Memorial Day Weekend

For my Memorial Day Weekend, I went up to Lake George with James Prince. We spent three days up there and had fun. Friday we took out a canoe into the lake. About 10 minutes in it started raining so we had to go inside. We had pretty bad cabin fever because the TV didn't work. That night we went out to dinner and it was delicious. The next day, we enjoyed a motorboat in the lake, into go-karts, and then finished off with mini golf. We came home the next day and then had to get dressed for a Sweet 16 2 hours later. I hopped into a shower and got to the Sweet 16 which was fun and then went home. The rest of the weekend, I spent time with my family at my house and in my pool. Now, I have to get back in the swing of school and finish off the home stretch.

Socartic Seminar

In the Socratic Seminar on May 5, 2008, we discussed the book Montana 1948. There were many different opinions on the subject. Some people thought of the book as the best we've read, and some thought that it's just another boring school book to get through. I am the one who thinks that it is a boring book. David tried getting his parents to open up about what happened with Marie, although he already basically knew. David wanted to know whether or not Wes would protect his brother although he knew that he was guilty. If my brother got into trouble like that and I knew he was guilty, I would try 100% to get him out of whatever he did because he is family.

Sibling Rivalries

One of the major themes in Montana 1948 is sibling rivalries. Frank and Wes were two brothers, almost exactly the same in personality and looks. The one thing that separated the two was Frank’s athletics and what he has done in the past. Frank was a war hero. There was a celebration for him where his father gave a speech about him in front of his brother and the rest of the townspeople.


A tactic to help prevent sibling rivalries is motivation. If a sibling gets something that you don’t and makes you jealous, use that as motivation to do it for yourself. “I used her earning that scholarship as motivation to excel in my classes”, said Keishana (Henry, 14). Motivation is a good way to stop sibling rivalries. It is helpful for both siblings. It stops jealousy and also helps to stand out in what that sibling wanted to do. In the novel Montana 1948, this tactic was not used by Wes, brother of Frank the war hero. If Wes used motivation, he could’ve done something to shine like his brother.

These two paragraphs are types that a student can use while writing in a class. The first is a typical body paragraph comparing a topic to a book. They would use a Topic Sentence, an example, analyze the example and then a conclusion. The second of the two paragraphs is one you would use for the standard research body paragraph. It is almost the same, except there is a topic sentence, then you add the research. After that comes analysis of the research, compare it to the book and analyze that. Finally, comes the conclusion. Both of these are good skeletons for an essay, you just need to know when to use which one.

Annotation

Foulke, Karen L. "Native Americans in the News." Newspaper Research Journal Winter 1997. 28 Apr. 2008 .

Author Karen L. Foulke talks about a book she has reviewed by Mary Ann Weston called Native Americans in the News. Foulke is a graduate from the School of Journalism at Ohio University. Her article titled, “Native Americans in the News”, tells about Native Americans in the US, from the 1920’s through 1990’s. She wrote how news articles have been used to support stereotypes and studies the history media coverage of Native Americans. She does job well done on explaining the book and Native Americans living in our country.

Feminism

Feminism- the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. In other words, women standing up for what they believe in because they think that they are equal to men in every way. I am a 15 year-old male and I agree with feminism. Although men and women aren’t necessarily equal in everything, they should have the same rights and be treated alike. Like every topic, there are good role models, and then there are bad role models. An example of good role models for feminism would be Hillary Clinton, or Whoopi Goldberg. Both of these women do their best in raising rallies to support their cause and get the idea out. But for every protagonist, there is an antagonist. Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Ashlee Simpson; all of these women are the complete opposite of what women are fighting for. They go out and get high and drunk every night. They use their sexuality for things only they would think of. These are very bad examples of someone fighting for feminism.
Now for the daily sample of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is the Hillary Clinton of her time. She shows Macbeth the way, and knows how to manipulate the opposite sex. She persuaded her husband, Macbeth, a strong warrior, to kill a man, causing him to go on a killing spree. Lady Macbeth is a strong feminist in my eyes.

Good Guy's Gone Bad

When I think of the concept "Good Guy's Gone Bad", one man, who I used to respect immensely comes to mind. His name is Chris Benoit, he was a proffessional wrestler in the WWE. Steroids and illegal performance enhancing drugs. They recently started testing for it in the WWE because of this incident. A well-known side effect of steroids is called "roid rage". Chris Benoit had a rage while in his house on June 24, 2007. He took the life of his wife of 7 years and his 7 year old son. He was also found dead after haniging himself in his own home. He was an extremely kind man, he did charity events in his home town of Edmonton. His lifetime achievements were strong and nobody saw this coming.
Chris Benoit could be compared to Macbeth. Macbeth was a kind man but wanted more power. He was appointed the role of Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth became greedy and needed more. He was going to assassinate King Duncan to become king. He was persuaded mostly by his evil wife Lady Macbeth, but he did the dirty deed himself. Macbeth felt remorse after killing the king. He was a good guy gone bad.

In the Socratic Seminar dated April 1, 2008, there were some things I agreed on and some i disagreed with. First of all, the 1st question talking about whether or not we like the play so far, there were obviously different opinions. Most people said though that although it is hard to comprehend what Shakespeare is saying, it makes the play that much better because they need to think about what he is trying to say. I remember Dobbs said that the play, if written in modern english, was turned into a movie, it would not be as good. I disagree because with special effects today, and brilliance of directors, it can be a great movie. Overall, the socratic seminar gave me a better view of the play so far and I am anxious to see what happens next.