"Paradox and Dream" Reflection

Paradox: "Fortunes are spent getting cats out of trees and dogs out of sewer pipes: but a girl screaming for help in the street draws only slammed doors, closed windows, and silence."

            This quote means that most people ignore when someone is in trouble or yelling for help, and don't take the time to at least help the person in trouble. You see dogs and cats are always getting rescued, yet people can' take their time to help out a person in need or in danger. Firefighters even spend their time getting a cat out of a tree, while they could be helping other people in need, because there is always someone around you that is in real need of help. Most of the time people will ignore the fact that someone is screaming because they think they are just playing, when in reality they are in danger and could be getting hurt.

               I feel like I can relate to this because I have seen it. There was actual footage of a girl getting run over, and many people passed by her including cars and did nothing about, like if there was no one there. We can also see this in movies a lot of the times when someone is screaming for help, yet people think they are just playing. We also see in movies firefighters getting cats out of trees, and this is also portrayed in children's books. 

Paradox: "We truly believe to be natural born mechanics and do-it-yourself-ers."

                This quote means that many people think they can do anything without reading the instructions or by getting help from others. Many people think that they can fix anything by themselves without having to pay for help or by simply reading the instructions. They always end up making things worse, even thought people still believe that they can do everything by theirselves. This quote is portrayed in a lot of movies where they end up making everything worse and failing at doing it by urself. 

                  I can relate to this quote because I have seen it, and it is in my family. My mom's side of the family is all about doing everything by themselves. My uncle put his own table together because he didn't want any help to do it or to have to pay to have it be done. They try to fix everything before their only option to fix it is to pay for help. My mom also doesn't like following the instructions for baking or cooking and she estimates the measurements for the ingredients. I also saw this in a t.v show where a mom wanted to put together a swing and slide set by herself, and she turned out breaking some of the parts, so in the end she had to pay more to replace the parts and pay to put the swing and slide set together.

Symbolistic Object

           An object that I feel that represents me is Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. Tigger is a charcter but also an object because I have him as a stuffed animal. Tigger symbolizes me because he is always so hyper and loves to have fun. This is just one of the similarities that me and Tigger share. Also Tiger symbolizes happiness, which I symbolize too because when ever someone is gloomy, I love to cheer them up and change the subject. This is just like Tigger. Tigger never likes feeling melancholy, just like me.

            Tigger also symbolizes hope in many ways and situations. He symbolizes hope because he shows hope to others that are feeling gloomy and like they are about to give up. This also symbolizes me because like I said I love to cheer people up when they are feeling gloomy. I make them feel better and I show them the better side of the situation, like Tigger does.

I commented on Lilly's , Siari's, Jared's, Evie's, and Giovanna's Blog.

Final Reflection Blog

Final Reflective Blog for this year
5-13-15

            The three most important things I learned this year were how to write a proper summary, how to write a proper paragraph, and how to write a proper essay or argumentative paper. I thought that I knew how to write all of these kinds of writing, but being in this class has helped me how to make each of these writings even better and proper. Before entering this class I thought that a summary was written with a copious amount of detail and with evidence, but now I have learned the right way to do it. I also have learned that each paragraph should be based on one topic and supporting details. I also learned how to find strong arguments and evidence to support for an argumentative essay.

                Something I did in this class that I would remember for the rest of my life is the Argumentative unit, because I learned about Death With Dignity. Death With Dignity is something that I learned about and that I am very compassionate about and I feel like it is something that I would know forever and that I would want it to be legal in my state. I feel like the argumentative unit not only helped me write better argumentative essays but helped me see why it is important to be ale to respect people's choice and not to judge them on their decisions, because they are the ones that know what they are going through and why they are making that decision.

                 The nicest thing anyone ever did for me in this class is help me understand, complete, and review something. I felt like it was very kind of them to do to take their time to help me. Someone helped me with my argumentative essay and my blogs. I am not so good in grammar, and helping me out with my mistakes was very benign of them to do. Even when they weren't done with their write up, they still took their time to help me out.

             Something I taught my classmates and my teacher this year in this class was about all my A.O.Ws that I talked about. One of the A.O.Ws that I taught them was about a man who is trying to raise awareness for wildlife, and has turned poachers that were selling baby gorillas into farmers, so they wouldn't have to sell baby gorillas any more. He even created a tour company to raise even more money for poachers and for their country. I feel like every time we do a gallery walk for the A.O.Ws I learn something from my classmates and they learn something from me, as well as my teacher.

             I feel that I made the biggest improvements on my writing. I used to write summaries with evidence and a lot of detail, and now I have accomplished how to write a proper summary. I also accomplished to write a paragraph with thought and detail. Writing on blogger daily has helped me improve my writing and grammar. Practicing on NoRedInk has also helped me make a big improvement on my grammar.

             The most challenging part of this class this year was time management. I struggled with managing my time. I also struggled a lot with deciding when to complete work and assignments. That is why I would always have to be completing all of my work and assignments the day before it is due. I guess that being in this class might have been a struggle but it did help me a lot with learning how to manage my time, even thought I struggled the most with that.

               The best piece of writing that I completed this year was my argumentative letter that I wrote for Death With Dignity. I feel like it was my best piece of writing because I was compassionate about the subject, I put a lot of effort into it, and I felt like I was pretty convincing with my evidence and my essay. I am very compassionate about this subject because my grandpa died because of cancer, and I feel like if he had this option he could have died peacefully instead of with pain. Therefore I want others to be able to have this option, so I worked really hard to try to convince our governor.

              My favorite books that I have read this year was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, and Alabama Moon. I loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time because it was really good and there was a lot of conflict and a mystery in the book. I may have read this book a long time ago, but I still remember most of the plot. Alabama Moon was also one of my favorites because it reminded me of Hatchet and because it was filled with action and conflict.

             I would tell the kids entering this class next year to be able to mange your time correctly, and to create a schedule of when you want to be completing your stuff. I would also tell them to try their best and to never give up. Once you are able to manage your time correctly, I feel like you are able to do a great job in this class. Creating a schedule of when you want to complete work each week also ties in with managing time. There will be times where you might struggle a lot, but just keep your heads up and try your best!

                 

Of Mice And Men: Movie Vs. Book

Of Mice And Men
5-12-15
Prompt: Section 3, Movie Ending Vs. Book Ending

                   The flashback from the end of the scene in the movie shows how Lennie and George walk into the sunset. I think the director decided to end the movie with a flashback instead of how the book ended to show George and Lennie's connection and to show how even if things didn't end well they still lived a good life together.I feel like this left the audience very gloomy and confused because they would want to know what George decides to do and how will live on. I think that the feeling at the end of the book is different because it tells you that he ends up going with the rest of crew/people, and that wouldn't leave you that much confused as in the movie.

                    The book ends with  Carlson saying "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys." I feel like this line tells us that Carlson never really saw the connection between George and Lennie and thought that George didn't really care about Lennie. I think this because if he said that then he doesn't think that George is melancholy about what he did to Lennie. This quote probably leaves the reader feeling mad, but at the same time really gloomy. I felt mad because Carlson didn't feel the least bit sad about Lennie dying and how he didn't realize that Goerge was upset because of that. I also felt gloomy because of what George did to Lennie, and I was so sad that Lennie had to die.

                    I honestly loved this book so much, and thought it was one of the best books I have read, but I got furious at the ends of the book. I really liked how the author showed the relationship of George and Lennie as a love and hate sort of relationship. I also thought it was better that the author decided to make Lennie and George and friends and not related to each other, because I feel like if they were at all related they would act differently around each other and they would have a different kind of relationship. The most profound impact or intense emotion that the book gave me was when George shot Lennie in the back of his head. I was so dismal yet so mad, because I really wanted the dream to happen for George, Lennie and Candy. I would recommend this book to everyone one because it was just so good and I loved it!

                     
             

A.O.W Impressions Blog

          From this week's A.O.W gallery walk, I feel like I have learned a plethora amount of information. One of the articles that I learned about this week was about the Baltimore Riot. Another article that I learned about this week was about a man who saved a baby gorilla from poachers, and in return gave the poachers a better life than poaching. 

       The A.O.W on the Baltimore Riot was about a mother who got furious with her child and punished him because he was looting and getting involved with the Baltimore Riot. She was named "Mother of the year". I personally think that she does deserve this title, because not any mother would have the bravery to do this when everyone is watching her. Many parents don't even care what their children are up to. She showed she is not one of these parents. I think after this many parents would get inspired. Parents should get an inspiration from this, and start caring more about what their children are up to.

        The other A.O.W was about the man who saved a baby gorilla from poachers, and transformed poachers into farmers. He pretended to be a buyer of the gorilla to be able to put the poachers to jail. Then he felt bad for the poachers because they were only doing this to be able to live their lives. He divided $2000 between the poachers so they could start a farm. These poachers were very successful. He later started a tour company to be able to raise more money. This man wants to raise awareness about working together to be able to save wildlife. I think this really caught the attention of a copious amount of people, and they should at least try to make a difference.

Conflict Blog for OMAM

Of Mice And Men
4/30/15
Pages read: 80-Finished

Prompt: From your brainstorming session, choose at least two conflicts to explore more in depth in this blog. Be sure to include textual evidence and support and also identify the effect that the conflict has had on the plot so far. 

                 One of the conflicts that were apart of the plot of this book were Man Vs. Society. We are shown this by the way George and Lennie have to live. Also by the way people treat Lennie. No one really understands Lennie and why he acts like this. This book shows this type of conflict with Crooks. Crooks, being an African-American gets treated differently, and unfair due to his race and skin color. Lennie, not being understood affects the plot because people won't understand and think he does what he does out of purpose. Crooks being an African-American affects the plot because it affects the way people treat him, and the way he acts towards other people.

            Another type of conflict that was shown throughout this book was Man vs. Man. We are shown this by the arguments and Lennie and George have. This affects the plot of the book because it affects the relationship between George and Lennie, and how they act towards each other. Also Curly and George show conflict. It may not be shown explicitly, but we can definitely sense conflict between them. This affects the way Curly and George act towards each other. Lennie and Curly have a physical conflict in a part of this book. This affects the way Curly will see Lennie as, and the way Curly will act towards Lennie.

           One of the other conflicts that were shown throughout this book was Man Vs. Self. This type of conflict was kind of shown through George. George feels responsible for Lennie. This affects the plot because George doesn't want to feel guilty if something were to happen to Lennie. Therefore he will try his best and give up a plethora amount of stuff he could have had if it wasn't for Lennie. 

Dream Blog for OMAM

Prompt: Based on your brainstorming via Edmodo, write a short poem elaborating on your dream and/or why dreams or visions are an important part of life.

Dreams

Some can be unreachable

Others are destined to be

Some don't require much

Others require hard work

Everyone has one

For it resembles hope

It resembles chance

and it resembles effort

Without Dreams

you don't have a goal

no point in life

no trying