Q4 W5 Comments

Sophia- https://sophia-english1.blogspot.com/2017/04/hits-and-misses.html?showComment=1493226787868#c966963675840229727

Mary Francis- https://maryfrancissblog.blogspot.com/2017/04/anticipating-our-next-book.html?showComment=1493227114187#c1968811015609630304

Anticipating our next book

1. Ambition is a positive, desirable trait in a person- agree
2. If you are in a position of power, you are happy- disagree
3. Everyone is capable of lying, betrayal, and violence, which are basic parts of human nature- strongly agree
4. Who we are--our essential character and temperament--is fixed and unchangeable- strongly disagree
5. Women are more compassionate and less violent than men- disagree
6. Sometimes you have to do things other people consider wrong to get ahead- agree
7. Some things are destined or fated to happen- strongly agree
8. If something is destined to happen, it will happen without your interference- agree

#3 and 5 stood out to me a lot because I had to think for awhile before answering. For  #3, I though it was interesting because we studied human nature with Lord of the Flies. I do believe that everyone is capable of lying, betrayal, and violence, which are parts of human nature, but that does not mean that they have the right to do it. I believe that everyone is born good and if they grow up to be evil, then they are tempted by evil. This example especially fits for today because today is Good Friday and my example is from Peter in the Bible. He denied Jesus three times saying that he had no association with Jesus on the day he died. Peter fits in with the definition of human nature, but he is not bad.

For #5, I was stuck on it for awhile. When I see people getting arrested on the news, it's almost all males. I can see why people think that women are more compassionate and less violent then men, but that is sexist. When we hear about rape, we always think that is a male that did it, but women can get accused of rape too. This led me to strongly disagree with this point because men can be more compassionate and less violent than women. These 8 points were very interesting and it helped me see my view on things.

Hits and Misses

This past 9th grade year, I have grown a lot with my writing. My writing used to be very basic and had no depth in it. Now, I feel that I have a lot of detail. One thing that I struggled with for a writing assignment was my literary analysis. Not only was it my first time writing this style of a paper, but I was just lost with where to start. Once I found an interesting topic to argue, it got a little better. One thing that I liked that Dr. D gave us was a roadmap that showed me what to do with our writing. She gave us lots of details from what is a literary analysis, to how to properly write in MLA format and how to embed quotes. After I finished this paper, I remember feeling so accomplished because this paper was very difficult for me.

I feel like one of my strong papers was my research paper. It makes such a difference when you research a topic that you like. I really enjoyed researching my topic about Islamic Spain and that helped motivate my writing. I feel like if you enjoy a topic, then it is easier to write. I was ready to move on from Lord of the Flies, so I wanted to get my literary analysis out of the way. That could be one reason for why it was difficult for me. I feel like I have grown so much this year, and I am curious for the portfolio assignment because I feel like I will like it.

Q4 W4 Comments

Gautam- https://gautamenglish1.blogspot.com/2017/04/new-york-times-prompt.html?showComment=1491936428871#c8368272077377635257

Sophia- https://sophia-english1.blogspot.com/2017/04/purple-hibiscus_10.html?showComment=1491936602588

New York Times Prompt

I am answering #121- How do you find peace in your mind? 

I find peace in my mind through multiple different ways. I will probably sound like a  stereotypical person if I say that I like to be in a peaceful environment, but it is true. I do not like being in places where it is loud and chaotic. I like to be somewhere where it is quiet, and mainly when I have my candle in my room lit. 

The main way that I find peace in my mind is by listening to calm/soothing music before I go to bed. I find that I have been doing this for awhile now, and it helps me because it clears my mind before I go to sleep. I know that this works for me because when I am stressed or have a big test the next day and I do not listen to calming music, I usually have a bad headache the next day. I think that it is important to find the thing that establishes peace in your mind, because this will be your go-to solution when you are stressed. 

Purple Hibiscus

I started into reading Purple Hibiscus being very confused. I was worried that I would be confused because in the first chapter, the reader is immersed in the Nigerian culture. However, this has been one of my favorite challenging books to read, and I am not just saying that because I am writing a blog about this. Not only has this book helped me with my vocabulary, it helped me be a better well-rounded student by learning about the Nigerian culture. 

For me to fully understand each chapter, I annotate throughly. I actually had a problem with annotations because it took me so long to read chapters because I took so much time in annotations. After I solved this annotation issue, I found myself reading each chapter quicker and still understanding. Even though I have some annotations just about the plot, I have mainly narrowed my annotations down to culture, social-class, and a point that I will argue in my character study, which is, Papa being displayed as a god-like figure in multiple scenarios. This has helped me to not only understand the book itself, but to also understand the Nigerian culture when this book was set. 

Q4 W3 Comments

Anna- https://annakweb.blogspot.com/2017/03/political-article.html?showComment=1490726789931#c3933633164697837172

Griff- https://griffsenglishblog.blogspot.com/2017/03/political-article-post.html?showComment=1490727065827#c7580165178249861785