Monday, December 26, 2011

Mentor Text

                For my mentor text, I read the P.G. Wodehouse book ‘The code of the Wooster. This book was recommended to me by Ms. Kennett, and is a funny little book.  It is from the series of books that firsts introduced the trope of an intelligent British butler.  The plot of the book is very interesting, and I hope everyone who reads this blog post tries to give it a read. Why is this book so special you may ask? Well, it manages to strike a balance between having a very complicated and detailed plot while at the same time having great comedic aspects.

                The main character in the book is a man named Bertie Wooster.  His Auntie Dahlia asks him to procure a silver cow creamer from an antique dealer, and in the process of helping his family out.  Her goal is to get the owner of the store to lower the price of the item so her husband can buy it. From there is goes off into a thing of madness, with the read being just as confused as to what is going on as the characters actually experiencing the events.  But as you reach the end, you begin to truly realize what the book is about, and the true message hidden behind all of the silliness the book has to offer. It really is a touching little ending to the book, on e I really approve of. Now, I think I did a good job of explaining the key reasons I liked the book without giving too much away, now to explain how I will incorporate some of these elements into my own story.

                Overall, I would say that my story is a comedy. And like Code of the Woosters, I prefer when my comedy is more dry, subtle and intelligent than some of the popular comedy of today’s age.  Also, one of my main characters is British. Lord Cobblesworth, the antagonist of my story is as you would suspect of British decent. I can use this book as a reference for when I actually am writing some of the dialogue for the story.  One last thing I want to take from the Code of the Woosters is how the book portrays the final message of the book. It isn’t obvious at first, and the reader has to go through the entire book to finally ‘get it’. I want the same kind of feeling in my story, the same kind of last take away that will leave the reader satisfied. That would really be great. 

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Extra credit post

                 I am going to talk about music. Not to be super straightforward, but honestly I thought I should just get it out in the open right away. Personally, I love music, and one day I hope to one day produce it. But enough of that, what I wanted to talk about in this blog post is how music AFFECTS us. I have three specific points to make here actually. Music inspires, relates to, and interests us. Now, let’s expand on those points in the form of paragraphs!

                To put it simply, Music is inspiring. When I write any of my essays for English class, you can bet that I am going to be jamming out to something while I do it. Pure silence is in its essence boring, and putting something, anything to add some background noise will add to anyone’s productivity. It gets the creative juices going so to speak, since music is so based in creativity itself.

                The easiest way to connect to people is to relate to them in some way, and make them invest. Music is a universal concept. Rich or poor, intelligent or ignorant everyone knows music and appreciates it in one of its many forms.  In psychology, they say there is actually a part of the brain that is for understanding music, which means this understanding comes naturally to all of us. Isn’t that awesome?

                And lately, music is interesting. It’s why most of the time you can catch me listening to my iPod in class or while I do my work.  Lyrics can have so many different meanings, and leaving them up to interpretation actually makes us use our brains, unlike television which just tells you things and will turn your brain into mush.  It makes us think about concepts like love, war, joy, drugs and countless other things that are fundamental in everyday life.

                And there you have it. I may have rambled on for a bit, but my point still stands!  To me, Music is a fundamental and natural part of human society, that effects us every day in too many ways to count. All I did here was explain some of them, and give whoever is reading this some things to ponder.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Whatever

/Nates Blog....1. What is your name?
My name is Nathan Ernest Fuller
2. What is the title of your story?
I'm currently working on it.. I plan to use a short quote from the story to be the title. I just haven't found that quote yet.
3. What is the theme of your story?
The theme is that with the opportunity of education, one should embrace the full expeience with an open mind.
4. Who are your main characters?
My main character is Walter Adams. He begins the story as a freshman in high school. Other important characters are Mr. Wilson and Ms. Riverton. Mr. Wilson is the Geometry teacher and Ms. Riverton is the English teacher. There will be other important teachers and friends introduced later on, as he progresses through his high school career.
5. What is the setting of your story? 
I actually overlooked this, but I will add a setting; it takes place in some town in some state... Because I have never lived outside of Plymouth, I will most likely create a fictional town in the United States that is very similar to Plymouth.
6. How did you come up with the theme?
Well this book is almost like a memoir of mine, but its fictional. It represents what I think of school and how I think students SHOULD be taught. Of course I can't change the teaching methods of teachers, as much as I'd love to try. I share views very similar to Walter Adams', however I have began to except the crap that schooling deals out to its students.
7. Who is the antagonist?
The antagonist is within Adams' head. His mentality of education being useless creates in him a lack of motivation. Until he overcomes this antagonistic mindset, he will not benefit. I realize that half of what we learn in school is useless, but I still make an effort to get through it.
8. Why is the antagonist evil?
His mindset is not evil, but just poisonous. I've seen kids hit this level in school and latch on to it. Their grades diminish and somehow they act superior to schooling as a whole.
9.What is the conflict of your story?
Adams faces the struggles of school work and it's weak link to relevance in life.
10. Why is it important in real life?
At least 90% of students in Ms. Kennett's A period English class will agree that school involves irrelevant subjects and that it does not prepare you enough for what you wish to do with your life. I use Ms. Kennett's class as an example due to the tension between her and the students at this specific moment in time. I find myself being very stressed out due to this lack of common curriculum. Therefore, as Walter Adams experiences this, he must be able to accept that some aspects of school are not relevant and he must press on.
11. How do you relate to your characters?
As mentioned above, Walter Adamsrepresents me. Mr. Wilson represents logicity and he supports Walter's views. Ms. Riverton believes he needs to be open-minded and that there is no way out of work. Teachers like this will represent mindsets of Adams and how he must adjust to high school life.
12. What is the time set of your story?
I plan for my story to span four years: Walter's high school career. Of course, that will be impossible to do with hours of homework every night. So I may cut it short at the end of his sophomore year.
13. What is the structure of your story?
I may do two parts if I plan to do just two years of high school. The first part will be Walter's freshman year and how he adjusts to school. He will so overwhelmed with a new workload, that he will fail to notice how irrelevant some of the course work is. In his second year, he will start to speak out and begin to realize that most work is useless. However, in the end, Walter will accept that he must do what is expected of him. Unfortunately, his opinion will not matter. 
14. How have you made your story suitable for 5th graders?
I'm making sure that my sentences are short and understandable. Sure, this is more 7th or 8th grade reading level, but it's good that they have a challenge. I feel like if 5th graders do read this and do understand it, they will feel smart and hopefully get something out of it.
15. Why did you name your characters what you named them?
I honestly just randomly generated names. I made sure I did not use any names that people would see and then think, "OH YOU NAMED HIM AFTER ME DIDN'T YOU" because that's just annoying. I named Walter after my father who has influenced me very much. The teachers Wilson and Riverton were simple last names that I thought sounded logical.
16. Do your characters have flaws?
Of course! Walter's main flaw is that he chooses to become indifferent to his environment rather than open. He should embrace difficulty and difference rather than put it off. However I also wish for Ms. Riverton to have that same flaw. She believes that Walter's indifference is illogical simply because she has authority. She uses the fallacy of authority to back up her point of her being correct. However, when looked at curriculum in English logically, learning symbolism is not as useful as learning grammar. (Today's english classes in high school do not nearly focus enough on grammar as they do symbolism).
17. How does your life compare to your story?
It's funny because how I feel about my current English class is fueling this story. It's almost like I'm venting creatively. 
18. Is their anything that we should know about your story before reading it?
Yes. Realize that I am not some rebellious kid trying to say that school is pointless. That is not my point. I'm saying that school teaches some useless things. However, I completely understand that attending high school and working hard will benefit you in the long run. The thinking you do in high school prepares you for a life in college and the career you wish to take on afterward.
19. What are your strengths as a writer?
I believe I have very few strengths as a writer actually. However I feel when I have a motive for writing, then I will put my own beliefs into it to have a very strong foundation. I wish to do that with this story.
20. What are your weaknesses?
My weaknesses are usually grammar issues and structure issues. Unfortunately, English classes don't like to teach grammar. Structure is something I'll just need to improve on my own I guess.