The Conclusion

     Looking back through the numerous amounts of blogs posted throughout this school year I see how I have grown as a writer. The first blog ever was done in the library. It was at the beginning of the year when I still had the motivation of doing perfectly on every assignment. I had the thesaurus open on one tab and dictionary.com on another. The only tools I needed to find the perfect word choice. As I scroll up I remember all of the novels and plays we read as a class, Great Expectations, The Importance of Being Earnest, To Kill a Mockingbird. I see the entire process of learning how to write a whole essay, starting from a paragraph, to a group essay, and finally our own. One post specifically brings be back to the previous stresses of writing an essay, and it would be the group essay collaboration. We were trying to put together an essay with limited time and planning. As I look back I think that I was making it so much harder than it actually was.

      Between the essays and the paragraphs were the blogs analyzing novels. I enjoyed making these the most because they gave me an opportunity to relate different things to the plot. For example, making the post comparing a movie to Great Expectations was the blog that I worked hardest on because I enjoyed doing it. I find that if I enjoy something, it is more likely to have a better final product. Once I realized this I decided to treat blogs as a way to reflect back on things that we did in class that I liked doing or taking part in. The blog was a way to help me keep my ideas aligned and organized. I really did savor the moments when I clicked the “post” button and wallowed in my feelings of completion. As a tradition I read through each and every one of the blogs after I finished typing them up. I used this as a way to proofread and look over my mini-assignment.

               “Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.” Robert C. Gallagher.

      The quote above I think really describes how far I have come in my 9^th Grade English blog. I began thinking of it as a weekly assignment that had to be finished by Friday at 11:59. I’m ending today describing it as a way to gather all my ideas into a few short paragraphs. I truly believe that I have developed the most as a writer reading through many people’s blogs, some of which I have never met before, and getting ideas for my own. Scrolling through those people’s blogs exposed me to many different writing styles and formats, which further inspired me to incorporate some of their writing into my own. If one is reading my blog post today thinking that it sounds sort of like their own, chances are it probably is. I conclude this last blog post saying thank you. If it were not for these blog posts, I would not be where I am as a writer today. Being the overachiever I am, that’s 531 words, so…

Reflecting on a Memorable Assignment

     Throughout the school year of Honors English, I think there are many different memorable assignments, but one of the most memorable of all was an extra credit assignment for Animal Farm. Armed with a camera and a thin jacket, my friend and I ventured out to many different farms seeking animals to point the lens at. First was a Christmas tree farm with goats, birds, and horses. There was also a lone pig that was black, but it wasn't very corporative, so we decided to see if we could find another one elsewhere. The next farm was a private farm. This one had horses, dogs, and the cutest baby kittens in the whole wide world. We did most of the filming here, but it was also freezing.
     The final product was something that I was really satisfied with. A jumble of video clips that were paired with a song (our clever way of disguising giggles and screams in the background). It was the first real movie that we edited and it took a long time to figure out the tools and special features, but in the end everything worked out and as a reward we got extra credit, so it was worth it.

A Good Experience With Poetry

     Poetry has always been the part of English class that I looked forward to. This is because it is a way to express many feelings that could not have been otherwise. Also, grammar is not applicable, which is another thing that makes life easier. Third grade was when I had a teacher named Ms. Ayre, who loved poetry and tried to make us feel the same. At the time I was just a nerdy little kid (still am) that just wanted to read Junie B. Jones all day, so poetry did not sit well with me. She made us make an entire book full of it inspired by nature. Digging the book out today I read one of them titled "Moon":

Moon

The moon is cheese

that mice nibble away

day after day.

The cheese grows

after the mice have eaten

it all away. 

     At the time the only poetry I actually enjoyed was by Shel Silverstein not only because I liked looking at the words that were arranged in shapes like apples and houses, but also because it was a thick book of poetry and I wanted to seem knowledgeable carrying it around.

     Middle school was a different story. Instead of reading poetry shaped like apples, we started analyzing it. Poets such as E. E. Cummings and Elizabeth Coatsworth started filling the lesson plan. This allowed me to see what poets do to make their works so incredible and fun to read. One particular poem stuck to my memory. It is titled "Shelter" by R.S. Jones. I liked it because it told a story that was very touching in a way that writing a five paragraph essay couldn't. 

     Throughout my years of going to school, my experiences with poetry have developed so that I understand so much more. When I think of poetry today, I don't believe that it's just another English project, but something that I have the freedom to convey feelings with. Reading poetry is also something that I enjoy. Seeing what other poets do to make their writing stick out inspires me to do the same. My attempts at writing poems have also improved (or so I think) to the point of not writing about moon and mice. Instead, I will now write about sun and salamanders. 

     Just kidding.

R+J - Conflict

     Some authors use conflict as a tool to help move along the plot of the play. Shakespeare incorporates it so that the characters are developed off the conflict that is presented to them. A major conflict that is presented in Act three is the fact that Juliet is married to Romeo, but her parents have already arranged a marriage with Paris. Juliet shows her emotions about this situation when she tells her mom, "Now, by Saint Peters Church, and Peter too, He shall not make me his joyful bride!" (165) This illustrates how Juliet is stubborn and not afraid to show her emotions about the one she truly loves. Paris is a better match for Juliet when it comes to social stature. It allows her family to move up in society. Contrary, the Montague family has been a long time enemy of the Capulet's, so the marriage between Juliet and Romeo will have not been very beneficial to both their reputations. But in this play the main characters are not focused on social class, but true love.
     Personally, I have not come across a situation like this, but there are many different modern novels and movies about choosing love over your family's opinion, or anything else of the sort. I believe conflict such as this one is important to have in life to keep us going and not dwell on the past. Every person deals with conflict differently, some emotionally, some with a lighthearted attitude, but no matter how people deal with conflict, it is prevalent in everyone's lives and will be forever.

R+J - It's Everywhere!

     Although Shakespeare's time has long passed, his influence on modern culture has not. He has definitely left his mark in history by creating one of the most touching of plots. For example, many different Disney movies has portrayed a prince and a princess, brought together by destiny, just as the "two star-crossed lovers" have in Romeo and Juliet. Going back to my childhood I remember the plot of The Little Mermaid, where Ariel yearns to become a human with real legs so she can marry the prince in a nearby castle. Instead  of their parents being the barrier of their love, its their difference in species. In Romeo and Juliet, the two lovers judge each other immediately by their appearance. In The Little Mermaid, Ariel pops up from beneath the water one day and sees the prince, once their eyes met, they were in love. No second thoughts, no questions asked. The major difference between the two plots is the obvious ending. Disney ends with a "happily ever after", when Shakespeare ends with death.

R+J - Connecting With Romeo and Juliet

     While doing my day to day reading on Romeo and Juliet, I feel that the general concept of the plot is very similar to what people experience in the modern times. Juliet is under pressure to marry Paris, who her family has built a decent relationship with. Out of pure chance, Romeo comes into the equation and he seems to be the love of Juliet's life. Although Juliet knows she is expected to turn him down, she follows her heart. This could be translated into a present day incident to. For example, if people tend to expect a lot from you but once in a while you decide to be a rebel and go against their wishes to pursue your own hopes and desires.
     When I first opened this play I had no idea how I was going to decipher Shakespeare's writing style. After a few days, things became so much clearer and I was beginning to get the hang of reading this kind of literature. The sidebar next to the original text also was a major tool that I use. Reading aloud in class is also helpful because it allows me to go over what I had read earlier and get a deeper understanding. Overall despite some minor bumps I think that my reading process with this play is going smoothly and heading the right direction.

Great Expectations - Wrapping it Up

     Finding true happiness does not mean you have to be in a certain class, or "common" or "uncommon", but instead it means taking for granted when you have in life right now and cherishing that. By having Pip as the main character bounce from different emotions and social classes, Charles Dickens really has the opportunity to convey this message of life. When I think of the high class, I think of celebrities living in giant mansions and walking on the red carpet wearing clothes that cost a fortune. The lower class is more of Charlie's family from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, eating cabbage soup for dinner and a whole family bundled up telling stories and laughing. Of course, not all people fit into the descriptions above, but just a few examples of what I envision when given the topic. Through the news, many of us hear about stars passing away from drug overdoses and suicide. This gives us as viewers a clue about how they have lived and we often wonder why they decided to limit their lives in this way. People in the middle class, however, do not have to deal with critics from magazines or looking good on weekends because most know that there will still be family to support and comfort them. From reading the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, I understand that the author is trying to say that it does not matter what class you come from, but instead that you are able to love and be loved in the community surrounding you.