Fear of Thesis Statements

Hmmmm, where to start with thesis statements. I have a fear of writing thesis statements and I have no idea why. I guess I feel a pressure like what Mr. Mullins was talking about to summarize every aspect of the story into one short and concise  When I go to write a thesis statement, I have a hard time focusing on the central idea and coming up with everything else. I have a hard time putting my thoughts into words and making it sound intellectual and right. I envy those people who can whip up a theme or thesis statement out of what it seems to be thin air. I guess I never really learned how to write a thesis statement the correct way. I was taught a so called formula where you just plug in the theme and supporting details. So when Mr. Mullins told the class that there was a better way to write one, I was, and still am quite confused. I also have the problem of relying on the prompt too much. I need to learn how to incorporate my own vocabulary and ideas into my thesis statement. I am glad I took this class because I really need to learn how to write a strong thesis before college. Hopefully I can get better at it. I think people have such a difficult time with it because it is the main part of the paper and you base everything off of that one statement. If you have a bad thesis, you will have a bad paper. Also, I feel like it is really hard to include all the important points of the story in one sentence. Lets hope I can overcome my fear and write some strong thesis statements soon!

Electronic Textbooks

My view on electronic textbooks is that I think they are awesome! How convenient would it be to pull up all the textbooks you need on one device? No more heavy backpacks or strained backs! I love that the article mentioned how this new electronic network would offer help and have make up work available. It would be so easy to make up a quiz electronically and thus not fall behind in the class. There are a few problems with this transition. Every student would need a laptop or tablet and for some school districts that would not be practical. Every school district doesn't have the funds available to provide each student with a laptop. Also, just like music, textbooks could be copied. This new network could possibly rob current textbook companies that make their money from printing textbooks. I think the positives outweigh the negatives and I am excited to see the future of he textbook world. Even though this is my last year of highschool, textbooks are still used in college. And in college textbooks are very expensive, so hopefully if this electronic textbook network is set up, it will lower the cost of textbooks. I think it is important for the United States to keep up South Korea electronically. If books are electronic, hopefully more students will have the opportunity to have textbooks and learn. Because South Korea is so advanced academically, maybe this electronic kick can boost the United States up to South Korea's standards. A cool aspect that electronic textbooks would offer would be the live streaming network that could offer help. There have been times where I have been stuck on a math problem and I wish I could ask a specific question and have an answer instead of going in early for help the next morning. I think that this would be so helpful for students and this would open so many doors and really improve the education system. I agree with Mr. Mullins that novels would be quite difficult to read electronically. I have a kindle and I have read quite a few novels on oit, but I don't mind it because it is an opaque screen and it doesn't have a touch screen. Overall, I really hope that this plan is carried through by 2015 so that the textbook world would become more efficient.

Senior Year

 

 

Going into senior year, I was expecting the light homework load and carefree life that senior year usually brings. Well, to say the least, it hasn't been all that easy. I only have three classes and a peer tutor. The other four blocks I am doing community service at Clays Mill elementary school. It has been really nice to see my past teachers and it's really weird to be on the other side of things. I help out in the art room so I see third and first graders. My boss or site leader is very nice, I lucked out in that area. It's nice to be treated as an adult there and to be respected. On top of my few classes, college is stressing me out big time. Not to mention the ACT. To say the least, I will be very happy when all these events pass over. I am at the point in my life where I just want to start a new chapter of my life and high school is holding me back. I know I should savor the last year I have as a high school student, but right now it isn't very much fun. Hopefully after registering for college and deciding where I want to go, some of the stress will be lifted off of my shoulders. I have been told, it doesn't get much easier after high school and you have a lot more things to be concerned about, but right now I am just looking forward to a fresh new start.

NFL and Ellie

 

 

In this story, an important character that we did not discuss in class was Ellie Oscar. The strange and quiet man in the gold car with the radio glued to his ear. There are serious issues discussed in this story such as rape, society's view on growing up, and the devil. Even though none of these topics are directly mentioned, they are all there. The main reason I mention Ellie as being important is because he represents us, as society as a whole. His actions, or lack thereof, show that he knows what is happening inside of the house, yet he does nothing to stop Arnold Friend from raping this young teenage girl. He just listens to his radio and mumbles crazy talk. I think society is guilty of watching horrendous acts, comparable to rape happen daily, yet we are all guilty of being an Ellie. We see starvation in Africa, children sent to fight for their countries forced to kill their parents, poverty in our own countries, and yet all we seem to focus on is a call made by replacement NFL referees. I don't know if it's just me, but I think that our culture has a skewed view on the importance of certain issues. Ellie represents so much more than what the eye meets, he represents us, me, how we watch these things happen, yet remain mute to respond to them or do anything to stop them. Ellie should open up our eyes and bring attention to how we all take a backseat to what is hard to deal with, but needs our attention the most.


For some reason this got deleted from last weeks blog post, but here is my blog from September 27th.

Outside Reading

For my outside reading book I chose to read The Poisonwood Bible. It's a fairly long book and I am just about halfway through it. So far I really enjoy the plot; it is basically about a Baptist family who moves to the Congo for a mission trip. The father is a reverend and there are 4 girls in the family. There are a few major conflicts in the story, man v. man between the father and mother and also man v. society between the church and the Congo traditions. The main focus of the book is to spread the word of God throughout this small village who worships other Gods and who is vastly different in their customs and logical thinking. Their culture tells them that marrying more than one wife is acceptable and there really isn't any health or safety what so ever. Granted, this village is dirt poor and there hasn't been anyone to tell them that this is wrong. When the family arrives, they are the only white people. They have to adjust to the different life they call their own now. The father has a very stubborn and arrogant attitude that makes me dislike him a lot. The mother went through a very sick stage and she is just fed up with dealing with her husband and being in an isolated and unsafe place. I can tell that something is about to happen because there has been a lot of suspense and open ends. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

 

Reading, Theme, and Senior Year

Now, when I signed up for this class I was aware that we would be doing a lot of reading, yet I didn't realize that it would be this much. Don't get me wrong, I love reading, but in this class I feel like I don't have enough time to digest the stories that we read. Maybe it is just because I don't leave myself enough time to read the stories and analyze them on a deeper level. I feel like in class discussions help in digesting the story a little better, but keeping track of all the storylines is starting to become a little hard. I think I may just need to go back and skim over the stories to get a better understanding of them. I am glad that we went over theme because I really struggle with finding theme in literary works, where it isn't as clear. I think the 7 item checklist will help me in writing the theme of a story during this year.

But on a side note, I think it's pretty crazy that senior year is flying by so quickly. The senior picture is tomorrow and I can't quite wrap my head around the idea that this will be my last year at Dunbar. As scary as college may seem now, I cannot wait to start a new chapter in my life. I think senior year is flying by so quickly because there are so many things to do in this first semester. I need to remind myself to step back and enjoy the time that I have left, because it will be over much sooner than it seems.
Anyways, hopefully I can keep these stories on track and don't forget to wear your red or white tomorrow!!

Interpreter of Maladies View Point

While reading this story, I was surprised that it had more commercial characteristics than literary characteristics. Lately we've mostly read literary works so this was a nice change. The story line is pretty simple and easy to follow. I feel bad for both Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapaski since they are both stuck in marriages where they don't love their spouse any more. Mrs. Das' marriage is based on lies and cheating, and Mr. Kapaski had an arranged marriage. This story taught me the importance of finding the "right" person to marry. Both characters discovered something new in themselves just by opening up to one another. Even though the story didn't end in the happiest way, I feel like both characters grew tremendously and found how the truth can be so freeing even if it isn't completely told. I liked how Mr. Kapaski felt a lot of self worth when he used to feel worthless to society all because of Mrs. Das. I also feel like their relationship was a little weird just because Mrs. Das was so closed off to talking to anyone, her husband included, yet she opened up to him so much. Even though their communication pathway was lost, they still had the memories which left me with a sense of hope.