Lockdown: Escape from Furnace 7/22/15 (Summer Reading Blog #2)

Lockdown: Escape from Furnace
Author: Alexander Gordon Smith
Pages: 160 - 273 (End)
Prompt: Analyze how your feelings change as you read this story and why.

        My feeling changed a lot while reading this book. There were moments of fear, excitement, anger, sadness, etc. This was due to the many events in this prison and how descriptive the author was throughout this book. I think another factor that contributed to these feelings was the setting. The fact that the prison, prisoners, and guards are so brutal, you never know what could happen next.

        Like I said the events and descriptive had me feel different ways. For instance, the blood watch. Gordon Smith described the prison, the wheezers, and the actual event so well that if this were to happen I was scared for Alex, Donovan, and their friends. I'm not going to give away what the blood watch is, but I'll say it happen at night, which makes the prison pitch black, besides flickering the red lights. Also, the way that the wheezers are describes is quite scary. They have eyes that look like, "...black marbles," and have a, "contraption that covered its mouth and nose... colored with rust and verdigris... stitched permanently into the skin."


        There were many times were the my feelings changed quickly. For instance, at the beginning of the book there was a section where I was anxious, then afraid, and then sad and angry. There was also a time Alex and Donovan were talking about escape then Alex got challenged to a fight. I went from excited to afraid knowing that Alex was in danger. These were only two quick changes showing that this happen a good amount of times, so I would say that this book was and emotional roller coaster.

Lockdown: Escape from Furnace 7/13/15 (Summer Reading Blog #1)

Lockdown: Escape from Furnace
Author: Alexander Gordon Smith
Pages: 0 - 160
Prompt: What surprises you in this story? Explain why.

        What surprises me the most in this book is the prison itself. I'm mainly going to focus on the events that can occur and how the prison is set up and handled. You probably wouldn't imagine what happens in a prison for teens is that bad, but things that go on in this prison probably wouldn't happen in any other prison in the world. That is how bad it is. Also, keep in mind this is only what I've seen half way through the first book of a five book series.

        This prison set up and handled, so poorly it makes it dangerous throughout the whole day, even if the warden or guards are around. The book describes it as, "A place of pure evil with walls soaked in blood. Murderous gangs and vicious guards rule the darkness." That description is only scratching the surface of this prison's dark side. Skirmishes and fights can happen and guard don't care as long as there is no weapons. Lunch is the only meal time and it consist of, "Slop" and only Slop, spoiled meats, bone, molded and rotten food, and much more ground together. There are over a dozen floors of small cramped cells with two inmates each.

      The events that occur in Furnace are horrible and probably unlawful. There are skirmishes like I mentioned earlier, which rarely happen. Also, like normal prisons there are lockdowns at Furnace. Prisoners are supposed to go to their cell. Here's the thing, there are two types of lockdowns one from skirmishes and another for no reason which is worse, yet both are the same. When the doors close mutated, skinless, and vicious dogs and/or guards with shotguns are released to get any prisoners left outside their cell and kill them. Yes, I'm still talking about a prison for teens. There are also, "Horrific creatures that can steal people away in the dead of night." Which you'll have to find more about it by reading the book.

All these events and description are few of what I've seen happen to Alex, the main character, and/or his friends in this prison. I will probably encounter more horrific events in the future, but that all for now.

Of Mice and Men: The Movie 5/11/15

Of Mice and Men

5/11/15

Prompts:

1.  In the film, the director shows us “the incident in Weed” differently from how we find out in the book. What’s different? Why do you think he chose to do it that way? How does it change the story?
2. The book begins with the “stage” set by the pond. In the film, we see George on a train first. Why would the director do this? What is the director telling us about George’s life?
3. What do you think of the director’s choice of Sharilynn Fenn to play Curley’s wife? Does she look the way you imagined her in the book? Whom would you have chosen?

        In the movie "the incident in Weed" is introduced differently because they showed the girl screaming and running and it showed George and Lennie running from the men. It also showed them hide in an irrigation ditch and leave Weed on a train. In the book they just said Lennie liked the dress touched it and accidentally ripped it, they didn't go in depth of the incident. I think the director chose to do it that way because it could leave audiences confused of what actually happened. It also wouldn't make sense if they mentioned it in the movie, but didn't show it. This extra scene doesn't really change the story because it happened in the book, too. The book didn't explain the situation as well.

        I think the director did this to show that George had to move around the California. He had to go from Weed to Soledad. He also ended it with him on the train, so it could mean that he's going to have to move again. It could tell that George's life has a lot of traveling and change. If he started and ended the movie on a train, I think there could be another message the director was trying to send.

        I think his choice of Sharilynn Fenn was a great choice. She did a great job conveying the emotions of Curley's Wife at the right times. She almost exactly how I pictured her. In the book it said she was heavily made up, so I expected more make up on her. Besides that I think the director did a great job portraying her from what John Steinbeck wrote. I don't know who I would pick. I can't think of any female actor that would look like Curley's Wife, other than Sharilynn Fenn. If I could I wouldn't change the actress for this roll.

hhk

"Paradox and Dream" Reflection 5/21/15

"Paradox and Dream" Reflection
5/21/15

“We spend our time searching for security, and hate it when we get it.”

        This paradox is saying that people try to get to something or a high rank, but hate it when they get it. This could be with a job promotion. When you get the promotion you might be happy because you get more money, but unhappy because more work. That is why this is a common paradox, it could happen anywhere and anyone. This paradox can happen in school, the workplace, sports, etc.

         I chose this paradox because I’ve seen this in my life, my family, movies, TV shows, etc. In my life it was with baseball. I wanted to make the all-star team, so bad. I played and practiced my best and it paid off, I made it! I was so happy that I made it, but soon hated that I made it. It was too strict and I played in one game for about 5 minutes. It was the worst. I've also seen this in many TV shows. There would be situations where a character wanted something, but hated it when they got it.

"We scramble and scramble up the stony path toward the pot of gold we have taken to mean security. We trample friends, relatives, and strangers who get in the way of our achieving it; and once we get it we shower it on psychoanalyst to try to find out why we are unhappy, and finally –– if we have enough of the gold –– we contribute it back to the nation in the form of foundations and charities."

        This paradox is saying that people will do anything to get what they want, even push aside family is they're in the persons way. This could be with moving up the ranks in a job. They could set family and friends aside and ignore them, just to reach that rank. When they get that rank they might wonder why they have nobody to support or is talking to them anymore making them sad. This paradox might not be as common as the others. Like the other paradox this could happen in school, the workplace, sports, etc.

        I've seen this paradox in various cartoon and TV shows. A character would work on something so much and be delighted when they finished, but they never noticed they shut themselves out from they relatives and friends. I'm have never heard of an experience like this happen in my family or in the real world. I'm sure there has to be experiences of this on the Internet, but yet I never heard of any.

Final Quarter Reflection 5/20/15

Final Quarter Reflection
5/20/15
Prompts: 1) In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of? What was the most challenging part of this year for you? What was the best piece of writing that you did this year? Why do you think it is your best? 
     2) What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life? Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why? 
     3)What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year? What is something you taught your teacher or classmates this year? 
     4) What are the three most important things you learned this year? What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?

        My biggest improvement this year was in my writing. At the beginning of this year I hated writing and wasn't very good at it. If you were to compare my writings you might see improvements between the two pieces. At the same time writing was the most challenging thing this year. Since, I hated writing and wasn't good at it, I found writing challenging. Now I'm better at it and my best piece has to be "The Boy on the Wooden Box 1/26/15." I say this is my best because I felt the most accomplished about it when I finished. Also, it was probably the blog with the least grammatical and spelling errors.

        Something that we did this year that I will remember for the rest of my life is reading the book Of Mice and Men and watching the movie. I will remember this because the book and movie were great. John Steinbeck did a great job setting the mood and describing the surrounding and the movie director did a great job interpreting it and putting it on the screen. The book had a well developed plot line, which made the book very interesting and suspenseful. Although, this book wasn't my favorite book I read this year. The book that is my favorite is Alabama Moon by Watt Key. If I finished my current book that would be my favorite, but I'm half way through, so that can change.

        The nicest thing somebody did for me this year was help me study for the test on the day of the test. I wasn't 100% sure on all my words and roots, so we studied together. We thought of strategies for remembering the spelling, parts of speech, and definitions and for that test I got 100%. This year I taught my classmates in my class shortcuts on the computer for more efficient work. I taught them how to solve technical problem with their computer. I basically taught my classmates things that helped them with their computers. For instance, I told my friend that you can press "Command D" to bookmark a site quickly. This helped when we were briefly introduce to a website and left to see another website.

        One important thing that I learned this year is to re-read your work and read it aloud. You may think you have no errors, but you could find some if you re-read, that's why it's so important. Another important thing that I learned is to elaborate with your answers. This is really important when you are writing an argumentative piece. If you don't elaborate your audience could be confused or have the wrong interpretation. The most important thing of all that I learned was to have good time management. If you have a lot of after school activities this would be a big skill to learn. You need to set a certain amount of time each day for your homework or could end up having a late assignment. Those late assignments can pile and by the end of the week and you would a lot to do over the weekend. That's why I would advise the next class to turn in their homework on time and set time for their homework.

Article of the Week (AoW) Impressions 5/5/15

AoW Impressions

        This week there were many similar and different articles among the class. There were several articles about the Baltimore Riots and the Nepal Earthquake. With that many articles on the same topic you would assume you could see different and maybe updated information. That's something I like about it, but you could get wrong information or outdated information, so you have to be careful. These weren't the only topics, there were also topics ranging from space to technology to health giving opportunities to learn more about the world and current event.

       Information on the Nepal Earthquake was not matching up. They all had different death counts in the articles. One said 4,000 death, another said 3,000, and there was also 5,800. It makes you wonder when those articles were made. Articles published today say over 7,500 deaths, so that shows how information can change. Although that might not always be the case. With the Baltimore Riot the information I found was the same. For instance, things getting set on fire and Freddie Gray's death causing this. This makes me wonder why some events have different information on different days and other have the same.

        The article I found the most interesting was the article about a guy stopping poachers from hunting gorillas. I found the story unique and cool. They guy gave his money to the poachers for farming to get food and money. This was the alternative for hunting gorillas in Africa. Now they are successful in the farming life. It's amazing how one guy saved many gorillas lives.

Dreams Poem 5/1/1

Write a short poem elaborating why dreams or visions are an important part of life.

Dreams are what make you strive,

they can even keep you alive.

Dreams are the coach in your game of life,

they can even lead to get a husband/wife.

You might think dream aren't great,

but they can decide your fate.

Dreams are what make a person successful,

although at times they might be stressful.

Visions are like dreams, very swell

and they'll make you tell,

about your great success,

so you can impress.

Make sure you have a dream in mind

and it's okay to have two combined,

but be sure to be kind.

On your voyage won't know what you could find,

but you might even help mankind.