Monday, April 30, 2012

Writing Reflection #8


So last week we worked on “Newspaper Blackout Poetry”. It is simply taking a newspaper article and highlighting a series of words that form a poem and blacking out all the rest. I felt it went really well. It was really interesting to see what you can find in all the words of a newspaper article. I found it was hard to get started and find the right article but once you do and you get an idea of what to write, all the words you need seem to just magically appear in front of you. Even if you can’t find the right word, you can look for a word that has the same letters and just cut around it to use the word you need. One of the difficulties I found was staying on the same topic for all 3 poems. There were multiple times where I would make a good poem but it wouldn’t have anything to do with my other ones so I wouldn’t be able to use it. That made me really frustrated after working hard and spending time making something you think sounds good and then have found out you did it all for nothing because it isn’t related to your other poems. I found it was really unique compared to other things we have done because in all our other projects, we were able to just use any words we want and there were no restrictions where as for the newspaper blackout poetry, we can only use words that are in the article so there are many restrictions. It made it more challenging but it was a fun type of challenging. I learned that once I get started on something, I could go on forever, the hard part is just figuring out where to start.



Reading Reflection #8

Book: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Pages Read: 238-252

This chapter starts after Katniss and Peeta have their private training sessions in front of the gamemakers. On my last reading reflection I had questions about Katniss's session and before I read about Peeta's, I made a prediction. I knew he did something with paint that shocked the gamemakers. I thought he might have painted a picture of a mockingjay or something that might have symbolised the rebellion. It turned out I was wrong, he had painted a picture of Rue and what it looked like when Katniss buried her. After their training sessions the gamemakers give them a score out of 12. Once again, I had predicted that they weren't going to get a very high score because the gamemakers were mad at them which would affect them getting sponsored. Just like the other time, I was wrong on this prediction as well. They both received the highest rating possible. At first I didn’t understand why but then I realized. If they have a high rating, the other tributes will want to team up against them and take them out first. It was a smart move by the gamemakers but it’s bad for Katniss and Peeta. One good thing for Katniss and Peeta was when they had a whole day to hangout by themselves when their mentors were mad and cancelled the interview training. It was nice they had time to be together and have fun after everything they are doing but will it affect them that they are getting their interview training? It turns out they did fine during their interviews but it was Katniss’s dress that I had questions about. After she twirled, it completely disintegrated and she was left in a dress that looked like a mockingjay. What is the president going to think about this and is he going to do anything about it? I guess I’ll have to keep reading and find out.

Reading Reflection #7

Book: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Pages Read: 218- 237
In this chapter, I had a couple of questions and concerns. First off, Katniss had a new Avox servant who turns out to be Darius. I had thought Darius was killed when him and Gale were being beaten. I don't know if he really did die and the Capitol did something to bring him back or if they just captured him and changed him. Either way, Katniss is really affected by it which isn't good right before her training. Another thing that really made me think was the fact that Haymitch said they should try to make friends with some of the fellow tributes before going into the arena. He points out how most of the others have been friends for a while so they are more likely to go after Katniss and Peeta first. It makes sense that they would go after the new victors since they don't really know them that well where as they have known the others for a lot longer. So it would be smart for them to try and make friends which they do during training. But also, if they become friends with the other tributes, will that make it harder for Katniss and Peeta to kill them in the arena? I know if it was me, it'd be alot harder to kill someone whos my friend than someone I don't even know. My final question I had was at the end when Katniss has he private session. She hangs a training dummy and writes the name "Seneca Crane" on it. Who is Seneca Crane? Why were the gamemakers so shocked by seeing that name? I'm sure all my questions will be answered as I read on.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Writing Reflection #6

Comment #1: http://hug94.blogspot.ca/2012/04/nhl-playoff-predictor.html?showComment=1334602211952

Comment #2: http://bingeninjas.blogspot.ca/2012/04/welcome-to-my-world.html?showComment=1335205633949

Comment #3: http://jessica--lynn.blogspot.ca/2012/03/six-word-memoir-2.html?showComment=1335206312557#!/2012/03/six-word-memoir-2.html


My first comment was on Hugh's page. I posted on his because we had both made posts about predicting the stanley cup playoffs and both chose the same team to win. I thought it would be good to start a conversation comparing both of our picks and why we chose them.

My second comment was on Spence's page. He had a personal addition talking about what he was going to do in the future and had a little bit of a humour added to it so I thought It would be funny to add to the humour and start a conversation.

My third comment was on Jessica's blog. It was one of her six-word memoirs that I thought was really good. I gave my opinion on how I think it could be better and gave my overall opinion.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Reading Reflection #6

Reading Reflection #6
Book: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Pages Read: 204-217


In this chapter, there were a few different things that I had questions about. At the beginning, Katniss is being prepped by her prep team but there is something she says that made me think, it was "by losing me they'll be losing their ticket to all kinds of big social events". It made me wonder, do they all really care about her or do they just use her to get into big important parties and get togethers. They are crying while they are prepping her but is that just an act? I would hope it's not and that they actually do care that she is going to be going back in the arena again and that they might never see her again.
  
Another part that caught my attention was when she talks about most people in the Capitol and particularily her servant on the train, and how they don't like that the victors have to go in the arena again, it made me wonder why they are doing it? If it's all supposed to be some big show, why would they be doing something that the people don't like? Do they really care or is it supposed to be a message directed to Katniss? What they also say is that once the gong sounds, the people won't care and they will be distracted by the show which I could believe. I think that even though they may not like it, they won't actually do anything about it and will just continue to watch just like every other year. I'll have to just continue reading and see what happens.



Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Personal Addition #3

This personal addition is going to be devoted to the upcoming 2012 NHL playoffs. I'm going to be predicting who is going to win each series, the series score and eventually who I think will win the Stanley Cup. Lets get started:

Round 1:

Western Conference:                                                   Eastern Conference:

Vancouver (1) vs LA Kings (8)                                     New York (1) vs Ottawa (8)
Winner: Vancouver 4-2                                                 Winner: New York 4-1

St.Louis (2) vs San Jose (7)                                           Boston (2) vs Washington (7)
Winner: St.Louis 4-1                                                     Winner: Boston 4-1

Phoenix (3) vs Chicago (6)                                            Florida (3) vs New Jersey (6)
Winner: Chicago 4-3                                                     Winner: New Jersey 4-3

Nashville (4) vs Detroit (5)                                           Pittsburgh (4) vs Philadelphia (5)
Winner: Detroit 4-2                                                       Winner: Pittsburgh 4-3


Round 2:

Western Conference:                                                  Eastern Conference:

Vancouver (1) vs St.Louis (2)                                      New York (1) vs Boston (2)
Winner: Vancouver 4-3                                                Winner: New York 4-2

Chicago (6) vs Detroit (5)                                            New Jersey (6) vs Pittsburgh (5)
Winner: Detroit 4-3                                                      Winner: Pittsburgh 4-2


Round 3:

Western Conference:                                                 Eastern Conference:

Vancouver (1) vs Detroit (5)                                       New York (1) vs Pittsburgh (5)
Winner: Vancouver 4-2                                               Winner: Pittsburgh 4-3


Stanley Cup Final:

Vancouver (1) vs Pittsburgh (5)

WINNER: PITTSBURGH 4-3


Monday, April 9, 2012

Writing Reflection #5

I wasn't here when we were color coding our moment so I havn't finished it yet. I started part of it but never got to finish. From what I've done so far, it has gone pretty well. I've realised I use a lot of the writing techniques we are suppose to use without even knowing it. When I was writing it I felt like I wasn't using all the techniques properly but when I color coded it, I found out I did. As for the blogging, I have started to fal behind a little over spring break and the long weekend but I will try my hardest to catch up. I think it would be interesting if we started using twitter in class. I've never used twitter before but it sounds like it would be cool to get into during class. For our final writing project, I think it would be fun to write/plan what we would do if we had one week to do anything we want and had unlimited money. I think it would be a very interesting project. It could get very creative and fun to see what people could come up with.

Reading Reflection #5

Book: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Pages Read: 188-203


In this chapter there isn't anything too exciting happening. I didnt't have any questions or comments in this chapter. I find this book can have some really fun and interesting chapters but yet the next one can be really boring and not very fun to read. This was one of the boring chapters. Having said that, I still think it's a good book and continue reading it. I find the friday reading classes to be a good relaxing way to end the week. It's nice to just sit back and read. I think it would be fun to go read outside if we have a nice warm day. Maybe we can do that in the near future. I find myself reading at home more often now. Instead of watching tv in my spare time, lately I grab my book and start reading. Before the Hunger Games books, I rarely ever read at home, but I find these books really fun and interesting and read it at home when I have spare time. Whenever I did read at home, it was for homework and I would always leave it until the end and crammed it in. It will be interesting to see if I will still read at home after I finish the Hunger Games books or if I go back to only reading at school.