Details

I spent about 2 hours Sunday working on my re-written Literary analysis
I spent 20 minutes editing Aimee Claire's cover letter and then 1 hour fixing the mistakes and just basically redoing mine

Reading:

• The Fault in Our Stars: 20 min (wednesday), 45 minutes (friday), 1 hour 30min (sunday), 15 min (today)

Noticing

Looking.
it can't always get you that
far
it presents you with something you
want
it can trick you
help you believe

oh Looking
it knows you
it knows them
it knows the things hidden
the even Looking cannot
see
it knows

Looking.
it can take you to the edge
make you feel what isn't there
Looking can be
wrong

but then you meet Noticing
Noticing can be there for you
Noticing presents the missing pieces
Noticing can help you put Looking
behind

In this poem i used personification by treating the verbs "Looking" and "Noticing" as if they were human. I had the know things and do things that I'm pretty sure verbs can't actually do. I also used enjambment to put emphasis not the words that are opposite to the main idea of the poem. It is a poem about opening your eyes and noticing instead of just looking. So the words that were left alone like "far" and "want", "wrong" and "behind" are associated with the negativeness the poem is trying to stop. I also used anaphora with the phrase "it knows" and "Noticing" in the second and fourth stanza. These were used to express the amount of things that Looking and Noticing due and also draw attention to the contrasts between the two.

What I Want

hmmmmm ok so if I could really have ANYTHING in the world....

i'd probably go for family. Yeah yeah its sentimental but what I mean by that is having all of my family here in one place. My moms parents and two sisters live here in Baton Rouge with their families. I get to see my cousins Owen and Arden everyday with my Aunt Bebe and Uncle Dayday because they literally live in my neighborhood and my grandparents only live about 10 minutes away so I can visit anytime I want. My mom's other sister, Aunt Meg has her three little blonde boys that I get to see every so often but less then i'd like for living in the same state. But what i really want is to see my dads family. Now don't get me wrong I love the family i have here and seeing them so often is one of the best parts of my life, but having my dad's side here to would just complete my world.

I have 4 other cousins who live so extremely far away. My dads parents and youngest brother Lance, (but i refer to him as Uncle Goober for classified reasons so lets stick with that) and his family live in Atlanta, GA. My dad grew up there and I love the place, but I haven't been since Christmas of 2010. I miss georgia and my family there like crazy, my cousin Danielle is going to be 21 in 4 days and my cousin Jake is about to graduate high school but I won't even be there :(. On the other side of the US my dads middle brother Todd and his wife Jun live in Arizona. Its basically impossible for me to ever see them and I have yet to meet my two new cousins Owen Tang and Kayli Ting (my aunt Jun is chinese... cool right?) I cannot believe that i have two little family members that don't even know who i am! I want to meet them as soon as I can and so if this one wish could be granted, that would just be the best thing ever.

Carry On (Fun.) - Lyric Analysis

I chose the song Carry On by Fun. and the lyrics can be found here... http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/fun/carry+on_20989899.html

Yes the song rhymes in various verses and choruses but when I listen to the song  I tend to focus more on the rhythm and how the lyrics connect to that verses the actual sound. In the choruses, pre-choruses, and bridge the rhythm of the song is very syncopated and follows a pattern of "short, long, short, long" and other variations of the two different lengths of the lyrics the singer sings in one breath. Here is an example or the pre-chorus to chorus area of the song:

Pre-Chorus:                                              You swore and said 

We are not

We are not shining stars

This I know

I never said we are

Though I've never been through hell like that

I've closed enough windows

TO know you can never look back

Chorus:                                                  If you're lost and alone

Or you're sinking like a stone

Carry On

May your past be the sound

Of your feet upon the ground

Carry On

So first there is a pattern of "long - short - long - short - long" followed by three long lines and there there is the steady beat for two lines and then the short and smooth "carry on" in the chorus. This rhythm stands out to me because it seems to me like the song is an actual like journey, a road someone is traveling along. It seems to be steady and easy to follow along the "long" parts but every so often you hit a "short" bump. But as the song's title explains, the singer is able to Carry On and make the best of it. 

Another thing that I notice that I guess you could classify as theme of the song, is the wording and meaning of the pre-choruses as they change from beginning to end. At first, the pre-chorus gives a sense of struggle and acceptance, like the singer is saying they know their life is tough and they are the best of people, but they are Carrying On (see the pre-chorus above). But somewhere in the bridge the singer's purpose and sense of life changes and the final  pre-chorus becomes a song about freedom almost. The basic lyrics are similar in wording but the meaning is completely different. The singer says "we are who we are" and realizes that no matter who he is and what life he has been given he is making the best of it and will carry on for miles and miles:

Cause we are 

We are shining stars 
We are invincible 
We are who we are 
On our darkest day 
When we're miles away 
So we'll come 
We will find our way home 

Life of Pi

So i've been reading The Life of Pi over the break for the book discussions we are going to have this week. I was really interested in the book due to the movie and the fact that my dad actually read me the story when I was younger and didn't understand the book at all. What I got from it back then was that a humongous tiger was on a boat in the middle of the ocean and somehow was nice enough to let this really awesome guy live with him. After reading the book again with a bit better focus and understanding of religion and science and just a love for the adventure the book presents, I got a lot more out of it.

One of the interesting parts about how the book is written is that it is actually a story retold by an author who had the privilege of hearing the actual tale from Pi himself. The author presents chapters from Pi's point of view while occasionally slipping his own view of Pi in his life recently into the book. I found that very interesting as it presented many comparisons and kept you wondering just how Pi actually managed to survive and tell this tale to the author.

Also, the book gives a long backstory that not only describes Pi's childhood and unusual life, but explained a lot about science and religion that I didn't know. It gave me knowledge about the Hinduism as well as the Islamic faith and how they can somehow connect to Christianity through Pi's life and experiences. The scientific facts were not only funny and insightful but they gave me the knowledge I needed to understand just how insane Pi's adventure in the middle of the ocean was. The conditions became much more severe and unbelievable to me after reading about the endless dangers, abilities, and lifestyles of the animals Pi grew up around. However it's these same facts that probably saved Pi in the end.


Reading Details:
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

• Saturday: 2hours
• Tuesday: 2hours 15min
• Wednesday: 45min
• Saturday: 1hour 20min
• Sunday: 1hour 45min

When Re-writing My Literary Analysis (uh oh)

Overall this year I have struggled with the formatting and citations in my paper, they are the one trait that I have lost points for all three papers we have written. I'm not sure what the problem is because when I am formatting the paper on my computer everything seems to be right. I just hope that I can fix this problem when I...... yes, rewrite my Literary Analysis.

I must be crazy for wanting to write this again but it was definitely my worst paper out of the 3 and we have to do one.... so here it goes.

I struggled with Ideas and Organization in this paper which is strange because typically these traits are simple and easy to get 10s on as long as I have an main point for my paper and details to expand upon it with. I had ideas in this paper just not ideas that I could easily explain. I was a bit confused with the purpose and the point of my paper from the beginning, which must have caused my execution of the insanity of thoughts in my head to be a jumbled up mess of ideas on the paper as well. This brought the organization down too just because I was lost as to what went where and how I should go about explaining the ideas that weren't completely making sense to me. So this time around I really need to get a good understanding of what I'm talking about, otherwise I really have no right to write about it.

My voice, word choice, and conventions always seem to do well in my papers. I'm not too worried about the sentence fluency although it was pointed out by Dr. D int he rubric. I think that if my ideas are straightened out and I find an organization that flows, then the sentences will too. So wish me luck as I try to rewrite something that I've yet to even completely understand.

Jane Goodall's Mistake

This whole situation seems extremely serious. If plagiarizing can put a student in danger of suspension even expulsion at Episcopal, then in the real world where this work had a chance of being published there could be enormous consequences. As they explained in the article, Jane is not a qualified botanist as she has never studied the subject or received a degree in that area of science. She is simply interested in the topic of plants. This lack of knowledge was what caused her to go searching for extra information and explanations on websites that may not even be trustworthy or correct. Jane's mistake shows just how serious giving credit to a source is, especially since this mistake may even make Jane look as if she as trying to pass off someone else's research and knowledge as her own.

I think that Jane and her co-writers/editors should just turn over a new leaf with this book. It seems as if a majority of the book is plagiarized due to the fact that it was all factual information that Goodall did not know. She could maybe release a different work that includes knowledge of her own and her stories, but not include such deep research due to the people she may have offended with her mistake. Not paraphrasing a paper or work is a mistake that could be almost impossible to fix, and Goodall will have to work hard to do so.

Reading Details

Split: (Sarah Nguyen's book) it was really short and interesting!

• Wednesday: 2 hours
• Friday: 45 minutes
• Saturday: 2 hours 20 minutes

The Life of Pi (Morgan and Cameron's book) just started it but I saw the movie so I know this should be even better...

• Sunday: 15 minutes
• Monday: 10 minutes

Chapter 7: Nervous Conditions

Chapter seven was very eventful compared to some of the chapters in Nervous Conditions. Moving on from Nyasha and Babamakuru's intense fight we meet some new characters. Lucia, the wild, independent, and strong-willed younger sister of Ma'shingai meets Baba's family at the door as a bit of an unexpected surprise. After reading this chapter I understand her backstory and the true reason she has come to stay at the homestead.Since Lucia is pregnant with Takesure's baby (Takesure being a cousin of Babamakuru who came to the homestead for a job) everyone assumes she has stayed at the homestead in order to entrap a husband for herself. Some even believe that she is trying to trick Jeremiah into marrying her with her attractive looks and exciting life.

The real reason for her stay is her sister. Lucia and Ma'shingai seem to have a very strong sisterly bond. Lucia has seen the way Jeremiah treats her sister. Ma'shingai has been trapped with him at the homestead, with his lazy and disgustingly dangerous habits since she was only fifteen. Lucia wants to protect her now that she is pregnant and has an excuse to be with her at the homestead. SHe wants to ultimately take Ma'shingai away from the dilapidated house and the tiring and depressing work she's been living through for the majority of her life. Lucia will succeed in providing a better life for Ma'shingai by speaking out and conferencing with Babamakuru, but that is in chapters to come!

Reading Times

Nervous Conditions:

• Wednesday: Chp. 7 (45 min) with annotations
• Friday: Chp. 8 (30min) with annotations
• Sunday/Monday: Chp. 9 and 10 (55 min) with annotation

Work on the Vocabulary Test and Reading Guides: 1hour 20 min

Multiple "Me"s

I definitely feel like I have tons of different personalities throughout my daily life. If I were to take you through my daily routine you'f probably meet a Mckenzie you never thought you'd know.

Beginning at home I can tell you right now i'm an enormous pain. I love my sister but we rarely get along perfectly. We can never agree on things whether they're important or ridiculous and that causes lots of "screeching" (as my mom puts it) to ring throughout the house. To my parents I'm somewhat different. I really want to make them proud and do my best to please them. I mean of course i'm a teenager so I annoy them more than anything, but I also try to go the extra mile to help around the house or complete the tasks that need done. There are lots of extra daily events that take place in the Dorris household due to my sister and some of her new needs while off chemotherapy. Because of this and the past events i've been through I feel as if i'm become a very mature person at home. I take care of Larkin and the things she needs whenever my parents can't and i've become a personal assistant when not in charge. I enjoy helping and don't think I'll ever outgrow it.

Moving on to the moment I walk onto the school campus, I'm as immature as I can get. I think its an escape for me really. I home I feel like a lot depends on me and I have so much to prove, remember, and live up to. There's stress at school yes but my friends the family free environment just provide me with a sense of immaturity. I act like a kid and all of my friends can assure you of that. I don't act stupid or ridiculous just not uptight and mature like I am in front of my parents. I enjoy this Mckenzie the most I think, she's the girl I can be around my friends when i'm out or on campus, at sports or in a show, she's the Mckenzie I can be with myself.

When I enter the classroom some minor details are changed. I can say that yes i'm what you would call a "goodie two shoes" and unfortunately a lot of people know that. For the majority of my lower and middle school years I was copied off of and inquired of everyday during who knows what class because everyone just assumed I had the answers. What it really is is that fear of disappointing coming back. When I fail a test or screw up an assignment I get so angry with myself and I immediately want to improve. I pay attention in class because things don't always come as easily as people think they do. I have to work to know what I do.

Lastly for this post, when I reach my dance studio at the end of most every night, I just feel awesome. I love dance and the strength I seem to gain when I'm practicing or performing. The same goes for singing or acting, just being onstage and letting myself go is my favorite feeling. I also feel this sense of a team and the dependency we all have on one another when competing or performing difficult tasks. I love the feeling that i can try and eventually do anything i work for and I like to set goals for myself.

So i have the shy and uptight classroom Mckenzie, the loud and obnoxious 10 year old Mckenzie my friends all hopefully don't get too annoyed with, the hardworking worrisome stay home Mckenzie who really wants her sister to have the best life she can at this point, and the Mckenzie who is unafraid to put herself out there and reach new heights. I love all the Mckenzie's and they're all a huge part of Me.

From the Mind Of Nyasha

Returning home was confusing to be honest. I do not remember the language and the cultural details of my home do not come easily to me anymore. Everything has to be thought out ahead of time and translated inside my head. I really just don't have any desire to be here. My father forced us all down for the visit, but what i don't understand is why my father has to be the one in charge. He takes so much responsibility that he is always worn down physically, mentally, and emotionally. He does not understand that my mother and I have an opinion as well so we are forced to do what he wants and what he needs. This has thrown a wrench in our relationship and i'm not sure that we will ever agree with anything in the future.

Tambu is sweet. She wants to understand me and my "problems" but I think it's all too much for her to understand. I have been to England, not her. I have seen and interacted with the white people, not her. I have possessed their rights and decisions, not her. I have decided to be, in my own way, white, and Tambu will never be able to understand that. I see things differently and I can see how unfair our society that we call "home" is. I will do what I believe and what I want. I can smoke if it pleases me and I can read what will better educate me. My mother does;t understand. She gave what I will have up, freedom. She chose us, our family, but I will be wiser. I will make my own path and create my own life. Tambu can be there to comfort me if it pleases her, but I can do what I want and what I need on my own.

----Nyasha (Mckenzie)

C-Layer 1 Evaluations

Well... this post is way too easy for me. In case you didn't notice, on Friday I managed to create an entirely new project for c-layer 1. I was attempting to create a story board but for some reason it did not occur to me that a "STORY BOARD" meant a cartoon strip type project... (i mean duh). I really don't why that did not cross my mind. Anyways, I stayed up until a stupid hour of night trying to complete what I though should be a poster board with 3 images and captions per chapter. I did my best with what I thought was right and it turned around and kicked me in the butt. I hope I don't lose to much credit or dignity for my mistake and will make sure to fully understand Dr. D for the next 3 layers.

As for reading guides, blogs, and vocabulary tests, they were wonderful. All three were a good choice and easy to complete even on short notice... That's another thing. I definitely need to begin the process of these layers much earlier on so that I don't run out of time. This round I will be sure to start ahead of time and get a little of each project done night by night. That way I can get a good grade as well as an acceptable amount of sleep.

Reading Details:

Nervous Conditions:

• Wednesday: 1 hour +annotations
• Thursday: 3 hours +annotations
• Friday: 30 min + annotations
• Sunday: 15min
• Monday: 45min +annotations

Chapter 3 : Nervous Conditions

Lots of events take place in chapter 3, but there was one point Tambu made in her head that really confused me. The tension between Tambu and her cousins was not something I was expecting as she always talked about them in awe and with respect in previous chapters. Tambu seems to immediately dislike Nyasha because of her short dress and the fact that she forgot her native language. She finds this offending and refuses to associate with her for the entire family gathering.....

but then, later in the chapter Tambu notices how uncomfortable Nyasha looks while the rest of the family is dancing and enjoying themselves. She actually tries to help Nyasha, but Maiguru prevents her from dancing. Really she prevents her from doing anything related to the Shona culture. This left me very confused. Why did Tambu have a sudden change of heart? And why is Maiguru preventing her daughter from enjoying her native culture?

Also in chapter 3, there is a scene after the death of Nhamo where Tambu's mother is grieving. She explains that her mother had lost three children already during childbirth, three boys to be specific. Boys are the only gender a family really wants because they are the only gender that could continue the family line after marriage. Tambu's family said to be cursed because of this unfortunate loss of so many boys and large amount of living girls. I think this easily can be added to the theme of Gender Segregation in this book.

Reading/Research Times

2hours editing draft
45min reading Everlasting

Research Paper Reflection

1. I found the quoting and explanation of information fairly easy to write. All I needed to know was right there in front of me so all I had to do was read and repeat from my understanding. THe introduction, conclusion, and transitions were much more difficult for me to write as it took much more creativity and use of my own ideas. I found the sheet Dr. D gave us with example signal phrases and other useful tricks was very helpful when revising my paper, while the peer editing session did not help at all. Next time during my writing process I will make sure to spend more time on the different sections instead of doing them all at once, that way my voice stays intact the entire time. 
2. When we did peer editing, the person who received my paper did not leave any comments other than the numbering of my sources. It did not help me at all in preparing my final draft and left me stranded for revising. 
3. I think my voice, organization, and conventions are the best aspects of my paper where as my word choice is definitely the worst part. 
4. My paper was written over a period of time so little pieces were added all along. However when editing I did struggle and was up a bit too late last Thursday night because of what I was left with.

Reading/Research

Reading:

• Everlasting: 2hours 45 min
• Nervous Conditions: 15min

Research:

• 3hours Thursday night freak out...
• 1hour 15 min Friday

My Reading

• The Season by Sarah MacLean:
•  2 hours Monday
• 30 min Tuesday
• 2 hours Wednesday
• 2hrs 30 min Thursday

• Everlasting by Angie Frazier:
• 15 min Friday
• 1 hour Saturday

Ballet To Modern (The Explanation)

My research question is "How has classical ballet influenced modern genres of dance?" It honestly took me about 5 seconds to come up with this topic of dance and although it's all come together by this point, early on it wasn't working for me. I wasn't sure which parts of dance to focus on as I have been learning and performing in each genre since I was 3, that's just how my studio always ran things. Ms. Harper told me initial question of, "how has ballet evolved into today's genres of dance" was way too broad. Now my question isn't much different but to me I somehow narrowed it down to how the a sense of technique. At this point I am explaining how Classical Ballet such as pointe (that thing where you stand on tour toes and dance) has become a style of dance that has much more freedom and really lets the dancer make their own choices, modern. This appealed to me more as I began learning pointe two years ago and I thought that understanding how it has helped to create modern (another style i enjoy). It also created a more "focused in" research question, so I'm all set for drafting my paper.

Now for the formal part where it gets more wordy and complicated...

"During the 20th century, some of the disciplines of classical ballet were dropped in order for dancers to find and create more freedom of movement. Through many stages of dance and many cultural influences, the freedom of movement became a defined form of dance.  This new approach to ballet is known as modern dance. In the world today modern dance has become quite popular and helpful when combined with the classical techniques still known to the dance world. Modern dance has become an outlet for the new generation of dancers to express themselves." As my thesis statement explains, ballet was the initial style of dance in the world. It was very structured and required a great deal of strength and skill as well as a gentle grace. As the years went on dancers around the world began to "loosen up" these techniques and took liberties with the known terminology of ballet. This freedom was expressed in many different ways, creating dance styles such as neoclassical ballet, contemporary, modern, and eventually styles like hiphop and jazz. By the end of my paper I hope to have explained the development of these different genres and their connection back to classical ballet. To tie the whole paper together, I will focus on the topic of Combination and Exposure in my ending paragraphs. This concerns things like dancers learning a bit of ballet, modern, and contemporary alike. This will benefit them in many ways and change their perspective on genres of dance that have become popular in our generation. As a whole my paper should explain how dance began with classical ballet and ended with classical ballet, just in a more defined way that can be stretched and changed into something that fits any generation and mindset.

Reading/Research This Week

So we've spent about 40 min in about 4 class periods now on research. So for that side of the reading i'm gonna go with: 160min

As for regular reading:

• Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg - 2hrs 45min
• Rules by Cynthia Lord - 2hrs 15min
• The Season 1hr

(Did a good bit of reading this weekend...)

Reading Response

Over the break I got bored very easily and found myself reading pretty much all the time. I remembered that last Christmas I had received 3 boxes full of newly published book from the Make A Wish Foundation that made lark in's wish come true a couple years ago... remember that time we were on tv?
Anyway so i had boxes full of new and interesting books to dive into. The most recent I read was a book called The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg. When you pick it up it seems to be your typical chick flick. I normally don't enjoy reading that type of plot at all, but this book hooked me from the start and i ended up reading it in a day. I just found it magically glued to my hands and it was impossible for me to put it down.

Basically this girl in her junior year of high school, Penny, decides to swear off boys for the remainder of her high school career. This may sound super cheesy or girly or whatever to some people but for some reason I just thought it was extremely funny and creative. I really can't say too much more plot wise as i really encourage all the girls (or guys, to each his own) in class to read it! It made that little voice in my head scream, "Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover!"

Reading Times:
The Grimm Sisters books 4-8: 6hours give or take
How To Say Goodbye in Robot: 2 hours 15 min
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (it was a chick flick kinda break) 3 hours 45 min
The Lonely Hearts Club: 3 hours

A Winter Wonderland

My house is always in the Christmas spirit before anyone else in our neighborhood. My mom loves Christmas and has more decorations then anyone could ever need. She loves to be out of the ordinary and it shows as our christmas lights are strung the day after Thanksgiving and 8 Christmas trees fill our house. Every year I enjoy decorating my two "designated" trees with ornaments i've made, bought, and/or, received throughout the years. Out of the ridiculous amount of trees in our house (which have yet to come down 15 days after christmas) i have ownership and decorating duties over two of them. One sits next to our fireplace (on the left side every year or Larkin freaks out) and is covered in various ornaments while the other is in my room and is much more special to me. Every year since I was born my mom has given me an ornament as a Christmas gift, each having to do with something I during the year. The tree in my room is where i hang all of these ornaments each year.

Also in the collection, Larkin has a tree in her room with her share of "mommy ornaments", as well as her tree on the right side of the fireplace. One small tree sits on our piano and mom has deemed it the "Redbird Tree", as it is covered in ornaments of redbirds for some random reason I honestly don't even know.... Two trees sit on our porch simply covered in lights and snowflake ornaments. And the best tree of all sits proudly in our living room. Its the largest tree we find and is always known as "The Santa Tree". My mom has a serious obsession with Santa Clause, and due to that she has a collection of santa clause ornaments. She has Santa made out of a leaf, acorn, spoon, coke bottle. She has Santa on vacation, checking his list, at Disney World, and even driving a jeep. She has anything you could imagine and fills her tree year after year. She still collects ornaments to this day.

All this decorating really makes the holidays all the more special for my family every year. I love this part of my family and though it is a bit crazy, it wouldn't be the Christmas without it.