Blogging hasn't been as bad as I expected. I surprisingly liked writing some of the blogs. My favorite blog was probably the letter to Ms. Wolff because it was the easiest to write and I want to help her to be "in the know." My least favorite blog was most definitely the one where we made our own ending for Edgar Allan Poe's story. I am left-brained and cannot create a story to save my life! Some blogs I put effort into when I enjoyed the topic, but many I just did the minimum. I think blogging was a learning experience because it expanded my knowledge on specific topics. I learned that I cannot write a story, different people's perspectives on controversial subjects, and that writing helps me feel better when dealing with stress. My top three stories were The Black Veil, The Yellow Wallpaper, and The Scarlet Letter.

Dear Mrs. Wolff:
 Welcome to Rockford Lutheran! I absolutely love going to school here and I am sure you will love teaching here as well! Some things that you should know about juniors are that 1) we are more immature than you think (especially the boys) 2) we don't just like to sit at our desks and discuss poetry, stories, etc. and 3) when talking about time, for example, don't say "You have until 12:35 to finish this assignment," instead use "Lutheran Time" and tell us "You have until the seven to finish this assignment." Therefore there will be no confusion on what you are trying to tell us. :) Now for some helpful advice when it comes to English class: When we read "Civil Disobedience" and other stories about civil rights, we watched part of the movie The Help.  I thought this movie was not only interesting but also very educational and helped me get a feel for what was going on during that era. However, we did not get to finish the movie in class, which is always a bummer. So if you do choose to let your students watch The Help, you should let them watch the whole thing instead of just a little bit of it. Another fun thing Ms. Williams does is the frog hopping contest. One of her students made a bunch of orgami frogs one year so when we read The Notorious Jumping Frog we had a contest and the winner got extra credit points. My favorite activity we have done this year was definitely The Great Gatsby day. Ms. Williams decorated the room so it was like a speakeasy and served fruit, juice, and cookies. Then we had two students teach us how to swing dance which was so much fun! If you choose to read The Great Gatsby  with your students, you NEED to have The Great Gatsby Day! :) I hope my suggestions helped! Good luck next year and I'm excited to see you in the hallways.

Alexa Piske

: The Prisoner's Song- Vernon Dalhart
       -This song reminds me of Myrtle because she feels like a prisoner because she is not married to a
        wealthy man, therefore she wants out of her marriage.
: Down Hearted Blues- Bessie Smith
       - This song makes me think of Mr. Wilson after his wife died. He was sad and felt betrayed
         and eventually ended up committing suicide he was so down-hearted.

: I've Found A New Baby- Ted Lewis & Ethel Walters
       - This song I think should be the theme song for The Great Gatsby because of Gatsby & Daisy' 
         affair and Tom & Myrtle's affair.

: Somebody Stole My Gal- Ted Weems
       - This song reminds me of Gatsby's feelings toward Tom. He and Daisy had been in love way
         before Tom was even in the picture and Gatsby wanted Daisy to be all his.

Mark Twain Quote

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

        

I really like this quote because I believe it to be completely true.

It isn't how tough a person acts, but how tough he or she truly is.

For example, my mom, sister, and I didn't think we would be

strong and be able to endure such pain. However, we have proved

ourselves wrong. Yes, there are awful days when you just want to

sit in a corner and disappear, but overall I think we have done pretty

well with the tragedy placed before us. Another example that I think

about when I read this quote is when someone has cancer. You always

here about young children fighting and beating cancer. While I forty year

old man dies of it. Again it is not what you look like you can handle, it

is what you put your mind to that determines what you can handle.

The Vow

A movie I have enjoyed recently was The Vow. I am hopeless romantic and seeing a guy loving his wife so much in order to win her love back was so cute! It also helped that Channing Tatum was the main character. He is not that great of an actor, but his looks definitely make up for it. Rachel McAdams is also one of my favorite actresses. She not only is beautiful but she seems like a truly content and loving person. Plus she is an amazing actress. This movie was such a chick flick. Another reason I loved this movie was because The Vow was based on a true story, and those always seem to turn out to be better movies, rather than the chick flicks screenwriters make up. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It kept me on the edge of my seat and was perfect for a hopeless romantic like myself.

Clyde Kennard

Clyde Kennard was a Civil Rights pioneer and martyr. He attempted to enroll at Mississippi Southern College to complete his undergraduate degree he had started at University of Chicago. After many failed attempts to get into Mississippi Southern College, Kennard published a letter about integrated segregation. The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission planned to have him arrested on false charges. He was convicted and sent to seven years at Parchman Penitentiary. Even though he had terminal cancer, the governor refused to release him from prison. However, he was released in January of 1963. Ten days later he died. This story kind of reminds me of the story of Malcolm X because Malcolm X died for what he believed in. Though Clyde Kennard’s cause of death was not a consequence of his beliefs he still spent the last years of his life standing up for what he believed in through being imprisoned.

Harlem

Florence Mills was a famous Harlem singer, and dancer. She was a lead player in "Shuffle Along" She then starred in "Blackbirds" at the Alhambra Theatre in Harlem. The Alhambra Theatre served only whites but had black people perform there. This is an example of what Bessie and Sadie were talking about when they said how outrageous they thought it was that blacks could be the entertainment but they could not be a guest a most of Harlems clubs and restaurants.