reading/working times

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
pg. 1 -96
2 hours

Nervous Conditions work
dessert - 1.5 hours
appetizer - 2 hours
side - 45 minutes

work times

Reading:

The GoldFinch - Donna Tartt
pages 167-705
2 hours (throughout the week and in class)

Studying for poetry test:

Thurs. 2/20 - 1 hour (made flashcards and review terms)
Fri. 2/21 - 1 hour (looked over poems and looked for meter)
Sat. 2/22 - 1 hour (reviewing flashcards and handouts)

Be Happy, Because I Said So.

Be a teen,
a young adult,
a young person, 
a kid,
a jerk.
be ignorant,
never belligerent 

Be skinny, flawless, pretty, 
and modest. 
Never be good-natured
Mean is what I really mean.

Being mean is, 
is different than 
being opinionated.

Be boyish, tough, emotionless, 
and cruel.

Be fake.
"Stupid is funny."
"You're funny."

B+, F, C-, D, D, D, B.  ibuprofen.
School. 
Sport.
Sleep.
repeat. cry
Men don't cry.

Be perfect.
Never condemn what defines you.

Be the label that defines you,
don't define yourself.

Become the person to rewrite it.
Erase,
so hateful.
Helpful.

Achieve the pursuit of a youth that will only be cruel. 

Be happy.

Because I said so.
"Don't forget to smile."


 (click 'read more' to poetry techniques)

I Am a Rock

In Paul Simon and Art Garfunkels' song "I Am a Rock", Simon and Garfunkel develop a metaphor by claiming the subject of the song 'I' is a rock; this metaphor is used to show the rock’s feelings resentfulness against the outside world. Simon and Garfunkel create a character that disapproves showing emotion and "feels no pain." The metaphor is reiterated by using an anaphora all throughout the song. The alliteration of the 'eye' sound emphasizes the anaphora, 'I am".  A cacophony is created several times using the 'd' sound in-between lines that contain the anaphora, "A winter's day, in a deep and dark December", is the best example of the usage of a cacophony. 

This song displays a feeling of disdainfulness for the subject’s past, and the subject’s refusal to "disturb the slumber of feelings that have died", or in other words to ignore the past.  While the subject ignores their past they also ignore current feelings, “I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.” The song’s subject is “an island [that] never cries.” Although the metaphor is obvious deeper meaning is revealed throughout the song.

Listen to the song live and here are the lyrics.[btw this is one of my favorite songs, enjoy!  (˘‿˘ʃƪ)]


(click 'read more' to reveal reading times)

reading 2/3 - 2/7

Monday, 2/3 - 15 min ATD in class + 2 1.2 min. finalizing draft
Tuesday, 2/4 - 10 min ATD in class + 30 min. ATD 
Wednesday, 2/5 - 50 min: 2 ATD posts
Thursday, 2/6 - 60 minutes: The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt 
Friday, 2/7 - 1 hour: The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

my research paper

I feel confident that I have all the information I need to create a clear story of the event I am focusing on.  It was easy putting similar information together, but difficult putting the sorted information all together to create a larger picture. Outlining my information although time consuming helped me overcome this difficulty. I was surprised to learn that transferring the research from my outline to my paper proved annoying. I'm concerned about writing my conclusion, for some reason it seems to be the biggest cause of my worries. I think I am going to have trouble making another point about my topic instead of simply wrapping it up as I normally would.

 I need to change the focus on my paper from the denial of the current Turkish government to how the Armenian Genocide defines genocide, through person first-hand accounts. This was not easy considering most of my research was pertaining to my original thesis I found a couple new sources and have gotten good usage out of those. I would appreciate feedback on my organization and writing style because I feel that for this paper those are the two things that are most important.

❆ winter break take two

I can honestly say that I accomplished as much as I could during out little break, considering that I was sick with a nasty cold and had also come down with a slight wave of procrastination. Most of my break I kept myself shut indoors reading with a cup of tea, or intensely watching Netflix/Hulu marathons, which really wiped me out. I did 'make' churros and hot chocolate for Spanish; I ended up just drinking the hot chocolate which was really good.  Working on my research paper collecting more sources and reading excessively long treaties, took up a lot of my time.

I can say with pure confidence that our snow break was a dream come true. I had been praying for our Mardi Gras break to come sooner, but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind. This break honestly gave me a chance to relax right after receiving and completing a somewhat excessive amount of work from our teachers. Although, I must admit I'm at little bit happy to get back into a routine. I won't be saying that at the end of this week though.
Good Luck.

Martine ✿

(click 'read more' to reveal snow day work and reading times)