#8- In Character

1.) Dora the Explorer has had a large impact on our culture because Dora is a Latina and she introduces some children to spanish. She "takes the kids on adventures" and then asks them what type of strategy she should do to solve problems. This allows kids to understand what is right and what is wrong. Going on adventures with Dora also allows kids to learn new spanish words. I think that the character is fascinating because she is like an icon to all kids who watch tv. Dora the Explorer is somtimes misunderstood because some parents feel that their kids want to be exactly identical to Dora.

Bugs Bunny has had an impact on our culture because he is unique to Americans. He has an all around type of personality because he can be a "trickster", a bully, or just plain nice. Most Americans could say that all though Bugs does some crazy things, he stills draws in a great audience because most viewers of his show enjoy watching his crazy stunts/actions. Bugs bunny is fasinating because many viewers watch that show, even some older people. Also I think it is somewhat fascinating that every once and awhile he will quote shakespeare. Bugs Bunny can sometimes be misunderstood because he sometimes contradicts himself.



2.). I think that Harry Potter is a very interesting character to me because he is an all around type of guy. Many people, not just me, are inspired by all his adventures. I think that he has an important impact on culture because many people enjoy reading fantasy and the fact that he is a normal person with special powers is even more interesting. Some characteristics that he possess that are intriguing are that he is smart, creative, and entertaing. Harry Potter is important to our society because he is a huge icons to millions of Americans. Also, he allows Americans to open their mind to a different type of fantasy life.

#7- Characteristics of a well-told story

Part 1: Stories are so important to our childhood because it opens up every childs' imagination to new things in our world. Children learn new things through learning like colors, shapes, and morals. Many people read stories to kids because in some cases it can settle down a hyper child or a parent may want their child to be able to read at an ealier age. Out if this experience, kids under stand things going on in the world better. In many stories, the main character learns that she did something wrong and then decides that she should never do that again. I feel that this is what parents really want a child to learn. They want their children to learn what is right and what is wrong.


Part 2: People later in life read stories because it plessures the brain. By reading, kids inhance their inteliigence and can explore different styles of literature. These readers get to learn about true stories out of the experience. Older people can learn about inspiring stories that can teach people lessons.


Part 3: Stories are so important to our nation because they inform the public of what is happening in our world today. They inform people and therefor people make different choices in their life. Stories allow the reader to believe in a horrbile/great occurance that may have happened. After reading a true enduring story people can sometimes tend to want to change their lifestyle for the better of them of their country. Stories allow the writer to express inner emotions about an event in their life or somthing that has changed who they are today.


Part 4: One stories that i remember very well is the story, "I Love You Forever". I really liked and still like this story because it makes me want to love my mom and dad the same as the mans' mom did. In the story the mom takes care of his son and holds him until she is too old. When he is older he does the same for her. My other favrotie story from my childhood is "The Giving Tree". I think that these stories stand out to me bacause my mom read them to me so much. I really think that the reason that my mom read those books to me so much as so that I would remember the morals of those books, which I still do to this day. I connect to my mom with all of these stories.


Part 5:

1. Good Morals- Morals in a story allow kids to learn from a characters mistake and then know always what the right thing to do is. The author should always include some time of moral so that kids learn somthing from reading the story.
2. Creative- If a story is boring, kids won't be into the book and then it will all jsut be a waste. When an author is creative in their story, it intrigues kids.
3. Descriptive- Readers get a better understanding of their main character when they can imagine what he/she actually looks like.
4. Emotional- When a character shows their strong feelings about something/event the reader can sometimes relate themselves to the characters thoguhts/ideas.
5. Interesting- Writers always need to make sure that their story can target a certain age group.
6. Understandable- When there is too much going on in a story a reader can get easily comfunsed and frustrated. Especially for kids, they want a straight to the point and easily understandable book.
7. Unique- This allows a story to be different from any others. Many readers enjoy something different than jsut the usualy same types of stories.

#6- How Unpoetic

The first thing that came to my mind is summer. Everyday when I wake up I look out the window hoping that it will be a sunny day out or more warm than it has been in the last 4 months. Living through the Minnesota winters is pretty hard for me because I am for sure not a winter person at all and I absolutley hate coldness. All I wait for is summer, all the time. When it is cold and gloomy outside it almost makes me moody, sad, and lazy. When it is hot out and sunny I feel energetic and not lazy at all. The summer is always on my mind because I will have a job then and then I will be able to have more money for myself! With more money comes new clothes and bigger and better things! The other thing that I love about summer is that I get to go up to my cabin in Brainard. The best thing about my cabin is that I can go swimming, skiiing, tubing, jet skiing, and bascially jsut sit back and relax (tan). Another thing about summer that is awesome is that it is always warm! I am a weird person and for some reason am really cold blooded. In the winter I sleep with about 6 blankets , slipper socks, a heater thing in my bed, and sweats on. When it comes to summer I dont have to worry about wearing layers of clothes jsut to stay warm. Instead I sleep better because I am always warm! One thing that I really love about summer is that you get to drive with your window down!! This is the best thing ever, i seriously just love it so much. Lastly, the thing about summer is that on summer nights, everynight is like a weekend night because there is no school so you get to go out everynight and wear tank tops and shorts!

#5- Poetry Critique

Say

By:John Mayer

Take all of your wasted honor

Every little past frustration

Take all of your so-called problems,

Better put 'em in quotations

Say what you need to say [x8]

Walking like a one man army

Fighting with the shadows in your head

Living out the same old moment

Knowing you'd be better off instead,

If you could only ...

Say what you need to say [x8]

Have no fear for giving in

Have no fear for giving over

You'd better know that in the end

Its better to say too much

Then never say what you need to say again

Even if your hands are shaking

And your faith is broken

Even as the eyes are closing

Do it with a heart wide open

Say what you need to say [x24]

1.) There are many reasons why I selected this song to write and reflect about. First off, I love John Mayer and I like how he connects some of his songs to how he is feeling, like most other artists. I feel like in this song, John Mayer is obviously trying to express that he or somebody he knows couldn't stick up to somebody greater than them and "say that they need to say". The title of this song clearly fits with the main idea because the song is talking about saying what you feel and saying it in a way that you can release all the frustration that you may have been holding in. Towards the end of the song I feel that he changes his thinking about a little bit and is trying to express that when you life somebody you should open you heart up to them and basically "say what you want to say".

2.)  In This song, John Mayer doesn't use that much in the way of poetic devices.  But John does shows a numerous amount of consonances.  For example, when he relates the words head and instead.  Also the words broken and open rhyme too.  I like the imagery that John uses when he wrote "Even if your hands are shaking. And your faith is broken. Even as the eyes are closing.  Do it with a heart wide open".  From this you can picture a man who is nervous or week to say what he feels is on his mind and maybe has really been bugging him by how he shakes.  You can also see a man who is sad when he closes his eyes.  All of these poetic devices influence the poem because they allow the listeners/readers to formulate what this person in the song is going through.  From reading/listening to the song one can come to the conclusion that the person in the song is probably shy, has a past history that affected him, and maybe becomes nervous to "say what he needs to say".  This song gives me a happy feeling because I feel as is John Mayer is trying to tell those people who don't stick up for themselves in a certain situations to do what you think is right and speak your mind if feel hurt.  

3.)  I think that the tone at first starts off to be a mad tone because the song talks about being frustrated and dark pasts ("shadows").  Towards the end of the song, the tone changes to a happier and more confident tone when they finally realize to "open up their heart" and say the things they feel bothered them in the past/present.

#4-Writing Territories

1.) I would describe myself as a very descriptive writer. When I talk about a character or introduce the setting of a story I like to include lots and lots of detail. I could probably write for a whole page describing what the character is like and their interests, etc. Preferably, I enjoy reading novels over plays and short stories. I like reading novels better because there is usually more story within in compared to a short story where it is short and to the point. Plays are not my favorite types of writing to read because I don't like the format of how they are written. I would prefer to write a short story over a play, poetry, or a novel because they are easier to write. I don't ever write stories unless it is a school assignment. Adventure stories interest me the most because you can go many ways with that. I feel with adventures you can go on and on with different types of excitment for that character.

2.) The writing territory that I am going to write about is Summer. Summer is by far my most favorite season of all times. I don't know what I would do if summer wasn't a season because I just love being outside when it's so nice and sunny out. Summer is important to me because it is the time period were I make money working and it is the time when I can relax whenever I feel like it.  This summer is an important summer because it is going to be the time where i prepare for college.  I will have to plan out when I'm going to bring to college and it is basically a big step in my life.  Also, this next summer will be my summer to say goodbye to all my friends until the holidays come up again.

#3- Toward The Future/From The Past

1. After writing my play, I feel that it was succesful. Some things I found frustrating was having to italicized the actions every single time. It got rather annoying because I had alot things that needed to be italicized in almost every other line. A limitation about the form that frustrated me was that it was hard to express what the character was feeling because you could only describe what they were doing in the play for the audience. Some pleasant suprises that I saw in writing a play was that I could go more in detail when describing the scene/set of the play. An unpleasant suprise that I encountered in writing my play was that I kept letting myself go on writing about how the character was feeling and how they were related to somebody when i relaized that that didn't need to be included in the play. Since the audience couldnt see for example that two people were cousins and went to the same school together when they were younger. I kept writing things like that in my scenes and would have to erase it and somehow let the characters act it out another way. I don't feel I would ever be extremely interested in writing a movie or a screenplay because I am not the most creative person.



2. If I ever needed to give advice to a kid who was 10 years old I would most likely give them advice about my experiences and for sure what type of things to look out for and prevent in high school and middle school. Based on my own experiences, I would advice the 10 year old to travel to different parts of the world so that they can experience different types of cultures and learn about other traditions, etc. When I went to South America for hte first time I was introduced to a whole new culture and it has really open me up to understand what it's like in a whole different place compared to here. Regarding school, I would advice the 10 year old kid to do all their homework and not skip classes all the time. I would also inform him that if you don't try hard in high school, then it will be hard to get into colleges and stuff. It is much easier if you just try hard in school so that choosing a college won't be stressfull or anything. Lastly, I would advice the kid to stay out of trouble in school!



3. I think that there are many things that cause great literary works to live forever. The idea of people being inspired is one thing that I feel allows people to continue to like different works for along time. A story, such as Huckleberry Finn, lets readers feel inspired to have courage and strengh just as Huckleberry developed throughtout the book. Themes in stories also make a story great and therefore people like being able to look forward to reading a book that portrays a specific theme that they enjoy. I don't think that I could ever in my entire life see myself writing a play, book, or movie because I don't feel as is I am that creative.

#2- Luigi Pirandello, playwright

1.) Theme is important in what we write because it is similar to having a main level. Without a theme a writer has nothing to go by and can't make numerous connections. A theme brings out the exciting side of the story. Also, I think that a great piece of literature does need to express and idea because without an idea in literature it doesnt give any expressions or emotions. One example of a book I have read that i feel expresses a great theme is the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. My opinion on this is that Huckleberry, a young boy, expresses the theme os bravery. Huckleberry shows readers what bravery is when he helps a runaway slave get to freedom. Many things get in their way but they seem to overcome what we thought isnt possible. If this book did not portray the theme of bravery, it would be somewhat boring because Huckleyberry's bravery led to great adventures which is what really makes up the book as a whole.


2.) One theme that I would consider communicating through my play would be finding you identity. I really think that this theme would be easy to express throughout my play. I feel that the theme, finding your identity, is similar to my life because when I came to Valley View in ninth grade I was still trying to find my identity. Through meeting new people and being at Edina for four years now I feel that I have now found my identity. This theme is important to me because I think that in many stories, most characters are always trying to find out who they are because there are many conflicts in their way that hasnt allowed them to succeed in finding their identity.


3.) One conflict that I could express in my play is self vs. self. I feel that this would be a good conflict to write about because you could really go on and on about a person and their struggles. Throughout my play I would help my character reach their goal of understanding themselves and recognizing who they are. After many conflicts and distractions this character would be able to find out who they are because they would be caught in a situation where there identity is revealed.

#1- I am a Thinker, and I Think Thinks

1.) Reading is so crucial to writers because it can be inspiring for many writers. Reading teaches all writers about different cultures and experiences. when writers read different and diverse stories like that, they are triggered to begin writing new stories and or poems that express how they had felt or how they were affected by what they read. For example, stories about war and certain types of adventure started somewhere. The ideas on adventures didnt just originate from mid air. The main role of reading to writers is that it gives writers a sense of meaning and understanding.


2.) One thing that I have really seen in the world that concerns me is the poverty that has been going on for so long in all different parts of the world. This observation on the world really concerns me because as much as people all around the world try to help in stoping poverty, it still continues to happen places. I am worried that poverty everywhere will never end because it is hard to help every single person in the world that needs food, shelter, or even a doctor.


3.) One movie that has inspired me is Pearl Harbor. I really enjoyed this movie because it allowed me to understand what happened on that day. i was inspired by how people reacted during this tragic event. There were many heros like Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck. They inspired me to have confidence in myself if im ever in a situation as bad as that. Furthermore, this movie inspires me to help the people who are fighting in the war right now because people here don't really udnerstand what it's like fighting in a war. War movies really emphasize what is going on during wars, how people react, and the emotional feelings that soliders must go through just to help/support their country.