Comments

Kaya- Writing Center Visit
Hayley- How Have Your Priorities Changed from Middle School to High School?

Writing Center Visit

I went to the writing center last Tuesday during our English class. My writing fellow was a senior named Emma Scott. I knew her from my Spanish class, so knowing her made it a little less awkward. But overall, it was a great experience and Emma Scott really helped me.

First she asked me to read my paper aloud and I caught some typos and Emma Scott took notes. After I had finished she showed me what she thought I needed to work on, which was my introduction and quotes. She showed me why my introduction did not flow very well and we came up with a solution to fix it. We then went through my quotes, getting rid off what we thought was not needed. After that we both read it through again and worked on my introduction some more. She told me it was the one thing not working for some reason. So, we sat there until we figured it out and it turned out I was not being clear enough.

My trip to the writing center was a success and I will use it in the future for sure.

Comments

Wyatt- Literary Analysis Project
Griff- Free Post- It Will be Different This Time

Free Post

My favorite food is pizza. I do not like all the fancy stuff on the pizza, just pepperoni. If you ask me for pizza and I say no, something is wrong. You have my permission to take me to the hospital. Honestly, I'm not completely sure why pizza is my favorite food. I think its because I never get tired of it. I enjoy steak, a baked potato, grilled chicken, quesadillas, and a lot of other stuff just the same. 

My family teases me about it. They always say, "I know what Sydney wants for dinner..." It's true. The cheese, pepperoni, and tomato sauce is a wonderful combination that is enjoyable. But I am not a big fan of cold pizza, that is not appetizing to me. I want my pizza warm not cold. The cheese does not come off as stringy and the tomato sauce doesn't run into your mouth when you take a bite. Pizza is the best.  

LOTF Literary Analysis

In general the easiest part of this essay is the draft. I put in a lot of work while doing my outline which is what has made this draft somewhat easy. Another easy component to this essay is the transitions from text to quote. I find this easy, but I know it can be hard for some people. Overall if you are confident in your writing and really understand Lord of the Flies this part of the essay should be easy.

The hardest part of this essay is the grammar and remembering to keep everything in present tense. I have read over my draft multiple times and each time I catch a tense error. This mistake is probably happening because in my head, the book is over, so it should be in past tense, but obviously that is incorrect. The grammar part is mainly focused in the quotes. The slashes, long quotes, and citations on top of regular grammar is kind of stressful. But overall I think this analysis is going to turn out well.

Comments

Ryan- My Symbolic Story
Wyatt- How To: Surf

Symbolism

I walked up to the plate knowing that it was my last at bat as a St. Luke's softball player, which was exciting and scary at the same time. I stepped towards the plate and got ready to do what I always do, hit the ball. The pitcher pitched the ball and a fouled it off over the left fence. The next three pitches were all balls. The fifth pitch was an inside strike that I did not think was a strike, neither did my coaches. I stared at the pitcher knowing that it was a full count and my heart was pounding. The ball came flying towards me straight down the middle and I swung really hard. Suddenly my bat stopped with a loud clanging sound like metal on metal. This sound was a foreign sound to me and I realized that it was the catcher's helmet. I knew that I was going to have to jog to first base because it was a catcher's interference, I should know, I have been a catcher for nine years. My last at bat was very rewarding and disappointing because it symbolized my season.
I was the leader of our team being the only eighth grader and most experienced of us. Throughout the season I was unable to do things to improve personally to help improve my teammates and opponents. I wasn't allowed to hit some games or at practice, I caught for a  pitcher who had never picked up a softball before that season, and I forfeited my time as a player to be a coach. The catcher's interference symbolizes all of that. I was going to absolutely crush that softball, but the catcher leaned in too soon and I wasn't able too. I taught that catcher a lesson in that moment and because of all of the inexperienced teammates I played with, I decided not to focus on myself but the rest of the team.

How To Shoot a Basketball

How to shoot a basketball:

I have played basketball for almost eleven years and I have seen some crazy ways to shoot, but my father taught me how to shoot and now I'm going to tell you. 

The first step is to put the ball on your fingertips and lift up the same arm to a 90º angle, bent at the elbow, next to your head. You don't want to put it in front of your face because then you cannot see, which is a problem on the court. Your feet and shoulder should be squared to the goal.

Secondly, you need a guide hand. A guide hand is the opposite hand that does not have the ball. You use it only for support and protection, not power for shooting, this is where some people go wrong. You put this hand on the side of the basketball and guide it to the direction of the rim. 

The next step is to actually shoot the ball. You should bend your knees and jump. How high? Well it depends. If you are close to the goal the not too high, but the further away, the higher you jump. Once you reach your highest point, the guide hand stops going up while the hand with the ball keeps going. Your hand, the one with the ball, should be a little above your  head and when it is, you flick your wrist. 

When you finish your shot, your feet and shoulders should still be squared to the goal, wrist should be flicked, guide hand should be down, and your shooting arm should not be straight up, it should be a little in front of your face. 

It should look like this right before you shoot:

Looks like this when you shoot: 

And then take a look at yourself when you finish. Where's your feet? Shoulders? Is my wrist flicked? Did I use my guide hand for power or support? If you realize you did anything wrong, then shoot again and again until you are comfortable with it and it become muscle memory. Here's a tip for you, don't get frustrated with yourself, everyone misses shots.

Comments

Anders- Thanksgiving
Wyatt- LOTF Critical Scene 

LOTF Scene

The scene that I chose is found on page 89. This scene takes place during a meeting about the beast and Simon has the conch. He says, "Maybe, maybe there is a beast." The reaction to this is described as a "savage cry" The reader then hears Ralph stand up in disbelief to Simon's betrayal and the boys are still going crazy as a storm broke. Then Simon says, "What I mean is.....maybe its only us." And the first person to say something is Piggy, "Nuts!" Simon tries to convey what he means, but dies not take the right approach and asks, "What's the dirtiest thing there is?" Jack responds to this with a word that the boys never hear. And this is where the scene ends.

Things to note:
Simon thinks the beast is them
Ralph feels betrayed by Simon's disagreement
Piggy doesn't want to accept people can be bad
Jack takes everyone's thoughts away from reality and makes them have fun

This scene is important to the book because it is our first look at the basic cycle of the events in this book. Throughout the book "the beast" has caused something awful to happen, Ralph and Piggy are either betrayed, don't believe it, or both, and then Jack makes fun out of it. Also, this scene is major foreshadowing for the book. As we found out that Simon was right, Piggy and Ralph couldn't believe it, and Jack is taking the boys, or rather, savages to have fun. The boys really are the beast and Simon knew it would destroy them and it did.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in my family has slowly degraded over time. When I was little, we would pack up and go to Madison, Mississippi where my grandparents live.  Everyone would be there, my grandmother, my grandfather, my cousins, my uncles, and aunts. We would work puzzles, watch movies, and all help out in the kitchen. I always loved to make my great grandmother's mac and cheese, so that's what I would do. I can remember looking around seeing everyone together, laughing. But it all started to fall apart.

People from our family have left and we haven't been able to be all together in a few years. I play basketball year round and sometimes can't manage to be there. We haven't all been together in almost five years, but the mac and cheese is always made. To me that mac and cheese is a symbol of our family. Everyone loves it, but it's only around once a year. At some point during the Thanksgiving holiday everyone will go to my grandmother's house to get their share of food. Whether its the left overs or the actual meal. This year it will be the same, I'll make the mac and cheese for 17 people because I know everyone loves it and will get some at some point.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Comments

Ryan- What do you do in your free time, or do you have none? 
Wyatt- LOTF Response 

Create Your Own

Prompt: Create your own character. Describe him/her in detail. What's his/her name? Age? What is his/her story?

Peter Austin Michaels is a 16 year old with dirty-blonde hair. He is very tall with chocolate brown eyes. Peter is an athlete as well as an orphan. When he was seven, his house was broken into and his parents were shot. Ever since that night Peter has been training to catch the criminals who murdered his parents. Although Peter is only 16, he has been working for an organized, undercover secret agency for the past three years.

The night his parents were killed, these people showed up at his home after he called the police. Peter noticed that these people were not the police because they did not have a police uniform nor did they show up in one of those cool police cars. These strangers told them that they were here to catch the guys that killed his parents and that they were going to take care of him. Peter runs through that night everyday and knows that there is something much bigger going on behind his parents death, but what? He is going to sit tight, get smarter, get stronger, and wait until he's ready to fight to reach the truth.

LOTF Response

On pages 83-84 in Chapter 8, Piggy has the conch and is talking to everyone about the beast. In the beginning of the passage no one would listen to Piggy as usual and he gets fed up with it. "I got the conch!" said Piggy indignantly.  "Ralph--they ought to shut up, oughtn't they?  You shut up, you littluns!" 
He immediately turns to Ralph and the rules for order. This shows the reader that Piggy wants order and likes rules, and Ralph symbolizes those things to the kids. Also, it shows the struggle for order amongst the boys. 

Throughout this book, fear has caused the boys to do many crazy things and believe in crazy things, like the beast. In this passage the reader finds out Piggy's views on the beast and fear. "I know there isn't no beast--not with claws and all that, I mean--but I know there isn't no fear either." 
This tells us that Piggy does not believe in a physical beast and there should not be any fear, but he then gives us a very interesting thought.
"Unless--"
Ralph moved restlessly.
"Unless what?"
"Unless we get frightened of people." 

These 12 words show us that, at least to Piggy, there is nothing to fear except for one another. IF they get scared of each other. Fear is a complicated feeling and these innocent boys are having a hard time separating fear from reality. This passage might be foreshadowing their downfall a.k.a the fear of themselves. 

Comments

Kaya- LOTF Human Nature
Wyatt- LOTF Reading Response

Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a story that makes a person think about survival along with enjoying the story. The first chapter grabbed my attention and has held it since. The relationship between Piggy and Ralph fascinates me. Ralph acts like he doesn't care about Piggy, but we see flashes of Ralph caring for Piggy and protecting him from Jack. I feel like Ralph is ultimately going to stand with Piggy rather than Jack. Jack's bloodthirsty mindset is going to cause issues in the future with himself and the rest of the boys.

The boys on the island all have at least one thing in common, innocence. The boy's innocence is going to cause more problems than setting part of the island on fire. They are going to start running out of ideas and aren't going to know how to take care of themselves. If things start to spin out of control and Ralph can't glue things back together, the boys are going to default to the basis of human nature which is survival. The boys are going to get violent and savage and blood is going to be spilled. I have no idea the direct path of this book, but I do believe it is heading in this direction.

Human Nature

Everyone has a different take on human nature. I believe that everyone is born with the intention of surviving. A person's default personality is to do whatever it takes to survive and the rest all depends on how they are raised and the experiences they go through. Someone who is raised with manners and has been taught the difference of right and wrong, shown generosity, love, and respect is most likely going to be a great person. On the other hand, a child that is neglected, beat, not shown the correct way to act, does not know the difference between right and wrong is most likely to be a "bad" kid.  But, there always are a few exceptions. There are some people who are just mean and rude and there are people who are naturally kind and respectful. In my opinion, it all depends on which one choses to act on the light or the dark. Although in a survival situation, you switch to your default, do whatever it takes to survive.

My parents and mu experiences led me to these beliefs. I was raised to be respectful and do my best to be kind, so I am. Most of the time. I have had good and bad experiences but I have learned that I enjoy the good rather than the bad. People learn things from both sides. Like I said, it all rides on the specific person's shoulders. Whatever they choose is how they will be. I firmly believe that no matter what kind of person you may be, you will do anything to survive.

Comments

Anna- Fall
Griff- The Waltz of the Fat Man

Free Post

Sometime in March when I was in 6th grade I met my best friend, but I didn't know it then. It was the first volleyball practice of the season and I was on a role in sports that year. Our softball team had won a championship and so had our basketball team. I was determined to win a volleyball championship, so I was practicing very hard. I was tossing the volleyball up in the air and serving the ball trying to hit my spots and I saw someone I had never seen before. I knew she had to be a new kid because at St. Luke's everyone knows everybody. I noticed that she looked a lot like me and then she was walking towards me. She walked up to me and asked, "What's that thing on your eye?"
I replied, "It's an extra piece of skin. I was born with it."
She said, "Oh okay," and walked away. From that point on I knew she was special. I liked that she wasn't afraid and her curiosity put a smile on my face.

Nowadays we are always together. Some people think we are sisters which is true but not blood sisters. Her name is Addi LeBouef and she's always there for me and is my most loyal friend. We have played softball, basketball, and volleyball together, have SOOO many inside jokes, and have been through some crazy stuff. Addi and I will always be best friends and if she hadn't have walked up to me that practice and been what some people consider rude, we might have never became friends.

These Shallow Graves

I have recently started to read These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly. It was recommended to me by my old english teacher who likes to read the same genres I do. This book is a mystery and has a female protagonist named Jo Montfort. Her dad was murdered but she doesn't know why and her uncle covered it up. In this point in time women were only good for marriage and kids, at least that's what the majority of society thinks, not Jo.

This book lives up to my love of mysteries. I have always loved mysteries and I always will. The author allows us to really understand Jo's thought process and how the society she lives in works. I am only on page 87 but Jo's story is just about to take off. I'm ready to see how Jo figures out what happened to her father without destroying her family's reputation and her's in the process. Jo has a long journey ahead of her and she's going to have to toughen up to survive.

Comments

Ryan- procrastination
Jordan- Fast Food

Procrastination

I read a interesting article on procrastination. I have never thought about procrastination hurting my future self. Honestly, I do not procrastinate a lot. There are two things I procrastinate for homework and shopping. I will do just about anything to not go shopping. Shopping is like torture for me, I have never enjoyed it. Ever. I  think everyone procrastinates on homework. None of us want to do homework. We would rather watch Netflix, go outside, play video games, and that's what we do to procrastinate. This does end up hurting our future selves. Think about it, if you put off your homework until 8 o' clock and you know you have a boat load of homework and you stay up late doing it, then you are a zombie the next morning.

I blame my procrastination on unwillingness. I don't want to do my homework or go shopping. It bores me, and in my head I have thousands of other things to do that are way more fun. One thing I do to minimize the procrastination on a weekend is to set a time that homework should start and I tell a few people to remind me and tell me to do it and it has gotten a lot better. On weekdays I struggle more. I haven't developed a strategy yet but I am working on it. I haven't beat procrastination yet, but I am taking it down little by little and I plan to keep doing so.

Comments

Alex- Flash 
Ellen- Reading Response

Sharks vs. Eagles

I had always dreamed of winning a championship, but especially against Parkview. They were our rivals and it was always a very close and intense game. Our team of only 6th graders, which had never happened before, were undefeated that season. We were determined to win and take the trophy back to school. We beat the first two teams in the playoffs and so did Parkview, so to our disappointment we had to play against the one team we were nervous to play.

I walked into the gym that night mentally and physically ready to give my all. We actually played in Phillips Gym. Parkview's team was huge compared to our team of 8. We warmed up just like we always did and our coach put our starting five in and the buzzer sounded. I was so nervous. "What if we lost here?" "After all of this? TO PARKVIEW?!" The first quarter went by fast. Full of great defensive plays but it ended 0-0.
Second quarter I hit a mid-range jump shot, 2-0.
Halftime. At halftime I only became more nervous and so did everyone else. One shot is not the most comfortable lead you can ask for.
 Third quarter, my teammate scored a lay- up and I scored again. 6-0. The buzzer sounded and we looked up and realized we were almost there. We were so close.
Fourth quarter, in the first minute Parkview's point guard scored. 6-2. Then they scored two more times in the next three and a half minutes. 6-6. Two and a half minutes left. The possession went back and forth and the crowd was crazy. 1 minute left. My team had the ball. I got a pass and I was screamed at to shoot by the crowd. I didn't shoot. I passed it back to our point guard and cut to the other side of the court and I knew that if I got the ball I would shoot. Our point guard shot and missed, but our post got the rebound and fed it back to me and I shot and scored. The screams were so loud but there was still time left on the clock. We held them until the buzzer sounded for the final time.
We won 8-6.

Reading Response

I just finished The Knife of Never Letting Go and I could not believe that it was over. The ending took me by surprise and was a complete cliff hanger. There are those books that you can see the ending to towards the end of the book and there are the books that you aren't really sure but you think you know what's going on. I thought I had a general idea where it was going, but I was completely and utterly wrong. I was so into it that I read the first pages of the next book that were in the back, which I never do. And once again, I was left on yet another cliff.

Overall, this story was extremely entertaining and well written. The author kept you attached to each of the characters and you really understood how Todd felt. The details to describe everything around them and the backstory to the New World was amazing. I was on the edge of my seat a lot throughout this story and I can't wait to pick up the next book and get left on even more cliffs. I highly recommend this book if you like dystopian and adventurous type of books, or if you just want a good story, this is a great way to go.

Comments

Ellen- Possession
Liza- 100-200 Word Short Story

The Woods

It was dark and cold, she had been running for hours through the thick woods behind her house. She could faintly hear the sound that had been chasing her all of this time. She looked up and saw the nothingness of the dark sky. She was covered in dirt and her clothes were ripped. She was chilled to the bone and tiredness pulled at her eyelids, but she couldn't stop. The sound was starting to get closer so she started running again. She couldn't see a thing and suddenly starting falling. She felt a sharp pain rip through her leg. She stood up and yelped with pain. Her hand slowly ran down her calf and felt the warm, stickiness of blood all over. She looked all around her and didn't see a thing yet she heard that sound. She tried to run but fell and cried out in pain, the sound encompassed her, and she was never heard from or seen again.

"Harrison Bergeron"

Harrison Bergeron was a very fascinating story. Everyone was finally "equal" according to the story, but were they really? Some people like Harrison wore masks, a red clown nose, had tons of metal on their body or birdshot, and/or a chip in their head that buzzed to make them forget, while some people had none of that because they were "average." I don't think that this is equal. Making people endure all of those handicaps while others have none is not equality, yet I still enjoyed the plot of this story. 

I enjoyed how the author gave us descriptions of the handicaps people had while leaving an uncertainty in our minds. He caused us to think and ask questions about Harrison and why society was like this. When Harrison came onto the TV and ripped off his handicaps I was on the edge of my seat asking "What is going to happen?" "Why is he asking for an Empress?" I don't know about you but the climax of the story took me by surprise. Kissing on the roof...very unpredictable. When Diana Moon came and shot Harrison and the ballerina, that was also unpredictable and climactic. I really like the story for its creativity and unpredictability. But, I also liked at the end how the author really showed us how dumb Hazel is by her forgetting that her own son was just shot and killed. That is why I like this story, the unpredictability, the creativeness, and the detail the author gives us but he still leaves room for plenty of questions.

Comments

Griff- Dear 5-year old
Ellen- Dear 11-year old
Ryan- House of Hades

Dear five-year old

Dear five-year old,
Take nap time seriously. I know you think that you are too old for naps but trust me, you aren't. Take that time to get a good nap so you can play harder and work harder afterwards. I never took naps and now I want a nap everyday. Naps should be taken seriously for all ages.

Taking naps are good for you. Take that nap time for granted because you are going to miss it. I love naps so you are definitely not too old. I know naps don't seem like fun to you now, but appreciate them. Signed a fourteen-year old.

Reading Response

The Knife of Never Letting Go has kept me on the edge of my seat since I almost gave up. I'm really glad that I didn't give up. The author makes me feel like I'm there, looking over everything, hearing and seeing everything. The characters are all very interesting and I feel like there is more to them than meets the eye. I am very attached to all of the characters and I'm not even half way through the story.

I am not sure at all where this story is going but it should be good. Todd has a very long journey ahead of him to escape Prentisstown and everyone in it. Hopefully the "settlement" that his brothers sent him to will protect him. I cannot wait to see what happens to Todd. In fact, I'm going to go read right now.

Week of September 12 comments

Megan- Nighttime in New Orleans
Ellen- 9/11
Ryan- Katrina post

9/11

We all know what happened on 9/11. Two planes hit the World Trade Center's twin towers. The first plane hit the north tower at 8:45 and 18 minutes later the second plane hit. This sent America into a panic. After all of this, another plane hit the western side of the Pentagon at 9:45 in Washington D.C. Less than 15 minutes later, one tower collapsed, and at 10:30 those other tower did too. Which caused more fear, death, and destruction for America. But, another plane was taking off in New Jersey on a delay and was hijacked, but the people on board heard about what was going on from their cell phones and some of the passengers started to come up with a plan.

A mix of passengers and flight attendants fought the four hijackers. The plane then went out of control and sped toward the ground at 200 miles per hour in western Pennsylvania and crashed. Everyone on board was killed. No one knows where this plane was supposed to hit but there are theories, for example, the White House, U.S. Capitol, Camp David, or nuclear power plants along the eastern seaboard. This day caused America to start a war with terrorism and we have created higher, more thorough security everywhere. America will never forget the date of 09/11/01.

The Knife of Never Letting Go

When I first started reading The Knife of Never Letting Go I was not intrigued at all. I was bored because the author was giving us all of this information about the town and this to called Noise. And yes, Noise is meant to be capitalized. I was reading and reading waiting for something to happen and then my wishes came true. This happened right as I was just about to give up on it, and for some reason I love books that do that.

The Noise I was talking about is something everybody can do in Prentisstown. There used to be women in town but an epidemic happened and all of the women died. Now, everyone can hear everyone's thoughts, see their memories and fantasies, which seems awful to me. There is always Noise, it is never silent. Ever. The main character, Todd Hewitt, goes into the swamp and finds silence. After he found this silence he tried to cover it up with more Noise but he fails. The mayor and his people go after Todd and the silence that he found, which is a girl. Here is the question, how can you escape when your pursuer can hear you from a long distance away?

Comments-Week 1

Ellen- Fostering
Anna- Parasailing
Ryan- Free Post 
Wyatt- Building Fence

Brother vs. Sister

I walked outside into the muggy, humid air. I was barefoot which allowed me to feel the soft grass and all of the sudden something white and sticky was all over my black shirt. I looked up and my brother was standing there with a shaving cream can and white foam all over his hand. In our family, this means war. So, turned around and saw another blue can of shaving cream. I grabbed it and ran towards my little brother. I put the shaving cream in my hand to throw it at my brother. It was soft, cold. In that moment, my brother started laughing.
"Why you taking so long? Are you scared?" Jackson said.
I replied, "Absolutely not. You are gonna loose."
Now how you loose in a shaving cream fight, I have no idea but we would find a way to win. We threw the saving cream at each other for a long time, making a huge mess. We slapped each other with it, got it all in each other's hair, and laughed until it hurt. We had so much fun that a winner was never decided. But the competition between us never stops, and it most likely never will.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher is an incredible, well organized, jigsaw puzzle of reasons.  This story gives us insight on how a traumatic experience affects others and how the mind succumbs to depression. Hannah's story is one that changed the way I think in a small and huge way. Clay's life was changed just the same along with the other 12 people. Thirteen Reasons Why shows a person just how much everyone really does connect.

Clay Jenson loved Hannah Baker but never got the chance to do it because depression beat him. It sent Hannah into a downward spiral and she took everyone else with her as best she could. Her thirteen reasons intertwine fourteen people's lives in ways that no one usually notices. Their eyes, hand movements, smiles, what was said, what was not said, what was done, and what now can never be done will change your perspective on how you think, feel and do throughout your whole day. This book really hit home for me. I have been around people that I truly care about that almost lost the battle of depression and some that did.

English 1 Expectations

English 1 will probably be one of my favorite courses because I love literature. Literature has always been my most-liked part of school. A good story has always made my day. I also look forward to improving my writing skills because they are not that great. I'm hoping for a balance of literature and writing throughout the course.

I struggle with writing because of my grammar. It has never really clicked in my brain. I sometimes get bored while I write which causes me to loose my voice in the essay. Hopefully, this will get better over the course of the year. Overall, I am ready for this course.

Me Before You

Me Before You was a story of many layers and many emotions. Happiness, sadness, envy, love, and many more. My favorite element of the book was how the author, JoJo Moyes, got you extremely attached to Lousia Clark and her relationship with her job, Will Traynor. While I was reading, I enjoyed how the relationship evolved and flourished into something Will thought he could never have again because he was in a wheelchair. Their relationship was very important because without it, Louisa would have never even had a chance to save him. These two are polar opposite people who fall in love only for it to be shattered in two months and break every reader's heart.

The thing that surprised me the most was Louisa's boyfriend Patrick. He didn't pay any attention to Louisa and worked out and hung out with his running buddies. Plus, he barley put up a fight for Louisa and if he really did love her as much as he said, he would have. On another note, while I was reading this book I stayed intrigued from page 1 through the epilogue. Their adventures were unforgettable sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way. The story of Will and Louisa is one that I will never forget or forgive for breaking my heart.