Reading this year

12/5 LOTF 1 hr 30 mins 42 Pages 12/8 30 mins 16 Pages 12/9 30 mins Literary analysis

    Throughout the course of the summer as well as the semester, I have read a variety of books (in order from most difficult to easiest) such as, In Defense of Food, Nation, Lord of the Flies, Walk On, Mockingjay, Catching Fire, Hunting and Fishing in Louisiana, and Forgotten Players.

 

     I have learned that my strengths as a reader have been annotating for most literary elements, but my weakness consists on not always picking up on symbolism.  My goal over next semester is to read more non fiction because most of my reading has been of fiction books.

Reading Focus: Power

   3 Key moments regarding power throughout this story all have to do with who is chief.  The first major power moment was when Ralph was elected chief at the beginning of the story.  This was significant because Ralph held all of the power and made the decisions within the tribe to a certain point. After asking if Ralph should be chief, the narrator says, "Every hand outside of the choir was raised except Piggy's was raised immediately.  Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air." (23).  Another big power focus was where Jack left the tribe along with a few other boys, Jack quotes,"I'm going off by myself.  He can catch his own pigs.  Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too."  (127) This is important because the power is now split between Ralph and Jack.  My third important moment of power was whenever Piggy was killed and the conch exploded, "The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist." (181).  This is important because without Piggy and the conch, Ralph has barely anyone left in his tribe and no conch.  This hands the last bit of power that he had over to Jack.

     There has been quite a struggle for power throughout this book.  After Ralph started with all of the power, it has gradually gone to Jack.  Now that there is no conch or Piggy left with Ralph, he has no power.

Reading Details

LOTF 11/24 30 mins 16 pages 11//25 1 hr 39 pages 11/26 30 mins 18 pages 11/27 30 mins 20 pages

LOTF Power

     My reading focus in The Lord of the Flies has been power.  The power in most of this book has been in the hands of Ralph. Ever since he had first called all of the boys down to the beach with the conch and was given the title of chief, Ralph has been the boss of this island.

      The only exception to Ralph having all of this power, is Jack.  Jack is the second man in charge, and the leader of the hunters.  Without Jack, the boys would have no pig but also would have had a signal fire burning when the ship came by.  But overall, Ralph is the head of this island and Jack has some power over the littluns at second man in charge.

Chapter 5

     After reading chapter 5 of LOTF, I noticed how thoughts of this beast are becoming more and more of a problem among the littluns.  It started off being not that big of a deal, but the situation got worse during the meeting when all of the littluns started talking about it.  I even started to believe in it after one of the children had admitted to seeing the beast.

     I am curious to see what they do about this, and if Jack and his crew of hunters will attempt to hunt down, and kill it.  I am not very confident in the hunters even after they killed the pig because of all their failed attempts prior to succeeding.  I'm not sure that they will, but if the hunters try to hunt this beast down, I am predicting that they will get killed by it due to their lack of hunting skills.

1st Semester Post

   11/22 LOTF 1 hr 30 mins 40 pages   11/24 Walk On 1 hr 42 pages


      Over the course of this year, I have understood everything for the most part.  My weaknesses I would have to say occur because of the readings we have done.  I think some review in that category before the exam would really be helpful.

     The short stories were where I had started having trouble.  I understood most of them fine but some others I just could not really get anything from reading them.  Also I had some difficulty annotating for a certain literary element.  I understand most of what is going on in Lord of the Flies but I have a couple of questions about the plot.  I do not understand why all of the little boys are afraid of this same "beast" is this an imaginary figure or is this something they really have seen?

Class observations

11/11 2 hrs LOTF 11/11 30 mins Walk on 18 Pages

    During our class activity where we had to discuss what we would do in Ralph and all of the boys' situation on the island, I noticed that there were 3 different groups of people.  There was one group coming up with some ideas on one side of the room, and another group discussing different ideas on the other side.  These 2 groups were completely separate and did not seem to be working together.  The last group appeared to be some people in the middle that did not really care and were discussing other topics.

     If our class was put into this situation in real life, I think it's safe to say we would most likely die.  To live in the environment that the boys from The Lord of the Flies had to live in, it would take some great ideas as well as team work which we seemed to lack.  Maybe we would step up and rise to the occasion, but if I had to predict an outcome it would be death.

Outside Reading

Walk on 11/1 45 minutes 11/2 45 minutes 11/4 1 hr 5 minutes 103 pages

     I have been really been focusing on the short story, Sucker.  This short story was my favorite because it not only made the most sense to me, but I could relate to the main character, Pete.  Pete was a high schooler who had a little cousin named Sucker.  Like Pete, I have some little cousins who look up to me, follow me around, and try to be like me.

     Like Pete, I can get annoyed with this behavior and begin to blow off my cousins.  I especially can get mad when they ask me tons of questions and refuse to be quiet just like Sucker.  Although this can irritate me, I do not yell at them and say terrible things to them like Pete would do to Sucker.

Opening Weekend

     It's already November, which means the season I've been waiting for since last January is right around the corner.  Shots will be fired at first light on this Saturday, September 10th, especially in Pecan Island, La.  The blinds are set up, the guns have been brought out of the closet, the gear is getting thrown together, and the dreams of that first hunt are beginning to be take place.  The ducks are back.

     This week is going to last forever with me knowing what's coming up this weekend.  I can't escape the thoughts of drawing down on that first blue wing or blasting a big ole gray duck out of the sky.  This off season has lasted forever which makes me even more excited for duck season to finally be upon us.  I am hoping that this weekend will be a great opening to an amazing season at Pecan Island, and I'm sure that it will be.

Short Stories

Forgotten Players 10/24 45 mins 10/25 30 mins 10/26 10 mins 10/27 45 mins  10/30 20 mins 110 pages

     For my three optional short stories, I chose Araby, Sucker, and The Catbird Seat.  My favorite one of these stories was Sucker because I could relate to it and it made the most sense to me. To make a general thesis for all three of these short stories, it would be that each short story has an antagonist.

     The antagonist in Sucker is Maybelle.  Maybelle ruins the relationship between Sucker and Pete, making her the antagonist.  The Antagonist in Araby, is Mangan's sister.  The narrator falls so in love with this girl that he simply doesn't know what to do with himself and gets lost.  She is the antagonist because I feel like she ruins the narrators confidence as well as his feelings. The antagonist of The Catbird Seat is Mr. Martin because he plots to kill one of his coworkers.  Even though he doesn't accomplish this goal, he is still the antagonist because he is the bad guy throughout the story and is planning to kill.

Reading times

Mockingjay 10/18 1 hr 30 mins 62 pages, Forgotten players 10/20 1 hr 40 pages

"To Build a Fire"

     In To Build a Fire, by Jack London, I really recognized the literary element, setting.  The setting in this short story was so descriptive it truly painted a detailed picture in my mind of the snowy trail.  The way the setting is described really helps the story because I get a glimpse of how snowy and freezing it really was.  "He knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs, and he knew likewise their danger.  They were traps.  They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deeep, or three feet.  Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch think covered them, and in turn was covered by the snow."  This description really gave me a picture of how dangerous it really was out there and it made me begin to fear that the man would soon fall through the thin ice and drown.

    When London describes the dog he says, "The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost, and especially were its jowls, muzzle, and eyelashes whitened by its crystalled breath."  This description really allows readers to know how freezing it is, and when I read this it made me put myself in that situation and think of what I would do.  The description in this story really helped it out because without the descriptiveness in it, I believe this could have been a very boring story.

Class Participation

Mockingjay 10/9 1 hr 10/11 1 hr 10/12 15 mins 10/13 15 mins- 116 pages

     My general procedures in class this year I believe have been pretty good for the most part.  I have done the simple things well such as bringing my materials to class,  and going to the bathroom between classes and not during them.  Also I consistently check the website for homework as well as checking my email.  During lectures, I think I do a good job of taking notes and paying attention.  I try to participate as much as possible and try to answer as many of the questions brought up that I can.  We have not done that much group work, but when we do I try my best to take charge and do as much as I can.  Also I try even harder because I don't want to be held responsible if the people in my group make  poor grades.

     The things I can improve on would be to take out my notebook and free reading book without being asked as much as I have been.  I also think that I can be a better student if I participate in less side conversations and pay more attention.  Lastly, I need to try to participate more in class by paying attention even more than I have had been so I can talk more in class discussions and answer questions more often.

Independent reading

Mockingjay 10/2 30 mins 10/4 30 mins 10/6 1 hr 10/7 30 mins 127 pages

I am a writer...

      I am a writer because I love being creative and expressing my creativity through words.   I like coming up with stuff to write about because it really gets me thinking and I often have fun with the topic.  I  write because it is an enjoyable as well as a relaxing thing to do in my free time.
      I am a writer because I love to tell about events that have happened in my life, and to inform people more about it, and what I have been doing.  I also write to educate people on certain hobbies I have such as playing sports and hunting.  I do it because I like to entertain people with stories or essays that I have written.  Lastly, I always get a good feeling whenever I get a good grade or when people tell me that they like my paper.  That feeling pushes me to continue to write and to try my hardest to make each paper a success.

Catching Fire Plot Structure

9/23 10 mins, 9/25 1 hr, 9/27 1 hr 20 mins  118 pages (Mockingjay)  

The plot structure of Catching Fire uses the Freytags Pyramid because of its action and sequence of events.  The story starts off a little slow but quickly gets into the rising action.  The action rises for a while before the climax, falling action, and resolution take over and occur very close together.
     It starts off describing what had happened in the Hunger Games and tells about the characters.  Also, it explains the setting and how there are different districts in which the tributes that must participate in the games are from.  The rising action starts when Katniss finds out she will participate in the games again because of the Quarter Quell, an event in which all of the previous winers of the games must return to  the arena to fight again.   The climax of the story is when Katniss shoots a wired arrow at the force field that encloses the arena, trying to break through.  She blows up the whole arena and wakes up in a hospital.  The falling action is when she wakes up in the hospital and walks around with a syringe trying to kill her love, Peeta, before she thinks he will be tortured.  She walks around until she overhears a conversation between the game makers and her mentor, Haymitch.  The resolution of this story begins here, when they explain to Katniss that it was all a setup for her to blowup the arena because the game makers disagree with the whole Quarter Quell idea.

Opening Hunt

     This past sunday, I made my first debut in the duck blind of the 2012-2013 season.  I was so thrilled to be back in the blind with my dad after an offseason that seemed to have lasted forever.  Although we're just in teal season, It is still very similar to the regular duck season which opens in November.  Teal season is the preseason of duck hunting.  The first birds to migrate back south from Canada are a species called teal.  There are blue-winged teal and green-winged teal, we mostly kill blue wings but a green wing will come up every now and then in teal season.  Another difference between teal season and the regular duck season is that the limit in teal season is altered from 6 ducks per man to 4.
     I woke up bright and early sunday morning around 5 o'clock looking forward to a great hunt.  My dad and I  arrived in the blind and could hear the whistles from the teal, we also could see the dark blurs and hear the quick flutters of the teal's wings as they quickly buzzed over the pond.  I kept checking the clock on my phone, highly anticipating 6:29, which happened to be legal shooting time on that morning.  It was finally that time, and the blue wing slaughter began.  Our limit of 8 teal was reached very quickly and we had a great time obtaining that limit for the first time since last January, when duck season ended.  We had a very fun hunt, and had a great kickoff to the season!

Literacy Narrative (Outside reading)

     Last week, I spent an hour typing and editing my first draft and 35 minutes on my second.  My draft focuses on me being infected by a staff infection and learning from reading.  I spent days in the hospital and really took advantage of my free time all day to read.  I read multiple small children books and started to enjoy reading for the first time.   This lead to me reading more and more books and I began to understand the valuable lessons that these books taught.
     I had to brainstorm some different ideas before I think I got onto something with my paper.  I spent a lot of time editing my paper and making grammatical corrections.  I also have been adding more details and have been more descriptive to try and make what I think will be a successful paper.  I'm going to keep on working and try to continue to be more descriptive details to make an A on this paper.
    

Catching Fire - Mockingjay

9/11 1 hr, 9/12 30 mins, 9/14 30 mins 9/15 30 mins

I really enjoyed the ending of Catching Fire, and would consider this book one of my all time favorites. The way the book ended really surprised me because I was sure either Katniss or Peeta was going to not survive the games for the second time.  The book ended with Gale telling Katniss about the warfare going on in their home, district 12.  This lead me to opening up the third book in the series, Mockingjay.
     District 12 is completely destroyed and there is warfare everywhere.  Planes are violently bombing the district and are killing tons. I believe that the rebellion was caused by the capitol's frustration with Katniss beating the system in the games for the second time in a row.

Literacy Narrative

     For my literacy narrative, I am not 100% sure on what I am going to write about yet, but I came up with a few ideas.  In middle school, I remember writing about what I would do with 1 million dollars.  I think this would be something really fun to write about.  I also remember writing about my first day of middle school and how nervous I was.  My last possibility would be a narrative about the interview of my grandmother that I made.  This was a project in 7th grade and I remember it being very interesting.

     I also might write about some books that I have read in the past.  I might consider the Outsiders by S.E Hinton, this was one of my favorite books in middle school.  I also might write about The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  I really enjoyed this book as well as the movie.  My last possibility for the narrative would be Catching Fire, the second book of The Hunger Games.

Comment response

     In my last post about Catching Fire, I received multiple comments about the Quarter Quell.  Every 25 years, the game makers of the hunger games do something special for the anniversary.  This year, they are requiring all previous winners of the hunger games to return to the arena to have another fight to the death.

     Katniss and Peeta both must return because they were both previous winners of the games.  Although they have a slim chance of survival, I think that they have a slight advantage due to their young age, and the shape that they are in.  I disagree with this Quarter Quell because I don't think that it's right that they have to fight again while there is tons of others who have not fought at all.

Catching fire

9/2 1 hr, 9/4 45 mins, 9/7 45 mins= 120 pages

     Katniss is currently fighting in the hunger games for the second time and looks to be doing great.  I am really excited to see how Katniss survives if she does and what strategies she will use to do so.  I am also curious to see if the game makers allow Peeta, Katniss' close friend from their first hunger games, to survive as well.

     I really hope that Katniss and Peeta will be able to both win the games as a team.  Although I hope this can happen, I predict that only one of them will be able to survive and it will possibly come down to both of them alive and a situation occurring where one of them will have to kill the other.  I really have enjoyed this book and I look forward to finishing it and reading Mockingjay, the 3rd book in the series.

Catching Fire

8/26 1 hr, 8/27 30 mins, 8/29 30 mins, 8/30 30 mins= 122 pages

     In Catching Fire, Katniss was chosen to return to the hunger games because of the Quarter Quell, organized by the game makers.  The Quarter Quell is an event where all of the previous winners of the hunger games have to return to battle again in the arena.  Katniss is fighting in the hunger games and has an advantage because she is the most recent victor, and in good shape.
     I strongly disagree with what the game makers have decided for multiple reasons.  I think that the Quell is completely unfair to all of the previous victors.  I really think that Katniss will pull it off though like she did in her first hunger games

Hurricane Isaac

     Hurricane Isaac really affected my family, our house, and especially our yard last week.  Isaac was one of the worst hurricanes we have ever experienced in my opinion.  The storm made us lose power as well as it cut out a lot of work for us to do the upcoming week.  The well anticipated Isaac sure delivered what was expected from it.
      I woke up Wednesday morning to look outside and see the branches shaking violently in the wind and the water pouring down in buckets.  At first, I was kind of nervous but quickly went outside to really feel the power of Isaac.  The winds were so strong and rushed through the air, howling, and even forced some small trees as well as multiple branches to collapse in my backyard.

In Defense of Duck Hunting: A Hunters Manifesto

     Ever since my dad first took me in the blind with him when I was seven years old, I have been an avid duck hunter in the winter months.  Duck hunting is truly my passion and I go just about every weekend during the season.  Although I love this sport, a lot of people disagree with what I do and think it is wrong because it involves killing animals.

     Duck hunting is okay to do because most duck hunters like me do not only hunt ducks, but support them by donating to wildlife companies such as Ducks Unlimited to help ducks thrive.  Ducks Unlimited's main purpose is to help preserve the wetlands for the ducks as well as provide us with numbers of the ducks each year to determine a proper limit.  If people didn't care about hunting in the first place, Ducks Unlimited would never have formed which means the ducks' wetlands would not have been kept preserved for them to live in.  Also, hunters pluck and cook all of the ducks that they have killed so they are shot for a good purpose, and coming from experience I'd have to say they are one of my favorite things to eat.

Catching Fire

8/22 45 mins, 8/23 1 hr.  8/24 35 mins, 8/25 10 mins total reading= 150 mins, 128 pages.

     

     District 12 victor of the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, tries to forget her horrifying memories in the arena but cannot escape them due to all of the attention and interviews she's been receiving on the victory tour.  The victory tour is a tour where the victors of the games go through all of the other districts and are forced to wave to the people who's children they could have killed.  After the tour, Katniss has returned back to her home in district 12 and currently lives in the victors village.

     Katniss has been spending more time with Gale, her best friend from district 12 who she used to often hunt with before the games. Katniss and Gale were very close, and began to love each other before Peeta fell for Katniss in the arena.  I am curious to find out which guy Katniss chooses between Peeta and Gale because both of them really like her.  I hope her and Gale end up together because they  hunt together and I also enjoy hunting in my free time.

English free post

     I really look forward to our upcoming year in English 1, as well as my first year in high school.  Blogging is very new to me and I find it interesting for it being my first time.  I have multiple questions and concerns about this upcoming year.

     I am curious as to how often we will have quizzes and tests, also how long and difficult they will be.  I am also curious as to what books we will be reading as a class and I hope that I will enjoy them.  I am a little bit concerned about the amount of homework we will have because I usually always have an extracurricular activity after school.  Also I am concerned about my grade in this class because I expect a high B or an A.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

     Over the summer, I chose to read Between a Rock and a Hard Place, this is the story of a brave explorer named Aron Ralston written by himself.  Aron was at the top of his game, and very confident as he explored all through the canyons of Utah.  Being too confident, Ralston figured it would be a good idea to head to Utah's dangerous Blue John Canyon alone and without letting anyone know.  It makes me wonder why someone would go off and do something so extreme without anyone and much less without letting anyone know where you were headed.  Aron had a good first part of his exploration but after a life changing incident, Ralston quickly learned that nature can be more powerful then even the most talented explorers out there.
    
     Aron learned his lesson to always respect nature after getting his right arm stuck deep into Blue John between one wall of the canyon and a boulder.  After days of hallucinations, videos of himself, and tears, while trapped alone in the canyon, Ralston decided he must look to his last resort, amputating his arm.  I often think about how I would react in that situation because it requires such a difficult decision.  I admire Aron for being brave enough for doing this and I'm not sure if I could have made myself do the same even in the face of death.