Lesson Learned

One lesson that I have learned quite recently is that when you vandalize someones house, don't be dumb and get caught. Better yet, don't even do it at all, what does it accomplish? You look stupid the next day at school when everyone is laughing at you for getting caught. It's just pointless. This weekend my house was egged, horribly by the way, by a group of 7 kids. They ended up getting stopped by the cops and were all giving tickets that same night. What's worse is they that admit to someone that is close to me they did it, and they gave out all the names of who was there. Stupid, right? I guess karma just works in mysterious ways. They got what they deserve and I'm pretty sure they won't be that ignorant anymore. That's a lesson we can all learn from, don't be foolish and try to get revenge on someone, it just makes you look dimwitted.

Comma What?

My father had left our house in the midst of a fight between Lindsey and my mother. My mother was trying to get Lindsey to go with her to the Y to swim. Without thinking, Lindsey had blared, "I'd rather die!", at the top of her lungs. My father watched as my mother froze, then burst fleeing to their bedroom to wail behind the door. He quietly tucked his notebook in his jacket pocket, took the car keys off the hook by the back door, and snuck out.

Gossip Got Your Tongue?

In all conversations were triple filtered, then nobody would be angry at someone for talking about them behind their back. Triple filtering conversations would save a lot of people embarrassing moments, sad days, and lost friends.
I think people choose to gossip about other people because they feel if they tell someone something important, then maybe that person will accept them more. They forget about how the person they are talking about is going to feel, however.

Literary Elements: TAKS PT 3

Satire-a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn.


Irony-the use of words to express somthing other than and esp. the opposite of the literal meaning.

Analogy-inference that if two or more things agree with one another in some respects they will probably agree in others.(hammer to nail; saw to cut)



Foreshadowing-to represent, indicate, or typify beforehand.

Figurative Language

1.Figurative-expressing one thing in terms normally denoting another with which it my be regarded as analogous.

2.Figure of Speech-a form of expression (as a smile or metaphor) used to convey meaning or heighten effect often by comparing or identifying one thing with another that has meaning or connotation familiar to the reader or listener.
Imagery-figurative language, mental images.
Trope-the use of a word or expression in a figurative sense.

3. All of these words have to deal with literary works. When reading a well written book, you can find many of these forms in it.

Story Spinners: Option 1

As the old man approached my friends and me, he tripped over his cane and fell over. I was the only one out of our bunch to go help him. Once he was on his feet, he shook my hand and told me thank you more times than I could count. He smiled at me and went on his way. My friends and I did the same.
We decided to play a game of football with the other kids. I decided to go barefoot since I run faster like that. I noticed the old man was sitting on his porch watching us play. He started laughing when my friend got tackled and started yelling gibberish at the other player. Soon he went back into his house. Once we finished, we all went back to my house to get a snack.
It started raining so my friends decided to go home. I didn't mind getting a little wet so i took my bicycle out from the garage and went looking for a few puddles. When I rode past the old man's house, I saw he was looking for a something in his garage. I rode back to my house and got our flashlight. When I returned, he was sitting down to tired to keep looking. I asked if I could help and he happily agreed. What we found was amazing. It was a old set of baseball cards that the man collected when he was a boy. He invited me into his house to look at them.
Apparently he really liked baseball. Inside was a trophy case full of gold gloves, ribbons, and trophies. There were posters of famous players with their signatures on them. The one thing I keep looking at was a baseball in a glass case. It was signed by none other then Cy Young. He offered me a drink and we sat down and looked at the cards. When we finished, he asked me if I liked baseball. I told him I loved playing, especially pitching.
"I'm getting old you know," said the man. "I just can't get around like I used to. My wife and son died in a car accident.
"Sorry to hear that, sir. Did he like baseball too?"
"Yes, you remind a lot of how he used to be, as well. I was meaning to give this ball to him when i died, but since you helped me today and that he is no longer here. I want you to have it."
I couldn't speak for some reason. He smiled and said that I had to take good care of it because not many people have a ball signed by Cy Young. He said it was getting late and that I needed to go. He handed me the ball in a little sack and I told him thank you. He watched me ride away until I was out of sight.
The next day, I went riding by the old man's house when I saw 2 or 3 cars outside along with a ambulance. I stopped and asked what happened. The driver said they got a call this morning saying that a man had passed away in his sleep. I realized it was the man that gave me his ball.
At his funeral when everyone had left, I dug a little hole in the soft dirt above his grave. I placed the ball in the sack and buried it in the hole. Maybe, he would like to give it to his son now.

Heaven

If i was able to picture my heaven, it would be very different from everyone else. I would see a baseball field, with an endless supply of my mothers tacos. I would have a nice place to stay but not to over dramatic. I'd be able to talk with my deceased family members that I never got to say goodbye to. Finally, I would be able to go see God on the big mountain to the side of where I stay. It would not be hard to travel there though because I would be able to just fly over and talk to him. I would ask him questions that I have always wanted to ask. Then, I'd fly back, and watch the world unfold under me.

The Lovely Bones

What did Susie's father mean when he said the penguin was "trapped in a perfect world?" Why does her father consider it perfect?
Her father is trying to say the penguin is always going to be safe, and that it doesn't have to worry about problems.

Think about what has happened to Susie. Do you think she considers herself "trapped" in her heaven? Do you think she sees it as a perfect world? Explain your answer.

She probably does think she is trapped in heaven. She misses her family and wants to see them again. Since she doesn't have any of these things, she doesn't think it is perfect.

Parts of Speech Review

10 Nouns:dog, Childress, hammer, fire, cat, jaws, book, shirt, paper, school.

5 Adjectives:famous, beautiful, tiny, small, dirty.

3 Adverbs:swiftly, quickly, safely.

2 Conjunctions:and, but.

3 Verbs:run, collapse, darted.

2 Prepositions:Surrounded, around

1 Interjection: Bark.

2 Pronouns:He, her.

There was a famous dog in the city of Childress, Texas. The dog saved a beautiful school that someone had started a fire in. He ran quickly but safely into the school and used a small hammer to pull down the fire alarm. He darted swiftly around the school looking for anyone in there. He spotted a tiny cat that was surrounded by burning books and papers. He swiftly used his jaws to pick her up and lift her over the books. He need to get out now or the school would collapse on him. Bark! Bark! No response. The dog knew he had little time but they didn't know where the exit was. So they both started running for around looking for one. They jumped out of a window just as the school exploded and a citizen looking on picked up the two dirty animals and covered them with an old shirt.

My Bucket List

1. Visit Fenway Park and watch the Red Sox beat the Yankees.
2. Visit Australia and see the kangaroos.
3. Blow up a house.
4. Visit the president of the U.S.A.
5. Get awards in 2 different sports in high school.
6. Go sky diving.
7. Go on a safari and see tigers.
8. Pet a gorilla.
9. Break a school record in baseball.
10. Live in the house I live in now when I am older.
11. Graduate from a D-1 college.
12. Go to the Egyptian pyramids.
13. See the Aztec Ruins.
14. Find out if aliens are real.
15. Go to every state and eat something.
16. Drive on the autobahn.
17. Be in a movie.
18. Learn how to snowboard.
19. Get an autograph from 3 famous pitchers.
20. Go to the 10 largest cities in the world.
21. Eat Chinese food in China.
22. See sumo wrestlers in real life.
23. Discover something new.
24. Go to the Eifle Tower.
25. White water raft.
26. Go bungee jumping.
27. Shake hands with a celebrity.
28. Be valedictorian.
29. Play a sport at a college.
30. Own a beach house.
31. Ride the dolphins.
32. Have a pet parrot.
33. Teach a dog to do stuff for itself.
34. Launch a squirrel over a lake.
35. Catch a swordfish.
36. See a whale.
37. Go to Stonehenge.
38. Visit the Grand Canyon.
39. Go to Singapore.
40. Go to Ireland and see the equinox place.
41. Ride the world's biggest roller coaster.
42. Throw a rock into every ocean.
43. Chase a penguin in Antartica.
44. Climb a mountain.
45. Go hand gliding.
46. Do dynamite blasting.
47. Be a guest on a T.V. show.
48. Run into a music star on the street.
49. Go to 20 concerts.
50. Ride on top of a crowd.
51. Win a huge random drawing event.
52. Own 3 vehicles.
53. Ride in a lambourgine.
54. Learn to do a handstand.
55. Beat my dad in a wrestling match.
56. See the worlds tallest, shortest, biggest, and fastest man.
57. Play ping-pong with a midget.
58. Learn to play golf.
59. Do something that people would remember me for.
60. Break a Guiness World Record.

Shakespeare Language

A beautiful day it was on the coast in thy beautiful cassock. Wonderful coffin was falling upon thy tongue and a cade of whiskey was greeting thy lips when a retched guilder came into thy view. Galling thy was at thy fact the Dutch would ever step foot on thy land. Walking away in anger, thy plant happened to fall upon a nail. I plurred on the ground and screamed in pain.

Thou disembling rude-growing devil-mon!
I think it is saying that you are a person that is getting meaner.

Quotes to Think About

When Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "We boil at different degrees," many things can be brought out from this. In my opinion, he is trying to say that all people get mad at different rates. Some people may get mad at the fact you look at them the wrong way(a low boiling point), and some people may finally get mad after someone hits them 25 times(a high boiling point). Everyone is different in the way they get mad. Some may curse and threaten, others may just walk away. Nonetheless, everyone boils once their limit is reached.

Remembering 9/11

I honestly don't remember what class I was in 8 years ago today. All i can remember is that the teacher turned on the television and ever single channel was covering the attacks on the twin towers. The weeks following the attacks, people where discussing if another attack was going to take place and what we were going to do about it.
I think that 20 years from now, people will still remember 9/11. The fact that terrorists hijacked planes just to kill so many Americans will live on in everyone's lives.
Terrorists choose to attack America, in my opinion, because the United States is helping the government in Iraq. The terrorists were mad that the U.S. was there and took retaliation.
I do not know anyone that was directed affected by this event so i will never know how they truly feel about it.
If I were to right a story on 9/11, I would write the story in a miraculos survivors point of view. Someone who somehow lives when there is not chance of survival is very amazing and I think many people would want to read it. It would include the time when the attacks happen and what he has to go through to survive.

Friendship Bellringer

Friendship and personal beliefs always seem to conflict each other. Personal, I believe that your on beliefs and values are more important that friendships. When a major event happens and the dust settles, will your friends that say they will always be there for you be there? Will they be by your side when something tragic happens? Don't get me wrong, friendships are a great thing to have, but the one person that is always going to be there in a tough situation is you. You must stand up for yourself and do what you think is the right thing even if no one else thinks so.

The Lovely Bones

From reading the summary of this book, I think that it would be a good idea to read the whole thing. It is a kind of book that I usually don't read, but the summary sounds very interesting and very unique. The telling of the story from a person that has died from being raped is something I've never read before. Reading this would be something new to me and I think I would enjoy it.

Why Blog?

Blogs can be a good way to work on your real world writing skills. You use your own opinions and utilize different writing techniques.