Coming of Age Post #2

            In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the protagonist is Melinda Sordino. She spends her time alone because everyone hates her. Her old friends hate her too. Melinda also stays alone because she thinks it's more safer. After reading this, I think that parents have an effect on their children, like in Speak.
          Melinda's parents were always fighting about her future. They were basically fighting over what would be best for Melinda. Making a decision for your daughter's future by arguing over it is probably the worst way to do it. This would effect her because when she's older, she wouldn't want to see her parents together or else they would argue. This is how she kind of feels now.
           Melinda's parents communicate with post-it's on the refrigerator. Communicating by talking is much better. This is like showing that communicating by talking is bad. Some of these post-it's would also have things about Melinda. Her parent's aren't the best example for Melinda to follow.
                
                This book was interesting because the issue that is presented here is presented by other teenagers around the Earth. Melinda's parents have a huge effect on her now, and would have an effect on her future too.

Coming of Age Essay

               In the book Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer, the protagonist is Jenna Boller. Jenna works as a shoe seller. She is very good at her job and cares about her costumers. Her dad is an alcoholic and her grandmother has Alzheimers. Her dad offers her a vacation to Texas. She accepted this offer and now she is having a hard time with her dad since he is an alcoholic. Alcoholism of his father really affects Jenna's life.  
           An example is when her dad was drunk and went to her job. Jenna was doing her job like always. It isn't only her job, but also her interest, then her dad, drunk, went to her work place, broke the door. That same moment was when the owner of the shoe store came for a surprise visit. The owner was mad at her and Jenna almost lost her job/interest.
            Another example is that Jenna doesn't have a great relationship with her dad as a father. She isn't comfortable with her dad because he is an alcoholic. She is more comfortable around her mom because her mom was always there for her. A lot of kids out there have parents that are alcoholic and are scared of them. This is Jenna.
          Alcoholism in her dad affects her life a lot. She almost lost her job, but most importantly, her interest. Alcoholism in her dad affected her relationship with her dad too. There are a lot of people out there in the world that are facing the same problems as Jenna.

Essay

         In the article,"In the Company of Animals", the author talks about a painting which describes an owner of a dog who went to war and didn't come back until twenty years. When the owner came back, the aged dog encountered him and recognized the owner instantly. The dog then died. I think this story is very touching by two reasons.
         One example is that the dog still recognized the owner even if it was twenty years since they have last seen each other. This means that the dog had a strong friendship with the owner when the owner was still there.Twenty years is a long time for dogs.
        Another example is when the article says,"'Infested with ticks, half dead with neglect' and lacking the strength even to drag himself toward his master, Argos thumped his tail, nuzzled low, and dropped his ears in grateful recognition. Then the 'dark shadow of death closed down on Argos’ eyes.'"When he met his owner, Argos got into a respectful position for his master, but instantly died. It's like if the dog was waiting for him for twenty years.
        This story was very touching. This dog lived longer than they're suppose to live. This dog was also neglected. He was half dead when he met his owner. It was like he was bowing for his master, then died to rest in peace.

 Cited Pages:

EDWARD ROTHSTEIN, March 2,http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/arts/in-the-company-of-animals-opens-at-the-morgan-library.html?scp=4&sq=animal+cruelty&st=nyt

Plagiarizism

Answers to Questions:

1.What did the student do wrong? What could he/she have done to include the source correctly?

This student copied word for word from the website this student read from. This person also wrote down words that are complex, words that we don't use. This person could've put what source he's using the quote from, then put the quote.

2.Write a sentence using the original source correctly; use a quotation or paraphrase. Also, make sure to cite correctly. Consult my post on citing sources.

In,"A Brief Understanding of the Starry Night Paintings"(unknown Author), there is a part where the author described the art work, "Whether or not this religious inspiration is true, it is known that the piece is not the only Starry Sky painting that Van Gogh ever created".

3. What are at least 3 ways to avoid plagiarizing?

*Cite a quote if using one
*write a cited quotes part in the essay
*Write the essay in your own words

Thoughts On Blog Entries

          I thought that Gabriela's and Sofia's blog entries were great because Gabriela used descriptive details in,"Much Ado About Nothing, But Still Something". One part when she uses details was when she said that the actors of the play were speaking through their bodies because they used a lot body language. Gabriela also elaborated on examples that backs up her thesis. In the blog post on The Boyfriend List, she puts her feelings on the example she gives like when she says that Ruby deserves a panic attack because she shouldn't have let Kim at the boy she loves.
          In Sofia's blog post, I liked how she uses a lot of information on the Pablo Picasso painting like on the first paragraph, she says,''He was born in Spain on October 25, 1881, to an artistic family. He was grown up knowing art and recognizing art. As a young age, Picasso's paintings won prizes and many people were impressed and amazed by his wonderful artwork." This part of the essay already includes three pieces of information. Sofia also wrote a lot. Overall, she wrote eight paragraphs for this blog post.
          For my future blogs, I would like to elaborate more on examples like Gabriela. I would also like to write more for my blogs like Sofia. I would try to both for my future blog posts to improve them.
      

Romeo and Juliet (Act 3)

            I have finished Act 3 in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. This act was mostly about Mercutio getting into a fight with Tybalt. It was Tybalt's fault mostly because he splashed could have stopped arguing with Mercutio, but he kept on arguing. It was kind of Mercutio's fault because he kept on arguing too. 
I think Romeo did the right thing in killing Tybalt.
          One reason is because he killed Mercutio. I don't know if the stabbing was on purpose o by accident' Either way, Tybalt should have stopped fighting.
          Another reason is because he caused other trouble and got mad easily. If he didn't get stopped, he would have gotten into other fights and killed other people. He was kind of a criminal in my mind because he's a killer. I kind of hated it when he knew that he stabbed Mercutio, but just walked away.He's a careless guy.
         These are the reasons of why Tybalt deserved death. I would have want revenge too, like Romeo. I someone killed someone I knew, I would want revenge, but not killing that person. I would want justice instead of me being a killer.

Much To Do About Nothing

        My favorite part of the play was when the detectives were investigating about the Hero issue. It was funny and useful because the detectives solved the problem. Without them, their marriage couldn't be even done. Not even Beatrice's marriage. The detectives were important in the whole play.
        My favorite thing about the play was the light shade. The back stage people were very distinct with the light shade. The light shade described mostly the mood of the scene. I also liked the moon/sun in the back because it described if it was day or night.
        I really liked the play because it kind of introduces Romeo and Juliet because this play used some Shakespearean language too. It also had some issues about love like Romeo and Juliet. The settings in the play were very nice, like the tables and the beer drawer.

Romeo and Juliet (So Far)

         The whole class has the read the part when Mercutio talks about Queen Mab. Mercutio talks about Queen Mab in a very elaborated way. He also describes how small she is. The way he explains Queen Mab is very long. It's almost like a speech. His speech has all the details of Queen Mab so that you can draw her. He also describes her as the Queen of love.
         I can tell that Romeo is very sad because he knows that Rosaline doesn't love him, but he loves her very much. He is most likely heartbroken. He mostly expresses his sadness in words, like the part when he says, "O loving hate", and "O heavy lightness". He won't be like this until he meets Juliet, who will be is next love.
         Romeo and Juliet is good so far. Some parts I don't understand because of the Shakespearean language. I don't understand I'm. Why couldn't he just do the whole play in modern English so that it would have been more easier to understand everything than getting the Shakespearean dictionary.  

Romeo and Juliet (letter)

     I have just finished Act 1:Scene 1. I have observed many things. One is that all the soldiers have swords almost all the time. Another is that at the beginning, two friends, Sampson and Gregory, are hanging in Verona talking about the mantigues. Another is that the mantigues and the two friends start to fight when Sampson bites his thumb. 
    I also found out that Romeo likes a girl that doesn't love him back. His friend, Benvolio, then tells his to look for someone else. Eventually, Romeo finds Juliet at the ball and falls in love with her.Juliet also loves him back.
    Some parts of Romeo and Juliet is hard to understand because sometimes they use complex vocabulary and Shakespeare uses some words he made up. There are also some puns. I suggest you to have a Shakespeare dictionary to get a better understanding.
         

3 Peoms( Revised)

1. What is Life


Life is a gift,
in which our beliefs come from.
Life is something very special,
that's why we are here in this very place.
Life is good,
even though we sometimes have some bad moments.


Life is life.


2. What happens to education deffered


Does it make you stand out,
like a colorless butterfly,
or does it make life harder,
like a demon chasing you all your life.
Does it make you unhappy,
like getting minimum wage all your life for your hard work.


3. Guernica

The day was beautiful,
until the surprise of the bombing,
which must've been painful,
especially to those families of the people that were once living,
but now they must've died because of this tragedy.
Everyone is panicking,
hands up and running,  

screaming, 
like if there would be no world in the end.

Guernica By Pablo Picasso

         
        This painting represents the bombing in Guernica. Many people say that Pablo Picasso put hidden images of death because they found a total of 2 images of death in this painting. "Picasso's purpose in painting it was to bring the world's attention to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German bombers, who were supportingthe Nationalist forces of General Franco during the Spanish Civil War."( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_(painting)). This painting was made in the year 1937.
         Pablo Piccaso was born in the year of 1881, Spain. He died in the year of 1973, France, at the age of 92. Picasso was very good at paintings and sculpturing. He was known as the greatest artist of the 20th century of modern art. He usually goes to Paris to do his artwork, like most artists because Paris had the most beautiful scenes. He was mostly inspired by christian sculptures. He was married twice in his life. His first wife died because of a disease.
           This painting shows the horror people are experiencing during the bombing in Guernica. There are people panicking in this painting. I would also panic because I would already think that I'm going to die because there is bombings everywhere in the city. Bombings do kill a lot of people.


The day was beautiful,
until the surprise of the bombing,
which must've been painful,
especially to those families of the people that were once living,
but now they must've died because of this tragedy.
Everyone is panicking,
hands up and running,
everyone is also screaming, 
like if there would be no world in the end.

Last Theory Right And Wrong

                   I have finished the book Forever by Maggie Stiefvater. This is the last book in the series starting from Shiver, then Linger and finally Forever. On my last post, I said that that the last book would be the opposite story of Linger. I am actually wrong and right at the same time for the following reasons.

            One way that I am right is that in the beginning of the book, Grace transforms again to human after months. Before she was a wolf, which she transformed in the last book. This is the opposite because she transformed to the opposite of wolf, human.

            One way that I am wrong is that the opposite characters didn't transform. When Grace usually transforms, Sam transforms after. In this book, he didn't transform. He found out that he could transform whenever he wanted, but he didn't want to for one main reason. To be with Grace forever. 

           At the end of the book, both of them stayed together, and they will forever. I really recommend this series to anyone who like romance and fantasy. People who liked the Twilight series should read this because this series is much better than the Twilight series.

Oppisote Stories?

             I have finished the book Linger by Magie Steifvater three days ago. I noticed something about this book that makes me compare to the first book Shiver. Linger is like the opposite story of Shiver for two reasons. Both books are good and with the same characters, but only opposite stories.

            One way is that in Shiver, Sam turns to a human being. Before that transformation, he was a wolf. In Linger, Grace turns to a wolf at the end of the book. Before, she was a human. It's the opposite characters and opposite transformations.

            The other way is that in Shiver, Sam and Grace fall in love with eachother. In Linger, Grace's best friend falls in love with Cole, Sam's wolf relative who also turned to human in this book Linger.  Another pair fall in love, but also opposite of Sam and Grace.

           There are other ways to show that my statement is right, but these two are more stronger evidence. Linger and Shiver are like opposite stories. Will Forever (last book of series) be opposite stories too? I predict yes because if the second book was opposite, then the same thing would happen to the next book.

Can Humans LOVE Animals?

                I am still not done with the book Linger by Maggie Stiefvater but I am almost done. Linger is the second book of Shiver which is by the same author. The main character is Sam and Grace. While reading this book, I came up with a question, is loving a werewolf the same thing as LOVING an animal? I don't think so.
           Sam used to be wolf, but when a period of time passed, he eventually became human. As he was human, he met Grace and they both fell in love with each other. If Sam was still a wolf, Grace wouldn't have known even Sam. Sam is a human now and was human when he met Grace. So Grace fell in love with a human.
          There is another character introduced in this book named Cole. Cole used to be a wolf like Sam. After a period of time has passed, he eventually became human like Sam. He was a relative of Sam. When Cole transformed, he met Isabel. Now they both are in love. Cole met Isabel as human, like Sam. That means Isabel fell in love with a human.
           These two examples from the book proves my answer. Isabel and Grace fell in love with humans because at that time, Sam and Cole were human already. I would highly recommend Shiver (book 1), Linger (book 2), and Forever (book 3).
          

Everyone Is The Same

           I'm almost done with the book Born On A Blue Day by Daniel Tammet. This book is a memoir about Daniel's life. He is the main character in this book. He basically tells his life in his perspective since he has a special kind of autism. He sees numbers everywhere because of the autism he has. People in this world discriminate people that have autism because they seem different. This book proves that people that have autism live the same as us and not different.
          One way is when he falls in love. Everyone in this world experiences love. If Daniel finds love, then he is just like everyone else in this world. Nothing is different.He also knows the true meaning of love like all of us. He even knows how to deal with it.
          Another way is that he communicates and writes. Everyone in this world communicates by speaking, pointing, etc. Daniel also writes which is what almost everyone does in this world. Writing is also a kind of communication. Nothing is different from us. 
          There's no point in discriminating people by their looks. Once you compare them to us, nothing is different. All of us show emotions and communicate. Everyone in this world is the same. NO ONE is different.