3rd Quarter Reflections

    It is the end of third quarter and the beginning of spring break. One thing i loved to do in ELA is when we do fun blogs. In the blogs I get to learn more about how to write more better paragraphs and about the topic we are learning about. But yes, I have trouble here and there but I ask for help and i would understand it more better. During 3rd quarter i have been improving on my blogs and getting much better on writing them. Also researching things that are important on a topic that the class is learning about.

In 3rd quarter i have been reading lots of books. One of my favorite books that i have read was Night. It was a class read book activity but i loved it actually. Night was about the holocaust which was depressing. But in the book it showed me lots of things that I did not know about and how kids our age or even younger went through that or just people in particular. I also have read a book called The Fill-In Boyfriend, It is about this girl who got dumped on prom in the driveway and now she has to look for a date but then a boy in a red truck comes to her rescue and becomes her “Fill-In date” to prom. I loved this book because it is about teenagers and it shows how she goes through it.

In 3rd quarter I felt accomplished because i have improved on my writing and also on vocabulary tests.But in 1ts and 2nd quarter i did not do so well. But then 3rd quarter came and i improved on my grades and also my writing and vocabulary. One thing I liked that we did in 3rd quarter is when the whole 8th grade ELA classes went to the Holocaust museum. I liked it cause I got to explore not only by pictures and book but see things that have been used back then when the holocaust happened. I also liked how i actually got to meet up with a real survivor that actually was involved in the holocaust.

Life is Beautiful

     In the movie Life is Beautiful there are many differences and similarities to the book Night, One is in both their are father and son bonds. Like Guido and Joshua, also Eliezer and shlomo. They both go through the journey of the horrid campus together and in the end only the sons made it through their fathers had died during the holocaust.  Another is that in the movie Life is Beautiful the had sacrificed herself to go on the train where her son and husband were, also very Jew were in the train and getting deported to a camp. But in Night Eliezer has a sister and mother but they both get separated from Eliezer and Shlomo, which is Elie’s father. In both Night and Life is Beautiful they both deal with the holocaust and how people suffered in that state and what had happened.

In Life is Beautiful in the beginning of the movie it is humorous, like for example Guido makes jokes and makes things that are bad into jokes. There's also love, during the movie Guido meets a girl named Dora and he falls in love with her and she also fell in love with her, but their were interruptions with their relationship because Dora was going to marry a rich guy but she chose Guido over him because of how funny and kind he is, also has a humorous attitude. But in Night there are no humorous or beautiful moments there are only dark moments and no jokes. When Guido and his son are in the camp, Guido tries to put everything bad into jokes such as when a Nazi tells everybody the rules of the camp Guido volunteers to translate and he puts the rules that the soldier said into a game that he created to tell his son so his son won't be scared.

In the movie Life is Beautiful Guido does everything in his path to protect his family (wife and son). During the movie Guido sneaks to the side where Dora is and he strikes to find her. Also to escape with both Dora and Joshua. In Night Elie’s father, Shlomo also protects his son, Elie from danger and tells him to keep on moving on and Elie tells his father to keep moving and that he can move on. In Night the characters are more well not humorous like in Life is Beautiful but it shows us really how it feels and the torture on what people think of it and say about it.

In Life is Beautiful there are many humorous and beautiful scenes but also they can be cruel. For example, when Guido tries to find and go where Dora is and he falls in love with her. He also then marries her and have a kid. His name is Joshua. But unfortunately both Guido and his son Joshua were taken to a campus. Then before you know it Dora wants to get on the train and go with them. And as you can see Dora his sacrificing her life to go with her family and can’t leave them.

Night

  One major change about Elie is when he became a bystander when his father was getting hit. In the passage it states that , “I did not move. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, before my very eyes, and I had not flickered an eyelid” ( Wiesel 37). In the end Elie’s father has given up but Elie couldn't help but help his father and give him courage so that he can move on. Elie also couldn't resist to help his father because he saw the pain that his father was going through so he gave his father the courage to keep on moving. According to the book Night , “Father!’ I screamed. ‘Father! Get up from here! Immediately! You're killing yourself. . . .’ I seized him by the arm” ( Wiesel 100). I chose this first event from the book because in the first quote it shows Elie not trying hard enough or not giving his all to help his father out or giving it his all when his father was being hit by other men. In the second event it shows Elie helping his father to live and encourage him to keep on going.

One other major event that happened in the book, Night is when Elie is at rock bottom and he says that God is gone and will never come back. According to the book Night it's states that, “Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul…” (Wiesel 32). I chose this quote from the book because it shows that Elie does not have Faith in himself nor have Faith to God. In the book Night it states that, “Thank God! You're still alive” (Wiesel 33). I picked this quote because it shows Elie changing his belief and his faith in God.

I chose these events from the book because it shows how Elie is changing his faith and belief in God. In the beginning of the book Elie has not seen the other side that is waiting for him and torture he will see and face through. When he reaches to that torture he starts to lose his faith and trust in god. Little by little he starts to regain that trust and faith he used to have, from the torture and what he had been through during the holocaust he took part in. In the first paragraph I chose those two events from the book, Night because it shows how Elie is being a bystander and watching his own father being tortured and hit by another man, while Elie is doing nothing about it and also even cry for his father. But in the other quote it shows that Elie is helping his father and wants him to live, also giving his father courage to move on.

I

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam` , 1982

Butterfly Project

You wanton, quiet memory that haunts me all the while

In order to remind me of her whom love I send.

Perhaps when you caress me sweetly, I will smile.

You are my confidante today, my very dearest friend.

You sweet remembrance, tell a fairy tale

About my girl who’s lost and gone, you see.

Tell, tell the one about the golden grail

And call the swallow, bring her back to me.

Fly somewhere back to her and ask her, soft and low,

If she thinks of me sometimes with love.

If she is well and ask her, too, before you go

If I am still her dearest, precious dove.

And hurry back, don’t lose your way,

So I can think of other things, but you were too lovely, perhaps,

to stay.

I loved you once. Good-bye, my love! 

             ~Anonymous 

Blog Perseverance

Nick vujicic was always thinking negative about how he was, no legs or arms. When he was little he would always say that he won't be able to do the things other people can, that have legs and arms. But then when he was older he started to not think negative but positive. One trait that he used was “be yourself cause everyone else is taken”.  I picked this trait because Nick wasn't like other people and he would think that too, also other people. But by trying new things and having a positive attitude he can do many hints that other people can do. Another trait is never give up. This trait is really important because if you give up it's like losing faith on things that are important to you and just giving up. I can relate to this because I used to give up on things that I can't do, like in school if work is too hard I just give up but then when I ask for help and someone like a friend or a sibling or my parents tell me that I can do this, then I will start feeling good about myself in doing this and thinking positive.

Book Talk

    The book that I am reading is called The Distance Between Us by Kasie West. The book, The Distance Between Us is a humorous live story about a girl who has her lifelong disdain of the wealthy challenged by the son of a hotel mogul. Whose attention and loyalty almost convince her that being rich isn't a character flaw. Until she finds out that money is a bigger part of their relationship  than she realized it would be. The book is about a seventeen-year-old named Caymen Meyers learned that the rich are not to be trusted. She's been studying them from behind the register of her mom's porcelain-Dallas shop. But then one day enters Xander Spence, a tall, handsome, and oozing rich guy. Despite his charm he actually understand Caymen than anyone else she knows, but Caymen is smart enough to know that his interest won't last. But then Xander is starting to convince Caymen that money isn't all that as she expected it will be and she starts seeing the loyalty about him. “With so many obstacles standing in their way, can she close the distance between them?” Says Kasie West.

I chose to read this book because my favorite genre about books is fantasy, romantic, mysteries and this book has romance and it is a fantasy. It also teaches us a lesson that you can't judge people by how they act or look. The book, The Distance Between Us has a mystery in it cause Caymen is trying to find out who Alexander is and how he lives his life. Also Alexander is trying to figure out Caymen too. I would recommend this book to my cousin because she likes the same genres that I do. She also read the other books that were wrote by the same author, Kasie West.

Quarter 2 Reflections

          During second quarter, it was easier for me to do things because I am all ready used to the process of having homework every day. One of my classes that I had everyday is English language Arts. English Language Arts  was hard for me in the beginning and I had some trouble doing the IXL that we were supposed to do every week. But I have improved over the 1st quarter and 2nd. One of my biggest challenges is turning in homework early. I always turned my homework late but I can improve that in 2nd quarter.  Another challenge is doing my IXL. By improving this i will do the IXL right when I get home and not get distracted all of the time.

In English Language Arts we are doing a 20 book challenge. So far I have read 3 books, which are, Dead Is The New Black, by Marlene Perez. Also Choose your own Ever After (The Call of the Wild). Finally, On The Fence, by Kasie West, and The fill-In Boyfriend, by Kasie West. The one that i am reading right now is, The Distance Between Us, by Kasie West. Which is my favorite book so far in 2nd quarter. One of the book i want to read is, Shark Girl, by Kelly L. Bingham. I saw the movie of Shark Girl and now I want to read the novel.

My favorite thing we did in Quarter 2 is doing vocabulary. Doing vocabulary helped me because every week we learn new words and prefixes. We take tests every Friday and the class grades other students papers. Also, the prefixes help me learn me words with them. Another thing I liked about Quarter 2 is doing the 20 book challenge. The 20 book challenge helps me with my reading and I learn more and more about different books.