Ariela Ojalvo American Literature Blog

Prompt:  Reflect on a time when you paused to appreciate the beauty of nature, much like the speaker in  “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”  Where were you, what did you notice, and how did that moment of stillness make you feel or change your perspective? One time when I paused to appreciate the beauty of nature as the speaker did in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" was when  I was in Costa Rica and I went on a 7 hour hike up a mountain. We made it to the top and no one just climbs a mountain for hours on end just to climb back down automatically so we stopped for a while at the top. We looked around and I had never really grasped the Earths beauty before then. Being that high and everything around you being that visible makes you forced to appreciate to beauty of nature especially in Costa Rica. After this we got on horses and road back to our car, I spent weeks thinking about how lucky I am to experience the beauty of nature Summary: Today in class we w...

  Prompt: In the poem, the speaker and his neighbor meet each year to repair a wall. Describe a time when you had to set or respect a boundary with a friend, family member, or classmate. How did it help or hurt your connection with that person? In the poem, the speaker and his neighbor meet each year to repair a wall. A time when I had to set or respect a boundary with a friend, family member, or classmate is when they chew around me. I hate the sound of chewing and it makes me so mad so when they do this I just tell them stop and that is not okay so that I don't lash out at them. The noise makes me so mad so I need to set this boundarie fast before becoming a mean person. This helps my relationships because it does not make me hate the person but it hurts them because I cant even eat with them.  Summary: Today in class we did a common lit and a blog post.  Reflection: Today in class I bettered my understanding of Robert Frost through more of his poems

  Both poems by Robert Frost explore the passage of time and life’s changing moments. Write about a time when something in your life changed more quickly than you expected. How does this experience connect to Frost’s idea that “Nothing gold can stay”? Both poems by Robert Frost explore the passage of time and life’s changing moments. A time when something in my life changed more quickly than I expected was in basket ball I went to this training camp and I went in with low expectations of my skills improving. After, I reflected and I came to the realization that my skills significantly improved. I became much better at dribbling and passing. I now have realized that soon my skills will decrease as Robert Frost says "Nothing gold can stay" as for my skills will leave following old age. This experience has changed me as a player and I am still shocked with my swift improvements of skills.  Summary: Today in class, I analyzed 2 poems one with Mr. Reese one without and I answered ...

  As we think about our upcoming Vocabulary Monday, tell me what is your favorite word RIGHT NOW? Why is it your favorite word and how often do you use it?  Thinking about my previous vocabulary lessons my favorite word right now is bombast. I think it is a funny word to use because of the meaning being impressive but meaningless language. That is exactly what bombast is, no one really knows that word so when I say it people seem impressed. After they ask what that means I tell them and they think I am just saying that it is an impressive but meaningless word when really that it the meaning. I find it very ironic which is why I like it so much and I usually use it in the context of some of my teachers and the way the choose to speak.  Summary: Today in class we went over how to use PowerPoint to its full advantage and we worked on our PowerPoints.  Reflection: Today in class I learned how to better take advantage of PowerPoint's helpfull tools and I finished up my pr...

  In  “Birches,”  Robert Frost celebrates imagination as a way to escape life’s difficulties and reconnect with innocence. The speaker wishes to “get away from earth awhile” but also understands that he must eventually return to reality. Think about the role of imagination in your own life. How does imagination help you cope with challenges, boredom, or stress?  In "Birches," Robert Frost celebrates imagination as a way to escape life's difficulties and reconnect with innocence.  The speaker wishes to “get away from earth awhile” but also understands that he must eventually return to reality. The role of imagination in my own life is decreasing in frequency but increasing in importance. Imagination helps me cope with change by giving me imagine the best of the change and what the change does for those in my surroundings. Imagination helps me with boredom by giving me things that are entertaining to think about and dig deep into to ease my bored. Finally imaginat...

  After reading  “Out, Out—”  by Robert Frost, reflect on a time when you faced a dangerous or high-pressure situation that demanded your complete focus. What made the situation risky, and how did your concentration affect the outcome? After reading "Out,Out-" by Robert Frost, a time when I faced a dangerous high-pressure situation that demanded my complete focus was when my check engine light went on 40 minutes away on the highway. The situation was risky because I was unaware as to why it was on and my car could have blown up or mount functioned. I had to really focus in and concentrait on getting home before something bad happened to me or someone else on the road. My concentration lead me to go the fastest way home the safest and most efficient way overall resulting in my own saftey along with the saftey of the people surrounding me. Overall this relates to the poem because I had to focus in on one thing just as the man did in the poem.  Summary: Today in class w...

  Write about what you did over the Fall Break.  Over fall break I first went to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some of my friend and I stayed at my friend Leah's cabin for a weekend. We didn't do much but it was fun to be somewhere different then usual with a bunch of my friends. We ate good food, made fires, and just had fun. I then got back home and went to Netherworld the next day. I hate being scared so I did not enjoy this at all. After that my friend and I went to Helen Georgia for a day which was fun. We went on this roller coaster, mini golfing, hiking, and just drove around. Finally I took the ACT which was very reliving in the end. It was stressful but I think I will be happy with my end result. Overall this is what I did over fall break I had a wonderful time but I am happy to be back.  Summary: Today in class we made comics and had to use given vocabulary words throughout the comic. Reflection: Today in class I feel like I showed my creativity and story telling sk...

  How do  you find time to enjoy your day, even when you have a lot going on? Write about at least three specific things you do to enjoy small moments throughout your day. I always find time to enjoy my day even if I have a lot going on by talking to my friends, I play Lacrosse, and I drive around with music and windows down. Everyday I make sure I make time to talk and hangout with my friends just to ease my mind especially if I have a lot going on and I am stressed out. I often turn to Lacrosse to also calm myself down in stress which works well to ease my mind and body. Finally if I am really crashing out I get in my car and drive around listening to my favorite music and singing just to let everything out and I use this as a breather of stress. Overall, I am so grateful I have these resources I can turn to and it means the world to me that I am this blessed.   Summary: Today in class we finished up out argumentative paragraph. We got to talk and work through each...

   Describe a time when someone’s words had a lasting impact on you.   One time when someones words had a lasting effect on me was last years midterm finals week. I went into that week with 7 B's in all my classes ranging from low to high. I was so scared and dreading studying. I was asking all my teachers for what I could do to get an A. All my teachers were very supportive of me and really helped me achieve my goes exept for one. My sience teacher told me that there is not much I could do and I will probably just end with a B because I should have locked in earlier. At first I was mad and so upset about her saying this because I really wanted an A but after think about this over the break I realized she was right. I should have locked in earlier, so the following semester I made it a goal to lock in and get all A's without having to fight for them. And that is exactly what happened and I am so grateful that she had said this to me because now I am able to set goals...

  Write about a moment when you had to step out of your comfort zone.  One moment where I had to step out of my comfort zone was when I got a job. Lacrosse is my sport and it is played in spring so for the fall I wanted to get a job. I was clueless and aimlessly going into restaurants asking if they would want me to help overall going to 17 different restaurants. Finally after a week I got a job at a restaurant called EATalianos and I was over joyed. I was so scared going into the first day because I had no professional life outside of school so I wanted to be open minded. This was a very good example of me stepping outside of my comfort zone because I was so young and I was the youngest person they had ever hired. I was so proud of myself in the end for doing so and I am glad I have the ability to push myself to the limit.  Summary: Today in class we learned more about argumentative writing and wrote the first sentence of an argumentative paragraph.  Reflection: Tod...

  Write about a dream that felt real. One of my dreams that felt real was one I had recently. I was with 2 of my friends Brynn and Leah and my boyfriend Robert on a car ride to this little arts and crafts place. After we did our craft Brynn gave me her keys to pick them up so they didn't have to walk to the car. I chose to just leave them their and go home. On my way home I crashed into the Zaxby's Volks Wagon van in Brynn's car. I was in such a panic and I called my mom screaming and crying about how Brynn was gonna kill me. Then I woke up at first in a panic then extremely relived that it was just a dream.  Summary: Today in class we worked on our vocabulary lesson two. Then we did an exercise having us use each of the words in a sentence.  Reflection: Today I expanded my vocabulary by learning many new words.

  Write about something you’ve always been curious about. One thing I have always been curious about is what glitters main consumer is. There have been many interviews done on people in the glitter industry asking "Who is the main consumer/buyer of glitter" and each interviewee never fails to either disregard the question, give a quick and assertive response saying that that is private, or quickly change the topic. I am curious about how something as innocent as glitter can be so hush-hush and prohibited to to public. I don't understand why it is so secretive because what could someone possibly be doing that is SO secretive that regards glitter. When I think of glitter I think of cute arts & crafts or like decoration for a costume/outfit. Not anything worth hiding from the public. This has been controversial for years and I hope people catch on by the time I die because I think of this often and I am so curious about the truth.  Summary: Today in class we wrote an arg...

  Write about the best gift you have received.  The best gift I have ever received would be my dog. My parents surprised me and my sisters with a dog 8 years ago and she is the sweetest angel ever. She gives me kisses and is always so cuddly although I have received many gifts my dog is the best one because she keeps on giving back and having more and more benefits. I love her so truly and deeply and I would not trade her for the world or any other gift. Overall my dog is my best friend and the best gift I have ever and will ever receive I am forever grateful for her.  Summary: Today in class we wrote notes on formal and informal language then we started our writing of our argumentative paragraph. Reflection: Today in class I learned how to make a good strong and formal writing and learned how to start a argumentative paragraph. 

  Write about a conversation that changed you. One conversation that changed me was a recent conversation I had with a women named Stacy. The first conversation I had with her was about one of her friends who has had a heart transplant. She goes on about how wonderful she is but the amount of suffering she has been through. She watched her mother die of the same heart condition she was diagnosed with 5 years after watching her mother die of it. She had gone blind and was unable to eat many foods. She is a professional photographer for billion airs making her able to see all around the world. She is now healthy and has created a magizean celebrating her life  This conversation with a balance of beauty and suffrage truly moved me and changed my perspective of people. This made me realize the only truly unhappy people in the world are those who dont have hope and faith. This women claimed that she would not be alive without hers Summary: Today in class we did a worksheet on colle...