Lexxigonzales09's Blog

LAST BLOG! :D

lexxigonzales09 — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:20:25 +0000

My favorite activity we did this whole year was when we played out Julius Caesar. I liked it because it helped me understand the story better. My least favorite activity was when we did the annotations. They were too hard to keep up with especially when we didn’t do it as a class. I learned most when we played out the roll because it gave me a better understanding of what was going on in the book. The best thing that helped me prepare for TAKS was probably all the document we had to do. There was a lot but they help in the long run. All the reviews and essays we did in this class will help me prepare for my English test next year. My favorite book that we read this year was either Lord of the Flies or Ender’s Game. They were both very good books. They had a lot of suspense and there was always a conflict. I didn’t expect to learn so much about the wars and about past history in my English class. I did expect to learn more about each individual book. We learned a lot but I expect to learn about the authors. One fun activity that we did, was the alphabet PowerPoint. They were fun and easy. It was fun trying to figure out and plot for each letter. The thing I didn’t like about the annotation was that it was hard to do on our own and I was so interested with the book that I completely forgot about the annotations. (261)

EG Blog #5

lexxigonzales09 — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:17:23 +0000

I think that Ender and Montag are because of many reasons. One reason is because they were both very smart. Also, in both stories, they turn on what they believe. Ender believed that the buggers were the enemy and he felt he had to kill them. Like Montag, he thought books were bad and he felt he had to burn every book that he came in contact with. Then, they both turn on what they believe. Ender, at the end of the story, tries to protect the buggers because he had the chance to talk to the Queen and he found out why they attacked. Montag also gave books a chance to prove why the lady was willing to die for her books. He learned the importance and saw the good in books. Montag gave risked it all just like Ender risked it all. & In the end, they both learned that they were wrong all along. They are alike in how they take a risk and give it their all. Montag even lost his wife because he was so curious in why the books were so important to some people. Ender lost his childhood because he thought his only chance of becoming someone was by beating the buggers. I can probably relate to Ender the most because whenever I start hearing rumors about someone wanting to fight me, I automatically want to fight back without even talking to the other person. Just like Ender automatically wanted to beat the buggers before he had given them a chance to talk about it. (262)

Blog #4

lexxigonzales09 — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:52:41 +0000

I feel like the only reason Ender got away with murder is because Eros needs him. They need him to kill the buggers. He’s better off in command school, rather than jail. Since he is the smartest kid who can possibly kill the buggers, they want to keep him instead of locking him up. If he was just another kid in the city, he would have got punished. I think Ender should be punished for the murder of Stilton because that could have been stopped with self-control, but the death of Bonzo shouldn’t have consequences because it was a set up. That wouldn’t have happened if Colonel Graff had not isolated Ender and making him the best commander there is. I think it was more Graff’s fault than Ender’s fault because Graff knew that Ender was violent and didn’t put up with anyone treating his unfairly. If Ender gets in another fight and kills that person too, then it has gone to far and something needs to be done about it. It shouldn’t be okay to keep killing people just because you’re the best commander. I can’t think of anyone in my society that has killed someone and got away with it because in our state, we make a pretty big deal about murder cases. Especially if it’s happened more than one time. I don’t think anybody should get away with murder, but in Ender’s case, Eros does need him and without Ender, how else will they defeat the buggers once and for all? (254)

Ender’s Game Blog #3

lexxigonzales09 — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:18:47 +0000

I don’t think the children at Battle School get treated with respect or fairly. I feel they get treated like slaves because the teachers are obviously just using the children as their robots. Especially the way Graff manipulates Ender. He isolated him and make him the greatest soldier so that everyone would hate him and he would become depressed. I would agree that they get treated abusively because they have no freedom and no say so. That is emotional abuse. It seems like all the teachers care about is beating the buggers. I think Ender, especially, is treated badly. Because he’s a genius, the teachers and Graff push him over the limit. For example, he had two battles in one day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Ender is smarter than all the teachers and Graff because he thought about how to kill the buggers using their own techniques. I think it’s time Graff is stopped. & I think Ender should be the one to put a stop to this madness and obsession about beating the buggers. They might not even come back. So why are they preparing them like they know they are for sure? I think Ender should threaten Graff to settle on the way he and the teachers treat him. Or else Graff will thinks it’s okay and keep doing it. He only treats him this way because Ender lets him. It’s time Ender had a say so and stood up for himself. It’s time respect and equality comes in the picture. (258)

Fahrenheit 451 Blog #2

lexxigonzales09 — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:21:51 +0000

I think it is a good thing to censor things such as websites, movies, & books. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, the books in the community are considered censored. The Government does not allow the society to read because they think it is bad for them. They believe people will get smarter than other people and there would be hate and jealousy. In my personal life, at my school, the websites we visit are censored. We are not allowed to get on MySpace or Facebook, for example. I think that is a good idea because then the students wouldn’t be focused on the school work, but on the latest gossip. I do not agree with the censorship in the novel though. I don’t believe that it is a bad thing for some people to be smarter than other people. The people of the society decide how smart they want to be. If they wanted to be smart, they would read. And if they didn’t care, that would be their problem. That’s why there are different jobs for different people. Everybody is different. I don’t agree on putting a limit on education. I think censorship is for certain situations and for certain people. If you use it correctly, it’s used for a good reason. But if you use it for reasons such as keeping everybody on the same education level, It’s being used wrongly. I stand behind censorship 100%, if it’s used for a good reason. I believe that the Government in the novel took advantage of its power and used censorship for a bad reason. (261)

Fahrenheit 451 Blog#1

lexxigonzales09 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:17:08 +0000

I do believe that this decade is different from a couple decades ago because this time period doesn’t read anymore. Back then, there wasn’t many ways to be entertained. Now a days, we have television, game systems, radios, internet, and markets. People like to believe that they don’t have time to read because they’re too busy. But really, they aren’t busy at all. They call watching their favorite soap operas in the afternoon being busy when they could be reading a book. There is a lot of hidden information in book and if we don’t read, we don’t know all the information we have the potential to know. Reading used to be a way of entertainment, but every since technology and society increased, we’ve found other ways of being entertained. I also believe that people became lazy. They would much rather be a couch potato playing video games then to read a book. I think with the technology increasing, physical education is decreasing. It’s easier to sit on the couch and be glued to a laptop rather than running or jogging. After all the marketing in game systems and flat screen TV’s, I don’t think it would be possible to get people to read again.

Last 6 Weeks

lexxigonzales09 — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:14:36 +0000

Last six weeks was kind of hard for me because I had just came back from RAC and when I came back I had a new English teacher. I had to start where the rest of the class was and not where I had left off before I left. After a couple of days I felt like I caught up with my other classmates. I didn’t like how my class was acting with the new teacher. I could tell managing a class with more than 30 students was hard for her and the students took advantage of her. It was hard for me to come back and try to catch up when I couldn’t focus on my work. I did like the teacher though. She was nice and helpful. She always let me read out loud when we would read farenheit 451. She was all about getting me caught up so that I wasn’t left out of the conversations during class. I also liked the fact that Ms. Mckenzie set ground rules for our class. She didn’t allow us to do anything Ms. Brantley wouldn’t let us do. There was absolutely no chatting, no music during a lesson. Even though she was young and fun, she had her rules. Just like Ms. Brantley. From last six weeks, I learned a lot about responsibility and self-discipline. My favorite activity was reading out loud. My least favorite activity was the short answer questions. They were confusing. I hope we continue to watch the movies that we read about and don’t continue to fall behind on the assignments and the other classes. (264)

Julius Caesar Blog #5

lexxigonzales09 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:21:11 +0000

If I have to choose a protagonist for the story of Julius Caesar, I would Choose Julius Caesar. He is the main character and the whole story is about how he is the King of Rome. unfortunately, the antagonist for the book would have to be Brutus. He is against Caesar and he is the second main character. I think the play has been titled correctly because he was King of Rome until Brutus killed him, but he is still the main character of the play. In most cases the name of a play or book is titled by the main characters name. But if I really had to choose another name for the play, I would name it, Brutus the assassinate. Since he was the main one that killed Caesar. He was his best friend so you wouldn’t expect that from Brutus. I think the killing of Caesar made Rome what it is today. Now he’s in the History books because he created Rome. I don’t think Brutus should had killed him. He had no real reason to murder him. It wasn’t just Brutus, but he was a good friend of Caesar and he turned on him for no real reason. I think the play was titled correctly because if there was no Caesar, there was no Brutus. He would have been a nobody is he wasn’t Caesar’s best friend. That’s why they even made a book about him. He was important to Rome and their culutre.

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Julius Caesar Blog #4

lexxigonzales09 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:12:57 +0000

I’ve been in the same situation as Brutus. Awhile back I had this friend named Tony and he was going out with my best friend Janette. They were the cutest couple ever. They went everywhere with each other and you never saw Janette with out Tony. Well this one day, my mom asked me to go with her to the mall because she needed to buy my little cousin a present for her birthday. After walking around the mall for about an hour, we saw Tony holding hands with this short girl. I didn’t know what to do so I just went up to him and said hi. He never introduced me to his friend though. My mom and I continued with our shopping and we passed by them again. Only this time, they were making out. I was in shock! I didn’t know whether I should tell Janette or not. I knew how happy she was with him so I didn’t want to be with one that told her he was cheating on her. After that day, I couldn’t act normal around Janette. She finally caught on how I was acting different and how I didn’t want to go to the movies with her and Tony. So she asked me why I was acting different, and of course, I told her. I feel like me and Brutus had to choose between hurting someone or your best friend. I think Brutus made the wrong decision by killing Caesar. If he was really his best friend, he would have sat down and talked to Caesar about what he thought.

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Julius Caesar Blog #3

lexxigonzales09 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:16:40 +0000

Loyalty of friendships are VERY important. If there is no loyalty, there is no friendship. This one time I went to a house party and the cops rated it, so everyone took off running and my ride wasn’t loyal to me. Instead, she got in her car and left me there. That’s my example of someone not being loyal. I think that when it comes to me and my friends, i’m a loyal person and they can always count on me. Because I know one day I might need them and they can remember what I did for them. I have let some people down, but they weren’t considered my friends. They were associates. When people try to get me in trouble and blame me for something they did, of course I’m going to let them down. I don’t take the blame for anybody that wouldn’t do the same for me. I try my hardest not to have friends. I believe that right now in high school, there is no such thing as “friends.” I just keep people around that I care about and who I know are worth my time. The best kind of friends are the kind that have a good influence on you and you have a good influence on them. In that case, your friendship is balanced. You can always count on the right kind of friends to be and stay loyal to you. The people who are have ba reputations and are always getting into trouble, are probably not the loyal type of friends.

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