The Conclusion

After reading all of my blogs from this year it has made me realize how much we have done together in the class and how i never would have read any of those books or even thought about reading them unless I was in Mrs. Gilman's 3rd period honors English class. I had realized all of the things that we had done this year has really impacted my way of thinking and how much the little things someone can do to change a person. Before this year, I would have seen Great Expectations and I would have, for sure, passed on reading it. However, being in this class and being required to read it made all the difference and I read it and enjoyed it VERY much. Sure it was a little slow but you get into it, especially when I think about it very much. From this year, I have learned, literally, not to judge a book by it's size (or cover) because you don't know how it's going to be unless you read it for sure, just like Great Expectations. My blog this year has been about my journey through my first year of high school and shows how I have developed through the year from the books we have read and the things we have done together as a class. I have evolved as a writer very much from the beginning because at first, I always thought that those five part paragraphs were essays and then.... I learned what a real essay was... The hard way... The whole year we have been together reading and analyzing books and we have been writing and posting these on this website the whole time and, together, we have grown up together and really found out what it means to be a writer. Romeo and Juliet was definitely a strange read. It wasn't necessarily hard, but it was exteremely confusing and I saw not much very good about it. I thought it was kinda stupid because nothing in that book would have happened in real life and it didn't really make sense that Juliet would kill herself over a guy that she had just met two days before... However, my favorite book this year was To Kill a Mockingbird. It was a really good book and the only book that I reallllly enjoyed this year. I loved the story about the kids and how the controversy conflicted with everyone in the story and the suspense and just everything in the story just made me love it more. Animal Farm was a pretty funny story. I liked how the pigs had practically turned into humans and how they were being jerks to everyone.I especially enjoyed how the author portrayed the Russian Revolution through the animals on a farm, because when it comes to war, we're all animals. However, through this blog everyone in this class is related in a way because we all had spent this year together and read the same things and thought the same tings and shared the same ideas.
" Friendship isn't one big thing- It's a million little things"

Favorite Assignment

My most memorable assignment that is best remembered for its feeling of accomplishment and achievement during completion was our summer assignment. I read To Kill a Mockingbird over the summer and paid attention to it. In truth it was the one book that I REALLY paid attention to. The book was great and my summer assignment got me an A which gave me a good feeling of  accomplishment. It took most of the summer to complete and all the hard work paid off.
It displayed how I was able to capably do a large assignment on my own and I was very proud of that fact that I read that book and did a large assignment on it. It was a great accomplishment for me and was pretty fun in doing it. The summer assignment was the only assignment from English that I enjoyed doing. I don't exactly know why it was, but I just enjoyed doing it. Probably because I had to just read the book and then answer some questions. Which is a lot easier than anything else that year.

Romeo and Juliet: It's everywhere!

There are not many instances in my life where I've noticed a reference to Romeo and Juliet. I used to read a lot and listen to music and watch a lot of movies but I just don't remember anything that connected to Romeo and Juliet very well. The closest thing that I could probably think of is Beauty and the Beast. There are some similarities, but it probably is just trying to go along with the whole princess locked in a tower stuff. I guess it's alike in ways because Bell and Beast fall in love but when the town's people hear about where she was for the whole time, they try to "rescue" her. She says that she's in love with Beast and doesn't want them to hurt him, but they believe that they shouldn't be together. From the way that they believe, they try to kill Beast and end up failing and then Beast and Bell kiss and he turns into a handsome prince, then they get married against the town's will. There are some relations between the two, and again, a lot more differences.

connecting with romeo and juliet

Personally, I have little connections with these title characters. The things they do and what they say and just how they talk is much different from me and how I do what I do. I see not many relations with me and the characters but if I had to choose one I would say that I am closest related to Benvolio. I look out for my friends and I'll help them if they need it so that's as close to a character in the play as I can get. I think that the way the characters act in the play is very peculiar and extremely dramatic. I realize that this is a play and it's supposed to be dramatic but it is dramatic and sometimes overly dramatic. An instance of  over dramatizing something was when Tybalt wanted to "strike down" romeo for being at the party. I find it funny how Romeo and Juliet are "star-crossed lovers" and all these things happen when in our time that rarely ever happens and is most likely that it doesn't happen at all. I've noticed that all of the people in the play have a lot of pride and dignity because if they are willing to fight to the death just because they've had a grudge against each other for years upon years then they must have high opinions of themselves.
I'm reading fine on my own. However, there are many occasions where i don't pick up on a specific idea or happening because of the way Shakespeare likes to word things and how different he talked from now. I think that reading at home is a good idea because you get time to try and decipher Shakespeare's unique language on your own which expands your horizons and then going over it in class only strengthens the foundation of your knowledge. On my own, I'm able to get what is happening but I do have trouble understanding what is happening sometimes and why and i also have trouble with the setting.  I don't really pick up on the hints on the setting. Yes, deciphering Shakespeare's language is getting easier and has begun to make more sense. Being able to read at home and then read in class is, in my opinion, a really good thing. being able to read and try to understand on your own and then coming to class and reading together to hear how things are said and then talking about it really helps to understand where I am in the play and what is happening.

Wrapping up the book

I feel that the overall message in the novel is to make good choices. Choices that don't only benefit you, but others as well. Friendship is a benefit for two people. Money is something that only benefits one person and friendship is not based on money. At one point in everyones lives, they will have to make a dire choice. In this case, between money and friendship. Everybody wants money, and some prefer money over friendship. Everyone wants money and everyone wants friends, and they can have both as long as they make good choices. However, people are something proven to be more powerful than money, and friends and family should be valued more than finances because of that. This is what I think the overall theme in Great Expectations is.

Picture post

I realize that this is the cover of a book...... i thought about the criteria for the blog and thought about how Pip was so little but he wanted to be so much more. So, it made me think of a small creature in a large world filled with unexpected twists and turns. Pip was small and unheard of, as are small creatures in our big world such as a mouse in a large city. Pip was just living his life every day in the same place until he decided to be something more. He left home and aspired to be a gentleman in a big city that he had never been to before. The little mouse in the picture looks like he's trying to get people's attention but they are all just walking past. That wasn't really the case for Pip. Pip went to London and was disappointed with what he saw but he also caught the attention of many people....Unlike this mouse. However, Pip was slightly overwhelmed by all of the stuff that happened so quickly. Just like the mouse.