Blogging Around

The following comment is in response to Daniel's blog regarding partisan voting. He talks about having considering the candidate more than the party they represent.
"Daniel,
Great post! I found this very interesting because my family had this debate at the dinner table as well. My family also tends to vote for democrats, but one night my dad said he thought that some of the more moderate republicans would win his vote this year. I agree with you that we really don't need any more politicans fighting. We need them to "reach across the aisle" and fix some of the horrible things going on. Great job!"

This next comment is in response to Mitchell B.'s blog about faith and atheism. He talks about religion serving as a connection to other people.
"Mitchell,
Wow, what an interesting post! Although I am Christian, I found it really interesting to see Christianity and God through an atheist's eyes. There are many ways to look at Christianity and people take many different approaches to their faith. While I don't necessarily agree with you on some of the things, I still really enjoyed reading your post!

Metacognition: "On the Corner" Poem

To be honest, I was not looking forward to the poetry assignment at all. I had never written a poem before, and I am just not a natural poem writer. However, I decided to give it a try. That night, I sat down at my computer and tried to write a poem on soul mates, based off of Kate's blog post. I tried to add imagery, alliteration, and all of the writing components of poetry that we had learned about in class. I thought it was pretty good for being my first poem. I had a couple of classmates read it so I could get peer feedback. I made the adjustments that my classmates had suggested and turned it in. The next week when we got our poems back, I conferenced with my teacher. We decided that this poem really had no where else it could go, and I started from scratch with a new poem. This one was about homeless boys that I had seen on a corner of Chicago when I had gone downtown to work at a soup kitchen. I liked my new use of imagery, details, and words. I felt like I had gotten more into the mind set of poetry. I liked this poem a lot more than my first poem. Although I'm still not crazy about writing poetry, I am surprised to find that I actually enjoyed my final draft of my poem. Poetry writing really expanded my writing capabilities, styles, and my view of poetry.

Best of Week: Revolutions

I think this week's best idea (or concept) that we discussed was the use of revolutions (or full 180 degree rotations) in certain characters and situations in King Lear. I hadn't been noticing these in the reading until they were first pointed out in class about a week ago; however, as we were reading specific scenes in class this week, the concept came to the forefront of my mind. I had always been taught to look for character development and change, but the fact that a character could do a full revolution was astonishing. For example, King Lear went from being the most powerful man in the land to a man who had to rely on his daughter (who he had previously put into exile). Another example of a revolution is on page 95, when Kent says, "Fortune, good night. Smile once more; turn thy wheel." I thought this quote was especially interesting because the revolution isn't taking place within a person, but appears in a man's plead for his luck to be changed. I hope to use the concept of revolutions in my writing. I think this concept gives more depth to the character (or scene) and adds complexity to a person's writing. It also allows the reader to see a character or scene from multiple angles and perspectives. I will definitely be looking out for revolutions in future reading!

Connection: Cordelia and the Lost Son

When we were introduced to Cordial in the novel King Lear, I immediately thought that she had many similarities to the Lost Son from "The Parable of the Lost Son" in the Bible (Luke 15: 11-31). Just like the Lost Son, Cordial had a father who was dividing up his wealth among his children. In these stories, Cordelia and the Lost Son are the youngest children in the family. The older children in both of the families do exactly what the fathers want. Goneril and Regan tell their father that they love him with all their hearts. This is exactly what he wanted to hear. The Lost Son's older brother graciously takes the money from his father, but he stays with his father, works the land, and saves his new money. Cordelia and the Lost Son, on the other hand, do not do the same things as their older siblings. They do not take full advantage of the help that their fathers offer them, and they do as they please. They do this in different ways, but they both do. In Cordelia's case, she doesn't tell her father that she loves him with all her heart. This does not make her father very happy, and therefore she does not receive wealth and land from her father. In the parable, the Lost Son does receive his money from his father. He just chooses to squander it and to use his new money for parties. He ends up losing all of the money he inherited from his father. Both Cordelia and the Lost Son choose not to follow their fathers, and do what they please. I found this very insightful because I believe completely in the Bible and by making a connection to something that plays such a significant role in my life, I could connect better to this novel and specifically, to Cordelia. I found myself a little bit more interested in Cordelia than the other characters in the novel because I had connected her to another character that I knew well, and I also wanted to see if she would turn out like the Lost Son.

TED Presentations

This year's TED project was an interesting one. At first, I started out somewhat excited for this year's TED presentations because it seemed like there had been many alterations to last year's project. However, only about a week into the project, I found myself running into some of the same problems as last year. The juniors and seniors in my group had no idea what was going on (partly due to the teachers not being as committed to the project as our sophomore teachers) and therefore had little motivation to participate. Then, we all ran into the problem that the amount of our homework in some classes was not decreased in order to allow us time to work on the presentation; we had to do our regular amount of homework AND fit in TED time. In the end, everyone in my group worked really hard and I thought it was great work. Although the project was really stressful, I ended up somewhat liking the TED presentations. It was really cool to have all 4 grades of the Academy together; I never actually realized how many kids were in the Academy (about 110!). I also really liked some of the other groups' presentations and it was cool to learn about many other interesting topics. I also really appreciated having everything on a google site. It made gathering and organizing information about the topic much easier for our group! I thought the day of the TED presentations was run very well. Most people stuck to their time limit and all of the technology worked! Although the TED presentations were a LOT of work and stress, I liked the presentation day and meeting other Academy kids.

Captured Thought: It's Not All About You

Lately, I've been really stressed. Between volleyball, schoolwork, church, and homecoming, I've barely been home. I didn't even realize it until a few days ago when my thirteen year old brother said, "Emily, how come I never see you anymore? You're never home." I almost said "I'm always here!", but stopped short. The truth was, I hadn't really seen David in about a week. When I WAS home, I was usually stressed, crabby, doing homework, and talking on the phone trying to figure out homecoming plans. I had been so busy running from activity to activity that I hadn't had time to actually talk to my brother and find out how he was doing. Then, two days later, one of my friends said she missed me and said she felt like we never saw each other anymore. I said I was sorry and that my schedule would be better once volleyball ended this weekend. That made it better with her, but I realized something from talking with her and my brother. What you do doesn't just affect you. It affects all the people involved in your life. Now I know that seems obvious, but it's something I (and probably others) don't always take into account. When I'm eating dinner at someone else's house or out, my family is having dinner without me. They can feel my absence, and are (probably) wishing they could talk with me about my day. When I skip my brother's concert in order to do the homework I could have done over the weekend (but didn't), he knows it and is disappointedI'm not at his concert. When I ask my mom for a ride to somewhere, I forget that she has to drive back home (while I'm already having fun). Her car ride is double the time of mine. I think this thought has been brewing in my mind for a while, but it all became clear when my brother asked me where I have been. The point is, you affect others. It's not all about you and what you want to do. Remember that when you choose to go out for that third night in a row, your family is feeling your absence (again) and is affected. We have to remember that even though all of us are busy (and overscheduled), we have to make sure that our actions don't continue to negatively affect the people who are closest to us. I'm making it a goal this week to say "no" to one thing with my friends and use that time to be with my brother and family. This is because I know that my busy schedule has not only affected me, but has affected the people I love most.

iMedia: The Pressure on Girls

I just got my favorite magazines for November 2008 in the mail; Seventeen and Cosmogirl! I'm not going to lie, I love reading them. They're full of advice for high school girls, on everything from hair and boys to family. However, lately, I have been wondering if these magazines (and the media) are putting too much of an emphasis on how to make our bodies/appearances look "sexy" and less of an emphasis on who we are as people. Yes, these magazines do have articles about the upcoming election, family problems, how to manage stress from your life, and other topics girls worry about. But, if you look at the picture of the cover of the Cosmogirl! above, you'll see three large headlines on the left-hand side: 50 Ways to Get Sexy Hair!, 10 Secrets to Perfect Skin, & 5 Moves to a Hotter Body. On the right hand side, we see headlines for articles about boy advice and the star of this month's issue, Blake Lively. Now I'm not saying that these articles are bad, because I know that I personally love to read them. It just strikes me personally because I have been thinking about the pressure on girls lately to have that perfect physical appearance. In the media, everything has to be "hot" or "sexy". Sure, we all like to look good (who doesn't?), but has the media taken the image of a girl beyond realistic expectations? I know that I used to think that real girls actually looked like the girls on the cover of magazines. It made me feel pressured to look like them; skinny, pretty, and always happy. Now I know that they spend hours in the photo shoot, taking many pictures just to find that "look". They have make-up artists and are air-brushed. However, even though many girls know these things, many of us still feel pressured to have that look.
Everyone knows that anorexia affects many teens. Girls of all ages are starving themselves (or binging) in order to look skinny or to fit into that perfect dress for the dance. I'm not saying there's nothing wrong with trying to get inshape before the dance or trying to lose weight. As long as it's done healthily. Is the media really promoting weight loss healthily?
Let's be honest here. No one can achieve that perfect look without make-up artists and hair stylists working on them. But what does it matter? Shouldn't girls be embraced for who they are outside AND inside? I know that sounds cliche, but if you think about it, it's true. No one will ever think they look perfect. Everyone has that one part of their body they don't like. So why spend so much time (and sometimes money) on trying to look perfect. Get ready for your night out and look pretty. But after that, don't worry about it. Chances are, people will remember more about your attitude that night and if you had fun rather than what you looked like.
I used to be really affected by these types of magazine covers. I would try to look perfect. It didn't happen. It doesn't happen for anybody. As the media reaches younger and younger age groups of girls, I just hope the girls are strong enough to resist the hundreds of pictures the media pushes on us and see what I've learned: any girl can be beautiful and you don't need to be perfect. You just need to be yourself.

Blogging Around

This first comment is my comment in regards to Melanie V's blog: 360 Degrees: Chocolate. She blogs about her love for chocolate; one of the similarities between us! However, her blog goes beyond the love for chocolate, and into how chocolate affects people and their lives.

"Melanie,
I really liked your blog about chocolate. Maybe that's just because I'm a chocolate-aholic myself, but I also thought you brought up some really interesting ideas. Chocolate does influence many different people (as well as groups of people) in all kind of different ways. I especially liked your question about what people would give each other on Valentine's Day. Chocolate is a classic gift on Valentine's Day (or really any holiday...think chocolate santas!) because so many people like it. What would people give on Valentine's Day if they couldn't give chocolate? Twizzlers? Some other kind of candy? I would be disappointed if chocolate was replaced with...let's say, Starburst. Chocolate just has that specific taste and satisfaction. Great idea for the blog!"

This next comment is in regards to a more serious blog than the chocolate blog. It is in response to Kyle A's blog regarding weapons in the world. He talks about how weapons affect our world. I had been thinking about weapons in the world just a few days ago, and found myself agreeing with much of his blog. He starts of relating this topic to the movie Iron Man which I thought was a good way to start off a serious topic.

"Kyle,
I thought that this blog about weapons was very interesting. I had just been thinking about this the other day! Nuclear weapons are CONSTANTLY in the news/media because they are affecting politics greatly. Presidential candidates are having to answer questions about nuclear weapons and how their relationships will be with countries who are in possession of them. On one hand, I'm scared that Iran and some of these countries with dictators have the power to blow up countries, and I'm glad we are working with them to reduce or eliminate their production. However, on the other hand, I wonder why we (the U.S.A.)think we have the power to decide who is allowed to have nuclear weapons and who isn't. We have nuclear weapons, so why wouldn't we expect for other countries to follow our example? I know the answer is that we are allowed to have nuclear weapons because we have a (somewhat) stable government, and these other countries do not. I just wonder how we are viewed by other countries when we tell them that WE are allowed the weapons, but THEY'RE not. I think that that probably makes them pretty mad. I, personally, am a little scared with all of this nuclear weapon production. Hopefully, the governments of countries will start to work out treaties. Until then, let's just hope Iran doesn't decide to bomb us off the map!"

360 Degrees: The Academy

I am curious about how people, outside of the Academy, view the Academy. How do people who applied for Academy but were not accepted view the Academy? Do they have a negative view regarding it because they were not accepted? I am also curious about the people's view of the Academy who got into Academy, but decided to decline their acceptance. Maybe they think that Academy would not offer them the chance to meet as many new people? What I've seen is if a person asks a group of people "who is in Academy here?", these people say that they were accepted but decided not to do it. Do they feel good about themselves because they proved that they were able to get in? I also wonder about the perspective of the Academy from the teachers not involved in it. Do they think the Academy teachers think they're better than the outside of Academy teachers? How does the general student body view the Academy? Do they see the Academy as a group of elitists, stuck-up kids? Do they see the Academy as "social suicide"? I'd like to think that if they examined the group of kids in Academy, they would see that there are many different types of people. We have athletes, musicians, singers, mathematicians, actors/actresses, class presidents/representatives, and many more. I would like to think that people would wait to establish their view of the Academy until they fully understand the Academy and what type of people are involved in it. Many people do not really understand what the Academy is about and what is required to be in it. I have had many people come up and ask me why I'm in their math class and aren't I supposed to be in Academy? I tell them that Academy is only for Social Studies, a foreign language, and English. They just look at me dazed and I have no idea what their view of Academy is. However, I know that people will not wait to understand something before they create their own view/opinions about it. That's why there are so many different view of the Glenbrook Academy of International Studies.

Metacognition: Kite Runner Essay

We recently started work on a Kite Runner essay in english class. At first, I was a little bit intimidated by the assignment. It was our first essay in sophmore english class and our only direction was to go on the google website and write a possible thesis in accordance to the posted essay topics. I wasn't really sure where to start. I looked at all the possible essay topics and chose to write a possible thesis for the topic of social class/position throughout the novel. I immediately thought of the obvious representations of social class, such as the idea that Hassan and Amir were both different social classes and how this affected their relationship. However, then I went a little bit deeper into the relationship between Hassan and Amir and discovered that social class was at the root of Amir's guilt and problems throughout the novel. I was surprised that I could think past the obvious , on the surface problems with social class and move into the deeper, individual problems with social position. I thought this would also make my essay more effective because it focused on something/someone more specific than a relationship. Then, I started gathering evidence to support my thesis. I discovered that there was a lot of text evidence which showed that social position affected many parts of Amir's life, not just his relationship with Hassan. This is the point where my essay switched from focusing solely on the Hassan/Amir relationship to focusing on all of the guilt and problems in Amir's life. I liked that although I was just shifting the focus of my essay very slightly, it provided a more solid base for the essay. I hope that my thinking continues to get stronger as we review our essay plans and our writing.

Best of Week: Did Amir really earn his redemption?

This week, someone brought up the question: did Amir really earn his redemption, or was it just given to him? I thought this was a very good thought. When I thought about it, I found that I thought that Amir did not earn his redemption. He left Afghanistan and his whole situation with Hassan and moved to the United States, and hoped to bury his memories of what happened with Hassan. By forgetting about his mistakes and not trying to help himself, Amir was not attempting redemption. Then, years later, Rahim Khan called him and offered him a chance at redemption. He specifically said, "There is a way to be good again." Amir felt so much better when he went to Afghanistan and fought for Hassan's son. However, what did Amir do to earn this redemption? He never actually said he was sorry to Hassan, and he never went back to Afghanistan to try to see Hassan or help him years later. At the very least, he never even looked for a way to receive redemption. He does get some credit because he (physically and mentally) fought for Hassan's son. I just don't believe that Amir deserved or worked for his chance at redemption. It was simply handed to him.

Change of Mind: Memoirs

I had never read a memoir before reading Kite Runner. I had always assumed that memoirs were just boring reflection pieces, written by a person who thought other people would be interested in one of their memories. This is why I was so hesitant to read Kite Runner. Even though Kite Runner is a fictional memoir, it has changed my view of memoirs in general. I think it was good for me that my first memoir was actually a fictional memoir because it introduced me to the style of writing used in memoirs, while actually keeping my attention. I found that I actually really enjoy memoir style writing, and it is different than the style of writing I usually read. Kite Runner has made me think that I might I enjoy reading other memoirs, and my previous view of memoirs as being boring reflection pieces has been changed.