Portfolio Link

http://richardscoolportfolio.blogspot.com/

Reading Times

Reading times
 Portfolio project- 4/15- 2 hours, 2/16- 20 mins, 2/17- 0 mins, 2/18- Freefall- 2 hours, 2/20- 1 hour

Reading Times

4/8- 0 mins, 4/9- Sword Art Online- 30 mins, 4/10- 40 mins, 4/11- 30 mins, 4/12- 2 hours, 4/13- 0 mins

The Dream Car

WELL, as you may have noticed from the poem that I recently posted, I've got a desire. No, really its a need. I REALLY NEED to get a 1967 Thunderbird. It is by all means the single coolest car that I have ever seen, and I may have means of getting one.

There's this old guy who's lives with my step-grandmother, i believe, and we visited them the other day. WE pull up to their house and get out of the car. As I'm getting out, I notice a garage door opening. The old guy walks out, and begins talking to my dad. Both I and my dad, of course, are paying no attention to him, but rather to what is behind him, in the garage. A '67 Thunderbird. It had just been sitting there for 15 years, with the engine still in perfect condition. It just needed a new paint job. After the old guy left, my dad said, "he may marry your grandmother." We looked at each other and I said, "I CALL THE CAR!"

Poem

Sleek and shining
an old paint job.
This piece of junk
needs a bit of refining.
Nineteen sixty seven
the year this piece of heaven
was created.
Some might say
that this thing is old fashioned.
But I think that
this piece of metal is a passion.
My dream car,
a '67 Thunderbird.
to me it may be given
just waiting to be driven.

Reading Response/Times

Times- World War Z 3/2- 30 mins, 3/3 - 30 mins, 3/4 - 10 mins, 3/5- 60 mins, 3/6 30 mins, 3/7- 0 mins

Response- Over the break, and a bit before, I read a book that will be presented in the novel lunch on Thursday, World War Z. This book is by all means the most realistic description of the events in some kind of "zombie apocalypse." The book was excellently written, and was written in a way that kept me very interested.

                  The use of many characters as narrators in World War Z was particularly interesting to me, as it showed me the events that were occurring not just in America, but also in Russia, the UK, and China. Also, the book was written with great detail, which made it very easy to envision

The Gambler, by Kenny Rogers

     http://www.lyricsfreak.com/k/kenny+rogers/the+gambler_20077886.html


          The Gambler is a very catchy song about a man giving "poker advice" to his friend on a train. Kenny Rogers uses poker terms as a metaphor to real life, because the gambler is trying to give his companion advice about life, not poker.

           The diction used in this song is very slang, similar to other Kenny Rogers songs, and it adds an air of country, and seems very relaxed. Also, rhymes are used at the end of ech line, which is why one of the reasons that the song is so catchy, in my opinion. This song has great meaning overall, and contains some pretty good advice, if you ask me.

Portfolio

     As the paper that I will edit in my portfolio project, I will use my literary analysis. It seems to be my greatest success thus far, so I will have a good time editing it. Also, there is room for improvement, as always, and this is another reason for me to edit this paper.
     In this paper, I will focus on my word choice, as that is my strongest area in writing, and my voice, as that is my weakest point. I have chosen my strongest and weakest point as focal points because I would like to improve the weak parts of my paper, and at the same time reinforce what I am already good at.

Jane Goodall

     Jane Goodall, a very well-known biologist, made a few errors when citing sources for her new book. This is a very serious flaw, as it could cause her to be arrested in the worst case.  The causes for her errors are unknown, but her editors say that it was probably due to forgetfulness. This may decrease the seriousness of her error, but this does not decrease the need for editing. Jane Goodall may lose a lot of credibility because of her failure to cite.
     Even though her offense is not serious in the eyes of the law, it is necessary for her to cite the overlooked information in order to correct her error. If she does not do this, then the problem has potential to become serious. She could solve her problem, quite simply, by giving credit where it is due. She should just edit her work before its release with full citations of the missed data included. Overall, her problem is not too great, and is easily manageable.

C Layer Post 2

Chapter 5
     There are two very important events in this chapter that show Tambu how the social status of women in Africa really is. The first event is at Tambu's first dinner with the family of Babamukuru. When Nyasha is served her rice, she does not wait for Babamukuru, the man of the house, to begin eating before her. Babamukuru becomes a bit angry with Nyasha for doing such a thing.
     Another more significant event occurs after the dance that Tambu and Nyasha attend. Nyasha is learning a new dance from a boy named Adam. She stays out a bit later than Tambu, and this makes Babamukuru very angry. He becomes even angrier when Nyasha talks back to him, and he proceeds to beat her. This shows Tambu that, no matter how much she studies, men will always be considered superior to her.

C Layer 1 Post

Chapter 2
     One of the more significant events in the chapter is the stealing of corn from Tambu. This corn is supposed to pay for Tambu's future education, yet someone keeps stealing it from her fields. She later discovers that it is Nhamo who is stealing her corn. This is important because her lack of corn means that she in turn lacks money to go to school, which means that she will be missing school that year.
     This event shows Nhamo's cunning and his adeptness with deception. It also shows his cruelty toward his female siblings, and his competitiveness toward them. He seems to look down his nose at them, as well as all other women.

Babamukuru

     I wish Nyasha would be a more respectable African girl. Her behavior makes me, and the rest of our family, lose our good reputation. I do not understand why she acts in such ways. Even though she was born here, she acts like a rebellious English teen
     This behavior of hers must be put to a stop. I do not like being so harsh to my daughter, but she dares to disrespect me, her father. I have taken care of her for all her life, yet she does not even respect me.

Reading Times/ C Layer 1

Nervous Conditions 2/25- 2 hours, 2/26- 30 mins, 2/27- 30 mins, 2/28- N/A, 2/29- 1 hour


C Layer 1

          I think that I did a fairly good job on my first layer, and I'm starting my second soon. I think that I made it a bit easier on myself than most people by picking all of the things that are the easiest to do. It seems like the lower value items are much easier, but I had to do more of each one.
          However, I still had to read a good bit on the day before the C Layer was due, which could've been prevented. I guess I just had a lot to do last week. For  C Layer 2, I think the only thing I'll do differently is read te chapters in advance.

Reflection

Writing Process
          I basically created my outline, and then followed it, with a few changes. The most difficult thing for me, honestly, was fitting in quotes and sources seamlessly. The most useful thing to me while writing this paper was the comments on our first draft, and the least useful thing was comments on our outline. Next time, I might try and keep all of the components of my paper together so that i wouldnt have to find them later. I think, to better prepare students, you could be more specific in what you want this paper to turn out to be.
         I received feedback from Dr. D, which was very useful to me, and feedback from peers on my draft, which i didnt have time to use.
          The strongest point in my paper is definitely my intro. It Is well written, grammatically flawless (unless i missed something), and grabs the reader. The weakest point in my paper is the conclusion, simply because it isnt as well developed as other parts of the paper.
          When you are reading my paper, note tat i expressed my opinion on the matter at the very end. I did this in order to try and keep the reader interested.

Reading times

Nervous Conditions- 2/18, 40 mins _2/19, 15 mins_2/20, The History of Middle Earth, 50 mins_2/21 40 mins_2/22 30 mins. Research Paper- 5 to 6 hours, just a guess.

Reading/Research

Reading- The Life of Pi 1/21- 2 hours 1/22- 1 hour, 1/23- 3 hours, The History of Middle Earth (I'm a huge nerd)- 1/24- 1 hour, 1/25 3 hours, 1/26- 2 hours

Research- My research question is about the morality of using data gathered by Nazi experiments. I think that the info gathered by the experiments should not be ignored, but analyzed, because these experiments cant be replicated. Problem is, I can't say that in my paper because I have to be strictly neutral when writing an informative essay.




My research topic involves Nazi experiments committed on Jews, which may seem like a report, but is actually more focused on morality. The moral question at hand is whether or not to use valid data gathered by these experiments. I personally have an opinion, but I'm trying to be fairly neutral about this, as it is a presentation of several opinions more than an expression of just one.

Reading Times/Free Post

The Children of Hurin 1/14- 2 hours, 1/15- 2 1/2 hours, 1/16- 1 hour, 1/17-0, 1/18-0

This Christmas, I received a multitude of presents, including a gaming chair, a soda maker, and Assassin's Creed 3, but my favorite present of all is my new puppy. His name is Harry, and he is the single most lovable organism on the face of the earth, as weird as that might sound coming from a guy.

Harry Potter is actually his name, but in our house he just goes by Harry. He is now very comfortable at my house, and often has little outbursts of craziness where he runs as fast as he can throughout our house. However, he still cannot manage to climb up the stairs.

Research update

I actually haven't made much progress on my research project. I have found two more sources but they are both fairly useless. I've also began to hypothesize the formatting of my actually essay, but its still a work in progress. Other than this, I haven't done much on my project.

Free Post

     I had a pretty great christmas break. I spent my Christmas break at my home here, and with my dad in Alabama, which is great because it means that I essentially get two separate sets of presents. :) At my mom's my favorite presents were my gaming chairs, my soda maker, my Xbox game, Assassin's Creed 3, and most of all,  my little puppy, Harry.

     At my dad's house, I received several pairs of socks, a pellet gun, 50$ to Mosley's Steaks, Halo 4, and Black Ops 2. Overall, both of my Christmases were very fun and festive.

Reading Times

1/7- The Life of Pi=75 mins, 1/8- 120 mins, 1/9= 30 mins, 1/10 The Children of Hurin= 50 mins, 1/11 145 mins.

reading response

     Alright, now that we're back to school, I have to find a new book to read. I, being the biggest J.R.R. Tolkien fan alive (author of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit), wanted to read one of his books. So, i went to the iTunes library, and found a book called the Children of Hurin, also by J.R.R. Tolkien.
     I immediately bought the book, not having the slightest clue as to what tho book was about. I opened the book and began reading the authors note, and discovered that The Children of Hurin was just several thousand pages of backstory to Lord of the Rings. As nerdy as it may seem, I was very interested in this book, so I began to read. And that's where I am now: the second chapter of the Children of Hurin.