Tuesday 10 December 2013

Monday 2 December 2013

Dialogue and Non-Verbal Body Language

Sweet and silly (and uncomfortably sexy) moments from Loki's childhood
http://io9.com/sweet-and-silly-moments-from-lokis-childhood-1465582703

"Stop it you two" mumbled the middle aged father reading his newspaper. 

"Stay out of it dad!" yelled Ed as he looks at his twin brother taunting him. "I'm going to beat the crap out of you!"

Laughing, Noah replied "I'd like to see you try."

The father leaned over the table to start cleaning up the mess, ignoring his children fighting. "Kids these days" he mumbled to himself.

"Leave this mess for Noah to clean up, he made it, he cleans it!" said Ed stomping away from the table.
"If you weren't such a prick we wouldn't have this problem!" replied Noah.

"I caused this?!?" said Noah  clenching his fists.

"STOP IT!" yelled their father. "I don't care who started it, I'm ending it! Now finish cleaning up this mess and go to your rooms."

"I'm not cleaning any of this!" yelled Ed as he stomped to his room.

"Get back here and clean you half Ed!" yelled Noah crossing his arms.

"No! You can do it all yourself" said Noah slamming his bedroom door shut.

"He's so annoying" said Noah to himself starting to clean his mess.

"Good work buddy" said the dad to Noah as he finished the dishes.

"There. I'm done and I'm never cleaning his crap ever again" said Noah as he walked away.

When Noah slams his bedroom door shut the father mumbled "teenagers" to himself and rolled his eyes. 

Non Verbal Body Language
Dialogue

Thursday 21 November 2013

Thinking about Dialogue

My partner and I went to a window upstairs where we saw two girls who were clearly friends sitting and talking together. We listened to the conversation for about 7 minutes. At first we couldn't hear what they were saying, they were pretty quiet and mumbling. It felt awkward because we didn't try overly hard to be subtle. When we saw them we went straight to note taking and we assumed it felt out of the blue. When we sat down we noticed that they stopped talking for a moment and started mumbling. It took a while for them to start talking normal again. We could tell that they were friends because they were acting silly and goofing around. For example when one of them went to lie down, the other said "can you just not embarass me?" in a joking tone. We could use this conversation to apply to our writing because of the way they spoke to one another. We overheard them use the acronym "OMG" which proves that people don't speak formally all the time, especially when they're with their friends. You could tell that when teenagers are around people they're most comfortable with they tend to act kind of immature. One of the more surprising things we learned was that when two people are conversing they tend to take a while to adjust to others being present. They seemed to be comfortable after a while, one was standing up moving around and the other was lying down on the bench. One of the main differences we noticed between written and spoken conversations is the way that people speak. In written conversations, authors assume people talk more formal than they actually do. You can tell that spoken conversations are less formal because people use words such as "OMG" and "like". 

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Survivor - Episode 10



It seems like my weeks are waiting for Wednesday's so I can watch a new episode of Survivor. There's 8 castaways remaining in the game and 3 on Redemption Island. I have 1 of my main favorites still in the game and in a great position. I hope Tina wins the truel on Redemption because I would love to see an underdog prevail. Unfortunately, thanks to the promos I know that Monica wins immunity this week. I think that the boot will be Katie or Laura, Katie is the last of her alliance and I would prefer she stays this week. As the finale is approaching, the numbers are dwindling and everyone is thinking of the their end game.

Imagery - Paragraph

1. I chose this passage because it was one of the first that had prominent examples of imagery in it. I noticed two main types of imagery, visual and kinesthetic and also one example of auditory imagery.  

2. The type of imagery that is most prevalent in this passage is visual. The author uses this type of imagery to show Jack’s perspective of the playground.

3. I think the best example of imagery in this passage is “they’re metal with rough orange bits called rust”. In this quote, Jack is using two types of imagery to describe the monkey bars. The first type he uses is visual, by the use of the words metal, rough and orange we can paint a picture of what they look like. Jack also uses kinesthetic imagery in this quote. The reader can feel the rusty metal bars by the way the author decided to write this passage.

4. The imagery in this passage is generally negative. The author is writing about Jacks first experience at a playground and shed tries to show how he is apprehensive and worried. She uses words like cold, scratchy, rough and frozen to show how Jack is feeling at this time. For the most part, all of these words have a negative connotation with them and the author uses them to express Jacks thoughts and feelings at this time.

5. Through this passage the reader can see that Jack is feeling uncomfortable. It’s his first experience trying new things and going to a playground when all he wants to do is go “home”. After having the same routine day after day for 5 years in a row, he is very uncomfortable seeing and trying new things, which is shown in this passage.

6. I think the purpose of this piece of imagery is to highlight on the fact that Jack is uncomfortable. As with most people, trying new things can be hard, but with this passage and others, we see that Jack would rather just go back to Room and never leave. 

Quickwrite - Imagery

#779
dinosaur ambulance

http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/post/63369684595/779-dinosaur-ambulance#notes

The doctor heard a loud ring of the telephone and immediately runs to it. He answers it as quickly as possible and makes his way out of the hospital. Waiting for him outside is a humongous loud, rough looking creature. He makes his way onto the dinosuor and holds on tight. The dinosuor begins to sprint, after running for a minute he begins to flap his giant wings almost deafening the doctor. Soon enough, the doctor and the dinasour are flying to their patient. Within minutes they are above the patients house and the flapping of the dinosaur's wings starts to die down. The doctor feels himself and the dinosaur falling in mid air. Just when they get close to the ground the dinosaur starts flapping his oversized wings again, landing the both of them safety and quickly. The doctor jumps off the dinosaur and gets a tingly feeling in his feet from the long jump. He pats the dinosaur on the chest as if to say "thanks" and runs into his patients house. He hears loud crying and wailing of the word help from upstairs and makes his way up the very loud creaky staircase. He pushes open the bathroom door and sees a woman lying on the ground, he can't tell what her problem is, but knows she needs help. He picks her up off the ground and hears a loud grunt from the woman. He carries her out of the house and places her onto the dinosaur. He makes sure both him and his patient are safe for takeoff before patting the dinosaur. The dinosaur takes off immediately and the loud flapping of his wings returns. They quickly make their way back to the hospital, the doctor rushes his patient into the hospital, ignoring all other patients and pedestrians. Hours later, the doctor greats his patient in her room with a glass of water. He asks her how she's doing and in a very quiet, raspy voice, she replies "okay". 

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Quickwrite - "Young People are Narcissists"




http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/post/50904567455/738-young-people-are-narcissists

Are all young people narcissists?  I actually believe the opposite of the quote and I think that all young people are insecure. If you went up to a teenager on the street and asked them to point out their biggest insecurity, they could probably list you 10. I think that most young people put on a mask and pretend to be overly confident because they believe that it appeals to other people. Maybe some young people think that coming off as cocky directly relates to being "popular". But the truth it everyone has their own insecurities and nobody loves everything about themselves. Of course there are certain teenagers who really do love themselves, but the majority are insecure. For those who truly are narcissists I don't think they can grow out of it, it's a personality trait that you have and will stick with you.

Quickwrite - Minions

If I was to get a set of minions for a week, I would utilize them to my advantage. I would have them working all the time, doing various chores for me. Firstly, I would have one or maybe multiple doing my homework. I only have 4 classes so only 4 would be needed to do each classes work. I would have a couple working in the kitchen making me meals or snacks and bringing them to me as a wish. I'd have them do my chores like cleaning the cats box, washing the dishes and cleaning my room. Essentially, the minions would be my slaves, however, I wouldn't be so cruel to them. I would let them sleep at night and have occasional breaks so they could work to the best of their ability.

Reading Assignment #6

Room (255)
Emma Donoghue
I decided to write tweets for Jack, his mom and their captor "Old Nick".

Jack's Mom @jacksmom
Sooooooo glad to be out of that place! #Relieved 

Jack @princejack
@jacksmom when are we going back to room ma?

Jack's Mom @jacksmom
@princejack never!!! #sorrynotsorry



Jack's Mom @jacksmom
Out of that room and headed to the clinic, hopefully we won't be there long! #GladToBeHome

Old Nick @oldnick
@jacksmom don't lie! you miss me, don't you?  #WhenIGetOut

Jack @princejack
@oldnick @jacksmom nope!!!!!!!!! leave my ma alone 

 Jack's Mom @jacksmom
@princejack don't bother Jack... He's never going to bother us again... #lessonlearned 

Old Nick @oldnick
@jacksmom @princejack so no Sunday treat? ;)



Old Nick @oldnick
Ahhh, I see she has blocked me now, oh well it's her loss. In other news jail isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be....

Jack @princejack
@oldnick Stop tweeting about us! #obsessed

Jack's Mom  @jacksmom
@princejack just block him Jack...

Jack  @princejack
@jacksmom I just did! Ma, when are we getting out of this place?!?

Jack's Mom  @jacksmom
@princejack soon Jack, soon...



Jack  @princejack
UGH! The outside is terrible #NotFun!!!

Jack`s Mom  @jacksmom
@princejack Awe Jack you`ll get used to it. Maybe we can go and play outside later :) 



Jack  @princejack
Met Grandma today. I was shy at first, but Ma told me that's her Ma which is really confusing. Hope she comes to visit soon.

Jack's Mom @jacksmom
@princejack awe Jack :) she will definitely come back soon and Paul and your cousin!!! #ourfamily




Jack  @princejack
The plates here are super weird... everything here is weird. I want to go home.

Jack's Mom  @jacksmom
@princejack This is our home now Jack. #HomeSweetHome


Jack  @princejack
@jacksmom Oh well. At least they have #DoraTheExplorer on TV

Jack's Mom @jacksmom
@princejack we're finally out of that place and you're excited about the TV? #kidsthesedays



Jack  @princejack
Ma's not feeling well today... Paul is taking me to see the dinosaurs #shouldbefun

Jack @princejack
Uncle Paul took my shopping today with auntie and cousin. They bought me a Dora backpack :) #thankyou

Jack  @princejack
Ma is still out of it... I'm starting to get worried, I'm going to call the nurse soon...

Jack  @princejack
@jacksmom MAAA are you okay??!?! I'm really worried #HELP

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Survivor - Episode 8


I'm really excited for tonight's episode of Survivor. This season has not disappointed, lot's of strategy, drama and best of all,. blindsides. When the season started out, I had 4 main favorites and since then, 3 have been voted out and 2 have been eliminated. My remaining favorites are John and Hayden. John is on redemption island and if he wins tonight's truel, he'll come back into the game, but if he doesn't he will be eliminated. My other favorite left in the game is Hayden. Hayden is the first Big Brother player to ever play Survivor and he's in a very good position. If I had to make a prediction for the person who will be voted off tonight, it would be Aras. Tyson has been plotting his demise for a couple episodes now and I wouldn't be surprised to see him voted out just as he's reunited with his brother.

Log Book - November 5th

Not much new happened yesterday, glad to have finished my essay. 

Big Brother Australia - Finale


I've been watching Big Brother Australia since this summer and it ended earlier today. It aired every day, with the exception of weekends and after 101 days Tim has won! I was hoping Jade would win, but I'm really happy with how she did and how close she was to winning.

Reading Assignment #5

1. So tired of being in this stupid shed!!! UGH. #GetMeOut

2. I feel so bad for Jack. He has no idea about the outside world, he just doesn't understand. #frustrating

3. FINALLY! After so many failed attempts, I think I've come up with a plan. #ComingHome

4. I'm so scared... Jack... I miss him... Hope he is ok...

5. OMG! I think I can hear sirens coming! They're coming! It worked!!!

6. I hear people coming to the door! Finally, the day I have waited for!!!!!!!!! #Standby

7. So proud of my little prince! He did it for us #proudmom

8. The outside is just as I remember it. So glad to be out of that shed! Jack, not so much...

9. NEVER go in a stranger's vehicle, no matter what! #lessonlearned

10. These people at the hospital are being so rude! Who are you to say I've raised my son wrong??? #theaudacity

11. We went outside today and Jack didn't really like it :( hoping he comes around soon

12. My mom came today! I have never cried so many happy tears in my life. I never thought this day would come. #thankful

13. I just want out of this place! I finally get out and now I'm trapped here?!? #takemehome

14. He's locked up in jail now! Hope he stays there for the rest of his life #sorrynotsorry

15. So touched by all these amazing letters and gifts. I cannot believe this. #loveyouall #blessed


Wednesday 16 October 2013

Quickwrite - Fridge Date

The owners of these two fridges go on a date. Tell the story.

http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/post/1507386901/12

I think that if the owners of these two very different fridges went on a date, they would have a very long night. You can tell by the photos of the fridges that these two people have very different interests. On one side you have a very healthy person who takes care of themselves and on the other, you have someone who doesn't eat properly and doesn't take good care of themselves. If they were to go on a date, I have a feeling they would be arguing from the very start. I imagine picking a restaurant to go on said date would be a very difficult task. One of them would probably prefer a healthier restaurant and the other would prefer fast food. After they find their happy medium and actually go on the date, they argue the whole night. While discussing their interests and opinions they find they have absolutely nothing in common. They make a scene in the restaurant and are asked to leave. After a very quiet ride home, they never speak again.

Quickwrite - Robot

If I was to have a personalized robot, I would want it to do all the tasks that I wouldn't want to do. I would want it to do my chores, make me food, go to school for me and do my work. The robot would be green because that's my favorite color and it would have the voice of a human and not a computer. I wouldn't want it to be bigger or stronger than me.

Thursday 10 October 2013

Six Word Memoir De-Brief

What did I learn about storytelling?

One of the things I learned about storytelling is that stories don't always have to be words. Although we used words in this project, I learned that sometimes pictures can tell just as much of a story as words can. I also learned that minimal words can and equivalent story as 60. This project showed me that stories can very easily be told in minimal words and that sometimes, saying less may actually be better than saying more. Finally, I learned that punctuation is key in storytelling. Explanation marks, ellipsis' and other forms of punctuation add to your story.

Where did I show my knowledge about using storytelling skills?

I showed that punctuation is very important in storytelling when I used various different forms in my memoirs. I used explanation marks, commas and ellipsis' to add to each memoir and help tell the story. I learned through this assignment that pictures can sometimes tell more of a story than words. I noticed this more so with my classmates memoirs, but in two of mine also. In my memoirs for hate and my past, I think that the picture tells just as much of a story, if not more, than the actual memoir does.

What did I learn as a reader, writer, thinker, storyteller?


From this assignment, I learned that as a writer and storyteller you can use minimal words to tell a story. The saying "less is more" describes one of the things I learned. It was a challenge to use just six words to describe a whole aspect of your life, but it gave me a new respect for writers and storytellers. I also learned that some words can have different meanings when telling a story. As a reader, I learned that not every sentence means what you think it does. Sometimes you have to read a sentence or phrase 2 or more times before you can truly understand the meaning behind it.

Character iPhone


I chose to do my character iPhone on Jack's mom. I included the descriptions for each of the apps, but I wanted to share why I chose the case I and other aspects on the phone. Firstly, on Jack's moms iPhone, she has no service I chose to do this because while she's stuck in "room" she has no access to the outside world, so I assumed she wouldn't have cell service either. I added a lot of notifications to the email, text message and phone applications to show the he has been locked away for a long time and her family has been trying to find where she is and if she's safe. Finally, for the background I drew a child's xylophone because if Jack's mom was to have an iPhone, she would need to disguise it from Old Nick and a case pretending to be one of Jack's toys would work perfectly. 

Wednesday 2 October 2013

Six Word Memoir #8

My Past: Everything seemed much more dramatic then

I was having a difficult time thinking of a final memoir to write, so I started looking around my room for inspiration. When I found my yearbook from Grade 8, I immediately thought of how everything seemed like a way bigger deal than it actually was. As with most people's middle school experience, mine consisted of a lot of drama, a lot of unnecessary drama might I add. Everyone needed to have a girlfriend or boyfriend and when they didn't, chaos would ensue. For the visual I decided to use the yearbook that inspired me to write about this. I used a font that looked like a New York musical because like that, my middle school was full of drama.

Six Word Memoir #7

Future: Blank page, clean slate, growing up.

For this 6 word memoir I wrote 'Blank page, clean slate, growing up.' which basically means that I'm very open minded for my future. As of right now, I don't have many ideas for what I want to do after High School, other than post secondary education. I wrote clean slate because I want to start fresh and do something new and exciting following High School. For the visual, I used a blurred image of university booklets to represent my blurred vision for my future. The only clear part in the image is the University of Manitoba logo, just like the only clear part in my mind is that I want to go to University. I used larger commas to show a pause in between words and further show that I don't know what I want to do after High School.

Six Word Memoir #6

Confession: I'd rather be on the island

One of the things that I would love to do in my life, is be a cast member on  Survivor. On Survivor, 20 people are stranded on a deserted island to play a game of strategy. Survivor, is my second favorite TV show and I would love nothing more than to have the opportunity to play it one day. I wrote that I would rather be on the island, meaning play the game of Survivor. The font I chose has a Survivor-esque feel to it and I chose to write it in black because at times, the game can be a dark, cold hearted game, which is one of the many aspects I love about it.

Six Word Memoir #5

Confession: I hardly feel any older now

For one of my memoirs I decided to use the confession that I hardly feel any older now than I do when I was younger. I chose to use this because it's simply how I feel. When you're a kid you always think and wonder what it's like to be a teenager and quite frankly, it feels no different. The picture that I chose to represent this was my picture for when I graduated Kindergarten. I chose this picture because I think it relates to me now since I will be graduating from High School in June. I used the white font to tie in with the theme of the picture, white is a very innocent color and when you're 4 or 5 years old, you're just that.

Tuesday 1 October 2013

Six Word Memoir #4

Family: They will always come back home.

For this memoir I decided to use my cats to represent my family. The reason I have two cats is because a couple years ago my one cat, Tabby, went missing in the winter for 2 weeks. My family and I figured that she wouldn't come back home, so we went to the human society to get another cat before Christmas. A couple days after we got Ginger, Tabby came home. We were all surprised that she was able to survive in the -30°C weather. My cats go outside at out cottage almost every weekend and they always come home, hence why I chose the wording for this memoir. This also applies to my family in the sense that no matter what happens we're always there for each other. I used the color blue for the font because it symbolizes trust, wisdom and faith all characteristics that I think my family embraces.

Six Word Memoir #3

My Past: Regret is a six letter word.

Whenever people bring up things in my past the first word that comes to mind is regret. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people have the constant need to talk about things that happened when I was younger. Whether it's stupid things I did in elementary school or the length of my hair in middle school, I always think of regret. For the visual I decided to use a crossword puzzle and the word regret in a 6 letter space. The black and white represents the dark past and my regret for it. I don't regret everything in my past, but just the little things that are recurring conversation topics. I used yellow for the font because some people say that it can represent impatience and criticism, which is exactly how I feel about my past.

Six Word Memoir #2


Hate: I don`t like the word hate!

For this memoir, I decided to use a picture of the word `hate`with an X through it to symbolize my disdain for the word. I believe hate is a very strong word and that it should not be used on a daily basis. Whenever I go somewhere I always hear people use the word and I highly doubt people actually hate the things that they are talking about. I hardly ever use the word hate and when I do, it is because it slips out of my mouth accidentally. I used an explanation mark at the end to further emphasize that I don't like to hear the word hate.I used red, orange and black colors for the X and for the text color because those are the colors that come to mind when I think of the word hate.

Six Word Memoir #1




Love: Both the Reilly girls are taken...

When I think of love, the first people that come to my mind are Elissa and Rachel Reilly. Elissa and Rachel were on the TV show Big Brother, Rachel on seasons 12/13 and Elissa on season 15. After watching them for 75 days, 3 different summers I found myself loving them. For the visual, I decided to use a photo of each of them on my iPhone and iPad. I chose to do this because that`s how I am able to talk to them. We email, tweet or text each other at least once a week to keep in touch. I used an ellipsis at the end to show that the story goes on so to speak, my love life won`t end because the Reilly`s are taken. However, at this time in my life I`m not looking for a girlfriend right now, so the only women I love, outside my family, are Rachel and Elissa.

Tuesday 24 September 2013

2 of my Passions

2 of my passions are editing and the TV show Big Brother. For the first time this summer, I tried out a new editing software called Sony Vegas. It took a while to get use to, but after a while I got the hang of it. I made this video as a tribute to my favorite player this season and of all time, Elissa. I included the link to the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOY90MP-0Zs

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Reading Survey

How have your experiences in elementary, middle and high school affected your views on reading?
My views on reading have changed immensely since elementary school. In elementary school I loved reading, I was always at the highest reading level in the class and I really enjoyed it. In middle school my interest in reading drifted slightly and I only really read for school, but enjoyed most of the books. Now in high school, I have very little interest in reading books. I only read for school and even with that, it’s just skimming.  The last time I read a book was English in the first semester, where I probably read a quarter of it. I can’t pinpoint a reason as to why I went from loving reading to disliking it, but I would say it’s due to a couple of things. I think one reason is that my interests have shifted since then, instead of loving reading, I now like to watch TV shows. Another possible reason is that I don’t like to be forced into doing things. When we are given a book or time to read in class I usually stare off into to space because I don’t enjoy the book or have little interest in it.

What words pop into your mind when you think of reading? Why?
When I think of reading, a couple words I think of are boring and time consuming. In my mind, reading has a very negative connotation attached to it. I say reading is boring because whenever I read it’s always a task and never on my own terms. The books I was forced into reading hardly ever interested me, so I didn’t read them.  I have a very short attention span and I am easily side-tracked when I read, usually resulting in me putting the book down. 

In general, how do you feel about reading?
In general, I really do not enjoy reading. When I think of reading, I immediately link it to books and my dislike for reading them. I would say that the reason I don’t enjoy reading books is because in recent times, I have hardly found, nor looked for, a book that interests me. I have a small range of interests so it’s really hard for me to find a book that I enjoy reading. 

Techno “Do-You”:
I have an iPhone with internet access that I have with me on a daily basis. I have a laptop and an iPad, however I don’t feel comfortable bringing them to school. I don’t have an e-reader or device to read on, other than my iPhone. I don’t have a public twitter, nor a blog. I like the idea of using technology in the classroom because I think it's a creative and more amusing way to complete assignments, in comparison to pen and paper.