Thursday, 29 January 2015

Final Portfolio .

1.) Self regulation - I come to class everyday and never skip; and always end up completing the assignments I have missed. I arrive on time and ready, using my device responsibly throughout most of the lesson; yet tend to get off task a couple of times. I sit with people who I am comfortable talking with and listen to my ideas. My last two essays were handed in late, but all of my other work was submitted in a timely fasion. I express some of my ideas in group discussions and in comments; but not all of them. My writing skills are fairly good, and I help out my peers when they are posting a blog and need grammer help. I usually don't take risks and never raise my hand in oral class discussions. My other weaknesses include my habit to take longer breaks from work than usual, and sometimes getting distracted by peers with topics unrelated to English class. Other than that, I take the challenge of using words I'm not familiar with in my writing and make use of the time I have in the library to comment on blogs.



2.) Quality of communication skills - I can apply critical thinking skills when I must, and can identify and define many literary terms in any passage I am reading. I understand formal vs. informal writing, and follow the correct essay formats when I need to. Analyzing themes and making connections to literature is a stuggle sometimes for me, because I can never fully wrap my head around personal questions. I work on this by being more active with my learning and trying to demonstrate that as much as possible.



3.) Contribution to the learning environment - I comment on blogs when I am required to, and sometimes make minor changes to my work once I read peer and teacher comments. I share my ideas to my table group, not the whole class; I aslo agree with many people's theories and questions in the class discussions on Edmodo (alternate opinions & views). I read in my own time when I'm free sometimes, and try to keep my blog available to peers who can read and learn about my understandings of the topic.


28 + 29 + 28 + 1 = 86%

Wednesday, 21 January 2015

Short Story - Uninvited Guests .


His heart was pounding. He was sure he had seen the doorknob turn. He backed away slowly as the door swung open, and a shadowy figure emergered from the darkness of the night. It limped up to him, slowly, calmly; as if it knew him. “It’s me, your father,” he said. It looked confused. Suddenly, its eyes grew wide, the zombie charged up to him, exposing its hideously sharp, yellow teeth. “Nooooooooo!” the man yelled, just before it chewed off his head.

                             *                  *                  *                  *                  *

“Hurry up, we’re going to be late for our flight!” yelled Rebecca. “Yeah okay, I’m coming,” replied her husband, Paul. The two of them entered their car, and soon arrived at the airport, where they descended into Beijing International airport on a plane. The couple reached their hotel, reluctant to move. “Tomorrow we could walk along the Wall of China,” suggested Paul. “Sure, all I want to do now is sleep,” replied his wife.

The next day, Paul got ready for the long walk. “I’ve got my hiking boots, spare socks, Band-Aid’s…” he said to himself. Rebecca woke up after him and finished packing first; the two then set off. Along the walk, Rebecca spotted so many weird bricks. “Hey, do you see that?” shouted Paul. He ran up to a strange brick that had a triangular-shaped figure stuck to it. “What do you think it is?” asked Rebecca. “I don’t know,” said Paul. Gripping it tightly, he pulled as hard as he could, eventually jerking it out. Paul placed the weird object in his pocket and they continued their walk…

They soon reached a Dojo with a banner by the door that said, ‘Master Yen here today talking about, The Dragon’s Tooth.’ “Sounds interesting!” said Rebecca. “It’s free, lets go in,” said Paul walking to the door. The two entered and sat on a mat laid on the floor. There were about a dozen and a half people in the building. “If this gets boring, we’ll leave,” said Paul confidently. “I have to go to the washroom, I’ll be back,” said Rebecca as she stood up. As soon as she left, the show began. An old man walked on the stage and sat on a chair. He started saying, “I am Master Yen, teller of the great myth, ‘The Dragon’s Tooth.’ It all started thousands of years ago when the Sky World was under attack by a fire-breathing dragon. It killed thousands of people, until it was finally shot down by the top dragon slayers. The bloody body fell out of the sky and landed in the ocean, but not in one piece. Legend says, one tooth landed on the Wall of China, it was never found. Paul took the funny object out of his pocket. It looked sharp, it looked hard, and it looked old. “It looks like a dragon’s tooth!” said Paul quietly. He quickly put the tooth back in his pocket, afraid someone would see it. Master Yen continued, “The tooth holds very strange powers, if you hold in up to your face and make a wish, it will come true.” With a smirk on his face, Paul whispered to himself, “Sounds interesting.” Master Yen said to the crowd, “If anyone has any information about the dragon’s tooth, call me.” Master Yen bowed and left the room. Rebecca came back from the washroom. “Finished already?” asked Rebecca. “Yep, lets go back to the hotel.” The couple left the Dojo and returned to the hotel, where they had a long day of rest…

 One week of their vacation had passed and it was time to go home. They reached the airport, boarded their flight, and safely returned home. “What an adventure!” said Rebecca. The two of them were about to eat dinner, just then, the doorbell rang. Paul opened the door and faced a man who told him very bad news. The man left and Paul went upstairs, devastated. He explained the news to his wife. “Our son was crushed in a machine at the factory where he worked,” said Paul emotionally. Rebecca started to cry; you could tell she was heartbroken. That night, Rebecca was still crying, so Paul slept in another room. His heart sunk in; he was sad, but just couldn’t show it. Just then, an idea popped in his head. “The dragon’s tooth! I can wish him back, I can wish him back!” yelled Paul. He ran across the room to his draw and yanked it open; he pulled out the dragon’s tooth. “I wish my son was back from the grave,” said Paul, tooth held up to his face.

Nothing happened, so he waited. A few minutes later, he heard a noise; it was coming from his front door. Rebecca was in her room, still crying and unable to hear anything. Paul heard the noise again, so he tip-toed downstairs and slowly opened the door. “It’s… you…” Paul said breathlessly. It limped up to him, slowly, calmly; as if it knew him. “It’s me, your father,” Paul said. It looked confused. Suddenly, its eyes grew wide, the zombie charged up to him, exposing its hideously sharp, yellow teeth. “Nooooooooo!” yelled Paul, just before it chewed off his head. The helpless Rebecca heard a *THUD* on her door. She opened it and looked ahead. “You came back!” she shouted excitedly. It opened it’s mouth again. Rebecca knowing what was coming, screamed.    

Major Elements of Short Story .

Plot - Old Hispanic/Italian man offers an American boy his Cadillac if the boy can strike his lighter ten times in a row without faliure. The catch is that if he cannot, his left pinki finger will be cut off. 

Intro - A man sits at the outdoor pool watching American boys and British girls having fun.

Rising action - He is approached by a mysterious man and they engage in a conversation; an American boy & his girl sit by the two men and offers them a smoke.

Climax - The old mad introduces a ridiculous bet to the boy- who reluctently accepts it.

Falling action - In a hotel room, (where the bet took place) they are interrupted by the old man's wife. 

Denouement - The wife explains the actual reasons of her husband's state of mind. 

Protagonist - The man who is narrating the story. (Name Unknown)

Antagonist - The old man, because of his twisted ways to influnce the boy, and also go against the Protagonist's wishes to not take part in the bet.

Static - The girl from the pool, who always thought the bet was "stupid" idea.

Round - The boy, because he was insecure, yet boastful, about the bet. (Also was in the Navy)

Flat - The girl (Static), who play a minor roll and is on the side throughout the story. 

Stock - The "mysterious" old man, who is foreshadowed as a bad person, throughout the whole story. 

Dynamic - The narrator, because of his changes in behaviour towards the other characters.

Atmosphere - Evening sun; outdoors (bar, pool, garden)

Time - 6:00pm

Place - JAMAICAAA

Theme - Don't trust everybody you meet/Trust your instincts.

Point of view - First-person (Eyes of the Antagonist)

Foreshadowing - "I like to bet, too. Why we don't have a good bet on dis ting? A good big bet?" "Some small ting you can afford to give away, and if you did happen to lose it you would not feel too bad. Right?" - Carlos 
" 'It never fails,' he said, smiling now because he was purposely exaggerating his little boast. 'I promise you it never fails.' " - American boy 






 




Saturday, 17 January 2015

Summative Essay .

Walking a mile in someone's shoes can change how you feel about them, and perhaps change how you feel about yourself.

An example of this in Romeo and Juliet, is when Romeo stepped into the shoes of Tybalt and decided to take matters into his own hands- by dealing with their family conflict on the streets. He then realized what he had done after things got out of control, and found out that his and Tybalt's actions were results of being blinded by anger. Another example is how the nurse had taken the place of Lady Capulet in mothering Juliet. She felt like her actually mom, and was proud to help her with the choice she made about Romeo- unlike her real parents.

In the novel, Christopher's mom had to step into the shoes of Mr. Boone, because they now lived together and she had to take care of him, just like his father was doing the whole time she was "dead." She had then realized how hard it was to take care of Chris and that it was a hard task; which she couldn't complete at the time. Her decision to abandon her family still haunted her and made her feel bad every time it crossed her mind. 

An example in my life, was when I had to look after my siblings for the first time. Before that, I never realized how hard is was for my parents to deal with their craziness. I always used to wonder why they would be so stressed out; and now I know the reason since I had a taste of what it was like. It made me feel more mature about myself and my feelings of respect for them grew.

Walking a mile in someone's shoes will change your perspective of them. It could be good or bad, but the experience will really make you think about who you are to them and what are now.

Wednesday, 14 January 2015

Who killed Wellington ?

There are currently many theories as to who killed Mrs. Shears' dog. The main emphasis is that it must be a character that nobody would suspect. On purpose, or by accident?  I'd say it was Christopher's dad.

Wellington used to be Mr. Shears' dog; and Mr. Boone had told Chris not to mention his name in the house, because he hates him so much. Also, Mrs. Shears wanted to live alone with her dog, and Christopher's dad must have killed it because he thought she would then move in with him and Chris. These theories show, the dog must have been killed through the anger of Chris's dad. 

There is a chance that Mr. Boone did not kill Wellington, because there is no exceptionally strong motive as to why he did. Also, Christopher's dad would seem like he isn't that type of person because he's so calm with Chris; unlike his mother. There is a part in the book explaining how he is drinking on the couch to maybe help ease the pain inside him. This unlikely incident may have occurred without him even thinking about it. Yet would he really want to hurt Mrs. Shears like that? 

Mr. Boone has many sides. Including anger and compassion; (as we have seen in many of his interactions with Chris). The dog must have attacked him first because he is at Mrs. Shears house a lot; and it must think of him as an intruder. She could have made her dog attack Christopher's dad because they may have been in a huge fight at the time. Either way, if he killed the dog with a garden tool, he could have easily placed it back into her shed becuase he has the keys; since they always do favours for eachother.

Chris's dad killed the dog out of his rage towards the many people in his life that have took advantage of him. If his wife never left, he would have never had all that anger inside him; and he wouldn't have know Mrs. Shears that well- which would never have brought up that motive. 

Tuesday, 13 January 2015

What is Love ?


Love is a force of nature. Even if we really wanted to; we cannot command or demand it. Love can be viewed as a survival tool or a mechanism we have evolved, to promote long-term relationships, mutual defense, and feelings of safety. Many of us believe that love is a major purpose of living; and without it, life would have no meaning.  

Love is very complex and can be defined in many ways based on the feelings you have towards the other person. Like the love between lord and lady Capulet; and between Romeo and Rosaline. Both types vary on the feelings within the relationship. It can be strong or weak. Nobody can really define the true meaning; but when a person is in love. They are in love.

You can mistake "true love" because it may not entirely work out in the end as you planned. Many people can influence your path because of what they say or do; like Lord Capulet's actions towards Juliet, when she opposed to marry Paris. It's not entirely up to the couple about how their relationship will work. Other people's actions towards them may have an impact, as well as what they say directly to the other person in private. (The Priest and Romeo)   

Committing suicide for your partner is due to your mind being clouded with feelings and not taking the future into account. People do stupid things when they are mad/sad, like Tybalt, who lashed out on Mercutio when he got angry; and killed him. Romeo killed himself when he saw Juliet's "dead" body in the tomb. His thoughts were blocked by the pain in his heart- some people can deal with it, and some can't. 

Nobody can really answer the question, "What is love?" Yet a human will know when they are in love. It's like an intense and complex gut feeling that nobody can explain; and the sensation can make you, or break you. The Love in Romeo and Juliet is all over the place. With many different definitions, and many different characters to place them with.