I'm Not Ready...

It's ending.





My best school year. My favorite school year. My first year of high school. Over.


I have loved every minute of this year. From my classes to my friends, everything has flowed smoothly.

I am going to miss the seniors this year. My boyfriend is a senior. He is going to West Point. One of my best friends, Clare, is a senior. She is going to the local private college so I'll still get to see her. But it's not the same. I hate change.

I am ready for the end and a new beginning. But I like the old, and haven't had new yet. I don't know what to expect. I am determined to have a good summer, even with all the goodbyes.


See ya next year, BHS.

Book Review - Of Mice and Men

I just finished Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, yesterday. Although I did not enjoy the ending, the story was very intriguing.

George Milton and Lennie Smalls are an interesting pair. George is a smart-mouth, clever man while Lennie can remember nothing and cannot grasp the smallest concept.

When both get run out of Weed for a misunderstanding with Lennie, George finds the men work on a farm. George makes many new friends right away. Lennie, on the other hand, prefers to be by himself with his new dog.

Another misunderstanding causes the boys to go on the run, but only one ever catches his breath.

Book Review - The House on Mango Street

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros was a very inspiring story about a little girl living in the slums. She did not want to identify herself with the other peasant neighbors on her street.


When Esperanza and her friends are given three pairs of high-heeled shoes, they play dress-up and imagine they are beautiful, rich ladies going to a party. The girls love being thought of as beautiful even though they are only children.


Esperanza begins to feel as if she is trapped on Mango Street. But in the end, she realizes she "will always be Mango Street." "She cannot forget where she came from or who she knew." Esperanza vows to herself if she gets out of Mango Street, she will come back for the others who are not strong enough to leave by themselves.

Independence

"So much depends

upon

A red wheel

barrow

Glazed with rain

water

Beside the white

chickens"

- William Carlos Williams

William Carlos Williams was a very well-known poet and a practicing pediatrician. When he wrote "The Red Wheelbarrow" he was with a dying girl and this poem comprised of what he saw out the window.

A way to look at the poem...

On the outside of the window is utter utopia, but on the inside is death.

My version of "The Red Wheelbarrow":

So much depends upon

Independence

Responsibility, Freedom, Self - Sufficiency

In one's mind but not always performed.

An Ode to Thesaurus.com

Hmmmm. My favorite techy-tool would have to be the good old online thesaurus. That's right, thesaurus.com wins! As a teenager writer I do get stuck on one adjective or adverb throughout my papers. Thesaurus.com helps me out. I really love the easy-to-use format of this website. First of all, if i type in a word, I must know what part of speech I'm using which requires me to think just a little! A big plus for this website are the links to other websites about a word. It has been very handy for some of my papers. So thank you thesaurus.com for making my papers extravagant!

Book Review - The Book Thief

(552 pages)

Where do I start? This book was an inspiring tribute to a girl's trying life.

As a young girl in Nazi Germany, Liesel Meminger is brought to foster parents because her mother can no longer care for her. This news is hard to grasp for Liesel. When she arrives at 33 Himmel Street, she is greeted by a squat woman named Rosa Hubermann, or Mama as Liesel is to address her. Liesel learns the ways of her new mama shortly. Her affection is shown by calling Liesel names. Liesel looks past this and loves her mama for who she is.

Hans Hubermann. Liesel's role model, teacher, hero, friend, and most importantly the father she never had. When Liesel continues to have wakening nightmares about her brother, her papa is there when she awakes and into the wee hours of the morning, he teaches her to read and write.

When a Jew needs a place to rest and hide, Hans and Rosa welcome Max Vandenburg into their already crowded and poor life. With their love for words and scary nightmares, Max and Liesel soon realize they have much in common.

Surviving in Nazi Germany is hard enough without the secret harboring of a Jew.

Liesel learns from her life with the Hubermanns and Max. She learns to love unconditionally, to read and write, and the most important, to stand up for herself and her beliefs.

Book Review - Animal Farm

"During the times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."

-George Orwell

George Orwell's book Animal Farm is parallel to the idealistic totalitarianism in Russia. The characters compare with the political leaders in Stalinist Russia.



After Manor Farm is taken over by the overworked, underfed animals, an animal rights revolution evolves.



Old Major, the flame to this fire of angry animals, explains that all animals are treated unfairly, and the revolution begins! All is well after the overthrow of Manor Farm until the pigs decide they are the smartest, most valuable animals on now, Animal Farm.



Soon the other animals start to realize the pigs are changing some of the founding commandments. What used to be "No animal shall sleep in a bed" was edited to "No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets". The animals continue to be treated unfairly throughout the story.


My favorite parallelism is the pigs to humans. In the end the pigs invite the humans over for a game of cards and as the other animals look through the farmhouse windows they cannot tell which is human and which is a pig.