Christmas

I can’t believe Christmas is almost here; this year has gone by so fast! Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays I love the spirit of things, the lights, family, the gifts and most of all the true reason behind Christmas, Jesus Christ. This year my family and I will be going to Oregon to spend Christmas with my Aunt and Uncle. I am so excited, Friday before Christmas we are going skiing; I will more then likely spend most of the time on the ground. Then Saturday we are going to church to a Christmas Eve service. Christmas I have no idea what will be planed but I am just so excited to have a break from school and all my homework.
I can’t believe Christmas is almost here; this year has gone by so fast! Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays I love the spirit of things, the lights, family, the gifts and most of all the true reason behind Christmas, Jesus Christ. This year my family and I will be going to Oregon to spend Christmas with my Aunt and Uncle. I am so excited, Friday before Christmas we are going skiing; I will more then likely spend most of the time on the ground. Then Saturday we are going to church to a Christmas Eve service. Christmas I have no idea what will be planed but I am just so excited to have a break from school and all my homework.

Finally a break!

I am so glad that break is here and now that I can finally relax. The last two weeks have been so hard not only having to fisish up all my CE stuff I had to read this boring book and write all these long papers. The book was ok it just was so slow and I couldn't understand the text very well. Overall I am just happy to get a break from school for a while!

I know... this is my 2nd post...

Though I have already posted on Othello, I wanted to make another one about the ending. Though Shakespeare is known for writing tragedies, I think he killed the whole story with the ending. I don't think it was believable that everyone would die as they did, and I think that there should have been more reason for some of the deaths, like Roderigo and Emilia. Othello's death was to be expected, and the rest of the play kind of foreshadowed that event. He started out relatively normal, and then went into a downward spiral of insanity, which eventually led to his demise. Desdemona's death was also predictable, but not really very realistic. I don't understand how she had been smothered for a long period of time, and then is able to say one last word, then dies. If your passage of air is reopened, you wouldn't suffocate, so that really didn't make sense to me. Overall, I think that Shakespeare could have done a better job with this, because it seems as if he was rushing the conclusion and didn't spend the necessary time on it.

Can't stand stupid people

This week, our assignment is to write an essay about what pleases us and what gives us an uncomfortable feeling in the play of Othello. For me, Iago's whole scheme is really bothersome and I truly cannot comprehend what he must have been going through his mind in order to drive another person to insanity. What really bothers me though, is the fact that both Othello and Desdemona were so stupid throughout the play. How can they be so completely oblivious to what is going on around them? I honestly don't understand how people can be so naive to the world around them. Is anyone else bothered by their stupidity, or is it just me???

Wrapping up Food Drive

I just want to remind everyone that the food drive ends THIS TUESDAY. So, for anyone who has been saying that they are going to donate, but have yet to do so, you're almost out of time. I hope that everyone who can will at least bring a few cans from their own cupboards or ask around the neighborhood. I know everyone probably thinks I am nagging, but this is really important so lets finish strong. Every little bit counts. good luck!

Othello

When I first started reading Shakespeare’s book Othello it took me a long time to break down what he was saying and put it in to words I could understand. I would procrastinate until the last possible moment. As this story developed and the characters came to life I started to look at this play in a much different light. It’s not a stuffy old book that no one can understand like I thought it was. It is a tragedy of love, a story that still has relevance in the world we live in today. I think your own personal out look has a lot to do with how you approach this book and how much you take in from it.

Who wants to Graduate?

Before entering high school, and even in my first three years, I never understood how people managed not to graduate. Do your homework; pass your classes, its not so hard. This year, however, I am realizing that with all the requirements that are expected of us, graduating is suddenly a lot more of a concern for many people, even those who have done all their homework and passed all their classes. Junior year, we have to compose an argumentative paper. This isn't such a bad thing, as long as you stay on schedule and actually write your paper, you will be fine. A few submissions may be necessary in order to achieve "standard", but overall this isn't such a hard thing to do. With senior year, we step into the world of senior seminar and CE projects. Right off the bat, we are expected to propose a project idea and set a plan that will lead us through roughly two months of time devoted to this project. Besides putting 45 hours into this project, and achieving all of our learning goals, we have piles of other assignments that are thrown our way, just in case we don't already have enough on out plates. Write a reflective letter, which discusses your life and what you plan to do with it in the future. As you do your project, be sure to keep a detailed log of activity you are involved in. You should have "at least ten AH-HA moments" so be sure to tell the story of those in your reflective journals. You won't learn enough just by doing activities for your project, you should be doing research too; actually lets say you have to have 6 varied sources and be able to tell why you used them. There has to be proof that you are learning from this experience, so you should provide us with evidence. Make sure you keep everything, receipts, notes, pictures, EVERYTHING! Nope, we aren't done yet, at the end we should probably stand up and talk about what we learned and all of these components for at least 15-20 minutes, graduation pending on whether you meet standard or not. Is it really a wonder that all of the seniors are just a little bit stressed out? The outcome of one class making the decision as to whether or not you will be able to graduate with your peers? I think not. Every day, I see people come to the realization that they just might not graduate. Don't be one of those people that don't make it, tomorrow is the last day for 1st submissions and I really want to urge everyone to meet that deadline. We are in the home stretch now, and all the hard work will pay off soon, so keep fighting and working hard. You can do it!!!! Good Luck to everyone currently enrolled in senior seminar, as well as to everyone who has next semester to look forward to.

Food Drive

I think that the food drive is a good way to get people involved in something and I think it helps people to see how their one dollar or 10 cans can go to help some people that can't afford to eat or buy the stuff that they need. I'm not saying that you have to go out of your way or cancel other plans to help but, if your at home doing nothing but watching tv you could be helping with the food drive.

Food Drive/ Giving tree

Every year I look forward to the holiday season the lights, the food, the gifts and the memories. I have always enjoyed a fantastic holiday with everything you could wish for. My first two years at Cascade I never really got involved in the food drive; I would bring in a few cans and some spare change; I had around the house but that was about it. It was not until last year that I realized how much people need not only my help but everyone's help. So I made a personal goal to bring in cans and money everyday of the food drive and to stand out in the freezing cold a few times although it was not always easy to bring in more and more cans. I realized how much my worked paid off when I saw all the food in cafeteria waiting for families. With the food drive comes the giving tree a chance to give a small child a gift at Christmas. This is always my favorite part of the entire event I love shopping for kids that will truly appreciate the gifts. This year I have been a little behind on collecting cans, but I have started shopping for the two children I chose off the tree!

food drive

I think its awesome that our school raises enough food every year to feed at least 100 families. I know if I couldn't have a Christmas dinner and someone helped me out it would make me feel really good. Have you ever seen shopping day where everyone gets to shop for the families in the cafeteria? It's crazy! People gat really involved in this thing and we make it on king 5 news, and komo 4. So if you want to be on the news and not to mention help out a hundred families help out; raise money and gather food.

Food Drive

All right everyone, Amanda is right, we need to step up the participation in the food drive. I am not saying that each person should feel pressured to go out and collect 3000 cans, but I do think that everyone of us should try to come together and help our community. If we can get people out collecting in their neighborhood, in front of grocery stores, and from family and friends, we will be able to truly say that we did our part in getting into the Holliday spirit of helping others. That is the most important thing, to help the people around us. It doesn't have to be all about winning, however, if that is what it takes to motivate people, then get out there and strive to stay in first place. We are seniors now, and this is the last opportunity that we will be given to take part in the amazing experience of the Cascade High School food drive. Lets show the freshman how it is done, for it is up to us to set the example. If we don't bring in the incredible amounts of food that we have in the previous years, the underclassmen won't understand the vital importance of the food drive. We wouldn't want it to be a failure the year that we are seniors. This is going to be an especially difficult year, for many people have already donated to hurricane and tsunami victims this year. For some people, they would like to donate, but they have nothing left to give. For that reason alone, complete participation is imperative to success. We have to get the word out there and we have to collect food and money donations. This is an experience that we will never forget. That being said, I urge everyone in our class to find a way to contribute what they can.

Prior review: Homosexuality editorial

I do not encourage homosexuality, however, that does not mean that I would discriminate against a gay or lesbian. I think that homosexuals should be able to express themselves just as a heterosexual does. After reading the news article and viewing the excerpt from Katie Thompson's editorial, I do not feel that it was necessary to stop the school newspaper from being released. The controversy over homosexuality is a very big part in today's world, and I think it is necessary for people to express their feelings on the matter. It doesn't matter whether someone is arguing for or against homosexuality, as long as it is done in a respectful manner, I think that it should be permitted. From what I can tell, the article written by Thompson, a lesbian teenager, was just stating her opinion on the matter in a respectful way. There was no reason for the principal to pull it; not even because he thought the material was too mature for high school students. There is no way to protect us from hearing this information, it is on the news, in the papers, on the radio, it seems to be everywhere. Also, it is something that we may be exposed to at school anyway, like when we are faced with a gay or lesbian couple. People are going to talk and things are going to be seen, there is no preventing that. There for, there is no reason not to publish an article simply because it discusses homosexuality.
Although I do not feel that there was reason to prevent this particular article from circulating throughout the school, I do think that some articles should not be printed. This means that prior review my an administrator is a necessary action to be taken. For example, if an editorial encourages an illegal act, it shouldn't be printed. Most of the time, it is likely that every article will pass the inspection of the administrator and will be printed. However, there will be an occasional article that shouldn't be printed, and with prior review, it will be stopped before going out to all the students.

You Decide

At what point does a school's administration step in to stop the publication of a school newspaper? Read the following article and think about whether or not schools should censor student writing--then post your thoughts.

Extra Credit

I am amazed that this quarter is over it seems like the first day of school was just yesterday, and I was showing my freshmen brother around campus. Right now I only have three quarters left before I hit the big leagues and the standards and expecting rise to an all time high. Everything is starting to fall in to place and I am beginning to realize how much I need to put together, before I hit college next fall. Although I have learned a lot this quarter I still have a lot to accomplish before I feel confident enough to step in to a world of extensive homework where writing papers every night is an every day occurrence. So I think that when I evaluate the past quarter or even years of schooling it's important to set goals in terms of what I need to accomplish and what I need to pull together before leaving high school and entering college.

Abercrombie shirts

The topic of Abercrombie shirts comes down to one basic argument, the freedom of choice vs. What society tells you to wear. The women who buy these shirts, that are considered degrading are making a conscious decision to display the message they represent. I believe that if the people want to display their personality, their opinion, their belief etc. Let them that is a personal decision. If the consumers want the product let them have it, there is really nothing that is going to stop them from wearing these messages anyway.

Girlcott

Personally, I think that if you don't like the shirts don't wear them. If someone is wearing a shirt like that then they are only degrating themselves not others. I think that people should be able to wear whatever they want because it is up to them how they want to be looked at. I never wear ambercrombie because it is too expensive and is no better than any other kind of cloths. I don't think that the girlcott will be effective because people will still keep buying their clothing and it is still popular now.

Who needs brains when you have these... is it appropriate?

"Blondes are adored, Brunettes are ignored," "Available for Parties," "Freshman 15," "I had a nightmare I was a brunette," and "Who needs have brains when you have these?" These are all tee shirts that Abercrombie & Fitch has recently come out with. I, personally find that these shirts are indeed very degrading to women. However, I am not so naive as to believe that they aren't true. In today's society, looks are everything. Many studies have shown that when two people apply for the same position, and share relatively the same skill level, the better looking of the two will get the job almost every time. Beautiful people have endless opportunities, whether they go into television, films, modeling or ANY OTHER PROFESSION. If you walk into a high profile business or agency, it is highly unlikely that the employees will be "ugly people." Not only do people want to look good for themselves, they want their employees to be attractive as well, as if looks alone make someone a better worker.
I have already seen and heard a lot of media coverage regarding this issue, so I do feel that the "girlcott" has thus far been effective in terms of getting attention. Also, people are being forced to think about whether or not it is ok for shirts, and advertisements in general, to exist. However, I also feel that their plan isn't going exactly as planned because now people are saying that they are just bitter because they are the "ugly, flat-chested geniuses" as described by the T man on KUBE 93. He said that if they were beautiful girls with big breasts, they wouldn't be complaining. I don't know what these girls look like, but there could be some truth to this.
I don't feel that the shirts are appropriate, and I would never wear one, but I do have to say though, that I agree with some of the statements in the article that say that only shallow girls would wear the shirts. No one else would be proud of being stupid, even if they do find the shirt a little funny.
I doubt if A & F will get into any real trouble over this, honestly, the article is probably right and they are probably happy to have the free advertising.

Extra Credit

I'd just like to say that this class is so much better than the class that I came from in every way. At the same time though, it isn't quite like any other English class that I have been a part of in high school. Freshman year I had Mr. Bekins, the one teacher that everyone thought was too hard and no one liked. I, however, liked the class, I saw it as a challenge and I loved the structure that came out of it. Sophomore year I had Mrs. Crews, who is one of the more exciting teachers around the school. Her class is based on projects and activities that everyone enjoys. Junior year I took a step into the world of AP classes with Mr. Verver, who is truly an amazing teacher. Everyday I felt as if I learned something in that class, and everyday was a challenge. The atmosphere in that classroom is different as well, no one makes fun of each other, and everyone displays respect. Now, its senior year with Mr. McNamar. I was happy to be moved into this class because from freshman year I knew that he was someone that I could get along with. I have, so far, enjoyed most of the assignments because they generally involve a different kind of thinking than we are all used to. For example, I am having fun with writing my own Canterbury tale. At first, I was timid and afraid of what to write, now, however I am having fun because I am just going with whatever ideas come to mind. This class is a lot more open than I am used to, and I am still getting used to the lack of structure. I do, however, think that it is a good learning experience for all of us so that we succeed in the college world. The thing that I dislike most is the lack of effort that comes from other people sometimes. But I guess there simply isn't anything that I can do about that, it will just be another experience for me to adapt to my surroundings. I feel that I have done well in terms of getting everything in on time, but apparently I still need to work harder because have yet to achieve a perfect score on a writing assignment. That is my goal now, to prove that I deserve a perfect score. As a teacher, I feel that you have done a good job; the only thing that you may be able to improve on is keeping people focused on actually doing their work when you give us time in class. That, however, has nothing to do with your teaching, and perhaps some people will never be motivated, no matter what you do. I feel that the quarter went well, and the only thing we need a solution for is finding a way to motivate people. Wow, I just wrote a novel, so I think I am done.
Thanks.
Sara

The Topic & The Answer to Kaylie's Question

In your post, respond to this article. What do you think about the shirts? Will the "girlcott" be effective or backfire? Are these shirts appropriate? Should there be any reprecussions for Abercrombie & Fitch?

Kaylie's Question: Is it possible to make up a post that I forgot to do?
Answer: You all have a one time opportunity to make up a post. For those who forgot to do one of the previous posts, you may make up one of those posts. For it to affect your grade this quarter, it will need to be in by Friday at 2:00 p.m. Please designate your extra credit post as extra credit in the title. For those who have turnen in all of your posts, you will be able to recieve 5% extra credit in the blog category of your grade. For the quarter, there will be a total of four posts equalling 120 points. This means that your extra credit post is worth 6 extra credit points. So, if you've scored 114 of 120 points on your blogs, your blog score would then be raised to 120/120. This is a potential of 2-3 percentage points of an increase.

Extra Credit Topic for All: Reflect on the first quarter of Pre-College English. What have you liked about it? What have you disliked? What have you done well? What could you improve? What have I done well? What could I improve?--This is important to me. However, in your critique you must be respectful. If you are simply going to complain, don't. Give solutions.