Welcome to my blog about my 9th grade English class.

For English Class at JC with Mrs. Zurkowski and other literature related things. Quarter 4

Monday, May 23, 2011

25 Random facts about me.




  1. I have a dog, a cat, and a few fishes.
  2. I have a fear of heights.
  3. I am afraid of big roller coasters
  4. I love mexican food
  5. I have never been outside of the united states 
  6. I love Italian food
  7. I'm part Hispanic because my father's parents came from Ecuador. 
  8. I played basketball for three years in middle school.
  9. In those three years I only scored once. 
  10. I used to play T-Ball a long time ago. 
  11. I have a bad smile. 
  12. I can't stand country music. 
  13. I can't stand mainstream pop music. 
  14. I hate the Steelers. 
  15. I am a huge ravens fan
  16. I am a huge Celtics fan
  17. I hate the Miami Heat
  18. I don't watch baseball or really like it at all. 
  19. I am horrible at grammar.
  20. I once ran a half marathon. 
  21. I was in only one school play as a stage hand
  22. I am a Christian. 
  23. I can't stand cheaters
  24. I can't stand hypocrites. 
  25. I love to run. 

Heroic Qualities of Julius and Brutus.

Brutus
  • He treats his wife equally. 
  • He killed Caeser for the people, not for himself. 
  • Brutus does not want to be higher than Caeser or take the throne. He is humble. 
  • He has pride in Rome and wants the best for it. 
  • Many people like him and he is well respected as being loyal and trustworthy. 
        Tragic
  • Too trusting of others
  • Did all he could for the good of Rome
  • Believes what people tell him 
  • Too extreme with things. 
  • Naive 
  • Too selfless 
Julius
  • He is a great leader who made Rome great. 
  • He is a great general and defeated Pompey in a battle. 
  • He is very confident to he point where he believes he is a God. 
  • An ambitious person, which is good for him but bad for the republic. 
  • Not very superstitious and thinks for himself. 
        Tragic
  • Overly ambitious
  • Thought too highly of himself 
  • Ignored superstitions which told the truth in this case
  • Public life goes above personal life. 
  • Extreme Perseverance 
  • Very oblivious to conspiracy
  • Very intelligent 

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Our trip to Washington D.C. and the Folger Shakespeare Theater.

    My day in Washington D.C. was very fun and I enjoyed it. We went to the Folger Shakespeare Theater and then went to lunch. We also went to take a picture in front of the Capitol and then we returned to the bus. The play was interesting and I enjoyed it. It taught me a lot about Shakespeare's writing that I did not know, especially the clues about how to understand it better. Also seeing the way they acted it out and seeing the plays done live gave me a whole new perspective on Shakespeare's writing and a deeper appreciation for it. We walked to lunch and that was good and we saw some "interesting" characters on our way there. Most noticeable a guy with a camera mounted on his head. We got to lunch and I ate pizza. It was in Union Station Eatery. They had many choices and good food. We then walked back to the bus by the Capital and then went home. My favorite part of the play was the fight from Hamlet because of all the action and fighting. It was exciting to watch and interesting to see how they acted it out.
     When I read Shakespeare now I will approach it with an open mind and a willingness to try to understand it more not just give up. I will use the tools and clues they told us to better understand what is  being said, what it all means, and what is going on. This way I can now better appreciate the reading since I might actually understand it now. I look forward to enjoying Shakespeare's writings now and I really enjoyed the trip to D.C.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Imagery

     The Imagery in "Their Eyes Were Watching God" was really great. Imagery itself is the use of words to help describe a story or at least in this case it is. In simpler terms it means when an author uses certain words to describe what a person, place, thing, or event in a story really looks like. It really makes writing better because you can just imagine everything in the story. The characters, the towns, the things they have, and all the events. It really brings the story to life, especially in this book. Zora's use of imagery really brought "Their Eyes Were Watching God" to life to me and I could imagine everything that happened in the story.




1.  “the great rope of black hair swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume,” Description of Janie’s hair, which is a big symbol in the novel. Page 2
2. “time makes everything old so the kissing, young darkness became a montropolous old thing while Janie talked.” Time loomed on as Janie told her story to Phoeby. Page 7
3. “She had glossy leave and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her.” This compares Janie to the blooming pear tree and how it is blooming as she is growing up and becoming a woman. Page 11
4. “Mind- pictures brought feelings, and feelings dragged out dramas from the hollows of her heart.” Nanny is trying to raise Janie while remembering the past things from her life, and trying to do better this time. Page 16
5. “They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth from which the night emerged.” This is symbolizing the start of a new day, and Janie has a new start for happiness. Page 33
6. “The fact that the thought pictures were always crayon enlargements of life made it even nicer to listen.” Listening to stories and talking makes life seem a lot better than it is to Janie; it idealizes things. Page 51
7. “The new moon had been up and down three times before she got worried in mind.” It had been a long time before Janie started to worry that she wasn’t falling in love with Logan as she hoped she would with time. Page 22
8. “She knew the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ether.” Life is fast changing and constantly moving. Page 25
9.” Most of the day she was at the store, but at night she was there in the big house and sometimes times it creaked and cried all night under the weight of lonesomeness.” The house felt empty now because Joe died and Janie was all alone. Page 89
10.” He set it up and began to show her and she found herself glowing inside.” Janie was happy that Tea Cake was teaching her how to play and she felt happy. Page 95
11.”In the cool of the afternoon the fiend from hell specially sent to lovers at Janie’s ear. Doubt.” Janie began to wonder if Tea Cake was true to her and not taking advantage of her like everyone said. Page 108
12.” When ah wasn’t in da store he wanted me to just sit there wit mah hands folded. And ahd sit dere wid da walls creepin up on me and squeezing all the life out of me.”  Janie was forced to just sit in the store and waste her life away because Joe forced her too. Page 112
13.”Outside the window Jacksonville looked like it needed a fence to keep it from running out on ether’s bosom.” This quote explains how Jacksonville was so big and was growing so fast. It was like it was just growing out from the sides and needed a fence to hold It in. Page 118
14.”To Janie’s strange eyes everything in the Everglades was big and new. Big Lake Okechibee,  big beans, big cane, big weeds, big everything.” This quote explains how everything seemed new and big to Janie. It was all different and and bigger than her old home in Eatonville. Page 129
15.”You done bruise mah heart, now you come wid a lie to bruise mah ears.” This is how Janie felt when Nunky tried to steal tea Cake. She felt like her heart was heart and when he denied it, it was like adding insult to injury. Page 137
16.”Mrs. Turner, like all other believers had built an altar to the unattainable- Caucasian characteristics for all.” This quote showed Mrs. Turners obsession with white folk and Janie. She thought an all white society would be paradise and therefore almost worshipped Janie, the only other part white woman in town. It was like she built up an altar for her.
17.”By dusk dark Belle Glade was full of loud-talking, staggering men.” This shows what the muck was like at night. It was full of drunk- staggering men that were all loud. It was just wild. Page 149
18.”Morning came without motion. The winds, to the tiniest, lisping baby breath had left the earh.”  This is what the calm before the big hurricane was like. You could call it the calm before the storm. There wasn’t much wind and that misled Janie into thinking there was no hurricane. It was just very calm out like baby breath. Page 155
19.”He went to bed. Way in the midnight he woke Janie up in his nightmarish struggle with an enemy that was at his throat.” This is what Tea Cake was like in his sleep when he had rabies. It was like a struggle with an invisible man who was trying to strangle him. Like “ A nightmarish struggle in his sleep.” Page 174
20.”She pulled in her horizon like a great fish net.” This quote describes what Janie had done in her life. She wanted to reach the horizon and it took all her life to do that. When she did it was like she was done everything in life and had 
pulled the horizon in. page 193

     My Favorite Image was the last one about thr horizone. " She pulled in her horizon like a great fish net. I think it puts the whole idea of the story into one small sentence. She had reached her goal. She had reached the horizon and experienced life. She was happy and had completed most of her goals. It was like she had took her dreams and pulled them all in to her. 


Symbols in Their Eyes Were Watching God.

     Their eyes were watching God had a lot of great Symbols. They were all very deep and meaningful to the story. They all helped tell the story better too. They ranged from little things like a head rag to big things like the muck itself. They were all good and showed off Zora’s great writing ability and ability to really describe a book well.
                To start we have the pear tree in the beginning of the book. It describes Janie coming of ages and blooming like the tree is. The tree is just beginning to bloom just like she is. Next is how Logan makes Janie do hard work which shows the end of his love for her and that he wants her to only work now and not be pampered. Next we have the store which is a humongous symbol. It is the heart of Eatonville and the beginning of the town’s greatness. It is a part of the whole story and many important things happen there in the “heart of the town.” The light in Eatonville represents a lot of new things also. It shows the town is moving forward and out of darkness (hence the light). It also shows of Joe’s power and how he can just go out and get the light. It also showed the light of God or at least to the townspeople it did. Joe’s big house showed his power over the people. He lived in the big house and everyone else lived in shacks. It symbolized him almost being like a slave owner on a plantation making everyone else do the hard work. Then the Spittoon Joe had also showed his and Janie’s power and wealth. He was better than everyone and could afford to spit in a Spittoon and not on the ground. He could just spit his tobacco inside. Next up is Tea Cake’s guitar. It showed of his gentle, fun, and relaxed side. He always played it for Janie in bad situations or to make her happy so it also means being happy. Janie’s overalls represent her not being super important high class Mayor Janie. She was now a worker like everyone else and wasn’t all high up like Joe made her out to be. She was just like her love, Tea Cake.  Janie’s head rag Joe gave her represented Joe’s control over Janie. Joe made sure Janie didn’t go off with any other man by hiding her hair and made sure she kept it on. She then burned it when she was free of Joe. This is a major symbol. Second to last the color blue means Janie being happy and free. She was free from Joe and with her true love Tea Cake. For once in her life she was truly happy with a man. Finally there is the checkers another huge symbol. When Janie was with Joe it showed her being controlled and put down by him. She always wanted to play but was too stupid. When she met Tea Cake he let her play and even called her smart.
                These are all of Zora’s great symbols in the book. There were some more but these were all the biggest most important ones. They all had great meaning and gave the book a deeper meaning. Truthfully I think they made the book better.

Book review for their eyes were watching God.

   For English class we recently read "Their Eyes were watching God" which was a really great book. It was written by Zora Neale Hurston. I really enjoyed this book while reading. I enjoy reading a good book but sometimes  with school assigned readings I am a bit wary. Sometimes they can be very good and interesting and other times can be a complete bore. This book was on the interesting side and I might read it again just to read it again. It had great imagery and symbols and really connected you with the characters, something I loved.
     The book is about the journey of a Woman from her entrance into womanhood until the time she finds her true love. She had to conquer a bumpy road to get there and it wasn’t easy.  Her name is Janie and she is a very interesting character. She is smart and very independent for a black woman at the time. She grows throughout the book and learns much more about life. That is what the story is about. Janie meeting new people and learning more about life. She portrays this very well in her symbols and imagery and makes you connected to all the characters. I was able to imagine every character, town, and event in my head which made the book much better.
                The Author Zora Neale Hurston used great imagery throughout the book. It gives you a clear picture of every event character and place. I could imagine this whole book in my head something that makes a book much better. She also gives every character a loveable or hate able personality. This makes you connected to every character in one way or another.  Also the books symbols seem to give the book a deeper meaning and make you think about it more.  This adds a whole new level to the book and makes you want to re-read it again.
                Overall this book was great. It was really interesting to read and brought me in. My only criticism is that I couldn’t understand some of the Dialect but that is very extreme nitpicking and it’s not a problem at all. In-fact it makes the book even better. Zora had great imagery and connected you to every character in the book. I was always sad if a character I liked left or be happy if I disliked them. I would give this book a perfect 10 out of 10 and recommend it to anyone, teen or adult, looking for a good read.