Symbolism

Have you ever had something or someone in your life that meant so much to you, but people didnt realize how important they were? In the story Of mice and Men by John Steinbeck this was actually close to whata character Candy wasfeeling when a friend of his, Curley told him that his dog was worthless and old and should be killed.

Many people say that Candys dog was not a character in the book but he actually was a character who had a meaning not to us as readers but maybe to Candy. Candys old dog could be a symbol of what people will grow to be, old,tired,beat up, no longer able to stand and work. In this book i think that John Steinbeck used the dog to make Candy and the rest of the gang think wow is this how u guys are gonna treat me when i get old and wont be able to move anymore, will they just think of them as useless and take them out and shoot and that's why i think that Candy was so upset when no one understood why the dog meant so much to him.

Another important symbol in the story would be the puppy. In this novel the puppy was a symbol of hope because Lennie is a big strong amn who is not known for handled small objects with much care (mice, opuppy, candys wife...lol) So for George to allow him to have the chance to have the puppy lennie can now show that he can take care of an animal without killing it.

The final symbol inn the book was the farm. The farm was a symbol of success and responsibility to george and Lenny. For Lenny and george to have a farm of their own they would not have to worry about going out and working for someone else because they will finally have something that they can call their own and take the responsibility of raising their own crops and cattle.

From reading This novel i have learned that the littlest things that people take for granted can have a more heartfelt meaning to someone else. I have also learned that life is too short to just worry about working and having the best life possible jus take time to " smell the roses"

Reflection May 28, 2008

This week fr service learning i actually feel like my group really got something done. We brokeup into two small groups. one group went over to K-mart, which consisted of group leader Juliene, Tabitha, Veasna, Gribbin, Jessica and John. Their job was to just go and price things out and see how much we will need to supply the store. Th other group which consisted of myself, Morgan, Arlette, Brandon stayed behind to do some finishing touches on the bill. We also went downto the lunch and we realized that the room we wanted the first time was way to small for a school store so we went over to another and we really liked it because we had a lot of space and we all could fit in there at once. We swept the floors mopped it up and the room looked and smelled way better.

Independent Service Learning: Dragon Boat Races

Part of my independent service was at the annual Philadelphia Dragon Boat Race, which is an annual boat race held every year at a different location. Me and several of my fellow students went out to the waterfront to volunteer in this activity.

-What have I learned about myself through this experience?
From this experience i have learned that i am a very impatient person and i get annoyed easy. for instance, I had to work on the docks and we had to hold this long boat by the tail with at leats 300 pounds of weight in it and litereally be dragged across the dock until the starting bell went off and in my mind while im doing this im thinkin,' If they dont ring that m-effin bell", lol...

-What would you change about this situation if you were in charge?
if there was one thing i would change it would be the fact that i was out on the dock all day and when we finally got off the park was empty and i had nothing to eat, so i stayed up there for 7 hours while everyone else was home.

-How will service learning change your future behaviors/attitudes/and career?
i think that service learning willl help me not be so rude and ignorant to people and at least try and help them out. (sike)

Service learning Reflection 5-9-08

What have i learned about my groups topic?

     - I have learned that the steps to creating a school store is harder than i thought. We have to do research right grants and letters just to even get an approval on our project first.

What i have learned about myself?

     - I learned that i am very impatient and that if i actually focus on doing something and stop playing around it comes out 100 percent.

If i were to change one thing in the group?

     - if there was one thing i would change, honestly i don't know what i would change

Of Mice and Men

1. Do you know another instance where an African American male killed a Caucasian woman?

- Another instance where an African American male killed a Caucasian woman was in Native Son. Bigger Thomas killed Marie Dalton.

2. What were some of the motives behind killing the dog?

- Carlsons motives behind killing the dog was the fact that the dog was old and useless and he could not move.

3. What questions would you ask of George?

- The questions i would ask f George would be was he just using Lennie and his size for work or did he really care about Lennie?

4. What factors would you change if you could rewrite the story?

- The factors i would change would be Lennie didn't kill the lady because then he wouldn't have had to get shot.

5. If you could describe George in one word what would it be? why?

- If i could describe George in one word it would be smart, because he figured that if he hung with Lennie he would actually get work because of Lennie size.

6. What would you consider to be the turning point in the book?

- I would consider the turning point to be when Lennie killed Curleys wife because when he killed her then the whole game plan switched up and Lennie realized that George would not let him tend to the rabbits and that they wouldn't be able to get a place of their own because he did a bad thing.

7. Could any events in the book really happen?

- I think that mostly anything in this book could happen in 2008. Except for the fact that if Lennie was to kill Candys wife he would probably be in jail instead of shot dead near a lake.

8. What do you think was going through Georges head when he walked into the barn and saw Curleys wife dead?

- George maybe was thinking "OMG wheres Lennie??, they're gonna kill him"

9. What would George tell Lennie every night before they went to bed?

- George would tell Lennie about their dreams to have a house of their own and not have to depend on anyone but themselves and how he would let Lennie tend to the rabbits.

10. If you were told to compare yourself to one character who would it be?why?

-I honestly do not know which character i would compare myself with in this story.

Service Learning

  What was successful about the meeting?

         - We got our letters done and we were on task.

What problems didi you encounter?

        -  The one problem that i think we encountered was the fact that we need to have something to present to Dr.Davidson really soon.

What needs to be worked on for the coming weeks?

     - We need to present our letters and get them approved.

What role will you play in the group?

      - I along with jessica, Arlette, and Gribbin are writing the letter to Dr. Davidson asking for permission to open up a school store.

Service learning Reflection

 Yesterday at our service learning meeting we got into our small groups again and we went over what we did last week and we got back into our small groups and prepared for next week. 

    My group is the group that is writing the letter to Dr. Davidson asking him for permission to make a school store and also asking him to approve of our grant letters. We plan on presenting him the letter and the grant no later than next week. Hopefully he will approve of both and we can continue our plans for the school store.

            In the film Empire of The Sun chronicalizes the childhood of Jamie " Jim" Graham, a young english schoolboy living with his wealthy parents in suburban Shanghai suburbs during the beginning of a war. Throughout the movie Jim went through some drastical changes that took place before the war, during the war and after the war.

          Before the war Jim was a typical rich, british boy. playing with his rich friends, going to private parties bossing the maids around. Until one day the japan empire invades their suburban neighborhood and they are evacuated. While Jim and his parents are getting evacuated, Jim is seperated from his parents. So he goes back home and spends some time there before going to Shanghai. There u can see that Jim is a scared little boy. He runs from everything and everybody thinking they will help him because he is British which was not the case. now that the war has begun Jim is scared, alone and vunerable.

        

          

    

Planning for May 1, 2008

    On Thursday, May 1, we will meet again for our service Learning groups. This week we hope to present out on what we did last meeting and share more ideas on the school store and the survival guide. Hopefully now we will not be hearing anymore news about people saying that we don't do anything and that we are a joke and both Dr. Davidson and Ms. Thompson will be happy with what we are doing. 

April 25, 2008 Reflection

          So we met for service learning again and we talked about our plans for the school store. We discussed our plans and notes from the week before, after that we all got into three smaller groups and got together and wrote down some ideas. 

     

Group 1: Grant

         Veasna, Morgan, Ashlee, 

Group 2: Survival Guide

           Juliene, John, Brandon, Tabitha

Group 3: Store Ideas

         Mo, Jessica, Arlette, Gribbin

               So when we meet on May 1, 2008 every group will report out on what we did last week.

       The downfall of our group was the fact that two of our members dropped out and i think that they were the two people that showed the most leadership qualities within our group. So hopefully this week we will still have some great ideas and forget the fact that we are down two very opinionated, smart people.

SCHOOL STORE

So on Thursday, April 17, we got in our groups to discuss service learning ideas.....the week before our group got no where at all we all got off topic talking about things hat really didn't matter at all.....last week we got some good ideas even though our whole group was not present, We discussed y some of us were planning on leaving the group and which group we would go to..after that whole conversation we actually talked about some ideas and we came up with trying to put together a school store. We talked about how we would stock up the store, and who would be allowed to be in charge of the store...etc...etc..so we have a plan set and hopefully we will be able to stick with it.

MO GOT HACKED !

--> ayo =) 

this is the one &+ only becca boo . 

well anyway , this is mos bestest friend EVER might i add . and hes a lil emo jawn so dun mess wit him . and if yu do mess wit him ill beat yu up . foo real dowgg . and hes to good in bed for me to loose him , but dont tell my babys daddy dave that im sleeping wit mo or dave will beat me up . 

chea =) 

Service Learning

so we started our service learning projects and im not sure that the whole student lounge thing is going to be such a good idea. We began discussing it and everyone was just yelling out all these ideas that completeley got off topic of what we were going to do. I think that creating a guide to Surviving Constitution HIgh School would be a way better idea becaus ethen we won't have to worry about getting grants and furniture and all that other stuff will only bring mopre conflict in our school anyway.

Comprehension

Who was the main character in the story?
- The main character in the story is Bigger Thomas.

Knowledge

Describe the scene with the rat in the book?
- When the family wakes up after the alarm clock went off, Bigger saw a rat scurry acroosss the floor which caussed his mother and his sister to jump onto the bed in a panic.
Bigger and his brother Gus tried to kill the rat but it bit Biggers leg. When he finally cornered the rat he threw the frying pan, killingbthe rat. After

Applications

What questions would you ask Mary?
- The question i would ask Mary is why didnt she take the opportunity to go to college,?
Her making the decision not to go her seem ungrateful to me because I know anyone in the black community would jump at the chance to go to college and ahe blew it off.

Service Learning

 These are some of the ideas i had for service learning

- Zoo volunteering

- Morris animal shelter

- elderly help (senior home)

- afterschool program volunteering

-community help

- homeless shelter volunteer

   

chapter 1 summary

Chapter 1: "THAT DAMN RAT"

     - The chapter started off with the alarm clock going off in Bigger small one bedroom apartment in Chicago. Bigger shares the apartment with hi mother, his sister Vera, and his brother Buddy. A big rat scurries across the floor and Vera and Mrs.Thomas jumped onto the bed with fear. Bigger and Buddy then try to kill the rat. The rat bite bigger, ripping  hole in his pants. Then Bigger and Buddy corner the rat, then Bigger throws a skillet killing the rat. Before throwing the rat out Bigger then goes to Vera and puts the rat in her face until she passes out. His mother then starts to curse at Bigger asking him why he would frighten his sister like that. She blamed bigger for them being in poverty and he only thinks of himself.

HOW TO MAKE WHITE GIRL STEW

based on Native Son by. Richard Wright

INGREDIENTS:

1 white girl

1 pillow

1 trunk

1 furnace

1 newspaper

1 hatchet

1 pocket knife

DIRECTIONS:

-preheat furnace 550 degrees.

-Place pillow over white girls face until she stops breathing.

-stuff her body into a trunk.

-carry the trunk to the furnace.

-try to stuff her body into the furnace.

(if body does not fit do the following)

-take your pocket knife and try to cut off her head.

-if that doesn’t work, put down newspapers so the blood doesn’t go everywhere

-then use the hatchet to chop her head off.

-throw her head into the furnace and make sure it burns really good.

       

National History Day Reflection

        This year the NHD process was more stressful than last year for me at least. Me and Amy were really having trouble staying focused on our topic and we changed it several times to stay in a limited time frame. Before our project was going to be about the immigration process and how people were coming to the U.S and why but we've narrowed it down to the families that come here for a better life and felling guilty for leaving their loved ones behind. We managed to get all our info in time but we had a lot of trouble writing out what we were gonna say. We got our board done in time but we really didn't think that we were gonna make it to the citywide competition but we did. 

FEAR

I.DEATH

A. NOT KNOWING WHEN

B. DYING YOUNG

C. LOSING LOVED ONES

II. LIFE

A. NOT LIVING UP TO MINE AND MY PARENTS EXPECTATIONS

B. BEING A VICTIM TOO THE STREETS.

C. PEER PRESSURE

III. FUTURE

A. NOT BEING SUCCESSFUL

B. HAVING A CHILD NOT MAKE IT OR BORN WITH DISABILITIES

1. COLLEGE

A. TUITION

B. REJECTION

C. FAILING AND NOT GRADUATING

Native Son

Chapter 1 : Pages 3-15  
 " THAT DAMN RAT!!!"
     This first couple of pages was about Bigger trying to be the man of the house and kill the rat , but then after he kills it his mother comes out of nowhere and says that she wishes she never gave birth to him.

Chapter 2: Pages 15-29    
''USELESS DREAMS"    
This was about when Bigger and his friends were talking about wanting to fly and being white. class

Chapter 3: 29-41    
''A CHANGE OF PLANS"  
This was about when Biger was about to go a nd rob the plave but then him and Gus began to fight.

reluctant

                                                       RELUCTANT

  1. UNWILLING; DISINCLINED

  2. STRUGGLING IN OPPOSITION

SYNONYM: HESITATE

ANTONYM: ENTHUSIATIC

EX: THE GROOM RELUCTANTLY WENT TO THE ALTER.

SCHOOL RELIGION

                                                                      SCHOOL RELIGION

       RELIGION SHOUL NOT BE TAUGHT IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM BECAUSE THAT IS NOT THE PLACE FOR IT TO BE TAUGHT. RELIGION IS A TOPIC THAT KIDS SHOULD LEARN AT HOME EITHER BY THEIR PARENTS OR THEIR PASTORS AT THE CHURCH, NOT IN THE SCHOOLS. IN SOME CASES CHILDREN WILL BE PUNISHED FOR EVEN SAYING THE NAME JESUS IN SCHOOL OR SAYING GRACE BEFORE EATING THEIR LUNCH, AND I THINK THAT I VERY UNFAIR BECAUSE THEN THEY MIGHT FEEL ASAHMD OF THEIR RELIGION BECAUSE EVERY TIME THEY SPEAK OF IT THE GET PUNISHED.

GEOMETRY SHIZZLE

FOR OUR GEOMETRY PROJECT WE HAD TO CHOOSE A FAMOUS MATHMETICIAN AND HOW THEY CONTRIBUTED TO MATH IN TODAYS SOCIETY. MY MATHMETICIAN WAS JANOS BOLYAI.

NATIONAL HISTORY DAY

                                                 NHD

FOR NATIONAL HISTORY DAY , MY TOPIC WAS GONNA BE THE BERLIN WALL, BUT I DECIDE TO CHANGE BECAUSE I WAS REALLY THAT INTERESTED IN THE BERLIN WALL BECAUSE I DONT LIVE IN BERLIN. SO I CHANGED MY TOPIC TO CUBAN IMMIGRATION. I AM GOING TO BE WORKING WITH

AMY TAYLOR I WORKED WITH HER LAST YEAR AND I TWENT VERY WELL. WE GOT SECOND PLACE. SO FAR I'VE GOT SIX SOURCES. WE ARE PLANNING ON INTERVIEWING MR.ROMERO ONE OF OUR TEACHERS BECAUSE HE WAS A CUBAN IMMIGRANT.HOPEFULLY THIS YEAR WE WILL MAKE IT ALL THE WAY THIS YEAR.