Animal Farm!!!

This picture that I drew using Paint depicts a pig in a suit whipping a sheep. As we all know, the pigs turn very much human at the end of the book, so to express that, I drew the 'soul' of the pig behind him as a man. Also, if you look closely, you will be able to see the faded form of the horn and trotter on the green background. This represents the 'fading away' of communism, or 'animalism', as it becomes clear that not all animals are equal.

POL: The Charge of the Light Brigade

The Charge of the Light Brigade actually wasn't my first choice for a poem. What I really wanted to recite was The Cremation of Sam Mcgee by Robert Service, but that poem was retired from the competition. When I saw that, I had no idea what poem I was going to do, until I saw The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The reason this poem stood out to me was bacause I've heard a lot about it from my family and it's what The Trooper by Iron Maiden is about. At first, it was very hard to memorize as I had no idea what happened during the charge. Then I started reasearching the Battle of Balaclava and it's easier to memorize now. What this poem is about is the charge in it's most intense moments; when the British Light Brigade is charging the Russian guns, the skirmish, and the retreat. This happened as a result of a misread order.

Poetry Out Loud

Part 1
1. The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
2. Russel Market by Maurya Simon
3. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
4. Old Ironsides by Oliver Wendell Holmes, A Birthday by Christina Rossetti

Part 2
1. I liked The Charge of the Light Brigade the best.
2. I didn't like Russel Market because it didn't really make sense to me.
3. Probably The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
4. Well, one of my favorite bands, Iron Maiden, made a song called The Trooper, which is based off The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Part 3
1. Overall Performance and Accuracy I will have no problem with, as I can memorize things fairly quickly and I'm good at performing overall.
2. Physical Presence and Voice and Articulation are going to be some major roadblocks to reciting my poem. I get nervous fast and my voice starts to shake and sometimes my legs start doing a nervous twitch.

Part 4
I watched Kareem Sayegh recite Man-Moth by Elizabeth Bishop. I think he did a very good job, even though he mispronounced a word or two. I also watched Allison Strong recite Sonnet CXXX: My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun by William Shakespeare. She had very good articulation and made no mistakes in reciting the poem.

Part 5
I am not as nervous as I was when I first heard of this competition, but I'm still pretty nervous. I've never recited a poem longer then a couple lines before and I didn't have to memorize it so this is all new to me. I think my view on poetry has changed quite a bit so now I'm enjoying reading poetry.

LOBSTERS ARE NOT HUMANS!!!

how do you feel about boiling lobsters alive now?

In our discussion on the poem "Lobsters", many ideas were brought up that widened my interpretation of said poem. But the idea that was brought up the most was the comparing of the lobsters to humans, and how humans are the ones being 'herded' around. Well, I really wish I had said this in the discussion, my idea was that the lobsters don't represent humans, but everything we humans take that we don't need. And that 'everything' means everything, from lobsters to laptops to Lincoln Logs (running out of L words). There was also the idea of 'the flame beneath the pot that boils the water' being the hard workers of society who don't get any credit. I disagree. I believe the flame is the wastefulness of us humans, who boil the water to kill the innocent lobster for an unnecessary meal.

It's Double Time!!! (kinda)

As I have neglected to have anything to do with my blog for the last three weeks or so, and a blog post is not required this week, I will attempt to combine two posts into one, hopefully fulfilling both requirements as I scramble for any leftover credit, no matter how small.

The first post, I believe, was one that required a level of diction. If you have not inferred as to which I am using, I will make this very obvious. Formal diction. Or, at least, an attempt at it. The other part of this post, if my memory suffices, is to write about something that happened to me this past week, in said diction. Well, this past week was like any other week in high school, besides the Veteran’s Day schedule and the day away from school yesterday. Apart from those, nothing really substantial happened. There were a few tests, a pop quiz, and some projects. I believe the most interesting event that occurred within the past week was the bingo game earlier today, as I spent Veteran’s Day and most of last weekend doing absolutely nothing.

As I have just described my dull week, I will move on to the next post I have neglected. While I compose this second half of my double-post, I will remain writing in high diction to begin to fulfill the two paragraph requirement. Anyway, the problem that occurred most in the five-part paragraphs was probably the lack of transition sentences. Coming in close second, neglecting to embed quotes. Now, all of this happened about a week ago, and I was very sleep-deprived, so this is all very stale in my mind. And I do not expect to receive very many points on this post anyway, so I bid you all ‘Adieu’ for now!

The Count of Monte Cristo

At first, this book repelled me because of its large size. But now that I have read about half of it, this book is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It's a story about mainly revenge, but also hatred, jealousy, chance, and a bit of love (sounds like a recipe). I believe that the only flaw in this book is it spends too long on introducing new characters. What may seem as an unimportant character when he or she first arrives in the novel, suddenly has a purpose besides filling the book with an extra hundred pages or so. He or she is suddenly tying everything together instead of letting everything hang loose. A good example of such a character in this novel is Albert (not Franz) but that's all I'm giving away. But, for all I know, Franz may be more important than Albert later on in the book. Or his sole purpose was a link from Albert to...well, I believe I have given away too much already.

When I was reading this book, it reminded me of the novel Prey by Michael Crichton. In both of these books, I believed strongly in the fact that every character, no matter how small, is important. That without every character into play, the book just wouldn't be as good. But then, all the characters in Prey started dieing. And some I didn't really know much about. Now, it sounds almost like the opposite of The Count of Monte Cristo, but they are connected. Both novels have seemingly unimportant characters, but their importance comes later in the book.

At this point, I have no idea of what I am to do for a project. I haven't been struck by any inspiration yet, but I feel it will happen soon. Until then, I'll just keep reading until I'm done with this amazing novel. And then possibly read it again.

Theme Extensions

What does this novel mean to me? Well, personally, this novel speaks to me on many levels and it would be impossible to tell you all the things this novel tells me, but I will tell you how much I have in common with said novel. Unlike Scout, I have never had the pleasure of having an older sibling to help me and guide me through obstacles I might face. I do, however, have a younger sister whom I can help and guide. As you have probably read in my earlier post, I do have a Boo Radley which is instrumental (get it?) in my life. I also have a very bratty half-cousin (same grandfather, different grandmother), who I can compare to Francis, and a Dill, which is the park that is practically in my backyard. I do not, as far as I know, have a Miss Maudie or an Aunt Alexandra though. All of these people and things can be placed in the theme of my life, which I have yet to find out. And this concludes this theme extension.

My Unique Boo Radley

My Boo Radley, unlike most, is not a person or a thing. My Boo Radley is the music world. When I was four, I learned to play my first instrument, the piano. I was very excited. But as I grew older and the songs became more challenging, I grew to hate it. I wanted to quit a bunch of times, but my parents made me stick to it. As I grew even older, I still hated piano, but my parents still wouldn't let me quit. In fifth grade, I started another instrument, the trumpet. This instrument I didn't hate, I loved it. The trumpet helped me realize the importance of music, and why my parents wouldn't let me quit piano when I wanted to. Since then, I have loved music and have never stopped playing the instuments I have learned. Instead, I have added to my musical knowledge with a tuba and a guitar. And I intend to keep adding instruments to my knowledge until I know how to play every instrument known to man. This is how my Boo Radley changed my life and made me the person I am now.

Intro to Me

I am usually a quiet kid. I get good grades and I usually don't get in trouble. I enjoy rock, metal, punk, and alternative music. I don't like speaking to large groups as I easily get nervous. So far, I really enjoy the literature we are supposed to read, and I look forward to the literature that will be handed out in the future. I think the meaning of English class is to learn how to appreciate literature and how to analyze books. To me, the reason English is a four-year requirement for collage is because it is very important. Without knowledge of grammer, spelling, punctuation, etc., life would be very hard. Excelling in English will help you become a successful person. It will enable you to communicate more fluently and will help you understand literature better than you have before. Well thats all I have to say for now.