In the year 2011 I want to become more productive. I want to stay on top of my homework load, study more often, and do some of the less important things I enjoy.
In the past I haven't been the best with staying organized. I start the school year out with new sharp pencils, neat stacks of paper and everything put where it belongs, but as the year progresses I become a slob. My bag is a war zone and my lack of writing utensils is disheartening. I often lose important papers and wrinkle the ones I manage to hang on to. My grades are wonderful for a month or two but then they start to slip. I let things slide and procrastinate uncontrollably. I don't want that to happen this year! I want to get back in control.
I'm going to start writing down every assignment I get and its due date, and I wont cross it off until it's completely finished. On the nights I don't have very much homework I'm going to study so the material stays fresh in my mind.
When I've accomplished every last bit of my homework I want to do more meaningful things. Instead of spending my free time watching TV, I want to start writing again. Not for school but for me, and I want to read more. Lately I've been in a book funk. I've read everything I have three or four times and I need a new adventure. What happened to all the books about heroic quests and battles? Now all you can find are depressing, sappy vampire books! I also miss my art. I haven't drawn almost anything this year. I'm so swamped with homework and then zoning out after doing the homework that I have no time for the things I enjoy. This year will be different though. I'll stay organized and wont let things pass me by. This year I'm gonna do the things that make me feel good!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
High Diction
The sky seemed to glow from over the horizon, as if the sun was anxious to rise into the sky this morning. As it should wish to. It was indeed quite a nice morning. Though it was bitterly cold the day felt bright and joy full. The spring grass was still laden with the night's icy dew which twinkled and winked in the predawn. Between the angelic glow of the rising sun and the diamond sparkle that covered every surface, the world seemed to take on a heavenly hue, without a discernible color but instead a palpable feeling that filled one with peace and ease and cheer.
As the sun presented itself to the sky, the ice slowly melted away, ending the moment of magic, and leaving the garden to look despairingly average. I shivered absentmindedly under my quilted blanket. I could hear the day beginning. Directly to my back there were sounds of bustle and impatience in the big manor house. The maids and servants and cooks were up, doing their morning duties so that everything was ready when Mr. and Mrs. Welton awoke. No doubt Mrs. Welton already had.
She would be sitting at her old table which was an antique and "therefore there should be no talk of selling it off", in a little rickety chair, which also was an antique, on a dusty old velvet cushion which had been fluffed and beaten to perfection for her some time earlier by a maid. She would be powdering and pinching and painting away until she had plastered on a face that looked fifteen years younger and ten older at the same time. She would be picking out picking out some dreadful perfume to douse on every inch of herself, creating a dreadful cloud of juniper and rose that made me want to gag. Then there would be a footman wailing for me to come in for breakfast. I would come begrudgingly, to sit and pick at whatever ghastly masterpiece had been prepared, and then sigh when my mother brought up how I would
"catch a terrible chill if I continued to go outside in the current conditions." we would then continue a heated conversation on what a "respectable lady" would do. I would point out to her that I was not in fact a respectable lady and she would humph and try to drag my father into the conversation. Who coincidentally would be very intrigued by his eggs, or sausage, or what have you. Then finally he would look up to say that "I was a Welton and as Weltons come I was a wondrous child." Mother would then make some furious squeak and the room would sink in to silence.
I closed my eyes and took in the moment, wishing it would last for eternity, but the unmistakable sound of the foot man calling me for breakfast shattered the moment. i sighed, yes today would be a day like any other.
As the sun presented itself to the sky, the ice slowly melted away, ending the moment of magic, and leaving the garden to look despairingly average. I shivered absentmindedly under my quilted blanket. I could hear the day beginning. Directly to my back there were sounds of bustle and impatience in the big manor house. The maids and servants and cooks were up, doing their morning duties so that everything was ready when Mr. and Mrs. Welton awoke. No doubt Mrs. Welton already had.
She would be sitting at her old table which was an antique and "therefore there should be no talk of selling it off", in a little rickety chair, which also was an antique, on a dusty old velvet cushion which had been fluffed and beaten to perfection for her some time earlier by a maid. She would be powdering and pinching and painting away until she had plastered on a face that looked fifteen years younger and ten older at the same time. She would be picking out picking out some dreadful perfume to douse on every inch of herself, creating a dreadful cloud of juniper and rose that made me want to gag. Then there would be a footman wailing for me to come in for breakfast. I would come begrudgingly, to sit and pick at whatever ghastly masterpiece had been prepared, and then sigh when my mother brought up how I would
"catch a terrible chill if I continued to go outside in the current conditions." we would then continue a heated conversation on what a "respectable lady" would do. I would point out to her that I was not in fact a respectable lady and she would humph and try to drag my father into the conversation. Who coincidentally would be very intrigued by his eggs, or sausage, or what have you. Then finally he would look up to say that "I was a Welton and as Weltons come I was a wondrous child." Mother would then make some furious squeak and the room would sink in to silence.
I closed my eyes and took in the moment, wishing it would last for eternity, but the unmistakable sound of the foot man calling me for breakfast shattered the moment. i sighed, yes today would be a day like any other.
Poetry Out Loud
For Poetry Out Loud I have decided to recite "The Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This is a very long poem consisting of 36 lines.It also has a lot of deep meaning that took me a while to interpret but after a while I got the hang of it and was able to understand that the title was very literal. Every stanza was a rule of how to live a fruitful life.
The poem expresses how small we are in the great expanse of the world, how we are all connected and must help each other through life. But the stanza that struck me most of all was the one that described how we must take charge of our lives to make a difference. How our dreams are dependent on us and to achieve them we can look only to ourselves. I have struggled for a while to take the initiative and work hard enough to achieve my goals. To run after the things I want instead of letting them pass me by. After reading this poem I decided I wanted to set goals for myself, so that I could have a better chance of achieving my dreams. Its hard to have to think about what life will be like in ten, twenty, thirty years, but I know that by planning ahead I will be ready for whatever is thrown at me.
This poem has inspired me to live a more productive life. It has taught me to "be a hero in the strife" as it has done for many people in the last 180 years and will continue to do so for as long as poetry stays close to our hearts.
The Importance of Being Ernest
Dishonesty is a wide category with many subgroups, that all have their own way to slither around the truth. In the story The Importance of Being Ernest, miscommunication and misjudgement are the most common perpetrators. They are used in many forms such as epigrams which could lead someone away from their good values by promising a better future, or satire mocking those who are in a more reasonable or steady situation. But most of all deception was used in this story to make people more appealing. This deception goes by the name of Ernest, which is ironic seeing as the definition of earnest is to be honest and serious. Which none of the characters, not even Lady Bracknell, are in this play. in fact the entire play seems to revolve around mocking people in different situations and lying about your own so you can deal with it.
By knowing that, I can infer that Oscar Wilde either hated high society people very much and wanted to share his opinions by publishing this play, or that he was himself very high and mighty and wanted to show his views on how nonchalantly people lie. Which ever it is I am steadfast in my view that he did not respect these people who spent their days eating the most popular pastry and sharing any crumb of gossip they could snatch up.
By knowing that, I can infer that Oscar Wilde either hated high society people very much and wanted to share his opinions by publishing this play, or that he was himself very high and mighty and wanted to show his views on how nonchalantly people lie. Which ever it is I am steadfast in my view that he did not respect these people who spent their days eating the most popular pastry and sharing any crumb of gossip they could snatch up.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Lobsters
In the poem "Lobsters" by Howard Nemerov, two lines drew my attention. The words "There's something underneath the world. The flame beneath the pot that boils the water."confused me and seemed to have no definite meaning. Sure they could be interpreted in an infinite many ways, but I wanted to know what Howard meant when he wrote them.Shouldn't the final lines of a poem be the most meaningful? shouldn't they hold the most symbolic weight? In "Lobsters" they obviously did and yet they didn't seem to be much of a issue for anyone else. Instead the main theme of our discussion was trying to understand Nemerov's reason for using the specific names of colors to describe lobsters. Colors? Really people? Now, I understand that these colors also carried symbolic weight, but enough to over shadow Howard Nemerov's ideas on the world and the meaning for life? I don't think so. I wish that someone could help me interpret his words. Perhaps then we could get an entire new outlook on his poem.
I am still lost on the exact meaning behind what he wrote. i wish I knew more about him so I could understand his motives. Was as he a religious man who steadfastly believed in Hell? Or was he eluding to the great enormity of the world? When he said that there was something boiling under the world did he mean that there was a liquid, molten iron and copper alloy? Or was he speaking of mans need to do and achieve?Theses two lines were very nearly not spoken of, and this confused me further. None of my questions were answered in the discussion.
I am still lost on the exact meaning behind what he wrote. i wish I knew more about him so I could understand his motives. Was as he a religious man who steadfastly believed in Hell? Or was he eluding to the great enormity of the world? When he said that there was something boiling under the world did he mean that there was a liquid, molten iron and copper alloy? Or was he speaking of mans need to do and achieve?Theses two lines were very nearly not spoken of, and this confused me further. None of my questions were answered in the discussion.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
paragraph skills
There is a wide range of things that people need to work on in their five part paragraphs. In general though people are misunderstanding how to embed their quotes, forgetting transitions, and missing commentary.
The most commonly missed skill is embedding quotes. Often people will not lead into their quote or will instead use a commentary to introduce the quote. In these cases, though, they form two sentences as there embedding. A lack of transitions is also common and can make the paragraph sound choppy. People also tend to miss understanding the definition of commentary and instead use facts they learned from the literature. Instead they should use things they inferred about the characters. Still overall the paragraphs are pretty good.
Personally, I also have some writing skills to work on. A few of them are using quotes that are far to long, leaving out commentary, and spelling things incorrectly. To begin I tend to draw out my quotes which can confuse the reader or just bore them. The real problem is that I'm just including more information than is needed. I'm also guilty of miss using strait facts where commentary should go. I'm not exactly clear on how to infer things from the literature or what to infer. lastly I am a horrible speller. Even when I use spell check I often miss a word or pick the wrong spelling for the specific definition of a word. There is definitely a lot I can work on in my writing techniques.
The most commonly missed skill is embedding quotes. Often people will not lead into their quote or will instead use a commentary to introduce the quote. In these cases, though, they form two sentences as there embedding. A lack of transitions is also common and can make the paragraph sound choppy. People also tend to miss understanding the definition of commentary and instead use facts they learned from the literature. Instead they should use things they inferred about the characters. Still overall the paragraphs are pretty good.
Personally, I also have some writing skills to work on. A few of them are using quotes that are far to long, leaving out commentary, and spelling things incorrectly. To begin I tend to draw out my quotes which can confuse the reader or just bore them. The real problem is that I'm just including more information than is needed. I'm also guilty of miss using strait facts where commentary should go. I'm not exactly clear on how to infer things from the literature or what to infer. lastly I am a horrible speller. Even when I use spell check I often miss a word or pick the wrong spelling for the specific definition of a word. There is definitely a lot I can work on in my writing techniques.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Animal Farm Evaluation
Nic Smithstad
Artwork
Depicts Napoleon in all his glory, In clothes with a beer in hand. But lacks any reference to the farm or other animals.
Britta
Poem
Can i just say, it was AMAZING! The poem outlined the entire story while still entertaining me as the reader and rhyming perfectly. GO BRITTA!
Conner
Artwork
Compared Animal Farm to the Russian Revolution perfectly and presents the story's theme without complicating things.Great project!
comic strip
Focassed mainly on the pigs of Animal Farm but portrayed the plot line well.
Cathrine
Artwork
Wonderfully displays the meaning behind the book and depicts all of the characters.
Meghann
Artwork
Portrays a pivotal point in the story but uses quotes from the book that are far too long.
Porter
Comic strip
This project portrays the main plot of the book, shows progression of characters, and is drawn well.
Maddie
Artwork
Shows progression of the story line and the out come of Napoleon's tyranny but lacks connection to the plot.
Jake
Artwork
Creatively portrays Animal Farm and highlights important characters but again lacks connection to the theme.
Olivia
Artwork
olivia shows the end result of Napoleon's tyranny over Animal Farm as he is dressed in clothes and is holding a beer while talking to a human.
I feel I Did well with my project, and I know I spent plenty of time working on it (a number of days) but it could definitely have portrayed the plot and theme better. instead it touched on the ideas in the story with the song "Beasts of England" and concentrated mainly on the characters. All in all after seeing the other students projects I know I could do better.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
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