Journal Week #9

     This year I decided to start playing tennis again and I love it! On Tuesday I had my third match against a girl from West Feliciana. After driving all the way to Baker, I walked into the facility where all the courts were and saw a girl playing and I thought she was really good. She did not have a uniform on so I did not think she was part of the team. When Coach Stevens told me that I was playing her, I got really scared. She was definitely the best person I had ever played with before. I kept up with her in points through out the match but I only won one game. Even though I lost pretty badly, it was still a fun match and I know i got better by playing with her.

Journal Week#8

     The week after Mardi Gras break is always long, tiring, and drawn out. This week was especially tiring because I had a lot of assignments to do. It also came to my attention that I have not started my research paper which is due next week for AP US History class. Ms. Tassin began explaining some of the requirements and things we need to have which made me extremely nervous. Luckily my dad loves history and he is able to help me along with my tutor, so hopefully the next week won't be too bad.

Tea Cake and The Tea Cake Analysis

     In southern culture, it used to be common to sit on one's porch with friends and neighbors and talk, tell stories, and often gossip about different events or people while eating a "Tea Cake". Today in class, we simulated these "porch talks" and ate tea cakes. The tea cake has a distinctive taste to it. It is most and spongy like a cake is, but has a taste of spices after the sweet. This tea cake can relate to the character of Tea Cake in "Their Eyes Were Watching God". The two can be connected because the sweetness that is first tasted relates he and Janie's relationship because she finally feels free and a sense of relief, which she greatly enjoys. The spice that is tasted symbolizes that he too, like the other men, were not perfect and relates to the bad ending of the relationship when he was murdered. Hurston strategically and metaphorically named him keeping the southern element in mind.

Wordly Wise: Lesson 7

1. "Robert Enke's life story should make us pause before we castigate." -The Sport Blog by Amy Lawrence 
It is a shame the way that people have castigated Robert Enke before hearing his side of the story. 


2. "Using colloquial speech should also be used depending on the audience that is reading a newspaper or magazine article." -WritingHood
Colloquial speech should not be used in formal circumstances such as in a formal speech or essay. 


3. What do you think those who survive you will write as your epitaph? -Christian Blessings, wdednh
The one time that I went to a grave yard, I thought it was interesting to see all of the epitaphs written by family members. 


4. "...The exodus took place 12 hours before the storm arrived." -theplacewithnoname.com
The exodus had an affect on Baton Rouge because our population was greatly increased as a result. 
5. "Unsure of the religion or naitonality of the deceased, the authorities decided to inter the body in a neutral burial." -wiki answers
Neutral interment sites are often used when burying victims of war over seas. 
6. Cuts and lacerations are common. -firstaid.webmd
Although lacerations are common, they can be painful. 
7. "Let's vote ourselves unlimited largesse!" -Cuba Journal 
it would not be smart of Cuba to freely hand out largesse because money would quickly run out. 
8. "The National Obituary Archive powered by Arrangeonline.com is the world's largest repository of obituaries and death notices." -arrangeonline.com
There are thousands of obituaries submitted every year, so it must be hard to keep a national record of them all. 
9. "...And suggest a possibly omnivorous diet." -Troodon, Wikipedia
The troodon is thought to be an omnivorous dinorsaur because of the shape of his teeth. 
10. "Attacks to the governor's new policy permeated the newspaper article." -wiki answers
The governor's policy permeated through the local news because the law was so controversial. 
11. "He will also eliminate the practice of extreme rendition where we out source our torture to other countries." -polifact.com 
Obama wants to stop the rendition of torture because he does not beleive in the death penalty. 
12. "Its initiators called it a Conservative Resurgence while its detractors have labeled it a Fundamentalist Takeover." -wikipedia, "The southern baptist convention conservative resurgence"
the southern baptists started a convention and those who were in favor of it, viewed it as a resurgence of the conservative baptists of the south. 
13. "Stereotypes also evolve out of fear of persons form minority groups." -remember.org
There are many stereotypes for different groups of people and some of them are can be hurtful. 
14. "The university of hawaii is still trying to get caught up on payments including stipends, scholarships..." -therepublic.com jennifer sinco kelleher
The university is struggling financially because they are having to catch up on simple dues and stipends which should be part of the budget. 
15. "Subservient people always agree to offers made to them and get into awkward situations." -extrememoo.blogspot.com 
Subservient people are often too giving of themselves which causes them to become unhappy sometimes. 

Their Eyes Were Watching God: Good Claim or Bad?

""Their Eyes Were Watching God" is written in such a style that it relates more to the period of William Faulkner than Modernism." TEWWG is a very modernistic piece because it involves many of the traits of Modernism within the novel such as the break down of society and a negative outlook such as the ones involved in her marriage.

""Their Eyes Were Watching God"is a novel centered around the life of Janie who struggles with finding happiness and what it truly means to love someone."Janie struggles throughout the novel because she is taught by Nanny to basically settle for a man if he has money and will support her. These values cause Janie to have a false sense of happiness and she does not truly understand what it is like to be happy until she finally has freedom from all of her abusive relationships and she is able to do as she wants and control her own life.

""Their Eyes Were Watching God" is an example of the feminist movement." This novel draws attention to the issues that women have because during the time of modernism women were just starting to be recognized. Abusive relationships take place all the time and often not enough attention is brought to them and women are not owed the respect or given the freedom that they deserve.

Journal Week #7

     I got to take a trip to New Orleans this weekend as well because the girls' soccer state championship was on Saturday. I was looking forward to this because one of my best friends and a few of my other friends are on the team. After my parents, Elizabeth, and I made the drive down we were a little late so I was anxious to see the girls play. Right as we walked up Sacred Heart, the opposing team, scored. That was a bummer in addition to the cold and windy weather. Unfortunately the girls did not win, but second place is still great. After the loss my family and another went and ate at the new Superior Seafood restaurant and it was some of the best food I have had in a while! Even though the girls did not win it was still a fun day.

Journal Week #6

     I have been waiting for Mardi Gras all year because it is always fun. This year was my first time to go to New Orleans. I went on Sunday, today, and met some of my friends there and we went to the parade Thoth. It was a cool parade and there were a lot of good floats. On every float the people riding it wore masks and elaborate costumes, which made each float interesting because they were all different but still similar. My favorite group that was in the parade was this group of men who wore eighty's work out clothes and all danced down the street while throwing dabloons and other items like that; they were funny to watch and they also interacted with the crowd too. I had fun because two of the french exchange students were with us and it was their first Mardi Gras ever, so it was fun seeing their reaction to it all. They did not know that Mardi Gras was such a big deal here in Louisiana. It was a long, but great day.