Reading/Work Times

Tues. Hits and Misses- 15 min.

Wed. Draft of cover letter- 1 hour 20 min.

Sat. Reading Sold- 33 min.

Sun.                       55 min. 

Poem

The cool crisp air of the fall,

creeping and crawling into to the hot summer heat.

The leaves change,

From green to rich red,

ready to be free.

The reflection of calm water,

Ready to be splashed.

The palms overhead

Slashing and crashing like a hurricane,

In the wind.

The trails of growling gravel,

beneath my feet.

Running over the smooth silky grass,

Reaching the glassy water,

And jumping into the cold.

In my poem I use many techniques we have discussed in class. I use a simile in the ninth line when I write “Slashing and crashing like a hurricane”. Assonance is used in “growling gravel” and consonance is used in “grass... Glassy”. 

Reading times:

Sold by Patricia McCormick

Tues. 25 min. 17 pages 

Thurs. 1 hour 64 pages 

Sun. 1 hour 32 min

81 pages 

Everyone in the world wants and needs money. You need money to live. I’m not saying the only thing in the world I want is money, I’m saying everyone basically needs money to get most of the things that they want and need. Some people are poor others are rich, some can afford luxuries while others only, if eve, basic necessities. . In Nervous Conditions the reason for all of the conflict was also because of money.

In the story Tambu at first couldn't go to school because her family was poor, but when she moved in with her rich uncle she could afford to do all the things she ever wanted. Money can change a lot in a person’s life and the person themselves, too. Another example from Nervous Conditions was how although Tambu’s family was very poor they still had a nice home because they were cared for by rich relatives.

"Stay" by Rihanna

                In the song “Stay” by Rihanna I found different lyrics that I analyzed to find the poetic meaning and techniques used. Throughout the song it is obvious it is about a relationship that has its ups and downs in it, “round and around and around we go”. The lyrics seem like they are depressed and don’t really know what to do about the relationship. “Not really sure how I feel about it… I want you to stay,” these verses I think means that they just STAY in the relationship so they aren't lonely and can’t live without each other.

                Throughout the song Rihanna has a pattern where she really just kind of talks about how bad the relationship is, but in the end she always wants to STAY. There is also couples of words paired in the lines that rhyme with each other for example, move, you and way, stay, in the chorus of the song. The song is also sung from both sides of the relationship, which shows they feel the same way both ways.

Crank Reading Response

Crank by Ellen Hopkins is all about bad habits. When Kristina goes to her drunken father’s house for the summer she picks up many bad habits from the people around her. For example she started hanging out with not the best people, doing drugs, smoking, drinking, and getting herself into tricky situations. Kristina turns into another person who is not her normal self.

                Many bad habits can be picked up from the people you chose to hang out with, either by peer pressure, force, or just you trying to fit in. It all depends on who we chose to hang out with and the choices we make. I feel like if someone tried to make me do something i didn't want to do, I would just say no and leave, because they are obviously not a good friend for me to hang around if they are trying to make me do something. However, some people are not like this and pick up others bad habits and can’t get rid of them.1

Reading Times: 

Sat. Crank; 1 hour 20 min.

Sun. Crank; 2 hours 40 min.

Literacy Narrative

     For my portfolio I have decided to revise our first paper we wrote in this class, the literacy narrative. In this revision piece I am working on improving organization and ideas of my previous paper. I have chosen this paper as the one I want to revise because I think it is the one paper that I think I could really develop more on and turn in a better outcome than before.

     One of my traits of good writing that I want to improve is organization. This is because one of the main comments you wrote on my final draft was to organize the timeline of events better and collapse the time spread of events in my story. Another trait is the ideas in my paper. I feel like their are so many more things I can add into this narrative to make the story more vivid and have more of an effect on the readers about my reading experiences. I know, I now know way more about the good traits of writing than I did at the beginning of the year and I think I can make this paper a great edition to my portfolio.

Jane Goodall: Plagiarize

                 Jane Goodall a lot more than one sentence, she plagiarized lines and lines of information and wording from various websites that she continuously failed to cite, which is not okay. Goodall’s book, Seeds of Hope, about her love and knowledge of plants. Or what we thought was her knowledge.  In the article Goodall writes, “I have spent a lifetime loving plants, even though I have never studied them as a scientist.” Using other sources information is alright to use, but you must cite it.

                Although Steven Levingston writes that some authors accidentally plagiarize from co-authors, time, and the web, it still does not give writers an excuse. Even if Jane Goodall’s plagiarizing situation was an accident she and her co-authors still need to fix their mistake and give citations where needed. I think she should give citations for all the webs’ information, paraphrase the information, or just take it out altogether and do her own research in her own words to fix this problem. I think the situation became more serious when reporters wrote that she plagiarized more than a couple of lines. Plagiarizing a lot of the information in a book without citing is very serious.