3rd Quarter Reflections

Prompts- 
In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts?  
What is something you have accomplished this quarter that you are proud of?
What has been the most challenging part of 3rd Quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?
What have you learned about the world?

        In the area that I think I made my biggest improvement is learning the different aspects of writing poems. Since we did a poetry unit I now understand how to write a poem. Before this quarter, writing poetry for me was a struggle. I did not know what it should look like or how it should sound. Until we went through everything, I realized that a poem can be whatever you want it to be. It can have rhythm, alliteration, metaphors, and much more. I feel much more comfortable with writing poems now.

       Something that I have accomplished this quarter is finished reading my Lit Circle book on time every day I needed to read it. This was a struggle because some days I would have to read around seven chapters in one sitting. It was very hard because the book itself was very depressing, so it was hard to keep continuing. Another struggle was that I would have something after school and I didn't have a lot of time to finish my part. When I finally finished the book I felt very proud that I didn't give up or slack off. 

        The most challenging part of 3rd Quarter was writing the Poetry Reflection Blog. This has been the most challenging because for me talking about poetry is very hard. I sometimes don't have good words to describe it so I can't get my thoughts across. What I was saying in the blog didn't always meet with what I was thinking. To help overcome this I can try to talk my ideas out with other people. I feel that if I explain my ideas then other peoples ideas can help me find what I am trying to say. 

        I have learned a few things about the world from this quarter. One of the those things is that poetry can affect peoples lives. When I read the book Bronx Masquerade it showed me how poetry can make people open up more and make everyone connected. Another thing that I learned was that many women around the world have a lot less rights then we do in the US. We learned about how in Pakistan girls can't go to school, have a job, wear whatever they want, etc. By learning this I realized that the world hasn't grown like the US has. Some countries believe that women are inferior to men. 

"First They Killed My Father" Lit Circle Blog

         One of my Essential Questions is, "What obstacles does Loung overcome during the revolution?", this EQ ties in with my novel study. My novel that I studied was First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung. The EQ ties in with my novel because the main character, Loung, survives the revolution of the Khmer Rouge and we wanted to know what she had to do to survive it. Loung had to endure many obstacles during the revolution. One of them is hunger, in the villages and labor camps that she lived at, she was barely given any food to survive. Many people around her died because of it and she almost didn't make it either. Most of the time during those times she would be depresses and tired because eating was one of the best things in the world for her at the time. Simply eating a few grains of rice would fill her heart up with joy. An example of this is in the 11th chapter Loung says, "Of course, all that no longer matters to me; my thoughts are focused solely on food." This quote is saying that nothing else matters besides food. Another obstacle that Loung had to endure was she was always in constant fear of the Khmer Rouge. This group had all the power and they would kill anyone who showed any signs of rebellion or weakness. In the book it says, "The soldiers have the right to punish thieves any way they see fit, killing them if they chose. Their power is so omnipotent that no one dares question their actions." This quote is saying that everyone, not just Loung, is afraid of the Khmer Rouge. Many people disagree with their beliefs but are too afraid to say something about it. These are just some of the obstacles that Loung had to overcome during the revolution. 

         The authors from the book, First They Killed My Father and "Cambodian Genocide" use some of the same information, but produce different texts because they interpret the information differently. The book is from a young girl's perspective and life. Throughout the book the girl mostly exposes her feelings and emotions towards the revolution that is occurring at that time, she doesn't give off facts that talk about what is happening. For example in the second chapter of the article when it talks about the evacuation of Phnom Penh she says,"After each round of rifle fire, people push and shove one another in a panicked frenzy trying to evacuate the city." This quote uses the words "panicked" and "frenzy" to show that she had strong feelings towards the event. What she is writing is what she directly experienced.

          However, in the article, the author doesn't express any emotion, just facts. They do this because they didn't directly experience the event that they are writing about. For example when the author talks about the beginning of the revolution, they say, "On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge army marched into Phnom Penh, the modern capitol.  Khmer Rouge soldiers, young peasants from the provinces, mostly uneducated teenage boys who had never been in a city before, swept through town.  They set to their job right away, evacuating Phnom Penh and forcing all of its residents to leave behind all their belongings and march towards the countryside." This doesn't show any emotion, imagery, or opinions it just explains what, when, where, who, and why. The quote is just informational.

         In both of these quotes they talk about the same event, but they are told in different ways. The book has a lot of emotion, imagery, and opinions while the article has facts and information. The article's author interpreted the information as by just explaining to the readers what happened and why it happened. In the book the author didn't have that information so they told what they saw instead of what she knew. The effect of the author being the main character is that the author didn't really interpret the information, they lived it instead. The book is based on first hand accounts instead of secondary sources. When the author/main character was writing the book she told it by how she experienced it. Since she didn't know what was happening she only wrote what she knew or thought what was happening in that moment. 

Poetry Reflection Blog

          Poetry has a minor impact in my life. When I create poetry I don't find it very inspirational or beneficial to me. Although, sometimes when I read it, I start to how understand how people feel certain ways. For example when I read some of the people in my class's poems I started to see how they really feel instead of the wall that they put up. Another thing that poetry does for me is make me think in different ways. An example of this is in the poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost, it makes me think that nothing is permanent and that anything can change. I wouldn't have thought of this if I never read this poem. Overall, poetry doesn't affect me a lot, but in some ways it can help me.

        Poetry does belong to everyone. I know this because poetry is more of a feeling than a writing style. Everyone has feelings so everyone can have poetry too. When you write poetry you are expressing your ideas and feelings in a way that people would be able to understand. If you can write down or express these thoughts then you deserve the right for everyone to see them. This can also give people a sense of relief if they express somethings that they might not have expressed before.

        The life and experiences of a poet affects the poem he or she creates in different ways. The poet can have a hard childhood and then express it in their poem. For example Edgar Allen Poe, his childhood was very rough and his poems were considered dark and creepy. This shows that his childhood was negative so his poems were negative too. Different experiences could affect a poet poem too. An example of this is in the book Bronx Masquerade, the character Chankara Troupe. She was hit by her boyfriend and in her poem she talks about it. 

        

This is a poem I read, it is by anonymous. 

         A poem's form and structure contribute to it's meaning in a few ways. One way is that if it it has the form of a image from the poem, then the reader could get a visual of what the poem is talking about. You can visually see what the poet is trying to express. An example of this is in the poem above. The poet is talking about a tree and the poem is in the form of a tree. This contributes to the meaning because now the reader can fully grasp the content that the poet is trying to express. The structure of the poem could also contribute to the meaning of the poem too. If there is a certain way the poem is being written again and again, then the poet is trying to get something across. For example, in my poem below the words "If" and "I" are repeated in each stanza. This contributes to the meaning of the poem because every stanza talks about the same thing just different examples. By doing this the meaning is being repeated over and over again. 

"If" Poem

If I were to speak

my own opinions

loud and clear

would you cheer?

If I came with confidence

and honor,

uplifting a flag

would you taunt me?

If I saw the beauties of the world

each masterpiece

natural, and by the hands of man

would you take it away from me?

If I sang with beauty

and melody

causing tears

would you jeer?

Or would you sing with me?

I wonder

        Words/phrases, rhyme, alliteration, repetition, and figurative language have an impact on poems.  Words and phrases impact poems because it is the way readers understand what the poem is. If there wasn't words or phrases then people wouldn't understand what the poet is trying to say. Rhyme impacts poems because it gives the poem rhythm and tempo. For example, there is rhyme in my "If" poem. Alliteration impacts the poem because it can add humor or give examples. The poem of the tree above shows this when it says "bark, branches".  Repetition impacts poems because it gets the point across. An example of this is in my "If" poem, the words "If" and "I" are repeated so it makes the point of the poem clearer. Figurative language impacts poems because it makes it more vivid either with adding imagery, metaphors, etc. An example of using imagery is in my poem, when it says "and by the hands of man". This makes it sound more animated. 

Nonsense Poem

Bio-Poem

Where I'm From Poem

Spine Poem

Found Poem

Nonsense Poem

"What Each Other Has" - Nonsense Poem

"Different But Similar"

As riots and screams spout from the streets

“BAM”!
“BOOM”!

“BOP”!

Footsteps and breaths of 116 people

Travel from house to house

Like tiny ants that swarm around a sugary sweet

A 18 month old boy sits in his house

Experiencing a normal day

A 16 year old teenager terrorizes people and buildings

Both different, but similar

Ahmed Mansour Qorany Sharara are the words that tie them together

Both of their faces next to each other

Expressionless

The teenager runs away like a cat

The boy sits in his house

Policemen come into the child’s home and tries to take him

When they realize the youth of the “culprit”

Taking the father is their only option

Guilt hits the boy with power

Joy hits the teenager immensely

Relief is created when they set the dad free

Fear was brought up when the idea of imprisonment came into the picture

Anguish and sorrow surround the family

Injustice plays a part in the feelings that this family suffers

Finally justice finds out the truth

Identity was switched and the boy was released from chains

Inspiration for poem:
"Egypt: Officials claim mistaken identity after toddler sentenced to life"

BioPoem 3/2/16

Fadi

Brave, smart, shy, and creative

A character in N.H Senzai's Story

Lover of photography, adventure, and books

Who notices his country's been teaching them a lie, people will bully him because of his race, his family is very poor

Who feels like his sister missing is his fault, he is all alone, and that he can win a photography competition

Who learns that finding his sister will be his responsibility and that he can help his family more than anyone else

Who used to think that getting to Peshawar was easy but now knows that it is extremely difficult

Major character in Shooting Kabul

A book that shows true perseverance

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.