The End

Looking back on the all of the blogs I've done this year, I truly see how much I have grown as a person and as a writer. To be honest, I thought that the blogs were merely icing topped upon my massive amount of homework. I am happy to say that I was wrong. I've learned that blogging can be fun and is a great way to freely express myself. Although the blogs were assigned and structured...I felt like it was me. The blogs were my ideas, my thoughts, and my opinions being expressed. Knowing that my peers could possibly be reading, I tried to make my writing relatable and somewhat humorous (if possible).Throughout the year,my style of writing has not changed, but it is safe to say that it has definitely become stronger.

The importance of having the blog is to express and expand our understanding on what we are doing in class. With blogs, we were able to enhance our knowledge not only by creatively writing but also looking at what our classmates thought as well. Instead of being spoon fed a bunch of the right answers, we get to express how we feel.This is very important because it makes the students feel important. Personally, it makes me feel like my thoughts and opinions matter.  As much as I hate to admit it, those Saturday nights spent blogging actually helped me. It is not until now that I can finally realize their importance in my growth as a writer.

As Mark Victor Hansen once said “Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” This is so true with blogging and overall life. Even though some blogs, assignments, and projects were challenging, they all helped me grow in the end. With these experiences, I will continue to grow both as a person and as a writer. Blogging is beautiful in a way that something so small can make such a big impact on you.

Reflecting on a Memorable Assignment

When asked to think back on all of the assignments we have done this year, I had to stop for a moment and really think. The assignment that stood out over all of the rest had to be one of our first discussions. I've never really had a class discussion without it being complete chaos or complete silence. I was ready to share my thoughts and listen to others as well. I was actually excited because I had so many questions to ask and I was hoping my classmates would too. The assignment seemed difficult and not to mention confusing. Why would I write 10 questions I had....and then write the answer to them? I had difficulties writing my questions but in the end I walked into class with my thoughts typed on a clean sheet of stapled 8x11 paper- ready to share. I was nervous at first, but I got over it once I realized everyone else probably was too.

Once the discussion began, it was very exciting. Some people agreed, some argued, but everyone benefited. We were able to discuss topics on different levels which helped me really understand the literature. Viewing things from a classmates perspective felt so much more relatable. It was hard to say everything I wanted to and comment on everything I wanted to as the topic changed quickly. I learned how to work my questions and comments in while being respectful and attentive to the others as well. I worked hard and I was pretty proud of myself for trying something new. As we went through more and more discussions, everyone got used to them and knew what to do. Luckily, nobody was excessively rude or immature towards one another and although there were arguments, most people were still respectful. Discussions would have to be one of... if not my favorite parts of English this year.

My Experiences with Poetry

Of course we have all read/heard of nursery rhymes and poems when we were young, but we did we really analyze them? I know I didn't. My first encounter with poetry was with "Humpty Dumpty". I don't really think this had any significance in terms of a strong message or meaning, but then again I never really looked at it in depth. I was around five or six years old when my Norwegian grandma read this to me. Aside from her accent, I really enjoyed listening to the rhymes and silly ways of this widely know riddle. To be honest, I mainly focused on the pictures so I could easily follow what was going on. Anyway, I learned to like nursery rhymes and it was not until middle school when I really began to read real poetry.

It was around seventh or eight grade when my class began to read poetry from the blandly beige literature books. I guess I didn't mind the poems we were reading...I was pretty neutral at the time. I though it would be easy, fun, and fairly enjoyable so I kept an open mind despite what my classmates were saying. The poems in the dreaded literature book were not half bad, such as Edgar Allen Poe. I actually really liked reading them although I had a psycho teacher that decided to scarily act them out in front of the class. Other than that, this is was a GOOD experience for me. When discussing the poetry amongst my peers I realized that there are so many different interpretations to poetry and this I loved. I'm not the kind of person who wants a straight shot, one way answer...I like options and different perspectives. Poetry gave this to me.

I learned that poetry is such a beautiful thing. No matter how small a poem may be, a very large thought or message can be carried out through those few words, lines, or whatever it may be. When I hear the word poetry, I get excited because I get to not only analyze what the author is saying but have that connection with what it means to me.

Conflict in Romeo and Juliet

In Romeo and Juliet there are so many different conflicts going on. One example of conflict is internal/personal conflict. This conflict occurs when Juliet is deciding who she loves and is sad for after Tybalt's death. "My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain, And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my husband." (3.2.115) This shows Juliet's angst about Tybalt's death. She loves Romeo... but he kind of killed Tybalt who was her cousin...woops. This conflict is important to overall themes of the entire play because it is a smaller battle in the huge fight between the two familes. The conflict that Juliet has with her self is showing that her character is unsure and sort of innocent about what to think. This is an important conflict in the play because Juliet keeps changing her mind about Romeo or Tybalt, Tybalt or Romeo. In the whole play, people are always changing their minds.
      
In my life I find that I do think things through a lot. I will have conversations in my head, not out loud like Juliet in the play, but I will think things through the way Juliet did. I think that I do argue with myself the way Juliet does People today think things through all of the time either out loud or in their head. Personally, I reason things out in my head. When I'm making an important decision or just thinking about what I need to do for the rest of the day I have a thought process. I'm not necessarily arguing and having a conflict with myself. This isn't really conflict for me, but if I am thinking about something I will just try to relax and maybe make a list to get all my thoughts out.

Romeo and Juliet.....It's Everywhere!

Romeo and Juliet is such a famous play and pretty much everyone roughly knows what it's about. There are movies, TV shows, and even songs today that share the same message or theme as this classic love story. Some are more obvious than others of course and when thinking about it...the movie Shrek popped into my head. Yes, yes, of course Twilight and West Side Story were in the back of my mind but for some reason I began to realize that these two are alike in so many ways (of course not in every way). I found that the characters somewhat match up and saw the similar message that "these two can't be together" even when Shrek/Fiona and Romeo/Juliet are madly in love. Here's a video that shows a little bit more on what I'm talking about..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5wWROI4oEU&feature=related
It's actually really weird, but funny at the same time. Overall it shows how they relate so that's all that really matters!
(There are sequels to this video that can be found in the sidebar if you are still interested.)

Connecting with Romeo and Juliet

Through reading the first few scenes of the play, I find myslef connecting with the Prince the most. In the beginning of the play, the Prince is the one tries to end the fight. This reminds me of myself because I really do not like when people fight and I like to have peace between everyone. Other than the Prince, Mercutio also reminds me of myself. He is always sarcastic towards Romeo's overly dramatic attitude. I find myself very sarcastic especially in High School with teenage girls (including myself) who are extremely dramatic about everything. All in all, I feel like I have the Prince's "keep the peace" attitude but also Mercutio's sarcasticness (Although I'm sure I can be as dramatic as Romeo sometimes).

Reading the scenes at home and then in class helps me so much in understanding the language. I have my own interpretations when I'm by myself and then at school I can see it as something completely different (in a good way). The old time language can be difficult and is difficult most of the time, only making the book harder to read. Sometimes I'm having a hard enough time trying to understand what's going on that it's hard to see imagery and metaphors let alone any annotations. It really helps to come to school to have Mrs. Gilman/ Ms. Smith not only tell you what's going on, but reword it into modern english.

Wrapping it up

Great Expectations. I feel very satisfied and accomplished reading a book this difficult. There are so many messages in this book that it is hard to choose just one but the main message of the book for me was that money isn't happiness. This message, in my opinion, relates both back then and today. For example, Pip and Miss Havisham have lots of money to spend are not happy with their lives. Today, some of the happiest people there are have little to nothing. This always makes me wonder why rich or wealthy people are not happy. I always come to the assumption  that all of their stuff and the things they have don't fulfill their needs. Money is not a friend you can talk to, share thoughts with, or have a conversation with and a friend is. Stuff is not the answer to your problems, people are because they can listen and be there for you. At the end of the day, you need friends and family, not money. Happiness is  something money cannot buy.