Locker Hall Humiliation

      Earlier this week, I was in a predicament in the middle school downstairs locker hall. I decided to take a shortcut on the way to PE, and it did not end well. A younger student opened the door and went in, and I thought that I had enough room to slip in without touching the door. BIG MISTAKE!! The door shut on me, and I was trapped between the pole and the door. I was worried that my gym teacher wouldn't believe my story, and tried to dislodge myself from the door. I grew more and more desperate as time passed.

     I was so worried that I wouldn't make it to class on time. I struggled against the door, but it was to no avail. I considered yelling, but no one would hear me. It was too close to the final bell. Finally, a sixth-grader walked by and saw my predicament. After a short judgmental stare, he emancipated me from the hall. I ran to class and barely made it on time. All I could think was that things like that only happen to me.

Reading Response

How would I react if this story was my reality?

     I am reading The Odyssey by Homer. If I were Odysseus, I am not sure how I'd handle his trials myself. If I were the one on Calypso's Isle, I think that I might have mentally shut down after being stuck for too long. I would have a difficult time bringing myself to build a raft to bring myself home, knowing that it would probably be a difficult journey. I would despair when Poseidon destroyed my raft and potentially give up all hope of ever coming home. While it is an interesting and challenging read, I may not have survived the life of Odysseus.
      On the other hand, I may have survived and thrived. I surprise myself sometimes by the way that I can stay calm. I don't think that I would have cried every night. I would probably plot my escape off of Calypso's Isle. It would be difficult to muster the courage to travel by sea as a person despised by Poseidon, but I might be able to do it with a strong surge of hope. After the raft falls apart, I believe that my strength would definitely be tested. I'm not sure if I would be able to float at sea for days. I can't be sure what I would do in such a dire situation. Would I abandon hope or fight that much harder to get home?


Reading Log:

Monday: 30 mins
The Odyssey

Wednesday: 30 mins
The Odyssey

Thursday: 45 mins
The Odyssey

Sunday: 30 mins
The Odyssey

English Expectations

Hi I'm Sienna. I have a dog, and I love to ride horses. I'm excited for English this year because I actually like the books that we will be reading, but I'm nervous that I won't be able to keep up with the workload. The fact that we won't have to do Wordly Wise exercises makes me feel better, but I'm still worried about keeping up with this blog and my reading log. I also hope to make good grades in this class. I know that this is short, but I don't have much else to say. I hope that I have a great year!

Reading Log 8/19

Wed: 45 mins

The Odyssey

     Homer

Thurs: 30 mins

The Odyssey

     Homer

Sat: 1 hour

The Odyssey

     Homer

Sun: 45 mins

The Odyssey

     Homer

The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go was probably one of my least favorite school reading books. It was very unrealistic, and the never-ending prose was more than a little bit annoying. I actually liked the overall story, but it falls at the first hurdle when it comes to realism. It’s highly unlikely that two teenagers could effectively outrun an entire army on horseback. It also strikes me as odd that a crazy priest is much better at tracking children than the actual soldiers. I also can’t seem to wrap my mind around the fact that the army ran ahead in front of the people that they were trying to catch, knowing that not only would they be going to Haven but that Todd and Viola would arrive at the exact time that the entire army is outside of the city.

The story actually happened to be very engaging, but I had a hard time emotionally connecting to the characters. I couldn’t bother to feel sympathy for Todd when he was ill while looking for Viola because it was obvious to me that starvation, exhaustion, and exposure would eventually make him sick.  The death of Manchee, while sad, gave me little pause, and I read it with a straight face. It was not a terrible book, but I felt like it was utterly forgettable.