Friday, December 10, 2010

Mystery with a Twistery !!!! Hahaha I love Spongebob

This week we have have finished our Human Rights lesson!!! I'm kinda glad in a way because there were just too many ways to go in terms of which groups have human rights and comparing the ones that didn't have any. We have begun what is to be my favorite genres of like all time!!! We started by reading the weirdest 3 page story about some lady who's dog was killed by a psychopath who escaped from a mental institute. The funniest part of that whole story was when she realized that the person who escaped from the institute was the one who was next to her bedside.Hahahahaha and that meant that he licked her hand ewww that is sooooo hilarious to me i don't know why. Anyways we watched this 70/80's version of "When a Stranger Calls" which by the way I have seen the remake and it scared the crap out of me for a while. It was very different considering the way that we view scary movies now but it had all the requirements I should say that a suspenseful story needs. I hope we will be reading more stories cause I am a sucker for this stories!!! I try to figure them out like I was called on to investigate the crime. If we are doing anything like that in class then I can almost promise I won't fall asleep.!!!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Civil Rights, Human Rights

 So this week in class things like human rights were discussed. We read stories in class, one of them had to do with the internment camps that the Japanese were put in during the second world war. There was also a very important question brought up; should what happened to the Japanese during this time be compared to what happened during the holocaust? The answer to that question could be twisted in so many different ways. In my opinion I would not want to consider what happened at the Japanese internment camps of less value than what happened in the holocaust because in both situations there was a large number of lives lost. At the same time the reasons for why each event happened are very different. The Japanese were treated the way they were because the United States did not want to face a threat to the country especially after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The holocaust situation is different because Hitler only had resentment for the Jewish which was why he chose to kill them the way he did ,so there is a lot to consider there. We also watched a movie on Thursday or Wednesday (I forget what its called) and it was about the sacrifice that an immigrant from Italy made to save his son during the holocaust. It was a very sad but interesting movie in the way he made his son believe that the whole situation was a game that he had to win but it also showed  another side to the war, what kind of labor and torture the immigrants went through, some of the guy's friends never made it back from taking a shower because they were taken in  gas chambers. It was a great perspective but at the same time,showed the harshness that people without human rights faced

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Stories of Struggle Essay

                      This week in English 10 there werewe studied three stories, the first one was "NightJohn". The story could have taken place around the mid-1800's. The narrator of the story is a girl who worked on the plantations as a slave, she  is later called Sarny. In this story there were many things that stood out that shows the opinions of African-Americans at the time. Mentioned in the book by Sarny slaves were not allowed to address their masters by their first names. They lived on the property of the slave owners and were considered property themselves.Throughout the story as Sarny is describing events she is at the same time sharing the daily life of a slave.The slaves were not allowed to wander off of the property and  their only use of clothing was tarp cloth. They ate out of troughs which were used for horses and only the strong young men were allowed to reproduce or what they called "breeding" while the others worked in the farms, so they were treated like animals and called just "niggers" in general.The most important and influential part of this story though was that they were allowed to read nor write. Anyone caught doing so would face extreme punishment such as being whipped or worse. NightJohn who was a slave that had recently been bought onto the same plantation as Sarny knew how to do both read and write. As the story continues he meets Sarny and manages to make a deal with her that if she gives him tobacco he will teach her all the letters of the alphabet.
           The next story titled "Mascot" is what seems to be an autobiography of the late Malcolm X. In the story Malcolm X  is about 13 years old. He is talking about his older brother Philbert who many in his neighborhood say is a good boxer and who might go on to be the next "Brown Bomber". Malcolm though that if he learned to box as good as his brother than his reputation would go up, and the people in his neighborhood got some kind of racial pride in this because it was really the only legal way of hitting a white person. This is not what happened though, when Malcolm tries to box he learns that it is really not his best way of gaining attention and in fact ends up weakens his reputation when he is beat by a white boy. For the several behavioral problems he faced while in school he is sent to a reform school not far from where he lived in Michigan. While attending the school he stays with Mr.and Mrs. Swerlin a married white couple and meets the state man Mr. Maynard Allen. As he narrates throughout the story he talks about how they seemed to enjoy his company and with the exception of using the word "nigger" he was alright with them. He attends the school where he learns alongside white people and is even allowed to converse with them and he is even respected. Eventually he goes into high school and the same thing follows ,only this time he starts thinking more and more about the way he is looked at by those around him. One thing that sets off a major difference in views is when his teacher Mr. Ostroski asks him what he wants to do with his life.  Malcolm says he would like to become a lawyer his teacher does not take him seriously saying that he needs to be  "realistic about being a nigger" and that a lawyer is no realistic goal that maybe carpentry would suffice. This upsets Malcolm because when his other classmates tell about their ideal careers they are encouraged. When Malcolm goes to visit his family back and forth one day he met his step-sister and went to places like Chicago, Detroit , and New York. There he witnessed a side of his culture that he had not seen in some time. The music, food and atmosphere in general were similar to that of his hometown but it seemed to have a more free existence in the way they acted and talked. there were black-white couples walking down the streets. This seemed to change his views and he now felt as though he needed to be with people of his kind. He leaves Mr. and Mrs. Swerlin and goes on to live with his step -sister Ella and he never really explains to them why he decides to leave but he continues to write letters.
               In both of these stories and in the movie "Great Debaters" there were many similarities and differences some easily pointed out others a little difficult to find. The two stories and the movie each had a different time setting that showed where racism stood in the United States. The story "Mascot" has a closer time period to "The Great Debaters" from the story "NightJohn". "NightJohn" took place in the south when slavery was not yet abolished. African-Americans were slaves and had no civil rights, they were not allowed to read or write whatsoever and they were just treated like animals. This is very different from the story "Mascot" which took place in the late 1930's , at the time where slavery had been abolished and African -Americans had been considered  citizens. They were allowed to live among the whites and go to school to learn but in different Neighborhoods but still considered below the whites. Both of these stories have have a large contrast to the movie "The Great Debaters" which though occurred around the same time as "Mascots" portrayed a slightly different outlook on African-Americans. The movie shows Africans-Americans who not only had the chance to learn but also educate themselves among their own people. One example of this was Wiley College where three African-American debaters went to practice and write their own speeches for debates held against other colleges. Living in their own neighborhood they still educated themselves about the better opportunities they could have for themselves and the things out there in the world that would reach them to higher ground. Samantha Booke for example wanted to be a lawyer and there were at the time only two known female lawyers in Texas. This is very different from "NightJohn" where African -Americans were not even acknowledged as humans and were used no more than for the slave owner's purposes. Never given the opportunity to learn for fear that the slave would one day rise up against their masters and revolt they were not allowed to read nor write. "Mascot and "The Great Debaters" are closer in comparison because they revolve around the same time period. Both take place at a time where African-Americans were segregated from the whites but still able to be recognized by society. They did not have the same jobs or positions that white people held but had industrial jobs that did not require much knowledge. These three stories each have a story to tell about the history of racism in America and where it stood at different times. The  continuous progression towards changing the way others view about people has gotten society where it  is today. Reading "NightJohn" and "Mascot" as well as watching "The Great Debaters" has given some insight on two very different but important points in African-American history.

Friday, November 19, 2010

The last full week of November?

I honestly am so glad that this week has gone by as fast as it is and I'm pretty sure it will continue to go this fast for the rest of the year , there may not be times when it feels like it but it certainly is. This week and the previous week we took a break from all the bookwork and essays tests, what have you and we just decided to sit down and talk. Now I LOVE to talk anyone who knows me knows that if whatever I feel is important enough to say I will say and that's what I did throughout the week. We discussed human rights and we started to get more into civil rights and I talked not just to talk but to get a better understanding of the story. However today being Friday (11/19/10) I could not really say anything. There was nothing to say. In class we had continued watching a movie called The Great Debaters. I admit that I had seen the ending part a while ago but the beginning I was so into I was thinking If every single English teacher put THIS movie in their classes wowsers. Now I am not the teary type my tears go past the bottom of my eyes , but at that moment as Samantha Booke was giving her speech on why schools should integrate it was really just a containment of emotions that speech had the right amount of emotion for the audience with enough statistics to back it up I was literally fighting to hold back tears. So I'm really glad for that and I honestly like this whole discussing/watching movies thing and it wasn't a pretty bad week. 

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Crazy Week coming to a close

This week has had to have been one of  the most hectic if not the most hectic week I have ever faced, but it was all for a good cause. Wednesday was the dress rehearsal for the play, To Kill a Mockingbird, the whole cast of the play got to perfrom for the whole sophmore class.  There was some very positive feeback about the show itself and no negative comments except about the maturity of the sophmore class while the play was taking place. Overall I was very glad that a majority of the students were able to relate to the play as for the maturity of some not all of the students , I can only feel sorry that were not used to seeing a play with such serious elements and that instead of really trying to grasp what the play was about, they used immaturity as an excuse. In some ways I can relate the play and movie that we watched/saw 12 Angry Men to the play/book To Kill a Mockingbird .The jury had the power to determine the lives of two people. This is the only quote I could think of that would fit both of these stories

A court is only as sound as its jury ,and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up~ To Kill a Mockingbird

Friday, November 5, 2010

12 Angry Men and 1 Very Angry Woman >=(

Okay so I am really angry because I had like the perfect blog and now its gone. In class we read this play called Twelve Angry Men. In the book a sixteen year old boy i accused of murdering his father and his fate is in the hands of twelve jurors. All of the jurors seem to find the boy guilty except juror number eight. He want to know more about the crime before he can go ahead and vote for he fear he could possibly send an innocent person to jail. As they explain the evidence brought into court the juror start to question the facts. He does so in a way that brings up some very interesting view points and kind of twists the vote of the jury. But really I feel that he is only trying to get the jury to think for themselves and use their brains along with the evidence provided. In biology one of the first things that we learned was that a theory can always be proved wrong i consider this a theory because there is more than one way to look at it that makes sense with what was presented. Sure they are only theories ,what ifs as opposed to the facts and may all lead up to him being the killer but guess what if the evidence is pointing to more than one possibility than so can the facts.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Zzzz...

(Okay so I am a little frustrated because i had to re-type this but) Happpy Fridayyy!!! I am so glad that this week went by as  fast as it did. I am so glad that we were finally able to finish the book To Kill aMockingbird. The book was a great read and I give it a 7-8 out of 10 on the Assigned Book Reading chart. I felt bad that the movie didn't quite have as many details as the actual book (however I have to admit details are expensive) but it was still interesting to watch. The parts of the movie that really captured my attention were the testimonies of Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell. I think that those were the parts of the movie that emotionally drew people's attention and really made them realize the importance behind this story and how it affected other people's lives back during this time. I honestly can't wait until people see the play because hopefully people will walk away from it and consider maybe for just a moment, their actions towards others in one way or another, not saying that everyone does but who doesn't ?

Friday, October 22, 2010

bLoG pOsT

So this week went by pretty fast for which I am soo thankful for because the homework has increased by like oh 110% say. Really though I cant be happier that the weekend is finally here but something tells me that I'm going to feel like this every week if this happens to be the normal amount =\. Well we read more of To Kill a Mockingbird and I gotta say this is the first book in which I have not fallen so behind that I need to catch up. Of course I dont know why but the book is interesting I know that much but what sets it apart from other books I guess I will never know. We have to read the last three chapters over the weekend >=\ . Im really gonna try but you already know that when we come back Monday theres gonna be people who didnt even read the like last chapter and I'm just sayin if people have to cram all of the reading on Sunday thats their fault but I got other HW and stuff to do so this might be the first thing that I do for HW . To be honest I would have rather watched the movie on a Monday cause I dont like coming to skool and a movie would have helped me get into the week better ... buuuut thats your decision so Im just gonna finish this i guess.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

3 Dayyy Week !!! =D

So this week has gone by fast thank the lord because if i fell asleep in any class one more time  i would start bringin a pillow =\ . Its all good though because now im gonna have all the sleep i want this week wheeeeeeeeee!!!! So we're still reading To Kill a Mockingbird and its a good book i gottta say again ususally have to catch up on my reading cause i literally fall asleep if the book is too boring but the reading in class has definitely made it easier to read. The quizzes are like these little gift sentences from the book you fill in i mean to me they're so easy the words never seemed confusing to me at alll but i was known for having an obsession with words. I could telll what they meant without seeing them even once and even though when i read the book i felt like i was reading it for fun theres just thing you just cant forget and stuff you just dont remember . Either way its all good in english right now =D

Friday, October 8, 2010

To summarize in More than Words (see how i did that ?" To Kill a Mockingbird

So this week went by pretty fast we turned in that 500 point essay and now no more projects wheee!!! Now we're reading to Kill a Mockingbird which I personally think is gonna be a great book. I haven't seen the movie but i feel as if i wouldn't need to. I'm in the school play for To Kill a Mockingbird and the way the story sets itself up I couldn't wait to read the book. Now some people may say why read the book why not watch the movie but every movie that I've ever seen has no comparison to the actual book (except Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp). Even though i pretty much know the outline of the whole story i still want to read the book because books always give images that only we can interpret in our minds and ours alone and it better understands our point of view when we read. Some people will never know that joy though cause they continue to "watch the movie " that's made from someone else's point of view =(. And I'm really glad that we get to read like a chapter in class to decrease the number of pages (Cause i have theatre afterskool and we tryin to perfect the play for y'all ) so I'm not so tired and the readings easier. I have to admit though i sometimes wish i could read more because its so easy to get into the book when you've seen one vision of it already and now you get the chance to have your own.This was a pretty good week overall ... Byeeee!! Oh and Go Lions!!! woot woot

Friday, October 1, 2010

This is what it all comes down to I got a nine page rough draft to do and a concert lol what kind of weekend ill be lucky if i get to eat !!! *sigh* I really gotta get movin then I guess everything else is okayy i guess btu remember people we have to have our cards in order when we give them to him!!! This was week two of my teenage mid-life crisis and the more I have to spend on this project next thing i know im gonna have wrinkles lolol  so im gonna see how much of it i can get done today. I just literally found out today that our essay was worth 500 POINTS !!!! Where was I when we were counting ???  Probably off in L.A.L.A Land hee- hee well no pressure then right just gotta type and not worry about the rubric on the left side of my folder ... or the one in the trials packet. Iwonder what percentage that is of our grade hmmm? Well better not dwell on it now just gotta get movin I guess .

Friday, September 24, 2010

This Week This Project =\

this week has been really stressful i'm not even gonna lie . It all started when i thought we had to have 20 notecards by Monday then finding otu we were actually supposed to DO 20 i mean really wow and i only had like 20 so i get behind and have to do those at the same time i have other homework to do like U.S. History which i always leave for last just because i can never get to it. i have to say now i guess im back on track just waiting for this project to be over i mean we need like a break or something and Mr.Potter if you give us any  homework over the winter im going to like start misspelling words on purpose here. going around trying to print papers at the same time trying to finish other homework and study for the tests/quizzes in my other subjects i mean im pretty sure im gonna have more gray hairs before you even get them. lolol but ill try to make it cause at this point i really dont have a choice do I?? nope didnt think so oh welll BYEEEE!!!!

Friday, September 17, 2010

okayy so second blog in a row and i just wanna say that all these papers are driving me crazy!!!! i mean im not even sure if homework everyday is worse i mean are we gonna get projects instead of homework for the first semester or what . however if we're gonna do all the projects now or somethin and have just regular homework later on i guess that's okay. i got a pretty good head start on my project right now i gotta say my only concerns when we gotta put it together i dont know what order im gonna put my paper but i figure it out. how many days is mr.potter gonna let us spend in the library honestly i gotta know so i can know how much more time to spend on this paper at home cause i dont have a study hall =/. hmmm thats really all i can say but i hope i can finish the rest of my cards this weekend and just chill =).

Saturday, September 11, 2010

English Class

I think i finally got the hang of this blog thing lol and if nobody see sthis well then my grades in trouble but anyways yeah Mr.Potter assigning a 5 paragraph essay the first two weeks of school not cool =( but it wont matter cause i can write FOREVER bring it on !!!! we studied poetry in class that was okayy i write a lot myself soo it was kinda fun i like the stories too the ones we have to read like as a class were interesting are we gonna watch a lotta movies cause i mean in opinion i think we could learn a lot but... just a thought . i read ALL the time when i was a kid though and I was a huge fan of sherlock holmes when i was younger and when i found out he wasnt real i  was like heartboken i mean dreamt that i would meet him and we would torment Watson hahaha i love mystery and suspense but my favorite book of maybe all time and movie is Holes by Louis Sachar which i think is Historical Fiction which we could so watch just in case we happen to study that in class =D kinda nervous to be in this class caus ei mean if you givin out essays the first two weeks then... hello what are we gonna ghave for breaks not that we should have any  assignments because that would be sooo mean so we'll see