Themes in Black Boy

Richard and his friends are very ignorant and this makes them hateful.
Throughout the book Richard struggles with believing in God. Richard doesn't believe or want to believe in God.
Richard feels unlucky and underprivileged.
Richard isn't well-behaved.
Richard is extremely racist, The people around him are extremely racist. They are intolerant sometimes. Richard and his friends got into fights with white boys for just the reason that they weren't black.
Richard is resilient and though he has a hard, unfortunate life
Richard doesn't trust authority figures because his dad, one of the biggest authority figures in his life, left his mom for cheating on her. And he doesn't really trust people because he thinks they might be dishonest or hurtful like his dad.

TWIST - Using Literary Devuces

TWIST helps you get to R's:
How literary devices enhance themes

• Tone/Mood
• Word choice - metaphors, simile, connotation, personification
• Imagery - senses, especially sound
• Style - punctuation, syntax, etc.
• Theme

TWIST Practice Passages:

• "There was" statements, pp.7-8 or pp. 45-46
• Sign up for one sentence to TWIST with your partner

Writing CERs

• C = Claim = theme, author's intent, main idea -- your point about an idea
• E = Evidence = direct quotation that proves your point  -- your illustration
• R = Reasoning = further information to prove your point Explain how a literary device enhances the theme addressed in your point. The R is also known as your explanation.

"There was the aura of limitless freedom distilled from the rolling sweep of tall green grass swaying and glinting in the wind and sun" (Wright 45).

T: nostalgic, serene, carefree

W: personification "swaying and glinting"; connotation "limitless freedom" very positive

I: shows the wind's effect on the grass with the words "rolling sweep"; expresses the brightness of the day with "glinting" and "sun"; there is an "aura of freedom" so it feels free; gives the sense of wind, relates to the sound of whooshing

S: sentence rolls similarly to the way the grass does by the way it's long and rolling

T: freedom and beauty to easily to those are let go

C: the author is expressing how the grass looked beautiful and free while being rolled down by the wind and glinting in the sun

E: the imagery and tones of nostalgia, serenity, and freedom

R: the connotation of those words prove it's true

A to Z Literary Devices Blog Post

A Allusion - reference to history or another text; alliteration - repetition of a consonant sound; asonance; allegory - hidden meaning, extended metaphor; analogy - comparison between two pairs; antithesis - two opposites; anaphora - a rhetorical (literary) device that involves the repetition of the first words of a clause or sentence

B 

C connotation - a relation between a word, characterization
D dialogue - conversation between characters

E

F Foreshadowing - hinting what will happen later; flashback - vivid memory or reference to the past; foil - opposite of main character

G genre - type of text, a literary topic

H hyperbole - exaggeration; haiku - 3 lines with specific syllables 

I Irony - not expected; imagery - evokes a mental image 5 senses

J juxtaposition - author places contrast on two things

K

L

M Metaphor - comparison without 'like' or 'as'; motif - repeated symbol; mood - emotion of the reader; monologue - one character talking by himself

N

O Onomatopoeia - a word that is a sound (spelled how it sounds); oxymoron - contradicts each other and doesn't make sense

P personification - nonhuman things get human qualities; paradox - contradicts itself; pun - a play on words

Q
R Repetition - using a word or idea more than once; rhyme - sounds the same; rhythm - beat of the line, stress unstress
S Simile - comparing things with 'like' or 'as'; symbolism represents something; stanza - poetic paragraph or rhyme scheme; satire - making fun; static character - character that doesn't change; suspense - building up; syntax - arrangement of words; soliloquy - one character talks by himself
T theme - central message; tone - author's style
U
V voice - who's saying it
W
X
Y
Z

My Most Vivid Childhood Memories

I was five years old, and it was nap time in kindergarten. I was lying relatively close to my best friend Ana. Between us was a pail of our teacher's markers.

Blog 102214 - S.M.A.R.T. Goal

SPECIFIC - I am going to make a certain number of notecards every week. I am going to have new sources every week.

MEASURABLE - I want to have a total of AT LEAST 25 notecards.

ACTION-ORIENTED - I will research my topic and find new sources every few days.

REALISTIC - I will stay focused and keep up with my Passion Project.

TANGIBLE - I will have an outline finished by this weekend. I will know every paragraph I want to have.

Blog 100614 Compare-Contrast The Girl Who Fell From the Sky and The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Part I
In both The Girl Who Fell From the Sky and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the main character had tough childhoods and problems in their families. Both characters are going to new schools and having to make new friends.

Blog 092614 - What are you? (Does race matter?)

I have been asked the question "What are you?" before, plenty of times. In fact a lot more times than I can understand why. Before I moved to Minnesota, I was asked "What are you?" almost often. And they were asking what ethnicity I am. I think it's because some people can't tell that I'm Asian...which confuses me. I have had people think I'm Latino (Mexican, every time), black, mixed, or white. But usually people know I'm Asian. When I am asked "What are you?" I always replied, "I'm Asian. I'm from Malaysia." I was born in Malaysia and my parents are from there. "I'm Asian. I'm from Malaysia" is what I would say if a stranger asked me that right now. I have been asked "What are you?" after I moved to Minnesota, and every time I have been asked that here, people were asking what grade I'm in. :) So far, all I've had to say is, "I'm a sophomore."
I DO NOT THINK RACE SHOULD MATTER. Not at all. I don't think race should matter when it comes to anything! Seriously! Why do people have to talk about it so much? It gets on my nerves. Everyone should be treated equally...so why do we have to talk about race so much? Why is almost every single book I've ever read for English class been a book about race, poor people, or people who were being oppressed? I feel like there are so many books that would be better to read for school that do not have anything to do with race, poverty, or being oppressed. I don't think discussions about race are necessary and I think people talk about it more than is needed. Race doesn't matter. It is only on the surface! I really don't like how some people are referred to as African-American or Asian-American...WE'RE ALL JUST AMERICANS, OKAY? Many black people here have never been to Africa or have any relations to Africa. I don't like how people are called that. Why can't we all just call ourselves Americans? I feel like having people a certain race makes the country more divided up.
While I was reading the article, something really bothered me...actually all of the article did, but this part in particular:
Along those lines, it is telling that the rates of intermarriage are lowest between blacks and whites, indicative of the enduring economic and social distance between them.
No no no no! People marry who they fall in love with! It doesn't have so much to do with race!
Ugh!
And I also thought the article was really stupid to suggest considering biracial people as a new race. How on earth would that make sense? That's so stupid. How could Black-Latino people be in the same racial group as White-Asian people or something? I also don't get why there's a Multiracial and Biracial Student Association. That's so messed up.

1. Do you think society makes mixed race people “pick a side”?
Yes, I think society does make mixed race people pick a side. Many people who are mixed white and black, like Obama, who are equal parts white and black or even MORE WHITE than black have been considered as only black and people tend to think of them as just black. I think society does not acknowledge enough that some people are two races, not just one race.
2. Connect to Girl Who Fell: Is Rachel forced to “pick a side” when it comes to her racial identity? Do people view her as biracial? Or do they view her as either white OR black? Explain and give examples. Yes, Rachel is very much forced to pick a side when it comes to her racial identity. After moving to the US, she had to cope with people viewing her as a black girl. I feel like she wanted to deny it at first. Everyone told her she's black though. She learned to think of herself as black. I don't think that many people viewed her as biracial. Many other people viewed her as light-skinned. Jesse viewed with her as biracial, and he liked her because she's biracial. And this book is based off of the author's experiences, and it really sucks because the author looks white to me. I would never have thought of Heidi W. Durrow as black. She really does look white, especially her facial features. I think if she dyed her hair lighter, people would think she is white.
3. What parts of the article and video reminded you most of Girl Who Fell? Why? How? (Text-to-text connection)

When Laura Wood said that she had always thought of herself as white and that she was shocked when people told her she's black, it reminded me a lot of Rachel's very similar experiences. I think that is exactly how it was like for Rachel too. In the video and the article when Laura Wood said that the Multiracial and Biracial Student Association is trying to change society to view biracial people as two races, perhaps both white and black instead of only black, and when Laura Wood said whenever someone commented she's black she would say "Yes — and white", reminded me of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky and its author Heidi W. Durrow. Rachel wishes that people would see her as black and white, and not tell her she's a black girl. Heidi W. Durrow said in the interview that whenever people comment that she's black, she points out that she is both black and Danish-American.

1. Based on the interview you just watched, what would Heidi Durrow think of the University of Maryland’s Multiracial and Biracial Student Association? Explain your answer and include either a direct quotation or paraphrase from the Durrow interview that supports your stance.
I think that Heidi W. Durrow would support the University of Maryland’s Multiracial and Biracial Student Association and their cause because she had to deal with being a biracial person in a society that forces people to pick a side. Heidi W. Durrow said that when people say she's black, she says "'I am Danish-American and black.' People thought by saying that I was tyring to up my whiteness, but that's not at all what I meant. I identify with both sides of me equally." This is just like what the Multiracial and Biracial Student Association is doing. They are showing people and the world that people can identify as two races equally.
2. What does Durrow say her favorite answer to the question “What are you?” is? Connect her answer to the following quotation from the NYT article: “I was always having to explain where my parents are from because just saying ‘I’m from Takoma Park, Maryland,’ was not enough,” she said. “Saying ‘I’m an American’ wasn’t enough."
Heidi Durrow always pointed out both pf her races, saying she is Danish-American and black. She also had to face a lot of questions about her eye color, like Rachel, because people would be jealous or not understand where her blue irises came from. Rachel would say her grandfather had the same color eyes.