Conflict OMAM Blog

One of the two conflicts I have chosen in the book is Curley vs. Lennie (Man vs. Man). Although Curley doesn’t hate Lennie directly, he hates big guys. This is because of his size, which is small. So in order to put himself on the same level as them, he fights them. He doesn’t like them because they make him look weak. On pg. 26 Candy says “‘Well . . . . tell you what. Curley’s like alot 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.’” So he hates big guys enough that he is willing to pick a fight with anyone that’s big, like Lennie. Even if there is no provocation, he will just take the slightest sign of disrespect to himself, even if it’s not, as a sign of hostility. But Lennie doesn’t hate Curley at all.

The second conflict I have chosen is Lennie vs. Lennie (Man vs. Self). Lennie has Conflict with himself because of his mental disability. He doesn’t know what to do, or he makes the wrong choice, even if the answer is really simple in a tough situation. George himself says that Lennie is really dumb, but if you give him orders he will do anything. An example of this conflict inside Lennie is when he grabs the lady’s dress because he wants to feel it. But when she gets upset and tells him to let go, all he can think of is to hold on. “So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do.” (41). And mental disability or no mental disability that is a really obvious indication hpthst you should let go, but that’s just my opinion. But a lot of what Lennie does, is out of his self interests. All he wants are those stupid rabbits. When he murders Curley’s Wife, he first holds on to her hair, then, out of his own selfishness, covers her mouth so George won’t get mad at him. “‘George gonna say I done a bad thing. He ain’t gonna let me tend no rabbits.”... Then Lennie grew angry. ‘Now don’t,’ he said. ‘I don’t want you to yell. You gonna get me in trouble jus’ like George says you will. Now don’t you do that.’” (91). All he cares about is first, tending his rabbits, and second, not disappointing George. Instantly Lennie realizes he did something terrible, but he feels no remorse. He treats it like he killed another animal. He’s gonna get in a lot more trouble, but he treats it like he killed an animal. Lennie made a stupid choice by holding on, I know he fully understood that she was in pain. But he just didn’t want to get in trouble so he could satisfy his desires.

OMAM Poem

Prompt 2

“Dreams of tomorrow”

When you have no hope,
Or when you don’t get what you want,
A dream may help you cope,

It can give you success,
Or it can give you some purpose,
It might bring you out of distress

Because when you have a dream to assist,
It will make you happy,
It will give you bliss

It may bend, or it may break,
It can let you down,
But most of the time, that’s the risk you should take

Of Mice and Men Blog

The atmosphere in the bunkhouse is tense because George and Lennie are meeting many people they don’t know so the would obviously keep to themselves until they got to know the other people. Also tension has built up with two characters, Curley and his wife. George really doesn’t like these two people and he constantly tells Lennie to keep away from them. George tells Lennie to stay away from Curley; “‘Look Lennie. You keep away from him, will you? Don’t ever speak to him.’” Pg. 29. George tells Lennie to stay away from Curley’s wife; “‘Listen to me, you crazy b******,’ said George fiercely. ‘Don’t you even look at that b****. I don’t care what she says and what she does. I seen ‘em poison before, but I’ve never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be.’” Pg. 32. George doesn’t want Lennie to tangle with Curley, who hates big people because he himself is  small, so he picks fights with them. And George hates Curley’s Wife too for some reason, maybe because she is flirtatious, so innocent Lennie may get caught in her trap.

I think that Curley’s Wife has no name because even though she is his wife, she is still giving other men “the eye”. Or in other words she is flirting. So she has Curley’s name, but she is not truly his wife because she is not faithful to him only. Candy told George that she was flirting with Slim. “‘Well-she got the eye... I seen her give Slim the eye. An’ I seen her give Carlson the eye.’”Pg. 28. Curley’s Wife is already flirting with two other men, and she only got married 2 weeks prior (“‘Married two weeks and got the eye?’” Pg. 28). But that’s not all. She also may have been flirting with George and Lennie when she first met them. This is just speculation based on her attitude and body language. The bottom line is, she is not really interested in Curley. Maybe she married him because of his position as the Boss’ son. So he gets paid more, or maybe for some other reason.

So far in the book, I like it. It sort of reminds me of To Kill a Mockingbird which was a phenomenal book. It is quite interesting, there is a fixed amount of charecters as well, all we need to meet now is Crooks. And although it is a novella, it packs a lot of information. There is good writing on Steinbeck’s part. I’ve heard that the ending is really good as well. Steinbeck does a really good job of setting the scene and immersing the reader into the story. It’s use of realism with the Great Depress and even its language is good. I am looking ward to reading more.

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” Film or Short Story

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is best represented by the film. This is because the movie has a slew of characters and goes into more depth for each of them. The film talks about Walter Mitty’s job, his love interest, his family, and more. And it also talks about Cheryll’s (love interest) life too. The movie does a better job making the characters seem more interesting. And even some minor characters play a decent part in the movie. Like the helicopter guy, or the guy who saves him from the volcano, etc.  But in the short story, it is much more narrow. There are only 2 major characters, Mitty and his wife. And although we get to see directly into Walter’s mind, it is not as diverse as the film’s version of Mitty. Short story Mitty has a fixed mindset, one fixed on wanting to be special and daydreaming. “Then, with that faint, fleeting smile playing about his lips, he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful. Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last.” Mitty doesn’t want to change his mindset, but he wants to change he he was as a person. Film Mitty also wanted those things. BUT, movie Mitty changes the way he thinks. He had a growth mindset in contrast with the other Mitty’s fixed mindset. That is what makes him a better character overall than the short story’s version. The same goes for all the other movie characters as well.

Also, staying with analysis on characters, the short story lacks in the area of character development as well. This is because the movie is more in-depth than the short story. And the film shows plenty of character development from Walter Mitty, while in the story he shows no development at all. Instead, at the end of the story, Mitty’s last daydream shows the opposite. “Then, with that faint, fleeting smile playing about his lips, he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful. Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last.” This passage implies that Mitty will continue to daydream until he dies. And he will be proud to do so. The word inscrutable, which is in the passage, means impossible to understand. He shows the reader that he doesn’t want to change, and that he never will. However, the movie goes a different route. Like the short story, Walter daydreams constantly. He wanted to make his life less dull, as his job was to be “the manager of the negative assets sector”. But, one of the negatives gets “lost” so Mitty goes on an actual adventure to find it. An adventure that he would usually have in his daydreams. And at the end of the movie, when all is said and done, the film faintly implies that he will stop daydreaming. This is because he had a big adventure, goes on a date with his love interest, and is now happy (also he was on the cover of the life magazine). 

The setting in the film also succeeds over the short story’s setting. This is because movie watchers can actually see the setting, rather than just reading about it in a book. The New York in the movie is better than the New York in the book also because there is very little description about the setting. The reader can barely tell the it is winter in the short story. The descriptions are very minuscule and easy to miss. “He kicked at the slush on the sidewalk. ‘Overshoes,’ he said to himself”. Overshoes are boots, therefore this signifies it is winter. There are 1 or 2 more clues to this being winter. As you can see from this passage, it’s just so random and so insignificant that a reader could easily skim over it. And another way the movie succeeds over the short story is that it has more locations. Mitty goes to Greenland, he goes to Afghanistan, and he lives in New York. 2/3 more than the short story. It can’t even compare in terms of setting. 
And with more settings in the film, it makes it more interesting. 

The conflict in the short story is much less intriguing than that of the movie. In the short story the conflict is man vs. self because Mitty is just contradicting his character so much by wanting to change so bad. He is literally fighting himself because he doesn’t want to be an average loser, he wants to be someone special, someone important. This is evident as the reader can see Mitty placing himself in important or interesting roles. On the contrary, the film does something much different. Of course, Mitty daydreams, and he wants to be cool, but, he gets sent on an adventure. His adventure to find the missing negative makes him forget about being a loser and actually turns him into a sort of hero. He travels the globe in search of Sean O’Connell. He changes from zero to hero, so he isn’t constantly fighting himself. This conflict is man vs. society because he has to go and find Sean in sometimes some dangerous places. And this story choice leaded to a more satisfying product.

The theme in the film is very positive while the short story is the opposite. The short story’s theme is a need for change. And if a person really studies and thinks about the short story, they will come to a conclusion that it is negative. This is because Mitty is constantly fighting against himself, almost like having two personalities. And this signifies that he is not satisfied with who is is. And that in a way is sad, because he wants to change who he is. On the other hand, movie Mitty also feels this way. But after his big adventure he does change, he changes to become a better person. And one doesn’t even need to go on such a big adventure, they could just think differently, and see things differently, and they would change for the better. This outcome in the movie is much more positive and definitely better.

Finally, the plot in the movie is much better than the plot in the short story. This is because the film focuses on more things than the short story, and goes into more depth into those things. While the short story still has the same recurring thing. Mitty just has a bunch of daydreams and wishes he was better. But the movie sends Mitty on an exciting adventure which really makes the plot much more intriguing. Films goers don’t want to be bored by a movie, so it was a good thing that the director decided to completely scrap the short story’s plot and go for an entire new one. It is much more interesting to see someone go places and do exciting things. Even his daydreams are much more appealing and more eye catching. A short story can’t compare to a movie unless its plot is better, which in this case, it is not. That’s why the movie is exceeding in every standard presented here. Usually the book is better than the movie, but here, it is not.

1st Quarter Reflection

I feel that this quarter has gone much better than my first quarter last year in this class. Last year I struggled with confusion, and this class was a little hard. But now I know what I am doing so that makes me happy. I doubt that I will do the same level of work as I did last year, because I’ve already experienced this it should be much easier to produce better quality work. I may still get confused at times, but I can always learn from my mistakes.

In my book challenge I am actually not doing too good. I’m not really finding too much time to read It, so I am still stuck in the 200’s. I have almost cleared them though, I am on page 290, but I still have 422 pages left to complete. Hopefully I pick up the pace again, but sometimes the book just gets a little boring. I like the parts where it’s talking about the losers club in Derry, but it goes to these other parts that are boring to read and I just want to skip them. But so far, it is a good read.

My blogs have been doing well. I don’t think I am doing too bad. And I am quite proud of my narrative ending (“The Lady or the Tiger”). It was really fun and interesting to write that, and also the 100 year history of “The Lottery”. It really made me think creatively, and I hope to write more assignments like that. My writing has gotten a little bit better than what it was at the start of the year, but compared to last year’s first quarter, it’s way better. As I have kept on mentioning, I have learned so much from last year, and I’m putting that into use this year. I wonder how much more I can learn?

I am exited to learn more in this class. It is fun, and I hope to have a great time this year.

The Most Dangerous Game Trap Diagram

A History of the Village of Stones

This is a brief history of the Village of Stones, it spans 100 years. This is a very mysterious place, and very little is known about it. I have lived here my whole life but something always seemed off. I have spent more than a decade uncovering this town's mysterious secrets, and some of it is quite disturbing.

1847:
100 years ago, this town was founded. Several people came together and founded the village. Very little is known from back then. But there was this one object, it was called the Black Box. It's purpose was unknown, but Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, says that the village was founded with that box. It held many secrets, but it was destroyed. Many of the old traditions we had changed from back then, we were never the same.

1893:
Years passed after the Black Box was destroyed, there were only 7 pieces of the box left over from its destruction. We did our same traditions from memory, but as the years went on it became more and more rundown and vague. And finally, we forgot what it used to be. We remembered two things though, it was a lottery, and it involved stones. So the mayor of the town interpreted it as this, there would be a lottery every year, and the winner would be stoned.

1906:
A new Black Box had been created, the 7 remaining pieces were incorporated into the new one as well. The papers of the lottery would go inside, and one paper would have a black dot in the middle. The person who chose that paper would be stoned. Rumors has it that other towns started as the Village of Stones did. They started with a Black Box, that was destroyed, and a new one was created with a lottery. This lottery had become a regular thing for the people, but the another town saw it as inhuman. So they stopped it all together, because they said it had no purpose and was a waste of life.

1920:
Some people started to think that this was a bad idea. They did not participate in the annual lottery. They said that it wasn't right or fair. The next day they were found dead with a stone in their hand.

1947:
All the other towns stopped the tradition. Now they set out to stop us as well. There was a battle between us as them. Most of the townspeople died, the other towns killed them with stones, to see how they would like it. Only a few were left, who had agreed to give the lottery up. I was one of them, and there are still many holes in this history. But it may never be found out. Now, the Village of Stones is no more.

The Secret Ending of "The Lady or the Tiger"

Her lover proceeded to walk towards the right door. Unlike the other candidates who were put in the ring, he showed no fear or doubt on his face. He opened the door without hesitation. Out of the door came the lady. His face lit up with joy upon seeing his new bride, as did hers. The whole crowd exploded with a mixture of applause and boos. He left the stadium with his bride, hand in hand, without even a glance back at the princess.

As soon as he opened the door, she knew that she had made a fatal mistake. Her soul burned in agony, just as it had in her dreams. She felt as if her heart had been ripped from her body, she had loved him too much to see him die. But clearly, he did not care for her one bit, he did not show one ounce of gratitude. For the princess could have led him to the wrong door, and his life would be taken from him. Alas she did not, but she did not feel any agony of the loss of her lover anymore, instead she felt hatred. And every inch of her body trembled with fury. She could not bear to think of her lover existing anymore.

The wedding was 7 days later, everyone attended, no one had ever been this interested in the men who were put in the amphitheater, and nor would they ever be interested again. Everyone had a jovial time at the wedding, and they went home many, many hours later. The princess however was at the castle, sitting in her room. She was thinking about something. Thinking.... thinking.... scheming.

The princess' former lover had not even though about her once since she had helped him in the arena. He completely forgot about her existence. All that mattered to the youth was his new wife. One night, as they were about to go to bed, she asked her husband something. "Were you in love with the princess?" He was startled by this sudden question. "No, I only had eyes for you. I was unjustly convicted with murder, so I made an acquaintance with her a month before I was to go in the king's
arena. Our acquaintance turned into something more as we spent more time together. I knew she loved me, so she would save me from death in the arena. She was a fool, and I used her". His wife was silent for quite sometime.

She then said, "I don't think we're safe..." Her lover was confused. "My darling, why do you say this?" She hesitated, then said, "I used to be a maid for the princess. I heard a terrifying story from one of the other maids. Once, the princess had another lover. After a while, he decided he did not like her. He broke off from her. No one ever saw him again". Her husband laughed, and said, "My love, that is just a silly story, I wouldn't think you would believe such things". He laughed again, but his wife could not tell, it was out of sheer terror. He had heard that story too. While he was laughing, the door to their room creaked open. He continued to laugh. Then a second voice, high and shrill, joined him in his laughter. It was not his wife. Suddenly from the shadows of the door, there was a deafening roar. Then a tiger leaped from it. There was no screaming, no whimpering, no nothing. Just laughter.

Book Blog

The current book I am reading is "It", I have read from page 1-101 out of 712 total pages. I don't completely know what the book is about, but from what I've read and learned about the story, I was able to get a basic idea of the plot. The book "It" focuses on a group of kids who call there group "The Losers Club". One of the main characters, Bill Denbrough, has, or had, a brother. Sadly, his brother was mysteriously killed one night as he was playing with the boat his brother made him. (YOU MAY CONSIDER THIS NEXT SENTENCE AS A SPOILER, so you can skip it if you want). But we the reader knows the he was killed by It. Before I go on, I just want to say that this book is graphic, more than you would think, so read it if you dare. In the little town of Derry, where the book takes place, the losers investigate the mysterious disappearance of adults and children, but the get more than they bargained for... They experience the horror known as Pennywise the Clown. This book is split into two parts, and 27 years after the first part takes place the Losers Club reunites to face off against Pennywise.


Prompt: Are the characters realistic?
Yes, I would definitely say they are, Stephen King, the author, uses very strong language in the book, sometimes a little too much. But this makes the characters seem more realistic because a lot of people use these words in real life. He also uses some very real situations in the book, aside from the things that aren't real. Like having a group of friend, or marriage problems, things like that. From what I've read so far, the characters are relateable.

Prompt: Explain how you have been surprised by what you are reading:
I was surprised of the language in the book. Of course, I have read books with mature language, but Stephen King's novel has much, much more. I didn't think it would be too graphic either, but King describes a lot of things in the book very thoroughly, even if you don't want to read about it. But this adds to the realism and fear that the book gives to the reader. I also am surprised by how it takes so long to get to the main story and scary stuff. It takes over 100 pages (I still haven't got there yet), with a few fears sprinkled in, but nothing too much. So I with all of these things I still hope it is a good reading experience and a good scare.

Introduction to Me

Hello my name is Clement, and I am in 8th grade. I was in the accelerated ELA class last year, and I am here this year as well. I hope to have fun this year and learn from my past experiences. I like science, it is my favorite subject. I also like Star Wars a lot, they are my most favorite movies. My favorite sport is soccer, and I have made the soccer team this year. I like gaming and PS4 is better than Xbox. I like to read when I am bored, currently I am reading IT. I love using technology, Apple is also better than Microsoft. I like summer better than winter, and traveling is fun too.

There’s a lot of fun things to do in ELA, and I can’t wait to do them. That’s everything to know about me. I may have left some stuff out because it’s hard to completely describe yourself, especially on a blog. So you can learn more as the year goes on.

Final Reflection Blog

The three most important things I learned this year are, respect, behavior, and actual studies. I learned to respect people so that they will treat me the same way (this is my This I Believe thing too). I also have learned to behave better, so that I don't get any Falcon Fouls. They are really annoying so I am trying my best to avoid them. And learning actual things as well, because I am learning new things everyday that I may use in my future life.

Something I think that I will remember for the rest of my life is the To Kill a Mockingbird feast, and how Carter forgot to bring crackers. But then months later he finally brings crackers. I dont think anyone will forget that, considering we made fun of him for so long. The nicest thing somebody did for for me in this class is Vince. He literally shared his Google Doc with me to help, and also helped with other stuff outside of class. I don't think I really taught anyone anything.

I am proud of what I was able to learn this year. Many other people won't learn this until next year, things like Socratic Seminars, going to the Holocaust museum. And we did some fun things in the class as well, like the To Kill a Mockingbird feast. I am proud to be in this class. I think the most challenging part of the year was the beginning of it. When I didn't know that much, and when I was being exposed to these new things. But as the year progressed I got used to it, and it wasn't as hard as it was in the beginning.

I think my best piece of writing was the Poe story we had to make up. I enjoyed that one the most, and I got to get creative with it. It was fun to write that one, and I also got a 3 on that one. My favorite book was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows because it was so different from the rest of the series and showed a lot of stuff about Snape, and the best ending ever. Some advice I have for next years students is to do your work, give it your best effort, and have fun learning new things.


This I Believe speech - Respect is Something Everyone Deserves

I believe that we should show respect to one another. You may think that this is pretty obvious, but if you look around you, you can see many people being uncaring and disrespectful. Being like this can make people feel bad, and much more serious things can happen because of these feelings. This may have happened to you before, and you probably didn’t like it. Maybe you were the one saying these unpleasant things. But if everyone treated each other like they would like to be treated, nobody would not feel good about themselves, and maybe even regard you as a friend.

I feel that this is important because people sometimes called me Ravi, that kid from Jessie. I sort of felt bad when they called me by that name, although it was just because they told me I looked like him. Soon after they started to call me that just to make fun of me. Now I just shrug it off, but then I realized how other people might feel if I called them names. I was disrespectful and tried to call other people names. Maybe it was just a joke, but people may still feel bad about that. So I decided to stop calling people names, because I didn't want them to feel bad. Respect is something everyone deserves, no matter what they’ve done.  I know a few people who are hard to be respectful towards, but I still try my best.


Many people in this school don't care at all how you feel, and will not hesitate to call you much worse things. I see it all the time, and lots of times they are doing that to amuse themselves and their friends.  Some are even bold enough to talk to teachers like people they despise. But not all people are like this, a lot of the students don't say mean things, and are really nice. If you're feeling down they will come and cheer you up, and I think that all of us should be like that. They have set the perfect example to make other people feel good. And instead of being accepted by our friends and discarding others, we should accept everyone.

Saying nice things can make people happy, so don’t be afraid to make someone’s day.

Morrie Aphorisms Project

My aphorism was, "once you learn how to die, you learn how to live". Morrie wrote this aphorism because before he was diagnosed with ALS, he viewed little fe like any other person. He didn't value it that much until he was faced with death. Are faced with death, it reminds you how important you life is. How you only get one chance. So when Morrie found out he had ALS, he started to live his life as best he could. He now valued his life more than anything, and saw how precious he was. So he spent his time doing things that were important to him, things he was capable of doing. Like sharing his aphorisms, spending time with loved ones, and continuing to teach his one remaining student every Tuesday.

Just like Morrie, people who know their death is soon and imminent want to spend the rest of their lives doing things that are important to them, and things they always wanted to do. There is a story I found online where a woman diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer has just months to live. So her final wish in her last few month of her life was to go on a family vacation with her husband and children to Disney World. As you can see by this, with only a few months to live, this must be very important to this woman to do in the final stages of her life, so she is doing it. Just like Morrie, doing worthwhile things in his final months.

I definitely agree with this aphorism because, after reading a real life account of a person spending the remainder of his life doing things that are important to him, it is impossible to disagree. I can understand, if I don't have much time left to live, I would want to do as many things I find important as possible. Like a bucket list, or even spending time with family and friends. When you don't know when you will die, you don't love your life to the fullest, but when your time is short, you will do everything you can to make it worthwhile.

Life isn't always fair.

Socratic Seminar Blog

For the first three seminars I really had no goal, and for the first one I was completely unprepared. I would usually share just 2 times, either because that was all I had to share, what I was trying to share was not on topic, or someone kept cutting me off. But for the fourth seminar, I had made a goal to share at least three times. And this seminar was my best one yet, because I shared three times. I know it is just one number bigger than two, but it is a better thing for me. And the question I shared was pretty good, so that was also part of it. And now, thanks to all these seminars, I have experience for more Socratic Seminars.

The opening question was usually a topic that we talked about for a while. After that, there was a transition to go to the next topic was completely unnoticed, but in some way it was related to the first topic. But a problem was other people cutting people off. If I wanted to say something, for example, someone would cut me off. And I'm not a person to keep continuing what I am saying to make the other person stop, so I had to wait. This, I am sure, happened with other people too. But we put a little rule to wait before you share so other people can have a chance to speak, and if you shared a lot already, let someone else share. This sort of worked, and made it easier to share, but there was still a chance to get cut off. Nevertheless, the Socratic Seminars were interesting, and a new experience for me. I am looking forward to another one.

My Perfect Day

First my perfect day would begin with me and my parents going to a restaurant called George's Family Diner, and I would eat blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Then I would go to Best Buy and get a game that I always wanted, then go home and play it for a while. Then I would eat lunch at Portillo's, and go to my friend's house. We would go to Proksa Park and have fun. And finally, my cousins would come to my house and we eat cake and ice cream and we would talk about fun stuff and play the new game I got. After that they would all go home late in the night, and we would go to sleep. That would be a very perfect day for me.

Tuesday's with Morrie Blog

The Tuesday that impacted me the most was the one that talked about death. This talks about how Morrie feels about dying. He said this aphorism, "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." This is a profound statement because, all of us right now take life for granted, we don't really value it. Unless it is in danger of being taken away. And Morrie said he was like this before he got ALS, he took life for granted. But now, he cherishes everyday as much as he can, because they are his last.

Also, he tells Mitch about the imaginary bird on his shoulder. And Morrie keeps asking it if he will die today. Morrie is expecting death, he knows it's coming quickly. Which is why he tries to savor every moment of his life. And it is also interesting how he refuses to be depressed, instead he acts happy, as of no disease is there. And in another Tuesday, Morrie tells Mitch he only pities himself for "a few tearful minutes", then goes on with his day. Mitch knew people who pitied themselves all the time, but Morrie who was facing death did it for only a few minutes. This really tells a lot about Morrie, how he is sort of optimistic, and how he accepts his death.

Bucket List Blog

So far in the book, I like what I'm reading. It's really interesting, and the foreshadowing of Morrie's death makes me wonder how he will die. I know because of the disease, but will anyone be there, will he be all alone, will he be in pain, things like that. I like how he still wants to teach even though he is ill, it shows how teaching is a part of him. It will be interesting to see what else happens in the book, I am excited to read the rest.

Bucket List:
1: Go skydiving
2: Start driving
3: Go to Six Flags
4: Go to Apple HQ
5: Go to California
6: Go bungee-jumping
7: Go on a bullet train

"A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Austere Academy" Blog

For the 40 book challenge I am reading a book series called, "A Series of Unfortunate Events," because it has 13 books in it, so that will get me a lot closer to 40 books. I have already read them all, but decided that I want to read them again. I have just finished the 5th book, "The Austere Acadamy," where the Baudelaire orphans, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, have been transported because their previous home, Lucky Smells Lumbermill, was not safe because Count Olaf was there. For those of you who haven't read any of the books, Count Olaf is the main villain in the story, and the Baudelaire's parents were killed in a fire that destroyed their home. Their parents left a huge fortune that the children can attain when the eldest child, Violet, comes of age. So Count Olaf has been trying to get the fortune, and is so determined that he'll kill anybody (and he has) to get his hands on it. And wherever the orphans go, Count Olaf always follows them.

And now, in the 5th book, they are living in a boarding school, actually outside it, in a terrible shack infested with crabs, and mold on the ceiling. They have met two friends at the school, the Quagmire triplets, Duncan and Isadora. They are triplets because, even though there is two Quagmires, there used to be three. The third one, Quigley, died in a fire along with his parents. The boarding school is very strict, and it is very boring and unpleasant to live there. The Vice Principle isn't very kind, and chooses to play the violin even though he can't play it correctly, and he thinks he is a genius. The school education isn't that good, there are three known teachers, two of them (Mr. Remora and Ms. Bass) teach almost absolutely useless information. And the third one, Coach Genghis, is very fishy. He is new and just came to the school after the old gym teach mysteriously disappeared. The Baudelaires recognize him immediately as someone they despise and fear very much. But to find out who, you must read and see...

Prompts:
Create a wanted poster for the main antagonist:

Describe the main characters:

• Violet Baudelaire: Oldest Baudelaire child, has great inventing skills, and has been describes to be very eyesome.
• Klaus Baudelaire: Second oldest Baudelaire child, has a vast advance vocabulary, and proficient researching skills, has glasses.
• Sunny Baudelaire: Youngest Baudelaire child, speaks in indistinct (i.e, ayjim, resyca), has been describes to be small as a bag of flour, but has four very sharp teeth, and is good at biting things, and likes to bite hard things.

Life is Beautiful

The movie can be connected to Night, because at the end both Elie and Joshua's father died. And they both talk about the Holocaust. Both the book and film show or talk about they labors inmates are supposed to accomplish, and the crematorium as well. At the end both are liberated as well. Many lives were lost in both book and movie. Through the gas chambers and crematorium, which were in both stories. But the movie had more of a humorous side to it. Even in the concentration camp there were a lot of funny moments. In Night, there is rarely anything funny to be read. Both also have a very powerful impact for the viewer. Night is much more serious, and focuses in more detail of events that happened in the camp. "Life is Beautiful" being a movie could not do that, because it didn't even focus on the Holocaust until half of the movie.

"Life is Beautiful" can also be connected to real life stories. It had a lot of true information, and it is similar to Ellie's story. And another person who I read about in an article, who literally baked to save his life. Guido was a waiter for some of the Nazis, which was like how the baker was baking for the Nazis. But being a waiter didn't save Guido, but it did save the baker. In Night, Elie cared for his father, while in the movie, Guido cared for his son. So that is kind of similar. And in both book and film, family got separated, it was at the very end of the movie where Guido gets separated from his son, and gets killed. In Night, Elie and his father get separated from Elie's mother and sister. But the book is real and the movie is not, so that may be the biggest difference.

"Life is Beautiful" is a really humorous movie in the beginning and even in the camp, when it takes a more serious tone. Guido is a funny guy and falls in love with Dora, and they always met in a weird way. And Guido is hardly ever serious while talking to her, he always calls her princess, and say other funny things. He does this thing that his friend told him about. If you concentrate enough for something you want to happen, it will happen. And Guido does this several times in the movie, wiggling his fingers for extra affect, and it works every time. When him and Joshua are going to the concentration camp, Guido goes to a great extent to make him think it's a game so Joshua won't get scared. Like translating the Nazi officer's instructions to game rules that are really funny. And telling his son that if you win the game you get a real tank, which actually sort of happens. So there is a very good amount of humor in the movie, which gives it a unique feel. If you hear about other Holocaust stories they are very serious, and so is this, but in a funny way.

There are many points where life is shown as beautiful in the movie. Like when Dora and Guido are in love like in some Disney movie, and Dora is going to get married to another man but literally is taken away by Guido and gets married to him instead. And how Guido goes around working as a waiter and doing a bunch of other things having a good time because he is always joking around. And also how Guido sacrifices himself so his son and wife could live, he treasured their life over his, and risked his life to save them. It looks like Guido is making everyone else's life beautiful, most of whom he meets are delighted to talk to him. No wonder why the movie is called "Life is Beautiful".

Quarter 3 Reflections

I think I have made the biggest improvement in doing my work. I used to come to working lunch a lot because I may have missed some things that I had to do. But now that happens much less, and I do my work better. Maybe I could still improve on that, but I think it's fine. Also I have read 16 books, I dont know if comic books count because I read 25 of those. But by the time I am done with A Series of Unfortunate Events, I will have read 25 total books of of 40. But If comic books counts then right now I have read 37, I hope they do.

The most challenging thing in this quarter might have been writing tasks. I didn't do to good with those so hopefully in the 4th quarter I'll be able to improve on that. I am proud of my butterfly, although mine wasn't the best out of all of them. I think I did pretty good with it because I also got a 3 on the project. It wasn't really hard to make, but I invested a lot of time into it. This Holocaust was really interesting as I got to learn much about the world back then. And we saw a movie, went to a museum, and read a book, and that all had a very porwerful impact on me.

Argumentative Article AoW

I don't think that this is the most pressing argument, but it does affect me personally. Eamonn's article was about if parents should agree with the new school lunch standards. Michele Obama, the former First Lady made a change to school lunches so that they are more healthy. This is a good thing because now parents don't have to worry about their kids getting unhealthy food. But this is kind of bad because every person needs a specific amount of food, because we are all different. So if you give all kids the same food, and the same amount of food then some will not get enough nutrition. And personally I think that our school should give us better food, and sometimes the quantity should be greater. Also, and I think a lot of other kids agree, there should be chocolate milk.

Another article that I thought was very interesting was Dylan's article. His was about how livestock are producing too much greenhouse gas. 51% to be exact. So we either should keep eating them, or breed them less and eat fruits and vegetables. 51% is a big number, and greenhouse gas is bad for the Earth, because it traps in sunlight, therefore causing the climate to become hotter. So if we want to be green, breed less livestock. But the funny thing is, if we do that and eat fruits and vegetables, we would produce even more greenhouse gasses. I didn't really understand how fruit and vegetables make us produce more gas, but it's proven. So that is pretty ironic. I personally like eating meat more than vegetables, so I would be pretty sad if I had to give that up.

Night Blog

It is easy to tell that Elie has been very changed by the events in the camp. His bond grows closer to his father, he doubts his God, being a very pious person, and his morals kind of change. On page 37 Elie himself says, "The night had passed completely. The morning star shone in the sky. I too had become a different person". It just took one night for Elie to change, and when his father asks to go to the bathroom, and the gypsy slaps his father, Elie didn't do anything. "... He slapped my father with such force that he fell down... I stood petrified. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck... and had not even blinked. Had I changed that much?" (39) Elie said would've protected his father just the day before. But he didn't want to get beaten himself. He began to care more for himself, and didn't want to get in harms way. But he did take very good care of his father, the last piece of hope he had.

He grew less religious, and didn't really pray that much or talk to his God, but he did it occasionally. And he questioned God, he wondered why he was letting this happen, why he didn't save them. "Why, but why would I bless him?...Because He caused thousands of children to burn in his mass graves?...Because in His great might, He had created Auchwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death?" (67). Elie was rebelling against his God, losing faith in Him. And for someone who has been very religious, and wanting to learn so much about Him, it was like throwing that all away in the trash. But he still kept some of his religion, and it stayed with him for the rest of his life.

After emerging from the camp when the war was over, Elie had been transformed into a whole new person. He started to worry about when he would eat next more than ever, and his relationship with his father increased dramatically. To the point that without each other, there was nothing to live for anymore. He also doubted his faith, being a very pious boy growing up, and seeing that his God did not save them from the inhumanity the inmates experienced in the concentration camps. And after his father died, all he thought about was food, because his father was his hope, someone to get through the hard times with. He lost all of his family, but luckily survived to tell the story that we know today.

Citation: Wiesel, Elie. Night. N.p.: Hill and Wang, 2006. Print.

Butterfly Thinglink

 Side 1












Side 2 

"An Evening In Terezin"

The sun goes down
and everything is silent,
 only at the guard's post
are heavy footfalls heard

 That's the guard who watches his Jews
to make sure they don't run away from the ghetto.


Or that an Aryan aunt or uncle
doesn't try to get in.

 Ten o'clock strikes suddenly,

 and the windows of Dresden's barracks darken.

 The women have a lot to talk about;
they remember their homes,
and dinners they made.

 Then some of them argue.
Others try to quiet them down.

Finally, one by one, they grow silent;
they toss and turn, and in the end,
 they fall asleep.

 How many more evenings
 will we have to live like this?
We do it know,
 only God knows.


I commented on: Lorin, Vince, Tammi, Alexis, Eamonn

Holocaust AoW Impressions

I learned a lot from my article, how baking saved Ernie Feld's life, and how a Nazi officer was charged with murder 70 years after the war. I have learned a lot from Night, and the other articles that I have read, and it give me an in depth look on the Holocaust. And it gave me much information on how life was, being separated from your family, and being in concentration camps as well.

I think that the Nazi officer that was charged with murder 70 years after the war is a stretch. First of all, he might've not have murdered anyone at all. And he also said that he was forced to, so I think that was unnecessary. But he could have been lying, but we may never know. Also my article was interesting because a man named Ernie Feld literally baked for his life.

Ernie Feld's life was saved because he could cook and bake. The Nazi officers need someone who could cook, and they found out that Ernie could. So he began to cook for him, and I think that they said he cooked well. He managed to save a few other Jews by letting them help him in the kitchen. but a lot of his family perished in other concentration camps. So he got very lucky, or else he might have not been alive today.

These articles tell a lot, like how families are separated. How Jews lived in Concentration camps. From these articles I have learned much more about the suffering many people experienced in World War II. And it makes me feel so sad that one person could make so many people suffer and die. And now after I have read these articles, I hope that this doesn't happen again.

Berlin Memorial Activity

1. I learned that Hitler really wanted to break the Jews, down, from the laws I think he did a pretty good job. I didn't know there was this many confiscations, like not to get eggs, or have pets. It seemed to be really harsh. Hitler really treated the Jews like animals, and I am glad that today WWII is over and that hopefully we don't have to go through this again.

2. Maybe to show people today how life was like back then for the Jews, and how hard it was, and how terrible the laws were.

3. That the laws took many regular things away from the Jews, education, jobs, emigration, certain foods, etc. And as the years went on the laws got more harsh, afffecting nearly all Jews, and stripping them of their rights.

4. Kristallnacht, or not being able to leave Germany, because then my family would have to stay in the war zone and danger. And it would be very hard to live in a concentration camp, or my parents being taken away.

Quarter 2 Reflection

In what area do you think you made the biggest improvements in English Language Arts?
    I think I made a big improvement in annotating. Before, I was new to it, and I didn't get the concept that much. But as time went on, I got much better at doing it, mostly when we were reading To Kill a Mockingbird. I could still make some improvement, but I am decent at doing it right now. Also I made an improvement in reading. I don't mean reading fluently, but reading books regularly. I have been reading book in order to complete the 20, or now 40, book challenge. And it keeps me away from doing other nonproductive things, so that is also good.

What is something that you have accomplished since the New Year that you are proud of?
    I am proud of not getting any Falcon Fouls. This is an irritating problem that is sometimes overwhelming, but thankfully, I have not got any since the New Year and I am really proud of that. It keeps me away from detentions, and I have been told that I only have one right now. I hope that next quarter I will get no Falcon Fouls, which would be a big achievement for me.

What has been the most challenging part of the 2nd Quarter and what did/can you do to help overcome this
    The sometimes the challenging part of Quarter 2 was that sometime homework could be overwhelming. I could have a lot and forget to do some, but luckily this year there is no fouls for not doing homework this year. Also Falcon Fouls, because I always worried that I would get them and I didn't want to go to detention. I really dislike them, because they are irritating, but detention is really that bad. But having detention is bad for me.

TKAM Comparitive Analysis

1.  What do you think is the most important difference between the written and filmed version? Provide evidence with specific details.

I think the most important difference between the film and the book is the lack of A LOT of the story, and small alterations too. I mean, I know if they fit everything into the movie it would be way too long but still, some important things are missing. Like Aunt Alexandra coming to stay with the Finch's, Miss Maudie's house burning down, Miss Dubose dying, Christmas, and even some more. So there is a lot of things missing so the story is different overall in the movie. Which altered the story thourghly.

2. How would you prove or disprove that one version of To Kill A Mockingbird is more affective in delivering its message than the other? Be sure to provide specific pieces of evidence to support your opinion. 

The book version gets the message through much better that the movie because it tells EVERYTHING that happened, while the movie doesn't do that. It includes all the lessons and (I think) provide a better story overall. So from the lack of things missing from the movie, it doesn't show the message as good as the book. And it is missing a lot of things from the story, I wrote more on that above.