Fractured by Teri Terry 5-18-15

     This book was incredible! I would definitely rate it a ten. Although, there was so much confusion. Kayla would want to tell Nico everything, but then she wouldn't trust him. It was like something that happened to her life in the past was telling her to not trust him. And guess what, that feeling was right! In the end, she found out that Nico killed her father, and he turned her into a fighting machine with two personalities(creepy).
     I was upset whenever Cameron turned out to be a bad guy. I was hoping that she would forget about Ben, and go for Cameron. Cameron turned out to be a spy for the lorders. I hated that he ended up like that. And the fact that Ben got his memory taken away from him. That just made me so upset. This book brought me through many feelings. I was happy whenever she found out where Ben was, upset at the fact that Cameron was a spy, and terrified that she was going to get caught by the lorders.

Quickwrite 5/18/15

Many people are gathering to listen to the president’s speech. All of the people that are in the crowd seem to be dressed formally. In the man on the left's glasses, there seems to be a person standing on a stage ("What's Going on in this Picture?", The Learning Network). If there were to be a person on stage talking, then all of the people in the audience would be looking towards the stage and paying attention. The man's glasses show that there is a person on a stage, and so the people in the crowd would be paying attention to the person on the stage.

Debate Reflection

In the debate tournament I believe that I performed really well. I gave 100% of my effort during all of the debates I performed in. I say this because I searched day and night every single time we found our topic. I always tried to make sure that we had citations, and evidence for each point. The best part of the tournament was finding rebuttal points. I always thought that it was funny that I could make what someone said and turn it against them.(I know, this is really mean but most of the points I found were ridiculous). The hardest part of the tournament was going against my best friends. I wanted them to win more than I wanted to win myself. I didn’t want to hurt my friends whenever I went up there, but whenever I was up, I forgot we were friends, and I tried my best. I learned that I don’t like it whenever people don’t make things credible(like if someone said that they heard that a friend punched the other friend in the face, I would ask them if they were there themselves). I also learned that my friends can’t cite worth a dime! I even told them before the debate to make sure they cited, and if they didn’t, I would turn their words on them(Guess what?! They didn’t cite!). I do believe that I was fair/unbiased during the time I was judging. I say this because I didn’t want to chose the people I like the most( I was always looking for the people with the greater argument).

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson(April Fantasy)

This book would probably be rated (in my opinion), a 10/10. Elisa was supposedly chosen by God to make a major change in the world(she had a god stone in her naval). She got married off to King Alejandro, and she had to move over to his palace. She got captured by her maid and she became the leader of an army. She met this boy name Roberto and they fell in love. Sadly it was forbidden, but before something bad happens, they found a way to be together. Elisa went back to her husband, and they had a battle with the enemy. End the end, she won the battle with the right hand of God(her god stone, and four others).
I really liked this book. It started out slow, but then it just kept getting faster and faster! My favorite part was that she started out sort of heavy in the book, then she turned into a thin and beautiful person. It's not everyday that someone goes on a journey with kidnappers, and choose to be on their side(also have a bonus and end up thin in the end). Elisa would be  the person every girl strives to be in life. I really want to read the next book in this series, but the library here doesn't have the whole series! They only have the first book. Well, anyways, thanks for reading my blog post!

The Star-Spangled Banner

"The Star-Spangled Banner" should be kept as the U.S. national anthem. "In times of crisis, the Star-Spangled Banner is a rock for us, a symbol of our grace under pressure and our determination to succeed no matter the odds, the very virtues that have led America to become the richest and most powerful nation on the planet" (The Case Against the Star-Spangled Banner). When there is war, many people look to the "Star-Spangled Banner" for hope and courage to keep going. Without the "Star-Spangled Banner", all the hope and courage it already built up would be gone. "The lyrics are inspirational and speak well to the resilience of our nation–Francis Scott Key wrote them after witnessing the American forces survive the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812" (The Case Against the Star-Spangled Banner). Francis Scott Key wrote this song to share what happened on that day, and to give the U.S. the feeling he had of the flag waving at the end of the battle. The U.S. fought hard, and he is showing that in times of crisis, America can(and will) do their best(and have victory).

Quickwrite 4/20/15

An immigrant is taking a test for being a citizen of a country, and he is taking a selfie of the test and himself. Everyone seems to be studying something on the tablets in-front of them. Also, the people seem to be at desk ("What's Going on in this Picture?", The Learning Network). Since there are a bunch of people, and they all look like they are studying something, they must be taking a test(or studying for a test. Everyone seems to be Hispanic, I believe they must be taking some sort of test to become an official American.

Graphic Novel Reflection 4/15/15

1. What were the successes of your group project?

All of the group members understood what the other wanted, and we got a ton of information to use.

2. What were the failures of your group project?

The artist of the group couldn't finish all of the work on Tuesday night, so whenever she got to school, we had to finish the project as quickly as we could.

3. Did you like working in a group? Why or why not?

I really enjoyed working in a group(especially this group). We all sort of understood each other. We also got along really well. I feel like if I were to be in a group alone, then I would have been crowded by stress. I would have felt like I couldn't finish it in enough time, so being able to split parts and do one thing instead of many would be a lot easier than having to do it by myself.
4. Explain the role (writer, layout, artist, researcher) you had within your group and how you specifically contributed to the creation of your graphic novel.
I was the first researcher. I researched mainly on the second and third websites. I told the layout person what scenes she needed. I also helped the writer figure out what was needed to be said and by who. I informed the artist who all was involved, and what everyone believed so that she could draw the right expression for the right people.