Character Development in Bronx

         Throughout the book, Bronx Masquerade, Nikki Grimes develops the changing of Devon Hope. In the beginning of this book, after Diondra's part it says, "Even so, I'd rather the brothers not catch me with my head in a book." This quote is saying that Devon doesn't want people to know all of his true interests. He thinks he has to act a certain way for people to accept him. After someone catches him reading a poetry book he says, "When I get on the bus with the rest of the guys, I'm taking a copy of Baraka's book with me to read, and I'm gonna make sure everybody sees it. Especially
Mike." This quote shows that Devon is starting to be proud of who he is, he is accepting that he isn't who everyone thinks he is. If it were earlier in the book Devon would have not been brave enough to expose who he is. This is how Nikki Grimes develops the changing of Devon Hope.

         Plot and setting influence each other and the different elements of a story in multiple ways. Setting affects the characters because they could have lived differently based on what the time period was, who they surrounded themselves with, and what kind of problems mainly occurred there. For example in Bronx Masquerade, the character Wesley is affected by his setting. He lives in the bad part of Bronx, NY and he fears for his life. In his poetry he talks about how he is afraid he will get killed in his neighborhood. The setting also affects the conflicts because different areas might have different issues that tend to originate there. An example of this in Bronx Masquerade, is that the all the main characters live in a predominately black neighborhood. This means that there is a lot of racism towards whites there. People dislike white people even if they don't know them. Also some things might be a big problem for some people in different time periods. The plot affects the setting because if the plot changes then the setting could change too. For example, if the plot makes people move to a different country then the setting just changed because of the plot. In the book, the character Leslie Lucas is an example of this. She moved to a different neighborhood and now her main conflict is loneliness. Before she moved she wasn't lonely, but now she is. The plot also affects the characters because as the plot unfolds the characters can change. For example, throughout the book Bronx Masquerade the story starts to display the characters changes, like Devon Hope.

        Along with plot and setting, the conflicts and characters influence each other and the different elements of a story in numerous ways. The conflicts influences the characters because if a huge problem occurs then the characters can be negatively or positively affected. The conflicts can make the characters look different and feel different. A character who shows this is Amy Moscowitz. Her mother died and her and her father are negatively affected by it. Amy's father doesn't show any emotion towards her and thinks that she doesn't have any feelings. Conflict influence settings because if a huge war occurs, for example, then the setting could become more rugged and dangerous. It could change the entire setting.

Found Poem Blog

Found Poem-

Miles off into open country, 

Summer,

Winter,

Silence approaching, 

Her end, 

Said, 

Time over.

        This Found Poem has a theme and message. The theme in this poem is silence and loneliness that a girl faces. It says that a journey will be coming her way along with silence.  When there is silence there is most of the time loneliness. This journey is death because it says that her time is over. The message of this poem is that death is very harsh. When you face death it is like you are facing miles of never-ending years and silence.

         The main point of this poem is that a girl dies peacefully. In the picture it shows a picture of a girl facing her fate. She doesn't look scared, she looks like she is confident and ready for whatever comes her way. Many times people die in vain, but in this case she dies with willingness. She just let fate do what it had to do.

Spine Poem Blog

Spine Poem-

The Story of My Life,

Journey to America,

Unbroken,

100 Battles,

Code Talker.

         This poem has a theme and message in it. The theme of this poem is the path of your life. This means that the poem describes the life of the person the poem is about. This specific person fought in 100 battles, took a journey to America, is described as a code talker, and was not broken. The message of this poem is that there can be many different things that occur in your life. Not all of it might be physical things but mental things that you have to overcome mentally too.

        Along with a theme and message this poem has a main point also. The main point is that this person that the poem is about, has a lot of different things that describe them. Four of these books has a certain meaning that adds to the "life" of the person. The first book is like an umbrella that holds all the other books together. All of the other books describe this person's life in a different way.

Where I'm From

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Bronx Masquerade Compare And Contrast

         The book Bronx Masquerade is about different teenagers points of views on life and poetry. The book includes poems that multiple teenagers write about different problems that they face. Along with poems it has chapters of their lives told from them. There are many different people in this book. Most of their problems are very intense and they are actual things that really happen in real life. This takes place in the rough part of Bronx during the early 2000s.

         There are a few characters who have similar points of views in the book. Some of these characters are Wesley and Tyrone. Both of these characters think that they are going to die. They think this because they live in a very dangerous neighborhood. There are gangs everywhere and making it alive is an accomplishment to them. These boys aren't just afraid of being killed, they also don't care much about school. I feel like school isn't their top priority because they are consumed with other things, such as being afraid of dying.

        Along with some characters being similar there are some that are different. Some of these characters are Raul and Devon. Raul expresses himself without a problem, he doesn't care what people think of him. He paints and draws pictures. However, Devon likes to read poetry, but he hides it from everyone. He is afraid to be himself because he thinks others won't like it. Raul is comfortable being himself, but Devon is afraid people wouldn't accept his true self.

        All in all, I really like this book. I feel like many people can relate to this book because it talks about real problems that many people face. It is a very touching story so far.

Poetry Response Blog

         This poem "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, is about freedom and liberty. The author uses a caged bird and a free bird to explain the differences between how they feel. I think that the author wasn't really meaning to talk about birds. I think that it explained a person's soul and body instead of a bird. It says that a caged bird, a soul, wants something it never had but wants it more then anything. It envies the free bird because is has something that it doesn't, freedom. While the caged bird rages, with his feet bound and his wings trimmed, the free bird flies through the open sky. The caged bird sings because he longs for freedom and cries out for it, it isn't for joy. 

         I think the author wrote this because she wanted the world to know that people should be free. She talks about how horrible life is for the caged bird and wants us to sympathize for it. When we start to feel bad for the caged bird, she brings up the free bird's happy feelings so we can compare two. Once we see the differences we want the caged bird to have the same freedom as the free bird. This inspires people to want other people to be free. People put themselves in the birds shoes and they would want to be free. She had the intention of making the world a better place.

         This poem reminds me of the movie Tangled. It reminds me of this because the main character , Rapunzel, is held captive by her "mother". She is miserable and wants to be free, like the bird from the poem. She sings for freedom instead of joy. I first thought of this Disney movie when I read that the bird dreamed of freedom that it never had. This is similar to the movie because the main character wanted to be free from her tower because she had dreamed of what it felt like. The bird and the main character of the movie Tangled are very similar.

This is the poem "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou:

A free bird leaps on the back

Of the wind and floats downstream

Till the current ends and dips his wing

In the orange suns rays

And dares to claim the sky.

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage

Can seldom see through his bars of rage

His wings are clipped and his feet are tied

So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill

Of things unknown but longed for still

And his tune is heard on the distant hill for

The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

And the trade winds soft through

The sighing trees

And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright

Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams

His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

His wings are clipped and his feet are tied

So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with

A fearful trill of things unknown

But longed for still and his

Tune is heard on the distant hill

For the caged bird sings of freedom.

This is a drawing of what I visualize when I read the poem.

I think about this because it shows a free bird and a caged bird. The caged bird is singing like it says it does in the poem. The area of the free bird is light, while the caged birds area is dark. They are separate and not in the same dimension.

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Reflection of 2nd Quarter

Reflection

Prompt 1: In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts?

Prompt 2: What is something you have accomplished since the new year that you are proud of?

Prompt 3: What has been the most challenging part of 2nd Quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

Prompt 4: Of the books you have read this quarter, which was your favorite? Why?

          The area that I think was my biggest improvement in ELA was time management. I think it was time management because now I know that I should split my work up into groups and not do it all at once. I have learned that if I do it all at one time then I could become frustrated and the quality wouldn't be adequate enough. By learning how to manage my time I have improved in scheduling my day efficiently. When my day is scheduled efficiently I am able to get work done.

         Something that I have accomplished since the new year is that I finished my CBL project. My group and I have been working on it since the beginning of the 2nd quarter. I am very glad that it is finished because it took a lot of work and time to create it. Almost all the CBL classes had something to do with the project.  We got a good grade on it and I am very proud of the overall outcome of it. 

         The most challenging part of the 2nd Quarter was balancing school and sports. Some days I would have a lot of homework but I had after school sports. Sometimes it would be very hard to finish my homework and still have time to go to my activity. To help overcome this I could have one day that is devoted entirely to school. This could help me because I wouldn't have as much work for the other days and school and sports could be somewhat even.  

          One of my favorite books that I read this quarter was The Help by Lauren Stocket. This book was my favorite because it had many feelings towards it. Sometimes I would be feeling sad then I could be feeling relieved. The book had a lot of emotions in it. Also I liked the book the best because it took place in the 60s so it was interesting to see the difference between then and now. The way people lived was a lot different back then, compared to now.