Blog for 10/26/15

Prompt: How do the settings affect the main character?

Book: Hope was Here

Author: Joan Bauer

Page #: 1-160


     Hope has a relatively hard life for a teenager.  Her mother and father were practically out of the picture, and all she had was Addie, her aunt.  She loved working as a waitress at a diner, while Addie would in the kitchen cooking away just a few feet away.  Life is perfect, or so Hope thought, until they have to move again.  At first Hope is not too excited, but she has a feeling that this little town is just what she needs.  One may refer to it as hope.

~~~~

     Ever since Hope was a kid, she would move a lot.  She never liked it of course, one time she even tried to run away from home to avoid it.  Hope always had the fear of having no friends, or not fitting in with her new surroundings.  However, when she moves into a little town in Wisconsin, her perspective starts to change.

    Before Hope had even moved, she felt like she belonged where she was.  She had the greatest friends, best job, and was happy.  Hearing they were going to move was no surprise to her though, she was used to it.  She was sad however, and hurt.  Nevertheless she packed up her bags and left.

     When she first moved Hope expressed that she had high expectations.  She was anxious when she first got to work at her new job.  The diner was a lot of bigger and busier than her last diner, where she had once worked.  This causes Hope to stress out sometimes, and sometimes get nervous.  Waitressing is her favorite thing to do, so getting everything right is key.

     With one of her co-workers, who has cancer, starts running for mayor everything goes crazy.  Hope and Braverman (the chef of the diner) do their best to get many votes, which proves to be quite a hassle.  They are never left alone at work without a news reporter nagging them.  Hope feels as if she needs to stay the right thing, which leads to her getting overwhelmed too much.

      However when she listens to GT's (her co-worker) ad campaigns for why he should be elected as mayor, she stops taking things for granted.  His speeches teach her a lot, especially on things like staying strong.  It gives her a different view point on things, it makes her a happier and better person.

     At times she really likes her new home, but on others she feels as if she could just curl up in a ball and disappear.  Everything kind of ties in with her family, friends, and her job.  She feels good with Addie around her, not with her mother.  With her friends she feels fun, and free.  She feels timid when she doesn't know when to do something new, or unfamiliar.  She feels delightful when she accomplished something big, or figured something out.

   
     Overall everything affects her in a way.  She opens her eyes more, which helps her make better life choices.  The diner affects her in a way where she can do what she loves, even if it involves some stress.  Her apartment affects her because when she's there she doesn't feel at home, and is usually where she thinks a lot.  When she's just in town it makes her happier. Even though everything gives her mixed feelings, her new town gives her hope.

   

Final Reflection

1)    

      The three most important things I have learned this year are, how to write a sentence using proper grammar, how to analyze and annotate a piece of writing, and how to do research on a topic correctly. Grammar is a very important lesson to know and doing the small units each day at the beginning of class has definitely helped a lot. Analyzing and annotating was also a very important lesson for me to learn because this year we had to use it a copious amount of times. Lastly, learning how to complete research authentically has been important because it's a life skill and it's something that's going to be used repeatedly during high school and college.
   
   
2)

      Something we did this year that I will remember for the rest of my life is reading the story Of Mice and Men.  It may have been just a novella, but it included some very hidden complex writing and had so many life lessons. It has taught me that certain actions can result into something bigger, there is more to a person that is seen from the outside, and that not all dreams and hopes come true.  These lessons are very important because it teaches me not to judge everyone right away, and it also teaches me that not everything is going to go my way but I still have to strive to pursue my goals.


3)

      The nicest thing someone did for us this year is give us special days when we would have parties and socialize. That someone is Mrs. Larson! Despite the massive amount of learning and working, those special events when we would celebrate the end of a unit by having a buffet and playing games were worth totally worth it.  They would be so much fun, and it would allow us to take a break and relax.  Not only did she teach us a lot of stuff but she also rewarded us too!

4)

      Something I have taught some of my friends in this class is to manage time productively; I'm not the best at doing this, but I do try.  Most of the time whenever I worked on an assignment right away, they would ask me why. I would always tell them that it's better to finish earlier than to finish later. Sometimes, when my friends came over after school or when I was working on my homework I would urge them too work on theirs too. I don't know if they used my advice or not, but I'd like to think they did and still do. It makes the process of completing assignments more expeditious. Waiting for the last minute to do something can be make you become very crestfallen, and cause your work to be monotonous.

5)

      An area that I feel like I've made the biggest improvements is in our poetry unit. When I first heard about this unit, I was very dejected to say the least. I hated poetry; I thought it was too confusing and boring. However, as time passed by I began liking it and I found myself writing a lot of poems. I became more interested and took the time to actually learn and work on it.  One of my poems that I have accomplished and that makes me complacent is my Dreams poem, inspired by Of Mice and Men.  My improvement in this unit has been opening my eyes to poetry and learning to love it.  Overall, the poetry unit had to be my favorite unit and I'm glad I gave it a try.

6)

      The most challenging part of this year for me was balancing my schedule and getting everything done in a timely manner. Despite working on assignments early, I still had to fit homework into my daily routine. Most of the time after school I had to, clean the house, do sports, go to speech and drama, finish homework, get hours for community service, help cook, do my laundry, and squeeze in a little time for myself to relax. Imagine spending 1-2 hours on homework and then trying to finish everything else at the same time. It was hard to say the least. However, I did manage it and it is possible, all it took was some effort and perseverance.

7)

      I don't think I have any best pieces of writing. All of my works have flaws to them and still have to be perfected.  However, if I were to choose a piece of writing that I'm most proud of it would be my argumentive essay because I spent so much time on it and it helped me learn a lot more about internet cesnporship and how to write an argumentive essay. I am proud of my other pieces of writings as well, I just happened to be most proud with my internet censorship essay because it took so long to write and I put a lot of effort into it.

 8)

      Out of all the books I have read this year, The Fifth Wave has to be my favorite. It it my favorite by far because not only is it written in my favor genre, science fiction, but it also contains action. I have a love for books that are sic-fi, contain romance, have action, and have a great plot. The Fifth Wave contains all of that. It's such a binge-worthy book that I finished it in 3 days...at 4 am. The plot was just really well thought out, and the text was very descriptive. I fell in love with the characters and couldn't help but feel attached to them. The book kept me on my tiptoes and urged me to read more. Overall, I truly loved this book and would reread it at any time.

 9)

      A piece of advice I'd like to give the future students who will be in Mrs. Larson's class next year is to be organized. Trust me, this helps a lot. A piece of paper given to you in the beginning of the year can possibly end up becoming your best friend at the end of the year, you never know. Losing important papers can be such a pain, so I would advise keeping neat. Another piece of advice I'd like to give would be to manage time in a productive manner, starting assignments the day before they are due won't help at all. This will only lessen the work quality, add more work, and provide more stress. Lastly, I would advise the new students to not stress themselves. This means don't start assignments late, don't procrastinate, don't fool around in class, don't overthink, etc. This will only come back to bite you. Trust me, it's no fun.

Of Mice and Men - The Movie

Section ||| -

     The flashback at the end of the movie shows Lennie and George helping each other carry and toss a sack into the back of a pick-up truck. Once they do that they both look at each other, turn around, and start walking off into the distance. George takes off his gloves, and Lennie puts his hand on George's back and they continue to walk away.

     The flashback leaves the audience feeling rather sad and sorrowful. Personally, a tear was welling in the corner of my eyes when George killed Lennie. I think it created this mood because it seemed a lot more real, and the characters expressions were passed on to the audience's. Making a work of writing into 'reality' also makes the emotions to start getting treated as if they were real.

     To me the feeling didn't really match with the end of the book, but it could've. The book's ending had more holes, in which I think the readers focused on mostly. It never really discussed how exactly George was feeling and how he was acting after he killed Lennie. In the movie his emotions and actions can be viewed, changing the mood entirely.  They could be similar if someone was really attached to Lennie and George's friendship.  The directer most likely chose this ending rather than the ending in the book because it gives more of a end to Lennie and George's friendship and it kind of shows that they really stuck together and truly did love each other. The book doesn't really display much emotion after Lennie's death other than the fact that it was uncommon for men to stick together back then. The movie's ending had more of an end, and is more sympathetic, which is what I think the director was aiming for.

     The last line of the book occurs after George had killed Lennie and Slim decides he and George need to go get a drink, while Carlson and Curley trail behind them. The official last line is, "And Carlson said, "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?". This line tells us that Carlson and the rest of the guys don't understand what it's like to have a best friend and to have someone by their side. They don't understand the hurt and sadness that comes with losing someone very close to you, that may be not be family. They only care and worry for themselves because that's how life was back then, every man for themselves.

     The line leaves the readers left with anger/annoyance, based on my classmates reactions and responses. The reason it gives these feelings to the readers is because there is not a solid conclusion on what happened to George and Candy's dreams. There were also so many unanswered questions, such as how the rest of the ranch reacted and if George got to keep his job or not. Personally, to me, I believe the ending was pretty good. It allowed the reader to make their own solid ending, and fill in the holes. Although, I wanted a ending that actually happened, I think it was very well thought out because the book begins with Lennie and George's friendship and ends with their friendship dying. It was simple, yet complex at the same time.


Section IV -

     My general thoughts about Of Mice and Men is that it's very well written, but kind of rushed. The whole book took place in a matter of three days! I also feel a bit upset with the book and movie because they didn't really have much of a closure. Ultimately, whilst reading I had no major reactions. This might've been because my sister spoiled the whole entire book the moment I told her we were reading about it! I already knew what was going to happen, therefore my reaction wasn't very dramatic.

       Lennie's death had the most profound impact while reading the story because it was a moment that defined the whole book. It helped people understand how rare friendship was, how hard work was, and how the people acted back then. I would recommend this story to anyone who likes a short read, and someone who enjoys a lot of drama. I would recommend this story to these people because the book is very short and if a person doesn't want to read a long story but a short good book then this is the novella for them. Also, to fhe people who like drama, Of Mice and Men includes a lot of it which can intrigue those certain individuals who like it. This book would be suitable for readers who like the genres, fiction prose and tragedy.

Of Mice and Men - Conflicts

     The novella, Of Mice and Men, has many conflicts. Surprisingly, most of the conflicts that occurred so far have taken place in about a day! These conflicts seem to build up and continue to create the story and make it into a more 'binge-worthy', in my opinion. I found three different types of conflicts, out of the many, that help shape the novella into a interesting read.

       The first and most common conflict is the situation between Curley, George, and especially Lennie. From the beginning when they first met, Curley is bitter towards them.  In the novella Curley states, "By Christ, he's gotta talk when he's spoke to. What the hell are you gettin' into it for?" (Pg 25)  This effects George and Lennie because they learn to keep their distance from him. They do that, but a little later on in the story, Curley and Lennie actually get into a physical fight. The novella states, "Curley's fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on the line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie's big hand." (Pg 63) This effects Curley's hand, which is now broken, and effects Lennie because he now feels bad and ashamed. It also causes a lie to form, in which Slim makes sure Curley doesn't say anything to anyone. This conflict is Man vs Man.

       The second conflict I chose is how George feels almost obligated to care for Lennie and himself. He feels like Lennie is his responsibility ever since he promised Clara (Lennie's aunt) that he would take care of him. In the novella George states, "I got you! You can't keep a job and you lose me ever' job I get. Jus' keep me shovin' all over the country all the time. An' that ain't the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out." His voice rose nearly to a shout. "You crazy son-of-a-bitch . You keep me in hot water all the time." (Pg 11) Lennie effects George greatly because George has to think for him, and he lost his job because of him. If Lennie hadn't grabbed that girl's skirt they wouldn't be in the situation they're in right now. Not only that, but he has to keep an eye on him all the time. In other words, Lennie is a burden to George. Lennie also has to be told what to do all the time. In the novella, George tells Lennie, "Don't you even take a look at that bitch. I don't care what she says or what she does. I seen em' before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be." (Pg 32) This reveals how George always has to make sure Lennie doesn't do anything that costs them. This is why I would consider this a problem, especially to George. This conflict is Man vs Self since George feels like it's his responsibility to care for Lennie.

       The last conflict I chose deals with the timeline the novella takes place in and how that links to racial inequalities. In the short story, Crooks is known as the only 'negro' on the ranch and he is treated with less respect and importance than the other workers. In the novella Lennie and Crooks gave a conversation, "Why ain't you wanted?" Lennie asked. "'causes I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say I stick..." (Pg 68) This shows that back in their time black people were treated with less importance and were not considered to be friends with white people. In the novella Crooks also talked about how it felt being black to Lennie, he said, "Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know use's goin' to come back. S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like that? S'pose you had to sit out here an' read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him." (Pg 72) This shows that life back then for a colored person felt isolated and lonely. Crooks isn't allowed to do stuff with the normal workers, and he feels trapped by that. This conflict is Man vs Society.

     Overall, there are many conflicts in Of Mice and Men, most of them which help develop the story. They make the story so much more captivating and give it more life. Although they mostly all take place in one day it creates a unique novella.

Dreams Of Mice and Men - 5/5/16

She stared at the sky,

And watched as time passed by.

Everyday she would work hard,

So she could have her dream yard.

She wanted her walls white,

And her windows to show the sunlight.

She imagined and pictured,

‘You can do it’ she whisperd.

In a day, her dream demolished.

Her work was not acknowledged.

Her heart shattered,

And when it hit the floor it made a clatter.

She begged and prayed for it to come back,

But it was time that she lacked.

She did nothing wrong,

But everything was now gone.

She frowned upon her decisions,

For it ruined her great big vision.

One mistake is all it took,

Now she couldn’t even look.

She had no motivation,

And decided not to go to the workstation.

There was no point,

All she did was disappoint.

She was mad at the world,

And her mind whirled.

Her heart was vacant,

At the fact that her dream was taken.

She slept cold at nights,

Because she no longer seemed bright.

Dreams deferred,

Her eyes blurred.

Although it was difficult,

She faced the fact there would be no miracle.
She let it all go,

And her dream went to a new home.

Of Mice and Men - 5/3/16

     Describe the atmosphere of the ranch and bunkhouse. 

     The atmosphere of the ranch and the bunkhouse is almost restraining and, in a way, tough.  Since they are in a new environment, Lennie and George are forced to keep their guard up. George makes sure not to let Lennie talk, and George himself tries not to reveal a lot about their past lives. In the novella, it states, "You was gonna leave your big flapper shut and leave me do the talking'. Damn near lost us the job." ... "Now he's got his eye on us. Now we got to be careful and not make no slips." (Pg 23) This quote shows George lecturing Lennie, in which can be considered a rather harsh way. This shows a bit of toughness, but it also resembles restraint. George is cautious to make sure the ranch doesn't know about Lennie's condition so he makes sure Lennie is on a tight leash and doesn't utter a word.

     There are more signs of the atmosphere being restraining and tough. A character, Curly, has especially been giving off this vibe while in the ranch. In the novella it states, "He glanced coldly sat George and then at Lennie. His arm gradually bent the elbows and his hands closed into fists. He stiffened and went into a slight crouch. His glance was at ounce calculating and pugnacious." (Pg 15) This shows that Curly feels somewhat intimidated and this can lead to toughness.  He is raucous to Lennie especially. Later in the chapter, George also makes sure that Lennie and himself stay away from Curly, and his wife. He doesn't want anything to go wrong with his job, which is why the atmosphere might feel restrained.

      Overall, I don't think the atmosphere in the ranch and bunkhouse is positive. George has to watch over Lennie more, to make sure he doesn't slip up and cause them to lose their jobs. Not only that but Curly has become a new problem because he has some kind of hatred towards them already.  George also needs to watch what he does, in sake of Lennie and their future career. There's not much to do but be careful and make sure Lennie doesn't do anything wrong that can lead them into big trouble.

       Why doesn't Curley's wife have a name?   What message, if anything, is John Steinbeck  trying to send by not giving her a first name?

     The reason Curly's wife does not have a name, in my opinion, is because women aren't important in the story.  Women are hardly mentioned, except for Aunt Clara and Curly's wife. I believe the message John Steinbeck is trying to send is that women were not particularly important and instead they were just known as the men's possession during that time. Why else would they just state she was Curly's? It's almost as if he owns her. Then again, in the story they do make references about her relying on Curly.

       Curly's wife is dependent on her father in-law and her husband. In the novella it states, "Wife lives over in the boss's house." (Pg 27) This is a small quote but it shows that she is dependent on Curly and The Boss because she lives in their home.  She relies on them to provide a roof over her head. This also shows how women might've not been important, they weren't independent yet.

       Curly not only partially provides a place to stay to his wife, but he also provides money to her. In the novella it states, "Curly got his work ahead of him. Bet she'd clear out for twenty bucks." (Pg 28) Not only does this show that she might not have a job, but it also kind of resembles how women were thought of back then.

       In the book, she probably doesn't have a name because she is characterized in the stereotypical sense of a women who isn't all that smart, but is very flirtatious with many men. My interpretation is that she, and other women, weren't important during that time because they didn't do anything significant.

     






 

3rd Quarter Reflections

Prompts:

1.  Of the books you have read this quarter, which was your favorite? Why? 

2.  What is something you have accomplished this quarter that you are proud of? 

3.  How have your research skills improved? 


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This quarter has been filled with many lessons, books, essays, etc. It may have been hectic at times but it has taught me many things. These things can range from creating an argumentative essay, to writing poetry, and all the way to analyzing charter development. I also read a lot more books, putting my closer to achieving my 40 book challenge.

1.

       I haven't read many books this quarter, which is something I have to work on next quarter, however I did read A Bronx Masquerade in class.  That has to be my favorite out of the little books I've read. It's my favorite book of the quarter because it was such a simple book yet it had a lot of meaning behind it. As we read it I fell in love with the characters, and their personalities. My favorite character was Raul because he was confident with his art, and didn't care what anyone thought. I actually became emotionally attached to the characters, such as Lupe. I was genuinely concerned for her, I thought she was going to do something she would later regret.  Not only did the characters and their drama interest me but their poems did too.  I really enjoyed the poetry and a lot of it inspired me and helped me create my own poems. It was very interesting reading about how the characters felt and what they thought, especially about their surroundings. This has to be one of the only books that I've read that can actually fall into realistic fiction. Overall I loved it!


2.

       There are many things that I have accomplished this quarter, one of them being getting 4's on 6/7 of my vocabulary tests. I am also proud of the fact that I have improved with my MAP scores for both math and reading. However, an achievement that I am the most proud of is being able to create poetry. I remember getting mad when we had to write our own poems because I hated it, but when I was finished I'd be so happy with the result. I would be so proud and happy that I'd go and read it to my whole family, it got to the point where my sister would say "I don't care, can you leave me alone?" (She's always like that though). My favorite poem I created is my Picture Poem. I grew fond of the poems, and when they rhymed perfectly I would be so happy. At first I thought it was going to be super hard, and it was at times, but it was worth it. I feel like poetry is a way to put all of your emotions and thoughts down, and since they don't have to be explicit it just makes the experience even better. It's been quite an experience learning about poetry as well as making it.

3.

       My research skills have improved greatly since the beginning of the year. Out of all the assignments we have done, I think the biggest assignment that has helped me improve a lot would be writing our argumentative essay.  That project took a lot of researching and it was one where I learned a lot of things on what to do and what not to do. For example, I have improved with using the TIQA format as well as summarizing. Also, our interview project we had to do with some well known people from the Bronx also helped. I think something that is very important that I've learned is how to create a works cited page. Before this year, I didn't even know what it was. These projects have allowed me to improve my skills. Our aow's have also helped improve my research skills, especially because we do it so often it's just something you continuously do that, after a while, starts making a difference. If someone were to ask me right now if I think that I've improved with doing research and collecting data I'd have to answer with a definitely. How did I do this? The answer is simple, the amount of times Mrs. Larson has assigned us a research project has exposed our class to newer things regarding it. Not only that, but we've also learned how to properly do them. At the end of the day, I'm just happy I did something productive.

       In general, this quarter has been filled with many lessons and some new experiences. I'm really happy that we have 3/4 of the school year over already. This was just another step into getting closer to summer!