For Comp 1, we were asked to read two articles and then explain how the symbols in the stories reflected upon the characters or what they may be referring to.
For (Laughter wasn't rationed) http://www.tricorpress.com/world_war_rollercoaster.htm

I found her attitude to be a symbol. The way she carried herself so strongly after so much pain. She told herself she would get through it and she did. I also found the Eggs and the skinned rabbit to be symbols. How she carefully transports the precious cargo home in order for her family to eat is extremely noble.

For (Still Waters excerpt)http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/074343966X/ref=sib_rdr_ex/103-2639678-9047847?%5Fencoding=UTF8&p=S00E&j=0#reader-page

I found the girls pink trunk to me the most noticeable symbol. The trunk holds her whole life, all the memories she's had. The way she is able to carry the extremely heavy trunk is a symbol of her strength and courage in life, and how she has had so much weight put on her shoulders.

For Comp 1, we were asked to read an article on memoirs and then briefly summarize it. My summery is as follows:
A memoir is basically one subject you choose to write about. While writing it you stick to that one subject. It is usually written in first person and may be informal. A memoir can commonly be mistaken for an autobiography. We are not writing the story of our life, just pondering one thing that went on in our lifetime. While writing a memoir you can show your reader that you are figuring out the story as you go, aka writing questions, changing your mind, etc...

The link for this The article can be found here

http://www.judithbarrington.com/writingthemem.html

Take me as I am
Nothing more nothing less
Take me as I am
Because that's when I'm my best
Take me as I am
With all my flaws included
Take me as I am
I hate to feel secluded
Take me as I am
I do not want to change
Take me as I am
Don't put me through this pain
Take me as I am
But to you it's just a game
Take me as I am
But if that can not be
Then you can go be you, and I will go be me.


This is a poem I wrote just now. enjoy
This is what you might call my artistic side peaking through.

I found this article especially interesting because it relates to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. The Bush administration has decided to ban some research libraries. They have done so without voting, and by September 30, 2006, over 15 libraries will be closed. I find this insane, "Why" would be my first question to ask. It may be that what Ray Bradbury predicted in his book Fahrenheit 451 is actually becoming a reality. This is a dystopian characteristic because while he may have good intentions for doing this, he never asked everyone else what they think. This equals control so I would count it as dystopian.

You can find this article here

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20060830134422673

Nineteen Eighty-Four expresses the dangers of communism and power. Shouldn't everyone have a say in what happens to them? By using too much control over others, wouldn't they eventually rebel and rise against? Nineteen Eighty-Four allows us to think deeply into these questions and takes us through the lives of people being overtaken by fear, power, and the true meaning of communism.

For my English class we were asked to read and write about 3 literary elements in the book we are reading about a dystopian society. I chose the following:
Climax
Inciting Force
Falling Action

In the book 1984, I would say that the climax is when Winston and Julia are caught having sex in the upstairs room. They are then taken to be tortured into in to being submissive people that obey what ever Big Brother says.

I found the falling action to also include them being tortured, but also the fact that in the end of the book, as Winston is walking away from being tortured as a free man again, is shot dead from behind.

For the Inciting Force, I put Winston himself, because he is the one going behind the party's back in order to have pleasurable meetings with Julia multiple times.

Does anybody wanna go to halloween horror nights in orlando with me and friends this friday night? I would have to know by tomorrow night (Wednesday) so we could get a discount. It would only be 37 bucks as oposed to 60. I'm desparate here lol no one loves me anymore it seems. SO lemme know what's up ok. Just message me at dieselsgirl14@verizon.net with your NAME cause i don't know who you are through your screen names. And if you do want to come, PLEASE bring as many people as possible, I would like a big group. The more the marrier. It doesn't matter if you don't know me very well, I don't care lol. I would love to get to know you guys better anyway.

Thanks all

Claire

It all started in eighth grade. My mother decided that me and my sisters should try public school for awhile till we got out live set back on it's tracks. I didn't want to go, I was as scared as a deer in headlights. I had never been to school before, I had always been homeschooled. So I ventured out in to the unknown that first day of school. I was as shocked as if I had sat down in an electric chair. These kids were weird to put it quite nicely. My first trip to the library was a bad one. I had sat down next to all the books about sex and sexually transmitted diseases! Mind you I was young like a budding rose.
That first day the principle decided to put me back a grade as if I were the dumb kid down the street who rode the short bus. I was as mad as a bull when he is forced to chase around some jackass with a red towel. But I had a plan, and it was a rather good one. I was going to go with his plan, make him think he is one smart cookie, and then yank it all out from under him as if pulling the carpet out from under his feet. So I went with the flow, did all the useless work, never skipped class, well there was this one time that.....well it was only one time OK!! I got A after A after A as if I were some genius child or something. After relearning everything I had learned three grades ago again.
I decided it was time to go back to homeschooling. And by dong so, I am now as smart as smart as the people who say no to drugs. My grades test college level for every subject. Mind you I haven't graduated highschool yet. I bet you anything you just took a minute to think about my last sentence as if you missed something. I am almost in college full time and I can't wait to start the next chapter of my life.


I make up my own clichs if that's alright. But if you wish to find some then check out these sites!

http://www.westegg.com/cliche/random.cgi
http://www.copydesk.org/cliches.htm

For my English class, we were asked to read a book or other work on a dystopian society. I chose the book 1984, because the entire theme is dystopian. It was more then the perfect example. Another reason I chose it is because I've already read it!!! lol It's less work to review a book then to re-read. I hope everyone knows about a certain miracle called "Spark Notes", www.sparknotes.com check it out.
1984 is about a guy names Winston who is troubled by the ways of his society, he is told what to think, what to feel, and how to live. He ends up rebelling and they torture him trying to break him down, and when they succeed, they shoot him. so I picked a GREAT book, very depressing, PERFECT!!

I read an article on unwanted teen pregnancy and what some schools in the UK are doing to stop it. The article explained that by teaching other forms of sexual pleasure other then actual intercourse may be the solution. They said that teaching oral sex of other forms of pleasure greatly decreased the statistics of teen pregnancy in schools by 20 percent after a course on other methods. With a success rate that good, they plan to expand this program to other schools around the world to change the number of unwanted pregnancies in teens. Parents however are worried that teaching their children that there are other ways to be intimate without sex, might in fact encourage children to experiment with new things. But the results show other wise.

I feel that this is a good start to curb unwanted pregnancy. I think that teaching better sex education in schools is a must, because I know so many people personally that didn't know about sexual diseases and the dangers of unprotected sex. So basically if they don't have parents that are going to teach them what they need to konw, then we must look to the schools to help because friends telling friends isn't always a good thing because they don't always know what's right and what's not.

This article can be found at: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1212734,00.html

When you click on the button "My LJ" if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page. Do you see a grey goat decorated in blinking christmas lights named Frank? If so does anybody know why he's there? lol

Well seeing as I'm not at USF full time, I don't have a major yet. But never the less, I have some in mind. I would really like to study art and photography. They are two of my favorite subjects and I would like to expand them. I would also like to study acting and voice. (yes I can sing) I have been in many plays and musicals and really enjoy it. These are very different from what I wanted to be when I was a little girl. First I wanted to be a doctor, then that changed to an OBGYN (deliver babies) then (I don't know why) I wanted to drive for NASCAR. I guess it had something to do with the fact that I have to be in front of everybody when I drive, (my apologies if I've ever cut you off, unless you're just a naturally bad driver). Then I wanted to be a juvenile delinquent therapist lol. Maybe it's because I had a friend that arsoned my house (AKA burned it down on purpose) and ever since I've always wondered what is in people's heads when they do something like that. (needless to say, I'm not her friend anymore, but that happened back in 2002, so it's fine now.) So I will probably change my major plenty of times because I'm not positive on what I want to do yet. But It will all work out in the end.

After reading article one, "From blog to out of job can be a posting away" I definitely agree that posting stuff about the people you work with, and your boss is imbecile. Why post stuff online like that knowing that everyone (including your boss and work associates) can read it? I also agree that if you bad mouth your boss online and they read it, that you have the right to be fired. They don't want employees that talk bad about them to the world. It's bad for them, and the business. If you want to post stuff like that, then at least make it privet. A hard cover journal would be good, that way only you would have access to it, instead of the entire world. And you have a much less chance of getting fired.
Article two "GUIDE TO THE BLOGOSPHERE" would be very useful for someone wanting to know what a blog is,how to get one, how to use one, and safety tips for bloggers.

My name is Claire, I was born in Tampa, and I'm still there. I Live with my mother and two younger sisters. I am the eldest sibling which makes my life a whole lot harder, having to set the example for my two sisters. My favorite sport is softball. I have played for many years, and my goal is to play for USF in the near future. On weekends I stay with my father. Last summer I went hiking with him up in Virginia on the Appalachian Trail. I was out for a month and ended up hiking three hundred miles. Which is actually lower mileage then we had originally planned. Five hundred had been the goal. But hey, walking 15-20 miles a day everyday with 30-40 lbs on your back, I think three hundred miles is a fine accomplishment :) My father has hiked the entire trail of 2,000 miles, so he didn't mind so much not going as far as we had planed. I am currently excited about my birthday coming up in November. I was born on thanksgiving day, so every six years my birthday falls on it again, so this year will be a good one. I work at CiCi's pizza and it's a pretty cool job, but I am looking for something better aka more money for the bills (let me know if you know of anyplace lol) I'm a pretty easygoing person. I am not quick to judge people. I really enjoy life and I'm trying to live it to the fullest. My family is very musical, my father is in the Florida orchestra. I have played piano since I was three years old. My mother teaches piano for a living so you can see where that came from. So with fourteen years of piano, you could say I'm pretty good I guess ha-ha. I love the ocean and everything in it....except sharks. (seeing the movie jaws at a young age had done things to me) I want to study art and photography, as well as marine biology and drama. Which might take awhile. Well that's pretty much it. Until we meet again then.

Hello everyone, I'll see you all at class tomorrow.