"Paradox and Dream" Reflection

"Paradox and Dream" Reflections

Paradox: "Fortunes are spent getting cats out of trees and dogs out of sewer pipes; but a girl screaming for help in the street draws only slammed doors, closed windows, and silence."

            This means is that many people will help animals before they would help their own kind. Also when people put up signs about missing dogs, they usually have a reward, which is usually money. This also means that when someone is in the need for help, people will not care and ignore the problem. When a pet is stuck in a tree or something, people will get police and firefighters just to get it down. If a pet is missing, many people will probably look for the it. When there are signs about missing children, it seems people don't bother even looking at the sign. 

            I can relate to this, because I have seen something like this on the news and heard of it. It was a video of a little girl getting run over by more than one car. The people in the cars did not bother to even stop to see what it was. Many people also saw her lying on the ground, and didn't care to get help. Those people just kept on walking and ignored the situation. I have heard from many relatives and friends that they have rescued a dog or cat. I have heard more about people saving animals than people saving people. 

Paradox:"We proudly insist that we base our political positions on the issues - and we will vote against a man because of his religion, his name, or shape of his nose."

            This means that people judge people before they really get to know someone. If someone has a different religion then, people will judge him or her for it. Also people judge people a lot from just the way they look. If someone who looks "weird", most people will assume that he or she is weird. This is horrible, because people always judge people before even knowing them. A lot of People will say bad things to one another because they they have a different religion, name, or look.

            I can relate to this, because I have seen and heard many people judging one another by what they wear or what their hobbies are in school. Again, many people just assume that a person is like that, because of the way they do things. I think at one point everyone has judged someone for something they do, say, or wear, including me. Maybe it's because I hear my friends being judgmental or something else, and we just follow them. Whatever it is we will always think something that may or may not be true about someone.

I commented on Justin's, Jared's, and Evie's Blog.

Final Reflection Blog

Prompt: 1- What are the three most important things you learned this year?  2- What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?  3- What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?  4- What is something you taught your teacher or classmates this year?  5- In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of?  6- What was the most challenging part of this year for you?  7- What was the best piece of writing that you did this year? Why do you think it is your best?  8- Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why?  9- What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?

            The three most important things I've learned this year is how to do blogs, annotate, and learned better vocabulary. Blogs are important to learn how to do, because as you go on writing you learn how to get better. I have learned to be a better writer compared to the beginning of the year. Annotating is important to learn how to do because it allows you to understand what you are reading more. We have done a lot of annotating this school year, and I have improved a lot since I first started. I think the most important thing I learned this year is better vocabulary. In the beginning of the year I used confused when I am speaking. Now when I am speaking I use words like, discombobulated, bewildered, and befuddled. Something I think I will remember for the rest of my life that happened this year was when we had out first class party. We all had so much fun. We also had lots of laughs and memories that we won't forget.

            The nicest thing my class did for me was having great attitude. Everyone is so kind in my class. We all have laughs together, and no one is left out of the conversation. I really enjoyed how everyone was never mean to another classmate. I think everyone has a close friendship, because in this class we had to communicate and lot. I felt like everyone is so close now, especially since we got to meet all of these people. Something that I taught one of my classmates was how to understand a book more. I told her to write in notes like, thoughts, questions, and predictions. I think this really helped her, because it made her think more about the book.

            An area that I think I made the biggest improvements is my writing skills. Before I would not go back to check for any mistakes, so I would finish my writing mistakes with grammar errors. Also I would not put a topic sentence. I would also write run-on sentences.  Something I accomplished this year that I am proud of is when I was able to stay in the accelerated class. If you get a grade "C" or lower, you are not allowed to be in that class anymore. I passed that class with "A's" and "B's". I am proud of myself, because I was able to push myself into doing something. The most challenging this this year was time management. Most of my homework was due on Friday, and I was busy on most of the days on the weekdays. I had to do most of my homework all on Thursday. I think I have become better at fixing that problem over the year. I've learned how to make notes on what day I should do each day.

            The best piece of writing I did this year was a blog about an ending to a story called "The Lady or the Tiger?". The story I had to write had to be about what happened at the end, because it never says. I think this was my best, because in my opinion, I think it was very creative. Also because a lot of people seemed to enjoy it. Of the books I read this far my favorite is A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer. This book was so sad. It was about a true story on a boy who was abused by his mother and bothers. This book was something that I will never forget. I recommend this book, because it is just so great.

            Some advice I would give students next year is to set goals. Goals are what keeps you focused on getting better. It's what keeps you moving forward in life. If you don't have goals then it is very hard to accomplish things. Even if you don't reach that goal, you did more to reach it tan not trying to reach it at all. Some other advice is to pay attention. In this class this ear we moved very fast at some times. If you are not listening then you might get lost quickly. It will also help you in the future.

Something That Symbolizes Me

            The object I chose to represent me is my headphones. Headphones to me represent freedom, because when you listen to music you block out everything. When you are having a bad day, you can forget it all with headphones and music. When I listen to music I feel like I can do anything. It can be so calming and relaxing. It feels like you are in a different world. The music you listen to can be very inspiring, so when you listen to it, it can inspire you and make you feel better. People say that music allows you to escape from the real world. I think this shows that you feel free when you listen to music. 

I commented on Devin's, Rebecca's, James', Sam's, and, Bianey's blog.

Blog for Week 5/11/15

Prompt: Although the plot has the same ending in both the book ad the movie, the actual moments of each piece are different. The movie ends with a flashback; the book ends with dialogue. What does the flashback show? How does the flashback leave the audience feeling at the end of the movie? Does the feeling match the feeling at the end of the book? Why do you think the director chose to use a different ending rather than just showing exactly what's in the book? What is the line of dialogue that ends in the book? What does that line tell about the speaker? What feeling does that line leave the reader with? How does it make you feel when he says that?

            I think that the flashback at the end of the movie shows that George didn't kill Lennie out of hatred, but friendship. You saw George crying at the end thinking about Lennie, showing that he didn't want him to die, but he was capable of hurting people. The flashback showed that Lennie and George were very good friends because they seemed like they had a close bond. This shows that since George cared about Lennie, he didn't want Curley to kill him, or have him in jail. If the flashback showed events of when George yelled at Lennie, then it would probably mean that George didn't care for him as much, so he killed him. 

            The flashback left the audience feeling sad at the end of the movie, because it showed that George just killed someone who was his best friend, and someone who was vey important in his life. I think that the feeling in the movie feeling does not match the feeling at the end of the book. I think this, because in the end of the book it ends with George and Slim walking off to drink, and Carlson saying, "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?" In the movie it ends with George crying on a train remembering the times he had with Lennie. The ending in the book was less sad than the ending in the movie.

            The dialogue at the end of the book is said by Carlson, and he said, "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?" This line shows that Carlson was a little clueless on what was going on. He thought that George killed Lennie, because Lennie took Curley's gun, and George had to fight him for it. When really, George killed Lennie out of friendship, because he didn't want Lennie to go to jail, or have Curley kill him. When Carlson saw George walk with Slim sadly, he was confused, because I think he looked at it like the death of Lennie was a good thing, because he was dangerous. The feeling the reader has with that line is kind of confused. At first a lot of my classmates, including me, did not get what that meant. When Carlson said that that line, I felt like he really didn't understand the relationship with George and Lennie. He doesn't get that George just killed his best friend and how he cared for him so much.

Blog for Week 5/4/14

AOW Impression Blog

            This AOW gallery walk allowed us to learn about things that are going on around the world right now. I have learned many things that I didn't know before, and because of this I do know now. I think that this activity was really helpful, because it opened our eyes to see what is currently happening in the world. I think not just me, but a lot of people learned a lot of new things during this activity. Also this was important for us to do, because a lot of us, sometimes, don't have the time to do this at home. Some things I learned from the gallery walk was the earthquake in Nepal, and the riots in Baltimore.

            During the gallery walk I learned a lot about the earthquake in Nepal. I saw more than one person do this article, so I thought that this must be very important. What I learned from this is that about eight million people were affected by this earthquake. I also learned that over 7,000 people died! A lot of people are still missing. Many of those missing people are foreigners. 1.4 million people were injured.

            The article I had and lot of other people had was on the riots in Baltimore. What I read that started this is that a man died in police custody from a spinal cored injury. Then many people became mad at the police and stared to looting and rioting. What I learned from this is that many people are looting and setting cars and buildings on fire. I also learned that many people got arrested and injured. I think that the riots are just making everything worse. People are getting hurt because of this. I read that many of the rioters threw rocks and bricks at police officers. Many people were arrested, and more than a dozen police officers were injured.

Poem Blog 5/1/15

Prompt: Using "To A Mouse" by Robert Burns as inspiration, write a short poem expressing what happens when you have a dream and it doesn't come true.

"Dreams To Come And Go"
By: Diana A.

When you have a dream

It's the greatest feeling

When you have a hope you beam

You just think, staring at the ceiling 

When your dream doesn't work out

It's not a great feeling

You just want to pout 

Your feelings are not appealing

Dreams don't always come as planned

You just have to get over it

Just hold somebody's hand

You can get over it in a bit

Even if you can't

You can at least try

You feel like hope is scant 

It's okay to cry

More dreams will come soon

Maybe in a strum

Maybe in late June,

But they will come 

I commented on Jared's, Joseph's, and Devin's blog