The Reading Lunch

 The reading lunch was a great way to bring our classmates together to talk about something we usually don't have conversations about. I am very glad that Dr.d started this because not only did we talk about great books and have fun we also got bonus points, something I was definitely in need of. In the first quarter I led a discussion on The Great Escape, even tho there weren't to many people in attendence my group had a great time discussing the book. At the second lunch I led a very large group on The Hunger Games, we had a blast talking about the book, especially the parts in the book that weren't in the movie but in the book and vice versa. The reading lunch was great and I hope next years freshman take advantage of it and have fun like we did!

Last Post of the year thanks for viewing!

Evaluation

 This quarter I feel like I have done better in many categories such as preparation and participation. During the quarter I can only remember one time I was not prepared for class which was a great improvement to last quarter. I have never been tardy to class either and I have worked to get better at checking my email and assignments. One thing I struggled this quarter on was turning assignments on time, this brought my grade down and I hope I can learn from this mistake.

During the class period I am always participating with relevant comments and questions to the topic being issued. Although I had some side conversations, I didn't have nearly as much as last quarter. Also another area I improved in was taking good notes, I found it very helpful in preparing for tests and my grades reflected it. When we do group work in class I have found that it helps me dramatically if I engage in the topic with my peers especially in writing situations. I try hard to stay on topic during group work because I want to help others like they help me.

In the beginning of the year I did not participate correctly, for example I engaged in numerous side conversations and didn't contribute to the class discussion. As the year went on and participating in class became very important I rose to the occasion. I have dramatically changed for the best in participating, this quarter I was even able to sit with Cody and not get distracted.

                     

Letter to English 1

  Dear Classmates,
       
        I think we can all agree this year in English has been very challenging; but I believe we all got better at the different aspects of english we covered in class. From writing research papers to reading about a bunch of kids going crazy on an island I'd say we had a fun but diffcult year. For me this year writing my research paper was the hardest for me because of all of the sythesizing research and incorporating qoutes into a paper. The thing that kept me going in writing this paper was my intrest in my topic which was the Black Market weapons sold to Mexican Drug Cartels from the U.S.

     Our class this year was very fun as a whole and with limited interruptions from our fellow classmates we were able to explore different parts of literature. I believe this year has improved my writing in many areas and I look forward to taking what I learned this year to my English class for next year. It has been a great year and I hope most of us will get to be in a class together next year!


                                                                                                    Sincerely,
                                                                                                                    Daniel R.

Reading Reflection

  Over the course of the year I have been expanding my reading limits and I believe I have become a better reader. Although I am excited about moving on to be a sophmore it makes me sad to believe my freshman days are coming to an end. My reading greatly developed from reading Harry Potter to the Godfather which was a true challenge.

     I believe I have been able to discover more in books better after learning about theme and other devices in literature which I carried over into outside reading. For example I really didn't know how to identify theme in a piece of literature and now after learning about it in class I can easily find theme in any work. I am not sure what I will read next, right now I have been reading Newspapers and Magazines.

    25 mins ESPN the magazine/ 30 minutes the Advocate Sports section May 6/ 30 mins Sports Illustrated April/ 35 mins The advocate May 7

Through the eyes of Macbeth post

  Wow, what a time I have had so far, from killing the undeserving Duncan to becoming the King of Scotland. My wife has proved to become a true monster and I wonder what will happen between us; she forced me to kill Duncan. I could not believe I actually killed him and know that I have become King I realized that the witches prophesy has come true.

   Ever since then my mind has been all over the place; I cannot ever reveal to anyone why I am acting weird. Since I have become King it ha become even harder to live with my dangerous, crazy spouse. She convinced me to kill Duncan just so that she could be Queen; I am starting to wonder if she even loves me for me or just for the monarchy. Its been quite difficult and according to the prophesy more pain will come.
       


          -Macbeth-

Writing Wrap up

Writing Wrap Up

            Over the course of the year my knowledge in writing has increased thanks to my classmates and Dr. D. In each writing assignment my classmates helped revise my papers and gave me suggestions that eventually helped raise my grades. Dr. D has helped me to appreciate writing a lot more and she showed me how to use different techniques in multiple writing styles.

In all my writing pieces I have found some errors that occur in many of my papers: missing commas, comma splices, and spelling errors. However, I do show lots of good characteristics in my papers: great titles, good organization, and ideas. The most challenging paper to me this year was writing the global issues research paper. Although researching material for that paper was easy; I discovered that I wasn’t very good at merging that material into the final product---this actually happened in all my papers that required in text citations. In the research paper I found that about 70 percent of the comments were on quote integration, comma splices, and the “spider man” flaw---the quotes jump around not making much sense. These simple mistakes ultimately led to my grades reflecting my mistakes.

This year my classmates have done a great job in peer editing during our editing  groups; when I take advantage of their feedback it dramatically changes my resulting grade. Although my scores have gone down since the beginning of the year, I feel like my writing has ascended over the course of the year especially in grammar. It took an abundance of point deductions at first to get me to stop using comma splices but now I feel like I’m a professional. My knowledge using feedback on subject verb agreement is still cloudy, and I still do not have a clear sense of what mistakes I have made in my writing. Although, some feedback has saved me from disaster, almost all of my quotes were done incorrectly.

            This year in English has been interesting and with every new prompt comes challenges. Even though I have been improving over the year in my writing I feel like I could have done much better. Also on my Wrap Test I did not do as well as I had hoped, in fact, I did worst than last year getting all 4’s except two 3.5’s. Compared to eighth grade, the grades dropped .5 and 1 in all categories, although it is above average I did not achieve my goal.  In spite of all the difficulties, I still have stayed consistent for the most part especially in organization and ideas. Even though they went down overall I have improved my writing this year in many ways.

                        

Reading

I read ESPN the magazine and Sports Illustrated on the Kentucky basketball team for 2 hours. I also started reading black hawk down for 45 minutes.

Holes

  This week I spent my 150 minutes on the book Holes by Louis Sachar. When I was smaller I saw the Holes movie and recently I was reminded by it when my little cousin was watching it. The first chapter is one of the most detailed works I have ever seen. The author uses great imagery to make Camp Green Lake come alive. The author first introduces the main character and protagonist Stanley Yelnats in the second chapter.
 

  I would recommend this book for anyone who has seen the movie so that they can really see the true meaning of the story.This book is very hard to put down and I look forward to reading it in the weeks to come. Since the Hunger Games books I read I have been looking for another book similar, so if you have suggestions leave them in the comments.Thanks.

I read all my 150 minutes with Holes

Those Winter Sundays

 For my Poetry post I chose "Those Winter Sundays" not because it was the shortest poem but because it was to me the most detailed. The author Robert Hayden uses a large amount of adjectives to portray the imagery of the poem. The author talks about what life was like in the mornings during winter; he uses many different terms of pain- aches, cracks, blaze, splintering, breaking, and chronic. All of these adjectives paint the picture of the poem.

 The narrator seems very unappreciative of what the father does for him. It is said that the father got up early to polish shoes and take care of the house. Since the title is Those Winter Sundays we can concur that this is his routine each sunday and that he works hard and the narrator still does not accept it. I think what the narrator is trying to get across is that you need to be appreciative of your families efforts for support.

The Hunger games Mockingjay post 2

  This week I finished Mockingjay, the final book of the Hunger Games triology. Mockingjay wasnt my favorite of the 3 books but it still was very good and it wrapped up all the loose ends of the book. I picked up where I left off where Peeta was being tortured to get Katniss to stop the rebellion; needless to say Peeta escapes back to District 13 where Katniss finds him completely changed.
 
  Its hard to imagine one of your best friends who used to love you is now programmed to kill you but after what the Capitol did to Peeta you can see why. I dont want to give away anything at the end but Peeta and Katniss find themselves in the streets of the capitol in front of President Snows mansion where the unthinkable happens. This Trilogy helped accelerate my reading, I read all three books in about 2 or 3 weeks, for one reason; I couldnt set it down.

The Hunger Games Movie

 In anticipation of The Hunger Games movie I started reading the books from the triology and finally the first movie has come out. I saw it on Saturday night and it was phenominal, the scenes were depicted with careful consideration to the book and although it was not followed dead on to the book it was still very close to the book as so many fans love.

The characters are also very similar to the ones in the book even more so than you would think to the wardrobes to the laughs they are spot on. Minor changes from the plot of the book are changed, but they make the story more fitting in movie format but do not change the ending. For example the Mockingjay pin in the book is given to Katniss by Madge a friend of hers who comes to see her during the visitation period after the reaping. Although I wasnt able to see it the night it came out I still saw it the next day, it was a great movie and I am looking forward to watching it again.

The Hunger Games Mockingjay post 1

  Mockingjay is the final book to the Hunger Games trilogy, it is a wonderful book and I have already read about half of it. Mockingjay picks up where Catching Fire left off, Katniss finds herself in the underground life District 13 has in store. She takes on the role as the face of the rebellion against the captiol in exchange for some things in return.

 Peeta one of her good friends is captured during their escape from the arena in the second book Catching Fire and he is tortured for information on her whereabouts.  He begs for her to stop because everytime she films a new segment for the tv campaign he is tortured even more. I cant imagine what it would be like to be tortured that much and go into mental insanity. He no longer loves her because of what the Capitol forced into his brain. Although I havent finished it yet I can tell there will be a great ending and I cannot wait to finish it.

MLB games

 One of my favorite sports is baseball and i love to play and watch it. I go to as many games as I can whether it be EHS, LSU, or even MLB games. The MLB is a very special treat for me and I have gone to about 15 games in total. My favorite team since I have been little is the Houston Astros, even though in the passed years they have taken a toll for the worst I have continued to support them even if the bandwagon does not.

  Over the years I have gone to about 7 or 8 astros games because whenever my family visits my grandparents in houston we always like to go see a game. Some other teams I have been to are the Philies, Cubs, Dodgers and Cardinals. I love seeing the different elaborate stadiums each team has. The cooliest part of most of them is the celebration of a homerun for the hometeam, in houston a train rides across its tracks in the stadium, and in Philidelphia a fake illuminated liberty bell swings back and forth. The MLB is a very cool league and I hope one day I can make it there.

Catching Fire

  This week I started reading catching fire, which is the second book of the hunger games triology. It is a great book and i highly reccomend it, when I say you cannot put it down I mean it i finished the book in about 5 days and have already started Mockingjay which is the 3rd book.

  In Catching Fire Katniss Everdeen is just getting used to normal life back home in District 12 of Panem. She recently one the 74th hunger games and is not looking forward on the victory tour with her fellow victor Peeta, who is also from her district. Lots of unexpected events happen and she finds herself trying to balance her fate by trying to prevent a rebellion from happening. This book keeps you on edge all the time, there are not many side plots but when there are they are directly related. For instance Katniss is swimming and she remebers her time with her father swimming. The book is very dramatic and ends with an annoying cliffhanger, which made me start the next book.

The Hunger Games post 2

   Last time I wrote about the hunger games i was only a few chapters into it, but i really wasn't as into it as I am now. It is a great book and since friday I have read 19 chapters. Katniss the main character has journied all the way from her home district which is district 12 to the Capitol of Panem, which is where the games take place. The author paints a great picture of the story by using the element of characterization and the setting. The author focuses on Setting because the story would not come alive as it does without it, for example the arena is described as a vast territtory that is basically endless and full of creatures.

   Where I left off since the last time I've read was Katniss and Peeta have teamed up but Peeta is seriously injured and without the actions of Katniss he wouldnt survive. Normally in the games it is a free for all or every man for himself, this year there is a rule change; Katniss describes this change in the rules as "there are no rules here but I guess they change if they want to." This book is very good and i cannot wait to continue reading.

Football

    In the fall I participate in football and it is my favorite sport. I play here at EHS as a offensive linemen and defensive linemen. Last year I started on JV but was second string on varsity, next year I am going to work hard and try to get the starts on the line.

   The football team here is a big family and I miss the excruciating football practices but they are all worth it for Friday Night. Friday Night is definitley the best part of football where we get to test ourselves against people who underestimate us. This spring we will begin spring practice but it couldnt come sooner, I cant wait to get back on the field!

The Hunger Games

  Since I just now finished Harry Potter I have began The Hunger Games. This book so far is very intriguing especially right from the begining, where the selection for the Panem is made. I cant imagine having to go into a "game" and kill people so my district can have food.

 The Panem is "game"where 2 kids  from each district go to the site where it takes place and fight to the end until there is a sole winner left alive.The hunger games is a very interesting book the characters seem to be the most important detail so far but I am looking forward to reading more over the next few weeks.

24

 My favorite TV show of all time is 24. 24 is a show all about one man named Jack Bauer who works for a government agency, in every season of 24 he battles terrorists and stops an attack in each of the episodes.Jack is no ordinary agent he goes to crazy limits to get the job done whether its a simple chat or intense torture. In each season he is either framed or blamed for a crime that was commited, he simply dissapears and works on his own to prove his innocence and stop the terrorists.

   Ironically he is correct on every situation and if the high up officials would listen to him all of the attacks would be stopped. In the end if they ignore him the attack happens and many lives are lost. The attacks range from nukes, bio weapons, bombs, as well as attacks on the white house and many assassination attempts are made on the president. 24 is a great show and keeps you on edge, after one episode its impossible to wait to watch another.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone final post

          This will be the last Harry Potter post I will have of the first book considering I have now completed the book. Since the last post I have picked up my reading and finished the book, mostly because it is very hard to put down. Harry goes through lots of hardships on his way to discovering who Nicholas Flamel is and eventually the sorcerer's stone. In his journey he eventually has a professor trying to kill him who is working for Harry's parents killers Lord Voldemort.

     This book was very interesting and the character really help define the book, I even related to one of the characters. Ron Harry's best friend has the same attitude as me as well as his personality and the way his family is. Without the characters the book truly could not work. If I did an analysis on this book I would do it on this topic. Reading the book also helped me understand more about the importance of family, Harry loses his and Rons kind of adopts him. This book was a great read and I would like to keep reading the series however I would like to read the Godfather part 2

LSU baseball

         LSU my favorite college football team is also my favorite baseball team, I go to many LSU games each year and has been part of my culture for many years. Ever since I can remember LSU has been my favorite team since I was a child, my dad and I used to go to many games together and the team has just recently started to be successful once again.

      In 2009 my favorite football player from LSU, Chad Jones who played saftety for the football team also was a key pitcher on the Baseball team. Chad was the main reason the team won it all in 2009 and ever since he did that I have wanted to follow in his footsteps. Each year I go to at least 15 games and already this year I have already been to 4 out of 6. This season I hope they go all the way to Omaha but they have already had a ruff start.

Mardi Gras

      In my family Mardi Gras is a big tradition in which we celebrate each year in many ways. Our family likes to celebrate in New Orleans every year because of our long family roots there. Since I can remember attending parades was a part of life, partially because one year I got the chance to ride in one! Although it was a while back the memories are still clear and I hope one day I will get to enjoy them again.

         When we arrive in New Orleans we go straight to the Royal Sonesta which is where my Dads company gives him a room every year, ironically the hotel is right in the heart of the quarter, Bourbon Street. This street is one of the wildest you will ever see, it truly is a one of a kind expierence. Mardi Gras meaning fat tuesday is an event that is widely celebrated here and in Birmingham Alabama which claims to have started it, but who's is cooler? Ya thats right us! If you havent witnessed it you are missing out on a crazy southern style party!

Research paper writing stage

This week I have been working on the body of my paragraph and have successfully come up with a first draft minus the introductory paragraph which we will go over as a class on wednesday of next week. Each paragraph has a different topic relating to the thesis, these paragraphs are in the body. I am on the right track for this paper and i am looking forward to adding more to it.

This topic is definitely a growing issue, just yesterday a new article came out on fox relating to the senate armed services committee issuing a statement to Eric Holder the ATF head that he was in an active attempt to cover up the issue. He has until Feb 5 to comply. Depending on what comes out could drastically affect the issue in mexico.

I worked 150 minutes in developing my paper into my draft and modified my outline.

Soccer season

This soccer season was very memorable even if we were on the JV team. This season included lots of fitness and training, in the end it helped our team out a lot earning a record of 8-3-1. For me since I play goalie it was boring in some games because the teams we played were so bad that they never took it over midfield.

The season started out with a tournament at the very familiar burbank soccer fields which we played every game in our 8th grade season. The tournament was the weekend before exams and we all wanted to keep winning so that we didn't have to study. We ended up tying in the semi final game which put us out of the tournament, unfortunately we were winning but one of our defenders accidentally caught the ball in the penalty box. All in all it was a very fun and we had a lot of memorable experiences.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone 3rd post

     For the past two weeks now I have been reading Harry Potter and have really enjoyed it, if you read this series you will begin to acknowledge the reputation it has deserved. As our main character Harry struggles with the Dursleys a new era of the book is reviled, Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. We begin to get the sense that this is going to be the new setting and also the importance of the institution.

      Although Harry is a legend in the Wizarding world he has no knowledge of this because of the lies his Aunt and Uncle have told him. As he and Hagrid walk through Diagon Alley many people start to recognize him by his scar, the scar was left by Voldemort after Harry survived. Its hard to relate to the situation with Harry for me because I am not adopted as well as I have been raised in a different type of world. For example the magical pathway between platforms 9 and 10 would not ever be existing in our world. Could this type of place exist; unfortunately not at the moment but it would be extraordinary

My research paper

    Over the past few weeks we have began to research current global issues, the issue that most interested me was the black market weapon sales in mexico to drug cartels along with the United States involvement. I first heard about this issue on the news when a story broke over the failed ATF operation "Fast and Furious," this op. was originally meant to allow the flow of weapons across the US and Mexican border so that the weapons could be tracked and recovered along with the buyers.

      Since then this operation has turned for the worse, one of the first stories over this matter was in January 2010 when all of a sudden a warehouse was found in El Paso full of weapons, ammunition and ballistic vests. This interested me because after researching more on this matter I was able to find evidence of these weapons at crime scenes that had ties to drug cartels. This issue is very interesting and I cannot wait to further develop my research

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone 2nd post

 In Chapter 2 we move forward 10 years into the everyday life of Harry living at the Dursleys. This chapter     helps us get a sense of what it is like to be growing up with your wretched Aunt and Uncle while you are no where near the same as them. Harry doesn't belong with the Dursleys and we get a very clear sense of why in this chapter. One morning in the Dursleys residence Harry is so rudely wakened by his aunt which is no surprise as this is a normal morning routine. Only this day is Dudley's birthday and things have to be perfect according to Aunt Petunia. Dudley and his friend Piers scout around the zoo while Harry fantasizes over a boa constrictor that appears to be talking to him. Once Dudley and Piers see this they push harry out of the way to get a better look by leaning on the glass. Then suddenly the glass disappears sending Dudley and Piers straight into the cage while the boa constrictor escapes. While the Dursleys are in shock, they also blame Harry for this and he is sent to his cupboard under the stairs without any food.

This chapter really helps set things up for the events to come by establishing the uniqueness of Harry and the wonders of "magic." Although this chapter is fairly short it is key in establishing the base of the story. While Harry wonders about this event and asks questions to himself he still cannot come to the fact that anything is different about him. Since his aunt and uncle have kept everything from him meaning they havent and will not tell him he is a wizard and belongs in the wizarding world. The last two chapters are really great in drawing in readers to stay meaning they cannot stop reading the book, I think that J.K Rowling does a great job with this in the book.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone

This week I have begun reading the first out of J.K. Rowlings famous series Harry Potter. Although there will be no more books on this series I have always enjoyed watching the movies as a young kid. The book begins on Privet Drive in England which is homed to the Dursleys, a family of three in which the parents indulge in every wish their son Dudley asks for. The parents Vernon and Petunia Dursley are muggles meaning dirty blood, non magic type are the oddest of a family meaning they abhor the unordinary. On his way to work Vernon starts to realize the odd sense of the scene when he sees a cat reading a map and everyone dressed in robes, which he considered for the weird. We then find out that Lillian is the sister of Petunia and that her and James, her husband were both killed that night by Lord Voldemort. Their young son Harry was the only son that survived and earns the title "The Boy Who Lived."

 The story really starts to explain itself in the ending of Chapter One, in the beginning all we were told was that there was a family who lived in England and they were very strange. You can get the sense that this book is going to have lots of unexpected and unexplained events in the story. For example the cat reading the map and all of a sudden transforms into a human, you never know what will happen. So far this book has been very intriguing and I am finding that it is very hard to put it down.