Blogging Around: The Blogging Process

I really agreed with Margot's post about the blogging process throughout sophomore year. Margot talked about wishing we had the freedom to choose our blogging topics and how blogging gave us the opportunity to continue discussing topics that we had talked about in class. The following is my comment on Margot's blog:

Margot,
Great post! I agree with you about wishing we could blog about anything we wanted regarding English. I also found it cumbersome to blog when I couldn't think of anything to write about that would fit the prompt we were given. I think it would be beneficial to our thinking process if we were able to have more freedom in terms of what we wanted to blog about. I also enjoyed blogging because I was able to rant about a topic that I might not have gotten to talk about in class. Overall, I think blogging was beneficial and helped us to express our feelings about certain English topics.



The next blog I read was Kyle's blog. In general, I agreed with most of what Kyle said. Kyle's blog post said that we should have more freedom in what we blog about and that this experience was lacking online community interaction and he thinks that should be added to this experience next year. His blog also said that by not having freedom to choose our topics, these aren't really blogs, but rather online journal responses. Kyle has created his own personal blog this year, as well.

Kyle,
Great post! I agree with a lot of what you said. I also said in my blog post that I felt that some of the given blog prompts were too forced. I thought it was interesting that you said that with this type of assignment, we could basically email Mr. Allen our "journal response" each week and get the same effect as the blog. In some ways, I agree with you because basically we are being told to write a response to a question and the only unique thing is that it's online. However, in another way, this does make our response more accesible to other people. If we just turned in our responses to Mr. Allen, no one would really be able to read them without going and getting our responses from Mr. Allen. I'm glad that this experience has helped to inspire you to start your own blog. I've read your personal blog and really enjoy it! Finally, I agree with you that adding more online community interaction would be beneficial to this experience. We only really looked at other students' blogs when we did the "Blogging Around" prompt and online community interaction is a big part of the blogging experience. Great post!
-Emily

Metacognition: The Blogging Experience

Blogging this year in English class was a very unique experience for me and was quite different than how I expected it to be. At the beginning of the year, I wasn't quite sure what we would be blogging about. However, as the year went on, I learned we would be blogging more about specific processes and our thinking in them. This is something that I would like to work better. For chemistry class, we are able to blog about anything we want. I think we could incorporate some more blog prompts that gave the students more freedom about what they want to blog. For example, there is the blog prompt "iMedia" but we never focused on that much. I think there could also be a blog prompt about things we find interesting in the news. This could be called "In Today's News" or something like that. I think I would find blogging more enjoyable if I had more freedom in the topic that I blogged about. We could of course still keep English class related topics, such as "Metacognition" and "Best of the Week", but I would find it enjoyable if some more diverse blogging topics were added and assigned. However, I was surprised that I actually enjoyed some of the prompts that were assigned. I really enjoyed "iMedia" and "Blogging Around". I didn't necessarily enjoy "Metacognition", "Best of the Week/Day", or "What If?", but I think those were all important prompts in terms of helping us reflect on what we had learned or experienced. I am pleasantly surprised with my blogging experience from this past year. I feel as though I have truly reflected on certain things we have discussed in class, specific processes we have gone through, and have made connections from things in class to the outside world. Blogging has given my classmates and me the opportunity to continue a conversation (that started in class) outside the classroom. Another thing that I have liked about this blogging process is how we have been graded. We have not been graded subjectively on our blogs. I feel that this is good because our blogs should be a place where we should feel free to express ourselves and not worry about the grade. If we follow the assigned prompt, then we get full points. This is good because it does not out stress on what we write. We just reflect on the process in any way which we choose. Overall, I would say that the blogging experience in general pleasantly surprised me and was a positive experience.

Best of Week: Point of View

This week in English, we focused a lot on different points of view in the novel "Life and Times of Michael K." Mr. Allen made the point that point of view is very important when writing stories and especially in "Life and Times of Michael K." I had never really worried too much about point of view in books before Mr. Allen talked about this. However, now I see that the point of view can really change a book and it's meaning. For example, Michael K couldn't narrate the book because the book is about the fact that Michael doesn't know what his life is about or his master narrative, therefore Michael could not be the narrarator and tell the story of his life. In Part II, there is a different point of view and it is written from a doctor's journal. This gave us different insights than Part I did because it is written by a different person. The idea that point of view greatly affects a story has made me consider my writing in a new way. I have never written a story from multiple different points of view. By discussing point of view in the depth that we did in class this week, I have been able to consider using different points of view in my writing and have learned how great writers incorporate point of view into their writing pieces. It also helped me expand my knowledge of different writing styles. By using different view points, readers are able to gather different pieces of information about the plot and characters as the story progresses. I will definitely consider point of view next time I write something.

Blogging Around

My first comment is in regards to Jamie's blog post. Her post was about the movie "Once" and how it provided more of a real perspective towards love. It talked about logical and illogical love. I found her blog post very interesting and it raised some ideas about love and the movie that I hadn't previously thought of. Here's my comment:

"Jamie,

I agree with you that "Once" seemed more real because it was produced in a documentary style. I was very surprised that the characters returned to their "logical partners" and did not get together in the end as well. However, I think that you made a good point that sometimes the logical thing is the hardest thing to do, especially when it comes to love. Sometimes love conquers all and people turn to their illogical sides. This is what makes great stories such as "Romeo and Juliet". "Once" definitely showed some different perspectives towards love."

The next blog I read was Marika's. In her post she talked about our english class' idea to do a service project together before school ended. She also talked about the fact that we have been talking about doing a service project in spanish for the past year but it has been all talk and no walk. Here's my comment:

"Marika, Great blog post! I was actually thinking about this yesterday. We have been talking about doing a spanish service project since last year but we have never organized anything. I brought up the idea for a service project in english because I thought we would have a good chance of actually getting our act together and acting on a service project idea. It is so true that it is much easier to talk about doing a service project than actually organize one. I hope everyone submits ideas soon and we can get a project together before the end of the school year."

Metacognition: Writing My Short Story

We haven't done creative writing in English class for years, so the idea of actually doing some creative writing this year sounded like a great idea. However, I soon learned that creative writing in high school is a lot different than creative writing in junior high. The process of writing my short story was a lot more difficult that I thought it would be. Currently, my beginning story fragment is not even in my story. The premise has completely shifted from what I originally had wrote. This really surprises me. However, I know Mr. Allen had said that this would probably be true and I think this change in the story was for the better. I learned how to create "emotional pressure" on my characters and how to create a solid conflict in the middle of the story. I was very surprised at the amount of work it took to create a solid conflict that would not result in a "therapy session" (in the words of Mr. Allen) and actually write something that could potentially hook readers. I like how we took this story in steps. Writing a portion and then coming back to it a week later gave me time to think about the next part of the story and play off of what I had originally wrote. It surprised me that this method worked well because I originally thought we would write the whole story in about a week but the schedule of writing only parts at a time has worked out very well for me. Next time, I think I would like to think out my story fragment a little bit more because I feel as if it was almost useless now and feel like I might have rushed writing it. I would also make sure that I had a better general idea where my plot was going after I had written my beginning. Other than those few things, I would have to say that the short story writing process went very smoothly for me and surprised me along the way!

Metacognition: Jane Eyre Writing Assignment

I have to admit that when I first heard about the Jane Eyre writing assingment, I was less than thrilled. The project itself seemed hard and on top of that, it was a group project which would take more coordination. However, I got into a group with 2 other girls that I trusted would do their fair share and we created our rules for collaboration. The rules seemed fair and like everyone could follow them. I think this was one of they keys to our success. Like Mr. Allen said in class, your collaboration group has to be made up of people you can trust. We divided the paper equally and each set out to do our individual tasks. I think that this was also effective because we saved time by each of us creating a section than if we had wrote the paper together. Yes, we had to spend some time linking the three different sections, but I think this was very effective. When it was time for me to write my portion, I was surprised to find that the majority of my good thinking happened while I was at the keyboard. While working on our short stories, Mr. Allen had said that the best thoughts come while your at the computer typing. I found this to also be true for this assignment. At first, I thought I would plan out what I would say and then type it. Although this surprised me, I liked it because I felt that I was getting more creative and working off of what I came up with. Overall, I think that the Jane Eyre writing assignment went very smoothly and the collaboration aspect turned out to be positive because it helped decrease the workload as well as spark creativity. Collaboration is also just a good skill to learn because it is used in the real world everyday.

Best of the Week: What It Means To Be A Woman (In Jane Eyre's times)

Yesterday in English, we talked about what it meant to be a woman and a man in Jane Eyre.I thought that this conversation was very interesting because we have some girls who are very strong feminists in Academy and then we have some other girls who are not as big feminists. A lot of the characteristics we listed under "What It Means To Be A Woman" could be considered inferior and it seemed that the men had most of the dominating characteristics. Inferiority of women was the way of the time period. After Academy, I was talking to one of my friends in Academy about the discussion we had. I thought it was interesting to talk about how some of the characteristics of women changed over time and how some did not. I thought it was also interesting that there was an age of such inferiority for women but then only some few years later, there was a large feminist movement. The point is, women can conform to what society wants from them. In Jane Eyre we see that inside, Jane really has a fiery spirit, but sometimes she has to conform to society. When I thought about what this meant for girls today, I came across an interesting idea. Today, we don't feel society's pressure (as much) to be a feminist or to be inferior to a man. You can be whoever you want to be. Yes, I know that's a cliche, but it's true. I could choose to be the spitting image of a feminist. Or, I could be more of a subordinate woman. I love that I have the option to choose. If I love that I have the option to choose, does that mean I'm more of a feminist? Could someone be both feminist and subordinate, depending on the situation? My point is that I really liked that this one conversation in English class, the question of what it means to be a woman during Jane Eyre's times, continued on outside of the classroom!

Dialectics: Type A vs. Type B personalities

Type A and Type B personalities. Two opposite types of people. I have met some very interesting people in high school so far, and you can usually tell who is what kind of personality within a few minutes of talking to them. The Type A personality usually takes control of a situation, is highly competitive, and tends to be strong in a crowd. Then there's the Type B personality. They tend to be more relaxed , less competitive, and not as much of a leader in a crowd. Sometimes, I think a Type A personality can come off negatively if someone tries to take too much control of a situation of group. However, Type B personalities can also come off negatively because people might think that a Type B personality person isn't working as hard or isn't as determined. The reason this came to my mind is because I have recently been in many group projects with both Type A and B personalities in the group. If there are multiple Type A people, then conflict can arise. If there are multiple Type B personalities, it seems like not much gets done. When there are both, it seems like the Type A people usually do most of the work because they have the most drive. However, this is not always true because some Type B people can be just as motivated, they just don't like taking control of big groups. I'm not saying that either type of personality is bad. It's who a person is. All I'm saying is that the EXTREMES of either personality could possibly not be viewed in the most positive light. I think I am a Type A personality, but lately I have been trying to become a mix of Type A and Type B. This is the best solution I have come up with. By being TOO Type A, someone can become really stressed out and come off negatively in a group. By being TOO Type B, someone could feel like they weren't doing enough work. I think that a mixture of Type A and Type B personalities would be the best because then you could react appropriately to different situations and work well with any type of people. Is it even possible to change who you are? I think yes. We'll be able to see if my theory works next time I'm in a group for a project!

Blogging Around

In one of Kate's blog posts, (What If?), she talks about writing short stories and the short story unit that we have started in English. I found that Kate and I shared many of the same emotions regarding this new unit. Below is my comment:

"Kate,
I totally agree with you about being more comfortable with the short story unit than with Heart of Darkness. I too have been writing little, short stories since I was younger and have not finished many of them! I'm also really excited for this unit because we will get a chance to get a lot of feedback about our writing, which is something I don't get when I'm just writing stories at home. I can't wait to read your story! I know it'll be great! :)"

The next blog that I read was Leanne's blog. Her blog post was "What If: Boys ruled the world?" It was funny, witty, and entertaining. It also raised some very funny questions that are fun to think about! Below is my comment:

"Leanne,
I loved this blog! It was refreshing and different than all of the other blogs I have just scrolled through (including my own). It's very creative and witty! Some of the things you brought up in the post ARE actually things people might think about. But that would probably only be the women who think about things like if they aren't appreciated enough. The men probably continue to sit on a couch and watch big guys play with an oddly shaped ball (haha I loved that part of your blog!). Anyways, great blog! You have talent for witty writing!"

Best of Week: The Short Story Writing Process

This week in class, Mr. Allen talked about the process of writing a short story. I was very nervous that we were going to be expected to just sit down and write a whole short story very quickly. However, I really liked the process he that explained to us. I thought that it was very helpful and reasonable. We were not expected to write a whole story just off the top of our heads. We were going to take steps that would help us fully develop our idea for our story. I especially liked the Story Fragment step. As Mr. Allen called it, it was a "brain dump". We just wrote down all our thoughts for our story so that it helped us dig deeper into the story. Sometimes when I have to write a story, I can get writer's block because it seems so overwhelming to write a whole story at once. The story fragment helped me focus in on a couple of ideas so that it wasn't too overwhelming. Now that I see that we will be taking this project in steps, I am much less overwhelmed. I think this process will help me with future writing assignments, especially now that I have done it once. The idea of breaking up a large assignment/project into smaller steps is very useful and will help me create a better story than if I had felt the pressure to do the whole, large project at once. I am in full support of this idea, and am glad that we will be able to work on these stories and perfect them until May. I get writer's block when I am stressed about finding the perfect idea because I think that none of my ideas are good enough. This long period of time will help me perfect my story, and I believe that the steps along the way will guide my classmates and me to writing a great short story!

What If?: Writing My Own Short Story

This week in class we started our short story unit. I am very excited for this new unit because I love writing and especially writing short stories. We have not done this type of writing since junior high school and I have missed it. However, I feel like this type of short story writing is going to be a lot harder and more intense than when we wrote short stories in junior high. What if I am incapable of creating a story that has a deep enough meaning to please my teacher and fellow academites? I often fear that I do not see the deep meaning behind some of the stories we read in Academy. If I doubt myself when it comes to finding the deepness and underlying messages in someone else's writing, how can I write a story that is complex and deep? I love writing when I don't feel like I am under any pressure. An example of this type of writing would be these blogs. I can just write. I wonder if I'll write a short story, only to be told that it's junior high style writing. To dig deeper. To add more hidden meanings. Those two things, digging deeper and hidden meanings, often make me doubt myself and my capabilites. However, for this assignment in English class, I am not going to be intimidated. I am going to take everything we talk about this week regarding the short stories and the style that they are written in, and attempt to write my own short story. Our teacher said we are not trying to teach our readers any lessons. That is very comforting to me. I still feel as though other classmates may have more intense stories, but I am not going to doubt myself. I can be my worst critic. What if I write a short story and succeed? That would be great. So I am going to write my own short story. And I am not going to doubt myself.

It Matters: Ignorance in the World

As we discussed the ending of Heart of Darkness in class today, I came to see the irony of when Marlow said that Kurtz's last words had been his Intended's name, when really they were "The horror...the horror". I then realized that his Intended's ignorance was representing "the horror". This really got me thinking about the ignorance in this world, especially when it comes to the poor and less fortunate. Heart of Darkness focuses on the ignorance in Africa, but there is ignorance right here in America. Because we live in Northbrook, we are very rarely exposed to the poor, except for maybe on a service project. I have to come to realize that I am very ignorant of the sufferage occuring only 30 minutes away from me, in downtown Chicago. To take that on a much larger scale, like in Africa (the place where Heart of Darkness is set), I have found that I am ignorant when it comes to all of the problems that are facing that continent. For example, I am told every year about the AIDS epidemic in Africa, but have I ever really witnessed it? Have I done anything to help? The answer to both these questions is no. I am sure there are many things occuring in Africa as well as Chicago that I have no idea about. That's the main idea of ignorance. Heart of Darkness has reinstated my desire to decrease my ignorance. One my new year's revolutions was to become less ignorant of my surroundings and to get out there and help. However, while living in Northbrook and being caught up in all of my daily activities, I have not done much to acheive this resolution. However, in January, I did sign up for my church's youth mission trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan this summer. I am hoping that I will become less ignorant and help people. Heart of Darkness matters because it demonstrates the ignorance that people have, especially regarding the problems in Africa, but it also demonstrates it a very interesting way by having Kurtz's intended be ignorant of what Kurtz was doing in Africa. The New York Times published an article titled THE WORLD; An Ignorance of Africa As Vast as the Continent (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502E0DB1131F933A15752C1A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1). This article discusses the ignorance Americans have regarding Africa. Basically, the ignorance that was described in Heart of Darkness matters because it still occurs today. Heart of Darkness has re-opened my mind about what I am going to do to become less ignorant and a more aware citizen of this world.