Participation for 4th Quarter

    I feel like I did well this forth quarter.  The topic I did the best in was general procedures.  I always came prepared to class everyday, did my homework every night, and checked the website/email every day.  The next topic I think I did well in was Individual and Group work.  In group work I made sure we were kept on topic, and individually I made sure I did my work.  The last topic, Lecture, Announcements, Class Discussion I didn't do really well.  I took notes well, and listened to classmates and Dr.D, but I did have a lot of side conversations.  It is something I need to work on for next year.
  Overall, I feel like I have grown this year.  At the beginning of the year I didn't do to well in group work, but now it is one of my favorite things to do.  I also think that I take better notes and listen to the class in whole way better.  The only thing I really need to work on is talking in class.  I think that this year I have grown, and want to keep growing as a student throughout my high school years.  

Letter

Dear Block 4 English,
      I can't believe we have almost finished our first year of high school! It has been a really good year because I have learned a lot of new stuff and I feel like our grade has come closer this year.  We had really good teachers this year, and have learned a lot, especially in English.  This year I came into English I not knowing how to write at all.  Last year whenever we did papers, I never did good.  Now at the end of the year, we have written so many kinds of papers, like Profiles, Literary Analysis, and a research paper.  When I came on the first day of school this year, I would of never thought that I would know how to write those kinds of papers at the end of the year, but now I can say that I do.
     The thing that I really enjoyed about English I was our class.  This was my favorite class because of how much we learned and especially the people in the class.  From the first day of school, we were a talkative class, and always wanted to have fun.  When it was time to learn, we did what we needed to do, but in a fun way.  We have gotten really close now!  It is really bittersweet towards the end of the year, because I'm going to miss being a freshman, but I'm ready to start my sophomore year.  

Outside Reading This Year

This year I found out a lot about what I like to read.  Coming into the year I had a closed mind about only reading "chick flick" books.  The first book I read for outside reading was the second book in the Shiver series, then I read the last book in that series.  Then we had a break from reading because we were starting the literary analysis.  During the second semester I wanted to open my options for a new type of book.  So I started, A Stolen Life, by Jaycee Duggard.  It was completely different from what I was reading.  This was an autobiography about a girl getting kidnapped.  
After reading that book I realized that I do enjoy other books besides books about a girl falling in love with a guy.  I still enjoy those books, and they are probably my favorite genre to read, but this year I learned that I like some books that are not in the genre.  I also thought that writing two paragraphs about what you read every week was a good idea.  It helped me to think about the book besides the story line.  It showed me what kind of writing I like, and what I like about the authors.  Overall, I think this was a good year for outside reading.


Reading Times:
Saturday: 1 hour 50 pages
Sunday: 1.5 hours 68 pages 

Macbeth's Perspective

In class we are reading the play, Macbeth. The last scene we read with Macbeth in the scene is 2.3, when we find out that Duncan and the guards were murdered.  During this scene, Macbeth is very nervous about the killing of Duncan.  He sees that some of the people like Malcom and Donalbain are suspicious.  He then tells everyone that he killed the guards because he was so mad that they killed Duncan.  The real reason Macbeth killed the guards was because the guards might of remembered Lady Macbeth giving them wine, and them passing out.  
I think the overall feeling that Macbeth has during this scene is nervous.  He is afraid that someone is going to try and find out if he killed Duncan, and why he really killed the guards.  Lady Macbeth then "passes out" to distract people from asking Macbeth questions about the murder.  I think whats going to happen in the end of the story is he is going to tell everyone that he killed Duncan because of guilt.  

Freshman Writing

Mallory Baldwin

Dr. deGravelles

April 30, 2012

Block 4

This Years Writing

            As my freshman year comes to a close, the last major writing assignment was to look back at all of our essays and see what we have improved throughout the year, and what we still need to work on.  When this assignment was assigned, I was looking forward to looking back at my writing and see how much I have improved just over these eight months.  When I went back to Turn It In and looked back at the comments, I noticed that in every paper had an issue that was repeated throughout the paper.  I also noticed that they were very small issues, and they were fixed in the papers that came after.  Overall, this year I feel like my writing in general has majorly improved, with minor issues along the way.

            The first major paper we wrote in this class this year was our Literacy Narrative.  Mine was called “Pure Imagination,” and it was about me experiencing my first time dealing with plagiarism, and how every time I write a paper and we talk about plagiarism, I think of that experience.  Overall, the main reason I got points off for this assignment was for grammatical errors, especially commas.  I had a few comma splices throughout the paper, and I didn’t add commas when addressing people, like, “Why can’t she, Momma?”  The overall comment that was given stated that I had vivid details, and clear significance, but I needed to work on the grammatical errors. 

            The second writing assignment of the year was the profile.  We had to write about a certain person or place, and the significance of that person or place.  I centered my profile around my house in Orlando, and how it is great place to go when I need to relax.  I think this was one of my best writing pieces of the year.  The only thing that I needed to add in this paper to make it better was more active verbs, and I repeated some phrases multiple times that I needed to take out.  Not only do I think this was my best writing piece of the year, but it was my favorite essay to write this year.

            Halfway through the year, we did the WrAP essay.  Our topic was prices with buying music.  I said that lowering the prices and making websites to get songs for free is wrong, because the artists that record the songs are not making as much money as they should be.  This was the best score I have ever gotten on the WrAP.  My lowest point in the categories was support, and that was because my essay was pretty short.  I should have developed my claims more.  Overall, I thought this was an okay writing assignment of mine. 

            Our next paper was the Literary Narrative.  My paper dealt with the repetition of irony throughout the story, and how that contributed to the theme of the story.  A lot of people in my class had difficulties writing this paper, including me.  This was the hardest paper for me to write because we dealt with our first thesis in a paper.  That is where my problem fit in.  I had a good thesis, but throughout the paper I could have developed my claims more to link them back to my thesis.  I do think though that this paper was a good first attempt at a thesis paper. 

            The most recent essay we did was the Global Issues Paper.  I did my project on causes of lack of fresh water in Africa, and ways we can prevent this issue.  This was my first research paper that I have ever done.  We first gathered the research, and then wrote the paper.  After finding the research and making the outline, I thought that this was a fairly easy paper to write.  The largest problem that I had in the paper was that I would put quotes in the paper, and not develop how those quotes contributed to the thesis. 

            After reviewing my papers completely I would say my biggest problem that I still need to work on is development.  Developing my claims would not only make my papers longer,  but make people understand my paper better.  The thing that I think I have improved on the most was my word choice.  I have always chosen words that were not as strong as I could make them to be, but this year I have noticed that I have improved my world choice a lot of this year.  Overall, I think that this was a good writing year for me, and hope that my writing improves even more throughout the years to come. 

           

           

 Common Errors List

1. Comma Splice: adding a comma with no conjunctions between to sentences to make it a run-on sentence

Example: This is not a good book, it is too long to read.

2. Adding commas when addressing someone:

Example: How are you today, Anna?

3. Adding a hyphen to a number:

Example: two-year old

4. Spelling out numbers one through 9:

Example: 2 years ago… needs to be two years ago…

5. Underlining book titles:

Example: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Reading Times

It's Not Summer Without You:
Monday: 100 minutes
Class times: 25 minutes
Saturday: 25 minutes

"Moments" By One Direction

Heres a link to the song and lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf6tvcaR37w

The song that I chose to analyze was the song “Moments” by One Direction.  Their friend, Ed Sheeran, who is a singer, also wrote it.  The reason I chose this song to analyze is because I really like the meaning of this song and I wanted to analyze it to see if I could find any hints about the meaning of the song.  The meaning of the song is really sad; it is about a couple and the girl dies and the boy can’t live without her so he commits suicide.  The first couple of times I heard this song, I didn’t know what it was about, but after listening to it so more I knew it was about something sad.  I decided to look online and find out the meaning. 

            After listening to the song a couple of times, looking at the lyrics, and analyzing it, I noticed a lot poetic techniques.  In the chorus there is personification in the second line where it says,

“My love, my heart is breathing for this

Moment in time”.

This is the only sign of personification in the poem and I think they use it to make it seem that the heart is a living thing that has emotion and wants the moments with them together to come back. 

            Another technique used was a simile in the second verse.

“My judgments clouded

Like tonight’s sky.”

This is the only time they use a simile in the song, and I think they use it to show the confusion that the speaker of this song is confused and doesn’t know what to do. 

            The third technique I saw being used is the repetition of the last line in both verses.  In the first and second verse the last line says, “and the tears stream down my face”.  They use this repetition to show the emotion of the speaker.  In the first and second verse they talk about trying to do things to help him get over the pain, or what’s going on in his mind, and nothing can help it so he keeps crying.

            The last technique I noticed was hardly any of the song has any rhyme scheme, except for the bridge of the song.

“Flashing lights in my mind

Going back to the time

Playing games in the street

Kicking balls with my feet

There's a numb in my toes

Standing close to the edge

There's a pile of my clothes

At the end of your bed

As I feel myself fall

Make a joke of it all”

This really stood out to me because most songs have a rhyme scheme and this one didn’t except for the bridge.  I think they did this because it is the most important part of the song, because this is the part where he commits suicide, “As I feel myself fall, make a joke of it all”.  I think the author, Ed Sheeran, did this to make it stand out and tell us what it is about.  

The Summer That I Turned Pretty and It's Not Summer Without You

Just letting you know if you plan on reading these books, don't read this because it has a spoiler in it! 

           Over the Spring break I finished The Summer That I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han.  I also began the sequel to the book It’s not Summer Without You.  The last part of the book was really sad, and from the small amount that I read of the second book, it is sad also.  What happens in the ending of the first book is Conrad and Jeremiah’s mom, Susannah, gets cancer again, and it is terminal cancer.  They don’t really know how long she has to live, but the two boys and Belly make a promise to always come back to the beach house for the summers to come.  That doesn’t happen though.

            In April of the year after, Susannah dies from the cancer.  We find out that she dies in the first chapter of the second book.  The way that Han describes how much Susannah cared about Belly makes it sad.  She also describes how sick and weak Susannah had gotten in the months before her death.  It is really sad and I hope that it gets a little bit happier, and not as depressing throughout the rest of the book. 

Reading Times:
Wednesday: TSTITP: 100 minutes 90 pages

Thursday: It’s Not Summer Without You: 50 minutes 30 pages

The Summer That I Turned Pretty

   I'm about 2/3 of the way done with The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han.  I really am enjoying this book a lot.  What is happening right now is that the main character Belly met this boy named Cam, and they are kind of dating.  I say kind of because they kissed, but haven't really said that they were a couple.  I just read the part in the book where Belly's mom and Susannah wants Cam to come over to dinner.  I wonder how that is going to turn out.   
   I want to talk about what I think will end up happening in the series.  I do think that she is going to end up with one of the boys, Conrad or Jeremiah.  The question is which one she going to end up with.  She has liked Conrad for her entire life, but Conrad hasn't been himself this summer.  The reason I think that Jeremiah  and Belly might end up together is because they have gotten closer this summer, and Belly has a lot of fun with Jeremiah.  I really don't know which one she will choose, but I think that is a reason that I keep reading the books because I don't know whats going to happen! 
Reading Times:
"The Fish" Elizabeth Bishop: 10 minutes
"Fifth Grade Autobiography" Rita Dove: 25 minutes
The Summer I Turned Pretty" 115 minutes 40 pages 

Poem Close Read "Fifth Grade Autobiography"

   The poem that I chose to read was the poem "Fifth Grade Autobiography" by Rita Dove, on page 13.  I read this poem on the page that Dr.D gave us called How To Read a Poem, and it did help me understand the poem better, than when I read it the first time.  On the page that Dr.D gave us, it gave us techniques on how to read a poem, and what to notice in the poem to make you understand the poem better.  I did like this method of reading poems and will probably do this for every other poem I read.
   One technique I saw in the first stanza was the use of consonance with the letter F and S.  In the first line it says "I was four in this photograph fishing," and in the fifth and sixth line it says, "sits squared on his head so the raccoon tail flounces down the back of his sailor suit."  I think the effect that this consonance gives is the words that have a repetition in certain letters are the things that are important to the author in the poem.  The author wants us to know that she was four and the poem is about a picture of her fishing.  Then she describes her brothers hat and what he was wearing.  She might of used consonance here to describe what her brother was wearing.  This was a somewhat easy poem to understand, but the page How to Read a Poem really helped me. 

The Summer I Turned Pretty

I'm still reading The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han.  It is getting really interesting.  I'm at the part where Belly is hanging out with this guy she met at a Latin convention.  She is starting to like him, but Conrad doesn't really like him.   I wonder if Conrad is jealous or just protective.  Also, Belly has mentioned a couple times that Conrad and Jeremiah's mom is getting weak.  I wonder if her cancer is coming back.  
I've gotten used to the author going back in time and going back to real life.  I actually enjoy it, because she gives us background information that we need to know.  Another thing I like that Lauren Scott mentioned when we were talking about this book in class is that she writes in vivid detail.  I actually feel like I'm at Cousins Beach, which makes me want it to be Spring Break really bad!  The way she describes the characters makes you feel like you are at the beach, because she talks about everyone being tan.  I really am enjoying these books, and I do think that if you are interested in "chick" books, this is a good book for you.  
Reading Times:
Monday 30 minutes 15 pages
Tuesday 1 hour 40 pages
Friday 1 hour 38 pages

Summer Vacation

I think that we all can agree and say that we can't wait for summer vacation! I have a countdown app on my phone and it says that summer is 62 days away, which seems like a long time, but it's not that bad!  The reason I can't wait for summer is that I'm leaving a week after we get out of school to go to Orlando and not coming back til the last week of July.  I can't wait to go because we have already planned to do a lot of things.  My aunts, their kids, and my grandmother on my mom's side are coming the first week of June to go to Disney World.  I can't wait for that because I get to go to Disney with all of my cousins who are 15, 10, and 2! It is going to be really fun!
The part of summer that I CANNOT wait for is the end of June.  Victoria and Anna Spring are coming down and we are going to a One Direction Concert! We got our tickets this morning and they are really good seats! They are close to the stage and is in a good area.  When we found out that they were going on tour in the US, we knew that we had to get tickets, and we got lucky and got them.  Besides the concert, we might go to Cocoa Beach or Disney World for a day! I can't wait for summer, and hope these next 62 days fly by! 

Outside Reading

   This week I started a new book called, The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han.  So far, it is a really good book.  It is about two families that have been friends forever, and they always go to the beach during the entire summer together.  In one family is the narrator, Isabella or Belly, her brother Steven, and her mom Laurel.  In the other family are two boys, Conrad and Jeremiah, and their mom Susana.  Belly has always liked Conrad, but at the part I am at now, she is starting to develop feelings Jeremiah.
   I haven't read that much, but so far it is a really good book.  One thing that I like about Han's writing is the way she writes the book.  Her chapters aren't that long, which I like.  She also will go back in time when Belly was younger and talk about things that happened at that time.  I find that a little confusing because at times I don't know wether it is happening at that time or in the past.  I think I just have to get used to it.  It is a really good book, but I think girls would like this book more than guys.  
Times:
3/14: 10 minutes 5 pages
3/16: 20 minutes 11 pages
3/18: 130 minutes 50 pages 

St. Patrick's Weekend

     I had a fun weekend!  Friday night was Taylor Carmouche's surprise party.  Almost all of our grade showed up at the Country Club of Louisiana for the party.  When she was about to walk in, we all got on the floor and surprised her.  She was extremely surprised! During the party we danced, and sang happy birthday to her.  The cake was so pretty! There were also virgin piña coladas, food, and we got to take home T-shirts that were made for her party.  Me, Victoria, Anna Spring, and Mary Michael all left together and went to Victoria's house to spend the night for the St.Patricks Day parade on Saturday.
    We got up around 9 and got ready for the parade.  Victoria lives in the neighborhood where the St. Patrick's Day parade, so we walked down around 10.  The parade was really fun! We saw a lot of people from our school and caught a lot of beads! After the parade, we went back to Victoria's house to drop off the beads that we got, and then went to the LeBlanc's house for their party that they were having.  It was really fun! Andrew took all of us on his little go-cart around the neighborhood, and we hung out with a bunch of people from our school.  This was a really fun weekend, and I hope I can go again to the parade next year. 

Outside Reading

   This week we finished reading Nervous Conditions.  I really enjoyed this book compared to Lord Of The Flies. I thought that chapter 10 was very interesting and had a lot of things going on.  A part that made me sad was when Tambu goes to Sacred Heart and they tell her that she has to share a bedroom with six other girls.  I guess it didn't effect her that much because she got such a great opportunity to go to a great school. Another part that was really sad was when Nyasha has her "breaking point."  What made it sadder is that when she goes to the therapist to get help, the therapist says that she is just doing it to get attention.  
   After I finished Nervous Conditions, I read the new chapter that came out of the fan fiction I started reading, which was really sad and left everyone on another cliff hanger.  I still had to read some more so I finished up my book I started reading before we started reading NC.  It is called A Stolen Life, by Jaycee Dugard.  I had to skim through the last chapters I read before reading the new parts because I kind of forgot what happened.  I don't want to say the ending because it is sort of bittersweet, and would give away things  if someone wanted to read it.  Now that I am finished with this book, I need a new one to read.  Does anyone have any suggestions? 


Times:
Nervous Conditions: 40 minutes 15 pages 
Fan fiction: 20 minutes 1 Chapter
A Stolen Life: 90 minutes 85 pages 

Tennis

After basketball season was finished, I started up my spring sport, tennis.  I played a little last year, but couldn't play in the matches because I wasn't eligible to play Varsity because of where I lived and coming that year in 8th grade.  This year I do get to play though.  I have only played in two matches this season so far, but I really enjoy playing!
The first match I played with an 8th grader named Emory.  We played two girls from West Feliciana, who were good.  We played really well together, but ended up loosing 6-2, 6-2.  This Thursday, I played in my second match against Live Oak.  I got to play with my cousin Anna Spring in this match.  The first set went on for about 45 minutes.  We played really well, and went back and forth, but lost that set 6-4.  The second set we tried really hard to win, but we were really tired, and ended up loosing that set 6-2.  Even though I haven't won a match yet, our teams have a lot of matches left, and I hope to win one soon! 

My Saturday

Yesterday, I had a fun and busy day.  I woke up around 10 and hung around the house for about an hour.  Then Anna Spring texted me wondering if I wanted to go to get lunch and go to the movies.  I got dressed then got dropped off at her house.  We went to eat at Cheeburger Cheebuger and then went to the movie at Rave Motion Pictures on O'neal.  We saw the movie, This Means War with Reese Witherspoon.  It was much better than I thought it was going to be.  We also saw this preview for a movie we wanted to see called Rock of Ages.  
Anna dropped me off at my house and I called Victoria to come over.  She came over and we ate some dinner, and just hung out.  We watched part of the Brits (British music award show) and then we went up to my movie room.  I think for about six hours straight we played on the computer listening to music, and going on YouTube.  We also watched a lot of One Direction on YouTube, and we found out that they are coming to Dallas at the end of March.  We are trying to get tickets to go see them.  Overall I had a fun Saturday, now I have to do homework today.  

Outside Reading: Fanfiction

This week my friends introduced me to this website for fan fictions.  The website is dedicated to my favorite band One Direction, but the one that I am reading right now doesn't have anything to do with them... it just has their names in it.  It is called My Babysitter: Harry Styles, and I know it sounds really weird, but it is really good.  It is about these five boys, Louis, Zayn, Niall, Liam and Harry (Harry is in high school and the other boys are in college) and Liam's sister Carter.  They are all friends, that live in a house together because Liam and Carter's parents died four years ago.  Harry and Carter used to be friends, but something happened that we don't know about in the begging between the two.  Harry is very abusive to Carter mentally and verbally, but she doesn't tell her brother and his friends.  The four boys, Louis, Liam, Zayn, and Niall get an opportunity to go on this trip for three weeks for college, and Liam leaves Carter with Harry so she will have some company.  Within the three weeks that the boys are gone, a lot of things happen between Carter and Harry.
The author of the fan fiction has written 19 chapters, and I have read all of those. On the last chapter it ends in a cliff hanger, and I can not wait for the next chapter to come out.  Me and my friends have gotten in contact with her on Twitter and YouTube, and we have become friends with her.  She says that she is almost done with Chapter 20 and there will be a sequel to this fan fiction.  Me and my friends are really looking forward to the next chapter, and what is to come next.  If you are interested with One Direction, and are looking for something to read for outside reading google one direction fan fictions.
Time Reading: 
Wednesday: One Chapter 15 minutes
Thursday: 16 Chapters about 2 hours
Friday: 2 Chapters about 30 minutes
OVERALL: 2 hours and 45 minutes 

Nervous Conditions and the Class

     Over break I read chapters six and seven of Nervous Conditions. There was a lot that happened in those chapters, and I even saw some of the three plot points that were discussed on the first page of the book.  We have seen a lot of Nyasha's rebellion in the previous chapters but not Tambu's mom and Maiguru's entrapment and Tambu and Lusia's escape.  I also came up with a prediction that the mission changes people.  I thought of this because when Tambu came back to the homestead for Christmas she said it was so much dirtier, but was that just because she was used to a better living condition.  Another person who changed attitudes was Babamukuru.  When he left the mission he was very tense and upset, but when he came to the homestead he was really happy.
     I like what we did in class today that had to do with Nervous Conditions.  I like having open-ended discussions, and I don't think that they are really challenging especially for our talkative class.  Another reason I like the discussions is that I like to know what my classmates are thinking about certain parts of the book, and what they find confusing.  Also, at times my peers bring up really good discussions and interpretations that are in the book.  I wish we would do this more often, because I really feel that all of us benefit from it! 
Nervous Conditions: Sunday 2/26/12: 160 minutes; 46 pages 

Mardi Gras Break

      I had a fun and busy Mardi Gras break! On Friday, me and my cousin Anna checked out early and drove to my house in Orlando, Florida.  We spent a couple of days there the water park where we stay at, and went to Downtown Disney to shop.  We could only stay for Saturday and Sunday, because on Monday we had to come back and cheer for a girls basketball game.  Unfortunately they lost, but the boys played on Tuesday and they won!
     On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I had to go to drivers ed.  It was from 8 to 4 and was really long.  I had some friends that I did it with and met some friends there.  On Friday night, the boys basketball team played again, but we lost which was really sad.  Saturday was our last day of drivers ed and now I have to drive for 8 hours then I can get my permit.  It was a really busy week this week, but I also had a lot of fun!

Nervous Conditions and Research Paper

     I have been really busy with English this week.  With reading Nervous Conditions and the research paper, I have not had much time to do outside reading.  I have started to like Nervous Conditions.  We finally found out how Nhamo died, which was really sad.  I am also starting to see some instances of the three plot points that were addressed, especially talking about Nyasha's rebellion.  
     Yesterday I looked at my peer marks on Turn It In for my research paper.  I feel like it helped some, but I also felt confused after reading them.  Two of my people gave me good critiques, then another person told me the opposite of what they told me to do.  I followed what ideas that the two people gave me, which I think my paper better.  I hope that my paper is right, and hope to get some more good critiques tomorrow during class. 


Outside Reading:
Nervous Conditions: 2 hours (45 pages)
A Stolen Life; 30 minutes  (10 pages)