Working Details

Work Times:
4/18/13=Portfolio; 30 min.
4/19/13=Portfolio; 30 min
4/21/13=Portfolio; 100 min.

Poem

Snake, by Morgan Dyne
One sunny day, a snake is slithering along,
Into a sneaky hiding place. The place is under the sink.
I open the cabinets blocking under the sink, and
There is a snake in our house.

I shut the doors of the cabinets, wondering what to say or do.
I slowly back away
Trying not to scream. So, I run to my mom and explain:
"There is a snake in our house."

Justin is crying, while Griffin is cracking
up. I am shrieking while my mom is freaking out;
She takes a big can, thinking she would carry it out.
There is a snake in our house.

My mom silenced us so the snake wouldn't be upset.
The silence in our house is a scary noise.
My mom sweeps the snake into the can, and shows it back outside.
There was a snake in our house.

This poem is named "Snake,"for self-explanatory reasons. I used sibilance, consonance (which could also be cacophony), and repetition. I wanted the snake stanza to sound like there's a hissing sound with the s and sh sounds in the poem. Then, in the third stanza, I wanted it to sound harsh and a little scary, because everyone in the house was scared, so I used a k sound. The repetition in the poem was the last line of each stanza was always the same, except the very last line. In the first three stanzas, the last line is in present tense, but in the last stanza, it's in past tense, which represents that the snake WAS in the house, but isn't anymore.

Reading Times/Post #2

This week, I'm, going to skip the second post about what I want most in the world.
I led the book discussion for Life of Pi.

Reading Times:
4/8/13=Life of Pi; 50 min.; 47 pages
4/9/13=Writing Center; 25 min.; talked about my paper and how to improve it
4/10/13=Portfolio; 30 min.; Writing Remix outline
4/12/13=Paper revision; 26 min.; fixing what I talked about @ the writing center
4/13/13=Writing Remix; 30 min.; film some scenes for commercial

Analyzation

I decided to analyze the song "One of Us" by the pop group ABBA. The first thing I analyzed is the rhyme scheme throughout the piece. The rhyme scheme is:

a a b c c c d d e f e g g h h h i i j k k k d d e f e g g h h h h f e g g h. I also noticed an abundance of sibilance lines. For example, "romances; chances; easy; so; us (major word); staring; wishing she; somewhere; instead; sorry; herself; stupid; small; saw; myself; concealed; stubborn; misconceiving; started; show," are all words that have an 's' or an 's' sound. Another repetitive sound I heard was the 'y sound, like "crying" or "lying." The tone of the song, based off of the rhythm of the lyrics, is gentle and dreamlike, although, the sibilance within the song makes the lyrics have a harsh tone. Overall, the song has harsh lyrics. The accents in the spot they are in creating a little bit of a raspy tone along with soothing lyric sounds. You can feel the sadness the song is about through the sound of the lyrics. I also feel that the sibilance of the song makes a purpose of the song's sadness.

Most words in this song rhyme. As explained before, the rhyming pattern shows that all of the lines that are the same letter end in a word that rhymes. The first line is "They passed me by, al of those great romances / You were, I felt, robbing me of my rightful chances."The rhyming pattern is observed as double, single, triple, double, single, single, single, double, triple. Then, it repeats. The rhyming words give rhythm to the lyrics, which is probably why the lyrics of a SONG. Another thing I noticed was that there is an odd line break. The lyrics are "One of us is only / Waiting for a call." It makes the song sound good, but the lyrics, written on a sheet of paper, look weird. In the end, it makes for a great euphony for the song.

Lyrics:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/abba/oneofus.html

Life of Pi

I read the first part of Life of Pi earlier this year. Then, I decided to put it down for who knows what reason. I, now, regret doing that because of how great that book actually is. I now can appreciate such a good book after I have finished it. This adventurous book explains his struggles when he's left on a boat with a tiger. At the end of the book, there is the disbelief of his story, and, although his story compels you to believe his story, it is an unbelievable story. He claims it to be an all too real experience for him throughout the book. I think this book is fiction, I almost believe that it's a true story.
I also loved this book for the fact that there's a great show of human vs. nature. A young adult boy experience the real world all too soon. Real world, in this sense, means the great outdoors of the Pacific Ocean, all while he's trying to save his life and a 450 pound tiger's life. This book tells in detail about his survival. The whole time, I was supporting his life in the book. I wanting his to succeed in feeding himself and finding drinkable water and living on a lifeboat with a huge tiger. The story just drew me in. I would recommend anyone who is looking for a book. I would especially recommend this for people who like survival and outdoor stories.

Reading Times:
4/4/13=Life of Pi; 15 min.; 10 pages
4/5/13=Life of Pi; 34 min.; 30 pages
4/6/13=Life of Pi; 78 min.; 72 pages
4/7/13=Life of Pi; 102 min.; 98 pages

My New Paper

For my new paper, I've decided to redo my literary analysis. I've decided to work on sentence fluency and conventions. My voice is fine in the paper, along with, my word choice. I worked on my organization with an outline, required in class. Dr. D says that my ideas are great with a strong argument and well supported evidence.

The two aspects of my paper that I choose to edit are sentence fluency and conventions. The reason I chose to work on sentence fluency of my paper because there are quotes that are independent. Quotations are the main issue with sentence fluency. I also chose conventions because a few times, I put the quotations inside the period. Also, I have one comma splice. The conventions I messed up on are major conventions, and that is why I choose to fix them.
Reading Times:
3/17/13=City of Glass; 35 min.; 33 pages
3/18/13=City of Glass; 28 min.; 28 pages
3/21/13=City of Glass; 10 min.; 9 pages
3/21/13=City of Glass; 47 min.; 46 pages
3/23/13=City of Glass; 26 min.; 24 pages
3/24/13=City of Glass; 18 min.; 16 pages

Jane Goodall's Mistake

Plagiarism is frowned upon in the English world. Plagiarism, as the dictionary explains, is "the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own." Jane Goodall is known throughout America, and the world. With such famousness, people know what you do in your life and judge your, in this case, her actions. The fact that she thought it was right to use "the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own," or plagiarism, in a huge source, or primary source, is completely wrong in the world. Many people have lost jobs over such an act. This act, being so serious, should be treated seriously. The fact that it was let off lightly makes this affair worse than it is. Another worsening aspect of this subject is the lack of heart with the apologies. This issue is a huge deal and following through with such act shouldn't be dismissed as if nothing happened. The apologies for doing this act contained no feeling and nothing was sincere.
To fix this situation, I would redo the book. After the reproduction of writing it, there should be strict editing in order for no mistakes to happen with plagiarism. They editors, writes, and anyone involved in the first copy of the book should be fined for what they've done. This act shouldn't go unnoticed and untreated; it should be resolved with discipline. After the fine is paid, they should truly apologize for their actions. Plagiariam is a big issue, and, no matter who you are, it should never go unnoticed. Even with Goodall, there should be no tolerance.
Sources:
New Oxford American Dictionary