Winter Break

Over break I plan on working, snowboarding and hanging out with friends and family. I don't have any set in stone plans but I will try hard to make a snowboard trip with my friends and stay the night at my buddies cabin close to White Pass. I plan on spending christmas with my family but none of my relatives are coming to visit.
My goal for this break is to make a muliple day trip to a different mountain than i usualy go to, to snowboard at.
I don't have any high expectations for this winter break. I thinking, and hoping, it's going to be nice and relaxed. It'll be pretty hard though to get school work done though, procrastination is pretty easy with two weeks off.

Poetry Out Loud

THIS WAS LATE DUE TO MY INTERNET BEING DOWN

I chose my poem with no knowledge of what it was about. I saw the length and that it was written by Emerson so I gained interest in it. Im pretty nervous when it comes to public speaking so I really have no plan on how I'm going to present myself. Last time I participated in Poetry Out Loud I planned my presentation and then when my name got called anxiety kicked in and my mind went blank.
This time I picked Experience by Ralph Waldo Emerson. This time around I will not be preforming in front of an audience I don't know so maybe it will be easier to keep my composure. This poem means a lot more to me than the one I presented last year so I think that will also be a strength. I like the transcendentalist theme so it will be easier to make connections through out the poem.

Poetry Out Loud

Part 1
1. "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind"
2. "Carmel Point"
3. "Good People"-Suggested by Taylor
4. "Ice"
5. "Medusa"

Part 2
1. I liked "blow, blow, thou winter wind" and "Ice" because they had good flow and I liked the themes. I enjoyed the warm feeling of "Ice" and the rhyme scheme of "Blow, blow, thou winter wind."
2. I didn't like "Medusa" cause it didn't have a catchy rhyme scheme and it was pretty boring.
3. I would choose "blow, blow, thou winter wind"
4. I personally connected with the poem above because winter is my favorite season.

Part 3
1. It will be easiest for me not to rhyme lines in "a sing song manner." It will also be easy for me to pronounce every word in my poem I choose to recite.
2. It will be hard for me to remain comfortable in front of an audience and keep at a solid, consistent pace.
3. "The dramatization subtly underscores the meaning of the poem without becoming the focal point of the
recitation. The style of delivery is more about oral interpretation than dramatic enactment. A low score in this
category will result from recitations that have affected character voices and accents, inappropriate tone and
inflection, singing, distracting and excessive gestures, or unnecessary emoting."

Nature vs Self-Reliance

I think that both essays by Emmerson are relevant to my life. I agree with Emmersons theories in Nature but Self-Reliance is a little more applicable to my everyday life. I like the ideas Emmerson portrays in Nature regarding age and nature awareness. I feel like it's definetly true that as you age you become more tangled up in society and less concious about your natural surroundings.
Every part of Self-Reliance seems to be relevant to my everyday life. I like the basic ideas that "you don't know unless you try" and "only you know your capabilities." Working for yourself and not society seems to be the basic rule.

High School Development

Through out my high school career I believe that I've made a lot of proggress in my writing skills. The most notable differences are in my transitions and conclusions. When I was a freshman I would use very generic transitions and conclusions along with bland topic sentences. My proggression started in Mrs. Gilman's English 10 class because we had a lot of essay five part paragraph assignments.
My abilities continued to develop as I went into tenth grade. In Mrs. Powers class we read the Lord of the Flies along with the Power of One and wrote multiple essays on each. The oval graphic organizers for five part paragraphs given in both English 9and English 10 were what really helped my orgizational skills and made my essays better overall.

Cumming V. Richmond

In 1899, three families from Virginia endured the closing of the only public black high school in their area. They argued that their children should have the right to finish their education in a white school. The Supreme Court violated their "separate but equal" standards made only three years previously. They decided that if there was no public black school in the district then the students would have to do without an education.
I really hope there is no reason for me to defend my argument against this case. It is just simply not fair and the families who were victims of this racism were denied a simple request. This case is not very similar to the Salem Witch trials expect for the fact that injustice is a key player in both.

Relation To The Crucible

The only relation in my life I have to the Crucible is with John Proctor. John is the only character in this book that, so far, has it "all together" in his head. He is surrounded by people with different views than him and he is the only one thinking rationally about the whole situation. He knows that witchcraft is a rediculous assumption for the girls problems.
I can relate to Proctor by his personalitly. We both think rationally and solve problems by using reason rather than assumption by popular belief. He knows what his priorities are and doesn't allow others to walk all over him and change his mind by peer pressure. I respect his character and hope he keeps on keepin' on for the rest of the book.

America

I believe that being an American is a representation of freedoms and a melting pot of all different types of individuals. I feel that in America most citizens can become successful. From being an artist to a pencil pusher in a cubical, Americans strive to accomplish their ambitions and don't get bogged down by the thought of failure. Of course there are a few who end up bummin' on the streets but that's beside the point. Americans focus on being their own individuals which is what makes America so great. There are no generic rules that makes everyone similar.

Americans strive to become successful and in most minds that is to acquire a whole lot of money. I think that is where most stereotypes start and the main reason why most of the world doesn't like the US. We're viewed as greedy and not thankful. Frankly these are all true. America is full of greed, hate and disrespect.
Although most of America is rude, it is also full of toleration. People practice whatever religion they feel and don't have to worry about others judging their opinions.

I think that is great to be an American because you have so many different freedoms of choice. People can take up any kind of profession they please. There are so many different types of people and influences that it is not hard to have your future distinctly molded how you please.