Monday, 22 April 2013

I write to...

I write to remember significant events that happend in my past. writing for me is a way to reflect on things that i have done or achieved in my life. Without writing i am afraid that some of those significant events may be forgotten, but when i write something down i have it forever so that i can go back in time and enjoy it over and over again. I believe that writing to remember is a good way relieve stress because it takes you to a place that your are normally not able to go.

Thursday, 18 April 2013

True Meaning of Education

          For me the true meaning of education is much more than what you learn in the class. True education is about teaching kids to be well rounded citizens in society. Our education systems should be teaching kids to have character, so they can stand up for what they believe in, and know the difference between right and rong.

Martin Luther King jr. said it best "intelligence plus character, that is the true meaning of education."

Blogging

         For the past week my english class has been experimenting with blogging. I have to tell you that it is very different from what I thought it was going to be like. Before we started this project, in my head blogging was a way for "girls" could make their journals public. What I realized was that I was very wrong. Blogging is a way to express your opinion on major topics in our world today. It is a way to learn new things and adapt new opinions by reading others blogs. The best part about blogging is if you read a blog that resonates with you, you can acknowledge the writer of that blog by commenting on his blog. Overall, blogging is a very useful tool. I think that every class should blog because it really is beneficial.

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9729383/Catcher-in-the-Rye-dropped-from-US-school-curriculum.html



Reply to Article

            After reading this article I was appalled. To think that books would be taken out of school was shocking. Sure some of the things we read in English I don’t enjoy as others, such as Shakespeare. But even the text I don’t like, I still learn new things about myself and enjoy going through the process I just don’t enjoy the storyline. Also I cant imagine when I am older that my kids not reading the books that I read. When I read a book in class I go home and talk to my sister, my mom or even my dad about it because I know that they read it when they were in school and can help me or give me tips. the stories that are read in English class help me bond with my family and I hope the same thing happens with my kids. If novels are taken away then I loose that opportunity and I would be devastated. I also don’t think that informational text could teach kids important life lessons that novels can. Novels teach me things about myself that nobody else can, they teach about how I feel in certain situations and what I believe in, informational text cant do that. The only thing informational texted would do is make kids good test writers. That’s why I believe that Novels need to say and be apart of schools curriculum.

The Significance of English Class

Significant Books 


To Kill a Mocking Bird
Catcher in the Rye
Mice and Men
The Reader
Macbeth
Romeo and Juliet
 The Road

To kill a Mocking Bird

            My experience when reading this book is that it takes you inside of the book it is very easy to feel like you are back at this time, at the trial with Atticus even though the setting takes place so long ago.

            When I read this book with my grade 9 English class I learned a lot about right and wrong that is why I really enjoyed this book it dealt with morals. For a young teen this is a book that can help you make the right decisions; "it can help you take the path less traveled." 

What is the Value?

            The value of being exposed to English books and English in general is very important. The reason why it is so important is because books teach us things that nobody can teach. It teaches us about ourselves, how we feel in certain situations and how we think. Books help us find our deeper meaning and that is why books have significant value. 

Why is it a Requirement?

            English is the only course that is a requirement all throughout high school because it is the only course that is a necessity throughout out your entire life. You can pass by without math and science but if you cant read or write, you cant do anything, you won't be successful. Pardon my language but you are screwed you will be unable to socialize with people, work, basically you are unable to live your life without learning English in school it is a necessity for life.
           
Senses stimulation

            Books stimulate senses. Books help to create your imagination, without imagination life would be boring. The way that Books stimulate you imagination is by the description the author gives during there novel. For example Cormac McCarthy's opening page of his famous novel "The Road." The opening page stimulates your imagination making you picture what post Apocalypse would look like for any survivors.

Wednesday, 10 April 2013

Thank You Harper Lee


Dear
Harper Lee,

            When I met you I was going through a tough time I had just left my home in Manitoba. I left all my friends, all my family, to go to school in Ontario. Your book “to Kill a Mockingbird” was the book chosen to be read in my grade nine English class and that is why this makes it hard for me to say goodbye. Your book was what got me through that tough time being 14 having no friends in a strange place, but because of your book I connected with people that I had never met before just talking about and discussing your book trying to understand. A couple of the connections I made are going to last a lifetime like the connection I made with one of my closet friends Sidney Hutton. It has been four years since I first read your book I have read probably twenty other books since then but your book is the only book that means more to me than just words on a paper, I still have the same novel I annotated and read in grade nine sitting on my nightstand beside my bed and still from time to time read parts that are special, parts where adversity is overcome because that is what I overcame in grade nine. For example when Atticus decides and tells everybody that he is going to represent Tom Robinson. If I could choose you and your book would be apart of my life forever but its not, my connection to you makes this difficult but this is that last time you are able to be apart of my life so I just wanted to say goodbye, you got me through a time I didn’t think I would get through.
Sincerely,
 B. Mezz