Until Morning Comes

I wrote this a few minutes ago, if you have any questions feel free to ask me.

As I sit, watching the sunset, I laugh at the irony. The irony of the sunset in my past. There were no major triggers, almost peaceful actually, Then I found myself as I am now, in the dark, the nighttime. No flashlight, few stars, all alone. Then I found myself running, running from the darkness. You can’t run from night, I know that only now, now that I’ve tried it. Why couldn’t I have learned from other’s mistakes? The nighttime got to be to much for me, I couldn’t feel anything but the blackness, the nothingness. I picked up a blade. Better to feel pain then nothing, right? I would look at the ‘stars’ in my life; my family, my friends, my abilities. When one of those ‘stars’ faded I would slide the blade across my arm or ankle. I would feel the pain and see the blood. I know better now. Now I know that, someday, morning will come. So for now I will sit and wait this night through, enjoying each star. Until morning comes.

Lord of the Flies #2

I think that Ralph and Piggy feel like they need to be a part of "this demented but partly secure society" for a few reasons including security, safety, and group mentality.

On an island where these boys really don't know how to hunt, they don't know how to get food--at least meat. Jack represents strength--they killed the pig. They celebrate it partly because food represents security. It's one of the most basic needs, and when our basic needs are taken care of we feel secure. But security isn't all there is--these boys seem to be dangerous and powerful too. Killing the wild animal gives them power and people feel safe around power. “I gave you food,” said Jack, and my hunters will protect you from the beast. Who will join my tribe?”

Finally, it leads to a group mentality. Ralph and Piggy are hanging back at first. They try to convince the boys not to go over to Jack's side, but they do and Ralph and Piggy get sucked in too. They join because of group mentality. In To Kill a Mockingbird--there is a mob scene where the voice of reason (Scout) changes the mob mentality and diffuses the emotions. There is no such voice in this book, with enough power to change the frenzied rejoicing and when Piggy and Ralph see the exuberance, the mad joy, the dancing and it looks inviting. Peer pressure or mob mentality whatever you call it, we as humans succumb to it. We succumb to wanting to belong. And that mob mentality is a powerful force when you want to belong. That happens in real life too. That is why we have programs such as "Just Say No" because we as people want to belong to something, even something as harmful as drugs. The Lottery follows this same belonging in their current society. If there were enough people who would stand up against it then someone would have said that this stupid tradition of killing someone by lottery is dumb, and we should think about stopping it. But noone was willing to do more than grumble and the Lottery is even more strongly connected to needing to belong because the tradition has been happening for so long.

Lord of the Flies

This is my first blog for Lord of the Flies for my English class.

Dear diary;

Today me and the other boys were talking to the littluns when 'the beast' came up. They were talking about different things the beast could be. A snake or a squid or another kind of wild animal. I tried to disagree with them and tell them what I thought. I don't think it quite worked. I think that the beast is something that live inside all of us. The beast is something, well, something evil. Something bad. The beast that lives inside of us is just waiting to come out, it wants to come out, it wants to get to you, to make you like it is, evil and uncivilized. The beast is the inherent evil that is inside everyone, when we are somewhere like here. This island. There's, well, there's, it's just not a good island I don't think. I don't know if it's a bad island or not, but it is NOT good. Not good at all. The littluns scream in their sleep, they have nightmares. Nightmares about the beast. But, maybe there is something good in everyone too. Something that is like, well, the opposite of the beast. Like what some grownups are. Good, just flat out good. I mean think about it. Grownups feed us and take care of us, they might be annoying sometimes, and sometimes we don't like the rules they enforce, but it's for our good, and good is the opposite of the beast. I really want to get off this island before the beast gets to everyone here, including me. It's happening faster than you would think. The beast is taking over...

Simon

Courage Letter

Dear Mrs. Tonks,

I am writing you to suggest a new class for Open High School of Utah that I think would add a lot to your students’ education. We need a wizard’s study class. A wizard's study class you ask? Do I mean that the class should be about something other than wizards and this is just a fun title for a class? No. I mean an actual spell casting, wand waving, wizarding history-based class. According to author J.K. Rowling, wizards actually take a muggles (people without magic) class. The students at Hogwarts learn about muggles so that they do not discriminate against them. As an expert on the wizarding world I have come to realize that we, as muggles, need to believe in the reality of these wizards and stop discriminating against this minority group.

As an avid follower of the book series, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, I am an expert on the wizarding world. I know everything there is to know about Hogwarts, the Ministry, magic spells, and magical creatures. Dementors are magical creatures that suck the soul out a person. The spell 'Expelliarmus' will disarm your opponent. The Goblet of Fire is for the Triwizard tournament. In the Triwizard tournament three wizards compete for eternal fame and one thousand galleons, a type of wizard money. You should trust me with this decision because I know all about wizards and magical things. With all of my knowledge of the magical world and Wizards you should heed my call to add a Wizard studies class to Open High School.

Aren't wizards a figment of someone's overactive imagination? Why should we study something that doesn't exist? I have to disagree. Wizards, are in fact, real. How could Rowling come up with such an amazing story without it being based on truth? She couldn't. We don't know it is real because of our own willful blindness. The magical world is so wonderfully concealed it is impossible to find unless you know exactly where to look. muggles need to learn that witches and wizards are real, rather than be tricked into thinking that these people are just a work of fiction.

Wizards have successfully hidden their powers from the non-magical population, aka, muggles, to such an extent we don’t even believe in them! Could willful blindness and clever hiding entirely account for our disbelief? No. If you look back to the middle ages people who were accused of being witches or wizards were burnt at the stake. Most of the time the people that they caught were not magical beings and when they did catch a witch or wizard they survived using their magic. We muggles forced wizards into hiding because of our intolerance and discrimination. Our discrimination caused wizards and witches to go into hiding and even, to a greater extent forced them to learn about muggles so they could protect themselves from us.

Now wizards' 'technologies' have evolved and they have a school called Hogwarts. Witches and wizards in England study there starting at age eleven and an offered elective is to learn about muggles and their world. Having our own wizard studies would be a wonderful addition to Open High School of Utah’s curriculum. I strongly urge you to find and hire a teacher for this subject as soon as possible so that it can be available to us, the students. We need to understand that magical people are not a work of fiction. We need to learn that discrimination against magical people is wrong. I am glad that I could bring this subject to your attention, and I hope that you can get Wizard Studies available to the students of Open High School of Utah very soon.

Thank you,

AnnaMarie




I will ask Mrs. Tonks if I can post her response.

Fang!!!!

YAY!!! The next book in the Maximum Ride series comes out tomorrow!! I can not wait!! You guys should read the series, it's awesome.

AnnaMarie

Computer Tech

All that glitters is not gold. Sometimes it's just glitter....

This is the picture that I found for my Computer Tech class. I embedded it.

Random Pics From The Past

Aren't I so cute?

Daniel!!

On the Tramp!

Richard and Mindy!

Daniel likes cake. And frosting!!

Wow our hair is long in that picture!!

Presents!!

CAKE!!

Daniel is flying away!!

Scout awards! Good job Daniel!

Halloween costumes!

My cousin and I.

Piano duets!

YAY!! Flute!

The Christmas story. I was Mary.

Ring around the Rosies...

I love coloring!!

And she is still the shortest....

He's choking me!!

I made these pillows! With my grandma's help, of course!

They are so cute!!

At the school my grandma worked at!

And he is still there to this day...

I WUV my baby brother!!

Playing the piano is fun!

My baptism dress!! My aunt made it!

COOKIES!!

;-*

At the Zoo!!

I'm a turtle!!

My Halloween costume!!

We just figured out Blues Clues, because we're really smart!

Our costumes won us a free Harry Potter 7 book!!

Harry Potter, Hermione, Moaning Myrtle.

Hermione!

A toilet seat?!??

Expelliarmus!!!!

To Kill A Mockingbird 4

This is my last post for To Kill A Mockingbird. This post is about Tom's trial. The pressure in the jury is because Tom is black. In the time that To Kill a Mockingbird is set in there is still discrimination against black people by the whites. All of the people decided Tom was guilty because he was black. I think that even if the jury had a silent vote the outcome would have been the same because Tom was black. If Tom hadn't had been black then the jurors wouldn't have given in to peer pressure or group bias for the fear of being ostracized because of their beliefs. “Judge Taylor was polling the jury: 'Guilty... guilty... guilty...guilty...'” The children knew that Tom wasn't guilty because of the nature of the people that accused him and the evidence. “It was Jem's turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. 'It ain't right,' he muttered.”

I watched a video about conformity and have found that people tend to go with the crowd, even when they know perfectly well that the crowd is wrong. In the first part of the video there are six people being tested, but only one of them is an actual test subject. The other five have been told to answer incorrectly on some of the questions. When the other people answered incorrectly the test subject also answered incorrectly. First, because he was worried about what the other people would think of him, and secondly, because there were five of them and one of him.

OHSU Field Trip!!!

My school went on a field trip to the Capitol!! It was so fun!! Here's a video that I took when we were there.

To Kill A Mockingbird 3

Mayella has a lot of outside factors influencing her to the point where she actually lies about being raped. Abuse from her father, loneliness, the need to be wanted, the need for some attention--any attention. This collage is Mayella. It is how she came to find herself in the situation that she did. Lies. Fear. These lead to her day in the courtroom, to being in over her head. I hope that the sadness of her situation comes across in this collage. The black and white is meant to represent her culture and society--that racism is so strong that she can say what she does and get away with it. And the reason why the attention poster isn't in black and white is because it shows how desperate she needs to have someone notice her, notice that she is someone. Tragic.

To Kill A Mockingbird 2

In my other assignments for class I've discovered something about my favorite character. Well, actually I've discovered that even though she isn't my favorite character she is probably one of the characters I most admire and think I could learn a lot from. You always hear about the crotchety old lady next door. I don't think I've ever understood that because it isn't in my experience. Both of my grandmas are pretty active and they don't seem to be like Mrs. Dubose at all. I had a great-grandmother, but she was very kind and sweet. But I've learned the most from Mrs. Dubose, not only in the areas of courage, but also in the area of 'do not judge other people'. We never know what people are going through. We don't know them. As Scout and Jem find out there is a lot more to that old mean lady than meets the eye. There is always more to a person than meets the eye. One of the reasons this book is so amazing is because that lesson is taught from so many different angles. From Atticus who says, 'walk in someone's shoes to understand them' to the old lady who has an addiction that creates her as a person and ending that addiction. This is something that defines a great book. The quality of allowing ourselves to experience something we can't and then letting us learn from it.

To Kill A Mockingbird

I am supposed to write my thoughts about the book To Kill a Mockingbird so far, for my English class. I have read this book before and I really like it. I found that the second time that I read it, it was much easier to read. I do not like the slang, but I know that that is the way they spoke. The first time I read To Kill a Mockingbird I couldn't tell whose point of view it was, who was talking to who, until halfway through the book. I very much enjoy the characters, they all have their own unique personalities. The description of the setting is wonderful because of it's unique words. I think that the description of the characters could use a little help though, I can not picture them in my mind very well. The descriptions need extension. The author uses specific and interesting words, which is good. I also like how the chapters basically each tell their own story. To Kill a Mockingbird is a good book. I really enjoy learning about the way people thought in the past and how they viewed the world. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the book and discovering other things about this time period. It is by Nelle Harper Lee.