Inquiry Activity - Parkinson

Lakin Steedly

Mrs. Parkinson

English IIIB

15 March 2016

Trust, Commitment, and Dependent

A good friend is someone who you can trust. Someone you can tell secrets to and trust that they will keep them, under any circumstances. Someone who will always stick by your side in times of need and won't sell you out for anything.

Everyone has a person to confide in; someone who will be loyal. Trust is very hard to gain, but; however, it is easy to lose it. Throughout years of your life, you may have grown more connected to a person. Mine happens to be my Mother. She knows what I need without me even saying a word. We have a secure relationship.

John Steinbeck shows a strong relationship with trust, values, and dependence on a friend within chapter 3 of, Of Mice and Men between George and Slim. Steinbeck paints the picture by saying, “He looked at Lennie, still crouched fearfully against the wall. ‘Le’s see your hands,” he asked (Steinbeck 65). George senses in Slim a person of intelligence and empathy who will not be mean to Lennie, make fun of him, or take advantage of him.  After Lennie smashes Curley's hand, Slim is the one who tells Curley not to fire George and Lennie. Slim inspires confidences because he is not judgmental; the perfect qualities of a good friend.

Mini Shark Tank - The White House

Lakin Steedly

Mrs. Parkinson

English IIIB

7 March 2016

Harlem Renaissance Professor

Poetry is a captivating field of writing, but poetry from the Harlem Renaissance has a strong twist with the strong historical happenings. From strong diction and  powerful syntax to elongating lines, The White House (written by Claude McKay during the Renaissance), conveys these throughout. The factors create a visualization of pain and suffering to depict his anger that contributes to the overall voice of the poem. Claude McKay concludes, “The pavement slabs burn loose beneath my feet,/And passion rends my vitals as I pass” (5-6). Diction within these line construct a flowing vision of what Claude McKay is describing within the poem. The capability of the words suggest power and strength as the author uses words such as; “possess” (4), “passion” (5), “chafing” (8), “savage” (8), “shines” (9), “wrathful blossom” (10), “inviolate” (14), “poison” (15), and “hate” (15). By calling attention to the beauty power and persuasiveness  of the poem we find ways to incorporate these into our own writing.

Studying our Writing Wodels: Catcher in the Rye, House on Mango Street, Visual Sources

House on Mango Street

Section 1...

~The author uses long sentences using or, and also, and.

In the beginning of the paper, the author gives us a lot of information and details about certain little things. Having a flow with many details connected with the use of and, or, and also. This creates a good flow to the piece as all the sentences connect. There are  no thoughts that are interrupted which allows an easy flow to the piece of text. The text provides intentionally changing sentence lengths between these long sentences connected to, a very short sentence we see at the end of paragraphs.

Section 2...

~Author uses repetition by starting most sentences with "But,..."

Throughout the whole paper their is use of different tones, but an overall theme. The use of this technique allows the repetition and contradiction of the piece of text. Adding the "but" creates a feel of two sides of the story. This creates an easy flow, but helps us not get lost in the middle of novels, speeches, papers, or books. Elements of the novel are conjoined together by using this technique.

Section 3...

~Author connects her sentences using and.

The use of the and constantly reminds me of a little kid. When they stumble to tell a story and always connect their sentences. With their brains working faster than their mouth.. and and and and and.They signal to the reader the relationship between ideas in a paragraph or even between paragraphs. By connecting larger ideas, they let readers know what to do with the information presented to them. These connections helps reinforce the argument within a paper.

Blog 2- Catcher in the Rye

For this assignment, we were told to take a part in chapter 15 or 16 and then entitle it to how it could be conveyed into a part of a vignette. One page 122, at the very end of chapter 16...Holden is at the museum-thinking as all these people walk by. Holden states, "Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone" (122). He continued to walk to the park and watched the little kids playing. In a vignette, Holden could talk about how he walked around the museum and how he thought about certain things not having to change.

Blog Post

Today in class, I chose to answer blog option number 1.

This article, was simply about a rattle in the car that this Daryn’s husband heard when driving on the highway coming from the right side by the window- but it wasn’t actually the window, they already checked that. When she brought the car into the dealership to be looked at, the workers said there was nothing they could do… there was simply to rattle. The wife insisted there was. They took a test drive, and the rattling was gone…just like that. The author then leads in and says, “As I continue to stress about the mystery rattle, it strikes me, Dear Reader, you just might have a rattle, as well…Rather, that thing that is the thorn in your side, that others can’t see or detect that you’re told to get over” (DarynKagan.com).

Pushing toward the greater idea of the article piece, sensitivity. The sensitivity to the rattling- or the sensitivity that Holden has with the baseball mitt. We see in Catcher in the Rye, that Holden has a sentimental connection to this which was his brothers growing up, Allie. Allie was such a good from what Holden told us. Holden is very sensitive about his brother because he believes that his brother did not deserve it. Holden was always the less liked child, while his brother was a great student and received many compliments from teachers, staff members, and coaches. The mitt was his brothers with all the fun saying and poems he wrote on them that meant something to his brother. With Holden thinking, they must mean something to him. Some situations, even if they aren’t exactly there- still are represented in our lives in different ways. Holden’s brother, Allie, shows up in his life when thinking about baseball, squeezing a tight fist, or sleeping in a garage. The baseball mitt didn’t just give him a sense of rushed emotions, like the rattling had with the husband, it was that one thing that kept eating at him. The one thing that always brought sparks to his eyes, a fire in his voice, and a tingling in his hands when he thought about it. 

Final Thoughts of Perks of Being a Wallflower (LAST BLOG POST!)

I will admit that the movie is what made me read the book. I can’t see movies without reading the book so I forced myself to read this one so I can see the movie. I am so glad that I made myself read this one finally! The Perks of Being a Wallflower is told all in letters from Charlie to an anonymous friend. To me, this style of writing did two things. It made the story quicker and easier to read (and it’s already a pretty quick book since it’s only 213 pages.) It also made the story seem more real. You never find out who the anonymous friend is and it’s almost like Charlie is just writing letters to the reader. This is one of my favorite styles of writing and I loved it in this book in particular. Charlie was such a unique main character. Everything that Charlie went through killed me. I laughed with him, I cried with him, I went through every emotion. As for his friends, they were all perfect. They brought out different sides of him and they helped him grow so much. The Perks of Being a Wallflower definitely deserves all the praise it’s been getting. If you haven’t picked it up yet, do so now!

Final Blogging Assessment in English 1B (revised post)

Charlie's Brother and Sister

At the end of the second part we are introduced to Charlie's sister and things aren't great for Charlie's sister in the relationship department. She and her boyfriend have a nasty relationship. When he hits her she stays with him and continues dating him until she gets pregnant, She starts to wonder if she still has time to changer and become a better person. After she tells her boyfriend about their baby, he denies that it's his, and she decides to have an abortion. Charlie is the only person she tells and they really start to bond! After talking about his sister, we are then introduced to Charlie's Brother. Charlie sums it up as: "My brother likes posters of girls and Diet Coke cans" (Chbosky 4).
He plays football for Penn State on scholarship. Then for a while, he had a girlfriend named Kelly, whom Charlie is strangely obsessed with. Unlike Charlie and his sister, he didn't do very well in high school. He was "something like 223rd in his class," according to Charlie (Chbosky 55). But he's not just some dumb jock. He's also kind of a peacemaker between his grandfather and the rest of the family. Charlie says, "my brother always understood my grandfather." (Chbosky 21).
Charlie goes on talking about some of the other people in the book but I feel like he focused on his brother and sister the most.
I don't know really why he did this but I really enjoyed him focusing on his siblings.
But in the end, family is family. We may not always get along, but they are always there for us. When we wake up they are there, when we come home, they are there, when you need them- they are always there for us. Family is something you never want to let go and not have.