Monday 2 December 2013

Practicing Dialogue






It was a hazy summer mid-day in New York City. We were on top of our apartment building looking out at the beautiful city. The wind was blowing the loose strands of my up-do hair, while I tried to keep my body from shivering. A thought then occurred to me in that moment, 

"Wouldn't you just love to runaway somewhere?" I asked as I uncrossed my arms. "Somewhere you could just start over?" 

Alyssa looked at me like I had caught her off guard. 

"I don't know... doesn't that scare you?" 

I turned back towards the horizon, staring at the beautiful concrete jungle when Alyssa blurted out abruptly, 

"Lets do it." 

"Do what?" I said confused.

"Runaway somewhere!" 

I started thinking about it, about how I could start over. I really wanted a fresh start. But I couldn't just leave my job and other friends and family behind, I just couldn't. 

"Don't think about it Elena, just..." 

I started to float off into a wonder land. Wondering what would happen or what wouldn't happen if I did or didn't go. 

"...And would be an amazing story to tell our kids one day!" Alyssa finished. 

"Yes." I blurted. 

"Yes?" Alyssa replied. 

"Lets runaway." I said. 


LEGEND: 
DIALOGUE 
NON-VERBAL

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Wreck this App: #2


This journal entry asked me to draw fat lines and thin lines. I feel like my drawing skills have gotten even worse since nursery... 

Santa came early this year!


This is my new puppy Lily! We got her on Monday, and she's 8 weeks old. She is an absolute angel. I wish we still had show and tell in grade 12 just so I could bring her in for everyone to see!

Wreck This App: #1


The first entry of my journal told me to use the page as a test screen for my art tools, and it's pretty obvious that I drew I nice summer's day. Duh. 

Friday 22 November 2013

Hey lil'bud!


Wouldn't you just love to be woken up by this cute little guy? I know I would! 

Thursday 21 November 2013

Thinking About Dialogue: Answers

1.    Talk about the process of eavesdropping: 

                                                i.      Where did you go?
                                               ii.       How long did you listen to conversation?
                                              iii.      Who was it between?
                                              iv.      How did it feel to be recording the conversation? 


1. Danielle, Annika and I walked around downstairs for a bit before making our way upstairs, and sitting in on some kids talking about absolute nonsense by the big window upstairs. I'd say we listened to their conversation for a solid 7 minutes before realizing just how awkward and uncomfortable it was what we were doing. It was between these two random kids, pretty sure they were in grade 11. I honestly felt like a creepy obsessed stalker writing down every word they spoke and every emotion they expressed while talking. It was weird and uncomfortable, but it was also fun and funny!


2.    What insights did you gain about the way people speak?

I noticed how much people use body language while talking. People are so animated while telling a story. This kid was talking about how good the song he was listening too, and when he started singing he would do an action with every word he sang, I thought it was pretty entertaining. I also noticed that neither of them liked looking at each other while one another spoke, I found that a little weird. The guy who was singing, liked to use a lot of sound effects and emphasis when he talked! When he got really excited, his volume would raise and his expression brightened, and when he talked about something not as exciting, his volume came down and his facial expression went down with it.


3.    How can you apply this to your writing?

I feel I could incorporate some sort of sound effects in my writing, and I should definitely write the expression/emotion changes with whatever they're talking about. I could also write about how their volume changes with what they're talking about as well.


4.    How is personality and character revealed through conversation/dialogue?

I believe that the personality and character of someone is revealed in the way they express the story. By that I mean, if they use a lot of hand gestures and big bright eyes, I feel they're a very passionate and loyal person. As aposed to someone who kind of talks in a monotone manner, with no body language whatsoever, I feel these kinds of people don't care about anything because they don't even care about what they're talking about in the moment.


5.    What happens when more than two people participate in a conversation?

I definitely think it's a lot louder than a two person conversation, because everyone's trying to get their story in there someway and somehow. I feel it's also a lot more intense, whether it be a sad intense, or an excited intense. You could be talking about something depressing, and you get everyone's sadness and sorrows all at once and that can be pretty intense to take in. But it can also be a crazy happy conversation and you take in everyone's hyped up ecstatic energy and vibes and that's also intense, in a super awesome way!


6.    What was the most surprising thing you’ve learned about the way people converse?

I think the most surprising thing I learned while "creeping" was that there's not a lot of eye contact. I mean I'm not one to talk to someone and stare them in the eyes the whole time, cause that would be creepy. But there was little-to-none eye contact and that took me by surprise. I was raised to talk to people while looking at them, not at my phone, so I wasn't used to it.


7.    What are the differences and similarities between written and spoken conversations? 

I feel that the way people converse in written dialogue is way different than in spoken dialogue. When authors are writing out a conversation, there's no tone when writing so I feel you don't know how the character is actually feeling, or how the character even said what he/she said. The conversations in real life are also a lot longer because people talk about more than one topic and keep the conversation going, unlike written dialogue which ends when the topic ends. I guess if I had to pick a similarity it would be what they talked about. A lot of conversations that happen in written dialogue, I could totally see people having in real life situations.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Answers to Imagery Questions



1. Why did you select this passage? Why did it appeal to you? 

I chose this passage because to me it painted the most vivid picture in my head. It may only have had 2 senses, visual and smell, but the amount of visual and smell imagery used in the paragraph made it the perfect passage. It appealed to me because the way the author wrote this paragraph made me feel like I was in the story. "...raining for eight days straight at the end of June..." That smell, you smell after the rain has stopped, was running through my nostrils while I was reading it. Not only did I smell that dampness after it rains, she also painted a picture for me. I could see the droplets of rain dripping from the trees leaves, and kids most likely jumping in puddles! 

2. What type of imagery is most common in the passage? 

Definitely visual is most common throughout my passage. It's probably the easiest imagery out of all of them, so that makes sense as to why it would be the most common. Every sentence paints a different, very clear, picture in my head. 

3. What is the best snippet of imagery within this passage? Why is it so effective? 

I feel the best "snippet" of imagery within my passage would have the be when the author writes, "The first sidewalk chalk drawings of the season swirled down the gutter..." I can all the different colours from the chalk swirling and mixing together, making a beautiful rainbow effect before washing away. 

4. Is the imagery positive or negative? How do you know? Give some examples to support this. 

This imagery is definitely negative. I know because it has a gloomy vibe to it. A good example of it being a negative imagery is when she writes, "The rain had drowned perfectly manicured lawns and the first blooms in organic vegetable gardens, turning everything to mud." I feel this quote could've gone either way with being positive or negative. I feel the use of the word "drowned" made it negative. She could have said "The rain soaked up the perfectly manicured lawns and first blooms..." And I would have had a different feel to this paragraph. 

5. What mood/emotion is being created by the author? How do you know? 

I think the author is trying to create a depressing emotion. I feel this way about the passage because she talks about things dying, "single wilted bouquet..." And "raining for eight days straight..." Just one day of rain is gloomy, but eight? She's definitely setting the depressed mood in this passage. 

6. What is the purpose of this piece of imagery? 

I believe the purpose of this imagery is that everything that was once beautiful is washed away. The author shows this by using the rain to wash everything away, like the rain washed away the first blooms, and the baseball fields, and the chalk drawings, and the beautiful Alison DiLaurentis. She shows that everything beautiful, doesn't last forever.


Friday 15 November 2013

Reading Tweets #3: Text Connections

Text to Self (Buried 81) 

Emily is an All-Star high school swimmer with parents who don't accept anything but the best from her. When Emily doesn't end up getting the scholarship to university that she told her parents she did, they go AWOL. I've never lied to my parents about getting into university and have them freaking out, but I play soccer and I know what it's like to have a bad game, and have your parents be not only disappointed in your team, but you. Playing any sport at a high level is stressful when your parents want nothing but success from you, so when Emily has a bad swim and her parents get disappointed, I can say I definitely know the feeling. 

Text to World 

The girls from Rosewood, Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily are all being virtually, emotionally, physically and mentally abused by an anonymous bully named, A. Now, bullying happens all over the world to boys and girls, men and women of all different shapes, sizes, ages and ethnicities. No one helps the girls with this anonymous bully, and the sad reality of all this is that a lot if people, if not most people, in real life stand and watch as one or multiple of their peers gets bullied or harrassed. If more people stood up for others when being bullied, maybe we could put an end to it, and maybe the girls could out an end to A once and for all. 

Thursday 14 November 2013

Quick write: Meeting the Grim Reaper on the Road


 

The sun was creeping through the tall, luscious green trees of this beautiful early fall day. I could feel the warmth of the suns rays on my face. I loved the way the leaves crunched beneath my feet with every step I took. I was on my way home when a nice cool breeze wafted the smell of something rotten into my nostrils. That's when I noticed a tall figure at the end of my path. He looked lost. "Hello sir" I said cheerily. He looked panicked to see me, almost as if he had seen a ghost. "Could you help me find my way?" He retorted. I smiled, "Why of course, where are you headed?" He hesitated before replying with "I'm looking for Mr.Bilbo?" coldly. I took a step back, thrown off by his response. It was in that moment when everything clicked. The long black robe, the scythe in his right hand, the atrocious smell that wafted by me earlier, and the inability for me to see his face? This was no man; this was death, and he was here to take me with him.

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Quickwrite: The House


I was walking through the foyer with nothing but a match in this almost torn down house, when I heard the slamming of a door come from the second floor. I hesitated before letting my curiosity get the best of me. The stairs creaked as I slowly walked up them. It felt as if there was another presence in the room with me, but I thought to myself that's crazy. Ghosts aren't real. As I was exploring the second floor for the door that was slammed shut I heard a faint laugh that I could have sworn was right behind me, but nothing. I went back downstairs kind of disappointed that I didn't find anything cool in this old torn down house, not even some old jewelry. I was halfway to the door when I heard the skipping of feet that sounded like it was coming closer to me. I was getting a little freaked now because it kept getting louder and louder. I tried to run out of there but my body wouldn't move. It's as if some entity had paralyzed my body. The skipping had stopped. And I heard that laugh again, but this time I knew it was coming from behind me, because I could feel someone breathing on me.

Quickwrite Minion

If I got a set of minions for a week I would be the happiest person in the world. I love minions. They're so cute and funny and very reliable. I hate cleaning so they'd definitely be good for that. They're always down to party so I know we'd get along. Minions would just be a great time, all the time.

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Reading Tweet #2

Burned (35) is a pretty good book so far. Not too far into it yet, but the title has got me thinking of ideas of events to come already #title 

I don't understand how "A" is everywhere the girls are? Maybe "A" isn't just 1 person, maybe "A" is a team of people? #bigidea #theAteam 

"The liars better tighten their life jackets. A perfect storm is brewing & if they aren't careful, "A" will bury them at sea..." #favquote 

"A" has so much dirt on the girls, yet does nothing? Why? #comment 

I think Aria and a fire are gonna be linked up in this book because she is on the cover & the title is called "Burned". #prediction #thought

Six Word Memoirs De-brief

What did I learn about storytelling? 

I learnt it's actually very hard to come up with a six word sentence that tells a story. I'd either have 7 or 5 words and get frustrated and give up. I though writing a 6 word sentence that told a story would be quick and stress-free. It's actually quite time consuming and requires a lot of thought. It took me quite a while to come up with 8, 6 word memoirs that I thought told a story with a lot of hidden meanings and feelings. If you had told me before that you could tell a story using only 6 words I would've thought you were crazy, but you can. 


Where did I show my knowledge about using storytelling skills? 

I feel I used my knowledge about storytelling skills when I had to figure out where to put my punctuation, or to even have punctuation in my sentence at all. It's crazy to think how little punctuation, like a comma or an exclamation point, can really change your sentence in how you read it and the meaning behind it. I thought I showed this skill really well on my third memoir, "let your past, make you better." I put the comma after "past" to help emphasize the separation of your past, and your future. I think it helped show that everyone makes mistakes, but that we learn from our mistakes and become the people we're meant to be because of them. 


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

As a reader I learned that 6 words can tell a very meaningful story and paint a very vivid image in your head. They can describe multiple meanings and feelings and I think that's amazing. I also learned that I should start reading everything in more than one ways to maybe decipher hidden meanings, and discover a more broad message behind the 6 words. As a writer I learned not to rush my writing and to take my time to make my pieces more meaningful. I also learned that you don't need to write big and detailed paragraphs for your writing pieces to be meaningful and beautiful. 

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Quickwrite: Duck Story


 
A mother duck and her baby ducks went for a stroll after their swim at the pond. They were crossing the street, hoping no vehicles would squish them flat! As they were nearing the end of the street, which felt like an eternity, the mother looked back and realized her babies were nowhere to be found. As she was starting to panic, she heard a faint sound of chirping. She had no idea where they were! Then, she realized the faint sound of chirping sounded like it was coming from the sewer drain. She quacked and quacked hoping her babies were alive down there, and that some way or some how they would escape the sewer drain and reunite with their mother. She then stopped hearing the sound of chirps all together and decided it was too late and her babies were gone, forever. As she turned around and went on her way sadly, she started to hear the sounds of baby ducks chirping. She waddled her way all the way towards a hot dog cart, and behind it were her babies! They were just hungry for some hot dog buns and waddled over speedy fast without their mom even having a clue. From that day on, the mother duck never let her babies out of her sight ever again

 

Quickwrite Robot

I'd imagine my robot servant to be like R2D2 from Star Wars. Always at my service, whenever I need. He would definitely clean my room, do my homework, maybe even give me some good input on which movies to watch on Netflix. I'd expect him to be up to date on all the scrumptious gossip and fashion trends. Although my robot would be like R2D2, I wouldn't imagine it looking like him. First, he would be a guy. Second, he would have a little tux and bow tie like a servant would. He would have a loving and caring warmth about him. He would have a language settings on him so I could set it to whatever I'm feeling that day. My parents and friends would love him, and I would too. I wish I had an actual robot servant now!

Thursday 3 October 2013

8th memoir

 I love this photo of my parents, they told me this was one of the only pictures from their wedding that was a candid moment. You can just see how in love they are, and I'm in love with their love. I chose the memoir "I'm in love, with their love" because I hope to one day have a love as strong, powerful, and yet still kid-like, like my parents. My dad shaved his head with my mom when she was diagnosed with cancer, and I don't know too many people that would do that. I love and respect my parents a lot and don't know what is do without them both. I added in the little corner frames because it's a candid moment and wanted to make it feel more like a old Polaroid photo. I also added in a dotted line underneath my memoir because I thought it looked really sharp.

7th memoir

 I believe that you don't have to be in the house or place you grew up, to be at home. I believe home is wherever your heart is. The people you love are. I think you could be anywhere in the world, with the people you love and that could be your home too. That's why I chose this picture my friend sent me from Spain. She loves it there and has finally settled in and she says it feels just like home. I added in the banners at the top because I likes how it looked. 

6th memoir

This photo means a lot to me. This picture was taken exactly 1 week before she, Rio, passed away. I love this photo because you never would've know she was sick with cancer and passed away soon after, if I hadn't told you. She looks like she's genuinely happy and actually smiling. She was the best dog I've/will ever have. My memoir "I'll always be by your side." represents how even though Rio isn't here withe anymore, she's still with me, watching over me, as a guardian angel. I added the boarder in because I thought the picture would be too plain without it. I also added in a heart because Rio will always be in my heart until I pass away too. I didn't add any punctuation in this memoir because I thought it would ruin it. I like the simplicity of it just being a 6 letter sentence with no punctuation.

5th memoir

I also really love this sun rise photo, it's just so beautiful. It goes well with my memoir because the sun rise is the sign of a new day, a new beginning. So I think my memoir "it will all be better, tomorrow" is perfect for this. I added a red leak on top because I thought it would look nice. I also added in a cool under line for my words which I think looks real spiffy. I put the comma before "tomorrow" to show the separation of the new day and old day. How you can start fresh with every new day.

4th memoir

First, I wanna start off by saying how much I love this picture. It was taken up in Aspen on a really nice trail. I thought this picture was perfect for my memoir "I always, look for an adventure." Because on adventures you never know what's gonna happen, or what's up ahead, and I think how you can't see what's up ahead, is perfect. I edited this picture by adding in a purple leak at the top of the pic because I think it looked really nice. I also added in those cool diamond boarders because I thought it made the picture look really sharp. I added in a comma after "I always," because again I thought it would emphasize "always" more, than to have left the memoir with no punctuation at all.

3rd memoir

The memoir "Let your past, make you better." Is about whatever's in the past is in the past, and how you can let your past change you. All the mistakes you make in life, shape you into the person you're supposed to be in my opinion. I chose this fall lake picture because it shows you the change in the colour of all the leaves. I think it really represents change well, because leaves are always changing. I lightened the picture a little because I thought it looked more appealing to the eye. I put the comma after "past" to emphasize the separation of your past, and now. How your past is in the past. 

2nd memoir

 I think just looking at this picture you can already piece everything together. I don't think it could be more clear. Danielle has been my best friend since I can remember. We've been through everything together, thick and thin. She's the sister I never had. Of course every friendship has their ups and downs, I'm just glad to say we've had way more ups than downs. Our friendship grows stronger every single day and it'd be unimaginable to not have Danielle in my life. I added the heart into the picture to sort of represent how Danielle will always have a comfortable spot in my heart, forever and always. I added the comma after the "17 years," to pause and to emphasis the "and still going strong" so people know that our friendship is unbreakable. 

1st memoir

 I chose this picture for my memoir because I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was at the lake with my friend and we were biking all over the place. It's like we didn't have a worry in the world, we were so adventurous. I love being spontaneous and living in the moment while not worrying what's going to happen next. This is why I think the words fit perfect for this image. The only editing I did to this picture was adding a triangle in the center of it. I wanted to have the words in a pyramid form and I thought putting it in a triangle would look cool, and I think it does! I thought using a colon in my memoir was perfect for staying the fact that I'm a very adventurous person.

Monday 16 September 2013

Reading Survey


Reading Survey

 

What kind of books do you like to read? Why do you enjoy them?

            I don’t really have a favourite genre of books. I love to explore new genres and expand my list of genres I’ve read. I’m not the biggest fan of romance novels, mainly because majority of them all end the same, happily ever after, which I think is boring. I think sometimes it’d be really unpredictable and “OMG!” if the story didn’t end happily ever after, but that’s just my opinion. Although I’m a fan of John Green’s romance books, like “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Looking for Alaska”. I really love his way of writing and how attached you get to each character by the end of the book. I’m a big fan of mystery books; I love the suspense and just not knowing what’s going to happen next. I’ve read most if Sara Shepard’s “Pretty Little Liars” series, and I know they’re not the highest of reading level books, but the suspense in them are killer!

 

In general how do you feel about reading?

            I have a love/hate relationship with reading. There are times when my mom has to come into my room at 4:00am and rip the book out of my hands, and tell me to go to bed. Then there are times when reading is the last thing I want to do. I don’t know why I’m like this either? Maybe it has to do with the environment at the time? Now that I think about it, I honestly think it has to do with the environment I’m in at the time (weird, I know). Whenever I read, I surround myself with candles and lots of blankets and pillows. It’s very warm and cozy. Even though sometimes reading is the last thing I want to do, I still do love reading. I like to think of myself as a bipolar bookworm.

 

What’s New?

            Well I’ve never had you as teacher before, but I thought I’d tell you a little about myself. I love playing sports; ask me if I’ve play any sport and I’ll probably tell you yeah! My main sport is soccer, and I play for a club team called FCNW. We’re currently first in our pool for playoffs, which is awesome! My birthday is July 4th, the same as my dad’s, so I guess you could say I’m a giftJ. I used to have a chocolate lab, but sadly she passed away earlier this year. Her name was Rio. My mom is a two-time cancer survivor and she’s currently kicking-ass battling her third. I’m really scared that this is my senior year. It’s very bittersweet, because I don’t want to leave ever leave high school, I love it! But at the same time I’m very excited to turn the page and start a new chapter in my life.

 

Techno “Do-You” Paragraph:

            I have a white iPhone4S, and I’m still addicted to it after a year and a half. I have Internet access when the school’s wifi is working. I have access to both a laptop and iPad, but I do not want to be carrying that around at school with me, when my iPhone works perfectly fine. I do have a kindle, I have 17 books on it currently and I’m excited to read them! I do have a twitter feed. Is it school appropriate? I would lean more towards no… Other than the blog we just made for our class, I don’t know if you would consider a Tumblr page a blog, but I do and I have one. I’m kind of a Tumblr addict! I love going on there to look at cool scenic pictures, or pictures of food, or just hot boys! I love my blog on Tumblr and I’m thinking of linking it to my school blog site! I’m glad we get to use technology in the course, I think more kids will participate and actually listen and learn if you’re allowing us to use our phones and laptops and iPads.