Jack C's English 1 Blog 2016

Anders Blog: Stowe Vermont The Rhino's Corner of the Internet: Lathan's Prompt Response

My visit to the writing center was very helpful. I went before I started my draft and I had help improving my outline. My supporting points became both stronger and much better said after my appointment. I felt like the writing fellow I worked with did a very good job. It was almost as if she guided my thinking. She didn't just tell me how to do things, she got me to think of them in a better way in order to write my literary analysis. I would definitely go back to the writing center and go to the same writing fellow if possible. Even if it isn't required I will probably go back for my research paper in the spring. There is no shame in getting help. I really enjoyed it especially considering I was expecting to not enjoy it. It was a very constructive and helpful experience.

I would say that when I set goals I consider both what I want to achieve and what I believe I am capable of achieving. It is almost like I am the ego, the goals I want to achieve are the id, and the goals that I am capable of achieving are the superego. The id is the most confident in this situation, and the superego is brutally honest. In my opinion, if you just consider goals based on what you believe you are capable of, then you are never really challenging yourself to your entire capability. I try to set my goals based on what I believe I am capable of, and then a little bit more. There are some types of goals that are different than others. For example, most people can't just say one day: "I want to be an olympic pole vaulter," and actually make it happen. It requires a lifetime of practice with lots of talent. On the other hand there are some goals like saying you want to learn to ride a bike by the end of the month that are very much attainable. One slightly diff...

Sophia's Blog: Free post parents Sarah's Blog: What I love About Christmas

I would say that my favorite time of the first semester is the first Friday of Thanksgiving break. There are many reasons for that. One of which is that it is before you really need to start worrying about studying for exams. Another is that you have your first big break. Also, it is a beginning to the holiday season, which is a time of year I think most people enjoy. And finally, the weather is getting cooler, which I love. This is that awkward weekend where you should be studying for exams, but teachers are still burdening you with tons of assignments, tests, and quizzes. It isn't easy to study for exams while studying for a test in the same class. Next weekend will surely be exam studying time as well as next week, but right now I need to try to balance it with my daily workload. It may be rough right now, but once exams are over there is the holidays. A light is at the end of the tunnel after all.

In my work on my literary analysis up to this point, I have found it most difficult to coordinate all the components within a point. It can be hard to choose a quote that will give you enough to write about as well as enough description of that quote. I have found it to be pretty easy to connect the quotes to the thesis. The outline was easier than putting it into a draft as well. I would advise peers having the same troubles to reread areas of the text surrounding a quote that they have chosen. It can really provide insight on how to put the other components. I would also suggest getting someone to read it and help you. The best way for this is to go to the writing center. One more thing that is important is to read your thesis before you start working every time so you remember to stay consistent to your thesis.

Ian B's Blog: How to Drive a Stick Shift Hoyt's Blog: How to Make a Christmas Breakfast

The young children's playground is buzzing with activity at noon on Tuesday. Little Peter can always be seen talking to the kid crying over his parents divorce. Max is typically causing trouble, beating smaller kids noses into the dirt as Lucy tries to stop the fights with her little, soft, seldom heard voice.  Sam is usually sitting on the bench, reading, his huge glasses resting on his nose.  Then there is Billy, the one who does different things on different days. He is like a clean slate every recess. He can be driven to help others, or to harm. He can lean toward intelligence, or toward peace. Kids like him are the ones who will decide what direction this world is headed in. There is always the good and the evil, but the ones in between can be forgotten at times. There is always that point in a young one's life in which he or she decides whether he or she will be good or evil. Peter: Kindess/compassion Max: Evil Lucy: Peace Sam: Intelligence/knowledge

Middle school is portrayed as awkward, rough, and miserable in movies and books. There is plenty of nasty things in middle school, but it's only as bad as you make it. I had my fair share of struggles in middle school, nut overall it wasn't too bad. One fatal mistake in middle school is trying to be "popular." Nobody will care about that later on and you should just try to get some good friends who make you feel good about yourself. This is especially important if your middle school feeds into a high school, because these could very well be your friends until you graduate. The people you are friends with influence you in ways you can't imagine. Even if you don't think they do, others notice. That means they can influence you in a good or bad way. As cliché as it sounds: don't hang out with the wrong crowd. Your friends are seen by others as a direct reflection of who you are. For example if your friend who you always hang out with is seen as a jerk, they...

Ander's Blog: Thanksgiving Anna's Blog: Family Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love the weather at that time of year. It also means one important thing for me, even though we don't do it any more. It means my cousins are coming in town. Every year they used to come in town and we would have the best time. I look back on those memories and could cry right now. They are some of the best memories I have. Sometimes I wish things could stay just like they were. Now one of those cousins has passed away and we only have one. They don't come down for Thanksgiving anymore because it is very hard. They usually make it anther time, but it's not the same. There are of course still other great thanksgiving traditions I have like hunting over the break and watching LSU play, but it's all changed.

On page 143, Simon is talked to by the Lord of the Flies. The lord of the flies is really just a dead pig head. It is very debatable whether this is a hallucination on Simon's part or real. I believe that it is real in this story because it is symbolism of Simon as a Jesus-like figure. The lord of the flies says stuff like,"I'm warning you, I'm going to get angry." He has a bad temper and is very symbolic of Satan tempting Jesus. Another thing he says is "I'm the reason why it's no go." This shows that the beast has been interacting in the island all along. This gives us a lot of insight to Jack and the others' motives. This shows us that Satan may be acting on their behalf. Even if this is a hallucination, it is still very important to the story.

DJ's Blog: Why is Sleep Good For You? Sophia's Blog: Write about your experience with high school so far

The most shocking, scarring experience of my life was without a doubt the death of my cousin. I was in the 4th grade when it happened, and I didn't know much about the world. I had never had a major event even close to the magnitude of my cousin's taking of his own life occur. Whenever I heard the words come out of my mother's mouth, I couldn't even process it. It wasn't until about 20 minutes later when I got in the shower that I really understood what happened. I bawled my eyes out, collapsing on the floor, desperately trying to get a grip on the whole situation. I guess I should provide a little bit of background information: My cousin, Connor, lived in New Hampshire. He was 14 when he passed, a freshman in high school, just as I am now. He was an extraordinarily smart kid, a lover of the Boston Red Sox, my favorite team. He, his younger brother Drew, and his mom, Aunt Tara (aka Uncle Fred) would usually visit on Thanksgivings. Those are some of my fondest chi...

In this passage, there is a quarrel over who gets to speak between Piggy and Jack. Ralph is also involved, he is on Piggy's side. Piggy has the conch and he is the one who deserves to talk, based on the system of rules that is in place. Jack is disrespecting that system and he is saying that he doesn't care about the rules. There is a bit of a direct representation of how this book is symbolized in this small disagreement. You have Ralph and Piggy on team logic, while Jack is on team power. This passage is ver important to he book because it is the last straw before Jack splits off. It is also very important because it shows that Ralph really favors Piggy over Jack as well as logic over brute force. It also gives us a further image of the animal-like Jack. Overall, it is a small event that ends up being huge because of built up resentment between Jack and Ralph.

Sa'Veon's Blog: Lord of the Flies Reading Response Megan's Blog: Human Nature

Lord of the Flies  has been strange so far, to say the least. There is not much background given, although some is revealed through dialogue and interactions between characters. It seems that main characters are starting to distinguish themselves. I would say so far that these are Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and maybe Simon. The setting has been made clear- they are on an island. There seems to be some foreshadowing and symbolism already in this story. The snake boy seems to be a sign for the future- the snake being a symbol of turning on and distrust. Also a snake is the symbol of Satan, which shows that with already one of them going crazy, they all might start to go insane. The fact that there is a character called Piggy, the island is pink, the island has a tail, and it is all boys all seem to fit together for one common purpose. I think that purpose is to show that they act like pigs- meaning they are disgusting in many ways.

I think that humans are naturally loving creatures. I think that they naturally tend to become very close to those around them and they tend to fall in love. I am most certainly not saying the thing about one person being out there for everyone. I believe that people tend to fall in love with those that they are close with, or they start to get to know someone. I also believe that you naturally love your family. I have been raised to believe this because I have been raised with two loving parents. I also have had important figures in my life, such as friends of my dad who I call "uncle." That title, although they are not my uncles by blood, almost feels protective and loving to me. It makes me feel like I am where I belong. I have also always been very close with friends of mine, and I consider myself to be a very trusting person, so I am quick to love.

Lathan's Blog: Free Post Jack T's Blog: Fall Break

Waltz of the Fat Man left me very depressed after reading it. I understand that the ending was supposed to be happy, because Noe finally found people that accepted him, but there was nothing happy about it for me. It felt like it just drove the point in further that he was a freak. I was happy that he was happy, but it felt like other people were still judging them. He was in the circus! It was so sad. The theme seemed to speak to me from this text. I thought the theme was that no matter how hard you try to escape who you really are, you will always end up there. Noe spent all his time trying to get people to like him. He even went to wakes so that he could kiss women's cheeks. He ends up being a freak anyway when he goes in the circus. This kind of creates a person vs fate conflict.

Over fall break, I went to Arkansas to go fishing. Every year for the past 3 years my dad, my brother, and I have gone there to fish. We leave straight from school Wednesday and get most of the eight hour drive done with before we crash at a hotel usually in the Memphis area. We wake up early the next morning and head straight to fish. This time we actually stopped before where we stay and fished at a new area for a good bit of the first day. The fishing there was not great so we left and went to our main honey hole. That honey hole is called Dry Run Creek. It is a small stream that is very accessible. You can only fish there if you are mobile impaired or under 16, you must catch and release all fish, you must mash the barb off your hook, and you can not fish before sunrise or after sunset. There is a special spot at the back of that stream that people are not usually at where we catch most of our fish. You can basically throw anything at those fish and they will eat it right up. I h...

Saveon's Blog: Procrasination: Is your future self getting a bad deal? Riley's Blog: Gerrymandering

I procrastinate quite frequently. The main thing I procrastinate with is homework. Sometimes a teacher will assign something that is not due until Wednesday on Monday. I debate whether or not to start on it and usually decide to leave it until the next day, even though I may have baseball practice the next day. A common reason for that is because I have either a lot of homework Monday night or very little. If I have a lot I am just being practical. If I have just a little it's because I want that free night. This article had motivated me a little bit to not procrastinate so much. I will try not to procrastinate when possible if it will put me in a bad situation. I want to be nicer to my future self, because my present self is feeling tonight what my past self did to him. Sometimes it is inevitable, because it just makes sense, but when it doesn't, I'll try to do the right thing. I should probably have past selfs apologize to more recent past selfs for the homework burdens...

Kolin's Blog:  My Weekend Jack T's Blog: St. Joseph's Invitational

I loved this book!  The Firm  is one of the best books I have ever read. In the end, I think that John Grisham does a great job of resolution. He resolves enough of the main conflict for the mind to be somewhat satisfied, but leaves enough to the imagination to make you twist your brain in knots. He is a brilliant author and I went straight to the library to pick up another Grisham novel as soon as I finished this one. I recommend The Firm to anyone who likes mystery or Grisham. Some of the writing methods John Grisham used when writing this book are parallel plots, many complex characters, and some stock characters. An example of a stock character is Devasher, the creepy, fat head of security. The way that he uses parallel plots is a bit unique in that more and more parallel plots are added in as the story goes on. For example, it started off with just Mitch, then Mitch and Devasher, then Mitch, Devasher and Lazarov, then Mitch, Deviser, Lazarov, and Wayne Tarrance, and it ...

Last Sunday, the whole baseball world was shocked as Miami Marlins all-star pitcher Jose Fernandez tragically died in a boating accident. He died at 24 years of age and his life was finally starting to come together. Jose defected from Cuba on a small raft at the age of 15 with his mom. She nearly drowned in pitch-black waters on the way to Miami, but Jose saved her. Jose was an excellent pitcher and he was in his 3rd year with the Marlins, already with a National League Rookie of the Year title under his belt. I am a huge baseball fan and this death took me by surprise. I had watched Jose plenty and I will always remember him as an animated guy who I looked forward to watching for years to come. He had his whole life ahead of him, he was about to sign a huge contract most likely, and death took him so young. This teaches me that you must value every day that you are on this Earth because it could be your last. You don't always have a slow decline, sometimes you are in the prime ...

Riley's Blog: Matt Max's Blog: Flash Story

We were forced into a room no bigger than a photo booth and told to not move unless we wanted to be shot right then and there. "This is it then," I said to the rest of my family. We were selected for the chamber and there was no way around it. What are the chances? Millions of families and we were drawn for the chamber. Ever since I was 8, in 2043, they have drawn a family out of every state every week. I guess it is necessary with resources so low. I just wish they weren't so brutal about it. This morning we were forced into a small cattle car with 49 other families and given3 ounces of water each. When we got to the Centre we were forced to separate into our families, of 5 of course, and head to our designed chambers. "It will be quick," the nicest words I've heard all day. It's a shame they're the last.

Right now I would say that I am towards the end of rising action and almost at the climax in The Firm.  The action is rising extremely fast. You are given the point of view of the head of security very frequently as he relays to the partners of the law firm that Mitch is lying. The higher ups on Chicago want preliminary plans and even real plans to be made to kill Mitch. The way that the plot is shown in this book is a fairly normal exposition and then a very long rising action phase. The action seems to rise slowly for a while and then rapidly. One of the ways that the acton rises faster as it gets closer to the climax is that there is multiple points of view more frequently. In the last chapter I read there was the point of view of Lazarov, one of the closest people to the Moltoro family, which is the mafia.

Merritt's Blog: Dear 13 Year Old Sa'veon's Blog: Dear 12 Year Old

Dear 12 year old self, Seing for the fences every now and then. Don't listen to Coach Brett. The fields are very short this year and they won't be next year. This is your last chance to hit a home run before high school, because you will play on mostly high school fields. Coach Brett is a terrible coach anyway. This goes for life too. Don't sit back and let stuff slip away. Go out and take what you deserve. Don't worry about popularity either. Worry about having good friends around you and enjoying life. Also, it feels good when you are brave.

In The Firm by John Grisham, a lot has happened in what I have read. Mitch went to the Cayman Islands for business and ended up cheating on his wife. He does not tell her this, but he does tell her a lot about the stuff that has happened with the spying form the firm. Eddie Lomax, the private detective that Mitch hired, also gets killed. This reading has made me fee strong emotions. It makes me anxious reading about the firm spying. John Grisham writes from a variety of angles in this novel, which gives me a lot of perspective as I read. One interesting point of view is that of Devashser, head of security at Bendini Lambert & Locke. He uses lots of details in his writing similar to a personal narrative like we are writing in class. I continue to love what I am reading.

My personal narrative basically summarizes a night at my hunting camp. It reveals lots of different characters and things going on at the camp. I used some dialogue in order to try to show rather than tell the story. I believe I did a good job of accumulating a large amount of ideas. I found that as soon as I started writing I was able to have ideas flow out of my memory. This was one of the first personal narratives that I have written for school. I found that  I really enjoyed writing it. I love writing in the present tense. It kind of allowed me to make the story flow well. I especially enjoyed incorporating voice into my writing. I feel like it was very necessary to my subject.

DJ's Blog: The Maze Runner ianb's blog: 9/11 attack:

I have covered a lot of new information in The Firm.  Mitch has started working and works 100 hour weeks! He has passed the bar exam with the highest score. He seems to be doing extremely well at the firm, but then something strange happens. While he is eating lunch by himself, an FBI agent approaches him and tells him some veery strange stuff about the firm. He reports this to Lamar Quin and Lamar reports it to the higher ups. They explain to Mitch that this is not true. There is an example of dramatic irony in this book. As a reader I know that this stuff is true because there have been scenes proving it true. Mitch looks very naive to me because I know this. Grisham does a very good job chapter to chapter in this book. He will say something at the end that makes you want to read more into the next chapter. My reaction to the portion that I read this week could be described as disgusted. The people who spy on Mitch seem to be complete creeps and even listen into private conver...

Michael Wright says that he had had a very normal life up until the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He was working in tower one of the world trade center when the attacks occurred. He vividly remembers the scene and describes with vivid details his escape and all the sights, sounds, and smells where he was. He also talks about his mental state after the attacks and how changed his outlook on life was. This was a very interesting article for me to read because I have never read about the terrorist attacks from a survivor standpoint. He describes it so vividly that it made my stomach hurt and made me nervous at times just reading it. I also felt very angry about the terrorists because it made me wonder who would inflict such pain and suffering. This is a day where we should not just mourn the victims but also celebrate their lives in my opinion, and this article really reinforced that for me. I spent 15 minutes reading this, so it was not too long.

Savannah's Blog: The Selection by Kierra Class DJ's Blog: My Labor Day Weekend

I toed the right handed batter's box, my Easton XL3 -5 in my left hand. I feel the warm sun on me as sweat drips down my forehead. "This could really be it," I thought,"This could really be the last at-bat I ever have in tournament ball, before high school, and my last for Coach Jose." I think about all the fond memories I've had over the years and how I will miss those. I realize that our team is not in a position to win the game and that I need to just focus on going out strong in my last at-bat. I also realize that the pitcher has just come set and that I need to get ready to hit. This pitcher has just been brought in for this inning, to close the game. I watched him on deck and I know that he can deliver the ball with some velocity. He is also a southpaw, so I take a step back in the box and look for a pitch that I can shoot the other way. The first pitch is a ball low, as is the second. I am in a hitter's count, so I am only going to swing if I li...

I have just started reading The Firm , but I have ready plenty of Grisham novels before and enjoyed every one of them. I like what I have read so far. I have mostly just covered the introduction and am beginning to get in the rising action. So far, it is about a young man named Mitchell McDeere who is just finishing upload school. He has many offers from some very good law firms, but his best offer seems to be from a firm in Memphis. He accepts the offer and moves to Memphis with his wife Abby. Grisham has already used some interesting ways of writing in this novel. An example of that is when he writes about a private conversation that is going on that Mitch does not know about. This looks like it could create some dramatic irony later on in the story. The most interesting part of the story for me so far is the private conversation about surveillance that goes on in the firm. From what I can tell so far, I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy reading John Grisham, who enjoy...

As the school year begins, I look back on all I did this summer. I had some very enjoyable experiences, but my favorite was fly fishing in Montana. This was my second year in a row that I went out to Montana to fish. As soon as the plane hits the ground in Bozeman, it is like you are in a completely different place. I've grown up and lived in Louisiana for my entire life, so I'm not exactly used to the mountains. I have been in mountains a few other times, but no mountains can even compete with the mountains in Montana.  Like I said, we fished a ton. We would wake up around 6-7:30, and then go fish at about 9, once the sun hit the stream. We would then fish for about 3-4 hours and then take a break to eat lunch. After the lunch break, we would go out again and fish for about 3-4 more hours. We would then cook dinner on the fire or the Coleman stove. We did not have electricity at the cabin nor running water. It is a very simple place, but it lets you really get in touch with...

Calico Joe by John Grisham is a story about a 21 year old baseball phenom named Joe Castle of the Chicago Cubs and the effect he had on a young Paul Tracey's life even 20 years later. The story is from the point of view as Paul Tracey when he was a young boy at times and also as a grown man. Paul grew up with an abusive alcoholic for a father, and he also happened to be a Mets Pitcher. When his father's life nears the end, Paul is not concerned about their relationship, but he does want his father to right a wrong from his past(no spoilers). One of my favorite things about this book was the brilliant style that John Grisham used to write this book. The parts that I previously noted as where the young boy spoke were written as memoirs.  As I was reading this book, I would find myself lost in it. It is a very quick read, just 194 pages, but I found that every page of it was interesting for me. One thing I noticed was that the main characters were very developed. It almost made...