Strengths and Weaknesses

 I would say my biggest strength is that I have creative ideas. There aren’t always the most creative, but they’re still curious, out of the ordinary, and unusual. Sometimes, I try and pick the simplest of ideas so that I can and try to squeeze as much stuff out of it as I can. Once I tried writing about just potato chips; I had a bit of trouble near the end, but I enjoyed it. The biggest problem I have with my ideas is getting them out well enough and in time.

I have to work hard on organization and sentence fluency, but I’d say my biggest weakness is fleshing out ideas into words. I’ve always had this problem. Each year I think I get better at it though. I am personally having a bit of trouble fleshing out my strengths and weaknesses right now. I wonder if anyone else in my grade has this problem. My problem with fleshing out ideas might stem from my learning differences. I’m not trying to use that as an excuse; I’m just wondering if that’s the origins. It is important because language is how we communicate. I want my language to match my thoughts so it is easy for people to understand.

Hits and Misses

I think the writing I felt most successful on was some of my poetry. It felt like I put a lot of thoughtful work into it. Now, this isn’t the biggest assignment. For one of the bigger assignments, I would say the best I did were my Purple Hibiscus assignments. Maybe it’s just because I had gotten used to the type of writing that was expected of me in high school and had gotten better at it. Even more than that, I write a lot better if I read an assignment but wait a while to put my answer into words. I did that with my poetry revisions and with my Purple Hibiscus assignments.

My worst assignment would probably have to be my research paper. The reason my worst assignment is the research paper is mainly because I had troubles with each part of the assignment. I remember one night I stayed up until midnight. I think that was for the flashcards, which I still did not do well. I am glad I am over that! It was also a really hard time, and I just couldn’t focus on school much. I hope I learned enough to do a lot better on my next research paper.

q4 w4 comments

Gregory: Are you distracted by technology?
Naya: Purple Hibiscus

Kambili and Jaja Find Their Voices

***SPOILER ALERT***

Both Kambili and Jaja have been gaining their voices. Jaja is gaining his voice much quicker than Kambili.  It may be because he is older. It may be because, despite being younger, Obiora is a role model for him in some ways and Obiora is outspoken. Jaja is also growing more somber, I imagine because of anger against his father. Jaja stood up to his father and told him they were going back to Nnsuka, and Papa let them.

Kambili is still gaining her voice.  I believe she talked more in this reading than all the previous readings. She can now recognize that she has a crush on Father Amadi and even admit it to Amaka. Kambili speaks to Amaka in a way now that is more natural, and their relationship is more natural. The simple fact of Kambili answering the phone seems to be something she would not have done before.

I wonder where Adichie will take these characters as finding their voices won’t be easy.  It seems there will be backlash and consequences for breaking out of Papa’s mold.

Prompt post: Nicknames

13. What nicknames have you ever gotten or given?

You know, this is a funny one because my name, Eli, is a nickname; my real name is Elijah. Technically Eli is more of just a shortened version of my name then a nick name, but I think it still counts. When I was a child, I got called Eli so much that I thought it was my real name. I would get annoyed when people called me Elijah when I was young because I didn’t know why. I accept I’m named Elijah and even like it now. Barely anyone except my grandmother calls me Elijah. I have also been called E and Lou. My parents are mainly the ones who call me Lou. My brother, Harper has called me E-money and Little buddy. My mother calls me Ebilicious and I am a little embarrassed about it.

I haven’t given any nicknames. My pets all have long names, but the names they go by are the names I picked. After we flooded, I gave a nickname to a boy we rode to school with, but he hated it. My cousins were all born before me, so they named my grandparents their nicknames. We always name our cars, but that isn’t truly a nickname.  We nicknamed our grandparent’s neighbor’s dog Peanut Butter because we didn’t know it’s real name.

Blog comments Q4 W3

Peyton: Trumps tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Saad: Shootings

Caravan

I read “A Huge Caravan Of Central Americans Is Headed For The US, And No One In Mexico Dares To Stop Them” in BuzzFeed by Adolfo Flores -https://www.buzzfeed.com/adolfoflores/a-huge-caravan-of-central-americans-is-headed-for-the-us?utm_term=.fuQrq9xn5g#.dq4wvJqnl5 because my family talked about this over Easter weekend and I didn’t know anything about it.  I searched in google until I found an article with a reporter that is with the caravan. A large group of people from Central America, mostly Hondurans, are fleeing bad conditions. If they were going by themselves, they would be going through much more dangerous situations. Not all of them are trying to get to the USA, but a lot of them are.  Some will be trying to get in legally, like the wife of a USA war veteran, and some will be trying to get in illegally.  The name they call the train they will try to ride on top of part of the way is The Beast, which is kind of a paradox.  This makes me picture people riding atop a ancient dragon that might save them or kill them.

I don’t have enough information and experience to form a full view of this migration.  I would like to learn more about immigration policies of the USA through its history and why they have changed.  It made me think of the poem on the Statue of Liberty, so I googled that, too.

The New Colossus

by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

”Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Colossus

I find this interesting because it doesn’t seem to me that this is what America wants now but there may be good reasons.