The End...

I remember at the beginning of the year, Mrs. Gilman told us we were going to be doing a blog I was nervous, excited, and confused. I wasn't sure about writing my thoughts and then letting my classmates read and comment, on the other hand, I had never had my own blog and I was anxious to begin.


At the beginning of the year I had my own writing style that was distinct and my own, and now, I think that it has grown and become much stronger. As Albert Einstein said, “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.” I think this quote reflects my blogs content and message because everyday we learn new things, whether it be a new math term or a new verb in Spanish class.


I believe my blog really showcases my intellectual growth as well as my writing style. The point of the blog assignment was not to just give us a bigger homework load but to go beyond our in class discussions and projects and help us to greater understand what we learned in class that week. Even though the weekly blogs seemed boring or pointless, they really helped me develop my writing style and become a better student.

Memorable Assignment

We have done so many projects this year. The most memorable for me was our first reading assignment. When we had to read a book we had never read before and make a poster about it. I chose to read Catcher In The Rye. Although I didn't really like the book, I'm proud of my poster and my creativity. I drew a picture of the protagonist walking away from the school and his home (wearing his houndstooth coat, of course).

I thought my poster really conveyed the theme of this novel. I am  really proud of my work and I will always remember The Catcher In The Rye.

Memorable Assignment

We have done so many projects this year. The most memorable for me was our first reading assignment. When we had to read a book we had never read before and make a poster about it. I chose to read Catcher In The Rye. Although I didn't really like the book, I'm proud of my poster and my creativity. I drew a picture of the protagonist walking away from the school and his home (wearing his houndstooth coat, of course). 

I thought my poster really conveyed the theme of this novel. I am  really proud of my work and I will always remember The Catcher In The Rye.

Experiences With Poetry

My earliest experiences with poetry were nursery rhymes, but I don't really remember that part of my life too well...

One of my favorite poets as a kid was with Shell Silverstein. He is socreative and funny. He is  imaginative and a great children's poet.

Until this year I din't really APPRECIATE poetry. I've always loved listening to it and the way it sounds. This year I've learned to analyze poetry and understand it on a much deeper level.

Conflict in R&J

There is lots of conflict in Romeo and Juliet. One specific conflict in the the play is when Romeo kills Tybalt. Juliet is confronted with a choice. She says, "but wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin? That villain cousin would have killed my husband." (3.2.110.). She is upset her cousin is dead but also that her husband. Has been banned because he killed Tybalt. 


We are all confronted with difficult choices in our lives. The choices we make mold us into the poeple we are. I have had to make some tough decisions in my life but I'm proud of my choices.

Connecting With Romeo & Juliet

As we read books, we make connections with the characters. Some connections are easier made than with other stories. Romeo & Juliet is much easier to find characters to connect with. I, personally, connect with Juliet. I like how she tries to please her parents but she isn't willing to sacrifice her happiness to do so. I think that our families are similar as well. My parents are very supportive, but they want me to make the right choices.

The reading assignments are manageable and its nice to be able to go over the pages we read in class. At first I was really overwhelmed with the crazy language but I've gotten used to it and can figure out what everybody is literally saying. I don't think that we are going deep enough into the text, though. We are just skimming the surface. We are really focusing on literary devices and not as much of the deeper meaning of what the characters are saying to each other. I like that we are in our little groups because if I have a question on something a character says or anything, I can just ask my group members.

Wrapping Up Great Expectations

Throughout Great Expectations, many strange and somewhat pointless events occur. While trying to read the assigned pages every night, it is possible that we may have lost the meaning of these events. Dickens tries to teach us an important lesson about life: appreciate what you have. Dickens shows us this through his character of Pip. Pip was the brother-in-law of a blacksmith and was destined to become one as well. He was very poor but happy and was surrounded by people who loved him. He had just hat he needed but that wasn't enough for him- he wanted more. He wanted to become a gentleman. He threw away his family and traded it for a life of luxury and money. Only after things went from bad to worse did Pip realized that his family meant more that social class.

Makin' Connections

 Great Expectations  by Charles Dickens is very similar to a movie that I watched when I was little. Cats Don't Dance tells the story of a lowly kitty from Kokomo. He has big dreams, he wants to go to Hollywood and become a big superstar. He leaves his home, his family, his friends and discovers that Hollywood, like London, isn't all it's cracked up to be. He lands a big acting part, but by doing so he screws over his new Hollywood friends. He gets very homesick but can't make himself go home just yet. He has to make things right. I predict Pip will experience something similar to this. We'll see!

The Second Stage

This week, we began the second stage of the book. When Pip arrived in London, he finds the city greatly disappointing. He imagined it as some amazing place- clean, filled with ladies and gentlemen, etc. In London, Pip runs into many interesting people. Even somebody that he has already met- the pale young gentleman! They instantly reconnect and become great friends. Pip even moves in with him. Herbert (the pale young gentleman's real name) teaches Pip manners.

In class, we've been discussing the theme of "becoming a gentleman." Herbert helps Pip achieve his dream of being a real gentleman by teaching him better manners. In the first stage, we weren't really sure how Pip was going to become a gentleman because he was take to London to be tutored by Herbert's father. Meeting Herbert again enhanced the theme and helped Pip reach his goals.

Pip's Quote

Pip is referring to his life. The flowers and gold is his life of a gentleman and the thorns and iron represents his life with joe and Mrs. Joe- a blacksmith's apprentice. At first, Pip was very excited to become Joe's apprentice but once he got a taste of "the good life", of how Miss Havisham lives, of how Estella sees him-grimy and stupid- he craved to be like them. He wanted to be a gentleman.

A day that changed my life was when I started first grade at St. Mike's. If I hadn't gone there I would have never met my 4 best friends and The FAB 5! would never have existed! I also would probably be a different person! I'm very thankful that my parents put me through that school!

When I first started reading Great Expectations, I thought the language and diction was really difficult to understand. After I got into the book (and began reading with a dictionary at my side) I began to understand it better.

I still have this question, though- why was Pip's Convict fighting with the other convict?

Essay Changes

I only made a few changes to my body paragraph. I didn't do anything major,  I fixed typos and my commentary. I felt like it was a lot of plot summary and repetition.  

HELP! I need other words for dishonesty! 

Project Evaluations

Dan (picture)- I liked this one! I thought that it was really creative! I liked how he used modern pictures to represent the elements of this novel.

Kaylah(comic strip)- Their comic strip was really cute! I liked the animals they drew!

Angela (picture)- Angel's project was really clever. I loved how she made parallels not only to the past, but to the present.

Emily (picture)- I really liked her project! The movie was very insightful and showed that she really understood the book.

Daniel (picture)- Daniel's was good. I lied how he used human heads and put them on the animal bodies.

Giselle (slideshow)- This project was really good! I thought that it showed a deeper level of understanding.

Annie (movie)- Her movie was great! It looked like she spent a lot of time on it!

Thomessa (picture)- I liked her project! It was really clever and insightful.

Connor (comic)- His project was really good. It looked like a lot of work, but it definitely was worth it.

Adora (poem)- Adora's Poem was really good and I thought it was cool how it was in Benjamin's point of view.

Me (picture)- I thought that my project was pretty good. I liked how it turned out. I thought that it did a good job of conveying the themes of the novel.

Animal Farm!