The Conclusion

When I first found out that we were going to have to do a blog, I was not looking forward to it. However, after I looked through all of my posts, I think I have become a better writer just from typing up a paragraph each week on a late Friday night. When I read the first blog, I noticed that it was much longer than all of my other ones and that it sounded more like a book report than a blog. Over the past few months, I have realized that blogging is supposed to be a place where you can say what ever you want about the topic that is given to you.

Although I don’t always enjoy writing blogs at the end of the week, there were still some topics that interested me. One of those topics was reflecting on how the class had been so far (April). One of the things that I mentioned in this blog was that there was a lot of reading this year. I was expecting more reading than in middle school, but I was not expecting this much. I definitely did not think that we were going to be reading a new book on Finals week. Another blog that interested me more than others was how Romeo and Juliet relate to today’s society. I talked about a song called “Young Forever” by Jay-Z which had many similarities to Romeo and Juliet. One of the blogs that I spent more time on than others was my Animal Farm poem. It talked about the seven commandments and it was about the abuse of language in the story. This was one of the better poems I had wrote this year in Honors English.

This year has gone by very quickly and it’s hard to wrap the entire year and blog up in only one quote. So I’m going to try and wrap it up in two quote both by the famous former New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra. The first quote is “ It ain’t over till it’s over”. I was looking forward to ending the blog a few weeks ago, like Word Power, but I knew that there was probably going to be a final blog that I was going to have to write. This year has gone by quickly and we are only single digits away from school being over but these last few days always seem to be a little slower. You are waiting for the last 2:37 bell of the year and when it comes your excited, but a little sad that freshmen year has just come to an end. The other quote is “The future ain’t what it used to be”. After this year in English I have definitely become a much better writer. Blogging has also helped me learn how to not always write the same way I always do when I am writing a book report or an essay. Overall, 9^th grade honors English was a great class and I will always remember walking into class the first day of school being very nervous because I knew that it was going to be a challenging class. However, now I know what is expected of me in an Honors English class and I’m not as worried as I was entering 9^th grade English and I’m ready to move onto 10^th grade honors all though I will have many memories to look back on from 2^nd period.

At the beginning of the year I wasnt confident when we had to write essays or long papers, but now I know more about how to write them. I've acquired quite a few essay skills that have made me much more successful when I've had to write an essay. One of those skills is understanding the stucture of an essay. I learned about chunks and also about how to properly embedd quotes. Another skill that I have learned is to constantly refer back to your thesis in order to back up what you are trying to get the reader to believe.
Although I have become much stronger at writing essays I still have a few weaknesses that I have had for a while. One of those is having a weak hook. In middle school we were able to write a question for a hook but now that we are in high school, we can't. It is very easy to write a hook in question form but hooks that are not in that form are usually better even though they take longer to think about/write. Another weakness that I have when I am writing a paper is that may conclusions are too general. I've always not been good at writing a conclusion. For example, I would always start a conclusion with "In conclusion, ..." and I still end up beginning my essays like that or using other words like "Overall". Conclusions are supposed to leave a strong feeling with the reader, however, I don't think my conclusion are like that.

If I get a chance to read this summer, I'm probably going to read two books that I have read before. The first book would be Beyond Belief(Josh Hamilton) which is about Josh Hamilton's life story and how he came back from doing drugs to playing in the MLB. The other book would be Playing With The Enemy(Gary Moore) which is about how american soldiers taught their prisoners how to play the game of baseball. It is probably my favorite book that I've read before.

Fate

Since I was born in August, I'm a Leo. In the research that I did, I found some characteristics that matched me and some that did not. Three of the characteristics that matched me were loyal, confident, and stubborn. I am loyal to my family, friends, and people who I trust. I am confident for the most part about things like sports and school. I'm not always confident though if I dont think I'm going to do well on a certain test or I start studying the night before. Whenever I want to go somewhere or get something that I want, I can be stubborn about it. Cannot resist showing off is one of the characteristics that does not always fit me. Sometimes I may like to show off but for most of the time I dont talk about new things I get or a trip that I get to go on.
In Romeo and Juliet, they believe what the stars say their fate is much more then people do today. I think that the majority of the characteristics were accurate to other Leo's that I know. Shakespeare also ties in foreshadowing by predetermining what will happen in the book next and I think he used astrology in the book also for foreshadowing. A quote that shows this is "Take him out and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine"(3-2,25-26) which is a reference to astrology and the stars.

Romeo and Juliet comes up a lot in todays society. One place where I think that it comes up the most is in music. I found a lot of songs that could be related to Romeo and Juliet but one song seemed to stand out more than others. The song is Young Forever by Jay-Z. Here are the lyrics from parts of the song that I think most resembles Romeo and Juliet. "Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst", "Let us die young or live forever", and "We dont have the power but we never say never". Not all of the song relates to Romeo and Juliet but I thought that those parts did.

The past seven months in Honors English have definitely been different then I expected. I was imagining a class that was going to be hard, strict, and have a lot of homework, however that wasnt what this year has come out to be. In class we get a lot done but it is a loose atmposphere which makes the class a lot more interesting. I have learned a lot this year in English. For example, motif. During the summer assignment when I was reading "Catcher and the Rye" I had absolutely no idea what motif was. Now, I still dont have a firm grasp on the meaning, but I have come to understand all of the vocabulary but I have a sense of what it means. Another thing that I was expecting but not this much of, was reading. This year reading has been like it has been during middle school, except for 8th Grade. I feel like this year it is more of an assignment than something you get to enjoy. However, I'm okay with it because we always have something to talk about in class the next day. This year in English has definitely been a suprise, however I think it has been a good one because I have learned a lot more compared to previous years in English classes.

Here are the three scenes that I would like to see get acted out in a skit:

1. When Pip goes to the graveyard and the convict first confronts him for food and the file. I think this would be good material because it would be interesting to see what people portray how the convict and Pip reacted in the situation.

2. When Pip gets in the fight with the large pale boy (Herbert) at the Satis House. This would be good material because it's a major part of the story and people could act it out creatively.

3. WHen the convict goes to Pip and Herbert's and frightens Pip and later tells Pip (in a way) that he is the secret benefactor. This would be good material because it is a major part of the book and it is one of my favorite parts of the book.

On page 347 there is a quote that says, "I went to Compeyson next night, same place, and Compeyson took me on to be his man and pardner". The question that I have is why would the convict tell Pip and Herbert about his past and Compeyson?

In Chapter 29 of Great Expectations there is a quote on page 241 that I don't understand.

The quote is " "Jaggers," interposed Miss Havisham, much to my relief, " leave my Pip alone, and go with him to your dinner." What I don't understand in the quote is why Miss Havisham calls Pip "my Pip".

I chose a picture of a bow tie as something that comes up in chapters 17-25. The bow tie represents being more formal and finally getting to become a gentleman which Pip wanted to become. He didnt want to be average so he became determined to move up in social class to not be as common.

The quote “ Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, or thornsor flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link of one memorable day.”, is brought up when Pip is referring to when he first went to Miss Havisham’s and also met Estella. The day altered him by becoming more aware of the upper class and not wanting to settle for being common. Pips charater was developed by not being okay with middle class which later lead on to him not wanting to be an apprentice.

A memorable day in my life that began a chain was when I was three years old and I was introduced to the best game on earth, baseball. My character today can easily be traced back to when the chain began in many ways. For example, I still play baseball and I always end up knowing the big free agent signing of the day because I enjoy baseball that much. Baseball has definitely had a positive impact on my life and continues to do so because of that memorable day.

For my groups essay on The Importance of Being Ernest, our subject was about dishonesty in the book and the different levels that were used throughout the book. For me, three major happenings in the story that involved dishonesty was not very hard to find. The first one is Bunburying. Bunburying is a major part of the story because Ernest lying about his name seems to confuse everyone about why he even would want to change his name. He explained how his name is Ernest in the city and Jack in the country. The dishonesty led to a conversation about how Jack is a boring name and how Ernest is a much better name that suites him well. Another topic which is not as major is when they lie about “running out of cucumber sandwiches” at the beginning of the story. This is untruthful since he had ate all of the sandwiches before Lady Bracknell arrived. A final major part of the book that involves dishonesty is when Algernon pretends to be Ernest’s brother. This is a major part of the book because Ernest is very mad at him for pretending to be his brother, however later in the story it is discovered that they are actually true brothers. The commentary that I have written down supports the thesis by clearly explaining how parts of the story involve the dishonesty and what level it is on.

Since we didn’t have the chance to make sure we are using different concrete details within our own paragraph, here are my concrete details that I have.

1.Bunburying

2.Lying about cucumber sandwiches

3.Algernon pretending to be Jacks brother.

We also need to talk about the different levels that were involved, so we might want to each do a different level. If you guys want to do the different levels, or something else, just comment about what we are supposed to, and then write which topic you want to write about(different levels or other, and then what its about) and what level it is on in the book.

The Victorian Era research helped me a lot to understand how times were back then. For example, I found out that the men were supposed to always be in charge of the family. I also learned that women back then wanted to be cared for and therefore it was not unusual for an 18 year old girl to marry a 35 year old man. From my research I have been able to understand certain situations in the story. Many things that I learned about in my research happened in The Importance of Being Ernest.

One concrete detail that involves some of my research is when Jack is almost getting interviewed to be Gwendolen's husband. Lady Bracknell asks him about parents, income, etc. because she wants what is best for Gwendolen. Another example from my research is Algernon seems older/slightly more mature then Cecily is. Cecily is only 18 but Algernon seems as though he is 25 years old even though he's not. They get engaged very young which was uncommon back then.

In 2010 my new year's resolution is going to get good grades in all of my classes and improve my hitting in baseball. I need to improve my test grades and also improve the offensive side of my game in baseball. These goals are reasonable and can be met by doing the following things.

To improve my test grades in my classes I will have to study more. I wont put studying off until the night before the test anymore. I also will take better notes so it will be easier to study. Improving my test grades will help getting good overall grades in all of my classes. To improve my hitting I'm going to have to do a few things. First, I will start going to the batting cages more often, 3-4 times a week. I will also workout more so then I will be able to have more power as well as bat speed. Doing these things will help me improve my batting in baseball.