2nd Quarter Reflection 1/22/16

     Now that second quarter is over, I feel that I have progressed and worsened on and off. Overall though, I believe I'm getting better at things in this subject; which is language arts/literature studies. The area that I think that I improved the most on was getting high scores on my vocabulary tests and remembering words. For me, one thing that is a constant work in progress is my time management, which is the one thing I feel is the most difficult thing to keep up with. The other hard thing that I find which ties into time management as well, is getting to class on time, which is quite hard sometimes.
   
     These are all part of Quarter 2 that were challenging for me, but I have tried to improve it by getting everything like my homework done the day before. Also, I am going to make sure to do everything more fast instead of keeping it last minute. The next thing that I can do to avoid being late is to just try to keep up with my work.

     Since the new year started, I have been trying to work harder in writing, keeping organized, and getting to class and to school on time. I've been proud of doing mostly all of my homework every time on time. One thing that I feel that was a huge improvement were my research skills because I've researched a lot in this class and other classes as well. This skill helps the most with this class and I'm better at researching now. I think that a strategy that benefited me the most was getting my homework done early or ahead of time so I will have less to do. When I have less homework to do, it is less likely I will fall behind in my work.

TKAM Comparison Blog 1/21/16

Prompt - 

1.  What do you think is the most important difference between the written and filmed version? Provide evidence with specific details.

2. How would you prove or disprove that one version of To Kill A Mockingbird is more affective in delivering its message than the other? Be sure to provide specific pieces of evidence to support your opinion.

     I think that one of the most important differences between the written and filmed version of To Kill A Mockingbird is a scene that was missing. This was a very small scene; when Calpurnia took the kids to her church and then ran into Lula. Lula didn't want the kids there because they were white. The reason I thought that this was an important scene was because it shows how even though many of the black people in the community had respect for the Finches, (since their dad is defending an African American man) not all people had respect or were nice to the children.
     A scene where they showed respect for the Finches was when they all stood up when Atticus left the courtroom. Although, in the movie; this (church scene) part was left out, so it doesn't seem as they have much respect for the Finches (when looked at comparing how they were treated in the church).

     I would prove that one version of To Kill A Mockingbird is more effective (the written version) in delivering its message than the other because the book simply had much more detail and dialogue than the movie. This is because the book can be really long, but for the movie to be as descriptive, it would take a very long time to finish it. There is a lot of key details, narrations, and even characters that are in the written version that aren't in the film. 

     One example of some missing/switched characters is Stephanie Crawford being Dill's aunt instead of Aunt Rachel, and it was Cecil; not Francis that made Scout break her promise with Atticus about fighting. Then, Aunt Alexandra is not mentioned at all, which makes it really different from the book. Some few things that were missing or different as well were: in the book, it was just explicitly stated that Atticus took Tom's case; while in the movie, they made a scene out of it, probably to be more explanatory to the people who didn't read the book. There was also a part when in the novel, Calpurnia is older and has a son named Zeebo, and it the movie she is a lot younger. There was much more scenes that were different; however, movies can achieve things that a book can not, and vice versa.

     

TKAM 12/17/15

Prompt - Draw 4 objects that represent your reading. Write a sentence for each, telling what each item says about what you've been reading.

(Spoilers)
*not in order
1. Mockingbird

     A mockingbird would be the most symbolic thing in this book; it symbolizes innocence. It is said in the book by Atticus; "Remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." They are associated with innocence because they don't hurt anyone/anything, and they just chirp or 'sing'. Two characters that it represents as well, are: Boo (Arthur) Radley and Tom Robinson.
      It represents Boo because toward the end of the book, because when he kills Bob Ewell, he simply wanted to save Scout and Jem form being attacked/killed by Bob. If the story got out in who killed Bob, everyone would come and give him a bunch of attention; which he didn't want. He never did anything wrong and all he wanted was to be left alone.
     Tom would also be considered as a mockingbird because he was falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell; Bob's daughter. He got sent to jail simply because of his skin color, even though his story had no signs of being fake, I'm comparison to Bob and Mayella Ewells'. When he tried to escape jail, he got excessively shot and killed. This shows how he was just an innocent person who lost his life because of racism.

2. Camellia

     A camellia in this book would represent humanity and understanding. Mrs. Dubose was one of the Finch's neighbors that was elderly and racist. Everyday that the kids would pass, she would yell insults about them, but one day when she said something about Atticus, Jem decided to take his anger out on her prized camellias. As punishment, he had to go read to her everyday (except Sunday's) and every day they left a little later when an alarm clock went off and her daughter brought her medicine.
     Although, until after she died, Jem learned that she was a morphine addict; and every time that he read to her, she was able to delay her morphine fix for a little but every day. In the beginning, Jem was handling Mrs. Dubose's  racism in an angry way, but when he calmly read, it showed a sensible approach to her racism. When she died, Jem received a single camellia that was in perfect condition, this was Mrs. Dubose's way of showing Jem that everything was alright and she ended up getting her humanity back before she died.

3. Overalls

     The overalls symbolized an acceptance and kind gesture. Throughout the book, especially towards the beginning when Scout was young; overalls were mentioned a lot. Scout loved to wear them, but everyone seemed to not like her wearing them. Atticus let her wear them, but has was told many times that she shouldn't wear them.
     Aunt Alexandra said that they were unladylike and she shouldn't be allowed to wear them; and Mrs. Dubose tells Scout that wearing clothes like that will make her end up "waiting tables at the O.K Cafe" (which served African Americans). Then, the symbolism comes in when Scout and Jem get attacked by Bob, and Aunt Alexandra tells Scout to get out of her ham costume and to put on her overalls. She told her this, even though she hated the overalls.

4. Snowman

     The snowman that Scout and Jem built symbolizes tea
mwork. It does, because when they want to build it, there is not enough snow, so they make a mud snowman and cover it with snow.  When it's just the mud, and the snow comes over it, the kids think it looks like it had a mixed "skin color"; and Scout had never seen anyone that was biracial, but Jem knew about Mr. Dolphus Raymond's kids. Anyway though; the symbolic part was that since the dark soil and the light snow could work together, just his black and white people have to work together in society to have a successful synchronization or coexistence.

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Character Relationships

(Aunt Alexandra and Atticus)

Aunt Alexadra and Atticus are mostly different from each other, but aside their differences; there are similarities between them. One similarity is that they both have strong opinions about how the children should be raised; even though their opinions on how they should grow up were very different. They basically just want what's best for them and want to show them that growing up is and essential part of life. Also, they both care about people; although Aunt Alexandra cares about what other's think while Atticus cares about the people themselves.

     There is a lot of differences between Atticus and Alexandra though. Some of those differences are that Alexandra wants everything to go her way and be how she wants it; like she want Scout to act more like a girl. Even though Atticus lets Scout wear overalls, Alexandra considers it "unladylike". On the other hand, Atticus lets Scout be herself as a tomboy. Then, a huge difference is that Alexandra has taken in the system of society while Atticus challenges it.

     Atticus is Scout's dad and Alexandra is her Aunt. The thing that Scout and Atticus have in their relationship is understanding. Atticus understand how Scout feels or acts and he lets her continue them because he is fair. They also do some compromising; one time in the beginning of the book Atticus told Scout that they can continue reading at home (without telling Miss Caroline) and that Scout would keep going to school. Also, they have a good routine with discipline. Most of the time, Scout listens to Atticus when he gives her a punishment for something that she did wrong, such as making fun of the Radley's. This form of punishment is that he doesn't have to hit her, but she still listens. Atticus also teaches her like an adult sometimes and talks to her and explains about things that she doesn't know about.
     Aunt Alexandra and Scout (in the book so far) don't really have much in common and they don't really talk to each other much. So far, Scout has only mentioned one thing that she liked about her; her cooking. Other than that, they can't get along because Akexandra doesn't like how Scout is "unladylike", wears overalls instead of dresses, and gets into fights. She does not approve at all at how Atticus raised Scout and doesn't like her very much.

     Atticus' effect on Scout is that he influences her life everday by teaching her lessons and explaining new things to her. He tries to guide her through her life and childhood as she grows up. One lesson that he gives both Scout and Jem is a lesson that influences them to have respect for life and that lesson is to never kill a mockingbird. One other big thing that he teaches them is to treat everyone with respect and not to judge them. This came up with several different characters such as: Walter Cunningham, Boo Radley, Mrs. Dubose, Mr. Avery, etc.
     Aunt Alexandra's effect on Scout is a negative one starting on Christmas. Scout didn't even want to visit her because she disliked Alexandra for constantly saying she wasn't raised properly with how she acted and what she wore. So far, in the book she didn't like the effect that she had in her, especially when she came for a long visit to her house.

TKAM Setting Picture 11/24/15

     The photograph that I chose to represent my idea of the town Maycomb in Alabama from the book "To Kill A Mockingbird" was a scene of a sidewalk in Selma, Alabama. The picture that I chose was of a street with lots of advertisements on the walls and a few people there. The people in the picture are not dressed up nicely and they seem kind of old and worn out as well as casual. The physical setting is a street and the walls of the building behind the people sitting down are advertisements that stick out a lot. The one word that is sticking out a lot is an ad for coca cola (there are two of them).

     This photo was probably taken to show how life was like in that area and in that time period. There is not much movement in this photo; excluding one man that seems to be going out of a door; but other then that, people are just sitting down or hanging around the block. The audience for this picture is probably just anyone who wants to see how it (life) was like in that time period. This photo was most likely taken with a camera because it really doesn't look like a drawing. From viewing this photo, you can learn how people used to dressed and how the streets looked.

     The difference between today and back then, is that the photo would most likely be in color and in better quality. The same thing that would be in this photo is a lot of advertisements, because today there is still a lot of ads; especially still coca cola which is still popular. Some questions I would have are; Was there a reason that this was taken?, Who is in this picture?, and Where exactly is this? Some things that Indo know though, is that this photo was taken in December 1935 and the photographer is named Walker Evans.

 Evans, Walker. Sidewalk Scene in Selma, Alabama. 1935. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives LOT 1604, United States.

Theme Development 11/13/15

Prompt - Allegiant Theme

     The book "Allegiant" has a lot of different themes in it; like many other books. Some of those themes included: friends and family, sacrifice, guilt, lies, identity, and many more. The theme of identity was one of the most important themes or key themes in Allegiant.

     This theme of identity was all throughout the whole Divergent series. It started when Tris had no idea which faction she actually belonged in and which faction to choose when she turned sixteen. This was because she got Divergent as a result on her Aptitude test which made her unique in a good and bad way at the same time. After she had left the actual city and went across the fence/boundary; she has been through a lot of loss during her journey of finding who she really was. This would be the theme of loss and maybe even guilt when she didn't help save some of her friends.

     The theme of friends and family was when she was finding out who her actual family and friends were and if they were not just pretending to be her friend. As for her parents; she was also finding out who they really were and they pasts'. The theme of sacrifice was when she actually did go back for friends in danger or volunteering herself for dangerous activities even if it wasn't the smartest thing to do. Another theme which is lies is when Tris lied a lot if it was for the bad or the good. An example was when she lies to help her friends in danger or something similar. There's a lot more themes in this book/book series, but I would say that the main theme is identity.
 

First Quater Reflection 10/28/15

     Now that it is near the end of the first quarter of eighth grade, there some things that I learned, and that I have learned from. Starting with my 40 book challenge, so far I am on my third book of the Divergent series. I have t had a huge amount of time to read, because of the rest of my homework; but I'm planning on reading more books and new series.

     I also haven't done many blogs this school year, but I think that I'm starting to remember the formatting from last year as this year goes on. The blogs that I've done so far, I would say that they are neutrally ok, but I have been learning a lot more about things like making my paragraphs in the corrrect format and being longer.

     The strategies that have benefited me for this year is my organization and the order that I do my homework in. One of the organization strategies that I'm using is to have all of my colors, pencils, highlighters, etc. in one big pencil case, and on,y one pencil and pen in a smaller pencil bag that I take to every class. One way that this helps me is for example when we are taking vocabulary tests. Then, I can just find a pencil right away. The order that I'm doing my homework in setting a time limit for each assignment which really helps me finish me a little bit better.

     I've learned some things of the world from a lot of the things that we did in class, especially the article of the weeks' that we do. Those have a lot of information of what is going on in the world right now, in the past, or in the future. I learned some things from another activity that we did in class which was a short story by Edgar Allen Poe. I learned things about the work by annotating the story and looking up the words I didn't know. This made me learn about the real world and some of the things or places that were or are in the setting of the story.

     My research skills have gotten a little bit better after some time. I have so far learned how to get better with my organization skills and finding good evidence. One of the assignments that I need research for is for AOW's. This is still a place I need to improve a little on.