High School Expectations.

The way I see it is if we're going to be at Oly high for the next four years, why not try to make the best out of it? That is one of my goals. Something I'd like to get out of high school is knowledge. I want to gain all of the knowledge that I need in order to be successful after graduation and taking the giant leap into the "real world." I expect that at least a majority of my teachers will help me be on my way to this goal. I expect that my teachers here at Oly will make sure that I stay on track and complete all of my assignments/classes with good grades, nothing below high standards.

This blog had me thinking into the future. As of right now, I know who my teachers are, I know what they expect, and of course I know what I myself expect from them. Although looking into the future, when I get a list in the mail of my sophomore teachers, I'm sure expectations will change as I get older. Expectations may get harder, or possibly easier. Though there is no way of telling. I am just hoping that I will get one thing out of high school- success.

POETRY OUT LOUD

Now that we are preparing for the classroom competition, I feel a bit anxious/nervous.. I chose my poem mostly cause I like it and I think it is a very nice poem to perform. My personal opinion on this poem (Barter by Sara Teasdale) is that looking deeper into the poem, I found that to me it meant that the greater things in life are priceless. The poem holds a lot of feeling and emotions, which is why it is an easy performance. 

I am excited for the competition and know that everyone will do well. Ways that I got my poem memorized were by practicing over and over again until each word was perfect. I am excited to see what other variety of poems are out there, also. People chose all kinds of different poems which is the best part. I cannot wait until competition day to listen to everybody's performances.

(p.s.- yeah, i know, i'm posting this and the competition was about 2 weeks ago. oh well! :) )

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

After reading these three Robert Frost poems last week, I chose "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" because I really liked what I thought it means. I figured that in the poem, Robert Frost is writing about a person who is taking time to stop by woods on a snowy evening (obviously) to just relax. The person is taking time out of his evening to stop and appreciate the greater things in life, such as nature's beauty. At the poems ending, Frost writes "But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep." I thought this meant that even though the person is tempted to stay and watch the snowflakes fall, he knows that he must go because there is much more he needs to do before he lays down to rest, or maybe even die. 

As I already said, I chose this poem for its significant meaning. When I think about it, for some reason the saying "You never know what you've got until it's gone" comes to my mind. In the poem, the person is stopping to take time and appreciate something that he never really gets to see often. It is only until he has to go on, or die, that he realizes how special it really was. Everyday we are all most likely given opportunities to appreciate something we never really give much of a second thought; such as the leaves falling outside or a nice sunny day. Instead, we're all sitting inside on our Myspaces, not realizing that when this example of beauty surrounding us passes, we never got the chance to stop and watch.

The Movie.

One scene that personally stood out at me is the trial scene. I think the reason why is because a lot of things were both similar and different. I noticed that in the movie, Mayella was acting a lot different from what I visualized her as in the book. I thought that Mayella would be a little less nervous, because in the book the descriptions made me think that she was much more timid when testifying. Another thing I noticed is I thought that Tom would have more to talk about in his defense, but in the movie I thought he kept really quiet... In the book, he was still nervous, but he seemed way more nervous in the movie.

Some things were really similar, for instance the way the character's looked. When looking at Mayella and Bob Ewell, their physical descriptions fit really well with the book's descriptions. They were dirty and greasy, and everything I imagined. The picture in my mind of Jem was the same, too. I could see the interest on Jem's face as he watched Atticus speak and everything else that was happening. The same expressions Jem had were the same that I visualized while reading.

How the book has impacted me!

Now that we're finished with To Kill a Mockingbird, I noticed that while reading I learned a lot of lessons. I guess the only way I really "changed" was by realizing what some of the people in Maycomb had to realize. For instance, when Atticus is teaching Scout not to judge he says, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." (30) To me, this is one of the most important quotes in the book. When I was done reading, this quote made me learn to be more aware of others and to put myself in their place.

When the trial was taking place in the book, I noticed how Atticus never gave up through any of it... No matter how much he got called bad names and was treated unfairly, he never stopped helping Tom Robinson. I guess in a way, the trial teaches you to also "do the right thing" and always try your best. I really don't think I have changed too much, but To Kill a Mockingbird has definitely made me realize a lot of things that most of us never really give a 2nd thought.

Life Lessons.

After coming near the end of the book, many life lessons have been taught to Scout and Jem by a numerous amount of adults, but I think one important lesson is teaching Scout to be a lady. In life, almost all of us assume that little girls will grow up to be ladies, and little boys will grow up to be men. Since Scout is almost always with Jem, Dill, and Atticus, she picks up on their less feminine habits. When Aunt Alexandra comes to town in Chapter 13, she is trying to teach Scout to be lady-like and polite; also forcing Scout to dress this way, which to me is an important lesson for girls.
On page 229, Alexandra says, "Stay with us, Jean Louise", talking about the missionary circle. In Scouts head, she was thinking, "This was part of her campaign to teach me to be a lady." Since Alexandra is making Scout stay in the circle of ladies, she is teaching Scout to be a lady. What Scout learns over all about life is to be more polite and girlish. When I was growing up, my mom took part in teaching me to be lady like and polite, as Alexandra did for Scout.

EXTRA CREDIT!

With the start of every new school year comes two important things... the good, and the bad. Personally, I classify relearning responsibility and persistency as bad. Luckily, however, come the good things about a new school year. In my opinion, English class with Mrs. Gilman is categorized under the good things. As a high school student, you are expected to hold standards and be responsible young adults. When coming into Mrs. Gilman's class, one of my reactions was that I will have to do these things this year. I can already tell that Mrs. Gilman is one of those teachers that won't put up with our "cry baby bull-crap", so I thought it best to try to stay on top of things like the warriors we will soon learn to be.

In the past six weeks, I feel I have been doing a good job of it. My second reaction of coming into the class was that I will be learning things that I actually WANT to learn... In previous similar classes, I was always bored out of my mind doing ridiculous assignments that were handed out to keep us busy. Thankfully, when I got into Mrs. Gilman's class, I realized that I will actually be learning something rather than doing time consuming activities. These six weeks have been great so far, and I look forward to keeping it this way.

Themes :)

Out of the many themes in To Kill a Mockingbird, I think racism/prejudice actions

are one of the most common ones. Since this is a main theme, racism is portrayed throughout

the book. The story is set in the south, and the time era of the story was when racism was

most popular in the United States. The book shows a perfect example of racism on at

least every other page.

One example is the way that people talk, constantly using terms such as N-word,

N-word lover, etc. On page 180, Mayella Ewell shows a clear example by saying, "I said

come here, nigger, and bust off this chiffarobe for me, I gotta nickel for you.

A second way racism is shown is the Tom Robinson case. So far from what we've

read, we can all gather that the accusations made by the Ewell's were partly because

Tom Robinson is a colored man. And the third way is how blacks and whites are separated.

Examples of this would be private lands for homes, and private places to sit in the courtroom.

The blacks sit in the balcony.

Atticus as a Father.

To me, Atticus is an older parent, with much of some world experiences in the palm of his hands... He's very intelligent, and tries to pass on his knowledge to his kids, which I think he does a good job at. In the book, innocent Scout asks her dad if he is a "N lover." I learned about Atticus's job of a parent when his reply was, "I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody... I'm hard put, sometimes---baby, it's never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn't hurt you." Values that Atticus tries to instill in his children were that they should be strong and shouldn't judge one another. 

I honestly wouldn't mind having a father like Atticus, seeing as how he's not too different than my own parents. He's like my mom a lot... most of the values Atticus has taught Scout and Jem in the book were values my mom has taught me. She's taught me to be fair, loyal, non-judgemental, and so on. The only way he's different is that Atticus isn't a very affectionate man, while my parents are very affectionate.

Racism/Stereotypes

In the first couple chapters, racism is shown throughout the book. One clear

example that stuck out a me was on page 37:

"Don't you believe a word he says, Dill," I said. "Calpurnia says that's nigger-talk."

Jem scowled darkly at me, but said, "Well, are we gonna play anything or not?"

When Scout used the term "nigger-talk", Jem received it by scowling at her, as if it

were a bad thing to say. My personal thought on Scout is that she is an innocent child.

Being a first grader, you tend to pick up whatever others say around you, because you

may or may not know the meaning. Scout most likely doesn't know the exact 

meaning of the term "nigger-talk", seeing as how she heard Calpurnia say it.

For that particular reason, I don't think Scout should be blamed. She's little, and

doesn't really know any better. Racism was a lot more common back in this time setting,

so she probably was used to hearing words like these all the time. Neighbors and her other

surrounding friends/family speak like this, so she most likely says what she hears. In my opinion,

she doesn't have the right to be blamed.

BOO RADLEY!

When I read about Boo Radley, I honestly was somewhat scared. By the way that Boo is described in the book, he is a really creepy sort of guy. Someone that you wouldn't want to talk with, or for that matter, make eye contact. Boo's attitude and lack of normality leave all the Maycomb people wondering about him, and hearing the rumors make them want to avoid him as much as possible. In my opinion, the rumors aren't true. "He goes out, all right, when it's pitch dark. Miss Stephanie Crawford said she woke up in the middle of the night one time and saw him looking straight through the window at her. . ." (pg. 12) I think the people of Maycomb are led to believe these things/spread rumors because the Radley's have always been so mysterious.

If I were to be a character, I would react most like Jem. I say this because Jem followed through with his dare, even though he was scared inside. He faced his fears and took a little bit of risks, and that would be how I were to react. If I was dared to run up and touch Boo Radley's house, I would probably gather up my courage as Jem did in the story.

English So Far

Hi Guys,

In my opinion, so far the best thing about English was writing my letter to Mrs. Gilman. I liked it because it was an easy way for her to get to know us, so we could be more comfortable in the class. I also like to write, so the assignment was fun for me for that reason. The best part about the letters was that we got to write about ourselves... It was nice to tell her all about our interests, family/friends, and what we did over the summer. I'm glad we all got this opportunity to tell her a little bit about each of us.

-Katey