Blog 121214

I think that the book that had the greatest impact on me this year was The girl who fell from the sky because it was the book that had the best plot and was the most entertaining for me to read.  I really enjoyed following along with Rachel as she grew up and faced all of the things that she went through with her family and as a teen and finally meeting Brick at the end.

"I look at all the other letters in the drawer and don't care what they say.  I put grandma's letter back and retie the ribbon.  Then I take the wad of cash out of my pocket and put it back in the bag" (252)

I choose this passage because it is the part were rachel packs up all of her things and tries to run away.  This moment is very important because she finds all the letters from her father and she decides that she does not want anything to do with her famil any more.  She kind of shows the reader that she is done with the things in her life that had effected her the most.  

Blog 111814

Going beyond what you know can mean you are entering darkness and the unknown.  In this poem using the word bank with words such as wandered and pulsed meaning that there is tension when you enter the unknown but you go anyways.

Word Bank:

• wandered
• light
• trolling
• silence
• swallowed up
• beast
• dripped
• raised
• eyes dead
• sightless
• scent
• beating heart 
• pulsed
• lurched
• soundlessly

Blog 111414

Part One:

SO much happens in Persepholis! I thought it was very confusing and awkward at some points for example I did not like how the story ended with her looking back and seeing that something had happened to her mom.  I was very confused on weather or not her mother had died or fained but later afte talking with a  friend I learned that she ony fainted because her mother is in the next book.  If the book had ended with her mother dying I would not like the ending.  One specific part that was somewhat awkward was when she was about to leave the country and she sleps with her grandmother and she talks about the flowers in her shirt and I did not understand how that was something imortant to the author becuase I think that it made the reader feel uncomfortable.  Well soemtimes an awkward situation in a story is good becuase it makes the readder think about what is happening.  


Part Two:

Over all I enjoyed the book because it was a quick and easy read but it had a good story plot.  It really helped me think about Iran and Iraq becuase I personally have no idea what is going I only knew that they were at war but I did not know that the war went way way back and that it all started with a rebelion and that a lot of it had to do with personal connections and family ties.  I had no idea that so many people died and were torchured in horrible ways. I learned a lot because there was so much that americans dont notice when we are at home safe in our homes ut a lot of stuff is going on in the middle east and its not easy as a teen to get inforation about it becuase when you ask someone what they think they only tell your their oppinions but no the whole truthful story.  One think that I thought was absolutly horried was that they were not able to kill a virgin which meant that a soilder would have to rape a women and then kill her which is just NOT OKAY.


Part Three:

In persepholis you learn that growning up and taking responsibility is not always better than being a child and that war never truly solves a problem. 

Black Boy Themes

1. Love
2. Pride
3. Hunger
4. Isolation
5. Youth 
6. Education
7. Ignorance 
8. Resilience 

• Justice 
• Authority Figures
• Identity
• Racism 
• Gender Roles 
• Religion/Faith 
• Coming of Age 
• Journey 

In Black Boy by Richard Wright I learned that sometimes you think things are best for someone else when they really are not.  In parts of the memoir Richard goes to a private catholic school where his Aunt is his teacher and his authority figure.  He tries his gardest to behave but in the back of his mind he does not truly beleive in what the school is teaching him.  He tries to keep his faith as his family pushes to continue at the religious school.  After a time where Richard is blamed by his aunt for something he did not do and gets betten he has had enough and says he will no longer go to the school.

In Black Boy by Richard Wright I learned that Identity plays a big part in the way that you are looked at by other people.  For example, When richard is out with his grandmother they get wierd stares because he is a young black boy and from where people can see she is an older white woman.  What they do not know is that his grandmother is part black and that she is whith her grandson.  

My thoughts on the book are that the education and authority figures in Richard Wright's life were not in a positive place in his life at the moment.  He often disagreed with the religion and education being taught at his school and just as often questioned all of the authority figures in his life.

Literary Analysis

T- tone/mood; the emotional of the author or the reader
W- word choice; metaphors
I- imagery; paints a picture in a readers mind (5 senses, especially sound)
S- style; punctuation, syntax, ect.
T- theme; what you are going to start with, main idea, central meaning


"There was the breathlessly anxious fun of chasing and catching flitting fireflies on drowsy summer nights" pg. 45 mid-way

T- sad but hopeful; wants freedom away from his family
W- uses describing words to say what he hopes for in the future, personification (drowsy summer night)
I- "breathlessly anxious"
S-  blank statement, does not use much punctuation
T- While going through difficult times is better to stay hopeful and wanting a better future; throughout the memoir he goes through a lot of difficult moments but he still has the hope to resolve to a better future

A to Z Literary Devices

A
allusion; reference to history
alliteration; words together with the same first letter
allegory; an extended meaning or metaphor
analogy; comparing two things
antithesis; comapring with two opposites
anaphora; "there was" statements

B


C
connotation; beyond the literal level
characterization; the personality of a character
conflict; the thing conflicting with other things throughout the story
D
diolouge; words between characters
denotaion; a literal meaning of a word
E

F
first-person; where the author writes about themselves using I
foreshadowing; something in the text that predicts something that happens in the future part of the book
flashback; a part of the story that brings back a story from the past

G
genere; the type of book

H
hyperbole; exaggerated statements not to be taken literally
haiku; a type of poem using 5,7,5
I
irony; the opposite of what was expected
imagery; using your 5 senses to descirbe something
J

K

L

M
metaphor; comparing two things without using like or as
motif; a repeating symbol or idea
mood; the emotion of the reader
monolouge; a paragraph where a character is talking to themselves
N

O
oxymoron; ex- jumbo shrimp
otomotopia; a word that defines a sound

P
paradox; a situation that contradicts itself
personification; giving a non-human thing a human quality
plot; the line of the story
pun; a play on words
perspective; the way a charcter sees things about situations

Q

R
rhyming; rhyme
repetition; using a word or idea more than once
rhythm; the beat of the line

S
simile; comparing things using like or as
satire; making fun of a bigger thing
sarcasm; harsh or mean satire
symbol; something in the story that represents something
soliloquy; where the character is talking to themselves
T
third-perosn; where the author writes about themselves using their name or they
theme; a central idea throughout the story
tone; the authors style while writting

U

V
voice; the voice of a character

W

X

Y

Z

My Most Vivid Childhood Memories

When I was 5 years old my dad, mom, younger brother, and I moved to the Czech Republic from Chicago for my dads job and I specifically remeber the day we rode the plane to Prauge.  it was early in the morning and we had all of out things packed in boxes outside our house except for a few things we were bringing with us on the plane.  The big truck came to take our things where it would later send them to us.  Our family friend named Salvador drove us all to the airport but before we left my uncle and my grandparents were all at our house to say goodbye.  After goodbyes we got in the car and were dropped off at the airport.  I remember getting to the airport and me and my brother had matching outfits so we would not get sepperated or lost. Later we got on the plane and...

Blog 102214 and 102314

10/22

For the next 30 min. I plan to complete the two notecards that I finished yesterday and fins one more resource. It is specific becuase i plainly state what I plan to do.  It is measurable because I can measurei it within the next 30 minutes.  It is action oriented because it is part of the steps that I need to complete for the passion project.  It is realistic because i can finish this goal in the next 30 min.  It is tangible because I will be able to see my finish product.

yes I completed my goal and I was successful

10/23

My goal for today was to complete writing my 3 emails and send the drafts to mr.cheng by the end of class today.

I did not finish my goal but I did complete most of it.  I found 3 people I can write emails to and I am almost done with my second email. When I am done writing all of them I will send them to mr. cheng and then ask for feedback. After that I will fix what needs to be fixed from the feedback and send them to the people I need to send the emails to and copy mr.cheng.

Blog 101514

Notes on Night/Boy in the Striped Pajamas compare-contrast discussion:

• What is the author trying to show rather than what are the characters showing 
• Similarities and diferences- go deeper into that the authors are thinking 
• Yes they are similar stories but are they significantly more similar or different 
• Innocent or choosing to be ignorant-  what the authors want the readers to get from the story 
• What are the readers understanding
• What are the characters understanding 
• What is the goal of the author and how is the author manipulating the reader 
• How the author communicates their points 
• A holocaust takes away someone's hummanity/loss of innocence 

Writting Prompt: What's important about the two books-- in YOU opinion, as you understand what the authors (Wiesel and Boyne) are trying to express or teach you. 

Blog 100614

I think that these two texts were very similar because not  only did the characters have very emotional coming of age stories but at the end of both stories they come to conclusions of their emotional pasts.  At the end of The Perks of Being a Wallflower Charlie gets the help he needs after his Aunt changed his life so many years ago and at the end of The Girl Who Fell From The Sky Rachel faces the conclusion of what really happened up on the roof up with her mom and siblings.  I think that everyone gets older and matures more as they go through changes but sometimes even things that happened to you as a young kid will stay with you forever.

I think that I have experienced many things that will stay with me for the rest of my life but the biggest life changing event in my life was when my parents got divorced.  It is actually very common for ids to have divorced but what people do not know is that it really does change your life forever.  It changes your everyday things like where you sleep and even what you have to eat or wear.  I think it is important to have something that changes your life because it is important to have something that makes you look at things in a different way than other people.    

Blog 092614

The only time I have even been asked "what are you" is at school during a research project about our heritage or ancestors.  I have never been asked "what are you' outside of school and I think that is because most people just see me as white.  You could walk past me and just think "white girl" and that would probably all you ever define me as.  I think that yes I am white but I am also so many different ethnicity's that I make up my own story. I am from Italy and Germany, I am from Sweden and Norway and those places are all different.  So If a stranger asked me what I am I think that would say that I am a story and a combination of many different generations, not just a white girl.

I feel like society tries to make mixed people choose between whether they are black or white which I disagree with because I think that people are not just black and white but a mix and a story of many cultures.  I think that in this story Rachel is considered to be black by the people around her.  When Rachel and Jesse are at the fountain that night he keeps referring to her as being black but I think that she is a mix so she should be called a mix and she should know that.  This video and article reminds me most of how Rachel is often referred to as a black girl but she really isn't.

I think that Heidi Durrow would greatly appreciate what our generation of college students are doing to the multiracial population because she said herself that when people ask her "what are you" her favorite answer is that she is a story.  I think that Heidi Durrow's answer to who she is connects to the quote because instead of having to repeat herself and telling people where she is from which is not enough she just tells people the truth which is that she is a story just like everybody else.

Blog 092514

I feel as if I have a unique description of beauty.  I believe that being beautiful is not only how you feel but who you are and the way that you portray yourself.  Being happy is one of the most important things in life and I think that we as a society puts too much pressure on being perfect and pretty. I do agree with the model when she said she had who the lottery because she did.  Its all genetics and that is why she won the lucky lottery.  One of the huge reasons she was a model is simply because she is pretty and I think that every single person should think they are beautiful for who they are model or not.  I have struggled with beauty because growing up as a young girl who can be influenced easily I saw that on TV (even kids shows such as Disney and Nickelodeon) were pretty. I think that as I have grown I have come to the truth that beauty really does come from the inside and that I am beautiful because I am me.
Cosmetics is a multi-billion dollar industry and the only way it will continue booming is if people want to change the way they look.  It all comes down to self-esteem and the fact is that in some people they is simply none.  Our country is known for bigger is better and its true with hair as well.

Rachel: "I think that the model was right.  Some people win the lottery.  Some people are pretty.  Some people are Rich.  Some people have nice things.  Some people get boys. Some people have all of those things and some people have none of those things.  I think I lost.  I lost the lottery.  I have Mor's eyes and that was the lottery but that's it.  I'm just me and that's how I lost the lottery."

"I'm Black.  I'm from northeast Portland.  My Grandfather's eyes are this color. I've lived here mostly my whole life.  I'm black. I'm Black, I know." (148)

I wrote this because I feel like Rachel has a low self-esteem and never feels beautiful.  I feel like she thinks she had lost the lottery and that she has no one.  She thinks that her mother was beautiful which is where she got her eyes which  is why she thinks they are beautiful.  In this quote Rachel talks a little bit about where her eyes come from and I think that is part of her beauty.

I still agree with what I said about beauty,  I believe in what I said and I do not think many things will change my opinion. I think that I would reinforce that beauty comes from the inside and that Beauty is who you and not what you look like because that is what I truly believe.

Blog 092414

    I thought that having a small and quick conference was very helpful because I usually know what I want and need to write about so having a short conference where Mr. Cheng just told me where to elaborate on my ideas and what I can to make my writing better.  I thought it was good to have the conference to be short because that way the teacher does not repeat or go on and on about what I am already writing.  I think that I will keep writing with what i have but go on to also write about what I actually thought of the two books and my ideas of the characters and the way that their stories were written.  I do not think that I  have anymore questions about how to write my paper because I feel as if I am a very independent writer.

Blog 092314

He for She Website: http://www.heforshe.org/
Emma Watson's Speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-iFl4qhBsE

Option B:
A friend told me about Emma Watson giving a speech to the UN about feminism and it made my ears perk up because not only do I love Harry Potter but my passion project is about feminism and gender equality.

I thought that this speech was absolutely stunning.  The way the Emma describes and defines feminism needs to be said out loud more often just because people think that feminism means that we hate men.  This connects to me because I am very very very interested to see equal rights in my lifetime and I know how I feel about this topic.  I think that women deserve to have the same opportunities as men do no matter what.  It is not right for men to think they are more superior over women because they get paid more.  The truth is that women work just as hard as men and that they have the exact same job but get paid less because of their gender.  Feminism does not mean that sharing your opinions makes you too aggressive but it does mean that we need gender equality. I think that every singe growing girl or women can relate to something that Emma said.  Women are not treated fairly and it needs to be brought up as a serious topic.  When I was younger I had thought that feminism was for women to have power and executive jobs.  I thought that it meant we were better than men but it does not! I admit I was wrong and like many other people I had the wrong idea about what feminism is.  Feminism is equal rights.  Emma Watson defines it in her speech and I think that she got it right on.

Blog 091714

"Two weeks ago Monday was my first day as a straight-haired girl.  Wearing my hair down and straight is one reason that the girls in the bathroom want to beat me up. (96)"

In this passage Rachel talks about her hair and how it has changed since she has lived with her grandmother.  This sentnece really poped out at me because it reminded me of Michelle Norris and how in her story hair is something that tells a story and is really important.  Rachel has gotten bullied for having different hair than the other girls at her school but I think that she likes it because it looks like mor's hair. I think that in both of these books Rachel and Michelle's hair are motifs because they often come up and represtnt the character and things hapen to both of these characters because of their hair.

Blog 91514

I chose this article that talks about the Orange Is the New Black (tv show) writter who is currently divorcing her housband and says she is gay.

Text-to-Text: I think that it is coincidental that the writter and creator of a show that focuses a lot on being gay is now coming out to the public and saying that she herself is gay and reportedly is now dating one of the actresses which reminds me a lot of the show.

Text-to-World: I think that social media and the publics eye has been focusing on this show for a while now becase it is like nothing else that has been on televison and now that the writter is coming out it has a big focus because our tv shows now have programs that have gay people and we talk so much about gay actors/characters.

Text-to-Self: I think that because she is now comfortable to write a tv show about being gay and what it is like that she is now comfortable to be herself and tell her housband and the public.

Link: https://tv.yahoo.com/news/report-oitnb-writer-divorces-husband-dating-star-samira-234000590.html

Blog 091114

Group A
#FERGUSON

• Police officers were at the rally showing their support but only a few and I want to know why. Was it because they are afraid of what the people are going to think or what they are going to do?
• They keep repeating "Hands up" which connects to the issue of freedom and equal rights to them and their children and that Michael Brown put his hands up but he was still shot. 
• In a small part of the video it shows a list of all the children that were shot by police and that list goes on and on.  It shows that so many families were affected by this and that it needs to stop. 

Group B 

Why Do We Teach When Kids Are Dying #MichaelBrown

• The teacher talks about how most of her students who are a different color have bad filliations with the police and eve though some of her students have police officers as parents some students are still afraid of officers. 
• The author brings up a very importnat asked question that is rarely answered- "What kind of country does this to its own citizens?"
• The teachers actas thouht this does not effect their class room but it does and it should be recognized. 

Group C 

Gene Denby on perception of Police 

• This paper says that 70 percent of blacks are treated unfairly when it comes to dealing with the police but only 37 percent of whites are treated unfairly when dealing with the police. 
• This also shows that 68 percent of blacks are not treated fairly in court while only 27 percent of whites are not reated fairly. 
• It also shows recent tweets that come from people who think that racism today in our country is still a current problem today and says multiple interesting things such as "in unsurprising news, most white people are blind to racism". 

Group D

What White Children Need to Know About Race

• This article talks about how racsim as a topic is begining to come up as a research question and is a very comon topic on the internet and social media. 
• "Silence is a racial message" really stood out to me because it shows that just standing back and not doing anything is the same as being racist. 
• Independent white schools say that they try to be diverse but they just say that because it is a goal for the school but not an actual fact. 

Group E

America Is not For Black People

• This article somewhat talks about Michael Brown's Shooting and what happened
• I beleive that the officer who shot Mike Brown was in the fault because all of the witnesses have said that he was putting up his hands to surrender as he was shot and killed. 
• I found it very interesting to hear that Micheal was not a special case, he was one of the many kids and young adults that get shot and were innocent. 

Group F

Sometimes Unfortunate Things Happen In The Heat Of A 400-Year-Old Legacy Of Racism 

• This article seems like it is on the favor of the police, it says that we have to remember that the poice are put in life or death situations every single day. 
• The title of this article also catches my eye because the author makes this shooting sound like no big deal and that "accidents happen"
• The author says that the police are put in difficult situations and we need to respect that but I feel that there is always a situation where nobody needs to die. 

In conclusion, I beleive that these websites show that racism is still a huge issue and that blacks are not being traeted as well as we think.

Passion Project Topic Brainstorming

1.Childhood Obesity in the USA

I think that it would be very interesting to write about obesity in the US because it is a topic that a lot of people do not like to talk about but surrounds us daily.  Growing up my parents always talked about eating healthy and even I had some troubles with a healthy life style but now that there are multiple documentaries that are coming out that repeatedly talk about obesity and being over weight that catch my eye and I think that the topic could use more detail and attention.

Link: http://www.georgiahealthnews.com/2012/03/obesity-expensive-problem-video/

2. Jobs in India For the Future

My dad works for a company that creates buildings where call centers are held and I want to know what happens to all those people who work there and what their life is like. I know that it can be so different for them and I am interested in where they are going to be in 100 years as a country and individually.

Link: http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/london-business-school-john-mullins-on-india-entrepreneurs/1/204023.html

3. The Pressure of Society and the Social Standards of beauty

I keep seeing music videos that really interest me that have a similar message. That message is that society has some kind of control on us and our image, that we need to be perfect and if we are not we are "different". I agree with this and as a teenage girl I know that I can be pursuaded very easily and that the effects of these makeup and beauty product companies have on us have lasting impressions.

Link: http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/pretty-hurts-watch-beyonce-defy-social-standards-of-beauty-1509035.html

Link: http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/colbie-caillat-tearjerker-try-video-sends-powerful-message-2014157

4.Women's Rights; Then and Now

Not even 100 years ago women finally ot the right to vote but that did not even ensure that women were treated the same as men. I think that it is very important that women have the same rights as men because we are all people and we deserve equality.

Link: http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-28870677/

5. What Feminism Is and Why We Don't Talk About It

I have noticed that the majority of the topics that I am interested in and have researched have something to do with the rights and power of women. I think that it is very important that women and young girls know that we are very lucky that we have so many rights that other women do not have. There are so many reasons and facts that show the gap in equality between men and women in the work place and just proving this is one way to support this topic. I think that some people do not talk about feminism because it intimidates them but I think that people should be able to say what they think and why they feel a certain way.

Link: http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=SUIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=News&limiter=&u=mnkedina&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=SUIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA380956652

Blog 082914

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Blog 082714

    In chapter 4 called "The Garden" I thought it was very interesting how the author talks about her fathers pride in the garden being grown in their home in Minneapolis.  I think that the garden somewhat represents her parents marriage because her father takes so much control and pride in their garden that he begins to control it much like her parents marriage.  Then later we find out that they split up and I believe that it was caused by he father being too controlling.  I also thought that it was very interesting when the Norris family moves into their home in Minneapolis most of their neighbors flee the area and more black families into the neighborhood.  It is very important to the Norris family that they always look nice and act in a respectful way.  This shows that the neighbors who moved away from their family never really had anything to complain about the Norris family besides the color of their skin.

    Also, in chapter 5 the author seems to go into detail about her father life in Alabama. The sense of community and family in Birmingham is shown a lot in this chapter by the way they speak to each other.  One of my favorite parts in this chapter and this book is when her father compares his brothers to the seven dwarfs.  The way that her father jokes about their looks and temperament relating to the seven dwarfs just fits with his family's stories.  I think that these chapters really focus on her dad's life and his story and how he was always a hard worker and trying to put others before himself.  Even at the end she describes her father as a cheerful man who was always smiling and trying to cheer others up and make then feel better.