Thanksgiving Break

I got to go home for the long weekend.  I spent almost the entire time with my family.  I ran in a race with my aunt and cousin Thanksgiving morning.  It was the first time I had run that race and it was really fun.  Then I had dinner with my mom's family and then right from there went to dinner with my dad's family.  Friday I got to go to the badger hockey game with my grandma and two cousins, we tied in overtime.  Then, on Saturday I went to the badger football game with my grandma.  We won the game and won a share in the big ten championship, which also gave us the bid to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.  It was a really cool thing to experience.  Then Saturday night I went to the hockey game again, and we won the game.  Then sadly, I had to come back to school where it is freezing and were getting all of this snow.

#3 page 244-The Most Dangerous Game

The narrator really seems to emphasize on the story having the theme of "darkness".  He has darkness a lot through out the story.  In the beginning, they are on the cruise ship and looking out into the darkness where the island appears to be.  Then when he falls off of the ship he is in the dark swimming towards the dark.  Also, whenever Zaroff hunts the people he has in his so called game it has to be night time and dark when he does it. The story seems to just keep going on from the start of the story when they talk about the darnkness.

Young Goodman Brown

In the story of Young Goodman Brown there was definitely a lot of symbolism shown through out the entirety of the story.  In the story, Faith had more than one meaning to it.  It was indeed his wife and also included his religious faith.  Faith wanted him to stay with her, but he walked away from her, and his religious faith he walked from by going to the devil.  The forest symbolized sin and the man in the forest symbolized the devil in Goodman Brown's eyes.  I also think that the story was pretty hard to read.  It took me forever to finish it and it was confusing at times.  You definitely had to pay attention to key words and such.

A Rose For Emily

In A Rose For Emily I thought the way it was written was interesting.  It was narrarated by the towns people and they all had different insights in it.  It also jumped around all over, it went from her funeral to the townspeople saying things about her, back to the funeral and such forth.  It was a different way of writing, but if definitely made the story more interesting to read.  The way the townspeople talked about her showed that they didn't know what was really going on in her life.  Not knowing the details of the story from the beginning made you really think about what was going on, but also made parts of the story hard to read.

The Most Dangerous Game

The story was well written and had a good theme to it.  The author portrayed it as being suspensful and the theme was "darkness".  There were various parts to the story that had the darkness involved in it.  The very first part of the story when Rainsford was talking with the other guy on the ship and said it was so dark you couldn't see the island. When he fell off the ship, it was night time and pure darkness.  Also, when he got to the island and went to Zafford's house, he described Zafford with his dark features.  Another thing to point out is that when Zafford would go hunting it was during the night, all dark scenes during the night.

Katrina

In class, I always noticed Ichabod staring at me, and I always felt some sort of connection. But deep down, I truly loved Brom Bones.  I have started to notice that both Ichabod and Brom Bones have feelings for me and have started to argue over me.  I find it kind of amusing to watch. Brom and Ichabod fought over and over and Brom ended up running Ichabod right out of town.  I never thought he would really leave, I guess I was wrong.  At least I am left with Brom, who I know truly loves me. That's one less worry in my life.

Buffy Episode

I thought watching Buffy was kind of random.  It isn't something that I would choose to watch on my own time.  It is very corny and some of the things they say and do are just common sense that isn't really even funny.  It does show that the gender role can be different.  Typically, guys should be the tough ones saving they're friends from fights, but in this episode you have Buffy, the girl.  She takes on vampires, isn't the average girl, and saves her friend from a fight.  Watching this show for learning how to analyze literature was a good way because it was easy to do.  All in all I thought the show was alright.

Favorite Book

Personally, I do not have a favorite book.  I really enjoy reading books by Jody Picoult and Nicholas Sparks.  Jody Picoult writes with a lot of detail and her books are entertaining and make you never want to put the book down.   Nicholas Sparks writes with such a passion, he writes mainly love stories and he makes you really think about things.  

If I had to choose a favorite book, it would either be The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks, or Handle With Care by Jody Picoult.  The Last Song is about a girl who goes down to stay with her dad for the summer and she hadn't seen him in nine years.  She falls in love with a boy and later finds out that her dad has cancer and that's why he wants to spend the summer with him.   Handle with Care is about a girl who has a rare disorder in which her bones are very fragile and break easily. She has a little sister who is selfish because she thinks she never gets any attention and she learns that life isn't easy and it's not about herself.  The family goes through rough times and they learn to get through it all and it makes them closer than ever.

Football

I chose to talk about this weekends football games.  I am a Packers fan for life, I have been since I was little.  I actually used to live right behind Lambeau Field.  So basically I was born and raised a Packer fan. All my family is from Wisconsin and we all love the Packers, but my dad's favorite team is the Rams and my uncle's the Dolphins.  They have always struggled so my family depends on the Packers. 

Last night's game was amazing.  it went back and forth the entire game and was fun to watch.  Yes, the Packers won, but the Vikings should have.  The officials were terrible in the game.  Brett Favre threw the ball to his reciever in the endzone and he caught it going into the endzone, McCarthy challenged the call, and what do you know no touchdown.  It was clearly a touchdown, no one really understands the reasoning for the call. But that was the game saver for the Packers.  The Vikings were down 28-24 with 12 seconds left and a pass into the endzone was called no good and then Favre threw it away and the Packers won.  It was a really exciting game.

Also this weekend, Wisconsin played Iowa at Iowa, and both teams are playing really well right now. It was the same as the Packer game, the game stayed close the entire time. It was 31-30 Wisconsin ahead with 12 seconds left and Iowa had the ball. They took their last time out so the clock had to keep running, they threw a pass completed it but forgot that the clock didn't stop and time ran out and the Badgers won.

On another note, my favorite college team, Ohio State dominated their game winning 49-0 against Purdue.

Working Thesis and Topic Examples

For my paper I am going to be writing about ADHD.  I am not positve for my thesis statement yet, because I am not positive how to write my paper.  I want to talk about testing for it at a young age, but I also want to talk about the effects of ADHD and parenting.

Pathos:  For patho I can talk about the effects of the drugs.  I can also about the effects of the family. There are cases and studies, that come with ADHD.
Logos:  For logos I could talk about the "label" that comes with the disorder and the age.
Ethos:  I could talk about what the effects children have when they are getting picked on for it and get an article

3 Possible Topics

Topic: ADHD
1. What are the causes/effects of ADHD?
2. Should children be tested when they are young?
3. Should medicine be given each day?

Topic: Professional Sports
1. Do athletes get payed too much? Officials
2. Should athletes be able to play again after scandals/get in trouble?
3. Are officials calling the game right? Favored?

Topic: Beauty Pageants
1. Are they exploitive?
2. Make girls want the "perfcect" image?
3. Lead to eating disorders?

Reflection on Class Today

I thought that what we did in class today was fun. It was nice having an easy quiz to start the day out.  Then answering all of the random questions you had.  It was interesting hearing what people had to say about each topic.  I like that it had everyone involved too.  I think that we should have heard the answers that you had to each of the questions.  The thing on the board in the end was helpful, but I still have no idea what I am going to use for a topic for this next paper.

Reflection

I think that this class is good. It teaches you that college is not like high school.  There is a lot more homework for English now than there was before. You have to learn time management for sure.  I have learned to be more responsible and get my work done on time.  I have learned to not procrastinate, because it does no good and leaves you stressed and in a hurry.

I think that with all of the papers we are writing, that they could be explained a little more.  It's kind of hard moving from one paper, handing in a draft, and then starting a new one.  It's not hard getting the papers done, but it's confusing as to what we need to do sometimes.

Otherwise, I think that the class is going well. It's not hard, if you keep up with your work and show up to class. I think the teaching is going well and it's not a hard class if you put your mind to it and keep up with everything.

Literacy Narrative Revisions

For my first draft of my literacy narraitve, I wrote how basketball changed my life and explained about things that happened through out all different levels of playing.  I wrote about what went on through out the different years of basketball and I wrote about the coaches and the impacts that they had on me. I wrote about the different things that happened during basketball.

For my second draft, I wrote more in depth about coaches and more about what happened with my life.  I wrote about an injury that I had my junior year, that impacted not only my basketball season, but my cross-country season too.  Now, I wrote more in depth on certain events that happened during the times.  

I haven't finished my final draft completely, but I am going to focus more on the changes that happened along with all of the events. 

Proposal Topic

For my proposal essay, I am going to be focusing on ADHD.  My little sister has ADHD and she takes medicine each day.  If she didn't have the medicine she gets super hyper and out of control.  It's hard for her to focus and she gets very moody.  One second she will be fine and the next she is angry and upset with everything.  I think that it is a good idea to medicate children in need of it.  But I think that it's uncalled for people having children who are jittery and have hard times focusing on things.  Especially little kids, that's what they are suppose to do, life wouldn't be the same with out it.  I also think that it's wrong for people to judge children with disabilities.  They are just like everyone else, except they need medicine to help them out.  It's wrong to think that they are so different from everyone else, they get special attention at school sometimes and they need more time to do some stuff, but they are just like everyone else in the world. 

The Colbert Report

I watched the episode where Stephen Colbert talks about migrant farm workers. He started out the episode by saying how he was going to go testify against congress.  He also says how Gretchen Carlson was upset by him and saying that he was going to testify saying that was wasting our tax payers dollars. He also made fun of how Elmo dressed up in a suit going up against Congress.
Next, he dresses up as a farmer and goes to a migrant farm to work for the day.  He gets there and he has make boxes to put corn in, then he has to put the corn in them as fast as he can. He starts taking corn out of other people's boxes and he tries talking to them. Then he goes out into a bean field and he has to pick beans.  This whole time, he is making jokes out of it.  He asks if there's any place that he can pick beans in the shade.  He also asks if he gets paid by the bean or by the hour.  He was just trying to make a joke out of it the whole time. At the end, he asks if he would be accepted for the job and he was told no.  Now personally, I think that if another white person was to come and ask for a job that they would be told no also. During the episode, you saw all these people in the background and they were all of another race.  There were no white people in the back ground, and I think that it is wrong to not accept others of different races.  Through out the nation there are so many people with out jobs and the news is always talking about unemployment.  So I think that they should accept anyone to work, as long as they do the job right.

ADHD

http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/22/adhd-a-global-epidemic-or-just-a-bunch-of-fidgety-kids/

I read an article on ADHD becoming an epidemic, which I truly don't think it's becoming one.  It is a normal thing for children to be figgity and squirming around.  I think that if the children weren't squirmming around and figgety that it would not be a normal thing.  That's what children are suppose to do.  Now if parents see that their kids are getting that way, they have the doctors check them out, but it's not necessarily the case. Now that parents and doctors are getting less patient with the kids doesn't mean that you need to medicate them and tell them that they have ADHD. That's not always the case, but sometimes it is.  My little sister who is 12 years old has ADHD and a severe case of it.  She is medicated, and if she doesn't take it she gets very hyper and she can't sit still for a second.  She always has to be playing with something and constantly doing something.  If she wasn't medicated then it would not be very fun. I agree that children with an actual case need to be treated, because honestly they can get out of control if they don't have it each day.  Otherwise, I believe that all children are squirmy at times and that is what children should do on a daily basis.  With out it life wouldn't be the same.  Even older people are like that at times.  I know I definitely get like that when I'm waiting for something or having to sit through a class or something.

Start of My Paper

 For my paper, I am going to be writing about basketball.  From 5th grade all through out high school because it had a big impact on my life. We definitely had the ups and downs from year to year.  The first year of basketball our coach was terrible and everyone can remember it.  He was never nice, always rude, and yelled constantly.  It taught us how to be stronger people.  All of us from the team still remember the first game, we were at LaFollette and we lost 45-2.  It was embarrassing for all of us. Also, I went with my friend Caitlin to the game,  we were suppose to tell her mom that we needed to pick up her grandma but we totally forgot about it.
  Then in 7th grade, we played in tri-country.  We went that entire year with out winning a single game.  Then, we got to the tournament at MATC and somehow we ended winning the entire tournament, getting first place.  Then came the high school years.  My freshmen and sophomore years went great, but then junior year came and it all went down hill from there! I had made the varsity team and practiced with them for the first few weeks of practice, until I got hurt.  I injured my shoulder and was out for two weeks.  I got back and found out that I had to play on JV and all my family was home for Thanksgiving and I felt terrible.  But, I started every game and was the leading scorer.
My senior year was yet another tough year.  I was on the varsity team, but I had a lot of hard times during the year.  My mom got divorced for the second time, my dog died, and my grandma was very sick.  I had to learn to get through each day and to believe in myself.  My coach always thought the least of me, he didn't have confidence in me, or so I thought.  It was hard, I sat on the bench for the first few games.  After the first game, I told my coaches if it was going to be like that all year that I want to quit.  But, I stuck with it and ended up starting the last few games of the season.

Topics For Our Paper

The three topics that I chose were basketball, cross country, and homecoming.  I chose basketball, because I have played since I was in fourth grade and it has taught me a lot about myself.  I had the ups and downs in basketball, I was terrible to begin with, I made the second team most of the time, but in the end I ended up starting for varsity.  I had many coaches throughout the years, and they taught me many skills to use in the game and ones that I can use in my life.
Cross-country also was one of my thoughts for our paper.  I ran cross country from 7th grade and all through high school.  I had a lot of accomplishments throughout the years and I learned a lot from it.  You make friends for life, learn a lot of things, and have respect not only for your self, but for others too.  We made it to state 3 of 4 years during high school.  It is a great accomplishment and it also brings all sorts of emotions and times of learning at the same time.
Homecoming is a big thing at my high school.  We dedicate a whole week to it and it's a lot of fun.  It gets very competitive, but in the end it really is about the football game Friday night and then the dance on Saturday night.  It brings together not only your friends, but also your classmates.  The entire school gets involoved and it's a great deal of fun.

What defines Me

What defines me would have to be sports.  I have been around sports literally since I was two days old.  I was at a hockey rink where my dad coached at two days old.  I have been going to hockey and all sorts of sports through out my life. 

Wisconsin Badger football and hockey has been with me forever.  My grandma has had season tickets to them both forever, since hockey was played at the Colliseum.  My dad's best friend played football at Wisconsin on a full ride scholarship and was also drafted into the Major Leagues at the age of 17. 

Throughout my life I have played soccer, volleyball, basketball, and I ran cross country.  I ran cross country for six years.  During high school, we went to state three of the four years that I ran. My freshmen year I got 4th place at conference, I had ran well and beat out one of the varsity girls times and should have made it to sectionals, but because she was a senior I didn't get to run.  That upset me but I learned to get through those times.  My sophomore year we went to state and got 6th place and my junior year we went to state again and won it!

Basketball was always my favorite sport but was also difficult. I remember on my birthday in 7th grade we found out if we made the "A" team or "B" team and I was on the "B" team and was so upset, but it made me work even harder to get better for the next year, in which I made the "A" team. High school was another story. I was the ordinary girl, I played on the freshmen team my freshmen year then the JV team my sophomore year, but my junior year was different. I had made the varsity team, but two weeks into practice I tore part of my rotators cuff and was out for two weeks.  Then, when I came back I was told that I had to play JV for the rest of the year.  I was upset, but it really helped me learn, because I started every game and was the leading scorer. My senior year was alright, I was on varsity, but I sat the first half of the season.  The coach really didn't understand my skills.  He always told me that I was good at the sport but I wasn't ready for the varsity level.  Well that upset me and I worked really hard and by the end of the season I started every game and averaged about 6 points.  Sports and all of the constructive criticism I have gone through has made me a better person and I have learned how to deal with things.