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This year has had ups and downs as far as my work goes.. I put effort into a lot of my assignments but didn’t always follow up on the next one. I know I can do better, ad I will do better. Sophomore year is going to be a year a trials and tribulation, but also a time of great success. Freshman Year of English has showed me a lot about SLA and the work ethnic level here. I will have to put all of my attention into my work and worry about videogames later. I still did pretty well this year.

I made a serious mistake on this assignment. I uploaded the wrong file. I had two of them. One of then was a draft that needed a ton of work. And the other was one that was nearly perfect. That was my final draft and I got them mixed up. Then I didn’t realize it until almost a week later. By them it was to late and Ms. Dunn had already graded the assignment. I think that even though I uploaded the wrong file I did a good job on this assignment. In my improvements, I have the right file in this reflection portfolio I also looked at the file based off of what the feed back I got from the unfinished version.

            Lady Macbeth has a lot of character change in “The Tragedy of Macbeth”. In the beginning she is greedy and ruthless although she didn’t think everything through and did not know the full consequences of her crimes (physically and mentally). Lady Macbeth is greedy and ruthless but has a vast and intriguing conscience.

            Lady Macbeth has just read the letter that Macbeth has sent to he. In Act 1, 4 lines 15-18, Lady Macbeth says, “Yet do I fear thy nature is to full o’ th’ milk of human kindness.” Lady Macbeth thinks that Macbeth does not have the mental strength to kill Duncan. There is no way for her and Macbeth to obtain their ultimate goal. She wants nothing, but to achieve the ultimate goal and will help Macbeth accomplish this.

            In Act 1, 7 Macbeth has second thoughts about killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth wants him to stand up and act like he is a man. Then in lines 59-61 Lady Macbeth says, “But screw your courage to the sticking place”. If she wants Macbeth to get his courage to a greater level so that he will have the strength to kill King Duncan after he tells her that he is scared. She knows that the only way they will ever get to the throne is to kill King Duncan; she has a whole new plan in mind.

            In Act 2, 1 Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have just committed murder and Macbeth is sad and ashamed and can’t even look at his own hands with out showing signs of disgust. Then on line 19, Lady Macbeth says, “A foolish thought to say a sorry sight.” When she says this she refers to when Macbeth says, “A sorry sight” The blood on his hands made him thinks to say this. When Lady Macbeth says her line she means that you had know reason to say that and it’s not important. She finds it unimportant and decides to stay focused on her one goal of becoming queen.

In Act 2, 2 Macbeth ahs just killed Duncan and has the bloody daggers in his hand. He is so shook up that he can’t even put them back at the scene of the crime. Lady Macbeth needs him to focus or they will get caught. In lines 45-52, Lady Macbeth says, “…infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers, the sleeping and the dead are but as pictures.” She says this when Macbeth brings back the daggers from his killing of King Duncan. She believes that he is not focused and needs to stay focused if they are to succeed and not get caught in their scheme.

            In, Act 5, 1 Lady Macbeth is raving and has fits where she begins to act in her sleep. She also begins to give away secrets that Macbeth wanted to keep. In lines 36-40, Lady Macbeth says, “Out damned spot, out I say!” Lady Macbeth is driven mad. She continually seen images of blood on her hands that was washed off days ago. She thinks it is still there because she has been compromised by her conscience. She now has broken down now that she has become queen. Her conscience caught up with her.

            In Act 1, 6 Lady Macbeth is thinking more what is going to become of this prophecy, she realizes that the only way for Macbeth to become king (and more specifically, her as queen) she needs to have a stronger mind in order to do what she believes should be done for them to become the royal family. In lines 38-43 Lady Macbeth says, “Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts. Unsex me here.” Lady Macbeth needs to, not be a weak female, but act as that of a strong man and so she wishes that a supernatural force will allow her to become this. She needs this strength to help Macbeth get them into the royal family.

            In Act 1, 7 Macbeth has just had Banquo killed and does not take it well. He is about to break down over the matter. Lady Macbeth tries to continually persuade him on page 2, she says, “Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would.” Lady Macbeth is saying that he needs to not pull back and go forward with everything that was planed and not pull back because of weakness. Lady Macbeth knows that if Macbeth does not kill Duncan than this chance will never come again and they will never get to earn the crown.

            In Act 2, 2 Lady Macbeth goes to lay the daggers on the guards to frame them of the crime. Lady Macbeth feels stronger now and says, “That which have made them death have made me bold.” She is referring to the drunken guards; which have passed out because of an overdose of wine. With them knocked out, Lady Macbeth has a lot more courage. She only became strong because she can easily accomplish her goal now with the help of Macbeth.

            Near the end of the play in Act 5, 2 Lady Macbeth has just had another fit. She also gave away here secrets about how they got in the throne. After Lady Macbeth leaves in lines 70-71 the doctor says, “Foul whisp’rings are abroad. Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles.” The doctor knows that only these fits made her reveal these deeds and that she revealed these deeds because her conscience plagued her to do so. Lady Macbeth has broken down completely now because she already has exactly what she wants and has nothing other to think about.

            Lady Macbeth has gone from mean and greedy to soft. In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth wants nothing but to get into the throne; but by the end of the play she wants nothing but to be rid of the guilt. Thesis: Lady Macbeth is greedy and ruthless but has a vast and intriguing conscience.

            This benchmark was a bit of a difficulty for me and in the beginning I was having trouble finding a topic. Once I found my topic, I wasn’t sure how I would go fourth with it. Once I was positive of where I was going to take this benchmark, I started to lose focus of my topic. I think that over all though, once I got past all of the complications, I turned in a product that didn’t need a ton of improvement. I did very well on this assignment. I had a solid opener and I included points of humor and sarcasm, important dialogue and vocabulary. My benchmark was also of proper length and didn’t run over. As part of my improvements, I improved the second paragraph by clarifying on some things that seemed a little abstract.

What a coincidence?

             I prayed to God one day last year (Opener).  I had just started to search for high schools, and I discovered Science Leadership Academy. I probably wouldn’t have found it, if I hadn’t looked through the entire high school book for 2010. I wouldn’t have looked through the entire book if my mom hadn’t told me to. Coincidence? I don’t think so! This happened for a reason. I am not at SLA because of a chance incident. Life is not full of things that just happen to happen until the height of your life. A greater force plans life out. Life just isn’t supposed to be for something spectacular to happen, but for something meaningful to occur.

           

If you followed that entire first paragraph then I am proud of you (humor). See most people don’t see things that way. A lot of people don’t want it to seem like someone is messing with their life and screwing things up for them to show them a truth they don’t want to see. Take one day in my science class in my 7^th grade year. I was planning today to ask my science teacher to write a letter for a recommendation for me. I am well behaved in her class and since science is my favorite subject and I thought it would be a good idea to get her recommendation because she is a science teacher and could help me get into a science based school (sarcasm); but “what a coincidence”. I got into trouble for telling the student next to me the agenda because he couldn’t see it. I guess it just wasn’t a good day for her. So I waited until the end of class for her to cool down then I gave her the envelope and she smirked and said, “After how you acted today? You come and ask me for a recommendation?” I stared at her then said, “Yes” (dialogue) She laughed and acted like the entire recommendation will be based off of one day. So I asked her with a shrewd (vocabulary) look on my face, “What is so funny? I know that with your level of intelligence that you will not base the entire recommendation off of one day.”

She stopped laughing.

            “Have a good day Ms. Peddle,” I told her then walked away.

            By doing that not only did I increase the positive things that she would put it into the recommendation, but I also helped change her conscientious (vocabulary) view of the rest of the class. All of this occurred because I changed her point of view. For the rest of the year, things were a lot easier to deal with in her class as far as relationships with students and teachers in that class.

Now I’m not going to get real deep by telling you that there are some mystical forces out there. It’s pretty simple actually. Life has been planned out. Not every detail but small goals and plots that are here specifically to show you something meaningful that you may never have known otherwise. All you have to do is fulfill it. It teaches many people valuable lessons. It will help you to grow and mature inot an adult, and even after that.

So it is near the end of 7^th grade year and we are all ready to leave. We have about 6 days left and some people decided that it would be smart to bring some knives to school and sell them between classes. They got busted before lunch.

They apparently wanted to try their luck and decided to show off the knives while we were walking up the steps to our next class. They didn’t act very wary (vocabulary) about it either. All three of them were suspended and later afterwards two of them were expelled. What’s the point; that had a sad ending? Now one of them is at SLA with me and is even in my advisory class. The other goes to a private school called LaSalle. They both made off better by leaving Overbrook Educational Center (OEC) for a year. Another coincidence? Yeah right! They both have told me that if they hadn’t done that that they would have never been where they are today. All of this is because of a mistake they decided to make. Coincidence? I don’t think so! It happened for a reason.

Life may not have an ultimate plan but there is always cause and effect. There is always some small plot to teach a lesson. In fact I would not be telling you my story if I didn’t have this assignment. I wouldn’t have had this assignment if I hadn’t gotten into this school; and I wouldn’t have gotten into this school if I hadn’t seen it listed in my search. That wouldn’t have happened if my mom hadn’t told me about this school. So thanks mom for allowing me to tell this story.

            This is probably my best work of the year. I put the most effort possible into this assignment. I worked on it even after I was already done and enriched it multiple times. In this assignment I had to compare The Odyssey to some thing modern. I compared it to some thing that used to be one of my obsessions. Star Wars! I loved watching Star Wars reading and listening to it. When we got this assignment it came easy and I did a ton of work on it. The problem was, I did too much work on it. I had too much information and my thesis wasn’t very focused. I actually felt kind of upset over this assignment. I believe that I did a good job on this assignment. I decided that I would mainly focus on focusing my thesis and narrowing it down. That was my goal in my improvements.

“The Star Wars Saga” (By George Lucas) and “The Odyssey” (By Homer) are both great stories to be told. They both have interesting plots that show a lot of determination. The stories of “The Odyssey” and “Star Wars Saga” are very similar; they are built off of each other. They have different plots that are meant to get specific ideas across. Obi-Wan and Athena both act as mentors but also have some differences. Anakin and Odysseus both have similar goals to accomplish, but have limits to how far they will go to accomplish them. Luke and Telemachus are confused about their very existence and who their father is, but want different things out of their life.

 

Obi-Wan and Athena both act as mentors to Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Odysseus and Telemachus. When Odysseus was getting through the war, he had assistance from Athena that helped him plan battle after battle. When Anakin Skywalker was using bad judgment on battle strategies to take down the Separatists Leaders, Obi-Wan showed him the errors of his ways and guided him in making the right decisions. Obi-Wan guided Anakin even after Anakin betrayed him, he helped his son, (Luke Skywalker) later to help bring Anakin back from the dark side after he had already died and then figured out a way to come back. In the Odyssey, Athena helped Odysseus win many battles over his enemies even when he began to lie and think dishonest thoughts. She also helped Telemachus bring his father back home and get him prepared for when it was time to rid the house of the suitors, without him even knowing that she was there. Where Obi-Wan was a good friend and Master to Anakin Skywalker, and also a positive mentor to Luke S., Athena was a mentor to Odysseus when he struggled in battle and then Telemachus when he didn’t know what to do with his life.

Now even though Obi-Wan and Athena are a lot alike, they still have many differences. Obi-Wan had his life threatened by Anakin and was only able to return from the netherworld for short periods of time, whereas Athena is immortal and cannot die. Athena also never actually fought along side Odysseus because she would get to involved with mortals whereas Obi-Wan battled along side Anakin many times and even saved each other’s lives. When it came to life and death situations, Athena only gave Odysseus hints instead of just bluntly doing it for him. Obi-Wan also had his life saved by Anakin many times and Athena rarely asked for assistance from Odysseus. Athena and Obi-Wan are both wise and powerful characters that play a great role in the Star Wars Saga and The Odyssey.

 

While Anakin Skywalker and Odysseus are extremely similar in their conquests for power and justice and also their cockiness, they also have differences that make each of them unique. Every mission Anakin went on, he took unnecessary risks to prove a point to himself. In II, Anakin flew straight threw a set of power couplings, (which could kill anyone connected to machinery if they were to get hit. When Odysseus defeated the Great Cyclops Polyphemus, he risked his entire group and his own life just so that he could get glory and feel good inside. Almost immediately after him and his crew left the island Odysseus yelled back in triumph, “If anyone asks you who gouged out your eye, which stripped you of sight, it was I, Odysseus, Raider of Cities, who did it.” There is no real reason for Odysseus to do this; he was simply being cocky and dangerous. Anakin also has many great interests in obtaining as much power as possible. In II Anakin stated that, “I will become the most powerful Jedi ever… I will even be able to keep people from dying.” Anakin was so power hungry that he wanted to do the impermissible. A while before he had said this he had slaughtered an entire tribe of SandPeople. He was mad because a few of them had just killed his mother. In the Odyssey, Odysseus slaughtered everyone in the house because he had been away from his family for so long.

While these two characters are very similar, they are also very different. Anakin killed his wife because he believed that she was working with his enemies. Odysseus would never kill his wife no matter what. Anakin had also gone so far into his evil that he eventually joined “The Dark-Side.” Prophecies were made about both Anakin Skywalker and Odysseus. Anakin was “The Chosen One” and was supposed to bring balance to the Force by ridding the galaxy of “The Sith.” Odysseus had several prophecies made about him. There was one where Ithaca would not be able to destroy Troy without his assistance. Another prophecy stated that he would not be able to return home except for under specific circumstances. Anakin and Odysseus did many great works and in the end they both lived for what is right.

 

Luke Skywalker and Telemachus are both cunning characters who want justice and to (in Luke’s case) avenge their father, or (in Telemachus’ case) to find their father. Both of these characters are very skilled in many different things. Luke can build or fix almost anything. Telemachus was a great warrior. They both were relentless in finding or avenging their father that they never knew. While Luke and Telemachus are both good at many things they were also clouded from information that meant a lot to them. Luke fought his father (IV) unknowingly and at the end of the battle Luke still wouldn’t believe. It wasn’t until later when Obi-Wan showed him the truth did he believes.  Telemachus was housing his father-in-disguise in his own house and didn’t know.

While Luke and Telemachus are very much alike, they also have some differences. Luke wanted to kill his own father even after he realized whom it was he was battling. Telemachus would help his Father to the very end. Luke is more careful than Telemachus. When Luke first realized that his father was Darth Vader he wouldn’t believe it, and it took a lot more time for him to trust what his father had said. Telemachus believed that a homeless guy in rags was his father without a second thought. Telemachus and Luke both have many skills that often come in handy.

 In conclusion, the plots of Star Wars and The Odyssey are similar in plot and also were built off of each other. The stories are not exactly alike but the stories seem to be a slightly distorted reflection of each other. Anakin was brought back from the dark side despite what he believed just like Odysseus was able to get back home. Luke wanted more than anything to avenge his father just as Telemachus wanted nothing more than to find the father he never knew.

            This assignment worked out pretty well for me. I explained Lady Macbeth well and had an interesting way of showing it. When we did this assignment I wasn’t keen on grading other peoples work. I personally believe that I deserved a better grade than what I got. I graded people on the effort it looked like it took then to do the assignment. I think that I was graded on if they liked it or not. I also think that it may have been repetitive. Part of my improvements have been to put a little more rhythm into the song and also to use less repeats so that the song fades out at the end.

            The book I read for this assignment was awesome. When I wrote this assignment I knew what I was going to say and exactly how I would say it. I pulled threw with a large amount of effort and I think I got a great grade on the assignment even though I didn’t see what I got for the assignment yet. In my improvements I elaborated on some points I made that were unclear.

            The second book in a new series by Rick Riordan “The Throne of Fire”  is a fast paced book based off of Egyptian Mythology. Two children have the blood of the Pharaoh within them. This makes them extremely powerful and also extremely dangerous. These children control the fate of the world.

            A couple millennia ago, The Egyptian Gods would come to earth from a place called the Duat. The Duat is where the gods could roam freely. It is also the place where mortal souls go after they die. Two kids named Sadie Kane and Carter Kane. Two gods of Egyptian Mythology once possessed them. Isis, a goddess of magic possessed Sadie Kane and gave her awesome powers that no other magician could do. Horus, the Falcon Warrior god, possessed Carter. Carter was able to be anyone with his combat magic. Towards the end of the first book they gave up the power of gods and now have to train a lot harder to do the simplest spells. Later, they sent out a beacon of magic to help other magicians find them and get help.

            Now they are back in Book #2. Carter and Sadie want to summon an ancient diet of Egyptian Mythology. They want to summon Ra, God of the Sun. According to ancient Egyptian Mythology, Ra went up into the heavens permanently after Isis used Ra’s secret name (which is like a magical social security card number) and forced him into doing what she wanted. They wish to re-summon Ra so that he can become King of the Gods once again. They have to go on a quest threw the Duat and find all three parts of him.  In the morning, he is Khepri, god of the rising sun to symbolize birth and creation. In the middle of the day he is Ra. Then at the end of the day he is Atum, God of the sunset. Carter and Sadie also have some opposition. The House of Magic (Egyptian’s underground society) doesn’t think they are doing a good thing. They try and stop them multiple times. Carter almost died at least twice. Sadie was about be suffer from a curse that would leave her with out a will of her own. Eventually they get all three parts of Ra, but he isn’t exactly himself. Ra acts like someone who is 6 years old. He is brainwashed and doesn’t remember a thing. The Head of the House of Magic also has been killed in the efforts to stop them from awaking Ra. Their uncle Amos Kane now takes over the job since he is the most powerful magician in the world.

Horus believes that Carter is a fool for putting Ra back on the throne. Many of the other Gods agree that it might have been a mistake. Now Carter and Sadie have sent out another magical signal for more people to come. They want to become strong and take down the Lord of Chaos, Apophis. They will still need Ra’s help. But how can they when he barely understands the simplest things.

            Sadie and Carter are also both experiencing mixed feelings about other people. Sadie is stuck between Anubis (God of Funerals) and a guy named Walt who is suffering from the disease that killed King Tut. Carter found the girl of his dreams then found out she wasn’t really there with them. Now he has found her again and she isn’t sure if she likes him like he like her.

I can’t wait until the third book comes out. “The Throne of Fire” and “The Red Pyramid” have been great books and I love the level of action that hey present. The suspense is killing me though. I want to know if Ra gets better and if Zia (who Carter has a crush on) begins to remember the past that Carter and her shared when Zia was a Shabti. Rick Riordan, a great book writer of mythology and action. He has a great imagination.

The journal entrees are simple assignments that we do every once in a while to clear our head. The topics are very simple things even though they are extremely important things, some of them. The four I chose were “Fitting In”, “Expectations”, “Adulthood” and “Heroes”

​It is important not to fit in, but to feel accepted. The term, “fitting in” has a loose definition. It pretty much means that others like you. Some people think that fitting in means that you go with the popular group. It is only popular if everyone around lets it be popular. I personally would prefer that I was liked by people instead of hated or disliked. I wouldn’t go extremely far to do it though, because if you have to change too much to make people like you then they don’t like the true you. I am positive that people who change too much just so that they are liked end up not knowing who they are themselves. Then that could lead to depression or worst. Just be yourself, don’t try to change for others and don’t try to “fit in”. Fitting in doesn’t really exist. It just means being part of something that you believe is cool.

Heroes

A hero is someone who simply did the right thing. They didn’t go with what people around them said and they have a large sense of what justice is. Heroes can be the most hated people in the world sometimes. Some people just don’t have a good sense of what justice is, so they antagonize those of us who do. I think that any one who does the right thing against what is known to be wrong. Of course there are other definitions of a hero for me. I believe that fire fighters and police officers are heroes because they do things that show acts of courage. I am not against them, but all they do is step outside of their comfort zone. Anyone who has the courage to go way outside their comfort zone is courageous to me and therefore is a hero in my book.

 Adulthood

An adult is when you reach a level of maturity that makes the world seem different. A “child” sees the world as a place to have fun and be carefree. An adult sees it as an opportunity to prosper. I personally believe that an adult can be any age. Legally though, adults are 18 and until then you are not allowed special previleges.

People expected me to go to college at 15. I was expected to keep watch over my sisters and help my parents in their old age. I am also expected to have a ton of kids. This is because I am the only Spencer male left. Every one of my family members who live on the West Coast expect me to do something great because I am the only Spencer left of my generation that is male. I think that it is natural for people to expect things of you. Even though none of it is guaranteed. I have also made expectations of myself. I have always expected my self to run a company call “SpencerTech” Industries. I think that when you set expectations for yourself that you tend to find them easier to fulfill. No one should know you better then you unless they are stalking you and recording your every movement, which would be weird. If you set the expectation for yourself then it shouldn’t be really difficult unless you want to challenge yourself. When other people set expectations for you, it is usually what they want, and not you.

This assignment was rushed for me because my character didn't have a lot of information in it. I was about to change when links finally started to come up. I choose this character because he was powerful and the single biggest threat that the Olympian Gods ever faced. By the way, I drew that depiction Porphyrion myself.

This is my globalization benchmark about how America and Philadelphia has been globalized. Here is the link to my BM presentation.

The most challenging thing about this benchmark was connected globalization to Philadelphia. I knew things that I wanted to put up but I didn't know how to write how it did connect to Philadelphia. The easiest part for me was obtaining the images. Most of my images had me in it and others were easy to get since the places wasn't that far from my house. Out of all my pictures, my favorite has to be the one on the society slide. It's a picture of my family(1/8 of them) and I, in the temple praying together as a family. 

I think the evidence of globalization in Philadelphia isn't that hard to see if you live in a certain neighborhood. I live in the Khmer community of South Philadelphia, so it was easy to see where my family and my culture has globalized Philadelphia. I can't tell if it's more or less than other countries but I think it's less because my family in California says their Khmer community is bigger than the one here and that people would go all out during News Years.

Done with benchmarks this quarter.

And for good. :D

GRADUATION!!!! <3

Oh gosh, three more days of actual classes. I can do this. I feel like the little train who could. I keep on telling myself I think I can finish this work, I think I can finish this work, I think I can finish this work, I think I can finish this work, I think I can finish this work, and surprisingly enough I do.

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.

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. 

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.

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
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                                                             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. 

                                                                  
                                                 


                                                        


                                                        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)

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. :) 

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.

I don't like cold weather
I don't like hot weather
If it were right in the middle at 75
I'd be one happy camper


P.S - I'll admit this is super cheesy. I take full responsibility.

​
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.

            

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.

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?

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.  

 

 

 

 

 

            

​
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.

 

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.

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!

In all of my time at SLA, I've never (purposely) turned in an incomplete project. Tomorrow marks a milestone for me. 

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

I have a wave of terrible ideas that all seem like good ideas and I can't make it stop!!!... on another note



KIMMY THE OWL IS STILL JUDGING YOU!!!