The Odyssey compare and contrast

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

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

 

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

    

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

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

 

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

 

 

Moody Quarter 4 Portfolio Reflection 9th Grade

Quarter 4 English Benchmark-Portfolio

My Four Top Journal Entries Q4 Benchmark Portfolio

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

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



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

 

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



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

 

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



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


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



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


The Odyssey Analyses

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

Dionysos (DionusoV)

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

Reflection:

Reflection:

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

 

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

 

Macbeth Character Analysis

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

 

 

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memoir Vignette

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

  

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Odyssey Compare/Contrast Essay

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

Camille Morton 4th QB

​Link

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


Independent Reading Review Project

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

  

        

 

 

 

Benchmark Quarter 4: English Portfolio

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



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

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

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

Out of the Country Without a Passport

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

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

    Odysseus and Poseidon

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

Me Magazine

Introduction:

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


Me Magazine

Evan Cohen Q4 Benchmark

Link

What did you find most challenging about this project?
Actually connecting the various globalization topics to things in Philadelphia.

How did you go about collecting the images or selecting the images?
I wandered around the city on the hottest day ever with 3 other students and took pictures of the appropriate topics.

Which image is your favorite? Why? Elaborate.
The Picture Of the archway entrance to China Town. It stands as a literal entrance to an entire culture.

How prevalent is the evidence of globalization in Philadelphia? Do you think it is more or less so (evident) than in other large cities in the US? Why Why not?
I would say it is extremely prevalent in some areas and completely dry in others. Some parts of the city are entirely self dedicated while others are cultural hubs.

Top Journal entries

​Throughout our year as ninth graders in Ms.Dunn English class, we have wrote Journals. Our Journals are about many different things and our opinions on them. We could either do a free write and just write what comes to mind or how we were feeling, or we could answer the journal prompt that was written on the board for us to answer. Our Journals would also relate to a story that we are reading as a class. Below are my top four Journals that I really enjoyed writing.


What are people’s expectations of you? What are your own? Some of the expectations put on me by others are to be mature, responsible, peaceful, hardworking, to know how to do almost any and everything, and to always be blithe. These are not expectations I put on myself though. I live by the expectations I have for myself and not the expectations other people have of me. The expectations I have for myself are to not let little things ruin my day, to set an example for everyone, act my age not my shoe size, and to stay positive.

 

Why write?

The main reasons why I think we write is, because it is a way of communicating, showing your knowledge, and it is an eloquent way of expressing yourself to yourself or others. Writing is a very useful skill in my eyes.

         You can communicate through writing, by writing letters, notes, and it could even help you speak to people who can’t hear. Communicating through writting is a great method of learning and teaching so it could also help expand your knowledge.

         Writing is a way of showing your knowledge. I believe this because you have to write what you learn in school and many other places. Writing also shows that you know how to read and that you know how to speak the language you are writing in. Writing is also a way you could record your knowledge. You cannot always remember everything you say or learn. Therefore, when it comes down to your knowledge writing is a big aspect.

 Writing is an eloquent way you can express yourself to yourself. I believe this because when you write in a journal or diary, you are writing what you think about something or how you are feeling. This is a great way to relieve stress. Writing to yourself could also keep you out of drama by writing down things that you may not like about somebody or something.

 

Memoir Notebook Free write Nov. 29

Being a freshman at SLA for me is very exciting, fun, and I had to learn how to adjust to it. In the beginning of the school year, I knew I was going to make many friends, but I thought they were only going to be freshman. I met many 10th, 11th, and 12th, graders. Well not many 11th and 12th graders but its all right I will meet more as the days go by. I really loved how SLA have colored streams for all of the freshmen obviously I was out in red stream (which is the BEST stream ever with the BEST teachers ever) my connection with red stream is closer than ever. I look at everyone as one of my sisters or brothers. I also met 9th graders outside of red stream through my friend that came from my old school Hamilton. I have no classes at all with them so I really did not like the beginning of the school year too much. However, if they were in the same stream as me then I would not be able to meet more people out of red stream. Now that I have gotten used to this school, the people in it, and the environment in and around the school I am extremely happy that I chose this school and I made really close friends in red stream and around our school that have my back and who will never let me down. I also know that I worked hard this marking period and my report card will show and it will be AWESOME!

 

Journal response to one Freedom Writer OR writes your own FWD Entry. What would yours say?

My favorite diary in the freshman year fall 1994 is on page 11-12 diary #4. This is my favorite because I could relate to it in a way. I would also want to see a fight just for the fun of it. Once I was hit during a fight of insolent children, and I did not do anything but stumble and almost fall. It was unexpected, but it was by accident the person was jumping up and down and was not really paying attention to the people around him. For the rest of the day, I was a little shocked because I never was  hit like that; also, because I can be a little over dramatic in situations like that. So, I could relate to this journal in a way.

 

DaVont Martin Benchmark Q4

Click here to download the iweb zip folder. Drag the intro.html file into Safari or Fire Fox. At times the iweb doesn't show properly on Google Chrome. 

  • What did you find most challenging about this project?
    The most challenging aspect of this project was finding a photo that related to my topic. I'd taken about 45 pictures for this benchmark then I had to narrow my selection down to photos that I figured would best represent my topic. Even though I made tough decisions, I believe that these were the best photos out of the bunch that I'd taken. 

  • How did you go about collecting the images or selecting the images?
    At first I took pictures that I knew for a fact that would represent my topic(s). Then I created an image in my mind of what exactly I wanted. After that I went on another mission to take photos that captured my thoughts. For some photos, I had to ask permission from people in that participated in my images. 

  • Which image is your favorite? Why? Elaborate.
    My favorite image is the photo of the security guards at the Liberty Place asking the several girls for identification because the picture explains everything that was going on during that day, and the exact message that I wanted to get across. 

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

    I think after completing this project I realized that there is more globalization in Philadelphia than what I expected. We have more globalization in our city that most large cities because of the different cultures that reside in Philadelphia. I believe that the diversity in Philadelphia is what makes it more interesting than the average large city. 

Globalization Q4 Benchmark

This is the link to the project.​

The most challenging aspect of this project was simply trying to find where globalization is evident in the city of Philadelphia. Not that there was a shortage of ideas, on the contrary, it was just that my ideas were often confused with ways Philadelphia impacts the world, not vice versa. Also some topics were more challenging that others. For example, security and terrorism, but I think I was just over thinking the assignment.

Most of the images required me to travel around the city - whether it was a special trip to China town or 30th street station. However, many of the pictures were actually of items or place that I pass in my daily routine. For example, the t-shirt marked with "made in Jordan" evidenced how trade influences Philadelphia. My favorite picture was probably the China town wall, just because I had seen it a few times, but I had never necessarily noticed its elegance. 

There is an abundance of places where globalization is evident within the city that most people generally wouldn't consider prior to this project. Everything from the clothes that we wear to the cars that we drive are pieces of globalization. I would assume that Philadelphia has the same amount of globalization, if not more, than most other large cities. Many of the feats are the same; however, there are certain characteristics about Philadelphia that I would assume are devoid in other cities, for example, China town. 

Q4 Benchmark

​Here it is

Reflection

I think the hardest thing about this project was trying to make the connections with other articles. I also had trouble with my laptop so transferring the pictures was the most difficult part of the benchmark. I knew exactly what i needed to do to get the connection between my topics and my neighborhood so I went out and looked around so the pictures that I needed. I knew that for technology, I had an MP3 player and so that was the first thing I took a picture of. My favorite picture is my culture picture because I see it as a symbol of hope for the community and also other cultures all over the world makes candles, pottery, and other things the last for generations and generations and also tell stories. I think that globalization is prevalent equally around all the big states because we all are sort of in the same predicament. We all need cultures, religions, education, technology, money, etc. It's what makes the world go round.

Final Benchmark for Lauf!!! =]

You can find my presentation here.

Reflection:
    What I found most challenging about this project was finding things that related to topics that I wanted to use. Even if it was something that you could find that connected the world in America, that didn't mean that you could find it in Philadelphia to take a picture and to really show that it was a part of my life. Even though I know that the world is connected, I didn't realize how much of that you could actually see or how to connect the things we saw everyday with that knowledge. To collect images I started with topics that I knew I would want to go over and then I seriously thought about where I have seen those things in my daily life. For example, I used the Salvation Army as a representation of international organizations which didn't occur to me until I really sat down and thought about organizations that I saw everyday. I had the information I needed on globalization and I had the knowledge of the things I was surrounded by, the problem was really pulling those two things together. And once I did I went around my own neighborhood and the school's neighborhood and I took pictures with my camera.
    My favorite picture is the picture of fruit from Trader Joe's because I went there in the first place because I knew that we got our fruit from other places. What I loved the most was that Trader Joe's is so out there with it, they really show you where we get our food. And the picture in the presentation shows two different foods from two totally different places in the same place. I think that once you really take a step back and look that Philadelphia has more than enough examples of globalization all over the place. Sometimes it's hard to see that because we live here, but it's so obvious when you take a closer look. And as far as Philadelphia is compared to other places, I would say that if it isn't well above other places then it is definitely even. Maybe New York has more diversity, it is a huge eastern city. I think that it's just difficult to see globalization in a place where you are so much a part of the society.