Letter

Dear Classmates,

Well this year has been interesting, and the butterfly effect had a large part in it all. I have enjoyed working with all of you, and class everyday brought new things to the table and made my life a bit better. We've all had our ups and downs in this class, and we have shared them all with each other. I'm glad to have worked with you guys, and am looking forward to next years class, which I will probably have with a few of you.
Hope to see you all next year.

Matthew Kallenberger

Class reflection

150min- Macbeth

I normally do come prepared to class. There have been a few instances when i have forgotten something at home or in my locker, but generally I have my things. I do use my time between classes, but sometimes it can be difficult. Getting from one place to another and having to go to your locker can stretch you out. I don't check my email daily, but i do check it about once a week or so.  Turning in assignments though was rough for me. If i did have my assignments, I would turn them in when ever you had asked for them.

Comment wise, I always tried to ad something when ever I thought I had something of value to add, I would try to say it, be it a question or comment. I was a good listener, although I zoned out and chatted with a few people on occasion.

Individual work I was great at. I worked as best as I could, without distracting or interrupting people. I worked hard and tried to get my things done. Group work I also got things done, I might not have been as focused as I would be alone, but I did get my stuff done. As a group, I never tried for the minimum, but as an individual, the minimum was usually what I ended up doing. I never tried to do the minimum, but it happens.

This year compared to last was better. My length in work got bigger, and my overall product and working effort did improve. My participation grew, but I think its because the topics interested me more. I did try to participate, instead of staying quiet in class and just listening.

Reflection

150 min - "A Rumor of War"
Before this year I had been stuck reading various fiction series such as the "Inheritance Cycle" and the newest "Percy Jackson" series.  This year my outside reading has included a wide variety.  I read a sci-fi series, "Halo", and an autobiography, "A Rumor of War".

I've learned this year that the quanity I read is strictly dependent upon my interest.  In other words, if I don't enjoy the books, I don't enjoy reading.  My interest seem to change over time, but continues to be focused on fantasy fiction.  I did enjoy the autobiography I read, "A Rumor of War", because it was a real and gave insight into an individual, not a group of people.   

Ive tried to see if there were ever any underlining meanings in the text that I've read, but I find this difficult.  Sometimes I found something, other times I didn't.  It really depends on the genre and author.  I think my next will be the third book in the new Percy Jackson series.  I will look around look around for new books to read.  Summer is usually a good time for me to try something new.

free write

These witches, these things, they have said to me that I am to be king. What a boastful and down right absurd statement. But they also claim that I will be Thane of Cowdor, and this has already come to pass. What if the witch's words holds some truth? If they do, them I will let chance take its course. If I will be king, then I will be King only be chance, I will not interfere with these matters.
Now I must write to my wife, letting her know of these things, and to tell her to prepare for the king, for he is coming. She will be most troubled by these things, and no doubt will have a say so in it. But i must stick to it. I will not interfere. I mustn't.

MacBeth

Writing Wrap-Up

            Through the 9th grade year, we have done multiple writing assignments for different topics and reasons. But they all have things in common that effect the over all quality of writing such as Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, and Conventions. My writing, as I have seen by looking at my papers, has improved greatly, going from a D paper, to a B paper.

            Conventions include grammar, spelling, and punctuation. This would be my strongest point, but does need work. Proper citations and MLA format though seem to be the weak point for conventions; the specifics really. I understand all the general ideas of it, but when it comes to applying it, I forget some of the smaller specifics. Another thing would the length of an overall paper. Many have pointed this out to me and I do try to lengthen the paper, but with little to no success.

            Word Choice would be my second best. Sometimes though, I’ll use an awkward word or phrase that can make the sentence difficult to read. What I need to understand better is what words to use and when to use them. Word Choice and also affect my Voice.

            Voice over all for me is just average. I think I need to understand who/what my audience is and how I’m suppose to talk/write to them. Each paper is different as is it audience, so it’s a big thing. Voice helps convex your thoughts and options on the topic you’re writing about, so it can affect a lot about the paper. But Ideas is where the over all substance is at.

            My ideas for a paper I have noticed are usually average, but do need a lot of work. My thesis ideas have come along way, but my support has stayed average the whole time. What I need to do is expand on my ideas, find more support in the text in some cases, and explain it as deeply as I can. My sources are good, and I can make a good conversation between them, but I need to go in deeper with them, using them more and try to expand as much as I can on it.

            So this year has been an eye opener. I understand more about what is required in high school, and think I am better prepared for sophomore year. My papers will be deeper, and will defiantly be lengthier. Ill work a lot more on my thesis’s, and will hopefully do better in general when writing for my next teacher.

1. Awkward wording- literacy narrative …”being the most”…
2. Confused  words- “weather” with “whether”- profile
3. Tense shift- … “draws first and he drew”….-Literary analysis
4. closing spaces between paragraphs-literary analysis
5. Citations- literary analysis, global issues
6. alphabetize citations-global issues
7. good opening sentences- “The game room of my house is on the second floor…”- profile rough draft
8. pronoun agreement-profile

Song Annotation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWa082xMwkk

For my song, I choose something that I've been listening to for a while.  So, I already have some understanding about what it's saying.   This is my interpretation of it. My song choice is Citizen Soldier by 3 Doors Down. Much of the song itself is pretty straight forward, but there are a few points that I just love. Starting with the middle of the chorus when it says "holding the lights for the ones that we guide from the dark of despair".  It's a personification of the soldiers guiding us away from the dark, protecting us from what ever , or whom ever, would want to harm us. In this case the dark are the things that would want to hurt us, and the soldiers are the light holding the dark at bay and guiding us to a safer place.

The other part is when the song says "I walk beside you, but you may not see me.  The strongest among you may not wear a crown". This is also personification ,but it has some interesting word choices as well. It's talking about the soldier walking beside you, but you not seeing him or her.  It's saying that there is more to the person walking beside you than just what you see on the outside.  The soldier is basically two different people, but you wouldn't know that by looking at him or her. Which is where the personification and word choice come in to play. The second part of the phrase where it says " The strongest among you may not wear a crown" would mean that the person you are looking at is stronger than he or she appears.  Hero's don't have to look the part, or have to act the part, they just do what they've been trained and told to do. He or she may not be popular, but the soldier has meaning and purpose, and they will protect you even though you don't know who they are or what they are really doing.

A rumnor of war 2

150 min= R.O.W.
In A Rumor of War, the story is based on a man own expirences. The author (the soldier in the book) doesnt really use many figurative forms of writing. He instead tells you how it happened as if you were there with him. Since its an auto biography, your getting all of his feeling and emotions of the war from his point of veiw, which helps convey the story and actions in the story.
You understand why he does something or why he would do something. You begin to understand the soldiers more. At the end of a chapter, his platoon is destroying a village that housed Viuet Cong. As this is all happening he describes his men as mad animals, but its just ified when you relize why. They were all learning to hate, as the auther put it. This village aided men who wanted to kill them. They wanted justification. They wanted revenge.