Wednesday, December 16, 2009

All seven commandments made
By Old Major
Until he passed away
Suddenly sow begin
Editing

Each and every One of the commandments
For their enjoyment

Living by
All animals are equal, but some
aNimals are more equal than others
The barn Greeting the white paint when a
Unexpected change may happen so
All of the animals can have the
Gift of
seEing it for themselves

Friday, December 4, 2009

When Brandon Emanual Wellington read "Facing It" by Yusel Komunyakaa, I thought that he did very well. I thought he understood the poem and he used dramitization to make the reading of the poem more effective. He used it a lot through out the poem but it helped create a image in my mind when he was reciting it. He seemed confident when he was on stage and not nervous.

The poem had a very important meaning. The poem was about war, maybe a veteran, who's vistiting the vietnam memorial and he remembers what it was like being in the war. During the reading he did a good job of changing point of views by using dramitization.

Friday, November 20, 2009

At the beginning of the year I had no idea what motif meant. I thought that honors english was going to be a lot harder then I had previously thought but after reading To Kill A Mockingbird I understand the meaning of motif much better. Now I know what motif is and can find what the motif is in a story. To Kill A Mockingbird helped me understand motif better because it was very clear what the motif was in the story.
The "mockingbird motif" is that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. It adds a symbolic level of meaning to the other themes of the book. The mockingbird motif allows you to compare the mockingbird motif to subjects like racism. For example, Tom Robinson was both crippled and innocent at the time of the trial but he was still "guilty". Another example of a motif would be justice versus injustice.

Friday, November 6, 2009

One thing my parents have always told me is to treat others the way you want to be treated. This was very important well I was growing up since I grew up with my twin sister. When ever I got mad at her or she got mad at me my parents would always remind us to treat each other how you would want to be treated.
I've thought of this lesson many times while growing up if my sister or me said something mean to each other. The life lesson I learned from this is to treat everyone with respect no matter who they are. You should treat others how you wanted to be treated.

Friday, October 30, 2009

My best friend is average height. He is skinny and has big feet. He is athletic and plays baseball. His favorite baseball team is the Boston Red Sox.Even though he is not the most coordinated person, he is very good at baseball. He also likes to skateboard.
I've known him since I was three years old when he first moved two houses down from me. Ever since I can remember we have both liked and played baseball. He moved down to another street a couple years ago and thats when the Red Sox started winning ('04 and '07). Our little league team was the Red Sox in '04 and we also won the championship, he had the biggest feet on our team. In the past year, he has become a skateboarder.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

One of my earliest memories that I have is when I was two years old. I went to my first Seattle Mariners game. It was a great site, the Mariners with Griffey, A-Rod, Buhner, and Martinez. Just two years prior they had their magical "refuse to lose" season. I went with my dad to the afternoon game and it was sunny. The grass was fake and there was a big white tarp as the ceiling. I thought I was in a big balloon where a baseball game was taking place.
I dont remember the score of the game, just that we won, and Griffey homered twice. I don't remember who we played but that wasn't important because my dad had just introduced me to the greatest thing on the earth, baseball. Going to that game resulted in a lifetime obsession. Thats why it really didn't matter that I cried when #24 went deep with his second tater of the game. The fireworks were too loud. They reminded me of when the Blue Angels went over our house in Seattle to practice. I guess I was saying "whats that" when they went off because I was scared or something.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Slaughterhouse 5: Irony

In Slaughterhouse 5 the dominant literary element is irony. I think the author used irony a lot because he might have wanted the book to be kind of confusing to make you think about it more than you would have previously. In the book, he constantly had you thinking. He might have also wanted to keep the book interesting and the reader to try and figure out what is going to happen next. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. used irony through out almost the entire book.
An example of irony in Slaughterhouse 5 is when Billy Pilgrim gets taken by the Tralfamadorians to Tralfamadore. They took Pilgrim and other humans to Tralfamadore to be in a zoo. This is ironic because usually it is the other way around. Usually we are going to the zoo to see animals but instead in Tralfamadore, humans were the animals. It changes your point of view about things that are real in life. It's also ironic because Billy Pilgrim said that he was only their for a couple years but in real life he was there for only a few seconds. Pilgrim said that the Tralfamadorians had a way of changing time except that there is no way to change time.

Friday, October 2, 2009

I am enjoying Slauterhouse Five so far. Slaugterhouse Five is the type of book that immediately grabs your attention because in the beginning he is constantly going to different places. The book goes quick so you pay attention in the beginning so you dont miss anything. It's not really hard to get into because it is not boring in the beginning but it is kind of confusing.
The literary element that seems to be dominant at this point is foreshadowing. Im not sure because I'm only 80 pages in but so far it's just talking about Billy Pilgrim going to a bunch of different places. The places he's switching in between may be important background information later on in the book.
I think the author is using this element because the book is so confusing and he may want you to have some knowledge for later in the book to make it less confusing. He also may be writing so quickly and using foreshadowing because Billy Pilgrim seems like a complicated character.
The tone of the novel right now is whimsical because the book is very unpredictable so far. In the first few chapters the tone has not changed.

Friday, September 25, 2009

When I don't like the first pages in a book I usually don't read it. Sometimes I might try to get through the first chapter or I will "read" the first chapter and move farther into the book to see if I still wanted to read it. Then I would go back to the beginning and read it to see if I might have missed anything important. I'd just try to find the good in the book and ignore the bad parts of the book because there might be a good part after a bad part. I try to find something that makes it worth going on in the book.

When there is not an ideal reading place I try to ignore it and get through the book. Or if I am in the car and people are talking I just tell them to stop because I am reading and sometimes that works. Sometimes I may listen to my iPod to have background noise that is not distracting. If I still am distracted then I'd just read later. Most of the time I don't have a problem with finding a quiet place to read though.

My reading style is sports books/crime books. Those are the only type of books that I think are good. I like non-fiction sports books the most because they are all different. Fiction sports books are mostly all the same. A kid struggles or is good, there is a problem, and they win or lose a championship.

I read fiction when I have to, I rarely read fiction because I want to. I havent read a fiction book that I didn't have to read for a while, since 2007. In 2007, I read (most of) the last Harry Potter book in the series.