Monday, September 30, 2013

Short Story Map

Exposition:
There is going to be an overlook at the kingdom of Essance Hollow as a whole.
It will explain the features of the hollow, roles of the people, and the basic situation they will be in
Also there will be an introduction to all the characters

Rising Action:
Eve (the king's daughter) will finally leave the hollow to go and explore the other side of the realm
Then she will meet Ash (another elf, who isn't from her kingdom but from another one)
They will fall in love and Eve will sneak out to see him
Then Eve will learn a terrible secret about Ash

Climax:
Eve will decide wether or not to stay with Ash or abandon her family and kingdom
Or she might find a way to have the best of both worlds involving the kingdom and Ash
Then she will act
This will be the highest action of the story

Falling action:
Eve chooses what destiny she wants
Then whatever she chooses will decide what kind of a life she will live

Resolution:
I don't know the resolution yet, I don't know wether it should be happy or sad
I will eventually decide

"A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings"

      This week we read a very old man with Enormous wings. I liked the story, however it was very confusing. I was confused by the changing of the story. One place you are here, others you are here. I thought it was very discombobulated. I didn't realize that the story had taken place for over a couple of years until Dr. D told us in class.
      The entire story also was weird but fascinating. The fact that there was this old man with wings that seemed to be an angel. However, the people annoyed and tortured the poor man. They were afraid of what they didn't know. I thought "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" was a good representation on how stories are not always what they seem to be.

Log:
Man with enormous wings - 35 minutes
Dry september- 45 minutes
Insurgent- 40 minutes

Monday, September 23, 2013

Thoughts of Drifting Away

          Tossing, turning, heart racing. So many questions, with so little answers. Why can't I be free? and What kind of things are out there lurking in the dark forrest just waiting for me to explore them? I constantly keep my mind on leaving Essancee, and seeing for myself what is out there beyond our gates. You can call me a trouble seeker all you want, but all I want is to be free. 
          Why does daddy always have to protect me, when will I be big enough to be on my own? O ya never. I am the daughter of the great Broderick, ruler of Essancee Hollow, so you could say I am kind of a princess. My dad is always protective and careful when it comes to me. He knows my longings and desires, but never wants to lose me, therefore I am forced to stay in the Hollow where I am under protection. My life has no excitement, no new ideas, no reason. But I will change that. I thought. Before I knew it I was fast asleep. 

A&P

         The short story A&P was very interesting to me. I loved how it related to our world today. How a guy sees a pretty girl and gets excited, sometimes too excited. I enjoyed how it related to the cockiness of some guys today, acting like a brave hero, just to get a girl to notice him, which doesn't always turn out well. Some get too big for their britches and make a fool of them-self trying to impress a girl.
         Another great factor of this story was its character descriptiveness. Each character was described with great detail. The "Queenie" was the most detailed of all. This short story gave you a perfect picture of this girl wearing a bathing-suit walking into this grocery. The detail of her face, her figure, her bathing-suit, even her skin was excellent. I thought this short story was very well written and descriptive.

Log:

Monday: Short Story - 30 minutes
Thursday: Short Story - 30 minutes
Friday: Short Story - 45 minutes (paid attention to annotation)
Sunday: Insurgent - 15 minutes

Monday, September 16, 2013

E-Book

           I am very excited to make an E-Book. I think through it I can show not only my writing skills, but also my creativity. My literacy narrative was about writing my very first short story, which matured my way of writing immensely. I think my narrative is in tip-top shape and is ready to be published. However, I could use some designing to make it even better.
           I think that I could make my literacy narrative by making visuals and by using my artistic skills. I think adding pictures would make my story more visual and interesting. Also I think that the cover/title page of my narrative should be exquisite. I had the idea of editing a picture of a moon the background of the cover. Then, I would use papyrus and a blood colored font to make the title and the cover-page match. I think this would be a great way to catch my reader's attention. My main focus is going to be the design of the narrative, so I will spend almost all my time on it.

Reading Log

            I really enjoyed reading Sienna's blog on Syria this week. I was going to blog about my outside book, until I read her blog. She did a great job of writing her opinions without trying to offend anyone and proved her point across. I read over it and thought to myself that she did have a very good point.
            The whole fiasco in Syria has been all that is talked about lately. I also have heard many opinions just as Sienna has, and also think that we shouldn't get involved. Getting into all this chaos would just hurt our economy more. We also shouldn't be spending all our money on other people's problems, we are too much in dept right now. Also, Syria is basically starting a civil war in their country, let them fight and end it, just as we did in 1861 during our war. I always feel like everyone relies on the U.S. to come "save" the day, when people should stand up, put on their big girl panties, solve deal with their own problems. Getting involved would make our lives much more complicated and difficult, so I believe we should stay out of Syria's issues.


Log:

Monday~ literacy narrative 45 mins
Wednesday~ literacy narrative 45 mins
Thursday~ literacy narrative 30 mins
Friday~ Insurgent 15 mins

Total: 135 minutes


Monday, September 9, 2013

The Interrogation

The room is dark and cold, and then the bight light hits my face and burns my eyes. A broad man with big shoulders in a dark suite walks to the other side of the table and sits directly across from me. He stares at me with his big, cold, black eyes.

"Have you ever seen these young girls Mr. Hathoway?" He asks as he lays four photos on the shining silver table. The photos look familiar to me. 

"Yes, they are four of my students." I say as I wonder why I am here in this creepy and off-putting room. 

"Well did you also happen to know that they went missing three days ago and were found dead in the Manciac Forrest?" He slides four more photos of mangled, disfigured, and dirty looking bodies with blood all over their chests onto the table. I flinch back in disgust and horror. 

"Oh my god." "They were some of the kindest and most thoughtful girls in the entire school, i wonder why someone would do such a thing to these innocent young girls." I look down at the photos and just shake my head in disbelief and with no comprehension. 

"Did these girls have any enemies, any arguments or disagreements with people that you remember?" He looked at e with his cold eyes, It felt like he could see right through me. 

"Not that I know of no, but there was this one girl named Emery.""She is another girl in the grade.""One day I was walking back to my classroom to finish grading some Abraham Lincoln essays, and overheard some girls talking." I played with my fingers for a second thinking about that exact moment. ""I heard a girl yelling in disgust and turned to see who it was.""Then I saw Emery, and the four girls standing there.""One of the girls was yelling at Emery and it got pretty heated""One of the girls had to pull her back and then they just turned and walked their separate ways""The last thing I saw was Emery storming away in the opposite direction" I look up hoping that the evidence I gave the man would believe me. The man had gotten up and had been pacing for awhile and then finally rested and spoke.

"Is this all you know?" He looks at me with the sternest and most serious looking face. 

I nod in nervousness "Yes, I swear." Next thing I know I was being escorted out of the building. Once outside I got in my car and smirked a little, he put his trust in the wrong person, and drove away. 








Reading Log

Divergent, by Veronica Roth

Monday: 30 minutes
Thursday: 45 minutes
Saturday: 1 hour

Total: 2 hours and 15 mins

Pages: 216-268

Literacy Narrative Update

         I am proud of my literacy narrative in my workings so far. I have payed attention to every detail trying to make the story as vivid as possible. I made it to my third page, by just one line, so I have a pretty descent length. My story may not be the most exciting because it is based off of me watching a movie, but it is meaningful to me. That movie effected my writing and made me a better writer overall, therefore I think that story is worth telling.
         My only concern with this paper is the title. I cant decide wether it should be to the point or eye-catching and exciting. The title I have picked for now is Red Riding Hood, but I believe in time I will change it. The Blood Moon sounds like a pretty flamboyant title, but will it fit with my literacy narrative? I have a lot of thinking to do before I find the perfect title.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Literary Narrative

             For my literacy narrative last week I read "Always Living In Spanish" by Marjorie Agosin. At first I thought this literacy narrative was just going to be about spanish people, but it was so much more. This story that this woman has to tell shocked me in so many ways. The fact that she moved to the United States because of the problems she faced in Argentina completely astonished me. The problems she faced were unreal, people disappearing and being tortured to death, and killing of innocent people. She moved to escape but faced more problems entering the U.S.
            Not like she had enough problems in her life like losing most of her family, she wasn't accepted in the United States. She was outcasted for being foreign and not being able to speak english very well. The way she stayed strong baffled me. To remember her upbringing and heritage, she wrote poems in spanish. She felt she could express all of her feelings through this language. One day, her work was published so that the entire world could know her story. This story was so powerful and made me think of how lucky I am to live in such safe conditions. It changed my way of thinking, made me less selfish, made me open up to new ideas and ways of life. I truly loved reading "Always Living In Spanish" by Marjorie Agosin.

Reading Response

             So-far I am still reading Insurgent. Personally I think it becomes more and more intense as you read further. The book has just gotten deeper and more complex. I love how Veronica Roth continues to keep all this action going, without the story becoming a gory mess. Tobias and Tris are still facing tough obstacles in their relationship, but are managing to not tear apart for good. Another thing I love about this book is that the author leaves room for a little romance in all this chaos. It is almost like it is a little beam of light shining through all this darkness.
             The character development in this book is also fantastic. Veronica shows the growth, maturing, and reactions of the characters in this terrible situation. Another thing I love about this book is the descriptiveness of it. While I am reading, I feel like I am right there, in all the action and chaos. This makes me want to only read more and more.
             This week I read my two hours over a period of three days, Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday. Monday I read for forty-five minutes, Wednesday thirty and Sunday another forty-five. I am naturally a slow reader and read from page 162 to page 216.