Final Project

Silent No More.

Due to the struggle i'm having uploading this to youtube, my gmail created a link so i could view it off of my email . Please click the link labeled "Silent No More." to watch our final project.

Project In Progress

My group spent our time going over the stories for the "draw my life" project. We practiced drawing our stories and talked over how were going to record the footage and when we're going to do the VoiceOver's for the drawing segments. We cleared out any confusion and almost executed a schedule of when we will meet up and  record the project. It was a very productive day. 

Best Of Am Lit.

I feel like there are a lot of things i did really well throughout the year, but as always i feel like i could have done so much better and tackled every assignment, test and essay in different ways. Though i do not regret any road i have chosen to take for this course so far, i do know that i am always open for improvement and for that reason i have nothing to list for what I've done best, because i am aware that everything i have done and can do as far in life in general can always be improved.

Project Proposal

Thanks to Danny George's help, My group managed to stumble across a project labeled: "Draw My Life." It's a project where each member in the group literally draws out their past and present life on a white board and explains the events that took place.

Here's An Example.

My Brag Sheet.

Academics/ Awards:
* Honor Roll 7th-8th Grade
*Golden Warrior 9th-11th Grade
*3.6 weighted GPA

\Volunteer:
*Youth Teacher
*Feeding the homeless
*Church Pianist/Drummer/ Dancer 
*Childrens' praise dance/ flagging teacher

Skills:
*Great with children
*Quick learner
*Communication skills
*Team Player
*Reliable 
*Confident
*Hardworking

Travel:
*DC, Washington 
*Atlanta, Georgia
*South Carolina

Gonzo

First thought that came to my mind when I begun to read this was how strange the font was, some of the letters were pushed together and the font made it a small struggle to process it all.

The second thing i noticed was, this story makes the bare minimum of sense, disorganized and no solid foundation for a theme, these things made it difficult to even want to continue the story.

There will be some quotes i read that i won't be posting due to the fact that half of it is full of nothing but vulgar language and the ones i tend to comment on don't seem to have a censored word in the entire sentence.

"Say," he said, "you look like you might be in the horse business. . . am i right?"
Out of all the things. . he felt that he was in the horse business? Okay. . .

He laughed, "Well damn What're you gonna take pictures of- -nekkid horses?"
Either this character is lacking excessive amounts of grammar or he is beyond belligerent.

"I almost crushed a Volkswagen full of nuns when I  swerved to catch the right exit."
Hmm. . .

Johnny Cyberpunk

Okay so this wasn't exactly a genre I was feeling too much due to the fact that as much as i love technology i can't stand it at the same time. It's so useful yet it can be so stupid at the same time. So "Cyberpunk" definitely isn't a genre I'm about to go dropping $5 for on amazon.

This story was about a man named Johnny who has important information stored into his head that he's unable to retrieve. The man who has placed this information in his head (Ralfi) basically want's Johnny dead which i found rather strange due to the fact he's the only one able to retrieve it. . . anyways ! Instead of making things simple Ralfi hires Yazuka assassins to kill Johnny and extract the information placed in his heads with devices called squids, the story didn't go into detail but I'm assuming the squids are used to extract information. After that it all seemed EXTREMELY long so i started to skim, due to my superb skimming skills i can tell you that Johnny was rescued by a woman named Molly and from what i saw she was made out of blades? Then the story gets a kinda violent after Molly saved Johnny, mainly due to the fact that after she saves him and takes custody of Ralfi the assassins he hired end up cutting him into pieces , after Johnny realized how much danger he's in he asks Molly to get him a squid so he can completely remove the implanted information out of head. Later on into my skimming i stumbled across the word heroine ? That threw me off a bit but i managed to see that in the end The assasins cut their hands off and the "Lo Tek" (I have no idea who that is guys) is killed. Johnny becomes the new Lo Tek and works on getting his memories back.

I know that was a terrible description, but in my defense my doctor diagnosed me with Junior Itis and it's very severe. The daily dose of learning he's prescribed has yet to cease any of the symptoms so I'm hoping for a full recovery over the summer ! Thank you for understanding (:

Postmodern who?

Sorry guys! I realized i never posted my groups project video . Shelbi Nunes, Danny George and i created a hacked/remixed version to the movie trailer "The Purge."  Please enjoy (:

My Slaughterhouse.

There are many ways and forms of postmodernism, and even more examples of postmodernism that can be given. Postmodernism is the act of denying the existence of lifes principals and breaking it's fourth wall. It's pretty much the same thing as hacking but with more opportunities and options. Because there are really no "Do's" or "Don'ts" in postmodernism, Slaughterhouse-Five is a great example of postmodernism and what it's really about.

Vonnegut's novel is a great example of postmodernism because it has no limits. The book is chock full of unexpected events and unthinkable surprises that fill the readers head with limitless questions. Slaughterhouse-Five is consistently breaking the fourth wall of traditional literature throughout the entire novel. Most authors make an effort to have a set structure and order laid out for their novels before they're published but Vonnegut strays away from the normal novel structure and decides to chop and screw or "hack" the chronological order of traditional novels and change it into something that show's the readers who he really is. At that note, that brings up another important key to executing postmodernism, self expression.

Self expression is one of the main elements to postmodernism, theres really no point in denying the existence of principals if you're not denying your own principals. Postmodernism isn't breaking the rules of others, it's breaking your own, thats why Vonnegut's novel is so unique. He achieved breaking the walls through his own standards and because of that the walls will never be broken in that same way again. The beauty of Postmodernism is that it's never the same. Due to the fact that self expression is one of the main ingredients needed to stew up a good pot of post modernism strew, every expression of it is different. 

The last thing needed to succeed in creating a nice batch of postmodernism is to break away from the "do's" and "don'ts". There really are no limits to postmodernism, if Vonnegut were to have stayed in the few limits traditional literature had to offer when he was publishing the book it would be similar to any other book. The
"do's" and "don'ts" are restrictions to full self expression, when one is told what they can and cannot do they can only allow themselves to think and create within the small boundaries provided. Breaking away from what society does and does not approve of opens endless possibilities onto the creativity table, it's what's needed for complete self-expression. 

Vonnegut is Postmodernism, and a great inspiration to other postmodernist. His works are not only inspiring but eye opening, the postmodernism used in Slaughterhouse-five was so compelling that it was able to leave even some of the most serious readers in awe. Vonnegut concocted the perfect recipe to postmodernism, and it will continued to be passed down for many generations to come.  

SCHLACHTOF VIER, FÜNF UND SECHS.

Chapter 4:
On the night of Billys daughters wedding night, Billy can't sleep because he is aware he is going to be abducted again by the Tralfalmadorians. He asks why he's being abducted and the aliens explain their is no reasoning why.( This scene reminds me of the movie Dark Skies, it was a movie about Aliens called the greys abducting random humans for no reason. Great movie, highly recommend it by the way.) Billy ends up time traveling back to the war then time travels again back to his childhood.

Chapter 5:
In this chapter, Billy goes back to his childhood again but later ends up back in the war where he is welcomed by some British soldiers. After they realize how pathetic Billy's war group is he time travels to a mental hospital then back to Tralfalmadore. Billy also travels to his wedding night and back to the war where he encounters Kurt Vonnegut. (The rest of the chapter is a little blurry and awkward from then on . .)

Chapter 6:
This chapter is still in the progress of being understood. . .

SCHLACHTOF DREI & SCHLACHTOF VEIR

"The dog, who had sounded so ferocious in the inter distances, was a female German shepherd. She was shivering. Her tail was between her legs."

-The dog named princess appeared to be strong and frightening but was kind of a scaredy cat when it came to the war. Her names Princess, the hell did you expect ?


"And Weary, bug-eyed with terror, was being disarmed."

-Yeah Karmas a bitch ain't it? You can't go around acting like a pompous asshole then expect life to flow the way you want it.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things i cannot change, courage to change the things i can, and wisdom always to tell the difference."

-This scripture has helped me deal with a lot of people in the 805, one of my favorites and very pleasant to run into in the book.

"Bill crashed into Weary;s shoulder, and Weary cried out sobbingly. "Walk Right! Walk Right!"

-Weary all i gotta say is MAN UP! MAN UP! You're representing your country in the war and so far the only thing i can remember about you is that you're overweight and you like to bully people. Crying isn't adding good things to my perception of you.

.

"Billy stood there politely giving the marksman another chance."

-So he shot at you and you're giving him another chance . .? Ok. . moving on.

"He had been unpopular because he was stupid  and fat and mean, and smelled like bacon no matter how much he washed."

-That's a rather unfortunate . . sad thing is today's generation is obsessed with bacon. This Ronald Weary kid
would be the hottest kid on the block in today's world.

"It made Weary sick to be ditched. When Weary was ditched, he would find somebody who was even more unpopular than himself, and he would horse around with that person for a while, pretending to be friendly. And then he would find some pretext for beating the shit out of him."

-Woah, woah, woah ! I had a little sympathy for this guy before but he sounds like a straight up douchebag.

"It was a crazy, sexy, murderous relationship Weary entered into with people he eventually beat up."

-I'm too in shock that he had the audacity to say he had a sexy relationship with someone he supposedly "beat the shit" out of.

"Bullet proof bible,"

-Bullet proof . . . what?

"He had a prophylactic kit containing two tough condoms "For the Prevention of Disease Only!"

-Weren't MEN the only one's allowed to fight in the war back then? Why in the blue hell do you have condoms?

"He was a little boy taking a shower with his hairy father ar Ilium Y.M.C.A."

-That was a very disturbing image i wish i could unsee.

This is ABSURD.!!!

Like i always do before i have inappropriate comments on my blog posts, i'm apologizing ahead of time. My grammar and language used isn't very sophisticated or appropriate but Preston asked for absurd, so he's getting absurd.

Absurd: Wildly unreasonable, illogical or inappropriate .
Or as i like to say, f**kin ridiculous.

The thing i find absurd in life was actually inspired by school this week.
What did we do you may ask? We had CST's otherwise known as star testing. Those test have to be the most ABSURD way of defining a student to ever hit the planet. The test is pretty much filled with a bunch of pointless crap about 90 % of us will never use past high school and the state feels like it's a good way to understand the students education. But look at the facts California ! You put students in a small classroom for two to three hours and test them on questions from way back when and still have the audacity to feel the need to word the test questions in difficult ways that are supposedly supposed to "make us think". Do you guys really think that's the way to understand how smart a student is? Cramming them in a room with 5 subjects we're all forced to take? Over a third of the students BS their way through them and don't even read the questions anyways! You're not only wasting our time but you're also fooling yourselves. If we need standardized testing so much then why don't they give the CST to all working men and women in California every year and determine if that means they're qualified to do their jobs? News flash!, more than a third of them wouldn't pass it.! You claim we need testing to be better leaders of the world yet you lack the knowledge of what we test in yourselves? How bout you roll to Obama's house and ask him to find the sum of an infinite geometric series and determine whether or not he's smart enough to run the country? I'm sorry but standardized testing AIN'T SH*T.!  Stop being hypocrites, you guys don't know half the crap  your dishing out and you're trying to categorize teenagers based on it. That my friends is ABSURD. Standardized testing never has made sense and never will make sense and quite frankly, i find it ab to the frikken surd to think it's ok to judge us all on it.

Gatsby Essay

I'm not entirely sure if we were expected to just simply answer the questions of the Gatsby Essay prompt or if we were to respond to it. I chose a response in an essay format and i feel as if i executed the questions asked in the prompt correctly. Please feel free to comment any remarks or suggestions, i welcome other's insight and i feed off of ways to improve.

Thank You for your time,
~Jasmine D. Beebe

Prompt: 

In a novel or play, a confidant (male) or a confidante (female) is a character, often a friend or relative of the hero or heroine, whose role is to be present when the hero or heroine needs a sympathetic listener to confide in. Frequently the result is, as Henry James remarked, that the confidant or confidante can be as much “the reader’s friend as the protagonist’s.” However, the author sometimes uses this character for other purposes as well.

What are the various ways Nick Carraway functions in The Great Gatsby?  How does he help give us the tour through Gatsby's world?  How does he help us get to know Jay Gatsby?  How does his presence change the course of the plot, the interactions between other characters, and/or the reader's understanding of the tone and theme of the novel?  What else (if anything) do you think Carraway's character accomplishes?  How would the book be different if the narration was provided by an anonymous, omniscient voice?

Essay:

A confidant is a character whose role is to be present in when the hero or heroine needs a sympathetic listener to confide in. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway is considered to the not only one of the main characters in the novel, but he also plays an important role as Gatsby’s confidant. Throughout the novel Fitzgerald has many different situations and conflicts in which Gatsby is involved in that often result in Gatsby turning to Nick to confide his problems in.  Due to this character set up, Nick plays a very valuable role in Gatsby’s character development in the novel.

As stated earlier, there are many situations in which Nick is the one Gatsby turns to in his time of need. Setting up a date with Nick’s cousin Daisy was Gatsby’s first step into becoming close to Nick. Though at first it appears as only a favor, before meeting Daisy Gatsby experiences a nervous breakdown about seeing Daisy.  Nick handles Gatsby’s problems very calmly regardless of the raging mental comments about Mr. Gatsby surging through his mind when these problems arise.  This aspect benefits the reader in the sense that it also informs them of Mr. Carraway’s perspective on Mr. Gatsby. Having a character who is involved with Mr. Gatsby instead of a regular Narrator gives a feel of understanding to the thoughts formed by Nick.  These thoughts not only bring the readers closer to the narrator but give the readers a different outlook on the characters that the narrator is thinking about, in some cases it can make the reader form a type of bond with the narrator that makes the story more pleasant.   “The modesty of the demand shook me. He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths so that he could “come over” some afternoon to a stranger’s garden.” This quote is one of the thought’s Nick was thinking when Jordan Baker mentioned Gatsby’s request. Though it may not appear as an important thought, it puts Gatsby’s request into perspective. Some readers may not have considered Gatsby’s request rather odd before reading this quote. It emphasizes Nick’s opinion and also questions the readers on who Gatsby really is. This could be considered a helpful asset in the terms of figuring out who Gatsby is and what he’s about.

                Gatsby is far from the only one to confide in Nick Carraway, though these characters may not be considered hero’s in the eyes of some readers, their characters are very essential to the novel. Daisy, Jordan and even Tom all have their moments of confessions to Nick. Referencing back to first chapter Nick states how he was “unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the grief’s of wild, unknown men. Most of the confidences were unsought-.” Fitzgerald clearly states Nick’s position as the confidant to a majority of characters within the first few sentences of the beginning of the novel. It’s as If he was writing an essay, he stated his thesis and backed it up with the confidences of Gatsby, Daisy, Tom and Jordan into Nick’s character.  Through these confessions, different points of view on each main character were practically handed to the readers of The Great Gatsby.  With so many different ways to view each character every reader was given the opportunity to pick and choose their outlooks on each character without any of their personalities already being completely provided. Bits and pieces of each character were dished throughout the novel and through the eyes of Nick Carraway, readers were given the glue to piece each character together based on what the facts and Nick’s opinions they had read about throughout the story.

Nick’s importance in the story is rather significant to the reader, due to the fact that he has one on one interaction with the characters to the novel; his opinions can be considered more valuable compared to the typical narrator.  Nick’s character not only provides a confidant to the characters in the story but it also gives some level of a confidant to the reader. Due to his lack of judgment readers may form a connection to Nick’s character that brings a certain realistic feel to the story. Opinions have a tendency to bring a more realistic feel to stories, it’s like when a acquaintance is discussing a frustrating experience for them, the details help the listener understand but it’s the feelings in the acquaintances that capture and help the listener better understand not only how the teller of the story felt but it also aid’s in giving the listener an opinion and a sense of relation to the topic as well. In the case of The Great Gatsby, Nick the story teller and we as the readers are the ones listening to his story.  Nick’s involvement and emotion in the novel is what pulls readers in. As a result, his feelings and descriptions become the readers as well.

“The Great Gatsby does not proclaim the nobility of the human spirit; it is not politically correct; it does not reveal how to solve the problems of life; it delivers no fashionable or comforting messages. It is just a masterpiece. The best reason to read literature is for pleasure.” (Matthew J. Bruccoli). The pleasure in Gatsby is not sought through the content of quality of the story; it’s the character’s that accompany the readers along the way. That is what makes the Gatsby experience so pleasurable.  

My Gatsby Character.

This character was inspired after i watched the trailer to the newest Gatsby movie and realized Tobey Maquire was in the movie. I enjoyed his quirkiness in the movie spiderman intriguing so i decided I'd make a character whose somewhat obsessed with him. I created this character before reading the blog and realizing she had to be a modern version but the thought of scrapping my work kinda peeved me off so i'm posting the original character too. The second Character i list will be my modern character.

Character Info:

Name: Pamela Dohee
Age: 27
Residence: East Egg
Personality: Raised in a life of luxury  Pamela Dohee has lived a rather lavish life. Her father is known to be one of the richest men in East Egg. Miss. Dohee spends her day meeting wealthy young men on dates her father arranges. Though showered in decadence, Miss. Dohee has no interest in material things. She enjoys nature and the simple things in life and an occasional glass of wine every evening. She's rather shy and has difficulties being as outspoken as her peers expect her to be but don't let this fool you, the quiet ones are always the ones you must watch out for.
Love interest: Nick Carroway.

~
Modern Version:

Due to my lack of following up the blog post because i think im such a know it all, this character was mostly thought of in a last minute sense so please bear with me. I've decided to switch it around and make it a male instead of a female due to the fact that many female of this generation don't appeal to me ( no offense ladies, just being real.) But regarding to what i said earlier, a modern character is very last minute so this short story won't have too much related to Gatsby besides a party theme.
Character Info:

Name: Jarid Pharr
Age: 17
Residence: Southern California/ Los Angeles
Personality:  -

I find it a little difficult to write a story on a last minute character so i'm not really going to "write a story" i'm just going to create and post the synopsis instead.

This story is about a teenager named Jarid Pharr preparing for his sweet 17 birthday party, a few problems arise during the last few preparations needed and he turns to his friends for help. But instead of receiving the help needed they complain and form excuses on why they can't help but they still manage to emphasize how essential it is for him to throw the party. Jarid spends hours trying to find help and correct the problems without any success. He attempts to ask his friends for help again and they still flake on him but this time they manage to threaten their friendship if Jarid fails to fix the problems. Jarid goes through every facebook friend, twitter/tumblr and instagram follower and still has a turn out of no help. He realizes that the party wont bring him closer to his friends but only let his friends eat closer into his wallet and he decides to cancel the party. Realizing that money really can't buy happiness.

And that ladies and gents is my poorly written, ghetto synopsis.

The Last Chapter Of Gatsby

Woah.
I got so into what happened to Gatsby in the last chapter that i actually forgot to take active reading notes while i was reading it, i had so many questions and assumptions running through my head that i was just too impatient to want to set the book down long enough to jot down some notes on what i was thinking. The end chapter was not quite how i expected but i had somewhat of a feeling it would get to the point in which it had gotten to. As you guys know, i tend to let my grammatically correct guard down when im "being myself." on my blog. My thoughts are a bit on the blunt side and my reactions can be a bit on the rash side, so please bear with me as you read my notes.

"I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them."
This gold digger did not just cheat on her husband, kill a woman and straight up one two step her way out of the picture as soon as Gatsby was discovered for her crime. That is trifling as hell.

"Let me known about the funeral etc do not know his family at all."
So i guess Gatsby cut himself off. Damn, you go out like that for a gold digger? That's bold.

"After changing my clothes I went next door and found Mr. Gatz walking up and down excitedly in the hall."
UMM!? Didn't your son just DIE bro? You have no reason to be excited.

"But it was no use. Nobody came."
So all of ya'll can sure turn up for a Gatsby's parties but none of you guys can roll up for his funeral? Trifling.

"The poor son-of-a-bitch," he said."
Was that supposed to be sympathy?

After that i kinda faded out.. but i did enjoy the book! Crazy ending but not unsurprising. Money can buy you all the material things in the world, but love, friendship and family have no price.

Ch. 6 Active Reading Notes.

"He had been coasting along all too hospitable shores for five years when he turned up as James Gatz's destiny in Little Girls Bay."
Little Girls Bay? Please please please tell me this isn't a island where you pick up "little girls."

"I hadn't been there two minutes when somebody brought Tom Buchanan in for a drink. I was startled, naturally, but the really surprising thing was that it hadn't happened before."
Why is Tom and Gatsby's house is Gatsby is trying to swoop ( get with ) Tom's wife?

"If you want to kiss me any time during the evening, Nick, just let me know and I'll be glad to arrange it for you. Just mention my name. Or present a green card. I'm giving out green-"
Aren't Nick and Daisy cousins? Is she joking?

Ch 5 Active Reading Notes

" Gatsby, his hands still in his pockets was reclining against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of perfect ease, even boredom."
Wasn't he just freaking out in the previous paragraph? How is it that he manages to not only compose but also bore himself in such a short frame of time.

"Doe gasoline affect his nose?"
Referring to Daisy's driver. Fitzgerald didn't really specify the relevance of this snippet in the story but it did get me wondering why he added it.

"We haven't met for many years," said Daisy, her voice as matter of fact as it could be.
"Five years next November."
Pardon my slang in this next statement but Gatsby was just straight up creepin' when he said that. Having the date memorized any everything. Kinda obsessive if you ask me.

"They were sitting at either end of the couch looking at each other as if some question had been asked or was in the air, and every vestige of embarrassment was gone.  Daisy's face was smeared with tears and when i came in she jumped and began wiping at it with her handkerchief before a mirror."
Again, apologies for the slang i am about to use. Why in the blue hell is Daisy crying? and what the hell happened when Nick was chillin in the yard?

"Oh, i've been in several things," he corrected himself. "I was in the drug business and then i was in the oil business. But i'm not in either one now."
Sooo, are we talking about some hard core drugs or was he a pharmacist? Because Gatsby's starting to sound a little scandal. . .

I didn't really have to many opinions on this chapter, other than the fact that Daisy is interested in Gatsby because she's a gold digger and Tom's cheating on Daisy with another gold digger, the book hasn't formed too many opinions on my part. I guess i will see if more unfold as i progress deeper into the book.

Reflections.

I got 99 excuses and you probably don't give a damn about one of them.
My essay performance wasn't up to my standards, instead of following the prompt i ended up telling a  terrible story of what happened in the book. Essays have always been a weaker strength in my education and it is a goal for me to improve it. I understand that my writing was far from being up to par but it is because of that reason i am determined to learn and build off of the event instead of dwell and turn away from it.

MAPLAN Scavenger Hunt say whaaa.?

Have you ever gone to class and opened your book for an assignment, and as you're looking for the page you need you stumble across one of those "Turn to page 336 for a secret." ? We all know there isn't going to  be a secret and we all know we're going to end up frustrated at the fact we rummaged through over 15 pages just to get to the end with a dumb little message that normally states: "Idiot, there was no secret! ;) " Then we question why the hell we just wasted 5 minutes of our lives to read a sentence we already knew there was no answer to? Somewhere in each of our brains there's this curiosity tick that drives us to pry into something when we don't fully know the answer. So what if instead of reading paragraphs and essays we replicate that tick? But this time you're not wasting 5-10 minutes to find a dead end, this time you let that tick drive you to the fullest extent until you find out whats the big secret and why it's worth your while and this time you actually learn something in the end. You find knowledge to something you never would have thought to think twice about learning, and you have fun doing it.

Amanda, Danny, Carla, Melissa, Shelby and hopefully Lissette and I hope to pull off a "Blog Scavenger Hunt" for our authors. The layout is still a little rough and we're still brainstorming on how to tie it all together. As i'm thinking about it i feel like we will have certain quotes, facts, links and traces left over our blogs and/or the internet. We may start off with a few quotes, facts, hints and clues on our blogs about the modernist we chose, then we plan to post a link to a YouTube video, poem, website or post a picture that relates to the author on our blogs or one of the members in the group to get the "Who is it?" thought process going. We will then end the post with a link to one of our group members blogs whose modernist has a relation in some way shape or form with the modernist we are doing. The last few words on the posts will be a very strong quote that will give the reader a idea on who the modernist is. As they bounce from blog to blog and search from clue to clue they will end up on a possible video (unconfirmed ) that will end the scavenger hunt and announce who the modernist is. The video should include more quotes and facts and our own opinions on the modernist.

I hope that all made sense, i was rambling quite a bit! But i promise that the deliverance of the project will be more clear and a lot more interesting than a scrambled up paragraph.

Short Story: Vocab Style

My short story is going to include Zombies, a Hospital and a divorced couple.

Anthony Hanes ex wife Jennifer suffered from constant chronic fever attacks which resulted in her hospitalization. Though he and Jennifer had been divorced for over three years, Anthony still had a deep sentimental feelings that arose within him every time he took the kids to go visit her. He longed to make things right and to continue to be with her, but she had remarried and he was a man of morality. As much as he wanted her, he would forever keep his feelings to himself.

On the 23rd of December, 2012, Anthony headed to the hospital with his daughter Amanda and his twin sons Jacob and Jason, who suffered from severe panic attacks due to a birth defect during his delivery. Jennifer had collapsed at work again from another one of her fever episodes, and even though he knew he could have done nothing to help her, he felt a tugging remorse throughout his body as though it was his fault. Upon arrival to the hospital Anthony and the kids got stuck in traffic. People were shouting and honking, screaming about how they all had places to go. Anthony caught sight of an acquaintance of his and called out to him. He explained that the traffic had suddenly come to a abrupt halt and the cops told everyone to stay inside their cars with the doors locked and to keep noise to a minimum if they see anything suspicious. Anthony felt a queasy feeling of discomfort form in the pit of his stomach as he quickly rolled up the windows and leaned back into his seat nervously.

"What happened?", his daughter asked warily. Before Anthony could answer the twins began to laugh hysterically.

"Something funny?", Anthony asked, clearly irritated. Before the twins had time to answer they were interrupted by a loud piercing scream from a few cars ahead. The twins began to move around uncomfortably and try to leave but Anthony wouldn't allow it. He knew they were bothered by the scream  because it had bothered him very much as well. To lighten the mood Anthony turned the radio on hoping it would somehow soothe the terrifying noise they had heard earlier.

"Bzzpt. . . The Apacol . . .Bzzzzpt. . . has begun. . . Bzzpt . . .unexplained. . .Bzzpt. . . phenomenon occurring . . . Bzzpt. . . world wide."  The silence in the car was intense, the kids sat in the back breathing heavily trying to conceal their feelings of panic. Jason began to breathe rapidly as his cheeks turned a bright read and his skin began to flush. Anthony tried to figure out what was wrong when Jason made an implication towards the cars windshield. Before them a grotesquely hideous creature stood just inches away from the car. Screaming coming from one corner and crying from the other. Anthony revved up the car engine and attempted to reverse the car to move away further but ended up hitting the car behind him as a result. The zombie inched closer to the car as Anthony frantically searched around for an alternative. Amanda begun scream as a slender one armed zombie pushed up against the passengers window of the car, the glass cracked slowly but the they were spreading quick. Amanda began to tug and pull at her car seat but couldn't seem to unbuckle herself underneath all of the panic. Jason begun to shake rapidly and sweat excessively due to a panic attack then fainted underneath all of the stress and fear surging through his body. The zombie on the passengers window then broke through the glass and tugged on Amanda's shirt until he was able to bite into her neck and take a chunk of flesh with him. The savage monster than came towards Jason and Jacob ripping them limb from limb. The trauma overwhelmed Anthony as he felt the last ounce of his sanity leave his body. The zombie then wrapped its arms around the collar on Anthony's shirt and pulled him to his rotting blood stained teeth, his teeth only millimeters away from his flesh. Seconds feel like hours as the zombie takes a bite out of his jugular and the world fades to black. You have died. 

That ending was a little confusing huh? Lemme spare you from my blabbing and sum it up into ten simple words. The story setting was a video game and you lost. Interesting twist? Or just a quick way to end a story? Well actually it was both, i found the ending both interesting and a quick way for me to prevent myself from scraping the entire story and turning it into a novel. Hope you enjoyed.! Please stop by again soon. (:

Joe College.!

So i'm not entirely sure why the title is "Joe college." Maybe it's a joke where "joe" stands for "yo" and its sayin 'YO COLLEGE.!" Bad joke? Yeah...i thought you guys might feel that way.

Aside from the bad jokes and confusion, Let's talk about college!!


What Campuses interest you?
I don't have too many colleges in mind at the moment. For now my goal is to start hancock senior year and finish as soon as possible. I feel that junior colleges not only help save money, but they help prep students for the college life and also give them a chance to see if college is right for them. Some Universities i want to transfer to are :

*USC
*Cal State Northridge/ LA/ Long Beach/Dominguez Hills
*San Jose State
*Loyola Marymount

Besides those, I'm still searching and researching colleges in California that spark interest.

What fields interest you?
If you're a frequent visitor of my blog you know that i'm still figuring myself out. As much as i'd love to have an idea on why i want to go to college and what i want to do, i don't. Whenever i begin to think of what i like or what i want to do i get overwhelmed from the hardcore searching i do to figure it out. Hobbies like cooking and dancing interest me, but i don't intend to pay money to turn them into a profession, so i plan to keep searching for a career i can pursue by receiving a college education.

What challenges and opportunities do you foresee in the process of planning life after high school?
Challenges? I'd have to say the biggest challenge i would have to overcome after high school is myself, figuring out who i am and what's my purpose. I tend to over analyze and look into things that i want to learn and in the end i find myself even more lost than before. I have no doubt i can successfully make it through my college years without any major problems, maybe a few financial troubles here and there, but for the most part ill just have to defeat myself. I feel a lot of opportunities will be coming for me after high school. New experiences and people, it might help me figure out what i want to do so i can plan out how i want to do it.


There are many questions i have about college and my future but i honestly feel that in the end i will rise transcend above even my own expectations and become something great. Hell, who knows! I just might major in the culinary arts and become the next Betty Crocker! ;-)


Thanks again for stopping by on my blog guys! It's much appreciated. ❤

I Am Langston Hughes

"We younger Negro artists now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they aren't, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too... If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn't matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, as strong as we know how and we stand on the top of the mountain, free within ourselves."

~Langston Hughes

I Am Langston Hughes

I am a African American poet, novelist and playwright from the Harlem Renaissance .

I am on of the important and well known writers of the Harlem Renaissance who influenced many African American poets for many generations.

I am heavily influenced by my beloved hometown Harlem.

I am a graduate of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania .

I am not afraid to be who I am.
(Hughes quoted:  "No great poet has ever been afraid of being himself")

I Am Langston Hughes

Introducing Langston Hughes

While i was getting into the research of the modernist i chose, i found five facets that stood out to me that i would like to share with you all. So sit back, relax and enjoy my marvelous list. ❤

Facts about Langston Hughes: 

❦ Hughes poetic interest began after the death of his grandmother who raised him after his parents seperated after birth and were not around enough to take care of him. Hughes then moved back in with his mother where they moved from several different cities before settling in Ohio.

I listed this fact because i feel that this struggle with his family was what brought him into poetry, though i cannot find information to verify it, if feel it inspired his earlier writing.

 ❦Hughes was a regular contributor to his high school literary magazine and submitted to other poetry magazines regardless of the fact they would reject his work.

I found this interesting, people refused to accept and read his work but he didn't let that slow him down or hold him back. He made an effort to continue doing what he loved even if others hated it.

 ❦He traveled to Africa, Spain and Paris to help develop his poetry.

Considering the fact i find interest in the culinary arts i feel that this is important. They say great chefs gain their greatness from the experiences they discover, normally by traveling the world. Hughes traveled various part of the world as well. Do you think this contributed to the quality of his work?

❦ While working as a busboy at a D.C. hotel restaurant, he met American poet Vachel Lindsay. He introduced his work to the poet and as a result he promoted Hughes poetry to a wider audience. Because of this, his poem "The Weary Blues" won first prize in Opportunity magazine and was granted a full scholarship to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.

Funny how you never know who and where you'll run into people. Who would have thought busing tables at a hotel would be the beginning of Hughes big break?

❦Hughes home in Harlem became New York City Landmark status after his death in 1981 and his works are now translated and published all throughout the world.

He was raised in a time were Blacks were not considered to be equal and were once looked down upon, now his work his praised and studied all though out the globe. Now THAT is an achievement!


~That concludes my facts on Langston Hughes. Thanks for stopping by!


                                       - Jasmine Beebe ღ 

Spring Vocabulary # 6

Chronic: constant, not getting better
Sentiment: feeling, attitude towards something
Morality: conformity to rules, moral conduct
Remorse: deep/painful regret
Defect: imperfection, shortcoming
Acquaintance: A person known to one (normally not close friends)
Sanity: The state of a sound mind/being sane.
Implication: to imply or suggest something
Alternative: Another option; two or more possibilities
Savage: fierce and cruel
Phenomenon: observable occurance

Applied Modernism

So what is modernism anyway?
From what I've gathered on Modernism, it can be a very difficult word to define because it can be seen and understood in many different shapes and forms. Modernism is a style or movement of the arts that aims to break away from traditional and classical forms of life. I find it funny how Modernism was considered to be low quality compared to Romanticism when they both tie together in the sense that they try to break away from tradition. . .

Anyways, every story we have read in Dr. Preston's class has been considered to be a form of Modernism. For example;

Fahrenheit 451:
Genre: Modernism
How is this Modernism you might ask?
Well if you've read the book it practically screams why it's important to break away from certain rules and traditions. The entire story the main character is going against the law and the government because society was destroying peoples thought processes. Only but a few throughout the story actually had their own opinions and most of those opinions were only meant to save their own asses.  This book had not only unintentionally predicted today's brainwashed society but also pointed out what the world will become of if people don't break away from some of the insane traditions some expect us to follow.

Another example you ask? I'll name three more for you.

Theme for English B
Genre: Modernism
This poem's modernist nature is rather subtle in my opinion. At the time Langston Hughes wrote this poem some of the "traditions" of his time were that blacks were not to be treated equal as the white man was. This poem was about racism and how it should cease to exist and never should have existed. He wrote about how we are all human so we should be treated equally. Do you recall my definition of modernism earlier? "to break away from traditional and classical form of life. ." Langston Hughes wanted to be heard regardless of the color of his skin, he wanted people to shake away the residue of racism so they could begin to build a wall of equality. Racism was a "traditional" form of life when this poem was written, so when he were to write against it? That is what made it modernism

Richard Cory
Genre: Modernism
Have you ever heard of the phrase "money can't buy happiness.?" Though the saying is very straight forward and in most cases it's true many people fail to see the big picture of it all. I feel as if this was a modernist poem in the sense that many people DO believe that money can buy them happiness. I mean, who wouldn't be happy if they could pay all their bills and still have a little somethin' somethin' to upgrade their car or plasma screen? But does that material thing give you real happiness? If a relative passes or your significant other leaves you, does that item still bring you happiness.? Not a damn chance.
But then again, one might say;

"Whenever Richard Cory went down town, we people on the pavement looked at him. He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored and imperially slim." I mean, he's rich and he appears to be happy right? "In fine we thought he was everything, To make us wish that we were in his place." And look.! His money even brought him admirers and friends! Why money can obviously get you more than material items right? RIGHT!?

Simmer down, simmer down now. If you take no less than three seconds to skim the last line . . "And Richard Cory, oine calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head."

Didn't expect that did you? One might wonder HOW and WHY someone with so much wealth and power could be so depressed to the point of suicide. As i stated earlier money does not bring you happiness. You could ask Oprah Winfrey herself if having a little extra change made her life more joyful. And just like any other human being with money would say, her answer would be a big N to the O, NO. In fact i know some of the most less fortunate people around and even they seem to live a life for of more joy and happiness than mine. Apologies for the rambling, the main point i tried to get across was that money never has and never will bring you happiness. I consider this modernism in the sense that the world idolizes money. All these commercials and upgrades for technology, who wouldn't want more money? Richard Cory was a poem that reminds us that you can have all the money in the world but still never have enough to buy your true happiness.

And last but very far from the least;
The Seven Years. (You can watch the story here )
Genre: Modernism
I'm going to sum this eight page story up in less than eight sentences so those who have not read the story (though i recommend you read most of the things i post about), will understand where i'm coming from. Basically this is a story about a shoemaker(Feld), a college student (Max), his assistant (Sobel) and his daughter (Miriam). Feld's daughter Miriam is a very hardworking and bright young lady, though regardless of her intelligence she would rather be independent than go off to college. This troubles Feld so he set's his eyes on one of his customers, a college student named Max. He hopes that Max will rub off on his daughter and convince her to go to college and provide her a secure future. He sets up an outing for the two and this upsets Sobel and leaves work and does not return. Miriam and Max go on two dates before Miriam tells her dad she no longer wishes to see Max because of his materialist nature. Feld goes looking for Sobel after failing to find a replacement assistant, when he goes after Sobel he finds out that he left because Sobel is deeply in love with Miriam. After becoming rather angry at Sobels feelings, Feld decides Sobel may marry Miriam when she turns 21. Sobel returns to work the next day.

I had a few mixed feelings about this pieces but none the less it has quite a few messages within it. I'm not entirely sure what the modernist nature in this was but i think because of the fact that when this story was written, women were not considered to have the ability of independence. The shoemakers daughter Miriam is a very unique character considering the time the story was written. Not only was she offered a college education but she also had the ability to do things on her own. In a sense Miriam was the modernist of the story, she didn't care to be a housewife but a independent worker with a business of her own. For her time that was considered to be rather unusual. She didn't care about the rules (breaking free of traditional or classical forms of life ) as long as she did what she wanted to do.



And that Ladies and Gents, is how i applied Modernism.

Modern Writing Today

As i stated in my journal earlier, to me modern defines as "now". As in anything happening right now  is considered modern in my point of view. What was modern 5 years ago and what's modern now are completely different when you take the time to think about it. Five years ago it was considered abnormal for children to own apple products and cellphones. Now, its considered normal and "modern" for one to own an expensive phone along with their children. Modern technology and literature changes like fashion, what was modern yesterday might be old fashion compared to whats modern today. It changes and progresses quickly without notice. The "modern me" definitely changes on a regular,  i learn new things about myself and create a new image physically and mentally. Those things affect the way i write. As i grow and progress in life i modernize myself more, causing my writing style to mature and have a deeper meaning. Modernizing is equivalent to an upgrade, you need it to keep up with today's society.

My Modernist

Picking someone from history to research isn't really my thing, so the first thing i did was Google the small handful listed. I figured that i'd pick based on if anything caught my eye in the first sentence that i had read from their biographies. At first i clicked the few that had a link attached  then as i began to Google the others, one name in particular, caught my eye.

Langston Hughes

I thought to myself, "Wasn't he the one who wrote that swim deep poem on what it was like to attend school as an African American student?" 

I was immediately captivated. Though my plans to journey my history this month of February came to an abrupt halt when i nearly began searching, i love embracing my culture and ancestors. African American poets and writers have always captivated me in ways so deep i can hardly comprehend. Something about the fact of how our history is about how we came from the lowest of the seas and managed to swim to the top and build our own legacy. Something about their struggle . Their pain and confusion. The emotion, captivates me. It draws me in so deep i feel the need to grab hold to something of reality so i can stay afloat. That being said i look forward to searching deeper, unleashing the emotions behind his work that built the meaning in his legacy to get a whole different perspective of understanding about LIFE. . . it captivates me. I'm very much looking forward to this, and i hope to get back to you all very soon. So please...stay tuned. .

The Seven Years

I thought this story was very interesting. It pointed out something a lot of teenagers and people struggle with these days. They keep searching for a love that they can't get when their true love was right in front of them the entire time. I didnt relate to any of the characters though i did feel bad for the assistant because i had a feeling he had an interest in the shoemakers daughter from the beginning  of the story so when the shoemaker went off on him i felt for him in a small way. All in all this was a nice story. Though i still find myself wondering what went down with max and Miriam. .

Spring Vocab 5

brouhaha: A noisy and overexcited critical response, chaotic  

cloy: Disgust in overly sweet people (like how squidward hates spongebob) 

demeanor: Outward behavior or bearing 

deference: Humble submission and respect. 

enigmatic:  Difficult to interpret or understand 

definitive: serving to provide a final solution or to end a situation; serving to define or specify precisely bumptious: Arrogant  

choleric: bad-tempered 

bulwark:  solid wall-like structure raised for defense  

curtail: To cut short or reduce adamant: extremely hard substance 

profligate: freely , excessively  

mawkish: Overly emotional  thwart: 

Prevent (someone) from accomplishing something 

onus: Used to refer to something that is one's duty or responsibility 

requisite: Made necessary by particular circumstances or regulations. 

mollify:Appease the anger or anxiety of (someone). 

sartorial: Of or relating to tailoring, clothes, or style of dress 

presentiment: An intuitive feeling about the future 

impromptu: Prompted by the occasion rather than being planned in advance

 forbearance:  refraining from the enforcement of something 

remit: Cancel or refrain from exacting or inflicting

BOB I

Here is the ranking for period one in Dr.Preston's AmLit class

1.Teanna Silvera:  57 posts; work is thoroughly done
2. Chance Miranda: 49 posts, not only did I enjoy the blogs set up but the work posted is very well done3.Miya Velazquez : 49 posts; plain design but good work

4.Danny George:  47 posts, capturing blog setup and thoroughly done work
5.Syerra Fox:  46 posts, beautiful  blog setup and good work posted
6.Vanessa Vargas: 45 posts; eye catching design and nice work
7.Alyssa Barajas: 41 posts, colorful blog with great work
8.Michalia Bohard: 39 posts, nice blog but some could be confused why work isn’t in front of them when they click on the blogs link
9.Roman Davis: 38 posts, nice blog and excellent work
10. Cameron Reese: 32 posts; nice work and interesting blog set up
11.Karla Paredes:  31 posts, beautiful blog and nice work
12.Alicia Ramierz: 30 posts, beautiful blog and consistent work for the most part
13.Matt Reynolds:  28 posts but very nice work
14.Nick Paulus:  28 posts; great content but not too much is associated with the course
15.Diego Tejada-More: 22 posts; nice design but litter description with work
16.Jarrett Anzalone:  22 posts, I like the background of the blog but the work could use a little more information.
17. Shelby Hennick:  about 21 posts, beautiful blog setup
18.Carlos Serranos: 21 posts; plain blog but good content
19.Patricia Tuttle: 16 posts; plain design but very nice work
20. Derek Gonzalez:  16 posts, plain blog but some of the work is there
21.Jacob Bigelow: 15 posts, nice blog. Background and work are very nice
22. Jessica Wilkins :  12 things posted; beautiful design
23.Frank Limon: Only has 12 posts but his blog makes many people smile regardless of the lack of content
24.Jonah Maher:  11 posts, new student and is caught up very well for his first semester

25. Jose Farias:  10 posts?  Im not entirely sure how much was posted but the work posted is good

26.Taylor Martinez:  10 posts, not much work besides the vocab and nothing particularly interesting about it.

27. Joseph Beas:  10 posts, not very much work

28. Amanda Cagle:  7 posts, new student. Appears to post good work

29. Kyler Stickler:  7 posts, calming background but not much work is posted

30.Melissa Hernandez:  7 posts, gorgeous blog but lacks much of the course work

31. Miguel Moreno:  I think 6 posts? This blog was nice but difficult for me to navigate compared to the other blogs

32. Shelbi Nunes:  6 posts, eye catching background but not much work

33. Cory Grant:  5 posts, nice blog but not much work

34. Trevor Henson:  1 post, that’s about it. . .

  

          Not Ranked 

Joshua Salcido: 0 posts. . . no..comment..

Joe Ortiz:  0 posts…plain background..no work..hmm..

Rosario Mena Ortiz: 0 posts?  I’m done, no more comments on blogs with 

nothing posted.

I am here. .

Do you ever feel as if the only person that notices your existence is you? Like life is lost and and it's taken you with it? Wanting to run up to someone, waving and jumping around screaming "HERE I AM! I'M RIGHT HERE!"? Those feelings your body tries so hard to solve but deep down you feel like that puzzle is only but a sweet nothing of your wildest dreams and fantasies. .

Most people do feel lost and hopeless and many more will find themselves giving up on themselves. This course has helped me a lot. I haven't figured out much but i'm slowly able to piece together who i am and who i want to be. I feel as if I've done pretty well in the first grading period of this semester so far, but i also know i can do so much better. I know that mentally i am capable of a lot of things but i just need to be able to carry it out physically. Physically the educational "fire" i had when i started this course is beginning to get run down by just life in general so i hope i can manage to rekindle it while I'm still ahead of the game. My SMART goal. . . hasn't really made much progress. As much as i know i want to go to college what i plan on achieving by going there is still a blur. My SMART goal was to help people get a better understanding of scholarships while i taught myself more about them but i don't even know what i want to do with myself after i graduate high school besides moving out and trying to create a better future for myself. There are so many things to do in this world and so many things people can make money off of, but when it comes to myself i feel lost and clueless. I guess it's going to be hard to figure out my future until I've figured out who i am today. Sometimes i even feel as if people know me better than i know myself. Before my SMART goal can be achieved i have to find myself so i can help others do the same.

So. . where are you?

Fahrenheit Facebook?

Add our characters on Facebook to see the book through their eyes.!

Montag: http://www.facebook.com/guy.montag.7927

Mildred: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005241609938

Beatty: http://www.facebook.com/beatty.captain.56

Clarisse: http://www.facebook.com/clarisse.mcclellan.509

Essay Postgame Analysis

I personally don't think my essay was worthy enough for the grade. Before i walked into class i felt very confident on writing the essay and when i read the prompt i got an extreme writers block. I thought i had something to go off of but in the end i not only ran out of time but it was all a bunch of pointless gibbering.  I think the best way for me to improve for the next essay assignment is to practice staying on the main points and following my essay outline. I also think it would be smart for me to start thinking
"Whats the theme of this book?"
"How does this relate to me?"
"Are there any hidden meanings within the text?"
"Will ____ be an important part of the story later on?"
And etc. I feel like because i read the book last year, reading the book this year was literally just reading. I didn't and haven't been putting my absolute best foot forward lately with my work and i need to step up my game hard core. I personally don't know how to grade my paper but i give in an A for effort! And i think that counts for something! (:

Parlor Poetry

So why did Bradbury chose Dover Beach of all poems for Montag to recite to the women in the book?

I recall discussing this question in class a few days ago, i believe it was Matt Reynolds who stated that this poem was an emotional poem but it was recited in an emotionless world. The poem is about love and happiness and these characters in the book are constrained by rules and media. The emotions expressed in this poem were so powerful and deep that it depressed Mildred's friend who had a deep melancholy they've been trying to kill off for so many years.

I wouldn't consider myself a deep poetry person so i tried to find a poem in the course that i would chose if i was in Montags place. The one that i found actually rather relevant turned out to be an essay instead of a poem but i figured poetry and essays are both forms of literature so they are similar enough for me to use the essay instead of a poem. I chose Emerson's essay on Self Reliance. Now i don't remember every nook and cranny of this essay but the one memory that drew me to the conclusion that this was the best candidate was the fact that it discussed how many of us are easy blinded by our generation. Many of us spend so much time on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,Tumblr and our cellphones that we rarely go outside and build strong social life's, Hell I've been one of them. Technology is an addiction and just like any other addiction, we lose ourselves in it. I know i can't stand those teachers who get so uptight about cellphones claiming they're willing to take my phone away if i'm caught texting because apparently "it takes away my ability to think". I do believe that cellphones are distracting but telling a student not to use their phone in class is like a parent telling their rebellious teenage daughter not to go to the biggest party of the school year. But what's the real reason we can't turn away from technology even just for a day? Because we are addicted to the lifestyle we live, and that's exactly what happened to Mildred and her friends. Seashells, parlor walls and cars we're who they were, they spent so much time using them that it became apart of them. What i like about Emerson's poem is how he claims that if we would just take the time to break away from the rules and the life's we live then we could easily find out who we really are. Mildred and her friends lost who they were, if they would have been willing to turn off "the family", take out the seashells, stop speeding and start cruisin' downthe street and pick up a book then i think they would behave like "normal" people should. I think Emerson's essay is a great eye opener and if Mildred and her friends took the time to listen they'd learn how to be their own people.

The Beebe Reunion.! I mean...recital...

I know guys, this assignment is way past its due. Don't mean to sound cliche but its better late than never.! but then again...never late is even better (:

This is my recital video, or in other words, Busted Beyonce. Not only is our singing a little hurtin', so are our faces so please be patient with us lol. Getting this was a beating, I video chatted with various people to sing with me and my computer wouldn't open the files so i ended up singing with my little sister. We normally can sing and harmonize a lot better than this, our practice together was cut rather short due to all of the technical and vocal difficulties.

Apologies once again, I had an off week so my works a little funky. I plan on getting caught up with everything and beginning my Black History Month post's sometime this week. Just catching up on a few things.! Hope you enjoyed

Modern to Postmodern

I was reading/skimming one of the recent posts Dr.Preston had uploaded on our blog and was reading these paragraphs written by David Foster Wallace, this one quote stood out to me a lot. Many teenagers live this quote in life daily. Dress, talk and act a certain way when they are in certain places just so they don't feel so alone. This quote is the average high school student. It addresses the issue so simply and gently but the message is so strong and loud.

"We enter a spiritual puberty where we snap to the fact that the great transcendent horror is loneliness, excluded encagement in the self. Once we’ve hit this age, we will now give or take anything, wear any mask, to fit, be part-of, not be Alone, we young." 

― David Foster Wallace

Spring Vocab Baby!!

Praetorian: having power of a person who administers law
Sieve: Utensil of a wire of plastic mesh strain.
Veiled: Partially concealed
Saccharine: artificial sweetener
Harlequin: traditional pantomime
Toil: work extremely hard
Delinquent: Young person who has committed minor crimes
Gibbering: speaking rapidly, unintelligibly
Insidious: proceeding in a gradual, subtle way with harmful side affects.
Strown: ???

Lit. Analysis Remix.!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

1. This book is about 16 year old Jacob and his journey to discover his grandfathers haunting past. After finding his grandfather murdered in the forest, Jacob has terrible nightmares and anxiety. His family signs him up for therapy and the therapist soon convinces him the only way to beat his fear is to face is head on, by visiting the orphanage his grandfather once lived in once his family sent him there to have a chance to survive the mass genocide in Germany. Jacob goes to the island which his grandfather grew up and finds the orphanage his grandfather had described, but everyone's dead? The orphanage was destroyed from a Nazi missile that happened to hit it. Jacob feels discouraged and feels like giving up but something tells him to keep searching and he ends up in a time loop back to the day before the orphanage was destroyed and meets Headmistress Peregrine and her "peculiar children." All these children obtain special powers and Jacob learns he is also peculiar. He can see the children's invisible enemies, otherwise known as wights. As the story continues Jacob finds out the Wights had found the loop and taken Miss Peregrine hostage. Jacob and the others have no choice but to save her before it's all to late.

Say it LOUD.! I'm BLACK and I'm PROUD (:

I know what your thinking..."Black History Month doesn't start until Friday.", BUT i can't help it! This truly is an inspirational month for me and many people all over the world.

I can't even lie, though my excitement for Black History Month is great, my knowledge for it is very weak. There is a lot of history in the month of February, that history includes a lot of anger, pain and suffering but it is also overjoyed with celebration and pride. I am proud to live another year to celebrate this month and the amazing people who made it all possible. The history behind my skin is a sad yet inspiring story and i'm looking forward to digging deeper into the real meaning and emotions packed behind it. I look forward to updating you on my progress. (: 

~Jasmine D. Beebe

The Peeved Pedestrian

"Because it's a book about life, it's a book about death. It's a book about triumph." ~ Ray Bradbury 


I'm not really sure why this book was written, BUT being the professional web surfer i am, i was able to look into a few articles and figure out what the purpose behind this story was about. I found this article that supposed to be an interview with Bradbury

Click Me.!!

In the 9 days it took Bradbury to write the book he explained how his inspiration to write the novel came from Hitler himself, claiming at the age of 15 Hitler was burning books in the streets of Berlin and it gave him the sense that libraries would soon be in danger. By reading this article i developed the opinion that this book was more of a warning than a fortune teller. As technology increases knowledge through books decreases. We literally have the world in our hands, the internet, cellphones, computers, etc. I mean, who needs to read a book when you can find an article or a few summaries that give you all the main points about it? Who knows, a few decades from now we might not even be using books.


***Did you guys know 451 is the temperature in which books burn? That is SO cool!! ***

I'm a poet and i know it (;

I'm writing this poem in the view of Guy Montag.

Today i had to question who i really am
But will i ever know?
Because i cannot seem to grasp these feelings.
I'd like to hope my real life does not remain a history
My thoughts are buried and hidden by my flaming history.

Today i had to define myself
But i can't seem to find a definition
To think through all the flames and heat my destiny was meant to be different
I no longer feel satisfied and free
There's nothing i want more than to figure out who i'm supposed to be.

Today someone tried to figure me out
Only to realize my life is a puzzle
Because over time i lost track and damaged the pieces
How will i ever get them back?
This entire time I've been on a different track.

Today someone questioned my feelings of freedom
Only to leave me feeling constrained
These feelings so heavy and tight
I feel so light headed dizzy and weak
My pride and joy has become very difficult to seek

So who am i?
Will i ever seek the truth?
The definition of my character is lost
I don't think i can ever be the same
Relief can only be found outside of the flame.

Fahrenheit 451

What are five things I've learned about Fahrenheit 451? Well lemme tel you then!

*This novel was placed among the greatest works of the imagination written in English in the last decade or more.

*Bradbury claims the book was about how television destroys interest in reading literature.

*There is a prequel named A Pleasure To Burn

*One of the women Montag attempts to arrest recites Nicholas Ridley before burning her house to the ground.

*The culprit in Fahrenheit 451 is not the state- but the people.

My theme for English 3

Dr. Preston said-

Go home and post on
your blog tonight
And answer these questions
about you because only
you know whats true.

Whats you SMART goal?

In class we were asked to create a SMART goal, SMART standing for
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Reinforcable
Timely

Our smart goals are supposed to help benefit our future in some way, shape or form and is supposed to be something WE really want, not our parents, friends, teachers or peers but our own goals set for our own happiness. At the moment i find college very important for my future and its something i can hardly wait to experience. During the time we were given in class i started to brainstorm on what i need for college and how i can make it live up to the SMART "standards". At first i felt as if i hit a fork in my road to obtaining my goal because just like most teenagers, i struggled to think about what i "really" want and need for myself involving my future.I had to ask around and sneak a peek at other peoples goals for awhile but then it hit me. Scholarships. They can be pretty specific, you can measure the amount applied for and received, able to be attained, reinforced and its quite the timely process to get them. I nonchalantly wrote down the goal and decided i could relax until the class period was over. At the time i didn't realize Dr. Preston was checking everyone's goals, but he ended up coming over and read mine. He asked me a few questions about it and i answered them like a pro. I figured my goal would be easy to achieve and i wouldn't have to worry too much about it but Dr. Preston had another idea. Make it big. His idea was brilliant, create a scholarship website. I mean, if i'm looking for scholarships junior year could you imagine how many seniors are looking as well?My website would offer things such as tips, rules, ideas, and some essay templates for how to get scholarships and to get a guarantee to obtain one. We'd set up two options. "free" and "premium". Free offers a few hints and examples but the premium gives you templates, advice, information, understanding and much more. This website will help give students a better understanding about scholarships and what they are. If everything goes as planned it can help a lot of students. I'm really excited to launch this project and make my goal a reality. (:

Spring Post: Music as Literature

Can we consider music to be literature?

I feel music can be considered literature as much as poems can be considered music.

• Music and Literature are both considered a type of art.
• They can both be put in writing.
• Both tell stories.

Music, poems, novels, etc. are all forms of literature, they are just told in different formats. Music is basically literature with instruments, Poems are forms of literature that rhyme (In most cases at least.), and a Novel is pretty much another word for literature. 

The way i see it is that if it tells a story with a plot, theme and/or tone, then its Literature. 

So what is literature?

I think literature can be defined as peoples point of view. I see literature as anything with a story and a message within that story. If that "story" executes telling it with a meaningful message and an understandable point of view then i consider it to be type of literature.

I actually found an article about what exactly literature is to help explain it better.
Link: What is literature?


What is the difference between a novel, a poem, a rap, a song, an opera, and a symphony?

Personally i don't see a "difference" but the way i see is that all these things ( novel, poem, rap, song, opera, and symphony.) are different genres of art. They all have the same blocks but they're all built differently. Same concept, different ways of expressing them.