What I Like About This Class

In this High School Honors English class the students always have fun. What I personally like about it is that the class is small, with a small class the teacher pays more attention to every individual, and therefore we learn more. In the class we have a well planned lesson each day, we always get enough discussion on aspects of stories we don't get. We also always have enough time to helps each other in class and therefore learning from each other. This class creates a great learning environment for the students, which is a critical aspect of learning, a good environment. Finally the most important one of them all, the freedom we get to have in the class and the jokes we make ever class. We have probably the most free class in PAS we can express our feelings towards an issue freely without someone stopping us in the middle. Also the jokes just crack me up every time!

What I don't like about this class

Throughout this quarter I have found the class to be very fun and interesting. Even though I find the class very interesting there are a few things I would like to change. It would be nice if there was a reminder about the Latin/Greek roots quiz. It doesn't have to be verbal but if you write it on the board where the homework section is, it would help a lot. More projects about the stories or literary elements could be added, the only poster project we had was a bonus project. It would be great if we could have some team work for projects being posters, video, homemade game, or live performance. Other than that I think the class is really well managed and  it give us the students a space for thinking about, how the lessons we learn from the stories can be put into real life. Also the every once in while joke that makes the whole class laugh, your a funny man Mr. McCool.

I would also like to suggest types of books we can read, that is if we can squeeze them into your yearlong class schedule. From the two novels we have read/ are still reading I think we can add in some myths, some Greek myths since they are the most famous. Greek myths aren't just famous but they are also very interesting to read, they show how many of the things we experience or see today were created or how it works. Also a mystery or thriller would be nice to, makes our hearts speed up as we read.

Buddhist Doctrine

            The Buddhist Doctrine in my opinion shows the correct principles that we live by, even though I do not live by it. However the Buddhist Doctrine also contains believes that aren't so practicable in life today. Believes such as getting rid ignorance and attachment is getting rid of suffering is not true. Suffrage doesn't just come from ignorance and attachment, not a days suffrage is usually caused by a outside force which conflicts with what you want. It does not mean that i don't agree that ignorance and attachment could cause suffrage. As for "life is suffering" I believe is a really good point, because without suffrage life will be boring. You would also not learn anything. If your teacher were to just give you the answers to your homework and test, you wouldn't have questions about the homework or test, all you will do is copy the answers and think that you understand the teachings. On the other hand when the teacher just hands down the test and homework, you will ask questions, you will search for answers, you will learn new information. You can never completely understand something unless you have experienced it yourself and you were the one who was telling others about it.

           I have heard and seen other Religious Doctrines. For example the Christian Doctrines which is one of the most popular religions from where I live/ lived. Even though both Doctrines have right believes and principles, I choose to not stick with any religion for a  long term because i can just pick points of different doctrines and use them instead of having ti strictly believe in one specific religion.

Why be a prodigy

            The daughter was trying to make her mother happy, to for fill her mothers dreams for her. Her mother wanted her to find some kind of talent that would be special or that she'll be good at, so that she can show off her daughter's skills. Jing-mei being a young girl wanted to obey the rules and do what ever her mother says so she tries almost every talent possible.  When i was younger my parent also tried to let me learn some talents such as playing the violin. They wanted me to be like other kid who were friends of my parents. At first  I really enjoyed it, that was when i was really young though. Once I got an older age I started to dislike sitting there listening to the teacher and practicing everyday. Once i even mashed my violin with a hammer, but that was after i quit my lessons. I guess if I could go back I would continue to play and maybe some day get a award. Now a days my parents don't push me to learn new skills but just to focus on my academics, but i still try new things from time to time on my own command. 

The Influence of Others

            In life people receive influence from everyone around them, but not all influences may change people in a major way. Specific people can have major influences in your life, they may be able to change the way you react or look at things.
          
            In my life my mother gives me a position influence which  helps me find my goal and pursuit them. She encourages me to do what ever it takes to achieve my goal, as long as i don't hurt anyone else in the process. She tells me stories where the main character seems to be in the same situation as I am in, in the stories the character resolves their conflicts and become happy. She also influences me because of her own actions. She has been the one who took care of both me and my sister ever since we were born. My dad wasn't always around so my mom had to become a full duty housewife. Through out the year of growing she has showed me how make a parent will sacrifice for their child. She makes me love my family more and learn to value my family and friends.

          On the other hand influence are not always positive, as a matter of fact they are usually negative. For me many time my friends are negative influences for me. They encourages me to do things i am not suppose to such as playing games on the weekdays, prank others, or not do work.  Even though they give me negative influence I may not always do what they say, even if i did i can not blame them for my actions. I can't blame someone who encourages me to do something when i know its not right but i still do it. It just like if i was successful i wouldn't blame my parents for it.

Character Traits and Conflict

Mama is a big boned and hard working woman. She takes on a job of a man, the though jobs. She is tough and skilled at farm work. Dee is more delicate and Mama looks at it like a difference. Dee doesn't do though work and it is because of her education in the city. Dee is a city woman and Mama a country woman. Therefore Mama wants Dee to experience farm life again so that they will have similarities.

Mama faces two main conflicts in the story. One being internal and the other external.  Mama experiences external conflict when she argues with Dee, trying to convince Dee that the quilt should be Maggie's. Then the argument leads to the internal conflict of whom to give the quilt to, Maggie or Dee. The quilt is a important item in Mama's heritage which Maggie has inherited. To Dee its a important sign that shows how hard she worked. Therefore it was a very hard choice for Mama to make, also having the fact that both of them are her daughters.

Literary analysis

         Dee having taken an education and moved on to a better life only wants the quilt as a decoration. She doesn't want to sue it, she wants it to show others the process she went through to get to where she is now. So i would say that Dee is a selfish person. Maggie actually needs the quilt to sleep in and not for a decoration. Maggie is more kind and sharing. This gives a good comparison between having a city education and living on the farm. Your attitude can change a lot.

        When Dee first left Mama asked if she wanted the quilt, but Dee said no. Dee aid no because she didn't want other to know her history of being brought up on a farm. She was scared that she would be laughed at and discriminated. Then when she comes back after she is successful, she suddenly wants the quilt. This time she is not ashamed of having lived on the farm but she wants to let everyone else know about it. She wants others to see her success and that she herself made it happen.

Reading With A Purpose

When Dee comes back to visit Mama she asks for a quilt that Mama plans on giving to Maggie and only Maggie. The reason being that Mama didn't think that Dee remembers her heritage, and doesn't completely deserve the quilt which serves a purpose  Dee doesn't need it for. Dee doesn't want the quilt because she wants to sleep in it at night, she doesn't need it to keep her warm, she lives a better life. Dee only wants it to represent her work, her hard work. She wants it not to remind herself what she had to go through to be in the position she is in now, but she wants it so that others can see what she has been through. Therefore Dee accused Mama of not understanding her heritage, but Mama on the other hand doesn't want the quilt to be a decoration. She want Maggie to have it because Maggie needs it. Mama looks at Dee as if she was a different person, a person without the same heritage. She thinks that Dee has lost all her heritage from being educated in urban areas, and she is not wrong Dee has lost her heritage.

Reading Focus - Quick Check

Dee is different from Mom and Maggie mainly because of her unique personality and way of thinking. She acts with a different attitude towards White people compared to other African Americans like herself. She is not afraid to strike a conversation while staring into the eyes of the White people, unlike her sister and mother who would probably lower their heads to talk or not speak at all. Another difference that Dee has been educated in the urban areas. She has an advantage compared to the people living in the suburbs, this changes her perspective too. The urban education does give advantages to her but it also makes her lose something every important, heritage. Quilting.

If Dee and Maggie both had a quilt they would use it for different purposes. Dee wouldn't use it for it original purpose; to give warmth at night. She would use it as a decoration in her house representing where she came from, even though she has already lost it. Maggie on the other hand still remembers the real purpose of a quilt and uses in the way it is suppose to be used in. She understands her heritage.

From the information summarized above, I concluded that the story's title was Everyday Use because of how the sisters uses the same thing in a different way because of the environment they grew up in. Maggie would use the quilt it was originally intended for and Dee would use it as a decoration, a symbol.

Character Traits and Making Inferences

Making an inference is taking information you have acquired and use it to make a educational guess about a certain question. Inferences are not always the same through out one event it can be changed as information is handed to you. In the story Everyday Use the relationship between the characters are unclear at the beginning, all we know is that they are blood related.

In the story there are three main characters Maggie, Dee, and the Narrator herself. On the first page of the book it clearly shows that they lived together and where pretty close to each other. Therefore I believe that they are a family.  Then there are details that show their relationship even better. the first two paragraphs it mentions that Maggie and the Narrator cleaned the yard together while waiting for Maggie's sister, this point of information allows me to make an inference that the sister is not the Narrator. Then it goes on saying how Maggie is jealous of her sister's body, because Maggie has scars on her arm and leg. Then Dee being another family member seems to have a good life and is very happy. The Narrator describes a dream she has about her and Dee going on TV and was being complimented by the host of the TV show.

With all the information given in the first four paragraphs I made an inference about the relation ship between Dee, Maggie, and the Narrator. I guessed that Dee and Maggie where sisters and that the Narrator was probably the mother. Then having to guess the whether Dee or Maggie was older i looked back to the first paragraph to find more details that would help. From reading the first line I got my guess. I guessed that Maggie was the older sister waiting for the younger sister to come home. Also from the personalities of Dee and Maggie. Dee seemed to be very open and jolly all the time and Maggie was a bit more depressed, this made me think that Maggie was a bit more mature than Dee. Even though have being jealous of Dee's normal body Maggie to me still seemed like the older sister. Jealously happened to all ages and in many different forms, who doesn't get jealous from time to time?

In the end i found the true answers to the question which i made an inference to. Dee was actually the older sister and this didn't surprise me because through out the story Dee acted more like an older sister. On the other hand Maggie was acting a bit more childish which made me change my mind later on. I believe that this is a good example of making an inference and how accepting new information can change your mind, like I changed mine because of the extra information I got while I read on.

How Does Heritage Contribute to Character?

List of things that can be inherited:

• Race(skin tone)
• Language( both dialect and the way you talk)
• Culture(food, religion, actions, important events, etc)
• Perspective

Heritage can contribute to a person's character in many ways. First of all character maybe be viewed in many aspects. The physical appearance for one contributes a lot to one's character. When people look different people tend to act different, and each race passes down a certain different appearance from other races. Race can also cause someone to be more unselfconscious than others, because one looks better than the other or one has something the other doesn't. Therefore the level of unselfconsciousness  defers between everyone, and because of that people act differently. Language inherited from generations before can also contribute to character. Different languages have different ways of expressing yourself some are more direct than others which would seem more offensive. Even though it may seem more offensive to us it may be perfectly polite to the ones who speak the language. Culture inherited from your family is also another important contributer. Culture can change the way you look at things, the way you act ,and what you value. One culture may value money over anything else(family, friends, etc) but the other culture may value family and friends over everything else. So culture can change your character a lot. The last point is your perspective, the way you see things. This can also be inherited or taught by the older ones in your family. With the change of perspective the importance of things change. What makes you laugh or cry is also changed. For example a Americans may think jokes about Asians are funny, but when Asians hear it it is offensive to them instead of being funny. These are only somethings that contribute to a person's character, other things such as significant event can also contribute to a person's character.