Final Grade Essay

         If you have only known me this year you would never have guessed that before this year I hated English. I never like to read or write but this year has made it all fun. I have improved so much this year. There are three things we get graded on in this class, participation, progress, and performance and I feel like I deserve a B in this class because I could never write an essay before this semester but now I can.

                You might say I deserve a C because my performance isn’t the best in this class. You might say I don’t participate in class as much as I could. And you might even think I haven’t progressed much this year, but I’m going to prove you wrong.

                The first thing we get graded on is participation. Every time we have a class discussion, whether it’s about a play we are reading, a poem, or a painting we are analyzing, I always say at least one thing. Every time we do an article of the week, I comment on it. I remember one time for example when we were analyzing a poem I said something that you thought was the best comment that day. I also do all of our essays and posts. So from this evidence I deserve a B.

                The second thing we get graded on in this class is progress. At the beginning of the semester, I couldn’t write an essay to save my life. I looked back at the ones at the beginning of the semester and they were terrible. They weren't organized at all and made no sense. Now I feel like I can write one easily. I also read some that we did later in the year and they were great for me. I have also come a long way in participating in class. At the beginning of the year I never participated in class discussions. Throughout the semester I have gotten better and better at this. So from this evidence I deserve a B.

                The third and final thing we get graded on in this class is performance. My performance has been its best since the beginning of the year. At the begging of the year it wasn’t as good as now because I didn’t know how to do any of it. Now it’s like second nature because I have learned a ton in this class. So from this evidence I deserve a B.

                So from everything in this essay, I don’t believe I was above and beyond, but I also don’t believe I could have done better. So the one in between those two is a B, basically fine. I think this suites me for this class.

Outside Reading Blog Post

The Hunger Games
By: Suzanne Collins

I wonder how North America changed so much into this place called Panem. The capitol of this place treats them terrible. Katniss lives in District 12 which is the poorest district. They also have to compete in the national Hunger Games where 24 kids have to fight to the death. These kids range from 12-18 years old and there is 12 boys and 12 girls.

If I were Katniss I wouldn’t know how to hunt and provide food for my family. Katniss’s Father was an expert in this but when he died Katniss had to take over. Her dad taught here some things but she had never hunted by herself. When he died she had to finally go out by herself and fight for her and her family’s lives.

                                        

I wonder why the capitol of Panem makes little innocent kids fight to the death. This is cruel because some of them aren’t even into their teens yet. Some are only 12 years old, Like Katniss’s sister Prim. Prim was elected to go in the Hunger Games but Katniss wouldn’t let her.

I was reminded how much Katniss loves Prim when she stood up in front of her District and took her sisters position in the Hunger Games. This was a courageous act because the odds are against her that she will die in the games. This was her sister though, and she didn't want her 12 year old sister to die.

I wonder if Katniss will survive the games. She is a very good survival expert because she travels out in the forest to hunt for animals at home but hunting humans is a whole other game. Some of them are older, and some are younger and she can't let emotions get to her or she will be done with.

Parent Letter

Dear Mom and Dad:

Is there anything you want more than a vacation? How about one outside the United States? If we went outside the USA, I would get to visit another country and we would get to escape Kansas. So let's go so I can see how other countries live and so we can enjoy better weather.

I know that the trip would cost a lot of money and you would miss a lot of work, but I am getting a job this summer and I could help pay for the trip and you have vacation days for work that you could use. We haven't been on a vacation in a while and I have never been outside the United States so let's go on a vacation.

One reason is that I would get to go outside this country. I have never been outside the USA so this would be really cool. I would love to see how other countries live. This would be a great educational trip because I'm so used to how we live in the United States but if I got to see how other countries live, I would know more than just the American Lifestyle. So we should go on a vacation outside the United States so I can see how other countries live.

Another reason is that we get to escape boring and cold Kansas. We have had way too much snow this winter and you and I are getting tired of it. If we went on a vacation, we could leave all this behind. We could go somewhere warm, like Mexico or the Bahamas. We would actually get to enjoy the weather outside and go do things instead of sitting at home. So we should go on a vacation so we can escape the terrible weather in Kansas.

I think we should go somewhere outside the United States so I can see how other countries live and so we can escape Kansas. I think you would have a blast and I know I would so let's go!

Love,

Logan

Acrostic Poem

L-ucky
O-riginal
G-reat
A-erospace & Engineering
N-ice

S-uper

Riddle Poem

I’m launched from the man in the middle

I’m going 90 miles per hour

I reach the batter but he swings and misses

I smack into the glove of the man behind the plate

As the guy on the other side

Throws me as hard as he can

I get ready to be caught

I finally reach the glove and it clasps me tight

When the pitcher throws me

The batter digs in for the fight

I go straight for him

And he swings and I hear a bang

Answer: Baseball

Concrete Poem

Glogster

Julius Caesar Persuasive Essay

Logan Self

Mr. Allam

English II Hour 4

10 March 2011

Are true friends really ‘true friends’? What you think are friends can instantly turn on you even for something that isn’t necessarily your fault. Just like what happened to me. One of my good friends, Brutus, did this to me. He stabbed me in the back just because he didn’t like what I was doing as a king. So if he was a ‘true friend’, he would have just talked to me about it. I would have resigned as a king if there were enough people that thought I wasn’t doing a good job. So just keep in mind, what you think are true friends might not be ‘true friends’.

Some people, like Brutus, would rather be one of these people and turn on their friends. They think they can have power by doing this. They would rather kill one of their good friends than just talk about it and resolve it an easier way.

First, your friends can instantly turn on you. Before you instantly turn on one of your friends, especially for something that isn’t necessarily your fault, think about it and talk to them. They might change just for you. They might think the same way, but they just need somebody to tell them. So you could actually be helping them and yourself. So please before you turn on good friend and loose a good friendship, think about what you’re doing and talk to the person.

Second, talk to the person. If you’re having issues with somebody, the best way to resolve it is to talk about it. If you hold it in, you will eventually do something bad, like killing a good friend. Talking to them could actually help both of you, not just you. So before you turn on somebody, talk to them about it, it might just save both of your lives.

Its better to trust your friends but always keep an eye on them just in case one of them ‘pulls a Brutus’ on you, you will be ready. I wasn’t ready and learned my lesson the hard way.

POW #4: Does the opposite sex ever just make you mad?

Dear Brutus,

My wife has been bugging with me too much lately. She thinks I have time to pay attention to her all the time. For goodness sake, I am the king of Rome! She made me stay home today because she was sick, and the people of Rome are wondering what has happened to me. I need some advice to solve this conflict, so if you would like to help me, please send me some!

Caesar
______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Caesar,

I understand your difficulties. My wife is the same way. I advise you to sit down and have a nice conversation with her and tell her that she has to understand that you are a king of one of the biggest cities in the world and you don't have a lot of time to pay attention to her. Tell her that you will spend as much time with her as you possibly can but she has to understand your situation too.

Brutus

POW#3: Letter to Dr. Berry

                Should we really have two extra days at the end of the school year? Well some say we should. I am here to say its non sense. We should not add two days on at the end of the year because it’s not the students’ fault that it snowed and school was canceled or because teachers don’t get paid, they get paid if we have the extra days or not.

                Some people say we should add the two extra days because the students didn’t learn anything those two days and should have to make them up. Others say that the teachers don’t get paid if we don’t have the extra days. Well they are all wrong.

                First of all people say we need to make up the extra days for education purposes. Well we had no control over the snow and not having school those days. It wasn’t our fault that school was canceled because of natural causes. So why should we have a consequence for something we had no control of? This means we should have the extra two days because of this reason.

                Second, people say that it’s not fair to the teachers because they don’t get paid for the two days we missed. The true fact is that the teachers get paid the same amount either way, if we make them up or if we don’t. Even if they didn’t get paid, they aren’t going to get rich off of two days of work. Plus they got these two days off too. It would be different if they had to work those two days and didn’t get paid. The district would also be losing money if we made these days up because the schools would be using extra electricity and supplies. So we shouldn’t have to make up the snow days for this reason either.

                So unless there is another reason that we should have these day made up, I can find no reason why we should have them. The two reasons that I have stated here aren’t good enough in my opinion to have them.

Outside Reading #1: The Supernaturalist By: Eoin Colfer

I am reading The Supernaturalist By: Eoin Colfer. So far it is about a boy named Cosmo Hill that lives in a paternally challenged boys home. The home is in the future and they have a lot of technology but they treat the boys very bad. They test out new products on the boys. One of the products was an antiperspirant but when they put it on the boys legs it burned their skin. They also have a terrible place to sleep. They live in a cardboard box that is help up by pipes. The average life expectancy for a boy in this home is 15 years old. Cosmo is 14 so he wants to escape before he turns 15.

POW #2: Snapshots

I remember a photo of my grandma and I at Disney World when I was five years old. My mom, dad and my grandma went and we had a blast. The reason I remember it so well and why I'm writing about it is because about a year after that trip, my grandma got sick and died. So that was the last time I got to see her and it was fun to spend my last little bit of time with her on a trip in Disney World. I don't remember much about that trip because I was only five, but I'm glad I have the photo of my grandma and I.

AOW #1: Nursing Student Dismissed For Facebook Photo

   Ms. Byrnes should be let back into JCCC because she wasn't told "no" by the teacher, she was told she wouldn't get in trouble by the teacher, and the picture was only on Facebook for 3 hours and then she took it off immediately when she was told to.
   First of all, the teacher never said she couldn't take a picture of it and put it on Facebook. The students said they were going to do this and all the teacher said was "oh you girls...".
   The students then asked if they would get in trouble if they did this and the teacher again said "no". This is starting to look like the teacher should be fired, not the students.
   Finally, the picture was only on Facebook for 3 hours and when she was told to take it down she did immediately without arguing about it.
   So with this information, Ms. Byrnes should be let back into JCCC without and penalties.

POW #1: Hello, my name is...

Hello, my name is Logan. The name Logan comes from Scottland and Ireland. My parents named me Logan because my grandma, my dad's mom, was raised in Logan County, Oklahoma. They liked this name so thats what they named me. They inconvenience of my name is that there is so many people name Logan, so when somebody says "Logan" there is like five people that look.