The End

   Looking back on all of my English blogs for my freshman year has been interesting. This is my very first experience blogging. It didn't go badly it was sort of a hassle at first but I made it through. I remember our first assigned blog; Introduction To My Blog. Wow, I think my writing, skills, and hobbies have changed over this long year and I think my blog really shows that. I think over all that the whole idea to do a blog was sort of meant for us to not only enhance our writing skills and ability to analyze things but also to actually be able to trace the process of it. I have learned a lot being in Mrs. Gilman's Honors English class, she's an awesome teacher. Her assignments have really helped me a lot to get comfortable with the standards of becoming a better writer, reader, and especially being able to analyze things that I normally wouldn't have even thought of having another meaning. To say the least, her class has shaped me to be open minded when it comes to writing and reading those long books and essays because it was all worth it in the end and not just for a good grade.
   My favorite writing assignment on here was the second one about "My Boo Radley." I thought that was a really cool one by linking a misinterpreted character to something in my life. And by the way I really enjoyed To Kill A Mockingbird. It was amazing. Out of all the books we have read this year my favorite ones were: To Kill A Mockingbird, The Importance of Being Earnest, Catcher In the Rye, and Looking For Alaska. All of these books have actually had an impact on my outlook on things I hope to read more books like these in the future and if you have any references please share :)
    One of the things that I didn't get around to sharing with my teacher was my idea about analyzing music. It's kind of like analyzing poetry, don't get me wrong I love reading and writing but I love music, when I'm listening to music by myself I always find myself wondering. I think other people would also enjoy this. When I say analyze I mean interpreting what the artist is truly saying, what the song symbolizes, and what it stands for. All year I have been thinking about this and I would like to try and see where it could go.
    To end my final post, I would like to thank mainly my English teacher Mrs. Gilman for putting up with my late work and making me smarter!
If anyone asks "Oh what is D'Andra's blog about?" It tells the long story and adventure of Mrs. Gilmans Honors English class of 2010-2011 and it was FANTASTIC to put it in a simple word.

 ~Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story
   John Barth

Reflecting on a Memorable Assignment

      My favorite assignment throughout this entire year in English would have to be the first out side reading book. That was my favorite because we got to pick our own book that we wanted to read and I think I picked a good one. Catcher In The Rye was a great book, that is what made this assignment so fun and memorable because I enjoyed it.
     My project on it wasn't that great but I liked the idea of giving a book talk and kind of persuading people to read it. I am proud of this assignment because I actually read the whole book and got a lot out of the book. I am proud of that achievement.  

A Good Experience With Poetry

My "poetic" career so far, has been very hard core.  Reading nursery rhymes before bed at the age of five and writing poetry for Mother's Day has set me up as a renowned poet.  One of my best experiences however, was part of Poetry Out Loud.  Before high school, I never really analyzed poetry.  For me, it’s always something that you read in your spare time.  However; reading Up Hill by Christina Rossetti led me through a new gate.  I had to really dig into the poem to understand its meaning. 

Being able to analyze a piece of poetry and finally understanding what the author’s intentions were planted a small seed of hope that I can really love poetry.  As you can see from my prior knowledge of poetry, I haven't had too many experiences.  It’s frustrating when you really don't understand a poem, because everything has a hidden meaning instead of literal interpretations.  Poetry Out Loud opened my eyes to the beauty of poetry.  Now I have a better understanding of how poetry can create connects between the author and her/his audience.  Once you have that experience, you want to keep reading more and more!  

            When I hear poetry I think: beautiful, interesting, unique, emotions, ideas, thoughts, dreams, and difficult.  To me poetry is difficult to understand, but at this point in time if I understand what the author is saying then I love Poetry.  If I don't understand what the author is getting at, then it can be really frustrating.  Right now, if I can get a grip on the whole concept of poetry then I could unlock another door of English!     

CONFLICT IN ROMEO AND JULIET

One specific conflict is the argument that Juliet has with her parents concerning her affairs. It first becomes when Juliet tells her mother that she is not crying for Tybalt, but for Romeo's banishment in ACT 3 SCENE 5
 JULIET [Aside] Villain and he be many miles
asunder.—
God pardon him! I do, with all my heart;
And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart.
LADY CAPULET That is, because the traitor murderer
lives.
This shows the timelessness of teen rebellion against their parents. Uhmmm I think this is sort of an important conflict because it shows one of the smaller driving forces seperating her and Romeo, not just the "those two families hate eachother."

Comparing Romeo and Juliet

Pride and Prejudice, Withering Heights, twilight, and that's all that I have read with that kind of story line.

Connecting with Romeo and Juliet

So far in the reading, I can't relate with any of the characters because they all have old fashioned traditions like marrying who your parents pick and having conflict between two families. Romeo's personality is kind of romantic but he gets over a girl fast once he finds someone new. He isn't really involved in the conflict between the two families. Juliet's personality is kind of laid back and follow instructions very carefully. She isn't really involved with the conflict of the two families but still doesn't like montague's.
Reading at home and then in class helps a lot so I fully understand each reading assignment. I like reading it twice because it's hard for me to understand.

Finally Wrapping Up Great Expectations.

    I think the message/lesson that Dickens is trying to put forth is that money doesn't always bring happiness and you don't need money to be happy. To me this is true because I make the best of what I have, I'm aware that I am not "rich" and yet I am still a happy kid. I can kind of relate to Pip (not the beating part) in the beginning of the story because he doesn't have everything but yet he makes the best of it with Joe and then he comes to meet people of the upper class and he sort of wishes that he can be that someday and sometimes I have that outlook also. I used to always think to myself that I would grow up to be rich and famous and work myself to be successful but now I'm content with my life and not having super high expectations or planning it all out yet because my plans constantly change and I'm not sure what I want to do with my life but whether I'm poverty-stricken or a big shot I won't let it change who I am just because I think it will make me happy.

Great Expectations Photo Post

I chose this photo because it shows how not only Pip but all the other characters changed throughout the novel and that change isn't always good. Pip left Joe behind to change into a gentleman and who is used to be is completely different from the young innocent boy he used to be.

Making Connections and Posting a picture!!!

I can't really relate this book to anything else that I have read because I don't read stuff like this. The only book that I can kind of relate it to is To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee because they're both about someone's childhood and growing up. In Great Expectations Pip is the boy growing up, and so is Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird.  But they're also very different books because while pip is brought up "by hand", Scout has more caring family members so they two characters are quit different.
    I think that both authors books have a complete different writing style, Dickens is confusing but Lee's is pretty simple to understand. While TKAM is based on a nice girl growing up with racism problems unlike GE where it's about class problems and what is was like being raised way back then.
    Both of these books do have a message about life. I think both messages kind of relate to how people act and what they believe is right and wrong. In G.E the people thought that it was right to be in the non working class and wrong to work for a living and be poor. In TKAM they thought it was wrong to be anything other than American or to help/stand up for anyone that is not American. I think that both books give off a really good example of human nature.

Great Expectations, The second stage

    An important event that has happened during the second stage so far is Pip's arrival to London. When he first gets there I think that he was kind of interested and intimidated by this huge place because he is a country boy. Mr. Jagger introduces Pip to his clerk Mr. Wemmik, and he soon realizes that he was the pale young gentleman he fought in the garden at Satis house. I think that Pip didn't know becoming a gentleman was going to be like this. I think this shows that Dickens views on the upper class leads to life that isn't enjoyed.
     This relates as an important motif of ambition and social improvement because Pips whole goal is to become a gentleman and move up in class but I think the outcome will not be what he expected at all. But hopefully I will find out soon.

About the last sentence in chapter nine reads...

       Pip is referring to his day at Mrs. Havisham's house because he is just starting to begin to realize that he doesn't want to be common any more. This day has altered him because it is going to open up alot of doors in the future pip. Pip starts to change even more after this chapter. He begins to grow up even more which leads to him wanting to be a gentleman and not be in the working class and his views on life change a lot. I think they are positive in some ways being he won't be poor anymore and won't have to work later on but also negative because he will be leaving Joe.
       My chain began when I was little and I think it began when I started to grow up and realize how much my mom has gone through with me n my two older brothers on her own and that I want to be able to repay her someday by being successful and doing something good with my life. I don't remember a specific day where I was like "I need to do this." It just kind of grew on me as I was growing up, watching and realizing our struggles and I knew I wanted better for my mom and brothers. So by now me being older and able to steer my life, I'm steering towards the direction that will have an outcome of being able to give back to my mom. That truly is one thing that I know I will work for till it is done.

Great Expectations questions

1. I have no idea what this part means, "When the church came to itself-- for he was so sud- den and strong that he made it go head over heels before me, and I saw the steeple under my feet..."    hmmm?? any help?

2. Did the convict literally pick up Pip by his ankles and turn him upside down?

Group Essay Collaboration

    I haven't really changed anything in my paragraph except some of my commentary, I re-did it so that there were no "I" statements and I added more commentary. Other than that I didn't change anything else except switch out some words so I'm not repetitive. I tied in my commentary to the thesis by staying on the topic that we picked and explaining how I react to the concrete detail.
    I don't have any questions for my group, I used google if I really needed to.

Animal Farm Project Evaluation

1. Kayla A.
2. pyramid visual
3. I think that Kayla really showed all the literary elements throughout the novel. I think that this project was very planned out and creative. It really shows how the novel went through a change from beginning to end and how the animals acted out the Russian Revolution.
1. Katie G.
2. Picture
3. I think that her picture really captured how the animals changed throughout the novel by talking to the humans again. Her picture showes one of the pigs talking to one of the farmers and how he tricked Napoleon with the fake money for the timber. I think this was a very important scene.
1. Sara E.
2. picture
3. Her picture really captured the whole scene of the Animal Farm. It shows the windmill and the barn where the animals held their meetings. It also shows how the pigs had a great life because they were the leaders and how the rest of the animals had hard lives from what the pigs put them through.
1. Grace B.
2. movie trailer
3. Her movie really showed how intense the novel was and what all happened on the farm. It tells about Napoleons bad dominance and how he treated the pigs and how in the end the farm went back to being run by humans pretty much.
1. Paul and will
2. comic strip
3. Their comic strip was well laid out. It shows how the pigs were tired of being controlled. And then in the end the pigs just turn out to be like the farmers from the beginning.
1. Blog of the swimmer?
2. poem
3. Their poem was really good. It tells how the animals wished for freedom but in the end power got the best of them. Their wording was really good I really enjoyed this poem.
1. Emery
2. His video showed the role of each animal and the role they played throughout the story. He explained how they contributed to the animal farm and what they did.
1. Leah
2. Picture
3. Her picture shows squealer speaking to the animals and his propaganda. It tells what he says and what it really means. I thought she really got all the aspects of his words.

My New Years Resolution!

My new years resolution is simple really. My main focuses will be on my grades and trying to get them all up to an A before the end of the semester or at least a solid B. This would really help me not only to keep my mom happy but to not have to worry about my grades slipping. I will keep up my fantastic grades by doing my work to the fullest and turning it all in on time!!! :D Also I want to save my money to buy either a car, a new guitar, a drum set, or a long board but I'm not to sure yet. I also want to decorate my room more and add more posters and cool stuff all over and eat healthier but that never works, I have a weakness for candy. I will try to maintain all of this but saving money isn't easy for me but adding on to my room is a simple change. Oh and also learn to play bass, drums, and piano! Happy New Years!

Animal Farm

As One

As one we decide to take over the farm

As one we take over the farm

As one we decide to banish all human ways

As one we banish all human ways

As one we decide to learn to read and write

As one we learn to read and write

As one we decide to run off jones and his men

As one we run off Jones and his men

As one Napoleon decides to overrun Snowball 

As one Napoleon overruns Snowball

By himself Napoleon tells us to work on the windmill

We work on the windmill

By himself Napoleon keeps all of our food for the pigs

We let him take it

By himself Napoleon starts to act like a human

We don’t catch on

By himself Napoleon makes us work harder

We work harder

By himself Napoleon talks to the forbidden humans

We let him sacrifice talking to them

By himself Napoleon trades with the humans

We let him trade for the things he wants

By himself Napoleon sends Boxer to his death

We simply ignore it

By himself Napoleon turns the farm exactly into what they rebelled against

We sit and watch letting him make the choices by himself