Blog of My Choice

I have decided to do another list blog.

Top 5 Favourite Movies (In no particular order)

1. Juno- Juno is one of my favourite movies because I love the actress Ellen Page and I also love Jason Bateman and Michael Cera. The movie is about how Juno MacGuff copes with her pregnancy and finding suitable adoptive parents. I adore Juno’s sense of humor and I think this movie is absolutely hilarious.
2. Up- Up is a Pixar movie about an old man named Carl Fredrickson who ties balloons to his house so he can travel to Paradise Falls in comfort, only to find a young boy scout was standing on his porch when they floated away. The plot may sound silly, but that’s what’s so great about it. It is a kid’s movie filled with colours and imagination. I’m a sucker for anything animated, especially Pixar, but Up is my all time favourite.
3. School of Rock- School of Rock is one of my favourites because me and my dad watch it together all the time, and we always quote lines from it. I think it is hilarious and no matter how many times I watch it, I still laugh at the jokes.
4. Pitch Perfect- I just saw this movie recently, but I completely loved it. Pitch Perfect is about an all girl’s acapella group, The Barden Bellas. and their rivalry with the all boy’s acapella group, the Treble Makers.The songs were great and super catchy, and the jokes were hilarious.
5. Midnight In Paris- This is another movie I just recently watched but I really enjoyed. It is about an author being transported back in time to the days of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Gertrude Stein while they were writing in Paris. I especially liked it because at the time, I was reading the Great Gatsby for culminating, so it was a great coincidence when I just happened to see this.

 

List Blog

Top 10 Favourite Books (In no particular order):

1. The Fault in Our Stars- John Green: John Green is my favourite author of all time, hence why he is on this list three times (only two of his books didn’t make it on here). TFiOS is a book about two cancer patients, but it’s more about living then dying. I already loved Green’s other books, and this one was no different. His trademark humor had me laughing out loud, and the ending had me wiping tears from my eyes. 
2. Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky: Perks is a coming of age novel about a boy named Charlie. I read this book in grade 9, the same age as Charlie, so I feel it is still an important book in my life. Chbosky is, in my opinion, an amazing writer, and the movie with Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Paul Rudd actually lived up to my expectations!
3. It’s Kind of a Funny Story- Ned Vizzini: This book is about Craig Gilner’s struggle with depression and his days in a mental hospital, but it is not in the least depressing. In fact, it’s actually kind of hopeful, and I laughed out loud at Craig’s experience’s and rooted for his recovery. The movie was a bit dissapointing, though.
4. Anna and the French Kiss- Stephanie Perkins: I believe every person can have a guilty pleasure book. This is not mine, though. (Pretty Little Liars is!). Despite it’s somewhat fluffy premise and girly cover, Anna and the French Kiss is actually a book of surprising substance. Anna is a great protagonist because she is flawed and not described as overly pretty and perfect looking, like a lot of the girl protagonists in YA fiction. She is smart and funny, and so is the book.
5. The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins: Even as this book series gained popularity, I had no interest in reading it. However, people kept pushing me to read it, telling me it was amazing- even my brother who’s 2 years younger than me suggested it- so eventually I gave in. And they were right: I really loved it. The Capitol was so horrifying it made me shudder and the nonstop action had me hooked, even before I was rooting for Katniss to choose Peeta.
6. The Book Thief- Markus Zusak: My dad got me this book for Christmas a year or two ago, so I read it over the break, and found I couldn’t stop. This book has some of my favourite characters of all time. I liked Liesel, but I especially loved Hans, Rudy, and Max, and even Rosa had her good moments. The ending had me sobbing into my pillow and feeling extremely angry at Zusak, but even the tragic end couldn’t stop me from loving this book.
7. Paper Towns-John Green: Another John Green book that I adore, Paper Towns, like the Book Thief, has some of my favourite characters. This book had me laughing out loud so often I was afraid to read it in public for fear of looking crazy. Quinton, Radar and Ben had me rooting for them since the beginning, and their crazy mishaps while looking for Q’s love Margo had me wishing I could go on a similar road trip with my friends. Well, minus the car accident.
8. Before I Fall- Lauren Oliver: Sam Kingston and her story were interesting, to say the least. Sam dies in a car crash after drinking with her friends at a party, only to find she wakes up on the same day, before the accident. She must now figure out what to change about her day to stop the accident. I loved how the novel explored themes of how you affect another person and how we treat others. I also liked how Sam is popular and a bully, as it offered a new perspective and you could see Sam’s development throughout the novel into a better person.
9. Looking For Alaska- John Green: The last John Green book on the list. Looking For Alaska is about Miles Halter’s life when he attends boarding school and falls in love with a girl named Alaska Young, until tradgedy strikes. It is heartbreaking and there are many sad parts, but it doesn’t feel like a ploy or a marketing scheme of any sort. It just feels honest and the themes of life and death, though overused, feel fresh.
10.  The Lightning Thief- Rick Riordan: My seventh grade teacher, Mr. Rowe, read this to us aloud, and I loved it so much, I went out and bought the rest of the series. I have read it over and over again, and got my brother to read it as well. Even though it’s for younger kids, it remains one of my favourites because I love Percy, Grover, and Annabeth, and their adventures had me wishing I was a half-blood too.

 

Metamorphosis

Nora Helmer and Eliza Doolittle both go through major transformations, as does Cady Heron from the film Mean Girls. Nora’s transformation, in a nutshell, is that she becomes braver, she stands up for herself, and realizes she has a duty to herself. Eliza, similarly, realizes she deserves love, and to be treated like a duchess.

Cady, in the film, starts off quiet, likeable, and smart, but when she has a run in with the Plastics, a group of super mean and superficial girls, she becomes one of them accidentally. She begins to be rude to her friends Damian and Janis, blowing them off to go to parties and be with the leader of the Plastics, Regina George. She starts wearing more makeup, different clothes, even talking like Regina does by copying signature phrases. Not only that, she begins to pretend to be stupid to impress a boy she likes. This brings her math grades lower and lower until she is failing.

But Cady continues to transform, and by the end of the film, she has gone through a positive transformation. She learns that The Plastics are not her real friends, and she has become a mean person. She says, Miss Caroline Krafft seriously needed to pluck her eyebrows. Her outfit looked like it was picked out by a blind Sunday school teacher. And she had some -cent lip gloss on her snaggletooth. And that’s when I realized, making fun of Caroline Krafft wouldn’t stop her from beating me in this contest.” This is when Cady begins to understand that when she was hurtful or said rude things, it was because, deep down, she was the insecure one, and she was tearing other people down to bring herself up. Cady, after this discovery, even goes as far to make a speech at the dance, giving a homecoming crown piece to people in the audience so they could feel special too.

Ultimately, Cady Heron goes through a transformation as significant as Nora and Eliza. They all have revelations as to why they should change their ways. Their veiw-points and actions have been altered forever.

Poetry Assignment “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Source: http://www.famouspoetsandpoems.com

For this assignment, I chose the poem Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.

1. I chose this poem because I remember reading it long ago, so it had a comforting familiar quality. In addition, I agree with the point I think it was trying to make and I think it seemed challenging enough to get an in depth response, but also not too hard so that I couldn’t figure out what it was trying to say.
2. I like the descriptions and words used, and the general lighthearted and hopeful tone of the poem. Another thing I liked was the overall message I think it was trying to convey.
3. I think the poem is about childhood and youth and if an adult wanted to be happy, he would have to take on the mindset of a child, or “follow the chalk white arrows”. For example, Silverstein first begins his poem describing a beautiful place where “the grass grows soft and white” and there is a “peppermint wind.” He uses playful, childlike terms in describing this place of childhood, or happiness. Then he discusses adulthood, or unhappiness with “black smoke” and “asphalt flowers” and how they needed to get away from there and join the children. The only way to this “place”, where the sidewalk ends was to follow the children, or to open their minds and use imagination in order to be able to visit the place. Visiting the place where the sidewalks ends is a state of mind, and it is the way the child sees a world, that is, with innocence and believing the best in everything. So, I believe the poem is about how even though adults have seen the worst of the world, it is possible for them to still see the world with positivity and optimism. They just have to think like a child.
4. Silverstein has used many different literary devices. For example, he uses a metaphor, “asphalt flowers” to describe what constitutes as nature, or beauty in the city. This shows the reader that all they have for beauty in this place is made out of asphalt, and everything is manmade. He also uses comparison, as he compares the place where the sidewalk ends to the place before. The place where the sidewalk ends is beautiful, the sun is shining, birds can rest, and even the wind smells like peppermint. He makes this place sound even more magical when he describes the dirty, dark and gritty place he resides now. This is also an example of juxtaposition. Another device he uses is diction. He uses this to create a light, whimsical tone when describing the place where the sidewalk ends. He uses pretty and cheerful sounding words like soft, bright, moon-birds, and peppermint to make the place have a pretty and cheerful feel to the reader. When he describes the city, he uses harsher, bleaker words to make the atmosphere of this place sound unpleasant. He uses symbolism throughout the entire poem, because the place where the sidewalk ends is a symbol for the state of mind of a child, and the chalk white arrows symbolize that the way to get to the place is through embracing a childlike view of the world.
5. I think another person in my life that would like this is my friend, because she can sometimes be too serious. I think she would enjoy this poem because it highlights why sometimes it’s good to be positive, and that it is okay to be childish.
6. Since the poem is very popular, you can learn a lot about the poem.  There have been a lot of analyzing of the poem, most coming to the same conclusion. For example, the article by Vitaliy Kotyokov for Yahoo Voices, says, “The poem therefore calls for a rebirth of that childlike sense of wonder in the heart.” You can also learn that the poem was probably not just written for children, despite is easiness, because Silverstein has said that he wants his poems to be read by people of all ages. In Publisher’s Weekly, he says “I would hope that people, no matter what age, would find something to identify with in my books, pick up one and experience a personal sense of discovery.

The School Year

It’s the beginning of grade 11, and the school year comes as a shock. I mean, I should be used to the work, as I did English up in the summer and didn’t finish till the end of July. Except I did that course in France, and, well, writing an essay is considerably more entertaining when you’re munching a baguette fresh out of the oven in a cafe overlooking the Seine. English at Christ the King is a close second though.

Overall, I am looking forward to this school year, despite the fact it means early mornings and hours of homework. Grade 11 is the most important school year I’ve had yet. Finally, I’m able to choose five electives instead of two, which means less science and more history, less boring and more fun. I’m excited for Leadership and Anthropology, two courses I’ve always wanted to take, and I’m hoping to narrow down my options for the future and figure out what I want to do and where I want to go. So far, the extent of my goals is just simply not to end up on the streets. I’m thinking I should aim bigger.

This year is different from others because it is more important. This is the year where grades really start to count, and courses I take or don’t take get affect my whole future. It’s a lot of pressure, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle it. I want to be able to handle it, like everyone else in my grade seems to be doing, but I’m just not sure. Everyone already knows what they want and how to get there. I can’t even figure out where I want to go, let alone how. I just wish someone would choose for me, or at least help me decide. But that’s obviously not possible. The only person that can decide is me. And that’s the whole problem. It should be so simple: pick a dream or an interest and go with it. I just…can’t.

So it’s a new school year. Full of changes, full of pressure, but, hopefully, full of good memories and fun classes and new friends. Wish me luck!

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com! This is your very first post. Click the Edit link to modify or delete it, or start a new post. If you like, use this post to tell readers why you started this blog and what you plan to do with it.

Happy blogging!