Drums, Girls+ DangerOUS PIE 10/29/14

Pages Read: 128- 220
Prompt: Summary

     After a while Steven's mom and his little brother going to Philadelphia was routine now. But, as the days had gone by Jeffrey had started missing classes and most importantly math. His teacher told him that he should get a math tutor. The teacher then assigned Steven to Renee and he's excited. But as the day comes she says she might be a little sick. So, Steven had to tell her she couldn't come in. Since Jeffrey had very low white blood cells and couldn't get sick.

     When he went to school every guy had respect for Steven for kicking Renee to the curb. But, he didn't benefit much since he didn't get the tutoring afterwards. So when he took the math final he only got a 37 on it. The teacher told him and make a phone call to his mom. When he got home he heard a voicemail from his mom telling him to call back as soon as possible. A few minutes later his dad arrived mad at him for worrying his mother and not calling back. Steven was tired of being yelled at and told his father that he wasn't a very good father. Since he didn't talk or interact with him for the last few months. They got along and started "bonding". Once his mother arrived Steven explained the whole thing and how he was sorry.

     Jeffrey started going back to kindergarden after a while. Since he was absent for so long the new kid didn't really know what his conditions were. When Jeffrey asked if he wanted to be his friend, the new kid replied with, "Hi, you're bald". Which just crushed Jeffrey. He was crying and when Steven confronted him Jeffrey said he didn't want Steven to know that he was bald. Steven then started shaving his hair off. Which seemed to help Jeffrey's crisis and self-esteem.

Is Montresor mad?

"Do you know why you're here today?" The police asked.

"No officer, I haven't got a clue" Montresor replied.  

"Someone told me that they saw you and Fortunato together on the last night he's been missing."

"Yes, he was my dear friend, I asked him if he wanted some more wine because it was Carnival. When we were nearing the catacombs I noticed that he had a severe cough. He said it was nothing, then I convinced him to go back to Carnival, it'd be better there."

"So you asked him if he wanted some of your wine? I'm not one to judge but that seems a little lame." Replied the police officer.

"Yes, but he had a love of wine. I wanted to see if the wine I bought was of value. I bought a whole cask of it. I needed confirmation on if it was worth the money I paid." Montresor stated.

"Moving on, the anonymous witness said that it saw you with a sword of some kind. Is this true?" The officer asked

"Yes it's true, but it wasn't a real sword. It was simply a prop for my carnival costume. We were both dressed up." 

"Really? Do you think you still have that 'prop', if you do please show me."

"That's absurd! Why would I keep a prop from 50 years ago?" Montresor exclaimed. 

"Ok, calm down sir, where were you by the time of 9:00 to 12:00 the day of Fortunato's disappearance?" The officer asked. 

"Well, I was hanging out with Fortunato since the house was empty. Then he left at around 10-11 pm. We were both intoxicated so I don't remember the exact time." Montresor stated.

"You said earlier that you were nearing the catacombs and went home after that." The officer said.

"Um, well, uh... we did go but left at that time." Montresor struggled to get those last words out.

     The room was silent. The officer stared him down and ignored the incoming sounds from his radio. Montresor was very nervous, he could feel the sweat as it trickled down his forehead. His palms were getting warmer and sweatier. Montresor knew he now has to put up with the guilt he felt years ago when he heard the jingle of Fortunato's hat. He decided enough was enough, he pointed behind the officer, yelled something and ran when the officer was distracted. Montresor decided to visit where he buried Fortunato before he was arrested. He ran all the way to the catacombs where he heard police say, 'You're surrounded!". "Good," though Montresor as he was only going to see Fortunato. Once he arrived the police were there. Before they went to restrain Montresor he calmly said to the brick wall he built years ago, "I feel a strong guilt for doing killing a man, even if it was you. But, it was worth it!" He crazily cackled as the police took him away.

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie

Pages read:  0-128
Prompt: Describe the Characters

     Steven is the main character of the book. It starts off with him at his graduation thinking of everything that has happened the past few months. Then he starts retelling his times at the school from nearly the beginning. Steven has always had good grades and intentions. He is also in jazz band and 2 other programs where he played drums. He does tend to have a smart mouth most of the time.

     Jeffrey, Steven's little brother, is the usual little brother, annoying and energetic. But, one morning he fell off of a stool and his nose bled profusely. After Jeffrey came back from school he found out that Jeffrey actually had cancer. Jeffrey slowly became less energetic and more sick, since he was more vulnerable to germs.

     Annette is Steven's best friend. She usually babysits Jeffrey on weekends. She's in the same Jazz band as Steven and is a pianist. She's pretty much Steven's only real friend and Steven doesn't realize it yet. She's always been attentive to what's been happening with him. Like how he kept spacing off and not even doing his homework

Passion Project

     I think I want to do a project towards animals. Like a possible solution to the skunk overpopulation or the effects of littering for everything. Like the environment, animals, and people. Maybe even trying to prevent pollution I guess just like an ad telling you why you shouldn't litter or a week of biking every year. I could make solutions and talk about why and how you could do them. Or like a thing where kids can't watch TV for a whole week and get like a ribbon or whatever at the end of the week. Maybe setting up something for funds. Like getting a better bus that doesn't protrude obnoxious black gas into the air.

     Well some of the reasons I'm trying to prevent pollution is because of all I've been learning about what's happening and what's going to happen in the future. Like how the Earth is going to be extremely hot as the years go by. It'll just keep getting higher and higher. Even scientists are saying we need to do something. China's trying to work on it too. I honestly don't know what I want to achieve. I guess just people taking action will be like an achievement. Like people participating in like a bike week or something. That's how I'll have known if I was successful or not.

     Another Possible thing is sports. To try and make a sports camp. Like have a meeting where kids can play. It'll help kids get more active. Plus, it'll be a fun experience. We could try to have consecutive meetings like every week. We'll know we've accomplished our goal if kids show up to a meet or get a spot for wherever the meets are. 

Time Travel

Q: Where would you go?

A: I'd stay in the U.S. and go to Memphis, Tennessee  

Q:To which year or period would you travel?

A: April of 1968

Q: Who would you want to meet or what event would you want to witness?

A:I would go to see Martin Luther King Jr. before he died.

Q: Where would you find this person or see this event?

A: In a hotel room preparing for his speech

Q: Why would you want to meet this person or witness this event?

A: To hear what his dreams were and what he wanted the world to be. Like him telling me what his goals were and what his idea of a perfect world was.

Q: How might YOU change history?

He might not get killed since he was talking to me. Maybe I might have an impact on whether he does well on his upcoming speech. (By somehow messing up his train of thought or focus). Leading to him losing followers. Also, he already had a huge following and enough support but he did gain a lot of attention after he died. 

Insurgent 10/17/14

Prompt: Character Development

     Throughout the first 2 books Caleb has been portrayed as smart and responsible. He joined Erudite and usually corrects Beatrice. "He gave me the look he used to give me when he was disappointed in me." This quote shows that he would always try and make Beatrice selfless and belong. The author also helped out develop Caleb's intelligence with the use of vocabulary and actions. Like how Caleb always wanted to read books and understand more of the world. Also, the author made Caleb's dialogue include a lot of advanced vocabulary and many words to further support whatever he said.

     Another character that the author really developed was Peter. In Divergent Peter seemed like a side character that wouldn't be relevant. Then, near the end of Divergent and Insurgent he started getting morals. His main character change was when Beatrice was captured. He saved her and explained his reasoning for freeing her. "I can't be in someone's debt and owe them a favor". So, the author made Peter's goal/moral to not be in debt to anyone. So, he'll side with whoever treats him better.

     Tobias is another character that really developed. Throughout the 2 books I've read his character has been getting more and more detailed. At first he seemed more vulnerable when he showed Beatrice his childhood of being scared of his father. Then, he started acting more independent. Especially when his mother tried to strike a deal to make Dauntless and the factionless join together. After a while he started realizing he should trust Beatrice more before she was held for trial. For being accused of being a traitor.

1st Quarter Reflection Blog

     Throughout the first quarter I started off reading any book off of the shelf, only picking fiction or fantasy. Then, I read Divergent and continued the series. After that, I decided to read a biography called, "Never say Die". It featured 2 stories of a hiker and an ice climber barely surviving at the verge of death. I have been more open to different books now. I used to only want to read about fiction and fantasy. Now, I don't mind a few non-fictional books or biographies. I've already done at least 3 or 4 books and my 40 book challenge progress is looking ok.
     I also learned a lot of current events throughout the AoWs. Like how Ebola has caused West Point to be quarantined. Also, how Malala got a Nobel Peace Prize for standing up for woman's rights. We learned that the world is still slowly progressing and not going insane from, "Is the World going nuts?". The short stories like, "The Lottery", and, "The World's most Dangerous Game", helped us understand morals better. Also, how it may or may not apply to current world situations.
     I have been slowly making progress with my procrastination. I've been starting homework at 5 or 6 pm. The thing is, it takes up to 9 or 10 because of me getting distracted by something else. So, I usually only do homework and go to sleep after school. I also need to manage my time wisely. I usually spend 40 minutes doing something when it should only take 15. Which is something I need to work on next quarter too.

Reflective Writing

     If I look back on a blog last year like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince compared to one of the ones today, there'd definitely be a change. I am noticing that my grammar was not at par with the level of grammar I have today. Also, My paragraphs were short and to the point. The old blog also contained a lot of abuse to pronouns. I kept saying, "it" and "the" without mentioning what, "it" was in the first place. I definitely improved on that. Although it was a slight change that does need working on. In my current blog I don't really use pronouns unless I'm sure I've used them in a sentence before or clearly.

     I think my writing has progressed a lot. As in vocabulary and descriptive details. If the old blog wasn't my own I would not have understood what was going on. "Then, one night when Kreacher and Dobby were fighting each other. Harry and Ron broke them up and Harry asked if they could tail Draco Malfoy." It went from this to that with no explanation. Like who was that, and where were they? I tend to try not to be redundant in my new blog and in my old blog I tend to say Also a lot. (Which is a current problem too.)

     I think looking back at a current blog and one from a year ago helps me a lot. It can help me see what's still the same, to try to improve it, and what's gotten better. I think my newer blog posts are better because I'm more used to it now. My old blogs were strict and straight to the point. With almost no opinion and mostly the story.

Insurgent 10/2/14

Pages Read: 0-425
Prompt: Mood and Character Development

     I think that the mood was very serious at a lot of time and a bunch of twists too. Like how Peter saved Beatrice and Tobias. Also, how Caleb has always been on Erudite's side. I like how Veronica added how Beatrice was skeptical of how much Tobias trusted his mother might've blinded his choices/actions. There was a lot of serious things like the situation Beatrice was in. She was being tested on then after they gathered their data, was to be executed.

     The character development was huge. I learned more of Tobias' past and background. How his mother was said to be dead and he found her alive. Also, based on Beatrice's analysis, how Tobias' mother seemed sketchy and was probably using him. Marcus tells us more about Beatrice's mother and why she found Beatrice when she did to save her. Beatrice realized she originally wanted to make a file/information public and stumbled across her.

     In the story, you also find out more about Beatrice. Like which traits she has that are similar to her actions. Also, Beatrice comes to a realization that maybe Erudite isn't the bad guy. They still are morally for killing a lot of people from one faction and putting people under simulation. But, she realizes that Jeanine is trying to protect the people from figuring something out also. Which makes her more curious about Jeanine's morals and goals.