"All The Light We Cannot See" Book Review (:

The book, All The Light We Cannot See, is a beautiful, one of kind book. The structure of the book was frustrating in the beginning, but once you are done without book, it feels amazing to have read it. The perspective of the book is very interesting and well written. It must of been a challenge for the author to write from the perspective of a blind girl and a curious, young boy. I appreciated the imagery in the story and the symbolize was very clever. Unfortunately, I do feel as though the story was rushed a bit in the last hundred pages, but every book has it's flaws. Personally, there was something very unique in this book for me and that is that passage in the story, reminded me of The Great Gatsby, which is my favorite book! 

As we have gotten to know more about Marie-Laure and Werner, how has your opinion of them changed and why? Use evidence from the book to support your answer.

Personally, when I first began to read the book, I believed that Marie-Laure was going to be a shy, non risking taking girl. Soon, I found out that Marie takes risk and isn't as shy as I thought she was going to be. I found out she was actually a very brave young lady. For example, in page 304, "If he touches me, she thinks, I will tear out his eyes." This shows how brave and risking taking she is. As for Werner, I believed he was much more braver in the beginning. However, as the story goes on, I find out that he isn't as brave as I thought. For example, page 238, "... Each time Werner does nothing to stop it." I thought Werner would have done something to stop the boys hitting his friend, but he doesn't. Throughout, the story both of change in some good ways and some weaker ways.

This week, on Thursday, we learned about imagery. Find an example of imagery in the book, quote it, and explain how it appeals to your senses.

"She walks. Now there are cold round pebbles beneath her feet. Now crackling weeds. Now something smoother: wet, unwrinkled sand. She bends and spreads her fingers. It's like cold silk. Cold, sumptuous silk into which the sea has laid offerings: pebbles, shells, barnacles. Tiny slips of wrack. Her fingers dig and reach; the drops of rain touch the back of her neck, the backs of her hands. The sand pulls the heat from her fingertips, from the soles of her feet." (Page 232) Can I just start of with one thing: Writing goals! This piece of writing appeals mostly to touch in my opinion. By touch I mean, tactile because the author is describing this in a way where you can imagine it on your skin. Also, it appeals to sight due to the reason that I can imagine seeing this sand and it raining. For sound, I can hear the crawling weeds and pebbles moving beneath her feet. I can hear the ocean as well. In this passage, there is no taste, but there is a lot of touch.            

Discuss the structure of the novel so far. Why has the author made the chapters and chronology in the way that he has?

The novel has an interesting structure so far. The structure allows each part to switch years from back and forth. There are two main characters in this story, Marie and Werner. I believe the author has made the chapters and chronology order this way because it makes the readers interested. Also, it makes the book unique compared to other books that deal with this subject. The chapters were also made like this so that we can see the different perspectives of the different characters. Both, the chapters and the chronology order, is very interesting and clever. I really enjoy reading this book due to it's unique structure.     

For this week's blog post, reflect upon your experience interviewing your oral history subject. How did you feel about the experience? Do you think it went well - why or why not? What do you think you might do differently in future oral history interviews? What was interesting about your subject's story?

Doing my first oral history interview was awesome! I really enjoyed it; I got to learn a lot about Ali Al Sundani, the person I interviewed. Overall, I think it did go well. It was a bit of a surprise when I found out I would be the interviewer, but thankfully it all went fine. Our questions were well thought out, and we recorded the video and audio awesomely. In the future, I would definitely consider creating some more follow up questions. Also, I would take more time in my interview. I believe the most interesting yet sad thing about Mr. Sundani's story is the fact that he has only visited his family once in the seven years he has been here. Also, that he got his citizenship last year around April. I really enjoyed my first oral history project! 

Oral History

The article spoke about Houston's graffiti, and how it has a huge impact in the art world of Houston. The article mentioned several different famous artists such as Daniel Anguilu, NEKST, GONZO247, and many more. The author included some pictures of the artist's works and the history behind them. Unfortunately, the article mentioned how Houston failed in the past to keep track of the graffiti of Houston, and how it became popular over the years. The author briefly mentioned how Houston is working on making certain areas legal to do graffiti in. Also, she mentioned how Houston works on erasing and cleaning illegal graffiti within Houston. 

I found this article interesting due to the reason that we are the generation that decides whether we save the graffiti in Houston. This article mentions informs us about the community and how much effort actually goes in the murals and graffiti. I also found it interesting because of the artist's history, and how difficult it is for artists to continue doing their passion. This article informed me of a lot I didn't know when I saw graffiti!

Summarize the story to which you listened and provide a link to that story. Then write three follow-up questions that you would like to be able to ask the person(s) telling the story.

In the story, Alex is a young African American who grew up with his adoptive white parents. At a young age, he is taught color does not matter. However, one day he is driving with a friend. He is pulled over for making an illegal left turn, and the police ask him to get out his car. Then, the police finds out his friend, who is white, has a bag of cocaine and they arrest him. The police begin to search his car, and he kindly asks the police for a warrant. Three policemen beat him to unconsciousness and he is waken up in a hospital.  

How did your family feel about the event? 

Did you and your family try to send this case to court?

Do you still talk to your friend who was in the car with you?

Link: 

https://storycorps.org/animation/traffic-stop/

Marjane's Punk Phase

While Marjane is in Vienna, she goes through her "punk phase." Personally, I believe that she never really liked punk music and that she just needed people to accept her. Both, in the film and the book, the audience can tell Marjane is not comfortable with her new punk friends, but she slowly becomes more like them. However, this was not the real her because later in the book, she regrets being punk and becomes more like her new boyfriend's friends. Once again, she meets another boy she likes and pretends to be interested in the same things he is, but in reality she really doesn't care and like those things. She goes through this "punk phase" simply because she is trying to fit in. She is trying to fill up this love that is missing from her family and friends back from in Iran.   

Do a character sketch of one of the characters in Persepolis. This should include the character's name, age (or ages as the book progresses), gender, appearance, personality, and importance to the plot of the book.

One of the most important characters in the story is Marjane's grandmother. In the book, she is never referred by name, she is known only as Marjane's grandmother. She is already elderly, and she is very wise. Marjane's grandmother has short and white hair throughout the movie. Her personality is a huge inspiration for Marjane because her grandmother always speaks her mind especially about the events/issues that were happening in her life. Through the the story, her grandmother gives her advice that is mentioned in the story a lot. She tells her to always stay true to herself and always have dignity. This advice is tested several times in the story, and it comes to show how important her grandmother is in her life.     

Explain the differences between Marjane's personality before she left Iran and when she returned after being in Austria. Why do you think she changed so much? Use specific examples from the book to support your claims.

Explain the differences between Marjane's personality before she left Iran and when she returned after being in Austria. Why do you think she changed so much? Use specific examples from the book to support your claims.   

Before Marjane left Iran, she was very rebellious, in her way, and she stood up for what she believed in. For example, page 97, where she rebelled and joked around school, where everyone is strictly enforced to act proper and not joke around. However, everything changes once she returns after being in Austria. She begins to act differently and actually care about what people think of her. On page 379, "We had been considered the model couple for so long and by so many people that we weren't able to accept our failure...we were keeping up appearances in public." She cares what people think, and she tries to be someone she is not. It shows the difference between the careless rebel she once was, and the way she begins to care about what people think. I believe she changed because in Austria, she had no one and was seeking approval due to wanting someone to be there for her. In Iran, she had her parents and friends that comforted her while she was being herself, and she didn't need to seek approval form anyone. 

Why did Marjane's parents decide to send her to Europe. Do you think this was the right decision? Why or why not?

Marjane's parents decided to sent her to Europe because the war became more extreme. They feared for Marjane's safety and her future. Personally, I believe this was the right decision because if Marjane stayed in Persepolis, she could've died or been severally injured. Even though it was a hard decision, it was the right decision. Also, with all the universities closing and most schools closing, Marjane might have missed a huge part of her education. It would greatly affect her in the future and her career as an adult. So far, in the story we notice how Marjane would dangerously stand up for her opinions, and her parents notice. I think this is what motived her parent's even more to send her to Europe. 

Last Blog Post of the Year :,(

What was the most fun/engaging activity that you did in ELA this year? Why was it fun/engaging?

The most fun and engaging activity that I did in ELA this year was reading A Raisin in the Sun out loud due to the reason that we got to play it out, and we got understand the story behind the author which made me feel closer to the book.

What was the most boring activity that you did this year? Why was it boring?

The least fun and engaging activity that I did this year was the response project to Maus and this was due to the reason that I had to do a research paper. Overall, even though it was boring, I learned a lot about writing a proper research paper. 

What was your favorite book this year? Why?

My favorite book this year was The Great Gatsby because the entire book made me rethink several things in our American society today. Also, the book is beautifully written, even though it was a bit confusing at first, I still l learned a lot. 

What was your least favorite book this year? Why?

My least favorite book this year was Maus due to the reason that I felt as though the seminars were repetitive, but I did learn a lot about the Holocaust.

What should I definitely keep the same for next year's ELA curriculum? Why?

You should keep the Response Project for next year because doing those projects are really fun and creative yet we learned a lot about the topic we choose. Also, the presentations allowed us to see the perspectives of our peers.

What should I definitely change for next year's ELA curriculum? Why?

I believe that you should, if possible, increase the amount of seminars we have in class because this way we could practice our seminar skills. Practicing our seminar skills would allow us to become better young adults and be ready to communicate in the world. 

Is there anything else that you would like to tell me about your experience in ELA? If so - please put it here.

I would like to say thank you so much Ms. Harrison because both my writing skills and communicating skills have improved due to the exercises we have done in ELA. This year was amazing! (:

Dreams - Free Blog Post

Something that I wondered when beginning to read the poem, in the first section of the play, is whether one can really forget a dream. Everyone has a dream, but I believe that a dream can really never be forgotten. I think it can never be forgotten because when I really want something, or I have a goal, I always try to achieve it. Like in the poem, Harlem, I think a dream has the possibility of "sags like a heavy load."  Whenever, I don't achieve my goals, I always remember it. I think of how much I would have achieved if I had completed the goal. Personally, I believe dreams are really never forgotten, and they sag like a heavy load. 

A Raisin in the Sun has more stage directions than a typical play (these are in italics). How do these directions add to your understanding of the play. Give specific examples from the text.

Throughout the play, A Raisin in the Sun, there is more stage directions than a typical play. I believe there is many reason as to why. One of them being, in the stage directions I can tell a lot about the person by their body language and there is things stated in the stage directions that I wouldn't be able to know if they weren't written. This example can be shown in page 51, "MAMA absorbs this speech, studies her daughter and rises slowly and crosses to BENEATHEA and slaps her powerfully across the face. After, there is only silence and the daughter drops her eyes from her mother's face, and MAMA is very tall before her." In these stage directions, I can tell that even though Beneathea is a grown woman, her mother still can correct her mistakes. The fact that Mama is very tall before her, helps us understand that Beneathea still listens to her mother and accepts the way she corrected her. Even though the stage directions in the example were short compared to the others in the book, the screenwriter still got that point across. She needed stage directions to show this because it would be very confusing and the reader wouldn't be able to understand the way the characters are. Finally, the stage directions allow for us, as the readers, to image the characters and understand how they react to certain things. In this play the extra stage directions were very helpful and necessary.

                 

In Act II, Scene 2, Mama puts Walter in charge of all of the money. Why do you think that she does that?

I believe that Mama puts Walter in charge of all the money for a lot of different reasons. One of them being that Walter is the main character that wants to show everyone his manhood. Also, Mama thinks that giving Walter the money will allow Walter to feel in charge at least once. Another thing, she may want to show Walter that she respects him as the man of the house. Mama trusted Walter as well. She raised Walter so she thought that he would do the right thing with the money. Hopefully, even though Walter broke Mama's trust, he could repair his trust with Mama.     

Put yourself into the shoes of the Younger family. What do you think it would be like to live in a tiny, three-room apartment with three generations of your family, without the choice or resources to move elsewhere?

If I were to put myself in the shoes of the Younger family, and I had to live in a tiny, three-room apartment with three generations of my family, I would be very grateful for the meals on my table. I would be grateful because I would know that I my family works very hard for the things I have. I think it would be very difficult to have a small house with many people because I would not have a lot of privacy to do school assignments. I would also have to share my stuff with everyone including cloth, food and etc. I feel as though I it would be very hard to enjoy school or have education due to the reason that I may have to work for money to support my family. Also, I think it would be very frustrating as the family grows or more obstacles come into living. I would feel hopeless because I wouldn't be able to get out of that situation. In short words, I believe this would be very hard. 

"Love is Blindness" by Jack White

Since I am a huge lover of this book and music, I decided for my free blog post that I would write about how in the death scene of Myrtle they use the song known as "Love is Blindness" by Jack White.

Personally, I found it very interesting how the whole scene played out, but the thing that I focused on the most was the song, and it's lyrics. I noticed how the song can connect to how Myrtle ran towards the car. The fact that Myrtle is under the impression that its Tom she thinks that he will stop at that speed. I know it wasn't Tom, and most people would think that if it were Tom that he would stop because they are in love. However, I strongly disagree because at that speed it is very hard and difficult to stop your car. Just because they are in love doesn't mean that it will magically make them be together and stop the car. Somehow, I believe that this is how everyone is blinded when it comes to love. 

Also, how Gatsby believed he could repeat the past simply because he was in love with Daisy. It shows how Gatsby is so blinded by the thought of his love for Daisy that he misses the fact that he can't really repeat those moments in his life. 

The song strongly related to the scene and even though it's not jazz music, or music from the 20s, they use the appropriate type of music for this scene.   

Choose any topic of interest that we have discussed in class (or not discussed, if you have a new one) in relation to The Great Gatsby and explore it further. Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

An idea/discussion that really interests me is the idea of whether if someone can repeat the past. In page 85, it says "I wouldn’t ask too much of her,” I ventured. “You can’t re-peat the past.” “Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!” Gatsby believes that you can repeat the past, and I agree with him. I just disagree with that situation; I think that he couldn't repeat that part of his past. I think that if an event is very vague and without a lot of detail, it is possible to repeat that event. In the book towards the end, it states something similar which is the last sentence of the book, "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back cease-lessly into the past." It states that we will always be reminded about our past.

Describe what happens when Myrtle is killed in chapter 7. How did it happen? Who was to blame? Use textual evidence.

Describe what happens when Myrtle is killed in chapter 7. How did it happen? Who was to blame? Use textual evidence.

In chapter 7, Myrtle is killed by the yellow car that is Tom's. She ran out to the car because she wanted to see Tom. Wilson, her husband, was beating her and telling her that they were going to move out of The Valley of Ashes. However, Tom does not kill Myrtle; Daisy kills Myrtle. Her death was instant as they say on page 139, "Auto hit her. Ins'antly killed." Also, it was very violent. On page 137, it describes her death, "...they saw that her left breast was swinging loose like a flap...The mouth was wide open and ripped at the corners." Their is confusion over who hit her. Tom believes it was Gatsby (page 141, "He didn't even stop his car."), while Nick find outs that is was Daisy on page     143, when he asks Gatsby. Towards the end of the chapter, Gatsby stays at Daisy's house and looks over her by seeing if anything goes wrong. Nick goes home even though he is invited by Jordan. 

On Thursday, we took a field trip to two very different neighborhoods to look for food. Examine how this experience might influence your understanding of the social stratification in The Great Gatsby (thing the Eggs vs. the Valley of Ashes). Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

Monday Blog Post:

On Thursday, we took a field trip to two very different neighborhoods to look for food. Examine how this experience might influence your understanding of the social stratification in The Great Gatsby (thing the Eggs vs. the Valley of Ashes). Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

I believe that the two trips help us see the huge difference when it comes to how the money within the neighborhoods affect the quality and quantity of food. It helped me understand the visual of how the Valley of Ashes would look. It was hard to image how it was described on page 23, "...A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air." Also, it was hard to compare it with how it might look today in this generation. Then, we saw the differences with the neighborhoods, and it helped me see the huge differences within the two. It helped me understand how the poor class where put to belong and stay in the poor class while the rich where meant to stay and belong in the rich class. The way the system was set up made it hard for the poor class to get out of the poor class. It truly makes me question the American Dream, and I think this is what Nick questions too. He questions it when he visits the Valley of Ashes. This trip truly made me understand social stratification in the story. 

"So far, Nick Carraway has made two statements about his principles. At the beginning of the book, on page 1, he states, "I'm inclined to reserve all judgements..." Then, a the end of chapter 3, on page 59, he claims, "I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." Comment on whether you believe these statements to be true about Nick. Include evidence from the text."

"So far, Nick Carraway has made two statements about his principles. At the beginning of the book, on page 1, he states, "I'm inclined to reserve all judgements..." Then, a the end of chapter 3, on page 59, he claims, "I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." Comment on whether you believe these statements to be true about Nick. Include evidence from the text."

I believe that the statements that Nick said about himself are false. The first statement he makes, " I'm inclined to reserve all judgments..." In my opinion, they are false due to the text in Chapter 1, on page 2, he states that "Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope." He says that it is not possible to save your judgements because it is human nature. Also, there is several examples where he judges people. An example would be in Chapter 3, on page 48, "I had expected that Mr.Gatsby would be a florid and corpulent person in his middle years."  Also, I believe that Nick is not honest as honest as he says he is. First of all, we see the whole story through his perspective, so we would never really see if he lies. In Chapter 2, on page 24, "Though I was curious to see her, I had no desire to meet her - but I did." He should be honest and certain about wanting to meeting her, so it wasn't honest. The statements were not true about his principles, and I wonder what other principles he will mention throughout the story. 

What information about income inequality surprised or disturbed you the most? Explore some reasons why you think this information surprised or disturbed you.

What information about income inequality surprised or disturbed you the most? Explore some reasons why you think this information surprised or disturbed you.

A piece of information about income inequality surprised me was the fact that 1% owned the United States' wealth. It did not only surprise me, but it disturbed me due to the reason that the lower class had a little money or no money. It disturbs me is because the hard working poor class do not receive the money they work for. The American Dream is false when it comes to the income equality. It is one of the reasons as to why this surprises/disturbs me a lot.