Blog #10

The only thing that has changed for me coming into 11th grade is that we actually have a decent amount of homework. Normally the homework is pretty light but this year it has been laid on pretty thick and i enjoy it. Other then that nothing much has stood out to me, yet.

The thing that stands out to me the most about this class is that, Randy is the exact opposite teacher of charlotte, my freshman humanities teacher. She was very heavy on 5 paragraph essays and on an exact formula to get it right. Randy is very focused on using writing tips to make our writing better and not a certain format.

I think that reading animal farm really got me thinking about polotics and about the russian revolution. This was a subject that i had never really touched on so i went and researched it a bit and it is actually really interesting. Also it got me thinking about how all people will become corrupt from power.

I think that i am putting more time into my writing, and i am using people as resources more. I am using people to get critiques a lot more then i used to, i used to be very against critiques because i didn't like people reading my work, but then i realized that i am writing it for people to read. This made me realize that people would much more enjoy my writing if it was error free.

Blog #9

The biggest aspect of the play for me is that shakespeare created a plot that is still used today, he created something that has been reused thousands and thousands of times over. That really amazes me, how someone could do that, for me the only reason hamlet and romeo and juliet are not the most successful pieces of writing in the world is that the bible exists. If the bible wasn't here then i think that hamlet would be the most successful pieces of writing.

I think that one of the most important parts is when polonius goes to tell the king and queen that hamlet is acting weird. Act 2 Scene i

Next i think the ghost is one of the more important parts of the play because he advances the plot of the play so that it isn't just a revenge story for no reason. Act 1 Scene iv

I also think that the new king getting with hamlets mother so fast was one of the bigger parts because i don't think hamlet would have been so mad at the new king if he had waited.

Act 1 Scene ii

Blog #7

I think the best part of the exhibition is how well the pictures match up with the artist statement. I was expecting there to be a few that didn't really have much to do with eachother but all of the ones that I have read work well. Also I like how creative people got with thier pictures people really seemed to go above and beyond with the pictures. When i think self portrait i think your face has to be in it but i didn't think that someone could symbolize their face and make it work as well as kiva and diego did.

http://dverduzco.tumblr.com/

http://kivahmnts11.blogspot.com/

Blog #8

I think what stands out to me most is finding out about people through the paper they wrote. I have never had a paper which brought in a personal aspect the way that this did. I'm still not sure why it did so much, I just feel like I've never put this much personality into a school paper.

I feel really good about my paper and picture, I feel like this was a very good first project for me. It got me integrated back into the school system. Also I feel like I tried to make this a good paper instead of just getting through it, like I normally do.

I hope that we make a good book and that we can have a strong first book. I have published 2 other book at high tech so this is pretty normal for me. I'm not to stressed at the moment but i'm sure once we get further into the publishing process.

Blog #6

My Paper -

The Criminal Do-Gooders

Leo Troast

It was a sunny Saturday morning, I had just woken up and saw my dad sitting on the couch watching television. I decided to go sit next to him and see what he was watching; I saw that he was watching the news. The current subject of the driveling reporter was the Geezer Bandit. He caught my interest, other than overhearing conversations at school I knew nothing of him. After the newsman stopped talking, my dad asked me what I thought about the Geezer Bandit. I said what anyone else would say, I thought he was just any other person who thought he was above the law. I didn’t think much of it, until I heard about all of the changes that banks were making thanks to him. Then I realized that even though he might just be some guy who robbed banks, unknowingly he was helping them by, increasing the security in the bank system. I came to the conclusion that he was helping banks more than hurting them.

I spent the next few days thinking ab out it off and on, spacing out in class just to hatch new crackpot theories about criminals influence in the world. I had been thinking about different criminal icons that I could obsess over, I came up with a two ideas, Al Capone and Frank Abagnale. They both had done illegal things that sparked a reaction, this reaction changed peoples minds about how safe they were and forced an action. What they had done might have been bad but vast amounts of people have been helped because of their actions.

During one of my longer spacey moments I asked how I could use my new found knowledge for good. After thinking about that for a while, I came to the sad realization that I couldn’t change anything. I didn’t want to believe it but I couldn’t think of any ways it could help me or anyone for that matter. I certainly didn’t want to become a criminal to change the world, unfortunately that’s all that I thought I could do for future generations. I was searching my brain of a way this could help but it was futile, I decided that I needed to consult my dad. The next day I sat down at the table and told him my predicament, he was silent. Then, he said “No, there is definitely a way you can help people”, just like nothing had happened he finished his coffee and walked away. Like he loved to do he was going to make me figure it out on my own. I was to frazzled to think about it at the moment.

I decided to let my mind cool down with some mindless video games. Hours had past and it had only felt like minutes, I hadn’t had any thoughts on my mind during the game play. The second I stopped gaming it all came flooding back though, in that flood I spotted something. I spotted an idea, I didn’t need to rob banks, or be a mobster. I just needed to be able to achieve a big enough splash in the waters of our world to spark an idea of change in someone. What all of the criminals had in common is that they all made people realize something was wrong. They took people out of their state of mind, I need to educate people to make sure they never get into a state of mind in which they think everything is good. Once you get into that state you wont see all the problems with this world. I need to educate people so that they never think they have a perfect working system, so they will always find flaws and change it. This is the only true way to get a perfect system.

My Picture -

Blog #5

The writing tip that seems most useful to me right now is Concerts, not pancakes. It helped me a lot writing the american icons essay, when I first started it I couldn't really figure out how I was going to start but using concerts, not pancakes I just decided to go with what I had. I picked a starting point and an end point and went with it. This is a problem I have a lot so this will help me a lot in the future.

The only thing I want the editors to look at is if I got my idea across and people can understand it. Everything else is nice to have, but I think that if the idea doesn't get across then the paper isn't worth reading so for me I would love it if all of their attention was focused on the idea and nothing else.

I'm hoping to get my idea across easier with some critiques from my peers. When I read it I can see my idea but I think that other people might have a little more difficulty with understanding my ideas.

Blog #4

AL CAPONE

1.

2.

“You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.” – Al Capone

“Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class” – Al Capone

“I am like any other man. All I do is supply a demand” – Al Capone

3.

I could push the ideas in my paper by talking about how I came across the thought of Al Capone and i think i could stress the ideas of not being a criminal but taking aspects of how he worked to make the world better and add those in.

4.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/al-capone

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/view/555446/

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/index_1.html

FRANK ABAGNALE

1.

2.

“What I did in my youth is hundreds of times easier today. Technology breeds crime.” – Frank Abagnale

I stole every nickel and blew it on fine threads, luxurious lodgings, fantastic foxes, and other sensual goodies. I partied in every capital in Europe and basked on all the world's most famous beaches. – Catch Me If You Can

“The 2005 FBI Computer Crime Survey should serve as a wake-up call to every company in America” – Frank Abagnale

3.

I think i could talk more about how he changed and helped to show the difference between all of my icons and him to show even more contrast of how i could change things with out criminal activity.

4.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/al-capone

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/view/555446/

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/index_1.html

Blog #3

AL CAPONE

1.

2.

“You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.” – Al Capone

“Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class” – Al Capone

“I am like any other man. All I do is supply a demand” – Al Capone

3.

I think the only way I could push the ideas about this man in my artist statement would be to include exactly what he did and changed. Also I think I could expand on the details of what changed and not just broadly generalize them.

4.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/al-capone

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/view/555446/

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/index_1.html

FRANK ABAGNALE

1.

2.

“What I did in my youth is hundreds of times easier today. Technology breeds crime.” – Frank Abagnale

I stole every nickel and blew it on fine threads, luxurious lodgings, fantastic foxes, and other sensual goodies. I partied in every capital in Europe and basked on all the world's most famous beaches. – Catch Me If You Can

“The 2005 FBI Computer Crime Survey should serve as a wake-up call to every company in America” – Frank Abagnale

3.

This man isn’t very big in my story so I believe that the amount that I have put in I just the right amount.

4.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/al-capone

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/view/555446/

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/index_1.html

Blog #2

Geezer Bandit

The Geezer Bandit became important to me during a conversation with my dad when he first told me about him. I had no prior knowledge of him before this conversation, my dad told me all the things he did and that banks had increased their security. I thought this this guy was just another bank robber at first. Then when I was lying in bed that same night listening to music trying to get to sleep I couldn't stop thinking about him. I was thinking about how he had changed the bank system for good. At that time I realized that even though he had done some bad things, they have had a positive out-turn on the bank system. I truly believe that what he has done is a good thing.

Al Capone

He is important is the same way as the Geezer bandit, he has done some very, very bad

things in his life. Because of him the FBI was formed and the judicial system had a complete

overhaul because of him. Now I believe more in what the Geezer Bandit did, but I think that

Al Capone was important to america.

Ellis Island

To me this icon represents both the worst sides and best sides of US. The worst side

being how they treated some of the immigrants when they came to the island. It was extremely

bad conditions, but while the conditions where bad it was one of the most important time

periods for america. During the time that Ellis Island was open the US got some of the widest

diversity in any country in the world. That is why it shows the worst and the best of the US.