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Here is my 4th Quarter Benchmark. 

• What did you find most challenging about this project? Choosing what to take pictures of was definitely the most challenging part to me. 
• How did you go about collecting the images or selecting the images? Some of the were pre-thought out, others just came to when I was about and about. 
• Which image is your favorite? Why? Elaborate. My favorite image had to be the one of the Italian Fiat I took because I was really lucky to get a shot of it when they are still so rare and it was perfect for what I wanted to talk about since I love cars. 
• 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 that Globalization is very prevalent in Philadelphia and other large cities because with large cities, it's like there is one blueprint for success. And each large city around the world contributes a little bit to it. But they all follow it so they are taking pieces of each other
   

​Here it is!

Reflection:
The most challenging thing about this project was coming up with things that I could easily find in Philadelphia that could represent the different aspects of globalization. Some of them were not all that hard to think of, but others were very hard. I first thought that I would just walk around the city taking pictures of things that I saw. I thought that as I saw things, ideas would come to me and I would take a picture. This method did not work when I went about walking around. I then sat down and thought of ideas for pictures that I could take in my head and where I could take them. This method worked a lot better. I think that my favorite image is the one of the solar panels. Although it is kind of hard to see them in the picture, they are good for representing that aspect of globalization which is environment and energy. I took the picture of my neighbor's roof because his house is powered by solar panels. I think that Philadelphia shows an average amount of evidence for globalization compared to other cities. As I said in my project, I think that immigration is the most important element of globalization so probably cities that have a lot of immigrants are what show evidence of globalization the most. Probably cities like San Diego or Los Angeles which have a lot of Mexican immigrants, or Boston which has a lot of Irish immigrants.

Click here to view my benchmark. 

Reflection
The most challenging part of this project, by far, was finding a connection between the themes of this class and places in Philadelphia.  Although we live in a very diverse city, examples of globalization are not as evident as one might imagine.  It took a lot of creative thinking to complete this benchmark.  

Most of my pictures required a special trip, whether it was to the Philadelphia Zoo or to Chinatown.  However, I was able to take two of them while I was in the city for other reasons.  GlaxoSmithKline and the flags that line the Parkway are on an average day's route, so those picture were easily to take.  My favorite picture is the one taken in Malawi, in front of a school constructed by buildOn and the local village.  It perfectly connects to the globalization of education and brings back wonderful memories of my trip last year. 

While some examples of globalization are evident in Philadelphia, certain topics, such as international politics and security, are much more difficult.  In cities with higher immigrant populations, like New York, or cities with an international focus (i.e. Washington, DC) globalization would be easier to evidence. 

Click here for Capstone

Click here to view my benchmark

In a ukelele sound is produced through sound waves, created by vibrations. Vibrations are created from energy transfer from the strings being strummed. Depending on how hard you strum the more the strings will vibrate and the louder the sound will be.
Specifically, pitch is be changed through the tension of the strings at the head of the guitar and where you apply pressure to the strings on the neck. For instance, if you apply pressure to the strings onto a fret close to the center of the guitar, the pitch of will be higher and vice versa; if pressure was applied closer to the head of the guitar then the pitch would be deeper.

What materials will you actually be using for your instrument and why?
I will be using a wooden box, strings wooden rods or poles for the neck and guitar stings. I will shorten them to a appropriate length for my ukelele. To create the correct sound, I'll use a wooden box because I can easily sand it and change the shape of the box accordingly to the sound I'm trying to create. The rods will act as my ukelele's neck. Together,  I'll be able to  play my instrument like an acoustic guitar or ukelele.


Do we have time in class to practice the song or do we have to build and practice the instrument outside of class?

Statistics is a great class with many different challenging projects, class work, and quizzes. But not only are they challenging they also are fun to do because it is more of a real-life application than in any other math class I have taken at SLA. My purpose for this post to tell you why my favorite benchmarks of the year was from the first quarter. This benchmark was fun because we had to go to our local supermarket and find the price of certain food items and compare against the people of our group who were assigned a different location. With this benchmark, we were put to the challenge of finding the:

•         Z-score
•         Mean
•         Median
•         Mode
•         Range

Also, this was my favorite because I got the opportunity to see how much money I was either saving or wasting by shopping at said supermarket. As a group doing this, we were able to see how the different supermarkets price the same item and compare it, and we also looked to see if the “generic” brand had any comparison to the regular brand.

In addition to that, my second favorite benchmark from this class was the most recent one that we were faced with doing. This benchmark I am talking about, required us to make ourselves a mini-study guide for our college math course that we are going to take in the fall. This study guide had to touch on all topics that we touched throughout the year. However, this was hard to do because I had to go back in my now sloppy notebook to figure out what we had done this year.

Only 7 days left...not excited



STUPID OWL!!!

Reflection:

My portfolio is a demonstration of how much of a good student I can be If I try, and how I sometimes may not do my best because of time of sequences that don't work for me. The Odyssesy comapare/contrast, I tried my best, managed my time, and met was able to complete everything I needed for the assignment even though I did it in the last week. An example of a project gone right. Unlike my Mysterious Skin book review, It was rushed and incomplete in body and depth, It was obviously a fault of mine that made me not able to show off my best efforts. Throughout the entire semester my grade was a reflection of this repetitive unbalance of time, and organization.

2) Memoir Vignette: In this project we had to write a narrative about something that happened to us, that was impacting and played a role in how we grew up. I choose an event that happened to me when I was very young, which inspired my fascination for paranormal science. 


In the summer of 2001, when I was only five years old, I was to become a member of a group of paranormal phenomenon fanatics and victims. What I witnessed when I was young may be a factor to my arms length detachment to society. Don't be afraid, for it was but a mere miscomprehension. And come to these years discovering that it wasn't really what I thought it was a t first. And maybe so the expanding mind of a five year old really did misinterpret but it happened. My mothers van another blur in the great big spectrum of cars we' own in the future years. Sitting in the back, seat belt strapped over my shoulder staring in amazement out the window. Eyes to see, eyes to learn. This ride is muted, like a slow dive. It's the time when summer trades in it's sun umbrella for a rake. My favorite time of the year, the weather at humble ease into a closer step towards peacefulness.
My mother is in the front driving, my baby sister Lindsey in the car right next to me as we head under the bridge into Kelly Drive. I remember always being scared when we went under the bridge. I always thought it would collapse over us, and we'd be goners. I still think that sometimes today.

The van cruised smoothly down the road. Right next to it brown river with a beautiful rainbow forest to the other side, with little dirt paths playing pick-a-boo with the travelers. A bikeway on our side with a little wooden bridge that connects you across the river. I stared out the window, the yellows, and greens of nature moving vastly through the window like a mosaic. We went around the curve, and I observed the river closely.
Brown and mucky it was, with all kinds of dead trees and plants creeping at the surface. My mind swallowed it whole. My heart stumbled.Eyes faltering to a blink. Face pressed up to the window. A humongous yellow creature emerged from the water. It stood in its brown puddles. The size of the house it was. Steadily moving in the muck water dripping from it. It was garbage truck yellow and had brown little patches of stains marked all over its monstrous body. Its legs were skinny and almost robotic. It had giant black fly eyes on an alien shaped head. And yellow antennas mutinous. It seemed to be praying, almost. And then I figured it out; it was a giant yellow grasshopper! It made a horrendous noise "SCREEEECCH!" As it maneuvered itself in the river. I wanted to scream. But we just drove on by. All the cars seemed to be driving on by. I was to pertrify to tell my mother. We drove on in to lost memories.

For years and years that scene stayed a bullet in my heart. I always believed it was a giant grasshopper. I had witnessed the paranormal. The pretend things. That's another thing that sparked my curiousity for UFOs. For years every Saturday morning I'd be on the Discovery Chanel watching UFO Files. Going on the computer and researching ghosts and any kind of paranormal happenings. The Church of Satan, Christianity, Exorcisms, Bigfoot, the missing, and unexplained creatures. All these things had become the center of my life. I had always thought all these years that I had witnessed the paranormal. I was a one of those people you saw on TV talking about being abducted, I was that country family who saw the flying saucer zoom across the sky. That was all I cared for, until I grew up.
Life it happens, but sometimes we do let our imaginations get the best of us. And now when I look back, I learn that I didn't discover some new species, but I discovered something more colossal. What I saw wasn't a giant yellow grasshopper, but a CATERPILLAR truck. Used for construction and destruction. Those big black eyes were probably bulldozers I was seeing. It's funny how strong the mind can fool you.
Memories painting pictures and illusions. I understood why there are so many crazies walking around believing that zombies will return from the dead and it will be salvation. People believing anything they hear. I was afraid so my mind made it all up. Fear is thoughts that distort reality. Thoughts that distort reality are lies, and thus imaginary. I like to laugh at what I though, but want to humble myself for the truth about life I have gained.


The 3)Odyssey Compare/Contrast:
In the Odyssey Compare/Contrast essay we were required to pick a character and or event of the Odyssey and compare it to another story/movie/ tv show. I chose to compare Athena of the Odyssey, and Lady Galadriel of The Lord of the Rings. 

It is assuredly valued that the goddess Athena and Lady Galadriel are sage mentors of their time. Although the texts of The Odyssey and The Lord of the Rings take place in different times and settings, Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings elfy Lady of Lothlorien, and the Greek's virgin goddess Athena of The Odyssey both appear as guilders of wisdom and power in both stories. But just how do these immortal ladies meet head to head in similarities of their stories?
Athena and Lady Galadriel are different because Athena is a Goddess, and Lady Galadriel is a high Elf. Though Lady Galadriel is great in wit, Athena is known for her logic and intelligence, and Lady Galadriel for her fairness, calling her the Lady of Light. Athena is known as the Virgin Goddess, because she never married or had a lover, Lady Galadriel on the other hand is married to Lord Celeborn.
Athena and Lady Galadriel are similar because they both prophesize to help the main characters of their journey. In the book The Odyssey Athena predicts Ulysses' return to Telemachus " ...But come, tell me this and declare it truly, whether indeed, tall as you are, you are the son of Ulysses himself. WOndrously like his are your head and beautiful eyes; for full often we did consort with one another before he embarked for the land of Troy, where others, too, the bravest of the Argives, went in their excavated ships. But since that day neither have I seen Ulysses, nor he me."( Book 1: 178-210). And Lady Galadriel does the same thing to Frodo and Samwise Gamgee, by taking them to her Mirror of Galadriel and letting them look into the future of what could be if they don't complete their tasks. In The Fellowship of the Ring, she states,"' Like as not.' said the Lady with a gentle laugh. 
'But come, you shall look and see what you may. Do not touch the water!'...' There's only stars, as I thought,' he Frodo said. Then he gave a low gasp for the stars went out. As if a dark veil had been withdrawn, the Mirror grew grey, and then clears. There was the sun shining, and the branches of trees were waving and tossing in the wind..." ( Book 2: p. 362) These quotes exemplify how Athena prophesizes the return of Ulysses and how Lady Galadriel lets Frodo and Sam see the future.
In conclusion, Lady Galadriel and Athena are both important and key characters in the books Lord of the Rings and The Odyssey. They meet head to head, by providing characters with gifts, prophecy, and help in near impossible situations. By highlighting the relation between Lady Galadriel and Athena, one can have a better understanding of the influence of ancient Greek mythology on later masterpieces of fantasy and literature by authors like J.R.R Tolkien.
4)

5) Independent Reading assignment: Nineteen Eighty Four, in this assignment I do a review the book Nineteen-Eighty Four. I basically talk about the book

 

       On June 8^th 1949, the English author of the popular novel Animal Farm, George Orwell, published the 326 page book Nineteen-Eighty-Four.  The book was listed as number 13 on the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

 

Nineteen-Eighy-Four  takes place in the post-capitalist fictional dystopia Oceania, which is supposed to be a model of future Britain  thirty-five year after the book was written.  We find ourselves in a totalitarian, collectivist,  oligarchical state, where state interference is apparent in a very controlling manner, and all popular thoughts, and opinion reign. The story is in first person told by the protagonist Winston Smith, who though works for the central Party’s branch in changing historical records to make sure that propaganda is always true, is actually very critical of Big Brother, the dictator of Oceania,  and is throughout the entire story trying to find his way into a direct action of rebellion.  The conflict of the story, is basically him trying to achieve some sort of independence and revolution in a society where censorship is prevalent, actions and you are constantly being watched. The main conflict in the story is Winston trying to survive, trying not go completely insane in a police state where everything his force fed and authority blankets every inch of land.

 

 

My favorite character is of course Winston even though, how he ends up is very much shocking and terrifying.  I can’t honestly say I favor any of the characters, for every character is not very likeable, in fact they are all very bland, and it seems as if some of them don’t even exist.  People should realize that this book  isn’t even about the characters, it’s about looking into a perspective and challenging everything you know. One theme I took away from this book was definetly, revaulating my opinions on authority, government control, economy, and correlating these things to modern day society. Though fictional, I’d say this book, is at the same time a gothic horror and an informative essay. Very beautiful, eloquent, and explosively written.  This book should without a doubt be read more than once, because there is so much to take in, one can possibly not take in everything at once.

 

This might just be one of the greatest books I’ve ever read and one of the greatest novels of all time. Imagine, the “Catcher in the Rye” but the politically correct version. One strength this book has is demonstrating perspective of the rebel, and thoroughly exemplifying the mentality one who is against the grain. I wouldn’t change anything about the book, I’d only read it again and again and again. It introduces many political themes such as socialism, capitalism, democracy, etc, so additional research should be done so you know about every thick concept the book explores. It may be quite overwhelming because of the intense word usage, so having a dictionary by your side is recommended.

 

In conclusion, this book should be read by every sort of person, of every range of abilities. Something about it taps into your brain, leaves you shocked, possibly frightened, but eager to learn more.

6)Journal Entries: These are journal entries from this year that love.

JOURNAL:3/17/11

Your environment shapes who you are because living in a certain environment can effect how you see the world.The things that you do in that environment, affect how you spend your free time, either it’s too dangerous to go outdoors, making you stay indoors, or your prefer going out in the jungle. What you see outside of your house for me, is what you see in the world. Either it’s a clean suburban slum, or a the gutters of the city, that’s what you have to show for your perspective of the world.

 

JOURNAL: 3/18/11

 

I didn’t feel anything when I encountered the word “nigger”. I would’ve been interested if I was in the 5^th grade or something, but no. I don’t really think it means anything, it’s use is to evoke hatred and bad memories, but really when you get over it, it doesn’t affect you. It’s not the best come back, and it’s not even the best insult, people have turned it into something different, making it not really harmful at all anymore.

 

JOURNAL 3/24/11

 I think Kevin will eventually end up having to adapt to the new world,  or become insane and institutionalized.

 

JOURNAL: 4/5/11

Some of the expectations put upon me by others are to have good grades, good behavior, look the best, be in tons of extracurricular activities, and be everybody’s favorite. My expectations for myself are to basically  be as secure with my own individuality regardless of what others say and not try to live up to other people’s standards and be content in what I feel is best for me. These expectations are way different because though, I am involved in an extracurricular activity, I’m not excited by most of them,  my expectations are about being at what you think is your personal best, and doing things that give you purpose and meaning and not just being a tool for others.

 

7) This year was very very messy for me. It's unlike any year I've ever had. My grades were not all straight A's like usual, and I had to face uncomfortable socialization from the staff and students.  I guess I learned how to deal with screwing things up and how to pick up the pieces from the mess I make. It's great.

Blog # 1

I would like to play the Ukelele, it is a string instrument. Sound is produced by the musician strumming the strings. Depending on how tight the strings are and how thick the strings are. A different sound or pitch is produced due to tension. Tension is kind of like friction, tension is caused by the objects resistance to movement, like friction. However, tension focuses more on the vibration of the strings rather than its movement in general.  By pressing down on the strings in different places on the frets (which are small rods attached to the neck of string instruments like guitars, ukeleles, violins etc.) also changes how high or low the pitch of the strings will be.  
Ukeleles are typically rounded wood, with a small cut out hole in the middle to let sound escape. the exact size of the ukeleles alternate. The shape is really important for the sound to amplify, the sound waves can bounce off of the rounded and flat surfaces rather than pointy or just simply a straight box.
Which makes me think a lot about how I'm going to create my ukelele, specifically what kind of materials I'm going to need in order for the sound waves the be amplified enough for everyone to hear them. I think that this is going to take a lot of hard work and a good amount of calculations especially when I add and tune the strings.

Considering that I didn't know much about sound waves except for the basics of them. Like how mediums interact with them, and the fact their their are multiple types such as sound, light or UVA/UVB rays, heat and wave disturbance within a liquid. I don't know exactly what type of wave is going through the liquid or medium. I did not learn about waves before these classes so this is all knew to me. But I know, that I have quite a bit of learning ahead of me before friday, when we perform.

Click here to see a video how how the song is played: http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-play-lazy-song-by-bruno-mars-ukulele-408518/

Click here to see the chords being played as well as where they show up in the song:
http://www.ukulelestrummer.com/lazy-song-bruno-mars/

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Introduction:

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

Odyssey Compare/Contrast Essay:

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

I would my favorite Benchmark was the 3rd quarters. It was a chance to do something a lot more interesting then normally present in math. I really enjoyed applying the statistical concepts we had learned into video format. I normaly find any math topic to be dreadfully boring but in this particular case I think I shined. The concepts of probability and chance were represented through a game of black jack shown in our video. The chance of getting 21 with various cards was shown . Several varying "trees"of black jack were also shown. These trees branched off showing various outcomes and probability of getting 21.

Introduction:

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

Memoir Vignette:

                                                  Family is Always Better

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

             

My favorite benchmark of the entire year was the first quarter benchmark where we had to go to the supermarkets. It was a group benchmark, and typically I don’t like group projects, however this one I made an exception for. I had three other group members who had the same ambitions as myself work ethic as I do. I had Ashley who was the organized and determined one, Evan who got his work done, and Marchella who understood the work, but had to push herself to actually do it.

Another reason why this was my favorite was because it was given to us back when everything was so easy and staright to the point. We had the basic: mean, media, mode, and range, Along with the quartiles, z-scores, and graphs like bar graphs and histograms. With the easy unit there was no wonder why I was able to so well on this benchmark. Thinking back now of course there are many things I would change. I hate that now I think about it because there is nothing I can do about now, but the opportunity may come up again if  I have something similar to this. Firstly I would chose a completely different supermarket with completely different items. The prices that I had before were either too close or the same price, and that didn’t give me much data to work with, challenging data anyway. Thinking back on it shows my reflection, wanting to change my store and items is my presentation, my group was my collaboration,  and the assignment was my inquiry and research. Oh look SLA’s core values.

Introduction:

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

Macbeth Character Analysis:

Lady Macbeth:

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

Act 1:

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

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

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

Act 2:

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

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

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

Act 3:

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

 

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

Act 5:

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

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

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

Oh god were gonna graduate soon. OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD 

Link to PDF

The thing I found most challenging about this project was categorizing and finding pictures for different sections. I don't know. I just feel like globalization can be represented by many things. The way I defined globalization in Philadelphia was if something from outside of Philly (like a culture or thing) impacted the people of Philadelphia as a whole. At first, I collected pictures from Chinatown, because they have their own Asian Bank and their own health buildings there. However as I went on I realized how all of those pictures were the same thing, of a culture migrating to Philadelphia and colonizing. My trade and technology picture is my favorite because those are all parts of a phone from the same company yet one is made in Korea and another is made in China. I don't know, I just find it amusing. I do believe that globalization is everywhere in Philadelphia, however, in places like New York I find it way more prevalent than Philly. New York is like a more cultured and busier Philadelphia with all of it's different culture based fashions and it's vast selections of food.

Here is my 4th quarter globalization benchmark

Writing two paragraphs for one picture was quite challenging for me at first. I had trouble knowing what to write for the second paragraph, but after some collaboration with my fellow students I figured it out. I also had some difficulties finding a picture for energy and security, yet after some hard thinking I thought of some images to use and ventured out to take pictures. Aside from selecting images for security and energy themes, all the other images came easily to me. In one day of class I brainstormed 8 images I could use for various themes. Going out and getting pictures wasn't hard either because the images I was going to use were all near my neighborhood and school. My favorite image is of Liberty Place. The photo I have makes the building look godly and epic. Also my other photos weren't of the best quality (due to camera phones and my crappy camera) and I thought the picture of Liberty Place was the best of the best.  My photos alone don't really capture the evidence of globalization, however my paragraphs do. Based on my findings I believe the evidence of globalization is quite prevalent in Philadelphia since there are various cultural neighborhoods all throughout the city. While Philadelphia is a very globalized city I think other large U.S cities are just as internationalized as Philadelphia, such as New York and Chicago. These cities are just as or even more globalized than Philadelphia because they are the main hubcaps of business in the United States and in order for business to flourish cities need have worldwide interactions.