everett, stays that same way towards the end even when she gets back together with Everett she has no feelings for what her husband does to make her happy. Even though Penny and Penelope are based off of the same book “The Odyssey” they are different in many ways. Though Penny and Penelope go through the same situation with their husbands not being there for years, they learn to be powerful, strong and forgiving women at the end.

 

Quarter 1 - we had to make a Magazine about about ourselves , and write about topics that related to our topic that we picked.

​Link

Finding the images and coming up with the ideas to tie them together with globalization was by the hardest part of the project the second hardest part was trying to locate the places I wanted to go to after I found them on the internet. My process of selecting photos was the easiest part I just went to Chinatown and started taking random pictures the only hard about that was finding places like the school. My favorite image is the culture picture, mainly because it was food and I got to eat the food after I took the picture. Philadelphia could use a little more evidence of globalization, all we is Chinatown and little Italy, I think it could be better if there was more sign of different cultures all over the city.

Quarter 4 BM(Independent Reading Review Project)-We had to read an independent book of our choice then write a 2-3 page book review about the book you read.

 

  Pure by Terra Elan McVoy. Pure is a great book for teenage girl audiences. It’s a fun, fast read. The book describes the conflicts that teenage girls face everyday in today’s society.

    This book is about a girl named Tabitha and her four best friends who made a promise to God to not have sex until they’re married. Because they’re teenagers who are in high school, that means boyfriends which leads on to sex. It all started at their church dance when Tabitha has a crush on this guy named Jake. Tabitha and Jake become closer through out the story and they go out on dates and parties while her best friend Morgan and her grow apart.  On the other hand her friend Morgan who is in love with her boyfriend, tells Tabitha a secret, which is they had sex.  Tabitha had to let that settle, and then she becomes to accept Morgan and they become closer friends again.

   The main characters in the story are Tabitha and Morgan they go through having to deal with decisions. Decisions that could change there friendships forever. There are conflicts between Tabitha and Morgan, which is person vs. person, and trust. My favorite character in the book is Tabitha because she is the only character that stays true to her self and keeps that promise to not have sex before she’s married even through in the middle of the story she has a boyfriend. Even when times get rough between her and her friends, she’s the one who tries to make it all better. What readers should take away from the book is to make wise decisions. For example Morgan didn’t make a wise decision to keep the promise to God and not have sex.

   Even though I never got a promise ring I can still relate to Tabitha , if I had a promise ring , and a boyfriend at the same time, I would make the same choices as her , because if I were to make that kind of promise then I would keep it.

  Yes , I liked the book once I picked it up I couldn’t put it down until I finished reading it. It was such a great book , most books I read, I pick it up and read  bits at a time unlike the book Pure. The strengths of the book is how the author explained things and she didn’t make the book boring.  If I could change something in the book it would be for Morgan not to grow away from Tabitha and her other two best friends because they could of prevented Morgan from having sex with her boy friend or at least gave her some advice. Another thing that I would change would be for all of Morgan’s three best friends to be  there for her , instead of just Tabitha. The reason why I say that , because it would send a message out that even when one of your best friends make a bad choice the friends that you love are still their for you.

   Yes I would recommend this book to other teenage girls because it’s a great book and at the same time you learn something by reading “Pure”.

 

 

 

 

 

  

        

 

 

 

      By looking through my work this year, I hope readers notice the growth I've gone through- both in writing and as a person- as I have. Looking back, I can see that my strengths are essay's and not creative writing, so I hope to grow more still by becoming better at writing creatively. I was very surprised to see, first, the amount of work I've done and forgotten about, and second, the change I can see evident in my writing. Going back through my work was one of the most interesting projects I've had to do all year.I am most proud of my Odyssey Persuasive Essay, because I try to prove an opinion that most people didn't share, and I enjoyed the challenge.



1) Macbeth Character Analysis:     This was one of the first projects I did for the year. I'm glad it was, because somewhere along the line I completely forgot to write a conclusion. Besides that, I think I did well for a project at the beginning of the year. The project had me go very deep into the macbeth as I needed to map out his transformation throughout the book. Looking back on my writing style, I can see how far I've come from the beginning of the year. So here it is, Macbeth's Transformation, fully corrected and with a conclusion paragraph.

 
Macbeth started out as a loyal friend and subject but was then transformed into an evil tyrant.
 
In Act 1 scene 2 of Macbeth, a captain comes into the throne room bleeding from multiple wounds. He has just arrived from a battle between the royal army and a group of rebels in which the royal army emerged victorious. He stumbles up to king Duncan and informs him on the outcome of the battle, then says this about Macbeth “For Brave Macbeth – well he deserves the name – distaining fortune, with his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody execution.” (Act 1, scene 2, page 4) Macbeth was the hero of this battle, showing his courage in battle by killing the enemy everywhere he went. Macbeth has earned the trust and admiration of the king and the other Thanes; through doing this he has proven his loyalty to his kingdom. At this point in the play Macbeth is as loyal as a man can be, but that is about to change.
Later, in Act 1, scene 2, king Duncan receives the news that the Thane of Cawdor betrayed him and helped the enemy to organize this battle. He decides to go after the Thane and promote Macbeth to the position of Cawdor, so he says. “What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath gained.”(Act 1, scene 2, page 6)  Now that the old Thane of Cawdor has been taken care of the noble Macbeth will succeed him. In promoting Macbeth King Duncan sets off a chain of events that lead to his own death. This is because by promoting Macbeth he confirms the witches’ prophecy that Macbeth will be promoted to Thane of Cawdor, then become king.
In Act 1 scene 5, Macbeth writes to his wife about the witches’ prophecy that he will become Thane of Cawdor, and then King and how shortly after he was promoted the first part of the prophecy came true. His wife is excited, she interprets the witches’ prophecy to be an invitation to kill king Duncan, she and Macbeth start to form a plan to make the second part of the prophecy come true. After listening Macbeth says, “We will speak further”(Act 1, scene 5, page 18). He wants to be king but doesn’t have the time to talk. Lady Macbeth then tells him not to worry and to leave everything to her to set up. This is significant in his transformation as it is the first time he considers what he will need to do to become king.
In act 1 scene 7, Macbeth has king Duncan over for dinner; in the middle of the feast Macbeth goes to a private room and debates whether or not he should kill king Duncan. Lady Macbeth then has to come in and blackmail him into wanting to go through with it. Macbeth then says this“ I am settled, and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat. Away, and mock the time with fairest show; false face to hide what the false heart doth know.”(Act 1, scene 7, page 23) He is ready to kill king Duncan, and advises his wife to pretend not to be plotting the death of their king. Macbeth is now moments away from his attempt on the life of Duncan. He is ready to take charge, start killing, and start to turn away from being a loyal subject.
In Act 2 scene 2, Macbeth has just killed Duncan. He comes to his wife, shaking and says, “I have done the deed, did though not hear a noise?“ (Act 2, scene 2, Page 27) He is very nervous because after he actually killed the king he starts to wonder whether or not he should have done it and he imagines how easy it would have been for someone to wake up and discover him. He’s made mistakes and not followed the plan so Lady Macbeth starts to panic and takes over. This was Macbeth's first kill, and because of the influence of the prophecy and his wife this first kill will make all the rest easier and more justifiable.
In act 3 scene 1, Macbeth believes that Banquo might realize that he murdered Duncan. So he sends murderers to take care of him and his son. After meeting with the murderers he says “Banquo, thy souls fight, if find heaven, must make it out tonight”(Act 3, scene 2, page 45). If Banquo is going to die then he needs to do it tonight. This marks to point at which Macbeth truly loses his old self. He was willing to kill his best friend, and an innocent child in order to keep himself safe. He is no longer a friend to anyone.
In act 4 scene 1,Macbeth realizes that other people know that he murdered Duncan so he goes to consult the weïrd sisters “I conjure you by that which you profess, howe’er you come to know it, answer me.” (Act 4, scene 1, page 64) He wants to find out all he can about what the future will hold for him, because he thinks that he will be able to defeat his enemies by knowing it. Macbeth is putting complete faith in the thing that is destroying him and turning him into the twisted, evil person that she is.
In act 4, scene 3 Malcolm and Macduff meet in England, at first they suspect each other of murdering Duncan, but then decide that the other is trust worthy and agree that Macbeth is the enemy, “But Macbeth is”. (Act 4, scene 3, page 73) They say that Macbeth is a tyrant and is poisoning the kingdom. Macbeth has now turned friends into enemies and has transformed into a worse version of the Thane of Cawdor before him.
In act 5 scene 3, everyone knows that Macbeth killed Duncan in order to become king. When a servant enters his room, but does not speak quickly enough Macbeth starts to yell “The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon! Where got’st thou that goose look?” (Act 5, scene 3, page 87). He then goes on to say that 10,000 soldiers are on their way to the castle and Macbeth wants to send out soldiers to skirt the country and hang all those who might help the soldiers on their way. This decision is beyond all reason and could only be thought up by a ruler who has lost his mind.
In act 5 scene 7, Macbeth knows that the army of soldiers is coming to kill him. But is either to stubborn or crazy to give up “They have tied me to a stake. I cannot fly. But bearlike I must fight the course. What’s he that was not born of woman? Such a one am I to fear, or none.” (Act 5, scene 7, page 94). They have trapped him with nowhere to go but he still wants to fight back. He probably knows he is going to die but by now his lust for power clouds his vision to the point where he doesn’t care.
          At this point macbeth's Transformation is complete and fully evident. He has betrayed his friends and allies and turned from a loyal servant to a monster. He was pushed over the edge by his wife, but once he got going he didn't stop. He started out killing for the king, for a just cause. But ended by killing women and children to gain power for himself.

2) Memoir Vignette:
     This project was inspired by a canoe trip I took as an incoming 7th grader. I had to write a four page short story about it and include writing tricks like humor, simile's, and magic three. Looking back on it, the writing style seems forced and awkward. I honestly hope I've grown since then. But here it is in all its glory, "Out of the Country Without a Passport"  

     I had just started summer break after 6th grade when my mom asked me,(Opener)
“How would you like to go on a week long canoe trip in a few weeks? (Dialogue)
As I hadn’t done much camping at that point in my life I said that I definitely would.
She had found this camp, in the way of most things like this, through a friend. (Humor)This friend had a husband who had gone on a boating trip as a counselor and had seen a group of  people who were part of this camp. So my Mom looked into it, signed me up, then asked me. (Magic 3)
I didn’t care much that she had signed me up before asking, it wouldn’t be far from home, and it sounded like fun, I definitely wasn’t disappointed.
     So, when the day of the trip arrived, me and my dad got up early in the morning to drive me to the house of a friend who was also going. When I got there, me, my friend, and another kid who I didn’t know got into the car of this friends dad and  shared the small space with enough comic books to last us several trips to the moon (by car).(Hyperbole) None of these comic books were mine, but when we got to the campsite I was familiar with a lot more characters than I had been previously.
     I arrived at the campsite to some surprising news. My other two friends and I (I can now refer to the other kid in the car as a friend. It’s amazing how long car rides bring people together) (Humor) represented half of the campers going on this trip. There were six of us. Besides us, there were three counselors, but I’m not going to call them “counselors” in this story because they only ever cooked for us, so from now on they will be called, “cooks” or “night watchmen”.
     After a small lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs we set out in our canoes, each holding a rower, a steer-er, and suitcases belonging to the campers. (Magic 3)We rowed for an hour or two, then landed on a small island that looked like it had been a sandbar foremost of its life.(Simile/personification) After setting up camp- at the highest point possible- (Humor) we introduced ourselves. The two friends I mentioned before both live deep in Mount Airy and read for half of every day, (Hyperbole) besides them, there was a girl who lived in a large suburb, and whose father apparently owned most of it. (Humor) There was a boy a little older than I was who camped a lot but had huge problems with boy scouts (Humor). The last girl I can’t remember much about, but my impression of her is that she spent most of her time on her cellphone, which was one of the few items on the “DO NOT BRING” list for the trip (Humor). We were an interesting group, early on the rich girl developed an obsession with the boy, but he hated her (do we see a theme here?) (Humor) so every time he did or said something that would send a normal girl into a rage she would take it out on me. The week was full of wild screams and overturning canoes (Metaphor). Me, my two book fiend friends, and the boy on one side and rich girl and texting girl on the other. (I should point out that texting girl wasn’t on rich girl’s side because of thoughts on what was going on with the rest of us. It was because she didn’t care and she was the only one who wouldn’t whack rich girl on the head when she tried to go after me)
Each day after breakfast we packed up and set out for the next campsite, once we got there we would unpack, eat lunch, then explore (Magic 3).
     The mornings were always the same, with me stumbling out of bed with bruises from sleeping in a tent, then eating quickly before setting off again .It was in the afternoons when we needed to entertain ourselves.
Building structures with sand, exploring, and making up random songs (Magic 3) were the main things we did. If those didn’t sound fun, we would go to our default. Burning things (Humor).
This sort of fun was new to me, I had never before needed search this hard for entertainment or something to do because I always had computers, television, and I lived in a big city (Magic 3).I never knew that planning things to do for a week could be so hard, by the fourth day I resolved to ask my parents how they planned our vacations. I needed to adjust myself to a new way of life three hours from where I lived.
After a day of doing whatever  it was we felt like, be it swimming, fishing, or- onone occasion- throwing rocks at each other (Magic 3/Humor). We would sit around the campfire and burn  stick, burn leaves, burn apples and even burn small fish (Rep for effect/ Humor) to keep ourselves occupied as the cooks made dinner. During the trip this was the place where I felt most at home, the heat of the fire was comforting, and it felt like the thing that drove me forward through the day looking towards the time I could relax. It was the point at the end of the day when everyone really got along well.
     When the trip was finally over and we’d burnt our last goodbye (Metaphor/ Humor) I went home, and when my mom asked
“So, was it fun?”  (Dialogue)
I told her about all the great fun we had and the songs we made up and the objects we burnt (Magic 3). I said that I’d had a lot of fun and thanked her for telling me about it.
     But it wasn’t until much later, after a trip to Africa, when someone would ask me how I liked the trip, I said the same sort of things I’d said after the canoe trip. I went on a seventeen hour flight to have the same great time a three hour drive brought me (Realization).

3) The Odyssey Compare/Contrast Essay:
     Here is my compare and contrast essay, where I gave evidence as to why Odysseus and Poseidon are so similar in character. I enjoy looking back on this piece because the idea I had was a little different from the way most people thought of the relationship between the two character in "The Odyssey". Wile most people thought Odysseus was the complete opposite of Poseidon, I set out to prove the traits they shared.


     Not many people consider Poseidon and Odysseus to be similar in character. In fact, Odysseus is widely considered to be more like Athena, Poseidon's rival and direct opposite. But there is plenty of evidence to contradict this. Odysseus and Poseidon react in the same way during many different situations. After Odysseus blinded his son, Poseidon made Odysseus's life miserable, and when Odysseus finally returned home, he discovered how the suitors had treated his wife and son and killed every last one of them. The only huge difference is that Odysseus needs to fear death. Odysseus and Poseidon are both protective of their family, powerful, and proud. But Odysseus knows when strength isn't the way forward; he is mortal so he knows that in order to stay alive he needs to use a combination on strength and brains. He is the embodiment of the rivalry between Poseidon and Athena.
        Both Odysseus and Poseidon are protective when it comes to family, and are quick to kill or disgrace anyone who dishonors one of their own. When Odysseus finally gets home to Ithaca and learns of the suitors defying his house and name, he is quick to learn all who betrayed and disgraced him in his absence “Go now, gather crusts from all the suitor, and test them, so we can tell the innocent from the guilty" (The Odyssey: pg.366 line 397-398). This shows that he stops at nothing, even killing women if they disgraced himself and his wife Penelope to defend his honor and family. In the same way, Poseidon answered the curse invoked by the Cyclops when Odysseus blinded him "Hear me Poseidon, god of the sea blue main that rocks the earth. If I really am your son and you claim to be my father, come grand that Odysseus, raider of cities, Laertes' son who makes his home in Ithaca never reaches home" (The Odyssey: pg.228 line 585-590). Because of what Odysseus did to his son, Poseidon continuously drove Odysseus off coarse forcing him miles and years away from home; he was only spared his life because Athena took pity on him. Poseidon and Odysseus both went to somewhat ridiculous ends to humiliate the people who harmed their family.
     Even though Odysseus and Poseidon have great devotion to their families, they also each have a trait that can sometimes mask their love for the people close to them. They are both very proud, with a need to get themselves the most glory they can and uphold the honor they've earned. Odysseus shows this when he is heading straight through the path of Scylla. Instead of speeding himself through with only a few deaths in his crew, he has to put on his armor and stand ready to fight "So I shouted. They snapped at each command, no mention of Scylla - How to fight that nightmare?" (The Odyssey: pg.278 line 241-242). He did this so he could try to kill Scylla, even though he knew it would cost him a lot of men he wanted to have the glory of killing something to unreachable for any other mortal man. Similar to this, in the legend of Poseidon and the walls of Troy; when Poseidon is threatened and refused money for assisting in building the walls of Troy by the king at the time he becomes furious and floods the countryside. Then set upon the walls with a sea monster. He needed to do this because the king offended his pride.
     Odysseus may be prideful, but he knows when he can't get out of a situation with strength alone. He recognizes that he needs to take care of himself so he can get back to his family. In the Cyclops’s cave he tricks the Cyclops into drinking extremely concentrated wine to make him slow, because he knows that they won't be able to open the cave if the Cyclops is dead "Here, Cyclops, try this wine - to top off the banquet of human flesh you've bolted down" (The Odyssey: pg.222 line 388-389). This shows that he can think on his feet and uses his brain when he can't use his sword. Poseidon is the opposite, because he never takes the smart way out, and uses his powers to destroy his enemies in the most humiliating ways. He doesn't ever recognize that he is outmatched, because the worst that can happen to him is a tiny bit of pain or a short term punishment. Being a god, he doesn't worry about that sort of thing, and he doesn’t think it’s important to try to take care of beings that aren’t necessarily as powerful or immortal as he is. Poseidon is constantly trying to overthrow Zeus or get the best of Athena, and even though he almost never succeeds he always tries again later because he doesn't know the meaning of defeat and can't recognize when he is being arrogant or repetitive. He doesn’t understand compassion for others, and lets his instincts for power and pleasure rule his life.
     It cannot be denied that Odysseus and Poseidon are very much the same. They have gone to every extent to protect their family and their pride cannot be matched. But Poseidon doesn't know when to stop, and goes to far when Odysseus would have stopped. Poseidon is a god, so he doesn't have to worry about death, and twenty years means nothing to him. Odysseus has to stay alive, even if it is just to protect his family and get back home. He knows that he needs to use his head instead of his sword sometimes because he cannot risk death the way Poseidon can. If Odysseus were a god with no worries about dying or family he would act the same as Poseidon.

4) Macbeth Creative Project:
     This game was made as my creative project during the Macbeth unit this year. I used a program called Scratch to make it, and posted it on the Scratch website. I remember having a lot of fun making it, even though I spent hours each day for a week to finish it just in time. The game follows Macbeth through his transformation, and includes the quotes I used to in my essay. The link to the game is here:

5) Independent Reading Project 1:
     To do this project, I needed to choose a book to read, then write a review of it. The book I chose is called "It Happened in Boston" by Russel H. Greenman. It is a book about a mentally unbalanced man and the situations he gets himself into, but you can read more about that in the actual review.


The author of “It Happened in Boston” is a man named Russel H. Greenan. This was his debut novel and he went on to write “Nightmare”, “The Queen of America”, “ The Secret Life of Algernon Pendleton”, “Heart of Gold”, “ The Bric-a-brac Man”, “Keepers”, “Can of Worms”, “Doomsnight”, and “Glamour Doom”., all of which were published and made famous around the world.
It happened in Boston is from the point of view of a man (who goes unnamed) who tells
about his life as a painter, and eventually, a killer. From the beginning, the reader can tell that this man is unbalanced because he explains that he can sit down and transport himself to any time period he wants by closing his eyes. Also, because he is suspicious of pigeons spying on him so he poisons some bread and puts it on the windowsill. There is a lot of conflict in the story, both inside the main character and with others due to the characters twisted mental condition. To name a few, his wife, an art dealer, and a sickly insurance manager.
He is an extremely talented artist, and creates many works of art that are approaching, if not equal to the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. The problem, at first, is that he can never seem to catch a break, so doesn’t get much money. When someone finally does start to pay him for his paintings, they end up involving him deeply in art forgery and steal his wife. That’s when he loses his mind.
My favorite character in “It Happened in Boston” would have to be the unnamed protagonist. His journey really picks up on human emotion and how we react when betrayed on every turn. Another thing I enjoyed about this character was that, even though I knew what he did was insane he seemed to approach his conclusions logically and never acted unbalanced.
Although he was my favorite character in the story, I don’t think I can relate to him. I’m not a bad artist, but I wouldn’t consider doing it professionally. (SPOILER) I’ve never killed anyone, let alone seven people as a sacrifice to meet and overthrow god. Also, I don’t suffer from paranoia or depression, so I can’t say I know what that feels like.
I love this book; right from the beginning I could tell that it would be interesting because you don’t know what is true and what is the crazy ranting of a madman, so it pays to make predictions and assumptions because they will help you make sense a weirdly played out story. I also enjoyed learning about all the complexities that go into painting a portrait, or carving a statue.
I wouldn’t recommend this book to early readers, because in all honesty it would turn them off reading for a very long time. However, If the reader is experienced and is prepared for many hours sitting in a chair mumbling just to make sense of the storyline then I think they will enjoy this brain twister immensely.

6) Four Journal Entries:
     These are four journal entries that I've written through out the year. It's interesting to look back on them because they document my daily life at different parts of the year and all the ways I've changed. They are all free write, so looking through my journal, I found a couple lengthy entries about how I don't like writing journal entries. But the pieces I've chosen for this show my writing at different parts of the year. I can't say I'm proud of the amount of dead words present.

1)
     My first week was great! I had a great time this week but I'm still really exhausted. It was a long week and there have been a lot of things to take in, I've enjoyed all of it.
     The only thing I'm not happy about is how long it will take to get our laptops. After we get them, life will be a lot easier.
     I enjoy the atmosphere of the school and I feel like I know everyone already.

2)     
     Because of my past actions most people expect nothing but the best from me. This puts a lot of pressure on my head because it makes me feel like I have a responsibility to keep up with those expectations. So I feel frustrated if I don't do well on something. It makes it way easier to disappoint people. It feels good to help people but sometimes I wish i wasn't the person that everyone went to for help. It would be great if there was someone with that responsibility.

3)
      I had a lot of fun over break, I even enjoyed shoveling my massive driveway when it finally snowed. I was able to balance work with relaxation relatively well, with a day of homework, then a day of rest. A little before new years day some friends of my parents came over from Cleveland, so we spent a few days in center city walking around playing tourist. But we also had a fair amount of time doing nothing at home.
     At the moment I'm working on m spanish 4 benchmark. The work isn't hard, all we need to do is review a movie we watched before break, then choose a soundtrack to go along with a few scenes.

4)
     A good story teller is someone who can make whatever story they are telling feel alive and make it connect to the listener. The Odyssey Kicks off with a bit of foreshadowing on what happens at the end of the story. The Main characters so far are Athena, Zeus, Poseidon, and Odysseus.

Introduction:

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