Sonnet

In English class we started learning about sonnets.  Sonnet comes from the Italian word sonetto, meaning "little song".  A sonnet contains 14 lines.  A line in sonnet has ten syllables and is written in iambic pentameter.  The last two lines in a sonnet is called a couplet.  The sonnets we are doing in class are from Shakespeare.  Our class was given an assignment to write our own quatrain.  To be honest, I enjoyed writing mine.  When writing a sonnet, you have to actually think and sound everything out.  Like Mr. Carty said, "It is like a heart beat".  I wouldn't mind writing more of these in class if we had too.  Once I was finished writing my sonnet, I felt accomplished.  I wrote something that I have never before written and it was a solid piece of work.  I normally don't like writing poems or any other form of writing, but sonnets I really enjoy.

Black Friday

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, and helps people shop for Christmas.  Black Friday is the busiest day for shopping all year.  Black Friday indicates the point at which retailer begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black".  Black Friday is a day where stores have big sales on everything.  These stores open up very early in the morning, some at 12:00 am.  Black Friday was originally associated with a financial crisis in 1869.  Black Friday gets many shoppers because they already have off for Thanksgiving.  It is said to be the start of Christmas shopping.  Along with that day being the busiest is the Saturday before Christmas.  People save up all their money for a whole year just to get the best deals possible.  Big items are electronics such as laptops, game systems, and phones.  Many people go for clothes too.  I have never been Black Friday shopping, but I plan on going this year to see what it is like.  It is going to be a whole new experience!

Where are you going....

Our class recently read a story called Where are you going, Where have you been.  It is about a girl named Connie that goes through the same things that any teenage girl goes through.  Teenagers always act and dress different around their friends than when they are with their family.  Connie has an older sister named June.  June gets more attention from her mom than Connie does.  The reason for this is because Connie's mom thinks Connie is too pretty.  When I first read the story, I was very confused at what was going on with Connie and Arnold.  I was hoping the story would have an ending that would help me understand it better, but it didn't.  The author did that on purpose (which I didn't like).  As I kept re-reading it, I began to just make up an ending to the story.  In my opinion, I believe Connie was just dreaming the whole time.  This kind of story is the first one I've ever read.  I don't really like being left feeling like "what happens next?"  If anyone feels the same I do, please share.

Cursive Writing

Last Saturday I took the SAT's and came across something new.  It wasn't new to me but I don't see it on tests.  I had to write a few sentences in cursive.  It was easy for me because I enjoy writing in cursive and I believe it's fancy.  Cursive is a style of penmanship that is conjoined to make writing faster.  There are many types of cursive writing styles, and there are a lot of countries that use this type of writing.  A pediatric coordinator said that learning cursive helped students hone their fine motor skills.  It is also said that cursive is easier to learn than print.  A bunch of students in this generation simply can't read or write in cursive.  We see a lot of cursive writing on letters, cards, and banners, but not all of us can read them.  I believe cursive should be taught so students can read these things and they might even find cursive easier and faster.  I am obsessed with cursive writing even though I am not good at writing it.  I jot some things down in my notebook to try to get better and it seems to be working.  All teachers should work with students and have things done in cursive for future occurances.