QUARTER 1
Nightjohn Project
This is My Project from Quarter one on the book NightJohn by Gary Paulsen. I did this project with a partner, Adanna Ekekwe. What we did was a combination of a scrapbook and ten years later project. We wrote the scrapbook with diary entries and more from the main character "sarny". And in the ten years later part we put what we predicted her life would be like.
A Sound of Thunder Essay
The story "A sound of Thunder" is about how the butterfly effect happens when a man goes back in time and kills a golden butterfly and that has a huge outcome on who becomes president in the future. This essay will analyze how the author, Ray Bradbury manipulates the pace, builds suspense, and uses the structure of the text to create the effect of surprise in the story.
The author uses the structure of the text to create surprise. He does this when he write very long parts before he even lets the reader know what the "surprise" is. For example when he is talking about how "A touch of a hand might do it, the merest touch of a hand" and the surprise is that that was all leading up to the fact that they are going into a time machine. The author uses the structure of the text to create the effect of surprise.
The author manipulates the pace of the text to create the effect of surprise. He does this when he slows down the pace to get the reader wondering. Then he speeds it up then creates the effect of surprise and goes back to the original pace of the story. For example when the dinosaur was approaching them he slowed it down and after they shot it, it went back to the original pace. The author manipulates the pace of the text to create the effect of surprise.
The author builds suspense in the story to create the effect of surprise. He says all those thing building up on each other and the reader is getting more and more anxious to what is at the end. For example after they get back from the past ans something is wrong with Eckle other than that he is in major shock. The author builds suspense to why is he like this then reader finds out he killed a golden butterfly and that changed the outcome of who became president in the future. The author builds suspense in the story to create the effect of surprise.
The author manipulates the pace builds suspense, and uses the structure of the text to create the effect of surprise. He does a pretty good job at doing these things and creating the effect of surprise. And the major one at the end pertaining to the butterfly effect and how Eckel killing a golden butterfly changed who became president in the future.
MY GLOGSTER
This Glogster is my second project from Quarter 1. For this glogster I had to read a biography on anyone and make a glogster for them. I chose Milton S. Hershey because I love chocolate and he is a determined individual like me.
Reflection on Quarter 1
My experience this Quarter was not what I expected it to be. I thought the book Nightjohn was going to be boring and that I was going to have to do a long hard project on it. But everything was different, Nightjohn was a good book and I actually had fun making a scrapbook with my partner. As for the glogster it was fun also because I like to do online projects and glogsters are particularly easy for me. Also writing 5 paragraph essays come to me as a second nature since I have done so many. Quarter one was a good and interesting quarter.
Quarter 2
A House on Mango Street Project
This is my Mango street project on the book Mango Street by his is a sculpture of the house if it was in greenbelt, md. It has the qualities of the of the house as it was described in the book like the fact that it is red and made of brick. You probably cant see but little blocks are carved in the clay to look like bricks. I did all of this with a partner, adanna.
Comedy Animoto
This my Animoto on the comedy book Louisiana Longshot by Jana Deleon. This Animoto is displayed as an advertisement or trailer for the cook as if it was coming out in the movie theaters. I give some important parts of the book and basically give an all around theme of the book but leave the viewer in suspense wanting them to go watch the movie.
Night John Writing project Rough Draft
BRAVERY
Jada Williams 3A December 18, 2015
Have you ever wondered how your life would have been if you didn’t know how to read. It would be terrible right, you would most likely not be able to survive in this world. But would you be brave enough to try? Well Sarny was brave enough to in the Historical Fiction Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen. Sarny is one of the main characters in this book.The author Gary Paulsen who has not had an easy life really displayed the theme of Bravery greatly in Nightjohn. But he did not always have a passion for literature. Not until he went to the library and got his first book, then he was hooked. His basement filled up with books as an adolescent.
His book Nightjohn is about how Sarny that lives on a plantation meets a new slave called Nightjohn and they both are brave enough to read and write knowing that is prohibited. But Nightjohn already knows how to read and he is teaching Sarny which is against the rules. In Nightjohn, Gary Paulsen uses Bildungsroman, Characterization, and Pathos, to advance his overall theme of Bravery. In Nightjohn, Gary Paulsen uses Bildungsroman to advance his overall theme of Bravery. Bildungsroman is a form of storytelling where the author centers the scheme around the overall growth of the main character which is sarny.
In The beginning of Nightjohn Sarny starts off by saying, that this is story about Nightjohn but about her just as much. This depicts Bildungsroman because she is starting off telling the story and telling us what character or character’s will be having any growth in this story. Sarny also tells her birth story and what she knows about her birth mother. Telling this is showing that she is different person that she was at that time portraying bildungsroman. Also this advances the overall theme of bravery by the fact that her mother getting sold at her young age can be a touchy subject for her. Telling something this personal is brave. Lastly she tells how she was working and she was listening to what the sisters of the slave owner talk about how he “went out and bought another hand, Over a thousand dollars..”. Sarny is very Brave for doing this because if she would of got caught he could of been in lots of trouble. Also she could of went and tell everyone else and just kept it to herself. This is Obviously Bildungsroman, her telling how she was working and heard them talking. All of these examples of Bildungsroman depicts the overall theme of Bravery.
As you get more into the story and the conflict that the author is trying to present you could see how sarny uses Bildungsroman more to depict the overall theme of bravery. When sarny told about how when Nightjohn taught her her first letter and that she knew they weren’t allowed to be reading or understand anything. This is Bildungsroman because she tells how they traded off , she gave him tobacco and he agreed to teach her to read. This is very Brave knowing she can get in lots of trouble because they were not supposed to be doing this. Sarny also did another brave thing, she snuck “mammy” a drink of water while she was chained to the wall all day. This shows Bildungsroman because she tells each step of what happened during that scene. Finally, Nightjohn had ran away but promised sarny he would come back. She didn’t believe this at first but he did. When he did he asked her to come into the woods at night and she did. This is a perfect example of how Paulsen depicts the theme of bravery through Bildungsroman she tells the story and is brave through this whole book as she grows as a person. In Nightjohn Gary Paulsen uses Bildungsroman to depict his overall theme of Bravery.
Paulsen uses Characterization to depict his overall theme of bravery. He introduces many different characters in the 4th chapter. Sarny broke many rules but the most biggest of all was trying to learn. Sarny is the main character in Nightjohn and Paulsen uses characterization well to show how bravery is the overall theme with sarny. He uses characterization by presenting sarny by her get thoughts and actions. In the book Nightjohn got his toe cut off when the slave owner found out he was teaching sarny letters and how to read. Running away is one of the worst things he could of done. Nightjohn is the second main character in this book. The author depicts Nightjohn’s characterization through actions and interaction with other characters. Like he told the truth about teaching sarny knowing the consequences matter of fact he knew the consequences from the beginning when he first started teaching her. The last main character Mammy who sacrificed herself for sarny. She was beaten and chained to a wall all day and more for being brave. Paulsen show’s Mammy’s characterization through interacting with other characters like sarny and er actions, taking responsibility. Characterization in this book is used to depict the overall theme of brave.
An Old man Jim who sarny introduces in the book is also brave. Jim ran away at night time but the dogs found him in the morning. Paulsen having Jim put in the story by sarny is characterization from speech because she is telling the story. Jim’s bravery to even try to run away further increases Gary’s overall theme of bravery in this book. Alice was forced to become a breeder but fought back then got whipped really bad then eventually successfully ran away. This character is very strong, brave, and determined. She is characterized through speech also because sarny tells all about her. In Nightjohn Gary Paulsen uses characterization to depict his overall theme of bravery.
Gary Paulsen uses Pathos to depict the overall theme of Bravery in his book called Nightjohn. Pathos is appeal to emotion and there are a lot of emotions associated with slavery. Gary used these to show how brave the character’s were and how that’s the overall theme. When Nightjohn was brought in “bad” as sarny had said. He was naked and had a rope around his neck connected to the saddle of a horse in the hot sun with whips all over his back. This definitely gives the emotion of sadness because it is sad to be in this situation. But for Nightjohn to handle all of this and still be strong after all he has been through is just what Paulsen is trying to show, his bravery! At night sarny hears a lot of different things from new workers who cry in their sleep every night to people who just breathe loud. This can produce empathy; understanding the feelings of another, for the reader who might have been in the same situation. Sarny and the reader are both brave for not giving up and going through the night listening to all of those sounds as they try to sleep. Another way Paulsen produces empathy in Nightjohn is when the field workers come back from work and are so tired and exhausted all they want to do is eat ten go to sleep. I’m pretty sure you have felt this way before in your life. You & the field workers are brave for not quitting and to keep working.
When Nightjon kept his promise and came back for sarny this most likely produced happiness because sarny doubted and didn't believe him at first. Paulsen generates happiness and relief in this part not giving up hope for sarny and the reader. This is also very brave of Nightjohn because he knows that if he gets caught maybe the rest of his toes will be gone or even worse he’ll be dead. Now on to a different character, Alice was forced to be pregnant and she didn’t like that so she fought back and got whipped for fighting back, the eventually successfully ran away. What happened to Alice leads to the emotion of disgust and sadness. Disgust because someone would want to force a women to do something she doesn’t want to do, especially something so extreme as pregnancy! Which is sad but she is brave for fighting for what she believed in and running away.
In Nightjohn Gary Paulsen uses Bildungsroman, Characterization, and Pathos to advance his overall theme of Bravery. Gary Paulsen does an amazing job at this. The same thing happens in the novel The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. A book full of any short stories about a little girl named Esperanza who is sad and confused about what she needs or wants to do in life but she makes brave choices to throughout the novel to her best ability. For example when I don’t feel like i want to do something to help someone but I do it anyway I feel as though that is being brave because i may not know that person but I am still up to helping them. In this world today just be brave don’t let anyone or anyone stop you from doing what you believe is right.
Reflection on Quarter 2
In Quarter 2 our classroom operated in a different way by everybody working individually on their projects in class as if we were in a library and I liked that. The pros on this was that I got to work on things that I would usually work on at home in class so therefore I have more time at home to do other things and my teacher was there to answer any questions I had if I needed help. I don't personally think there were any cons to this new way we were doing things. But one thing that was the same was the # of projects we had but the books were different and the kinds of projects. I also had a different project to do in my found of tech class that was completely different to these but all were online and dealt with technology which was perfect for me.
In Quarter 2 English 10 I learned how to pace myself on my work and not to procrastinate and rush like I usually do. My favorite thing we did was the rough draft of our Nightjohn writing project because it helped me expand my essay writing skills. Because I honestly didn't know how I was going to make an essay even 3 pages but I actually did 5 and was very proud of myself. One thing I looked forward to was presentations because I love watching and giving presentations it's fun for me. I didn't really dread anything or not anything in Quarter 2. But in Quarter 3 I think I want to try to expand my writing skills even more and read more books all the way through. :)
