post B

In Just Listen, Owen and Annabel were getting closer. Mallory was having a little photo shoot fashion show thing. Annabel went to there because owen had forgot his ipod and coat at her house. Owen is absolutely attached to his ipod. When she got there mallory invited her in. Oven and her got a lot closer and when the girls weren't looking they started to kiss. Right them one of the friends walked in. They then went to a car wash. In the middle of the car wash they started kissing and they got their first real kiss together.

post A

prerogative (p.180)- 

barbed (p.191)-

-"she was moving her fingers as if it was her own legs swaying to the music." (p.193) - it uses the word "as"

-"i want celery, like it was a double chocolate chip cookie." (p.203) - it uses the word "like"

-"the reflection was as bright as if it was the head light it selfs." (p.211) -it uses the word "as"

"She was talking to me like the past year had never happened." - this quote shows that even if something bad happens in the past it can be over come if you try.

post B

So far in the book Just Listen, Annabel has become really good friends with Owen Armstrong. Everyone look at them weird because Annabel's the girl that has no friends and same with Owen. He's the guy who punched a guy and went to anger management. They talk all the time during lunch and they always share lunches. Owen has taught Annabel not to lie. They now tell each other everything. Owen is obsessed with music. he even has his own radio station but it plays really weird music that Annabel is honest about and tells him it is very strange music. Annabel is in a fashion show next week and she has to go to the meeting. She sees Owens sister and mom. She was excited to see them. Annabel and her sister Whitney are now better with each other and now they are talking. Her family is also getting better with being around Whitney as well.

post A

-redirect (p.139)-

-reluctantly (p.153)-

-"My finger tips were like little specks of ice." (p.123) - I know its a simile because it uses the word "like".

-"All i wanted was a scoop of ice cream as if it was a fur ball." (p.142) - i know it's a simile because it uses the word "as".

-"I wanted to take a picture of the flower as if it was a white, beautiful snow storm." (p.147) - I know it's a simile because it has the word "as".

-"Just so you know; that's a serious placeholder." (p.139) - In the book they were talking about the word "like". I think it's a meaningful quote because it's about how people use placeholders to say things. Placeholders don't talk about the real word they mean. 

-Telling what you mean is the emerging theme of the book.

post B

 In the book Just Listen, i am at the part where Whitney has to get help for her anorexia. She is now at home with her family instead of in New York where she models. Annabel was talking to Sophie, her x- best friend's boyfriend and she got nervous and had to throw up. She quickly ran away but then bumped into Sophie. She started yelling at her. Then she threw up right in front of Sophie and everyone else. It was really embarrassing for her.  She ran behind the bush and started throwing up even more. The guy, Owen Armstrong, who was alway silent and looked really mean came over to her and started talking to here. She was so surprised. he turned out to be really nice. Annabel didn't have a ride home so he offered her a ride. He told her that he really doesn't like liars. She from then on told herself she would try and not lie to herself or other people

Post A

-prognosis (p.59)- A prediction of the probable course and outcome of a disease.

-errands (p.82)- A short trip taken to perform a specified task.

-"The CD's were like circles of joy." (p.57) - I know it is a simile because it uses the word "like".

-"It was raining as if dogs and cats were coming own from the sky." (p.76) - I know its a simile because it uses the word "like".

-"He personality was like a blob of nothing." (p.101) - I know its a simile because it uses the word "like".

-"I don't like liars." (p.69) - This quote explains that it's not a good thing to lie and even when your telling the whole story you are still not telling the truth. It also explains that liars are not liked and that when you lie it can into more than what it started out as.

- One emerging theme of the book is when Owen said he does not like liars. He went on for a while about how lying is not a good thing, and no one likes liars.  

blog 1, post B

The beginning of the book started off with Annabel, the main character, talking about her fight she had with her friend right before school got out for the summer.  It's now summer right before school starts and she is nervous for school to start because she is very nervous of what everyone will think of her.  After the fight she had with her friend, almost everyone hates her including her old friend.  She's always there saying some mean remark to her.  Annabel's never aware that she is going to say something but it always happens when it's most unexpected.  It also tells you about her sisters. They are all models, including Annabel.  he sisters left for modeling in New York.  Her sister Whitney comes back and is skin and bones. She is now anorexic. She ends up in the hospital and has to stay there for a while. Annabel was very worried for her.

blog 1, post A

commentaries (p.12): a comment from someone

accusation(p.12):  accusing someone of doing something

1) She blew at my hair which felt like the blowing it in my face. (p.26) - uses "like"

2) She was allergic to the dog as if she was gaining wait vary fast. (p.34) - uses "as"

3) He looked at her lie she was a stranger he had never met before. (p.23) - uses "like"

"I could still hear her crying, and the sound was awful. But seeing it was worse." - a think that this is significant because it is something that is true in real life.  That a lot of the time seeing something is way worse that hearing it.

The Sea Inside: post 3

One of the scenes in The Sea Inside I remember was when Ramon was dreaming he was flying to the beach. The camera was tracking and was also a high angle. The effect was that it actually felt that you were the one flying. Another technique that was used had to do with angles. It was eye level and it was used to get down to eye level with Ramon. It gave the feeling that even though Ramon was in bed and weak, he still was important and strong minded. They also used the technique of pan. The camera spun around the room until it got to the person who was talking in the room.

The Sea Inside: post 2

There were a lot of similarities between The Sea Inside and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The most obvious one was that in both situations they were paralyzed. They both had the desire to die because they were not satisfied with there life being locked in. They thought that it would be better for them if they were dead rather than alive and suffering. There weren’t many differences between the two. I think that The Sea Inside was more powerful because since he still had that ability to talk, he could really tell others how much he was disliking life. In The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, he could not speak to others about how much he wanted to die. He had to blink to communicate which did not have a much effect.

The Sea Inside: post 1

I really enjoyed The Sea Inside. I thought that Ramon’s request for assisted suicide should have been granted right away. It’s his life and he should have the final say in whether he’s alive or dead. I don’t even think his case should have gone to court. Even though he wanted to die and he couldn’t commit suicide himself, there should have been an exception for him. He shouldn’t have to be suffering when all he wants to do is be dead. I think his friends who assisted him in his suicide were very brave and only wanted the best for Ramon which was death. I think they felt the same way I do about the situation.

final

In the end of the memoir “Please Stop Laughing at Me”, Jodee had recently switched schools. She had a good first start but as time went on, things started to get worse. It felt just like how elementary school had gone for her. She started getting teased again for doing one thing wrong. All she did was mess up a presentation in front of the class. Everyone saw it and then it got passed around the whole school. She was humiliated. She went through her last two years of school being teased, but she still stuck it out. Finally it was her senior year and she graduated from high school. Jodee went to college for journalism. Five years went by and Jodee went to her high school reunion.

week 4, part 2

Jodee went to the new school she is now attending. She was very nervous. The first day went by smoothly. Right away when she got there, everyone was introducing themselves to her and being very polite and welcoming. One girl came up to her and asked Jodee to eat lunch with them that day. Jodee was very excited. After a couple of days went by, when Jodee was in class, one girl slipped her a note under her desk. At Jodee’s previous school she was also was passed a note under her desk that had said very unwanted words about her, so when she got this not she was nervous at what it would say. She opened it up and what it said was “you’re really cool!” Jodee was in shock of how everyone liked her. She could not wait to go home and show her parents the note to have proof that she really was liked at her new school.

week 4, part 1

Jodee Blanco had said in Please Stop Laughing at Me, “I swallowed hard, trying to be brave.” (p. 88) This quote helps explain what this book is really about. Jodee might be getting taunted at her schools in some parts of the book, but she still has to be brave to get through her years of school. Please Stop Laughing at Me is all about a girl being bullied at school, and that’s what this is saying.

my D.B.A.T.B. reflection

My reflection on The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a positive one. I thought that the book was very detailed and told really what happened to Bauby. All the details in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly really explained to the reader what Bauby was going through and how he overcame the hard times of being locked in. Bauby told the readers about how he would day dream back to when he was not locked in and explain all the exciting times he had experience with his family and friends. He also explained in depth all the day dreams he had that were not real and that he had randomly thought up himself with just one inspiration in mind. The inspirations were simply a photograph, a statue in the hospital or even something Bauby watched on the television. There were some times in the book when it was hard to follow. When it explained Bauby dreaming and then jumped back to reality, in the hospital, it confused me a little on whether or not the hospital part was part of the dream. I was also a little confused on when it explained Bauby out on the shore of the beach. It was a little challenging to determine whether or not that was part of his dream or reality, as well. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was a very interesting book to me and I very much enjoyed it. Bauby explained his never ending fight to survive as long as he could with his locked in syndrome. Bauby really did not realize what he had until it was gone from his life. It really teaches the reader to live to your fullest because you never know what is going to happen tomorrow. I think that that was one of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’s main ideas and that it why I enjoyed it so much.

week 3, part 2

1) The strengths of the book up to this point are that it is filled with detail and tell the reader what is really going on and what it feels like to be in the same position she was in. The weakness is that it can be hard to follow because it skips back to the past and also she grows up fast and moves from grade to grade. My feelings towards the issues brought up on school bullying that are in the book so far are worse than I have seen and heard of at our school. They are way more extreme that at EHS. They talk about everyone circling around the disabled students and chanting to them how much they hate them. I have seen bullying at the schools I have gone to before, but nothing more than a punch or calling someone a name. In Please Stop Laughing at me, it is a worse. I predict that the new school Jodee goes to will be better for her in the beginning, just like the other schools she has gone to but then will get worse, and the other students will start bullying her again. I feel that the book is a good story of someone who is constantly bullied and doesn’t give up in school or anything else. It teaches the reader that you shouldn’t care what other people think of you as long as you accept yourself.

week 3, part 1

1) Jodee was getting teased so much at her school that she decided to go and look at other schools in chance of finding one she like that would possibly have less bullying toward her. She found a school that she didn’t like that much but decided to go there because her mother thought that it would be a good place for her. She was extremely nervous in fear that this school would be that same as her last. The school was an old school. The building was old and made out of dark brick. Behind the school was a “memorial yard”, which was a yard in memorial for people who had gone to that school and had later died. The yard really freaked Jodee out.

2) Jodee Blanco is the author of Please Stop Laughing at Me, Please Stop Laughing at Us, The Complete Guide to Book Publicity, and The Evolving Woman which was written by both Jodee Blanco and Catherine Lanigan. She has worked with New York Times bestselling authors, Academy Award-winning actors, Emmy Awards-winning producers, and Hall of Fame professional athletes. She teaches at New York University and the University of Chicago teaching publishing. Jodee holds a workshop on school bullying at Kishwaukee College for parents, teachers, counselors, and professionals. Law, legal, social services, mental health, and medical are the fields of the professionals.


http://www.iwpa.org/bestseller1102.html

http://www.kishwaukeecollege.edu/press_releases/2006/2007-02-09-jodeeblanco.shtml


http://www.kishwaukeecollege.edu/press_releases/2006/images/2007-02-09-jodeeblanco.jpg

week 2

Loaded Words:
1) robust (+) (p.48)
2) sparkling (+) (p.48)
3) babe (-) (p.49)
4) ancient (-) (p.50)
5) moody (-) (p.50)
6) surged (+) (p.52)
7) ridiculed (-) (p.54)
8) withering (-) (p.54)
9) foreboding (-) (p.55)
10) interrogated (-) (p.78)

Short Summary: Jodee starts helping the un again with the special program for the deaf again. She doesn’t let Jo Ellen know that she started the program again. Later that day Jodee stumbled upon her best friend, Jo Ellen, her crush, Greg, and others circled around the disabled children, making fun of them. Jodee when up to them trying to make the other kids stop. She started yelling at them and telling them to leave them alone. The nun came up and all the kids ran away except for Jodee and the disabled children who were crying. The nun wanted to know who started it. Jodee knew who started it but didn’t want to tell her because she knew that everyone would hate her after it. The nun finally got it out of her. She told her that it was Jo Ellen and Greg. Later that day Jodee went back to class. Everyone was ma at her because they knew that it was Jodee who told on them.

Reaction: My reaction is so far that, people shouldn't be making fun of the disabled children. It's not their fault that they have disabilities, and Jodee is doing a good thing by helping them out so they shouldn't be making fun of her either.

week 1

Summary: The book starts out with Jodee, the main character, on her way to her high school reunion. She is really afraid of going in to the building because she is afraid that her old class mates might be the same way they were when she went to school with them, bullies.
Then it skips back many years to her first day of her freshman year of high school. Jodee is really nervous, too nervous to even eat breakfast. She prays that high school will not be the same way as middle school was for her. She gets on the bus and sees the same people that went to her middle school. Jodee asks to sit with the “cool” people. They automatically deny her request. The only seat left is the “loser” seat up in the front of the bus behind the bus driver. Suddenly, she feels things hit her head. She doesn’t want to turn around and let he cool people see her sad, so she reaches her hand around to the back of her head and feels spit balls stuck to her hair. Jodee then starts to cry but won’t let others see it. She gets inside her first class and sits down. The class has to start out with a speech to say in front of the class. Jodee doesn’t know if she should do a bad speech so the “cool” people think she’s also cool, or if she should do the best she can so the teacher likes her. She decides to do a really good speech. The speech was about how people get bullied. A lot of people make fun of her but then this one girl comes up to her and tell her that she thought her speech was amazing. Her name was Noreen. They plan to go shopping later that week.
Once again it skips back a few years to when she was in fourth grade. It was Jodee’s ninth birthday party and she had invited almost everyone from her grade at school. The party turned out to be great, and everyone had fun. She goes to school the next day and everyone is her best friend because of her party. Jodee thinks it would be fun if she was to help out one of the nuns at the special program for the deaf. The nun is very excited and allows her to help. The next day she goes to the program. Jodee meets a new friend who’s name is Marianne. Marianne is younger than Jodee. Jodee thinks of her as a little sister. Jodee want her to come over to her house one day for a play date. Their parents agree to it. Jodee’s mom and Jodee go and pick Marianne up from her house. They realize that her house is very run down. Someone Jodee knows sees Jodee at the park with Marianne. That person tells Jodee’s best friend, Jo Ellen. Jo Ellen tells Jodee that if she wants to be her friend than she has to stop being friends with Marianne because the deaf people at their school are know as losers. Jodee knows its wrong but the quits helping the nun with the program. Jodee’s mom finds out that she quit and tells her that Jo Ellen shouldn’t be making her stop if she a real friend. Jodee then starts up with the program again.

Reaction: My reaction to the book so far is that, I think that helping out with a special program for the deaf is a good thing, not a bad thing. I don’t understand why her class mates find it to be such a bad thing to be helping disabled children out.

My goal for my sophomore year.

My goal for my sophomore year is to achieve better grades. Last year my grades weren't the best and it is really important to get good grades because of college. I want to get into a good college and good grades play a big part in getting accepted. I also feel like my grades should be better so I can set a good example for my younger brother.

What I am most anxious about at E.H.S.

I am most anxious about meeting new people. Last year, at the middle school, there was only half of the students there are here in my grade now. After going to Valley View for four years, I pretty much knew almost everyone. Switching to the high school, there are twice as many students. Also, with having the classes and lunch a mix of sophomores, juniors, and seniors, you get a chance to meet new people not only in your own grade, but in others too.