It was fun having class with all of you. We made a lot of jokes and we had a good time, when we weren't doing work. I enjoyed working with those who I was partnered with, and hope to see some of you in English next year. I believe that as a class, we worked very hard and were successful on everything we did - tests, quizzes, vocabulary cards, etc.
I hope that all of you will continue to keep up the hard work next year! We all did so well this year, and I hope our hard work pays off next year.
Again, it was great working with you guys, and I can't wait to be a sophomore next year and see all of our progress!!
Best,
Caitlin.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Participation Review
This year I believe that I participated well enough, but I lacked really the "talking" part of class. I took diligent notes everyday when needed, and use those notes for studying. I am really still very shy, and do not like to talk in class and will stay to myself most of the time, unless I HAVE to talk in class. I plan to stay this way, because I can't seem to get over my shyness.
I definitely DO NOT engage in conversations, knowing that I barely talk in class anyway. So I believe that yes, I do pay attention in class, knowing that English is in fact my hardest class.
I definitely DO NOT engage in conversations, knowing that I barely talk in class anyway. So I believe that yes, I do pay attention in class, knowing that English is in fact my hardest class.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Seniors 2012
So this week was the last week for the Seniors. I'm going to miss all of my senior friends so much. I'm sure they'll do really well in their colleges, and I'm very excited that a lot of them are staying and going to LSU. I've developed really close relationships with some seniors, and they will be missed greatly.
Today was a really hard day for most everyone, and most of us ended up crying. And when Neal brought the Lion King, all of the students in that class signed his shirt and continued to watch the Lion King until Mufasa's death scene, which at that point I was bawling.
So yeah, that was pretty much my week. I plan to go see a movie or have a coffee with Laura tomorrow.
Today was a really hard day for most everyone, and most of us ended up crying. And when Neal brought the Lion King, all of the students in that class signed his shirt and continued to watch the Lion King until Mufasa's death scene, which at that point I was bawling.
So yeah, that was pretty much my week. I plan to go see a movie or have a coffee with Laura tomorrow.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Gravity
Okay I absolutely ADORE this song right now. It's called "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles, who is by the way, an amazing singer!! I just thought that I should share the lyrics with you guys to see what you think the meaning of this song is!
Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long
No matter what I say or do
I'll still feel you here 'til the moment I'm gone
You hold me without touch
You keep me without chains
I never wanted anything so much
Than to drown in your love and not feel your rain
Set me free, leave me be
I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am and I stand so tall
Just the way I'm supposed to be
But you're on to me and all over me
Oh, you loved me 'cause I'm fragile
When I thought that I was strong
But you touch me for a little while
And all my fragile strength is gone
I live here on my knees
As I try to make you see
That you're everything I think I need
Here on the ground
But you're neither friend nor foe
Though I can't seem to let you go
The one thing that I still know is that
You're keeping me down
Oooh
Keeping me down
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
You're on to me, on to me and all over
Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long...
Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long
No matter what I say or do
I'll still feel you here 'til the moment I'm gone
You hold me without touch
You keep me without chains
I never wanted anything so much
Than to drown in your love and not feel your rain
Set me free, leave me be
I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am and I stand so tall
Just the way I'm supposed to be
But you're on to me and all over me
Oh, you loved me 'cause I'm fragile
When I thought that I was strong
But you touch me for a little while
And all my fragile strength is gone
I live here on my knees
As I try to make you see
That you're everything I think I need
Here on the ground
But you're neither friend nor foe
Though I can't seem to let you go
The one thing that I still know is that
You're keeping me down
Oooh
Keeping me down
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
You're on to me, on to me and all over
Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long...
Writing This Year
This year I believe that my writing has not improved, even though I tried to change my writing techniques, the grades only worsened.. I thought I was doing my best for these papers, because I really do try my best to get a good grade on these essays, but I didn't prove myself this year.
In almost all of my writing, I got a comment that my writing was not following the rubric, which I had talked with the teacher about. She suggested reading over the instructions more carefully and I took that and followed her advice, but I guess I still didn't get it. I continued to get these comments about not following instructions and became really confused about everything. "There is a lot to like here, but there is little scene, no controlling idea, little sense of focus." This was a comment from my first paper. When I turned it in, I felt like I was going to receive an exceptional grade on the paper, and an 82 is fine, but the grades continued to deteriorate over time.
On one of my most recent papers, I received yet again, an 82. This was the only paper I believe I actually did sort of well on. After rewriting the literary analysis paper, I finally turned it in, receiving "A's" and "B's" on all of the Ideas except for Support in the Thesis which I thought was the best part of my paper, and I never understood this.
I've learned that I need to work on Citations and MLA Format more. In almost every comment section of all of my papers, I was told to work on citations and MLA Format. I guess I ignored those comments and focused more on the depths of the paper itself. I think that sophomore year will work out better for me now that I've learned to understand writing all together better, I suppose.
I'm going to continue to write for fun, even though it may not be as good as some of my other writings. I'll continue to write in my free time, and hopefully I'll get better not only as I get older but as I mature more in my thinking and writings.
In almost all of my writing, I got a comment that my writing was not following the rubric, which I had talked with the teacher about. She suggested reading over the instructions more carefully and I took that and followed her advice, but I guess I still didn't get it. I continued to get these comments about not following instructions and became really confused about everything. "There is a lot to like here, but there is little scene, no controlling idea, little sense of focus." This was a comment from my first paper. When I turned it in, I felt like I was going to receive an exceptional grade on the paper, and an 82 is fine, but the grades continued to deteriorate over time.
On one of my most recent papers, I received yet again, an 82. This was the only paper I believe I actually did sort of well on. After rewriting the literary analysis paper, I finally turned it in, receiving "A's" and "B's" on all of the Ideas except for Support in the Thesis which I thought was the best part of my paper, and I never understood this.
I've learned that I need to work on Citations and MLA Format more. In almost every comment section of all of my papers, I was told to work on citations and MLA Format. I guess I ignored those comments and focused more on the depths of the paper itself. I think that sophomore year will work out better for me now that I've learned to understand writing all together better, I suppose.
I'm going to continue to write for fun, even though it may not be as good as some of my other writings. I'll continue to write in my free time, and hopefully I'll get better not only as I get older but as I mature more in my thinking and writings.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Outside Reading
This week I just did my homework and read the poems, and read some others in there as well. I had a lot of trouble trying to annotate the four poems that we had to do. I found it very difficult, and I'm still currently working on them. I've tried my best to try and understand how to annotate these correctly, and I've asked for help with them.
Over the break, the EHS concert band went to Europe! So, on the plane, most of us read SkyMall and People magazines, which I was included. There are a lot of interesting things in SkyMall that are useless, pointless, but at the same time, would be fun to have at home.
Over the break, the EHS concert band went to Europe! So, on the plane, most of us read SkyMall and People magazines, which I was included. There are a lot of interesting things in SkyMall that are useless, pointless, but at the same time, would be fun to have at home.
"Called Out in the Dark" by Snow Patrol ((Song Analysis))
"Called Out In The Dark"
It's like we just can't help ourselves
'Cause we don't know how to back down
We were called out to the streets
We were called in to the towns
And how the heavens, they opened up
Like arms of dazzling gold
With our rain washed histories
Well they do not need to be told
Show me now, show me the arms aloft
Every eye trained on a different star
This magic
This drunken semaphore
And I
We are listening
And we're not blind
This is your life
This is your time
We are listening
And we're not blind
This is your life
This is your time
I was called out in the dark
By a choir of beautiful cheats
And as the kids took back the parks
You and I were left with the streets
Show me now, show me the arms aloft
Every eye trained on a different star
This magic
This drunken semaphore
And I
We are listening
And we're not blind
This is your life
This is your time
'Cause we don't know how to back down
We were called out to the streets
We were called in to the towns
And how the heavens, they opened up
Like arms of dazzling gold
With our rain washed histories
Well they do not need to be told
Show me now, show me the arms aloft
Every eye trained on a different star
This magic
This drunken semaphore
And I
We are listening
And we're not blind
This is your life
This is your time
We are listening
And we're not blind
This is your life
This is your time
I was called out in the dark
By a choir of beautiful cheats
And as the kids took back the parks
You and I were left with the streets
Show me now, show me the arms aloft
Every eye trained on a different star
This magic
This drunken semaphore
And I
We are listening
And we're not blind
This is your life
This is your time
The song "Called Out in the Dark" has many poetic elements that I noticed, and therefore chose the very song to analyze. The lyrics above do not count as length, but I did want to show the readers what I outlined and highlighted and what I thought about each thing.
So first off, the pink-ish colour, which looks like this. The band used the phrase "We were called __" and followed with either "in" or "out.", which was shown in red. I noticed the pattern of "opposites" and decided it was somewhat important to the lyrics themselves. Next is the yellow colour. This indicates the rhymes in each stanza and in the refrain "This is your life, This is your time." In each stanza, a rhyme occurs with every other phrase. In the sixth stanza, however, the rhymes occur in each phrase, which I thought was interesting. In the orange colour, the lyrics repeat "show me" which again I thought was interesting. This phrase repeats twice throughout the song. The repetitive words add a little "something" to the song all together, and I think personally, things like that make the song interesting. I listen for patterns in songs, I know, it's weird, but oh well. The dark blue represents in the refrain, the phrases "This magic, this drunken semaphore" which I keep thinking rhymes with the previous phrase "Every eye trained on a different star." It seems to just "fit" like a puzzle piece to one another. It's one of those things that kind of just "works." Finally, the light blue represents the enjambment of "And I" and "We are listening" within the refrain of the song. Recently, I've been looking for different caesuras and enjambments throughout poems. Although this enjambment is not emphasized in the song, it is clearly emphasized through the way the lyrics are put together.
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