Dracula Essential Questions

Last week I told you that I would publish the essential questions for Dracula. I did love this book I would strongly recommend that you beware filter wise of which website you use to help you understand the book. I have only used sparknotes but just beware there are some pretty mature things I didn't pick up on that sparknotes mentions. Anyways I did very much enjoy this book even though I did read it in December. I decided to read this book because I liked Frankenstein that my class read. The comparisons between what the book is acutally based on and how vampires and Dracula is viewed today is so fascinating to me!
    The quote I am going to start this off with is " Literature has been called a handbook for the art of a human being. Every Story we read...is about us, in one way or another" (Cameron Wright, The Rent Collector, 94).  I am going to keep my answers to a MINIMUM  of three sentances each.
1. What does the novel teach you about being human?
A- Dracula teaches about overcoming fear. Dracula is about  putting the natural wishes of man (like the strongest will not to do something) aside for the greater good. The whole' Van Helsing team' demonstrates that when they all talk about how terrible the situation is and how scared the all are.

2. What character, event, or theme speaks to you?
A- Mina Murray speaks to me the most because of her bravery. Mina is the definition of a courageous woman she did things for the greater good of the 'Van Helsing Team'. Mina put others before herself, was extremely kind and courageous. Woman in the 1900s were sometimes viewed as very delicate and unable to handle much. Mina, to the contrary of her century was very tough and overall a fantastic woman.

3. Why is this novel considered a classic?
A- When I look at this question I think what makes Frankenstein, A Christmas Carol, Little women,   and To Kill a Mocking Bird so well read and so old. First I think that the older the book the more of a classic it is. It's kind of like when your parents hear a song from their 'glory days' and say "this song is a classic" you know it's old and sometimes assoticate old with being a classic. Honestly though I think that this book is a classic simply because it speaks truth, maturity, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that when people read it they can relate it to them. Dracula is a classis because it speaks to the heart for all ages and all time periods.

4.Is this text still relevant Today?
A- Dracula is absolutely 100% relevant today. I mean come on, Halloween, Twilight, Vampire Diaries, and all those sappy vampire T.V  shows that come on all the freaking time. Through one book millions of poems short stories,  plays, books,  andT.V shows were born all based on the same ideas of Dracula. Even if the theme of the story is different  the 'Van Helsing Team' showed curage team work and sacrifice.

5. What does this  novel reveal about our world?
A-  Dracula  reveals dedication, courage, and (the biggest thing for me) POTENTIAL. The 'Van Helsing Team' revealed that through a group of terrified, sad, scared, people wanting their friends(Johnathon and Lucy) to be avenged killed a horrible, mean and cruel monster that has been hunted down for hundred of years. The Count has had man hunt him and try and kill him for centuries! Then some friends who are sick and tired of the Count gets rid of him in less then a 3 month time period!!! This book is leaking potential.  Dracula  reveals potential. POTENTIAL, POTENTIAL, POTENTIAL!

6. What social inequalities are present in the text and how does it compare to your world?
A-There are many social inequalities in Dracula. Lucy's fiancé is Arthur a.k.a. Lord Goodlming. Arthur's title is very helpful in the destruction of Count Dracula. The title is used to get a locksmith, important inquires about the boxes of earth, carriages and used to hide any suspicion that others may have. The other social inequality is the position that women are in in the 1900s. Some people wouldn't call that a social inequality  which is true  however, there is a social inequality between women of our age and women of madam Mina. In our day women are less 'danity', fragile, and innocent.  Count Dracula also has a social inequality. Count Dracula is viewed as the all powerful super powerlord .There also was a social inequality between Quincy Morris and the rest of the 'Van Helsing Team'. Quincy Morris seems  socially distant from the rest of the team. I am not saying that Quincy is better or less then the rest of the 'Van Helsing Team'. Being the only one from America he just has that distant no sense of belonging feel to him.  In relation to the question Quincy Morris's social inequality is like being the new kid at school. The new kid in school is quiet, distant and their head is still back in their old school hanging out with old friends.  Arthur's inequality is like the popular English Drama Downton Abbey(which by the way is fantastic!). A major character in the show is Lord Granthum. He is respected and honored as a lord and used the title a few times to benefit him a specific unorthodox way. The Count Dracula's social inequality is like (for those majority republicans in Utah) President Barack Obama, not in a sense of killing or assassination but in the sense that some Utahs(most) feel like he is killing the country and is using his power like crazy as Dracula did. Dracula also hypnotized many people and some would agree( my job is to stay completely neutral in this ) that our dear President is getting his way where ever whenever he wants. Mina's social inequality compared in our world today is there to some extent. Most men let the women eat first, open doors for them, spare them of the more challenging mental or physical tasks.(That's why there are more male seminary teacher.. that's a joke :) There are many social inequalities in Dracula  that are applicable in our world today.

7. Select a modern text: how does it relate to your honors reading?
A- Honestly I am not sure what this question means especially since this is my honors reading but  Dracula relates to my honors text because it is my honors text.  Dracula  relates to Dracula because they are the same thing so everything is related to each other.

8. What if this novel was re-written for today's audiences? What would it look like?
A- If Dracula was re-written  for the twenty first century it would be something like 50 Shades of Grey  especially because there are some words that I didn't know their meaning and they meant some pretty adult words. Dracula also would NOT  and NOT EVER be a classic. I think that the ways the new books are I can't see them ask classics or books that my grand kids would love to read. The books coming out today seem to modern and way way to out there for them to be a classic(except hunger games). Dracula would look like  scarlet red book with maybe some teeth  on the cover. The whole cover would be very dramatic. Books that are coming out today have to be very very dramatic. If Dracula  was re-written today it would be  a pretty adult dramatic book.

9. In what ways does your life or personality resemble the main character within the text? Compare and contrast.
A- The Main character that I like the most is Mina so I am going to compare and contrast with her.
Different                     

She was in the 1900s,  Mina keeps a journal more consistently then I do,  Mina is a assistant school teacher, Mina is a lot braver then me. she is a lot more calm.

Same:

 Mina and I have a big personality, Mina and I are both girls, Mina and I are very smart, Mina and I both have a best friend, Mina and I both love technology, Mina and I love acting secretary.

 

10-Joseph Campbell identified a formula for literiture known as the "Hero's Journey".  How does this text follow the story line?

A-The following picture is a view of a Hero's Journey . Johnathon; when he visits the Count that is his call to adventure. The crucifix that he has is the supernatural aid. In the Beginning of the book Count Dracula acts as the threshold of  gardians. The helper and Mentor is Mina. The letters he writes is his final helper as he goes through the challenges and temptations stage. The challenges and temptation stage is when Johnathon realizes that he is trapped. The vampire women and Count's terror is the Abyss  and death. Johnathon's transformation is when he is in the hospital and Mina comes to aid him. Atonement is the process that Johnathon goes through in the time that passes after the hospital  until Mina writes letters to Dr. Seward and Van Helsing. The return is when the 'Van Helsing Team' returns to get rid of Dracula once and for all.

11. Every piece of writing calls the reader to make a change. What change is this author attempting inspire and how is this agenda manifest in the text?

A- The change that the reader goes through in Dracula is trusting the Count in the beginning and then changing the reader's view to know that he is a terrible wicked man/monster. The Author goes about that by showing how nice the Count is and his generosity. At the very beginning the author makes the reader feel uneasy about Count and slowly builds up the uneasy feeling like a crescendo until Van Helsing clarifies it.

 

12.How does the protagonist/antagonist change throughout the course of the story?

A-The Count Dracula the antagonist changes though the story. Dracula seems mysterious in the beginning of the book and  crescendos into evil terrible monster. Then the Count tappers off when Van Helsing and the team find him at his house in Carfax. In Carfax he act truly desperate and almost scare. Count Dracula goes from this mysterious odd character who goes evil and then finally seems desperate and scared to die.

                        This is my last blog post this year see you January 7 2015! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dracula

For this week's post I am going to do a brief overview of Dracula. I have been reading Dracula for a honors English assignment. I will have the rest of the assignment on my next weeks post. You may ask why I am reading Dracula at Christmas time  and to answer that I put this semester assignment off  and liked reading Frankenstien and so I thought Dracula would be a good fit.  I am going to summarize the first half of the book
Johnathon Harker is a young  home soliciter(of sorts) he goes on a mysterious ride to the home of Count Dracula. The Count is  skinny tall man with a black cape and white beard with sharp white teeth and a scar on his forhead. The Count only lets Johnathan into 4 rooms of the big majestic house. Johnathan spends most of his days in the library and the Count only comes to talk to him in the night. Johnathan never sees the Count eat and never sees the Count in the day. After a few weeks of staying with the Count Johnathan feels like he is getting nowhere in terms of the estate and the Count's interest to buy an estate in London. The Count on a few occasions has Johnathon write 3 letters to his fiancé Mina, his boss and another friend. The Count then requests that Jognathon stay  one more month. By this time Johnathan is getting scared. Gypsies visit the castle and do work inside the castle for the Count. One night Johnathan sees the count scale the castle walls and run off. There are a few more other creepy experiences. Johnathon wanders the house and runs into some female vampire, realizing the Count is a Vampire Johnathon scales the castle walls to get to the Counts room. Johnatan discovers some scary things. Johnathon visits the Count's room one more time. Johnathon even tried to give letters to the Gypsies to get posted but the gypsies give the letters to the Count. Count Dracula is very mysterious and is clever and throws the letters into the fire. Johnathon is terrified.
     Mina, Johnathon's fiancé takes narrating over telling of her experiences visiting a village with her friend Lucy. Lucy is engaged also to Arthur (aka Lord Goodlming). There are many things that happen to the village while the pair visits. Lucy is a sleep walker and one day  walks out of the hotel room and wanders off. Lucy then is bent over at a bench and some black figure is bent over her. Mina saves her but realizes two small puncture holes on Lucy's neck. Meanwhile Mina is very concerned for Johnathan because she has not heard from him in weeks.  As the days go by Lucy looks pailer and has less energy. After Two months Mina finds out that Johnathon is in a hospital with a severe brain fever. Lucy and Mina depart.

Emotion from an emotionless man

Sorry about the late post but I am on vacation anyways in English my class is reading a Christmas Carol we finished stave 2 and so for this post I wrote a poem called Emotion from an Emotionless Man
There is a Christmas tale from long ago,
When a man nastier then you could know,
Is whisked back to the past to see himself low,
Twas emotion so great that he demanded to go,

He saw himself as a child full and happy,
His beloved sister with him he was sappy,
He saw his boyhood ever so neglected and scrappy, He with his apprenticer celebrated Christmas in the Abbey.

While much emotion lived on,
Slowly Scrooge could feel a new dawn,
And the Christmas he couldn't help but feel drawn,
With all the happy and sad and in between he demanded to be gone.

While emotion gauges g out higher Scrooge felt much worry,
The emotion, raw power of the past his eyes got blurry,
He felt wrong out of place like a mouse with no scurry,
Over and over he demanded out and demanded with it much hurry.

     Sorry for the late posting, my excuse is the holiday weekend. I hope you enjoyed yourself I did/am. This week for my post I am publishing two papers I wrote this week. The first is from my English 10 class on controversial scientific discoveries and the second is from the Speech and Debate class. Speech and Debate counts for a English credit and I love writing papers so why not give you more awesomness? The Speech and Debate paper is on a quote for a freedom festival speech.
      Enjoy-Kalea

English 10-

 

                                                            My Immortal                        

         It is known as the immortal cell. The cell that  helped develop a cure for polio, implemented in more than 11,000 patients.  More than 20 tons of this cell have been made, and the discovery of this cell has been quoted as “In 20 years at NIH, I can’t recall a specific circumstance more charged with scientific, societal and ethical challenges than this one” -Francis Collins.The tale of Frankenstein has been a classic for people all over the world. This well known well loved classic also has been the center of debate for controversial scientific discoveries.  Among these scientific discoveries is the HeLa cell.The HeLa cell is known as the immortal cell(first cells not to die within a few cell divisions, and survive in vitro). There are a lot of things pertaining to the HeLa cell the rich history of the cell, research the profits made from the cell, the contributions in the medical world the HeLa cell has made,  the controversy that the cell has created, and the consolation that family got.

    The history of the HeLa cell is very interesting. The HeLa cell was derived from Henrietta Lacks a 31 year old African American mother with cervical cancer. The HeLa was gotten from the first two letters in her first name and last name. After Henrietta had given birth to her 5 child she noticed some problems and got diagnosed with cervical cancer. Henrietta got cancer treatment at John Hopkins Cancer treatment. Treatments were done by inserting tubes of radium in her cervix and sewing them in place. In addition to Henriettas treatments a doctor removed some tissue samples from herv cervical tumor. Henrietta  had signed the usual forms consenting to treatment for her cancer, but was not asked for her permission to remove the tissue samples, nor was she informed that it had been done, but this wasn't unusual. At the time tissue removal consent was not required. Henrietta Lacks died 9 months after her diagnosis.  A question that you may be asking is what? What made the Henrietta’s cells so amazing.The theory behind these immortal cells  is that the cancer,  the radium, and Henrietta had the human papilloma Virus(HPV) and syphilis  making her cells strong. The background behind the HeLa cell is very interesting and very detailed.

The efforts in the search to save mankind, and the price. The research was The tissue was sent to Dr. Gey in the Tissue Culture Laboratory at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Grey isolated one cell and was able to grow these ‘immortal’ cells. Normal cells die after a few divisions but Henrietta’s cells kept growing.  Regular cells in the body go through a stage called cellular senescence which is when the cells age. After many cell divisions the cells DNA becomes unstable and eventually the cell will die. The cell death is known as Programed Cell Death.(PCD) Despite the oddness of a programed death PCD can be very helpful. Too much PCD can be bad and even become cancerous. In a regular lab there is about 50 cell divisions before PCD. Cancer cells don't experience PCD making Henrietta's cells very hardy.For such hardy cells there also is a price. While Dr. Grey did not  seek to make money off of HeLa cells his findings on HeLa were published in a medical journal, and Grey got lots of requests for the cells. Grey provided the researchers HeLa cells for free. Today you can get a vile of HeLa cells for 250$. The research and profits made in the discovery of the HeLa cell are a key component in the controversial debate.

      The deeds for mankind from the HeLa cells. Considering that over 2 tons of the Hela cell have been made one can imagine that there is many benefits. The HeLa cell helped create a vaccine for polio. The HeLa cells have helped create the entire field of virology. Genetic medicine, and genetic mapping have been greatly helped thanks to the HeLa cell. HeLa cells have been used in helping and studying tuberculosis, HIV, HPV(which there is a vaccine for now), parkinsons research, cancer research, cancer test medications, mouse embryo cells, the process of mapping the genome, and AIDS research. The HeLa cells have even been taken up to space, the cells continued to grow and helped astronauts, discover what space can do to you. In addition to the medical perspective to the HeLa cells there is an economic benefit.   HeLa cells have been made into a  billion dollar industry  on the sole purpose of using these cells to benefit mankind even more.

The focus on the debate is a couple of things. The first thing is  the family . The second thing the ethical part on the physician's part.The third main issue in the HeLa cell line debate is the risks and benefits all under the name of science. Henrietta Lacks family was unaware that the cells of Henrietta had been taken until 25 years later. The Lacks Family had not gotten compensation for the cells and for a long time were struggling with medical insurance. The Lacks family also has been asked many times for samples of tissue, blood and other bodily fluids,and the family feels like their privacy has been significantly invaded  due to the constant nagging of researchers. Here is my question to you though; is it ok to ask and invade privacy if the medical community may benefit from it? in the recent present physicians have been required for legal and ethical purposes to get consent when taking samples from a patient. However back when Henrietta’s sample was taken it was not require for psycians to get consent from the patient.Do you think that it was within the Dr who got the sample and Dr. Gray's ethical responsibility as a psycian to get consent? The benefits for the HeLa cell have been monstrous, and have greatly helped americans all over with a big variety of medical problems. In the name of Science was the HeLa cell extracts acceptable?  Despite the age of the HeLa cells, the debate on the HeLa cells was recently aroused in the last decade when a friend of the Lacks family Rebecca Skloot wrote a book on the HeLa cells called The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. There are several things on the HeLa cells up for debate how the family was handled, biomedical  ethics on the physician's part, and the risks and benefits from the HeLa cells.

    There is a solution for some of the debate pertaining to the HeLa cells.The director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Francis Collins, is trying to make up for decades of slights. On August 7, 2013 an agreement was made with the Lacks family, and medical professionals in the NIH community.  The Henrietta Lacks family must be consulted before any publication of any kind  pertaining to the HeLa cells. The Lacks family will also be on the NIH board to approve any use of the HeLa cells for any  medical reason (medical research, using the cell line in any studies, medications or publication), the Lacks family will also have a sit down with medical personnel who intend to use the HeLa cell line for a full complete explanation of what will happen. In addition the  agreement allows the publication of a US government-funded HeLa genome sequence as well as the re-release of data that were pulled from public view soon after publication in March because of the family’s concerns.  While there is much debate concerning the Lacks family and the HeLa cell line there has been some solution to the long ongoing debate.

In conclusion the HeLa cells are known as the immortal cells, they have provided much benefit to the medical research field and to all mankind. These immortal cells came from a African American mother suffering from cervical cancer, HPV, and syphilis.  The research that was done was very popular and the physician who discovered these cells did in (my opinion) his humanitarian duty and gave the HeLa cells away for free. The benefits from the HeLa cells helped many people and continue to help people today. The HeLa cell is the primary cell line that helped stop panic in the 1950’s as millions of Americans were stricken with the crippling disease of Polio. Where much is given much is required and the HeLa cells have given much yet were given much debate. Some of the debate was relieved when the Lacks family made an agreement with the NIH. Now back to the relevance to Frankenstein, the HeLa cells were to an extent ‘immortal’, caused much controversy, even scared some people when the first genetic hybrid was created. Like Frankenstein  it was done with good intention and was misunderstood for a long time. The HeLa cells are valued and cherished like the classic Novel of Frankenstein. That is the story of the HeLa cells!

Speech and Debate

There is a battle that is known as the bloodiest day in America's History. There is a war where more American soldiers died in this war then both world wars, Vietnam, and Korea combined. This is known as one of the cruelest, bloodiest , saddest wars known, and yet it was the war within our very own nation. The civil war was a war when our nation was divided. Good won  however, the cost for the civil war was so great that the  president who presided over this war and division said this inspiring quote "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and  lose our freedoms it will be because we destroyed ourselves." -Abraham Lincoln. There is a question that is posed for our day  and it  is what can I do as an individual to secure my freedoms? I have two phrases for you: one is called you do not use it you lose it, or my second phrase  is called GOYBADS which stands for get off your butt and do something. Unfortunately the current generation is a very entitled one. Our generation does not believe in working and fighting for what you've got. Our freedoms have slowly been taken and they will continue unless we use our rights as American individuals and they are: vote, protest, and take back the freedoms that are already compromised. Every American individual has a job to do so let's get going.

    In the past Primary elections for 2014 Juab county had 2,794 people vote. The total population for juab county is 10,348. The total percentage of voting that went on earlier this month is only 27%! That horrible statistic is just more than one in four people voting. The percentage of Juab county voters in the 2012 presidential election is only  51%!! In the Bill of Rights the 15th  amendment states that: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude-”-, this given   Americans the right to vote no matter what however the second section to this amendment states that the Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. This gives Congress the power to essentially do whatever they want with the right to vote. Basic human nature is not to do something unless provoked or without reason. If we as a individuals  do not start using our right to pick our government, the government will be provoked and have a reason to take away our right to choose our leaders therefore  taking away our freedom.   Our freedoms will be taken away if we as individuals keep wasting away our right to vote.

    A key part of not using it and losing it is the right to protest. In the first amendment of the Bill of Rights it says that “Congress shall make no law respecting  the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. When we do protest it uses our first amendment rights. If we protest about those freedoms that we as individuals are losing then we are pressuring a stop.Even if we use the right to protest just to use it without passion or commitment to the subject we are securing our individual freedoms simply by using our freedoms. Upon searching on the internet on  rt.com/usa I found the following subheading: President Barack Obama signed his name to H.R. 347, officially making it a federal offense to cause a disturbance at certain political events — essentially criminalizing protest in the States. You can’t even protest about the right to protest!  The right to protest is key in securing our individuals because it is a key right and congress keeps slowly taking our rights, even the rights to protest is slowly being taken away. In short please use your individual right to protest simply by protesting, it is the best way to keep America from destroying itself from the inside.

 

you do matter

    There is one final thing we can do as individuals to secure our freedoms. We can all get involved. Read the newspaper, watch the  news, go to town hall meetings, protest in your local cities, help pass out flyers for the candidate who you think will be the best, participate in petitions,  surveys, and even those annoying candidate phone calls . When I was in 4th grade it was the 2010 presidential election so on the day of the election me and my brother got ¼ sheets of paper and wrote in our elementary school handwriting to vote for Mitt Romney and specific instructions on how not to vote for Obama, and we passed the sheets to houses all over our neighborhood. City, county, state, or even country be involved, use your rights and freedoms to their full potential. You do matter! Use that to your advantage and get involved.When we as individuals get involved we show initiative which in turn shows those who try to take away, reduce or violate our freedoms that they have no reason to do so and they will be responsible and the ones who will be taking the blame.

     We as individual Americans can prevent the loss of our freedoms and the failure of this great country by voting, protesting, and getting involved in the country around us. The civil war was the most damaging war in America’s history and it was the war within our country. Abraham Lincoln's quote, no doubt was absolutely correct when he said: "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and  lose our freedoms it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Don’t let this amazing strong country be the thing that destroys itself.

   

 

 

 

     For my blog post this week I am going to give you a rough overview for my scientific debate paper. Since my class just got done with Frankenstein my class is writing a paper on scientific controversial discovery. My topic is the HeLa cell line. Notice that I have 4 body paragraphs. Next week the whole essay will be posted!

overview

Hook:oldest most commonly used cell line…. more super cool stuff

3paragraphs: history, benefits, (genetics,), prophits  debate… pose top secret debatable medical question

Paragraph 1. Give and overview for HeLa cells and bio on subject cell line was named from, and why scientists think cells last so long

paragraph 2- how research came to be and $$

Paragraph 3- on benefits, contractions to genome, polio,  

paragraph 4-debate: how family came to know, where family stands, book, pose question, give information for aff and neg of debate(unbiased) ..

conclusion: simple recap

Dear Mary Shelly,
This week for my blog post I decided to do a book review on the book Frankenstein. My english class has been reading this book for the past 3 weeks.
My letter to Mary Shelly is as follows:

Dear Mary Shelly,
     I recently read your book Frankenstein and I would like to tell you about my experience.
 I loved your book more then you could imagine  for many reasons: I loved that your book was written fairly recently, all the 'reading-between-the -lines' that is in your book, the overall theme,  the journey that the characters go on, and the wisdom that the characters have.
      Last year I read Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet and it was THE HARDEST book I have ever read and your book was old english to some extent but it was understandably-challenging old english and it I could get the story but  it was challenging enough to the point where it was very fun read.
     Because your book was old english and written in that time period there was a lot of reading in between the lines. There was a lot of assuming and it left you to figure out some small parts. It made you use your imagination. Your book let the reader come up with their own idea of what should happen, and for that I really loved Frankenstein.
    The theme that your book Frankenstein had was pure genius. While your book did have a horror story feel to it the theme was amazing. The theme for Frankenstein was that actions have consequences and responsibility. I really loved that you had such and interesting story with such a real, relatable theme that everyone can relate to. Its like tricking a little boy into eating his vegetables by saying it tastes like candy and the little boy actually eats ALL the vegetables and likes it. 
       I love the journey that Victor and the monster goes on, and the symbolism behind it. I love the final frountier  The idea behind the journey, final frontier, and the north pole was stellar! 
    Lastly, I also love the how smart that the characters are and how much they  know about life. 
     The only suggestion I have is the lengthily tale of the monster, it was a bit long. Everything else was perfect!
   Mary I would like to thank you for sharing your genus with the world. I loved the theme, character wisdom, the way it was written,  the northward journey, and the reading between the lines that your book had! I enjoyed your book more then words could describe...
            Best of Wishes,
          Sincerely Gabrielle Kalea Pauole

How awesome my mom is..........

                                      How Awesome My Mom Is.............
Ha, my mom dared me to use that as my blog title...And although the list for How Awesome My Mom is,  literally is endless sadly  that is not that revelent for Honors English 10.
     This week again we read Frankenstein  and I think that the both of us are getting bored of my never ending summaries so this week I decided to do something different...In class this past Tuesday we were given quotes from Frankenstein and we had to put the quotes on the board where we put who said the quote and a prediction. This week I decided to do a blog post on the importance of predictions,  how to effectivly make a good prediction and the impact that  making predictions in reading has on us outside of the book. Notice how my after reading my blog post title you were already making predictions............. aha caught you there :)
     According to readinginnovations.com a prediction is defined as: thoughts about what you think will happen in a story before you read.  A prediction is more than just a guess.  It should make sense with the clues you have been given.. A prediction is an important reading strategy because : It helps us focus on the text, it helps make connnections on what we already know and what we think we know, and making predictions gets us excited about reading. When we make predictions it opens up our eyes to the possibilities and wonders that the book may hold.
     How to make good effective predictions:
1. Have a paper and on the left side of the paper put your prediction and on the right side of the paper write evidence, this will give you more accurate predictions.
2.Use the covers of the book, the table of contents, chapter headings, and diagrams to help formulate predictions.
3. Come up with a list of all the REASONALBLE possibilities of the outcome to the story.
4.Look for the Who, What, When, Where, Why ,and How. This will help you filter relevant and irrelevant information.
5.Read closely into implications that the author makes.
6. Make predictions often and more then just before the end of the story.
7. Share predictions with others who are reading the same book.
8. After a prediction is made compare it with the actual outcome.
     Making predictions will help us in life because it teaches us to make educated guesses, It can help us be prepared, it teaches us to read/listen to words and body language more carefully(implications), and it helps us think more deeply and inbetween the lines more. 
                               Thanks guys see you next week!
                                     Kalea Pauole

A continued Summary

      My English teacher informed me that this week we are going to keep reading Frankenstein so for my blog post this week I will be posting a summary of Frankenstein chapters 9-14.

      Chapter 9. Victor and his family are sad and upset at William's passing. Tensions flare and arguments arrouse. Victor and his father are arguing about William and Justine's death. In order for Victor to clear his head he gets on a boat and goes sailing for a while. While sailing Victor has an idea, he wants to go to the valley of Chamounix. Victor had traveled to the valley many times as a child. Victor rents/buys a horse and heads to the valley. When Victor gets to the valley of Chamounix Victor is sad because there are many majestic castles that once were in the valley and the castles are gone.
 

 Chapter 10- Victor spent the day roaming around, and he finally decides to climb a mountain.He finds a rock overlooking icecaps and a icey river and deciders to sit there. Victor on that rock just thinks and tries to feel at peace. After a while Victor notices a big figure through the fog. The figure is coming toward him. As the figure gets closer Victor realizes that the big figure is his monster(for understanding purposes lets call Victor's monster Frank). Victor sees how truly ugly Frank is. Victor is very scared and tells Frank to go away. Frank threatens to kill Victor and all of Victor's friends if Victor doesn't listen and comply with Frank's conditions. Frank just wants a friend and happiness. Franks also wants Victor to listen to his story of his journey.

Chapter 11- Narrators of the story switch from Victor to Frank.On the night Frank was created there was so much light in the laboratory so Frank leaves the apartment in search of some shade. Frank goes outside looks for some trees to find shelter under then he searches for berries. On Franks search he finds a cloak. Frank puts the cloak on and goes to sleep. When Frank wakes he is wet from the dew over the night. Frank wanders around looking for food and finds a fire. The fire keeps him warm. Out of curiosity Frank sticks his hand into the fire and gets his hand burned**. Frank puts some wood in the fire but the wood is wet so he lets the wood dry. After a few days Frank leaves his fire and goes to look for bigger quants of food. Frank comes upon a village and they village people kick hime out.

Chapter 12- Frank finds another village and finds an empty house. Frank makes that house his home/ Frank observes his neighbors through a whole in the wood-blocked windows. Frank observes the neighbors. Frank steals food from his neighbors and later sees that his neighbors (an old man, young man and young women) suffer because of the lack of food. Frank stops stealing from his neighbors. Frank instead chops wood for his neighbors in the night and leaves it on the doorstep. this later becomes routine. Frank observes his neighbor's names. The old man is named father, the young women is Agatha or sister, and the young man is names Felix or brother. The neighbors read book and Frank slowly leads to speak and things in his neighbors books.

Chapter 13- Felix has a girlfriend, and Arabian women names Safie. Felix teaches her the language(the language that everyone in that area speaks) and Felix gives Safie a history book. Felix and Agatha help Safie understand the book and summarize the book for her. Frank listens as well to the summaries and learns lots about history. Frank learns possessiveness and about children.

Chapter 14- The tale of Frank's neighbors is told. The family once were french dignitaries and through scandals and a turkish man(the man never really did anything wrong) the family is poor. Before the family gets poor the Turkish man had a trail and Felix went to the trial. At the trial Fleix realizes that the man did nothing wrong and tries persistently to free the man. Feliz eventually gets the man free but not before meeting the Turk's daughter Safie. Felix likes Safie and Safies father promises Felix that eventually the two can get married once Felix's home is secure and safe. When the government realizes what Felix did they throw his dad and Agatha in prison.

** If you have ever seen hotel Transalvania you may recall that Frankenstein hates fire and has a terrible fears of fire… well based on burning his hand it makes sense :)

Frankenstein

In a word for English .....long. Reading old English is difficult so the majority of the day we read Frankenstein and discuss the book so that the whole class gets what's going on in the book. For my blog post I am going to do a summary of Frankenstein from the beginning  of the book to chapter 8(spoiler alert). I will summarize each chapter in 4-6sentences  (including the letters). I also have to apologize because I did not do this blog post on time because I got a job and got busy

Letter 1- The setting is in St. Petersburg Russia. A group of sailors are on a boat traveling the artic (it was popular then). The captain of the ship R. Walton writes to his sister Margrett in England. R. Walton and his team take a 3 weeks stop in St. Petersburg. R. Walton explains about his previous dreams to be a famous writer like Shakespear.

Letter 2- R. Walton is lonely and not very confident in himself. R. Walton tells his sister that his luetentant is vain. R. Walton thinks he was babied in his youth therefore he isn't prepared for the harsh environment and hard work it is to maintain the ship and crew. R. Walton tells his sister that he wants to make it clear that the expedition is not for glory fame or a reward.

Letter 3- R. Walton is safe and keeps his third letter brief. He expresses his love for his sister. R. Walton tells Margrett that not much has happened since the last letter.

Letter 4- One night the crew was ice trapped and they saw a man on a sled being pulled by dogs which is pretty rare. The following day the crew is still trapped in ice and they are overcome with fog, the crew sees a man with one dog who gets closer and closer to the ship. The team brings the man onboard and over two days the sailors slowly nurse the man back to health. Everyone had lots of questions for the mysterious man. The mysterious man tells the sailors that he is out on the ice "too seek one who fled me". Later R. Walton is alone with the man and the two start talking. R. tells the man that he has a desperate thirst for knowledge. The man scoulds R. Walton and tells R. his tale:

Chapter 1- The point of view is now the mysterious man's story. The man's name is Victor Frankenstein. Frankenstein's dad was a Geneva born dignitary who married significantly later. Victor's father married his best friends daughter. The Frankenstein couple traveled all over Europe and soon Victor was born. One day while visiting a cottage in a Adobe Victor's mother met a poor family with a daughter who was extremely beautiful and didn't quite look like the rest of the family. Victor's mother was smitten by the little girl and so was Victors father. The poor family eventually told the Frankenstein's that they took the girl(Elizabeth) on after Elizabeth's parents died. The Frankstein's asked to take Elizabeth as their own. The family eventually let them.

Chapter 2- Elizabeth was so beautiful and loved by everyone. The Frankenstein's gave birth to another boy named William. Victor was quite older when William was born. Victor went to school and became very good friends with Henry Clerval. Victor was very smart and read lots of books. Victor was interested in natural science. Soon Victor became intreguied with electricity. Victor goes to the University of Ingolstadt.

Chapter 3- Elizabeth catches scarlet fever. Elizabeth's mother cared for her and Elizabeth's mother gets sick with scarlet fever and dies. On her death bed Elizabeth and Victor's mother says that she wants the two to get married. Victor becomes crazy and mad with his studies. His professor M. Krepe tells Victor that all the books that Victor read and liked were garbage. M. Krepe recommends that Victor goes to a lecture by M. Waldman.

Chapter 4-Victor becomes interested in the anatomy of corpses, church yard graves, and how dirt bugs and coffins effect the corpse. Victor's dad becomes very concerned with Victor. Victor has not visited home since he first left to go to the University. Victor digs up corpses in the night from church yards and plays with them.

Chapter 5- Victor makes a monster. Once the monster actually starts moving Victor runs out of his house and walks around scared and worried for most of the night. Victor eventually comes home and he meets Henry Clerval at his house. Henry was sent by Victor's  family because  Frankenstein's think that Victor is sick.The monster is no where in the house when the pair goes back into the house.

Chapter 6- Henry gives Victor a letter from Elizabeth. Elizabeth tells Victor of family updates on William, his dad, their dead aunt, and the cousin that they took on to live with them. Justine is Victors cousin and her mom died of scarlet fever.
Chapter 7- Victor gets a letter from his dad saying that William Victor's little brother was murdered. Victor is very upset and quickly went to Geneva with Clerval. The morning that the pair arrives to Geneva the same mourning when Williams body is laid on the grass of the Frankenstein's home. The suspect for the murder is Justine because she was out visiting a family member that night then the gates to Geneva city got locked so she stayed in a barn all night. That morning was the trial. Victor knows that Justine did not commit the murder. Victor keeps implying that his monster did it.

Chapter 8- The trail doesn't have any factual evidence and Justine remains innocence. Justine has some good friends testify on her behalf of character. Her friends fall under pressure and make Justine look guilty. After some time of the trail Justine sucomes under pressure and she confesses to the crime. Elizabeth is devastated and testifies that Justine did not do it. However Elizabeth's testimony didn't do any good and Justine is hanged the next morning.

THE ROMANTIC AND GOTHIC ERA

     I need to apologize for the late post. Last week in my English class we watched the movie A Witness For the Prosecution, and since  I had already covered that I decided to wait until the next A day when I had English to make a post.
     The next unit/topic I am learning in my English class is the romantic/gothic era in fiction. Books from that era are as follows: Dracula, the Oval picture, The Evil Eye, Jane Ere, Jane Austin, The Raven, The Tell-Tell-Heart, and Frankenstein. Keep Frankenstein in your head because I will come back to that in a moment. For now let's talk about the Romantic and Gothic Era.
     The romantic era: Romanticism has little connection with word “romantic” like it is used today. It’s actually the term for a literary movement that began in the 18^th century that was basically a revolt against the aristocratic society that governed Western Europe. It placed special emphasis on the aesthetic experience and in particular, focused on such sensations like awe, trepidation, horror, and terror. Very vivid senses and pictures with opposing descriptions. For example: The frame was a vibrant rich color antiqued with spider webs and soft cracks along the sharp corners. In that example you get the rich and vibrant color then the opposite antiqued, spider webs, and soft cracks.
Gothic Era: The gothic era thrived in the 1900's. The Gothicism (if that's a word) was more mystery and fear of the unknown. Gothicism concept's also included magic, secret passageways, bloody hands, screams, ghosts and the supernatural.
The combination: The combniation  composed horror stories that expressed the darker side of human nature and terrified their readers. Vivid opposing decriptions, some sort of romance or hero, and terror.  (side note my favorite romantic-gothic book the Tell-Tell Heart by Edger Allan Poe is posted at the bottom because it is my favorite).
     Now remember how I told you to keep Frankenstein in your head? Well for English my class is reading Frankenstein. Frankenstein was written in the romantic/gothic era hence all my explaining. If you want to read it as well go on iBooks and search it, there is a free copy there.
         Now I better go I have to get to page 40(iBook version) before Thrusday!
                     All my romantic and gothic era love(ha!)-Kalea
                       p.s. there is the Tell- Tell-Heart at the bottom down here to!
             The Tale-Tale-Heart by Edger Allan Poe(Kalea's favorite romantic/gothic story)

   TRUE! -- nervous -- very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses -- not destroyed -- not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily -- how calmly I can tell you the whole story.

    It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees -- very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.

    Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded --with what caution --with what foresight --with what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it --oh so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly --very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! --would a madman have been so wise as this? And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously --oh, so cautiously --cautiously (for the hinges creaked) --I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights --every night just at midnight --but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he has passed the night. So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept.

    Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch's minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers --of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back --but no. His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness, (for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers,) and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily.

    I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out --"Who's there?"

    I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening; --just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.

    Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief --oh, no! --it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me. I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart. I knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise, when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing upon him. He had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not. He had been saying to himself --"It is nothing but the wind in the chimney --it is only a mouse crossing the floor," or "It is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp." Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions: but he had found all in vain. All in vain; because Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim. And it was the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel --although he neither saw nor heard --to feel the presence of my head within the room.

    When I had waited a long time, very patiently, without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a little --a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it --you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily --until, at length a single dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye.

    It was open --wide, wide open --and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness --all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones; but I could see nothing else of the old man's face or person: for I had directed the ray as if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot.

    And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over acuteness of the senses? --now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.

    But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eye. Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old man's terror must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! --do you mark me well? I have told you that I am nervous: so I am. And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety seized me --the sound would be heard by a neighbor! The old man's hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more.

    If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.

    I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye -- not even his --could have detected any thing wrong. There was nothing to wash out --no stain of any kind --no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught all --ha! ha!

    When I had made an end of these labors, it was four o'clock --still dark as midnight. As the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I went down to open it with a light heart, --for what had I now to fear? There entered three men, who introduced themselves, with perfect suavity, as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by a neighbor during the night; suspicion of foul play had been aroused; information had been lodged at the police office, and they (the officers) had been deputed to search the premises.

    I smiled, --for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search --search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure, undisturbed. In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim.

    The officers were satisfied. My manner had convinced them. I was singularly at ease. They sat, and while I answered cheerily, they chatted of familiar things. But, ere long, I felt myself getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears: but still they sat and still chatted. The ringing became more distinct: --it continued and became more distinct: I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definiteness --until, at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears.

    No doubt I now grew very pale; --but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased --and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound --much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath -- and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly --more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men -- but the noise steadily increased. Oh God! what could I do? I foamed --I raved --I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder --louder --louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew! --they were making a mockery of my horror! --this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! --and now --again! --hark! louder! louder! louder! louder! --

    "Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! --here, here! --it is the beating of his hideous heart!"

A witness for the prosecution by Agatha Christie

.     This past week in my English class we read the story A Witness For the Prosecution  By Agatha Christie. This book was very interesting and one of the characters in the book had a very genius  way of thinking. Mrs Vole's husband was accused of murder and what she did to combat that in court was flat out brilliant. An excerp from the book:"But, my dear Mrs. Vole—you are overwrought. Being so devoted to your

husband—"
"I beg your pardon?"
The sharpness of her voice made him start. He repeated in a hesitating manner: "Being so devoted to your husband—"
Romaine Vole nodded slowly, the same strange smile on her lips.
"Did he tell you that I was devoted to him?" she asked softly. "Ah! yes, I can see he
did. How stupid men are! Stupid—stupid—stupid—"
She rose suddenly to her feet. All the intense emotion that the lawyer had been
conscious of in the atmosphere was now concentrated in her tone.
"I hate him, I tell you! I hate him. I hate him. I hate him! I would like to see him
hanged by the neck till he is dead."
The lawyer recoiled before her and the smoldering passion in her eyes.
She advanced a step nearer, and continued vehemently:
"Perhaps I shall see it. Supposing I tell you that he did not come in that night at
twenty past nine, but at twenty past ten? You say that he tells you he knew nothing about the money coming to him. Supposing I tell you he knew all about it, and counted on it,.........(skipped a few pieces)"If we can shake that Austrian woman's testimony, we might do something," he

said dubiously. "But it's a bad business."........Then came the surprising denouement, the production of the letter. It was read aloud in court in the midst of a breathless stillness.

Max, beloved, the Fates have delivered him into our hands! He has been arrested for murder—but, yes, the murder of an old lady! Leonard, who would not hurt a fly! At last I shall have my revenge. The poor chicken! I shall say that he came in that night with blood upon him—that he confessed to me. I shall hang him, Max—and when he hangs he will know and realize that it was Romaine who sent him to his death. And then—happiness, Beloved! Happiness at last! ...............The evidence of a woman devoted to him would not have been enough—you hinted as much yourself. But I know something of the psychology of crowds. Let my evidence be wrung from me, as an admission, damning me in the eyes of the law, and a reaction in favor of the prisoner would immediately set in."....."I dared not risk it. You see you thought he was innocent—"

"And you knew it? I see," said little Mr. Mayherne.
"My dear Mr. Mayherne," said Romaine, "you do not see at all. I knew—he was
guilty!" End of excerpt
     Mrs. Vole who is an Austrian actress understood the importance of her testimony in her husbands case and therefore  read in-between-the-lines(see the underlined part above) to keep her husband from going to jail. By acting like she hated her husband, intentionally leaving holes in her story, leaving fake evidence to explain her lying testimony, and then made her testimony go in favor of her husband she was the reason that her husband didn't go to jail. Mrs. Vole used the basics of human thought, basic psychology, and her acting skills to save her husband. Mrs. Vole used the way humans think to her advantage. This is why she is brilliant!!!!!!!
     

 

Well here is me essay for my blog post…Enjoy :)              

            

Why Do You Expect Me?

     "The standards others have for you will  ruin your soul, and yet it will MAKE you and MAKE yourself find the REAL you."-Kalea Pauole  There are three words the natural man loves to hear they are: my, mine, and me. Three little words that pertain only to one's self, their life, their religion, their family, and most importantly  their choices. Every teenager at some point realizes something. Something that is a rite-of-passage,  a super amazing realization of how little their standards, and their wants are put in play versus the expectations and standards of others around them for that teen. Sure, it's the teens choice but is it really their choice? No, and then the teenager realizes that gosh darn, it is their life, they are in charge, and being older they have more freedom.The parents, teachers, and  family members have less and less power in how decisions for the teen are made. The author Amy Tan wrote a story called Two-Kinds. Two-Kinds covers that realization all teenagers have.  I have had that rite-of-passage realization and, this is my story. This is my experiences leading up to that realization, the realization and the aftermath.

Typically when  family members tell you that something doesn’t match or looks weird they have their best interest in mind no matter how much you are offended. However, there are times when I absolutly love the way my hair is done or  I love they way I put my outfit together and my mom and my older sister will say something like “ You are doing your hair like that?”, “That looks weird”, or even “I don’t think you match today”. There were a lot of times that I when I liked the way I looked but because my sister or my mom or even my little brother said something about my outfit I would change it because what I was wearing didnt fit their standards. I relied on my family for too long about what how I looked. Jing-Mei in the book Two-Kinds had the same problem. Jing-Mei let her mom change her and try to transform her into a child prodigy. Jing-Mei just like me slowly began to realize that it was her life and although her mom had some of the blame Jing-Mei had the power to sever the cord.

Very slowly over the years of began to realize I have the choice, that  it is my call. There have been times when meet my mother will disagree on different things and the majority of those times those things are because I exercised my opinion or I exercised my right to make a choice via action and, it became a bit of a problem for me and my mom . One night in the beginning of June I was talking to my dad.That night something he said really hit me. He said this "your mother and I are getting to the point where we can no longer tell you what to do." That single particular sentence felt like I was hit with the cannon that had knocked the wind out of me as to have a sudden realization. My dad then continued on "you guys are at the age(talking about me and my older sister) where you make your own choices, mine and mom’s job now is to give you all the information you need to make educated and well informed choices. Whatever those choices are we  will respect it". At that moment it felt like I had been liberated. Sure we are all free to make our own choices, but I was at the age where I can make choices no one can't tell me know or, tell me that I'm not allowed to make that choice. Not only did those simple sentences make me realize that I was my own person , but that I was my own person who got to make choices without being bossed around or being forced into something. That freedom that I had felt  like it was fabricated, like it was a real literal object. After getting upset with her mom Jing-Meir felt the same way. She felt as though she has been liberated and she  realized that it was her life and she could do whatever she wanted to do. Jing-Mei and I relate in the way that we both had the expierience when we truly felt free and realized that it it really is our life, our choices, and we owned it.

    The aftermath... Once I realized I had that I actually had the power. I was at the age where I can make my own conscious informed decisions, and was like night and day for me. Sure, the freedom came slowly and gradually. However, once I realized I had it, the choice was mine. I was not afraid to use my new found freedom and make sure that the choices made  were originally mine, and mine alone. Jing-Mei realized that when she looked in the mirror. She realized that her mom could not make her into something that she was not. While Jing-Mei’s mom can have as many expectations as she wants, Jing-Mei realized that she had the choice to live up to those expectations. Jing-Mei didn’t like those expectations so she  used her freedom  to make her own choices.  Jing-Mei and I both felt liberated from  expectations  of loved ones.  We realized that we don’t have to please or amount up to anyone else’s expectations but ourselves.The aftermath...Jing-Mei and I both felt happy!

In conclusion Jing-Mei and I relate and connect because we both had that experience that made us realize that it really is our life and our choices. We liberated ourselves from the standards of others by simply realizing that we don't have to please anyone but ourselves. We freed ourselves from the part of us that said we had to be everything everybody else wants us to be. We felt the pressure of the incline leading up to the massive realization that we are free. Jing-Mei bathed in the enjoyment after she discovered her freedom.  Jing-Mei and I discovered that we were compromising our happiness over others happiness. All in all, Jing-Mei and I realized that the expectations others have for us doesn’t  matter, because we are happy!

*Discretion, I did not mean anything against my parents(especially my mom). I just used examples from my life to relate to Jing-Mei

      This week my English blog assignment is on a book called  Two Kinds by Amy Tan. Two Kinds is a autobiography (of sorts) about Amy Tan (in the book her name is Jing-Mei). Jing-Mei's mother lived in China during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and during her escape from China Jing-Mei's mother lost her twin baby girls, her husband, and parents.  Jing-Mei lives in Sacramento, California. Jing-Mei's mother has a expectation for Jing-Mei and I am sure  you can figure out why. A poor young Chinese women lost her twin baby girls, her husband, her parents, and her life in China. Then to come to America the land where all dreams come true and where anyone can be famous so easily; why wouldn't that mother have high expectations for her daughter? Jing-Mei's mother is giving Jing-Mei everything and every opportunity the china forsaken mother never had. Jing-Mei's mother wants Jing-Mei to be a child prodigy after trying lots of different things the piano get mentioned.  At some point Jing-Mei realizes something in herself and doesn't want to play the piano and she is tired of her mom bugging her about being a prodigy...... And the change, and the raw emotion is what drives this lesson filled story. 
     I was going to type a sort of essay about my connection with the book but my English teacher already has that assignment in mind so I decided to put my rough draft and then next week the whole edited paper will be on my blog! I do have to warn you, my rough draft has some grammatical errors but hey that is why it is called a rough draft. There are some other ideas I may put in my paper and they are listed. Enjoy the read!-Kalea

                    Why Do You Expect Me?

     

    "The standards others have for you will  ruin your soul, and yet it will MAKE you and MAKE yourself find the REAL you."-Kalea Pauole  There are three words the natural man loves to hear they are: my, mine, and me. Three little words that pertain only to one's self, their life, their religion, their family, and most importantly  their choices. Every teenager at some point realizes something. Something that is a rite-of-passage, super amazing realization of how little their standards, and their wants are put in play versus the expectations and standards of others around them for that teen. Sure it's the teens choice but is it really their choice? No, and then that teenager realizes that gosh darn it is their life, they are in charge and being older they have more freedom. The parents, teachers, and  family members have less and less power in how decisions for that teen are made. The author Amy Tan wrote a story called two kinds that story covers that realization all teenagers have.  I have had that rite-of-passage, mind blown realization, and this is my story. This is my experiences leading up to that realization, the realization and the aftermath.

    My dad and my mom have  always told us that me and my siblings can come to them about anything. This is more true for my dad.(it is for my mom to but..) My dad is very into letting his kids have free rein and he is very good at respecting and supporting his kids in their individual choices. My mom is more structured, standardized, and vocal. Everyone knows that parents(especially mothers) have high standards and expectations for their kids. There's no doubt that my mom does, Its a good thing because I will always know where my mom stands.

Other ideas for this paper: when someone(saved for actual paper) told me parents have little over me this age

realized it is my life

my choice

Jing-Mei and I both play(ed) piano, I still do

Broken pieces of mothers life, wanted Jing-Mei to have everything she didnt

Parents confidence depends on children

What Jing-Mei realizes at the end of book

the point of the old chinese dresses

the old untouched piano-relate to life

Talent show

Aunt and cousin putting to much pressure on Jing-Mei’s mom

Jing-Mei's cousin being full of herself

I also typed this paragraph for the intro and I might put it somewhere else

Sure everyone has been told since preschool that it is their life and don't let other people tell them how to live and what to do, but that really isn't applicable until you are older and have more experience and less parental rein. Now not that I am trying to  make a point against parents......(unfinished thought)