Umm.

Its JULY and I am on the blog.  What kind of madness is this?.. haha I just kind of missed it.

I miss you guys!

Guess who still checks the blog?

Muhahahahahaha.
Actually, I'm just bored waiting for my homemade naan to cool...but still...
Happy Summer to no one, because no one will ever read this.

I don't deem this class over until I get my final grade.

Which is cool with me. but anyways......I realize we never really talked about the song that I kept messing up (my b sorry people) I'm gonna blame Maddy Brozek because she was there....and she's not...one of us... But anyways....if there was anything that needed explanation let me know? Sometimes things make sense to me but not to anyone else but Tonya :)

You Probably Won't Read This but....

Thanks so much for the wonderful gifts and the poem (Tyesha... you sneaky little devil).  I have had a really rough year, but you guys reminded me of why I started this job in the first place.  I cannot express how much that means to me. I hope you guys have a wonderful graduation ceremony tonight and really enjoy this moment of celebration and new beginning!  I will miss you all... except for Matt who will be here next year. :)

Thank you stariha

Thank you so much for taking the time to find all of those quotes for us. I feel very special because of that. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us and caring about each of us enough to help us in the areas we struggled with. I feel blessed to have had you as a teacher. You have worked so hard to make sure we will succeed in life. Keep being you! You are a wonderful teacher! I have learned so much.

?

I never thought i would say this, but im gonna miss college english. Statiha, you have taught me more than any other teacher has, i dont care what people say, your a cool cat. Its kindof sad to know that we will never have a college english class again aftr thursday.....

Today

I have to say that i really enjoyed today's quote circle. It was cool to see what Stariha thought was our best qualities.

The Thing I hate Most In The World

Well first theres the fact that I couldnt see the Title of this while I was typing this and next theres A-'s I hate them. They are just the biggest disappointment ever. Nuff Said

their eyes were watching god

I watched their eyes were watching god, and they made Janie a lot more rebellious I thought. She argued with Jody a lot more, but she was also more childish, and outgoing. They kept a lot of the things in the movie the same but changed Janie a bunch!!

Well College English,
this has been a real good time, I feel like I have learned a lot. Both things that are useful inside and outside of the classroom. I am really going to miss our good old discussion, and Stariha and her man hatingness; but in reality I am a little bit excited to see what this world has to offer and how this class has prepared us. :)

So ill be honest, Im kinda starting to freak out about this whole exam project. I was all about doing it this weekend- like in my mind. BUT my mind forget to tell me that I had to work all this weekend... hmm problem much? Tomorrow I only have to work until 3, so that shall be the time it gets finished. Hurray for summer jobs!... not.

last blog post ever?

awww, wellll since this is my last blog post since there really will be no point in blogging this coming week, i just wanna say how sad ill be to leave ms.stariha and all of you , i really will with graduation this friday, im kinda depressed. but excited for it all too, but yeahhh. idk , im sad now. so im gonna stop typing.

the moment of sudden relief when you finish your presentation final exam project, feels like im already in summer, except for oh wait my life sucks. so thats just great. great summer hu? hope your all in better moods than me.

presentations

welll i think that everyone really put on good presentations and that we finished off our last major project on a good foot despite senioritis that was flowing through everyone ..

presenting

the joys of presenting... I am excited to be done with this project, but getting everything done has been extremely difficult. I am not a fan... plus i value sleep so I should probably figure everything out and go to bed soon....

I Hate Technology. (yes this will be a whining post, i warned you)

So, wanna hear how editing my final exam video went?
Yes, of course you do!
1. I put everything together, it was done by Friday...then the software I used died.
2. So I re-edited it all on another computer only then to have not save because some file wasn't compatible.
3. So I re-did everything on ANOTHER laptop saved part one, got it on youtube (i worked on that allllllll of yesterday) and then started on part two, i started at 8am this morning, finished part two (it's really wonderful, i'm so proud of this ending) and then IT WON'T SAVE in a completed form. and now i have to go to work. gajkhkdsf,mn.

But no worries, I will fix something and have it ready by Tuesday...hopefully.

International

Well I'd just like to say that before this class I was very unneducated on the whole consumerism thing, and i'm glad we got a chance to learn about it because:

I was on an international Pen Pal site and I was talking to someone from the Phillippines and all they wanted to talk about was Consumerism and how it is playing out in the U.S.

I find it interesting/sad how their teens are so much more in tune with the world then we are.

How I almost came to not hate Webkinz

I have never liked the plush toys with a link to the online world of Webkins.  I don't like them for three reason. 
1) they're over priced and manipulate children into buying more (ah! child consumers!)
 2) I liked stuffed animals, I liked neopets, why the heck weren't these around when I was a kid??
 3) I may be a little angry it wasn't me making bank with a stellar idea
But yes no matter how cool they may be I still hate them.

Today, however, I discovered this guy

Yeah thats right its an Okapi webkin.

How cool is that?!

But with this discovery I discovered that webkins don't label their animals! wtf! You took a perfect opportunity to introduce new animals and zoology and you blew it webkins! Way to go!

And thats how webkins managed to continue my hatred.

Connection to PWB!

So I'm finally joy reading (not that I didn't enjoy our books this tri I just really am happy to be able to read the books on my reading list and not have to mark significant quotes or worry about quizzes) and the main character in my book is a twin.  She talks about how her sister is the one that seemed to get all the looks, smarts, and communication skills while she was quiet, too skinny, and never "fit in" at school.  Naturally I connected back to Leah and Adah.  My character, just like Adah, is actually really really really smart and can function just fine in society but chooses not to.  She also talks about the labels society puts on she and her sister and how those don't fit what she sees in them. 

I feel like this might be a common theme for twins in literature.  I wonder if I speaks any truth to twins in the real world.  Tyesha? and thoughts?

Everyone enjoy your long weekend!!!! Free of stress and full of fun!!!

This week feels so wonderful to be done with. The only big thing I have to worry about is the exam project which will be a piece of cake after all of this! Graduation is only a week away. I cant believe it is coming down to the end!

:)

I really have nothing of importance to post. I'm just glad I got through the presentation without completely spazzing haha. However it did feel awkward dropping the flashcards on the floor but I didn't know what to do with them? Anyways just the exam to go, Yay :)

yay me

I just can't wait to be done with this stupid presentation. I am actually prepared ofr this thing so I hope it goes well! I just can't wait for tonight when i can go home and do absolutely nothing and actually not have anything to do! I am just so excited to finally be lazy and not be procrastinating at the same time!!

alright guys.

this is a nagging post from me.
me or jen NEED the stuff we asked you for!
like asap. by tomorrow.

Dear Stariha

Thought you would want to know that I think I can quote that monologue better than your middle schoolers, I have been ALL night! 

Wow, I feel like I can finally breathe! That is the most wonderful feeling in the world to be finished with something that big. All I can hope for now is to get a good grade. I am excited to be able to sit back and enjoy everyone's presentations!

It is such a relief to be done with the big senior project. Last night I was able to go to bed at 8:30 and slept like a baby. I cant believe how fast everything is going now. It feels like a whirlwind. Tomorrow is my last day of highschool....ever. Crazy! Does the rest of life go this fast? Becasue if it does I want a pause button!!!!

"There is a universal truth we all have to face, whether we want to or not, everything eventually ends. As much as I've looked forward to this day, I've always disliked endings. Last day of summer, the final chapter of a great book, parting ways with a close friend. But endings are inevitable, leaves fall, you close the book. You say goodbye. Today is one of those days for us. Today we say goodbye to everything that was familiar, everything that was comfortable. We're moving on. But just because we're leaving, and that hurts, there's some people who are so much a part of us, they'll be with us no matter what. They are our solid ground. Our North Star. And the small clear voices in our hearts that will be with us … always." - Graduation Speech from Castle. 


Granted, a tv writer wrote this but it's still touching and I'm starting to realize more and more how much I want to say goodbye to some people and how much I want to hang onto others and not let them go.

Posting & Thoughts about Time, Friends, and Value

I can honestly say that I don't know why I am writing on the blog right now.
I guess I am just bored or frustrated or whatever, but it doesn't matter.
I find it hard to know what to write about anymore because I don't feel like
I have anything important to say or tell anyone. I mean, my mind hasn't conjured
up any brilliant thoughts or ideas on anything we've talked about lately.
I find it interesting, yes, I do...but I just don't have anything to say about it.
I guess...I just intake it all. I take and take and take but hardly give.
I'm starting to wonder where this behavior comes from because I know it occurs
in different parts of my life.

No one has to read this or respond though...I mean I doubt you will but this post
is mostly for me I think. hahaha...maybe I should be writing this in a journal
or on something else but my mind doesn't really care where it's written as long
as it's down and out. But that doesn't make too much sense either.
So I guess...I feel like I have a lot to say, but then again...when I am asked about
things....my mind draws a blank and I remain silent.
Interesting...

Gives me ideas for my exam project. =P haha...kind of but not really though.
I already have a 'plan' but I don't know if it's going to work out or not.
Maybe it will...maybe it won't, I don't know but I hope it does?
Anyways...I'm going to stop annoying people on here with my random, meaningless
thoughts. Not to sound depressing...but they really are meaningless. haha...
I didn't really end up saying anything worth listening to.
I'm not too worried though...I know when people see long posts they don't want
to take the time to read them. A few of you do...occasionally. lol But for the
most part? I think no one really wants to take the time doing something they
aren't entirely sure they will get pleasure out of.

I mean, why read it if it doesn't effect you? or maybe it's affect? I never know
when to use which, but that's besides the point. People don't usually 'waste' time
on people they don't know or care about...they spend time with the people they do
care about...because that person is worth the time. So does that mean that most of
us don't think that we are worth anyone's time?

Why is it that a stranger isn't considered 'valuable' in the sense that we take the
time to listen to them? I mean...all of our close friends we have now were once
strangers. Were they not worth I time before then? Were they not valuable?
Or maybe...they were always valuable, and everyone is (I believe that)
but we don't find that value unless we search for it...or get to know the person.
So why is it that it's so hard to make new and real friends? People who actually
care about you...and love you for who you are. I know very, Very few people like that
and it's actually really sad to think about.

I could go on and on with this "Freewrite" but it doesn't matter.
If a tree falls down in a forest and no one hears it...did it make a sound?
I don't know. Logically...yes, it made a sound. But does it matter if it makes
a sound if no one hears the sound it's making? Does it really matter? No, it doesn't.
It doesn't matter at all.

FREEDOM!

FINALLY! Everything that caused me anger, depression, and mild insanity is over! All that's left is the final project and I've got a great idea for that so that shouldn't be too hard.

Great JOB!

So I wasn't here yesterday so this was the first presentation that I have seen and I was sooo pleased!  You guys looked awesome!  I couldn't believe how awesome it was, not that I don't have faith in you guys, but that I didn't know it would be so great, good job

Sorry for the not-so-perfectly-clean language in this one...

Maybe not Wikipedia or copy and paste...but I think I owe all my grades to Google.

Hey y'all check your school email. DON'T COMMENT ON HERE ABOUT IT. just check your school email, please & thank you (:

Cultural Roots

So I am super duper glad we had to go first.  Its like all that stress of senior year is finally gone.  I just need to do my exam project which I am not worried about at all. Also I never fully grasped APA.  Like I kinda understood it but idk. haha.  Anyway I look forward to watching other groups and how their research went.

Young, Wild, and Free

I am all of the above!
Well maybe not wild.
But definitely free!
A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
I am soooo glad I am done with that research project!

personal narrative

i am soooooo excited.
i got an a on my personal narrative!
whoooo hooooo!

Blog

I just now realized that this is our last week of blogging too. Sad face!
Graduation just hasn't hit me yet.

Done

Once all of this college english stuff is done I will feel like I have a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. This has been very stressful and I cant wait to be done. It is almost bittersweet though, the last big thing we will ever do in college english.

God has a sense of Humor

So that major thunderstorm last night took out my internet connection and I couldnt finish citing my paper or blog...so that is why I am doing it this morning. I was so freaked out I was practically pulling my hair out and finally called Stariha and begged for mercy lol. So now I have to turn it in and finish the dumb citing later. THANK YOU STARIHA!!!

So I'm kind of excited to do this bluest eye test tomorrow. I feel like I really enjoyed the themes of this book even though I kinda felt like they were a little hard to talk about.. The things that were brought up in this last series of books were ideas and concepts that we dont normally like to think about here in the OC, but in all honesty these things are all around us.. thats a little scary.

Heres to being done!

So after hours and hours of work and revision.. my paper is finally finished! :D yaaayyyy. I cannot tell you how excited that makes me. I honestly feel like a huge weight was just lifted off my head, SO nice. This paper made me realize that I am not entirely sure on how to write a research paper. Which in many ways scares me for next year because I still really dont feel as though I did write... lets hope so!

sleeeeep

so since stariha said i could turn my paper in tomorrow after class..i am going to bed.
i mean, i should finish it and then i won't have to worry about it.
but i've stayed up past 3 the last 3 nights in a row...
and i had to make myself not take a nap today...and my bed...and my pillows sound extremely comfy.
ahhh, i cannot wait! alright.
goodnight...sweet dreams everyone.
p.s..i'm really disappointed there wasn't a tornado tonight.
random fact about kendra: this is on my mental bucket list...but i really wanna be in a tornado..like inside of one ....and survive. i think it would be the coolest thing ever.

Just Kidding

Everyone keeps asking "Hey are you excited for graduation? Can you believe its only two weeks away? What are your summer plans? Ahhh we're almost out of here!" but it still seems really far away! I will get excited about it for a second and then it's like, just kidding it's not here yet!

personal narrative

Sorry Stariha, but I am a little miffed about the grade for my personal narrative, everything that you marked me down on makes perfect sense but I had no clue that that's what you wanted :( I guess by now it really doesn't matter, but I guess I'm just bummed that I didn't figure that out ahead of time.

STARIHA!!!!

o my goodness, so i have to tell you a story. So me, mark, mac and houston all went to the movies friday night, and we stopped at taco bell to pick up some food, and kendra just happened to be working, so we got to talking about what we were gonna do after the movie and then we said we were gonna go to a cemetery at 2 in the morning and then one of us said "hey we should pee on starihas door!" and i kinda wanted to do it, lol, but then we didnt! so you should be proud that i resisted that temptation! hahha

be nice....

please stariha, be nice when you grade my paper because i really tried to fix everything you said and i really worked hard on it and i dont want to get a C because i put a heck of alot of time and effort into this so just be nice when you grade it!

Untitled

Did I blog yet this week? I can't remember so I'm going to say I didn't and write this one. I'm working on my paper right now, hoping to get it done quick so that I can get some decent sleep tonight. And I need a shower, my feet are real dirty. And Jen broke my dock. Just broke it. I don't really know how to end my paper, my grandma suggested that I write "and that's all I know. The End." but I didn't think that Stahria would like that so I need to come up with something else. And I'm a little stressed about the presentation that my group is giving tomorrow. Not looking forward to it. Seems to me like I am procrastinating right now so I am going back to my paper. Good night y'all!

Here's hoping the power doesn't go out....

I was really hoping to be further than I am right now.


One last blog complaint.  For ever.


I HATE THIS PAPER!!!!!!!!!

THIS IS INHUMANE and I have Something To TELL YOU!! Yes, YOU!!!!

Okay...so I'm a LITTLE bit of a procrastinator but
NOT on this project!!! I've worked hard on researching
and all that jazz and I've still been fixing up my draft
for over 7 hours straight!!! (except for bathroom breaks,
but that's besides the point)
Ughh...this is draining! lol...no matter how hard I look
for background information I can't find specifics for my paper
though I've been trying all week. *sigh*
BTW...
I wrote that Poem for THIS CLASS specifically!!! So yeah...
if you don't read it, then you don't read it, but just know I had
you guys in mind when I did write it!!!

the only sad part about graduating is ill miss stariha, everyone else can go die. lol jk guys :) ill miss my college english class bc its the only class i actually feel im learning in and stuffff.

it also felt reallllly good to get that last test outta the way, omg like during the test i literally felt like i was typing faster with the excitement of everything finally being 'the last'.

welll today i turn everything in and im just so relieved that its all over , whether good or bad. its fine by me. hakunaa matata , so yeah i hope everyone got it done and stufff and yeah now we just have presentations and the exam project and weeee goooood.

question

is this paper due tomorrow during class,
or by the end of the day?

Stariha is a just teacher. People keep saying "don't stress about it no ones going to fail you on this paper" but I know that if I don't give it my all then she will. Because she's honest, So I'm working my butt off on it. It'd better be dang good. Also, I'm very curious about my narrative essay........that thing was like my baby.....

goodness me.

I am really looking forward to being done with this research paper and project... so much stress will just go away and I will truly be able to enjoy what is left of my senior year :)

Interview question?

So lets just say the person you interviewed has awful grammar...do you fix it on your paper, or actually quote him even though it's incorrect?

Graduation Poem! (Written by Tyesha Johnson)

Only once does one go through here
Leaving a mark behind,
But what the mark ends up to be
Is for you to decide.
Now I know you time is up here
And you're moving on,
But that doesn't mean we'll forget you
Just because you're gone.
Some of you are remembered as Nerds
And others as Class Clowns,
But these labels won't move with you
Unless you let them drag you around.
You can be who you decide
No matter what your classmates say,
YOu can be a famous singer
Or known for brightening peoples day.
You migh become an astronaut
Or maybe a Vet or Nurse,
Or maybe you are a Housewife
For better or for worse.
Maybe you want to dance
Or study Geology,
Maybe you're not quite sure
Just what you want to be.
One thing I am sure of
That I hope, for all, is true,
Is that no matter which way you go
You always believe in you.

If you stop believing
Things will begin to fall apart,
So continue to perservere, work hard
And it will take you far.
It's like you've stitched a quilt of opportunity
Collecting all thse years of dreams,
And instead of cherishing this quilt
You watch it ripping at the seams.
My advice would be to protect the quilt
And make sure it stays strong,
Because if you cherish your opportunities,
Success will lead you on.
I tell you this to encourage you
So one day you can proudly state:
I have worked hard through College
And am ready to graduate.
Today there are goodbyes said
Here, at Shelby, many memories are held,
But now it's Hello to new beginnings
So Good Luck Class of Twenty-Twelve!!!

Author: Tyesha Johnson <3

Mama Mia!

Oh booy!
I can't wait til this week is over!
I have the busiest weekend of my life starting tonight!
I can't wait for that feeling of relief.
Monday at 11:26 I will be free!

Learning from The Bluest Eye

Through reading The Bluest Eye I have learned more about myself. Some of the characters lacked control...just like me. I blame the way I am today on my past...which is true, but sometimes I use it as an excuse for my behavior. When Bri was talking about this in our group it really made me realize that about myself. When am I going to take responsibility for the way I am? When am I going to take control and change it? I'm glad we had that discussion. =) So I guess that'll be my new goal...to take control. Whether or not I will succeed...I don't know, but I will keep on fighting.

You know the feeling when everything is completed and you are so happy and everything is peaceful?

me either.

EXAM???

I have no clue what i should do for my exam project like at all! this suxs! I dont even know what I could do. any ideas? lol

WELCOME TO THE END!

I just cant believe that we are almost the end! I'm just glad that it is almost over cause high school has just been stressing me outso much thati cant hardly take anymore of this. I am so ready to get away for work and for college! This presentation is really scary though i will be honest its really freaking me out! but it should go smoothly or atleast i hope it does.

Blah blah blah.

So it really just hit me hard how close we are to being done with high school.  I'm super glad that we took our last test yesterday and I feel pretty confident on all of my essays.  I just really need to get this research paper done.  Gahh. Well my group presents Monday.  I have so much to do this weekend.  Track meet tonight, color guard tryouts at gvsu tomorrow, my research paper.  I cant wait for summer but I might just miss high school a little bit.

im tired

I've realized that I really don't get enough sleep... like ever. I really need to make that a goal in college, otherwise I would stay up late all the time and never be able to function.

Groups!

ok so laura, bre, sarah moon and landis, i really need your stuff for the prezi or else were all going to miserably fail on monday, so if you can get me that stuff it would be pretty swag....

Thank you honest people of the world

In my survey results suggest that only 13.3% of people polled were entirely honest with themselves. I don't really care to explain this right now and can't really use it in my paper but it's about the only thing my survey concluded.   In other words- I don't know how to include any of the actual data.

Last Quotes:

So I missed the quote circle so here are some of my favorite quotes:
TEWWG-
pg. 160 "Their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the park, but their eyes were watching God.
pg. 192 "Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh themselves. They got tuh go tuh God and they got tuh find out about livin' fuh themselves."

BLUEST EYE-
pg. 206 "When the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to li ve.
"She, however, stepped over into madness, a madness which protected her from us simply because it bored us in the end.
pg. 204 "Beating the air, a winged but grounded bird, intent on the blue void it could not reach."
pg. 173 "The most exquisite-looking ladies sat on toilets, and the most dreadful-looking had pure and holy yearning."
pg. 126 "She was older now, with no time for dreams or movies. It was time to put all the pieces together, make coherence where before there had been none."
p.119 "Pauline did not really care for clothes or makeup. She merely wanted other women to cast favorable glances her way."
pg. 117 "But even before the little brown speck, there must have been the conditions, the setting that would allows it to exisit in the first place."

THE COLOR PURPLE-
pg. 291 "Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples, Dear everything. Dear God."
pg. 240 "No, I said, it isn't the resentment, exactly. It really is indifference. Sometimes I feel our position is like that of flies on an elephant hide."
pg. 217 "I plan to make them by hand. Every stitch I saw will be a kiss."
pg. 294 "But I don't think us feel old at all. And us so happy. Matter of fact, I think this is the youngest us ever felt."

Final Test!

Sure I may not be entireley confident about today's test, but hey, it's the last one we'll ever have to take! YAY!

LOVED the BOOK

I really enjoyed their eyes were watching god. I don't know why it was so awesome but i just enjoyed the story a lot. I think the fact that it was just really sad and it really let you feel for Janie and even though as you read you knew she was messing it up you still pushed for her. The ending was so sad too. She had such a blind but yet true love for tea cake and for him to end like that it just makes you feel so bad for Janie.

SO MUCH TO DO!

i am starting to get a little scared to be honest. I am to the point where i cant sleep cause i am researching so much but I want to sleep so badly. I know school is more important so i should stay up to study and work on my research but i so desperately need my sleep. with my life getting so hectic and what not. with all these big things coming and track getting to the serious point i am just becoming so riled by everything. UGHHH!! i wish i could have skipped this last tri.

rubric?

is there one? because i realllyyyy would like to see one.

Library Position

Don't forget to go to the meeting Monday!!! If you still feel like the school is loosing out on an important role, we as students, need to stand up and have a voice in it!!! So yeah....just in case you forget...now you remember! lol As Mr. E would say: Come on. Let's make it happen folks.

I'm Going To Cry

garrett...?

hmm

i feel like if i would have read the end of the book before our lit circle today i would have had a lot more to talk about. but the entire time i was reading....well the towards the end of the book..i kept think of the pact by jodi picoult. well idk if any of you have read it, but if you have...this blog might make sense to you. so hopefully someone has so i'm not just rambling on like a dummy.
p.s last quote circle ever tomorrow! can i please be excited it's the last one?!

Priorities- Ahh!

With the AP test tomorrow and my research paper ever looming, its really hard to know what to do!

Should I sleep?

Can I sleep with all that over my head?

Before I sleep do I just study or do I work on my research paper?

I just don't know!

AP LANG PEEPS

GO HERE:

http://grammar.about.com/od/terms/a/APterms.htm

AP Lang Testers

Here is the link to the rhetorical terms: http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric2.htm
I would recommend picking 5-6 of these you feel you understand the BEST to use... and then brushing up on your three rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos). 
Also, here is a link to the AP Lang practice test: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/english_lang/samp.html?englang

I would suggest reviewing the handouts I gave you for synthesis essays and rhetorical analysis essays.
Good luck!

ahhh

idk what to do.
i'm really stressed.
idk why i do this to myself.
i'm really not sure if i can keep going...
isn't senior year supposed to be fun and stress-free?
....
well. oh well?

Well,

As much as I feel stressed, I feel relieved to knowing it's almost over...well until College that is.

The Last Hurdle

Whew... This has been one heck of a year, but I'm glad that it's coming to a close. Only one more book test and a research paper to finish revising. I'm not too worried about the group presentation because, let's face it, you only have to present for 10 minutes. Good luck everyone!

For Those of You Who Pray...

Some of you may pray to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Maybe some of you pray to Zeus, or Budha, the God of Mischief, Muntu, Bantu, Nommo, or whatever. Or maybe you pray to Nature like in The Color Purple. But whoever you pray to, if you pray, will you all pray that we, as a senior class get through this last two week? Will you pray that we overcome Senioritis? and that we do quality work for Coach Stariha, and all of our other classes? Thanks.

I don't think Stariha is gonna graduate. She's missed too many days of school. :)

Interview- AHAHAH!

I'm breathing slow and steady in an attempt not to freak out.

Does anyone else not have an interview yet?

It would really ease my anxiety if someone was in the same boat with me.

Thank you Stariha for this work day

I seriously am so very thankful about this work day! YAY! Your the best in my book right now!  Thank you!

two more looong weeks

yaaay only two more weeks :D too bad seeing other school's release their seniors earlier makes me wanna just do the same lol

GLOBAL IMPACT GROUP!

So no one sent me any of their stuff...I'm going to pretend it was because you didn't know the email and that now that I am giving you the email I'll get your stuff by tonight.

So. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send your stuff to me at jen.jl.barrett@gmail.com

thank you! 

Also, we need to figure out times to practice our presentation.

Question

Is the narrative extra credit or is it just extra buffer points that those who do it get? I don't want this to hurt my grade if I turn it in and don't do well on it.

New York and College English

alright so while in New York I kept relating things to our class. It was slightley sad to say the last. All of the smells made me think of PWB when they came back from Africa. Our (Laura, Maddie, Danni, and I) room was full of homework for Stariha and there was quite a funny joke that Madeline should share with you about her papper! Also for my acting class I am a New Yorker and I have to say hang a left and I thought it was such an odd phrase until our tour guide Bridgette used it like 20 times on our trip!! There was more relations but at this moment I can think of them all. Well besides the obvious consumerism that goes on over there!!!

Done

Now that 2nd draft is turned in i feel so much less stressed out, 12 more days.…

Make Sure Post

Alright so I have blogged this week but it was the beginning of the week so this is me double checking my steps. I was in New York these past days and it was so much fun!!! Me Danni and Laura got some purses from some pretty setch vendors selling them out of a box it was fun, we couldda took them! Jen and I also got lost in Central Park the first day we learned two things, the park is Huge and we misjudged that, and older women with small dogs are locals anyone else ... your not sure. We all saw the Lion King on Broadway, it was my first play of that caliber and it was AMAZING!!! So yes all in all a good trip besides the fact that i didnt get much done!

Today

For mothers day my family went on a picnic and I got SOOO BURNED! My shoulders feel raw! Oh well, happens to the best of us I guess. I went fishing when we were hanging out and got a snag so I went in the river to get it and the water was very deceptively deep. Haha I ended up swimming. Creek water is so stinkin cold it is unreal! I was my sister's source of amusement for the whole rest of the afternoon. I can feel the family love. One sad thing is my brother leaves to start work in Montana tomorrow so I don't know the next time I will see him. I hate goodbyes.

narrative

I am writing my narrative about the beach and so tonight I went down to the lake and worked on it. It is incredible how much depth you can gather from being in story when you write!

So I took the AP lit test and I really didnt think that I did as bad as I was expecting, haha. Anyways, I am kinda getting really nervous for lang next week. Is there anyway we could get like a study group going sometime this week before wednesday?

graduation

Graduation, graduation, graduation. So Ive been kinda thinking a lot about how these next few weeks are the last times that I am going to be a student here at shelby high school. How crazy is it that in less the month, we all will be graduated. I have decided that this is such a bitter sweet feeling. I am so thankful to have grown up in such an amazing place, and Im going to miss some of the people here like crazy, but I continue to think how amazing it is going to be to move on with our lives. Sooner rather than later we are going to be adults. This new chapter is going to be scary as crap, but man, Im so excited.

so i have to say i really dislike mothers day as a holiday i really think its a bunch of crap and that you should appreciate your mom either way and for me i don't really appreciate her and i know thats kinda bad, i mean i love her an all but she's really difficult to live with . and so my mothers day appreciation was holding back from flipping out on her all day for what she does to me. so yeah sorry to make this all personal. I'm just kinda sitting here 'like a plant' because i know if i talk ill say bad things.

so im feeling like a major slacker because I'm pretty sure that everyone did the narrative essay and i however decided to do no such thing. i figure why do more work then i have to when i can barely get the work assigned done , so yea I'm just kinda feel in guilty about it tonight but good luck to all those people who did write it,

so i didn't do so bad on my color purple choice quiz so yippee for me now just the test, except to be honest I'm behind in reading too . ohh man what am i doing with my life.

research papers are my least favorite thing ever, i just simply can not find the motivation in me to want to do it. i really need to stop all this senioritis crap but i guess its cause i really only have like two weeks left, and i feel like all my blog post are centered around this but really i never really know what else to talk about on here so i just do random thoughts and it just so happens they always come back to my desperation for graduating already, i just can't deal with this anymore. i give up with life.

Blogging

So I have decided that I really like this whole blogging thing. A lot of my extended family was up this weekend for Brittany's bridal shower, and they kept talking about these different blogs that they have or are following like cooking blogs, blogs about their children, faith blogs etc. and I am really happy that Ms. Stariha came up with the idea that we should blog. Not only is it an awesome form of extra credit :D But it really is the best way for us all to communicate in a way that everyone can be involved...

ksjfdkfj :]

less than three weeks left:D

Facebook Vow

So if you read my previous post,
I said I wasn't going to get on facebook while I was writing my paper.
Weeeeelllll I did.
And as I was on Tyesha posted a status about how she would rather be writing a creative story or doing something else than writing our papers.
And I commented and was like yeah me too!
And then we concluded that we should probably be writing it rather than being on facebook.
So then we made a vow to stay off facebook the rest of the night and we were going to check each others profiles the next day to make sure we didn't post anything.
And it worked.
I stayed off facebook and saved my self some time writing my paper.
So thank you Tyesha! :D

personal narrative

So i have a whole bunch of really good ideas for this personal narrative and have started about 4 different drafts.... I really just need to decide on one of them and go with it... or it will just never get done. lol

TEWWG is everywhere!

So i was trying to tell my small group a story the other day but they wouldnt let me talk and kept yelling at me. Well it was mostly just Jen who thinks she can tell me what to do but that obviously wont happen( sorry jen :P) but annnnyyyywwayyy I am going to tell my sorry now! So i was in Golden Corral for lunch with my mother and little sister and there were and large aboundance of umm...african americans also in the restraunt. My point being that i saw a older lady with a head wrap thing on her head and i instantly thought of Janie when she had to work in the store. So thats my story!

Great book

     I am really loving "Their Eyes Were Watching God". I know some of you may think im cheating cause im not really reading the book but i am following it and its been alot more interesting when i actually get whats happening! Like it's a super awesome story. Im glad i got the book on my Ipod cause without it i'd be in big trouble. Plus i'm not as scared of the tests anymore and that makes me less stressed so it's just great!

soo..

so last night. i knew i had to stay up and and at least make a realllyyyy good outline for my paper. i'm a slacker i know. but i'll get it done. don't worry about it.
anyway, i got home from work at about 11. and i was like how in the world am i gonna stay up?
and then i remembered i bought the movie when a stranger calls.
and i knew that if i turned that on...i would be scared out of my mind and i wouldn't be able to sleep.
so i turned on the movie, cracked open a nos, and i think i got more accomplished last night than i have in the past month?
yay! i think this will be happening every night until we graduate.
:D

research paper...

I am such a lazy bum!! I still only have about 3 and a half pages on my research paper and really need to get crackin so that I can have it set. I know that the sooner I get it done, the less stress I will have buuuut I still am having a hard time finding the stinking TIME to do it. I can do this... oh boy.

Defeat =( ...

Okay...I must admit that I need help with this Project. I attempt and attempt to find more information but I can't seem to find the right stuff. Even when I do find stuff...it doesn't seem like it's enough to make my paper. =( I can't find someone to interview (I'll keep looking) and my surveys are just yeah...we're not going to talk about those. *sigh* I feel like no matter how hard I try on this project... I'm destined to fail. =( Okay...maybe not fail, Fail...but pretty close to it. =/ Seeing as we are doing this in a group, I can't let them down because that is TOTALLY unfair and just yeah... So I need to get "on the ball" I guess, and sign up for conference time!!! -Discouraged Tyesha =/ (But I'll keep on working!!! I just need help focusing my information...just saying) =P Didn't want to sound like a total downer. Oh and my cat is laying on my lap and my arm so it makes it kind of hard to type. =) ha ha...she's a weird one. lol

How many pages is our paper supposed to be again? I know Stariha's site says 5-7 but I feel like it got changed and I don't remember to how many.

I love small Groups!

I'm sorry to everyone that wasn't in class today, but it was sooo nice to have that few of people! We were so productive, we had realy good discussions and it was really fun!

Oh, but we miss you all still haha

Class Today

I really liked class today with all of the New York people gone.
No offense guys! haha
It was small and quiet.
And I really liked our discussion on silence.
It made me think a lot.
I mean not that I don't normally do that haha.
But my mind got all twisted around.
And I'm excited tomorrow for our quote circle.
We get to be outside and for once we'll make it through everyone and still have time for more discussion.

On another note...
I'm really stressing out about this research paper.
I JUST DON'T WANT TO DO IT!
Ugh.
I asked my mom and sister if they could like go somewhere tonight or sit upstairs and read or something while I work on my paper tonight haha.
I felt kind of mean but our computer is in the kitchen and they're always in and out and making dinner and clanking dishes and I can never concentrate.
So tonight = no facebook, tv, ipod, e-mail, or distractions from my family.
Strictly research paper.
I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Silence

I loved today's discussion with all the poems it's lovely. I just wished we had more group time to figure out what to begin discussing tomorrow...oh well.

5:30 today group, don't forget?

Also, I felt bad that most (not all) of what we talked about silence was in the bad light, but silence is a thing of beauty too. That and I thought I'd point out there is a difference in it being silent and being shy. Last thing, I agree that we can never truly achieve silence because you can't really silence those thoughts in your head.

...

Wow this next due date for the research paper just creeped up on me:/ Not to mention my group who wants everything by Saturday...thanks Jen!:p lol

Workin

So I was on a roll with my paper, getting a bunch of good extra research done and moving along quite nicely and then my mom decides that since she cant get online with the desktop that she needed the laptop I was using. Completely threw me off my roll. So that's done for the night and I am going to bed.

...

i hate titles a lot.
but anyway...i am at home today.
and i just took a four hour nap...not what i planned on doing.
but i feel really good now. so i'm working on all the school work that needs to get done.
kids need personal days too, i think?
but anyway...i hope my group can let me know what they discussed today.?
i would appreciate it.

AP Lit Exam: Terms to know!!

Abstract	Complex, discusses intangible qualities like good and evil, seldom uses examples to support its points.
Academic	Dry and rhetorical writing; sucking all the life out of its subject with analysis.
Accent	In poetry, the stressed portion of a word.
Aesthetic	Appealing to the senses; a coherent sense of taste.
Allegory	A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself.
Alliteration	The repetition of initial consonant sounds.
Allusion	A reference to another work or famous figure.
Anachronism	"Misplaced in time." An aspect of a story that doesn't belong in its supposed time setting.
Analogy	A comparison, usually involving two or more symbolic parts, employed to clarify an action or a relationship.
Anecdote	A Short Narrative
Antecedent	The word, phrase, or clause that determines what a pronoun refers to.
Anthropomorphism	When inanimate objects are given human characteristics. Often confused with personification.
Anticlimax	Occurs when an action produces far smaller results than one had been led to expect.
Antihero	A protagonist who is markedly unheroic: morally weak, cowardly, dishonest, or any number of other unsavory qualities.
Aphorism	A short and usually witty saying.
Apostrophe	A figure of speech wherein the speaker talks directly to something that is nonhuman.
Archaism	The use of deliberately old-fashioned language.
Aside	A speech (usually just a short comment) made by an actor to the audience, as though momentarily stepping outside of the action on stage.
Aspect	A trait or characteristic
Assonance	The repeated use of vowel sounds: "Old king Cole was a merry old soul."
Atmosphere	The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene
Ballad	A long, narrative poem, usually in meter and rhyme. Typically has a naive folksy quality.
Bathos	Writing strains for grandeur it can't support and tries too hard to be a tear jerker.
Pathos	Writing evokes feelings of dignified pity and sympathy.
Black humor	The use of disturbing themes in comedy.
Bombast	Pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language.
Burlesque	Broad parody, one that takes a style or form and exaggerates it into ridiculousness.
Cacophony	In poetry, using deliberately harsh, awkward sounds.
Cadence	The beat or rhythm or poetry in a general sense.
Canto	The name for a section division in a long work of poetry.
Caricature	A portrait (verbal or otherwise) that exaggerates a facet of personality.
Catharsis	Drawn from Aristotle's writings on tragedy. Refers to the "cleansing" of emotion an audience member experiences during a play
Chorus	In Greek drama, the group of citizens who stand outside the main action on stage and comment on it.
Classic	Typical, or an accepted masterpiece.
Coinage (neologism)	A new word, usually one invented on the spot.
Colloquialism	A word or phrase used in everyday conversational English that isn't a part of accepted "school-book" English.
Complex (Dense)	Suggesting that there is more than one possibility in the meaning of words; subtleties and variations; multiple layers of interpretation; meaning both explicit and implicit
Conceit (Controlling Image)	A startling or unusual metaphor, or to a metaphor developed and expanded upon several lines.
Denotation	A word's literal meaning.
Connotation	Everything other than the literal meaning that a word suggests or implies.
Consonance	The repetition of consonant sounds within words (rather than at their beginnings)
Couplet	A pair of lines that end in rhyme
Decorum	A character's speech must be styled according to her social station, and in accordance to the situation.
Diction	The words an author chooses to use.
Syntax	The ordering and structuring of words.
Dirge	A song for the dead. Its tone is typically slow, heavy, depressed, and melancholy
Dissonance	Refers to the grating of incompatible sounds.
Doggerel	Crude, simplistic verse, often in sing-song rhyme, like limericks.
Dramatic Irony	When the audience knows something that the characters in the drama do not
Dramatic Monologue	When a single speaker in literature says something to a silent audience.
Elegy	A type of poem that meditates on death or mortality in a serious, thoughtful manner.
Elements	Basic techniques of each genre of literature
Enjambment	The continuation of a syntactic unit from one line or couplet of a poem to the next with no pause.
Epic	A very long narrative poem on a serious theme in a dignified style; typically deal with glorious or profound subject matter.
Epitaph	Lines that commemorate the dead at their burial place.
Euphemism	A word or phrase that takes the place of a harsh, unpleasant, or impolite reality.
Euphony	When sounds blend harmoniously.
Explicit	To say or write something directly and clearly.
Farce	Extremely broad humor; in earlier times, a funny play or a comedy.
Feminine rhyme	Lines rhymed by their final two syllables. Properly, the penultimate syllables are stressed and the final syllables are unstressed.
Foil	A secondary character whose purpose is to highlight the characteristics of a main character, usually by contrast.
Foot	The basic rhythmic unit of a line of poetry, formed by a combination of two or three syllables, either stressed or unstressed.
Foreshadowing	An event of statement in a narrative that in miniature suggests a larger event that comes later.
Free verse	poetry written without a regular rhyme scheme or metrical pattern
Genre	A sub-category of literature.
Gothic	A sensibility that includes such features as dark, gloomy castles and weird screams from the attic each night.
Hubris	The excessive pride or ambition that leads to the main character's downfall
Hyperbole	Exaggeration or deliberate overstatement.
Implicit	To say or write something that suggests and implies but never says it directly or clearly.
In media res	Latin for "in the midst of things," i.e. beginning an epic poem in the middle of the action.
Interior Monologue	Refers to writing that records the mental talking that goes on inside a character's head; tends to be coherent.
Inversion	Switching the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase.
Irony	A statement that means the opposite of what it seems to mean; uses an undertow of meaning, sliding against the literal a la Jane Austen.
Lament	A poem of sadness or grief over the death of a loved one or over some other intense loss.
Lampoon	A satire.
Loose sentence	A sentence that is complete before its end: Jack loved Barbara despite her irritating snorting laugh.
Periodic Sentence	A sentence that is not grammatically complete until it has reached it s final phrase: Despite Barbara's irritation at Jack, she loved him.
Lyric	A type of poetry that explores the poet's personal interpretation of and feelings about the world.
Masculine rhyme	A rhyme ending on the final stressed syllable (regular old rhyme)
Meaning	What makes sense, what's important.
Melodrama	A form of cheesy theater in which the hero is very, very good, the villain mean and rotten, and the heroine oh-so-pure.
Metaphor	A comparison or analogy that states one thing IS another.
Simile	A comparison or analogy that typically uses like or as.
Metonymy	A word that is used to stand for something else that it has attributes of or is associated with.
Nemesis	The protagonist's arch enemy or supreme and persistent difficulty.
Objectivity	Treatment of subject matter in an impersonal manner or from an outside view.
Subjectivity	A treatment of subject matter that uses the interior or personal view of a single observer and is typically colored with that observer's emotional responses.
Onomatopoeia	Words that sound like what they mean
Opposition	A pairing of images whereby each becomes more striking and informative because it's placed in contrast to the other one.
Oxymoron	A phrase composed of opposites; a contradiction.
Parable	A story that instructs.
Paradox	A situation or statement that seems to contradict itself, but on closer inspection, does not.
Parallelism	Repeated syntactical similarities used for effect.
Paraphrase	To restate phrases and sentences in your own words.
Parenthetical phrase	A phrase set off by commas that interrupts the flow of a sentence with some commentary or added detail.
Parody	The work that results when a specific work is exaggerated to ridiculousness.
Pastoral	A poem set in tranquil nature or even more specifically, one about shepherds.
Persona	The narrator in a non first-person novel.
Personification	When an inanimate object takes on human shape.
Plaint	A poem or speech expressing sorrow.
Point of View	The perspective from which the action of a novel is presented.
Omniscient	A third person narrator who sees into each character's mind and understands all the action going on.
Limited Omniscient	A Third person narrator who generally reports only what one character sees, and who only reports the thoughts of that one privileged character.
Objective	A thrid person narrator who only reports on what would be visible to a camera. Does not know what the character is thinking unless the character speaks it.
First person	A narrator who is a character in the story and tells the tale from his or her point of view.
Stream of Consciousness	Author places the reader inside the main character's head and makes the reader privy to all of the character's thoughts as they scroll through her consciousness.
Prelude	An introductory poem to a longer work of verse
Protagonist	The main character of a novel or play
Pun	The usually humorous use of a word in such a way to suggest two or more meanings
Refrain	A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.
Requiem	A song of prayer for the dead.
Rhapsody	An intensely passionate verse or section of verse, usually of love or praise.
Rhetorical question	A question that suggests an answer.
Satire	Attempts to improve things by pointing out people's mistakes in the hope that once exposed, such behavior will become less common.
Soliloquy	A speech spoken by a character alone on stage, meant to convey the impression that the audience is listening to the character's thoughts.
Stanza	A group of lines roughly analogous in function in verse to the paragraphs function in prose.
Stock characters	Standard or cliched character types.
Subjunctive Mood	A grammatical situation involving the words "if" and "were," setting up a hypothetical situation.
Suggest	To imply, infer, indicate.
Summary	A simple retelling of what you've just read.
Suspension of disbelief	The demand made of a theater audience to accept the limitations of staging and supply the details with their imagination.
Symbolism	A device in literature where an object represents an idea.
Technique	The methods and tools of the author.
Theme	The main idea of the overall work; the central idea.
Thesis	The main position of an argument. The central contention that will be supported.
Tragic flaw	In a tragedy, this is the weakness of a character in an otherwise good (or even great) individual that ultimately leads to his demise.
Travesty	A grotesque parody
Truism	A way-too obvious truth
Unreliable narrator	When the first person narrator is crazy, a liar, very young, or for some reason not entirely credible
Utopia	An idealized place. Imaginary communities in which people are able to live in happiness, prosperity, and peace.
Zeugma	The use of a word to modify two or more words, but used for different meanings. He closed the door and his heart on his lost love.
Ode	A poem in praise of something divine or noble
Iamb	A poetic foot -- light, heavy
Trochee	A poetic foot -- heavy, light
Spondee	A poetic foot -- heavy, heavy
Pyrrhie	A poetic foot -- light, light
Anapest	A poetic foot -- light, light, heavy
Ambibranch	A poetic foot -- light, heavy, light
Dactyl	A poetic foot -- heavy, light, light
Imperfect	A poetic foot -- single light or single heavy
Pentameter	A poetic line with five feet.
Tetrameter	A poetic line with four feet
Trimeter	A poetic line with three feet
Blank Verse	unrhymed iambic pentameter.