2nd Quarter reflection

          As this 2nd quarter ends there are many things that have contributed to my writing and to my learning in ELA in a positive way. For example an area in language arts that I have improved on a lot is my writing. Now it’s more easier to have my ideas come out on to my writing. In the beginning I wasn’t the worst writer but I wasn’t writing in the level that I wanted. Now it’s more easier for my ideas to flow and make my writing sound more professional. Annotating was another big accomplishment too because at times I would annotate information that was irrelevant to what I was supposed to be looking for.
          Another improvement that I have accomplished in this class since the new year is being more attentive to the world. Before I didn’t really see the news or anything of that sort. Me being involved with my surroundings has made me analyze to what's happening in the world. It also helps me in my writing. For example me reading the newspaper has influenced me to try to mimic some of their techniques into my own work.
          The most challenging part of 2nd quarter was to keep up with the assignments. Even though I didn't miss any it was hard and challenging because Mrs.Larson was already expecting us to have a more professional writing. Along with a lot more reading. We made about two blogs on books that we had to read on our own. Another thing that I had a bit of a hard time on was on research. Even though I love doing research it’s a lot more challenging when you have to make sure your sources are trustworthy.

Written transcript: "Flipped" by Wendelin Van Draanen

       The title of the book that I'm currently reading is called Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen. The genre of this book is Realistic fiction. The setting in which the book takes place isn´t very specific of when or where the book happens but we do know that it's in a small town called Mayfield. The book happens within two places in the town, a school called Maywood Junior High and a neighborhood in Mayfield. The main characters of Flipped are Bryce and Julianna. We go through the journey along with them of growing up from a seven year old to a teenager in 8th grade with both characters. Even though Juli and Bryce narrate the same situations in the book they remember things differently since they have different mindsets. It makes both of them very different. Bryce for example is a character with many fears. He's afraid to climb the Sycamore tree, too scared to eat Juli´s eggs or even talk to her about them. Bryce isn't brave enough to stand up to his dad when he's being a jerk. He has been called a coward many time through the book as well. In the other hand Julianna is a free spirit who is very kind hearted. She also happens to have a big crush on Bryce since they were seven. Julie is a great daughter and great friend but she does go through some tough times as she grows up.
          The main conflict in the story is more like two problems in one. While Bryce was being a jerk by making fun of Julie’s disabled uncle Julianna realizes that Bryce might not be the one. At the same time Bryce is slowly noticing how great of a girl Julie is and how she might be the one for him. In other words the roles get ‘Flipped’. Since there are two narrators in the book, Julianna and Bryce, there are a variety of different moods. For Julianna the moods that she brings to the book are very passionate and exclamatory. She makes the book have more excitement and brings lots of deep emotions as well. For Bryce the type of mood he brings into the book is more of a laid back type of feeling. Don't get me wrong he also can bring a very cringy feeling as well. The theme of the book Flipped is to never exclude anything to anyone. What I'm trying to say is to never overlook something or just assume that what you see is all a person has to offer. It's basically like that saying “Don't judge a book by it's cover”.

        

            The book Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen is by far one of my top three favorite books. The reason why I really like this book is because I really liked the way the reader got to see both main characters change. It also has a lot of unexpected details that you could've never guessed. Something that I remember most of the book is the conversations Julianna and her dad had. For example I liked that advice he gave her about to not only focus on the small details of something but to look at the big picture. Someone that I would recommend this book to is to anyone that likes books that end up turning out completely different of how one imagined. The viewer should definitely try to read this book because I think it's a book that really makes feel like your part of the book. I mean you're basically watching the main characters grow and change.