Final Reflection Blog

     The three most important things that I learned this year are the importance of annotating, how to work well with others, and express my feelings/thoughts . I think that annotating is important because you are making yourself find the meaning of the text you are reading. It also helps you understand the article/passage more. Another thing that I learned this year that was important was how to work well with others. In general I do work well with some people, but in this class whenever we had to work with partners I had to learn to listen to what they thought instead of always saying that I was right and they had to do it my way. In this class I feel that I opened up more. I rarely ever share my feelings with people. Even if you are my best friend, I don't like letting people know how I feel. I think that's because people always label me as being "perfect" but I know I'm not and that's fine. Since people think that I'm perfect, whenever I have a problem I don't like to share it because I don't want people knowing I'm sensitive. In this class we've had many group discussions and I have learned that it's okay to share your feelings. Sharing your feelings allows you to get all the weight of your shoulders, and that is one of the reasons why I really liked this class.

     Something we did this year that I think I'll remember for the rest of my life is when we had reading buddies. I think that I will remember this for the rest of my life because I had a part in a child's life by helping them read.  I had fun helping my buddy Mia because Sumar and I watched her improve in these seven months helping her read. Knowing that I had an impact on a child's life means a lot because I actually helped them with a skill that they will need to use for the rest of their lives.

     The nicest thing someone in this class did for me was having Sumar help me revise my argumentative essay.  Although it took some time for her to get me to understand why I needed to change it, I eventually got my essay to make sense. Sumar gave critical advice and instead of just saying, "Fix that it won't work." she would tell me why it would not work. She did a good job telling me what was wrong and would not sugar coat anything just because we're friends. Sumar would tell me if it was good or if it needed improvement.

     Something that I taught both my teacher and classmates was about how scientist grew mini-brains to help study why certain diseases happen. I used this topic as an AOW a couple months ago and I think that it was my best one because during the gallery walk I explained my topic very thoroughly and many of my classmates seemed interested in why they grew mini-brains.  This article also taught me many things and I thought that if I learned many new things then so would the class. My classmates that saw my article during the gallery walk asked me questions to clarify what this was about and how would it help, and I was prepared to answer all their questions. Based on their expressions and words, I could tell that they were a bit bewildered on why these mini-brains were being grown; after I had clarified it, they seemed to have learned something new.

     The area that I feel I made the most improvement in is summarizing. Before this class I had trouble knowing which pieces of information I should include. I knew that a summary was a brief explanation as to what your article was about, but you only used the key ideas. In this class I learned that you should decide what the main idea of the article is and then analyze the growth it had throughout the text. A good summary consists of the main point of the article and what the impact was on the rest of the writing.

     For me the most challenging part of the year was picking out an article that met the requirements. To me this was difficult because I had to make sure the article gave an adequate amount of information and I had to be able to explain why I chose this article. Explaining why I chose the article was difficult because I had to say why it was important to the world, but I only had a reason on why it was important to the country. I think that the main reason why I had difficulty on explaining was because of the article topic, and it also did not include a good amount of information.

     The best piece of writing I did this year was my poem called, "Crushed".  I think that this poem was my best piece of writing because it really shows the impact that a dream not coming true has on a person's life. Out of all the poems I've written this year, this one uses the most figurative language. I always had a hard time with figurative language, but somehow with this poem it was really easy. While writing this poem I had to imagine what it was like having a dream that was crushed. I think that since I had to put myself into someone else's shoes, I had a lot of emotion showing. This poem is actually one of my favorite's because people don't realize that to someone a dream can mean their whole world.

     Of the books I've read this year my favorite was "Half Brother" by Kenneth Oppel, because this book really showed the meaning of friendship, even though it was between a boy and a chimpanzee. This story had a big character development because in the beginning the boy thought that raising a chimp would be a waste of time, but over the next chapters he started to really care for the chimp. I can relate to the boy in this book a bit because I have become friends with people that I didn't like at first, but then I realized that they were a great person and were fun to be with.

     The advice I would give to students that will be in the class next year is to never give up if things do not go your way, and hard work really pays off. I say this because in this class I have had many problems writing poems because I could not get any inspiration, but I did not give up. I would write down feelings I had and found words that perfectly described it.  Working really hard does pay off because if you work hard in this class, you will learn things that you will remember for the rest of your life. What you do in this class will also affect how you do in the future. I know this class may seem really difficult because you work a greater pace than others and get more work, but I had a great time in this class and I hope you do too.

Of Mice and Men: The Movie

Section III

     The flashback at the end of the movie shows George on a train looking back at his memories with Lennie. The beginning of the movie starts off with George on a train and it ends with George on the train. The whole movie was a flashback of George remembering Lennie.

     The flashback leaves the audience feeling sorrowful because George cannot get over the fact that he shot his best friend. The movie shows other memories of George and Lennie walking off, and the audience can almost feel how George was feeling at that moment. George had a grief feeling, and that passed on to the audience. I feel that since George and Lennie were best friends and were always together, the killing scene was really heartbreaking for the audience. Knowing the fact that they were best friends really affects the mood because of how George portrayed his feelings afterwards.

     The feeling from the movie does not match the feeling at the end of the book because in the movie you can actually see how the scene happened and also the emotions shown by the characters helped the mood sink in. The book did not match because you could not see the emotions being portrayed. I think that the director chose to use a different ending rather than what actually happened in the book because it would show more emotion. It would also be hard to show the last line of the book in a movie. The ending line would be a horrible way to end a movie because you would want to see more than just, "'Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?'"

    The line at the end of the book is, "'Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?'" I think what the line is telling us about the speaker, Carlson, is that he doesn't understand why George is acting the way he is. The feeling that this line leaves the reader is confusion. This line made me want more of an explanation on to what it meant. Carlson said it to Curley so I wanted to know if he was trying to be sentimental or sarcastic.

    My general thoughts on this book are that I honestly didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I actually did. This story made me think about my friendships and I would put myself in George's situation. What had the most intense impact on me was when George killed Lennie himself because it made me think if I was in that situation would I have done the same. I would recommend this book to young adults (teenagers) because they would be more likely to understand the deeper meaning to this book than just saying it's about friendship, because it's more than that.

   

Of Mice and Men Conflct

     One of the conflicts that I chose is how Lennie doubts himself in what he does. I consider this type of conflict to be Man vs. Self. The way Lennie acts shows how he feels around others. He acts awkward and uncomfortable whenever he's with anyone else and George isn't there. George is Lennie's safe spot.  In the first section of the book it states, "In a panic, Lennie looked at George for help." This was when The Boss was asking Lennie a question and wanted him to answer, not George. Lennie didn't know what to do because he always relies on George to help him with everything. Lennie is not used to talking for himself because he thinks that he'll say something wrong and get George in trouble. George means everything to Lennie because they are always together and the last thing he wants is to hurt him, so that is why he lets George do all the talking for him.

     The effect this conflict has on the plot so far is that Lennie finds it hard to make friends because he is so used to having George talk for him. Since Lennie forgets things easily he might say something he's not suppose to. Like when he told Crooks about his and George's dream when George specifically told him not to tell anyone. In the it book states, "Crooks adjusted his glasses. 'Figuring? What's Candy figuring about?' Lennie almost shouted, ' 'Bout the rabbits.'" This quote shows how Lennie told Crooks about his dream that no one else was suppose to know because him and George did not want The Boss to find out.

     The other conflict that I chose was how Slim and Curley do not get along. This type of conflict is Man vs. Man. Slime and Curley have had problems with each other for who knows how long. The book states, "Curley burst into the room excitedly. 'Any you guys seen my wife?' He demanded. 'She ain't been here,' said White. Curley looked threateningly about the room. 'Where the hell's Slim?'" This quote shows that Curley assumes that since he cannot find his wife and Slim is no where to be found, he thinks that they are together. Maybe the reason that Curley does not like Slim is because he thinks that Slim is trying to get Curley's wife away from him.

     The effect this conflict has on the plot so far is that since Curley has a problem with Slim and wants to start a fight with him because he assumes Slim is with his wife. Curley makes a big scene out of his accusation and others start to get involved. Poor Lennie gets into a fight because Curley thinks that everything the other men talk about is about him. In the book it states, "Curley stepped over to Lennie like a terrier. 'What the hell you laughin' at?' Lennie looked blankly at him. Then Curley's rage exploded." "Curley was balanced and poised. He slashed at Lennie...smashed down his nose..." These quotes shows how Lennie was laughing at something he was thinking about, but Curley went on and thought that it was something to do with him. Curley got mad so he started to go at Lennie and punching him. Curley starts to get others involved into his own problems.

Dreams Of Mice and Men Blog

She had it all planned out

Her dream seemed bulletproof

But something came about

Just out of the blue

Her dream was crushed

The world fell into silence

Her voice now hushed

Everything became unbalanced

All these years working for it

Just for it to be crushed

She just wanted to quit,

Quit having hopes

She never wanted to dream again

Thought there was no point anymore

Was she going insane?

Or did she not know what to hope for?

Her life felt dull

She asked, "Why'd this happened to me?"

Maybe it was just meant to be

She had no hope whatsoever

She realized there was nothing to do

So she moved on

If there was anything she knew

It was that her beautiful dream was now gone

Of Mice and Men Chapters 1-2

     The atmosphere of the ranch and the bunkhouse is both negative and positive. I think this because sometimes George does not get along with some of the other workers, which might cause a conflict.  In the book it states, "George stood still, watching the angry little man." and also "Curley scowled at him..." These quotes show the relationship between George and Curley. These two men do not get along with each other and I think that the reason is because they both like to have smart remarks towards others. Their habit of smart talking might cause them to get into an argument.


     On the other hand, the atmosphere is also positive. I think this because it seems as if George and Lennie get along with Slim. In the story it states, "'You guys travel around together?'" Slim had asked George and Lennie why they travelled together. The fact that he said it in a kind voice, unlike The Boss, made George realize that he could tell him.


     I think the reason that Curley's wife does not have a name is because John Steinbeck probably wants the reader to imagine someone they know that is like Curley's wife. Steinbeck wants the person reading to make a connection as to who this character reminds them of.  I do not think that there is a message that John Steinbeck is trying to give to the readers. The reason that I said that John Steinbeck wants the reader to imagine Curley's wife to be someone they know, is because Steinbeck is really descriptive when he introduced her into the story.

3rd Quarter Reflection

Of the books you have read this quarter, which was your favorite? Why?

     Of the books that I have read this quarter my favorite was "Bronx Masquerade" because this book really showed how different ethnicities can come together and forget their differences. The book "Bronx Masquerade" made me realize that poetry really does have an impact on people. Whenever we had to write poems during class, I would look back to some of the poems that the characters had written so that I can get a better idea on what to write about. What I really liked about the book was that each character was different from the other, and despite those differences they all had one thing in common, poetry. I guess you can say that "Bronx Masquerade" had an impact on me.  

In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in ELA? 

     In the area that I think I made the most improvement was in writing my blogs. What I improved on the most in this was staying on topic and not rambling on about the same thing over and over again. In my previous blogs I would talk about a book and make a connection, and I would focus on the connection more than I did on the book. I knew that I had to change that because some of the things that I talked about did not really have to do with the blog at all. Another thing that I noticed that I have improved on is that I do not ramble about the same things over and over as much as I did before. I think that the reason I would ramble on was because I honestly had nothing else to say and I thought that my blog was not long enough. I would try to fill up some space so it would look like I wrote a lot but in reality I said the same thing too many times. Now I really try to focus on getting the main point out there instead of repeating little details.

     What is something you have accomplished this quarter that you are proud of?

     Something that I have accomplished this quarter that I am proud of is that I got more 3s and 4s on my vocabulary tests. I am really proud of this because in the 2nd quarter, although I did get some 3s and 4s, the majority of my tests my scores were 2s. This quarter I really wanted this to change because I knew that if I kept this up, it could really affect my final grade. I admit that in the 2nd quarter I didn't really study enough. I would study for about 25 minutes on thursday, which was the night BEFORE the test. This quarter I didn't study for the whole week, but I did study more. During the 3rd quarter I would study on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday for 20 minutes each day. This "schedule" really helped my grades improve. I know for sure that I will do the same for this upcoming quarter.

What has been the most challenging part of 3rd Quarter for you 

and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

     What I thinks has been the most challenging part of 3rd quarter was having time to read for the literature circles we recently finished. To me this was the most challenging part because I had other homework to do and I also had other priorities. I think that this was challenging because my group had assigned too many pages to read in one night, and sometimes I was in the mood to read and other times reading was at the bottom of my list. What I did to overcome this was that I would get my other priorities done first so that I had the rest of my time reading the book. This really helped because I did not worry as much as I did when I would read first, because I would think about getting my other work done.

     

Literature Circle - Half Brother

     Our essential question for the book, "Half Brother" by Kenneth Oppel is, did Ben and his dad's relationship improve? Ben and his dad did get a bit closer because they would work together with Zan, the monkey, and that would allow them to spend time together and communicate, but at the same time they did drift apart. The reason that Ben and his dad drifted was because they had different opinions on Zan. At the end of the book Ben and his dad's relationship eventually got better because they had to work together to save Zan from a horrible place.

     The article that my group chose to connect with our book is, "Chimpanzees in Laboratories".  We chose this article because in the book "Half Brother" the main character, Zan, was being treated like he was an experiment. This article talks about how the chimps are being treated. The chimps that are being held in a U.S. laboratory are intentionally being given diseases. In the article it states,"Most chimpanzees in U.S. laboratories were intentionally given diseases—such as HIV, hepatitis, cancer, respiratory viruses, malaria, and heart disease—... experimentation determined that chimpanzees’ bodies do not react in the same way to these diseases as humans’ do." This quote is showing that scientists are testing the chimps by giving them diseases and seeing how they react to it. This is considered animal cruelty because they are basically killing the chimps. The majority of these diseases are not curable.

     This article reminds me about the book because the way the author described how Zan was being taught, it sounded like he was kept in a laboratory half the times. Ben's dad had a chair that they strapped Zan in if he did not behave. Ben hated that chair because Zan would have a tantrum and it would not improve his behavior.  In the book it says, "Zan was buckled into the learning chair, struggling and screaming." The reason Zan was being treated like this was because of Richard, Ben's dad. Richard did not have any feelings towards Zan until the end of the book. For most of the book all he cared about was being successful. Richard said that having feelings towards the experiment will affect the results. The attitude that Richard had really got Ben mad because he just hated how his dad only cared about himself. Animal rights was the theme in both the article, "Chimpanzees in Laboratories" and the book, "Half Brother". 

     Different mediums affect the way animal rights are portrayed by using different information and visuals. For example if you use a video, you can actually see how the chimpanzees are being treated. Videos tend to show more emotion too because since you are watching how they are being treated, than the viewers might feel bad for the chimps. An article shows more information and it is more recent. Articles can be easier to understand because the information is right there. I prefer videos because I would actually want to see how the chimps are being treated instead of an article describing how they are treated.

     The difference between an article and a video is that an article is more informational and has less feelings than a video. Videos show more emotion because of the content that is being shown. An article is more descriptive and a video has minimal information. The similarities between an article and a video is that they both give enough information to understand the topic. Both mediums can be neutral depending on the topic. Overall, all mediums have their benefits and their disadvantages, but are all beneficial in the end.