Writing Prompts

Writing Prompt #14
What are some questions and concerns you have about growing up and adulthood?
       I know we have to go through somethings while we are growing up, but what are those things? and does everybody have to necessarily go through some of the same things? Another question is how are we supposed to know when and what to do when we grow up? Should we even try to grow up at all? Do we have to?
       Is growing up a requirement or a choice? What are the expectations of adulthood?

#5
What are some important realizations and/or epiphanies that you have had about yourself, family, friends and the world overall? How did you arrive at these realizations?

•        Most people kind of thinks the worst of themselves: they're too ugly, they're not good enough, nobody cares about them, blah blah blah. 

                I actually believe that people do this, actually I've witnessed it. I know a lot of people that have just given up on themselves and nothing you say can change their minds. I mean maybe they are just fishing for compliments but I don't know I think that people really need to stop with all of that. If you really think that about yourself, you need to change that, you have to be good for something.

                  

#6

What is rebellion? Why do so many young people "rebel"? Is rebellion a necessary element of growing up?

       I think rebellion is when you know you are supposed to do one thing but you do the other just to annoy people and see what they do. I mean.

       I think young people rebel because they feel like they don't have enough freedom and that is a big way of getting attention, even if the attention is bad.They also might have a problem with authority. I am one of those people that if I don't want to do something, I won't do it, and if  I do do it, I'll do it halfway and with a "slight" attitude. So the people who rebel also just might not want to do what they are told. But then after a while ( im not there yet) they'll finally see that what they are doing is not the right way, even if they think it is.

       I think that in some cases rebelling is a good thing because it gives the person a chance to experience that what they are doing is wrong. They'll just learn the hard way.

#12

How do family and friends influence are coming of age?

       I think family and friends influence our coming of age a whole lot and in many different ways. Because sometimes they'll try to save you from certain things that you are probably not supposed to be saved from and it will mess up the natural flow of things.

       You might have some bad friends who will lead you into things that will force you to grow up and learn the hard way like smoking and drinking. Or you might have some good friends who who will lead you into other things that will also force you grow up like hard decisions about your future. Your family on the other hand will always try to keep you from things but it doesn't always work out.

       So really I think that they have the biggest impact on you and your life. There will be examples and bad examples, so you have to choose who to listen to.

Final Reading Response To: Sweet Dates in Basra

The coming of age book that I picked is, Sweet Date in Basra by Jessica Jiji. So far I really like most of the book, just not the aspect of the main character, Kathmiya, having to be s slave/worker, to pick up the slack for everybody else in her family. I also don't like the fact that she can't get married because her dad favors her sister of her.

This book is about this girl named Kathmiya Mahmoud who has to work as a maid in an unfamiliar town of Basra. They say that "her only asset is her exquisite beauty, and that brings her more peril than peace". But then this Jewish boy named Shafiq kind of turns her world upside down. From what I've read so far, he is the only one who brings her warmth besides her mother Jamilia. She likes to hang out with him and of course he thinks she is extraordinarily beautiful. But he understands her in a way.

So right now what is going on in the book I don't really like it just yet. I mean it's interesting but it's kind of sad. I think that first Kathmiya's dad needs to stop being so stuck up and annoying. He doesn't even appreciate what she does for the family. Kahmiya's sister needs to stop being a b****. She's always telling Kathmiya that she feels sorry for her that she doesn't get to get married, but you can tell she doesn't mean it. She also treats Kathmiya more like a slave than a sister. So she needs to stop. Now her mom, I like her just fine. She treats her like a daughter. She give Kathmiya love and respect and I like her for that.


Now Shafiq on the other hand has a nice life. He has a mom and dad and brother who loves him, and a friend that loves him like a brother, " I love you like a brother" Omar said. He doesn't have to work at all for anything he does. So compared to Kathmiya he is living the sweet life. 


He really likes Kathmiya and he wants to marry her but he is shy boy and he knows that she might not be able to marry at all. So he does the slightest things that he thinks might make her happy, like teach her how to read and write, so that they can write notes to each other.


Now I think that they should be able to love each other without having to hide it but they can't because their parents are bums. So they are forced to grow up the hard way. They are treated like adults on some things but then like children  on others, which I think is really unfair. I mean it is like the carpet from their childhood was ripped out from under them, and they can't really get back up.

Writing Prompt # 2

What are the main similarities and differences of childhood and adulthood?

Differences:

Adulthood:
You have a whole lot of responsibility
You sometimes get respect but then sometimes you don't
You don't depend on your parents
You have to work for what you get
You have so much to worry about unless you're a couch potato

Childhood:
You don't have a lot of responsibilty
You don't have a lot of respect
You still depend on your parents
You are carefree and you don't have to worry about anything

Similarites:
You will always have people who love you and want to be around
You always will always be someone to somebody
You will always be you no matter what.

Coming of Age Reading Response

The coming of age book that I picked is, Sweet Date in Basra by Jessica Jiji. So far I really like most of the book, just not the aspect of the main character, Kathmiya, having to be s slave/worker, to pick up the slack for everybody else in her family. I also don't like the fact that she can't get married because her dad favors her sister of her.

This book is about this girl named Kathmiya Mahmoud who has to work as a maid in an unfamiliar town of Basra. They say that her only asset is her exquisite beauty, and that brings her more peril than peace. But then this Jewish boy named Shafiq kind of turns her world upside down. From what I've read so far, he is the only one who brings her warmth besides her mother Jamilia. She likes to hang out with him and of course he thinks she is extraodinarily beautiful. But he understands her in a way.

So right now what is going on in the book I don't really like it just yet. I mean it's interesting but it's kind of sad. I think that first Kathmiya's dad needs to stop being so stuck up and annoying. He doesn't even appreciate what she does for the family. Kahmiya's sister needs to stop being a b****. She's always telling Kathmiya that she feels sorry for her that she doesn't get to get married, but you can tell she doesn't mean it. She also treats Kathmiya more like a slave than a sister. So she needs to stop. Now her mom, I like her just fine. She treats her like a daughter. She give Kathmiya love and respect and I like her for that.

Final Independent Reading Book Response

I 'm reading this book called Roses are Red, By James Patterson. I first found out about this book because I was exploring the other teachers blogger pages and I came across Gigi's blogger and a lot of others. She was talking about this book and how good it was. So I decided to give it a try and I don't usually read mystery books, I've never actually really liked just the idea of them.But I have to say, as my first real mystery book it was really good.

       This book is all about a guy who calls himself the Mastermind. I really believe that he is a mastermind by the way he plans out the bank robberies and killings that he orchestrates. It is also about this guy named Alex Cross who is trying to figure out who the mastermind is and catch him. Alex is the main character of this book and he is a pretty good detective, one of the best in the city and he can't even figure out who the mastermind is.

        I really like how the author, James Patterson, writes the book. He writes it so that the prologue is in the  point of view of someone who is working for the mastermind. Then the book is written so that almost every other chapter is either the mastermind or Alex. And even though he is a bestselling author for adults, I don't think that it's intentional, but he writes it so that even me, a thirteen year old, can understand. I like that he does that, I think he does it so that everyone can understand it so then everyone wants to read and then BAM! Bestselling author.

       While reading this book it was frustrating and thrilling not to know who the Mastermind was. I like mystery movies that have a huge surprise at the end. This one wasn't predictable like some mystery books.  I like how I wasn't able to figure it out until the end when the book told you who the Mastermind was. Also a lot of mystery books I read I sometimes get so annoyed at the repeating cases or something in the book that  I just look at the end of the book to see who or what is causing the problems in the book. This one I didn't even think about doing that. I liked not knowing who it was, but I also didn't like it and I felt like I was trying to solve the case with Alex and Betsy ( Betsy is a fellow detective but also she is a rebound for Alex's wife, Christine, who divorced him).  The reader of the book  found out certain things before Alex and Betsy because we have both the Mastermind and Alex's point of view but we both didn't know who the mastermind was. But of course I couldn't really do anything ( like scream at the book: that would make me look like a crazy person) if I actually did find anything out, I just had to wait with anticipation while the characters in the book tried to solve certain things by themselves.

       I think that the ending was the best (don't worry I'm not going to spoil it for you). It was just so shocking I didn't know how to react to it. It was just like, BOOM, you know. It left me with my mouth open for literally like a minute. After that I rushed over to everyone around me and tried to tell them about the book but I only got to my brother, Elijah, because I ended up making the description so detailed, he wanted to read the book and I just had to watch for his reaction.

       This book was so good I think that anybody would like it , I loved it. I like all kind of fiction books, but I have to say I never really gave the mystery books a try and this being my first mystery book that i have read was a good start, and I think that I would like to read more of James Patterson books. or just any mystery books.

Revised Reading Response of Roses are Red

I 'm reading this book called Roses are Red, By James Patterson. I first found out about this book because I was exploring the other teachers blogger pages and I came across Gigi's blogger and a lot of others. She was talking about this book and how good it was. So I decided to give it a try and I have to say it was ridiculously good.

       This book is all about a guy who calls himself the Mastermind. I really believe that he is a mastermind by the way he plans out the bank robberies and killings that he orchestrates. It is also about this guy named Alex Cross who is trying to figure out who the mastermind is and catch him. Alex is the main character of this book and he is a pretty good detective, one of the best in the city and he can't even figure out who the mastermind is.

        I really like how the author, James Patterson, writes the book. He writes it so that the prologue is in the  point of view of someone who is working for the mastermind. Then the book is written so that almost every other chapter is either the mastermind or Alex. And even though he is a bestselling author for adults, I don't think that it's intentional, but he writes it so that even me, a thirteen year old, can understand.

       While reading this book it was frustrating and thrilling not to know who the Mastermind was. I like mystery movies that have a huge surprise at the end. This one wasn't predictable like some mystery books.  I like how I wasn't able to figure it out until the end when the book told you who the Mastermind was. Also a lot of mystery books I read I sometimes get so annoyed at the repeating cases or something in the book that  I just look at the end of the book to see who or what is causing the problems in the book. This one I didn't even think about doing that. I liked not knowing who it was, but I also in't like it and I felt like I was trying to solve the case with Alex and Betsy ( Betsy is a fellow detective but also she is a rebound for Alex's wife, Christine, who divorced him).  The reader of the book ( which was me) found out certain things before Alex and Betsy because we have both the Mastermind and Alex's point of view but we both didn't know who the mastermind was. But of course I couldn't really do anything ( like scream at the book: that would make me look like a crazy person if I was in a public place) if I actually did find anything out, I just had to wait with anticipation while the characters in the book tried to solve certain things by themselves.

       I think that the ending was the best (don't worry I'm not going to spoil it for you). It was just so shocking I didn't know how to react to it. It was just like, BOOM, you know. It left me with my mouth open for literally like a minute. After that I rushed over to everyone around me and tried to tell them about the book but I only got to my brother, Elijah, because I ended up making the description so detailed, he wanted to read the book and I just had to watch for his reaction.

       This book was so good I think that anybody would like it , I loved it. I like all kind of fiction books, but I have to say I never really gave the mystery books a try and this being my first mystery book that i have read was a good start, and I think that I would like to read more of James Patterson books. or just any mystery books.

Extra Credit: Reading Response to movie and Book that I have read and Watched

       The movie (well not a movie) I've watched, and the book I've read is Heroes: Season 2. The books are comic books (which I don't usually read) and the series is all about these  main characters who have different powers, and people don't know it yet.I think that all of their powers are really cool, so let me tell you what they are:
Claire Bennet- Self Healing
Noah Bennet, -Nothing really, but he plays a huge rule in the whole show
Sylar- can absorb the powers of people he kills
Nathan Petrelli, - flying
Peter Petrelli, - before, in season 1, he used to be able to have the power of people he was around, now he has like everybody's powers because when he "killed" Sylar in season 1, I think he got Sylar's power
Hiro Nakumura, - can travel through time and space
Mohinder Suresh, - he is just like Noah, he doesn't have a power but he plays a very big role in the whole show, and he is a scientist for the people with powers.
Matt Parkman, - read peoples' minds
Niki Sanders, - can change personalities, but her other unusual side is way stronger, smarter, and more everything than she is.
Micah Sanders- can do anything with any electronic like he can go up to an ATM machine and just touch it and get money out of it.
West Rosen- can also fly
Maya- can kill people by putting a darkness in them and making them kind of bleed black stuff out of their eyes
Alejandro- when Maya's episodes come he helps her by kind of absorbing the darkness out of her, but he is immune to it.

 I think that the book is very different from the show, because in the show different things happen than in the books. It's just like any other show that starts with a pilot. They start out the same way as the book but then by the third episode it drifts off the plot line. Except the books I think were made after the show.

Even though they are different I think they are both very good.  I like the show a lot and I like the book not as much but it still very good.

The show and books differ a lot from regular tv shows that are based on books. Because first of all the books are all comics and they have very little dialogue and description. In the tv show they have a whole lot of dialogue and description, so I think that is supposed to be the other way around. Second the plot line is so messed up. Because in the first season as is in the books, there is this main phrase that says "Save the cheerleader, save the world". They have to save the cheerleader from Sylar.  Claire is the cheerleader and since Sylar can absorb any power of any person he kills, if he gets Claire he will be unstoppable in destroying the world because he can never die. Now in the second season, there is a whole new plot line of this virus that this company made that can stop the virus but will also kill 93 percent of the worlds population in just a year so, pretty messed up.

I think theis book and tv show is unique to other tv shows that are based of of books and it is also a really good tv show, I don't to much like the books.

IRB Reading Response 1st Draft

      I 'm reading this book called Roses are Red, By James Patterson. I first found out about this book because I was exploring the other teachers blogger pages and I came across Gigi's blogger and a lot of others. She was talking about this book and how good it was. So I decided to give it a try and I have to say it was ridiculously good.

       This book is all about a guy who calls himself the Mastermind. I really believe that he is a mastermind by the way he plans out the bank robberies and killings that he orchestrates. It is also about this guy named Alex Cross who is trying to figure out who the mastermind is and catch him.


        I really like how the author, James Patterson, writes the book. The first chapter is in the point of view of someone working for the Mastermind, then the rest were of the point of views of Alex and the Mastermind every other chapter. I also like how even thought this author is this bestselling author for adult books it wasn't hard to understand what was going on at all.

       While reading this book it was frustrating and thrilling not to know who the Mastermind was. I like mystery books that have a huge surprise at the end. That it wasn't predictable like some mystery books.  I like how I wasn't able to figure it out until the end when the book told you who the Mastermind was. Also a lot of mystery books I read I sometimes get so annoyed at the repeating cases or something in the book that  I just look at the end of the book to see who or what is causing the problems in the book. This one I didn't even think about doing that. I liked not knowing who it was and I felt like I was trying to solve the case with Alex and Betsy.  The reader of the book found out certain things before Alex and Betsy because we have both the Mastermind and Alex's point of view but we both didn't know who the mastermind was. But of course I couldn't really do anything if I actually did find anything out, I just had to wait with anticipation while the characters in the book tried to solve certain things by themselves.

       I think that the ending was the best (don't worry I'm not going to spoil it for you). It was just so shocking I didn't know how to react to it.

       This book was so good I think that anybody would like it , I loved it. I like all kind of fiction books, but I have to say I never really gave the mystery books a try and this being my first mystery book that i have read was a good start, and I think that I would like to read more of James Patterson books.

Three Favorite Blogs

Gabriel Sturdivant
I like his blog because even though some of them were short, they got to the point. I like that they were funny, serious, and sometimes in the middle. And there was originality in all of his responses. He puts what he cares about on the blog, and you can tell.

Sarah Safran
I like her blog responses because they all really explain what she's thinking. Even though you haven't read whatever she read, you can still get a lot about it by just reading her responses. Also I think she really cares about the stuff that she writes and thinks deeply about all of them.

Jasmine Pacheco
I like her blog responses because she's kind of a mix between Gabriel and Sarah. Though some of her responses may not be that long, you can see that she really cares about what she writes and she puts a whole lot of details in her blogs. And I just really like the way she explains herself in the blogs.

Response to "My Papa's Waltz"

      

       I first read this poem in the seventh grade with Mr. Ravin and he told us, well gave us the idea that the poem is about a father abusing his child when he was drunk. Now that I look at it in the way described in class, I think that it about a boy and his father actually doing the waltz. But there is still the doubt in my mind that it is really about abuse because of the title and because of the content in the poem.

       I really like this poem and when i talked about in class with my group at first I agreed with Peter that the dad was hitting him every time he got the dance wrong, or he was just hitting him and the narrator was trying to soften it up. But then I switched to Ruby's side because what she was saying was actually making sense and it made more sense than what Peter was saying.

       This poem is either about a boy and his father doing the waltz or about a father beating his kid because he is drunk. And what I usually witness is that whenever someone is drunk they start stuff with people and then a fight or beat down usually starts. But I could be wrong.

       

    

Poem with Specific Rhyming Scheme

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I love you
You know you love me too.

Poem on important event

The day they fell down
was a day of chaos
The day they fell down
was a day of confusion
The day they fell down
was a day of hardship
They day they fell down
was a day of remembrance
The day they fell down
9/11

Poem on a peice of artwork

Mona Lisa

Straight face
Excited eyes
Simple clothes
Pained memories
A new beginning

The Starry Night Poetry Response

       I didn't even read the poem I only read the title and I thought that Anne Sexton was just going to describe the painting, The Starry Night. But then I read it and saw that it wasn't like that at all.

       She kind of did describe Van Gogh's painting in a way because I remember the thing that our class thought was a tree, castle, or tower and I remember her describing that in the poem. And in our class discussion on the painting we also said that the town was silent and kind of dark. We said that the sky was the real thing we should be looking at and the contrast between the silent town and the active sky.

       In her poem she took that painting and made it into something that she could relate to and something she herself would understand. It meant something to her even if it didn't mean really anything to us. I think she focused on the town more than the starry night because her poem was really dark and she incorporated the dark things of the poem and made it into a poem about death. And how she wants to die. And she put all the things she thought was dark in the painting and put that in her poem and said she wants to die by those things. Also I realized the only reason she put a little bit of the starry night into the poem she even finds a way to make that dark and says she wants to die under the stars.

       Now me I wouldn't write a poem about the way I want to die, I would be writing about the good things in life and a way to live my life. I would not write about death. And even if I were supposed to I would write about the things I want to do before I die, fun things not emo stuff like that.

Analysis On Painting

 I did the Mona Lisa by Leonardo DaVinci.

       This picture doesn't have a lot of bright colors and it looks like Mona Lisa was cut and paste from somewhere else and put into the picture. But she still fits in with her surroundings because she looks kind of dull and so do the mountains and rivers and skies behind her. The only colors he actually uses are a very, very, dull yellow and green, and red. And of course black. The women herself looks like she could be a nun because she is not smiling a lot but looks like she wants to smile even more than that. And she is wearing all black and it looks like the clothes are really old and fit for one of the times where women couldn't express themselves.

Inferences:
       I think that Mona Lisa could be a servant girl in her time and she was really sad in life but then the smile that she has I think says that she is optimistic and thinks that things are going to get better than they are already are. But all of that is contradicted by the clothes that she has on because her clothes kind of look like silk or velvet. And I'm thinking that in her time servant girls didn't have velvet or silk. Barely even now.

Interpretations:
I looked at Gabriel's to answer this and I agree with him. I think the painting is trying to capture one moment of life that is really good and is saying to kind of enjoy that moment while it lasts. But it is a pretty weird surrounding to put it in, if he was trying to capture that moment.

December Reading Challenge

The book I read and the movie I watched for this challenge was, I Love You, Beth Cooper.

       I really liked both the movie and the book because they were both so funny and also really kind of stupid at the same time. The movie is very much like the book up until the very end where they cut out a whole seen from the ending. I watched the movie first and then read the book after so at the end of the book while I was reading I'm thinking this book is so wrong, that doesn't really happen, but really it's the other way around.

       All movies generally cut stuff out because all of the descriptions that are in the book, they show you in just one picture in the movie when it takes like a page to describe it in the book. The movie had almost all the lines that were in the book. All of the characters said what they said in the movie in the book.

       The book was really funny and I like the Larry Doyle's style because it's not like he's trying really hard to make the book sound really professional and appropriate for some people by saying things in a different context. He's says it just how is is and that what I think all author's should do that to. Also some of the words that we had in vocab review were in this book also.

       The movie wasn't as funny as the book because with the book you could imagine in your own way how that characters looked and you could make your own movie in your head while your reading. The movie kind of crushes that imagination and shows you what the author sees but it's not always how you wan't that world to look like. The movie also cut out a kind of important scene but the movie did good without it too.

       I think that both the movie and the book were really good and I liked them both.