Elliot English Blog

  Prompt:  Dickinson uses the metaphor of a funeral to describe her inner struggles. What metaphor would you use to describe your own mind? Response: If I had to describe my own mind as a metaphor, I would say it's like a maze. I compare it to a maze because I know what to do, but I'm unsure what will happen. Like a maze, you know to walk and find a way out but there are unexpected twists and turns. I know the things that I have to do but sometimes there are obstacles that I have to deal with that may come up. My mind can be confusing but I know the right things to do. Summary:  In class we read 2 poems exploring thoughts and internal feelings, which we both analyzed and interpreted.  Reflection:  I reflected on how I can expand my media literacy and different symbolisms. 

  Prompt:  Describe something you will never fully understand. Response: Something I will never understand is how people pick and choose their morals. I've known people who support harmful actions but will stand for other things that are right. This has confused me and it makes me wonder what leads people to think that way. My guess is that it's because people are desensitized by certain things. It also makes me wonder if there's a way for everyone to agree on morals. Summary:  Today in class we started to present our posters for our origin myths.  Reflection:  I reflected on how I could have organized my poster differently. 

  Prompt:  Write about something that you wish you had more of. Response: Something I wish I had more of was pets. My dream is to own a lot of reptiles and amphibians as a hobby. Herpetology is a big interest of mine so it's something I care about a lot. I enjoy setting up terraniums and taking care of animals. I would like to own more geckos in particular. I only own two geckos currently. I would have more reptiles but my household only lets me have two pets at a time. Summary:  In class people were finishing up their origin myth stories and posters. Reflection:  Today I reflected on how I can work on catching up on my blogs better and get them done by the end of the day. 

  Prompt:  What is the most creative thing you have ever made? Share what it was and explain why it stands out as your best work. Response: The most creative thing that I've ever made was a lamp shade that I painted. I always wanted a zebra print lamp but when I looked online for one, they were too expensive. I decided to make my own by getting a lamp shade and painting it. I painted it purple and made the stripes black. It turned out very well and I'm proud of it. The reason why it's my best work is because it took me hours and I had to have a lot of patience to make the stripes.  Summary: In class we got to continue working on our origin myth stories and started on making our visual representation/poster.  Reflection: I reflected on how I can make a story more engaging and add more variety to it. 

  Prompt:  Everyone has burning questions about life. Mysteries we wonder about but don’t always have clear answers for. Think about your biggest questions about existence, purpose, or the world around you. Write a blog post where you share at least two of your most burning questions about life and explain why these questions matter to you. Response: One question that has mattered to me is how can I achieve true happiness. I like to think about what I or people have to do in order to be fully happy in life and achieve the best way to live. Another question I think about is what the future is going to be like. I think about the future a lot and I wonder what things will change and how the world will work compared to now. These questions matter because these are the two questions that I don't know the answer to and it makes me very curious.  Summary: In class we worked on our origin myths stories and planned our stories out.  Reflection: Today I reflected on how I ca...

Prompt:   Describe a time you felt completely lost Reponse: There was a time I felt lost when I was in geometry class. I had a lot of trouble understanding what we were learning and I couldn't keep up with the lesson. Math is one of my biggest struggles in learning so it's generally always been a difficult subject for me. It didn't help that our teacher was supposed to be teaching algebra, not geometry. In order to solve this, I went home and tried to teach myself the lesson we learned in class. I used YouTube videos to help me and that was the biggest help I got.  Summary:  In class we presented presentations on the origin myths assignment.  Reflection: Presenting in class made me reflect on how I can improve my speaking skills and be more clear with words. 

  Prompt:  Analyze how you’ve adapted to the demands of this course over the past week, and evaluate one strength and one challenge you anticipate as we progress, justifying your insights with personal examples. Response: I have adapted to the demands of this course over the past week by making sure I've done all of my work. I make an effort to make sure that I posted my daily blogs whenever I get home. I haven't had any struggles thankfully and I try to keep track with all of my things. One challenge is being able to understand some of the text that we read. Although, one strength is being able to use context clues to help me understand stories better.  Summary:  Today we took a test over origin myths and also practiced a lockdown drill beforehand.  Reflection:  I reflected on the test that we took and thought about how I can understand the meanings of stories that are more complex. 

  Prompt:  Describe a real-life situation in which jealousy negatively affected a relationship you experienced. Response: I haven't had a relationship where jealousy has affected it negatively, but I once had a phase in 8th grade where I was jealous. On social media, I was more involved with the emo scene community and I was more dedicated to posting content. The community felt very competitive and I felt jealous that I didn't have the hair or clothes on point with how the more popular people did it. This made it more difficult for me to post and I struggled trying to find my style. Eventually, I left the community and became more at peace with how I wanted to dress instead of dressing for others. I still gained followers and managed to be happier. Summary:  In class we read "The Jealous Father" as a class and analyzed the text as groups. We then created a PowerPoint presentation to present. Reflection:  I reflected on the character developments of the characters in ...

  Prompt:  Write about a meaningful object or place in your life that carries a story. Reponse: Something meaningful to me is my 2 pet geckos. I have always had a deep love and interest in reptiles and amphibians so I care for them a lot. My first pet was a leopard gecko and he was what started my interest in reptiles and amphibians. I would do lots of research after owning him. It gives me a hobby and something to care for daily. I want to become a herpetologist so keeping them helps me learn more about geckos. I have 1 leopard gecko named Tamago and a tokay gecko named Mudkip (like the Pokemon). My two geckos are very important to me. Summary: Today in class we read a Native American story called 'Navajo Creation' and went over the themes and elements of the story. Reflection: Today I reflected on religious allusions in the story and wondered if Christianity was ever a thing for Native Americans. 

Prompt : Write about a time you felt connected to nature, like the kinship in Native American myths  Response: I feel pretty well connected with nature and it's a passion of mine. I love helping animals, specifically reptiles and amphibians. I want to protect wildlife in my future career and make sure population levels in species are stable. I also occasionally do a lot of spiritual work outside during the summer. I like to meditate and help myself relax.  Summary:  Today in class we were introduced into the topic of Native American literature. We learned about the different themes in Native American stories and the culture in Native American story telling. We also explored the myths and facts about Native Americans. Reflection : I've reflected on how Native Americans use nature to tell stories. It makes me curious how they explore those themes of connecting with nature. I am interested in this because I enjoy learning about spiritual things. 

 Prompt: Write about a time you felt conflicted about something important. Prompt Response: During summer break, I was stuck in my room with nothing to do. I wanted to go out and do something but I didn't have a ride to go anywhere, nor any interesting stores walking distance from me. One of my friends that I wasn't too close with asked me if I wanted to carpool with him to go to a punk show. The problem was that I didn't know anybody else there and I'm not super social. Although I felt conflicted, I decided to push out of my boundaries from my social anxiety and go. I'm glad I ended up going because I met a lot of cool people that I ended up hanging out with later on and I had a lot of fun. I also managed to buy a CD from a local punk band. Summary: Today in class we discussed how to use Blogger and how to create blogs. We also went over the class syllabus. Reflection: After reviewing how to use Blogger during class, it made me wonder if this would improve my writi...