Katherine's English 1 Blog

Grace - Writing Strengths Tucker - Strengths and Weaknesses

                My strengths as a writer are organization and word choice. I have learned how to allow a thesis to lead my paper and give my paper its general order. This is significantly allowed my writing to be much more organized. My word choice has also been bettered. I have learned how to find meaningful words that help my writing be as specific as possible.                 I still need to work on voice. Sometimes, I do not use the right kind of writing styles to fit what my audience likes. For example, I struggle with when to use informal and formal styles. All of these areas are important because, as I continue to develop my writing knowledge, they will help me answer my rhetorical situations better. They will help me answer questions and prompts, and they will help me get my point across fluently and with ease.

               I really enjoyed writing the personal narrative, research paper, and blog posts. I was most successful at the personal narrative because I am really good at writing details. The research paper went well because I was very passionate on the topic I wrote about. I tried to learn everything I could on my topic and it showed in my paper. Finally, the blog posts were a great way for me to reflect on what I have done each week in English class. It was a short, interactive way for me to express new ideas on a novel I was reading or how my quarter went.                I struggled with the literary analysis, poems, and free writing. I have found that I have trouble explaining clearly significant things in books. I need to work on expressing my ideas on significance more clearly and concisely. Secondly, I am not the most creative person so poems did not go fantastic. I like to write exactly what I am t...

Zoe - Purple Hibiscus Tucker - Home in Danger

               My favorite childhood show was Wizards of Waverly Place . I could sit and watch that show for hours. When I look back on the time I spent watching that show, it taught me a lot about using my imagination and being creative. While I watched, I would start imagining what I would be like as a wizard. This show brought out my creative side as a kid.                My favorite character on the show was Max Rousseau because he was very funny. He was a very silly character who often made me laugh hysterically. I also loved Alex Rousseau because she didn't really care about rules. She would do things her own way. This kind of gave me an independent and stubborn mindset that I still have today.

               In Purple Hibiscus  by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, it seems as if Kambili is being changed by her time with Aunt Ifeoma. For example, Kambili starts laughing when with her cousins. She also doesn't care as much about Papa Nnukwu staying at their house. She still notices that it is wrong, but doesn't do anything about it. She even starts to love Papa Nnukwu, like when she tried to put the pieces back together of his painting after her father ripped it up.                I have also noticed that Jaja is changing. He starts to take an interest in Aunt Ifeoma's garden and purple hibiscuses. Jaja and Kambili don't follow their schedules as strictly. Jaja starts to assimilate to his cousins' lives. He does everything with them. Once he gets back home with his father, he asks for privacy to go back to his room. This was not allowed in his father's house and Jaja knew it, but he still asked.

Political Article-Death Penalty - Zoe Marceaux Gun Control - Tucker

A Day of Women's Inaction  by Ashley Pratte                In A Day of Women's Inaction , Ashley Pratte explains to the reader that women's marches and "Day Without A Woman" were not useful manners of fighting for women's rights. She argues that women should, instead, donate and volunteer at organizations that help women. Also, she says women need to empower one another and not punish and shame women who think differently. Women should earn respect and recognition by going to work and working hard, not taking the day off to show men they cannot do anything without women.                I agree with the fact that women need to start empowering women more and respecting one another. One thing I disagree with is that marches and protests do not do anything for women's rights. I believe that they have a major impact on whether people take the movement seriously or not. Protests and marches allow for peop...

Gregory - Purple Hibiscus Response Julia - Free Post=Poem

I have really been enjoying my ninth grade year. Actually, I'm kind of sad that it's almost over. Of course, I'm excited about summer and tenth grade, but it feels like I just started ninth grade a few days ago. Throughout the ninth grade year, I have been able to improve a lot. For example, my essay writing has gotten a lot better from where it was at the beginning of the year. I use more vivid words, think about my word choice more, and can explain my ideas in a clearer way. I have also improved my presentation skills. I used to get very nervous about presenting in front of my classes. Once, I started presenting every few weeks in my AP Spanish class, that fear went away. I always think that if I can present for ten minutes in Spanish, I can present anything in English. So, I have been able to take skills I have learned in one class, and apply to the majority of my classes, which has been so helpful this year.

In Purple Hibiscus I have noticed that there are a lot of gender issues. Not only does Papa beat Mama, but he also does not invest as much into Kambili's education because she is a female. The society also expects women to look away at certain mmuo  because some are too scary or not appropriate subjects for women to look at. Kambili and her family also hold the belief that it is sinful for women to wear pants or shorts. All of these suggest Kambili's society and her family to be sexist. I've also noticed that Kambili's family is against tradition. They are serious, too. For example, Kambili's father hates when people speak Igbo. Although, Igbo is their native language. Papa also can't stand his father because he is a traditionalist. An instance where Kambili's family was very serious was when she dreamed she was laughing, but she didn't know what her laugh sounded like (88). This shows that Kambili never really laughed.

Grace - You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home - Hannah Montana Tucker - Poetry

I picked "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus because it was one of my favorite songs as a kid. In this song, it uses anaphora, sibilance, and assonance to convey its meaning of never giving up and continuing to try.  Keep on moving Keep climbing Keep the faith baby It's all about It's all about The climb Keep the faith Keep your faith Anaphora is used here by repeating the words keep and the word phrase it's all about. This emphasizes to continue to try and never give up. The word phrase, it's all about, also allows listeners to understand that the end goal isn't always the most important. Really, she wants to convey that the journey is what's the most important. There' s a voi c e in s ide my head s aying S ometime s I'm gonna have to lo s e Sibilance is used here to soften the effect of the song. It calms the audience by using the 's' sounds. She wants to convey that the audience should not worry about the end goal, but relax t...

Ocean that flows Clear skies above Flowers don't grow This place, I love. Cool sea salt wind Clear, blue water Sun's never dimmed How I wonder. The beach, the place I love to stay. Strategies: End Rhyme, Sibilance, Euphony

Gregory - LAUNCH: Effective Risk Taking Katie - My Weekend

               I started my weekend by staying after school on Friday and watching the boys Varsity playoff game. They played Newman and won! On Saturday, I went to National History Day in Port Allen. Julia, Anna Claire, Katie, Adam, and Grace were there with me. I won third place in my category, meaning that I get to go to the state competition in New Orleans.               On Sunday, I woke up and immediatly started working on homwork because I hadn't done much on Saturday. I worked on the multitude of projects and studied for the tests I had for the coming week. Later, I went to a friend's house later, and we played basketball and watched Law and Order. I came home a few hours later and finished up all my homework and studied for the ACT. 

                One of my favorite Launch Day presentations was Caroline Crawford's. I loved how throughout her presentation she was able to keep the audience's attention through her humor. I also loved how she compared the marketing of store-bought items to how we can all succeed in life and "market" ourselves. I liked how she outlined all of the steps on how to succeed. It was a really easy presentation to follow.                  Elliot Kellam's presentation on water was really interesting. I liked how he gave us the background of why the sound of water calms and relaxes us. I also like how he used his own experience as a swimmer to explain his love of water. He believed water was a great place to meditate and take a break from the hectic world.

Gregory - Research Update Tucker - Columbus

              So far, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian  is a pretty easy read. The vocabulary in it is not too complicated nor is its plot. The plot is pretty straightforward, so it's not hard to follow. There is a funny kind of language that is used throughout the book. Junior makes jokes that some teenagers would find funny.               The book discusses many important topics. So far, the racism Junior experiences in his new school is pretty prevalent. For example, he is called names and people scream racial slurs at him. This book gives an insight into what it is like for a teenage boy to be discriminated against and his experience.

               My topic is about Queen Elizabeth I and my research question is about how Elizabeth I navigates her reign as a female monarch in a male-dominated world. It's interesting because Elizabeth is one of the most famous female monarchs of England, and this is because many people think that female monarchs were almost non-existent during the Middle Ages. This is simply not the case; there were many female successors to kings, and there were many female regents in various countries. I started wondering why Elizabeth really was so famous. Was it just because she was a woman, or was it the ways she handled her power?                In my research project, I chose to explore these four categories: the Virgin Queen, the religious conflict in England, Elizabeth's treatment, and her strategies as queen. The issue of Elizabeth I is important because she was so much more than one of the first female monarch...