Journal 5 Reflection of the first quarter of Senior year

This is the last blog of the first quarter and it gives me a chance to reflect on the first quarter of my senior year. It is crazy to believe that I only have three quarters left in high school. I expected senior year to be easy and fun. It is defiantly fun but not easy, there are so many different things I have to do from staying on top of my grades in each class to making sure I have everything in for the deadline of the colleges I want to apply to and working at Hallmark Senior year is a crazy year but I am looking forward to all the things we get in our senior year. We got our senior polos which look amazing, some of us have been here since 7^th grade so we are receiving six year shirts which I am excited about, later in the year we receive class shirts and at the end of the year we get to go to ball and Boston for our class trip. It is sad to think that senior year is going by so quickly because I am going to miss everyone, my friends, my amazing teachers at Bishop Kearney and the faculty. I want to try to continue to do my best with my grades I know some classes are tougher and I want to try harder in those classes to keep my grades up. I am excited about reading Hamlet and the Scarlet letter; I have heard so much about them that I am defiantly excited for them.  When I think about the first day I came to Kearney it seems like forever ago, but I remember thinking that senior year was so far away but in reality it was not at all. Even when I came into 9^th grade at Kearney it was crazy to think that senior year was a few years away and now senior year is going by so quickly and it will be sad when it is over. I know what I want to do after high school but I feel like I am too young , for some reason when I think of senior I think of tall mature people that are ready for college. When I look at our class we are shorter than a lot of the people that were seniors our freshman year, also there are many immature people in our class that may not be ready for college. Senior year has been amazing so far and it can only get better. From the pep rally, spirit week and homecoming to all the little activities we did this first quarter, it was worth every bit of stress it caused me. I will admit it that it is very stressful and I have had those days where I feel like I cannot get everything that I want done, but I realized that I just need to keep pushing forward and continue to do my best. I want senior year to be fun and I want to enjoy it with my friends. I hope this year goes by at a normal pace so it is not rushed and so I can enjoy being with my friends and family at Bishop Kearney longer.

Journal 4 Lord of the Flies

In the novel Lord of the Flies the characters in it were polite little British Boys that landed on a island and had to learn to survive alone without any adults to help them. Jack is one of the main characters in Lord of the Flies, who showed a large change in his character after they landed on the island. He seemed like a nice boy that was going to help the others and keep the group together but once he received a little power he went power hunger. He lost sense with his good nature and became unattainable and wild. He lost his innocence. He was killing animals with force and brutality. Also he ended killing one of the young boys. He wanted power and to be the leader but everyone else wanted Ralph to be the leader, so he eventually got annoyed with it that he started his own group. The society standards that they needed to meet on the island was find food , shelter, water and clothing. He changed from his school boy image into a wild, savage young killer. He did not respond well to the change in society, from living in a house with a warm bed and warm meals to living on an island with just kids was a hard change for him. He responded by wanting control over everyone and wanting to do what he wanted not what others. He wanted to find food first while Ralph wanted to create shelter first. They had conflicting views and it did not end the way they wanted. They were separated into groups that each had control.  They showed their respond to the change in society differently. Ralph wanted to help and keep people organized. He wanted to make sure they had everything they needed to survive until someone came and rescued them. While Jack was showing off to everyone, he was killing everything but not thinking about the long run. These boys both had good ideas and if they put their heads together and shared leadership then maybe some of the boys would not have been killed. Also they may have been rescued quicker. There are many possibilities of what could have happened if they worked together instead of against each other. This environment that they were thrown into caused them to lose their innocence and become vicious children. This society is the total opposite of what these boys were use too. In this book the characters end up on an island without anybody to help them, which causes them to do things for themselves and learn how to survive without adult supervision.

Journal 3 Inanimate objects

Many times in literature the author uses a specific object to symbolize a certain thing to a certain character. Sometimes the object will not symbolize the same thing to different people but will have a different meaning for each character, but each meaning are equally important. In Othello one of the major and important objects in this play is the famous handkerchief. Othello gave this handkerchief to his wife Desdemona as their first present. The handkerchief symbolizes the love that Desdemona and Othello share. Once the handkerchief is lost by Desdemona and the idea of a love affair occurring between Cassio and Desdemona is input into Othello’s mind and the handkerchief receives a different meaning. The handkerchief now symbolizes distrust, dishonesty and disloyalty. Othello uses story about this handkerchief to try to guilt Desdemona, the audience never knows  whether the story is true or made up. This handkerchief is important to Cassio’s plan, so without this essential item, his plan to take down Othello would not have fulfilled. In  Lord of the Flies the conch shell is one of the major symbols. This shell symbolizes power and whoever contains this shell contains the power of being in charge of everyone else. There is a power struggle in this story because while one of the boys wants to survive and stay safe and the other boy wants power and to be in charge. This conch shell means leadership and communication to one boy while it means dictatorship to the other boy. Also in  the Lord of the Flies Piggy’s glasses are a very important symbol, it symbolizes survival. Piggy’s glasses are used to start the fire, and when the fire goes out it is essential that they start it again because they always want to have the fire going just in case someone flies over the island, they will see the fire and get help. His glasses are essential for their survival because if they never started the fire then they may never have gotten of the isolated island. The author uses specific items to help convey the theme and improve the story line.

Journal 2 Human emotions

Authors of literatures often convey human emotions throughout their stories in order to connect with the audience or teach the audience.  In Shakespeare’s Othello what is referred to as “the green –eyed monster” which is also known as jealous is a popular topic among the characters. Iago is the most famous character in Othello is known for being full of jealously. Iago uses his jealousy against Othello to plot against Othello and devise a plan to take Othello down. Iago is jealous of Othello because he possesses a higher rank than Iago. He is also jealous because Othello is married to Desdemona and every man wants Desdemona. Iago feels that Othello does not deserve Desdemona because he is a black man. Iago does everything he can to destroy Othello’s reputation and his relationship with Desdemona. Iago is even sneaky enough to persuade Othello that Desdemona is having an affair, when Iago truly knows that Desdemona is not. Shakespeare uses the emotion of jealousy , which is shown through Iago to help create suspense and make the story line more interesting. The fact the Iago is full of jealousy makes the reader more intrigued and interested in learning more about what is going to happen between Othello and Desdemona and what else Iago will come up with. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth the main character Macbeth is known for being power crazy and power hunger. He constantly wants more power and is willing to go to any extreme to increase his chance of acquiring more power. Macbeth will step on his friends, family , whoever it is that is in his way as long as he can receive more power. Macbeth learned of his future from three witches, which is ironic because he is suppose to be a powerful man but he believes that these witches contain his fate. Macbeth becomes obsessed with  the power to the point of no return , he crossed a line which symbolizes that no one is going to be able to help him anymore. Shakespeare uses Macbeth’s emotion of power hunger to help convey the theme and increase the conflicts and also cause commotion between the characters. Authors use different human emotions for different reasons, but in the end they all serve as a purpose, whether it is to convey the theme, create a conflict or describe a character’s true colors, it has an important purpose. 

Journal 1 - Kite Runner

Today I began  my journey reading a famous novel by Khaled Hosseini called the Kite Runner. I loved the A Thousand Splendid Suns, so I knew right away that I was enjoy this book. My first impressions of the book is that its is interesting and detailed. The story begins talking about his life and his friend , Hassan, and his father ,Baba. One thing that stood out to me because I though it was funny and interesting. On page 5 they tell us what they use to call the garden that Baba created near his house, they named it "the Wall of Ailing Corn". I never heard of someone naming their garden, but I thought it was unique.  I enjoy how different these characters are. The main character lives with his father in a mansion, where his mother died during birth. While  Hassan lives in a little mud hut with his father, where his mother ran away with some travelers. Hassan and his father are their servants. It is interesting that these characters are so close , yet in reality they are so different. Also in the beginning of this book we learn that Baba lost his father, a robber killed him during the night. We learned that Baba's family was very respected and honored. It is interesting to see how people are treated, they said that Baba was suppose to go into a career dealing with law but instead he wanted to show everyone that he could do whatever he wanted and still be successful. He is very successful and does a lot of good things for the community. The tone of the book is informative and serious. The author intends for the beginning of this book to tell the background information of the main character. I love this book and I am looking forward to reading And the Mountains Echoed, this is a Khaled Hossenini also and I began reading this book but decided that I was going to read Kite Runner first. Both of these books are amazing and I am looking forward to finish reading both of them. Khales Hossenini is a fantastic writer and I recommend these books to everyone and anyone, who wants to read good books.