This week I have really enjoyed the Poem-A-Day poems. I think my favorite was "Red Bank" by Lesle Lewis. I've also been reading some poetry for my test out. the ones that I read and liked were: "I heard a fly buzz-when I died-" by Emily Dickinson, "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams, "This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams and, "anyone lived in a pretty how town" by E.E. Cummings. Also, as a part of our assignment, I've been trying to figure out the Ghazal, Villanelle, and Sestina poetry forms. I think I have the Villanelle figured out, but I am so lost on the Sestina. "Re-arrange the last 6 words..."? But I'll figure it out, it just might take some time...
Hope everyone had a great week! See you all Tuesday!
:)
Sunday, April 24
Friday, April 8
Spring Break Post!
Hey there from... oh, Grand Haven. Yes, I have been home all spring break, but later today I'm going to Detroit so I thought it would be best to finish my PATH homework before we go. So, this week I've been reading stuff that I'm required to read for test-out. Also I've been reading poetry. A lot of poetry. Poems from poets.org and other online sources, test-out poetry and even some of my old poems. I signed up for the Poem-A-Day thing, but all the poems I've gotten so far I'm not a huge fan of, but I could warm up to them eventually. I do like the concept a lot, though. I like logging into my Gmail and seeing a poem to read. It takes all the work out of finding poems. Speaking of finding poems, I have found some favorites on poets.org. My favorites so far are: What Do I Care by Sara Teasdale, True Love by Robert Penn Warren, To Dorothy by Marvin Bell, I Am Not Yours by Sara Teasdale, Dreams by Langston Hughes, Caboose Thoughts by Carl Sandburg, As I Walked Out One Evening by W.H. Auden, Answer To a Child's Question by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, A lane of Yellow lead the eye (1650) by Emily Dickinson, and A Drinking Song by W.B. Yeats.
"Don't worry about what other people think of you, they don't do it very often."
-Unknown
"Don't worry about what other people think of you, they don't do it very often."
-Unknown
Sunday, March 27
What day is it today?
This week seemed like a dream and I still don't believe that today is Sunday. Yesterday I spent all day at Grand Valley for our Science Olympiad competition. That was such a long day. I got up at 5:30 AM, left the house at 6:30 AM and we got home at 7:30 PM. I crashed. But we did very good. Our team got 2nd overall and I got two 2nd place medals for my events, so I felt very accomplished.
So for my trend, I have been going through the archives at the state swimming site and I have found that the girl's times have been dropping quite a bit each year, but that might just be because they're getting better, so I am trying to figure out a way I can prove it's the swimsuits. Also, I am still waiting for my coach to e-mail me back about the use of the suits at the state meet, so once she replies I will have more knowledge on the subject.
This week, I have been reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" for "fun". It is one of the books I am required to read for test-out and as got further and further into the book I actually started enjoying it. The beginning was horribly slow in my opinion, the middle was exciting and the end is getting boring again. I only have about 20 pages left so I hope to finish it tonight and share about it Tuesday(:
"Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
-Victor Kiam
So for my trend, I have been going through the archives at the state swimming site and I have found that the girl's times have been dropping quite a bit each year, but that might just be because they're getting better, so I am trying to figure out a way I can prove it's the swimsuits. Also, I am still waiting for my coach to e-mail me back about the use of the suits at the state meet, so once she replies I will have more knowledge on the subject.
This week, I have been reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" for "fun". It is one of the books I am required to read for test-out and as got further and further into the book I actually started enjoying it. The beginning was horribly slow in my opinion, the middle was exciting and the end is getting boring again. I only have about 20 pages left so I hope to finish it tonight and share about it Tuesday(:
"Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
-Victor Kiam
Sunday, March 20
Swimsuits, swimsuits, swimsuits!
Well before I start talking about my trend (which I have much to go on about!) I have to tell you about the Catalina show last night! For those of you who don't know what Catalina is, it is a synchronized swimming club at our high school. So last night, Madalynne (Koeppe), myself and two of our friends went to see the show (I signed up for it at our 9th grade orientation and needed to know what I got myself into). So we went and it was AWESOME! The girls were very synchronized and the guys were hilarious (I think the main reason they were so funny was because I know most of them XD). Just thought I'd share :)
Trend! I started with Google-ing and a TON of links popped up. So I started at the top, and some were really junky, sleazy sites trying to sell cheap knock-off suits, but others had very quality articles with (hopefully) genuine information. So I found that in the 2000 summer Olympics (which was the first year these suits were used) there was 15 world records were set and 37 new Olympic records. I am now trying to locate the number of world and Olympic records broken at the 1996 Olympics. I also found that in the 2008 Olympics, there were 21 world records and 66 Olympic records set and only ONE Olympic record managed to survive for both men and women. That is so mind boggling. I'm interested to see how this year's Olympics are going to go (I'm scared to see how hard I'm going to have to work to even think about making it in 2016). So right now I have about 8 tabs open with various articles and my favorites bar is probably upset for being loaded so heavily, but I am making progress!
Trend! I started with Google-ing and a TON of links popped up. So I started at the top, and some were really junky, sleazy sites trying to sell cheap knock-off suits, but others had very quality articles with (hopefully) genuine information. So I found that in the 2000 summer Olympics (which was the first year these suits were used) there was 15 world records were set and 37 new Olympic records. I am now trying to locate the number of world and Olympic records broken at the 1996 Olympics. I also found that in the 2008 Olympics, there were 21 world records and 66 Olympic records set and only ONE Olympic record managed to survive for both men and women. That is so mind boggling. I'm interested to see how this year's Olympics are going to go (I'm scared to see how hard I'm going to have to work to even think about making it in 2016). So right now I have about 8 tabs open with various articles and my favorites bar is probably upset for being loaded so heavily, but I am making progress!
Sunday, March 13
Trend Essay
My trend is how "fastskin" swim suits are becoming more and more popular with swimmers to the point that they are seen at every big meet.
As far as reading about my topic, I've found a blog that is deticated to these suits. I've been making my way through the posts and they're very interesting. Also I found a couple articles about how when Speedo created this suit and how it's been giving athletes an advantage in some meets. I've also been reading some product descriptions on Speedo's website (this things are VERY expensive by the way...) and I feel cool knowing all this stuff! I really like my topic and it's something I can relate to (hopefull I'll be wearing one at the State meet this fall... XD)
:)
As far as reading about my topic, I've found a blog that is deticated to these suits. I've been making my way through the posts and they're very interesting. Also I found a couple articles about how when Speedo created this suit and how it's been giving athletes an advantage in some meets. I've also been reading some product descriptions on Speedo's website (this things are VERY expensive by the way...) and I feel cool knowing all this stuff! I really like my topic and it's something I can relate to (hopefull I'll be wearing one at the State meet this fall... XD)
:)
Sunday, March 6
R&JR&JR&JR&JR&JR&JR&JR&JR&J(:
Romeo! Romeo! I just loved in the film version when Mercutio ran around yelling for Romeo, it made me smile. I was going to title this post Highlights but that would make me feel like a sports commentator or a hair stylist; neither of which I am. So, onto the highlights *smiles to self*. I really enjoyed the whole play. But I think I liked the actual idea more than the way Shakespeare expressed it. Sure, the language was beautiful, but the idea that these two teens were so engulfed in love that they would die for each other is... profound. And (warning: quick Twilight reference) I think that Shakespeare did a MUCH better job describing Romeo's and Juliet's love then Stephenie Meyer did describing Edward and Bella's love. All she did was have them constantly think about each other (which is apparently very appealing to some teen readers) while Shakespeare put their love into an intricate relationship problem that could only be solved by death! So take that Twilight(:
Trouble... trouble... I think the thing that gave me the most trouble was understanding the humor Shakespeare used. I didn't get it at all. Well, actually, I picked up on it at times, but not very often. And when I did catch it, it was just a dry, subtle humor. It was humor that, to the untrained reader, didn't even appear funny. Now that is skill. Bravo Shakespeare, for tricking us all! So, as far as the question "If you were writing this for a middle school audience, what would you do differently?" goes, I must say that I wouldn't change the language (because I feel that no one is really fit to change and re-write the entire work of another person) but I would attempt to make the humor more pronounced so the middle-schoolers don't think 'Oh, Shakespeare was quite a dreary guy, we could really just use a laugh after everyone died.'
As you know, from my many blog posts and my constant 'participation' in class, I had a lot of favorite lines from this play, so I don't think I'll bore you with repeating them. But, I do think I need to ramble about my favorite character for a while. For me, it wasn't Romeo, or Juliet, or even good Friar Laurence (even though he was probably the most neutral person in the play) but it was the strange canary, Mercutio. I know what you're thinking, 'Oh, how cliche of her to choose her own character!' but as I read, I paid quite a bit of attention to Mercutio (as so I could report his doings to the Facebook page). And as I went on to scenes when he wasn't there, I felt myself wondering when the fellow would reappear and say something witty. And, when he died, I was very upset. Thanks Shakespeare for getting rid of the cool guy! I mean, he kept sly Benvollio, but not Mercutio. That's just wrong.
It was a very good play, but I'm somewhat glad to have it over. Each week I would look at the assignment sheet and see what acts we had to read and I thought, 'I wonder if this is the act where they die?' so it just feels good to have all that stress behind me. (:
Trouble... trouble... I think the thing that gave me the most trouble was understanding the humor Shakespeare used. I didn't get it at all. Well, actually, I picked up on it at times, but not very often. And when I did catch it, it was just a dry, subtle humor. It was humor that, to the untrained reader, didn't even appear funny. Now that is skill. Bravo Shakespeare, for tricking us all! So, as far as the question "If you were writing this for a middle school audience, what would you do differently?" goes, I must say that I wouldn't change the language (because I feel that no one is really fit to change and re-write the entire work of another person) but I would attempt to make the humor more pronounced so the middle-schoolers don't think 'Oh, Shakespeare was quite a dreary guy, we could really just use a laugh after everyone died.'
As you know, from my many blog posts and my constant 'participation' in class, I had a lot of favorite lines from this play, so I don't think I'll bore you with repeating them. But, I do think I need to ramble about my favorite character for a while. For me, it wasn't Romeo, or Juliet, or even good Friar Laurence (even though he was probably the most neutral person in the play) but it was the strange canary, Mercutio. I know what you're thinking, 'Oh, how cliche of her to choose her own character!' but as I read, I paid quite a bit of attention to Mercutio (as so I could report his doings to the Facebook page). And as I went on to scenes when he wasn't there, I felt myself wondering when the fellow would reappear and say something witty. And, when he died, I was very upset. Thanks Shakespeare for getting rid of the cool guy! I mean, he kept sly Benvollio, but not Mercutio. That's just wrong.
It was a very good play, but I'm somewhat glad to have it over. Each week I would look at the assignment sheet and see what acts we had to read and I thought, 'I wonder if this is the act where they die?' so it just feels good to have all that stress behind me. (:
Sunday, February 27
The End of Romeo and Juliet
Uh... it's over? Doesn't really seem like it.... I guess enough people are dead to declare it over, but I was very confused with the last page or two. Pretty much after Juliet killed herself (again) I got lost. But when I enjoyed when Juliet died (the first time) very much. To me it seemed like this is how it went...
-Enter a character
-Character: "Oh, oh,oh! She's dead, she's dead, she's dead! *comment specific to them, repeat 3 times*"
-Enter new character
-New character to old character "What has happened?!"
-"She's dead!" (new character repeats step 2 and process continues to repeat until the whole cast is just standing there looking at Juliet's dead body)
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
"O love! O life! Not life, but love in death!" -Paris, Act IV, Scene V, line 61
"O, I am slain! . . . Dies " -Paris, Act V, Scene III, line 72
"As I did sleep under this yew tree here," -Balthasar, Act V, Scene III, line 141
"Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!" -Juliet, Act V, Scene III, line 174
"Look, and thou shalt see." -Prince, Act V, Scene III, line 224
And then there's an exchange between Friar Laurence and Balthasar in Act V, Scene III, lines130-133. It goes like this... Friar: Who is it? Bal: Romeo. Friar: How long hath he been there? Bal: Full half an hour. It just made me smile because it seemed so normal!
-Enter a character
-Character: "Oh, oh,oh! She's dead, she's dead, she's dead! *comment specific to them, repeat 3 times*"
-Enter new character
-New character to old character "What has happened?!"
-"She's dead!" (new character repeats step 2 and process continues to repeat until the whole cast is just standing there looking at Juliet's dead body)
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
"O love! O life! Not life, but love in death!" -Paris, Act IV, Scene V, line 61
"O, I am slain! . . . Dies " -Paris, Act V, Scene III, line 72
"As I did sleep under this yew tree here," -Balthasar, Act V, Scene III, line 141
"Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!" -Juliet, Act V, Scene III, line 174
"Look, and thou shalt see." -Prince, Act V, Scene III, line 224
And then there's an exchange between Friar Laurence and Balthasar in Act V, Scene III, lines130-133. It goes like this... Friar: Who is it? Bal: Romeo. Friar: How long hath he been there? Bal: Full half an hour. It just made me smile because it seemed so normal!
Monday, February 21
R & J: Act 3
Why?! Mercutio is DEAD!!! Stupid Tybalt. He killed me! He just whipped out his sword and shanked me! That's soooo wrong and I am outraged!
I was rather pleased when Romeo was banished because it reassured me that reasonable things actually happened in Verona. I know, sad for Juliet, but happy for common sense and rational behaviors!
Some of my favorite quotes are as follows:
"By my heel, I care not" -Mercutio, Scene I, line 36
"Good King of Cats, nothing but one of your nine lives." -Mercutio, Scene I, line 76
"Can heaven be so envious?" -Juliet, Scene II, line 42
"Thy tears are womanish," -Friar Lawrence, Scene III, line 116
"God's beard! It makes me mad." -Capulet, Scene V, line 184
:)
I was rather pleased when Romeo was banished because it reassured me that reasonable things actually happened in Verona. I know, sad for Juliet, but happy for common sense and rational behaviors!
Some of my favorite quotes are as follows:
"By my heel, I care not" -Mercutio, Scene I, line 36
"Good King of Cats, nothing but one of your nine lives." -Mercutio, Scene I, line 76
"Can heaven be so envious?" -Juliet, Scene II, line 42
"Thy tears are womanish," -Friar Lawrence, Scene III, line 116
"God's beard! It makes me mad." -Capulet, Scene V, line 184
:)
Saturday, February 12
Romeo & Juliet: Act 2
So the second time they talk to each other he proposes? That just seems wrong. It seems like the only way that would happen nowadays is if the two people met on an online dating site or something of that nature.
When I started reading Scene 2 I was very surprised becaue that was the only part of the play I actually knew and I didn't think that it would come so soon! I was expecting it in Act 4 or 5, but I guess not! Their whole exchange there is so cute! I loved when Romeo said. "Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon," (pg. 38, line 4) and then I loved what they said in Scene 2 from line 54 to 65 about how Romeo would stop being a Montague for her, it was so sweet!
Friar Lawrence seems like a pretty cool guy, I hope he doesn't end up telling on Romeo and Juliet, because if he does I'll be very disappointed in him. But I love how he said "Holy Saint Francis!" in Scene 3, line 66.
Mercutio is quite a strange bird. But I love the way he says things! Most of my favorite lines from this act came from him. Like:
-"Why, that same pale hard-hearted wench,
that Rosaline, torments him so that he will sure run mad."(Act 2, scene IV, line 4-5)
-"the very pin of his heart cleft with the blind
bow-boys butt-shaft; and is he a man to encounter
Tybalt?" (Act 2, scene IV, line 15-17) <-- It made me laugh soo hard!
-"Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy." (Act 2, scene IV, line 56)
And then he said something about a Prince of Cats in line 19 and I found that very amusing!
I really like this play so far and I can't wait to continue reading!
When I started reading Scene 2 I was very surprised becaue that was the only part of the play I actually knew and I didn't think that it would come so soon! I was expecting it in Act 4 or 5, but I guess not! Their whole exchange there is so cute! I loved when Romeo said. "Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon," (pg. 38, line 4) and then I loved what they said in Scene 2 from line 54 to 65 about how Romeo would stop being a Montague for her, it was so sweet!
Friar Lawrence seems like a pretty cool guy, I hope he doesn't end up telling on Romeo and Juliet, because if he does I'll be very disappointed in him. But I love how he said "Holy Saint Francis!" in Scene 3, line 66.
Mercutio is quite a strange bird. But I love the way he says things! Most of my favorite lines from this act came from him. Like:
-"Why, that same pale hard-hearted wench,
that Rosaline, torments him so that he will sure run mad."(Act 2, scene IV, line 4-5)
-"the very pin of his heart cleft with the blind
bow-boys butt-shaft; and is he a man to encounter
Tybalt?" (Act 2, scene IV, line 15-17) <-- It made me laugh soo hard!
-"Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy." (Act 2, scene IV, line 56)
And then he said something about a Prince of Cats in line 19 and I found that very amusing!
I really like this play so far and I can't wait to continue reading!
Monday, February 7
Romeo & Juliet: Act1
Well surprisingly enough, I enjoyed it quite a lot! The language took a while to get used to, but after a couple pages I caught on. But, as some may know, I'm a grammar freak and some of the sentences weren't capitalized and it drove me CRAZY!
A point I was a little confused on was, how old is Juliet?! 14 or 12? I got a little lost when Nurse and Lady Capulet were talking.
Well some of my favorite quotes were:
Romeo "In sadness, cousin, I do love a woman." (pg. 17) as opposed to...?
Romeo: "O, teach me how I should forget to think!" (pg. 17)
Mercutio (ME!) : "If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking and you beat love down." (pg. 26)
One thing that I love about this play is how vague the settings are! Like, for Scene IV it just says "A street." It just made me laugh that Shakespeare didn't want to spend a ton of time describing his set either!
I loved that Romeo kissed Juliet after they had talked for like, 2 minutes! That would be so strange if that was how things went nowadays!
A point I was a little confused on was, how old is Juliet?! 14 or 12? I got a little lost when Nurse and Lady Capulet were talking.
Well some of my favorite quotes were:
Romeo "In sadness, cousin, I do love a woman." (pg. 17) as opposed to...?
Romeo: "O, teach me how I should forget to think!" (pg. 17)
Mercutio (ME!) : "If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking and you beat love down." (pg. 26)
One thing that I love about this play is how vague the settings are! Like, for Scene IV it just says "A street." It just made me laugh that Shakespeare didn't want to spend a ton of time describing his set either!
I loved that Romeo kissed Juliet after they had talked for like, 2 minutes! That would be so strange if that was how things went nowadays!
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