Julia's Blog

Thomas: Writing Strengths Dylan: Hits and Misses

     This school year, along with English I is coming to an end. As I reflect on what went well and what went not so well, I come to conclusion with what I can put forth next year. We completed multiple assignments, such as personal narratives, literary analysis, research paper, and poetry. In these assignments, I have achieved both success and failures. I feel successful in my blog posts because I always spend time perfecting them and use them to become a better writer. Also, the personal narrative and research paper were my stronger assignments. We had lots of time to perfect these and get help. I took advantage of this and used this time to work on my writing skills.      I struggled with the poetry section and literary analysis. The poetry section was difficult for me because of all the different applications and variety it required. I work better with set, given instructions, so to be able to choose from ten different poetry styles was hard because I ...

    Throughout the past two semesters, I feel as if my writing has evolved significantly. I now understand the different parts of formal writing genres, such as literary analysis, personal narrative, and research papers. My strengths as a writer are word choice, conventions, and comprehending the the format of a paper. These three strengths come easily to me, although it took a lot of determination and practice to achieve. My vocabulary is something I always try to put an effort in to make the paper  more engaging and fun to read. Although, I still make some mistakes in conventions, I am knowledgable in spelling and grammar. For example, in the simplest tasks like study guides and worksheets I always try to focus on spelling and grammar to achieve the goals I aim towards in not making simple grammatical mistakes. My final strength is comprehending the basic format of a paper. Organization is key in papers, so making sure I have an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conc...

Grace S: What are your best sleepover memories? Landry: How has traveling affected you? 

      My favorite childhood show was Hannah Montana hands down. My sister and I would sit on the couch and watch it for hours. As my 6 year old self, I thought it was so cool that Hannah had two identities, the other being Miley. Also, she was a teenage pop-star. She became famous all around the world at such a young age. Her costumes and outfits were so over the top and awesome; I always looked forward to her new "concert outfit". It was so unbelievably cool to me that Miley Cyrus started acting at such a young age and was a part of a TV show all girls looked up to.       My obsession with this show led me to my obsession with Hannah Montana. I thought of her as an awesome person and aspiring singer in this show. Now, of course I don't really know much about her because she isn't as public, but I think it would be so cool if she made a re-run. Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus inspired me as a kid and i still wish it was running.

        Purple Hibiscus so far has been an intriguing and intense read. The main focus is around Nigerian culture and how Kambili's family adapts to society and economy their family faces. The socio-economic class is what my reading focus is on, therefore it has made some scenes stick with me. For example, the difference between the scenes at Aunty Ifeoma's house versus the scenes at Kambili's intermediate family's house. Aunty Ifeoma is not as wealthy as Papa, therefore doesn't live in luxury but can supply her family with the basic necessities. Her family seems to be much happier and content with themselves than Papa, Mama, Kambili, and Jaja. They all seem miserable even though they live in one of the finest houses in Nigeria and Papa is a well-known social man. It shows you how success and power doesn't always led to happiness.         Some of the scenes seem to be more traumatizing and dramatic than others. This is the effect the author wants...

Ellie: Political Post  Nick: Gun Control 

Facebook to Require Verified Identities for Future Political Ads, By: Jack Nicas - The New York Times         In the article,  Facebook to Require Verified Identities for Future Political Ads , Jack Nicas takes a deeper look into how Facebook is connected to the politics.  Facebook was getting many complaints about not identifying the source of their political ads posted. This seemed sketchy for many users, so nonetheless, Facebook inevitably had to take a deeper look. Facebook began to force the people behind the ads to come forward. A bill named the Honest Ad Act was made to bring the ads presented more in line with what was on TV and magazines. This misinformation on political topics caused tension amongst Facebook users, causing Facebook to look into this issue. They realized that they needed to fix this problem and clear things up on who is posting the ads and making sure the information posted is relevant.    ...

Thomas A: My Weekend  Katie: Hibiscus Response

      In Purple Hibiscus , I am focusing on socio-economic problems in Nigeria and the similarities and differences to American life. These problems are evident through Kambili's personal family life, extended family, and in her school. Kambili lives a very privileged life compared to other Nigerians. This is a great thing because she has a home and attends an elite school, but her family life and their wealth puts a burden on her. The other girls at school judge her. Kambili doesn't get the chance to make friends and be social because of her intimidating and controlling dad. I believe that these problems are caused by her dad who is controlled by wealth, therefore controls others.       Another analysis I have made in this book is the author, Chimamanda Adichie's, use of sensory details, imagery, and personification. For example, she uses imagery on page 71 when Kambili is describing evening time as "when the orange trees started to cast long, wavy shadow...

Its always a struggle to complete homework,  study for that big test, and get up so early.  Break is right around the corner and everyone is eager to get out.  The missing homework grades lurk,  grades are done unclearly  everyone is a mourner.  Summer seems oh so far out. 

Nick: Umbrella Song  Grace S: Garden Poem

Cool nights and warm days Laying out and catching rays By the pool or beachside No complaints when outside Swimming in the sea Always being carefree No worries or stress Just every day being the best The smell of sunscreen and saltwater lingering As the moon and stars start twinkling Starting the next day just the same As the night begins  to fade away I used end rhyme, euphony with some cacophony, and imagery.

       I chose to analyze the song, Umbrella, by Jay-Z and Rihanna. These two artists used specific techniques in making the song flow and make sense. This song consists of rhymes in every stanza. There isn't a lot of internal rhyme, but most are end rhymes. For example, in this part:  Maybe in magazines, but you'll still be my star Baby 'cause in the dark, you can't see shiny cars And that's when you need me there With you, I'll always share Because when the sun shines, we'll shine together Told you I'll be here forever The last word in each line rhymes with the last word in the next line. This occurs in pairs of two.           Another poetic device Rihanna uses is repetition. She repeats the second syllable in umbrella multiple times.  Under my umbrella (Ella ella, eh eh eh) Under my umbrella (Ella ella, eh eh eh eh, eh eh) The goal in this technique was to have the specific syllable stick o...

Zoe: Yearbook Emma: Launch Day 

     The presentation that stuck with me the most was Mary Caroline's thesis about dreams. It was really interesting to me how she connected sleep, stress, and school and how all of those relate to each other. They all play a role in a continuous cycle of school which causes stress, which then leads to reduced sleep. Also, she connected how stress influences your dreams which affects your sleep pattern. This point really interested me and I was so shocked by that because I would've never guessed that our dreams can be affected by stress.      I was kind of confused what launch day was going into it. I had always heard people talking about how awesome it was, but never really fully understood it. I was taken by surprise because it was so much fun. All of the presentations were very interesting and exciting. It is so cool to me how those people spent two years working on their thesis and then present it to the whole school over the course of one day. The bre...

       One of my favorite pastimes is probably going to Woodville, Mississippi with my dad. We never really get the chance to just because I am normally busy on the weekends with plans or schoolwork. My dad loves it up there just because he can do guy stuff he can't do in BR, like ride around on the Polaris, shoot things, and set up cameras to track deer and animals. Also, he really loves it when me or my sister, Emily, can go and help him around the camp. My mom normally skips out though, just because there isn't much for her to do there.        Its awesome there because it is totally different than BR. There's nothing you can do like that here, so its a great escape just 2 hours away. Sometimes, my dad will let me drive there since I have my permit. I never get the chance to practice driving on school days, so it is a good drive to do so. :) I think going to Woodville is fun for us because we get to leave home for just a day or a couple days an...

Dylan: Research Post  Katie: Research Post 

      My topic for the research project is on the factors which contributed to the severity of the Bubonic Plague in Western Europe in the Middle Ages. It is interesting because it was the worst epidemic disease in history. In my project I chose to focus in on three factors: cultural differences, lack of medical knowledge, and famine. These three factors greatly contributed to the severity of the plague.       Something I found very intriguing about the plague was that it wiped out nearly half of Western Europe's population. It started off in Messina and quickly spread throughout Europe. Families abandoned each other to save themselves from contracting the plague. People pretty much left loved ones, friends, and patients to die. Overall, the Bubonic Plague was a horrible epidemic in the years 1347-1351.

       ATDPTI is an interesting book so far. Junior is a one of a kind character who is very unfiltered. Rowdy, Junior's best friend, has a completely opposite personality than Junior. This is a great example of opposites attract because you would never guess that these two characters are inseparable.        I find the Indian Reservation a very unique place. This book definitely gives a great insight onto how life on the Rez is. It is nowhere near perfect, but the people who live on it make the best of their life on it. I am excited to keep reading and see how Junior makes the best of his life on the Indian Rez.