Yes, I did mention Tina Fey

I am most proud of the way I developed my writing and myself at the same time.  I learned how to incorperate myself into the writing through humor, my interests and opinions.  I branched out a little just by not being afraid of showing my personality (read more in the blog from 6/11/11). As one of my heros, Tina Fey said, "Do what you want and don't care what they think." This is the spirit I tried to incorperate into my blogs even though a grand total of three people read them.  This quote can easily carry over to my daily life and this was a great place to try it out. I can always expand my writing and this gave me more practice with writing besides just essays and questions about the books. 

After looking over all my old blogs, I realized that writing doesn't have to be all high diction novels and essays.  My blogs incorperated many of my favorite things and interests into a collection of greatness, without being stuffy. I am proud of these blogs because were a significant part of my English expirience and though they were interesting, I'm glad they're done.



See the resemblance?



From the first blog on, I found a way to incorperate my love of comedy into the blogs.  They weren't like comedy scripts or anything, I just added a little bit of Emma humor (weirdness) into them.  This helped me bridge the distinction between comedy writing and school-type writing.  It is a good example of how things can be two different things at once. Most things aren't either one or the other, they have a little of both. Such as people (multiple characteristics, friends and interests), food (my mom's frozen enchilada things-mexican, but still gross) and music (rap with violins or something like that).



Because writing has never been my thing, I used to not put as much energy or feeling into it.  One thing I liked about the blogs was mixing my other interests.  I talked about ballet, my family, Parks and Recreation, my childhood and development to what I am now and other media interests (books, TV shows and music). This made writing the blogs more fun because I could relate and add emotion much more than in other writing. 

As the year winds down, I have looked back over all my old projects and assignments.  This is one of my best accomplishments because it spanned the whole year and required more responsibility and creativity from me.  I had to remember each week and take the extra time to finish them without many reminders. These were easy to forget because I would put it off until Friday or Saturday and get distracted and not do them.  I only missed a few...  Though I enjoyed the time I spent with my computer on these, I'm glad they're finished and I can enjoy my summer, almost burden free!

Turtles and Watermelon (late)

The expirience I remember most with poetry was in sixth grade.  In two of my classes we were writing haikus.  This wasn't my first expirience with haikus but it was getting close to summer and I was ready to be free.  In English we were supposed to write five or so haikus, maybe about summer or maybe about whatever we wanted but anyway, I was ecstastic about summer I wrote about that.  I found haiku writing incredibly easy and rewarding because they were short and rhymy.  Later that day in science we were supposed to write poems about the sea animal we had picked and because of my sucess with haikus earlier in the day, I decided to continue my pattern. After whipping out an excellent specimen in under five minutes, I continued onto my friends and helped them write their poems about turtles and sea cucumbers and such. It is one of my greatest sucess stories.

I've always enjoyed writing poetry.  I find it easy to write my feelings into shorter pieces while still hiding them. Even if I don't include emotion, I always find a way to turn my expiriences, dreams and loves into masterful short poems.  They are a lot like essays where as long as I'm passionate about the subject, they turn out fine.  I also enjoy reading poems written by my friends and family, especially my sister.  I have nothing against poetry, I think its really pretty but like everything else, I hate analyzing it.  If I go too deep into the poem, it ruins the magic for me. I like to appreciate it at face value, nothing to change my opinion.

Me me me me me!

The easiest and most memorable assignment I did this year was the very first one we wrote about ourselves.  I'm not much of a writer and I find it easiest to write when I feel passionate about the subject. Its not that I love myself so much thats the only one I liked, its the one I related to the most.  A lot of the assignments I didn't connect with most of the books and I know myself well enough to write about me.  I felt more obligated to put feeling into something that gives a first look at myself to someone I would work with every day than writing a paper about a book that's four hundred years old.


One of my random, indescribable acts


 I am proud of this project because I think it was a good portrayal of me.  Through writing this I showed my true inner nerd. without making a fool of myself in front of a bunch of strangers.  In most of my classes, I am quiet and reserved because some people just don't accept my creativity. By describing myself through a letter, I expand my awesomeness without putting myself at such a risk of unacceptedness.  Once the teacher knows me, I tend to come out of my shell a little more which is what happened in English this year. I'm really proud of how I pushed myself to show my characteristics through the project and of what it resulted in. Hopefully this will challenge me to be more outgoing when I meet new people.

Problems of Parentals

"That God had lent us but this only child, but now I see this one is too much, and that we have a curse in having her."  (3.5.173)  In an ancient argument of parents and children, Capulet shows his disgust for Juliet's rebellion.  Juliet refuses to marry Paris because she loves Romeo.  Capulet is appalled at her disobediance and becomes very angry.  This reaction increases as the feud between the famillies grows.  Romeo and Juliet realize that nothing will settle their parent's anger and the only way to solve their desire to be with eachother is death.

All families go through the arguing and defiance.  As much as parents want, they cannot control everything.  Some mistakes just have to be learned and you can guide them, but you can't protect them from everything forever.  Another argument cause that I'm familliar with is the generation gap.  Though my mother isn't old, she doesnt understand the differences in society these days.  Many parents and kids have different opinions and this is another thing parents don't control.  I have tons of arguments with my mom, from small critisisms to fights that last days.  Everyone, even Juliet, goes through this.

Knope and Wyatt

One example of forbidden love is the relationship between Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt on the televison show Parks and Recreation.  These two loveable characters are first enimies when Ben (Adam Scott) comes in to cut the budget of Leslie's (Amy Poehler) government department.  She is very angry because she feels her work is very important and yells at him.  He realizes how hard she works for others and donates to one of her charity events and they become friends.  During their time together, Leslie creates an internet profile on a dating site and ends up with a 98% match with Tom Haverford, their coworker and friend.  To get him to shut up, Leslie kisses him and their supervisor, Chris, sees them and tells Leslie that he doesn't approve of work relationships, which Ben also knows.  By this point, it is obvious both Ben and Leslie like eachother but when Leslie asks him out to dinner, he turns her down.  Later, either in the same episode or the next one, he accepts her invitation and that is where we leave off.  The show will return again next season so who knows what will happen between Knope and Wyatt...

Mercutio and Me

Out of all the characters, I like and can relate to Mercutio the most.  Romeo is too moody and depressed and always busy chasing around some girl.  Juliet is too young and naiive to do anything exciting or risky.  Mercutio is the guy who resides on the fine line between visionary genious and schizophrenic.  We have only seen him once, but that was my favorite part.  I loved his story about Queen Mab and how he completely disappeared into his tale.  One of his best traits (or possibly his worst) is how he can ignore reality and live in his own, better world. He seems like the outsider of the group, the weird one, which I can relate too.  If everyone let critisisms and problems go that easily, the world would be a lot happier.  This could also be bad when there is a conflict that shouldn't be ignored, but Mercutio would leave it to someone else.

Reading and discussing the text in class has been very helpful.  I can decipher most of the book at home but reading it in class gives me a chance to find deeper things like figurative language, character development and conflict.  I haven't been using any extra resources to help me understand the text.

Message to All!

I think the main theme in Great Expectations that I can relate to is to care for the people that love you.  One group of people that will love you no matter what, is family.  Friends will come and go but your family will always be there for you.  They have seen you through good and bad and suffered through some of the same things as you have.  They aren't afraid to tell you when you are wrong and they help shape you into a better person. They trust you and you trust them.  They will welcome you because they know you would do the same for them.  Families have their ups and downs but ultimately stick together.  Though family is important, having good friendships is also vital.  Friends will listen to your problems, give you advice and stick up for you.  They understand what you are going through and teach you through their mistakes.  You can learn to be a better person by their example.  They can be your role model or show you how not to be a friend by their actions towards you and others.  Even if they were only in your life for short time, they still make an impact on you and are hard to forget.

Thinks on book

I thought the book Great Expectations was one of the most boring books I have ever read.  It almost put me to sleep multiple times and I kindof wanted to kill myself.  I thought the plot wasn't too bad until unrealistic things began to happen such as Molly, Estella and Magwitch were all connected and when Orlick is about to kill Pip, Herbert runs in to save him.  I did sympathize with Pip when Mrs. Joe beat him and Estella dumped him but not when he met Joe and Biddy again and they were awkward.  I did not sympathize with Miss Havisham.  Yes, it is terrible to be left at the altar and I have empathy at that point but when you shut down your whole life because of that, I lose my respect.  Wallowing in your own self pity for decades like Miss Havisham is a sign of weakness and egoistic.  If she was the strong woman she was portrayed to be, she wouln't have looked back on the past and centered her whole life around destroying men.  A fierce, modern woman would move on and not dragged others into her self pity.  Once Molly came into the picture the second time, Jaggers hinted that she had some connection with Compeyson and I started to put together the pieces.  I hadn't really dwelled on any of the other mysteries but I suspected Orlick in the beating of Mrs. Joe.

I read almost the entire book.  There were a few times when I didn't read such as when I decided my other homework was more important and I just went on SparkNotes if I got more than three days behind.  I did read the majority of the book, even if I didn't understand some of it.  My reading habits included reading late at night, while I was doing my nebulizing (for my cough) and in math class when I was done with other work.  I didn't have much of a routine until this last week when I started using the nebulizer and during my night time breathes of the medicine, I would read what I could get done in nine minutes and try to fit in other reading.  It may have affected my comprehension some because I didn't get all the reading in when I was supposed to but some parts just confused me.  Where I completed it? In my room between biology and French.  Did it affect my comprehension?  What's the main charachter's name?  If I didn't understand it, it was because my brain fell asleep while I was reading.

Brothers From Different Mothers

When Pip moves to London, he meets the boy he beat up un his childhood, previously known as "the pale young gentleman."  He and Herbert Pocket become good friends as they live together and expirince their first time on their own together. Pip and Herbert meet members of the other's family, share secrets and ideas and even financially support eachother.  Herbert is an aspiring business man and confides his dreams to Pip.  After living together for a few years,  the two young men are very close and Pip feels the need to help fuel Herbert's wishes.  Pip works with Wemmick to secretly give Herbert the money so he can build his business.  When Herbert receives this money, he is extremely happy and Pip has a hard time not expressing his deep joy to see his friend's dream come true.  They have a special bond that only some outside of an immediate family have.  Pip also says that if he and Herbert weren't so attached to eachother, they would be sick of eachother which means they have a strong connection and respect eachother.  When I Googled "brothers" one of the things that came up were the Super Mario Brothers.  I thought this was a good choice because these brothers have gone through a lot together such as crazy turtles, mushroom men and animated venus fly traps.  They have to have a lot of trust and compassion to go through all of that together which is similar to Pip and Herbert's relationship.

Kids!

I think that Great Expectations is very similar to the book To Kill A Mockingbird.  One of the main similarities is both books are told in the same perspective.  In GE the story is told by Pip as he looks back at his adolescence.  He narrorates his life as he grows up and recalls his feelings and thoughts as he is reliving his expiriences.  In TKAM, Scout is also retelling her life when she is older by remembering her emotions.  A minor similarity is how both Scout and Pip's names are a kind of nickname they had acquired.

Both of these books have the similar theme of growing up.  They both show the main characters' transition from a child to a teenager.  Pip's story continues as the book takes place over many years but TKAM only shows a couple years of Scout's life.  A similar motif of consequence/penitance is shown in these books when Scout and Pip have to deal with their mistakes; Scout's with the children who tease her and Pip with the convict and his guilt. 

The two main children show the common human trait of wanting more then what they have.  Pip has a desire to become a gentleman and be a part of the rich society.  Scout wants everyone in her town to accept her family, especially her father,  but not everyone will like your opinion which is a lesson she needs to learn.

Next

As Pip takes on his Great Expectations, he meets the pale young gentle man again.  Herbert Pocket and Pip become good friends as he takes on the challenge of becoming a gentleman.  This relates to the first stage when Pip first meets his new companion. Pip spends some of his time at Barnard's Inn with Herbert and lives at the Pocket household also.  At Herbert's house, he and Pip relax by boating on the river with some of the other residents of their living spaces, Startop and Drummle.

This corresponds to the "becoming a gentleman" motif.   Pip and Herbert are both taking on their Expectations together which is their biggest challenge growing up.  The contrast between them is Pip doesn't seem to have much direction in his life, so far, and has used his time for recreational purposes and Herbert has a job and his future mapped out in his head.  This growing up motif relates to the first stage of where the two young men meet.  They first come upon eachother at Miss Havisham's one day.  This was the original start of Pip's unsatisfaction with his common life that started his need for advancement and then meets with Herbert again as he is fulfilling his wishes.

Pip et Moi

Pip is refering to his relationship with Miss Havisham and the lies that surround it.  His relationship with Joe also grew and he feels he can trust him more. Pid matured a little.  He learned about trust from Joe and feels better about his lower class.  He also knows more about upper classes and the more privilaged people such as Estella. The chain that started was his friendship with Miss Havisham which leads to him standing up to his sister and Mr. Pumblechook by fabricating a story about his day.  He is learning to protect himself but still hasn't let go of all his fear.  This new maturity is very positive because later in the book, he challenges the "young gentleman" which shows his new confidence.  He changes back to his old ways again though when at the beginning of Chapter 11 he worries about the boy coming after him.

One thing that started the "chain" in my life was the birth of my siblings, Devan and Sara.  Before their birth, my mom had read in her parenting books that if there was an older child, the baby/babies should be away from the mother so the child could go strait to their parent without being jealous.  My mom made sure that the babies were no where near her when I visited that night.  When I walked in, I took one look at my mom and asked "where are my babies?"  This started my love for my siblings.  My parents always said it was good that there were to of them because I would have killed them with love otherwise.  I thought everything came in twos and carried two baby dolls and a briefcase around preschool just like my mom.  They were always refered to as "Baby Devan" and "Baby Sara"  and we have been extremely close.  Having two people around the house so close to my age taught me to respect different people and their opinions, sharing and they challenge me to be a better person by pointing out my flaws.  I have learned to have greater love and how to tolerate them no matter how annoying they can be when I'm trying to do homework.  I wouldn't trade them for anything, they mean the world to me.

This book makes no sense

"I had filled up the bottle from the tar-water jug. I knew he would be worse by-and-by. I moved the table, like a medium of the present day, by the vigour of my unseen hold upon it." P. 27

Why do they have tar in their house? What does the part about moving the table mean?  Was he shaking in fear?

Essssaaayy

Today I started the conclusion. That's what's new! I followed the sheet and tied everything together. Austyn: Did you get any of the topic paragraph done? Nic: Did you get any of your paragraph done? What quotes did you use?

Untruthfulnessssssssssssss

1. Humor: Being dishonest gives Algernon and Jack time do do whatever they want.  This leads to humorous situations.  They get into crazy mishaps such as the one with Gwendolen and Cecily where they were both the same person.

2. Satire:  "In marriage three's company and two is none."  This quote shows that in marriage, dishonesty was common. Because they didn't know eachother very well when they were married, their spouse wasn't their first choice and they would seek other partners.

3. Earnest/Ernest: Being earnest is having characteristics such as honesty and seriousness but these situations they get in are far from that. They lie to their friends and families to get out of things they don't want to do.

4. Pleasure: The two men lie to their families to get out of things they don't want to do such as dinners and parties.  Instead, they go off and do what they want.  They couldn't do these things without lying.

Wilde shows that some small lies can be good once in a while.  Some people want to hear only certain things and bending the truth for that isn't too terrible. An example of this is when Lane and Algernon lie to Lady Bracknell about the cucumber sandwiches. Some bigger lies can get you out of things you dont want to do which is ok sometimes but you have duties to fulfill.  Also, these lies can escalate into something uncontrollable such as Jack and Algernon's lies to Gwendolen and Cecily about who they really are.