Animal Farm Projct!

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My Poetry Out Loud Poem!

My poem for Poetry Out Loud is now "To the Ladies" by Lady Mary Chudleigh. I choose this poem because I really like the overall flow and meaning in the poem. The poet writes with strong words and is not afraid to write how they really feel. There is also a range of emotions throughout the poem, which interests me and makes me think about the deeper meaning in the poem. And if the poem grabs me, I am sure it will do the exact thing to the audience, if not in a stringer light.
The main reason I choose this poem is because of the strong meaning of women being strong and not falling victim to a man or their husband, like in the poem. I really enjoyed the poem because I grew up in a household where I learned that women are meant to be strong individuals, and not just a wife. And in the course of this poem, she basically writes that you should not marry. It is fair to be said that I don’t exactly agree with that completely, but I do think that a women should still be herself in a marriage and not have her only job in life, being a wife.
When I perform this poem, I hope to express my poem to the up most greatness. I want to follow the ups and downs of emotions in the poem. And show myself being a strong women when the poem calls for it. And during the dark parts of the poem, I hope to show the raw feelings that the poem is feeling when she wrote this. But finally, I hope my love for the poem comes of the most when I am performing, because that is what I really want to showcase.

Urgent Extra Credit Blog!

Well, after rereading my previous blog on 5 part paragraph, I remembered the things that I did wrong on the last paragraph. The main idea that I had written was about me not writing interesting transitions. So this time around I tried to keep the reader reading with new and different transitions. On my last 5 part paragraph, I had also forgotten one of the commentary sentences. And in the spirit of fixing my mistakes, I printed out a rough draft and highlighted ever part of the paragraph in a special color so I could make sure I got ever part! So I am crossing my fingers that this paragraph will be even better than the last one! Positive thoughts :) Anyways, the class time to work on the paragraph was very much needed, so thank you!

Poetry Out Loud!

Part One:
1. Barter by Sara Teasdale
2. Late Echo by John Ashbery
3. A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe
4. Song by Edmund Waller
5. Zoom! by Simon Armitage

Part Two:
Out of all the poems that are listed above, I would most likely want to study further with Barter by Sara Teasdale. I liked this poem the most because in choir in 8th grade, my choir sang the song that used the words to this poem as lyrics. My choir teacher had picked this song, the day after the orchestra teacher had died. My teacher wanted to pick this song because of its meaning of life. I got very emotional about this song, because the teacher that had passed, was the first person to teach me how to read music. And I am forever grateful to him. But I never got to tell him how grateful I was, because going into middle school I choose choir instead of orchestra. So I would chose this poem, because the song and poem mean a lot to me in many ways.

Part Three:
Well after reading the grading criteria, I think the two easiest criteria for me will be physical presence and voice and articulation. Physical presence will be easy for me because I have to have eye contact with people or i drive myself crazy. S that won't be a problem, and I also am very confident in front of people and will not be nervous. Voice will also be quite easy for me because i have no problem making sure everyone hears what i am saying! I think the two criteria that will be a little trouble accuracy because I trend to not say my words the way the dictionary says I should. And second, is level of difficultly because I like simple poems so that might be a problem.

Part Four:
Writ on the Steps of Puerto Rican Harlem
by Gregory Corso-
This poem was successful because you can tell that he understands the poem and with his body language he changes the emotions in the poem. The poem also went well because he pacing was natural and his pauses where perfect length.

Sonnet CXXX: My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun
by William Shakespeare-
This poem went well because the reader has a presence that is confident and her voice is strong and you can;t tell if she is nervous or not.

Part Five:
After leaning more about Poetry Out Loud I am very ready for the competition because I think that is would be a fun program to attend. I am kinda nervous, because I hope that I give the poet justice and do their poem good. I am choosing my poem off of what poem I have the most emotion connection with, because I am reading the poem from my heart. So that is the biggest struggle right now, trying to find a poem I can relate to. But I am confident that I will find a great poem!

Lobster Discussion!

I really enjoyed the Lobster discussion because I love reading a book or poem and taking about it to see how everyone thought of it. The point that came up during the discussion that really surprised was the topic of death. Because the first couple of times I read through the poem, I didn't think that the lobsters where actually dyeing. I guess I hate death so when I read about death I just don’t put two and two together. So I was really surprised when people said that the first time they read through the poem they thought it was gory and all about death because I took the poem in a total different way. I am not trying to pick the obvious idea; it is just what I really was surprised with!

My new thoughts about the poem is that the author wanted the reader to see both sides of the lobsters life, that they hare taken out of their environment and throw into a tank to die but they also have no idea what their fate is. So there is good and bad in the life of a lobster. And after the discussion I see everyone's perspectives. And without the discussion I would still be in my own little thinking box and not knowing the whole meaning of this complex but simple poem.

So many paragraphs, So many skills

Well since attending Olympia everyone, including myself was thrown into the 5 part paragraph form that every student has to use. At first I was confused and didn't understand why in the world the school was making us write in this foreign form. But after listening to the class present, I saw that everyone learns the same thing but everyone takes the paragraph in a different way. For the most part, people really understood commentary because that is where they inject their own personality. The only thing that was said about commentary was that some people wrote too much plot summary, which is the author's thoughts and not their own. The other point that was brought up often was all about quotes. If seemed that either you didn't embed them properly or your quotes just weren't creative or different. But all of that is just the learning process and no one's paragraph was perfect.
I think that one my paragraph I should have picked more creative transitions and not forgotten the ending transition! I was so focused on the rest of the paragraph being the best that I let the transitions slip. Which I now know makes the class comment, a lot. But over all I think that I understood the 5 part paragraph and will be able to do others' in the future.

Informal Dicton!

Well this week was kind of boring for me, mostly homework and the normal stuff. But the high light of this dragging week is that I got the new Taylor Swift album that came out Monday! I was so excited to buy the album I could hardly stand still on Monday. And after school, my wish came true! I got to buy the album on ITunes which was the pride and joy. I felt like I had all the power in the world when I pressedd the buy button.
And every since Monday, I can't take the ear buds out of my ears, the songs are so amazing! And every person I walk by in the hall, I have to tell them what I am listening to even if they don't ask. In four days I have managed to know all the words to all fifteen songs on the album. And I am quite proud of myself. This week has been made a whole lot better just by my favorite artist and 15 songs!

Extra Credit Blog: Writing about Writing

To pick just one if my writing assignments would be like asking a mother to pick which child of hers is her favorite. Which I would hope, that most mothers would answer impossible. The point is that I love writing, and when I write I feel that it makes my opinions and thoughts readable to anyone who wants to sit themselves down and read it. But if I had to choice one, I would unwillingly pick a piece of writing that I wrote in 7th grade about which candidate the public should elect for president. I think that this essay stands out to me, because during the process of writing this, I think that I found my voice as a writer. Before 7th grade, my writing was just putting words together and getting a good grade. But as my English teacher, Mr.Haefer was explaining that this election was very important, and would most likely change every thing that we thought of as the perfect president, I felt that I wanted everyone to know what I thought. And as soon as the essay was given, I ran home and started researching and making opinions on everything that each candidate had said, so I guess I became a little obsessed to be honest. I wanted to be knowledgeable, and most importantly I wanted anyone who read my essay to know that they should vote for who I would have voted for.
I think I am proud of this piece of writing so much, because I found that writing can be anything you want it to be. If you want a tragic love story, you can write it. And if you are like me in the 7th grade, and you wanted to write an essay that would hopefully change everyone's vote on the presidential election, you can do that.

Outside Reading!

I choose to Read the Bean Tree's because I didn't think any of the books seemed that interesting to be truthful. But I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading my novel. I really connected with Taylor and her drive to get away from her town once she is out of high school. When I was reading, it felt like I was just talking to a friend who was telling me her story. Through Taylor's struggle's I see that the author didn't want the reader to assume that she was just a teenager wanting to get away, but that she wanted to find a new life. And on the way to her new life, she is blessed with a beautiful baby which she chooses to deal with.
When Taylor finally decides to stop the car and settle down where she is, she ends up in Tucson, Arizona with her new baby Turtle. Arizona is a far way from her Kentucky life but she loves the change. This was the part of the book that really got me interested. That Taylor being young women could just drive and drive and just decide to stop and Tucson and make a life there. The setting to me seems wonderful, and it appears to be the perfect place to be the back drop of change from Taylor and Turtle.
Well a novel that I feel could be compared to The Bean Trees would be Pretty Little Lairs, which I read last year. And in that novel one of the main characters, Aria goes through many changes like her parents getting divorced, and her one and off again relationship. And I know that these novels aren’t exactly alike, in any means. But I think that Taylor and Aria are both going through changes in life that are very important which makes them similar in that way.
For a creative project I haven’t put to much thought into it right now because we haven’t had much direction and I am not done with the book. But I am thinking that I want to do a project on Teen Mothers and the struggles that Taylor has to face and all Teen Mother's have to face everyday.

Extending the Theme

My all time pet peeve is women being discriminated against just because they aren't a man. So when I was reading through the book, the parts that really stood out to me was when the women in the book where thought of as not as good as a man. One part that really stood out to me was when Atticus explained to Scout that Miss Maudie could never be on a jury because she is a woman. I was amazed that the United States could ever do that, when a woman was thought as less of a human being than a man. And I know that there was times that where a lot worse to women, and I feel strongly about women being equal because I am a young women and I don't want to be thought of as any less than a man. I think I feel so strongly about this because I grew up in a family with strong women, and my mother is the strongest women I have ever meet and she taught me to be strong women and that I am just as good as a man.
Along the lines of women being discriminated against, I really connected with Scout because I was that little girl that was the Tom Boy and got left out from the "just for boy stuff" Even like the little things, like when Scout has to go home because she can't be in the peeing contest with Jem and Scout. When I was reading I went back to those days when I was left out of the boy stuff, because I was a girl. So I took the main theme as Scout trying to find herself and growing up as a girl with a tom boy side.
After reading this book it opened my eyes to the stereo typical girl and boy roles. I guess during my childhood I balanced on that line and my parents where very supportive but at the same time I had the "Aunt Alexandra" who wanted me to go straight into the girl role. And I think by me being a tom boy, I am more stubborn now because of it, and I think Scout was too. She was stuck in her ways and just wanted to be able to do whatever she enjoyed. And she liked her overalls and hanging out with the boys.

My Boo Radley

When I first read the post I had no idea what my Boo Radley was. I guess when you grow up, you forget about some of those things that left you completely puzzled all those years ago. Because, once you get the answers, it seems that you just know it. You forget that you ever stayed up at night wondering. But after thinking about it long enough, I remembered that when I was little I had know idea what death was. I mean, how are parents supposed to explain to a child that one day you won’t live anymore. Death is still something that I try to wrap my brain around, but when I was younger it seemed like this big thing that I had known idea what it was!
I think I started understanding more about what death was as I got older and my mother would show me pictures of her grandparents who had pasted away when she was in high school. And I would ask my mom, "When can I meet them?" My mom would sweetly reply that I couldn't because they where gone.
To tell the truth, death still confuses me. But as I get older and smarter (hopefully!) I seem to understand it more and more. Like Scout, Boo Radley changed her childhood. He was always this mystery that she grew up with. And this is my mystery. And it has defiantly changed my childhood. It is not a huge change or anything. My Boo Radley just pops up in my head whenever I have a calm moment to think. Which isn't often I might add.
At the end of the book, Scout seems to see Boo Radley differently. It is not that he changed; she just seems to see him in a different light. And that is how I feel about my Boo. I still don’t understand it, and I won’t anytime soon. But I see it differently than I did when I was little.

Inrtoduction

Well my blog will be the blog which will be done right on time while I am finishing my daily math homework and talking on the phone with a friend. I need to keep busy or I get bored very quickly. And as a reader, I am exactly like that! I love books that have 10 different conflicts all in one. And at the end the all tie together. It is my favorite type of book.
From writing on a blog I am hoping that it will help me grow as a writer. I want to learn more about getting my own voice in my writing. And I think that a blog will help me learn and get better.
Someone who is reading my blog will be reading my opinion. Which I know sounds really exciting, but it is true! The wonderful things about blogs, is you can be as real as you want. You can just explain what you really thought of the book and how it affected you as a person, and most importantly, should anyone else read it!
I think that 4 years of English is required for a 4 year college because English is necessary for everyday life! English helps you communicate what you are reading and writing to anyone who wants to hear. English is also just the basics, but once you master them you are golden. We use writing and reading so much in a day, no one realizes how much everyone does. Can you image, ordering food from the waiter but not being able to read anything on the menu? Or writing a book but not knowing how to make your reader want to keep reading?