Spring Break

For me spring break started on Friday when I went to the final four. The following day we had a baseball game against Wesleyan. The game did not quite go as planed but after the game I had to ride down to the country. While I was in Swainsboro we went to church for what seemed like hours. On Monday relaxed for most of the day but in the evening I sat out on the pond for a while. We didn’t catch much that day but the next day we caught a few Bass. On Wednesday my dad came down to pick me up and we went over to anther city to view their football field. The rest of my spring break was mostly filled with baseball. On Thursday and Friday I had baseball practice. On Saturday we played Stone Mountain. It turned out to be another game that we just gave away. Sunday was Easter and it was just a lot of good food and family time.

Romeo and Juliet Journal

While we were on the Romeo and Juliet unit I remember taking notes and reading a magazine about Shakespeare. This helped make me more familiar about the language. The next thing we did was create a dictionary composed of a few reoccurring words in Romeo and Juliet. After this we read, watched, and listened to the play. I really liked this because without having these three formats I would not have understood the play. If Ms. Chiang did not interrupt us during the reading of the play I would have missed a lot of important thing. I really liked everything we did except for the quizzes. It was tough for me to read and interpret a passage and take a quize on it the next day. But after finishing the unit I thought that most of the thing we did was helpful.

PJ 2-28-07

The two things I cannot wait to do are drive and vote. I probably want to drive so bad because it is something that I have watched people do for my whole life but have never had the chance to experience. I think this is a feeling that all 14 year old have though because you are so close but you feel so far. Because making a difference is something that I have always wanted to do, voting is the second thing I cannot wait to do. I feel that if I have the opportunity to vote then I can make a difference in my country and maybe the world.

Odyssey Test- Blog This!


1. What have you learned about Greek culture, values, and religion? Address the roles of women and men, honor and virtues, gods and goddesses, etc. (250 words)

After reading the Odyssey I have become more aware of Geek culture and their values. It became apparent that the Greek culture is heavily influenced by the gods. They believe in many gods unlike Christians. Their gods range from the god of war to the god of the ocean or even the god of gods. It is believed that all of the Greek gods reside on mount Olympus. Often in the Odyssey humans, or mortals, were visited by gods. Time and time again the gods had to prove to the humans that they could not live without the gods. This happed to Odysseus when he was trapped in the ocean. We also learned that the gods principals were if Zeus was happy with a person then no other god could be angry at them. It did not matter if a mortal had killed a gods son, mother, father, daughter, or even wife as long as Zeus was happy with them. This setting is a lot like the mafia. It was also obvious that Greek culture believes strongly in hospitality. Greek culture was built on the building blocks of honor. All persons were to help their neighbors at all times. If a person were to appear at another person’s house they are expected to give the visitor a nice meal and a place to sleep. This is a tradition that is not seen much anymore in today’s society anywhere. People seem to be less hospitable in the society that we live in.

2. What resonated with you in reading about Odysseus’ adventures? Why? (150 words)

I think that the drive that Odysseus contained through the tale is what resonated with me the most. He never seemed to give up hope, at least not all of it. He knew that he would make it back to Ithaca eventually. Even when thing got really bad he kept his composure and poise and he found a way to make it home. This is a quality resonated with me the most because it shows passion. When he did not have an easy path to his destination he found a way to make it. I also think that this resonated with me because Odysseus used a quality that is still relevant today. People end up in crazy situations and like Odysseus they have to find a way to get out of them. Another reason this resonates with me is because this is a concept that my father pounds into me daily.

3. This epic poem is dated nearly 3000 years ago, why is it still relevant? (150 words)

The Odyssey contains several subtle messages that are still relevant today, but one of the main reasons that this is still relevant is the overall concept of the tale of the Odyssey happens in everyday life. This concept is, a man who over comes a lot of things but ends up having a happy ending. This is the same scenario that happens to a championship team every year. They all face a ton of adversity and problems but they end up overcoming and are victorious in the end. The events that Odysseus faces are very archaic but the big idea is still relevant. Adversity does happen you just have to be ready to overcome it at all times. It also shows the very important message that one should never ever give up no matter the circumstances. This is one of the most important messages still today people should never give up.

Short Answers-
Answer in complete sentences. Cut and paste each question and answer underneath the prompt.

4. How would you characterize the narrator, the fictive "Homer" whose voice we imagine as singing the verses of the Odyssey?

I would characterize Homer as a very smart person. Any one person who can envision and then make a masterpiece so detailed is a very smart person.

5. What kinds of behavior are treated as contemptible in the Odyssey?

A behavior that is contemptible is if a man tries to take another mans wife. This situation happened to Odysseus.

6. How does the poem represent mortal women? Since Penelope is the most important woman in the Odyssey, what qualities does she possess, and how does she respond to the troubles she faces? (Some of the other women are of note, too-Eurycleia the serving woman, the faithless maidservants, Nausicaa the Phaeacian princess, and Helen of Sparta, Menelaus' queen, whose elopement with Prince Paris sparked the Trojan War.)

Penelope is a very clever women but it is her faithfulness that serves her most in this tale. When she becomes pressured to remarry she is clever enough to stall the suitor.

7.How do Homer's gods think and behave? How do their actions and motivations differ from the conception of god in other religions of which you have knowledge? What role do the Homeric gods play in human affairs, and what is the responsibility of humans with respect to those gods?

Homer’s god behaves in a mild way compared to gods in other stories. Gods in other religions are supposed to be mighty and powerful but theses gods don’t seem to act this way. The role of the humans is to recognize that humans cannot live without the gods. The gods and humans often interact the gods always try to help the humans understand something.

After viewing the three Miyazaki movies, Spirited Away, My Neighbor, Princess Mononoke, I noticed that all of the movies contain the issue of human and spirits living together. These movies contained spirits from the forest spirit to the war spirit. In each of these movies the gods and spirits were appreciated by many people but in each of the movies there were humans who did not appreciate the god and spirits. Also all of the movies end by humans depending on the spirits to help them. This shows the important lesson that it does not matter whomever tries to help, it should always be appreciated and taken.

Waking Life
After viewing Waking Life I am interested in seeing more of that kind of animated work. It was really good and it was the kind of thing that only a skilled person could do. I have never been artistic and for that reason I think that I am drawn to good art. The movie also contained a lot off life lessons. The movie was really constructed of small conversations. If a person would listen to the conversations they would really learn o lot. This movie also was talking about how a person has seven minutes of brain activity after they die. This is also a really cool topic. In all this movie was about the basis of philosophy.

Etarnal Sunshine of The spotless Mind

After watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind I am very confused. This movie made absolutely no sense to me. The movie was about a guy who had his brain memories removed. I think that it would take a very smart person several times to understand this kind of thing simply because it is not a real . While viewing this movie I had to change my point of view. It went from wondering if I was going to see something real scary or something that would never happen. The director of this movie must have been very smart because it would take a lot of thought to find an idea of this sort. The plot of the movie is very plot out and must have been thought about for a very long time. In this movie there are many different things going on. It was like a movie about brainwashing and a love story in the same movie. Before watching this movie I was told to watch the lighting. I also noticed that much of the small details like the lighting were very good. This movie had a good plot and fine details.

Journal: What would take?

If I had to choose ten things to take from my house the first thing would be my quotes that I have on my ceiling. I would take these because they are my motivation when things get hard. The second thing would be my father’s high school jersey. It is a symbol for where I want to end up in my sports career. The next thing would be my fathers NCAA ring. This is something not my people have the opportunity to get. The next thing would be the copy of my mother’s degree. This is something that is important to her. The next would be my father’s degree. That is very important to him also. The next thing would be my father’s net from one of his basketball game. It has to be important if my father keep the net. The next thing would be my grandmother’s campaign pen when she ran for mayor for the first time. The next thing would be my mother’s campaign sign for when she ran for the school board. The next thing I would bring would be the book that I have about my uncle. He was the first black player at Decatur High School. The last thing would be the quilt that my great grandmother made. She is 94 and it means a lot to me.