Expectations

Over the course of high school expect many hings from my self. Some of which are academic and some of which are personal goals. These goals consist of getting only getting above 80 percent on every grade on my report cards. Another academic goal i have for high school is to pass all three parts of the WASL my freshman year so i don't have to do them later.
Not only do i have academic expectations for myself i also have person goals i want to achieve. These goals consist of only getting a ride i to school when i really need one but every other day just ride my bike to school. This will help the climate crisis very little but if everyone did it it would help so much. Another goal i have for myself that i expect to achieve is being on a varsity high school team of some sort. I was on JV for tennis this year but i hope to practice alot this year and summer and hopefully make varsity next year.

My poem

At first when i read "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer I knew I would perform it for poetry out loud. The thing that caught my interest about the poem was two things, the last stanza and the rhymes throughout the poem. Humor in the last stanza is the reason why I liked that, and I agree with what he is saying about how beautiful trees are. Also i liked the rhymes in the poem that are in every stanza, and how he knows he can't make a poem more beautiful than a tree.
I think this poem means more to me personally than just saying that there is no poem as beautiful as a tree. I believe in god and that he created all things and i think Joyce Kilmer does to because he said at the end, "only God can make a tree". That is what personal conneciton I have with the poem and the poet for that matter. It also means that i think not just trees but things made by god in general made by God are beautiful.

The Road Not Taken

In the poem "The Road Not Taken", by Robert Frost, I think the different road motif is symbolizing life choices in everyday situations. This poem he talks about how he wishes he could take both but in the end he chooses the road less traveled. Frost mentions that both are equally fair, showing that the choice was hard and taking one would be all the difference. I think that is just like everyday life, how every decision makes a difference.
This is not any different in my life, and i am sure many other peoples lives. Everyone i am sure has had to make a life changing decision like this poem is talking about. A decision in my life that was hard was when i wanted to continue with baseball or not and i chose not to which has made a difference but i think it is a good one. I chose tennis instead and i like it a lot more but if only i could do both.

The Movie.

In the movie the part that i was expecting to be much more like the book was when the kids sneek out and look in boo's window. I thought is would be much less suspenseful and would have lasted a bit longer. Also all three of the kids, Dill, Jem, and Scout all went up to the porch which was not the case in the book. They did a good job portraying the kids and them being scared, but i don't remember there being a shadow that scared them.
When i read the scene in the book i was picturing it being draw out longer and when Aurthur Radley shot the shotgun i thought it had more of an effect on the community. Instead overyone just came outside and asked what was going on. I like both ways, in the movie and in the book, and i loook forward to seeing the rest of the movie.

Mockingbird questions #6

When i was reading the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, I learned many lessons from different characters. Mostly from Atticus's wise comments to Jem and Scout about how to treat others with respect and how to react to some things. Also i learned some lessons from the kids from their actions and what happened to them and what mistakes they made. One lesson I learned was from Atticus when he said, "You can't know someone until you have walked around in their shoes", i think he is right about this. I think he is saying that people are different and you can't know why unless you look a gander in their shoes.
Another Lesson i learned was from when Jem and Scout were saved by Boo Radley durring their walk home after the pageant. In this instance he was kind of an angel that has been watching them their whole life and came to save them. There is someone like this for everyone wether you have been saved already or he/she is still watching you. This, among others was my most important lesson of the book because it also taught me, if you are scared of something it probably is not that bad and may eventually aid you in some way.

Mockingbird questions #5

Throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird Jem and Scout learn life lessons from things that happen and are also taught lessons by their peers. One lesson from chapters 22-28 is when Atticus was explaining why Tom had lost the trial he said to Jem "-whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is...that white man is trash"(page 220). I think this lesson is, because you have an advantage over someone that doesn't mean you have to use it. Like earlier in the book Mrs. Maudie said that Atticus is a dead shot. He does not take advantage of that, i think that is what he is trying to teach Jem to do.
I do not have many ways i could take advantage of people and i don't know many people that could either. One way is i used to go to pioneer with a retarded kid and i sometimes, thinking i was funny, might take advantage of him and blame things i did on him. This is not the case now because i never see him and plus i would never do that...anymore. I am glad at OHS there is not a lot of people that get picked on or taken advantage of and again i think that is what Atticus was trying to teach Jem.

Mockingbird questions #4

The theme that i think most comes out in the story, to Kill A Mockingbird, is justice vs. injustice. I thought this was a big theme in the story because there is a lot of racism in the book where white people for the most part get their justice and black people are treated unfairly. For instance when Jem, Scout, Dill and the Reverend went to the balcony to sit and watch the trial "Four Negroes rose and gave us their front-row seats"(page 164). This shows injustice because that is how all black people are supposed to act and it is frowned upon when they don't. They should be able to sit where ever they want to and not have to give up something like a seat in the front row, but this was how it was in that time.
Another example of the theme justice vs. injustice is when Tom Robinson is convicted of raping Mayella Ewell. I think Mr. Ewell is the one who beat up his daughter and there is no proof that Tom did it, and the fact that he is black is the only reason why he was even sent to jail. This kind of shows it's self when the narrator says "All...that made him any better than his nearest neighbors was, that if scrubbed with lye soap in very hot water, his skin was white". This shows if Tom was white he would be just as good or better than Mr. Ewell and he would not be charged with this when there is no evidence.

Mockingbird questions #3

I think Atticus has some good qualities and some bad qualities as a father. One thing that he does not do is be as affectionate as some parents and he doesn't show his love as publicly as some parents. Also i would say that he is a modest father and although the rest of the family think of themselves as better the others he does not, he thinks everyone is equal. You can tell he does when he says, "Alexandra, Calpurnia's not leaving this house until she wants to. You may think otherwise, but I couldn't have got along without her all these years..." durring a conversation with his sister that thinks calpurnia, the black cook, should be fired. One example of Atticus's parenting ways is when Jem goes crazy on Mrs. Dubose's flowers he makes him go over and read to her. Also when Jem and Scout come home and tell him that she has been calling him a nigger-lover he is not bothered by it and tells them not to be either. This shows he knows how to handle things and it shows he is wise and a good, honest man. In this section he is trying the make his kids be more forgiving and teach them that they have to pay for their consiquenses.

Atticus is like my parents in some ways but not too many. One way in which he is like my parents is that he is older than most parents, and my parents don't have to much that i can show off or anything very physical. One thing that is the same for most parents is that my parents don't think they are better than anyone and they are not racist and Attucis isn't either.

Mockingbird questions #2

I think there are a few mysterious events lately in the book that could be traced back to Boo Radley. These mysteries are not bad things he is doing but instead they are nice things, like when there was gum in the knot whole in the tree i think he was behind that. Until his brother filled the whole with cement so Boo would not have any fun. Also i think Boo was behind sewing Jem's pants together because it said it was not a very good job and it was like they were waiting for him. These events show that Boo is not a bad guy and i think on the inside he is pretty nice and thoughtful.
It helps the Jem and Scout's thoughts about Boo because it makes them think more of what he wants to do and less what they want him to do. Also it showed them that he was made to think that that all you should do is read the bible and have no other pleasures "they thought i spent to much time in God's outdoors and not enough time inside the house reading the Bible". When they acted it out in the front yard they stopped because Atticus said it was rude to do that and not to do it agian.

Mockingbird questions #1

My first impression of Boo Radley was he was a really weird guy that you would not want to mess with. This was because of all the rumors the kids say even though i don't think its true. I don't think the rumors are true that Boo Radley eats squirrels and walk up to Jem's house and look inside his window at night. The kids are in first grade and this all does not sound like something that would be true knowing that jem heard some of it from the neighborhood gossiper. I think people of Maycomb would make up these things because some of it might be true but when someone tells someone else something in a small community it can become much different from what it really was.
I think in the situation of Boo Radley i would react most like Jem. I think I would be like him because I am usually the one to take all the dares and tell all the stories. Also i would be the one that passes on rediculous rumors and stories while doing so make them more unrealistic. I think Jem did all of this because on page 11 jem recalled one time one time when Boo radley was heard from again. Once when Boo was sitting in the living room cutting up a newspaper for his scrap book, "as Mr.Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent's leg, pulled them out, and resumed his activities.". This is one example of him stretching the story i little bit i think.

Best thing so far in English

The best thing so far in English is when we got to write the story about ourselves. I always enjoy sharing about my family and me. I also like i writing stories and reports, which are my favorite things to do in English.