Final Blog Post

Self Regulation-

With not having my iPod I feel as if I've improved with regulating myself. I am usually on task unless I get distracted by my peers . My attendance , in my opinion, is fairly good. I try not to miss school unless I'm really sick or on Vacation. Since I was on a cruise it was hard to find wifi, but as soon as I got back I finished 100+ pages of "the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime" along with missed work.. I was able to catch up on all my essays  and blog posts. I have a very good group to sit with. They are all very encouraging, and they always are willing to help me when I need it. I use most of my class time to stay on task, there a a few times when I get diffracted. When we are given the opportunity to discuses with our group, we are always willing to contribute our own ideas into the discussion. My assignments aren't always handed in on time, mostly because i feel as if i get a lot more work done at home. Not saying that i cant work at school but i feel more relax and comfortable at home. I contribute to the class discussions a lot less then i should. I get anxiety when I do presentations or even when I just put my hand up. I would like to get over my anxiety, but for now I will focus on being more involved. I had to finish the novel in less than 5 days to catch up with the rest of the class. I was able to finish the novel, write my essay, and be able to discuses with my peers how I liked the story. I catched up to everybody by reading on my own time.

I am able to easily recognize where I struggle and succeed in. I am good with giving credit. I have a good syntax according to Mr. Neufeld. I struggle with complete assignments to there full potential. For the future I would like to not leave things to last minute.

I read all my comment on my blog posts to help me better my writing techniques.

I go back and fix my mistakes by underlining and bolding the font. This particular editing was from my Romeo and Juliet Essay.

I look at most essays or writing opportunities through different points of view. 

In my summerative essay I looked through my mom's eyes. I realized that I should be a lot more grateful towards her.

I would like to think that I have a positive attitude towards all my assignments.

I think I deserve 29/33 for self regulation.

Quality of Communication Skills-

I make personal connections to almost every essay I write.

I made a personal connection with my summerative essay. I made a connection on the differance between Juliet and her mother compare to me and mine.

In one of my conversations with Mr.Neufeld I was told I had good syntax. At first I was unable to define the word but after researching I found out... 

I believe I demonstrated good syntax in my Romeo and Juliet essay.

In my "Whos the murder" essay I analogized the story and was able to make a valid cause on proving how Mr.Boone was the killer. I backed up all my point along with how one might have an argument on a different opinion.

I think I deserve a 30/33 on quality of communication skills.

Contribution to the learning environment-

On Arman's tattoo assignment  I commented how I thought he was doing a good job to staying close to his roots.

On Gaby's post I gave her useful tip that she used for future essays or writings. 

On Joven's short story I complimented her on the fact that her characters were based on reality where as in books or movies.

In class I don't raise my hand often due to anxiety. When we do group discussions I am always involved with giving new ideas and new perspectives to the topic.

I try to be as active as possible during our discussions on Edmodo.

For the future I would like to build up my confidence, so I am able to contribute more into my classes. I own a lot of thanks to Gaby, Erlynn, and Joven for always letting me use their devices during class. I read as much as possible. Not saying that I read as much as I should, but I do like to read on my free time.

For Contribution to the learning environment I think I deserve a 29/33. 

For my final English 10 mark I feel as if I should receive an 89%. I greatly enjoyed my time in English 10 and I hope not to repeat it next year!

 

 

the neighbour

I sat alone facing the fall leaves. I placed my hand on the window as it gave me chills. I heard the rush hour of traffic in the far off distance. I fell back on my bed and closed my eyes. It was the next morning when I woke up to a loud honking sound. I peered through the closed blinds and saw that the house across the street finally got sold. It had been months since Mrs. Cowling left her house, it was quite sad actually. Mrs. Cowling and her husband lived in that house. My mom would say that she never saw a couple that in love. After the death of Mr. Cowling Mrs. cowling went into depression. She now lives with her sister. I was welcomed back into reality as one of the truck drivers hollered at what I thought was a worker. A rather young boy stepped out of the truck with what looked like his parents. I observed… I could hear the yelling down stairs mom and dad must have been at it again. I don’t remember a time when they didn't fight. As the oldest I went into Kelly’s room to see if she was alright. As I walked in I could see that she was about to cry I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards my chest. Her breathe on my stomach felt like I was next to a fire burning through miles of snow. I kneeled down to her eye level. I told her to get her mites, boots, hat, scarf, and jacket. We slowly went down the stairs. We exited through the back door. I glanced at our new neighbours. I thought that it would be best if I introduced us separate from mom and dad. Kelly grabbed my hand as we crossed the street. The boy came over and asked.

`

`Do you needed anything.``

 It was almost as if he was waiting for us.I told him that I just wanted to introduce myself and welcome him to the neighbourhood. He told us that he moved because of his dads work and he was 15 (which was my age). He then apologized for not telling his name it was Matt. I waved good bye and went back home. I turned back and caught the deep stare of Matt`s eyes.

 I told Kelly that she could sleep with me tonight. I barley slept… I could stop thinking about Matt, something in his voice gave me the chills. His voice replayed constantly in my head. 

My alarm clocked began to ring; I must have forgotten that today was only Sunday. Kelly was still sound asleep. I walked downstairs and grabbed the lucky charms. I quickly ate and turned on the TV. Mom and dad must have been still asleep. In my surprise the doorbell rang. I leaned over to see and I saw his beady dilated eyes. I ran to the bathroom and brushed my hair and washed my face. I rang again I placed the brush down and casually walked to the door as if nothing had happened. I opened the door and acted if I was expecting someone else. Matt told me that he found out that we were going to the same school so he thought that I would be a good idea if he went to school with me tomorrow and I could fill him in. I try to look excited but I was shaking as I spoke. I could tell that Matt was hiding something. I began to smile as if I was looking forward to tomorrow. Matt flashed me a fake smile and left.

 I called my Amy.  I told her everything. She told me she`d be over right away. One thing you need to know about Amy is if she tells you she will be there soon it actually means she will be there in like 2 hours. I couldn't just wait for her. So I began analogize everything I knew about Matt. I gazed out my window when I noticed him peeking out looking directly at me. He didn't flinch when our eyes finally met. It was almost as if he was trying to make me notice him.  Amy finally came by then everyone had woken up and gone to work. I was stuck babysitting Kelly but I didn't mind. She doesn't cause much trouble just give her the remote and she will be entertained all day long. Amy and I talked about what we discussed on the phone. 

Monday arrived I woke up extra early to do my hair and make-up to cover up the fact that I was up all night. I didn't wear make-up often so I barely knew how to put it on. Thank god for YouTube. I walked outside to see Matt waiting on the bus bench. He worn all black. I ran over thinking that he waited for hours but instead only 10 minutes. On our walk I explained how all the teachers were the students I told him who he might like to hang out with. He ignored me the whole way. Weeks flew by and Matt became more and more distant. Matt's parents asked if he could stay over for a while because they didn't trust him home alone. He helped babysit Kelly, and even helped with chores. He left when my parents came. I called Amy and talked to her all night. I told her that today wasn't like how I expected it to be. I thought he would go sit on the couch the whole time. But instead was eager to get to know me. I went up to my room and flopped down on my bed. I couldn't figure out what was off about him. I stared out the same window I first saw him. His blinds were open and I could see him and his parents eating dinner. I looked into his room to find a camera looking directly into my room. I ran to my window to get a better look. Was he filming me? I closed my blinds.

 It was finally the weekend. I ignored Matt the rest of the week. I finished all my homework on Friday so I would have time to think about everything that is going on. I decided to sneak into Matt`s room. I told his parents that I left my binder at his house yesterday. I walked up the staircases to find a long narrow hall way separating me from his room. I opened the door as it creaked ridiculously loudly. It gave a eerie vibe to the whole thing.  I walked into a whole desk full of pictures of  me. I was in shock. There were pictures of me in my room, at the library, even with Kelly. The door closed behind me, as I turned I could see Matt`s tall shadow towering over me. 

Summative Essay

   When you look back on everything you've, your parents, friends, and family have done, you may understand why they didn't let you date that boy back in grade 6. Or why you weren't allowed to sleep over at a friends. We protect the ones that we love. By stepping into someone else shoes you are able to look at the situation in a different perspective. You start to understand the reasoning behind the everything.

In the play of Romeo and Juliet, Lady Capulet tells us how "Are made already mothers: by my count,
I was your mother much upon these years".  Juliet may not understand but we as an audience realize the pain and loneliness her mother had endured. Being only 13 or 14 how are you meant to take care of a child, let alone have a child of your own. Lady Capulet isn't the best mother, but she wasn't even wanting to be a mom in the first place. Nurse stepped into Lady Capulet's shoes by taking over her position of Juliet's mother. Nurse truly loves Juliet as if she was her own daughter. "Thou wast the prettiest babe that e'er I nursed" , Nurse talks about Juliet with so much pride, as a mother does when talking about their child. 

I experienced walking in someone else's shoes a while ago when I look at everything from my mothers point of view. She has been a single mother ever since I was born, and up until a couple years ago I didn't appreciate everything she has done for me. She gives me a house to live in, food to eat, and any other necessities I might need. Even though she has her own problems she puts mine above hers. I honestly don't know how my mom does it. She is my role model. I would like to start recognizing, and thanking her her more often.

Siobhan in the novel "the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime" steps into multiple shoes. She steps into Christopher's shoes to help her further understand what he needs. She found many things out from looking at the world in Chris's eyes. Siobhan also steps into almost a motherly figure for Christopher. She looks out for him, comforts him when he needs someone. She genuinely cares for Christopher. When he was injured "Siobhan asked [him] why [he] had a bruise on the side of [his] face." When Chris decided to run away he ran to go find Siobhan. "When I got to school I could ask Siobhan where the train station was" he looks to Siobhan for advice and help. Showing how they care for eachother.

All in all we can definitely say that we can don't always understand why people do the things they do. If you take a look through their eyes you might see a different perspective on the same situation, and understand why they did what they did

Man from the South

1) The plot 

-introduction- "It was getting on toward six o'clock so I thought I'd buy myself a beer and go out and sit in a deck chair by the swimming pool and have a little evening sun"
 this sets both the time and place of the story. Giving it the introduction of the story

-conflict- man vs man in the sense that Carlos is manipulating the Sailor to take a bet. The sailor is man vs himself because he is feeling pressured to prove that hes isn't wrong, especially in front of the English girl.


-rising action- "Sure, I'll bet," the boy said. "Why not?"
 The sailor started to be over confident which lead into a sticky situation! 

-climax- "Eight!" I said, and as I said it the door opened" 
 The most intense moment in the story is when we are wondering if he makes it to 10 lights. They were interrupted when they heard a knock at the door, leaving us on a little bit of a cliff hanger 

-falling action-  "Carlos! Carlos!" She grabbed his wrist, took the chopper from him, threw it on the bed" 
 The action begans to fall when the knife is grabbed out of Carlos's hand. 

-denouement-


2) Character

- protagonist- the main character is the person telling the story. Hes is the one speaking from first person, making him a main character.

- antagonis- the enemy is the Carlos. He is going against the protagonists wishes of not doing the bet. 


-static- the English girl stays the same through out the whole story.


-round- the Carlos seems nice and friendly at first but then he become a  figure chopping psychopath. 

- flat-  


- stock character-  The American Sailors because they we're getting it nicely with the English girls. All guys are the same trying to hit up the pretty girl. 


- dynamic - The sailor is because he first overly confident, but then he gets scared,  then he become brave to impress everybody. He changes mentally but not physically. 


3) Setting


-atmosphere- is really tense and nerve racking.


-time- 6:00 pm

- place - A hotel in Jamaica 


4) Theme- the theme is not to be over confident and not to feel peer pressured to do things.


5) Point of View


-first person because the whole story is narrated by the antagonist 

6) Foreshadowing 
"I mustsay I didn't much like the way he was behaving. It seemed he was already trying to make something out of this, and to embarrass the boy, and at the same time I had the feeling he was relishing a private little secret all his own."

The antagonist is telling us how he didn't have a good feeling about Carlos. This is foreshadowing the rest of the story.

Who's the Murder?

The killing of Wellington was no mistake, someone had intend for the dog to die and Mrs. Shears to suffer. In my opinion  Mr. Boone was the one to do the horrible massacre of wellingtons death. All evidence leads to him but they have an indirect connection to him.

In the novel it tells us how Mrs. Bonne had a romantic affair with Mr. Shears."Your mother, before she died, was very good friends with Mr. Shears." Mrs. Alexander told Chris this in expectation that it would help solve his case. I would assume that if Mrs. Bonne was having an affair, Mr. Bonne would have been outraged and probably would have done something to hurt either of them. I dont think Mrs. Bonne is really dead. In protection I think that Mr. Bonne hid the fact that she left. "Father said that he didn't know what kind of heart attack she had and now wasn't the moment to be asking

questions like that."   Siobhan even drops a clue to foreshadow the rest of the story by staying  "Perhaps your father just doesn't like Mr. Shears very much." This shows how Siobhan knows something. Chris's father know what happened throughout his marriage, so he might want revenge due to the fact that Mrs. Boone left him, by going for Mrs. Shears. Not saying that Mr. Boone has any feelings towards Mrs.Shears but he might want a rebound or a "hook up".

This being a very opinionated essay topic many could argue the fact that Christopher or Mr.Shears killed Wellington. If you take a step back and think about this neither of them have any reasons to kill the dog. In a Autism fact sheet posted by the National Institution of Neurological disorders and Stroke, they state how autism is found/seen. "Loss of language or social skills", "poor eye contact". We have noticed that Christophers social skills aren't the best by the way he talks to his peer. If his social skills are weak how would he have a need to kill a dog. Every time he talk about Mrs. Shears he only talks good, so it wouldn't make sense if he wanted to get back at her. He didn't want revenge on the dog because "[he] like[d] dogs." He always wouldn't be hugging a dead, bloody dog if he really didn't like him. Mr.Shears has been out of the picture for a long time. If he wanted to get revenge he would have done it earlier. He is probably living with a new family and a new dog. He has no need to re-live his old life that he abandoned ages ago. 

After chistopher gets picked up from the police station, his father yells at him for snooping around in other people business. When Chris asked if his father is sad about Wellington, Mr. Shears replies with "Yes, Christopher, you could say that. You could very well say that." The way he phrases it, raises red flag for me. He could have answered with a simple yes or no but instead he felt the need to elaborate on the topic. Him getting angry is a red herring. He knows his son very well so if he gets angry he knows that Chris won't be able to handle it. He is meaning to throw Chris off so his tail so he can continue keeping his secret.

Mr. Boone has been lying to his own son about the where a bouts of his mother. He obviously isn't the most trust worthy or truth telling person in the world. If he is able to live with the guilt of lying to his son from all these years,why wouldn't he be able to kill a dog and be okay with it? "You have to know that I am going to tell you the truth from now on. About everything. Because. . . if you don't tell the truth now, then later on. . . later on it hurts even more. So. . ." , after he realizes that he has been caught he is confessing everything. This might be when he confesses that he's a dog murder. The next line is when he tells Christopher the truth.. the whole truth. "I killed Wellington, Christopher". Mr.Boone has been lying to everyone, even the ones that are closes to him. 

Mr. Boone is not the guy that he portrays himself as. He is a cold killing murder that lies to his son about multiple events. He is not to be trusted. 

  

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

In my opinion Mr. Boone killed wellington. The killing wasn't a mistake some had intended to kill the dog and cause pain to Mrs. Shears. All evidence leads to Mr. Shears, they have indirect connection but Mr. shears was responsible of the massacre of Wellington.

Mrs. Alexander tells us how "[Mrs. Boone], before she died, was very good friends with Mr. Shears." This tells us how they had a romantic affair. Mr. Boone might have found out and decided to cut Mrs. Boone off, in terms of pretending that she was dead to "protect Chris". After the death of Mrs. Boone Chris tells us how "[ his] Father said that he didn't know what kind of heart attack she had and now wasn't the moment to be asking questions like that". This helps contribute to the fact that his wife is not dead. He tried to cover up but instead he was unable to answer questions that he should have know. Siobhan says  "Perhaps your father just doesn't like Mr. Shears very much." This is a clue showing us how she knows something. She might have know about the affair. For all we know the whole town could know and deciding to hid this.


People might argue that Mr. Shears killed Wellington, but if we think about this logically it would be very unlikely for this to happen. Wellington would need to be comfortable with the killer considering that he was killed in the yard. Some one might have lured him in, Mr. Shears hasn't seen Wellington in two years. This tells us how he probably doesn't care about the dog in the sense that it isn't important to him. This might be why he didn't take the dog when he left Mr. Shears. If he didn't take the dog and he left Mrs. Shears then why would he be interested in coming back to his ex wives house to kill her dog...? He is probably happy with his own family and moved away from the town. Putting this in to perspective I don't think it would make sense if Mr. Shears killed the dog.  

Thinkin about you

The song I chose was "Thinking about You" by Frank Ocean. I can relate to a lot of the song because it about of a destructive relationship that's not help anyone. It's more based on an ex but I'm using it more as a friend relationship. The line "a tornado flew around my room before you came" explains how I knew that you were trouble but I was willing to be your friend anyway. I'm usually friends with everyone.. Well I try to be. Even after every warning I still decided to become friends with this person. In the chorus he says "I've been thinking about you". To me this is how I was thinking about a million different things about the person. I was hesitant on become friends with the person but I ended up doing it anyway. This ended up getting me in a lot of hard situations. "It will never get old, not in my soul, not in my spirit, keep it alive, this line shows how I will never forget what that "friend" put me through. I might be able to forgive but not forget.

Thinkin About You- Frank Ocean

A tornado flew around my room before you came

Excuse the mess it made, it usually doesn't rain

In Southern California, much like Arizona

My eyes don't shed tears, but, boy, they pour

When I'm thinkin' 'bout you (ooh, no, no, no)

I been thinkin' 'bout you (you know, know, know)

I been thinkin' 'bout you

Do you think about me still?

Do you, do you?

Or do you not think so far ahead (ahead)?

'Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)

Or do you not think so far ahead (ahead)?

'Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)

No, I don't like you, I just thought you were cool

Enough to kick it

Got a beach house I could sell you in Idaho

Since you think I don't love you, I just thought you were cute

That's why I kissed you

Got a fighter jet, I don't get to fly it, though

I'm lyin' down thinkin' 'bout you (ooh, no, no, no)

I've been thinkin' 'bout you (you know, know, know)

I've been thinkin' 'bout you

Do you think about me still?

Do you, do you?

Or do you not think so far ahead (ahead)?

'Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)

Or do you not think so far ahead (ahead)?

'Cause I been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)

Yes, of course

I remember, how could I forget (how could I forget)?

How you feel (how you feel)?

You know you were my first time (time).

A new feel

It won't ever get old, not in my soul,

Not in my spirit, keep it alive (spirit, keep it alive)

We'll go down this road

'Til it turns from color to black and white

Or do you not think so far ahead (ahead)?

'Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)

Or do you not think so far ahead (ahead)?

'Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3ANQl-Sbwpo