"I was" FINAL BLOG POST EVER

I WAS nervous heading into senior year, because of the tremendous amount of stress that was clouding my head. What if I don't get into college? Summer assignments? Second year of IB? New teachers? Who has my lunches this year? There was plenty of other issues going on in my head besides these big ones, and I thought I might implode before the first day of senior year even started.

I WAS scared because of the future. I didn't know where I'd being going to college. I still don't even know what I want to do with my life completely. I didn't know how much homework I would get, and I definitely was scared of attracting that horrible contagious disease, "senioritis".

I WAS happy because I knew that college (hopefully) was right around the corner. This was the last year of high school for me, and I was d.o.n.e with Millbrook High School. I was happy to be a senior, the king of all social classes at Millbrook. I was happy that I applied to college, and got that stressful crap out of the way.

I WAS upset that this was the last year that I would see many of my best friends. I had made so many friends throughout my time at Millbrook; shoutout to Luke, J-Hodges, RYAN, Christian, Casey, Greg, the list is longer but wow, what a great group of friends. I would never get to hangout with these guys on a Saturday (Saturdays are for the Boys).

I WAS tired. Tired, both mentally and physically of high school. I was tired physically from waking up at 6:10am everyday to get ready for school. Worse, I was tired mentally of Millbrook. I was tired of doing homework after getting home from work at 9pm everyday. I was tired of learning and memorizing information that would have no cognitive value past high school.

Finally, I WAS ready (and not ready) for the real world. I am a very goal oriented individual, and part of me cannot wait for life ahead of high school where I am free and able to chase my dreams. I have many dreams in this world, and nothing can hold me back from achieving my goals.

Anyways, thank you Mrs. Genesky. I actually enjoyed doing most of the blogs in this class, and this last one was special to me. (5 weeks remaining, lol).

Inside the Mind of Walt Whitman

Step 1) 

After reviewing all of the documents that belonged to Walt Whitman in his personal notebook, it becomes very clear that he is very interesting man, with a lot of hidden secrets. For instance, some of the most prominent things that I noticed included the fact that Whitman was very involved politically with the United States, he actually had his own severe life problems, and he was very self confident. Walt Whitman was very involved with the political health of the United States as he is very concerned with the breaking apart of the union. In many of the documents, he is having a conversation with Abraham Lincoln, which is completely imaginary. I believe that these conversations with Lincoln are very significant for analyzing Walt Whitman's character because he was clearly very involved with the politics of his era. Another feature that I noticed about Whitman was his mid-life crisis that he endured which was the failing of the book/novel industry in the United States during the 1860's. Whitman's publishers were going out of business and Leaves of Grass was receiving very poor ratings, which was a severe problem for Whitman. Lastly, one aspect of Walt Whitman's life that I think is very important is the fact that he is very self confident. I assumed this because of Whitman's tendency to enjoy people sketching him or taking pictures of him. Overall, these documents about Whitman are very good at giving the reader an inside view about himself.

Step 2)

From reading the notes about the documents that Whitman created, there are many interesting things revealed about Walt Whitman. First, Whitman believed during this time period that the United States was headed into total collapse, but he did include the word "perhaps" which means that he had a small sliver of hope that the union would save itself. Another interesting thing about Walt Whitman is that he used the word "libertad" which is Spanish for Liberty. Whitman is becoming a very strange man, just from simply reading his documents and notes, it becomes evident that he is very unusual. Secondly, Walt Whitman uses fascinating diction such as the words "waves" and "wind" to describe what it felt like to live in the United States during Civil War time period. Also, Whitman used the word "ship" to describe aspects of all life bigger than his, for instance, "ship of humanity". Finally, the notes are able to again prove the point that secretly Whitman was very self confident and enjoyed people either drawing or taking pictures of his face and he found them to be very interesting. 

Overall, I think the biggest factor about Whitman's life during this violent era is the fact that he is actually confused with what is going on around him. Whitman probably does not completely understand the significance of the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln as a whole, but he does understand that the future of his great country is at a very large risk of being destroyed by the people which make it up.

Murican Dream, Dilly Dilly

How would you describe the American Dream? 

The American Dream is something very personal to me, because my family immigrated here in the 19th century from Germany. First of all, I think that just being able to live in The United States of America is something that some citizens take for granted, and all of the freedoms that we enjoy are all because of the sacrifices of others. I define the American Dream as the opportunity to live in a country where people with absolutely nothing can become fiscally wealthy. In the United States, wealth is obtainable with almost any characteristic, such as being intelligent, comprehension of certain systems, and simply working harder than others. One of the most important characteristics of America is the fact that we practice an economic system of capitalism. Capitalism is defined as, "An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state" (Webster). By complying within the law and using the system of capitalism, many Americans are able to obtain wealth. For instance, one of the most prominent aspects in which citizens are able to fully achieve the American Dream is by starting up a business. Business and the sale of services or products is very important in America, because customers are able to chose freely about what they purchase. Now, time to talk about how citizens use these systems within the United States to become wealthy and achieve the American Dream. The American Dream is not only an obtainable economic stance, but it is a mental ideological belief in which millions of people hold.  For example, if someone has immigrated legally to the United States, they are most likely hoping to start off from scratch and achieve this 'American Dream'. The entire ideological belief of these people is enough for them to come to work everyday and work hard in hopes of advancing for the benefit of themselves and/or their family. For most adults in America, they wish for absolutely everything for their family, thus the American Dream to them is the ability to provide a stable and well deserved economic stance. In my life, the American Dream is something that I have been wishing for since I was young, and hopefully I will be able to work hard enough to obtain it. Another key attribute of the American Dream is the ability to work hard, solely for the purpose of achieving more wealth. For instance, in a free society which practices capitalism, employees are able to work harder than those around them and advance into a position which obtains more wealth. Overall, I am very proud to be an American because of the fact that the 'American Dream' is possible for me and my family.  

IOC Practice Blog

IOC Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1C-_4cl9qQyzZlBEinSaQAab0LWIsmfi9
(About 9 minutes and 30 seconds)
Passage Analyzed --- Lady Macbeth 'Unsex Me' Soliloquy

Planning ---In the picture below

Understanding of the Text Justification 

--> 7/10 I felt as if I did a good job of using the text and specific quotes to justify my central themes and ideas. However, I could have improved by explaining the context of the passage better. 

Understanding of the Use and Effects of Literary Features 

--> 4/10 After listening, I did not discuss the amount of literary features or there effects on the reader very much. I talked about symbolism and included the structure of the passage, but overall this portion of the IOC can be much improved.

Organization

--> 4/5 The organization of my IOC was actually pretty well done, as I included context, then discussed my themes by using quotes, and then finally used the questions to wrap it up. Overall, this was probably one of the stronger sides of my IOC.

Language 

--> 3/5 The language used during the practice IOC by myself was coherent and grammatically correct, but I thought I failed to use register and some other important aspects. I feel as if I could have improved this section by including register and being a little bit more stylistic with my comments.

Nothing Really Matters

Translation #1 -- This sentence is very Americanized and sounds like a normal sentence. The key words of "uneasy" and "bug" are very structuralized English words that would be used commonly.

Translation #2 -- This translation is just very awkward and does not fit the mold of a modern English sentence. The sentence is structured weirdly because the word "when" is the first word in the sentence. Lastly, the words of "transformed" and "troubled" are kind of awkward, and it seems like a non fluent English speaker wrote this sentence.

Translation #3 -- This sentence is like a combination of the first and second sentences because it has some aspects of awkward English, yet at other spots it is easy to understand. For example, the word "insect" is very politically correct and not the common word that I would use to describe a bug. Also, the word "uneasy" is used just like the first translation which shows signs that it has some good structuralized American English.

Translation #4 -- Finally, this sentence does not flow very well at all. First of all, there are too many commas and reading the sentence aloud is not very pleasant to the ear. Secondly, the word "vermin" is used to describe what the boy changes into, which is not a very commonly used English word and makes the sentence seem like it was translated from Google Translate.

Response to Questions

The different translation of sentences throughout all languages can be the difference between comprehension and not understanding the meaning of the sentence. For instance, the difference between the first and last translated sentences is massive. In terms of the diction, words like "bug" and "uneasy" are much more common that words like "vermin" and "agitated". Also, things like punctuation can effect the comprehension of a sentence, per example, the 4th translation has 4 commas, which is an absurd amount for one sentence. In terms of effectiveness, I personally believe that the first translated sentence is very easy to understand and reflects the word choices that a 21st century American would use if they could translate the sentence. This is due to the effectiveness of diction and the lack of unnecessary punctuation in the sentence.

After completing this activity, I have discovered that different translations can lead to different conclusions about the sentences. For example, two different English speakers can read the translations and they would not be able to tell each other the same meaning behind the sentences which is very important. Also, another very significant aspect of translated sentences is that they often lead to a different tone between them. The tone is critical when not only reading a sentence, but trying to understand the deeper meaning behind it. For instance, the 4th translated sentence has a scary tone, like it is out of a horror movie. Words like "monstrous" and "vermin" are not very pleasant and can lead the reader to making unjustified conclusions because of a bad translation. Overall, translations are crucial to both the author and the reader because the author has a specific meaning that they are trying to convey to the reader, and the translation could be the method of transportation for that meaning.

I've Got You Covered

In all four of the covers, I see very similar, yet contrasting images that all do a great job of portraying the central themes and plots within the novel. In the first and last covers, some major similarities are present and most obviously, they both have a girl pictured. In the both of the pictures, I believe that Kathy H is being portrayed and she looks to be a like a mother figure, or older. Also, she looks sad or sorrowful in both of the pictures, because the ending of this novel is very disheartening. Finally, I believe that the 2nd and 3rd covers are very similar. In the second one, it is a picture of an abandoned ship and in the third one, it is a picture of the human organs. Both of these have deeper meanings and relate to each other very well. They both portray a theme of human value or relationships. An abandoned ship can mean when a person dies or has lost all hope, which often occurs after they make donations in the boo. Overall, I see very many correlations in the covers and they all do a very good job of portraying central themes like value or relationships, and characterizing Kathy H as a mother like figure who appears saddened.


1) What are the first words that come into your mind when you see this image?  What does it make you think of?
-For this question, I will be looking at the 2nd novel cover pictured, the one with the ship wrecked. When I first look at this image, I immediately see an abandoned ship that has hit an island. The first words that come to my mind are abandoned, dim, and sorrowful. I believe that these words all convey the central theme of the book which is that the ending is very sad and conveys the loss of life. The dim atmosphere that is surrounding the ship is very reflective of the novel after Kathy loses her friends, specifically Tommy, to donations of the cruel world they live in. I think the boat represents Kathy who is lonely and abandoned after her friends have died after living a life with Kathy as 'homies for life'. Also, I believe that the novel can be read to make the reader feel sorrowful for the dire situations of the world they live. The loss of life is something that is tremendously sad to a human being, and reading this book brings a very sorrowful mood. Finally, this novel and the cover make me think of a time period where I was I depressed after losing on of my best friends sister to cancer. Growing up, one of my best friends named Jack had played on my soccer team for years. His sister Ella was diagnosed with a very serious brain tumor and passed away after only a couple of years. I was very depressed and prayed for every night, hoping she would live the miracle of life. However, just like in this novel, the passing of a friend at a young age is something very sad and I feel like this cover, and the novel, well represent the feelings of a human after a traumatic event.

-Using the 3rd cover, I will also answer this question. First of all, this cover is of the human body with several organs being drawn in the body. Some of the words that I think of when I look at this cover include, "zombie", "organ", and "death". In general, thinking about any internal organs is disgusting and reminds of me of death or surgery. Also, growing up as a male teenager, one of my favorite video games was Call of Duty, and a game mode within this franchise was 'Zombies' where there was always a diagram in the background of the human body with the organs showing. It is not a pleasant picture and this cover definitely reminds me of it. Lastly, the word of organ and death go hand in hand together, this is due to the fact that some people die because of a failed organ. Overall, this picture is very grim and brings back memories of unpleasant things.


5) What kinds of people would make this book, and what kinds of people would read it?

-After analyzing the 4th novel cover, I believe that the type of author to write this book would be someone who has undergone a series of sorrowful events that deal with relationships. For example, in the novel, one of the largest themes that is present is the value of relationships and people develop them overtime. For instance, the author most likely dealt with a death in his family or someone he grew up with because Kathy experiences her friends undergo several donations and pass away. Also, the author most likely has had several friends he had grown up together with, and a school environment (like Hailsham) is where children develop friends for life. 

-The type of people that would read this book include people who are stressed with life and are dealing with many tough issues, specifically related to relationships. For anyone who is dealing with a hardship in life and needs to take a break into the world of Fiction, this book would be perfect. The novel does a fantastic job at capturing the values in life and the purpose to having friends.

-With reference to the 1st novel cover, I believe that the type of author to write this book is someone who feels passionate about something or likes nature very much. For instance, the girl in the picture is outside sitting down in a bed of plants with nature all around her. Also, she looks so stereotypical as a girl in a movie who is glancing down noticing a specific flower or something of that nature. Finally, the type of people who would read this book just based off of the cover are people who like stories from the perspective of a female or something that resolves around a touchy subject. For some reason, when I view this cover it just brings up a sense of a subject that would not be talked about around the dinner table. Overall, when looking at this first cover, it becomes evident that the type of people who would write the book are authors who feel passionate about a dodgy subject or like nature and the people who would read the book are essentially emotional readers.

FREEEEEE BEEEE

Using a FREEBIE on this Blog. Dilly Dilly.