Comments Week 14

Sarah – Writing Center

Caroline – Student Prompt

Writing Center

      Last Wednesday, I took the liberty of visiting the Writing Center in order to get my Lord of the Flies Literary Analysis checked out. I appointed a meeting with Elijah Simeneaux, and waited with anticipation. When Wednesday came along, I was skeptical, not sure what to expect. I had never been in the Writing Center with a proper appointment before, so I both excited and nervous as to what would happen.
      It was absolutely fantastic. Elijah offered me great assistance, and I managed to polish my essay up in no time. For some reason, even though Elijah only assisted me in finding the mistakes myself, it was easier to find the mistakes that I had made. He offered tips on revisions and corrections, and after our session was over, my essay was looking a lot better than it used to. If I ever have trouble on a writing assignment, I will definitely revisit the writing center.

Student Prompt

      I decided to write an essay about Trevor's prompt: What if the world's currencies were replaced with cookies? I decided to write about this prompt because it seemed very funny to imagine a world where money is completely invalid. Money is such a big part  of our lives nowadays to the point where society would be unable to function without it. However, since this is a fictional piece of essay, I will do my best to completely abuse my immature imagination to the fullest of my extent.
      If the world's currency turned into cookies, condition and size accounted for, there would be a massive flow of people making their way to the grocery store and convenience store to clear out all the cookies in the area. People would be unable to spend those cookies in fear of deterioration or theft. The flow of currency would stop, causing a huge problem in the world economy. This is funny because this reminds me of when Twinkies were said to be out of production, and everyone was swarming to get one. Whatever this prompt was inspired by, it sure is hilarious.

Comments Week 13

DJ – Free Post

Sarah – What I Love about Christnas

Studying for Exams

     It's December, and the exams are slowly dawning upon us. I have already received my first mid-term exam study guide. I usually start my exam studying by freaking out, having a mental breakdown, have a warm cup of coffee, have another mental breakdown, and then I start actually studying. There are multiple different methods of studying for exams, but which one to choose? I personally usually study alone, but maybe I'll also explore new methods as I explain what ways of studying there are.
      First, there is the obvious method of studying by yourself. This is the most basic way of studying. There is the advantage of being able to focus on your work and be able to study for a long time, but you are unable to get help from others. You could always argue that you can get help from your parents, but let's be honest; unless your parents have a profession in something, they are usually clueless of your schoolwork. Then there is another way: holding a study group. Studying with your friends is great because you can get help and feedback from your peers and that you can study for a lot longer. However, it is possible to get easily distracted or get incorrect feedback from your friends. Also, there is the ultimate of method of late-night cramming. Basically, you do not study at all until the day before the exam, and then try and learn it all the night before the exams. Normally, you will be up very late, which can affect your conditions while testing the next day. I do not recommend this method, nor do I think anyone else will. So what is your favorite method of studying? If there is any that I did not address or your own personal ways of studying, leave it in the comment section of this blog. I would definitely like to hear your own opinions. As usual, thanks for reading.

Literary Analysis

      The most difficult part in writing my literary analysis for Lord of the Flies was making sure that all the paragraphs connected with each other and flowed naturally. I had to edit it multiple times to make sure that they made sense chronologically, and I also needed to make sure that I did not feel awkward reading them aloud. One other difficulty that I experienced while writing my literary analysis was, oddly enough, trying to minimize the use of the word "boys" as much as possible. When writing, I discovered it hard to describe the boys on the island with any other words than "boys". Eventually, I did find substitutes such as "group" and "savages", but it definitely was a major roadblock for me, as weird as that may sound.
      I had a lot of my peers asking me how to start an introduction and end a conclusion. I would recommend writing your thesis as the last sentence of your introductory paragraph, and try to fill in the previous sentences with the context for your thesis, such as how you reached that thesis statement. For the concluding paragraph, I suggest restating your thesis last and using the previous sentences to explain how your supporting paragraph leads up to that thesis. Hopefully this helped, and once again,
         
       
          C \  S
             \ \  T
               \ \(*_*)  A
                 \        \  Y
                  |       | \  A
                  |       |\ \  W
                   \  |  |   \ D  E
                     \|  |  S  
                      |  |\  O
                      |  |\ \  M
                    C_|C_|  E
                 
             

Comments Week 12

Sophia – How to survive life with a younger sibling

Caroline – Symbolism Story

Symbolism

      The school classroom is always a lively, active place. Dorothy is a girl who likes to go around and give out candy to her classmates. Grace is one of Dorothy's friend. She became friends when Dorothy offered her a piece of candy. Grace came from a poor family that could just barely afford a living, so she was not used to being given things by others. Nevertheless, she was touched by Dorothy's kindness and became close friends very quickly. Then there is Jessica. Jessica was born into a very rich family, and was granted everything she wanted by her parents. Therefore, when Dorothy offered her a piece of candy like always, she held her nose up high and stalked away. 

      In preparation for the Thanksgiving atmosphere, I decided to symbolize these kids with the feelings revolving around Thanksgiving. Grace is the embodiment of thankfulness, as she was very excited and grateful towards Dorothy's small kindness. Meanwhile, Jessica represents thanklessness, as she ignores Dorothy's offer and does not associate with people like her. I also symbolized in the story how the environment that we are brought up in can affect our feelings of thankfulness. Grace came from a family that held on with the bare necessities of life, while Jessica was brought up to where she treated everything she had for granted. Therefore, these two different environments reflected on their reactions toward kindness

How To Survive Thanksgiving Break (Or Really Any Break) Without Wi-Fi

      This Thanksgiving break, my aunt brought me here to Dallas, Texas. There's one problem, though–we don't have wi-fi at our house. We bought a house in Dallas recently, but since I still have high school in Louisiana to finish, we haven't moved in yet. It also means that my aunt is unwilling to pay for monthly wi-fi fees in a house that we don't even live in yet. So there it is–I'll be spending this break without wi-fi. (See if any of you guys can do that!) However, I am still going to be having a fun time, and here is how you guys can too. (You know, if you guys do get into a situation like this. But hey, who am I kidding, right?)
      Step 1: Bring your favorite pastime. (Surely you do have some besides social media, right?) If you are offline, then bring something else that you can waste time with, such as books, be it comics or novels. In my case, I decided to bring along my electric guitar and some comic books. Whenever you get bored of not getting text notifications on your phone every five seconds, spend a little time on whatever you bring. It can speed up those agonizing times without wi-fi.
      Step 2: Look for work. You may not believe it, but manual labor takes up much more time than you think. I needed to help build the new furniture that arrived at our house, and after we finished, I could not believe how much time had passed. You may be reluctant at first, but try it out! Let it be some minor chore, such as folding laundry, mowing the grass, cleaning, or some heavy-duty construction like me. (But still, I really don't want to recommend this to you guys. You don't want to work on Thanksgiving break, do you?)
      Step 3: Sleep. (Finally, something you guys actually like!) If all else fails, taking a nap is the way to go, and I'm pretty sure that you guys like to do this a lot. (Don't lie, be honest.) Time flies by when you're asleep, so you might as well.
      Step 4: Look for outside help. (Very situational, personally only recommend it if you guys have a backup plan like I do.) So when all these steps listed above don't work, what do you do? Well, in my case, I used to have a friend who lived in Baton Rouge. He moved to Dallas, however, so before the break started, I called his parents to see if I could stay at their house for some time. They gladly agreed (YEESSSS), so I will be having a fun time with my friend. Like I said earlier, this only works if you have a backup plan like I do, so try to make do with the steps listed above.
      Well, I hope that this blog post can help you survive a holiday without wi-fi. But probably the best thing to do is to prevent a situation like that from happening in the first place. But if it ever happens to you guys, then you know where to look for help!

Comments Week 11

Caroline - Free Write

Sarah - Critical LOTF scene-Piggy's death

World War Z

      One book I am reading right now is World War Z written by Max Brooks. I have not finished reading this book, but I think that is a fun and exciting fiction story.I would definitely recommend it to people who are looking to read something light and casual. The reason I like World War Z  is because of the storyline and the interesting point of view of the narrator. 

      The narrator of the story is an unnamed character who interviews multiple people who are trying to survive an outbreak of a plague that reanimates the dead into walking corpses. This may seem like a typical zombie apocalypse fictional story, but it feels different than others because the point of view is so different than most novels. We also get to hear different accounts from multiple people throughout the book, which means that the story does not stick to one character. The interesting format of this book and a light storyline that does not require deep comprehension is why I would recommend this book to others.

Lord of the Flies

      I think that one of the most important part of Lord of the Flies is when Simon talks with the Lord of the Flies. This takes place on page 143, where the Lord of the Flies tells Simon "You know perfectly well you'll only meet me down there–so don't try to escape!" , implying that the beast resides in all of the boys who crashed on the island. This is an important fact, because the beast is something that is mentioned throughout almost the entire book. 

      When the littluns who crashed on the island first start to refer to the beast, it invokes fear into everyone and makes the boys scared of each other. The descriptions of the beast that we hear from the boys is that it has sharp fangs and claws–normally what we would expect from a typical imagination of a beast. However, what the Lord of the Flies is saying is that the beast is the fear, madness, and bloodthirst that resides in the minds all human beings. This is proved when Simon, after his encounter with the Lord of the Flies, stumbles into the group and tries to tell the boys that the beast does not exist. However, the boys, who do not know this fact yet, mistakes Simon as the beast, and then brutally murders him as a group.

Comments Week 10

Caroline - Blog Prompt and Answer

Sophia - Q2 Week 4 LOTF Reading Response

Write Your Own Prompt

      I have decided to write a prompt about Lord of the Flies. While reading, I thought, "What is the author trying to convey through this story?" I believe that what William Golding is trying to tell us is that the human psychology is easy to distort and manipulate. Throughout the novel, we hear many cases of a beast scaring the boys. This proves how easy it is to manipulate people's minds.
      The beast is continuously covered in a veil of mystery. All we hear about the beast are vague descriptions that are somewhat doubtable, such as the beast having sharp claws and large fangs. These are what we typically imagine beasts to be like, and as such, the boys all imagine the same thing. However, as the story continues, the beast is revealed to be something much more sinister, one that resides inside the human mind, such as our insanity. The boys start to go more and more savage, and forget about their desires of getting rescued and wish for bloodlust. A lot of the boys who were loyal to Ralph ends up joining Jack, which once again proves how easily changed the human mind is. This is the message I thing William Golding is trying to convey through Lord of the Flies.

Lord of the Flies Response

      Chapter 8 of "Lord of the Flies" was a very crucial chapter to the story, where we got information of Jack leaving the group and making his own, and some insight to what the beast that is referred to so often in this story actually is. In this chapter, we hear the characters have this conversation:[Piggy:] "I don't agree with all Jack said, but with some.  'Course there isn't a beast in the forest.  How could there be?  What would a beast eat?"
"Pig."
"We eat pig."
"Piggy!"
"I got the conch!" said Piggy indignantly.  "Ralph--they ought to shut up, oughtn't they?  You shut up, you littluns!  What I mean is that I don't agree about this here fear.  Of course there isn't nothing to be afraid of in the forest.  Why--I been there myself!  You'll be talking about ghosts and such things next.  We know what goes on and if there's something wrong, there's someone to put it right."
He took off his glasses and blinked at them.  The sun had gone as if the light had been turned off. [...]
"Life," said Piggy expansively, "is scientific, that's what it is.  In a year or two when the war's over they'll be traveling to Mars and back.  I know there isn't no beast--not with claws and all that, I mean--but I know there isn't no fear either."
Piggy paused.
"Unless--"
Ralph moved restlessly.
"Unless what?"
"Unless we get frightened of people." (83-84)

      This conversation between Ralph and Piggy is important to the story because it gives readers some insight to what the beast could be. Up until now, the only descriptions of the beast are given to us by the boys who either think they witnessed it, or try to imagine what it would be like. For example, we hear descriptions such as the beast having sharp claws and big fangs, but we can deduce from Piggy's dialogue that the beast may be one of the boys, that the beast could be born from their fear of one another, or that the boys are needlessly implementing the image of the beast into one another's heads, despite there not being a beast at all. Either way, this lets us know that the beast is not what the boys think, but something much more sinister. This will be important because we will be hearing about the beast often throughout the book. 

Comments Week 9

Jack - LOTF response

Kolin - Human Nature

Lord of the Flies

      I am currently reading a novel called "Lord of the Flies", written by William Golding. I have not gotten very far in the book yet, but I am very interested in the way the story unfolds, which makes me want to continue reading this book. The story is very unique, in that it contains lots of symbolisms for us to discover on our own.
      I enjoy reading Lord of the Flies because it tells us how the human nature is like, and how it can be changed easily according to the situation and the atmosphere. William Golding symbolizes the conch as a symbol of leadership and order, and the island that the children are stranded on is based on the Garden of Eden, from Genesis in the Bible. From symbols like these, we can draw conclusion from these evidence, and that is why this book is very interesting to read.

Human Nature

      I believe that the human nature is one filled with infinite possibilities. I say this because humans are a species that have evolved and developed over long periods of time. We have evolved over the time of four million years ago, undergoing many different changes until we evolved into who we are now. Even now, we continue to change. Even now, we continue to learn and create new things every day.
      The reason we were able to evolve and change is because we started out with nothing. We were born with many curiosities, and we managed to figure out ways to answer the questions that we had. We were able to answer scientific, mathematical, philosophical, technological questions, etc. That is how we managed to continue developing. I am sure that we will continue to advance further, and continue to acquire new knowledge. Gandhi once said,“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” I agree with this quote, because humanity managed to evolve by always challenging ourselves. This is why I believe that the human nature is filled with possibilities.

Comments Week 8

Jack - Response to Waltz of the Fat Man

Kolin - My Wild Weekend Featuring Jackson Sate vs. Southern

A Farmer and His Wife

      I read a story called “A Farmer and His Wife”. The story is about a farmer who thinks that his wife is lazy, works slowly, and wastes her time. Angered by his words, the wife tells the farmer to stay home the next day and do her work, while she goes out and works in the field. The farmer, thinking that it will be an easy job, happily accepts. However, the next day, he has a very hard time, and in the end he apologizes to his wife.

      The reason I like this story so much is because it is very funny, while also teaching us that the work that we have is no more important than someone else’s and that we should respect those who work what we don’t. I like how the story progresses from the farmer having a very clouded vision about his wife’s work to appreciating and respecting what his wife does for him. The farmer is a round character, since he goes from being ignorant to being respectful of others. This change in characteristics is what makes me appreciate this very short story.

Fall Break Free Post

      This fall break, I followed my aunt to Alexandria, where she would perform in a orchestra. I did not like to go to concerts when I was younger, but now I do not think they are so bad. However, what was bad was the time I had to wait. I sat in the lounge while my aunt and everyone else practiced in the concert hall. I tried to complete my homework during that time, but I just could not focus. Either way, I sat there, whittling away the time until the show started.
      Finally, it was time for the concert, and I joined the crowd as they assembled in the concert hall. The lights dimmed, and the performers all flooded onstage. They gave a short speech, then the conductor came out. Then, the orchestra began to play. It was fascinating to hear all the different sounds of instrument all combined into one. However, the orchestra lasted much shorter than I thought. I was expecting it to last longer, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I think that I will get to appreciate concerts even more after this.

Comments Week 7

Sutter - Should We Abandon Louisiana? In Some Ways, We Already Have.

Sarah - Procrastination: Is Your Future Self Getting a Bad Deal?

Should We Abandon Louisiana? In Some Ways, We Already Have

      This article, written by Zack Kopplin, describes the attitude of the media and how they only handle the things that their audience might find enticing or entertaining. After reading, I agree with this article. I think that people should pay more attention to more obscure things, and just because some major incident is insignificant to some people, it doesn't mean that it is insignificant to everyone. A huge number of people lost their lives and their homes during the flood, and there are people who are not even aware of the incident altogether. The people who do know the incident wishes Louisiana to be bulldozed over, because it will be underwater anyways. Now, this is what I want to tell them: "Would you be able to say that if this was your home?" The people of Louisiana are not leaving because they dislike Louisiana: they are leaving because they have no choice. They lost everything in the flood, and they do not need casual insults thrown at them, on top of everything else that has happened to them. I think that we are to blame, because we are the ones that demand "interesting" and "entertaining" topics on the news, instead of ones that are actually important.
      The issue is, Louisiana is very prone to coastal erosion. It is stated that one football field of land is eroded every hour, and everything we are doing is only accelerating the rate of erosion. Because of this, it is very expensive to try and stop the coastal erosion from continuing, and it is also very hard to replace the property of all those who are damaged by flooding incidents like this. And because a chance of flood in Louisiana is very low according to historical models, it is hard to predict and prevent these types of flooding. Therefore, whenever a flood hits Louisiana, it takes a lot of resources and effort to rebuild what has been damaged. Because of that, the government is unwilling to try and rebuild. Many people are forced to leave Louisiana, not because they are scared of incidents like these, but because they are unable to rebuild, due to the lack of support the government shows.
      I think that we are at fault for these issues, because the problem behind these incidents are all due to global warming. The main cause of coastal erosion is the rising of sea levels. Nowadays, we see on the news that the polar ice caps are melting due to global warming spreading across the world. And who is responsible for global warming? We are. We are the ones that overuse Earth's resources, and we are the ones that release harmful gas into the atmosphere, damaging the ozone layer. Use of fossil fuels also frees up cavities underneath the ocean and causes it to collapse, resulting in the intrusion of saltwater. If we want to stop the problem of flooding in Louisiana, we should try to prevent the cause of it, instead of trying to repair. Also, the government would be better off spending their money trying to prevent the disaster instead of using it on things like relocation, because it would mean that we would not have to lose our homes. Like I said earlier: We are not leaving Louisiana because we do not like it; it is because we do not have a choice, and we would much rather be able to preserve our home, rather than abandon it. 

Comments: Week 6

Sutter - Short Story Response

Ian - 100 word story

A Letter to God

      I read a short story called "A Letter to God" written by Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes. It tells of a farmer who is expecting rain for his crops and rejoices, but instead, it turns into a storm and hail, and his crops are ruined. Dismayed, he decides to write a letter to God, asking for 100 pesos so that he can start anew. The man at the post office sees this, and knowing that it was impossible to send a physical letter to God, decides to help him out in secret. However, he was unable to collect 100 pesos, so he puts seventy pesos into an envelope and gives it back to the farmer next day. The farmer, counting the money, then gets angry and rewrites a letter to God, and when the post officer opens it, he finds a letter asking God to send him thirty more pesos, but not by mail, because "the post-office employees are a bunch of crooks."
      I decided to write about this story because this story cracked me up when I first read this. At first, I felt sympathy and pity for the farmer, because he lost all his crops in the storm. However, you begin to feel sympathy for the post office employee instead, because when he read the farmer's letter, he could just as easily have dismissed the letter as a joke and discarded it, but he felt bad for the farmer and decided to help him out to the best of his power. However, The farmer gets mad just because he did not get thirty pesos, which makes you lose sympathy for him. The characters are very interesting, because the post office employee shows us that he is very kind and wants to help others, while the farmer is hard-working but does not know how to appreciate others' help. I wrote about this story because I enjoyed it immensely, and I recommend it to you as well.

Free Post

      Hi. I am Peppermint, the rabbit that lives in Daniel's house. Now, most people would describe this person as my owner, but I beg to differ. I must clearly be superior to him because he is the one who always brings my food and water, cleans my room, and grooms me. He is just like a butler, although he may be slacking on his work sometimes. This is how my day normally goes. 

      First thing in the morning, I make sure to make as much noise as possible, so as to wake up Daniel. Like I said, he is very lazy, so I must remember to wake him up so he can carry his duties. He wakes up, brings me my food, dresses up, then leaves for most of the day. During the time he is gone, this person called "aunt" takes care of me. She does a better job than Daniel, but she might be a bit too fond of me. It's very often for her to invade my personal space, but no matter how much I try to tell her to stop, she doesn't listen, so I give up. When she finally puts me back in my room, I can have some free time sleeping until Daniel comes back. He feeds me, and then I go to sleep. That is my everyday life. Thanks for reading. Goodbye.

Comments: Week 5

Caroline: "13 Reasons Why" Reading Response 3

DJ: Flash Story

My School

My school is a very interesting school, to say nonetheless.

The reason is extremely odd and uncommon, one unheard of.

I am the one and only student in the entire school.

I do not know why no one else is attending this school.

I hear about kids having fun with friends at school.

I hear about students having fun learning from their teachers.

Sadly, I have never known those leisures of life.

I have never made any friends in school because of it.

I wish I can learn how to make some friends like everyone else.

I do not know if I will ever be able to.

Harrison Bergeron

      "Harrison Bergeron" is a short story about a is set to a society where everyone is considered equal, one where someone can never be better than anyone. If someone is smarter than everyone else, they have to wear special earpieces that distract the brain from being used to the full potential. If someone is better looking than everyone else, that person would have to wear a mask. It is a world where equality has a much deeper effect.
      This story stood out to me because it takes the concept of equality, one which everyone is so used to, and takes it to the extreme. The world that takes place in this story is one without any emotion, variety, or personality. In this bland world, the character of Harrison Bergeron stands out very vividly, because he is the only person in this world who is able to be different. I think this story encourages us to be different from one another and maintain variety in personality.

Comments: Week Four

Lathan: Dear One Year Old

Sutter: Reading Response Week Four

My Literacy Narrative

      Recently, we are writing a personal narrative about an important event in our lives. In my case, I chose to write about the time I started playing music. I think that the part that I did well in writing was describing all the events that took place. I tried to be as informative as possible, adding everything that happened that I can remember. Also, I felt like I described the sensation of playing music quite thoroughly.

      The things my essay lacked in was descriptive details. Although I tried to add as much information about my past as I possibly can, I did not include vivid details that would help the reader visualize the scene then and there, but rather only the necessary information needed to understand the series. When I start writing my final draft I will have to make sure to add more descriptive details, and adding dialogues would help the readers imagining the scene that is unfolding.

Dear 13 Year Old:

      Even if you don't want to, go to that school dance party. You are in 8th grade, and you are almost stepping up into high school. If you like to go to parties, then great: just go. If you are shy or scared of what the others will think about you, I don't care: just go. This is from personal experience, but you will regret it if you do not make a good middle school memory. When you go to high school, most of your friends will all go somewhere else, and you will be going to school with complete strangers. Make middle school count.
      I have to be honest with myself: I only went to one school dance party in my entire middle school life. I always refused to go because I was scared what my friends would think about me. I was afraid I would make a fool of myself. Don't worry: everyone else thinks that about themselves too, and quite frankly, no one really cares what you do. It will be a great chance to make some new memories and friends before you go on into high school, and it will teach you what you have to do when you go up into middle school. I repeat: Go to school dance parties. It will be a total blast.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

      Right now, I am reading a book called the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy written by Douglas Adams. The main story is about a man named Arthur Dent, whose home planet, Earth, gets destroyed as early in as chapter 3. (Well, that escalated quickly.....) He and his friend, Ford Prefect, whom Arthur thought was human and actually turns out to be an alien from the planet Betelgeuse, uses the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to explore the universe. During their adventure, they run into all sorts of incidents and creatures.
      This book is so fascinating because it is so amazingly unpredictable, throwing all sorts of wacky and out-of-the-world stories that are so hilarious. Personally, half the time I am reading this book I have absolutely no idea what is going on. However, the setting of the book and the way the story unfolds is bound to crack you up and make you want to continue reading this book. The thing I like most is all the humor and jokes behind the story, and that is why I like this book so much, and the reason I am recommending this book to you.
     

Comments: Week Three

Lathan- My New Phone

Sa'Veon- World War Z

9/11 Terrorist Attack

      The citizens of New York City watched in horror as two airplanes collided into the two buildings of the World Trade Center, bringing both of them to the ground. I am talking, of course, about the 9/11 World Trade Center Terrorist Attack in New York City. On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists from the terrorist group Al Qaeda hijacked four planes mid-flight and flew two of them into the World Trade Center buildings. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in this tragedy.
      After reading this article, I found out just how severely the U.S. was affected by this incident and what measures the government has taken to prevent any accidents like these from happening anymore, such as tightening airport securities and creating the Department of Homeland Security. The affect the tragedy of 9/11 changed the U.S. greatly, and I am relieved to see so many efforts to prevent any accidents from reoccurring. The two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center buildings were not the only ones hijacked by Al Qaeda. Two other planes were hijacked that day. One crashed into the Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia, and the other crash-landed into a remote spot in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The fourth plane was believed to be targeted for the White House or the U.S. Capitol, but was stopped by the passengers on board, who later all perished in the crash. I feel great respect for these people who stopped the disastrous 9/11 incident from getting any worse.

link:http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3756477

Comments: Week 2

Lathan- My Phone

DJ- My Labor Day Weekend

Comments: Week 1

Sutter- The Great Escape

Ricky- The Warf Orange Beach

This Weekend

      "Finally!" I shouted as we pulled up into my friend's driveway. We were in Dallas this weekend to move some items into our house, and we managed to get into contact with one of my closest friends, who moved to Dallas a few years ago. They told me I could have a sleepover, which excited me so much! I haven't seen(or even been in contact with) him in so long, and I was pumped. I was so excited, I was tossing and turning in my bed the whole night. I could not wait to meet their entire family once again, to see how much my friend has changed, and to hear the stories of how they were doing in Dallas. 

      I got out of the car with all my bags, walked up the stone steps, and rang the doorbell. I immediately recognized that bark of their pet dog that greeted me. A second later, my friend opened the door and invited us in. As soon as I stepped through the door, their dog greeted us vigorously. Their cat was under the living room table, as usual. Everything was so familiar, I was slightly overwhelmed. We exchanged greetings, then went up to my friend's room. The moment I entered the room, I immediately knew I was in for a fun weekend!

Second Reading Response: the Hunger Games (spoilers)

      The Hunger Games is a book written by Suzanne Collins, and she does a great job of telling a suspenseful story. You can never predict when some event is going to happen, which makes you want to continue reading. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, lives in a nation called Panem, which is divided into twelve districts. The capitol selects two people from each district to compete against the others in a death match to remind the districts that the capitol has absolute power. Katniss volunteers to join when her sister gets picked to compete, and then she must fight to return back home.

      I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a book with lots of suspense, drama, and action. Like I wrote above, you can never tell when the author is going to throw a plot twist at us, so it makes us want to read it further. The book is filled with vivid details, letting the readers imagine the scene inside their heads and immersing us with the story. The storyline is very original, and the author does a great job conveying the feelings of the main characters to us while we are reading. Katniss tries so hard to return to her home where her family awaits her with nervousness, and in the end she survives and wins the Hunger Games. The lesson I would learn from this book would be: never give up, and always persevere in times of hardships. 

Self- Introduction

      Hi, everyone! My name is Daniel Kim, but call me Danny please. (I find it much more comfortable.) I am from South Korea, as some of you may or may not know, so feel free to ask me anything you want to know about South Korea! I started attending school here in the U.S. in third grade, went back to Korea for sixth grade, and came back here in seventh grade.(I know, right?) I like to play basketball, as it was my first team sport I ever played here in America, and I like to play games and watch anime. This is my first time ever attending Episcopal, so I will gladly accept help from anyone!
      I have one older sister, who is currently attending a school in Switzerland. My favorite subject is science, as I love experimenting. I play the cello, electric guitar, and drums. I have played music ever since I was a child, and music helped me get through some tough times in my life. I love listening to classic and rock music. I wish to attend college at Japan, as I am very interested in robotics. I wish I can have a good time with everyone!

First Reading Response: Animal Farm

      Today I will introduce you to a book called Animal Farm, written by George Orwell. The basic plot of the story takes place in England and revolves around the farm animals of the Manor Farm revolting against their abusive owner, taking the farm for their own, and trying to establish a community where all animals are considered equal. However, as time goes on, some farm animals start to gain power, and eventually the society they created turns into a dictatorship. This novel incorporates real events in the past into its storyline, and is based off of the Russian Communist Revolution and the dictatorship of Josef Stalin. These historical events match the same events that takes place in Animal Farm.
      I like this novel very much because it takes such a big historical event and turns it into a simple story. If you do not know the Russian Communist Revolution, you may not understand the full depth of the storyline and the characteristics and behavior of each character. All characters and events are based off of other people and events during the Communist Revolution, so it is fun to be able to draw ties between the novel and the past event. It is fun to read this novel without knowing the connection to the Communist Revolution and still have fun reading, but knowing the ties between the novel and the event allows you to see the full depth of the story that George Orwell was trying to tell us. He manages to recount the entire story of the Russian Communist Revolution and sums it up in a single book about animals, and that is why I recommend this book to everyone.