Final Reflective Essay.

While looking through my past blogs, I noticed that my writing has improved. In my last Reflective Essay from last semester I stated that I procrastinate while doing blog posts and I still do but I kinda improved more because in the last semester when I procrastinated, I tend to forget things and forget to include them in my blog post. This semester I improved a bit on my procrastination, I remember what to put on my blog posts and I don’t forget about leaving out detail and if I do I would go back and correct it.

In the second semester, we did not have free writes so I didn’t have any favorite posts because they were all book posts but one of my favorite posts would be the Vignette project post. In the vignette project we had to write a vignette on our own compared to the book The House on Mange Street. I had super fun actually doing the vignette projects because I get to write about my past future and the events in my life that are the highlights or important things that happened. In my vignette project, I wrote about  how I became a vegetarian, how I was shy in middle school, how I gained some confidence, talent, and how I got receive my name before I was born. This is my favorite post because I had a chance to go in depth with my work and describe the moments in great detail. Also, not only because it helped me get into detail but it helped me realized what kind of shaped me in a way. I got to realize how much confidence I gained in a year and it makes me happy that I was able to write about it. One example in my vignette project: 

“She just caught me off guard. My face turned red. I was heating up. My armpits were sweating. I kept telling myself to be calm, be calm. It didn’t work. “

In this part of my vignette I got to describe how I felt when i was being picked on and how my face was starting to get red.  There are more examples in my vignette where I described the moments in life and it kinda helped me be descriptive in my future essays and assignments. To get some inspiration, when we had free writes I would normally go on Tumblr for some inspiration like some of my posts, I would find a picture and include it in my post and say my opinion about it or agree with the saying of the picture and have my own personal experience with it. Now second semester was for mainly book blogging rather than free writes.

    I really like having a blog because even though we don’t get to have free writes anymore, we have response posts and they kinda help me see what other classmates say about my posts and what their opinion on it is. Before, I really love having a blog because I was able to express my feelings like If I am having a bad week or so I was able to write about it and pour my heart. One post where I kind of revealed my past problems is in my What is the Definition of Beautiful post.
One quote from it is:

"Why do people always mention skinny, tall, long legs, banging body type of girls? I am tired of people referring skinny girls as beautiful. What about the ones that are not skinny and is average or over weight?"

  I decided to write about this because society has a huge impact on image and I was very hesitant to write about it but I want others to know that I was in this situation also and fit into the skinny, nice looking image and I got few responses from that. I still do love blogging even though we don’t have free writes anymore because the Book Reviews acts as a substitute for it. I also love blogging rather than writing on a piece of paper because of course typing on a keyboard is way faster, this way I am able to put all of my ideas on a document. When I write my ideas on a separate piece of paper, I sometimes lose my train of thought. Blogging has changed the way I write because I used to take a while typing up something on blogger like a free write or something. When I have a keyboard in front of me I spill out whatever I need to say on the document instead of me like staring at my keyboard and questioning myself whether or not I should type it or not. In the first semester, I was afraid of writing what I felt like because back then I really cared about what other people’s opinion about what I said. Even before, when I was in 8th grade I had to post some of my work on blogger for other people to see. I posted stuff about myself and my works. They were mostly poems. I was very nervous of posting anything on blogger because I was scared that my poems might be horrible and my poems are not good enough. Soon, after almost the last quarter of the first semester I started writing about whatever I chose too. I was not afraid of what people thought of my work. Some of my classmates comments on my work and they were helpful. Blogging helped me get some feedback and when I read the feedback that I received, I can use the feedback to improve on my next blog or maybe fix something back.  I can and because of this, now I don’t care if the comments I will receive is negative. Blogging changed the way I write because it offered more style to our writing life rather than a pen and a paper. We are able to use the Internet as sources. One example is when we did our debate topics about homework, we had to research sources and facts for our debate. Comparing blogging and using a pen and a piece of paper is very different because we can surf the web very quickly.
    Overall, my writing has improved over this year, I still enjoy blogging. Blogging is quick and easy, you are able to surf the web and grab sources and use them. Blogging also can have other people read your work and give you feedback to improve on maybe your next post.

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Final Book Review: Kissed by an Angel

In the book, Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler talks about two main characters in the book named Tristan and Ivy. Tristan goes to Stonehill high. In the book, Tristan is described as a well known swimming athlete with a amazing body, great abs and fit. This kind of reminds me of how Jacob was described in the Twilight Saga. Ivy also goes to Stonehill high and she is a pale, petite young lady and all that. At first Tristan was showing very much interest in Ivy which is every girl’s dream to have such a hot guy to have a crush on a average looking girl. The chemistry between Tristan and Ivy is unbelievable. I really loved how Ivy was not showing any interest in Tristan and it slowly grew on to her how she has a crush on Tristan. Ivy strongly believes in angels. She has a whole collection of statues that are angels. Her favorite ones are Tony and the Water Angel.
“Water Angel, Ivy prayed silently. Water angel, don’t let me fall. You helped me once. Please, angel...(72)"
Ivy strongly believes that her angels are real because it seems like a way that her angels are like God. She prays to them every night and prays when she needed help. In this case, Ivy was terrified of water because of past experiences of drowning. She prays to the water angel hoping that the angel would save her.
Ivy finally tells Tristan about her belief in angels and he strongly believes that angels are not real and tries to break it to her that they are not real and they did not “save” her from sticky situations. Once Tristan had an “accident” Tristan is basically a “ghost” or a “guardian angel” himself. Ivy now no longer believes in angels because of how Tristan passed away and the angels did not save him. I think I am kinda off topic but all I am saying is how these two main characters are very different like Tristan falls for Ivy.. She doesn’t until later.. Ivy believes in angels.. Tristan doesn’t until later.     
Ivy and Tristan were on a date and they were driving through the woods and once they were done looking at the scenery they decided to drive back to the restaurant. Tristan kept on speeding but his brakes stopped working. Tristan dies but Ivy remains alive. Ivy was grieving for a long time between the middle of the 1st and 2nd book and she completely lost faith in angels because the angels did not save Tristan. Ivy suffered from nightmares and Tristan... well let’s say hes a angel. Tristan’s mission is to help save Ivy from the danger that was coming soon but the only way he can save her is if she believed in angels again. In the book it has some things about her getting into danger. One time a man broke into her house
“Before she could turn around, a sack was pulled over her head. Ivy screamed and fought to get free, ripping at the sack with her hands, clawing it like a cat.”(91) (The reason why it is page 90 is because this quote is in the 2nd book).
The first danger that Ivy had encountered was the accident, someone knocked the window pane and someone went in her house and when she went to go downstairs to figure out what happen and this happened. I think after this Ivy will soon get more dangers in the book and Tristan would be able to help her if she believed in angels. So far the book is great but in the beginning I wished the car crash was not that quick because it seemed like Ivy and Tristan had a 2 week lovey dovey situation which of course, I love to read. When Tristan died on like Page 100 halfway the first book My jaw dropped because I absolutely LOVED the chemistry between Ivy and Tristan and I wish the chemistry stayed longer. Of course I am attracted to books that have alot of chemistry and whatnot and I think the main weakness of the book personally to me would be the chemistry between Ivy and Tristan because the chemistry between them were very short and non long lasting and to be honest I think the rest of the book is kinda bullshit, (excuse my language) but it just talks about how Tristan is still in the guardian angel and how Ivy falls in love with her step brother and another dude named Will. I kinda recommend people to read this book but I don’t recommend it to those that like good long lasting chemistry like The Twilight Saga.

I guess you can say my absolute favorite book is the Twilight Saga. The Twilight Saga is the one the opened my eyes to young teen books and more and I completely fell in love with reading books that have immortal characters, vampires, fairies, and more. There are some books that are tied with the Twilight Saga, Personally, I think Kissed by and Angel is an okay book, I love Twilight Saga because of the chemistry between Bella and Edward and later on there is a love triangle. The Twilight Saga has more very descriptive characters in the book and creates an image in your head to what the character will look like. On the other hand, Kissed by and Angel is not very descriptive in the characters, all I know about Ivy in the book is her Golden hair and pale skin. Even though it lacks character description, I like the dramaticness of scenes and how specific the car accident was and how descriptive it was that you can imagine the scenes in your own head.

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Peer Review Comments.

David: Hi David! :D I think your rough draft of your book is pretty good! I suggest on the final draft you remove the whole "I still haven't finish the whole book" thing to make it more clean and smooth and not repetitive. On your final draft, I would like to hear more about how his brother's death affected him with school work. Are his parents supportive or they aren't around or they don't really pay attention to him? I know this is a really bad request but i REALLY want to know if he gets back on track and is determined to switch his life back around!


Susan:I think your post on this is great! To be honest, the summary kinda confuses me a little D;. Are druid's bad or a type of group that is bad?


Jessica:Hey babygirl! Stan didn't post his so I decided to write on your's! I really think your post on this is fabulous! I love how you got into good depth with Ronnie and her parents, especially her dad. I really expected you to write about the relationship with Ronnie and Will and how at some point, Ronnie and her dad got kinda along because she was head over heels with Will maybe?

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Book Review: Rough Draft.

In the book, Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler talks about two main characters in the book named Tristan and Ivy. Tristan goes to Stonehill high. In the book, Tristan is described as a well known swimming athlete with a amazing body, great abs and fit. This kind of reminds me of how Jacob was described in the Twilight Saga. Ivy also goes to Stonehill high and she is a pale, petite young lady and all that. At first Tristan was showing very much interest in Ivy which is every girl’s dream to have such a hot guy to have a crush on a average looking girl. The chemistry between Tristan and Ivy is unbelievable. I really loved how Ivy was not showing any interest in Tristan and it slowly grew on to her how she has a crush on Tristan. Ivy strongly believes in angels. She has a whole collection of statues that are angels. Her favorite ones are Tony and the Water Angel. 

“Water Angel, Ivy prayed silently. Water angel, don’t let me fall. You helped me once. Please, angel...(72)"

Ivy strongly believes that her angels are real because it seems like a way that her angels are like God. She prays to them every night and prays when she needed help. In this case, Ivy was terrified of water because of past experiences of drowning. She prays to the water angel hoping that the angel would save her. 

Ivy finally tells Tristan about her belief in angels and he strongly believes that angels are not real and tries to break it to her that they are not real and they did not “save” her from sticky situations. Once Tristan had an “accident” Tristan is basically a “ghost” or a “guardian angel” himself. Ivy now no longer believes in angels because of how Tristan passed away and the angels did not save him. I think I am kinda off topic but all I am saying is how these two main characters are very different like Tristan falls for Ivy.. She doesn’t until later.. Ivy believes in angels.. Tristan doesn’t until later.     

As I start to finish up the first book and the 2nd book, there are many things happening. First of all, Ivy and Tristan were on a date and they were driving through the woods and once they were done looking at the scenery they decided to drive back to the restaurant. Tristan kept on speeding but his brakes stopped working. Tristan dies but Ivy remains alive. Ivy was grieving for a long time between the middle of the 1st and 2nd book and she completely lost faith in angels because the angels did not save Tristan. Ivy suffered from nightmares and Tristan... well let’s say hes a angel. Tristan’s mission is to help save Ivy from the danger that was coming soon but the only way he can save her is if she believed in angels again. In the book it has some things about her getting into danger. One time a man broke into her house
“Before she could turn around, a sack was pulled over her head. Ivy screamed and fought to get free, ripping at the sack with her hands, clawing it like a cat.”(91) (The reason why it is page 90 is because this quote is in the 2nd book).

The first danger that Ivy had encountered was the accident, someone knocked the window pane and someone went in her house and when she went to go downstairs to figure out what happen and this happened. I think after this Ivy will soon get more dangers in the book and Tristan would be able to help her if she believed in angels. So far the book is great but in the beginning I wished the car crash was not that quick because it seemed like Ivy and Tristan had a 2 week lovey dovey situation which of course, I love to read. When Tristan died on like Page 100 halfway the first book My jaw dropped because I absolutely LOVED the chemistry between Ivy and Tristan and I wish the chemistry stayed longer.

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Kissed by an Angel Part 2.

In the book, Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler talks about two main characters in the book named Tristan and Ivy. As I start to finish up the first book and the 2nd book, there are many things happening  First of all, Ivy and Tristan were on a date and they were driving through the woods and once they were done looking at the scenery they decided to drive back to the restaurant. Tristan kept on speeding but his brakes stopped working. Tristan dies but Ivy remains alive. Ivy was grieving for a long time between the middle of the 1st and 2nd book and she completely lost faith in angels because the angels did not save Tristan. Ivy suffered from nightmares and Tristan... well lets say hes a angel. Tristan’s mission is to help save Ivy from the danger that was coming soon but the only way he can save her is if she believed in angels again. In the book it has some things about her getting into danger. One time a man broke into her house

“Before she could turn around, a sack was pulled over her head. Ivy screamed and fought to get free,ripping at the sack with her hands,clawing it like a cat.”(91) (The reason why it is page 90 is because this quote is in the 2nd book)

The first danger that Ivy had encountered was the accident, someone knocked the window pane and someone went in her house and when she went to go downstairs to figure out what happen and this happened. I think after this Ivy will soon get more dangers in the book and Tristan would be able to help her if she believed in angels. So far the book is great but in the beginning I wished the car crash was not that quick because it seemed like Ivy and Tristan had a 2 week lovey dovey situation which of course, I love to read. When Tristan died on like Page 100 halfway the first book My jaw dropped because I absolutely LOVED the chemistry between Ivy and Tristan and I wish the chemistry stayed longer.

Read more...

Kissed by an Angel.

In the book, Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler talks about two main characters in the book named Tristan and Ivy. Tristan goes to Stonehill high. In the book, Tristan is described as a well known swimming athlete with a amazing body, great abs and fit. Which kind of reminds me of how Jacob was described in the Twilight Saga. Ivy also goes to Stonehill high and she is a pale,petite young lady and all that. At first Tristan was showing very much interest in Ivy which is every girl’s dream to have such a hot guy to have a crush on a average looking girl. The chemistry between Tristan and Ivy is unbelievable. I really loved how Ivy was not showing any interest in Tristan and it slowly grew on to her how she has a crush on Tristan. Ivy strongly believes in angels. She has a whole collection of statues that are angels. Her favorite ones are Tony and the Water Angel. 

“Water Angel, Ivy prayed silently. Water angel, don’t let me fall. You helped me once. Please, angel...(72)"

Ivy strongly believes that her angels are real because it seems like a way that her angels are like God. She prays to them every night and prays when she needed help. In this case, Ivy was terrified of water because of past experiences of drowning. She prays to the water angel hoping that the angel would save her. 

Ivy finally tells Tristan about her belief in angels and he strongly believes that angels are not real and tries to break it to her that they are not real and they did not “save” her from sticky situations. Once Tristan had an “accident” Tristan is basically a “ghost” or a “guardian angel” himself. Ivy now no longer believes in angels because of how Tristan passed away and the angels did not save him. I think I am kinda off topic but all I am saying is how these two main characters are very different like Tristan falls for Ivy.. she doesn’t until later.. Ivy believes in angels.. Tristan doesn’t until later.     

Read more...

Vignette Project Review

While surfing through google reader, I took alot of time to find what other people had in common. It took a while for me to read and understand what their vignettes were about. Finally, I have found a couple of other students vignettes that had in common. What I found that struck out to me was how my classmates wrote about their talent and how they got into it. Their vignettes about their talent shows that they are committed to what they were doing and how big their talent is in their lives.
One example is from Jessica’s vignette

When I tried playing the violin, it made a vibrating sound that surrounded the room. It was difficult for me to read the notes and to understand all the dynamic changes. Whenever I play, my hands turns to be as sweaty as if I just ran a mile.The first song I played was allegro and when I realize that I can play such beautiful music.

In this vignette, she shows how she first had a violin and at first she struggled to read the notes and was a noobie at the violin but as she progressed in learning, she realized how much talent she has in violin that one song can change the rest of her life. This shows her commitment in the violin because she she started a while back and even today she still plays. Jessica also plays piano which is very impressive, she takes classes and still plays. I heard her play before she is PHENOMENAL!

Another example of musical talent is from Fermin's vignette

 Playing Bass is my favorite thing to do in my free time. And of course, it is my all time favorite hobby. In my family, I happen to play bass and also so does my godfather.  But, there is a big difference, He has been playing bass guitar for about 15 years and I’ve been playing for only 4 months, a huge difference.

Fermin has been playing the bass and he talks to me about him playing in class like almost everyday which is interesting and I like how he likes how to play the bass. Even though Fermin played for about 4-5 months I can already see that he is starting to be committed to his talent and I bet you that he is a GREAT bassist. Hopefully I can hear him play and show his talent one day.

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