Monday, May 20, 2013

Brag Sheet

Awards: 
 - Loosing My First Tooth Award (Kindergarten)
- Perfect attendance Awards (3rd-4th grade and 6th-9th grade)
- The President Education Award (6th grade)
- Certificate and a plaque for participating in Cross Country and Track for 2 years (7th-8th grade) 
- Golden Warrior Award (9th grade, Spanish)  
- Social Queen Award (11th grade) 

Sports:
- Basketball (ages 7-9)
- Soccer (ages 8-12) 
- Cross Country (7th-8th grade)
- Track & Field (7th-8th grade)
- Marching Band/ Drumline "Sport of the Arts" (9th grade to present day)
 
Hobbies/ Activities:
- Playing drums and percussion (5th grade to present day)
- Playing the guitar (7th grade to present day)
- Playing the piano (9th grade to present day)
- Marching Band/ Concert Band (9th grade to present day)
- Marimba Band (11th grade)

Volunteering:
- Beanies for Babies
- Volunteer at the homeless shelter
- Coach for the Arellanes Jr. High Track and Field team

 

Sunday, May 19, 2013

BEST OF AMERICAN LIT.

From this entire school year I think my biggest accomplishment in american literature and just in my life in general is when I got to talk JP Bouvet! I would have never have thought that I would collaborate and talk with him since he is one of my idols.

Now the subjects that I really related to the most in american literature were modernism and transcendentalism because they don't really follow set of rules and they try to go beyond average or what's expected. I can relate to that especially in music and in drumming. So for my project I will show how modernism and transcendentalism relates to music and drumming.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

DERBY REPORTAGE

In Hunter S. Thompson's artical of the Kentucky Derby it's very interesting how he writes it. Now instead of writing it as an actual artical like in a magazine or in newspaper he writes if he was writing it from a journal or a diary and just explains what he experienced when he was over at the derby. In the artical he tells the reader what he experienced in person and what he was thinking about when it was occurring and most of the time it was either very random or very per vocative. 

 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

My Slaughterhouse

In Slaughterhouse Five there was many examples of post modernism. When Vonnegut put himself in the book that was example of breaking the fourth wall because not many other authors put themselves in their stories. It's like the Marvel movies when Stan Lee puts himself in every the movie. Another example is when Billy gets unstuck in time, post modernism doesn't have a time frame so the story isn't very structured consistently when it comes to time. Post modernism also shows unusual humor at times were you would think it would be serious or tragic.   

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Slaughterhouse Five Reading Notes: Chapt. 3 & 4 (Schachtof Drei & Schlachtof Veir)

- Coital - Sex; uniting sexual intercourse.
- Why did Vonnegut compare sex with war?
- Critical - Making fun of something that is serious.
 - Chaplin - Religious officer in the military. A chaplin can be any religion.
- "Where have all the years gone?"
- Who is Earl Warren?
- Earl Warren was an American jurist and politician who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States and the 30th Governor of California.
- Why would Vonnegut bring Earl Warren?
- Why did Vonnegut just go into talking about a dog named Spot? 
- In situations or predicament Billy seems to be neutral.
- Billy's life doesn't seem really exciting. You would think that since he is the main character he would have all these awesome, crazy, drastic things happening to him but for the most part he's kinda boring and lonely.
  

Monday, April 29, 2013

PROPS TO MY COUSIN!!! :)

I'm not the only drummer in my family ;P. A few weeks ago my cousin Jose and his schools drumline went to the Winter Guard International Championships (WGI). It is like the Olympics for drumlines, the best drumlines around the country go to compete in these amazing event. Now it has always been a dream for me and my cousin to go WGI, he and his line had the opportunity to go and actually COMPETE in the competition. I'm so proud of him! Hopefully in the future I get to actually go and see him play at WGI but for now I just want to give him props. :)

Here is a link of him and his schools drumline practicing before the competition. 


Also here's a little taste of WGI. Enjoy! ;D


This Is Absurd

Absurd - Something that is unreasonable or obviously senseless.

Exp. I think it's absurd that people misinterpret or judge things that they don't understand, have no experience, or expertise. 

Slaughterhouse Five Reading Notes: Chap. 2 ( Schlachtof Zwei)

- Billy Pilgrim is introduced into the story.
- Why is his last name Pilgrim?
- In the book it says that Billy was un-stuck in time.
- What does it mean to be "un-stuck" in time?

Slaughter House Five Reading Notes: Chap. 1 (Schlachthof Eins)

- Kurt Vonnegut is the author also the narrator.
- What is the purpose of the quote before chapter one? "The cattle are lowing, The Baby awakes. But the little Lord Jesus No crying He makes."
- "So it goes..."
- Vonnegut describes how he is writing the book in the book. (Very different)

Monday, April 22, 2013

The Great Gatsby Essay!

In the book "The Great Gatsby" Fitzgerald uses Nick Carraway to narrate and capture Gatsby's character and the others that were in the novel. I thought it was odd but clever for Fitzgerald to use Nick to tell the story because in most stories it's either the main character or the author that is telling the story and describing the people in the story, so it was nice to have a different way to tell the story by using Nick as the narrator. He seemed got along with most of the characters in the story and he captured their personalities very well since he knew everyone. If Nick was not telling the story I'd feel like we would have not known as much as we would have about the story or the characters. It was also nice hearing some of his thoughts and opinions on the things going on in the story.

The Great Gatsby Reading Notes: Chap. 9

So in chapter nine, as we come to a ending to the story. Gatsby was killed by Wilson because he thought that Gatsby had killed his wife, Myrtle, when she was by the car but we all know that it was actually Daisy who hit Myrtle. Anyways for Gatsby's death Nick tries to throw a big funeral for Gatsby and he invites his friends and acquaintances but they did not show, not even Daisy who ran off with Tom and not giving anyone any information to see or contact them. The only people that show to the funeral are Nick, a couple of servants, Owl Eyes, and Gatsby dad Henry Gatz. Now why didn't anyone else go to Gatsby's funeral? Why did Daisy and Tom just disappear on the face of the earth? 

Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Great Gatsby Reading Notes: Chap. 8

In chapter 8 it gets very interesting, I almost didn't want to put the book down. As the story continues Nick tries to convince Gatsby to forget about Daisy but he refused and ignored his decision. After a long period time Gatsby and Daisy make love with one another and they were going to get married once Gatsby came back from the war, but then Daisy decides to marry Tom, *which by the I thought was really messed up, just saying*. But after all the things that Gatsby and Daisy shared and did together, why did Daisy choose Tom? Why did Daisy break her promise to Gatsby? What was her reason for leaving him?

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The Great Gatsby Reading Notes: Chap. 7

Now in chapter seven Daisy and Gatsby want to go into the city but Tom wasn't to excited in the idea so he tagged along with them as well as Nick and Jordan. As the day goes on the heat was just overwhelming so the decided to stay at a suite. At the suite Tom asked Gatsby what he thought about Daisy and he replied that Daisy love him and not Tom, he then sends Daisy back to Long Island with Gatsby.

As the Tom and the rest of the guys head back to Long Island, the realized that someone was hit by a car, it was Myrtle. Almost right away they accused Daisy and Gatsby. The weren't there when it happened so why would they accuse the them? Why did they think that Daisy and Gatsby hit Myrtle with their vehicle?  

The Great Gatsby Reading Notes: Chap. 6

So in chapter six one of the things that really catches my eye is that we found out that Gatsby was born as James Gatz, so why did he change his name? And why did Dan Cody, a wealthy man, take in James?
When Tom and Daisy go to Gatsby party why does he keep an eye on Daisy? Tom didn't like the party at all and neither did Daisy. She was upset because Tom was keeping guard like a dog and she wanted to be with Gatsby. Gatsby was also very upset because everything didn't go the way he planned. Now the question is, will it?

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Great Gatsby Reading Notes: Chap. 5

In chapter 5 Nick makes the arrangement for Daisy to meet up with Gatsby. It's been five years since they have seen each other. Now when Nick was taking up to the front door he notices that Gatsby wasn't there, next thing you know Gatsby comes from the the side of his house. Why did Gatsby come from the side of the house indtead of answering the door to greet them?

Gatsby also was trying to avoid the meeting with Daisy at first. He was saying that there was a mistake and that he didn't invite her. Why did try to avoid meeting Daisy? Was he nervous? Was he hiding something? 

Monday, April 15, 2013

The Great Gatsby Reading Notes: Chap. 4

   In chapter four, Gatsby and Nick went to go eat lunch and Gatsby decides to tell Nick about his past. He was explaining how he grew up wealthy from the Midwest, he claimed to have been educated at Oxford, to have been awarded medals in World War I by multiple European countries and etc. So why does Gatsby tell Nick about his past? What gave him the idea to do that? 

   Also on their way to lunch Gatsby gets pulled over by an officer. When the officer goes up to them he hands him a white card, once the officer sees it he apologizes and then lets them go. What was the white card that Gatsby handed to the officer? How come when the officer saw the card he just let them go? 

The Great Gatsby Reading Notes: Chap. 3

In chapter three Gatsby was throwing another of his parties and decides to invite Nick to it this time. As he shows up to the party he notices that Gatsby was alone, not drinking, and he separated himself from the crowd of guests. Nick was curious because why would Gatsby through these parties and not drink or talk to any of the guests?

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Essay Overview On Brave New World

I felt like for the essay I did terrible because I never really read the book, I sort of just skim through the it. When it came up to the essay I just wrote and reflected on what I remembered which didn't help me much.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

MAP PLAN

For my plan I am thinking of doing a Prezi. I going to do the basic things and explain about my author, how he was, and his work but I will be including pictures and hopefully videos that can can give a vision of what his life and his idea was.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

I Am F. Scott Fitzgerald

I am F. Scott Fitzgerald.  I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, In college I was put on academic probation and was unable to graduate so enlisted in the army and during that time I wrote a novel called The Romantic Egotist. I am a well known author that has sold thousands of novels and short stories such as  The Great Gatsby, Tender is the Night, This Side of Paradise and so forth and even though I was well known author that sold thousands of copies of my work I was in debt and had a alcohol problem.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Introducing F. Scott Fitzgerald

There is a few things that I found very interesting about F. Scott Fitzgerald. He really loved music and when he was in college he and a couple of his pals had a comedy musical society. I didn't know that Fitzgerald wrote the lyrics for the "Star-Spangled Banner". A lot of his work was around the Jazz Age which just happens to be one of genres of music. When he was actually getting income for his work he got more money on his short stories. When he wasn't writing short stories or novels he was actually becoming very involved in the film industry.

Vocab

1. Chronic - Continuing a long time or recurring frequently. 
2. Sentiment - An attitude toward something; regard; opinion.
3. Morality - Conformity to the rules of right conduct; moral or virtuous conduct. 
4. Remorse - Deep and painful regret for wrongdoing; compunction.
5. Defect - A shortcoming, fault, or imperfection. 
6. Acquaintance - A person known to one, but usually not close friend.
7. Sanity - The state of being sane; soundness of mind.
8. Implication - Something implied or suggested as naturally to be inferred or understood.
9. Alternative - A choice limited to one of two or more possibilities, as of things, proportion, or course of action, the selection of which precludes any other possibilities. 
10. Savage - Fierce, ferocious, or cruel; untamed. 
11. Phenomenon - A fact, occurrence, or circumstance observed or observable. 

 
    

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Applied Modernism

Why is it that stories or poems such as Fahrenheit 451, Theme for English B, Richard Cory, and The First Seven Years considered Modernist work? It's because they go beyond what everyone else is told to do, say, and even think. In these stories there is some type of departure of traditions, stream of consciousness, imagest, high art, low art, difficult truth, and generational truth. In Fahrenheit 451 Montag was streaming of consciousness after he met Clarisse. In Theme for English B the man was giving all these descriptions about himself and where he is and what he's doing now, that's a great way of imagest. The authors that wrote these stories and poems had the same mind concept and wanted to show it to people around the that you don't need to things a certain way, you can do what you want do, say, or think. These authors wanted to tell people that they're capable of making decisions for themselves and they don't need anyone else tell them how to live their own life, which is the point to all these stories and poems.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Modern Moments

From then and now, everything has changed in the past five years. I have changed in the past five  years. Five years ago i was twelve years old, I was in my first year in jr. high, and I remember getting excited about growing the smallest bits of facial hair on my face. Now I'm seven-teen, I'm in my third year of high school, I have gotten more mature as time went by, went through some bad and good experiences, and now I think it's a pain in the butt to shave my face every other day. My education has also changed in the past years, now instead of following a system to were I am mostly told what to believe or what to learn, now I can post my thoughts on the internet about a subject and get feedback from different people and they can tell me what they think about the topic or also about my thoughts about topic. It's cool to think in over a short period of time such as five years things can just change like that. I would have never imagined that I would have a blog and never thought that people would follow and response to it. So if you think about it modernism is like life, it changes constantly and you never know what to expect.

Monday, February 25, 2013

MY MODERNIST

For my modernist I choose was F. Scott Fitzgerald. I picked him because his name sounded really familiar and little did I know that he wrote the lyrics for the "Star-Spangled Banner". I also liked his life story and his backround because it really interested me. I'm looking forward to about Fitzgerald life and his work.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Fox In Sox Video

Fox In Sox Challenge! 
Totally failed hahaha! XD

BOB

1. Rudy Valentine -http://rudyvalentine.blogspot.com/  score: 10/10
2. Whitney Houg - http://whougrhsamlitcom.blogspot.com/  score: 10/10 
3. Andrew Alcazar -  http://aalcazar53e3.blogspot.com/  score: 10/10
4. Francisco Ayala - http://fyalarhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/ score: 8/10
5. Ethan Clardy - http://eclardysrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/ score: 9/10
6. Frank Limon - http://franklimonengitcomp.blogspot.com/  score 8/10
7. Uriel Ruiz -http://upalaciosrhsamlit.blogspot.com/  9/10
8. Lissette Villalobos - http://lissettevillalobos.blogspot.com/  score 10/10

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Vocab #5

1. Brouhaha - Excited public interest, discussion, or the like, as the clamor attending some sensational event; hullabaloo. 
2. Cloy - to be weary by an excess of food, sweetness, pleasure, etc.
3. Demeanor - Conduct; behavior; deportment.
4. Deference - Respectful submission or yielding to the judgment, opinion, will, etc.
5. Enigmatic - Resembling an enigma; perplexing; mysterious.
6. Definitive - Most reliable or complete, as of a text, author, criticism, study, or the like. 
7. Bumptious - Offensively self-assertive.
8. Choleric - Extremely irritable or easily angered.
9. Bulwark - A wall of earth or other material built for defense; rampart.
10. Curtail - To cut short; cut off a part of; abridge; reduce.
11. Adamant - Utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion in spite of all appeals. 
12. Profligate - Utterly and shamelessly immoral dissipated; thoroughly 
13. Mawkish - Characterized by sickly sentimentality; weakly emotional.
14. Thwart - To oppose successful; prevent from accomplish a purpose.
15. Onus - A difficult or disagreeable obligation, task, burden, etc.
16. Requisite - Required or necessary for particular purpose position. 
17. Mollify - To soften in feeling or temper, as a person; pacify; appease.
18. Sartorial - Of or pertaining to tailors or their trade.
19. Presentiment - A feeling or permission that something is about to happen, especially something evil.
20. Impromptu - Made or done without previous preparation.
21. Forbearance - The act of forbearing; a refraining from something.
22. Remit - To transmit or send (money, a check, etc.) to a person or place, usually in payment.

Monday, February 18, 2013

ESSAY POSTGAME ANALYSIS

For the Fahrenheit 451 Essay I feel like I did okay. I could felt like I've could have done a lot better if I didn't procrastinate so much and pay more attention to the book. Overall I felt like I got a C+ to a C-. Sad to say I didn't really give it my all in this assignment and in the end I got chewed up at the end for it. So for sure I will be trying to give all my effort in my assignments so that way I can get better grades and not feel like crap.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Vocab #2 Pt. 2

1. Harlequin - Classic comedian or buffoon.
2. Toil - Hard continues work.
3. Strewn - Scattered randomly.
4. Gibbering - To speak meaninglessly.
5. Delinquents - Failing; neglectful of an obligation.
6. Veiled - Not openly or directly expressed; hidden; obscure.
7. Insidious - Treacherous or deceitful. 
8. Praetorian - Of or pertaining a praetor.

Monday, February 4, 2013

Vocab #2


  1. Cadence - Rhythmic flow of sounds or words, as in verse or non metric free verse.
  2.  Patronage - Business provided by customers, client, etc.
  3. Centrifuge- high speed machine for separating substances.
  4. Sieve - Utensil with a meshed surface for staining.
  5. Phonograph - Sound-producing machine using records on the form of grooved disks.
  6. Saccharine - Overly sweet or sentimental.
  7. Vessel - 1. Container, especially for liquids. 2. Ship or boat.
  8. Dentifrice - Substance for cleaning teeth.
  9. Leisure - Time free from work. 
  10. Profusion - Abundance, abundant quantity.

     Word Remix :

So I decide for my remix that I am going to pick a word that I think that stood out and find a video that can show what the word means or at least can relate to the word. I'll probably be doing my remixes from now on.


  • Example of a cadence. Featuring Dartmouth 2012 Drumline



Thursday, January 31, 2013

Vocab #1

1. Pantomime - The art or technique of conveying emotions, actions, feelings, etc., by gestures without speech.

2. Proclivities - Natural or habitual inclination or tendency,  propensity; predisposition.

3. Centrifuge - An apparatus that rotates at high speed and by centrifugal force separates substance of different densities, as milk and cream.

4. Odious - Deserving or causing hatred; hurtful; detestable.

5. Jargon - Unintelligible or meaningless talk or writing. 

6. Ravenous - Extremely hungry; famished; voracious.

7. Proboscis - A long, flexible snout or trunk.

8. Parlor - A room or store conducting certain business or professions.

9. Stagnant - Not following; foul; stale.

10. Cacophony - Harsh, jarring, discordant sound.

11. Tamped - Past tense of tamp, to pack something tightly by tapping.

12. Flourish - To grow well or luxuriantly, to thrive.

13. Plateau - A land area having a relatively flat surface.

14. Rollick - To move in a care manner. 

15. Asylum - An institution for the maintenance and care of the mentally ill or other persons requiring specialized assistance. 



 

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Literature Analysis #1

I read Taking Sides by Gary Soto, who actually is one of my favorite authors :). The book is about a boy name Lincoln Mendoza who is a basketball player and he had recently just moved out of his old neighborhood into this more suburbia neighborhood because his mother though that the other one that they were living was just to dangerous. Now he is also in a new high school and he is on the basketball team but the only difference is that the whole team is white players. Lincoln felt like an outsider especially since he is the only mexican on the team but he found some friends that help him along the way. 

The reason why I like Gary Soto as an author because his reading is just so relateable in the common life of a person especially for a latino/latina. Every time I ready one if his books I can totally imagine myself as the main character and just being in their shoes

I really fell in love with this book because I was some what in that same situation. I originally came from a jr. high school that most of the population of students were mexican and before the end of my 8th grade year I had the choice to go to Santa Maria High school (which all of my friends were going to go to) or Righetti High School (which I only new is that the student population has a lot more white people there). I decided to go to Righetti because I wanted to try something new. I wanted to be in a new environment to where I felt like I would need to adapt to. The first day of the new school I was just a lost person. I didn't know what to do, where do go, or who to hang out with? Luckily I was in the marching band and the upper class men took me under their wing, showed me the ropes and eventually we all became very good friends and they just treated me like if I was part of a family.

When I read this book it sort of reminded me of my situation when coming to a new school. That's why I can relate to this book just because Soto writes about things that happen regularly in a persons life and that is probably why Gary Soto is with out a doubt one of my favorite authors who I will enjoy his books for a really long time. :)

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

THE PEEVED PEDESTRIAN

I think when Ray Bradbury wrote the novel he was trying tell us to not be so closed minded about things. Before Montag met Clarisse he didn't really think much but after they met he was realizing what he has been doing and taking another look at things. I think as time goes on we forget to realize what we have like books, libraries, museums, teachers or just other people that can have us when ever we have a problem or situation that we want to get out of. We have all of these things that we can use but do a lot of people use them?

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

I Am A Poet And Know It

When people see it, they might just see it as one thing.
When I see it I spend every single second
studying every exact little detail.
I study the different shapes, sizes, noises,
Design, and styles.
Four-teen, ten, twelve, six-teen and twenty-two.
Maple with a grey steel finish.
That is what I use but everyone has their own voice.
The attack of the snare, the punch of the kick,
And the high and low tone of the toms. 
These things make me happy, when I use them in 
Pattern I become ecstatic.
Especially in company with the bronze golden cymbals
That make beautiful sounds.
The ticks, dings, suspense, and crashes.
The just add on to my voice and everyone elses who uses them.
When I use it I express myself for who I am 
I am the instrument.
 

Monday, January 21, 2013

Theme For English 3

As I find my place in this world and all the knowledge I take in, I feel like I can truly be myself and let people see me for who I really am. My interests are music, drumming, teaching people things or subjects that I actually know, and finding ways to connect certain things with others. Now I do feel that if I do take ownership of my own learning process I could show other what I am learning, what I've learned, or what I know. It's just a matter of putting in the time and effort into it.

Monday, January 14, 2013

SRING SEMESTER PLAN #1

I have two goals for this semester. 

1) The first one is to be more active in school work. I've always had a problem staying on task and I just want to change my bad habits and be a better student, I'm tired of not exceeding to my full potential.

2. My other goal is improve my knowledge on music theory and drumming. As a musician obviously I take music seriously, but lately I felt like I've been slacking off and that stops now. In the future I would love to study music and attend Berklee College Of Music at Boston, Massachusetts or Fresno State.   

Thursday, January 10, 2013

MUSIC IS LITERATURE

I do consider music a form of literature. There are many different styles of music as there are many different styles of literature. When we hear a song it usually has a story, meaning, emotion, and experiences that have gone or are going through. Music can grab someone's attention and when they listen to it they can connect or relate to it, and that's what I feel what literature does, it can just grab someone's attention and they can just relate or connect to it.