My Ideal High School Bookshelf

Over the summer I would like to read:
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
The Name of the Wind
The Book of Strange New Things
The Martian
Jurassic Park
Prep
Leonardo’s Legacy: How Da Vinci Reimagined the World
As well as any other books that I feel like reading
I would like to finish:
Harry Potter (for the 4th time)

Dear, classmates and Ms. Galang
Over the school year I have greatly enjoyed being in this class with all my classmates whom I consider friends. I enjoyed many of the activities that we did and the information I gained from doing these activities.
Over this school year I enjoyed many activities. One activity that I enjoyed immensely was acting out scenes from Romeo and Juliet. Although this activity was tedious (requiring a large amount of memorization as well as deep thinking) it really helped me understand shakespeare. This activity was helpful for me because one, it taught me Shakespearean English (at least some) and this helped me gain a great understanding of Romeo and Juliet as well as any of Shakespeare's plays. i really enjoyed this activity. Another activity I enjoyed was our use of

Poetry Project By: Jacob Cedar

Writing In A Notebook

February the 13^th, day I died

Keeping a writing notebook for school

I like reading more then writing

Although writing for school is a rule

I don’t like writing for school

            I decided to do a series of 6 word memoirs about my dislike for having to keep a writing notebook. My process was simply speaking my mind but only 6 words per line at a time when I had to write my first entry in the notebook. I incorporated end rhyme in the series rhyming the second, fourth and fifth lines together.

Is There One

If I believe there's one

Is there one, or two, maybe three?

Or is there none

If I believe none

Am I incorrect for it?

Or is it my idea?

Life is like the world

Always changing for good and bad

Maybe one can be none

            I decided to write a series of haikus based around whether an entity like a god existed. My process was just my own thoughts in the form of haiku (some changes in the form in places). I incorporated simile in my poem comparing life and the world and made use of repetition in asking questions.

The World

The world creates a place for us to be

The place is of all the colors of life

It’s beauty not seen by eyes of humans or tress

The world has secrets unknown to us, like strife

The world is scared of us, the scourge and plague

We cause the world tremendous pain and grief

This wasn’t always so, when the world was vague

The world used to have beauty’ we, are thieves

Though we have joy the world has none, its gone

We weren’t careful of what we wished for

Nor did we watch out for greed or pass on

The world is in pain it’s our fault, once more

Others can disagree, simply people are the earth’s plague

This beautiful world is sick with us, the vague

            This sonnet was a response to a rant written in prose. I used metaphors comparing us to a form of plague, and hyperbole of all of us being thieves.

Starry Night by: Tupac Shakur

The poem “Starry Night” by Tupac Shakur is a poem alluding to the painting The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. Tupac Shakur talks about Van Gogh’s life and the paintings relationship to it. I loved the poem Starry Night by Tupac Shakur.

            Tupac Shakur’s word choice and use of slang made me love his poem. Multiple times in the poem, Tupac Shakur uses text-speak or slang to talk about Vincent Van Gogh. For example writing, “but 4 u there is only contempt.” This line is very powerful in context, considering Shakur writes that Van Gogh has given the people many things in painting form but all Van Gogh has gotten in return is people disliking him and his work. Although the line itself is strong and dark, using the slang, “4,” and, “u,” gives the poem a much lighter and more apathetic tone. This makes the poem itself seem interesting, because the use of the slang takes a very serious line, and almost makes it seems less important then it is about his life. Then Tupac also uses the word “obsessed,” in the line, “A creative heart, obsessed with satisfying.” This gave Van Gogh the appearance of man obsessed with making the world like his work. The use of this word made me enjoy the poem even more because it was powerful enough to show Van Gogh’s life and his eagerness for people to love his work, but not too strong to show that his work wasn’t actually worse then it was supposed to be. Shakur’s use of word choice and use of slang made me love his poem.

I loved the poem “Starry Night” by Tupac Shakur because of his use of literary devices. The poem itself is actually an illusion to the piece of artwork the Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh which I found made it very interesting. This allusion to the piece of artwork made this poem even more interesting, because it gave the poem a focus. This allusion really changed the way I thought about this poem because it meant that this poem wasn’t neccesarily all about Van Gogh’s life, it was also about his piece of artwork. Then Shakur also uses end rhyme to help the rhythm of the poem continue. For example,

“So on that starry night u gave 2 us

and you took away from us,”

This use of end rhyme really kept the entire poem rhythmically sound because without it the poem would be more prose like then anything else. The end rhyme also allowed the next two lines to be spoken slower to give them more meaning then these two lines. The use of literary devices in this poem made me enjoy it even more then I already did.

            “Starry Night” by Tupac Shakur was a great poem. The text makes me wonder about Vincent Van Gogh’s life. I knew Van Gogh had problems throughout his life but I would like to know more in depth about how bad they actually were. Additionally I would like to know if maybe the reason this poem was written was for Tupac Shakur to feel connected with Van Gogh.

             

Reading Response on I Am Number Four

Whether a book is fair or not is an extremely difficult question to ask yourself. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore is a book about 2 aliens from the planet Lorien who came to earth to run away from another group of aliens called Mogadoriens, who want them dead. I Am Number Four is unfair because of all of the terrible things that happen to the character that the character never asked for.

            The main character, John Smith is affected by all of the people of his race. When he and 8 other children from his planet left to escape the Mogadoriens, a charm was cast upon them making them immune to death as long as they aren’t killed in order, and if the children come together, the charm is broken. The author states that, “ When one of us is found and killed, a circular scar wraps around the right ankle of those still alive,” (6). This is important because he has to be killed in number order, making it extremely important that the people before him survive because if they don’t, he could be very close to death. When John became a fugitive of the Mogadoriens, he didn’t ask for it. John was born on a planet in war so when he escaped as a four year old, he wasn’t responsible, nor did the Mogadoriens have any real reason to attack him or the 8 other children. Additionally, at one point in the story after John and his protector move to another place, John gets a talking to. His protector Henri states, “Don’t show your intelligence... Don’t stand out or draw too much attention... Just a fly on the wall,”(24). This shows that John is affected by his race, because he has to be so careful among others. He can’t live a normal life like anyone else. John is heavily influenced by his people because he is affected by their racial similarities as well as their will to thrive like they once did again.
            The book is also unfair because John lives with the expectation of his survival so that he can rebuild his race. For example, Henri his Cêpan, or protector states, “This Isn’t about you. This is about the survival of our race, which was almost entirely obliterated,” (17). This shows how important it is for John to survive and how much expectation people have of him. This also shows the weight put on Johns shoulders. The book is unfair to John because ever since John has been young he has been expected to survive for the good of his people, John has had to deal with more expectation then most people would have to deal with at such a young age.

            I Am Number Four is also unfair to secondary characters. In the book a girl named Sarah goes to lengths to help John, “She looks behind her again and quickly reaches into the front pocket of her bag. She pulls out my phone and gives it to me,”(73). Sarah stole the phone from a bully who had taken it from John the day before. This is unfair to Sarah because it means that Sarah has allied herself against the main bully of the high school. This also shows unfairness to Sarah because she is making herself a target of the bully, and John’s enemies, the Mogadorien’s.

            Pittacus Lore’s I Am Number Four is extremely unfair to the characters in the story. Although this is harsh in some readers eyes, it actually makes the story much more interesting. The unfairness makes the story much more believable but also more interesting and allows the author to make his own plot. For example, without the first three people in the order dead, the book would be stationary. I Am Number Four is intriguing because it uses unfairness to better the characters and story.

Afterward, Authors Note for our picture book project

Afterwards

            Recycling plastic and metal is an intriguing topic considering it doesn’t always seem like it is helpful. I know from personal experience that many people do not recycle plastic and metal. What people do not know is that recycling these materials actually saves energy (Help the Environment By Recycling). Manufacturing a product with virgin resources uses a lot more energy then manufacturing a product out of recycled materials. So, manufacturing a product out of recycled materials is much more energy efficient, which in turn means it, affects the environment less. Additionally, energy used to transport virgin materials isn’t expended when using recycled materials. This means that the environment isn’t hurt as badly when a manufacturer needs new materials. Recycling plastic and metal reduces pollution. Any energy used transporting virgin resources consumes fossil fuels, which emits greenhouse gases. These greenhouse gases are terrible for the environment.

            Recycling plastic and metal may not seem helpful at a first glance, but it is actually extremely important. For example, recycling reduces the amount of waste in landfills (What Impact Does Recycling have on the Environment) because, “As more waste is put into landfills, the bigger the problem gets.” Later, the author states that the more waste in landfills, the more greenhouse gases are emitted. Greenhouse gases are terrible for the environment, so recycling plastic and metals seems like a good alternative to creating greenhouse gases. Additionally, there is a large amount of money saved when using recycled goods. What Impact Does recycling have on the Environment, even states that, “ Some people find that they can make money recycling.” For example, the 5 cents you can make for plastic or metal bottles and cans. This cost efficiency is a great way to promote recycling to the average public.

            I’m hoping that you can learn that recycling is extremely important for the environment. The purpose for this book is so that you can learn the benefits of recycling, and that in turn recycle. If you set a good your peers may even recycle. I would suggest that although I only focused on recycling plastic and metals, you should also recycle paper, It’s another thing that needs to be recycled and is just as important to the world and It’s environment. Everyone needs to recycle, and they need to start now.