2nd Quarter Reflection Blog

1/24/16

Prompts: 1) In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts? 2) What is something you have accomplished since the new year that you are proud of? 3) What has been the most challenging part of 2nd Quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

          The area that I think I made the biggest improvement in is essay writing. This quarter we had to write an essay about a theme in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which greatly improved u writing skills. The essay refreshed my mind about the "TIQA" format for body paragraphs and introduced me to the "ANT" format for the introduction. Along with writing my the essay this assignment helped with my revision skills. I now know what to look for when revising my papers, along with someone else's paper.

          The thing that I am the most proud of this year is doing good on my vocabulary tests and tests in other subjects. At the time I'm writing this I've only gotten threes and fours on my test in every subject. I'm proud of this because it wasn't just one class I did this in or one type of test. I hope I can say this again by the end of the 3rd quarter, even if it means I have to retake every test I take this quarter.

          The most challenging part of the 2nd quarter for me was time management. I can never tell how long it will take me to finish my homework, so I sometimes give myself to little time to complete my homework. Time management has been a big problem for me throughout the whole school year. However, I'm going to try to establish a time I start homework every day, but I have to see the amount of assignments I will get regularly in the 3rd quarter.

To Kill a Mockingbird Juxtaposition

1/21/16

Prompts: 1) What do you think is the most important difference between the written and filmed version? Provide evidence with specific details. 2) How would you prove or disprove that one version of To Kill A Mockingbird is more affective in delivering its message than the other? Be sure to provide specific pieces of evidence to support your opinion. 3) What is the purpose in having different versions of a story? Think about how different versions contribute to the overall understanding and interpretation of that piece of work. Use specific concepts to support your opinion.

          The movie adaptation of the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has several differences both major and minor. Out of all the differences I think the most important difference is Aunt Alexandra never is seen in the movie. In the book Aunt Alexandra affected Scout, Jem, and Atticus in different ways. For instance, Aunt Alexandra tried to make Scout more lady like by sending her to the other Finch's and having her join the missionary discussion. Aunt Alexandra was there for Atticus if he needed help with making decisions or just needed extra support.

          I think that the book version of To Kill a Mockingbird delivered its message better that the film adaptation. I think the book version is better because Harper Lee could explain settings, convey feelings, and character in a more clear way because she's using words and there's no limit. In the film to know how someone is feeling you have to analyze their facial expression, their actions, and their dialogue. Also, in the film not as many events happened compared to the book, so there wasn't as many times to convey a message.

          The purpose of having a two different versions of a story is to show different perspective of the story. The film had differences like not including some characters and having events happen in different orders. By doing this you can either understand a theme better or miss the theme in general. You can also see more of a characters behavior. For instance, in the film you can see how Bob Ewell acted when he was drunk. In the book you only heard of his actions while he was drunk.