When I first read of this is was throughly shocked. As a student in school we are beaten in the fact "DO NOT plagiarize." So to see a professional writer, and one with her age and knowledge, blatantly plagiarize like that shocks me. I first thought this was a serious matter. Then I reflected thinking "well she's just old and careless and maybe its just a mistake," but no. Any professional writer of any age or knowledge level, from children's books to textbooks, has no excuse to plagiarize. So I went deeper into my criticism.
One thing that really surprised me is her motivation to write this book. At first it seems to me that she is writing about chimps but the main topic sways from naturalist life style to nature and flowers. This to me was a red flag that showed carelessness. In my opinion I'm surprised she hasn't been sued yet. So my solution would be to edit and reprint the books. Then in the blank page that is reserved for dedications, give condolences to the sources, publishers, and the readers for her mistake.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Past Paper Reflection
For my reflection I will be using my Literary Analysis on the story "The Sniper." For my reflection I will be choosing two traits of good writing to focus on when re-evaluating my paper. The two that I have chosen are sentence fluency and word choice. Based on the comments I received from my peers and teachers, I feel that my choices will appropriately suit my paper's reflection.
The reason I chose these two elements is because after reviewing my comments and reading over my paper I felt that these were my weakest areas. Just in my first over-glance since submitting my paper I noticed things that needed to be revised that fell into thee two categories. Overall I thought I had a good paper, yet I see places were I could have inserted more couple wording and worded my sentences better. All in all I am actually a little bit excited to revise my paper again and hope everything turns out well.
The reason I chose these two elements is because after reviewing my comments and reading over my paper I felt that these were my weakest areas. Just in my first over-glance since submitting my paper I noticed things that needed to be revised that fell into thee two categories. Overall I thought I had a good paper, yet I see places were I could have inserted more couple wording and worded my sentences better. All in all I am actually a little bit excited to revise my paper again and hope everything turns out well.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Nervous Conditions: Yes or No?
On a personal level I'm just going to come out and say that Nervous Conditions was not my favorite book read. So when I read what our post was about I was a little bit torn on my decision. So to settle the matter, I am going to defend both sides then make my final decision.
First, I will reflect on why Nervous Conditions SHOULD be removed from the rubric. On a personal hand, like I said, I did not enjoy the book. And I am not so sure my classmates fully enjoyed the experience either. So, in that case I do think it should be removed from the rubric considering the fact it was such a burden on the students. Also, choosing the wrong project on the layered projects really put some kids in the hole. And although the layered project was a great source of points, it was also a heavy burden at times for kids like me with poor time management.
Now I will reflect on why Nervous Conditions SHOULD NOT be removed from the rubric. Now like I said before, even thought the book didn't really connect to a lot of people, it was still a good source of points and will likely help us out later on during the exam. Reasons it should not be removed are that it is relevant to our class discussions. Out of all the books we have read, Nervous Conditions has best related to our over all question this year. How does community and culture effect who we are? Although some of our books this year have given strong answers to this question, Nervous Conditions better relates to this topic.
Now I must choose. Personally, I believe Nervous Conditions should stay in the ninth grade rubric. Although it is not a popular book among the students, it is still a good book to help students get a better understanding of the overall question, as well as a way to better understand and manage major projects in high school. But the decision is not mine to make, all of the power lies in Dr. D's hands, so whatever she chooses I'm sure will be the right choice.
First, I will reflect on why Nervous Conditions SHOULD be removed from the rubric. On a personal hand, like I said, I did not enjoy the book. And I am not so sure my classmates fully enjoyed the experience either. So, in that case I do think it should be removed from the rubric considering the fact it was such a burden on the students. Also, choosing the wrong project on the layered projects really put some kids in the hole. And although the layered project was a great source of points, it was also a heavy burden at times for kids like me with poor time management.
Now I will reflect on why Nervous Conditions SHOULD NOT be removed from the rubric. Now like I said before, even thought the book didn't really connect to a lot of people, it was still a good source of points and will likely help us out later on during the exam. Reasons it should not be removed are that it is relevant to our class discussions. Out of all the books we have read, Nervous Conditions has best related to our over all question this year. How does community and culture effect who we are? Although some of our books this year have given strong answers to this question, Nervous Conditions better relates to this topic.
Now I must choose. Personally, I believe Nervous Conditions should stay in the ninth grade rubric. Although it is not a popular book among the students, it is still a good book to help students get a better understanding of the overall question, as well as a way to better understand and manage major projects in high school. But the decision is not mine to make, all of the power lies in Dr. D's hands, so whatever she chooses I'm sure will be the right choice.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Expectations and Identities
We all read how certain environments and identities affected how Tambu acted. To be honest I can relate to this topic. Nearly everyday I am in an environment hat changes my "identity" and in turn effects my decision making. Here are of few of my examples.
1. One of the major places that effects my identity is church. In church I am not allowed to be the outgoing, crazy kid that I am around my peers. In church one must remain quiet and respectful, which alters my thinking, and tells my body to stay still and quiet. Creating a very strict, formal, and respectful identity.
2. The next place is on a social media website. Social media sites are created for people to be able to freely express their selfs. Which is what I do, but on some of these sites I am sadly monitored like a hawk stalking its prey by my mother. In turn, limiting my freedom of expression. Creating a free yet smart and cunning identity.
3. Then, theres school. At school its a toss up. You will either find me just relaxing, you can find me being rambunctious with friends, or you can find me being very quiet and well behaved. All of these factors are controlled by my mood that day, weather or not I'm in class, if I'm doing something important in class, or if I'm just freely roaming campus at break. Creating a very chill, fun, and relaxed identity.
4. Next is a relatives house. This one is tricky all depending on which relative you are staying with. If you are staying with an aunt or uncle, the mood will have more of a fun, comfortable vibe to it. Allowing you to express your self, while still knowing your limits. But if you are staying with a grant parent its a whole different story. The mood will be more of a stricter, awkward vibe. You most definitely wouldn't want to freely express your opinions out of due respect. Creating a very fun, relaxed, or strict, uptight identity based on where you are in particular.
5. Finally, a water park. A water park would be a perfect place for one to express themselves. Full of fun rides, a happy atmosphere, and mostly good people; the mood here would reflect that of a chucke cheese or a McDonalds play area. Creating a very relaxed, free, spunky, and fun identity.
Reading Times:
3/6/13-read-Nervous Conditions- 45 min
3/7/13-read-Nervous Conditions- 30 min
3/8/13-read-Nervous Conditions- 30 min
3/10/13-read Nervous Conditions- 65 min
+ annotating
Chapters 6-10
1. One of the major places that effects my identity is church. In church I am not allowed to be the outgoing, crazy kid that I am around my peers. In church one must remain quiet and respectful, which alters my thinking, and tells my body to stay still and quiet. Creating a very strict, formal, and respectful identity.
2. The next place is on a social media website. Social media sites are created for people to be able to freely express their selfs. Which is what I do, but on some of these sites I am sadly monitored like a hawk stalking its prey by my mother. In turn, limiting my freedom of expression. Creating a free yet smart and cunning identity.
3. Then, theres school. At school its a toss up. You will either find me just relaxing, you can find me being rambunctious with friends, or you can find me being very quiet and well behaved. All of these factors are controlled by my mood that day, weather or not I'm in class, if I'm doing something important in class, or if I'm just freely roaming campus at break. Creating a very chill, fun, and relaxed identity.
4. Next is a relatives house. This one is tricky all depending on which relative you are staying with. If you are staying with an aunt or uncle, the mood will have more of a fun, comfortable vibe to it. Allowing you to express your self, while still knowing your limits. But if you are staying with a grant parent its a whole different story. The mood will be more of a stricter, awkward vibe. You most definitely wouldn't want to freely express your opinions out of due respect. Creating a very fun, relaxed, or strict, uptight identity based on where you are in particular.
5. Finally, a water park. A water park would be a perfect place for one to express themselves. Full of fun rides, a happy atmosphere, and mostly good people; the mood here would reflect that of a chucke cheese or a McDonalds play area. Creating a very relaxed, free, spunky, and fun identity.
Reading Times:
3/6/13-read-Nervous Conditions- 45 min
3/7/13-read-Nervous Conditions- 30 min
3/8/13-read-Nervous Conditions- 30 min
3/10/13-read Nervous Conditions- 65 min
+ annotating
Chapters 6-10
Monday, March 4, 2013
Perspective of Nyasha
I must say that chapter 6 was a doozie.... I never saw that one coming. So, no better person to personify than Nyasha.
When I first read the altercation in the text I almost thought, it was all just a joke or a dream, that non of what was happening was happening. Yet I was wrong, and to my surprise the quarrel intensified. I could only imagine seeing things from the teenage point of view of Nyasha. my first thoughts were that everyone in the room must have been in complete shock. I think that Nyasha was both shocked and expectant of the violent beat down. Yet to experience such a traumatic turn of events at such a young age must have some long term effect, but we may not know until later chapters... Though Nyasha has shown to be a very reluctant, resilient, determined, and rebellious individual, I think a brutal assault such as the one administered by Babamukuru would rattle and change any individual. I definitely think her perspective on everything like Babamukuru, school, the mission, even the entire world will be permanently changed forever. We will not find out until later in the book if any of my presumptions are correct. So until then, back to reading.
When I first read the altercation in the text I almost thought, it was all just a joke or a dream, that non of what was happening was happening. Yet I was wrong, and to my surprise the quarrel intensified. I could only imagine seeing things from the teenage point of view of Nyasha. my first thoughts were that everyone in the room must have been in complete shock. I think that Nyasha was both shocked and expectant of the violent beat down. Yet to experience such a traumatic turn of events at such a young age must have some long term effect, but we may not know until later chapters... Though Nyasha has shown to be a very reluctant, resilient, determined, and rebellious individual, I think a brutal assault such as the one administered by Babamukuru would rattle and change any individual. I definitely think her perspective on everything like Babamukuru, school, the mission, even the entire world will be permanently changed forever. We will not find out until later in the book if any of my presumptions are correct. So until then, back to reading.
Evaluation
For my C layer 1 I chose to annotate all the chapters, do four reading logs, and create an unknown words test. All in all I am happy with what I choose. In order form easiest to hardest the test would have to be the easiest and the annotations would have to be the hardest, leaving the reading logs in the middle. The test was the easiest to manage with the annotations since if I saw an unfamiliar word in the test all I would have to do is just box it and continue annotating. Therefore, I could multi task and progress on two projects at once. Next, would be the reading guides. The only reason these would pose a problem difficulty wise, is when I would wait to complete them, instead of doing them right after I read the chapter. This would pose a problem, causing me to have to go back and reread parts of the chapter. Finally, annotating... This was the most painful process by far. Considering the fact that the text is so small, the chapters are so long, and the book feels like it drags on forever. What would normally take thirty minutes to read a chapter, takes 50 minutes to read a chapter and annotate. Yet the perks of annotating allow you to grasp the story better and notice things that you would normally pass up. I chose the same exact projects to do the next time around in the C layer 2.
Reading times:
2/26- read Nervous Conditions- 50 min + annotate 2/27- read Nervous Conditions- 55 min 2/28- read + annotate Nervous Conditions- 50 min + annotate
Chapters:
3-6
Reading times:
2/26- read Nervous Conditions- 50 min + annotate 2/27- read Nervous Conditions- 55 min 2/28- read + annotate Nervous Conditions- 50 min + annotate
Chapters:
3-6
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