Comments Week 23

Sarah - political post-human trafficking

Sophia - Political Post

Political Article

http://www.npr.org/2017/01/29/512305163/fact-check-trump-tweets-on-christians-isis-and-vetting-miss-the-bigger-picture

        Trump has recently issued an executive order banning people from six Muslim countries from coming into the US for ninety days and banning all refugees for 120 days. This is significantly different from his previous executive orders in that the ban does not affect people who have green cards or a valid visa. Nevertheless, this order still bans all other people from Muslim-majority countries, which were two aspects that were still prominent in the previous executive order and were suspended by federal courts. One fact is that 46 percent of 2016 refugees were all Muslim. Trump states that blocking foreign refugees will decrease the amount of terrorist attacks in the US. 

        I disagree with Trump's opinion in several ways, both opinion-based and fact-based. First, Trump's biased views on Muslim terrorists are statistically incorrect, as The World Post states that 94 percent of terrorist attacks from 1985 to 2005, a twenty-year period, were caused by non-Muslims. Blocking refugees from Muslim countries may help the situation, but in my opinion, I think that preventing internal terrorist attacks takes a priority rather than preventing refugees from entering the US. 

Comments Week 22

Sutter - Free Post

Jack - Learning Reflection

Michael Vey: Fall of Hades

       In middle school, I have enjoyed a series called Michael Vey written by Richard Paul Evans. However, I finished the last book in eight grade, and the author did not publish this book until now. When I saw it in the library, I immediately borrowed it. I am not far in the book yet, but I am already enjoying the book immensely. The plot of the Michael Vey series revolves around a high school student called Michael Vey and his friends, who are able to manipulate electricity in different ways, such as disabling electronics, shooting out bolts of electricity, manipulating brain signals to read minds, etc.
        I would recommend this series to anyone who is interested in science fiction, action, and mystery. The objective changes with each story, so it adds variety to the storyline, but the main goal of the series is to take down an organization called Elgen, which is hunting the electric children. There are lots of action in each book, and the plot is not very confusing, so it is very easy to read. I loved this series ever since I was in middle school, and I recommend this to anyone who wants a fun, easy book to read.

Learning Reflections

        Now that I am finished with my third quarter of my freshman year in high school, I have learned many different techniques and methods, especially in English. Doing multiple assignments in class has taught me what kind of student I am. Whenever I am completing an assignment, I feel like I become sidetracked often. I also do not prepare for assignments and tests as early as I should, and find myself doing them at the last minute. I feel that I am most productive when I focus on my work, instead of doing other things.
        Now I know what problems I face in class, and I can make sure to fix them in order to do my best in the last quarter of the year. First, I need to make sure to focus on my work. I have found that getting sidetracked is one of the best ways to lose precious time that you could be using to get my assignments done. Another thing I need to make sure I do is to prepare much earlier. Studying late in the night can make me forget what I am doing, which does not help me much in the way of studying. One last thing is to review whatever I am working on. After I write a paper, I do not spend much time looking over them, which causes me to overlook mistakes I made on my paper.

Comments Week 21

Lathan -  Free Post Prompt

Sarah - Free post-Poem

Comments Week 20

Sutter - Free Post Poem

Hudson - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Free Post

It is that time of year

When the streets of New Orleans 

Start to fill up and bustle

The festive atmosphere begins to fill the air

And people flood into Louisiana 

Eventually the festival begins

And the streets of New Orleans are filled with tourists

The floats pass by out in the streets

Such a vivid mixture of purple, gold, and green

And the smell of King Cake 

Such an exciting festival 

Its name is Mardi Gras

Analyze a Song

        The song I decided to analyze was "Paradise" by Coldplay. This song tells a story of a girl chasing her dreams as she grows older. In the 2nd stanza we can find an example of anaphora, as a phrase is repeated at the beginning of the sentences to describe her environment around her and the harshness and difficulty of pursuing her dreams. The character has a hard time achieving her goals, but she continues to believe that she will eventually be able to. 

In the night the stormy night she'll close her eyes
In the night the stormy night away she'd fly

        This song also uses cacophony to set the mood of the song. In the first and second stanza, Coldplay uses these harsh words to describe the struggles the main character faces while chasing her dreams. 

When she was just a girl she expected the world
But it flew away from her reach and the bullets catch in her teeth
Life goes on, it gets so heavy
The wheel breaks the butterfly every tear a waterfall

        The character is going through a hard time in her life. She is pursuing her dream, but it keeps going outside of her reach, and she feels broken and sad. However, even though he goes through tough times like these, she always believes that she will one day achieve her goal. One of the lines in the fifth stanza is "I know the sun must set to rise," which is an example of metaphor. Coldplay compare the character's dreams to the sun, in which even if her dreams seem like they are gone, they will always come back, just like how the sun sets and rises.