EasyMoza

Ever find yourself in a bind for a creative presentation? Well why not try making a mosaic.
 "But Mary Beth, I don't know how to do that?"
That's what I'm here for.  First pick out the big picture you want. Then pick between 250-500 small pictures. They will be used to fill in your big picture. Once you pick them out, log on to www.easymoza.com  From there on the website has step-by-step instructions on how to make your motif. The best part: Once you finish editing and messing around, the website gives you a free download of your masterpiece. I highly recommend trying this out if the next time you need to make a visual presentation for your English class. It is much more personalized than a powerpoint or poster. Plus it's a well kept secret, so nobody else will have it.

"Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair"

    One of the big ideas we talked about was if Macbeth hadn't married Lady Macbeth would he have gone on a killing spree in order to secure his throne? I think he wouldn't have done so many killings. People's true character is bound to come out sooner or later, and in Macbeth's case it happens sooner. With Lady Macbeth in place, she was such a powerful force that it kinda happened against his will.
    I think this is part of theme, in that there is no normal. We see it taken to the extreme here but when the characters try to cover up their mistakes or try to make everyone else seem more out of place.

Readingg Timess 5/12

Ways of The Worlds by Robert W. Strayer
5/6-Pages 1-45 (45 minutes)
5/7- Pages 46-92 (40 minutes)
5/9- Pages 93-110 (15 minutes)

Portfolio:
Cover Letter- 45 Minutes (Editing and Writing)

Total Time: 145 Minutes

Double, Double, Troil and Trouble

The first Quote I chose to analyze is, "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir." This quote directly means if the sisters are telling the truth then I will become king without me having to interfere. This is an important quote because throughout the first two acts Macbeth has an internal battle over whether or not he should kill King Duncan, and this is a hint of whats to come.
The second quote I chose to analyze is, "If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well. It were done quickly: if the assassination Could trammel up the consequence and catch with his surcease success; that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all here." The meaning of this sentence is if the murder were done when The sword killed him, then it would best be done quickly but that isn't the end. The end would be if the murder was done without consequence, and only bringing success, then the killing would be the be-all and the end-all. This is important to Macbeth's internal struggle because after he has killed King Duncan, he thought the end of their troubles would be over as soon as his heart stopped beating, but it didn't.

Reading Times 5/5

Macbeth by William Shakespeare
5/3-Act 1 (30 Minutes)
5/4-Act 2&3 (45 Minutes)

Portfolio
5/2-Hit or Miss (20 Minutes)
5/3-Writing Remix (45 Minutes)

Total Time: 140 Minutes

Where are You From??

Where are you from?

I am from foreign countries.

From not knowing the language, to never shutting up.

To “Everyone out of the van. It’s the only bathroom break for the next five hours.”

I am from Family Night traditions.

From candy land and Cranium Brain Breaker.

To “It’s MOVIE night! Everyone in the study!”

I am from deceivingly bad smells in the kitchen.

From Tuesday night Tacos, and Sunday Night Jambalaya.

To weekly outings to Chino, or sometimes “No eating out, I’m on a diet this week.”

I am from a divided-family.

From Tar-heels VS. Wolves

To “I'm a Tar Heel born. I'm a Tar Heel bred. And when I die I'll be a Tar Heel dead. So it's rah rah Carolina-lina. Rah rah Carolina-lina. Rah rah Carolina-lina--rah rah rah!”

I am from a big family.

From big meals and big get together, from big love to big people.

To, “It’s so glad to see you, Valerie. Your so big!” to “I’m Marybeth not Valerie.”

I am from the Eagles.

From eagles to flying in the knight.

To “Hey, Your Valerie’s little sister.”

I am from an obsessed generation.

From makeup tutorials, slutty dresses, boy bands and you tubers.

To “Hey, did you see xbeautywithkatiex’s new video last night? She totally looked cute in it.”

I am from Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.

From Michael Jackson being the King of pop, to Justin Bieber trying to hard.

To, “As Long as you love me, we can be starving, we can be poor.”

I am from a slacking generation.

From being too lazy to work, or too tired to complete a night’s homework.

To, “I am too tired to work. Please go over for me!”

I am from a looked obsessed generation.

From too skinny models, to people becoming famous for being 200 pounds.

To “I look so fat in that picture! Redo it! Suck it in ladies, suck it in.”

Reading Times

What did we use before toilet Paper? By:Andrew Thompson
4/18-Pages 1-60 (45 minutes)
4/19-Pages 61-102 (45 minutes)
4/20-Pages 103-145 (35 minutes)

The Boyfriend League by Rachel Hawthorne
4/19-Pages 1-160 (120 minutes)

Total Time: 245 minutes

Where Art Thou Macbeth?

     This past week in English we started the book, Macbeth. I have to say, by far, this has been my favorite Shakespeare play. Maybe that's because our teacher actually explains whats going on...I don't know just a guess. Our assignment for this week was to analyze 2 statements and relate them to Macbeth. Without further adue...
    The first statement I chose to analyze was: Ambition is a positive, desirable trait in a person. I definitely agree with this statement as long as the person keeps their ambition in control and doesn't let it take over them. In a normal person, ambition is what leads them to get up every day and do something special. In Macbeth's case, it went a little bit overboard. He really wanted to believe in the witches' prophecy of him becoming King. His ambition made him so determined to beat others out in the race for king, that to easily say it, he went on a killing rage. Not to good.
   The second statement I chose to analyze was If you are in a position of power, you are happy. I disagree with this statement completely because while giving power to some people makes them happy for a while, they eventually become unhappy and get power hungry for more, and more and more power. It's a never ending cycle of hunger. A cycle that the witches' prophesied  would end up making Banquo happier than Macbeth because he wouldn't be royal, his sons would be.

Reading Times *4/14*

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
4/8- Pages 1-30 (25 minutes)
4/9- Pages 31-60 (25 minutes)
4/10- Pages 61-90 (25 minutes)
4/11- Pages 91-120 (25 minutes)

Nervous Conditions Entree
4/8-Finish 8-10 quotes and bubbles (20 minutes)

Memoir #2 (Lit. Journ)
4/10-Write and Edit Paper (45 minutes)

Total Time: 165 minutes

Reading Times :)

Now is the Time for Running by Michael Williams
2/18-Pages 1-45 (30 minutes)
2/19 Pages 46-95 (35 minutes)

Alliegant by Veronica Roth
2/21-Pages 211-250 (30 minutes)
2/22-Pages 251-290 (35 minutes)
2/23-Pages 291-343 (30 minutes)

Working on my Final Research Paper:
2/19-Editing and Correcting Citations (30 minutes)
2/20-Revising and correcting word choice (20 minutes)

Total Time: 210 minutes

Our Love

*Symbolism
*Metaphor
*Diction

My love for you is as wide as Madea's Butt
and as large as Tyler Perry's women clothes.
Your love for me is equal to a short man
playing in the NBA.
Our love for each other is the love a nerd
has for a homecoming queen.
My love for you smells likes the cheap outlet perfume,
always at 50% off.
Your love for me is a whale's scream to its mother,
silent to most.
Our love for each other parrallels the intensity
the sun has for the moon.
My love for you burns like an albino
in the Texas Midsummer heat.
Our love for each other is never ending like the sun.

Reading Times 2/17

Alliegant by Veronica Roth

2/11-Pages 151-163 (10 minutes)

2/12-Pages 164-189 (20 minutes)

2/12-Pages 190-210 (15 minutes)

Magazine Article for Journalism

2/13-Outline and 1st Paragraph (20 Minutes)

2/14-2nd and 3rd Paragraphs (20 Minutes)

Investigative Journalism Article for Journalism

2/15-Middle Paragraphs and Revisiting 8th grade (topic) (40 minutes)

2/16-Revising and Closing and Opening Paragrahs (30 minutes)

Total Time:175 minutes

Counting Stars Analysis

Link to Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/onerepublic/countingstars.html

Name of Song: Counting Stars

Artist: One Republic

     I chose to analyze the song Counting Stars by One Republic because I feel it has a different meaning than what it appears to do, and I just really like the song. In the chorus we see a rhyme scene of ABCDDD, and verse one has a scheme of AAAAABBBBBCDDDEE. In each section of the song the rhyme scene changes but it always has end-line rhymes and has at least two sets of repetition. In the chorus we also see a continuing theme of the "s/sh" sound which means it has sibilance.

     We see an example of a paradox in the bridge line , "Everything that kills me makes me feel alive". Another example of something in the figurative language category is diction, words chosen to make a certain effect. In the song it talks about things that were chosen based on their word choice. For instance when it says, "take that money watch it burn. Sing in the rivers the lessons I've learned." It doesn't make greed sound so bad, it actually makes it sound fun. We see this occur again in verse one when it says, "Baby I've been losing sleep dreaming about the things we could be." because you can't dream unless your sleeping, so we see another example of a paradox. In that we have so many paradoxes that you could say paradoxes in this song are also a symbol that in life people wish to copy the way poor people were able to get famous and get super rich.

Reading Times 2/10

Alliegant by Veronica Roth
2/4-Pages 61-80 (15 minutes)
2/5-Pages 81-100 (15 minutes)
2/6-Pages 101-134 (30 minutes)
2/7-Pages 135-150 (15 minutes)

2/3-2 ATD Posts (30 minutes)
2/4- 2 ATD Posts and Comments (30 minutes)

Total Time: 135 Minutes

Finalization on the Draft

      I am so excited for our National History Day papers, to be finalized. I love how in my article I tell it in kind of a story form. Starting with a description of the Civil Rights Movement and a small insight into some of the important people, then I tell the story of the Plessy vs. Ferguson case and explain its importance. After that I talk on the Brown vs. Board cases, series 1 and 2. Finally I land on my topic Little Rock Nine and explain their importance to the Movement and what they have done to change our world today.
    One of the things I am worried on is that my citations aren't fully correct. We spent a lot of time talking about these but since my paper is considered common knowledge to some and then not to others, I am not sure I put enough citations in my paper. Having somebody look over those and letting me know if I should know more would be wonderful help.

The Pro-Player

When you look around Dr. Hawking’s classroom, you might notice the not-so-subtle hint of a tennis obsession. A stack of Wilson balls next to the row of sinks. A green, blue and white racket sitting in the front of the room. A tennis schedule taped to his white board.  Or even his electric ball hitter, for if you’re feeling lazy one day. If that didn’t give you a hint, then maybe it’s the stories he tells of being on the pro circuit.

            “I started playing tennis when I was little because I was such a hyper child, that my mother thought sticking me in a 100 foot square I would eventually run out of energy…Which I did. So she kept sending me back day after day and refusing to pick me up until I was manageable. So one day I decided to pick up a racket and play, and its been an amazing ride ever since.”

“I played on the Pro Circuit from 1980 to 1980. Nine months to be specific. My only goal was to be able to say I played in the circuit and had a great time doing it.” His biggest aspiration was to play against John McEnroe, one of the top ten players in the world at that time. But if they had played, “He would have made a fool of me. I really wanted to play him, though. Just so I could stick him in his place because he was always being a big brat on the courts.”

Having to give up his love of the Pro-Circuit wasn’t that hard because, ”It was very demanding, people think it’s all fun and games but it isn’t. My group was playing tennis for 8-10 hours a day and we weren’t even near the best there.  I also had recently gotten married and was starting a family, and I would come home for two weeks and then be gone for eight. We couldn’t afford to bring my wife with me because we didn’t have the spare cash. Everyone assumes you make a lot of money playing pro sports, which you do but you also have a lot of expenses. I mean if my wife had joined me at the time we would have been losing money. So I guess you could say I made a fair trade, Pro-Circuit for a family.”

Reading and Work Times: 2/3

Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie:
1/29-Page 215-230 (15 Minutes)

Allegiant by Veronica Roth:
1/30-Pages 1-60 (60 minutes)

Sneaux Day #1
20 Minutes-Drafting Video
60 minutes- Rough Draft (Topic #1)

Sneaux Day #2
60 Minutes-Rough Draft (Topic #2)
20 Minutes-Rough Draft (Citations)

Sneaux Day #3
80 Minutes-Rough Draft (Topic #3, Opening and Closing Paragraphs and Citations)

Total Time:285

*Explaining Topic to My Mother*
 "Hey, Mom! You know that research paper I am writing in English?
"Yes, Honey. It's the one about that movement group Rock Nine, right?"
"Sort of, it''s about the desegregation group Little Rock Nine. Remember how I told you about the group of students in Little Rock, Arkansas that was escorted by the national guard, like we saw in the Butler? It's those guys. These were the first group of African American students that wanted to go to an all Caucasian school, but weren't allowed in the first couple days."
"Right, I remember. These were the kids that started the desegregation process in all of our lives. The ones that truly brought meaning to the Civil Rights Movement."

*Formally Explaining my Topic*
For my National History Day research paper, I have chosen to write about the process of desegregation in the United States of America. Primarily focusing on the group called Little Rock Nine. These students were the first ones chosen to break through the white-barriers and apply to and attend a caucasian public school. Through bravery and dedication, Little Rock Nine were the first African American students to be accepted into an all white school, therefore leading the real desegregation process in all areas of the American Life. In my research already conducted, I have found two large cases that were also a huge part of getting African-Americans' equal rights. These were Plessy vs. Ferguson and All five of the Brow vs. Board's in series One and Two. I will be using some of these cases' information to further improve my research paper.

Reading Times: 1/27

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
1/20- Pages 124-144 (15 minutes)
1/22- Pages 145-159 (10 minutes)
1/23- Pages 160-188 (20 minutes)
1/24- Pages 189-215 (30 minutes)

Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot
1/22- Pages 1-24 (10 minutes)
1/23- Pages 25-78 (40 minutes)

Total Time:125 minutes

Reading Times: 1/21

Big Boned by Meg Cabot
1/14-Pages 161-200 (30 minutes)
1/15-Pages 201-224 (15 minutes)
1/16-Pages 225-249 (15 minutes)
1/17-Pages 250-280 (20 minutes)

The Absolutelty True Diary of a Part Time Indian Boy by Sherman Alexie
1/14-Pages 1-20 (10 minutes)
1/15-Pages 21-35 (10 minutes)
1/16-Pages 36-80 (40 minutes)
1/17-Pages 80-123 (40 minutes)

Total Time:180 minutes

Reading Times: 1/13

Big Boned by Meg Cabot:
1/6-Pages 1-26 (25 minutes)
1/7-Pages 27-42 (10 minutes)
1/8-Pages 43-75 (30 minutes)
1/9-Pages 76-92 (10 minutes)
1/10-Pages 93-112 (15 minutes)
1/11-Pages 113-160 (45 minutes)

Total Time: 135 minutes

Abolishment of Segregation

     The Abolishment of Segregation. What does that mean? Why should we care? What are you going to do to get the message across to others?
  In my research paper, I am focusing on the Abolishment of Segregation in Arkansas. Specifically a group called Little Rock Nine. Little Rock Nine was a group of 9 teenagers that were the first African-American kids to attend an all white school after a law had been passed saying that no kid of color is to be denied the right to learn at a primarily caucasian school. These kids didn't successfully get through a day of school there until the President had to send in Troops from the National Guard. They had no problem getting in after that. In fact, some people started to respect them for preserving until they were let in. Others were not so happy.
  It is because of kids like these that African-Americans and other races are treated equally. Since the time of this event, the government has put laws in place that forbid lesser quality of treatment for any race. So let me just say this, if you didn't care or know about this event now you do. So go make an impact for children with brave hearts like these all over the world.

Is Evil really Evil?

   Super Villians vs. Super Hereos. Good Cop vs. Bad Cop. Mom vs. Dad. One way people tend to see evil is in the form of competion for control over something. In all of the groups listed above, one from each wants to have control. The difference in the two sides is how they go about getting it.
   The good people will go get the control by doing a great act of kindness or helpfulness to the people they want to lead. The evil character will do they exact opposite. They will go and try to destroy something, which usually ends up with the good character looking even better because they did something kind and stopped the villian from taking over. So are villians really evil? I mean doing something of that scale to only make somebody look better is pretty nice, if u ask me.