Sunday, December 23, 2007

Week 6: Part 2

In this section of the book "Water for Elephants" the elephant Rosie is found to be very smart. In the beginning Camel is lying on the floor in Jacob's and Walter's bunk because he can't move and the two of them have to keep him clean and fed. After Marlena's accident and after her foot held she is in another show but not with Rosie. Her show is with lots of white and black horses. Since their fat lady died Uncle Al has been looking for a new one but isn't having any luck and they decide to leave a town early and when they pull out Walter's dog Queenie gets lost. After they leave town Walter won't talk to anyone and a couple days later Marlena shows up with the lost dog and said he was running along side the train when they left the town. August has been beating Rosie a lot thinking that it will change the way she works. Marlena tells Jacob that she does like him the way she likes him but she can't do anything because she's married. In the next couple of days Jacob finds out that the reason Rosie can't listen and doesn't know what to do is because she only listens to commands that are in a different language. In the next weeks Jacob, Marlena, and August work on a new routine for Marlena with Rosie and in the end it was the hit of the show when the preformed it in the next town. While they were there August still used the bull hook but he never actually touched Rosie with it after he found out abou the language barrier. Uncle Al was so happy with there preformance they said he might actually have been crying.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Week 6: Part 1

Vocab:
1). Bereavement(Pg 198): To deprive or make desolate by death.
2).Surcingles(Pg 200): A girth that binds a saddle, pack, or blanket to the back of a horse.
Figurative Language:
1). "You're sharp as a tack."-This is an example of a similie because it is describing his smartness to a tack.
2)."Charming, gregarious, and handsome as the devil."-This is an example of a similie because he is talking about august as being the devil.
3)."...clining to each other like spider monkeys."-This is also another example of a similie because he is refering him and Marlena to sea monkeys.
Quote:
"And then the shower of money starts-the sweet, sweet showerof money."(Pg 237) This quote is significant because the act that they put together wasn't done before and when the people liked it they got money.
Sentance:
The emerging theme of this book is the love that jacob has for Marlena and the new act that the elephant Rosie is in.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Week 4: Post 2

This book keeps getting more and more interesting the farther in the book I get. In the beginning of the fourth section Jacob kissed Marlena and it scarred her enough for her to leave. "Her finger tips rise to my face. Then she yanks away, taking several steps backward and staring at me with stricken eyes." He cannot stop thinking about her and he doesn't know if she likes him or not even though she's married to August. Then after that night in Chicago the circus has a parade and Marlena rides Rosie the elephant. Then once the show starts Marlena does an act with the elephant and at the end Rosie starts to run and she grabs a bar on the top of the tent and does a flip off of it and when she lands hit hurt her foot. When the doctor comes he tells her that she has broken her foot and she has to rest for a couple of weeks. After that half of Camel's body goes numb with a desease called Jake's and it is caused by drinking a drink that has somehow been poisoned. Jacob has a doctor look at him but he says that he can't help him. So Jacob brings him into his room with Walter and hides him in there. Right when Camel gets there Marlena comes and talks to Jacob and tells him that she couldn't stop thinking about him since the night in Chicago and then she wants him to leave her room because she doesn't know what else she can tell him.

Week 4: Post 1

Vocab:
1). Rheumy(Pg 182): A watery or thin mucous discharge from the eyes or nose
2). Abscess(Pg 161): A localized collection of pus in the tissues of the body.
Figurative Language:
1). "Her legs and neck are delicate, her body sloped and covered with markings like puzzel pieces." This is a similie because its explaining what the elephant looks like using like.
2). "She smiles when I approach and then rubs her eye, curling the tip of her trunk like a fist." This is a similie because it is telling what the elephant is doing using like.
3). "We wait a couple of beats and then we're off, floating around the dance floor in a swirling sea of people." This is personification because it is describing people doing somthing that only happens in nature.
Quote:
"As the days passI grow more and more anxious about Marlena. Each timw I approach the cookhouse I hope that I'll find her there. And each time I don't, my heart sinks." This is an important quote because it shows how much Jacob likes Marlena.
Sentance:
The emerging theme of this book is the love that Jacob has for Marlena and the time that is life at a circus.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Week 3: Post 2

In the Middle part of this book Marlena's boyfriend/ husband is not a nice person. He doesn't really get along with Marlena, Jacob, or even uncle Al. August extremely mad a Uncle Al when he bought Rosie from the other circus and he wanted him to buy more freaks and he thinks that the elephant won't have any part in making the show more interesting. August takes out alot of his anger at the end of the section by beating on the elephant Rosie. "He steps behind her and twacks her in the back of the leg."(Pg138) Jacob on the other hand think that the only way to get animals to do what youn want is to be kind to them and not use abuse."I lean over and lay the bull hook on the ground."(Pg139) "Its okay, i say with my eyes. I understand."(Pg 122) Throughout the book so far there has been fighting between Marlena and August because they have totally seperate views on just about everything. "Marlena and August are arguing so loudly I can hear them twenty yards off."(Pg123) This book is very good at explaining the feelings of the charactors at the moment she is talking about them and that makes it really easy to follow.

Week 3: Post 1

Vocabulary:
1).Disheveled(pg 113): Untidy of disarranged.
2). Ominous(pg 122): Portending evel or harm, threatening.
Figurative Language:
1). "The elephant looms against the far sidewall, an enormous beast the color of storm clouds."(Pg 125)- this is personification because its explaining an animal to somthing that isn't living.
2). "She lifts he trunk and trumpets, taking off at a thunderous run."(Pg 141)- This is a metaphore because its explaining how the elephant sound compared to a trumpet.
3). "Come now, darling. Don't be a wet noodle."(Pg 115)- This is an example of a metaphore because he is descibing Marlena as a wet noodle.
Quote:
"I'm thinking it involves Marlena. She can ride her during the parade and grand Spec, and then you can follow with a feature act in the center ring."(Pg 124) This quote is significant because it shows that now they have to form their act around an elephant instead of the horse that just died.
Sentance:
The theme of this book is becoming how Marlena and Jacob take care and form an act around their new elephant rosie.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Hornet League Debate

Court Cases:
1). These debates occur in a court room in front of a group of people.
2). This debates help people get something that they want or deserve. Wether it is money or an actual though.
3). Court cases help people reach a better decision by having a lawyer fight for their rights.
4). This debate is structured.
5). This changes the decision making process because in this particular debate a judge and a jury decides the winner.
Political Debates:
1). These debates occur in a huge room with a crowd of people watching.
2). The purpose of these debates show what particular canidates want and will fight for if they get into office.
3). This type of debate helps voters pick the canidate they think will best represent them in Washington.
4). This debate is structured.
5). This effects the decision making process for voters because it shows what the candidates are actually like. (personalities and beliefs.)

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Week 2: Part B

In the second part of the book "Water For Elephants" the main charactor Jacob is now the only vet in the circus (Benzini Bros Most Spectacular Show On Earth) that he is now in.(Pg 59) Uncle Al the owner gives him the jobh because he just left college and there is a horse on the train that needs medical help. In the book it jumps forward to the present where he is in the hospital and he is mad because one of the residents said that he brought water to the elephants.(Pg 65) In the last part of the section Jacob is helping Marlena's horse and she is very greatful for him to be there. She is very sad about her horse being in pain and you can tell that she is emotionally attached to it(The Silver Star).(Pg 87) Also one of Jacobs new bosses wanted him to know that he was in charge by telling him to feed the tigers and he ended up geting bit by one with no teeth.(Pg 85-86)

Week 2: Part A

Vocab:
1).Carrion(Pg 77): Dead and putrifying fish.
2).Ingratiating(Pg 89): To establish oneself in the favor or good graces of others.
Figurative Language:
1). "Uncle Al may be a tough old crow, but he's no fool."-Metaphor
2). "He bares his teeth and screams long, unhuman haul."-Personification
3). "Thin strips of moonlight filter throught the slatted sidesof the stock car."-Personification
Quote:
"when I return to the stock car, Silver Star is against the far wall in knee-deep straw. His eyes are glassy, his heart rate high." (Pg 81) This quote shows that he is now the vet in the circus and he is helping Marlena's horse heal his leg.
Sentance:
The emerging theme of this book is Jacob's job as the new vet in the circus.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

week 1: Part B

In this first part of the book the protagonists name is Jacob Jankowski. When the book starts telling his story he is in college and is about to take his test, when his parents die he doesn't want to be there any more. "I walk until the edge of town and then veer off to follow the train tracks." (pg 23) He jumps onto a train and finds himself in a boxcar with a couple of men in it and he finds out hat he is on a circus train. Since he has lost his parents he wants a fresh start and in the morning he starts to work by shoveling horse manure and then moves up to work with the crowd when the circus started. This happens in the real world all the time, when people work really well in one area they move up to something better. When Jacob started working at the circus he didn't know what he had gotten himself into and all he wanted to do was run away from the hard times he was having back at him home and he ended up throwing away his chance to take the placement test he was going to take at his college. He should have thought about what he was really doing before giving up the money and time that he had already spent on his college education.

Week 1: Part A

Vocabulary:
1). Esquire (Pg 19): An English counrty gentleman.
2). Diaphanous (Pg 47): Of such fine texture as to be transparent or translucent.
Figurative Language:
1). "so long ago. So long. But still it haunts me." Shows foreshadowing says that he still thinks about that moment throughout his life.
2). The eggplant purple on bludless white. Metaphor about the look of his dead parents in the hospital bed/table.
3). When he jumps the train this is foreshadowing because that is what he will be doing for most of his life.
quote:
"I awake to the prolonged screeching of brakes."(pg 31) This is significant because this is his first time working at the circus.
Theme:
The emerging theme of this book is about a man that joins the circus and is working with the crowd and everything included at the circus.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Choice Book: Quarter #2

  • Water For Elephants, by Sara Gruen
  • Published in 2006
  • Fiction
  • 331 pages
  • This book is challenging for a sophmore because the content is different than something that I would normally pick out and want to read, also this book was on your list.
  • I chose this book because it is about the circus and it sounded really interesting.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

The Sea Inside: post #3

The scene that impacted me the most was the one where the man look out at the ocean, dove in, hit his head on the sea floor, and then almost drowned. In the beginning the camera shot was a medium, eye level shot showing the ocean that the man was looking across. Then the camera became a high, medium shot as the man started diving into the water. Next the camera became a medium, eye level shot showing the man hitting his head on the ocean floor. Right after the man had started flouting to the surface the camera shot became a low angle look straight up and the mans face and then the mans face was pulled out of the water by two hands grabbing his neck. This shot is significant because this is showing how the main character of the movie became a quadriplegic and it is very sad to see him almost drowned in the water not being able to move. This shot means(and the man says) that he wishes that he would have died in that accident because he doesn't want to live without being able to move the rest of his body.

The Sea Inside: post #3

The Sea Inside: post #2

The differences between The Sea Inside and The Diving Bell and The Butterfly are that in the movie the man can talk and move his head. The man in the book couldn't even talk. The man in the book suffered a stroke while the man in the movie was at a beach and he jumped into shallow water and broke his neck. The man in the movie killed himself with a drug and the other man died of his condition right before his book came out
The similarities between The Sea Inside and The Diving Bell and The Butterfly are that in the movie and the book the victim is a man and they both are quadriplegics. Both of the men wrote a book about their experiences of being trapped in their own body. Both of the men ended up dying in the end. Both of the men daydreamed all day because they had nowhere they could go.
In my opinion I think that the similarities are more powerful because when people talk about cases in which things like that happen they can prove things if there are more cases then just one better then if there was only one.

The Sea Inside: post #1

I think that the movie was good and it was kind of sad because of the older man wanting to die. I thought that it would be very sad to see a family member not wanting to live the way that they are living and want to die. I think that the family should of supported his decision even though it would be hard for them to deal with but if the person can't live the way he is then it might be for the best. I don't think that it was a good idea to have anyone help him die because if it was me i wouldn't want any part of helping someone kill themselves.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Final week: post #1

in the last part of the book Jeannette moves out of Welch and moves in with Lori. Right away she got a job at a hamburger joint. The two girls lived in an apartment in the south Bronx. Then Jeannette got a job at a newspaper called the Phoenix. The two girls wanted Brian to come and live with them in New York City, so they sent him letters convincing him to move there and he agreed. The owner of the Phoenix told Jeannette that she should really consider going to college. So when she agreed to go to college she was accepted at Barnard and she couldn't pay half the rent at Lori's so she moved and lived with a family and to pay the rent she babysat their two small children. Then they called Maureen and convinced her to move here to. Next her mom and dad moved to New York City. First her parents moved into a boarding house a few blocks from Lori. Then they started living with Lori and Lori couldn't take it so she kicked them out. They then lived in their van. Their van got towed and the two became homeless. The kids wanted the parents to move back to West Virginia or Phoenix because it was to cold in the city. Jeannette's dad soon got Tuberculosis and was put in the hospital and he promised Jeannette that he wouldn't leave the hospital till he was better and then he found a job as a maintenance man at an upstate resort with room and board. He was sober for more then six weeks. Then mom made him quite that job and he drank some more. For Christmas Jeannette got her dad warm clothes but he wouldn't take them. Jeannette wanted to quit college and help her parents but her dad wouldn't let her. She needed $2,000 to stay in college and her dad gave her $950 that he won off of playing poker and he told her to finish college. Her parents were now living in an abandoned building in the lower east side. It reminded Jeannette of the house in Welch. Jeannette got a job writing a column in a magazine and she jumped at it. At that point she was living with her new husband Eric in an apartment on Park Avenue. Mom's brother died and she wanted to buy the land that he owned in Texas and it ended up being worth a million dollars and Jeannette refused to buy it. Maureen graduated from high school she had alot of boyfriends and wore lots of makeup. Six months later Maureen stabbed momwhen she told her she had to move out. She went to court and when she was let go she moved to California. Her dad died of a heart attack. Jeanette left Eric a year after her dad died. She married a man named John and they lived out in the country, Brian was devorced and had an eight year old daughter. Maureen never came to visit till later in life.

Final week: post #1

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Week 5: Part 2, Post #2

I Think that this book is very good and very sad. I think that Jeannette is a very strong person because if the average person would have gone through it would severely have damaged their mental attitudes toward life. When the author tells her story about how she needed to take care of her siblings and deal with her dad who would be drunk. I wondered how that would feel to not have parents in the aspect of them taking care of their children. I would never be able to get through my childhood if I didn't have my parents to help me. I am also really happy that herself and her sister finally got away from the abuse of where she is growing up. I think it is very sad that her parents think that it is OK for them to tell there kids to look after themselves while they go to school and go drinking when their kids are 13 and younger.(165) At the end of this book I think it would be really nice to see her and the rest of her siblings living well away from their parents because in their past they have seen a lot of bad thing and I hope that they live a normal adult life.

Week 5: Part1, Post #2

Jeannette's mom got a job at a school because a well fare man came to their house threatening that the kids will get taken away because they don't have enough money to support them. She started seventh grade and her friend Dinita was having a hard time at home, first she thought that she was pregnant and then she stabbed her mom's boyfriend to death. Jeannette at school was very embarrassed about her buckteeth so she made a pair of braces for herself. Jeannette started working for the school newspaper. She was the editor and fixed all the errors the other writers made. When Maureen turned seven her and the other siblings bought her a toy set of kitchen appliances and all Maureen wanted to talk about was California where she was born. Their mom would have total meltdowns and cry all day and Jeannette didn't feel sorry for her at all. That summer Lori went to camp and her mom went to Charleston to renew her teachers certificate. Jeannette had $200 to buy groceries and pay the bills while the two were away. Her dad came up to her and asked her for money and she couldn't say no to him. First he asked for $5 then $20 and she felt used by her dad because he knew she couldn't say no. Then her dad took her to a bar and this man danced with Jeannette and got drunk and her dad won $80 off of him playing pool. Then the man took Jeannette up to his apartment and he started kissing her but she told him about the scar on her waste and she went home. Her dad stole the money her mom got every month for the land she owns in Texas. She got a job at a Jewelry store to make up the money her dad had taken. She stole one of the watches but she didn't want her family to know what she did so she returned it. When school started and her mom and sister were back, on the first day of school her mom had a tantrum and refused to go to work. Jeannette talked back to her mom and her dad whipped her and she was extremely mad that her dad would do that to her. Next two people from New York City and her and Lori wanted to live there at that moment. So the two girl did all they could and started saving to go to the big city. Their dad destroyed all the thing that Lori did to get a scholorship and then he stole all the money they had saved up and they were both furious. Then a lady said that if one of the girls went to Iowa and babysat their kids she would pay them $200 and a bus ticket to New York City and Lori was gone. Jeannette worked with the paper and she also interviewed her dad's hero Chuck Yeager. After she finished 11th grade she left for New York to live with Lori.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Week 4: post #2

It starts of with Erma, their grandmother harassing Brian and the girls jumping in to help him and Lori ends up slapping Erma. Erma throws the kids in the basement while their parents are away. When their parents come back from Pheonix they find out that everything in their old house was stolen and they came back with nothing. Next, Erma banished the family from the house, so they started to buy this old house, with no indoor plumbing, up on top of the mountain in Welch where all the poor people lived. The family also had a huge rat that lived in their house and one night their little sister Maureen couldn't sleep because she thought that the rat was going to get her so they turned on the light and the rat was on top of her. So Brian and one of their dogs that followed him home, and they killed the rat and hung on the tree outside. They went to school and the town was a big fighting school everyone got in fights. Brian and Jeannette got in a fight with a boy named Ernie Gould because the family couldn't pay the garbage bill so they put there garbage in a hole the kids dug on the side of their house. Next, the winter came and the family didn't have enough money to afford so they used wood but it didn't make alot of heat. Grandma Erma died in their second winter in Welch. After that they went to their grandpas apartment and would take baths but their uncle was being inapropriate to Jeannette so she would only take a bath in the kitchen of her own home. Then in the summer Jeannette became friends with a girl named Dinitia and they went to the pool in the morning with all the colored people because the white people didn't like Jeannete and her brother because Ernie Gould told everyone that they live in garbage.

Week 4: post #1

"'Are we ever going home?' I asked dad one day.
'home?'
'Pheonix.'
'This is home now.'"(Pg. 154)
This was the lowest/ worst place that the author was living in throughout the book so far. The author misses the place in Pheonix where she used to live. This quote is important to the book because this shows how the author is having a hard time moving to all the different places her parent are taking her to.

Monday, October 8, 2007

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly: reflection

So, in my opinion I would have to say that the book was really wierd and confusing. I know that it was really hard for the writter to write the book but he desribed in such a way that he made it confusing and hard to follow. The thing that I didn't like the most was when he started telling stories out of nowhere that had nothing to do with what was actual going on. He would all of the sudden start a chapter with something that happened along time ago or something that he is just randumly thinking of and didn't happen. That made it really confusing for me. I did like that he wrote the book under the conditions that he was in, and that was a good idea for him to show the world how it feels to be trapt in lock-in syndrome. I just wish that he would have wrote it a little differently because then it probably would have been better. In the book I think that it is kind of wierd that he is putting himself in all of these different sittuations, like dancing with the lady who founded the hospital that he is in because usually I would think that he would think about being with his girlfriend then some other lady he doesn't even know. I would be very awkward if I found out that my boyfriend kept thinking about dancing with some other girl, thats just weird. I think that when he wrote the book he should have included more of the feelings and less of what he is thinking throught the day. That would have been more interesting for me because i have never herd of locked-in syndrome. That is what I think of The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Week 3: post #2

So far in this book the kids have been put through so many hard times because their parents refuse to stay in one place and start a good life for their kids. The mom hes been heving the kids to fend for themselves sinces they were three, by making their own food and keeping themselves entertained. The dad teaches them to be strong and not to let anyone push you around but he is a alcoholic. The kids are forced to move from place to place because the parents won't get a steady job and pay the bills. If they end up not making enough money the kids have to find ways to get food other wise they will go hungry for a couple of days. The strengths in this book are that she writes exactly what went on very well and the whole book is very detailed. The weaknesses of this book are how sad and depressing it was to be moving around constantly and never living in the same place. I think this is a very sad book because the poor kids have an alcoholic dad and a mom that tells the kids to go do what ever they want but just let her work on her art. I think that once the kids get old enough they will move away and live in one place for a while to see what its like. This book doesn't relate to my life because i have never had to deal with moving around every month and having to go without food for a couple days.

Week 3: Post #1

First, Jeanette's moms mom died and they moved into their grandma's large house. The house was located on North Third Street in Pheonix, Arizona. Their grandma also left them money, so Jeanette's mom bought lots of art supplies and her dad bought the kids bikes and other little things. Alot of their neighbors were gypsies and they would take things off of their yard. Her mom and dad also left all of the doors and windows open and people would come in and once a man came in and was touching Jeanette. once her dad took her and the family to the zoo to show them how mean it is to lock up animals in a cage. they ended up petting a cheetah. Her dad lost his job and they wanted Maureen to look nice for school so they would shoplift dresses from stores. When christmas came around each kid had a dollar at a thrift store to buy presents for their siblings. Her mom also bought a tree for three dollars on christmas. But that night Jeanette's dad came home drunk and burned the trees and the presents. For her birthday Jeanette's dad told she could ask for whatever she wanted and she asked her dad to stop drinking. He spent a couple months lock in his room trying to stop his addiction. After a month or so of being sober her dad went out and got drunk and came home and yelled at her mom. The family ran out of money and moved to Welch, North virginia and met the dad's mom named Erma, dad's dad named ted, and their uncle named Stanley. They all slept in the basement and the kids started going to school. A girl and her friends kept beatting up Jeanette but one day the girl say Jeanette help her neighbor away from a dog and bring him home they became friends.





Jeannette Walls:





Today Jeannette Walls lives in Virginia and is married to writer, John Taylor.


She regularly contributes to MSNBC.


She's worked at several publication including the Esquire, USA Today, and New York Times.





Citation:

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Week #2: The Glass Castle

In this section of the book the family moves again and this time they move to town called Battle Mountain. they life in an old railroad depot. The kids sleep in cardboard boxes in the lower level and the mom and dad sleep in the upstairs. They are going to live there for alot longer than any house they have lived in for a long time. Brain and Jeannette play in the dumpster and do science experiments with the toxic waste. Then they collect animals, and let them live in their house. the kids have to go to school because they living in this town now. Jeannette's dad loses his job and the family doesn't have any food. her mom and dad then get into a huge argument which resorts with dad throughing moms paintings out the window and her mom almost falling out. Her mother ends up beccoming a teacher at the school and teaches lori's class. Her kids help her grade papers and get her orginized.


Loaded Words:
1). U-Haul (Pg.49): This is a loaded word because when you are a kid moving is a big deal. in the book the kids have to drive a 14 hour drive in the back of a u-haul van.
2). smart (Pg.55): This is a loaded word because everyone likes to be called smart. In the book Jeannette's dad says that his kids are the smartest kids in the whole world.
3). Mom (Pg.58): loaded word because becomming a mom is a big responsibility. Her mom enrolled her kids in the school program.
4). dad (Pg.58): This is a loaded word because becomming a dad is a big responsibility. In the book her dad enrolles her and her sibling in the school program.
5). Hospital (Pg.59): This is a loaded word because when you go to a hospital people you see are hurt and it is very sad. In the book Jeannette's mom is telling her that it is not necesary to go to the hospital everytime she gets a little cut.
6). Baby (Pg.66): This is a loaded word because it shows you are little. In the book her dad is teaching her to swim and he calls her baby as a nick name.
7). hungry (Pg.69): This is a loaded word because if you are hungry you will have alot of emotions at one time. In the book Jeannette is telling her mother that she is hungry because ther is no food in the house.
8). ugly (Pg.70): This is a loaded word because no one likes to be called ugly. In the book Jeannette's parents are fighting about if one of her mom's paintings are ugly.
9). mountain goat (Pg.77): This is a loaded word because it is a special nick name. In the book Jeanette's dad calls her the mountain goat because she is a really good climber.
10). dumb (Pg.79: This is a loaded word because nobody likes to be called dumb. In the book Brain was calling one of his dad's friends dumb because she didn't know how to read.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Week #1: The Glass Castle

so far in "The Glass Castle", in the beginning of the book it starts when Jeannette is an adult living in a nice appartment and is going to a party in a cab when she sees her mom routing through a dumpster. she is to imbarassed to say any thing to her so she goes home. later they have lunch and talk. Next she talks about when she was three and was making hot dogs for herself in a pink tutu dress, she accedentialy bent to far over the stove and burned her whole body. she was in the hospital for about 6 weeks. then one day her dad came to visit and just took her out of the hopital. Jeannette after that still loved fire. the next night the family packed up and left. her family consisting of her mom, dad, sister(lori), and brother(brain) move everytime the billon there house, or the payments they owe to other people get to high they just move.they lived in the middle of Arizona in a shack for a couple of months. during that time her mom got pregnant, their dog died, and on christmas all three kids got there own star because their parents didn't have enough money to buy them gifts. right before their mother was about to give birth they packed up and move to the city of Blythe in California. The kids now had to go to school and jeannette got picked on and beaten up a couple Mexican girls because she was a "teachers pet" the next day her and her brother came to protect her from the other girls but they both got beaten up a little. then once their mom had the baby her dad took her out of the hospital and they left the city.

Loaded Words:
1). Cigarettes-her dad is always smoking
2). flophouse- how her dad describes where they will be staying
3). girl- Mexican girls who beat up Jeannette and her brother
4). Pansy- her dad called her moms mom a pansy
5). Mexican-the girls who beat up Jeannette
6). death- one of there children died
7). doctor- her dad doesn't trust dactors
8). home- the two girls are talking about moving all the time
9). Hospital- her dad snatches them out of hospitals
10). parents- Jeannette is now embarrassed about how her parents live

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

This I Believe

Link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5552257
Author: Ying Ying Yu
Title: A duty to a family, heratige, and country
She believes that she needs to be working very hard at school so she can return the favor that her parents did by bringing her to America.
she shows this belief by saying that she cannot get a grade lower than 85%and also she is going to become a lawer so that the years of school that she has gone through has gone to good use.
my favorite passage is when she says that she wanted to be a gardener when she was younger but today since her parents moved from China so she would get a good education she is now wanting to become a lawer.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

hello!
i am most anxious for the softball season to start because i need to show the varsity coach that i am better then what she thinks even though she has never seen me actually pitch. one goal for my sophmore year is to be able to get through the whole year without procrastinating.