Group Essay: D'Andra and Sarah

1. To my body paragraph I added to my last commentary. I added that three volume novels are considered to be fake and fiction. Along with diaries and sermons, the writting pieces don't always tell the truth and they arn't always accurate. I am also changing my first transition, I don't know what it'll be yet but I don't think it flows and sounds right. I don't know wither to use a transition like "first" or "for example". I am also going to try to cut down on the words: three volumn novels, novels and manuscripts.

2. I feel like my commmentary isn't good, like it needs to be changed but I'm not sure how to word it. I'm not sure if I'm just repeating what the quotes say or if  I'm heading on the right track. If you could read it and give me critism that would be great. Hahaha don't worry about being mean (: It's alright, I'm a big girl(: I can handle it. But in all seriousness that would be super helpful to me if you guys could suggest some changes or if anything should be added.

Dishonesty in The Importance of Being Earnest

           In the novel, The Importance of Being Earnest, dishonesty is pictured and is the main topic throughout the play. There is dishonest humor because most of the jokes, rants on marriage and woman have to do with the fact that Jack and Algy were dishonest and lying about having a brother names Ernest and a friend named Mr. Bunbury. For satire of social institutions, Lady Bracknell is being dishonest when she said that Cecily was attractive, she honestly didn’t care about all of her background except that she was wealthy. As soon as Jack announced that she was rich, Lady Bracknell was complementing her and giving her consent as quick as the words would come out of her mouth. Cecily admitted to be exaggerating her age “only” when she goes to dinner parties. In the play, there was the “pun” of the main character who pretends to be Ernest and throughout time, he discovers what it really means to be earnest. Algernon also decided he wants to change his name to Ernest too along with Jack because Cecily will only marry a man whose name is Ernest and Algernon likes her too much to let that stop him. Changing names to Ernest is being dishonest to yourself, to the name you were christened with. Changing it just wouldn’t be right to everyone else. In the end of the play, Jack realized that all the lies he made up, having a brother, were true. The pursuit of pleasures are more important than duties in the play. It seems to be that telling the truth is just for pleasure and that pleasure comes over duties of a gentle men. Dishonesty is streaked in and out of the play, it is used in many forms like epigrams, satire, references and pleasure. This whole piece is really all about dishonesty and how one little lie and came a huge commotion and problem but then again, this time, Jack found out his background thanks to that little lie.
          Wilde seems to be saying that dishonesty carries through every person, including the rich, the poor, the slaves and more. Jack and Algernon pretend to be people that they aren’t, Ernest and Bunbury. Lady Bracknell lies to Cecily just so that she’ll like her more and keep being interested in Algernon while Lady Bracknell tries to get her hands on some of her money. Lane lied for Algernon after Lady Bracknell asked for her cucumber sandwiches and Algernon ate them all. Jack never told Gwendolen that he was guardian of a beautiful 18 year old girl. He is saying that almost most of the time, no matter what lie you tell, how long you keep it up, or how big it is, it’s going to be discovered and you’ll be stuck in an awkward situation. Through some of the speeches the characters had, I realized that when Wilde wrote this, dishonesty must have been popular and the “cool” thing to do. Wilde really showed personalities, social classes and some lives of a few different people in the Victorian age, including how being dishonest could effect a lot of things.

Extra Credit New Years.

For New years I really want to pass my tests in math. The grades that I'm getting are not to my pleasing. So this year I am going to do everything that I can to help my grade in math go up. I hate asking for help in anything, i absolutely hate it. If i never had to ask for help, I wouldn't. So that's where I'm going to start. If i don't understand something I wont just wing it, 'm going to ask for help. Then I'm going to study really hard and make sure that I understand all the concepts that the test is going to cover. For the rest of this year I am going to try to get better and not let my test grades go in the hole, I am going to get better scores and understand math better with getting over my "fear" of asking questions

Animal Farm Evaluation

1. Donna Wilson
2. Video
3. Donna did a really good job portraying all the aspects of the novel. I could follow her video and all the important parts of the novel were in her video. I also liked how she put the song the beasts of England in her project.

1. Reagan
2. Poem
3. I really really really like Reagan's poem. It was very creative and original, she put a twist in her poem. Instead of just writing down words she bolded and underlined one letter and in the end of her poem she asks "what is this? tyranny" and thats what those letters spell out.

1. Sherwin, Ketl, Chase and Zack
2. Video
3. I liked how they sang/ recited both versions of Beats of England. The one that Major sang and the one that Napoleon replaced. I was kinda confused what the beating was but it worked with the song. I liked how they all had a speaking part and you could hear individual voices like you would in a group.

1. Leah
2. Comic
3. I like how Leah put a quote from the book that Squealer spoke in one column but in the other she put what he was really saying. She showed the main meaning of the book and how words twisted can be translated into something totally different.

1. Will
2. Time line
3. Will had an interesting time line. It was kinda hard to follow because there wasn't much information but it did show that the pigs on the farm took over. It showed that as the pigs gained more power, they changed the rules, they went from being naked and standing on four legs to wearing clothing and standing on two legs.

1. Melanie
2. Video
3. She showed some of the main characters, their traits to the novel and some main parts of the book, like the seven commandments. She did a good job explaining what she put in her slide show too.

1. Katie
2. Picture
3. She showed an important part in the novel. The part where Frederick is giving the pigs fake money, it's a good drawing and you can tell what's going on.

1. Olivia
2. Haiku
3. Her haiku was good. I like who even a few words in a couple lines can intend a greater meaning. It's kinda like read in between the lines. There's more to the story than what is just on the screen.

1. Grace, Molly, Sarah and Katie
2. Video
3. I really liked it. This, I think, was the best project, they really captured my attention. They went to a real farm, with real farm animals. It was cool. I really enjoyed watching it.

1. Sara E.
2. Picture
3. Her picture showed the farm and how the pigs were above everyone. It was a really good picture and fun to look at.

I think that I did a good job on my project. Sure there was projects that were better than mine but I think mine was up there in that rang. I think mine could have been more neater and easier to read but other wise I can't think of anything else.

Animal Farm

For my project I decided to show the Animal Hero classes in a pyramid. The first one shows the class levels that the animals decided upon. The animals created a military decoration called "Animal Hero, First Class". This consisted of a brass medal to be worn on Sundays and holidays. The animals said that they wanted Snowball and Boxer to be in that class. Then "Animal Hero, Second Class" was created and it was confirmed that the it would be put to the dead sheep. I put a third class in the pyramid  to show where all the other animals were. The first pyramid shows the animals in the beginning of the book. As the story progresses, the pyramid starts to swap the animals around behalf on the animals actions. At the end of the novel, the First Class belongs to all the pigs. Napoleon, Squealer and any other pig on the farm. The next section went to the dogs and the sheep. They are the closest to the pigs and don't have to do any work. I put  Boxer the horse in the mid section between the Second and Third Classes because the pigs used Boxer and took advantage of his hard working ego. The pigs "liked" him out of any other Third Class animal but not as much as the sheep or dogs. Then the Third Class consisted of all the other animals on the farm. The one pig in the red circle with the slash through it is Snowball. Since Snowball got chased off the farm, he wasn't part of the farm anymore. In the end the pigs took over and they slid themselves to the top to take power and become the leaders of the farm.

Poetry Out Loud: Follow Thy Fair Sun

           This poem spoke out to me in a random moment. The title isn’t the most catchy or the best part about the poem. Follow Thy Fair Sun was written by Thomas Campion, he lived through 1567-1620. The words that were written in the poem are now out dated and not used very often. For example thy, thou, depriveth, thee and shineth. They may not seem like actual words but they are. This poem didn’t make sense to me in the beginning. But for some reason I decided to stick with it, it gave me a feeling that non of the other poems did. I didn’t get the real meaning of the poem until I did the Analysis Questions. It really helped me understand what the poem is saying. I think that the meaning of the poem is to not let bad things in your day/life (the shadow) ruin your “sunshine” so to speak. Don’t let it bring you down even when things look their worst and nothing is going to get better. There is always something to shine down on you to brighten everything up. Don’t give up, its always worth trying and getting up stronger than before and keep going.
            I don’t think that I am going to do much while performing except to try to look at everyone. I think that making too many gestures and movements and worrying about how you look just effects the whole performance. When people perform it’s best if they make the gestures with their voice, and that’s what I’m going to try to do. Make people interested just by listening to the words that will flow from my mouth. There isn't much that I can say besides what I have already mentioned. This poem was very well written and every single person, no matter who they are, where they come from, or what they look like, can relate to this poem in some way.

Poetry out loud

Part One: Website Cruising.
1. Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
2. "Alone" by Edgar Allan Poe
3. Sarah suggested Do Not by Stevie Smith. I suggested Onions.
4. For love by Robert Creeley and You charm'd me not with that fair face by John Dryden

Part Two: What do you think?

• Out of the five poems, I would have to say that I like For love, You charm'd me not with that fair face, and "Alone". I really like those ones because the first two are about love and romance and togetherness while "Alone" is kind of a dark style and it talks about when being a child, this person was not able to do things and go places that the other children were able to do and go. I like them, they're not the shortest but they're not the longest either. I don't know exactly why I like those three but they intrigued my thoughts to go deeper and created a picture.

• I didn't like Kubla Khan or Do Not, they weren't my style and the words didn't... I'm not exactly sure what I don't like about those. They just don't appeal to my likings. In Kubla Khan, the beginning is boring and I just want to skim it. I don't want to get into the poem and really image what the poem is trying to say. It's kind of the same thing with Onions... I don't like onions and the poem is talking about  sauteing them in butter and I got something along the lines of animals being in the poem and it was kind of confusing and not my style.

• I actually chose a different poem to do than the ones on the list above. It's called Follow Thy Fair Sun. I was just looking around and I came up on this one, I liked it a lot more than the other ones so I chose it. But if I had to choose one of the six poems above, I think I would choose... "Alone". I really like it because of how the aura isn't fake, it made me think that I could see the child and everything that was going on. 

• Follow Thy Fair Sun and I connected. I'm not quite sure how but I do know that I really like the flow of the poem. There is a rhyme scheme and that pattern is A B B A. I just really like the way it was written and it somehow really spoke to me in a way that the other poems that I read didn't. 

Part Three: Scoring Criteria

• Two criteria topics that will be easiest for me are Physical Presence and dramatic Dramatic Appropriateness because I don't have that bad of stage fright. Sure I have a little but so does everyone. I'm good at looking around the room and making eye contact with the audience. I can stand up for a long time in a good posture and my body language isn't going to be negative. Also I know not to over do the poem. Not to exaggerate on every word and to just let it flow and be natural. I have a good strong voice and I know how to control the volume it is audible but not over powering. 

• Two criteria topics that wont be as easy for me are Accuracy and Articulation (that's part of Voice). They wont be as easy for me because there are a fair share of difficult words that I may have a hard time pronouncing and the poem also uses words like thy and thou and divineth. Sometimes I get nervous and I start to speed or forget things really fast. And then the words start blurring together and are comprehensible.

• There are 7 grading criteria topics that are listed. Physical Presence, Voice and Articulation, dramatic Appropriateness, Level of Difficulty, Evidence of Understanding, Overall Performance, and Accuracy. All the topics listed are important while resiting the poem. You must have good posture, be in consideration of your eye contact, body language, and poise. Your volume, pace, rhythm,
  intonation, and proper pronunciation must be in your mind and with rhymed poems, you have to be careful not to recite in a sing-song manner. Also watching your breaks, dont make them too long, take one if you need one but don't over use the opportunity to take a break. Don't act out the poem, it's not a skit, or a play. A hand gusture here and there is allowed but not preferred. Keep in mind the accents, what;s an inappropriate tone, singing, distracting or unnecessary emoting. Level of difficulty is all up to you. It's your choice. Chose one that speaks to you, one that you like. Not your neighbor or mom or dad, but you. Don't choose a super easy one though, make it challenging and fun. Be attentive to
  the meanings, allusions, irony, tones in your poem. Be sure you know the meaning of every word and line. Overall performance is many things that are added together. It's just the little things that aren't but into a criteria category. Make sure that you know how to pronounce your poem, deductions will be put in action if things are miss recited or miss pronounced.

Part Four: Videos
Stanley Andrew Jackson- "Writ on the Steps of Puerto Rican Harlem"
Right off the back his voice is very intriguing and his facial expression want you to watch more and see where he goes with it. His articulation is excellent and he really puts power and meaning to every word that is spoken. He has really good stage presence and has a voice that you want to keep listening to.

Allison Strong- "Sonnet CXXX: My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun"
She has a really good voice and is very articulate with everything. If you weren't watching the video and just listening to it you could tell what her expression and emotion was just by listening to the sound of her voice. Even though I hinted a rhyme scheme, she didn't do the sing-song thing. She kept it alive and the language up to date even though it was written by Shakespeare.

Part Five: Summary
I think that Poetry Out Loud is going to be fun and challenging at the same time. I'm not sure about the competition because I don't know everyone's speaking styles, strengths and weaknesses. I don't know if they have an amazing voice or if they have a way with reciting things. I think that I will do pretty well. I have stage fright to en extent. I'm always afraid of messing up and people laughing at me or not remembering or totally going blank after working so hard to remember it. Overall I think that I'll make it out alive and with a pretty good score. Maybe I'll move up to the school round but you never know. The poem I am memorizing is called Follow thy fair sun.