Passion Project Update #1

The past few weeks have been pretty productive as far as passion projects go. My project is on fantasy literature and consists of research, analysation, and creation. Lately I have been working on the "research" stage of the project.

I first researched a few terms regarding fantasy literature, such as "phoenix," "fairy," and "magician." I found some fascinating information out, including that the phoenix is actually a representation of the Christian religion, that there IS a difference between fairies and faeries, and that people think that wizards and witches once existed but were all killed. This is just the beginning of my newfound knowledge.

While researching, I discovered that several theories have developed about the existence of such creatures and people, particularly fairies/faeries. So I decided to survey the class about if THEY have any belief in such things. Most of the answers were, as expected, "_____ does not exist and never will exist." While I know that these things don't exist, I'm still curious as to why people are so sudden to say this. Why does absolutely no one believe in this? Isn't it kind of fun to think about whether or not somewhere, dragons are hiding far away? Do 14 year olds nowadays have no imagination?

I did get one "it will be possible in the future." for belief in magic as a whole. This is something that I think COULD happen, not necessarily will happen. With the way technology is progressing, there could be something that makes supernatural events occur in the future.

I was also amazed that so many people believe in spirits and ghosts. I just don't get how someone could believe in spirits and ghosts but not even consider magic. Personally, I believe that ghosts exist, but are not truly the souls of the people they take the form of. They're really demons attempting to lure people towards the devil through their pasts.

Speaking of demons, I was also surprised that absolutely no one believed in modern witchcraft, like wicca, occultism, or satanism. Clearly these people can do something extraordinary, but the difference is that they cannot do everyday magic we see in Harry Potter, but they can inflict harm on others using demons. I thought at least one other person knew that modern witchcraft is completely legitimate.

Next, I'm going to finish my research, using the survey results, and read some fantasy stories. And then I'll try to write some of my own.

And, just to end this post on a good note......

CAN'T ESCAPE THE CAGE

Hey Look, it's a Passion Project Update!

Well, this place has gotten a bit dusty since last time… ^^

My passion project has been a bit … slow - moving, unfortunately. I finished the screenwriting last semester, but now I still haven't been able to edit it and make it ready for screening! I've spent too much time planning out sets and making sure I can actually do it, which is cool and all, but I feel like I'm floating away from the main objective.

So here's what I'm going to do:

I shall finish the editing! And I will find the people to play the roles! (I have some people in mind) And I will create sets!

Luckily, I have a good amount of time to make one or two episodes! I'm really excited to show them to the class!

Usually, for Passion Projects, I have to do a lot of work in the last week, but my goal for this one is to finish early. Then I will feel worthy of a good grade! I really hope that it works out, but if not … actually, I'm not going to go there. IT WILL WORK OUT.

I wish I could write my traditional novel - length blog posts, but I must work on my passion project!! So, adios for now!

Progress, Advancement, Breakthroughs, Growth, Headway, Improvement, Increase, you know what I mean...

Passion Project:

Screenwriting

A'right. Here we go.

I think that on my project, I've made much more progress than last year, as I've actually gotten some things done rather than waiting until the last minute. Now that there's a few weeks left, I just have to film a few scenes from the screenplay and all of my goals will be complete. YAY!

In the past weeks, I have achieved a lot. I have done so much better than last year! My screenplay is coming along well, I just need to get the actual filming done. I think I'll save most of that for the second semester. 

As for obstacles, I have definitely had my share of writer's block. My screenplay is actually going to be the first episode of a TV series called "Extraordinary." I have had a lot of trouble trying to stick to the original ideas that I had and make them even better. My characters have interesting personalities, which I'm quite proud of. I'm anticipating that I'll have some more obstacles to overcome, such as getting actors. However, my sister is in the high school's drama department, so I will use some of her friends for it, since the cast of characters is mainly high school.

I ended up making a poster sort of thing for the show. I think that in the end, as the title says, this show will be extraordinary. Oh my gosh, that was so cheesy.

Grades, Grades, Go Away, Come Again Another Day...

Grades....when I hear this word, curiosities pop into my mind. What is the purpose of these devious little monsters? And are they accurate? 

To society, and sometimes to myself, a grade is an assessment of how smart you are. No matter how many 100s you get, it is always weighed out by that one time you forget to study or make a silly mistake. Look at it this way, in an example report card.

English - 100
PE - 100
History - 100
Science - 100
LUNCH
French - 67
Algebra - 100
Band - 100
Rogate - 100


You probably quickly passed by everything, until you got to French. Do all those 100s really matter? I guess most people wouldn't even look at what classes the 100s are in. They would only say, "OOOOOOOHHHH, you got a bad grade in French!!!" 
In traditional grading, the 67 outweighs all of the 100s. Of course, the student should not be excused from that 67, but neither should the 100s. 

Even if a very intelligent student gets a 67, because of the way grades are seen by society, the 100s do not exist. I sometimes see grading this way to, but try to see it more as my progress in school rather than how smart I am. 

To schools, grades are a measure of how well you will do later in life. Grades basically measure you're future. If you DO get a 67, the reaction of schools is, "Oh no, what if they don't do well in life??" But to be honest, HOW MANY FAMOUS GENIUSES DO WE KNOW OF THAT FAILED SCHOOL???

"His nose looks like a raindrop." -Christina

So there you have it, folks. A world view on grades.

Opinion Time!

So, I really think that grades nowadays are kind of lame. It's really not an accurate assessment of your ability. Another thing that strikes my attention is the idea of having two kids getting the same grade, but not both deserving it. In my American History class, it is always annoying when you spend all this time on a project and it looks super-nice, and you get a 100, but somebody who did the bare minimum got the same grade. Now, I'm not saying that this is the teacher's fault, though it does happen often in this class, but the grading system's fault. If we are going to use points, why not use five-hundred points rather than one hundred, similar to the NJ ASK? This way, the minimum to be considered at grade level is not the highest score, but maybe a 400-450? If we are to keep something similar to the current system, this is the best alternative. But I still don't like it.

This leads me to the next question: 
Do you think that the current grading system accurately represents your learning and knowledge?

No. Not at all. When I get a test back, I often see that the problems marked incorrect are marked with a slash. No correct answer is marked. What is the point of tests if you teach the students what is correct, give them the tests, and never tell them what they don't understand. This is why I like the standards base. If someone gets something wrong, their new goal is to get it right. It's not, "Oh, I got a 84.7, so I'm set. Yeah, you may have met requirements, but if you have the opportunity to learn more, why not jump at it? The point of school is not to make sure you know enough already, but to add to that current supply.

I have a grades story that I think has been told to just about the entire world by now because it never gets out of my head. Last year in seventh grade, I got a 75 on an essay. Yes. A 75. And writing is my best subject, which is the only thing I dislike about Rogate: the fact that we miss the writing class. But anyway, my teacher, we'll call her Ms Moltres, 'cause that's a Pokemon, but she gave us an assignment where we had to write a letter to the author of this terrible book called Fever 1793. It was almost as bad as Code Orange. The book (actually both books mentioned) was about an epidemic that broke out a long time ago. We got a six-point scoring rubric, and Ms Moltres told us exactly what to say:

-tell her how much you liked the book 
-talk about your favorite characters/parts, but make sure that its not about [insert list of twenty scenes from the book]
-ask her these questions: [insert list of questions]
-sign your name, but don't show off your signature
-don't be "too wordy"

I tried to follow this, I really tried. But then something dawned on me. What if you were an author and you got a bunch of letters from a bunch of twelve and thirteen year olds that all said, in short:

Dear ______,
I loved your book. My favorite character was Charles and my favorite scene was when he became a potato. (that is dedicated to Christina) What is your favorite color? How old are you? What did you think when writing this book? What was your inspiration? 
Sincerely,
Ash Ketchum

Wouldn't you feel soooo special??

Wouldn't you think that they all just FANCIED your book?

Wouldn't you just want to give them all a big group hug?

Wouldn't you just read all of them individually and give them all a unique response?

And so that's why I decided to write a unique response. I tried to stick to the rules, but I still got a "too wordy" on my paper and criticism for not sticking exactly to what was given to me. Basically, I got criticized for knowing how to write a letter.

The traditional grading system is a huge formula to turn us all into robots when we grow up. But I'm not going to let that happen to me.


If I could decide on a grading system, it would be my take on the standards-based grading.

You know in elementary school (at least those who went to Springfield will know) when at the end of your report card there were comments? Well, I think that we could probably do something that is more based around this. For each standard, the teacher of the subject could have a short comment, and then an overall, longer comment at the end. There would also be behavior standards included.

When we had comments in elementary school, I always looked right at them when I got my report card. Because I felt that I should be represented by words, not by numbers that could apply to anyone. Yeah, on powerschool we have comments. But the teachers can choose from a list instead of writing their own, and just about everyone gets, "A pleasure to have in class!" or "Good effort."


Hopefully one day, the world will stop producing robots, and people like those supporting standards-based grading will overcome. Maybe one day......

The Return!

Dear Blog,

It's been a while since we've chatted, hasn't it?

Well, things are off to a pretty good start in eighth grade, though I can't seem to get over the whole "eighth grade" thing. Strange, right? Especially with our schooling system, because you go to middle school for only two years. In seventh grade, it's your first year. In eighth, you're graduating!

The year of 2013-14 has really been different for me in comparison to the year of 2012-13. I thought that it would be generally the same because I'm on the top floor again and I thought upstairs in the seventh grade halls would be similar to the eighth grade halls as far as the kids on each team. Dreamcatchers would be the same as Achieve.

The first few weeks, I realized that the portrait I saw every day was the same as the one that I had seen when I walked downstairs last year, but painted on a different canvas. There were actually more people that I didn't know very well from last year than people whom I was familiar with. Which meant that I was going to have to make some adjustments.

Now, we've gotten used to the new school year, and I wind up having conversations with people from cheerleaders to kids in the chess club. And I still see my friends from last year pretty often as well. So in the long run, I'm having a good time.

A good thing that has happened this year is that I became an uncle! My sister had a baby boy just this October, and his name is Timothy Patrick. Picture:

My family is extremely excited about this!

Another thing that I'm looking forward to is.....

NANOWRIMO 2013!!!

If you haven't heard of this, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, and as a writer, it is my duty to partake in this. I completed it last year and can't wait. 

Basically, you have to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November, and no, it doesn't have to be a good novel. I really can't wait, because last year I finished, and since this is my second time around, I'll be more prepared for the challenges that came last year such as: Thanksgiving, my church's Fall retreat, and Marching Band. You really need every second. 

I hope that someone here may be inspired to NaNo with me, but if not....it's okay.

nanowrimo.org

That's all, folks!

Sincerely,

Charles

A Lousy Conclusion - Why You Should Never Ask Me About the Giver's Ending if You Want to Live

Recently, we finished reading The Giver in class, which was a very deep, thought-provoking book that truly gave me something to think about throughout the unit.

If I thought that the beginning and middle were like this, I really didn't see the ending coming.

Basically, Jonas, the protagonist, and his 'brother' Gabriel start doing something that you can't really figure out exactly what it is. In the end, he sleds down a hill and the book is over. Over. 

Now, I just want to know what good ol' Lowis was thinking when she did this. Basically, she began a controversy that spread across the globe and she STILL won't give an answer! I mean, seriously......

Nice one, Lois. You've really done it now.

There are two main opinions on the matter,

the first one being that he is alive and safely makes it to Elsewhere OR

Ding, dong! Jonas is dead! 

Personally, I think he's dead as.....a dead person, I guess.

I believe that the human spirit, the desire for individuality, etc., etc, are worth nothing compared to the rules that are set in his community. This organized, incredibly organized, society creates a life that may be perfect, but it is worth nothing to humanity. When you put it to scale, Jonas might as well have been dead as he lived through life in the Community. Which brings me to my first quote, (From the book)

“The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without colour, pain or past.” 

This is taken from the book and describes exactly what I am talking about. In the novel, we are introduced to a community where nothing is unexpected, and everything is lived in black and white. Imagine living like this. When we were introduced to the Utopian worlds in the beginning of the unit, I was amazed at how they compared to our own world, and how pathetic we seem compared to that of a Utopian world. But would you give up your entire life just to be without war, or pain, etc., etc., etc.? Jonas, after being revealed to the elements of the world that we live in, realizes that going to Elsewhere, which is, in my opinion, death, is better than being in his Community.

I searched for some interviews with Lois Lowry, the author, regarding the novel and its peculiar ending. 

Interview #1: http://www.timeforkids.com/news/chat-lois-lowry/53926

Interview #2: http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/813.Lois_Lowry

One thing that I saw while reading that I thought was quite interesting was that Lois hates books with messages to them and intended the novel to be a story, not a message. However, when I searched Google for the "messages in the Giver" I found that many, many people, unknowing of the fact that the novel is intended to be a story, had found messages in the Giver. The following are opinions from Yahoo Answers on the matter:

"'The Giver' is said to be about a futuristic society, but I think we may be living in it now, or may be close to living in it now. I think it is essentially a message for people to wake up and observe what is going on around them now, in order to avert matters from getting worse. The only way to tackle it is to challenge it, as Jonas did in the end when he rescued Baby Gabriel"

"I think the book says different things to different people, just as most things do. It said to me that we should be careful who we trust and give power over us, and that we should be ourselves despite what people tell us."

Both quotes have completely different opinions on what the message in the Giver could be, and I actually agree with both of them. I believe that the message could be either one, and that it is good for people to interpret a story as peculiar as this one. As far as what Lois Lowry said about the ending, I believe that she implied in the first interview that she wasn't intending for the book to be such a major cliffhanger. It was really meant to be just a story, but it turned into this huge debate.

I'll now share another quote from the book:

“I knew that there had been times in the past-terrible times-when people had destroyed others in haste,in fear, and had brought about their own destruction” 

This quote builds on my opinion about the ending. First of all, my thoughts on it say that Jonas died for a life worth living. Even if this is a life worth living (war, as seen in the quote above) it is much better than living a life that is not a life at all. Although Lois Lowry did not intend for there to be a message behind this tale,  the points she expresses are still equal to the thought of her having put a message to the story. (Sorry, you may have to read that one over a few times.)

Alright, I think I've talked about that enough. Now I'll talk about Interview the Second. Yay!

This interview is mainly about the book's sequel. Although there was a sequel to the Giver, I believe that this was more of a "What if?" storyline, as in "What if Jonas were alive?" I also noticed that Lois Lowry had described in the interview that the Giver was a dystopian novel....which surprised me. Jonas lived in the perfect community. It was just....too perfect, in a sense. So perfect, that it wasn't a life worth living. It really made me look back on the Utopias we created early in the unit and think, "Would I really want to live there?" Would it really be a good life to live a life that was completely the same as anyone else's?

The last thing I would like to point out about the Giver ending and in this blog post in general is how much I am starting to despise Lowis Lowry after doing a little research on her. Would you like 6 good reasons why I don't like her?

1. She created a monster named the Giver that causes all sorts of problems in the world.
2. She wrote this terrible book called Number the Stars. Oh, gosh, it was horrible.
3. She used the name Anastasia in a book once. Several books.
4. She wrote two books with Newbery awards, also known as the worst book of the year.
5. Her author picture is kind of creepy.
6. She could have ended the Giver somewhat decently, but she chose to kill the storyline completely!

Until next time.........sayonara!

Charles

The Giver: Journal Entry Chapter 16

For all of you that don't know, we're reading "The Giver" in Rogate class. The following is an analysis of Chapter 16, a journal entry from Jonas' perspective, that we were instructed to do today.


Dear Journal,

The job of being the Receiver of Memory has become a rather overwhelming experience for me in the past few days. I began today with a rather unusual memory about certain people that are called grandparents. It was strange enough to think of the snowy day, with the grandparents deliberately giving packages to young children. What made it even stranger is the fact that I have grandparents, as the Giver told me. A grandparent is the mother or father of a parent. I had never thought of the idea before, but when it comes to mind, the whole thing actually makes sense in my mind.

I was then told of a certain thing called "love." In fact, that was the certain thing that I felt in the room, the strong feeling. I had never seen anything like the light and the warmth that it brought. I felt that it would be a dangerous way to live, but a better way to live then we do now.

I came home after seeing grandparents and love and asked my parents a question: "Do you love me?" What I received in response was neither a yes or a no. Laughter. They merely laughed at me without a care in the world. Father told me to "use language more precisely." They told me that they "enjoy" me and "take pride in my achievements" but a true answer was nowhere to be found.

After the events of the day, I feel like questioning the way that we live. I feel as if my life has bee one huge lie this entire time, that what they told me was not true. What they told me was the "right way to live" was simply a way to make things more organized, not beneficial. Is there another world out there that lives unlike we do? Do we live in a world of lies? Was this how we once lived our lives?

With Great Sincerity,
Jonas