Clark

Reflection

1. As a 9th grade English student, I feel my portfolio says that I’m a student who makes an effort to complete majority of my work. If I don’t get all of it completed, I still turn it in with a lot of the assignment finished. When people look at this portfolio, I don’t want to judge me on first impressions. I want them to understand that I try my best even if the job doesn’t get done.

2. In English, I consider my strengths to be speaking, journal writing, and acting. My weaknesses in English are writing papers, understanding text, and getting assignments in on time. I would like to continue working on analyzing text, writing essays, and time management.

3. When making this portfolio, I had to find all my work that was required for this portfolio. This obviously took some time. Once I collected all the components, I began typing, editing, and preparing all the assignments for my wiki page. I had a hard time choosing which journal entries I should add to my page. I did face some problems along the way. My sister accidently closed the webpage that had my wiki page showing and I forgot to save my work. Therefore, when I lent her my computer and she closed the page, none of my work got saved. This caused me to have to re-post all my work.

4. I am very proud of my Macbeth Creative Piece. I’m proud because even though I had to turn it late, I put it together very well. I incorporated the quotes well. I got to mess around on garage band and change my voice so it sounds more like a female. I also got to add songs that reflected what each quote was about in a good way. So I am very glad with the work I did for that project.

The Odyssey The Odyssey essay is separated from this page because it was printed out at the beginning of the year. I no longer have the document on my computer to copy and paste. Therefore I had to include it separately.

 Memoir Vignette I’ll never forget the times people pronounce or spell my name wrong [Opener]. It annoys me because no matter how many times I spell my name or pronounce it, they always get it wrong. If it were up to me, I would tell them off. My name is Khalil and you pronounce it Kh-lil. You spell it K-H-A-L-I-L.

One time I participated in the Aids Walk and the lady awarding me with a certificate of completion kept spelling my name wrong. She had to make numerous awards because she couldn’t get my name right. As many times as I spelled it, she should never forget how to spell Khalil again. What came out my mouth went in one of her ears and out the other because what I said was not matching what she was writing. “Let me spell it for you extremely slow” is what my name would have been if those words came out my mouth because this insane woman couldn’t spell the name correctly. “Don’t join the award committee if you can’t spell” is another thought that ran through my mind as I spoke to this woman. By the time I walked away from her, my family members that seemed to be an hour behind in this walk caught up to me. Gosh, I should’ve expected this because that wasn’t the only time that happened.

About 2 to 3 years ago, I attended a weeklong bible study in the summer. Everyday we had nametags that the people running it handwrote. It was shocking that these people scrambled the letters in my name when writing me a nametag because they knew me for several years. All I wondered is how can you possibly spell my name wrong if you knew me for a long time. I get home and my mom, aunts, and grandma would say “Whose klahli?” my answer is “It’s suppose to be me,” then they laugh historically. When I get to the program each day at 6:00 I want to stand up and say, “Please spell my name write or I don’t want a nametag.” Being in this position just makes me feel bad to have a name that no one can spell. Do you know what it’s like for people to say, “oh your name is Khalu” I know how to spell that or say “oh your names Kyill, I know how to spell that? “That’s not my name” like the Ting Tings say in their song is what I want to say to people. Ughh!!! Just get it right at least one time. Geez Louise.

Let’s get one more thing straight. Do people give hour-long speeches on what your name means as if you didn’t know already [opener]? Well in many situations someone will ask me what my name is. Once I tell them they give me a lesson on how my name came about. Boy I tell ya, they don’t know where to draw the line of giving me lectures about names. To tell the truth, I honestly think my name doesn’t always fit it’s meaning.

One breezy day, I was at work with my dad. He had a customer who just so happened to here my dad say my name. Next thing I know it was like his customer turned in to a preacher. The way the man just stopped in the middle of his purchase, and looked at me and said “Do you know what your name means?” The question some random man just asked me struck me like a meteor from outer space. I looked at him and said, “I heard it means friendly.” He began to throw up his hands and preach on about how my name was brought about in the bible, and how it had something to do with a godly situation. I thought I was on a pew at church listening to someone trying to put me to sleep with an untimely lecture. I don’t know what he talked about. All I saw was my dad nod his head as though he knew what the man talked about. I knew he wish this man would go on with his day, than stand here and talk to us. When that customer decided to leave, I was the one actually praising the lord.

When I think about the things that happened those days, I just want to laugh. I just think it was hilarious how mad I got because of funny things that happened as a result of the name I have. Through it all I learned to stay calm in any situation and forgive people for their mistakes.

Kindred In Octavia Butler’s “__Kindred__,” Dana dealt with lots of obstacles in her lifetime. Dana went back in time to see what the Ante Bellum South. While there she experienced lots of issues. The A.B.S. challenged Dana in many ways when she interacts with 3 main characters.

Dana is a normal black woman from the 1970’s who gets transported back in time to the 19th century to the Ante Bellum South. While there she saves Rufus, one of her ancestors. The first time she gets transported she saves him from drowning in a river. Dana says, “Before me was a wide tranquil river, and near the middle of that river was a child splashing, screaming … Drowning! (p. 13)” Dana witnesses a young man (Rufus) struggling so he doesn’t die. As he screams for help, Dana is brought to his rescue to save him. After this happens Dana is brought back to the Ante Bellum South numerous times to keep Rufus from dying. Dana says “He held a stick of wood in one hand and the end of the stick was charred and smoking. Its fire had apparently been transferred to the draperies at the window. Now the boy stood watching as the flames ate their way up the heavy cloth. (p. 19-20)” If Dana wasn’t there to put the fire out and save Rufus, he could have not only killed himself, but burned the house down. Dana has to come to Rufus’s rescue as the story goes on and in the middle of events that nearly kill Rufus she meets another character.

Dana comes in contact with a slave owner named Tom Weylins, Rufus’s father. The first time she meets Tom is when Rufus is drowning. When everything starts to blur she sees Tom running toward her.

 Macbeth Creative Project 1) “Unsex me here, and fill from the crown to the toe of direst cruelty. Come to my woman’s breasts and take my milk for gall.” -Lady Macbeth Act 1, Scene 5

· Lady Macbeth says this after she finds out that Macbeth wants to kill King Duncan. She decides that she wants to kill the king also. Therefore she asks to have a sex change so she can kill Duncan and not feel guilty afterwards.

2) “But screw your courage to sticking place and we’ll not fail.”

-Lady Macbeth Act 1, Scene 7

· Macbeth starts to rethink killing Duncan which leads Lady Mac to telling him get over himself and he will be have to worry about screwing things up.

3) “Come on. Gentle my lord, sleek o’er your rugged looks: Be bright and jovial among your guests tonight.”

-Lady Macbeth Act 3, Scene 2

· It’s the night of the banquet after Macbeth kills King Duncan. He’s kind of worried. So Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to clean himself up, and be calm around his guest so he doesn’t seem suspicious.

4) “I pray you speak not; he grows worse and worse; Question enrages him.”

-Lady Macbeth Act 3, Scene 4

· During the dinner Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo. No one else sees the ghost but him. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth what is going on. This causes her to cover up for Macbeth so the guess will think nothing is the matter with him.

5) “ Out, damned spot! Out, I say! What, will these hands ne’er be clean? To bed, to bed, there’s knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What’s done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed.”

-Lady Macbeth Act 5, Scene 2

· Lady Macbeth starts having hallucinations when all the guilt comes back on her. She starts seeing things that aren’t visible and go nuts about it. She is going crazy and nothing she can do. This results in her committing suicide.

 **Quote Analysis MP3:**

Songs: Unstoppable by Kat Deluna Bad Day by Daniel Powter Cry by Rihanna media type="file" key="Clark_Creative Piece.m4a" width="300" height="50"

 Journals

12.2.09

Divorce ruins a family’s relationship. I never thought my parents would get separated, and my father remarrying, but it happened. At first it was devastating to see this happen because my parents fought and argued, but never planned to divorce. My father cheated on my mother numerous times. When she found out about the last person he cheated with she decided it was time for them to go there separate ways. With most couples everything is fine until marriage. No cheating, no fighting or arguing occurs before marriage. After people get married and months go bye, that’s when the marriage starts to fall apart. Now of course this doesn’t happen to all married couples, but it happens to some. With my parents, it happened before and during their marriage. After me and my twin was born, my dad would be waiting at the trolley stop, and it once the trolley was gone it was all down hill. This went on for a pretty long time, but something always kept my parents from separating. Without my siblings and I, I don’t think they would have any reason to communicate today. It hurts to see them apart, but at the end of the day you just have to le it go and move on with your life. Just pray to god that when you grow up and find a significant other, none of this happens to you. Marriage is a large step in the relationship process. You just have to know which steps to take in the process.

12.16.09

I would like to change my work ethic. I make lots of wrong decisions when it comes to schoolwork and homework. Most of the time I try to complete work assigned for school. Once assigned homework it’s like my mid shut down. It seems as though my body is unable to do anything that has to be worked on at home. This has gotten me extremely bad grades for classes. I always say how I’m going to start doing my work, but I never stick to that promise. I want to change the way I navigate with completing school assignments. For now on when I make a promise to do school related things, I’m going to try my best to stick to it. From now on to the day I graduate from college, I’m going to quit chatting with classmates and get schoolwork and homework completed before I decide to do anything else. Hopefully, I don’t break my promise. This is something I’m going to have to stick with.

12.17.09

The funeral was the hardest thing to face. Everyone cried except me. I did over a million double takes pass the coffin. I never saw this coming. My Aunt Tifah was one of the nicest people you could ever meet. I went to visit her & my cousins every weekend or so. Her religion was one of the things she stayed on top of. She would not let her children over step their boundaries. That day my dad got the call “She’s gone,” no one could believe it. I sat quiet on the ride to my grandmother’s house. When my dad came to get me the next day we knew his life would not be the same because he just lost his baby sister. As he told us about what the doctor’s said on how she died, I just thought in my mind “She’s not gone. She’s in the hospital recovering from her seizure.” I thought to myself, “I’ll be back at her house this weekend, even though I knew her casket was 6ft underground. I felt so humiliated when I got to school and knew my aunt wasn’t here anymore. For classmates and friends to still have some one that means a lot to them in life makes me feel so disgusted. I just feel ashamed because asking my dad what happened, reminds him too much that he has one less sibling. This is so unbelievable because I can’t face the facts. Why I am so in denial that I can’t get over it? I can’t get you out my head at all. I’m scared to go to sleep because you’re not close like before. If only you were here every time you popped in my head, I probably wouldn’t feel so sad. All I want is you to be here again. I love you and I’ll always miss you Aunt Tifah.

1.14.10

The relationship I have with my family shapes me. Every time we fight or argue it makes me a stronger person. No matter what we go through we always forgive each other. If something wrong went on at home like abuse or something, I think it would make me a person who hates everything and everyone because I would feel as though everyone out to treat me bad. If you have a bad family relationship it makes your personality bad. You’ll probably not wan to go home. On the other hand if you’re the type who loves to be with your family all the time, you’ll never fight, argue, have any complications, then that type of relationship will probably make you a nicer person. Regardless the bonds I have with my family I’m still a happy person. If we have a good and bad relationship, it won’t affect the way I am towards other people. I look pass all the things that go on inside my house, and come o school like nothing ever happened. So all in all, family relationships has nothing to do with the way some people are.