Fate

In the book Macbeth, the topic fate continues to reoccur. In the beginning of the book, the witches give Macbeth the prophecy that he has a chance to become king. His determination to become king was a major negative affect to his personality. He begins killing many innocent because to control and make sure his fate was the way he wanted. He was guilty at first, but the more he killed people the more comfortable he got with it. He wanted his fate to end as him king and he was more than willing to kill people for it. He started with a simple murder and thought that after he murdered Duncan; his worries would go away; however, Macbeth entered himself onto a major killing streak. He was out of control and the worst part is he didn't feel bad for it.

Fate also had a really big impact on Lady Macbeth. With her "pleasant" self being innocent in all; hearing that her husband could be king lit a spark in her. She immediately began planning people that Macbeth needed to kill in order to become king. She wanted to control fate instead of letting fate be fate and happen naturally. She was willing to kill people if Macbeth wouldn't in order to control fate. They excessive planning, killing, lying, etc. lead her to the foreshadowed death. Banquo didn't try to make his sons magnificent to be king, instead he let things happen normally.

Work Times:
Read Rachael's Tears (30 min.)
Rachael's Tears (45 min.)
Portfolio (1 hour)

2 Macbeth quotes and an explanation

Act 3 scene 3

Macbeth: "Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill."
This quote is a interesting and devious saying. Macbeth as we know, has been killing people in order to be king. He wants things the way he wants without any possible people to interrupt it. In this quite Macbeth is saying, since things were started off badly, the only way to make it better is to continue doing bad things. After reading and interrupting this quote, you can infer that Macbeth will be doing more wrong doings such as killing innocent people. At this point, Lady Macbeth agree's she never doubts her choices nor over thinks her wrong doings. She is always calming her beloved husband Macbeth so he doesn't spill any obvious conclusions that they are responsible for the murders. Macbeth doesn't like doing bad things; however, on the other hand he does not have any issue killing someone in order to make his power of rein increase.

Act 3 scene 4

Macbeth: "Which of you have done this?"
In this part of the scene we saw Macbeth has visions of Banquo's ghost haunting him. When Macbeth asks the question "which of you have done this?"I think he is not realizing that only him can see the ghost and the lords don't. I also think that Macbeth thinks that the Lords are having the ghost present to basically say we know you killed Banquo and confront him, although they have no idea.


work:
Portfolio May 1 (30 min)
Portfolio May 2 (30 min)
Read Rachael's Tears (20 min)
Portfolio May 3 (15 min)
Portfolio May 4 (25 min)
Read Rachael's Tears (20 min)

total 140

Free Post

Over Spring Break my family and I went on a vacation to St. Thomas. St. Thomas is a kind of far from the united states, so we flew. We met up with my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins. My sister brought her boyfriend William. We all stayed in a 12 bedroom vila on the beach. It was so nice. Everyday, a chef would come in and cook us meals. I got a really good massage at the house as well. My cousins are 5 and 8 so they always were fishing and playing on the beach. We did so many fun activities I can't remember them all. I missed not being able to see my friends; however, the island was amazing. We traveling via ferry to other british islands near by such as Tortola, St. John, Jose Van Ike… (etc.)

The best activity we did was zip line. We zip lined across massive bodies of water and through jungles and forests. It lasted 2 hours. At first I thought it would take a long time considering the amount of people but it went quickly. In St. Thomas, they are famous for Iguana's. I have a major fear of lizards and these Iguana's were quadruple the size on a lizard. They weighed about 10 pounds. It was scary when they would jump out of trees and walk towards you. That was the only thing I did not enjoy!

Reading and Work Times

4-22-14 Read Anastasia's Secret (30 min.)
and created a cover page out of it

4-23-14 read Anastasia's Secret (30 min.) Finished it!!
While flying to St. Thomas read The Maze Runner (30 min.)

4-24-14 read The Maze Runner (20 min.) on beach

4-25-14 Read The Maze Runner (20 min.)

Reading/Work times and 2 Responses

monday (4-7) read Anastasia's Secret for 30 min
worked on my dessert for 25 min

tuesday (4-8) read Anastasia's Secret for 25 min
worked on my dessert for 15 min

wednesday (4-9) read Anastasia's Secret for 15 min
worked on my side dish for 25 min

Thursday (4-10) read Anastasia's Secret for 20 min
worked on my appetizer for 30 min and turned in everything

friday (4-11) read Anastasia's Secret for 20 min

total 205 min!

Response #1

Women are more compassionate and less violent than men

I would have to say I disagree strongly because they are many women in the world that kill people (including their husbands) and are mean people. Not saying all women are like this; however, their are equal amounts of violence in a women than a man. Women may seem to be violent in other ways than killing. They are not always compassionate. An example is the Casey Anthony trial; she killed her own child and got off with double jeopardy so she can't be tired again and now she is writing a book about how she got off and was really guilty. In Macbeth, the 3 girl witches are not compassionate nor docile. Although they are played but males the actual character is a girl and they are neither of those things.

Response #2

If you are in a position of power, you are happy.

I neither disagree nor agree because yes it is fun to be in power; however, being in power may make you have to do things that you don't want to, so therefor you wouldn't be happy. Being in power is not easy, your choices reflect how your people see you and treat you. In Macbeth I bet Macbeth doesn't enjoy killing those bad people because he doesn't like to oil; however, he knows he needs to do it to prove he is protecting the good people. A real life example is president Obama. Obama has many people that love him; however, due to his health care system many people don't like him and that doesn't make him happy. 

Reading and Work Times

Monday (Feb17)
Read:
 What My Mother Doesn't Know (30 min. at my house)
P.S I Love You (25 min. at my house)
Work:
Looked over my poetry terms (10 min.)

Tuesday (Feb 18)
Read:
What My Mother Doesn't Know (30 min)
P.S I Love You (15 min)
Work:
Made poetry terms into vocabulary cards (20 min)

Wednesday (Feb19)
Read:
P.S I Love You (20 min.)

Thursday (Feb20)
Read:
P.S I Love You (10 min)
Work:
Reviewed poetry terms and reviewed the poetry analyzing skills we learned in class

Saturday (Feb 22)
Read:
P.S I Love You (20 min)
Work:
Began studying for poetry test on Tuesday by reviewing terms and trying to identify them in a poem

Poem

For me, paradise is False River,

Where I go to escape.

I can escape stress.

I can escape schoolwork.

I can escape drama.

The water can be as calm as a sleeping baby,

But sometimes it is as wild as a lion in the jungle.

Soaking up the sunshine in the summer,

I spend hours outside under the sun.

“Zoom” I hear as boats quickly fly by while I lay

On the dock working on my tan.

Tubing behind the boat,

I enjoy the nice breeze.

Splish splash can be heard loudly

As my body slides off the tube into the water.

Riding jet-skis I enjoy,

Because I can go fast and feel free.

For me, paradise is False River,

Where I go to escape.

In lines 3-5, I used the technique anaphora repeating the phrase “I can escape” at the beginning of successive lines.

I used two similes in lines 6 and 7 to describe the water at its two extremes, first “as calm as a sleeping baby” and second “as wild as a lion in the jungle.”

In line 8, I used alliteration with the repeating of the “s” sound using “soaking,” “sunshine,” and “summer” all in the same line.  This is also sibilance since it is the repeating of the ‘s’ sound specifically.

Line 10 is an example of the technique onomatopoeia using the word “zoom” to imitate the sound of boats going past.

Lines 10-11 show an example of enjambment, which is a run-on line with on line running into the next.

Line 14 contains consonance with the words “splish splash.”

Line 16 uses the technique syntax switching up the order of the sentence from the traditional subject-verb-object order.

Reading: What My Mother Doesn't Know

By Sonya Sones

2-11-14 read for 30 min + 10 min in class

2-12-14 read for 20 min + 10 min in class

2-13-14 read for 45 min 

Two Way Street

Lauren Barnholdy 

2-14-14 read for 30 min 

2-15-14 read for 25 min 

2-17-14 read 10 min in class 

Song

For my analysis of a song, I chose to examine the song “Umbrella” by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z.  The lyrics to this song can be found at http://www.metrolyrics.com/umbrella-lyrics-rihanna.html.  I have listened to this song more times than I can count and know most of the words, but I have never really thought about the meaning of these words.  The song begins with a verse rapped by Jay-Z, which seems to be about the economy.  After looking this up, I found out that “Dow Jones” has to do with the stock market and shows how well or how poorly it is doing.  Jay-Z refers to the “coming down with the Dow Jones” so in my opinion he is talking about a financial disaster or crash in the stock market.  His verse is about how he still survives and is not affected by this problem in the economy because he flies “higher than the weather.”  This meaning is shown through a metaphor when he says “no clouds in my storm” explaining how there are no problems in his life.  Jay-Z also uses rhyme in the line “I hydroplane into fame” to create a more positive tone showing how he slides into success even with problems going on around him.  With Jay-Z as the speaker, I think the purpose of this verse is to show that he is part of a special group of people who are above the economic problems facing most other people. 

Throughout the rest of the song, Rihanna is the speaker, but watching the video shows that she plays two characters in a sense, with one that seems to represent a darker side.  The two characters go back and forth almost like the song is a conversation between them.   The darker figure seems to be telling Rihanna that she will need the protection of this dark side when she is no longer popular, famous, and rich.   The major technique used all throughout the song is a metaphor of an umbrella.  An umbrella is used to protect a person from the rain, so in this song the umbrella is used to represent protection.  The lyrics say “now that it’s raining more than ever, know that we’ll still have each other, you can stand under my umbrella…”  The purpose of this repeated in the chorus is to say that even while there are more problems than usual facing them, the two lovers or friends will still be able to rely on each other, and the one friend or lover is offering protection to the other during all of this. Consonance  is also shown in this song when Rihanna says you're part of my entity, here for infinity. This helps created rhythm in the song. Personification is another technique used when Rihanna says “when the world has dealt it’s cards.”  The world is given the human quality of being able to deal cards, which really refers to what happens in the world.  She is saying now that we see the circumstances we are faced with, we can get through it together if it is tough.  Finally, symbolism is used as a technique in this song with rain being a symbol for the things that happen in life.  These techniques are used to make the song have catchy lyrics and rhythm while still having a deeper meaning when analyzed.

Reading And Work Times

Monday 2/3 - Read What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones for 30 min
Monday 2/3 Worked on touching up my research paper draft and submitting it for 30 min

Tuesday 2/4 Read What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones for 45 min
Tuesday 2/4 Worked on Reading Absolutly True Diary of a Part Time Indian and doing their discussions for 30 min.

Wednesday 2/5 Read What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones for 40 min
Wednesday 2/5 Completed my final Discussion Questions for English book for 25 min


Thursday 2/6 Read What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones for 30 min

Research Paper Draft

 what do you feel confident about in this draft?  What are you concerned or unsure about?  What was easy and what was hard?  What would you like help changing?  What should I focus my feedback on when I read? (Write a two-paragraph post that responds to these questions but that works independently as a piece of writing, not just a list of answers).


In this draft I felt most confident with my paper's organization. I feel like the information I am presenting is in a order that will be easy to comprehend. I also feel confident with my thesis and supporting details. I think I have good enough research to really intrigue and catch my audiences attention. I supported my facts in multiple ways so that it isn't the same boring paper. I feel like I need the most work on finding a few more sources that will tie my paper together even more. Also I feel like I could add a few more specific details that would give the reader a better visual of the information. The easiest part of this draft was my introduction. It was the easiest because I knew my thesis before I even started writing the paper.

 I also knew what I was going to talk about so the introduction was simple. The most difficult part of my draft was deciding which quotes to include. I had a plenty of information, so choosing and narrowing down the information was difficult. When you read this I would like you to focus on whether I did the "sandwich theory" correct. Did I use good introductions before each quote. Also after I used quotes did I do good analysis's of them? Did I elaborate enough of the information. I hope you enjoy my paper. I worked really hard on it to make sure it was interesting and informative. 




work times: 


Reading was a total of 140 min. (I really enjoy this book) 
Draft work time was a total of 300 min. (I worked on it every virtual day for a long time. I also looked over my sources and re-read all of my information to find quotes that support my thesis)  In addition, I found new sources. 

Snow Week Free Post

Over our wonderful, yet cold 3 days off I played outside almost all day; after virtual school. When I first woke up Wednesday morning I saw my trampoline and golf course filled with snow. The grass was no longer plush green; instead it was frosty white. I immediately put on sweatpants, a sweatshirt, gloves, a hat, and boots and ran outside. I made my sister come outside with me. We built four snowmen. I was honestly amazed by the snow, considering we never see snow in Louisiana. After 30 minutes of playing outside, my hands were basically numb. I told my sister I was cold and that I was ready to go inside. Once we got inside, we decided a cup of hot chocolate would be a good way to warm up. While I made our hot chocolate, my sister got the fire started in the living room. Once the fire was heated and the drinks were finished, my sister and I sat on the couch, wrapped up in blankets and turned on the TV. I let Brittany choose a movie, considering "I always pick the movie''. She took a long time choosing; however, she eventually decided that she wanted to watch "The Proposal". I was satisfied with her pick. We watched the movie and had a great time.

Later that evening Brittany decided she wanted to cook me my favorite dinner. She cooks the best homemade pizza.  Pizza is my favorite food, and she knows that. I sat at the counter and kept her company while she cooked for me. My parents were out of town, so Brittany was in charge. We ate our dinner and it was so good. After dinner, we went upstairs to my room and turned on our favorite show. Grey's Anatomy. We both love doctor shows. We watched 2 episodes. After that her boyfriend William came over. I enjoy when Brittany, William, and I hang out. We roasted marshmallows and it was so good. We all watched one final movie and went to sleep. It was truly a productive and relaxing snow day.

post this week

     In English we are taking a a detour and using our social studies topic to write a research paper. I have to admit, I am slightly overwhelmed; however, I think having a research paper will majorly benefit me when I present at national history day. I got to choose any topic that was obviously back in time, that dealt with human rights. I searched for a while and couldn't find a good one until Mrs. Baggett suggested the Lodz Ghetto. I was open minded and decided to go with it. I decided on it because I soon found out there were tons of cases where children were killed and I was very interested to learn more and educate myself on how terrible those poor children lived and what they experienced. Basically the people in the "ghettos" had no rights, especially the children. Gas chambers and other tortuous creations were used to kill. The children had no choice besides getting killed, experimented on, or forced to work. It was randomly chosen, but none of the options were fair. I am really finding myself thinking about this topic because I am so puzzled how humans could treat other humans that poorly for no reason. Jews were mainly focused on to be captured which then ties racism into the mixture. The rights were slim to none and it's interesting to read the survivors blogs and documentaries about their experiences. I am now more appreciative of how we are free in America, and those poor people forever remain in my heart.

     When first faced with the task of choosing a history topic involving human rights, I was unsure of how to begin or what to research.  A suggestion from Mrs. Baggett led me to the Lodz Ghetto, which first interested me because it involved the death of many children close to my age and even younger.  As I continued to research this topic, I found multiple documentaries and images illustrating the personal experiences of people who survived the terrible conditions they faced while living in the Lodz Ghetto.  Although the Nazis originally intended this ghetto to be a temporary holding place for the Jews, the Lodz Ghetto became the place where the Nazis confined over 230,000 Jewish people to a very small area and subjected them to extremely horrific conditions, oppressing their basic human rights from 1940 until 1944.  Not only were these people starved and deprived of water, but they were also forced to do manual labor and basically work themselves to death if not killed first.  Each story I read provides a slightly different perspective and teaches me something new about the oppression of human rights in the Lodz Ghetto, as the survivors’ stories vary in the gruesome details with the same sad ending and theme of torture and death.  This topic has taught me about how poorly some humans were treated in the past, especially in some ghettos, such as the Lodz Ghetto, where their rights were not recognized or respected at all. 

Reading/Work Time

Reading:

Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian 

Author: Sherman Alexie

Times / Date: 1-15 ( read for 20 min)
1-16 ( read for 25 min)
1-17 (read for 30 min) (Also worked on note cards this day for (20 min)
1-18 (read for 10 min) (Also worked on note cards this day for 30 min)

total work time = 135 min.


Ps:

This book is really comical and interesting. It keeps me interested and eager to continue reading!

The Lodz Ghetto

My topic for National History day is the Lodz Ghetto. I chose this topic because I am interested in the treatment involving children. The Lodz Ghetto was created because of the Nazi invasion of Poland. It is the second largest ghetto that the Nazis created. On September 1,1939 the Nazi Germans attacked Poland and the Lodz were captured that same month. The majority of the population was made up of Jews. The Nazis believed having the Jews in one area would make administration much more simple. As far as the children, majority of them were killed. Germans and collaborators killed as many as 1.5 million children. Over a million of those children were Jewish. If a child was 13-18 years old, their chances of living were much higher than those 12 and under. The older kids would still be forced to do labor. The children’s fate became categorized. Any children would be killed once they arrived in killing centers. Most children were killed immediately after birth or standing foot in an institution. If a child was born in a camp or the ghetto; they were killed as well. Kids 12 and older were used for labor or for medical experiments. Jewish children typically died from starvation and lack of clothing or shelter. Germans wanted to kill all the young kids because they thought of them as “useless eaters.” The young kids we not stable enough to be deployed to labor jobs, so the young kids, the ill people, and old people were shipped to killing centers. They would then shoot them. Once Auschwitz-Birkenau and other killing centers arose, the camp authorities sent the majority of the children to gas chambers. A non-Jewish child from a certain groups would not be killed. If a child was spared and used as a medical experiment; they would typically still die. The children attempted just about any task in order to remain living. The children and people of the Lodz Ghetto had few to no rights. The Nazi Germans has all control of them and kept a strict handle on people. I am really excited to learn more and more about this topic. 






Reading Post:

Title: Lightening Thief

1-8-14  (20 min)
1-9-14 (30 min)
1-10-14 (30min)
1-12-14 (45 min)

total = 125 min 

Student Generated Prompt

"Write about one interpretation of evil and then write about how you see this interpretation."

In my eyes there are multiple types of evil, it just depends on the type of person you are and what you believe in. One example of evil is someone simply isn't respectful. When that person has nothing better to do than talk about people who hadn't done anything to them. They are easily jealous of people and target the ones they envy. Evil is when you wake up and have violent or harmful thoughts in mind. When a person is evil they typically have medical conditions or bad childhoods, due to parenting issues. Evil can also be identified as a deceptive person. This type of person lies and tricks innocent people. Evil is never a good thing in my opinion. Evil is envied and no person wants to hang around evil people or things. People are not the only things that are evil. Animals carry that as well; however, most evil animals are abused or assaulted in some way.

I see the interpretation of evil as sickening. I think anymore with evil traits or actions needs to get medical and physiological help. I see evil as the dark side. It is trouble. It is wrong doings and intentions. Religiously looking at evil, it is known as a supernatural force. It is a major unbalance of emotions that can not be contained. I see evil as a something chosen unlike something that chooses you. People decide how they want to act and when they choose evil, it is a bad sign and quality to have and live with.