"The Yellow Wall-Paper"

Wow. This is the strangest story I have yet read in this English Class. I know it must have some great story behind it, however, I have not figured it out. I cannot wait to discuss it in class because really, it is so strange. This wall-paper that has some possession must have the ultimate meaning behind it. And I simply cannot figure it. :( That is why I am so excited to discuss it in class!

A White Heron

First of all, I really enjoyed reading this story. I feel that as a child, it takes so much maturity and sense to be able to understand the value on life. Not only the value of life as a human, but the value of life that all living things contain. Sylvy had a strong resemblance of an intelligent adult, but still possessed some characteristics of a child. She understood that she and her grandma were poor. She understood the value of ten dollars. And best of all, she understood the greatness of life that the Heron held. It was a process in the making, understanding the life within the Heron, but after her aquiantance with him, she felt a strong connection that money could not break. This is an utterly mature characteristic that can take years for a human to understand. Sylvy though, was not an ordinary child. She had a way with nature and life that many can only dream of. I love this story because it shows the ambition Sylvy has to win over the lad's heart and the ambition she has to enrich her and her grandmother's life. But what really wins me over is how Sylvy is smart enough to contain her ambition to save "the Heron's secret!" 

P.S. I feel that the title has a bit of a misplacement. It is titled "A White Heron", but to me it seems as if it should be "The White Heron". B/c it was this special Heron that Sylvy encounters that helps to teach her an important understanding of the value of life. :)

The Collected Writings of Ambrose Bierce

I was completely engaged in the idea that Peyton Farquhar was running free from death. The idea that he was in such an amazement reeled me in that it was happening. As if he was in such agony and stress his mind would not work with his body. Instead, instinct took over. As I read, I did notice somethings that made it seem unreal. The man with the gray eyes. They were supposed to be the keenest yet he managed to miss. This made me think was it meant for him to miss Farquhar? What does that exactly mean? How Farquhar snatched out a bullet lodged between his collar and neck. Is this only adrenaline? And one final thing was the sand. How Farquhar saw it as diamonds, rubies, emeralds; anything beautiful. Is he really this grateful for life? Did he not understand his chances of being caught? Is he now just realizing how much he appreciates life? I do not know for sure. But I do know that the ending was not expected. I had believed in his luck the entire time and actually had to read the ending again to be sure that this most unfortunate thing had actually happened. I am not sure what to think about this story and am excited to hear what everyone has to say.

The Most Dangerous Game

This story, I have already read. Because I have read it already, it was strange to read it again, noticing all the signs General Zaroff conveyed in the beginning. And other signs that the auther may have implied to have a greater meaning. One sign, I am not sure has meaning or not, is the "particularly well-cooked filet mignon." If this has a meaning, it is to make the reader consider the mignon. Why is it particularly well-cooked? I am not sure if it has meaning, but if it does...gross!! Also, all of the small, mysterious smiles, and all the phrases General Zaroff speaks during his and Rainsford's conversations. Gen. Zaroff spoke of being in the army once. He mentioned how his interest was always in the hunt, even when deployed! I feel that he possible felt a connection while being in the army that he subconsiously was aware of. He enjoyed killing humans at that time already and had little to no realization of it. I believe that because he continued to hunt regular animals, until that began to "bore" him! It bored him because animals simply had instinct which proved no match for Gen. Zaroff's wits. So what was he to do? The reader should think. Considering that hunting was his life. I honestly could barely believe that he could think of that. How is it that someone could come up with such a bizarre solution. So bizarre, he has to hide it. So bizarre, the sailors, that have only heard fractions of his evil, fear his evil with great tremors. I feel that his comparison of Rainsford's point of view as naive even though he was an educated American to "a snuffbox in a limosine" was not such a well comparison. Though it may have expressed Gen. Zaroff's viewpoints, I feel that Rainsford simply thinks as a great man. This comparison only greatened the evilness of Zaroff.
Zaroff began to mention that he and Rainsford would hunt together, but what he says could not be what he really means. How could he hunt with someone else, when he feels he is the best hunter? How could he allow someone else to take the thrill of his invented game? He couldn't. And that is why his words were a twisted, sick, fake offer.
This story refers a lot to all of the riches Zaroff has. I am not sure why this is important. But it seems like it is. How he treats his guests with such gratitude, only to play with them.
As the game began, Zaroff was already on Rainsford's track. This first day was much too easy for him. And so he left Rainsford out in the dark with intentions of return. He couldn't simply take this game as a win so easily. Rainsford made several surprising trapts and partially out-witted Zaroff a couple of times. However, he never completely showed his wittiness until the end. After jumping from the cliff, he must have known that Zaroff would have declared himself the winner. Because of this, Zaroff left himself defenseless only to lose to "the most dangerous game"!

Oh yeah oh yeah

I am so excited that we do not have homework. I also cannot wait for THURSDAY! Yay costumes. I am not sure though what I am going to be (if I remember). I'm debating if I should be an old costume or dress up as what I am going to be this year. Then I will have practice getting ready 4 Halloween....not sure. Any suggestions?

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

First of all, I was extremely tired when reading this piece. But, after I managed to pull myself through the first long three pages of boring description I arrived at the interesting point. The first view paragraphs of this piece were more than just extremely boring to me, they made me want to cry. I thought the entire story would be like this and I did not believe I would be able to handle it. Luckily, it was not. The beginning did set up a good start to lead into the finish, but I feel that part of it was little too overly, umm...boring. I do feel that, knowing what happens, if I read this again I would pay more attention to the things she says and the words she uses to describe Omelas. The ending was a changing point for me. Not only did it catch my attention, but it also really upset me. I was very into this story, so I could not get past the idea that this was 'real' and 'happening'! As I proceeded through the story to the end, this made me think about how often people take things for granted and how often people allow things to go unnoticed. But I feel that most of all, this story made me think about the greediness people have and how entirely sad it is. This in turn has me thinking about greed. In my government class, my senior year, we had a small discussion during class about how, no matter how pure of heart someone is trying to be, in the end, every action, every deed, every helpful word is done to benefit one's self. Because no matter what in the back of one's mind, is the happiness he/she will receive from doing the action, deed, or helpful word.

The Writing Process of This Paper

So far, I have been fairly successful in preparing myself for this paper. With the overview of MLA citations and research note cards, I feel that I am ready to do this paper. Well, I feel more ready. Considering it is due Tuesday and today is Thursday, there is very little time to complete the rough draft. I feel there is especially little time because I have a softball tournament on Sunday, but oh well. I will have to find the will to make myself get started and finished with my rough draft sooner rather than later! Hopefully all goes well and few tears are shed! I have a lot to do this weekend so I will need to put more stress into getting my homework done and less into worrying about it.

Professor L. Simmons Class

This English class is by far the most interesting class I have. I never know what to expect. The things we have to do in this class are also very different from what I have thought about English classes. Blogging is one very cool aspect to class. I feel that it brings the opportunity to keep the students writing in their own voices. Because of the different things we do and talk about, this class evolves around life. There is so much to learn about life and one's self and this class has done different things to help develop an ability to understand those two things..

English 101 - This is a very intimidating class, but I feel it is the most worthy. Not only will one obtain a knowledge of English, but also a strong devotion to the knowledge of one's self.  Self confidence and consistency, as well as flexibility are put to a challenge in English. I feel that it is not only English that makes these former statements true, but rather the students and the professor work together to achieve that. I am very glad of the roads this particular English class is leading me down and I cannot wait to see what else is in store. Also, although I am not completely satisfied with everyone or everything involved with this class, I would not change it. This is because the good things and the bad things are what make up the whole puzzle to be as great and challenging as it is.

Research Paper

I have decided to research on the topic of 2012 Theories. I feel that this topic is a major aspect of society today and many people dwell on the theories heard. Some different questions I can ask are: What are the different theories about 2012? Where do the theories come from? How long ago were these theories made? What do the theories really mean? Is there proof that any of the theories will happen? Hard facts? Where does this proof come from, if there is any? Who are the people involved with the theory? What is his or her history? Is there evidence to disprove any of the theories? Where does this evidence come from? Is it credible? With all of these questions, I am sure I can choose a few to create a great research paper. In this paper I am not going to prove anything, but rather lay down some facts that will help to prove or disprove the entire idea of the world ending in December of 2012. The arguments I can make in this paper are: The world will end in 2012 or The world will not end in 2012. Or even more detailed proposals pertaining a specific theory. I still have a lot of work to do!

Aliens

Before I read the article I definitely did believe that life on another planet is more than likely. Because we are one planet in one universe out of many, chances are that there is another planet with life. The universe is also known to be expanding, getting larger and larger. Although, there is no idea how it is getting larger or where it is going to get larger (if I recall that correctly). Because the universe is so large with so many different solar systems which have several different planets, I do believe there is life residing elsewhere. Finding it is another story. As the article stated earlier, the technology we have is so helpful, but still limits our ability to know everything. Until we can get new technology or find another planet, we will be on the search.

Group Projects

Personally, group projects are annoying and frustrating. While they help to create a more sociable environment, group projects tend to lean on one person. With all the weight on one person, this group project is no longer a group effort. This tends to happen a lot, when the group is depending on one person. So they decide that they cannot do anything without that one person. Luckily I have not had an experience too terrible yet this year, I await its appearance with nothing more than attitude and caffeine if necessary. Group projects are definitely not MY CUP OF TEA, but as I get through the project, it always ends up okay!