Native Son - Stephanie Kang

This is what we discussed about Native Son at our tables:

-Bigger is always seeking freedom throughout the story.

-In the end, he has to sacrifice his life for freedom.

-He dreams of equality and living the same as everyone else.

-He also seeks wealth.

-He deserved death for killing Betsy.

-Fear led to most of his actions.

I also think that Bigger can not face the truth of how wrong what he did was. The reds and Bigger keep trying to justify the choices he made when it shouldn't be.

Loyalty to...The Raiders. -Christiana R.

I am a loyal fan. No, I am not a gangster who wears your logo; nor am I a supporter of only your colors. I am a girl of strength, of heart and admiration, determination and desire - and I might even be said to be obsessed. I am loyal, understand because I will stick with you through the good times and the bad. Like man's best friend, you can see me begging for more. When others approach me, they see stupidity and ignorance, everything and anything except my loyalty.

I am tired of people always telling me, "eww Raiders, they suck". I say "actually, they don't suck, you do". I am loyal to them, they are my team, the team I stick with. I am not like others who switch teams every year based on who did well and who didn't. People should see that I am a fan of the silver and black and I am proud of it. So, Raiders, this is for you.

The Invisible Man

Yesterday, for Team Tuesday, Mrs.Elliott challenged us to take a passage from the novel Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, and creat a poem out of it. Writing the poem was difficult enough, but then Mrs. Elliott tells us to make a TOSTADA about our poem- that's where we ran into complications. The tostada, I learned after we completed it, was a great way to understand not only why we wrote our poem that way, but also why Ellison wrote in rhythm and how it flowed more easily because he wrote that way. Unfortunately, the tostada was turned it, so I can't really show you how it turned out but I can tell you that we learned  from our poem. We learned that this man invisible to the people around him to the degree where his emotions are almost invisible to him, as if the people who can't see him have rubbed off on him. This may not be accurate, but it is what I have extrapolated from the text.- Brenda Samaan

Jane Eyre - Stephanie

Throughout this novel, religion plays a very significant role in Jane’s personality and life. When she is only ten years old she is sent to a Christian school by her guardian Aunt Reed. Jane is excited to escape Gatesfield and go to Lowewood. She becomes friends Helen Burns who is the opposite of Jane in terms of personality and religious views but they still get along.  However, when she experiences the mental and physical abuse from Mr. Brocklehurst, her opinions change. She witnesses his hypocritical life style of which he lives in luxury, while the girls are forced to suffer. Due to his actions, many girls end up very ill, like Helen Burns who is still forgiving and humble till the end. The 8 years she stays at the school, shows in her later stern personality and yet she still keeps her spirit of independence while looking at God in her own view. Jane rejects both the righteous St. John and Rochester because she herself believes that it is wrong for her. The turning point is when Jane hears Rochester calling, “Jane, Jane, Jane!” which she finds out was a miracle. In the end, their love and spirituality bring them back together.

TOSTADA for Snow by Naomi Shihab Nye -Christiana

T. Snow by Naomi Shihab Nye. This title at first glance makes me think that the poem would be about the white purity of snow. How it represents innocence and laughter and happinness.
O. The occasion of the poem would have to be about the saddness and depression that existed at home and in order to get away from it, the kids would go outside to play in the snow so that they could get away from this pain. They did this even though the conditions that existed outside were not normal "playing outside" conditions.
S. The shift of the poem begins with "Now I think...", towards the end when the poem begins to become sad and upsetting.
T. The tone of the poem is that there is a lack of relationships going on in that family, but there is a desire for one. What she wants more than anything else is to have a good happy relationship with her family.
A. The arrangement of the poem is shone mainly in the second to last stanza when there is only two lines which show strong emotion.
D. Imagery, mataphors, analogies.
A. The ahh-ha moment of the poem would definetly be how at first glance the poem appears to be about the happiness involved with snow and how pure and simple it is. However it is actually about a disfunctional family that is struggling to find the joy of living life.

This poem really , truly touched me. I feel that this poem was written very well to depict the hardships that disfunctional families have to face every single day and how any interaction at all is a big step toward bonding. It did a wonderful job in showing how the children are the bigest victim of all, by depicting their saddness by showing how they would rather go out into a blizzard then to have to deal with the hardships at home.