Which Tuesday Has Inspired You? (Tuesday with Morrie Blog #2)

5/28/16

Which Tuesday Has Inspired You?

The first reason the eighth tuesday inspired me was when Morrie said that money was not a replacement for tenderness and/or love. This is because it is a really unfortunate really life situation and a lot of people need to learn about. Some people really want to deny and think it is not true but it really won't buy them happiness. All it will do is buy them things unnecessary things that won't really mean anything when they eventually pass. Most people don't really see the sentimental value in life and really don't value things like family or friends, all of them need to wake up and come to the realization that they are not living life like they are supposed to.

The second reason is that the eighth tuesday Morrie said to give what we have to offer. This inspires me because it tells us what most people (including me) don't do, give to your full potential. This has inspired to work harder than hardly work because I have been lazy with my work lately and I want to get better. The aphorism does tell a really good lesson and truth that such be spread to all people and teach us to give in any way we can.

The third and final reason the eighth tuesday inspires me is that Morrie says to do kind things from the heart. This is inspires me because it teaches us to do things with the most sincerness and kindest and give people hope and may be even change someone's life. To a family member, a friend, or even a stranger, do something with them or for them that will improve them and more importantly yourself, that's what we can do. It would be a better, kinder, and happier world if connected with the aphorism and went out and tried to do it.

Tuesdays With Morrie Blog #1

4/20/16
Tuesdays with Morrie Blog #1

From what I have read so far the book has really made me think. The first example of this is the idea of a living funeral. It really never hit me that the person never really gets to hear the loving and thoughtful words that are said at their funeral, so those words semi go to waste. The second thing to make me think would be how Morrie didn't want sympathy, but wanted to be treated how he has always been treated. He wanted to live the rest of his life like he regularly would and have his friends and family do the same.



I haven't really came up with a bucket list but here are a few things I have came up with. One of the things I want to do is to meet my mom's side of the family in the Philippines. This is because I don't face to face and some of them I don't know at all or exist. The second thing I want to do before I die I want to go Italy, just to see it is the entire reason I want to go there. There is small chance I have family there and if do that adds more reason to go. Third thing I would want to do is graduate college with a bachelor's degree, even if I have to push myself.

Bucket List:
- See my family in the Philippines
- Go to Italy
- Graduate College with a Bachelor's Degree
- Meet my favorite music artist(s)

3rd Quarter Reflection

4/8/16

3rd Quarter Reflection

Prompts: 

- *In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts?

- *What is something you have accomplished this quarter that you are proud of?

- *What has been the most challenging part of 3rd Quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

The area I think I have made the biggest improvement in is how to format sentences. I would usually just format them by what I think would be expected, but then learned there really was more to it. For example, when it came to introductions I just did what needed to get attention from that paragraph, then I learned that there is a really precise way of doing it. I just thought, if it sounded good I would be expecting a good grade from that introduction. How to properly do the conclusion was easy to understand when it came to the essay, and that significant helped with my writing.

I think writing the argumentative essay is what I am most proud of out of the third quarter. At first, I thought it was going to be frustratingly painful to finish, but looking back it seemed to be easy once you understood it. I was really happy with the topic I chose because I really care about the wellbeing of animals and keeping them away from all the test and experiments seemed something I was willing to fight for. It was actually really hard to find legitimately good sources and it took a long time to find information from the decent sources. Some provided more help than others and some of the things pulled out of those sources was not the best information, so I left a lot of that out. The hard work was worth it though, through the revisions the essay got better and better, which is because for some reason I just felt really focused with that project. The biggest reason I think I am proud of this is because I didn't really ignore this assignment like some others.

I think the most challenging part for the third quarter has been catching up on my reading. The battle of the books was fun for me last year because I made a good amount of progress from the start, but now it seems like I am dramatically falling behind. I think I really should just keep as much focus on this competition and really try and not neglect the little time I have left. I hope somehow I can actually break through this problem because my group and I have been through some difficulties with one of the shortest books and that set me behind. I really need to push myself more when it comes to this, I need to be more committed.

The Trial Blog #2

3/9/2016

Prompts: 1. If you could talk to the author, what questions would you ask? Why?, 2. List the personality characteristics of the main character (feelings, interests, behaviors, etc.) 3. Write the biography for one character.

The question I would ask to Jen Bryant would be, why she wrote the book similar to stanzas in a poem. This is something I've been wondering throughout reading the book and I am not sure what it is trying to symbolize or if it even is trying to symbolize anything at all. Does the form of writing help get straight to the major parts or points? The book doesn't go by chapter's because each different event has a title, so my best guess she had an interest in poetry in one point of her life. That is why I need it straight from her because something like that in a book is really unique, and you would want the purpose for someone doing that.

The main character, Jen is very energetic about what she does. When she gets the news that something major happened she got right on it. She prepared for it her whole life and stuck news headlines on her walls aspiring for one to be her's one day. She was finally at the trial she wrote down every single detail she could about what was happening. Even if it was small, meticulous thing she would jot it down just in case or maybe to improve her entry.

Jen Bryant at a young age was committed to be a journalist. Once she got to any magazine with a major headline she would add that to her collection, hoping one day she would get a headline of her own. A when a major trial for a kidnapping came to her town it was her chance to start as a journalist. She wrote down as many notes as she could no matter who it came from. Every single detail was important to her, knowing this could be a entry into her town's newspaper. As the trial went on she felt as if her entry was getting better and better. She would then, become a writer as she grew up.

The Trial: Letter Blog

3/6/2016

Prompt: Pretend you are the friend of one of the characters. Write him or her a letter.

Hey Jen, how is the journalism going? Since, this is usually a really drab and boring town, I really want to know how it is going. Any juicy news or new things about a possible suspect in the kidnapping? Charles Lindbergh really does not deserve what happened. Who would take his child away anyway. I hope you find at least something. You never know this might launch your future career as a journalist. This is a story that is really important to the city and our country, so you can really capitalize with this opportunity. 

You need to jot down as many things as you can, because you never know if something is important or not, or doze off somehow. I don't even need to be around you and I can already tell how much you are excited you are about this, considering all of those headlines plastered all over your room. I feel like when this is all over you are going to save an entire wall for this headline, because it involves you. How amazing is it to have that running around in head over and over again?

Hopefully this will prepare and lead you into the world of journalism. Because if it doesn't I don't know what will. You are reporting on something that can break or relief an American hero! That is unbelievable, just saying. If anything happens in the future, say aliens attack I'll definitely know that you will be all over that when or if it does happen!

                                                                                                                                      

Life is Beautiful Blog

3/2/2016

One connection between Life is Beautiful and Night is the link between the father and son. The father and son bond in both the movie and the book play a really important role in the story. Guido protected his son by telling it was all a game and that all worked even after he unfortunately died, and then resulted with Joshua reuniting with his mother Dora. In Night, Elie clinged to his father as if he was a safety rope. Elie's father is a major reason he kept going. The fathers played a major role and paid a major sacrifice to keep their family safe. 

I've noticed a lot of things different between the book and the movie. First off, the families are completely different when it came to the outcomes. In Life is Beautiful Joshua was able to reunite with his mother Dora. Eliezer's family died, and after his father passed he had really no one able to turn to. The second is the role of the father. Guido in Life is Beautiful did all he could to protect his son from the dangers of the Holocaust. Night on the other hand, Eliezer did whatever he could to protect his father from the dangers of the Holocaust.

I felt the mood was entirely different between Life is Beautiful and Night. Throughout the whole first half of Life is Beautiful is positive because he met the person he loved, and is overall living a good life until the Nazis take over. When they get to the camp the mood is close to half as dark as Night because of Guido convincing Joshua that it is all a game. Joshua remains positive, throughout the whole thing because of Guido, making it not as dark as someone would expect it to be. When it comes to the mood, Night has a melancholy, darker mood and Life is Beautiful is has half of that darkness, give or take.

In Life is Beautiful there is really good evidence that life is beautiful. A great example of this would be when they were in the camp, Guido sneaked into where the speaker was and let Dora know that he was still thinking about her. That shows, that even when Guido has a great risk of getting caught and punished for that he still does it because she was one of the loved ones that was still with them. That was all he had for the remainder of his life. Another that comes to mind is when Dora got together with Guido. The main reason this shows that life is beautiful is that a person that working with Nazi Germany (possibly forced to) got married to Guido a Italian Jew, which not only shows that life is beautiful but also meant they had a lot of courage especially considering the time and place they were in. This is a great example of the "impossible" becoming something incredibly possible, which is why it makes life a beautiful thing.

Night: How Elie Changed

2/24/2016

John Zalazinski 

One of the first major changes is Elie's belief in his religion. How it first unravels is when he suffers so much in the concentration camps that he doesn't even believe God can help him. "Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust." He suffered so much he didn't have the will to ask God, and figured he can trudge along the problems he was going through without him. 

Elie had an even harder time believing in his religion towards the middle of Night. After the hanging of two adults two Jewish adults asked where is God, and he answered with, "He is hanging here on this gallows....." This explicitly states that Elie thinks his God is completely dead. Which would also mean Elie would almost no longer rely on him.

Another major change that I noticed in Elie is the connection between him and his father. Throughout the book they go through so much, thick and thin. They had a link that was special, as if the role of father and child were reversed, Elie was mostly taking care of his father. That's why it is heartbreaking when his father unfortunately parishes. "After my father's death, nothing could touch me any more." This quote means that no matter happens nothing can motivate to go on.