Reading/Work Times 02/24

Poetry Test:

20 mins, Poetry vocabulary, Sunday

20 mins, Reviewing previous annotations, Sunday

10 mins, meter, Sunday

Research Paper:

30 mins, Revising, Monday

Reading Time:

15 mins, Life of Pi, Tuesday

15 mins, Life of Pi, Wednesday

20 mins, Life of Pi, Thursday

An Intensely Personal Poem for Future Embarrassment

It's not my fault that this happens to me.
You can't seem to be quiet,
Just let me be.

All you want to do is lie in negativity,
Everything you say is:
"Oh, please pity me."

It's not my fault that we're tied together.
Whenever I move away,
You tighten the tether.

Making me miserable is your job.
Well, nobody hired you,
Don't get involved.

It's not my fault that you won't go away.
I like to forget  about you,
But you wan't to stay.

But unfortunately, I can't get rid of you.
I know that you aren't fond of me,
Trust me, I hate you too.

It is my fault that I let you control me.
Push the good things out, pull the bad things in...
You might be here, but I don't have to listen to you.

Reading/Work Times
Tues:  30 mins LOP
Wed:  10 mins in class LOP
Thurs:10 mins in class LOP
           20 mins COB
Fri: 15 mins LOP
Mon:  15 mins analyzing song
           20 mins COB

Currently reading: Life of Pi (LOP)
                             Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (COB)
(taking a hiatus from Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe)

Analysis of "Everything Must Belong Somewhere"

I will be analyzing "Everything Must Belong Somewhere" by Bright Eyes
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Everything-Must-Belong-Somewhere-lyrics-Bright-Eyes/E31E0631960282B548256F98000E8F23

     Immediately noticeable is the end rhyme within the song. Rhyming words are grouped together, and the ends of three lines happen to rhyme. There is then a line break and three more rhyming lines. This is consistent throughout the song. The artist rhymes "wall", "hall", and "ball" in the first three lines. He also rhymes "sheet", "feet", and "street" in the next three lines. Later, the artist switches to slant rhyme, "Leave the horse's hair on the slanted bow/Leave the slot machines on the riverboat/Leave the cauliflower in the casserole today." None of those words rhyme, but the author uses pronunciation techniques to make them sound as if they do. The artist also tries to rhyme "kennel", "pedestal", and "fishbowl". This also adds emphasis on those particular words.
     These schemes make the song more interesting to listen to as rhyme is naturally appealing to the human ear. It also makes listeners more tuned into hearing certain words, especially those that rhyme. This adds to the interpretation because the emphasis forces a listener to create a mental image of what's going on within the song. I can't help but to picture a miserable child or a cooling casserole. The song sort of falls apart at the end. The beginning has triplets that rhyme perfectly. When the listener gets to the last four triplets, they notice that the words don't rhyme so smoothly. I personally consider this to be a lesson that things tend to fall apart if we intervene too much.

Reading/Work Times

Thurs:
1h 30 mins
Absolutely True Diary posts

Fri:
20 mins
Life of Pi

Mon:
20 mins
Absolutely True Diary responses

10 mins
Life of Pi

Research Paper Thoughts

      In general, I feel pretty good about my research paper. My information is solid, and I feel like I did a good job synthesizing it. I had all of the information that I needed, and the real trouble was getting it to flow nicely. It was pretty easy to write the body paragraphs. I just took the information from my detailed outline and stuck it into my paper. I struggled to find the right words to end the paper strongly. My personal opinions kept showing through and I found it annoying that I couldn't write anything unbiased. I am satisfied with my rough draft although revision will be a tough process.
      When my paper is reviewed, I want close attention paid to bias. Unfortunately, I had a hard time separating fact from opinion, and my thinly-veiled personal opinions shine through on certain issues. I'd appreciate if heavily biased areas are pointed out in comments. I want help with writing a more neutral paper, and I think it would be wise to get my trip to the Writing Center out of the way. I'm very worried about my repetitive word use and want to increase the amount of quotes in some sections while decreasing them in others.
      It's kind of weird when I write a paper. I don't usually write it in order. First, I write my introduction and conclusion. Next, I give topic sentences to my body paragraphs and put an outline of points that I have to hit and quotations that already have been places. Lastly, I insert quotes that sound good and help things to flow. I just wanted to point that out as my work descriptions are strange for that reason.

Reading/Work Times
Tues: 30 mins Absolutely True Diary
Wed: 30 mins research paper (intro and conclusion)
Thurs: 45 mins research paper (topic sentences, outlines of paragraphs, conclusions of paragraphs)
Fri: 30 mins Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
Sat: 30 mins Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
Sun: 1h research paper (actually typing up body paragraphs and synthesis of paper as a whole)
Mon: 45 mins research paper (organization)

Geaux Sneaux

     During Cyber-School, I did my best to be studious. I did all of my class work early so that I would have time for fun later. On the first day, I polished my research paper, got ahead on my biology notes, and even finished my Course Theme Project for history class. Wednesday, I decided to catch up on all of my AP textbook reading and took a practice test from my supplementary book. I read lots and lots of books for fun. I enjoyed learning about people while reading biographies, the joys of physics, and I even brushed up on my Spanish. Thursday, I decided to dust off my Latin book and translate the next few passages. Boy was I glad that I did! Now, I can pay even more attention to my other classes and stay ahead. The snow days were great! What could feel better than good, hard work?
     Obviously, I don't have that sort of work-ethic. I sat around watching Dexter (I highly recommend it) and single-handedly cleaned out the pantry. It was a glorious three days of sweatpants and t-shirts. I hopped (*fell*) out of bed at around noon and hardly got anything done. Well... I did work on my research paper. Other than that, I was pretty unproductive. The good news is: I can only watch Netflix for 6 consecutive hours without getting up at one point. I bid you adieu.