California Dreamin'

My dad was born in Italy and he moved to Santa Clara when he was 10. He had to grow up fast because his parents didn't speak any English so he learned english and handled his parents finances and took care of everything. My mom was born in Wisconsin and she moved to California when she was 5.

The people that come to California are the ones that are looking for a better future. They want a better life because people see California as a place that has a lot of opportunities.

MLA tips

1. An example of common knowledge would be Obama's president or Hitler was the leader of the Nazi party. You should graduate from high school in 4 years.

2. You have to site the title and the page number.

3. Usually websites don't have page numbers so you don't have to site them. You just have to put the title and the passage you use in quotes.

American Exceptionalism

Most Americans aren't unique at lot of people that come here conform to what they think is being American. Teens in high school always act like there friends and can't think for themselves. Even people who come over from other countries try to conform and America becomes more of a melting pot than a salad bowl.

John Steinbeck

1. Steinbeck's books are centered around where he grew up. He would also run away to his grandpa's ranch in King City or to the country side.

2. He wrote about controversial topics that people weren't used to reading. He wrote about whore houses, topics that were to trivial and story lines that weren't clear according to the publishers. He also wrote about violence and social realism.

3. Steinbeck liked nature and worked as an agricultural hand. He worked as an agricultural hand from ranch to ranch as he moved around. Steinbeck was able to write in clam places such as Lake Tahoe because it was peaceful there.

4. He wrote about one of his neighbors Samuel Hamilton who came from Ireland, he enjoyed listening to his stories. Steinbeck also like to listen to the ranch hand's stories and would write about people who lived around him.

5. Steinbeck liked to listen to jazz music. Mexican immigrants took over the agricultural hand jobs from the people who lived in the country.

Timshel

"Thou Mayest" has a lot to do with the Cain and Abel idea that goes throughout the whole book. It deals with making a choice and being able to chose between good and bad. Through the whole book Adam makes the good choice and his wife Cathy makes the bad choices. They can decide what they want to do.

Reflection on Envelope Prediction

My prediction was semi right and the thing that surprised me was when Midnight let Akemi get beat up because I thought he would have protected her more. Most of the predictions about how Midnight has changed was right because Midnight has grown up during the course of the book into a better, stronger man even though he's only 14.

Reflection on Teaching Experience

All the groups had creative ideas about how to teach the class, some better than others. The candy idea was good because it got most of the class to pay attention knowing that they would get candy if they answered a question right. The one activity i liked was the playdough one because that was more fun than having to write a poem. Keynotes were good as long as there wasn't to much information on the slides because after awhile they kind of got boring.

Jake Packard

He was one of the murders that Huck and Jim saw on the sinking steamboat.

Huck and Jim's Relationship

In the beginning of the book Huck tries to trick Jim. He doesn't fall for Huck's trick and gets mad at him. That night Huck feels bad for treating Jim badly. Later in the story Huck starts to respect Jim more and realizes that he cares about his family just as much as a white man does which surprises Huck. Jim becomes kind of like a father to Huck because he looks out for him and keeps him out of trouble.

letter to Mark Twain

Dear Mr. Twain,

I read your essay about how horrible human nature is. I don't agree with you, not all people are bad. Most people get along even though they have different religions, views, or ideas. There really are nice people in this world. People who do good things for others, people who volunteer at shelters. They don't have to but they want to give up their time just to make other people's lives better. Parents are a example of good people. Most of them will do anything for their kids, so that their kids will have a better life than them. I'm lucky that my parents are those types of people. I also have friends who would help me with whatever and I would do the same for them. I try to see the good in people and not just to focus on the bad things. If more people thought this way then the world would be a better place.

Sincerely, Katarina Nicolosi

Quickwrite

Mark Twain's essay showed the bad things about human nature. He says that people of different religions can't coexist. They will eventually end up killing themselves. Humans are some of the most violent animals on this earth. We go to war with other countries, kill people for no reason, steal, lie, and many other things. I wish that could change, it would make the world a better place but not all people want to change.

New Version of Huck Finn

I agree with the author that America is very vague when it comes to race. I think its ok for the N-word to be in Huck Finn because its written in the way that people talked in the past. Therefore it should be allowed to be in the book. People are just worried that it will offend the African Americans and make it uncomfortable to be around them. But this word is just in a book it's not like everyone is going to go around using this word all the time.

Great Student Writing

Descriptive words and the tone of the author makes these short story samples skillful. The way the writers used conversation in these passages added suspense and makes the story more interesting.

During first semester we wrote poems and a comparison essay. We also wrote a persuasive essay and a short story. The poems that we had to write over the summer was my favorite writing assignment. I think that my writing is improving because I'm learning how to incorporate dialogue and use more descriptive words. To improve I can add more concrete details to my story.