Conflicts And How They Affected "OMAM"

     There are certain conflicts in Of Mice And Men that affect its plot and characters. An example of a conflict changing the course of a character and the plot is Lennie versus Curley. In an earlier chapter, Curley suspects Slim of being with his wife. After yelling at him in the bunkhouse, he receives criticism from the other ranchers. He also sees Lennie smiling and believes that he's being laughed at so he starts socking him. As self defense, Lennie crushes Curley's hand and leaves a negative impression on him. This conflict and negative impression affects the plot because Curley believes he's just another troublemaker. When he sees his wife's corpse, he says: "'I know who done it,' he cried. 'That big son-of-a-bitch done it. I know why he done it. Why--ever'body else was out there playin' horseshoes.'" Curley believes that Lennie had a grudge on him. This is why he suspected Lennie first instead of Slim or George. This affects the plot because Lennie is Curley's target. Instead of getting any facts or considering other targets, he decides to lead his search party to find and kill Lennie. The plot is also affected because it causes George to kill his best friend.

     Another example of a conflict affecting the sequence of events is Curley's wife against Candy and Crooks. Curley's wife finds Lennie, Candy, and Crooks alone in the barn. After asking if they've seen Curley, she receives negative feedback from Candy and Crooks. They talk down to her because they believe she is purposefully flirting with other men. In the barn, she mentions that she doesn't want to stay in her house. She also tells Lennie that she's not allowed to talk with the ranchers when she says: "'I get lonely,' she said. 'You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad.'" She reveals that Curley is possessive and doesn't let his wife chat with others. This is why she gets lonely. She's stuck in that house all day with nobody but Curley. This affects the plot because her loneliness causes her to talk with other men and go into the barn with Lennie. Her isolation made her want to talk to Lennie which lead to her death. This is how these conflicts, whether they're man vs. man or man vs. society, affect Of Mice And Men's sequence of events. 

“A Purpose In Life”

“A Purpose In Life”

Dreams

They’re what keep us going

They give us motivation

They’re why we do what we do

They’re the endgame

They’re what’s waiting for us in the end

They’re what we try to achieve before death

They give us a purpose

A will

A reason to live and something to strive for

We have extravagant ones

We have simple ones

Either we actually succeed 

And accomplish our greatest achievements with pride

Or we end up working in a fast food restaurant 

Regretting and thinking about how things would be different 

If we didn’t give up

Of Mice And Men

     The atmosphere of the ranch is mostly welcoming but a little hostile. Characters like Slim and Carlson helped George and Lennie settle in. Carlson was pretty friendly and humorous when he first met the duo. Instead of ignoring the two workers, Carlson got to know and befriend them. When George introduces Lennie, Carlson jokes about his last name when he says: "'He ain't very small.' He chuckled softly at his joke. 'Ain't small at all,' he repeated." Instead of a simply introducing himself, Carlson talks like he's been friends with George and Lennie for some time. This may be a small line of dialog, but this shows how friendly Carlson is. We also see Slim being gentle and welcoming towards George and Lennie. When he enters the bunkhouse, he decides to introduce himself. He does this in a calm and gentle manner. John Steinbeck even points out how gentle Slim is a few times after he says something. Examples of this are shown here: "He looked kindly at the two in the bunkhouse. 'It's brighter'n a bitch outside,' he said gently... 'Hope you get on my team,' he said. His voice was very gentle...'You guys travel around together?' His tone was friendly." His friendly tone is constantly mentioned over and over. Every question and statement that Slim makes appears to be calm. This shows that Slim is very welcoming and is accepting of new people.
     The ranch workers make the atmosphere welcoming for George and Lennie, but Curley adds hostility to the scene. Most of the ranch workers are off on a good start with the two, except for Curley. Curley doesn't give too much trouble when he's introduced, but he leaves a bad impression on George when Candy tells him all about Curley. After he forces Lennie to talk and asks for his dad, Candy says: "'Curley's like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He's alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he's mad at 'em because he ain't a big guy. You seen little guys like that, ain't you? Always scrappy?'" Candy tells George about his attitude and how he hates bigger men. Seeing how he acted when he saw Lennie, George instantly had a bad feeling of Curley. He thinks that he'll pick on Lennie during their time on the ranch. Curley is the one character that makes the ranch hostile and keeps George and Lennie on their toes.

John Steinbeck may be trying to send us a message about women in the 1930's by not giving Curley's wife a name. In the past, all women were housewives that would take care of the children and do the chores around the house. Women weren't allowed jobs and were basically cleaning and cooking machines. They were basically thought of as objects rather than people most of the time. In the ranch, Curley's wife is known to flirt by giving men "the eye."  It's also easy to see that the ranch workers think that Curley's wife is pretty. We see this in Slim's point of view when he says: "Hi, Good-lookin'." This can be seen at first as a simple compliment but Slim could be saying this because to him, Curley's wife might be just a pretty sight and nothing more. She could be something that the ranchers just like looking at but nothing more than that. She's barely a person to them and this could be the message that Steinbeck is trying to tell us.

So far, I think "Of Mice and Men" is going to be a great story. The first two chapters are setting the stage for the rest of the story. We get to see what George thinks and feels about Lennie and why they left Weed. We then get to meet Candy, Slim, Carlson, The Boss, Curley, and his wife. The introduction of Curley with his hothead attitude and his wife that gives other men the "eye" gets the reader thinking of possible conflicts. The character development and explicit details make the story good and this will help deliver the conflict because we now understand why certain characters act the way they do. Overall, I think the story is good so far, even if we only just learned about the characters.

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" Comparison

There are many differences seen between the short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and it's film adaptation. These comparisons lie mostly in the elements of a story. The short story and the movie have different plots and characters and themes and etc. To decide which work better represents Walter's secret life, one has to juxtapose the elements of a story. By comparing a few elements, it's easy to decide which one better shows Mitty's secret life.

One of the biggest differences is seen in the conflicts of each pieces of work. The short story tells the tale of Walter Mitty who goes on weekly trips to a city while repeatedly daydreaming. The only problems that Walter faces are being inscrutable to everybody around him and forgetfulness. The film shows the story of Walter as an employee for the magazine company known as Life. Walter is still a constant daydreamer that deals with a crush on a fellow employee and a missing photograph. A simple, ordinary day of life for Walter is shown on the short story but in the movie we see a real conflict with Walter's future hanging in the balance.

A huge comparison between the two works is the sequence of events, or plot. In the short story,  Mr. Mitty takes Mrs. Mitty to get her hair done in the city. While he parks his car and runs a couple of errands, Walter finds himself daydreaming over and over. In the movie, the audience sees that Walter is in love with Cheryl, a coworker at a magazine company which is about to issue its last paper magazine. He gets a couple of gifts including photos from a photographer. The one photo that Mitty needs is missing, so he works with Cheryl in order to track the photographer. After traveling to Iceland, Greenland, Afghanistan, and the Himalayas, Mitty is told that the photo is in the wallet that the photographer gave him. After finding the photo and giving it to his boss, Walter sees that the last issue was about the people who made the magazine and walks with Cheryl. One plot is simple while the other is long and developed. The secret life we see in the short story is Walter's daydreams. The frequency of his dreams are inscrutable because people think Walter is simply out of his mind but nobody knows that he's daydreaming. Walter's secret life in the film is that of traveling to several countries in search of a photograph. Daydreaming is also part of Walter's secret life as well because people like Todd sometimes couldn't determine if Mitty was daydreaming or not.

Characters and character development is the last element that helps determine which piece of work better represents Walter's secret life. In the short story, we only see Mr. and Mrs. Mitty as the main characters. Walter is the daydreamer and Mrs. Mitty is there to show the reader that people don't understand why he daydreams so much. In the film adaptation, we see Walter, Cheryl, Ted Hendricks, and Sean O'Connell as important characters. Walter is a daydreamer while Cheryl, Ted, Odessa, Walter's sister, and his mom represent how and why others see him as abnormal. Cheryl shows why she and some others think he's normal and easily bored. Ted represents how people see him as insane because of the daydreaming. People like Odessa and Mrs. Mitty are similar to Cheryl because they think Walter is normal but constantly spacing out. We see mixed thoughts about Walter's daydreaming in the film but we're led to believe that nobody understands Walter at all in the short story. Having more than just one main side character is essential for a good story. This makes the film better because we have a variety of people with a variety of beliefs about Walter's daydreaming. We only see misunderstanding and humiliation in the short story, but people like Todd and Cheryl understand Mitty. Those who understand Walter like Todd and those alienate him a bit for the dreams like Ted make the story better.

In conclusion, the film adaptation tells a better story and better represents Walter Mitty's secret life. We see a huge conflict in the movie that Walter deals with differently than how many others would've done. Other than Cheryl, Todd, and Mrs. Mitty, basically nobody knows what Walter did and what extremities he went to in order to look for a missing photograph. That is Walter's secret life. The daydreaming and all the amazing things he does that nobody knows about is the secret life. There's also a better story told in the film because we have an actual conflict and more things that the short story doesn't. We have a better and extraordinary plot and more characters with different interactions towards Walter. The short story shows a daydreamer on a trip to the city. There's no big bad conflict or amazing feat that Walter does to fix a problem. That's why the film tells a better story.

“The Most Dangerous Game” Creative Piece

Burmese Tiger Pit (Left): This trap is the “cartoon trap” that kills one of Zaroff’s dogs. Rainsford digs a hole as deep as a few feet underground to ensure that the victim doesn’t escape. He then takes saplings and sharpens the ends with his knife. The saplings are place in the ground and a woven carpet covers the entire pit. This carpet is made with materials from Rainsford’s surroundings so that it blends in with the environment.

Ugandan Knife Spring (Right): In this trap, Rainsford sacrifices his knife in order to kill Ivan and give him a chance to run away. Rainsford finds a nearby sapling and some grapevine. Using the grapevine, Rainsford attaches the knife to the sapling, but not too tightly. When the vine is broken apart or interfered with, the knife is sent flying, powered by the recoil of the bent sapling.

Malay Mancatcher: This is the first trap that Rainsford uses during the hunt. He used a small knife to cut a large, living tree. This makes the tree shorter so that he can place a dead tree trunk atop of it. The branch is then placed somewhere in between the two trunks but at the same time on the floor. This acts as the trigger that makes the dead trunk fall off and hit its victim.

First Quarter Reflections

Where are you in your personal Book Challenge?

I have only read one book for my challenge. I know I should be on my third book by now, but I’ve focused most of my time on reading “It.” The illegal pdf that Clement gave me (thanks Clement) has around a thousand pages and the print is small. For the next quarter, I’ll probably be at around 5 or possibly higher. I’m a few chapters shy of finishing “The Mysterious Benedict Society” and I’m interested in reading “1984” by George Orwell. Once I finish those, I need to look for more books.

What are your goals for ELA in your next three quarters?

My main goal is to get more 4s. Grades matter more in eighth grade because they help determine the high schools you can go to and the classes you can take. With 4s, I can get into better classes where I can learn and feel challenged. My other goal also relates to my future education. I want to be able to use everything I learn in Mrs. Larson’s in every other class. The TIQA format is just the start. I want to incorporate whatever else we learn when we start making more essays into other ELA classes I’ll have in the future.

What strategies have benefited you?

TIQA and a few questions I ask myself help me a lot. I use TIQA for essays here in ELA and projects in social studies. Ms. Raguso might tell us to introduce a quote with “The article says,” put the quote, and then interpret it in your own words. I use TIQA instead. This helps me make better introductions and analyses in that class. I also ask myself some questions when using TIQA. I wonder, is my analysis good enough? Is it detailed and does it take up most of the TIQA. This is what has benefited me a lot from this ELA class.

History of The Lottery

Mrs. Delacroix has realized what she’d done. She was one of those who killed her best friend in the whole town. After everyone resumed their daily routines, Mrs. Delacroix stayed and watched as a Mr. Graves took her corpse away. He barely noticed that she was staying. Her eyes already watering, she sobbed and knelt. She killed Tessie. She betrayed her and sided with the rest of the three hundred citizens. 

Why? Why does the town continue to kill every year. Why does nobody recognize the evil and injustice of this yearly event? Why does the lottery exist in the first place? Who could come up with such a horrible idea? Mrs. Delacroix needed answers, and she know only one person old enough to know.

It took a minute to wipe the tears of her face, but it took 7 to walk to Old Man Warner’s place. It was on the outskirts with no neighboring property. From his house, there was a very short road you’d have to walk to reach the actual town. Mrs. Dellacroix crossed this road and reached the front door. She knocked a few times on the old black wooden door

“Mr. Warner? Mr. Warner!”

She heard a grunt, then a few locks open up. Old Man Warner then opened the door to find Mrs. Dellacroix.

“What do you want?” He said in his old man voice.

“I need to talk to you about the lottery”

“If this is about ending the lottery, you’re out of your mind. The whole town depends on the lottery and you and I both know that”

“But I need to know why. Why do we need it? What’s the point? Why does it exist?”

“You want history? Oh, I’ll give ya history. Come in and take a seat.”

Mrs. Dellacroix had never been inside Old Man Warner’s house. As soon as she walked in, she saw a rocking chair and a long mattress across from it. She sat on the surprisingly comfy mattress as Mr. Warner took the rocking chair

“We all know this town and the lottery have been here before us right?”

“Yes, of course Mr. Warner”

“Now, I’m only 77 years old and I know the town’s been here before me. That don’t mean I can’t tell you about this lottery. When I was young, I myself asked someone about the lottery. Same questions you did.”

“And what did they say?”

“Well they didn’t answer the questions, but I figured it all out myself.”

“Go on.”

“See, it all starts around 1843. A little more than a century ago. These townsfolk, a bunch of families, used to participate in the lottery. Thinking it was horrible, they escaped around spring. They picked that time because they’d use the old town’s good food and have time to look for new land or another town. They found uncivilized plains and used crops and seeds from the town they left."

"Few people here and there, along with expanding families, motivated the people to call themselves their own town instead of a group of explorers. Oh, this is 1844 by the way."

"Another, what, ten years later, more people leave towns with the lottery. Let’s say we have around 134 people."

"Here’s where things go bad. It’s 1861 and the harvests have been really bad. Of the years between the population increase and ‘61, only one year had good harvest. The rest were basically rubbish."

"Now here’s something to remember. The year someone fell down that well in the town was when we had good harvest. Around 1863, someone didn’t want to risk the painful death of starvation. This lady thought it through and she decided to cut her arm off with a knife, leaving herself to bleed out. There were many good crops that year as well. And here’s something else. Both deaths were in June 27th."

"For the next three years, a group of friends did the same. One would kill himself in 1866, another in 1867, and the last in 1868. All suicides were in June and the town had a wonderful time with the crops"

"Now we’re at 1871. The original settlers thought of bringing back the very thing they ran away from. The lottery. They realized why it existed and they implemented it in the town. From them on, we’ve always had good crops.”

“Wow. So you were right about the ‘lottery in June, corn be heavy soon’ saying”

“Exactly. Not everyone understands. They’ve become blind fools. Honestly, even I know it’s wrong, but the sacrifice benefits everyone else and it’ll drain down the population over the future.”

The answers nearly haunted Mrs. Delacroix. It was now 1949. She knew someone would have to be sacrificed for the well-being or the rest of the town. During the new lottery, the history of the town was stuck in her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about it for a year.

Mr. Dellacroix selected a paper. He couldn’t help but look at it beforehand. It had the dot. He told his wife.

“What should we do?”

“I couldn’t live without you or our son” Mrs. Dellacroix responded. “I’ll sacrifice myself.”

“What? No. The victim is random. You can’t just go up there and ask them to stone you” he said in a serious and low tone.

“I know things that this town has forgotten. I’ll show them all.”

When Mr. Dellacroix revealed his paper, it was his family’s turn to pick who would die. Before Mr. Summers even reached them, Mrs. Dellacroix yelled out “I sacrifice myself”

The whole crowd was stunned to see someone use her life to save those of her family. 

“Are you sure about that?” Mr. Summers asked

“Let me explain. The whole point of the lottery is to sacrifice someone in exchange for a good harvest. It doesn’t matter if it’s random. I’m willing to let everyone stone me for their good health and the health of my family”

The town was skeptical about Tessie’s response, but those were the last words of Mrs. Delacroix.

I commented on Dylan's, Elias's, and Alejandra's blogs.

"The Lady or The Tiger" Continued

     Of course, the princess, being semi-barbaric, had constantly thought of having the youth open the door with the hungry tiger. He could simply wait for her in the afterlife where they could spend the rest of eternity together. Then again, it would be an awful lot of time before the princess joined him.
     Why not keep him alive? Because that would mean he’d delightedly marry another girl. If the princess wouldn't have him, why should anyone else? She thought about her recurring nightmares. If she killed her lover, she’d have to face the bloody sight of the youth being devoured, along with the guilt of being responsible for his death. If she kept him alive, she’d suffer the parades and celebrations of the youth’s survival and marriage.
     If the princess was to be with the youth, then she may as well keep him alive. She’d thought of a plan to keep him alive and away from the other girl. Permanently.
     After countless times of ensuring herself that everything would turn out ok, she told the youth to open the door on his right. He opened it and was immediately shocked and almost couldn't believe he’d be marrying another girl. The parades took an emotional toll on the princess and they annoyed her to the point where she’d shut up anyone talking about it, even the King.
     That night, the princess barely slept at all thinking about her lover and his wife. Although she could barely stand the thought, she knew everything would be as it should by the morning after tomorrow’s.
     The youth was the only thing the princess thought about the next day. Everything was gloomy and emotionless. People were still talking about yesterday’s events. This only motivated the princess to drive her towards the somewhat horrible part of her plan.
     She waited until everyone was sleeping. The King, other residents, visitors, and especially the chefs. With the cloak of night, she got casually dressed to go outdoors and snuck into the kitchen. She grabbed a certain object and hid it in a cut open pocket.
     It seemed that everyone was sleeping. There were no vendors or anybody on the streets. She traveled to the youth’s house and adjusted her eyes to the dark. Knowing where everything was, she carefully went to the master bedroom.
     She saw both the youth and the other woman. The object hidden in her pocket turned out to be a knife, one which was rarely used for it’s purpose. Equipped with the knife, the princess raised her right hand which was shaking abnormally and quickly struck the knife. She struck the woman’s stomach.
     The pain was so immense, she awoke from her sleep and let out a scream loud enough to wake up the youth and keep the princess from her drowsiness. Both realized the princess had stabbed her.
     To finish the job, she raised the knife back up and stabbed her in the heart. She had killed the other woman. This was the princess’s punishment for marrying her lover. The princess was glad, but the lover was in shock.
     “I don't know if you notice but I loved her” exclaimed the prince.
     “You thought I wouldn't do anything? I told you what door to open so we could be together”
     “For that I am grateful, but I was going to leave you for her because I realized I never really loved you!’
     “Oh, I see how it is. In that case, I’ll do you the favor of spend the rest of eternity with her.”
     And with that, the princess stabbed the youth in the neck and heart.

I commented on Clement's, Emily's, and Isis's blogs.

"Ripper" by Stefan Petrucha

Ripper is a book written by Stefan Petrucha set in the early 1900's. I've read up to page 215 and the book follows the story of Carver Young, an orphan under the care of a legendary detective. Detective Albert Hawking leads Carver on his journey to find his father as a young detective in training. The characters presented in this story are very similar to people in real life. Some characters are even historical figures with altered personalities. Carver, his orphan friend Delia, and his nemesis Finn, along with his gang of bullies, have the personalities of real people. Some are kind and determined. Kids like Finn bully for the fun of it and because that's just how they act. Some people would go to the lengths Carver does to right some wrongs like staking out a room to find a locket thief or assault the chief of a secret agency because he was used to catch a criminal. Other characters in Ripper include Teddy Roosevelt, a police commissioner that cares about his reputation and how people view him, and Jack The Ripper, assassin in both real life and in the book.


In think Stefan wrote Ripper because he had an interesting idea for a historical fiction book on Jack the Ripper. No, he didn't have a son, but this idea of Carver, an orphan trying to track his criminal father, made a great book. The story also includes the New Pinkertons, a secret organization that act as the law enforcement with their own rules. Their leader, officer Tudd, would serve as a side antagonist towards Carver because he would use Jack's own son to catch the infamous killer and bring fame to the New Pinkertons for doing what the normal police couldn't. Overall, Stefan used Jack the Ripper's fame to create a fictional story that would be unique and different than other historical fiction books.


I think the most important character in Ripper is Carver. Besides Carver being the main character, he's the one trying to find his father and catch a criminal at the same time. He's experiencing a lot of betrayal from Tudd who's using him for the same goals he has, and from a couple of New Pinkerton agents who were friendly until Tudd gave the order to keep Carver as a prisoner. Carver is also being taught by Hawking and using the gadgets of the New Pinkertons, he might catch Jack. Doing this will get Carver the answers he's always wanted and enough respect to join the New Pinkertons for real or regular law enforcement.

Intro to Me

     There's only four main things to know about me. I'm either eating, doing homework, playing video games, or sleeping. Oh, and I forgot that most of my friends believe I'm a stalker. The myth originates from me knowing where one of my friends lives, her family, her EXCEL, and where her locker was. Since then, Ive been known as the creep who knows everyone's passwords and personal information. I don't mind the jokes made about me and I'm sure the seventh graders will have as much fun talking about my "stalking" habits as the others do. Also, most of the time, I just happen to be places at the right time. If I'm walking home and I see someone unlock a door to a house and walk in, I'll assume that's where they live. It's as simple as that. It's the same with lockers and class periods.

Besides creeping people out by telling them where their locker is, I also enjoy video games. My setup is a Playstation 4 with a normal controller on a small TV less than a foot and a half wide. I play many free games from my Playstation Plus membership and I usually play with friends. I am a huge fanatic of the "Destiny" series as well. I have the original game, all of its expansion packs, and I pre-ordered the sequel early to play a small bit of the game and for in-game bonuses. Along with "Destiny," I play "Killing Floor 2," "Call Of Duty Black Ops 3," "Minecraft," and more. Since I don't hang out with my friends, video games take up most of my time. Basically, stalking that isn't stalking and video games are two important parts of me that everyone should know.

Final Reflection

What are the three most important things you learned this year?
I learned that everyone believes in something that guides their lives or personal philosophies that guide their actions. The This I Believe project taught me this.
I also learned that when we try to use our memories for a project like a narrative essay or a This I Believe project, you think of another memory to use when you're relaxed. You use another memory because you need to think of one on the spot for an assignment. One of the many important things I learned this year is how to make a good topic sentence and objective summary. I'm thankful for the lessons we did on this from the beginning of the year. I think I'll forever keep a screenshot of the packet Mrs. Larson gave us.

What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?
Something I'll always remember is the TKAM feast in quarter 2 or 3. I'll never forget this because classmates brought delicious dishes foods from the book. I'll remember the cook-off Sophie and Hazelle had, the sardine Sam ate, the ham, the gum I chewed multiple sticks of, and basically eating most of the class period.

What was the nicest thing someone in our class did I for you?
I can't remember if my classmates did any favors for me except for one thing. I believe it was a Thursday or Friday after we did an AoW gallery walk. I can't remember the assignment we had to do from that gallery walk but I needed the title of Vince's article and it was after school. I used a messenger and asked him for the title which he gave me.

What is something you taught your teacher or your classmates this year?
Vince found out how to get the links of our Google Docs but not everyone else knew. He or Kezia taught me how to do this which I appreciated. Another day, Lorin needed the link for her ELA document so I showed her how to get the link.


In what area did you improve most in? What is something you're proud of?
I can only think of improving in adding more thoughts to socratic seminars and spelling tests. I'm proud of my This I Believe essay because I can share my thoughts and beliefs with the class. I can also learn about what others believe in.

What was the most challenging part for you this year?
I'd say the butterfly project was the hardest. Even looking back at that, the project didn't seem too hard. The challenging bit was building the butterfly. To determine the most challenging assignment, I'd have to do all of them. Remembering makes me think this year wasn't too difficult.

What was the best piece of writing you did this year?
I believe my best piece of writing I made this school year in ELA is my argumentative essay. I used evidence to prove why I thought more gun control laws should be enforced.

Of the books I read with the class, "Tuesdays with Morrie" was my favorite. I would've picked "To Kill A Mockingbird" instead for being a great classic regarding racism and childhood. I didn't because "Tuesdays With Morrie" shared the invaluable lessons of Morrie Schwartz about life and death. It taught me and other classmates things that we'll never forget. I also liked this book because of the aphorism project we did. It made us think of our own aphorism that we live by.

I'd like to tell next years students to not worry. I had a friend who would've joined the class but didn't because she thought it would be too much work. The truth is that the class is and isn't too much. If I survived the many assignments of this class, many others can. Just don't worry, get the work done, learn, and you'll be fine. Another bit of advice is to try not to give Mrs. Larson "bare bones." If you think you put too little work and effort, revise your assignment.

"Living Life As It Should Be Lived"

“Living Life As It Should Be Lived”

I believe in enjoying and living every moment in life to the fullest. We all have moments when we’re bored out of our minds, when we’re stuck in places we don’t want to be, or when we have to do work that we just don’t want to do. Everyone is familiar with these moments but an ELA assignment helped me realize what I should do in these situations.

I had just come home from my daily walk from school. I changed from my navy blue polo that was half drenched in sweat from the warm heat and my fast walking pace. After eating dinner with my parents and two sisters, I thought about part of an assignment. It was to make your own aphorism or phrase about life. Pacing back and forth in my bedroom, I remembered something I read in a memoir and connected that to my math class.

My class and I had read a memoir, “Tuesdays With Morrie,” which contains the life lessons of Morrie Schwartz. Morrie was an old university professor who was diagnosed with ALS. One of the lessons he shared was that people wish they could relive their childhood because they didn't live their youth fully. This came to my mind and I wondered if I could base my aphorism off that or make one with a similar topic. I finally did when I thought of my math class.

I went to a math class every morning where the activities simply bored me. Most of what my teacher has taught the class is stuff I had already known. This is why I disliked my math class. After thinking about the statement about reliving your childhood, I realized that I wouldn't want to be someone who had the same wish of going back to the past .

Try to live even the dullest of moments fully. That was my own personal aphorism that I now live by. I shared this with a classmate who said that our math class could be used for time to think about whatever’s in your head. That's the kind of thing I want to think about. The advantages of boring moments or places you don't want to be in. I think everyone should use my piece of advice. That way our lives might be a little bit better.

Morrie's Aphorisms

"You need to make peace with yourself and everyone around you."

Morrie told Mitch about his friend Norman who Morrie couldn't forgive. Norman didn't call Morrie or Charlotte to check on her while she needed an operation. Morrie "shrugged off" Norman's explanation off. This led to Morrie saying the he wished he could forgive Norman and telling Mitch that we need to forgive ourselves. He also says that he beat himself over not doing certain things but it never helped. This story was to show you need need to forgive and make peace with yourself for not doing some things and others what what they have or haven't done. This way you live better because you won't have any quarrels or people you haven't forgiven

I agree with Morrie's aphorism about making peace. When you're at peace with someone, you forgive them for anything they've done. You also forgive yourself for not doing some things when you're at peace with yourself. Morrie would've forgiven is friend Norman if he was at peace with him. He tells how he didn't forgive Norman for not checking on Charlotte when she needed an operation here: "Over the years, I met Norman a few times and he always tried to reconcile, but I didn't accept it...I never got to forgive him." This shows that being at piece prevents situatupions like this. Being at peace with people helps you live better with others.

I'd like to connect this aphorism to the end of my 3rd grade school year. There were some classmates I wasn't at peace with. If I have, I wouldn't wish I could go back in time and fix certain things with some people. Being at peace can prevent you from doing things you wish you didn't or forgive people for whatever reasons.

"Try to live even the dullest of moments fully."

This is my own aphorism which is inspired by two things: something Morrie said to Mitch, and my math class. Morrie said that the reason people say they wish they could go back to a younger age is because they didn't live their time fully. We all have moments when we're bored out of our minds and such a time for me is my math class. The warm-ups are boring, the lessons are boring reviews, and there's barely anything challenging. I want to live my childhood as best as I can to I may as well try to look at the advantages of my math class or any other boring moment in life.

Tuesdays with Morrie Final Seminar Reflection

We talked about what Morrie had said about certain topics during the past four seminars. Talking about them in-depth reminded me of Morrie's advice and inspired my life and my view on it to be better. Death was a topic brought up commonly, probably because the book centered on life and what to do when you're alive.

I noticed that I make connections to other pieces of literature or movies during seminars. I also try to use the questions I have prepared in case the Seminar needs a new discussion. A goal I had for the second seminars was to write down what I'd say if someone cut me off or added something else. I would've done this to avoid forgetting anything but instead of writing down, I held on to something. For example, when I was going to make a connection to a book, I held on to it so I wouldn't forget what to say.

I noticed that there were many short moments where nobody had anything to say in the third seminar. We'd have a small discussion on a topic until nobody had anything to say which didn't take long. I think this happened because we didn't think of different things to share. A group goal I thought of to prevent this was to adapt to the topics and/or to include a variety of topics in our guides.

My Perfect 24 Hours

My perfect 24 hours would start with waking up at 5:40 AM. I'd get dressed and play video games. I might even make myself a few scrambled eggs. At 7:25 AM I would walk to school and talk with friends before school starts. I'd talk with other friends and eat breakfast during EXCEL. My favorite breakfast from school is a bagel with cream cheese. Sometimes classmates don't want their food so I'll eat it instead of throwing it away. 

After EXCEL is over I would go to Math class. Throughout all of my classes I'd talk to friends and classmates, even in math class. I would have Health for Block 2 in my perfect day just for the easy work and the free time you have after doing it. Then I'd go to ELA, do work and go to lunch later. I'd see what's the new meal in the lunch cart which would be a range of my favorite school cafeteria foods. After getting lunch and a milk carton, I'd sit at the 7th table in the lunchroom. I'd have lunch with the other 7th graders and we'd joke around and flip milk cartons. After eating I'd go to recess, maybe even pay for me, Clement, Vince, and Dylan who usually go. Me at Clement would find a basketball and play a one on one game.

After recess we'd finish Block 3 and go to Block 4. Because I had health class, I'd go to Social Studies but I'd rather go to Science in my perfect day. I'd do whatever assignment we had for the day and we'd have some free time at the end. School would end and I'd get packed to walk home. I'd wait for a couple of friends to walk and joke around with. I'd get home and change out of my school uniform unless I wore something else for a dress-down. Once I changed clothes I'd play video games until my mom and dad came home with my two little sisters. Instead of my mom, I'd cook either eggs or whatever my family brought from the store. After eating I'd play videos games with friends until nighttime. My mom or dad would sleep the girls and I'd stop playing.

I'd be in bed but I wouldn't be sleeping. Notice that I said "perfect 24 hours." This is why I didn't start with "perfect day." I'd be on my phone listening to music and maybe watching funny videos and images. At around 11:00 PM I might still be on my phone or playing video games. I'd do this until 5:40. This can be a reality if I wanted to. I just need a school day with no homework and nothing to do.

The Third Tuesday

The Tuesday that has inspired me most is the third one. In this Tuesday, Morrie and Mitch talk about regret. Mitch asks Morrie if he regrets kept secrets, or lamented lost friends. Morrie replies by saying that most don't think about these types of questions until they really believe they'll die. People are caught in the cycle of daily routine so much that they don't think about regret or questioning their actions. He thinks that people should "get into the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, is this all. Is this all I want? Is something missing?" This inspires me because I feel that I should take this piece of Morrie's advice. I should look at my life almost daily and think about what I'm missing. How do I want my life to be and what must I do to get the life I'm comfortable with? Morrie later talks of asking yourself if today could be the day you die. Using Morrie's advice, I could live the way I want since I could die anyday.

The topic of living life the way you want to before you die is an important topic because you'd live life unhappily otherwise. People also don't think about living life fully until they know when they'll die. Like Morrie said, "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." When you think of the possibility of dying at anytime, you start to actually live. Everyone has an image of what they want their lives to like so they may as well try to make the image a reality. Why not do so before time runs out, which can be the moment you finish reading this.

"Tuesdays with Morrie" Opinion and Bucket List

Before reading "Tuesdays with Morrie," I thought the book would have been about a young child or teenager who went to a restaurant or diner owned by and old man named Morrie. The first two paragraphs containing Morrie's death brought tears to my eyes. I thought the book was a great story until Lorin, Aine, and Mrs. Larson told me that these events took place in real life. My reactions were  mixed with thoughts of feeling great for Mitch being successful in his sports reporter career and thoughts of feeling bad and relatable towards Mitch forgetting his friends and Morrie.

My bucket list:

• Make a popular meme.
• Graduate high school.
• Be successful in the STEM classes I'll take next year.
• Visit Australia.
• Own a house in Mexico.
• Work as a game developer for either Netherrealm in Chicago, Ubisoft in San Fransisco, both, or be an independent developer.
• Win a cash prize from a McDonald's Monopoly event.
• Attend E3. (An event in Los Angeles where video game developers and mangers get together to show off their new games, consoles, and software. Those who attend may receive copies of video games before commoners.)
• Make successful video games.
• Learn the programming languages C and C++.
  

Book Blog 4/16/17: "Sting"

I've only read the beginning of “Sting” and the book seems promising. March and Jules, young cat burglars, are on a heist in Paris to steal a briefcase of diamonds. During the heist, another thief steals most of the diamonds leaving the duo with one of three cursed diamonds. I've only read up to how March and Jules try to escape the authorities that were alerted. According to the back cover, March Jules and a few other friends have to execute two more heists for the other two diamonds in the set while avoiding authorities like Interpol and dangerous criminal gangs.

In my opinion, the characters in “Sting” are more likely to be unrealistic. The two main characters, March and Jules, are twins that were separated from birth. They were the children of a burglar which is unlikely enough. March and Jules meet other kids who have special talents that help them in further heists in a kind of school. I'd say this is possible but there would be a small chance.

I would recommend this book but only on one condition. That whoever I'd recommend the book to would have to read the first book, “Loot.” Parts of “Sting” wouldn’t make sense if the reader didn’t read “Loot” first. The main characters stories are in the first book along with who other main characters are. If somebody has read “Loot,” then I’d tell them about “Sting.” I haven’t read so much of it yet but the plot is on the back cover of the book. It seems interesting and the book is excellent.

Quarter 3 Reflections

An area that I've improved on is argumentative essays. What we've done already is a bit new but useful. I don't think I've ever thought of expected counter arguments until now. Having a small list of sources is great because you can extract quotes from the sources to use in your essay. There's also the CRAPP test which checks if your sources are reliable. I remember some things from the paper and thinks about them when I stumble upon a new article. Things like: when was it written, does the author have contact information and credentials? Some of these tactics are things I've never known of so I'll be sure to use them for future essays.

I scored 100% on the U.S. Constitution test which I am proud for! I didn't exactly get a perfect score because I refused to do an extra task for a 4 instead of a 3. I thought it would be tiring so I decided to read instead. Later a friend told me that there were three questions and you only had to answer one for a 4. One was to give an example of a branch of our government using checks and balances in today’s current events. I thought of what I would've responded and questioned myself for not attempting. Now I learned that I should always go for the 4.

One of the most challenging parts of Quarter 3 was the Butterfly project. I wasn't sure of what I would use or how creative my final product could be. Many used wood but there wasn't any in my house. To overcome my material problem, I searched my basement and found stacks of paper and the other materials of my butterfly. During the time of making the tags on a Google Doc, I accidentally put them directly in Thinglink. A problem was that I was at a party and didn't have my iPad. Thankfully, a Thinglink app for iPhones existed so that I could do my work where ever I was.

Argumentative Articless AoW Impressions

The most pressing argument from the ones I heard of this gallery walk is Vince's about a mass murderer's iPhone, Apple, and the FBI. The murderer's smartphone was found by the FBI who forced Apple to help in an investigation. They wanted Apple to make new software to extract data from the phone. Apple refused but the FBI hacked the phone anyway. Even today questions are asked about wether Apple should've cooperated or not and if they did, how would this affect other smart device users.

With Apple making the requested software, governments could spy on you and your phone. This could help defeat ISIS by looking for anything suspicious in people's iPhones. The problem is that people will suffer a major privacy loss. This would be unlawful in the U.S. because our phones will be searched without warrants. Overall, it would've been wrong if Apple made software for this to happen.

People who say that Apple should've worked with the FBI look back to Pearl Harbor. Franklin Roosevelt worked with vehicle manufacturers to make different vehicles. Companies such as General Motors and Ford went from making cars to aircraft. This example of third parties working with the U.S. is used as evidence for why Apple should've helped the FBI.

This would affect me and other smartphone users because governments would have more acces to our  phones and data. They could also see personal information which will make people feel insecure. In the U.S. this could be unconstitutional because the government could be searching through our phones without warrants. Even if other countries don't have the boundary of needing a warrant, people's phones will be open to governments. Privacy is a need for some people and taking that away could be scary.

Night Assessment Blog

Before seeing what he did in the camps, Elie was a very pious child. He wanted to study the Kabbalah back in Sighet so he searched for a master. After finding Moshie as a mentor, Elie read pages of the Zohar and the Kabbalah. He also prayed for most of his free time which altogether showed his piousness. This is shown when Elie explains that, "Together, we would read, over and over again, the same page of the Zohar. Not to learn it by heart but to discover within the very essence of divinity." (5). Elie did what not many others would do because he was so pious.

Elie felt the opposite of how pious he was before being in the camps when he almost died in the crematorium. Upon seeing the fires of the crematoria, Elie started to question his faith and God. He doesn't know why God would let these mass deaths happen at all. Seeing others pray for themselves, Wiesel  questions them and God when he says, "Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?" (33). Many Jews were dying and Elie noticed that God did nothing. This led to Elie becoming unfaithful and the opposite of his pious self.

The Nazis may or may not have thought that Jews would change and turn on each other. Elie was willing to protect his father back in Sighet. After one night of the harsh conditions of Auschwitz, Elie is different. When his father is attacked, he does less to protect him. Such a case is when the Gypsie Blockalteste hit Elie's father. When this happens, Wiesel realizes how much he changed when he asks, "What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal's flesh. Had I changed that much? So fast?" (39). He would've gone wild with the Gypsie but he didn't, possibly for survival. Elie's faith and actions have been changed by being in the camps which lead to regretful outcomes.

Works Cited

     Wiesel, Elie. Night. Trans. Marion Wiesel. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006. Print.

Holocaust AoW Impressions

I learned a lot of interesting information regarding the Holocaust. Vince's article told why it took so long to make an official Holocaust Memorial Day. People who weren't part of a group considered as "undesirables" didn't care because they weren't involved or targeted. They thought that events that happened to others meant they didn't have to remember it themselves.

Defining "Holocaust" was another burden. If the confirmed definition was something that didn't happen, then people would have more reason to believe that there shouldn't be a memorial. The word also couldn't be purposely defined to give reason to make a day of remembrance.

Eammon's article talked about a Palestinian teacher who took his class to Aushwitz. This angered other Palestinian's because the class was feeling sympathetic for Jews. The same Jews who took their land as their own. The Palestinians feel negative towards the Jews for this but the class does otherwise. They were glad to see we're so many died and to feel sorry for that.

Butterfly Project: "Homesick"

"Homesick" by Anonymous

I've lived in the ghetto here for more than a
   year,
In Terezin, in the black town now,
And when I remember my old home so dear,
I can love it more than I did, somehow.

Ah, home, home,
Why did they tear me away?
Here the weak die easy as a feather
And when they die, they die forever.

I'd like to go back home again,
It makes me think of sweet spring flowers.
Before, when I used to live at home,
It never seemed so dear and fair.

I remember now those golden days...
But maybe I'll be going there soon again.

People walk along the street,
You see at once on each you met
That there's ghetto here,
A place of evil and of fear.
There's little to eat and much to want,
Where bit by bit, it's horror to live.
But no one must give up!
The world turns and times change.

Yet we all hope the time will come
When we'll go home again.
Now I know how dear it is
And often I remember it.

I commented on Andrew R's, Jackson's, Jack's, Hazelle's, and Luis's butterflies

The Berlin Memorial

Most of what I learned was the types of restrictions that were put into effect and possibly why. Before this activity I didn't know that Jews weren't allowed to have some foods or that even their houses had to have a yellow star. Around the time the house and star decree was in effect, Jews couldn't be in courts testified against Germans. Nazis could also ransack your home and send your family to a ghetto with nothing in return. Both normal Germans and Nazis could attack you and you're family and get away with it.

I believed this monument was made to remember two things: the atrocities committed by the Nazi party and the deaths of millions of Jews and "undesirables." Memorials exist to remind us of the past. They can be made after great people or to remember fateful events such as the Holocaust. To add to why this memorial was made, around fifty-five million died due to the Nazis. When that many died and a war took place to stop this, it's sensible to remember everyone from back then.

I noticed that some decrees and laws were introduced in big groups for every few years. Other years in between had few which were still impactful either way. Like Max said, this might be because before the Nazis were in power they had some laws already thought of. The reason why some years had few new laws was because they were new laws and the Nazi used their ideas in the past years. This could also be the result of fear of outside countries noticing the laws.

The restrictions that would impact me most would be all food restrictions. Jews weren't allowed to buy or eat/drink milk, eggs, bread, or bakeries sweets. These restrictions were decrees put into effect of different times of 1942. This would impact me because if I was Jewish, I'd eat less. Eggs are an ingredient for some recipes and and a food I eat time to time. Then there's bread and milk which are perfect together. Also imagine cereal without milk or any pastries or bread treats without milk. Being a food fanatic, this would definitely impact me.

Quarter 2 Reflection

I have improved upon not using bare bones for information in ELA. For TKAM and our Informative Essay I've been using around two sentences. After what Mrs. Larson told us and the rubric she posted, I have used around three or four sentences for giving meaning to a quote. I put the quote into context which will go towards my grade as well.

Something I accomplished since the new year was download a program to help pursue my dreams. My dream is to be a video game programmer and last year I downloaded an engine to do just that. To actually script a game I needed a software called Microsoft Studio in order to use the engine with C+, a script language. Having this installed to my computer makes me one step closer to making a real video game.

The most challenging part of this quarter was probably the Design Challenge held by Mr. Larson and Mr. Bertoletti. The point was to design a vehicle made of things like plastic mesh and skewers that could hold a cup with a toy soldier in it. A metal ball down a ramp would power that vehicle and the soldier couldn't fall out. Me and my partner's designs weren't working so to fix this, we were inspired by others.

TKAM Comparitave Analysis

After watching the movie, I believe that the most important difference is Aunt Alexandra. She as a character brought the theme of gender roles into the story; one being feminine apparel. "Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants" Aunt Alexandra is trying to make Scout think that she shouldn't do the gritty  tomboy things she does and much less wearing a dress.

Having different versions of a story, in this case having a book and a film, can improve the understanding one has of the original. One point is thoughts and narration. In the book Scout tells the reader her thoughts while the viewer would see facial expressions and hear dialogue instead. This can give value to what someone thinks of some characters.