This source refers back to a book called ‘Nonprofit Management 101’. I didn’t know about this book until after I watched this video. They covered a lot of the tips from the book but I’m going to go back and check out all the other tips. They mentioned a man by the name of Hank Rosso, and I’ve never heard of him before watching this video. He was referred to as the ‘Godfather of credentialed, respected, professional nonprofit employees.’ So this source was helpful in giving me more sources instead of actual tips like the other sources I have found.  I learned that there is a book all about Hank Rosso’s tips, ‘Hank Rosso's Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising”.  So just from this one source, I found two more books full of tips that people from all over the world use.  

• I set out to make a dedication to someone very important to me, who I lost this past November. He was always telling stories so I wanted to share some of the ones that stuck with me.
• My work incorporates the art of storytelling because this whole project is me sharing stories about his life. Also, the times that we shared together when he was telling me and I was just sitting there listening to him.
• I hope that my audience learns all about the type of man that my pop was and they love him just from the stories that I shared.
• From doing this project I also gained some more stories that he shared with my mom and my grandma. This project didn't even feel like work because I loved what the topic was and that made it all the better. 

I also write to connect with family. There are people in my family that I don't get to see often, I write to them all the time. Whether it is on the internet or texting, we still connect. Even with friends and family I do get to see often we still write to each other all the time. Writing connects me to a lot of different things. 

Throughout this year I was given many different challenges within my work. Coming into tenth grade I was a little nervous and didn’t know what to expect. One thing that I was really nervous about is if I was going to be able to turn everything in on time and make sure it was A+ worthy. But once I got the hang of things, I realized early on that I was going to need to put a lot of hard work into everything I put my name on, but in the end it would pay off.

Nothing worth having comes easy you need to put in hard work. This is what I told myself every time I was frustrated with work. Every time I was fed up with an assignment I would just remind myself how great it would feel to receive that A on my report card, paper, or project. There were times when I was extremely overwhelmed with work but it was all a learning experience because it made me realize early on that college isn’t going to be easy either. Another thing that is clearer to me now is that creativity will never end and nether will the ways of expressing your self. These are a couple things that I learned from everyday experience. This is not something that can be taught. Every project that we did in this year had different ways of expressing ourselves. We had projects from papers, to drawing things, to making videos, to re-writing the end of books. These are just a few projects. There was also projects were we had so many different choices and if we didn’t like any of those we could make our own.

One thing that my class and I did not to long ago was teamed up with Leah Stein and her dance company. At first I wasn’t sure what to expect and thought it was a little weird at first but once I got into it, it was really fun! My group and I faced a couple struggles in the process of making up our dance. For example we got kicked out of our space and had to move into another one that set us back a little bit. There were times when someone in my group was absent or late which kind also set back the process but this gave us motivation to work harder. We incorporated things that were going on in everyday life, and everyone gave us ideas that were helpful. Even though we were nervous that something might go wrong, I just told my group “Always smile don’t worry about the little things!” In the end I have to say our dance was really amazing! It was a lot of fun! (Link for picture of my group at the bottom!)

Everything that you do that is new to you will cause you to make mistakes. But that’s what you learn from. I made a lot of them this past year but “I was raised by learning from mistakes.” That was from a poem that we did this year. It was all things that we were raised by. (Link at bottom!) One thing that I loved was no ones were the same. Also with a poem of our choice we had to make a piece of artwork. I made mines about this poem! (Link at bottom!) Another mistake people make a lot is thinking they can trust a lot of people. “You can’t trust everyone that you think" that’s something that I learned from reading Passing by Nella Larsen. Which we also had a project on and some people made drawings, videos, or typed papers.  I made a drawing of the main character to show her two different sides. (Link at the bottom!) For this book I also made a video of a new ending, a ending that was how I think the book should have ended. (Link at the bottom!)

Passing drawing!

Passing video!

I was raised by poem! 

I was raised by.. picture!

Art in the open picture! 

I wish I could move to Florida and leave Philly. If I were to live in Florida, I could be tan all the time and wear shorts and go swimming everyday. I wish I could make everyday summer. I would be happy all the time. I wish I could sing well because there’s times when I just want to belt out but I want it sound well. I wish I was rich so that way I could buy anything and everything I wanted and never have to worry about running out of money. I wish I could meet any famous person I wanted and be friends with them. I wish I could bring my great grandma back to life. I wish I could bring back all my family from the dead especially the ones who I was to young to realize who they were when I was little and just have one more conversation with them. I wish I could eat everything and never have to worry about calories!

“This past summer my friend”

This past summer my friend Briana and I have become really close. I consider her my little sister because we’re only months apart! We practically live over each others houses we go back and forth every weekend and she comes over my house every Wednesday, in the winter. In the summer it’s a whole different story its sleepovers every night, beach everyday and boardwalk every night together. If her mom is going back to Philly she stays with me. The funny thing is no matter how much time we spend together we never get annoyed with each other. All we do is laugh until we cry and our stomachs hurt. I can tell her anything and it goes for her too. We never will judge each other no matter what the situation is. She will always give me the best advice does not matter what the topic is. If I were to call her at three o'clock in the morning she would talk me through what ever I was going through. I would be so lost without her. She knows everything about me and I know everything about her. She’s not my best friend, she’s part of my family. 

One quote that I really agreed with was about how he is better at doing everything when he has feelings under control. This immediately made me think of every single time I get angry and start screaming. I do get mad at the most pointless things and I should learn to brush them off and not let the little things bug me. But even though that’s really hard to do I need to take Ghadi’s advice and not get so angry because more things will get solved when you can talk them out like human beings and not like animals. Also when I shout there’s so many feelings going through my body I find myself stuttering and then I cant even get my point out. Not only do I stutter but also when I walk away from the person sometimes I’m really shaky and I cry. Thinking about this all right now I realize how dumb it is to become so heated and it’s a waste of energy. Life is to short to be anything but happy.

Fail! 

Intro

            This project was to make a language autobiography. Our paper had to explain how our language relates to our life and include scenes using words that either we made up, or words that mean something special to us or are they’re just slang. We had to explain how language shaped our life and made us who we are today.

            The parts that I feel that are strong in my paper would be the scenes. I included more than one and I made sure they were really descriptive and included my words. Another part that I think is really strong is my analysis. A place that I struggled in was my final paragraph, because I had to close up the scene I was just talking about and try to include the first scene with it to tie it all together. I learned a lot, one thing that I learned that stood out to me was a thing called "code switching."  "Code switching" means that when you're speaking to someone you have a certain way to speak to them. I knew that I always did that but I just didn’t know that it had a name.

Language might be one thing that travels the fastest around the world. It’s something that everyone knows about and uses everyday.  It is also part of who I am. My language is so different from everyone else that I talk to. Yes, I speak English but I used different words and different dialect than you. Everyone that I ever held a conversation with from school has noticed the way I talk. Everyone else that wasn’t from my school never had anything to say about it.  I believe it’s my “South Philly” accent or some of the slang words that I say all the time. I talk the same way that everyone around my neighborhood talks. I don’t really use a lot of slang but the word that I use most often is “yous.” This word is an Italian slang for “you guys” really simply. If you go into South Philly you would find that out pretty quickly. I must use this word about seventy times a day and not even notice.

I remember the first time that I said it in school. I was sitting at lunch on the second floor near the pool, surrounded by people that I knew, but not well. I had one really close friend that was in my stream her name was Goldie. We were all laughing and everything was great. I was sitting against the wall and Goldie got her trash and all her things together and began standing up.

  “Me and Ellen are leaving do you want to come?” She asked me as Ellen walked over to her.

  “Well, where are yous going?” I asked looking up to her and Ellen. Suddenly everyone around me snapped their heads in my direction. All I heard was a bunch of voices talking about what I had just said. Everyone was just as puzzled as I was but for different reasons.
                    “What did she just say?” A girl asked in between laughter.
                    “What does “yous” mean?” A boy shouted out but he got no answers. Then Goldie asked the same question. I thought maybe of all people she would know because I used this around her before and she never questioned it.
                    “Yeah what does that mean?” She said as she was laughing along with everyone else. I didn’t know that no one knew what that word meant. My face got redder than a tomato and I was suddenly scared that everyone was going to make fun of me. I just wanted to run and hide until it all passed.
                    “You guys. Yous never heard that before?” I asked looking around and I realized that I just said it again but hoped that no one heard me. Laughter was the only thing I heard after that.
                    “No!” She shouted as if I should have known that.
                    “Oh. Well where I’m from that’s what everyone says. It’s weird that no one here knew. But anyway where are yous going?” I said it in a joking manner because everyone made a big deal about it. I felt embarrassed, like I was an alien and no one ever heard the word before. But no one minded, they all thought it was funny and I know now that they would never make fun of me for real. But now everyone is used to it, and a lot more people say it. I guess I just worry too much. It has become a joke between some friends and me all from that one-day. Another thing that I believe makes me who I am today is the fact that I talk with my hands. A lot if not all the people from south Philly do this. Growing up seeing my parents do it, or neighbors or just strangers when I walk in the street. I don’t even realize that I do it but all of my friends do. They sometimes tease me about this also. Either if I am really angry or excited, I wave my hands or clap them. But nevertheless I believe that it has made me part of who I am today. Also, that I impacted some peoples lives because they started to do it also.
                    Which brings me back to my thought that language might be one thing that travels the fastest around the world. If someone says one thing to me and I like it then I will say it, text it, or chat it to my friends and if they like it they do the same and it spreads like wildfire, it’s crazy! Of course there are some words that you don’t want to say around certain people, which is called Code Switching. The way I talk in school is way different from the way I talk when I’m home or around my friends. Just as some teachers talk different when they talk to their class and then when they are around their friends they speak differently also. We can’t help that we do this but it’s just what were used to.  For example, when I went to Drexel to present my water filtration project I spoke perfect English. I had to make sure for a fact that I dropped all of my slang words because I wanted to impress the professors at the school. I had to make sure I didn’t use my hands I didn’t want to clap in the audience faces just to get my point across.
                    “I’m extremely nervous! What if I mess up?” I said looking at Jessica as we were impatiently waiting for our names to get called up to go present. I couldn’t eat the nice food they supplied for us, I could barley drink what they supplied for us. I keep reading over my slide and practicing what I was going to say and how I was going to say it and stand.

            “You’ll be fine! Relax. Breathe. You did this in school a millions times and did it prefect!” She reassured me with a smile. I still couldn’t shake the nervous feeling that I was having. I remember when I first heard that we won this project challenge and I was nervous from then on.
                    “You know me I’m socially awkward I don’t like to talk to people especially professors!” I said laughing and she joined in with me. Then they called us and once I got up there and saw my slide I was fine. I didn’t mess up and I managed to keep my English perfect. I was so proud of myself for not messing up and not clapping in their faces.

Even though I always say “yous” I will never change the way that I speak or stop saying the words that I do because someone has a problem with it. Of course I will if I ever go back to Drexel or present but other then that, I will not. Everything I say and the way I say it makes me who I am. I love it.

What goes on out side the white house-

  Talking to the news reporter about how she’s been arresting people all day. Just awkwardly sitting there keeping an eye on the protesters. 

How do I feel about arresting all these people? Well of course I feel bad, I mean because I agree with them.  Also, my family is going to be effected by it. The keystone pipeline XL will be going through my mothers yard in Nebraska. It would just be horrible if there were a leak because she really can’t afford to have it cleaned. Not to mention all the other things that the spill could cause, for example pollution. This pipeline is nothing but bad news to us. I would love to be protesting out here, but I much rather have this job then get fired. I mean one more person isn’t really going to make a difference. In the end they’re only making it harder for me to do my job. Excuse me one moment.

The pipeline will be carrying dirty oil from Canada to the United States, and it will be coming in at 900,000 barrels a day. The climate is bad already. This pipeline would just make things worst. The climate would be all mixed up. 

Can I think of any pros? Well, it’s cheap and reliable. But that’s only two compared to all the cons that I’ve just talked about. Another would be jobs, but there’s not that many and it’s really not worth all the damage this is going to cause. Excuse me again I have to leave now.

All against the Key Stone!

Just sitting in a chair, in an interview. She is sitting at a desk just explaining where she stands on the pipeline xl.

 Hi my name is Dana Miller, I am a person who is strongly against the Keystone Pipeline. I  protested for a while but I didn’t get arrested, thankfully. There are so many reasons that the pipeline shouldn’t happen. “The pipeline would pump some of the dirtiest oil in the world. Not to mention we are putting our farms in risk of an oil spill.” Also, a lot of the fresh water sources. We’ve already seen an atrocious oil spill in the gulf, we can’t let that happen again or near the farms and put all those animals at risk. Did you know the tar sands is the second largest pool of carbon on the planet?

 The previous pipeline has leaked a dozen times in just the past year. Who’s to say that this one won’t do the same? People have claimed that this pipeline was only supposed to leak one time in every seven years. Now that’s something to make you question. This one could even be worst, we can never be sure and if it happens then it’s going to be too late. The fact is, the other one happened in the gulf but this one would happen on land. Who can afford to clean that up? Also, there lives are at risk.

People are saying jobs are a big upside. But is all this really worth it, for what could only be like 5,000 jobs. It’s not worth all these consequences. “This pipeline wouldn’t carry the common oil it would carry thick, toxic bitumen. This is pollution that is being transported from Canada to the United States.” Even though the oil is cheaper then normal, we could surely find another alternative. This pipeline could bring close to 900,000 barrels a day.

Inside Trans Canada-

In his car talking to a man who new at the Trans Canada Oil company. He is not sure what side he is standing for.

Hello my name is Nick Brosman. I've worked for the Trans Canada Oil company for a long time now and I drive the trucks. Have you heard about the Key Stone pipeline? Well, im completely for it! Now don’t get me wrong I can see where the protesters are coming from about how bad this pipeline is. But I can find way more upsides to this pipeline then downsides and I think when I’m done you will too. Lets look at the first three simple reasons, it’s cheap. This is obvious why its good but just incase you are wondering. So we can afford it for a long time and put that money toward other global problems.  There’s a lot of it. If we’ll be able to use this for a really long time, we wont have to pay for this and then when it runs out pay for something else. We can just stay with this for a long time. We know it’s good reliable oil. We are not the only people who need oil, so if we don’t take this someone else will definitely take it. We can’t risk that. There are so many people who are un-employed and a lot of jobs that need to be taken care of in order to get this pipeline working, and for a long time after. Aside from those jobs, more truck drivers like myself will also be needed. Energy consumption is getting higher and higher, we need this. This brings me back to the point I made earlier about how abundant it is. So as you can see there are plenty of upsides to Keystone pipeline Xl.

In Obama’s head

  Sitting in a conference room while being interviewed and he’s just staring at the wall and thinking in his head.

 Okay, I think there’s time for one more question”.

“Obama sir, as of right now what will your decision be on the Keystone XL pipeline project”?

Here it was. The question I’ve been avoiding for 3 years. Hmmm, What’s my decision on the pipeline project? For now, I am leaning towards approving it. We need cheap oil. This is very reliable, and will help our country greatly because our energy rates have gone up. This will give us thousands of jobs, even if they’re temporary. (Puts hand in head) But there are many downsides to this as well. Spills, it affects the water that these people drink. That I drink. Also, climate change is another horrific outcome. We already had an earthquake, and a recorded hurricane in other parts of the country. We need to act now on the bad things that are already happening, but this pipe plan makes it worse. Another thing I was thinking about was, this oil is extremely dirty. It will take us even more money to completely clean it so we can use it.

Either way, I will lose votes. I watched a video with my wife the other day. People were getting arrested right in front of my home, just to stop the pipeline plan. They say it will destroy their homes. This decision could make or break my presidency. For now, I can’t say anything. It will lead the wrong direction and just give me more problems. I’ll have to think about it.

“I’m sorry, there is no more time left in this interview. Thank you.”

A farmer’s life

Just woke up and is going to watch the news.

I woke up this morning, and turned on the news. They were talking about the Keystone XL pipeline project. Last week my husband took a plane to Washington D.C and protest this madness. He unfortunately got arrested and had to spend 24 hours in jail, but I’m glad he fought for us. I have been living here, in Nebraska for 32 years with my husband. We farm here, that’s how we survive. About a month ago, two large men in an expensive black suits came knocking on our door. They told us we had two options, have to pipeline go through our fields, or move. It’s worse enough now that it will pollute our air and create severe climate change, but to go through our fields. It’s a different story about our land, that is our life. That’s how we make money, and get our food. There must be some other way to get oil and not hurt us like this. Can’t they see it hurts innocent citizens? The ones who work hard for the little things they have. No, they pick on us the most. We need a voice. We need someone in a big black suit to stick up for us. The environment is so important and we need to preserve it. This damage will only make more problems. We could have more flooding, severe pollution, and oil leaks in my backyard. Even though I don’t want to leave, I can’t afford cleaning up an oil spill and risking health of my children. This plan needs to stop.

  Drue Boccuti

I love giving back, and giving help to ones in need. I try to do as much as I am able to. I love knowing that what I just did helped out someone, or even just made them smile.  I don’t do really gigantic things like help build houses or anything major like that, but I do as much as I can. For example, my mom’s friend teaches in a school were the kids aren’t as fortunate as I am, so I donate what ever I can to help them and make them smile. Sometimes I don’t always see it his or her reaction but I know someone somewhere is appreciating what I did. Just that feeling is enough.

The last time that I helped someone was sometime near my birthday. What did I do? I bought a pair of Toms shoes. You’re probably wondering what’s so special about that. Well, when purchasing Toms shoes you help a child in need get a pair. I was ecstatic to get the Tom that I’ve been wanting since last January! I remember opening the box like it was yesterday. The first thing I noticed in the box was a bag that serves as a bag or you can hang it up as a flag. Then a small sticker that has the Toms logo and then I finally grabbed the shoes. I slipped them right on my feet, and ran right to my mirror to see how great they looked. Once I stopped looking at my feet, I went out. I didn’t take them off the whole night even when I got home!

The last time that I’ve been this excited for a new pair of shoes had to be Christmas! I had gotten two new pair’s of Uggs that I wore everyday of the winter last year. I love Christmas, spending time with my family and friends. One person that I really love spending time with would have to be my dad. He’s such a caring person who is nice to everyone and he always makes me and everyone else laugh. I think me wanting and liking to help people out comes from both my parents, but more him. My dad is the type of guy who will help an old lady carry grocery bags, or cross the street, help a little kid get a cat out of a tree. Just all around good things to help anyone. I remember this one time he even shocked me.

“Bye thank you for having us” I said hugging my grand parents while dragging my feet out of their house.

“Thank you for coming!” My grandma said to me as she shut the door behind my mom walking out of her house.

“Where did we park at dad?” I asked looking around for our baby blue mini van, like a child looking for a parent in a supermarket.

“Were right on that corner. You look very tired.’’ He said with a smile on his face.

“I am! All I want to do is get to my bed!” I said.

            On the ride home which felt like it was taking much longer then it normally did, I kept my eyes closes and occasionally looked up. Then all of sudden our car had pulled over. I was so excited because I thought we were home. We weren’t, we were only on Broad and Synder.

            “Oh my gosh. What’s going on over there?!” My mom was shouting and she sounded extremely worried.

            “I jumped up and suddenly didn’t feel tired anymore. My dad had remained calm and pulled the car over and jumped out and ran across the street. That was when I laid eyes on the old man.

            “Oh my gosh!!! What happened?” I was freaking out.

My dad went over to the corner grabbed the old man from under his shoulder and him and 2 other older man began to lift this man off the ground. At first they were struggling but then they finally lifted him off the ground. I thought my dad was going to let him go, but my dad had helped this man all the way back to the senior center.

After seeing that, I believe that made me gain more respect for my dad. No one else that I know would ever do that, yeah they might stop and look but no one else would actually get out and help. I do kind of feel bad because the biggest thing that I had done to help someone out is donate a pair of shoes.

Tuesday September 7^th  2011, that was the first day of school as a sophomore for me. I was extremely nervous because it was a new school year, and I have all new teachers. I was more upset then nervous because I didn’t want summer to be over, so I tried to think of something that would make me excited to go back to school and leave the shore. All I could think of was seeing my friends. I didn’t really keep in touch with anyone over the summer except for Lexy, Karly and Goldie. I was excited to see them and everyone else. The first day of school was the prefect time for me to show off my new shoes! I was really excited to wear them to school so I made my outfit match them and everything!

“You’re wearing your toms!” Goldie said all excited.

“Yes! I love them! They’re so comfy and adorable!” I said just as excited. Every time I wear them I think of the time I unwrapped them for my birthday.

Every time I wear my Toms which is almost all the time, or see my flag hanging in my room, I am reminded that I helped out a child who isn’t as lucky to have what I have. Sometimes when I see my moms friend I think about all the things that I gave away so some kids to have a better Christmas and that always makes me feel good.

Reflection. This is a reflection on all of my English work this year.

What do you feel your portfolio says about you as a 9^th grade English student? What are we as viewers supposed to “get”/understand about you when we see your work?

What my portfolio says about me is that I have come along way as a writer. All of my writings are never perfect so I have to keep working harder and harder to make them better and better. That’s what I want my viewers to understand. My work is not perfect but I am working toward it.

What do you consider to be your strengths in English? What are your weaknesses? What would you still want to work on?

One of my strengths in English is journaling. I love to journal, I have such a good time doing it and getting all of my feelings out and expressing myself. One of my weaknesses is that I’m shy. I don’t like to get up in front of the class. Like for example, when we presented our Me Magazines. I rushed through it so I could get off the stage and I wasn’t up there long, nor had anything else to say. That is one thing I would like to work on. Talking in front of people and getting used to it. Another thing I would like to still work on would be adding literary devices to all of my paper. I get creative in the beginning and then as the paper goes on I start to lack on the creativeness.

What were your experiences in making this portfolio. What issues did you encounter? How did you resolve them? What was it like going back through all of your work?

Making this portfolio I thought was really interesting and fun. One issue that I encounter was finding one of my benchmarks. I didn’t remember what I had labeled it. I resolved it by typing in everything I could possible think of. Another problem I had encountered was fixing my 2^nd quarter benchmark. I wasn’t sure how to edit it exactly at first, until I had asked Ms.Dunn. The last problem I had encounter was with the first benchmark, I had forgotten a lot about Macbeth, so when I was editing it was difficult. I fixed it by re-reading the whole paper and it started to come back to me. It was kind of weird going back to my old work. I seen how much I grew as a writer which was very interesting.

What is the piece you are most proud of, and why?

The piece I am most proud of is my 2^nd quarter benchmark- Best Friends? I am most proud of this because I really took my time in writing it and put my heart in it. I had such an easy time remembering everything that happened because it had a huge effect on my life. Writing it made me realize how strong I was when this was going on.

Macbeth Character Analysis. This was the first paper that I have ever completed in Ms.Dunn's english class. At first I was nervous because I wasn't sure how I was going to get it all done and what exactly I was going to do. But after Ms.Dunn went over it and told us that we had to choose our favorite character, and show their changes. I had got started I was working very well and had fun doing it!

Drue Boccuti

    10/28/10

Thesis and 10 quotes

Thesis statement- Young Lady Macbeth didn’t care who she hurt, but old Lady Macbeth became a whole different person.

In Act 1 scene 5 Lady Macbeth has just gotten news that Macbeth and the King are coming to visit her. And she wants to kill Duncan, so Macbeth can work his way up to king. (Act 1 scene 5)“Make thick my blood; stop uh the access and passage to remorse.”

What she’s doing here is asking the spirits to make her not feel guilty so that she can help Macbeth kill Duncan because Macbeth feels too nice. Here is when she’s being cold hearted.

Act 1 scene 7, Macbeth just let Lady Macbeth know he doesn’t want to kill Duncan anymore, because it hit him that Duncan has been kind hearted to him and there close friends. But Lady Macbeth doesn’t want to hear it.(Act 1 scene 7.) “And pity, like a naked new born babe, striding the blast, or heavens cherubin horsed” She refers to a new born baby, that if she had promised Macbeth she would have killed it for him she would have and its not right he promised her and now he’s going to chicken out. She’s forcing him to kill Duncan, and making him feel lousy that he let her down.

In Act 1 scene 1 Macbeth keeps asking him self if he really wants to do this and is thinking what if it goes wrong? And trying to show her all the ways this can go wrong. Lady Macbeth doesn’t want to hear it. (Act 1 scene 1.)“But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we will not fail.” Basically she’s telling him that if he listens to her and does it right he wont fail. She’s only worrying about her and her husband but not the King or his family.

Still in Act 1 scene 7 Macbeth wants to put an end to this. He’s just nervous and is good friends with Duncan.(Act1 scene 7.)“We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honored me of late, and I have bought Golden opinions form all sorts of people, which would be worn now in their newest gloss, not cast aside so soon.” He doesn’t want to kill him and he’s finally getting respect from him. And he thinks its wrong. But she doesn’t care.

Act 2 scene 2 Macbeth has killed Duncan , and can’t stop thinking about it. He is very guilty. (Act 2 scene 2.)“A little water clears us of this deed.” Lady Macbeth is sick of hearing him. She told him when you wash your hands and the blood is gone, were free of the killing. It’s over. She clearly has no problem with no ever thinking of this again. All she’s thinking is that there one stop closer to becoming king and queen.

Act 3 scene 4 Macbeth killed Banquo and now he’s seeing his ghost and is freaking out. Lady Macbeth thinks he’s crazy.(Act 3 scene 4.)“O proper stuff! This is the very painting of your fear.” She doesn’t believe him and thinks its just because he’s guilty. She just wants him to stop being a baby because it will all be worth it to her when they are king and queen.

Act 5 scene 1. Now the tables have turned and Lady Macbeth is going crazy. And Macbeth just wants to rule and he doesn’t care who has to die for that to happen. Now Lady Macbeth is being watched by a woman.(Act 5 scene 1.)“It is on accustomed action with her to seem thus washing her hands. I have known her to continue in the quarter of an hour.” The lady starts to notice how she’s washing her hands all the time and talking about blood but there’s never anything on her hands to any one else but her. 

Act 5 scene 1. Now the women and a doctor are now watching her. They are both questioning all that she’s doing and what she’s saying.(Act 5 scene 1.)“Here’s to the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this hand.” What this means, is all the times she washes her hands and puts sweet smelling stuff on them it will still smell like blood and she will still see the blood out of her guilt.

Act 5 scene 2.  Lady Macbeth been so guilty that she just admitted to killing Banquo and King Duncan, that she actually admits it. (Act 5 scene 2.)“Banquo’s buried. He cannot come out of his grave.” Because of what Macbeth and she did, he will never be alive again. (Act 5 scene 2) “ Yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him?” This is an explanation that she had killed Duncan because she mentioned that he had a lot of blood. She knew this, because she helped kill him.

Act 5 scene 2.The doctor finally found out what was wrong with Lady Macbeth because she just admitted to him that she killed him. (Act 5 scene 2) “Foul whisp’rings are aboard. Unnatural deeds. Do breed unnatural troubles. Infected mines, to their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets. More needs she the divine than the physician. God, God forgive us all. Look after her; Remove from her the means of all annoyance, and still keep eyes upon her. So good night. My mind she has mated, and amazed my sight. I think, but dare not speak.” He prayed to God, so that he will forgive Lady Macbeth, for all the bad things she had done or helped Macbeth do.  Such as helping the murder. She then died.

In conclusion, based on all the passage examples it is very clear that Lady MacBeth has had a drastic change between the first couple paragraphs and the last paragraph. By wanting to help Macbeth be king, even if it required killing people. But now it has came back to haunt her and she feels very awful. She has such a hard time sleeping. Shakespeare’s message to us could be not to be greedy, and just take everything life gives you. Because in the beginning they had each other, and at the end yes he was king but he didn’t have a wife. 

The second benchmark I completed for Ms.Dunn was the Memoir Vignette. This was one of my favorite benchmarks. What we had to do was tell about a important life chaining snapshot in our life.

                                Drue Boccuti

Orange Stream

Best Friends?

I really look up to Demi Lovato. Yes you can say she’s my role model. When I seen her in Camp Rock she had this really cute hair cut with front bangs, I really liked the way they looked on her so I talked my self into it and got them cut. Little did I know that changing my look would make two of my so called “best friends” furious with me.

Then next weekend I went down the shore and I showed my friends. Well they made a very big deal that one girl Madison had side bangs. They swore that Demi Lovato had nothing to do with my hair decision and that I copied off of Madison. That very next week, I became a victim of cyber bullying.  I innocently was sitting on my computer only to find out that my two best friends, Katie and Madison were having a brutal bashing session about me and my new hair cut and how I thought that I was so special because I got these bangs.  I thought these girls were my friends. I found out the truth about them. Madison would go along with Katie just so Katie would like her. Everyone would, like she was something special. She had this kind of power over them and she got almost all of my friends mad at me for getting my haircut. I was really upset so I tried talking to Madison about it and she just made me feel worse. The fact that she was making me feel horrible about myself was making her feel pretty. This episode happened in September and continued through the whole winter. However my mom kept telling me “I know it’s killing you inside but just ignore them. The more that you ignore them the more it’ll get them knowing its not bothering you.”

“I know but it’s easier said then done.” I said with tears in my eyes.(Dialogue.) It was killing me inside, the months went on and I deleted them off my MySpace and avoided contact with these two people I considered very close to me. Then when I was finally over it one day in February Katie text me and says she wants to talk to me so when she finally did call I decided to talk the call and see what she had to say. It was shocking to hear her apologizing to me and blaming Madison for the whole thing.  Just like that she turned right against Madison. So I forgave her but kept it in mind how quickly she turned on Madison and when I got back to the shore in April we were friends again. It wasn’t a good while until I became friends with Madison again but it happened. As the summer went on Katie and I grew a little bit apart and from what I can see now I believe that maybe she didn’t like me for no reason at all and just has a grudge she holds upon me. I came to this conclusion because one night during the summer she invited everyone to the boardwalk but me so I am in my house minding my own business and she has one of her friends call me up from her sister’s phone and start with me out of the clear blue sky. 

“Hello?” I was nervous.

“This is Haley don’t ever call Briana ever again, ok?” Her voice was like scratching someone’s nails down a chalkboard. (Simile)

“Okay? But why are you calling me and starting something?” I wasn’t about to let her step on me. (Hyperbole)

“Who do you think you are?” (Dialogue) She could not answer the question I asked, and she knew she wasn’t making any sense and also that I was right. Not that any of the fighting made any sense anyway.  So I just hung up on her.

I wasn’t going to let them make me upset but they did make me very angry. My mom was there to hear the whole thing. I didn’t want to get the parents involved and I begged my mom to stay out of it. But she couldn’t so she got Katie’s parents involved and they were furious. They came over and apologized for their daughter’s friends’ behavior so I accepted their apology. “This isn’t the first time we’ve had problems with Haley.”(Dialogue). Then her dad went on to say- “Were not to crazy about her either.”(Dialogue) I just looked at my mom when they both said this. All that was running through my head- Why would you invite her down here if you weren’t crazy about her? But I was done bothering with them for good so I just decided to say ok. This was the second time that an innocent fight broke out and I was not going through this every summer. I wanted to enjoy my summer so I ended that friendship as quick as a cheetah runs.(Simile) Madison however fell out of the picture because she got extremely disgusted with the Katie drama that she doesn’t even come to the shore as much anymore. It is really sad that one girl could start so much trouble and Madison let her win and doesn’t come back that much. Everyone always told me she was jealous, but I don’t see any reason for her to be jealous of me. One time even my friend’s mom had said- “Drue, she’s so jealous of you.” (Dialogue) She had came out and said it plan and simple. I really couldn’t find anything for her to be jealous about, but I just agreed to disagree. I don’t know what goes through girls’ heads now of days and why they create such fights over some things that do not matter. I was taught to treat people like you would like to be treated. I for the most part am nice to everyone and I would never even think to be mad at someone for getting a haircut. 

This past summer I wasn’t as excited as I have been in the past because I figured here we go again. What kind of lies is Katie going to make up about me and who will be mad at me now. To my surprise this summer turned out to be one of the best summers I ever had. As they say what goes around comes around and if I didn’t see it with my own eyes I would’ve never believed it. Katie came down the shore and all the people who she got to turn against me weren’t there, she was all alone. Just like a dog whose owner goes away and leave them there. (Simile) Her own sister was even tired of all the drama and remained my friend and hung out with me all summer. Katie was alone and had no one to bully around or to hang around with because everyone was just so sick of the drama that everyone stayed away and found her out. She started to bring down Haley and I thought it was going to be a problem as if another war was going to start over. Luckily it didn’t. At one point Haley even admitted to my one friend that she was jealous of me. So there it was. The truth had come out. 

All things happen for a reason right? I found out who my true friends really were who stuck by me and they are my friends Alexis, Luc & Damian. No one could take them away from me not even Katie. During this summer I also made some new friends and that drove Katie crazy because I know she was dying to hang out with them but no one really bothered with her. Even after all that she put me through, I still kind of felt bad. I know the feeling of being put down and having really hurtful things said about you. I still see Katie and Madison, however I am friends with Madison but not like it use to be. We used to be stuck together like glue but not anymore. (Simile)  I don’t have time for Katie’s nonsense and to make sure that nothing will happen again we came to a solution that we will be civil. She is still up to her old tricks she bullies another girl that I know Erin. You would think that Katie had learned her lesson. Erin is smart and just like I did she doesn’t let her know she is bothered by it. I do feel bad because Kate is even worse this time because Erin is usually picked on. I don’t have anything against her and will always stand by her because I know how it feels and how one friend makes a difference. She knows what happened between me and Katie and the best advice I give her is to just stick to what she is doing and don’t let Katie know she is bothering her because one day I hope for Katie’s sake she’ll grow up. This was a lesson well learned. I learned not to put my trust in to people because they can be very jealous for no reason at all and there is nothing you can do about it. I don’t understand how or rather why they can be so hateful or jealous of you. Girls become animals when they want you to feel horrible inside and make themselves feel important. (Hyperbole) Why can’t everyone just try and be nice to each other? We would have such a better time down the shore. If you have one friend who sticks by you then that is the only friend you ever need. In my case I had three of them who stuck by me through all this nonsense.

The third benchmark that was given to us was compare and contrast pieces involving the Odyssey. What I compared and contrasted was two pieces of art work along with a poem about the sirens.

Drue Boccuti

Orange Stream

      Same but Different

Ulysses Captator: The Appropriation of Myth in Roman Satire” By Dr. Bryce Walker. “Ulysses and Sirens” By John William Waterhouse, and the “Siren Song” By Margaret Atwood. Although they make look different, they all share a lot of similarities. In the Odyssey Homer describes the Sirens as hideous along with John William Waterhouse, Dr. Bryce Walker made the sirens appear gorgeous to show just how powerful their voices are.

The point in comparing these three very different works of art is because there are a couple things that they all have in common. For example, they all take place in the sea. “They swung aboard at once, they sat to the oars in ranks and rhythm churned the water white with stroke on stroke.”(Homer, The Odyssey book-12 line-158-159) This is important because in the poem it says–“It forces men to leap overboard.” When the pieces show us that they all take place near or in water, it makes it very easy to create a picture when we are reading this part in The Odyssey. Another common thing that these pieces share is, anyone looking at the paintings or reading the poem can definitely tell that the Sirens are deadly and not things that you want to interact with. The poem comes right out and says it. “The song nobody knows because anyone who has heard it is dead, and the others can’t remember.” The picture by Waterhouse displays some skulls next to the Sirens and Dr. Walker has made them look like vultures that are getting ready to attack. The poem actually includes both of the descriptions that the pictures display.  Margaret says –“Even though they see beach skulls.” Also, “Will you get me out of this bird suit?” There is a lot more then meets the eye with all three pieces of works. This is also a very important feature.

Margaret Atwood along with Williams had made these girls look awful. He also and made them fly. Dr. Walker took a different path has made them look beautiful and naked so that you would see that Odysseus, along with the other men were attracted physically other than just vocally “So they sent their ravishing voices out across the air and the heart inside me throbbed to listen longer.”(Homer, The Odyssey Book 12 line 208-209) What they do, and just how mean they really are. The reason that Dr. Walker did this was because he wanted to prove that the girl’s voices are strong enough to make the men go with them. But the poem -“Siren Song” and the painting by Waterhouse “Ulysses and Sirens” just tells you that the Siren’s are really dangerous and you need to plan out to stay away.

One more difference between the pictures and the poem is Odysseus’ reaction. The picture that John Williams Waterhouse had created “Ulysses and Sirens” he decided to go with Odysseus tied up just like in the book had described. “I alone was to hear their voices, so she said, but you must bind me with tight chafing ropes so I cannot move a muscle,”(Homer, The Odyssey Book 12 line 174-176) While Dr. Bryce Walker had made him look so strong that it looks like he was attracted so strongly that he broke off the pole. He is now fighting threw his men to get to the Sirens. While in the poem, it is just directed to what happens to all the men. The position of Odysseus is important because it gives you the meaning that no matter who you are, or where you’re at on the boat you’re going to be attracted to these voices. 

Even though these photos and poems may look very different, which they are, like all the examples that were given. But in some ways they have things in common and show the main point. For instance, they all show how powerful the Sirens voices are and how strong they are. Just like Homer had mentioned, “The high, thrilling sound of the Sirens will transfix him, lolling there in their meadow, round them heaps of corpses rotting away, rags of skin shriveling on their bones…”(Homer, The Odyssey Book 12 line 50-52) 

One creative piece that we did this year was the Macbeth creative project. We had to take the 10 quotes from the book and make a creative way to show them. It could have been anything you wanted. I decided to make a keynote.

Independent Reading Project was a paper that we had to write and basically give a review of a book that we had just completed reading. Tell what its about, the main characters, the problem if there is one.

Drue Boccuti

Book Review-

The book I read is called The Outsiders By S.E. Hinton. The movie, was based on the book. The movie was made in 1983, but the book was written in 1965. The book is also a best seller.

Fourteen-year-old Ponyboy Curtis, is the main character of the book. He and his best friends are called Greasers, they’re the poor kids in their neighborhood and are always in some kind of trouble with the rich kids who are called Socs. One night Ponyboy, Johnny, and Two-bit walk home with these two girls Cherry and Marcia, who are Socs. Their boyfriends are very drunk and they catch up and see the Greasers with their girlfriends.  The Socs are not crazy about it at all, there is almost a huge fight until Cherry (Bobs’ girlfriend) stops it and decides it would be easier to get in the car with the boys.  Later that night when Ponyboy comes home it’s really late and his oldest brother Darry was very worried, his other brother Sodapop tries to standup for Ponyboy but Darry pushes Ponyboy and he gets so upset and he leaves and runs into the park with Johnny. 

Johnny and Pony are just sitting at the park minding their own business when a car full of drunken Socs pulls up. Since they couldn’t fight the greasers around the girls now is their perfect opportunity.  The Socs are drowning Ponyboy in a fountain and the other is kicking Johnny.  Bob leaves Johnny to go help drown Ponyboy, Johnny gets out a knife and he stabs Bob.  Everyone else is scared so they run off, and Ponyboy is knocked out. Since Johnny had just committed murder he waits for Ponyboy to wake up and then they go to their friend Dally.  Dally is the one in the bunch who is always in trouble so he knows where to go and how to hide. He tells them to take a train to this desolate church in another part of town where no one will be looking for them. My favorite character is Ponyboy. I like that Ponyboy hates fighting even though all of his friends seem to enjoy it.  He seems to appreciate life and what surrounds him even though his life is bad.  There are a couple conflicts in the book, but the main one is person vs. person. For instance Johnny has to face all the Socs, because he killed one of their best friends. What people should take away from this book is that you shouldn’t start fights with people who are different then you.  Its just like bullying because people are different than someone else they like to tease or hurt it is pointless and sometimes it comes back to you.

If I would have to say that I could relate to any character in the book, I would say I relate to Ponyboy. I would relate to Ponyboy because I also hate fighting. In my shore house there is always fighting going on and I try to stay out of it just like he does but somehow I always get included. I always feel like Johnny felt. Guilty. Now don’t get me wrong I have never killed someone or even hurt anyone on purpose. However, I always feel bad about everything. If I was really mean to someone who didn’t deserve it I will try to make it right immediately. 

I loved this book. It is actually now my favorite book. One strength of the book is that it’s so real. The way they talk, the way they live all their lives and act. For example, Darry has to raise Ponyboy and Sodapop because their parents had died. They are always fighting just like normal teenagers. I honestly can’t think of any weakness of the book. I like it that much. If I could change one thing in this book, I would make it so that Johnny didn’t die. It is sort of ironic that he killed someone and even though he did such a gallant thing by going into a burning church to save little kids, he dies from it.  

I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. It’s a great story about friends who really do love each other. It teaches some good life lessons and it has some funny parts also.

Journal was something that we did very often in class. We would walk in class and there would be a topic to write about on the board. I enjoyed journaling.

Journal entries-

How important is it to fit in? 12-1-11 (1)

Fitting in, is somewhat important to me. Because I’m very self consciences and extremely sensitive. If I was getting made of and no friend to stand by my side I don’t know what I would do. No matter what its always a good thing to have at least one friend that’s always with you so you can tell all your feelings to and the comfort you. I’ve never done something that I felt bad about doing just so that I can fit in. Like I said, I’m very sensitive and I also take other peoples feelings into consideration. If one of my friends was making fun of someone else I would stop them from it and make them apologize. I think fitting in at this age is so important because kids are cruel and you don’t want to be picked on or left out. Also, just so you can have someone to laugh with. I think as I get older fitting in won’t be so important. I’ll have my true friends by my side and that’s all I will need.

What are people’s expectations of you? What are your own?

 (2)

The expectations that are put on me are high ones. My family expects me to do great things with my life. In school and out of it. They aren’t always strict which is nice. I’m very proud of these expectations because I try to exceed them and make my family proud and it feels good. Its also nice that they believe in me and think that I am capable of doing these things and more! My own expectations are the same. I know I can do anything if I put my mind to it, so I try very hard to do well in everything I do. Also, to stay out of any kinds of trouble and surround myself with good people.

If you really knew me.  (3)

If you really knew me you would know that I love to dance. I’ve been in dance classes ever since I was 2 years old. I used to take tap, hip-hop and ballet. I stopped taking classes when I was in 6^th grade. However, just because I stopped taking the classes doesn’t mean that I still don’t have the same love for it now then I did when I was taking classes. If you really knew me you would know that I love my family. My family means more to me then anything else in the world. I love spending time with them and laughing with them. If you really knew me you would know that I absolutely love spending all of my summers down the shore. I love laying on the beach and spending my nights walking on the boardwalk. Those are my favorite things to do.

What makes a hero? (4)

A hero doesn’t have to be someone who wears a cape and beats up evil guys for a living even though that it definitely one. A hero can be someone who is just a nice person all the time to almost everyone. Hero’s are of course people who do save people just like a cop or a firefighter especially. There are way to many qualities that qualify someone as a hero. Everyone has different ones. Being nice, loving, and kind. These are all such great things to be in my book. My dad to me is a hero. He is such a kind person. I remember one night we were driving home from a party and when we were driving by this old man had fallen my dad did not even hesitate to pull over and go help that man up. The man was having a hard time getting up but my dad did not stop until the man was up and walking again. This is just one of the act of kindness that he had done but I promise you there are so many more. If that’s a hero then I must not know what is.

A time when you were part of a group but didn’t want to do what the group was doing. (5)

At my shore house there is a lot of kids my age. We all get along very nicely. However some times I do not want to do what everyone else is doing.  No, I’m not talking about not wanting to go somewhere where they are going or do some sort of activity. I am always up for everything and anything. But when they are making fun of people and making them feel bad I’m not okay with that. I always try to make them stop but when its me against 4 other girls there’s not much I can do but either leave them and go with other people in my group or just ignore them until it stops. Last summer, one morning we were all going to the water park and my friend Briana’s mom was driving us.  Well, Briana didn’t want this girl Erin to come. Erin never did anything wrong to any of us Briana just felt like being mean to her. So we were all leaving at 10, well Briana told Erin to be at her house at 11. I didn’t even notice that she wasn’t with us until after we had pulled up to the water park. At that point there was nothing I could have done. I was extremely mad and it wasn’t even done to me. I don’t like leaving people out because in my head I always think “What if that was me?” So to make sure this doesn’t happen anymore I try to get my mom to drive everywhere so that everyone is included.

Reflection on Winter Break. 1-3-11 (6)

My winter break wasn’t really anything special other then Christmas. Christmas was the best day of my whole winter break. I got a new camera and 2 new pair of Uggs which was great! Other then the presents though, I enjoyed having all of my family over my house and talking with them. Sleep was something that I got a lot of I would wake up between 10:30 and noon everyday. My cousin also had slept over and we had a lot of fun. There was also a lot of mall time in my winter break which I always enjoy! On New Years I went over to Goldies' house because she was just getting back from Florida, she had a party which was a great way to bring in the new year. I wish we had a week off more often! So I guess in a way my break was special!

One topic I feel that needs to be addressed is bullying. It is such a powerful thing and I feel it should be mentioned.The bullies don't even realize how effective what they're doing is. Over the internet, phone or in person. Bullying is bullying. There are a a lot of different reasons. The bullies feel insecure and they need someone to pick on and make them feel better about them self. Jealousy is a major reason. Like the bully isn't as pretty and the one person gets all the attention, so the bully just hates it so much she tries to make her feel bad. Because the other person is different. For example gay. When in reality there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.

These are just a few examples of what bullying could be about. If bullying of any kind is done to the point where person getting bullied is starting to feel so awful about them self they let the bully win. They take their own life. It's a heart breaking thing. It really is. 

Remember how I mentioned the girls that made a suicide pact and got hit by the train? Well, I talked to my friend who knew the one and I found out all about what made her want to do such a horrible thing. Her father had committed suicide a little while ago, her and her boyfriend were going through a rough time. Her mom was having trouble raising her and her siblings by herself. So as you can see she had a lot going on. With her dad committing suicide alone had to be a lot for her to handle. On top of all this she had school to worry about. Her life was very hectic and she let it get to the point where she thought she would be better off if she wasn't here anymore.

However, teens find many other reasons to commit suicide. For example bullying. Bullying can be so hurtful if you let it get to that point. Another reason could be stress. It's just easier to end the stress by doing this. Another thing could be family problems. Like in the case above, with her dad. It was to much to handle. Or maybe a divorce or new dad/ mom. You never know. That's why I feel it's important to be nice to everyone because you don't know there story.

The issue I am going to be blogging about is teen suicide. This topic interests me, because I hear about it all the time, I feel horrible and would love to give help to those teens who need someone to talk to. Another reason, is maybe you heard of those two girls who got hit by a train? Well, my best friend was very close to those girls, she knew them for a very long time. I saw just how effected she and all her family was. When I had heard about it, I was in shock. Couldn't believe that something so awful had happen.

After spending some time researching about my topic I learned about 2 million teenagers attempt to kill them self thats just in one year. Can you imagine? I never thought it would get to be this high, something has got to change. I also learned that suicide is the third leading death in 10 to 24 year olds. When I began reading the warning signs of suicide I noticed that it was something so tiny for example "Giving possessions away, making arrangements, setting one's affairs in order."-(http://depression.about.com/cs/suicideprevent/a/teensuicide.htm)could be a sign to something so huge. In my opinion I think a lot of people should be aware of these things, just to be sure so that they can help there loved one seek help.

I am interested in finding out why some kids decide to take their own lives rather then turn for help.I understand that not all of them want to go for help, but I think if they would maybe try it one time and see that they could save their own life and maybe others. Also, I'm interested in finding  why some of the kids that bully are so cruel, and don't realize what there doing is so wrong and how effective it is. 

For me to go forward in this research, I am going to have to do a lot more research. This is a very big topic and there is way more for me to read about. I am even going to talk to my best friend to see if she knew anything else about the two girls.

http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/Illnesses/Suicide_Teens.htm

http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/patientcare/healthcare_services/mental_health/mental_health_about/children/suicide/Pages/index.aspx

http://depression.about.com/cs/suicideprevent/a/teensuicide.htm

B.

1. I found negative space in the cut out by only cutting one side of the picture and gluing it down to a different colored paper. When I glued the pink part down you can see the brown paper and that is the negative space.

2. I found negative drawing in the stool drawing, by first getting the outline of all the objects. I looked at the actual stools and when I looked at it, everything that was around and what was inside of the stool I shaded in.

C.Negative space helps the artist by seeing the object better. Its easier to find the objects and creates a new view to the picture.

D. Negative space does enhance the drawing. The negative space highlights the objects or person(s) in the drawing.