ok, now, THIS is the last one

What was the most fun thing that you did this year in ELA?

My response project for Much Ado About Nothing was fun because I made a short film with my two best friends and it was extremely funny (at least in my opinion). 

What was the most challenging thing about the class?

The most challenging thing I did in ELA this year was the three weeks between Thanksgiving Break and Winter Break because they were very stressful. In general those weeks are stressful, but in ELA we had to read the longest book (ALWCS) at the same time we were doing response projects for it and I was having mental breakdowns almost every day. 

What was your favorite book that we read together, and why?

My favorite book was All the Light We Cannot See because it was just such a good book. The plot and characters were so amazing and the language used by the author was so beautiful. I also loved how we got the chance to hear him speak in real life. 

What was your LEAST favorite book that we read this year, and why?

1984 because it was so dense and just felt so long. Also, it may have been one of the originals, but I am so tired of reading dystopian novels. 

If you could change something about the class, what would it be, and why?

I would change what I said above (reading the longest book at the worst time). Some teachers might say that at the end of the year, that's just how things work, but my favorite part about Post Oak is that's not how things have to work. We are different than "normal" schools and our opinions matter. That's why you're asking us these questions in the first place, right? I would also change the fact that we have to do Novel Study Booklets. We are always told that we "don't do busywork in ELA," but the Novel Study Booklet in my opinion itself is busywork. I would also change the fact that at one point we didn't have free choice for a response project. We only get so many before we go into IB and I did not like the fact that we couldn't do whatever we wanted. Also, with vocabulary quizzes, I understand why they are important, but it's not like we have time to be studying them all year, and at the end of the year it's frustrating to have to memorize 182 words, along with prefixes; not to mention the fact that it's worth 60% of that standard, so even if we got amazing grades throughout the year, we could end up with a terrible one because we couldn't make the exact definitions of 182 words and roots stay in our brains. 

What is one thing that you think should stay the same, and why?

Free choice for response projects because it's such a Montessori thing to do. 

Overall, do you think your ELA skills improved over this year? Please mention any specific skills that you believe improved.

Personally, I don't really think my skills improved over this year. Yes, I can write a better essay than last year, but that has more to do with other classes than ELA. 

Is there anything else that you would like for me to know about your experience in the class? If so, now is the time to let me know!

I don't know how to talk about this on a professional level, but I feel like it's something I need to talk about. When you're in a good mood everything is great and we have an amazing time in class... but when you're not in a good mood, it can be really terrifying in class. I feel like I am walking on egg shells sometimes, because I don't know what kind of mood you're going to be in. And that can be really frustrating, especially when someone really needs something from you. 

Last Blogpost...Ever?

What do you think is the main message that the author is trying to et across to you in your book? This main message is the theme of the book. Provide three quotes from your book to back up your answer.

In the Drama Study Booklet we had to complete, I wrote that the author believes for the main theme that abuse and familial neglect can lead to murder. The reason I believe this is for many reasons.

To understand why I believe this, one must understand that Cassie's mom, Lorelai, was murdered. Cassie has many flashbacks to the night she found her, including this one: "I'm standing in blood. There's blood on the walls, blood on my hands. A lamp lies shattered on the wood floor. A desk upturned, and there's a jagged line in the floorboards," (245).

Later on, you discover a close mentor of Cassie's is Lorelai's sister, Lacey Locke. She tells Cassie about their childhood. She says, "At night, when Daddy went away and the monster came out to play, [Lorelai] made him angry. She made him angry on purpose so he'd hit her instead of me," (290). This is the abuse part of why I think the author believes what she believes.

Locke then proceeds to tell Cassie that Lorelai left home--and her little sister with their father. She was obviously upset about the neglect from her sister, but so upset to the point that she wanted to kill her. "Eventually, I stopped dreaming about finding her and being a family again, and I started dreaming about finding her and hurting her, the way Daddy hurt me. Making her pay for leaving me there. Peeling off her face until no one thought she was the pretty one, until just looking at her made you scream ... But by the time I found her ... it was too late. She was already dead. She was gone, and it wasn't fair. I was supposed to kill her. I was supposed to be the one ... there was this junkie at my motel. She was cheap and loose and dirty, and her hair was the exact right shade of red. I killed her, and I said, 'How do you like that, Lore?' I carved her up until I could imagine Lorelai's face underneath, and God, it felt good," (293). 

As one can see, due to the abuse and neglect from her own family, Agent Locke's life began with violence and ended with violence (as she was shot by Michael before she could kill Cassie). These quotes are the reasons I think that the author believes abuse and familial neglect can lead to murder.

Thank you, and goodbye, as this is my last blogpost...ever.

Signing off,
Jordan Barger :)

Character Profiling

Describe the major characters in your book. Who is the protagonist and antagonist? What are the major characters like - appearance, age, mannerisms, clothing, etc. Also, do you think that the author has effectively developed these characters. Please explain your answer.

This year, for book of choice, I am reading The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. The book is titled The Naturals because it is about a group of teenagers with natural aptitudes for certain gifts; the FBI has enlisted them because of these abilities. 

The protagonist in this book is Cassie Hobbes, a 17 year-old girl with auburn hair. Her natural ability is profiling. She can profile anyone just by taking in their behavior, personality, and environment. 

The other teenagers in Cassie's life include Michael Townsend, Lia, Sloane, and Dean Redding. (The girls' last names have not been identified yet). They are also all 17 years-old. Michael has dark hair, is not that tall, and always wears a different style of clothing every time he changes. Lia is Asian, has black hair with blue streaks in it, is tall, and also always wears a different style of clothing (Michael most likely learned it from her). Sloane has blonde hair, is dainty, and wears patterned and bright-colored clothing. And then there's Dean, who has dark blond hair, is muscular but lean, and wears simple teenage boy clothing, AKA jeans and a white or black t-shirt (he's also hot *rolls eyes*).

Michael can read people's emotions, Lia is a human lie detector (and is very good at lying herself), Sloane is good with numbers and statistics, and Dean, like Cassie, is also a profiler. 

These characters also each have their own sets of problems. Michael has daddy issues, Lia has some problem in her life that has not been identified yet but makes her a little like a bad word, Sloane is unaware of social cues, and Dean has a lot of issues, and from what I've gathered, it probably has something to do with murder. He holds everyone at arm's length, especially Cassie.

In my personal opinion, yes, these characters are well developed; they have many layers to them and conflicts both inside and out, BUT (yes, there is a but), from having read a lot of YA (Young Adult), it is kind of obvious what is going to happen and what their issues are. It's sort-of like these characters are stereotypes/stock characters in YA fiction.

As for the antagonist... I'm not entirely sure yet who it is, but there are chapters entitled YOU, and they are about a serial killer, so I think it may be safe to assume that whoever that may be is the antagonist of this book. 

Be(lie)ve

Write about anything having to do with 1984, that you have not yet had the chance to address. You may also review the book if you wish.

One thing that really sparked my interest was when Winston was being tortured by O'Brien. He had to actually believe that the Party and Big Brother were good and the best thing ever. He could not just say it. He had to believe it. And that blew my mind. The fact that someone can be tortured physically enough to the point where they believe (and not just lie about it) that everything they knew before was wrong is now right... well, that is absolutely terrifying. It is also one of the things that makes George Orwell a genius.

1984, A Warning

What is the main message that you think that George Orwell is trying to communicate to you through 1984? Provide three quotes from the book to support your claim, and explain HOW those quotes support your claim.

I believe the main message George Orwell was trying to communicate through 1984 was a warning, a warning of the direction Western governments are heading. 

The first of the three quotes that support my claim is: 
"WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH" (Book 1, Chapter 1).

This quote supports my claim because it shows how controlling the government is of the minds of the people. This can be true in today's society.

The second quote, also in Book 1, Chapter 1, is:
"People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, and your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word."

This quote supports my claim because it, again, emphasizes that the government has complete control of everything, even your life. Today, if the government hates you enough, you can disappear. 

Lastly, the third and final quote is:
"Already we are breaking down the habits of thought, which have survived from before the Revolution. We have cut the links between child and parent, and between man and man, and between man and woman. No one dares trust a wife or a child or a friend any longer. But in the future there will be no wives and no friends. Children will be taken from their mothers at birth, as one takes eggs from a hen. The sex instinct will be eradicated. We shall abolish the orgasm. Our neurologists are at work upon it now. There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother," (Book 3, Chapter 3).

This quote, the strongest of the three, is extremely powerful. O'Brien is clearly telling Winston that the government will control EVERYTHING. He even refers to the people as animals, to be treated with the same rights as a hen. He even goes to say that the Party can control what we love and what loves us, something we have always felt only belongs to us.

Obviously, George Orwell was trying to tell the world that if we do not watch out, we will end up with this situation. The scary part, is that he is not entirely wrong.

Analyzing Winston

Analyze the character of either Winston or Julia. What kind of character is s/he (protagonist, antagonist...)? Is s/he rounded or flat? Is s/he dynamic or static?  Find at least one piece of textual evidence from the novel to support your claims.

I will be analyzing Winston Smith. 

As the protagonist is the main character, Winston is definitely the protagonist. He is faced with a problem that he must solve. I believe that he is also a round character. He has a complex personality. That said, he is also dynamic. He definitely changes over time. 

An example from the book of how Winston is the protagonist, also known as the main character, is on page 1. "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him." 

Introducing Winston this early on indicates that he is the main character. There are some cases where this is not true. For example, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the first chapter is not from Harry's point of view, rather it introduces Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, along with Severus Snape. However, most of the time it is the main character. And you can also know this from the fact that the POV stays with Winston for the rest of the book, making him the protagonist.

A Car? Or Sex?

Using the questions you learned in class on Thursday, deconstruct some kind of persuasive media (magazine cover, advertisement, political ad, commercial, etc.). Please either upload the image here or link to whatever you choose.

The questions are:

Whose message is this? Who created or paid for it? Why?

Who is the "target audience?" What are the clues?

What "tools of persuasion" are used?

What part of the story is not being told?

What groups of people does this message empower? What groups does it disempower?

This is an ad for a used BMW, made to convince people to buy the car. The target audience is men. It could be for lesbians too, but from the looks of it (and our society), probably not. The clues are the woman and how she looks like she is naked. The tool of persuasion is sex. This image implies that if you buy a BMW, you will get all the sex. Also, due to the fact that it is for used BMWs and it says "you know you're not the first," means that it was owned previously, just like how the woman was "owned" previously, implying that she has had sex a lot. It also says "sheer driving pleasure." I do not think they actually mean driving... Obviously, getting sex from having a nice car is not true (at least, hopefully). This image definitely empowers men, and disempowers women. It tells men that a car, an object, is equal to a woman. It is objectifying women, disempowering them to believe they have as much worth as a car. 

My question for BMW: where's the actual car?

The More I Blog, the Less I Blog

Take one of the slogans of The Party and analyze its meaning (WAR IS PEACE; FREEDOM IS SLAVERY; IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH). What is The Party trying to get the people to believe?

I am choosing to analyze the slogan "IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH." I liked this one the most because it can relate to our society too. 

I think "IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH" means that not knowing something or the reality of something is strength. If you don't know it, you won't wonder about it or want to know more about it. It's kind of like the saying "the more I know, the less I know," which means that the more I know about something, the more I realize I don't know that much about other things. 

So, basically, "IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH" is trying to get people to believe that not knowing what's going on is strong because you wouldn't know what to compare it to to be weak. 

Everyone Died. The End.

Explain why the ending of the play proves that it is a comedy, and give specific examples from the play. What would have had to happen instead were this play a tragedy?

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy, mostly because it ends on a happy note, but there are other reasons for it. For one, it ends with a celebration, a wedding, and the villain is punished, or about to be dealt with. 

In Act 6, Scene 4, Lines 115-17, Benedick says: "Come, come, we are friends. Let's have a dance ere we are married, that we may lighten our own hearts and our wives' heels." This shows that they were getting married and there was a celebration. 

A few lines later, 123-24, a Messenger comes in and tells Don Pedro: "My lord, your brother John is ta'en in flight, And brought with armèd men back to Messina." Benedick responds with: "Think not on him till tomorrow. I'll devise thee brave punishments for him" (5.4.125-26). This demonstrates that the villain is about to be dealt with. 

For Much Ado About Nothing to be a tragedy, someone/everyone would have had to have died. Hero would have died instead of fainting at the wedding, and then Benedick would have killed Claudio for Beatrice and ended up dying in the process, and then Beatrice would have killed herself because of Hero and Benedick. Leonardo would have probably have killed himself too, because of Hero and Beatrice, and then Don Pedro and Don John would have battled each other and both end up dying, leaving only the unimportant characters alive. 

Too Much Ado About Nothing?

What do you think that the theme of the play is? Remember, a theme is not just a word, it is a whole sentence that conveys the message that the author (Shakespeare) is trying to get across to the audience (you). Find three quotes from the play to support your assertion.

I think the theme of the play is that people make big deals out of nothing. Hence the title, Much Ado About Nothing. One example is of Beatrice and Benedict making BIG deals out of love and marriage. One quote, by Beatrice is in Act 1, Scene 1, Line 125-6. She tells Benedict that she "had rather hear [her] dog bark at a crow than a man swears he loves [her]." Oh, please. Tell that to yourself by the end of the play. 

Another exaggeration, by Benedick, is when he is arguing with Claudio over whether Hero is hot or not. In Act 1, Scene 1, 219-22, he says: "That I neither feel how she should be loved, nor know how she should be worthy, is the opinion that fire cannot melt out of me. I will die in it at the stake." He literally said that if he was burning to death, he would not think otherwise. Dramatic, much?

One last example of the much ado about nothing in this play is when Claudio slut shames Hero at their wedding. I understand that at that time it was a life-ruining thing if a woman was not a virgin before she was married, but he still made it a much bigger deal than necessary, especially with the fact that he did it in front of everyone. Leonato, Hero's dad says: "Death is the fairest cover for her shame that may be wished for" (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 114-5). Okay, really? Even if it was true, you'd rather your daughter be dead? Puh-lease.

Those are just three of the many examples of the exaggerations in Much Ado About Nothing. 

Bipolar Beatrice

Choose one central character and determine what kind of conflict s/he is experiencing. First of all, is it internal or external? Secondly, are there any other types of conflicts at play here (person vs. self, person vs. person, person vs. nature, person vs. society)? Explain your answer and provide an example from the play (meaning a quote).

I will be analyzing Beatrice, as I liked her character a lot. 

The conflict Beatrice is experiencing, in my opinion throughout the whole play, is the fact that she is so deeply in love with Benedick. It's an internal struggle.  She's fighting against herself, because she doesn't want to be in love with him. She's fighting against Benedick because she's trying to push him away to protect herself (and it also entertains her). She never honestly wanted to never get married, she just was afraid that no one would want to marry her; the same goes to liking Benedick. 

In Act 1, Scene 2, Lines 124-6, Beatrice says: "I would rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me." Yet, in Act 4, Scene 1, Lines 267-8, Benedick says: "I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that strange?" And then Beatrice, Lines 269-70, says: "As strange as the thing I know not. It were as possible for me to say I love nothing so well as you."

From those quotes, you can see how she has dramatically changed her opinion over the subject throughout the course of the play. 

Here Lies Benedick, the Married Man

Choose a challenging passage from Act I, and follow the thought. Explain your process of following the thought and then write the passage in your own words using contemporary English.

In Act 1, Scene 1 of Much Ado About Nothing, Benedick says:

The savage bull may, but if ever the sensible

Benedick bear it, pluck off the bull's horns and set 

them in my forehead, and let me be vilely painted, and 

in such great letters as they write "Here is good horse to 

hire," let them signify under my sign "Here you may 

see Benedick the married man."

After following the thought, I have come to realize that Benedick is saying that if he were ever to marry, he would want to be stabbed with a bull's horn and then with his blood, the words would be painted. I did this by looking at what Benedick was thinking, which was that he doesn't want to get married. I looked at the argument Benedick was having with Claudio about wherher or not everyone gets married. 

Here is how I translated it into modern day English:

A crazy person may get married, but I am sensible,

So if I am ever to get married I would want to be stabbed

In the head, and with my blood, I want the words painted

"Hire me," where I will be under a sign that says, "Here lies

Benedick, the married man."