Q4 BM

My Benchmark

Reflection:
    The most challenging thing about this project was finding the 10 topics, and finding something in the city that would relate to them without being redundant. For example with Security and terrorism, even though I only did security, if i was going to do them both there was a challenge of how i could differ the two. So the way I went about collecting the photos that I did take was discussing, and brainstorming with my peers at my table. We saw what we all had in mind, the differences, similarities and if it was the same how we could make them different. WIth our collaboration is made things a lot less difficult.
    Among all of the images that I took I think it may be the photo of the Comcast center. I used it for the topic of energy since the building is "green". However in it you can see the second tallest building in the city, a building if I'm not mistaken also just went "green". With that being just one of the images I found it that Philadelphia has a lot of evidence of globalization, everyone is just blind, I was one of them before this project. A lot things in Philadelphia is from Philadelphia, and also benifets the rest of the world.

Globalization Benchmark!


Here i my Benchmark
 1. What did you find most challenging about this project?

The most challenging part about this project was the part with writing how the image dealt with globalization and how it affected our daily life. I mean for most of them it was easy, but for certain parts like politics was harder than science and technology. 

2. How did you go about collecting the images or selecting the images?
I went about how the benchmark description went, you would research the topics then think about topics in Philadelphia and I would take pictures for example, I remember researching security and terrorism and I thought about some very important places in Philadelphia and what would need the most security and why and I thought of 30th street and how much security they might need in case of a terrorist attack.

3. Which image is your favorite? Why? Elaborate.
I think I enjoyed the Culture picture for my picture. It was the stereotypical things, but I was looking around my room noticing a lot of the name brand things I own and how well I tried to fit into societies expectations and how I am in a statistic in a globalization topic without really thinking about it. 

4. 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 feel like in today's society it is big and head on. If I had no idea what globalization was then I wouldn't notice it. I don't think that it would be any different then any other city because we all face the same crisis. I do think that it is hidden in Philadelphia then compared to New York, but it's still present. 

Q4B

Slideshow

The most challenging component of this project was capturing photos of things that properly represent themes of globalization in Philadelphia. This is actually the primary task of the project. The next challenging part was to explain the global impact of the organization, object, etc. I found it difficult to write two solid paragraphs that made sense. The preliminary work, determining what type of photos to capture, was time consuming and I was left with little time to thoroughly complete the other tasks.

I walked around with the globalization topics that we discussed in mind. I snapped pictures of any object that might have any relation to any of the topics. Then, I reviewed all of the pictures and assigned globalization topics to each. Next, I researched the essentiality, purpose of the thing(s) that were in the picture. For instance, I took a picture of the freight train that passes my building of residence daily. I proceeded to research the importance of railroads…

My favorite picture, regardless of its quality, might be the one of the freight train. The picture relates to the global economy theme. The picture might be my most unique as well.

The evidence of globalization in Philadelphia is substantial. I think that there is more evidence than what I found or acknowledged. I can’t say that there is more or less evidence of globalization in other cities versus the city of Philadelphia. My perspective while completing this assignment may have been limited. In order to answer his question, I would have to investigate…

In the future, I would anticipate the difficulties that I might encounter while completing this assignment. I did not expect the photo-taking process to be difficult, nor did I expect to have a hard time assigning global themes to them.


Dominque Miller's Quarter 4 Benchmark

Benchmark Reflection

What did you find most challenging about this project?
- The hardest part was following the topics, because it was hard to find pictures for things like security and terrorism here in Philly. Of course things like culture is easy because it is all around us, but many things aren't.
How did you go about collecting the images or selecting the images?
- I found out what topics I was going to choose, and then took pictures according to that. So basically I thought of the connections first before I took the picture.
Which image is your favorite? Why? Elaborate.
- My favorite picture would be the one of my debate class from FACTs. I absolutely love my class and the kids that I teach, so when I was able to incorporate them into the project I was happy.
How prevalent is the evidence of globalization in Philadelphia? Do you think it is more or less so (evident) than in other large cities in the US? Why Why not?
- I think that Globalization is pretty prevalent in Philly mainly because we are a big, major city. Many different cultures are likely to flock to bigger areas, thus allowing for their customs and beliefs to merge with our own. As for smaller towns it would be a lot harder to find evidence of Globalization.
Link to PDF
Link to Sources

4th Quarter BM Portfolio Refelection

                                                             Short Reflection On The Year


Through out Freshman year I have improve tremendously. When I mean tremendously I mean tremendously. When I first came to English class in September I thought that it was going to be a nightmere. I thought that I would do so bad because I thought that my  english teacher Mrs. Dunn was going to be very very stict. In the begining of the year she had told the class that she was a writer for vogue magazine, and that scared me because I assumed she would be so strict knowing that she is such an awesome reader and writer.  Later on in the year I noticed that she wasn’t that bad. 


She was very layed back and she aloud you to have do fun things but you had to make sure that you did your work. However there were many challenging things for me in english class this year. It took me a while to adjust to the teaching of the new teacher and environment. I thought that this was the most challenging thing of all. Till this day I have to adjust to certain things knowing that this is my first year of high school. I’m not yet familiar with alot of things yet but I do know that I have accomplished many things that I needed to accomplish. 


I know that I have alot of things that I need to get better at but I also know that not everyone is perfect. However I will work harder next year in english class to accomplish what ever I didn’t accomplish in this years english class. There were also some relatively easy parts that I had accomplished in english class this year. This year I had did a better job with communication skills and I asked for help when ever I needed it. I got very good grades in english this year and I am really proud of that. I am truly blessed to have been apart of englsih 1 this year and I will truly miss the class itself and my teacher Mrs. Dunn.


I thought that she did a great job teaching us the english material and also putting her best foot forward in helping the students better understand english related stuff. The one thing I learned about this class other than english is that students should never beat themselves up and stress out about a letter grade. Always try your best in what ever you do and know that you are more than a conquerer through jesus christ. That’s all folks.                                                                                

                                                  Macbeth Character Analysis
For this project each student had to create a piece that demonstrated one characters developement and growth throughout Macbeth. We had to use quotes from the play to illustrate the transformation of Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. This project had to have a thesis statement, character quotes and a crafted conclusion that ties it all together. For this project I chose Macbeth. Below basically shows the whole process of the project and what it entailed. 

                                                                    

                                                                    Macbeth Character Analysis

                                                              Quarter 1

 

    Thesis:  At the start of the play, Macbeth is apprehensive about being aggressive to become King, but by the end, he turns into a strictly vile man. 

In (Act 1 scene 4), Macbeth say’s  “Star’s hide your fears; let not light see my black and deep desires.” Macbeth in this scene is very upset that Malcolm was named prince of Cumberland. Macbeth felt upset inside but he didn’t want to show anyone he was upset. So instead Macbeth dealt with it and he moved on.  

       

            In (Act 2 scene 1) Macbeth has just talked to Lady Macbeth about the witches prophecy.  Lady Macbeth tries to force Macbeth to kill the king but Macbeth doesn’t want to. Macbeth ask’s “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” Macbeth meant that he see’s a dagger and he wants use it on something but he complains that he right know has fatal vision, so he is becomes a little demonic. 

           In (Act 2 scene 3)(p. 29) Macbeth say’s that “ I am afraid to think what I have done” . Macbeth is very upset about the fact that he had killed King Duncan because right before King Duncan was killed, King Duncan gave him a promotion to be the Thane of Glamis. His wife Lady Macbeth pressured him to kill Duncan. In this case, because of this, he was named the next King of Cawdor. In Macbeth’s mind he would have thought that he didn’t have to be picked to become the Thane of Glamis, but because of his and Lady Macbeth’s greed he tried his best to 

get everything he wanted and that was to kill King Duncan so that Macbeth could become king. 

        (Act 2 scene 3)(p.35) say’s “O, yet I do repent me of my furry that I did kill them”. This Quote mean’s that Macbeth regret’s and he is very afraid to admit that he killed those who were in the chamber. The guards were the victims who were killed and their hands and faces were covered with blood and so were the daggers. Lenox had brought the news that they were dead.  “We hear our bloody cousins are best owed in England and Ireland, not confessing 

parricide.” (Act 3 scene 1)(p. 40) Macbeth means that he hears the people in Ireland and England and talking about the parricide and what happening about the killing and how dreadful he is. 


         When the ghost of Banquo shows up at dinner and sit’s in Macbeth’s seat Macbeth say’s             

“ Blood hath been shed ere now, I” th” olden time, Ere humane statute purged the gentle 

weal.” (Act 3 scene 4)(p. 53). This means that, blood has been shed and now the compassion has 

gotten rid of his patient’s for this ghost. No one see’s this ghost but Macbeth. Macbeth wants 

to prove that he see’s the ghost. Macbeth then goes crazy because the ghost of Banquo is sitting 

at the dinner table and the people at the table thinks he’s lot’s his mind.


         In (Act 5 scene 1)(p.68) the quote states that Macbeth say’s “Infected be the air whereon they ride, and damned all those that trust them!” means that when the Macduff’s men travel to Birnam wood the air should be toxic and the men should die from the air, and for those who 

trust Macduff’s plans, be damned (cursed). Macduff is going to try and get Siward, the Earl of 

Northumberland’s 10 thousand men together so that they can defeat Macbeth together. 

Everyone’s hope’s are very high now because they really want Macbeth to be defeated so that 

there could be another king of Cawdor.  

In (Act 4 scene 1)(p. 68) say’s, “ The very Firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand.” This means that Macbeth has a lot of thoughts about his title as king and let them come true. In this scene Macbeth say‘s “to crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done.           


           (Act 5 scene 3)(p.88)  say’s “Go prick thy fear, Thou lily-livered boy.” Macbeth meant to get over what ever you were thinking and talking about. Suck it up and take it like a man. Stop your sulking and get over your fears. The servant, Satin complained about the 10 thousand men who were coming and he had fears. Macbeth didn’t want him to talk about it because it would bring him down.  In (Act 5 scene 7)(p. 94) it say’s “But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, brandished by man that’s of a woman born.” This meant that Macbeth’s weapons used in battle made him feel elated because Macbeth truly believe’s in violence and the weapons are 

apart of violence. In this scene was during the war and how the weapons all motivated Macbeth 

to do better fighting.


In conclusion the quotes showed Macbeth’s aggression. Through out the play Macbeth became more and more angry because of the witches prophesy. These quote’s basically go along with the certain changes that Macbeth is going through. In the quotes they show how Macbeth start’s out being calm but when the witches prophecy’s kick’s in, he goes completely crazy. 


                                                                  
                                                 macbeth


                                                        


                                                        Memoir Vignette
For this project we had to craft a memoir vignette of our own and utilize stylistic devices to make our personal piece of non-fiction interesting for an audience. The writing process for our vignette had to have full in depth brainstorming, outlining, rough drafting, final drafting and peer review. This vignette had to be powerful, compact and makes an impact with stylistic devices and other interesting aspects of storytelling. Below basically shows the whole process of the project and what it entailed. 


                                                   -“Portland Covered Under The White Blanket”-

                                                                                   Quarter 2

          

“Hello Travelers I have very bad news, all Flights will be cancelled due to the snow storm, Thank you” (Dialogue). I spent 5 treacherous hours stuck at the busy airport of Minneapolis due to a snow storm (Opener). The end of December is always a bad time to travel to certain places. Flight Delays were every where. People were talking loudly, sleeping on the floors and devouring all the food they could possibly eat at the fast food restaurants. You would have thought that the world was coming to an end with a fleet of so many people screaming and panicking. Many swarms of airport security men patrolled the airport in search for unaccompanied minors. Rolling wheels of suite cases make the annoying roar sounds. 


          I felt like saying, THIS IS TORTURE, Beeee Quuiiet to all those crazy people!!!! My grandmother and I had to escape before the people ate us alive (Hyperbole).  We decided to go to the Mall of Americas, the worlds largest mall. As we cruised down the escalator to the metro train, the loudness became completely silent like when a person turns the volume dial slowly on a radio (Simile). We took the quiet, empty train to the Mall Of America’s so that we could kill at least a little bit of time before our next exhausting red eye flight to Portland Oregon.


         After boarding the narrow locomotive we sat down in the red fabric seats and went for a bumpy, uncomfortable ride to the mall. Finally, we got off the Metro and entered the gates of heaven (Metaphor). As I walked in the warm air hit my face. I was amazed at the large doors and the enormous mall.There was red carpet, expensive stores, an Aquarium, a mini Theme Park and a big fat man wearing red with a white beard called Santa Claus on a large poster (Humor). This was a place were I wanted to be. 


           I felt like I won 1 million dollars. The shoppers were so calm. There were no rolling wheels, no food devouring people and no people sleeping on the floors (Repetition For Effect).   This was a place to chill out and shop. Thank god!!! For five hours I went on a mini spending spree, visiting many of the stores. Nike Factory, Best buy, H&M and Hollister were all in the same walking distance. The walking distance was shorter than the yellow brick road itself (Metaphor). 


            Time had easily eluded from us and we needed to head back to the airport quick, fast and in a hurry . So we did. Sadly I had to say my farewells to my beloved shopping mall. After a short period of time we arrived at the Minneapolis airport and everyone was just so peaceful. That was because half of the travelers from earlier were all gone. Then there came a great noise. “All Passengers traveling to Portland, Oregon please board the plane at Gate C7 right know.” 


              Without hesitation my grandmother and I ran to the jetty so fast I thought I saw fire behind us. “ Excuse me mam and Sir, may I have your tickets (Dialogue). We kindly gave the man our tickets and boarded the aircraft. I searched high and low for seat 9 and found it. “Aaaahhh yes, right next to the window” I said (Dialogue). As soon as everyone was seated the airplane pushed off from the gate and went straight onto the runway.  


             5,4,3,2,1 we blasted into the dark cloudy sky. I tried to stay awake but really couldn’t. My eyes closed, opened, closed, opened and closed (Repetition For Effect) . I fell asleep. AAAHHH!!!!, I woke up to the loud announcement on the PA system. “We are landing at the Portland Airport in 3 minutes. Thank you for riding with us on US Airways.” Looking towards my left I saw the sweet twinkling city lights of Portland Oregon covered in a white blanket of snow. I then quietly whispered to myself, “I am so happy I finally got away from that disaster and I can finally call this place home for a few weeks.” 



                                    The Odyssey Compare/Contrast Essay



For this project we had to craft an essay comparing a character or event in The Odyssey to another work of art. We had to examine how other artist can use and change the archetypes from The Odyssey to explain a human theme, feeling, or experience. The process of this project envolved brainstorming, collecting evidence (quotations), crafting a thesis, outlining, analyzing quotations, rough drafting, peer review and writing a final draft. For this project i chose Everett the main character in O Brother Were Art Thou. Below basically shows the whole process of the project and what it entailed. 

                                        The Tales of Everett & Odysseus”

                                                            Quarter 3                   

              Although Everett and Odysseus loved their wives, one wife showed more compassion for her partner. The other wife had an interest in his money instead of their relationship. In the movie, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, Penny’s marriage is driven by Everett’s money. In order for her to get the money she must divorce him. All of Penny’s actions are driven by her lust for money. Penny needs the money to support their kids.

              Odysseus was an extremely strong, brave and courageous man when it came to handling big tasks. However, when his wife Penelope came near him he became more gentle and loving. On the other hand, Everett was a very silly and slick person when it came to getting his men out of trouble, but when his wife Penny was near him he showed a positive and serious connection to her. Penny didn’t show the positive connection to him.

             While suffering the long tragic trails Everett seemed to be determined to provide for his wife and children. He thought that he could get back with his wife and kids, but when he gets to his wife Penny, Penny denies him of being a true husband and father to his 6 young children. “ By saying, ”I don’t love you anymore Everett. I’m getting married to Vernon T. Waldrip”.  Even though Everett tries to become a better father and husband by changing the wrong things that he has done in his life and tries not to repeat the mistakes that he has done before; Penny’s anger and love for Vernon T. Waldrip overpowers the marriage. This shows that love can be a driving force in a relationship.

             When he visits his wife Penny, Everett tries to work his problems out but has a difficult time trying to make Penny forgive him. Everett say’s “Penny I don’t do the things I used to do anymore. Please forgive me for all of the things I have done. We can be a family.” So at the end of the movie Everett wants to get back with Penny and he says he would give Penny the ring from when they got married. Everett then noticed that the ring was 10,000 ft in the lake. Penny had said to Everett In order to marry me you must go and get that ring in the lake”.

           In, The Odyssey, Odysseus has trouble trying not to reminisce about his wife Penelope and his children. Knowing that he is separated from his family, Penelope has many doubt’s that Odysseus would come back to see her and the kids. Driven by love, Odysseus comes back to Ithaca and finds his wife but he comes back with a surprise. Penelope decides to set up targets in the hallway and she wants the suitors and Odysseus to shoot arrows at the targets. Who ever shot the arrows in the targets marries Penelope. The reason why Penelope did this was because she wanted to try to intimidate Odysseus and the suitors. She knew that Odysseus was a great shooter and that he would shoot all of the arrows.  While Odysseus was gone he really had to push himself to go back to the land of Ithica. He had to be there with his wife Penelope and his children. He couldn’t give up on his children and his wife. So that basically pushed Odysseus to come back to Ithica.

                   In Conclusion both couples get through their hardships, but different things motivate them. Penelope really loves Odysseus not just because of his material things but also because of his personality. However, Everett might struggle with his relationship because his wife Penny uses him to get his money and other material things. In both of these cases the main characters reveal that they have strong compassion for their partners and that they have different ways in which they handle their relationships. 


For the creative project we had to take all the information we learned about macbeth's aggression in the story and put it into a visual project. We had to include a thesis statement, quotes and a powerful conclusion. I chose to do a Slideshow for a visual. Below shows everything that the project entailed.
Macbeth Creative Project
(Below)



For this project we had to do a brief project describing a book that we read on our own. This project had to include a summary and the books background information. You could have done this project on a slideshow, movie, podcast song or anything else creative. For this project I had chose to do a slideshow. Below shows everything that the project entailed.

Independent Reading Project (Below)

Four Top Journal Entries:
Define Hero and who is a hero in you life?
I believe a hero is a person who saves you from danger. I have many heros
in my life. One of my important hero's are my parents. My parents
demonstrate great parenting and also great success. They teach me
how to be a hard worker and when I get older and have children be
be a great provider for them. They show me how to handle my
different obstacles and they are teachers about life. Without them I
would not have any success in doing things. I am so thankful to have
a hero because I wouldn't know were I would be.

Was there a time when you wanted to switch your identity?
There are sometimes when I feel like changing my race to another.
Sometimes people discriminate againts black people and it is kind of
hard to take that in especially if you are black. Sometimes some black
people don't know how to act and they get in trouble and I some times
get upset because my race acts up. Seeing a lot of African Americans on
the news for murder is just so embarrassing. It seems as if some African
Americans don't care about their lives or the lives of others. We are known
to be lazy at times. Not all but I would say a hand full of them but I have to
say that I am very proud to be black because we are concuerers and we came
a long way. I believe that my ancestors were true hero's and i would want to
follow in there foot steps.


Does A Lot Of People Depend On You For Anything?
A lot of people depend on me for a lot of things because I am a very mature person and I have a lot of goals for my life. My parents have a lot of expectations for me because I am very organized and I have great communication skills. My parents know that I am going to be very successful in life because I have a lot of plans for my life and I am very serious about it. I have a lot of expectations for myself also. I am a very strict person and when I want something I would go out and get it. I am very hard on myself about school work and other things because I know that when you are hard on your self about things you get a lot of things done. You sometimes come out stronger. The expectations that I have for myself and the expectations other people have about me are very similar. However I believe that my expectations for myself are more harsher. However I believe that if you put your mind and soul towards things you will get it done.   


If You Really Knew Me?

If you really knew me, you would know that I am courages serious and faithful. If you really knew me, you would know that I am competitive and sociable. If you really knew me, you would know that I am old spirited and mature. One important thing you would know about me is that I am gods child.

                          
For this project each student had to pick a character from the book The Odyssey and had to research that person and pick quotes from that character. The student also had to include a powerful thesis statement. We had to make this project look visual. For this project I had picked Prometheus. Below shows what the project entailed.
Myth Project
(Below)


macbeth
macbeth
Myth Project Smith
Macbeth Slideshow (Smith)
Independent Reading slide show

Emma Hersh: Musical Instrument Blog #2

What I decided to do is make two didgeridoos and play them together to make kind of a slide thing. One of the didgeridoos on the outside and a smaller one on the inside so I could change pitch as it's needed in our song. 

The easiest and most efficient way to make a didgeridoo is by using PVC pipes and finding the appropriate size and design and then making it look pretty. :) 

Musical Instrument Blog #1

For this project, I am planning on making a xylophone to play in our band.

How is it played? Well it's not a string, or wind instrument which means that you don't have to use your mouth or pluck your fingers. It's actually quite easy to play, all you need to do is hit the metal slates with some kind of mallet.

How do you change a note? Well there's different metal slates for each note. Some are bigger, some or smaller, depending on which note it's making.

How is it shaped? The xylophone is usually set up so that the pieces of metal are lying next to each other in a row from tallest to shortest.

How can I change sound? The different sizes of the metal make different noises, so the pitch depends on the size.


Fourth Quarter BM Portfolio, Reflection

Throughout the year, I have gone to a whole lot of English classes.  Over the course of these  classes, I have had many projects, and with each of them, I become a more confident English student.  When you read this portfolio, you will realize that I have a reason to be confident.  My writing ability has steadily grown over the year, and now it is your turn to see that transformation.

            While I have grown as an English student, I, like everybody, have weaknesses.  I still have trouble with recognizing what part of speech some words are, and other than that I have trouble with writing introduction paragraphs.  I am an avid reader, which helps me to read books and analyze their text accurately and quickly.

            The problems that I encountered while making this portfolio was mostly involving the amount of work that I had lost track of.  I still had the work, but it was a digital copy, so I had to get it re-edited.  Going back through all of this work was truly an amazing experience.  I thought looking back on all my work and seeing how much I’ve grown is a truly valuable experience.

            The piece I’m most proud of is my Macbeth character analysis.  I’m proud of this piece because it was my first BM in English.  I remember how I felt after completing it, and that feeling is why it was my favorite piece.

Macbeth Character Analysis, Willie Willson, Portfolio BM


Introduction:
For this BM, we had to incorporate the knowledge of the character transformation in Macbeth in order to form a thorough analysis.  This analysis had to have ten quotes and had to involve a thesis statement which must be proven true.

Macbeth Benchmark

Thesis:  Macbeth started out as an innocent but turned into a bloody tyrant who was feared by all because of his cruelty.

In act 1, scene 2, page 4, line 15, Scotland has just won a war against nor-weigh because of the brave fighting of Banquo and Macbeth.  A bloody captain speaks to the lords and Duncan about how Macbeth is brave, valiant, and a good warrior.  “But all’s to weak: for brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name- disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody execution, like valor’s minion carved out his passage, till he faced the slave, which never shook hands nor bade farewell to him till he unseamed him from his nave to the chaps, and fixed his head upon our battlements.”  In this quote Macbeth is so far portrayed as a brave valorous person that everyone likes.  He is also very loyal to his cause because not everyone has to kill in such a flashy way.  He seems like a person that commands respect from everyone at all times.  Macbeth so far is feared on the battlefield, but is respected off of it as a loyal person.

In act 1, scene 3, page 12, line 144, the three witches have just popped out and told their prophecy to Banquo and Macbeth.  Macbeth is talking to himself about the witches’ prophecy.  (Aside)“If chance will have me king, then chance will crown me, without my stir.” This shows that Macbeth doesn’t really want to be king, but if he should become king it would be welcome.  Macbeth says this aside to himself, which shows that he doesn’t want his companions to know exactly what he is thinking about.  He also says that he will not pursue this idle thought that he may become king because it may lead to bad things and thoughts.

In act 2, scene 1, page 25, line 37, Macbeth is talking to himself mulling over if he should kill Duncan or not.  Lady Macbeth has been egging him on, so his mind is wavering and his loyalty is failing.  “Art though not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight?”  Macbeth is having an illusion of a dagger floating around, and is thinking of taking it and sticking it into the king.  He is being convinced which shows that he is weak willed and is easily tempted with power. 

In act 2, scene2, page 28, line 34, Macbeth has just killed Duncan and has planted the daggers covered in blood on his unconscious guards.  He is depressed because he sinned and could not pronounce Amen in prayer with the drunken guards.  “But wherefore I could not pronounce “Amen”, I had most need of blessing, and “Amen” stuck in my throat.”  Macbeth was pushed over the edge when he killed Duncan.  His old valorous brave self no longer exists and has been replaced with a shell of grief and violence.

In act 3, scene 1, page 41, line 49-51, Macbeth has just seen Banquo and Fleance (Banquo’s son) go out horse riding. He has ordered some assassins to go and kill Banquo.  He needs to kill Banquo in order to keep his position as king because Banquo is full of loyalty to the old king.  “Our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature rein that which would be feared.”  He says this alone after he just sent for the assassins that he hired to kill Banquo.  Macbeth has not gotten over murdering Duncan and is eager to quench his thirst to stay in power.  He won’t stop for anything not even killing his own best friend and his young son.

In act 3, scene 2, page 47, line 46, Macbeth has just ordered the assassination of Banquo.  He is telling Lady Macbeth to mind her own business and thank him later for helping them stay in power.  “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, until you applaud the deed.”  Macbeth’s evilness has now progressed so far that he has started to think for himself when planning evil deeds.  He has become to think like a criminal and a murderer. His mind has now become so twisted that he would now be unrecognizable to anyone save for his appearance.

In act 4, scene 1, page 66, line 122, Macbeth has just seen the ghost of Banquo, which startled him and has gone to the witches seeking advice.  He sees three apparitions that tell him that none of woman born shall harm Macbeth, fear Macduff, and Macbeth shall never be harmed until the forest marches right up to his castle.  After hearing this he demands to know one more thing.  “Yet my heart throbs to know one thing.  Tell me, if your art can tell so much, if Banquo’s issue shall ever reign this kingdom.” Macbeth wants to know if he should pursue the issue of Banquo further.  This shows that Macbeth is ready to do anything to remain in power.

In act 4, scene 1, page 68, line 173, Macbeth has just heard from one of the apparitions that he should fear Mac duff, but Mac duff has fled the country.  Macbeth decides to kill Mac duff’s family in his stead. “The castle of Mac duff I will surprise, seize upon Fife, give to the edge of the sword, his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.”  Macbeth can now pronounce the deaths of innocent children easily, and because of his cruelty, he now reigns by mostly fear.

In act 4, scene 3, page 75, line 56, Mac duff and Malcolm have fled to Scotland and have had a heat filled conversation about Macbeth.  In the middle of this conversation, a lord comes up and tells Mac duff that his children and wife have been murdered.  Macduff says how Macbeth is the most evil “thing” ever.  “Not in the legions of hell can come a devil more damned in evils to top Macbeth.”  Macbeth now commands fear and hatred over everyone.  Wherever he goes death follows him.  He is now recognized as such an evil person that his name has become taboo to say.

In act 5, scene 3, page 87, line 11, Macbeth is  waiting for the report on the enemy thanes and their progress.  Macbeth is talking to his servant in a harsh manner for no reason at all. “The devil damn thee, though cream faced loon!”  Macbeth before would never be this blatantly rude to someone.  This shows how Macbeth has grown so evil that he no longer cares how he treats people who are of lesser status then he is.

            Macbeth as a character evolved over the course of the play.  He started out as a gracious, brave, valiant, and honest person, and ended up as a twisted, evil, and cruel villain.  This change was brought on partly because Macbeth was a lose cannon ready to blow in the beginning, but his wife helped pushed him over the edge so that he snapped.  This manipulation is sickening, and lady Macbeth rightfully went insane and died.  This change in character is a great example of how a person can become the exact opposite of what they originally where.

            

Memoir Vignette, Willie Willson, Portfolio BM

Introduction:

In this BM, we had to take a past element of our life and put it into the form of a short story, or Memoir Vignette.  In this story we had to incorporate the different forms of english writing, and learn how to utilize the tools  given to us as writers. 

It Aint Over Till the Fat Man Sings, Memoir Vignette:

Let me start off by saying, I am not a person who just sits down and lets someone insult them.  NO.  I’m not saying I’m one of those guys who can’t take a little joke.   I’m talking about just letting someone just walk right over you and stomp a couple of times, just to rub in the mud.  I’m talking about someone battering your mental bulwark until you crumble.  I’m talking about someone making your life utterly terrible. This is what some kid tried to do at my bilingual French/English hockey camp last year in Quebec, Canada.   He just didn’t like me, and I returned this feeling with an equal or greater sense of hatred.  And this year, I was back for vengeance. (opener, vocabulary words, repetition for effect)

            Needless to say, that year was tough, but the next year I went, it was slightly different.  I was going with some of my other hockey-playing friends.  Their names were Liam Bonner, John Dean, Andrew Kohler, and Joey Dooner.  Like every group of young people, everyone in the group had their role.  Liam was the smart aleck, John was the big scary one, Joey was the punching bag, Andrew was the funny one, and I was the one who held up our reputation on the ice.  We were a rowdy bunch of teenagers who didn’t know that violence was bad yet, but their companionship was comforting because I now had someone who I could speak to without using a French accent.(humor)

            As soon as we got to camp, my friend, Liam, started things off well by running around and screaming, “FIGHT ME, YOU CHEESE EATING SURRENDERRERS.            So 15 minutes in I was already having more fun than I had last year. 

After we got situated in my dorm room, we went over to the rink for our first training session.  Before we went on the ice, though, my coach wanted to explain the week to both us and our parents.  For some reason 5 minutes straight of French translated into, “Your boy have fun and eat pizza.”  After that particular quote, I used the valuable skill that every teenager has of ignoring adults who probably meant to help us.(humor, dialogue)

            After this talk, me and my friends went to get dressed.  Lo and behold, there was The Jerk.  The Jerk’s name was Julian and he looked like a Tyrannosaurus Rex had a baby with a walrus.(humor)  I know that your probably thinking, why is this kid such a big deal?  Well last year he tormented me when I didn’t know anybody.  I felt lonely, and just plain terrible.  Of course as soon as my friends heard him talk, they walked right up to me and said, “ Do you know that guy?”(dialogue).  I responded by doing what comes naturally to me in almost every situation, laughing.

            The reason I was so confident was because I got a whole lot better at hockey in that year away from camp.  My theme song would have been “Stronger”, By Kanye West, except instead of harder, maybe awesomer.(humor)  Yeppers, I was feeling pretty good.  After awhile my conscience kicked in and I saw Julian in a different light.  I saw this fat kid in the corner who, even though he acted like an ass, was probably just lonely.  As I felt this feeling of compassion, I started to ignore it.  What then happened was we were having an off ice session and we started playing UFC.  Not wimpy UFC, we were actually pulling arm bars on each other.  Julian went up on to the mat, and I leaped on to face him.  Then what happened was I pushed him over and bent his arm the wrong way until he caved. 

           

 

After this, I felt great and my week went on.  We had the same schedule every day:

7:30-Wake up/eat breakfast

9:00-On ice activity

10:30-Off ice activity

11:30-Lunch

1:00-Class or special training

2:00-On ice activity

3:30-Off ice activity

5:00-Dinner

6:00-Off ice activity

7:00-Game

10:00-Snack

11:00-Bedtime

With such a vigorous (not a vocabulary word, but a good one) schedule, I didn’t have time to reflect upon the matter of Julian.  Throughout the day, many things usually happened.  We got into fights with the key chains that they gave us. One of the kids from Quebec bent a lacrosse stick on the head of Liam, which I laughed at, and Liam got angry off at some “Frenchie” and decided to grate his skates on pavement, which I also laughed at along with my camp counselor. 

With all of the laughter, this week went by totally fast, and I left with a feeling of accomplishment about how I had dealt with Julian, how I had gotten better at hockey, and how I got to mix every soda together in the cafeteria.(humor, magic three)  As I thought about it, I realized that I had dealt with this situation poorly, and I could’ve done it a lot better.   Vengeance felt amazing, but a year later looking back on this experience, I realized if I had just dealt with Julian earlier and in a more pacifistic way, I might have had a better time at camp.  Even with this heavy weight upon my chest, I still managed to leave with a smile on my face.

Musical Instrument - Blog post #2

When you stroke the bow across the string it vibrates and causes the violin to make sound. When you play a different string it changes the pitch. When you also place your fingers on different spots on the string you wish to change the pitch on, it changes the note, which also changes the pitch. I think I am going to use wood but I am not sure yet. I will play my instrument using a bow. My plan is to just take my time and not to rush so I don't mess up building it. My outstanding questions are is there any material that we can't use?

Odyssey Compare and Contrast Essay, Willie Willson, BM Portfolio

Introduction:

For our third quarter BM, we had to take the knowledge that we had gathered from The Odyssey and put it into the form of a compare and contrast essay.  We had to take a creature from other literature and compare it to something in The Odyssey.

Compare and contrast essay:

 

Two of the darkest creatures in literature are, the Dementors from Harry Potter, and The Sirens from The Odyssey. Although Dementors and Sirens both incapacitate their victims, they do so in different ways, and by exploiting different emotions. It is strange to see how many emotions can be turned against a human.  It is interesting to see how these two creatures, even though created so far away from each other, are eerily similar.

Although both Dementors and Sirens control emotions in their prey, these emotions are very different from one another.  Dementors’ very presence instills absolute despair and fear, so bad that it is not uncommon for people to go insane because of just being around them. "Dementors infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them…  Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you… If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself... soul-less and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life,” (Remus Lupin, The Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 10).   You can see how Dementors instill fear even unto the bravest of people.  Harry, the protagonist, is known for surviving Voldemort, the antagonist, many times, yet as soon as he happens upon a Dementor for the first time, he faints out of terror.  Likewise, Sirens use human emotions to incapacitate their victims, but instead of fear, like Dementors, it is seduction.  The Sirens sing so beautifully that any sailor on their boat has such an intense impulse to go over to them, they ignore the mounds of corpses surrounding them, and the fact that it would spell certain death for them. “ I signaled with a frown for the crew to set me free,” (The Odyssey Book 12, line 210-211).  In this quote you can see how “brave Odysseus“ fights against his bonds, even though he knows it will spell certain death for him.  Seduction and fear are both powerful forces to be tangled with.

Even both Dementors and the Sirens eat their captured victims in order to gain sustenance, they go after rather different parts of the human.  The Sirens eat the flesh, bones, and everything else physical in a human.  They are carnivores that need flesh to sustain themselves.  “Lolling there in their meadow, round them heaps of corpses.” (The Odyssey Book 12, line 51-52).  You can see that there are many bodies surrounding the Sirens, rotting and half eaten.  This shows that they have a great physical impulse to eat food.  Dementors feed on nothing except the fear, despair, and souls of their victims.  Dementors can “kiss” their victims and suck their soul out through their mouth. Likewise, they feed off of the emotions that they inspire in humans. “A Dementor's last and worst weapon is called the Dementor's Kiss. The Dementor puts back its hood and clamps its jaws on the mouth of the victim and sucks out his soul, leaving him an empty shell, alive but completely, irretrievably ‘gone.’” (Remus Lupin, The Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 5).  This quote shows how the Dementors literally feed off of fear, despair, and even the soul.  This need for negative emotion coupled with their ability to make humans feel these emotions is a deadly combination. 

Although Dementors and the Sirens both are in different books, they both have personas that are both different and similar to each other.  Dementor’s have the persona of being like death. They symbolize the grim reaper. “A Dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face turned toward Harry, one glistening, scabbed hand gripping its cloak,” (The Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter, Chapter 7). Dementors are deathlike in everything they do, even in appearance.  They inspire fear, they look like floating black grim reapers, and they are eerie.  Sirens are different however.  In many stories they are said to be beautiful maidens that seduce the men on the ships to swim to their own deaths.  In the Odyssey, they are half woman, half bird, with grime and rotting flesh surrounding them with “Rags of skin hanging from their bones,” (The Odyssey Book 12, line 52). The Sirens may look ugly, but because of their singing, the sailors ignore their looks, and fill in their space with an illusion created by the mind of a beautiful woman. After all, both of these creatures have personas that precede them, and whether they are better or worse than the actual thing, when one meets them, one will probably die.

Dementors and the Sirens are both eerily similar, and at the same time different.  This is strange because of how far away form each other in time they where created, yet how their creators seemed to share a similar image of horror.  This has an underlying message that these two creatures are images that are subconsciously man’s greatest fear. Maybe they are the product of thousands of years of terror combined into two beings, or maybe not. We will never truly know how the human mind works and maybe it’s better that way.  

 

 

 

 

 

            

Macbeth Creative Project, Willie Willson, Fourth Quarter BM



Introduction:
In this creative assignment, we took the first quarter BM and altered it.  We changed it so that the sam underlying message was sent, but in a more creative way.  For this project, a thesis was required and then ten quotes with an analysis after each showing how Macbeth, or Lady Macbeth, evolved a a character.

Creative Project:

Thesis: Macbeth started out as an innocent person but turned into a bloody tyrant who was feared by all because of his cruelty.

I wonder what would happen if Lady Macbeth could comment on her husbands character evolution?

“Brave Macbeth” is what his brothers in war call him.  He deserves that name for he is a valiant warrior capable of wreaking great havoc among his enemy’s, with his sword stained red with bloody execution.  He has been known, also, to be a bit overdramatic and dedicated in his killing.  He likes to hang the heads of the smitten upon his battlements as a message, that all who enter Macbeth’s domain shall be killed.  But my husband is not a violent man, and he is valued as a trusted person of the king’s inner circle.  But he could do much more, he could be the king to surpass all previous.  Yet the path to such greatness would cause him to become filled with malice.

My husband is a great warrior and trusted advisee to the king!  Yet I am still unsatisfied with his grandeur.  He welcomes the fact that if chance should make him king then he would welcome it, but he is still to innocent and truthful to do the deed that is needed for him to progress through the ranks.  He will not raise a hand toward the effort of him becoming king.

He is weak!  He cannot fathom the thought of committing a foul crime against someone who nourished him.  He has illusions of daggers floating towards his hands but he cannot bring himself to plunge them into this foul king.

He has finally done it!  He plunged the dagger deep within his heart and watched as the crimson blood flowed from him.  But right now, he is distraught with depression, he cannot even say amen in prayer.  He was pushed over the edge when he killed Duncan, his mind couldn’t take the stress of it, so it has crumbled.

My husband is such a genius.  He has enough sense in him to realize that he should fear Banquo, not because of what a good warrior he is, but because of his royalty of nature.  But now “Brave” Macbeth knows how to deal with such information.  He will order Banquo’s murder, along with his son, Fleance.  Oh, my husband has turned from a loyal companion, to a person loyal only to himself.

Be innocent of the knowledge, hah he has finally begun to think for himself.  He doesn’t need my guidance anymore, he can call upon his own recourses to help fix all of our “problems”.  He is such an evil individual now that he can make decisions that are the causeway to someone’s life, or death.  With all of this power, he will spur our efforts further, so that we reach new levels of glory.

First he was wary of the witches prophecy, but now he goes to them on his own!  His heart surely has changed if he can openly go to such foul felons for advice.  But they told him some very insightful news.  He cannot be harmed by anyone who was born of woman, until the woods march up to his castle he will not be harmed, and that he should fear Macduff.  Why should he fear Macduff?  Even if he could harm him my husband is a better fighter?  Anyway, I should go rest.  Fro some oddity I have not gotten much sleep lately.

My husband might have finally crossed the line!  He ordered the murder of innocent woman and children, oh my heart is full of guilt.  I brought this upon us with my evilness.  Wait what am I saying?  “I” am not the one who declared that he would “Sieze upon the tip of my sword Macduff’s family.”  That was my husband!  Why was I questioning his actions either?  We both have committed deeds worse than this, and now he is just trying to assure to himself that the throne will stay beneath him.  Now I really have to sleep, I am awfully tired.

It is Evil!  I cannot even bring myself to look that devil in the face for fear that he might sentence me to an eternal slumber.  Yet he has done well, my mind keeps telling me, my eyes deceive my mind!  He has murdered many and now commands his vast forces through fear alone.  Many even believe that speaking his name is taboo, and will lead to their deaths.  This is what my brain tells me, and I think it might be right.  The only thing that hurts more is the fact that I pushed that snowball of hate down a hill, feeding it until it grew in size and strength, and eventually overthrew the man my husband used to be.

             I cannot go on much further.  My heart is aching, and my feet hurt from the walking that I now do at night, through my own castle while asleep.  Whenever I close my eyes, I envision my hands covered in the blood of the old king, and this blood I cannot wash off.  It shall haunt my consciousness forever.  My “husband” on the other hand, feels no such emotion.  He kills and plunders without a second thought.  He has even started treating the servants like trash and has taken to the habit of being cruel and controlling at all times.  He even thoroughly calls upon their features for ideas for insults, like “Though cream faced loon!”  He has turned into an awful man and I cannot take it anymore…… 

 

Macbeth as a character evolved over the course of the play.  He started out as a gracious, brave, valiant, and honest person, and ended up as a twisted, evil, and cruel villain.  This change was brought on partly because Macbeth was a lose cannon ready to blow in the beginning, but his wife helped pushed him over the edge so that he snapped.  This manipulation is sickening, and lady Macbeth rightfully went insane and died.  This change in character is a great example of how a person can become the exact opposite of what they originally where.

Bibliography:

Special thanks to google for providing images.

 

Independent reading project, Willie Willson, Portfolio BM


Introduction:
This independent reading assignment was assigned to us in the second quarter.  It was on our independent reading book, which each student got to chose for themselves.  This project was only challenging if you forgot to read your book, which I didn't.



Independent Reading Assignment:
The book that I read for my independent reading assignment was Tales of Mystery and Imagination, by Edgar Allen Poe (E.A. Poe).   E.A. Poe is considered to be the father of the detective fiction genre, and also revolutionized science fiction.  His stories are better known for being chilling, and having plots that are twisted and confusing until you see it unravel like a lithe snake.  He wrote short stories so that the reader had time to absorb every detail before moving on.

            Since E.A. Poe wrote short stories, I will summarize one of my favorite ones, which is called William Wilson.  There are two main characters in this story, William Wilson, and some other person whose name you never find out.  William is a tyrant of a child who always bullies other children into doing what he wants.  Then he meets this other child who stood up to him.  He hurt this child and made a big mistake.

            From that point on the child becomes a shadow of William.  He starts to walk, sleep, and eat like William.  The only thing that he couldn’t do exactly like William is speak because of the fact that his voice is very faint.  He could still get the infractions and tones of how he spoke, however, which created a very disturbing thing for William to see and hear.  As they grew older this other child kept on shadowing William.  Then William ran to another country to escape this child, and found himself cheating at poker in a rich Frenchman’s in Paris.  But right before he is about to cheat the Frenchman out of all of his money, a stranger barges in and explains how William is cheating. 

            After this William goes mad with rage and chases down the stranger, only to find out it is the boy from his childhood.  This young man still had the same way of speaking and this pushed William further over the edge.  William pulled out his sword and kills this person, and then the now man pronounces that he has just killed himself and turns into a mirror.  William falls to the ground, dead.

            This is the kind of story that E.A. Poe creates.  It is twisted and interesting at the same time.  The conflict is mainly person vs. person because William doesn’t know that this other boy is him until the very end, at which point it becomes person vs. self.  My favorite character would have to be William because of the fact that he didn’t snap earlier.  The only thing that I would expect anybody to get out of this story is that you should make sure you know the way you act and like it, before you go insane.

            I couldn’t really relate to anything in this story because I have always liked how I acted.  I have always been very cool-headed(mostly), and I think that my personality completely goes against such a story of dementedness.

            Having said that, I loved this story.  E.A. Poe uses such detailed verbs when he writes so that you can almost taste, feel, and smell everything around you.  He writes as though you are part of the character and so that the reader can really relate to the trauma that these characters go through.  I wouldn’t change anything about this story, and all of it is fantastic.   I would like to recommend this book to teens or young adults who like to feel their spine tingle with the sensation of horror that comes with E.A. Poe’s writing.

Journals, Willie Willson, BM portfolio

Introduction:
The journals where an element of this years english class that took a long time to complete.  It was made up of different entries that where made to answer questions posed to us by Ms. Dunn.  These are my favorite journal entries of the year.

Journals:
How important is it to fit in?

            Fitting in is a funny thing.  Fitting in really depends on what party you are trying to fit in to, and how you want people to see you, as a person.  Someone might be trying to get in to the jocks, or might be a geek.  Who knows.  All I can say for sure is that everyone fits in somewhere, and finding that somewhere is a very important part of life.

 

What makes someone an adult?

            What makes someone an adult is mainly mindset and circumstance.  If you have to care and provide for a family in some way, then you are an adult.  If you look at the world and think of how you have to fight for your place in it, then you are an adult.  Being an “Adult” has nothing to do with your age, it only has to do with how you treat obstacles that try to overcome you.

 

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

            Being a hero is every Childs dream.  What they don’t realize is that a hero doesn’t necessarily need superpowers, all they need is something to fight for, and risk their lives for.  Firefighters are hero’s, the military is filled with hero’s, and everyone who has ever risked something for what is right, or what they believe in, is a hero.

 

A time when I exceeded someone’s expectations.

            In case you didn’t know, my favorite thing ever is playing ice hockey.  I love the way that your skates slide over the ice, I love how it is hard enough that you have to give 100% all the time, and I love that skill takes a backseat to the ability to try your hardest.  That’s me.  My puck skills are bordering on terrible, but I always give 100% effort.  Also, I’m fast.  I don’t mean slightly fast, I mean I can catch up to my teammates even after they get a solid head start.  Teammates, coaches, and parents have always recognized me as a person who will never stop going.  This year, I got an award for this hard work.  I got an award that goes only to one person in the entire hockey club, and is awarded for leadership, dedication, and just being an overall good hockey player.  This award has been the highpoint of my hockey life, and when I got it, I felt like I had earned it, and that it was going to look great on my wall!

walking

Walking, thinking, dreaming and believing

Seeing, living, and not planning on leaving

Friends, enemy’s, love, hate,  Its all life

A future, a date, maybe a wife

 

and yet people tend to get upset

they cry moan, bid, and they bet

to me that’s a life, not so well spent

 

We come, and we go,

Only god will know

Were here, and gone

All we can do, is say so long

 

But trough and trough,

Its all but true

Its not just a lie

What we have,

Just wont die

 

Walking, thinking, dreaming and believing

Seeing, living and not planning on leaving

Friends, love, I’ts more than life

Kids, a job, and my lovely wife

 

Theres no need to get upset

Because I say, and I bet

My life, was well spent

o.

because I don't graduate in like 2 weeks.

Anyway I haven't posted in ages, so here's an update on my life.
I'm still madly in love with the guy Shaquor who is, an complete asshole.
I haven't talked to him in months but I guess that says a lot huh?

Anyway prom was fun. Ocean City was epic.
College is coming. I'm going to Howard or Arcadia.

Cursed out Howard to send me my FA packet.

I LOVE SHAQUOR.

What else?

oh yes, Grandma moved up here! I'm so happy about that.
That is all. SHAQUOR <33333

Extra_Credit :)

My favorite statistics benchmark was when we did a benchmark investigating correlation. For the benchmark we had to investigate a problem. I decided to do my project on the graduation rate in Philadelphia and the possible things that could affect the graduation rate.  Some of the possibilities that i chose was the attendance of the students, the amount of low-income students, the amount of students that are non-English speaking, the number of suspensions, the neighborhood that school is located in, and the demographic make up of the school.  I decided to do this project for our quarter two benchmark because Philadelphia itself seems to be experiencing problems within their school system. The average graduation rate for the School District of Philadelphia is 63%. I investigated all 60 public high schools in Philadelphia.

 


 

 

I learned while doing this benchmark is that the sla core values are heavily correlated to my benchmark. I started with inquiry by coming up with questions such as what affects the graduation rate?. My next step I did required research. So with the variables I came up with I researched for each of the 60 high schools in the Philadelphia area. Presentation was that I analyzed all my data in a word document and used graphs to show how these different variables had a negative or positive affect on the schools graduation rate. Collaboration was used in my benchmark for a few of the graduation rates I had worked with a peer to come up with. We worked together because we were both investigating Philadelphia’s high school graduation rates but we had different variables. So collaboratively we helped each other find the graduation rates. I presented my benchmark by doing a word document with graphs and my calculations of each variable. My calculations included the mean, median, mode, min, max, correlation, spread, and standard devation.  These are all things that we have learned over the year when working with univariate and bivariate data.  The last core value is reflection and at the end of the project I wrote a conclusion about what work still has to be done in the School District of Philadelphia and I even gave possible solutions to the problems.

Screen shot 2011-05-31 at 12.19.18 PM
Screen shot 2011-05-31 at 12.19.18 PM

The correlation between the graduation rate and the amount of suspensions is a strong linear negative correlation. The fewer amounts of suspensions you have the higher the graduation rate will be. For the simple fact when students are suspended they miss school, and when you miss school you miss work. I think this is a reliable source to use when you trying to find out how much a school suspensions may affect their overall graduation rate.

 

Musical Instrument Blog #1

In this benchmark, I am interested in designing a flute to perform my song with. I decided this because I thought for my strengths, it would be the most sensible instrument to build, considering I’m fairly good at measuring and the mathematics needed to apply to making a flute, and it requires the least amount of materials to make.
Producing sound in a flute mainly depends on the size of the diameter of the wholes in the flute. To change sound a note, you have to cover other wholes with your fingers, and use the uncovered holes to make alternating sounds and notes. A flute is a cylinder shaped object that uses wind to manipulate its sound. This can connect to other wind instruments as well as brass instruments, as the are designed in a similar way.