8th Grade Ela Reflection

Let’s start off with my excitement in the beginning of the year. I was so happy most of my friends, would be in the same class as me. I thought this was going to be perfect. I remember having a great interest in writing, especially after writing a 20 page play in drama last year. So I really enjoyed one of our first assignments which was to write an essay, on a book we read over the summer. I, of course, wrote about the book: “A Game of Thrones” and I compared myself to my favorite character in the series, Tyrion. I had enjoyed writing the essay since it was my favorite book series, and show.

            I always loved our class discussions on a certain topic. One of the more powerful ones was about bullying. I had lots to talk about it, and realized a lot more from my other classmates. The book clubs were probably the most fun to do. We read a book, talked about it, and did the best we could on the project. I am not so much of a group working person, but that experience was memorable. Later in the year I started to slack off and mostly work hard in the subjects I enjoyed the most. But after my father had me stay after school to talk with Ms. Galang, I found out that I could make this class the best. I started to work harder, trying to bring my grade up, which came at a cost, I had to slack off a little on the other subjects, but maintained it well.

            I wanted to say that I am really thankful for Ms. Galang and my father. I would have probably slacked off in the class lowering my grade every marking quarter, if it wasn’t for people who cared for my education, and helped me solve my problems. I will miss every one of my classmates because they helped me during my time of need. They showed me the way, and helped me with things school related, or things that have nothing to do with education. Everyone has made this year my best. 

Poetry Project

Poem of the Forth ERA

the Dragon

is above it all,

It resembles

the Terror of Alynhall.

the Sword

and the Spear

All Men

will shed a Tear.

the Lightning

and the Shield,

All Men will have a

Weapon to Wield

All waiting for the

King to Yield.

Reflection

            I was writing a play for the drama exit project. This poem is kinda like what people would sing/write in that time. The play was pretty much on my mind, so why not make a poem out of it.

The Battlefield

In the Battlefield,

Explosions rang.

Guns would make one sound,

Bang!

In the middle,

There was Smoke.

The people who Breathed it,

Would only Choke.

In the distance,

There was a Striker.

He is the Man…

Who held the Sniper.

In the battle,

He played a role.

He knew it,

In his Soul.

He would pull the Trigger,

When the Captain would Nod.

And the Bullet,

Would Strike like the Fury of a God.

           

Reflection

Before I wrote the poem, I had just finished watching “American Sniper.” It was a great movie indeed, but after watching it, I could not get it out of my mind. So I decided to write a poem about it.

Sonnet Reflection

            I am not a big fan of writing sonnets. There are too many rules to follow, which for me is not enough freedom. When I write poems, or essays, I want as much freedom as possible. If I just follow rules, my mind does not open up to imagination. My mind only centers on what I have to do, not on what I could do. Never the less, it was a good learning experience writing a sonnet.

Heart Poem Response

Poem: PHOTOGRAPHY by Nikki Giovanni

            When I read this poem, it made me imagine the human body as a camera. The author: “Nikki Giovanni” of the poem “Photography” writes: “the eye we are told is a camera.” This is the first line of the poem, and it already gets your mind going. Once I read it, I imagined an eye, then the pupil being the lenses. Then the different parts of the eye acting like different parts of the camera. Then she states that “the film is the heart not the brain” I think it means that everything we experience is photographed, by the eyes, on the film of the heart.

This poem kind of connects to me because I was a big fan of photography when I was younger. That is what kind of led me to choose this poem as my heart poem. Another reason on how this poem connects to me is that I have never imagined the human body to function that way. It is all symbolic of course, but I think it seems pretty accurate. Everything we experience becomes snap shots as impressions on a roll of film. But instead of the film being our mind, these memories stay with us through the heart and soul of our body.

Extra Credit:

            Haikus

Back on the ground,

Face to the left,

The cat looks.

Cat laying,

Tail swaying,

Maybe later playing.

Cat on its back,

Why does it look at me?

I will never know.

                        Reflection

            I know a haiku is supposed to be about nature, and in class we were supposed to bring a photo of nature. Well I brought in a photo of my cat on its stomach, and it was very easy to write three haikus using the photo.

Thoughts During MacBeth

Thursday Performance:

I need to resay my lines.

 Resay them, resay them.

What part are we up to, okay Duncan just died. We are almost there.

I can’t believe this is happening right now.

Why am I not nervous anymore?

Holy… that knocking is loud, wait, already. I’m going to be up there soon,

Okay, get into position. One…Two…Three…

“Here’s a knocking indeed…” wow, that was loud, keep going…

“If a man were Porter of hell gate, he should have the old turning of the key.”

(The rest of the time I just said my lines without thinking)

“Knock Knock, Who’s There?”

“Faith here’s an equivocator, that could lie on both scales against either scale”

Oh God I missed a line, I say it with the English Tailor.

(I’m going to skip to the English Tailor paragraph)

“Knock Knock, Who’s There?”

“In the, other devil’s name…” oh good job, I hope no one noticed that.

(Skip to when MacDuff comes in)

I did good, I think I did good, I got some laughs, I just hope some people find my monologue funny.

(Close to the end of my monologue)

“It makes him STAND TO, and not stand to.” What people laughed, I can’t believe it, I love this part.

            Saturday Performance:

This will be just like Thursday, just keep saying your lines, you don’t want to mess up like last time.

Okay, now run

“Here’s a knocking indeed…” wow, that was louder than last time

Let’s keep going, get on stage like a lazy couch potato.

(Skip to Equivocator paragraph)

Okay, I didn’t miss my line like last time,

But what’s the next line, holy shit , no, no no no…

Improvise, IMPROVISE!

“Here’s an Equivocator…”

“He swore on both scales against either scale”

“He committed treason enough for God’s sake yet could not equivocate to Heaven!”

Oh thank God, that was a good save

(Skip to big monologue)

“It makes him STAND TO, and not stand to.” Do the hand motion                                                (only people there would understand)

WOW, that made people laugh hysterically, this is too good…

Just don’t laugh with them, don’t laugh.

(P.S. Kids of 8T1, You Were Awesome) 

I Am Number 4 Reading Response

Kids have always wanted to have super powers, and they think it would make life easier. In the book I Am Number 4 by Pittacus Lore, the main character named john, has super powers because he is from a different planet than ours. He is part of an alien race called the Loric from planet Lorian. This planet has been destroyed by another alien race called the Mogadorians. The Mogadorians are trying to kill the rest of the Loric and make earth their permanent home. The Loric race is faster and stronger than a normal human, which also gives them influence and power over them.

            John is stronger and faster than an average human, so in order to fit in society, he cannot show his strength. He can also use his strength to fight and most likely win. “…then I look back at Mark. I could literally break him in half if I wanted to.” (Lore 33). This just shows that John knows how powerful he is and how he can easily take down the star of the football team because of his strength. This also shows that he can control his anger, but if he could not it would lead him to use his strength uncontrollably.

            John also develops legacies, or super powers in order to fight the Mogadorians. He can use them at his own will but must train and exercise them to their full potential. All legacies are triggered by emotions; John’s anger to Mark made a legacy to appear. Some legacies are used for defensive measures such as resistance to fire, while others are offensive powers like controlling the weather. In any case, all legacies give its wielder power over someone else. “I hold my arms out; my body is straining in concentration. Nothing at first and then very slowly he begins to rise off the floor.” (Lore 245). John uses his telekinesis to make a man tell him where the Mogadorians came from. This just shows his power compared to a normal human and how he has power over them as well.

            John also uses his power over his guardian, or Cĕpan. Since they are being hunted down, they must leave whenever danger is close. But John finally makes a friend and gets a girlfriend so he doesn’t want to leave early. His Guardian, Henri, finds out that the Mogadorians are near so he gets ready to leave, but John resists. “I raise my hand and point at him and lift him from the ground. He is too shocked to say anything.” (Lore 258-259). This just shows that he can use his legacies to get what he wants. He can just use his powers to lift his guardian and stay a while longer. Personally I think this is a bad choice because his life is at stake and all he wants to do is have a normal human life, but what happens if the Mogadorians find him?

            Anger is a very powerful emotion which can lead to violence. John’s Legacies give him power over many things. Just a trigger of anger can make him use his powers uncontrollably which could lead him to hurt someone. I think he should listen to his Cĕpan because that is why they are therefore; to guide John in the right direction and keep him from danger that may result in his death.

Picture Book Draft

            In the land of New Zealand, the mountains are high and the forests are low. There are beaches, hills, plains, and of course volcanic plateaus. But what we really look for are the subtropical forests, where the baby kiwi bird lives in his great bush. Now this kiwi was different from the others. Oh yes, the kiwi was very different from the others. Instead of playing hide and seek with his friends, no the baby kiwi dreamt and dreamt. Now this kiwi had many dreams, but not enough to satisfy it seems. But there is one dream he always had. The dream was to fly and that’s was not bad. He went to his father to tell him the dream, so went off to see his father who was drinking from a stream. “Oh Father, Oh Father!” the baby kiwi cried, “I want to fly, I want to fly!” the kiwi smiled wide. Now the father looked at him with a sigh, and told him he would never be able to fly. Baby kiwi became sad, but that wasn’t too bad. The baby kiwi wanted a better answer, so he went to the wise Tuatara, who was once a dancer. “Oh Tuatara, Oh Tuatara,” the kiwi cried, “I want to fly, I want to fly,” the kiwi smiled wide. Now the wise Tuatara became very serious, but the kiwi knew he was never mysterious. “I tell you, I tell you,” the Tuatara said. “Little kiwi, without wings how can you fly?” and the lizard went to bed. This gave kiwi an idea, he went back home passing a tortilla. “I will fly,” the kiwi said, “I will create a machine that will let me go high.” The kiwi went home to get some supplies, and he vowed to never tell himself lies. The kiwi created a machine to help him fly, but as it turns out, the machine did not make him go high. The kiwi tried again updating his machine that will make him fly, and this time the machine mad him go high. Passing his father and his friend, he knew that imagining will never lead him to a dead end. The kiwi flew farther with his machine, passing the wise lizard and above the grass which was green.

Authors Note/Forward

People don’t believe in themselves. They get this great idea, and then think that people are going to put them down because of this idea. I personally think it’s wrong that people don’t have faith in themselves. When I was younger, all my ideas were destroyed by my older brother. He wanted to show that he was the greater one, the one with the better imagination, the one with bigger dreams. One of my dreams, and it is still my dream today, is to become an actor. When I told my brother this with pride, he automatically said I would not be able to. But it wasn’t only my brother who put me down. When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be top of the class. I studied hard and long with the help of my father, but a classmate always tried to make me give up. He didn’t want me to be better and smarter than him. Eventually I became the smartest in the class, completing my dream. Most people give up after so many fails. That is not good, if you are determined to do something good, do it no matter what. People should be able to give up so easily because of a few fails. Believing in yourself is all about being sure that you can do anything, even if people are against you. Usually, when you decide to take a big challenge or to do something that people failed to do you will find that everyone is putting you down. This should give you motivation to complete the task. But this will never happen if you let others, or yourself, put you down. 

Critical Thinking Question: How does this text deal with individuals and groups? Are people acting alone and in competition with others, or does this text imagine people working together?

Title: READY PLAYER ONE

Author: Ernest Cline

Quotation

Elaboration

1. “I loathed the Sixers and was disgusted by their very existence.” (pg. 34) 2. “Solos like me, didn’t care much for the clans,” (pg. 34) 3. “You should join the Sux0rs, they can use you vast stores of knowledge.” (pg. 44) 4. “I wanted to travel incognito.”

1. I believe the Sixers is a stupid organization and is a waste of time if you are applying to it. Joining a group that searches for Halliday’s Easter Egg sounds like a good idea, but when you find the egg, you have to share the prize with everyone in the group. 2. In my opinion, the hunt for the egg is best done solo. Being alone means not sharing information with anybody from family to foe. If you share information with someone, you will probably be stabbed in the back. 3. The Sux0rs is a nickname given to the Sixers because mostly everyone disagreed with their idea of a gunter clan. Telling a kid that they belong to a group of so called losers pretty much explains that the Sixers/Sux0rs is a disgrace to the gaming world. 4. This can show the concern of Wade and how he wants to stay solo. If someone started to follow him and find the tomb he was looking for, then he could easily be defeated and lose finding the copper key. Even though the game world is no player vs player, the tomb can be a pvp location and Wade would be defeated horrifically.

Claim: Even though working in a group can complete a task faster, there are some scenarios where you should be alone.