Sum ting wong

Through my eighth grade year I have learnt many things in many different ways. However, in English I have learnt things that astonish and wow me, especially when it comes to the “ESLR’s”. You see at the start of the year I hated the ESLR’s and never thought I could actually do even the simplest one but now I am sitting here at the end of the year going, “wow I was already doing all of those things without even realizing it”. So now here are a few paradigms of the astonishing (to me) ways I have stabbed these ESLR’s and ways I have simply touched them.

Throughout my life I believe I have been a critical thinker but it wasn’t until recently that I realized I was able to apply problem-solving skills to facilitate learning. The first way I believe I have done this is by simply reading books, you see before while I was reading I didn’t always understand everything but I just kept letting that slide to a point were I did not understand the book, but this year the first thing I do when I don’t understand something is I try to figure it out through all sorts of ways, in the vein of using a dictionary to look up words I don’t know, to (the dramatic) reading a basic summary of the chapter on spark notes before actually reading it. Something else I have done is I have applied these skills to when I am doing projects like the recent pod-cast for “The Tempest” which we are actually still doing. When we started recording we were doing so in a very long and complicated way, until Mr. R came over and told us it was going to take to long and that we should change our strategy, after this we were frantically trying to figure a new way of doing it and as a group we came up with a great solution, which proved to be very successful. Within the whole I have definitely proved myself in this ESLR and if we were to get a grade on it I would do very well.

In my short time and experience with the all-powerful ESLR’s I believe I have always been an Involved Citizen but it was this great year in English that really sparked me to interact respectively with people of diverse cultures. It was English class that really made me see all the different people we have in our school and how many different nations we work with every single day of our lives, if its’ not our school mates on weekdays its’ our shop clerks on Saturdays, if its’ not our maids on Mondays its’ our best friend we meet on Sundays. Something else that English really pointed out to me this year is that everyone has a slightly if not completely different lens, at the start of the year I guess I was kind of ignorant of what others thought but now in quarter four I see them, different lenses everywhere and I am finally able accept all different types of thoughts and different ways of thinking. I believe the book that really pointed this out to me had to be “The Tempest”, I believe this not through simply reading it but by all the different and interesting class discussions we had and how people had completely different feelings about characters, a paradigm of this would be one class discussion when we had created this huge argument between to people in our class that I will not name, but the point is that they had completely different and contradicting thoughts and I was able to see that. Now last but not least I will point out the obvious, just recently in quarter three we participated in something called the “Teen-Life Project”, this was a project we did with people from around the world in all different schools. We each chose a topic and we were each with at least five other people from all different countries and all bringing in the separate thoughts and separate, you guessed it, lenses. Over top I have surely shown growth as an involved citizen and I am surely proud to say I should receive a good grade on being one.

At the start of the year we did an essay on our goals for the rest of year. When we did this I was confused and did not understand why we had to do such a thing but now I do finally get it. By doing this I have definitely become a self directed learner because I have developed, prioritized and continually revised my personal goals. At the end of the first quarter it was time for us to meet the crossroads of Bloom’s taxonomy and the ESLR’s (for the first time) so I decided to look back at my old goals and see how I had done. To my surprise I had not done any of them and I decided I needed to step up my game and so by the end of the second quarter I shakily looked back again and I was shocked to see I had conquered all my goals and without realizing it even thought up new ones. So without realizing it I had done this ESLR and now I am even starting to go beyond. You see starting the first month in the third quarter I decided it would be a good idea to look back just once a month and see if I am still doing each and every goal each and every day. So by doing this I have once again accidentally done another part of this ESLR which says to monitor (looking back each month), adjust and document work in progress (when ever I have to write a reflective journal for English). Over all it is very easy to accidentally conquer an ESLR and not even realize it, but even if it is an accident you still should receive a good grade on the respective ESLR.

In conclusion eighth grade has been a good year with lots of great experiences in store, but sadly and horribly we have had some moments none of us want to remember. But one of the great things is that I am now able and eager to learn things through recognizing the ESLR’s and through just simply learning. On top of all that I now believe I am a better student than before not only in English but in all other classes too, including the ones I thought were easy at first and are still easy.

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon the shopkeeper of the “Kwiki-Mart” from “The Simpsons” is a fictional character on the TV but one that influences many.

Through a woman’s eyes Apu would seem like the typical foreign man. By seeing him in this way they are also automatically thinking that if they marry someone like him they will have multiple babies (like Apu’s wife did) and that they will not be able to make enough money to live on, just enough to buy basic day to day necessities. Another side that a woman might see is that if they marry any Indian guy they will have an extremely long last name. A further aspect that a woman may see is that Apu is very cheeky (he is always changing expiry dates on old items, etc.) Lastly a woman may see that Apu is very peaceful and they may assume that all Indian men are.

Through a real Indian’s lens (that lives in India) Apu would seem like a great man, a normal Indian guy that went to the US, got a job, and is now living what some call “the American Dream”. However many Indian people may see Apu as what will happen to you if you move to America, meaning that they’ll think all Indians in America work in mini-marts and that they would never be able to succeed. One last point of view that is definitely shown is that when an Indian goes to the US he (or she) may get made fun of and even shot at by robbers; this would create a stereo typical lens that some Americans make fun of some Indians.

From an extremely poor person’s lens Apu may seem like a very lucky man with a wife, a nice sports car and a job that manages to keep him alive. Many poorer people may also see Apu as a rival and may get jealous of him with such a good income. Some other poorer people may even see Apu as a role model, they may see this because Apu is based on a poor person who came all the way from India, managed to get a job, and is now succeeding with a healthy income that he managed to create without the help of his parents or anyone around him.

What all of this means is that Apu is a fictional stereotype of an Indian man living in America, and that people are mistaking him for the truth so they are basing there own stereo types on him which will eventually change this fictional stereo type to one that everyone believes to be true.

The two hardest lines that I read through and actually managed to figure out are as follows;

• “Tell your piteous heart there’s no harm done“(line 16/17), this line actually means, don’t worry they won’t get hurt, this is possible to figure out if you keep reading down the page.
• “who was so firm, so constant, that his coil would not infect his reason“(line 244/245), this line actually means, who is so steady that a disturbance couldn’t effect him.

Two lines that weren’t actually hard, but just tricky to figure out;

• “It was a torment to lay upon the damned, which Sycorax could not again undo“
• “Thy nerves are in their infancy again and have no vigor in them”

Here is a few questions that were a mystery to me throughout this scene;

• Did Shakespeare believe in magic?
• Is this scene based on a myth or is it just a made up story?
• Where do most of Shakespeare’s stories come from?

In our class we have recently done a unit on poetry and something called the “Teen-Life Project”. The poetry unit included us doing a research project on famous poet, making a poetry book of over twenty poems that we wrote ourselves, and having a poetry night where we all read a poem. The “Teen-Life Project” included us choosing a category for the project we wanted to work on (from a list of around twenty), and then creating a short video with five other kids from all over the world.

By participating in and completing the “Teen-Life Project” I believe I was definitely showing the skill of being an Involved Citizen. By being an Involved Citizen I mean I interacted respectfully with people of diverse cultures, basically I worked together with different people from places all around the world. To be one of these Involved Citizens while doing the “Teen Life Project” I merely had to participate cooperatively which becomes very easy when the people you work with do the same, which they thankfully did. To complete my part of the project all I really had to do was write one poem and take one picture, however you see I over achieved on this by writing five poems and taking two pictures. This means I wasn’t only an involved citizen while doing the “Teen Life Project”; I was also an Academic Achiever. One thing I must say about my previous contribution to this ESLR is the fact that I have always been an Involved Citizen; however, in past years I have touched the part of the ESLR that states demonstrates to care and take concern for your environment which indicates that this is maybe the first time I have conquered the part of the ESLR I did with the “Teen Life Project”. If I were to go back and start the whole “Teen Life Project” again the one thing I would do is set up a schedule for times in which the entire group could chat on MSN about the topic. All in all I believe it is finally time for me to cross off being an Involved Citizen from my list of things to do with a high rating, maybe a 9/10.

While creating my poetry book I think I was a great Self Directed Learner. By being a Self Directed Learner I demonstrated competency in goal setting, time management, and organization skills, basically I was organised and used time wisely. Something else I must add to this ESLR’ is the fact that there are many ways to do this by being creative with your time table and organization. I feel I drove right through this ESLR with ease, all I had to do to complete this ESLR was I made a time table the first day we got the project and then once I had done something I crossed it off the list I also made to make sure I didn’t forget to add one single poem. I believe if I were to compare my Self Directedness from last year no one would believe me. You see last year I was horrible, I was always doing projects the day before they were dew, a paradigm of this would be the “Medieval Fair” last year, I was supposed to make a model and I didn’t do it till the night before the fair. To improve on my self directedness for next time I think I would maybe pay more attention when creating my time table, for you see there was actually one mishap I never put any time in my timetable for editing which means when I was reading through my final product I found typos but it was to late to fix them. If I were to grade my self on being organized on this project I think I would do well, maybe an A- or an A.

Throughout the poetry unit I realized that as you’re writing a poem you are effectively communicating. This means when you write a poem you are touching the ESLR Effective Communicator. To be one of these I demonstrated my creative talents to convey ideas, or I gave my own ideas in my own creative way. To complete this ESLR I merely had to write the poems to put in my poetry book. You see the reason this is, is that every poem that someone writes is saying a message wether it be a story, some kind of moral, or even a joke, every poem communicates something to someone so by writing over twenty poems I was definitely an effective communicator. By writing poems to convey a message I was also an Academic Achiever. I think this because for our poetry book we were to write twenty or so poems that each have meaning and since I was being an effective communicator I was automatically doing this which meant I was also being an Academic Achiever because that was what we were supposed to do to get a good grade. I believe if it were possible to go back in time I would tell my self to write my poems while thinking of something that was close to me, this is because by doing this you would create a message that would get across to you audience even more effectively. Over all I believe I now have the chance to tick the Effective Communicator box with at least an A- if not an A or A+.

In many more ways than one I was an Involved Citizen while participating at “Poetry Night”. I was an Involved Citizen because I was able to improve the lives of others in my community; basically I helped others around me. To complete this ESLR all I had to do was teach adults and children how to write poems for a half hour shift at the “Poetry Night”. I believe this as a way of improving others lives because I think being able to write a poem does in fact improve your life in many ways. Another view of how I accomplished this ESLR is the fact that no one wanted to sign up for a half hour shift and I did which meant that people who did not want to sign up did not have to. By teaching people to write poems I was also being an effective communicator because I was successfully teaching them which meant I was successfully getting my message across to them. In my mind being an involved citizen is very easy and looking back at last year, the year before, and the year before that I have actually managed to maintain my role of an Involved Citizen throughout my life. If I were ever to go back to that faithful night of poetry then I would definitely sign up for more than one shift and instead of just teaching people to write haikus I would sign up to teach them sensory poems as well. To conclude I think I have conquered this ESLR and if I were to grade my self on how well I did it I would give myself an A.

In conclusion of the entire poetry unit I would like to say that it was a terrific experience I would love to do again. The entire quarter was full of fun with the “Poetry Night” and the poetry books making it even better. Over all the poetry unit is over and I hope the next unit is just as spectacular.

The outstanding poet Billy Collins was born on the 22^nd of March 1941in New York city. After he finished high school he went on to be a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and the University of California, Riverside, and then later on became a professor of English at Lehman College in New York. As a poet he has created books of poems including “The Trouble with Poetry” in 2005, “Nine Horses” in 2002, and many more.

Over many years of writing Poems Billy has won many awards including “Poetry Magazine” awarding him several prizes for the poems they have published for him. The same magazine has also chosen him as “Poet of the Year”. Thirdly Billy Collins was also the first person to receive the now annual Mark Twain Prize for Humour in Poetry.

Over all Billy Collins is an absolutely amazing poet and is a great idol for many winning many awards here and there for various poems that many have known and many have loved.

-Billy Collins

My Thoughts

The only real figurative language that Billy Collins uses in the poem above (Forgetfulness) is the fact that he broke his poem up into stanzas. Stanzas are divisions in a poem sort of like paragraphs in essays. Other than this Billy Collins has sort of ignored figurative language which is fine because he has been writing poems for a long time so he doesn’t really need the structure that Figurative language gives you. Although Billy didn’t really use figurative throughout the poem he did in certain bits, for example in the last stanza of his poem he used repetition with the phrase ‘no wonder’ appearing twice. Basically Billy Collins uses figurative language here and there but he doesn’t use it in every stanza, he only uses it when he needs to.

This Poem that I have chosen by Billy Collins (Forgetfulness) is a terrific poem in many aspects and there aren’t many things I dislike about it. The first thing I must say that I like about it is the fact that it has a very good flow to it, each line relates to the one before it and his lines always roll perfectly into the one after. One other thing that makes Billy’s poems almost perfect is his word choice, each stanza has at least one word you have look at twice and go “wow”. The third thing about Billy Collins’ poems (in general) that I like is that they are a little more literal then most other poems and aren’t so spacey or out there, I mean they are about things that you can relate to a little easier without feeling emotional and such. The Only sort of criticism I would give to Billy Collins (about all his poems but especially this one) is that they never feel finished, after you’re finished reading one you are always left there going, “wait, its’ over already?” Which is something I love and adore when reading books but with poetry its’ like the author couldn’t bother to finish. In conclusion Billy Collins poems all have good things but all have that feel of an un-finished poem.

My Questions

· Why don’t any of your poems seem finished?

· Will you ever write a non literal poem?

· Will you ever write a poem with a really strong emotion?