Leanna's Final Blog!

This year has been a big eye opener for me when it comes to the world of English. I started the year not knowing how to post a blog or even what a blog is, but now I have my own account and have successfully posted about thirty different blogs!
We started the year off by reading To Kill a Mockingbird, Poetry Out loud, and Animal Farm. I really enjoyed reading To Kill A Mockingbird, in fact it is my favorite out of all the books we read this year. In our first few blogs we wrote about a "Boo Radley" in our lives and about the theme of the book. I wrote about my grandpa and how he is always looking out for my throughout my life. Also, the first post about theme helped bring me to see that there are more than just words written in books, there are hidden meanings behind them that you have think about to understand. Before this year I had never given a second thought about symbols, theme's and motifs. Poetry Out Loud stands out as one of my low points this year in English class. I memorized my poem but when I went up to say it to the class I completely blanked. I was mortified because I had thought I had been so prepared, but I obviously wasn't. A quote that  reflects this certain event and all of my blog is "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall" which was quoted by Confucious. Even When I forgot to turn a blog in or was late, I still continued to try! In the blogs I posted before the date of our presentations I wrote about how excited I was, and how I could really connect with the poem. Little did I know that I was on a horrible path! I liked Animal Farm, but for some reason it didn't stick in my mind as well as To Kill a Mockingbird did. In my creative project I created a comic strip making visual ties to the book and the Russian Revolution.

In the middle of the year we read the book Great Expectations, which we spent three months on! I really liked this book, and reading over my blogs reminds me about how much thought I put into my projects while reading it. I remember reading about all of the new characters that enter the book through the different stages and discovering what each of them brings to the story. We also posted blogs about Great Expectations connecting with other things like movies. I chose the movie Shrek because both Pip and Shrek go through great character changes in their life as a result of meeting another character

We wrapped up the year blogging about Romeo and Juliet and learning more about Poetry. I posted about my connections to the characters and their experiences in the play and how Shakespeare has made such a huge impact on the modern world by writing it. Conflict is what keeps the play so exciting and interesting, and I blogged about that too! Poetry was our final unit of the year, and I posted about my experiences with it so far, and as you have already read they hadn't been so great up to that point! After learning about it more though, I have come to enjoy it. This was a great year for me, thanks for being such a great teacher!

Sorry, this is a day late... :(

Great Expectations Essay

I've spent the last five minutes thinking back to all of the different projects you have assigned to us over the past school year,  and the one I felt best about was the Great Expectations essay. Though I didn't exactly enjoy it, the hard work and effort I put into writing the essay definitely makes it stick out the most overall. My grade was a representation of all my work because I received 195 out of 200 points on the assignment!
The task was to chose

I chose my essay topic as how Pips growth as a man was because of his discovery of the importance of possessions versus love. I proved that while Pip was changing into a more caring person, he was also learning that possessions would not please him compared to the happiness he would feel from his loved ones. I spent a really long time writing and perfecting his essay, and I'm glad I did because the assignment taught me a lot!

My Experience With Poetry

I've been writing and learning how to write poetry every year sense my first going to school. From Shel Silverstein to Robert Frost I've heard all kinds of poems on all different skill levels. One positive experience I've had with poetry was in 4th grade when my teacher had us have a poetry reading party. I read Spaghetti by Shel Silverstein. 

Spaghetti, spaghetti, all over the place,

Up to my elbows—up to my face,

Over the carpet and under the chairs,

Into the hammock and wound round the stairs,

Filling the bathtub and covering the desk,

Making the sofa a mad mushy mess.

The party is ruined, I’m terribly worried,

The guests have all left (unless they’re all buried).

I told them, “Bring presents.” I said, “Throw confetti.”

I guess they heard wrong

‘Cause they all threw spaghetti!

I think I chose this poem because at the time my favorite food in the world was spaghetti. At the party each student chose a poem out of a book to memorize and recite to the class. I remember being so nervous, but after I had said mine perfectly I was overjoyed. 

This was a really good introduction of poetry to me because I learned that poetry can be serious from other students but also that it can be really silly. After I memorized my poem I remember wanting to read more because I liked it so much, so I checked out Shel Silverstein's whole book of poetry so that I could read them all!

When I hear the word poetry I think of fun and easy. Unfortunately my experience with Poetry Out Loud put a damper on my love for it, but hopefully I will be able to get over it. I'm really excited to begin studying poetry in the next few weeks of English!

Uh Oh Conflict...

Throughout Romeo and Juliet there have been many examples of conflicts but one of the most influential is the conflict between Romeo and Juliet after Romeo kills Tybalt. A while after Romeo kills Tybalt he exclaims, 'O, I am fortune's fool!" He realizes that killing Tybalt could have huge consequences on his relationship with Juliet. Because Juliet is loyal to both her family and to Romeo she is faced with the difficult choice of choosing which side to support. This conflict develops one of the central themes of the play, forbidden love, because the death of Tybalt puts Romeo and an even farther distance from Juliet, making it even harder for them to be together.

The conflict of having to chose between those that we love and those in our family occurs a lot in life, even today. Even if it isn't choosing between my family and someone I am deeply in love with, I still have to make the choice between family and boyfriends or even good friends. The significance of this conflict is that we have to make a huge decision between that can cause trust or relationships issues, so we need to be cautious about our  decisions. It brings meaning to my life because without it I would never think about the importance of my family or my loved ones in the same way. In general, the people that I surround myself with deal with conflict well. You need to know when to forgive and forget, but also when enough is enough.

Romeo and Juliet is everywhere!

We were both young when I first saw you
I close my eyes and the flashback starts
I'm standing there on a balcony in summer air
See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns
See you make your way through the crowd
And say hello, little did I know 

That you were Romeo
You were throwing pebbles
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet
And I was crying on the staircase
Begging you please don't go 

And I said
Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting, all that's left to do is run
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story baby just say
yes 

So I sneak out to the garden to see you
We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew
So close your eyes, lets keep this down for a little while
Oh, oh, 

'Cause you were Romeo,
I was a scarlet letter
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet
But you were everything to me
I was begging you please don't go 

And I said
Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting, all that's left to do is run
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story baby, just say yes 

Romeo, save me, they try to tell me how to feel
This love is difficult, but it's real
Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess
It's a love story,baby, just say yes 

Oh oh

I got tired of waiting
Wondering if you were ever coming around
My faith in you was fading
When I met you on the outskirts of town 

And I said
Romeo save me, I've been feeling so alone
I keep waiting for you but you never come
Is this in my head, I don't know what to think
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring
And said 

Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone
I love you and that's all I really know
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress
It's a love story, baby, just say yes 

Oh, oh, oh, oh 

'Cause we were both young when I first saw you 

Love Story by Taylor Swift is a perfect example of how the classic story of Romeo and Juliet is still displayed in modern culture. This scenario is not only found in songs however, but in many peoples lives!

Connecting With Romeo and Juliet

I am really beginning to enjoy Romeo and Juliet! In the fifth scene of the book, Juliet meets Romeo, falling in love with him. She soon discovers that he is a Montague, the natural enemies of her family. If she pursues her love towards him she knows that they will both get hurt. I can relate to this because in seventh grade I had a boyfriend that my dad didn't approve of. Even though my dad didn't like him, I spent time with him anyway and it only got me into more and more trouble! Juliet and I both liked someone who we knew we weren't supposed to be with.
I am enjoying reading this book because it's a much lighter read than Great Expectations! I can understand the overall message of each of the scene's but sometime's I need a little help with the comprehension of the individual lines. I am using the notes on the sides of the pages to help along the way. The reading in class is also helping a lot because if I don't get something the first time I read it, reading it again helps me a lot!

Wrapping Up Great Expectations

I believe that the overall message in the book Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is that money should never be thought of as more important than love because it will always result in less happiness. The story is really about  the lesson of this theme, that everyone learns throughout their life. Those who were born this year, or a million years ago, all had to learn this lesson because all through time there has been the conflict of having love versus money. Everyone learns, whether they learn it the easy way or the hard way, that love is much more important. Those who chose money over love will always end up unhappy.

Great Expectations: Thoughts on Reading

I really enjoyed reading Great Expectations! The way that Charles Dickens wrote the book was unlike any other. He writes poetically but at the same time humorously. I thought at times however, that he tended to drag on points of the story that didn't need to be explained as much, making it more confusing. I really loved all of the characters in this book. They were each given distinct personalities, none of them were too similar. The settings in this story also brought entertainment. Each character fit into the place where they lived like a hand in a glove! I could relate to the young character Pip as well, so it made it easier to read. I wasn't even close to guessing the mysteries in this book until they were revealed to me.
I love to read, but not always when I'm being forced to do it. Each night during the late hours, when I should have been sleeping, I stayed up reading, forcing my eyes to keep open. This might not have been the smartest way to do it, because the next day I would often forget a lot of the details of what I had read, and I would also be very tired throughout the day. But, with my busy schedule, I saw no other way to do it. About halfway through the book, you gave me the idea of listening to the book on audio while reading along. I was very interested in the idea and found an excellent website with every chapter! With the voice in the background of the words, it made it a lot easier to pay attention to the book. Unfortunately, the man who reads the book aloud is slow, so it took me a lot longer to finish. I did my best to read every night, and I think I only missed my reading responsibilities one or two times. It was a struggle, but I'm glad I got through it!

Photo Book Connection Post

To represent the first two stages of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens I decided to use these two photos. The first photo, the catterpillar, represents Pip as a cute young boy trying to find his way through life. The second photo shows Pip after he has grown and learned a lot, transforming into a gentleman, or in this case, a butterfly. Notice how the butterfly is ugly just like Pips new personality once he starts being cruel to Joe and embarrassed of his old lifestyle. 

Shrek and Great Expectations

In the movie Shrek, the character Shrek is very similar to Pip in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. At the beginning of the movie, Shrek is a grumpy ogre who lives all alone and doesn't to do want anything to do with anyone. At the beginning of the book, Pip is the opposite, he is very friendly and loving. Throughout both stories the characters begin to change after a particular day.
After meeting Ms. Havisham and Estella, Pip starts to seek out a better life for himself. However in doing this it changes his personality. He begins looking down upon his way of life, his family, his house, and his clothes. After he leaves for London he becomes ignorant and bitter.
Shrek meets Donkey one day, and that is when his life changes. At first he is horribly mean to donkey and treats him like dirt, but as the story goes on Shrek's heart begins to grow and grow. At the end of the story Shrek's personality has mad a complete turn.
Throughout both stories, the main characters personalities changed greatly, in opposite ways.

Great Expectations,the Second Stage

Herbert, or the "The pale young gentleman" helps to enhance themes and motifs in Great Expectations. We discover that Herbert is the same boy that Pip fought in Ms. Havishams yard. There are many characters who were introduced in the first stage of the book and are now being reintroduced in the second stage. Mr. Jaggers, the man who Pip walked past on the stairs at Miss Havisham's house comes back to be the man who provides Pip with his expectations. Toward the end of the first stage and the beginning of the second, Pip's dream of changing his self value, one of the themes throughout the book, becomes a reality. Pip wants to change himself for Estella and Ms. Havisham.

The use of doubles was a motif that we discussed in class. A good example of this is the characters Biddy and Estella. Biddy is sweet and cares a lot for Pip. When they are walking in the marshes together, he tells her of his love for Estella and about how much he wishes to see her again. Biddy gives him the advice not to. Biddy is very poor unlike Estella who is a wealthy young woman. She has been brought up by Ms. Havisham to break the hearts of men who fall in love with her beauty. 

Great Expectations Quote

Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.


In this quote found at the end of chapter nine, Pip is saying that without one critical event, all of the events that followed in his life would not have been the same. He uses chains of gold and flowers to represent his path of life that gradually builds day by day. Visiting Ms. Havisham's changed Pips whole perspective on life. After that day he wanted different things for himself and saw himself in a different light. After this chapter Pip becomes much less innocent in his thinking, and he is ashamed of himself. He wants nothing more than to be important and to be a gentleman. Before visiting Ms. Havisham's Pip looked up to Joe, and it seamed like he wanted to be like him. Now that he has seen a better and more advanced way of living life, he looks at Joe as someone less fortunate and honorable, though he still loves him. 


One day that altered my life was the first day of middle school. Going into middle school I didn't have any classes with my friends from Elementary School and so throughout the week I branched out and made all new ones. It was really hard for me at first to lose relationships I had built for so long and I miss those friends a lot, but I love the group of friends I have now. Without them, I would be no where near the person I am today.  

Great Expectations Confusion

Great Expectations has been an easier read then I thought it was going to be, but that doesn't mean I haven't been confused when reading some parts. In chapter five on page 34, I was confused by this paragraph: "It was a run indeed now, and what Joe called, in the only two words he spoke all the time, "a Winder." Down banks and up banks, and over gates, and splashing into dikes, and breaking among coarse rushes: no man cared where he went. As we came nearer to the shouting, it became more and more apparent that it was made by more than one voice. Sometimes, it seemed to stop altogether, and then the soldiers stopped. When it broke out again, the soldiers made for it at a greater rate than ever, and we after them." 
My first question is, why are they in such a rush to get to the scene? Another is, why would the soldiers ever stop? And also, why was there so much shouting going on?

Group Essay Collaboration

I have not made any big changes to my paper this weekend. All I have done is fixed some spelling errors and worked on not overusing words. Cecily goes from being a bored school girl to not being lonely and bored anymore. All we need to do know is make sure all of our paragraphs will flow.


Here's a couple questions I need answered:
1. Is this a good way to end my paragraph?

From start to finish of the novel, marriage changed Cecily’s dull life into a much more exciting one.

2. What is a word that I could say instead of saying "boring" over and over?

Dishonesty

Lying is one of the hardest habits to break. The characters in The Importance of Being Earnest have an especially difficult time being honest, but I don't think they mind it at all. The dishonesty of the characters adds a lot of humor to the book. When the characters dislike each other they pretend as if they do, being so overly polite that it is repulsive, but funny! The characters believe that marriage is something that is to be very sudden, and that you are not supposed to get to know your partner very much before you are tied together. The characters know nothing about the ones they love, mostly because they are always lying about everything. Jack, the main character, lies about his name being Earnest, which is funny because an earnest person would never lie about a thing like that.

Wilde is making fun of the people in the upper class during the Victorian Era. Though they are always lying, they are all too superficial to look into the lies. Wilde uses humor to portray a more serious matter, that lying was a huge issue then. No one cared about the real personalities of others, they just based all their views on what they saw on the outside, without putting a second thought into it.

Animal Farm Project Evals!

Adora K
Poem
Adora's poem showed the meaning of the book itself. It showed that there is no way for anyone to live in equality. I really liked how she used the old tired animals point of view, because he had a lot of knowledge on the matter.

Kelsey E
Comic Strip
I really like this comic strip. It portrays the progression of the windmill, and how the animals kept trying even when all their work was destroyed.

Daniel S
Artwork
Daniel's artwork is very creative but also very realistic. It clearly shows the parallels between the Russian Revolution and Animal Farm.

Thomessa I
Artwork
Thomessa's project clearly showed how time changed equality on Animal Farm.

Timmy
Artwork
Timmy showed how equality is not possible, and how it was eventually overcome by rulers. I liked the fading away effect, it added a lot to the project.

Dan M
Comic Strip
Dan's strip of comic shows some of the changes that occur in Animal Farm, very clearly.

Davis C
Pictures
This project helped me learn more about who the characters in the book actually identify in the Russian Revolution. Davis did a good job showing who they symbolize.

Ragan M
Picture
This picture shows how animals are unequal to humans because the pig is bowing down to the portrait of the man. Even though pigs are most powerful in the book, man will always come first.

Emily W
Artwork
Emily showed the levels of power in the book and in the Russian Revolution. She did a good job of paralleling the two stories.

Angela M
Artwork
Angela made a pyramid to show that the pigs had the highest power, followed by the other animals. She also threw in humans to show that they really have the most power.

After reviewing all of the projects and comparing mine to them, I think though I put quit a bit of work into it, It wasn't as good as my classmates are. I think that I should have put a little more creativeness into my assignment, but overall I am happy with it.

My New Years Resolution!

My primary new years resolution is to walk my dog once a week, every week for the rest of the year. I think that this will improve my life because on the days that I don't have soccer practice I usually get very little exercise, which makes me in a better mood, and walking my dog will give me more of that. Also, my parents will be happy with me because I will be taking responsibility for my dog. Another reason why this is my resolution is because it will make my dog very happy! When my puppy is locked indoors all day, I feel terrible for her. Walking her more often will give her the exercise she needs and make her happier. This is going to be difficult for me to do because I often have things I could be doing around the house other than walking her, but I know that it's something that must be done! I will ask my parents to hold me accountable for this resolution so that I don't quit just because I don't feel like it. Wish me luck!

Animal Farm Creative Project