Reading Details

Sorry this is so late
Bored of the Rings 4/13/13 1hr
Black Company 4/12/13 1hr
Naruto 4/10/13 7 min
Sword Art Online - Volume 5 Phantom Bullet 4/14/13 30 min
I'm using my reading discussion exemption for this week. I attended the World War Z discussion.

Song

Counting Stars - OneRepublic
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/onerepublic/countingstars.html
This is a pretty straight-forward song. The artists use tone to show us the theme: this guy is just trying to make it out there. On a broad level, the song talks about him making it in the industry and life in general. He refers to his age a few times, basically saying that he is somewhere between being old and young, and that he is getting the opposite reaction one would expect to get from things.
On a more specific level, he is speaking to his lover, and talking about what he sees in their future together. When he says "no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars", I take that to mean that he is telling them that they won't have to worry about money problems (which every successful singer seems to have a song about), and that they will shoot above the rest and be among the "stars".

Reading Response & Times

Naruto 4/3/13 7 min
Bored of the Rings 4/7/13 1 hour
The Black Company 4/6/13 1 1/2 hours

So, this weekend, I started reading a book called Bored of the Rings. It is, as you may have guessed, a parody of the popular LORD of the Rings. In some ways it is very similar to the original. In others... they differ.

One way they are similar is that they both use a similar style of description. What I mean is, the voice of the parody feels the same as the first. Also, while the characters are different in regards to their names (Gandalf to Goodgulf... Frodo to Frito), their attitudes are very much alike.

This ties in to one of the key differences between the books: the tone. While the faculties are similar, the book I am reading is still a parody, and is meant to be viewed in a comedic nature; Lord of the Rings is, for the most part, not what I would call "comedic writing."

Jane Goodall + Reading Times

Naruto 3/19/13 7 min
The Cases That Haunt Us 3/21/13 1 hr 30 min
                 ""                      3/23/13 1 hr

     What Jane Goodall did was nothing to sneeze at; whenever plagiarism is committed, someone is always losing out on the deal. However, I think that because she is famous, people might take it a little more harshly with her. They might say that she is getting tired of doing her own things and just wants to make money, or something like that. And, to be fair, she and her publishers should probably know better than to use information that wasn't cited. Even so, I, personally don't think what she did was really that serious.
     Honestly, this woman has spent a lot of time trying to help the environment. I'm not what you'd call a tree hugger, but she has done some pretty amazing. And, as it said in the article, she only [improperly] researched the portions she needed for the botany sections, which were few and far between as far as I can interpret. She's done so much goo for this world; are we really going to rag on her for making a few silly mistakes? (And, I mean, come on... shouldn't a publisher/editor/ANYONE-WHO-WORKED-ON-THE-BOOK catch this sort of thing anyway?!)

Paper Revision

     I have chosen to revise my history research paper for a number of reasons.
First, I think it is the one that I didn't really do that well. It's pretty much like the comments said: I just made some formatting adjustments and resubmitted. I think I knew that going in to it; I'm not sure why I did it anyway, though. I think I just got a little frustrated and thought I should just turn it back in as it was. Looking back... probably not the best idea.
     Also, I think that revising this paper will give me more strength in this area of writing. It's probably my weakest right now, in my opinion.Besides, it's something that I'm probably going to be doing for a long time down the road, so I think I should get the gist of it here and now. It will help me a lot if I can understand most of it now.

Nervous Conditions

Let's be honest: no one really liked the book. That much is perfectly clear. However, that doesn't mean that the book was bad at conveying its meaning as a work of literature. It's supposed to be relevent to the topic of this year, and, though I hate to say it, Dr. deGravelles wasn't wrong to fund us these tlhh
The purpose of this novel is to chronicle the story of Tambu and her struggles through life. Being a woman, she has to face more setbacks than men. Therefore, she has to work even harder than them to win approval from the others.
It may pain me to say this, but... I think Nervous Conditions actually helped us in English. It relates very well with our overarching question, and has the correct theme to be focusing on.
I know that everyone hated this book for one reason or another. However. It's not our like the book, only give determine whether the book was successful in that area. And... As far as I'm concerned, it won't be a problem understanding it or anything.
The issue students will face next year will be more about the book as a whole (how boring it is). I've no doubt this will happen. But, when it comes to post colonial influence, I think Nervous Conditions takes the cake.

Great Expectations

So, I have really two major identities: the basketball player, and the gamer-nerd. However, different things are tied to each, and both are equal parts of me (as of writing this, anyway).
The gamer part of me would have me playing with the more secluded members of the class, and spending a large quantity of time indoors. I have no problem with that. Then there's the basketball me, who is more focused on socializing, but
with the opposite people than with the nerd me. There is also the obvious factor of actual physical exercise.
I'm okay with leading two different personas throughout the year. However, there are something's that make either one easier than the other at times. For example, I have more pressure from people in general during basketball season, because that is when I feel I am being scrutinized the most. However, when I play video games, there aren't that many people who really care about whether I win or lose.
Also, I feel more involved in basketball than I do in video games, and vice versa.
There are more physical connections in basketball to be made, but I feel that video games bring out my emotions more, simply because they are the only thing to be brought out when playing them. I think that makes their appearance amplified, in my case at least.

Reading Details / Nyasha

     So first, let me express my condolences for the passing of Nhamo. Although... he was a jerk,so... Anyway, I was excited to hear from Tambu all of her 'wonderful' experiences she had back the old homestead. She really caught a break from that Dorris lady. I was unsure of Tambu moving here at first, but we quickly warmed to each other. Still, I can't help but feel that her opinion of me might be a little 'iffy.' Oh well. It's not like that really affects me or anything. Also, my parents need to lay of with the rules. I've had it up to here (holds hand up) with them and their stupid rules. I need to be my own person. Can't they at least give me that, their own daughter?

3/1/13 Nervous Conditions 15 min

2/28/13 Nervous Conditions  1 hr 30 min
2/27/13 Naruto 10 min
3/2/13 The Prince 25 min
3/2/13 The Art of War 13 min

Evaluation: C Layer 1

     The assignments I did were simply annotations and reading guides for Ch. 1-5. I figured they would be the most straightforward things to choose, and would therefore provide me with the most information about the book. That seems to be the case. Even though they are the more traditional assignments to go with reading projects, they are also the ones that help me the most, in terms of understanding the content of the book.
   If I were to change things about the process I went through, I'm going to change how I get the work done. For Layer 1 I sort of waited until the last minute to get the work done, and that didn't work out so well for me. So, I'm going to spread things out this time around. That way, I'll be able to manage both my time and workload more efficiently.

Reflection

     What I found most difficult about the writing process was the fact that it was farther back in time than, I guess, most other topics, so the information was harder to grasp. Yet, the storage of all the info in detailed works of writing made it a lot easier to understand something from so long ago.
     The feedback I got from people was mostly just formatting advice, or tips about how to word something a little differently. I'm confident that whether I took the advice or not, I did what was best for my paper as a whole.
     I would say the strongest thing about my paper is the content itself, but the presentation could have used a bit more work... maybe. I'm still not entirely sure.

Reading Times

2/21/13 The Prince 30 min
2/20/13 The Art of War 35 min
2/20/13 Naruto 5 min
2/19-21/13 Nervous Conditions 1 hr 30 min

Reading Details

2/13/13
Naruto 10 min
Silmarillion 1 hr 30 min
2/15/13
Children of Húrin 1 hr

Research/ Reading

Children of Hurin 2/2/13 30 min
Naruto 2/1/13 5 min
The Silmarillion 2/3/13 30 min
The Racketeer 2/1/13 97 min

Research

So far, I've pretty much gotten a feel for my topic. I've completed my sources and now know more about it. I feel like I'm in a good place. I could use more notecards, though.
So far, I have accomplished compiling my bibliography and have researched varying amounts of the different sources. Now feels like an appropriate time to begin an outline, along with creating some notecards on NoodleTools.

Research

I've found some really good websites that provide much info on different weapons, tools, armor, etc. However, I may end up using some of the websites more than others, due to the amount of content in the different sites.

Over the weekend, I went to a library and found some really helpful books that have information on warfare, different cultures, battles, and other things involving war. Also, they seem to be fairly easy to navigate through, despite the amount of content in some of the books, which I guess is a good thing.

I don't really have any major concerns.

Zero Dark Thirty

Children of Hurin
1/15 10 min
1/16 10 min
1/17 10 min
1/18 10 min
 Research
2 hrs found, documented 5 sources

So, after much effort, I finally convinced my mom to take me to see Zero Dark Thirty. The torture scenes weren't even that messed up. Anyway, the main character is a recently inducted CIA agent whose adroit operation of the mission, which she turns into a crusade, leads to the eventual elimination of Osama bin Laden and the militants accompanying him at his hideout.
Throughout the movie, she creates erudite plans to retrieve information from various sources. At first she is a pariah, but the others agents slowly but surely warm up to her. Her demeanor is very committed and focused throughout the duration of the movie. However, a lapse of rational thought by one of her friends results in the deaths of several soldiers. At the end, Seal Team 6 shows her the body of bin Laden, providing definitive proof of his death.

It was a great movie, and I recommend that anyone reading this should go see it (even though that is probably unrealistic for some of you... oh well).

Why I [Can't] See Zero Dark Thirty

     So, Zero Dark Thirty came out this weekend, and I really want to go see it. It chronicles the chase of Osama bin Laden that spans the first decade of the 21st century. Sounds amazing, right? Not to my mom.
     Apparently, the movie involves torture scenes that are pretty controversial, and has information in it that may have been obtained in a less than appropriate way. So, I did some research. Turns out, it's rated R for "strong violence including brutal disturbing images, and for language." That might be ample reason for your average 9th grade movie-goer to drop the subject, but I am anything but. I've seen Ninja Assassin and Punisher: War Zone. No movie ever made, ever again could be bloodier or more violent than those two. The best part about it is, my mom was with me hen we saw those in theaters. Chalk up a point for Jim.
     Also, while some of the content may be controversial, the majority of the viewers found it to be a solid film. So solid, in fact, that it has garnered 4 Golden Globe nominations, and 5 Academy Award nominations (and guess who's hosting said Academy Awards? Seth MacFarlane).
     Anywho, the fact that the movie might be a little violent doesn't mean anything. It's nothing I haven't seen before. Take that little tid-bit away, and you're left with good movie, inspired by real events which helped to form a very intriguing story. And besides, you can't have a war movie without a little blood.

Reading Response + Times

Children of Hurin 1/6/13 1 hour
              "              1/7/13 20 min
The Silmarillion   1/8/13 10 min
              "              1/9/13 10 min
Children of Hurin 1/10/13 1 hour

     Recently, I started reading a book called The Children of Hurin. It was written by J.R.R. Tolkien and editted by his son, Christopher. It takes place long before the events of Lord of the Rings, in the First Age of Middle-Earth.
     I picked this book in particular because I had recently seen The Hobbit, and I had a sudden longing to find out what it was like in the time before the primary series. Of course, none of the familiar faces would be present, but that is a price we all must pay when venturing into the unknown. It seems like an exciting tale, involving the First Dark Lord Morgoth, Sauron's former commander. I find the writing style to be a little different than J. Tolkeins', because of C. Tolkiens' editting, but in a fresh way, not a dissappointing way.
     The Children of Hurin is a window into a hugely unexplored era of Middle-Earth that I will look forward to peeking through as time goes on.