Putting myself in their shoes

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?
Thinking of living with three generations of my family in a three room apartment is terrifying. I would want more than anything to get out. It would just make me feel trapped. The thought of not having a choice, that my race and skin tone was affecting my chance to have basic living conditions. I consider basic living conditions space, privacy, and comfort. Living with that many people can't be comfortable and there is definitely no space and privacy. I feel bad for the family. I see the family as not complaining about it though. They are strong willed and what good does complaining about something you can't change do?

Brighter Bites

A couple weeks ago the 9th and 10th grade students went on an outing to Kashmere Gardens Elementary School. We were there to help with the Brighter Bites program. The Brighter Bites program gives families who live in food deserts, food during the school week. When we got there we helped unload the food bank truck. It was a lot of fruits and vegetables. Once we unloaded all the food and arranged it in the auditorium we started placing the food in bags. I was on the mushroom team. We placed one package of mushrooms in each bag with a recipe slip. After we had finished all the bags we got to interact with some of the students at the school At my table I had 4 second graders. I really enjoyed getting the chance to hang out and talk with the students. My group at the table had so much fun and we were able to get all the kids at our table to try the healthy snack. We had to dance for 10 seconds though it was the only way we could convince them to eat the snack. I look forward to doing this kind of work again.

Topic of interest

1. 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.

A topic that I really enjoyed talking about in class was the concepts of the subconscious. It really interested me all the theories there are about the subconscious. For example the idea that every night when you fall asleep you actually die and are just given a new body with the same memories, or that you can't really prove anything behind you or is out of your vision range is real that just every time you turn your head your brain is just creating it all. The topic kind of just blew my mind. That maybe I'm in a coma and that everyone and everything is just a figment of my imagination. These philosophical thoughts are just fun and crazy to think about. The beginning of thinking these things really kind of shook people. For so long the world was that the world revolved around us and that God made us and to start thinking that well maybe that isn't true kind of knocked people off their pedestals and really made people think. I can't even imagine having the whole aspect of life all of sudden being questioned. This topic really interests me and I hope to research and learn more about it. I don't have any textual evidence of this in Gatsby because I didn't receive my copy of the book back. 

Contrast in story

1. Contrast Jay Gatsby's story about himself on p. 65 and Jordan Baker's story about Daisy and Gatsby on pp. 74-77.  What is different about these stories, and why do you think that they are different?

There is obviously difference between Gatsby's story and Jordan's. There were a few things that were obvious differences. In Jordan's story it was all about Gatsby and Daisy, their lives together, in Gatsby's it was his life story. Jordan spoke hers with a voice that focused in on the romance of their story. With Gatsby his story came across fake and rushed. Almost like it was all a lie. Those were the two major differences I noticed from them. I think they are different stories because they come from two different people who experienced it in two different ways. Gatsby was living the story while Jordan was just an observer of it all. 

American Dream Example

The American Dream to me is basically a lie. Yes it applies to some people but for the most part I think it is unrealistic. The American Dream is the idea that if you work hard in life you can make and do anything you want. There are so many people who are struggling everyday to barely makes meet that work way harder than big CEO's who make way more for barely any of the amount of effort others do. An example of someone who the American Dream did work for is Jim Carrey. He had nothing growing up, he had to drop out of high school to get a job so he could help pay the bills. Since he worked hard and never gave up he was able to make his dreams possible and is now a very famous actor. 

ELA This Semester

What did you do this semester in ELA that was most meaningful to you, and why was it meaningful?

The most meaningful thing I did in ELA this year were the creative writing assignments I got to do. The creative writing was the most meaningful for me because it was another outlet I got to use to express myself and my creative nature. 

What was the most challenging thing about ELA this semester, and why?

The most challenging thing about ELA this year was writing an analytical paper. That was the most challenging for me because I struggle with have good sentence structure and grammar. 

What would you like to change about ELA, and why?

I would like to have more grammar lessons. We only had a couple. I want more because like I said in my last answer I struggle with sentence structure and grammar. 

What would you like to stay the same in ELA, and why?

I would like to keep things the way they are except for having more grammar lessons. ELA has become one of my favorite classes and I am understanding and participating. For me the way the class is now works really well for me. 

Something that I just wanted to add was that sometimes it gets a little difficult or complicated to fit all the criteria needed to get a good grade in seminar. Not because I am not prepared but just on how the discussion is going and who is participating. 

3 heroic epithets

1) "Athena's seagrey eyes glinted" 

This is helpful to the singer because it helps give detail and description to the character of Athena. This will allow the audience to be able to be more intrigued and picture Athena. 

2) "And Telemachus, in his clear headed way:" 

This shows a strong personality trait of Telemachus. This helps the singer because it helps the audience to know what Telemachus was like. 

3) "Dawn's pale rose fingers" 

This helps the singer to set the mood. To allow the audience to picture the setting and imagine it more clearly.