our youth- sonny alven

our youth is about how we all work during the day and have very little time for fun. But since we are young we want to be outside and not stuck working on in school. To quote the song: No play, all work all day. And on the night time everyone deceived, No time left for starlight. This can be related to my life in the way that most of the week i’m in school which means i have less time to do things that i enjoy.

lost boy- ruth b

in the song the artist is talking about how a lot of the time he feels lost and feels lonely. in the song ruth b sings” I am a lost boy from Neverland. Usually hanging out with Peter Pan and when we’re bored we play in the woods always on the run from captain hook” I feel like this song can be related to a lot of people. the song is talking about how people can feel really lonely and sometimes feel lost.

growing up (sloane’s song)- macklemore & ed sheeran

this collaboration between ed sheeran and macklemore is a song that is dedicated to macklemore’s newborn daughter. In the song he talks about how there are stereotypes of girls and boys and how they should be raised differently. Macklemore then said that it doesn’t matter because it doesnt matter and that everyone should be treated the same. to They say girls shouldn’t be tough. And moms should raise their kids at home. But baby, I know that that isn’t true, Cause your momma’s the toughest person I know
I wanna raise you to be like her and watch you show the world how to do it on your own”

something big- shawn mendes

this song is a great representation about how when i feel like something big will happen. This is basically about how he’s really excited about starting something new. In 8th grade many things had happened and i feel like a lot of exciting things had happened.

we dont talk anymore- charlie puth & selena gomez

this song is talking about losing contact with someone who used to be close with you. in 8th grade with new teams and new friends, it was really easy to lose contact with people that you used to be really close with. to quote the song: “That we don’t talk anymore
We don’t talk anymore, Like we used to do.”

please dont go- joel adams

this song is talking about wishing that someone you love or know wouldn’t move. Many people in our grade are moving away. So towards the end of the year you tend to have feelings of not wanting to let go or thinking about them leaving.

kill em with kindness- selena gomez

this song is a really inspiring and uplifting song, its a great message to send to her fans. people instead of fighting back when people are mean they should jusat be nice and kind. To quote her song: “The world can be a nasty place, You know it, I know it, yeah. We don’t have to fall from grace. Put down the weapons you fight with and kill ’em with kindness

This is a theme analysis on George Orwell’s Animal Farm. 

http://prezi.com/ia3sothoj8v0/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Book: Animal Farm     Genre: Satire Fiction    Author: George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell is a satire about the Russian Revolution or Communism in general. The book talks about how humankind or in this case animal kind are selfish. They start off with the strong wanting of freedom from Mr Jones but in the end they end up just like him. Communism is supposedly about how everyone should be equal meaning they all receive to their ability or needs. Old Major’s dream was for the farm to be run by the animals for the animals, but after he passed away things quickly changed. Snowball and Napoleon became the leaders of the farm and were on the way of leading a revolution. But along the way they started taking advantage of the trust the animals had on them and used it for bad. They started getting more food then other animals, sleeping on beds,etc. Then the big change happened, Napoleon doubled crossed Snowball and chased him out of the farm. After that the Animal Farm became more of a dictatorship then communist.

Napoleon is in the middle of all this, he is one of the reason why the revolution started and he is also why the revolution changed. He is a self centred pig that needs to get his way. One main characteristic to Napoleon is he can manipulate the animals into believing anything he says

“Then Napoleon stood to reply. He said very quietly that the windmill idea was nonsense and that he advised nobody to vote for it, and promptly sat down. He had barely spoken for 30 seconds and seemed almost indifferent as to the effect he produced. (Chapter 5)

The quote shows that Napoleon is able to make a huge impact on the farm no matter how long he speaks. He can speak for less than 30 seconds and be able to change the way the animals feel. He is able to manipulate the animals into believing anything he says

“It had become usual to give Napoleon the credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune. You would often hear one hen remark to another “Under the guidance of our leader, Comrade Napoleon, i had laid five eggs in six days””

Napoleon is a very manipulative person, he was able to convince the animals that everything good that happens in the farm is because of him. They look up to him and believe that he saved them from being slaves to Mr. Jones even though there situation right now could be considered worse than it was before.

“Besides in those days they had been slaves and now they were free and that made all the difference”

Napoleon was able to convince the other animals that he was basically their savior, the reason their no longer under Mr Jones’s rule is because of him. Although that is true the life they had back then is exactly the same then it was before. They are needed to work very hard on barely any food.

Napoleon demands a lot from the animals. He is running a business and needs to make money to control the needs he has. He wants to be able to make money so he pushes them to do all the work and produce enough to make himself stand out as the other animals.

“Throughout the spring and summer they worked a sixty hour, and in August announced that there will be work on Sunday afternoon as well. This work was strictly voluntary but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half     (Chapter 6)

He isn’t completing demanding that they do work but he is saying that if they don’t work he will take away half of their rations. Most animals will choose to do the extra day of work over having less food so Napoleon has won that battle.

“All that year the animals worked like slaves, but they were aware that everything they did was for the benefit of themselves and those or their kind”

They worked like they were slaves and never stopped because they wanted to have the windmill and also didn’t want Napoleon to be mad at them. So they work the butts off so that they can make a good impression.

Finally, Napoleon uses all his power to be violent and use his strength over others so that others will do whatever he says so that he doesn’t have to do that.

“When they finished their confession the dogs promptly tore their throats out and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess (chapter 7)”

He is threatening everyone with the dogs, so that the animals will fear him and not do anything against him because they know that if theydo anything then they will get hurt.

Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1954. Print.

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/s190363

(use the link above to access my blog with the photos, also remember click on the photos for a blurb about what the photo represents.)

Literacy Analysis:

Title: The Swap By Megan Shull

Genre: Realistic Fiction

This multimedia posts shows important and key events that happen in the book through photos and texts. I state the location and important events such as when Jack and Ellie first switch bodies in the nurse’s office or when they first kiss in the playground in front of all there friends. In the tumblr posts i had put GIFS or images of things that relate to the story for example i have a photo with a smiling face for both depressed and happy. The photo is a example of how when someone like Ellie is struggling with depression and bullying they try to hide it and cover it up.

The story is about how there are two main characters: Ellie and Jack, they both are having a hard time in home life and school. Ellie’s parents had recently gone through a messy divorce and her so called best friend dumped her to become popular. Jack has enormous pressure from brothers and especially his dad. Both wish that they could swap lives with someone else and magically one day in the nurse’s office they swap bodies and lives. Now they have to live a weekend through each others lives and learn how to be yourself in the process of being someone else.

Citations:

Chung, Rosamond Kate. “Tumblr.” Log in. N.p., 5 Dec. 2015. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.

“Goodreads.” Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/s190363

– Overall, how did NaNoWriMo go? What went well? What did not go well?

Overall i thought that nanowrimo was a good experience for me to improve in parts of my writing skills. Although the experience was really challenging and required rather a lot of time but it gave me the right motivation to finish as much as possible and i can say that in the end i’m rather proud that i was able to write around 7,000 words.

– What did you learn about yourself? (Did you grow in writing or discipline or any other areas)?

Through this month i was able to mostly discipline myself into whenever i was planning on writing i would write at least 1,000 words which helped me write more and stress less. I wouldn’t say that my writing skills got better but usually when i write short stories i can barely write a page but after nanowrimo i don’t find 2 pages a lot or too much to write anymore. Its helped with improving the quantity in my writing and helped me learn that writing every day isn’t as hard as i thought i would be at the start.

– What is the end result? Are you cleaning up a short part to get published?

My end result is to be able to clean up the novel and make it something decent. I want to make it something that has better word choice and something that in the future i would be fine with reading. Since some aspects of my story was related to myself I would like to keep this story as a keep sake for when i get older. I don’t plan on publishing this story any time soon because at this point the story isn’t developed enough and the storyline may be too complicated. My focus is really to make it a easy and readable novel.

My Visual/Playlist is based on the character Sarah who was named the ugliest girl in Sophomore Year in her school, she has been named this since freshman year and has decided to screw what they say and TRY to be herself.

Song: Run The World (Girls) Artist: Beyonce

I think this song is a good representation of Sarah at the beginning because at that point she didn’t care what others thought and actually wrote Ugly on her forehead the day the list came out. The song is about how girls rule the world and shouldn’t be shut down just because they’re different.

Song: Girl On Fire Artist: Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj

This song is about how Alicia Keys felt misunderstood and wanted to break free and I think that this fits perfectly for Sarah because everyone just thinks she’s crazy when she’s really a misunderstood teen girl that wants people to think she’s strong when she really isn’t and just feels weak on the inside.

Song: Drops of Jupiter Artist: Train

This is song is actually about the death of his mother but the pain and loss the singer was feeling is similar to whats happening with Sarah. I think that after 3 years of being called ugly by everyone she lossed herself and hasn’t been able to be anything but ugly and she’s let what others called her change who she is and has fallen into a label.

Song: Young and Beautiful Artist: Lana Del Rey

Basically the song is asking if someone will love them forever no matter how old or not beautiful they feel. And this fits with how Sarah is feeling because she believes that no one will ever love her because of the label people have given her.

Song: Beautiful Artist: Christina Aguilera

The artist has been through alot and people keep telling her she’s not good enough and that she isn’t “beautiful” but in the end the artist is telling all her fans that no matter what others are saying u be yourself and words won’t bring you down because you are stronger. This fits what sarah should be feeling and she should love herself

Song: Bad Blood Artist: Taylor Swift

The song is about having “bad blood” with the artists ex but for Sarah it seems like she has bad blood with everyone in her school and it just seems like it’s her against the world

Song: I’m Not That Girl Artist: Kristin Chenoweth

This song fits perfectly with  Sarah because in the song she is talking about how the boy will never love her because of her imperfections and that relates well to how sarah feels. She believes that no one could love her because of what others

Song: She Will Be Loved Artist: Maroon 5

This song is about how the girl keeps taking an advantage of a guy and every time something bad happens in one of her relationships she goes back to him but he loves her no matter what and that what Sarah deserves.

Song: When Your Gone Artist: Avril Lavigne

I interpret that this is a song about losing someone. And if i’m relating this to Sarah even when she leaves high school she’s never going to forget what happened to her and the students have pulled her self esteem to the floor.