Russell

=Intro=

When reflecting back on this year and all my work I did, I feel it was a good learning experience for me. I learned how to really refine my work and polish it up to the best it can be. I learned new ways of writing down and organizing my ideas. I learned different styles of writing and vocabulary to improve describing things. Reading books helped me see where those things come into play and how to use it in a big piece of writing. This year for me helped me make my work presentable and easily read. The portfolio shows about me and what I found interesting this year.

= = = = = = =First Quarter BM=

This was my first essay at Science Leadership Academy and I think I did pretty well on it. I had always like Odyssey type books and so it might have been easier for me to understand it. I picked this prompt from a list because I thought it was the most interesting and had the most potential. Each of them was a three-point thesis and I expanded this one a lot.

=The Odyssey essay=

In life, there will always be someone to watch over you, help you, or lead you onto the right path. The Gods and Goddesses in **__The Odyssey__** have looked over the mortals for all their lives. They have done so mostly under the command of Zeus, but on other moments they acted by themselves. The question is have they hindered the mortals or have they helped them. The Gods have helped the mortals due to the fact of Athena helping Telemachus find himself, Zeus releasing Odysseus, and Ino giving the scarf to Odysseus.

One clear way the Gods helped the mortals was when Athena inspired Telemachus to become a man and find news of his father. Athena came to him as a visitor to his palace. She said, “You must not cling to your boyhood any longer- it’s time you were a man”(pg. 87, lines 341-342). Athena told Telemachus he must grow up to be able to get rid of the suitors plaguing his house. Athena helped Telemachus because she could not stand watching things happen to his family from afar. Instead of tormenting the family even more, she had decided to assist him. Bright-eyed Pallas Athena also gave him words of reassurance when he did not know how to approach the old King Nestor. She said, “Telemachus some of the words you’ll find within yourself, the rest some power will inspire you to say”(pg. 108, lines 29-30). She had not hindered Telemachus in that speech. She gave him the courage he needed to complete the task. Not only does Athena help mortals, she pleads for the other Gods to help them.

Another God who helped a mortal is the great God Zeus. After Athena had pleaded with Zeus to help Odysseus, he sent his son Hermes to deliver a message. Hermes tells Calypso, “Destiny still ordains that he shall see his loved ones, reach his high-roofed house, his native land at last” (pg. 156, lines 127-128). Zeus is trying to set Odysseus free from the torment of Calypso and on his voyage home. Calypso feels that this is unfair but knows that she has been hindering him and decides to help him now. Calypso states, “If only the Gods are willing. They rule the vaulting skies. They’re stronger then I to plan and drive things home.” (pg. 157, lines 188-189). Knowing what she did before was wrong, she sets him off on his voyage home. Zeus had neither helped nor hindered Odysseus before this, but he chose to do the right thing. As Odysseus was on his voyage home, another Goddess helped him.

The Goddess that saw Odysseus in his time of need was Ino. When Odysseus was thrashing about in the waves and going in the wrong direction, Ino, saw him. She said, ”Here, take this scarf, tie it around your waist-it is immortal,” (pg. 163, lines 381-382). Ino helped Odysseus survive the wrath of the God Poseidon by letting him use the scarf. She was not like Poseidon who hindered his path home, she had availed him. After Odysseus was done using it, he gave it back to the depths of the sea. “Struggling up from the banks, he flung himself in the deep reeds, he kissed the good green earth and addressed his fighting spirit, desperate still,” (pg.166, lines 512-514). Odysseus was truly on his last limbs. Ino had to do nothing and he would be dead. Instead she aided him in his dire time and Odysseus lived.

In conclusion, Athena helping Telemachus find himself, Zeus releasing Odysseus, and Ino giving the scarf to Odysseus, are a few examples of how the Gods help the mortals. The gods choose to help the mortals and that’s what they did. When the mortals need the god’s help, they answer their prayers and/or save them. They do not hinder them in any way, shape or form. There will always be someone watching you, all-powerful or not, who can help.

=Second Quarter BM=

This was the second benchmark in my English class. I picked this topic because it was my first time at SLA and I think that first impressions mean a lot. We had to use different types of figurative language. Soon after that we recorded the piece of work and put it on Wikispaces just for this portfolio.

Audio of the writing
media type="file" key="Vincent Russell Q4 FInal 3.m4a" width="300" height="50"

=One Decision - Memoir Vignette=

Going to a through any change in your life can be difficulty, especially going to a new school. Choosing schools was not that hard for me because the two main schools I wanted to go to didn’t let me in and the only choice left was SLA. I figured it was because I was too good for them. The requirement to get in was to have good grades and attend an interview. The good grades part was no problem since I always get A’s and B’s. But the interview part was a different story. I had no idea what project to represent and time was running short. Finally, I decided to bring both and ask them which one they want to know about. When I attended my interview, which was really my first time inside my building, I got lost. I got confused at the idea of 4 floors and 5 levels, and not knowing that the 4th floor was not really a floor. I felt silly walking all-round the building knowing that someone was probably watching me and laughing. Like the walls had eyes. What also confused me was the stairs. How one stairway went up to the 3rd floor and the other went all the way up to the 5th floor. Eventually I found my way to a room full of all kind of kids. You had the preppy kids, the tall kids, and the short kids and all in between. We were handed a pencil, paper, and asked to answer all the questions. I don’t remember all the questions but I knew the last one. It went something like this; “If you were to attend SLA how would you improve the school?”. With paper in hand, pencil at the ready, and my mind at ease, I answered the question easily. I spoke how my great skills and excellent personality would improve the school so much. After I handed in my paper and pencil I waited a good 20 minutes or so to be called for my interview. When it finally came time I got my papers in hand and walked out the room. Again I got lost but this time it wasn’t so bad because the room I had to go to was on the same floor. I walked in the room and introduced myself and took a seat. Would you like to present your project now? Yes. Okay. What are you presenting? Well I kind of couldn’t decide so I brought both. All right chose one that best represents you. Taking no more than ten seconds I had finally picked one. After I was done talking about the effect of caffeine on plants they started asking me questions on my project and went on to different questions like, why do you want to be here and what do you like. I talked like I was a used car salesman trying to sell a cheap car. When it was finally over a huge weight came off my shoulders, since the worst of it was over I had no reason to fret. I walked back to my first class room, slowly as I wouldn’t get lost this time. No strange feelings this time as I walked down the halls, like the walls had given up and decided to go to sleep. It was fair enough know that I had done a good job at representing my project and myself of course. But now the second part had begun. The part of not knowing, if you got in or not. The waiting game. As I continued in the classroom I gathered my things and walked to the to the stairway. I went to the café where there was a video playing for the parents to watch as we got tested. It was mainly about the school and the teachers, how the education system worked and how we were taught. I found my mom and told her I was done. We both walked out of the building feeling good about what we did. She was proud of her only son and my effort. Attending a school for 4 years of your life is a big decision to make especially when you don’t really know what to pick. Having finally made this decision, this one decision I feel as though I made the right one. These next four years will very interesting, or so I hope.

Stylistic Devices:
(Opener, Humor, Foreshadowing, Personification, Magic 3, Dialogue, Metaphor)

=Third Quarter= = = Our third major piece of work was an Essay on the book Kindred. The thesis had to be a one-point thesis and it could be whatever found most interesting in the book. I used 6 quotes to explain my prompt and I related them to my main idea. Constructing a 5-paragraph essay for me has gotten easier because we have work on them so much during the year.



=Kindred Essay=

Expressing yourself on the outside as how you feel on the inside can be difficult for some. In __Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred__, one of those misunderstood people is Rufus. When he feels things it doesn’t come out quite like he wanted it to. Some other characters had this problem but it was mostly Rufus who experienced this. There were many instances in which people got the wrong idea of what he tried to show.

One of those instances was when Dana went back to the plantation and Kevin wasn’t there. Alice came to Dana one day and said, “I’ve been looking where I wasn’t s’posed to look – in mister Rufus’s bed chest. But what I found don’t look like it ought to be there.” Alice pg.170. Rufus had not mailed Dana’s letters to Kevin in fear of him losing her. There were other ways to let her know other than keeping her from the man she loves the most. Rufus does not know how to show his emotions the right way, so he keeps them to his self and does selfish actions. When he bottles them up they are ticking time bombs waiting for a release. Another time was when Kevin came back to the plantation to take Dana out. Rufus went insane, pulled out a shotgun and threatened Dana and Kevin. “This one however was more aimed at Kevin. I stared a it, then at the young man holding it” Dana pg.186. Rufus wouldn’t let her leave him and instead of talking to her he threaten to kill her and Kevin if they did not stay. He wouldn’t let her have a chance of being free if he were not. When Dana left she did not realize what hell Rufus would rain on Alice.

Another one of his actions was when he tried to rape Alice. He already had a lot of stress with being the son of a slave owner and having feelings for Alice only made this worse. Dana time travel back and found herself in a mess, “Off to my opposite side was a woman, Black, young – just a girl, really – with her dress torn down the front. She was holding it together as she watched a black man and a white man fighting” Dana pg.117. Again his selfishness clouded his judgment of how he is supposed to act for a person that you care for. Trying to rape someone is not one of those ways. Especially, when she is married and having an interesting life by slave standards. After Tom Weylin died Rufus blamed Dana and sent her to the fields. “You know I didn’t kill him or let him die” Dana pg.215. Rufus didn’t know how do deal with his father’s death and he became confused on what to do. Also, he doesn’t care about anyone else but only his desires. The worst of his actions was still yet to come.

When Rufus took her children away it devastated Alice, to the point where she did not want to live anymore. Dana asked Rufus why he did what he did after she was dead. “ To punish her, scare her. To make her see what could happen if she didn’t ... if she tried to leave me” Rufus pg.251. Rufus tired to show dominance over Alice but he took it too far and serious things happened. The lack of communication that occurred between every one and him had caused this decision. He did realize coming on to Dana was suicide but he did it anyway, “He collapsed on across me, somehow still alive, still holding my arm” Dana pg.260. Since Dana was the only person left that he could love he decided that he wanted to end it with her. From the perils he faced from his action and was saved by Dana he had a strong relationship with her, and in death Rufus would not let the bond stop.

In conclusion, Rufus’s cause was understandable but his actions blurred people’s view on him. In his mind he was a true person but in reality he was flawed. Dana was the only person that truly saw Rufus for who he was but his terrible choices in the end had cost him his life. Many of his actions cost people their sanity and their lives. The quotes above explain how his state of mind and his way of showing his feelings caused miscommunication and eventually his death. “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions” Samuel Johnson, April 16 1775.

=Fourth Quarter Project=

Here is another project we did when we finished reading the Shakespeare book “Macbeth”. With explaining some quotes from the book we were given freedom to make a creative piece of Lady Macbeth or Macbeth. I made these poems with some pictures to show to journey of the character.



= = =Lady Macbeth Pictures and Keynote=











= = =JOURNAL ENTRYS=

During the whole year we have been writing off and on in our journal. There was many prompts and I picked four that stood out to me the most.

How does childhood shape your outlook on the world?
From an early age you already know what you like and how you like it. Also, you are taught your parent’s view on life or the world. You can choose whether or not you like it or find what makes the most sense to you. During you childhood when you find it, it will stick with you for your entire life.

In my childhood I learned everything mostly around the sciences and that was mainly how I understood something. And since Then I have had an outlook that was mostly science, events and people. That is what made the most sense to me, so that has shaped my outlook on life and the world.

What is the power of writing?
The power of writing is deep. It is able to give people emotions a place to go and help them understand different positions. How is it useful for people writing dairies? It is a way to get all their problems off their chest and to give feedback onto their teaching style. They can write down their issues and give it to the teacher so she/he can try to reach the students better. Also, it can help the different races to get along better because many of them have the same problems

Self-Reliant
I think self-reliant means to be true to yourself and try to do the right thing. I don’t think I’m self-reliant. I normally see things become bad. Right before I do I see it unfold and I feel like I’m watching a movie. At first I ignore it but then I give into it and stop what ever it is. I don’t know why but it just happens.

Family
Our family relationships help us help each other out. When you have a good relationship with your parents they give you good advice on different subjects that helps you in life. It also shapes us into what things really are and gets us prepared for real life. Plus, knowing different skills or ideas can help us succeed in whatever we do. Having good advice in all different things will shape you to be able to do anything. By blocking the negative things it will keep you on a straight path.