"Identities"

Bodies lay without a name, they aren't a person that can be claimed.

 Identities still unknown, not enough information to be put on their stone.

Families wait at home, for their love ones to come back from war.

 But what they don't know is that they won't be coming back anymore.

Today we honor those who were at war and those who never came back home.

To those whose identities are still unknown, and not enough information to be put on their stone.

" The Cubbies enter the World Series"

          The Chicago Cubs have finally made it to the World Series after 71 years! Many people cried of exhilaration and even threw fireworks for the Cubbies as a celebration. On October 22, 2016 the Chicago Cubs defeated the Dodgers by 5-0, making them advance to the World Series. This historic moment happened in Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois. After Chapman got the final five outs the whole team raced to him and mobbed him. After the game ended Rizzo was proud and still processing his astonishment, he said, "We got four more big ones to go, but we're going to enjoy this. We're going to the World Series. I can't even believe that."  Although even before the game many people had lost faith in the Cubs after the “curse” of the Billy Goat was supposedly placed on them in 1945. Since then the Cubs haven’t won a World Series. But the Chicago Cubs have proved to everyone that a “curse” won't phase them or stop them from becoming the next champions.

1st quarter reflection blog

      I’ve completed many great things this first quarter in all of my classes. I’ve grown as a student and as a teenager. Especially in ELA that has shown me how to see the world in a different way. For example I’ve completed many goals that I thought I would never do, such as doing the 10 book challenge. I went above my own goal, which was to try and read at least 10 books, but I ended up reading 13 books. I felt proud and astonished of myself since I don't really read that much even though I like to read. I completed this goal by pushing myself and by being responsible. By doing these two things it didn't only help me complete my target but it has shown me a life lesson. Now I know that even though completing a goal is hard you just have to push yourself to your limits.

            This first  quarter for my ELA class I've also had the opportunity to learn how to properly do signposts. I had done signpost before but they just weren't organized or clear enough to even be considered signpost. At times I would do signpost on random quotes that had no meaning whatsoever. But now I've learned that by using this technique it can help me understand the book even more. For example you're more attentive towards the plot of the book. And you notice little details that can later on have an effect on the whole story. I've also felt I've grown as a reader, because yes I really enjoy reading but I never really noticed how deep a book can be if you pay attention. For example, The Giver was such a deep and amazing book. It was the second time I read it and I liked it more than I did the first time. The first time I read I thought it was very confusing and boring. But the second time I realized that the book had an actual meaning within it.

              Another of the many things that I’ve had the opportunity to get better at for my ELA class was improving on my writing skills. I feel like there has been a drastic change when it comes to writing for me. And it’s a good change too. For example I now know how to write a newscast like the journalist do or how to use the TIQA. It has made me more confident and comfortable with writing. I’m not sure if before I disliked writing because I wasn't good at it or because I thought it was boring. Either way it doesn’t matter because I want to be more engaged when it comes to this class and I’m more interested in understanding how writing works. I want to grow as a writer

The Giver compare and contrast

    There were many events found between the movie and the book of The Giver that we could compare and contrast. For example one of the similarities found in the book from the movie was when Jonas has a memory of war. After he experiences the memory of war Jonas changes. This action leads to Jonas trying to go to elsewhere and release the memories to the community. This happens both in the movie and in the book.  And if this rising action wouldn't of happened Jonas would've never left elsewhere. But also one of the differences found in the movie from the book was that Jonas experiences love first hand with Fiona. For example, when Jonas goes inside of the triangle he confesses to Fiona that he loves her. And later on in the movie Fiona says that she also feels love towards Jonas and describes love as a warm feeling that feels nice. But in the book the romance between him and Fiona never happens. Instead Jonas feels love for baby Gabe. Although Jonas did have a crush on Fiona nothing goes beyond that point

        In the end of The Giver film things were explained a little bit more. Like the fact that the memories did end up going back to the community. The reason we got to see this was because the director chose for us to see everyone's point of view. By seeing how everyone else thought or saw things we got a little bit more of an understanding of the whole plot. Unlike in the book the author chose for us to only see what Jonas thought, felt, and saw. Although the book was very detailed the movie somewhat boosted up our imagination to what we read in the end of the book. But in both the film and the book the story ended in suspense.

         I think the book was the one that impacted my understanding of the story. This was most likely because the book is deeper and was more descriptive. Unlike the movie that skipped or added some parts that weren't in the book. For example in the movie they make the chief elder seem as the villain, while in the book the the setup of the society is the one to blame. Although I do have to agree that the movie does help us visualize the story a little bit better but the book is always going to be the best option because the story plot is way more explained.
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The Giver theme

      In the book that I have been reading, The Giver, the main character, Jonas, is a dynamic character because he grows and changes as a person through the book. For example when Jonas shared his emotions with his family about the ceremony he said, “But it’s the ceremony that I’m apprehensive about. It’s almost December.” (9.) This shows Jonas being a little bit selfish because he is only worried about how the December ceremony is going to go for him. But towards the end of the book when he is on his journey to Elsewhere and realizes that Gabe is cold and weak he says, “He wept because he was afraid now that he could not save Gabriel. He no longer cared about himself.” (174.) This shows a drastic change from Jonas because he went from only worrying about himself to only caring about Gabe,

                                                           

    One of the many themes found in The Giver by: Lois Lowry was the importance of choice. We can all agree that making a simple choice can basically define our future. But for Jonas and everyone else in his community choices are made for them. For example when Jonas talks about how much time he will be able to have after the ceremony he says, “The freedom to choose where to spend those hours had always seemed a wonderful luxury to Jonas; other hours were so carefully regulated.” (26.) Jonas practically says that being able to finally chose what to do with those extra hours is a privilege since every other hour of the day he already has a chosen task. Another example of importance of choice is when Jonas realizes that he might of used this privilege to make a wrong choice he says, “Then, when he had the choice, he had made the wrong one: the choice to leave. And now he was starving.”(174.) Jonas does think that there's importance when making your own choice, but in this quote he kind of says that even though he got to make a decision he feels as he did the wrong one.