Dr. Prestons AP American Literatur class was different from any other English I've taken. On the very first day of school, he was already letting the class take control of the class. He exited the classroom and let us decide between open-source learning or a normal way. He was willing to teach any way his class chose would be best for them.
The most meaningful thing I learn from his class was that writing is supposed to be a fun liberating way to get your point across. Not a forceful writing structure with a teacher who's not giving clear feedback.
This year I'm most proud of learning how to write a resume. I will be able to use this throughout my career and maybe help others with what I learned.
In the beginning, I wish I didn't slack off as much. I thought it would be something easy to get used to, but I was very wrong. The course only gets easier when you give yourself a routine that helps you be the best you.
In this course, I learned how to interview. Dr. Prestons final interviews definitely allowed me to learn some skills that I will use in the future. Plus he gives us the important do's and don'ts when it comes to an interview.
For this semester I'm choosing the letter grade option. I think I earned my A in this course because even though school was canceled I still kept up with the assignments for this class and I participated in the class meetings on Zoom.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
a nonfiction essay/reflection, OR in a fiction story
Describe what happens when an SMHS student goes to sleep on March 12 wishing for no more school this year. And gets her wish, in the form of a pandemic.
Chel a straight-A student who hates failure. She puts her best efforts in everything she does but has a bad habit of bringing herself down when things turn out the way she hoped. Her life is just about school. She's very shy but works extremely hard to prevent that from holding her back.
Junior year in high school became the hardest year for her. She really doubted herself. Her study skills were put to the test. She began to drop grades in classes that before were easy for her even though they were honors. Chel quickly became stressed at the beginning of Junior year.
She was aware that science wasn't her strong suit but for the past two years study and good note-taking got her to pass science both years with an A+. That totally changed Junior year. No matter how long she studied or practiced she couldn't get good grades on her tests. This really made Chel doubt herself. Soon math started to become a problem. The first two years of high school math was pretty easy for her. Passing math with A's or A+'s. Math that year was just not making sense.
Junior year became hard for her to handle. Even though she kept a good schedule it wasn't enough to get her where she wanted to be. Her at-home problems also didn't help. Leaving stressful school to go to a stressful home became her daily routine sadly. She also didn't let herself take a break. She was always on top of her school activities and community services. It took her family awhile to notice her change in attitude and lack of happiness.
Chel was at the breaking point at the beginning of March 2020. The person she loved the most was leaving her, school wasn't enjoyable and she couldn't recognize herself anymore. Then the night of March 12 2020 Chel went to bed wishing school would end.
Who knew that her wish would become true, but not in the way she hoped.
The next morning was a regular Friday. Same old boring routine for Chel. The day went by as normal. When Chel got home she decided to finally give herself a break. She watched tv for the first time in months. Everything on tv was about a virus that was going around killing people. Schools, businesses, and sporting events were closing down that day immediately. Soon the house phone rang and Chel's mom gave her the news that her school was closed as well.
Chel soon realized that wish did come true, but in a terrible way.
Everyone was put in quarantine and social distancing was placed. People had to wear a mask when going out in public for essentials. Life became total isolation for months all around the world. Months soon began to pass, but life as before was never the same. Chel's only good outcome was spending time with her grandma during her last days. Now Chel had to learn to survive a pandemic without the person who gave her strength.
Chel a straight-A student who hates failure. She puts her best efforts in everything she does but has a bad habit of bringing herself down when things turn out the way she hoped. Her life is just about school. She's very shy but works extremely hard to prevent that from holding her back.
Junior year in high school became the hardest year for her. She really doubted herself. Her study skills were put to the test. She began to drop grades in classes that before were easy for her even though they were honors. Chel quickly became stressed at the beginning of Junior year.
She was aware that science wasn't her strong suit but for the past two years study and good note-taking got her to pass science both years with an A+. That totally changed Junior year. No matter how long she studied or practiced she couldn't get good grades on her tests. This really made Chel doubt herself. Soon math started to become a problem. The first two years of high school math was pretty easy for her. Passing math with A's or A+'s. Math that year was just not making sense.
Junior year became hard for her to handle. Even though she kept a good schedule it wasn't enough to get her where she wanted to be. Her at-home problems also didn't help. Leaving stressful school to go to a stressful home became her daily routine sadly. She also didn't let herself take a break. She was always on top of her school activities and community services. It took her family awhile to notice her change in attitude and lack of happiness.
Chel was at the breaking point at the beginning of March 2020. The person she loved the most was leaving her, school wasn't enjoyable and she couldn't recognize herself anymore. Then the night of March 12 2020 Chel went to bed wishing school would end.
Who knew that her wish would become true, but not in the way she hoped.
The next morning was a regular Friday. Same old boring routine for Chel. The day went by as normal. When Chel got home she decided to finally give herself a break. She watched tv for the first time in months. Everything on tv was about a virus that was going around killing people. Schools, businesses, and sporting events were closing down that day immediately. Soon the house phone rang and Chel's mom gave her the news that her school was closed as well.
Chel soon realized that wish did come true, but in a terrible way.
Everyone was put in quarantine and social distancing was placed. People had to wear a mask when going out in public for essentials. Life became total isolation for months all around the world. Months soon began to pass, but life as before was never the same. Chel's only good outcome was spending time with her grandma during her last days. Now Chel had to learn to survive a pandemic without the person who gave her strength.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Today I took my AP TEST :/
I began preparing for the exam the night before. I turned off my phone around 11pm and set my alarms. I couldn't fall ASLEEP. I tossed and turned for a good couple of hours. I remember looking at the clock on last time at 2am before I finally actually fell asleep. I woke up at 8am and went to my doctor's appointment at 9. I got home on time to eat some breakfast and login to my AP exam at 10:30. Everything was going fine until I opened my word document to write my essay. Well, my computer said error :/ and it restarted. It took up 10 minutes. When I finally got in I had like 35 minutes. I was panicking at this point. I did my best and basically wrote like a maniac. Once the timer hit five minutes I began to save the file. When I went to look for the file I had a hard time finding it. It wasn't saving properly or not in the area I saved it. I was panicking. I kept looking at the clock and it looked like it was moving faster. I thank god that I was able to turn it in. I turned it in with 30 seconds to spare and shed a small tear of relief once it was over.
Friday, May 1, 2020
FAHRENHEIT 451 ESSAY
Fahrenheit 451 is a novel that really opened mind my and got me thinking. The main character Montag is a fireman who starts fires and lives in a society filled with what looks like unhappy people. He seems to be surrounded by people who decided to conform to whatever everyone considers normal. From the beginning of the book to the end you can see Montag search for happiness and peace of mind.
The characterization used for Montag's character really helps us see the type of person he is. Early on in the book Montag appears to be like everyone else around him. He appears to have no emotion or empathy. Then came along a young girl named Clarisse who really made Montag question himself if he was happy. Then there was the house he burned down with an old woman inside it. Those two moments in the book are what caused Montag to really question his happiness with the life he was living. We really saw Montag show his emotions for the first time. Montag then went on a run for his life when he decided to find some type of happiness for himself.
Bradbury used metaphors as a form of figurative language in his book. One metaphor that stood out to me the most was when Montag told Mildred "Maybe the books can get us half out of the cave". Montag knows the rules and still decides to break them. He decides to open the book and read out loud. Montage knew that his life felt like a cave that he couldn't escape and at some point, it was just gonna collapse on him if he didn't do something about it. He was trying to find peace of mind in books after he came to reality with the society he lives in.
The plot development of the story also helps to see how Montag went in search of his happiness and peace of mind. From the start, we knew that Montag wasn't happy, but he didn't. His marriage, to begin with, wasn't even a marriage. His wife practically avoided him at all costs and did leave after all. Then it was when he didn't want to go to work anymore because he understood that job was wrong. He then went to search for someone who can really tell him the knowledge of the books he begins to admire. This is when Montage meets Faber an English Professor. Faber is the person who really opened Montag's eyes to what society is for them. Montag then begins to run for is life when the mechanical hound is sent to finish him. This leads him to a group that he kinda wants to relate to. The group of people appears to have knowledge of what Montag is looking for. In the end, Montag seems to happy with what he has done.
Characterization, figurative language, and plot development are the techniques Bradbury used to help us understand the theme throughout the story. Finding happiness and peace of mind doesn't come easy when it really shouldn't be something we have to look for. Maybe we need people who are open-minded to help us show us the way sometimes.
The characterization used for Montag's character really helps us see the type of person he is. Early on in the book Montag appears to be like everyone else around him. He appears to have no emotion or empathy. Then came along a young girl named Clarisse who really made Montag question himself if he was happy. Then there was the house he burned down with an old woman inside it. Those two moments in the book are what caused Montag to really question his happiness with the life he was living. We really saw Montag show his emotions for the first time. Montag then went on a run for his life when he decided to find some type of happiness for himself.
Bradbury used metaphors as a form of figurative language in his book. One metaphor that stood out to me the most was when Montag told Mildred "Maybe the books can get us half out of the cave". Montag knows the rules and still decides to break them. He decides to open the book and read out loud. Montage knew that his life felt like a cave that he couldn't escape and at some point, it was just gonna collapse on him if he didn't do something about it. He was trying to find peace of mind in books after he came to reality with the society he lives in.
The plot development of the story also helps to see how Montag went in search of his happiness and peace of mind. From the start, we knew that Montag wasn't happy, but he didn't. His marriage, to begin with, wasn't even a marriage. His wife practically avoided him at all costs and did leave after all. Then it was when he didn't want to go to work anymore because he understood that job was wrong. He then went to search for someone who can really tell him the knowledge of the books he begins to admire. This is when Montage meets Faber an English Professor. Faber is the person who really opened Montag's eyes to what society is for them. Montag then begins to run for is life when the mechanical hound is sent to finish him. This leads him to a group that he kinda wants to relate to. The group of people appears to have knowledge of what Montag is looking for. In the end, Montag seems to happy with what he has done.
Characterization, figurative language, and plot development are the techniques Bradbury used to help us understand the theme throughout the story. Finding happiness and peace of mind doesn't come easy when it really shouldn't be something we have to look for. Maybe we need people who are open-minded to help us show us the way sometimes.
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