Reading Times

4/16    Sea of Monsters pp. 100-135    45 min
4/17    Half of my cover letter draft    45 min
4/18    Finished cover letter draft    60 min

Total: 150 min

What I want most in the world

            I would really want to have the ability to naturally fly, without wings or anything. Just to be able to float up into the air and go wherever I want. I would never run out of fuel or anything, I would want to just be able to fly whenever and wherever I would want to.
            This ability to fly would benefit me in a few ways. I think like feel a lot more free and I would be able to go wherever I wanted. Also, I wouldn't have to buy a car or pay for an airplane trip if I needed to go somewhere. I think being able to fly would be absolutely amazing.

Poem and Reading Details

Reading Times:
Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan    pp. 1-100    2 hrs.
Portfolio and Writing center    30 min  
Total: 150 min

Tennis

POP

the noise of the ball bouncing off my raquet

on a perfect hit

is such a great sound to hear.

In the middle of a close match,

trying to not get too tired.

But after 15 long games,

I start to feel very worn out.

Every time I have to run to get to the ball,

I get more and more tired.

When the last game is over, 

and I have finally sealed the victory, 

I feel so relieved

and proud 

of myself.

Reading Response

Reading Times: Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz

3/26    pp. 50-75    40 min

3/28    pp. 75-105    45 min

4/7    pp. 105-160    70 min

Total: 155 min

            I have been enjoying Point Blank. I think it is at a good level for me and keeps me interested. I also like how the main character is about my age so that I can relate well, rather than reading about someone who is much older or younger than me. 

            Right now, Alex, the main character, is investigating a school that MI6, the detective team he works for, is suspicious about. The author uses a lot of suspense in this book and allows you to think for yourself about what you think might happen. I like to try to figure it out and form my own opinions. I think that makes reading more fun than it is when a story is just told straight up to you.

Song Analysis

            In the song "Float" by Aesop Rock, there are a few techniques found in poetry used throughout the lyrics. One technique is repeating sounds. In the beginning of the song, I noticed multiple words used that had the 'or' sound, such as portrait, tortoise, tortured, orchard, and order. Another example of repeating sounds is in two lines toward the end of the song: "I am not a crook, I cook the wick at both ends just to blend that element of chance with my tight rope dance." This technique of rhyming within the same line is called internal rhyme. These repeating sounds give the song some rhythm and give it a certain sound. It makes it flow.
            Another technique I saw was saying things that aren't really real or possible to make the listener understand how the author feels. An example of this is in the last line: "I float, while everybody else around me's busy drowning." Obviously, he wasn't actually floating. He said this to convey that he was different and in a better state than everyone else around him.
           
LYRICS: http://www.songlyrics.com/aesop-rock/float-lyrics/

Reading Times

3/20    Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz    pp. 1-15    25 min
3/21    Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz     pp. 15-40    35 min
3/25    ''          ''               ''                 ''            pp. 40-50    15 min
3/25    Jane Goodall post                                                 30 min
3/25    Looked over papers and decided which to revise    15 min
3/25    Paper revision post                                                 30 min

Total time: 150 min
  

Paper Revision

            I think the paper that I am going to revise for my portfolio is going to be my literacy narrative. The two traits of good writing that I will focus my revisions on are probably going to be word choice and voice. I think these were the two main things that I could have done better on the most in this paper.
            When I re-read my literacy narrative, I was pretty happy with it. However, there were definitely some opportunities to use stronger words than I did, specifically things like "to be" verbs, as Dr. D said in the comments. I also could have used a more unique and strong voice throughout the course of the whole paper. I think revisions on these two traits will make a better paper out of my original one.