The End

When Mrs. Gilman first told us about blogs all I could think of was just more homework for the weekend. I thought blogs would just be more busy work, I am glad to say I was wrong. Once I finally got into writing blogs, I finally considered how I could benefit from them as writer. Knowing my peers may be reading my writing helped me strive to make my writing not only better quality, but relatable to the people who would be reading it. I do believe I have improved as a writer over the course of the year; my unique style hasn’t changed but has become stronger.

 I believe the importance of blogs is elaborate and express our understanding on what we are doing in class.  We merely do the work to get it done. With blogs, we were able to enhance our knowledge of we had been learning in class.

Thought we may not realize it at the time, all the seemly endless hard work we put into our everyday activities will reward us in one way or another. Alfred A. Montapert once said, “Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress.” To me this quote relates to all the work that I have put into my hopes of being successful in school and throughout life. I think what Montapert was trying to get across was don’t just do the work to be doing it, but work hard and learn from it. As tedious as blogs may be, they have helped me learn and develop as a writer and a student.

Memorable Assignment

Lights. Camera. Action! I have always loved the process of creating movies; writing the script, loading on costumes, camera angles, special effects, dramatic music, and long hours of hard work to get it perfect. So when I had the chance to express my knowledge and understanding of a book in any art form, what better way than to portray it through a movie. Along with my friends, we were able to act, film, and edit a movie Mrs. Gilman described as "Amazing", "hilarious", and "hard to top." 

It all began with the book, Pride and Prejudice. None of us had really enjoyed the book but that wasn't going to stop us from creating a movie that everyone else could find pleasure in. After writing a script which compressed the 400 seemly-endless pages into a 4 minute movie, we were off to the dress up box. However, we still needed to meet up with one of our "cast" members who happened to be sick that day. Once the four hours of filming were done, we were ready to edit. Unfortunately, there was no way to get the movie from the camera onto the computer. While trying to import the movie, we some how managed to record over the whole video. We had about 30 seconds of footage left. I remember turing to my group member and saying we lost everything. The Sunday evening was coming to an end and we had no time to re-film for the project was due the next day. Thankfully, after talking to our teacher, we were given one more day to re-create our movie.

I do believe everything happens for a reason, because our second video was far better than anything we had done the previous day. I honestly think we couldn't have done it any better and I think that was present in our movie. I will never forget the endless hard work we put into that movie and how thankful we were to have a teacher that understood all the frustration we felt that day. It was all worth it in the end.

Poetry

When I was little, right before bed, my dad would pull out Go Dogs Go by Dr, Seuss. The edges were frayed, the corners bent on each page, and pages were slowly falling out. He would read me that book every night. I would listen with innocent ears to the silly rhymes while gazing amongst the color-filled pictures spread across the pages. My dad would create different voices for each dog making the story come to life.

 Throughout the book we would take turn reading lines (me usually saying the girl dogs lines), and as we reached our favorite part we no longer had to look down at the page for we had it memorize. I would   ask my dad (citing the book) "Do you like my hat?" in response he would "No, I do not like your hat," and we would both close with a goodbye. Those few lines have been said all throughout my life, though they have little meaning; great memories stand behind them. Occasionally my dad will say those lines with the same voice he used when I was little. 

I have never enjoyed writing poetry, for I am just not very good at it. However, I can most appreciate poetry within a song. The music behind the words help set the tone towards the writers feelings. I hope a can develop a new appreciation towards poetry and become a stronger poet myself.

Conflict

In Romeo and Juliet Juliet is known to be the obedient daughter of the Capulets, but when she finds herself falling for the her family's enemy, Romeo, she tangles herself into unpleasant situations. From a girl being so dependent on her parents, Juliet is now forced to make her own decisions. Juliet's disobedience and poor choices lead her to the death of Romeo and herself. Through this, the reader is able to convey the message that young love can lead to poor decisions if not given time to grown; Romeo and Juliet push the boundaries of love and cause their every so powerful love to be a dangerous game.

Even though as young teens, we don't know the feeling of being "star cross lovers" with someone, but we do find ourselves in situations in which we make poor decisions in order to seek pleasure or happiness. Just like Juliet, we fall into the trap of how modern eyes see it, peer pressure. Juliet was willing to do anything for Romeo, and the everyday teenager will do anything for what we think is a "good" reputation. Though this message may not have crossed Shakespeare's' mind while creating it, but the timeless tale's message is forever changing as time goes on.

Romeo and Juliet: Its Everywhere!

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare immerses the reader into a sappy story full of passion, true love, and destiny. Many stories, song, and movies can compare to this widely known play; a movie that mirrors the story of Romeo and Juliet, is the ever so predicable tale of the Illusionist. The movie is solely based off of how a young boy falls in love with a girl highly above his social standards, along with his art of magic. Because of their social standing their love is torn apart causing them to loose touch of each other. He became a magician and traveled the world in hopes to be reunited with his long lost love, only to find that she had remarried. As the story goes on, her tragic death causes him to expose his powers leaving him nothing but a depressed man emptied of love; a man a lot like Romeo. We hear of many stories based off of Romeo and Juliet at all ages, it is a timeless tale of love and destiny that can never be forgotten.

Connecting with Romeo and Juliet

Despite its fancy pedigree, Romeo and Juliet was a play I never found interest in. The romanticized characters and the dramatic plot was nothing of my taste. As we began to read the play, I found it to be a much more likable story. Shakespeare added an unexpected humor that can never be dated. Through Shakespeare's unique and clever writing style, I discovered a new appreciation for the play. Shakespeare intertwined characters full of love, humor, and madness. A character that attracted my attention the most was the Nurse. She adds vulgar humor that surprises the reader while incorporating a new tone to the play. Though I cannot relate much to the Nurse,  I can see her sharing the same attitude as a person would today; making her stand out from the others.

Our reading in class has helped me develop a much better understanding for the play. Reading aloud in class brings out so much more to the play, then just lines on a page. Hearing the lines spoken and being apart of the play, makes the story much more enjoyable. What we've been doing in class has given me a better take on the play and a new perspective to the forever known play of Romeo and Juliet.

Wrapping Up Great Expectations

Throughout the novel, Pip battles with the effect of things going from bad to worse. From Great Expectations the reader conveys the message of total corruption through fortune; but what seems to be overlooked by the reader is that situations can always get worse. Through Pip's predicament, the reader is exposed to a young boy born into a plain life, but wanting something more. Later in the novel Dickens proves that a true "gentlemen's" lifestyle is never as glamorous as it may seem; thus having Pip realize that his once seeming bad life style has grown worse as he interweaves the struggles through fortune and love. As the story loops back back to where Pip began, the reader takes in the message of enjoying what you have, and being grateful for what you are given.