Coming of Age Response #2 (Finished!)

      Coming of Age experiences are expressed through many stories.  Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen is just one of them.  The main character, Ruby went through many different conflicts during her coming of age.  Through this character, I realized that family is a very big and important aspect during this time. Family can influence your coming of age in positive or negative ways, as it did for Ruby. Not only did family affect Ruby's coming of age, but it also affected Lori Natelli's coming of age as I learned through her interview.

      Ruby's coming of age experience was not too good.  This was mainly because of her family. Her mom left her without any notice when she was only 17.  She lived by herself for a few months, but soon everything started to fall apart. Someone discovered that she had no guardian at home with her and then she had to go and live with her sister and brother-in-law that she hadn't seen for years. Ruby did not like it at all.  She was still growing up and it affected her and her way of life.  She thought that it affected her negatively and not think about the good things about it. She had to go to a new school and live in a new house and she had to be with people, new people.  She also couldn't be as independent as she was, she liked being independent.  To her, this affected her coming of age experience negatively because she tried to run away and had to be with people that she didn't really want to be with.  She was no longer the leader of her own life, her sister was. That same sister that had a not so good relationship with Ruby. You can say that this affected her negatively because she had to move on, but in the same respect you are able to say that this affected her positively because she had to move on and start over.  She had some people who cared for her, she had money, shelter, and she started to meet new people and become a new, more open and grateful person.  As you can see, having a family and not having family affected Ruby's coming of age and changed her and gave her experiences to learn from.

      Just like Ruby's life was affected by family so was my interviewee's life, Lori Natelli.  Her coming of age was affected positively and negatively, and affected who is she today, which is what coming of age does.  Throughout the time when my mom was growing up, her mom was a single parent. Her family just consisted of her, her mom, and her brother. This family of hers affected her life because she had to "lose a bit of time" on growing up.  She had to be mature pretty early and take on a lot of responsibility to help her mom and keep the family in place. This is similar to Ruby because Ruby matured very early because when she did live with her mom, her mom was immature and didn't do much for Ruby. They both also had to do things they didn't want to do, Ruby changing her life and moving in with people she didn't want to move in with, and my mom having t help her brother a lot and work at a very young age.  But with both of these girls, their coming of age experiences helped them to become strong, mature and responsible young women. 

      Family is just one of the things that affect coming of age.  But it can change who you are, what you can and can't do and who you're going to be. But by having a more difficult or experienced coming of age, it can make you a better person in the long run. In Lock and Key, the fact that the only family that Ruby had left her, she had to change her lifestyle.  And due to the fact that Lori Natelli had a smaller family that expected, she had to take up a lot of responsibility and change. Coming of age experiences can either make or break you, but I've learned that many things can influence it and have a lasting effect. 

Coming of Age Novel: Halfway

      Internal conflicts can affect a person as much as an external conflict, maybe more, even.  In Lock and Key, by Sarah Dessen, Ruby is facing internal and external conflicts.  They are both affecting her.  Her external conflict is that her mom left her an dinternal conflict is the feeling of being lost and lonely and having no one there for her. 

      Ruby was living alone with her mom for a nice amount of years after er older sister moved away to college and basically never spoke to them again.  He rmother was self absorbed and distant and didn't care much for her daughter, but Ruby was fine with it and was to blind to see that the way that she wa slicing was not right.  We are introduced to the book where Ruby says she was living alone for four months after her mom left her.  She was living in a filthy place with no money and barely any power or water in the house.  This affected her because she basically has to start her life over, which she does not want to do.  She has to move in with the sister that left her at a younger age and live in a new home and go to a new school. 

      External conflicts?  They hurt.  But you know what can hurt even more?  Internal conflicts.  The internal conflict that Ruby is dealing wiht is relationships.  She's lonely.  She's alone in a new school but her mom is gone.  She doesn't have her there anymore.  Her sister is there but not really present.  She's not someone that Ruby can talk to.   The only person that is actually making an effort is her brother in law, but she doesn't know him like that.  Ruby is lost in a world of used to be's and what's going to be.  Ruby can let herself out to anyone.  It's like she's drowning but no one is there to save her.  This affects her deeply because it makes her want to run away, like she tried to do already from Jamie and Cora's house on the first night.  But where to?  She has nowhere.

      Have you ever had the feeling of wanting to run away and run away from your problems and your world?  But then wonder who would come after you?  That's how I feel describes Ruby and her internal and external conflicts.  He rmom ran away and she has to change her lifestyle and she's lonely and really has no one who's genuinely there for her.  Everyone has those moments when they feel like this.  But in the end, for us, everyhting will be okay.  But will eveyrything be okay for Ruby?  As I continue to read, I will watch out for how Ruby solves her problem and changes herself to adjust, 

Test Prep: Break HW #3

      Titanic.  The first thing you think of? Not the event but the incredible movie.  As you know, the movie just came out in 3D after 18 years after it came out.  In the "Titanic 3D" Review article, Josh Travers explains that Titanic 3D was a brillant movie and is no even better in 3D.  John Travers addresses many things about the movie itself and the acting and directing and I stringly agree with all of it.
     
      I agree with Josh Gravers where he explains, "Winslet won a deserved Oscar nomination; DiCaprio did not. Now more than ever, the snub seems wrong-headed."  Kate Winslet played rose and Leonardo DiCaprio played Jack.  Leonardo DiCaorio did not recieve an Oscar Nomination even though he wad the main character of the movie and the "spirit" of the movie that shone through.  he was young, vibrant and entertaining and was a big part of the movie, as Josh mentioned.  I agree with him, in which they weren't fair to give him a nomination. 

      In addition, I agree with Josh Travers when he states, "From the moment the largest floating object ever built hits that iceberg, we are confronted with images that still leave jaws dropping in wonder that, yes, movies can do this."  I agree that movies cna do this.  Movies can make you feel something and experience something new.  James Cameron, the director, built a replica of the ship and that is why you can feel these things.  They were so real and it was as if oyu were there.  You can also feel this and a feeling of being startled because of the harsh images, especially in 3D.  So I agree with his statement that images in movies can make you feel somehting strong.

      This article/ review let me think differently and deeply about different about different components of a movie, specifically, "Titanic."  I agreed with different statements that Josh Gravers wrote baout pertaining to this movie.  This movie pusged acting and art and beauty to the limit and off of the edge and I agree with everything good that can possibly be said about this movie because as Josh Gravers described, this movie gets to you. 

Test Prep: Break HW #2

      Plagiarism.  We all know what it is.  We've all seen it and we all have probably done it once before.  It may have been accidental or intentional.  But it is wrong.  And it should not be done.  In Ms. Galang's blog reponse, what the student did wrong was that he copied word for word text from a source but did not put it in quotes nor add the source, he acted like he wrote it when he didn't.  To include the source correctly, he could have put it in quote and wrote the source in parenthesis or at the bottom; he could have introduced the source first or he could have simply paraphrased it.  

      The student could have included the text information like this: Some features of this painting are exaggerated.  But this happens to be a relateable scene.  Many poeple feel comfortable and at with this scene also.  In  "A Brief Understanding of the Starry Night Paintings," the author (unknown), explains " There is a peaceful essence flowing from the structures. Perhaps the cool dark colors and the fiery windows spark memories of our own warm childhood years filled with imagination of what exists in the night and dark starry skies. The center point of the town is the tall steeple of the church, reigning largely over the smaller buildings. This steeple casts down a sense of stability onto the town, and also creates a sense of size and seclusion.To the left of the painting there is a massive dark structure that develops an even greater sense of size and isolation."   Then at the end, he could have included the website.  This would have been easy and the person would have gotten full credit.  

      Some people think that plagiarism is unavoidable.  But you CAN avoice plagiarism.  One way to avoid plagiarizing is simply putting quotes around the copied information and put the source in parenthesis.  The second way is to paraphrase.  But not just simply paraphrase because you pay put the same exact words or simlar words.  So, you can read the source once and then close the book or minimize the web page and summarize the information you just read the best you can from what you remember.  You will not remember it word for word so its easy.  The last way you can avoid plagiarism is by not being lazy and just thinking to yourself, what if someone did that to you?  And don't you want to deserve the grade you get for your work, not someone else's?  Your conscience should soon kick in.  Please don't plagiarize because soon it will become a habit and it will hurt yourself in the end.     

Test Prep: Break HW #1

      As I was skimming through the list of very detailed blogs, two of them caught of my eye.  The first one was Isablel Arriaga's.  It was about Romeo and Juliet and she was questioning if they really love eachother.  That was quite a shock to me so I kept reading.  At first I didn't believe it but she provided me with several bits of text evidence.  Some were directly from the book and some were paraphrased.  For example, she uses details from act 1 and act 2 in the first paragraph where Romeo is talking all about Juliet's beauty.  She incorporated the lines from the text corrrectly and included a lot of it.  The second things that I liked was her deep thoughts.  She included deep thoughts that she elaborated on, based on her quotations.  I like how she connected her thoughts to the real world to explain what she meant.  She also ended with a question to leave the reader thinking.  This was a very powerful and well thought out response.

      The second blog that I thought was very well written was Michelle Wong's.  Her response was a poem and description on her book, Luna.  I have never read the book before so it was new to me.  One of the first things that I noticed and liked was something in her poem: the figurative and descriptive language.  I felt connected to Liam and started to understand and feel the way he did based on her descriptions.  She compared being trapped to other things to, using metaphors and similies.  In addition, I noticed and liked something about the format.  She put important words in bold.  This made me think that in the book, these words came up a lot and were important to the character so it made me think and reread the sentence.  Overall, this response was very well crafted.

      I enjoyed reading both of these responses becuase they were both interesting and well thought out.  These blogs made me think about my own blogs.  What can I do to improve mine?  Well, the first thing that I want to do is include more text evidence.  I feel that I always paraphrase the text instead of including direct quotations.  I should start including direct quotes because it is helpful yet also good practice on how to include quotes correctly.  The second thing that I want to do which I noticed in both responses is be more personal.  Instead of being so general, connect it to life and maybe to me so then I can elaborate more and have more meaning and description to my writing.  These wonderful responses written by Michelle and Isable were very good to read and they helped me realize things about my blogs. 

Review on "Much Ado About Nothing"

      Last Monday, my class and I went to see the play "Much Ado About Nothing."  I have never seen the play or leanred about it before this, so it was interetsing to see something new.  There were many elements that made up this play and made it good.  There was the acting and the plot and characters and then the more "behind the scenes" stuff like the set design/ lighting, costumes and music. 

      There were many different big characters who all had different personalities.  But they were all involved with eachother and were all connected.  Not having to do with the actual play but just in genereal, I noticed that the characters were different races because it was supposed to be placed in 1920, not in the 1500s.  The plot was interesting and twisted with secret lovers and people tricking one another and falling in love.  There were many things going on.  Each character had their own story but the characters were joined together, forming the plot.  The actual actors played their characters very well.  They were very professional and exaggerated actors.  They had power and energy.  They always stood in character and even when they weren't the center of attention but were on stage, they were still acting.  Th actors were also very emotional and very into what they were doing.

      The other stuff that didn't have to do with the actual plot but what tied the whole play together and made it "for real" were the set design/ lighting, music and costumes.  For the set desgin and lighting, I noticed that they had a moon in the backgrounbd to show time of day, they always had it dark or lighter to show time of day.  I always liked how they played around with the shadows and silhouettes, it sort of set the mood and made your eyes even be interested.  I noticed that for the set design/ props they had an alcohol cabinet and tables and when they would change or fix the props, the transitions would be fast.  To set the time period and make everything come alive, they had music.  It was jazzy and complimeted the scenes.  There were also instruments and the music showed the mood.  The characters were aware of the music and interacted with it like at the ball when they were dancing.  Now, my favorite part to talk about: costumes!  I noticed that the clothing was modern and the clothing would fit the character snd their role.  I noticed that there were a lot of dresses and masks and Hero's wedding dress was really pretty and went well with her character's personality.

      All in all, I pretty much enjoyed this play and all the details and little things that tied it together.  I loved the energy, acting, costuming and watching eveything connect and come alive.  From seeing this play (which was a great experience), it helped me to visualize better and imagine and understand things about Shakespeare in a new eye.  I would reccommend this play. 

The Lovely Bones

Her Lovely Bones 
With one member gone, the family is not whole.
You can grasp to one another,
or run away into a world all by yourself.

But when you step outside an dlook up to the light,
there's a connection that will never be broken. 

A life that ended, too early to be right,
in suffereing she died and put up a fight.
To a man that still remains unknown,
it's scary to know he's still out there, alone.

A hand that you will never get to hold,
of Susie Salmon,
A life led wrong that will never be experienced.

Her bones kept in a box, locked away,
the only evidence left are
Her Lovely Bones. 



      One member gone, the family should grow closer together.  But are they?  The Lovely Bones is a book (that was turned into a movie) by Alice Sebold.  Susie Salmon, 14, was raped and then killed and the murderer remains unknown.  But I have been noticing different things about relationship between the family members.  Some are growing closer together, and others just farther apart.  I wrote about the relationshp between the families, the connection that some members still have with Susie, Susie's murder and the guy who did it and her Lovely Bones.  I felt these were all important topics that so far describe the book in parts.  And when I put all of them together, it flowed and gave you flash backs of events.

      The relationships that I was referring to that were growing closer together was Lindsay and her father's.  They have been helping eachother out, without even speaking.  The ones that were distancing are the mother's from the rest of the family.  She always seems way out there, and even cheated on her husband with Len Fenerman, the head police chief.  Susie's dad still has a connection to Susie, he feels her presence and talks to her.  He tells her that he is going to find the man who killed her.  The man who did it, is still out there, not found yet.  Susie suffered and tried to fight him off but its didn't work.  Susie's bone are locked away and in abox, with the rest of her parts that her murderer kept.  Susie will never be able to expereience life and family and just the joy of living.  You know why?  Because Susie was killed and she's gone, for good.