Dear 812 and Ms. Galang

            This past year at class 812 was memorable. I’ll remember so many things about the eighth especially ELA. I’ll take away many things from Ms. Galang’s class but there are things I’ll remember the most. For example one of the most memorable was the picture book project. That project was very memorable and horrible for me. I never had a clear idea of what I wanted to do. I ended up with an idea that seemed horrible at first but I made it work. I had everything planned out but lazy me decided to do ALL the work on the last day. I worked ALL DAY alone the day before it was due. My mom had supplied me with paper to do the picture book on but instead of seeing a stack on small papers I saw a stack on giant colorful sheets of paper. I spent the whole day making giant pictures on giant paper to figure out at the end of the day there was a stack of small papers still waiting. The amount of anger I felt when I figured out I could have finished the picture book in a smaller amount of time. Overall I’ll always remember my picture book and how its still in my locker falling apart…

            Another memorable memory I’ll take from Ms. Galang’s class is a recent one, our Romeo and Juliet play. Even though I haven’t preformed while I’m writing this I’ll remember this play. I’ve never done a project like this but since it was a first I’ll surely remember it. I’ll remember all the practice’s we had where we would mess up or fool around and I’ll remember staring at words for an hour, going over my lines. I’ll also remember our ridiculous costumes we’ve used for the play so far. Either way I’ll remember this project as the first time I preform in a play and the first time I read a book with a confusing way of wording. My hopes for reading and writing after I graduate are to keep reading challenging books, read for longer periods of times, and keep reading cool books to expand my imagination.

            Overall this year was a memorable year. Even though 812 was a crazy homeroom, it was also a cool homeroom I’ll always remember. I wish all of you the best luck in high school. I’ll miss you all but farewell for now!

                        Alessandro

Poetry Packet

Poetry Packet

Haiku’s

The waterfalls flows

With drops dripping

Plop plop plop

The blossom’s unique

Not like others

It shine brightly

An endless path

Leaves are everywhere

Autumn has come

Reflection: In class we were supposed to bring in photos of nature. I brought different photos such as a picture of a waterfall, picture of a blossom, and a path surrounded by leaves. Each were then turned into a Haiku.

The Tree

The forest is peaceful.

Not a person in sight.

The forest is quiet.

All seems right.

As dawn rises the wind blows.

Where the wind blows is

Where my leaves go.

I stands out on top

Of the rock.

I stand out of top

Of the world.

I shine out in the morning light.

I am the only thing in sight.

Everything is right.

Peaceful.

Reflection: This poem was another poem based on a picture. Instead of making a Haiku I made a free verse poem about a tree from my photo.

Sonnet 

The boy and the girl run together on hills, 

They lay together next to a big stream, 

Their love is important like gills to fish,  

But the boy remembers it all just a dream. 

In the boy's dream the girl looks and smiles, 

The girl smiles at the beauty of the sea,  

She thinks she might stay here for a while, 

But the boy remembers its a mystery. 

The boy wants to travel memory lane, 

But all he sees is the girl with some gray,  

The accident is a black dot, a stain, 

The boy wants to go back to the old days,  

The boy knows the girl as a memory, 

He just wants to say to her stay with me.

 Reflection: I was having trouble making a sonnet at first but soon put a few rhymes together and made a story with 10 syllables in each line. 

Reading response on heart poem 

               My heart poem was Another Sonnet For Stephen by Alvin Lester Sitoner. My first introduction to Another Sonnet For Stephen was in Ms Galang's poetry packet. I choose the poem because it stood out to me and seemed different from the other poems. The poem also reminded me of life and how time can just fly by. 

               The poem is mainly about two people growing up with each other. The first part of the sonnet is about the narrator describing a little boy who makes him happy and who likes to hang out with him. "I see a little boy of four or five, whose face lights up whenever we would play." (Lines 1 and 2). This shows how the narrator and the boy knew each other when they were young. The second part of the sonnet is about the narrator watching the boy as a college youth that is described as smart and successful. "I see a college youth who goes to Penn, Strong and handsome, smart in mind and dress." (Lines 5 and 6). The third part of the sonnet is about the youth who is now a successful and wealthy man that is sick. "With nonchalance, with skill and unique poise, while fighting back attackers of his health," (lines 11 and 12). Finally the last part of the sonnet is about the man gone now. "The boy,  the youth, and the man are gone now." (Line 13). This shows how the narrator knew this man all through his life. 

               In the sonnet there seems to be a heart lifting tone at the beginning but towards the end there seems to be a depressing tone. At the beginning lines like "Whose face lights up whenever we would play." make the poem seem heart lifting. Towards the end of the sonnet lines likes "The boy, the youth, the man are each now gone." make the poem seem depressing at the end. The poem seems to be sending a message saying that life can be good at first but towards the end may seem sad and gloomy. 

               In conclusion I chose this poem because it looked unique from other poems. The poem talks about life in a good and bad way. Overall the poem talks about how time can fly by. 

Reading respone on independent reading book

                             Teenagers today face many problems like peer pressure, poverty, and fitting in. Ned the main character of Teen Angst? Naaah… by Ned Vizzini face problems present in today’s society. There are many problems Ned experiences in the book that affect people today.

                             One problem in the book that Ned and many teenagers face is fitting in. Many teens in today’s society sometimes act different to fit in. One example of Ned trying to fit in was on page 23-24. “I  tried walking fifty feet ahead of my family or trail far behind them, but the suburban kids were onto me no matter what. They gave me dirty looks and snickered as I passed by.” (Vizzini 23-24). Ned and his family go on lots of road trips, for example this time they went to Pennsylvania for a county fair. Ned wanted to fit in with all the other suburban kids who were hanging out around him so he tried to avoid being seen with his family. Another example of Ned trying to fit in is on page 54. “Now, Dad isn’t an embarrassing guy, but the Shrivel show was an important social gathering, and I didn’t want him escorting me to and from it.” (Vizzini 54). Ned and his friends from his school were going to a concert and Ned wanted to go. Ned’s mom didn’t want him going alone so she sent his dad to drive him there. Ned didn’t people seeing Ned with his dad so his dad dropped him off a few blocks away.A third example of Ned trying to fit in is on page 88. “I could go in the afternoons, but the karate school has a very large window, and I’m afraid my friends will see me training as they walk home from school.” (Vizzini 88). Ned started taking a karate class with a bunch of smaller kids. There were two classes but Ned choose the later class so he wouldn’t be embarrassed if his friends saw him while walking home from school. This is one of the examples teens face in today’s society. 

            Another problem Ned and many other teenagers face is peer pressure. Many teenagers do things their peers do to fit in. One example of peer pressure is page 52-58. Many kids at the concert started fights so Ned decided to join a fight because his peers were. Another example of peer pressure was on page 76. “A group of boys trekked the woods bringing me along. They all lit up camel, enveloping me in a smell familiar from my high school. I was offered one and shown the proper puffing technique. I took a drag.” (Vizzini 76). Ned went to a sleep away camp in the summer of his freshman year. Ned and the others boys went into the woods to smoke. Ned smoked with them to probably fit in and not chicken out. A third example of peer pressure is on page 109-110.  “I drank some beer. It was like apple juice, in that it was yellow-brown and, if you drank fast enough, you didn’t taste it for a few seconds. When I finally did taste it, the beer was bitter- like dirt mixed with tap water. Every gulp I took made me thirstier, until all I really wanted was a Coke. Owen and I walked to a more secluded street, sat on the curb, and passed the bottle back and forth until only froth remained.” (Vizzini 109-110). In the summer of Ned’s sophomore year, Owen his friend and Ned brought beer from a store with fake I.D’s. Ned was pressured by Owen to by beer because Owen would keep begging Ned to buy it. This is another issues many teenagers face in today’s society.

            Today’s society holds many issues that affect many people. These issues can affect their lives forever or just for a minute. In the book Teen Angst? Naaah… Ned faces many issues in his high school journey. Ned faces problems like fitting in and peer pressure in the book. These issues do in fact happen in real life. Some teens do naughty things to try and fit in or get peer pressured to smoke, drink, or worse. There are even more issues in today’s society that affect many teenagers. The book shows teenagers how many teens can get into social issues and affect their lives drastically.

Authors Note

Authors Note

            Bullying is a big topic today in schools, in public, etc. Some people see or get bullied on daily bases. Some people get hurt emotionally and other physically but lots of people get hurt overall. Many people don’t want others to know so they keep it to themselves. Sometimes bullies don’t know that they’re really hurting the victim and think they’re joking with them. When victims can’t take bullying much longer things go wrong. Many people have been seriously hurt because of bullying making a big problem. Research deepened my thinking on bullying because it showed me that there are different ways people hurt each other and how people react.

            I choose and care about this topic because bullying is a serious problem and I could see it a lot in a lot of places. What I want my reader to get out of my book is that even serious problems like bullying can be solved.. Also I suggest that you should confront the bully before you tell someone. Maybe if you tell the person to stop you might not need to ask for help. If that doesn’t work I suggest you tell someone if you are going through a bullying problem. It doesn’t help to bottle up your problems in the inside. It can lead to depression or worse so it might be good to tell someone close. People shouldn’t be sad or depressed because someone is hurting them so hopefully soon bullying may be solved.

Synthesis Page: Who has the power?

Question: Who has “power” in your text? How does that power get shown?

In Maus the tigers (German) have the power and hunt down the mice (Jewish). Sometimes the Germans would also try and capture the pigs (Polish).

Page 32-33

The Germans start to show power for the first time. When Vladek and Anna enter a small town, they see a Nazi flag in the center of the town for the first time. For example German police were beating Jewish people for no reason and towns were trying to push all the Jews out. This was the first sighting of the Germans rising to power.

Page 49-53

The Germans had captured the Jews who were fighting in the war and were sending them to camps. The Jews suffered from the lack of care the Germans were giving them. Some of the Jews got frostbite, diseases, hard jobs, and only bread and a little soup per day

Page 61-62

Germans were killing prisoners from some of the prison camps.  For example the Germans would take groups of prisoners at night into a forest to kill them. The Germans were imprisoning and killing Jews to rise and get power.

Page 79-80

The Germans were going into people’s houses to take valuables and furniture from Jews and others. This shows how the Germans had the power to just go into people’s houses and take whatever they want. Also the Germans were beating Jews with no papers. This also shows how the Germans had such power to do whatever they wanted.

Page 83-87

The German hanged 3 Jews who had broken German rules. The Germans let these 3 Jews hang for a week to show an example that the Germans had power and the Jews shouldn’t break the German’s rules. Also the Germans were gathering elders to put them in Gas chambers to kill them. Again this shows the power that the Germans had over the Jews.

Page 107-109

The Germans were taking people to Auschwitz (the place with the gas chambers and ovens). Mostly the Germans were taking kids from the ages of 2-3 years old. Those who were crying were hit or even swung against a wall by their legs. Germans had the power to take Jew’s children and send them to gas chambers.

Page 121

Jews hid from Germans to avoid being captured and taken to Auschwitz. Germans were taking large groups each day so Jews try to hid for a long time.

Page 146-148

Some of the remaining Jews hid in Polish peoples house. Also Jewish people disguised themselves as Polish to remain hidden. Some were still caught and taken to Auschwitz. Like all the times the Germans were hurting or killing Jewish, it was probably to make a point to show that the Germans had power.

Connections

Maus can connect to the picture book called the Terrible Things. Both books have to do with the topic of World War 2. In Maus the Germans were capturing people like the Jewish and Polish. In the Terrible Things, a shadow that the animals described as the terrible thing was capturing animals 1 by 1. These books can connect because they can show how the terrible thing and the Germans had power over others.

The book Maus also connect and is based off of real life. The Germans did capture, beat, and kill Jewish people. The book Maus tells the survivor story of Vladek showing how this connects to real life.

Overall Interpretation

A new understanding I've developed from my focus was the Germans really did have a lot of power over the Jews during World War 2. This makes me wonder how powerful the Germans were during World War 2 and how cruel they treat Jewish people. The author wrote this book to show the survivor story of his father. This is important because it can teach many on World War 2. It can also show how it was like during the war and show the struggle of many people. This book is significant because it shows a unique story of a survivor journey as a Jew, going through camps, hiding, and more.