My 8th Grade Year in ELA/ Poetry Packet

During the year of my 8th grade year in ELA I have learned many lessons and instructions. Of many,
One of my lessons were to be open to your ideas and have a say in them. For example, if you have an idea that you want people to know than you have to open up and express them. It can be done in many ways such as writing an essay or even making a small speech that sounds motivational to the reader that persuade them to agree with your opinion in order to make a change. I also learned in my 2015 year is that while doing an ELA related play you have to show emotions and expressions in the play of how the character may be feeling. In all, my time at the 8th grade was a blast and I hope I can experience the same thing in high school.

Summer Bookshelf (Want to read)

Revenge of Eight

Decoded

Other books of Realistic Fiction

Other books of biographies

Other books of teen life

                                                           Reflection of Romeo and Juliet

My part in the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet were the Prince in Act 5 Scene 3. The Prince played as a Police force in the play. He ensured the deaths and conflicts in the play. Such as Benvolio and Mercutio's death by banishing Romeo out of Verona. In the ending scene the Prince was discussing the issue of Romeo and Juliet's deaths. He said to seal up the mouth of outrage for awhile that made the families of Romeo and Juliet subside with each other. In all I had to act sincere and serious since the Prince was not biased throughout the play.

I think that my performance went well. I acted out as I thought the Prince would play, demanding and serious. As a class we all did well, we blended in with the rest of our play and had good chemistry. Most of us did not have a hard time acting out and memorizing our lines which was a good thing. We did exceptionally well in the ending because it really did feel like the ending. The mood and tone set the place well. However, one thing I would change would be transitioning. I feel as if it were a bit too awkward and may be solved if we had additional costumes.

I have learned many things in this play that may help in high school. Expressing emotions, methods of memorization, and the taste of Shakespearean plays. I hope I can see myself doing another play like this in order to enforce these new learning materials.

Reading Response on Insurgent

   Power, gaining control something or someone. It can be attainable and could be used for good or bad. It gives you an opportunity to feel pride in yourself, however the ones with no power have no pride. In the book, "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth power and are emphasized in the characters in the story. The book Insurgent takes place in a Utopian society where there are 5 factions in which you can choose to live. Abnegation, a faction only suitable for selfless people and no care for yourself. Dauntless, a faction where there are careless and free minded people, the dangerous ones. Candor, a faction where there are militaristic people, the smart and strong. Amity, a faction where you are to worship nature and have no problems , the naive ones. Erudite, a faction for incredibly smart people and the ones that are curious, the enemy. Erudite has attacked Abnegation for important secretive data causing an uproar against the faction. But, some Dauntless members are going along with Erudite members, making an actual challenge to stop them. Beatrice, the main character in the book is stuck between this issue. In her perceptive, she shows how self-pride and power have caused many events in the story.
   One way there has been an incident of power and self-pride is the overthrow of the Erudite members killing the Abnegation. In the story Beatrice says, "The corner of the hard drive peeks out from under my pillow..on it s the stimulation data that controlled the Dauntless, and the record of what Erudite did...she doesn't want the factions, she wants control." This shows how the leader of Erudite (Jeanine) wants to have all the factions preach to her. As said in the piece of evidence she wants control of all the people, which shows a sense of power.
   Further, there has been also an incident of self pride. For example, Beatrice mentions in the story," Shouts rise up from the left side of the room, and I see blurs of fists pressing into the dark air. My faction, calling to me... but no I'm not brave. I'm not brave. I shot Will and I can't even admit it". This shows how Beatrice is uncomfortable of herself, especially of her self-pride. She says she does not feel brave. Which leads to the conclusion to that Beatrice felt apprehensive of self-pride because she shot Will, and could not admit it.
   Lastly, another show of self- pride is about a character named Tobias, Beatrice's boyfriend. In the story she says, " Tobias becomes all quiet and says, "This has to stop". He walks over to Marcus and grabs his collar. He throws him against the cafeteria table and puts him in an kneeling position. He takes off his belt and starts whipping him over and over. He then punched him in the jaw and walked away, steaming." Tobias and his father did not have a good relationship overall. Marcus would do the same beating method to Tobias, just out of sheer rage and being sober. And so Tobias leaves the faction in which him and his father were in, which was Abnegation, he switches to Dauntless. In order to run away from his father's torture he switched, and people kept kept calling him a coward or running away from his dad. In this evidence it shows Tobias maintaining his pride and dignity. He didn't want to keep being called coward, and so he beat up his own father in order to have self-pride and a dignity.
   In conclusion, self- pride and power is attainable. Sometimes you can attain it with a good positive mind. But your peer pressure and self-conscience makes you attain it in an atrocious and evil way. Therefore, Beatrice shares her experience in showing scenes of self-pride and power. Figures in this story really do show what power can do, and what power can make you do.  
 

Authors Note

   Racism. An ongoing problem even after 100's of years. People judge you on your skin color, not paying attention to your personality. Some are scared to go near you, thinking you are something different and harmful. Even after slavery was abolished there was still segregation. Even after the blacks were allowed to vote, there were hate crimes and judgement.

   The main victims unfortunately are African-Americans. Martin Luther King wanted these African-Americans to be treated equally. So he protested and marched, peacefully. Soon he achieved the right to vote for all blacks. He fought so all races could be treated equally, and also be respected. However, after more than 40 years, people are still judging on their skin color.

   In this story, I will emphasize what racism is. I will show how unfair it is. You will read and learn that racism is wrong, and you should not be judging in how a person looks, yet even their skin color. Be caring and respect others, racism is considered wrong and inhumane.

Unbroken Synthesis Response

What people in the book have power? How does it influence in the book?

The book that I'm reading is Unbroken. It is a story about a male named Louie Zamperini. He had a passion for running. When he was a child, he was arrogant and ambitious. What he did, he thought that he was right. Always running into trouble, getting trouble  with cops, neighbors, and the community. Little did anyone know that he would be an Olympic Runner and a part of the Air Force.

After a few years of joining the force. Louie eventually got captured by the Japanese air force. Power was absolutely important in this point. For example, the guards locked Louie in his cell. Feeding him little to none. Since Louie was a prisoner he couldn't have done much. Power is obviously relevant here. The guards are taking control over him and Louie has lost all dignity and self-respect due to not having power.

Another power holding people are the officers. The people in the army that are in higher rank than you have more power. For example, the officers that are in higher rank than you can control you. They can make you rush into a battlefield or do something else dangerous. This can influence Louie and any other army men in thier lives.

A Challenged book The Giver

A CHALLENGED BOOK: THE GIVER

By: Sadman Khan

Class: 810

There has been many challenged books throughout these past few years, and one of them were, “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. Imagine living in an utopian society where one cannot have access to color. Where one cannot feel pain, or hold any memories of the real outside world. In a world where you have a certain death of euthanasia, when you past an age limit. When you give birth to twins, the lightest of them will die. These negative aspects of this book strongly suggests that this book should be banned.

A specific reason as to why this book should be banned is euthanasia. Euthanasia is a lethal injection in which stops the heart, therefore killing the patient. It can be requested for ending suffering, or can be forced, as this book shows. For example, Jonas, the main character of the of this book experiences on how a twin is “released”. He sees the doctor taking an injection and then ends the baby’s life. This image could be too dark for young readers. As mentioned in usatoday360.com, many teachers are doing a read aloud to kids young as 6-7 years old. This evidence adds up to why this book should be banned.

Some may argue that this book should not be banned. It contains moral value such as the importance of friendship, and how this book makes us appreciate our democratic society. For example, Jonas and Ajaf were really good friends. They always watched each others backs and shared their feelings with one another. Also, the book, “ The Giver” takes place in a utopian society in which you have no freedom of speech. The government put many strict laws that made people behave like robots. However, our society now, allows freedom of speech and does not have strict laws. This book may contain some positive aspects, but it is not enough.

Even though there are positive aspects, there are still a lot of negative. For example, Jonas’s wet dreams can be too advance for the young readers. It includes nudity, and inappropriate behaviour towards that. As Jonas described, “To Jonas, it felt like a weird behaviour of wanting. But he tried to get it out of his mind.” This shows the inappropriate behaviour toward the dreams, which could be really inappropriate for the readers themselves. Another reason why this book should be banned is because of the crude reality. For example, the atmosphere on the society is harsh. If you do the wrong thing you get punished. This could bother the young minds reading this book. A bit too challenging for them. These legs add up to the body on why this book should be banned.

In conclusion, this book has been challenged by many readers and critics. It contained positive appointed tings like friendship and appreciation of democratic society. However, there are negative aspects such as sexual awakening for young readers, inappropriate behaviour, and euthanasia along side with crudeness. These add up to why the book, “The Giver” should be removed from our bookshelves.

Social Awareness Project

Interview

1. What were your initial thoughts when you first joined the war?
My thoughts were that I joined the armed forces for one reason. It was to stop the corrupt Muslims from terrorizing rest of the world. It was to show a good image, of not only me, but the others. I remember when I used to go to the supermarkets to get you food, everyone gave me these looks, like don't hurt, or some nasty glare. My thoughts was to prove them wrong, that we are not monsters, the people in Iraq are.

2. Were there some issues in your platoon? Any racial discrimination?
Of course, since I was one the only Muslims, many looked at me in a way. There were some mean things here and there, but they gradually began to mix in. After about a month, they finally accepted on what I am.

3. Any harsh experiences during your service?
There were many, but this one really matches with social awareness. It was my 3rd day in combat, we were doing some drills. It was time for break, where we all just sit and relax. I go to my squad member s since they were the only friends I really had, when this big bulky African-American guy comes up to me. He asked how many Marines have I killed. I tell him, "Why? I'm in the Marines". he just looks at me and snickers, "Well you sure as hell don't look like it, I swear, if I see you doing anything fishy, I'm going to put a bullet right between your eyes." And that he walked off.

4. What were your emotions?
Sadness, Hatred, and surprisingly excitement. The combat made our adredaline rush, which for some reason felt right. I felt sad to see all these people die around me, how they're family must've feel when they got the news. Hatred was obviously there, the Iraqis looked like miniature monsters. I felt hurting them all, to let them know how they're causing all this damage.

5. What did you think as you were leaving the army?
I felt like a huge weight just lifted off my shoulders. A relief went through me, and when I saw you about 6 months old in your mothers arms, I cried, cried as of I will never see you again. I looked at the Training Center, and wished all the Marines who still were in there good luck. Overall, I felt happy, and proud.

 Observe your surroundings

As I examined my surroundings, I've noticed many things. One, words such as ,"fag" or gay was used a lot. I see that it was used for really no reason. I've also noticed that people shove others because on what they say. If it seems irrelevant on what they are thinking, then they show their aggresition by shoving or even insulting.
Another thing I noticed is harassment when playing sports. I too can relate to this. Say if someone passes you the ball and you go for a shot, and you miss. The opposing team and even your own teammates will laugh at you, calling you a "fag" or klutz. Even though that was the only time I missed, they still do. Other than me, I've seen other people, too. If a person is not so good in that particular sport, people don't choose them. If they do they keep getting harassed by other players.

Story

Oh no! I'm late to school again. Now they'll be able to see my cheap shoes from K-mart. I used to have a pair of Adidas, but they wore out. Now I'll have to wear these, "no namers" as they call it. I walk into my Math class and see Tyrone look right at my shoes. He snickered so hard that it broke into a laugh.
"Tyrone, whats going on?" Mr. Smith says. Tyrone couldn't stop himself from laughing, he just pointed at my white sneakers. All eyes, including Mr. Smith followed his hand. Then I heard an eruption of laughter, and hollering. The teacher couldn't calm them down, his voice lost in the uproar. Mt cheeks burned to bright red, my knees shaking. My palms started to sweat and tremble. I wanted to say something but, when I looked at everyone, I didn't wand to anymore.
I turn around and see the doorway. I run, run as if there was some great evil behind me. "Shah! Where you going! Schools not over, get back here!" the security guard yelled. I pushed past her and ran down the sidewalk. My cheeks filled with tears, I see my crummy house. I go through the wooden fence and open my front door. I go to my bedroom which was located in the basement, along with many of our maintenance supplies. I unpack , and dress to my home clothes, which were a tattered white T-shirt and very old Champion sweatpants, which were about three sizes too big. I jump on my bed, I have to lie to my parents that I went to school, again.

Blog post 4

In the article, "Capital Punishment is Dead Wrong" by Olivia H., mentions that the death penalty is a wrong idea. Olivia is debating that using death penalty as a punishment is wrong, it shows inhumane behavior, and doesn't give a chance to the person to learn their mistake. She also mentions how the death penalty mistakenly killed innocent lives.
For example she states that, "Capital punishment is the most ­irreparable crime governments perpetrate without consequence, and it must be abolished". This shows her opinion based on this issue. She mentions the word irreparable, and also she mentioned that it must be abolished. I think that she dislikes the idea of capital punishment because she's using vocabulary that is going against capital punishment.
Also, she states, "The death penalty is murder on the sly and it’s dead wrong.". In this quote it is self explanatory that she doesn't like the idea of death penalty. She mentions that it is a murder on the sly. She also mentions that it is dead wrong, using words such as dead, and wrong shows she doesn't like it. The author wants to show that death penalty is an heinous action.
In conclusion, after reading this article I realized that death penalty is wrong. I always thought that the death penalty showed to not do crimes, and it will scare people doing crimes. However, many innocent lives have been killed, and now I decided that death penalty is wrong and I agree with the author.