KATIE'S ENGLISH BLOG

After a lot of writing in class, I have found that some of my strengths are organization, and voice. While writing the research paper, one of the things I found most important was making sure I stay on track and that all of my points relate back to my thesis. I have seen this strength develop from the personal narrative, where I would sometimes catch myself drifting from my theme. Also in my writing this year, I have been able to address the rhetorical situation, and choose a fitting voice. For example, in the personal narrative, I knew my audience would want an entertaining story, so I used a more playful voice. And for my literary analysis, I knew my voice should be more formal. This year I found word choice and conventions challenging. For most of my writing this year, I would try to find words that try and convey the meaning I wanted, but it was hard for me. Also, if I would sit down and write for a while, I would sometimes get sloppy and make simple mistakes in my grammar or

One of the writing assignments I enjoyed writing the most was the personal narrative. This was by far the most creative piece of writing that we have done in class this year. I really liked that we got to choose something to write about and we could be creative with how we did it. We also didn’t have to worry about citations or write about something that already exists, we got to write our own, original stories. On the other hand, I found the Lord of the Flies literary analysis the most challenging. This was difficult because we had to be specific and look through the book constantly. It was so easy to make a mistake with citations.It was also difficult to try and make the evidence i found relate back to my thesis I made. Also, after reading the book, doing class discussions and other work on The Lord of the Flies, it got so boring to talk about which made it sound interesting.

Ellie S Tanya

400. What famous landmarks have you visited? About ten years ago or so, my family and I took a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for a month. Even though Wyoming is hours away, my parents thought it would be a good idea for us to drive. However, on the way there, we stopped by all kinds of National Parks like Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Zion, the Tetons, Mount Rushmore, and a few more. I was around six on this road trip, so I absolutely hated walking around on trails and going on hikes in the hot summer. While we were at these National Parks, they always had something fun for the kids to do on the tours. I remember doing scavenger hunts for different animals or plants at the park, or doing a camp like session for kids where we learned about the parks and why they were special. The one thing I remember the most was the little, gold “National Park Ranger” pins. My sister an I collected them over the span of our trip, and we ended up with over ten each.

As we read more of Purple Hibiscus, I enjoy it more and more. There was so much change that happened in the most recent reading we had. Some of the things I noticed were the difference in the changes of Jaja and Kambili. Throughout Jaja’s stay in Nsukka, he seems to adapt to this new life fairly quickly. He finds new hobbies like gardening, watching TV, and playing football. He is interested and he accepts the new life that is put before him like he had never known anything else. This goes to show how unhappy Jaja was in his life with his family. Kambili, on the other hand, seems to be drawn to try new things, but she is constrained to her old life because of her fear of Papa. She always seemed to think about what Papa would think during their stay instead of doing what she wanted to do. Towards the end of their stay, however, Kambili wants to participate in her new life with her cousins, and Papa doesn’t seem to cross her mind that much. I saw most of the change in Kambili when

Emma P Saad S

March for Our Lives Highlights: Students Protesting Guns Say ‘Enough Is Enough’ By the New York Times While reading this article describing the outcomes of the March For Our Lives protests that broke out all over the world, the New York Times informs the reader about the impact and meaning these protests had for the world. One thing that stood out to me was how widespread the cause was: “ More than 800 protests were planned in every American state, including in some gun-friendly cities, and on every continent except for Antarctica, according to a website set up by organizers ” (The New York Times). Another topic the article seemed to stress was the purpose surrounding the marches. The students from Stoneman Douglas, the school that suffered a school shooting in February, want to spread awareness about gun violence. They believe there should be thorough background checks when it comes to buying guns, and assault rifles should be banned. I chose to write about the March For Our