Ms. Echols

Our Vision:

As kids, we both had some type of interest in computers and how these magical machines worked. The very machines that lets us surf the web and play our games or watch funny cat videos. As time passed and as we grew up and got jobs, we both decided to make computers. Not from scratch mind you, but make it in the sense that we bought the parts that we wanted and put it together. While it might sound costly, the machines that we built are much better than your average pre-made consumer computers. They are also surprisingly cheaper. One day we had a vision. Why not share with the world our experiences and our knowledge on computer parts? So that’s what we did, and we made a capstone out of it. Our vision is to have a cleverly named website that will teach your everyday average Joe how to build a computer. We envisioned it to have advice, steps and things of that nature. A tutorial website basically. We wanted our potential viewers to appreciate what computers bring to the table, while providing a guide on how to save money while building a powerful rig. So that’s what we did. We didn’t stop there though. We included a brief history on the computer and it’s almost magical advances into modern day technology.

Proof:

http://createdfromcomputers.weebly.com/

http://computerswhat.weebly.com/

Bibliography:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xV6lC7aZRZGaOOnezZguqYUl1ztMdrY3gfYVgcQGufo/edit?usp=sharing

Welcome to the Great Depression. Home of failed banking, A Giant Dust Bowl and a plummeting stock market. 

In this picture: All three of those major events were represented. You can see empty bank vaults, A giant bowl of dust, and a stock market crumbling. 

These are some of the main causes of the Great Depression.

Welcome to the Great Recession. Where bankers, who are blinded by greed, make poor decisions and eventually affected all of the world. 

In this picture: You can see an upside-down House which represents the the decreased cost in Houses. Then there is the bomb between the C.D.O's which show the risk and eventual explosion (the bad one) of the housing market.

The Great Depression - Side Effects will include:

Decrease in consumer confidence.

Disappearance of the middle class. 

Massive increase in homeless people.

Massive increase in unemployment rate.

The Great Recession - Side Effects will include:

Decrease in consumer confidence.

Decrease in house costs.

Increase in unemployment rate.

Increase in uncomfortable way of life.

F.D.R. 's New Deal.

In this picture: 

You can see two houses that are split by a river or moving body of water. On the right it's city that's represented by a house. On the left is a house that represents the countless amounts of homes without electricity in more rural area. This moving body of water is generating electricity. Notice how The houses are clean and are easy on the eyes. In F.D.R's new deal, he focuses on making the way of life better for everyone in the United States. Painting Murals, providing AID to states and creating jobs. 

Obama's Stimulus Plan / Recovery Act

In this picture: 

You can see the word "Tax" being cut. This represents what the Stimulus Package Did. It cut a lot of taxes for the middle class. The Words unemployment benefit speaks for itself. Then there was the educational aspect of the package. It provided a lot of school districts around the country money to help keep the educational program strong. This is represented by the "modern high school" in the very center of the paper. It looks as though it's being constructed.

The Verdict:

The New Deal came in three parts:

Relief, Recovery, Reform.

Relief comes in the form of short term acts that, more of less, poured water on the burn area. It alleviated the suffering of most people in the country. Things like the Tennessee Water Act fall under this category. 

Recovery comes in the form of long term acts that, more of less, put a bandaid on the burn area. IT protected and strengthened the economy. Things like the National Industrial Recovery Act fall under this category.

Reform comes in the form of prevention acts, that more or less, put a huge bubble on the whole person. It protected the economy from future great depressions. The emergency banking act falls under this category. 

Obama's Stimulus Plan:

The primary object of this plan was to save and create jobs immediately. This protected businesses. 

The secondary object of this plan was to provide temporary relief to those who were hit the hardest by the recession, then invest in things like infrastructure, education, health, clean energy, federal tax incentives and unemployment benefits. 

The Contrast/Comparison

The New Deal was huge compared to the stimulus. It covered more areas and focused on better the way of life for citizens in America. The stimulus only focused on protecting and creating jobs. Then again, there's only so much you can do when reforms from 60+ years ago still hold strong. The New Deal also had a more direct effect on the economy. Change was noticeable. The stimulus is a more subtle change. There is also one key difference between the two. The New Deal focused on rebuilding the middle class while the stimulus focused on keeping the middle class afloat. 

The Success and Failures:

The New Deal succeeded in many ways. First, it did prevent another depressions with it's fail safes. Second, some of the reforms are still helping people today, especially those getting their electricity from dams. The creation of government jobs still hold to this day. 

The Stimulus is on going. However, from what's been going on, it seems like it's succeeding. Just today, the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent. We predict that it will succeed in the future and strengthen America's Economy. One thing to notice: This stimulus seems resemble the New Deal in terms of the Recovery part. It doesn't seem to have any sections to prevent future recessions however.

The New Deal = For the people.

The Stimulus = For the wallets.

Blinder, Alan, and Mark Zandi. "How the Great Recession was Brought to an End." How the Great Recession was Brought to an End. economy.com, 27 Jul 2010. Web. 28 Feb 2013. <http://www.economy.com/mark-zandi/documents/end-of-great-recession.pdf>.

 http://www.economy.com/mark-zandi/documents/end-of-great-recession.pdf 

Summary: This source starts with a very long and detailed explanation with how the Great Recession ended. After going into the explanation with words it moves into a chart that shows what kind of things got cut out and how much it saved. then it moves it into, again with words, what that means for the american people. And continuous with more graphs, charts and then explanation. 

Assess:  From what I wanted over this source has a lot of different things. It is not broken down in the best way  still its detailed. Giving a good mix of different information without being too messy. It has a lot of analysis and charts with many different things to work with for this project. 

Reflect: This source has a lot of things that we can use to make this project really interesting and gives many different points. It is something that we can trust even though it is not an edu it has a lot of really good work with two pages of citations. Overall I think that its a good place to get information. 

Krugman, Raul. "Responding to Recession." New York Times. OP-ED COLUMNIST, 14 January 2008. Web. 28 Feb 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/opinion/14krugman.html?_r=0>. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/opinion/14krugman.html?_r=0 

Summary: This source is much shorter than the first one that I found how it still explains the way things were worked through and gives a little bit more of a basic understanding of how things happen. It is clear and well organized. 

Assess: From what I wanted over this source has many things that we can use and work off of.  It detailed and broken down well. I think this will be one of the things that we use to start the project off with. 

Reflect: This source has a lot of things that we can use to make this project really interesting and gives many different points. It is something that we can trust even though it is not an edu it has a lot of really good work and its on the New York Times website so it can be trusted. Overall I think that its a good place to get information and it will be helpful to the project. 

3. "The Great Recession of 2008-09: Year In Review 2009 (recession) : The U.S. Response." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1661642/The-Great-Recession-of-2008-09-Year-In-Review-2009/286636/The-US-Response>.

• Summarize: 
• This article covers the Obama’s administration response to the recession. It explains how President Obama pushed out a 787 billion dollar stimulus plan into the economy. It also talks about how the democrats and republicans argued over which way was the best way to go about saving the economy. It also talks about other smaller plans that were enacted.

• Assess: 
• This source is a primary source and is written by Britannica. It goes into detail about the problem at hand. There doesn’t seem to be an argument so it is unbiased. It gives a good mix of information on the topic at hand, however, it seems to focus a lot on the actions President Obama took. 

• Reflect: 
• This source is mostly unbiased which makes it a good resource for taking a sides simply because it doesn’t take a side. We get both sides of the story which allows us to pick a side without being persuaded by the author. It really doesn’t help shape the argument, instead it helps pick an argument. 

4. "Center on Budget and Policy Priorities." N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2013. <http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3108>.

• Summarize: This source contains a lot of organized data and breaks down each state tax change during the recession. It specifically focuses on the tax changes during the 2008-2009 time period. It then breaks down each tax change into different categories. Then breaks down each category by going into detail. 

• Assess: It goes into great detail on every little bit of tax reform that happened in 2008 and 2009. It’s clear concise and straight to the point. There doesn’t seem to be any opinions listed, it’s just stating straight facts or what we believe to be facts. There are also plenty of graphs and charts to keep things more organized. 

• Reflect: This source is helpful in a variety of ways. I goes into little details which make everything easier to understand. Also, it goes into detail about what each individual state did, making it even better. Now we have information on both the federal governments and state governments reaction to the crisis. 
• Wiegand, Steve. N.p.. Web. 24 Feb 2013. <http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/franklin-delano-roosevelt-and-the-new-deal.html>.
• Summary:
• Basically, the author decided to break down parts of the New Deal made by Franklin D. Roosevelt. It literally breaks down every part of the Deal and explains its significance in the economy.
• Assess:
• So far this source is the best source is the best source in our bibliography. this source really just breaks it down and keeps it simple. Everything is just there. You don’t have to go searching for the information because it’s right there in your face. 
• Reflect:
• This source, I think, covered everything that we need to cover. It’s seems to be un-opinionated and keeps to the facts. This is perfect for our project because we can narrow down to a specific part and we don’t have to do a lot of searching for the information. The benefits of summaries. The only problem is, it’s missing little details and examples, but that’s perfectly fine for now. The other sources should cover the little details. 
• . N.p.. Web. 24 Feb 2013. <http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/franklin-delano-roosevelt-and-the-new-deal.html>.
• Summary: This website takes what the dummies website did and breaks it down. It also includes a timeline and keep everything organized into specific pages. There aren’t any arguments, just straight facts and some analysis. 
• Assess:
• This source is basically just the dummies source but broken down even more. Which is good. We can use this type of information to cross check other sources and keep everything in line. It’s really nice because it gives a convenient timeline to keep everything organized. Although it’s not quite as straightforward as dummies. 
• Reflect:
• Like I said before, this source has a lot of things that dummies has. However, it breaks everything thing and goes into some detail. So if we go in order, for a brief summer of stuff, dummies is the way to go. Want some more detail? This website should help a bunch. It also verifies everything that dummies said making them both valid. 
• . "The Great Depression and New Deal, 1929-1940s."Welcome to HIST 1302 Online. Welcome to HIST 1302 Online. Web. 22 Feb 2013. <http://iws.collin.edu/kwilkison/Online1302home/20th Century/DepressionNewDeal.html>.
• http://iws.collin.edu/kwilkison/Online1302home/20th%20Century/DepressionNewDeal.html
• Summary: This source takes you first though the background and some of the causes of the Great Depression with both words and charts. After that it goes into the government response of both Hoover and Roosevelt and tells the differences. After this it kind of side tracks before going into the new deal by tell Keynes’, an english economist, theory. Now it tells us about   the first and second new deal. 
• Assess: From what I wanted over this source a longer more in depth explanation over everything that we have gone over in class and the new deal. Giving a good mix of different other sources within it. It give ads, charts, photos, quotes and then seconder analysis. 
• Reflect: This source has a lot of things that we can use to make this project really interesting and gives many different news of things so that it will not be a one sided project. It is something that we can trust because its used for a college course and its on an edu website. Overall I think that its a pretty great place to get information. 
• Hardman, John. "The Great Depression and the New Deal." Ethics of Development in a global environment. Stanford, 26 Jul 1999. Web. 24 Feb 2013. <http://www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/soc_sec/hgreat.htm>.
• http://www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/soc_sec/hgreat.htm
• Summary: This source starts of talking about Roosevelt's address to the american public and then works its way into the Great Depression giving a summary and then breaks off into the impact of the great depression. Without taking too much time it move into the New Deal and then after that the things that were affected by it like unemployment, agriculture, and then African-Americans and how they were affected by both the depression and new deal.  
• Assess:  From what I wanted over this source a longer more broken down but still detailed with every thing that we want over in class and with the points on the new deal. Giving a good mix of different information without being messy. With a few chats and seconder analysis. 
• Reflect: This source has a lot of things that we can use to make this project really interesting and gives many different points and is well broken down so that will be good for us project. It is something that we can trust because its used for a college course and its on an edu website. Overall I think that its a good place to get information.

Henry Poeng

William Shakespeare, master of his craft, often has many hidden meanings in his plays. This is exhibited in one of his more famous works, Hamlet. To portray these meanings, he uses tones and various other literary devices to get the messages across.  A remarkable example is Hamlet’s little ‘State of the Union Address’ just before his encounter with the ghost. Hamlet expounds on the state of Denmark, and his portrayal screams with emotion. The anger hidden within starts to trickle out, building ever so slowly. 

“As in their birth (wherein they are not guilty since nature cannot choose his origin),(1.4 / 28-29). A fitting ending to a monologue that touches on everything that Hamlet stands for. He realizes that people, himself in particular, are born with things they can’t control. This can be a disease, a quirk or a position of power. At this point in the monologue, Hamlet isn’t too happy. “As in their birth”- is a reference to a social stature. This includes being poor, rich, part of the royal family or some other class. In this case, Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark and part of the royal family. The royal family is the face of Denmark. Each action they do or do not do affects their reputation. “Wherein they are not guilty since nature cannot choose his own origin”- otherwise read as not their fault, compares Hamlet’s position to those of his peers. He doesn’t want to be in this position nor does he have the choice. Life is like a gamble in this regard.

“And to the manner born, it is a custom.” (1.4 / 17). As the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet has to act as befits a prince. “it is a custom” or commonly practiced, meaning he must partake in these actions regardless of personal interest. It can be deduced that Hamlet is a troubled man with a lot on his plate. To make matters worse, he has to deal with King Claudius and his tomfoolery. Prior to this monologue beginning, it was stated that King Claudius was heavily drinking. To drink and have fun is a privilege that only a country in a position of power can have simply because they can afford it. This isn’t the case with Denmark. “They clepe us drunkards and with swinish phrase soil our addition.” (1.4 / 21).” They clepe us drunkards” quite literally means, they call us drunks. “With swinish phrase soil our addition.” - Hamlet then proceeds to call those other countries cowards and pigs. The actions of the King are not held in high regard with Hamlet, although he can do nothing about it, furthering his anger. 

“And indeed it takes our achievements, though performed at height.” (1.4 / 22-25). - These acts are putting shame to all our accomplishments, even though we worked so hard to acquire them, it continues to lessen our reputation. “And indeed it takes our achievements” - this is in reference to King Claudius’ acts of carelessness. “Though performed at height” -  a hint at the past, this bit of line shows the struggle and the pain that it took for the royal family to get to where it is. It’s quite possible that they were of a lower social stature and climbed the ladder of hierarchy. Maybe they made rose Denmark to glory. The possibilities are endless, however, Denmark was better when King Hamlet was on the throne. 

Family and Honor are one of the many key themes in William Shakespeare’s  Hamlet. Emotional turmoil follows each theme and comes crashing down on Hamlet all at once. These emotions, when discovered takes the themes to another level of entertainment. Emotions weave hidden meanings in and out of the lines creating a more dynamic play. When used correctly, emotions can pluck strings in the reader’s/viewer’s heart, causing for a better experience. William Shakespeare, ace of language, is a true puppeteer of emotions. 

Reflection: 

Honestly, I was really nervous going into this project. Why? I will never know, but it was a great experience. Just sitting there thinking of ideas on how to start, end, and just keep it interesting. That was fun. The best part was listening to past projects and seeing how each one was different from the next. I got this idea and thought, “Well since they’re all so different, why not make mine normal?” So that’s exactly what I did, and I think it did it pretty well. Just a straight forward interview plus background music. This came complete with question and answer. But with strengths come weaknesses, which I feel I had plenty of. During the interview, I had some problems coming up with questions because as a new one came up, it got knocked down. This continued to the point where I couldn’t even think. Also, I think that I jumped around too much with different subjects, and that it affected the quality of my project. Too many last minute changes and not enough peer edits. But overall, I am pretty proud with my work. Then again, anyone would be proud of their work if they spent three hours editing everything. Also, another strength that I feel my project and the interview has, is that it conveys a great message. A message that I feel everyone should listen to, and that they should take the heart. I only wanted to do this specific subject because I wanted people to realize that they have it good. I know I do. 

Henry Poeng

Gold Stream

“The Asian That Could”

“Ey yo, ching diggity!”

“.....”

“Do... you... under...stand?”

“....”

“Whateva get outta here Jackie Chan, your not worth my time.”

I was crushed. Do I look like a slow child or something? Why did he speak to me like that. Like I couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. I just walked away defeated and powerless. When I got far enough, I turned around to see my harasser. He was a tall kid, rag bag clothes, and had a School District of Philadelphia ID around his neck. The back drop of the surrounding area just made it worse. Destroyed houses, wild grass, and broken side walks all matched the mood. The worse part is, it made me think of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages). 

“Welcome to ESOL everyone, now i’m sure you barely understand me, but hopefully by the end of your time here, you should be able to have conversations with one another in English. Lets start by introducing our names. You seem quiet, how about you go first.”

“Ja, ja ,amesss”

“Hen... bry. Henbry”

It was just first grade, I was barely into school, and already I knew this wasn’t going to be a good year. New school, new people, and english was still slipping my mind. The only class I was doing good in was math. Why? because, math is a universal language that everyone can speak, and since I couldn’t understand english, why not math? That probably explains why most asians are good at math. Although it was still a struggle throughout most of  elementary school. I had the most difficultly in first through third grade. Why? Well because the quest to learn and dominate the english language is long, difficult and almost impossible as I learned over the years. 

“Henry would you like to read todays announcements?” 

“No”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes”

“Just know that this is part of your participation grade.”

So I started, slow, shaky, and scared.

“Come and.. jo... oin us at your fist frmerly di..nner.”

Laughter and humiliation bellowed from the heart of the room, crushing my morale. From that day forth, I vowed to never participate willingly again, regardless of the situation. But that didn’t last very long because the urge to voice my opinion overcame my vow, and eventually overcame my fear as well. It was frustrating to not understand what someone is saying, and to not be able to voice what I want to say because no one would understand me. Little did I know, it was a good push for me to learn. 

“Welcome back to school everyone!, who wants to tell me about their winter break first? How about you Henry?”

“Well it was pretty fun, but I am not sure of what I did on those days of break.”

Fourth grade is when it all started coming together. Confidence, accent, it was like a new me was born. The confidence just kept building and building, and it felt great. By 5th grade, my accent was gone and I spoke mostly proper english by my consideration. My spirit was through the roof, and I was proud to say that I had learned a third language. To this very day, I am still learning tips and tricks to further “enhance” the english experience.

“Yo ching chong wiggity wong!, going back to your sweat shop?”

“If by house, then yes.”

“Oh you can speak now, congradumacalations. Someone took long enough to learn engeresh, homeboi skilly bizdaddy.”

“Please, say it with me, Eng... Lish. For someone that likes to pick on other people, you sure don’t know anything.” 

“I gotchu, asian boi got some skills, and is all confident now huh?”

“I had enough of this.”

  The look on his face was priceless after I walked away with the biggest smile. When I got far enough, I looked back towards his direction. Same old rag bag clothes, and same old backdrop after all these years. It makes me wonder sometimes. 

Ever since that day, I assumed people who spoke like that were bad, not necessarily because they are bad people, but because of bad experiences. Kind of like getting hit by a basketball in the head a couple times and then developing a phobia to it. In “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” by James Baldwin, there is a quote that I strongly stand by. “To open your mouth in England is (if I may use black English) to “Put your business in the street””. This can be interpreted as “Letting people know who you are”. This quote explains how people subconsciously judge each other by how they speak. That’s what I do, and i’m pretty sure that’s what everyone else does too. It’s almost like reading a biography on that person, and each biography teaches a lesson.

Language is something that is  apart of who you are as person. As a young foolish teen once made up, “A well educated person will speak proper, but there ain’t nothin’ wrong wit showin da real you.” You can go to a job interview and dress to impress but you speech is weak, chances are you won’t get accepted. As for what I learned so far, language shows a couple of things about a person. Education, background, and history. If I were to say water in New York, they would be able to tell that I was from Philly just because of the way I pronounced it. If you are dedicated enough, you can bend your language and make convey what you want to. 

Monologue

My Weird Family

I am your worse nightmare, the entity that you fear the most. I am evil, conniving, relentless. Chuck Norris checks for me under his bed every night, but i’m not there.   What can he or you do about me? Nothing. But I can do everything to you. You cannot escape me, because I live in your very essence. I am here to drag you down, to leave you sad, hopeless and dry on the streets. I will claim you and use you for my own greed, for my own jealousy.

I lead you, tempt you. 

I am the reason you sit there and doubt your self. Try as you might to make it into my brothers arms, but I will not let you. His warm embrace is something you will not and should not feel so long as I exist. The feeling that he brings, and the comfort of living, is not something you can have. 

Success. 

My most hated enemy, and yet so close to me. 

See that kid walking out of school without a care in the world? He is my target now. (Points towards something) He will feel my wrath. He will not go towards the path of my brother, that dark sinister path of happiness. (Shivers)  As he walks home, I claim him. (Hugging Motion) I whisper in his ear (lower tone) “What’s the point of going on? You have no friends, so why?” I listen as his will cracks. (Snapping motion) He listens, but he fights. He fights to do the right thing, but I don’t let him. 

I won’t let him. 

As he approaches home, I lead him into the alley way and he lights one. (Pretends to light a cigarette) Right into my arms, and as far away as possible from Success. (Extensive hug) Over the years, he becomes the shadow of his former self. Homeless on the bench with nothing but rags and a dirty hat. My influence among those that call for me, and that I choose, is simply enormous. I refuse to let go until I know that deep down in the dark abyss of my soul, he can no longer go on. This is only one example of my power. Even MC Hammer got touched. A power and feat that Success will never have.

(2 second pause)

Success.

That name, oh how I despise it. How can we be twins, but be so different? Father equality, and mother Balance, (Puts one hands out for equality and one for balance, Kind of like a scale.)  how could they give birth to such a hideous excuse of a brother? 

(4 second pause)

It hurts. 

It hurts, that they love him more. 

Him. (Points off stage)

But I will never get the same love. I have to force my own. Anything to prevent that fool from getting what I rightfully deserve. 

(2 second pause)

Success.

It is such a heart-wrenching name. Something I will forever hate.

See that little boy there sitting in the hospital bed? That was me, I did that to him. That’s right, his heart, (Grabs heart) I will claim it and he will recede into the darkness.  

They try so hard, so hard to fight me. But I can’t let them win. I won’t. They will love me, embrace me in their mind, and accept the fact that they are lost in the limbos of life and despair. 

All because of me. (Really long and drawn out)

In my mind, after completing all these tasks that I set out to do, I feel him. 

Success.

 I feel his presence in my soul. As if I he touched my very being. I hate that feeling. It’s the feeling that I long to rip from everyone who I call a victim. 

No.

I can’t win, he won’t leave me alone. There is nothing I can do to escape him, but I don’t want to. He calls to me and whispers “No matter how much you hate me, I will love you unconditionally, and be there for you always.”

 This strange foreign feeling, I..I..I.. think it’s called love. (Emotional) 

No. I have to fight it, and never submit to his will. (Snaps head)

It felt so good, but I have a mission, a goal. That goal is to break the morale of my prisoners, and veer them in the wrong direction. 

My name is.. Failure. My intentions are clear. I am the young twin sister of success. Daughter of Equality and Balance, and tormentor of people all over the world. 

Better hope your not next.

Gold Stream:

A Memory In The Night

The smell of smoke and gunpowder lingered in the air, not visible against the dark, starless sky. The flashing lights of red and blue lit up the night, revealing even the darkest of corners. It was cold, the chilly wind pricked at my skin like an invisible cactus. My body was shaking with excitement, and at the same time sorrow. On the ground was a black blanket that slowly stained red. I was fifteen at the time, but that didn’t make a difference because nothing could prepare me for the actions just played before me.  A scene that I will always remember, always referring to. Still trying to contemplate what just happened, I started to think back on what just went down.

It was just another quiet day at the store. My mom was doing the lottery, hitting numbers using a worn out pencil eraser. Tap! Tap! Tap! for several minutes at a time. An old couple were hoping to support their grand children, faces worn, wrinkled and sagging with age. I was on the computer doing what I usually do. Checking FaceBook, reading the news, and chilling out. It was a nice day outside, the sun was setting, with a vibrant orange in the sky. I had turned and smiled when I heard the old couples dreams of supporting their grand children. Suddenly, loud noises came from outside the facility, sounding like fireworks that had smacked the ground pretty hard. Running to the window I peered out to see two cops bloodied, both faces grimaced in pain, with guns drawn towards their apparent assailant. The assailant was backing up into a green chevy, sweat dripping down his face, gun drawn. His eyes were shaking as if a mini earthquake were happening in his head. It was clear that he had gone mad.

Suddenly, the whole area was surrounded. The sound of tires skidding against the road. Ambulances, cop cars, and undercover cops all pulled over securing the perimeter. All of the cops opening their doors, gun drawn pointed toward the gunman simultaneously, each ready to pull the trigger if the need be. Paramedics moved in on the two wounded officers. They were shaking hard, trying their best to remain oblivious of the gunmen a couple of feet way from them. Groans of pain could be heard as the downed officers were moved onto the stretcher. Blood was already soaking through the stretcher. They had left a bloody pool at where they had been downed. The sight was engraved into my mine. Burned deep into my soul like freshly branded cow.

I had started to back away, my body shaking with fear and excitement, my mind racing. My mom had left her post and asked what was wrong, her tone indicated that she was already aware of the situation. After recounting to my mom what I had seen, more pops were heard just a couple feet outside the window. It sounded as if fifty fireworks had gone off at once, but it slowly dawned to me what had happened. Looking up, the green chevy pickup looked like a cheese grater instead of a truck. Smoking bullet holes were seen at the driver side door where the gunman had barricaded himself. A hand could be seen reaching up from the bottom of the door within.

It all happen so fast. I sat there watching everything and inspecting every element as an artist would his work. My mom was long gone, but I never noticed. Just then, a black figure walked in from the right side of my view. They called him the “Negotiator”. His face was a rock, his skin complexion was a light tan. He was a big fellow, wearing heavily padded armor with what looked like a assault rifle in his hand, as squinting in concentration. He walked up to the green chevy. After some talking with the man, the negotiator ran back, his face stricken at what he just heard. He ran back screaming “GET BACK, EVERYONE GET BACK!, THERE HAS BEEN A BOMB THREAT”

I almost ran from my spot at the window,which was a couple feet from the alleged bomb but something kept my feet firmly planted on the floor I stood on. Out of nowhere, SWAT came. They were dressed in the same fashion as the Negotiator. They moved up and took point behind a patrol car. Just then, Police Commissioner Ramzi was seen giving orders to SWAT. He was a chubby fellow. His uniform heavily studded with badges of honor reflecting the red and blue lights from the cop cars. Suddenly SWAT started to move. Slowly, at a snails pace, they walked up to the green car. I turned around to see my family just as awestruck as I was. “EVERYONE GET DOWN!” blasted through the night. BOOM! A bright flash was seen outside the window. All our ears popped. After a couple of minutes, everyone got up and looked outside the window again. The sight wasn’t pretty.

SWAT was dragging out a body which was badly mutilated. Covered head to toe in blood, with what seemed to be several bullet holes in his body. He was bright pink in some spots, and dark red in other spots. This man was pretty tall, and proved an easy target for the police to shoot at. He was laid on the street next to the car, and a black blanket was placed over him. Many camera flashes went off to take pictures of the scene as the forensics team moved in.

I ran to my computer to go check the news. A helicopter had been at the scene and captured everything, but for the publics sake, showed none of the shooting. From helicopter view, I could see my house right next to the scene. I was so excited that my house was on the news, but that quickly died when I realized it was for all the wrong reasons. Five minutes later, I refreshed the page, to find out that the two officers that were wounded from the gunmen were in good condition at a local hospital. Then I went back to the window again.

The smell of smoke and gunpowder lingered in the air, not visible against the dark, starless sky. The flashing lights of red and blue lit up the night, revealing even the darkest of corners. What seemed like hours took only about 45 minutes. I walked into my room and prepared for sleep. As I laid there in bed, I wondered if something where to happen to me when I went later. I started to hesitate, wondering how unsafe my area is. Here I thought that I was in my own little protect bubble, but this bubble was ready to burst whenever I walk outside my sanctuary of a house. It was ready to burst from a single gunshot. Building up courage, I went to sleep preparing myself for the next day.

As a 9th grade student, my writing portfolio shows a growth in me. This growth doesn’t affect me in terms of height, weight or anything like that, but as a person. As you progress through all three benchmarks and all the projects in order, there is a change in how I write. They go from immature to an understandable young adult with his opinions. Of course there are those childish moments but can you blame me? No matter how much we grow up, our inner child is clawing to get out. Don't be mistaken, all these writing pieces still expresses who I am and who I have become, but each one shows a different side of me. 

            With growth, there come strengths and weaknesses. As of right now, some strengths that I have as a writer is the ability to imagine and be creative. So naturally, writing formal essays and papers that require a serious tone is difficult. However, as I continue to grow throughout my years, perfecting the art of writing a serious and very important writing piece of my goal here at SLA. No one has ever got a professional job by being funny and making up stories that are untrue, none that I know of anyways.  

            Producing this portfolio was no easy feat. The most problematic part of constructing this portfolio was making the projects that are contained in this portfolio. Each one had it's own problems and issues. I can't remember a majority of them because I choose not to. All I really know, and can really advise, is to never procrastinate. It will be the end of good quality work and sleep, as you know it. As I am reflecting on each individual piece, some of the problems might come back to me and be listed. Lets get started!

The first ever benchmark of my freshman year. In this benchmark the student has to pick a character out of the play "MacBeth" and write about how (s)he changes throughout the story. Also, ten quotes are needed to help aid the reader in seeing this change. I personally choose Macbeth because I thought he was the easiest but I was horribly wrong. Did this benchmark lacking in confidence. This was simply because it was “The” benchmark, killer of sleep, destroyer of fun. This was also because we were taking on Macbeth. First book of the year and we have to read Macbeth? But I got through somehow and that feeling of success made my confidence skyrocket. Take a look at my shaky start in English.

Henry Poeng

Thesis: Macbeth change of heart at the beginning of the play cost him his life.

The Three Weird sisters in Act One, Scene 3, approach Macbeth and Banquo.  They hail Macbeth first as Thane of Glamis, then Thane of Cawdor, and finally King.  Macbeth and Banquo are mesmerized in many more ways than one. Macbeth then says “The Thane of Cawdor lives, why do you dress me in barrowed robes.”  This line shows how Macbeth feels about being addressed as the Than of Cawdor. Shortly after the question is asked, the witches vanish without answering anything.  Macbeth and Banquo are left to interpret what the meaning is.  Macbeth sees the witches prophesy as good news and is very happy but also very confused at the same time.  Macbeth just does not know in what way he will claim these titles.

King Duncan officially proclaims in Act One, Scene 4 Macbeth Thane of Cawdor.  At that same time King Duncan proclaims his son, Malcolm, Prince of Cumberland or in other words his successor.  Macbeth, who is very surprised when hearing this, goes aside and starts speaking to him self.  “Stars hide your fire; let not the lights see my black and deep desires” was one of his lines.  This line that Macbeth said translates to, Heaven, please don’t let anyone see my deep and dark desires.  This specific lines shows that Macbeth is shocked to hear that Malcolm was going to be king instead of him self and there fore he is going to do something about it.  Then Macbeth’s ambitions start to show. He was going to be king one way or another even if he has to kill someone for it.

In Act One, Scene 7 Lady Macbeth confronts Macbeth and tells him of her plans to kill King Duncan.  Macbeth goes aside and weighs out the consequences of these actions. After some seducing performed by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth changes his mind and goes with the plan.  At the end of the scene Macbeth says, “False face must hide what false heart doth know.”  This line means to be a flower on the outside and be a serpent underneath.  In other words, look nice and innocent but conceal your feelings from the public.  At this point Macbeth becomes hesitant about what he’s getting himself into but his ambitions start to take over.

In Act Two, Scene 2 Macbeth has killed Duncan.  He and Lady Macbeth are flooded with guilt.  Macbeth says that he heard voices shortly after he killed King Duncan.  The voices said,  “Glamis hath murdered sleep, therefore Cawdor shall not sleep”.  In direct translation it pretty much means that Macbeth killed someone who was sleeping, therefore he doesn’t get to sleep as a price to pay.  At this point Macbeth is starting to go a little bit crazy, as well as Lady Macbeth.  The guilt is going to impact everything from this point on.

In Act Three, Scene 2 Macbeth has hatched a plan to kill Banquo.  He indirectly tells Lady Macbeth who doesn’t really understand.  While telling Lady Macbeth, Macbeth says, “O, full of scorpions is my mind dear wife.” This quote explains just hwa tkinds of things are going on in Macbeth’s head. This indicates the type of thoughts that are going on inside of Macbeth’s head.  Evil scheming thoughts that plan to destroy all his enemies.  At this point in the play, Macbeth is planning to kill anyone in his way without hesitation.

In Act Three, Scene 4 Macbeth has killed Banquo.  After slaying Banquo, Macbeth is not guilty and doesn’t really regret what he has done.  Macbeth killed Banquo because Banquo has a gut feeling that Macbeth was attaining all this power by unfair means. Macbeth says this after the deed is done.  He says that he is, “Stepped in so far that, I can wade no more.”  In direct translation, this means that Macbeth has gone so far into his evil deeds that he can’t turn back so he just going to keep on going.  At this point in the play Macbeth has become pure evil and nothing can stop him, not even him self.

In Act four, Scene 2 Macbeth is talking to his subjects, who are of course working for him out of fear and not love, when he realizes something that the Weird Sisters had done to make him be in this situation.  So he says “Time thou anticipates my dreaded exploits.” In the quote he says “anticipates”, which means predict, “Dreaded exploits,” which means evil deeds.  This means that time or another thing has predicted his evil deeds. Therefore he accepts his that this is “fate” and continues to go forth with his plans.

In Act four, Scene 3 MacDuff and Malcolm are ranting off about Macbeth in England where they have fled off to live.  They are venting their anger towards each other. This anger would have never started if Macbeth didn’t betray them. With all this ranting MacDuff says,“ No one in the legions of horrid hell can come a devil more damned in evils top Macbeth.”  This quote means that, no one sent from hell can be more evil than Macbeth.  This quote shows what other people think of Macbeth.

In Act Five, Scene 3 the 10,000 men from England are approaching.  Macbeth is mad at all the servants that keep coming to warn him.  In an attempt to shut them up and maybe bring courage upon himself, Macbeth says, “I’ll fight till from my bones my fleshed be hacked” This line means that Macbeth will fight to the death no matter what.  He has nothing to lose and is blinded by his ambitions to realize what he’s getting into.

In Act Five, Scene 8 Macbeth is fighting Macduff in a final attempt to protect this throne.  After some intense fighting Macduff is on the verge of winning. Realizing he’s going to die on the spot, he says, “I throw my warlike shield.”  This means he’s going to sacrifice him self and die here and now instead of facing the consequences and bowing down to Malcolm. In a final attempt at attacking Macduff, Macbeth is slain.  At this point in the play, Macbeth is dead. This just proves that since Macbeth is so stubborn and naive, he threw away everything he had for everything he wanted but ultimately failed in the end.

In conclusion, Macbeth had a very dramatic change of heart that widely influences the whole play.  Just one act and all his inner ambitions are arisen. Throughout each act, his cold-heartedness grows.  Towards the end, his thoughts are clouded with evil, and he has nothing to lose.  Therefore, Macbeth has the meatiest change throughout the whole play. As a secret message towards any potential readers, Shakespeare show how taking all the wrong turns to get what you want will bring failure upon your life.

(Q2 Benchmark)

This was a fun project to write. In this project, students had to compose a memoir vignette (snapshot of their life) that changed them in some type of way. I chose to write about an experience that was like none I ever had before. It was about violence, but not that punch-kick violence. This violence involved shooting and killing. It was a coincidence that this happen, because when I first heard that we were getting this project, I was struggling to find that snapshot of my life. The second I heard that we were doing a vignette, I was all over it. I remembered a majority of every detail that happen that day with relative ease. Making a story out of it was just amazing. I felt like I was soaring in imagination with this one, even though it was 100% real. Check out the creative process at work.

Henry Poeng

Orange Stream

An Ordinary Day In The Neighborhood

            “Uncle, are you okay?” My dad’s response tone to this question showed both surprise and shock. “Yeah I’m fine” he said reassuringly. “What wrong?” then asked. “I just had this horrible dream… there was a shooting in front of your store and someone died. I couldn’t really make out who the person was but he was important.” My dad’s face went grim. “Alright calm down, we are all fine here. Chill out and get some sleep okay?” Click. My cousin had hung up and my dad put the phone down.

            December 30^th, 2010. 12: 47 am. Everyone in the family except for me was ready for some sleep. (opener) It was tiring just like any other day. My dad just got out the shower, when he got a phone call. It was my cousin, who was planning to visit soon from Connecticut. His voice was heavy, he was breathing deep, and he seemed shaken. He explained to my dad that he just experienced a nightmare. In the nightmare, people were shooting each other in front of our store. My dad was surprised to hear this but laughed it off nevertheless. My dad comforted him and told him to go back to sleep assuring him that everything was fine. My cousin warned my dad to be careful. I was in my room starting a recently assigned English benchmark project. (Foreshadowing)

December 31^th, 2010. Not much was expected on this New Years Eve. It was just another boring day of hard work and some extreme grumpiness. The previous night, I didn’t get enough sleep, but that didn’t stop the customers from flooding in like there was no tomorrow.  Just what you would expect on a party night, right? Little did they know. (Foreshadowing)

It was around 7:45 pm when the most unexpected thing happened.  I was taking care of a customer and brooding(vocab) about how to get out of work, all at the same time. Work being: selling customers whole cases of beer, candy, cigarette, soda, etc. I live in a beer store so this is an everyday thing.  All this brooding left me bemused and started an awkward situation. The customer I was serving got angry and started to become insolent(Vocab) towards me., which was perfectly fine until it got way out of hand. He kept going on and on, screaming, cursing, and trying to escalate the tension. (Magic 3)   Being very adept(Vocab) at conflicts like this, I just ignored him and went about finishing the transaction. Then, just outside the front of the store, BAM! (Onomatopoeia) Sirens blared, breaking the awkward silence that followed.

            Everything was dropped. “Holy Shit!” (dialogue) screamed a good majority of people. My mom and I went to peek out the window to see what was going on. It wasn’t the most pleasant sight. A green dodge mini-van looked like it was going down the wrong way on Walnut St. and went into a sudden halt not far off from the intersection of Walnut St. and Frasier. Strange thing is, a patrol vehicle looked like it caused the crash. Imagine this, a Green dodge minivan pointed towards Jehovah’s Witness, which is directly left of my store, at a 90-degree angle, a good size dent in it with a police car perpendicular to the vehicle.  (Imagery) The first thing that came to my mind is, “This is not good.” (Dialogue) So I walk back to attend to the waiting customers.

            Fireworks went off, or at least that’s what I thought it was. Running back to my mom I asked “What’s going on out there?!” The response blind-sided me in the face like somebody was running and just tripped into a wall. (Simile)  The driver of the green Dodge mini-van gunned down two cops! My mom and I ran to the back of the establishment and notified my dad and my brother of the situation. My brother looked at me like he just watched a good show of SNL and said, (Simile)

“Please… it was only fireworks don’t get so worked up” (Dialogue)

“But, Richard! Come look!” (Dialogue)

With some proper begging he came and took a glance.  Turns out, the scene changed, and there was way more then just one police car out there. Around 25 + vehicles, Officers out, and guns pointed. It looked like a lustrous (Vocab) clump of red and blue in the night, which was very appropriate for New Years. (Imagery) Then they open fired, emptying about a magazine into the suspect’s car, at least that’s what the news said. POP! POP!  POP! POP! POP! (Onomatopoeia/ Rep 4 Effect). I was scared out of my mind. It looked like an old western movie. A standoff was happening right in front of my house! I was in shock and awe. So many things raced through my mind. Will we get out of this alive? What happened to the cops who got gunned down? Are they okay? This is exciting! I’m hungry, so tired… sleepy, sleepy… and so forth.  (Rep 4 Effect)­

The fun part is how stupid we all acted. My dad, who arrived rather late, ran outside and looked into the car, as did about 15 other bystanders, my-self included. Dumb move, I know. Difference was, I was about a quarter-block away from the car. The cops started yelling and shooed us all away from the danger zone.

Everyone pretty much piled up in the store. A good majority of them were very irritated because they were disrupted from their holiday festivities. The customers pretty much notified their family, sat around, or tried to make a quick transaction so they can get out. (Magic 3) Just goes to show you that even in crisis some people are still extremely selfish. My dad, who did not want to close shop just yet, decided to play along with the selfish customers and go sell them ice. This involved him going back outside again. Bad mistake. He was held outside behind a wall in safety. My dad called shortly after we noticed that he was missing. He told us to be wary (Vocab) of the situation and to lower the bulwark (Vocab) that is the front gate. Daring not to disobey, we evacuated the store and lowered the gates.

A mere five minutes later, my dad called on the phone. He told my brother and I to grab a case of beer so we can sell it to a customer who was buying it the “back-door” way. We thought he was joking, until we saw our dad approaching the back yard with a customer in tow. After making the transaction, we all went back inside. Around this time a copper chopper arrived to the scene rather low.Using the mounted spotlight, it circled around the suspect’s vehicle and made light of the situation. (Pun Intended/Humor)

Naturally, in situations like these, you want to feel safe right? You know that feeling when you want to grab something sharp and deadly, or just go hide somewhere to feel safe? That’s exactly what I did. Upon re-entering the house, I ran to my room and totally missed the light switch. Groping (vocab) around in the dark, I grabbed my metal softball bat and a metal baseball bat. I know it seems stupid, but it made me feel secure. Others didn’t think so. A cop noticed me with the bats and told me “What are you going to do with those bats?  Going to hit a bullet out the park? You can’t even swing with one hand!” (Dialogue/Humor) That comment made me feel stupid, but I felt safe so it was okay. Putting the bats away, I went to go watch what else was unfolding.

When I arrived back at the place of entertainment, anyone who was viewing the little show had a face that could make even the most secure in mind cry. Amassing (Vocab) some courage I peeked over the window, heart racing. The scene had changed. With the spotlight illuminating the car, some of the higher ranked cops gathered in a circle at the intersection of Frasier and Walnut St. They appeared to be scheming on how to handle the rest of the situation. Out of nowhere, down the dark alleyway of Frasier St. was a heavily armed officer, otherwise known as a S.W.A.T (special weapons and tactics) operator. Walking down slow mo, or at least that’s how I saw it. He looked extremely intimidating. This man was dressed in all black with armor and bullet proof pads spread across evenly all over his body, thick helmet on his head, attached with a helmet visor. In his right hand, a riot shield, in his left, an assault rifle. I can only guess that it was a M416, but that’s just from background gaming knowledge, which made it even more exciting. (Imagery)  His face was made of stone. (Metaphor)

They call him the crisis negotiator, negotiator for short. His job was to approach the suspect and cause a diversion for a S.W.A.T team to arrive, or talk the suspect into surrendering, or both. From my perspective, it seemed like both. I can only assume that being a negotiator, you needed to be shrewd (Vocab) andconscientious (Vocab) of the suspect in critical situations.

My dad, my brother and I took this given opportunity of peace to talk to my dad’s friend who happened to be an officer at the scene and likes to visit the store when he’s off duty. My dad was at the door speaking to his cop friend, who coincidently had his patrol vehicle right in front of the store entrance. My dad was chatting away with his friend, while I was talking to my brother, who was just as excited. He told me to go and listen in. Being his younger brother, I had to comply.

While I listened in, my brother was broadcasting what was going on to my other brother who was in Florida at the time. I found this superfluous, but what the heck, it was exciting.  Apparently, the showdown on Walnut was being shown live in Florida, which I found extremely strange. My dad was talking to his friend. We got the gist of the situation. Apparently, the cops were waiting for S.W.A.T. to arrive, there were 200+ personal surrounding the perimeter and all branches of law enforcement were deployed. This was the first event in Philadelphia law enforcement history of its caliber. All of a sudden, the radio exploded with a sharp command that was lost in a sudden burst of confusion. We ran back inside. “Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic!” I constantly told my self. (Rep 4 Effect/Dialouge)

After a quick break, we all resumed our position in front of the window and stared at the scene. Nothing interesting happened just yet so I went to back to getting some work done. Unable to keep myself away I ran back just in time to get blinded by a burst of flares. The flash looked like a firework that had gone wrong. It looked like an extremely bright light with flares coming out the sides with a loud pop that is redundant now and days.  This special item causes disorientation of anyone unfortunate enough to witness it. Good thing I was behind the window.  I just witnessed a flash bang. (Imagery) I peeked back up to examine the next set of events. Assuming that the suspect was disoriented, S.W.A.T moved towards the car and took out the suspect. He was dead and covered in blood. It looks like someone missed a paint ball gun filled with red paint balls horribly. (Imagery) One can only guess how much anguish (Vocab) he suffered in that one-hour period, barricaded in his car.  The scene at the time was surreal because so much was happening at once. I was inept (Vocab) when it came to things like this, but this has only made my mentally stronger. After the dramatic event over, all the bystanders went back to what they were doing, including me.

Refreshing the page on a news site for 10 minutes straight wasn’t the smartest thing, but it was worth it, just to see what was going on from the news reporter’s perspective.  The reports say that the two officers that got shot were in good condition and had been released from the hospital. A sigh of relief went around the crowd that was around the computer. (Imagery). All the excitement left me tremendously enervated. Crawling to bed, I took the time to reflect on what was just witnessed.

With this reflection came inner thoughts. What you do will follow you for life, but how you repent for it is what makes the difference. Shooting cops will be the end for you. Be prepared for the unexpected because this is the type of world we live in. Think of the possible consequences before doing anything. As I slowly drifted to sleep, I whispered to myself “This is just another ordinary day in the neighborhood.” (Dialogue) and dozed off.

III

III
III

III

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Down here!

This is just for kicks: :D

Now this is the story all about how
some guy got flipped, turned upside down
and I'd like to take a minute just sit right there
I'll tell you how I almost pulled out all of my hair.

In West Philadelphia born and raised
In a beer store is where I spend most of my days.
Selling, taxin, relaxing all cool

And enjoying this day off from school.
When this one guy, who was up to no good
Starting causing trouble in my neighborhood.
He robbed one gas station and the cops got scared.
They said “get out the car with your hands in the air”

The cops called for some back up, when it came near
The crazy driver shot the two cops with a frightening sneer.

If anything, I could say this scene was super rare
but I thought oh heck no, it’s safer in there.

Then back up pulled up round seven or 8.
came out and said “yo dawg get the tazer.”

Hey Look at that! S.W.A.T is finally here.
Extracting the body with guns in the air.

(Over exaggerated)

Trying to this project was an adventure by it self. This was probably from reading the confusing Odyssey, to watching a confusing movie. But I took on the challenge and made it through. Of course with some bumps and bruises here and there (If you catch my drift). Anyways, the third quarter benchmark consist of the comparison between Odysseus and Everett from the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou”. This is done by using comparison and evidence from both the movie and the books to compare and contrast these two characters. The two characters didn’t have to be between these too, but I was having a huge writers block so finding a good match came to late. Take a look at writer’s block!

(Q3 Benchmark)

3/7/11

Henry Poeng

            Odysseus: Great teller of tales, Trojan War hero, and main character of The Odyssey. Everett: Master Tactician, Leader of the Soggy Bottom Boys, George Clooney and main character of O Brother Where Art Thou. Odysseus and Ulysses are both selfish at times, and overcome their conflicts in the same manner. But, it’s how they are assisted on their journeys that make the difference.  Although these two are very similar in their personalities, they have a different approach to their respective journeys.            

Everett and Odysseus show similarities in their selfishness during several points of their adventures. In the movie O Brother Where Art Thou, Everett risks the life of his crewmates in a vain attempt try and persuade Delmar and Pete to go and get his hair gel from the back of a burning car. Everett shows that he’s going to put himself first instead of considering the life of his loyal crewmembers. This had to potential to get all three of them killed. In The Odyssey, Odysseus said “Cyclops- if any man in the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so—say Odysseus, raider of cites, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca!” (Book 9, Lines 558-562).  Unlike Everett, Odysseus actually puts his crewmates in grave danger. As a result, he got them all killed in the end. But, this also shows how they are like in their thinking, and how selfish they both can be. 

            O Brother Where Art Thou  is heavily based off of The Odyssey. There are several hints that show this in the movie. One would be the prophet, who tells Everett how to get home, much like in The Odyssey.  However, they are actually different. The Odyssey Odysseus was thrown off course so many times that it is hard to keep count. It is believed that the main source of all his interludes was, for the most part, the Greek gods. Poseidon, earth shaker and king of the seas had a deep grudge on Odysseus for blinding Polyphemus, his son, and being associated with Athena. As you may know, Athena and Poseidon HATE each other very much. Using everything in his power that didn’t involve direct interaction between him and Odysseus, Poseidon further delayed his return trip home via storms, monsters, etc. Athena on the other hand was on Odysseus’ side, protecting him and only him throughout a huge chunk of the epic. If you think carefully, do you see this happening at all in O Brother Where Art Thou? Nope. In O Brother Where Art Thou there aren’t any gods, or some supernatural other worldly power to veer Everett and companions off course, or further then along for that matter. He got home all by himself without the need of the Gods.

            In The Odyssey, Odysseus overcame his challenges by first, thinking of some well thought out plan, then eventually needing Athena’s help towards the end of executing the plan. For example “Naked threats- and Athena hit new heights of race, she lashed out at Odysseus now with blazing accusation: “Where’s it gone, Odysseus- your power, your fighting heart? The great solder who fought for famous white-armed Helen, battling Trojans nine longs years- nonstop, no mercy, mowing their armies down in grueling battle- you who seized the broad streets of Troy with your fine strategic strokes! How can you- now you’ve returned to your own house, your own wealth- bewail the loss of your combat strength in war with suitors? Come, old friend, stand by me! You’ll see action now, see how Mentor the son of Alcimus, that brace fighter, kill your enemies, pays you back for service!” (Book 22, Line 234-246). As long as this quote might be, it has a huge significance. Without Athena, who knows where Odysseus might be right now. Some might argue, that without the Gods, Odysseus might have not gotten home at all or vice-versa. This may be true, but we haven’t really seen the famed Odysseus “Master of tactics, Great teller of tales” in action without the help or intervention of the Gods. In O Brother Where Art Thou, Everett gets through all his challenges by himself. From escaping the chain gang, to making “old timey” music and sort of getting his wife back. He did it all himself that is what someone should be respected for. That is a huge difference in terms of showing character traits and applying it.

In conclusion, Odysseus and Everett might share the same qualities with each other, but the manners in which they achieve their goals are quite different. Sure you might think, “Oh, well if Odysseus didn’t have Athena, he would have never got home.” or, “ Oh, well if Poseidon wasn’t messing with him so much then we would have gotten home safe and sound.” which could be very true. My point is, if your going to talk about someone else’s abilities and what they are doing, then talk about it right, not with some sort of handicap. That to me is just plain unfair. It’s just like saying “Yeah! I totally made this turbine with the help of my twenty friends so appreciate me more because I want more credit!” It’s the same deal with Odysseus, but must admit that he is insanely smart and strong. Although these two are very similar in their personalities, they have a different approach to their respective journeys.             

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2011-01-12-2010-warmest-year-climate-change_N.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2011-03-01-snow-cold-global-warming_N.htm

            With growth, there comes strengths and weaknesses. As of right now, some strengths that I have as a writer is the ability to imagine and be creative. So naturally, writing formal essays and papers that require a serious tone is difficult. However, as I continue to grow throughout my years, perfecting the art of writing a serious and very important writing piece has become my main goal. No one has ever got a professional job by being funny and making up stories that are untrue, none that I know of anyways.  

            Producing this portfolio was no easy feat. The most problematic part of constructing this portfolio was making the projects that are contain in this portfolio. Each one had it's own problems and issues. I can't remember a majority of them because I choose not to. All I really know, and can really advise, is to never procrastinate. It will be the end of good quality work and sleep, as you know it.

(Q1 Benchmark)

Henry Poeng

Thesis: Macbeth change of heart at the beginning of the play cost him his life.

The Three Weird sisters in Act One, Scene 3, approach Macbeth and Banquo.  They hail Macbeth first as Thane of Glamis, then Thane of Cawdor, and finally King.  Macbeth and Banquo are mesmerized in many more ways than one.  Macbeth then says “The Thane of Cawdor lives, why do you dress me in barrowed robes.”  This line shows how Macbeth feels about being addressed as the Than of Cawdor. Shortly after the question is asked, the witches vanish without answering anything.  Macbeth and Banquo are left to interpret what the meaning is.  Macbeth sees the witches prophesy as good news and is very happy but also very confused at the same time.  Macbeth just does not know in what way he will claim these titles.

King Duncan officially proclaims in Act One, Scene 4 Macbeth Thane of Cawdor.  At that same time King Duncan proclaims his son, Malcolm, Prince of Cumberland or in other words his successor.  Macbeth, who is very surprised when hearing this, goes aside and starts speaking to him self.  “Stars hide your fire; let not the lights see my black and deep desires” was one of his lines.  This line that Macbeth said translates to, Heaven, please don’t let anyone see my deep and dark desires.  This specific lines shows that Macbeth is shocked to hear that Malcolm was going to be king instead of him self and there fore he is going to do something about it.  Then Macbeth’s ambitions start to show. He was going to be king one way or another even if he has to kill someone for it.

In Act One, Scene 7 Lady Macbeth confronts Macbeth and tells him of her plans to kill King Duncan.  Macbeth goes aside and weighs out the consequences of these actions. After some seducing performed by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth changes his mind and goes with the plan.  At the end of the scene Macbeth says, “False face must hide what false heart doth know.”  This line means to be a flower on the outside and be a serpent underneath.  In other words, look nice and innocent but conceal your feelings from the public.  At this point Macbeth becomes hesitant about what he’s getting himself into but his ambitions start to take over.

In Act Two, Scene 2 Macbeth has killed Duncan.  He and Lady Macbeth are flooded with guilt.  Macbeth says that he heard voices shortly after he killed King Duncan.  The voices said,  “Glamis hath murdered sleep, therefore Cawdor shall not sleep”.  In direct translation it pretty much means that Macbeth killed someone who was sleeping, therefore he doesn’t get to sleep as a price to pay.  At this point Macbeth is starting to go a little bit crazy, as well as Lady Macbeth.  The guilt is going to impact everything from this point on.

In Act Three, Scene 2 Macbeth has hatched a plan to kill Banquo.  He indirectly tells Lady Macbeth who doesn’t really understand.  While telling Lady Macbeth, Macbeth says, “O, full of scorpions is my mind dear wife.” This quote explains just hwa tkinds of things are going on in Macbeth’s head. This indicates the type of thoughts that are going on inside of Macbeth’s head.  Evil scheming thoughts that plan to destroy all his enemies.  At this point in the play, Macbeth is planning to kill anyone in his way without hesitation.

In Act Three, Scene 4 Macbeth has killed Banquo.  After slaying Banquo, Macbeth is not guilty and doesn’t really regret what he has done.  Macbeth killed Banquo because Banquo has a gut feeling that Macbeth was attaining all this power by unfair means. Macbeth says this after the deed is done.  He says that he is, “Stepped in so far that, I can wade no more.”  In direct translation, this means that Macbeth has gone so far into his evil deeds that he can’t turn back so he just going to keep on going.  At this point in the play Macbeth has become pure evil and nothing can stop him, not even him self.

In Act four, Scene 2 Macbeth is talking to his subjects, who are of course working for him out of fear and not love, when he realizes something that the Weird Sisters had done to make him be in this situation.  So he says “Time thou anticipates my dreaded exploits.” In the quote he says “anticipates”, which means predict, “Dreaded exploits,” which means evil deeds.  This means that time or another thing has predicted his evil deeds. Therefore he accepts his that this is “fate” and continues to go forth with his plans.

In Act four, Scene 3 MacDuff and Malcolm are ranting off about Macbeth in England where they have fled off to live.  They are venting their anger towards each other. This anger would have never started if Macbeth didn’t betray them. With all this ranting MacDuff says,“ No one in the legions of horrid hell can come a devil more damned in evils top Macbeth.”  This quote means that, no one sent from hell can be more evil than Macbeth.  This quote shows what other people think of Macbeth.

In Act Five, Scene 3 the 10,000 men from England are approaching.  Macbeth is mad at all the servants that keep coming to warn him.  In an attempt to shut them up and maybe bring courage upon himself, Macbeth says, “I’ll fight till from my bones my fleshed be hacked” This line means that Macbeth will fight to the death no matter what.  He has nothing to lose and is blinded by his ambitions to realize what he’s getting into.

In Act Five, Scene 8 Macbeth is fighting Macduff in a final attempt to protect this throne.  After some intense fighting Macduff is on the verge of winning. Realizing he’s going to die on the spot, he says, “I throw my warlike shield.”  This means he’s going to sacrifice him self and die here and now instead of facing the consequences and bowing down to Malcolm. In a final attempt at attacking Macduff, Macbeth is slain.  At this point in the play, Macbeth is dead. This just proves that since Macbeth is so stubborn and naive, he threw away everything he had for everything he wanted but ultimately failed in the end.

In conclusion, Macbeth had a very dramatic change of heart that widely influences the whole play.  Just one act and all his inner ambitions are arisen.  Throughout each act, his cold-heartedness grows.  Towards the end, his thoughts are clouded with evil, and he has nothing to lose.  Therefore, Macbeth has the meatiest change throughout the whole play. As a secret message towards any potential readers, Shakespeare show how taking all the wrong turns to get what you want will bring failure upon your life.

(Q2 Benchmark)

Henry Poeng

Orange Stream

An Ordinary Day In The Neighborhood

            “Uncle, are you okay?” My dad’s response tone to this question showed both surprise and shock. “Yeah I’m fine” he said reassuringly. “What wrong?” then asked. “I just had this horrible dream… there was a shooting in front of your store and someone died. I couldn’t really make out who the person was but he was important.” My dad’s face went grim. “Alright calm down, we are all fine here. Chill out and get some sleep okay?” Click. My cousin had hung up and my dad put the phone down.

            December 30^th, 2010. 12: 47 am. Everyone in the family except for me was ready for some sleep. (opener) It was tiring just like any other day. My dad just got out the shower, when he got a phone call. It was my cousin, who was planning to visit soon from Connecticut. His voice was heavy, he was breathing deep, and he seemed shaken. He explained to my dad that he just experienced a nightmare. In the nightmare, people were shooting each other in front of our store. My dad was surprised to hear this but laughed it off nevertheless. My dad comforted him and told him to go back to sleep assuring him that everything was fine. My cousin warned my dad to be careful. I was in my room starting a recently assigned English benchmark project. (Foreshadowing)

December 31^th, 2010. Not much was expected on this New Years Eve. It was just another boring day of hard work and some extreme grumpiness. The previous night, I didn’t get enough sleep, but that didn’t stop the customers from flooding in like there was no tomorrow.  Just what you would expect on a party night, right? Little did they know. (Foreshadowing)

It was around 7:45 pm when the most unexpected thing happened.  I was taking care of a customer and brooding(vocab) about how to get out of work, all at the same time. Work being: selling customers whole cases of beer, candy, cigarette, soda, etc. I live in a beer store so this is an everyday thing.  All this brooding left me bemused and started an awkward situation. The customer I was serving got angry and started to become insolent(Vocab) towards me., which was perfectly fine until it got way out of hand. He kept going on and on, screaming, cursing, and trying to escalate the tension. (Magic 3)   Being very adept(Vocab) at conflicts like this, I just ignored him and went about finishing the transaction. Then, just outside the front of the store, BAM! (Onomatopoeia) Sirens blared, breaking the awkward silence that followed.

            Everything was dropped. “Holy Shit!” (dialogue) screamed a good majority of people. My mom and I went to peek out the window to see what was going on. It wasn’t the most pleasant sight. A green dodge mini-van looked like it was going down the wrong way on Walnut St. and went into a sudden halt not far off from the intersection of Walnut St. and Frasier. Strange thing is, a patrol vehicle looked like it caused the crash. Imagine this, a Green dodge minivan pointed towards Jehovah’s Witness, which is directly left of my store, at a 90-degree angle, a good size dent in it with a police car perpendicular to the vehicle.  (Imagery) The first thing that came to my mind is, “This is not good.” (Dialogue) So I walk back to attend to the waiting customers.

            Fireworks went off, or at least that’s what I thought it was. Running back to my mom I asked “What’s going on out there?!” The response blind-sided me in the face like somebody was running and just tripped into a wall. (Simile)  The driver of the green Dodge mini-van gunned down two cops! My mom and I ran to the back of the establishment and notified my dad and my brother of the situation. My brother looked at me like he just watched a good show of SNL and said, (Simile)

“Please… it was only fireworks don’t get so worked up” (Dialogue)

“But, Richard! Come look!” (Dialogue)

With some proper begging he came and took a glance.  Turns out, the scene changed, and there was way more then just one police car out there. Around 25 + vehicles, Officers out, and guns pointed. It looked like a lustrous (Vocab) clump of red and blue in the night, which was very appropriate for New Years. (Imagery) Then they open fired, emptying about a magazine into the suspect’s car, at least that’s what the news said. POP! POP!  POP! POP! POP! (Onomatopoeia/ Rep 4 Effect). I was scared out of my mind. It looked like an old western movie. A standoff was happening right in front of my house! I was in shock and awe. So many things raced through my mind. Will we get out of this alive? What happened to the cops who got gunned down? Are they okay? This is exciting! I’m hungry, so tired… sleepy, sleepy… and so forth.  (Rep 4 Effect)­

The fun part is how stupid we all acted. My dad, who arrived rather late, ran outside and looked into the car, as did about 15 other bystanders, my-self included. Dumb move, I know. Difference was, I was about a quarter-block away from the car. The cops started yelling and shooed us all away from the danger zone.

Everyone pretty much piled up in the store. A good majority of them were very irritated because they were disrupted from their holiday festivities. The customers pretty much notified their family, sat around, or tried to make a quick transaction so they can get out. (Magic 3) Just goes to show you that even in crisis some people are still extremely selfish. My dad, who did not want to close shop just yet, decided to play along with the selfish customers and go sell them ice. This involved him going back outside again. Bad mistake. He was held outside behind a wall in safety. My dad called shortly after we noticed that he was missing. He told us to be wary (Vocab) of the situation and to lower the bulwark (Vocab) that is the front gate. Daring not to disobey, we evacuated the store and lowered the gates.

A mere five minutes later, my dad called on the phone. He told my brother and I to grab a case of beer so we can sell it to a customer who was buying it the “back-door” way. We thought he was joking, until we saw our dad approaching the back yard with a customer in tow. After making the transaction, we all went back inside. Around this time a copper chopper arrived to the scene rather low. Using the mounted spotlight, it circled around the suspect’s vehicle and made light of the situation. (Pun Intended/Humor)

Naturally, in situations like these, you want to feel safe right? You know that feeling when you want to grab something sharp and deadly, or just go hide somewhere to feel safe? That’s exactly what I did. Upon re-entering the house, I ran to my room and totally missed the light switch. Groping (vocab) around in the dark, I grabbed my metal softball bat and a metal baseball bat. I know it seems stupid, but it made me feel secure. Others didn’t think so. A cop noticed me with the bats and told me “What are you going to do with those bats?  Going to hit a bullet out the park? You can’t even swing with one hand!” (Dialogue/Humor) That comment made me feel stupid, but I felt safe so it was okay. Putting the bats away, I went to go watch what else was unfolding.

When I arrived back at the place of entertainment, anyone who was viewing the little show had a face that could make even the most secure in mind cry. Amassing (Vocab) some courage I peeked over the window, heart racing. The scene had changed. With the spotlight illuminating the car, some of the higher ranked cops gathered in a circle at the intersection of Frasier and Walnut St. They appeared to be scheming on how to handle the rest of the situation. Out of nowhere, down the dark alleyway of Frasier St. was a heavily armed officer, otherwise known as a S.W.A.T (special weapons and tactics) operator. Walking down slow mo, or at least that’s how I saw it. He looked extremely intimidating. This man was dressed in all black with armor and bullet proof pads spread across evenly all over his body, thick helmet on his head, attached with a helmet visor. In his right hand, a riot shield, in his left, an assault rifle. I can only guess that it was a M416, but that’s just from background gaming knowledge, which made it even more exciting. (Imagery)  His face was made of stone. (Metaphor)

They call him the crisis negotiator, negotiator for short. His job was to approach the suspect and cause a diversion for a S.W.A.T team to arrive, or talk the suspect into surrendering, or both. From my perspective, it seemed like both. I can only assume that being a negotiator, you needed to be shrewd (Vocab) and conscientious (Vocab) of the suspect in critical situations.

My dad, my brother and I took this given opportunity of peace to talk to my dad’s friend who happened to be an officer at the scene and likes to visit the store when he’s off duty. My dad was at the door speaking to his cop friend, who coincidently had his patrol vehicle right in front of the store entrance. My dad was chatting away with his friend, while I was talking to my brother, who was just as excited. He told me to go and listen in. Being his younger brother, I had to comply.

While I listened in, my brother was broadcasting what was going on to my other brother who was in Florida at the time. I found this superfluous, but what the heck, it was exciting.  Apparently, the showdown on Walnut was being shown live in Florida, which I found extremely strange. My dad was talking to his friend. We got the gist of the situation. Apparently, the cops were waiting for S.W.A.T. to arrive, there were 200+ personal surrounding the perimeter and all branches of law enforcement were deployed. This was the first event in Philadelphia law enforcement history of its caliber. All of a sudden, the radio exploded with a sharp command that was lost in a sudden burst of confusion. We ran back inside. “Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic!” I constantly told my self. (Rep 4 Effect/Dialouge)

After a quick break, we all resumed our position in front of the window and stared at the scene. Nothing interesting happened just yet so I went to back to getting some work done. Unable to keep myself away I ran back just in time to get blinded by a burst of flares. The flash looked like a firework that had gone wrong. It looked like an extremely bright light with flares coming out the sides with a loud pop that is redundant now and days.  This special item causes disorientation of anyone unfortunate enough to witness it. Good thing I was behind the window.  I just witnessed a flash bang. (Imagery) I peeked back up to examine the next set of events. Assuming that the suspect was disoriented, S.W.A.T moved towards the car and took out the suspect. He was dead and covered in blood. It looks like someone missed a paint ball gun filled with red paint balls horribly. (Imagery) One can only guess how much anguish (Vocab) he suffered in that one-hour period, barricaded in his car.  The scene at the time was surreal because so much was happening at once. I was inept (Vocab) when it came to things like this, but this has only made my mentally stronger. After the dramatic event over, all the bystanders went back to what they were doing, including me.

Refreshing the page on a news site for 10 minutes straight wasn’t the smartest thing, but it was worth it, just to see what was going on from the news reporter’s perspective.  The reports say that the two officers that got shot were in good condition and had been released from the hospital. A sigh of relief went around the crowd that was around the computer. (Imagery). All the excitement left me tremendously enervated. Crawling to bed, I took the time to reflect on what was just witnessed.

With this reflection came inner thoughts. What you do will follow you for life, but how you repent for it is what makes the difference. Shooting cops will be the end for you. Be prepared for the unexpected because this is the type of world we live in. Think of the possible consequences before doing anything. As I slowly drifted to sleep, I whispered to myself “This is just another ordinary day in the neighborhood.” (Dialogue) and dozed off.

III

III
III

III

\/

Down here!

This is just for kicks: :D

Now this is the story all about how
some guy got flipped, turned upside down
and I'd like to take a minute just sit right there
I'll tell you how I almost pulled out all of my hair.

In West Philadelphia born and raised
In a beer store is where I spend most of my days.
Selling, taxin, relaxing all cool

And enjoying this day off from school.
When this one guy, who was up to no good
Starting causing trouble in my neighborhood.
He robbed one gas station and the cops got scared.
They said “get out the car with your hands in the air”

The cops called for some back up, when it came near
The crazy driver shot the two cops with a frightening sneer.

If anything, I could say this scene was super rare
but I thought oh heck no, it’s safer in there.

Then back up pulled up round seven or 8.
came out and said “yo dawg get the tazer.”

Hey Look at that! S.W.A.T is finally here.
Extracting the body with guns in the air.

(Over exaggerated)

(Q3 Benchmark)

3/7/11

Henry Poeng

            Odysseus: Great teller of tales, Trojan War hero, and main character of The Odyssey. Everett: Master Tactician, Leader of the Soggy Bottom Boys, George Clooney and main character of O Brother Where Art Thou. Odysseus and Ulysses are both selfish at times, and overcome their conflicts in the same manner. But, it’s how they are assisted on their journeys that make the difference.  Although these two are very similar in their personalities, they have a different approach to their respective journeys.            

Everett and Odysseus show similarities in their selfishness during several points of their adventures. In the movie O Brother Where Art Thou, Everett risks the life of his crewmates in a vain attempt try and persuade Delmar and Pete to go and get his hair gel from the back of a burning car. Everett shows that he’s going to put himself first instead of considering the life of his loyal crewmembers. This had to potential to get all three of them killed. In The Odyssey, Odysseus said “Cyclops- if any man in the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so—say Odysseus, raider of cites, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca!” (Book 9, Lines 558-562).  Unlike Everett, Odysseus actually puts his crewmates in grave danger. As a result, he got them all killed in the end. But, this also shows how they are like in their thinking, and how selfish they both can be. 

            O Brother Where Art Thou  is heavily based off of The Odyssey. There are several hints that show this in the movie. One would be the prophet, who tells Everett how to get home, much like in The Odyssey.  However, they are actually different. The Odyssey Odysseus was thrown off course so many times that it is hard to keep count. It is believed that the main source of all his interludes was, for the most part, the Greek gods. Poseidon, earth shaker and king of the seas had a deep grudge on Odysseus for blinding Polyphemus, his son, and being associated with Athena. As you may know, Athena and Poseidon HATE each other very much. Using everything in his power that didn’t involve direct interaction between him and Odysseus, Poseidon further delayed his return trip home via storms, monsters, etc. Athena on the other hand was on Odysseus’ side, protecting him and only him throughout a huge chunk of the epic. If you think carefully, do you see this happening at all in O Brother Where Art Thou? Nope. In O Brother Where Art Thou there aren’t any gods, or some supernatural other worldly power to veer Everett and companions off course, or further then along for that matter. He got home all by himself without the need of the Gods.

            In The Odyssey, Odysseus overcame his challenges by first, thinking of some well thought out plan, then eventually needing Athena’s help towards the end of executing the plan. For example “Naked threats- and Athena hit new heights of race, she lashed out at Odysseus now with blazing accusation: “Where’s it gone, Odysseus- your power, your fighting heart? The great solder who fought for famous white-armed Helen, battling Trojans nine longs years- nonstop, no mercy, mowing their armies down in grueling battle- you who seized the broad streets of Troy with your fine strategic strokes! How can you- now you’ve returned to your own house, your own wealth- bewail the loss of your combat strength in war with suitors? Come, old friend, stand by me! You’ll see action now, see how Mentor the son of Alcimus, that brace fighter, kill your enemies, pays you back for service!” (Book 22, Line 234-246). As long as this quote might be, it has a huge significance. Without Athena, who knows where Odysseus might be right now. Some might argue, that without the Gods, Odysseus might have not gotten home at all or vice-versa. This may be true, but we haven’t really seen the famed Odysseus “Master of tactics, Great teller of tales” in action without the help or intervention of the Gods. In O Brother Where Art Thou, Everett gets through all his challenges by himself. From escaping the chain gang, to making “old timey” music and sort of getting his wife back. He did it all himself that is what someone should be respected for. That is a huge difference in terms of showing character traits and applying it.

In conclusion, Odysseus and Everett might share the same qualities with each other, but the manners in which they achieve their goals are quite different. Sure you might think, “Oh, well if Odysseus didn’t have Athena, he would have never got home.” or, “ Oh, well if Poseidon wasn’t messing with him so much then we would have gotten home safe and sound.” which could be very true. My point is, if your going to talk about someone else’s abilities and what they are doing, then talk about it right, not with some sort of handicap. That to me is just plain unfair. It’s just like saying “Yeah! I totally made this turbine with the help of my twenty friends so appreciate me more because I want more credit!” It’s the same deal with Odysseus, but must admit that he is insanely smart and strong. Although these two are very similar in their personalities, they have a different approach to their respective journeys.             

For my 9th grade english project, entitled "You and the World", we have to blog about something that is going on in the world, or in our own country. I have chosen the topic of climate change and how real it is.

As the human population increases, and the animal population decreases, something else increases. A special something that can make or break the planet we call Earth. And whoa! You guessed it, green house gases. I am sick and tired of those that say it doesn't exists. How can anyone be that naive? How do you think we stay above-30 degrees every year?. Green houses gases of course. Now as that continues to increase, so will the temperature to the point where the next ice age will happen. We've all seen the movies, "Oh it doesn't look that bad." Tell me that when you are living without food, electricity, anything. It's a frozen hell out there. But people are ignorant. "Yeah I'll leave it for the next generation to figure out" At this rate, there won't be a next generation to figure it out. That was just me venting. On to the point.

WE are talking about the here and the now.  Plenty of people are already crying about 2012. Who knows? Maybe the world will end, not from huge tsunamis or catastrophic earthquakes, but from our own acts of greed. Take a good hard look outside your window. All the nice things in life, gone. Hows that for a sucker punch? It doesn't have to happen that way you know. As the saying goes "A drop of water can start an ocean." That isn't happening here. We are going to need billions of people to change their life style, for everyone to unite as one and change for the better. That's not going to happen. Not for a while anyway. In the united states alone, we are responsible for a mass majority of the worlds pollution. Why? Because many many many people are going around living the "American Dream". But they aren't living the "World Dream". That dream keep the world healthy.

Just recently there was a poll concerning how many people in america  actually think that global warming is an actual or serious threat. Here are the results.As you can see, The United States cared even less then they did 2-3 years ago. On the plus side, the world cared just a little bit more, which is a good thing of course. 

I cannot stress enough how much people love money. Money Money Money. As kiddish as this seems, take TV show SpongeBob for example. There is this Krab (It’s spelled right) that owns this successful fast-food restaurant in the show. Man does he love money. If you have seen the show, he would literally do anything to save, keep or make more money. It's crazy but it paints a perfect example of how some people actually are in the world. Money Money Money..... let the world end for some money. You never know sometimes.

Now how might this affect us if you aren't already asking or if you already know. Either or, I'm going to state it anyways. This affects us in the future. What! the FUTURE?!?! Yup the future. Hard concept to understand I know, but very true. As our class has recently learned, there are several type of energy that are available to us. Coal, Natural Gas, Petroleum (The stuff we use in cars) Nuclear, Hydro, Wind, and Solar. Each one has major benefits and set backs. But the long term effects and short term effects are what set them apart. That could be the line between too late, and just in time. Lets say we were to straight up use Coal and Natural Gas as our only source of energy. The amount of disaster that would create. We might as well go put our selves in the oven and sit there. Not only will the world end faster, but we would run out of the stuff before then. Lets say we use straight up Hydro, Wind, and Solar energy? They may cost a lot and be time consuming to build, but the long term effects will by us more time to figure out a solution to our predicament. 

A good example of a very effective dam would be Hoover Dam located in between the state of Nevada, and the state of Arizona. This took five years to build and cost about 50 million dollar. Note that this was constructed during the great depression. As said before, it cost a lot in the beginning but paid for it self eventually. Hoover Dam powers a majority of the west coast. This includes Most of California if not all. Nevada, and Arizona. With every major success, there is some type of major setback as well. Hoover Dam changed the flow of the Colorado river, but prevented flooding as well. Not only that, but it messed up some of the areas around the Dam killing some things off. Mostly fish and plant life.  I would much rather have a small area of land be destroyed by a dam, then see a world voided of Humans because people are too greedy and not caring enough to accept change when it’s needed.

Another day, another dollar.

Another year, another summer.

H-man Out

Me

http://www.arlingtoninstitute.org/wbp/portal/rapid-climate-change

http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110881/energy_en.html#voordelen

http://www.koshland-science-museum.org/exhibitgcc/

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-effects/

So how did I come to this point. After attempting to fallow Ms. Hulls instructions, it came up with what you see in this present moment. It all started from drawing boxes on a paper. From the paper we learned the horizon line, one-point perspective, and birds eye and worm eye view. Using the acquired skills, I applied them to making a one-point drawing of the room. My perspective started with me looking at the smart board. Then center dot was supposed to be at the middle of the board. So I drew the front wall. Then I started making the window. After that, I attempted to draw the chair but got frustrated in at the end. Pretty much it. Not the most interesting story but thats how it is.

Process: It all started form the drawing the smart board. I draw it and use it as an anchor for finding the center of the room. Well, at least I tried too anyway. From the center of the room, I started to draw the two doors that were on either side of the smart board. That help establish the edges of the that one particular wall. From the left side of the door that was on the left, I started on the windows. Not the best thing ever, but I tried. All the lines were supposed to go to the vanishing point that was I the smart board. After that was established, I got working at the back part of the room where it kind of went in. I drew that door and everything seem to fall I place. Then it got all weird and the flow was disturbed. 

The easiest thing to learn was establishing the horizon line. The hardest thing to learn was the one-point perspective. It was hard to make everything even with everything else. It was extremely challenging, but my efforts are shown in the picture above.

I find  Nick Doroba's  drawing to be very extravagant and professionally produced. It makes you feel like your in the room, with great detail added to the drawing as a whole. It's in perfect one-point perspective that is simply unbelievable. 

African-American History

4/5/11

When it came to 10-20-30, I was a little hesitant. Not having much of a music background myself I thought I would find this benchmark difficult. But when I first started it started to flow in my mind. How I would do it, and how I would end it. What I would use and how I would apply it. With every project, there are ups and downs. The best part was having an epiphany, while the worst part being, trying to ask my parents about music.

 Starting from the worst part. When it was made clear that I had to ask my parents, I put my head down. “This is going to be difficult.” I said to myself. So I went out of my way to go and find music that I thought they would like, which I ultimately did at the end. The excitement of getting that part completed was simply overwhelming.

Ending at the best part. When I was struggling to come up with ideas and designs, I thought I was going to fail. Then out of nowhere when I was eating, it just came to me. A great idea just popped into my head like Mr. Sherif’s random dancing. Applying everything that had come up and adding stuff on over time, I took a final look at the project; it was amazing in my eyes.

            In the end, overcoming challenges give you such a huge sense of accomplishment that will be noted by teachers and peers alike. I was proud of my work and I was not hesitant to turn it in.

Get straight A's second quarter. I was just short on straight A's first quarter so I am willing to WORK so much harder to get my straight A's.

Sleep before Anthony does. 

Be more sociable. 

Confidence boost.

wrok on beter spelling.

Do the ultimate drama play.

In the first slide that was created, there was a lack of priority. The first slide had three different points and according to presentation zen: One slide, One point. All my wording was disorganized.

In my new slide, i decided to incorporate the rule of the thirds. By Placing all the words on the one side and all my pictures on the other side. Also, i added some more contrast and prioritized what the slide was about. Making my picture bigger has done this. Also, some bleeding was done. 

¿Cuando es tu/su cumplenos?           When is your birthday? Hoy es____________ ?                     Today is...

Explanation 2: You can use this information to ask a classmate what day you take a test in Spanish class. ¿Cual es la fecha de hoy? What's today's date? ¿Cuando es tu/su cumplenos? When is your birthday? Hoy es____________ ? Today is...