Blogging. Is. Done.

Reflecting on this year's blog posts make me laugh! Although I absolutely hated blogging, and half the time I completely forgot about blogging, it's really easy for me to remember the exact way I felt while writing each post. One important thing I learned this year is that there's always going to be someone to impress when it comes to your writing style. Obviously, Mrs. Gilman would be the one to please in this situation. Throughout elementary school, the standard writing style followed the "first, next, in conclusion" format, something that I brought with me to my sixth grade year in Block. This boring, beginners format is acceptable in a environment like 6th grade, but as you get older, your writing style has to change. As middle school continued, I realized that I had to change my writing style to please the teacher of the class. When I was in Mr. Haefer's 7th grade block class, I learned that he liked a lot of voice in writing, and by throwing in a few "ummm"'s and "well, anyways"'s, I was quickly a favorite. For 8th grade, my bloc teacher was a bit more strict. My exaggerated voice was no longer acceptable, and her class was all about structure. Moving into freshman year, (and, reading some of my earlier blog posts) I thought that in order to be a "high-school writer" my7 writing had to be completely dry and life-less. Thus, resulting in a C on my To Kill A Mockingbird essay. At this point, I was devastated. I knew that writing things like "the advice that my my mother gave me that one afternoon" (From my November 6th blog) was not me. So, I tried the other style I knew how to use: JUST voice, and no structure. Of course, this immature writing style was unacceptable. But, by February, I'd finally nailed it. I figured out what Mrs Gilman likes to read, and ever since then I've been scoring very high A's on my essays. The only problem is, the school year's almost over, and I'll have to start the process all over again until I find a writing style that is both me and my future teacher finds impressive. I think that through this year I have really developed into a better writer, and although it's important to impress the person grading your work, it's also very important to be proud of your work, and to know that the writing that you're presenting as your own is really in fact your own, not something you're just writing to get the grade. Through my blogs, it's very easy for me to see the writing roller coaster that I have been traveling on this year. As for my quote, I thought that this one was suiting for my blog...

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility!"
- Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, Act 1

Summer Reading :D

Wow, it is definately weird thinking about summer! It seems like freshman year has just flown by. Oddly, it almost makes me sad. However, there are actually quite a few books that I'd like to read this summer. I usually read mostly in the summer, when I'm in school I actually dont read at all. That is, besides the books we love in class.

One book I'd like to read is called Now You See Her by Jacquelyn Mitchard. This is about a girl who has everything: popularity, looks, and an amazing family. But, she fakes her own abduction. This book is supposed to keeo the reader guessing until the very very end, and those kind of books are the kinds I enjoy reading, not predictable ones.

Another book I plan on reading this summer is A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer. This is a memoir to one of the cruelest child abuse stories in history. I've always liked problem books, and I think this definately seems like an "eye opener" story,which I also really like.

Although there are SO MANY books I'd like to read, I can't even begin to start naming them. Now i just have to find my Library Card :D

Romeo and Juliet

As soon as I read this weeks blog topic, I couldn't help but laugh! I immediately thought of one of my favorite somgs when I was little: "Hey Juliet" by LMNT! Oh, what memories!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVzXe6kr9rA

Honestly, now that i'm listening to it for the first time in years, I'm really starting to like it again.

The chorus is:

(Hey Juliet)
I think you're fine
You really blow my mind
Maybe someday, you and me can run away
I just want you to know
I wanna be your Romeo
Hey Juliet

I really recommend listening to it! hahahaha

ExTrA cReDiT

I hope I don't get marked down for being too informal in this blog, but I'm going to make it as personal as possible. Wow, its really weird to think that we have been blogging for 7 months! This year in English has definitely been a lot different than any English class I've had before... A lot more freedom, if you will. In middle school we pretty much wrote essays, read together as a class, then shoved everything that we had learned into the back of our minds. Speaking plural probably isn't fair to some people, but basically that was MY middle school experience. But, in English class this year there has definitely been a lot less "hand-holding" (a phrase that's loved by pretty much every teacher I've had before...). Working in groups is something that i have really enjoyed, like the Earnest Essay. Ive also learned that there are a lot of books out there that are actually pretty decent, for example, I really liked Animal Farm, The Bean Trees, A Separate Peace, The Importance of Being Earnest, and (although i hate to admit it) there were some parts of Great Expectations that were really touching. This year has also been a lot of fun! Even though we do our share of work, I also like having a sort of party at the end of each novel. It feels like a sort of reward for getting through the book! I also think our class is really great, everyone is just so nice! So, as a whole, and as we are finishing up our last few weeks in English (craziness!), I'd have to say that English as a whole this year has been pretty great :)

Another Question

The question that I had in these chapters was near the beginning of the reading - Chapter 37. On page 292, Mr Wemmick is advising Pip about what to do with all of the debt that he and Herbert have. The part I dont get about this is when Wemmick all of a sudden brings up a metaphor. "I should like just to run over with you on my fingers, if you please, the names of the various bridges up as high as Chealsia Ranch. There are as many as six, you see, to choose from." I was very confused when I read this, and after Pip says to Wemmick himself that he donesnt understand his words, Wemmick replies: "Choose your bridge, Mr Pip. And take a walk upon your bridge, and pitch your money into the Thames over the centre arch of your bridge, and you may know the end of it. Serve a friend with it, and ou may know the end of it, too - but it's a less plesant and profitable end." Obviously, I can see that Mr Wemmick's advise is wise, but I dont fully understand what he's saying..the whole bridge metaphor is little bit weird.

Great Expectations Question

In chapter 29, when Pip returns to Miss Havisham's house to visit Estella, I had a few questions concaerning Miss Havisham. Throughout the entire book up to this point, I always thought that Miss Havisham was out break Pip's heart through Estella. That is, until I read this passage: "Hear me, Pip! I adopted her to be loved. I bred her and educated her to be loved. I developed her into what she is, that she might be loved. Love her!" (240) After reading this passage, I was a little suspicious. Is Miss Havisham setting Pip up for even more heartbreak, or is she finally excepting him and approving him for Estella? Ive always thought of Miss Havisham as a crazy old women who only cares about making others as miserable as she is, never as the women who wants to see a happy ending for the couple she and her finace never were. Whats up with Miss Havisham?

Great Expectations

I chose this image to represent the this weeks reading in Great Expectations because Pip is always dreaming of bigger things. In this picture, the sad caterpillar is dreaming about becoming a butterfly. This relates to Pip because he is tired of the life as who he is, and wants to flourish into something better and more glamorous.