"Paradox and Dream" Reflection

"Paradox and Dream" Reflection

John Z.

5/21/2015

Paradox: "Fortunes are spent getting cats out of trees and dogs out of sewer pipes; but a girl screaming for help in the street draws only slammed doors, closed windows, and silence.

The first paradox is basically stating that an human life is just as important as a animal life. John Steinbeck is saying when it comes to cats and dogs there is not a maniac going after them so we have no problem saving them because they don't endanger a life as much. When humans are getting killed or greatly harmed people won't help because of what they think would happen to them if they stepped in. People are afraid to save another human life but an animal's life they no problem saving at all. 

My thoughts on this is that even though you might get harmed or killed it is still important to save another human life. Sure its great saving a cat's or a dog's life when they're either stuck in a tree or a sewer pipe, but another living being who is getting killed or assaulted is important too. It's not good to just be a bystander thanking God that that's not them getting harmed. A think a big part of life is willing to step up and help not just look.

Paradox: "We are self-reliant and at the same time completely dependent."

The second paradox is about thinking you got everything under control but in reality you need those special people by your side at all times. People think they are self-made/"Self-Reliant" and can handle all that is thrown at them but they are always going to have a hard time without people taking care of them. There are people who live alone who are like this, who don't rely on other people, they might be successful but maybe don't feel like they are complete. They most of the time have a hard time going through life and without maybe things like health insurance and think they can cover it when they are only in college.

My connection to this is when I was ten and wanted to stay home alone. I thought I was really grown up and ready to be on my own but my parents disagreed. I really didn't see why, until a few years later. I was mature and smarter and understood more things about the world and trusting ten year olds with a house doesn't seem like the smartest thing in the world. Well now I do stay on my own from time to time now that I can do some things on my own

What Symbolizes Me Is...

What Symbolizes Me Is...

5/14/2015

John Z.

I chose picture because it shows seeds getting thrown into the soil, this represents wanting to keeping growing until you're the best that you can be. No matter what it is technology, school, home or just learning want to grow throughout all of the experiences I have. An example of this would be me wanting to become an engineer, I have to work hard in a lot of subjects in future school years to get there. It's not just school and future work, I want to grow to become a better listener, learner, and more obedient with my parents too. Learning is the guide to grow for me, because as you get older and older you get to know a few things. Stuff you want to use in a positive way towards your future. No matter how long it takes I want to grow into the perfect plant.

Commented On: Evelia C. Mia C. Omar R. Jared A. Saul G.

Final Reflection

Final Reflection

John Z.

5/13/2015

There was a lot of important moments in ELA so here are some things that happened during class.

I think the three most important things how learned this year was how to properly write a paragraph because I didn't even know what a topic sentence was, how to write a argumentative paper to understand the pros and cons of a certain subject, and how to annotate an article to help guide me through an AOW. I think I will remember the Battle of the Books because first off I needed it to increase the amount of books I read in the school year and helped memorization skills and was just overall a great time. Probably the nicest thing that someone has done for me was helping me get caught up with the Edgar Allan Poe research because I arrived in the middle of the second quarter. Things like that I highly appreciate someone doing for taking the time to do that for me. 

There were also a lot of things that my fellow classmates and I learned trough the year. Starting off, one of the things I taught to another student was how to make an AOW, and that made me really good to help someone out. I think one of the biggest improvements I've had this year was grammar,  surprisingly. A really time I was using commas and its and it's incorrectly but thanks to this class hopefully I won't be making those mistakes anymore. One thing that I was really proud of was writing the argumentative paper on DWD because it was a really huge topic something that needs more attention I'm glad I was involved with the assignment of going into more detail with it. The most challenging part of the year for me was probably the poem unit because I wasn't familiar with all the different genres basically all I knew was Haiku and anything thing that rhymed counted as a poem. 

To be honest there was a TON of reading and writing involved in all of our assignments and class work but it was good getting through it, here are some of the things I did. The best piece of writing I think I did was the Two-Voice poem for Things Not Seen because it is favorite book I have ever read and it was really interesting to connect the main character, Bobby Phillips with Alicia the blind girl who he met at the library. Things Not Seen was my favorite book because it really catches your attention at the beginning of the book and doesn't slow down a lot. It's also because invisibility is a really interesting mystery and it was really pleasing to see someone turn that into an amazing book.


If I were to give advice to this class the list would be thousands of pages long but to sum it up I'm writing this paragraph. If you are a big procrastinator like me prepare to be rushing to get your assignments done. You're going to have a bunch of work even on regular weeks so don't even think about slacking. Be creative because you are going to have to write a lot of imaginative poems in this class and lot of them. Don't get distracted because before you know it you are going to be behind a lot of students. Lastly, and I cannot stress this enough, remember to inspect everything closely because if don't scroll down your not going to see those OTHER questions you were supposed to do.

    

Commented On: Omar R. Saul G. Emily B. 

OMAM Movie Blog Week of 5/11/15

OMAM Movie Blog

(Section 3 and 4)

John Z.

5/13/2015

 The flashback shows a time when George and Lennie were just being together, not arguing, no distractions, no work, just them. This makes George feel good because he knows what he did to Lennie was for his own good and not let him suffer. The flashback makes audiences feel like there was more positive moments than negative between George and Lennie and didn't shoot Lennie for no reason. I don't think that feeling matched the end of the book because at the end of the movie there was positive memory but at the end of the book George was still very unsettled and almost everyone who worked with him knew what he did. I think the director chose a different ending because the flashback had more meaning to it other than the workers trying to forget about through drinking. 

The line of dialogue at the end of the book was said by Carlson when he was with Curley, "Now what the hell ya suppose is eaten' them two guys?" That line tells us that the speaker doesn't know that George shot Lennie. The feeling that the reader get left with is maybe relief that Curley didn't get the chance to harm Lennie and he didn't die suffering. It made feel a little bit frustrated because its like Carlson has no idea what is going around him. There was just a guy who had shoot his best friend to make sure he didn't suffer in prison, of course something is bothering him!      

I feel like this was a really good book with a lot of ups and downs and twists. I'm glad this was actually a good book knowing it's ELA because the book we read last year in the 6A Accelerated LA class was really a bore. I think the twist and turns gave me a really good understanding of what the book was going to be. From Lennie crushing Curley's hand to Lennie killing Curley's wife. It was almost like the author didn't want you to keep up with the story even though the story all took place in a few days. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery because they are used to all of plot twist, and other unexpected things the author throws into his books.

AOW Impressions Blog

AOW Impression Blog

5/5/2015

John Z.

Throughout this gallery walk I learned a lot of different and interesting things. An example this would be from James Furbeck's article which was a hit and run by a UFC fighter. His article showed me that even celebrates aren't perfect and should know better sometimes even though they think they are paying attention. The person the UFC fighter (Jon Jones) hit was a pregnant women who was in her twenties and then some interesting things got mentioned. After Jon Jones hit her he left money by her to pay for any injury she had. The police investigated Jon and found drugs in the trunk of his car, this is where I assumed he was really stressed out so he might've not paid attention to where he was driving.


There was another topic, it was about the Nepal Earthquake and how it affected a lot of people in the area. I learned from Sam Titzer there was a man who was pinned under his motorcycle and that saved his life. The death toll of the earthquake has reached over 7,500 people dead. Since this was a huge disaster I learned from Sonny Soto that there are too many patiences for the doctors to handle, so it is unclear on whether all of the survivors will get treated. There was also Sebastian Burgos who had the same topic and mentioned that it was the worst earthquake Nepal had in 80 years.


One the last topics was about child abuse that Mia C. had. Children had been killed from things like faith healing. It is basically believing that you don't need a doctor and just have to believe in God to heal them, this is why some kids under the age of one year died. I also learned that over 1,500 kids were killed because of child in 2012. This can show that the parents were careless and didn't really the kid to live a good life even though they had the intention of doing so.

Commented On: Bianey C. Diana A. Omar R.