The Conclusion

Of all my blogs I think that my favorite was the one where we got to write in formal or informal diction. We got to be really creative, and it was fun to show our writing in a unique way. Over the course of this year my writing has improved a lot. I have gotten to be a better writer throughout this year, and my blog really showcases that. In a post from September I wrote “As we got older she began to talk more and express her opinions. My mom told me a few years ago, that when we were little we were playing some sort of imaginary game, as kids often do, I was explaining to my sister all these ideas, and things we could do, and she just said, "No, this is how it's going to be." And she told me. My little sister told me what to do. And I listened.” In that quotation, pay more attention to the quality of writing than the actual content. It shows that while my writing wasn’t bad, it was just simple. Now I have more creative ways to write, I write better.

            I have written a lot about the books we have read, and analyzing those books. At the beginning of the year, there was a lot of To Kill A Mockingbird posts, and that led into my outside reading, Animal Farm into The Importance of Being Earnest, into Great Expectations, and so on. Anyone reading my blog would see that I am an avid English student and that I enjoy it. My blog really shows how I get into my work and enjoy what I’m working on. From viewing all the posts that I have written it reflects that I have been able to become a better writer during this year.

            My best blogs are the ones where I compare a book to something in my life I know my life, and can compare those two things really well. I think in ways where I can understand deeper meaning of things better if I can put into perspective of my life. My writing in that area has always been pretty good, but it has gotten better over the year, and having the blog to be able to keep track of that through the blog is really special. I will be able to have it to remember what we did in Honors English this year, and how much I learned and grew as a writer.

Memorable Assignment

The assignment that I liked most this year was the Outside Reading Project first semester. I really liked this because it gave us some freedom from which to choose what we wanted to do. I read The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. I liked that we got to read it at a pace set by our specific group so that we could all talk about it together. I liked that there were multiple books to choose from so instead of talking to the whole class about it we had our little groups to discuss with. That was fun because I got to really enjoy the book with a smaller group rather than the big class where I don't get to talk about it as much.
  The Bean Trees was a pretty easy book to get through, but in my group some people were having trouble keeping up with the reading because of their extra-curriculars and other homework. I maintained being able to read and became sort of a leader for my group because I was always done with the readings. When I was always prepared it was fun for me to come to class to talk about the book because I was up to date. This project was my favorite thing all year because it gave us freedom within the restrictions to do what we wanted. Since we could choose the book we wanted to read, it was more fun to talk about with the other people who wanted to read the book. It's not always as fun to discuss a book when half the people don't like, or want to read it. When everyone in the group want to read the book its much more enjoyable to discuss!

Experience with Poetry

      In the past, poetry has been good for me. In elementary school we would make those little books filled with poetry that we wrote, and some by other authors that we read in class. I still have my old books, and I still like to look at them. I think they are really cute and are really nice to have as a memory of the class, and as a bookmark for how I wrote poetry as a kid. Though those are fond memories, my best experience with poetry was last year.
     Last year, we got to read a lot of poetry from all different kinds of books, and then write our own poems. We then put them in our own poetry anthologies and read some for the class. Part of learning to write, read, and perform poetry was just reading poems to other people. We did this cool thing where we would do partner poems. We would have a partner and we would read the poem together and then tell it to the class. I remember it being really cool. The change in voice between the two people reading it, and the emphasis it puts on the different parts of the poems because of the changes. It was really cool to hear how other people interpreted the poem, based on how they said it.
   That unit really changed how I viewed poetry. Before then, I wasn't interested in it. I liked reading novels better because I didn't think that poetry had a deeper meaning besides just the words. I liked the imagery in poems, but I didn't think of anything else inside the poem. Analyzing poems has really made me respect poems because they are like novels in that they have theme, and a meaning, but they can manage to get it across much more quickly and often much more subtly. That is something that is really cool about poetry and why I like it.
  Right now, I do like poetry. I hope that this unit will be fun and give me more reason to like it. I think that it;s fun because it's short, and so analyzing it doesn't take a long time, but there can still be a lot of things to notice.

Conflict in Romeo and Juliet

In Romeo and Juliet there are many types of conflict. One example of conflict is internal/personal conflict. This specific conflict is exemplified when Juliet is deciding who she loves and is sad for after Tybalt's death. "My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain, And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my husband." (3.2.115) This dialogue is showing Juliet's angst about Tybalt's death. She loves Romeo, but he killed Tybalt who was her cousin. This conflict is important to central themes of the entire play because it is a smaller battle in the huge fight between the Capulets and the Montegues. The conflict that Juliet has with her self is showing that he character is innocent and very unsure about what to think. This is important conflict in the play because Juliet keeps changing her mind about Romeo or Tybalt, Tybalt or Romeo. Throughout the whole play, characters change their minds (Romeo from Rosaline to Juliet; Friar Lawrence against the marriage of Romeo and Juliet to performing the ceremony, etc.) and so this little conflict shows how many other characters do it also.
      In my life I find that I do think things through a lot. I will have conversations in my head, not out loud like Juliet in the play, but I will think things through the way Juliet did. I think that I do argue with myself the way Juliet does. Everyone in society talks to themselves-not like they are saying "oh hello", "how are you?" aloud like that, but they will talk things out. I reason things out in my head. When I'm making an important decision or just thinking about what I need to do for the rest of the day I have a thought process. I'm not necessarily arguing and having a conflict with myself. In society everyone talks to themselves to make easy day to day decisions to figure out little things, or sometimes bigger more important things. This isn't really conflict for me, but if I am torn about something I will just try to relax and maybe make a list to get all my thoughts out. If I have a conflict with another person, though, I try to relax also and do what I can to be calm when I am having that conflict.

Romeo and Juliet: It's Everywhere!

My reference to Romeo and Juliet is in the Disney movie version of Robin Hood. I will admit that it isn't excactly like Romeo and Juliet, but some of the themes and ideas are similar.  In Romeo and Juliet they are both very young, and in Robin Hood, Robin Hood and Maid Marian are young and their romance started when they were kids. Both couples are very much in love and they come from places where they shouldn't be together. Maid Marian is royalty, and Robin Hood (though good in his actions) is considered a theif. The Montagues and Capulets are enemies also. Robin Hood goes to great heights to get Maid Marian's attention, even risking his life for her at the Archery competition. Romeo does the same for Juliet when he sneaks by her house to talk her. Romeo and Juliet is a timeless book, and the ideas and themes in it are ones that can be and are used many times over, and will continue to be.

Connecting with Romeo and Juliet

There isn't really much that I can connect with in Romeo and Juliet, but there are a few things that I can relate to. Romeo's overdramatic personality is something that I can recognize. We all know someone who makes a big deal out of nothing and how much they drag on things to get attention. Of course Romeo is exactly like that but it's something that is similar. I can also connect with Romeo's friends. Benvolio and Mercutio try to help Romeo by getting him to move on past the girl he sought after in the beginning. This was the right thing to do as friends, though the best choice may not have been taking him to a party where they were specifically banned; however, as he met Juliet, it did seem to be effective. I have definitely given my friends advice, (and had it given to me) about life, school, boys, etc. I feel that I can best relate to Benvolio because of his ways as Romeo's friend.
   I think that reading at home and then in class is really helpful. If there is something that I'm confused about at home, it's good to read over it and understand it the next day in class. I think that also watching the movie clips are nice in class because its a visual aspect to see how that is portrayed in the movie from what we are reading. I can understand most of the reading before we get to class, but it's nice to have the refresher and just in case there is something I don't understand. I wish sometimes that we wouldn't spend the whole period reading because I start to zone out sometimes after we have been reading out loud for a long time. The reading is helping me get new ideas in class that hadn't occurred to me the night before, but the group activities are good to do also. It's nicer because then there is more time where we are physically doing something with the text than just reading it, or hearing it read. I think that I am getting a good understanding of the novel and both the readings in and out of class are what helps with that.

Wrapping Up Great Expectations

In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens there are a few different things that could be overall messages. I think that the most prominent and widely used one is that money doesn't guarantee happiness. Throughout the story Pip longs to be a gentleman and have money to buy nice clothes and other things. As the novel progresses Pip realizes that even though he has come into money he is still unhappy. I think that this is a universal experience for people everywhere. People often see something that is "better" or more expensive than what they have and automatically want it. It is just human nature for people to want more than they have. Decades, centuries, ago people longed for something better; now people long for the same. That is one of the parts of this book that makes it timeless. People can always relate to wanting something better (and then feeling ashamed of what they have currently in comparison to that better thing). Even though they know that having a better house, better clothes, etc doesn't mean they will be happy and satisfied with their lives people don't seem to ever get over the feeling of striving for better. The message that money won't ensure happiness is universal for everyone everywhere, which makes Great Expectations a book that people will enjoy(or not), but relate to nevertheless for years to come.