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.