I Am Spider-Man (Blog Post #3)

I am Spiderman. Well, kind of. I am also Jack. But most of all,  I am Emily. Allow me to explain: obviously I don't go around flying off of buildings, or climbing beanstalks--I am not a superhero. It may come as a surprise to some, but I am not Spiderman in disguise, nor am I a young boy. Instead, I am a high school student--one with ambitious goals and a will to complete them. I have strengths that make me helpful in and out of the classroom, and I work well in a group setting.  Two strengths/roles in particular come to mind: the elaborator, and the coordinator. I take the ideas that were brainstormed by the entire group, and I expand upon them, allowing these ideas to be put to use in the actual task at hand. Second, I am the coordinator. There is always some way to connect the mess of ideas and opinions and thoughts thrown out by various group members, and I can see that. I can take many categories and combine it into one concise message.

Some of you may be wondering how an elaborator/coordinator named Emily is anything like Spiderman. Hopefully if you know nothing about Spiderman you at least know that he is the man who got his name by flying from building to building using a kind of 'spider-webby' substance. How? I can't answer that. But I am like Spiderman, I can take a spiderweb of different ideas and combine them into a stunning end product in the same way Spiderman himself flies from building to building (using spiderweb) in order to reach his final destination. Now Jack and the bean stock is a little bit of a stretch. In the story, Jack finds a bean and plants it and it eventually grows into a giant beanstalk. In the same way, I elaborate on ideas to create (grow) a new, even bigger idea. Now, I don't have to face a giant, but you get the idea. I may be only a senior girl in High School, but I guess there's a Spiderman side to everyone.

Practice Test Reflection (Blog Post #2)

This first practice test definitely gave me an idea of the direction I need to move in during the next two trimesters. From the very first question it was challenging. Really, the hardest part of it was staying attentive, and engaged in the text. I love to read, but when I say I love to read I mean I love to read about things that are interesting to me. I'm not used to reading essays and monologues and sonnets, so my mind wanders while I'm reading and I end up not having a clue what I just read. I then take up any extra time I may have had to search for the answers to each question, rather than knowing them in the first place. My first goal (to be achieved by the end of first trimester at the latest): stay engaged in the text so that I don't have to hunt down answers.

Along with my difficulty in staying engaged, I also don't have much prior knowledge about literature. Of course I read some of the classic books in past english classes, and have had some minor experience with poetry, but none quite like this. After taking the test and looking at the answers I noticed that one of my strengths is recognizing symbols in poetry. I cannot, however, identify the different types of poetry, and I could use a refresher on the literary techniques. With that I have goal number two: By mid-october, be able to identify the different types of poetry and look over common literary techniques.

There was one text which I did overwhelmingly better on than any other passage, it was the essay about poets and language, by Percy Bysshe Shelley. As I mentioned before, I am much more engaged in reading when I find the topic interesting. I found this topic to be both interesting and understandable--while there were literary techniques, the passage over-all was not abstract. I was able to recall much of what I read, and because of that I found the exact answers much more quickly than I did in the other passages. Even though I enjoyed this topic more than the others, I hurried to finish the test on time, and I skimmed portions of the essay as with the four previous texts. Goal number three: take the time to read each passage thoroughly so that the questions are easier to answer (this goal is alongside goal number one). 

I do miss details here and there, especially when I skim, but I do pretty well on the questions that ask about the authors tone, or about the feeling of the passage. I can keep an open mind while I am reading, and answer the inference questions when they come. What I really need is more practice. Goal number four: complete at least three other timed multiple choice questions by the end of the first trimester in order to overcome the time barrier and get more practice. I definitely don't have all of the qualities of an effective reader, but I believe I can gain the skills necessary if I practice. 

My Blog Design (Blog Post #1)

I began by choosing a template. I liked the template that displayed a picture behind the words, and I particurally liked the picture of an antique looking house. From there, I customized the colors and the fonts. I didn't want the reader to be distracted by the picture in the background, so I made the background opaque. The color red is proven to stimulate the brain and get people to really think, so I chose a dark red for the background color, and a gray to complement  it (Cherry).

With the maroon background and antique house picture, my blog conveys a more sophisticated, 'elegant' message. I chose my fonts accordingly. The header (AP Literature) is in a fun font, to bring the audience in, but it is not illegible. The font in my blog posts is different; I chose a font that looks like the font of a typewriter--sticking with the antique, elegant theming. The colors, picture, and font in my blog all work together to create a blog that looks serious yet intriguing to the eye.