Exam Preparations

          In studying for this final, I will break each subject up into a day to fit other classes in too. If I do a little each day, I will learn more than cramming it all in, in just two days. The subjects I will study are Macbeth, Poetry, Literary Analysis, Research, Wordly Wise, and Nervous Conditions. To make it easier, I will probably go in order of how we learned it.

Monday: Literary Analysis

To study for this, I will go to the Norton pages on Literary Analysis and annotate. Going through my notes and looking back on my past paper will help, too. While looking at my Literary Analysis, it would help a lot to look at what my weaknesses were so that I could change it on the essay. I may need to take an hour and a half to study this, or whenever the information sinks into my brain.

Tuesday: Research

To study for how to correctly "research," I can look back on my Global Issues Paper. I can look in the Norton book and take notes on how to research, paraphrase, and cite correctly. Studying for the research part won't be too hard since it is straight forward. I could spend an hour on studying this.

Wednesday: Nervous Conditions

Nervous Conditions is going to take up most of my studying for English. I will probably start off studying the questions for each chapter. Second, I would look back on notes. I could make notecards for the postcolonial literature characteristics, social setting, psychological setting, characters, theme, and the reason for the order of the book.I will probably set aside 2-3 hours to do this.

Thursday: Poetry

Studying for poetry, I will start at school. First I need to go to Dr. deGravelles and make sure all my definitions of the terms are correct. Once I figure that out, I can make notecards for all the terms, memorize how the meter works, study how to read a poem and TP-CASTT, and annotate different poems in our poem books. I should probably annotate one of them at tutorial so I can go to dr. Degravelles and make sure I annotated it right. This will take me a half an hour at school and 2-3 hours at home.

Friday: Macbeth

To study for Macbeth, I will go over my drama notes, and all the annotations I wrote down. I will make notecards for the characteristics of drama, and words that come along with Shakespeare plays. I will study the theme and create a plot diagram. Making the notecards and studying will all take me about 3 and a half hours.

Monday: Everything

On Monday I will review everything that I have studied for this exam. This is my only exam on Tuesday, so I can take as much time as I want. Since I have already made Wordly Wise cards and will have already taken a quiz on them, I just need to review the words until I know them backwards and forwards. I can't write down a set time for how long I will study Monday, because it depends on how well I know each subject from studying the other days.

Thanks for reading and good luck on your exams!!~Taylor

Class Participation- 4th Quarter

        Over the fourth quarter, I have participated very well. I always come to class prepared with my materials, check the web twice a day, and turn in assignments at the beginning of class. This quarter especially, I have done well in getting into class discussions. I ask appropriate questions, pay attention, and take notes as well. With the group and individual work that we did, we always stayed on topic. My group always came through with a  good grade.
         Comparing this quarter to the rest of the year, I have to say that I have excelled in staying on task and working beyond minimum. The thing that makes the difference, is that I learned to manage my time and create a plan for long-term assignments. Some things I need to work on are talking to peers in class and using time between classes for bathroom breaks. I have slowly started to get better, but still continue to do it time and time again.

Thanks for reading, Taylor

MACBETH: Act.4 Scene 3

1. Malcolm tests Macduff by asking why he would leave his family to go to England. He has to test him since people have come to him before luring him to Macbeth. Macduff proves himself as loyal by talking about how he hates Macbeth and all of Macduff's struggles in the country. 

2. Ross's subtext was that they are well at peace now that they are dead. He would probably be saying it sarcastically and too the side on stage.

3. My children and wife killed? And I have to be away from there too? He has no children! ALL my pretty ones? All of them? Wow, he killed all of my children and their mother. I need to feel it like a man. Did heaven watch this and not send help? Sinful Macduff, it's al because of you! Not for their mistakes, but mine! May they rest in Heaven. I'd rather not wait like a women, but come face to face with Macbeth and let me kill him now. If he escapes, heaven forgive him too. 

               >From this paraphrase, I figured that Macduff feels guilty for leaving his family. At first he is 

                 shocked, second he feels guilt, and third he just wants to be like a man and get revenge.

Macbeth Through the Eyes of Macbeth

        In class we are reading the Shakespeare play Macbeth. Macbeth is pronounced as Thane of Cawdor because of being such a brave and loyal component in the war. The king who appoints him is Duncan, who can't read people well, trusts people too easily, and is genuinely a nice person. Macbeth has a wife who seems crazy in this play, because she wants Macbeth to kill Duncan so he can be king. Macbeth doesn't like this idea one bit, because he says that Duncan has been so nice to name him Thane of Cawdor, and he has already gained a golden opinion from the people. Lady Macbeth says that she can't believe that Macbeth is such a coward and says he isn't a man. Macbeth, of course, gets defensive and says yes I am a man. He is still hesitant, so asks what would happen if it fails. After Lady Macbeth challenges his manly-hood yet again, he agrees to it.
         Once it comes the time for Macbeth to kill Duncan in his sleep, Macbeth starts hallucinating daggers in the air. Once he shakes it off and grabs the real one, he sneaks into Duncan's room. Lady Macbeth talks to him from outside the bedroom, talking about the guards being drugged. Macbeth does the deed, and proceeds to freak out. Macbeth is hearing things, thinking he is hearing men screaming about murder and Macbeth killing the king. Lady Macbeth tells him to clean his hands with water, when they heard a knocking at the front door. Macbeth starts to wish he didn't do it, and says that he wishes he could wake Duncan with the knocking. Once everyone found out that Duncan was murdered, Macbeth started to act weird and over did it a little. No one noticed, but the guilt was too much for him.

Thanks for reading, Taylor

Changing as a Reader

          Over the year, I have learned and improved as a reader. I have to admit, I have always loved reading. This year I read many amazing books and have found myself to be reading two different genres. I do like the chick-flik books, but what catches my eye the most is mystery. The kind of mystery that I like is where there is feelings of the character and a bunch of stories in one that all connect at the end. An example would be The Last Child, which I read over the summer.
          Other than finding what genres I like, I have actually started to connect what we learn in class with my outside reading. In these mystery books I am figuring out the messages and clues faster because of our close reading in class. I have started to notice foreshadowing, symbolism, and double meanings, which makes the read so much more interesting. I have a lot of books I plan to read next. One of them is 13 Reasons Why, that I learned about in the lunch book chats. I can't wait to dig in!

Thanks for reading, Taylor

Writing Wrap-Up

            This year was a great year for me in writing. I have learned and excelled much more than in pervious years and am very proud of myself. We practiced many different writing techniques and different genres of writing throughout this school year. Even though the process was rough, I would love the feeling of accomplishment once I turned my final draft in. I would feel even more proud and accomplished when I would get it back with the letter A written on it. One thing that I think helped me excel is the feedback I got. Even though you may get a good letter grade, there is always something that can be fixed or adjusted.  

            Throughout the year I have improved greatly on organization and voice, stayed consistently good with ideas, word choice, and sentence fluency, but have been struggling in conventions.  In my first paper, which was the Literacy Narrative, I scored low in organization and voice. I organized it more as an essay than a narrative, which is why I scored low in that, and I scored low in voice from a lack of vivid details. I never fully knew how to change my organization techniques, which is why I have always struggled in it. With the feedback from classmates and Dr. deGravelles combined with advice from the Norton book, I really picked it up and made A’s and B’s for the rest of the paper’s organization and voices. One good piece of advice that was given to me about voice, was to sound like myself, but still knowledgeable and sophisticated. 
           Other than these improvements, my best scores are definitely in ideas. In the Literacy Narrative, my ideas were very good because of how I portrayed myself growing as a writer. In the Literary Analysis, I scored pretty high in ideas, but I could have done better with embedding my thesis. I also received good advice on this paper about how I should try to focus on only one literary element in these papers instead of multiple. Other than ideas, my word choice has stayed consistent as well. Just because the scores are high doesn't mean I can't improve, though. I received comments on multiple papers about using more active verbs and letting people infer rather than me straight out saying something. Along with word choice and ideas, sentence fluency has stayed consistent. I make pretty good scores on this, but I don't know how to improve. I try to make my sentences sound good and flowy, but feel that I could make it even better. This is definitely something I need to research and work on. 
             Lastly, my conventions slowly declined in score. They went from an A to a C. The thing that messed me up was the citing. The Literary Narrative had great citations; Dr. deGravelles even said that they were almost "flawless." It started to get harder for me towards the Global Issues Paper. I was putting the period before the citation, not after it, and I also forgot some of the authors. The good thing is that all of this can be fixed. With a little help from my teacher, the internet, and the Norton book, and can create perfection. Conventions is probably the top thing I want to better myself in next year. 

            I have definitely progressed in writing since last year. I have actually learned much more about papers and writing than any other English class I’ve ever been in. Also, I have to admit I’m proud of all the papers I have written this year. In some of the papers’ feedback I agree, but others not so much. When I saw the organization grade and overall grade for the Literacy Narrative I was actually shocked. I had thought that I tied my writing in together very nicely. As it turns out, I was doing a different kind of paper than was assigned. The reason I thought I was doing the right thing, was that it was about my progressing as a writer, but it was supposed to be more narrative. Another time I disagreed was with my thesis in the Global Analysis.  I felt that it was one of my best theses, but my comments said to slow down and make more of an intro. I understand now that after my quote I should have eased into it more, but I feel that my transition sentence after was very clever. Besides these surprises, I pretty much received what I expected. It’s not that I didn’t do the best I could in them, but that I knew it wasn’t perfect and didn’t know how to make it any better. Overall, I think the reason I have been improving is because I like the topics we have been writing about. Usually if I don’t like the topic, I don’t have much to say. Since I’ve liked these topics, I was free to adding my own flare and making each one unique.

            Next year I plan to keep excelling in my writing, and to better my citing skills. Each year I get a little better at my word choice, and I hope to improve a lot in that as well. To conquer these goals, I need to pay attention to Wordly Wise words and to the Norton book. The Norton book could really help me in all subjects of writing, and I would learn a lot from it if I would read and take notes on my weak points. Wordly Wise could help me on my word choice if I build on my vocabulary and really learn and know each word that we learn. I hope to become better and succeed in my writing even more than I did this year.

Common Error’s List

• ·      Lack of vivid detail
• Example: In my Profile I could have described my dad more with visual, vivid details to make it come to life more. 

• ·      Strengthening active verbs
• Example: In my Profile when describing my dad's office. If I would have used active verbs, I could have let the audience infer and visualize rather than me saying it straight-forward. 

• ·      Cut back on “is” and “has”
• Example: In my Profile, I could have taken these two repeated words out and replaced them with active verbs. "He has blue eyes and is very smart. He also has brown hair that is wavy. His son has his smile and is just like him."

• ·      Slow down and explain more
• Example: "Joyce Carol Oates’ story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is about a teenage girl named Connie who is a rebel and usually knows what she’s doing with boys." (Literary Analysis)

• ·      Run-on sentences
• Example: "I can still hear all of the parents fighting outside of it, my cousin crying and yelling back, and my little cousins were oblivious." (Literacy Narrative)

• ·      Don’t use contractions in formal writing
• Example: "Even though we can't get into..." (Literary Analysis)

• ·      Citing techniques
• Example:  "The Vatican was actually called on because it now requires suspected child abuse to be reported to the police as soon as possible. (“Irish Government Slams Vatican For Role In Abuse Cover-up”)" The period goes after the citation. (Global Issues Paper) 

Reading Log

Read: 150 minutes
Pages: 70

Poetry Assignments This Week

Hello Everyone!

        This week in poetry we all had to analyze four different poems. These poems were "Poetry" by Marianne Moore, "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks, "Homage to My Hips" by Lucille Clifton, and "Summer" by Lucien Stryk. My favorite poem would have to be "We Real Cool." I like it because I feel that it's really fun to say/rap and it's very clever. I also like how after I thought about each line and figured out what it meant I felt pretty clever and smart. "Homage to My Hips" is my second favorite. I like how her hips are being personified the whole time, and how the shape of the poem is in the shape of her hips. I have never seen this before, and thought that it was pretty cool.

          I think my least favorite was "Poetry."I didn't like it because I couldn't read it easily. I had to read over the same line a couple of times different ways before it would sound right. I also didn't exactly follow what it was saying. I understand that it was about poetry, but I'm not sure whether the author even liked it or not. I think I'm getting better at analyzing and understanding each technique, though. Practice really is making perfect in our lesson right now! 

Thanks for reading, Taylor

"I'm Like A Bird" lyric analysis

Lyrics to “I’m Like A Bird” by Nelly Furtado:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/nellyfurtado/imlikeabird.html

You're beautiful, that's for sure

You'll never ever fade

You're lovely but it's not for sure

That I won't ever change

And though my love is rare

Though my love is true

[Chorus:]

I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away

I don't know where my soul is, I don't know where my home is  

(and baby all I need for you to know is)

I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away

I don't know where my soul is , I don't know where my home is

All I need for you to know is

Your faith in me brings me to tears

Even after all these years

And it pains me so much to tell

That you don't know me that well

And though my love is rare

Though my love is true

[Chorus]

It's not that I wanna say goodbye

It's just that every time you try to tell me that you love me

Each and every single day I know

I'm going to have to eventually give you away

And though my love is rare

And though my love is true

Hey I'm just scared

That we may fall through

[Chorus x3]

            In this song, there is a lot of repetition. There is repetition in the first verse with “you” being the first word on three lines. “For sure” and “my love” are both repeated twice in the first paragraph as well. These repetitions provide better fluency. In the chorus, there is a simile saying, “I’m like a bird.” “Know” is repeated a lot in the chorus, and each line either ends with “is” or “away.” This brings each line to a sort of abrupt stop. Other than repetition, there is also rhyming. The ends of the first four lines in verse two, each have a rhyming pair. Tears and years rhyme, and tell and well rhyme. So, the techniques used in this song were metaphor, rhyme, and repetition.

            Along with these techniques, there is also imagery. In the chorus, you can picture someone always traveling from place to place and not ever settling down anywhere or loving anyone. In the second verse, you can imagine someone crying since it says, “brings me to tears.” The last form of imagery is in verse three where she says “fall through.” That sounds very scary and dark, so I imagine someone falling in darkness. 

"My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke

The whiskey on your breath                              1
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.

We romped until the pans                                  5
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
Could not unfrown itself.

The hand that held my wrist                               9
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scared a buckle.

You beat time on my head                                13
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.

       I chose this poem after reading all of the poems, because it was the one that stuck out to me the most. I liked the way that it sounded when I read it. This is because of the rhyme being used at the ends of each line. For example,  lines one and three have rhyme, two and four rhyme, six and eight rhyme, ten and twelve rhyme, thirteen and fifteen rhyme, and fourteen and sixteen rhyme. This made it a more fun read, and made it more flawy. Other than the rhyming, there seemed to be a pattern with the first word in each stanza. The first and third stanza both start with the word "the." The second and fourth start with the words "we" and "you." I made a connection with these since we is you plural. I found significance with it being we then you, because in the first two stanza's it is mainly talking about the boy with someone else, but then in stanzas three and four it mentions that the mom is with him and mainly talks about what's going on with her.
       The sounds weren't the only thing that popped out to me. There was also some imagery that went along with it. "Whiskey on your breath" is an example because you can imagine that smell. Imagining a "small boy dizzy" is like a 4 year old after they just spun around in circles 10 times. Of course death would be imagery, and waltzing could be imagery since we could imagine people in a ballroom waltzing. "Pans slid from the kitchen shelf" is imagery since I have even seen pans sliding from the kitchen shelf. "Hand that held my wrist" and "battered on one knuckle" would go together since you could imagine an adult hand around a child's wrist, and the adult's knuckle being beat up. When Theodore wrote that "at every step you missed my right ear scraped a buckle," I imagined a drunken mother cradling her little boy or girl up the stairs, and when missing a step they would go sideways hitting the little boy/girl's ear. "Waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt" would be imagined as a women waltzing while holding their baby bringing them to bed. Overall I found Imagery, rhyme, and patterns with the first words.

Shiver (Outside Reading)

Hello Everyone!

      This week I decided to take a break from Heaven is For Real and read something in Dr. deGravelles classroom. I picked up a book called Shiver out of random and started reading it. To my surprise it was actually very good. I'm only a few chapters into it, but even the first chapter sucked me in. I think one thing that made me interested is how there were werwolves. The Twilight series were my favorite books ever, and may be missing all of that supernatural.
        What I'm planning on doing is finishing up Heaven is For Real, and then maybe moving onto Shiver. It's a little confusing right now since I just started, but it seems like it's going to be about love but also be gruesome parts. It hasn't said it yet, but the book infers that the people turn into wolves over the winter, and people over the summer. The weird thing is that they eat people when they are wolves. That's pretty weird since they are human during the summer. I can't wait to read more and tell y'all about it!

Thanks for reading, Taylor                                          Pages read: 46 pages plus poetry     Read: 150 min.

Movie Time Anyone?

    I love going to the movies. Going with my friends or family; I don't really care. I just really enjoy getting my popcorn and big bottle of water to see a movie for the first time on a huge screen in front of me. It's not just the movie that makes the experience great; it's also the people in the theater with you. It comedy movies or horror movies, most of the time the comments from the audience make the movie so much better than it actually is. I remember when I saw Paranormal Activity 3, the audience made it the funniest movie I'd ever seen by their comments.
    Movie premiers are also awesome. I think the reason that they are so exciting, is because of all the planning for it and waiting to finally go see it right when it comes out. I've been to 2 premiers, both for the Twilight series with my mom. I was exhausted the next day at school, but it was so worth it. The audience in premiers are the ones who are obsessed fans of that movie series or book. That's another reason for going to a premiere; because all of the people are usually dressed up in fan shirts and screaming comments on the characters in the movie. Each experience brings up a new realm of excitement.

Thanks for reading, Taylor

Poetry and Heaven is For Real

       This week in English class we started Poetry. So far, we have learned how to annotate with imagery, repetitive words, light/dark, and things like that. I have to admit, I actually really like poetry. What I look forward to in this lesson is learning how to write good poems. I've always wanted to write a good one without making it dramatic and depressing. I hope that this is going to be fun for one of our last lessons in English class this year!
        Even though we have started a new lesson, we still have to keep on reading. Heaven is For Real continues to amaze me. As it turns out, Colton didn't just see the good things about heaven; he also saw Satan. He says that the Angels have swords so they can keep Satan out of Heaven. I for one did not know that Satan tries to get into Heaven. I thought that he just stayed in Hell. Also, when his parents asked about what Satan looked like, Colton got really scared and quiet. I hope that he says it later on though, because now I'm really curious.

Thanks for Reading!                                      Read: 150 min(poetry hw and book)  Pages: 55

Heaven is For Real-- Meeting People

Hello All!

      I am still reading the book Heaven is For Real and I continue to be amazed. Colton gives more and more information, but nothing as big and exciting as it has been lately. One thing that he said really amused me, though. He said that no one in heaven was old and no one wore glasses. That makes me wonder what my great grandparents look like then. It would be pretty weird because when I get there I wouldn't recognize them since I didn't know them that way.

      Another weird thing to think is that every generation is gonna look a lot alike. My grandfather and my great grandfather would probably look identical. Even though this is pretty weird, I think it's awesome that no one has glasses. This way, everyone gets to see the beauty of Heaven with perfect eyesight. Colton didn't say it, but I'm imagining that no one has acne and no one is obese. I think of people in Heaven as everyone in their best form. The only sad thing about Colton having been to Heaven is that he can't wait to go back. Whenever his parents fuss at him for running in the parking lot and saying he can get hit and die, it smiles and says he would love to. For one I think that's creepy, and two I would be sad if I was the parent. 

Thanks for reading! Taylor

Surprise Party

         As many of you know, my friends and family threw me a surprise party for my golden birthday Friday. The whole grade was invited plus some people from other schools. Even though this has been planned for 3 weeks now, I had no idea and was completely surprised. I still can't believe that nobody spilled the beans! That day, I overheard people walking next to me asking what the other was going to wear and things like that, but thought nothing of it assuming they were going to dinner with friends or something.

         My parents told me that we were going to dinner at CCL for steak and lobster night. I thought it was pretty weird when my mom told me to put on my new dress I got for parties. When we got into the resteraunt at CCL, there was a big wall with huge decoration balloon things above it. My mom told me it was decoration for lobster night and that they go all out for these nights like this. I walked in first and right when I turned the corner there were no tables or waiters, but all my friends and family screaming surprise and jumping out at me. Right when they screamed surprise my favorite song came on. It was the best night ever and I couldn't believe everyone would do that for me. I felt so blessed and special.

Thanks for reading, Taylor

Cheer Tryouts~ And Let the Stress Begin

Hey Y'all!

     This week is cheer clinic, which means serious business. Starting monday at 5:30 everyone who wants to tryout for fall cheerleading will be learning our tryout dance and cheer. With all the new freshman trying out and two new sophomores, I am getting really nervous. My friends and I have been preparing ourselves by going to tumbling practices and going over motions and jumps. Monday through Friday we have the clinic from 5:30-7:30. All this time we are learning and perfecting skills. We have one more day to prepare ourselves before tryouts which is Sunday. There can only be 14 girls on the JV squad and everyone is fighting for a spot. The scariest thing is not knowing if I'm going to make it or what's going to happen.
      Last year, they partnered everybody up to tryout with. I was partnered with my good friend Trinity, and luckily we both made it. One thing that I want to change about my try out from last year, is that I want to do a back handspring. I forget how my jumps were last year, but I know for sure that that is something I should be working on everyday from now and until Sunday. Another thing that makes tryouts so scary, is that you're by yourself cheering in front of about 4 people who either just stare blankly at you, or laugh at you and talk to their neighbor about you. Even though you are watching their expressions, writing things down every now and then, you have to keep cool and go on normally. I am hoping that I do my best and make the squad, but even if I don't, I'll know I did everything I could.

Wish me luck!! Taylor

Heaven is For Real-- Connections

Hello everyone,

      If you have read my last post I am reading an amazing book called Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo.  Like I said last week, Colton has gone to Heaven and back. Now, we know that he was only there for three minutes but it sounds like he spent a couple days. We learn here that he meets two family members that had passed away that he never met. He says that he stayed with his dad's grandfather, and this made me think of my great grandmother that passed away recently. I started to think of how happy I would be to be greeted into Heaven by her. The only difference between me and Colton, is that his great grandfather had passed away years before he was even born. Things like this are making me really realize that this little boy actually went to heaven and back. Another person he saw which shocked me the most is his "second sister." As you know he only has one sister, Cassie. What Colton was never told, is that his mom had a miscarriage before he was even born. I started to really think when it said this since my mom had a miscarriage as well. It gave me hope that that baby was in heaven and was waiting for me. Colton continued to say that God adopted her and that she didn't have a name because they hadn't named her. This brought me to wonder if God adopts all babies that had died before they were born.
     Other than Colton meeting people, he talks a lot about physical characteristics of Heaven, God, and other things. He started to talk about how God is three people. I have always been confused about this and his experience cleared it up for me. Colton was saying how he sat next to God the Holy Spirit, because he needed to pray for his dad. To help me picture it, he said that the Holy Spirit was kind of blue. I imagine him a little transparent and sky blue. The image of the Holy Spirit was not all that I learned. I also learned that it is never dark in Heaven, because Jesus and God bring light. There is also no sun since Jesus and God already provide light. I concluded that this also might be the reason that the time is so different in how he said he was gone for three minutes. You wouldn't think there was such thing as time there since there is no need for a sun.

Thanks for reading, Taylor                                                                 Read: 47 pages    Minutes read: 105 min.

Easter Break

Hey Y'all!

     Every year for Easter, the bunny does something special for my family. Since I'm the oldest, and the only girl of 4, we love treasure hunts. We wake up to a note somewhere obvious that has a little riddle leading to the next. It's really a really funny and fun way to get us all in the Easter spirit. Last year, I remember one of the riddles told us to go in another siblings closet and put on their clothes. I had to put on my then 4 year old brother's pajamas and I looked absolutely ridiculous.
      While all of this is going on, my dad is usually videotaping. After maybe 5 riddles it leads us to our baskets. Our baskets consist of candy, spring/summer necessities, and other fun goodies. After we check out all our new stuff the Easter bunny brought us, we either go to mass or down to the beach. Lately, we have been going to Florida for Easter vacation, as we will be doing this weekend. It's always fun to spend a relaxing day at the beach on Easter! I hope all of you have a terrific Easter holiday as I'm sure I will.

Thanks for reading, Taylor

Heaven is For Real-- Inspiring Start

Hello All!

       I have just recently started a new novel called Heaven is For Real, by Todd Burpo. He tells the story of how his son went to heaven and back during surgery. So far I have read about Todd's mischief and through all the struggles he faced. That year his son went through surgery, Todd broke his knee in half, got a kidney stone, and almost had breast cancer. I couldn't get over how bad his luck was. This was also pretty interesting to me, because I didn't know men could get breast cancer; he was very manly too having a wrestling and playing soccer. Him, his two kids Colton and Cassie, and his wife Sonja went on a trip to celebrate his recovery and learn about church life in different areas since his dad was a priest. Along the way Colton got really sick, throwing up every 30 minutes.
         This began it all. So far I have heard his whole story on how his appendix had burst and he was very very close to death. I have also heard how strange he has been acting ever since worrying if people had taken Jesus in their heart before they died at funerals, telling his parents to pay Jesus back for saving him, and so on. All this became so weird to me. First of all, the kid is 3 and a half so he definitely couldn't have known all this information about going to heaven only if you love Jesus and what John the Baptist looks like. I don't think I learned all this until at least 2nd or 3rd grade. Some people can say he knows this from his dad or Sunday school, that he's just a kid and making it up, or even that his dad is exaggerating; but i most definitely believe this kid met Jesus. I can't wait to read more about what heaven looks like and who he met during his quick adventure. To me, this is like a more interesting and kid friendly convincing Bible. Nothing is boring me or confusing me; it's just a kid telling me his own adventure through death.

Thanks for reading, Taylor

Fake Boyfriend--Ending It Off

        So to sum up what has happened is that Jonathan ended up going to prom with Isabelle and they had a great time. Everyone had a date but Vivi, but Lane didn't get to go with Curtis so she went with Marshall. That night Jonathan "broke up" with Isabelle because he said he had to "go to Paris for a scholarship." Isabelle texts Vivi and Lane telling them that she's about to board a plane to Paris to surprise Brandon. Vivi and Lane go to Isabelle's house to break all the news to her mom but to their surprise Isabelle is there.
        Whenever it said Isabelle was there, I freaked out. I was completely shocked and had no idea what was going on. Then, Isabelle brings the girls to the backyard where Marshall and Jonathan are. The whole time Isabelle knew and was creating a plot to get back at Lane and Vivi. I definitely did not see this one coming. I thought that I knew exactly what was going on the whole book, but I was completely wrong. To top it off, Isabelle and Marshall are dating. I laughed out loud when it said this, for one because it was so weird and second I totally called that Marshall had a crush on her. So in the end everyone got what they wanted. Isabelle got a nice, caring boyfriend, Curtis and Lane admitted they liked each other, and Jonathan and Vivi are going out. This was by far my favorite book ever and I really hope to read a good one like this again that I can actually relate to. I could relate to this a lot, because I felt that this could be me and my friends. I am so sad that it is over!

Thanks for reading, Taylor                                                                       Read: 150 min     Pages read: 74

Surprise Parties

         For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted someone to throw me a surprise party. I still think that they are the coolest thing ever. When imagining an awesome surprise party I imagine the house fully decorated in streamers and banners saying Happy Birthday, a big homemade cake, all my friends and family screaming, and for me to be so surprised that I fall to the ground. Really, if it's not all decked out like that, it would still be amazing. To me, it's the thought that counts and if some people took the time and effort to throw you a party and make you feel special, you are the luckiest person ever.
         Today was my friend Katie's birthday and my friends and I threw her a surprise party. She was definitely surprised and we had a great time. Her closest friends were there, so it wasn't too big to overwhelm her. We all did so much in preparing this; texting her mom coordinating everything, getting all the supplies, and making sure no one spilled the beans. Katie and her mom were out shopping when the girls and myself were at their house throwing around streamers and putting up banners so that there was no blank spot in their kitchen and living room. We were all blowing up balloons and putting confetti around the cake when Katie's dad told us that they were pulling in. We all hid and when Katie opened the door we screamed, "SURPRISE." She was super surprised and looked really shocked. I hope Katie had a great birthday, because i thought that it was a very successful party.

Thanks for reading, Taylor

Parade Dangers

Hello All!

       As All of you know and are excited about, Mardi Gras is coming up! I just went to a parade in Houma, Louisiana where a lot of my family lives. It's a tradition to go to this parade, because my grandmother has been in it for 35 years and my mom and aunts just started a couple of years ago. It gets more fun every year, and I had a great time. Usually everything is great at the parades! The environment is so fun and happy with blasting music, smiling people with their bags full of stuffed animals and beads that they caught, huge and colorful floats passing by, and women with crazy outfits on them. Another thing that comes before the floats is the policemen on their motorcycles that make circles on the street and pass out beads. They have always been a great entertainment, and I have never been worried about them until 2 years ago.
       Two years ago, diagonal from where my family was, a man on a motorcycle was killed. I forget if he had hit a car or someone standing on the side, but it was very tragic. The EMS came and took him. All I remember was that there was a motorcycle on it's side on the street, a man on the ground with blood, and people all around looking frantic. What made me bring this up all of a sudden, is that another accident occurred today, Sunday. I did not see this one, but my mom who was on a float saw it happen right in front of her float. From my side of the story, I was just looking at a backed up parade ready to go home, wondering why it wasn't moving. What my mom told me, was that she doesn't know how it happened, but she looked in front of her float and there was a person on the middle of the road laying down and someone had but a blanket on top. She said that the EMS came to get the person, and that she doesn't know if this person is dead or just severely injured. The blanket over the person made me think dead, but they also might just not want people to see them while they are so injured. I looked it up online to see if there was an update on it, but it probably won't come up until tomorrow. I will keep you all updated.

Thanks for reading, Taylor

Fake Boyfriend--Decisions

Hello y'all!

        Get ready for another update of Fake Boyfriend, because this was a good couple of chapters. As you all know, Lane and Vivi have found their "Brandon", who's real name is Jonathan. As it turns out, both Vivi and Lane are keeping secrets from each other. Vivi has been crushing hard on Jonathan and is trying to hide it and get rid of it, reminding herself that this is all for Isabelle. Meanwhile, Lane is still dying inside wishing that Curtis will ask her to prom. I really think that Curtis likes Lane and he even drops hints asking her to help with homework all the time, and how he asked her to help pick out a tux.
       Isabelle finally got to meet "Brandon" accompanied by Lane and Vivi. Jonathan played the part amazingly and Isabelle completely fell for him. I would have cried if I were Vivi; I wouldn't have been able to hold it in. That night was a big night that has got me so excited to keep reading. Lane was asked by Curtis to go to a party with him. It sounded like a date to me and to Lane, finally catching onto all of his hints. Because of this, she couldn't go with Vivi to meet up with Jonathan and prepare him for prom. Vivi went alone and everything went wrong. It turns out that Jonathan likes her too and the only thingVivi can do to stop it is criticize him and say she doesn't like him and that he is Isabelle's date. He gets offended and quits the whole "Brandon" act. I would be so sad, disappointed, and angry at myself if I were her. The only hope of getting him back was Lane who had to give up her dream date with Curtis in order to do so. She went to Jonathan's house to plead for him to come back, and ended up having a good conversation of her spilling all that she has kept in from Curtis asking her to go to the party and her not being there. He told her she needed to go, and that's where it stopped. So far, Jonathan is no longer "Brandon", Lane is going find Curtis to go to the party, Vivi is at home freaking out, and Isabelle has a new crush; Brandon.

Thanks for reading, Taylor                                                              Pages read: 60      Time: 150 minutes

Global Issues Paper- First Draft

     Finally, my first draft for the Global Issues paper is completed! I turned it in a day early so that I wouldn't have to keep worrying about it the next day at school. Some of you may have read my last post about this assignment, and know about how I made a detailed outline. I found that my detailed outline really helped me so that I didn't feel so panicked when creating the first draft. All I really had to do to my outline was make all the pieces flow well together, put it into paragraph form, and create a good introduction with a quote.
      I am actually pretty confident with my paper. Going over introductions and how to quote in class really helped me out a lot. For my introduction, I put a quote and talked about how the information affects me as a member of the Catholic church. One thing people might think that doesn't apply to me is that they don't want a lot of feedback, because they think their paper is already amazing. I look getting back peer reviews so that I can fix everything that needs fixing. I could always make my paper better, and I just want the satisfaction of knowing I did a job well done and did the best I could.

Thanks for reading, Taylor

Nervous Condition: Chapter 1

        Last week we started reading our new class book, Nervous Conditions. It was actually much better than I had thought it would be. I read the introduction chapter and chapter 1 to start off the book. In the book, Tambu, the narrator, and her family live in Zimbabwe. I learned from the introduction that throughout the book she is going to tell us her story about how Zimbabwe has changed as well as her brother's story. Chapter one got us started about how her brother went to the mission, which is a school. Only the oldest boy in each family got to go to school, and her brother was taking after their uncle. Ever since he started school there, he has been acting like a brat and acting like he thinks he's too good for the family.
       Chapter one made me think hard about what that must feel like to Tambu's family for their son to have completely change and not want to visit anymore. I have three brothers and would absolutely be devastated if they acted like this. Relating the mission to modern day United States is sending a teenage boy off to an all boys boarding school and him not coming back for the holidays. It's also like him finally coming visit and him not helping out with family chores and putting himself in solitude. I can't wait to keep reading and learn more about the Zimbabwe culture and what Tambu's brother makes of himself.

Thanks for reading, Taylor                                                              Read for 80 minutes:: 17 pages read

Global Issues Paper- Getting There

Hey y'all,

      So in Dr. deGravelles' class, we have been working on our Global Issues paper. Every day for the past week we have been spending our time in the writing lab getting assistance and making our outlines. My paper is on Catholic Sex Abuse in Ireland and about what should be done. The main challenge in deciding what should be done, is that so many people in seperate churches, and in the Vatican were involved. From the last paper, I have learned that I really need to manage my time with these big papers and ask the teacher questions. I have also learned that I need to spend more time on it outside of class and be well aware of the due dates.
       Currently, I feel like I am doing very well on time. I've been working very efficiently in class as well as at home. I have also talked to Dr. deGravelles for tips on my thesis. So far, I have completed my second thesis statement, and detailed outline. I would say that my outline may even be beyond detailed now. I have each topic set out in the order of each paragraph with bulleted points of what I'm going to say in each one. Then, I also have my thoughts for each bullet and what I have to say on how I feel about it and what should be done to stop it. Next step for me is to make than into a draft, which will be very easy with all the information I have already put down. I'm hoping that I'm on my way to a great turnout.

Thanks for reading, Taylor                                                                                       2 hours spent working
                                                                                                                                           Detailed Outline

  
    

Camping Out

Hello Everyone!

      I hope all of you had a great weekend, because I had a fantastic one. My friends Melissa, Trinity, and I had been planning our friday night all week. We decided that we really wanted to go camping in one of our backyards. In the back of my yard I have a trampoline which is back by some woods and a little farther away from a pond. We thought it would be a great idea to come to my house for a more "realistic" campout experience. Although we were excited to get out there and look at the stars, we had to prepare first. First, we got all of our supplies together such as sheets, blankets, flashlights, and pillows. There is a big hill down our backyard, so we decided we would take the golf cart to make it a little easier. We took turns holding the flashlight and setting up on the trampoline since it was already 10 o'clock. After we finally set up we laid down in our comfy bed we had made and called my dad to tell him we weren't backing out (he and mr brother made a bet against us that we wouldn't sleep out there.)
      We had a good time talking and laughing, about to go to bed when Trinity turns around to where our backs were facing and sees a black shadow farther away in the backyard. It was then 11 o'clock and we all thought it must be a bush or something. It then walked slowly two steps. There are usually deer in the backyard so we thought it must have been one until we saw arms by it's sides. I immediately stood up trying not to panic, looking at a medium sized crouched shadow with swinging arms by its side take a couple steps towards us. Since we are obviously out of our minds freaking out, we assume it's an orangutan. Next thing we know it's pretty close, on the other side of the golf cart when I'm calling my mom to help us. I think that I see a knife in the figure's hand and scream at Melissa and Trinity to stand up. Just as we are all thinking that our lives are over and there is no way out, my dad screams and jumps out right at us. The deer/orangutan/murderer was actually my father. We were all breathing heavily, shaking, and screaming at my dad for doing that. My mom, clueless, comes running outside asking if we are alright. After that, we shook it off and told my dad that we were not giving up. After about 15 minutes we were still scared and decided we should sneak back in. We grabbed our pillows and flashlight and darted up the hill hoping no one would see us, and no orangutan would eat us. The next morning we played it cool acting like we slept out there when my dad told us he watched us run up the hill the night before. Even though we lost the bet, it was a night to remember.

Thanks for reading, Taylor

Fake Boyfriend--Finding The Guy

Hello Everyone!

       If you all remember my last post about the book I am reading, Fake Boyfriend by Kate Brian, you will be pretty excited to hear about what has happened since then. During these couple of chapters we figure out that Lane has a big crush on her best friend since diapers, Curtis, and is hoping he will take her to Prom. Of course she has to hold this all in throughout her, Curtis, and Vivi's journey of finding a "Brandon" to take Isabelle to prom. The first place they think of for looking for cute guys is Saint Paul's Prep. This really reminded me of Catholic High, because if I was setting my best friend up with a fake guy, CHS would definitely be the first place I would look. Unfortunately no one there was worthy of their friend or didn't believe them, so they went to play auditions for the city, kind of like Playmakers in Baton Rouge, to find anyone. A performer's older brother was there and they chased after him; they were not letting him go. His name was Jonathan and he agreed to it.
      They brought him shopping and brought him books and movies that "Brandon" loves and knows about. Reading this I was even beginning to have a crush on Jonathan, so of course Vivi was. I feel really bad for her, because she doesn't have a prom date and she really likes him after only two days. She just had to keep telling herself that he was for Isabelle, not her. She still hasn't told Lane, which I wouldn't either. I would keep it to myself and try to stop myself. It isn't like Vivi is the only person dateless though; Lane is still hoping for Curtis. Curtis told them he had a girl in mind but she probably wouldn't say yes. He also wouldn't tell them who. I think that it's obvious that the girl is Lane. I guess it might not be her, but it made it even more obvious for me when he asked Lane if she could go tux shopping with him and when she turned him down he acted really nervous and sad. What I think, is that he was planning to ask her when they were tux shopping, but Vivi and Lane think he's going with someone else. I'll keep everyone updated on if Curtis really is asking Lane to prom, and how Vivi handles the Jonathan situation.

Thanks for reading, Taylor.
      

A Relaxing Weekend

Hello Everyone!
    
      Usually, I'm the type of person who likes to be active and doing something all the time. This is why on the weekends I always have tons of plans and am crazy busy. This has some pros and cons, because even though I have a lot of fun, I end up being really tired the rest of the week. Last week, as you all know, seemed to last forever. I had a million projects due friday and was struggling to keep up with everything. Getting through this I just had to think on the bright side; the Techno Party was friday.
      Friday I had a fun day going to the basketball game and techno party, but after that it was relax time. I went straight home after the dance and stayed home Saturday and Sunday. Usually, I would think that sounds so boring, but actually I had a good time. I hung out with my brothers and watched movies. I also got my energy out running outside. Another thing I don't like to do is sleep away my day. I enjoy waking up at around 9 so i still have a full day. By resting so much, Sunday morning I actually woke up at 8 o'clock. That way, I didn't have to go straight to my homework as usual. I got to slowly wake up watching The Notebook, talking to my grandmother, eating breakfast before starting. I also got to take breaks in between to make the day more enjoyable. So actually, even though it's fun to always be doing something, it's good to just relax for a while.

Thanks for reading, Taylor

Fake Boyfriend

            I've started a new book called Fake Boyfriend by Kate Brian. There are four best friends Lane, Isabelle, Vivi, and Curtis. It starts out with them all at a coffee shop planning for prom, when they spot Isabelle's boyfriend, Shawn, cheating on her. Apparently this wasn't the first time Shawn had done something like this, because her friends already hate him. Isabelle is kind of a doormat and just keeps taking Shawn back, acting like he did nothing wrong. I can connect to this kind of, in a way that I can't stay mad at someone for long. I try not to be a doormat and let someone keep doing something to me, but if they do it once I forgive them easily.
           Vivi and Lane make up a fake boy on myspace and start to IM Isabelle on it. They realized that they needed a guy to help them out, so they brought in Vivi's brother, Marshall. This made me start to think about what if I did this for one of my friends, because I have a brother that could help me. I start to think about the pros and cons and thought that maybe this wasn't the best idea. That obviously hasn't clicked in Vivi and Lane's heads yet because all they can think about is how Isabelle is starting to think more about fake guy, Brandon, and less of Shawn. Isabelle is still thinking of who to ask to Prom and if she asks Brandon i wonder what Vivi and Lane will do. I know that they don't want her to go with Shawn so they would probably do anything. I think that Marshall might ask her, because he is probably starting to like her since he is "Brandon."

Cotillion Rules

        There are two seperate cotillions, Elan and Baton Rouge. When you are in a cotillion you can pay for a guest to bring to all of the dances. I'm in Elan cotillion and Melissa is in Baton Rouge cotillion, so we bring each other to all of the dances. The parties are usually very fun, but lately it has gotten way too strict. The two most recent dances were Snowball, which is Elan, and Hollyball, which is Baton Rouge. At both parties my friends or I have had trouble. The first that came up was Hollyball and two of my friends got kicked out. They had tried to sneak in using a friend who wasnt there's ticket and got caught. It would have been okay, but the rules made everything way out of hand. They were both supposed to spend the night at Melissa's house, but instead of her mom turning around and getting them, their own seperate parents had to pick them. One of my friend's parents was having a crisis and couldn't get there, but the lady had said it was the only way and they had to.
         That was the incident for Hollyball, but at Snowball we had a whole other problem. Me and all my other five friends that I had gotten ready with were very excited not to wear heels to the party. Usually at all the dances the girls would take off their shoes as soon as we got in, but this time we out smarted that and decided to wear tennis shoes with our dresses. I got new sparkly converse and was so happy to be able to dance comfortably. We had assumed it was alright since other people had done it to a couple dances already. Apparently we were wrong, because when we got there the ladies were telling us that it wasn't appropriate and has been in the rule book for years. It was already 8:15 and the latest they would let you in is 8:30. We rushed home to Sara Alice's house and grabbed whatever heels we could find. None of them matched our outfits and were two sizes too big for all of us. After we got in the dance, we we took our shoes off like normal. A little while later one of my friends got yelled at by a chaperone to put our shoes on, so all the rest of the night I was falling everywhere in those big heels. Next time I might want to check the rule book and make sure everyone has a ticket.

New Years Resolution

      For 2012 I have two new years resolutions. They are to be healthier and workout more, and to take more risks. Most people think that new years resolutions are over rated and that no one really follows them. I really think that I will follow these and so far I'm doing pretty good. My mom and I signed up to work out at Trinity Fitness together on Mondays and Wednesdays. To stay on top of it and make us feel better we also hop on the treadmill and elliptical the days we aren't there. For the getting healthier part, I have been eliminating bad sugars, such as desserts and candy. I have also started to not eat too much noodles or hold back on the bread. Hopefully I keep up with this and get in better shape, not only for the body but to feel better. 
       Like I said, I hope I keep going with this working out ethic. Another thing I hope to get at is taking more risks. This doesn't mean I will be doing bad things, it just means I won't be as shy and won't hold back. For example, If I was at an LSU game and the person I was with knew someone, I wouldn't be shy and not talk; I would be outgoing and make friends with the person. I haven't had a chance to go through with this, but I probably will very soon.