Extra Credit Blog-Five Part Paragraph

I needed to focused more on my transitions and my commentary in this five part paragraph assignment because I knew that I could have done better on those things in my last paragraph.  My paragraph is smoother than my last one was, because I used better transitions and introduced my ideas in better ways.  My word choice was also stronger this time because I knew that I used a lot of weak words in my last paper.  Since my commentary included a lot of plot summary and was kind of repetitive in my last paragraph, I made sure to only include new ideas and not talk about everything that was happening in the poem this time around.

Poetry Out Loud

Part 1
Keeping Things Whole
A Barred Owl
Carmel Highlands
Fairy-tale Logic
Barter

Part 2
I really liked Barter because it flowed really nicely and was a very pretty poem.
I kind of liked Keeping Things Whole, but I didn't like how it was so simple and almost random.
I liked A Barred Owl, but I didn't like how it was dark and not very happy.
I didn't really like Carmel Highlands because it didn't have a light tone and sounded more dark and somber.
I really liked Fairy-tale logic because it brought a new perspective to such a simple and fun topic.

Part 3
Evidence of understanding and accuracy should be the easiest criteria for me, because I know that I can spend time making sure that I understand each aspect of the poem before the competition. Physical presence and Voice and Articulation will be harder for me, because I will be nervous and I also tend to read too fast.

Part 4
I watched "Writ on the Steps of Puerto Rican Harlem".  This was a successful performance because Stanley Andrew Jackson used the right amount of drama and movement, and had a great powerful reading voice.  He knew every line perfectly and portrayed the feeling of each of them.  I also watched "Forgetfulness".  This was a successful performance because Jackson Hille used the right amount of humor and a very flowing tone of voice and movement.


Part 5
I think that the class competition will be entertaining but very different from most things that I have ever done in an english class before.  I chose to do the poem "Barter" by Sara Teasdale.  I chose this poem because it is a very sweet and and meaningful poem.  The website was very informative and had so many things to look at.

So many paragraphs, so many skills

Writing a quality paragraph requires certain specific skills. You need an interesting topic sentence that clearly states your topic and grabs the reader's attention. Your topic sentence should introduce the reader to what you will talk about in the rest of the paper. Another extremely important aspect of the paper is your concrete details. Concrete details need to be carefully chosen to be sure that they accurately support your topic. Commentary is also important, as it follows the concrete details and helps you to show your own thoughts and opinions. Many papers contained too much plot summary in their commentary. Other papers contained no plot summary, but had repetitive thinking. Finally, the conclusion is also important because it wraps up your entire paper and leaves the reader with their last thoughts on your paragraph.
I personally needed to focus on my transition statements and my commentary more. My paper could have been smoother if I would have used better transitions. Even though I had enough commentary, I used a little bit of plot summary that should have been left out. I also could have used some better word choices to make my paper more interesting.

Formal vs. Informal Diction

On Monday of this past week I played in my final volleyball match against Gig Harbor. The match was intense. The bears won the first game but lost the second to the Gig Harbor Tides. In the third game, the bears started slow allowing the Tides to gain six points on them. Finally breaking the serve however, the bears began to fight back. We managed to close the large gap between the two scores immensely, but not quite tying the score up completely. With a missed serve from the bears, the Tides came back stronger than ever and went on a long serving streak.

Although the bears put up a huge fight, their efforts weren't enough in the end. The Tide's went on to steal the victory and the first place title. The Bears had been undefeated until this moment. After our match we supported our varsity team and watched as they destroyed their opponent in their last league game of the season.

Outside Reading

I am reading Slaughterhouse 5 for my outside reading book. So far the book is interesting and entertaining. Many characters have been introduced, and many of the pages I have read have shown great characterization of them. I am just starting to understand the main character through the few events he has gone through at this point. By explaining the characters the story introduces new events. The characters in the story all have strong personalities so far and make the story more interesting.
Both this novel and to Kill a Mockingbird take place in the past around the same time, but still have completely different settings. To Kill a Mockingbird was more of an enjoyable easy read type of story, while Slaughterhouse 5 has more action and is more interesting. Both novels are great stories in different ways.
I am not positive about what I will do for my creative project, but I think that I will do something that shows how times are different because the story really shows how big of a difference only a few years can make.

Extending the Theme

Reading To Kill a Mockingbird was a very enjoyable experience for me. I really liked analyzing all of the different parts of the story because it made me think about different parts of the story that I woulnd't have even noticed. While reading the story I often unintentionally compared the character's lives to my own life. The novel made me realize how much times have changed. There were problems now and then, and even though there were some similar problems then, there are many new and different issues today. Racism was a huge issue back then and even though we still deal with it a little bit today, it has decreased immensely. Now we have many new inventions and conveniences, but they also cause us many problems. Life was more simple in the time when To Kill a Mockingbird takes place. We have a lot more issues today now that more is accessable to us. Kids are abusing substances and people are becoming more violent.

"My Boo Radley"

Everyone has a different "Boo Radley" in their lives, that come from personal fears or fears that we have all had at some point in our childhood. An example of one of my "Boo Radley's" was my first club volleyball tournament. I was extremely afraid the day of my first tournament because I had no idea what to expect. I knew that they were going to be a lot harder than my experiences with volleyball games so far, but I didn't know how different they would be and the simple fact of the unknown is what scared me most. I was also afraid that I wouldn't do well because there were many people around watching and tournaments are taken a lot more seriously than the YMCA games I had played in.
Although that first tournament made me nervous, I am glad I went and had the experience. This is similar to Scout's experience with Boo Radley, because the idea of him made her nervous at first too since she didn't know anything about him besides the rumors that went around the neighborhood. The unknown is what made Boo Radley scary to everyone, just like the unknown made my first volleyball tournament scary to me.
I have played in countless tournaments since my first one, and have had a blast ever since. I have never been as nervous for a tournament as I was for the first one, because I knew what to expect after that. After Scout met Boo and talked to him, she was no longer afraid of him but almost friends with him. I am no longer afraid of tournaments but now look forward to them and love them.
Although Boo Radley and my first volleyball tournament are completely different things, they relate to Scout and I in similar ways. Everyone has their own "Boo Radley" and they could all be completely different or very similar depending on who you are.

Blog Introduction

I am an English student that likes to write but not read, so someone following my blog might see a lot of in-depth writing. I like discussing books with other people to see how different people think about different aspects of the story, and to learn if people have the same ideas as I do. The online world will be enlightened by my reactions to literature because it is important to see how different people understand literature and simply seeing my point of view on books will enlighten the online world. English is a very important subject because we use it every day. We talk all day long and we need to learn the right ways of speaking because we are talking constantly. We also read things everyday so reading is another important part of English. And learning to communicate with others in the classroom allows us to learn how to communicate with others in life. Also it is important to have these skills so that once we get older we can get get quality jobs that will take us far in life. If we are successful in English than it will help us get into a good college and then onto a good job. Finally, one of the most important reasons to be successful in English is because it is a part of our everyday lives and being successful in English will help us to be successful people in general.