Speaking Up Is One of the Best Ways to Fight for Yourself

I finished the coming of age novel, "Speak" By Laurie Halse Anderson. The main character, Melinda, is a high school freshman at Merryweather High. She just got there and everyone already hates her. Her coming of age event was actually kind of tragic. She was raped at a party and called the police. Many of the students there got arrested for under aged drinking. No one was every willing to listen to her side of the story. Throughout the book, Melinda changes as a person. She goes from being quiet and reserved to being strong and willing to fight for herself.

At the beginning of the book, Melinda was very quiet and reserved, mostly because she was out casted. She was left by some of her closest friends and she changed in such a way that now she wouldn't talk to anyone and didn't communicate with others.

"I didn't go to the mall, the lake, or the pool, or answer the phone. I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, and the wrong attitude. And I don't have anyone to sit with. I am an outcast." (4)

This shows me that once she entered school she was already discouraged and felt that she was going to be a failure at high school. Here, she shows low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence, but as the book continues she shows herself that she can be better than that and changes her whole attitude about school.

At the end of the book, Melinda was stronger and knew that sooner or later she would have to fight for herself. She went through so many things that made her stronger through this process we call maturing and it taught her life lessons about who she is inside, as a person.

"I don't know what it is; standing up to Heather... or maybe the look on moms face when I asked if she'd let me redecorate my room... Too much sun after a Syracuse winter does stuff to your head, makes you feel strong, even if you aren't. (180)

 This shows that she grew stronger over the time period of the whole school year. She became more self-confident over time and finally told her story, whether people wanted to hear it or not. This shows how she changed over time.

The details from this book lead me to believe that the author wanted to show us that youth is a tough stage in life, but that the only way to get through it is to buff up and fight for ourselves, or else we'll always regret the time we didn't speak up.

Essay on an Article

In the articles I read, Prosecutor Files Charge of 2nd-Degree Murder in Shooting of Martin By Lizette Alvarezand Michael Cooper ( http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/us/prosecutor-files-charge-of-2nd-degree-murder-in-shooting-of-martin-631104/ ) and George Zimmerman Charged With 2nd Degree Murder in Trayvon Martin's Death By Matt Gutman, Candace Smith and Pierre Thomas ( http://abcnews.go.com/US/george-zimmerman-charged-murder-trayvon-martin-killing/story?id=16115469 ), talked of the charges made against George Zimmerman. It also gives a background of the whole story and what happened. This how the story goes, Trayvon Martin, a 17-year old who wasn't carrying any weapons and didn't have any crimanl records was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, the watch coordinator for the neighborhood in a small community in Sanford, Florida. George Zimmerman was charged of 2nd-degree murder and then taken into custody. I disagree with this article because I don't think Zimmerman diserved to get charged with 2nd-degree murder, I think he should've been charged with constructive man slaughter.

One reason I think that George Zimmerman should've been charged with constructive man slaughter is because 2nd-degree murder is killing with the intent to do harm but not the intent to kill,  example - shooting someone in the leg with the intent to wound but not kill, and then the victim bleeds to death.
This could've been the case with Zimmerman and Martin, but there is no way on Earth to know if Zimmerman intended to kill Martin. This shows me that with the lack of Zimmerman's knowledge you would never know if Martin's death was intentional or not, which leads me to believe that Zimmerman should've been charged with constructive man slaughter.

Another reason that I believe Zimmerman should've been charged with constructive man slaughter is that constructive man slaughter is when someone kills, without intent, in the course of committing an unlawful act. The malice involved in the crime is transferred to the killing, which results in a charge of man slaughter. This implies that Zimmerman was commiting an unlawful act when Martin was killed. The unlawful act Zimmerman was commiting as Martin was killed was that he was stalking Martin. That led for Martin to fear for his life and fight, which got him killed. Martin had every right to fight for his life because he was being stalked and threatened. This leads me to believe that Zimmerman should've been charged with constructive man slaughter.

"Tracy Martin said, however, 'This is just the beginning. We have a long way to go.. and we will march and march and march until the right thing is done.' O'Mara (Zimmerman's lawyer) said that the case has become emotionally charged and that his client 'is concerned about getting a fair trial. We need to calm this down and it needs to be tried in a courtroom.'" (Gutman, Smith and Thomas)

Even the Martin family wants more justice for their son that was so recklessly killed. They know that this isn't the right thing that should be done and this piece of evidence is what shows me that Zimmerman should be charged with constructive man slaughter.

All these things are what show me that not only was justice not served but that even the Martin family knows that justice wasn't served for their dear family member. So, in all I disagree with the fact the George Zimmerman was charged with 2nd-degree murder.

Blogpost on Plagarism

In the blog post that a student did, what the student did wrong was that the student literally copied and pasted the words from their source. That was very wrong. What he/she could do to include the source was that they could paraphrase the words or even quote the words directly from the source.

"There is the night sky filled with swirling clouds, stars ablaze with their own luminescence, and a bright crescent moon." (Vincent van Gogh: Starry Night)

One way to avoid plagiarizing is just knowing the fact that you can defiantly be penalized for it in. Not only that but the fact is that it is wrong. Another way to avoid plagiarizing is to always cite your sources and always use different ways to include your sources so that it won't be counted as plagiarism. Also, if you paraphrase or use quotations, that isn't plagiarism because in you must cite your sources to do that. One last way to avoid plagiarizing is to never copy and paste directly from a source. That is one thing that could get you a 0 on a paper. So, in all never plagirize.

My Favorite Blog Posts

My favorite blog posts were Guadalupe's and Sofia's. Guadalupe's blog had a lot of detail and description. I love how she explains herself and uses the book to back herself up. She also had a good main idea. Guadalupe also connected all the books of one series to her one main idea and I really loved that. Sofia's blog had a lot of background information on everything that she talked about. You could tell that she defiantly researched her topic. Not only did she explain what she saw in the painting, but she also explained what was in the picture she wrote of.

I think that in my blog posts, I could use more evidence to back up my themes. This would help me prove my point better and explain the topic to the reader in a smoother way. I could also include more background information so that the reader will be more informed and can better understand my point of view. One more thing that I could do is that I could include more details and descriptions into my posts. They could help me explain myself in a better way.

Much Ado About Nothing, but still about something

I think that the play Much Ado About Nothing was really great and there were a lot of things that made it great, from the actor to the lights. One thing that made the play great was that the actors were acing great. They projected their voices and were sure to articulate, which was necessary because the language of Shakespeare isn't as easy to understand as the English language. Also, the actors not only spoke the words, they felt the words. They also used body language and whether they were talking or not, everyone on stage in a scene was using body language to express what they were doing in that scene. The actors did this in such a way, like if they were speaking through their bodies. Another thing that made the play good was the costumes that the actors wore on stage. It showed the actors personality, in a way. Also, the costumes showed the mood for the scene.

One thing that made the play great was the music. Not only was it beautiful music but it set the mood for the scene whenever it was playing. If the music was deep and dark then you knew it was something bad that was gong to happen. If the music was jazzy or if a record was playing, as it normally was, it showed that the actors were having a fun time together in the scene. Another thing that showed the play was good was  the stage setting and the lighting. When they showed the two people in the moonlight with an crescent moon in the background it showed that it was night time. They also used spotlights to show if there was someone in the back listening in on the conversation so that the audience was also seeing the whole part of the scene and not missing anything.

The Boyfriend List (lots of guys that come with lots of trouble)

In the book, The Boyfriend List By E. Lockhart, the main character, Ruby Oliver, goes through tough times when in only a time period of 10 days she feels that she loses everything. The real problem was also that she was having panic attacks and she got them whenever she was overwhelmed with emotions. She wants them to stop but the reason she gets panic attacks is because she doesn't express her emotions. That's where Dr.Z comes into save her. Dr.Z is her shrink that saves her life from eternal attacks. She teaches her how to control them.

I went from being just a leper to being a leper and a famous slut. By Friday,the girls bathroom in the main building had a ton of anti-Roo graffiti, I can only imagine the boys'.

Here she also has a panic attack because she is overwhelmed by the fact that everyone thinks badly of her, not that she deserved it or anything she just shouldn't have let Kim at the boy she was in love with and Kim shouldn't have been a man-stealer and back-stabbing friend like that. If it were me I now I would be mad but I most  definitely wouldn't have panic attacks because I wouldn't put up a wall and not let people see that I am going through tough times, if anything I would tell someone about it.

Another example of a time when she had a panic attack was when she had the party at her house. She had her panic attack because she did many things wrong that night that might regret for the rest of her life. For one thing she drank beer for the first time in her life and as expected did get drunk, but worse of all was that her mom caught her in the act of drinking and was so astonished, she didn't even know what to say to her one and only daughter and child. If I were Ruby's mom would be very disappointed but because at the time she didn't know what her daughter was going through she didn't know that her daughter felt like her life was crumbling around her and felt she couldn't go to anyone for help.

In all, Rubys' panic attacks are caused by a feeling of overwhelming emotion and that was her big problem, but Dr.Z helped her find ways to stop her attacks or prevent them. She told Ruby to take in deep breathes so that she could calm herself before talking to anyone or confronting a situation.

Romeo and Juliet Characters: My Favorite and Why

In the book I am reading right now, Romeo and Juliet, I have noticed a character in the play. His name is Count Paris. This character has his good side but I think it's important to recognize his bad side, as well. He is my least favorite character in this book.

Count Paris' good side is that he is very rich. The good part of being rich is that you can provide for the family you have if you have a family. He wanted to marry Juliet and because he was so wealthy his mother was definately alright with it. Count Paris would be a great provider for Juliet and their children if they had gotten married and had children. So, inall Count Paris' good side is that he is rich.

Count Paris' bad side is that he is very desperate about the whole situation and he is very persistant. I think that it is just disgusting that he would want to marry a little 13 year old girl and have babies with her. Legally in the modern times we live in now, that is RAPE. It is even worse that Juliet's mom acts as if she wants to marry Count Pairs herslef. She tries her best to get Juliet to like him because he is a" man of wax," but in reality his is only the ideal man for her, not for Juliet.

In all, I think that the bad side of Count Paris out-ways his good side mostly because money is great but there is nothing to money if your personality is horrible and the girl who you will be marryng will have to deal with that huge ego for the rest of her life. Count isn't marrying Juliet for herslef, he's marrying her to have children with her and to provide for her, even though she is only 13 years old. I am glad that atleast Juliet's father cares about what she thinks about marrying Count becasue if all she had was her mother she would really have a tough life.