Q4 BM- Myth Project

Overview- The purpose of the myth project was to research about a mythical God who we found to be very interesting. There was one catch though, in order to choose this God it was best to know the least information about this mythical character. It was best to learn information that was fresh to the mind, in order to ensure that new information was gained and doing the project wasn’t boring.



(For some reason the file wouldn't upload, so here is a link: 

https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B2LDaXKN0qv1NTcxZTE4MTMtYTk0Yy00MmY4

Quarter 3 BM

 

I think that Odysseus and Max are very similar in the sense that they both take control in every situation. But at the same time, Max would rather die than let anyone in her flock be killed. Odysseus on the other hand is all about getting himself home safely and finishing his journey by himself.  Odysseus just wants to get through his challenges so that HE can get home to his wife and son. He doesn’t really care too much about the well being of his other shipmates who are just there for him, and trust him completely.

 

Max and Odysseus are fierce, strong, and confident leaders. They both are attacked with challenges and face them without fear. Both leaders are very strategic and unafraid of the frightful experiences they must face. Odysseus had to face the horridly beautiful Sirens which makes a point about how things never are what they seem. The Sirens are beautiful but awful creatures that if given the chance would kill any man they see. Odysseus barely escaped them. Max likewise has to get past the unknown sea creatures that have been formed by toxic waste in the depths of the oceans. The creatures lure them in with their mysterious shapes and sizes and leave them in awe, and almost destroy them. On the contrary though, Odysseus is lured in by the sirens’ beautiful voices, and Max and her flock are lured in by the mysterious sight of the unknown creatures in the sea.

 

              Max and Odysseus are both strong, confident leaders, but every leader has his/her flaws.  Max is impatient, and Odysseus is selfish. There are people constantly attacking and throwing challenges at both crews and they handle everything in similar ways. The only thing that isn’t similar about the crews is that max is selfless and does everything to protect the people she is with/that are backing her up. Whereas Odysseus just about lets all his men die and be killed by monsters he knew he couldn’t stand a chance against like Scylla. Odysseus is all about getting himself home safely and finishing his journey by himself while creating as much glory for himself along the way. Nevertheless Max is all about protecting her flock and trying NOT to draw attention to herself. There are people constantly attacking and throwing challenges at both crews and they handle everything in different ways, both portraying them in my mind as strong and confident leaders.

Another thing that is different about Max and Odysseus is that Max is a girl, and regardless of how tough she comes off as she still does have her breakdown moments where everything overwhelms her. Due to the fact that Odysseus is a good 30 years older than Max at the least, and the fact that he is a man I think it’s safe to say that when it comes to battling and staying strong and confident, it’s easier for him. Max has to leave her mother and her sister at home and take the flock of genetically mutated kids whom she cares very much for with her, and she worries about everyone of them every day. Odysseus hardly ever thinks about his men as people and sees them more as sidekicks who aren’t quite as important as anything else.

 

More than anything, I think Max and Odysseus have about as much in common as they don’t. By that I mean that they are very similar when it comes to their rough lifestyles, constantly traveling and not sure whom they can trust, and the tough challenges they have to live through. But at the same time, they are different because Odysseus is only thinking about himself and Max has a deeper bond where she is honest with the people that accompany her on her insane adventures and journjourneys.

 

 

Quarter 2 BM

Mischief Night

Isabela Aznar

Red stream

January 16th, 2010

You know how people say great things happen when you least expect them? (Opener) Well that’s the way it all began between Nick and I. It all started on a Friday, (October 30th, the day before Halloween to be exact) a day that I didn’t expect to be out of the ordinary. I had dressed up like a vampire to school for the costume competition, full with plastic fangs, chalky white makeup, and a cape.(Magic Three) Of course, I ended up being one of the only people who dressed up, but on the bright side, that never fails to make people laugh, right? My field hockey team had a very important game against a very good, prestigious team that day after school. We on the other hand just referred to them as “that snobby annoying school with a bigger field than us”. Some of the younger girls on my team decided that since it was the night before Halloween, we should try and “scare” the other team. I happily supplied white and black face paint,  (glad that some use came of it) painting every girl on my teams face white with black circles around their eyes. We were all laughing and making fun of each others bad makeup, and I guess our game plan to distract them worked, because even though we overheard them calling us freaks in the girls bathroom the victory was ours.

            My best friend is named Emmi. Emmi has long blonde curls, and fierce, deep blue eyes(Magic three). We do everything together and she had stayed to watch my game. I went downstairs and she waited with me while I washed off the messy face paint and changed out of my clothes, looking like I’d been tossed around in a tornado(Metaphor).We were going to a haunted house that night with my step brother, and his friend who I’d never met.

Emmi and I walked out of school, and over to love park where everyone hangs out after school when it’s warm. The cold hadn’t hit yet, and fall was at its warmest point. We went and met up with some of the kids we usually hung out with, skaters. Swoooosh, swiiiish, swoooooosh, their boards slid by us as they jumped around us doing skateboard tricks, and we laughed eating junk food from the Seven Eleven (repetition for effect).We didn’t feel like going to the haunted house anymore because we were having fun with our friends, and left in dismay when my dad called.

We hopped on the train and talked about school and field hockey, and how the other team looked when they lost. We trudged into my house expecting a quiet, dull and boring night and I had pretty much forgotten that Grace, Johnny (my step brother) and his friend were coming to the haunted house with us(Magic three).

Emmi and I were never pessimists, so I turned on music, and made both of us soup. We sat at my table laughing and  eating when suddenly the front door opened, and a boy walked into my house. I didn’t know him, but saw shortly after that Johnny was right behind him. The boy looked around my house and made small talk with Johnny while they walked up the stairs. I barely ever liked anyone at first sight, but when I saw him I immediately thought he was attractive. I turned to Emmi and cupped my hands around her ears  “he’s cute!” I whispered into her ear, she whispered back “I know!” they walked towards the table where we sat and I searched my mind for something to say. I ended up asking them the first thing that came to my head. “Want some crackers?” they laughed and looked at each other “no I’m okay” said the boy smiling. My step mom walked in through the door then and  the introductions were made, I analyzed the boy standing in front of me, he was tan with dark brown hair that flipped over his eyes. I signaled at Emmi and stood up from the table, “we’ll be right back” I said grabbing Emmi’s arm and pulling her into my room. We sat on my floor, my music was on as always and we brushed our hair and wiped the left over Halloween makeup from our faces. Just then there was a knock at the door. “Grace is here!” I said standing abruptly, Emmi right behind me. We opened the door and introduced her to Nick and Johnny. “Hi!” Grace’s freckle dabbled cheeks turned into a grin, and she hugged Emmi and I.

            On the car ride over, I made small talk with Nick and Johnny, and Grace and Emmi stayed moderately quiet. I found out that Nick played ice hockey, one of my favorite sports. He lived in New Jersey, and according to him he “never got scared”. We teased him, hoping that the pennententary would scare him the way it always scared us. We got out of the car and signed our wavers, walking through the long line of people and listening to the screams coming from the inside of the haunted jail. People dressed as monsters crawled on the floor and ran around, screaming and cackling with gouged eyes, rotten teeth and bloody wounds, but I was more interested in the boy named Nick (Magic three). Him and I decided to exchange numbers, solely for the slight chances that one of us got lost, of course. As we walked in, there were foggy lights and sirens going off. The jail looked like something straight out of a horror movie and every five minutes an actor that looked like he’d fallen into a bucket of toxic waste, would jump out from behind us or beg us to let it out of it’s jail cell (metaphor). Nick started squinting and saying he couldn’t see because of the strobe light, he kept walking into things so I grabbed his arm and he walked with me. Johnny, Emmi, and Grace were all in front of us and every now and again we could hear Johnny shrieking like a child at the doctor’s office(Metaphor). Every little while I’d check in to make sure Nick was ok, and he just kept blinking as if he were blind. Emmi, grace and Johnny went ahead and Nick and I were walking slowly. Everytime I got scared I’d jump and  he’d occasionally ask if I was ok. Eventually we reached one of those bridges where the walls spin around you in circles with creepy patterns on them. More actors were standing underneath the bridge scraping the metal walkway with their fingernails. I got really dizzy and couldn’t keep walking so Nick grabbed my hand and put his arm on my back, helping me out of the tunnel. When we got out of the tunnel, we didn’t let go of each other’s hands. I stood still for a second, (I’m known to get dizzy very easily) “are you good?” he asked me, I nodded my head and smiled. I was still holding his hand we braced the rest of the haunted house. My heart felt full and  I felt comfortable with him. I remember thinking to myself  “I don’t even know this guy…why do I feel so comfortable with him? Why am I holding his hand?” but I never said anything. Eventually we got out, and if it were up to me I would have made the haunted house a LOT longer. We saw Emmi Grace and John, and awkwardly let go of each others hands mutually feeling as though Johnny would not be happy if he saw. When Anne (my stepmom) and my dad arrived, we took some pictures in front of the prison, and piled into the car.

            Back at my house, I felt a sinking feeling in my chest as if an anchor were weighing it down, knowing that I would probably never see the boy named Nick again (Metaphor). We played with a football in my house, ate some chips, and then asked if we could walk around the neighborhood with the boys. By then it was like 11:30 but my dad said sure. We walked them to Market Street, and everyone was quiet except for Nick and I. We were making jokes and having silly arguments. We all eventually sat and talked trying to figure out who was taller, about school, how Johnny didn’t like the kids where he was from, Emmi and I teased them about being from Jersey, and Grace joined in every once in a while. Eventually we had to go back home and I felt my heart sink even more. We hugged them goodbye and I watched them close the door with brief smiles. Grace got picked up shortly after, and Emmi was sleeping over so that the next day (Halloween) we could go trick or treating together. We layed on my couch and watched Chuckie, when all of the sudden I got a text that said “Hey it’s Nick :P” my heart skipped a beat, and I showed my phone to Emmi. I remember staying up until 2AM texting him. Eventually we became closer and closer, and he asked me out. He was literally the boy version of me, and it still amazes me how when your not looking, you find some of the most important things in your life. Nick has now been my boyfriend for a year and five months, and he’s like my best friend. This story isn’t supposed to be one of those lovey stories, but it’s supposed to show that things happen when you least expect and that’s the greatest suprize. That night will now forever be special to me, even if Nick and me don’t stay together, he’ll still be special to me. 

Quarter 3 Benchmark

Introduction: this is my compare and contras benchmark for my third quarter. This was about comparing big Dan from the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? And the

Cyclops is from the book odyssey. All this is about is how both of them are alike.


 

Thesis: Even though Big Dan and Cyclops have some of the same characteristics, they are portrayed differently in the stories.

 

Body Paragraphs:

#1. Point of Comparison—Big Dan and Cyclops the same

                                   Specific examples: Both have 1 eye

                                                                       Both big and strong

                                                                      They greedy

                                                                      Stick

 

#2. Point of Contrast—Big Dan and Cyclops different (tricking)

 

Specific examples: Big Dan tricking Everett and taking all his money

Cyclops he got tricked by Odysseus when he gave him wine that made him drunk then he fell asleep. Odysseus stabs him in they eye and blind him.

 

 

 

#3. Point of Contrast—Big Dan and Cyclops different (Big Dan is smarter than Cyclops)

Specific examples: Big Dan did not lose his eye, didn’t get        tricked. Cyclops falls for Odysseus’ trick.

                                       Big Dan was more prepared. He expected Everett to come. Cyclops didn’t know that Odysseus was going to come.

 

 

Conclusion: Restate your thesis. Your conclusion is that while both men have physical similarities, they are portrayed differently in how they handle situations.  Big Dan seems to be smarter than the Cyclops because he is prepared for Everett and doesn’t fall for his tricks.

 

 

Portfolio- Reflection/Intro


Introduction/ Reflection

I have enjoyed myself in English class for my freshman year. I have learned a lot and have grown a lot. In portfolio, you can see that I have grown a lot, the more recent my work get. My project tells that I am not a person that gets my emotions out all the time and like to get it out on paper. Also, from my projects you can tell I try my best in everything I attempt.

Even though I have grown being in this class for the last past couple of  months, I still have things I need to work on. One big weakness that I have and need to work on is to stop procrastinating. My work is not as good if I do it the night before and most likely, I won’t complete my work on time. I do think a strength is connecting my emotions to my piece of writing or to a book. Making this portfolio was really interesting. It almost seemed to me like an evolution. It was fun looking through all my work. It was easy to edit because I had all of my papers right in front of me. I am most proud of my book review. My book review was one of the best papers I have ever written in my life. My grammar was perfect and I scored really high on it. Maybe the highest I have ever scored on a piece of writing.

 

  

Blog Post- Macbeth Character Analysis

Quarter one Benchmark was my first benchmark ever for English. This was a project based around a Shakespeare’s play called Macbeth. I was walking into this project naive and a little nervous. This was a project I wasn’t used to because we had to create a thesis and I had to create a essay on a Shakespeare play.

 

 

Thesis- In the beginning of the play, Macbeth was a beast on the battlefield and a very loyal friend, but by the end he had a frozen heart and would do anything to get to the top.

 

In Act 1, Scene 3 of Macbeth, King Duncan has sent Angus and Ross to go pronounce the title Thane of Cawdor to Macbeth. King Duncan gave this title to Macbeth because he heard of the incident on the battlefield and felt that he deserved it. Also, the previous King of Cawdor was not trustworthy and sneaky. So, King Duncan sent someone to kill him and sent Angus and Ross to pronounce the title to Macbeth. Macbeth and Banquo had just got their prophesies from the weird sisters. Macbeth’s prophecy stated that he would be pronounced Thane of Cawdor, and later would be pronounced King.  Angus and Ross surprised Macbeth and Banquo to pronounce Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor. After this, aside Macbeth says, “Two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme” (Act 1, Scene 3, lines 128-129). Macbeth is in shock right at this minute. He really can’t believe all this just came true because he didn’t believe the weird sisters. Macbeth was saying that part of his prophecy came true and he can’t believe it. He has all these different emotions stirring up inside.

 

In Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth started to think of what the murder of King Duncan would do to his reputation. Also he felt that he didn’t have the guts to do it. King Duncan was very good to Macbeth and trusted him. Macbeth just felt that he couldn’t betray King Duncan’s trust and loyalty. In a result of this, Macbeth went to Lady Macbeth and says, “We will proceed no further in this business” (Act 1, Scene 7, lines 31). What Macbeth means is that Lady Macbeth and himself will not go through with the plan of murdering King Duncan. He can’t cough up the courage to do something that cruel. He seemed to be very upset and stern with this statement. Lady Macbeth was enraged with this decision that Macbeth has made. She feels that he is being a wuss and needs to man up. She tries to convince him in a very sexy and sneaky way to be back in tune with the plan.

 

In Act 1, Scene 7, Lady Macbeth is trying to convince Macbeth to go through with the plan. However, Macbeth was being kind of stubborn and strict with his decision not to murder King Duncan. Then Lady Macbeth started to become convincing and Macbeth started to become very gullible. Macbeth started to kick back in gear with the plan and started listening to Lady Macbeth. Macbeth was feeling uneasy with the plan so he asked Lady Macbeth “If we should fail?” (Act 1, Scene 7, line 59). Macbeth asks Lady Macbeth this he wanted to know if she knew what they were going to do if they did fail. However, Lady Macbeth came back with a very confident answer. Basically, she told him to man up and don’t think about that type of stuff and that they were not going to lose.

 

In Act 2, Scene 2, King Duncan is a guest at Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s home. They decide to go through with the plan. They were going to get the guards drunk and wait till Duncan was asleep and murder him with daggers. After that, they were going to plant the bloody daggers on the guards. Macbeth noticed that King Duncan was asleep and wanted to get the deed over with. He had murdered Duncan and walked in the room. Lady Macbeth was in the room and stated to Lady Macbeth “I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?” (Act 2, Scene 2, line 15). He said this in a very shaken up tone. Macbeth was terrified and paranoid. He couldn’t believe he just did what he did and swore someone was going to find. He was so shaken up, that he brought back the bloody daggers. Lady Macbeth noticed that he had them and told him to go plant them on the guards while they were still out of it. He was so paranoid that he couldn’t do that.

 

In Act 3, Scene 2, Macbeth has decided to kill Banquo because he is getting to suspicious about the murder of Duncan. Macbeth hires three murderers to kill Banquo. This was going to take place while Macbeth and the lords were at dinner. Banquo was suppose to attend this dinner, but this was all Macbeth’s plan so he could kill him. However, Lady Macbeth wanted to know what was going on with this plan and wanted to know what it was about. Macbeth wanted this plan to stay a secret and on the “down low”. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, till thou applaud the deed” (Act 3, Scene 2, lines 46-47). What Macbeth was saying was that he was not going to tell Lady Macbeth until his plan was accomplished. He wasn’t going to tell anyone about this because he didn’t want it to get out to anyone. He also wanted to think of this on his own and didn’t want anyone to change his mind or manipulate his plan. He even went through lying to his wife to successfully accomplish his plan.

 

In Act 3, Scene 4, Macbeth was at the dinner with the lord and Lady Macbeth. Banquo was suppose to be there, but Macbeth sent out hit men to kill Banquo. The murderers came back and told Macbeth that the deed was done and Banquo was no longer alive. The murderers then started to explain what they did to him. They told Macbeth that Banquo’s throat was cut. Then Macbeth states “Thou the best of the cut throats” (Act 3, Scene 4, line 19). This is when Macbeths really starts getting mean and cruel. What he means by this is that he is glad that Banquo is out of the picture and in an indirect way, he is saying good job to the murderers. Macbeth starts to get hardhearted at this point.

 

            In Act 4, Scene 1, “The Weird Sisters” had came back. There were also three Apparitions, which are ghost like images of people. These Apparitions were telling Macbeth to be aware of Macduff and his family. Macbeth took this in to great consideration when they had told him this. Macbeth then starts to think and wonder why should I fear of thee. Macbeth says “But yet I will make assurance double sure and take a bond of fate” (Act 4, Scene 1, lines 105-106). What Macbeth means is that he will make sure that Macduff and his family is out of the way. In other words, Macbeth is going to kill Macduff and his family. He goes about doing it the same way he kills Banquo. He sends murderers to Macduff’s home and only his family was there, there was no Macduff. The murderer ends up killing Macduff’s family.

In Act 5, Scene 5, Macbeth has just found out that Lady Macbeth has died from her mind disease. Lady Macbeth had went in sane because she was guilty about the murder of King Duncan and that was haunting her. Seyton has informed him about this tragic news. However, there was also a very important war going on right now, so Macbeth states to Seyton “She should have died hereafter” (Act 5, Scene 5, line 17). What Macbeth is trying to say is that there is nothing he could have done about her dying or keep her from dying. However, he is kind of glad that she has died because that is one less thing he has to worry about while he fighting a war.

In Act 5, Scene 8, Macbeth and Macduff are in the battlefield. “The Weird Sisters” had told Macbeth in a Act before that Macbeth could not be harmed “none of woman born”. Because of this Macbeth did not fear the English army. Then Macduff and Macbeth start to fight and Macduff reveals to Macbeth that he was born form his mother’s womb untimely ripped. Macbeth starts to get frightened by the situation now. However, Macbeth is to stubborn to even back down. He says to Macduff “I will not yield, to kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet and to be baited with rabble’s curse” (Act 5, Scene 8, lines 28-29). What Macbeth is trying to say is he is not backing down. He is not going to apologize for what he has done because it is already done. He is not going to back down to Malcolm basically.

In the play Macbeth, Macbeth started out as a very loyal and caring friend. However as the play went on, Macbeth started to get very greedy, stubborn, and in some way evil. My quotes support my thesis very well. In the beginning you could see that Macbeth was just not one to betray his friends and cared about them. He also cared about what people would think about him. However, by the end of the play, Macbeth would do anything to get what he want and didn’t care about what a soul thought about him. He also became very careless about people’s feelings. Shakespeare’s lesson or message to the readers could have been don’t let anything take away your self-respect, no matter how much it means to you to get it because it can do you dirty at the end.

Blog Post- Q2 BM Vignette


Quarter two Benchmark was one of my favorite Benchmarks this year. It was a personal vignette. This vignette let me get a lot of feelings out on paper and softened up hard feelings. I had multiple connections to this benchmark and was very surprised that I didn’t mind sharing this story with my teacher.

 



Only If…

 

Lexus Forman

 

This day was a beautiful day. Walking out of school, the sun was shining, kids laughing, and my mom outside waiting to pick me up as usual (Opener-Magic Three). When I got in the car all I could feel was negative energy. I knew something was up when she didn’t say the usual, “What did you learn today, Lexus?” (Dialogue). I thought maybe someone had said something to her that got under her skin, or she got a dent in her car, you know, just a bad day. So, I asked if we could go get something to eat. We went to KFC and as I was “grubbing” on my food she sprung some devastating news on me out of nowhere. It was “Lexus… Grand mom is in the hospital because she is in a diabetic coma”. I dropped the greasy chicken, popped mouth wide open, and automatically started thinking the worst! (Magic Three). “Is she dying? Am I never going to see her again?”

We pulled up to hospital and I saw a swarm of people in front of the emergency room. I knew that was my family because we have always hated to be waiting in the emergency room with a whole bunch of angry sick people, who have been waiting to hear their names called so they can be relieved from their sickness and that room full of germs! I knew grand mom wasn’t doing to well when all five of her children were at the hospital, all her grandchildren were there except for AJ who lived in Atlanta, and a few people from the church too. By this time everyone had been in to see her but me. I hate hospitals! I tried every excuse in the book to keep me from going in there to see her. However obviously I did not win, so I sucked it up and went in there. When I walked in her room I could not believe what I saw. She was connected to so many tubes and needles. I knew that couldn’t be comfortable at all. I felt so bad because I knew I couldn’t do anything to help. I needed to get out that room; I just couldn’t bear the pain.

As I went outside looking for some comfort, I walked outside to a bunch of arguing. I knew I had a dysfunctional family, but right know, were they serious? I needed to get away, and plus I had to use the bathroom. So, I went into the lobby and used the bathroom. I was so overwhelmed and upset at the whole situation that I broke down into tears. At the time when we need each other the most, they wanted to argue. The only sane ones there at the time were my three-year-old niece and me. I was thinking maybe they could learn something from us.

By the weekend grand mom wasn’t doing any better. There was no progress made. By this time, I kind of knew that she was not going to make it. However, I stilled kept my faith and still kept my conversation with the man upstairs to pull grandmom through this. I woke up one morning and went down to the hospital to spend time with my grand mom. As walked in to my grand mom’s room there was a surprise… My cousin AJ! It was an awesome moment that we shared when he hugged me because I hadn’t seen him in two years because he lived in Atlanta. He gave me a little joy. He was the only one that could really make me laugh and anyone else for that matter. He didn’t only bring his luggage from Atlanta; he brought his joy and bandages to fix the family. When he was there was no arguing because every time he would feel a heated argument coming on, he would tell a joke. I think the family started to notice that this is not the time to argue, this is the time to come together because we all needed each other.

I woke up for school this one morning and the hospital called my mother and told her they wanted to speak to the family. I had the option to go to the hospital or to go to school. I choose to go to school because from watching soap operas, anytime a doctor wanted to speak to the family the sound effect “duh duh duhhhh” (onomatapeia) came on. Surprisingly, I hardly thought about the situation all day in school. When I walked out of school, I saw my mom standing outside her car, my sister and cousin in another car, and my uncle and aunt in the other. (Repetion for Effect). They all had on sunglasses, although the sun was beaming that day I knew for a fact that was not the case. I got down to the car, and my mom gave me the biggest hug in the world. I could feel her pain trickling down my back. I pushed her off of me and jumped in the car. I hate for people to see me cry because I think I’m going to be viewed as a weak person.

Grandma, I need you! Please come back. I don’t know how to make it without you! You were my rock, my soul, and my sanity. (Magic 3). I promise I will do anything you would like to do. You want to play cards? We can even watch those western cowboy shows you loved so much. I can say I am a pretty strong human being and some people even say I hardly have emotions, however I knew for this one I needed strength. After the news of my grand mother’s death, I knew I needed to go home, grope my bible, and pray till no end. (Magic 3). After I had done this I had no emotions. I didn’t cry at all, I just thought. This tragedy could not be amputated from my brain. When thinking about this, all I could think about is how I didn’t make her the brownies I had promised for millions of years, and how I never came over to help water the plants like I had promised. The thing that gets me is my grandma lived right across the driveway. I couldn’t do this for her anymore. Basically, I lied to my grandma! I wish there was a postman for heaven, so he can come pick up the diabetic brownies I made and deliver it to her mansion in heaven.

I was drowning in my guilt. The anguish had captivated my body and soul. All I wanted to do is sit in the bed and let the guilt suffocate me. I tried to convince myself that what I had to do was so much more important than watering plants and baking brownies. I was sure that going over friend’s houses and going to the park was more important. Then I came to realize that those were only excuses grand mom used to get me to come over and chill with her for a while. I never knew how much I would miss my grand mom once she was gone. I would give anything up to see my grand mom for just three minutes. Never will I take another human for granted like I did my grand mom again. I treat my mom like the queen she is now because I can wake up tomorrow and she can be gone! I would just love to be able to hug my grand mom right now and if you have the opportunity to, then don’t take any moment for granted.

 

Blog Post- Q3 BM Odyssey Comparison



Quarter three Benchmark was a little challenging because I had to compare a novel and a movie (“The Odyssey” and O, Brother Where Art Thou) that had some comparison to each other. However, you really had to understand both the movie and the novel to see the comparison.

 


Lexus Forman

Q3 BM Dunn

 

Sometimes there is a time to be big- headed and a time to just be chilled and modest. The main character in The Odyssey, named Odysseus had different ways of leading than the main character in “O, Brother Where Art Thou,” Everett. However, a leader should be modest because when people are calm and are giving the right type of direction then the plan goes smoothly. Although Everett and Odysseus have some similarities, Everett’s characteristics such as him being open-minded and modest helps to get what he wants when Odysseus can’t.

 

In book nine of The Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew went to the Cyclops’ Island. During their journey at the island Odysseus stabs the Cyclops in the eye and destroys it. Being that Odysseus is very prideful, he tells the Cyclops in Book 9, lines 558-559 “Cyclops if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so- say Odysseus”. Odysseus was not thinking of course because the Cyclops is Poseidon’s son. Poseidon is the god of the ocean and Odysseus was traveling in the, ocean. Even though Poseidon didn’t cause any damage to Odysseus and his crew it could have been a huge possibility. However, Everett is a different story. Even though, Odysseus and Everett both want their props for their accomplishments, Everett remains modest allowing the crew to be safe. When Everett recorded his song in the studio, the “producer” liked it a lot. He liked it so much that he was willing to pay money for it. The producer was blind, so Everett came up with a clever idea to make the producer pay for six people when it was really only four. Everett didn’t brag about this mischievous thing that he did because he was smart about it. Just imagine if he got caught; he was already in enough trouble as it was.

 

In the Cyclops cave, Odysseus needed a disguise to get out the cave all in one piece. He came up with a sneaky idea for him and his crewmembers to hide under the sheep from Cyclops cave. Because this was Cyclops Island and the Cyclops only had one eye, the Cyclops is kind of limited or has a disadvantage on seeing some things. Odysseus knowing this straps his crewmembers to the sheep and Odysseus and his crewmembers make it out in one piece. In book 9, lines 380-381 “Then he hoisted the huge slab of to block the door and squatted to milk his sheep and bleating goats, each in order, putting a suckling underneath each dam. Everett and his “crew” Delmar and Pete met an African American man while driving down a road. This African American man’s name was Tommy. They had lost Tommy for a little while and found him again, but spotted him in a horrible place. Everett and his “crew” spotted him at a KKK chant and were in trouble. As a result of that, the crew disguised their selves as KKK members and was in the act of trying to save him. They almost got caught, however Everett being the smart guy he is wiggled his way out of that problem and rescued him.

In “Brother Where Art Thou”, Everett is the leader of their crew. Right after the whole incident with the KKK and rescuing Tommy, they were headed to the candidate’s pep riley. Something in Delmar’s and Pete’s head clicked and they wanted to know why Everett had to be the boss of everything and take charge. Even though Everett knew he wanted to be leader because it is just an awesome title to have because you have a say in what everyone does, he explained to the crew that he needed them. He also explains that he doesn’t think that they would have made it that far without them two on the journey with them. In the Odyssey, Odysseus was also the leader of his crew. However, he didn’t have three crewmembers, he had hundreds of them. Therefore, he is not able to care for his crewmembers like Everett is able to. For example in book 12, lines 280-282, Odysseus says “Of all the pitiful things I’ve witnessed, suffering, searching out the pathways of the sea, the wrenched my heart the most”. He was saying he needed his men but couldn’t really sit there and pity too much because he had other things to worry about.

Everett and Odysseus have similarities, but their differences ended up not helping Odysseus in the end. During their journey at the island Odysseus stabs the Cyclops in the eye and destroys it. Odysseus being prideful causes him to say something that wasn’t smart, when Everett does something sneaky and manages to keep his mouth shut. Also, Odysseus and Everett disguise their selves to get them out of trouble. Finally, Everett cares about his men and lets them know that and Odysseus does also, however he has too many men to really show it. This shows you that Odysseus and Everett has different ways of leading and Everett’s way pays off in the end.

 

 

 

 

Blog Post- Creative Macbeth

The Macbeth creative was a keynote that I enjoyed doing. My keynote was basically a collage of pictures that explained the scene that was appropriate.
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Blog Post- Independent Reading Assignment



The book I read for my Independent Reading assignment was “A Child Called It” By Dave Pelzer. This book is an awesome book and as a result of this the book review was a cool project to complete.

 


My Book Review

 

By: Lexus Forman

 

This book “A Child Called It”, written by Dave Pelzer is spectacular. This book is an autobiography about a child with a very unstable and abusive home. This little helpless boy was brutally abused by his mother, Catherine Roerva. His child abuse case was one of the most severe cases in California history. “A Child Called It” was mentioned in hard rock band Buckcherry’s songs “Rescue Me” and “A Child Called It”. These songs were on the album “Black Butterfly”. I have to believe that I am not the only person who enjoyed this book because this book was on New York’s bestsellers list for 6 years straight; that’s really remarkable.

This autobiography is about a man, Dave Pelzer who was abused as a child by his alcoholic mother. His mother had something against him. She didn’t treat her four other sons anything like she treated Dave. She tortured Dave. She did things to Dave like stuff his face into his brother’s soiled diaper and tried to make eat the feces, or force ammonia down Dave’s throat. Dave has come to a lot of near death experiences from his mother. The crazy thing is, that is mother wasn’t always an evil woman. She was actually a very caring and nurturing mother before she became an alcoholic mother.

             The characters in this memoir are Dave, Dave’s mother Catherine Roerva, Dave’s father Stephan Joseph Pelzer, and Dave’s brothers Stan, Ron, Russell, and Kevin. In this book the main conflict is between Dave and his mother, Catherine Rovera. However, there are minor conflicts in the book with Dave’s father and Dave. Dave’s father feels that he is too tired and stressed out to help Dave with the abuse problem because he is a firefighter and works almost a 24-hour shift everyday. I would have to say that Dave is a very strong and genuine person, and that is why Dave is my favorite character. Dave made it through that bumpy road in his life, and made it to be a very successful person despite the tragedy he went through as a child. Also, even though Dave’s mother is so evil and cruel, Dave doesn’t hate her. He actually loves her to death and cares deeply for her.

This book is a powerful memoir that really makes you think. It made me think of all the times I said “I hate my mother!” or “She gets on my nerves!” Dave would have probably killed for a mother like mine. I just believe that this book teaches people how to be grateful for the good things that you have in your life even though you might think that they are not the best because other people are going through so much more and would die for something that you have.

This book is a great book. It is an awesome book. I don’t think that this book needs any changes or has any weaknesses. This book kept me entertained from beginning to end. The drama never stopped and this might sound a little weird, but this book kept me yearning for more. This book to me was like a drug and I can’t wait to read the one that follows this book, “The Lost Boy”.

This book was not relatable at all. I couldn’t relate to any of the characters. Well maybe just one thing, however it is a minor thing. I can relate to Dave with his dad situation. Dave never sees his dad because he works a 24-hour shift and Dave’s dad knows what it is going on in the house, but to a certain extent he doesn’t know how serious it is. My dad doesn’t live with me and I barely see my dad. I can be going through hell right now (even though I am not) and he wouldn’t know a thing because he doesn’t see me at all. Dave’s dad could have saved him from his mother. He wasn’t scared of Dave’s mother; he fought fires for a living!

I would recommend this book to the world! This book is just a stellar example of a memoir. This is a remarkable book to read if you do not love you life so much right now. I wouldn’t recommend this book to the younger audience because the things in this book are too severe for a 10-year-old to be walking around reading. However, this book would be great for teens to read. I say this because being a teen; I know that we take our lives for granted almost every single day, wishing we had the glamour and all the money. We never say I am so blessed and thankful for this in our lives and this book will make you stop and ponder on that.

Blog Post- 4 Journal Entries


I have had multiple journal entries to complete over the past few months in English class. I have chosen my favorite to show case. I enjoy getting my feelings out on a piece of paper and that’s what journals allow me to do.



-A Hero

A hero is a person that I can look up to. A person that I can count on to make good decisions and have respect for their selves. I’m not saying a hero can’t make mistakes because in the movie “The Incredibles”, Mr. Incredible made a mistake that almost ruined his whole hero career. However, a hero doesn’t always have to be fictional, it can be someone right in your own home like your mother, father, or even your dog. A hero like this is never going to be perfect because they are only human. I really appreciate when a person or better yet, a hero can be real and acknowledge their mistakes and learn from them. That shows real character and gratitude.-----


-¿Secrets?

Hmm… If I got away with a really good trick would I tell? That’s a good question. However, no I wouldn’t! I would keep my big mouth shut! I’m not saying it wouldn’t be hard because who wouldn’t want someone to know what you did. You know that feeling when you feel like you have to tell someone so you write it down, or in my case yell it into my pillow. That might sound weird but it works, you should definitely try it. You can’t trust some people these days because when you tell someone something, and you say “promise you won’t tell a soul” knowing god darn well there going to tell Sarah, Annie, and everyone’s grand mom. Therefore it’s good to keep you’re secrets to yourself.

 

 -All Alone

There have been plenty of times when I felt like I was alone and had no one to turn to. However, recently I had an occurrence with that. This was in the beginning of 9th grade, when we all got our assignments for first quarter. It seemed as if they were never going to stop piling on. I was not used to benchmarks, nor not having test. Also, at my middle school I really didn’t have to try, the work was just really easy. All I had to do was show up in class and listen. The work was really easy and I completed a test like a pro.

I just wasn’t used to the work. The work was very complicated and came all in one bulk. It seemed as though this school was trying to set me up for failure instead of doing their best to help me. When report cards came, I could almost die. I got a C on my report card. C’s looked like the most ugliest letter at the time. I hadn’t gotten a C on my report since the fourth grade. In fourth grade, I made a promise to myself that I would never get another on my report card ever in my life. I felt like I had let myself down. All my peers around me had great report card and I felt alone. I almost wanted to crawl in a cardboard box.

 

-Am I Perfect?

            How do people expect you to be perfect, knowing that they aren’t perfect their selves? I believe that’s how high a lot of the adults I know expectations of me are. I have always been a “goodie two shoes” and now that I am a teenager, things are bound to change. You know how people always say act your age, not your shoe size. Well that’s what I believe I am doing. I am maturing with my age. However, I believe with maturing, comes with making mistakes; with making mistakes, you have to be mature enough to learn from them.

One thing I hate to do is disappoint people. I especially hate to disappoint the people I love the most, like my mom, dad, and close relatives. Their oppions is what matters the most and impacts my behavior. I know for a fact I don’t act the way I do at home in public and that is not something I am proud of. I think that if my family knew how I acted outside of my home sometimes, they would have a cow. Therefore, I try my hardest not to act like a teenager, and act like a mature teenager that I know my family would be proud of.

 

Blog Post- Myth Project

My myth project was a project we had to complete based on the novel “The Odyssey”. I had to tell the myth of a Greek God or Goddess and this project got to show off my creative side just a tad bit.
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Me Magazine

In the beginning of the year, Ms.Dunn assigned us the project of creating a "Me Magazine”. The magazine contains articles, pictures, and facts about your life. In my magazine, I put three articles that are written on my inspiration for music, passion for the Twilight Saga , and Christmas that my family attends each year. A reason for creating this project was so we could reflect on our work at the end of the year. After reviewing my magizine in May, I seen how much I improve on my academic life. 
Me Mag for Portfolio

Quarter 1 BM

Isabela Aznar

English

 

 

In my essay I try to explain the process in which Macbeth begins to go insane. The majority of the quotes I use are his and his wife’s. I explain each quote, and then talk about what is happening in each act underneath.

 

 

 

 

In Act 1 scene 4 line 149-155 Macbeth says “give me your favor. My dull brain wrought with things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains are registered where every day I turn the leaf to read them. Let us toward the king. Think upon what hath chanced, and at more time, our interim having weighed it, let us speak our free hearts to each other.” He is basically stating that he wants to help his kind friends if they ever need it,  and that he wants to be able to speak with them freely, with them doing so in return. He is declaring his loyalty to the king and these men, and acting as though they are his main priorities.

 

 

In Act 1 scene 5 line 64-68 Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth “Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t. He that’s coming must be provided for; and you shall put this night’s great business into my dispatch, which shall to all our nights and days to come give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.” Lady Macbeth is hinting to Macbeth that he should kill Duncan. She’s pushing forward with this idea that his death will bring them power and happiness, and that what more could they ask for than an opportunity for leadership.

 

 

In Act 1 scene 7  line 12-16, and line 25-28 Macbeth says “He’s here in double trust: first, as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong against the deed; then, as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself…I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the’ other-“ Macbeth is debating weather or not he should kill Duncan. He feels as though the deed is malicious and two faced, but at the same time he is being driven by his great ambition to get what he (thinks he) deserves. He ends his speech on a self-ambitious note, but is interrupted. To  me it seems like he is slowly leaning towards doing the deed.

 

In Act 2 scene 2, 47-53 Lady Macbeth says “Why worth thane, do you undend your noble strength to think so brainsickly of things. Go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hand. Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there: go carry them and smear the sleepy grooms with blood.”

Lady Macbeth is a little annoyed with Macbeth’s lack of confidence. He’s acting weird, and not doing things according to plan. This worries lady Macbeth, and she tells Macbeth to go back and do things right, he is too scared though because he doesn’t want to have any part in what he’s done…he is too traumatized.

 

 

In Act 2 scene 2  line 61-66 Lady Macbeth says: “Whence is that knocking? How is’t that with me when every noise appalls me? What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.” In this scene, Macbeth begins to say weird things. Lady Macbeth is confused, and he is acting completely freaked out. Macbeth begins to say things that don’t make sense, and begins to show fear and remorse for his actions. He has just heard a knock, and begins to talk about how he’s spooked, and he is talking about how no amount of water could ever clean the blood off of his hands. The deed he did was forever, and he cannot take it back.

 

 

 

In Act 2 scene 3 line 89-94 Macbeth says “Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time; for from this instant there’s nothing serious in mortality: All is but toys. Renown and grace is dead, the wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees is left this vault to brag of.” Macbeth is covering himself. He is pretending that he is upset and distressed by the murder of Duncan. He wonders who it could be, and why anyone would do such a thing to their worthy wonderful king but in reality, he is just pretending and hiding behind his own words, for Macbeth is the killer.

 

 

In act 3 scene 2 line 7-10 Lady Macbeth says “Nought’s had, all’s spent, Where our desire is got without content: Tis safer to be that which we destroy than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy” Lady Macbeth feels like they’ve done enough harm. In this quote she is saying that which they desired didn’t make them feel any happier. She is also implying that she would rather pretend nothing ever happened than to keep trying to find meaningless happiness, and she hopes Macbeth calms down back into the man he used to be. She is implying that Macbeth’s mind is starting to change.

 

In act 3 scene 4 line Macbeth says to the first murdered “Thou art the best o’ the cut-throats: yet he’s good that did the like for Fleance: if thou didst it, Thou art the nonpareil” What Macbeth is doing here is he is bringing his trickery and bribery to a new level. He is trying to make the murderer feel good about himself for doing his dirty deeds, when in reality the only person he is fooling is himself. Lady Macbeth’s worries about Macbeth only become realer and realer.

 

 

 

In act 4 scene 1 Macbeth says “how now, you secret, black, and midnight hags! What is’t you do” Macbeth is beginning to loose his mind to the point where he resorts to talking to the witches who brought him his prophecies and problems in the past. Macbeth later continues on to yell at the witches because he doesn’t want them to keep ruining his life.

 

In act 5 scene 3 line 3-9 Macbeth says “Bring me no more reports; let them fly all: Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane, I cannot taint with fear. What’s the boy Malcolm? Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know all mortal consequences have pronounced me thus: ‘fear not, Macbeth; no man that’s born of woman Shall e’er have power upon thee’. Then fly, false thanes, And mingle with the English epicures: The mind I sway by and then the heart I bear shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.  In this quote he is starting to panic because there is chance of someone else taking his spot on the throne. Macbeth is shaken, and has forgotten completely who he was. Macbeth is officially insane.

 

 

 

 

My Benchmark+reflection

My Project

My reflection:
This project was a challenging project, It sounded easy at first, but then when I went out to take pictures I had trouble trying to find good ones that represent Globalization. I struggled to take pictures, and put it off for a while, working on the pictures I already had. The part of this project I did enjoy was the little bits of research here and there that I had to do. for example I never knew that solar panels were made by a french men. I was surprised as to how hard it was to find evidence of globalization, its everywhere, but at the same time it is hiding. I took a picture of the solar trash compactor on a hunch, before I even did the research. I'm curious as to what else is a hidden sign of globalization, and what other cities have a lot of globalization evidence. I'm guessing New York has the most, but I'm not sure.

4Th Quarter Benchmark Portfolio.

​This blog is mainly about my growth as a 9th grade student over the year. I feel like this portfolio shows how much I have matured. This will show my fellow readers that I have struggled , but i have tried to do my work. 

My stregnths in english are that when i put my mind to do the work and i try , that i succed , but my weaknesses are that i do not try and i do not push myself like i should, which ruined my grades most of the time. I want to work on trying harder and working more and not doing everything late.

My expirences while make this portfolio where okay. I did not try a lot nor did i act like i cared about doing work , which i would consider an issue of mine. I barely tried to resolve them, but from what i could do , i tried. I wasn't as proud of going back on my work because i can honestly say i did not try this year. Years before i came to high school i was always an A student, but just recently i didnt seem to care. 

The piece of work that i am proud of the most has to be my Me Mag. I have to say this because that potrayed who i was at that moment in time and it helps me see how i have changed. I loved doing that project the most.

VIGNETTE

                                                                                     Zaria Fortson-Linton

 

Wake Me Up When September Comes Again

 

I hate the feeling were you’re losing someone who once use to be so close to you. It’s as if you feel so alone and tend to blame yourself for what happened. You ponder on the fact that you might have been the reason why, like you changed, when all in all it’s not just your fault.

My previous best friend and I met in September. It’s funny how we became friends actually. I had food and he asked for some and we shared it together. Our love for good food brought us together I guess. We connected on a similar level. Realizing that we can understand each either made us befriend each other even more. We later found out that we had all the same classes and advisory. We were soon to be inseparable, which I was very excited about.

One point in time, a lot of our friends thought we were in a relationship. Such rumors like this I think made our friendship go bad. Honestly, these rumors and thoughts made me think of him in that manner. The true feelings I had for him soon came to the light, but for him it was a whole different story. His smile was something that once meaned nothing to me, actually brightened my day. His eyes, which I never noticed soon, became something I loved to gaze into. I was smitten by his charm, his looks, his everything. I felt like I was in love.

When I told him how I felt about that topic, he didn’t respond to it. It was as if he didn’t want to here it. I felt ignored, and soon that became the case.  I began to notice that he became closer with other people. He would never answer my text or IM messages. We stopped talking as best friends for about two months. We would only talk to each other when we were placed next to each other. The conversations changed from being non-stop all day everyday, to innocent hellos and goodbyes. Then I was told that he and my other friend (who is also in our advisory) had a “thing” going on, which not only angered me because of how I felt about him, but also because no matter what he would always come to me with important information like this. I was hurt and crushed. Words could not describe how upset and forgotten I felt.  I didn’t want anything else to do with him.

Ever since this has happened, my attempts to try and gain our friendship back have died down. Yes, I miss how close we once were but I was tired of being the only one trying to rebuild our friendship when he didn’t want to help.

Also, this made me wish that I held back the feelings I had about him. The trust I had for him.  The love that I had for him. I wish we could have had a new start. Like September would come back, to bring back that one memory we will always cherish, remember and miss.

 


ODYESS COMPARE AND CONTRAST


 

Thesis Benchmark

 

Macbeth and the Odyssey are both remarkable stories.  In these stories they both revolve around peoples actions and changes. The main female characters go by the names of Lady Macbeth and Penelope. These women are both sent on emotional rollercoaster and eventually change from the beginning to end of these books. Even though Lady Macbeth and Penelope both change in the story, they both change opposite from each other.

 

In Macbeth and The Odyssey both the leading ladies, Lady Macbeth and Penelope, are married to strong men. Odysseus whom was married to Penelope was king of Ithaca, thus making him powerful. Lady Macbeth’s powerful mate was Macbeth who was a thane of Cawdor.  The ladies also change attitude wise and during that change, they were both strong at some point. In the beginning of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth was tricky and confident. She knew what she wanted and she wasn’t going to let anyone stand in her way, including the King.  Towards the end however, she became so crazy and paranoid due to her and Macbeth killing the king. Lady Macbeth felt remorse and guilt, but as for Penelope, she started out as being weak and timid. She became this way due to the suitors taking over her house. She didn’t act as brave as she should have when she was in the process of trying to get them to leave. Towards the end of the story, she became more powerful. She proved this when Odysseus disguised himself as a beggar and claimed to have known Odysseus. When Penelope found that out, she persistently asked him how did he know him, what does he look like, etc.

 

Although they both change, Lady Macbeth’s change was opposite to Penelope’s. In the Odyssey, Penelope goes from being quiet to fearless. She was quiet and scared from when the suitors took over her house. She didn’t act as brave as she should have when kicking them out. Penelope near the end of the story became brave when asking Odysseus (who was then in disguise) how he knew her mate. As for Lady Macbeth, she goes from being strong in the beginning to becoming crazy towards the end. She was strong in start when she knew she wanted to kill the King. She knew what she wanted and even pushed the then un sure Macbeth to go through it. But towards the end, she became swarmed with guilt and it soon sent her insane.

 These women have changed due to the paths in which they choose to fight for what they wanted. Their husbands careers is also the main cause for why the changed. Ultimately, all that matters is that they have changed from the start and ending of each book and that they were both dramatic.



ME MAG

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 This is my me mag. This magazine showcased many things about myself that my peers did not know. We made these in September which help us get to know one another.



Independent Reading Project



My Book Report

Zaria Fortson-Linton

 

Introduction:

The name of this book is called “I Like Him, He Likes Her” by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I found out that this book is part of a series titled “Alice Alone; Simply Alice; Patiently Alice. It follows the love life of a young girl named Alice who is struggling with school , love, and life in general.

 

This story is based on the life of a girl named Alice McKinley, who is a freshman, but so far her first year in high school isn’t going well. Her boyfriend of a year named Patrick breaks up with her for the new girl Penny, her father is getting married to her old middle school teacher and high school work is so much pressure on her. The main conflict in the story is her verses her feelings. Mainly because she’s learning how to deal with her personal feelings. Her learning how to grow up makes her my favorite character in this story. I think that readers will learn not only being single can be a bad thing turned into a good thing, but also life can be hard for young teenagers. What I mean by this is that most people make being single & not having a bond with someone may be bad at first , but then there are times in which being single can be a good thing. I also think that life is hard for young teenagers because us just starting high school isn’t easy. We have to adjust to new changes , getting older, meeting people , new school work and becoming a young adult. It’s very stressful.

 

I can relate to the main character Alice. I say this because I have been in this same predicament where the “love of my life” has left me for “something better” and I’m just left there alone. . . sad, not knowing what to do.

 

This book is a first person narrative which I love. The strengths of this book are it’s very easy to relate to and very understandable from Alice’s point of view. It is also very entertaining. The weaknesses of this book is that it seems to take to long to get to the point. Like it may take 2 chapters to understand what is going on. In order to understand where the main conflict will come from you’ll have to read into the story through the first 3 chapters.

 

I honestly would recommend this to young readers. I say this because it is very relatable and it is very entertaining.



JOURNAL ENTRIES

The first time i was judge was when i went to the mall with my mom. We went to a high priced store and the lady told us that this wasn't "our type" of clothing. That they do not sell Baby Phat clothing which is mostly worn by african americans. We felt angry because it was really rude.

If i were to have a fresh start on my past i would change the way my first year of high school started. I am not liked because of the choices i made in the beginning of the year. A bunch of 11th graders were calling me names, so i made a video and called them all out and they hated me ever since.

It really isn't that much important for me to fit it , only because i like standing out, i like being my own person and i like being different. Im proud to say i do not fit in and i always try to encourage others to do the same.

I think people write to express themselves. To have a place to be free. ALso to show others who they are. To have a way to reveal to the world who they are. It is an expressive and safe way to be themselves.

I feel as though an adult is someone who will take responsibility on what they are right or wrong about. Someone who will help others be mature and are mature themselves.  

My mother expects me to do good in school and to make sure im always on task. She knows that school is important and she feels as though school must be my number one priority. 

 

  

My Profilo Q4 Benchmark

Journals

Dairy Entry #2

    Guns, money, gangs, sex, power. Is that what everyone wants out of life? That’s not what i want. I want to get get married become a lawyer, raise a family. My husband and I will be able to take care of our family.
    Everyone wants tattoo’s or per icings. I want them too, but not for the same reasons. Why does everyone have the same tattoos? Same cloths? Same hair styles?  Most girls have weave, fake nails, fake body. My question is, why can’t you be yourself.

Journal Entry 12/17

    I’ve always wanted to be the girl that always a had a hot boyfriend that was everything. I always wanted to feel loved and held tightly. But that never happen. I had plenty of boyfriends, but none really fit my “list”. I always wanted a boyfriend, that was just like the husband of a Tyler Perry movie.    
    I got the reputation of being a boyfriend stealer at school. Thats not true. If your boyfriend loves you he wouldn’t leave you. Thats not all, I get along better with guys. I don’t really like girls.

March 16,2011

    Who am I? That is a question everyone wants to know. I can say I am Danielle, but will that answer their question.
    I live in what people call the Mix Suburbs. I live on Penn Campus family section. My father works for Penn part time, while my mother attended Grad and medical school. When people ask where I live i say Univ.. City. I am the only Black person within 3 blocks of my house.
    My neighbors think of black people in a different point of view. Some think all blacks are bad, but when we moved in their views changed. Since i’ve been exposed to these types of things , i believe it makes me a stronger person. I feel like i can achieve anything .

December 2, 2010

    Personally I do not care about fitting in. Cliques are mainly for people that don’t do their own thing. I have tried to fit in many times, but it never felt right. I tried a group, but it was for rich people. My family is middle class. The clic i wanted to join, wear all types of stuff, when I only wore Gap clothing. My parents were very disappointed in what I decided.
    I learned that fitting in is not important. As long as your you. If all you have anything  that you really need to do, just be you. Not what people want you to be. Just do your own thing.




The Odyssey Compare/Contrast Essay

    Penelope was born to Prince Icarius and Periboea. Periboea had to hide her daughter at birth, because she had given birth to a Girl, instead of a boy which her husband prefer. Once Icarius discover he had a daughter, he threw the baby into sea to drown. In her adult hood she was asked for hand in marriage. Odysseus her husband was to battle in the Trojan war since he was king. The Trojan War took 10 years, plus 10 more years to get home. For the past 20 years Penelope  stayed faithful to her absent husband. Not knowing if her husband was dead or alive. Penelope decide to make a deal with the suitors if they allowed her to weave a shroud for her father-in-law, she would consider marriage. Secretly she would unravel her work nightly. Three long years went by and no one notice her secret. Until Penelope servant revealed her secret. After a while, it was time for Penelope to announce who she was going to marry. Penelope decided, who ever can shoot an arrow through a row of 12 ax heads she would marry that one suitor. Penelope’s husband  has been out of her life for 20 Years. Could he be dead, missing, or worse taken by the gods.  This myth to me, is like any other T.V show. Many people could  be going through the same thing, as Penelope went through. What she did, many people would have never done. Rich, nice, caring suitors throwing themselves at you. Who wouldn’t take that? 
    Why did Penelope wait so long, to try to attempt to remarry a suitor. There were 140 suitors more or less. Why couldn’t she just marry one. Is there something that Penelope felt,  did she feel  that Odysseus was still alive. What made her pretend to take three years to create a shroud? There are so many question that I want to ask Penelope. Why did she do what she did. She Probably thought she never see Odysseus ever again, only in her dreams she’d think he come back. If thats so, then Penelope dreams came true.

Bibliography
Myth Encyclopedia
http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Pa-Pr/Penelope.html
Spark Notes
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/odyssey/section1.rhtml










Independent Reading Review



Read My Lips, Teri Brown.
Read My Lips, is not a bestseller or has won any awards. Its is also a great book. It deserves an award. It honestly such a great book. Lastly this book was published by a wonderful publisher, Simon Pulse.
    Read My Lips,  is a book about a teen girl named Serena. Serena just moved out from a small town into a suburbs area. Sarena family wanted to be closer to family, so they moved over 1, 000 miles closer to family. Sarena wanted what every other teen wanted, to fit in well to a new school. There was only one problem, Sarena was deaf. She wasn’t completely deaf, but she could also read lips. She made friends with the wrong crowd. Sarena had been invited to eat lunch with the most popular girls in the school, by a girl name Rachel. There are many girls in the group, Rachel, Sonya, Patrice, Kelly, and Kayla. Sarena can read the lips of other people to figure out what they say. Many people say Sarena has an-eye for Gossip. Sonya realized what Sarena’s talent can do to the clique. That’s when the conflict begins. Many students don’t expect a deaf girl to be in the most popular group. Its take other girls years to get into this “clique”, but only took Sarena a couple weeks. Once people start to find out that Sarena is the roots of all the gossip, drama is born. By the end of the book Sarena feels like the whole school, including her so called “friends” turned against her. My favorite charter was Miller. Miller ends up being Sarena’s Boyfriend. Miller was also called a school rebel. He is the type of guy that will do whatever he can do in his power, but he's also the type of guy that stays out of drama. Teri Brown reaches out to all types of people, mainly teens. In my personal view, I learn from other mistakes. This book was a learning lesson for me. I’m not saying I can read lips. But it teaches teens to not spread everything.

    The way Teri Brown wrote the book, I can’t relate to. The story was meant from one teen’s stand point of life. There are many more. I don’t go to a suburban school, or hang with the wrong crowd. I have my own crowd, which is me. I am me. Serena was also her. We do have similaties, such as finding ourselves through many wrong roads.

    This book had many strengths. I’m the type of person to learn from other’s mistakes. Serena taught me  who is a real friend and who isn’t. Teri Brown showed teens from wrong to right in a creative way. In a way people would be interested. Such as safe sex, true friends, drugs, and also behavior at school. One weakness that I noticed was how the girls treat themselves, and other around them. How they weren’t respectful to themselves.



    I would recommend this book to girl groups. Groups that are created for teen girls , just to sit and talk. It could also treat them a lesson like it did to me. M ay other people learn from other mistakes. This book can also help prevent things that happen in movies. Such as the movie Mean Girls. Many things happen in that movie that also happen in other schools. If girls would read this book and not only take it in, but believe it, a lot can be changed.

    Memior Vignette

    I was never always who I wanted to be. I was scared to show who I really was. Scared someone would judge me, or disrespect me.  I thought I had to be like everyone else. Scared to tell people things, like I model or play a lot of sports.   
    Now I can do or say anything, without fear holding me back. “Now starting this week, there will be High Schools coming from all over Philadelphia. I hope you all are excited to see different High schools.”  This is what my Middle school consular said to me. I can promise you I wanted to smack the life back into her. I wasn’t trying to go to a new school and start over. I was just trying to figure out who I was. Finding me. During this whole process of picking the 5 schools. I thought I was going to die. Shadowing was the worst. All the other schools expect for one, were not where I wanted to be. Most of the students didn’t look serious, and they were so “perfect”. SLA. That’s the school where I found myself. I could see myself attending the school. I was floating on a cloud when I shadowed.
    Months through the wait of an acceptance letter. I was still so attached to SLA that I had disconnected myself from Penn Alexander, the school I was attending at the time. I wasn’t well liked. I was myself and no one else. People didn’t really understand that. Why be like everyone else. It makes no sense. Everyone was mad to be themselves; your “creator” Created you as yourself not anyone else. That really upset me.
    Next came shadowing. I asked, begged, bribed so I wouldn’t have to go. But that didn’t happen. I was nervous. I had butterflies all in my stomach. SHOOT! I WAS SCARED! I went to the office with my mom, feeling like a pre-schooler on their first day of school. “Why did I apply to a school that had shadowing?” I asked my mother. As usual she ignored me, she does that when she thinks I said something stupid. “Danielle Little, you’re here to shadow correct?” Asked some lady from behind a counter. I know she can’t be the Sectary, they don’t wear jeans. Next thing I knew, this girl also named Danielle says I am her “Shadow”. Shadow…So I follow the person around like a shadow, this school gets weirder. The hallways were huge! SO MANY KIDS! SO TALL! Holy Crap, there was a hand coming my way. Next thing that hits me are people calling me shadow. Let me get one thing right into your head. My name is not shadow. My mother didn’t name me shadow. It’s Danielle. Not shadow.
    “Danielle how was it,” My mother asked.
    “It was a great school. Very nice. Different school, people, and teachers. But I think I will blend in well. “  I replied excitedly.  I talked non-stop the whole way home. I felt connected, like I was going back tomorrow. I actually woke up thinking I was going back to SLA. I couldn’t wait. Couldn’t wait till get accepted, to finally fit in, have a new start.  
    Oh shit! Im about to poop my pants, I was so scared! There were so many kids; TALL, short, black, white, orange and tanned. Saying hello once again. For me, this was my first hello actually attending this school. I saw a girl that looked like me…She looked like me from behind. She had locs, tall, dark skinned. She was very pretty. Later I learned her name after 35 weeks. Her name was Ayo-ola. I remember a girl named Morgan Taylor. Morgan and I grew up together. It was so nice to see her again I felt like I could make it through. I could be myself. Not be ashamed of who I was. Who Danielle Little is. I was especially happy that I have a close friend that also had locs.
One month In this can feel like I’ve been here for 4 years. I made great friends. You can tell that Mr. Lehmann picked certain kids for a reason. Everyone in this school are not like anyone else. There is something that makes them different. No one follows anyone. Everyone is who they are.  I feel that everyone knows me for who I really am. They don’t know the fake Danielle, they know the real one. The crazy, hyper, odd, nicest, caring Danielle Little there is.
    Along with people knowing who I really am, I met some really great people. New Best Friends, People that understand me. But there is this one person that stood out to me. Lets call him “Blue Eyeshadow”. Blue Eyeshadow is 3 years older than me, but he is different. He is not the type that just wants that one thing. We talk everyday, we find someway.
    Through Facebook, Ichat, Texting, or even in person. He is just amazing. Met no one like him Many people are like, Okay? Its just another guy. Well If you could see through my eyes you could also say, I can see her marrying him. Well all know guys aren’t into Married. I'm telling you I started looking at engagement rings, wedding dresses, bridesmaids. I’m a whole flight of steps ahead of the world. You ever read a book, and you wanted to know what happen so you asked your friends that read it. That's love you always want to know how it ends, and you get your friends to help you through it.

Overall, I love high school. Especially since i met “Blue Eyeshadow”. He made it all better. He helped me though a lot of stuff. Everything. One point in time i gave him the silence treatment for about 1 month. Christmas day, I swear was the magical day, where the happiness started. We text for 29 hrs. straight, while I was on a train to Chicago. Sigh, those were the days. I have some of our chats that really mean a lot save in a special folder for you.  You got me going crazy. You taught me how to love, how to handle no bullshit, how to be real, you open my eyes to the world.
     Two, SLA defined me. I am very happy i applied, got accepted, and chose yo be at SLA. I had a huge hole in my heart, ready to be filled. Now, ever since September 7, 2010 its been filled. I found myself.

Quarter 1 Benchmark: Macbeth Character Analysis

For our Quarter one benchmark, Red stream did a character analysis on either Lady Macbeth or Macbeth from the book Macbeth written by Shakespeare. Our mission for this benchmark was to create a piece that demonstrates one character's development and growth through out the play Macbeth. We did this by using quotes from the play to illustrate the transformation of Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. We also had to include a Thesis statement that was proven to be correct by looking at the quotes through out our benchmark. Finally, we made a concluding paragraph which is a summary.

Thesis statement: In beginning, Lady Macbeth is fraught with greed and wanted wealth and power, but towards the end, she starts feeling the guilt and regrets all of the deaths she and her husband caused.

 

In Act 1 scene 5, Macbeth sends Lady Macbeth a letter that explains to her that three witches hailed him as Thane of Cawdor and that he will be king. She doesn’t think Macbeth has the strength and great will and that he would just wait for the day to come instead of making his move now. So she is impatient and waiting for him to come home so she can convince him to do everything he can to get those roles as king and Thane of Cawdor. “Hie thee hither, that I may pour in spirits in thine ear and chastise with the valor of my tongue all that impedes thee from the golden round….” –Lady Macbeth 1.5.24-27. What she means here is she is talking to herself and trying to rush Macbeth to get home so she can encourage him to accomplish the roles that the witches predicted for him in his future. She wants to make a move now rather than just wait for the moment to come. This reveals that she is impatient and wants things to happen when she wants it, how she want it, and as soon as possible. However, she does not know if Macbeth will go along with her plans for him to become Thane of Cawdor and the King.

 

During Act 1 scene 7: Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth about her plan to gain the role of being the king. Macbeth is skeptical about her idea, he thinks the plan will fail and they will get caught or someone will put the puzzle together and get suspicious. “But screw your courage to the sticking place and we’ll not fail.” –Lady Macbeth 1.7.61-62. What she means by this is, basically if you believe then you can achieve; don’t think you can’t do something you didn’t try.  She is trying to convince Macbeth to join her in her plan, but Macbeth doesn’t think it will go as planned and work how she expects it to. Macbeth is still debating in his head weather or not he should go along with the plan and thinks it may fail.

 

Act 2 scene 2: Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have invited the Thanes and King Duncan over for dinner. Lady Macbeth has convinced Macbeth in killing King Duncan. The first part of her plan was to get the guards, which was guarding King Duncan’s bedroom, drunk and poisons their drinks so it will seem as if they are dead. Now that the guards are drunk and everyone is asleep, they can make their move. Aside Lady Macbeth says to herself  “That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold.” –Lady Macbeth 2.2.1. What she means by this is now that the guards are drunk she has gotten bolder and has faith that her plan to kill Duncan will work for sure. What this says about her character is that she is very selfish and only thinks about herself. She also would do anything to get her goals accomplished. However, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth still have to cover each other up so they will not get caught, and how much longer is it until everyone finds out what they have done.

 

Act 2 scene 3: Macduff is the first of the other Thanes to find out that Duncan is dead. He wakes up everyone in the castle and delivers the news that King Duncan is dead. Lady Macbeth exclaims, “What in our house?” When she finds out about Duncan. Lady Macbeth is trying to act as if she has the same impression as everyone else does, which is why she says this. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth doesn’t want anyone to get suspicious and think they killed him so they have to act as if they would if they didn’t kill him. At this point, Lady Macbeth doesn’t regret killing the king, and she is still focused on the wealth. Will she feel that she has accomplished something or did she just become insane?

 

Act 3 scene 2: Macbeth is now the king so Lady Macbeth has finally gotten what she wanted. Unfortunately, Macbeth is keeping a secret from her and she is scared of what he did because she doesn’t know what it is. Lady Macbeth says to herself “Tis safer to be that which we destroy than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.” –line 83. What she means when she says this is she would rather be the person that gets killed than is the killer with nervousness.  Lady Macbeth isn’t happy with the outcome of killing Duncan and becoming queen. She is beginning to show regret. Will she remain sane and return back to normal?

 

Act 3 scene 4: Macbeth hired two murderers to kill Banquo because he didn’t want Banquo to start getting suspicious about the murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth invited all of the Thanes over for dinner. Suddenly Macbeth starts to see Banquo’s ghost and he is talking to him. Macbeth seems crazy because nobody else can see Banquo but Macbeth. “Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often thus, and hath been from his youth.” –Lady Macbeth 3.4.54-55. What she means is sit back down Macbeth has had these problems since he was a child. When Lady Macbeth says this, she is trying to cover up for Macbeth. I think that she is starting to think that Macbeth is becoming insane.

 

Act 3 scene 4: They are at dinner and Macbeth is still talking to Banquo’s ghost that only he sees. So Lady Macbeth is trying to cover up Macbeth so he won’t seem so insane. “What, quite unmanned in folly.” –Lady Macbeth 3.4.75. What she means when she says this is to snap back to reality. Also that he is at a dinner with his friends so he can’t act so suspicious about their killings. However, with Macbeth talking to this spirit, hopefully he won’t say anything to reveal their murdering of King Duncan or Banquo.

 

Act 5 scene1: The Gentlewoman is talking to the doctor about Lady Macbeth’s strange sleepwalking at night. They are inside of her bathroom and talking about her. Then she walks into the bathroom and starts to talk. The gentlewoman tells the doctor that she is sleeping but it seems as if she isn’t. “A great perturbation in nature, to receive at once the benefit of sleep and do the effects of watching” –Doctor 5.1.9-10 What the doctor mean when he says this is, it isn’t normal to be sleep and able to do things you do when you’re awake.  However, the Doctor and the gentlewoman have learned a lot about Lady Macbeth because of her sleepwalking incident.

 

Act 5 scene 1: Lady Macbeth is sleeping walking and she is in the bathroom and thinks that she is washing her hands. She realizes that the blood isn’t coming off of her hands and there is nothing to make it come off; it is permanently on her hands. She doesn’t know that the doctor and the gentlewoman are listening to her in the bathroom. “Here’s the smell of the blood still” –Lady Macbeth 5.1.50. When Lady Macbeth says this, she is saying that the blood she is seeing in her sleep on her hands isn’t coming off. Lady Macbeth is really feeling the guilt for what Macbeth did which was killing Banquo also I believe because of the killing of King Duncan. She is sleeping walking and she is revealing everything to the doctor and the gentlewoman without even knowing. She is trying to wash the guilt away by washing the blood off her hands in her sleep, but it just won’t go away. However, now that the doctor and the gentlewoman know about Banquo’s killing they may go and tell someone.

 

Act 5 scene 2: Lady Macbeth has just gone back to bed and the doctor is about to leave. He tells the gentlewoman to remove any or everything that Lady Macbeth may use to hurt herself. He thinks that Lady Macbeth’s sleep walking is unnatural. “My mind she has mated, and amazed my sight.” –Doctor 5.2.77. What the doctor means is, that the he has comments of his own that he doesn’t say to the gentlewoman. The doctor has saw what Lady Macbeth was doing while she sleep walks and he has heard what she was saying. As a result, of this the doctor and the gentlewoman have realized how crazy Lady Macbeth is.

 

Lady Macbeth is a very confusing character in the story Macbeth. In the beginning, she is very fierce and only care about what she wants. Once she starts to get what she wants, she does not appreciate it and starts regretting the things she has done to get what she wants. The quotes in this report supports the thesis statement made by, stating what Lady Macbeth says. This also supports how she evolved in her attitude and the way she thinks about herself throughout the story. Shakespeare’s message to us about life and how we live it to me is, to there are no cheat codes, short cuts, or easy pathways to life. I got this message by knowing that Lady Macbeth wanted to be on top badly, she took all types of short cuts. Some of which were killing people, seducing people, and tricking people in her own little way. In the end, she regretted everything she ever did and she killed herself unfortunately. She drove her self to the max and could not handle the pain and suffering she was going through.

Q4 BM-Reflection

Reflection on the year-

As a 9th grade student, this portfolio says much about myself and expresses how my growth comes along as the time passes by. Throughout the year, there has been miraculous growth in the way that my pieces are written as well as their presentation. Coming into the 9th grade, it was difficult to even write a couple sentences that were well structured and were without the word “I” or used dead words such as “good” and “bad”.

When seeing my later pieces compared from the ones previously in the year, readers will be able to tell that my vocabulary has flourished to a great extent. It seems that the quality of my pieces have gotten greater and the challenges have followed. Knowing that in the beginning of the school year, in myself there was a scarce amount of hope when it came to my writing. As the months went on there is much strength that has been developed on my part.

Some strength that has been developed is my usage of vocabulary and the fact that it has become easier to form well-written paragraphs. Although, with these strengths have come many weaknesses. Struggling with not only time management and procrastination, but making sure that all the key elements for all the assignments is touched when it comes to analysis.

Stating analysis is certainly a skill that is important to be able to gain, and surely it is one thing that should be worked on in order for myself to be successful in my writing. In making this portfolio a main struggle was my “Macbeth” piece, since there were many dead words presented in my piece. As well as the fact that dead words were used I stumbled upon finding that there could have been more explanation throughout my writing.

Practicing my writing solved the issues that have been encountered and as the time went on it was easier to flow with what was incorrect because it took time to be accustomed to. For those reasons when looking back at the work from earlier in the year, there was such a change in the way things would have been said. For those reason my most proud piece was my “Me Magazine” because it reminded myself that as a person I will never loose sight of who I really am. 

Q2 Benchmark: Memoir Vignette

Our memoir Vignette was a basic story about an event that happened to us in our lives. ​We had to summarize it and not tell our whole life story, this was more of a show not tell project. We had to show our audience or the reader through our words so we used stylistic devices. We also had to outline the stylistic devices we used. Which made readers Want to read on and not want to stop reading. 

“No not the Nets!!”

By Tyanna Pleasant

  Tyanna, one great definition for a scaredy cat (opener). That was not always a perfect word to describe me. Ever since Amusement parks and I was introduced to each other, it just was not the same for me. The day my family and I went to this amusement park was the same day that I was convinced never to try an attraction that looks way too scary, way too challenging, or way too high off the ground  (repetition for effect) (Magic 3). Well I am going to tell you my story.

Two years ago on a lovely, bright, fun filled Saturday (Magic 3) in the summertime, my beautiful family and I decided to pay Sesame Place a visit. Unfortunately, while in the car I was very upset because from the name of the park, I can already tell that I was not gong to have any fun or any type of excitement or thrill there. I really did not want to be there, sitting in the small KIA Spectrum with my aunt, cousin, brother, sister, and my mom. My aunt said that the park is going to be really exiting and I was going to enjoy myself, but the more she talked about it the more I didn’t want to be there. We enjoyed ourselves and shared memories with each other in the car and while we walked around the park until, my eyes got stuck on an attraction that goes by the name of Nets ‘n’ Climbs. It stared back and gave me that you cannot stand a chance against me look so, in my opinion it challenged me to a duel (personification); since were at Sesame Place, I had the thought that nothing there was on my level of challenging. Therefore, I accepted the challenge, of course. The challenge was to climb from the beginning of the net to the end, which sounded like something easy, quick, and fun (magic 3) to do. I was very confident in myself. You should have saw me I showed off, strutted up those tall, long, spiral stairs (Magic 3) to the top where the nets began. When I reached the top of the stairs, I was surprised, so surprised that I could not even speak to describe what was going on inside my head. I was even more surprised (rep 4 effect) that I could barely feel my legs while they shivered in my pants moving fast like a running car’s motor. (simile) I was extremely surprised that I could feel my heart beating inside of my rib cage. The net was three stories high with about 200 feet of suspended net tunnels; it looked life threatening. As soon as I saw the monstrous (adjective) net, I backed down. Nope not me, I was not going to do it, I was not going to climb that net, nope not me, and I defiantly did not want to look at it even longer. So I dashed all the way back down the tall, long, spiral (magic 3) stairs back to the bottom where it all started. Unfortunately, my sister who stood at the bottom of the attraction in her shorts and tank top was burning up from the heat from standing in the sun, was watching me the entire time.  She ran up to me as soon as she saw me at the bottom of the stairs fast like a desperate cheetah running after its dinner (simile) she laughed at me non-stop making it hard for her self to catch her breath and talk. After laughing, she finally asked me ”What happened. (Dialogue)” I said “My dear sister, never judge a book by its coverShe said” Why what happened? You are okay right?” I said, “Yea I’m alright. Just do not judge anything or someone by its appearance until you actually try it or meet that person well enough so you can judge them or its performance. Judge them or it by their personality and not their looks please because looks are deceiving. That’s coming from the experience I just had.” (Dialogue).

While I walked away with my sister, I felt like the Nets ‘n’ Climbs had eyes, and they were staring me down (Personification) like an owl hunting for a mouse in the night. (Simile) I was willing to beat something that I knew nothing about which turned out to be something I did not expected it to be like. That day I also learned to never judge a book by its cover. Just because we are at Sesame Place, which is based on the show Sesame Street, which is a children’s show on PBS kids, does not mean that it is a place where older children cannot go to enjoy themselves, but older kids shouldn’t underestimate the capability of certain attractions and rides there. Unfortunately, that day I was convinced never to try an attraction that looks way too scary, way too challenging, or way to high of the ground (Repetition for effect).

Q4 Benchmark Portfolio: Roberto Abazoski

Reflective Cover Letter:
I feel my portfolio says that as a 9th grader, my writing level has grown better, and I can improve my past work. When you see my work, I try to get the reader to understand that the way I write is to attempt to write as clearly as possible to get my message across in answering the objective.
            
I consider my strengths in English are understanding what the project is asking for, and completing it. My weakness is the way I form sentences can confuse the reader on what I’m trying to get across. I still want to work on forming sentences better and also, stop making short sentences.
            
My experiences in making this portfolio were that I finally got to see how I used to write and watch as I progress through the year. I even forgot about some projects and I would think to myself, “Where did the time go?” The issues I encountered were that my quotes didn’t match my thesis in the quarter 1 benchmark, and some of my journals weren’t done so I had to finish them. I resolved these by changing my thesis so I wouldn’t have to find all new quotes, and I extended my journals revising them, too. I also, would confuse myself with what I’m trying to say so I rewrote those parts.
            
The piece I am most proud of is my Macbeth Creative comic book. I spent a lot of thought and care into crafting this on Comic Life. I would go to YouTube and watch each individual scene that had the quotes I chose in them, then I took a screenshot of the moment when the character would say it and add it to the comic to show the emotion given off when a character would say the selected quote.

Quarter 1 BM: In this quarter we read the book Macbeth, Our benchmark was to choose either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth, and then use quotes from the story that they or someone else said about them. We had to create a thesis to state how they changed, then use the quotes to show how they transitioned throughout the station.

Thesis Statement

Macbeth’s personality changes throughout the story, he is afraid of using violence for power, but then turns into an impulsive and violent person to withhold his power as king.

Analysis:

In Act 1, Scene 3 of Macbeth, Macbeth got news from Angus and Ross that Macbeth has been promoted to Thane of Cawdor. Since the Wëird Sisters predicted that Macbeth will be king, he is wondering how he will become it. Aside, Macbeth says to himself, “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir.” (Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 143-144). This reveals that Macbeth doesn’t know whether to take matters into his own hands or not. Also, Macbeth says it aside because he doesn’t want anyone to know what the Wëird Sisters predicted.

            In Act 1, Scene 7, Lady Macbeth tried to convince Macbeth to kill King Duncan tonight, and he is talking to himself alone on how to do it, but is still unsure if he wants to. Macbeth is talking to himself again, “If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly. If th’ assassination could trammel up the consequence, and catch with his surcease success, that but this blow might be the be-all and the end-all – here, but this here upon this bank and shoal of time, we’d jump the life to come.”(Act 1, Scene 7, lines 1-7) This reveals that he is strategizing how he is going to kill Duncan. Also, he is having regrets because he wants to be loyal instead of a traitor just like the previous Thane of Cawdor was. He is talking aside because he doesn’t want anyone else hearing the plot he has to kill King Duncan.

            In Act 2, Scene 1, King Duncan is asleep, the guards are drunk, and Macbeth is going to kill Duncan. Then, Macbeth is hallucinating and sees a dagger, but can’t grab it. He leaves it alone, pulls out his dagger and then goes to kill Duncan. Macbeth says, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind.” This reveals that Macbeth is scared, but he wants to kill Duncan so he can become king and have more power.

            In Act 2, scene 2 of Macbeth,  Macbeth just killed King Duncan, and now he is hearing voices saying that he won’t sleep again because he killed an innocent person while they were sleeping. After Macbeth did the deed, he wasn’t thinking straight and was scared. Macbeth says, “Methought I heard a voice cry “Sleep no more!” Macbeth does murder sleep” – the innocent sleep.” This reveals that Macbeth is feeling guilty that he killed someone while they were sleeping. Macbeth is also conscious that he did something wrong, and is punishing himself mentally.

            In Act 3, scene 2 in Macbeth, Macbeth knows that Banquo has a suspicion towards him for the death of King Duncan. So Macbeth is going to hire murderers to kill Banquo. While Macbeth is talking to the murderers he says, “I’ll call upon you straight. Abide within. It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul’s flight, if it find heaven, must find it out tonight.” (Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 140-143) This reveals that Macbeth would go to the extent of killing his best friends to get power. Also, it reveals that Macbeth will somehow get what he wants when he wants it. This is different than killing Duncan because now he doesn’t want the blood of his own friend on his hands so he gets murderers to eliminate Banquo. This way he can eliminate another possible threat trying to take away his power as king.

            In Act 3, scene 4 in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth asked Macbeth if he was a man. He answered that he was a confident one that even horrifies the devil. Macbeth says,” Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that which might appall the devil.”(Act 3, Scene 4, Lines 60-61) This reveals that Macbeth knows that he is a courageous and scary person. It also means that he controls how he acts, he wasn’t controlled by something else. Macbeth changed on purpose so he wouldn’t feel the guilt when he murders someone.

            In act 4, scene 1 in Macbeth, Macbeth was just visited by the 3 apparitions, the witches’ masters. The first apparition said to fear Macduff. After his encounter with the apparitions Lennox told him that Macduff has fled to England. Now Macbeth is hiring murderers again to murder Macduff’s wife, kids, and everyone else in his castle. Macbeth says,” The castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.”(Act 4, Scene 1, Lines 172-174) This reveals that Macbeth is now killing people in an impulse without thinking because he believes the witches and he wants to make sure he covers all the bases. It even reveals that Macbeth is even more bloodthirsty.

             In act 4, scene 3 in Macbeth, Malcolm is ready to kill Macbeth once and for all with an army backing him up. Malcolm says,” Come, we go to the king. Our power is ready; our lack is nothing but our leave. Macbeth is ripe for shaking, and the pow’rs above.” (Act 4, Scene 3, Lines 236 – 238) This reveals that Malcolm has had enough of Macbeth murdering everybody. Also, Malcolm wants Macbeth to taste his own medicine.

            In act 5, scene 1 in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking and couldn’t believe how Macbeth could be so evil and bloodthirsty because of all the people he killed. Lady Macbeth says, “Yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him?” (Act 5, Scene 1, Lines 37-40). This reveals that Lady Macbeth regrets making Macbeth kill Duncan in the first place because it is somewhat her fault that all these innocent people are being killed.

            In act 5, scene 8 in Macbeth, Macbeth is in the middle of a fight with Macduff. Macbeth would rather fight ‘til the end than surrender to Malcolm, and watch him become king. Macbeth says, “I will not yield to kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet.”(Act 5, Scene 8, Lines 27-30) This reveals that Macbeth doesn’t want to die, but knows that he will because he noticed that everything happened just like the 3 apparitions said he would die, Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane, fighting someone that wasn’t born from a woman, and to beware Macduff.

Conclusion:

            Macbeth should be thought as a loyal person, but people in his life influenced him for the bad now he stayed like that. These quotes supported the thesis because from the first quotes to the tenth, it is obvious that his personality has changed. The first quote says that he is wondering if fate will have him king without him not doing anything, but then in the second quote Lady Macbeth convinces him that he has to kill Duncan to be king. The quotes after the second show how his character doesn’t change back, but only gets worse and becomes bloodthirsty and greedy. Macbeth killed innocent people just to stay in power. Then, Macbeth killed Macduff’s wife and children because he was bloodthirsty. Shakespeare’s message about life could be that people would go to extreme measures to get what they want even if it means losing the important things in life.

Quarter 2 BM:For this quarter’s benchmark, we had to write a memoir vignette. A memoir vignette is capturing a slice of a moment in your life and writing it as vividly as possible. This story has to be connected to the author strongly. 

“The First Time I Was Called A Hero”

            I’ve always dreamt of being a hero for a girl just like in movies. (Opener) What happened last summer was similar to that. It all happened in the suburbs of Allentown, Pennsylvania, where most of my cousins lived. I am the oldest in my generation, so I play with little kids when I visit them. Their names are Nick, Samir, Reshat, and Adrian and they are all boys.

            We all were at Samir’s house playing video games on his Xbox 360. It was really exciting because we were playing around and having fun since we didn’t see each other for weeks. 1:00 in the afternoon came, and we started getting bored. None of us had an idea of what game to play next. We turned it off and just went outside. I noticed my aunt walking into her house. It had been a while since I saw her. Zooming across the grass and my cousins following me, I conversed with her and caught up with new things happening in our lives. We then continued what we were doing. Adrian saw the soccer goals in his humungous backyard and he came up with the idea to play one on four, me on my own team to keep it fair. Reshat was about to get his soccer ball, and that’s when it all started.

            Everyone stopped moving and I just heard “LOOK!” (Dialogue)I looked in their direction to see a huge, tall, black, and husky Pit bull going at about forty miles per hour! It crossed the road and then aggravated Reshat. Possessively he asked “Why is it peeing on my tree?!?” (Dialogue) My uncle saw the dog too and called all of us to get inside. He went inside, too. Samir listened, but not Nick, Reshat, and Adrian. Reshat encouraged Nick and Adrian to chase the dog for no reason. I still find it confusing how my aunt was still there and she was yelling at the three kids to come back and leave the dog alone. Her voice was weak as she was. I noticed that they didn’t listen, and then I yelled so they would hear. At this point, I think they don’t care about what anyone tells them to do. The dog went in the backyard, and out of my sight. My cousins went in that direction racing across the dark green grass. I had no intention of chasing them; I think they were in the middle of a sugar rush … I’m not sure. As I witnessed them trying to chase the dog they got out of my sight. Seconds later, I saw the dog just appear out of thin air chasing them back trying to attack the four boys. My cousins racing their hearts out even more. I blanked out, and had no clue what to do. I could only hear the screaming and my aunt shouting for help. HELP!! HELP!! RUFF RUFF GRRRRR AAAAHHHH!!!! HELP!! HELP!! (Rep for Effect, Dialogue) So many things happened at the same time so soon.

            Reshat and Nick managed to get inside, but Adrian is cornered in-between the two air conditioners mounted to the side of Reshat’s house. Desperately he cried, “ROBERTO HELP ME!” (Dialogue). I had to do something! At that point I risked my life to possibly save his. Never in my life have I ever seen that look of vigilance on anyone’s face until this very moment. Somehow a little voice in my head told me to keep the dog in one place and calm it down temporarily. I held the dog back by its body right above its back legs, just enough to calm the vicious animal from clawing. I told Adrian to run away, but that didn’t do anything. It just made the situation worse. The dog turned its body and took a quick claw at my face then chased after Adrian like he was ball that his owner threw to play “fetch” with. (Simile) He got so scared, and trembled on the grass with fear and surrender. The dog became even more vicious. He started attempting to bite, and I still heard my aunt in the background trying to get help. It finally hit me; the dog had a collar on so I grabbed the dog by its collar. It was perfect. I was able to keep him in one place until my uncle came outside seconds later. He told me to slowly let it go. I started walking in the middle of the street to catch attention and started asking whose dog this was. It all happened so fast. Dogs are not always affectionate as they show up on TV to be and can be very defensive and violent. Also, they shouldn’t be messed with. (Realization) As I asked all the nearby neighbors in sight, I kept hearing the same answer, “Sorry that’s not my dog.” “I don’t know whose dog that is”. (Dialogue) At that point I felt hopeless. I thought if I let the dog go, it would attack me too. Luckily, a neighbor who is a dog owner offered me a leash to tie to the collar on the dog’s neck. My uncle ran towards me and helped tie the vicious beast to a tree nearby.

The neighbors called 911 and it was finally over! I heard Adrian was badly scratched on his face and body. As my whole family came outside, they noticed the situation and finally got the cops and the ambulance to come. The cops were writing out their report while the ambulance truck took Adrian away. Turns out he had several scratches on his face and body and they took him to the ER to make sure he didn’t have any infections or diseases. I had to be there for the police report to make up one of my biggest lies ever to the cops to make it look like it was the dog’s fault when it was clearly my cousin’s for chasing the dog in the first place. They actually bought it because I never lied that good in my whole life. The cops were able to get the owners, but I don’t understand how they didn’t get in any trouble from the damage the dog did to Adrian and not keeping the dog supervised letting it run free. I went inside my other uncle’s house to get the horrible dog smell away and wash my face. I didn’t know what to tell him so I gathered my emotions and told him about what happened in the calmest way I could. He immediately got up and bolted to Nick. (Nick is his son and he wanted to talk to him) Suddenly, my whole family came outside. My family is unusually large in quantity by the way so it was a huge crowd. They all kept asking, “What happened?!?” (Dialogue) It got annoying after awhile because I kept on repeating the story and answering their questions. This changed the whole day for me and everybody else. Out of all of the family members, my aunt was the most thankful because she knew if I wasn’t there, she couldn’t have done anything.  The rest of the day was too long. I also reeked of the dog’s smell that I couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard I tried. I took a shower and changed my clothes but I still smelled that distinct odor. I’m glad Adrian is okay though, he only had minor scratches and the dog didn’t have rabies. This experience was extremely adrenaline pumping and terrifying, but I still wouldn’t mind doing it again. As long as I’m saving a girl. (Closer)


Quarter 3 BM:
In this benchmark, I chose to compare the portrayals of Cyclopes in artwork vs the portrayals of Cyclopes described in the book The Odyssey. I downloaded the artworks from the Internet, and used descriptions from the book, and then compared them.

This quarter, our benchmark is to compare the portrayals of Cyclopes on the Internet vs. how they were described in the book The Odyssey. In Greek mythology, Cyclopes are one-eyed giants. Cyclopes are interpreted and portrayed in so many different ways. You can sight the different ways they are portrayed by searching for images , or reading The Odyssey interpretations of Cyclopes. Although the portrayals of The Cyclops in The Odyssey, and in artwork are similar in appearance, the emotions conveyed in each version are different, which leads to different interpretations of this mythical creature.

In The Odyssey, the Cyclops described itself as fearless and extraordinarily strong. The Cyclops was saying that it is not afraid of the gods’ powers, and that the Cyclopes have more force than Zeus. “ ‘Stranger’, he grumbled back from his brutal heart, ‘you must be a fool, stranger, or come from nowhere, telling me to fear the gods or avoid their wrath! We Cyclops never blink at Zeus or Zeus’ shield of storm and thunder or any blessed god – we’ve got more force by far”. (Book 9, Lines 306-311). The Cyclopes in The Odyssey all use humungous clubs, or as Odysseus described it as huge as his ship. “ Here was the plan that struck my mind as best… the Cyclops’ great club: there it lay by the pens, olivewood, full of sap. He’d lopped it over to brandish once it dried. Looking it over, we judged it big enough to be the mast of a pitch-black ship with her twenty oars, a freighter broad in the beam that plows through miles of sea – so long, so thick it bulked before our eyes.” (Book 9, Lines 356-362) Judging by how massive the Cyclops’ club is, its body is even more monstrous. Also the Cyclopes’ have one eye, it is mentioned in the title of Book 9, “In The One-Eyed Giant’s Cave”. Lastly, in the Odyssey, the Cyclops was always mad when it was talking to Odysseus.

In artwork, the three Cyclopes downloaded from the Internet all are huge, strong, and imposing. In the second interpretation, the Cyclops is holding a large wooden club. In each artwork, each Cyclops has only one eye. Additionally, the emotion in each of their face is either calm and serene or happy. In the second and third artworks, the Cyclopes are interpreted as monsters, while in the first artwork, the Cyclops is portrayed as a man. The artworks are at the end of this document.

In both the artwork and the book, the way the Cyclops was portrayed and interpreted were both similar and different. They were different by their emotions given off, and are similar by their appearance. For example, they are all huge and strong, and all have one eye.  Also, by the similarity with them having a club. Although, they are different by their emotions because in the artworks they appear as calm, serene, and happy. Whereas in the book the emotions the Cyclopes give off to Odysseus are anger and hatred. These examples show that the interpretations are more similar than different.  The only way they are different is by their emotion, the Cyclops in The Odyssey is angry while the Cyclopes in artwork are neutral. What if Cyclopes were actually very different than what people portray them as if they really existed?

 

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Bibliography:

http://images-mediawiki-sites.thefullwiki.org/01/1/4/8/84576213757493718.gif

http://files.turbosquid.com/Preview/2010/12/05__17_06_00/CyclopsPic12.JPG99b50d27-7b38-4cf7-ab4c-a08d57a78ad9Larger.jpg

http://opinionsandexpressions.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/cyclops1.jpg


Creative Piece: 

In this project, we had to come up with a creative idea to present our Q1 Benchmark. I chose to do a comic and named it “How Evil People Are Made”.
Click Here


Independent Reading Project: 

This is the first independent reading book of the school year. I read the book The House Of The Scorpion, and wrote a summary along with my opinion on the book.

This work of art I just finished reading is called The House of The Scorpion, written by Nancy Farmer. Nancy Farmer has written 6 other novels, and several picture books and short stories. For this book in particular, Nancy won 12 awards. They include "National Book Award", the "Newbery Honor" and the "Michael L. Printz Award For Excellence In Young Adult Literature".

            The main characters in the book are Matt, El Patrón, Maria, Celia, Tam Lin, The 3 Keepers, and the Lost Boys. Matt is a clone that has El Patrón’s DNA. El Patrón is the original Matteo Alacrán, and also a powerful drug lord. Maria is the younger daughter of Senator Mendoza. Celia is the chief cook and Matt’s caregiver. Tam Lin is a bodyguard for both El Patrón and Matt. The three keepers are named Raúl, Carlos, and Jorge, they take in Lost Boys and put them to work. The lost boys’ names are Chacho, Fidelito, Ton-Ton, and Flaco, their parents were arrested for crossing the border while they were left behind and took in by the Keepers.

In this story, Matt was born by El Patrón’s DNA being put into the womb of a cow and the cow giving birth to it. Celia has raised him as her own until one day when a couple kids enticed him to come and play outside. The door was locked so he broke the window and got out, only to find out that he cut his foot on shards of glass from the window. Moments later, he is in a big house with maids treating him. Everybody knows who he is and then calls him a monster because he is a clone. Rosa, a housekeeper, then let him sleep. The next day, he was put in a shed with hay all over the floor and fed daily, basically jailed.

After a long time, Celia found him and got him out. El Patrón came and met his clone for the first time. El Patrón punished Rosa by turning her into an eejit, a robot with a chip planted in their brain that only allows the robot to do 1 simple task. El Patrón leaves because he can’t stay in that house. To assure that Matt isn’t going to be harmed, El Patrón lets Matt choose one of his bodyguards, and he picks Tam Lin. Tam Lin watches him and teaches him to ride a horse after school with his own eejit as a teacher. As the story goes on, Matt hears bad things about El Patrón, but doesn’t believe it. It was until he found out that there were other clones of El Patrón and he used their body parts to keep El Patrón alive and live the lives that his brothers and sisters never had. Matt’s only option is to escape, but he knew it wouldn’t lead to freedom.

When the day for Matt to die came, the whole story turned by what Celia has done to Matt and sabotaged El Patrón’s plan. El Patrón dies and Tam Lin helps Matt escape by telling him what to do and where to go. Tam Lin even gave him a chest with books, water, and note. As Matt is escaping, the Border Patrol catches him so he explains to them a story, then they take him to the keepers. It is like an orphanage without getting to be adopted, where keepers look after the “orphans” as they feed them and give them work to do. Matt is friends with the other lost boys. There isn’t any hope for any of them because they can’t escape. This changes when Jorge, one of the keepers, starts to beat Ton-Ton, and the rest of the boys join and fight back against Jorge.

This results to Chacho and Matt being dumped in a hole of dead bodies. Chacho got hurt from the bones crushing him. They finally escape by climbing out of the whole. Then Ton-Ton and Fidelito came to them with the shrimp harvester and escaping with it. After a long ride to San Luis, the boys run into Guapo and Consuela. They offered to drive them to the hospital using the hovercar. At the hospital, the sisters then were treating him. As, Matt and Fidelito were walking to see Chacho, they noticed Ton-Ton mouthing “run” because the Keepers were there trying to take Chacho. The keepers saw Fidelito and Matt and they started gripping them up to bring them back to the plankton factory. Everyone was fighting back until Doña Esperanza came and cleared the whole fight up by getting Ton-Ton to tell the whole story why everyone was fighting.

The keepers were arrested because she knew they were trafficking drugs and used that against them. After all this, Doña Esperanza discusses with Matt about what he should do when he will be the new reigning drug lord. Matt is now back to Opium, where he now has to complete the mission Esperanza gave him.

            The type of conflict in this book is person vs society because the antagonists were all against Matt and the orphans for different reasons. One reason is because they escaped from the orphanage, and the second is because Matt was a clone that escaped his death that was supposed to die and give organs to El Patrón.

            My opinion towards this book is very positive and I enjoyed reading it from cover to cover. This book kept me entertained and has a great plot. This book doesn’t have any weaknesses in my opinion because it was such a great story to read and I could almost feel like I was there watching everything in 3rd person POV. Also, there is nothing in this book that I would change.

            Would I recommend this book to other people? Yes, most definitely I would recommend it. As, I stated in the previous paragraph, it is a great plot and it will keep the reader anxious to find out what happens next.

4 Journal Entries:

These are 4 journal entries that I wrote. Mrs. Dunn gave us a question to answer each day and these are the ones I enjoyed writing about the most.


To me, fitting is somewhat important. This is because life isn’t fun without friends. I don’t do much to fit in because the kind of friends I have, all have different personalities and we get along like we’re family even though we only knew each other for a couple of months.

            I have never done anything as a part of a crowd and felt bad about it after. This is because I never get the chance to do stuff like that. The people I hang out with don’t attempt to or do anything in life they would regret. Although, if I did have a chance to participate in such activities, I would’ve thought twice about it to know what I was getting into.

 

            If I were to have a fresh start in one part of my life, I would start high school over again. I chose this specific option because I don’t want people to look at me as just that quiet guy. I would’ve done everything right. With a fresh start, I would take my high school experience and stay on top of work to relax and socialize without thinking a project is due the next day and I didn’t start it yet. Socially, in that period I could’ve made more friends, knew more people in the school, and actually “have” fun in high school just like everyone says it is.

 

            So winter break just ended and I’m back in school. Just imagine the joy on my face coming back to school when I just spent half of my break doing schoolwork. Yes, the break felt really short. I didn’t get to do all the things I wanted to, but at least I got most of my work done.

            Beside all the cons of my break, there were many pros to it, too. For Christmas, I got a drum set that I wanted since I was a little kid, some clothes, money, and a warm and cozy Snuggie! The rest of the break I spent at my cousin’s house sleeping over. New Years was WAY better though! The whole family got together and had a party. For the first time in a long time, I actually had fun at a family party!

 

            What makes someone a good storyteller is by no matter what the story is, the person can make the story realistic. Personally, I like when someone makes a story funny when its not meant to be funny. A good storyteller can bring the story to life just enough to visualize what the scene would look like to be experiencing it instead of just hearing about it.

Now, with a good storyteller, you need a good story. A good story is when there is meaning to the story. By meaning, I mean to tell a moral, to use to make a joke out of, to tell a good past time, etc. 

creative project

Q3 benchmark: The Odyssey Compare/Contrast Essay

​For our third Benchmark, Ms. Dunn gave us a compare and contrast essay. In this essay, we have to make and essay comparing and contrasting a character or event in The Odyssey to another character in another work of art. We had to use examples from both the odyssey nd the work of art we chose to give examples of how they are alike and how they are different. You could compare and contrast the way they act towards others, their transformation through out the story, their roles in each story, or anything that makes them alike. In order for this essay to be done, we also had to take a visit to the Lit Lab to get our essays reviewed by a senior who is very skilled and have great english tips when writing.


The characters that are being focused on in this benchmark are Eurycleia from
The Odyssey by Homer and Chucha from Before we were Free by Julia Alvarez. They are two nurses that are looked up to by their caretakers. They are trustworthy, loyal, and wise. Chucha and Eurycleia are appreciated but Chucha has her way of not speaking directly, which leaves her family clueless about what she just said.

       Chucha took care of a high middle class family who had to hide from a governmental agency called the SIM. She kept her family motivated to get away from this way of living. She spoke to people leaving hints about the future in a way that her family had to unravel the meaning of what she said. “You will fly free like the butterflies Anita.” (Chapter 3) Chucha is telling Anita that she will escape the treatment of the SIM soon. Anita, the little girl in the story, asked Chucha to promise not to tell anyone about the blood in her sister Lucinda’s bed from her menstrual cycle. Chucha kept her promise and covered up the evidence; She washed the sheets and had all of the blood out of them. Likewise, Eurycleia took care of a wealthy and royal family who was waiting for a family member to return home. She stayed loyal to Odysseus while he went out to sea. Eurycleia promised Odysseus that she would not tell anybody in the house that Odysseus was dressed as the old beggar. “Child… What nonsense you let slip through your teeth! You know me- I am stubborn, never give an inch. I’ll keep still as a solid rock or iron...” (Book 19, lines 555-558). Eurycleia and Chucha families look up to them and trust them with all of their secrets, and they know what is best for their family. They are also adept wise and lived along time so they are very knowledgeable. Both Eurycleia and Chucha are also treated with more respect and courtesy than the other servants are and maids in the house.

       Chucha has her way of speaking in riddles or in a puzzling way where in order to understand her, people will have to unravel what she is saying. When she speaks, most of the time Her family had to really listen to what she is saying in order to understand the point she is trying to get out. Most of the things she says are about what will happen in the future. She knows what to do in every situation, and she helps her family whenever someone gets hurt. She knows exactly how to heal them and how to keep them calm and she has helped every one in Anita’s family generation. Chucha is also very superstitious, she sleeps in a coffin and everything she owns is purple, she has to dye everything purple, and there will never be a time or day where she will not wear purple. “’Wow!’ He says glancing around at Chucha’s purple towel hanging from a peg, her purple mosquito net strung between two nails, her purple dresses draped over a chair. ‘Does everything she wear have to be purple?’ I nod ‘Even her panties and stuff have to be dyed…” (Chapter 3, pg. 34-35) She believes that this will keep any bad spirits away from her and her family. I hope that Chucha will be able to keep the SIM away from her family also.

Eurycleia has been apart of Telemachus’s family for a long time. Eurycleia is the only the nurse in the house; she also is one of the women that were loyal to Odysseus. She is very wise and can tell Telemachus everything he wants to know about his father. She helped care for Odysseus since he was a boy, she knows about all of his scars and how he got them. Eurycleia could identify Odysseus just from one of his scars. “That scar as the old nurse cradled his leg and her hands passed down she felt it, knew it… Joy and torment gripped her heart at once, tears rushed to her eyes- voice choked in her throat… ‘Yes, yes you are Odysseus-oh dear boy I couldn’t know you before till I touched the body of my king’” (Book 19, Lines 528-538)

Chucha and Eurycleia are greatly admired by the people they live with, although Chucha has her way of speaking unclearly sometimes, and leaves her family thinking for a longtime about what she has said. They are very kind ladies who took care of the same family for at least 2 generations. They are treated better than any of the other maids or servants in their homes because of this, they are very trustworthy, honest, and loyal to their care takers. They are very similar but they also have many differences. Chucha took care of a high middle class family who was hiding from the government; and Eurycleia took care of a royal family who mourned for a family member to return home.