Q2 week 7 comments

Sarah C - What I Love about Christmas 

Ricky - Free Post

Q2 week 6 comments

Caroline - How to make kraft mac and cheese (because im fancy)

Kolin - Symbolism

how to brush your teeth

Brushing your teeth is a very important thing that should be done twice a day in order to maintain clean teeth and a good smile. When brushing your teeth, first, you should unscrew the cap on the tube of toothpaste and squirt a ribbon of toothpaste on the toothbrush. Then, you should scrub your teeth with the toothbrush, rubbing the toothbrush in a circular motion on all of your teeth for 2 minutes. After you should rinse the toothbrush off with water and rinse your mouth out. Then, you should rinse the sink out and make sure to turn the water off. After all of this, your teeth should be clean.

literary analysis

For me, the literary analysis has been very stressful, especially since I missed school from being in the hospital and don't know exactly what I am doing. I feel like the notes we took in class have been helpful to go back and look at to better understand what the literary analysis should look like and all the aspects of it. The most difficult part of this so far is not knowing exactly what I am doing, and feeling like I am doing it wrong or not in a good enough way. I like being able to have the writing center as a resource to be able to go and get help at any point.

I feel like the detailed outline has been very helpful. Even though getting all of my thoughts together at first for the outline was hard and made me think, it is going to be very helpful while writing the paper and having to put everything into paragraphs. I feel like Dr. D is always there to help me too which is a very good thing. I like the notes that she has on canvas. Overall, the literary analysis work has not been very successful for me so far, but hopefully it will get better.

free post-winter time

Winter time is one of my favorite times of the year because it means Christmas is near and you get to spread the Christmas cheer for all the hear. Winter time in Louisiana isn't always exactly a winter wonderland. The weather can go from being hot and humid one day to cold and windy the next day. On those cold winter days, I like to drink hot chocolate while spending time with either my friends or family.

As Christmas is getting closer, it means no school for two whole weeks. A time to spend time with family and friends and not worry about the stress of school. I like sleeping in late every day for those two weeks and then waking up early just on Christmas day for the Christmas festivities to begin such as eating Christmas lunch, being with my family, laughing, having a great time and opening presents. I love winter time because of the weather and Christmas.

comments Q2 week 5

Kolin - Playoff Game in New Iberia

Kaelyn - thanksgiving

critical scene from LOTF

I think a critical scene from Lord of the Flies by William Golding is the scene where Piggy's death occurs. Piggy's death symbolizes the loss of the last string to civilization. Piggy is the fat and nerdy character. Piggy's death is explained in just a short, gruesome, sad paragraph. Piggy's death is a tragic death and is especially important for the readers to understand. Piggy's death is described like a pig's death. On page 181, Golding writes that, "Piggy's arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig's after it has been killed", and this quote describes how Piggy's death was like a pig's. The readers need to notice that Roger was the one to kill Piggy because Roger is one of the violent members of Jack's tribe who is all about killing.

This scene is especially important to the novel as a whole because the death of Piggy and the destruction of the conch, which also happened in this chapter, signify the loss of civilization. Piggy is the character who wants everyone to get along and stay civilized and organized. Piggy acts this way throughout the whole book, and then everything is changed when he dies. The only person who is very upset like no other character about Piggy's death is Ralph. On page 181, Jack says, "See? See? That's what you'll get! I meant that! There isn't a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone-" Jack does not care that Piggy died, and this shows the readers that him and his tribe only care about killing, and the encourage violence. Piggy's death scene was very important to the novel.

thanksgiving traditions

For Thanksgiving every year, I spend it with my family from Dallas and family from Baton Rouge. My family and I who live in Dallas take turns on if they come to us or we go to them every year. Every other year, my mom, brother, dad, and grandparents go to Dallas, and when we don't go there, then my aunt, uncle, and two cousins come to Baton Rouge. If our Thanksgiving dinner is going to be spent in Baton Rouge, then my great-grandparents who are 97 and 98 also join us for dinner. I love getting to be with my family every year on Thanksgiving and getting to see the people I only see a couple times a year. Thanksgiving is a crazy and exciting thing in my family. 

My grandmother always starts cooking our dinner the night before and stays up almost all night cooking and then finishes cooking the next day. We usually have turkey, salad, rolls, and then everyone brings a food of their choice to share with everyone. My brother, cousins, and I get to make dessert every year. Our favorite thing to bake for dessert is turkey cupcakes. Everyone in my family eats until they cant't eat anymore and then we all visit for a couple of hours. After all of that is done, we get to go to our family's camp in Zachary and go hunting. Usually the people who go hunting are my dad, my brother, my uncle, my grandfather, my cousin Rob, and myself. We enjoy getting to go up there together and it is another thing for us to be thankful for. I love spending Thanksgiving with my family every year. 

LOTF response

The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away.  Once there was this and that; and now--and the ship had gone. [... Jack refusing to give Piggy the floor when he has the conch...]

"The rules!" shouted Ralph.  "You're breaking the rules!"

"Who cares?"

Ralph summoned his wits.

"Because the rules are the only thing we've got!"

But Jack was shouting against him.

"Bollocks to the rules!  We're strong--we hunt!  If there's a beast, we'll hunt it down!  We'll close in and beat and beat and beat--!" (91)

In this excerpt from Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph is upset because nothing is working the way he planned it to work. Ralph established a bunch of rules to try to make the island more civilized, but no one is following them. According to Ralph, rules are the only thing that the boys have to keep them organized. Jack is more worried about killing a pig so that they will have meat than about the rules. Jack has an urge to kill which is why he is more worried about hunting than the rules that Ralph established as leader. Jack and Ralph have different opinions about how things should be done on the island. Jack thinks hunting is the most important thing so that everyone can have meat, and Ralph thinks that having rules is the most important thing so that the island can stay organized.

This disagreement is an example of person v. person conflict which is used a lot in the book, considering that a bunch of boys are living on an island with not grownups and might have different opinions on certain things. This excerpt is significant because it gives the readers details as to what life on the island is like according to different people. This event is foreshadowing another event that will happen later in the book related to Jack’s immediate urge to kill. This also shows the readers that Jack and Ralph argue a lot and that Jack also wants to be chief over Ralph.

write your own prompt

Prompt for writing: Who is your favorite character in Lord of the Flies? What is their character type and why are they significant to the story?

From what I have read so far of Lord of the Flies by William Golding, my favorite character is Ralph. Ralph is one of the main characters in this book, he contributes a lot to the story, and he is a significant character. Ralph is one of the older boys who we know a lot about and hear a lot of lines from. Ralph is the character who is very focused on maintaining order to be able to get things done that contribute to being rescued. Ralph is the leader of all the boys because he is the one with the conch shell, which is a symbolic object related to Ralph. The conch shell was used in chapter 1 to bring all of the boys on the island together. Ralph found the shell on the beach and blew into it, which caused the shell to make a loud noise for all the boys to hear, and all the boys came running to the spot where they heard the noise coming from. The boys voted on who they wanted their leader to be, and Ralph got the most votes over Jack because he was the one with the conch shell. If any of the boys have a question, or just don’t know what to do, they turn to Ralph because he is the leader and most of the time knows that he is doing. Ralph is the one who calls all the meetings and establishes which boys will do what job to maintain order on the island with no grownups until they get rescued. I like Ralph a lot because he is the leader, he tries to get things done, and he also tries to make the best out of the situation, which is living on an island with no grownups, until they get rescued.

Ralph is a character with a lot of important traits such as being the leader, which means that he likes to take control over everyone else, serious, and confident. Ralph’s appearance is that he has fair hair, a grey shirt that he was wearing when the plane crashed, good looking, and a golden body, as described by the narrator on page 7 in chapter 1. So far, Ralph is a dynamic character which means he changes throughout the story. Ralph is a round character, which means he has character traits that give him depth, because he is the leader of all of the boys on the island. Being the leader gives Ralph character traits that give him depth such as he knows what he is doing and he knows how to maintain organization without grownups. Ralph’s character is significant to the story because he brought everyone together using the conch shell, he is one of the main characters who has a lot of important scenes and traits, and he is the character who is most focused on being rescued. I am curious to see if these important character traits that Ralph has and the way he acts will contribute to if the boys get rescued from the island or not.

blog comments Q2 week 4

Merritt - Made up story about my worst fear 

Maia - Fulfilling My Life :)

Q2 week 2 comments

Sarah - The Elite

DJ - My "OK" Fall Break

Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a weird and interesting book so far. It is about boys who get in a plane crash and are stranded on an island without any adults. Ralph, one of the main characters, is the leader of the group. One thing I find interesting about this book is that pigs are mentioned a lot. There is a character named Piggy, the boys hunt pigs, and the island is shaped like a pig. In class, we decided to call the island where the boys are stranded Pig Island. I think pigs will become a very important part of the book at some point since they are mentioned so much. So far, my favorite character is Piggy because of his personality and the way he interacts with others. Piggy is a chubby kid with asthma, who you can infer did not have many friends at his school back home. He got his nickname Piggy at school because of his size. Another aspect of the book that I like is the setting. The island is relatively small and has a mountain on it. The boys discover "creepers", which everyone thinks are snakes, but turn out just to be vines.

What I find confusing in this book is exactly how many boys are stranded on the island and where they were going on the plane before it crashed. We know that the boys are wearing school uniforms, but we don't know where they were going. Another thing I find confusing is the narrator. In the beginning, I thought the narrator was going to be Ralph who was going to be telling the story from a past event that happened to him. I know that Ralph is not the narrator because personal pronouns are not used in narrating the book. I think the narrator is 3rd person omniscient because the readers know the thoughts and feelings of the characters. I am excited to keep reading this book and find out if the boys get rescued, and if they don't then what happens to them as opposed to not being rescued.

human nature

I believe that all humans have a different human nature, or ways of thinking, feeling, and acting which humans tend to have naturally. I think a persons human nature depends on the world around them. For example, if someone lives a good life, is loved by many, and does good things, they can have a good human nature. This would be influenced by events that happen in their life. Their natural human nature would be to treat others with respect and be kind and loving to everyone. Another example of someone's human nature could be a person who does not always have good things going on in their life, is not treated with respect, or does not have a lot of good things happen to them, then they can have a bad human nature. Since they don't have the best life, then they probably wouldn't have a positive outlook on things or be the nicest person ever to other people in their life.

The things that led me to believe the things I believe about human nature are my family, camp counselors, and religion. My mom always said that no matter what happens to you, you should treat everyone with kindness and respect and be a kind and loving person to everyone. This has had influence on my thoughts about human nature. Another thing that influenced my thoughts about human nature have been my camp counselors. They taught me to be a kind and loving person to everyone, even if they don't treat you how you would like to be treated. A camp counselor once talked to me about how someone could not have such a great life which could lead them to be a negative person. I still don't know my exact beliefs about human nature, but I think as I continue to go through life I will learn more and more about this topic every day.

quarter 2 week 1

Maia - Fall Break 

Bea - Fall Break

fall break

I enjoyed fall break a lot for multiple reasons such as not having school, going to the beach, and getting to be with friends and family. Fall break was filled with good weather and lots of memories that will not be forgotten! It all started with the 5 hour drive to Sandestin, Florida. The car ride was definitely not one of my favorite parts because every 5 seconds my little brother asked how much longer we had. Finally, 5 hours later, we arrived at our destination in Sandestin. We were staying at our family friends, The Sessums', condo on the beach. That night, we all just got to enjoy each others' company and eat dinner together. The next 3 days of this trip were spent on the beach from 9-7 every day. Everyone was so sunburnt, but it was ok because we were having so much fun.

Some of the super fun things we did on the beach consisted of yolo boarding, surfing, knee boarding, flying kites, building sandcastles, all the kids burying each other, and listening to music. My friend Elizabeth and I liked to go yolo boarding and surfing together every day. Sometimes we even brought our little friend, Anna Grace, who is in first grade along with us. The 3 of us were not very good at yolo boarding or surfing, but we just liked being in the ocean together. After the 4 days of being at the beach were over, everyone was so sad that it was time to go back home to Baton Rouge to go back to school and work. We all agreed that we would have to have another beach trip like this one again soon!

reading response to short story

I had two favorite short stories from the short stories we read during our short story unit. One of my favorites was, "And of Clay Are We Created" by Isabel Allende. I really liked this particular short story because it had good, well-developed characters, a good plot, and the setting was very affective. An example of a good, well-developed character is Rolf Carle. He was one of the photographers who went on scene when Azucena was trying to be rescued. He formed a special bond with her. By the end of the story, he reflected on his past and the event that happened made him reflect on some past events in his life. Another example of a good character is Azucena. She is interesting and is the character who is stuck in the mud and can not be saved. I thought the plot of this short story was very good because it was based on the real event of the volcanic eruption that caused mudslides. Even though the story was fiction, it gave the readers an idea of some of the things happening during this natural disaster. The setting was affective because in the real event of the volcanic eruption, this was actually where events took place. I really like this short story.

My other favorite short story from this unit was "A&P" by John Updike. I really liked this particular short story because of the main character Sammy and the plot. Sammy is the narrator telling about an event that really happened from his past. Sammy is socially awkward around girls, and this makes him funny. He thinks quitting his job for the girls will impress them. This also makes him funny because a girl would not be impressed by a guy quitting his job. I also really like the plot because this is a story that could actually happen. It was very interesting to read. I also really liked this short story.

comments week 7

Mary Francis - Music 3/10

Sophia - Love at First Bite

AoW Procrastination

I procrastinate all the time, especially if it is something I do not want to do such as homework, cleaning my room, or getting my stuff together to go to a friends house or out of town. Procrastinating is a very bad habit of mine that I need to try to stop. But, if I really don't want to do something, I will watch netflix or go on my phone instead of doing what needs to be done. The longer I procrastinate, the less I will feel like doing whatever I need to do. This is a really bad situation especially when it comes to homework, because if I don't do my homework then I will get a bad grade and then I will get in trouble.

A situation that I procrastinate a lot in is when my parents tell me to clean my room. This is a lot like the the person in the article, "Procrastination: Is Your Future Self Getting A Bad Deal" by Timothy A Pychyl, whenever it comes time to do the dishes. I absolutely hate cleaning. I will start cleaning my room, and then get bored and procrastinate by watching netflix or going on my phone, or occasionally taking a nap. The longer I procrastinate, the longer it takes for my room to be clean. I actually love having my room clean, I just don't like the cleaning up part, which is why I should just always keep it clean. I need to get out of this habit now, so that I won't procrastinate in the future. I do not want mu future self to have some of the bad habits I have right now, such as procrastination. Procrastinating is very easy for me.

comments week 6

Maia - How I see it

Megan - The Secrets of Mary Bowser Pt 2

this week at school (free post)

This week at school isn't just a normal week of school, this week at school is homecoming week! Homecoming week has so many exciting things involved from getting to dress up every day, the pep rally on Friday, cheering at Friday night's game, and the dance on Saturday. I am excited to get to dress up for the theme days every day this week. It means we don't have to wear our uniforms and we can wear whatever we want if it goes with the theme. I can't wait to see what everyone else wears too.

I think Friday is going to be the most excited day of the week at school because we have the homecoming pep rally. The cheerleaders get to perform everything we have been working on for over a month and get people excited for the football game that night. The theme of the pep rally is "Knight at the movies" and everything we do at the pep rally will be related to that. I can't wait for the upcoming week and all the fun things involved with it!

reading response to "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings:A Tale For Children"

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was a very interesting and weird story. It confused me a lot, because I could never tell exactly what was going on. The story took place in the house of a couple whose names were Pelayo and Elisenda. Peyalo went to the sea to toss the crabs that had been in their house back in the sea. On the way back he came across a very old man, lying face down in the mud, who couldn't get up because of his enormous wings. The word of this spreads very fast and people from all over come to see this man, who they think is an angel.

The mood in the beginning of the story was gloomy and the setting, to me, seemed like a place I wouldn't want to be in. The author used a lot of visual imagery. An example is when the author was describing the old man for the first time, she used a lot of details and made it easier to visually imagine exactly what was going on. There was not a lot of positive words or thoughts expressed in the story. Most ideas or details expressed were negative. This story confused me.

week 5 comments

Anna - Camping

Hayley - short story

outside reading book response (may have spoilers)

I am currently reading The Selection by Kiera Cass. I was waiting to find out if America Singer makes it to the castle to meet Prince Maxon and maybe get picked to become his wife. America makes it to the castle along with 34 other girls. She hates it. She hates the fact that Prince Maxon can't find love on his own and must hold a contest to find his wife. America really wants to go home and be with her lover and her family.

Some questions that arise in my head are things such as, "What is the palace really like and is it just amazing?" "What is it like living with 34 other girls who really want to be Prince Maxon's wife?". The author makes this book interesting by making it appeal to girls, and since I am a girl I like the whole story. I am curious to know how far America will make it. There are more books in the series, so I am thinking America has to make it pretty far. I can't wait to keep reading and find out what happens.

100-200 word short story

Mitchell walks into the mall. He peers to his left, a smirk traveling across his face as he sees the buy one get one free donut deal. But then he remembers he came to the mall for blue vans. Pulling out the $20 in his pocket he must make a decision. He ponders weather or not he should spend his parents money on the delicious, mouth watering looking donuts, or the blue vans he has been asking for for months. Hesitantly he starts toward the shoe store, but stumbles over his own feet, falling to the ground and dropping his precious $20 bill. The tears start rolling down his face as he realizes he cannot get the donuts or the shoes now.